COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, July 06, 2009

Obama goes to Russia to get his clock cleaned



With all the poise and self confidence of Neville Chamberlain, a massively weak economy, a currency under attack, a resurgent left wing in Latin America, his Grace and Reset Button in Chief, Barack Obama takes his fading magic to Russia. He is there because he senses a relevant threat between Russia and USA regarding our nuclear capabilities? Or does he naively believe that Russia will help him in Iran or Korea?

Obama thinks that recent Russian agreements allowing US supply overflights to Afghanistan is a sign of new cooperation. Given Russia's first hand knowledge of fighting a war in Afghanistan, I am surprised that Russia has not offered to pick up the fuel tab.

Obama has a plethora of crisis in which to meddle but chooses the visibility of a summit meeting with a Russia that will not help but has potential for lasting harm.

His sense of timing could hardly be worse. The street organizer against the street fighter. Obama's credentials include exactly what? His announced agenda includes a Carteresque human rights lecture. Putin has nothing to lose and everything to gain by meeting with Obama.

Putin has looked into Obama's soul and has seen a massive egoist needing his daily fix of adulation. Michelle is accompanying razzle to dazzle.

This trip will cost us plenty.



133 comments:

  1. F..... Loser.
    ---
    T?he Shits

    28. Cannoneer No. 4:

    Thanks for the link to those picks, Doug.

    That moon dust is as fine as khaki flour.
    Gets into every bodily orifice.
    Even the formerly well-mannered are constantly hawking up giant loogies and picking bloody great boogers from their noses.

    I was told by the medics that 11% of all the dust ingested consisted of dried animal and human fecal matter. Doesn’t take much of a breeze to put all that dust into the air.

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  2. Well. lineman, it seems quite evident that the rouge countries that opt out of the NPT are not "Friends of the US", not a one of them.

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  3. What is the thing that goes up about 18 inches on the front of this M 16?

    Cannoneer said something about a Khaki Flashlight, but what's with the wand that sticks up from it?

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  4. That looks like an antenna, doug.

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  5. Think about the attitude we (Bar flys) have toward China and Russia and multiply that times ten to understand how the Russians (Putin and Company) feel about the United States.

    Obama may go over there and appease them but if he dares to lecture...

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  6. On a GPS transmitter unit?

    Certainly does not look like a flaxhlight

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  7. They're going to further rollback the nuke stockpiles.

    Which, experience on 9-11-01 and subsequennt events indicates we won't be putting into a fight, regardless of provocation.

    If we were to utilize those weapons, it'd be much to late, to win without major US civilian losses.

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  8. Your man Kyl says some of them wouldn't work, they're so old.

    No Testy, No Knowie.

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  9. McNairs Mistress was Iranian!

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  10. So, we may as well rollback, stay the course that Reagan set.

    Keep your eyes on the prize, clear sailing ahead and astern.

    The whirled will be nuke free, before we know it.
    Reagan will be seen as the Prophet of Peace. Obama, his acolyte and missionary foot soldier.

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  11. Operation Barbarossa...audacious...visionary...futile

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  12. The South Africans were not impressed with the political gains they achieved by weaponizing the peaceful atom. In fact, it help cost them the game.

    It intensifyied their status as a rouge nation, leading to the private economic sanctions and dis-investment that ended their regime.

    Lessons to be learned, there.

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  13. If they do not function, doug, may as well dismantle them.

    he Air Force didn't think that the nukes were worthy of their "Best and Brightest".

    The nuclear weapons specialists are not the first string. Not even good bench warmers. They had to be fired, which almost never happens in Federal Socialist military circles of full and lifetime employment.

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  14. Fact of the matter, the US Air Force did not even know that they were flying life nukes under the wings of their aircraft, over the continental US.

    Our nuke force makes the Keystone Cops seem omnipotent, by comparison.

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  15. Cut the stockpiles in half and professionalize the force.

    Seems like the plan.

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  16. So all Obama will be trading away, shit that don't work as promised, back in the day.

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  17. Mr Biden says one thing ...

    The emphasis was different in a separate appearance by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, who warned that any military strike on Iran “could be very destabilizing.” Asked to choose between military action and permitting Iran to gain nuclear weapons capability, he said both would be “really, really bad outcomes.”

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  18. 140 slain as Chinese riot police, Muslims clash in northwestern city.

    LATimes

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  19. We seem to be trading away stuff that might work--at least gives pause--missile defense, and nukes, if we can find them--and, can they find theirs? for something temporary that probably won't--transit to Afghanistan, and some photo ops.

    I figure we'll get our clock cleaned. Putin has looked into Medvedev's eyes, and seen a lacky, Medvedev has looked into Obama's eyes, and seen the same, is probably about the truth of it.

