Rubber Duckie Congress Down The Drain

Note that POTUS never seems to stick around when big things happen. This week saw Benjamin Netanyahu - our only reliable ally ‘east of Greece and West of India’ - come to Washington. Why? Because something is not right in Washington – and all Israel knows it.

We saw two leaders side by side – only one of which is actually a leader in the traditional sense. The other showed himself as a ‘leader’ in name only. The difference between the two men was obvious for all to see. Some stated publicly that our president stood out as an utter embarrassment. While Mr. Netanyahu was still in Washington, Obama fled to Europe - the latest hotbed of anti-Semitism – looking for LTC. Good for him! As the saying goes, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.’

What’s wrong in Washington is not that Obama is not an effective leader; or, as some have suggested, that ‘he leads from behind’. What’s wrong in Washington is that Obama sides with the Palestinians. Many in Congress – even Democrats – have already spoken out, saying they disagree with Obama’s approach. In Europe he will not likely encounter that particular sentiment. Note: While the Palestinians speak openly about what they intend for Israel, our president speaks merely in broad, platitudinous arcs that can be interpreted anyway you want; but his actions are unmistakable. Netanyahu has figured it out. That’s why he is in Washington. Israel is in trouble and Washington won’t help. It’s not even help the Israeli PM is pleading for. All he wants is for America to stop making it worse.

Unfortunately, foreign policy is something that falls totally under the purview of the president. Congress does not have much if anything to say about what the president does. Everyone now seems to accept the president’s contention that he is not subject to the war powers act as pertains to Libya, for example. And on a whole host of other issues, Congress has already been edged out of its traditional ‘checks and balances’ mandate as proscribed by the Constitution.

So, what Netanyahu says to Congress is just talk. Congress has stood idly by while this president has turned it into a rubber duckie stamp; and, along with it, the people have lost their franchise as well. What is never said or even whispered has now become true: The United States of America has become a dictatorship: one vote, one man, one time.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Literature: J. M. Coetzee

I don’t often recommend books to read. People seldom take the time to read anymore – not the classics, anyway. Today a woman called to tell me she had enjoyed one of the authors I had suggested to her years ago. Ironically, she had read a book that I have yet to get to.

J. M. Coetzee is South African (or was), now living in Australia. He is a contemporary of Nadine Gordimer, also South African. The two could not be more different. Gordimer writes erratically and from the heart. It’s sometimes difficult to follow. I did like “The Pickup” for her vivid depiction of the desert. I started several of her other books but never could finish them.

Coetzee won the Nobel Prize for “Disgrace” in 2003. Oddly enough, I only got to it earlier this year.

I was first introduced to J. M. Coetzee in college when assigned “Life and Times of Michael K”. I no longer remember the details of the plot, but I do remember the feeling it left me with and the novel’s pivot that made it unique. The protagonist is a simpleton. It was pointed out to me (I don’t think I thought of it myself) how difficult it must have been to write an interesting story about a simpleton. Yet, Coetzee had pulled it off; so much so, I remembered his name all during the decades when I read nothing at all.

The next book of his I happened across was “Slow Man”. Again, it was the story of an ordinary man who had lost his leg in a bicycle vs. auto accident and was trying to adjust to his loss - should have been a bomb. Not so. It pulled the reader along, page by page, sustaining interest in small, ordinary things; obviously very skillfully told. “Disgrace”, Coetzee’s breakthrough novel, again, was just as advertised – and more. It told of South Africa at the end of Apartheid through the eyes of a man burdened with his own troubles.

When comparing Gordimer to Coetzee, I see cars. Gordimer is an economy model (possibly Italian). It sputters and moves in fits and starts. Even when fitfully tuned, it coughs, rattles and shakes. Coetzee, on the other hand is a Rolls-Royce. From the first sentence, you can expect a smooth and solid ride. Coetzee is a reader’s writer. He sees to every comfort the reader could possibly want: easy, yet not simple prose; characters are defined again with each mention (not like the oodles of characters in thick, meaty Russian novels that make you lose your place and leave you hanging). He does not use sex or violence gratuitously. When it suits the plot, such things happen, and then it’s over. He does not build suspense in the usual predictable way. He simply makes us deeply interested in the characters he portrays. Not sure how he does it. In fact, it never occurs to even ask the question. He makes it look simple.

I know, of course, that it isn’t (simple). It requires uncommon discipline and much editing, and endless polishing. Coetzee’s novels tend to be relatively short. But they are gems.

The woman who called me today is an avid reader in several languages. She had found “Diary of a Bad Year” in a Vermont second-hand book shop. By the time she finished reading, she was excited and gushing. Everything I’ve said about Coetzee she would now second. …and she’s ready for more.
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Interesting to note the narrative that is emerging after Obama’s so-called bin Laden kill. On one hand you have a virtual treasure trove of material that shows bin Laden as head of a significant worldwide organization, inspiring and directing his followers to inflict dastardly damage on ‘The Great Satan’ that is America; that he was larger than life and quite worthy of Obama’s wrath and anger, so skillfully employed in his capture. On the other, he’s portrayed as a broken-down pervert, living in a hovel amidst half-eaten scraps of food, surfing analog TV in his underwear.

