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Friday, November 30, 2018

Emerging China: the Dragon Awakens

by Sam Huntington

Even a shrew will attack when it feels as if there is no other way out.  China today offers the United States a daunting strategic challenge.  We haven’t actually cornered China, but our artless foreign policy may certainly give China that impression.

There are two aspects of our relationship with China that I’d like to discuss: military posturing, and economic strength.  Before I get to that, we need an appreciation of the history of Sino-US relations.

Older Chinese still recall the “bad old days” of China’s evolution from feudal state to a modern power.  Foreign subjugation began with the Opium Wars in 1848.  Western powers, including the United States, more or less helped themselves to Chinese resources.  At the beginning of the twentieth century, China suffered increasing frequency of internal upheavals; these were mostly the result of the central government’s inability to do anything about the presence of foreign powers that sought to enrich themselves at China’s expense.  On more than one occasion, the United States sent military and naval forces to China to protect its diplomatic legation and to demonstrate American power.

China achieved a republic in the early 1920s, but one that was politically unstable.  A civil war lasted from 1927 to 1937.  The civil conflict was interrupted by a Japanese invasion and World War II.  Civil war resumed in 1945, lasting until 1949.  Thus, from the mid-1800s to 1949, China experienced warlordism, internal upheaval, starvation, and national degradation.  The Chinese call this their century of humiliation. Twenty-four million people suffered and died.


China has not forgotten that the United States was one of the group of foreign devils that imposed its will upon a weak government; it not forgotten that the USA backed the loser in the Chinese civil war.  China has also not forgotten that the so-called Korean War (1950-1953) was actually a major land engagement between the United States led United Nations and the newly created People’s Republic of China.  Another three-million people died.

Given this history, modern China does not trust the United States —and perhaps, with good reason.  In the view of the Chinese leadership, the United States is a dangerous meddler.  Of course, China does its fair share of meddling, as well.  How many Americans today realize that the Chinese played a major behind-the-scenes role in the Viet Nam War?

Nor is China very keen on the military alliance formed by the United States, Japan, and South Korea.  The United States may not have backed China into a corner, but it is likely that China feels cornered —and in this situation, perception can be dangerous.  For these reasons, a note of caution: the bluster that is Donald Trump may not work as effectively with China as it has (so far) with North Korea.  

Consequently, China has developed a unique defensive strategy.  Motivated by psychological insecurity and distrust of US motives, China is determined to maintain its internal stability and develop defenses that are impregnable to external threats.  One ambitious program involves the construction of a series of massive islands in the South China Sea, which China announced belongs to them.  These are advanced air and naval bases intended to protect mainland China from the threat of US military power.  Chinese military challenges to US naval and aviation assets has steadily increased in frequency since the Hainan Island Incident in 2001.  China also regularly harasses maritime shipping and fishing fleets from Viet Nam and the Philippine Islands.  China’s message appears clear: they are prepared to go to war to protect “their sea” from foreign domination.

China is also worried about Taiwan, which they regard as a rebellious province.  They aren’t concerned about a Taiwanese invasion, of course, but rather that by maintaining its intransigence, Taiwan sends the wrong message to the rest of the country.  China’s attitude concerning Taiwan mirrors that of the United Kingdom’s attachment to the Falkland Islands —they’ll go to war over it.  Personally, I think conflict is only a matter of time —the time table of which will depend on increased military spending and the creation of a few more artificial islands.

To Trump’s credit, at least to date, he seems more attuned to our economic relationship than he is to sword-rattling.  Still, America’s policy toward China must be nothing if not prescient —not because we need to fear the Chinese, but because that country is like no other in the entire world.

Economically, the country is a phenomenon.  Since 1987, China has moved over a half-billion human beings from their simple rural settings into brand new, completely modern urban centers [1].  There is no precedent for this mass relocation in the history of the world.  If we were looking for an equivalent, imagine transferring every human being in Western Europe to the Atlantic coastline. [2]  Moreover, China’s new cities rival those of Europe’s largest —only newer— boasting every modern convenience.

The Chinese economy is gaining on our own.  Some experts claim that China will have exceed America’s before 2030.  Washington should begin planning for this now —today, but I am not sure most politicians are even aware of China’s economic growth.

In spite of its growing economic power, China maintains the trappings of an Imperial Empire —and the glue that binds this empire is totalitarian coercion.  How does one persuade 600 million people to pack up and move away from their ancestral homes?  It’s actually quite simple:  you point automatic weapons at unarmed people and say, “Get on the bus.”

