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8/27/2008 Medvedev announces CHECK to the West by Recognizing South Ossetia and AbkhaziaWell, I hate being right on some issues, and this is one of them! Russian President Dmitry Medvedev went ahead and did it, he followed the Russian Parliament and announced late Tuesday that Russia was formally recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I am sure Putin is smiling and nodding his head in some dark bunker somewhere in Moscow. Not only did he not blink, he spit in the eye of every sovereign nation to spite the rights of a country to work out its differences itself. Before I get too far down the path I am acknowledging the clear and undisputed facts that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili authorized and sent the Georgian military to put down anti-government militia operations going on in South Ossetia. I will concede that most likely some ethnic tensions and oppression was going on. I will even go so far as to give the other side the argument that they were justified in bombing campaigns to repel the Georgian military from engaging South Ossetia rebels. But, when Russia sent in tanks, armored personnel carriers, troops, and expanded the operation beyond the disputed border regions and into the country itself (right up to the capital), their ports, and Abkhazia and also included preemptive and offensive military strikes that continued well beyond the scope of protecting non-military personnel well, the Russians not only overstepped their authority, but violated more international laws in just 8 days then the US did in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 8 years!
As I stated in my last article, Russia is expanding and looking to rebuild the former Soviet Union. Their blatant disregard for diplomacy, international law, and conflict resolution shows their real intent better then if they had told the world what their intent was before they acted. I had stated Russia was tipping its hand, and now it seems they have done so intentionally and with indifference to any consequences that may come out of this. Medvedev, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, and the Kremlin have all just announced, with actions, words, and threats, they do not care what consequences occur and they are not scared by any that can occur. G-8, or group of eight membership… who cares! World Trade Organization membership, bah its for suckers! NATO and EU scansions… let me see them try! UN resolutions, fffft, we have a veto so nana booboo! Oh, but they are pissed we are using a guided missile destroyer and Coast Guard cutter to ferry relief supplies into Georgian ports as well as place a missile shield battery in Poland to fend off the now RESURGENT North Korean nuclear program (Yes the North Koreans have seen what is going on and are taking advantage of it to once again restart their nuclear weapons program) and any possible Chinese, Iranian, or yes even Russian attacks.
See diplomatic consequences are poo pooed by Russia, but American military assets are drawing strong criticism by them, I wonder why that is? I remember an episode of the Simpson’s where a Russian parade of spring time floats transformed into the old military parades of the 1960’s. Flower floats of cute animals were peeled back to reveal mobile ICBM launchers, tanks, and balloons had Migs fly out of them as goose stepping soldiers transformed Red Square into a familiar old sight. Yes Virginia, the Soviets are on the march again. They only thing they fear is a direct confrontation with the United Stated before they can fully rebuild their military and consolidate their infrastructure to make money and weapons again. Any doubts of these intentions were washed away when two territories were formally recognized as independent countries with no diplomatic measures or precedents being followed. They have just signaled the only thing they respect is force and the use of military assets against them, diplomacy is impotent, but throw in a DDG and they begin to cry foul. If force is all they can hear and see, then I saw we deliver.
"We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War," President Dmitry Medvedev said hours after announcing the Kremlin's decision and one day after Parliament had supported the recognition. – AP wire. "Saakashvili chose genocide to fulfill his political plans," Medvedev said. "Georgia chose the least human way to achieve its goal — to absorb South Ossetia by eliminating a whole nation." – AP wire. Vitaly Churkin stated "Their use of force against South Ossetia clearly dashed all of those previous resolutions and created a completely new reality." – AP wire. I am not exaggerating here folks. Medvedev also vowed that US missile shield assets in Europe would result in Russian military response, as reported by the AP. All diplomatic responses were received with rejection by Russia, but 1 missile shield battery and 2 war ships delivering humanitarian aid upsets them, hmmmm.
Russia is heading down a path I think they really don’t want to go, hence the allusion to them being desperate in my last article. If they stand firm on the Georgia matter they set a precedent for the same thing to happen to them in a few of their internal states who no longer want to be part of Russia, not to mention erase 60 years worth of international laws and rules to prevent a country from taking territories that they feel belong to them or should belong to them. Russia want to better position themselves as an oil mogul in Europe, and seeing the pipeline runs through Georgia, it is vital they control that country, by any means necessary. Russia also wants to regain lost influence in world affairs and their large nuclear arsenal allows that, a US missile shield will negate that and therefore they want to intimidate all its neighbors to not allow these facilities onto their soil, beating up on Georgia goes a long way into doing this.