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  20. Through the President's eye's, into the soul of the United States.

    Yeah, that sums the collectivist perspective up.

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  21. At FOX News they just said that Obama wants the Russians to 'partner' with US on missile defense.

    Again, he is following in Reagan's footsteps. Reagan promising to share SDI with the whirled.

    Is Obama gong to fulfill Reagan's promise of peace through trust and verification?

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  22. Maybe Israel is the only country that really knows where all it nukes are all the time.

    Considerable effort was put into circumventing sanctions, and the government even went so far as to develop nuclear weapons, allegedly with the help of Israel.[39]--
    -/

    According to an article in Wiki nuclear weapons not so much caused sanctions, as were caused by sanctions.

    It's a long history. The opposition to sanctions around the globe seems to have started at the other end of the earth, up in the Nordic countries.

    I recall an interview on TV long ago, where one white South Aftican business man was asked about sanctions, and he said it was actually helping many of the business sectors.

    Winnie Mandela and daily necklacings probably had a lot more inpact than nuclear weapons on the affair.

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  23. Partner, as in, we'll give you all the stuff we have, in exchange for the nothing you have?

    Here's hoping he gets something out of it, as in a promise not to invade the rest of Georgia, maybe, or Poland, or the Ukraine. Or help in keeping Iran caged. Even keeping Ortega and Chavez out of Honduras. Though he seems to have already verbally taken their side. One can hope, but I bet we get our clock cleaned one way or the other.

    Obama ought to be attending the Michael Jackson State Funeral, which matches that of Reagan, or Princess Died, instead he's in Russia:(

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  24. I spent some time this past weekend playing Wii Call of Duty 3 where as Pvt Miller, I was rescued from a brutal Japanese pow camp. My fellow Marines, after kicking my former captives asses, gave me one of their hand guns. We then set out on our seek and destroy and I suffered many frustrating deaths. The lesson is that no matter how many times you are killed in action, there is no losing until you quit. You can always resort to the reset button...

    I'm quite sure this is the comforting thought in the back of Commander Obama's mind.

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  25. Since I think he's really in Russia for the PR and headlines, I kind of smile when I see Michael Jackson all over the computer screen.

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  26. Rob:

    If you want to be terrified, read the recent NY Times article detailing a college paper (recently found, conveniently after the election) by Obama regarding the nuclear freeze movement. Among other things, Obama writes of his admiration for the anti-Pershing campaign. It was later revealed that this campaign was a Soviet front.

    We’ve elected a President who fell for Soviet front organizations.


    Jul 6, 2009 - 5:05 am

    72. Lifeofthemind:


    Rob,
    We’ve elected a President who fell for Soviet front organizations.

    We’ve elected a President who was raised in Soviet front organizations.


    Jul 6, 2009 - 5:36 am

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  27. Princess Died is mighty nice, al-Bob.
    Right up there with Oblahblah.

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  28. Ol' Pooty Poot is lookin at them ears, and smilin. He Knows what to do with'em.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Our President Is a Communist.

    We has been "Castroized."

    ReplyDelete
  30. obama ijust like reagan...
    except for that part about big government being the problem

    it's a shame that soaring rhetoric and narrative aren't producing metrics and results

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  31. I loved that video of SuperObama flying through the sky with ears fluttering in the breeze.

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  32. during the campaign, Obama was just like Mccain we were informed at this site

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  33. Thank you al-Doug. Thought it quite good myself. And, I'm being serious.

    We had a heck of a thunderstorm here last night. One of those babies that lights up the sky all over the mountains. Next up, forest fires. It's that time of year, again.

    I don't recall there ever being much lightning in Hawaii. In fact, I scratch my head to recall any. But then I was never there for more than a coupld weeks at a time.

    Later....


    heh, Rufus, cut them off and throw them to the crowd, like a bullfighter? Wrap them in silk, and give them to an adoring Lady? Or, just box them?

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  34. Ol' Pootie Poot is gwine have a grip on them ears, an the "plesurin" will be grate.

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  35. He'll be sittin his glass a' vodka on top a' thet nappy haid.

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  36. At least the Obamassiah new what he was. "McCrazy as Batshit" didn't know if he wuz runnin for prezdent, or parlment.

    ReplyDelete
  37. "At least the Obamassiah new what he was"

    speaking of which, why is this site called the elephant bar?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Off topic...

    I think Israel WILL hit Iran...

    I think Israel WILL use it's subs to shoot EMP's over selected areas of Iran...

    thus making it MUCH easier to hit iran...

    For months i have been wigging about the bad guys using emp's on us...

    What if Israel used and EMP on Iran?

    then they could search and destroy at their leisure hitting the targets they need without tons of civilians dying...

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  39. E: speaking of which, why is this site called the elephant bar?


    my genitals.........