China’s totalitarian nature can be explained by the fact that it is a nation where literacy requires the memorization of 4,000 complex pictographs.  It is a land of twenty-six dialects of Chinese and 292-separate languages.  There is not a single Chinese culture.  The only way in which China is able to keep so many diverse people focused is through ruthless dictatorship —but I speak now of harshness according to the way we Americans view it.  In China, there are no human rights, no expectation for justice, no hurt feelings, and no sense of entitlement.  With the exception of its modern titles, such as President, Prime Minister, and National People’s Congress, Chinese governance today is the way it always has been: Imperial.

China is also a merciless meritocracy.  In bygone days, Chinese bureaucrats were called Mandarins.  Modern bureaucrats fulfill these same functions, and they reach their government positions in the same way.  Chinese officials must achieve high scores on a series of difficult examinations; training begins at age twelve.  Chinese officials haven’t encountered a dull-witted person since middle school.

In contrast, you will never find someone even closely resembling Maxine Waters in a highly placed position in China.  Barack Obama would never have made it past dog-catcher.  The differences between China and the United States could not be more pronounced … and this is something we should think about as we evaluate our future economic relationship with China.

Modern China is highly industrialized; it actually produces goods that can be sold in foreign markets.  What does the United States manufacture today that hasn’t been shifted to other countries who offer cheaper labor?  

The growth of highly technical exports in China has grown to about 25% of its total exports; in the United States, exports have fallen from about 20% to only seven percent.  What this means is that the United States can no longer manufacture high performance military aircraft without Chinese made chips. [3]  China also controls around 70% of the world’s telecommunications market and is positioning itself to take over the world’s high-speed train manufacturing effort.

As China proceeds in the development its power-house economy, it is at the same time persuading other nations to form mutually beneficial partnerships.  Turkey is one of these, apparently deciding that it has been rebuffed by the European Union long enough.  Russia, having quadrupled its energy exports to China, has become a major trading partner.  Thanks to China and Russia, Iran doesn’t really care about US sanctions.

How is China able to achieve all this?  I’ll offer two (of several) explanations: First, China doesn’t play fair.  In the minds of Chinese officials, business is another form of warfare; they are far more serious about this than the Americans are.  Here’s an example: US technological companies want to participate in the Chinese economy, but in order to do this, China demands that US companies divulge their proprietary secrets.  The US government may prohibit the transfer of this information to China, but in doing so, in a free-market environment, company stockholders will begin screaming bloody murder.  On the other hand, if our companies do divulge their secrets, it could have future national security implications.  Second, between 30-40% of Chinese university students major in some form of engineering —in the United States it only about seven percent.

Personally, I think our country’s economic future looks bleak.  Americans love football, but they begin losing interest after four quarters.  Our people too easily allow politicians to persuade them to go to war —but then, having spent billions, after giving up thousands of our human resources to death and serious injury, Americans become bored if the war lasts too long.  Maybe we have some kind of national attention deficit disorder; it is a malady that cannot be good for our long term economic interests.  

Americans have no Secretary of Manufacturing to advise the president on industrial production.  Added to this, most of our diplomats are incompetent and the US Congress is a clown show.  No, we aren’t training future generations to compete with international giants like China —but damn it, we do  know how to do Facebook, and we do have a great sense of self-esteem. 

Notes
[1] The people we are talking about are those who have lived in the same houses as their farming ancestors one-thousand years ago.
[2] Americans have great difficulty moving 100,000 people out of the way of an approaching hurricane.
[3] China's half-billion or so ex-farmers are now making computer chips and they do it happily even though they are making mere cents per day from their labors.

59 comments:

  1. "In the minds of Chinese officials, business is another form of warfare"

    Yes! Apologies for echoing trite phrases, but China is the land of Sun Tzu.

    Current and future conflicts are not like the old days where taking over land masses and nations was the goal. Today, they are about autonomy and taking away other nations' ability to limit your actions.

    The United States is the biggest limiter in the world. Russia, China, Iran, etc don't want to invade us, they want to hobble us, tie us up, prevent us from getting in their way and stymying their goals.

    I share your pessimism in the closing paragraphs. The US is morphing into an international zone, the progressive agenda will eventually dominate, and from there, who knows? Democrats dream on a Northern European democratic soft socialism, but we don't have the shared cultural history and homogeneity to engender that level of trust and solidarity.

