In his never ending quest for a microphone or a television camera the Reverend Jesse Jackson has informed the world that Obama will remake the Mideast. In the course of this globe shaking activity, the Reverend Jackson opined that he fully supported the long-advanced position of Senator Obama that talks without preconditions between the President of the United States and the Mullah-in-Chief of Iraq are both necessary and proper.
Apparently neither the Reverend Jackson nor all-but-inaugurated Obama have bothered to ask the folks running the Islamic Republic of Iran what their take on precondition free talks might be. The Iranian government has rectified this oversight.
It turns out that the mullahocracy has a couple of preconditions of its own which must be met before there could be any meaningful direct conversations between itself and the US government. The position came in an exclusive interview between Vice President for Media Affairs Mehdi Kalhor and Fars News Agency. (http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8707210851)
There are only two stated conditions. But, they are doozies!
According to Fars the VP averred that as long as there were US troops in the region and the US continued to support the "Zionist Entity," there was no possibility for talks.
So, to have the Obamaesque talks without preconditions all the United States must do is retract all forces from the "region" however broadly the statesmen in Tehran might define it and stop all support of whatsoever nature for the State of Israel.
And, why, pray tell, Mr Vice President should the US undertake these two adjustments in its policy?
The VP asserted, "It is the Americans who are in dire need of reestablishing ties with Iran."
Oh, really, just how did you and your mates in the Islamic Republic's hierarchy come to that conclusion?
The VP did not deign to dilate on his assertion but merely piled a second on top of the first according to the Fars account. "Iran is not obliged to reestablish ties with the U.S."
Neither, the Geek hastens to add, is the US under any obligation to reestablish ties with Iran and may not benefit in the slightest from any ties should they be established.
The reciprocity aspect of international relations eluded the Vice President for Media Affairs. That is not surprising considering the breathtaking arrogance of his next comment to the gentleman of the Iranian press. "If they take our advice, grounds for such talks would be well prepared." (Quotes in original.)
At least the Veep for sweet talk was honest in his final remark. "It is stupidity to hold talks without any change in U.S. attitude."
So, let's see if the Geek has it right. To achieve the Obama-Jackson goal of no-precondition talks with Iran all the US has to do is this. Get the hell out of the Mideast and Persian Gulf region as defined by Tehran. Toss Israel over the side. Say, gosh a rootie, mullahs, you are right, a peace loving Mahdi Bomb is a great idea.
Yes. Yes. And, yes. Those big three and maybe a bunch of other minor adjustments of American attitude would prepare the ground for talks.
As has been indicated in previous posts, the Geek is no fan of US policy regarding Israel over the past forty-five or so years. Likewise, he is not convinced that the all sanctions, all the time approach to the unpleasant behaviour of Iran is the best approach, simply that it is better than war at this time.
Be that as it may, the idea of precondition free talks with a regime which can take the positions adumbrated by its VP for Media Affairs is preposterous on the face. One need not be a world class diplomat to realise that.
Evidently one needs more experience in diplomatic matters than the Reverend Jackson to connect the dots. Can the same be said about Senator Obama?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Powell Endorsement
The Geek was neither surprised nor disappointed in former SecState Colin Powell's support of Senator Obama. Given the way in which Powell was manipulated, lied to, humiliated and ultimately rejected by the war-loving neocon ninnies of the Cheney camp, his disenchantment with the Republican Party is fully justifiable. Given the effort General Powell has given in recent years to the cause of black youth in America, there is nothing shocking about his view of Obama as a "transformational figure."
It is simply unfortunate that the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and very able Secretary of State is now so tragically wrong. Worse, the tragedy is not so much personal as it is national.
Colin Powell is wrong in his view that the McCain campaign is somehow transgressing the rules of civilized politics by correctly pointing out the strong personal and ideological linkage between Obama and the unrepentant co-founder of the Weather Underground, Bill Ayers. Back when the Weathermen were up and running, Powell was insulated within the military from the winds of deep and abiding hatred for the United States and its government which blew through the minds of many young or youngish Americans.
Powell was still insulated from the realities of the ongoing actions of the direct descendants of the Weather Underground in the early 1980s. His position in the inner circle of the national security community would have been too lofty to be at all aware that the legacy of the Sixties was still alive and well in New York City.
To put it bluntly, Colin Powell is and was ignorant about Ayers and his ongoing hatred of the US. He is also ignorant of the potential, the very real and high order of probability potential of ideological affinity between Ayers and Senator Obama.
Ignorance may be blissful but it is not helpful in political decision making.
The former Secretary also indicates dismay with McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as Veep. The Geek agrees with Powell that the Alaska governor is inexperienced and would not be up to the task of being president should McCain turn toes up in the first year or two after taking office. While it is improbable in the extreme that John McCain will emulate William Henry Harrison in short tenure of office, anxiety over Palin's readiness is justifiable, but scarcely critical.
In any event the Geek would expect that former Secretary Powell would be more suspicious of a very experienced person in the Vice Presidency. After all it was Dick Cheney, a vastly experienced and viciously effective knife fighter in bureaucratic rivalries who was Powell's bete noir. Frankly the nation is better off with an inexperienced person serving as VP if the Cheney paradigm is any indication.
In so far as Colin Powell's perception that the McCain campaign's tactic of late is somehow divisive or underhanded, all that is necessary to recall is that Powell acknowledged in his memoirs that his presidential thoughts were aborted by the potential down-in-the-gutter nature of much political campaigning.
Apparently Powell's view was that war is preferable to presidential politics. War, at least, has some semblance of rules, of means to lessen the barbarism. Politics doesn't. Cheney proved that Powell was right.
Parsing the former Secretary's endorsement one is struck by the absence of any real reason for the statement of support. It appears that beyond being "transformational" and having some mystical power to be "inclusive," the junior Senator from Illinois meets some undefined minimal standard of suitability for the highest political office in this country.
Unless Colin Powell is actually some sort of closet Western European Democratic Socialist, one can only conclude that he has been blinded to reality by the Senator's beguiling smile or, less flatteringly, some other aspect of the Senator's physiognomy.
Or, perhaps, Powell is like many who watched the Supreme Court's decision as to the outcome of the Florida vote with trepidation barely moderated by clinging to the hope that the grinning shrub from Texas would be surrounded by a dependable coterie of adult supervisors who would make up for his obvious deficiencies.
We hoped back then. Nearly eight years ago. We hoped. We got Cheney and his neocon ninnies.
It is simply unfortunate that the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and very able Secretary of State is now so tragically wrong. Worse, the tragedy is not so much personal as it is national.
Colin Powell is wrong in his view that the McCain campaign is somehow transgressing the rules of civilized politics by correctly pointing out the strong personal and ideological linkage between Obama and the unrepentant co-founder of the Weather Underground, Bill Ayers. Back when the Weathermen were up and running, Powell was insulated within the military from the winds of deep and abiding hatred for the United States and its government which blew through the minds of many young or youngish Americans.
Powell was still insulated from the realities of the ongoing actions of the direct descendants of the Weather Underground in the early 1980s. His position in the inner circle of the national security community would have been too lofty to be at all aware that the legacy of the Sixties was still alive and well in New York City.
To put it bluntly, Colin Powell is and was ignorant about Ayers and his ongoing hatred of the US. He is also ignorant of the potential, the very real and high order of probability potential of ideological affinity between Ayers and Senator Obama.
Ignorance may be blissful but it is not helpful in political decision making.
