Obama Presidency Watch/post election & first 100 days

So president Obama did some pretty pointed things on his first full day such as limiting top white house officials pay and strict guidelines limiting lobbying from former members of his staff... not to mention his tribunal review and ordering the closing of the gitmo prison...

...so what does everyone think of his first moves?

reply to post by grover


Well I still maintain that closing Guantanamo Bay is not a good idea . You can bet your boots that the same people who want the facility closed wont want any of the detainees or a new facility anywhere near there own backyards . A lot of innocent people could die if one those nut jobs escapes from detention on the US main land . Time will show up any loop holes in Obama other measures so I am willing to give them a fair crack .

Same s**t different president.
Second line.

So far so good on the points that I have been stressing for so long, Accountability, transparency and a stop to the pimps walking the halls of Washington luring the whores in congress to do their biding.

So far so good.

Another great news that will have the fundamentalist Christians flagging their chest for years to come, Obama is starting the embryonic cell stem research that Bush stop

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!

I gotta say I agree with Marge. So far, so good.

There are a few things I disagree with and a few things I think he could have done better, but overall, I'm very pleased.

When he announced the lobbyist guidelines, I wish he had mentioned the "exceptions" clause, as he turned right around and used it. It made him look like he was breaking his own rules.

I don't know if you have seen this page:
The Obameter - Promises Kept

In the bottom right of that page, there are links to "Browse the Obameter" to see his broken promises, stalled promises and things in the works. Bookmark this page! I expect various results, but an overall view will be great.

I LOVE the fact that he's being honest and transparent and interactive with the people. And he gets testy when people bug him. I'd MUCH rather see that than have him try to be Mr. Congeniality all the time.

That's all for now.

I personally am glad they are closing gitmo. It has been a canker sore for too long. Give them a fair trial and punish them according to the accepted standards of the law if they are terrorists like most of the other industrialized countries do or let them go if they were scooped up by mistake and can prove it.

We cannot go around pronouncing high moral standards and accountablity if we don't make an effort to live up to them.

P.S. I told my physical therapist yesterday that I was surprised that PT was still open up at the VA hospital since Obama announced that we would not torture.

[edit on 24-1-2009 by grover]

reply to post by grover

I am glad they are closing Git-mo. It has been a canker sore for too long. Give them a fair trial and punish them according to the accepted standards of the law if they are terrorists like most of the other industrialized countries do or let them go if they were scooped up by mistake and can prove it. We cannot go around pronouncing high moral standards and accountability if we don't make an effort to live up to them.

Yes! Absolutely close this cheap shot at escaping US Federal Court jurisdiction by creating this $40 million (Halliburton) facility, flaunting the very Constitution both Bush43 and VP Cheney took a “hollow” oath to uphold! Wow! Illinois threw Blagojevitch out of office for LESS! War criminals all.

BUT I must fault you on this Mr G: “ . . let them go if they were scooped up by mistake and can prove it.” Now you know no one can “prove” a negative. And once upon a time America stood for the proposition of “innocent until proved guilty.” Prior to Bush43.

We created this mess all by ourselves. So instead of looking around the world for some good guys to undo our mistakes, I am all in favor of turning them loose in the good old U S of A and put them on a $400 a week tax free allowance for 12 months provided they go to some tech school and keep up good grades.

P.S. I told my physical therapist yesterday that I was surprised that PT was still open up at the VA hospital since Obama announced that we would not torture . .

I have had PT lately. I asked my examining physician for a ‘script for some pain killers. He said, “No, take an aspirin. I want to be able to know the therapy is working, not the medications!” No pain, no gain?

I do hope the VA finally gets adequate funding. Republicans will not do it despite shedding barrels of crocodile tears protesting how much they love and respect us veterans.

The DAV says it is about 50% underfunded. The ‘07-‘08 budget was $34 b. but the DAV said it ought to have been $54 b. Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld did not give a dam about the men and women killed and injured.

