Mar 14 2009

The Political Fringes Are Disintegrating Into Madness & Chaos

Published by at 11:10 am under All General Discussions

Updates Below

I have been remiss in posting for a few days, mostly due to work overload. And if it is not work there are tons of remodeling/rebuilding/maintenance projects backed up at the home ranch I need to tackle.

But another series of events has kept my mind and spirit from posting – and that is because the political theatre that is typically a combination of frustration/comedy/success has turned into an unnerving horror show. It’s as if the human race is slowly going insane – which means the future cannot be bright.

Humans can do great things when they join forces and work together to build something positive. And they can do horrific things when the join forces to destroy. We seem to be heading for the latter again.

Right now the liberals in DC are running amok (with a 3rd grade comprehension of the world around them) trying to solve problems that would challenge the smartest, most experienced people on the planet. Clearly not being the smartest or most experienced in any field of value (e.g., medicine, engineering, teaching, the military, etc) the DC liberals attack problems with sound-bite solutions, and wonder why things are not as simple as they claimed. Normally this is great fun to watch. Now with over 50% of the country’s wealth and savings obliterated, it is not so funny. The Dow rises from 6800 to 7200 and now people claim it was not as bad as it seemed – when these same people were running around in the Chicken Little garb yelling “crisis, crisis, crisis”. We will not regain this lost wealth before Obama’s next election. And given the fact unemployment is a seriously lagging indicator of the economy, the job market will not be better before the next Congressional elections start up.

This is ‘change’? And please don’t claim the stimulus bill or omnibus bill had anything to do with any change last week in the markets – they haven’t even been enacted yet. These programs are not like a light switch where you sign the bill and money comes pouring out like a slot machine win. Those programs will not kick in for months or a year. At best, the cries of ‘crisis’ were lies. At worst – we are just starting a long recovery.

Democrats are well aware they are in serious trouble. Case 1:

We have gone through months of chaos experimenting with ways to introduce stability in our financial system. The goals were to allow the financial institutions to do their jobs and to develop confidence in them. I believe by now, the people are eager for the administration to rein in chaos. But this is not happening.

Until the administration does this, we should not embark on attempting to fix another major part of the economy. Our health-care system may well be ripe for a major overhaul, as are our energy and environmental policies. Widespread recognition that all of these reforms are overdue contributed to Barack Obama’s victory in November. But if the chaos that resulted from initiating such an overhaul were piled on top of the unresolved status of the financial system, society and government would become exhausted. Instead, the administration must adopt a discipline; not initiating a second wave of chaos before we have a chance to rein in the first.

Well, now we know why the Chicken Littles are cooing about how things may not be as bad as once thought. It means they can throw more monkey wrenches into our society and destroy more of it. Bottom line – people have had enough ‘change’. Any more massive and disruptive change and there will be a backlash.

Higher taxes + higher energy prices + higher food prices + fewer jobs + lower paying jobs + slow economic growth = Obama’s brave new world. Strip away all the rhetorical promises about fighting mythical global  warming, fixing the best medical system in the world, creating equality between rich and poor, punishing the rich and just getting along with everyone on Earth and you find the price tags for these myths. None of which will come true. In the end people will still be struggling, the poor will still be paying for a life time of wrong personal choices, the rich will be rich (and richer with all the government largesse they will be wallowing in). It will be like this for a long time.

Case 2:

Some Democrats have started to worry that voters don’t and won’t understand the link between economic revival and Obama’s huge agenda, which includes saving the banking industry, ending home foreclosures, reforming healthcare and developing a national energy policy, among much else.
 

While lawmakers debate controversial proposals contained in the new president’s debut budget — cutting farm subsidies, raising taxes on charitable contributions, etc. — there is a growing sense that time is running out faster than expected.

Democrats from states racked by recession say Obama needs to produce an uptick by August or face unpleasant consequences. Others say that there is more time, but that voters need to see improvement by the middle of next year.