The former Secretary also indicates dismay with McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as Veep. The Geek agrees with Powell that the Alaska governor is inexperienced and would not be up to the task of being president should McCain turn toes up in the first year or two after taking office. While it is improbable in the extreme that John McCain will emulate William Henry Harrison in short tenure of office, anxiety over Palin's readiness is justifiable, but scarcely critical.
In any event the Geek would expect that former Secretary Powell would be more suspicious of a very experienced person in the Vice Presidency. After all it was Dick Cheney, a vastly experienced and viciously effective knife fighter in bureaucratic rivalries who was Powell's bete noir. Frankly the nation is better off with an inexperienced person serving as VP if the Cheney paradigm is any indication.
In so far as Colin Powell's perception that the McCain campaign's tactic of late is somehow divisive or underhanded, all that is necessary to recall is that Powell acknowledged in his memoirs that his presidential thoughts were aborted by the potential down-in-the-gutter nature of much political campaigning.
Apparently Powell's view was that war is preferable to presidential politics. War, at least, has some semblance of rules, of means to lessen the barbarism. Politics doesn't. Cheney proved that Powell was right.
Parsing the former Secretary's endorsement one is struck by the absence of any real reason for the statement of support. It appears that beyond being "transformational" and having some mystical power to be "inclusive," the junior Senator from Illinois meets some undefined minimal standard of suitability for the highest political office in this country.
Unless Colin Powell is actually some sort of closet Western European Democratic Socialist, one can only conclude that he has been blinded to reality by the Senator's beguiling smile or, less flatteringly, some other aspect of the Senator's physiognomy.
Or, perhaps, Powell is like many who watched the Supreme Court's decision as to the outcome of the Florida vote with trepidation barely moderated by clinging to the hope that the grinning shrub from Texas would be surrounded by a dependable coterie of adult supervisors who would make up for his obvious deficiencies.
We hoped back then. Nearly eight years ago. We hoped. We got Cheney and his neocon ninnies.
It's The Economy, Stupid!
We the People may hope that life is that simple. The politicos may fervently wish that the next four years will revolve around the economy alone. Even the MSM may wish to pretend that life is so one dimensional that economic man will occupy its attention to the exclusion of all else.
Heck, wouldn't that be nice? In comparison to foreign affairs and national security policy, economic matters--even the collapse of major banks--seems so simple. It's all a matter of money. And, money is just so manageable. Right?
Sure, spending money is easy. Appropriating money is easy as well. Collecting money is harder, but not so hard as solving foreign policy dilemmas.
The Geek has to admit it would be enjoyable for him if the world would simply go away for a few years. He has a backlog of books to read. And, he has gotten bored with watching the same global problems rise up every day defying the solution du jour from the Inside-the-Beltway deep thinkers.
The truth is the real world won't let us alone. Foreign affairs won't go away and leave us to feel our way out of the fiscal fog.
The Mideast is not going to suddenly break out in peace. The dove will not become the national bird of Israel. Nor will the symbol of peace replace the sword on assorted Arab flags. Hamas will not morph into the Woodstock Nation.
The US has accomplished its minimum strategic goal in Iraq. Our forces can withdraw without the odor of defeat attaching itself to our boots.
Beyond that one more-or-less happy thought, life for the next president will be demanding in the region. Unless we wish to continence defeat, more troops must be deployed to and die in Afghanistan. Reaching the minimum strategic goal of "not-losing" will be harder in Afghanistan than it was in Iraq. Not only is Pakistan a coterminous state, so also is Iran. The potential for Iranian proxy efforts in Afghanistan is lesser than it has been in Iraq due to the Sunni-Shia habit of mutual distaste. Still the Iranian proximity will be unhelpful. Equally unhelpful is the world wide appetite for Afghanistan's number one commodity--opium. (OK, to err on the side of accuracy, it's not the opium but the refined products of the poppy.)
Nor is it likely that Iran is going to join the ranks of adult, responsible global citizens. The mullahocracy is unlikely to discontinue its support for insurgents in Iraq, or Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas. It is not probable that the Iranians will abandon their quest for the bomb, particularly as they can continue to count on the PRC running interference for them.
Before anyone decides that North Korea can be relegated to the category of "no problem," we have to note that the recently agreed to (for the umpteenth time) framework, does not address the Hermit Kingdom of the North's highly enriched uranium production efforts. This means that even if the Northerners turn over a full and accurate accounting of every decigram of plutonium produced and even surrenders their stockpile to adult supervision, the denizens running the NKPA will continue to have the capacity to pursue bomb making.
Russia has problems. Lots of them. Economy and demography are among the number. So also is the running sore of separatist movements. A test launch of a new ICBM in no way addresses the larger scale deficiencies of the Russian military and the infrastructure which supports it.
In spite of its difficulties and arguably because of them, Russia may well become more of a global bad boy in the next few years. The US will have to deal with Russia realistically and hardheadedly. No more looking the Russian leader in the eyes and discerning some sort of hidden truth there as W. Bush apparently did.
If all those threats and challenges seem too far from home to concern us, then look down south. Hugo Chavez not only dislikes the US intensely (to put it mildly), he has donned the mantle once worn by Fidel Castro. Chavez intends to tweak the beard of Uncle Sam as often and hard as he can. To this end he has not only embarked upon an unprecedented arms purchasing campaign, but has joined hands with Hezbollah and Iran. Chavez and his running buddies, the jefes of Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, are not inclined to make small plans in their opposition to the Colossus of the North, Neither are they the kind to back down without genuine cause.
Still too far from home to worry you, bucko? Then try Mexico. The shooting war between the drug gangs as well as between the gangsters and the government has made the Land Down South one of the most deadly environments in the world. Over the years there has been a strong tendency for violence and disruption in Mexico to spill over into the US. The Great Fence of Presumed Security is not likely to stop this predilection.
Mexico too far away? Jest kaint get all that fired up over what those taco benders are doing? Well, matey, how about the following
The US national debt is very large. Is all of it owed to Americans? No. Quite a bit of it is owed to foreigners. Quite a bit is held by Sovereign Wealth Funds. Some of those are controlled by states whose governments are not all that favorably inclined toward the US and its policy goals.
(Can we say, for example, Peoples Republic of China? Or, how about repeating after the Geek, "House of Saud?")
A diplomatically phrased but no less menacing version of, "Remember, boy, we hold your note," can have a significant inhibitory impact upon US policy initiatives.
OK, to again err on the side of accuracy, foreign ownership of US notes can do far more than simply inhibit policy demarches, but you get the point. The net effect of the current financial market morass will be a significant increase in national indebtedness. Much of that increase will end in the hands of foreign governments.
Then there is that old standby, foreign oil. Unless and until We the People and those who purportedly represent us in Congress and the Oval resolve to "drill, ye terriers, drill" in order to buy the time necessary to develop new and better forms of energy prime movers whether nuclear, clean coal or renewable, the US remains to some extent at the policy and self-interest mercy of foreign states.
This has been a (necessarily) abbreviated tour of the horizon. It should have been enough to illustrate the accuracy of the Geek's contention: The next administration will be a foreign policy oriented administration.
We have seen what can happen to our nation and its place in the world under an administration more controlled by ideology than a strong sense of realpolitik. We cannot afford another ideologically driven regime.
We cannot afford another Cheney. We cannot afford another loyal water carrier like Condy Rice. We cannot afford more ninnies whether neocon or progressive.
We have also seen what happens to our role in the world under an administration which was naive about foreign policy. The Clinton Administration was both naive and uninterested in foreign and national security matters. Beyond that, the President lacked experience and thus moral authority to deal with the senior military establishment.
