Facebook Amen Corner

Just in case you haven’t noticed, Facebook has become the “Amen corner” of the net. People post things like pretty pictures of sunsets and say things like “Obama is great” and everyone who responds says something like, “What a pretty picture!” or, “What a pretty sunset!” Or, “Yes, he truly is.” And, “We’re so blessed to have George Soros guiding his every move.”

Now, if anyone should disagree with same sex marriages or abortions, for example; it’s better just to keep it to oneself. One’s comment will be promptly deleted, even if one counters with a reasoned argument.

This has happened to me several times. I could say all I want against Iran’s mullahs, but let me say one word about our sainted co-presidents (Soros-Obama) and puff, it’s gone.

I never put the writings I post here on Facebook, but others do. It’s hit or miss. I suspect they have some kind of machine that scouts for word clusters involving “Soros”, “Obama”, “Koelliker”, “fraud”, "treason”, “anti-American”… (you get the idea), and nixes it. Amazing what technology can do these days. And, from news reports I read, our government is getting more and more involved in cyberspace.

I’d imagine, if I were Iranian and blogging from Iran, I’d run into the same buzz saw (only the clusters are different). What’s in a name, anyway?

Alas, the world is getting smaller. We’ll soon be condemned to all doing (and thinking) the same things. In a way, I don’t blame the jihadis. They’re the last ones on earth who can claim to be free. At least they haven’t looked yet who has them by the tail while they’re slamming us around.

We accuse China of manipulating media; we accuse Iran. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Is Osama Dead?

It’s now pretty clear that Pakistan has been playing a double game. It’s likely that U.S. intelligence knew this. Pakistan represents the pivot between East and West. It’s always solicited money from both sides. If you notice, the major tensions in the world right now are all happening to the west of Pakistan right now. China views Pakistan as a dam to keep the poisoned sectarian waters flowing east.

The bin Laden killing has very little to do with all this. For one thing, ‘getting bin Laden’ was only important to America – especially to Obama who needs it as a reelection prop. The confusion disseminated by the WH in the aftermath of the assassination points to something that the WH does not want the American public to know. It was orchestrated primarily to make America’s current president look good. Indications now are that Obama had help. (1) It is no longer credible that Pakistan was unaware; and (2) given Pakistan’s close ties with China, we can assume that China knew as well.

As far as both Pakistan and China are concerned, neither one particularly cared whether bin Laden lived or died. What it finally took was a request from the WH to make it happen and any incentives that the Obama administration was willing to provide.

My own pet theory is that Osama died years ago in some cave of kidney failure; that this too was known. And that the raid was staged. This would explain some of the scrambling for a narrative we are witnessing. What happens next will depend on the likely dead-cat-bounce in Obama’s poll numbers.

Pakistan and China have now got theirs as well. Obama will declare “mission accomplished” and withdraw his troops from Afghanistan, leaving the field wide open for them. Perhaps this is why we have been so reluctant to destroy the poppy fields, the only viable industry in the country. China will use Pakistan as a proxy to restore tranquility to the region. The Saudis will help. With America now completely out of the picture, the next move is Iran’s.

Is Osama dead? Probably. When did he die? Unknown.

Cornered Dogs Bite

Every human thought leaves an imprint. When I look across my front lawn in the morning after a freshly fallen snow, I see it crisscrossed with animal spoors. Each one is different. It is not the difference in the appearance of the tracks that is significant; rather, it is the fact that there was movement: each animal wanted to get from one place to another. It is doubtful that two or more animals ever met because each track was likely made in its own time. If there had been some threat, all the tracks would show the animals running in one direction – away from the danger. In the absence of a threat, the pattern is quite random.

Reading this morning’s headlines, we find that the stampede against the U.S. dollar continues, now with the IMF chiming in. We read that long-standing alliances are rupturing with nations fleeing U.S. entanglements and influence, seeking something more stable, more predictable. They do not make a value judgment as to what’s right, wrong or fair. They simply look to attach themselves to what they perceive as power that would serve to protect them.

The USS America is sinking – whether by benign neglect, sabotage or by deliberate design – and the whole world is running away from the disaster that has become rap America. The pattern in the snow is now discernible. Argentina is now embracing the Venezuelan model. Venezuela has adopted the Tehran model (as have Turkey, Syria, Egypt, etc.) Israel remains undecided. She finds herself cornered. What Israel is likely to do remains a mystery. India too is at a loss to know which way to turn. China faces internal problems. She is keeping her powder dry, knowing that chaos will arrive at her doorstep soon enough. She is doing her best to shore up her defenses (while the West views it as aggression). Japan has her own problems.

