Grousing Tiger, Sleeping Dragon

[Daveparts]

Grousing Tiger, Sleeping Dragon
By David Glenn Cox



John McCain said something interesting the other day, I point this out because he doesn’t say much in the first place. What he does say isn’t very important and rarely very interesting. Lonesome John is a man plucked from the pages of history, at this critical juncture in our national life, to fill a chair. His vision for America involves a comfy recliner and a nap; his election would amount to a four-year retirement party.


He has no new ideas, no vision for where he wishes to take America, except upstairs for a snooze. So, when John says something, it’s important that we listen; he speaks Republicanese. Borrowed from the pages of Marvel comics, it’s either A or B, no thought-provoking ideas, no abstract concepts, just cut and dried. "Holy mudhen, Batman, if we don’t catch the Riddler he’ll destroy Gotham city!"


From the McCain website, "The global war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, threats from rogue states like Iran and North Korea, and the rise of potential strategic competitors like China and Russia mean that America requires a larger and more capable military to protect our country's vital interests and deter challenges to our security. America confronts a range of serious security challenges: Protecting our homeland in an age of global terrorism and Islamist extremism; working with friends and partners overseas, from Africa to Southeast Asia, to help them combat terrorism and violent insurgencies in their own countries; defending against missile and nuclear attack; maintaining the credibility of our defense commitments to our allies; and waging difficult counterinsurgency campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq."


McCain walks softly and carries a big fear; the terrorists are waiting right behind those trees if you don’t elect me. What else can he do, Bush has burned down the Republican tool shed and left him only scorched earth. He is a hapless character, like most war heroes turned politician, a fish out of water. Indoctrinated in military matters and combat strategies, not policies and ideas to solve non-military problems. He is a man with a brilliant future behind him so when he says something, even by accident, we should listen.


Big John was discussing NAFTA. Republicans have suddenly noticed that some people, troublemakers mainly and probably communists or even Iranians, terrorists, subversives, don’t like NAFTA. John told his audience, "If we announce that we're going to unilaterally change a treaty or suspend it … obviously I think it can affect Canadian public opinion adversely; in fact, I've been told that by my Canadian friends and colleagues.


"The Canadians are now supplying brave young Canadians to the fight in Afghanistan. One of our priorities is to try to get more cooperation from our allies throughout the world.

"All these things are interconnected," he said, suggesting such a demand would influence Canadian public opinion, "which could have an adverse effect on the situation with regards to their commitment to Afghanistan, which we all know is a matter of controversy among the Canadian people."


A or B, either we keep NAFTA exactly like it is or the Canadian’s will blow the bridges. McCain then made the comment, "Do they think we can just trade with each other?" The answer is, Yes, we can. He asked the wrong question, how about asking, "Do we really need to buy wheat gluten from China? Do we need to buy any food products from China? No one is suggesting that we cease all foreign trade but let's be honest here, NAFTA isn’t about trade, it’s about greed.


American agribusiness can now export corn to Mexico, impoverishing Mexican farmers already poor to begin with, leaving them the option of staying home to starve or move North. It is cheaper to log in Canada than it is in Alabama, so paper mills in Alabama shut down. It is not a question of how competitive those mills are; you can’t ship timber from Windsor to Jasper, Alabama to process. So, the loggers are idled and then the truckers are idle. Then the suppliers are idle, then the grocery stores are idle, then the realtors, then the banks. You see, we did just trade with each other. Go to your office supply store and see where the paper for your printer is made. Then look at where the other cheap stuff is made; it’s cheaper to log in China than it is in Canada.


Then, as Chinese industry gears up, the Canadians become non-competitive. The whole free trade argument becomes fixing something that’s not broken and then blaming it on the victims. "Well, they just have to learn to be more competitive." A Canadian or an American just can’t arbitrarily learn to grow trees more efficiently, leaving only their labor cost. A Canadian or an American just can’t live on $5.00 a day as they can in China.

Using the government ruler, every job created is attributed to NAFTA while all job losses are attributed to other reasons. While the loggers in Alabama might be counted in the government statistics, the Mexican farmers aren’t. I recently read about a blue jeans factory that had relocated from the North, employing 400 workers. NAFTA job creation in Mexico but, because of corruption and loose environmental standards, the plant had poisoned the water supply for 10,000 people and local farmers were told that their only water source was no longer safe for agriculture. Would this show up in the NAFTA figures? I rather doubt it.


Johnny B Good McCain says on his website that, "We are vested with a sacred duty to be proper stewards of the resources upon which the quality of American life depends. Ensuring clean air, safe and healthy water, sustainable land use, ample green space - and the faithful care and management of our natural treasures, including our proud National Park System - is a patriotic responsibility."


At the same time he says that he is against using environmental standards in trade negotiations. Double talk from the straight truth express, with the talk of one world economy yet, when it comes to the environment, big bad John is only prepared to keep the parks in America picked up. He is very careful to draw the distinction of American life only; for our overseas trading partners yearning to be competitive, go ahead, rape the land, pillage the water supplies, and pollute the air.

Maybe McCain’s campaign slogan should be, Vote McCain for more of the same! He does have a jobs program of sorts when he says, "the rise of potential strategic competitors like China and Russia mean that America requires a larger and more capable military to protect our country's vital interests and deter challenges to our security. America confronts a range of serious security challenges."


Guess who gets to pay for that? John’s against hampering entrepreneurs and business with more taxes. No mention on his website about home foreclosures or bringing home the troops or how to balance our national budget. Other than by more free trade, which has worked so well that we just have to keep at it. And by cutting entitlements, i.e. Social Security, America’s elderly must just learn to be more competitive. After all, look at John himself, at an age where most men are looking at retirement, he’s running, part-time, for President.

He is a man with a vision, a vision to go upstairs and take a nap.

[nxylas]

1. My nerd-sense is tingling

Batman is a DC character, not Marvel. Yes, I really am that anal.