The Radical Hobson Twins

It’s been apparent for some time now that the only thing the Democrats and their mouthpiece media care about is getting Democrats elected. It became nauseatingly apparent during the Bush administration when they celebrated every fallen American soldier in Iraq with moments of silent laughter at the end of daily newscasts. Clearly, they wanted to show the war lost to make Bush (and Republicans) look bad. The economy too was reported to be worse than it was. Revisions upward never received due attention.

The strategy is now being continued. Clearly, every Republican idea for saving the economy, social security and Medicare is demonized by the Left - this, while these same people refuse to propose any remedies of their own. What seems obvious to most of us is that if nothing is done, these programs will default. By opposing every fix, Democrats are inviting bankruptcy on a national scale. Their answer is always ‘tax the rich’ which continues to have a certain popular appeal – never mind that, by raising taxes ever higher, talent and capital will flee off-shore, accelerating our march to fiscal Armageddon – never mind that our nation is already broke, and being kept afloat by smoke on mirrors and by every infinity we can find to define.

The thinking among Democrats continues to be that the end-all is simply to keep getting elected as to afford them a chance to continue feasting at the public troth. Most are unable to see beyond their elections. They don’t understand that, once in office, their job should just be beginning: to represent the people(’s will) and protect our nation.

Republicans - perennial losers - stand green with envy and awe of what the Dems are consistently able to do in their own behalf. Like hungry beggars, they slaver over the crumbs that the Dems leave out for the ones most likely to whore themselves out to traitorous causes.

Senators and Congressmen who get up and grandstand about cutting foreign aid and assistance to the poor are doing so simply to divert attention from their own excesses. The gravy train keeps rolling – certainly not for the genuine poor (who will always be exactly where they are, and who will always be poor; but) – to feather their own political nests.

Don’t look to fancy constructs of conspiracy. Don’t look to various ‘isms’ to explain it. Simply put, we are eating our own. NY-26 has introduced yet another arrow into the Democrat Party quiver. Democrats have discovered that the tea party now is their best friend. By injecting some fake, phony ‘tea party’ member into any election mix, their reservation at the beggar’s banquet is virtually guaranteed.

Reminds of all those so-called ‘democracy’ movements in the Middle East that are being hijacked by the MB. It looks like we’re down to choosing between identical Hobson twins.

Between radical ideology and radical greed, which one would you choose? For my money, I’d be content just to stay home and read about it in the paper the next morning.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

I Hit Her; Didn't I?

Why do we keep on plowing the same tired old field over and over again, expecting a different crop; asking if POTUS knows? Yes, he knows precisely! I’m getting tired of Obama’s so-called ‘mistakes’ (because he doesn’t know). He knows!

If I were Netanyahu, I would cancel my trip to Washington. We know of Obama’s close ties to the likes of Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, and Rashid Khalidi. We know their views even if Obama lies to our faces. Why should our president’s views be any different from theirs?

When you love somebody, you believe anything they say. Fair enough. The media is simply in love with Obama. When he says, “Our commitment to Israel is unshakable,” they believe it, ignoring the mountain of all his past associations, influences; and, now, decisions. When we see him acting in ways that go counter to the interests of our nation, we are asked to ignore it and say, “He is our president who represents all we hold dear.”

Netanyahu should cancel to show he has awakened from everyone’s dream expectation; from everyone’s wishful thinking. Did Roosevelt meet with Hitler? Did Churchill meet with Mussolini? No, it’s not done. One does not meet with one’s enemies until after they’ve been defeated and they’ve turned over their swords in solemn ceremony for all the world to see.

There are two ways to achieve peace. One is to win; the other is to lose. If Bush had had even half the support Obama has, he would have gone down as one of the greatest presidents ever. His strategy for the ME was flawless. It might have worked had he not been undermined from within for table scraps. Obama’s strategy is to bat for the losing side (if we are to believe that ‘good’ always wins over ‘evil’).

We see this in every one of Obama’s decisions, foreign and domestic. In the short run it will hurt. There is no need to prolong this war. There is no need to agonize; to try and fit square pegs into round holes and vice versa.

Reminds of an old joke: Manny was a bus driver. As every morning at rush hour, his bus was so crowded with people going to work, some had to stand. The ones near the front could marvel at Manny’s skillful driving.

One day, Manny was coming down a street. There was an old, fat woman crossing the road ahead. Instead of slowing down, Manny sped up. The bus hit the woman squarely. The people who saw the whole thing were outraged. “What’s the matter with you?” they shouted. “Didn’t you see the lady?”

Manny just smiled and turned his head slightly to address them, “I hit her; didn’t I?” he said.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

George Soros: Media Mogul

Rush picked up on it early – the liberal bias in the mainstream media. He identified certain phrases that various media would regularly use in response to major news stories and strung them together, and played them on air. It was astounding to hear talking head after talking head saying exactly the same thing, using the very same language. It was hilarious. We put it down to Democrat ‘talking points'. Nobody yet talked of conspiracy.

Story after story focused on Republican stumbles. Story after story promoted Democrats. Important stories that showed Republicans in a positive light were spiked altogether. Eventually it would come to be known as ‘media bias’. Any Republican who dared to speak out on his party’s behalf was immediately slammed by the press. Democrats, however, could do no wrong.