We can sit here and evaluate each turn of the screw within its own frame. Every happenstance is quite worthy of a tome or two – even an entire library of tomes. We can go back in history and learn what has happened before, how it developed and the ultimate result - all of it, simply to keep the blogs pumping out words like the ash from a volcano that obscures its source.

The source is America’s continuing disintegration. It’s not true, as some would proclaim that America’s sinking would leave nary a ripple. It has and will produce wave after wave and the result is all but certain: chaos, dislocation and bloodshed. Cornered dogs have been known to bite. We all will be tempted to bite in a last-ditch effort as we dig deeper and deeper down into our emptying pockets to appease those with tyrannical intent - the ones with the biggest clubs and the willingness to use them. Thoughts of freedom and liberty – even dignity - will become subservient to our will to survive.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Bits: Around the World in 80 Days

If Mexico started shelling us from across the border, how long would we do nothing more than to hide in our cellars? This is the reality Israel has been facing for some time now. It knows that the shelling is designed to provoke a greater war in the region – a war (barring a Biblical miracle) she would lose.

Israel has essentially zero friends. Even if she were to defend herself successfully, she would be condemned by virtually all nations. Should she lay herself down in front of the lions and beg for mercy, there might be a chance – but you know how lions are.

At the moment – even with Obama’s empty rhetoric – Kaddafi has more street creds than Israel could ever hope to have. Kaddafi’s crime was to stand up against AQ and the Iranian axis. We jumped on the scaffold too soon. The axe hadn’t been sharpened yet and we looked foolish just holding sticks in our hands.

Kaddafi will fall – they all do – but it will be on his terms. In 50 years, all the kids will be wearing t-shirts with Kaddafi’s picture on it.

Kaddafi had long ago agreed to support and be a key member of Soros’ Open Society. In that he was one up on us. (We joined up much later.) He knew how to work it. He knows where the bones are buried, even if he never intended to swallow all of it.
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Thaddeus gets it – up to a point. The reason it no longer matters if the president shows up for work or not; the reason it no longer matters if the parties tie themselves in knots over what essentially amount to non-issues; the reason our government has ceased to function in its service for the people of the United States is because our government is now elsewhere. It is elsewhere that the real decisions are now being made –while Washington remains a convenient diversion, a pointless, but seductive charade.

Look at the flourishes of the right hand and miss what the left hand is doing. If you really want to know what’s going on, look to Soros' Open Society, look to the UN, look to The Hague, look to NATO. Washington has long since surrendered its sword.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Sick of Hearing Gibberish

There's something going on. Last week it was the moon being too close to the earth. This week it's Saturn. In Iran they're predicting the Madhi's return within months if not weeks. NASA is out watching for meteorites and space junk converging on earth. Batchelor is announcing the meltdown of Japan. Republicans are predicting financial collapse in the U.S. In New York they’re finding the remains of dead prostitutes along a remote beach road on Long Island. Can a major DOH announcement be far behind?

We've heard virtually all of this before and yet we’re all still here. Y2K never materialized, neither did swine or bird flu ravage the planet as predicted. This just goes to show, that every run of excess carries with it its own natural antidote; something working to keep things in check. Sometimes it's as brutal as starvation, war, and pestilence.

We're not quite there yet, but excess is invariably programmed to self-correct. Man can only stand by and watch excesses wax and wane. Often excess is met head on with excess and the two cancel each other out.

The tea parties, for example, arose out of excess by government. Liberalism arose from an excess of conservatism. Now we’re moving the other way. Any move has chaos as for a brother. Inertia is death. The stock market moves up and down, but it moves.

Where there is movement there is life. Where there is life there is death. Is there a balance?

Most assuredly so: We are always in balance. Sometimes it’s weighted to the left; sometimes to the right, but balanced nonetheless.

Shiva dancing in the bone yard: Someone always dances. Someone always provides the inert platform for the performance. Kaddafi is performing, and will do so until his legs are cut out from under him. Then, it will be Osama's turn to dance for a while.

Are we dancing? Individually (perhaps), yes. Some of us are. As a group, though, we've slunk out of the ballroom; wallflowers peeling away from the wall; sick of hearing gibberish.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Second Coming

I remember back when a gallon of gas cost thirty cents; when there were pay phones and free road maps; when you could drop in on your doctor unannounced and the whole thing set you back less than ten dollars. I remember all that, and it just goes to show that things change. I remember a time when you could strap on a backpack and travel to Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan to enjoy the sights. I remember when Red China was still off limits to us, and Hong Kong was as close as you could get. And it just goes to show that some things get worse.

After yesterday’s presidential address I felt we had passed another milestone. Never have I heard so much malarkey being spouted from the mouth of the leader of a nation in a period of roughly 26 minutes.

