Track-A-’Crat: The Roll Call of Democratic Delinquency

No sooner than a leaked IAEA report – anemically entitled “Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program” – states that Iran has “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” nuclear weapon, does the outgoing head of the IAEA then conversely announce that “Israel is [the] number one threat to [the] Middle East.“

Nothing can be more revealing as to the dysfunction, inadequacy and impotence of the IAEA. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: what does any responsible person do during an economic contraction?

Please choose one of the following options:

(A) Reduce present spending.

(B) Delay future spending.

(C) Refurbish your home.

For you and I, the answer’s almost certainly A, B or both.

But if you’re Congress, then the correct answer is C, of course!

Why, after all, should the porkers have to suffer simply because the peons are?

Thus has Congress magnanimously decided to approve a legislative appropriations bill, which contains a measure to increase Congress’ annual budget by 5.8 percent to $4.7 billion.

This additional waste of taxpayer monies includes such irresistible highlights as a $500,000 program for senators to send out postcards about their town hall meetings (like anybody doesn’t already know about them), $30,000 for receptions for foreign dignitaries (particularly if they’re from Iran, North Korea, China, Russia or Cuba) and $4 million for consultants (because having more people formulate legislation other than the politicians themselves is exactly what we need).  Politico details the perks here.

Well, what right do we have to deny our overlords anything that they might desire?

We’re only the voters.

Ahhh!

Ain’t that just the sweetest thing?

Lots of cutey-pituty ChiComs all dressed up in pink, with shin-high white leather boots to match!

What happened here?  One of the PLA’s top brass must have had Barbie dolls on his mind, another was preoccupied with thoughts of strippers, while the third managed to stay on task by adding weapons to the mix.

Not that we should underestimate what these killer-chicks (known as the “iron roses” – awesome!  It’s just like a comic!  Can I be Super Dragon Communist Killer of the West?) are capable of, however.  Any country that still venerates history’s number one, all-time mass murderer has some deep issues.

And that’s good for us.  Because long before China’s anywhere near conquering the rest of the world through its endless supply of cheap plastic trinkets, it will collapse. Read the rest of this entry »

With the fusing of political parties everywhere into one hideous amorphous mass (a process that’s reaching its apogee in Europe, where party names have long since ceased to provide anything but the merest hint as to that party’s alleged values), the choice facing the electorate increasingly appears to be that between big and bigger government, high and higher taxes, and little or no accountability. The traditional dividing lines have softened and blurred, leading to the rise of the independents and their king-making capacity. The decisions of voters are less than ever based on how much they agree with a given party’s platform, but rather on how little they disagree with it.

With one exception, that is. Read the rest of this entry »

Their craziness notwithstanding, even lunatics can stumble upon moments of lucidity when something of great import happens.

But not Mahmoud and the mullocracy.  In their apocalyptic fervor to acquire nuclear weapons and rain down death upon everyone that doesn’t submit to their insanity, the theocracy has succeeded in forcing together Israel and Saudi Arabia.

That that hasn’t set the alarm bells ringing in Tehran is final proof of their detachment from reality.  The only thing that keeps North Korea in check is the desire of its leadership to survive.  This is the most fundamental aim of nation-states, and none operate on a basis other than this.

Except, perhaps, for Iran.  Because it is increasingly evident that the normal rules do not apply.  Assuming Iran to be a rational actor is the first mistake that Barry’s made, compounded by the second: mistaking Ahmadinejad for a politician, instead of what he really is – a madman.

Ahmadinejad is not interested in re-election; he doesn’t care about improving the lives of those under his rule; and the thought of strengthening his nation-state is anathema to him.  As he’s stated numerous times, he sees himself as a prophet, the man who will bring about the reappearance of the Twelfth (or Hidden) Imam, which – you guessed it – will also herald a planetary-level bloodshed of non-believers, sinners, Jews, etc.

Mahmoud, though, is so excitable that he seems to be mixing up the order – he can’t decide whether the appearance of the imam will lead to death and destruction, or the reverse, that death and destruction will lead to the appearance of the imam.  So he’s diligently preparing for both eventualities.

It is undoubtedly good that two countries of the enmity of Israel and Saudi Arabia have found common cause against a threat to them both.  With Barry refusing to do anything meaningful, the responsibility to take action will fall to others.

On a surface level, this can be interpreted as a positive development for the US.  America cannot be expected to solve all of the world’s problems, nor should it be expected to do so.

The possibility that Barry’s inaction could lead to a solution being formulated elsewhere, however, is a lucky break that Barry will shamelessly claim he instigated, ironically, through his own failure to act.

There is another, worse consequence, though.  Should this Israeli/Saudi tag-team materialize, it will be for the best, this time.

But we will not be so fortunate the next time.  Because the example will then have been set of by-passing the US on an issue of critical global importance.

After which could follow a barrage of nightmarish scenarios.

Venezuela and Cuba deciding to “liberate” the people of Colombia?

