So Covid-19 is still all the rage. One cannot check the news without a covid story or two. Poor ole Donald has to be so sad with it taking some of the media's attention off his tweets, outrageous statements and truly God Awful interviews. I think what is being ignored / unsaid / not discussed may say even more about the state of the world. We touched on this in a recent post and I think it is worth a deeper look.
We almost never hear about Iraq or Afghanistan any more. There is talk of a peace deal in Afghanistan but don't hold your breath. Forces far from the country are not really interested. The Donald would love a peace deal to revive his fading reelection chances. Oddly, this is one of the few of his positions I can agree with. He has no strategy on Iraq I'm aware of. That nightmare looks to be endless as of this writing. The people who live there deal everyday with the wrong end of American power. It is not an unpleasant news story for them, it's life. I'm not all that hopeful Ole Joe is going to make much improvement. He too, will likely carry on the GWOT and pass it on to his successor. He's got to win first.
What about the Russians? Vladi has something on Donny. The only time they are in the news now is when 45 does them another favor. "Pulling 12,000 out of Germany!" Thanks! "Thinking of leaving NATO?" We love the idea! "Could you kindly leave Syria? Thanks again!" I'm not a Russia phobe but damn!
Meanwhile (The not your friends) Democrats want to start another cold war. They have returned to the 1980's. That's understandable when you stop and think 80's Republicans are basically what they have become. Yes, Putin is not a nice guy. But he is their guy for the foreseeable future. Deal with it. We are a rival power so don't act all shocked when he wants to interfere / influence our elections and politics. Ever hear of a place called Israel or China? They love our political system! And then there is US, the USA. We routinely overthrow governments we don't like. It is all a part of the fun and hardly worth restarting the cold war over. Take the necessary precautions and keep it moving. Russian vilification only helps defense contractors. Here's an idea Democrats; redo some of the treaties 45 has let lapse or dropped out of. Let's work on getting rid of some more ICBM's. Being 80's Republicans is not helpful.
Where is Greta? Did climate change turn over our extinction to Covid-19? No, Covid 19 is just the warm up band. The real show is soon to follow. I'm sure Earth liked the break in pollution as some of us took the pandemic seriously for a few months. There has been little real work on dealing with climate change. We are addicted too hard to our "suburban class lifestyle" with air conditioning, cars and an entire culture based on more, more, more! There is no Magic Green Bullet that says this can continue to infinity. We are going to have to change our culture to save ourselves. If not, the Earth will change it for us- the hard way.
How to change things? Change the conversation! Ask the hard questions! Most importantly, look in the mirror!
