On A Silver Platter

We now see what the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ – much of which this president has had a hand in – has been all about. In his (billed as a major) foreign policy speech today president Obama essentially told Israel to fall back to its pre-’67 borders as a precondition for peace talks with Palestinians.

We must suspect that it has been Obama’s plan all along to hand Israel over into the hands of its enemies. Reaction should be predictable. He will be praised by Jew haters, which now includes virtually every nation on earth. (It’s nice to know that we’ve managed to sink to the lowest common denominator among nations in less than a single presidential term.) At the same time, it should send shivers through every Israeli (living in Israel).

Such borders are clearly indefensible should Israel be attacked – and it will be. Obama is betting on being able to gain acceptance in the Islamic world by sacrificing Israel. It will not work. Islamists will feel emboldened and will not stop until Europe and America are Islamized as well. Much can happen between now and then, but this nonetheless represents a milestone in the long view of some who are playing the game.

Exactly how long the game has been going on is at this point hard to tell. Perhaps Israel was doomed from the start. But this speech certainly clarifies things. The implied trade-off, of course, is that there might now be a chance for peace were the Arabs to get what they want; that wars and terrorism (and high oil prices) would cease to be a problem and that all the world would prosper.

You know my view. I’ve stated it often enough. We cannot build stability, prosperity and peace on genocide. Others have tried and it has never worked. I view Israel as the keystone of a delicate arch. It should be defended and reinforced – not removed and discarded. The arch is likely to collapse. All else we can survive: socialism; corruption; a broken economy; a broken government; even the unrelenting threat of terror.

A fallen Israel we cannot.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Respect

For those who would be tempted to view our times within the context of the American Civil War, the BP Gulf oil spill would represent Fort Sumter. We currently find ourselves somewhere between Fort Sumter and Gettysburg. The oil spill was the first clear shot across the bow of America. It gave our president his first opportunity to clamp down on America’s jugular. Since then, the Left has managed to rack up an impressive string of victories. Even counting a significant number of electoral setbacks (during midterms), this seems to have had zero effect on the Left’s forward momentum. The economy is still in trouble and our position globally has become increasingly tenuous. It is clear that the American Left is hard at work toward seeing that America slips to second or third rung status among nations. So far, they are succeeding.

I have long predicted that something will happen that will forestall the 2012 elections and that Obama would remain in office. If this is correct, it would suggest the timeframe within which to expect Gettysburg. Gettysburg could be anything, foreign or domestic. Too many fuses are already lit; too much ordinance likely to detonate. When it does, there will either be chaos or the system will collapse into a shadow structure (already built and in place).

No one is willing to fully accept that any of this can happen – not in America. Those raising alarms are systematically silenced, crushed by ignorance, and by a general unwillingness to connect the dots and follow trend lines to their logical conclusion. Others, only semi-aware, place their hopes on 2012, our next chance to replace the leadership in Washington. They do not consider the possibility that we might never get there.

How to prepare? First off, know what you stand for. If you stand for liberty and the spirit of America, say so outright and without hesitation. Your worst move is to succumb to the bullying tactics of the Left, or to retaliate in kind. If you happen to be on the left, come out of hiding and state your intent plainly. Stealth will no longer serve you. Everybody must have a voice in determining where we want to end up. For the exercise to succeed, all cards must be put face-up on the table. Winner takes all.

Recognize too that your money is gone. It is being used as a weapon against you - to get you to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily consider doing. Write it off; start fresh. Hunger is another matter. But even hunger can be used as a weapon for a righteous cause. Anna Hazare moved the world recently by going on a hunger strike – so did Gandhi.

