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thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

A great article from Robert Fulford, who I thought was dead, on how one ought to look at "Bush hatred" and the world after he is "back clearing brush" in Crawford.

Adventurer · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

The National Post is a very conservative newspaper. It does not quite express the political views of most Canadians. I would say the Globe and Mail does. However, everyone has a right to an opinion.

I disagree with this idea that the U.S., when Bush goes home, will be the only global power of significance. China is a global power with a huge army, an economy about the same size as Japan's economy, and Russia still has a strong military. Some on the right have not realized how the world has changed in some ways. Global power is more dispersed than it was in the past. It was a bi-polar world with two major powers, and now there are several.

The threat of Islamic extremism exists along with the extremist ideology in the U.S. that promoted it to some extent by adding fuel to an ideological fire that has somewhat closed minded Americans regarding sectarian ideology claiming to speak for values engaging in an Armageddon like conflict with the Muslim world. George W, Bush senior, and Reagan were the ones who fueled the power and allure of the Islamic movements by promoting their causes in different ways. You can also argue that Clinton, in trying to help Bosnians, helped jihadists fight the Serbians, and that helped build the network that existed to attack the U.S.

The U.S. needs to find ways to strengthen moderates, promote peace in a judicious manner between the Palestinians and Israelis, reach out to the moderate Muslim Americans who live in the U.S. and show good-will to the Arab moderates, promote economic cooperation between the U.S. and that part of the world. The U.S. is a global power, but it has recently misused its power in a way that fueled anger in a part of the world where it needs friends. And Bush contributed to that environment. For those who mourn the soldiers who died in Iraq, including myself, I will not miss Bush. He has disgraced such an esteemed position. People need to believe in the system of government. Less people believe now.

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

The NP is conservative for Canada, which isn't saying much. The mainstream Canadian opinion, from the CBC and G&M is quite left, though the Globe less so. Even after the purge of the real conservatives in 2003 (I think) the paper continues to be the best in Canada.

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

I just read the rest of your post. I think you maybe didn't read the Fulford article. His point was the the world is a crappy place, and Bush far from the crappiest part of it. He was saying that those people who long for the end of Bush as prez ought to be realistic about the world and how it will look when he is gone. A point, I think, that ought to be made again and again. Anti-Bush talk generally comes at the expense of real discussion about our world.

And most importantly, America will be the most powerful actor in our world for years and years to come. China will get old (not to mention the huge problems they have ahead regarding inequality, civil rights and ecological disaster and disaster) before it gets powerful, Russia is watching her population decline and the past of the future Europe will look like the Hagia Sophia's past. Africa will stay poor and Latin America will continue to embrace every dumb idea the American Left can convince it of. This is going to be a deeply American century.

mithridates · Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:59 am Post subject:

You're missing a really important country.

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

That's some deeply lame, childlike journalism. There was no content at all.

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue

thepeel · Joined: 08 Aug 2004

You've missed the point. You know you have.

Adventurer · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

This article did not provide any profound analysis. I will give you an example using China. China was a a country growing without significant reforms when presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and William Jefferson Clinton were in power. The Europeans were self-involved to some extent, but they were willing to engage Bill Clinton who reciprocated. Many allies were pushed by the inarticulate George W. Bush and very articulate Donald Rumsfeld. One could argue a Post George Bush era would look like the Bush era somewhat because the seeds were planted in his terms, and we see those political Venus Fly Traps blooming, so to speak.

You did say George W. Bush may be one of the worst presidents ever, and I am not offering you disagreement. I think he is, in the main, as bad as Herbert Hoover and Calvin Coolidge and perhaps Ulysses S Grant.
We cannot forget that the U.S. and other powers that be shape the way the people of this world interact.

I don't disagree that the Sudan would possibly still be in flames. Yet, I know a framework for peace was built by various camps in the Sudan to end the fighting in the South. So having a president who is a positive role model, understands more about multi-lateral relations, bringing people together is crucial. The world won't be perfect after he is gone, we will inherit the problems that were in his administration. We know that.

As far as the article saying the U.N. is useless, I think they take the view that all the programs of the U.N. do nothing for the world. Any objective analysis of the U.N. will show they have done so much good in this world.