How is America dependent on foreign oil if its corporations are profiting from the sales? People who peddle that nonsense are con artists.
Please explain how poor Exxon and Mobil managed to record record profits if America was cowering at the feet of the Saudis. Puh-leez.
Illegal immigrants are the only ones in this country who actually want to work. Let's wall them out so that nothing ever gets done. Great!
Terrorists sell drugs to fund terrorism. Whatever. So does the CIA. Amazing that heroine production has soared since the U.S. colonized Afghanistan.
Hi II, did it ever occur to you I might be planting stuff just to bait your response? 
Seriously, we only make 40% of our own oil. Why else do we put up with Chavez or the Saudis? We do have a heavy concern of the politics over there because of oil. We don't really care about areas without oil unless they happen to get nukes. Is everything we have done in the gulf about oil? If not directly, it sure is the first born sibling after that reason.
I never said we were cowering at their feet. I did say that we needed to find a way to curb our oil habit. It's smart.
As for profits? Smart middle men always make the money. If they lost their middle east oil where would they get their product from to replace it?
The producer always gets the shortest stick, II. You don't even want to know how much profit goes to the company that buys tobacco from the farmer and turns it into a merchandised item!
I agree illegals work harder and better than redneck contractors. I've built a house. I KNOW FIRST HAND. You should track down a bit done by Tim Wilson about "if you want something done, hire a Mexican 'cause there ain't no Americans who'll work anymore". Its too true.
I also think that if you are willing to work, you'll get a guest pass to do it. Is it smart to have people here and not have any sort of track on where they came from? Not all who come across are here to work either. Some are here to transport drugs. Some may be here to attack us.
As for drugs, I was thinking of an 80's cola commercial... but I don't have all the answers. I just think that Dick has put something brilliant on paper that would absolutely sell in a political way.
And I take the bait everytime. 
Doh!
The US doesn't "put up" wih Chavez. It is just so bogged down in Iraq as to be unable to deal with him. There is evidence that the US knew about, and possibly supported, the coup that removed Chavez from power for 3 days a few years ago.
"Put up" with the Saudis? They are all friends. Bush, the Al-Sauds, etc. That is like suggesting the US puts up with England.
Drugs should be legalized. That would make everything much simpler. If someone wants to commit suicide, let them. That is their individual right.
I couldn't resist teasing you.
With that said: what exactly would we do to Chavez if we weren't in Iraq? Military invasion? I do believe the CIA is trying to support any anti-Chavez movement. I'm just not certain that we would use military force to overthrow someone democratically elected.
Maybe some of the Saud royals are our best buddies. I have read that the family wealth has supported terrorist organizations too. I guess that is no different than our friend Israel selling our best missle defense tech to China, (to make an argument you might make).
You have a point about legalizing drugs that isn't lost on me: we are free to make stupid choices. Unfortunately, narcotics tend to make people do stupid and illegal things to acquire them.
The US assisted the overthrow of democratically-elected governments in Iran, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Panama, Chile, Algeria, Haiti, etc. They are probably at it with Venezuela, but the empire is overstretched right now, playing geostrategy with Russia and China.
Military force is unnecessary and too expensive and is only used as a last resort if someone's not playing ball and the assasins can't get him - like when Saddam converted the pricing of oil to Euros in 2000 (which is what the Iranians are up to). Have you read Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man by John Perkins? Interesting stuff.
As for drugs, people wouldn't be doing stupid things to get drugs if they were legal. If alcohol is legal, then there is no reason drugs shouldn't be. Indeed, legalization of drugs would thin the gene pool in a way that is sorely needed. Evolution works and we need to stop getting in the way.
ROFLOL!
Everytime I see a kid not buckled I think: evolution! If the parent is too stupid to buckle or thinks they can hold the 30lb kid at 45 mph and it doesn't survive a crash or the airbag, then we've thinned the herd. If it survives it must be strong enough or lucky enough to deserve to.
I have to be callous or I might lose my mind. Counted 5 kids fitting that description in a 2 mile drive yesterday.
As far as overthrowing "legitimate" entities... might double check some of those voting records first. Second, why do we militarily exert ourselves and then pull back instead of having British style colonialism? Why didn't we seize Iraq and run it ourselves?
If our decisions are so selfish, why aren't we running everything?
Full blown British-style colonialism is too expensive. Most colonial powers, including Rome and Portugal, had loyal local governors who managed the outlying colonies. The U.S. is no different and that is why it supports so many tyrants. There is no other way to explain why Saddam was once a best friend and is now on the outs, why Manuel Noriega was a favorite and is now in a jail. As long as they go along with the program, they can keep their jobs forever - kinda like the Saudi butcher pedophiles. But if they think they actually are independent, they'll be taken out in a minute and shown whose boss.
Read history.
Iran - Democratically elected prime minister Mohamed Mossadegh ousted by the CIA for committing the sin of believing Iran should own its own oil. http://www.fff.org/comment/com0501i.asp
Pakistan, a particularly religious Islamic country, had a female prime minister.
http://www.harrywalker.com/speak....cfm?
SPEA_ID=48
All a nation's decisions are selfish and the US is no different. This fantasy of American altruism is just that - a fantasy. Don't be so naive. Why do you think the US has military bases all over the world? Just for kicks?
You're proceeding from a false premise with this post, Dave; that being that the Pretzel Prince is open to your or to anyone's suggestions. He's not. The agenda was set before he ever started running, and as you can see from the balance sheets of Exxon, Halliburton and Bechtel, it's doing rather nicely.
pretzel prince? cute!
As for our militaristic alturism...
The real reason our bases are there
"because when you are at your fancy parties you NEED me on this wall, you WANT me on this wall... YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"
or something like that
Seriously? Our bases are there because we have interests in what happens in other places. Some nut shoots a duke a we end up spending half a decade in WWI that directly/indirectly led to WWII... and so on. That's why we have interests all over, we are a stablizing factor.
That and protecting our trade interests like oil.
Your argument falls on its own weight. The US is in oil rich countries, but isn't going after North Korea. The US is in natural gas rich places, but is allowing millions to die in Sudan. The facts get in the way of all your arguments.
America is not the world's police officer. That costs a lot of money. Can you please tell me how you can argue America is a stabilizing factor in light of the rampant instability all over the world?
Also, are you trying to convince me that America spends billions to make sure the Germans do not invade Poland, but won't spend a couple hundred bucks to give healthcare to its own people?
Protecting our "trade interests" like oil. What does that mean?
How exactly does it fall under its own weight?
We go where we have ties and interests. There is nothing that our Government cares about in the Sudan.
We are in Germany because of NATO obligations and as a staging ground for defending our interests in the region. There is a significant return on our investment by keeping our influence there.
As for nationalized healthcare, read up on Tenncare, the Hillary Clinton model executed here in TN. Its a LOT more than a couple of hundred bucks. Try MILLIONS for one state alone! Why in the heck should we try to model ourselves like Cuba, Canada and North Korean health care systems anyway? Don't see many people flocking there for treatments!
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