This is a live one.  Received a copy of the article from a Libertarian friend in SC.  Anybody care to take a crack at it?  read: http://www.populistamerica.com/are_you_ready_for_nuclear_war

One thing refreshing about the author is, he criticizes both Democrats and Republicans though he was the father of so called Reaganomics and served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. “In 1992 he received the Warren Brookes Award for Excellence in Journalism. In 1993 the Forbes Media Guide ranked him as one of the top seven journalists in the United States.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Craig_Roberts

“Red Dawn” was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I’m ready for anything.

I kind of liked “A Boy and His Dog” better, at least the ending.

brebro - 25 August 2008 10:07 AM

I kind of liked “A Boy and His Dog” better, at least the ending.

The ultimate example of “bros before hos.”

Karl Rove and the Diebold electronic voting machines were unable to control the result of the last election in Pakistan

Yeah, that’s where I stopped. I really can’t take any political/foreign policy piece seriously when it starts off with that conspiracy drivel. Might as well have started off talking about 9/11 Truth.

Steve Shanafelt - 25 August 2008 10:03 AM

“Red Dawn” was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I’m ready for anything.

“AVENGE MEEEEEE!!!”

bobaloo - 25 August 2008 10:35 AM

Karl Rove and the Diebold electronic voting machines were unable to control the result of the last election in Pakistan

Yeah, that’s where I stopped. I really can’t take any political/foreign policy piece seriously when it starts off with that conspiracy drivel. Might as well have started off talking about 9/11 Truth.

And why would you think the words of an award winning journalist and member of the Reagan cabinet being spouting conspiracy drivel?  what attracted me to this piece was the fact that I had just been thinking the same thing about our relations with Russia.  Sure, I’d love to believe the hype about Putin and all but honestly, I believe totally that they see us as a major competitor and military threat.  The placement of a missile defense system, even one that does not work, on Russia’s western borders convinced me there was more to this than knocking off an Iranian or North Korean missile.

If we are to remain a free people we need to be very alert about what Eisenhower called the military industrial complex.  This is a reality.  They run this country, maybe the world, from deep pockets filled by arms sales that never should have happened except for the machinations of those who would keep us in a perpetual state of warfare.

The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight.

~A. J. P. Taylor

And why would you think the words of an award winning journalist and member of the Reagan cabinet being spouting conspiracy drivel?

Because that’s what he immediately begins with. And continues with for the rest of the article. I’m beyond tired of “scholars” who, after being soundly beaten by Republican strategies, go to the basest level of dialogue. Puppets, brownshirts, Regime, war criminals, and on and on.
The modern conservative party is extraordinarily distasteful, but I don’t think they’re Nazi’s.
I don’t care who he used to work for, this guy makes Kos sound like a centrist.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t entirely disagree with what he says, but I can’t get to the point of the matter because he’s filled his article with the cliches I mentioned above, not to mention glossing over the reality of some of America’s foreign adversaries.

For example the border “tribesman” of Pakistan are Talib, you know, those guys that brutalized their country (Afghanistan) and it’s citizens. The author would have you believe they are peaceful sheep herders, who’ve done nothing wrong beyond being Muslims and disliking Musharraf.  In truth, they are the base of the Taliban who seek to overthrow the current Afghan government (who, I’m sure, is another American puppet) and return to the destructive and brutal halcyon days of murder, child rape and female submission.
Of course, Putin is simply an adversary who’s seen the Imperial threat America poses and has honorably acted to stop it. Like giving NK and Iran nuclear technology, nationalizing Russian media, executing disagreeable journalists and the such.

Like I said, I know the guy’s got a point in there somewhere, but it’s lost in his willful ignorance of reality.
Oh, yeah, and, according to Wiki, he is a Truther.

He will get his in the end, if I know anything about Truther consequences.

Well babloo, I feel a whole lot safer now, reading what you said.  Well, not so, wasn’t worried in the first place.  I was mostly attracted to the piece because of the Russians getting boxed in.  No sir, Putin is certainly not a nice guy underneath notwithstanding Bush’s look into his soul.  But, I believe he does have Russia’s best interests at heart and if he is suspicious of American moves in the region I think he has a right to be.

I’ve believed from the very first announcement that the missile defense system was provocative in spite of protestations to the contrary. For one thing, N Korea is out of the mix, almost definitely at this point.  Never considered that half starved bunch a credible threat in any case.

Iran is not yet in the mix and at last report had no missile capable of reaching Western Europe and no atomic war head to stick on it and why would they risk annihilation?  I don’t believe this sort of scenario is in the minds of Iran’s rulers.  This logically points to the Russian missile launchers as the principle target of the yet unproven defense system.

The US Missile Defence System Is the Magic Pudding That Will Never Run Out
Poland is just the latest fall guy for an American foreign policy dictated by military industrial lobbyists in Washington
by George Monbiot

  http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/19/11068/

TomH - 25 August 2008 05:53 PM

Well babloo, I feel a whole lot safer now, reading what you said.  Well, not so, wasn’t worried in the first place.  I was mostly attracted to the piece because of the Russians getting boxed in.  No sir, Putin is certainly not a nice guy underneath notwithstanding Bush’s look into his soul.  But, I believe he does have Russia’s best interests at heart and if he is suspicious of American moves in the region I think he has a right to be.

I’ve believed from the very first announcement that the missile defense system was provocative in spite of protestations to the contrary. For one thing, N Korea is out of the mix, almost definitely at this point.  Never considered that half starved bunch a credible threat in any case.

Iran is not yet in the mix and at last report had no missile capable of reaching Western Europe and no atomic war head to stick on it and why would they risk annihilation?  I don’t believe this sort of scenario is in the minds of Iran’s rulers.  This logically points to the Russian missile launchers as the principle target of the yet unproven defense system.

  http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/19/11068/

Heh, I’m not trying to make you feel safe.
Yeah, Bush’s proclamation of the purity of Putin’s soul was laughable. As far as acting in the best interests of his country, I’m sure that it is true, but to what end? Do you disagree with or contradict the brutality of his rule so far (and please don’t compare him to the Bush Admin.)? Many despotic rulers have had this same ambition but their results were less than desirable. You could even point to the nationalism in Germany post WW1 and make reasonable comparisons to the state Russia finds itself in after the fall of Communism.
But I digress.
I certainly agree that the missile defense system is another needless escalation in the game of one-upmanship, specifically trumping the Russians, regardless of it’s proven effectiveness. So in essence we’re in agreement that the provocation has to end. I also agree that our propping up of Georgia is dangerous, especially since going through with that protection could have disastrous consequences. So what to do?

I disagree with the idea that a nuclear armed NK, and they do have nukes, is not a threat to our interests. This maniacal, dangerous regime is a threat to Asian stability overall, not to mention who they could give the nuke tech to for the right price. They may be a starved nation, but I assure you the government and more influential members of the party are in fine shape. What do they care if the masses they exploit suffer? 

In the end, let’s just say I have no illusions about the military industry, government string pulling and so on, but I also see the reality of what our enemies are capable of. I don’t entirely agree with the overall tactics of our foreign policy shapers, but an isolationist stance would be even more detrimental to everyone’s interests.

I’m not so negative on North Korea.  The problem rests with the notion that Kim Jong-il is some kind of madman simply doesn’t flush.  He’s crafty, for certain, but I do not think he is out of touch with reality.  Whatever, they also do not possess a reliable delivery system.  I understand their best missile could reach our West Coast but honestly, he WOULD have to be a mad man to launch a nuclear attack against anybody.