The Cat's Meow

We have lost the language. We no longer listen to each other, we only speak. As such, we do not hear what anyone else is saying. It’s become a problem worldwide. Arab hatred for Jews is based on a lie. The idea of ‘global warming’ was based on a lie. Democrats painting Republicans as racist is a convenient lie, as is the current campaign against ‘the rich’.

The templates are set. There is no escaping. We, on the right, have hardened our templates as well in response to the Left’s aggression. We ourselves have countered with lies. In this climate, how can mere words be anything but partisan? Our alienation from each other goes much deeper than words. It can no longer be solved by simply inventing new words and casting new templates.

Words and templates seem flimsy when seen alongside powerhouse emotion. Palestinians hate Jews. Democrats hate Republicans. Communists hate capitalism. The poor hate the rich. Words are the kindling. Once the fire is started, it can no longer be contained. More kindling will not douse it. We are already into the next phase: power.

As Tom rightly points out, the Left has been meticulously organizing since the 60’s. They’ve done so incrementally, taking tiny steps: at first it was casual Fridays. Now, they also have the power. They control the narrative. All we on the Right can do is counter with kindling. Truth has long since become irrelevant - economic theory, for instance.

The only way out is to ‘reset’ (sorry Hillary!). Something of such significance must happen as to be capable of blowing all previous assumptions away - bringing people back to basics; getting them to actually face each other again, and begin responding to others’ basic needs.

In the past, the only human instrument capable of bringing this about has been war. In war, ideologies are not of much use. All such armchair posturing is subjugated by the need to survive. Soldiers may even encounter situations in which they must depend (in one way or another) on the enemy for their survival. (Note: leaders seldom face this dilemma.) Life hangs in the balance, but at least you’re looking at the whites of someone’s eyes who is not you, and you’re almost bound to find that common thread (good or bad) that defines a human trait.

I hold that when it gets down to brass nuts, men will behave like men – with kindness and good will. It may take something calamitous to get us back to there.

NY-26 is an example of localized political pantomime. We’re seeing lips move, but we’re not actually there. It would be a mistake to characterize these (or any) voters as dumb (or easily led.) There is a reason for why things happen the way they do.

From this distance, it looks like the partisan shtick all over again with a twist: It seems to me that Republicans are even more hated than Democrats. Republicans are hated for being weak and not standing up to Democrats. They’re hated for reaching across the aisle; they’re hated for compromising. They’re hated for getting up and smiling broadly under the TV lights after having just betrayed some important principle, thinking themselves the cat’s meow.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Outside The Gulag

The principal difference between the Left and Right as pertains to fiscal policy is to strip money of the concept of ‘value’ and replace it with the concept of ‘rights’. The whole movement is animated by the Utopian vision of ‘collective salvation’. In most countries of the world they wouldn’t give you a plug nickel for a beggar’s carcass - dead or alive. You would nevertheless have to pay a certain sum for a freshly killed chicken. A chicken has value in that it can be eaten.

There are, of course, excesses on all sides of the argument. Why should some people be living in the lap of luxury while others are starving? And, what happens when ‘rights’ are extended to animals as some purists demand?

The logic, as always, breaks down on its fringes. The ‘rights’ advocates already find themselves on shaky ground in that what they advocate does not and has never existed (successfully). Their vision boils down to pure rhetoric. The ‘values’ people are constantly on the defensive having let the gulf between excess and need get out of hand.

The recurring question (and problem) concerning the latter is: Who would administer the standard to which we could all agree? Clearly, none of us are the same. We have different talents and are burdened with different vices. Some are creative; others are drones. Some sound compelling on the radio; some do not. Some can play basketball better than others. Should each one be treated the same – as is appropriate under the law – in fiscal matters as well?

The Leftists would concur that this is indeed their goal. It is the sum total of their Utopian vision. All they would need to implement it is the mandate and power to overturn the present system.

Even Leftist would abandon their vision if they could grasp the consequences of their quest. Their vision assumes that by exchanging a (perhaps) relatively minor part of a car’s engine, all the other parts would continue working just the same.

When Jaguar rolled out its E-Type in 1961, several publications ranked it as the most beautiful car of all time. And that it was. I remember coming out of a Chinese restaurant in New York City one night and seeing one for the first time. A sizable crowd had gathered around it. I was mesmerized.

Almost immediately, owners started complaining about the car’s Lucas (British) electrical system. Later, this issue was said to have been solved by swapping out Lucas for Bosch (German). In this case, the swap turned out for the best.

