Three Smart Fellers

[Lightning Rod]

I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.
---Poe, Tell Tale Heart


Three Smart Fellers
for release 09-22-06
Washington D.C.


When I was a kid, there was a tongue-twister joke that went like this: (repeat three times as fast as you can)
"One smart feller, he felt smart.
Two smart fellers, they felt smart
Three smart fellers, they all felt smart."

Try it. The outcome is predictable.

I'm reminded of this silly little joke after watching the spectacle in the UN General Assembly this week. Bush, Ahmaninejad and Chavez were the perfect Three Stooges, complete with slapping and tripping and fingers in the eyes. I call them the Axis of Slap-stick. And these are the wing-nuts that are running our world. Scary, but great comedy.

These men are among the most powerful in the world and what they have in common is that they have all made themselves and their countries look like fools.

If the United Nations is the august world forum that it presents itself to be, then something funny must have happened to these three guys on the way to the forum.

Bush's speech was, as usual, simplistic and authoritarian. He spoke as if he were the king of the world. He used the imperative "must" 16 times in his speech. "The world Must do this or Must understand that."

Ahmaninejad was the wiliest of the three and despite his delusions concerning the holocaust, he came off as the most statesmanlike. He didn't mention names and he had some valid comments about the structure of the Security Council. The Security Council reflects the political realities of the world in 1945. Things have changed.

Chavez was by far the best comedian. His physical humor was superb. When he mocked Bush's Mussolini Walk, I cracked up. You know the walk I'm talking about, the one where he tries to look tough by never letting his arms come within six inches of his sides, like he's airing his armpits. He imagines, I'm sure, that he looks like Gary Cooper in High Noon marching out to singlehandedly take on the bad guys, but he looks more like Mussolini with his little posturing strut.

These guys are all three delusional, each in his own way. That's what I love about delusional people, they are such individuals. Ahmaninejad thinks that the holocaust never happened. Bush thinks that somehow we are winning the hearts and minds of the Mid-East by trying to shove 'democracy' down their throats at the point of a gun. And Chavez, the third smart feller, he smelt fart or sulphur or was it the devil?

We are watching the great tide of petro-politics turn. Chavez' Venezuela has more oil than Saudi Arabia and Iran has almost as much. They are power players in the world oil market, but they are not playing by the rules like Saudi Arabia. Here's the difference: It's not so much about the oil as it is about the money made from the oil. The Saudis spend their petro dollars on US treasury notes which help to finance our government's debt which is in the plural trillions. Chavez spends his petro dollars on social programs and infrastructure in his own country and region. Iran uses its petro dollars to fund Hezbollah and other regional interests. These dollars don't fly home like pigeons to roost on Wall Street. They are not playing by the US rules. It's no wonder that the three smart fellers are slapping each other in public. The fun will really begin when Venezuela starts building nuclear power plants.

I'm not surprised that when Chavez offered to ship free oil to New Orleans after Katrina, Bush gave him the cold shoulder. I'm sure that his advisors warned him that the political misery he would suffer by accepting charity from a third world country to bail out the disaster of FEMA failures would be worse than the suffering of the Katrina victims. These guys are just a barrel of laughs aren't they? And a barrel of laughs is worth more than a barrel of oil any day.

The entire show was almost as entertaining as Dancing With the Stars. In fact I think Jerry Springer should have the Three Smart Fellers on his show. Let them duke it out in a more appropriate arena.


"Did you say Niagara Falls?
Slowly I turned...step by step...inch by inch..."
Joey Faye as performed by The Three Stooges

[Dave The Dov]

Why I outta! Owwww Owwwww! What does Larry say? Yeah I can see how these three leaders could be just like them. But then I believe in that Bob Dylan line "Don't follow leaders"!!!!
_________________
how long did the great depression last

[mtmynd]

Clear Eye'd I'd say... as usual.

From news views, Chavez received some laffs and applause... somethings that I did not hear in clips of Bush. The stodgy ol' U.N. needs some more humor to lighten up tensions, but Bush is unable to give any except to his smirking, beady-eyed self.

Chavez is also a pretty good book seller. Noam Chomsky's "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (The American Empire Project)" reached #1 on Amazon after Hugo's ad. I wonder where the majority of sales were made? The interest is building.

Good work, el Rod!

[lenny]

I always read your 'Poet's Eye' essays and usually look forward to them. This one was no exception. Although the three stooges are quite funny, each in their own sort of way, I worry about them...or rather, not them, but their effect on us. They are like three chemicals that when kept separate remain relatively benign, but when placed in the same test tube can provoke quite a different reaction. The current geopolitical climate is that test tube and the mix is beginning to bubble menacingly. I don't know what is coming but I have no doubt that something major is on the not too distant horizon. The fumes are already rising from the beaker and becoming more and more strong. There is a great polarization going on today that the Pope's remarks and Bush's backing of same yesterday sure didn't help.

Things are rapidly changing and the signs of empire decline - notice I said decline, not collapse - are everywhere. Old alliances - and not just NATO/US-Europe - are shifting and new ones, unpredictable and diverse, are forming. Regardless of what we think we are NOT the only 'superpower' today. Both Russia and China are major rivals and becoming moreso every day. These next few years - at most - are going to see some very heady changes, global re-shaping changes. I would not be at all surprised to see the pope assassinated. ( One of Nostradamus' predictions for what it's worth or isn't ). The lines between church and state here at home are becoming increasingly blurred, and now with the pope incident and three Indonesian executions of Christians by Muslims thinking are appearing more grim by the day.

I think the 'empire' has finally over extended itself, LR. This is the opportune time for Russia and China to make silent but sure moves to increase their global standing. Were China to call in America's debt to it today we would go under instantly, of course, so would China because you can't collect from a dead man, but they are patiently - always one of China's greatest virtues - setting things in place to pull the plug on the FRN ( dollar ). Just as Saudi Arabia has silently amassed over 200,000,000 ounces of gold since 1996 in scattered vaults under the Arabian sands, so too now are China, Russia, Argentina, India, Japan, South Korea and many other nations beginning to prepare for the demise of the world's 'reserve currency'. The fight is not really of religion or politics, but who controls the pie we eat and who gets what sized bite.

Chavez and Ahmadinejad (sp?) may seem clown-like - and even act it at times - but there is much truth to many of their assertions. ( Although, admittedly, I never understood Ahmadinejad's claim of the holocaust never happening! ).

The town bully can only beat up so many of the kids on the block at once, but he can never take them all on at the same time due to sheer numbers. Imagine the corrupt regimes of the Saudi royal family, Kuwaiti royal family, etc., all falling to Islamic fundamentalism and Iran, Syria, Lebanon ( Hezbolla ), Afghanistan and Iraq (the latter two being already lost in my opinion. You can only kill so many tens - hundreds? - of thousands of innocents before turning all the their surviving relatives - the whole region - against you ) gaining - with Russian and Chinese backing - ascendancy in the Persian Gulf arena. And Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil and maybe even Mexico (Obrador has quite a following ) , amongst others of the region forming another block to our south that is allied to the new Mid-East block. Much of Europe is wishy-washy and goes with the flow. China is rapidly developing ( with our economic aid! ) a new deepwater fleet that has our military analysts worried. And we seem to have forgotten that Russia is now the world's number one oil producer - having passed Saudi Arabia this year - AND still in possession of a vast nuclear arsenal.

No, my good brother, I think old George has gone and stretched the rubber band too far and too quickly. Things are about to reverse direction and it's not going to be pretty.

