The Obama Administration: That 70s Show
Get out the bell bottoms and the lava lamps. We are going back to the 1970s. This is not a new fashion craze. It is the new economic and international reality. The good news for Republicans: after the 1970s came Ronald Reagan.
On the domestic front we have at least temporarily given up emphasis on free markets and economic expansion. Instead, we are back to expanding government and running up a frightful tab. The debt is piling up, the Fed has the printing press going and the Chinese rightfully concerned we will inflate away our obligations.
On energy, regulatory schemes to increase energy prices and thereby decrease energy usage are now in fashion. We aren’t yet rationing gas by the last digit of car license plates, but cap-and-trade legislation and the pronouncement that carbon dioxide is a threat to the planet have a common goal: restrict carbon output and industrial activity.
Meanwhile, unemployment is edging higher and higher. Forty-six states have seen joblessness increase, the national rate is 8.5%, and more states will be joining those with double digit unemployment in the months ahead.
We therefore see the prospect of the infamous combination of high inflation and unemployment. Unfortunately, unlike the steely-eyed Paul Volker, who wrung inflation out of the system in the early 1980s, Ben Bernanke now is Fed chairman. And he seems to fashion himself not as the guardian of the money supply but as a policy maven. It therefore is questionable that he will, when necessary, apply the monetary brakes to stifle inflation, especially as he angles for appointment by President Obama to another term.
But it is on the national security front that the resemblance to the 1970s, and Jimmy Carter’s presidency specifically, is uncanny. Defense Secretary Gates, unlike all his peers in the cabinet, is told to make “hard choices.” On the cutting block are a variety of programs, from the F-22 to missile defense. Tom Donnelly of AEI writes:
Gates has rightly been emphasizing the need to ensure that irregular warfare concerns have “a seat at the table” in Pentagon program deliberations. But it’s increasingly clear that, given the large-scale cutbacks directed by President Obama, Gates’ rhetoric is becoming an excuse for budget cuts rather than an argument about the nature of the threats we face. If the administration’s commitment to irregular warfare were genuine, it would not have been content to simply confirm the land-force expansion plan completed under President Bush, but would, as Sens. Joseph Lieberman and John Cornyn have advocated, continue to grow the Army.
Moreover, the president’s modus operandi appears to be to apologize to and ingratiate himself with allies and enemies of the U.S. He bows to the Saudi king and does the grip-and-grin routine with Hugo Chavez. He sits through a scathing rant from the likes of Daniel Ortega without objection. He sends a TV valentine to the mullahs in Iran, apologizing for Americans’ supposed indifference to Muslims. With no promise of reciprocation, he lifts bans on travel and money transfers to Cuba. He sends a letter to Russia offering to nix missile defense in Europe in exchange for Russia’s help with Iran. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is told to pipe down about human rights when talking to the Chinese. The North Koreans shoot a missile while the president talks disarmament and the response, two weeks later, is a resolution from the UN to really get going on those sanctions. And when an America citizen is convicted of spying in Iran, we initially can only muster “disappointment.” Then we are “gravely concerned.” That’ll show them.
It is a foreign policy which Jimmy Carter would approve of — minus the emphasis on human rights. Obama appears convinced that by denigrating American interests and contributions (both economic and military) we will get back in the good graces of world opinion. Throw in plenty of multilateral chit-chat, slice and dice the defense budget, avoid condemnation of the world’s bad actors and guarantee that they face no penalty for their conduct; we have completed the picture of America in retreat. The only exceptions: a willingness to complete George Bush’s Iraq policy and a needed push forward on Afghanistan.
We are, it seems, in a state of collective amnesia. The 1970s formulas (both domestic and international) proved to be a dismal failure. It is only when we turned to economic policies of sound money, low taxes, reasonable regulation and free trade and to robust defense of American interests abroad that America enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity. But disregarding the lessons of the not-so-distant past, the Obama administration now casts aside policies which promote economic growth, domestic energy production and military readiness in favor of a hodge-podge of government-centric programs, debasement of our currency, and displays of international weakness. The results are unlikely to be different that they were 30 years ago.
The silver lining for the Republicans: the 1970s were the prelude to an intellectual and political renaissance for their party. Mired in scandal and held in low repute after Watergate, they lost the White House and were in the minority in both houses of Congress. But the insistence by Democrats then on pursuing misguided policies and the Democratic president’s failure to assert American power spurred popular unrest. That in turn gave birth to the Reagan Revolution.
