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We will invade somebody.  Think of a spoiled two year old throwing a tantrum.  Now imagine that two year old in an Abrams tank.

Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?
by budr on Sat Jul 29th, 2006 at 08:03:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
There is a freightening number of otherwise "sane" Americans who would be easily convinced that such an invasion was fully justified.
by Richard Lyon (rllyon@gmail.com) on Sat Jul 29th, 2006 at 08:18:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
We already engaged in such an invasion. Once gas is expensive enough, the war will be openly justified as securing our resource base.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 04:19:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, Bush the Father and Dick Cheney have said while in office that the American way of life is not negotiable.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 04:25:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Right, but linking that kind of rhetoric to real actions would be entirely new.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 05:21:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The problem is there's no one to invade. The US already uses as much oil as the next six countries on the list.

It would have to be the US against the world. While this might feed fantasies of US exceptionalism, it really isn't a realistic as a military strategy.

Great article, btw.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 06:23:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I have seen very little evidence that reality is a driving force in American military strategy or foreign policy.
by Richard Lyon (rllyon@gmail.com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 10:26:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
We don't need the whole damn country, just the part with the relevant minderal resources.  Hence, why soon we are likely to hear about the "independence" movements of Zulia in Venezuela and Santa Cruz in Bolivia.

Consider the neoliberal wetdream that is is the Rumbo Propio movement for Zulian independence from the "Socialistic" government of Hugo Chavez.

The Way Out

This is the ads we have let the people know ...

What Can You Get

List of 12 Results

  1. A very superior level of life for you, for your family and for all.
  2. More jobs, better jobs and more productive and profitable ones.
  3. Very much less poverty, with real solutions, no peanuts.
  4. Very much less corruption.
  5. Law and order.
  6. Public amenities.
  7. Yearly profits shares from oil companies.
  8. High quality private education and medical care for all.
  9. Private Pension Funds for all.
  10. Very much more free time.
  11. Unions in its really genuine functions.
  12. Vouchers for education, medical care and pensions to poor people, that will become very much less, and become very much less poor.

How Can You Get

All these benefits for you and your family if our State reach an Act of Autonomy, granting four-folded Political, Legislative, Administrative and Fiscal Autonomy. We are speaking of an Act of Autonomy in each State of our country, that will enable and will empower our people with ...

Bill of 11 Rights

  1. A strong but limited Government, in charge of Security, Law-Enforcement and Public amenities.
  2. A strong and rich full employment and high life level and free-market economy.
  3. A neutral State, with no opinions in private non offensive matters.
  4. Low taxes.
  5. No huge amount of public debt.
  6. Hard money, free money.
  7. Popular privatizations of oil and economic state enterprises, with shares for all.
  8. Law, no regulations.
  9. Private Institutions, non State dependent ones.
  10. Popular privatizations of educational, medical and pensional state institutions for teachers and professors, doctors and nurses, clerks and workers.
  11. Vouchers for poor people.


And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 10:46:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Tell me this is a joke.

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 11:24:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'd foolishly forgotten about DemocracyTM.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 11:36:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Unfortunately, no.

This is a serious attempt to severe of much of Venezuela's oil and agri-business resources.

And the idea seems to be catching on.

Was in the Dutch or the Portugese that purposely limited the scope of their African colonies to where the mineral resources were at?

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg

by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 11:46:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This would be a movement funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, wouldn't it?

Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 12:26:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not on the the publicshed budget, but the International Republican Insitute got a $200,000 grant for Venezuela......

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
by ManfromMiddletown (manfrommiddletown at lycos dot com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 12:39:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that our actions would make any sense.  When did the tantrums of a spoiled child ever make sense?  Or that our actions would bring down the price of oil.  Nothing on this earth can do that now except a major reduction in demand.  

What I meant was that our response to the inevitable rise in the price of gasoline will be that of a spoiled child.  We are on the second or third generation of Americans who think The American Way of Life(TM)* is their God-given right.  The neocons and the theocons have ridden to power on just that sort of delusional thinking.  Their answer to everything is more tanks, more bombs, more guns.  

*Loosely defined as More of Everything Than Everybody Else.

Now where are we going and what's with the handbasket?

by budr on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 11:45:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You can be very certain that the campaign to liberate the natural resources of Latin America will be heavily couched in terms of protecting the human rights of the people who live there.
by Richard Lyon (rllyon@gmail.com) on Sun Jul 30th, 2006 at 12:21:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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