Heavy On The Gas

"...we like natural diasters as bookmarks in our chronicles. Earthquakes, flood, tsunamis, volcanoes all appear to be outside of history and non-partisan." - John Batchelor.

I really like your description of natural disasters as ‘non-partisan bookmarks’. I guess it’s been in the back of my mind ever since RE uttered the words, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

I just finished listening to Aaron Klein’s Sunday show in which he parsed Barack Hussein Obama’s speech last week re the Middle East. Aaron’s weekly radio program is the kind of radio The John Batchelor Show used to be; and, in somewhat diluted form, still is.

Putting aside what Aaron actually had to say, the very fact that we cannot comfortably take Obama’s words at face value is troubling. Does he support Israel, or does he not? The jury is still out on that. An argument can be made either way. Does he understand the linkage between Israel and America as it has traditionally served? And, in a more immediate sense: What does he intend for America? Again, a variety of opinion prevails.

We’ve come a long way from trying to figure out whether Bill Clinton had sex with Monica Lewinsky or not. The argument we’re having today brings it much closer to home. It puts us in the crosshairs. After two and a half years, we are still at a loss to explain who our president is and in whose interests he might be working. Meanwhile all the metrics by which we have traditionally judged administrations are telling us we’re going down.

It seems what we write here has very little impact; that even what JB and his guests may say on his mighty New York ‘blowtorch’ megaphone is but a thimble’s worth of utterance tossed into the great torrent of popular babble. I think we’re all smart enough to know that no one really cares what we say or write. If people should actually begin to care, it would probably be wise to stop. Mitch Daniels and Donald Trump (among others) seem already to have reached this conclusion.

It is, after all, only ourselves we aim to please. Unfortunately, whether by design or accident, we remain our own severest critics, forever seeking approval from someone ‘outside’. The more astute among us, perhaps, eventually come to realize that there is no one really out there – never was; never will. Call this futile exercise good old-fashioned ‘blame-shifting’.

At one time, there was a great debate to determine the center of the universe. As is customary in any such endeavors, the first three reports were wrong – and from the look of things, all subsequent reports may be wrong as well. In fact, the question may be so absurd as to not even deserve consideration.

Given all we have to worry about, it’s a small matter indeed, intended only for GPS fanatics – as is worry about apocalypse; rapture; the 12th Imam’s well; etc. These are not things we can actually do anything about. What does appear to be possible is for us to handle our own affairs with due care and dignity. And even in that we too often fail (Schwarzenegger, Strauss-Kahn).

When a nation fails, it seldom fails from the outside. It fails from within. It fails due to the fractures and divisions induced by uneven emphasis. By that score, we have failed already – even before Barack Hussein Obama started sporting his first legitimate tooth. Our president is merely the driver whom we have chosen to drive our bus. Netanyahu happens to be on that bus as well. He now wishes he weren't - as he now raises the alarm, saying that our driver may be a little too heavy on the gas.

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/

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/

New York, DC

John Batchelor is right. In normal times, this would be a race between Democrats and incompetent Republicans. The press is largely at fault for this state of affairs – the inability of Republicans to get their message out, thus always giving Democrats the edge.

But these aren’t normal times. After our electoral mud fest is over, it won’t be ‘anybody but Obama’ anymore (and there’s no reason to believe that it won’t be Obama), it’ll be ‘anybody but Washington’; both parties will have discredited themselves to the point of absolute irrelevance.

The field will have expanded to include outsiders. And Trump, so far, is the only one who fits the bill. Even as a Republican (in name), Trump will have broken the Washington template. He has shown that he’s prepared to go up against not only the Democrat opposition, but also the press - and the people will be out of their minds, cheering.

For the nation to survive, Washington must be entombed in concrete and the capital moved back up to New York. That’s why I endorsed Trump, hoping he runs.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Soup Nazis Galore

Let me begin by saying that I love Kelly Evans. In fact, my post entitled “I Want Kelly Evans Back” last January 1st became one of my most popular posts and elicited quite number of intemperate responses to boot. She’s looks smart and can well massage liberal talking points and chew gum at the same time – all this, while fitting in perfectly with the Soros-certified media sycophants that would include such luminaries as Meredith Viera along with most others that one sees on lame stream media outlets on a regular basis. I might add that John Batchelor himself has been skating dangerously close to falling in with this same dreary group, particularly by his frequent use of John Avlon as a surrogate.