You would think that given a story with so many holes, this administration would make an effort to remain at least somewhat consistent. Suffice it to say, that no one writing the scripts for Obama has any notion of good literature. They have taken a terrific plot and reduced it to an incomprehensible mess, leaving most people scratching their heads.

The coda, to be released as soon as next week, said to reset this administration’s commitment to Middle East peace, should be painful to watch. Already, the race is on to preempt and outflank Netanyahu’s own initiatives, also scheduled to make headlines during the Israeli leader’s upcoming visit to Washington (next week).

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

A Little Bit Pregnant

JB raises a salient point when he poses the question regarding OBL being shot in cold blood; that is to say, he was ‘unarmed’. Even the WH spin-Meisters appeared to have trouble explaining it as evidenced by the fact that they felt compelled to change their story regarding this. It must be assumed that the second version is true.

This administration has had trouble with (what now appears to be) this particular policy before. It reminds me of the would-be Detroit bomber who was read Miranda rights before he even had time to spill the beans. And again, with a strike that presumably was designed to take out Kaddafi (but failed to achieve its objective). It may just be a way for the administration to circumvent its own rules and directives; and also a way to keep from having to add to the inconvenient GITMO population. It may also be due to an understanding that there are now no longer any interrogation methods at our disposal that are both legal and effective.

It’s not a question of us knowing what bin Laden would have said. By unwritten contract with our government we agree to not know some of the seamier deals that go on between governments and international outlaws. We assume that there are competent people whose job it is to know and how to handle such things while keeping our own best interests at heart.

I remember Bush saying (shortly after the 9/11 attacks) that appropriate measures will be taken; that we will be aware of some of these and not of others; that even our successes might never be known. In trying to find the exact quote (which I didn’t), I ran across Bush’s speech before a joint session of Congress (with Tony Blair in attendance). I was moved by this speech. I had forgotten it, though I must have seen it because I remember the line, ‘you’re either with us or…”

How our world has changed since then! Bush was subsequently attacked and vilified incessantly for cheap partisan political advantage. He was mocked, taunted. He was denied his victory. That would go the Barack Hussein Obama in much diluted form.

I urge you to watch this particular speech again and tell me honestly how Bush’s own words paint him as a buffoon. He was never a buffoon. He was painted that by ourselves (for whatever prurient reasons). This speech says volumes about the Bush presidency – the last American presidency.

Everything Bush spoke that night was true, logical and understandable. His plan of attack was measured and sound. Little did he know that the nation would be derailed by our own; that the enemies of America had already infiltrated and organized into a powerful force at the highest levels of our key institutions.

Instead of coming together, we came apart, installing our first post-American president to our highest office; a man, whose words ring hollow to most Americans. They serve only to divide us even further. Trust has been broken between us and our government. Even, what now should be regarded as a great victory is tainted with uncertainty and suspicion.

Take some time to hear President Bush’s post 9/11 speeches again and note how far we have fallen – now, to the very brink of bankruptcy. Take a look at the pictures of the collapsed Trade towers. It’s a fair metaphor of where we find ourselves today. Bin Laden never had to lift another finger. We ourselves bravely went out and finished his work in his stead.

The fact that many people are yet unwilling to recognize what has happened to us makes us into little girls who come home and announce, “Guess what? I’m a little bit pregnant.”

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

You've Gotta Believe

If you believe Osama bin Laden is dead, you’ve also got to believe that our terrorism problem is now solved; that Obama handled the whole thing himself on the golf course on his Blackberry; that Obama is native born; that Bernanke is not trying to devalue the dollar; that Israel either is or is not our friend; that we either will or will not protect her should her neighbors attack; that Obama is not a Marxist; that we are in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya to win; that 'global warming' is not a hoax; that Reid and Pelosi were fairly elected; that Sarah Palin is stupid; that Trump is just playing and not out for bear; that Obama is not trying to choke off our own energy supplies; that Iran is not a threat; that Bush was the worst president ever; that Bush personally brought down the World Trade Towers; that Obama is not trying to start a race war; that Obama is not beholden to George Soros; that both Bush and Obama were (are) interested in protecting our borders; that Bush hated black people and personally blew up the New Orleans levees; that Obama wrote his own books; that the pictures of bin Laden the White House is about to release were not photo shopped; that Obama’s birth certificate was not photo shopped; that Obama either wants or doesn’t want Kaddafi killed; that, just as there are several ways to spell Kaddafi’s name, there are several ways to spell Usama; (that one can positively determine the identity of a person/corpse via DNA overnight in a helicopter).

Note: If just one of these things turns out to be wrong, then we’ve got to go back and examine all the others all over - AGAIN.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Guest Contributer: Tom From NJ: WHO?

With every passing day, Obama's hopey-changey smiley-mask slips to reveal the stone-cold Third World socialist dictator-wannabe we always knew was lurking under there. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn where The Bamster was born. All I know -- thanks to "Dreams From My Father" -- is that he grew up in a toxic milieu of Third World "anti-colonialism" and dime-store Marxism so that he has long desired to undermine and destroy the Anglo-American system of democratic politics and free-market economics that Third World radicals like his Daddy have always blamed for poverty and "inequality" in the world. Later on, the Community Organizer Obama, all grown-up, then found the same sort of hard-left toxic milieu to wallow in when he landed in Chicago to team up with Rev. Wright, Fr. Fleger, and Dr. and Mrs. Bill Ayers.

