Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
D.C. Metro Train Accident Redefines Hero Worship.
Be a hero--apply the brakes. That's the message you get from the manager of the D.C. Metro train that killed so many people. Only in a city as bizarre and surreal as Washington, D.C. can you get installed as a hero, albeit a dead one, after a train wreck. The female driver of the train didn't have much experience so I suppose the argument goes that she applied the brakes instinctively, as opposed to being specifically trained (no pun) to do so. It is that intuitive brakage that makes her a hero, I suppose.
The truly bizarre thing is that the head operator and controller of the "automatic system" was reassigned to another job while Jeanice McMillan, driver of the train, was, quite by a stroke of lightening, declared a genius and a hero even before an investigation was conducted and the bodies cooled.
I regret Jeanice's loss of life, as I do the others who were killed, but this inane declaration of hero status has to stop. Why isn't Washington D.C. rolling in the aisles with laughter? It must be because the population is so whipped and the nerves so dead that Washington D.C. can only emulate tinseltown in its vacuous charades and futile exercises.
The truly bizarre thing is that the head operator and controller of the "automatic system" was reassigned to another job while Jeanice McMillan, driver of the train, was, quite by a stroke of lightening, declared a genius and a hero even before an investigation was conducted and the bodies cooled.
I regret Jeanice's loss of life, as I do the others who were killed, but this inane declaration of hero status has to stop. Why isn't Washington D.C. rolling in the aisles with laughter? It must be because the population is so whipped and the nerves so dead that Washington D.C. can only emulate tinseltown in its vacuous charades and futile exercises.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Twitters, Tweets, and Cell Phone YouTube Videos Take the Pulse in Rebellious Iran - Associated Content
Twitters, Tweets, and Cell Phone YouTube Videos Take the Pulse in Rebellious Iran - Associated ContentPresident Obama Breaks his silence after twenty people killed by Iranian Security Forces.
Congress Acts to Upstage President Obama
I didn't know it until today but we do have a Congress. This particular body passes laws and sometimes makes useful resolutions. Infinitely more miraculous is that sometimes Democrats and Republicans join together to pass resolutions such as the one passed Friday in support of the freedom seekers who are being beaten and shot in the streets of Iran.
This resolution finally forced the lips of the President to move and yesterday, President Obama released his strongest statement yet. Of course, Mr. Obama's statement was not delivered with the same enthusiasm as he approaches dinner with the Radio and Television people but it was finally a nod in support of an oppressed people.
I thought that former community organizers supposed to be more sympathetic to the plight of oppressed people and quicker to defend them. The President's team excuses his muted and belated response the Iranian eruption by characterizing President's policy as a revolutionary new wisdom when, in fact, it is dereliction of duty.
We're supposed to worry here what Ahmadinajad and the Ayatollahs think about free expression? Obama doesn't want to be "blamed." He shouldn't worry; all he's got to do is put the blame on George Washington and the other brave freedom-loving people who first opposed government tyranny and fought for individual freedom, a constution, and a bill of rights.
This resolution finally forced the lips of the President to move and yesterday, President Obama released his strongest statement yet. Of course, Mr. Obama's statement was not delivered with the same enthusiasm as he approaches dinner with the Radio and Television people but it was finally a nod in support of an oppressed people.
I thought that former community organizers supposed to be more sympathetic to the plight of oppressed people and quicker to defend them. The President's team excuses his muted and belated response the Iranian eruption by characterizing President's policy as a revolutionary new wisdom when, in fact, it is dereliction of duty.
We're supposed to worry here what Ahmadinajad and the Ayatollahs think about free expression? Obama doesn't want to be "blamed." He shouldn't worry; all he's got to do is put the blame on George Washington and the other brave freedom-loving people who first opposed government tyranny and fought for individual freedom, a constution, and a bill of rights.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Iran Rebels Against 30 Years of Repression
Perhaps soon Obama's doctors will administer a potion which will unlock his jaw and loosen his tongue. The counter-argument to a condemnation of the Iranian Nazis is that the U.S. administration should be silent because Ahmadinajad, Khatami, and the other ultra-conservative "Guardian Council thought police will scapegoat the U.S.
Hello! The Iranian demonstrators are not all that stupid. And the Iranian Thought Police will always say what they will anyway. The "Great Satan" will always be an over-used phrase by a fanatical oligarchy intent on remaining in power even at the expense of its tormented people.
A big worry for the Guardian Council is that so many Iranian women voted in the recent election and are demanding an end to female oppression. Other Iranians will not easily remain under the yoke of a medieval mentality. It's no wonder that the Iranian secret police have throttled the media, blocked internet access,and kicked out all the reporters (including the liberal ones).
But President Obama should quit his whispering in the White House. He should shout it out loud, from the rooftops. We're for Democracy. Why cower? Why keep it a secret?
