“THESE are the times that try men's souls.” The rest of that quote is; “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.”
That quote from one of our founding fathers, Thomas Paine, in his writing, “The Crisis” which was the sequel to his writing of “Common Sense” is as apposite today as it was back in the winter of 1777-1778. They were written in Paine's pamphlet 'American Crisis' during the winter of Valley Forge as a way to encourage soldiers and the public to continue to fight in the Revolution despite the many severe hardships the war was putting everyone through. In these times we face different obstacles. They may not be as physical but are nonetheless trying. We must now continue the fight to get our country back from the Washington elite, the panjandrums of the beltway. They have lost sight of the fact that we sent them there to do our bidding. They work for us, we don’t have to step and fetch for them the way it has been for all together too many decades.
The second shot heard round the world was fired in Massachusetts once again since April 19th 1775.
That phrase is in the opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" 1837, and describes the impact of the Battle at the Old North Bridge in Concord Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775. Emerson wrote the "Concord Hymn" for the dedication of a battle monument very close to his family's home, and the words are meant to emphasize that a critical event happened at this location that triggered something of global importance. The entire stanza is: "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled; Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard 'round the world."
I figured since all the talking heads and mind numb politicians are spouting oh such wonderful platitudes, I should expand on their cherry picking of words and maybe fill in some of the gaps left by their liberal education. I’m sure most of them never research what they say. They just regurgitate what they are given and sit there looking so damn smart. How about they all get over themselves and do what they are supposed to be doing.
Now we find the people of Massachusetts have spoken for all of us with their vote and that speech would include the words, “We the People”. We must all do our part no matter how small to keep the momentum going to take back our country from the solons that have gone astray. These self aggrandizing self proclaimed doyens think it’s all about them. Do we need all the reform they are talking about? I’m sure some of it is necessary. Isn’t it just too bad that they don’t put as much effort into illegals entering the country, or the care of veterans, the homeless, etc. The strange thing is that a lot if not all of these problems plaguing our country can be solved with common sense and not just throwing piles of money at a problem. Case in point; the “war on poverty,” without going into too great detail suffice it to say the “war on poverty” is nearly 50 years old and has cost 7 trillion of our hard earn dollars and the outcome as we all know is depressing and has been basically ineffectual. So let’s see if we can’t persuade our representatives to use some common sense, take the time to actually read the bills and act accordingly. With our urging perhaps we can actually get them to do the right things.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Washington shuffle
Splain this to me, will ya?
How is it that taking money out of the economy for let’s say, oh, maybe a stimulus package or something and then redistributing it to friends and payback schemes constitutes any kind of stimulus whatsoever? Shovel ready my butt. Hey how about all this wonderful transparency they banged on about during the campaign. It’s more like this; ok let’s blame Bush for all these ills and then while people are jumping up and down on that band wagon we can do twice as much in a negative way as ever the old administration did. Totally no transparency, more ear marks that anyone can even count, lobbyists coming out our ears, useless governmental programs galore, growth in bureaucracy that heretofore is unprecedented, the eroding of our freedoms at an alarming rate, how about them czars aye! Cool. (Sarcasm filter must be off)
I never thought that another administration could make the former look good (totally a figure of speech here) Compared to Obama, Bush was a piker, a neophyte, a tyro. Obama comes up with ways to screw the proletariat that are oh so slick and get the plebeian all excited about hope and change and then puts the boots to us in inventive ways the likes of which have only been seen in the most egregious of political arenas. (i.e. Chicago etc.)
Who would have ever thought anyone would be longing for the good old days when people took responsibility for their actions instead of playing the blame game. A time when we thought things were covert and spendthrift like, and we were mad because of the implementation of policies that in retrospect were not as nefarious as fist thought in comparison to today’s atmosphere. We find that case to be negligible compared to this take over and indebtedness heaped upon the quotidian masses.
Okay, let’s recap, no jobs, no increase in the cum by yah foreign policy, total secrecy, Gitmo fiasco, terrorism policy? Economy in the crapper, ear marks out the wazoo, czars the likes of which even mother Russia has never seen, healthcare that would be totally a boondoggle a quagmire,. How’s that hope and change working out so far? The only change I see is less freedom, more government involvement and the road to perdition. That may be pessimistic, but gees it’s just one thing after another. Cheats and sleaze everywhere you look in this administration. I’m not saying there aren’t a fair share in every administration, but this one is a shining star, the epitome to the corruption of politics.