Know where you stand and adjust to doing without creature comforts. Obama’s threat to raise a billion dollars for his reelection campaign is meaningless. The money he intends on using has no value – and he knows it. It is a bluff to fend off adversaries. Doing without money will be easier than it seems. For one thing, you can no longer be bribed or corrupted by it. You will be free to pursue what’s right and true. And your reward will be far greater than anything money can ever hope to buy, among these: self-respect.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Soup Nazis Galore

Let me begin by saying that I love Kelly Evans. In fact, my post entitled “I Want Kelly Evans Back” last January 1st became one of my most popular posts and elicited quite number of intemperate responses to boot. She’s looks smart and can well massage liberal talking points and chew gum at the same time – all this, while fitting in perfectly with the Soros-certified media sycophants that would include such luminaries as Meredith Viera along with most others that one sees on lame stream media outlets on a regular basis. I might add that John Batchelor himself has been skating dangerously close to falling in with this same dreary group, particularly by his frequent use of John Avlon as a surrogate.

My post entitled “Smoke-Filled Rooms At Bretton Woods” could be inserted here. In it I tried to show that what we are currently facing is much more insidious than the current vogue: Democrat/Republican divide, that seems to drain every last drop of our almost limitless patience; that the real players lurk in the shadows (at Bretton Woods) and would never expose themselves to Kelly Evans’ (among others’) essentially banally scripted questioning.

I submit that if George Soros had been sitting in Trump’s chair there at the WSJ studio, the questioning would have been quite different. He might have been asked what amount to a series of softball questions like, “Would you have gone into Iraq or Libya for ‘freedom’?” and he would have answered with a resounding ‘YES’, adding, “but never for oil” for that would rub against the grain of Soros’ own self-inspired talking points that demand that America should bleed herself dry before doing anything at all in its own self-interests.

Conventional wisdom has it that by the time the 2012 elections roll around, “anyone but (Bush)Obama” will be the order of the day. This would not necessarily mean that we are now out of the woods. On the contrary – as we have seen with both Bush and McCain – our situation would remain essentially on the same trajectory. It would take an outsider like Trump or (to a lesser extent) Palin to really shake things up.

Soros’ lib soup Nazis would spare nothing to smear anyone who could upset their apple cart. Of the two, Palin or Trump, the latter would be in a much better position to survive the onslaught. He is forceful, plain-talking, competent and savvy. He appears to be a patriot. I believe he could win if the present system would allow him to compete. You know it would do its level best to destroy him if he ever got close. The question then becomes: Is Trump man enough to smash the system?

As we continue to observe this approaching train wreck of an election and as we continue to keep score, it might do well to note which prospective candidate receives the brunt of press ire. That would be the one I would go with. Whether or not he or she could actually win; and, in winning, shred the current anti-American narrative top to bottom, is another matter entirely.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

At The Roman Colosseum

As we agonize about all the various groups and tribes that might or might not emerge from the upheavals throughout the Middle East, we tend to lose sight of the central issue. What we are seeing is basically a food fight among the lions. Our interference in it essentially amounts to ‘the kiss of death’ for whichever side we are seen as favoring. Any fallout will be magnified exponentially should ‘our’ chosen party end up losing.

I’ve noticed that from the very beginning of what started with the so-called ‘Twitter revolution’, there has been virtually no mention of Israel; arguably, a nation that has the most to lose should things turn sour. Israel has remained largely silent while murder is raging all around it. This is because virtually any outcome can only serve to compromise Israel’s security further. Even regime change within its long-time nemesis, Syria, is fraught with danger for Israel which has over time amassed a great deal of data detailing the strength and weakness of the Assad regime. A new hand in Syria would represent the wiping clean of that slate.

The one issue uniting all the disparate factions of the Arab Street is its hatred for Israel. Even as we try to pick winners and do our best to demonstrate our support, the central conflict that puts us at odds with the Ummah is not apt to go away. Our status, even if we should get lucky and pick a winner, will not be enhanced as long as we claim to support Israel (which we don’t). The barb remains: We have supported Israel in the past. That alone condemns us in Arab eyes.

