Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for November 8, 2012
It may not matter that much: post-election thoughts. By Robert A. Hall
We are toast
Cartoon
Worth Reading
Excerpt: The re-election of President Obama is a data point - within a data point (and within a data point and so on). It is a data point - thrilling to some while bewildering to others and neither interpretation right nor wrong. Out of context, at least through the lens of Chaos Theory, data points do not make sense. Ergo the election of Barack Obama as president four years ago, a data point, did not make sense. And the re-election of Barack Obama as president yesterday, a data point, makes less sense.
Guest Post: Why I’m Voting in November
From a Marine buddy from Vietnam
Guest Post: A Story of Two Men
Worth Reading
Excerpt: Krugman’s bottom line: Mitt Romney wants to let people die. The economics profession on this same subject: Krugman’s claims are hogwash. But there is something that does cause people to die: socialism. More precisely, the suppression of free markets (the kinds of interventions Krugman routinely apologizes for) lowers life expectancy and does so substantially.
Election comments from blog readers
When I was a boy, I would sometimes ask my grandfather "What was the depression like." I dread the day, not far away, when my grandson asks "What was freedom like?" --Tom H.
We are screwed now. Really screwed. Now that Obama has won re-election, as soon as he gets to pick a couple more supreme court justices, and the dozens of other federal judges, that hated constitution will become just a quaint, old fashioned relic, and America as we knew it will become a fading memory. A "once upon a time" fairy tale to tell to your skeptical grand-kids. Now, with nothing to slow him down, he can be more flexible with Putin, sit back and watch Iran build their nuclear weapons, and completely abandon Israel Europe , and the cost of heating and cooling our homes will skyrocket - just as Obama promised before he first got elected. Forget about drilling for oil and natural gas, or mining coal. We will be investing our borrowed Chinese dollars in pinwheels and solar shingles. The price of everything that is delivered by truck (and that is everything you can think of) will go up, due to the increased cost of fuel imported from our Arab friends. Obamacare? Well, I'm approaching the age where it may not be cost effective to patch up whatever goes wrong with me. I imagine they will just give me a pain pill and send me tottering on my way. Of course, I may be looking at things through rose colored glasses. Things might not be all that good. –Larry W.
Corpsman up! My country is turning into Greece
After the 2008 election, an e-mail message went around saying it wasn't so bad that Obama was the President, what was bad was that enough Americans could ignore his extremely thin record and his clearly socialist rhetoric to put him in office in the first place. That this could happen was a very bad sign of the cultural decline of the society. Well, that assessment was on target. But now we have a much worse situation in that so many Americans could ignore all his broken promises, and all his many aspects of poor performance (from bowing to a Saudi king and apologizing to the world for America's faults to letting four Americans die at the hands of Islamic fanatics in Benghazi and literally dozens of things in-between) and renew his tenure on the Oval Office. I wasn't totally worried and upset about the first four years, but this next four years scares the hell out of me. With the GOP still controlling the House and the split in the Senate, it should be possible to bar any more disastrous moves through the normal government pathway, but we know his use of czars and executive orders are a back door path to making the executive branch dominant over the other two branches. It is simply normal prudence to expect the worst for the next four years, and that will be a lot of gridlock in Congress while Obama pushes his agenda every way he can through his alternative paths. Remember his message to Putin.. now he will have "more flexibility", heaven help us! So the economic engine of the nation will stay on idle, companies will keep laying off, new business starts will stay low, property values will continue to stagnate, unemployment will stay near 8% or maybe climb with the increased layoffs, and our national debt will go nowhere but up. The military will get cut and cut again, we'll pull out of Afghanistan and it'll go to hell quickly thereafter, and no other country will be putting a lot of faith in US Mideast will come to pass.) I'm going to invest more in canned goods and ammunition. And a lot more prayer for help from Above, since I'm sure we'll need more help than we can count on getting from our population and politicians. And if events prove me wrong, no one will be happier about it than I; but I'm willing to bet serious money that I'll be more right than wrong. The biggest mess in Romney's campaign was getting recorded saying that he couldn't worry about the 47%. He didn't mean by that what the Obama people made it out very successfully to mean, and if anything swayed some votes away from him, I think it was that. And some of the margins were so very thin, that a tiny swing in votes might have made the difference. But as you'll see in my general comment on this horror, I am scared shitless for what may come at us in the next four years. And we have to pray that only Liberal Supreme Court Justices decide to die in the next four. Some commenters have really come out saying this is the beginning of the end of the great experiment that was the USA Del
Folks, Barack's first term spending spree created an un-payable debt and conditions that promise little hope for long term recovery, no matter who would have won. But at least now, they can't blame the inevitable economic crash on the guy you voted for. And as for the ones who did vote for him, they are about to learn an unforgettable economics lesson. In other words, they won't have long to celebrate. Let's just hope they don't have to learn an unforgettable lesson about national defense. Barack has more latitude now that the elections are over. He said he would. For those Americans who thought you were engaged in a fight against flesh and blood and not part of a spiritual battle, you are about to learn an object lesson on Ephesians 6:12. Not long ago, some of you had proudly said things like "the Europeans got what they asked for," forgetting that many there were fighting valiantly to throw off the yoke of the EU. Do you suppose some of them may now say "those Americans got what they asked for?" I wish my UK
I am so miserable, even ashamed of my fellow citizens, regarding the result. One observation about the election "proving" the US
Eurozone quote from Military Science Fiction Writer Tom Kratman, LtCol, USA
I anticipate the European Monetary Union will break up. The German-controlled euro may become the new deutsche mark, or Germany Europe is littered with transnational organizations that don’t ever go away — but will be irrelevant. Most countries will go back to their traditional monetary unit: franc, lire, drachma, punt, etc. A fair number will stick with the new mark so long as Germany Italy , Spain , and France
No Surprise: Post-Election Retreat: Dow Plummets Below 13K for First Time in 2 Months
Excerpt: Equities, commodities and other risky assets tumbled on Wednesday after U.S. elections left Washington , D.C.