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  40. I recall deuce saying he used to hang out at a bar called The Elephant Bar somewheres, that he liked.

    At least, that's what I think I remember.

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  41. Elephants don't hump, the penis pushes itself. Isn't that amazing? Least that's what I read, posted by some veterinarian.

    Seems like a more civilized way to go about things, when you think about it.

    Mother Nature has her ways.

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  42. We named the place with about three minutes thought. Wretchard thought that his temple was being defamed and was opening and closing and then moderating comments.

    i thought that he missed the point in that his commenters were more important than his posts, and set the bar up as a redoubt. i could have called it the alamo, but all the same I wanted to put the weight on comment below the line and set the rules up as if you were in a bar seat. Say what you like but re-consider saying anything that may get you knocked out.

    The name came from a bar in Kassel Germany where we could go after or before a night shift watching Ivan. it also came with some of the finest looking blue eyed blondes if you were full of gin and teutonic fervor and enjoyed the velvet pleasures of female flesh.

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  43. One of my favorite places in Germany was the Rose and Crown, a tiny establishment outside Rose Barracks in Vilseck with about thirty seats to its name and walls plastered with postcards sent from around the world.

    As with a VW Bug, you could stuff seventy-five or so inside as long as everyone was amenable to climbing over fellow patrons to get to the WC - in one direction - or to the exit - in the other.

    'Course you'd spend the evening listening to tankers talking smack, but that, too, was a part of its charm.

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  44. "and enjoyed the velvet pleasures of female flesh"

    why yes, yes i do

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  45. Then there was Vlado's in Munich. A personal favorite of many at the 66th, including my parents and ourselves on frequent weekends down. If you stayed late enough he'd serve you that nasty Serb shit that tastes like it was filtered through the same gym sock since 1962.

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  46. Didn't get to Italy, but for Italian we'd go down to Kusel, 'bout half way betw Baumholder and Ramstein. Run out of a ramshackled villa by what seemed to be a whole Italian clan. Can taste it now.

    -----

    If you stayed late enough he'd serve you that nasty Serb shit that tastes like it was filtered through the same gym sock since 1962.

    I've had that. They called it "Rotzaputz" up in the Rhineland as I recall, but the gym socks went back to 1951. Rotzaputz and Rothandel cigarettes. Rotten shit.

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  47. Jaeger schnitzel mit pomme frits und bier, bitte.

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  48. My personal favortite place in Germany, on my one quick trip, was the Departure Gate.

    Hitler used to stay at, and give speeches at the Hotel Elephant in Weimer, I think. I remember a picture of him, looking truly Satanic, outside the front door, all fired up from one of his own speeches and rhetoric. After searching for half and hour, I can't find it, though I found some of the Hotel Elephant.

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  49. They did have good beer though, certainly worlds away from our watery swill.

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  50. Kruskovatz. The spelling is incorrect, I know, but I'm too lazy to Google.

    The last time we were in Germany for any length of time was at the NATO school in Oberammergau and it was a treat to be back in the land of Wienerschnitzel. (The beer was actually better in Belgium.)

    I took my kids one day on a delightfully frightening and awe-inspiring alpine drive to one destination or another, playing Beethoven's 9th. Since known as "the very, very scenic route."

    What can you not do with a Volvo wagon and a full tank of gas? Precious little, I dare say.

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  51. Notice the elephant over the 'Haus Elephant' sign.

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  52. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  53. Our very own Cascade Range are better than the Alps, but don't tell anyone. The Alps just have more history. Armies crossing this way and that, romantic poets, etc.

    Here's our poet Roethke, celebrating a trip across the Cascades, fighting back, putting the Alps in there proper place--

    Night Journey

    Now as the train bears west,
    Its rhythm rocks the earth,
    And from my Pullman berth
    I stare into the night
    While others take their rest.
    Bridges of iron lace,
    A suddenness of trees,
    A lap of mountain mist
    All cross my line of sight,
    Then a bleak wasted place,
    And a lake below my knees.
    Full on my neck I feel
    The straining at a curve;
    My muscles move with steel,
    I wake in every nerve.
    I watch a beacon swing
    From dark to blazing bright;
    We thunder through ravines
    And gullies washed with light.
    Beyond the mountain pass
    Mist deepens on the pane;
    We rush into a rain
    That rattles double glass.
    Wheels shake the roadbed stone,
    The pistons jerk and shove,
    I stay up half the night
    To see the land I love.

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  54. Well, elijah, what I often said was there'd not be to much difference 'tween the two. Obama and McCain.

    Since the US has taken no action, in Honduras, that'd be about right. While McCain MIGHT have supported the Courts there, the bottom line would remain the same, inaction.

