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Sol Sanders -- Follow the Money No. 58 Horror vacui
Here is anther great column from Sol Sanders on the state of disarray within the Obama White House. He paints a picture of Obama as Chicagop-based Louis XIV. A version of this column is scheduled to be published in The Washington
Times, Monday, March 21, 2011. If you follow his analysis on the degree of cluelessness inside the WH, then look at the housing sector's meltdown, raises questions about Obama's viability in 2012. -- Chris
Follow the Money No. 58: Horror vacui
Sol Sanders <solsanders@cox.net>
Pres. Barak Hussein Obama has given new meaning to that epithet “imperial presidency”. It’s was slung at Pres. Richard Nixon not only for his extravagant “palace guard” – some in kitschy uniforms – but his more serious unconstitutional overreach.
But if imperial in his style, Mr. Obama reigns; he does not rule.
Whether domestic or foreign policy, Mr. Obama abdicates to Congressional or bureaucratic control then spins the often resulting muddle as something for which he is not responsible. It results, for example, in outgoing Sec. of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen pontificating far above their pay grade, to be contradicted almost instantaneously by events or Mr. Obama himself. The President’s hands-on applies only to maintaining his leftwing political base, whether Wisconsin unionists or Washington lobbies, reinforcing his South Side Chicago-Hyde Park 1960s leftwing agenda and his search for reelection campaign dollars.
Given the presidency’s dual role as chief of state as well as chief executor, celebration of a multitude of ceremonies is necessary and fitting – all the more in times of peril when the nation’s spirit needs uplift. But Mr. Obama’s sports addiction, his gliterrati extravaganzas, his causal acknowledgement of our closest allies’ tragedies, and his wife’s Marie-Antoinette progressions are increasingly bizarre. Importing a Chicago Daley mob family member, supposedly as a pragmatic chief of staff, so far has not injected restraint much less austerity.
This standard operating procedure is reinforced by Mr. Obama’s denigration of historic American accomplishments, often on foreign soil. Symptomatically, in the one international arena where he has sought leadership, relations with the Muslim world, there’s almost total disaster. Having made what he, if not most scholars, considered two seminal speeches offering renewed friendship with Islam, American interests are now in jeopardy in both locales. Turkey, site of his first lecture, once a stalwart NATO ally, defies the West’s policies on the Iranian nuclear weapons issue, the greatest threat now facing the alliance. His Cairo speech, seemingly falling on deaf ears, was followed by his bemused Administration fostering regime change but adding little to its still awaited outcome.
Of course Pres. Obama did not create these long simmering crises. But he contributes to them through his Administration’s lack of faith in American power, hard and soft. Favoring multilateralism to American leadership, his UN representative, Amb. Susan Rice, preaches that gospel but neglects reform of the organization’s abysmal corruption and inadequacy for which taxpayers pick up too much of the tab. Only when Muammar Qadaffi began slaughtering his own people did Washington join to redress the charade of Libya’s prominence on the UN Human Rights Council.
In this world of rampant behaviorism and relativism, Aristotle may not dominate as he once did. And his concept that nature abhors a vacuum [horror vacui in Latin] may be questioned with such new mysteries as black holes in outer space. But we are getting its proof in what happens geopolitically when the world’s paramount power chooses not to lead. Or worse still, when Mr. Obama trumpets policy without following through. Minor players with fewer resources, physical and intellectual, take the field exacerbating regional conflicts in an increasingly intertwined world.
Nowhere has that been more apparent than Washington’s approach to the Egyptian regime’s collapse, the Bahrain religious conflict and now the Libyan civil war with their attendant growing threat to world energy supplies.
Like a sick dog to its vomit, Washington returns again and again to the Israel-Palestine issue as the magic bullet to cure Mideast troubles. It’s the one international issue where the President enthusiastically commits his prestige. But having chosen Israeli settlements in areas won in the 1967 war as fundamental – it was subsidiary until he came along – Mr. Obama jeopardizes Israel’s basic security further postponing any agreement. The absurdity of his position is self evident: in a “two-state solution”, he ignores Israel’s almost 2-million Arabs but infers a Palestinian state must be “judenrein”.
Elsewhere lack of U.S. leadership – even withholding rhetorical support for Iran’s opposition -- has helped extend Tehran leadership’s religious fanatic and kleptocratic tentacles across the Fertile Crescent. The Persian Mullahs have managed to play all sides in “the Arab spring”. Not only does Tehran use Shia Syrian and Lebanese co-sectarians, but it sponsors Sunni Palestinian terrorism including Hamas, offspring of Egypt’s Moslem Brotherhood. [The latest unspeakably barbaric murder of an Israeli family eclipsed by the Japanese catastrophe was apparently Tehran-sponsored.] Iran may well profit from whatever comes of Mr. Obama’s belated moves to oust Qadaffi.
The arguments against American intervention in Libya were strong. Though Washington’s choice was to disremember his murder of Americans, in a Berlin discothèque in 1986 and PanAmerican 103 at Lockerbie in 1988, it is not forgotten in a region where mayhem and revenge are ever present. Ultimately, Mr. Obama could no more ignore Tripoli [ah! the ghosts of Thomas Jefferson and his Marines!] than rising oil prices spurred by Obama Administration counterproductive domestic energy policies could fail to cripple American recovery.
Thus Pres. Obama and the U.S. have been sucked into an undelineated vacuum, in part of his own making.
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At this point, does it matter?