The only way to redeem ourselves (again, as far as Arabs are concerned) is to bomb Israel ourselves, which is not yet politically possible. And although we have done everything just short of that, it has not been enough to convince the ‘Arab Street’. Besides, it will still be advantageous for them to maintain an adversarial relationship with us for purposes of cohesion.

Oil has already been jettisoned as an incentive for good relations between us. Indeed, we have gone to great lengths to show that we are no longer interested. As such, Arab oil will be flowing primarily to the east. This theme has further crystallized in the willingness of Mahmoud Abbas to forego U.S. aid entirely in favor of unifying the factions under his supposed control.

What we are watching unfold in the Middle East will never touch us directly. For us, any outcome is as good as any other. Israel, on the other hand, is not so lucky. Any outcome for them is likely to be dire. The status quo was the best they could ever have hoped for. It’s crunch time for Israel. She will soon have to decide whether or not to stand and fight to defend her modern-day version of the Alamo.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Off The Record (in Brazil)

O – “Like you, I am a Marxist/Socialist. In addition, I am a Muslim – born and bred. I see my job essentially as an opportunity to erase the hegemony of the West in general and America in particular. To this end, we are working to choke off America’s energy supplies. As you may know, America actually does have the world’s most abundant resources of carbon-based fuels within its own borders. We have succeeded in halting oil exploration, drilling, refining, etc. In addition, we have been able to severely restrict coal mining operations by encumbering companies thus engaged with so many government mandated regulations and restrictions; it’s become impossible for operators to maintain profitable margins.

“Additionally, we’ve managed to create instability in the Middle East. It should soon become impossible to procure oil from any of these sources. Also, under our green energy initiative, we have succeeded in creating the perception that the use of carbon-based energy is damaging to the planet. We are now also in the process of banning nuclear energy outright (thank you, Japan).

“We have expanded baseline government spending to unprecedented levels, all but insuring the collapse of our currency. In relatively short order you will see severe inflation, shortages and, with it, a rise in civil disturbances. By maintaining a high degree of fiscal uncertainty, we can assure that the powerhouse American economy cannot recover.

“None of this happened overnight, of course. Many brave comrades have worked diligently for many years to break down our network of primary and secondary education as to destroy the people’s ability to engage in critical inquiry. As such, we’ve been able to accomplish much under cover of darkness. My own popularity is still relatively high, even as our systems and institutions are grinding to a halt one by one.

“It must be kept in mind that our efforts are targeted primarily at the West. The East should remain largely unaffected for now. It will be up to my successors to more or less finish the job. In any case, Brazil – and South America in general – should remain relatively unaffected by the change.

“For now, in order to keep up appearances, we have set aside considerable sums for you to develop your oil industry – just to maintain the impression that we are still dealing with the fear Americans have of running out of gas(oline).

D – “I can see some pitfalls in your plan, especially as it pertains to us. Many here see it as yet another attempt by your arrogant nation to reduce us to just another of your Middle Eastern gas stations. It’s a perception of distrust that has built up over many years."

O – “Never mind. Accept the money and do with it what you want. As I said, it’s mainly just to give the impression that we are doing something about energy – to placate the masses, so to speak – while we are turning off the spigots one by one.

“BTW, put in a good word to Hugo, Fidel and the others for me. Do let them know that we’re all on the same page.”

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Sleepless in Chatham (NJ)

Obviously, not everyone agrees. There must then be more than one side to the story. Russia, China, India, et al were maneuvered into ‘agreeing’. They agreed by voting ‘present’ – which is a way of saying, “Do what you want, but we’ll have no part of it.”

Action involves risk. Risk must be balanced by benefit. For far too long American foreign policy has excluded any notion of ‘benefit’. It has been unbalanced. In Iraq we never insisted on payback. Its oil is now going to our rivals. As the chaos and killing there continues, we cannot even claim ‘victory’ on that front. Neither do we insist on Libya’s oil in exchange for our effort. And indeed, Libya’s oil is already spoken for and going to those who voted ‘present’.