    In Iran, the difference in rhetoric is again all there'd be. With McCain SPEAKING in different tones than Obama, but the US would be doing much the same, as there's not much more for the US to do.

    Letting the EU continue to take the lead, I seriously doubt that McCain would call Tehran.
    Seems that much like Mullah Sistani in Iraq, the Shitee Mullahs don't takes calls or letters from US Presidents.

    If you feel that a McCain administration would be on a different course or speed, please describe the bare bones of the scenario, so we can flesh out an alternative to Obamamerica.


    EMPs are nuclear blasts, if Israel goes nuke on Iran, preemptively, that'd end the debate on where resides civiliztion and who is the rouge.

    Such misconceptions include:
    ...
    EMP is produced directly by special EMP weapons.
    The fact: This statement is only true about special types of non-nuclear EMP weapons of limited range (as discussed in the NNEMP section above). The statement is commonly made when referring to nuclear EMP. Electromagnetic pulse is a prompt secondary effect of a nuclear explosion, and nearly all of the nuclear EMP is produced outside of the weapon. (All nuclear weapons can produce EMP as a secondary effect, but the effect can be enhanced by special weapon design.
    ) h/t wiki

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  55. "Our very own Cascade Range are better than the Alps, but don't tell anyone."

    See, bob, that's why we're going to spend a portion of our retirement exploring our own country, goodly chunks of which neither of us has ever laid eyes on up-close-and-personal-like.

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  56. The girls all get prettier at closin' time...

    The universal truth that knows no frontiers...

    Noch einmal Bier, bitte...

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  57. I've been in this area most of my life, and I haven't even really seen all of Idaho, Trish. And that's just one out of 57 states.

    Iranian Civilization

    When we used nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki of course it ended the debate on where resides civiliztion and who is the rouge.

    The girls all get prettier at closin' time...--

    They have this remarkable ability, it's true. But I'm not sure if it goes the other way. How many men have heard the words, "Get away from me, you drunk, you drunken slob."?

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  58. dr:

    EMPs are nuclear blasts, if Israel goes nuke on Iran, preemptively, that'd end the debate on where resides civiliztion and who is the rouge.

    In your eyes...

    If Israel sees that Iran is set to cause the 2nd Holocaust of the Jews in 80 years then if Israel EMP's them, then kicks their ass? I'll open a bottle of the finest I can find...

    Iran is preparing to NUKE Israel with FULL NUKES...

    What more do you need?

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  59. WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials say Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to meet ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya this week. It would be the highest-level contact the Obama administration has had with Zelaya since he was deposed last week.
    Zelaya is expected in Washington on Tuesday following an unsuccessful attempt to return to Honduras over the weekend that deepened the country's political crisis. The State Department says the administration remains committed to seeing a restoration of democratic order in Honduras and deplored the use of force against Zelaya's supporters.


    Zelaya tried to fly back Sunday, but his plane was not allowed to land by Honduran authorities. Clashes between police and soldiers and thousands of Zelaya supporters left at least one fatality.
    --
    -

    We certainly wouldn't want to be on the side term limits, or a one term presidency.

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  60. I've got the answer to that, Wio.

    In some eyes, it's for Israel to absorb three or four nukes, then try to fight back with the little that is left.

    It's the gentleman's way, you know.

    I don't know what to make of that Saudi report. A leaked report, or maybe more or less made up, hard to quess, and why now?

    I can see why the Saudis might very well do that, though. Makes all sorts of sense in some ways.

    Well, the conversation getting heated again, I've got some things to do.

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  61. I recall though, too, some folks around here advocating using nukes at Tora Bora.

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  62. "Munich" - not, though i enjoyed the english garden

    amsterdam
    barcelona
    zurich

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  63. "But I'm not sure if it goes the other way."

    It doesn't. Thus the warning (unheeded at your peril) to many a man abroad: If you weren't Brad Pitt when you left home, you aren't Brad Pitt in Moscow or Jakarta or Johannesburg either. Red flag, red flag, red flag.

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  64. I was all for two tactical nukes on Tora Bora.

    It was the perfect place and the perfect time. it was appropriate technology.

    If you have them and take two perfect hits on your financial district with three thousand dead and hundreds of billions in economic damage, as well as a direct hit on the Pentagon, why hesitate?

    Were we worried about making someone mad? The iconic value of two rising mushroom clouds juxtaposed against two falling towers would clarify thinking in some other parts of the world.

    Smoking a few hundred jihadis with nukes is far preferable to me than wasting thousands of young Americans on an absurd mission to nowhere.

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  65. You would not have this bullshit going on:

    (CNN) -- Insurgents locked in a standoff with U.S. Marines tricked them by dressing up as women to escape, a task force spokesman said Monday

    Women and children had been caught in the standoff between the armed groups, but some of the women were not what they seemed, according to task force spokesman Capt. William Pelletier.

