Comments on: Europe's Ambassadorial Angst

By: ughtechnology

ughtechnology — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:42:38 +0000

One country we should care about whether we want to or not is N. Korea, because Mr. Il is getting more and more agitated, to judge by his missile tests expansion and frequency. Perhaps, if the Chinese tiger cannot find any motivation to get involved and set limits for Jong Il, the Russian Bear might be persuaded to give a targeted 'growl' and and show of his great 'paws'....After all, Russia is in Jong Il's neighborhood, too.

By: repzak

repzak — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:40:22 +0000

"So i betcha that only karen covers this story, but nearly all european news outlets cover it. and i guarantee you that people actually read this (nearly everyone reads the papers) and feel snubbed."Ahaha. Yeah... You keep dreaming that we really care who is appointed ambassador No - when we stop to think about it we might consider it slightly rude - on the level of not taking off your hat indoors ie. not really important. But snubbed? No - I don't think so.In this day and age - unless you are talking third world, all ambassadors really are anyway is socialites and mouthpieces. At most they might be considered lobbyists. Now some places you do want real diplomatic talent - ie. those countries where a crisis could potentially erupts from day to day (see Honduras recently) - and the diplomats on the ground may have to act fast and unsupervised for a while.

By: jcapan

jcapan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:59:59 +0000

"as if ambassadors matter at all in the greater scheme of things"
~
Roger, that. Their actual jobs are a joke--they're show ponies reading their lines. But if it were only such positions for sale, such resume polishing b-s. Cuz god knows donors/corp biggies had no say at all in banking, health care or energy reform. No pay to play access, right?

By: cfukara

cfukara — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:55:11 +0000

lupercal5 2:30 pm " .. cfukara, you'll be quite please: .." Why would I be? "Even the mediocre deserve some representation" on SWAMPLAND. ..

By: shepherdwong

shepherdwong — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:52:55 +0000

"...its not bad enough that they are giving the posts to campaign contributors, its downright insulting to give them to the banksters who personify the US financial meltdown that has affected the rest of the globe..." . Slightly worse that they've already been given Treasury, don't you think? Otherwise: Democrat = always having to say you're sorry.

By: lupercal5

lupercal5 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:30:50 +0000

cfukara, you'll be quite pleased: I am neither mediocre nor a high school student.
.
i wasn't aware, though, that it took either stupidity or lack of education to acknowledge something so glaring in our face. In fact, one could argue that ridiculing the notion that the distressing indifference to the wider world is exactly a sign of mediocrity and mis-education.

By: lupercal5

lupercal5 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:30:43 +0000

cfukara, you'll be quite please: I am neither mediocre nor a high school student.
.
i wasn't aware, though, that it took either stupidity or lack of education to acknowledge something so glaring in our face. In fact, one could argue that ridiculing the notion that the distressing indifference to the wider world is exactly a sign of mediocrity and mis-education.

By: cfukara

cfukara — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:13:30 +0000

lupercal5: " .. give me a break. it's not an american story. We actually don't care at all about countries beyond our borders, .."

A mediocre high school student in USA would not write such a statement - even in jest.

By: lupercal5

lupercal5 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:49:42 +0000

give me a break. it's not an american story. We actually don't care at all about countries beyond our borders, unless there is direct upheaval in there that could affect us. So i betcha that only karen covers this story, but nearly all european news outlets cover it. and i guarantee you that people actually read this (nearly everyone reads the papers) and feel snubbed.
.
The ebbing of the perception of change from Bush won't happen with a big bang. It will happen because of the little things that happen, like more marriages (well, relationships).
.
To me, it makes a bit of sense. It's a practical and symbolic gesture that our relationship with Europe is mostly in the nitty-gritty of economic policy.

By: cfukara

cfukara — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:44:08 +0000

" .. Brits have been less than enthusiastic about Obama's pick of former Citigroup banker and top election fundraiser Susman for the plum London job. "

They should be grateful: They could have got a retired general of the armed forces - like the Africans get.
Q: why are the starving Africans, who really don't need any more fights, getting the people whose every reflex says "fight", "sabotage", "kill"?
A: The second and final scramble for Africa's fabulous resources, and the final curtain for indigenous Africans. Like the indigenous natives of wealthy North and South America.
Over the past few years, over a million indigenous natives have been killed in the resource-rich Congo alone. Who supplies the arms that do the deed?

You see, our corporate-military planners see the red-hot center of the imperial bloodletting moving - within the coming decade - from the oil fields of the Middle East region to the Africa region centered around the oil-fields of Nigeria.
And our forces are in place. The AFRICOM is now in place. Our military bases (and huge embassies) are in place in most of the African countries.
And there is the base on Diego Garcia, just off the coast of Africa, which houses nuclear missiles and long-range bombers ... Why, you may ask, are nuclear missiles based in a region not known for nuclear weapons or expansionist ambition? [Hint: ..]

[And here comes the siren song:
" .. Barack Obama dolls have hit Moscow shelves and a bar is handing out half-price cocktails to anyone who says the magic words "Yes we can" in anticipation of the American president's arrival here Monday for a summit. .. He is expected in particular to reach out to young Russians, who are generally more supportive."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090703/ap_on_re_eu/eu_obama_charm_offensive

Would Russia under Medvedev go the way of USSR under the wino Yeltsin?

[[ Social disruption as an imperial option for conquest: Agitation. Aim for the soft spot - the impressionable young and the women ..
Remember the lady Pocahontas?
And the lady Malinche?
The amount of gold, silver, and other resources taken out of Mexico is incalculable. A nation vanished. Tenochtitlan, present day Mexico City, in 1519 was the largest city in the western world. What Montezuma and other Aztec rulers had built fell to the driving forces of Gold and God.
]]