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/

Pay-Off

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

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

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

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

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

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Gold

The classic question asked before every election has been, “Are you better off today than you were 1, 2, 3 or 4 years ago?” ‘Better’ was roughly defined in economic terms: jobs, prospects, opportunities, purchasing power, safety, stability, etc. Clearly, the political class has decided that the traditional markers of the economic health of a nation are no longer relevant; that now the notion of ‘social justice’ must be factored in and even take priority over any other consideration. At the same time, every indicator reflecting the relative health of economic activity has been trending downwards.

In our own country, the Obama administration has been promoting policies that have accelerated this downward trend. The popularity of gold is a reflection of the uncertainty and outright fear that the markets are about to collapse. Our administration has done nothing to alleviate such fears. In fact, every policy already enacted as well as proposed seems specifically designed to drive markets down even further. We can no longer interpret this as coincidence, mistake or stupidity. Along with everything else that’s been happening – socially, politically and internationally – it would be foolish to assume that we are not facing a profound change from the way in which we have been conducting our everyday lives.

Gold is seen as the final hedge should everything else collapse around us. It is a fantasy. After everything else has gone up in smoke, a retreat to gold cannot save us. Look at it in practical terms. Imagine lugging a gold bar to the ruin of a store with empty shelves in search of a loaf of bread. People are actually assuming that gold will be capable of performing alchemy in reverse and produce bread.

The futility of hoarding gold was aptly demonstrated during previous wars. When the invading armies were said to be approaching the town, the people packed up their valuables (including their gold candelabras) into wagons and set out to escape certain death, rape and plunder. Along the way they could see all the things once deemed valuable (including gold) strewn by the roadside as so much refuse. They did not even slow their pace. Instead, in a desperate effort to lighten their own load, they dumped their valuables as well. The lucky ones arrived at a safe haven with barely the threads on their backs.

Their ultimate goal was to reach America which promised nothing more than a new start. With America in ashes, there will no longer be anywhere to run to. Gold or no gold, when hope is extinguished humanity has failed.

Obama Has Already Failed

There is no story here. The White Houses itself is in total sync – as is the opposition (the American people). Bottom line: Obama and his crew of clones have been unable to sell the agenda to the American public. They will continue to blame this one and that one – most notably anyone (excepting Obama) charged with getting the message out. They have yet to realize that the message itself is poison; that it’s not a matter of presentation or spin. It’s not even a matter of too little arm-twisting, knee-capping, pay-offs; insufficient bribes, hollow threats and the like. ‘Obama care’, along with a whole host of Obama proposals, is dead in the water because Americans simply do not want them. Period; end of story.

Americans have already decided they will only go so far. They will spend less and save more. They will buckle their seatbelts. They will demand that their children wear helmets when out riding bikes. They will try to stop smoking. They will make an effort to eat healthy. They will be less quick to judge others. They will clean up after their dogs. Etc. But they will not to consent to allow government – any government – to use them as patsies; to steal their freedoms, their inalienable rights, their liberties, their future – all, in the name of some hackneyed notion of ‘social justice’.

As far as the American people are concerned, Obama has already failed. They are resigned to wait this one out till the next act when they will make the make the change; without malice and in orderly fashion as set forth by Constitution. Until then, they will pay close attention to which of their representatives does what and how. They will know whom to vote for; who will represent their best interests. They will organize. And when the time comes they will choose decisively. They will never again fall for media hype; for good-looking, affirmative action types, for empty suits. This time they will look for such time-tested qualities as character, honesty and resume. Until then, they will sit on their hands and do what they can to bleed this administration of its ability to boast of accomplishment.

The underlying fear that Barack Hussein Obama’s vision for America engenders is that Americans will be subjected to a (albeit, benign) tyranny. They do not doubt that the tyranny that Obama’s clones envision is heartfelt; that their motive is the same as that of the Christian Crusaders (1200-1300 AD): to spread the saving grace of Christ throughout the heathen world. Obama and his minions too think that Communism will save America, the human race and ultimately the planet. They cannot understand why we would resist it.

We resist because it is un-American. And we are Americans, after all. We can think for ourselves. We know how to provide for our families. We can build and maintain a nation that towers head and shoulders above all others. We do not subscribe to a hell with only a single ring of ‘victims’. We do not need to be told how to spend every single moment of our lives. We do not need to be told what to think – even if it were someone’s notion of ‘our own good’.

