Ending Capitalism

The U.K. Riots And The Coming Global Class War - Forbes:

Excellent article. The Judaeo-Christian work ethic, generally accepted social values including personal responsibility, and the rule of law allowed Capitalism to create a cornucopia of wealth in the west. But, it has also enabled world wide completion, at the time when the western attitudes of hard work, thrift, innovation and risk taking have largely turned to entitlement, redistribution, protectionism and consumption. The formerly "virtuous cycle" of the old characteristics has given way to a new "death spiral" that has riots and state power taking the ever smaller shrinking wealth from those that formerly drove the virtuous cycle.

"The hardening of class divisions has been building for a generation, first in the West but increasingly in fast-developing countries such as China. The growing chasm between the classes has its roots in globalization, which has taken jobs from blue-collar and now even white-collar employees; technology, which has allowed the fleetest and richest companies and individuals to shift operations at rapid speed to any locale; and the secularization of society, which has undermined the traditional values about work and family that have underpinned grassroots capitalism from its very origins."

CNN, Strong Praise for Perry

Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House - CNN

Ran into this the other day on the left side of the CNN page right with the NEWS! Perry has to be doing something right if he can raise this kind of MSM hatred before he even runs.

His Saturday speech in South Carolina will make clear that he is entering the race for the White House and will spawn the ugliest and most expensive presidential race in U.S. history, and he will win. A C and D student, who hates to govern, loves to campaign, and barely has a sixth grader's understanding of economics, will lead our nation into oblivion.

Expensive is bad? Uh, BO broke all records in '08 and it was GOOD then. How the hell would we know what kind of student BO was? He was never spotted at Columbia, but nobody cares. The interest in his grades are of completely ZERO interest to the MSM. Not really so bad -- it is just the CONTRAST that gives on pause. "Barely a six graders understanding of economics"?? One shudders to think what one would rate BO's level of economic understanding. To paraphrase a famous BO bowling comment -- I'll wager their isn't a single participant in the Special Olympics that isn't 10x the "economist" of BO!!!

Oblivion??? It is going to take a great president to get us back there from where we are now!!!

It is really hard to imagine the level of hatred that brings a screed like this to the online front page of a major media outlet before the guy even DECLARES his candidacy. But I guess one needs no imagination at all -- there it is!

You recall anyone on the left taking the Mormons side on anything prior to now? Me neither.

A BO Biparticle

The most powerful man on Earth? - The Washington Post

Yet Obama plods along, raising gobs of cash for his reelection bid — he was scheduled to speak at two DNC fundraisers Monday night — and varying little the words he reads from the teleprompter. He seemed detached even from those words Monday as he pivoted his head from side to side, proclaiming that “our problems is not confidence in our credit” and turning his bipartisan fiscal commission into a “biparticle.”

Journalists are writers, to whiich the spoken word often sounds "tentative" or "ill formed". When one is thinking critically, as a journalist is always supposed to do, the little gaffs that are part of common speech grate on them. Especially for "the most powerful man in the world". Shouldn't such a person be "special" in areas that are near and dear to "our" (the journalists) hearts?
Typically, because they have some understanding of the world around them, they avoid nit picking public figures. It seems "ticky-tack". But once they take a dislike to a poltiician ... Nixon, Reagan, Quayle, and both HW and especially W Bush, "the gloves are off". It appears that even the lefty press like Milbank is getting a distinct whiff of BO.

I really think it is hard to beat "biparticle" as a name for a "bipartisan fiscal commission" ... it is really even better than W's "misunderestimated".

WI Recall Fails

Report: GOP retains Wisconsin senate control in recall battle - CNN.com

WAY too close! With the teachers off work and going door to door, plus the deep national union pockets spending like there was no tomorrow, this one was huge. If they had won control this would have been the top story for the rest of the week in the MSM with all sorts of "harbingers for the future" and "stinging defeat for the Tea Party" rhetoric.It would have been a big energizer for the Democrats and Unions.

As it is, they spent millions and lots of door to door time and failed ... all be it narrowly. It OUGHT to further energize Tea Party and Republicans, but we will have to come up with our own media buzz to do that because this version of the WI story will be a non-story in the MSM after today.

 

 

 

Left Starts to See BO Reality

What Happened to Obama’s Passion? - NYTimes.com

There is a reasonable set of quotes here that indicate that a true whacked out rabid lefty is actually starting to see some of the reality if the BO story:

"This pattern of presenting inconsistent positions with no apparent recognition of their incoherence is another hallmark of this president’s storytelling."

Uh, this is a hallmark of ALL liberal storytelling ... it is known by reality oriented people as "consistency is NOT an issue" ... and like always, the view of the lefty writing the column is rife with such inconsistency. The role of Fannie and Freddie in creating the sub-prime / credit default swap crisis is completely ignored, as is the inconvenient truth that FDR's programs not only didn't end the depression (WWII did), they actually DID turn out to be unaffordable and destructive to the moral fiber of people to delay gratification and save for the future -- it just took longer than expected. Oh, and BTW, the same realities apply in Japan and in Europe and indeed everywhere. There STILL is no free lunch!

