Bleatings From The Leper Colony

Ever since George Washington, we have always had presidents with some overarching vision of where they want to take the nation. They might have gotten bogged down in the minutia of governance, or they might have made mistakes that would eventually require retreat. But the basic vision nevertheless remained and focused on bringing America to a better place.

We, the people, more or less accepted the fact that we were not policy wonks; that we were not necessarily privy to all the things that our presidents were privy to – nor would we want to be. We could more or less assume that our president was doing his best to move us forward while keeping our best interests in mind.

We always accepted a certain amount of change – even downturns in our personal and collective fortunes - as being an integral part of life. We even accepted small, incremental deviations from the principles on which our nation was founded. We accepted the slow creep of socialism to accommodate the needs of the poor, the sick and the otherwise unfortunate.

All this changed with the election of Barack Hussein Obama. As the continuing controversy about his birth certificate suggests, there is now a growing concern as to just who this man actually is. Are we better off now than we were just two years ago? The resounding answer is no.

The tea parties were the first to sound the alarm. They were summarily rebuffed and dismissed. As more and more people dared to raise questions, more and more people were labeled ‘extreme’ and, therefore, illegitimate. Everybody knows at least a part of the threat our nation faces. And yet, every citizen is treated as guilty – at airports, for example – while the obvious culprits are excused from our scrutiny in the interest of maintaining a veneer of tolerance – tolerance for whom? The only ones not tolerated are us! It almost seems like our world has been turned upside down where a declaration of obvious criminal intent somehow provides immediate immunity.

Meanwhile, the rest of us must carefully maintain our resumes, and closely monitor our words and actions lest we stand accused of racism, hate crimes and various sundry sins that might well result in our exclusion. A natural bent towards conservatism in some precincts would practically confine one to the modern equivalent of a leper colony.

Meanwhile, too, we watch our fortunes fading, even as the media celebrates great strides toward some unspecified unknown. Should we venture to connect the dots and project our path to some seemingly alien experience, we are slapped down by harsh voices laced with severe accusation and ridicule. Since when, in America, has anyone not been allowed to speak openly without having to fear intimidation; especially, when what we say, points out gross contradictions in policy objectives; and particularly as these might relate to the fundamental contract we have with our government?

It has not gone unnoticed that this contract is now in serious jeopardy; that our government has gone rogue; that our own leadership is now on the brink of labeling us as illegitimate. We, of course - now that the contract has been broken - can say the same.

We never thought it could come to this – not in America.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Detroit: Downsizing America

Liberals as well as conservatives are dumbfounded, taken off guard, outraged by president Obama’s handling of the Libyan situation; committing American troops into a theater of ‘kinetic military action’ without clear goals defining ‘victory’; without formally addressing the U.S. Congress or the American people. This means that this president must be intending to go it alone, much like Syrian president Assad is apt to do - or Kaddafi, for that matter.

Obama keeps hinting that this operation will be short and sweet after which time we’ll be out of there and wash our hands of the killing. History shows, however, that this sort of thing has a habit of dragging on. I listened to Dan Henninger last night. He’s one of my favorites on the WSJ editorial staff, but even he had it wrong. He views the conflict as ‘something’ sweeping the Middle East; something so powerful, it cannot be stopped or its direction determined. I do not believe in some amorphous ‘something’. Unleashed? Yes, the way someone might unleash an attack dog. Directionless? No. We all know where it’s headed, but are afraid to say it out loud.

America is not America without also being a super power. Yet, we can plainly see that it is this administration’s intention to degrade us to some unspecified common denominator. I don’t remember the president campaigning on a platform to make America worse. We all fell for the ‘change’ routine while assuming that ‘change’ meant ‘better than Bush’.

This sentiment is not exactly new. Liberals have in the past often promoted the banning of SUV’s on the premise that SUV’s are dangerous to smaller cars. It would seem that, if SUV’s are indeed so dangerous (to smaller cars), it is the smaller cars that should be banned.

I didn’t make this up. I’ve heard the argument before. At the time, we all laughed about it and didn’t take it seriously. Now, it seems, we’re coming face to face with it. The new norms, as presented to us, clearly strive to downsize America.

My question is: How far down are we willing to go? What exactly does Obama have in mind? Perhaps the ‘greens’ can give us some clue: A country bereft of energy; its people taking up farming, herding, bartering, canning… Sounds like Pol Pot to some degree. (I don’t think that Obama would send his goons out to shoot me for lighting up a cigarette or reading a book; but who knows, all that might still be in the offing. Neither would Obama order the burning of medical journals as the Taliban are wont to do. But the effect of Obamacare would essentially amount to the same.)