If the Republicans now find their voice, define a robust agenda and recruit some attractive leaders there may once again be an opening to present the American people with an alternative to domestic feebleness and international retreat. Things may get worse before they get better, but they will indeed get better — as soon as we relearn the lessons of the 1970s.
Time will undoubtedly tell if in the foreign policy sphere we are at a return to the Carter years or not. Carter was driven by a worldview that events showed to be seriously misguided. I am not at all sure whether Obama shares major portions of that world view – or whether he believes that his powerfull personality can overcome all obstacles. If it is megalomania, perhaps the end results of events will not be quite as disaterous, complicated and humiliating as they were under Carter – or perhaps they will be worse.
On the domestic economic front, unless we have a serious Republican change in mind set (which shows no great signs st present) coupled with a tsunami like change in the 2010 election – the damage promises to be significant and extremely difficult to reverse. I think the long lasting impact of the liberty eroding growth in entitlements and misguided energy policy, coupled with accelerating federal infringment on states rights, will be more devastating than even the horrible stagflation of Carter.
Buckle up. We are in for a wild ride.
I’m not sure the current majority of the electorate is intelligent and rational enough to learn basic lessons, like the actual reasons why the 70′s were so bad. The combination of millions of uneducated third world nationals entering the electorate illegally with the complete domination of the US education system by leftist political thought police has yielded a population that cannot field a 51% majority that can reason logically. Every time I am exposed to the new generations coming through, it’s clear the US is in a state of devolution.
Who are these Republicans that will find their voice and recruit some attractive leaders? Right now Meghan McCain, speaking to and with the Log Cabin Republicans appears to be the loudest voice in town.
Her (their) message? We must become as gooey, mushy, perverse and worthless as the Democrats are if we expect to win elections. That’s what 39+ years of adding stupid to the mix produced for the GOP since the 1970s. Obama trashing America with every breath he takes and Ann Coulter starring as the only Conservative with a decent set of family jewels.
Tom Tancredo suggests that Obama isn’t concerned about a second term – that he is going all out to get his agenda implemented and tucked away in the first term, and damn the consequences to his chances for re-election – one of the considerations that kept Bill Clinton in check. If so, and if Obama’s ego would let him “take one for the cause”. then that would be the more frightening scenario. Reagan wryly joked about the indestructable nature of Federal programs after his own experience with the department of education.
We really are relying on the idea that Obama is an egomaniac (as he appears to be) and is not a calculating Alyinskyite (which he could be).
In the 1970′s, we were still able to vote ourselves out of that mess. Both parties weren’t owned by the same monied interests then. Now, however, no matter which party is in control of the government, the same multibillionares, bankers, labor union leaders, etc. will profit equally and at our expense. That’s why republican politicians were booed at the tea parties along with the democrats.
Frankly, it seems unlikely that we will be able to meaningfully improve our situation by voting for the kind of republican politicians that are likely to be available.
Thank you Jennifer, for pointing out the similarity between now and the seventies. This includes the negative consequences of the left’s war on both Nixon and Bush. OPEC became a powerful force in 1973 and the Arab countries and other Moslem oil producers nationalized the production. The U.S. was hampered by the internal political turmoil and could not respond. This occurred mainly before Carter took office, but his policies and weakness continued the oil crisis (and many others) thru out his term. Both Congress and the MSM were not on Carter’s side. A most interesting item that has been overlooked was that the run up of banking and finance debacles started in the Carter administration when he attempted to cool inflation by keeping a lid on interest rates S & L’s could pay to depositors (regulation Q, 6% ).
As far as another Reagan, the Obamacrats seem to have the MSM pretty well under their thumb.
It’s actually a repeat of the old reality be damned policies that libs always put in place when they get a stranglehold on power. And reality always ends up biting ‘em in the ass. And taking a good chunk of innocent bystanders asses, as well.
Obama’s favorite book, we hear, is “Rule for Radicals”. Of course he’s a Son of Saul, as well as an egomaniac. If, as Roubini and Schiff tell us, things are about to get much worse economically AND the Apologizer in Chief’s foreign policy will net us a city going boom, one term may be more than enough.
It will not be long now; probably next december, when we will see the Obamas walking around the white house wrapped in cardigans or blankets gleefully keeping the thermostat down to 50. The rich yuppies in the democrat party will be writing about how wonderful it is to be a poor nation.