When talking economics, however, the swapping out ‘value’ for ‘rights’ does not augur well. It would likely mimic a body rejecting a transplant. ‘Value’ will always be a key component as long as human beings are allowed to make choices. ‘Rights’ can only extend to the degree that choices exist. The very logic that the Left is asking us to accept is incompatible with human experience outside of the gulag.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Even the Trees Know

For people to the left of (and including) ‘liberal’ along the political spectrum, money has no meaning; work has no meaning; the individual has no meaning; words have no meaning; integrity has no meaning; history has no meaning; hope has no meaning; truth has no meaning; life has no meaning; nothing has meaning.

As such, the Left does not exist.

It happily (and cleverly) mimics the Right in word and sentiment in order to gain entrance. Once inside, it metastasizes and seeks to destroy the host.

It is up to the host to fight its disease. It must keep itself strong and resistant to the leaching void. Knowledge is key. The Left always attacks knowledge first. It uses words to turn truth on its head. It sweetens the pot with empty promises. It adds the salt of hatred. It borrows the tears of personal misfortune. It wallows in the blood of heroes. It pretends to be more alive than the living.

Witnessing the descent of America, I know I am right. “To be or not to be”; I am. “I think, therefore I am”; I am, and will be. I know the Left is fighting a losing battle. Life will always win out over death. And though death is always with us, it is just an illusion that serves to give meaning to life.

As we watch people fighting overseas, freely offering their bodies up for a cause, we are reminded that pain equals healing; that it is we who are in danger of forgetting the nature and purpose of pain - a comfortably numb generation, stumbling about in the dark, no longer knowing which is up, while even the trees know which way to turn.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

America: Not For Profit

There have been calls for revolution right here in America. Most prominently such calls have recently been heard at the protests in Wisconsin‘s state capital. Neither did the oft stated comparison to Egypt’s revolution escape public notice.

As in a series of strokes, first symptoms are seldom recognized as dangerous. Our first rattling of the cage came with the election of Barack Hussein Obama. We’ve been in revolution mode ever since. It’s reached a point where a counter-revolution is now building: the Tea Parties.

When Americans speak of revolution as pertains to their own country, it is difficult to determine what exactly they are talking about. ‘Revolution’ has become a sort of shorthand for ‘change’ popularized in 2008 during Obama’s election bid. Back then, it essentially meant nothing. Change would happen no matter which candidate were to be chosen. Bush was no longer on the ballot after all.

Perhaps, revolution can be identified as ‘accelerated change'. No doubt, this is what we got with Obama. Few would have envisioned how much this administration would be able to accomplish in just two short years. In the process, it has managed to bludgeon any number of sacred cows. (We’ve already gone through the list dozens of times.) These are now screaming to high heaven.

What we are seeing now can perhaps more properly be termed ‘civil war’. Revolution always comes first. With Obama’s election in the history books, the revolution is effectively behind us. Conventional wisdom has it that those best organized tend to come out on top (in a revolution). The American Left was far better organized than the Right, evidenced by the Left winning hands down.

Conservatives may be late to the dance, but they are organizing. There are other factors, of course, that will determine the ultimate result. Of these, enthusiasm may be the most potent. It can gather itself into real momentum. Momentum can only be temporarily halted by ‘organized’ force.

And this is where we find ourselves today. With the media being on the lam, it’s hard to tell at the moment which side will ultimately prevail. Libya is far easier to predict. Kaddafi will use all he has to quell the uprising. Unlike other Middle Eastern tyrants, he must have been planning for this eventuality all along. It won’t be pretty.

Any outside help offered to his regime will be handsomely rewarded. No doubt Russia and others are considering it. We have already stated publicly that we will not make any move that could be construed as an attempt to profit. This makes us unique among nations; and is yet another indication of the direction in which our own revolution is headed.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters

The only thing that the Left and the Right actually agree on is that growth alone will fix the economy. From there on, however, their approaches differ. Whereas the Left favors opening wide the back doors of the armored truck and heaving fistfuls of dollars out into the street, the Right says it’s time to keep the trucks locked up at the depot. This fundamental difference also colors our approach to foreign policy. As liberals are presently in charge of nearly everything, consider the following likely conversation between our State Department and the PA regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

U.S. State Department: “We want you to reach a peace agreement with Israel during this term of the Obama administration. What would it take for you to accomplish this?”

PA: “Impossible. We do not recognize the existence of the Jewish State.”

