Saturday, March 19, 2011

Three months since I've posted. Well, at least I'm at it now. Yesterday I was surprised by Chris Matthews on Hardball expressing two points: First, that the UN Resolution on Libya added a phrase allowing all necessary actions to protect civilians and Second, that he was surprised that Hillary Clinton and President Obama were so far off message compared to each other. He asked his guests if this indicated stress and disagreement over policy in the White House.

My responses: when I heard the UN resolution announced I knew exactly what it meant. It was a cart blanche. Attack whatever of Kadafi’s forces you want, just claim it was in defense of civilians. Without this excuse, Kadafi could still survive. With it, Kadafi is suddenly looking a lot like Hitler when he moved into his Berlin bunker.

As for trouble in the White House...please, we’re dealing with the Clinton's and Obama. The Clinton’s were the most effective political team in recent history, until they met the Senator from Illinois. Every word, probably every gesture made by Hillary and Obama have been carefully choreographed, and the choreographer is Barack Hussein Obama.

Love it or hate it, politics in this nations is, in many ways, deeply akin to a musical spectacular, live on stage.

As I write this, the news is announcing that the French have made the first attacks in Libya, and they hit “military vehicles”, not aircraft. The operation is apparently commanded by the French, not Americans. The first time in history, I believe, since WW II that Americans have taken orders from a non American commander. Like the day when Churchill was forced to ask for American help to save his nation, this is the passing of an era. Churchill was forced to oversee the collapse of the British Empire and Obama is forced to acknowledge that American power is limited. Many believe that the US will fade into a minor power, as did Britain. I disagree. This is an adjustment we won't like, but it is a healthy one. It is time to share the burden and to accept that we will remain the world’s leader, but will cease to be the world’s unquestioned boss.

This is true economically as well. Many fear China as a military and economic threat. I don’t see it. There will be rough times and serious crises, but in the next 30 to 50 years, China will become our best friend and most important trading partner. The talking heads have declared themselves amazed that China has defied conventional wisdom in becoming a centrally controlled, dictatorial capitalistic economy. Supposedly impossible, but they declare it a success. Well, it is impossible. China is changing and she is changing fast. More and more freedom, more and more efforts on the part of the government to placate its people instead of crushing them. China is following the exact course suggested when Hong King was allowed to remain largely free of communist dogmatic control. She is painfully and slowly turning into a democracy. Oddly, China is following the course I believed would be the fate of the Soviet Union, a slow and inevitable transformation into a free state.

I was wrong about the Russians, but the Chinese are showing that at least my concept was sound. I just applied it to the wrong country!