Just look at Walter Reed. Not until it was finally put on the front page of the W-Post did the Triple Threat to World Peace - Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld - take notice. GOD, what a crew. America must have really mucked it up to have had so much punishment put on us by the Supreme Court! No thanks, GOD.

[edit on 1/30/2009 by donwhite]

I hate seeing this thread flagging... there is some interesting and important stuff going on and we need to discuss it. Come on people.

reply to post by grover


I agree, like for example;

Why can't I find any more sources for this?

Its from a Dutch news site and about Obama decided to switch control of nuclear devices from department of energy to department of defence for less costs?

link

anyone with another source?

reply to post by grover


If you will forgive for speaking in a global context for a moment .

Well I don't see how spending money can lift any of the economy's around the world who are trying this trick including New Zealand . The aspects of the New Zealand stimulus package that I support are small businesses being able to put off paying provincial tax . As for spending money on new infrastructure projects well I am for a ban on new projects until our current lot of third world infrastructure.

reply to post by xpert11

If you will forgive for speaking in a global context for a moment .

Not al all, Mr X11. We sometimes get so enmeshed in our own problems we overlook the same problems effect others as well.

Well I don't see how spending money can lift any of the economy's around the world who are trying this trick including New Zealand .

Up here many of the more conservative types often remind that FDR did not END the Great Depression. They assert it was WW2 than ended the Great Depression. I am not much interested in arguing their point.

What Roosevelt did give the people was HOPE for a better day coming and FOOD to eat. With Hope and Food you can tolerate dam near anything.

My stimulus package would have included first, adding 52 weeks to the unemployment eligibility up front. (Ours starts at 26 weeks and can be extended 13 weeks at a time depending statistics). I would increase the number of people eligible for unemployment. Up here you have to have specific minimum earnings ($1,800) in each of the 4 prior quarters not including the one you become unemployed. I’d change that to make anyone over 18 eligible for 52 weeks regardless of prior employment. Keep them OFF the street and out of TROUBLE.

The aspects of the New Zealand stimulus package that I support are small businesses being able to put off paying provincial tax . As for spending money on new infrastructure projects well I am for a ban on new projects until our current lot of third world infrastructure.

Only the R&Fs have money to pay taxes. Why cut them any slack? It’s the UNEMPLOYED who are in trouble. I think you've got the horse in the wrong end of the cart.

I have attended an old folks program called “Elderhostel” where rich old people go to beautiful retreat settings for a week and have lectures and good food and some local trips to see the sites. $700 a week plus airfares. I have been 2 times to Oregon and 1 time to upstate New York.

In both places, as well as in state parks I have frequented in Georgia and Alabama and North Carolina, you will ecounter LODGES, CABINS, TRAILS, LOOKOUTS, and other public facilities ALL BUILT in the 1930s as part of the STIMULUS known then as WPA - Works Progress Administration - PWA - Public Works Administration and CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps. The largest and most valuable I've been to is the Lodge on the side of Mt. Hood, an active volcano in Oregon. Still in use some 80 years after it was constructed. And the doors still swing true!

THAT’S VALUE FOR MONEY.

You can have any kind of government you want. Fortunately that applies equally to the US and to NZ even if not to Zimbabwe. Or Sudan. Or Congo. Etc.

The fact that Republicans are still so obsessed with FDR is a sign that they have run out of ideas for the present day . Plus as it is possible to see on ATS there is always someone dumb enough to fall for revisionist history . Myself I would have put the rumoured five hundred million dollars allocated for new infrastructure into fixing the Electricity Grid and the rail system . Now I have no problem with building new schools and roads but when Auckland cant keep the power I think there is good reason to take care of current problems first .

Small Business employ something like 85% of people in New Zealand . Further more the bulk of those small business employ five people or less . Since small business are the engine room of the New Zealand economy and they suffer the most at times like this it only make sense to try ease some of the burden on them . Admittedly a part of me is unease with the measures since we are already in a budget deficit but the cut income taxes will also add to the deficit anyway .