There are many ways to skin a cat – or fox. I’m sure Obama knows them all. Yesterday, I noted from my stats that nobody read anything I posted on my blog that day. I was convinced that someone had blocked my feed. It seemed reasonable to assume, especially since it’s been going blazes. Today, it’s back to normal. I do wonder what happened.

As for the fox: There has been a fox that parked itself all morning in our backyard, enjoying the trickle of sun. He was a chubby, healthy looking thing; lazy as all get out; yawning, snoozing, stretching, and the like. There’s a specific spot by the old sugar maple where all the animals come when they’re hurt. Last year, a deer with a bum leg spent a couple of days there, its mate alert and watching from across the fence. After a couple of days, both wandered off as if nothing had happened. I remember, a long time ago, our various cats would hang out there as well.

I believe there are specific spots on this earth that are ‘power centers’. Usually great cities are built around such places. I’m wondering if it is possible to kill such spots – pave them over; seal them. Probably not. If so, what’s happened to Detroit? (The obvious answer is liberalism.) What else might be hatching there?

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/

No More Sequels

It’s easy to predict this one - to run it all the way out to its conclusion. It’s like we’re all at the movies, watching a James Bond thriller. It’s been cat and mouse all the way. The final scene is approaching. Bond has located the farm house where the beautiful hostage is kept. He creeps stealthily towards it. He has already poisoned the dog. He reaches the porch. The floorboard creaks. He stops. All remains quiet.

The door is unlocked. Standing aside of the frame, he pushes it open. It creaks on its hinges. A car passes along the road. Bond freezes. All else remains quiet.

Meanwhile, the villain lurks in the shadows inside the house with his hand over the mouth of the beautiful hostage. He watches Bond’s movements on a monitor.

Though cautious, Bond thinks he’s in the clear. He had checked the barn earlier. There were no cars there. Bond draws his gun before bursting into the house.

Involuntarily, we put a hand over our mouths. We want to scream at the screen, “Watch out!!!”

Why is the media suddenly becoming so cagy about Egypt? Saying anything but the obvious is treated as virtual blasphemy. No speculation endues. History starts with Obama, even as his own history remains incomplete. All we need to know is that before Obama, all history led to ruin. The U.S., the most powerful nation on earth, was in charge and everyone else had to dance to its tune - and life on the planet was a misery to most.

Perhaps it’s not accident that Obama started his presidency with what was billed as a major speech in Cairo. I just re-read it. It struck me as childish - almost simple-minded. I’m sure nobody there bought it. They might even have been offended by its condescending tone.

Platitudes don’t translate easily to bread. Not much there by way of loaves and fish. Certainly not much mention of political strategy which, taking into account that America was speaking, was a lie of omission. Just so much American soma, Coca-Cola, change, and all the rest. Nobody believed it.

Except, it wasn’t America speaking. The ‘change‘, that would involve them, had actually come from America . And though nobody knew it yet, much of what Obama said was true - a reflection of the new America, the one in bed with jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood. Nobody foresaw that Egypt would become the crucible. Except, Obama knew.

Now more of us know because we can see what‘s happening. We see the outline of what’s coming - what’s already here. Yemen and Jordan bookend Saudi Arabia. The Suez Canal remains a vital shipping lane. Oil remains vital to functioning of the West. Tehran claims armies and allies. Israel cries foul. There will be no more sequels.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Drifting

Just finished a delightful book, “The Village By The Sea” by Anita Desai. It tells of a family in rural India - the father is a drunk, the mother is sick and dying, their 13-year old daughter is running the household, her 12-year old brother runs off to Bombay; there are also two young (school-age) girls - life looks very bleak indeed for this unfortunate family.

However, things change. And when things can’t get much worse, they often get better. The trick to survival, the author tells us, is keeping the faith. As long as you have hands and fingers to work, there’s hope.

America has had it pretty good for a long time. There’s nothing here even close to approaching conditions that exist for many Indians even now. We are often told that poverty leads to crime; that religion is all that enforces the ‘goodness’ of man; and if not religion, it is the state that must be the final arbiter in any matter.

In Desai’s book, religion plays practically no role, and neither does the state. People are ‘good’ by nature, despite their faults.

We know where Obama stands on the issue of poverty. For him, the ultimate solution is always the state. It is a philosophy he shares with Hu Jintao, his current White House guest.

Americans are almost evenly divided on the issue. Many believe that rolling back the state will bring about untold disaster. Slightly more believe that the state itself is the cause of disaster.

It is likely that we will keep vacillating between the two extremes for some time to come. Meanwhile change is inevitable. This is another theme of “Village”. Change must not necessarily be bad. It can be neutral. When Obama answers a reporter’s question by saying that “China has a different political system than we do…” he is absolutely right. He was also speaking honestly when he said that he intends to transform America.

