#1
Even in the US, the "non-hating" wing in the left have become very sensitive to the fact that the bitter, burning, near genocidal hatred by the hater wing of the left is pathological.
Remind them of this and you can see them almost cringe, and try to set themselves apart from the seething hatred that is indistinguishable from real racism, the lynch mob attitude.
...It’s not just a “branding” issue or a problem of his being too remote (although he is); Obama has simply not been able to convince the taxpayers that he understands that they are, in the end, his bosses and not his subjects. Taking the sort of action described by Kaus would have gone a long way toward demonstrating to the taxpayers that he–as their steward–could be trusted to look after their interests. He did not do that when he had the nation on his side, choosing instead to lecture, condescend and ultimately tell the country to take the stuff he was shoving down their throats, and like it.
That’s not good stewardship; it’s not good leadership. Even if Obamacare was the most brilliant plan in the world, which it is not, the way it was served to the country is what is at the heart of this election.
#3
We should all be grateful that we have Obama to make all the hard decisions for us. After all, he's smart. And people who are in the non-smart set should know to defer to their betters.
If such voters have now changed their minds, the reason is not that Mr Obama is blackhe was black in 2008. And for all its momentous symbolism, his election is not the most recent evidence that America has turned the page on race. In June, in South Carolina of all states, Tim Scott, a black Republican, defeated the son of the segregationist Strom Thurmond in a primary, and is on his way to a seat in the House. Compare that to 1983, when a disgraceful number of Democrats in Chicago voted for the Republican rather than send the black Harold Washington to city hall.
All of that has gone. The electorate may be divided by race, but no longer mainly because of race. Some of Mr Obamas enemies have tried to harness pockets of bigotry by painting him in various ways as un-American. But outright racism in politics is now beyond the pale and will probably have little to do with the coming rejection of the Democrats by the white working class. A wrecked economy and the feeling that their president is out of touch are reason enough. It has, after all, happened before. In two short years from 1992 to 1994, when Bill Clinton was president, white working-class support for the Republicans soared like a rocket from 47% to 61%. Nobody blamed that on skin colour.
#3
In two short years from 1992 to 1994, when Bill Clinton was president, white working-class support for the Republicans soared like a rocket from 47% to 61%. Nobody blamed that on skin colour.
Not so! The early nineties were when the narrative of the Angry White Male really began to take root. One of the core tenants of identity politics is to conflate class and race. And a key tactic is the ability to subtlety vacillate between the two concepts in order to advance a policy. Case in point; at that time liberals argued that the Welfare to Work proposals would disproportionately affect African Americans. However, when it was revealed that actually more Whites were on welfare assistance they quickly changed tack. With brazen demagoguery they then insinuated that welfare was Whitey's code word for wealth distribution to Blacks. What we see today is not nearly as subtle. It is shameless exploitation of the Presidents race. Not by his critics but by his supporters.
#4
The race card had an expiration date on it that has long since past. It has as much mojo as calling someone Irish. Of sure, it still upsets a few who still painfully recall what a slur it once was, but nearly eveyone else under the age of 50 just views the user of the race card as old and lame.
And I take issue with the headline. It is not just the working class whites who are angry with Democrats. It is pretty much everyone - EXCEPT liberal elites (those once awkward and unpopular kids who grew up feeling more important by their group hatred of republicans) and the easily fooled - who are angry with the democrats for throwing gazillions of our hard earned dollars down the rat hole of corruption.
They keep selling the same old hair tonic that hasn't worked for 100 years now. Most everyone is wise to their tricks, but they think if they can just come up with the right narrative sales pitch, we'll be willing to pay for it again. Good luck with that.
Posted by: Martini ||
10/26/2010 13:39 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Americans = Amerikans
versus
* DER SPIEGEL > [France]SARKOZY'S "PERFECT STORM": FRENCH FURY GOES BEYOND PENSIONS.
IIUC ARTIC = French mainstream perceived perennial GOVT-PUBLIC CORRUPTION, + DECLINE IN FRENCH DEMOCRACY = DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, as seeming unstopped = suppor? by the SARKOZY ADMIN.
FRENCH POF SARKEY facing the beginnings of a POPULAR UPRISING???