My post entitled “Smoke-Filled Rooms At Bretton Woods” could be inserted here. In it I tried to show that what we are currently facing is much more insidious than the current vogue: Democrat/Republican divide, that seems to drain every last drop of our almost limitless patience; that the real players lurk in the shadows (at Bretton Woods) and would never expose themselves to Kelly Evans’ (among others’) essentially banally scripted questioning.

I submit that if George Soros had been sitting in Trump’s chair there at the WSJ studio, the questioning would have been quite different. He might have been asked what amount to a series of softball questions like, “Would you have gone into Iraq or Libya for ‘freedom’?” and he would have answered with a resounding ‘YES’, adding, “but never for oil” for that would rub against the grain of Soros’ own self-inspired talking points that demand that America should bleed herself dry before doing anything at all in its own self-interests.

Conventional wisdom has it that by the time the 2012 elections roll around, “anyone but (Bush)Obama” will be the order of the day. This would not necessarily mean that we are now out of the woods. On the contrary – as we have seen with both Bush and McCain – our situation would remain essentially on the same trajectory. It would take an outsider like Trump or (to a lesser extent) Palin to really shake things up.

Soros’ lib soup Nazis would spare nothing to smear anyone who could upset their apple cart. Of the two, Palin or Trump, the latter would be in a much better position to survive the onslaught. He is forceful, plain-talking, competent and savvy. He appears to be a patriot. I believe he could win if the present system would allow him to compete. You know it would do its level best to destroy him if he ever got close. The question then becomes: Is Trump man enough to smash the system?

As we continue to observe this approaching train wreck of an election and as we continue to keep score, it might do well to note which prospective candidate receives the brunt of press ire. That would be the one I would go with. Whether or not he or she could actually win; and, in winning, shred the current anti-American narrative top to bottom, is another matter entirely.

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/

Guest Contributer: Tom From NJ

On John Batchelor’s blog, Tom from NJ responded to president Obama’s speech on Libya. I have asked him for permission to post his response on my own blog because it introduces some names we should all become familiar with. These people were not elected but exert much influence over our government’s policies:

On the domestic side, the Obama Administration, led by czar-of-czars Cass Sunstein, is "nudging" the USA step by opportunistic step into a state of "de-development" and rule by executive fiat, often of doubtful constitutionality. On the foreign policy side, Mrs. Cass Sunstein -- aka. Samantha Power -- aided by her accomplices Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice, is performing a similar "nudging" operation, using Libya as her wedge issue.

What specifically is the "nudge" in operation here? Stated simply, it is to gradually disenfranchise We the People from any effective control over our foreign policy -- just as on the domestic side over everything from health care to light bulbs -- with a view towards decoupling the deployment of America's crown jewel - her dedicated, highly skilled, and popular military - from any meaningful connection with the real interests and concerns of We the People.

To this end, Samantha Nudge-nik and Co. are creating a precedent which, if allowed to stand, will operationalize the long-time internationalist-progressive wet-dream of routinely deploying the brave men and women of America's super-powerful armed forces in the service and at the behest of the UN, the EU, the Arab League, the "international community," faceless "democratic rebels" or anybody else deemed worthy by the PC crowd, rather than in defense of We the People. Integral to this precedent are several fundamental assertions: (1) The single most significant problem facing our world today is genocide, and therefore; (2) Only a truly international effort -- i.e., one sanctioned by some recognized international body like the UN -- can legitimately and effectively act to eliminate genocide, therefore; (3) "American exceptionalism" today can only mean that our country must take the lead in quashing this primary international menace, and by whatever means necessary.

