by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy
Muslims did not destroy Detroit! Nor was it destroyed by black people though bigots post pictures of the 'ruins' amid claims that Detroit is the 'victim' of a multi-racial society!
Who will bigots will blame next week? Hispanics? The Irish? Italians? I am Native American; will I be blamed though Detroit is probably the only large city in American that I have not set foot in?
Multi-racialism has nothing to do with an economic decline that is the result of Bush economic policies. It was the very worst administration to have ever exercised political power in the U.S. --Reagan, Bush and Bush Jr! Blaming 'Muslims' for this outcome is uninformed, perhaps bigoted!
The destruction of Detroit required help from phony and/or incompetent economists inside the GOP. The destruction of Detroit began with the deals Bush Sr cut with China as the U.S. tried to find an 'honorable' way out of Viet Nam. I have spoken with the Sr Bush about this personally. My questions were pointed: what deals were cut? What price was paid to get our asses out of Viet Nam with honor? GHWB was either incoherent or taciturn but never forthcoming. He preferred to tell stories about how he may have been 'duped' into eating 'dog lip' (presumably with sweet and sour sauce) at a formal dinner in the Forbidden City.
In footage and stills, much of Detroit looks like the aftermath of World War III. It was not Muslims nor black people who destroyed Detroit! Nor are Muslims to blame for gutting American industry, destroying or exporting jobs or the screwing over of the 'working man'. The U.S. --under GOP regimes --became a vassal state of China. [See: CIA's World Fact Book, Current Account Balance]
The gutting of American industry, the destruction of jobs, the export of jobs, the screwing over of the 'working man' --that's all the work of the GOP, a party that is utterly dependent upon bigots who make up a significant GOP constituency. [note: since Bush Jr left the Oval Office, the U.S. trade posture vis a vis China has improved somewhat!]
It was an economic 'scorched earth policy'. Reagan (the GOP in general) wanted to destroy unions and they did it! They did it by destroying jobs, and in some cases, the entire industry! Works every time. Those who lived through it, most certainly recall a "depression" lasting some two years.
Though I am not more enamored of Islam, I am quite sure that Muslims are still demonized by an uninformed segment of the U.S. population. For them, I have a clue: Muslims have nothing to do with the decline of Detroit. Nor do immigrants of any type or origin. Only bigots believe that to be the case.
Muslims are in America!! So what? We have been uninvited guests of Muslims ever since the U. S., running out of its own oil, discovered oil in abundance throughout the Middle East. Subsequently, the U.S. would, upon any pretext, con and/or steal it. If theft did not work, the U.S. would resort to duping the leadership of a foreign [Muslim] country to get it. Prior to the Senior Bush's decision to begin Persian Gulf War I, U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie had met with Saddam Hussein. According to the transcript of the meeting, she told Hussein that the U.S. had no position on 'Arab-Arab' disputes.
The official State Department discussion between Saddam and April Catherine Glaspie from July 25, 1990: Ambassador Glaspie:
“I have direct instructions from President Bush to improve our relations with Iraq. We have considerable sympathy for your quest for higher oil prices, the immediate cause of your confrontation with Kuwait. (pause) As you know, I have lived here for years and admire your extraordinary efforts to rebuild your country (after the Iran-Iraq war). We know you need funds. We understand that, and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. (pause) We can see that you have deployed massive numbers of troops in the south. Normally that would be none of our business, but when this happens in the context of your other threats against Kuwait, then it would be reasonable for us to be concerned. For this reason, I have received an instruction to ask you, in the spirit of friendship – not confrontation – regarding your intentions. Why are your troops massed so very close to Kuwait’s borders?”
President Saddam Hussein:“As you know, for years now I have made every effort to reach a settlement on our dispute with Kuwait. There is to be a meeting in two days; I am prepared to give negotiations only one more brief chance. (pause) When we (the Iraqis) meet (with the Kuwaitis) and we see there is hope, then nothing will happen. But if we are unable to find a solution, then it will be natural that Iraq will not accept death.”
US Ambassador Glaspie: “What solution would be acceptable?”
President Saddam Hussein: “If we could keep the whole of the Shatt al Arab – our strategic goal in our war with Iran – we will make concessions (to the Kuwaitis). But if we are forced to choose between keeping half of the Shatt and the whole of Iraq (which, in Iraq’s view, includes Kuwait), then we will give up all of the Shatt to defend our claims on Kuwait to keep the whole of Iraq in the shape we wish it to be. (pause) What is the United States’ opinion on this?”
US Ambassador Glaspie:
“We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960s, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America."
--Transcript of the Glaspie-Saddam meeting that started the Gulf WarHussein was given a green light to lower the price of oil, though this outcome was most certainly at odds with Bush's real policy --higher prices for oil! In short --we have no one to blame for this outcome but ourselves.
Earlier, Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr may have committed 'high treason' with respect to Iran/Contra. Both men lied about it! Both were architects of a scheme that armed enemies of the United States. In simpler times it would be called 'high treason'. It would be 'high treasons' today if a Democrat had done it! The GOP is apparently above the law!
I refer you to the final report of Lawrence Walsh, Prosecutor for 'Iran-Contra' matters. Walsh left no doubt! He believed that Reagan, Bush et al had committed treason! There was a time shortly after FDR had shepherded the nation out of the Great Depression that the U.S. manufactured products, employed people to make things and export the results to other nations. In other words, the U.S. created jobs.
We no longer create jobs. I can prove that that is the case with numbers from the CIA itself. As mentioned, China is at the top of the list with the World's largest positive Current Account Balance. That's because China makes things, employs its population and exports its product to the world --primarily U.S. via Wal-Mart. Go to Wal-Mart! Find just one thing that is made in the U.S. Since Reagan, the U.S. has made very little of anything and less has been exported. The CIA's list proves my point. When did this trend begin? It began shortly after George H.W. Bush went to China, set up Nixon's famous but largely ceremonial trip to the Forbidden City. The deals that were cut turned out to have been the price we paid to get our sorry asses out of Viet Nam --a dank swamp we had no business being in in the first place. One pays for one's sins.
But when ignorant asses raise strawmen, red herrings, propaganda to justify their hate and bigotry, I part company. That's what's really wrong with the U.S. No one has been safe since it was discovered that big bucks could be made by killing Indians [Native Americans, my ancestors], driving Mexicans (who were there first) out of Texas, stealing land, waging wars in general. It was Randolph Hearst who said just prior to the U.S. attack on Cuba --"...you give me the pictures and I'll give you the war!"
Like Rome before us --we are busted and are not creating jobs. A trip to Wal-Mart proves that. Who is to blame? Not immigrants --though I cannot fathom why anyone in his/her right mind would want to come here. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to swim or wade across the Rio Grande.
The alleged 'Governor' of Texas --Rick Perry is lying about the 'Texas Miracle'! There was NO Texas miracle. There was no net increase of jobs over the time period he cites. There was, rather, a huge net decline in job creation! That is to be expected. It is the GOP modus operandi! It is best described as a Texas Two Step: 1) subvert education 2) by doing so, ensure a growing prison population which --alone benefits from the corporate ownership of the prison system!
What will Houston look like when the oil companies decide that, as the U.S. has all but run out of oil, what's the point of maintaining spiffy, shiny 80 story office buildings in downtown Houston? Last time, I checked there was lots of high rise office space in Dubai.