You would think that Obama, of all people, would understand the benefits that accrue by voting ‘present’; that voting otherwise engenders risk which, in turn, invites loss. It has been my contention that Obama – whether by way of retribution or an affinity for victimhood - deliberately invites loss. Neither revenge nor national suicide are attractive to anyone but himself.

Saw the French film “Of Gods and Men” last night. As my friend and I settled ourselves outside afterwards to discuss the merits of the film, a woman approached us. She clearly had been disturbed by it. She said it was the worst film she had ever seen. She said it was good to have someone to talk it out with and hoped that she would not have bad dreams.

It was basically an anti-war film. In addition, it blamed the West. As such, it entered the realm of propaganda. Propaganda can never rise to the level of art. It targets those lacking any clear cut principles …and leaves them sleepless.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

No Joy In Mudville

Whereas in dreams landscapes often change and even faces merge into rough composites of people we may have known, the dreamer always remains the same, encompassing all that we understand the core of ourselves to be. It therefore behooves us to make some modicum of effort in making inquiries of anyone we aim to enter into a contract with. If we should want to get the garage roof fixed, for instance, we would normally first seek references before deciding on a roofer.

Society, even a democratic society, always breaks down into a hierarchy of leaders for the rest of us to follow. Leaders are freely chosen on the basis of their resumes and our assumption that their intentions are similar to ours. When the actions of a leader approximate what we would do under similar circumstances, we can pretty much take it for granted that the leader has our best interests at heart.

Last night, on the John Batchelor Show, John ran a segment in which three of his guests were asked to recall their personal experiences back in the late 70’s, waiting in gas lines (on alternate days) to have their tanks filled. Curiously, all three drove Pintos. We all were so much younger then, but we all remember having participated in some capacity in the drill. Back then, we blamed OPEC and, to a lesser extent, president Carter’s ineffectiveness. It made for large headlines all over the country but never rose to the level of existential concern. After all, Ronald Reagan stood in the wings.

Today, a similar situation earns barely a whisper. True, so far there have been no shortages; only the price of fuel is spiking. Enough money will buy you anything. Still, it’s worrying as we are coming face to face with our own limitations in our need to keep up.

We’re not talking about it because we fear we already know the truth. And we’d rather not know. Every dollar we spend on oil goes to fuel our own destruction. And it’s being orchestrated by our own White House. Every policy decision our current leadership has made seems specifically designed to make us more vulnerable. There can no longer be any doubt: this re-distribution of our wealth in the name of atonement is fast approaching the limit of our endurance. Our dependence on oil remains constant even as our sources and options decline. We have been rendered literally powerless to save ourselves.

With Carter in office, we at least knew that things could possibly turn around with the next election. Now, we’re no longer so sure. Obama appears to have his second term well in hand. We may never get another chance.

That’s why we don’t talk about it. Instead, we grin and bear it. Two years - even one - seems like an eternity. Any plan to unseat Obama seems like a long shot. And though spring is approaching after a long hard winter, there’s not much joy in Mudville as the driving season commences.

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/

'Check Engine' Light

For the first time I see U.S. oil dependence as a real existential threat. The perfect storm is raging while we are agonizing over Charlie Sheen. Oil prices alone will crush our economy. We can now appreciate the efforts of previous administrations designed to keep it all together. ‘Containment’ had become an intricate game that demanded increasingly complex solutions. Clearly, our present administration does not know how to play.

We went to war in Iraq in response to 9/11. It was not something we could avoid. Admittedly, we ran the risk of destabilizing the region. It did not destabilize. We actually were on the right track. The countries of the Middle East were reminded to mind their manners. They did - for a time. When it became clear that America was crumbling from within and that we would not be able to sustain the drive, they began to bolt. The election of Barack Hussein Obama confirmed to the world that we were finished.

Now, voters' remorse. We don’t even have it in us to criticize our president’s handling of the job. We’re just desperately hanging on till the next election cycle, watching as we circle the drain. Our fear that we won’t last that long is already palpable.