Now I know many people, with short memories, who will point out that Russia is doing nothing different then what the US did in ousting the Taliban in Afghanistan or Sadam Hussein in Iraq. First lets look at the reasons and the outcomes. For Afghanistan it was to strike back at the organization that orchestrated the September 11th attacks and had safe haven and support in a country run by radical fundamentalists who were oppressing and killing their citizens for normal human activities (girls going to school, women shopping alone, men watching sports or movies). While we are still there engaged with militant religious fanatics, we are not expanding the US borders, creating a new country, or intimidating the local government into surrender. Second with Iraq, well, there were numerous UN sanction violations, weapons violations, and WMD that was unaccounted for, yes chemical weapons are WMD and they were missing and after the fall of the government were recovered in the desert. While the case of nuclear devices were overstated and wrongly pursued, we again did not expand our national borders, create a new country, or intimidate the local government into surrender. That is what Russia is exactly doing in Georgia. When we invaded both of these countries everyone in the UN and our alleys knew we were doing it, even the enemy knew it. When we invaded these countries we went heavy and hard and then we worked to stabilize the region, place a legitimate government elected and represented by its citizens in place, and have stuck around as long as we were asked to and until the local governments can take over for and protect themselves. Russia is not doing this. They invaded with no warning, pressed on past the boundaries of the disputed area, slaughtered the national military, intimidated the local government and have now created 2 new countries with the expectation to absorbed them into its borders shortly thereafter.
Russia’s argument is very weak at best, Georgia was not practicing genocide. If they were there would have been complete slaughter and not just fighting against armed militias in the disputed territories. If there would have been genocide there would be death squads and mass killings left behind in the disputed areas and Russia would have shown them to the world by know to legitimize their actions. Genocide is what took place in Kosovo, Dufar, Rwanda, Cambodia, Germany, etc. What was going on in Georgia does not come close to these examples. If this was the case then why did they continue beyond the protection phase of the operation? Why not call for UN and NATO peace keepers to intervene and provide an impartial and independent third party force in to maintain the peace? Why not work harder to push through new rounds of sanctions and measures outlined in the UN charter to deal with these exact issues? Why abandon the diplomatic approach and go in heavy and hard and stop just short of an action that would definitely spark war? Russia is smart, the Kremlin and Putin lackies who long for the Soviet era are smart. They know they are not strong enough to act out just yet, they are playing a well crafted game of chess against the rest of the world.
What’s next? We have to be firm, strong, and unyielding. North Korea is paying close attention to this as they are in a similar situation with more to lose then Russia, for this reason we have to act and act decisively and fast. The White House is correct in its strong and blunt replies. The EU needs to step up more forcefully and guarantee scansions and penalties. The WTO needs to rip up Russia’s application and burn it. NATO needs to admit Georgia now and the rest of the former Soviet Union’s satellite countries in very short order. The G-8 needs to hold meetings without Russia and draft up new measures to punish and isolate Russia. Both presidential candidates need to get strong and hawkish on this issue and sound identical in response to nip the problem in the bud, neither want to be the one to be in the Oval Office if a war with Russia breaks out. The Secretary of Defense needs to dispatch a few more war ships to the region and push the Russians away from Georgian ports. The UN and NATO need to send in peace keepers and insist the Russians go back to their international borders. Western countries need to send aid and assistance to Georgia and their military to punish Russia for their arrogance and bullying behaviors. Finally, the break-away regional leaders and representatives need to be brought into the diplomatic process to air their grievances and resolve their issues and formally resolve the situation. If a new country is to be formed it has to be done so diplomatically and without military forces. Then and only then should Russia then be allowed back into the process and back onto the world stage and have their privileges restored, sanctions lifted, and relations reestablished. If we do not do this, we reward the behavior and give countries like North Korea and others a framework to follow when they want to expand. 8/25/2008 Russia going ALL IN, Soviets Playing International Texas Hold 'em with International PoliticsAnyone who has watched the Texas Hold ‘em tournaments on ESPN or other channels know what this phrase means, “going all in”. In the high stakes Texas Hold ‘em world it is the equivalent of “going for broke”, “all or nothing”, or more simply, I am betting everything I have you don’t have the guts to follow me down this path. It would be the same thing as taunting the school yard bully in the harshest terms you could.
People who go all in are of two types, and one school of thought. Either you have an unbeatable hand and you know you can not lose, or your hand can’t beat anyone but you are counting on your opponents as being too scared to see if you have the hand they believe you have. Of course this takes careful planning, reading other’s reactions to all things going on in the game, and knowing how they perceive your play thus far. I am discounting the obvious fools who go all in because they are broke or hope to catch others off guard, or are forced because they are out of money, because these types as they do not apply to this situation.