Hello! The Iranian demonstrators are not all that stupid. And the Iranian Thought Police will always say what they will anyway. The "Great Satan" will always be an over-used phrase by a fanatical oligarchy intent on remaining in power even at the expense of its tormented people.
A big worry for the Guardian Council is that so many Iranian women voted in the recent election and are demanding an end to female oppression. Other Iranians will not easily remain under the yoke of a medieval mentality. It's no wonder that the Iranian secret police have throttled the media, blocked internet access,and kicked out all the reporters (including the liberal ones).
But President Obama should quit his whispering in the White House. He should shout it out loud, from the rooftops. We're for Democracy. Why cower? Why keep it a secret?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Cabela's Obama Bailout: Right Cause, Wrong Reason
The nice-guy president is off his rocker and he’s hoping you’re off yours, too. Just about everyone has awakened now to the blitzkrieg spending strategy which has bailed out everyone from Cabela’s Guns, Hunting and Fishing credit card lines to banks to insurance companies. I’m for the Cabela’s bailout, incidentally, not that I believe it’s the right thing to do. It’s just that Cabela’s believes in 2nd Amendment rights and so do I. It was just chump change, but anything that promotes the gun rights of law-abiding citizens is a positive step with me.
Not so with the rest of it. The trillion dollar deficits have already caused mortgage and credit interest rates to rise, further delaying any kind of recovery. What really kills the American spirit (and the economy) is the “too big to fail” mentality which pervades the Obama White House.
American companies are lined up everywhere to get on President Obama’s “Too Big to Fail List” of government enterprises. Being on the “Too Big to Fail List” has lots of advantages in the form of taxpayer guarantees. Look at the differences between Lehman (not too big to fail) and Bear Stearns and Merrill, both bailed out with government guarantees.
GM and Chrysler should have failed too and, considering the high level of government involvement in U.S. auto manufacturing, are still bound to fail. We’ll be paying for a long time, at least, an installment debt with unending terms where the “buyer” never gets the car keys.
The bailed out car companies have already laid off thousands of workers and more will be laid off as manufacturing advantages go to Ford and the non-U.S makers. Actually, we should now classify Ford as a “foreign” car company as the term, as applied to car companies, comes to mean any car company not owned by the government. Indeed, the U.S. government is now competing against Ford, with fat subsidies and deep pockets, hoping to drive Ford into bankruptcy so it can gain control.
Not so with the rest of it. The trillion dollar deficits have already caused mortgage and credit interest rates to rise, further delaying any kind of recovery. What really kills the American spirit (and the economy) is the “too big to fail” mentality which pervades the Obama White House.
American companies are lined up everywhere to get on President Obama’s “Too Big to Fail List” of government enterprises. Being on the “Too Big to Fail List” has lots of advantages in the form of taxpayer guarantees. Look at the differences between Lehman (not too big to fail) and Bear Stearns and Merrill, both bailed out with government guarantees.
GM and Chrysler should have failed too and, considering the high level of government involvement in U.S. auto manufacturing, are still bound to fail. We’ll be paying for a long time, at least, an installment debt with unending terms where the “buyer” never gets the car keys.
The bailed out car companies have already laid off thousands of workers and more will be laid off as manufacturing advantages go to Ford and the non-U.S makers. Actually, we should now classify Ford as a “foreign” car company as the term, as applied to car companies, comes to mean any car company not owned by the government. Indeed, the U.S. government is now competing against Ford, with fat subsidies and deep pockets, hoping to drive Ford into bankruptcy so it can gain control.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Obama Twitters Democracy to Iran as White House Whispers
The president is in the White House huddled with Rahm Emmanuel and Bob Gibbs and they are whispering. Why they are whispering seems to be a state secret but, presumably, it is so that Iran’s security forces will not hear them speak aloud.
The President whispers that, yes, words do matter and then goes on to declaim that the U.S. is not meddling in Iranian election affairs. The point is affirmed by Rahm Emmanuel and released to the press by Robert Gibbs who punctuates his speeches with plenty of “unnnnhhh....”.
The mainstream press fanboys do not ask why the President shows himself in such a defensive posture. Some bow, others smile as the President speaks. The president doesn’t only speak; he understands… He understands that the CIA intervened with Mossadegh in 1953 and helped to install the Shah of Iran. What the president wants to say is that U.S. foreign policy with regard to Iran’s iron-fisted mullahs and Ayatollahs must begin at that starting point.
The president understands why the Iranians (including the sadist Amadinajad) seized and held American hostages, tied them to fence posts, and whipped them under the hot sun during the Jimmy Carter presidency. The president chides those who watch Fox News and criticize him for beginning “Jimmy Carter’s third term.” The President understands but is very sensitive to criticism. He refuses to speak with Fox News and he expects his team to follow suit. Following suit means that, like President Obama, administration officials will grant interviews to Al Jazeera so that President Barack can get his message out to “the world.”
