Checkmate!

It has since come to my attention that Mr. Strauss-Kahn was the front-runner socialist candidate to oppose France’s Sarkozy. It occurs that socialists – like moderate Republicans - have a difficult time of it these days. On one hand, they are still wedded to the notion that money (paper) equals power. On the other, they are tasked with maintaining this illusion even as the power of money seems in decline. They find themselves between a rock and a hard place, attempting to satisfy two opposing currents: conservatives, who tend to be supply-siders, clamoring to save the system by next-to-impossible cuts in government spending; and Communists/Islamists, demanding that we jettison traditional economic theory altogether.

Between saving the system and jettisoning it is where socialists make their home. They represent the moderates – the wavering and undecided - in a war that one side or the other is destined to lose. Either way, socialists are already road kill. If the incident making headlines this morning on the front pages of virtually every daily [save the (Hometown) Coffee News] has been engineered, it might have been done by either side.

Socialists are especially vulnerable because of their inability to commit. Academe is full of them and so is the media. If there should come a conflagration, socialists will be the first to feel it. They will be targeted by both sides. They will be forced to proclaim their allegiance. To them, that will be akin to stripping naked. Some will refuse to do it.

I’d like to think that an actual shooting war can still be avoided; that we will fight it out on a political and economic level. If this be the case, Bush Derangement Syndrome was the prelude. Virtually everybody in America and around the world fell for it and drunkenly played along. It brought us Obama. Now that we’re well into the first movement, the stakes are already higher.

Winning this war will not depend on who we are against. It will depend on whom we are for. We have arrived at the heart of the matter. People are attacking us throughout the world. Why? Because we – America – are perceived as being supportive of Israel. All over the world, Israel has become the pariah of our time. Even many of us have begun to waver. It has become chic to support revolution in the Middle East and promote the idea of a Palestinian (terror) state on Israel’s doorstep. We do not realize that by supporting these things, we chip away at Israel’s ability to defend itself. We can no longer afford to laugh when Israel is attacked or made fun of the way we stood back and allowed it to happen to Bush.

No use crying over spilt milk. We’ve already lost too many battles. Our educational system is in ruins; our Constitution barely exists; our government barely functions; our economy limps along. The next battle will be fought over Israel. The final phase started with the demonization of Bush to which we all happily acquiesced. After Israel has fallen, the next and final target will be America.

The last shoe to drop before America falls is Israel. And almost nobody talks about it. George Mitchell has quit. Hillary is off in Pakistan. Our president plays golf.

If we commit now to standing by Israel in its hour of need, we still have a chance of saving America. It’s not going down in the way one may think. The last battle – as all the others - will be won by attrition. It is my contention that if Israel falls, it will rip the soul out of our nation and we won’t be inclined to raise even a finger in our own defense.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Sheer Madness

My dander goes up when I hear people say, “Everybody does it.” Or, “Republicans are the same as Democrats.” It’s like saying, “Everybody is at fault,” when what you really mean to say, “Nobody is at fault.” If there is indeed fault, we need to get specific.

As pertains to the Middle East in particular, it is often said that Islamists target all who are not followers of Islam alike. Therefore, India, Europe and Canada all are in the crosshairs. This trope is spread by Israel for obvious reasons. It is, to my mind, is a simplification; when, in fact, the truth is even simpler than that.

I am an American. I have seen and heard people targeting America for destruction. Likewise, I have seen and heard people targeting Israel for destruction. I’ve seen and heard it as clear as a day in September. I’ve heard it said that anyone with ‘links to America’ must be destroyed. (This is important to understand: ‘links to America’.) I’ve dug a little deeper and learned that primary reason they hate us is because we have a history of supporting Israel. And suddenly, we arrive at the nub of it. It means that if Europe and Canada had no links to America, they would be safe. It means that if America did not have a history of supporting Israel, America would be safe.