Russian parliament has just unanimously voted to recognize the two disputed regions of Georgia, continuing the poker match of former Soviet states against the players of freedom and democracy of the West. The first move was for Russia to bait and take most of Georgia’s poker chips in a bold move. America responded by loaning Georgia a bit of money and raised the stakes by bringing in Poland by placing strategic defensive missile shield batteries in their borders. Russia did not even blink, and have called our bet and now raised the antae by taking the first step in splitting Georgia into 3 countries, two of which will be banana republics of the rebuilding Soviet Empire.
NATO and the UN are impotent, as usual, in being able to stop the actions and aren’t able to buy their way into our high-stakes poker match. Russia has the ability to call in the likes of China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Syria, and all their allies to recognize the new countries, leaving the US to lobby and gather support form the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others who will have much more interest in not seeing the former Soviet Empire reemerge on the world stage. The situation continues to deteriorate and thanks to the Olympics, human rights, US political elections, the ambiguous War on Terror and world economic issues the Soviets have quietly solidified their domestic base and are beginning to re-solidify all the former shattered satellites, just like the T1000 did in Terminator 2 when the molten steel heated and thawed the nitrogen frozen liquid metal terminator.
Russia is playing and playing to win. They are desperate, hungry, and feel they are backed into a corner, playing all or nothing in a high stakes game where losing for any side could spell world war. No one is taking these actions as serious as they should. While we were distracted with puny Islamic militants and China’s economic sky rocket economy and our own petty self interests our though to be defeated foe has returned, the Soviet bear has been hibernating, not vanquished as we thought. Power is taken, never granted, issued, or assumed, but taken by blunt force and sheer will. The Soviets smell blood and they are betting the farm the rest of world does not have the will or power to prevent them from reclaiming their lost power. The Chinese don’t want it, the Islamic radicals can’t consolidate or agree amongst themselves long enough to grab it, and we in the West are too liberal and bleeding hearted to acknowledge the law of the jungle applies to countries as well.
Russia in not only testing the waters, they just signaled they are going all in, and next you will see how much their friends back their actions. Many long for the glory days of ruling by force and fear. Times were more simple then, the world made sense, there was focus and order to everything, unlike now. The Soviets are back and they are tipping their hand just enough for anyone with half a brain to see what is going on, but doing so in such a crafty way as to dare us to follow them down a road no one really want to travel. Maybe they are bluffing or not, its time to call their bluff, I hope our next president can play poker better then the last 3 who have allowed the bear to slumber in peace and ease to regain the strength to make such a power grab and bring us the closest to the brink of a real global war in well over 50 years. Do we go all in with them, or just call them and see if they will raise the stakes. Most of the cards have been laid down, its either going down the river of seeing how far the Soviets want to go, they have little to lose, and we the most. A very bad situation to be in, stay tuned, this may be a long cold winter indeed. 8/12/2008 Obama and McCain need to learn how the UN worksI wanted to stay on the sidelines on the US Presidential election until September and after VP's were selected, but the crisis over Russia's invasion of Georgia is too important, and both candidates made a huge mistake in his approach on this.
Now for my armchair quarterback, backseat, 2 cents worth analysis of the situation and the candidates reactions. The UN can't do anything with Russia! Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and holds veto power over the Security Council! Georgia was attacking separatists in the region, the SAME WAY China attacked separatist in Lhasa (Tibet) this spring. The difference is Russia supports Georgian separatists and rushed in, not stopping at protecting those they felt they had to, but going on to the capital and continuing on for 5 days of artillery shelling and bombing. They went past the disputed territory and well into Georgian territory, symbolically showing they could get away with it anytime, any day. This would be the same as if India went in and chased the PLA out of Tibet and then went on to Beijing to 'punish' the aggressors as Russia so nicely put it. How is the UN going to stop anything? The UN security forces can't fight a war, they can only provide cover for fleeing refugees, as witnessed in the Balkans war of the 1990's, and they sucked at that. Russia will never show restraint. They have a bruised ego and want to show the world they are back, they want more power, and capital to rebuild their military to its former glory to push their colonial agenda and rebuild the old guard to its former glory, no words or treaties will stop this. Russia wants Georgia, they miss it, and they believe it is part of their country, so they will not listen to the UN or anyone else. They will continue to destabilize the government until they topple it and can install a puppet regime that will ultimately request to be absorbed back into Russia. That is their agenda, which is their end game in this particular part of the world. Democratically controlled Georgia is a threat, an embarrassment, and an eyesore to them, period.
