On 04/07/2013, at 1:16 PM, "Jordan Hayes" <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> Well, the US just said: Fuck Bolivia.
>
>> It suggests that the US is afraid, very afraid, of this
>> Snowden fellow.
>
> No, I think it just reinforces that the US is willing to spend any price to make symbolic gestures. Obama said "I'm not going to scramble jets for a 29 year old hacker" but really he means: I'm willing to spend millions of dollars and untold numbers of diplomatic chits to convince other people that WE DO NOT FUCK AROUND.
You may be right. I may have underestimated the stupidity of the US government. I have a habit of putting a logical interpretation on things, but of course we aren't dealing with intelligent people. We are dealing with people who think that they can do anything they like and there can be no consequences.
By comparison, the rest of the world insists on their governments behaving with a modicum of respect towards the rest of the world. Their bloated military allows Americans the dangerous luxury of adding casual insult to endless injury. But the rest of the world know for a fact that that is really stupid. see for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Latham, a former leader of the federal Labor Part in Australia is still famous for his "Conga Line of Suckholes" remark, referring to the support by the conservatives for the US war in Iraq.
Latham went too far with such remarks as: "Bush himself is the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory."". Most Australians probably agreed, but considered it a foolish thing to say about the leader of a county with the largest military in the world. And probably decided that anyone who would say something like that couldn't be trusted with the security of the Australian nation. Latham lost the next election to incumbent John Howard.
The odd thing is that, in my experience, Americans are actually one of the most polite people in the world in real life. And of course Australians are some of the most rude and crude.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas