On 8/6/06, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
unfortunately or fortunately, there are contradictions within the Bush Coalition. The green-lighting of Israel's invasion of Lebanon doesn't fit well with stabilizing oil prices. But it does serve other constituencies.
It seems to me that a true theocracy is the United States, not Iran. Over there, the ruling clerics think rationally in a fashion recommended by secular economists and advocate scientific research (cf. "Iran, 10th country to produce embryonic human stem cell," 3 September 2006, <http://www.payvand.com/news/03/sep/1010.html>) and economic development. Here, the ruling lay men are beholden to theological constituencies (an unholy alliance of end-time Christians and the pillars of the decidedly liberal Jewish community) and veto science if it contradicts theology ("Bush Vetoes Embryonic Stem-cell Bill," 20 July 2006, <http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/19/stemcells.veto/>). -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
