While the international and domestic chattering class is busy scribbling away, working overtime on the internet analyzing, critiquing, debating, squabbling over foreign policy and the US Presidential race--I certainly appreciate international affairs and spent most of my blog discussing it--it seems NOBODY extends domestic policy into foreign policy and visa-versa.
Working class people and issues simply are invisible.
A non-factor.
They do not exist.
Enter Sarah Palin's candidacy, which exactly highlights the conundrum and contradiction into which the fake Left, the Vichy Democrats, our collaborative Fascist unions and just about everyone else, the pundits, politicians, here and abroad, have put themselves.
For example, presently, machinists at one of the largest US aircraft firms on the West Coast, Boeing, are on strike.
What will happen next?
What will they get?
Probably, nothing, or, next to nothing.
They will settle after a few weeks.
Why?
If for no other reason than their health care insurance will EXPIRE after a few weeks.
They will have NO health care after that point.
That's a result of our miserable, patchwork, for-profit medical, health care insurance system which BOTH our totally bankrupt, corrupt, collaborative Fascist unions and the Vichy Democrats continue to support, together, in unison.
Ironically, one the issues over which they are striking, increased cost of their medical premiums!
My advice to the machinists on strike, go home and eat your health care benefit plan.
Then, complete your indigestible and unpalatable meal by voting for the Vichy Democrats whom your automatic union dues deduction supports, along with your corporate pension fund investment plan.
Maybe, they will choke, regurgitate and/or expire on the above meal.
I won't even bother discussing or mentioning our anti-labor Taft-Hartley law on the books since the McCarthy period, which restricts sympathy strikes.
The ONLY Presidential candidate who supports repeal of Taft-Hartley is Nader.
The others, including the unions, do not even bother mentioning it.
Nor, of course, do they support Nader.
The machinist Boeing strike also concerns out-sourcing and job insecurity. Maybe they should propose nationalizing their industry.
But, we are not allowed to mention the N word.
And, certainly, they don't.
Of course, our collaborators, Fascist led, anti-communist, labor unions represent only 13% or so of the work force.
And, the bulk of this meagre 13% or so unionized work force, again, ironically, is in the ever diminishing, under attack, underfunded public sector, the ones who fare the best precisely because they are in the public sector and who recycle their pensions into private corporations.
Internal contradictions and ironies multiply and multiply.
It's a heck of a lot easier and safer for the chattering class and their careers to dissect the abstract cadaver of our OBVIOUSLY Fascist foreign policy than it is to actually do something concrete to change this balance of power relationship, to organize the unorganized, confront their own union leadership, support the militant rank and file opposition and international unity when it does emerge.
This is where the dialectical opposition emanates from.
But, that is dangerous, hard work and an unsafe career.
Let's get at least one simple fact straight for all the working class charlatans dismissive of Sarah Palin.
First and foremost, Sarah Palin and her family are REAL.
They are not papier mache, cookie cutter version politicians and career ideologues.
They, her family ARE very, very representative and typical of the values, (hard work, religion, patriotism, FAIR PLAY, competition, honesty, etc,) and situation of many, many working class, middle class, middle American families.
They/she are believers, of course, in my opinion, naively so, in these "American" values, as opposed to the cynical manipulations of the above for purposes of control by ruling, propertied class circles and their opportunistic, bought and paid for, mouthpiece politicians, ideologues, apologists and collaborators.
Thus, all the smear campaigns, spin, distortions, stereotyping and denigration of Palin by the Obama crowd, their surrogates, etc., have all backfired and will continue to do so.
Real people identify with her and will continue to do so.
They will not be convinced otherwise.
Palin is NOT a career, professional politician and opportunist who knowingly and cynically speaks out of all sides of her mouth and somewhere else in between.
That does NOT mean she is totally virtuous and correct about everything. But, it does nobody any good to caricature, demean, misrepresent, and categorize her into the tabloid sensationalism of gutter politics.
All it does is demean those utilizing such tactics and in no way facilitates critical understanding.
