That’s it? It’s over? Craven
Bundy and his not-at-all-merry band of loser militiapersons have brought the
“full faith and credit” of the formerly United States of America to a
standstill. Bundy apparently gets to keep his cattle grazing on public lands at
our expense, apparently will not pay the million dollars he owes the
government, and apparently has won an unprecedented victory. Of course we know
the FBI is investigating, at least they said so some time ago, although not
much has been heard about it lately. Perhaps they are waiting for Bundy to die
of old age, or his militia guards to die of boredom, or the entire episode to
be forgotten in the excitement of our new involvement in the religious war in
Iraq. Maybe they will shoot someone and then exonerate themselves for the l51st
straight time. Maybe we will never hear of this disgusting episode again.
In any case, the situation in Nevada pales into insignificance when compared with our truly stupid maneuvering in Ukraine. Having backed a violent coup in Kiev, along with some neo Nazis, we keep trying to goad Putin into taking some form of military involvement in the east of that unfortunate country so that we can then claim the whole problem is a result of his aggression (instead of ours). If Putin were not so level-headed we would already be involved in the beginning of another war, or at least another “cold” war. Imagine, if you will, a war with Russia. It is perfectly obvious there can be no military solution to the problems in Ukraine. Everyone, it seems, Germany, France, Russia, is aware of this even though the United States is not and apparently wishes further violence and killing. John Kerry, I think perhaps the worst Secretary of State ever, persists in talking down to the Russians as if they are in the same category as Belize or Costa Rica, telling Putin he must immediately stop the violence in eastern Ukraine (as if it’s his fault), and as if he alone has the power to do so.
Interestingly enough, this may be the beginning of the end of our attempt at hegemony in the world. Britain, France, and Germany are not as willing to engage in serious sanctions against Russia as their economies are so closely tied to that nation. Ultimately Putin and Russia hold all the winning cards, they can either join with the UK and effectively neutralize the U.S., or they can join with China and so the same thing. Russia has all the natural resources, Germany and China have all the know-how and manufacturing, together they can make the U.S. more of a bystander than the “sole superpower,” and change the dynamics of the world entirely.
Along with the situation in Russia and the Ukraine is the fact that European nations are becoming increasingly fed up with the behavior of Israel and boycotts against Israel are apparently gaining in importance. The U.S., seen as virtually the sole supporter of that racist, apartheid nation, will ultimately, I think, lose credibility when it comes to any peace process in the Middle East. The U.S. and Israel are already widely believed to be the greatest threat to peace in the world. Things can only get worse.
Now, of course, is ISIS, and the Caliphate. In order to stop this powerful Muslim movement the U.S. will have to find itself in league with Iran, Syria, and Russia (as well as the EU), a fact of no small importance that will also probably impact our relationship with Israel and the Middle East in general. Trying to establish the Caliphate was a bold more indeed, but probably destined to fail. I doubt that all other Muslims will swear allegiance to this upstart “nation” or whatever it is, and it appears that virtually everyone else will also oppose it. We might have wished for religious wars and Crusades to be only faint memories of the past, but, alas, not so.
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