[Hubris Boy]

originally posted by tw
Reality is that fast moving events became the tail that wagged the dog.

Are you suggesting that "events" have an independent will of their own?

Or are you trying to make an argument for for Predestination? Wow. That's funny... I never would have pegged you for a Presbyterian!

The oil embargo was also created by other WWII events. US was already suffering domestic oil rationing because of so much WWII activity. Therefore it was the perfect response to Japan's invasion of China.

Nonsense. Gasoline rationing in the US didn't start until July of 1942. Roosevelt Minor signed the Export Control Act two years earlier, in response to Japan's seizure of French Indochina. The "tail" wasn't wagging anything here... French Indochina didn't seize itself... Aviation fuel and machine tools didn't decide to stop shipping themselves to Japan...

My point here is that, with the occasional exception of large-scale natural disasters, "events" don't drive anything. People do. The Late Unpleasantness in the Pacific was started because Japan's leadership decided to expand beyond their traditional borders, and the West (especially Great Britain and the US) decided to oppose their efforts.

But this is George Jr who in one year subverted, soured or destroyed every international relationship we have.

Which international relationships could you be talking about? The really important ones (the UK, most of Western Europe, Australia, Japan) remain in pretty good shape. Relations with Russia have improved markedly of late. Even China has quieted down, though I don't think anybody really expects that to last long.

Saudi Arabia's shaky, but that's due more to internal dissatisfaction with the House of Saud than anything explicit that we've done. We continue to piss off most of the rest of the Arab world by apologizing for everything that Israel does, but that's not unique to this administration.

Nothing unusual in the subcontinent... Pakistan and India continue screeching at each other while we (and most of the rest of the world) keep our fingers crossed and hope they don't do anything stupid with their new toys.

Subsaharan Africa continues to suck. Nothing new there.

So... which relationships were you talking about?

Of course, if we continue in your previous line of reasoning, any allegedly ruined relationships would have been "soured or destroyed" by "events". Bush is merely the dog being wagged by the tail. Right?

In an upcoming post, I will quote Highlights for Children, in which Goofus and Gallant learn the meaning of "multilateral cooperation" at a birthday party.