Politics – After a brief tribute to George HW Bush Timothy Garton Ash goes on to give a European view son in his own inimitable style. It should come with a Health Warning for the ever-shrinking band of die-hard George W supporters.
Good article gama, and it shows why the election of the US President affects the world (whether we like it or not).
It does indeed Mdiar and even though US citizens don't like to be criticised by "outsiders" we have to take the risk of confronting sometimes.
I wasn't planning to post this story; I was looking for one specifically about the missile-shield issue which is my current major concern in my back yard. This does nothing for Europe - its not intended to - and risks affecting some of us very negatively. Right now they're discussing this in a bizarre palace in Romania, a few weeks after supporting the impossible "nationhood" of Kosovo..
The missile shield really does nothing for anyone as far as I can tell. Its beyond our current level of technology and while I agree with dreaming big, this just seems to be poorly planned and a waste of money. Great title by the way, I wonder how many people will sink it before they read further?
FTA
Take missile defence, for starters. Bush came on his first official visit to the old continent in summer 2001, determined to convince us Europeans of the importance of missile defence; and he still seems convinced of it himself. So this futuristic project - the son or by now grandson of Ronald Reagan's Star Wars - keeps grinding forward, with the assistance of increasingly reluctant Poles and Czechs. The trouble is that it's irrelevant to the principal security threats of the post-9/11 world.
Bush profoundly observes that "a missile can fly north just as it can west" - thus pointing the finger at Iran as well as Russia. The idea that you best defend yourself against a potentially nuclear-armed rogue state by doing a modernised version of what Reagan 20 years ago imagined you might do against the old nuclear-armed Soviet Union is about as intelligent as holding a large umbrella over your head while the floodwaters lap around your thighs and piranhas gnaw at your heels.
NOT FTA!
One dismal aspect about this boondogle is that it risks destabilising the whole system of checks and balances which have MAINLY kept the peace in Europe since the 2nd WW. Strange and unnerving for us in Central Europe to see the Russian Bear rampant again and being continually provoked by the invasion of what it considers its "sphere of influence" in Europe. Based on his complete misreading of Putin by Bush in his idiotic "Pooty-poot" nursery period and the craven forelock touching of our pusillanimous second-rate politicians the Czech Republic and Poland are once again being turned into flashpoint target-zones and with absolutely NO benefit to themselves.. I lie! They are being teased with the POSSIBILITY that if they co-operate MAYBE they'll be afforded visa-free entry to the US. Note that all other EU members have this RECIPROCAL right anyway; the Czech Republic and Poland do NOT require visas for US citizens.
"I was looking for one specifically about the missile-shield issue which is my current major concern in my back yard."
You mean the same defense system that gave us the Patriot Missile, which worked wonderfully during the first Gulf War?
I've not read such polite in-your-face insultingly fine print in a very long, long time -- I flat love it! Gama, that's cool enough to quote!!! The thing I loved while in Paris was the fact they were laughing AT HIM! They could not believe we'd impeach a good president for a head-job (that big surplus, no recession, full employment), yet not impeach a president for deliberately lying not only the US, the United Nations, AND the world about WMD, "mushroom clouds", chemical weapons, but really had a big broom for a nuclear launcher! What they don't understand is he wasn't elected -- he was appointed (by the federal judges selected by Nixon, Reagan, and Bush, Sr.). Hell, his damned brother screwed-up the election twice! They closed voting booths, they used Diebold's "paperless" voting machines, and generally butt-banged the poor and middle-class while getting the wealthiest richer! Outsourcing has lead this country to financial ruin! Why, they ask me.
Good story,one that at least puts some of his failures in perspective to some of his fathers decent policy actions.
When will the Rush's of the country see this person for what he is,i don't think they will.By doing that they would have to admit being wrong,and the type of arrogance that still supports him will never do that.
George Bush, (the father) may have been good for uniting Europe, but he trashed the economy of the US at record speed, which is why Bill Clinton was elected to replace him before he got a second term. At least he wasn't given 8 years to trash us like his son, and God only knows how long it will take to clean up Dubya's mess, or IF it's even fixable..
