Sundry: Kolko, WSJ, Clinton & the "well laid" theory of IR

Greg Nowell GN842 at CNSVAX.Albany.Edu
Fri Sep 11 14:57:24 PDT 1998


1. S.o. asked if my cryptic "Kolko thesis" referred to G&J Kolko. Yes it does, their "Century of War."

2. Regarding the republicans and Clinton, I am reminded of how I used to vote when I lived in the Bay Area. I would buy a copy of the Chronicle and look at their recommendations, and then vote opposite. It worked every time. I have the same feeling with regard to the Republican congress. If they hate Clinton so much, there must be a reason that he's pretty good--not just "stealing their issues" (they got both houses)--but possibly something the rest of us haven't noticed. I don't know what it is. But I just can't help it. If they hate him that much, there must be something right about him. Maybe it's just that he's the only major figure to *talk* in public about serious social welfare issues. Arguably creeping social democracy on medical care issues (first the old, then the kids, then the poor, then the working poor, etc.) which remains a big Clinton issue would give back to the poor *much* more than they lost on welfare reform. He *did* help push through a minimum wage boost, that was stagnant under republican rule. He *did* help put through the earned income tax credit, which goes exactly *opposite* to republican tendencies to increase taxation on the poor.

3. And to respond to Doug's question of a few days ago, am I for or against blowjobs, I would have to say, as a political matter, that leaders with their fingers on the nuclear button should be well laid. That goes for women too. I don't want anyone with hormonally clogged vapors in the brain making decisions to blow us up. Better they should be blown. Better to add a nice calming rush of post-orgasmic endorphins to the volatile international arena. I had never thought political analysis would go so low. But yes, one implication of the "well-laid" theory of international relations is that the world might have been a better place if someone had gone down on Thatcher on a regular basis. For I must assume that her politics reflect the fact that no one did. So now I've said it. And my one worry is that if Hillary is po'd at Bill and the whole world is watching him 'n' all, that he's only going to get his own handjobs for the next two years. That's not good.

I didn't bring all this up, y'know, but, since it's all over the news, we might as well consider the full implications.

-- Gregory P. Nowell Associate Professor Department of Political Science, Milne 100 State University of New York 135 Western Ave. Albany, New York 12222

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