Suspicious about the vote in Lancaster , PA
This is from a friend in the Lancaster , PA
Excerpt: If you recall from the second presidential debate where Mitt Romney and Barack Obama got into a shouting match over whether or not Obama classified the Benghazi attack as a terrorist attack, then you remember how “acts of terrorism” made it’s way to the forefront on the following morning, though the Obama administration continued to push forth the line that the attack was brought on by a You-Tube video. Well now it has come out that CBS was deliberately covering for Obama on calling the attack in Benghazi
From a friend working the polls--too funny
Had to assist a voter by filling in the ballot for him. I named the candidates and he told me who he wanted to vote for. Not a problem, but he wanted to write in a candidate for president...Bill Cosby. I asked if he minded me asking why, and he said he admired his independent, free-thinking style. I then asked if he had read Bill's 'I'm Tired' piece, and he had.
GOP Senate candidate: Poll worker told me to vote Democratic all the way down ballot
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/06/gop-senate-candidate-poll-worker-told-me-to-vote-democratic-all-the-way-down-ballot/#ixzz2BTwMQpzv
http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/06/gop-senate-candidate-poll-worker-told-me-to-vote-democratic-all-the-way-down-ballot/#ixzz2BTwMQpzv
Excerpt: “The poll worker said, ‘you have to fill in all of THESE, all the way down,’ indicating the whole line at the far left of the ballot, saying ‘you can’t leave any blank,’” Long added. “I said, ‘I’m sorry, but that just can’t be the case … that would force me to vote for people I don’t want to vote for.’…“Finally, question authority — poll workers are there to help you to vote, not to tell you how vote,” Long added. “If one crosses the line, contact the Attorney General’s Office or your local Board of Elections.”
A Great Screen Play, If Only It Were So Trivial
Excerpt: Obama’s existence is an ongoing euphemism waged by the apologists of American Media. Using the crude format of argument best described by the Greek term epiplexis (using shame and the threat of being labeled a dunce if you don’t accept the argument) we are in a constant barrage of nonsense designed to confuse and humiliate us for not grasping the illogic of Obama logic. The Benghazi Debacle is the latest and perhaps the most flagrant example.
Video: Beauty Queen Brie Lybrand: The Man Who Tortured And Raped Me From Age 4 To 13 Has Subscribed To Me On Youtube
http://losangelescitycollege.blogspot.com/2012/11/video-beauty-queen-brie-lybrand-man-who.html
http://losangelescitycollege.blogspot.com/2012/11/video-beauty-queen-brie-lybrand-man-who.html
Dispatch from NJ: Private Citizens, Businesses Providing Aid In Government’s Stead
Excerpt: New Jersey
Chris Matthews on Obama’s Win: ‘I’m So Glad We Had That Storm Last Week’
Excerpt: I’m so glad we had that storm last week because I think the storm was one of those things. No, politically I should say, not in terms of hurting people. The storm brought in possibilities for good politics.
Moonbattery: Quote of the day:
http://moonbattery.com/?p=20631
Excerpt: Leftists in the media who created this state of affairs appreciate the help they got from the storm. Yells Chris Matthews: “I’m so glad we had that storm last week… The storm brought in possibilities for good politics.” Little people’s misery can be their masters’ joy.
http://moonbattery.com/?p=20631
Excerpt: Leftists in the media who created this state of affairs appreciate the help they got from the storm. Yells Chris Matthews: “I’m so glad we had that storm last week… The storm brought in possibilities for good politics.” Little people’s misery can be their masters’ joy.