At least McCain understands the UN Security Council issues and implications, but NATO??? Who is in NATO and what was the latest significant thing NATO has done? McCain understands that Russian force needs to hold consequences, but he is trying to placate the anti-aggression crowd who has grown in this country since the Vietnam War. Is seems no one remembers how the Third Reich was built. Hitler invaded sovereign countries and grabbed territory while the world, led by England and France, continued to leverage diplomatic channels to stop his aggressions. Obviously Hitler did not get the message because he kept going, each time stating that was the last time, and how sorry Germany was for aggressing on its neighbors. Each time the treaties were broken, more territories and countries absorbed until the whole world was at war. Doesn’t anyone else see a parallel here? Seriously, isn't the situation so eerily similar not to cause grave concerns? It does to me. The parallels are so striking I can't see why more nations haven't acted more strongly, oh wait. Russia is a major Nuclear power, with a protection treaty with China, also a strong nuclear power, in the event they are attacked by any western power. Add this to Russia's oil production (remember the oil pipeline issues 2 winters ago where Russia hiked the price of fuel 500% to Eastern European countries, only stopped by Georgia cutting supplies until Russia backed down). I think some countries are afraid oil will begin going up again because Russia has hurt feelings.
Russia needs a strong and loud shot across her bow, something that will be painful and eye opening to deter future aggressions against sovereign nations. Why didn't Russia use the UN Security council, NATO, and other NGO's to help their allies in Georgia? Why didn't Russia exhaust diplomacy and unilateral negotiations to solve the disputed in Georgia? Why didn't Russia act like a responsible and democratic country, that it claims to be, and work within the world political and diplomatic structure the way every other nation has done since the end of World War II? Seriously, ask yourself that and list down your answers. Even the Great Satin, the United States used sanctions and diplomacy against Iraq for 10+ years before the first Gulf War, and for 10+ years before the second! We only jumped on Iraq the second time because they were violating the terms of their peace treaty and surrender outlined from the first Gulf War and only after repeated threats and UN Security Council measures and agreements were made. It was a long, well documented walk from threats to action in Iraq. The same thing is currently going on with North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. Right or wrong, we, the evil purge of the planet, are working all diplomatic channels and avenues before we act, unless we have to in order to protect our national interests in short order, Afghanistan after September the 11th. Go ahead, keep saying America is a war mongering nation and how wonderful the rest of the nations are and how much better they are and how more just and responsible they are. Then look at German aggression in the 1930's and what Russia has been doing for the past 5 years and see if you can't see the glaring bright neon green parallel lines glowing back. If you can't, well, you might consider moving to Mars or the Moon because history is primed to repeat itself.
What can be done to stop the Russian bear from swatting its neighbors into submission and devouring them in an attempt to grow larger, stronger, and reclaim its spot as the most threatening and dominate military power on the planet? Well, for starters we can speak in the one language nations with such strong aspirations can easily understand, assertive force. No, I am not calling for war, but for aid to our allies, neighbors, and friends around the world, help them to build up their defenses, economic protections, preparations for a storm we can see forming on the horizon. Redouble our military efforts. Impose sanctions, trade incentives, and other diplomatic measures, in parallel to military buildup, to show the Russians we are not weak, pansy, prissy, liberals who only talk and whine our way out of conflicts. Show them we mean business but offer them incentives to NOT continue down the road to aggression and escalation. Remember the words of former President Roosevelt, "Speak softly and carry a big stick", well when dealing with countries who feel they are on a higher-purpose mission, this is the only way to go. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and the like do not now, nor ever will, respect weakness, soft diplomacy, or placating to their demands. Instead they are emboldened by such practices and encouraged to go further, harder, and take more because they would only have to do what Hitler did in 1939, shrug their shoulders, and say 'sorry'. As the only free super power it is our responsibility, duty, and right, to stand up against aggression and nip it in the bud as soon as it arises. Slapping a bully who takes your milk money for years will do nothing more then anger him and cause him to pound you relentlessly, he is stronger after all because he has been drinking your and everyone else’s milk for so long. No, the first time a bully demands your milk money you stand up and slap him, even if he pummels you, he will respect you and most likely will leave you alone because other weaker kids are less trouble to him. Unlike this scenario, we can't let other kids get pummeled for their milk money either.