These very same people (you all know who they are) have now partnered with the communists. This muddies the picture somewhat. Communists don’t care a whit about Israel. All they care about is that capitalism falls. They are using the first group of malcontents to see to it that it does. After that has been accomplished, the Islamists and the communists will fight it out. We will no longer care what happens, because we will no longer be around.

I’m not saying that we should abandon Israel. My posts have been consistent in their support of Israel; even now, when such unequivocal American support - as Israel has enjoyed in the past - appears to have eroded at the highest levels of our government. For me, Israel has always been a reliable bellwether to forecast our own situation. But, it has become more crucial than ever for us to define our terms precisely if we are to have any chance of prevailing in this struggle that has put our very identity at risk. Israel is a part of our identity.

To seek easy solutions – such as sacrificing Israel – or worse, ignoring the core problem all together, would be sheer madness.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Looking Beyond Corpses

Broadly speaking, there are four groups that are currently trying to overthrow the United States: anarchists, communists, Islamists and opportunists. Anarchists are in it just to wreak havoc; communists harbor an ideology that borders on religious fanaticism; ditto, Islamists; and, finally, opportunists, those who seek maximum profit for themselves in the wake of upheaval. The latter can be compared to those who during past wars haunted battlefields, looking for corpses from which to extract dental work.

All four have united and are waging war against the rest of us. While anarchists and Islamists still hide their faces, the other two have revealed themselves fully. They no longer feel the need to hide their intent. It’s just that we do not believe them. We do not believe that anything could possibly pose an existential threat to the country we hold dear. And, for the time being, they are right to exploit our willful – almost child-like - ignorance to their advantage.

All the important thresholds have already been crossed. We’ve crossed the threshold of ‘how bad can it get’ and accepted ‘new norms’. We’ve accepted the public media lynching of upstanding citizens. We’ve accepted turning our backs on faithful allies. We have discounted the importance family, religion and work. We’ve stood by while our system of education teeters on the brink of total failure. We’ve watched as our investments as well as our currency continue to operate on life support.

The next step, most would now agree, is collapse. And we are compelled to ask the question: “How do we protect ourselves?”

This question is key. It points the way to what we can expect afterwards. The word “protect” is telling. Already, ads responding to this very concept abound: buy gold; buy food (food storage); protect your computer; protect your identity; your health; etc. The protection rackets (opportunists) are already out in force. They signal collapse. What they don’t tell us is what will come after, when none will be left standing, when the rules totally change and revert back to basics: faith, family and the overwhelming desire to rebuild.

Rebuilding is embedded in our DNA - like language. Strength of character and goodness cannot be erased. Neither will talent, and a willingness to overcome adversity. Together we will build ourselves up and even surpass heights previously achieved - because that’s who we are.

Some say I’m a pessimist. I am not. I believe that goodness will triumph over evil every time. I believe the pendulum will continue to swing. Take heart, we’re about to reverse course.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

We Are Building a Religion

As we go back and forth and speculate about what might yet happen (in Egypt), we should go straight to the horse’s mouth. Let’s ask our president directly what it is that he wants to happen. And while we’re at it, let’s ask him straight out what he has in mind for the U.S. Let’s ask him to explain why he is doing what, and what he is hoping to accomplish by doing so. And let’s pretend to believe what he says.

By the way, there’s a great opinion column in the WSJ this morning (Feb. 1) by Bret Stephens entitled “Being Mubarak”. It takes an interesting slant, speculating that the old fox (Mubarak) may yet have some tricks up his sleeve.

It is what it is (and has been for some 30 odd years). There was a reason for why we supported Egypt and, I might add, Israel. With the election of Obama, those reasons have eroded. We turn our backs to both - and things happen. Read Caroline Glick’s column in the JPOST today. What we (in the West) define as ‘success’ is not defined as ‘success’ among Islamists (or communists). Our metrics are not valid there. Any attempt at such comparison may be regarded as ‘category error‘.

What if the revolution succeeds? What if the dominos fall, one by one; and an Islamic Caliphate emerges - one that is hostile to the West? And there is a genocide? Would it end with the destruction of Israel? Maybe so. Or would it gather steam and push into Europe? By the way, would Europe be capable of defending itself?