He seemed uncomfortable in his own skin while speaking to the folks. Maybe it was because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be: in the Oval Office. Everything he said had been road-tested by his various apologists beforehand and then stitched together into an unruly quilt.

I was stunned. It was the first time I had actually witnessed unadulterated doublespeak.

What happened back in 2008 was not an election; it was a coup. Yesterday, our president looked lost and out of touch – would have felt much more comfortable among his UN buds. He did not want to give this speech; yet he had to, to maintain the pretense of representing a nation. Kaddafi seems much more convincing in this regard.

Obama echoed some past rhetorical abuses, saying how many lives were saved by this unilateral action. It brought to mind an earlier claim of ‘jobs saved’, implying that if it weren’t for him, nobody would now be working in this great country of ours.

Reminds of the film “Black Orpheus” (’59) in which the lead character gets up every morning and plays his guitar. He has convinced the town that if he were not to do it, the sun would not rise that day. After he dies, his young protégée takes up the task and the film ends.

We are left wondering what on earth we would do without BHO. How could we possibly keep rascals like Kaddafi in check? And even in this, he (Obama) displays a benevolent bent. He stops just short of giving the dictator the thumbs down. What compassion! What grace! What wisdom! …as transparent as any of these might be.
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Saif is not the elder. If he were to come to power, it would be enough for the American press to hail Obama as the second coming (again).

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Hubris (part II)

In a previous post entitled “Hubris” I discussed the ramifications of a leader who gets himself elected and then governs against the will of his people. We’re seeing this so often now – even in our own country. Granted, the first mistake was ours. This is not to say that we are now collectively responsible for all that follows. If we were to go to a store, for instance, and buy a product that is subpar or even dangerous, we are not obligated to go back to that store again even if this store should still exist and compel us to do so. Yet, every day we pile on increasing layers of outrage at our government’s handling of things.

A parent is different from a pal. Pals bear no responsibility towards each other. Parents do. They are instrumental as role models for their children. They are responsible for their safety. This is not something that demands regulation. It’s instinctual and hardly ever fails. In our last presidential election, we have essentially chosen a pal to lead us – someone we could see ourselves sitting at a bar with and having too many drinks – from Facebook no less!

From my own experience with LSD (during my college days), I learned of the 'perfect moment'; that it is next to impossible for any one person to screw things up; that no matter what we do (or neglect to do), the sun will still rise every morning and the birds will still fly north or south depending on the season; that our personal imprint on life would forever be perfectly balanced by the imprint of another. This lesson taught me to relax and not to take myself so seriously, and simply enjoy the gift of life for its own sake.

This would eventually translate into my fervent belief that mankind is too puny to destroy the planet, as many of my generation claim. From my perspective, I could see that what is commonly referred to as the ‘green movement’ is primarily politically driven. With what’s currently happening in Japan, I’ve been forced to retreat from my earlier position and concede that we, as a species, may have overstepped a dangerous threshold.

What a kindly, wild-haired gentleman with his Princeton chalkboard unleashed may well represent a power that is beyond mere men’s ken to contain. I tend now to side with the ‘greens’ in their reflex jihad against nuclear power. It is a hallmark of men to make mistakes, any fallout from which (up till now) has been capable of being well absorbed within the larger fabric.

Nuclear seems somehow different – a departure from the norm - and yet, if history is a guide, there is no turning back. We happily allow the madmen of Iran and the children of Pakistan at the controls. If it is possible for Japan – by all accounts one of the most sober and disciplined populations on earth – to run afoul of it, we must clearly take a second look at our general policy of indifference toward this particular subject.

Our indifference is hardly blind. It stems from the enormity of the task ahead: getting the genie back into the bottle. Many will say it can’t be done. Yet, even with the very real potential of the birds raining from the sky and the sun circling endlessly around an blind planet, it seems we cannot afford not to try.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Soros: What's In A Name?

I don't understand why we don't see it. We've erased the word 'war'. We've erased the word 'victory'. We're working on erasing Israel. Who does it benefit? Answer: Iran. We've got Iran in the White House!

We can tell Obama all we want about what he should do. He won’t listen. In fact, by telling him, he’ll know to do exactly the opposite. We can tell him to lower taxes, cut regulations, allow drilling, etc. There are a lot of very good and time-tested ideas floating around. It won’t matter. His goals are fundamentally different from ours. And until we accept this, and see it for what it is, we will continue on our downward trajectory.

I’m not even blaming Obama. He’s just a water boy for the big man who’s pulling the strings: George Soros. Soros appears to have some giant mad chip on his shoulder about having been born a Jew. There’s nothing more lethal than a self-hating Jew. (Hitler is said to have had a similar hang-up.)