Russia's invasion of Georgia is a thinly veiled aggressive test to see if the world is watching and paying attention. Russia is hungry but wants to appear full and content when they are not. Russia is desperate to rebuild and wants resources to do so. They are envious of China and the US and have been since the Soviet Union fell. They feel cheated and slighted and this is an opportunity for them to test the resolve of the world and its reactions to their aggression at the same time. So far they passed and the world has failed. Listen to Russia's speeches and descriptions of Georgia and their reasoning. They almost sound believable, but only if you believe in what you read in the papers or see on You Tube. Wake up, because this could be the first volley in the coming rebuilding of the Bear and the unfortunately the beginning beats on a drum that has been silent for 60 odd years now. Power is something you take; it is never given or handed over. Diplomacy is a great way to settle disputes when both parties are ready to discuss them rationally and in an adult manner, if this is not the case, only the strong will dictate the outcome, the weak will be told what to do and shown what will happen if they don't. Obama's failure to show strength and resolve to the Russians is a grave miscalculation and McCain's balanced approach is not enough to gain respect and instill fear and consequences for acting out against international law and standards well established. Neither candidate is taking a stand on principles or ideals of justice, instead they want to speak loudly and carry a toothpick, which has never garnered any respect on the world stage. These laws and standards are to be obeyed and followed at all times, not just when convenient. Oh, and for the anti-Iraq war crowd, we did follow these laws and standards for 10 years before the second Iraq war, which is why Iraq was in the oil for food program, had US and UN air craft enforcing a no-fly zone in their north and south territories, and economic sanctions for numerous weapons inspections failures. It was the last straw of a nuclear weapons program, which was miss-represented and falsified, however this does not stop Russian tanks, bombers, or infantry from killing Georgians or overthrowing their democratically elected government to rebuild their previous empire. Nobody wants war, but we have to be willing to risk it if the consequences of avoiding it are too dire for future generations. 8/11/2008 Rant of the week, Olympics, 2008 Presidential race, and SportsDespite my project being a mere 2 weeks from completing, unless I get funded to extend…, the work load is increasing 3 fold. In light of this I have not been posting as I wanted to, and have missed plenty of opportunities to climb up on my soap box and yell at the world for this or that reason. This being said, I have eked out a few minutes to do a quick recap and breakdown of things in the news I feel should get more attention or are getting the wrong attention. From the topics of sports, current events, politics, and geo-political and military affairs here we go.
The Detroit Lions won their first preseason game, Jon Kinta looked pretty good, and given the fact they beat the defending champion New York Giants, Eli Manning looked like poop, Detroit let all 3 QB’s play and their numbers were not so bad. Chicago is still a mess, Green Bay a huge question mark and Minnesota a real threat, only time will tell if the NFC North will continue to be the joke of the NFL. This is all a good thing because the Detroit Tigers’ hot streak of July needs good pitching to sustain and after trading Pudge Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth, something the Tigers really need to stay in contention for the wildcard spot, they are 3rd in the AL Central standing but have a terrible road record and most likely won’t get to control their destiny in the fall. The memories of the Detroit Red Wing’s Stanley victory are fading the city’s mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is now in jail for a “business trip” to Windsor, Ontario Canada, just a short 20 to 30 minute drive away, to sell the city’s share of the tunnel connecting the two countries to help replenish the city’s depressed budget accounts. Add this to his legal troubles; he was out on a bond for his perjury and corruption trial and instructed to give advanced notice before leaving the city or state, and yes going to Canada is considered leaving the state. The city’s “beloved” mayor is now out of jail, with an electronic ankle bracelet and new court reprimands and the governor is turning a blind eye while Kilpatrick continues to stall hoping to reach a deal or November, because if he can he gets a pension for LIFE. Oh, and by the way, he just was indicted for assaulting a sheriff’s deputy for trying to serve a subpoena to Kilpatrick’s sister. Wow, and people thought national and world news was interesting.
Brett Farve is now a New York Jet, the Green Bay era is over, he is back and the drama gripping the sports media is over just in time for Olympic coverage. This was a case of mishandled and managed situations on all sides. Farve felt he was forced into retirement, Green Bay wanted to move forward. The commissioner wants what is best for ratings and brand placement in the NFL, and in the end it all boils down to money. Chad Pennington, New York’s QB last year, was released and looks to be going to Miami. This works out better for Pennington as he really will have little expectations to perform as Miami made a historic run last year to have the only win-less season in NFL history but managed to screw that up by winning 1 and going to a 1-15 record, hey they have the only perfect season for winning, why not the perfect season for loosing? Actually it goes to show that the praise I gave Farve when he announced his retirement is now retracted. He will not go out on-top, legacy intact, but make the fatal mistake so many modern sports legends do. He is taking one last stab at glory and will go down kicking and screaming in a bloody spectical along the way. He will join the ranks of countless others who became known as the “should have quite” then crowd. Too bad, Farve could have been the last sports hero to stand on principle and integrity, but alas, he is just a man, one who wants to get paid. That's it for sports.