At about the same time, liberal news outlets began experiencing severe revenue shortfalls. Talk radio and the internet surged. Newspapers, like the New York Times became an editorial and financial laughing stock. Technology was blamed for news consumers’ full flight away from traditional media. I remember having expressed doubts at the time. It seemed too pat an explanation. We ourselves had cancelled two newspaper subscriptions and stopped buying magazines – and it wasn’t because we were getting our news from the internet. We were just tired of being insulted every time we turned the pages.

Now it has come out that there is essentially one man who has been behind it all along: George Soros, one of the richest, most influential men in the world.

Dan Gainor, Boone Pickens Fellow and the Media Research Center’s Vice President for Business and Culture, writes in two recent articles (“Why Don’t We Hear About Soros’ Ties to Over 30 Major News Organizations?” and “Why Is Soros Spending Over $48 Million Funding Media Organizations?”): “Since 2003, Soros has spent more than $48 million funding media properties, including the infrastructure of news – journalism schools, investigative journalism and even industry organizations.”

Soros is known as a ‘philanthropist’ worldwide, a label he carefully cultivates. It puts him outside the sphere of suspicion. We have since learned that his is not a benign influence. We’ve become aware of his outright hatred for the Bushes and Republicans in general, and Israel. It is now no longer surprising the way the media tracks.

In light of Soros’ hold on major media, his propaganda machine is virtually unstoppable. We can try to starve it in the market place, but there is always more money the man can come up with. There has even been the suggestion that, where he can, Soros spikes rival media outlets with offensive advertising.

In a way, now that we understand the game, it has become somewhat easier to figure out. Forget Republican; forget Democrat. The American media is the issue. It bleeds its poison worldwide. Keep track of what the media routinely smears and what it promotes, and you get a pretty good feel for what George Soros wants you to condemn and what he wants to promote. …and, for God's sakes, run the other way.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Category Error: Attacking Norway for Pearl Harbor

Bahukutumbi Raman, in a recent dispatch labeled “PAK ARMY & ISI: DANGEROUS MIX OF HUMILIATION & DESPERATION”, warns that Pakistan may be planning to redeem itself by orchestrating a successful strike against India, especially in the contentious Kashmir region.

No doubt, Pakistan’s citizens are seriously concerned about the ability of their government and armed forces to protect them. No doubt there has been talk on the streets of intelligence failure at best or illicit collusion with the Americans at worst.

Yet, all this follows a familiar pattern. Most military incursions into sovereign territory for any reason are done in stealth. The inevitable questions and accusations follow. Did Roosevelt know about Pearl Harbor in advance? Did Bush know about 9/11? And in her column in yesterday’s Jerusalem Post, Caroline Glick accuses Ehud Barak, Israel’s Defense Minister of failing to anticipate trouble along the country’s Syrian border on Nakba Day.

The truth is, no government can promise ironclad security to its citizens. A successful strategy, however, must involve the threat of consequences for anyone intending such a move. If Pakistan were to attack India in the wake of its so-called ‘humiliation’, such redemption would be short lived. For one thing, India had nothing to do with the bin Laden raid.

President Bush underwent a hell of tortures for his decision to attack Iraq in the wake of 9/11. His opponents constantly labeled it as “the wrong war”. In the end, rightly or wrongly, it proved to be his undoing.

My own sense of Pakistan’s leadership is that it is too mature to attack India as a direct consequence of the U.S. bin Laden raid. It has far better options: Turning its focus away from Washington to cooperating more with China is one. If India is attacked, it will not be because of anything that happened in Abbottabad.

I wish I had a similar degree of confidence in America’s foreign policy.

Checkmate!

It has since come to my attention that Mr. Strauss-Kahn was the front-runner socialist candidate to oppose France’s Sarkozy. It occurs that socialists – like moderate Republicans - have a difficult time of it these days. On one hand, they are still wedded to the notion that money (paper) equals power. On the other, they are tasked with maintaining this illusion even as the power of money seems in decline. They find themselves between a rock and a hard place, attempting to satisfy two opposing currents: conservatives, who tend to be supply-siders, clamoring to save the system by next-to-impossible cuts in government spending; and Communists/Islamists, demanding that we jettison traditional economic theory altogether.

Between saving the system and jettisoning it is where socialists make their home. They represent the moderates – the wavering and undecided - in a war that one side or the other is destined to lose. Either way, socialists are already road kill. If the incident making headlines this morning on the front pages of virtually every daily [save the (Hometown) Coffee News] has been engineered, it might have been done by either side.

Socialists are especially vulnerable because of their inability to commit. Academe is full of them and so is the media. If there should come a conflagration, socialists will be the first to feel it. They will be targeted by both sides. They will be forced to proclaim their allegiance. To them, that will be akin to stripping naked. Some will refuse to do it.

I’d like to think that an actual shooting war can still be avoided; that we will fight it out on a political and economic level. If this be the case, Bush Derangement Syndrome was the prelude. Virtually everybody in America and around the world fell for it and drunkenly played along. It brought us Obama. Now that we’re well into the first movement, the stakes are already higher.

Winning this war will not depend on who we are against. It will depend on whom we are for. We have arrived at the heart of the matter. People are attacking us throughout the world. Why? Because we – America – are perceived as being supportive of Israel. All over the world, Israel has become the pariah of our time. Even many of us have begun to waver. It has become chic to support revolution in the Middle East and promote the idea of a Palestinian (terror) state on Israel’s doorstep. We do not realize that by supporting these things, we chip away at Israel’s ability to defend itself. We can no longer afford to laugh when Israel is attacked or made fun of the way we stood back and allowed it to happen to Bush.