THE real conundrum is why the president seems so compelled to take both sides of every issue, encouraging voters to project whatever they want on him, and hoping they won’t realize which hand is holding the rabbit.

and this is new to you? This is PRECISELY how he ran as a candidate and it was pointed out SOLIDLY by many of us who were labeled as "racists", or when they were kind in the name calling just "misinformed". One might say, "welcome to at least a partial whiff of reality".

Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president, having never run a business or a state; that he had a singularly unremarkable career as a law professor, publishing nothing in 12 years at the University of Chicago other than an autobiography; and that, before joining the United States Senate, he had voted "present" (instead of "yea" or "nay") 130 times, sometimes dodging difficult issues.

Bewitched? I guess -- all those facts and hundreds more equally and even more disquieting were well known and indeed often written by his own hand in two books. One really doesn't have to have much for common sense to be able to see a bit of a problem with a person that writes not one but two autobiographies prior to reaching the age of 50.

The president is fond of referring to “the arc of history,” paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous statement that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

King is very eloquent, but it is even more true that the arc of all history bends toward reality. Eloquence is super, but in changes many aspects of reality not one whit. Sure, "to the moon before the end of this decade" was motivational, but the late 50's and 60's were a different time. "The Great Society" was in it's infancy, and FICA had only been falsely promised a mere 30 years prior. The number of retirees relative to workers was still small, and the pernicious corruption of "may as well spend it today, the government will take care of me when I get older" was just beginning.

The multiple realities of longer lifetimes, a more competitive global business market, technologies that boost inefficiencies and further level the competitive field and the grinding inefficiencies of big government weigh on the US as a millstone around the drowning nations neck.

But, but, I'm ignoring his "facts" like "It does not bend when 400 people control more of the wealth than 150 million of their fellow Americans.".

Ok, the origin of that "fact" is Michael Moore in Madison this past spring. The top 400 Americans control $1.5T in assets ... the vast majority in stocks of the businesses they control, and at which many Americans work. The total private wealth of the us is around $55T - $1.5T, so "$53T". Surprise, surprise, the bottom 50% of the population controls very little wealth. Why?
30% of them are under the age of 20. To not recognize this is simple incompetence or malfeasance. There are no other alternatives.

"Wealth" is acquired over a lifetime (or if you are a Kennedy or Dayton, inherited). FICA, government assistance, education, etc are NOT counted as "wealth" -- only personal assets that can be sold are. The very programs that the left pushes contribute mightily to wealth inequality. FICA transfers 15% of the earning power of the predominately young workers to the elderly. The group that controls 80%+ of the wealth in the country is the beneficiary of the largest government transfer payments, and it is THE LEFT that created the transfers!!

Downgrade Paternity

“Tea Party Downgrade”? They Can’t Possibly Sell That | Power Line

"Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan". Decent column by PL talking about the Democrats and blame for the downgrade. I'd never underestimate the power of the MSM to re-write history in a form that flatters Democrats though. I wonder if there would have been any question with a Republican President in office as to "where the buck stopped"?

I suppose you can't really be blamed though when you are "leading from behind".

Wishing for Winston

In economic turmoil, U.S. needs a leader like Churchill - CNN.com

Gergen is one of those guys they love to put in the media as a "moderate" -- like NPR and the NYT, he is pretty much floating out there between "the left" and "the far left", or in terms of the MSM, "moderate".

It is laughable to look at someone like that pining away for Winston Churchill ... he may as well pine away for Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan. They aren't coming back either -- nor would he really want them to. The problem is that the left doesn't really want a "leader" nearly so much as they want a Dictator. They want "someone that fixes all the problems" ... so they won't have to. Their idea of "a difficult decision" is just how much of someone else's income and wealth should be confiscated so that their economically disastrous programs can be continued.

Winston was indeed a leader. He led Brittan to win the war, and when he wanted them to pull up their socks and get back to the business of being a world power, they promptly threw him out of office. They also didn't much like what he had to say when other voices like Chamberlin were out there talking of "peace in our time".

Winston once said that the American people would do the right thing once al other options had been exhausted. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that is human nature and true of all of us and thus all democracies. As long as there is someone out there selling the snake oil of "hope and change", or "peace", or "strength through disarmament", or "improving the economy by borrowing", or "leading from behind", or countless other nostrums that may sound good for a season, many will be buying. Maxim's like "work and study hard, be responsible, be a maker not a taker, worry about doing good and you won't have to worry about who to blame ..." and thousands of others don't sound as slick. In fact, they sound "hard" ... the only minor difference is that they actually work, where wishful thinking is just as wishful as it ever was.