So, the destruction of the Anglo-American system is exactly what the Anointed One is attempting right now and has been up to all along during his otherwise incomprehensible presidency (remember his tossing that bust of Churchill out the door of the WH on Day One?). With that strange track record to defend -- or, more likely to fudge, with MSM help as usual -- POTUS is already campaigning for re-election with a brutal, brass-knuckle vengeance, arrogance, and disregard for truth that must have Hugo Chavez grinning and nodding with familiarity and approval.

Some of the latest Obama outrages are: (1) Lying like hell to demonize Paul Ryan's budget plan while offering no plan of his own except even more demented spending (More cowbell, more cowbell! for you veteran SNL fans); (2) Trying to direct the critically important energy debate, especially in regard to soaring gasoline prices, away from The Bamster's own anti-US energy policies to focus on the same old flyblown, demagogic charges of "price gouging" by the oil companies and unidentified "speculators," an open-ended witch-hunt to be led by The Bamster's personal stooge and unprincipled get-whitey goon, Eric Holder; (3) Waging endless and unfocussed war in the sand-traps of Libya and the rock-piles of Afghanistan to prove that POTUS - our National Egghead - is in reality a Chicago tough-guy, which amounts to the most cynical and foredoomed wastage of our human and material military resources imaginable, especially since Obama rarely before registered any positive opinions, interest in, or knowledge about our fabulous armed forces, the very instrument of America's alleged crimes against the sainted Third World.

The point is that the 2012 campaign -- already on -- is no time for business-as-usual politics because Barack Obama must -- MUST -- be denied a second term if America is to survive in a form even remotely resembling her historic, exceptional greatness. In short, failure cannot be an option. So who should the GOP field to challenge POTUS? Still too early to say, but some criterion standards might be emerging, because time is starting to run short. So who is directly engaging Obama right now, and doing so without fear? Who has the name ID and financial resources to be taken seriously? Who has credibiity with the Tea Party, the real driving force of the GOP today? Who can realistically claim expertise/experience in one or more of the most significant issues currently confronting our nation?

Based on these criteria -- not an exhaustive list -- I have to say that the GOP ought to be able to cobble together a strong campaign from among Paul Ryan, Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, and Sarah Palin; even if the latter provides speechifin' support rather than running herself. Don't like these names too much? OK, fair enough. But what are the alternatives? If I'm wrong, and we can't answer that last question together, Obama will win again, and America loses.

Guest Contributer: Tom From NJ: Anybody But Obama

Last night I was happy to hear Kudlow and Fund endorse my only candidate so far -- Mr./Ms. ABO. Who Candidate ABO actually is, I have no clear idea at this point, but I can suggest who does not qualify as ABO. Take Mitt Romney -- please. Due largely to RomneyCare, he's toast already, although neither he nor the Establishment GOP leadership seem to realize it yet. He should get out of the race now before he embarrasses himself; if he does so, he would make a dandy Secretary of Commerce under President ABO. Another prominent non-ABO is Newt Gingrich, who has so much baggage he needs to hire whole shifts of redcaps to help him carry it. Of course, Newt could then become a valuable advisor to President ABO; indeed, what power on earth could stop him?

Another non-ABO, sad to say, is Sarah Palin. I hate what the MSM, and even some elitist conservative snobs, have done to her, but there she is before us, all Tina Fey-ed out, already wounded and bleeding. Sarah is a smart young woman so she should bide her time and continue to do what she is successfully doing -- supporting conservative candidates for office with grassroots fundraising and effective stemwinder speeches. One of those candidates should be Candidate ABO, whereupon Sarah should get herself named Secretary of Energy. Then Sarah Barracuda could return healed and refreshed and go for the brass ring herself in due time, although her many enemies will continue to slander her as a nut-slut as long as she lives.

OK, so who will be Candidate ABO? It might turn out to be Donald Trump, who right now reminds me of General George S. Patton -- a great one in battle who is really taking it to the enemy (Obama), but who is perhaps too erratic and egotistical for his own good. To extend the analogy, Patton would surely have screwed up as overall SHAEF commander, a position that instead required the temperament, track-record, and skill-set of an Eisenhower. Similarly, being President might not in the end be a good fit for Trump's personal temperament, track-record, and skill-set. But right now who knows?

Another possible ABO is Paul Ryan, who, like Trump but in a different way, is already directly engaging POTUS in battle. Some of our blog colleagues have suggested that Ryan might be overly intellectual in his approach, but that might be because he is trying to actually give actual details on a very complex topic, i.e., the Federal budget and the deficit. That said, Ryan does get off some good lines -- not that the MSM will ever let anyone know -- so let's consider this GOP ticket for 2012: Trump-Ryan. Just sayin', but sounds very interesting right now. As for me in this April of 2011, I continue my steadfast support of Candidate ABO.

