Wikileaks Proves It

"To the extent there are gaps in our laws," Holder continued, "we will move to close those gaps…"

Where I used to work, the mistake my company (armored cash transport) consistently made was that every time somebody did (stole or lost) something, they issued new rules that applied to everybody. The rulebook got to be so unwieldy that it ended up with nobody following any rules. What we should have done is hold the bad eggs responsible, punish them, and set an example.

In this case, the new rules will be designed to tighten the weave of the net to catch more people doing what the government determines as 'bad'.

The truth is, that as far as our foreign policy is concerned, there is no coordination in Washington. The various foreign policy arms continue to operate without leadership. Obama has likely told each one of his foreign policy czars to continue just as before, and indicated that he has no personal interest in any foreign policy matter (aside from Muslim outreach). As a result, these departments are now in disarray and nobody knows precisely what they are supposed to be doing.

While it is true that nothing new has been revealed (by Wikileaks) that those paying attention do not already know, it is equally true that there is no single rational objective as far as our foreign policy is concerned. (Emphasis on ‘rational’.) The administration continues to rhetorically pound the view that Israel is to blame for all the trouble in the Middle East. The leaks present a different, far more complex picture.

What are we to glean from this? Who is to be believed? The administration that seeks to demonize Israel (and America) at every turn? or operations who monitor the situation daily? The silver ball comes to rest on red. Power is the only player, no matter what the facts. Obama has the power. He does not like Israel. Politically he can do very little directly to cause Israel harm. But by letting the clock run down, keeping the pressure off (or putting it on), he can wrap layer upon layer of deceit around the issue and keep Israel hanging until it makes a mistake.

Every one of our allies has been made to walk a tightrope while America’s enemies realize more and more that they’re standing on solid ground. Wikileaks all but proves it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Wikileaks: Promoting Shame

Of course the Chinese knew what N. Korea was up to. N. Korea is a Chinese proxy. N. Korea could not exist without China. The idea that N. Korea would do anything behind China’s back is ludicrous.

Iran too has its proxies that are hyperactive in the Middle East. JB has spent many hours detailing how it works. Our State Department, for public consumption, points fingers at N. Korea, Syria, Hezbollah, etc. to keep from pointing fingers at Beijing and Tehran. What exactly is gained by this strategy remains unclear.

The Wikileaks matter is quite fascinating in this regard. Washington too has its proxies many of whom have dried up (or are in the process of drying up) particularly since our current president has been in office. He is now claiming that the Wikileak document dumps represent a security risk. This is pure lip service on his part. His actions speak otherwise. Obama has done nothing to reign in Wikileaks. The military is screaming that it has put our soldiers at risk. True enough, but Obama has done more to put them at risk than Wikileaks ever could. No need on this website to go into details. Everyone is pretty much up to speed on how our own rules of engagement - threat of court martial right here at home - have undermined our military effort.

Now, that the leaks are beginning to put the lie to the public face of our diplomatic goals, Washington is starting to make noise (in protest). “It’s embarrassing,” goes the refrain from the State Department. Embarrassing? Quite.

The global consensus, fueled in large part by Washington itself, has been that anything Washington does is in many ways self-serving, duplicitous, and essentially evil. That is why U.S. aid to the starving or sick in Africa is routinely re-packaged as to erase any sign of its origin. Embarrassed too is anyone who may be exposed as having collaborated with Americans on any level.

Obama does nothing. We can assume Wikileaks serves his purposes. The next leaks are said to pertain to our banks. More nails to hammer the coffin lid on capitalism shut.

Finally, the common denominator in all this frantic leaking is America. There are no leaks with regard to Beijing, Moscow or Tehran. Oh, there are leaks alright, but they're not splashed all over the NYT which is only interested in America’s sins and in promoting its shame.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Choke Circles

Go easy on the lad (Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the would-be Oregon Christmas tree lighting bomber), John. It used to be that young people like him came to America for the opportunity to make something of themselves, to provide for their kids a better life than they could by staying in their own countries. Now, they come here to destroy us. Why?

Because America is no longer the land of opportunity, the home of the free and the brave. We’ve been announcing throughout the world that we’re second rate and worse: the vortex of evil. In this we’ve been aided by our corrupt political class and by our academic intellectuals who miss no opportunity to trash us in every way possible.

Boys like Mohamed Osman Mohamud arrive here with a much greater vision than our own. They come here poised to feed off its carcass. Their vision of an Islamic Caliphate puts America’s vision of itself to shame. Theirs is a cause powerful enough to justify freezing off toes, like the soldiers at Jockey Hollow did; or to die, to sacrifice themselves. Self-sacrifice is the ultimate expression of hope. We do it every day - go to work and do battle till our teeth gap and our hands start shaking; until we can’t go on anymore - for our children. Mohameds the world over have been told they can become gods in a flash of explosives; that enough such flashes will fell an empire and the glory of Islam will arise from its despised ruins.

Why ‘despised’? Because America is no longer willing to defend itself. We’re running around the world whining about how perfectly evil we are. We grovel and apologize to those who had once looked up to us. We’ve become like Swiss cheese - full of holes. It’s allowed for the infiltration of hostile networks on all levels - the biggest (unoccupied) hole being the Oval Office, where Karla now sits.

Yes, all the Mohamuds out there have read their John LeCarre novels. They know how it’s done. We’ve blown our own networks and left ourselves open for anything and everything. What are the FBI and CIA doing these days other than talking with imposters, doling out money to anyone with their hands out, and lying to us? No way to run a Circus.

Besides the ideology - besides the promise of reward, veneration by billions of the like-minded, and purity - there’s the game; the pure joy of having brought it off. Even failure rattles the West. First it was box cutters; then it was shoes that didn’t explode - now we’ve got every Westerner emptying his pockets and taking off his shoes - then liquids… and now underwear. Just imagine! They dance to every tune we happen to be playing, even the false notes - those big and powerful, and arrogant, dying saps; running mechanically in ever tighter choke circles.