Make no mistake all the chickens are coming home to roost all right . New Zealand is something like second only to Iceland in terms of people living off credit . Had the majority of our banks been say American owned we would have been right royally screwed . Evidently the Australian regulatory frame work was a lot better then in other parts of the world and we have gotten the flow on effect . We need a depression to help off the elitists who got us into this mess in the same way World War One along with other factors help to kill off the Aristocracy that ruled Europe.

[edit on 8-2-2009 by xpert11]

MUST it get WORSE before it can be made BETTER?

reply to post by xpert11

Make no mistake all the chickens are coming home to roost all right . New Zealand is something like second only to Iceland in terms of people living off credit . Had the majority of our banks been say American owned we would have been right royally screwed . Evidently the Australian regulatory frame work was a lot better then in other parts of the world and we have gotten the flow on effect . We need a depression to help off the elitists who got us into this mess in the same way World War One along with other factors help to kill off the Aristocracy that ruled Europe.

Mr X11, are you calling for a 2009 update (clone) of France’s famous 1789 Robespierre? I’ve thought of that as a good way to RID the world of those R&Fs who feed off us. The poor and poorer. For example, we’d patrol the streets and take away anyone riding in a Lexus or S series Mercedes straight to the guillotine. As in 1794's Paris, the wearing of lace was the crime sufficient for death!

And it's not personal. It’s of necessity. A REAL revolution has to be HARSH! Those deposed will plot 24/7 how to regain their power and wealth. That was Castro’s mistake. He let the R&Fs go. He did not want to kill them. Typical liberal thinking. Not willing to do the permanent solution, he should have done what Vietnam did later, put then in retraining camps and kept them there until they got better. Or do what Stalin and Mao did, murder them. As I said, REAL revolutions are harsh. See also Pol Pot.

I have long contended that America had more of a coup d’etat than a genuine revolution. We have mislabeled it and we let it stay that way. It suits the purposes of the R&Fs. Instead of sending taxes to London, we sent taxes to Washington, DC. You can see a wee bit of that in the 1793 Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Lesson? You cannot escape taxes (unless you are an R&F).

But let’s move on. Taxes. You know I love taxes. Taxes are the mother's milk of any society. I can show high taxes are beenficial to a society but that low taxes are a negative force. But the R&Fs never want to pay ANY taxes. They want the privileges but not the obligations. That’s what makes them an R&F in my dictionary. Let me recite one example you may have already seen. Back in the 1970s, Sony became the ONLY large tv assembly company in the US of A. Yup! The last man standing here was SONY! Who knows where the parts come from? No one. A circuit board made in Malaysia may have 90% of its parts coming in from outside their country, and etc.

It seems a French company - Thomson - had purchased the rights to use the brand names, Magnavox, RCA, Phillips, GE and maybe others I don’t know. They had taken full advantage of the Mexican maquiladoras - build you a new factory and rent it to you for $1 a year - and many are located just south of El Paso and San Diego. Thomson assembled large tvs there and shipped them north wearing American brand labels. Hey, Americans are just mostly good ole boys who love guns and GOD, in that order, and who care not much for the FACTS of life.

We had French owned tvs wearing American labels made in Mexico. (I have a 9 year old 32 inch Magnavox and it is outstanding in performance and value, though its colors are getting slow in coming). Who gets the taxes on this commercial enterprise to pay for all the good things in life we so much want? Like war materials. A bit for education, less for health care and maybe none at all for the financial market regulators. Unfortunately we all have a bit of larceny in our hearts and there are 1,000s of Bernie Madoff’s out there just itching to pluck you! Put the SEC to “sleep” as did that ole Deaah Valley Days cow-poke Ronnie Reagan and you have one WILD ride ahead of you!

