The Pool Empties

(The following can be read in conjunction with 'On A Silver Platter'.)

It was remarkable to see: a foreign head of state giving our president a public schooling yesterday. Some were outraged that this could even happen. Others were jubilant. All felt somewhat uncomfortable.

For far too long Obama has been getting away with it, just saying things for the mere sake of talking without anything to back it up. And we were expected to become all wobbly and swoon at the mere strains of ‘Hail to the Chief' marking his entrance. We’d grown tired of waiting for the oft promised manna from heaven while most of the time it’s been raining stones.

Yesterday, someone finally took it upon himself to stand up to the charade. It’s not that Obama was fooling anybody anymore. All the other world leaders noticed the utter lack of substance in the man. But they just smiled and discretely turned away, pretending to blow their noses while laughing out loud. “Be careful, we’ve got a nut case here,” they said to each other.

Israel couldn’t take it so lightly. Its very existence depends upon a viable partnership between our two nations – now more than ever, as the Middle East is preparing to rise up against it. It cannot continue to play childish games that have no basis in reality.

In what was billed as a major foreign policy statement last week at the State Department, the president reiterated America’s long-standing position toward Israel. “Our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable,” he said. Three paragraphs later, he went on, “…and Israel must be able to defend itself – by itself – against any threat.” What the hell does that mean? - that we now will or won’t support Israel if she were to be attacked?

It’s the same with our economy. On one hand, Obama says that private enterprise is expected to pull our nation back from the fiscal brink. On the other, he is singularly responsible for placing roadblocks in the path of every private enterprise and condemning the very notion of capitalism at every turn.

No wonder everyone is left scratching their heads by this American Shiva’s eternal skull dance. And we do know that confusion and uncertainty keeps everything from moving forward.

Desperate to land on some green twig, he’s got us grasping at straws. We pick and choose from his torrent of words to find those that would signal a positive turn, ignoring all others. It’s impossible for us to believe that our very own leader does not have a plan – easy to do as we hear him talking out of both sides of his mouth. He exhorts industry to hire. Industry is reluctant. They don’t just hire to pad payrolls. They expect to see results, even as planning has become impossible in this fog. Consequently, they’re not hiring. They’ll wait until the air clears at least enough to discern some direction.

Netanyahu did us a favor yesterday. He introduced some urgency into the mix. Will our president now feel compelled to sharpen his pencils? Or will he harden his stance toward an ally who has cared enough to expose this administration's treading water while the pool empties.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Cornerstone

For a long time now, money has trumped ideology. This is no longer the case – especially now that every dollar essentially amounts to an IOU. The ideologies of China and the Islamists share only a disgust of corrupted capitalism. Otherwise, they differ in significant ways. After the West has been defeated, these differences will come to the fore and begin to cause problems. China will have to tread pretty carefully for their alliance with Pakistan to work. In the Islamist’s eyes, they too are infidels, tolerated only because they are now brothers in arms.

Seldom discussed (except on Thursdays on The John Batchelor Show) is the pivotal role of Israel. We can pretty much predict how Israel is likely to react to an imminent existential threat for it shares our own sensibilities. Since Obama’s one vote-one man-one time election, it is rather our reaction to an attack on Israel that remains a question. I predict we will do nothing – this despite the clamor of the American people to step in to help.

Whether by its own effort or with the aid of someone else, Israel will survive. India may rise to the role of Good Samaritan. It has a strong a spiritual tradition and will inherently understand what is at stake. Do not summarily reject the spiritual dimension in all this; and don’t rule out China. They might well jump in as well, seeking to profit from the purely practical aspect of doing so. The Islamists will be defeated as they have defiled their religion. America will stand disgraced on the sidelines for the same reason.

And ‘the stone the builders rejected will once again become the cornerstone’ – Psalm 118:22.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Barack Hussein Obama: The American President

Peter Koelliker replied to comment from NJ to IL | May 3, 2011 10:12 AM | Reply

Spengler is awesome. I’m glad you discovered him. He goes by a pseudonym and nobody really knows who he is. He is deep and keenly aware of what’s going on. He has Obama figured out to down to the patterns of his crib blanket.
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All is forgiven. Obama has redeemed himself. In one masterful stroke he has managed to turn a failed presidency into a great success – this according to major media reports this morning. Were elections held today, Obama would win handily over any (Republican) opponent. It was he, after all, who succeeded in slaying America’s most recognizable enemy and killer of nearly 3000 innocents back on 9/11/01.

Osama has been crowing about it ever since, taking credit and chipping away at America’s confidence. Quite beside the point is the fact that bin Laden was never the architect or inspiration of al-Qaeda; that al-Qaeda was always a burgeoning movement that chose to adopt bin Laden’s human face in order to present itself to the world.

