My Dick Cheney Ramblings

* Recently Dick Cheney has been interviewed by serious hosts, saying about the same thing each time--essentially that Barack Obama is responsible for declining American influence abroad, rising Muslim-Brotherhood power, Iran's progress toward acquiring a nuclear weapon, inadequate economic recovery, perils of Israel, weakening of our military, deaths of our representatives in Benghazi, lying about it, exploding government debt--this from the architect and guiding hand of the administration that took the nation from unprecedented prosperity with budget surpluses to economic collapse with gratuitous budget deficits, that made no effort to thwart the 9/11 attacks despite warnings, that failed to destroy al-Qaida and much of the Taliban when the opportunity presented itself, that led us into a costly criminal war in Iraq.
* There isn't the slightest evidence that the Cheney administration would have led the world and guided our economy for the past 4 years better than did the Obama administration. The Republican counter-intuitive supply-side economic theory turned out to be wrong after all. Unfortunately this theory still dominates the economic conversation 4 years after the Cheney administration and 3 decades after Reagan embraced it. That's why Obama did not steer our monetary and fiscal policies further from the right and sooner.
* Cheney presents no convincing alternative to our light touch in the Arab-spring revolutions, though he implies that a more robust projection of our power could have influenced outcomes for the better (for whom?). In my opinion, we (Hillary Clinton) said too much in favor of the rebels, who may become our enemies, and too much against former leaders with whom we had previously been reconciled. Hosni Mubarak's government was more gentle and restrained than we would likely have been under comparable circumstances, and they shouldn't have been vilified or prosecuted as criminals. Some casualties are normal and expected in a mob uprising. We should have incentivized and facilitated the peaceful relinquishment of power and comfortable retirement of leaders after an honest election in those hot spots.
* It seems possible that mob uprisings may become the new norm in countries where expectations greatly exceed economic opportunities, perhaps soon most countries, now that social media and smart phones are ubiquitous. Some day we may discover a social/economic/governance system that better satisfies populations, but that will face many headwinds--deep flawed economic theories, tribalism, beneficiaries of status quo in a wealth/power vortex.

Traditions under threat

> Observing social/religious/political/economic/military turmoil occasionally everywhere in the world and today in too many locations, I can't be optimistic about the prospect of widespread and enduring peace, justice and happiness. Add to that the deterioration of the earth's natural support systems (water, energy, soil, sea life, climate) as never before in history, and the prospect becomes bleaker.
> Every society has organizational, governmental and judicial traditions, these along with wealth and power hierarchies, religious influences, educational institutions, economic possibilities and degrees of regulation and freedom. These characteristics in the US, UK and Europe are reasonably satisfactory for the moment. But all of us eurotypes had cataclysmic episodes in our past and there is no guarantee that our futures will be satisfactory. In fact, many trends are toward less satisfaction. Job security and family stability are declining. Senses of crowding, competition and invisibility are rising. Senses of community and significance are declining. The popular culture grows ever cruder and uglier.   Substance abuse and associated crimes are too prevalent. Conditions for ethnic strife loom in every eurotype country. The deterioration of natural support systems will accelerate as developing populations increase in number and/or prosperity.
> I wonder what traditions and other characteristics will crumble under the weight of crises or will be altered to stave off crises.