No use crying over spilt milk. We’ve already lost too many battles. Our educational system is in ruins; our Constitution barely exists; our government barely functions; our economy limps along. The next battle will be fought over Israel. The final phase started with the demonization of Bush to which we all happily acquiesced. After Israel has fallen, the next and final target will be America.

The last shoe to drop before America falls is Israel. And almost nobody talks about it. George Mitchell has quit. Hillary is off in Pakistan. Our president plays golf.

If we commit now to standing by Israel in its hour of need, we still have a chance of saving America. It’s not going down in the way one may think. The last battle – as all the others - will be won by attrition. It is my contention that if Israel falls, it will rip the soul out of our nation and we won’t be inclined to raise even a finger in our own defense.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Bad Liar Black Hats

Don’t expect Boehner and Republicans to turn things around. For one thing, they don’t have the power. All the power has been consolidated by the White House. For another, they may not be riding the white horses either. They may just be losers in a race consisting entirely of black horses.

I’m wondering how many of you feel that you’re just hanging by a thread; that you’re just one paycheck away from ruin - or one illness; one car accident; one death in the family; one natural disaster? The feeling has become palpable for more than a few people. You are not alone.

We are a proud people and not given to complain. We tend to believe that the neighbor across the street is doing alright. As we watch neighbors increasingly packing up and moving away, we realize that the hooded man with the scythe is on the loose. He just hasn’t gotten to our house yet.

Fear sells. You know that yourself. Don’t tell me you’ve never been tempted to buy gold (and not just because it’s pretty); store food and water in the basement; subscribe to Lifelock; First Alert; and to whatever the name of that company is that claims to save your files when your computer crashes.

Now there are those who will not readily submit to fear-mongering of any kind. Good for them. But even the most confident and self-reliant among us now know that something’s wrong. Look at Trump. I’m sure he’s taken care of for life. Yet, he too thinks that something should be done to hobble the political class (left and right) that’s running away with our country.

We now build government policy around fear. We allow ourselves to be in effect strip-searched at airports; now there’s talk about doing the same thing for people using trains. All the while, we know very well who bad apples are. (I’ve raised this point before, but still haven’t got an answer: Why are Muslim women exempt?) No, it is we, our wives and mothers, and our children who have to prove we are innocent at these unconstitutional checkpoints! What gives?! It doesn’t add up. The guy who tried to blow up Times Square was granted U.S. citizenship barely a year before, while my own wife is denied the same courtesy. People who cross our southern border illegally will now be granted blanket amnesty, while all those who submit to the ‘process’ are told to wait - seemingly forever.

They’ve got our own phones keeping track of us. They can listen in any time they want. They’ll be reading the odometers in our cars. They’ll tell us where we can build factories and where we can’t build our houses. They worship snail darters before letting us sow our seeds. They won’t let us drill holes in our own ground. It just goes on and on. We’re increasingly kept on a very short leash.

Let me suggest that those who denounce Barack Hussein Obama may very well be racist after all. He’s a black man, to be sure; but he isn’t all that different from previous presidents we’ve had; this new miracle Congress isn’t all that different from previous congresses; the candidates the Republican Party appears to be fielding for the 2012 election cycle aren’t that much different from Obama.

They’ll all do as Tim Geithner tells them: raise the debt ceiling (which, btw, has been raised over a hundred times before since its inception). So what’s the big deal this time around? Despite all the posturing, they’ll raise our taxes and find another name for it.

I now understand why the people were so desperate to get rid of Bush. They wanted someone different; someone who would change our direction; to make it better – not worse. What we got was worse - at a lightning speed, no less. Obama’s only crime is that he’s a bad liar. We can see right through his schemes. And it doesn’t end well.

How much are you personally prepared to give up when the hammer finally falls? What are you willing to do for that sandwich, that gallon of gas? Are you ready to sell out your neighbor to save your own skin? These are questions you must be prepared to answer when it becomes apparent that the white hats have been ambushed and delayed; or, when you realize that we’ve just plumb run out of white hat material.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Guest Contributer: Tom From NJ: Seed Corn

Despite all the adoring hoopla accorded by the MSM to their precious Obama as he cavorts like a war president on his post-UBL victory lap, The Messiah could well be heading for a major political fall here. And make no mistake, politics -- specifically the hyper-partisan, hyper-personal politics typical of Barack Obama -- is what is in play here and nothing else. In short, in trying to make not only the elimination of UBL but also the whole 9/11 story all about HIM, The Bamster may be setting the stage for his own "Mission Accomplished" moment that embarrassed George W. Bush long after he landed that jet on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

First, the UBL assassination is yet another example of POTUS living off the seed corn left behind by the supposedly cretinous Dubya. Only now it's not the tax cuts, it's our national security at stake, and here Obama is heedlessly devouring that seed corn. Having now profited shamelessly and hypocritically off the Bush-era policies of harsh interrogations that he himself hotly opposed, Obama continues to pooh-pooh their necessity and morality while allowing his leftist-racist-corrupt AG Eric Holder to hound with a criminal investigation the very CIA interrogators who made the UBL takedown possible, not to mention the gutting of the defense budget that POTUS is alleged to have in mind. These contradictions will become clearer to voters sooner or later, despite MSM resistance, and we unfortunately cannot rule out some sort of successful terrorist strike in this country over the next year or two, especially since The Bamster himself has wasted so much of our national security seed corn. In which case, Obama's victory lap – BTW, isn't that "spiking the football?" -- could well come back to haunt him and, to paraphrase Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his war-on-terror political "chickens” could “come home to roost" in 2012.