How about all the takeovers and regulations on the private sector? Granted, some of the stuff sorely needed to be regulated, but then again that’s what Bush tried to do during his administration with the lending institutions to avoid just exactly what happened, but noooo! Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and their ilk put the kibosh to that something like three times. Had Bush been able to put those regulations on the banking and lending industries we would be in a much different position right now. The house of cards came tumbling down and it started with not being able to regulate the lending industry when it was needed.
When Regan was president we also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now Obama is the pres. and we have no hope and no cash.
Look guys we need to break this insane mold. We need to elect people who are out of the system and if we elect enough of them they can change it. If we only put in a token few, by the time they make all the deals they need to so they can get stuff done they will then be part of what we sent them there to abolish. I’m afraid it is time for another revolution, one of forthrightness and morals that will truly change the face of politics. We must start getting back to the original consept that our founders enacted. It’s to bad, we thought maybe Obama was going to do that. He talked the talk and still does, but there is no walking the walk that I can see. It appears he caved to the pressures of Washington and his party. We Independents are going to have to carry the day in up-coming elections and do the best we can to bring about real honest to goodness change. I’m waiting for a candidate that will say the hard things, the things that are not necessarily PC, but what is right for the country. One that will pay no attention to the politics as usual, one that will profile if need be. One that will really stop the lobbyists and earmarks not just pay lip service to the problems. One that will be serious about healthcare and let the private sector do its thing. One that will keep government out of our lives and make the hard decisions no matter what. Once again Obama talked the talk but didn't and isn't walking the walk. The person this country needs may or may not be out there. I haven’t heard of one that fits that bill, however I am ever hopeful as I once was about this administration.
How is it that taking money out of the economy for let’s say, oh, maybe a stimulus package or something and then redistributing it to friends and payback schemes constitutes any kind of stimulus whatsoever? Shovel ready my butt. Hey how about all this wonderful transparency they banged on about during the campaign. It’s more like this; ok let’s blame Bush for all these ills and then while people are jumping up and down on that band wagon we can do twice as much in a negative way as ever the old administration did. Totally no transparency, more ear marks that anyone can even count, lobbyists coming out our ears, useless governmental programs galore, growth in bureaucracy that heretofore is unprecedented, the eroding of our freedoms at an alarming rate, how about them czars aye! Cool. (Sarcasm filter must be off)
I never thought that another administration could make the former look good (totally a figure of speech here) Compared to Obama, Bush was a piker, a neophyte, a tyro. Obama comes up with ways to screw the proletariat that are oh so slick and get the plebeian all excited about hope and change and then puts the boots to us in inventive ways the likes of which have only been seen in the most egregious of political arenas. (i.e. Chicago etc.)
Who would have ever thought anyone would be longing for the good old days when people took responsibility for their actions instead of playing the blame game. A time when we thought things were covert and spendthrift like, and we were mad because of the implementation of policies that in retrospect were not as nefarious as fist thought in comparison to today’s atmosphere. We find that case to be negligible compared to this take over and indebtedness heaped upon the quotidian masses.
Okay, let’s recap, no jobs, no increase in the cum by yah foreign policy, total secrecy, Gitmo fiasco, terrorism policy? Economy in the crapper, ear marks out the wazoo, czars the likes of which even mother Russia has never seen, healthcare that would be totally a boondoggle a quagmire,. How’s that hope and change working out so far? The only change I see is less freedom, more government involvement and the road to perdition. That may be pessimistic, but gees it’s just one thing after another. Cheats and sleaze everywhere you look in this administration. I’m not saying there aren’t a fair share in every administration, but this one is a shining star, the epitome to the corruption of politics.
How about all the takeovers and regulations on the private sector? Granted, some of the stuff sorely needed to be regulated, but then again that’s what Bush tried to do during his administration with the lending institutions to avoid just exactly what happened, but noooo! Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and their ilk put the kibosh to that something like three times. Had Bush been able to put those regulations on the banking and lending industries we would be in a much different position right now. The house of cards came tumbling down and it started with not being able to regulate the lending industry when it was needed.
When Regan was president we also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now Obama is the pres. and we have no hope and no cash.