Americans should have been astute enough to ask what exactly he meant by that. Did he mean to ease America into the Chinese system, or the Islamic system; or did he envision himself as the author of a brand-new system that has never been tried before?

We are perplexed as we watch our president work. He seems to dismiss the American system entirely. To him it is a hated relic of the past. And yet, much of what he ends up doing is following along in our previous president’s footsteps - clearly without conviction.

Perhaps Obama is impatient. He cannot wait for the changes that will come naturally. He pouts and threatens perceived enemies. He pushes and prods. And yet, he is most popular when he’s on vacation.

As far as the public is concerned, Obama’s principle problem is that he has told us nothing. He hasn’t articulated his plan. We seem to be drifting. He tells us “we’re going there“, and we end up here. And then he tells us “here is there”. It’s not something that inspires much confidence.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

No Remorse

Any written document exists at best as a shorthand in support of a theme. Any sentence within it must not and cannot be regarded as absolute truth. It can only be an approximation. Haiku is a Japanese art form in which three lines of writing aim to convey a broader concept. It usually amounts to a pictorial. The intended effect is a feeling that often defies definition.

When I say, “Obama is out to destroy the nation”, I do not mean by it that he will order the military to carpet-bomb America. And even if true, the landmass would remain along with most of its people. What I really mean is (and it has surfaced at various times, embedded in various terminology) that he is out to fundamentally 'change' the nation. He has said so himself. But we, as heretofore optimistic Americans, automatically jump to the conclusion that this American president would strive to make America a better place - at least, better than it has been. ‘Better’ meaning that all ships are raised by what he intends.

Having watched our president over the past two years, I find this is not the case. The part about ‘change’ is still applicable, but the one about ‘better’ is clearly not. As I look around, I cannot fail to see that now, two years later, everything is worse. The press does not trumpet it as they did with Bush, but nevertheless housing, jobs, and the economy in general are barely limping along. The world too, is a much more dangerous place as rogue nations, seeing America taking a back seat, are flexing their muscles.

All this could not be happening by accident. There is a plan. The plan for the past two years has been to diminish America’s influence in the world. In order to achieve this, America itself needs to be diminished. And this program is proceeding unimpeded.

You may ask yourself, why would any American - never mind the president - be complicit in such a program? The answer is: because he believes it. There are citizens living here who actually hate this country. It stems from a condition of profound narcissism. They look around and see huge problems elsewhere and erroneously assume that America - universally acknowledged to be the greatest power and influence in the world today - is at fault; that everything our nation has ever done has led to this condition; and, worse yet, that America has profited unjustly by it. Therefore, the answer they arrive at is that America must be cut down to size.

They recruit the like-minded, the weak-minded, the corrupt, and those hostile to America from overseas to form a coalition to bring this about. Our president, sadly, is among these.

It may make some sense when written within the frame of a history text or doctoral dissertation. It may even earn one honors by the way in which it was expressed, the balance, symmetry and beauty of the argument. But actual geopolitics does not necessarily conform to academic theory, however elegant. As I suggested at the outset, dogma is but a shorthand (set in stone) for utopian dreams.

There are so many factors that play into the reality of a single situation, it would overflow every existing library in the world just to house a minute fraction. Therefore, it is sheer madness to reduce these to just one or two simple solutions and then to pursue these come hell or high water.

Of far greater import is one’s love for one’s country, one’s faith in one’s people; and of wanting to do what’s best for them. In other words, to subscribe to the concept of 'exceptionalism'. Not to wallow in one’s self-loathing. Also, it’s always so much more effective to lead by example; to begin at home, or with oneself even: to develop discipline; to eschew bad habits; to remain vigilant and caring for those whose situation it may be in one’s power to affect.

Barack Hussein Obama, for whatever reason, wants to go down in history as having changed (no less than) the world. For this, he seems to be willing to sacrifice his own. It will not work. The damage he would end up doing to America would reverberate around the world. No one will be immune - least of all he.

The story of Detroit is not what it seems on the surface. It is of jackals feasting on a carcass. It is of corruption sanctified by hatred - hatred for the whites that built this once great city on the backs of blacks. It is pay-back. It is kicking over the sand castle. It is the Palestinians destroying the greenhouses of Gaza.

Even if convicted, Kwame Kilpatrick will show no remorse.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Referendum

November midterms are now national. Local issues are wholly incidental. This comes predictably after the federal government has and is continuing to insert itself into virtually every aspect of our lives. Now, if this experiment had proved successful (anywhere in the world), nobody would much mind. But as it has clearly brought nothing but chaos and uncertainty, the feeling of immanent doom has become palpable.