There are now millions of other names and faces associated with al-Qaeda just as there are now also a multitude of faces competing to represent America. Al-Qaeda is really only an abstraction, quite like the idea of ‘America’ is an abstraction. The president of a country enjoys an enormous advantage over all others insofar as he has been proclaimed ‘leader’ by whatever means that nation decides to conduct its leadership lottery – this, quite apart from any particular ideology.

That much is true for any street gang or family. Someone always comes to the fore to assume responsibility for maintaining the clan’s security and giving voice to its ambitions. Seldom – though it has happened – does a leader actively champion the clan’s demise.

Ascension to leadership usually involves a killing – either virtual or direct – some demonstration of power and the willingness to use it. Bin Laden certainly fit the bill on that account. What he managed to do was audacious and unexpected. It rocked the most powerful nation back on its heels. We never quite recovered and remained on the defensive. Now, Obama took it right back to them by this (alleged) high profile killing that cannot go unnoticed. It means that al-Qaeda has weakened just enough to let it happen.

The truth is that al-Qaeda has changed. It is no longer a fledgling, narrow Islamic-based, anti-colonialist movement. It has grown into a global force with many powerful allies. Bin Laden’s brand was no longer adequate to encompass its expanded mission statement that now involves nations and a wholesale shift away from capitalism. Bin Laden had become old hat, passé. He was expendable.

The new face is Barack Hussein Obama’s. He has shed his timidity and shown that he now means business. And we applaud the resurgence of (the new) America.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Clouds Gathering

Things are starting to come into focus. Let’s stipulate for a moment that all we’ve been hearing is true; that Obama is actually native born, and that he succeeded in finding and killing Osama; that Osama hasn’t really been dead for years and that it’s not only just now that Obama is taking credit for his corpse. Let’s even say that Pakistan was involved in the ruse (which now seems likely) and that the whole thing hinged on a deal by which Obama get’s Osama and Pakistan gets Afghanistan. How does this help Obama?

Well, for one thing, judging from the reaction of both the left and right media, Obama is counting on his poll numbers to go up – and stay up. He’ll be able to say to the American public that the war in Afghanistan is now over and we can withdraw our troops. Americans would view this as welcome news and give full credit to our heroic and victorious president - and reelect him to a second term.

The problem is that the world has changed since 9/11. What has changed is that the Left and the Islamists are now united and are working in consort for a common goal. The movement that started with bin Laden is no longer strictly Arab based. It is based on the far broader idea of ending western capitalism. There are strong indications that Obama is quite on board with that. This would make POTUS our very own home-grown “Jihad Johnny” (Walker, a.k.a. ‘The American Taliban’).

The fly in the ointment is the Islamic inviolable desire to push Israel into the sea and that this must occur before anything else happens. POTUS has already shown himself as being no particular friend of Israel. Yet, he still depends heavily on (liberal) Jewish support. This would require him to play a double game. He must seem to please both the Arabs as well as the Jews.

The best way for him to proceed would be to work against Israel in a stealth manner. We note that every maneuver of his is designed to weaken Israel and strengthen her adversaries. It is my belief that he intends for Israel to fall while keeping his own hands clean. I do not believe this strategy will work. When push comes to shove, Israel will either successfully defend herself or receive help from an unexpected source. (China?)

At this point, the Left-Islamic coalition will come off the rails and the game will be exposed. The West will turn on a dime and fight back. None of this will be pretty to watch; but in the end all will turn out alright. The cleanup will be tremendous though. Economies will be in ruins and there will be plenty of blood. Islamists will meet up with their sainted martyrdom and the Left will be pursued to the ends of the earth.

We are reminded of the start of the Second World War. It’s difficult to imagine such a war without the U.S. being on the side of the good guys. But Germany turned out alright in the end, after everything was said and done. It’s just a shame that we will have to go through the whole mess all over again.

You might want to re-read my article entitled “The Tables Are Turning”, posted June 4th, 2010 for some background re elitism and how Israel fits into the overall picture.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Trump: Political Outsider

Predictably, the media is following Obama’s lead, now by attacking Trump. They’re doing it in a kind of back-handed way by painting him as a ridiculous cartoon-like character - in the same way they routinely report on the tea parties. They will not engage him on facts.

Anti-Trump elements are hard at work leaking Trump’s past sins. Curiously, they see their most potent card as the one that says Trump liked liberal Democrats – this, at the very same time they try to paint Obama as a centrist. It’s absurd, really, but it seems to have worked, at least with several prominent conservative commentators who have now come out full-bore against a possible Trump candidacy.

Callers to talk shows do not seem to be particularly impressed by the tactic. Trump still appears to score high among the unwashed despite what the media (right or left) say about him. Their argument is that the next election should not hinge on the issue of Democrat vs. Republicans; but rather on patriot vs. non-patriot (or anti-American). Trump scores high on being a patriot.

