At the nexus of urgency and irony
The CIA has briefed Congress on the Syrian nuclear reactor that the Israelis zapped last September. By now, you know that it was built with consultation and materials from North Korea. It seems that some in the administration are concerned that this jeopardizes the “diplomatic process” in both northeast Asia and the Mideast.
Take a moment to fully let in the irony of a Republican Representative, Pete Hoekstra, holding the position that this situation proves the failure of this whole “diplomatic” track, and a Democrat such as Howard Berman supporting the administration’s quest for a “diplomatic” solution to all this.
And watch the linked interview with John Bolton.
We have most assuredly entered the age of post-non-proliferation, and that has strategic and, indeed, spiritual consequences. There are consequences attendant to our insistence on seeing the potential for goodwill where none exists.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
OK, we caught ‘em. Very disappointing development. What now? Absolutely no diplomacy? I don’t think that will work. And we still must work with our international coalition which is also against a nuclear Norkor, no?
April 25th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
We tell them: no more meetings, no more “carrots” like fuel oil or trade ooportunities or removal from our terror-sponsoring states list, nothin’. We’re going to keep a close eye on you and be ready for any kind of funny business you try to pull. And then, after we’ve clearly conveyed that, just let it drop.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I’ll go for that. You hawks must think we doves are stupid or something. Not too many sane folks, left or right, freedom loving or allegedly freedom hating here, want a nuclear Norkor. Even China does not want that. And we’ve been far too kind to China, but too late to turn back now. They’re beating us at our own game.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Hey, dig this: I’m with you on the too-kind-lately-to-China sentiment. I’m picking up a neighbor at the airport tomorrow night on her return from a Cummins trip to China, and while I hear from her husband that the sight-seeing and dining - and, indeed, the technical exchange that consituted her reason for going - were really great, I cna’t help but keep in the forefront of my mind the fact that, politically, it’s still very much a totalitarian society, and that you’d better not espouse Christianity or Buddhism or the virtues of a free press or the forming of political parties based on any of the above, or it’s off to the hoosegow for some very creative and cruel re-education for you.
April 26th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
That’s OK, our dollar trumps all that. Well, some peoples’ dollars, while many of us here take the brunt. Strange thing too, what’s happening to our dollar. That’s OK, make more of it. Would I recommend my children/grandchildren fighting for this freedom? This land is not our land anymore. But horray to the hotshots. They have their spin but I’m not buying it.
April 26th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
We have essentially annexed 1 Billion Commies to our economy. Making them like us, we have trashed their air and their water and, of course, they are running out of petrol like we are. We import their cheaper goods, not burdened by the market watchdogs like here. We export jobs there too, where some applaud the cheap labor. Meanwhile, they don’t care a whit for freedom, but some call those who don’t necessarily agree with them here freedom haters, unpatriotic or worse. Now, who’s freedom hating and unpatriotic? Those who live and work here. Or those who live and work there? Perhaps someday we will thank the visionaries who opened up the world and gave us our leisure while others did all our work for us. Productive work is a foundation of a sane existence. We’ll just have to find another way here, in our free country. Yep. That’s patriotism all right. But free markets have nothing to do with that. Nor do they have anything to do with true freedom of the spirit, call it liberty.
April 26th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Whoa, now, just a minute. We have trashed their air? Excuse me, their air is over there. Let’s not not go overboard in our zeal to villainize our own country.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Excuse, me, of course they have trashed their own air, utilizing our offshored industrial and highway ways. No biggie. We do a fine job of trashing our own air. Let them trash their own. Such a brave new world! I liked them better on rickshaws and bicycles. If Mother Earth could speak (and of course she does, if we but listen) she’d say the same thing. What we the people here, under the sway of mass production and advertising, think is a good thing, obviously (at least to me) isn’t.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Thanks freedom-lovers for the freedom here to sell-out to the real freedom haters elsewhere:
http://www.senate.gov/~bayh/record.cfm?id=294493
The U.S. high-performance magnet industry has been hit hard in recent years by China’s efforts to dominate the market. Five years ago, (Indiana) lost more than 225 jobs when Chinese investors moved the operations of Indiana-based Magnaquench to China. Magnaquench, which had operations in Valparaiso and Anderson, was originally purchased in 1995 by a group of investors that included two Chinese companies. The investors promised to maintain U.S. production of the magnets but in 2003 backed out on that promise.
April 27th, 2008 at 10:59 am
So who’s villainizing our own country here? Alleged freedom haters or whatever their opposite is, the freedom bluffers? Bluffers love to name call. And to stand for freedom and even fight for it, or to inspire others with that tired old refrain about the cost of freedom. When the bombs drop, bluffers cheer, because they can sell more.