The President understands that Iran, awash in petrol, needs to produce nuclear fuel to power its light bulbs and factories. As a sign of the president’s understanding, he has offered the “great bargain.” The “great bargain” is that, in return for the go-ahead to produce nuclear weapons, Iran will tone down its anti-US saber-rattling and speak well of President Obama.
Meanwhile, Iran’s freedom fighters are being beaten bloody in the streets while the American president huddles in the White House with his advisors and his admirers and he whispers, fearful of being overheard by Iran’s security apparatus. This then is the new, bold strategy of the Obama administration.
We will Twitter the mullahs and the dictator into embracing Democracy.
The President whispers that, yes, words do matter and then goes on to declaim that the U.S. is not meddling in Iranian election affairs. The point is affirmed by Rahm Emmanuel and released to the press by Robert Gibbs who punctuates his speeches with plenty of “unnnnhhh....”.
The mainstream press fanboys do not ask why the President shows himself in such a defensive posture. Some bow, others smile as the President speaks. The president doesn’t only speak; he understands… He understands that the CIA intervened with Mossadegh in 1953 and helped to install the Shah of Iran. What the president wants to say is that U.S. foreign policy with regard to Iran’s iron-fisted mullahs and Ayatollahs must begin at that starting point.
The president understands why the Iranians (including the sadist Amadinajad) seized and held American hostages, tied them to fence posts, and whipped them under the hot sun during the Jimmy Carter presidency. The president chides those who watch Fox News and criticize him for beginning “Jimmy Carter’s third term.” The President understands but is very sensitive to criticism. He refuses to speak with Fox News and he expects his team to follow suit. Following suit means that, like President Obama, administration officials will grant interviews to Al Jazeera so that President Barack can get his message out to “the world.”
The President understands that Iran, awash in petrol, needs to produce nuclear fuel to power its light bulbs and factories. As a sign of the president’s understanding, he has offered the “great bargain.” The “great bargain” is that, in return for the go-ahead to produce nuclear weapons, Iran will tone down its anti-US saber-rattling and speak well of President Obama.
Meanwhile, Iran’s freedom fighters are being beaten bloody in the streets while the American president huddles in the White House with his advisors and his admirers and he whispers, fearful of being overheard by Iran’s security apparatus. This then is the new, bold strategy of the Obama administration.
We will Twitter the mullahs and the dictator into embracing Democracy.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Killing the Chevy Malibu Hybrid
The gas version of the new Malibu is a nice car at a decent price. Killing the hybrid version with those cheesey mileage numbers was a good decision since it would be competing with Ford's Fusion Hybrid at 41 mpg. It's encouraging that someone from the government could actually make a business decision instead of a political one.
There must be some car people left in Detroit.
There must be some car people left in Detroit.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Doomed Air France 447 Flight List Includes Two Terror Suspects?
It always amazes me how we get the news. First, early reports. Early reports are confused and chaotic but they are interesting in that respondents and reporters haven't yet had time to put together a cover story, an official line, a little set-piece speech designed to calm your deepest fears.
So it was with Air France 447 where early reports had it that the plane disintegrated long before it hit the water. It was also reported that lightning, turbulence, violent pitching and yawing had never caused a plane to disintegrate in mid-flight. Nor would the faulty speed indicators lead to that sort of thing.
Then followed the period of cautionary excess in which the public is reassured that mechanical hocus-pocus could indeed cause the deaths of 228 people. And no doubt the pitot tubes could have put out false readings.
But why does it take so long for us to find out that two of the passengers abooard the doomed jet were on the French terrorist watch list? The lead is still being checked out but it's a bit daunting when the officials will not disclose information which may cause some of us to think for ourselves. Heaven forbid.
So it was with Air France 447 where early reports had it that the plane disintegrated long before it hit the water. It was also reported that lightning, turbulence, violent pitching and yawing had never caused a plane to disintegrate in mid-flight. Nor would the faulty speed indicators lead to that sort of thing.
Then followed the period of cautionary excess in which the public is reassured that mechanical hocus-pocus could indeed cause the deaths of 228 people. And no doubt the pitot tubes could have put out false readings.
But why does it take so long for us to find out that two of the passengers abooard the doomed jet were on the French terrorist watch list? The lead is still being checked out but it's a bit daunting when the officials will not disclose information which may cause some of us to think for ourselves. Heaven forbid.
The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Contributor - The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention - NYTimes.comWith anti-semitism scarcely acknowledged in today's world, and on a day when an anti-semitic psycho went on a rampage in DC's Holocaust Museum, this editorial cries out to be read.
One of the most astounding assertions is that, of thousands of Jews who were expelled from Alexandria, Egypt and other parts of the Arab world, from ancient times to the present, only four Jews remain.