We and our nation will not do well with another group of naive and disinterested folks in and near the Oval. Remember, we've been there. Done it. Have the scars to prove it.
The polls and the MSM to say nothing of most of the Gang of Five Hundred urge the Geek to accept the political reality. The Geek is urged by all other than Joe the Plumber to accept and embrace the coming of the Obama administration.
The Geek can accept much. Embrace much. Life and war have taught him the necessity of doing so. He is unwilling to embrace the prospect of more years of failure for our nation. Sixteen years of naivete, of ideology, of blown opportunities is enough.
Elections over the past forty years have more often than not revolved around choosing the lesser of two evils. This time around, for the first time in eight years the Geek must choose the Republicans. He must hope that change means less ideology and more realism in both foreign and economic policy--the inseparable twins.
He can only hope that enough people go along with the same choice.
Heck, wouldn't that be nice? In comparison to foreign affairs and national security policy, economic matters--even the collapse of major banks--seems so simple. It's all a matter of money. And, money is just so manageable. Right?
Sure, spending money is easy. Appropriating money is easy as well. Collecting money is harder, but not so hard as solving foreign policy dilemmas.
The Geek has to admit it would be enjoyable for him if the world would simply go away for a few years. He has a backlog of books to read. And, he has gotten bored with watching the same global problems rise up every day defying the solution du jour from the Inside-the-Beltway deep thinkers.
The truth is the real world won't let us alone. Foreign affairs won't go away and leave us to feel our way out of the fiscal fog.
The Mideast is not going to suddenly break out in peace. The dove will not become the national bird of Israel. Nor will the symbol of peace replace the sword on assorted Arab flags. Hamas will not morph into the Woodstock Nation.
The US has accomplished its minimum strategic goal in Iraq. Our forces can withdraw without the odor of defeat attaching itself to our boots.
Beyond that one more-or-less happy thought, life for the next president will be demanding in the region. Unless we wish to continence defeat, more troops must be deployed to and die in Afghanistan. Reaching the minimum strategic goal of "not-losing" will be harder in Afghanistan than it was in Iraq. Not only is Pakistan a coterminous state, so also is Iran. The potential for Iranian proxy efforts in Afghanistan is lesser than it has been in Iraq due to the Sunni-Shia habit of mutual distaste. Still the Iranian proximity will be unhelpful. Equally unhelpful is the world wide appetite for Afghanistan's number one commodity--opium. (OK, to err on the side of accuracy, it's not the opium but the refined products of the poppy.)
Nor is it likely that Iran is going to join the ranks of adult, responsible global citizens. The mullahocracy is unlikely to discontinue its support for insurgents in Iraq, or Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas. It is not probable that the Iranians will abandon their quest for the bomb, particularly as they can continue to count on the PRC running interference for them.
Before anyone decides that North Korea can be relegated to the category of "no problem," we have to note that the recently agreed to (for the umpteenth time) framework, does not address the Hermit Kingdom of the North's highly enriched uranium production efforts. This means that even if the Northerners turn over a full and accurate accounting of every decigram of plutonium produced and even surrenders their stockpile to adult supervision, the denizens running the NKPA will continue to have the capacity to pursue bomb making.
Russia has problems. Lots of them. Economy and demography are among the number. So also is the running sore of separatist movements. A test launch of a new ICBM in no way addresses the larger scale deficiencies of the Russian military and the infrastructure which supports it.
In spite of its difficulties and arguably because of them, Russia may well become more of a global bad boy in the next few years. The US will have to deal with Russia realistically and hardheadedly. No more looking the Russian leader in the eyes and discerning some sort of hidden truth there as W. Bush apparently did.
If all those threats and challenges seem too far from home to concern us, then look down south. Hugo Chavez not only dislikes the US intensely (to put it mildly), he has donned the mantle once worn by Fidel Castro. Chavez intends to tweak the beard of Uncle Sam as often and hard as he can. To this end he has not only embarked upon an unprecedented arms purchasing campaign, but has joined hands with Hezbollah and Iran. Chavez and his running buddies, the jefes of Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, are not inclined to make small plans in their opposition to the Colossus of the North, Neither are they the kind to back down without genuine cause.
Still too far from home to worry you, bucko? Then try Mexico. The shooting war between the drug gangs as well as between the gangsters and the government has made the Land Down South one of the most deadly environments in the world. Over the years there has been a strong tendency for violence and disruption in Mexico to spill over into the US. The Great Fence of Presumed Security is not likely to stop this predilection.
Mexico too far away? Jest kaint get all that fired up over what those taco benders are doing? Well, matey, how about the following
The US national debt is very large. Is all of it owed to Americans? No. Quite a bit of it is owed to foreigners. Quite a bit is held by Sovereign Wealth Funds. Some of those are controlled by states whose governments are not all that favorably inclined toward the US and its policy goals.
(Can we say, for example, Peoples Republic of China? Or, how about repeating after the Geek, "House of Saud?")
A diplomatically phrased but no less menacing version of, "Remember, boy, we hold your note," can have a significant inhibitory impact upon US policy initiatives.
OK, to again err on the side of accuracy, foreign ownership of US notes can do far more than simply inhibit policy demarches, but you get the point. The net effect of the current financial market morass will be a significant increase in national indebtedness. Much of that increase will end in the hands of foreign governments.
Then there is that old standby, foreign oil. Unless and until We the People and those who purportedly represent us in Congress and the Oval resolve to "drill, ye terriers, drill" in order to buy the time necessary to develop new and better forms of energy prime movers whether nuclear, clean coal or renewable, the US remains to some extent at the policy and self-interest mercy of foreign states.
This has been a (necessarily) abbreviated tour of the horizon. It should have been enough to illustrate the accuracy of the Geek's contention: The next administration will be a foreign policy oriented administration.
We have seen what can happen to our nation and its place in the world under an administration more controlled by ideology than a strong sense of realpolitik. We cannot afford another ideologically driven regime.
We cannot afford another Cheney. We cannot afford another loyal water carrier like Condy Rice. We cannot afford more ninnies whether neocon or progressive.
We have also seen what happens to our role in the world under an administration which was naive about foreign policy. The Clinton Administration was both naive and uninterested in foreign and national security matters. Beyond that, the President lacked experience and thus moral authority to deal with the senior military establishment.
We and our nation will not do well with another group of naive and disinterested folks in and near the Oval. Remember, we've been there. Done it. Have the scars to prove it.
The polls and the MSM to say nothing of most of the Gang of Five Hundred urge the Geek to accept the political reality. The Geek is urged by all other than Joe the Plumber to accept and embrace the coming of the Obama administration.
The Geek can accept much. Embrace much. Life and war have taught him the necessity of doing so. He is unwilling to embrace the prospect of more years of failure for our nation. Sixteen years of naivete, of ideology, of blown opportunities is enough.
Elections over the past forty years have more often than not revolved around choosing the lesser of two evils. This time around, for the first time in eight years the Geek must choose the Republicans. He must hope that change means less ideology and more realism in both foreign and economic policy--the inseparable twins.
He can only hope that enough people go along with the same choice.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Joe Takes On The Elite
The saga of the MSM and the Gang of Five Hundred versus Joe the Plumber is definitely the "man bites dog" story of the campaign to date. The Geek admits that despite his academic degrees and past employment, he is closer to Joe than he is to the elite represented by the MSM, most of the Gang of Five Hundred, virtually all members of the professorate and beaucoup supporters of Senator Obama.