China and Russia jointly destroying Taiwanese independence?

You name it, someone, somewhere is thinking about it.

So…

Bearing in mind that the President of the United States has agreed to face-to-face meetings with the leaders of Iran and North Korea; given previously overt and now tacit approval to Manuel Zelaya; exchanged nauseating fist-bumps with Hugo Chavez; showered Putin with early Xmas presents in an attempt to apologize for the Soviet Union’s Worst. Christmas. Ever (December 25, 1991); and eased restrictions on the terribly misunderstood Castro regime…

How, then, has the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom failed to himself win any precious alone time with The One?

Though he’ll meet with the abhorrent leaders of a range of misfit countries, Obama won’t spare a few minutes for the comrade in charge of the UK.

That’s gotta hurt.

But worry not, Gordo, for there’s one or two sure-fire ways to receive an open invitation to the new and improved White House.

All that’s required is to illegally develop or proliferate nuclear weapons/deny the Holocaust/threaten a dozen or so neighboring countries/or, at the very least, express an undying commitment to enacting the wonderful ideals of Karl Marx.

Take your pick!

Oh deary me.

Less than 48 hours after President Obama decided to reward Tehran for its complete and utter obstinacy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – the man with such intimate knowledge of his own country that he even knows that not a single homosexual resides there – has now decided that the bi-lateral negotiations are not going to cover the nuclear issue, after all.

Well, who would want to talk about such a trifling issue, really?

This is precisely why negotiations without preconditions were not offered previously, and can only come as a surprise to those who are willfully blind as to the nature and history of the Iranian theocracy.  For everyone else (read: all those not affiliated with the Democratic Party in any way whatsoever), this is nothing but another step on the path towards the imminent Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons.

How our leaders are still duped by Iran’s time-honed strategy of offer-and-rescind is beneath my ability to explain.

The consequences, however, are far more easily elucidated: Iran gains a propaganda victory through making it appear that the Great Satan has capitulated; having already agreed to negotiations in principle, the Obama administration may still go through with them in a futile attempt to salvage whatever scraps of face remain after such a swift slap round the chops; and, most importantly for the mullahs, they gain yet more crucial time to dedicate to their weaponization schemes.

There are no easy choices and few good outcomes on this issue, but the worst by far remains Iranian possession of nukes.  At least with North Korea we have a somewhat compliant China (mostly) helping to keep the Dear Leader within the confines of his playpen, but who could fulfill a similar role with regard to Iran?

The Bush administration’s strategy veered schizophrenically from John Bolton’s singleminded determination to prevent Iran from obtaining nukes to eventually settling for merely slowing down their development horizon.  The Obama administration’s strategy, from what I can gather, consists almost entirely of talking nicely to an abhorrent collection of misogynists, bigots, racists and anti-Semites, and hoping for the best.

The complacency is stunning.  Time is running out to do anything substantive and if President Obama’s brainwave is to simply run down the clock and shrug his shoulders in resignation once the theocracy has turned the nightmare into reality, then he’s doing a bang-up job.

Otherwise, serious thinking caps (if not military helmets) need to go on right now.

Kim Jong-il, king of the fruitcakes, isn’t looking quite as robust as he normally does.

While his DPRK peasants eat grass, mud and each other (seriously – due to Kimmy’s depredations, destitute North Koreans have provided the world’s most contemporaneous example of forced cannibalism), the Dear Leader gorges himself on the finer things in life – whiskey, cigars and lobster.

Not that he has much longer to do so – the pancreatic cancer eating away at him appears to be winning.

DPRK is in the news for once not due to bellicose statements, missile launches and nuclear weapons. To remind us all that he (unfortunately) hasn’t died yet, Kimmy’s goons kidnapped a couple of American journalists.

The release of whom was negotiated in exchange for a visit by that walking STD, silver-haired lothario Bill Clinton, whom the state-run DPRK media then delightedly reported had apologized to the DL.

As cowardly as Clinton undoubtedly is, still I doubt it.

More pertinently, wasn’t it lucky that the two US reporters worked for Al Gore’s San Francisco-based Current TV? How handy for then calling in the 42nd president to go grovel for their release. Friends in high places and all that…

Does this mean that Clinton will henceforth be dispatched to Iran to ensure the release of the three arrested American tourists there?

In fact, why not use Bubba as a full-time chief hostage negotiator in increasingly dangerous global hot-spots?

A use has been found for him at last!

They commit suicide.

Though it’s a perennial favorite among left-wing enclaves, any (serious) talk of the demise of the US as the world’s sole superpower is so out of whack with reality that it’s normally not worth engaging your brain. When you’ve heard how the story goes once, you’ve heard it a thousand times.

Particularly when it’s Deepak Chopra (apologies, linked to a slightly aged piece in the Huff Po), who does nothing more than slightly re-heat all the tepid and vapid arguments of yesteryear about why a multi-polar world would be so, so nice.

