Tuesday 13 April 2010

Mr Key goes to Washington [updated]

3575232 Franklin Roosevelt’s Vice President John Nance Garner famously described the job of American Vice President as “not worth a pitcher of warm spit.”  Sadly, that pretty much describes the value of John Key’s meeting earlier this morning with the American Vice President, particularly when that Vice President is Boofhead Biden.

As a meeting it would be as much use, and with as much chance of success, as trying to persuade Sione Lauaki not to pinch your beer.

Key’s real whistle-stop is his lunch with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.  It would be nice to think that John Key explained David Ricardo’s Principle of Comparative Advantage to Mr Vilsack, demonstrating that both US and NZ consumers—and consumers all around the Pacific Rim—would be better off with freer trade through the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. This presumes, of course, that Mr Key understands that principle himself. 

Whether or not that conversation happened, Mr Vilsack will undoubtedly be telling Mr Key that whatever the multiple benefits of free trade, inefficient American farmers can’t afford to allow our cheaper and better produce to appear in American shopping trolleys, and the frank truth is that American senators can’t afford not to have the donations of these inefficient farmers.  He’ll be told quite bluntly, I suspect, that Mr Vilsack and his colleagues would rather please one inefficient American producer (who, to a Senator, is known as a donor), than please several million hard-pressed American consumers (who, to a Senator, are known as prize saps).

So let’s not get too excited about today’s meetings.  These are politicians we’re talking about, not high achievers.

summit And speaking of high expectations, that pretty much explains Obama’s much-touted nuclear summit—not so much a “beer summit” as one that will have the all-encompassing reek of patchouli, a miasma strong enough to obscure (for a while at least) several hard truths about it that will probably not make the summit communiqués.

Such as the fact that the nuclear genie is long out of the bottle, and no amount of hand-wringing is going to put it back again. (You can wish upon a star all you like, but unless you confront that basic fact you have dreams that will never come true.)

Such as the deal OBambi just signed agreeing that Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev may essentially do whatever they like with 34 tons of surplus weapons-grade plutonium. (Burn it in a breeder reactor.  Bury it out back. Play pinochle with it. Whatever.)

Or the deal that India signed with the US to re-process spent US fuel into weapons-grade plutonium (encouraging erstwhile US ally Pakistan to seek some similar favour from China).

Or the fact that the two who at present loom largest in the world’s ‘most-likely-to-push-the-button’ contest (not to mention their high-ranking in the most-likely-to-give-fissile-material-to-terrorists stakes), North Korea and Iran will both be conspicuous by their absence—conspicuous, at least, to anyone who doesn’t take the communiqués of non-proliferation summits seriously.  And, if we might continue being blunt, even if they were there they would hardly be taking the proceedings any more seriously than France’s Nicholas Sarkozy, who was quoted after leaving the White House recently as calling OBambi “insane,” and “appalled” at Obama’s “vision” of what the World should be under his “guidance” and “amazed” at the American Presidents unwillingness to listen to either “reason” or “logic.”

So we might say in summary of the summit that rather than making the world a safer place, by encouraging those who do constitute genuine threats it’s likely to leave the world less safe. Suggesting the only communiqué that might make sense would be this:

"With all of the preparations and posturing, with all of the media coverage, citizens of the world live in quiet hope that the proliferation of non-proliferation summits has peaked and that time and money can be redirected to more obtainable goals such as a Mars landing."

Everything else is just smile-and-wave.



14 comments:

Dave Christian said...

I don't believe that these posturings are intended to lead to disarmament in the long term.

Their purpose is to create a narrative of an enlightened crusade against nuclear proliferation which can justify military attacks on Iran and North Korea.

The US administration hope to distance themselves from the standard narrative: US intervention attempting to fix previous ill-conceived US intervention with even dumber acts, all underpinned by the need for politicians to satisfy the military-industrial lobby.

I would expect those who don't understand that war is the health of the state would be pleased to observe this development.

National Supporter said...

Mr Creswell, are you a homosexual? I am wondering if you're indeed a homosexual because of your fascination/fixation with John Key, whatever he does. If Mr Key goes to the toilet, you blog about that, if he goes to a gay parade or something like that you blog about that, if Key goes to church you blog about that, if Key goes to a Marae you blog about that, now Mr Key goes to Washington, and you blog about that as well.

Are you sure that your fixation and fascination with our Prime Minister is not about his policies but you having a lust after Mr. Key? C'mon fess up Mr Creswell, its time that you should come out of the closet.

Peter Cresswell said...

@National Supporter: I'm whatever you want me to be. Just like your hollow-man Prime Ministerial hero.

twr said...

Hardly suprising we have the government we have if that's the kind of moron who supports them.

KG said...

Perhaps the idiot is a 'National Supporter' because he isn't interested in what Key's doing?

And what a great pity about Copernicus and Einstein and Newton and Beethoven--we mustn't show any fascination with them either, for fear of being labelled homosexual?
Moron.

the Drunken Watchman said...

Finally, some sense, burp, I can see clearly now! Peter Creswell is a faggot!

Anonymous said...

Dear PC

The paragraph you have quoted at the end of our post is my writing. It was not indented or in quotes in my article:

"With all of the preparations and posturing, with all of the media coverage, citizens of the world live in quiet hope that the proliferation of non-proliferation summits has peaked and that time and money can be redirected to more obtainable goals such as a Mars landing."

I am confident this is an oversight but attribution following something you have placed in quotes is good form old boy.

ON MY WATCH...the writings of SamHenry that may be found at
http://samandimp.wordpress.com.

post url:
http://samandimp.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/what-if-you-threw-a-nice-nuclear-summit-and-no-one-came/

Please disregard the above if a link or attribution appears somewhere on your post that I have overlooked. And I might add, I am honored that my work is quotable!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps PC is trisexual - something a bit out of the box, out of time, over the moon and out of your range, National Supporter.

I write a great deal about Congressman Barney Frank who is a self-described homosexual who practices many things. As for me, let me say (sorry I forget - oh yes) I am old and quite "frankly" I can't remember what I am. I just let the days unfold.

We must always be prepared to expect the unexpected.

Kindest regards

Peter Cresswell said...

@Sam Henry: Hi Sam, yes I put your words in quotation marks and linked to you, hoping to send readers your way.

Sorry if that's not okay with you.

LGM said...

"These are politicians we’re talking about, not high achievers."

Well said.

LGM

Anonymous said...

PC - Splendid. Just did not see the link. Old eyes and all that and BIG TX.

Anonymous said...

Their purpose is to create a narrative of an enlightened crusade against nuclear proliferation which can justify military attacks on Iran and North Korea.


Who needs a "narrative" to "justify" anything.

Bush should have pressed the fucking button years ago: blasted Tehran and Pyongyang into seas of glass and trinitite.

The US and freedom are no longer respected around the world because two generations have forgotten what happened to Hiroshima. That lesson needs to be re-taught as soon as possible.

Overwhelming Force said...

You said it correctly Anon that
The US and freedom are no longer respected around the world because two generations have forgotten what happened to Hiroshima. That lesson needs to be re-taught as soon as possible.


The US should act like a tough guy and not like a wimp. Obama made the US like a wimp.

LGM said...

The last two posts serve as examples of how many have turned away from the liberty intended by the founding fathers of the USA and instead worship at the altars of helpless welfarism, economic failure, tyranny, hate and violence.

One would hope these turds have their wet dreams rewarded and are conscripted to serve in a war they so obviously lust for. they deserve no less.

LGM