The reason for this is simply that the elite and their champion, the Nice Young Man From Chicago, have a view of the United States and its place in the world which is antipodal to that held by the Geek. And is probably held in pertinent part by the Joes of this country (other than Joe Biden obviously.)
Admittedly the Geek found Joe the Plumber's position on the US invasion of Iraq both poorly based and almost pathetic in its earnest wrongness. On the other hand the Geek has to salute Joe's view of those who denigrate and blame the United States for all the ills of the world.
During his years in the academy the Geek grew to hate the never ending crescendo from his coworkers regarding just how evil the United States was in each and every portion of its foreign policy. He grew tired, physically ill actually, listening to distortions of history made to prove the correctness of the blame-America-first agenda of these coworkers in the field of history.
While it is evident from the content of many posts that the Geek is not a cheerleader for many US foreign and national security policies, particularly those of the neocon ninnies of the current administration, he is quite unpersuaded that the US is either an imperialistic menace or the handyman of the devil in its foreign dealings.
Blindly and willfully ignorant? Yes. Too willing to carry water for Israel? Absolutely.
But venal and malign? No. Absolutely not.
Over the years the Geek has also grown tired of the repetitious serenade sung by the chattering classes to the superiority of foreign ways. Twenty-five years ago there was nothing but hosannas sung to and about Japan. Japan was the model of cooperation. The acme of concern for the equality and dignity of the individual worker on the factory floor or in the cubicle. Japan was hope and progress and prosperity and on and on and on.
More recently the object of the elite's affections has shifted. Now the worshipful songs and adoring stares are bestowed upon the European Union.
The EU is the model of post-racial, post-ethnic, post-national ideals and practices. The EU is the archetype of multi-cultural sensitivity, the apogee of collaborative egalitarianism, the height of assuring that no person will somehow be left (in Senator Obama's words) "standing behind," the more successful, the richer, the politically potent, the socially dominant.
Seventy-five years ago the progressives argued that if only the US aped the ways of the Soviet Union, life would be so much better for the common man. Forty-five years ago members of the Geek's generation who should have known better took the position that if only the US became more like Cuba, or North Vietnam or even, (the Geek shakes his head) the Peoples Republic of China, prejudice would vanish, economic and social justice (whatever those might be) would triumph and all would be right in the land.
From the Soviet Union to assorted semi-communist dictatorships to Japan and now to the European Union the American elite of academics, occupational chatterers and progressive politicos have found much to love elsewhere while discovering even more to hate here at home.
Get a grip!
Joe the Plumber and others of the oft times despised and usually patronised hoi polloi have a better handle on what is right here and not-right overseas. The Geek talks with Joe's peers out here in the wilderness. None of them think that life is perfect in the US. None think that improvements in the equity of economic and political life can not and should not be made.
But, none are of the view that the government is better suited than the individual to make decisions. None believe that the advantages of Ivy League education or possession of either a law degree or a journalist's notepad confer a unique ability to perceive what is best for the individual American, the American nation as a whole or the role of the US in the world.
The Geek has yet to hear a member of the hoi polloi express a longing sigh and wish he lived under the tender eye of the EU and its bureaucracy. The Geek has yet to read a single word written by a certified member of the hoi polloi averring to the belief that "experts" in government or academia or even the health care industry are better equipped by education and disinterested perspective to make decisions on behalf of the individual.
The concepts "individual" and "freedom" have long dominated the belief structure of Americans and continue to do so among the hoi polloi, among the Joe the Plumbers. It is only the elite, those who claim membership in the self-defined group of those-who-know-best, who find both the individual and his freedom somehow reprehensible, in some way atavistic.
The US has no special wisdom, no fount of knowledge denied to others in the world. Neither did the Soviet Union. Neither does Japan or the European Union.
Joe the Plumber may not have a plumber's license, he may owe back taxes but he is smarter than the elite represented by their anointed savior, Barack Obama, the Nice Young Man From Chicago. Joe knows something that escapes the elite.
He knows that the US, its success and its future, has been the work of Americans not Western Europeans. He knows that we are the product of a unique history and that we reject the legacy of that history only at great peril.
This is an insight that eludes Senator Obama and his cheering section in the MSM.
The reason for this is simply that the elite and their champion, the Nice Young Man From Chicago, have a view of the United States and its place in the world which is antipodal to that held by the Geek. And is probably held in pertinent part by the Joes of this country (other than Joe Biden obviously.)
Admittedly the Geek found Joe the Plumber's position on the US invasion of Iraq both poorly based and almost pathetic in its earnest wrongness. On the other hand the Geek has to salute Joe's view of those who denigrate and blame the United States for all the ills of the world.
During his years in the academy the Geek grew to hate the never ending crescendo from his coworkers regarding just how evil the United States was in each and every portion of its foreign policy. He grew tired, physically ill actually, listening to distortions of history made to prove the correctness of the blame-America-first agenda of these coworkers in the field of history.
While it is evident from the content of many posts that the Geek is not a cheerleader for many US foreign and national security policies, particularly those of the neocon ninnies of the current administration, he is quite unpersuaded that the US is either an imperialistic menace or the handyman of the devil in its foreign dealings.
Blindly and willfully ignorant? Yes. Too willing to carry water for Israel? Absolutely.
But venal and malign? No. Absolutely not.
Over the years the Geek has also grown tired of the repetitious serenade sung by the chattering classes to the superiority of foreign ways. Twenty-five years ago there was nothing but hosannas sung to and about Japan. Japan was the model of cooperation. The acme of concern for the equality and dignity of the individual worker on the factory floor or in the cubicle. Japan was hope and progress and prosperity and on and on and on.
More recently the object of the elite's affections has shifted. Now the worshipful songs and adoring stares are bestowed upon the European Union.
The EU is the model of post-racial, post-ethnic, post-national ideals and practices. The EU is the archetype of multi-cultural sensitivity, the apogee of collaborative egalitarianism, the height of assuring that no person will somehow be left (in Senator Obama's words) "standing behind," the more successful, the richer, the politically potent, the socially dominant.
Seventy-five years ago the progressives argued that if only the US aped the ways of the Soviet Union, life would be so much better for the common man. Forty-five years ago members of the Geek's generation who should have known better took the position that if only the US became more like Cuba, or North Vietnam or even, (the Geek shakes his head) the Peoples Republic of China, prejudice would vanish, economic and social justice (whatever those might be) would triumph and all would be right in the land.
From the Soviet Union to assorted semi-communist dictatorships to Japan and now to the European Union the American elite of academics, occupational chatterers and progressive politicos have found much to love elsewhere while discovering even more to hate here at home.
Get a grip!
Joe the Plumber and others of the oft times despised and usually patronised hoi polloi have a better handle on what is right here and not-right overseas. The Geek talks with Joe's peers out here in the wilderness. None of them think that life is perfect in the US. None think that improvements in the equity of economic and political life can not and should not be made.
But, none are of the view that the government is better suited than the individual to make decisions. None believe that the advantages of Ivy League education or possession of either a law degree or a journalist's notepad confer a unique ability to perceive what is best for the individual American, the American nation as a whole or the role of the US in the world.
The Geek has yet to hear a member of the hoi polloi express a longing sigh and wish he lived under the tender eye of the EU and its bureaucracy. The Geek has yet to read a single word written by a certified member of the hoi polloi averring to the belief that "experts" in government or academia or even the health care industry are better equipped by education and disinterested perspective to make decisions on behalf of the individual.
