We had a wide-ranging discussion last night, and with greatly enhanced audio as I hosted it via Skype rather than phone.
Topics included:
Assad is attempting to do to Hama precisely what his father did a few decades ago; demolish it with tanks then bulldoze it flat. His brother is in charge of the slaughter. The two might be at odds, but the country seems to be spiraling into civil war. Europe and the US voice disapproval but really, what can we do?
Libya is still a stalemate. Obama’s “days, not weeks” can not be repeated too often as proof of the uselessness of our supposed leaders. Britain and France are making noises about how maybe Qadhafi can stay in the country if he steps down. This is a sign of desperation. In fact, France just pulled their aircraft carrier out of the area. Maybe they hope no one will notice if NATO essentially stops doing anything?
Humanitarian intervention: The US makes a big deal out of it yet somehow we’ve never intervened in Uzbekistan, Myanmar, or Congo. This makes a mockery of our stated intentions.
Beltway pundits still insist that even though the wars are bankrupting the US and we’re losing, that surely a Coalition of the Willing is the only sure path to ultimate success. They are out of touch and compromised by the military funding which directly and indirectly supports them, their foundations, think tanks, and PACs.
The US debt is now 100% of GDP. That’s higher than Spain. The recent debt ceiling charade accomplished little if anything. The sense is our leaders have no idea what to do, yet persist in pretending everything is fine as they hold ever more fundraisers. The emperor has no clothes.
This and more. Give a listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio or on iTunes
With Steve Hynd of Newshoggers, Keith Boyea keithboyea.wordpress.com, and myself.