Additionally, Trump is helped by being a Washington outsider, i.e. he does not identify closely with either one of the parties. There is broad dissatisfaction among the voting public with the candidates both parties have put forth. Trump, so far, is the only candidate under consideration who transcends party affiliation. Hence, come election time, we may come to recognize that party loyalty or a sense of entitlement (for years spent in support of either party) is no longer an issue for voters.

Trump’s accomplishments are palpable. They lie outside the political realm. He is seen as a businessman whose success has hinged on his ability to roll with the rough-and-tumble of capitalism. Claims, that some of his ventures have failed, only serve to burnish his standing as an unabashed capitalist. Failure (right along with success), after all, is one of the hallmarks of capitalism.

Trump is everything Obama is not. Obama is an ideologue and, worse, a politician. As such, he is beholden to what is seen as a corrupt system. Obama has been repeatedly promoted by affirmative action within a system that has failed to deliver broadly. He is the graduate who is rumored to be incapable of reading the words on his ceremonial sheepskin. His thesis (if any) likely consisted of writing the word ‘Marxism’ on the back of a cocktail napkin. He was the one chosen for his overall appeal to would-be donors at a school for the clinically retarded to trumpet the (special) curriculum’s successes. He consistently blames opponents for any shortcomings.

Trump does not blame; he confronts. He speaks distinctly and openly. He appears to shy away from making empty promises. Yet, he makes it clear that he seeks to fashion our nation’s policies on the basis of America’s self-interest.

One measure of Trump’s political standing among voters is the media’s stance toward him. They hate him. He reminds me a little bit of Reagan, who routinely brushed off mainstream reporters’ inane questions as one would brush off a flake or two of dandruff on a dark suit.

In a significant sense, our next election cycle will revolve around the overwhelming desire of the public to defeat major media. Politics (as usual) is likely to drop way down on the list of voters' primary concerns.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

A Cautionary Tale

Today it is raining. As is quite usual for us, when it rains, our morning newspaper – though double bagged – gets soaked through and through. I threw it in the garbage and called 1-888–JOURNAL to complain. Their automated system gave us a credit. That did not really solve it.

Then, curiosity got the better of me. I retrieved the paper and struggled on to the opinion pages. I was glad I did. There was an article by Takis Michas entitled “Athens Descends Into Anarchy”. It began thus:

“Greece’s public debt may reach 150% of GDP this year… But in the final analysis, the major issue confronting Greece may not be its solvency, but its governance.”

It goes on, “The country is at the mercy of militant activists who are inspired by various factions of the hard left.” Then it goes on to list some of them: Greece’s Communist Party, the anarcho-Stalinist Coalition and the International Workers’ Left among these. “…their followers have taken to harassing citizens and destroying public property – even taking over whole villages.”

Mr. Michas goes on, “What stand out in all these incidents is the authorities' inability or unwillingness to enforce the law…

“Many argue that Greece’s disintegration is the unavoidable consequence of the government’s attempt to enforce fiscal austerity.” Michas disagrees. “This meltdown can be seen,” he says, “as the product of the authoritarian left’s open attempts to exploit the economic crisis and destroy Greece’s existing democratic and economic institutions. What we are witnessing is not a descent into chaos, but… into organized lawlessness; sowing pandemonium and forcing Greece to default…”

Michas states that according to polls, the Left only enjoys the support of 13% of the population. He concludes by saying, “The problem… lies with the political and ideological passivity of the parties that do represent Greece’s broader middle classes. The tolerance these democrats have shown toward their totalitarian counterparts has allowed the latter to play a leading role in shaping Greek public discourse.” Michas asks, “Do they imagine that the favor would be returned if the… Left were in charge?”

As such, this is a cautionary tale for us as well. What the people of America still fail to understand is that the ideological Left will not be content to rule over a capitalist/democratic system. They fully intend to change it and make it into their own.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Shariah: What's The Problem?

I've had friends who came from broken homes who enlisted in the armed forces. They hoped the discipline there would help them to become men. I’ve had friends who became drug addicts – for the same reason. Drug addiction imposes a discipline on lives that are without.

Liberalism often seems attractive because liberals are good at imposing rules - rules that give structure to minds that lack the confidence to decide. The same applies to tea party followers.

The latter does not seem to be enough largely, because of the absence of consequences. Following the rules or breaking them is all the same. In fact, breaking them appears to assign some special status. The overall result is often confusing and arbitrary.

What about shariah? Is it really so bad as all of us are led to believe? I know, most of us recoil from it as we would from enlisting or succumbing to drug addiction. We hate the thought of early morning drills and dirty needles. We hate being labeled this or that. We have this image of ourselves as free men and women, unfettered by habit or convention.