The concepts "individual" and "freedom" have long dominated the belief structure of Americans and continue to do so among the hoi polloi, among the Joe the Plumbers. It is only the elite, those who claim membership in the self-defined group of those-who-know-best, who find both the individual and his freedom somehow reprehensible, in some way atavistic.
The US has no special wisdom, no fount of knowledge denied to others in the world. Neither did the Soviet Union. Neither does Japan or the European Union.
Joe the Plumber may not have a plumber's license, he may owe back taxes but he is smarter than the elite represented by their anointed savior, Barack Obama, the Nice Young Man From Chicago. Joe knows something that escapes the elite.
He knows that the US, its success and its future, has been the work of Americans not Western Europeans. He knows that we are the product of a unique history and that we reject the legacy of that history only at great peril.
This is an insight that eludes Senator Obama and his cheering section in the MSM.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Not Made In America
The other day Senator Obama made reference to the desirability--no, the need to redistribute wealth in America. As the Geek watched the video of the encounter between the Senator and the plumber, he was reminded for an instant of another senator in another run for the Oval.
More than seventy years ago, Louisiana senator Huey (Kingfish) Long made a strong populist run against FDR which was terminated not at the polls but by bullets. The centerpiece of the Kingfish's campaign was "share the wealth." He proposed to assure every American a decent life by taxing the rich and passing the proceeds among the non-rich majority.
Not surprisingly Long's notion had a great deal of popularity. He even backed it by alleging as did Senator Obama that sharing the wealth would stimulate employment and business expansion.
Egalitarianism has a long history in the American view of life. The ideal of equality is embedded not only in our jurisprudence, it has become a part of our defining mythology.
Equality under law may be said to constitute a critical component of an authentically American ideology. It is an ideal which the nation has pursued in fits and starts for the entire history of our country. Some day we may achieve the ideal in practice.
Political equality is in the same category. Slowly, but certainly the nation has expanded the franchise and still aspires to limit--if not eliminate--the advantage that copious gobs of money gives some Americans in the political process.
Social equality is also part of our defining made-in-America ideology. We have never accepted deference as the natural role of any American. It is one of the hidden strengths of the long rejected draftee based military.
Economic equality is not a part of any made-in-America ideology. We long have espoused equality of economic opportunity. Remember the phrase "pursuit of happiness" in that magnificent piece of political propaganda, The Declaration of Independence?
Equality of economic or any other sort of opportunity does not and never has in the authentic American ideology guaranteed equality of outcome.
Equality of outcome, particularly equality of economic outcome, is a central portion of several foreign made political ideologies. It is part and parcel of Fascism, National Socialism, Communism and the dominant creed of post-war Western Europe, Democratic Socialism.
Senator Obama's comment to Joe the plumber was redolent not so much of Huey Long's hallucination of a long, long lifetime ago as it is of today's Western European elite.
It's no wonder that the Nice Young Man From Chicago was such a hit with the Europeans last spring. Heck, it would have been more of a wonder if he hadn't been.
To put it simply, Senator Obama speaks their language. He espouses their dominant political ideals. He was just as good a European as Angela Merkel or Nick Sarkozy.
European origin ideologies have held a deep appeal for many Americans for many, many decades. No shock here, we are a nation of immigrants. Also, many of these ideologies have an inherent appeal since they loop nicely with some of the centralities of the American life.
There are, however, two factors which serve to strongly characterise the authentically American ideology which are not found in the various "isms" made-in-Europe.
We are, and have been throughout our history, a nation of individuals. While there are times when the focus on individualism seems to be carried too far, it should never be overlooked that the American people have been repeatedly seen by foreigners as unique in their capacity for voluntary cooperative action.
As individuals we act, contend, succeed, and fail. As individuals we either take or choose not to take advantage of any or all equal opportunities.
Then there is that elusive thing called "freedom." Freedom, like its kin "liberty" have often been hard to define, difficult to appreciate no matter how easy they are to say--or to lose. Over the centuries we have often seen freedom and liberty only after they have been taken away. Or gleefully tossed aside in the search for security.
The inventors and practitioners of Democratic Socialism come from a historical context in which individualism and freedom are not major features. Submitting to the dictates of society as pronounced by government, be it monarchy, dictatorship or parliament is a long standing reality of the European experience.
Even the British who were our progenitors in the individualism and freedom game as illustrated by the brilliance of J.S. Mill and Adam Smith, have shucked that tradition over the past few generations as the search for security grew ever more potent. Countries of British ancestry such as Canada and Australia have also willfully eroded the historical trajectory of individualism and freedom as their societies came under stress and sought the refuge of government arranged security.
For reasons too lengthy and complex to be considered in the context of a single post, the left or progressive sector of the Democratic Party of which Senator Obama is a proud member has embraced an ideological agenda which was made-in-Europe not America. While many European plants have flourished in American soil, it is doubtful that this one will do so.
The question confronting Americans today is the same as that which presented itself to our British progenitors and cousins in Canada and Australia. Will we surrender the primacy of the individual and the freedom of the individual in an ultimately futile search for absolute security?
Will we spread the wealth of our individuality, our freedom, until they disappear as any but the thinnest of films?
Will we become the Europeans of the Western Hemisphere?
More than seventy years ago, Louisiana senator Huey (Kingfish) Long made a strong populist run against FDR which was terminated not at the polls but by bullets. The centerpiece of the Kingfish's campaign was "share the wealth." He proposed to assure every American a decent life by taxing the rich and passing the proceeds among the non-rich majority.
Not surprisingly Long's notion had a great deal of popularity. He even backed it by alleging as did Senator Obama that sharing the wealth would stimulate employment and business expansion.
Egalitarianism has a long history in the American view of life. The ideal of equality is embedded not only in our jurisprudence, it has become a part of our defining mythology.
Equality under law may be said to constitute a critical component of an authentically American ideology. It is an ideal which the nation has pursued in fits and starts for the entire history of our country. Some day we may achieve the ideal in practice.
Political equality is in the same category. Slowly, but certainly the nation has expanded the franchise and still aspires to limit--if not eliminate--the advantage that copious gobs of money gives some Americans in the political process.
Social equality is also part of our defining made-in-America ideology. We have never accepted deference as the natural role of any American. It is one of the hidden strengths of the long rejected draftee based military.
Economic equality is not a part of any made-in-America ideology. We long have espoused equality of economic opportunity. Remember the phrase "pursuit of happiness" in that magnificent piece of political propaganda, The Declaration of Independence?
Equality of economic or any other sort of opportunity does not and never has in the authentic American ideology guaranteed equality of outcome.
Equality of outcome, particularly equality of economic outcome, is a central portion of several foreign made political ideologies. It is part and parcel of Fascism, National Socialism, Communism and the dominant creed of post-war Western Europe, Democratic Socialism.
Senator Obama's comment to Joe the plumber was redolent not so much of Huey Long's hallucination of a long, long lifetime ago as it is of today's Western European elite.
It's no wonder that the Nice Young Man From Chicago was such a hit with the Europeans last spring. Heck, it would have been more of a wonder if he hadn't been.
To put it simply, Senator Obama speaks their language. He espouses their dominant political ideals. He was just as good a European as Angela Merkel or Nick Sarkozy.
European origin ideologies have held a deep appeal for many Americans for many, many decades. No shock here, we are a nation of immigrants. Also, many of these ideologies have an inherent appeal since they loop nicely with some of the centralities of the American life.
There are, however, two factors which serve to strongly characterise the authentically American ideology which are not found in the various "isms" made-in-Europe.