U.S.: “We will give you money - as much as you want. And we will give you more afterwards to help make you into the most prosperous nation on earth.”

PA: “We will take your money, but we will only buy guns and knives so we can slit the throats of the Israeli Jews.”

U.S.: “So you see, we’re making progress. You now recognize that there actually are Israeli Jews. We will give you an initial down payment and much more after you agree to come back to the table for further negotiations.”
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Or, imagine our conversation with the King of Saudi Arabia:

U.S.: “We will give you money so that you will keep the oil flowing to Europe and America.”

SA: “We have more than enough money. Money means nothing to us. Another Rolls Royce or two will not make a difference. We already have plenty. These only serve to remind us that we are nothing. We do not produce Rolls Royces. It does not improve our self-esteem to drive them. It is you who should feel proud for having produced what is arguably the finest land vehicle the world has ever known. We, on the other hand, simply use them as we would toilet paper.

“We produce nothing. We have no skills, no imagination - only resources. It is these resources - our resources - with which you spin your magic: building great industries and communication networks, creating timeless art and philosophies, etc. We simply allow you to pump oil out of our wells. Although you pay us handsomely, it’s only money, which is essentially worthless to us because we do nothing to earn it.”

U.S.: “But we’re prepared to pay you even more.”

SA: “Save it. It will help neither us nor you. You have done more than enough to inflict us with a fatal case of ‘Dutch disease’ (as defined by your own economists). The only way we will be helped is for us to destroy you. Because every day you continue to exist on this, our shared, planet reminds us of our humiliation before God.

“We have therefore decided to pronounce everything you do as evil. And thus we have discovered our power over you. We are now in the position to drain the very blood from your veins. And only this (by the grace of Allah) will restore our self-esteem and bring us back to some semblance of life. In other words, we must kill you.”

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Mitch Daniels Misspeaks

‘Error code’ for what? I must have missed this. But I’m sure he must have said something to offend either the Right or the Left. If it’s the Right, redemption is still possible. If it’s the Left, he’s cooked. The very gates of hell will open up out of that shoe box (with the pot in it) of his.

It troubles me that Mitch Daniels felt compelled to walk anything back. It shows that his primary aim is to appeal to voters. Haven’t we had enough of that: politicians speaking out of both sides of their mouths, saying one thing to one audience and another thing to another; and walking it back both times. Who really knows what they intend?

I, for one, would have more respect for Obama if he were to come right out and say it; that his plan is to topple representative governance along with capitalism and impose shariah on the American people; and that, in addition, he wants to push Israel into the sea and murder every Jew on the face of the earth, instead of comparing himself to every past American president who happens to have - at one time or other - caught America’s imagination.

I would equally welcome any politician who would step forward (now) and declare his or her intention to stop Obama in his tracks. It’s not just about overturning Obamacare, reducing taxes, or soothing any other single-issue voters’ concern. It’s the whole ball of wax: energy, education, the economy, race relations, foreign policy, etc. - all of which feed into the mix of anti-Americanism in one way or another.

At least, this way we would know where we stand and we would not waste 99% of our time and energy debating each point separately to no conclusion.

Right now, I personally see no solution other than letting Obama have exactly what he wants - reduce our nation to the likes of Zimbabwe or North Korea - and watch if our population will not at some point rise up and hold the whole bunch of them responsible. Let them throw us in prisons; let them place an imam on every street corner, armed with a knife to slit our throats; let them take our children and keep them hostage in their madrassas; let them hold public hangings, floggings, stoning, and amputations; and make attendance mandatory. Let them demand our money and property and make them communal. Let them rape and defile our women. Let them do all these things and more and watch for the point at which the NYT and all the alphabet broadcasters decide to turn against them so that we can finally stand united against the onslaught that continues to rage against us. Change always comes from within.

Am hoping for the day when we will once again can see patriotic movies being made and hear patriotic songs sung. How much will it take to turn us around?

As long as we listen to guys the likes of Daniels and Gingrich with maple-flavored oatmeal dripping from their lips as they speak; I’d say, we still have a long way to go.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Gettysburg (redux)

Maybe we should exorcise the words ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ from our dictionaries. When pundits say that Obama, Kaddafi, Ahmadinejad, Mugabe, Chavez (or whoever) are on the ‘wrong’ side of history while Scott Walker, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck proclaim themselves to be on the ‘right’ side, it betrays a bias. There are only sides. ‘Wrong’ or ‘right’ are relative to the side one happens to be on. Let us then just say, “There is their side and there is our side.”