The most optimistic say Obama and Democrats in Congress will face a political backlash unless the economy improves by Election Day 2010.

“We’ve got to see an uptick by August or the Democratic majority is in jeopardy,” said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), whose state had an 11.6 percent unemployment rate in January.

It ain’t coming by August. It ain’t coming by next August if the expectation is that the patient (America) will be close to being healed. Obama promised to help people pay their mortgages and give them money from the rich. An “uptick” is as vague as it dangerous. Will the Dow be back to 2007 levels? Will home values have rebounded to 2007 levels? Will unemployment be back to 2007 levels? 

No – of course not. But that was what was IMPLIED. How about 1999 levels when we thought we were in this massive dot.com boom? by pushing tax levels from 1999-2000 (before President Bush pulled them back down to earth) Dems are implying we will be able to get back to the 1999-2000 economy. Won’t happen. Here is where being vague is hurting the Democrats. Everyone will have a personal measure of ‘better’ – and none of them will be budging for months.

Case 3:

Democratic House members say they have less time to wait for signs of economic recovery than President Barack Obama , a conflict of timing that lawmakers say has become increasingly evident in their dealings with the White House.

They have been hearing from constituents about the gap between the pain they feel from the recession and the lack of improvement they see from the federal government’s enactment of trillions of dollars in spending to bolster entities ranging from banks to schools.

“Constituents are saying, Why aren’t I seeing any relief now,” said Rep. Jason Altmire , D-Pa.

Wait until after April 15th – that dates always brings joy about government. Wait until summer vacations are cancelled and the tourism industry gets hit. Wait until spring ends, summer goes by and people are facing the new school year in economic stress. Wait until Thanksgiving hits and people look back at a year of impotence, and wait until there is a shoe-string Christmas. America never bought into the liberal mantra that Iraq was doomed to fail. They are not going to fall for the liberal mantra on just about everything facing the country. They will KNOW this economic reality.

Obama’s poll numbers are falling. They too are going to be a lagging indicator, along with the unemployment numbers. In times of recession a Dow Jones jump means nothing, everyone is focused on employment and solvency and keeping their home, not on ‘investing’ – that is a luxury activity.

So much for beating up on the inept left. What has me really disgusted is the out of control far right. It started with a comment on this site which I will not tolerate – a treasonous call for revolution and a dictatorship – in the name of our Constitution no less:

Boy,

I would rather see a milita coup with the assistance of the army

And a return to our founding fathers visions is not possible.

We need either an beneovolent dictator and or emperor.

Sounds extreme but we have blown the republic .

Hoping this was just some weak moment or isolated anomaly, I went to check the news sites. Sadly I find it was not an isolated act of treason. I found this:

From the East Coast to the “Left Coast,” America seems to be moving farther and farther from its Founders’ vision and government.

George Washington advised, “The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.” Yet the Obama administration just pledged $900 million in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid to Hamas-controlled Gaza and Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority.

Note: every President has offered financial incentives to the PLO/PLA to try and lead them to sanity.

Thomas Jefferson counseled us, “We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” Yet the feds have skyrocketed our national debt by trillions of dollars, and they plan much more fiscal expansion, with few expectations of resistance. 

Valid observations – but it is the solution that is the problem. Most of history’s most brutal periods were created by insane solutions conveniently derived from reasonable observations.

How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen, or will history need to record a second American Revolution? We the people have the authority, according to America’s Declaration of Independence ..

OK, stop right there. We are not even 3 months into Obama’s term and there are whack jobs (famous ones at that) crying for revolution? Who died and crowned them King of America?