The number one news item of recent decades should be: How has the major media in this country avoided warning us of the signs, focusing instead on Obama’s celebrity, Tiger Woods’ escapades and Gloria Allred’s gotcha games? At some point they should have awakened to the fact that their reporting is shunned by the public-at-large as is evidenced by tanking ratings and cliff-diving paid subscriptions.

The clue, perhaps, can be found in the answers to the question: Why have you chosen journalism as your career? The replies invariably revolve around a desire to change the world (ego). So, when Obama put it bluntly that he is out to change the nation, legions of young idealist reporters took the bait and ran with it. Now they are embarrassed (or should be), thinking that, by acknowledging their mistake, they have personally failed.

This may be so. Clearly our media in general has failed us. It may well be that we have already gone too far to turn things around. But it’s never too late for contrition. Let’s at the very least chronicle our demise honestly and point our wagging fingers in the appropriate direction.

How long will we maintain this charade - this now sad, half century old dictum - that says Republicans are always wrong and Democrats are always right? How long till we admit to the policy failures on the Left? How long will we try to force this square, overly-simplistic logic into a template that literally screams for redemption?

The truth be told, no one is immune from making mistakes. It’s the double-standard that hurts.

It’s not Obama’s fault. Obama is who he is. The media has left us to ignore who he is. They had let us to believe that he is just a man - an American, like the rest of us. We never suspected his radical bent.

Political gotcha no longer works. This has become a referendum on the Obama administration‘s handling of high office. It has exposed the corruption of the unions who - it has always been suspected - work hand in glove with corporate moneybags - both foreign and domestic. It has exposed academe, Hollywood, major media. It has exposed Islam. It has exposed science. It has exposed terror, racism, acts of God, food and the inevitability of certain death as blunt means of controlling one’s own people.

Make no mistake, it will not end well. The enemy is well entrenched. The least we can do is to not follow blindly. Make them pay for their sins; hold them to account for their arrogance. So, when the time comes to start over, we can do it right.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

No Narrative

Quite right, John! There’s no narrative – no political narrative, that is. There hasn’t been a political narrative since Obama got himself elected. The Congress has disgraced itself beyond redemption - and made itself irrelevant. All the rest is shadow dancing; mere window dressing. Every dictator the world has ever seen has maintained the tinsel trappings that mimic democracy. Iran and Afghanistan hold fraudulent elections – as does Venezuela, Russia, etc. The dictator always wins 99% of the vote. Hurray for the dictator!

There is a narrative alright, but it’s no longer political. It’s Obama’s narrative of change. That’s the one and only narrative that counts. Obama will proceed. Obama will win, for he holds the reigns of power. I can’t wait to see what happens in November – or, rather, what doesn’t happen. Politically, nothing will. But we will find ourselves further diminished and at the mercy of Obama’s change.

Everything has an expiration date. America was finished when we elected Barack Hussein Obama. We say he grovels at the feet of Calderon. He doesn’t grovel; he is in total sync with the Mexican president. He truly believes America has no right to defend its borders. And Calderon believes it as well. His is a poor country. America is rich. That is the narrative. Both men regard this as our unpardonable sin that must be rectified. Without borders, America cannot claim to be a country.

Just the fact that we are even debating whether or not a 13-story mosque should be built within a stone’s throw of the hole we call ‘Ground Zero’ shows we have been defeated. We might as well fly the Nazi flag above Arlington Cemetery.

It’s just a matter of time now for the final recognition of our humbling to sink in. Will it come in November, or two years from now when Obama is overwhelmingly re-elected? I’m sure we’ll be talking about it – if talk radio is still on the air by then - or playing dirges.

Change (you can believe in)

Barrack Hussein Obama went into the 'enemy camp' last night and laid down the law. He basically said that he will be sending 30,000 of our finest into that hellhole, also known as Afghanistan - to do what? Unknown. And then, almost immediately, he’ll pull them out again. You can just imagine what happens next.

Then, after everything falls apart over there, after he’s been safely elected to the second of his interminable terms, he'll declare victory – not over the Taliban or Al Qaeda, but - over the American military, that last remaining rancid remnant of the previous Bush administrations, that will now find itself utterly disgraced and humiliated, proving the point that any demonstration of military might will never again work in Obama’s vision of the new world order that is happily promoted by leftists, progressives, warmers, vegetarians, eco-anarchists, lap-dancers, etc. the world over.

It’s the same predictable MO that was used to bring down our economy, health care, the automobile industry, etc. Break it, and sweep it out with the refuse. Thank you Mister President for giving us yet another piece of the puzzle to the enigma you have labeled so artfully “change” (you can believe in).