To be fair to Samantha Power, we should not simply dismiss her constant critical focus on international genocide as just so much cynical political game-playing. It seems she really cares about this undoubted historical scourge and no decent human being can disagree with her condemnation of it. That said, we must also note that Mr. and Mrs. Sunstein, as the quintessential Harvard Power Couple from Hard-Left Hell, seem convinced that their personal agendas represent the only wise solutions to all of our tired old Western world's problems.

On the foreign policy side, we may boil down the Sunsteins' latest paroxysm of arrogant "We the Elitists know best" to the deceptively simple formula of R2P -- "responsibility to protect." According to this sunburst of superior wisdom, the only morally and politically legitimate use of military force is to rescue current and prospective victims of genocide from their dire fate as allegedly decreed by those nasty old nation-states like the USA and Israel.

These Sunstein-esque assertions only beg a series of critically important questions. Who will decide what constitutes "genocide?" Not We the People, but We the Elite. Who will decide what measures to take in any given international crisis? Not We the People, but We the Elite. More specifically, who will decide when and where and under what conditions to commit our splendid armed forces to action? Not We the People, but We the Elite. And from now on just whose interests will our splendid military "protect" when they strike to kill and be killed? Not We the People, but We the Elite. See the pattern forming? It has begun in the Obama Administration's bogus "kinetic military action" in Libya, and who knows where and how it will end. God save America!

Conspiracy Theory: History In Reverse

I think it’s high time we get away from blindly criticizing Obama; the media; foreign, energy, and fiscal policy; and everything else; and begin connecting some dots. The only one doing it publicly at the moment happens to be Glenn Beck (and we all know what’s happened to him).

On this morning’s program, Beck laid it all out – soup to nuts. The players involve everyone in the Obama administration, union thugs, media flacks, prominent international figures (including Kaddafi) with George Soros at the top pulling the strings. Sounds like crazy talk. Sounds like a conspiracy theory. Those who believe in conspiracies are usually nut jobs. Right? – except when said conspiracy theories turn out to have been right all along. But, by then, conspiracies have become (often tragic) histories. And there’s no more time left to do something about it, other than live with the shame.

It’s not that I agree with all that Beck claims. There are some weak points and stretches. Overall, though, it sounds credible. It certainly does begin giving a shape to all we’ve been talking about (particularly) over the past two years – events that we believed stood alone and thus could be easily dismissed. I’m even starting to wonder about our friend, John Batchelor, and why he has been concentrating so hard on China lately. China, as I see it, is not part of the Soros deal. As such, it can only serve as a distraction from what is happening right under our noses.

Crazy talk or not, the time has come for a deeper examination of events than we’re getting. It’s interesting that there are some things that the media just won’t touch, while obvious examples are being made of those who dare to approach that third (Soros) rail – like Sarah Palin, for instance. (I'm talking about Palin's naked patriotism and her support of Israel.)

Then there is this from the “Business & Media” website (God knows who runs it) that published an article yesterday, entitled, “Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy” by Dan Gainor. I’ve put up the link below (but I’m rather inept at this sort of thing, so I give you the information above as well).

http://www.mrc.org/bmi/commentary/2011/Unreported_Soros_Event_Aims_to_Remake_Entire_Global_Economy.html

It’s not that I’m against trying to remake the world. What I object to is how it’s being done. It’s being done in the proverbial smoke-filled back room by fat-cat elite narcissists. You can be quite certain they don’t have America’s best interests in mind.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Holding the Bag

What we are witnessing on every front is quite remarkable. It’s tough to keep up with it all and even tougher to make sense of it. Whatever happens in Libya, we now own it. There’s one school of thought that thinks it’s already too late; that the civil war there is already over; that Kaddafi has won; that to interfere at this late date will only serve to forestall the inevitable.

So why did we do it? My guess is we were stung by the Saudi’s sending troops into Bahrain without telling us. To make up for it, we decided we must do something to show that we’re still relevant. (Democrats are always asking themselves if they’re relevant.) Never mind; when push comes to shove, our allies can be expected to excuse themselves to go to the bathroom. Many in our Congress know this; that we’ll be left holding the bag. They also know that we’ve had no time to prepare. It took Bush many months to launch an invasion into Iraq. I remember, even the weather became a factor. It pays to remember that initially Bush was hugely successful. Our troops hardly had to fire a shot. We could hardly believe our luck when our objective was met in record time.