The sky is falling and the Dems have the socialist program to get us out of economic woes. Free healthcare and raise the taxes on couples making $50 or more. Clinton inherited an economy that was showing life in the last two quarters of Bush I. When i saw Bush laughing at Ron Browns funeral and the second he saw a camera acted like he was crying as he touched the corner of his eye I knew he was all an act.
Bush was NOT re-elected because of a recession. The economy was in shambles..."READ MY LIPS" "Shambles"..
The only man on earth who could make George W look smart,
Quayle, was oblivious, and your historic revisionism
is only harmful if anyone is stupid enough to believe you..
Apparently, bluenote is a Rush acolyte who holds up the false idea that free markets are everything, we should deregulate business as much as possible...oh,yeah, and get rid of all those "socialist" saftey nets like Social Security and Medicare (Rush: "Roosevelt is DEAD! His policys may live on, but we're doing something about that as well!")...hell, privatize the whole damn thing! After all freedom means the freedom to MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE without any regard for the elderly, poor, or disabled.
This poison has been in our atmosphere for 30 years now. Soon after the Republicans lost Richard Nixon to resignation (before likely impeachment) in 1974. Enter Jerry Falwell and his Moral Majority and the GOP had their temporarily winning combination of Christianist nutballs, warmongers, and greedy bastards.
That coalition is crumbling. The GOP cannot win. We, as a nation, will not stand for this anymore. It is past time for change...
Don't give bluenote any credit for having any ideas. Basically, the words coming from that person are divisive, mean-spirited,heartless and against every principle from which our country was founded.
The comments are truly disappointing and un-American.
it is a shame that we have citizens who still feel this way and have not evolved to help our nation grow.
Ignore them. They are in a very small minority.
They consider Rush to be a philosopher when the rest of the world knows that he is nothing more than an entertainer who buys his shame by creating more wealth for himself.
"....Free healthcare and raise the taxes on couples making $50 or more....."
Do you know what you're talking about??
I much prefer the health care in Europe rather than the one in the US. If you're poor or on low income in the US, you are indeed poor.
Yes, like all systems, the European healthcare in Europe (different in each country) is not perfect. However, it beats the US system largely.
And yes, at first sight we might pay more taxes in Europe (again different in each country), however, we do get a lot in return. And actually, if you count federal tax, state tax, county tax, AND expensive PRIVATE health insurance, the difference isn't that big anymore.
Unless you are VERY wealthy, live is nicer in Europe. But if you are very wealthy, I can (and do) believe that the US is a better place.
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Only the most diehard Bushites will withstand this blistering attack on their cherished icon.
Good find G. Although there is still 19% that will sample the Kool-Aid. ;)
Ah yes, "the Madness Of King George".
Sharp retort. Well played Sir!
Radio, I've missed you. Welcome back. (((Radio)))
Does that make Condi Rice the `other` Boleyn girl?
"Although there is still 19% that will sample the Kool-Aid. ;)"
Yeah, those Congressional approval ratings are pretty dismal, aren't they? How does that Kool-Aid taste?
idiot
Coffee, i put a block on that idiot a long time ago. No use in letting someone with such little intelligence rent space in my head!
as should we all.. It is just scary that they let people like
that vote (or have a computer)
Lib R Us
I think you misunderstood the comment. I believe it was a reference to the President, partly because that is who the article is about, and not congress. Thus your reply is non sequitur.
It may have been poison last time, and the time before, and the time before, and the time before, and the time before, and the time before that but if you are a cup-half-full apologist, that just means the odds are increasing that the kool-aid will be great the next time you drink it.
Onion, does the Kool-Aid that both sides refer to come from a reference to The Jones Town massacre or Ken Kesey. Just curious since the right wingers won't answer.
I think it's in reference to the Kool-Aid ad. You know, the one with that giant glass pitcher with a face on it that explodes through walls. Or, wait, maybe it just pranches around trying to entice you with a cup of kool-aid. Oh, I forget...never mind.