    After the Marines began taking fire from insurgents in the town of Khan Neshin, in south Afghanistan near the Helmand River, the militants ran into a multiple-room compound, the U.S. military said.

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  66. Mr Obama said the two countries were both "committed to leaving behind the suspicion and the rivalry of the past".
    Separately, Russia also agreed to allow the US military to fly troops and weapons across its territory to Afghanistan, allowing it to avoid using supply routes through Pakistan that are attacked by militants.
    __________________

    There's a win for you. The Russians are helping us get further bogged down in Afghanistan. You can't make this stuff up.

    ___________________

    Let's see who could we award with free vacations to the Swat Valley?

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  67. Russian rivalry of the past....the operable word is past...Obama is giving them a boost that they hardly deserve, although there is room for closer cooperation to further wreck the dollar.

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  68. I was listening to a guy on G. Gordan Liddy show this morning, whose name I didn't get, his idea was that there isn't going to be any economic recovery. He came at it from investment in private business, and had his facts and figures to back him up. The investment in private business just isn't there, right now. He thought unemployment would go to 14% and soon too. And these 'green jobs', such as they may be, won't come along till years from now. His solution to end the misery fast?

    Do away with or lower the taxes on corporations and lower the capital gains tax, while cancelling the stimulus program. Would be a recovery overnight, he felt.

    Since that isn't going to happen, he thought we're stuck until we can get a change of politicians.

    Not an optimistic report.

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  69. If we're not bogged down somewhere, the cry goes out to please, please step in it someplace else. Madame Sec'y was on top of the curve in asking, "What's this army good for if you don't use it?" Made heads swivel and spit, it did. But here we are.

    We just can't get everyone to agree on the preferred bog-down.

    (Or the preferred cut and run.)


    I'll say it again: There is no going back. We ARE the expeditionary force envisioned by PNAC back when it was still a somewhat politically controversial concept. Open-ended and ambiguous engagements in various places around the globe - paraphrasing.

    You may not like the untidiness of it; but you won't relinquish it.

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  70. Use of nukes at Tora Bore sure looks like it would have been the thing to do. Osama, at last report, still seems to be breathing, somewhere. Which he probably wouldn't be doing.

    Israel and Iran Are Already At War

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  71. Expeditionary/constabulary/advisory.

    Jack of all trades, master of some.

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  72. Honduras Abandoned

    Monday, July 6, 2009

    20 Armed Nicaraguans Detained at Protest Conclusion, Claims Military Officer...

    As reported yesterday from the perspective of the participants in the demonstration against the new government and for the return of Manuel Zelaya, it was said that the military initiated the conflict with the demonstrators. Recently I interviewed a high ranking Honduran military officer in Tegucigalpa, and he tells a different story than what is being officially reported.

    The officer claims that protesters had wire cutters (I did see protesters with wire cutters) and began cutting the chain link fence and ripping it down. The crowd convened onto the fence, ready to rush onto the tarmac at the airport. Shots were fired from the military, however as of right now it is uncertain whether the casualties were the result of a military issued weapon.

    As the rally came to a close, the police arrested 20 Nicaraguans from the crowd, who were armed with .357 pistols. Right now they are being detained and questioned as to their entry into the country and actions at the rally. Besides the Nicaraguans that were arrested yesterday, the officer claimed that there were foreigners from Cuba and Venezuela as well. He was unable or unwilling to provide more details on the other nationals.

    ...

    The Honduran army has troops stationed along the border with Nicaragua at various posts, much like the Border Patrol in the United States. They too are hearing that Nicaragua has troops moving to the border, but they have no confirmation on the matter. The Honduran military is prepared to defend itself and its borders.

    ...

    Editor’s note: Hunter and I have been discussing for several hours on how to proceed. We have been trying to get the US Embassy to discuss but Hunter keeps getting the run around. He has not seen anything in the local press (which surprises us and gives us some pause) and I have not seen anything on the internet. Hunter is publishing this with the knowledge that it has not been confirmed with any other source besides the one officer. If linking or quoting, please note that he is still trying to get confirmation but has hit a brick wall. If someone has the ability or contacts to confirm or deny, please do so.
    Posted by Hunter Smith at 2:43 PM
    .

    ---------

    One of Hunter's early posts in the immediate aftermath of the shooting mentioned the brass looked to be .357, including photos.

    Doug, that guy on the left of the photo looks to me to be carrying a hammer.

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  73. It does look to be a hammer.

    He's got a name tag identification and some initialing.

    He's got a jacket on with lots of pockets, like he might be photographer.