But we just couldn’t leave it at that. We just had to embark on ‘nation building’, changing hearts and minds and all such rot. And even this would have succeeded if we hadn’t politicized it here at home. Democrats wanted Bush discredited at all costs. They were quite willing to gamble away all just to see it happen. As such, they happily undermined America’s effectiveness and prestige. They destroyed the levee known by its age old dictum that ‘politics stops at the water’s edge’, inviting a flood of recrimination and abuse from abroad. It worked and we lost our way.

What a price we’ve had to pay!!! Now we truly are irrelevant. Nobody takes us seriously anymore. Even the guy at the gas station on the corner can hardly stand to look at us. We have shamed ourselves in the eyes of the world, hastening our own demise to no purpose.

I say this in response to John Batchelor’s words last night when commenting on the self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor and likening it to the recent self-immolation of a Tibetan monk. These were brave and honorable deeds that will go down in history as important turning points. When a rich and powerful country does the same, however, it is seen as utter folly.

What exactly is our goal in Libya? When will we know we have won? What exactly will we have won? And should we lose, and Kaddafi stays in power?

It has been my contention from the start that Obama is out to wreck every one of our key institutions. Already he’s done a fair job of it. The only thing remaining is the military.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Burning Down Through the Core

For the Left, recent and ongoing disasters as we are currently witnessing in Japan, America’s economic meltdown, ever increasing turmoil in the Middle East - all are proof positive (to paraphrase the now famous words of the Right Rev. Wright and others) that the chickens are coming home to roost.

The White House is caught up in a fever of partying; at the State Department, they are busy toasting each other while barely suppressing smiles; the greens are celebrating the death of the nuclear power industry; and in Ramallah, they’re handing out sweets.

As long as I can remember, I’ve had no facility with numbers. If you were to ask me to give you our town’s exit number (on Rt. 78) - even after having lived here more than 50 years - I would first have to consult a map. Only (the) names (of towns) make sense to me. Similarly, all the dates JB tries so hard to familiarize us with in his quest to imbue us with some level of historical perspective mean nothing to me. As such, I have only a rudimentary concept of time. I have to make do simply with past, present and future. As such, time’s metrics are of no use in my own calculations - and neither are Kudlow’s numbers.

I can close both eyes; I can close my right while keeping my left one open, but I can’t close my left eye alone. There’s simply nothing there to do it with. I do not consider myself ‘retarded’. It’s rather that I’ve had to accept the fact that I am missing a faculty that most others take for granted, much like sight or hearing, etc.; senses, that often are said not to enhance, but to limit our perception. We are doomed to see only a narrow band of light. With sound it’s pretty much the same. Anything outside the narrow frame that constitutes our reality, though it exists, we cannot perceive and often will not acknowledge.

Such blind spots and many others - such as a failure to recognize God - are common.

The Left’s failure to recognize the difference between good and evil is nonetheless astounding to me. They’ve managed to blur the line so much as to put both on equal footing. A crisis, such as the one currently unfolding in Japan (admittedly still in its early stages); the crashing of the dollar; rising food and fuel prices; etc. seem not to be regarded as tragedy but rather as an opportunity to advance ideological agendas. Any crisis can be used as an interlude in which to decide which way the dust will settle and then to side with the most likely outcome - and declare victory. Therefore, the end game is always the same: “revolution” (without principle or morality).

This, it seems to me, is where we are today. I think the word for it is ‘opportunism’. It is rank fecklessness and seems to guarantee success in reaching the lowest level (at which water collects and then stagnates). The lowest level is always easiest to ‘achieve', even if it were to involve the seldom perceived extreme of burning down through to the core.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Mt. Kailash: Shiva's Holy Abode

Mt. Kailash in Tibet is said to be a holy place. It is not very high, but no one has ever climbed it. Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bon come to walk around it instead. As single circuit of 32 miles is said to cleanse one of all one’s sins of this life; 108 circuits guarantees nirvana; and a frigid bath in nearby Mansarovar Lake is said to take away the sins of one’s previous lives as well.