As to The Self-Exalted One possibly not sharing Carter’s worldview, he has in the past stated that he regards Carter as a “role model”, has agreed with his statements about Israel (notably those in Carter’s odious book on the subject), and has repeatedly made statements regarding a “new direction” for American policy, both abroad and at home, which could have been boilerplated off Carter’s speeches. In fact, so far, his “policy initiatives” look exactly like those Carter tried to push through in the first six months of his (thankfully brief) term in office.
The real question is, is there any issue on which he disagrees with Jimmy Carter?
So far, I haven’t seen one.
I am, however, forced to disagree with the theory that he might be wiling to sacrifice a second term to enact his view of The Way The World Should Be in one term.
Firstly, because an egotistical narcissist like The One is unwilling to sacrifice their ambitions for any reason whatsoever; the concept of anything being more important than their self-aggrandizement they regard as heretical.
Secondly, because he wants to go down in history as The One Who Changed Everything- and he doesn’t believe that one term is enough time to remake not just America, but the entire world, in his own image.
And thirdly, because he believes that once the rest of us “get over” disagreeing with him, we will recognize his overwhelming brilliance and godlike wisdom (not to mention his incredible physical perfection) and, on our knees, beg him to accept the position of Eternal Emperor of Everything.
Which he will, (not so) humbly, be willing to do.
clear ether
eon
Obama has been doing very well. The criticism and put downs in this article just show desperation and a desire to please the feverish minds of its readers. Bush and others could never achieve what the future will bring. This is a new beginning for this country. We have to erase all the mess that was created. Tax Parties are OK if they are sincere and lead to constructive changes. But the losers are going to mess it up.
The time is now to reconstruct the country and lead the World. It’s happening. Faster than you thought. Why? Because it’s the right direction. It’s a heuristic process. Not one of ideologies and inflexibility.
It’s a time to be optimistic.
Obama who is president of a country where the freedom of the press is constitutionally protected, feels it is his duty to apologize to the leaders of countries where freedom of the press is punishable with life in prison.
Vivo – All hail Dear Leader. His sprinkling of apologies is like a unicorn pooping rainbow skittles of joy and peace around the world. Doing very well? Keep watching.
Today’s Lesson is taken from the little Red Book of Obama.
From the Melting Pot to Diversity.
From One Nation Under God to Sharia Law.
From the Bill of Rights to the Bill of Bureaucrats.
From Capitalism to Socialism.
From Reagan to Sally Field (You like me, you like me!)
From the Great Satan to the Great Pussy.
Here endeth the lesson.
“Obama isn’t concerned about a second term – that he is going all out to get his agenda implemented and tucked away in the first term, and damn the consequences to his chances for re-election”
Brett McS has it right. There will be no country, as we know it, left when Obama gets through with us. This man is far more dangerous that Jimmy Carter, or Lyndon Johnson, or Bill Clinton, or even Franklin Roosevelt – the conservative/libertarian news outlets (such as this one) should give him no quarter. Over the weekend Obama’s advisors concocted a plan to nationalize the banks, without Congressional approval. If anyone is wondering why the stock market is in crash mode this morning, this is why:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/19/administration-says-banks-need-bailout-bucks/
Obama’s foolish and naive foreign policies are denigrating America’s standing in the world and putting every citizen of this great country in harm’s way.
I now believe he truly hates this country and what it stands for, he just doesn’t get it and should have never been elected President of this country. His actions are borderline treason as he and his band of miscreants strive to turn us into the United Socialist States of America.
We are in huge trouble and no one speaks out. Where is the anger? Where ar the voices? People, we have to stand up for our beliefs and our Constitution.
Obama is a pragmatic megalomaniac with massive socialist tendencies, aka – a very dangerous man.
Ms. Rubin:
“Get out the bell bottoms and the lava lamps. We are going back to the 1970s. This is not a new fashion craze. It is the new economic and international reality.”
Quite…which is why I would prefer to be in the basement, smoking a bong, and listening to Foghat at volume “11″ until all these so-called adults sober up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIjZE4kcg_Q
‘Welcome back Carter’
Vivo,
Good luck with that.
Cute little girls! Adorable puppy! Fashionable wife! Eco garden! Who notices anything else?
I don’t worry about bambi wanting a second term.
I worry about there being free, fair and honest elections in 2012. What with the dem’s plans for illegails (re: a way to guarnatee a voting block), ACORN corrpuption/voter fraud, and a whole host of entitilment progrmas that tend to get people to vote for those who will continue to support them in their laziness.
I worry that he is so intent on a power grab to support his ego and megalomainia, he wants to follow in Chavez’s or Castro’s footsteps, both “leaders” he “admires”, and get himself named president for life.