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  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. Americans have long maintained that the failure of the earlier Russian and Chinese communist experiments was caused by centralized economic planning. The Chinese are proving that this "fallacy" isn't true, at least in the persistent presence of "open" American and Western European markets (that were previously CLOSED to the Russians).

    Free trade with Chine did NOT lead to "democratization". It's time to close the markets and cause the Chines economy to "collapse".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately, our corporate globalist elites would prefer to emulate Chinese totalitarianism and implement centralized economic planning on the rest of us. They've drawn all the wrong lessons from Chinese recent Chinese economic "successes".

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    2. Well, it's time WalMart jumps when 45 tells them to.

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    3. It's not enough that 45 is letting China pay for all the food stamp fraud at Walmart?

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  4. China is an emerging Super Power, one that will eventually eclipse the USA as we recede into the background. We alone will be responsible for this ultimate event happening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Red China Cannot Feed Herself

      Donsurber.com,

      by Don Surber

      Communists have an inability to feed their people. In some cases, the starvation is deliberate to force a people to submit to the will of the overlords. The Holodomor is the best known example. But even when communists do try, they are too inept to provide good, clean food for the masses. Capitalism gave us McDonald´s. Red China cannot raise enough food to feed itself, even though it is the same size as the USA. And disease cut Red China´s pork production. ...

      Delete
  5. Okay, so we're done and we might as well be dead. I get it.

    No point in talking any more. All we can do is throw in the towel, wait patiently for the axe to fall, or the Great Red Dragon to eat us alive, and hope there is no afterlife in which we might suffer further abuse, anxiety, and deprivation.

    Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells
    All seem to say "Throw cares away."
    Merry merry merrt MERRY CHRISTMAS!
    Merry merry merry MERRY CHRISTMAS!

    Hark how they ring, as people sing
    Songs of good cheer Christmas is near
    Merry merry merry MERRY CHRISTMAS!
    Merry merry merry MERRY CHRISTMAS!

    Old stories told! Bells ever tolled
    To young and old meek and the bold.
    Merry merry merry MERRY CHRISTMAS!
    Merry merry merry MERRY CHRISTMAS!

    Round every bend songs without end
    Heavenly sounds of carols blend
    RING a ling ting RING!


    +... M_E_R_R_Y_ ...+... C_H_R_I_S_T_M_A_S_ ...+

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. China may get old before the get rich and powerful.

      Internal Progressivism is the greater threat.

      I know I sound fatalistic, but I also know that history is not a straight line .

      Delete
    2. It's sure isn't. in fact it's a lot like the STOCK MARKET –– a neverending jagged line that never for a second stops moving –– but also, since thw Dow-Jones corporation started keeping records about a century ago, it has ALWAYS trended UPWARD over the long haul.

      If only the virtue of savings and investment, the magic of compound interest, the advisability of buying and holdling real estate, and the great good sense inherent in starting young to make consistent investments in small increments mostly in blue chip stocks were taught in elementary and secondary schools a great many people would be great deal better off than they are for the lack of such education.

      There's a saying on Wall Street:

      The BULLS do well, the BEARS do well. It's only the PIGS that get slaughtered.

      How would you interpret that? What might it mean in practical terms?

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    4. "Anonymous" here, of course is Ratonal Nation. Take that anyway you choose, but please be aware who is trolling this blog.

      Delete
  6. In Christ there is no east or west,
    in Him no south or north,
    but one great fellowship of love
    throughout the whole wide earth.

    In Christ shall true hearts everywhere
    their high communion find;
    His service is the golden cord
    close-binding humankind.

    Join hands, disciples of the faith,
    whate'er your race may be.
    All children of the living God
    are surely kin to me.

    In Christ now meet both east and west;
    in Him meet south and north.
    All Christly souls are one in Him
    throughout the whole wide earth.


    ~ John Oxenham (1852-1941)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post. Happily, China is not nearly as close as they'd like to be, in regards to military power and strategy.

    Unfortunately, they're going to usurp any American influence we have left in the third world and - as expressed above - in international trade.

    Chinese will become the language of business in the very near future. And there's not really going to be anything we can do about it.

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    Replies
    1. Yup you speak the truth CI.

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    2. Considering actual illiteracy rates in China (no, not the inflated literacy figures the Chinese government produces) we're quite a way from Chinese becoming the language of China before we worry about it becoming the language of business lol

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    3. Meanwhile back at the laogai...

      "Amelican Chlistmas is coming. Mastel Bezos wirr be vely ANGLY if this oldel is not firred!"

