Bush pisses off world, makes it easier for Europe to rise in influence.

I remember a few years ago my Republican friends saying bad things about the European Union like, “Oh, those countries don’t know what they’re signing up for! It’s going to be a disaster!” I think secretly they knew how successful it could be, or was going to be, and were trying to spread misinformation to scare countries away from a good thing (good for them, bad for the U.S.).

Of course, the Bush Jr. policies just make it easier for Europe to get the upper hand:

• Savage foreign policy makes us hated, opens opportunities for EU: It’s the EU that got Iraq to stop their nuke program, not us.
• Reckless spending makes our debt so high, it devalues the dollar.
• Recklesslyl high debt makes it scary to invest here, must safer to invest in EU -- starving our companies from the capital they need
• We know that the radical Islamists won’t talk to the US, and that we must talk to them through the moderate muslims. But we’re pissing them off too. Instead, the EU is bringing Turkey (a moderate muslim country) into the fold, so they can do what the U.S. can’t: be successful in the war on terrorism.

Howard Dean has an op-ed piece about it all here. Please read it for the full story on what I wrote above. If you want an excellent description of how liberals would handle terrorism (and why it would be so much more effective), read the terrorism chapter in George Lakoff’s book. It’s excellent and directly relates to the need to have a better relationship with Turkey.

Domestic Partner Registrations in NJ

While the Radical Christian Fundamentalists predicted the end of the world, New Jersey’s Domestic Partnership law seems to be doing quite well. Only 6 months old, 2,640 same-sex couples and 42 opposite-sex couples have registered. (about half and half, male and female).

Congrats to The New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition for making this happen!