Russia and China will survive. It’s not that our past presidents were so much smarter or capable than Putin or Hu Jintao. But at the very least it was a more or less even match. Now, ‘the U.S. is out of the game’. We’ve left the stadium and taken our ball.

There is one attribute that elevates the leaders of China and Russia (and those of most other nations) to the status of players on the global gridiron: patriotism. Most leaders take pride in their countries. They may have different ways of expressing it; different approaches; different ideologies, etc. But, in almost every case, they do what they do to give their nations a chance to survive. Even Kim Yong-Il rattles his bones of a nation to fair advantage. There are only two notable exceptions: Iran and the U.S.

Iran is so locked into an eschatological vision, it pays no heed to possible consequences. This, while current U.S. leadership wildly pursues some utopian ideological throw-back to some unworkable drug-induced version of a coma. Both are so arrogant as to ignore any and all warning signals.

I’ve been driving for years with my ‘check engine’ light on. So far so good. I haven’t had problems. It’d be a bit different if I still had to ferry kids to and from soccer practice. Or, if I were running a country with over 300 million people in it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters

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

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

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

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

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

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

Or, imagine our conversation with the King of Saudi Arabia:

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Resurrection

Either by sheer ineptitude or by design, leadership (as most understand it) is not one of our president’s strong suits. We recommend that anyone waiting for Obama to make the first move not hold their breath. And why should the president trouble himself? By not acting - or only appearing to act - the stinkweed will still continue to bloom in in Michelle’s much-hyped White House garden.

In today’s WSJ there are two unsigned editorials relating to Obama’s policy regarding oil: he hates it, along with every other carbon based fuel. The Gulf oil spill introduced the opening chords of this multi-layered symphony. It gave the administration the excuse to declare a drilling moratorium. Despite being forced to rescind it at a judge’s order, this administration still hasn’t issued a single drilling permit, citing cut-backs in staffing and problems in deciphering the new regulations.

This is not the only time the Obama administration has chosen to drag its feet to achieve policy objectives. Since a judge declared the government’s health care plan unconstitutional, requiring the government to immediately cease its implementation, Obama has used every delaying tactic to circumvent the judge’s ruling. As in the drilling moratorium matter, it now finds itself in contempt of court rulings. But who would enforce it?

Setting the Middle East on fire also meets Obama’s objectives. Likely to drive up prices beyond endurance, the administration figures this to equate with a huge shot-in-the-arm for the fledgling alternative fuels industry…and, most importantly, ‘cap and trade’ legislation which would place a premium on energy usage to then be pocketed by favored constituencies - hence, wealth re-distribution, another policy objective high on the president’s list.

The entire field is in play; all the fuses are lit. All the president has to do is sit back and watch as the sacred cow dominos fall one by one.

I personally have trouble agreeing entirely with this analysis. There are too many steps involved, any one of which could put the ultimate objective ( so called energy independence) at risk. Not the least of which is that the alternative fuel bandwagon is still far from ready. But it does point to a target much closer: this, being America - to stop the blood flowing to America’s heart. If this can be achieved, by any means, America (as we know it) could be declared dead.

I maintain, that America is already dead. She can no longer defend herself in her present state while threats, both internal and external, abound. External aggression will not finish the job; i.e. strip the flesh off her bones. This will be done internally. The opposition in virtually every sector has already been eliminated. And no one from the outside will come to bury the body in accordance with respectful custom. Her one and only hope continues to be Israel which is under attack itself.

My one consolation is that the architects of this monumental crime will not be allowed to rest on their laurels. Whatever may be said of humanity, it does not celebrate murder.