Soros’ name changed three times. Brings to mind all the social security numbers that have been attributed to Barry S. ‘Soros’, the name that stuck, is a palindrome. That makes it special. It also means ‘next in line’ or ‘designated successor’ in Hungarian; and ‘will soar’ in Esperanto. George was taught Esperanto from birth. I need hardly explain the significance of Esperanto to this audience.

The evidence suggests that Soros engineered Obama’s electoral victories. It’s not a stretch to assume that he even now controls the lad.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Schoolyard Games (and Accidents)

Even more interesting to me than what’s happening at the moment is to watch the tectonic political plates of world alliances shifting. The heavy dude jumped off the see-saw, which sent all the other kids flying. Now the heavy dude is scrambling to get back on, but he’s hurt and someone’s taken him to the nurse’s office. She determines that the heavy dude is essentially out for the count; that there’s something other than just scratches, bumps and bruises ailing him. He may be insane.

Meanwhile, all the other kids are still crawling around on the ground. Some had their glasses knocked off. Now they’re trying to find each other. The see-saw has been abandoned. A new game must be found; new teams chosen. Turkey to Iran. Bahrain to the Saudis. Israel is the kid that no one will pick.

Germany to the Russians. The French want to go it alone. Pakistan to China. Brazil to Venezuela. India, alone. May have to form leagues with an eye towards finals. The fat kid still in rehab. Can no longer be counted on to do anything.

As the world turns: uncertainty and confusion. Posturing. Pawns are bleeding. Scramble, scramble. Where it ends up, nobody knows. ... and where the hell are the teachers? Union meetings, no doubt.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

America Is No Longer A Player

Apparently it takes two years to get the measure of a man. Equally apparent is that it takes some Americans even longer.

Last night’s show is one to be bookmarked. It dealt primarily with the foreign policy failures of the Obama administration, especially as pertains to the Middle East. On the eve of the president’s trip to Brazil, we can now look forward to a fresh set of policy embarrassments looming in South America. This is one of the reasons Hillary Clinton continues to distance herself from this administration.

Everything about the discussions last night was pretty much on target. And it is not something that will ever be reported in the NYT and in other liberal mainstream media outlets. Obama is their baby, after all. A mother will always stand up for her child.

But neither Batchelor or Hoenlein (or any of their guests) ever got down to actually pulling the trigger. Triangulation no longer works. Only facts are relevant. By parting ways with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel among others, the U.S. has planted itself firmly in Iran’s twelver camp. This did not just happen because of inattention, ignorance, or character flaws. It is deliberate. Anyone might be relieved to see our president as dupe and bumbler-in chief. It might even be so. In any case, Obama has been the public face of events that have occurred since he has been in office. It is he who must be held to account. No doubt, others much smarter than Obama are pulling his strings.

On the home front it’s the same story. Obama’s presidency has been a disaster anywhere you look.

One hopeful sign (if you can call it that): I see China inching closer to the breach. As I have predicted previously, Israel will survive. Iran will not. Half ‘evil’ will always win out over 100% ‘evil’. America is no longer a player.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The Music Of the Primes

A guitar can be considered both, a musical instrument as well as percussion. Therefore a man alone with a guitar can often make credible music. Percussion came first - the big bang - then another, and another (echoes)… Then came a more gentle sound, probably in the form of wailing. When the wailing adapted itself to the beat, music was born. Finally, there was the ‘word’ and history began in earnest.

Similarly, harmony is a blend of the secular and the spirit. For the spirit to soar, it needs the discipline of a steady pulse. There has been undue emphasis on just pulse lately. Sound has been allowed to become discordant - the din of people expressing disparate agonies - every nation divided, pulling both ways. Voices shouting slogans in short, bumper sticker bursts mimic the staccato of an incomplete drum set. It has become a lingering sign of our times - 'The WHO' destroying their instruments at the end of the set. Drumsticks tossed into the audience. What are they going to do with them except clobber each other?

We are regressing. The drums of war are heard all around. Even God has been roused from his lofty abode and is seen hurling lightning bolts mindlessly here and there. The ground under Haiti trembles, and over a year later we still cannot cope. Iran threatens, and we shrink from our duty to stop it. And today, Japan stands helplessly while watching a wall of water advancing.

America too watches helplessly as it is being consumed by a tsunami of debt. In New York, the most expensive musical ever is being kept off-line while the bodies drop from the wires.

Curious about Spiderman: The day before Glenn Beck quit the airwaves in New York, he delivered and impassioned endorsement of Spiderman. He claimed that it represents a huge step forward in live theater, akin (perhaps) to switching from watching black and white to color TV. He spent a full half hour praising this show, saying (and I paraphrase) it is definitely worth the price of an over-inflated ticket and even the added cost of a flight from anywhere.