Look guys we need to break this insane mold. We need to elect people who are out of the system and if we elect enough of them they can change it. If we only put in a token few, by the time they make all the deals they need to so they can get stuff done they will then be part of what we sent them there to abolish. I’m afraid it is time for another revolution, one of forthrightness and morals that will truly change the face of politics. We must start getting back to the original consept that our founders enacted. It’s to bad, we thought maybe Obama was going to do that. He talked the talk and still does, but there is no walking the walk that I can see. It appears he caved to the pressures of Washington and his party. We Independents are going to have to carry the day in up-coming elections and do the best we can to bring about real honest to goodness change. I’m waiting for a candidate that will say the hard things, the things that are not necessarily PC, but what is right for the country. One that will pay no attention to the politics as usual, one that will profile if need be. One that will really stop the lobbyists and earmarks not just pay lip service to the problems. One that will be serious about healthcare and let the private sector do its thing. One that will keep government out of our lives and make the hard decisions no matter what. Once again Obama talked the talk but didn't and isn't walking the walk. The person this country needs may or may not be out there. I haven’t heard of one that fits that bill, however I am ever hopeful as I once was about this administration.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Get out of our way
There is a cabal, a cadre so to speak of mindless myrmidons that will accept anything that is done, no matter what, as long as it furthers their agenda. The convoluted gallimaufry of programs and packages put forth in the last year are mind-boggling. To prove that point we have the stimulus, which very few have read and even fewer understand. Fewer still know where the monies have gone, as long as they get their payoff they are good to go with just about anything. Now they are looking at some of the remainder of the stimulus package that was suppose to be spent going forward as a slush fund for their pet projects. Once Washington politicians get their hands on a pile of money, it’s party time. It matters not one iota if it is disastrous to the hard working hoi- polloi, the every day citizens, you know, the people who actually do things in this country? Yeah those. Now that term hoi polloi is generally used in a pejorative sense, derogatory, well guess what, that is exactly how our so-called erudite solons see us. Oh yeah, they see us as the masses who don’t know enough to take care of themselves, so they have to step in to the breach to straighten us out, since we are hardly capable of tying our own shoe laces. Thank God for small miracles aye? How about this? How about they get the hell out of our way and let us do what we do best, build the most powerful, prosperous, benevolent country that has ever been on this planet. Instead the government wants to stifle the entrepreneurial spirit and the capitalist free market system and replace it with total dependency upon the state. It didn’t work for Rome. It didn’t work for Russia. It didn’t work for China. It didn’t work for Cuba. It didn’t work for Eastern Europe either well you get the idea. Why is it that most socialist countries are leaning towards capitalism and we are headed the other way? The answer to that would be, because there is something wrong with our leaders. Socialism is nothing more than a ponzi scheme, or a pyramid scheme. It works for the top few tears and from there down all hell breaks loose and it’s every man for himself. The problem with that is that there is hardly anything left after the top few get theirs. That my friends is basically an oligarchy. I don’t know about you but that’s not what I want for this country. How’s that change working out for you? The spin on any given subject from unemployment to global warming is unprecedented, well maybe not so much, this has been going on as long as our elected officials have mastered the fine art of apostasy, that is giving up the ethics, morals, ideals and party, accept in their case they do it all FOR the party and the hell with the rest of us. (I’m sure there is a word for that; I just haven’t run across it yet.) There is no such thing as veritas in their vocabulary either. They are nothing more than whores, oh wait, that’s not right, they do it for money so that would actually make them prostitutes. I hope they are getting their money’s worth because we certainly are not.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I pledge allegiance
Definition:
I pledge Allegiance
1 a : the obligation of a feudal vassal to his liege lord b (1) : the fidelity owed by a subject or citizen to a sovereign or government (2) : the obligation of an alien to the government under which the alien resides
2 : devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause, commitment, duty, loyalty.
The meaning of those words are changing in this country.
We left the other allegiances behind when we established this new country, the ones that pledge to a sovereign, or to any one person. We now pledge allegiance to something bigger than ourselves, we pledge allegiance to this wonderful experiment we call the United States of America. Would someone please explain to me how it is that now we hear all these songs to one man, why we hear that the country is no good but one man is so wonderful, that they awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for talking and thinking about doing things. What the hell is that all about? I don’t want to say it was set up and pre selected, but when the man gets nominated twelve days into his administration and nominations closed a few scant days before he was elected, that stinks to high heaven. As do many of the so-called wonderful things that are talked about. It’s just as bad as all the black community voting for him because he is half black. What in the hell has that got to do with anything? I would have voted for him in a heartbeat if he were the best man for the job. Have any of you heard the totally idiotic reasons people are giving for voting for him? It is truly embarrassing. What is it with the black community supporting Democrats to begin with? They are getting more and more of the same ol, “we’re going to do this for you, and we’re going to do that for you,” when in reality it has been the Republican party that has done more towards equality than any other entity, but lets call a rose a rose here.