We are, and have been throughout our history, a nation of individuals. While there are times when the focus on individualism seems to be carried too far, it should never be overlooked that the American people have been repeatedly seen by foreigners as unique in their capacity for voluntary cooperative action.
As individuals we act, contend, succeed, and fail. As individuals we either take or choose not to take advantage of any or all equal opportunities.
Then there is that elusive thing called "freedom." Freedom, like its kin "liberty" have often been hard to define, difficult to appreciate no matter how easy they are to say--or to lose. Over the centuries we have often seen freedom and liberty only after they have been taken away. Or gleefully tossed aside in the search for security.
The inventors and practitioners of Democratic Socialism come from a historical context in which individualism and freedom are not major features. Submitting to the dictates of society as pronounced by government, be it monarchy, dictatorship or parliament is a long standing reality of the European experience.
Even the British who were our progenitors in the individualism and freedom game as illustrated by the brilliance of J.S. Mill and Adam Smith, have shucked that tradition over the past few generations as the search for security grew ever more potent. Countries of British ancestry such as Canada and Australia have also willfully eroded the historical trajectory of individualism and freedom as their societies came under stress and sought the refuge of government arranged security.
For reasons too lengthy and complex to be considered in the context of a single post, the left or progressive sector of the Democratic Party of which Senator Obama is a proud member has embraced an ideological agenda which was made-in-Europe not America. While many European plants have flourished in American soil, it is doubtful that this one will do so.
The question confronting Americans today is the same as that which presented itself to our British progenitors and cousins in Canada and Australia. Will we surrender the primacy of the individual and the freedom of the individual in an ultimately futile search for absolute security?
Will we spread the wealth of our individuality, our freedom, until they disappear as any but the thinnest of films?
Will we become the Europeans of the Western Hemisphere?
Monday, October 13, 2008
History Never Repeats Itself--Or Does It?
There was a time long, long ago when the foul odor of fear clogged all American's nostrils. There was a time long, long ago when US banks quivered and fell, when businesses closed. There was a time long, long ago when the sound of the auctioneer's call sounded from a thousand courthouse steps as tens of thousands lost their homes, their farms, their hopes.
A charismatic man with a winning smile and an awesomely beguiling voice accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party for the office of President.
At this man's acceptance speech he made a promise to the American people. This promise became the mantra for the campaign.
No. It wasn't a call for "change."
FDR promised the American people a "new deal."
The words were in and of themselves meaningless. What else could be promised in the midst of the worst economic collapse the US had experienced in over a half century. More of the same?
Not hardly. FDR's promise of a "new deal" and his skillful working of the fears which struck so deep and hard in the collective psyche of We the People gave him the election. Sent him to the Oval with an overwhelming mandate. At the same time We the People, expressing both fear and hatred for the Republicans who were (wrongly) indicted in the court of public opinion for having both caused the depression three years earlier and being indifferent to its effects upon the people, gave FDR a veto proof Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
At his inauguration FDR spoke the most true and accurate words of his fourteen years in the White House when he said that the only thing the nation had to fear "was fear itself." He went on to address this fear in a flurry of legislation meant to provide for recovery, relief and reform. This legal snowstorm is the First New Deal. It lasted one hundred days.
For all the hype and hoopla, for all the bloviation then and now regarding whether or not FDR was a socialist or a conservative, the most important reality of the First New Deal was that it failed.
Not completely, of course. Some of the actions meant to alleviate human misery did do some good, did palliate some wretchedness. Some of the reforms did bring a greater measure of order, stability and fair play to the stock market.
But, in the area that mattered most, in the centrality of defeating the depression, the First New Deal failed. The American public grabbed its collective gonads not in a gesture of defiance but in token of fear and looked inward. Gazed at themselves and the systems of government and economy in which they lived and hoped to work.
Fear brought dismay. While many young Americans joined with the legions of young ideologues who believed in the majestic effectiveness of centralised, rational planning by "experts" and descended upon the new New Deal agencies, others, also true believers, followed the seductive message of social justice, political equality and economic parity coming from the Soviet Union. These Americans believed along with journalist Lincoln Steffens that, "I've been over to the future--and it works."
Under the lashes of fear and distrust, Americans flung ideological grenades at each other, enlisted under banners of foreign origin and doubted that the nation could survive--at least in the form which they had inherited.
The seemingly intractable depression went on and on. The First New Deal was followed by the Second. FDR challenged the Supreme Court and won--using fear as a weapon. The Court submitted in 1937 and allowed the creation of the administrative state--the system of federal authority under which we currently exist.
The administrative state was one of the many unintended consequences of the rather conservative FDR's efforts to defeat the depression. Other legacies of his fight against the uncertainties and deficiencies of the market are not so unintended.
An example is Social Security. FDR rejected the economically sound approach preferring instead the politically invulnerable "contract between generations" course of action. The FDR decision has saddled our young with the impossible task of providing for their own lives while carrying an enormous aging population on their backs. The polite term is unfunded entitlements.
"Wait one, Geek! Where the hell are you going with this? You're supposed to be focused on foreign affairs, military matters and that sort of good shit."
The Geek hears you, my friend, and is heading in that direction. But, it is necessary to understand first and foremost that there is no disconnect between domestic affairs and foreign policy. That is true in good times. It is even more true when We the People are consumed with fears over what is happening here at home and don't want to notice a damn thing outside of the scope of our up-close-and-personal apprehensions.
The decade of the Thirties was a time like the present. Both then and now illustrate why the Chinese toast, "May you live in interesting times," is actually a curse.
Throughout the years of the depression, throughout both of FDR's first two terms, the world grew increasingly dangerous for the US. The emergence of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan threatened core national and strategic interests of the US.
While we cowered in our cloud of fear and while our conflicting ideologies battled one with the others, we ignored what was happening over there--and over there and over there. These years, the years when the threats of Germany, Italy and Japan could have been dealt with quickly and effectively, were the period of most profound isolationism.
There is an irony here. A profound irony. A delicious irony for those who appreciate such things.
While We the People sat in our morass of fear, uncertainty and battling ideologies waiting for FDR and his bright core of experts to solve the never ending depression, war was brewing away in both Europe and Asia. When the war broke over our heads and shoulders with unmistakable force on Sunday 7 December 1941, it solved our depression.
Within six months of the bombs falling on Pearl Harbor we had suffered defeats on every front except one. That one? The Home Front.
The depression was as dead as the men lost at Pearl or on Bataan. We had full employment, full paychecks and would have had full lunches had it not been for rationing.
Playing to our fears FDR brought us a few reforms--some of which were and remain both useful and important. He also brought us the administrative state. Unfunded entitlements. And, worst of all, the unfounded expectation that the Federal Government could effectively address all the ails of economy and marketplace.
In conjunction with the fears of We the People, the administration of FDR also helped bring about as an unintended consequence the greatest and most destructive war in human history.
The New Deal for the American people may not have ended the depression but it did do much to assure the outbreak of the war which did bring recovery. At the cost of nearly a half million American lives.
That is something to remember today as we face genuine global threats to us and our interests. It is something to remember today as we face the latest storm of fears.
It is something to remember today as a man with a winning smile and a real gift for public speaking promises us "Change."
A charismatic man with a winning smile and an awesomely beguiling voice accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party for the office of President.
At this man's acceptance speech he made a promise to the American people. This promise became the mantra for the campaign.
No. It wasn't a call for "change."
FDR promised the American people a "new deal."
The words were in and of themselves meaningless. What else could be promised in the midst of the worst economic collapse the US had experienced in over a half century. More of the same?