Second, there's the complete bungle the Obama Administration is making out of its post-UBL communications. Dubya’s communications operation was often inept, but the Obama Administration’s is totally clueless with its numerous makeovers, walk-backs, and flat contradictions within its ever-changing UBL takedown story. In addition, I think it’s a serious mistake over the long haul to suppress all photos of the happily deceased bin-Dirtbag. It’s not because a new set of wackos we might call “deathers” need to be convinced that UBL is really dead; they won’t listen anyway. Rather, an image or two released to the world of the great jihadi bin-Laden with his head blown open would finally prove definitively who is the “weak horse.” In that case, such photos would probably not be ideal “recruiting tools” for new AQ recruits but another source of discouragement like their beating at US hands in Iraq. Perhaps The Bamster thinks that withholding the UBL photos gives him a chance to play rope-a-dope effectively like he did with the “birthers” and Donald Trump over his birth certificate. Maybe or maybe not -- but can’t POTUS come up with some sort of original strategic thinking for a change?

Therefore, I agree with Henry Kissinger in his interview at NRO – Obama is an able tactician but he lacks any real strategic sense abroad or, I would say, at home either. Kind of what we might expect from a Community Organizer as opposed to a true statesman, or even a moderately competent President, as started to become apparent to the electorate by November 2010. So, POTUS had better not rush to proclaim "Mission Accomplished" especially since, as Kissinger and others have pointed out, the "mission" has never been clearly defined by Obama, certainly not at the strategic level.

Why Not Again?

There is a house in Thiruvanmaiyur along the beach road where I usually take my morning constitutional – a big house of indeterminate color, with all kinds of frills, picture windows and Rapunzel towers; one, that stands out and would catch the eye of sidewalk artists and movie audiences – that seems mostly abandoned. The yard is choked with weeds and refuse; neighbors heaving their trash over the wall. It is said to be used occasionally for photo shoots for some of the oodles of movies the highly successful Tamil film industry cranks out on a daily basis.

One time I was out there early morning, watching the fishermen unloading their catches and I noticed a helicopter hovering over that particular place. I didn’t think too much about it at the time; but lately, I’ve been thinking that it could also very well function as India’s version of our witness protection program or as a safe house for Tamil Tiger plotters. Hide in plain sight. Why not make the lie so big, so obvious, that no one will question it?

Mockery is one of the most potent weapons in the human arsenal. It has always been so. Christ on the cross was said to have been mocked. Obviously, Bush was mocked constantly. Since Obama’s election, mockery has been pretty much off the table as the president has shown himself to be far more adept in the art (of mockery) than any of his critics.

Besides, it’s in bad form to mock a black man. One might be accused of racism. Though, this too might be dependent on other factors as we are discovering that black or white may not be the issue at all. Justice Thomas, for instance, might be mocked and no one will say much about it. It’s only Obama that cannot be mocked. What’s the difference? Both men – last time I looked – are black. Here we come to the nub or it: only certain black men can be mocked while others can’t. The modifier that explains all this appears to be ‘conservative’.

Note how liberals strut around, routinely mocking tea parties, Republican lawmakers and presidents, popular talk show hosts and commentators, second amendment supporters, presidential aspirants, religious leaders and their congregations, etc. Make no mistake, these are attacks and they do damage.

You might say that Limbaugh (and some others) mocks the Left. The difference is that Limbaugh gives reasons for his mockery. The Left gives no reasons. Ordinarily, the press would step in to mediate. But, we all know that the media tilts the playing field to favor the Left. Limbaugh’s words and audience are routinely treated as if they do not exist. Instead, people like the girls on ‘The View’ are given star headline treatment.

The day after Osama’s killing, Limbaugh went on air and mocked Obama. There it was! The Left was outraged (if they said anything). What was supposed to be America’s proudest moment since the start of the war on terror, was being mocked unabashedly. Other talk show hosts, known for being critical of the president, refrained from doing so. Not Limbaugh!

Maybe it’s just me, but I too found the whole deal somewhat hollow. For me personally, it did not seem to rise to the status of a significant event. And any attempt to see it as such seemed somehow contrived and cheap, and quite worthy of mockery – an ‘emperor has no clothes’ moment, if you wish. A proper trial would have sat well and settled it. The subtext is, of course, that we can no longer expect a proper trial in this country. Obama has taken that from us as well.

It should have been a moment of quiet restraint and reflection. It needed to be handled with much greater fineness than simply dumping a corpse into the drink. Mike had it right, I think: ‘Defeat snatched out of the jaws of victory’, he wrote. Neither does it impress that al-Qaeda confirmed the kill publicly. I seem to remember AQ websites being largely supportive of Obama winning the election in 2008. They got their wish. Why not again?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Short Bits: Killing Osama

I seem to remember a soldier being court-martialed for giving a captured terrorist, a fat lip. Now I could be wrong; I never heard anything about it again. I understand, the rules of engagement are really quite stringent – unless, of course, they are overruled by the Commander-in-Chief.

A police officer who has killed in the course of duty often requires many hours of counseling. Now that Obama has a targeted kill under his belt, he cannot help being a changed man. (Somebody must have given the order to ‘kill on sight’.) He can now go one of two ways. Either he will grow hesitant and indecisive, or he will take on the role of mob boss with renewed gusto.

Killing has always been the ultimate wet dream of the Left. I remember people incessantly toying with the idea while Bush was still in office. And just this week liberal talk show host, Mike Malloy, proposed on air that the Navy Seals kill “mass-murderer” George W. Bush.

