2012 Presidential Election.

[LittleLebowski]

I believe RP is referring to the ongoing and seemingly perpetual enmity against us for our interventionism. In another age, it would have been called colonialism. We are basically in an arms race with ourselves. We will be propping up Iraq and Afghanistan for generations and we're broke. Wouldn't it be nice to take the hit on cost of petroleum products manuafactured and drilled here and tell those petty little theocoracies to pound sand? Why can't we do a Manhattan Project style national R&D focus on alternatives to petroleum and more efficient batteries? Instead, we have troops in one hundred seventy countries and Obama has an income tax credit for hybrid vehicles. Ever wonder what it would be like to drastically scale back the fed gov't tentacles in your everyday life? Ever ponder a different tax system? We used 16 million from our Chinese credit card for new IRS agents.

Also, my brother and both served. Marine Corps infantry.

[JHC]

+1000 on energy independence and drill here drill now. If we were 100% energy independent it wouldn't save us from the collapse if Europe, Japan, China lost access to ME oil. Globalization is a reality. And a good one.

There will be a hegemon. And it will be respected by some, hated by some and resented by many. But nations will act in their interests. Popular opinion on the streets of the world is nearly worthless good or bad.

[NETim]

+1000 on energy independence and drill here drill now. If we were 100% energy independent it wouldn't save us from the collapse if Europe, Japan, China lost access to ME oil. Globalization is a reality. And a good one.

There will be a hegemon. And it will be respected by some, hated by some and resented by many. But nations will act in their interests. Popular opinion on the streets of the world is nearly worthless good or bad.

I'm not convinced that American "leadership" has acted in the US citizen's best interests for many years now.