And our moral bankruptcy. Otherwise would Chavez threaten to cut off oil shipments to the US? If the US weren't made so unpopular, would he be able to rally crowds with that threat.
But leaving Iraq would have been defeatist.
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and every President since has handled it peicemeal, at best.
Iraq does'nt have shit to do with it.
Try playing the Katrina card instead.
Of course, I could point out that Nixon's conduct of the war made discontent and pullout inevitable. Then you could point out that Johnson's conduct in the war made defeat inevitable. I could point out Eisenhower's treaty of Paris over Vietnam tied our hands to a losing position, and you could point out Kennedy's assassination of Diem. . .
This could be carried on forever. To bring it to the here and now, and frankly, to more pragmatic thinking: whatever our vulnerabilities since Vietnam, Bush's policy both aggravated and exposed them.
Besides, remember in 1999 we were considered the world's untouchable superpower? Everyone said so. And low and behold, that was almost 30 years after 1973. What has caused this change in perception?
Somehow, I'm skeptical that you would have then spoke about our glaring weakness since 1973.
i've been playing in the ocean off the coast of california since 1968. i moved to colorado in 82 to ski and make solar panels. one of the big reasons i DID NOT VOTE FOR BUSH in 04 was because it was clear he would not be moving fast enough to get ius off of imported oil and lastly, probably the biggest shocker, I considered voting for KetchupBoy Kerry because he proposed a 14 B$ tax credit program for alt fuel. i consider myself to have been aware since 73.
its more than lib/con.
it's realities of business, geo-polotics, and science
There may be a closet progressive hiding inside that conservative exterior after all.
BTW - you're gonna fall WAY behind after next weekend if you don't start stokin' and strokin'.
Doc, I don't see energy indepedence from the ME neanderthals "progressive" but we can chalk that up to semantics,
I do believe, and have believed for a LONG time, that we need to be both good stewards of the environment but also independant of the nightmareship entanglements of the ME. Indeed, free of the black mail of oil.
I would call it a national security issue and use federal funds to help private business overcome the technological hurdles in gen2 ethanlol, solar, geothermal, fuelcells etc...
We are not trying to steal anyones oil like some of your proggy idiot buddies blabbify about. NONSENSE.
WE simply want to transaction business with countries who have it.
anyways, if you ever get to know me beyond this context, i think you'll find even more of your preconcieved labels don't fit me
best,
BK
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I think you're making too much of the Chavez "threat." It's Yanqui-baiting, pure and simple, and always plays well to any Latin American political crowd -- for obvious reasons.
I can't help but wonder, almost 35 years after Nixon announced the objective to make the US "energy independent" how is it that we're in worsr shape now than then?
Too bad we couldn't have harnessed the energy potential of all the hot air expelled on this issue since then.
Weakness??? When in the past 40 years has any country picked a fight with us? And who has stopped us when we picked the fight? Chavez is a nothing but a big mouth dictator! When that asshole came and trashed Bush at the U.N. his petro company lost its big customer at citgo and 7-11.....you can believe all the liberal left wing media and politicians you want. Propaganda has only one value.....to make dumb people; "eg.you...." even dumber!
Yes, he's a big mouth. My point is he's a big mouth because we've weakened ourselves with Iraq.
you're wrong about Iraq having weakened us, unless you mean that the lefts undermining of the War in Iraq has exposed the lack of our political will.
Mark my words, China has no lack of political will. If we do not do what is necessary to protect our interests, China will most assuredly look after theirs. I would recommend mandatory Mandarin classes in elementary school right along with Spanish.