a thought for today

"The best politics are a pretty poor substitute for life and ... the worst politics compound their felony by forcing us to leave the front stoop to do something about them. Our quarrel with the abuse of power should be not only that it is cruel and stupid but that it takes so much time away from other things -- like loving and being loved, and music, and a good meal and the sunset of a gentle day."--Sam Smith, political commentator, The Progressive Review (May 2004)

On, to politics...
My mom used to say "The pot calls the kettle black."


Negroponte said Friday Iran may have a nuke in the next ten years. I'm shakin'.

GOOD THING we've stepped up the budget appropriations for HOMELAND security!!! (snark)

The Iranian's announcement a few weeks ago that they have been able to make some fissionable material was spun and echoed and is now in the public consciousness, and a lot of good 'mericans probably are thinking right now that Iran is on the cusp of creating a bomb to drop on us or Israel tomorrow, but let's clear that up.

The Iranians have about enough fissionable material to light a Shrine Circus flashlight.

If we got rid of a nuke a day for the next ten years, we'd still have more nules than the rest of the world put together.

And we are the only country that has ever used nukes as weapons on "enemies".

And we are worst polluters in salting the earth of our so-called enemies by the use of Depleted Uranium in our conventional weaponry.

And we refuse to lead the world by good example by signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

And our Nuclear Power Lobby is sponsoring a lot of pro-civilian nuclear power plant building talk in the media, but our leaders put their foot down when countries we don't like, economically speaking, attempt to build civilian nuclear power facilities. (Unless, of course, one of our trans-national corporations gets the contract. sorry, more snark.)

But we threaten Iran with imminent politically timed invasion and bunker busters (dropped in a earthquake sensitive area) if they don't quit the beginning of their 10-year quest for their first nuke.

Of course, Dub always repeats we don't have any timetables, but geez, ten years gives us a lot of diplomacy time, and I don't think Dub can wait for diplomacy (hit the snark button again.)

Good thing Dubya isn't in a hurry to invade Iran, or his new chief spook would probably be fired.

Over at State, poor Condoleeeza, all she has is sticks to play with.
Did you hear the latest "diplomatic offer" from the State Department:
we are going to give Iran a NEW and IMPROVED offer to save themselves from bloody invasion - but it's just like the OLD offer. The list of ingredients never changes. Sounds like a 50's ad for Prell shampoo..

Or better yet for an analogy, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".

Condi says the Iranian people have the right to civilian nuke power, just like our Peaceful Friends Pakistan and Israel, but they just can't make them, or develop them, even with the old crappy equipment we sold them, because they could turn it somehow into bombs, like Korea has done.

Condi says "diplomacy" and the American corp press and the American 'sleeping- like- a- corpse' public repeats, in their best Homer Simpson "do-nut" voice... "dip-loo-mac-y", whether it is 'diplomacy' or not.

Diplomacy means both sides in a dispute are willing to give carrots, not just sticks. Poor Condi, all she has is the sticks, and propaganda. You can do a whole lotta bad things with those.

I heard Hans Blix on the Fresh Air with Terry Gross show Thursday. I hope the world listens to his voice of reason this time, through the drumbeat to war, and cuts Dubya off at the pass, finally.
Yee haa.
Nice boots, Condi.