It's On

The Bush/Cheney regime's cowboy statesmanship has yielded another predictable consequence - global arms races. Bush's bully boy diplomacy, his blind arrogance and his utter failure in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East has simultaneously goaded and emboldened key rivals such as China and Russia.

Bush and his stable sweeper, Rumsfeld, set events in play when they had America unilaterally scrap its nuclear weapons treaties and announce the development of a new generation of nuclear battlefield (or tactical) weapons. That bit of jumped up bravado along with the Texas Turd's insistence on basing anti-ballistic missile interceptors on Russia's doorstep triggered the inevitable response from Russia's Vlad Putin.

Putin appeared on a call-in show today where he assured Russians that their military is also proceeding with its own new generation,nuclear arsenal and matching, improved capacity missile systems. Russia, recovering from its post-communism economic doldrums and awash in petro-rubles can afford to do just that.

What a difference two decades can make. Then it was the USSR that was in serious financial distress and America ascendant. Now it's America that's in hock to its eyeballs and Russia ascendant.

A prudent president would have positioned the United States much differently. Bush has proven to be foolish to the point of stupidity; picking unnecessary fights, draining his treasury, leaving his military strained to the breaking point and his nation's financial strength sapped. With the looming environmental and resource challenges, Bush has left the United States about as vulnerable as its enemies and rivals could hope for. Even with a clear headed and courageous leader, it could take America decades to undo the Bush legacy.

The Frat Boy has put himself well in the running for the worst president in his nation's history.

In the meantime the new cold war is "on" and we'd better start thinking about what we can do about that.