Only, Mohamed too has it wrong. Dresden was rebuilt. Hiroshima thrives. And the sand- eating hoards will eventually be sent back to the desert where they can do the least amount of damage. Let them enjoy their brief stay in the temperate climes - courtesy of the ever-generous Club USA.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Death Rattle

It seems to me that there’s some degree of ventriloquism involved here. The ‘death rattle’ of the Euro is really the death rattle of the dollar. It’s all linked. We go down, (and) they go down first. Capitalism is the global economy. It amounts to what communists and Islamists have been screaming about all along: American imperialism.

It all suddenly hangs in the balance. If the dollar fails, capitalism has failed. Standing in the wings, ready to take over, are communism or shariah. We say capitalism equals freedom when, in truth, it’s just another ‘ism’ like any other, and (communists and Islamists believe) totally interchangeable.

Link our political reality to the implosion of capitalism and, again, you see failure all down the line. The only alternative that remains is communism and (to a lesser extent) shariah. These will fight it out in due time. As for now, these are joined at the hip in their effort to destroy the West - or, at the very least, enjoy watching as the West destroys itself.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Metrics Don't Matter

Cracking open today’s WSJ, you’ll find an article entitled “There’s No Escaping Hauser’s Law” by W. Kurt Hauser on its opinion pages. The pull quote reads, “Tax revenues as a share of GDP have averaged just under 19% whether tax rates are cut or raised. Better to get 19% of a larger pie.”

Seems plausible enough. At least, there appears to be enough data to back it up. So, why is our government doing everything it can to keep its heel firmly planted on the neck of business?

The Left’s battle cry remains, “Tax cuts? Who will pay for it?” It implies that there is presently not enough money to pay for government programs. We can agree on least that much. The solution would seem to be growing the pie and thus increasing the revenue stream to government coffers by first and foremost lowering taxes.

Since we refuse to do this, it becomes obvious that for the Left tax revenue is not the issue. Socialism is.

The disagreements we have on this blog are relatively minor. We all share the same basic assumptions. Not so the Left. The Left does not believe in economies; they do not believe in the individual’s right of free expression; they do not believe in success; they do not believe in failure as an option. The Left intends to enforce equality. For this to happen, success must be reduced to failure. Failure is so much easier to achieve. So, failure it is; standards removed; judgment banned.

It took Marx over 300 pages to write “Das Kapital”. It would take me at least that much to refute it. And even so, the Left cannot be converted. Equality is like a religion to them. And it’s taken on aspects of jihad. That’s why the Left refuses to engage (except on its own terms). The Left aims to win. Worldwide communism; worldwide Caliphate.

Anyone who still thinks Obama is in some way deficient is a fool. In the U.S. president’s mind he is succeeding. Brand Obama a socialist or a Muslim all you want. It does not scare the Left. They operate under entirely different assumptions. To them, capitalism’s success is a false success. It is evil. Equality is their one and only goal. Whether it is achieved by forced labor (“Arbeit Macht Frei”), gulag or shariah is all the same to them. Capitalism must be destroyed. It’s a war in which the only outcome can be the domination of one over the other. Metrics don’t matter.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Winning

In the absence of compromise, the contest between Republicans and Democrats can be regarded as a war. War is essentially chaos where rules don’t exist.

We send our young men and women to war in foreign lands as to a picnic social. We burden them with volumes of Emily Post’s books of etiquette. Meanwhile, the enemy breaks all the rules: They blow themselves up; hide behind women and children; slit throats; send imposters to negotiate in good faith; steal; pillage; stone; and threaten life and limb. If one of our soldiers, on the other hand, fails to read a captured no-goodnik his Miranda rights (in his own language), inadvertently splits his lip, or (heaven forbid) as much as touches his pocket Koran, he is brought back stateside and put on trial. It’s obvious we are determined to lose.

During our Revolutionary War, the British wore bright red. They marched in tight formation. We, on the other hand, were free to flit around unseen and pick them off one by one. Not very sporting of us. We were determined to win.

In our domestic political struggle today, Republicans pretty much mind their Ps and Qs. They tend to play by Queensbury’s Rules. Meanwhile, the Dems show no such compunction. They think nothing of trampling on the flag, trampling on the Constitution, trampling on our allies, trampling on our laws… For this they are applauded: They win.

Republicans are far too eager to condemn their own. Tom Delay was an effective fighter for the Republican camp. That’s why he was targeted. It’s happened to plenty of others. Perhaps that’s why so few are willing to step up to the plate and engage in the fight. ...because they know that they’ll be hung out to dry by their own side should they become in any way effective in promoting their cause.

Meanwhile, the Dems defend and promote their sexual deviants, tax cheats and out-and-out failures to the hilt. ...and win.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The Last Hurrah

"Wherever Palin goes, she counters Obama's magic." - John Batchelor

No need to counter “Obama’s magic”. Obama has no magic. It’s easy to counter magic that does not exist. Obama has shown himself as impotent at best - domestically as well as in foreign affairs. I note that New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California are not on her list of stops. Neither are any of the states in New England. These are states that have opted out of the Palin excitement. They, among other laggards, are equally important to the Union, albeit in a negative way. At some point each of these will require a bailout by the Feds that the whole country will be forced into paying for.

I note that Iowa, Texas, and Louisiana are slated for not just one but two visits each. No doubt, the governor of LA will be appearing with Palin on at least one of her visits. In TX, she pays homage to a former (now beloved) president, and Iowa is significant in terms of our electoral system.

Wherever Palin goes, she will bring her magic. She will sprinkle the deserving with it as one would sprinkle fairy dust. She is tremendously popular except among the constipated who currently enjoy power (if not brains). Sarah’s tour may well be the last of its kind, where the spontaneous outpouring of a hopeful people can be unabashedly celebrated for all it's worth. As I have said numerous times before: I believe there’s now a good chance that the 2012 will not come off in a form that we will be able to recognize.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Puppets

It seems that we keep talking about North Korea when we should be talking about China (which makes N. Korea relevant). Our reluctance to do so betrays a much deeper reality lurking beneath the murky waters of the Yellow Sea. That reality begs the question: What is China’s aim in all this?