Look, I have no problem with Glenn Beck’s 9 principles (somehow connected to this call for revolution). I think they are excellent:

1. America is good.
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Number 2 is not for me or America – this is not the Taliban or Shiia. Choice of religion is a personal choice. What the list is simply missing is one item: this COUNTRY is sacred. It’s people can be imperfect at times (treatment of native indians, slavery, prohibition, segregation, etc), but it has done more for humanity than any other governing entity to ever grace this planet. From unfolding the mysteries of life with the discovery of DNA and all its offshoots, to its discoveries of the universe and where reality began (The Hubble Space Telescope), to its development of the internet which has bound the people of this planet into one humanoty like never before, this country has been been amazing. It has freed hundreds of millions of people, by shedding its own blood. But it never stayed on as conquerers – not once. Thus, the form of government is what makes Americans adjust their cultural, religious, ethnic and nationalistic heritage and pledge allegiance to something greater.

Right now we have a serious problem with leadership. We are mired down with either incompetents or the corrupt. We had a selfless and tireless leader – his name was President George W Bush. His efforts were rewarded by derision and scorn by lesser wannabes. We traded an openly honest and dedicated man, who did what he promised he would do, for charlatans and flim-flam artists.

We made a mistake, and I don’t think we can say it was in electing Barack Obama. The man has, at times, shown some very centrist and common sense approaches. He has declined to dismantle the NSA-FISA protections we established after 9-11. He has not only attenuated his position on the Iraq withdrawal time table and conditions, he is looking to see if we can replicate the Iraq success in Afghanistan (and yes, there may be Taliban who might create a more tolerant version of that obsessed religious sect – don’t forget many right wingers didn’t believe the Saddam Sunnis would turn either).

Obama’s potential was probably better mated with a GOP Congress than the mad liberal-Democrat one he has now. Not unlike Clinton, who only succeeded once the Democrat Congress was removed and he could adjust to a more centrist path, Obama’s full potential might be hostage to the liberal DC power brokers in Congress. 

Am I sure? Hell no.  But all indications point to Obama being rolled by the DC liberal Dems in Congress. Where are his pledges on ear marks? They disappeared in the gluttonous bowls of Congress. Where is his balanced budget – lost in the same black hole. Is Obama more liberal than I prefer – yes. But is he the problem or just the fall guy? Bush was blamed for all the out of control spending of the GOP Congress. He had two wars to fight and a nation to protect. He agreed to leave domestic issues to the Congressional GOP and they raided the bank (anyone remember ‘war hero’ Randy “Duke” Cunningham?). This was not Bush’s fault, any more than the current GOP pork spending under Obama is Bush’s fault.

But none of this is a reason to destroy this country through armed revolution. The following is the real danger behind these calls to over throw the government.

These are the kinds of people who, like Hitler, can take advantage of a revolutionary fever. They let the well intentioned take it to a point, and then their true brutality comes out as they cleanse the scene of any opposition. This is how the world took the naive fantasy of Marxism and ended up with millions of corpses with Joseph Stalin astride the top of the pile.

Note that Emperor-in-waiting Gary (with his muscle side kick) did not say “God protect America” – he said protect “the Republic”. I keep hoping this is some comedic spoof on Star Wars and “the Republic”. I fear it is the real thing.

This site will not tolerate anyone promoting a coup d’etat (no matter how they try and change the definition of the term). I will not tolerate a call for people to violate their oaths to this country. I will not tolerate attempts to turn our military against our lawfully elected civilian leaders. I will not stand by and watch a bunch of wannabe dictators use our frustration and anger with the inept left to try and destroy this great country.

Get a grip folks. NOTHING Obama and the Democrats have done cannot be undone in two years. If you believe in Obama, that there may be some magic, some good inside – then get him out from the shackles of the liberal democrats. If you are tired of the fools in DC – elect new members (we have been doing this in VA). Before we destroy this wondrous gift of a country, we must redouble our efforts to make it work as it has in the past.

And, to be honest, that means dumping the fringes and having the middle of the country stand up and do the heavy lifting.  Ignore the fringes. If they want to go off into their little cults of purity, hiding away from the progression of time, from the modern world, from the next generation then fine, let them. Just don’t elect them anymore!