Despite the apparent applause from all virtually quarters, I cannot shake a distinct sense of unease.
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Now for a different view by Corlyss D, Guest Contributer, responding to John Batchelor's question, "Why not capture him (OBL)?"

Hypothesize me no hypotheticals. They are frankly less than worthless. Reality demands response. You can sit and think and think all day long about "what ifs."

I say good on SEAL Team 6! We need more of that kind of covert assassination rather than a moralizing epitaph for the dead. A writer who fancies himself a historian and moralist declared a couple of years ago that the only "winners" of WW2 were the European Jews because most of them died and, in so doing, aquired a sort of beatification of the defenseless. The writer implied that was a state that all peoples should aspire to if they want their reputations to survive conflict. Bugger that.

"Why not capture him?" (John Batchelor asks.) "Infamous war criminals make for epochal landmark war crimes prosecution (the delusional, deprraved, stupid Martin Borman: and surely the Nuremberg gang was far more frightening the Bin Laden)."

Why capture him? The Nuremberg trials might have been epochal, but they were a huge political mistake. They gave the illusion of state action without a legitmate state. They polluted the judicial process with a star chamber whose outcome was never in doubt. They wasted a lot of money creating the impression that there was such a thing as consensus in an international community that was hardly more developed than the Libyan resistence is today. Churchill was right: the trials have indeed come back to haunt the hell out of us, establishing a precedent that lives in the feckless ICC and the misguided internationalist blather that motivates many policy makers in the EU and other trend-setters seeking legitimacy for an international community incapable of doing anything but relief work by consensus. Quasi-states are impotent in so many categories of critical civil society functions that to bestow on them serious state functions like law enforcement and war-making capability is simply delusional.
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Final thought: I guess what has me upset is that this Osama killing accrues to Obama. It’s just one more way for Obama to maintain the illusion that he is an ‘American’. He is not. Everything he’s done has been detrimental to our nation. I say it’s deliberate. Read Kimberly A. Strassel’s opinion piece entitled “Obama’s ‘Gangster Politics’” in today’s WSJ; and then go on to read Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr.’s “Barney Frank’s Latest Bad Idea”. Then turn the page and read Michael B. Mukasey’s “The Waterboarding Trail to bin Laden”. And that’s just today! Every day brings a fresh outrage or more. And now we’re supposed to forget it all and say he’s the best thing since sliced bread? Not me, brother!

Perhaps Cicero said it best:

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Something Rotten in Denmark

Some of you who’ve been reading my posts since this bin Laden thing happened are surely scratching your heads. Believe me; I’ve taken note of the many cold shoulders. A while back, I wrote a piece on assumptions; saying, that all our beliefs rest on assumptions, and that these assumptions rest on (other) assumptions as well, and so on…

The truth is, I don’t know what happened and how, and who was involved and who wasn’t. People, especially those who make it their business to comment on events, do not like to admit that they don’t know anything; for if they don’t know, why take the chance of being wrong and looking foolish? So, we base our evaluations and predictions on what we might call ‘core assumptions’. But even those, under certain circumstances, can come into question.

Hardly anybody (except maybe the Japanese) expects the earth to suddenly start moving underfoot. Nobody here expects America to end. And, until a relatively short time ago, everybody held science in high regard, especially with respect to scientific pronouncements about ‘global warming’. When things happen to challenge ‘core assumptions’, however, people become uncomfortable. They begin shifting around in their seats, contemplating a bathroom break.

Since Obama’s election, this has begun happening to more and more people. There have always been certain assumptions that have gone along with our concept of the American presidency. As time went by, it became increasingly difficult to square these with what we were seeing. Some came to wonder whether we were witnessing the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people.

We tried, in our own small, measured way, to catch someone’s attention. Our telephone calls and e-mails, our marches on Washington, our confrontations at town hall meetings, our votes - all was summarily brushed off; ignored. Now we are being told that Obama could win again in 2012.

Meanwhile, the economy is not coming back; our jobs are not coming back; everything is getting more and more expensive. Some of us are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. We’ve been told that we have found and killed Osama bin Laden. On the very same day the office of Homeland Security elevates the terror threat to Americans worldwide. What gives?

None of us wants to believe that our president is actually working against us. It’s easier for us to see him as a bumbler who can be removed with due diligence in 2012. This, again, is our assumption. We also assume that we can keep it together till that day arrives.

All this was yet true under Bush. I’ve made it no secret that I prefer Bush to Obama. Though, I will admit, that looking at the whole thing as a continuum, Bush made Obama possible.

It could be that Bush too was snookered. Then, why is he keeping quiet and not saying anything? If anybody knows something, it could only be Bush. Is he even free to speak? I have already said that his refusal to appear with Obama in New York City today speaks volumes – and it’s not what the media says it is.

Enough has happened to prompt me into digging deep down into my assumptions. All I can come up with is that I just don’t know - and you don't either. But something smells awfully rotten in Denmark.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Stinks To High Heaven

‘Purposeful’? Please! The (UK) Telegraph reports that Barack Obama is set to release up to 2000 photographs of prisoner abuse by U.S. military personnel. This comes at a time when he decides not to release pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden. While it is likely that both issues are still in flux – as the WH has been known to waver – the fact that this is even being discussed at this time is nothing short of a slap at America.