The reason we do not publicly ponder this question is the same as why we do not admit that Islamic terrorism constitutes a declaration of war; why we coddle captured terrorists and attempt to equate them roughly with ourselves; why we choreograph complicated protocol at our airports and increasingly shove Israel under the rug.

China is a communist state. As such it is an enemy of capitalism - an enemy of America. Our leaders are desperately trying to shift us in their direction and away from capitalism. It is hoped that if we turn far enough - in effect, change our stripes - we will escape our fate. It must be kept in mind that we have already handed them the keys to our economy. They can pull the plug at any time.

When Nixon opened the door to China, the feeling was that we could turn them our way. Instead, it is we who have had to do the turning. We’re literally spinning like a top. Any pretence on our part that we are in charge of our destiny is illusory at this point. Make no mistake, China is the puppet master; Obama is the puppet.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Bringing Down the Roof

Ordinarily, the agreement between China and Russia to abandon the dollar might be met with a certain skepticism and seen as just another poke in the eye, all in good fun, by our traditional irritants. Today, however, I don’t see it so.

For months now, both China and Russia have been begging the U.S. to get its economic house in order. No response. In fact, we’ve been doubling down on destroying our own currency, claiming that it’s all the others’ fault for the world’s economic malaise. We’ve already forgotten that it was we who exported toxic financial instruments all over the globe after our housing bubble burst. We’ve forgotten that the still spreading financial mess started right here in America.

I don’t have to go into all the details. Others have done so far more effectively than I ever could. And it’s not, as the Soros-sponsored documentary “Inside Job” suggests, that all our nation’s bankers should be frog-marched to the wall and shot. Rather, that it was the result of left-leaning politicians who, in a concerted effort, succeeded in deliberately bringing our economy down in order to elect their own.

China and Russia are not stupid. They know perfectly well what’s been going on here, and they’re simply protecting themselves. The dollar is heading toward worthless and the world has lost confidence in it. They see no attempt being made to rescue it. In fact, they see just the opposite.

Politically, economically and militarily our nation is in steep decline. It no longer makes sense for anyone to align themselves with us. We have ceased to be reliable partners. Even our enemies are torn between euphoria and fear. We’ve always been able to project ourselves as a worthy opponent. Under Obama’s leadership, our nation is seen as rogue and unpredictable.

The world looks ahead and see no change in our crazed suicidal stance for at least the next two years. They rightly assess that, at our current pace, two years is quite enough to bring down the roof.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Back To Normal

All day long, the world’s eyes are on the president of the United States. He freezes up like a deer in the headlights. The problem is that he can conceive of only one enemy: the American people (whom he has over a barrel, to be sure). Give him that much.

Meanwhile, the Chinese are saying, “Dear Mr. Obama, what more do you want? Here, we’re giving you the little pervert on a silver platter. Grow a spine! Take charge of your country! Act like a frigging leader!”

Obama doesn’t budge. Obama freezes - like a deer in the headlights.

What will it take for the American president to act? A direct attack on the lower forty-eight? We can no longer be sure what he would do. We know now no ally is worth waking the American tiger at 3:55 in the morning. Israel is ripe for the picking; so is Taiwan. India - forget it…

What would Reagan do? Remember that missile he sent right to Kaddafi’s doorstep? I don’t remember the provocation. But it sure served to shut Kaddafi up for a good number of years - killed one of his kids (or wives), I can’t quite remember.

America! Please! Get your act together! Take out Il. You know where he lives. And, while you’re at it, take out Ahmadinejad, Chavez and the rest of the lunatics. Send them a love pat and quit fooling around with Americans’ jockeys. Do something useful for a change!

Osama is a phantom. Forget about him. He’ll whither and die on the memory vine once you decide to take a stand. Take out all the vermin you know exists. Sure, we’ll bitch and moan at the UN. So what? That’s what‘s expected of us.

Reign in all your human rights groups - you know, what's left of your supporters, the NGO’s, Hollywood, the Gorebots, etc. - the ones who know how to play the media so well. Get them to re-focus their narcissistic obsession. Get your women’s groups to condemn the Taliban with the same fervor with which they condemn your best and brightest. You’ll see how fast things change - back to normal.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Obama, The Destroyer

Let’s stipulate that a general collapse of the United States would plunge the entire world into unfathomable chaos; that no nation would be spared from the resulting fallout.

I have since read various assessments of Barack Hussein Obama’s recent high-profile globetrotting and it’s pretty much unanimous: It was an unmitigated disaster for the U. S. Obama failed to deliver in all he set out to accomplish, leaving the general impression that Obama is far from being a prime-time player on the world stage.

The only bright spot was India where he was warmly received and his rhetoric was much applauded and appreciated. But even in India, on reflection, it is now acknowledged that his words were empty. Still, the major media in the U.S. have seized on Obama’s India visit and proclaimed it as a huge success, even going so far as Newsweek depicting the president as a god, specifically Shiva, juggling the demands of his office competently and with an abundance of good cheer within a halo of fire. (It is likely that Newsweek failed to grasp the irony of choosing Shiva as representing the American president for, within the holy Hindu trinity, Shiva is known as The Destroyer.)

We’ve already witnessed the world tearing at its seams since Obama’s election - nations jockeying for position in the absence of traditional restraints. We’ve watched the divides within our own nation becoming more and more pronounced. We’ve watched our economy going down the drain and no one stepping forward to stop the hemorrhaging.

We’re not the only ones watching. China is watching as well. They see us as rogue and unpredictable – not North Korea, which is totally under its control.

China may be sending us a message. By repeatedly exposing Obama’s reticence to act globally, his child-like impetuousness at home (playing fast and loose with the economy), they are trying to tell us that we better get our act together before it all falls apart.

