El Crudo

foreign policy

The Rest of the World has been on a back burner, for me, for 4 years.
This, with 1 ongoing war(police action? Conflict?AUMF?)....and another only recently over….and the (we are told) Fires of Revolution, lighting the sky over North Africa and the Middle East.
I’m aware of things, but my Scrutiny has been directed elsewhere.
My Scorn, too.
With the Move, and the Adjustments that followed, as well as my continued Adventures with Beaurocracy(1)
…Tangled in the Safety Net….
I’ve been distracted.
But Mitt, apparently, Stepped in it…(I have not begun to Dig,only Alternet)…the Libya-thing…
And North Africa and the Rest of The World aren’t Going Away…
…and now Mitt thinks Neoconservatives have Good Ideas.(2)
I’ve said all I have to say about Health Care…until there’s a new development.
Mount Up.
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After 911, I wandered a bit, and hit on Peak Oil. I had colored pins in the map, and it only made sense if PO was included in the Model.
It was in this way, that I stumbled into LATOC. Noncrazy, for the most part, and even the trolls were fun.
It was in the last half of the Bush Darkness, so Foreign Policy was an important topic. Most expected more Attacks, and more Warmaking…and We tied all this together with Domestic Policy, and Economics.
Hard to separate, really, once one has that cast of mind….but what was the driving force of these, apparently, extreme and nonsensical actions?
My Research Frenzy into the Mind of the Right began with Neoconservatives. Scoop Jackson,Wolfie, Perle,both Kristols,Podheretz(sp?), and Bloom.
….and the Odious and Unnecessarily Dense, Leo Strauss.
Many of those guys were former Trotsky-ites, believe it or don’t…
But Strauss was a piece of work.
He held that Plato, et al. wrote in a sort of code…so that in everything they wrote, there were two messages; one for the Masses(the Exoteric)…and one(the Truth) for the Little Cabinet of Philosopher Kings.(Esoteric)…He was concerned with “How” to read certain Philosophers.
From this Esoteric reading is derived Aggressive Empire Building and Complete distrust in the ability of the Masses to have a say in matters of State. Anti-Enlightenment, anti-small l liberal democracy.
It should come as no surprise that Strauss was a big fan of Machiavelli. Domestic “Policy” to these folks is whatever keeps the Masses either Fat and Sated, or Busy and Harassed…and Patriotic, of course.
This little maneuver gives Strauss and his Coterie a lot of Leeway in Justifying their Positions, or Actions.
If one refutes, however mildly, then one must not be in the Club…and therefore simply cannot understand such lofty matters.
I read Strauss’ “Natural Right and History” twice, and his “On Tyranny” only once. It’s somewhat exhausting to read this guy, since he attempts to disguise what he’s really saying, within what he’s actually saying.
Or something.( I read Drury later.)
The point is that the FP that comes from this muddle(Strauss and his Followers, and the Broader “Neoconservative Movement”(PNAC))….
=Empire.
A New Rome.
Astride the World, with it’s Benevolent Violence.
Starry Eyed Zealots, all…with an annoying habit of looking down their noses at anyone who disagrees.(Eso/Exo). The Hoi Polloi should go about their business(Go Shopping), and leave the Maintenance and Growth of the Empire to the Philosophers.
These are the folks who brought us, in response to 911, Prosecution by Military Force….two of the Wars they had been pining so ardently for.(they had a whole list). Pseudo Monarchists, they brought us the “Decider”, the Executive, Unbound! They had a Plan!
They read Thucydides, and really got worked up over Athens’ assault on Syracuse. What Heroism~! . But they seem to have stopped reading(vapors), at that point. The whole Collapse of Empire-Thing, that came after, was overlooked.
Hubris, without consideration of Nemesis.(see: Chalmers Johnson)
This is the same Bunch, who allied themselves with the Christ Militant Wing of the Religious Right…the Hagee’s, the Boykins, the ones who figure a Nuclear War with Iran(Gog) would be a Good Thing, because then Jesus would come.
The same lot, who worked so hard to replace the Specter of Fifth Column Communists, hiding under suburban beds, with bomb-throwing Muslims, bent on imposing Sharia Law in Amerca.
These “Philosophers”, nearly all of whom received multiple “Deferments” when they had the chance to go to War…these folks sit in the Tea Room of the Manor House, and pontificate that what the American People really need, is the chance to be Heroic…which is only available if we’re engaged in a Global and Endless War….an Existential Struggle,” That will not end in our lifetimes”… a Brilliant Crusade against the Dark Forces of Chaos.(4)
These are men Terrified of the World…Belligerent in their Pronouncements, to mask their flabby Spinelessness.(“my dad can kick your dad’s ass”)
From the Neocons’ own assertions, we find the idea that We can , basically, take over the Third World, and be greeted with Flower Throwing, Grateful Wogs…who will love us for our efforts to Liberate their Resources.(3) The excuse, of course, was the GWOT. 911 was a fish, leaping into their boat.
Bomb the Hell out of sandy countries, in order to kill a few bad guys. That was the Exoteric Reasoning.
(The Big Lie.)
Taking a sledgehammer to flies.(try it in your own house)
It’s a marvel that the world survived.(5)


Mitt wants more.
This is likely why the Romney Campaign has avoided much mention of FP.
Ignis est perfectior orbis terrarum.(sigh)(6)
Vote Obama.
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(1).. ( I propose a New Word, to replace this one…perhaps,”Hive”, or something…)
(2)http://www.alternet.org/story/155212/mitt_romney%27s_dangerous_foreign_policy_team%3A_nostalgic_for_bush%2C_hellbent_on_war_with_iran?paging=off
(3)…Which is a sort of confirmation of PO, btw.It at least points that way. Colored Pins, on the map of the world.
(4)http://www.mittromney.com/sites/default/files/shared/AnAmericanCentury-WhitePaper_0.pdf
(5) It is disingenuous to pretend that Obama has withdrawn the Legions. http://www.alternet.org/world/inevitable-consequences-sending-special-forces-missions-120-different-countries-endless?paging=off
(6) I wish my Latin was better,lol.
The Preferred World, is a World on Fire.
Dangerous Lunatics.
Go back to your rocks.