12voltman59
May 15, 2007, 12:55 PM
As I write this--I am listening to Newt Gingrich on a radio show--a conservative if there ever was one--he just spoke on how he was opposed to the war in Iraq from the beginning because he said that in order to effectively "occupy" Iraq-a country the size of California--it would have taken a million soliders on the ground to have secured the country----he said that this war has been a disaster for our country in terms of diplomatically, economically and militarily---so Sol and you other folks taking the conservative side on this---even a very conservative person--one who has been in power and should know about such things---he has been against this war--not on ideological reasons but the mere practical nature of what this war has done---
Another thing I want to talk about--it relates to a situation developing at the World Bank--not necessarily something that affects us normal schmoos much but it is yet another example of George W. Bush's arrogance and perhaps stupidity--
The US gets to name the head of the World Bank, while the IMF (the International Monetary Fund) director is selected by the EU---
Well Bush put in one of his cohorts--Paul Wolfowitz--a character that is sort of polarizing and not liked much by those on the left since he was one of the chief architects of the war on Iraq.
Wolfowitz pulled some strings and had his "girlfriend" promoted to a very high profile and high paying position in the World Bank-
The move immediately brought up some controversy in the way Wolfowitz got here promoted--and its not that she might not have deserved it for I have heard people say she is a very bright, competent and capable individual--and she is no "gril" since she is like 60 or so.
Well--this thing has developed into an international brouhaha--and a report prepared by an internal investigating body within the World Bank that very clearly lays out that Wolfowitz acted improperly across the board in the way he got his ladyfriend promoted.
Now--the board of the bank is prepared to meet very shortly to hold a formal meeting where they will most likely vote out Wolfowitz as WB president and then have the EU name a new president.
I listed to an at length report on this on the BBC where they spoke to many people knowledgeable about such things who were both European and American who said that this will be a very negative thing in terms of America's relations with our allies in Europe....
They all agreed that this does not have to be because it is very clear that Wolfowitz has to go since he could undermine and do damage to the credibility and reputation of the World Bank ...
As I said--for us regular folks down here on the ground---this may not be a big deal but it is just indiciative of the way Bush does business.
Sure--its good in some way that he seems to be loyal to his cronies--he puts these people into positions that seem to want to destroy the organizations they run like FEMA, the UN, the Justice Department, you name it--
It really does seem that Bush is an adherent of "crony capitalism" as writer Joe Conasson laid out so well in several books.
Today--Bush put out a statement saying he totally supports retaining Wolfowitz in his position as WB president---
It just seems to me to a mix of arrogance, ignorance and stupidity---and from what they say--it is an inevitabilty that if Wolfowitz does not resign--he will be voted off by the controlling board of the bank and America will be shut out from naming the next WB president---
Bush just seems to be intent on doing whatever he wants to do---irrespective of the ramifications for his own presidency and more importantly--our nation---
The methaphor I like to use with Bush---since he commands "The Ship of State"---he is at the controls and he sees the big waterfall ahead--but instead of being a prudent skipper who goes and docks the boat--he pushes the throttles ahead to "full speed ahead" and runs the ship into the abyss....
Oh and Newty--I was liking what I heard him say about many subjects--something I did not think I would ever do--he never ceases to dissapoint--he was on the Diane Rehm Show---a live nationally broadcast program on National Public Radio---Newt had agreed to do the entire hour but bailed out on the show 40 minutes into the show--just goes to show ya what he is like....and it was not like anyone had said anything negative to him--he got to plug his latest book and other things he is doing--they were about to open the phones so listeners could ask questions of him....
Another thing I want to talk about--it relates to a situation developing at the World Bank--not necessarily something that affects us normal schmoos much but it is yet another example of George W. Bush's arrogance and perhaps stupidity--
The US gets to name the head of the World Bank, while the IMF (the International Monetary Fund) director is selected by the EU---
Well Bush put in one of his cohorts--Paul Wolfowitz--a character that is sort of polarizing and not liked much by those on the left since he was one of the chief architects of the war on Iraq.
Wolfowitz pulled some strings and had his "girlfriend" promoted to a very high profile and high paying position in the World Bank-
The move immediately brought up some controversy in the way Wolfowitz got here promoted--and its not that she might not have deserved it for I have heard people say she is a very bright, competent and capable individual--and she is no "gril" since she is like 60 or so.
Well--this thing has developed into an international brouhaha--and a report prepared by an internal investigating body within the World Bank that very clearly lays out that Wolfowitz acted improperly across the board in the way he got his ladyfriend promoted.
Now--the board of the bank is prepared to meet very shortly to hold a formal meeting where they will most likely vote out Wolfowitz as WB president and then have the EU name a new president.
I listed to an at length report on this on the BBC where they spoke to many people knowledgeable about such things who were both European and American who said that this will be a very negative thing in terms of America's relations with our allies in Europe....
They all agreed that this does not have to be because it is very clear that Wolfowitz has to go since he could undermine and do damage to the credibility and reputation of the World Bank ...
As I said--for us regular folks down here on the ground---this may not be a big deal but it is just indiciative of the way Bush does business.
Sure--its good in some way that he seems to be loyal to his cronies--he puts these people into positions that seem to want to destroy the organizations they run like FEMA, the UN, the Justice Department, you name it--
It really does seem that Bush is an adherent of "crony capitalism" as writer Joe Conasson laid out so well in several books.
Today--Bush put out a statement saying he totally supports retaining Wolfowitz in his position as WB president---
It just seems to me to a mix of arrogance, ignorance and stupidity---and from what they say--it is an inevitabilty that if Wolfowitz does not resign--he will be voted off by the controlling board of the bank and America will be shut out from naming the next WB president---
Bush just seems to be intent on doing whatever he wants to do---irrespective of the ramifications for his own presidency and more importantly--our nation---
The methaphor I like to use with Bush---since he commands "The Ship of State"---he is at the controls and he sees the big waterfall ahead--but instead of being a prudent skipper who goes and docks the boat--he pushes the throttles ahead to "full speed ahead" and runs the ship into the abyss....
Oh and Newty--I was liking what I heard him say about many subjects--something I did not think I would ever do--he never ceases to dissapoint--he was on the Diane Rehm Show---a live nationally broadcast program on National Public Radio---Newt had agreed to do the entire hour but bailed out on the show 40 minutes into the show--just goes to show ya what he is like....and it was not like anyone had said anything negative to him--he got to plug his latest book and other things he is doing--they were about to open the phones so listeners could ask questions of him....