First Things

Again, we are ignoring first things. When the Cheoan was attacked by North Korea, our response was to delay, allow enough time for the people to forget about it and then issue a statement to the effect that we’ll really get mad if it happens again. Nobody doubts that both Beijing and Tehran are wise to the game. Apparently, it is totally acceptable for any axis of evil nation to keep poking a stick in our eye. But it doesn’t stop there.

The saying goes, that shit rolls downhill. So let’s take a look at who lives down hill. It’s we and our allies. Don’t feel sorry for Obama. He is not one of us. He’s made that abundantly clear. It’s no skin off his nose when shit happens. Look at what’s happening with these pat downs. Some malcontent puts explosives in his pants and a year later 300 million Americans run the risk of being sexually manhandled by the State. “It’s for our safety,” we’re being told. The American people are no longer buying it. There’s a rumor going ‘round that the enhanced pat-down procedures are deliberately aggressive to get people to opt for massive doses of x-rays instead. Let somebody follow the money: Who has bought stock recently in the company that is producing these machines? There’s the added benefit, of course, to get the American public used to rolling over as our police state gains momentum. (Update: George Soros recently sold his shares in OSI-Systems, owner of Rapiscan. So, I guess, the scheme has gone about as far as it will go.) What everyone is ignoring here is that Janet Napolitano was unable to answer the question of whether Muslim women in burkas would be required to submit to the new procedures. First things.

Our president feels it is quite alright to bully Israel into indefensible positions, demanding all manner of concessions, while ignoring the fact that the Arab world will never recognize Israel’s right to exist as a state. When Obama speaks of a two-state solution, he speaks of a two Arab state solution. First things.

Our health care system is in disarray. Doctors are fleeing the profession. Premiums are becoming prohibitively expensive. Companies can no longer cope with employees’ health care insurance needs. Everything we were told about the bill was a lie (as anyone with even an ounce of sense could have figured out for themselves). So, why did it pass?

We’re never told first things.

We Must Believe

You’re not helping, John, bashing Republicans at every turn. When Barack Hussein Obama took office, I felt a shift under my feet. ”I don’t mean fear to anger. I mean a sudden shift, a tumultuous upheaval, an uncontrollable displacement, concepts whose surfaces had been insignificant heaving over, up-ended, raised as huge boulders smelling of the earth that still clings to them, a shift that came to me physically, as intestines violently stir and contract when some irritant throws a switch in the digestive tract. Earth, guts – I don’t know what metaphors to use (anymore), to describe…” my clutching for words to explain my sense of impending doom.

You obviously haven’t felt it yet. You’re as one deciding between cake and ice cream – Democrat or Republican – while the rooms of the mansion we cohabit burst into flames one by one.

Is the WSJ now also on the no-fly list – like FOX, MSNBC, Rush, Drudge, JPOST among so many others? The WSJ, whose offices you yourself frequently avail yourself of; the same WSJ that chronicles daily fresh, flagrant abuses by our essentially one-party government.

(Note, I threw MSNBC in with my mix of no-flies because it too has been singled out for censure after having been deliberately dragged down to unfathomable depths of ridiculousness for the sole purpose of giving the exercise an appearance of balance.)

Time will tell who is right. Yes, we are grasping at straws. Whereas Republicans don’t look promising, there is no alternative at the moment. Give them a chance. They will rise to the occasion. We must believe it, for the others (Democrats) are already way beyond redemption.
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Italics taken from Nadine Gordimer’s “Burger’s Daughter”.

Any Guesses?

One aspect of the human condition is its ability to recognize beauty – however fleeting – and wanting to possess it. Some feel inadequate in the presence of beauty and want to destroy it. America was beautiful – a rare and wildly successful experiment in governance. As such, she became a target.

Beauty must be capable of protecting herself. She must act to appear haughty. There will always be people plotting either to possess her or destroy her. Barack Hussein Obama, in his two years in office, has succeeded in turning America into a whore. [Ref.: "Melina" ('00) Italian]

Some say that a Caliphate is beautiful as well; that sharia must and will rule over all. I find it incredible that our president will not come clean about his origins. He could easily put the matter to rest simply by producing his birth certificate. (We all must do so on any number of occasions; now, along side with our genitalia.) He won’t do it because he can’t.

The people of the Middle East know the truth. They know who and what he is. If we had know when we elected him, would he have been elected? Doubtful. Most of us understand that Islam has declared war on us. Would it make sense to install the enemy to lead?

Now we have a situation. We have become the enemy in the eyes of our own leader. Any guesses as to how that will turn out?

Dreams of My Father

The Democrat Blue Dogs are gone – most of them – leaving behind a much more toxic mix. ‘Democrat’ has become a misnomer.

“National Democratic revolution” comes immediately to mind, along with “ideological integration, revolutionary imperative, minority domination, liberation alliance, unity…, infiltration, incursion, viable agency for change, reformist option, armed tactics, mass political mobilization in combination with legal, semi-legal and clandestine methods"; add to this: wealth re-distribution, protest, strike, disruption, shortages, smear campaigns, property confiscation, resistance; the breakdown of civility, morality; family, security, identity – all to create a general climate of collapse within which a Marxist solution becomes possible.

How far we have come since Obama’s election! - a man we knew next to nothing about. How much we have learned in the past two years! – about communism and Islam (which share similar goals).

We’ve gone from anointing a savior, to suspecting an incompetent, to tolerating an imbecile, to fearing an enemy. And still we submit to the theft of our privacy, to the judgment of medical death panels (what else would you call them) to be groped by minimum wage airport thugs – burka wearers excluded, of course.
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Italics taken from Nadine Gordimer’s “Burgers Daughter”.

Building Guillotines

God bless Charlie Rangel! Nobody could have done better to expose Congress as petty, pompous, ineffective and irrelevant. Republicans beware! All your planned investigations will come to naught. Charlie has shown the way out of this theater of the absurd.