In the chain of commerce for tvs, there are local retailers which may be nation-wide, there are regional distributors and there are manufacturers. We can lay our hands on the first two, and collect the sales tax - a tax on peons - very easily. But the BIG GUY, the manufacturer, is OUT of the country! How do you tax the profits Thomson makes on sales in America?

Solution to the tv shazam? We tax any company as if it was an American company based on the sales they make here of any product wearing a label that was ever registered in the US Pat. Off. Where there is a will, there is a way. The R&Fs know this, but the P&P-ers do not. Instead they trust the people they vote for to do this job for them. What they do not realize is that those very same people are dining at the table of the R&Fs! And you know not even a dog will bite the hand that feeds it.

If we don't get smart and stop playing dumb, we will see more of this and Americans will be helping to pay for French health care available to all but over here we have 40 million Americans who can't get health care anywhere but terribly expensive, usually overcrowded emergency rooms. Expensive? Yes and we - all of us - pay for that, too. Hey, bottom feeders pay for everything.

Oh, On Topic? There will be NO 100 days this time around. The honeymoon is over. The GOP has thrown down the gauntlet. I see Obama as in the same compromise mode he promised as the agent of CHANGE he would bring to W-DC.

I fear the GOP will see him as WEAK but on that score they will end up being the losers. Why? Because OBAMA, Pelosi and Reid are smarter than their counterparts are! Just listen to the GOP rhetoric. It's the same rhetoric the GOP has used since Herbert Hoover died. "No government, NO taxes and we'll all go to Heaven!" Q. What's a Republican? A Libertarian in drag!

Yeah. With leaders like Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain you can see the GOP getting back in power?? Do you think "Hank" Paulson who made that possible will get a kick-back. Hank is an old hand you know, having "made" $700 million while at Goldman Sachs. Stealing is not new to Hank.


[edit on 2/8/2009 by donwhite]

Don it is true that not all the so called Rich and Famous people are scrum bags who took record bonuses regardless of there company books . In the same way that people like me who don't live above there means are being effected by the Credit Crunch so will the decent people that exist in the extreme higher income brackets . None of the people who were spouse to keep our receptive economy's on the plain and level know what to do . Alan Bollard the director of the Reserve Bank couldn't send out more mixed messages if he tried . In the same press conference he said that Kiwis should spend more to help out the economy and that they should also save there hard earned penny's . Clearly the current monetary systems are out of date and need to be replaced .

Actually my thinking takes me in a differnt direction . We are in for some tough times regardless . The crucial thing will be what happens in the after mouth of this mess . Let me try and put it into a historical context for you . Bear with me here .

Why didn't the British people overthrow the monarchy in the same fashion as Russia ?
Well here is my answer . In Britain despite the class system being very evident the eight hour day , the Cheap Trains Act or what ever it was called all help to moderate society by giving the bulk of the population the rights they deserved . Today we know that the Communist system is no more workable then full blown Libertarianism(SP?) is in fact if Libertarians(SP?) got there wish you would end up with another 1917 .
Unless society continues to moderate in the end so very bad things will happen .

Here's an interesting article on Obama's first 14 days.

www.spectator.co.uk...

reply to post by xpert11

Why didn't the British people overthrow the monarchy in the same fashion as Russia ?

Well here is my answer. In Britain despite the class system being very evident the eight hour day, the Cheap Trains Act or what ever it was called all help to moderate society by giving the bulk of the population the rights they deserved.

Today we know that the Communist system is no more workable then full blown Libertarianism is - in fact if Libertarians got their wish you would end up with another 1917. Unless society continues to moderate in the end so very bad things will happen.

I don’t think conditions in the UK were ever as bad as those in the Russia of 1917. Although the Russian Army was very large - maybe the largest in the world - it was led by hereditary nobles who for the most part knew nothing about tactics or maneuvers.

Losing men by the divisions, the soldiers saw the nobles call for more divisions to through away. Life at home was barely any better. Although serfdom had been abolished in 1865, much like in America, the land owners managed to retain their serfs with lifetime leases with payments they could not meet. Russia in 1917 was two nations on one soil. 500,000 privileged and 100,000,000 in abject poverty.

