BY TAYLOR MARSH
 |
| by Paul Szep |
You’d be tired
too if you saw your hopes of hegemonic
glory deflating.
After all, it was the collapse of global oil prices in the early 1990s that
brought down the Soviet Union. And Iran today is looking very Soviet to me.
The more the U.S. moves towards changing our energy policies the better our
chances are that the next president can deflate Iran’s prowess built
up since Bush invaded Iraq. That includes the move towards fewer gas guzzlers, though I’m certainly not begrudging my blue collar hunk of a husband his custom diesel truck.
Opportunities for the next president, if Obama holds on to his lead and wins,
offer a chance to change the balance of power back to our advantage in the region. It reminds
me of another time. Tom Friedman is having the same flashback to when another political tide turned in this country, which was mirrored “over there.”
(Incidentally, this was exactly what happened to the shah of Iran: 1) Sudden
surge in oil prices. 2) Delusions of grandeur. 3) Sudden contraction of oil
prices. 4) Dramatic downfall. 5) You’re toast.)
It’s just that when Reagan took over he missed the signals by a mile.
If Obama wins next week, which right now seems likely, though I will never
call this “a lock,” we get a chance to extinguish the fire started
under Bush-Cheney. Barack Hussein Obama will simply not be the same
“Great Satan” over which Iranian mullahs have stoked the hate for
decades.
The Joe Lieberman Likud contingent in Congress would also be set back. But
that’s just a bonus.
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