it used to be "are" not "is"

the common form of reference to the United States is now "is". "the United States is... "a superpower" or "the world's largest economy" etc. it used to be "are". a very big damn difference it makes, or rather, has already been made. (until it's not)

so enough with the incessant assertions of singularity, oaths of allegiance, peons to 'unity' under a providence monotheistic, and the constant refining-redefining what the meaning of "is" is (particularly coming from Bill Clinton's hometown) the ADG's "single-mindedness" is bass-ackwerds again.

per the ADG...

Why is it that once every four years an immense pride is overshadowed by an immense humility before a set of bleachers that somehow has become an altar?

Why is it hearts that should be consumed by pride are humbled by the thought of the sacrifices that made and make such a Republic possible?

Why is it we are so confident and so wary at the same time?

We think it has something to do with the vision of the past, with the never finished American dream (may it never be finished!), with a set of meager settlements on a continent's edge having become so much and still becoming so much more.

We think it has something to with becoming, out of many, one.

We think it has something to do with the knowledge that we have so much still to become, so help us God.

the harder they try to desperately unify with emotional appeals and gaudy (and expensive) ceremonies, the easier it is to see that "The United States" are not to be much longer in this world.



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the United States is NOT ...

"the United States is NOT an all-terrain vehicle" (despite the fact that those who seek elected office and those who seek 'favors' from them seem to think it is)

when driving through unfamiliar streets, it is not uncommon to turn onto a road and soon find yourself at a 'dead-end'. when this happens you have no choice...

but to turn back, and retrace your path, to find the intersection where the wrong turn was made, and take another route. only then can you hope to begin to 'move forward' again. (assuming, and it's a big assumption, that you know where you want to go)
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crystal ball or looking glass ?

a crystal ball or a looking glass ?
sometimes it's so damned hard
to tell which one you are staring at
as time deals another card

is that yonder light a dying star
or an ever-nearing fire ?
or both if patterns recognized
continue to conspire

unto a most decisive moment
for the warning lamp's now blinkin'
start studying up on Gorbachev
and put away the goddamn Lincoln

stephenhsmith 30Nov2008

i suspect that the odds are quite high that President Obama (or President Biden, should events conspire even more) will face such a "decisive moment" in the coming years. and if so, the man that makes that decision will have the opportunity to profoundly shape the future of all mankind for centuries to come, one way or the other.
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today's Drudge

versus muleboy303 from april/may 2007... Hillary Rodham Gorbachev
(ok, ok, so i mis-cast the lead : )

repost:

"Meet the new WASP, same as the old WASP" - shs Apr07

It is my belief that Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson will be sworn in as P/VPOTUS on January 20, 2009. My preference would be for Ron Paul and/or Jim Webb, but Americans rarely listen to me, and besides it would take legions of like-minded bureaucrats to make any substantive difference in U.S. policy.

The "Powers that Be/Disciples of Rothchild and Rhodes" will continue to prevail in the highest levels of U.S. Government for at least another 4 years. (Although the idea of Hillary Rodham 'Gorbachev' presiding over the relatively bloodless dissolution of the United States as the 44th and last POTUS does appeal)

But with such a fantasy still remote (though tantalizingly seeming more possible everyday) it is time to turn toward more realistic expectations. To which I've composed a list of excesses/criminalities of the G.W.Bush Administration that I assert will NOT be remedied during the first two years of the Hillary Administration and a Democratic Party controlled HoR and Senate.

Patriot Act repeal
Military Commissions Act repeal
Dept of Homeland Security dismantled
FISA Court Authority restored
VA Healthcare fully funded
Electronic-Voting paper backup required
Congressional War Powers authority restored
Presidential Signing Statements eliminated by statute
Military Forces fully-equipped/trained restored
Elimination of "stop loss" orders
Restoration on NatlGuard deployment rules
Restoration of state Governor's control of NatlGuard
Restoration of U.S. legal fidelity to Geneva Accords
Restoration of Congressional oversight of Executive Branch
A "True" Balanced Budget
Iraq War brought into Budget
Limiting Presidential 'Executive Order' power by statute
Less than 80,000 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq

Which means that in the summer of 2010, as the American people face another round of Congressional elections, the issues before them will be almost exactly the same as they are today. Indeed I expect them to be worse, for any catastrophic events in the Economy, Foreign Relations, even Weather, will only serve to make the list more difficult to reverse, especially for a new POTUS who is a woman, who presumably will work to overcompensate for any suspicions of "weakness".

Add in the ever-possible event of another large-scale attack by Al Quaeda, which will become more probable as time passes, and especially if U.S. military units begin to be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq, and the political calculus for a sea-change reversal of current U.S. policies becomes nearly impossible to imagine.

Thus, the only reason that could compel the complete withdrawal of American military forces from the Middle East in the next three years would be for a significant threat of civil-unrest and economic disruption within the U.S. (of a scale at least 10 times greater than that of 1968-1970 or 1930-1932)

It is going to be a "long war" indeed, unless the country folds/dissolves. (which may well have been the 'Powers/Rothchild's' plan all along)

stephenhsmith
11may2007
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2Big2Fail ? (off the top of my head)

...in the last century or so,

Hapsburgs, Romanovs, Titanic, 2 German empires, Ottoman empire, British empire, the Soviet Union, A.T.&T.


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more dominos teetering in line

MORE DOMINOS TEETER IN LINE in no particular order

Citigroup, Xmas Sales, Commercial Paper, State Budget Deficits, State Pension Funds, City/State Bonds, Commercial Real Estate defaults, Credit Card Defaults, Big 3... on top of the continuing credit crunch, subprime unwinding, and unprecedented (in most americans lifetimes) "economic uncertainty" equals a nation on the "precipice"
which makes me think that a relatively small "push" is all it would take to initiate a replication by the "United" States of the Soviet Union's collapse and dismemberment. and such a "push" could easily be another terrorist attack in early 2009. (as Biden warned ?)


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"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes" - Mark Twain

year minus 1.5... the first attacks
year zero... the state orders it's military forces to invade
the invasion/attack is successfully concluded within weeks
year plus 1... guerrilla resistance organizes and intensifies
year plus 3... millions of the native population become refugees
year plus 5... the invader state elects a new leader who proposes troop withdrawals
year plus 8... treaties allow substantial troop withdrawals to begin
year plus 9... the last of the troops are withdrawn
the invaded nation is engulfed by civil war
year plus 10... the invader government collapses into history

thus is the saga of the Soviets in Afghanistan
who did you think i was talking about ?




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back in the US, back in the US, back in the USSR

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