It is really hard for us to know what the typical Russian thought in 1930s compared to what that same Russian would have thought in the 1910s and 1920s. Because we have been so ANTI Russian for so long - thanks in large part to Sir Winston Churchill - we probably know barely anything about that era.

I think the history of England (now UK) since the Magna Carta in 1215 has been the struggle between crown and parliament. The parliament won in 1688. It was not perfect then or now but I feel the man on the street really felt he was part of a good system.

The socialist - Labor - experiment in 1945 failed but not because socialism as a system is flawed. The best part of it, the NHS - National Health Service - survived Margaret Thatcher so you know that part is good!

I agree the system employed by the Soviets - we named it the ‘command economy’ AFTER the fall of the USSR - is unworkable. I am not sure where the “communist” part comes from. Maybe “socialism” and “communism” is the same word in Russian? After all the USSR is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, not the Union of Soviet Communist Republics.

I have already posted IT WILL HAVE TO GET WORSE before IT CAN GET BETTER. That was demonstrated on our Senate this past week. We here are still way ahead of 1933 when FDR took over and really did have the backing of 70% of the public and a filibuster-proof Congress.

If we get to a repeat of 1933 - 25% or more unemployed - maybe the Republicans will see the light? Between then and now, it has not happened.

[edit on 2/8/2009 by donwhite]

reply to post by donwhite


Well even if my historical analysis is off base its not so important as is the fact that when those in a position to do so can do a lot of good or bad . When to many of them do to many things that have a negative effect on the link between the economy and society then a catalyst event or series of events takes place . There must be some other members with opinions on this matter .

On another matter entirely ( and yes Don I know that you wont like this ) but still staying with the global point of view .

Kiwi troops in Afghanistan are likely to be asked to dig in for longer as the Government prepares to review the six-year-old deployment amid mounting pressure on the United States' allies to do more.

Government sources say there has been no request yet from the US for more Kiwi troops but it would "not be a surprise" if there were.

Australia is under pressure from US military leaders to take the lead role in Nato-led coalition operations in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province and increase its commitment, according to reports.

Source

First off some background for the reader . One of the smart things that happened during Bush second term was New Zealand regaining it status as a US ally . In fact Condi was out here last year . So as a part of Obama wise strategy of renewed focus on Afghanistan I am expecting a formal request to be made for an increase in New Zealand contribution to Afghanistan . The request will probably include a desire for NZ to have a combat role over there as well .


[edit on 8-2-2009 by xpert11]

reply to post by xpert11

On another matter entirely . . .

Kiwi troops in Afghanistan are likely to be asked to dig in for longer as the Government prepares to review the six-year-old deployment amid mounting pressure on the United States' allies to do more. Government sources say there has been no request yet from the US for more Kiwi troops but it would "not be a surprise" if there were. Australia is under pressure from US military leaders to take the lead role in [the] NATO led coalition operations in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province and increase its commitment, according to reports.

First off some background for the reader . One of the smart things that happened during Bush second term was New Zealand regaining it status as a US ally. In fact Condi [Secretary of State Rice] was out here last year.

So as a part of Obama-wise strategy of renewed focus on Afghanistan I am expecting a formal request to be made for an increase in New Zealand contribution to Afghanistan. The request will probably include a desire for NZ to have a combat role over there as well.

Before Wellington goes running off like the proverbial chicken, I wish they would read the CIA World Factbook

Afghanistan. New Zealand in parenthesis ()
Area, 180,000 sq. miles. Smaller than Texas
Neighboring countries; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Pakistan and Iran. (None)
Population, 32.7 million people (4.2 m.)
Median age, 17.6 years (36.3)
Life expectancy 44 (79)
Fertility rate 8.5 (2.1)
GDP per person $800 ($28,500)
Demographics: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, and others. (English and Native)
Languages: Persian (Official), Pashto (Official) and 31 others (English)
Religion: Muslim Sunni 80%, Shia 19% others 1% (Christian 79% and others or none, 21%)
Political parties 51 (8)
www.cia.gov...

