Archives: 2008 January

Last night in his thankfully last State of the Union address President Bush spoke once again of the freedom and liberty that the United States has brought to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush spoke once again about the “blue ink stained fingers” of Iraqis oh so happy to be able to vote.

Bush spoke of the accomplishments achieved in Afghanistan as we reconstruct villages, roads, and broken lives as we support the young Karzai government as it builds upon a foundation of freedom and democracy.

From his speech one would think that the battle is about 90% won. That soon two strong and functioning democracies would be on their way to bringing order and stability to the entire Middle Eastern and Southern Asian region.

Yet when one examines the facts one has to wonder what world is Bush living in? How well is he informed by his advisers and generals on the ground in the war theaters? How well does he listen to and understand his advisers? One might even speculate on what Bush has been smoking. And if unlike Clinton whether he actually inhales a few good drags during his working day?

Effectively the US has destroyed Iraq. While it is true that the “Bush Troop Surge” has lowered the level of violence the question is to what level? And what about the political reconciliation that the surge was supposed to buy enough time to be accomplished? Wasn’t that the stated purpose of the surge?

Iraqis are still fearful to go to market for a few fresh vegetables as they well know they may never return. Over 4,500,000 Iraqis, including many skilled professionals like doctors and teachers, have been displaced. Many have left Iraq for neighboring countries where they struggle just to survive.

The following video showing the generation chickenhawks brave college Republicans at a national convention was originally produced by Max Blumenthal and posted at the HuffingtonPost.

In my view it offers a sad commentary on the mental health of and the ability to reason by a good many of our elitist college chickenhawk generation. These are the type of people who are being groomed to show leadership ability and to lead our nation within a few years. Yet, all they can manage to do when asked questions about the war in Iraq is to spit out Republican talking points.

I heard the same simple minded reasoning about the war in Vietnam. “If we don’t fight them there (the Vietcong) we will fight them here”. Like the poor Vietnamese had the means to invade the US. All they wanted was to have their own country back and to run it their own way. Isn’t that what the Iraqis and Afghans want?

God help us all. The United States is in big trouble from the rot within. Perhaps a return of the draft would bring a good dose of reality back into the American “homeland”. I confess that without the draft I would have never served in Vietnam. But because I did serve I know first hand that war is an ugly business that destroys and ends a lot of lives. Armed with that deep understanding I believe that if I ever had the responsibily for war planning, unlike chickenhawks Donald Rumsfield and Dick Cheney, I would do all in my power to prevent a conflict, not fire one up just because I could.

The CIA fact book gives a most interesting overview of the USA as well as for just about every nation on earth.

In identifying current US challenges the CIA fact book states that “Soaring oil prices in 2005-2007 threatened inflation and unemployment, yet the economy continued to grow through year-end 2007. Imported oil accounts for about two-thirds of US consumption. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups. The merchandise trade deficit reached a record $847 billion in 2007. Together, these problems caused a marked reduction in the value and status of the dollar worldwide in 2007.”

The USA fact book summery pages still lists America as the world’s richest country. This is still true for individual countries although the European Union community is now larger than the US in total GDP, the output of goods and services, which would place the EU in the top spot. China is number three and closing the gap fast.

Else where the CIA fact book it notes that the “US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $45,700. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace.

US business firms enjoy greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to enter their rivals’ home markets than foreign firms face entering US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II.

Is the Senator Obama Muslim factor hurting his chances to win the Democratic party presidential nomination?

While Barack Obama is not a Muslim (his father is) the charges are out there and just won’t go away. In a nation that supposedly believes in religious freedom Senator Obama’s religion really shouldn’t matter but it clearly does.

With the average US citizen subject to manipulation by its leaders, and with our “crusade” in the Mid East crazily running along for more than five years, in many American’s minds to be a Muslim is equated with being a terrorist or at least being a terrorist supporter. That’s a sad thing to say but I fear it is largely true.

Even though Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a “madrassa” are not accurate, according to CNN reporting there are stories going around that Obama refused to be swore in as a Senator with his right hand resting on a Bible.

That is certainly not true but is an issue that won’t go away. Senator Obama is a Christian but apparently many otherwise well informed people think otherwise.

While recently visiting my 84 year old mother she made the comment that she would not vote for a Muslim to be the President of the United States. When I said I guess not as there is no Muslim candidate running for president her reply was “well, what about Obama?” When I asked her where she had heard that bit of misinformation she replied she had received an email from a friend who was “well informed” about such matters.

With Obama losing primaries in Nevada and New Hampshire by slim margins a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand “well informed” folks spreading misinformation over the Internet about the Senator’s religious affiliation could make a different in the 2008 presidential election.

Get ready for hard times folks. When the President of the United States, George Bush, and his economic advisers panic and call for immediate tax cuts and rebate checks of $800 per taxpayer as a means to stimulate the economy you can bet that the economy is about to tumble right off the cliff into a deep recession.

With the financial crisis which started with the subprime mortgage and housing market spreading into all sectors of the economy the time for quick effective fixes is long gone. The American consumer is tapped out. Credit card delinquencies are at record highs as are home foreclosures. The credit bubble party is over and no one in government has the guts to say so just yet. A rebate check will provide temporary relief for a very short time at best. The problems faced by the economy are structural. A quick fix gimmick will not get the job done.

In my opinion, Bush and his team of economic advisers looked terribly worried in their TV appearance today. And well Bush should be worried. After running the most incompetent administration in the history of the United States it looks like he will still be in office when his arrogance and incompetence catch up to him and to the American public and the economy dives into a financial abyss.

Only the subprime mortgage disaster would be bad enough for the economy to have trouble coping with. But conditions are worse, much worse, than that. The Wall Street wizard investment bankers were so successful in converting lousy credit risk loans into AAA rated securities that they didn’t stop with home mortgage loans. No they packaged and sold to “investors” billions and billions of securities collateralized by lousy credit card loans.