This Time Magazine "No More Cowboy Diplomacy" article is ridiculous.

[Human Torch]

"The End Of Cowboy Diplomacy" will come...God willing...in January 2009. Anyone who thinks that Bush is going to hang up his fake-ass spurs before then is a fucking idiot. Maybe worse. I don't know what being worse than a fucking idiot looks like, but rest assured...anyone who thinks Cowboy Diplomacy is over before 2009 is a poster child for the term "worse than a fucking idiot."



The end of cowboy diplomacy
Why the 'Bush Doctrine' no longer works for Bush administration

Sunday, July 9, 2006; Posted: 12:46 p.m. EDT (16:46 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/09/coverstory.tm.tm/index.html

A grinding and unpopular war in Iraq, a growing insurgency in Afghanistan, an impasse over Iran's nuclear ambitions, brewing war between Israel and the Palestinians -- the litany of global crises would test the fortitude of any president, let alone a second-termer with an approval rating mired in Warren Harding territory.

And there's no relief in sight. On the very day that Bush celebrated 60, North Korea's regime, already believed to possess material for a clutch of nuclear weapons, test-launched seven missiles, including one designed to reach the U.S. homeland.

Even more surprising than the test (it failed less than two minutes after launch), though, was Bush's response. Long gone were the zero-tolerance warnings, "Axis of Evil" rhetoric and talk of pre-emptive action.

Instead, Bush pledged to "make sure we work with our friends and allies ... to continue to send a unified message" to Pyongyang. In a news conference after the missile test, he referred to diplomacy a half dozen times.

[Joanne98]

1. They're trying to fool the rest of the world. It won't work though.

Bush is just a symptom of the American sickness. We have to give up our super-power status. We're MONSTERS.

[Deja Q]

3. The US is doing that, with corporate America's full backing.

To China.

Been happening for some time now.

The sickness will soon be over, methinks.

Trouble is, there are many sorts of monsters. And until the late 1970s, China was said to be the biggest. Who knows anymore?

[Joanne98]

6. I saw this on Book TV today. American Methods....

I am going to buy this book. I think this guy has nailed it.

American Methods: Torture And The Logic Of Domination

In this book, lies the way, to destroying America's superpower status.
By BRANDING America, "The cruel and usual", by making the case that America's has been torturing and murdering it's own people for decades, we can take away the one thing the right-wing really wants. To be the provider of security in the world order. No one in their right mind would allow such an brutal culture to "protect" it's people after knowing what America does to it's own. Citizens of other democracies will demand that the US be removed from all aspects of their societies. It's a simple message. You can't trust a country that rapes, tortures and kills it's own people.


Kristian Williams

Publisher: South End Press
Release Date: 2006-05-09


ITEM OVERVIEW
Abner Louima. Abu Ghraib. The Humboldt Five. Extraordinary Rendition. Lynchings. School Of The Americas. Prison Rape. Whether or not it makes front-page news, make no mistake: Torture is an everyday tool of dominance and terror in the United States. On the heels of Our Enemies in Blue, his controversial chronicle of policing, Kristian Williams once again upsets the notion that "excessive force" by the state is anything but altogether American.
American Methods is a damning audit of the US record in underwriting human rights violations around the globe. In the last 25 years alone and under several administrations, we confront death squads in El Salvador, genocidal campaigns in Turkey, brutal interrogations done on our dime, even in our name by various "friendly governments," and more. Returning to our shores, Williams observes the banality of violence at home—on both sides of the prison wall. What emerges is the distinct character of American torture, particularly its emphasis on sexual violence, misogyny, and radicalized spectacle. Ultimately, American Methods offers devastating conclusions about the centrality of rape, racism, and conquest to both the state and our national culture.

http://www.akpress.org/2006/items/americanmethods

Please forgive me for shamelessly promoting my thread but to me it's all connected.

[rockymountaindem]

7. I'm worried about that too

China as a superpower, particularly as one more powerful than the US, makes me very worried. I only hope we can forestall or completely prevent that from happening, but it seems increasingly unlikely that we'll be able to block China from becoming at least equal to us in the next two decades. I hope I'm wrong.

[Joanne98]

8. All they have to do is sell our bonds and we're screwed.

We can't do shit to them because Bush borrowed too much money.

[rockymountaindem]

11. That's overstated

The bonds have a scheduled expiry date. The Chinese can sell them to other parties at any time, which will have no effect on the US, but they can't just sell them or "cash them in" to the US treasury any time they want. They have to wait until the bonds expire, so the threat is manageable.

[Joanne98]

12. What if the dollar keeps falling. Won't that cause a selloff?

[rockymountaindem]

18. It might cause people to stop buying new bonds

That would mean the US would have a few options. Firstly, we could raise the interest rate, which would attract new bond purchases because the increased gains (from interest) would offset the risk of the sliding dollar. Obviously raising the interest rate is not without its domestic consequences, so that's not an attractive option. Secondly, we could find new ways to pay for our spending, such as raising taxes (again, not going to win a lot of support). Thirdly, we could just cut spending. So obviously continuing to sell bonds is the best way to fund things in the short term, although it is not as good an option in the long term.