Hey Vivo, I match your heuristic process and raise you two heuristic processi.
I’m glad we are looking only at the seventies. Maybe we can stop it or reverse it.
I was beginning to think we were heading for the stone age.
:-S
You also forgot taking away healthcare. The Democratic solution for the Social Security crisis. Deny healthcare to the elderly and the poor.
As long as Republicans are fighting Republicans over Sarah Palin, Daniel Hannan will continue to
dominate the global right of centre scene.
For, if anyone trots out those responsible for the Republicans being reduced to minority status
in the House and Senate in 2006, the establishment wing of the Republicans will have
set the final fuse which would result in the borders of the United States change; and there will be the scenario communicated by that Russian Professor who teaches at the foreign affairs college for Russia.
Today marks the 2nd anniversary of Sen Reids “the war is lost” speech. Can you imagine a politician making a similar speech in 1942?
It must be nice being a Democrat pol. You can trash the country, trash the military, trash prospective christian judges and then win re-election in a landslide.
I tend to disagree with an analysis that compares today’s dangers with what happened in the past.
The lefty-liberal agenda of past Administrations was just idiot ideology, today we face an Administration that shows signs of a determined will to change America forever, allowing no going back.
The heavy-worded DHS memo shows the intent to brand any dissent as a crime, the friendly handshakes with the commie thugs from Southern and Central America is another clear sign of the direction the radicals of this Administration are taking.
The rules of the game can be changed without any formal change by using tactics that in America we have never seen before and that have been used by the commies in Europe and elsewhere.
I sometimes wish that we had to do with the old idiots like Carter and Kennedy.
The radical plans of the “shadow party” set up by Soros are at play today, let’s not slumber in the thought that “everything” is like in the past.
We don’t even know how much of the financial crisis that determined the result of the last elections has been a pre-organized maneuver.
People who move like that WILL move forcefully at the NEXT elections too, and in the meanwhile they will change the whole economic structure of the Country.
The commies call that : “changing the MATERIAL constitution” of a country.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment, and let’s hope that I am absolutely wrong.
I didn’t review:
read
“…are another clear sign…”
Im seeing and hearing many more Republicans, Independents and even Moderate Democrats who voted for Obama starting to be concerned about Obama lefties policies and this love affair with everyone who hates America. Many of the above, angry as they were with Bush, decided to give a chance to the Democrat candidate; even when they have doubts about him, they were still praying and wishing to be wrong regarding those fears about Obama…
Since I was never fooled by him, I maybe among the few conservatives who saw nothing wrong with the handshake with Chavez, the constant smile to the US haters, the not standing up to insults from Noriega and so on. If anything, I feel for the first time Obama is being honest about whom he truly is, and whom he’d rather be with, shake hands and hang around with.
Now, many of those doubters who nevertheless went for Obama are starting to feel buyers remorse. Not me. I knew he was an appeaser, and antiamerican, a closet socialist and a traitor to the US security (see release of torture memos).
There is the ‘real’ change people were so curious about and that Obama never explained in common English words. Get it now?
Great article. Thanks.
I too am hearing complaints from the people who voted for Obama – many seem a bit confused and even sorry perhaps that they made this choice. Their arguments are not holding out. They still want to defend him, but the defense is becoming weaker with each day of bad economic news. It’s not like every single idea the guy has is bad, it’s just that so many capitalists are not “with him” and our country is run on the idea of capitalism. What do we expect to happen? If you start threatening the freedom of what we were founded on, you start threatening everything. When that happens, people scatter. Capitalists are scattering.
“It will not be long now; probably next december, when we will see the Obamas walking around the white house wrapped in cardigans or blankets gleefully keeping the thermostat down to 50.”
After the video footage is completed, they’ll turn the thermostats back up for the orchids.
i’m actually pretty content to wait 6 months or so until i start calling Obama names. one thing that seems fairly well-established at this point, however, is that the whole “look how centrist and post-partisan i am” schtick between his election and his inauguration was pretty disingenuous. since i’m most interested in foreign policy, it will be interesting to see how far our enemies exploit the surrenders Obama’s been handing out. (i’m thinking that foreign policy-wise, probably the best definition for a Lefty is that he cannot or will not comprehend that there are people who interpret gestures like Obama’s recent ones as Surrenders, whether the well-meaning Lefties think so or not. why does it not occur to them that there are people who think radically differently than them? is it the same malfunction that causes them to believe their hilarious uniformity of opinion is evidence of independence? i believe it must be.)
but obama: i say we give the guy some more time. i think the tea parties and histrionics are pre-mature. this should be a time of recreation. c’mon folks: you’ve got to give the kid a chance. of course, once he’s failed, it’s time for the Iron Maiden.
