Comments on: President Bush In Africa

by: Joan8383

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:48:06 +0000

The U.S. Government has never given out handouts to 3rd and 4th world countries without expecting to receive MUCH more in return.

As soon as our representatives start looking as though they are acting altruistically, folks on the receiving end better head for the hills, because we are about to take over and take their stuff, whatever it is that our robber barons want.

Mosquito nets, or beads and blankets, the trinkets offerred mean nothing in comparison to what will be taken.

by: Matt McClure

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:13:59 +0000

Ah! IT pains me to see people apologize for using good judgment.
Being wise to yet another scheme is not cynical, it’s knowing better.

I think it’s BS, and I’m not a cynic. How much of the 30B is going to be siphoned off in the beaurocratic process? I’m sure this money is going straight to pharmaceutical friends, and/or it’s only allowed to be spent on a narrow field of drugs and treatments that are probably more dangerous than helpful, more experimental than proven. Or: what a great way to dominate and imperialize: create a disease, infect the continent with it, then string them along for decades on various ‘treatments.’ These are just ideas, I really don’t know exactly why they did this, but IMO, there’s no point in trying to interpret anything our administration does as compassionate in anyway. The highest cartel has the perfect puppet in office, they’re not going to let him waste their time and money on compassionate acts.

by: JoeC

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:33:36 +0000

Pelmo: Better late than never…sort of sums up my own feelings, and I would add “better late than never, BARELY.” :-)

Xman: Thanks for dropping back in the comment section! You know, cynicism has its place. The massive amount of whipped cream spin the White House and the propaganda puppets (Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc…) put out require a lot of cynical viewpoints if an overal balance is going to be achieved. And, they’re well ahead in the optimistic smoke department, so I don’t think there’s any reason to hold back, or apologize.

by: Xman

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:53:56 +0000

I’m such a cynic most of the time I feel I should be doing some apologizing. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting for a good reason.
Joe, I think you are correct to suspect Bush’s motivations.
Africa is full of dictatorships, which we like, since it makes business investments more secure. It is hard to give money to support these kinds of governments, but put it on the books of a humanitarian cause and get out the camera’s and it looks like nice window dressing. Who follows the money after the camera’s are put away? Sure doubling aid looks good. But this is about “obligating” dictators. Since when did we ever set up an office to ensure worker health, safety, freedoms and respect when we went in and pillaged their natural resources?
There is a multi-nation mad rush on to secure a piece of the pie in Africa. We are a little late to the party, so we have to play catch up. That means making amends, making friends, etc.
I guess the aid and nice words can also go onto the very short list of things that Bush is trying to bolster as his “Legacy”…but again; Motivation is suspect and given our track record for decades, this looks right out of the “Economic Hitman” playbook.

by: pelmo

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:34:54 +0000

Somebody forgot to tell him that legacy building begins on inaugeration day, not when you are getting ready to walk out the back door. Better late then never, I guess.