dog days

Today, there are two rallies in Washington, DC, one being led by Glenn Beck, at the Lincoln Memorial, and the other, by the Rev Al Sharpton, at the site of the (planned) Martin Luther King Memorial.

By now, you have read about them, and have an opinion, you don't need mine too.

By the time you finish this and see the news, there will be another hundred or so posts or articles covering the events of the day. So what?

What most of them miss is that they bring nothing new to the table. They are like a pair of ill-natured dogs fighting over the last scrap of meat on a soup bone.

They are, in many ways, representative of the state of American politics and industry today. They bring nothing new, but latch onto existing ideas or products, and draw off the lifeblood of the industry.

Glenn Beck restoring honor? C'mon.......

Al Sharpton defending the legacy of the Civil Rights movement? Where's your wallet?

We have become a nation that takes a piece of the action, politically and socially, industrially, financially and sometimes even militarily, (altho when we should settle for that option, we tend to plunge all in...).

If somebody wants to restore honor, we need some new ideas.

Who's Next ?

At this point in time, you won't find too many people of any political stripe who would seriously debate you (and stay on topic) on the issue of "Barack Obama will be a One-Term President". A lot of folks, (thoughtfully), hope that it is true. A lot, (equally thoughtfully), hope that it isn't, and a lot hope that it is for the same reason that mobs gather around a street-fight and yell for whoever is on top at the moment.

Truth is, he might be. Right now, he can't be called a great leader, although much of that is through no fault of his own. He has a lot on his plate, dealing with situations created over the years by administrations of both parties. Whether or not he is doing what is right or best is almost secondary right now. The Congress, (led by his own party), is very busy exacting political and economic vengeance for every little wrong that they can recall over the past quarter century, and really don't want anyone in the way. The consequences of the attitude of the past administration are making cooperation with the other nations of the world less than easy, (and never, ever, simple). And the people, who nominally put the President into office, appear to have done it for a lot of reasons that were far from what our founders envisioned. (The phrase "lesser of several evils" comes to mind here).

So, what's gonna happen next?

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that Obama is a foregone loser. Just for grins, let's say he doesn't even run again. (As an aside here, there is an article in the London Telegraph that ruminates on this very subject). Who will step up, (or more accurately, fall over themselves to get to the plate...)?

Any guesses?

And more importantly, are any of them worth it?

Ideas and comments solicited and welcome here.

funny how things sometimes turn out

Funny. Well, not really. But the point is that nobody could see this coming, and it may be the most significant event in the history of this particular war.

It's raining in Pakistan. And flooding. And getting worse. Holy Katrina!

And as it rains, and continues to flood the productive northwest agricultural zone of that country, the less than popular government is slipping in the eyes of the local gentry. Even the government bureaucracy is distancing itself from the, (ahem), elected establishment.

Remember that the bureaucrats are the people who supplied the North Koreans with the know-how and technology to advance from rogue state to nuclear armed rogue state, and who answer only to the highest bidder on the international black market when it comes to arms, opium and shady deals. The elected government officials are, at least nominally, our allies, (who won't let us into their country to chase al-Qaeda because it might upset the locals and cause them to lose face). These are the ones we support and prop up.

And they are losing their influence because of the weather. Like I said, it's funny in a way, that the whole situation could spin out of control and completely disintegrate on such a mundane factor. I mean, who could see it coming? We will be unable to protect what flank we have in Afghanistan if Pakistan falls, or even teeters, and, having no defined objective, we will be unable to, you know, win.

My prediction is that this won't be talked about on the sunday news shows. I hope that I am wrong, and that it won't be necessary to talk about it, but the time to win the war against bin Laden, (yes, I said bin Laden, not something murky like terrorism or radical Islam or something equally undefined). Heavy aid, delivered directly to those who need it, given without restriction, accompanied by a quick retreat and the promise not to fuck with them, just as soon as we get the guy who killed our friends. This will do more to get concrete results in the mideast than 200 F-16's sold to the candy-assed regime in Islamabad.

The tribal people, many of whom don't know what we are there for anyway, might understand and respect the mission. We go in, we help the local farmers as much as we can, we LISTEN to their needs and fill them as much as we are able, and, while we are there, we explain that if we see any of the following people, (Osama and the others on our most wanted list), we will kill them if we cannot capture them, and that is the deal. If they accept it, good, if not, too bad. Accept the aid package and have a nice day.

Then we leave. I said earlier that we don't know what a win really looks like.

Everybody knows a loss when they see it.

Thats my opinion for the week.

Why I hate the Internet, part 1

I got this in an email this weekend, and it was not in one of the many joke emails I receive from friends and relatives. The sender was unknown to me, (one of the reasons I use BCC), and it was a part of a general rant about everything wrong with the world, which, as it conveniently turns out, is everything.

If anybody can come up with a solution that will not knock down the house of cards that we all live in or take away my meager living, please post it, then run for something.