I remember thinking that Beck might simply be honoring some contractual obligation. Or, did he really believed what he was saying? I was torn, but leaning towards the latter. For one thing, he had high praise for the script (and music). He warned that liberals - especially New York liberals - would not like the story. Ticket sales spiked immediately after Beck’s show. Then, other reviews started filtering in. These, as expected, were overwhelmingly negative.

It is entirely possible that a conservative narrative cannot survive on Broadway. In today’s hyper-partisan climate, even the skeletal music of Bono, it seems, cannot endure the drumming of the ideological fist.

While in many ways the staccato bursts of gunfire in the Middle East seem to dominate our own narratives, 'The WHO’s classic coda to “My Generation” comes immediately to mind. And with it, the final scene of smashed guitars and sparking amplifiers.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Organized Water

Zuidplaspolder marks the lowest point (-7 m) in The Netherlands (Holland) which is famous for its dykes. In fact, much of the landmass of this country lies below sea level. Were there no dykes, even Amsterdam could not have been built.

Similarly, about 50% of New Orleans lies below sea level. Levees have been built to protect the city. As we have so painfully learned during Katrina: when the levies are breached, the city floods.

Much money is required to maintain dykes and levees. When this money is diverted to corruption and other uses and the levees are allowed to deteriorate, it puts protected areas at severe risk.

Hosni Mubarak represented a political dyke in the Middle East. He stood between the radical Islamization of the country and what we see today - a semi-modern society exhibiting western friendly values. There is some question as to just how successful Mubarak actually was. Just last week I happened to see a picture (it might have been in the WSJ) showing an Egyptian beach some 20 years ago with an insert showing that same beach today. The first showed a typical middle class family picnicking on a beach blanket dressed in western swimwear; the second showed that same beach haunted by the dark shadows of women in burkahs.

Water is 'organized' as to always pool in the lowest places. The Muslim Brotherhood, is said to be the most 'organized' faction in Egypt. Many predict that with Mubarak gone - the dam is broken, and - the Brotherhood will come to dominate the country, turning it into a harsh, restrictive, anti-western, anti-Israel theocracy.

We have seen this before in the Middle East: Iran.

The people, so enthusiastic and hopeful in anticipation of a loosening of shackles, will have little to say about how the worm ultimately turns. They are not (nuts and bolts) 'organized'. They will fall victim to the demands of 'organized' water that always seeks the lowest point in which to pool. Tyranny is always the lowest point.

It’s the same here in America. The Left is organized beyond belief while the Tea Parties are not. The Tea Parties are merely united by a vague sense of tradition and fear. They are being swept away as we speak by 'organized' political water. Like the Facebook warriors of Egypt, they do not stand a chance.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Going Too Fast to Take the Exits

We have now reached the point I have been warning about. The state of our nation is anything the government says it is. “The economy has turned the corner” and, poof! the stock market goes through the roof; “eight million jobs saved”, and, shebang! it is so; “companies have resumed hiring” and, would you believe it? (Obama is a genius!) Unemployment goes from nearly 10% to barely 9 (the new norm), and, again, Obama is simply the best!!! “Oil prices will not spur inflation” and, miracles of miracles… “We are winning the war.” Really?

How can we possibly oppose the policies that have brought about such incomparable blessings? All throughout the Middle East and beyond, democratic movements have awakened and unseated long-entrenched tyrants and placed power into the people’s hands. And we did it all without firing a shot. Here at home, we’re standing up for workers’ rights; a chicken in every pot; a roof over every head; heath care for all; etc.

He (Obama) will go down in history as the greatest American president since Lincoln, or is it Roosevelt? Or Reagan? Or Washington? (Let me check my calendar.) Only bright days ahead. A nation powered by shiny new high speed (can we still say, ‘bullet') trains and batteries; wind and solar power. …clean, crystalline air to breathe. No one smokes. Everyone eats healthy - and not too much. Utopia is truly within our grasp.

This one is a keeper. This president. The best we’ve ever had. Why bother with any more elections? This is a good as it gets. Boy, are we ever lucky!
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"We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analyzing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will. I cannot believe that such a program would be rejected by the people of this country (England), even if it does mean the establishment of personal contact with the dictators."

- Neville Chamberlain.
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Absolutely riveting broadcasting last night, John. I had dozed off with my radio on. Was literally frightened awake by the raw energy emanating from your segment with Malcolm Hoenlein alone. You turned into a pit bull and would not let go. You got Malcolm to say what he didn’t want to say. You got him to admit that Iran is winning.