We have now established that there are indeed sides. Provided we feel strongly enough to identify our preference, we must then support our side with all we’ve got.

We’re in the midst of a global battle we must win. We can no longer be bystanders because the outcome of this battle will determine our future and the future of our children. It has become pointless to argue about ‘wrong’ and ‘right’. Each side thinks it’s right and that the others are ‘wrong’.

Similarly, ‘left’ and ‘right’ on the political scale has become solely diversion and used by both sides to confuse and obfuscate. You either believe that America has been ‘wrong’ throughout its history or you don’t. You either want to see it torn down, destroyed, to let the phoenix rise from its ashes; or you want to preserve what has already been built.

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. All that remains for us is to fight impeccably for whichever side we choose.

The winner of this battle will have the right to carry the banner of America. It will be either a ‘new and improved’ America or it will be America as it once was.

After the war has been settled, someone from the winning side will echo some version of President Abraham Lincoln’s stirring ‘Gettysburg Address’ in addressing the nation. It may not be at a cemetery, for (I should hope) we no longer fight our internal wars with guns and bullets. But we will have fought nevertheless. And the spoils will have gone to the victor.
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On the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the ’Soldiers’ National Cemetery’ in Gettysburg, PA, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at Gettysburg, President Lincoln delivered what has come to be known as ‘The Gettysburg Address‘:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Pray to God it will be someone from our side.

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/

Let's See How It Plays

Olbermann gone, but not forgotten. Perhaps it all boils down to ratings after all. Olbermann has always been near the bottom of the heap. He has talent, no doubt. His talent was overshadowed by his bias. Once bias has been freely and audaciously exhibited, there is no longer any need to watch. Everyone already knew what was coming.

Olbermann is much too smart to let this happen. I suspect he was encouraged all the way. He knew that his ratings suffered. (They all know.) In fact, he had much larger audiences than what was obvious when his clips were played on much more successful shows. These made him out to be a clown and he readily obliged. Why?

I suspect it’s some version of the ‘fairness doctrine’ again: Olbermann on the Left; Beck on the right. “We’ll get rid of Olbermann, if you get rid of Beck. In fact, let’s get rid of the whole bunch of them: We’ll get rid of MSNBC; you’ll get rid of FOX. Let’s start with Beck and Olbermann and see how it plays.”
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"Despite the fact that Democrat policies are hugely unpopular, two factors have enabled the party to continue to present itself as mainstream.

“The first factor has been the media. As has been their practice forever, it seems; the media have helped Democrats by demonizing the Republicans and rightist politicians. Working hand in glove with leftist politicians, the media have implemented the politics of personal destruction against right-wing leaders. By demonizing the likes of Bush, Cheney, Palin, Limbaugh et al, they have rendered the social cost of supporting Republicans and the Right too high for many Americans to bear.

“At the same time, the media have colluded with the Left to present leftist leaders as earthy, heroic, sophisticated and responsible statesmen. By keeping the content of their policies firmly out of the discussion and framing the debate instead around personal attacks and symbols, the media have successfully kept conservative leaders on the defensive and shielded leftist politicians from substantive attacks on their radical policies.“

The preceding has been taken from Caroline Glick’s latest article in the Jerusalem Post. It is not about America. It is about Israel. I’ve taken the liberty of changing a few words.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

I Want Kelly Evans Back

“POTUS cannot solve the possibility of a challenge from the Left of the Democrats.”

First off, let me say, I want Kelly Evans back. As to the Batchelor quote above, how does that square with the opinion of many pundits (including the WSJ) that the Left is finished in this country? This has to be thought through. If the Left is finished, so is the Right. The problems this country faces - both foreign and domestic - are no longer solvable. Game point, POTUS.

And this has been the whole point of the Obama presidency thus far: to erase any distinction between Democrat and Republican, Left and Right, economic success or failure; winning and losing re foreign policy; etc.

That has been the ‘game’ all along - a classic Marxist ploy, meant to prepare the field for takeover. By the time it’s finished, there will no longer be any way to judge the best from the worst. There will be just one choice. It will masquerade as harmony.

The Kucinich play will fade to sideshow (if it hasn’t already), as will the Tea Parties, the Clintons and all the rest. The action will be in the main tent; and the ring master will be Barack Hussein Mubarak (or any other dictator you wish to name).