There is your reason for why former President Bush will not be seen with Obama (at Ground Zero or anywhere. I would even go so far as to suggest that everyone stay away from today’s wreath laying.) I have often said that the primary aim of this post-American administration is to sow chaos. We have chaos in our financial markets; we have chaos in our energy sector; we have chaos in our government… Everywhere you look there is chaos and no attempt is being made to steer away from what appears to be total collapse.

This incident involving the release of photographs shows as clearly as anything I have seen what Obama is up to overall. It can no longer be regarded as isolated happenstance; a mistake; second thoughts; inexperience – what have you. The pattern is unmistakable.

There is now an attempt to pull Pakistan into it. It is said, they couldn’t possibly NOT have been involved. Pakistan could actually be cleaner than we think. Maybe Pakistan knew that bin Laden was already dead. They were simply paid not to interfere with Obama’s Hollywood photo shoot. I’ve seen the pictures purported to be of the dead bin Laden. I see a dead man. I don’t necessarily see bin Laden. For all I know, it could all be a hoax. The argument against it, of course, is that too many people had to have been involved. Somebody would be bound to talk.

It’s not that there haven’t been hoaxes before. Do I have to list them? ‘Global warming’, for one. Many also suspect the financial meltdown just before the 2008 election. What about the current American presidency itself? You would have to agree that the way in which Obama was elected was highly unusual. (No background checks; no checks at all.) And you’ve got to ask yourself: Would America really have elected a Marxist, had they known? Come to think of it, the last thing I saw on television that was real was the World Trade Towers coming down. Since then, it’s all been pap, and us trying so hard to believe that we haven’t been played for fools.

BTW, I continue to be astounded by Larry Kudlow’s continued optimism. I see nothing on the horizon that would justify this. I agree that if a proper election were held in 2012, our skies would brighten. At this point the leg of a stool would be an improvement over the current WH occupant. And yet, every day we are told that Obama could and will win reelection. I, for one, am wondering if we’ll even make it that far.

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/

Ding Dong The Witch is Dead

Good story, this morning’s news. I don’t know if my heart can take it. In less than a week’s time we’ve unearthed no less than two holy grails: Obama’s alleged birth certificate and Osama Bin Laden’s alleged body. Both make Obama look like Superman, himself of now questionable citizenship.

Note that by POTUS’ own admission, we have now entered the silly season. In Obama’s mind, he sees himself as running against both Bush and Trump. Both opponents – one clearly virtual; the other quite real – have been one-two punched in early sparring. It makes Obama seem heroic and effective. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

The way our present political system is structured, we need a boogie man inspire and maintain cohesion. If bin Laden is indeed dead – as everyone is currently reporting – it would serve as somewhat of a blow to our hawkish stance re Afghanistan. I note that the president made sure to take personal credit for the kill. All that was missing was the banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished”. The mystery that remains is who will be next to serve as a foil?

Unfortunately, holy grails no longer suffice to change the facts on the ground. These themselves are frequently contrived to distract from the obvious. Personally, I’m still somewhat confused. I’ve heard the phrase “architect of 9/11” applied to both KSM and Osama bin Laden. Which one is it? I’ve heard the term ‘justice’ thrown around to apply to practically anything and I note it’s even used do denote Eric Holder’s Federal fiefdom which to my mind hasn’t exactly distinguished itself.

I can hardly wait to see what the mainstream press will be making of these latest developments in the face of our continuing economic collapse and other tensions. It’s too bad that both Batchelor and Bahukutumbi Raman happen to be ‘away’ at this momentous juncture. Frankly, there are precious few others whose analysis I respect.

Suffice it to say, that we are now in full re-election mode and anything can still happen – even the improbable. Was happy to hear that bin Laden was buried at sea in full accordance with Islamic custom. I’m sure that the American military had been adequately instructed in advance. If bin Laden had been a Parsee, this exercise might have presented some logistical problems. But, never mind; what’s done is done and seems to have worked out nicely for our president and all concerned. If nothing more, Obama has discovered the power of documentation.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Hu Jintao Is Awesome

In Japan, when people screw up, they resign – sometimes permanently - from everything. At the very least, they say, “I’m sorry” and ask what they can do to make amends. This would not work in the U.S., primarily because we have taken the concept of ‘failure’ off the table. We no longer know what ‘failure’ is. Nor do we know ‘success’.

We use these terms loosely as carrots and sticks, depending on whether or not we like any given person. ‘Liking’ or not becomes the ultimate criteria that dictates how we respond. If we like somebody and they do something bad, we either ignore it or shift the blame to someone whom we do not like. Similarly, if we hate a person, and this person then does something good, the credit for it gets shifted to someone we consider ‘good’ (even if he had nothing to do with it). In short, individual action – no matter what the result – will never be judged other than in light of one’s standing within the assumed hierarchy of liking or not liking.

That’s how we got to the point where anything a Democrat does is always good and anything a Republican does is always bad. The concept has now been expanded to include race, gender and religious affiliation. We have been told over and over again just who the bad guys are. Performance has very little to do with it, though we still use performance metrics as a club to enforce politically assigned assumptions.

We have since learned that a nation does not run itself; that competent leadership is essential. In fact, we have learned that things can always get worse. Bush wasn’t so great – or so we were told. ‘Anybody but Bush’ would do just fine. Many of us are still trying mightily to prove this theory right. After all, we’ve done exactly what we were told we should do. We’ve elected (good) Democrats to run the most important offices in the land. Things haven’t exactly worked out. We might even say that things have gotten worse. Now we are struggling with the notion that this is how things should actually be.

