Barack Obama and the economy still hold full rein over the nation’s headlines. The most recent item of note being AIG continuing to use taxpayers money to fund their bonuses. I believe that I read somewhere that the government was looking at AIG from a criminal action perspective (I think I read it or it might be my rampant imagination again).

Perhaps the government should apply the thoughts of French playwright Honore de Balzac who said, “Behind every great fortune there is a crime”. I suspect that if the justice department were to investigate the guys getting the bonuses, they would find several shady financial dealings in their recent history. Just the threat of going to jail would make them a bit more socially responsible.
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The question now in the minds of many of the administration is whether America can win the war in Afghanistan. We can’t. I won’t bother to rehash why that war is also morally and legally whacked-out, but I would like to address Dick Cheney’s and other republican assumptions that the surge in Iraq was successful and al qaeda was defeated there.

True, al qaeda’s presence in Iraq is largely diminished as is the violence against American soldiers. But that isn’t necessarily tantamount to defeating them. What if they strategically decided to leave after already succeeding in their goals? Can that be called an American success?

If there is any entity that can claim success in Iraq, outside of Cheney’s band of looters like Halliburton, then it must be al qaeda. A little bunch of ragheads created havoc within and outside of the battlefield. The American economy is in shambles, the military is tarnished on many fronts, but foremost is that the myth of American military invincibility has been exposed to ridicule.

But look what is happening now in Afghanistan. The casualty rate of American soldiers has risen, violence has increased, the Taliban is gaining more ground, there is infighting between the Americans and their stooge leadership of Hamid Karzai.

The obvious reason. Al qaeda merely moved the battlefield.
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Once a time the United States would look for someone to beat up. Jamaica, Cuba, Panama, Grenada, Somalia. Now someone is pushing them around. A few weeks ago, the Chinese navy harassed the daylights out of an American ship in or around Chinese waters.

The Americans said that their ship was unharmed but it turned out that it was trying to track Chinese submarines.

But the times, they are a-changing. Following that naval bitch-slapping, the Chinese premier sent a warning that it was concerned about America’s financial dealings and the methods of the bailout, saying essentially that they were worried that deficit spending could devalue the money that the Chinese have used to prop up the American treasury.

No wonder Hillary Clinton dropped the whole issue of human rights in China. Duppy know who fi frighten.
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If you want further evidence that America’s foreign policy isn’t going to take a significant shift, then here is proof. This also is proof that Obama is just another American where foreign policy is concerned and that he is currently ratifying most of George Bush’s FP initiatives.

Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, recently announced that he was installing Charles Freeman Jr in a top post. The problem, Israel and its backers would have none of it.

Freeman, is a longtime diplomat and critic of America’s foreign policy relationship with Israel. In 2005 he said this, “… as long as the United States continues unconditionally to provide the subsidies and political protection that make the Israeli occupation and the high-handed and self-defeating policies it engenders possible, there is little, if any, reason to hope that anything resembling the former peace process can be resurrected.”

Freeman also warned that what was good for Israel wasn’t necessarily good for the United States.

One of the most prominent Israel lobbyists was democrat NY senator, Charles Schumer.

Undoubtedly, America’s blind deference to, and actions on behalf of Israel is the reason for America’s fall in world leadership. Nations worldwide watch in wonder as America’s hypocrisy regarding Israel makes professional contortionists look like amateurs.

The maintenance of this policy will mean that Iran will continue to be harassed on so-called nuclear and terrorism non-issues, the Palestinians will continue to face apartheid and possible genocide, and any voice of reason in the region will be quelled.

At the same time, the American economy will continue to pay out huge sums to keep Israel afloat and militarised.

Readers should check Jimmy Carter’s ‘Palestine: Peace not Apartheid’ and see how they have been misled by their governments for years. As long as Israel continues to wag the dog, there will never be peace in the world.
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The two Koreas are marching to the brink again (groan).
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Republican leader(?) Michael Steele is proving a boon for the democrats. Steele, whom many consider to be a democrat in rats clothing, has been tweaking his party, virtually sending the right-wing nutjobs into an apoplectic fit.

Steele, in an interview currently on the racks, at one point declared that abortion should be an individual… much to the outrage of his party. He later again, flip-flopped. He added that homosexuality is not a choice.

He also said that he was willing to work in a bipartisan manner with Obama, something the bulk of the republican politicians have shown little inclination to do.

I read the interview and couldn’t make much of Steele. He is a little too pompous and flippant for my taste, but I’m very glad he’s the head(?) of the republican party.

68% of the republicans say they have no leader, while Steele and John McCain both lead the runnings with a measly 5%. Rush Limbaugh is at 2% and Sarah Palin at 1%. Democrats see Obama as the clear leader by 66%.

He and I seem to agree on Obama’s approach to American foreign policy, “ … in fact, as we see, the Obama administration is adopting a lot of Bush policies on the war and the approach for homeland security—including bringing on his secretary of defense. So when people talk about—you know, during the campaign—that John McCain would be a third Bush term? Welcome to the third Bush term, when it comes to national security and foreign affairs”.

Nuff said.
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Employment is still falling with several states registering highs above 10% (translate that as a reality of 20%+). The 4 states that “register” above 10% are California, Michigan, South Carolina and Rhode Island.

Florida gladly isn’t in the front pack as yet. But I another report, Florida was ranked 43rd in respect of how well states addressed the problem of homeless children. Go Floriduh!
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The democrats should look at the senate race in Minnesota where democrat Al Franken holds a slim recount lead of 225 votes over his republican adversary. Are the repubs giving in. Nope. They intend to drag it out as long as possible.

Contrast this if and when the tables are turned. “Quoting ‘national unity’, the democrats have decided not to contest the thieving republicans even though there is clear evidence of electoral fraud by the republicans”.

With the republicans, it is never ‘kumbayah’. When will the democrats learn.