One of the most astounding assertions is that, of thousands of Jews who were expelled from Alexandria, Egypt and other parts of the Arab world, from ancient times to the present, only four Jews remain.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Supreme Court Red Flags Chrysler Race To Finish
Just when the President's task force thought they were in position for a final run at the checkered flag, Ruth Bader Ginsberg waved the yellow caution light, raising the possibility of a disqualification.
There was a little problem of the Indiana State Pension Fund being flattened by the president's economic blitzkrieg. The state of Indiana filed a petition which was overruled by the state court of appeals and then Indiana petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Blitzkrieg has been a relentless assault on private ownership of car companies, banks, insurance companies, and private secured investors. A large part of the media has been silent on whether it is even constitutional for the runaway government to use public funds for bailouts of unions and foreign auto companies as well as its well-connected friends in the financial industry.
With a stroke of the Czar's pen, the hundreds of years old tradition of honoring business contracts was abrogated by the Obama administration.
Obama and his team have added many concepts to the vocabulary of American political thought:
Systemic Risk: Anything that tends to damage the image of the administration-connected financiers of the banking and insurance communities.
Jobs: Those abstract and formerly real things which can be both created or saved by the Messiah but can never be counted or denied.
Green Shoots: The power of massive spending of taxpayer dollars to create a phony impression of consumer optimism and short-term economic rebound coincident with President Obama's policy speeches.
There was a little problem of the Indiana State Pension Fund being flattened by the president's economic blitzkrieg. The state of Indiana filed a petition which was overruled by the state court of appeals and then Indiana petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Blitzkrieg has been a relentless assault on private ownership of car companies, banks, insurance companies, and private secured investors. A large part of the media has been silent on whether it is even constitutional for the runaway government to use public funds for bailouts of unions and foreign auto companies as well as its well-connected friends in the financial industry.
With a stroke of the Czar's pen, the hundreds of years old tradition of honoring business contracts was abrogated by the Obama administration.
Obama and his team have added many concepts to the vocabulary of American political thought:
Systemic Risk: Anything that tends to damage the image of the administration-connected financiers of the banking and insurance communities.
Jobs: Those abstract and formerly real things which can be both created or saved by the Messiah but can never be counted or denied.
Green Shoots: The power of massive spending of taxpayer dollars to create a phony impression of consumer optimism and short-term economic rebound coincident with President Obama's policy speeches.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Traitors in Hillary Clinton State Department? What?
Also in George Bush's state department, and Bill Clinton's and other presidents going back twenty years. But Hillary is in charge now and she needs to cull over the State Department. People who follow this sort of thing shouldn't be surprised that state department officials routinely "go native" or go belly-up for dictators. It's rather the culture of some elements in the State Department, an element which sees itself in the role of creating a foreign policy which is superior and more knowledgeable to stated goals of whomever is the President.
It must be said that there are thousands of loyal, devoted, career state department officials who have done much to advance causes of democracy and freedom around the world, but the two academic elites who were spying for Cuba represent a certain element which has also characterized State.
The arrogance of the left-liberal academic elite is no more apparent than in the statements of these pampered state department double agents.
It must be said that there are thousands of loyal, devoted, career state department officials who have done much to advance causes of democracy and freedom around the world, but the two academic elites who were spying for Cuba represent a certain element which has also characterized State.
The arrogance of the left-liberal academic elite is no more apparent than in the statements of these pampered state department double agents.
Suicide Squads in Gaza Respond to Obama's Peace Offering
A squad of suicide bombers intercepted by the Israeli Defense Forces now lie dead in a field surrounded by explosives. These fanatical fascist terrorist robots even wired some horses with explosives in the hope of killing American civilians. President Obama might tack an addenda onto his recent Middle East speech addressing this problem. Hamas controls Gaza and is either directly or indirectly responsible for these attacks. If the Israelis had not withdrawn from Gaza in the vain hope of encouraging a peace process, the right-wing Hamas and other Islamic Extremist Factions wouldn’t now be in control.
We can expect either no comment from President Obama at all or a lukewarm comment at best. This kind of horror needs a clear statement from the president since it spoils the cause of peace. The same applies to the West Bank. Stop the terror, first—then we’ll talk.
The President, however, lives in the world of fantastical ideas and it is far more comfortable to deal with the abstract, which can be changed with a few words of clever language, rather than with facts on the ground, which cannot.
We can expect either no comment from President Obama at all or a lukewarm comment at best. This kind of horror needs a clear statement from the president since it spoils the cause of peace. The same applies to the West Bank. Stop the terror, first—then we’ll talk.
The President, however, lives in the world of fantastical ideas and it is far more comfortable to deal with the abstract, which can be changed with a few words of clever language, rather than with facts on the ground, which cannot.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Why the Albert Camus Novel "The Fall" Should Be Required Reading in Congress - Associated Content
Why the Albert Camus Novel "The Fall" Should Be Required Reading in Congress - Associated ContentIf you've never read this novel, you ought to. If I were God, a president, a king, or Heavyweight Champion of the World, I’d make everyone read “The Fall” twice.