Someone once said that “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” It’s true in a way. Shariah gives you plenty of timelines and obligations. It kind of takes away all that pesky guilt that most of us are dragging around with us. It’s a legitimate response to doubt; a way of living within relatively safe confines where everything is written in stone. It’s also stifling. It kills curiosity and initiative. It minimizes risk. It makes it harder to fail and also impossible to succeed. In this, communism and shariah are one and the same.

Why do so many of us shy away from shariah while, at the same time, embracing socialism, the armed services, political parties – or even drug addiction? I understand that the pictures we’re shown of stonings, public hangings, slit throats, and severed limbs leave us gasping. This is all very frightening to us – flesh and blood consequences. Why, we don’t even remember where the meat we eat comes from anymore.

Shariah is not like that. The overwhelming majority of people who practice shariah are people just like us – like liberals, tea parties members, those who choose careers in the armed services or drug addiction. My grandmother used to say that the soup is never so hot when it’s eaten as when it was cooked.

So, what’s the problem? Why do we fear it? Why do we instinctively recoil from it? If others accept it, why can't we? Is our ego getting in the way of just letting go?

I’ll tell you outright why you should be concerned. All these movements that are sweeping the globe and are targeting America specifically have one thing in common. They seek to overthrow capitalism. Say, you have a skill or talent. Say, you can act, dance, sing, play football, lead a service-based organization; run a store; build a house... Perhaps you’re good with numbers or words. Maybe you’ve learned how to heal, teach, or offer advice - and that’s how you make your money. All that will mean nothing if those coordinating these left-wing and Islamic groups get their way. There will still be wealth and money. There will still be value. But value will be based on protection: You will pay for protection; or, people will pay you according to your ability to protect them. It’ll be a brutal world; a world without certainty that can change in a heart beat. It’ll be 'dog eat dog' – the way it always has been before America came along.

That in a nutshell is our challenge – a challenge made infinitely more daunting because roughly half our nation resides in the opposing camp while the other half remains ignorant of the threat. I can safely say that the next two years will determine the outcome. As it stands, either shariah or socialism has taken the lead. Both are pretty much the same. Pray that the nation wakes up in the meantime and freedom prevails.

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/

On The Verge of America's Third Revolution

Listening to Aaron Klein’s radio show today, I learned that Muslim student associations routinely recite the Muslim pledge of allegiance at their meetings on school grounds. This seems odd to me. While other religious organizations are often barred from holding meetings (on school grounds), the Muslim students seem to be getting away with it. It is not unusual for any organization to have a motto, pledge or mission statement. While most are relatively benign in content, the Muslim pledge sounds overtly seditious (to me). They are openly calling for the overthrow of the United States (and capitalism), pledging to give their very lives to their quest for global domination.

Why is Homeland Security not investigating these groups? Why is it that every other group (Tea Parties, veterans groups, the Boy Scouts, Catholics, etc.) is quick to raise suspicions within our Homeland Security apparatus while Muslim groups are given a free pass? (And I still don’t have an answer as to why Muslim women are not subject to mandatory airport pat-downs.) Can anyone still say ‘double standard‘? ‘Inexperience‘? ‘Incompetence on the part of our leadership‘? Or is it treason?

While every other religion is shunned, ridiculed and shamed into pulling in its horns under a policy of ‘separation of church and state’, only Islam faces no legal or societal roadblocks. In fact, as a nation we seem to roll over and play dead to any Islamic demand.

The answer is so obvious, it almost seems superfluous to articulate it. America has become a Muslim nation. It happened when we elected Barack Hussein Obama to be our supreme leader. The rest of the world knows this. If we could accept the fact that this has happened, we would begin understand a whole lot of things that have escaped our reason since the day our current president was sworn in without a Bible: from his refusal to show his birth certificate, to what is going on in the Middle East, to Wisconsin.

All the money we have poured into the Middle East for oil appears to have bought them our media, our major institutions, and even our government. Does anyone seriously think that they will ever let go of it? The second American revolution is already in the rearview mirror. It happened while we were sleeping. The sooner we wake up, the sooner can America’s third revolution begin.

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/

Value vs. Money

Again, this assumes that government can create jobs. Government cannot create jobs. It can create a climate conducive to job creation or it can do the opposite. The jobs government creates are not ‘real’ jobs. They are jobs dependent on political patronage.

Government can insert itself and re-distribute the wealth created by real jobs in the private sector, but it cannot create or re-distribute ‘value‘. The honest money poured into unproductive sectors is money wasted. The tipping point is reached when too much wastage starves the private sector (where value is created) out of existence.

With the rise of autocratic dictatorial regimes at the expense of democracies, it is inevitable that job creation suffers. This political trend has now also taken root in Washington.

