Just a few years after the United States coddled Moammar Gaddafi, they launch drone missiles at his convoy, leading to his death.
The Dictator
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
11 Comments. Leave new
How come Gaddaffi was sort of accepted for a while? Did he give up WMD and terrorism? MSM coverage is appallingly bad regarding this issue.
That is the face of America, and that is what we are. No matter what we say, our actions reveal us for who we are. Whether its Walmart or Iraq – we do what we do to protect our self interests first, just like most of the people in the world. If we were reduced to the level of the Iraqis, we would probably act like them too, and maybe worse. We like to pretend that we wouldn’t, but we have already done it in so many different ways. We don’t have to continue – we always have a choice. Let’s not continue.
I am not going to critcize “No”. He’s either begging the point or maybe honestly doesn’t understand.
Depleted uranium is only used in anti-armor kinetic perpetrator weapons.
It’s a nitpick, but I hate when people I agree with say obviously stupid and wrong things. It generally gives people an easy way to doge engaging with the argument.
Grimgrin:
The depleted uranium is consumed by people because it gets into the atmosphere, water, soil, etc. Yes, Ted’s cartoon’s literal statement is that the people are being struck with the DU in projectile form, but the word “consumption” allows for both concepts.
Ted,
I just had this thought. (Perhaps I’m too close to some DU.) But I’m seeing that the whole “we got ‘im” meme seems to be losing potency. bin Laden was finally executed by an unnamed SEAL almost a decade after 9/11. The “thrill” lasted for, what, a week? Qaddafi’s death also made the run of the zeitgeist or the schadenfreude or the himmelfarbeneigenspassen or whatever German word you want in about a week. None of these things is going to exhilarate the voters for 2012.
So: 1. What will Obama’s handlers orchestrate from the bag of tricks for the election? 2. Will it work? I’m coming down on the side that, in one year, the economy will be marginally better (we’ll all be back to keeping our heads down and toiling quietly for fear of losing whatever horrible jobs we’re holding onto by the skin of our teeth), OWS will be remembered like New Coke and Yahoo Seriously, and the Democrats will slip into minority party status in all three branches of guvmint.
But you are probably a lot more savvy on these matters. Any thoughts as we head into the final 12 months before the election?
@Alex, Political strategists do yearn for their October Surprises, don’t they? Surely Obama is no exception. What’s becoming rapidly clear, however, is that Obama is fighting the last war—in this case, Bush’s war on terror. Had Bush killed UBL and Gaddafi, he would have been a God. After all, kicking ass and taking names is why people vote for Republicans. But that’s not Obama’s brief. Obama came in while the economy was falling apart, and people expected him to fix that. They don’t care about anything else.
It’s hard to imagine what credible narrative the Obama gurus can come up with for an economic October Surprise. You can’t gin up millions of new jobs overnight. Well, actually, you can—through a new WPA. But the GOP won’t allow that now. (One of my big criticisms of The One is that he didn’t go for a huge new WPA (20 million new jobs hired directly by the federal government) when he had the chance, during his first few months in office).
I imagine they’ll have to settle for something lame, which won’t affect the outcome.
Alex_the_tired:
Most people get what an utter disaster the Republicans getting back into power would be; there’s only a handful of holdouts like Ted who will willfully ignore the orders of magnitude of difference between the two parties. And the current Republican slate of candidates is a joke.
Given that, I just don’t see the Democrats becoming the minority in all three branches of government. I see the most likely scenario as: Obama re-elected, House flips back to Dem, Senate stays in Democratic hands, maybe 51-49.
If one of them is to flip, the Senate is the most likely. However, if the Senate stays Democratic and the House flips, Obama might lose.
Minority in one branch seems possible, if unlikely. Two is a serious stretch. Democratic minority in all three branches? Ain’t gonna happen friend.
@Whimsical: I understand the differences between the Dems and the Reps. They are real, they exist. But they are not big enough to avoid the broader conclusion that they both suck. I’m focused on that.
The US launched missiles at Gaddafi’s convoy ? Surely not, Ted, they must have merely been helping Messrs Sarkozy and Cameron maintain the «no-fly zone» decided upon by the UNO Security Council ?…
Henri
You can’t expect a country that doesn’t respect its own citizens to respect countries outside of your country.