MAHA-RUSHIE LIMBAUGHIAN "HISTOIRE'" REPEATING ITSELF, i.e. FRENCH REVOLUTION II = AMERICAN REVOLUTION II = ROBESPIERRE/JACOBINS II = RISE OF " OWG-NWO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE".
Within a decade, the United States will be spending more of the federal budget on its interest payments than on its military-and thats not because the Pentagon is such a great bargain.
In 2009, the US spent about $665 billion on its military, the Chinese about $99 billion. If Beijing continues to buy American debt at the rate it has in recent times, then within a few years US interest payments on that debt will be covering the entire cost of the Chinese military.
By 2015, the Peoples Liberation Army, which is the largest employer on the planet, will be entirely funded by US taxpayers. When the Commies take Taiwan, suburban families in Connecticut and small businesses in Idaho will have paid for it.
The existential questions for America loom not decades hence but right now. We face not genteel Euro-style decline cushioned by America, but something faster, wrenching and far more convulsive - with nobody to cushion it.
In America, one party is openly committed to driving the nation off the cliff, and the other party is full of guys content to go along for the ride as long as we shift down to third gear. Thats no longer enough of a choice. If your candidate isnt committed to fewer government agencies with fewer employees on lower rates of pay, hes part of the problem. This is the last chance for the GOP to restore its credentials. If it blows it, all bets are off for 2012.
#1
I don't think 2 years is long enough for the GOP to restore its credentials, and there will be more trials & tribulations yet to come in the interval. We are in a pickle.
#3
I think the Pubs are going to take next week's election -- though the dead, the non-existent, and the Undocumented Democrats will cut the margin.
A proportion of the new congressmen will be co-opted by the system, but things will still improve over the next two years. B.O. will take the credit for that and in 2012 the Pubs will lose seats.
The co-opted will be weeded, unless the Tea Party movement dies of boredom. By 2020 the Pubs will be much more ideologically uniform -- which'll probably be a bad thing -- and the candidates fielded will be much more electable.
My guess, however, is that the Barney Franks will continue wielding more power than is good for the country and that the plummet off the cliff will at best be slowed to a downhill slide.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2010 9:10 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Things will not be better in two years. We may have not yet even reached the trough in the housing disaster. There are over 10 months of housing inventory on hand. Prices are declining now that the cash for closets program has ended and will continue to decline for at least 6 months. Bernanke is getting ready to unleash QE2 after the election which will result in uncontrolled inflation or skyrocketing interest rates later.
The only good thing that will happen in the next two years is gridlock.
We are borrowing money from the Chinese to fool ourselves into believing problems don't have to be accompanied by pain. China will probably continue to accept our debased debt to keep their bubble from bursting, but no one else will. When we have another failed Treasury auction, say next summer, the wheels may fall off the train.
We have dug a deep hole over the last 60 years. A lifetime of profligacy. Things may be decent in 4-6 years, but not much sooner, and not without a lot more pain. Before it is over, each of us will have serious doubts about the viability of the country. That's what it took to end slavery and fascism and that is what it will take to put the stake through the heart of the nanny state and her dependents.
#5
both parties or far more polorized since "the Newt"
decided to rearrange the districts, therby eliminating any moderate dems or repub.s they no longer have to work with both party constituencies and therefor can be as radical, partisan and extreme as they like. GREAT. what about the rest of us, THE PEOPLE" politicians of both cuts have been ignoring the fate of the USA for a couple decades now with the result being that we have sold the golden goose to the highest bidder : CHINA. should have let MacAurthur do his job and mow over ASIA, but hindsight is always 20-20. just sayin...........
#8
I still think that the Dems are going to get slaughtered in the upcoming election. Here in Canada and back in 1993 (1994?), people were sick of Mulroney and his crew (although he jumped ship a few months before the election and left Campbell holding the bag). Everybody knew they'd lose the election but very few foresaw the slaughter. The Progressive Conservative party went from something near 200 seats down to 2. Methinks something like this will happen on Nov 2.
#11
Said it before - I'll say it again - repudiate the debt - declare bankruptcy and start over - we'll have all the infrastructure instantly paid off, every other nation holding worthless paper and the opportunity to renegotiate our treaty status worldwide . . .