I posted these selected stats to illustrate a point I want to make. That just as the US has NOTHING in common with Afghanistan, neither has New Zealand. I doubt if one American in 10,000 can speak either of the 2 or 3 most commonly spoken languages. I know very few Americans are Muslims and there is NO Muslim tradition in our country nor in our politics. I cannot speak for NZ but I have a strong feeling NZ has no more connections to the Afghans then does the US.

It may all be a joke, but I have heard that Afghanistan has been invaded 100s of times but never conquered ONCE! The Imperial British Army mucked around there in the late 18th and 19th centuries and finally settled for a treaty in which the Afghan's only surrendered FOREIGN affairs to Great Britain. An item the Afghan's cared not a whit for. I think it was in the 1919 battle between the Brits and the Afghans in the Khyber Pass where the Brits lost 99.99% of their men. The Pass is the famous connection between Afghanistan and Pakistan where we are having a lot of trouble today. George Molesworth, a member of the British force of 1919, summarized: "Every stone in the Khyber has been soaked in blood." He could have quite correctly added: "In British blood." en.wikipedia.org...

Let’s add it up. A Christian nation invades a Muslim nation. NONE of our leaders can speak any of their languages. ALL of their leaders can speak our language. That's a heck of a way to start a war. It's called hubris! Just to survive in the country is foreboding. It is bleak. It is cold. It is windy. It is dry. It is nearly impossible to traverse even on foot. As Bush43 belatedly acknowledged with his Baghdad only SURGE, you cannot successfully occupy a country without boots on the ground!

Americans are not convinced it is a survival issue for us to go kill all the Taliban types over there. We - the US - need Kiwis and Aussies and EU types to fatten up the invading forces! And to SHARE the costs and casualties! The two cultures - American and Afghan - have almost no trade history and even less shared culture. (Heroin excluded). The Afghans are fiercely anti-foreign. The Afghans are fiercely pro Muslim. The Afghans overwhelmed 180,000 USSR soldiers in a war running between 1981 and 1989. Beware of going where you are not wanted.

From Washington DC to Kabul is 6700 miles by plane flying the great circle route. We have no reliable way - say no dependable allies - to ship heavy cargoes directly into landlocked Afghan. The RF just ejected us from our main trans-shipping base in Kyrgyzstan. Just as Iraq has SAVED us from ourselves, I am very hopeful the Russians and Kyrgiks will do for us what we seem incapable of doing for ourselves. Treat Osama bin Laden as a criminal, take away his WORLD leader status we endowed him with (say Bush43 & VP Cheney) and send the FBI after him! And quit this silly and too costly crapola mislabeled the War on Terror. Before we really get hurt!

The small Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan put NATO and the United States in a tight spot by announcing last week in Moscow that it intends to close Manas Air Base there.

That base is key to U.S. and NATO military operations in Afghanistan. It is used as a hub, for transit and refueling. It would be even more critical if the administration of President Barack Obama proceeds with its plan to increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan by 30,000 to a new level of 78,000.

Since Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's announcement was made in Moscow, during a visit that included Russia's announcing a new $2 billion loan, $150 million in new aid and forgiveness of $180 million in debt for Kyrgyzstan, there is reason to believe that the small former Soviet republic is closing the base at Russian instigation.

What that means is that Russia, instead of waiting for the Obama administration to begin a more stately initiation of what presumably will be a new relationship between the two countries, has opened the game with a power play. This is likely calculated to make clear to America's new leaders that Russia has an area, including Central Asia, Ukraine, Georgia and the rest of the Caucasus that it considers its sphere of influence.

