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/

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/