      Delete
    4. One would wonder where you get your 'unvarnished literacy rates' from. The sources I see, are around 94-96%

      Literacy rates - whatever they may be - haven't stopped China from usurping influence and investment throughout central & south Asia and Africa.....

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    5. Go Yahoogle "Belt and Road." All is not well with China's penurious master plan to enslave the world.

      Also, their now-abandoned one-child policy has created a demographic timebomb. They may get old before they get rich.

      Another dangerous legacy of the one-child policy is the male-female imbalance. Too many men, not enough women--that is a powder keg.


      http://oecdobserver.org/news/archivestory.php/aid/40/China,_a_demographic_time_bomb.html

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-ended-one-child-policy-143000197.html

      http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/china-population-women-bachelor-marriage

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    6. Either you believe China has raised their literacy rate by 40% in less than 30 years, or you call burrshit.

      I carr burrshit.

      Delete
    7. Does anyone alive today believe that it might be wise to NIP POTENTIAL TROUBLE in the BUD instead of waiting for it develop into a fullk grown monster of epic proportions.

      MacArthur wanted to press our enormous tactical advantagei immediately after the end of WWII, and neutralize the Communist Countries BEFORE they became a REAL menace.

      Truman FIRED him for that!

      I have so often thought how many HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of LIVES could hve been spared and INCALULAB LOSS and POPRTY DAMGE avoided, had we taken an aggressive posture toward HITLER and ANNIHILATED him and the growing threat of The RIsing Sun BEFORE Hitler marched into the Sudetenland.

      Trying to be "MORAL" and "DECENT" towards deadly threats to Morality, Decency and Bodily inegrity seems imbecillic –– almost sophmoric –– to me.

      The very SECOND I spot a single ROACH in my kitchen I go IMMEDTELY to the store and buy three different kinds of VERMIN REPELLENT and spread ALL of it liberally in every nook and cranny of my kitchen.

      HUMAN vermin should be treated the same way.


      As my dd was fond of saying,

      "AN NOUNCE of PREVENTION is WORTH is a TON of CURE."

      And wasn't General Wm. Tecumseh Sherman who said, "The cruelest war is the kindest war?"

      Delete
    8. Please, Franco.

      China won't ever be a threat until and unless WalMart, Costco, and Amazon give them permission to become a threat.

      Delete
    9. China is communist, which means they are unabashedly stupid and incapable of autonomy. They are no thleat to us.

      Delete
  8. And STILL the WEALTH MACHNE GRINDS ON IMPERTURBABLY:

    ZIPPITY DOO-DA ZIPPITY YAY! MY OH MY IT'S A WIDERFUL DAY!

    25,538.46 +199.62 (0.79%)

    "Money may not be the most important thing in the world, but it's far far ahead of whatever may be in second place."

    +... M_E_R_R_Y ...+... C_H_R_I_S_T_M_A_S ...+

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  9. YUP! Just like Massholes moving to New Hampshire and Loonafornians invadng Colorado, and European socialists emigrating to the USA,

    Thanks to Marx-insired Progressivism our MELTNG POST hs became a SMELTING POT.

    Nations DIE when they allow themselves to be influenced by too large numbers of FOREIGN ELEMENTS who have nothing in common with and nothing of value to add to the native culture. That can no linger be doubted. Tragically, it has become SELF-EVIDENT TRUTH.

    In OUR case the Democrats have engineered the SUICDE of our once-great nation.

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  10. GWHB, the man who betrayed the Nationalist Chiang Kai Shek Taiwanese in favor of the Communist Chinese in the UN, is dead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It wasn't George's idea... it was Nixon Kissinger attacking the "angle" to separate the Russia-China communist axis.

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    2. I really shouldn't blame GHWB. He was still fighting WWII. It wasn't until the wall came down and the strategy succeeded that it became time to abandon globalism.

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    3. Neither 41/42/43/44 had the "vision" for a post WWII/cold war NWO.

      Delete
  11. PRESIDENT GEORGE H. W. BUSH is DEAD at AGE 94

    Apparently, he was the last Republcan president to win in a landslide.

    I believe he needed to thank Ronald Reagan for that.

    I hate to say it, but I grew to despise George H. W. Bush for the careless, almost callous way he threw away the splendid legacy handed to him by Ronald Reagan.

    I could never say I'm glad he's dead. I only wish I could have felt gladder that he ever was alive.

