a letter!

Edwin Thomas responds to my post on Taiwan and Bush with some thoughts of his own:


Yahoo news story on Rumsfeld

I was reading this and it made me think of your George "I'm an illiterate
idiot" Bush wish list. A good start at building ties to eastern Europe. I
speculate that yanking the Russian's chain may not be a bad thing. Especially
if we offer assistance against the Chechnyan problem. Sort of a carrot and
stick approach.

I have a few problems with Bush:
(order not relevant)

Economy: If you are going to spend a bunch of money, then quit giving damned
tax cuts. We are broke broke broke.

Environment: he has basically screwed everything. I'd hate to see him keep
doing it. He treats the ecology like Glorious Leader treats an unattended young
boy...

Appropriate use of force: While I agree that the US should be making a
difference in some parts of the world, I am not certain that Bush and I agree
about what is 'appropriate.'

I think we need to be much heavier handed with Russia, much more consistent
with Corea Del Norte and the Han Empire, and that we definitely, absolutely
need to upgrade our military systems. With everybody and their bastard brother
having atomics (which I shall consider different from Nukes in the way a 44
magnum is different from a cannon) we need to maintain a technological edge.

I think that the most important allies we have in the middle earth area are, in
order, Turkey- the ONLY country in the Islamic world with religious tolerance
and democracy in any form; Jordan, and Egypt. Notice that Israel is not there. I
think that Israel is a critical ally, but I think that we don't need them- they
just need us.

Primary foreign issues for my presidential candidate-

1. Afghanistan and Iraq: finish what has been started.
2. Korea- remove US troops and agressively move to isolate the North. No more
energy, fuel, food, anything. If necessary, keep a presence in the sea of
Corea/Japan and on the southern tip of the continent as a deterrent, but
isolation of the North is first priority.
3. Taiwan and Japan- China is the ONLY power capable of defeating the US.
(Maybe. Certainly nobody else is.) The drain of resources caused by North Korea
will help bleed them while we protect Taiwan. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should
China be allowed to absorb any more territories.
4. Pull out of Nippon. We are not welcome or wanted. Keep them as a protected
state and allow them to build limited military defensive capability. Do not
make the mistake of thinking that Nippon will not become imperialist in a
heartbeat if it has a full military.
5. Islam- we need to strengthen areas of moderate Islam around the world and
weaken areas of the (Saudi based) extremist Wahabi Islam. This ultimately means
moving out of Saudi Arabia. It also means strengthening those non-Islamic forces
around the world in areas of Islamic insurgency. How to best do this is beyond me.
6. Ecology- we need international agreements limiting and controlling fishing
and whaling in both the Atlantic and the North Pacific. No more species should
be brought to the point of extinction by fishing and hunting.
7. Energy- this is good business sense- we need to identify all industries in
which we are petrol-dependent and find/develop alternatives. This includes
fuel, plastics, cosmetics, and agriculture, and probably much more.

Bush or Daffy Duck... Bush or Daffy Duck... Bush or Daffy Duck...

The Maximum Leader recently reminded me that "all politics is local." I take this to mean that we vote according to what's immediately relevant to us, where we are, in Stiff Clit, USA. Right now, for me, what's relevant is foreign policy, probably because I'm deeply concerned by the Asian and Middle Eastern situations. I'm not convinced the Dems have any plans that're better than what the current administration's got, messed-up and ad hoc as those plans may be. I think Bush's basic attitude is fundamentally correct: firmness now, conciliation later-- and ignore most critics inside and outside the US. I think this is where many Dems fail in foreign policy-- not the particulars, but the spine. Right now, so soon after 9/11 (yes, it's soon, and no, it's not yet time to put this firmly in the past), we need spine.

"It's the economy, stupid."

I agree this is hugely important, but I'm just calling it like I see it. We'll survive. Even if we're talking about a major recession or a multifront trade war, we'll eke our way through it, because when you look through the layers of obesity, sarcasm, tattoos, and piercings, we're at heart a tough, adaptable people who espouse hope, that future-oriented sentiment, as part of our ethos. Bush might buttfuck the economy, but we'll make it through in spite of him.

The prospect of a major US city becoming a crater (nukes) or mass grave (bioweapons, etc.) is very much on my mind right now-- more than the economy is. We DO need to work on the economy-- NOW-- because that ties in to issues like defense and national security. But if I have to hierarchize issues to make my electoral decision, I have to put defense issues first. Is that the right way to think? I honestly don't know. But it's where I am at the moment. I may still have to write in Daffy Duck come next November, though. We'll see.

_