February 21, 2011, ...to the shores of Tripoli...
The mirth and merriment that seems to be re-shaping Middle Eastern governments at far greater speed and lower cost (especially human cost) than American imposed mass-homicide ever did (or could)... has reached Libya. Some reports show hundreds dead and the Libyan parliament building ablaze as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (the man of a thousand spellings) appears to have fled Tripoli... for points unknown.
Meanwhile, in a hopefully less violent comparison, this Weekly Standard piece asks a most interesting question, to wit, given general Democratic support for the effective shut-down of the Wisconsin government to protest Republican budget cuts (which, of course, include evisceration of public sector unions), what will be the consistent philosophical argument against, a probable shut down of the federal government when (presumably) conflicting budget priorities cannot be resolved by March 4th?
The short answer to that one is... you got me? I have no idea! The issue of the failure (or deliberate failure) of the President and his team to secure extension of the federal debt ceiling and a "no shutdown" agreement when he caved in to extend the Bush tax cuts and destroy social security's financial underpinnings during the lame duck session... now looms. You'all know my twin opinions on this: (1) none of this really matters anyway (unless, of course, you somehow depend on the non-military-contractor part of the federal government for anything), and (2) Bill Clinton politically benefited from a Republican-led government shut down, and Obama is an orthodox disciple of Bill Clinton's "divide and conquer [your own supporters]" politix.
Meanwhile... actual people-centered politics are playing out in cities throughout the Middle East ... possibly re-shaping the future of tens or hundreds of millions of people... while the alleged most powerful nation on Earth... twitters twiddles its thumbs... pondering its own policy choices [between feudalism and satanic mills.]