If a principled, organized, militant, working class movement and opposition existed in this country, they would embrace her and encourage her to join them, instead of denigrating her and her family.
She is testimony to the existence of such a vacuum.
There is nowhere for these folks to go but to someone like Sarah Palin, who represents them more than the above cynical, hypocritical manipulations of stereotypical, simplistic "identity" politics that they themselves have created and manipulate for their own purposes.
Now, what will happen to Palin and her policies AFTER she is elected is an unknown.
Someone offered me a cynical, and, therefore, to me, plausible hypothesis that her nomination was a win-win both for corrupt Alaska politics and McCain's election victory.
She was at one and the same time removed from being a thorn in the side of Alaska's corrupt politics and the 3 dominant oil/energy companies and a major strategic plus, a gain for McCain's election.
Then, come many more questions as to what will be her role after they are elected.
Will she be sidelined?
Will the Transcanada pipeline have a friend in the White House?
What transformations will happen to her, her career, her family, her/their values, beliefs as they/she begin to confront the profoundly sleazy shit and compromises she can not even conceive or imagine at the moment.
She is a work in progress.
After what I deemed a necessary caveat, above, on domestic American politics and Sarah Palin, back to the international arena, which I do prefer simply because American politics is so totally and completely bankrupt--a thorough, complete Fascist dictatorship.
Regarding what I had previously said about supplying private gas from southern Iraq/Iran and the Basra region to Europe via Nabucco and/or additional pipelines, thus, circumventing Gazprom, the following, regarding Shell, but, clearly, related to Dana Gas as well, "Iraq Approves Gas Deal with Dutch-Shell," (numerous sources available for this story),
www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080908044929/lok044900080907
And, as for the ongoing Iranian nuke problem, an excellent possible solution.A high growth industry.
Convert the entire Middle East and countries surrounding Iran and Russia into a high powered nuclear zone to counter Iran.
Watch for that one.
It fits nicely into NATO expansion, Missile Defense, and a militarized ring zone around Russia.
Reminder.
"Iran's" nuke plant is a RUSSIAN project.
The following succinct article, as usual, from the Turkish press, neatly sums up the obvious, regarding Russia, Georgia, the US,
www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?
enewsid=114734
Under the above circumstances, Iran's continued nuke project may be useful as an excuse to further militarize the region and encircle Russia, whereas its demise would be counterproductive towards these ends.
Thank you Iran.
As usual, you do a great job for all the reactionaries of the world.
And, of course, the GCC Bubble, related to all of the above, continues merrily forward, Dana Gas expansion, Basra, Turkey, Abraaj, etc.
Too much to itemize.
But, as you may recall, hopefully, from my previous blogs, the latest from Abraaj ( Abraaj's Hamid Jafar interlocking directorates with Dana, Crescent, Pakistan, et.al),
www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080908104136/lok104100080908
And, for my Arab speaking friends, I TRY to accommodate alittle with my very limited resources.
Clearly, you can follow these sources yourself on al-arabiya much better than I, since I depend on the English language captions, ONLY, underneath and have NO idea what they are saying.
If I could access Arabic, it would certainly be helpful.
Anyway, here is a sample about "Algebra Capital," a PRIVATE investment firm.
You can go to the Algebra Capital website, but, you will not be able to find out who are Algebra's major investors.
And, if you look on the left hand sidebar, you will see more featured videos with the heading, "Gulf Markets Remain the Best for Investments" in a multi part series.
So, here's the Algebra Capital video link.
( I must say, an ingenious name. A play on words and homage to the region in which algebra was developed. Have to give credit where credit is due--the name.)
www.zawya.com/video/default.cfm/sidVID20080908073129
Reinforcement, as if it were needed, "Investment Banks Target Middle East,"
www.gulfnews.com/articles/08/09/07/10243191.html
And, EFG-Hermes also continues merrily along, expanding with all the other financial interconnections I have been following,
www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080909085145/lok085100080909
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