You can do it easy! Just read my piece on Associated Content by clicking on the title.
You can do it easy! Just read my piece on Associated Content by clicking on the title.
Castle to Vassal: A Filmscript Series about the Nobama White House
We now rejoin our feature docu-drama about the Nobama White House. We must repeat that any resemblance of character to persons living or dead are entirely coincidental. We resume our program now with Vice-President O'Biden aloft in Air Force One and circling the Statue of Liberty as panic-stricken New Yorkers take flight down below:
WIDE ANGLE:
Thousands of people are running everywhere...shrieking, falling all over themselves in panic. A baby carriage gets loose from a mother's hands and rolls helplessly into the street, an infants little head bobbing. Cars are crashing everywhere while others dodge the terrified people....
SECRET SERVICE MAN ONE (V.O.)
Sir, you've got to take this call--it's the president!
VICE-PRESIDENT (V.O.)
This is what it's all about...national security!...look at those damn people down there! let's give 'em a damn show! The president?... Here, give me that phone...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Joe, Joe, Joe!... You got to use the teleprompter...justlike I do...there's a reason for that.
VICE-PRESIDENT
Yes, Sir....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And tell the pilot to get his ass and yours back on the ground, you hear?
VICE-PRESIDENT
Yes, sir!...
The Vice-President appears forlorn and tells an aide to tell the Captain to bring the plane down...
FADE OUT:
ON Statue of Liberty becoming smaller and farther away in NY harbor.
FADE OUT:
The PRESIDENT is back in the Oval Office with his feet up on his desk. He is throwing paper "basketballs" into a hoop he has set up across on the opposite wall.
CHIEF OF STAFF
(hurrying in to Oval Office)
Barry! Barry!... You've got a presser in twenty minutes...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
No sweat, Runn!... and stop calling me Barry, will you?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Sorry, chief... but I'm in a hurry....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
So what are people wearing in New York these days?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Dunno...! Should be like Chi....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (sings)
Chicago!...Chicago!...My kind of town...
(fires another paperball)
A press conference, you say? Now what kind of press conference would that be today?
CHIEF OF STAFF (sighs)
GM, remember?
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
The bankruptcy? Oh, that! No problem there. It's in the teleprompter isn't it?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Yeah, but..
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
I guess I'll wear the usual...subtle pinstripes, dark tie, white shirt... no, maybe the cameras will pick up a blue shirt better!...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And Michelle's all ready to be picked up. I wonder if we should take the smaller jet.... I just can't decide...or Air Force One...
CUT TO:
The White House lawn, filled with reporters and broadcast vans. The PRESIDENT walks out in long strides to face the microphones. He adjusts his tie, again and again, a gesture which is an NOBAMA trademark entrance.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
This is going to be short, folks...Michelle and I have a date to see a Broadway show. That's in New York, of course!
There is a rush of bemused affection rushing through the assembly of news reporters....
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Oooooh!....aaaaaaaah!...a date, he said " a date." Ooooooh!...Aaaaaah! We hope he won't be late....OOoooooh!....Aaaaaah..It's in New York, you know, a Broadway Show, a date, we hope, he won't be late....to Broadway!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Alright, folks, thanks but there'll be no need for that.
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Oooooh!...aaaaah!...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
(looking at his watch)
All right now...it's late...and I've got to be going but first, but first, first I want to say that I have no interest in being a car company CEO.
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Ooooooh!....aaaaah!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (perturbed)
(forces a smile)
Alright,then...all right...and I have no interest in running a car company....
There is suddenly a disturbance behind him which causes the president to halt his speech and turn his back to the crowd. Runn Emmanual pops up whispers something in the president's ear, something the press strains to hear....
CHIEF OF STAFF (whispers)
Bing...it's Bing!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (whispering)
Detroit Mayor Bing?
(irritably and too loudly)
Tell him not to worry. GM Headquarters will remain in Detroit!
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Oooooh...what's that he says?
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
GM Headquarters will remain in Detroit? How does he know this? Oh, what a wizard he is! So smart!..so Harvard-educated!
The president then turns back to the crowd and the teleprompter.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
As I say, I have no interest in running a car company. My man Fritz here...
(pauses, motions toward Fritz)
has my full confidence and he will be the one making the decisions with regard to operations...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
The key thing to remember is that we're saving or creating 50,000 jobs and it's only going to cost the taxpayers 80 billion dollars. That's a small price to pay when you think of how much the UAW has done for GM and for America.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And the new GM will no longer be making the cars that bigoted tight-fisted conservatives drive around places like Dallas, Texas. The new GM will be making tiny, fuel-efficient little gizmos that will gradually replace the motorcycle as the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the highway.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
These new Green vehicles will be powered by the hard work of poor dirt farmers in hick havens like Iowa and Nebraska--places where smart people don't want to live. Corn is what I'm talkin' 'bout!--ethanol!...or from wood chips and other scrap materials!....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Within 4 years, just in time for my next election, we'll be filling our swimming pools with ethanol! And we'll put a federal tax of $2.00 a gallon on oil so that we can beat the Europeans at their own game, adding up to yet another reason to buy cars from Government Motors.
