The Morning After

Interesting morning. While president Bush is still out peddling gloom the stock market has yet to tank and we're getting some financial schooling from the various experts.

The FP article equating the bailout with Marx's proposal five (having state controlled credit) will make the biggest bruise (or shall we say, mark). It tends to equate certain internet commentators with Marxist philosophy, ironic since some of these commentators are out accusing Obama of hanging with Marxists. Touche--but the world isn't the same as it was in 1930.

One of the stated goals of bin Laden was the collapse of American influence around the world. In order to accomplish that goal, according to some of their tapes, they tried to "draw us out" with 9/11 and get us into a war in the heart of Islam in an effort to gain converts while draining our treasury. Bin Laden is from a financial family--he knew our military budgets depend to some degree on of our financial markets. The Afghan Mujahadeen (with US Stingers) brought about a collapse of the Soviet Union through a prolonged war, which allowed the rise of the Taliban, which allowed the camps that trained the perps who pulled off 9/11 and other attacks.

How can this be ignored in the equation?

A collapse of American (and European, East Asian and Australian) wealth could certainly put pressure on western leaders to withdraw from the WoT and cede Afghanistan and Iraq back to the enemy as economies contract. While that seems to contradict bin Laden's long war it's just the opposite--it means he can declare victory. Bugging out will allow his followers to establish centers of power all over the oil-rich middle east and central Asia, which leaves us in a helluva bad position. Sarah Palin will probably explain Thursday night how we can escape that resource trap by tapping Alaska.

Is bringing the WoT into context with our financial mess just fearmongering? You decide. Certainly if you're a follower of the 9/11 truther crowd/ one world government-trilateral commission crowd this is just one act in the play. If you're an Obama follower and truly believe him when he says Afghanistan is the main threat and we must place more assets and resources there--even to the point of violating a nuclear Islamic country's sovereignty--then this bailout makes at least some sense as to the future of the Republic. But if you're a follower of McCain and understand the importance of how a successful Iraq impacts the region and would thwart the goals of bin Laden's evil plan, then the bailout also makes sense, but in a different way.