    Maybe, a Nicaraguan or Venezuelan photographer? :)

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  74. Bobal:I was listening to a guy on G. Gordan Liddy show this morning, whose name I didn't get, his idea was that there isn't going to be any economic recovery.

    It's going to take a long time for Americans to repair their net worth with savings before they start borrowing to consume again. Think of Japan's "lost decade".

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  75. Meamwhile, Michael Jackson is to be buried without his Brain which is being held back for further tests.

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  76. Choose your roles carefully--

    MICHAEL Jackson starred as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, the 1978 musical version of The Wizard of Oz – playing the character without a brain opposite Diana Ross as Dorothy.

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  77. BTW, we are starting to buy a little oil from Russia.

    The 3 largest oil producers Are:

    (1) Russia

    (2) Saudi Arabia

    (3) The United States

    Afghanistan is suspected to have a little oil in its far North.

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  78. Everyone accepts that there is an Oil Price that would, basically, keep us in Recession for years. The only question is, "What IS that price?"

    I'm beginning to think it's lower than we thought a year, ago.

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  79. If Oil was $40, Obamanomics would keep us in recession.
    Start a business today, have the rules changed tommorrow.

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  80. Men, women share U. of C. rooms CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Education

    For 19-year-olds Danzig and Barlow, it's not a romantic thing: She already has a boyfriend on campus. She says she simply prefers to live with men, and Barlow is a very close friend.

    "I tend to get along better with guys,'' she said. Still, she said, she couldn't imagine sharing a dorm room with her boyfriend.

    Although the policy is not aimed at romantic relationships, boyfriends and girlfriends aren't prohibited from living together because the U. of C. will not ask why students want to be roommates, officials said.

    The change in policy was debated for the last couple of years after advocates for transgender students pushed the university to allow "gender neutral'' housing. They said some transgender students feel uncomfortable rooming with students of the same biological sex when they actually identify with the opposite sex.

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  81. I played the Tin Man, al-Bob.
    Now I'm the Rustbelt.

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  82. NEW YORK (AP) - Even President Barack Obama, a gleam in his eye as he talked at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner two weeks ago, seemed to recognize the special relationship he's forged with TV networks in the opening months of his administration.

    "A few nights ago I was up tossing and turning and trying to figure out exactly what to say," he said. "Finally, when I couldn't get back to sleep, I rolled over and asked Brian Williams what he thought."

    The reference to the NBC anchor and host of the prime-time "Inside the Obama White House" special this spring drew loud laughter.
    ---
    Ha, ha.
    Jokes on us.

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  83. Faster, Please

    Another Worthless motherfucker bites the dirt.

    Robert McNamara

    Rot in hell, cocksucker.

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  84. I no more have the stomach to do a post on McNamara than I did on Michael Jackson.

    I don't fault the man for making a mistake.

    I do fault him for knowing he made a mistake and then letting US troops die and be maimed for life by the tens of thousands.

    Fuck him.

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  85. I lost friends because of that rotten, treasonous son of a bitch.

    He should have been "Tried," and "Hanged."

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  86. I no more have the stomach to do a post on McNamara than I did on Michael Jackson.

    We're twice blessed.

    He wouldn't acknowledge mistakes as late as last year, as I recall.

    Fuck him.

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  87. The casings in that Sunday photo look like NATO 5.56x45, not .357s. It's acknowledged the Army fired into the air, so casings scattered at the scene and collected by the crowd could have been theirs, but not necessarily the shots fired into the crowd.

    Maybe Hunter Smith saw some .357 brass but couldn't get a photo of it.


    Remington 223 w/ NATO 5.56x45.

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  88. McNamara?

    Reckon he did not get many Christmas cards from the EB patrons.

    Did not deserve many.

    Another of the "Best and the Brightest" bites the big one.

    May he toss and turn for eternity.

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  89. Don't Want No Rich People `Round Here
    Randy Newman

    The study suggests setting a uniform international cap on how much carbon dioxide each person could emit in order to limit global emissions; since rich people emit more, they are the ones likely to reach or exceed this cap, whether they live in a rich country or a poor one.

    For example, if world leaders agree to keep carbon emissions in 2030 at the same level they are now, no one person's emissions could exceed 11 tons of carbon each year. That means there would be about a billion "high emitters" in 2030 out of a projected world population of 8.1 billion.

    EACH PERSON'S EMISSIONS

    Rich people got no reason
    Rich people got no reason
    Rich people got no reason
    To live

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  90. Hey, Linear:
    I just heard him say:

    "We Were Wrong"
    Clear as day.

    So maybe he's tweeting with the angels?

    ReplyDelete
  91. McNamara was a "bean counter". Nothing wrong with that until you start counting human beans.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Speaking at a news conference following several hours of talks in the Kremlin, both leaders focused considerable attention on military issues - particularly nuclear arms reduction.
    ...
    President Medvedev told a Kremlin news conference that the world is changing for the worse with the emergence of powers who dream of acquiring nuclear weapons.