(laughing)
Ha-ha...and not from those stupid Chinamans who bought the Hummer, ha-ha!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And to those conservative,skeptical doomsayers who say that ethanol will raise the price of food for everyone around the world, let me just say that my tax cuts on those making less than $250,000 a year will subsidize poor hardworking working families who can now afford to shop with Michelle and I at Whole Foods, Inc.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Now I'd like you to imagine a future where our houses are heated by the sun and wind. Think of the Green jobs that will provide as we all joining hands to move back to full employment by the year 2010, or perhaps later.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Now I see it's getting time for us to be off to New York. I'll take a few questions before leaving you in the capable hands of Fritz Henderson.
The reporter enclave is suddenly in a frenzy, shouting out a hundred questions. The President appears bewildered. Runn Emmanual whispers again into the president's ear.
REPORTER
But what about Ford? Ford is the only car company that didn't come to the government for a handout. Won't Government Motors be competing with private car makers like Ford? And what about Honda and Toyota and the others who make cars in the US? Won't it be unfair to them?
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Oh, dear...Look what time it is. I've got to be off. Air Force One is running and you know how much fuel you can burn off while idling on the runway...
The President sprints off the stage with a wave and a smile. Runn Emmanuel quickly pushes Fritz to the microphones.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (shouting)
Good luck, Fritz!
FADE OUT:
Tune in next week as President Nobama plans a trip and major speech at Cairo University. That's in Egypt, if you don't know. If you don't know, your services are highly desirable and much in demand at the Nobama White House. We remind you also, in the event you missed some parts of our series, to scan down to the archived sections for previous postings of this ground-breaking docudrama.
WIDE ANGLE:
Thousands of people are running everywhere...shrieking, falling all over themselves in panic. A baby carriage gets loose from a mother's hands and rolls helplessly into the street, an infants little head bobbing. Cars are crashing everywhere while others dodge the terrified people....
SECRET SERVICE MAN ONE (V.O.)
Sir, you've got to take this call--it's the president!
VICE-PRESIDENT (V.O.)
This is what it's all about...national security!...look at those damn people down there! let's give 'em a damn show! The president?... Here, give me that phone...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Joe, Joe, Joe!... You got to use the teleprompter...justlike I do...there's a reason for that.
VICE-PRESIDENT
Yes, Sir....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And tell the pilot to get his ass and yours back on the ground, you hear?
VICE-PRESIDENT
Yes, sir!...
The Vice-President appears forlorn and tells an aide to tell the Captain to bring the plane down...
FADE OUT:
ON Statue of Liberty becoming smaller and farther away in NY harbor.
FADE OUT:
The PRESIDENT is back in the Oval Office with his feet up on his desk. He is throwing paper "basketballs" into a hoop he has set up across on the opposite wall.
CHIEF OF STAFF
(hurrying in to Oval Office)
Barry! Barry!... You've got a presser in twenty minutes...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
No sweat, Runn!... and stop calling me Barry, will you?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Sorry, chief... but I'm in a hurry....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
So what are people wearing in New York these days?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Dunno...! Should be like Chi....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (sings)
Chicago!...Chicago!...My kind of town...
(fires another paperball)
A press conference, you say? Now what kind of press conference would that be today?
CHIEF OF STAFF (sighs)
GM, remember?
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
The bankruptcy? Oh, that! No problem there. It's in the teleprompter isn't it?
CHIEF OF STAFF
Yeah, but..
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
I guess I'll wear the usual...subtle pinstripes, dark tie, white shirt... no, maybe the cameras will pick up a blue shirt better!...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And Michelle's all ready to be picked up. I wonder if we should take the smaller jet.... I just can't decide...or Air Force One...
CUT TO:
The White House lawn, filled with reporters and broadcast vans. The PRESIDENT walks out in long strides to face the microphones. He adjusts his tie, again and again, a gesture which is an NOBAMA trademark entrance.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
This is going to be short, folks...Michelle and I have a date to see a Broadway show. That's in New York, of course!
There is a rush of bemused affection rushing through the assembly of news reporters....
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Oooooh!....aaaaaaaah!...a date, he said " a date." Ooooooh!...Aaaaaah! We hope he won't be late....OOoooooh!....Aaaaaah..It's in New York, you know, a Broadway Show, a date, we hope, he won't be late....to Broadway!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Alright, folks, thanks but there'll be no need for that.
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Oooooh!...aaaaah!...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
(looking at his watch)
All right now...it's late...and I've got to be going but first, but first, first I want to say that I have no interest in being a car company CEO.