Blowing Up Bridges

It’s on! The trash talking has begun. And make no mistake, it’s being encouraged by the White House. Expect one of the dirtiest campaigns in recent history.

We are all the same. It should be easy to find common ground. It is not. Enter ideology. Ideology forces us into templates that do not fit well. It tends to pervert our true natures - to live and let live - and puts the accent on confrontation. This is generally needed in times of war - in the face of threat. In peacetime it seems a silly way to behave.

Since Barack Hussein Obama has been in office, there has been no peace. It’s almost as if, while we were living our lives, draft notices began arriving in the mail. We’ve been forced to take sides - one side being America.

Obama is a warrior alright, even if Libya doesn’t quite speak to the issue. Warriors do not compromise. They dismiss the broad range of the painter’s palette and divide the world into black and white. Again, this is only appropriate to war.

“You’re either for us, or against us.” No shades of gray even.

Who is POTUS fighting? America, of course. This has been hard for Americans to swallow. They thought he was on their side.

Similarly, it’s been difficult to square POTUS’ color scheme. The white hats have traditionally been ‘good’; the black hats, ‘bad‘. We’ve been taught this from watching John Wayne westerns. POTUS is black and tells us he’s white - while he paints us black as sin.

Something does not add up here. We’ve known it from the start. Now we’re starting to feel uncomfortable with it. We read about the soldiers in Syria who are refusing to shoot protesters being shot by their own - the worst of all fates. We wonder about how the term ‘conscientious objector’ might fare in this climate.

Voting for a black president was supposed to solve all this. We thought it would bridge the eternal divide. Instead, we find the existing bridges blown up and not enough shovel-ready jobs to build new ones. Sources tell us that China is building bridges like crazy - while we are tearing ours down. Some of us are trapped behind enemy lines.

Carlos Castaneda tells us that each life represents a complete, self-contained universe; that two people standing side by side must be seen as two such universes; that these cannot be commingled, except by event affecting both. Ideology disregards the deeper meaning of this lesson. It seeks to bridge chasms (that cannot be bridged) by hostile rhetoric, fomenting non-existent threat and, finally, by outright aggression. Thereby, the individual is lost and replaced by ordinance.

Love lost in the ashes of ritual (s)laughter.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Chucks

We basically see what we want to see. In the process we miss what is actually there. In 2008, we pinned our hopes and dreams on Barack Hussein Obama. It soon became apparent that we had grossly miscalculated.

In her column, entitled, “Turkey’s Cautionary Tale”, in today’s Jerusalem Post, Caroline Glick cites Turkey as just one example of ’Dreamland’ having been hyped by the western media as the modern face of Islam and portrayed as an example of an Islamic country that the West can actually work with. Not so fast. Glick skillfully ticks off the steps that Turkey has taken since Erdogan’s election in 2002 that puts the lie to any idea of Islamic rapprochement with the West that the western media incessantly claims. I urge you to read it.

Similarly, we’ve been steadily backsliding into the ‘Dreamland’ fantasy of ‘global warming‘, even after the whole thing has been exposed as a hoax.

We continually hear that our economy is improving. But is it? Is this even within the realm of possibility given our present leadership?

Which brings me to Trump. The Left has launched an all-out assault against Trump. This is because it fears him. Again today, on Glenn Beck’s program, Beck’s sidekicks were hammering him, replaying old sound bites in which Trump bashes Bush. Let me remind you, in those days everybody was bashing Bush. In fact, it became our national pastime (sans hot dogs and beer). You could instantly advance to your 15 minute celebrity status by bashing Bush. That’s how we got Obama.

Obama now pretends that all the criticism he’s receiving is just a part pf presidential scenery. Not so. Bush bashing was fun. Now things have turned serious and most of us have sobered up.

In those days, Trump did not speak as a politician. He spoke as himself in the current vernacular. Now he speaks as one of us, alarmed by what has happened. Sure, he knows Schumer and all the rest. He sat at their tables, and they at his. They did not speak politics per se; they spoke deals.

As I’ve said before, Trump seems a patriot; he does not seem ideological. He appears to love America. He understands what has gone wrong. He is confident inside his own skin. He feels he can make a difference.

There are those who say he would split the Republican party and hand a win to Obama. It may well happen that way. But then again it may not. Look at it as a ’hail Mary pass’ by our side; one last chance for us to throw chucks under the runaway chuck wagon. If the wrong Republican is elected, we lose anyway.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Circling the Bases

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Not surprising that Joe Biden fell asleep. We’re in a holding pattern. Our plane has been circling the airport for two and a half years. With the air traffic controllers asleep, will the pilot figure out how to land this plane already? There is no indication of that. The passengers are divided. “Should we attempt this landing anyway, or should we go back and try again with a different (flight) crew?” It’s no wonder that some of the passengers have been dozing off.

There’s been round condemnation of the president’s speech this morning. And this too is not surprising. As soon as the president - of any party - utters a word, the sports fans arm themselves with tomatoes. Clinton, Bush, Obama - it’s been all the same: The incredible shrinking American presidency. Sure, there’s always the inevitable cheering from out in the bleachers, from those too drunk to know any better.

The rest of us are out for bear, thinking we matter; while all the action takes place in the club house - and not on the field.