On to national politics and current affairs, Did anyone read the National Enquirer about a year ago, you know in October 2007? For those readers not from America, the National Enquirer is a tabloid, a magazine that is known for publishing odd, mostly unrealistic, or completely outlandish stories and has even published stories about aliens, religious oddities, and other seemingly ridiculous stuff it is never taken seriously. Well, turns out their story of John Edward's running from a hotel room in Beverly Hills in October 2007 was TRUE! John Edwards, trial lawyer turned liberal senator from North Carolina, who ran with John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign, has outted himself on ABC TV confirming the story in the Enquirer was TRUE. The terrible thing, besides the cheating, lying, and deception to his fmaily, and nation, was the fact his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer during the election and went into treatment after the election was over, then relapsed in March 2007 with the cancer spreading to her bones, just 7 short months before the affair is made public (making this thing ongoing while his wife was in treatment). Now, the most odd thing of the story, Edwards claims they met at a bar, not a political rally, convention, or place of business but a bar! Was he out trolling for chicks while his wife was in treatment for bone cancer? Wow, behavior only a Democrat can stomach and love, think Bill Clinton and Monica, Cuban Cigar Girl of the decade, Lewinsky. The other woman, Rielle Hunter a film producer, was hired by Edward’s committee to film political spots for his 2008 election bid, soon after became pregnant and has since given birth to a daughter, Ms Hunter has never filled in the father’s name on the birth certificate and Edwards continues to deny the child is his, but Hunter is adding fuel to the fire stating the child will NOT have a DNA test, adding speculation and an admitted lying, cheating, and questionable politician to defend his reputation, and we are supposed to believe him when he says the child is not his? Oh, and Hunter has had numerous deposits in her accounts since July 2006 for both legitimate work and, well other things keep surfacing so this one will keep on running despite the Olympics and VP speculations in the current race.
Speaking of liberals run amuck, Non-Stop Nancy Pelosi shut down the Congress, the Senate and the House, to avoid a vote on the off-shore drilling plan that was on the floor. Now Congress is on summer break, thankfully oil prices are falling and the price of gas has started to recede, but still do we need to continue to be teetered to foreign oil dependency? It appears Pelosi was giving her colleagues an out because we know if the controlling Democrat majority voted down the increasingly popular proposal the electorate would be incensed and demand their heads, voting them out in the next elections. If they voted for the proposal, it would hand the Republican minority a victory and play right into their plans. So we have a Speaker of the House, the most powerful Democrat in our country, currently, shutting down the government to keep her party from looking bad or voting on something the party does not want to see pass but can’t say so publicly because it would get them all fired. Yes I can say that because Congress at this time has the worst approval rating in history, less then the highly unpopular president! Oh, and add this to Nancy’s failed book writing attempt, it has sold less copies since its debut then the Idiot’s Guide to winning in Gitmo written by convicted Bib Laden driver Salim Hamdan. It seems her rags to power story does not bode well when her rags story included her home maker lifestyle as a house wife to a multi-millionaire California tycoon.
John McCain has closed the gap in the polls, Barack Obama is now leading by a slim 2 to 6 points, almost nothing when considering the margin of error can climb as high as 5 points, and Obama is now taking a break back in Hawaii, must be nice. Obama’s whirlwind European trip did not give him the bounce he was hoping for, add that to McCain’s aggressive and negative ad campaign and you would expect the reality to be opposite what it is. I guess Americans did not like seeing tens of thousands of Germans chanting Obama’s name and approving him as the choice of president of the United States, last I checked we never give a damn what the world thinks of our leaders, as long as they look out for our nation’s best interests. Obama did tour the war zone, the Republican’s tried to make a point out of his missed troop hospital visit, but hey, logistics are tough in a war zone and stuff happens, right. The Olympics will put a black hole in the middle of everything until the end of the month so it's a good break to have. November is looking to be a key battle as polarizing issues have shifted away from foreign policies to more practical domestic issue. Inflation, energy costs, unemployment, competing in global markets, immigration reform, and the like are becoming this season’s hot topics. Iraq fatigue has worn all people down and despite the press, the Iraq surge worked, many Iraqi militias are disbanding and the country is now flush with oil revenues that the world thought America was stealing. Security in Iraq is still years from a reality, but despite Bush’s and Rumsfeld’s mishandling of the operation between the “end of major combat operations” and the peace keeping missions Iraq is in a state where we hand over the security to the government with little worry in a few months time. Afghanistan is however a completely different issue. But all this aside, most Americans are much more concerned with their wallets and economic futures then any foreign policy issue at the moment. Time for Obama to define his change platform, give hard figures and numbers and show examples of this, maybe that is what he is doing in Hawaii.
