I am so glad not to be traveling abroad much these days and having to reveal that I am an American. So what am I going to rant about today? The powers that be in Washington are now intervening to prevent a Chinese ship loaded with weapons from reaching its target of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is, of course, one of those black countries somewhere in another universe that barely registers a blip in the American solar system. It's a country rife with political and economic problems. Its current ruler Robert Mugabe just lost big time in a presidential election but is still clinging to power and will need those Chinese weapons to kill off his rivals. Enter stage left the United States on its very, very, very high pedestal--the country that has no problems exporting weapons to Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea and whatever Latin American country the CIA happens to be destabilizing this month. Don't expect the Chinese to back down here. Mugabe is a dictator, but someone the Chinese can do business with. America has no moral authority to intervene in this situation. Will it ever again? I'm thinking not in my lifetime.
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Monday, April 21, 2008
It's Getting Embarrassing
I am so glad not to be traveling abroad much these days and having to reveal that I am an American. So what am I going to rant about today? The powers that be in Washington are now intervening to prevent a Chinese ship loaded with weapons from reaching its target of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is, of course, one of those black countries somewhere in another universe that barely registers a blip in the American solar system. It's a country rife with political and economic problems. Its current ruler Robert Mugabe just lost big time in a presidential election but is still clinging to power and will need those Chinese weapons to kill off his rivals. Enter stage left the United States on its very, very, very high pedestal--the country that has no problems exporting weapons to Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Korea and whatever Latin American country the CIA happens to be destabilizing this month. Don't expect the Chinese to back down here. Mugabe is a dictator, but someone the Chinese can do business with. America has no moral authority to intervene in this situation. Will it ever again? I'm thinking not in my lifetime.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
"Dilly-Dalai"ing On the Way to Higher Moral Ground
Bush has tea with the Dalai Lama in the White House today. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is in Egypt enlisting that country's support for a Palestinian-Israeli peace conference in Anapolis at the end of the year. The House of Representatives will soon vote on a resolution branding as "genocide" Turkey's massacre of Armenians from 1915-17. The things America will do to reach that mythical place called Higher Moral Ground. Never mind that it has sold 23 million Taiwanese to China for the price of doing business in Shanghai. Never mind that it is still destabilizing Iraq and searching for imaginary weapons of mass destruction in an effort to consolidate oil rights. Never mind that Rwanda was too poor and too black for anyone to give a damn. But the politicians are absolutely right when they say there's nothing wrong with America's Moral Compass--the dollar bill and missile that serve as its needles are functioning perfectly fine, thank you.Is there a moral obligation to find a cure for HIV? Or is the hunt for a vaccine driven by the egos of philanthropists and scientists? What does it matter as long as I'm alive? What does it matter if I die without any answers?
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