That being said, whatever happens in the market won't have an impact as far as cashing in the bonds we've already sold. They can't be redeemed until their expiry date, which has already been set. So, it would be bad for the bond holders (which is why they would buy fewer or no bonds in the future without increased incentive), but as far as the seller (the USA) is concerned, the book is already closed on those bonds. We've got our money, and we know how much we need to pay out and when. The value of the US dollar has no influence on that aspect of things as far as I can see.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. Not really.

China owns about $1t of our debt. If they were to sell them on the open market, it would drive up the interest rate that we'd have to pay to attract investors. Conversely, it devalues our currency.

$1 trillion is a lot of bonds to dump on the market at any one time. Who would buy it? More to the point, who would buy our new debt?

If China dumped our bonds and refused to invest in any more, our inflation rate would instantly go into double digits as our currency devalued. Is double-digit inflation a crisis? As a 40+ year old, I can attest that yes, it is.

[Poppyseedman]

2. I didn't know "Time " was still in print

They must live off Dentist and Doctor's office subscriptions

Nobody I know even reads their Bushola crap

[leveymg]

4. You seem to suggest that they can't and won't get rid of him.

How long until * has his debilitating accident or incapacitating medical event?

There's no way the Powers That Be can afford to continue carrying this guy. Can't you see that's the messsage here?

Guess that Cheney has to have his big cardiac first, and someone like McCain has to be appointed Veep for a smooth succession. G-d, these imperial regime changes take a long time.

"Time is fleeting. Madness will take its toll."

[Human Torch]

13. It's not that they "can't"...or "won't"...

...it's the fact that this spoiled, Oedipal, dry drunk, substance abusing AWOL fake Texan P.O.S. WILL NOT CHANGE FOR ANYONE.

So one of two things will happen.

The GOP will acknowledge they are on a sinking ship, and Junior is at the helm....and they'll "get rid of him."

OR...

...we'll crawl toward 2008 and NOTHING WILL CHANGE BELOW THE SURFACE.

All of this "Aw shucks, Laura doesn't like it when I say stuff like Wanted Dead Or Alive" crap is jut that...CRAP.

I'm not a psychic, I can't see the future. I do know one thing. This boy ain't changing. He's got issues, he's got a chemical imbalance on his brain, he's a frigging psychotic...I don't know, but he will kiss a little momentary ass, and that DOES NOT REPRESENT an "end" to ANYTHING...especially "Cowboy Diplomacy."

I do see the message, but someone will have to take the initiative and realize that the only way to salvage the PNAC "agenda" is to take out the guy currently steering the ship.

:patriot:

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Human Torch]

23. Yeah...as in Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny."

That and a combination of the same Rove smear tactics used to put him in the job in the first place.

[leveymg]

21. I would expect they would "take out" * in order to preempt the PNAC agenda

which is is now recognized to be reckless, outmoded and self-defeating. We've known that since day one, but the very lower-middle brow media such as TIME are only now beginning to register that the game's over and the rats have jumped ship. That's the message here, and it's one that the Joint Chiefs of Staff and CIA grey beards delivered when the Plame and OSP-AIPAC prosecutions were initiated way back on March 30, 2003.

As I said, it takes a long time to bring down a failed imperial dynasty. It has to be done very carefully, or someone else will inherit the spoils.

[napi21]

5. The article probably doesn't say it, but ShrubCo has no CHOICE

but to resort to diplomacy! The military is overstretched NOW, things are getting worse in Afghan, and Iraq, and we just don't have the troops or the MONEY to fight another Country militarily. Hell, we don'pt even have sufficient NG's to handle disasters that happen HERE!

[Kahuna]

9. Right. If shrub was still riding high in the polls, he would call for a

draft and attack Iran and N. Korea. It's only because of people like US, who have been vigilent and have held his feet to the fire, that he isn't able to get away with his cowboy act anymore. So, we all deserve a lot of credit. No doubt we have helped to make a world a little safer from the madness of beelzebush.

[Cha]

17. That's right...the

hog farmer's polls are waaaaaay down and he HAS to do something different..say something he should have done in the first place but rove is so not a genius.

[Joanne98]

10. China is our banker too. Bush has to beg for money.

When will America wake up.

[BeFree]

14. That image

All hat and no cattle.

[Yoda Yada]

15. In his Chicago speech, how many times did he use the word "diplomacy"?

...or "diplomatic"....or "diplomat"?

He needs to make it sound like this has ALWAYS been his objective. Get ready...and start counting....the number of times Bush's media mouthpieces use these particular words this week. (ESPECIALLY Chris Mathews).

It's Bush's drip...drip...drip... "my-followers-are-too-stupid-to-know-how-I-am-scamming-them" approach.:crazy:

[robbedvoter]

19. Good graphic, ridiculous title/article

My thoughts exactly.

[lumberjack_jeff]

20. This whole NKO nukes thing is inconvenient. It distracts from hyping Iran.

Can't make too big of a deal about a crazy despot with nukes and long range missiles, it might confuse the hoi polloi from Bush's mission to make war on a country which might want to think about creating that capacity, you know, someday.