33. Meryl,
LMAO! So true too. The ‘Big LIE’ is in progress and the MSM have their liberal biased skin in the game.
Meanwhile, 0bama is trying to OWN the big banks and industries [the few American ones we have left] and he’s going to print out worthless monopoly money to appease his ‘spreading of the wealth’ constituency and then impose his ridiculous ‘energy taxation’ which will make everything cost so much that the pittance of his 0bama bux he tosses willy nilly at the unwashed masses will not even cover the exponential increases as our dollar decreases in value. *takes a breath* Sorry for the run-on sentence.
As I predicted a couple months back here on PJM, 0bama is running off the rails with his psychotic idealogy. Fasten your seat-belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Kelly, the problem was that during the campaign people were so desperate for ‘change’ that nobody or only very few dared question ‘what kind of change was he specifically talking about’.
There are changes people want, and then, there are changes people rather have not…; I want to change my car for a newer one with more confort, fuel efficiency, etc. but I dont want the streets and traffic laws that allows me to drive it destroyed.
Sure we all wanted change, but Obama was let go unquestioned, unscrutinized about what change he referred to. Even if the MSM (very unlikely) wouldve popped up the question, he wouldve been hesitant to answer it and spin it around with nice words.
Since I lived most of my life in a third world country in Latin America I was never fooled by Obama’s evasion of the ‘change’ meaning. I am very familiar with the ‘Intellectual Elite Creed and Crowd’; their manipulation of the masses’ brains through confusing rethoric that sounds good in generalities and words (“better education, better HCS, better this, better that) but all of it boils down to this: government takes your 2 cows and gives back some milk – instead of – take one of your 2 cows and buy a bull so you can have plenty calves and milk for ever. In short: Socialism – as in, “I know what is best for you, so trust me with your work and money for me to administer it for you and I (read the Gvrnmnt) will return you in kind with a portion of it, because I know how to control your own life and you dont”. That is the kind of condescending and patronizing BS that comes out of socialists.
This explains why the MSM and Obamacamp went into full frenzy mode when a common American worker (commonly known as Joe the Plumber) asked the tax related question. That was possibly the most direct and ‘straight to-the-point’ question that Obama was ever confronted with. The left, indignant over such daring, yet without any compelling answer to it, then turned to its favorite sanitizing tools to minimize the story: ‘Character Assassination’ and ‘Kill the Messenger’ technics.
I can recognize an ‘useful idiot’ when I see it. Very sad times for this the country of individual liberties and freedoms. Yes, Bush made terrible mistakes and decisions (save protecting this country from another attack), but he was just a lousy president that you simply replace with another one; but when the issue is not about a president’s abilities, but about a drastic infraestructural change of the very basis that made the US the most succesful country in history, then, as Tom Hanks would say in Apollo 13, “hey Houston, we’ve got a problem”.
On a whim, the other day I dragged out a copy of a biography on Carter I had. Sure it was somewhat hard-edged and with a rightward slant, but in dispassionately reviewing the events and facts I had forgotten about, it became manifestly clear that Carter was a piss-poor president and that, based on his performance thus far, Obama is only a major foreign crises away from exceeding Carter’s exceptionally high bar of incompetence at less than 100 days in.
The Carter “malaise” really began to stink in his third year and the putrefaction really accelerated when Aqua-Velva-jhad and the rest of those Iranian “students” took over the embassy, whereupon Carter sat there with his thumb in one or another of his orifices.
Dumbo (POTUS with the big ears) let a rowboat full of brigands armed with rusty Kalashnikovs stare down one of our destroyers and now those pirates are stopping everything in sight off the coast of Somalia. (Protecting fishing rights, my ass!) God only knows what happens when the aforementioned now-leader-of-Iran or Pajama Boy of North Korea go nuke. My guess is, instead of the Camp David navel-gazing that Carter and minions engaged in, President Training Pants will hit the road in hyper-campaign-mode.
Reminiscent of the Carter years? Well, we still have not had the 55 MPH speed limit, the aforementioned cardigans, the “killer” rabbits, and a “malaise” speech..
..but, hey, we’re only in the first year of this boob’s tenure.
(Anyone have some old bell-bottoms and platform shoes they want to part with cheap?)
For what it’s worth*, I wrote about the return to the 70s and our “Leisure-suit government” a few weeks ago: http://tinyurl.com/cof3y6
*(I can hear the cries now: “Not much!”