I understood Malcom’s reticence. It was so obvious the man was struggling, stumbling. He fully grasped the import of the words that you so pitilessly coaxed from his convulsing throat. He understood what it means for Israel.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

'Check Engine' Light

For the first time I see U.S. oil dependence as a real existential threat. The perfect storm is raging while we are agonizing over Charlie Sheen. Oil prices alone will crush our economy. We can now appreciate the efforts of previous administrations designed to keep it all together. ‘Containment’ had become an intricate game that demanded increasingly complex solutions. Clearly, our present administration does not know how to play.

We went to war in Iraq in response to 9/11. It was not something we could avoid. Admittedly, we ran the risk of destabilizing the region. It did not destabilize. We actually were on the right track. The countries of the Middle East were reminded to mind their manners. They did - for a time. When it became clear that America was crumbling from within and that we would not be able to sustain the drive, they began to bolt. The election of Barack Hussein Obama confirmed to the world that we were finished.

Now, voters' remorse. We don’t even have it in us to criticize our president’s handling of the job. We’re just desperately hanging on till the next election cycle, watching as we circle the drain. Our fear that we won’t last that long is already palpable.

Russia and China will survive. It’s not that our past presidents were so much smarter or capable than Putin or Hu Jintao. But at the very least it was a more or less even match. Now, ‘the U.S. is out of the game’. We’ve left the stadium and taken our ball.

There is one attribute that elevates the leaders of China and Russia (and those of most other nations) to the status of players on the global gridiron: patriotism. Most leaders take pride in their countries. They may have different ways of expressing it; different approaches; different ideologies, etc. But, in almost every case, they do what they do to give their nations a chance to survive. Even Kim Yong-Il rattles his bones of a nation to fair advantage. There are only two notable exceptions: Iran and the U.S.

Iran is so locked into an eschatological vision, it pays no heed to possible consequences. This, while current U.S. leadership wildly pursues some utopian ideological throw-back to some unworkable drug-induced version of a coma. Both are so arrogant as to ignore any and all warning signals.

I’ve been driving for years with my ‘check engine’ light on. So far so good. I haven’t had problems. It’d be a bit different if I still had to ferry kids to and from soccer practice. Or, if I were running a country with over 300 million people in it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Living By The Sword

Good if it were true; that ‘those who live by the sword, die by the sword‘. POTUS’ reaction to the Iranian protesters (if any) should be indicative. Obama also faces revolt - both from the right and from the left. There is no middle. His budget is widely seen as a joke. Money for increasingly heavy-handed IRS enforcement can only serve to annoy. It reflects the mindset of one who continues to believe that taxpayers are not paying enough; that wealth re-distribution, as he envisions it, has not yet reached its full potential.

For the first time, I concede, that this whole revolution thing could be tracking the other way. People appear to have figured out that tactics usually attributed to the Left could also work for the Right. Will the opposition in our Congress be enough to stop Obama’s and the Leftist’s merry-making? Will our state-run media finally come to recognize the damage that is being done to our nation?

When the media flips, the Obama regime is done. The roll-backs can begin unimpeded. …and the prosecutions.

Historians will note that the American Left actually had a chance during the first two years of the Obama administration; that what they failed to do was criminalize Bush policy. It might have worked: send Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al for trial in The Hague and, afterwards, sequester the lot in Guantanamo. Now, that the tide appears to be turning, the Right must not shrink from doing exactly this. There is now more than enough evidence that Obama and Democrats’ handling of affairs went far beyond incompetence. If the Right is to succeed, the Left must be held criminally liable. It would amount to ‘the shot heard ‘round the world’ and the revolution against real oppression could finally begin.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Reply to Dr. Yo: One Last Nod

It goes beyond the idea of a ‘caliphate‘. There’s every indication that the leaders of Iran (and imams worldwide) devoutly believe in the 12th Imam who is to be birthed in blood - Jewish blood in particular. They don’t seek western concessions or political advantage. They seek the bomb which they know will put an end to their own earthly suffering and humiliation. This view expresses itself daily - not just in the reckless words and actions of the leadership, but - in the willingness (all the way down to the grass roots) to die for a higher cause while wrapped in explosives. These suicide bombers have essentially made their peace with God. They do not fear death.

They see themselves as already dead. This makes them invincible. Jihadis believe that they will ultimately be rewarded with eternal bliss after their earthly bodies are spent. It is remarkable how this mindset trumps even the most basic human interaction - that between mother and child. Islamic mothers seem to revel in the prospect of their children becoming cannon fodder. They see no future on earth.