Kailash is located near the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia. Hindus believe it to be the abode of Lord Shiva. It is a forbidding place where the air is thin and hard on the lungs. Pilgrims - especially the old - sometimes die in the course of their Pradakshina (or circumambulation).

Such deaths never make the news because they are primarily solitary events - attempts by individuals to strike a peace with their Maker. When people rise up in significant numbers in revolt, however, the mighty take notice and begin to shake in their boots. They either flee or meet the challenge head-on with threats and bullets.

The odds right now are in favor of Kaddafi winning over the rebels. These will continue to fight on with whatever means they have available. They have put their young lives on the line. Years of selective oppression have brought them to this point of desperate decision. Inspired by the various uprisings in neighboring states, they know it’s now or never.

Contrast this with the protesters at Wisconsin’s state capitol. Many were bussed in from elsewhere (like Zimbabwean mercenaries) to shout slogans and carry signs. They’ve trashed the premises to the tune of sums. They’ve managed to disrupt the orderly flow of representative governance for weeks on end on the slender basis of some ideological throw-back currently promoted by the president of these United States. It’s no more than a Hollywood casting call for the idle, framed by the marble walls of a grand old capitol, unsupported by what ever drops off the relatively narrow journalistic frame. Their signs tell the story of feigned outrage and unlikely connections. They are there simply because a free nation allows it without consequence.

I note that the signs in the video above are all handmade and not designed to play to movie audiences. The blood that is bound to stain them is real - not Taco Bell sauce or Nathan’s mustard. Wisconsin’s demonstrators represent nothing but rent-a-mob thrills.

All the worlds major religions define sin within the context of something that was actually done. Inattention and ignorance therefore do not qualify as sin. While Libya’s rebels still stand a chance of salvation, not even Kailash could cleanse Wisconsin’s rabble of their stain.

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/

Chinese Annoyance

“I asked James Glanz if it can be done in the US, with vastly more nodes and choke points. The answer is, ‘Yes,’ because the choke point are finite. I asked if anyone knows them. Unknown.” - I bet GOOGLE knows.
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I never thought I’d agree with Hillary Clinton on anything. What she said about the internet was mostly right. What she said about rascals using the internet was mostly right. What she said about freedom vs. security was right (and she did it all without use of a teleprompter). I would expect her to stand up for the internet, free speech, and freedom of assembly when these become issues here in the U.S.

This would put her at odds with the ideas of past and present Obama-appointed czars, each charged with overseeing (internet) broadband and broadcast development (and control). Most have been exposed as having ties to groups that seek to use the internet to promote leftist agendas.

Interesting that VOA has now ceased broadcasting into China. The reason given was cost-cutting. My wife tells me that VOA broadcasts along with the BBC were always a favorite when she was growing up in Trivandrum and Mysore (India), and during the darkest days of Indira Gandhi’s uncompromising reign. No reason to suspect that the Chinese were not equally enthralled by western voices telling of cultural trends.

Our government claims that the internet can now fulfill the same function that VOA once did - obviously a ruse explanation. Washington is quite obviously heeding some privately expressed Chinese annoyance.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

'Ajami': The Dark Ages

Excellent summary of what’s happening in the Maghreb, and analogy to ‘LA wildfire’ or wildfires in general. As in a wildfire, there’s not much fire departments can do. They’ll make a brave show of it, but their biggest partner in ultimate success is either concrete or a squall. Summary excludes the firebrands. We are looking forward and wondering how the chaos will end. Speculation in the middle going forward is never helpful. It’s like crossing a busy street with one’s eyes closed.

The same thing happened (and is still happening to some extent) with regard to our own housing meltdown. Our chronicle of same invariably starts in the middle, with the banks. Mention of the government’s role still lies buried in the bin of unmentionables (unless it’s Bush, of course).