)
36. tammy12
(((BRAVO)))!!!!!!!!! You said it, girlfriend! Excellent post!
Maybe one of Obama’s dozen or so half brothers can brew up their version of Billy beer. Yum Yum, Kenyan beer.
#40 steveg:
“Maybe one of Obama’s dozen or so half brothers can brew up their version of Billy beer. Yum Yum, Kenyan beer.”
I’ve been to Kenya, steve. Believe me when I tell you that you wouldn’t want to drink anything brewed in Kenya.
Unless your idea of catching a good buzz is from the result of dehydration by crapping yourself half to death on the toilet.
Don’t ask me how I learned this the hard way.
If you should ever find yourself in Mombasa, skip the brewskis and chew khatt like the natives.
After a few hours it gives you a mild buzz with a tinge of homicidal paranoid psychosis, kinda like a weak PCP “sherman” or two, only slower acting…not that I’d know…read that in a book somewhere.
Khatt is one of the things that makes Somalia such an interesting place.
Anyway, less time on the john afterwards.
37. Войска ПВО,
Great post and I’ve never read the book you mentioned but it sounds pretty…well…’sound’ regarding “Jimmeh Cahtah’.
“Anyone have some old bell-bottoms and platform shoes they want to part with cheap”
I can sew you some ‘elephant bells’ if ya like.
~
41. Bilgeman,
Bilge, that was some of the most HILARIOUS advice EVER! My face hurts from laughing though, Sir. You owe me a dose of “Khatt”. Nahhhhh. I better pass on that. Just give me the worm out of the Tequila bottle instead. So far as I know, at least a Tequila worm doesn’t require adult diapers at least. Crap on, Crap off, the Crapper!
Plus a guy hijacks a plane to Cuba…it’s deja vu all over again.
TAX PROTESTS AND CIVIL DISSENT UNHEALTHY?
Only if you are a rock star member of team Obama.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/team-obama-rock-stars-are-not-leaders.html
#11 Vivo’s comment -..The time is now to reconstruct the country and lead the World.
Vivo, what do you think WE as a country have been doing for decades!?
Teleprompter Guy met with 2 dictators this past week. Accepting gifts from one of them.
Obama scoffed, masking (badly might I add) his pompousness when responding to a Senator’s comment regarding his deplorable behavior with Chavez, as risking national security. How can it not?
Obama released interrogation information, techniques and other secret information as well. For what? To be ‘part of the team’?
Unfortunately, your group-think mentality doesn’t accept, fathom or recognize our place or the awesome feat of the strength of the USA. Let alone encourage, strengthen it.
Your mindset seems to be ‘displaying’ our country’s strengths, weaknesses is productive. In essence it shows our hand.. thus weakening and cheapening it.
Strong countries possess strong leaders. This man hasn’t led anything in his 47 + years. Though he did lead the ‘Harvard Review’. Which consisted of what.. a couple dozen people? Fledgling lawyers at that. ‘What an accomplishment’ (sarc off).
Heck, Teleprompter Guy voted ‘present’ 150 + times in Senate when asked to cast a vote on difficult issues. Yet, this vacuous jerk is going to ‘better our country’?
He’s a salesman. In forever campaign mode. For campaign mode doesn’t require results, but only to speak of them. Suffice to say he’s duped a majority of the American people who’ve bought into his phony bill of goods.
Behind closed doors I’d imagine Teleprompter Guy has been ‘advised’ to tame it down a bit or spoken to prior to going publicly. Oy…!
steveg, I too have had the ‘pleasure’ of having ‘Kenyan beer’.
‘Guinness’ is sold in Mali. Sure the can says Guinness, though the water to brew the stuff is from Kenya. After 6 months there I would’ve climbed through barbed wire to drink Hamm’s, PBR or even a ‘near beer’ than that stuff.
#37 Was there anything in Jimmy’s biography regarding global cooling alarmism? I’m afraid to admit I actually fail for it when I was young and stupid.
tammy @30
I was thinking the same thing. I was not fooled. I expect the four years to be bad ones in every respect. I’m resigned to it, because I knew who he was and that the packaging many were fooled by did not fool me.
I think the figure in recent presidential politics whom Barack Obama most closely resembles is Gary Hart. Hart pulled the same left wing vote Obama did.
What made Obama different was that he, unlike Hart or any left-wing white Democrat, was able also to pull the minority vote in the primaries.
If Hart had been to pull minority voters, he would have been the nominee in 1984, perhaps again in 1988.