And that includes ignoring those fools following ridiculous conspiracy theories. The hyper-partisanship is the source of our problems. Time to purge the cancer.

Addendum: One last question for the so called patriots on the right ready to destroy this country. How could anyone, in good conscience, even hint at dismantling this great nation a few short years after we asked hundreds of thousands of our best, brightest and bravest to go to Iraq and Afghanistan – where thousands died and tens of thousands suffered life altering injuries. Is this our answer to their sacrifices? Words fail to express how much this disgusts me.

Update: Politico notes the current rosy scenario being peddled by team Obama runs this risk of creating a huge backlash – which is what I tried to say above. And Michael Barone notes the same warning flares being shot at team Obama from his allies as I did above. H/T RCP

15 responses so far

15 Responses to “The Political Fringes Are Disintegrating Into Madness & Chaos”

  1. WWS says:

    I agree with most of your statements, but there are a few I take exception to – First, ” At worst – we are just starting a long recovery.”

    No, at worst, the real drop in living standards hasn’t even started yet. “Recovery” of any kind may be years away.

    “NOTHING Obama and the Democrats have done cannot be undone in two years.”

    Destroying this countries wealth and creating debts that we will either have to default on or inflate our way out of (they are simply too high to recover through taxation at any level) are things that will not be undone for decades, no matter what policies are followed or laws passed in the future. And if bankruptcy “cramdowns” are passed, the future mortgage market will be ruined for decades to come.

    Scrambled eggs can’t be unscrambled.

    “Sacred” – this may seem like a nitpick on a particular word, but it is important to people who have serious religious beliefs. I love this country, but I do not believe it is “sacred”. It is, in fact, offensive to my religious beliefs to claim that anything made solely by man should be considered “sacred”. Note on Beck’s point 4 – believers consider God to be the source of the institution of Family, which is why the use of the word “sacred” is justified in our eyes. God must be the source of authority and sanctification for anything to be considered sacred. Someone who honestly believes that this country was ordained and is protected by God may make the claim that this country is “sacred”, but I don’t think you do. It is not a word that should be used loosely. To claim the word means something less than that would require an Orwellian re-definition of the word to mean “something I really, really, like.” That should not be done. (There is a very weak definition 4, “worthy of respect” – that’s how words with great significance and meaning are stripped of their meanings by the mainstream culture. If all the word means is “worthy of respect”, then it means nothing at all.)

    In my view, and I think in the view of the vast majority of our Founding Fathers, this Country, this Constitution, is a contract between those who would rule and those who submit to be ruled – and when that contract is violated and no longer meets the needs of those whom it was designed to serve, it will end and be replaced by something that does meet those needs. Hopefully that will not happen for a very long time, but it will happen someday – the things of man are not eternal. I recall that Rome proclaimed itself to be “eternal” and look how that worked out for them.

    This country is a living thing, it had a beginning, and someday it will have an end. I hope that end is far, far after the end of my own earthly life, but it will come, because this is not a creation of God, but a creation of man. Just as man is mortal, so are all his creations, and like him they embody his weaknesses along with his genius.

  2. kathie says:

    Well said AJ.

    Chaos always brings out the crazies, and our Country is feeling very chaotic as the world wide financial meltdown is touching everybody’s life, safety, security and plans for the future. Adding to financial insecurity, Obama is adding on more federal spending in the form of socialized medicine, cap and trade, and education that have nothing to do with the crisis though he pretends that they do or will help get us out of this meltdown. He says that the Clinton years were great and we grew all social levels with higher taxes on the rich, corporations and investments. The problem with his thinking is that 911 hadn’t happened. Because of 911 we grew the Federal Government to protect ourselves from another hit (hence Bush’s bigger budgets). Think, Homeland Security, port protection, airline protection, the military and more. Clinton was able to give more to the middle class primarily by cutting the military, and cutting government spending. So the Bush years were expensive but protection is expensive. On top of those expenses Obama wants more expenses for the Federal government to take on and he says that the outcome will be the growth and fun of the Clinton years. It is a big lie. The Clinton years died with 911. To grow out of this recession Obama can’t denigrate and punish those who create wealth, and hope that they will not respond in the negative. The stock market is more then a poll, it is a barometer of how confident people feel about the future. Perhaps the Federal Government can’t grow bigger with out more tax payers. Taxing the rich and cutting the military can only create so much capital before it has diminishing returns. Look at Europe. Once, many great nations, but no longer.