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Ooooooh!....aaaaah!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (perturbed)
(forces a smile)
Alright,then...all right...and I have no interest in running a car company....
There is suddenly a disturbance behind him which causes the president to halt his speech and turn his back to the crowd. Runn Emmanual pops up whispers something in the president's ear, something the press strains to hear....
CHIEF OF STAFF (whispers)
Bing...it's Bing!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (whispering)
Detroit Mayor Bing?
(irritably and too loudly)
Tell him not to worry. GM Headquarters will remain in Detroit!
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
Oooooh...what's that he says?
CHORUS OF REPORTERS
GM Headquarters will remain in Detroit? How does he know this? Oh, what a wizard he is! So smart!..so Harvard-educated!
The president then turns back to the crowd and the teleprompter.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
As I say, I have no interest in running a car company. My man Fritz here...
(pauses, motions toward Fritz)
has my full confidence and he will be the one making the decisions with regard to operations...
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
The key thing to remember is that we're saving or creating 50,000 jobs and it's only going to cost the taxpayers 80 billion dollars. That's a small price to pay when you think of how much the UAW has done for GM and for America.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And the new GM will no longer be making the cars that bigoted tight-fisted conservatives drive around places like Dallas, Texas. The new GM will be making tiny, fuel-efficient little gizmos that will gradually replace the motorcycle as the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the highway.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
These new Green vehicles will be powered by the hard work of poor dirt farmers in hick havens like Iowa and Nebraska--places where smart people don't want to live. Corn is what I'm talkin' 'bout!--ethanol!...or from wood chips and other scrap materials!....
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Within 4 years, just in time for my next election, we'll be filling our swimming pools with ethanol! And we'll put a federal tax of $2.00 a gallon on oil so that we can beat the Europeans at their own game, adding up to yet another reason to buy cars from Government Motors.
(laughing)
Ha-ha...and not from those stupid Chinamans who bought the Hummer, ha-ha!
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
And to those conservative,skeptical doomsayers who say that ethanol will raise the price of food for everyone around the world, let me just say that my tax cuts on those making less than $250,000 a year will subsidize poor hardworking working families who can now afford to shop with Michelle and I at Whole Foods, Inc.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Now I'd like you to imagine a future where our houses are heated by the sun and wind. Think of the Green jobs that will provide as we all joining hands to move back to full employment by the year 2010, or perhaps later.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Now I see it's getting time for us to be off to New York. I'll take a few questions before leaving you in the capable hands of Fritz Henderson.
The reporter enclave is suddenly in a frenzy, shouting out a hundred questions. The President appears bewildered. Runn Emmanual whispers again into the president's ear.
REPORTER
But what about Ford? Ford is the only car company that didn't come to the government for a handout. Won't Government Motors be competing with private car makers like Ford? And what about Honda and Toyota and the others who make cars in the US? Won't it be unfair to them?
PRESIDENT NOBAMA
Oh, dear...Look what time it is. I've got to be off. Air Force One is running and you know how much fuel you can burn off while idling on the runway...
The President sprints off the stage with a wave and a smile. Runn Emmanuel quickly pushes Fritz to the microphones.
PRESIDENT NOBAMA (shouting)
Good luck, Fritz!
FADE OUT:
Tune in next week as President Nobama plans a trip and major speech at Cairo University. That's in Egypt, if you don't know. If you don't know, your services are highly desirable and much in demand at the Nobama White House. We remind you also, in the event you missed some parts of our series, to scan down to the archived sections for previous postings of this ground-breaking docudrama.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Spending Explosion Mandates Massive Federal Tax Increase--Bernanke Speaks
We're doomed! The U.S. is digging a massive monetary hole with its stimulus plans—GM and Chrysler bailouts, AIG, the Big Banks, the UAW, cap and trade, social security and Medicare deficits, and a planned program of universal health care.
Yet, Bernanke told Congress today that the U.S. will stop printing money? Really? That would mean that we'd need a 60 percent federal tax increase to make up the record deficits of the Obama administration.
That'll be good for the economy. Should we join hands now and sing the Internationale?
Goodbye, Comrade.... I'm off to the Salt Mines.
Yet, Bernanke told Congress today that the U.S. will stop printing money? Really? That would mean that we'd need a 60 percent federal tax increase to make up the record deficits of the Obama administration.
That'll be good for the economy. Should we join hands now and sing the Internationale?
Goodbye, Comrade.... I'm off to the Salt Mines.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Big Government Spending Pushes Stocks and Mortgage Rates Higher
The Obamanomicians are trying to counter the force of gravity and a number of other scientific rules. For every action there is a reaction. The Fed and Treasury have given injected billions into the economy and it's been the kind of push that energized the stock markets and stimulated buying on credit. It's hard to be entirely thrilled by the stock market performance (though we thank God and Obama (one and the same) for little things)at the sub 1000 level. I'll make my bows to Obama if the S @ P gets to 1250 where the losses would be less devastating.