The other parallel is that Obama, under the skin, is a brazen risk taker who likes to live on the edge, just like Hart was.
I am not in saying this alluding to Hart’s person indiscretions, which are another issue entirely, although also a product of his risk-taking nature.
4. Brett_McS:Tom Tancredo suggests that Obama isn’t concerned about a second term – that he is going all out to get his agenda implemented and tucked away in the first term, and damn the consequences to his chances for re-election
No such luck. He is emulating FDR, his supporters are talking about scraping the 21(?) Amendment. His taking over the Census, his billions to ACORN to sabotage the electoral system. He is readying for his 3rd and 4th terms.
Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be smart enough to pull that off. Unfortunately, the electorates may be stupid enough to give him hope.
While much of the citizenry waits in dread for Obama monetary policy to hurt us I fear more:
Obama, Alexrod, Rahm Emmanuel and such are indeed fascist, socialist and true believers in internationalism. They and their comrades in congress-including too many Republican weaklings-are determined to strip us our our sovereignty and subject us to International Law and UN mandates.
Throw in Obama’s “Certain resentment against (his) mother’s race” and that chip on his shoulder and America- We have a problem.
To be fair, Nixon caused the recession that Carter continued and worsened. By closing the gold window, he set off a wave of inflation like we hadn’t seen since the Roosevelt administration.
Maybe its a go0od thing Obama is a wuss. It might scare the Beheysus out of the Europeans and the Japanese to the point that they start building some military muscle.
“Though he did lead the ‘Harvard Review’. Which consisted of what.. a couple dozen people?”
Actually he didn’t run that either- according to one of those dozens of people he hardly ever showed up in the ioffices. As always, he was more interested in the job title than the actual job.
There is deflation instead of inflation, no energy crisis, and deregulation is being blamed for our woes.
Sounds more like the 30′s. Especially when combined with the congressional victories had by the Dems.
#11 Vivo, “Obama has been doing very well.”
My question is: At what?
Spending money that the country does not have? Perhaps you are referring to the coming massive increase in government. Study economics please, government is not a source of funds, it is a sink.
What are we talking about here really? We are fundamentally talking about intellectual capital or the ability to create something that was not there before. What bureaucracy would have conceived of Google? None. Why? Because there are too many people in a bureaucracy that can say “no” to a project but very very few who can say “yes”. But a couple of geekly math whizes (without a government bureaucracy behind them) put together a powerhouse business that generates real productivity.
Now what was it that Obama has done?
Attend all the state and local political meetings you are able to. FORCE politicians NOT to take stimulus money unless they can afford to do the project on local funds.
Raise CAIN, if you are ABLE.
Let them know you are a taxpayer and that the Federal Money they want to spend is YOURS, not theirs!
Derek,
Inflation is the increase in the money supply, not the rising prices that result from it. The government is inflating the money like crazy as we speak; the price increases are on the way.
Heuristics for Dummies (and vivo)…
The Constitution and the American way of life are not heuristic. Radical, unlawful federal intrusions, and actions that are harmful to the people and States are to be opposed. That’s an order from the founders of our law. If you choose to ignore your duty to protect and defend our Constitution, what does that make you?
By the way, vivo, can you name a socialist country that outshines American freedom, productivity, and quality of life? You should emigrate there at once…they have what you seek. They will place you in a suitable profession, and only require 96.5% of your income in taxes. You must surrender your personal liberty as well, for the collective good, of course. You will go willingly and love it there, I just know it, they even supply toilet paper toting government attendants to administer to your wiping needs from cradle to grave. This utopia is just around the corner.
Back to the topic, lessons of the past. To increase the effectiveness of the (70′s and Carter) comparison when arguing policy, we need a derogatory reference association. How about a RottenPeanut and RazzBarry sandwich? PeanutSputter and StrawBarry? OK, I’m out.
23. ricpic:
“Hey Vivo, I match your heuristic process and raise you two heuristic processi.”
Anytime.
35. Delia:
“Fasten your seat-belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
Your bumpy ride.
45. paul_unalaska:
He’s doing well. You just have understand that there are better ways than wht has been done before. It’s a heuristic process.
56. BeachBumBill:
“What bureaucracy would have conceived of Google?”
You are confusing oranges and apples. Obama is a President and leads the policies of the country. These policies enable entrepreneurs to create things. What has he accomplished? Read the news and search for the signs (careful, Fox is very misleading).
59. HawkWatcher:
“Heuristics for Dummies”
Heuristics allows you to fix your errors. You should try this on your writings (and thinking). Improvement never stops.