“Dysfunctional?” you ask. Not dysfunctional at all. You do keep coming after all - to see the games - and paying through the nose for tickets, hot dogs, souvenirs, and beer.

Let’s think for a moment, what if the president actually were able to land this thing. Where would you think we’d be? Would we now be able to balance our budgets? Strengthen our dollar? Would we now love each other more? Would peace break out in the Middle East? Could we all go home now and get a good night’s sleep?

The answer, most would agree, is a resounding no. We now know enough of our president’s skills to not dare risk it. Every day we delay is a gift. Will we be able to last long enough till the weather clears? How much fuel do we have left anyway?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Bleatings From The Leper Colony

Ever since George Washington, we have always had presidents with some overarching vision of where they want to take the nation. They might have gotten bogged down in the minutia of governance, or they might have made mistakes that would eventually require retreat. But the basic vision nevertheless remained and focused on bringing America to a better place.

We, the people, more or less accepted the fact that we were not policy wonks; that we were not necessarily privy to all the things that our presidents were privy to – nor would we want to be. We could more or less assume that our president was doing his best to move us forward while keeping our best interests in mind.

We always accepted a certain amount of change – even downturns in our personal and collective fortunes - as being an integral part of life. We even accepted small, incremental deviations from the principles on which our nation was founded. We accepted the slow creep of socialism to accommodate the needs of the poor, the sick and the otherwise unfortunate.

All this changed with the election of Barack Hussein Obama. As the continuing controversy about his birth certificate suggests, there is now a growing concern as to just who this man actually is. Are we better off now than we were just two years ago? The resounding answer is no.

The tea parties were the first to sound the alarm. They were summarily rebuffed and dismissed. As more and more people dared to raise questions, more and more people were labeled ‘extreme’ and, therefore, illegitimate. Everybody knows at least a part of the threat our nation faces. And yet, every citizen is treated as guilty – at airports, for example – while the obvious culprits are excused from our scrutiny in the interest of maintaining a veneer of tolerance – tolerance for whom? The only ones not tolerated are us! It almost seems like our world has been turned upside down where a declaration of obvious criminal intent somehow provides immediate immunity.

Meanwhile, the rest of us must carefully maintain our resumes, and closely monitor our words and actions lest we stand accused of racism, hate crimes and various sundry sins that might well result in our exclusion. A natural bent towards conservatism in some precincts would practically confine one to the modern equivalent of a leper colony.

Meanwhile, too, we watch our fortunes fading, even as the media celebrates great strides toward some unspecified unknown. Should we venture to connect the dots and project our path to some seemingly alien experience, we are slapped down by harsh voices laced with severe accusation and ridicule. Since when, in America, has anyone not been allowed to speak openly without having to fear intimidation; especially, when what we say, points out gross contradictions in policy objectives; and particularly as these might relate to the fundamental contract we have with our government?

It has not gone unnoticed that this contract is now in serious jeopardy; that our government has gone rogue; that our own leadership is now on the brink of labeling us as illegitimate. We, of course - now that the contract has been broken - can say the same.

We never thought it could come to this – not in America.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Detroit: Downsizing America

Liberals as well as conservatives are dumbfounded, taken off guard, outraged by president Obama’s handling of the Libyan situation; committing American troops into a theater of ‘kinetic military action’ without clear goals defining ‘victory’; without formally addressing the U.S. Congress or the American people. This means that this president must be intending to go it alone, much like Syrian president Assad is apt to do - or Kaddafi, for that matter.

Obama keeps hinting that this operation will be short and sweet after which time we’ll be out of there and wash our hands of the killing. History shows, however, that this sort of thing has a habit of dragging on. I listened to Dan Henninger last night. He’s one of my favorites on the WSJ editorial staff, but even he had it wrong. He views the conflict as ‘something’ sweeping the Middle East; something so powerful, it cannot be stopped or its direction determined. I do not believe in some amorphous ‘something’. Unleashed? Yes, the way someone might unleash an attack dog. Directionless? No. We all know where it’s headed, but are afraid to say it out loud.

America is not America without also being a super power. Yet, we can plainly see that it is this administration’s intention to degrade us to some unspecified common denominator. I don’t remember the president campaigning on a platform to make America worse. We all fell for the ‘change’ routine while assuming that ‘change’ meant ‘better than Bush’.

This sentiment is not exactly new. Liberals have in the past often promoted the banning of SUV’s on the premise that SUV’s are dangerous to smaller cars. It would seem that, if SUV’s are indeed so dangerous (to smaller cars), it is the smaller cars that should be banned.

I didn’t make this up. I’ve heard the argument before. At the time, we all laughed about it and didn’t take it seriously. Now, it seems, we’re coming face to face with it. The new norms, as presented to us, clearly strive to downsize America.

My question is: How far down are we willing to go? What exactly does Obama have in mind? Perhaps the ‘greens’ can give us some clue: A country bereft of energy; its people taking up farming, herding, bartering, canning… Sounds like Pol Pot to some degree. (I don’t think that Obama would send his goons out to shoot me for lighting up a cigarette or reading a book; but who knows, all that might still be in the offing. Neither would Obama order the burning of medical journals as the Taliban are wont to do. But the effect of Obamacare would essentially amount to the same.)

