http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49460 Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld are the most incompetent leadership we've had since Johnson, McNarmara, Westmoreland. Sheesh.
Interview with Cheney in 1994, explains why we did not go into Iraq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YuD9kYK9I Can you say 'quagmire'? We knew why we should not go in.
Greenspan's book http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20817260/ Greenspan is the ultimate insider, fed chairman for 17 years, through several presidents.
Re: Greenspan's book The local warhawks won't answer you anymore, hou. Even they realize the situation is FUBAR.
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/10/15/roundtableDebatesEnergyIssues First Greenspan, now Abizaid. Insiders from the top. When the American people said they were lied to about the reasons why the US went to war in Iraq (no WMD, no imminent threat to the USA, no collaborative relationship with Al Qaeda, and nothing to do with 9/11), the right persisted that we had not been lied to, the leaders were honestly mistaken. I think it is pretty clear we were lied to, by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Powell, Tenent, etc.
The neocons have set the republican party back 10 years. And they set the United States of America back 25 years. The "Vietnam syndrome" is back, a Cold War with Russia is back, and we're facing an energy crisis again.
I really don't think you're overstating this. I wish you were. I grew up a Republican, but am so dissatisfied with what I've gotten from "my" party, in terms of self-dealing, deception, incompetence, and a general lack of understanding of the role of government that I welcome almost any sort of change. I say "almost" because I'm genuinely terrified of the socialist agenda of some Democrat candidates.
Re: Greenspan's book Anyone who knows anything understands that our interest in the Middle East is driven by oil. If they didn't control the world's oil market, we would treat them like Africa. We would look the other way while millions die. We didn't liberate Kuwait because it was the right thing to do, we did it to stop Saddam from taking the next step of invading Saudi and controlling most of the oil in that region. Just like the first gulf war, our government can't make the case to go to war over oil. Many americans simply don't understand the economic implications of one madman controlling so much oil. Greenspan said what our government can't.
Fear not, amigo, and don't be put off by the far left of the Democratic party. There is a very large block of moderates among the Democrats, and many more independents and moderate republicans who vote democratic that have never let the extreme elements have their way. Bill Clinton, Lyndon Johnson, and Harry Truman were moderates and in no way socialists. John Kennedy and Jimmuh Cahta were more liberal, but still not socialists. I think that's part of the Republican scare tactics. Most Americans are moderate, regardless of party and tend to elect moderates. Moreover most candidates, regardless of campaign rhetoric, have presided as moderates. Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Bush 41 and even [takes deep breath] Richard Nixon are prime examples of this. They campaign to get the support of their party, but as presidents, they realized that they represented a broad spectrum of public opinion and must deal with a large body of opposition politicians that nee to be accomodated. Bush and the neocons operated under the assumption that with even a tiny margin of victory (essentially none in 2000) that they could have it all their way and could simply ignore half the people of the United States and their representatives. This was rash, foolish, and ultimately a failure of a policy. In the absense of a true moderate party people tend to favor candidates that lean toward the center. Witness the success of Hillary and Rudy, both of whom are closer to the center than their rivals.