It's the principles stupid!! The great leaders are only great leaders because at the time they come along ... or maybe come along again, as in Winston's case, the people are ready to follow the principles they embody. We don't need Winston, we don't need Reagan -- we need to get back to the timeless principles that both of them embodied as leaders.

Bigotry Redefined

Stand up to Herman Cain’s bigotry - The Washington Post

The lefts hatred of any Black that leaves the thought plantation for diversity of thought is boundless. Clarence Thomas, Condoleezza Rice, JC Watts, Allen West ... the list goes on. If you are Black and you refuse to follow the Democrat party line, we will take you down.

Is Robinson even serious here? How many lefties are anti-Christian, and is that EVER called "bigotry"? There are many reasons not to support a Cordova Masque and Ground Zero -- Islam has had a very long tradition of installing a "Victory Mosque" and the scenes of their great victories.

Is this one REALLY a Cordoba Mosque? I don't see how any westerner could know. It would be like being certain of the Vatican's intent.

If the religion in question is Christian though, the left's knee jerk is "freedom FROM religion" ... everyone has a right to be free from anything to do with CHRISTIANITY in their book ... but Islam? Apparently Islam is a "protected thing" like abortting babies, spending other folks money, and letting illegals vote.

The Joy Of Fanaticism

The Comforting Life of Ideological Fanatics « Commentary Magazine

Unfortunately, all humans fall into this trap from time to time, but in the face of massive debt, deficits, an economy stuck in neutral, and "The One" now increasingly llooking like "Carter II", the left is nearly humorous in it's indulgence.

What else are they to do?? Their reality has to be really depressing.

The Middle of Nowhere

The Diminished President - NYTimes.com

Well put ... midway between BO and Romney is "The Middle of Nowhere" !!!

To Hell with You People

To Hell with You People - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online

Jonah seems to have forgotten that Consistency is NOT an Issue!!! for the left. It is the RIGHT that needs to be careful of the use of military metaphor. The left? Well, of course not!!! Their hearts are in the right places!!! Or actually, from their POV, they HAVE hearts!!!

Big ones, that allow them to be generous with other folks money as well as other folks future money!!

End Of the Old Order

RealClearPolitics - The Crisis of the Old Order

The sub-prime bubble and the rise of BO accelerated the trend, but as Samuelson points out, the seeds of the demise were sown because the assumptions of the post WWII order were just wrong:

1) The Welfare State
2) Government controlled economic growth
3) Benefits of International trade

Now all three are in real trouble. Samuelson covers why -- and after his analysis, all but the committed lefty ideologues can see that "Real Change Is Here".

No 2036

Mark Steyn: Obama the man without a plan | austerity, plan, debt - Opinion - The Orange County Register:

Very sobering but very necessary. To even propose something for 2036 is a profound admission that BO has slipped the surly bonds long ago. We may not make 2012. If he is re-elected, nothing that anyone would recognize as America will be around in 2016.

"If that's the best offer, there isn't going to be a 2036, not for America. As the Europeans are beginning to grasp, eventually 'political reality' collides with real reality. The message from a delusional Washington these last weeks is that it won't be a gentle bump."

BO At His Worst

Charles Krauthammer: Obama At His Most Sanctimonious | RealClearPolitics

I suspect he will get worse yet before it is all over, but we have established a new baseline.

One thing I'd add, apparently, much like Dayton in MN, being a Democrat "leader" doesn't require you to be able to deliver a SINGLE vote from your own party to support what you bargain for. Dayton got zero Democrat votes in MN, BO got zero votes for his "budget" this spring (97-0 in the Senate), and now one of the reasons for the talks breaking off is that he is unable to promise any Democrat votes to cover a "deal".

Boehner is constantly castigated as "lacking leadership" by the left for failing to deliver up virtually all of the Tea Party votes. Yet BO is not required to deliver a single token Democrat.

Drowning In BO

Reality Time by Andrew Klavan - City Journal

It may, on the one hand, be the tactic of second-rung celebrities desperate for more attention, but it may at the same time represent the dismay of yet another generation of leftists waking from yet another utopian daydream to find themselves in a disaster of their own making.

I remember their weird realization on Jimmy Carter, and their weirder hope that "Senator drown your sorrows"  (Teddy) would come to the rescue. Rescue!?  The cruelty of associating the murderer of Mary Joe Kopechne with "rescue" exceeds only the stupidity of same.

The left currently likes the analogy of "Republicans wanting a government so small you could drown it in a bathtub". Thinking that Teddy -- or BO are your "saviour" must mean you want a government so lost it might call it's own bluff, drive off a bridge, and drown itself. It would be OK if we weren't all along for the ride.

This time, the lefties just seem to be getting angrier and angrier at reality and reality based politics.