    I do wish he'd been able to wait till after Christmas for this to happen. After losing both Barbara, whom I loved, and George H. W. in the same year Christmas is bound to be dismal for the Bush clan, AND it puts a pall on the great holiday for the entire nation.

    Bush did dedicate his life to serving the nation, and he fought valiantly as a fighter pilot in World War Two. For that we should give him credit and pay him homage, even if he turned out to be a globalist who did a poor job as our president.

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    1. Because I could not stop for Death ––
      He kindly stopped for me ––
      The Carriage held but just Ourselves ––
      And Immortality.

      We slowly drove –– He knew no haste
      And I had put away
      My labor and my leisure too,
      For His Civility ––

      We passed the School, where Children played
      Their lessons scarcely done ––
      We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
      We passed the Setting Sun –

      Or rather –– He passed Us ––
      The Dews drew quivering and Chill ––
      For only Gossamer, my Gown ––
      My Tippet –– only Tulle ––

      We paused before a House that seemed
      A Swelling of the Ground –
      The Roof was scarcely visible –
      The Cornice –– but a mind ––

      Since then –– 'tis Centuries –– yet each
      Feels shorter than the Day
      I first surmised the Horses' Heads ––
      Were toward –– Eternity ––


      ~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

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    2. Franco,
      In his four years as POTUS, GHWB did a lot of damage as he advanced his new world order agenda.

      Delete
    3. He was indeed a Nazgul Lord. But fortunately we have a new Sauron, and with this one, ALL Orc Lives Matter!

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    4. I believe I acknowledged that rather fully in my hastily written post mortem commentary BUT, when a national figure dies, I think it poor taste to harp only on his faults.

      GHWB seemed all right to me, until he became president. Almost immediately after he was elected I knew he as going to betray Ronald Reagan, and that turned me against him.

      i DID vote for him when he ran for a secind term, but only because I thought the alternative notably unworthy.

      I was right too, wasn't I? };^)>

      Nothing seemed right since Ronald Reagan left office, UNTIL we elected DONALD TRUMP –– and didn't HE trun out to be an astonishing surprise?

      I had always though Ttrump a brash, vulgar intellectua lightweight, UNTIL he started to campaign in earnest for the presidency.

      Too bad at least half the country –– maybe more –– is so BONE STUPID or so PIG-HEADED they are either unwilling to look –– or incapable of seeing –– the many great virtues Mr. Trump does, indeed, possess.

      +... M_E_R_R_Y ...+.. C_H_R_I_S_T_M_A_S ...+

      Delete
    5. Agree AOW and now another funeralrama non-stop for the next week of total coverage as if the world stopped spinning on it axis. At least Russia Russia Russia may be on hiatus. I barely made it through McCains moveable casket trek.

      Delete
  12. Mr. Bush was a patriot, hero, gentleman and statesman. A true professional his generation produced so many of.


    The Democrats now theatrically wailing over his death are shameless hypocrites. When Mr. Bush was on the hustings and serving as VP and President, they hounded him, smeared him, slandered him, denigrated and lampooned him, and the Clintonistas flat-out lied about him and the economy to get elected.

    If anyone wants to pinpoint a major turning point in our nation, it was Rockstar Playboy Clinton's defeat of a serious, patriotic, highly-qualified man. That set us upon our frivolous path.

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    Replies
    1. I found his remarks regarding "A new world order" disturbing. Check out You Tube There are a number. "George Bush New World Order"
      He clearly believed the future was the UN. I for one do not.

      Delete
    2. I'm am with you in the trenches in the battle lines against the New World Order, but it was an idealistic gambit proffered at the end of the cold war. Obviously, its time has come and gone. Peoples of the world gathered around a giant Christmas tree teaching the world and offering them a coke...

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    3. Please be aware that "Anonymous" here is none other than Rational Nation. –– a seemingly innocuous presence at first who will soon transform himself into the king of Trolls, IF you permit him to remai . Up to you, of course, Boss Lady, but please don't say you havent been warned.

      It doesn't take MUCH strychnine to poison a well.

      +... M_E_R_R_Y_ ...+... C_H_R_I_DS_T_M_A_S_ ...+>

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    4. TO SILVER FIDDLE'S GRACIOUS ASSESSMENT of the LATE PRESIDENT GEORGE H. W. BUSH:

      YES ––– and NO, Silverfiddle. George, the First, was a man of many parts, some of them good, but I will never be able to forgive him for :

      A) Betraying Ronald Reagan by trashing Reagan's splendid legacy.