What if it were found that the American president actively participated in engineering the revolution in the Middle East by withdrawing key supports; manipulating food prices world-wide; deliberately crashing economies by way of monetary policy; supporting radical elements in the name of ‘social justice’? Would we be spared the indignity of shariah? Would he? Not likely. Traitors are universally despised, even under the minimal discipline of chaos.

The twelfth imam is likely to credit his own and pay scant attention to the welfare of foreign accomplices.

In any case, it’ll be the Atlantic that will shield us from the worst of it. Having allowed ourselves to come to this point, however, will haunt us into eternity. We will spend the rest of our lives apologizing, wearing sack cloth, wailing, and tearing our hair. No more arrogance; no more illusions of ‘American exceptionalism‘. We’ll have to rebuild slowly and painfully; our civilization will re-emerge, (this time) stripped of excess and bravado. We’ll have to harden ourselves to the hurled scorn of the betrayed, and forever suffer the weight of insurmountable guilt.

Only the Germans currently have a sense of it. They have been blessed with every attribute that would facilitate achieving unparalleled success; but, at the same time, they know they have forever forfeited their chance at enduring greatness.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Death Rattle

It seems to me that there’s some degree of ventriloquism involved here. The ‘death rattle’ of the Euro is really the death rattle of the dollar. It’s all linked. We go down, (and) they go down first. Capitalism is the global economy. It amounts to what communists and Islamists have been screaming about all along: American imperialism.

It all suddenly hangs in the balance. If the dollar fails, capitalism has failed. Standing in the wings, ready to take over, are communism or shariah. We say capitalism equals freedom when, in truth, it’s just another ‘ism’ like any other, and (communists and Islamists believe) totally interchangeable.

Link our political reality to the implosion of capitalism and, again, you see failure all down the line. The only alternative that remains is communism and (to a lesser extent) shariah. These will fight it out in due time. As for now, these are joined at the hip in their effort to destroy the West - or, at the very least, enjoy watching as the West destroys itself.

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/

Cleanliness Is Next To...

One way one may classify groups and attach labels to them is by the way they behave. There have now been two marches on Washington recently, the first said to have been organized by Glenn Beck; the second by a variety of factions, most loyal to the president of the United States, consisting of union members and a variety of left-leaning organizations, communists, socialists, student groups, community organizers and welfare recipients.

No doubt, there is some significance in who was there first, as there was some significance in the raw numbers of those attending each event. It has been generally acknowledged that the Beck rally was bigger. This could mean that Beck’s followers are more enthused. It could also mean that Beck’s followers have the momentum while last weekend’s rally was no more than an afterthought - a hurried attempt at playing catch up.

Numerical data, however, can be manipulated. Already I hear conflicting assessments. More to the point, perhaps, is the visual part. By all accounts, the people attending the Beck rally were considerate of each other and scrupulously clean, leaving very little (if any) trash behind. Not so the people attending last weekend’s rally. There were said to be literally mountains of trash left behind for others to clean up.

This fact alone clearly betrays a state of mind. Last weekend’s marchers apparently thought of them selves as ‘entitled‘. They seemed okay with leaving a mess.

A common observation by Westerners is that India is ‘dirty‘. This, despite handleless brooms being available in virtually every shop, and those same brooms being in motion several times a day, moving trash from one place to another. Philosophically, it may be attributed to a bias toward maintaining internal spaces (the mind) rather than the street. Culturally, it could indicate the expectation that someone of a lower caste will clean up. Middle and upper class Indians seldom do things for themselves. They employ maids, cooks and drivers. It never occurs to them to pick up after themselves, to wash dishes, clothes, etc.

Dependence is not a circumstance that will get us far. Already, it has a become a problem in India finding help. In Bombay, the maids have organized into unions. It is they who are likely to dictate terms: “I don’t do windows.”