The Israelis, in contrast, are more or less normal. You are right; they will seek to protect themselves. But at most, they’ll only make a show of it. I happen to believe it’s a myth that - as we are told - Israel is able and willing to go it alone. It’s designed to put our own minds at ease while we do nothing to help. (Later, we’ll say, oops!) Israel has always relied heavily on U.S. support. Well, the U.S. has now turned against them (along with all others). Who supports Israel these days? Can you name anyone?

Will Israel strike out against it’s aggressors, risking WWIII (that is likely to go nuclear)? I think not. The Israelis are divided as we are. There are hawks and doves on the fringes. First strike, and even retaliatory strikes, are effectively off the table. When push comes to shove, they will once again line up for the showers. They will see it as their contribution - one last nod to conscience and civility - in the face of spreading madness.

How We Came To Be A Day Late And A Dollar Short

The following is taken from a transcript of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s address last Friday to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution as reported by AFP:

"We will soon see a new Middle East materializing without America and the Zionist regime and there will be no room for world arrogance in it."

Addressing the people of Egypt directly, he said, "They (the United States) have adopted a friendly face and saying 'we are friends of people of North Africa and Arab countries', but be watchful and united. You will be victorious.

“(The) Iranian nation is your friend and it is your right to freely choose your path. (The) Iranian nation backs this right of yours.

“(The United States is an) accomplice to the oppression by the Zionist regime.

"Come and take away the Zionist regime which is the source of all crimes... take it away and liberate the region. Free the region and give it to the people and take this regime, which is the child of Satan, out."

This is the second time Ahmadinejad has made such statements since the Egyptian protests began. The first time he proclaimed that every government in the region that has aligned itself in any way with the United States will fall.

This got me to thinking (again) that these people are serious. Their hatred for Israel is the cause they are willing to die for. Israel knows this. It has been in its interest to promote the notion that the destruction of Israel will not be the end of it; that Islamic appetites will also aim to devour Europe and even America.

Nobody has been listening. And I myself predict that once Israel has been destroyed, the West will remain quite safe for a time. Islamic hatred of the West is solely focused on the West’s recognition and support of Israel.

Today Mubarak resigned. The Muslim Brotherhood will assume power. The rest of the Middle East will fall into Islamic extremists’ hands. Ultimately, Israel will be attacked. This time, the Islamists will win.

At this point, the West will mobilize to defend itself. (It has always been in its power to do so. All it would ever have required is tapping its heels together.) There will ensue a great purge of everything Islam. At the same time, the Left - which has aligned itself with Islamic extremism - will be sent packing. The world will return to some semblance of normalcy; now, of course, burdened by the stain of momentous, insufferable guilt.

Already today, the leaders of Europe have come out with a statement proclaiming that multiculturalism is not working. It can only get worse from here.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Blame America First

Frank Wisner speaks the obvious. But, it goes counter to what POTUS and Hillary are saying. It goes against reported public sentiment on the streets in Cairo. It goes against what most pundits in our media are saying - that Mubarak must go, YESTERDAY!

The ‘blame America first’ crowd has staged a significant comeback. There’s fresh wind in their sails. Throughout major media reporting, the narrative developing is that we are singularly responsible for maintaining Mubarak - a tyrannical dictator - for so many years; that we (America) have been in support of nasty tyrants all over the world who make their populations suffer; blah, blah, blah… It even cropped up on this mornings ‘Religion On The Line’ radio program and remained basically unchallenged.

We seem to feel totally comfortable with the notion of blaming ourselves for all that’s wrong everywhere. How narcissistic we are, believing that the whole world turns only around us! If we can take credit for every evil, it’s still about us - isn‘t it? And that’s the point: I, me, mine - us - America. We may be the ‘Great Satan’, but we’re still ‘great’ and that’s all that counts.

Besides, Barack Hussein Obama has promised to single-handedly turn us away from the dark side and into the light. That’s why we elected him.

Before the 2008 election VP Biden said at a fundraiser: “Mark my words, it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama… Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis - a generated crisis - to test the mettle of this guy (Obama)… And he’s gonna need you… to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially… that we’re right.”

Well, it took longer than six months (unless you want to count the post-election protests in Iran), but let's not quibble. And ever since, in my own humble estimation, we’ve been holding back or doing the wrong thing entirely. Biden warned us of that back when. He essentially said, “Trust us. We know what we’re doing.”

