The House Always Wins

The fever of revolution is sweeping the world. Syria, UK, U.S. (tea parties), China – you name it. Nobody is immune. There’s a restlessness loose on the globe. It’s born out of a growing intransigence on all sides; a failure to cooperate. Walid Phares is right: Every uprising has its own stamp; its own individual character.

It might always have been so. It’s in embedded in our DNA: sons rebelling against fathers; fathers rebelling against the State. What is different now is that the chucks have been jettisoned – America has turned coat - and the festooned chariot, carrying the idol, is hurtling madly through the madas (streets around a Hindu temple), mowing down worshippers and rogue priests alike in its pitiless path. There’s no telling where it all ends.

With no chucks to stop it, the chariot will tip over or crash into a building, tallying more victims. The ghee and curd soaked idol will lie shattered in the dusty street for all to see. Like it or not, the chucks were important – as is the law and leadership. With the idol lying broken in the dirt, the time will have come to begin again - from scratch. It’s not that we’re not capable of it, but it’s a long hard road.

It’s foolish to say that leadership has always to be a certain way. Bush was wrong to insist on ‘democracy' everywhere. It works for Switzerland, but you can’t say it’ll work for Zimbabwe.

Even Switzerland is restless now. For the first time in Swiss history, the celebration of its Independence Day on historic Ruetli Meadow was threatened with cancellation. Switzerland - as most nations - is struggling with the issue of immigration. They fear disturbances by neo-Nazi groups and were unwilling to pay for additional security. In the end, private enterprise promised to donate the money needed to keep order and reassure folks.

What struck me about the video in John's post (Daraa, Syria uprising) is that people spoke English. They were clearly distressed. Why did they speak English? Answer: for American TV, of course; to let Obama know that they are in trouble. The news obviously hasn’t reached them yet. They may also have been preparing themselves for jobs in America – where the streets are paved with ...debt. And, again, the news hasn’t reached them yet – that America has become a ward of the same system that Syria has.

The rich, the powerful, and the bored use the world’s grievances like dice at a crap table, hoping to best their friends and walk off with the prize. But time and time again we learn what every Las Vegas pauper already knows: that the house always wins.
-----------------------------------------------
Watch episode# 2; parts 1 and 2 (Temple Cart) of Louis Malle’s “Phantom India” on You Tube to see what I’m talking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIGodDxlnVo ('cut and paste' into your browser.)

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Peter Koelliker replied to comment from Kenneth Stevens

Kenneth - Grammatical point well taken. In fact, it proves my point. The Indians I know are highly educated in the sciences, mathematics, finance, medicine, and the arts. It literally makes my head spin. I’ll give them a pass, for the moment, on politics. But even there, they’re making progress. Our own current crop of graduates can’t hold a candle to them. True, there’s Apu and the 7/11 pump jockeys. But even they flaunt a work ethic that’s hard to beat.

Hispanics most closely support your argument. They also are hard-working to be sure. But they work with their hands. This is the work that Americans could do but no longer want to. There is a difference between immigrant groups. There is a difference between immigrant groups and us. I continue to maintain that immigration is not our most pressing problem. Our problem is having turned the issue into a political football at the very time when we seem to be breaking apart in so many ways. It provides our political leadership with a scapegoat; an excuse to point fingers elsewhere.

You cannot deny that our educational system is broken. When we continually question tests instead of the tested, we have turned things seriously upside down. As such, our children do not learn. The latest pc racial bias can be made to explain everything. How dare we expect a kid to answer 4 when asked, “What does two to plus two equal?”! We rather view it as innovative, original. It can be argued that in some numerical systems 2 + 2 could indeed equal 5 (or any number). Little Johnny is a genius after all. We are indeed blessed!

While in India last, I happened to pick up a paper and noted the headline, “Crisis In Public Education”. I began to read, expecting to see the same template as ours. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The author made the point that schools were too strict. It was right after year-end examinations. There had been several suicides.

Culture of Corruption

It looks like the ‘culture of corruption’ within the Democrat Party is coming home to roost. Both Rangel and Waters are right to insist on a public airing. They have done nothing that most of their Democrat colleagues haven‘t also done. Nancy Pelosi, for instance. What is surprising is that any of this has even come out. With the Dems in complete control of the process, I would have thought they could have kept it all under wraps. Who would have challenged them? Not Republicans. It speaks of a Democrat party in disarray; in self-destruct mode. The in-fighting has begun and will not end well.

For some time now, I have been alluding to the suspicion that one of this administration’s principal aims is to lay waste Congress in general - and, with it, any vestige of representative governance. Republicans have already shown themselves as woefully ineffective. It stands to reason that the next step is to strike the fatal blow against Democrats as well.

Case and point: Yesterday we witnessed the spectacle of the Senate in action. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York had the floor to himself as he and Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland held a special session to pass a $600 million border security bill which everyone agrees is inadequate. The Senate historian said it was the first time just two Senators passed a bill.

It was a nod to all those who are demanding action on the highly volatile immigration issue. Democrats, in effect, said, “You want a bill? Here’s a bill. Live with it.” The cavalier way in which this non-entity was passed goes along with how the House has been conducting business since the current administration has been in office. “You want it paid for? Fine. We’ll pay for it by raising the fees on H-1B visas which allow foreign workers to work in the U.S. All the bases are covered. Now let’s go home and continue with our summer vacations.”

Meanwhile in India there is much hand-wringing. Indians are well aware of how this small, seemingly throw-away gesture by Democrats affects them. Virtually every middle and upper class family has someone working in the U.S. Many of them can be expected to lose their jobs.

This is a huge issue for them, as well as a loss for us. Indians working here are well educated and highly trained. They fill a niche in any number of specialized fields in which Americans can and do not compete.

So, with yesterday’s throw-away gesture we’ve managed to turn a whole nation against us. Bravo Chuck Schumer, Ben Cardin, Democrats, Republicans, President Obama! You’ve done it again. This is not effective diplomacy. This is shoddy; grandstanding. This strikes at the very root of a nation - a nation that has heretofore been one of our most adoring allies.

Bloody Men in Boots

I remember when Saddam Hussein set fire to his oil wells. I remember seeing the pictures of the fires burning; the black smoke rising. It seemed an impossible task to stop it. But highly specialized American teams moved in and put out the fires one by one. They were well trained in this choreography. I remember the on-site TV interviews of these bloody men in boots. They didn't think it was a particularly big deal. They just did what they came to do without undue hand-wringing and mama drama. I remember being surprised by how quickly they were able to finish their work. Their manner on camera throughout was reassuring. …and we felt reassured (though still uncertain as to whether or not the Baghdad museum had been looted of its antiquities by the rough-hewn American invaders).

While the bloody men in boots could reassure us now, they are no where to be seen. This time the pretty ballerinas in pink petticoats appear to be running the show. Their only weapons are obfuscation and blame-shifting (with a furtive nod toward furthering their ball-busting agenda). They are far from reassuring. Maybe the only way to stop this leak is by a strategically placed nuclear detonation as some have suggested. The ballerinas swoon at the thought.

Come to think of it, there are other leaks in progress: the influx of illegals from along our Mexican border; the steady deflation of the dollar; our evapotating influence on the word stage. Deepwater Horizon’s gusher is an appropriate metaphor for all these and more.