John McCain

Fred Thompson said, "Being a POW doesn't qualify anyone to be president, but it does reveal character." Meaning, vote for John McCain.

He could equally have said, "Coming home from years of war to find your lovely, faithful wife has had a horrific accident and lost six inches in height from her legs - dumping her and the kids and picking up a younger, prettier filthy rich heiress - doesn't disqualify anyone from being president, but it does reveal character." Meaning, yup, if you want an cynical opportunist - again - to run the country, vote for John McCain.

Big Government

It's not a matter of more government or less government, it's a matter of good government.

More government doesn't make for better government, it just makes more bureaucracy and worse government.

Less government doesn't make for better government, it just makes for holes in a structure that get fixed with new structures, which generates overlapping and conflicting bureaucracies, and worse government.

Better government is the goal. That means transparency, accountability, and an independent Ombudsman where anyone can go when the government administration is being bureaucratic, unfair or illegal.

2008 Kentucky Derby

Yesterday Hillary Clinton was saying about today's Kentucky Derby, 'Put a bet on Eight Belles for me - she's the only filly in the race."
So what happens? Big Brown wins! And Eight Belles not only places second, but collapses right afterwards and breaks both front ankles, and is euthanized immediately....
Um, Hillary, any comment...? Isn't this going to be a talking point for the next couple of days? Have you just lost yourself the primaries in three days time?
And just how does this happen? Is this Jung's theory of synchronicity in action? Was it foreknowledge on her part? Was it an inadvertent curse she set? Is it simply too funny, and the gods do it so that (almost) everyone can laugh at the mysterious poetry of the universe?

WMD and Oil, part 2

... and when Bush has to deal with a squeaky door hinge or whatever, he reaches for the WMD40.

WMD and Oil

Bush never lied, or meant to deceive anyone about Iraq - it's just we don't all speak quite the same language as the Commander-in-*hief. When he uses the phrase "Weapons of mass destruction", just remember that he means Oil.

He never really wanted to go into Afghanistan - they don't have Weapons of mass destruction. He wanted to attack Iraq instead, to get control of their Weapons of mass destruction. The US has Weapons of mass destruction, of course, but not enough; 'enough' would, ideally, be a complete monopoly. So he had to kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, to prevent threats and to hold the fractious country together. Like Saddam Hussein!

Now he's telling everyone that Iran has Weapons of mass destruction. Of course! Saddam realized that too!

The biggest irony will be when he realizes that Kuwait has Weapons of mass destruction, and the US has to go in and bring them under Iraq's control.

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(With a tip of the hat to Eliza D. Squirrel for identifying this language issue.)

Success and Failure in Iraq

So Bush has succeeded. He has achieved an American land-grab comparable to Jackson's 'Indian Removal Act' and the eviction of the Cherokee from the Appalachians, or Polk's war, America's first 'war of choice', that stripped Mexico of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and parts of three other states.

The major differences are:

1. Iraq is not an extension of the existing United States into which land-hungry settlers can pour.
2. He can't wipe out or swamp the natives. The billion-dollar embassy will be surrounded by active enemies forever.
3. This time it's all about oil, global power, and the personal enrichment of Bush, his family, his inner circle, and his power base - even if it impoverishes the average American.

Bush's preferred activity at Yale (apart from drink, drugs and sex) was playing Risk. I'm sure he was very good at it, and I'm sure he cheated whenever he could get away with it. Unfortunately, it presents a very simplistic view of warfare and global dominance. All countries are the same, they're just worth 1 point each; they don't have cultures or histories or religions; they don't even have populations to worry about, with insurgents and ethnic divisions and civil wars. All you have to do, if there's a setback, is raise more troops and roll more dice.

Mr. Bush, globally ignorant, builds his billion-dollar Fort Embassy in the middle of the country with all the oil. What he fails to take into account is that, if the country break into three, the US will be sitting in the only bit without oil.

But so what? That will be the next Administration's problem.

Bush has had his fun, accomplished his mission, benefited his friends, and set himself up financially for life.

By the way, that's proof that Jesus loves him.

The Difficulty of Overcoming Politics

There is no clearer view of the difficulties of overcoming the negative aspects of politics, than that presented in the works of primatologist Frans de Waal. Politics is just something we do, and have done for a good 5 million years. Accept it, and then think about creating rules to moderate the more harmful aspects.

"Chimpanzee Politics" (1982) is a good start, but de Waal has a couple of dozen books and Scientific American articles and so on to his credit.

The books are insightful and witty, but, if you like them, for god's sake go and hear him when he is speaking at a university near you. That way you can luxuriate in his film clips, snide comments and hilarious photographs!

Strengthening the US

Sometimes I wonder why Eliza and I dedicate our working lives to strengthening the US, its corporations, its economy, its schools, by making them healthier and more business-savvy - when the Government does such destructive things with the millions of dollars that have accrued to them as a result of our improvements and the direct taxes we pay.

When tax money is spent on schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and international aid, all of which also build the economy, that's one thing. But when it's spent on blowing up other people's schools, hospitals and infrastructure while the domestic economy and infrastructure go to hell, it's hard to live with.

Come on, Americans, just elect a Democrat, any Democrat, over those fiscally irresponsible Republicans.

George W. Churchill

"Nuthen t' offer yuh, 'cep Flood, Oil, Fears, an' Debt."

- from A Histry of the Amercan-Speakin People, by George W. Churchill

often misquoted as "Flood, Debt and Fears".

However his real legacy from a historical viewpoint, the way in which he impacted both the problems and the solutions of government, was Theft, Waste, War and Lies.

No Justice, No Peace

I hear the Civil Rights protest chant in support of the Jena 6: "No Justice, No Peace!"

But hey, isn't that the slogan of the Bush Administration?