Image via WikipediaHillary has no stated goal of a Nobel. She does not need the money. Her net worth is north of $100 million, thanks to Bill Clinton's (and her) book writing, speech making, and lobbying foreign governments. She does not need the name recognition. She is one of the most famous people on earth as is, and has been for two decades now. But there's just something about the Nobel, it is not the money, it is not fame. It is something else. And when you connect the dots of the work Hillary has embarked upon, it leads to a Nobel if she is successful. She has decided to tackle the thorniest issue in global politics. (Hillary's Peace Efforts In The Mideast) I have a stated goal of a Nobel. I feel like I am owed one for my Nepal work. I am reminding the committee in Stockholm through my Iran work that I am owed one. I don't much care for name recognition except when it helps with work. But I do need the money, like Russell Crowe says in a movie. (110 Knocks)
I have been talking in terms of Iran for a while now. Hillary's seriousness towards Mideast is more recent. So it is not like I am getting into Iran to spite her. It is just the stars have so aligned that now I find myself competing with Hillary. 2008 was Barack's turn to compete. Now it is my turn. No more proxy battles. Let's go head on.
This is, of course, friendly battle. I am going to erupt with joy should Hillary succeed. And this is nothing to do with 2008. For me the Democratic primary of 2008 never ended. It is going to end after Charlie Rangel is no longer in the public eye, and I have personally wiped out DL21C from the face of this city. I have reduced it to irrelevance. But that is another topic. That is a New York thing. All I need is for political winds to keep blowing like they always do. And me. I don't need any help.
My only point of contention with Hillary is this. She possibly could repeat the mistake of people who tried to do the same work before. The mistake has been to think that if only the Israel guy and the Palestine guy could sit down and learn to love each other, or at least not hate each other, then there would be peace. That is why peacemakers have organized meetings and picnics and what have you. That is such an unscientific approach to take.
I don't see the Mideast mess as people from different religious, cultural backgrounds disliking each other. It is more a clash of political systems. The lone democracy ends up having to tussle with an entire neighborhood of non-democracies. Turning Iran into a full fledged democracy, not trying to bomb Iran's military installations, is the way to get rid of the existential threat Israel claims to feel from Iran. The threat is nothing to do with weapons. The threat is political. And the primary solution is political.
It is the nature of a non-democratic state to find a perennial external threat. The Soviet Union needed an America to hate. North Korea needs South Korea. It needs America even more. The more massive the object of hatred, easier the dictator's task. The Arab states need their people to hate Israel. It serves their political purpose.
A neighborhood of democracies will no longer be angling to push Israel into the sea. But if the Arab countries don't become democratic, they will never stop trying. It is not about succeeding, it is about keeping at it. Actually it is important to not succeed. If they manage to push Israel into the sea, that particular external threat will disappear. And why would you want that? A threat that no longer exists is no longer useful. So it is not true the Arab countries really, truly want to push Israel into the sea, metaphorically speaking.
And that is why it is so very important to turn Iran into a democracy. It is also important because you are not having to do the Iraq thing or the Afghanistan thing. In Iran's case it is not about a superpower spending trillions of dollars it does not have.
Long story short, I am competing with Hillary. I want to get the Nobel before she does. I want to be able to tell Barack I too beat Hillary.
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