Well, the jury is still out on that. Not sure if the White House is as confused as we are about what’s happening in Egypt. At the end of the day, confusion is only a temporary smoke screen. It might well be that all will be revealed in due time. As one left-wing clairvoyant so aptly put it, "We have to pass our bill so that you can find out what is in it". Nice string of alliterations, but otherwise quite perplexing. Looks like, as in everything else Obama has tried, chaos is the goal.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Being There

It has been duly noted that once again we seem to be on the wrong side of things. We’re supporting a rag-tag army of assorted leftists and Islamic radicals, and throwing Mubarak - a U.S. ally - under the bus (so to speak); that, for all our efforts to help lift the Egyptian people out of the tyranny of what essentially amounts to (we are told) U.S.-sponsored poverty, we are inadvertently abandoning them to another kind of tyranny - one of Islamic fundamentalism which would likely put Israel - another so-called U.S. ally - at risk, as well as the Suez Canal, a major shipping lane (primarily for oil) which is likely to affect even Europe - more U.S. ‘allies’ - adversely.

Nobody asks why the people of the Middle East are in perpetual poverty, despite untold billions pumped in by the West (for oil). Nobody asks why conditions for Muslims in India continue to be markedly worse than they are for Hindus (and others), despite government efforts to give them every possible advantage.

Perhaps we haven’t exactly thought it through all that well; perhaps we haven’t considered all the implications of embracing shariah and treating it on par with what our own sacred texts espouse. Perhaps we thought that by siding with a seemingly ‘popular’ movement all else would fall into place; and we would be loved as we’ve never been loved before.

Such miscalculations are easy to make. Carter miscalculated Iran and we’re still paying the price. They still hate us. But he meant well. At least, we think he did.

We’re also giving Obama the benefit of the doubt in the current situation. We seem to have forgotten his stance on the Iranian popular uprising a year or two ago. We seem to have forgotten his stance when Honduras went through its constitutional travail, as well as so much else that has been plaguing us domestically since this man assumed power. We’ve refused to connect the dots.

I still remember as a child, the seemingly endless wait at restaurants for the waitress to bring our food was made tolerable by the table mats I was given. The ‘connect-the-dots’ game was always a part of it. The game was relatively easy. The dots were always numbered; and I knew my numbers. I knew what order they came in. Yet, I would always hesitate to start, trying to predict before-hand what figure would ultimately emerge.

Today, connecting-the-dots seems to have become a lost art. While it’s true that the dots are no longer numbered, they are self-explanatory nonetheless. We have been reading the newspapers, after all. We can remember what has happened previously and in what order it happened. We have seen enough of it to know what is likely to happen next - and afterwards…

Still, we act like every day is a new day. All events are random and unexpected. Obama has been in office two years - and unpleasant things have happened and are continuing to happen. Where is all this ‘hope and change’ thing taking us?

While all our problems have been attributed to Obama’s inexperience (including, of course, his constant hectoring of Israel to mind its ways), a pattern seems to be emerging.

Heads of state are beginning to notice and draw conclusions. While we gnash our teeth, seemingly finding ourselves at the mercy of unrelated events, our enemies are beginning to take liberties. Our friends are beginning to distance themselves. Our economy is going to the dogs. Our ‘fixes’ only seem to be making things worse. And throughout it all, our government media tells us that all is hunky-dory; that we are doing just fine; and that the light at the other end of the tunnel is straight ahead (under the inspired leadership of Imam Obama).

Things are falling apart. Despite removing ‘mother’ and ‘father’ terminology from U.S. passport applications and replacing it with gender neutral verbiage (‘parent one’ and ‘parent two‘), junior Obama is finding that it still takes either Mom or Dad to drive the fambly (sic) sedan.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Chaos In Egypt

The U.S media has been up front in its comparison of the Egypt situation with what happened in Iran back in the late seventies. But there’s a twist: Both the media and the government are using the occasion for U.S. bashing: All U.S. policy up to this point has been wrong, they say, and even immoral. There is practically no discussion about Israel or the fact that Egypt controls the Suez canal.

The view consistently promoted by the media is that Obama will either fix everything or that he is doing the best he can given the situation on the ground. In fact, Obama is doing neither. Rumors are circulating that the Obama administration itself actually encouraged the foment in Egypt. While only just rumor, it is to some extent believable as it has become clear that Obama is neither a friend to Israel nor of (big) oil. If the price of oil rises out of reach for Americans (due what’s happening now throughout the Middle East), so much the better. It fits right in with the Left’s agenda and will force America to get serious about developing a carbon-neutral energy strategies (to which the president devoted much of his State of the Union Address. Significantly, perhaps, no mention was made of Israel and the still unresolved conflict with its neighbors). Israel, as you must know by now, has already been given up as a lost cause.

While all eyes are turned to the chaos in Egypt (and throughout the Middle East), the real revolution is taking place in America. Obama came in with the promise of being a transformational president. As far as he is concerned, his vision for America is right on track. My best guess is that he will be re-elected in 2012.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/