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Quote of the Day: Thinking Clearly
“‘Beware!’ said Poirot, shaking an admonishing finger at Hastings. ‘The symmetry, it is everything. Everywhere there should be neatness and order, especially in the little grey cells of the brain.’ He tapped his head as he spoke. ‘If you would use your little grey cells and attempt to see the whole case clearly – as I attempt to do – you would perhaps perceive the truth, my friend.'” — Detective Hercule Poirot, from the novel Black Coffee.
The long, drawn-out Mueller investigation is finally revealing some rotten fruits from the tree of appeasement that was cultivated, pruned and well-watered by the last administration. History has shown that the hidden roots of such a tree grow deep and in many directions, under the covering of thick layers of dirt. Lies, deceit, suffering, loss of life and arrows to the heart of freedom are the result. Then something happens … the roots bulge and eventually burst through the dirt to the surface, revealing themselves.
“This retreat was no accident. In fact, it was the basis of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. The philosophical underpinning for this policy came from Obama’s favorite quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/dod-world-order-strategy/
Excerpts as follows: Russia – China – Iran: “Under that policy, however, Russia became more emboldened, China grew stronger, and the Islamic Republic of Iran found tremendous leeway to interfere in the politics (not to mention security) of its neighbors. As Charles Krauthammer wrote in the final months of the administration: “The consequent withdrawal of American power … has yielded nothing but geopolitical chaos and immense human suffering. (See Syria.)”
The new NDS recognizes this recent shift in the world order with this observation: “We are facing global disorder, characterized by decline in the long-standing rules-based international order.”
China, on the other hand, meets those benchmarks. In order to plan for Beijing’s inevitable rise, a forward-thinking foreign policy is vital – something China seems to understand. Indeed, China’s president, Xi Jinping, in a collection of speeches that Beijing published as The Governance of China, has called for a world order in which no single hegemon (read, the US) should serve as a model for the developing nations. Perhaps this is China’s strategy: to claim it does not represent a threat to other nations so that it can gain their trust and business over time. If so, China will continue to get stronger. The problem is there may come a time when China is able to push values onto the rest of the world that are at odds with Western democratic values. Just ask any recent Western visitor to China about their inability to access Facebook and Twitter.
The NDS recognizes the principal threat posed by China. It states: “As China continues its economic and military ascendance, asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy, it will continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony.”
What’s missing from the NDS is a detailed description of the envisioned role of major US allies like Israel. A portion of it states (with emphasis added): “A more lethal, resilient, and rapidly innovating Joint Force, combined with a robust constellation of allies and partners, will sustain American influence and ensure favorable balances of power that safeguard the free and open international order.
The 2007 book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, infamously argued that powerful Jewish interest groups in the US incorrectly steer US policy towards supporting Israel. “Now that the Cold War is over,” wrote the two scholars, “Israel has become a strategic liability for the United States.” Of course, this assessment could not have been further from the truth. Israel has played a vital role in maintaining global security.
The Mueller investigation and the above report has confirmed a tiny portion of the fruit of the last administration’s inability to see clearly America’s role, along with our allies, as a key participant in keeping order. Russia’s and others success in infiltrating our country’s ability to discern truth from fiction, to sow seeds of doubt, anger, and confusion in our elections, to influence our social and moral fabric, to jumble our little grey cells, wasn’t directed at one political party, but to undermine the strength of our democracy, and ultimately the stability of the world order.
Published in General
Almost certainly true. The scandal here is that the Russians are in bed with the Russians.
I do not want to diminish to possibility that China might be a problem, especially if another “talk loudly and carry no stick” president like Obama shows up. But if the US, Japan, India, and Australia/New Zeeland remain strong, China has essentially a bottled-up navy, and can do little to threaten the entire globe, especially Non-Asian countries.
I’ve lived through the Soviet and Japan Inc. scares, and if we continue our energy independence, the Mid East problem should wane. China has corruption and their one child policy will affect them in the future. Hopefully Europe will come to its senses and fix the Muslim problem, which might be more troublesome than China.
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Good post. We need to take all threats seriously. We also need to help our allies and harm our opponents, the opposite strategy of the Obama administration.
Ability to access Facebook and Twitter is the measure of Western democratic values? Oy!
You make a good point! I heard a guest on talk radio a few months ago describe religious freedom in China – it’s the same in Russia – state controlled, as in none or carefully monitored – only a few priests allowed – the rest are underground. Even so, this gentleman who witnessed it, described standing room only in the churches with lines outside just listening, not intimidated by the armed police at the door. They know their pictures are being taken – they don’t care – just like the Poles during the Russian and German invasions, their faith kept their identity intact – the state could not remove it.
I found another doozy quote from a story on Fox today:
“You said Russia, not al Qaeda,” then-President Barack Obama charged during a 2012 presidential debate with Romney. “And the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”
Chaffetz on Saturday also doubted that the Russian influence changed the outcome of the 2016 elections and said, “I guess Mitt Romney was right.”
Thought we could use a little humor today…..
Well, lots of things are bursting out — but Mueller has been careful to make sure that there are no important indictments. Instead, it’s a bunch of peripheral stuff that he has been showing us as proof for why he needs to have another year or two.
Scott Adams suggests that Trump give Mueller a time limit to work towards and that his authorization will stop after that date. I think this is a good idea: “I am now authorizing Robert Mueller to continue in his job as special counsel until July 1, 2018. His work must end by that date.”
Trump needs to fire Rosenstein, too. As soon as he can after the Mueller “investigation.”
Rush’s latest Limbaugh Letter has a 4 page article titled The Democrats’ Collapsing “Dossier”. It’s a chronology of events and names, starting 3/7/15 and ending 1/23/18. It’s worth a read if you can find it . . .
Thank you – I’ll look it up –
If anyone is interested in earth-shaking, Richter Sale level 5 news on China this month, sign up for the Moynihan Newsletter and read his just released report out yesterday, on the Vatican and China – after 67 years, the Vatican is looking to sign an agreement with China on new church relations – there is a lot here – I felt like I was inside a tornado reading it:
@larrykoler – sorry I meant to say church relations with China, not Russia
http://insidethevatican.com/about-us/dr-robert-b-moynihan
It includes quite a few links that are all well worth reading.
Russia and China – our top priorities says the DOD – it’s going to be quite a year.