America was well known throughout the world as a place where it was still possible to come and make something of oneself. The business climate was considered to be ‘friendly‘. This is changing. High taxes and regulations have virtually ground business in America to a halt. In order to stay in business these days you have to first ingratiate yourself to the party in power and then wait for them to give you your arbitrary allotment of wavers and handouts. It’s called crony capitalism and it never works well.

There’s no mystery as to how capitalism functions and how ‘real’ value is generated. A man goes to work for a firm and receives a salary. His salary is predicated on how much he can be expected to contribute to the firm’s bottom line. If his skills are independent of the firm’s structure, he can eventually go out and start his own business. He will then begin to hire people keeping the same principle in mind: he will pay them a percentage of what they can be expected to contribute to the new firm’s success.

An athlete is paid according to how many people his presence can bring into the stadium. An actor is paid according to how many people his talent can attract to movie theaters. It is their talent that is valuable. The money generated by any such transactions can go up in smoke in an instant. The value of individual talent, skill and perseverance remains. A good actor will always eat.

Not many of us are blessed with outstanding attributes such as John Batchelor’s golden-throated voice and keen wit; or even with the ability to think effectively on our feet. Yet, we too can be a part of the system. We have other, perhaps less spectacular, attributes to deal. And we too, if we apply ourselves, can earn a modest, but secure, living.

Enter big government that blocks all normal processes and throws the whole system into confusion. Now nobody can be secure. The rules change with the political winds. It’s difficult to plan and even harder to trust - and the whole thing breaks down to be replaced by … what?

At this point, it could be anything - a new currency, gold, indentured servitude, work camps. With capitalism discredited, one’s work can no longer save one. Things are apt to become a whole lot more arbitrary and complicated. For one thing, America may soon not have to worry about its immigration problem as opportunity continues to fade; and there won’t be much left to bother blowing up anymore.
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A note about education: Education no longer teaches discipline and skills. Education has become so devalued in America (and elsewhere) that it represents little more than a (hall) pass for entrance into the entrenched elite classes‘ washrooms. Additionally, education nowadays consists primarily of learning to spout political propaganda points.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Sorry Larry... (Liberalism Is Not Dead)

There’s a reason they did health care. And they didn’t do it to have it repealed by the first no-name senator to come along in a now thoroughly disgraced Senate. Yes, all that Barrasso says about it is true on one level. But there are other levels behind it that support Obamacare and all else that Obama has done in his brief two years in office. My clue was the word “replace” (as in ‘repeal and…’). Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The libs control the narrative and will continue to do so. We, as the saying goes, have become chopped liver.

There are 11 years’ difference between my brother and I. So, when it came time for him to drive, it fell to me to teach him. I backed out of the driveway and gave him the wheel. So far so good. We went down Springfield and made a right turn onto Oakley. At the Beekman, I told him to turn left. That’s where the trouble started. He didn’t turn the wheel hard enough and we ended up on somebody’s front lawn. I asked him to back up and try again. He did, and smashed into a telephone pole, leaving a permanent ‘V’ in my newly chromed rear bumper. I had sense enough to end the lesson right there and then and told him to get out of the car.

First, we poisoned world financial markets by ignoring the elementary rules of capitalism in an effort to satisfy some utopian fantasy in which everyone is entitled to own a home. Then we drove our own markets into an accelerating nose dive with health care legislation with similar implausible promises. Next, we continue to pump money into places like Pakistan and Gaza, knowing full well that we are hated even more, precisely for doing so. And finally, we continue to maintain ethanol subsidies which puts food and fuel into the sharp competition within the same basket, reducing the availability primarily of food (world-wide) and sending both food and fuel prices through the roof. In India, the issue of food prices is currently poised to topple the present government. (Each of these topics is discussed in detail under different headings in this weekend’s edition of the WSJ. The lead editorial refers to our ethanol policy as ‘immoral’ as it is already taking a toll on the poor all over the globe.)

Most of our efforts are centered on the reduction of fossil fuel emissions which are said to promote 'climate change’. Even in light of the University of East Anglia e-mail revelations that exposed the whole thing as a hoax, we push on with cap and trade, fuel standards, ever mounting regulations on domestic coal and oil production, mercury light bulbs and what not.

While most other countries struggle to throw off the choke collar of unbridled socialism, we continue to make it tighter. Sure, there’s been an outcry against present policies. But it goes unheard among Washington elites. Liberalism is not dead, as many pundits after the last election proclaimed. It is now busy pursuing a scorched-earth policy, marching on an on over the wreckage of our economy, our agriculture, foreign alliances, and anything else that may have helped us in the past to achieve world class status.

Today, I read about Obama’s plan to increase government spending even further. Haven’t we tried that already? I’m sorry Larry (Kudlow), I just don’t see the silver lining in this scenario. How many dents and scratches have we yet to suffer before we hit the bridge abutment head on?