Back in the ‘90’s, I took the kids out West for a tour of the National Parks. We rented a car and spent about three months on the road. I was surprised in flipping through the stations on the radio how many music formats were dedicated entirely to the to the ’60’s and ‘70’s. New music was almost impossible to find. It may just be that Californians have never grown up. What they have term as ‘progressive’ is merely a throw-back to a bygone era - glorious as it was in its certainty of immortal youth, promise and fantasy. It’s always hard to change when one stubbornly decides to dig in one’s heels and swim against the tide. I don’t remember all those Haight-Asbury apartments as having been all too clean.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Faisal Shahzad: Nuts and Bolts

And yet we are terribly frightened of these characters, so much so that we are willing to remove even our shoes before boarding a plane. Think about it. We fear their condemnation, their wrath and their sweating bombs. We submit to spending untold sums on security. Yet we hesitate even to address them by name.

I remember being inordinately affected by the picture (in the papers) of a Vietnamese monk on fire. What has changed? Today’s suicide bomber is beneath our contempt. We see him as a collection of nuts and bolts. He is bloodless. We fear only his nuts and bolts. As such, we are incapable of accepting his sacrificial blood and call it victory.

They are winning. They are united in their hatred of us - in their ignorance; in their misplaced anger - while we are fractured along degrees of skill, commitment and the willingness to defeat them. Half of us suffer from Stockholm Syndrome while the other half buries their heads in minutia, busy at building a case - an excuse - to effectively counter their thrusts. If I see another book that tells me that Obama is a socialist; that Muslims want to kill us; that communists want to lynch us by our own ropes, I think I’ll go mad.

Enough already! We know who Barack Hussein Obama is and who is aligned with him. It’s beginning to dawn on us that they all hate America; that we can do nothing to make them love us; that we stand eternally condemned in their eyes. Time to face facts. We are stronger than they. It is entirely possible to defeat them. But we stand no chance if we defeat ourselves first.

Soapbox Derby

Lou - I appreciate your comment. However, you make two assumptions that do not necessarily hold water. First, the market did not ‘recover’. It went down almost 350 points yesterday. Today, it went down another 140 even despite all the optimistic talk about the latest unemployment numbers. Second, there is not only one single enemy attacking us. We are being attacked from all sides by a broad base of bad actors - including from within. We’re quite on the ropes already.

Picture one of those soapbox derby races we used to get roped into back when we were Boy Scouts. We’re going downhill, hoping that our wheels don’t fall off before we reach bottom. They won’t come off this time. The skids have been carefully greased and each little push only makes us go faster. They’re all out there pushing: the progressives, the communists, the unions, the anarchists, the atheists, the illegals, the environmentalists, the gays, the blacks, the browns – every malcontent who’s ever had a hung toenail is pushing. …and while they’re pushing, they’re spitting at our flag.

It doesn’t stop there. Internationally, we’re being pushed as well. Look at the military build-up to our south - courtesy of Russia and Iran - in the fallen dominoes of South and Central America. Look at who’s threatening our allies around the world. Look at the oil exploration about to begin practically in our own backyard by the likes of China, while our own hands remain tied. The Deepwater Horizon ‘accident’ sealed out fate in this regard. Instead, we’ll now concentrate on building windmill farms. Pretty soon it’ll be raining birds.

One plan is to choke off our energy supply. I can’t see it any other way. It’s already been decided at the highest levels of our own government that we should come begging for our energy needs. The rationale is that it would save the planet, but it’s really not that. It’s to diminish our influence and power. Some would say, it is to destroy us as a nation; to reduce us to that gushing wound that once was America; or Greece; or Rome or Great Britain (the empire on which the sun never sets).

The Islamists and the communists are all in this together. Their mission is to destroy America; capitalism. Once that’s done, they’ll sort out the differences amongst themselves by killing each other. We’re so rattled now that every time someone drops a pack of Lucky Strikes on the sidewalk somewhere, we close down Times Square. Don’t tell me it’s not having an effect.

We can be reasonably certain by now that our president is a communist. Until I see his birth certificate you can’t convince me that he isn’t a Muslim as well.