To further stimulate the housing market, the Fed has pursued a policy of buying up vast quantities of Treasury bonds to keep interest rates down. Inevitably, the rising yield curves and low prices is having the opposite effect. Home mortgage rates are rising, and could choke off any small signs of recovery. The "green shoots" may wither and die as rate inflation takes hold even as oil prices climb.
There's no doubt we're in a high interest rate la-la land of the future. Perhaps we can sell our older teenagers and college graduates into slavery to make up the difference in dollar strength.
Unfortunately, we're still in Government Ownership Mode and the spending will continue as we guide GM and Chrysler through their bankruptcies. Somehow the jobs of 50,000 UAW workers have become more important than the other 6 million unemployed.
To further stimulate the housing market, the Fed has pursued a policy of buying up vast quantities of Treasury bonds to keep interest rates down. Inevitably, the rising yield curves and low prices is having the opposite effect. Home mortgage rates are rising, and could choke off any small signs of recovery. The "green shoots" may wither and die as rate inflation takes hold even as oil prices climb.
There's no doubt we're in a high interest rate la-la land of the future. Perhaps we can sell our older teenagers and college graduates into slavery to make up the difference in dollar strength.
Unfortunately, we're still in Government Ownership Mode and the spending will continue as we guide GM and Chrysler through their bankruptcies. Somehow the jobs of 50,000 UAW workers have become more important than the other 6 million unemployed.
America Just Bought a New Car for 80 Billion Dollars
America just bought a new car for 80 billion dollars but no one should think of driving it. The U.S. Government is the only driver, and Fritz Henderson is merely its mechanic.
The U.S. government is now competing with Ford and with the Japanese makers for market share. There is no dearth of money to lend to car buyers with shaky credit, no lack of money for legal fees in bankruptcy (the bankruptcy lawyers have a sunny disposition), and no regulatory obstacles to acceptable performance except for free market capitalism.
I wouldn’t expect that free market capitalism would be any sort of problem for the Obama administration. Obama went on television yesterday to tell people he didn’t want to have anything to do with the car business but still found time to make a personal phone call to reassure Detroit’s mayor that GM headquarters would remain in Detroit and not move, as many had said. It was so decreed by the man who wants nothing to do with the car business.
The U.S. government is now competing with Ford and with the Japanese makers for market share. There is no dearth of money to lend to car buyers with shaky credit, no lack of money for legal fees in bankruptcy (the bankruptcy lawyers have a sunny disposition), and no regulatory obstacles to acceptable performance except for free market capitalism.
I wouldn’t expect that free market capitalism would be any sort of problem for the Obama administration. Obama went on television yesterday to tell people he didn’t want to have anything to do with the car business but still found time to make a personal phone call to reassure Detroit’s mayor that GM headquarters would remain in Detroit and not move, as many had said. It was so decreed by the man who wants nothing to do with the car business.
Mysterious Air France Disaster Needs Scientific Investigation
The Air France passenger jet that vanished off the coast of South America poses some questions that need to be resolved. Air liners aren’t supposed to dive into the water because of storms or hits of lightning.
Apparently, the automatic radio transmitter was able to send a message that the electrical system had malfunctioned but there were no other warnings of problems, and no calls from the crew.
The word was put out immediately that “authorities” did not suspect terrorism, but I don’t know how that could be figured out so quickly. I don’t necessarily believe there was an explosion but I do tend to resist explanations that are too hasty and have no purpose other than to calm anxious minds and hearts.
The plane wasn’t equipped with mechanical controls and was flying by “wire” and isn’t it possible to sabotage even the most redundant systems? I’m just saying…
We’re not idiots. We need to keep an open mind on this. It’s worth the money to retrieve the “black box.” We need to know… At least the Wall Street Journal has enough integrity to mention that “officials can’t rule out a bomb.” That’s a good way of putting it, too. Rule it out through solid scientific investigation, but not with a public relations campaign.
Apparently, the automatic radio transmitter was able to send a message that the electrical system had malfunctioned but there were no other warnings of problems, and no calls from the crew.
The word was put out immediately that “authorities” did not suspect terrorism, but I don’t know how that could be figured out so quickly. I don’t necessarily believe there was an explosion but I do tend to resist explanations that are too hasty and have no purpose other than to calm anxious minds and hearts.
The plane wasn’t equipped with mechanical controls and was flying by “wire” and isn’t it possible to sabotage even the most redundant systems? I’m just saying…
We’re not idiots. We need to keep an open mind on this. It’s worth the money to retrieve the “black box.” We need to know… At least the Wall Street Journal has enough integrity to mention that “officials can’t rule out a bomb.” That’s a good way of putting it, too. Rule it out through solid scientific investigation, but not with a public relations campaign.