I am, alas, an envious fellow, especially when it comes to artistic pursuits. Oh, if I could only have written that book… made that movie, etc. Although it declines as I grow older, sometimes I can be a pretty jealous guy (not my best trait).
But one person I would never envy is the President of the United States. Talk about a job with no control! Take the three big issues of the moment, global warming (assuming it exists), the economy and Islamic terrorism. In fact the first two are probably beyond the intellectual competence of anyone who has ever served in the office and the third may be intractable. That’s a good reason to ignore global warming more or less completelly, even if you say you’re not. [There's a strategy I would follow.-ed Me too.] This article (linked by Glenn) saying the economy is well outside anyone’s control makes sense to me and Islamism seems to behave like a giant virus with no antidote.
So new Mr. President Obama, what do you do? Well… stage a big inauguration party and spend more money than anyone in history. Seems as rational a response as anything. [But what about people like you who don't like parties?-ed. I wasn't invited anyway.]
“global warming (assuming it exists)”
The real question is not whether human beings are significantly responsible for global warming. That is actually a secondary question. Of far greater importance is whether it make any real difference? Is it indeed harmful? The Medieval Warm Period (around 800-1300 AD), it must be pointed out, was a blessing to the inhabitants of Europe. We, prudently speaking, should indeed essentially “ignore the problem.”
I live north of Chicago. Today ‘Global Warming’ has the temperature at single digits, and well below zero with the wind chill.
Al Gore said that the oceans would rise within 10 years if ‘global warming’ continued…and that was about 6 years ago. Please show where the size of that rise has occurred, and I don’t mean in some far-off island in the Pacific. Somewhere on the US coasts, where the rise has actually and measurably occurred using verifiable methods.
David;
Well, there are ecological consequences on the flora and fauna, many of which are documented in scientific publications.
One of the greatest treasures we have are the Great Plains. Not too hot, not too cold, not too dry, not too wet. Perfect farmland – making us the largest exporter of food in the world.
I wouldn’t want to rely on other countries for food the way we do for oil should climate change affect the weather on the Plains.
Just a thought …
Gee Roger,
Obama shouldn’t have any problem solving those problems at all. He is the Messiah…or at least a lot of useful idiots think so. Let’s see…wind power, tax the rich and eliminate Israel, that should have everything cleared up by February, don’t you think?
By all means lets have one big last party before the barbarians pull down our walls and haul us off into slavery.
Waxman is promising quick action on climate:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D95NNE8O0&show_article=1
This is an oxymoron if I have ever heard one. My question is if we start getting charged for our carbon footprint, who can I sue? I doubt the arguments supporting anthropogenic global warming will hold up in court.
I believe all the CO2 emanating from the gasbags in Washington is a major factor in global warming. I think our elected officials need to start being taxed for their noxious emissions. At least cattle provide something in return for their CO2 output. Not to mention that every time Waxman et al open their mouths, average citizens’ temperatures start to rise. I propose we put a cap on Congress’s carbon footprints.
The reason Obama will not ignore global warming, aside from the legions of supporters who believe the myth, is that there are too many people with their careers, federal grants, corporate investments and reputations on the line. With Waxman and Browner heading the pack, “climate change” will be the debate silencer for any socialist move anyone wants to make. This week, for example, Madison, Wisconsin is regulating fast food restaurants under the rationale of addressing “climate change” It is the socialists’ dream come true: a blank check for government control over anything and everything (OK, not sex, of course) with a rationale that is beyond questioning (“the debate is over.”)
It doesn’t matter whether it really exists or whether any of the vast and ruinously expensive measures that will be adopted to supoosedly address it will actually accomplish anything. The fix is in, and the troughs will now fill.
Here’s a great case for why our system for evaluating Presidents is fundamentally flawed.
Consider: Presidents are remembered mostly for their crisis management, and the rest for the relative prosperity during their reign.
However, many of the existential crises we face today could have been nipped in the bud for very little pain ten and fifteen years ago. The particular president involved instead chose to let these problems fester into another administration rather than taking a modest hit during his own terms.