You don’t even know it yet – you, with your eyes shining so eager and bright. You, with your arcane tea ceremony skills, do not even realize that you have been deputized by a people who don’t exist in this government’s eyes – which means, you don’t exist. The best you can do is to blend in, to play the game and appear to fit in; to rubberstamp decrees sent from on high, while the people find new ways to distain you from afar.

It’s already started – the people’s revolt – at airports, in the marketplace, on the radio. Wherever people meet, know that you are despised, Democrats and Republicans alike. Do what you will on the hill. It’s got nothing to do with us. We are the ones who will survive, our women knitting to prepare for certain winter while our men are busy building the guillotines.

God bless Charlie Rangel for peeling yet another layer of paint off the salt pillar saint of two-tier privilege, and letting us know in no uncertain terms that we stand alone and can no longer expect any meaningful benefit from partnering with Washington.

TARP: "I inherited..."

I can’t let go of TARP. Bush was shown a piece of paper that said if he didn’t immediately authorize the release of nearly a trillion dollars the world economy would collapse within 24 to 48 hours.

He was like a father who takes his kids to the movies. On the parking deck, a group of thugs jump out of the shadows and point their guns at the young ones. He is told that he can kiss them good-bye unless he goes down to the ATM in the lobby and withdraws a sum. He cannot tell if the guns are even loaded; or judge the resolve of the thieves. All that would have to come later. All he knows is that he must do what he can to protect the kids NOW!

What makes me suspicious of this episode is its timing. Having come just days before the election, it clearly knocked out the Republican candidate. Much was made of McCain’s panicking in the press. Obama, on the other hand, seemed aloof, almost as if he were in on the joke.

Nobody to this day (that I am aware of) has examined what actually happened: Who talked to Bush; who talked to those who talked to Bush, and so on down the line. If there actually was a problem, what were the metrics that defined it? If an actual run on the money markets was in progress, who started the stampede, and how did they start it?

All we have is the result: Obama got elected; and Bush continues to be vilified because of it, and labeled a spendthrift to give Obama cover for his own excesses.

What’s been happening since amounts to a cover-up. It’s Bush’s gift to Obama that keeps on giving. Who, nowadays, can avoid that clarion call of our current president, repeated over and over again: “Why, when I was elected, I inherited…”

Trick or Treat

My computer broke again. Accessing anything on the internet - never mind posting - has become a chore. I’m strangely resigned to it. In some ways I feel liberated. I still read the paper first thing in the morning. Nothing much changes from day to day – only the emphasis shifts.

The current fight is between spending and not spending; pumping more paper into the economy or cutting back. There are good arguments for both sides. You know where I stand. Actually, I’m no longer quite so sure anymore. I think we may go down either way. Look at France.

The only question remaining is when. Whoever happens to be in charge at the time gets the blame. There’s evidence now to suggest that that’s what is being finessed right now – as in a chess game where the thinking is several moves ahead. Say, if Republicans are in charge when the dam bursts, they will be made scapegoats for generations to come …and vice versa.

Still, I think it’s a raw deal. If anyone out there knows what’s coming, they should be telling us to break out the life rafts. So far, anything anybody is saying smacks of a solution. The snake oil salesmen of the old West knew the same trick.

Waves: Nothing Is Happening

What everyone forgets is that '08 too was a 'wave'. The 'waves' seem to be getting bigger. '12 ought to be a doozy.

When the waves get bigger, it usually means there is a storm out at sea. People pray that it will pass them by. Still, fishermen will secure their boats. The local Home Depot will run out of plywood and the shelves at the grocery stores will empty.

It’s no different from political waves. Some are already certain that the storm will make landfall. They are now in the process of preparing for it. Others will continue to ignore the warnings. Still others will take their surfboards down to the beach for a thrill ride.

Most times the warnings are indirect - not at all like color depictions of diseased lungs on cigarette packs - it takes multiple leaps to arrive at a conclusion. Like Bernanke running the printing presses so hot, we can well expect the paper to catch fire. Like our own government’s severely restricted use of the word ‘enemy’ - barring all reference to our real enemies - and we coming to realize (belatedly, perhaps) that the enemy is us.

It’s become a minefield to navigate these waters. Plenty of opportunity for re-direction (diversion) to lead us astray. The way to do it, I suppose, is to step back - to take the long view of the battlefield. We’ve got the technology, the satellites. But even that’s uncertain in these troubled times. How is it that when we see the rockets’ red glare on both coasts, our government appears to have no clue as to what just happened?

They know alright. They just won’t tell us. It might embarrass the president. Go back to sleep. Nothing is happening.

Video Games

I just got this new video/media game. Soon after I started playing it locked up on me. So I called the 800 number on the packaging to complain.

Ravi: Hello. My name is Ravi. How can I help you today?

Me: I was playing this new video game of yours and it suddenly locked up on me.

Ravi: What was the last thing you saw on your screen?

Me: It said, “Glenn Beck is an anti-Semite”.

Ravi: I see. Let me look it up. -- It says here that that means, “Game Over”.

Me: But it couldn’t be! I only played it for a little while.

Ravi: I’m sorry. But you’ve already won. Congratulations! You must be very good.

Me: I want my money back.

Ravi: Sorry. No can do. Why don’t you play another game. There are several more on your disk. -- Why don’t you try the one called, “Obama Shoots Hoops”. There’s one about golf as well; or, “Beck: The Anti-Semite (Part II)” -- Or, “Soros' Next Score”. -- Or, how about this one, “When Did You Stop Beating Your Wife?”.

Click.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Street Fighting Man

I too marched on Washington in my day, ostensibly to protest against the Vietnam war. We fell into one of three groups: professional agitators, self-righteous moralists, and those who just came out to raise a little hell. Though I would never have admitted it at the time, I was part of the latter, the biggest, group. Despite the civic display of tightly choreographed, helmeted phalanx; water cannon and tear gas, I felt perfectly safe for I knew that the government - unlike those of then communist nations - would take utmost care to see to it that nothing would happen to us. If we really had been asked to risk life and limb, I’m sure that 99% of us would have stayed away.