I am independent and don’t really hold my allegiance to any politician. I believe they are all out for themselves. Why else would anyone spend ten times or more of what their salary would ever be to have a job. The answer is that they don’t look upon it the way it is suppose to be, “service to the country or constituents.” They look upon it as a meal ticket. If you don’t think so just check out what they really make and their benefits. If they are not millionaires when they are elected, they are soon after. So back to the allegiance, some in this country are enamored with this man who talks a good story, but walks the walk of a typical Chicago politician. We are headed down the wrong path here in this country. Our liberty and freedoms are getting slowly eroded with the policies that are being put forth. Again if you are not convinced think about this, people who have total power, who are not elected and don’t have to be vetted by congress and don’t have to explain their actions to anyone accept one man. I’m talking about the thirty plus czars that are now entrenched in our representative government.
Bottom line, I really believe that things would have been much better off if the government did nothing but stop the insane lending practices. At the end of the day the free market system would have adjusted and we would be closer to a recovery than we are now. Case in point the government wants to keep giving money to people in the form of help for mortgages and loans, when in reality what they should be doing is creating jobs so they can pay their bills on an on-going basis. The money they are offering now is just putting off the inevitable. They should have offered a deferment perhaps, that would have given time to get a job and spend the money on creating jobs not handouts. What is the way to create jobs and assure a growing economy? Easy enough cut taxes and cut government spending, instead of growing government and taxing people who are not even born yet.
Some people measure compassion by how many people they help with handouts. I say measure compassion with how many people no longer need the help because you have enabled them to support themselves.
Friday, July 24, 2009
what ever hapened to ????
Bringing the country to its knees.
Why was the stimulus bill basically to pay back democratic supporters instead of stimulate the economy as promised?
We have pork barrel projects that are unending, expanding government to near socialist levels, it's a matter of percentage not ideology, France at 57 % England at 54 % we are approaching 45% and will exceed that if cap and trade and government run health care is allowed to go forward. Once we reach the over 50% level than that's it we are officially a socialist country, how's that working out so far for the countries in Europe that are socialist? answer, it isn't. They are all heading closer and closer to capitalism while we are heading the other way. What is wrong with this picture?
Has Obama kept any promises from the campaign trail. I realize he is a walking bumper sticker but that doesn't get it done. What ever happened to the promise of transparency? What ever happened to changing politics as usual, what ever happened to draining the swamp in Washington? It's worse than ever now that our political hacks have an endless supply of our tax dollars. Well guess what, it isn't endless. I understand the idea of wanting to change things that are screwed up but you don't do it by expanding government and you can't fix the ills of the past forty years all at once, it's just insane to think that can be done. The way we are going bankruptcy is the end game and then we have squat for economy and health care and all the rest of the comforts we have come to enjoy. We got to where we are by the entrepreneurial spirit and capitalism in this country, not by total government intervention. Should we have health care for everyone? of course the most developed country on the planet should have that and even education right on through college, we could afford it if it were done correctly. When Canada started their socialized health care it was to be as the system they want to initiate here. The government says you will be able to keep your health care. Eventually the government system shoulders out the private health care because it just can't compete with the government sponsored system. That leads to health care that works on lower fees to the medical profession. On the surface that may sound good, but wait. There will be less and less people entering the medical profession and people that are already in that field will tend to go on to other endeavors. There will be less providers therefore less time and to many patients so there will have to be care by committee to decide who gets what when. That is the disaster in Canada and Europe. Lest we forget that in these times of cost cutting, we will see companies giving up the coverage of their employees and opting for the government coverage. Who wouldn't if it meant a tremendous savings for the private companies to have the burden shouldered by each and every taxpayer. They keep saying we can't afford not to do it, well we can't afford to do it the way they are talking. Here are the basics. The government could serve as an oversight entity, only that and nothing more. Allow the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish and the government can just make sure we are not getting ripped off. That actually is the role of government the way we set it up. This government controlled business situation is totally unacceptable and against all this country was built on. Having all these ideals is fine but you have to walk before you run. It didn't get screwed up over night and no sane person should expect it to be fixed over night. I wrote a short story named; (Too Close for Comfort)
I think I'll attach it just for the heck of it.