There are many ways to skin a cat – or fox. I’m sure Obama knows them all. Yesterday, I noted from my stats that nobody read anything I posted on my blog that day. I was convinced that someone had blocked my feed. It seemed reasonable to assume, especially since it’s been going blazes. Today, it’s back to normal. I do wonder what happened.

As for the fox: There has been a fox that parked itself all morning in our backyard, enjoying the trickle of sun. He was a chubby, healthy looking thing; lazy as all get out; yawning, snoozing, stretching, and the like. There’s a specific spot by the old sugar maple where all the animals come when they’re hurt. Last year, a deer with a bum leg spent a couple of days there, its mate alert and watching from across the fence. After a couple of days, both wandered off as if nothing had happened. I remember, a long time ago, our various cats would hang out there as well.

I believe there are specific spots on this earth that are ‘power centers’. Usually great cities are built around such places. I’m wondering if it is possible to kill such spots – pave them over; seal them. Probably not. If so, what’s happened to Detroit? (The obvious answer is liberalism.) What else might be hatching there?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Inappropriate

I, for one, am getting pretty sick of this story. We just keep going round and round like perpetual motion machines. The Left thinks it has something here when it doesn’t. It keeps trying to punch the square peg into the round hole. It’s really quite pathetic to watch.

What strikes me about Jared’s video is how nice the campus looks. It must have cost taxpayers quite a bundle to build. A virtual palace of learning.

Reminds of American colleges and universities building campuses in India for whatever reason - exporting liberalism, I suppose.

Reminds also of India’s project to re-build Nalanda University, a Buddhist center of learning from 427 to 1197 CE and one of the first great universities in recorded history. Nalanda was sacked by Turkic Muslims invaders in 1193, a milestone in the decline of Buddhism in India. The great library of Nalanda was so vast, it is reported to have burned three months after the Moguls set fire to it. The restoration of Nalanda was approved by the Indian government in 2010. It was meant to be a project in which all Asia was to participate. China balked at the proposed involvement of the Dalai Lama in the planning. Singapore supported China’s stance. India capitulated and thus another noble experiment in education fell victim to politics and was thereby diminished.

It’s not difficult to imagine what was being taught at his community college. It’s the same liberal claptrap that’s being taught throughout America. Witness the raucous - and some say, ‘inappropriate’ - reaction to Obama’s ’memorial’ appearance at the McKale Memorial Center on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Enter Stage Right

What is becoming clearer with each passing day is that the electorate has had enough. Their wrath is primarily aimed at Democrats. Nor are Republicans immune. Republicans are blamed for allowing it to happen.

The major media seems astounded at Tea Party successes around the country. They’re giddy in the hope that it will hurt Republicans. They do not see that the whole country has turned primarily against Democrats. They only see the cracks appearing within the Republican establishment, which they then translate into gains for Democrats.

They do not yet understand that there is a third way. It would mean clearing the tables of all incumbents, and starting over. Party no longer has meaning for most Americans.

The constituency is already here, suited up with bells and whistles, all ready to go. All they’re waiting for is someone to believe in. Perhaps, as with initial incident reports, the first three candidates are always wrong. Can we count Obama as the first; Palin as second? The next to enter from stage right should be the one.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Meet The New Boss; Same As The Old Boss

We tend to measure history in segments - epochs; eras; ages; periods - each, distinct in the metrics it generated. We tend to assign specific dates to these. Though, it is doubtful that people living at the time of the change(-over) fully appreciated that the old was being shunted aside and a new was just beginning.

Most people are simply riding a wave. As they are riding along with it, they are unaware that the wave is moving. It is up to historians to look back and see that the wave has indeed moved and how the shoreline was altered by it.

When future historians look back on us they will mark Barack Hussein Obama’s election as the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. When we cast our ballots in ‘08, few of us realized just how much was at stake. Historians will mark that election day in November as the beginning of America’s sudden and stunning decline; as, up until then, America had been the most influential nation among nations. It would soon become clear that America was no longer prepared to protect its interests or borders. This seemingly voluntary draw-down would reverberate around the world. We don’t know yet for sure, but one direct consequence of this particular American election might yet lead to WWIII - a war we would likely lose and make us subservient to an alien culture.

The wave of promises that hoisted the banner of the Obamanation over the land would prove to be illusory. Disappointment, culminating in unrest, would provide the opening for a heretofore hidden agenda to be implemented - one, that no American in his right mind would have voted for had he kept himself informed.

Obama and the media are still lying. They’re still promising the metrics of traditional American prosperity. When in fact they should be saying distinctly for all to hear, ‘We are working hard to make every American a ward of the State. Everyone will be adequately provided for according to his or her need. Everyone will be expected to contribute according to his or her ability. Everyone will be equal, (except some will be more equal than others). Shariah will constitute the law of the land.’

Sound extreme? I don’t think so. Take the time to attend some classes at your local college or university. Go out and see a movie. Read the newspaper once in a while and see what’s happening. Go to church on Sunday. Listen to modern pop songs; listen to Spanish language radio stations or to those that play rap songs that cater to blacks. Know what passes itself off as mainstream these days.