    I find the way that the Republicans are acting, eating their own very disturbing. As someone suggested maybe it is a way of separating the men from the boys and leaders will emerge. Maybe, but it is nasty and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

    I find the way the White House is behaving reprehensible. THE GOVERNMENT, THE PRESIDENT, SHOULD NOT COMMENT ON INDIVIDUAL, PRIVATE, CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY. We do not live in the Soviet Union. We have the freedom of speech, whether it comes via the radio, the television or on the street. When the President comments through surrogates about speech, think also “Joe the plumber” he diminishes our rights and tries to silence the individual. Robert Gibbs commented on Friday how he enjoyed the dust up of Cramer the other night. What is the White House thinking?

    Why is Obama scary? When he talks it feels as if he is stretching his hand right into my living room and telling me, “I” am in charge and “I” am going to rearrange your life in a way that fits my idea of how you are going to live it. The collective is more important then the individual, you and your views, your life is subjected to “my” whole. So who has the power? Do I have power to benefit the whole in my own way, or does the collective have the power to squash me the individual? Personally I think Obama has a defect in his upbringing. The “Prince” of a chaotic family life has left him bereft in understanding the balance of the individual in relationship to the whole. It is true he has a kinship with poor countries, and disenfranchised people (think the teachings of Wright, and the others). But he is now the leader of a great and proud Nation, but his heart and soul are so wounded, his exterior so arrogant, that he does not think of us (America) in those terms. It is one thing to feel whole and rich within and have empathy for those not so fortunate, or to have little inner richness of heart and fake pride in a prosperous and great Nation. So why is Obama scary? Because he springs from a well empty of love, pride, and greatness that this country is and that we as a people are.

    It is interesting that Bush inherited a recession, not the magnitude of this one, to be sure. Then we got hit by 911. The physical destruction in lives and property reminded people of Pearl Harbor. On top of that pain we lost trillions of dollars of our nations wealth in minutes. For sure I was scared, but the Nation never felt out of control like it does today. We as individuals rose up in our own way to help make whole a wounded Country. President Bush lead with a sure hand, a calm voice and depended on the greatness of each of us to do our best.

  3. crosspatch says:

    The markets were up because Citi and BofA announced they were profitable for the first two months and expected to be profitable for the year. This showed that maybe things weren’t in a bottomless spiral. Two major banks said they had touched bottom. I wouldn’t say any “recovery” has begun, just that now we know how deep the water is.

    But things have changed. In the major housing bubble areas we are not likely to ever see the housing values of 2005/2006 again in our lifetimes. All that home equity loan spending that was pouring into the economy is gone. But what is amazing about this period is how many people HAVEN’T lost their jobs. We still haven’t reached 10% unemployment like we had in the 1980’s and yet we have had probably the worse destruction of wealth since the Great Depression.

    If I walk into a bank and rob it for $1000, the FBI will hunt me down and I will go to prison. We have politicians who essentially allowed people to rob the banks of billions and nothing happens.

    The big thing now is “quick defaults” where someone gets a FHA guaranteed mortgage and never makes a single payment on it. The lender gets their cut and the government guarantees the loan so they don’t lose any money when the borrower defaults. So you have lenders still today (quick defaults in FHA loans are still rising quickly).