A quote by C. S. Lewis comes to mind in this regard: "Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good… torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

The Devil is in the Details

There are two glaring misfires in the clip above: First, the notion of the Obama administration needing a straw man to take to the woodshed and say what is what. This administration is the straw man and the lesson of Massachusetts that professional Democrats must take home is that voters have spoken and will continue to speak. “No confidence!” they shouted loud and clear, even from the most blue of blue bastions. The game plan can no longer be amended or tweaked. Even retreat is no longer an option. The troops have mutinied. There’s nothing left for the generals to do but resign in disgrace, for they no longer have an army.

The second is the notion that the banks are primarily at fault for what happened (and will continue to be at fault). Everybody knows by now that banking is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country; that the banks essentially did what they were told by their government handlers (which was to by-pass normal banking procedures and give out loans to people who could not afford them; all, in the name of ‘social justice’). Banking is (as is every business in a free market) largely self-regulating; i.e. good business practices lead to just rewards, while bad business practices lead to failure. When an entity (such as the federal government or ACORN) steps in and subverts this organic process, the system fails. It then tries to compensate; but is hamstrung, unable to address the original problem - undue government intervention - and thereby sets itself up as the straw man for political party apologists (let’s face it, the entire ‘mortgage for free’ scheme was born and bred Democrat).

Stop any one on the street and ask them if they think there needs to be health care reform, they would tell you, ‘by all means’. Health care reform or no health care reform is not the issue. The devil is in the details. Do we use our mandate to do something about the too high cost of heath care to force a Marxist agenda, or do we just reform health care?

The same question could be asked with regard to banking. The people have spoken and they will continue to speak. They are saying that they would prefer this administration do nothing until adults can take over.

Gavage

Watching the clip of the president above, you would think what he says is perfectly reasonable. Who would not want the government to provide better health care to more of our people, cheaper than it is now, and with the added bonus of reducing the national expenditure? It almost sounds too good to be true – and it is. The president is lying.

The bill currently before congress will do none of these things. In fact, if enacted, it will do just the opposite. The people know this. They are against it two to one. They know that this administration and this congress are doing them no favors. Come next election, they will remember how this (as of yet still unread) bill was literally shoved down their unwilling throats, greased with old-fashioned Chicago-style bribes, threats, hubris and sheer bloody-mindedness.

The way this health care bill was passed (and, make no mistake, it will be passed. The Dems got their 60 votes for cloture. For final passage they only need 51, along with the president’s signature) was a legislative outrage. It speaks to a larger pattern which is made perhaps even more obvious in the second part of John’s post (above) regarding the climate conference in Copenhagen. The fact that our president went there in an effort to legitimize an obvious farce, and give away money (we don’t have) in the name of ‘social (eco) justice’ – a concept that, if voted on by Americans, would produce no takers – simply begs for an alternative explanation to his publicly stated reasons.

I have often said that I don’t believe that Barack Hussein Obama is stupid. He does not do what he does out of inexperience; that everything he does is part of a plan. By his own words we know he wants to re-do America. That means he wants America to be different from what it has been. It has been pointed out that an overwhelming number of his closest aides, appointments, associations and influences harbor views that are rooted in Marxism. By his actions thus far he has been proven to be no fan of capitalism. On the geo-political spectrum, Obama is most closely aligned with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Brazil’s Lula, both unabashed card-carrying communists.

It is therefore no stretch to assume that BHO intends to impose communism on the United States. In practice, there are two features common to the creation and maintenance of the communist state. One is revolution; the other is strict party discipline, enforced by a dictator (for life). By breaking the bank and destroying the U.S. dollar through reckless spending and accruing unfathomable debt, Obama will have his revolution. By perverting the U.S. Constitution and rendering the whole notion of representative government obsolete, he installs himself as the unopposed leader of his party, the terms of which only he defines.

The Obama-nation will not cease in 2010 or even in 2012. In fact it looks like Obama will win a second term because the opposition vote will be split between Republicans and (independent) Conservatives. By 2016, the opposition will have been silenced altogether. Political struggles will not cease, however. These, as now will simply play out between the Left and the radical Left. The significance of this is that, as now, the American people will no longer have a say.