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CLOSE OUT: Everything Must Go

Knowing and comprehending are two entirely different animals. Caring is a third. We actually don’t know what POTUS knows. We’ve never seen his college transcripts. We don’t know what courses he’s taken. It’s all a closely guarded secret.

What we do know is that POTUS has a short attention span. He does not absorb new material readily. He has a flair for spectacle and self-promotion. Hu Jintao knows that something in America has gone terribly wrong. He has come to see for himself.

I do not agree with John Batchelor that the Chinese leader sees himself or his leadership either as fragile or illegitimate. There are templates out there other than ‘democracy’. In fact, democracy seems to be on the wane the world over. It has lost favor in the same way that capitalism has. This is in large part because we’ve abused ours.

There has even been the suggestion that our very own government (under Clinton) gave away military secrets to the Chinese with full approval of the military itself. Why? Because they thought in doing so they could exact more funding from the Congress to build even bigger and better projects. Corruption everywhere.

In fact, ‘democracy’ has always been a shill for power. Power is all that ever really mattered. Since Obama, our power (under the guise of ‘democracy’) has been proclaimed illegitimate. Our enemies have been singing this tune for a long time. This is the first time we ourselves have picked up the refrain.

To view Obama as impotent, derelict or incompetent is a mistake. He is doing exactly what he set out to do. The world’s leaders are beginning to take note. Hu Jintao is no exception. The doors to the whore house have been thrown wide open. The gang rape of America is on. Everyone gets what they want.

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Flores Para Los Muertos

For weeks now we’ve been hearing different people in the Obama administration obsessing about China, alternately calling them out as either ‘failure’ or ‘success‘; threat or ally (in the fight against terrorism and/or maintaining stable currency markets). We are left with a picture of China as seriously schizophrenic, split between its political wing and its military.

What we have failed to do is look in the mirror. Is it not possible that we ourselves are divided about China? It is clear that they have made significant progress in the past number of years. And they have done so on their own terms without bowing to Western frills such as giving undue attention to human rights, individual freedom, transparency and such.

Of perhaps most obvious significance, they have managed to veer their economy away from its traditional ‘dependent almost entirely on exports’ model to turn on the effectiveness of its very own consumer base (if indeed their numbers can be believed). One must remember that China is a communist, authoritarian nation that tightly controls information and its dissemination. And, even more significant for us to understand is, that in such a nation, metrics and standards by which to gage economic (or any) activity are meaningless to begin with.

There can now be little doubt that the narrative that has been created shows China as rising and America in sharp decline. In this light, Hu Jintao’s upcoming visit to Washington may be regarded more as a hospital visit to a sick friend. It is unlikely that the Chinese leader will give any ground - only sympathy. It is equally unlikely that Obama does not know he is in no position to demand more. Already, China holds the fate of America’s economy in its hands. It can collapse it with a single word.

China won’t do this now. It is presently deeply engaged in buying everything it can with U.S. virtual dollars. For the time being, it is to its advantage to keep the dollar alive. It will make its move once it feels it is fully prepared to handle any (and all) fallout in the wake of America’s final collapse (which it feels is inevitable).

For whatever reason, we’ve managed to destroy our systems. Can we really blame China for putting up theirs against ours? Can we really expect them not feed off what’s left of the dregs of ourselves we’ve left scattered and unprotected, adding more and more each day to the scrapheap of failed illusions?

No, we’ve gone off track. High-speed trains, mercury light bulbs and windmills won’t save us. And, as with the dying, cut flowers are the only consolation.

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Crushed

Bahukutumbi Raman has been in the forefront of raising deeply troubling issues about Pakistan as it exists today. Pakistan is considered to be an ally of the U.S. Indeed, even if it weren’t, it would almost have to have been invented. Pakistan is said to have an arsenal of nuclear arms. It is one of the primary bases from which we fight terrorism in Afghanistan.

Those who have studied Pakistan have been warning that Pakistan may not be all it’s been cracked up to be. For one thing, Pakistan is deeply divided. This division has fissures extending into every Pakistani heart. On one hand, Pakistanis are a proud people who wish to join the modern world and be respected within it. On the other, there are those who have not exactly embraced modernity. This too springs of pride; only, it is a ruthless, savage pride that seeks to dominate and oppress on a most basic level. Modern weapons have exceeded their usefulness in curbing such appetites.

As such, when we speak of Pakistan, we speak of separate factions, each with its own way of doing things. An agreement with one will fail to satisfy the other.

The primary victims of Pakistani chaos are the majority of its people who are people like any other. It is they who are caught between a rock and a hard place, and suffering. Second, it is a threat to India. Pakistan has never healed from the partition which Gandhi and Jinnah engineered in the interest of peaceful coexistence. Jinnah demanded a separate Muslim nation to which Gandhi acquiesced.