Katrina was easy. It was Bush’s fault all the way. Bush hated black people and wanted to give them their comeuppance. Now, with the tornados in the South, we can’t exactly blame Obama. He’s doing the best he can; besides, he has come out against ‘global warming’ which would presumably assure that nothing like this ever happens again. It’s only Republicans who continue to stand in the way of his ‘green power’ initiatives that’s keeping this president from solving our weather problem for good.

It’s pretty much the same thing with everything else. Life has become entirely too complicated for representative government to work. The leaders of China have a much easier time of it.

They can build dams, roads and cities at the snap of a finger. They can build high-speed rail and carrier battle groups. They can move populations. They can stifle opposition. No wonder President Obama thinks Hu Jintao is perfectly awesome.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Cinderella's Bloody Glass Slipper

Since I had to carry a gun for my work, I needed to qualify every six months. Missing the target was not an option. It never is.

This morning I went downstairs for breakfast. I turned on the radio. And there it was: The obligatory jabs at both Trump and Palin – and all this by a New York local radio host who’s considered ‘conservative’. It seems we’ve all been down this road before. We just never learn. Back then, our fav piñata was Bush. What we wouldn’t give to have him back again!

Obama remains untouched. Every word of his is routinely afforded the gravitas it no longer deserves. We try so hard to fit this wicked stepsister’s foot into Cinderella’s glass slipper. It must be the slipper’s fault. And yet, midnight is fast approaching when everything turns to pumpkins.

The Left has no compunction in slicing off toes. In fact, they have the surgeons constantly standing at the ready. Never mind the spectacle of blood, smear and dishonesty which disgusts and, at the same time, fascinates. They work in tandem with the media, like a well oiled machine. Slice here and dice there, and the shoe is made to fit despite the corns.

There, on the front page of the WSJ, the headline reads, “Karzai Told to Dump U.S” – by Pakistan no less. Inside, there’s a story about the trial and conviction of ‘Big Fish’ Lee Farkas, former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage. Only, it turns out, that Farkas wasn’t such a ‘Big Fish’ after all; that our government was behind it all (in the form of Fannie and Freddie Mac).

It’s just that the government has now assumed the status of ‘sacred cow’ and can never be touched. Instead we send up thousands to atone for the government’s sins. As Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. – author of “A Mortgage ‘Big Fish’ Disappoints” – laments, the whole thing “fails to confirm the media intuition that the housing boom and bust were brought on by the criminality by mortgage CEOs.”

Same with the spike in gas prices at the pump. It couldn’t possibly be due to Obama’s policies (even though he explicitly told us that he wants us to pay more for gas). It couldn’t possibly be due to the collapse of the dollar due to the government policy of printing images on paper and pretending it’s real money.

Overseas hangs the giant Libyan question mark – and Egypt, Iran, Syria and the entire Middle East. Then, there’s Russia and China; South America. What is it this president believes?

Bolton says there’s no rhyme or reason to Obama’s foreign policy. Really? Everywhere we look we lose. Sounds suspiciously like a plan.

At the very least, Kaddafi knows what he wants and he’s willing to go for it, even if it kills him. Anyone who can articulate what he wants, short of sh*t-canning their own nation has a leg up on Obama at this point. I’m not saying that Obama isn’t smart or doesn’t have goals. …and isn’t it remarkable how Obama just managed to get us to sh*t-can our own just by the ruse of releasing his birth certificate?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Piggy's Broken Glasses

While it’s entertaining to indulge in clever segue; delicious irony; add to it a dash of cynicism, perhaps; and execute astounding word pirouettes - the time has come when we long for a voice, saying clearly and distinctly, “Look, the house is on fire; get hold of some buckets; and some of you go out and find these bastard pyros before the whole town burns down to the ground. And make sure you catch at least one of them alive so we can waterboard him and find out who the hell’s behind it.”

If every world leader friendly to America were brought down by some sin, what would it prove? That the wages of sin only work one way? That the sinners on the other side are automatically absolved forever? The point is that Berlusconi is about to be brought down – to be replaced by whom? Anarchists? Leftists? America haters?

Our instincts have been right all along: close the borders before starting to consider amnesty; plug the leak in the bottom of the boat before we start arguing about who does the bailing - and how.

We all admit that our economy is broken. Obviously, the track we’ve taken of appointing those who broke it in the first place to fix it hasn’t worked. It’s time to regroup and try something else.

In the same way that finding bin Laden would have meant eternal salvation for George W. Bush; in the same way as unmasking Obama would give Trump the American presidency; in the same way Obama envisions handing Israel over to the Islamists would secure for him a luxury apartment in downtown Mecca - the only plan right now must involve stopping the hemorrhaging.

We’re bleeding trust, confidence, talent, savings, jobs, respect… Take a look at the video that’s up on Drudge right now. Is this not an apt metaphor for where we now find ourselves? Union thugs. Tea parties. ACLU. ACORN. “Lord of the Flies”: “The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting his achievement. He was a chief now in truth; and he made stabbing motions with his spear. From his left hand dangled (not the conch, but) Piggy’s broken glasses.”

Time for some adults to step into the ring. We’ve already - long back - agreed to put cops in our schools. Better start hiring more. People will soon be demanding protection in every fast food joint on the planet. And there are a lot more of them around than there are schools.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Facebook Lynching

In today’s America, every idea openly expressed that does not strictly conform to a government-approved template opens a cut that bleeds. I guess we still have it better than the people in some countries where they come after you in the dead of night with handcuffs, knives and guns.