As America is removed from the cross, a new spirit will sweep the world and the idea of ‘America’ will revive to guide it back into safe waters. It will signal a resurrection of sorts in which even the bad guys will have a chance for redemption, and the Mahdi will jump back into his well.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Lions And Ducks And Bears

The Middle East is burning. Protests spreading in Libya; protests spreading in the Middle East and beyond. Once the cat is out of the bag, everything becomes unpredictable. In Libya, the prize is light crude. Many nations - especially in Europe - depend on it. Oil prices rising everywhere - affecting everything. Someone in Libya shouts, “Where is America? Where is the UN? This is a massacre! We need help. Now!”

They don’t ask for Chinese intervention. They don’t ask for Russia - or Europe. They ask for America. An automatic reflex.

“Sorry guys, you’re on your own. We’ve got our own insurrection to deal with. Wisconsin. And it’s spreading to other states.“

“But what about the oil? We’ll pay!”

“Sorry again, guys. We don’t need your oil. We’re ’green' now. Don’t you see? We’re green. Oil is a cancer. We’re trying to choke it off. We’ve got windmills, batteries, solar panels - and mercury light bulbs. Besides ….besides what?

“While we may have started all this mess with the likes of Google, Facebook and the unions, it’s out of our hands now.”

Kaddafi is toast. He burnt us once too often. No sympathy for that dictator. He’s fresh out of IOU’s - and so are we. The rest will fall in place after the dust has settled. Blame it on Israel.
---------------------------------------------------------------

In the center of the town, opposite the station, is the village green. There, right in the middle, is a pond. The family often goes there to feed the ducks after dinner with the bread that’s left over.

Dad says, “Look kids! They’re over there.” And the kids run over to where they are.

When the parents catch up with them, mother remarks, “My, how they’ve grown!”

Dad is unsure whom she’s referring to - the children or the ducks - and says nothing. When their bags are empty, the children are anxious to leave.

“Say good-bye to the ducks,” Mom says.

“They’re not ducks,” chime the children in unison.

“What are they then,” asks Mom.

“Bears,” say the children.

Mom and Dad laugh. They think it’s cute. From then on, the family refers to the ducks floating silently on the surface of their own reflections on the village pond as ‘bears‘.
----------------------------------------
Later that year, the county proposed a bear hunt to cull the sloth that’s become a nuisance to garbage cans and pets. There were so many people against it that the idea was scrapped.

Mom mentions it one evening to Dad. “They’ve banned duck hunting,” she says.

Dad looks up from his paper. He seems annoyed. He liked to go duck hunting with his friends - in season, of course. “What’s wrong with duck hunting?” he exclaims.

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/

Before They Gouge Out Our Eyes

Obviously it won’t be Obama who rides to our rescue. He’ll be the one seen as having run the country into the ground. No doubt, accusations will continue to fly from both sides. So who will it be? A Reagan-like figure? Or someone more centrist? Left? Anybody (again)? Will it even matter?

Hard to say at this point. I maintain we’re already ‘landing softly’. This is not enough for these people. The plan appears to be global. The action will center on the Middle East. That’s where the die will be cast. Everything will radiate out from there. Oil.

What struck me was how desperately Obama wanted to take credit for what happened in Egypt. It’s not yet over. If the worst should happen (and I don’t see how the worst can be avoided under our present leadership), will our president again seek to claim credit? Probably. But it won’t wash - not here, anyway.

A war in the Middle East, whether America is involved or not, will act as a ‘reset’ button for - not Russia, but - America. (How the Russians must have laughed!)

It’ll happen soon enough. While economic collapse could drag on for years, the Middle East - from Turkey to Pakistan and down into North Africa - has reached the boiling point. I have no clue if Israel is even prepared to defend itself. In any case, it’s probably out of Israel’s hands as well.

The era of cheap oil is be over. We hear it over and over again - like self-fulfilling prophecy. Oil has been the lifeblood of American ‘success‘. Our worthless dollars will no longer buy oil from the Middle East. And then there’s the matter of retribution. Venezuela will go along with it and cut us off.