The only difference between India and Pakistan is their religions. India’s (by no means less intense) devotion to Hinduism nevertheless remains tolerant of other religions and has been able to move forward in important areas under the banner of a more or less secular approach. Pakistan (and the Middle East in general) has not.

As Pakistan fell further and further behind, the need to blame others became acute. It did not help for Western nations to exploit Pakistan’s despair. Now Pakistan has become a problem that threatens to plunge the world into all-out war. It’s primary ally is China. (America only pretends to be allied with Pakistan for media consumption.) China, too, will not be able to deal with the chaos that is Pakistan. It will continue to promote and use such as it is for its own purposes.

There are now many who are deeply entrenched inside Western camps who seek to destroy capitalism. Islam’s goal is the same. Pakistan (and Islam in general) is being used to undermine the West. It is only a tool (and tools can never exceed their specific function). In the end, Islam has no prayer of winning. When all is said and done; it, along with Western liberals (useful idiots), will be crushed.

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Laughing Gas

As we face new threats to our economy almost every day, it becomes clear that socialists really don’t much care about it, or even care to understand it. They see it either as some immortal golden goose or as something diabolical that must be destroyed. It remains unclear what would replace it as communists (as well as Islamists) have been pretty much riding piggyback on our financial system as it stands.

I have never heard or read of a viable alternative to capitalism. I guess we’re experimenting with that now. Printing money and joblessness, both seem to play some part in it. Most economists (bar Krugman) agree that this will not end well. Still we persist, seemingly deliberately driving the economy into the ground. I suspect that after everything has been said and done, the basic outlines of capitalism will emerge once again. I just don’t see what else could possibly work.

We’ve gone too far to go back to herding and growing our own food, and bartering for services. People will not accept a communist or Islamic solution, unless forced to do so.

Pol Pot emptied the cities and drove people into the fields. Those needing glasses were summarily shot. Mao had a similar idea when he emptied the hospitals of qualified staff and sent them off to dig ditches. And the Taliban has vowed to burn all medical books.

I don’t believe it will come to that here, but the danger is that fewer and fewer of our people understand the workings of an economy, believing that money is simply manna from heaven and quite unrelated to perseverance, talent and work. Our schools, with few exceptions, are mostly left-oriented. They endlessly preach the evils of capitalism, but refuse to advance alternatives.

That’s why it takes until young people are already working for them to notice the scale of the tax bite they must endure - if they even know enough to look at their deductions.

Similarly, global strategy and defense appear to be barely understood going forward. Anything having to do with the military is distained by popular culture. This is yet another aspect of what has made America great in the past that has come under attack. The fact that it’s raining birds in Louisiana becomes yet another excuse for us to be scratching our heads, blaming Bush, Republicans, Congress, Big Oil (and industry in general), jihadis, China and patriotic fireworks in that order.

Just breaking: “Hundred of thousands fish found dead in the Arkansas River”.Also: “former Pentagon aide found (dead) in landfill; FBI only assisting - not investigating“. Also: “Navy fires Captain Owen Honors over raunchy videos.”

Does anyone understand any of this? Does a self-respecting country really behave this way? Meanwhile, by no means rattle the Chinese cage. They have a choke hold on our debt, after all. They’ll buy whatever they can with it before they prick the balloon and we are left with nothing but laughing gas to defend ourselves.

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Don't Tell Anybody

Just the other day, I heard one of our local morning radio hosts expressing surprise at the speed with which the new “Freedom Tower” is going up. “It’s almost half-way there,” he said.

I haven’t been there myself recently. I can only guess that he’s right. The fact that it’s taken us almost 10 years to get crackin’, however, is a disgrace. On the battlefield, the role of flag bearer is always most important and, hence, dangerous. The man remains a target to the end. If he should fall, another will pick up the flag and continue the advance. The soldiers take their cues from the position of the flag.

We’ve allowed our flag to lay fallow for far too long. We’ve been wrangling about it either to advance personal egos or to keep personal egos from advancing. In a way, the threat of seeing a mosque completed in the proximity of the Trade Center site on the 10th anniversary of its collapse, seems to have spurred us to action.

Make no mistake, the World Trade towers were our flag. They were our monument to the success of capitalism. It was our Mecca. Its destruction should have roiled us to immediate anger and to taking revenge. One just doesn’t leave one’s flag lying on the ground this long to be trampled.

I’m glad that it’s finally underway. Cynics say that we’re just building another target. They advise that we bulldoze the whole thing, plant a few trees in memory and be done with it. Our enemies say, “Let us plant our own flag while you declare defeat.” It’s almost gotten to the point where many of us no longer care either way.

We botched our revenge in large part because we left our flag to be trampled. Our anger flagged because our own government convinced us to take our enemies’ advice: “We’re trying to kill you. It’s true. But don’t tell anybody.”

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Is Democracy Dead?