Just when the Chinese thought they could pull off the largest public relations coup in history, their citizens are caught acting badly. First a Chinese immigrant in Canada decided to kill, behead, and eat a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Canada, shocking the country and bus line who had to pull their ad campaign stating there was less stress traveling on busses then airlines or trains since security and fees became high this summer. Next a Chinese national in Beijing stabbed and killed the father-in-law of the US Men’s Volleyball team, slashed his wife and their Chinese guide, then leapt off the Beijing Bell Tower to the street below, killing himself. The incident was committed just 12 hours after the opening ceremony, which the victim, Todd Bachman, and his injured wife had attended. The perpetrator, Tang Yongming was 47, out of work, recently divorced, and was in Beijing to air grievances against the government, according to the Age, an Australian newspaper (The reason I am using this resource, the incident happened Saturday morning, only 2 reports were in Chinese papers by Sunday night, People’s Daily and China Daily, and now, 2 days later, of the 3,636 articles about it listed on Google, only 6 are Chinese, and buried like the stories of 2 Japanese reporters who were beaten and had their equipment destroyed while reporting on the terrorists attacks on Chinese police stations in the Western XinJiang region. The Japanese government has lodged a formal complaint and top Chinese ministers have apologized for the misunderstanding, of online resources, only 4 out of 313 were Chinese. China knows the international spotlight is on them. The overwhelming majority of Chinese want to see China succeed and proper in this new found forum, and for the most part they are. These few slivers of violence only show that people are people, and sometimes they take their personal views to heart before their country’s. China just needs to learn to embrace the issues as a teaching mechanism and not burry them in hopes that people will forget about it or ignore as if they don’t see it then it never happened.
The opening ceremony is over, 4 hours of light, sound, and production the world has never seen before, or will again. The Chinese appear to have wowed billions and their years of preparation and creativity have paid off, the pride they feel will last for many months to come. I watched most of the opening ceremonies, we did so at TGiFridays bar and grill down the street. It was crowded and an ok venue to watch the spectacle, but after 2 hours we had to go. At this point the ceremony was lost to me, too much production, too many people flying around, too many lights and colors. The themes, production, and content was uniquely Chinese, and should have been as this was the majority of the audience. Just as the Turin games has opera, Ferries on the ice, and Athens had classic Roman garbed characters paying homage to the ancient games were to their home audiences. At the Tai Chi portion we decided to retreat to our apartment, where the beer is cheaper, we can control the AC, and the bathroom is cleaner and less crowded. I was most interested in the Parade of Nations, the part where the teams come out and walk around the stadium. I feel sorry for them as it was 11PM when they started, and after midnight when they were leaving the stadium, some with games to attend the following morning. It was a good ceremony, one full of sights, sounds, and themes I have seen in many Chinese movies, TV programs, and articles. One I am sure many westerns did not understand but did as I did, were impressed by the sheer size and volume of everything. China delivered on their promise and a good job to them for pulling off the most elaborate and complex opening ceremony every, and will ever happen for the rest of the rest of history as well. China spent over $300 Million USD and had over 15,000 performers at the national stadium, with countless others behind the scenes and off sight, for 4 hours of extravagance never seen before and never to be repeated again. It all opened with 2008 drummers, and showcased massive amounts of human resources at every juncture, capped off by the massive 630+ member national team, the largest ever. No doubt being held in China prevents the issues of visas and other issues that had to be dealt with in the past. Human capital is China’s greatest asset, greatest problem, and greatest fear as a nation. They can throw millions of people at any issue, natural or man made, and still have billions in reserve. Competition is fierce, being in the top ten in a country of 1.3 billion is much better then being in the top five in a country of a mere 300 million. As long as labor and cost of living stay low China can dominate and continue as it is today, but if prosperity takes root, the middle class emerges, and wages increase, then there are numerous issues to address. This is why we will never see anything like the 2008 opening ceremonies again, no country can dedicate that number of human resources again, and many could not afford the price tag either.