Who stands to benefit from the chaos in the Maghreb and elsewhere? Who started it? Answer those questions and you arrive at the solution to the riddle of how it is likely to end. Who is the most organized; the most brutal? If the timeline going forward is predictable, the start and finish of the thing is apt to involve the same player(s).

For those who still believe that nothing has essentially changed; that things will return to some semblance of stability; that the next U.S. president will restore us to our former selves, take heed. Events, both here and abroad, are not unrelated or reversible. Houses burnt in a wildfire remain burnt. Rebuilding is arduous and there remains the question of whether homeowners would even retain an appetite for risking going through the whole thing again. Many will, of course. But many others will decide to relocate, leaving a scar of abandonment on the land.

Saw “Ajami” (2009), a film by Scandar Copti (a Christian Israeli Arab) and Yaron Shani. Critics compare this film to ‘Boyz N the Hood’ (LA), ‘The Wire’ (Baltimore) of ‘City of God’ (Rio de Janeiro). I’ve only seen the latter. All are said to be about gangs and gang justice. “Ajami“ happens to be set on the outskirts of an Arab ghetto in the Israeli city of Jaffa.

“Ajami” is not a great film, but certainly better than average. What jumped out at me was that it represented what many fear will be the “new world order” in which there still are people, money, and crime. Whereas in our system, the value of money is based on work, talent and the ability to innovate, in the “new world order” money will be based on protection. It will be a violent world and not one in which most of us can easily compete. It is the world of brutality, domination, oppression and ever changing players. This does not bode well for the individual, for human rights, dignity, and progress. The Dark Ages come immediately to mind - and, once initiated, it can last for a very long time.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Flipped

Both China and Japan - (we could even go so far as to say) all countries - face challenges in implementing policy. There are always approaches that warrant tweaking. Since there might be questions as to the underlying assumptions that would presumably lead to improvement, it is possible that any given policy (based on such assumptions) might ultimately fail to produce the desired result. So far, China has done things pretty much by the book.

There is, however, nothing to guarantee that ‘the book’ - even the American book - is always right. Time is like a train rushing ahead. There also needs to be some measure of faith that the tracks will continue to be there.

There is no doubt in my mind that - although China has made some serious mistakes in the past, giving birth to any number of Albatrosses around its neck - China aims high. It wants to be top dog. As such, it intends to surpass America. This does not necessarily imply evil intent. It proceeds out of a sense of national pride. The leaders of China believe in destiny. They feel that their time is at hand, and that they must now prepare as much as possible and, when the time is right, ‘seize the day‘. Apart from China, there are any number of signals that the U.S. itself has been sending that confirm China’s suspicion that its own turn at the wheel is near.

When my wife queries me if I would prefer eggplant or carrots for supper, she immediately jumps to the conclusion that I don’t like carrots and will never buy them again. In truth, I don’t mind carrots at all. Confronted with a choice, I inevitably fall into a trap of my own making as soon as I voice an opinion. Carrots, after all, are different from eggplant.

I agree with a liberal friend of mine that we should not be in the business of exporting ‘democracy’ throughout the world. We should persuade by example. China has been watching us and has adopted many of our ways. It has helped them to become relatively successful in a short period of time. China also sees us now, and intends to avoid making our mistakes. The point is, the leadership of China seeks to do what it feels is best for China. We may or may not agree as to how China‘s ascendancy would ultimately affect us.
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Interesting opinion piece by Michael Medved in this morning’s WSJ, entitled, “Obama Isn’t Trying To ‘Weaken’ America”. The pull quote from it reads “Some conservatives call the president the political equivalent of a suicide bomber: so consumed with hatred (for America) that he is willing to blow himself up in order to inflict casualties on a society he loathes.”