The New World Order

If you believe that in the 'new world order' economic recoveries can proceed without jobs; that immortality can be guaranteed by just agreeing to pay an additional tax; that wars can be fought without weapons; that peace can be bought and sold for forty pieces of silver; that competent leadership can be arranged for via Madison Avenue, then I have a bridge I'd like to sell you cheap.

If we on this blog - and anyone else having given these matters an iota of thought - can agree on the folly of what appears to be our president's vision for the future, how long would you think it will take for the Saudis, the Pakistanis, the Taliban, the Pashtuns, the Palestinians (and everyone else with their hands out) to figure out that the dollars we we throw around like confetti aren't worth a plug nickel.

The work that the citizens of a nation do is what gives value to the currency it prints. Devalue work; marginalize achievement; disparage the engine that provides the opportunity for people to reach their full potential, and you're left with nothing of value to trade.

So far, American style capitalism has been able to create enough excess value (but 'value' nonetheless) for us to jump in and contain some of the the wrongs contrived by lazy and ruthless tyrants who want nothing more than to spill their putrid poisons across international borders. We've been able to give a boost to the hapless who by accident of birth have found themselves stranded on barren lands, surrounded by hostile tribes. Often times we've been condemned for doing what we felt was right. Even so, we've jumped in without hesitation in the aftermath of natural disasters, trying to save lives (friend or foe, it never mattered) - not with talk, but with the sweat of our hard-earned dollars.

But none of this was good enough. Now - when it rains too much; when it gets too cold; too warm; when the ground shakes - we have everybody pointing their fingers at us. The demand is that we set ourselves on fire for them; to give up everything we've built and hold dear in the name of ‘Social Justice’. ...and it's come to the point where we feel compelled to oblige.

How long before there's another devastating earthquake in Indonesia; a flood in Bangladesh; a tsunami in Thailand; a wildfire in Greece; a genocide in Uganda - and nobody shows up to help?

Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together...

Satyajit Ray’s ‘Apu Trilogy’, completed between 1955 and 1959, chronicles the life journey of a young boy, born to a poor Brahman family in rural India. Apu is bright and his teachers are compelled to take notice. They give him special consideration and instruction. Eventually, the boy lands in Calcutta at the University where many of his new-found friends dream of continuing their studies in Great Britain. From there, they all hope to go to America. It is a fair assessment (pre-Al-Qaeda) of the dreams young people harbor in many disparate parts of the world.

The movies, shot in black and white, are recognized for their expert portrayal of the universal themes Ray sets out to convey. These are movies that, once one has seen them, stay in one’s mind and become a part of one’s world view. Apu’s motivation to leave everything behind and reach the promise land of milk and honey, where the streets are paved with gold, is metaphorically unmistakable.

I have often thought of those – including myself – who’ve had the now questionable good fortune to grow up here - in the New York Metropolitan area, no less – in what has been traditionally perceived by many as the center of the universe. Where do we go to seek our fortune, to sacrifice our straight-jacketed heritage for the opportunity to do great and impossible things? Where are we to park our dreams when, by all accounts, we’ve already arrived by mere accident of birth?

Is it then our lot to turn against the systems that our forbearers have sweated bullets to put in place? Are we to trash it all and turn back the clock to raw feudalism? Is this the ‘change’ that will sustain our illusion of having done something worthwhile with our lives? Apparently so.

Why else would we (or anyone) now look to Marxism for answers? China mirrors us. It is the opposite of what we once were (not too long ago). Both systems are now under attack - the natives rattling their cages, wanting desperately to change places. They want liberty; we want bondage. Why else would we be so eager to trash the best of the best that’s ever been for the mere promise of a government check; empty store shelves; limited opportunities for employment and free self-expression.

Around the world, governments have outgrown their britches. The people’s vision of globalism has outpaced that of the ruling classes. Whereas the Zeitgeist dictates that globalism should be in our future, the concept as envisioned differs according to who articulates it.

In America, it is not the poor that clamor for social justice; it is not the poor who plot to incite revolution. It’s the rich, those at the top of the heap, who are plagued by guilt and ennui. It is our best educated (or those who’ve invested the most on their ‘education’) who have allowed themselves to be dazzled by elegant but meaningless social equations, and are now scheming quietly to turn this country (and all others like it) into a system of colorless gulags where existence is reduced to simple-minded brutality and heavy breathing.

How difficult to break the chains once we’re there! But at least it’s a challenge; one, that is a hell of a lot more daunting than it was tearing it all down.