Tweet from Ross Douth at Verified @DouthatNYT
Now for some pessimism about US
Tweet from Jedediah Bila @JedediahBila
I always hear "We are a center-right country." No. A center-right country does not elect Barack Obama twice. Time to re-evaluate.
And we know they have our best interests at heart. ~Bob.
Excerpt: Destabilized by scandals yet held together by a lack of alternatives, the Greek government prepared to push a raft of politically toxic new austerity measures through Parliament on Wednesday, a move aimed at securing international financing and ensuring that the debt-racked nation will remain in the euro zone.
Another Day Of Infamy. By Burt Prelutsky
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2012/11/another-day-of-infamy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29
http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2012/11/another-day-of-infamy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29
Excerpt: The most surprising thing about the election is that I, generally the most cynical of men, gave too much credit to the American people. Although I only lost a ten dollar bet on the election, I was sorely tempted to wager a lot more. Fortunately, I couldn’t afford to risk it, even on what I regarded as a pretty sure thing.
Worth Reading
http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/11/07/our_deviant_society
http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/11/07/our_deviant_society
Excerpt: Here's one usage of the term gentleman: The gentleman helped the fallen lady to her feet. Here's another, one we might hear from a newscaster or a police spokesman: Tonight we report on the arrest of two gentlemen who raped, sodomized and murdered an 80-year-old woman. During earlier times, to be called a gentleman meant one was honest, brave, courteous and loyal. Today "gentleman" is used interchangeably in reference to decent people and the scum of the earth.
Obama win ensures health law's future
Excerpt: ObamaCare” is here to stay. President Obama’s projected victory Tuesday night, coupled with Democrats’ continued majority in the Senate, ensures that the Affordable Care Act will not be repealed, and will be implemented as aggressively as possible.
ObamaCare Isn't Necessary to Have Health Care for All
Excerpt: Free market health policy economists have already long proposed a comprehensive health care safety net that would assure essential health care for all at just a fraction of the cost of the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare"), with no individual mandate and no employer mandate. Indeed, repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with the safety net reforms below would reduce federal spending over the next 10 years by close to $2 trillion, at least, says Peter Ferrara, a senior fellow at the National Center
What World Leaders Had to Say About Obama Election Victory
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/11/07/factbox-world-leaders-respond-to-obama-election-victory/#ixzz2BYhXTCYD
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/11/07/factbox-world-leaders-respond-to-obama-election-victory/#ixzz2BYhXTCYD
Better Stock Up (Guns and II Amendment)
Excerpt: The re(s)election of Barack Obama has assured not only economic collapse (equally inevitable had The Wall Street Stooge been selected) but also a guaranteed gun grab in the coming months prior to the collapse...
Excerpt: It’s hard to believe how little Americans know about the real issues facing them after $6 billion was spent by both parties getting their message out (a record $2 billion for President alone). I don’t blame the politicians in this or any election cycle. After all, why talk about tough issues and choices if you are not pressured to do so. I blame the mainstream media (MSM) for acting more like cheerleaders and spin doctors than arbiters of truth for the public. The MSM ignored the real issues while spending hours on things like the Trayvon Martin tragedy. (With the exception of his statement that the Al Qaeda fighters in Syria Benghazi Argentina
Musings on the day after (from a former colleague in the Massachusetts
Well, the results of yesterday's presidential election were no surprise to anyone who had been reading Nate Silver on fivethirtyeight.com or Sam Wang on Princeton Election Consortium, both of whom had Obama's reelection probability in the 90-99% range and picked every state accurately. If you followed the last few weeks of the campaign on TV, you thought it was a "tossup", based on the breathless way Chuck Todd and the rest reported each day's "tied" national polls. It's clearer than ever that these TV guys are paid to keep you watching by faking a close horse race so their sponsors can peddle their wares. If you wish to contemplate just how bad off the Republican party is and how abysmal Mitt Romney was as a candidate, consider this. Four years ago Obama had the tailwind of the worst economy for the incumbent White House party since 1932. His opponent, John McCain, like Bob Dole in 1996, was past his prime when he finally got the nomination, a fact exacerbated by his choice of a running mate who caused most Americans to be appalled by the prospect of her ever being a heartbeat from the presidency. Obama outspent McCain nearly 2-1. Now fast forward to 2012. Now it is Obama who has the headwind of the highest election year unemployment rate since the 1930s. And thanks to our odious Republican Supreme Court's odious attempt to destroy American democracy with the odious Citizens United decision, we had Romney and his friends spending well over $ 1 billion, by far the most spent on an election for any office in the history of the world. And what did Romney and the Republicans achieve with all of this? They picked off two states (Indiana