Two References to the US as a Possible "Failed State" in 24 Hours

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, within the last 24 hours, I've seen two--count them, two--different references to the US either being or questioning whether we are just that, a failed state. Here's the first one I saw yesterday from the website AlterNet.

The US is in free fall — 

and at risk of becoming a failed state

And here is the 2nd reference I've seen to this within 24 hours and my you, I'm not searching this out.

Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, 

The Sudden Descent of the United States

And truth be told, the 2nd article at TomDispatch is an expansion on the first article which was  written by Rebecca Gordon. Still, it expands on the idea, question and theme. I thought this part important.

"What Is a Failed State?

People use this expression to indicate a political entity whose government has ceased to perform most or all of its basic functions. Such a condition can result from civil war, untrammeled corruption, natural disaster, or some combination of those and more. The Fund for Peace, which has been working on such issues for more than 70 years, lists four criteria to identify such a country:

--Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein
--Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
--Inability to provide public services
--Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community'”

3 out of four, presently? Or all four, already?

The fact is, we, the United States, 

--have more cases of and deaths from this killing international coronavirus pandemic than any other nation

--have a President that has completely, totally ignored a bounty put on American soldiers in the field in Afghanistan by Russia to the Taliban to kill American soldiers

Trump decries Russian bounty reports as ‘fake news’ as his national security adviser says response options were prepared

--have a President that is going forward with his plan to take 9500 American troops out of Gernany shortly

--have no universal health care---the "richest nation in the world", or so we tell ourselves

--have millions of Americans out of work due to the pandemic and so, with no health care whatever

--have amassed a huge national debt--partly due to gross overspending on military which actually weakens us but also due to tax giveaways by the Republicans to the already-wealthy and corporations and then, again, this pandemic and

--have a President who has pulled us out of nearly all, if not all international cooperation agreements like the World Heatlh Organization, etc.

Oh and this broke this morning.

The Trump administration just lent $700 million to a trucking company only worth $70 million

And that's just a short list, a very short list of some of our worst current predicaments.

Meanwhile, a Senator is working to have us buy Russian made weapons, unbelievable.

GOP Senator Seeks Amendment Allowing the U.S. to Buy Russian Defense System

The U.S. could be permitted to purchase the Russian S-400 missile defense system from Turkey under a Senate amendment proposed last week.

Under the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 proposed by Senate Majority Whip John Thune, the U.S. Army would be able to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Turkey, provided the country certified that money from the purchase would not be used to buy equipment deemed "incompatible" with the NATO alliance.

We're the largest manufacturer and seller of weapons in the world---and we need to buy yet more, these Russian and from Turkey?  Really?

And then finally today, this.

Senate strips provision from intelligence bill requiring campaigns to report foreign election help

(CNN)  The Senate will incorporate the annual intelligence policy legislation into the National Defense Authorization Act -- but only after stripping language from the intelligence bill that would have required presidential campaigns to report offers of foreign election help.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that Senate Republicans forced the removal of the election reporting provision as a condition to include the intelligence bill on the must-pass defense policy legislation.

So our government officials CAN, if this passes, not only accept money from foreigners or from foreign nations, which by itself would be bad enough, but they would also NOT HAVE TO REPORT IT.

Isn't that terrific?

Thanks, Republicans!

Failed state?  Failing state?

How much farther down are we going to let or have this President and his political party drag us, America?

On Gaddafi: President O was right, once again

Face it, Moammar Gaddafi being killed--reportedly (and hopefully)--by his own people proves, once again, that this president was correct. This time he was right to have US war planes, through NATO, strike Libyan war planes and Gaddafi's military, since they were attacking and killing Libyans. The other political parties here aren't going to like it but this is just one more notch in President Obama's success column. It's good for him but it's good for the nation and the world, honestly. He's not right on everything and I'm not one to say or think as much but he's been right on far more than his political opposition in this country gives him credit for, absolutely. Link: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/obl-awlaki-and-gadhafi-have-all-met-their-demise-in-some-fashion-because-of-decisions-the-president-made-senior-white-house-official/; http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/q/muammar_el_qaddafi/index.html

Whatever makes you happy, Muammar

In phone call, Libyan ruler Gadhafi vows to fight until death

Or as Patrick Stewart's character, Captain Jean Luc Picard, would say on "Star Trek: Next Generation":
"Make it so."


He was quoted as saying:  "We are stronger than your missiles, stronger than your planes, and the voice of the Libyan people is louder than explosions." 