The better news (than the Republicans make some sort of come back) might be that the public turns back to [re-]discover the Enlightenment, and we can break ties with this 2-headed-one-party.
I’m hitching my spiritual wagon to the fact that sales of some important books are going though the roof – Atlas Shrugged for one.
Tweaking back & forth between 2 mildly different statist ideals is not going to put an end to the geneneral rot of the past 100 years.
“The time is now to reconstruct the country and lead the World.”
One Nation.
One World.
One Leader.
Yup, its the 1930′s again.
I’m not sure Jimmy Carter is the correct analogy here. I understand the analogy, and have used it myself. But I think Obama is far more dangerous than Carter. Jimmy, believe it or not, was actually a moderate Democrat on domestic policy. He believed in cutting spending and balancing the budget, and actually did balance the budget. He was pulled to the left, domestically, by a very liberal Congress. He didn’t know how to handle the economy, and was a very poor leader.
He was pretty far left for the time on the foreign-policy scale.
Obama is different. Obama is more of a Juan Peron type — far left both domestically and internationally, a transnational progressive and socialist who tries to moderate his policies. He’s a game-changer. Obama is a skilled leader and is an extremely effective communicator. That is, we have a far-left demagogue, a Latin American style president. Obama has already gotten away with things that would have sunk anyone else, in the primaries, in the general-election campaign, and even in the White House.
I don’t know if America is through, but I do think we’re in for at least six years of rough times.
Socialists never change their ideas.
In their view, socialist policies only ever fail due to implementation problems or, more likely still, a lack of popular fervor for socialism.
Nothing Obama is proposing is new (environmentalism aside). More taxes, more spending, more debt and deficit, more intrusion, more abortion, more control, more appeasement?
Been there, done that. Theory matters far more than results to the Left.
http://trackacrat.com/
First terrorist attack and he’s toast. Bush prevented it, Obama’s words encourage it.
I think he’s planning on NOT running in 2012. He doesn’t have the patience. Been there, done that. He’s already tired and maybe bored.
Too much money post-Presidency–see Al Gore and Clinton. Both billionaires or close to it. That’s why H. Clinton is Sec Sate. Her big minus was she didn’t have the foreign policy chops (that and she wasn’t black).
Why on earth would she do it otherwise? Simple.
Obama will announce he is not running to make way for another historic first, a woman president. He will throw all his weight (think ACORN, not pounds) behind her, enjoy ALL the perks of a President without the responsibility. The media will herald him as unselfish and “bravo” him for years. Then they will hail all his “accomplishments”.
That’s why he is moving so quickly with full steam ahead. Window may close and his ego can’t stand a bad second term. Clinton left as President Lewinsky and Bush got skewered second term.
Obama has NEVER proven to be a long-term commitment guy when it comes to work.
I was never a fan of Obama, and I really don’t think i believe in him. Obama’s handshake with Chavez has definitely been covered a lot today. It remains to be seen how this is going to effect the U.S.’s relationship with Venezuela. I found this video today that shows how different news outlets are covering the Obama/Chavez story. It’s interesting to see the difference in perspectives. definitely take a look:
http://www.newsy.com/videos/obama_ch_vez_handshake_of_hope/
Meryl @33; the ref to orchis is very funny; Obama may well be the Orchid-in-Chief….or the Orchidectomist-in-Chief (we’ll see…)
(Orchidectomist -> Orchidectomy-> http://www.cancer.gov/templates/db_alpha.aspx?CdrID=318820 )
Obama is tripping over himself to fullfill his outlandish view of a left wing utopia where we all get along and all share our income equally. $3.5 trillion CAN’T BE PAID by a 3 or 4% increase in upper income taxes. pelosi is simply spending money like crazy like all rich california women – only it’s OUR money. I remember Carter as Prez. The rates on mortgages was 18%. you could get a CD for 15%. inflation was out of sight. iran was holding u.s. hostages. it was a mess. carter should have stayed in georgia, and obama should have stayed in corrupt chicago.
I never thought I would ever be able to say that an American President was worse than Carter.
But, in just 100 days, Obama has won. It is now official–Obama is the worst President ever.
Obama’s future is printed on his boxes of cigarettes.
Just for fun I was searching for ignorant Jennifer Rubin articles (I know, that is redundant) and was brought to this site. I read through many of the incredibly misinformed comments here, and I wanted to thank most of you for a good laugh; I know I’m not among the most educated people, but I am clearly far from being the least educated.