    Mr. Medvedev said there are regions where the presence of nuclear weapons can create colossal problems. He specifically mentioned the Middle East and the Korean peninsula as potential nuclear threats. For this reason, the Russian leader said his country should cooperate as closely as possible with the United States.

    The U.S. and Russian presidents set a target to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads each within seven years. The number of missile launchers is to be reduced to between 500 and 1,100 for each country.
    ...
    "We've taken important steps forward to increase security and to stop the spread of nuclear weapons," said President Obama. "This starts with the reduction of our own nuclear arsenals. The world's two leading nuclear powers must lead by example.
    "

    Voice of America

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  93. Hey, Linear:
    I just heard him say:

    "We Were Wrong"
    Clear as day
    .

    Maybe.

    St. Peter's at the Gate.

    Sez, "Now Robert, is there something you'd like to tell me?"

    Robert sez, "As God is my Witness...No!"

    Elevator door slams shut. Bang.

    Elevator plunges downward. Accelerates past free fall velocity. The operator has morphed into a demon. He turns his leer onto Robert. Gives him a thumbs up.

    Robert lets out a wail...

    "Wait...Wait...We Were Wrongggggggggg!!!"--

    You just heard him flyin' by, Doug.

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  94. Unless there was reloading going on, the 357 brass would normally not be on the ground.

    So what about the pistolero, did he dump his brass and reload?

    Or is it as likely that 45 ACP brass was on the ground and mistakenly identified.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Creating an equivalency to the beans, McNamara tried.

    Was he the Best or the Brightest of that bunch that claimed they were both.

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  96. The echos of which were heard again, last October and November, as the financial markets melted. Then again when Obama brought US his economic team.

    It was a false storyline in 1960 and just as bogus in 2008 & 9.
    Those that are so described truly being neither the Best nor the Bightest of US.

    ReplyDelete
  97. There were rumors that Chaplin was a pedophile, too.

    How fitting.

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  98. Or is it as likely that 45 ACP brass was on the ground and mistakenly identified.

    Or a 9mm...who knows? Would a Marine know a 45 from a 357? Probably. From a quick glance at a few 9mm being scooped and tucked?

    Your point is good.

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  99. Doug.

    I was just unpacking the Dell as Robert went wailin' by. Hope the warrantee covers it smacking the table top as it slides from the fingers. Damn wrapping stuff...

    ReplyDelete
  100. McNamara worked for Old Iron Ass for awhile.--

    Senator Frankenstein is now going from a comedy club, to The Comedy Club. So says Savage.

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  101. Apparently everyone here missed The Fog of War, which was a thoroughly engaging watch.

    The best part: McNamara describes the greatest conceptual error of that conflict, which was failing to recognize the Vietnam War as a civil war.

    The enormous advances which *were* made there, were made as a consequence of eventual recognition of that fact.

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  102. trish,

    It was not missed; it is pain that makes it irrelevant.

    Within in minutes of debarking, one heard the refrain, "Ho Chi Minh, Number One".

    ReplyDelete
  103. failing to recognize the Vietnam War as a civil war.--

    Part civil war, part war to get the foreign devils out. French, Japanese, then the French again, then us, they fought them all. Got mixed up with Marxism thrown into the stew, and big power politics. I read a deal was done at that Nixon/Brezhnev summit in 1972.

    Some of the produce down at the grocery store has 'produced in Vietnam' on it now. Shrimp.

    Where is the Louisiana shrimp these days?

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  104. In old age, your only relationship to the world is your begging bowl, which in our culture is your bank account. That's what you've already earned, and it has to support this relatively carefree last stage of life. Since I am myself in that stage now, I can tell you that it is the best part of life. It's properly called, in this wonderful language that we have, the "Golden Years." It is a period when everything is coming up and flowering. It is very, very sweet.

    ....the old in many societies spend a considerable part of their time playing with and taking care of the youngsters, while the parents delve and spin; so that the old are returned to the sphere of eternal things not only within but without. And we may take it also, I should think, that the considerable attraction of the very young and the very old may derive something from their common, secret knowledge that it is they, and not the busy generation between, who are concerned with a poetic play that is eternal and truly wise.


    J. Campbell

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  105. Bobal, you are correct. We fell into the trap of being the "redcoats" in their War of Independence.

    ReplyDelete
  106. They had other 'wars of independence' too, I think, Teresita. If you go back even further, I think it was the Chinese. Maybe the Cambodians as well.

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  107. We are doing it again in Honduras. The US is on the wrong side.