All the partisan hand wringing; all the endless talk about this and that was over once Barack Hussein Obama got elected. He has forged (and is still forging) a new way forward - new for America, that is. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can get down to the business of restoring the country. Otherwise, don’t come whining to me if, when 2012 comes ‘round, Obama gets ‘re-elected’ (again and again…)

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

We Are All Socialists Now

We can now put another ornament on Obama’s socialist (mop) Christmas tree: net neutrality. Nobody can yet exactly say what it means. The full text of the new rules haven’t been released yet. But, putting yet another chunk of the free market under government control should tell you all you need to know.

As with other legislation that has passed this year, the new rules basically amount to a framework that allows government to regulate as issues emerge. “At the digression of…” appears to be a ubiquitous phrase in any such legislation. It is also important to note that no such legislation - from ‘health care’ to FINREG to START - has been assembled willy-nilly and without purpose. All of it has been carefully crafted and been filed away from public view for a long time to be taken out at a time most favorable to passage. Law makers have had virtually no way to assess the merits of any such legislation and were required to vote in hurried fashion, strictly along party lines.

Net neutrality, of course, bypassed Congress altogether. There was no opportunity to probe the past associations and affiliations of those who crafted and promoted it. Suffice it to say, that those of us who suspected Obama’s socialist bias all along were right. Vote socialist, and you get socialist - and worse.

At this pace, we can expect a seemingly legitimate bill to slip through a rubberstamp Congress within the next two years that gives Obama the presidency with unlimited power for life. It’ll all be done under the rubric of crisis - Chavez style.

Crisis is the mother’s milk of authoritarian regimes and as such we cannot expect much to improve our situation. Crisis is one of the easiest circumstances to manufacture. Socialism thrives on it. It has never played to finding solutions anywhere its been tried. It just dissolves the parameters by which to judge success or failure.

Republicans and tea party members will have their work cut out for them. Rolling back or de-funding existing open-ended legislation is, they will find, is much like trying to nail Jello to a wall. Their best bet will be to proceed with hearings, focusing on constitutional grounds. This will, however, leave them open to the charge of practicing McCarthyism. The public at large will not be encouraged to support such dramatic high-profile displays. It will judge any effort on the part of Republicans as grandstanding, racism, and rank partisanship. They can be expected to fold like cheap cameras and just go along.

It’s been coming for a long time. It’s all been planned so meticulously, down to the last detail. The shame of it is that we too had a chance to stem this socialist tide. Bush too had control of Congress for a time, but squandered the opportunity to gird us against the threat. The Right has done nothing but capitulate. We now face a situation not dissimilar to our fight against Islamic terrorism in which a whole roster of clarifying terminology has been swept off the table. Mention ‘socialism’ and the full weight of political correctness comes crashing down from the sky to stifle any further hope for honest debate.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

A Third Way

Much has been made of Obama leaving Bill Clinton to conduct a presidential presser. It’s even worse than it appears: Both Obama and Clinton are effectively endorsing Bush (tax cuts), fueling the conviction of some that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the parties.

Both parties are under assault. It makes no difference, Democrat or Republican. The American version of British royalty must fall. They no longer offer viable alternatives. All either one can say is NO. There is no leadership on either side. Our nation is running on empty.

Now, here comes the tricky part: What will replace them? The tea parties? Unlikely. They have the spirit, but lack organization. The hard-left commies? No. It goes against the grain of everything our country stands for. Independents? No. Everyone is in mortal fear of them ever since the Perot debacles in the 90’s.

What may be needed is a ‘third way‘. Those who may be familiar with the term’s connotations (especially on this site) will bristle at this. It, like most terms used for political purposes, has been corrupted to favor one side over another. Even in its preferred usage, it refers to a compromise between the Left and the Right - hence, Center. None of this will work. A ‘third way’ must shun both Left and Right, and start from scratch. It must have an appreciation for what has made our nation great. As such, its approach must be practical. Its creed must be to preserve and protect. It’s thrust must be problem-solving.

If and when such a force were to arise from the shambles of our current political landscape, all this will be embodied in a leader. We will not fail to recognize him (or her). Current leadership has strayed from doing what’s good for America, concentrating instead on what’s good for the party. The Obama - Bush - Clinton paradigm has spent itself. There are only two ways in which a third way can assert itself: One is for a leader to appear; the second is by outside events conspiring to forge a ‘third way’ from our existing reservoir of the myopic and the timid. At this point it looks like that the proverbial Zen slap-in-the-face is what's needed.

