That sounds so dumb - it just might be brilliant! - except once ever seen as a ploy? Cancelled out. Only works once.

Yes, he's articulate, and many of his charges have basis in some facts of the US hegemony / lone 'super' status and, our actual national attitude about power and about $$. And even about our triviality, given our social habits..

But this is not about 'reasoning'. Given even a brilliantly written indictment of 'our' very many failures, our actions from ignorance of the inevitable consequences (supporting anti-democratic tyrants "in the name of democracy", trying to get everybody to stop drugs locally via Fascist methods - because our national appetite is insatiable!) etc.

In an honest debate (his book vs 'our' book):
We were utterly indispensable in the defeat of Nazism (as were the British indispensable in breaking Enigma - a main reason we all won a couple years early). The Marshall plan illustrates America at its finest - a complete reversal of the massive vengeance after WW-I. Etc. No other entity comes even close - we rebuilt Europe! after their cowardly appeasements almost gave Hitler his lebensraum.

So in the age of the net, and given bin-L's articulate presentation of the POV of the relatively powerless world he represents - IMhO you can't do Mein Kampff twice; you can't create Jews as scapegoats and Straw ones at that - twice. You can talk about the vicious dividing up of the whole world's wealth, of course - but then you would indict Most nations! Not merely in US - is the local wealth concentrated in the few (or a handful - try Saudi Arabia, one of 'his boys').

He'd lose that propaganda war - if there were such a thing left as 'honest debate'. (Still.. power corrupts and, we are approaching Absolute.)


My 3 zlotys.

A.