In America, they de-friend you on Facebook. Make no mistake, this is our version of jihadists slitting throats – and, in some ways, even more hurtful. (Drew, Steven, Dawn, Tom, Jim, Linda - you know who you are.) You might say that those who would do this were never real friends in the first place. And you might be right. I still see any number of people from my high school and college days who never managed to shed their ‘hippy’ mindset, though most have since washed and upgraded their wardrobes. Most are competent in their professions, conservative in the management of their assets, and responsible toward their children and/or clients. When it comes to politics, however, we are apt to disagree.

I know I’ve changed my stance. And I’m not ashamed to admit it. I feel I’ve grown. At the same time, I do not hold it against anyone who might still be wed to the Leary trope. I’ve even been known to play along should anyone launch into his/her obligatory anti-Bush rant. It would never occur to me to leave feeling insulted, much less with the burden of murderous intent.

Since Obama’s election, we’ve become more divided than ever. This is a fact. I see it in my own life. As the popularity of my blog increases and the news of it reaches into various corners of the web, the defriending has begun. Some have even gone so far as to change their e-mail addresses. This points – not so much to what I am saying, but – to a growing insecurity on the part of the offended. I won’t go so far as proclaiming them ‘revolutionaries’. I know of no one who is. Most live respectable lives. They mean well. It’s just that they can’t seem to let go of something they obviously hold as sacred; that, at one time, may have defined their youth. It’s precious to them as an old, faded image on a photograph might be.

The realization that the world has changed, threatens the sacred nostalgia of the sixties and seventies. Even more ominous is the suspicion that it hasn’t exactly worked out. They might even be finding themselves without a job with no good prospects in sight. But they are likely to blame themselves – or Republicans. I find it telling that Charles Manson has finally broken his silence after 20 years, just to speak in support of our president’s 'global warming' initiatives. By doing so, he closes ranks with the likes of bin Laden, Castro, Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Mugabe - all of whom say essentially the same thing. One might have though all these silent years had produced a rarified wisdom beyond contrition; which just goes to show that a common monastic discipline is no guarantee of acumen. It’s illuminating to see just who all belongs to the active sponsorship of this baseless farce.

It’s never easy to fess up and say we’ve been wrong. It feels much more heroic to double down, even if it means going down with the ship. Many of the people I’ve known are quite willing – now, in the autumn of life – to take it all down with them. It fits in well with the label that’s come to be attached to us: the ‘me generation’. Narcissism is a tough nut to crack and I don’t really blame anyone who is unable to do it. (By the way, did you happen to hear that the author of “Three Cups of Tea” neglected to label his bestselling book as ‘fiction’? These people have become so desperate, even to the point of being dangerous – especially to themselves, I tell you.)

The other day, I saw something new at our local Whole Foods Market. They were selling emu eggs. These are large, dark-green spheres, each one said to be capable of making a six or seven egg omelet. They cost about $30 a piece. I was warned that it is quite difficult to crack them. I immediately thought of the baby emus whose first task in life is to manage their escape. I’m quite sure not all of them make it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

In Quest of the Prize Pig

It’s obvious that Mr. Obama does not fear elections. He intends on muscling through. How exactly he sees ‘muscling through’ is anybody’s guess. It obviously does not involve moving to the center. It seems to me that Obama’s strategy has been set as far back as when he first started promoting the health care bill. In fact, he now seems more determined than ever to muscle his leftist agenda through.

The results of the midterm election made no difference. This proves that Mr. Obama is not a political animal. He is purely ideological. I suspect, even, that he fully intends to be president after 2012; but that he would never be willing to sacrifice his agenda for the sake of his own political popularity. This gives him an edge over anyone still mired in pre-Obama politics.

Here’s the rub: How does he expect to be reelected given his low approval ratings? The answer is obvious: There won’t be elections in 2012 …or ever. Something will happen between now and then that will preclude this wasteful expenditure.

What we are seeing now are the dress rehearsals for the final act; simply going through the motions of running various campaigns, solely for public consumption. The Republicans are placated by the expectation of winning the prize pig. Along the way they will tear themselves apart. The Dems will blame them for anything that either stalemates or goes wrong. Their own base will draw and quarter them for being unable to stop Obama’s agenda - while the Left grudgingly applauds, barely being able to contain themselves. (The Left too will lose its status in the 'new world order' where left and right are the same).

Even in a clean and fair election, Republicans will enter the arena looking small and spent. Add to this mix the likely entry of a third party candidate, and the Republicans are toast.

Obama reelected would buy us time. I’ve said many times that if McCain had won, we would already be seeing the worst - as is now happening in Greece. With Obama at the helm, the Left still sees an advantage in keeping its powder dry. A Republican sweep in 2012 would literally ‘unleash the dogs‘ (to turn a phrase). I believe that those highest on the food chain know this. (McCain knew it.) They know that reelecting Obama will be the best among a whole series of bad options for us.

Obama knows it too. That’s why he struts around, looking so smug. He knows he can’t be touched. He’s simply there as a cutout for those whose phone calls he takes (or meets with across the street from the White House).

Bush knew it. That’s why he won’t say anything. He’s happy to no longer be a part of it; thankful that history has let him off easy.

Elections will no longer play a pivotal role in American politics. We’ve heard it from no less than the lips of the former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (while speaking of ‘shared values’ at Tufts University earlier this week).

“Shared values” indeed! Whose values? Based on what? I guess we’ll just have to wait till it happens. Then we’ll know what’s in it.

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/