It’s not enough to keep the dial glued to conservative talk radio - or even NPR. There’s a wave gathering out there that demands a chicken for every pot and a car for every garage once ‘THE (ubiquitous) MAN’ has been defeated. POTUS knows this. He is riding the wave, securely tucked in its curl. The wave cannot be stopped by logic or simple political calculation. In the absence of a similar wave generated to counter it, it will rush forward, never stopping until it has reached the ends of the earth.

What nobody seems to get is that 'THE (defeated) MAN' will have been dragged out to sea by sheer exhaustion; that it is always easier to topple than to build and maintain; that 'THE (new and improved) MAN' will again come from men; and that again no one (but a few) will be happy with the new arrangement.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Man the Water Stations

While the debate rages about how to fix the economy (read today’s opinion pieces in the NYT), things continue to get worse out there, particularly on the jobs front. People are re-entering the job market because they have become desperate. It’s no longer a choice - to work or not to work - it’s become a matter of survival.

Unfortunately, the jobs are no longer out there. They’re over in India, China, the Philippines and elsewhere. Value-based work is fleeing the country, leaving only enforcement-related and administrative (basically government) mandated tasks which themselves face the cleaver as tax revenues continue to fall short of expectations. It’s the classic definition of a downward spiral.

Incredibly, there is a way out. It is to make America business-friendly once again. Europe is trying it - although tepidly - and thus far has had limited success at least in terms of improving the psychological climate that businesses face. The reason that this hasn’t yet happened in America is because at the moment they are freer than we are. Our taxes and regulations are literally choking the life out of us. Add to this, the people’s distrust of government policy overall, and you have the entire country in unison fuelling the tailspin.

Washington has become so toxic, even if the president were to come out tomorrow with a workable plan to solve all the nation’s problems, nobody would pay much attention. For the majority of Americans, Barack Hussein Obama has already torn up his leadership card and thrown it to the wind. We have reached a point where Obama’s government no longer represents us.

How to explain this to people in a foreign country? People tend to assume that countries speak with one voice. If the government, for instance, insists on basing its foreign and domestic policies on the now largely discredited threat of ‘global warming’ while the people themselves have become aware of the hoax, that government can be said to rule against the will of the electorate. The U.S. is not the only nation that has chosen to follow the forked path leading to civil strife. The first fault line to appear, as always, is the one between the classes. The elites have chosen one path, leaving the masses to wander another.

Time to man the water stations in this desert. Many are about to get themselves lost out in the wilds. Great swatches of land have already been ceded to cartel control. It is clear, the American government does not care about Americans. One of the two will fall and there will be blood. In the meantime, maps and survival tips must be distributed.

I open the paper today and read that the Taliban have offered to burn all medical books.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Small Things

Hey, we voted for the guy! Next time (if there is a next time) we’ll be more careful. Mr. Batchelor is only half right when he says: “POTUS disdains foreign policy. POTUS disdains domestic policy.” Obama distains foreign policy because in this he has already failed. His apologetic overtures and pathetic prostrations in foreign capitals have not had their desired effect. Nobody out there - in the real world - takes mere palaver seriously. It’s got to be backed up with something more substantial than small things and a preparedness to commit treason.

Domestic policy is quite another matter. This is an area in which POTUS feels he still has some leverage. Indeed, domestic policy will be by which he will measure success. If he should succeed in turning his ship of state on a leftward course, all else can be expected to fall into place.

What has become clear is that the American people are jumping ship. Obama had hoped for - but did not expect - their support. As it is, only one arrow remains in his quiver: revolution. To this end he will continue to prod and poke, trying his best to whip the people up into a lather. Once this happens, he will have achieved his goal. He can then impose draconian measures that most will find preferable to chaos.

We saw the same MO employed with regard to the oil spill. Nothing yet as to its cause, which appears to be a closely held state secret. Though, speculation abounds. It provided the rationale to impose an oil drilling moratorium. Now that the threat is over, we don’t see the moratorium lifted. It will remain in place to put pressure on America’s lifeline (energy). Eventually prices will rise beyond what can be sustained, putting additional strain on an already faltering economy. When everyone begins shouting ‘collapse!’, Obama will have achieved what he set out to do.

November’s midterms will not change the script. Conventional wisdom has it that Obama will have been sent a signal and that he will change course. He will not. Besides being a committed ideologue, he is also a realist. He knows that what he has already put in place can not be reversed. He knows that economic collapse is at hand. Perhaps he’s getting cold feet. Perhaps he is already looking for a place to hide. All that is possible.

A suicide bomber seldom detonates his own vest. It is usually detonated remotely by someone watching from afar (just in case the bomber loses heart).

Killing Jobs

No mystery here. POTUS is too embarrassed to talk about jobs. It’s too obvious what he’s doing. He’s killing jobs… and he’s doing it on purpose. It would be too much of a lie - even for him - to say otherwise. He stresses education: Marxist education; re-education. He celebrates Katrina (not the Boy Scouts) because, he feels, it focuses the nation once again on the much ballyhooed failures of Bush.

Obama keeps stressing the failure of past administrations. As his wife once famously proclaimed, “Barack will never allow you (the people) to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.” Back to what? Jobs? Economic growth? Prosperity?

