1. Anonymous says:

    US policy in the Americas has a myopic tradition. A WaPo attorney recently wrote after a meeting in the Bolivarian country of Venezuela, voicing some chagrin and worries about the institution of the press in that country. I think conditions for the press are a real litmus for any civilization, even though newspapers can distract a thoughtful person from less salacious but more worthy topics.
    The WaPo attorney’s op-ed.
    E+P’s succinct comment; a press release from the journalists’ organization which sponsored the meeting recently this month in Venezuela
    J

  2. Anonymous says:

    Given the current tightness of the world oil market, all Venezuela and Iran would have to do is to agree that each would withold half of their oil production from the world market. Prices may increase so that they actually increase their revenues by doing this.

  3. Anonymous says:

    True, kaleidoscope. And if they got Putin to join in? They’re RICH!!! And the ugly Yankee agressor is brought low in an army full of useless SUVs.

    One curious note. Ahmedinejad was on the phone with King Abdullah (the important one) in the last week, just before Abdullah’s requests that Bush end the Lebanese killing got more strident.

    Noted without comment.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Well, if we’re demanding that Iran give an answer by mid-August, they should be able to tighten supplies just in time for the elction.

  5. Anonymous says:

    here’s a chicken or the egg question. If Iran and Venezuela did decide, as might Putin, to restrain the flow of crude to the US and we faced a critical shortage, who would be alloted fuel, the American public? The military in Iraq? GE? And how quickly, would our economy, which is running on vouchers flying like Icarus too close to the sun, slide into empty.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Damn, Mimikatz. Does that mean I better cancel my driving vacation for the all-important Labor Day weekend (joking–I’ll be marching with local candidates and knocking on doors).

    mainsailset

    Um. Can I just answer yes?

  7. Anonymous says:

    I guess maybe when Bush looked into Putin’s eyes and got a sense of his soul, he must have missed something?

    Uh, Putin laughing at him?

    Reminds you, given a standard mark-up to cover the large number of those doubtless thinking the same thoughts as here but just not writing in about them, that films also rise to the top.

  8. Anonymous says:

    …thankfully, I guess, Bush harbors no fantasies about regime changing Putin

    Oh, really? Let’s go to the tape:

    Putin: â€We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly.â€
    Bush: â€Just wait.â€

    I wish I were more than half-joking, but that has always been what Bush’s response sounded like to me.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Calvin Trillin’s take on what Bush thought he saw in Putin’s eyes:

    Bush and Putin talk together,
    To each other’s charms succumb.
    Bush thinks Putin can be trusted.
    Putin thinks that Bush is dumb.

    Bush and Putin end their meeting,
    Smile until their mouths are numb.
    Bush thinks Putin can be trusted.
    Putin thinks that Bush is dumb.

  10. Anonymous says:

    welcome to my world. I’ve been aware of this possibility since Hugo met with the Iranians (last summer ???)

    I’ve noticed a lot less news about Hugo since then, which leads me to think that somebody told george about the possible problems down the road …

    we import something like 50% of our oil ???

    it would be over in a month

    anybody wanna bet we wouldn’t swap bush, cheney, and rummy, to turn the tap back on ???

  11. Anonymous says:

    Firebrand Venezuelan leader Chavez visits Vietnam

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20…..hdA–

    Hugo Chavez, the first Venezuelan president to visit Vietnam, recalled that both nations had fought anti-imperalist struggles, Venezuela’s fight against the Spanish and Vietnam’s battles to expel the French and the Americans.

    â€Since I was a child, and also as a soldier, I have admired the courage of the Vietnamese soldiers,†Chavez said during a welcoming ceremony in Hanoi with Vietnam’s President Nguyen Minh Triet.

    Vietnam has major oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea but so far lacks refining capacity. In June, an executive delegation of state-owned PetroVietnam travelled to Venezuela for an official visit.