It’s sad because even as our country condemns the fire-fighters for the fire, we yearn for the happy days when the arsonists were in charge.
Psychopaths are utterly unperturbed by that which gives the rest of us pause.
Obama’s lies down in a bed of roses and rises to the sun smiling for him, for him alone.
Taos, the Great Plains will still exist. They will just move north 100 miles or so. Vast new areas will open for cultivation and longer growing seasons.
(Assuming Global Warming is real, which I in no kind do.)
I think the most difficult thing would be the unknowns. Imagine if Mexico completely imploded or if Islamists got control of Pakistani nukes. Presidents can come up with a plan for some things, but the things that often hurt them are the things they do not see coming.
“Imagine if Mexico completely imploded?” How would we tell the difference?
How would we tell the difference if Mexico imploded? Easy. The Mexicans pouring over the border seeking refuge wouldn’t look like Mexicans. They would the lighter-skinned elites who were previously quite satisfied to dispatch their poorer and darker ciudanos to El Norte to work like peons.
If something happened to Mexico, expect Russia to try to get involved. Perhaps via satellites in Cuba or Venezuela. They would stir the pot to create yet another failed state, this time one that can export chaos to the US and tie us up in our own hemisphere.
If we really want to see change we can believe in, perhaps the next pundit sit down for Obama could be with Roger L. Simon, Glenn Reynolds, Bill Whittle, Victor Davis Hanson, Mark Steyn, the Anchoress, and you can think of a few more.
Wellspring:
I was thinking about an article read in an Elpaso on line paper. Link at Glenn Reynolds. It seems that there is a report from the Joint Chiefs of Staff that both the Pakistani and Mexican governments could collapse. So we are talking about not only the usual dysfunction we have seen for years, but complete chaos. The present situation would look tame in comparison.
Who would want this job?
Someone who wants to give a trillion dollars or so to his pet projects and put the US taxpayer on the hook for it…
The most worrying this is that I already know that pit viper Putin will eat Obama for lunch. Obama may come from the Chicago machine, but they have NOTHING on the Russians.
Obama will soon have what he wants — political power — and, as a bonus thanks to the crashing economy, an unlimited spending account. The Presidency is only a thankless job if one cares. Obama doesn’t care about anything except power and the celebrity and keys to Air Force One that comes with it. He’ll kick back and enjoy the next eight years. If the U.S. is a bankrupt banana republic by that time so be it.
Al Gore said that the oceans would rise within 10 years if ‘global warming’ continued…and that was about 6 years ago. Please show where the size of that rise has occurred, and I don’t mean in some far-off island in the Pacific.
About those far-off islands in the Pacific…
We hear that all these coral atolls, which are only a few feet above sea level, will be swallowed up by the ocean if Global Warming keeps up. True as far as it goes, but it begs the question: How did coral islands get to be a few feet above sea level in the first place? Coral only grows underwater, so a coral reef cannot grow up into the air.
The answer is, those coral islands used to be a few feet below sea level, way back when the Earth was even warmer than it is now. Before SUVs, air conditioning and suburban sprawl. These islands that AGW enthusiasts frequently cite as a reason for worry are actually proof that the climate changes quite drastically all by itself without any help from us hairless apes. Has been doing it for a long time. Will keep doing it for a long time to come.
These people remind me of fools cowering in fear during an eclipse because the moon ate the sun. “Please, Mr Wizard, make the moon cough it back up! Please! We’ll give you anything you want, anything at all!”
But Barack Hussein Obama is (sorta) black and black breeds a need for bling. No? At least that’s what the cultural warriors have been telling me for more years than I want to…count?
Obama surely feels no pain. The attention, the adulation, the self-created mythology will be too intoxicting for balance and perspective. For the next few months Obama will be in the altered state of consciousnesss that true religious ecstasy produces – the religion of statism – that the state is the solution to all human problems, of which he is now the high priest. When reality comes crashing in, I think it will be terrible for all of us.