You gotta laugh – to keep from crying
by Justin Raimondo, May 07, 2012
"A Russian general has threatened military action if the US and its NATO allies go ahead and build a “missile shield” in Eastern Europe: “A decision to use destructive force preemptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” say Russian chief of staff Nikolai Makarov. That the “shield” is of dubious effectiveness, and is mainly a cash cow for US defense companies, are not factors the Russkies are willing to take into consideration: their main beef seems to be the implied insult of Washington claiming the shield isn’t designed to protect against future aggression emanating from Moscow, but against an alleged Iranian missile threat to Europe. Hey, they seem to be saying: what about us? Aren’t we a threat, too?
Well, no – they aren’t. Russia’s population is falling rapidly, and their economy isn’t doing too hot, either. What the oligarchs didn’t loot and spirit out of the country has been either seized and mismanaged by the state, or else is part of the burgeoning black market. The last thing Moscow needs is an empire: they can barely manage what they already have. That hasn’t stopped Washington from manufacturing a phony narrative that imagines a “resurgent Russia” motivated by revanchism and a desire to refight the cold war..........
The ultimate absurdity, of course, is the spectacle of a bankrupt “superpower” trying to lord it over the rest of the world, while their creditors close in for the kill. With the workforce rapidly shrinking, and the national debt expanding at an exponential rate, foreclosures are once again on the upswing, the housing market may be doomed to sink for the next decade or so, and the American middle class is disappearing. Perhaps another war will distract most people from noticing their descent into penury, but one wonders how long that old trick will work. "
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