Not hardly. FDR's promise of a "new deal" and his skillful working of the fears which struck so deep and hard in the collective psyche of We the People gave him the election. Sent him to the Oval with an overwhelming mandate. At the same time We the People, expressing both fear and hatred for the Republicans who were (wrongly) indicted in the court of public opinion for having both caused the depression three years earlier and being indifferent to its effects upon the people, gave FDR a veto proof Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
At his inauguration FDR spoke the most true and accurate words of his fourteen years in the White House when he said that the only thing the nation had to fear "was fear itself." He went on to address this fear in a flurry of legislation meant to provide for recovery, relief and reform. This legal snowstorm is the First New Deal. It lasted one hundred days.
For all the hype and hoopla, for all the bloviation then and now regarding whether or not FDR was a socialist or a conservative, the most important reality of the First New Deal was that it failed.
Not completely, of course. Some of the actions meant to alleviate human misery did do some good, did palliate some wretchedness. Some of the reforms did bring a greater measure of order, stability and fair play to the stock market.
But, in the area that mattered most, in the centrality of defeating the depression, the First New Deal failed. The American public grabbed its collective gonads not in a gesture of defiance but in token of fear and looked inward. Gazed at themselves and the systems of government and economy in which they lived and hoped to work.
Fear brought dismay. While many young Americans joined with the legions of young ideologues who believed in the majestic effectiveness of centralised, rational planning by "experts" and descended upon the new New Deal agencies, others, also true believers, followed the seductive message of social justice, political equality and economic parity coming from the Soviet Union. These Americans believed along with journalist Lincoln Steffens that, "I've been over to the future--and it works."
Under the lashes of fear and distrust, Americans flung ideological grenades at each other, enlisted under banners of foreign origin and doubted that the nation could survive--at least in the form which they had inherited.
The seemingly intractable depression went on and on. The First New Deal was followed by the Second. FDR challenged the Supreme Court and won--using fear as a weapon. The Court submitted in 1937 and allowed the creation of the administrative state--the system of federal authority under which we currently exist.
The administrative state was one of the many unintended consequences of the rather conservative FDR's efforts to defeat the depression. Other legacies of his fight against the uncertainties and deficiencies of the market are not so unintended.
An example is Social Security. FDR rejected the economically sound approach preferring instead the politically invulnerable "contract between generations" course of action. The FDR decision has saddled our young with the impossible task of providing for their own lives while carrying an enormous aging population on their backs. The polite term is unfunded entitlements.
"Wait one, Geek! Where the hell are you going with this? You're supposed to be focused on foreign affairs, military matters and that sort of good shit."
The Geek hears you, my friend, and is heading in that direction. But, it is necessary to understand first and foremost that there is no disconnect between domestic affairs and foreign policy. That is true in good times. It is even more true when We the People are consumed with fears over what is happening here at home and don't want to notice a damn thing outside of the scope of our up-close-and-personal apprehensions.
The decade of the Thirties was a time like the present. Both then and now illustrate why the Chinese toast, "May you live in interesting times," is actually a curse.
Throughout the years of the depression, throughout both of FDR's first two terms, the world grew increasingly dangerous for the US. The emergence of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan threatened core national and strategic interests of the US.
While we cowered in our cloud of fear and while our conflicting ideologies battled one with the others, we ignored what was happening over there--and over there and over there. These years, the years when the threats of Germany, Italy and Japan could have been dealt with quickly and effectively, were the period of most profound isolationism.
There is an irony here. A profound irony. A delicious irony for those who appreciate such things.
While We the People sat in our morass of fear, uncertainty and battling ideologies waiting for FDR and his bright core of experts to solve the never ending depression, war was brewing away in both Europe and Asia. When the war broke over our heads and shoulders with unmistakable force on Sunday 7 December 1941, it solved our depression.
Within six months of the bombs falling on Pearl Harbor we had suffered defeats on every front except one. That one? The Home Front.
The depression was as dead as the men lost at Pearl or on Bataan. We had full employment, full paychecks and would have had full lunches had it not been for rationing.
Playing to our fears FDR brought us a few reforms--some of which were and remain both useful and important. He also brought us the administrative state. Unfunded entitlements. And, worst of all, the unfounded expectation that the Federal Government could effectively address all the ails of economy and marketplace.
In conjunction with the fears of We the People, the administration of FDR also helped bring about as an unintended consequence the greatest and most destructive war in human history.
The New Deal for the American people may not have ended the depression but it did do much to assure the outbreak of the war which did bring recovery. At the cost of nearly a half million American lives.
That is something to remember today as we face genuine global threats to us and our interests. It is something to remember today as we face the latest storm of fears.
It is something to remember today as a man with a winning smile and a real gift for public speaking promises us "Change."
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Geek Must Be A Racist
Even though the Geek is three-eights autocthonous American (which makes him only one-eighth less a "person of color" than Senator Obama) he would be branded a racist by the Obama campaign and other supporters of the Nice Young Man From Chicago. The reason is simple. The Geek is completely unpersuaded that elevating Obama from the Senate to the Oval is in the best interests of the United States.
Rather the Geek is convinced that the election of Obama would be another example of collective bad judgement by the American people. It would continue the disasterous trajectory of electing individuals who were ill-equipped by any factor beyond ideology and ambition for sitting behind the big desk in the Oval Office.
As a nation we survived (barely) Governor Clinton. As a nation we have been schnitzeled by Governor Bush. Given the parlous state of affairs today both domestically and in foreign relations, we may well not survive an Obama administration.
In so far as he has a record during his few years in elected office Senator Obama has demonstrated two things. He is a creature of the machine, whether Cook County or the Democratic Regulars. Second he has shown a remarkable ideological affinity for what might be politely called "left socialism."
The Geek has carefully and repeatedly read the Senator's two monuments to awesome hubris and ambition--his "autobiographies." Leaving aside the impossibility of filling a notebook let alone two monographs on one's life when only in the early part of one's fifth decade, the two memoirs are most notable for what they leave out, not what they include.
The books are a record of a remarkably empty life, devoid of details and misleading as to many of the few particulars referenced. Perhaps that is keeping with a man who has a charming smile, an empty suit and a reliance upon TelePrompters even in the most "informal" presentations.
Most disturbing to the Geek is Senator Obama's sketchy rendition of his relationship with William Ayres. Dr Ayres along with his partner, Bernadine Dohrn, were central to Senator Obama's political debut in Chicago a decade or so back.
The MSM have been remarkably laid-back in their search for the roots of the Obama-Ayres relation particularly in comparison with their hound-dog-on-the-trail barking after Sarah Palin. When the MSM have mentioned Ayres and Dohrn in connection with the terrorist group the Weathermen, it has been fashionable to characterise the group as being bombers with a high regard for human life, for planting bombs where Federal and other property might have been damaged but no lives taken.
Of course that approach requires a selective amnesia equivalent to Senator Obama's. The Weather Underground cell in New York City planned an attack against the NCO club at Ft Dix which would have claimed two hundred plus lives.
It didn't simply because the plotters were as inept at making bombs as they were skilled at planning the attack. The bombers blew themselves and a Greenwich Village house into small fragments while preparing their IED's.
Senator Obama and the MSM would also have us believe that the Weather Underground wasted away to nothingness more than thirty years ago as the leadership languished either in jail or on the run. This overlooks the reality that a Weather Underground successor organisation was alive, well and plotting in the Big Apple at the same time as Mr Obama was a student at Columbia. One of the Weatherman follow-ons was sentenced in 1990 and another remains a fugitive even today.