Continuing with Olympic stories in the news, unfortunately the New York Times, and others, have found conflicting evidence showing that 3 of team China’s women’s gymnastic team may be under the minimum age of 16. The conflicting documents are all Chinese but their most recent passports all support the argument of them all being 16 or older, not their passports of 3 and 4 years ago however, or their competition record sign-in sheets. American athletes showed up in black face masks, Australian track athletes didn’t attend the ceremonies, both out of fear of the bad air, which is still worse then Shanghai’s, which is admittedly getting better but still pretty bad compared to Mexico City, LA, and other countries. China is in charge of doping monitoring and I am sure they will keep a sharp eye out to ensure the games are fair and free of drugs, with the amount of resources available they can test each Olympian twice each day for the whole games. It will be good to not see any more preformance enhancing substances scandals like we have seen in the previous 3 or 4 summer games. On a positive note, China is cleaning up in the medal count, with the most gold, America is making a slow start but is helped with the highest total medal count thus far. China dominated in the air pistol and diving categories, America only dominated the woman’s individual fencing category by sweeping it and having a strong showing in swimming. Now in the year of the rat, why is the Google doodle show a pig in a swim uniform diving and a Chinese character next to it? I am sure there is not dispicable hidden message here, but it is odd. Nice to see Google is honoring Olympic victories of China and not America, you know men's and women's swim gold medals, women's fencing medals, etc. Google has drawn heat in the past for its questionable use of doodles, they should know where this will lead them.
The worst news, a new conflict that has the potential of spilling its area and involving a polarized region. Georgia began shelling and bombing separatists in the southern Ossetian region of Georgia. Russian troops and aircraft were engaging Georgian forces while the Parade of Nations was going on in Beijing. Funny how Russia blasts America and American allies for violating sovereignty of nations they like when we do things there but they use the excuse Georgia “lost the right to rule” the region according to new prime minister Vladimir Putin and Russia would be relieving them of their territory and citizens and resources, thank you very much. With the promise of being absorbed back into Russia, Abkhazia region of Georgia has also opened up conflicts, furthering weakening the country of Georgia and its sovereignty. Does anyone else smell the air of hypocrisy here? I distinctly remember Russia condemning the invasion of Iraq stating we were infringing on their sovereignty and were un-provoked and being the aggressor in the conflict. Now here they are doing the same thing in Georgia. Granted the areas are in dispute as both have broken away from the Georgian government but neither are formally recognized as independent countries by the UN. Goes to show, things are all fun and games until the shoe is on the other foot. Ironically the atheletes from both Russia and Georgia have stated they will continue and in the spirit of sportsmanship, too bad their leaders and countrymen can't do the same to resolve their differences more peacefully and with greater care and grace as their national teams can. 8/8/2008 August 08, 2008, Olympic MeaningWell, its opening day of the Olympics, all things aside I hope it is a great success. The weather in Beijing has not cooperated as much as hoped, but that is always the case. The athletes have made it, after years of training, trials, competitions, and more training the moment of their lives is at hand. For them, and us all, I wish them well and best of luck. The memories of this Olympics will be monumental for all people, more so then the millennial games in Sydney, and so many have so much hope wrapped up in this I hope the games are outstanding.
For the visitors to Beijing, well, it will not be what you are expecting. China has cleaned up their home the same way we do for important guests, so the Beijing you see will not be the same Beijing I saw 2 years ago, or will be there in 3 months time. This is a good thing mind you. The dishonest taxi drivers, rickshaw drivers, street beggars, people spitting and littering will not be there, nor will be the eyesores of construction and renovation which plague all Chinese metropolises. Beijing will be showing its best face, on its best manners, and very obliging to foreigners “odd customs” and demands. This is no different then what any other city has done in the past or will do in the future, like London will do in 4 years. So get out, eat, shop, travel, and enjoy. Beijing holds many treasures and uniqueness and it should be experienced as much as possible.
The Olympics are about sports. Watching athletes do what we believe is impossible. Personal pride, national pride, and sportsmanship are all that matters during the next few weeks. After the spectacle and special effects have worn off the records, accomplishments, and goodwill achieved will be far more lasting and important then the current political climate. China has come a long way, and yes they still have a long way to go, but they are hosting the largest sporting event held every 4 years and are doing their best to be a gracious host, all peoples need to be gracious guests as well.
I will be sitting back, drinking my Foreign owned Chinese brewed Budweiser beer and cheering for all the American athletes as my wife cheers on the Chinese. To me its not about medal counts, records, or one-ups-manships, its about watching people so dedicated who have struggled and sacrificed so much for the past 4 years to finally show the world what they can accomplish in the few seconds they have to do so. Mankind is measured in our accomplishments and ability to persevere and overcome. To watch these people make their dreams, desires, and hope materialize through focus and determination is the whole point to me. We, as a people, need to learn how to separate our differences to unite in sportsmanship and find out we are all the same, similar, and able to do the most extraordinary things when we push ourselves. |
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