As it was, for most of us, it amounted to no more than a day trip - an afternoon of staged, pot-enhanced high drama - participatory theater under bright skies.

In Britain, the operative word is 'hooliganism'. Behavior after sports events had become so bad, young Britains have been barred from attending similar events in other countries. In Europe, we’ve seen self-respect eroding for a long time. This is fertile soil for agitprop. It is to demonstrate that the government is essentially powerless. The issue of university fees is just pretext. In France, the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62 is just pretext - a reason to come out into the streets in feigned (Street Fighting Man) anger and protest and smash things and poke a stick in the eye of authority for the sake of ritual rebellion alone - to vent, to explode into violence primarily because of some sense of individual dislocation or inadequacy that often accompanies the transition from infantilism.

Don’t tell me these people have any higher purpose in mind; don’t tell me they have any profound agenda - most of them - in their frenzied, out of control, pointless, pathetic pantomime. People with legitimate grievances do not behave like that.

…and it’s coming to America. It’s orchestrated by the Left. It is to undermine the nation, to overwhelm it, score propaganda points and render it utterly impotent. It’s revolution for revolution’s sake; to topple the elite; erase standards; nullify morality - to be replaced by the finality of tyranny. It’s AQ; it’s Al Sharpton; it’s community organizing; it’s the UN; unions; Bill Ayers; Rev. Wright. It’s George Soros. It’s Barack Hussein Obama.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

At Bottom

The following is my reply to a friend in India who has made a detailed analysis of the communiques issued by the two countries during and after Obama's visit:

It might not be so productive to quibble about Obama’s words. You - India - might be better served to look at what Obama has actually done. It was his words alone that got him elected President of the United States. Eleven days into his term he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, two years later, he has lost the trust of the American people. Promises broken.

Ask Americans what they think of him now. Everything is worse since he took office. Ask the Israelis if they are feeling safe. Ask the defeated members of his own party which continues to exist by appearances only.

Obama is a narcissist with a singular mission. He aims to pursue that mission no matter the dislocation and destruction that will come in its wake.

I direct your attention to the endgame as it is being played out in the Middle East with Israel at the center. And you will see that Israel stands alone. Despite innumerable treaties and promises, the U.S. has turned against it. (I must note that American people have not abandoned their overwhelming support for Israel; that this is strictly Obama’s doing. He, as in so man other things, has turned rogue.)

His visit to India was all show, to sustain an air of legitimacy which he himself has shattered - on purpose. For Obama at his core is a revolutionary. He will spare nothing to achieve his ends which consist primarily of clearing the table for a new world order to emerge - just as he envisions it - with America (and India and Israel and all of America’s traditional allies) at the bottom.

To Make It Seem It Never Happened

There’s no puzzle here. When, oh when, will anybody begin to understand that this is not some chess game between Republicans and Democrats where one of the kings is left standing and another game ensues? This is the endgame by which the very game board is consumed.

I feel I’m reliving the time right after the ‘global warming’ hoax was exposed. Have we walked away from it? Have we swept it in the ash can? No. We’re proceeding as if the incriminating data leaks never happened; ‘cap and trade‘, here we come! Or when Mohammed Atta and the gang flew into the World Trade towers. We seldom talk about it anymore. This doesn’t mean it never happened. Or when the Cheonan was sunk by the North Korea. We pretend that if we don’t say anything more about any of these things, they never happened; that we can be safe simply by forgetting.

Similarly, if the same faces (Reid, Pelosi, Frank, Schumer) continue to dominate the news, the midterm shellacking of Obama’s policies never happened.

Much has been made of the comparison of Obama to Carter. There is no comparison. Carter did his best - albeit incompetently - to serve his nation. They’re trying to say the same thing about Obama. But there’s a world of difference. Obama means to deliberately destroy us. For him the bad economy, the joblessness, the collapse of health care, the collapse of the dollar, the imminent collapse of Israel - all are victories. He means to go further. We still have further to fall. He means to go all the way - like a young communist/Islamist on his first date.

JB doesn’t get it; Meese doesn’t get it; nobody gets it. Yet the alarms are going off are all around. We won’t get it till after it’s happened. And even then, we’ll continue to argue over whose fault it was.

The time to do something is now. But 99% of the population still has its head in the sand; including Rush who opines that the best thing to happen to the Republicans is having Pelosi and Reid as the face of the Democrat party. This is the wrong way of looking at it. It’s not good to have them back. That’s why I despaired after the results of the elections were announced. The same game continues. The only thing that’s changed is the faces of the strawmen - who are now no longer Bush.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Even As Everything Else Lies In Ruins

The unspoken voice in every region (of the world) is the U.S.’s It is the dog that isn’t barking. Every one of our foreign policy thrusts in recent years has failed precisely because we have refused to back it up with sufficient resolve, especially in terms of military power. In an effort to appease the anti-war crowd, we have hamstrung ourselves, bending our worldview into utopian hookah smoke rings. We have come to rely solely on empty rhetoric, endless negotiations, and paying out IOU bribes and/or ransom.

It’s all come to a head under Obama who will not even defend America’s political parties, its people and borders. He asserts time and time again that war is never an option; that we can and should not interfere; that our interference is (and always has been) intrinsically evil; that he will now lead by example; that we will disarm unilaterally; get out of the Middle East; continue to whittle down Israel’s defenses; and leave Asia to sort out its own. The planet can ultimately only benefit if mass slaughter should ensue.

We have boldly retreated from the world of Maya. If there are battles to be fought, they are to be fought here at home. We must accommodate the lecherous demands of thieves and tyrants. We must abandon our principles. We must surrender.

Any opposition to our new, progressive policy of appeasement must be severely dealt with; backbones surgically paralyzed. We must shun nationalism - especially our own. Tyranny is relative and will play itself out when one of the combatants - under spell of epiphany - voluntarily leaves the ring.

The world has noted the change. Though it’s been long in coming, under Obama it’s now official. This is why now all the would-be tyrants are making their moves. They’re out looting the granary while the going is good.