      B) Not taking advantage of the opportunity to vanquish Sadaam Hussein during the First Gulf War when it would have been relatively easy,,and FAR less costly. That was no time to be wishy-washy let lone downright PUSILLANIMOUS and labl it "PROPER RESPECT for INTERNATIONAL LAW."

      C) Having globalist sympathies and ambitions which I believe compelled him to take that weak position vis a vis the brutal villains of the Middle East.

      D) I did NOT like his buddy-buddy posture with the SAUDIS after the horrifying collapse of the WTC and major damge to the Pentagon on 9/11/01. (I liked his SON DUBYA'S mild and gentle post 911 reatment of that despicable element even less.)

      E) I despise the Bush family's ultra-friendly treatment of our mortal enemies aka Bill and Hillary Clinton. Their cordiality oward the Hayseed Grifter and his evil Lady Macbethian wife was frankly NAUSEATING.

      F) I will never forgive and never forget the Bush family's callous betrayal of the Republican Party –– and the freedom-loving interests of its conservative-libertarian bench –– when they let their petty personal feelings of animosity toward Donald Trump compel them not only to VOTE for the Abomination known as Hillary Rodham Clinton, which would have been bad enough, –– but to openly ADMIT it in PUBLIC was absolutely UNFORGIVABLE.


      Delete
    5. Mr. Bush served in a great war; we owe him our gratitude for that. And I think he was a gentleman. I also think that were it not for Mr. Bush, we would not have had the first Iraq War, or the second, and we wouldn’t be in Afghanistan today. Had he not lied to the American people, we would not have had a Clinton presidency or the prominence of Hillary Rodham Clinton. So, looking back, his presidency was flawed, and we have had far too many of our servicemen killed and maimed as a result. I deeply resent the fact that the George H. W. Bush Presidential library was bought and paid for by the Kuwaitis. American mothers lost their sons, wives lost their husbands, children lost their fathers, and Bush got a library named in his honor. In my opinion, George the Elder ranks right up there with John McCain.

      Mustang

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    6. Spot on, Mustang! Good manners may too often often serve to maskpoor judgment and bad morals.

      Delete
    7. Franco, which is it?

      Above, you stated "when a national figure dies, I think it poor taste to harp only on his faults."

      You're talking out both ends...

      Delete
    8. Not at all, every one of us is a multi-faceted creature composed of good and bad, desirable and undesirable, competent and inept elements.

      In my initial statement ,which I wrote early ts morning upon receipt of the news, I did my best to offer a balanced, honest appraisal without either lapsing into extravagant, posibly fulsome, praise or bitter antagonistic partisanship.

      I still think the latter unseemly on occasions such as this, but since objections were raised at my attempt to be diplomatic, I thought it best to show I was aware of the man's faults as well s his virtues.

      +... M_E_R_R_Y_ ...+... C_H_R_I_S_T_M_A_S_ ...+

      <];^}>

      Delete
    9. Mustang,
      In my opinion, George the Elder ranks right up there with John McCain.

      An apt comparison.

      Delete
  13. GHWB provided a lot of policy disagreements for Conservatives.......but his rational, mature demeanor is sorely missed.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The preference for BLANDNESS and TEPIDITY over PASSIONATE COMMITMENT to ideals in which one fervently believes is telling.

    Our Founding Fathers were brilliant, but they were anything but NON-CIMMITAL.

    Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, but our first Progressive President, even so, may have given the best advice a leader could hope to get:



    HOWEVEr, h how could anyone hope to do that after Cultural Marxsm began to ake over the campus aided and abetted by radio, movies, popular music, television, the dishonest muckraking yellow urnalism we have to put up with today came to the fore? The stridency and irrationality we expeuenc in so-called Social Media only adds to cacophony that dulls our senses to calm, genuine THOUGHTFULNESS.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Our Founders were not pathological liars with low self esteem and the maturity of third graders. They were indeed passionate and committed, as well as intellectually curious, rational and mature.......traits that were most recently embodied by Ronald Reagan. Traits not in evidence in the present day.

    But at least the low IQ cult of sycophants are happy. They’re the face of the new political generation. And what’s left of the Republic is much the poorer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, what we have today is more reminiscent of the French Revolution. The gilets jaunes are the new sans culottes in France. And the despicables are their American equivalents.

      Delete
    2. When your elites allow the Republic to rot, the only one's left to revolt are the sans culottes

      Delete

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