Issues between the United States and Russia include the future of former President George W. Bush's missile defense program with proposed installations in the Czech Republic and Poland, the negotiation of a new arms treaty and whether NATO will be expanded to include Ukraine and Georgia.

Uzbekistan kicked the United States out in 2005. Kyrgyzstan might respond if Washington had increased its aid, which stands at $150 million a year. The United States has several options that can be pursued simultaneously . . A third move would be to accelerate consideration within the Obama administration of overall U.S. policy toward Russia. The administration should move quickly to address the agenda, including the relationship in Central Asia, perhaps sending Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Moscow on an urgent basis.

In a sense, the Kyrgyz decision to close the Manas base provides an opportunity for a new, fresh look at the U.S. role in Afghanistan and the surrounding region and America's relations with Russia -- not an altogether bad development. First published on February 9, 2009.
community.post-gazette.com...

I am hoping against hope that the promise of a new way of doing business in Washington under an intelligent President Obama will NOT be derailed as was the case under a similar and earlier AGENT for change, President Johnson, who lost it all in Vietnam. And that due to near total ignorance of the Vietnamese and self-imposed blindness here. Of which we are repeating in overload quantities towards Afghanistan today. We want TOO much from a place TOO far.

Q. If we are as smart as we think we are, why don't we act like it?


[edit on 2/11/2009 by donwhite]

The stimulas package(s) my friends... any thoughts on it?

The Republicans are simply being bull headed... because of the long term nature of it, if it works it will create jobs... tax cuts alone will do nothing. In fact we need to raise taxes if we are ever to pay off this package, take care of the debt much less deal with the social security and medicare crisis looming on the horizon.

If we don't do it now... we are screwed.

reply to post by grover

. . tax cuts alone will do nothing. In fact we need to raise taxes if we are ever to pay off this package, take care of the debt much less deal with the social security and Medicare crisis looming on the horizon. If we don't do it now... we are screwed.

The Republicans are morally and intellectually bankrupt! With likable but short on IQ story-tellers like Ronald Reagan the Republicans were able to delude the all-too-willing public to accept their solution to every problem, CUT TAXES. If it was not too foolish I’d like to say OK, lets abolish taxes altogether! Then all our problems will be solved if you theory is correct!

The lunatic fringe - a/k/a Evangelicals and Born Again’s - have been well manipulated by the ‘Free Market’ Neo Cons - and they paid not a whit of attention to the approximate $500 billion annual deficits run for 8 years by their own Born Again president. The Republicans bequeathed $4 trillion of debt to their grandchildren - for who they now feign concern and shed crocodile tears before cameras - and followed the whimsical Milton Friedman bunkum better named the dismal science. See Note 1.

The hard liners are still in control of the GOP. The Sarah Palin branch. She is plotting to get the 2012 nomination which Justin Oldham - who posted here a long time - predicts will happen and he says that will be the end of the Party of Lincoln founded in 1854. Let’s hope J/O has it right! See Note 2.


Note 1. The dismal science is a derogatory alternative name for economics devised by the Victorian historian Thomas Carlyle in the 19th century. The term is an inversion of the phrase "gay science," meaning "life-enhancing knowledge." This was a familiar expression at the time, and was later adopted as the title of a book by Nietzsche.
en.wikipedia.org...

Note 2. We know John McCain did not know Sarah Palin prior to the meeting they had. It was reported they conversed privately about 1 hour. On that flimsy basis he named her his VP. Uh uh. No, John is too smart to do that. He managed to win the '08 GOP nomination stolen from him in 2000 by religious and racial fanatics - say Bush43. John has been in W-DC since 1980. I suggest he was TOLD by the behind-the-scenes money-mongers to ACCEPT the looney-tunes Sarah in what they had already determined was a losing a cause. This was done to give her national exposure and to test her with the Hard Right Wing base. I cannot see Big John making such a momentous decision on his own with so little actual information to go on. Like the good sailor he was for 20 years, he FOLLOWED ORDERS!


[edit on 2/11/2009 by donwhite]