[Al Jazeera] "If you're asking, are there al-Qaeda in Iraq, the answer is yes, there are. It's a fact, yes." Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence, August 2002
It was one of the key American justifications for the Iraq war. But the theory that al-Qaeda was present in Saddam-era Iraq, much cited by the Bush adminsitration in the run-up to the invasion, has been undermined by the content of secret US military documents.
The files contain only half a dozen references to the group for the whole of 2004, the year records begin.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/26/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
Then getting rid of the Jews would become more urgent, wouldn't it? We've already seen the Lebs claim that any oil reserves the Hated Zionists find must belong to them.
#1
20,680,000 bbl/day == US daily oil consumption ==> Meaning ... The Israeli find could feed the US for 1 Day.
So no on oil.
Now the Natural Gas discovery is a whole nother ball game if it is 16 trillion cubic feet ...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/26/2010 0:49 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If the natural gas pans out at large levels like that.. Israel should move it's whole transportation fleet to natural gas (maybe weapons too) and save a bundle over everybody else.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
10/26/2010 0:51 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Natural Gas is too flammable to use in military vehicles. There is more than one reason most use diesel. Range via mileage and crew safety among them.
We had Tanks nicknamed "Zippo's" in WWII because of how easily they lit when hit. And that was with gasoline.
#6
Israel could build a large GTL (gas to liquids) plant and generate quite a bit of diesel to supply their military needs, plus convert long haul trucking, taxis and buses to NGVs a'la Japan.
#7
With large enough supply of energy, and with the price low enough, you can do anything. Gas-to-liquid conversion is one of the things that could work. For Israel, or for the USA.
#8
It could work for the USA if we didn't have the greens and the bureaucracy driving power generation towards natural gas, and thus inflating its price for potential other uses such as gas liquefication.
#10
Israel imports natural gas from Egypt now. That costs a lot. In addition, Israel's electricity is generated from imported oil. Natural gas would be cheaper especially if it were domestic. It helps the economy a good deal but I don't see it changing much in a geopolitical sense or even much in a cultural sense. There could be a fair amount of oil in the off shore reservoirs but that again is just another bump up, not a game changer.
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/26/2010 13:12 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Worst part of this is it kills the old joke about the Juice wandering in the desert for 40 years before they found someplace in the ME without oil.
#12
Ditto massive discovery [shale oil]in CENTRAL TURKEY.
* TODAYS ZAMAN > ECONOMIST PREDICTS RISE OF THE EAST, DECLINE OF THE WEST, oer next 50 years [2050-60] wid Turkey in prime or advantageous position to lead econ + geopol growth, expansion of BRIC + CIVETS Group of Nations vee US-WEST???
In related News, TURKEY FINALLY DISCOVERS NOSTRADAMUS' "CIVETS" ACRONYM AFTER DECADES OF SEARCH.
Conducted by Antonia Dimou Reproduced by the Middle East Observer, Issue #1, January 2010, Institute for Security and Defense Analyses, Athens.
Why Iran, according to your view, has invested a great political and national capital to become nuclear?
Several different factors have contributed to Iran's decision to go nuclear. The readers remember that in the 1980s Iran was in the middle of a long war with Iraq and it is quite natural that it felt possession of any kind of weapons of mass destruction could make the life of war shorter. This initial feeling of insecurity was enhanced by the US and European pressures during the past thirty years followed by economic sanctions and attemps to isolate Iran in the international arena. Iran had to adjust its expectation of nuclear capability and limit itself to peaceful activities. At least since 2003, Iran has persistently claimed that it is not seeking military nuclear capacity. However, it looks like Iran has been unable to secure the international community's confidence and trust due to old controversies in its nuclear program and president Ah-madinejad's controversial remarks in his foreign policy goals.