Cloward-Piven has already achieved its aim. This can be illustrated in any number of ways. We’re now into our post-revolution. The point is, we no longer control the ropes. Who will come to our rescue (with some version of the Marshall Plan) should we stumble? (Again, we have already stumbled.) The sainted Brotherhood? The Chinese? The Russians? It’s likely that we’ll continue to wallow in our own stew for some time to come.

Doubtful too that Obama will be granted a villa in Shiraz (believe me, I tried to find some sort of beach resort for the family) to live out his miserable life. Though, it might be thrilling to catch a glimpse of Michelle’s ankle just before they gouge out our eyes.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Being There

It has been duly noted that once again we seem to be on the wrong side of things. We’re supporting a rag-tag army of assorted leftists and Islamic radicals, and throwing Mubarak - a U.S. ally - under the bus (so to speak); that, for all our efforts to help lift the Egyptian people out of the tyranny of what essentially amounts to (we are told) U.S.-sponsored poverty, we are inadvertently abandoning them to another kind of tyranny - one of Islamic fundamentalism which would likely put Israel - another so-called U.S. ally - at risk, as well as the Suez Canal, a major shipping lane (primarily for oil) which is likely to affect even Europe - more U.S. ‘allies’ - adversely.

Nobody asks why the people of the Middle East are in perpetual poverty, despite untold billions pumped in by the West (for oil). Nobody asks why conditions for Muslims in India continue to be markedly worse than they are for Hindus (and others), despite government efforts to give them every possible advantage.

Perhaps we haven’t exactly thought it through all that well; perhaps we haven’t considered all the implications of embracing shariah and treating it on par with what our own sacred texts espouse. Perhaps we thought that by siding with a seemingly ‘popular’ movement all else would fall into place; and we would be loved as we’ve never been loved before.

Such miscalculations are easy to make. Carter miscalculated Iran and we’re still paying the price. They still hate us. But he meant well. At least, we think he did.

We’re also giving Obama the benefit of the doubt in the current situation. We seem to have forgotten his stance on the Iranian popular uprising a year or two ago. We seem to have forgotten his stance when Honduras went through its constitutional travail, as well as so much else that has been plaguing us domestically since this man assumed power. We’ve refused to connect the dots.

I still remember as a child, the seemingly endless wait at restaurants for the waitress to bring our food was made tolerable by the table mats I was given. The ‘connect-the-dots’ game was always a part of it. The game was relatively easy. The dots were always numbered; and I knew my numbers. I knew what order they came in. Yet, I would always hesitate to start, trying to predict before-hand what figure would ultimately emerge.

Today, connecting-the-dots seems to have become a lost art. While it’s true that the dots are no longer numbered, they are self-explanatory nonetheless. We have been reading the newspapers, after all. We can remember what has happened previously and in what order it happened. We have seen enough of it to know what is likely to happen next - and afterwards…

Still, we act like every day is a new day. All events are random and unexpected. Obama has been in office two years - and unpleasant things have happened and are continuing to happen. Where is all this ‘hope and change’ thing taking us?

While all our problems have been attributed to Obama’s inexperience (including, of course, his constant hectoring of Israel to mind its ways), a pattern seems to be emerging.

Heads of state are beginning to notice and draw conclusions. While we gnash our teeth, seemingly finding ourselves at the mercy of unrelated events, our enemies are beginning to take liberties. Our friends are beginning to distance themselves. Our economy is going to the dogs. Our ‘fixes’ only seem to be making things worse. And throughout it all, our government media tells us that all is hunky-dory; that we are doing just fine; and that the light at the other end of the tunnel is straight ahead (under the inspired leadership of Imam Obama).

Things are falling apart. Despite removing ‘mother’ and ‘father’ terminology from U.S. passport applications and replacing it with gender neutral verbiage (‘parent one’ and ‘parent two‘), junior Obama is finding that it still takes either Mom or Dad to drive the fambly (sic) sedan.