    One thing I would support is that government guarantees don’t kick in until after the first year of a mortgage and Fannie and Freddie can’t buy a mortgage less than one year old. If a lender defaults in the first year, the original lender is on the hook for the entire amount. THAT will return responsibility to lending. The way it is done now is the lender gets the person into the mortgage and it is immediately sold to Fannie or Freddie or it is a loan guaranteed by the FHA. Lenders should be ‘on the hook’ for the first year.

  4. crosspatch says:

    After I posted the above comment we went down to the local cafe for a bit of brunch. There was an article in the paper there from Reuters that says banks are returning TARP cash as fast as they can. It seems that part of the Obama “stimulus” bill changes the conditions of the TARP cash. So they banks signed on under one set of rules during the Bush administration, and then the Obama administration changes the rules after they decided to take it.

    That is the FUNDAMENTAL problem with any government program and it extends to things like retirement accounts and anything with government rules … they can always change those rules on you down stream once they have you “hooked” into the program.

    Banks are now working as fast as they can to get the TARP money back. Congress wants to use the TARP money as a lever to use to regulate the internal corporate decisions of the banks. Not only that, but some in government are saying they CANT just return the money, they have to abide by the terms and allow congress to make their corporate decisions.

    I can’t find the exact article as there are several on the subject if you google “repay tarp”.

    Northern Trust and U.S. Bancorp are among hundreds of companies that took money from TARP, which is administered by the U.S. Treasury Department.

    Northern Trust has said it plans to repay $1.6 billion as fast it can, while U.S. Bancorp said it plans to do so as soon as possible. The latter cut its common stock dividend 88 percent on Wednesday to help save $2.6 billion annually.

    “We have not filed a notice of redemption with the Treasury Department,” U.S. Bancorp spokesman Steve Dale said.

    “We reduced our dividend to help accelerate our company’s ability to repay the $6.6 billion of TARP capital, which we intend to do as soon as possible with the consultation and approval of our regulators,” he said.

    A growing number of U.S. banks are finding that participating in the bailout program designed to spur lending is more trouble than it is worth.

    Three smaller lenders, TCF Financial Corp (TCB.N), Iberiabank Corp (IBKC.O) and Sussex Bancorp (SBBX.O), have in the last week decided to give back TARP money.

    Banks have complained about new rules being imposed on them under the new economic stimulus law.

    One new rule can limit pay for a bank’s 20 top executives, which banks say would make it harder for them to hire and retain top talent.

    Another has sowed confusion about whether TARP lenders must hold new capital for three years, or can repay it early.

  5. kathie says:

    Punish those evil banks. I say punish those who are crooks, clearly banks are not bad though you would never know it from Obama’s speech. I am getting very tired of his punishment mentality. I now know why he doesn’t speak off the cuff. By nature he is vindictive, sarcastic, and condescending. No wonder he always speaks from prepared text. The measure of the man is wanting.

    Today in a presser, he derided a reporter for asking if we were pushing the Germans and French beyond their financial confront zone. He suggested the reporter should get his facts straight before implying what his administration was doing.

    And as a parting remark he said that he would like a trip down the Amazon, and that Republicans might like him to get lost for a while. That was just 10 minutes off the cuff. This President is Kindergarten big time. Cheney might phrase it another way!

  6. momdear1 says:

    It is my understanding that we are within one state of voting for a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the entire Constitution. Rather than worry about what this Congress or this Presient can and can’t do, maybe we should be focusing out attention on the misguided souls who think a rewritten Constitution will be the same or better than the origional. When you take into consideration that over half the state govenors and legislatures are now Dem. controlled, only a fool would believe it. If we want govt. like in Europe, Cuba the old Soviet Union or some of our illustive African “kingdoms” all we need to do is let these crack pots have a go at rewriting our Constitution. If you think this Congress knows how to dish out the pork, just wait til their surrogates finish with their new constitution. Reparations anyone? What’s your grievance? You are intitled to compensation. Guaranteed right to abortion? Guarenteed food, housing, med. care, a color TV, a new car every 5 years,you name it, they will guarantee you are entitled to it. How about a two foot thick document written in language that can be interpreted to mean whatever the judge of the moment says it means? Our biggest problem is not the jokers who are in power and looting the treasury at the moment. They can be voted out. Our biggest fear should be of those misguided souls who think they can do a better job of guaranteeing our freedom and rights than our founding fathers did.