    ReplyDelete
  108. The US is on the same side as almost every government in Latin America currently in power, including this one. A rare moment for the OAS.

    Chomp on that bit, dear host.

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  109. Diplomats with the United Nations, the OAS, the United States and European countries worked behind the scenes Monday to seek common ground with interim President Roberto Micheletti...

    ...

    One option under consideration is trying to forge a compromise between Zelaya, Micheletti and the Honduran military under which the ousted president would be allowed to return and serve out his remaining six months in office with limited and clearly defined powers, according to a senior U.S. official.

    In exchange, Zelaya would pledge to drop aspirations for a possible constitutional change that could allow him to run for another term, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic exchanges
    .

    He had limited and clearly defined powers. He overstepped and got caught. Assaulting and burning a military installation, stealing ballots he wasn't supposed to handle, flipping the bird at his own supreme court and government. The constitutional authorities believe in tough love. He was sent packing in pajamas.

    Now? The village will take over disciplining the wayward child. Can't have him abused by those meanies in his own "family." All just a big misunderstanding. Let's all put on a happy face, now. The whirled is watching.

    Or is it an attempt to wipe the dog shit off of Obama's shoes?

    ReplyDelete
  110. My goodness, Linear.

    We must all be caught up in coup fever.

    Not like that's bad PR for us.

    Nope.

    In Latin America, it's all good.

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  111. ... Another senior administration official expressed some frustration with Zelaya, who rejected advice from the U.S. and others not to press for the constitutional change and not to try to return to Honduras on Sunday while the situation remained volatile.

    The new Honduran government that replaced Zelaya has vowed to arrest him for 18 alleged criminal acts, including treason and failing to implement more than 80 laws approved by Congress since he took office in 2006. Zelaya also refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling against his planned referendum on whether to hold an assembly to consider changing the constitution.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Ben Feller in Moscow contributed to this report
    .

    Moscow? Oh, right. The Troika is in session this week.

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  112. ...Enrique Ortez, the acting Honduran foreign minister, said the military didn’t fire on the crowd and that the shots came from Zelaya supporters, new agency EFE reported.

    Recall the report that some 20 armed Nicaraguans were in that crowd.

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  113. Monday, July 6, 2009
    Killing Bullet Is Not Of Military Caliber--

    http://www.elheraldo.hn/Al%20Frente/Ediciones/2009/07/06/Noticias/Bala-asesina-no-es-de-calibre-militar

    This is just a rough translation, as I am hurrying to make it available in English:

    The Minister of Defense Adolfo Lionel Sevilla said this afternoon that the bullet that killed a young man at the demonstration Sunday in the Toncontín airport did not come from a military weapon.

    According to the experts, the bullet that took the life of a young 19 year old, was not from a military caliber. The report reveals that the direction the young man died does not coincide with the trajectory of the direction of the bullet from the armed forces.

    Ramón Custodio: army used rubber bullets

    The National Commissioner of Human Rights, Ramón Custodio, said this Monday that the military did not cause the death of the young man that passed away yesterday during the disturbances that happened at the airport in Tegucigalpa.

    "Whoever shot wanted this person to die", said the Commissioner of Human Rights Ramón Custodio and adding that the military elements used rubber bullets to drive away protesters who caused destruction in the international airport
    .

    Hunter Smith

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  114. "There's no coup."

    Not gonna smell like it and we've got a banner-carrier to find here.

    It was a monumentally stupid thing done in reaction to stupid things done.

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  115. It was a monumentally stupid thing done in reaction to stupid things done.

    Because the Honduran Supreme Court, Honduran Government and Army of Honduras are monumentally stupid?

    Or because they didn't seek the counsel of Barry and Hillary?

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  116. "Because the Honduran Supreme Court, Honduran Government and Army of Honduras are monumentally stupid?"

    In this case, yes.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Not gonna smell like it...

    You're getting close to my earlier point.

    ReplyDelete
  118. Like the opposite of a Glade Plug-In, it's not hard for some governments to push a button and refresh the stink of the US in Latin America.

    We work hard to combat it.

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  119. ...and we've got a banner-carrier to find here.

    ---

    gerardoparedes said...

    Hunter, i don't know if you hear it but tomorrow across all of Honduras we are going to do marches for peace, supporting our President Roberto Micheletti, we are in outrage of how much Mr. Zelaya violated our sovereignity by using a Venezuelan plane for his trip to Honduras, i am more than outrage as why did not our military shot down that aircraft. We cannot allow all those nicaraguans and salvadorans to dictate our destiny
    July 6, 2009 10:25 PM
    .

    Gerardo seems to have found a banner carrier. What's the fuss?

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  120. We work hard to combat it.

    I'm sure you do. All of you.

    Well, most all of you.

    I'll leave it there.

    ReplyDelete