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/

Sudan: Happily Ever After

Too early to celebrate southern Sudan's independence from the north. Yes, elections are always a plus (or are they?) There are now indications that the elections occurred solely for purposes of clearing the table. Civil wars are always messy. It’s far easier to conduct campaign between recognized nations. The flashpoint will be Abyei. Oil will be a factor. AQ will agitate. It will not allow a Christian nation to stand. The West will fail to protect its interests.

Elections will hardly matter. It’s just a show to appease Western sensibilities. The West is obsessed with symbolism, even if symbolism amounts to mere ritual.

Last weekend, the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrated Pongal. It coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated throughout India. Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over" or "spill-over”. The boiling over of milk in a clay pot symbolizes material abundance for the household. Pongal, celebrated at harvest time, is traditionally intended to thank the Sun God and farmstead livestock that helped create the material abundance.

You now know more about Pongal than the average Indian does. They see it merely as a three-day celebration sanctioned by the government and to which the Chief Minister contributes amusements and protection at designated sites. It is a secular holiday in which all can participate - just like elections (the world over) these days.

Sudan's north-south civil war has simmered since 1955, claiming an estimated two million lives.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Weapons

Climate is not about weather. Health care is not about wellness. Law is not about justice. Governance is not about order. Drilling is not about energy. Science is not about knowledge. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not about peace. What’s it all about?

It’s all about control. Food as a weapon; oil/gas as a weapon; rare earth as a weapon; law as a weapon; the environment as a weapon; terrorism as a weapon; health as a weapon; history as a weapon.

Actually, weapons were kinder. We could sometimes see the eyes of the person pulling the trigger; or we could see a vapor trail - something warm. Words just leave cold echoes in empty rooms. Arguments and accusations; until we can no longer be sure who said what; or even if it’s been said at all; or if we ourselves might have said it. (Talking to oneself is still considered a sign of madness.)

Madness, though, appears to be the goal. We’re made to question where we stand; find common ground. Is there even anything the mere size of a bullet to stand on?

Who thinks they’ll be able to unravel this maze we’ve created? Whose fingers would untangle this knot before it strangles us in hopeless ecstasy? Whose shoulders are strong enough to shift us back to basic - to where a spade is a spade once again?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Iraqis Who Once Believed In US

Once we leave, Iraq will become a ward of Iran. The mullahs will keep Iraq unsettled; one, to embarrass the U.S.; and, two, to deny the population the space and tranquility to establish democratic systems. To jihadis, a successful Iraq is unacceptable. Iraq has already assumed the pariah status of Israel in the region.

Unlike Israel, secular Iraq has no roots. All pretense to the contrary, Iraq will become a killing fields. The life of every Iraqi who is said to have cooperated with the Americans will be in jeopardy.

In the short term, violence can be expected to increase steadily and, as JB says, for our remaining troops there the danger will escalate. POTUS will try to keep the American domestic scene riled up and unstable, so we won’t notice what’s happening elsewhere. He will say that he ended Bush’s war in Iraq - a war we should never have started. He will conveniently omit mention of 9/11 that triggered it. And that the whole exercise was a key part in an overall strategic plan to pacify the region, preserve the free flow of oil, and enhance Israel’s security by bookending Iran which had already become a menace. In any case, the WTC attacks could not go unanswered. Retaliation almost never scores precisely. Often, simply having retaliated must suffice.

As we now barely remember 9/11, the exercise seems wasted (especially since we failed to achieve our goals). This is not the fault of our military or of Bush. The Iraq initiative has been politicized from the start. It became a political football reflecting not so much the situation on the ground in the Middle East, but the political situation within our own country.

As far as Democrats were concerned, the sole object of the war was to make Bush look bad; so bad, in fact, that we now have our first half white, half black Muslim president. The war in Iraq was effectively over when Barack Hussein Obama was elected. We didn’t even fight to a draw. We lost outright. Now Iraq can be flushed down the toilet along with the American Constitution. And, as has already happened so many times around the world, Iraqis who once believed in us will now curse us to our graves. And we will have deserved it.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

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.