What ever happened to the great uniter? As I mentioned in an earlier blog post Obama is proving to be the great divider. With his policies, his statements at news conferences, such as the latest about Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley. Who prefaces a statement by saying I don't have all the facts and then proceeds to admonish one side over the other? That in and of it self is bad enough, but when the president of the United States is the one making the statement that only adds to the division and friction between people. It in no way unites anyone.
Short story;
Too Close for Comfort
by R.J. Botelho
© 2008
Too Close for Comfort
The year is, well, you pick it, but it isn’t to far off. The country has been in extremis now for quite some time. People have been forced to make decisions they thought were in their best interest. The wonderful elected solons that we laughingly call politicians have been consistently making the wrong decisions for so long, that things have gone all the way around the bend. The country in turn being demagogued into voting what was borne out to be the absolute wrong way on so many so called fixes. All of which had given more control to the government and taken away more and more from the people. Somewhere along the line we forgot, or got bamboozled into thinking that the power flows from the government to the people not the way it was intended by the founding fathers, namely from the people to the government. With every new program and tax and spend scam came a downward spiral that at first appeared to be the salvation of a country gone wrong. Only when it was to late did we realize the folly of these do-gooder programs. A Democratic president has been in power for some time. The Congress and Senate are a Democratic majority and the country is nearly bankrupt, not only monetarily, but morally as well. That lopsided political playing field was brought about not so much by the Democrats being better than the Republicans, but by the Republicans abdicating their beliefs and platforms in the name of by-partisanship. The political miscreants had practiced in apostasy for way to long and the country was now paying dearly for it. The politically correct crowd has brow beat the country out of prayer in schools. The family unit has gone to hell in a handbag due to government over control and parents abdicating their responsibilities to officials and the education system. There seemed to be no end to their trying to get all mention of religion out of the country in its entirety. After so many tries at immigration reform the problem is no better than it ever was, due once again to the politicians not allowing the laws to be enforced. Everyone was so damn worried about being P.C. that we forgot to pay attention to what was going on. Amnesty was the catch phrase of the day and extended family restoration brought so many illegals in that they sucked the lifeblood from the economy. The environmentalists too have rode rough shod over an unsuspecting public to the point of the U.S. not being able to support it self with energy, and being choked ever so slowly by foreign producers. There were no new refineries, but that didn’t matter much anyway because nearly all oil exploration had grinded to a halt. Needless to say the most efficient and environmentally clean fuel, nuclear power was off the table. Our wonderful lawmakers in their infinite wisdom opened our boarders not only to illegal immigration but to free trade that had all but driven nearly every big business out of the manufacturing sector within the 48 contiguous states. One of the most egregious snafus of all would be the socialized medicine that was forced upon the country in ways that were at first hardly noticeable. Over time it became dreadfully clear that the taxpayers could ill afford all the social programs enacted. Socialized medicine had so many models to point to that just plain ol didn’t work, yet the pusillanimous sycophants we had as politicians insisted upon ramming it down the people’s throats, once again pointing out the folly of a government gone wild with to much power and control, add to that the illegal alien problem and there was a recipe for disaster if ever there was one. The ineptitude of the officials knew no bounds. Finally after a near collapse of the healthcare system all together the wonderful entrepreneurial spirit of the American people took hold. After years of nearly non-existent quality care and waiting interminably for procedures the people were fed up. What happened after that is the story that has brought about this telling.