It is interesting to note that every one of our enemies possess that which we lack: identity. It is identity that fuels their passion. We must display an equal or even greater passion in order to defeat them. They are growing stronger. We must lead by example. We must learn the definition of ‘winning’ - not whining. I understand that’s a tall order for a people who still have to learn what the definition of ‘is’ is.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

A Little Left; A Little Right

Every human heart has within it a little left and a little right. Cutting out either one will kill the heart. Where we have gone wrong is by cutting off debate between the two. It has literally ignited a war.

There are those who benefit from conflict. These are the people who will tell you not to talk to this one or that. They will tell you never to mention certain subjects. They will redefine language to be confrontational.

We see it in our colleges and universities; we see it in our media; now we are seeing it in our politics. Never forget that Republicans were not allowed access to the decision-making concerning any bill that was passed during the past two years. Never forget that the NYT does not allow for opposing views to appear on its pages; ditto: CBS; PBS; NBC, and ABC. Never forget that Islam does not allow intellectual commerce with the outside world.

Within our own nation, Left and Right have retreated into armed camps.

I remember reading a story of an Israeli boy and a Palestinian boy clandestinely meeting in some no-man’s land abutting their properties. They were friends; they played as friends do. They knew each other on a human level. The story did not end well.

The evil resides within those who forcibly block people from basic human interaction. They do so with malice. They intend to gain by it. All their words are calculated to fuel discontent and erect barriers. They invariably threaten consequences.

Words like “Barack will never allow…” and “(Republicans) gotta sit in the back.” and, “…we’re gonna punish our enemies and…reward our friends…” should never be uttered by Americans who happen to hold positions of leadership. This kind of talk should throw up warning signals to indicate that we have already gone too far. For America to save itself, Americans must unite under the nation’s banner and keep all the lines of communications open. The threat comes from those who would happily shut it down.

In India, there actually is a communist party. It interacts freely with all other parties. Often, it aligns itself with others. It does not seek to destroy them.

I just read a novel by Khushwant Singh entitled “Train to Pakistan”. The time is just after partition. It details the bloodletting between Hindus and Muslims precisely. And it tells how it started. It’s not the Hindus and Muslims who were at fault. It was the badmashes on both sides who took advantage of a chaotic situation to sate their own appetites.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Who Will Be Left Standing?

We tend to be arbitrarily selective in weighting individual events as to their relative importance. Almost every pundit concerns him or herself with simply categorizing the flotsam to satisfy some curatorial interest or bias. Officially, our country has already become a museum - desultory displays in every room - static, enforced silence; no running; no cameras allowed. No hint of the wave that continues to build.

During Clinton’s term in office, some tried to make hay of his brother’s cocaine use. It fell flat and was quickly dismissed as irrelevant - yet, it most likely occurred. Then, Republicans made a lot of Bill’s peccadilloes outside the sacred vows of marriage. That too fell flat, though it did ended in impeachment; in this case, merely a technical term - an asterisk - that essentially meant nothing.

Then there was Gore’s stolen election, which, as far as it went, only proved that a “bird in the hand…”

Then, it all started with 9/11.

In my view, Bush was an adequate caretaker, but the wave was already building: a hardening of positions, a disrespect of government in general. A whole line of American presidents had already been discredited, reaching back all the way to our founding.

The Left was the first to take advantage of our political chaos. Republicans had to be defeated at any price, even at the expense of the country - and things went from bad to worse. Obama was elected in ’08. He was supposed to be the messiah who was sent to bring us together and heal us. The country had been proclaimed a basket case - but, at least, we still had a country.

Obama changed things alright. He cut us loose from our moorings. It’s become clear to many of us that the Left has managed to hoist its red sail even without openly stating our destination. Meanwhile, the Right has dropped anchor. Horse latitudes. We’re not going anywhere.

Meanwhile, the wave is building. It is expected to crash on shore in early November, scattering flotsam all across our beaches. The clean-up may cost us more than we can afford.

Already the tourists are leaving the continent. The tsunami flags are flying. Both Democrats and Republicans are running for the hills. Losing has become as risky as winning. Who will be left standing? Who will right the ship? Who will clean up the beaches?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Gulliver's Travels

The Chinese, I'm sorry to say, are doing exactly what we should be doing. They’re doing it under their system in which everyone there is participating to the best of his or her ability. Grant it, it is not our system.