I’m not saying there’s not a kind of textbook elegance to what Obama believes. However, it’s a fiction. It can never be real. While the people can absorb a good fight for God and country, they will never stand idly by and watch their identity be trampled. In this, the leaders of Russia, Japan, China and Iran are far more ’democratic’ than our highly ‘enlightened’ ivory tower policy wonks. They are playing to their people directly, while we leave ours dangling over the abyss - with nothing to believe in; nothing to fight for or hold dear.

The end game is at hand. Both, the king and queen are in mortal danger. Once the queen is sacrificed, checkmate is at hand. Game over never involves the actual taking of the king. Obama is betting that this last convention will hold. He means to remain, even as everything else lies in ruins.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The Man Who Died

My wife tells me that Obamacare has now reached India where she (and others) are busily engaged in editing the document. She is simply amazed by what has been written there. There is of course the mandated fine for anyone who may not choose to participate. But even more ominous is that doctors will now be required to write prescriptions for simple over-the-counter remedies. Talk about overwhelming the system! It takes practically an act of congress now to get any kind of prescription filled (especially on weekends), never mind the expense. If doctors are to be inundated with people hoping to purchase a simple bottle of Aspirin or package of band-aids, I can see no end to delay and confusion.

They say Obamacare will be rolled back by the new Congress; that the president himself will come to his senses and moderate his stance. I see no sign of it so far, primarily because his goal is and has always been to overwhelm and wreck the system(s).

All is in place as we speak to accomplish this. It extends far beyond health care. The dollar is at risk as well. Ditto, race relations; education; foreign policy… You name it. It’s all going down.

Meanwhile the president is off to India, a colorful and exotic backdrop for Obama‘s victory lap. (Just like the American economy, the midterms might have turned out worse.) Obama does not particularly care for India. India is not taken seriously by the West precisely because she poses no danger. Only 'dangerous' countries - like China and Iran - are taken seriously. The West's policy towards them is one of appeasement. As such India (and Israel) is seen merely as a bargaining chip, one that is happily sacrificed if it means that the West is allowed to live one more day. India will have to come to terms with the fact that she stands alone.

Even with America out of the picture, there will by no means be peace. The yellow man and the Muslim will not get along. America will be watching from the sidelines to find out to which stake she’ll be tethered - like the cock in D. H. Lawrence’s “The Man Who Died.”

Funeral Procession

Midterm elections over. The people have spoken. The results are being spun as a repudiation of Obama’s policies - yet, perhaps not as strongly as might have been envisioned. Many legislators - particularly the ones representing the coasts - should have been ousted. In Nevada, Reid’s win looks more than suspicious. As does Boxer’s win in California. I believe these elections, among others (involving Democrat wins), were fraudulent. There’s no way to prove it, of course. And nobody will even try.

A more accurate depicter of the mood of the nation is the economy. The health of our economy remains poor and a key indicator is the unemployment rate. The political argument goes round and round: The lack of jobs is due to the poor economy; and the poor economy has produced joblessness. How to improve the economy? How to reduce joblessness to tolerable levels? One way is to define a new norm.

The Fed is poised to print money and inject more liquidity into the system. It is generally acknowledged that this will hurt the dollar. Yet, the Fed - prompted by the White House - is willing to risk inflation just to show a bit of improvement on the labor market. It won’t work. What the White House does not understand - or does not want to understand - is that the government cannot manipulate the economy like they do elections. They cannot yet dictate what the people should do with their money. They cannot yet compel the people to spend, save or hire, and then finesse the numbers to suit. Short of rendering the currency worthless (in which case there is no economy) they are powerless to arbitrate economic solutions.

As such, the economy remains the only venue which allows people to express their confidence (or lack of it) and overall support of the government and its policies. Expect the economy to remain on life support as long as Obama remains in office. I believe that the president knows this. That is why the Fed, at the direction of the White House, is pursuing a course which will ultimately lead to the dollar’s collapse.

Obama’s trip to India can be seen as the first act in the pomp and circumstance of a funeral (procession) that is yet lacking a corpse.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The History of the World

You’re missing the point, John. How many times do I have to say it? This is not about Democrats and Republicans. It’s about leadership. Oh, I know that many of us are just cynical enough to aspire to achieving gridlock in Washington. That’s because for so many years we’ve been fed poison. Not eating won’t save us. In the meantime the clock runs down and entropy takes charge. We have so many problems that need to be addressed. Health care, the economy, education, taxation, corruption, immigration. Fires are literally burning all around us. Yet, there’s no one to pick up a bucket.

Meanwhile, as we’re knocking each others’ heads off, our enemies are gathering. Oh, excuse me! Did I say ‘enemies‘? I forgot that we no longer have enemies. I forgot that we’re all just sitting around the old camp fire singing kumbaya. My bad. There’s really no one out there plotting to enslave us, steal our treasure; sever our heads, rape our women, and engage us in their heathen practices. Yes, I said it! In fact, there is no God; no grace; no mercy, no kindness - only the whims of mad men who rise to power by measure of their capacity for cruelty.

I’m writing a new book entitled “The History of the World”. It begins thus:

The modern history of the world begins with Obama. In year one, when Obama was elected, the new and bright era began. Before that there was only chaos, dominated by the scourge of colonialism. Western ideas held sway over a frightened people who saw their prospects diminish as western fortunes grew in equal proportion. Some of the western devils themselves came to realize that this equation was morally bankrupt. They, in conjunction with the most brilliant minds from abroad, began to undermine the most evil nation of them all - the vortex - by agitating from within to bring about its destruction. They succeeded in bringing a Trojan horse into the very center of the pig kingdom. Obama, under false pretense, was installed President of the United States.

