geopolitical chess

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I only link that piece because it sort of generally gives the picture, but it doesn't go far enough. I'm trying to tell you that Obummer can't get anyone any more pissed off at us because Putin has him hemmed in from all sides. He might be able to obliterate Pakistan with India's help, but that would get him, and India, in trouble with a whole lot of Muslims who are staunch allies of Russia and China, some of whom are Russian and Chinese. India may well not want to go there, the price of losing that annoyance being so high.

It looks to me as though Putin and Medvedev are telling Obummer that if he drops this missile defense system, and maybe even the NATO shit, which maybe is only me hoping, he can have their help getting everyone to stabilize Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Israel ain't going to attack nobody. If they do, they're toast, and we can't help them, or we're toast too.

Think about it. Russia now has much stronger ties with China than we do, and ours are coming untied. Russia is the new BFF of a number of Middle Eastern states who don't want us near their soil, let alone their oil. Russia is reminding India of their long-standing friendship as our economic influence is drifting down the Ganges like those little floating candles, so we may be about even there today and about a million miles behind by tomorrow. Everyone in South America who hates us loves Russia. Europe is trending heavily toward caring more about their ties with Russia than with us. Whoever's still with us in Africa will be dead of AIDS before they can help. Canada would probably tell us to piss off if we want another troop. Mexico might oblige us if we give back Aztlán, or annex them. Japan might stick with us, just because they hate everyone in their vicinity, or they might very prudently stay the hell out of it so as not to get nuked again, this time by China. Maybe Australia would hang with us and Britain. Hell, I don't even think Britain will stick with us... not really.

Israel won't help anyone but Israel.

At best we still have our king and a pawn or two. We might be able to make them chase us around the board for another decade or so, but we ain't winning the game.

If anybody thinks another war will fix the economy, they're wrong, and we'll lose.

The way out of this is careful diplomacy and dropping our hopes for another cold war with Russia for good.

This is a great position to be in... if you'd prefer making a better world to endless geopolitical chess.

But I do not think Obummer has chosen the right people. I do not think he's on it. I think he's still campaigning and I think he won't stop. I think he can't. He doesn't know where we are. We have lost our gambit and can only play to a draw now.

Clinton is no good at that kind of strength. It takes flexibility. She's brittle. She unerringly gets rabies when she's down a move, and is too in love with showing the world she's as aggressive as any man ever born. News flash: She's more aggressive than that. And, speaking of aggressive, Rahmbo being in charge of everything coming to the president will ensure that certain realpolitik does not get aired. In fact, with Israel threatening to swing harder to the right right now, and one of their staunchest citizens running the West Wing, and one of their foremost ass kissers heading up State, and someone who cannot be trusted to cull the neocons from the Pentagon, we better hope those rumors about Obummer being Muslim are true.