Caught in a real predicament, on the one, Iran wants to have something to bargain in its foreign relations with big powers. It understands that nuclear technology will give it more muscle and more power in its relations with others. In addition there is some misunderstanding in the way Iran and the international community interpret the text and the promise of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT)... Remainder of the (rather lengthy) article is available at the link. Cut to avoid copyright lawsuits... Jalil Roshandel is Associate Professor and Director of the Security Studies program at the Political Science Department, East Carolina University. He has held several research and teaching positions at various institutions, including the University of Tehran, the Institute for Political & International Studies (IPIS) in Iran, Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI), the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey, the Stanford University, the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) , University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Duke University, North Carolina.
Posted by: Phinegum Ebbineque8989 ||
10/26/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11134 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
ION WAFF ? {Today's Zaman] WAR "INEVITABLE" WITH NUCLEAR IRAN, US EXPERT SAYS [IISS Pert Mark Fitzpatrick] | IFF IRAN ACQUIRES A NUCLEAR WEAPON(S), THERE WILL BE WAR.
ARTIC > FITZPATRICK = argues that all of Iran's stockpile of HEU serves no realistic or pragmatic Civilian = "Peaceful/DOmestic" Purpose save for the LT, MILITARY-CENTRIC DEV OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Its UNCLEAR iff EITHER THE US-ALLIES includ UNO, as well as TEHRAN WILL BE ABLE TO EFFEC STOP OR DETER ANY IRAN-DEVELOPED NUCWEAPS OR RELATED NUC, MILTECHS FROM FALLING INTO THE HANDS OF ISLAMIST, INTERNATIONAL MILTERR GROUPS.
Be they pro-Iran, anti-Iran, andor Neutral, etc.
IIUC, ABOVE > US SOLE OR JOINT WAR AGZ IRAN MAY BE THE ONLY REALISTIC UNIVERSAL "SAFE" OPTION FOR THE UN + US-WORLD AGZ THE RISE OF DESTABILZ REGIONAL, GLOBAL NUCLEAR MILITANCY-TERRORISM.
----------------
PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > FORBES:THE LANDSCAPE OF GLOBAL POLITICS IN NEXT DECADE [2011- EOY 2020].
"Realistic" or "Highly Possible" Mix of Curr Trends + LT Speculation.
To wit,
* 2011 > NORTH KOREA - KIM JONG-IL II dies at age 70, succeeded in power by son KIM JONG-UN whom works to greatly improve bilateral Trade-Econ ties wid the USA [anti-China?].
* 2012 > ISLAMIST PIRATES NOT-IN-THE-CARIBBEAN SEIZE POWER = CONTROL OF SOMALIA, taking over + dominating the GULF OF ADEN agz Internat interests.
* 2011 > CHINA + CPLA DEPLOY LR MISSSLES IN SUDAN to protect Chinese-specific Energy, Econ investments. SUDAN [mil] PROTECTED BY PLA MILFORS.
* 2018 > LAST US-NATO/ALLIED COMBAT TROOPS LEAVE AFGHANISTAN. Both Taliban + US formally declare VICTORY [Also read, declare DE FACTO "DEFEAT" of the Other Side].
* 2020 > FIRST CLIMATE WAR I = Muslim population begins abandoning Sun/GW-sunk MALDIVES ISLANDS for SRI LANKA, sparking LOCAL, REGIONAL? INTER-RELIGIOUS MIL CONFLICT.
* SAME/NET > BRITISH POLICE PREPARE FOR MUMBAI-STYLE TERROR ATTACKS [trained by SAS].
ARTIC = Unless the UK is willing to pay the prohibitive $$$ costs of a vastly expanded SAS. other Elite MilFor presence throughout the country, all Districts + Major Cities-Towns, LOCAL BRIT POLICE AS "FIRST RESPONDERS" MUST HAVE + RECEIVE INTENSIVE TRAINING IN THE USE OF HEAVY [Military-caliber] WEAPONS.
* SAME > CAN THE EARTH SURVIVE HAVING A POPULATION OF OVER 9.0BILYUHN BY 2050?
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > CHINA WILL BE THE WORLD'S SECOND [2nd] MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY BY 2050, ACCORDING TO THE PRC'S TOP THINKTANK [CASS = Chin Acadaemy of Social Sciences], as long as Beijing + CPC stay dedicated to continually improving Chin NATIONAL LEARNING, OPER CURVES = AGENDA OF NATIONAL MODERNIZATION.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