Obama succeeded where others failed. He brought the American colossus to its knees. Of course there had been many others who deserve credit for having carefully prepared the ground for him. Hat tip to Mohammed Atta and his gang; hat tip to all the martyrs; hat tip to the American media; hat tip to American education; hat tip to Viagra; hat tip to politicians who knew the value of money; hat tip to Hollywood…

Soon the resistance was broken. Fear and chaos scattered the defenders. Others, seeing the writing on the wall, came running with their white flags, begging to be circumcised…

Pretty good start? Would you not agree?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

I Wish I Had Better News

Sorry guys, I wish I had better news. The tools won out - and ‘tools’, by definition, can never exceed their function.

Nothing happened yesterday. And yet we expected so much - as we did earlier, taking a couple of days off to march on Washington. The Left is too entrenched. It controls everything: the schools; the media; the courts, and even our electoral process. I never realized we were this far gone.

To be sure, each side was thrown a few scraps to chew on. But the overall direction remains the same. Nothing can stop us now from getting there. And we all know where ‘there’ is. Obama has nothing to worry about. He will preside - and probably be seen as historic, transformative. We may even begin to name streets, buildings and airports after him - all now slated to be reduced to ‘shovel-ready’ rubble. From now on, all his ‘mistakes’ will be ours.

The illusion will last till the crash that sends everything flying apart. The only thing certain now is the crash.

They say that hope springs eternal. After yesterday, hope has been reduced to time - additional time in which to contemplate (our apparently destined) demise, over and over again; that severely flawed painting, prominently displayed on the museum wall. We all know what’s wrong with it, but the paint has dried and the brushes are broken. At the entrance, they’ll now be checking not only for bombs, but for razor blades as well.

I had been hoping against hope that someone of sufficient stature would step up to the plate from our side. After yesterday’s results, I would guess that he - even if he exists - is now reconsidering; that he too has come to the conclusion that we’ve long ago stepped over the line; that there’s no turning back.

I too feel a genuine affection for the bloggers on this site. I wish JB would consider inviting us to one last supper while there’s still time - at Peter Luger’s perhaps - to give us all a chance to commiserate over some excellent steaks.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

It's Just Beginning

Today, the training wheels are set to come off - helmet, knee pads, and all. The depth of trouble in which the Obama presidency finds itself will be fully exposed and amplified. This is when Obama will be shown at his most vulnerable - politically speaking. In the short run, his ace in the hole will be foreign affairs. Not surprisingly, the president will be leaving the country soon (with an entourage filling no less than 40 aircraft) to seek safe refuge on non-partisan soil (to give his ego a chance to heal).

Furthermore, after today, expect a full-blown circus the likes of which we haven’t seen since Bush - Gore 2000. As we speak, there are lawyers and activists thick on the ground, ready to contest every vote. Close election results will be challenged. Things will be said that are patently untrue or contrived (similar to the Rachel’s Tomb controversy that was discussed on the JBS for the past two nights). It will serve to throw our whole election process into high confusion. I doubt if the new Congress will be ready to seat for some time to come.

There will be accusations, recounts, court challenges, hanging chads - the whole works, including the proverbial kitchen sink. Expect to be dazzled by the drama, and thoroughly disgusted as well. This election will serve as the template to further discredit our electoral process. It will amount as a textbook case on how to go about overwhelming and rendering useless a system that is essentially based on good will and trust.

The Left will not quit. It will do anything it can, not so much to address legitimate grievances, but to pile on and inject lunacy in order to bring about utter and complete meltdown.

Hang on, folks! It’s only just beginning.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Betting the Farm

I’ve been puzzling about something. President Obama is frequently branded a liar. Case and point: Obama and Democrats repeatedly claimed that passage of health care would not raise premiums. Yet, now we learn that people’s health insurance premiums are indeed rising dramatically. Companies have either had to increase deductibles or dig deeper into their bottom line. Was this not foreseen? Did the framers of this bill rely on faulty data? Or were their own calculations wrong? Any way you look at it, those who were in vocal support of this bill can be said to have lied now that the reality of the effects of Obamacare have come to light. I have never been one of those who believed that Obama is (or ever was) stupid. To accuse him of lying, however, seems to miss the mark as well.

Obama and Democrats may not have been lying at all when you consider whom they were talking to, and the overarching goal outlined by this administration early on: the redistribution of wealth.

A redistribution of wealth presupposes two factions: the rich and the poor. Rich and poor can be defined arbitrarily by drawing a line. The number most commonly heard is $250,000. Incomes above $250,000 a year is considered rich; below that number is considered poor. In truth, the number could be anything.

When Obama promised that premiums would not rise, he was not talking to the rich. He was talking to the poor. The poor don’t run companies; they do not hire people; they may never even have been insured. Thus they would remain unaffected. It’ the rich that were meant to feel the sting. This dovetails precisely with a program of wealth redistribution.

So, again, when Obama promised that premiums would not rise, he was not talking to the rich - though they thought he was. They conveniently ignored the rule that begins, “if it looks too good to be true…” Furthermore, they thought Obama was speaking to the country as a whole. Most presidents have taken pains to do so. Not Obama.

Now, a drive is underway to nationalize private retirement plans. Again, the pitch will be made that it’ll be the best thing to happen since sliced bread. Those apt to be taken in should remember what has already happened with health care reform. Additionally, before anyone rushes mindlessly out into the street with their slogans and pom-poms in support of Obama‘s policies, they should first determine whether or not they are in the group that will be said to benefit before betting the farm. For if they are not, they’ll be paying for it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Midterm Elections Tomorrow

It’s the day before… the wedding; graduation; Christmas. The anticipation is almost unbearable. But, pardon my saying so, this year it seems a little sad. Even after Christmas the winter continues. And some of the kids have been allowed to open their presents already (early voting). And some of the kids who deserved coal in their stockings will be getting presents anyway. And some of the kids who’ve been fighting oversees, won’t get anything at all. And some of Santa’s sleighs got blown up by AQ package bombs, and there’ll be less to go around.

And it hasn’t even snowed yet, which means that old Santa won’t even bother to show up personally; that he’ll be sending that creepy guy with the swords instead. And we all know what that means: it means we’ll be counting our fingers and toes on the day following.