It goes on to list various failings of past presidents from Franklin Pierce to Bill Clinton, implying that we have well survived all their foibles; that Obama’s fumbling in office is of no more consequence than Clinton’s diddling with Monica Lewinsky in an Oval Office anteroom. Medved’s grand proof that people like Rush Limbaugh - who has said, “I think we face something we’ve never faced before in our country; and that is, we’re now governed by people who do not like the country.” or Sarah Palin, who said, “...he (Obama) is hell-bent on weakening America.” - are imbecilic. He bolsters his argument by saying, “None of the attacks on Mr. Obama’s intentions offers an even vaguely plausible explanation of how the evil genius, once he has ruined our ‘strength, influence and standard of living’ hopes to get himself re-elected.” - as if elections would be of any concern to ‘evil geniuses’ in the first place.

I used to like listening to Medved’s radio program when he was here in New York years ago. I especially liked his movie reviews. It could be that he has flipped, like Philadelphia's Michael Smerconish, and as John Batchelor himself is forever threatening to do.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

There Is No Middle Ground

‘Common ground’, ‘working together for the good of the American people’, ‘getting the job done’ - all wonderful sentiments, designed to say nothing and, at the same time, placate the masses.

There remain huge differences in the underlying understanding of just what ‘the job’ actually entails. Oh, we can talk about getting unemployment down to 8%, especially if it involves fudging the numbers. We can cut the federal budget the same way. We can improve our education results by giving every graduate a test showing three objects and asking which two are alike. We can offer the people healthcare, houses, and rice (cakes on the fourth of July). We can even fly the flag at sporting events and ‘cut and paste’ the words of the National Anthem onto a teleprompter. We can open our borders and invite everybody who wants to come in. We can export our industries, our secrets and our livelihoods to the hungry abroad. We can take a hands-off approach to brutality and genocide. We can do all these things, but there is one thing we can never do: regain trust in our government.

The way things are today, you’re either for something or against it. It all depends on what you ultimately wish to accomplish. It’s like we’re surrounded by trees in the forest and we can’t find our way out. Each tree demands our undivided attention - each one, a life and death decision - sapping our strength and resolve. Every step involves us in banal argument. What we lack is the long view.

The long view is out there. It’s being consummated right now as we speak - while we argue about this and that.

Egypt is a perfect example. Listening to today’s developments, you’d get the idea that it’s complete and utter chaos over there and that our government doesn’t have the slightest clue about what to make of it. I don’t happen to buy that. I think they know exactly what they’re doing and that it’s playing out exactly the way it was envisioned. No surprises there.

I had to laugh when I heard that Mubarak wants to go to Germany after he steps down. He was our dictator, after all! You mean to say we don’t have a place for him right here in the good ol’ USA? Or maybe, he doesn’t really want to come here, knowing what we did to him.

I still remember how we kept saying that Bush single-handedly made us into the most hated nation on earth. From what I can see, this hasn’t much changed under Obama. In fact, we’ve managed to lose quite a few friends along the way. We certainly haven’t made any new ones. We’re about to lose Israel, and the Suez Canal to boot. What’s that supposed to get us? In case nobody has noticed, the Latin American dominos are falling one by one. What does anyone want to bet we won’t have a communist government on our border with Mexico after their next election?

John Batchelor cites ratings, civility and a depth of understanding the issues; when he should be shouting from the rooftops. Ditto, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy. Either you want to kick over the sand castle or you don’t. There is no middle ground.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

ElBaradei: Sliced Bread

We, John Batchelor junkies, are pretty much all in agreement that ElBaradei is a Tehran stooge. He speaks English and that makes him acceptable to the West. Remember that after the Iranian revolution, they also installed a stooge who was termed acceptably ‘moderate’. We know all this.

Does the White House know? Sure. Does the media? Unknown. In any case, they’re following the script which says that ElBaradei is the best thing since sliced bread. No discussion at all about Israel. Israel seems to have been forgotten in all this. The White House has already written Israel off - as well as the Suez Canal.

Is the White House engaged? Sure. Was the White House taken by surprise? I doubt it. We, the people, were the ones taken by surprise. We are the ones who still insist on believing that this White House does things with America’s interests in mind.

Go on insisting. Go on being caught off guard when things happen. Go on believing POTUS incompetent. When Tehran comes knocking at our door, open up and ask, “Who is it?”

