gandalf/Rus: As to certain jingoistic and jackboot elements of my response: Agreed. I would be the first to admit that my Germanic upbringing gets the best of me. That being said (and here is where it gets tricky), I have also seen the price of being “reasonable” in an unreasonable world.

Here’s an example: The Somoza regime was overthrown by Danny Ortega’s Sandinistas in 1979. In spite of Ortega’s ties to the Soviets, it was by and large thought to be a change for the better. Instead, Ortega embarks on a program of militarizing Nicaragua to the point where it has a military the size of Mexico’s, but is a country six times smaller. He serves as a trans-shipment point for weapons into neighboring countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras (to aid the insurgent movements there) and begins a systematic campaign of torture and murder against the Moskito Indians, an opposition group. He consistently promises to have a free and open election, but doesn’t actually allow them until 1990, when the Sandinistas are voted out of power.

Granted, this is a small example, but indicative of the world at large.

And, no, I am not holding the Lefties solely responsible. I think they bear some responsibility, but conservative policies as of late ain’t been so hot, either. I wouldn’t categorize or characterize anyone that doesn’t agree as anti-American, either. I’d be the first to argue that dissent is absolutely necessary and if you don’t agree, speak out. I think a favorite tactic with ideologues on the Right and the Left is to scapegoat and demonize their opponents. It has now become about labels and pigeonholing someone into a category where you can render them voiceless by referring to them as a “liar”, or “war monger” or “war profiteer”. Shades of Orwell there.

I think the problem is that we are tied to certain regions and countries out of economic necessity and thus have little choice in certain instances but to protect our interests. Hence our involvement in the Middle East and our tacit support of the Saudis. Rus and I go back and forth over whether we are an empire or a hegemony. Unlike the British, we are not colonizing India, or parts of Africa, or Singapore. We do use our power to support our business interests so, in that sense, “trade does follow the flag” as the expression goes.

Which means that sometimes our choices aren’t between good and bad, but bad and worse. Nature (and power) abhors a vacuum, and if you think the Chinese or Russians wouldn’t jump at the chance to be the big dog on the block, think again. It would be interesting to see what choices they made and how they imposed their will on the world.