  7. I R A Darth Aggie says:

    anyone remember ‘war hero’ Randy “Duke” Cunningham?

    You shouldn’t put war hero in scare quotes. To wit:

    He was one of the most highly decorated United States Navy pilots in the Vietnam War, receiving the Navy Cross once, the Silver Star twice, the Air Medal 15 times, and the Purple Heart for wounds he received under enemy fire.

    Source: Wikipedia

    It is unfortunate and disappointing that later in life he chose to enrich himself at the expense of his country. But that doesn’t revoke his war record.

  8. kathie says:

    The truth be known Darth…..95% of those who have served in Congress have enriched themselves is my bet.

  9. crosspatch says:

    Actually, Kathie, I believe it was Jefferson who said we shouldn’t pay members of Congress a salary as they should be able to do pretty well on graft alone.

  10. Terrye says:

    momdear:

    I doubt very much if we will rewrite the constitution. I have never heard one politician from either party suggest that we do anything of the kind.

  11. Terrye says:

    AJ:

    That was a good post. I think any talk of revolution is just ridiculous.

    I listened to people on the left rave about Bush for 8 years and I promised myself that when someone like Obama won I would not act like such a moron.

  12. Terrye says:

    I drive a lot for my job and so I bought the audio book of Atlas Shrugged. 63 hours and 50 CDs. That is a lot of Ayn Rand.

    I have heard a lot about the book lately. I started it a couple of days ago and it really is amazing how many similarities there are between the book and things that are happening today.

  13. penguin2 says:

    AJ, thank you for your postings today. Your commentary on the “two fringes…madness and chaos” is thoughtful and insightful. I’d like to think that those advocating “revolution” are speaking out of their feelings of helplessness and frustration. When people feel powerless, they look for some means of regaining control of their lives. In this country, we have always had a sense of control of our own destiny; the unfolding of the Obama administration has created a state of fear that we are not free as individuals anymore.

    The leftist agenda and movement is away from the individual to the collective state. To those of us who have lived our lives in a conscientious, motivated manner, it is hard to see it destroyed. I won’t get into the theology discussion about the “sacred,” but I will say that our love of country is rooted in our love of God, and I can see no disconnect.

  14. Redteam says:

    I’m certainly not for the destruction of the country and would never advocate such a thing and I’m conservative.

    Where did the notion that the nuts calling for the destruction, coup, whatever are ‘far right’ come from? I read that comment that you linked to and he didn’t say anything about right or left. I don’t know about that persons previous statements which may clearly show his leanings.

    Anyhow, I support your position about nuts advocating violence. I think the ballot box is the correct way to remove people you don’t agree with. That’s the American way.

  15. […] Back in March I could see the writing on the wall as the liberals attempted to push one failed liberal fantasy after another. After the so called stimulus bill was passed, I knew the sluggish federal government would prove to be the undoing of all the wild liberal promises. Here was my assessment then: Higher taxes + higher energy prices + higher food prices + fewer jobs + lower paying jobs + slow economic growth = Obama’s brave new world. Strip away all the rhetorical promises about fighting mythical global  warming, fixing the best medical system in the world, creating equality between rich and poor, punishing the rich and just getting along with everyone on Earth and you find the price tags for these myths. None of which will come true. In the end people will still be struggling, the poor will still be paying for a life time of wrong personal choices, the rich will be rich (and richer with all the government largesse they will be wallowing in). It will be like this for a long time. […]