Egypt...coming soon to a town near you.....

....brought to you by your local right wing leadership and their lemming following.

US Crisis Blame & Shame: Banksters still on Easy Street

 

No, no, no, no...It was all those greedy people that bought homes they couldn't afford and then lost. Yeah! Right!!

 

Protesters have a large number of economic, political, and human-rights grievances. Widespread youth unemployment, rigged parliamentary elections in November 2010, and the prospect of President Mubarak (in power since 1981) beginning another term--or being replaced by his son--are the sparks that set these demonstrations off.

What does any of that have to do with people buying homes they couldn't afford? Well, anyway it's going to be interesting to see how Obama handles this situation diplomatically since Mubarak is one of our closest allies in the Middle East, but Mohamed ElBaradei (the opposition leader) is a friend of Obama's.

 

Could it be? Is dr moen mocking the insipid drivel of his partner-in-crime tomc?

 

So, with the possibility of hard-line Islamic extremists trying to take over power in Egypt should Mubarak fall (a very likely scenario - and very soon), what do you think Obama should do? So far, Obama has called on Mubarak not to use force against the protesters and he's called on the protesters to stop the violence. Obama has also stated that Egypt runs the risk of having their monetary aid from the U.S. diminished.

Should Obama let it play out? Should he take more of a stance? Should he begin to back the opposition leaders? Should he do absolutely nothing? Should he send military aid?

 

I am not sure how much we can do. Backing Mubarak in this situation is a losing game but we have little to no credibility with the people of Egypt since we have been backing him forever. ElBaradei is far from certain to be embraced by the people of Egypt. And I really doubt we can have much of an influence on whether or not hardliners (eventually) seize the country either.

I think the best we can do is support the protestors and hope for the best.

 

From what I can piece together, there is a lot we can do to prop up the secular democrats. However, it is mostly the kinds of things you never hear about at least until the classified documents are released in the future.

 

Yeah, I am sure there are things we can (and I am sure are) doing 'off the books', so to speak. And probably a lot of things we are doing through other governments too. But, those types of things don't seem to always work out so well (or as we intend them to). I can;t imagine there will be a whole lot of (above the table) support for the US no matter how things there play out, though. We can probably only hope that some kind of stability occurs.

 

And I think it bears mentioning that Egypt is neither the first nor the last in the region that will undergo this kind of change. The Ben Alis, Mubaraks and eventually the dictators and royalty of many countries there are all going to fall. It is only a matter of when, not if, I think. And it is going to be (relatively) sooner rather than later.

 

Just say "no" (following the lead of the right wing of course) is one option. Invade them (a fairly satisfactory corporate AND republican solution) is another one. Blame it on Obama and call for tax cuts for the rich would be another. Bomb 'em, target or reload is yet another angle. Regardless, I think they're too big to fail and deserve to be bailed out or merged with corporate entities.

 

We continue to back the dictator in power until a new dictator shows up. Then we then back that dictator until he is thrown out of power. Well, you get the idea. Now you know the difference between paying lip service to democracy and the reality of our foreign policy. We believe in supporting as much democracy as we can until our business interests are at risk and then we'll support the devil himself to keep our business interests secure. The only question that really needs answering is; Are business interests really the best thing to pin our foreign policy considerations to or would actually supporting democracy serve us better?

 

That sounds kind of like we did in Iran. Somehow I would like to avoid another one of them.

 

Except in Iran, they had a democracy in place but the CIA overthrew it and installed the Shah who was more friendly to our business interests. Otherwise, it pretty much is the same story throughout the Midle East since WWII. You kind of don't have to really wonder why they might hate us over there.

 

You think the markets will resolve it?

 

We hate them, they hate us. Who cares? They want to sell their oil and we want to buy it. It's all about business. If they really hated us that bad, they'd cut off our oil... but, then they would be cutting off their nose to spite their face. It's all about the Benjamins, baby!

 

Of course, that could change with the change's in governments from dictators to other things be it democracies or theocracies. We aren't the only market out there for oil any more.

 

I think those that died in acts of terrorism such as 9/11 and the family members that they left behind may care. If it actually were a simple supply and demand situation that benefited both sides we wouldn't see the problems that have transpired since. It is just a bit more complicated than that when we are overthrowing governments, supporting dictators, supplying billions in weapons, and helping them suppress opposition. The relatively few at the top that do benefit from the economic relationship with us do nothing to ingratiate the image of the U.S. with the rest of their people. You have to give them credit, it is a brilliant concept to go after us so that we put pressure on their leaders to change the situation. So who cares? You should.

 

Who are you talking about? Oil-producing Arab nations? Persians? 9/11 was the result of religious fanaticism.

It's a matter of them having oil and us buying it. The problems arise when their respective governments build autocracies or theocracies. We don't have much control over that.

Yeah, but what can you do? The people don't sell the oil, the few at the top do. Would you rather go without gas for your car or heat for your home? It's easy for one to sit in his armchair and speculate, but when it comes down the nut-cutting, there would be complete chaos in this country if our oil supply dried up. Yes, it's a brutal world, but I'd rather have chaos in their streets than mine. I don't foresee a social utopia springing up anywhere anytime soon so we may as well face the facts.

I have sympathy for those who are dying in Egypt for what they believe in. But, there are people in the Middle East who hate the U.S. for no other reason than because they've been raised to hate us. They can't point to a specific reason other than their parents told them to hate us and that we're the "Great Satan". I believe that sort of blind fanaticism outweighs any valid reason they should feel that way. Most don't even know why they hate us. Conversely, there are people in the U.S. who think the same way. It's wrong, but you're on a fool's errand if you think you can change it. So, am I worried that another attack might occur by these fanatics? Certainly. But, since I can't change their way of thinking, do I care that they unreasonably hate us? I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

 

I didn't view the video but I'm guessing when the title says "still on Easy Street" they are referring to the present....after 2+ years of BO handling issues the lib way. So, if this is supposed to be an indictment, exactly who is it indicting?

 

El Baradei is now calling for Obama to take a strong stand against Mubarak. What will Obama do? Tick...tock...tick...tock... The writing is on the wall for Mubarak anyway. Obama should take a stand in favor of the Egyptian people now in an effort to at least make it seem like we're backing them.

Did everyone see where Biden said that Mubarak was "not a dictator"? What a dunce!