The people and the medical profession en masse, with the help of some people who are never adverse to making a pile of money off others misfortunes have stepped up to the plate. In some circles there was even what is known as schadenfreude syndrome, which means taking pleasure at others misfortune. As is the case quite often in situations such as what had been brought about, there is never any lack of sleaze. All the dregs came out or should I say crawled out from under their rocks and took advantage of whomever and whatever they possibly could. There grew a black market within the shadow system. However there was more of the money grabbing going on than anything else. All the most talented medical professionals had joined what had become to be known as poly –medicine, or polymed for short. What that was, was talented medical professionals basically joining this cabal a camarilla and going underground so to speak. The socialized system that was put in place was so corrupt and useless that the medical professionals could barely eek out a living. The pay and care was woefully inept. What evolved was no less then what one would expect from a proud and ingenious people with their backs against the wall, a totally innovative way to serve and make a decent living at the same time. The Polymed system had become the care of choice for those who could afford quality healthcare and the socialized system that was left to the hoi-polloi, the common folk, was what everyone else got, except of course any and all political hacks that could avail themselves of these premium services, by hook or by crook. Oh yeah, there had grown a tremendous underground system, a sub-culture and offshoots of businesses. All the medicine companies, the equipment companies, the supply companies and not anywhere near the least, was the omni-present insurance companies. The insurance companies were grabbing money hand over fist, but than again, what else is new. Organs and body parts had become commodities, as did the medical professionals themselves. Body parts acquired by dubious means were available if one had the money, so too were the Medical professionals themselves. There were actually brokers for professional people. That in and of it self was fast becoming a sub-culture in that the people were in classes. There were the doctors, the nurses, right on down to the functionaries and disposal personnel. The disposal companies were having a hey-day also. Whenever you have a system that uses any commodity and that would include biological wastes, you have a need to dispose of them. If you have a shadow society, it would hold that you would need the services that go with it. It was survival of the fittest in the true sense of the word. The government try as they might could not stem the tide of people wanting what they deserved. Not getting what they needed from an overbearing government they turned to their own devises, once again proving that the power lies with the people and always should. In the end after much bleeding and the pendulum swinging way to far the wrong way the people finally took back their country and their power, underscoring those great words, “We The People”.
This scenario as outrageous as it may seem, unfortunately is TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.
A short story-outline/premise
R.J. Botelho © 2008
Thursday, June 4, 2009
a bit long but a must read
This is enlightening and very scary. I felt compelled to blog Dr. Kaiser's letter
Lest you think it was written by some right-wing kook, David Kaiser is a respected historian whose published works have covered a broad range of topics, from European Warfare to American League Baseball. Born in 1947, the son of a diplomat, Kaiser spent his childhood in three capital cities: Washington D.C., Albany, New York, and Dakar, Senegal. He attended Harvard University, graduating there in 1969 with a B.A. in history. He then spent several years more at Harvard, gaining a PhD in history, which he obtained in 1976. He served in the Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976.
He is a professor in the Strategy and Policy Department of the United States Naval War College and has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon, Williams College and Harvard University. Kaiser's latest book, “The Road to Dallas”, about the Kennedy assassination, was just published by Harvard University Press.
Dr. David Kaiser
"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it."
- Barack Obama
History Unfolding
I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.
Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.
We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why?
(JCS: Re above and below, I say in order to severely wound our country and our economy, and reduce our will to resist.)
We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.
We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why?
We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?
We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?
Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.. It is potentially 1929 x ten... And we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.
And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska . All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)
Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?
I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.
This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.
And that is only the beginning..
As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now.
And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly. And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course,
How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .... . .. change. And the people surely got what they voted for.
If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books.
So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. And the world came to regret that he was not listened to.
Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.
As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me..
I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it.
I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.
David Kaiser
Jamestown , Rhode Island
United States
Lest you think it was written by some right-wing kook, David Kaiser is a respected historian whose published works have covered a broad range of topics, from European Warfare to American League Baseball. Born in 1947, the son of a diplomat, Kaiser spent his childhood in three capital cities: Washington D.C., Albany, New York, and Dakar, Senegal. He attended Harvard University, graduating there in 1969 with a B.A. in history. He then spent several years more at Harvard, gaining a PhD in history, which he obtained in 1976. He served in the Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976.
He is a professor in the Strategy and Policy Department of the United States Naval War College and has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon, Williams College and Harvard University. Kaiser's latest book, “The Road to Dallas”, about the Kennedy assassination, was just published by Harvard University Press.
Dr. David Kaiser
"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it."
- Barack Obama
History Unfolding
I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.
Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it.. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.
We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why?
(JCS: Re above and below, I say in order to severely wound our country and our economy, and reduce our will to resist.)
We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.
We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why?
We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?
We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?
Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.. It is potentially 1929 x ten... And we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.
And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska . All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)
Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why?
I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.
This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.
And that is only the beginning..
As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now.
And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly. And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course,
How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .... . .. change. And the people surely got what they voted for.