The Islamic threat is spreading west. I’ll know who it is at the door. They’ll see the light on but will find nobody home.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Irish Potato Famine

“…widespread opinion among the Cairo elite that the US aided the foment”

I’d go easy on that one. If proven, it could be blockbuster. It’s like the birth certificate fracas. (Quite possibly a trap.) But, as of now, there’s nothing much there (but the obvious). I’m sure Aaron Klein will be giving us the latest on his Sunday show.

It’s funny, though, that none of us would be so reckless as to bet the farm either for or against. We should know by now that Obama dislikes Israel intensely. He also dislikes the old guard that has brought us to this point. I can’t see him sitting around with Mubarak and chewing the fat for old time’s sake. It’s born of an inferiority complex stemming from not being facile with the facts. He knows that Mubarak would immediately size him up as a lightweight. Obama would feel much more comfortable sitting down with the likes of Ahmadinejad who’s a crazy as he is.

As for JB’s contention that Egyptian Muslims share nothing in common with Iranians, I beg to differ. As I’ve said before, the one issue that cements the Ummah into one cohesive unit is its hatred of Israel. This trumps any and all differences they might have among themselves. They stand united in their desire to rid their shores of the Jewish State. Whosoever achieves it will go down in the annals of Islamic history as no less than divine. Not only is it a big issue for them; it’s the only issue.

We ourselves went through the same thing here in America. The Democrats succeeded in cobbling together a coalition of splinter groups into a powerful force to unseat Republicans during Bush’s terms. These groups may not have agreed on every issue; but, on Bush and Republicans, they stood as one. They were successful. Their differences would emerge to haunt them later.

So too, it is in the Middle East. The various factions will unite against Israel (and its supporters). Even those who remain silent regarding this issue remain at risk.

We may very well witness the coalition breaking up under traditional stresses after the dirty deed is done. But this would amount to no more than being of curatorial interest as we spend the next century re-creating the Irish potato famine.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Where's Waldo?

You already know how I feel about Hu Jintao's atate visit to Washington, so I won’t even go there; except to quote from a WSJ editorial this morning: “Of all the differences between dictatorship and democracy, probably none is so overlooked as the ability of the former to project strength, and the penchant of the latter to obsess about its own weakness.” This quote was written under the heading, “RED SCARE REPRISE”. Now, apply this bit of wisdom to our own Democrat and Republican parties today.
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I must say, I've been missing Beck on the radio each morning. His replacement here in New York means well but is an utter lightweight. It's like going from putting cream in your tea to putting in water. WOR gave ‘low ratings’ as a reason for dropping Beck. I happened to run across a ratings book (on the net) since. There is no way that Beck had low ratings - even in New York!!! WOR is lying big time.

Also, when you google "Batchelor leaving WABC” (some time ago) or “Curtis Sliva leaving WABC” (more recently) you get no less than eight pages of material to choose from. Googling "Beck leaving WOR (in New York)" gives you just two stories (one is a re-cap of the other). Beck is much bigger than Batchelor (in terms of ratings), yet there is practically nothing reported about Beck being dropped anywhere. No talk show host has talked about it. To my knowledge, not even Beck has mentioned it.

I’m not a Beck junkie. I haven’t gone chasing after Beck, either on the radio dial or on the net. Yet, this says to me ‘news blackout’ - like what we experienced during the oil spill, and the sinking of the Cheonan.

If this can happen, anything can happen. People can just ‘disappear’, legislation can be passed without the knowledge of those affected, election results can be manipulated, or falsified outright, etc.

This, to my mind, is a big deal. It could be an indication of where we are headed. Up until now, we’ve all been painfully aware that the media slants the news. But what are we to say if there is no news to slant?

Sure, there are plenty of links out there where you can stream Beck’s radio program, jihad, porn or anything else you might want. But that isn’t really my point, is it? It’s not a matter of having accessibility to news. There are millions of people in North Korean work camps as well. Each and everyone of them knows exactly what’s going on there. But you never hear from them, do you? It’s as if they don’t exist.

The third-highest rated radio program is shut out of the biggest American media market. And nobody talks about it!? That’s what I find disturbing!

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/