By the same token, I am loath to condemn the Iranians at this point. They too are doing what they think is right (under their system). It is not up to us to tell them anything. Both the Chinese and the Iranians are working hard to expand their spheres of influence. We, at present, have no alternative to offer them. We no longer project a credible example.

When they look at us they see a nation in decline. Our allies are running for the tall grass. We are no longer confident; optimism is draining daily. In fact, we seem to be actively fueling our own demise.

Both China and Iran are on the upswing. They are courting alliances on every continent; alliances from which we are excluded. They are building their military capabilities, with an eye to the future, to protect their strategic interests. We have abandoned strategy.

We no longer have anything to say to them. Our economy is running on fumes. Our educational system is beyond corrupt. Our media is blatantly rubberstamp. We are divided to the point of gridlock. Our best and brightest are hobbled by a mass of incomprehensible regulations - like Gulliver was by the Lilliputians.

We have voluntarily amputated our tongues. Even a whispered insult against us speaks louder than anything we might say in our own defense.

Our expectation that Republicans will restore us stems from the same root that elected Obama. We veer madly left, then right; and likely back again. Every day we hear the dollar’s death rattle. Our American tradition has been blighted by our political battles in which constructive compromise is routinely shunned. Yes, we need change alright, but it’s not left change, or right. We need to rediscover what it means to be American.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Vamshavriksha

We may never know if Rahm was pushed or if he is fleeing. Not only Seib, but the MSM in general have portrayed the event as bitter-sweet. Unlike departures from the Bush White House - which were generally viewed as evidence of confusion and abject failure - Rahm’s leaving is being hailed as fresh and exciting opportunities for both Rahm and Obama.

It has become a mark of supreme enlightenment to couch every political criticism (especially on our side) in phrases such as “both Republicans and Democrats…” or, now, more to the point, “past (Republican) presidents as well”. By doing so, we are hoping to triangulate and place ourselves above the fray. This can only be a winning strategy if our side has the advantage. It is unclear at the moment just who holds the advantage. Certainly, as far as midterms are concerned, Republicans can be expected to reap huge numerical gains in Congress. But take elections out of the equation and one finds that the same conditions that brought Obama to power in 2008 still exist today. The country is deeply divided along ideological lines.

When scientists scratch the earth in remote regions of our planet and unearth the bones of our ancestors, they then try to connect the dots between what they have discovered thus far and what they continue to find. As such, they are hoping to construct a lineage that would explain from whence we arrived at this point in time.

When all they would really need to do is to study in minute detail the developing fetus. Therein lie all the clues to every stage of development the human species has undergone to date, from single-cell organisms, through our reptilian stage, all the way up to what we are today. Every human being precisely replicates every single stage of his (or her) development since the beginnings of time while gestating in his (or her) mother’s womb.

It’s the same with ideas. All we have to do is ask ourselves why we believe in what we believe - do it doggedly and systematically - and we would find that we have come to accept certain assumptions and hold them as truth. At some point we branched out into two distinct beings: liberals and conservatives. Liberals have further (d)evolved into the Left of the political spectrum; conservatives into the Right. By failing to ask what has created this divide, we are obscuring the origins of what has made us so different.

We no longer question the assumptions that support our position. We simply regurgitate what we are told that most closely approximates our natural leaning.

Once the tree branches, it never grows together again unless the branches are cut and are heaped together for the purpose of a kindling. Then fire consumes them both equally.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Rashomon: A Different View

There are some things that even I, a no-name blogger, can not write. Suffice it to say that something is about to happen. The Left is desperate - beyond idly wishing that Sarah Palin had been on that plane that crashed in Alaska, taking the lives of all on board, including former U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens.

What the recent Gibbs ‘gaffe’ shows is that the Obama administration is not beholden to either the Left or the Right. For months now they’ve been poking and prodding the Right, trying to paint them as violent anti-government activists. It has not worked. The Tea Parties have behaved themselves.

As I said, the administration is desperate to start something. All it’s efforts so far have come to naught. But lately, they’ve begun to take a different tack: They’ve started poking the Left. In the administration’s view, the Left is boiling, and much more susceptible to erupt into violence. Violence is the only element still missing for the administration to cement its hold on America.

It may happen before midterms or after. Certainly within the next two years something will occur to cause the government to lock down America, cancel elections and declare itself the sole arbiter of affairs.

Gibbs did not make his remarks without Obama’s approval. Obama knows what he’s doing. He’s prodding the Left to action.

