The shattered dream!
The turmoil over the NSA and Edward Snowden continues to boil!
It has now been revealed that the United States has been listening in on the conversations of many world leaders, including the greatly offended Angela Merkel, leader of a now reunited Germany. It was not all that long ago that Germany was divided between east and west and the conflicting ideologies that dominated much of the twentieth century raged on. We would have thought it wise to listen in on the East German leaders conversations just as we did on the Soviet leader until Richard Nixon revealed that we were doing so in a press conference during his administration. We were in a cold war then and all is fair in love and war.
We are not sure just what the Chinese are doing to us but we know that it includes all sort of computer spying and thievery carried out in the cyberspaces of the electronic world. In point of fact, we are not sure if the Germans do not have a unit set up to do this very thing in the very competitive world of global corporate spying that usually yields vast amounts of valuable data that reduces the need to do the research that creates this sort of thing. There are all sorts of treaties and covenants about the theft of intellectual property and just about everyone is breaking them these days.
One thing is very certain about Germany and that is the fact that she does not have to spend all that much of her gross national product on her own defense as that is provided by the United States of America at great expense to this nation that is so in debt. Another thing that is certain is that the United States provides a safe haven for German money just as it does for every other nation that regards this nation’s dollar as the reserve currency for the world. But, still yet, Ms Merkel is greatly offended by the realization that the United States has been monitoring her telephone conversations.
We have had reservations about the United States continued involvement with Germany almost since the end of the Cold War. We pump vast amounts of money into the German economy while Germany continues to take advantage of that while her Gross Domestic Product and solvency continue to solidify her place as the dominant economy in the European Union. One might argue that Germany is the China of Europe. We think that it is time that the Germans begin to provide for their own defense and quit relying on the United States to do it for them. And we think that there is good reason for thinking that and advocating that position. Over the long haul, the United states needs to begin to concentrate on its own economy and its own needs here at home and leave a nation that fought us in a bloody war over seventy years ago to its own devices.
We are not becoming isolationistic as they were in the period before the second world war began but we do think that charity begins at home and that it is time to quit providing world tours for Americans who choose military service as their chosen field of endeavor in their lives. We have never been opposed to foreign aid as so many on the right have, but, to be plain about it, countries such as Germany do not need any of that type of assistance anyway. It is best remembered that American foreign aid comprises about one percent of our national budget each and every year while the defense budget continues to rise and comprises a huge chunk of what we spend every year. The United States is the only remaining military superpower left in the world and if we are going to spend on defense, let us spend where it will do us the most future good against a potential adversary--China!
It is alright for Angela Merkel and her Germany to take our money for provision of a defense that her nation could well provide but it is not alright for us to monitor her phone calls. For some strange reason we see a definite disconnect there and if Ms Merkel persists in her grousing over phone call monitoring we should pointedly remind her of that fact. We remember quite well that during the first Persian Gulf War back in 1990 that Germany refused to provide any military support because of their still existing shame over what had happened decades ago. It is time to move beyond that now. Perhaps there was a reason back in the early ninties for Germany to stay home because she had just taken on the rebuilding of East Germany, but, that time has long passed now. Ms. Merkel has stated that her confidence in the Obama administration has been shattered over phone call monitoring so perhaps the dream world that Germany has been living in due to our defense welfare for that nation be shattered just as well.
IOVHO,
Regards,
Joe
To say that "God exists" is the greatest understatement ever made across space and time.
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