He means to turn the nation into a land of the jobless. Only then will he be able to impose his solutions and to do whatever Marxists do with legions of beggared masses.

In Obama’s world view, a return to prosperity would spell defeat. He cannot allow it because he knows that it is the rich who would prosper again and return the nation to a two-tier system of rich and poor; of winners and the losers. This would be unacceptable to POTUS who wants everyone to exist on an equal (economic) plane, some being more equal than others by virtue of skin color (and political orientation).

Virtually all the talking heads miss this point. They view Obama’s policies as failures while he sees them as successes. Limbaugh recognized it early on when he said he wants Obama to fail. The Left was stung by the clarity of his revelation. He had swerved too close to the truth. And he was attacked relentlessly for it.

In Obama’s world, America had become a cancer. He sees himself as the surgeon mandated to cut it out, leaving but an empty shell with no relation to past glories and what we all have traditionally regarded as success. American exceptionalism to Obama was and is anathema as long as it put our nation on a higher (economic) level than the rest of the world; as long as there is even one child starving in Africa. America had no right to endure its standard of living because, to Obama, it was never a result of hard work, talent and ingenuity. It was the result of theft.

A thief has no conception of the value of work. Therefore he has also no conception of what it takes to run an economy. He happily takes what does not belong to him and thinks it is good. Obama is essentially a thief. He has never worked a day in his life. He was pre-ordained to his present position by skillful apparatchiks who carefully groomed him to fit Shiva’s part. He is no more than a ventriloquist’s dummy. A hollow man. Dead wood, on which someone has chosen to hammer (and sickle) out an implausible Fabian tune.

The Nuclear Option: Destroying Both Camps

Gibbs is in a difficult position. And what’s worse, he knows it. He knows the administration, as a political entity, is becoming unraveled. Not he (Gibbs), nor the president can stop the unraveling. It has become a lost cause to attempt to maintain the trappings of a democracy.

The people have discovered that ‘progressivism’ is just another word for what used to be called ‘communism’ and they want no part of it. Re-defining terms has been a hallmark of this administration and of the movement it represents. It has become all too clear that the ‘Big Lie’ is being exposed. Gibbs trips. He intends to hide the ‘Big Lie’ behind an even bigger one - and nobody’s buying.

The president has managed to destroy both camps. Progressives are so eager to come out of the closet, they’ve all but punched through the doors. Conservatives, arrogant as always, can finally see - beyond their own noses - what’s lurking inside.

This is not good news for a president who needs the support of at least one political faction. Fortunately, when they made Obama, they broke the mold. He is totally disinterested in politics as usual. In fact, he distains it. What is still unclear is whether he personally means to cling to power in perpetuity, or whether he is prepared to subordinate his own ego to the Cause. If the latter, he will hand off to Hillary Clinton; if the former, he will declare himself dictator for life.

Punching Holes in Reality

In his writings, Jorge Luis Borges punched joyful holes in reality. He wrote mostly short pieces: hit and run. It is because of this that his writings never got the recognition they deserved. It only appeals to a select group of metaphysically-oriented intellectuals. The rest of us who are deeply engaged in life’s struggles tend to come away with very little.

Borges emphasized form over content. His writing is no doubt meticulously structured and at the same time dazzling in its denseness and complexity. As such, he is much as one who paints or sculpts. Borges managed it with words alone. If Borges had not suffered severely from progressive eye disease, I suspect he would have secured for himself a place in the visual arts.

Obama’s speeches are much like Borges’ writings. One never suspects that reality supports what he‘s saying. A leader’s job is different from that of an artist. We don’t look to a leader to necessarily entertain or dazzle. We look for results. Obama’s rhetoric leaves us empty. Even as he herds us towards the Marxist ideal, his vision lacks warmth, empathy and compassion. It is coldly theoretical. But unlike Borges, whose blindness released him from the world of color and form, Obama seems still trapped by the spectacle of high living which turns bitter on the tongue of all those who are asked to sacrifice.

We All Live In a Yellow Submarine

The spin machines are working tirelessly, producing a whole host of villains – no heroes yet. Blame-shifting proceeds unabated but has not yet produced the expected result – or has it? “Drill baby, drill!” is dead in the water. Gas prices are certain to rise, hammering yet another nail into the coffin of an economy already on life support. America will become more – not less - depended on imported oil. Thousands of American jobs lost - in energy, fishing and tourism. Billions lost to municipal tax collectors; unemployment benefits extended to last for the duration of the average human lifespan.

In our upside-down Obama world, all this could indeed amount to a positive sign from heavens: a reason to impose more crippling legislation; the rationale for choking off the life blood of our economy; a way to create more beggary, discord and chaos; a reason to clamp down hard on a populous that has been left dazed and confused with nowhere to turn.

Should five or ten years from now the magic bullet be found – the one that finally turns off the spigot - we will wonder why it hadn’t been thought of sooner. It is possible that we will see Barack Hussein Obama still hosting lavish parties at the White House with such luminaries as Paul McCarthy and Jay-Z in rapt attendance …and it will suddenly dawn on us(,) why.