Germany Bails Out Greece

The big political battle of our time is the struggle between Left and Right. The Left is winning. It’s late in the fourth quarter, the score is tied and the Left has the ball on the Right’s three-yard line. Merkel knows how the game will end. By calling for a time out now – by agreeing to bail out Greece - she intends to postpone the inevitable, hoping to no longer be on the field when the final score is announced. In German it’s called Realpolitik.

The Left seeks the total collapse of world currencies. By beggaring the middle classes, they intend to bring about the chaos that would usher in totalitarian state communism. Bailing out Greece at this point merely kicks the can down the road. Further bailouts are all but inevitable. This will anger the German populace to the point of turning its rage against Merkel’s right-of-center party. Leftists will take up the reigns. The next time the issue of the PIIGS needing money arises, there will be no hesitation about what to do. Neither will there be any incentive for any individual nation to pursue economically sound policies. The Euro will collapse, followed by societal upheaval. In the people’s frenzy to save themselves, they will seek out scapegoats. As Batchelor often says, “There will be blood.” The perceived ‘rich’ will be targeted and sacrificed on the altar of ‘Social Justice' (and Merkel will be permitted to sit by, knitting).

After the revolution, people will be starving and begging for leadership. Strongmen will emerge and rewire the West into a series of cooperative communist dictatorships in which economic principles no longer apply. Cronyism, brutality and ideology will comprise the new world currency.

Everything Is Broken

There is no respectability left in this Congress. There is no one who levels with the American people who elect its members. There is only the corrupt Right and the corrupt Left who work in tandem to pass the baton of corruption between them. The few unaligned voices in the middle are systematically drowned out. Reason has been deemed the flattened carcass of a skunk in the middle of the road.

With each turn of the screw by the executive branch it gets uglier. The modesty wraps of the sausage factory peel back exposing the scam. Obama is exhorting the legislative chambers to implode. The American people have awoken from their torpor. They are aware that our system of representative governance is broken; that our country hasn't been governed effectively in years. The best that can happen now is that no further legislation be passed - not until the people have had a chance to clean house.

Obama, on the other hand, knows exactly what he’s doing. He has assigned Congress an impossible task. He has given them a gun and is inviting them to pull the trigger. This would leave only himself in tact – with unlimited power.

Every Washington second-tier politician knows that the curtain has slipped. ("Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.") They are collectively fighting for their lives. Some know what's coming. Some have already left the sinking ship. It is not altogether clear that the American rank and file will know what to do; or that they’ll even be given a chance to do it. They are at a severe disadvantage. All the major institutions - the media, academe, organized labor, Hollywood - are against them. The world has turned against them. They know the way to go with Sisyphus' stone is up. But every foothold has been ground down.

After the Congress has been replaced by a rubberstamp politburo, it will be the military’s turn to be replaced. Then the dollar. I might have the exact order of events wrong. But, either way, all these things are being meticulously planned for. It is the fulfillment of a dream that every Trotskyite has had since the fall of the Soviet Union. They feel they can get there now that Obama is in office. It’ll be interesting to see what they can do to muck up our elections. But in the end, it won’t really matter – will it? With Congress broken, with the economy broken, with a Marxist occupying the White House, it’s hard to see how they could fail.

Holding Our Collective Breath

'Health care', as it's currently being discussed, spawns from the same template as 'global warming'. It is not about health, and even less about care. It is a proxy war waged by the Left to advance a political philosophy that is essentially alien to our traditions. It is designed to discredit the notion of representative government, eliminate the middle class, and destroy the dollar. In the chaos that ensues, people will be expected to submit to the dictates of any man who displays the trappings of being in charge, even if that man is shown to harbor a deep inclination to exact revenge for slights, real or imagined, toward the very people who will be asked to submit to his onerous demands.

This was not something that was generally envisaged during our last election cycle. Increasing constituencies, however, are slowly coming to this conclusion despite the major media’s reluctance to dig below the surface.

In any case, much of what can now be comfortably termed ‘the Left’s agenda’ is expected to be in place by the time the next election cycle begins. This explains the frantic rush to get all these benchmarks passed now. The re-election of Barack Hussein Obama will certify the Left’s dominance. It will be celebrated as yet another milestone in the Left’s long march to power, similar to the victory the Right claimed after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The difference between then and now is that ideology has now spilled beyond borders and blurred national boundaries.

Obviously there will be winners and losers. Pragmatists are already scrambling to position themselves on the winning side of history. Ideologues on both extremes are holding their breath. When all this is over, one of these will find themselves completely shut out of the political process for generations to come.