tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post3893637357857684675..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: Gates' America, no longer pearlyAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-81336040695230624162014-01-08T11:48:43.204-05:002014-01-08T11:48:43.204-05:00Really great perspective, thank you. Woodward--wh...Really great perspective, thank you. Woodward--what a pompous ass. He so transparently puts his own feelings about Obama into Gates' mouth, when its clear that Gates' quotes don't remotely back it up. Its just disgusting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-25670538735544257982014-01-08T09:41:41.118-05:002014-01-08T09:41:41.118-05:00Of course, America chose the Sunnis (which is to s...Of course, America chose the Sunnis (which is to say the Saudis) as America's ally in the middle east, and the results have been catastrophic, which confirms the Biblical admonition to choose your friends wisely. As for American dysfunction, I refer to Francis Fukuyama's recent essay (The Decay of American Political Institutions), in which Fukuyama concludes: "Many of these problems could be solved if the United States moved to a more unified parliamentary system of government, but so radical a change in the country’s institutional structure is barely conceivable. Americans regard their Constitution as a quasi-religious document. Persuading them to rethink its most basic tenets short of an outright system collapse is highly unlikely. So we have a problem". Yes, we have a problem. raywardnoreply@blogger.com