Overall, the Geek is reminded of another election which saw a likable, articulate man with a great smile running against a symbol of "failed Republicanism."
JFK was a man with a carefully shaded past. No, Kennedy didn't have a (perhaps close) acquaintance with an unrepentant terrorist. (Although he did get in the rack with a woman who was an intelligence agent for a hostile foreign power.)
Rather Kennedy had a history which was carefully crafted to turn an unfortunate act of maritime stupidity into war hero status. And, JFK had a ghost written book on courageous profiles which was both a best seller and the presumed basis of Kennedy's intellectual repute. Then there were the successful attempts to conceal both Senator Kennedy's medical conditions and the treatments for them.
Much has been made of Senator Obama's lack of experience--a couple of years in the senate and a time before that in the Illinois state legislature. In comparison Senator Kennedy was a powerhouse of expertise having been in Congress for twelve years, most of those in the Senate.
When considering the value of experience, and character, it is instructive to review Kennedy's actual accomplishments in the Oval as opposed to the myth of the Kennedy "Camelot."
Kennedy failed in his widely heralded Summit with the Soviet leader Khrushchev. This resulted, in part, in the Berlin Wall Crisis. It also resulted in Kennedy's vow to be "tough" with the Soviets.
Toughness drew a line which led to the commitment of support to South Vietnam. It led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which had the Soviets not shown more good sense than the Americans we would still be recovering from the nuclear exchange.
Toughness resulted in the wide open "covert" campaign against Castro which would have culminated in a well planned attack upon Cuba which was averted only because JFK was shot in Dallas.
Kennedy's administration also brought the Alliance for Progress--which failed--and the Peace Corps which didn't fail but has scarcely been a world altering institution.
Domestically the years of JFK brought a tax cut which did serve to boost the economy out of a very mild recession. Beyond that the Kennedy record is as skimpy as his war hero record.
Remember John Kennedy was far more experienced than Senator Obama. JFK was mildly lacking in character, integrity and personal history. Senator Obama is more challenged in all these areas.
John Kennedy was not an ideologue. Senator Obama is.
JFK faced challenging times as has every president in the past century. The next American president will face problems larger in scale and more vexing in complexity than did Kennedy.
Even though JFK was relatively advantaged in character, integrity, lack of ideological blinders and experience than is Senator Obama, his administration must be evaluated as long on image and short on accomplishment; long on risk-taking and short on rewards.
Is it legitimate to expect better from an Obama presidency?
The Geek thinks not. Color him a racist, Congressman Lewis.
Rather the Geek is convinced that the election of Obama would be another example of collective bad judgement by the American people. It would continue the disasterous trajectory of electing individuals who were ill-equipped by any factor beyond ideology and ambition for sitting behind the big desk in the Oval Office.
As a nation we survived (barely) Governor Clinton. As a nation we have been schnitzeled by Governor Bush. Given the parlous state of affairs today both domestically and in foreign relations, we may well not survive an Obama administration.
In so far as he has a record during his few years in elected office Senator Obama has demonstrated two things. He is a creature of the machine, whether Cook County or the Democratic Regulars. Second he has shown a remarkable ideological affinity for what might be politely called "left socialism."
The Geek has carefully and repeatedly read the Senator's two monuments to awesome hubris and ambition--his "autobiographies." Leaving aside the impossibility of filling a notebook let alone two monographs on one's life when only in the early part of one's fifth decade, the two memoirs are most notable for what they leave out, not what they include.
The books are a record of a remarkably empty life, devoid of details and misleading as to many of the few particulars referenced. Perhaps that is keeping with a man who has a charming smile, an empty suit and a reliance upon TelePrompters even in the most "informal" presentations.
Most disturbing to the Geek is Senator Obama's sketchy rendition of his relationship with William Ayres. Dr Ayres along with his partner, Bernadine Dohrn, were central to Senator Obama's political debut in Chicago a decade or so back.
The MSM have been remarkably laid-back in their search for the roots of the Obama-Ayres relation particularly in comparison with their hound-dog-on-the-trail barking after Sarah Palin. When the MSM have mentioned Ayres and Dohrn in connection with the terrorist group the Weathermen, it has been fashionable to characterise the group as being bombers with a high regard for human life, for planting bombs where Federal and other property might have been damaged but no lives taken.
Of course that approach requires a selective amnesia equivalent to Senator Obama's. The Weather Underground cell in New York City planned an attack against the NCO club at Ft Dix which would have claimed two hundred plus lives.
It didn't simply because the plotters were as inept at making bombs as they were skilled at planning the attack. The bombers blew themselves and a Greenwich Village house into small fragments while preparing their IED's.
Senator Obama and the MSM would also have us believe that the Weather Underground wasted away to nothingness more than thirty years ago as the leadership languished either in jail or on the run. This overlooks the reality that a Weather Underground successor organisation was alive, well and plotting in the Big Apple at the same time as Mr Obama was a student at Columbia. One of the Weatherman follow-ons was sentenced in 1990 and another remains a fugitive even today.
Overall, the Geek is reminded of another election which saw a likable, articulate man with a great smile running against a symbol of "failed Republicanism."
JFK was a man with a carefully shaded past. No, Kennedy didn't have a (perhaps close) acquaintance with an unrepentant terrorist. (Although he did get in the rack with a woman who was an intelligence agent for a hostile foreign power.)
Rather Kennedy had a history which was carefully crafted to turn an unfortunate act of maritime stupidity into war hero status. And, JFK had a ghost written book on courageous profiles which was both a best seller and the presumed basis of Kennedy's intellectual repute. Then there were the successful attempts to conceal both Senator Kennedy's medical conditions and the treatments for them.
Much has been made of Senator Obama's lack of experience--a couple of years in the senate and a time before that in the Illinois state legislature. In comparison Senator Kennedy was a powerhouse of expertise having been in Congress for twelve years, most of those in the Senate.
When considering the value of experience, and character, it is instructive to review Kennedy's actual accomplishments in the Oval as opposed to the myth of the Kennedy "Camelot."
Kennedy failed in his widely heralded Summit with the Soviet leader Khrushchev. This resulted, in part, in the Berlin Wall Crisis. It also resulted in Kennedy's vow to be "tough" with the Soviets.
Toughness drew a line which led to the commitment of support to South Vietnam. It led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which had the Soviets not shown more good sense than the Americans we would still be recovering from the nuclear exchange.
Toughness resulted in the wide open "covert" campaign against Castro which would have culminated in a well planned attack upon Cuba which was averted only because JFK was shot in Dallas.
Kennedy's administration also brought the Alliance for Progress--which failed--and the Peace Corps which didn't fail but has scarcely been a world altering institution.
Domestically the years of JFK brought a tax cut which did serve to boost the economy out of a very mild recession. Beyond that the Kennedy record is as skimpy as his war hero record.
Remember John Kennedy was far more experienced than Senator Obama. JFK was mildly lacking in character, integrity and personal history. Senator Obama is more challenged in all these areas.
John Kennedy was not an ideologue. Senator Obama is.
JFK faced challenging times as has every president in the past century. The next American president will face problems larger in scale and more vexing in complexity than did Kennedy.
Even though JFK was relatively advantaged in character, integrity, lack of ideological blinders and experience than is Senator Obama, his administration must be evaluated as long on image and short on accomplishment; long on risk-taking and short on rewards.
Is it legitimate to expect better from an Obama presidency?
The Geek thinks not. Color him a racist, Congressman Lewis.
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