Is democracy dead? That’s the point, isn’t it? If Washington should prove to be dysfunctional, the argument could be made that democracy is dead - rigor mortis; gridlock, anything you want to call it. When government no longer functions, what more can one say? There’s no use pretending it works when it doesn’t.

This ‘compromise’ that’s now under threat of unraveling would effectively saddle Americans with higher taxes they can’t afford. People forced to make decisions about when it’s best to die.

Maybe the death of democracy goes hand in hand with the death of capitalism. The crashing dollar; total reliance on monetized (future) debt. Consumer confidence. “Don’t worry, when things pick up…”

Capitalism relies on some degree of adherence to protocol: balancing budgets; honoring contracts; etc. - much of it thrown out the window to favor those who hate the system anyway; to get them aboard (the green-powered ark, only half built). To be replaced by what? No standards, no constraints; only bounced checks, compensation for services never rendered - relating only to the need for protection.

What would replace democracy/capitalism? Degrees of brutality; of corruption, theft, servitude, illusion. Enter the tyrant, the dictator to make the trains run on time. He then can make the rules any way he wants them - until he too is strung up. Et to, Brute?

No way to run a railroad.

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Pay-Off

I’m not surprised that the administration has decided to bail out European banks. Europe still sees Obama as the bright, young articulate; noble descendant of slaves who has come (back) to exact his revenge. They don’t yet see him as the radical bomb thrower - too lazy to do his homework - most of us have now come to know.

European bankers are not stupid. They know exactly that the whole financial mess started in the U.S. with the housing crisis; which in turn affected bank balance sheets; which then caused bankers to spread the damage around by disseminating toxic IOU’s all over the world - including Europe - hoping that no one would notice.

European bankers are not lapdogs of the American government. They are free to speak out and expose certain truths, especially in regard to who might have been involved in the initial fraud; and they could name the names of the corrupt institutions (Fannie and Freddie) and politicians (Frank and Dodd among many others) who perpetuated and protected these schemes to their own advantage. These have not gone away and crawled under rocks in abject shame. They are still with us and, in many instances, still formulating policies that rob the American worker of the fruit of his labors - all, in name of some half-baked anti-capitalist notion of ‘social justice‘.

Our paying off the Europeans amounts to a tacit admission that none of it has worked as advertised; that we were essentially at fault for having promoted such claptrap under questionable guise. We are paying them off to buy their continued silence and thus save the skins of our guilty. If they (European bankers) were to talk, the revelations would put even Wikileaks to shame.

The global financial meltdown (which we started) can no longer be blamed on capitalism alone. Socialist and communist countries have not been immune. I am not one to blame America at the drop of a hat, but this has been our fault from the start. If we are to apologize for anything, this is it; if we are on the hook for reparations, this is it. If we should not be able to afford the cost of making amends, or if there is a political price to pay, so be it. What we have done to get this slime ball rolling is criminal - entirely worthy of Interpol investigation and subsequent World Court proceeding - and the Europeans are well aware of it. And we know that they know.

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Revolution # 9

It’s not about the Euro. It’s about revolution. The Left has seized the day. It will not allow cuts to the welfare state. It does not care about the Euro. It does not care about capitalism. All the Left cares about is bringing down the system which is now teetering on the edge.

As in the U.S., it was the Left that had been pushing for freebies that were essentially unaffordable. There was some semblance of affordability as long as economies kept growing. Now, that the slump cycle has set in, what had seemed affordable, is suddenly unaffordable. To the Left, this is a distinction without a difference. It is not that the ‘educated’ Left could not foresee this. They saw it alright. It was a set-up. It was planned. All they had to do was wait.

The waiting is now over. For the Left it is now time to act; to take to the streets; shout slogans; raise the red flag; do some damage; open some heads. For the Left the worst thing that could happen now is for the economies to recover; for people to go on as before. “Barack will not allow…”

Even recovery is now booby-trapped. All that pent-up demand. All that consumer spending would just show up the Euro (dollar) for what it’s really worth - nothing; or, at the very least, considerably less than what people expect.

Any way you look at it, the Euro is finished. The dollar is over; even though it may appear marginally better off than the Euro. People will not allow themselves to be taxed out of existence - in North Korea, maybe; but not in the West.

Still - taxation or inflation - it all comes out to the same: civil unrest, which will lead to political chaos. Left or Right, it won’t matter. The solutions are the same for both. There will be blood. The revolution is here. The Left has won.

In America, we think the revolution has already happened; that it happened at the ballot box - nice and neat - with the Republicans taking charge of the House. The verdict is already in: NO COMPROMISE; no solution. The old ‘evils’ are beginning to crumble one by one: the Bush tax cuts; the Bush wars; American exceptionalism; global alliances. Revolution is the end. It is here. After that, …who knows?

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