We'll see about that.


Trouble is, we'll also be the suckers rebuilding the place, too.

Let's not let Gaddafi off the hook this time

News out today:

Gaddafi Pitches Peace Plan

He’s teased ceasefire promises before, but this time Gaddafi may be serious. The Libyan leader’s spokesman has outlined a deal that would pull all of the country’s troops from cities where they’re laying siege to rebels—on the condition that NATO drops its still-intensifying bombing campaign. “The pressure on the Gaddafi regime has increased,” Hillary Clinton told Katie Couric on Thursday. Indeed, the despot’s wife and daughter have fled the country, and NATO crippled the capital’s seaport late Thursday with airstrikes.

Read it at The Wall Street Journal

No, let's be clear on this to Gaddafi and the world--this time, after bombing and killing the citizens of his own country, the only way out is down.  He's got to cede power and turn himself in.

Anything else would be an absurd mockery of justice and anything approaching what's "right".

It would be one thing if he attacked another neighboring country and killed people.  Then this might be in question.  But he's been killing his own people, in his pathetic attempt to hold on to power.

Gaddafi needs to go.

And then he needs to be tried before a war crimes tribunal.

Hot potato!!! Comin' through!!!

US pressures allies to take Libya mission now (AP)

enjoy your evening, y'all

Another Afghan milestone

So far this year, 526 U.S. and NATO forces have been killed in Afghanistan, surpassing the 504 killed last year. This year has been the deadliest for international forces since the war began in 2001. President Obama---can we leave now? Link to original post: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

Two headlines just now on Afghanistan

First this, from Hamid: Karzai calls for Nato troop withdrawal by 2014 And then this: Rogue Afghan soldier shoots dead two US weapons trainers Let's hope Hamid knows what he's talking about. Links: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7899795/Hamid-Karzai-calls-for-Nato-troop-withdrawal-by-2014.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7900826/Rogue-Afghan-soldier-shoots-dead-two-US-weapons-trainers.html

How does Rolling Stone do it, anyway?

Do the guys over at Rolling Stone offer booze and/or pot or drugs to the people they interview for their stories or what? How is it that someone like General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, would shoot his mouth off to a Rolling Stone interviewer about the Obama Administration staff and get himself "sideways" and in trouble? They're either brilliant or he isn't that bright. And I am absolutely not proposing the latter. I can't believe that. Link to original story: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236

What we need to get rid of

Face it, folks, the United States is broke.

We don't have enough money.

States are broke, the Federal Government is broke, counties, everyone, everywhere.

Broke.

No money.

So, because of this, it seems true that we must change the way we have functioned up to this point, since what we've done up to now has gotten us financially bankrupt. If you do the same things, over and over, but get the same results, it's the defintion of insanity.

Now that we are broke and realize and accept that, it seems things should evolve.

What I'm proposing today is things we should change. In fact, what I'm proposing is things we need to get rid of.

We need to do away with the following:

1) The Coast Guard. As Jon Stewart said on his "Daily Show" a few nights ago, we have a navy so why do we need another, 2nd water-based, boat- and ship-running police?

2) NATO. NATO is 60 years old. It was formed during World War II, for pity's sake. It was a response to countries and structures that no longer exist. We should not any longer support the function of an organization that existed in a completely different time and under absolutely different situations that don't, in fact, exist any longer;

3) Camp Pendelton, California. Someone tell me why we should have this old marine base on the beaches of Southern California any longer. We shouldn't. We need to do away with it, sell the land--in an "up" real estate market, of course--and take the profit. I'm not saying we exist for profit as a nation but it would be a far better and more appropriate use of all that beachfront and it simply makes sense;

4) Our hate, suspicious and animosity for and to the former Soviet Union. This really makes no sense any longer. They're in need of help and it's help we could give them. The flip side? We need them, too. We could and should be partners in helping one another. We both have things the other needs. We should be working together, now and as soon as possible;

5) The missile degense system we're trying to put in Poland, ostensibly, it would seem, against the former Soviet Union. This is another thing that makes absolutely no sense. We're broke and really can't afford this, for one. Th esystem we are trying to build is obscenely expensive and, to date, doesn't work. Secondly, we are no lnoger "the West" or the US vs. the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union no longer exists. Instead of saber-rattling, why don't we look for ways to work together instead? That makes sense. Saber-rattling doesn't.

There's more. There's a lot more.

I'll post more, in time to come.