Except, genius, that we’ve already had a multi-polar world on many previous occasions.  And it resulted in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World II (and, less directly, the Cold War), to name the biggies of the last two centuries alone.

Is even recent history that forgettable, now?

Significant state power, once gained, dissipates very slowly: few countries have lost their status as a superpower. Spain, Portugal and Holland are examples of this in the modern age, but, despite their deep problems, the United Kingdom, France and Russia still cling to their superpower standing, at least for now.

There has, however, never before been a power like the United States.

The (former) empires of France, Britain, Persia, Russia, China and Rome do not even come close to the military might of the US.  Short of the entire world teaming up against America, none could take her down – and even then, my money would be on the US. It’d be like Hulk Hogan fighting a room full of toddlers: unpleasant, to be sure, but more irritating than anything else (for the Hulkster, anyway).

Not that the US’ authority comprises only military means.  Combined with the twin allures of its (usually) dynamic economy and open society, the US towers over the rest of the world.

The real stake in the heart of this soft-intellectualism, however, is the most basic point: who would take over?

For as much as the Left loves to imagine it, there would be no orderly division of labor between America and the wannabees.  There never has been and there never will be, until (God forbid) we have some kind of global governance rule.

That aside, intense (and violent) competition will emerge among those nation-states covetous of American influence.  Historically, the world is at its most dangerous when states seek to change the prevailing order.

Which is precisely what is happening today. The ascension of a young and inexperienced president has afforded nefarious regimes the world over another opportunity to see how far they can push America back and expand their own influence. China is challenging the US Navy in the South China Sea.  Latent Russian hostility is on the rise, as they achieve feats such as ousting the US from its only Central Asian air base in Kyrgyzstan.  Iran is as belligerent as usual and closer than ever to obtaining nuclear weapons.  North Korea, behaving true to form despite Kim Jong-il’s incapacity, is conducting nuclear tests without a care in the world.  Serial basket-case Pakistan is nowhere nearer becoming the theoretical stable democracy that some analysts think not only possible, but also a panacea for their many problems. Finally, the mini-me Castros of Latin America are still nipping at America’s heels, but let’s leave them to their own plots and schemes while we focus on the big boys.

Within the last week alone – not that you’d know it from a domestic media that has focused exclusively on the riveting spectacle of Democrats blanketly defaming tens of millions of conservatives as racists – Russia has concluded pacts with the Georgian regions of Abkhazian and South Ossetia, allowing it to maintain military bases in both places for nearly a half-century to come. Everyone, please welcome back the Russian Empire. That, of course, is in addition to Russian warnings that it will seize (Georgian) ships in the Black Sea. Iran, meanwhile, is delirious with self-satisfaction now that its pure intransigence has led to its being dropped from the agenda for a September 24th meeting of the UNSC chaired by President Obama, a moratorium on further UNSC sanctions and the grand prize, bi-lateral negotiations with the United States. The DPRK, ever desperate to ensure that the world takes note of its pitiful existence, has been similarly rewarded with one-on-one talks, after it decided to renounce the 1953 armistice with South Korea.

More so even than acts of great strength, acts of weakness on this scale are never forgotten.

It is so dangerously naive to believe that we can all just get along, as Chopra and so many other left-wing flyweights unquestioningly do (with not the least among them being President Obama), that it defies comprehension.

Can they truly believe that China or Russia would be content with sharing global predominance with the US and do not harbor ambitions of usurping the US entirely?  That they wouldn’t subsequently transpose their oppression from the domestic to the international level?

And do they really want to see that happen?

I’m not sure that I want to know the answer.

Are they leaning in to shake hands, whisper sweet nothings to each other or, ahh, do something a little more personal?

Eh, whatever.  Perhaps Barry was just warning Medvedev that he was going to have to say some strong wrongs, but also reassuring him not to worry, as they’re only words.

Fresh from his failure to display any backbone at all over Venezuela, Iran and Honduras, Obama now seeks to prove his fortitude through telling Russia to respect the borders of Georgia and Ukraine.

Here’s the thing, Barry – for such a demand to have any impact whatsoever, then it must be backed up by credible means.

Which it won’t be.  Because having done nothing while North Korea shoots off missiles like fireworks, colluding with Latin American Marxist dictators over Honduras, declaring Venezuela’s elections to be free and fair, refusing to condemn the regime in Iran and allowing Russia to kick the US out of its only Central Asian airbase in Kyrgyzstan, is not exactly a distinguished track record.

Plus, if Russia didn’t much care about the US response when George W. Bush was in office (who, as we’ve all been indoctrinated to repeat, preferred to bomb his way out of every foreign entanglement), then how are they going to be bothered in the slightest by the whinings of some pacifist neo-socialist?

The answer, of course, is that they won’t be.

PS – What d’you reckon Obama’s favorite stock phrase is?  I’m going with “Let me be clear” which made numerous appearances (again) in his Russki speeches.