Take care, take cover, and be well,

lenny

[iblieve]

It was a show wasn't it? I agree Ahmaninejad was more the statesman than Bush and I will probably get stoned for this, but I like him a lot more than bush. Here’s the deal with Iran, every time something goes wrong like the Iraqi war becoming a nightmare the bush regime tries to shift the attention somewhere else, poor Iran is a sitting duck and an easy target, just like the time Osama's head was promised to the American people and bushie couldn't deliver because his daddy is business partners with Bush senior, they invaded Irag to rally the idiotsa round the flag and to divert their attention from the fact that we aint getting his head, he‘s fucking rich.. This administration better start getting things right or we'll be invading every country in the world.
Yes it was a funny sight at the UN and I enjoyed it, Chavez never fails to amuse me but he is not an Idiot, he undermines Bush's Administration by going straight to Harlem and pledging free oil to the people who can’t afford it in this country. I think he would be Moe in the three stooges, he is funny appears to be a total idiot on camera but behind the scenes Moe was a serious businessman that worked his ass off to make those routines work. I fear Chavezmight eb the same.
Man you are awesome, I was wondering when I was watching that senario at the UN what your views would be. As always enlightening and right on the money.

Can I say, "Fuck Bush" and the Chaney dick he rode into office on.
“C"
iblieve

[stilltrucking]

I suppose that is how I see the situation in the Middle east, the Arabs and the Jews playing a macabre game of tit for tat.


Sorry for the ramble Clay. Nice eye. You really nailed his walk. I have been watching it and thinking about it for a long time but I could not articulate it so well.

Gracias.

[muddshark]

oh, to see in perspect the hills of trouble
yet to stand neckbroke by their toe
weightz me double
if it moves not slow
hmmm the smell of this field, wahts it?
know your clouds they say
catch the lightning
t'struck a dove
oh, to see in perspect
the rye of love

[jimboloco]

nice poem mudshark, indeed. prophetic.
øløl og mere øl
beer beer and more beer!
norwegian drinking song


robert mclane www.norespectpublishing.com


A Latino doctor I occasionally see in the jewel mine told me that Simon Bolivar not only was a revolutionary statesman, but that he also was a clown, a funny guy.

Now I loved it when Chavez called Bush the devil. My wife says that Bush IS the Anti-Christ, because he espouses Christian virtues, yet is a macabre and ruthless idiot. (as is Dickmouth "go fuck yourself" Cheney.)

Bush, afterall, uses verbose negativity and the lemming-like Amerikan masses suck it up. For how much longer?

Evo Morales, on the other hand, being the effete Indiginous coca farmer that he be, says that he does not like any name calling or taunts, yet, anyhow, he is now on the "no-fly" list into the USA.
Absurd.
Tit for Tat indeed.

and from the letters to the editor st pete times today comes this worthy note,

Leave the name-calling, take the oil

The juxtaposition of two articles in the Oct. 10 Times was remarkable.

One reported George W. Bush's denunciation of the Korean nuclear test as defying the will of the international community (N. Korea "threat to international peace"). But what world leader has shown more contempt for the will of the international community than Bush himself? Bush proudly proclaims his disregard for the opinions of others.

The other article reported that some Alaskan villages had declined Venezuelan offers of free oil because Hugo Chavez characterized Bush as "the devil" (Alaska's poor say no to Chavez). I'm no Chavez fan, but I don't know why accepting free oil from a country with a democratically elected leader is worse than paying a nondemocratic country like Saudi Arabia for it. And I'm not sure that a system like Venezuela's, where the national government owns the oil companies, is so much worse than ours, where the oil companies own the government.

I agree that Chavez overstepped the bounds of international civility with his comments about Bush, but Chavez is not in a position to do much real damage. On the other hand, Bush's characterization of three entire countries as an "Axis of Evil" is arguably more of an affront to international civility than Chavez's comments about Bush.

If Bush ever shows that he actually cares about the will of the international community, maybe people like Chavez will have less reason to call him the devil. Meanwhile, if Chavez offers me some free fuel, I'll say, "Bring it on."
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/13/Opini ... comm.shtml
Gregory A. Morgan, Lutz