and North Carolina) that Obama had won by the skin of his teeth in 2008, two states that had almost never gone Democratic in presidential elections in the last 50 years. To put this all in perspective, in the 5 presidential elections from 1972 to 1988 ,the 6 big electoral vote states of New York, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Michigan went Republican 26 times and Democratic only 4 times (New York in 1976 and 1988 Pennsylvania and Illinois in 1976 ). In the 6 most recent presidential elections beginning in 1992, the Democrats are 36-0 in those 6 big states. Or consider 11 smaller states (Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Delaware, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa). In the elections from 1972 through 1988, the Republicans carried these 11 states 44 times and the Democrats 11 times. Since 1992, the Democrats have carried these states 64 times and the Republicans 2 (Bush barely carried New Hampshire in 2000 and Iowa in 2004). Add to these 17 states the states already reliably Democratic by 1988 (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Hawaii and D.C.) and you have 20 states and the District of Columbia that always go Democratic in presidential elections, usually by substantial margins. These states currently have a total of 252 electoral votes, only 18 short of a majority, so any Republican nominee must pretty much run the table of the battleground states to have any chance of winning. No surprise, then, that the Republicans have fairly won only one of the last 6 presidential elections (2004), and that one by an incumbent who barely scraped by. I believe that the chief reason for the near demise of the Republican Party is that it is the victim of its own success in the South. The South has always been a trap for national political parties. The Democrats learned this in the mid and late 19th Century when their strength in the South led them to support pro-slavery policies that alienated the North and ushered in 70 years of Republican ascendancy. In the last third of the 20th Century, the Republicans won many elections because of their racist and religious appeal to the white south, but this finally caught up with them because the radical right wing agenda of their candidates in primaries and their party platform has alienated women, Hispanics, blacks, Arab-Americans, Asian-Americans, Gay people and their family members, blue collar people, especially union members, and young people. Affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, New York and Los Angeles that once were Republican bastions now vote Democratic for president, because the Republicans are now the party that opposes abortion, birth control, the teaching of evolution, the recognition that global warming exists, fair treatment for the children of undocumented aliens and equality for gays and lesbians. With the continuing control of Grover Norquist, the bible thumpers and the Tea Party over the Republican Party, this situation will only become more pronounced, as Hispanics and other minorities become a larger percent of the voting population. –PLM
7-Year-Old Murdered for Not Learning the Koran. By Mark Tapson http://frontpagemag.com/2012/mark-tapson/7-year-old-murdered-for-not-learning-the-koran/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=13b4c5882d-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag
Excerpt: British newspapers are reporting on the retrial of the disturbing case of a Muslim mother in Cardiff, Wales who beat her son to death in July 2010. Why would she commit such a heinous act? Because he had failed to memorize enough of the Koran.
Excerpt: The American people have spoken. Last night the American people said it's okay to take something for nothing; that we no longer need to sow in order to reap, that it's okay for a President to circumvent Congress, appoint "czars", issue edicts, selectively enforce our nation's laws based on how many varied pockets of interest groups who will give him electoral support. America said yesterday that they will willingly accept the heavy hands of government into their lives in exchange for a government check.
With no pause for breath, Reid, Boehner stake out fiscal cliff positions
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/266625-with-no-pause-for-breath-boehner-reid-stake-out-fiscal-cliff-positions
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/266625-with-no-pause-for-breath-boehner-reid-stake-out-fiscal-cliff-positions
Excerpt: Congressional leaders on Wednesday immediately staked out their stances on the fiscal cliff, barely pausing to breath after an exhausting campaign for the White House and Congress before seeking leverage in the upcoming talks.
Anti-Al Qaeda Libyans reveal Obama administration helped Al-Qaeda in Benghazi
Excerpt: Walid Shoebat, a former Muslim Brotherhoodmember now peace activist news Saturday night that anti-Al Qaeda Libyans living in exile are in possession of highly classified that reveal Obama and his administration’s involvement with Al-Qaeda in Libya, more than what has been previously known.
Melanie Phillips: America goes into the darkness
Excerpt: The greatest satisfaction today over the re-election of Obama is not being felt in the Democratic Party. It is not being felt among the media, who are no longer objective observers but have turned instead into corrupt partisans who ruthlessly censored the truth about Obama and helped peddle his demonising propaganda about his opponent. It is not being felt among the gloating, drooling decadents of the western left who now scent a great blood-letting of all who dare defy their secular inquisition. No, the greatest satisfaction is surely being felt in Iran.
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