If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books.
So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. And the world came to regret that he was not listened to.
Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.
As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me..
I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it.
I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.
David Kaiser
Jamestown , Rhode Island
United States
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The plan is just plain old bad
Obama delivers these hortatory speeches, which get everyone excited about his plans and programs without their thinking about the substance of things. i.e. the stimulus package that was such an emergency that they couldn’t even take time to read it. Oh yeah that is exactly what we need in times of distress, a leader that panics and leads the rest of the solons to panic, that’s just great, that is. No matter how unctuous Obama gets with his touchy feely attitude, the facts remain the same. We simply cannot afford this kind of spending and stay solvent. In case you haven’t noticed we are at present insolvent. To continue along this path is lunacy.
It is near insanity to think we can as a country in extremis support all these programs. If we want to see what will happen we need look no further then California. There, too liberal programs have bankrupt them and now the administration wants to follow California’s lead by enacting much of the same programs and ideology, that’s just whacked.
The press cossets and coddles Obama ad nauseam. How can the average citizen combat the constant barrage and message of the utopian existence under the Obama administration? Everyone wants everything and they want it now. Common sense dictates just exactly the opposite.
This Bailout syndrome has taken hold of the country and will be the destruction of the free market system as we have known it, hell, it already is. China tried it years ago and now they are stuck with the state owned segment of their society/government that is nothing but a boondoggle and an Albatross to their economic system. In other words the Government is the largest employer and they create jobs just to keep the populace busy. They really don’t produce anything that can drive the economy or produce any net revenue. That appears to be the way we are headed. Is any of this making any sense to you, because for the life of me I fail to see the logic or the end game behind this way of doing things.
All this money that we taxpayers have been bilked out of is becoming a ginormous money well that the politicians can dip into whenever they want. The expenditures that were suppose to stimulate are nothing but pork barrel projects that when scrutinized are seen for what they are, namely a giant payback for support and pet projects that have been simmering along till the right moment.
This Acorn thing and the unwillingness to prosecute the New Black Panthers for their part in the voter intimidation is just typical of the politics we are now confronted with. We thought we were getting something new and the new broom would sweep clean. Instead what we got was everyone who disagrees gets swept away and those who chose to join in the debacle and play the game get elevated which leaves the rest of the downtrodden to become scree, talus, detritus and of no consequence whatsoever to the overall scheme of things.
This is not the way of health in this country. We need only look to history to avoid the pitfalls and chose a path of health and wealth. Again I have to ask, what the hell is wrong with these sycophantic idiots?
It is near insanity to think we can as a country in extremis support all these programs. If we want to see what will happen we need look no further then California. There, too liberal programs have bankrupt them and now the administration wants to follow California’s lead by enacting much of the same programs and ideology, that’s just whacked.
The press cossets and coddles Obama ad nauseam. How can the average citizen combat the constant barrage and message of the utopian existence under the Obama administration? Everyone wants everything and they want it now. Common sense dictates just exactly the opposite.
This Bailout syndrome has taken hold of the country and will be the destruction of the free market system as we have known it, hell, it already is. China tried it years ago and now they are stuck with the state owned segment of their society/government that is nothing but a boondoggle and an Albatross to their economic system. In other words the Government is the largest employer and they create jobs just to keep the populace busy. They really don’t produce anything that can drive the economy or produce any net revenue. That appears to be the way we are headed. Is any of this making any sense to you, because for the life of me I fail to see the logic or the end game behind this way of doing things.
All this money that we taxpayers have been bilked out of is becoming a ginormous money well that the politicians can dip into whenever they want. The expenditures that were suppose to stimulate are nothing but pork barrel projects that when scrutinized are seen for what they are, namely a giant payback for support and pet projects that have been simmering along till the right moment.
This Acorn thing and the unwillingness to prosecute the New Black Panthers for their part in the voter intimidation is just typical of the politics we are now confronted with. We thought we were getting something new and the new broom would sweep clean. Instead what we got was everyone who disagrees gets swept away and those who chose to join in the debacle and play the game get elevated which leaves the rest of the downtrodden to become scree, talus, detritus and of no consequence whatsoever to the overall scheme of things.
This is not the way of health in this country. We need only look to history to avoid the pitfalls and chose a path of health and wealth. Again I have to ask, what the hell is wrong with these sycophantic idiots?
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