The Balkanization of America

---by Micheal

Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, agreed to sell cheap(er) heating oil to Massachusetts. US Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass) took a high profile pose for having brokered the deal, but Venezuelan officials say the deal was already in the works before American politicians got into the limelight.

Bush folks brand the move as a ploy to try and embarrass the Bush administration. Those of a more Democrat leaning (who leap at opportunities to complain about the Bush administration) insist that Chavez is making a purely humanitarian gesture.

Maybe, but I doubt it. Outspoken statesmen have a pretty poor track record of doing things for purely altruistic motives. There's always a self-serving angle.

At first blush, the Venezuela-Massachusetts oil deal looks a positive example of "states rights" in action. Looking a bit further down the road, it looks like the beginning of the Balkanization of America.

In the world arena of nation-states, Massachusetts, New Hampshire or any of the 50 states, are pretty puny stuff. Does anyone think Chavez would care two-hoots about the oil needs of 40,000 poor folks in some backwater third world nation? It's only because of the clout of Washington (i.e. the UNITED states) that he bothered.

If foreign powers can reduce America to a collection of dependent consumer zones, they'll have succeeded in doing the opposite of what the EU has been trying to do in Europe. They'll reduce America to a patchwork of powerless provinces.

United we stand. Divided we'll fall.