I don't see any other presidential contender being any better or any worse. Is there a Republican candidate that is any better out there? It certainly doesn't appear so to me.
Obama has been a complete failure for the hope and change crowd that elected him. But in context with the last 3 presidents before him, it's just equal to the mean. It's what we are doomed to from here on out.
I'm ready to get junked......
Sarah fucking Palin, and yes, I'm serious.
Now junk away but do first pause long enough to consider that I have significant reasoning behind my position and DO NOT think that Sarah would be perfect.
My basic thought is that the established regime clearly despises her (fear). The established regime, under the cover of both parties (banks) have got us to this point and the attacks on her have been both sophisticated and relentless.
Sometimes it might be wise to judge someone based on their enemies?
Corporations are the problem with elections, the sooner we realize that the better.
Elections based on money are not elections, although many close their eyes and disagree.
Sarah Palin will kiss the corporate ass as much as anyone else on the ticket and everyone else loses. In other words, rinse and repeat - the same since 63.
as a registered democrat since '72 (about to change to vote for paul in the florida primary) i can only explain kennedy's hagiography by his (involuntary and only approximate) fidelity to pretty boy romano's recommendation to die young and leave a beautiful corpse.
I heard she wasn't fucking Palin anymore. How do you know otherwise?
nice.
on Sat, 03/19/2011 - 12:16
#1075315
"Sarah fucking Palin, and yes, I'm serious."
sfp is a media-con, charm school plant. she is just another incompetent, ambitious wannabe....a virtual linkedin clone.....yomama in drag......
hangemhigh-
Look, I believe that I can understand where you are coming from and I doubt very much that she will be the nominee.
I guarantee you though that if she was willing to play ball with the regime, she would become prez.
The Teaparty was our very own 'color revolution' and what the teaparty demands is honest, responsible government. I believe that SP has a strong public record as being honest and responsible?
The 'regime' is doing it's best to push Romney as the alternative to obumma, now with that either/or, I'll still wish for SP
The 'regime' will do it's best to push whoever can be easily defeated by the rats. They pushed McCain till he got the nomination and then turned on him. Their best hope is to choose the nominee for the repubs and then execute them after the convention. They have a visceral hatred for Palin because of what she represents and that means she is not a Hamptons or Chicago Mafia type.
nodhannum-
Nope. If that were true, a Sarah or a Ron Paul would be set-up to fail. The 'regime' won't gamble on it getting that far.
The Bush boy's, Father and son were regime selections. I distinctly recall that Herbert Walker was NOT Reagan's choice, he was the regimes choice. Herbert's son was a shoe in (basically given the role). Untill he maybe went a little off script with the whole Iraq response to 9/11. I don't believe that the 'regime' truly approved of that move. An effort was then made to replace one clown with another and that effort narrowly failed. Rather than becoming President of the U.S. Algore had to settle for the role of globalist fear monger over climate whatever. We do still have a relatively fair election process in this republic and the 'regime' can only fudge so far.
Have I blah, blah, blah'ed enough yet?
Romney is the regimes fallback (hedge).
Sarah Palin would be Kennedy'ed.
w. bush looked more like a "shoe out" to me.
dumb or dumberer
choose
Ok, I consider myself to be pretty anti-establishment and I despise and fear her. Replacing stupid with stupider is not the answer to any solution.
You ever think that everyone despises and fears her, because she deserves to be despised and feared?
"Replacing stupid with stupider is not the answer...."
That might be my next tattoo....
Yeah, he's incompetent. Now here is the bad news -- Mr. Incompetent has raised the bar in campaign finance to the point that any serious challenger will need $200M ($50M of his/her own money) just to show.
Look at the GOP field, who has that kind of money? Sorry, but I see another four years of the "Sun King" and his corrupt minions.
Point taken, but you are off by about $800M. And don't discount the 'free' money that will flow to B.O. in the form of the leftist dominated media.
You bring up an interesting disconnect amongst the comments. If Obama is the truly fascistically appointed POTUS by the military/industrial complex, and they are getting what they want (which appears to be the case), then we will have 4 more years of the same. Those who say he was appointed, yet can't "win" another term, seem to have a reality conflict.
RockyRacoon-
You meant "farcisticly" right?
I don't know, or care about your credibility at this point, but I would be interested in knowing if you have/have not read the Goddess Marlas work on 'farcisim'?
As so far as your "reality conflict"
Stop watching T.V
Maybe that ought to be the 2nd rule of fight club?
I was merely limiting my comment to the other comments I read here.
On the one hand credence is given to elections, yet the elections are farcical.
Say, what?
I'll look into the rest.
I doubt it will work that way. There is simply not enough money in the world to sell people on "Barack Obama cares deeply about you. No, really!" Not after people have seen him in (in) action.
As long as house prices keep falling, unemployment rises and headline inflation soars while Obama golfs St. Andrews, there will be no repairing his image.
We might put it: It's The Catastrophe, Stupid.
Obama can't win? How about Obama vs. Palin? 4 more years.
That gets an "I just threw up in my mouth" award.
You forget the Sun King's other advantages. He has a lock on the black vote (>90%) and a big chunk of the latino vote. Together that gives him 12% of the electorate before the campaign even starts, and he only needs 38% + 1 vote to win again. Unless he's caught in bed with a dead minor, his huge funding advantage will buy him that needed 38%.
I wish I could see a serious challenger among the usual suspects. The guys with money, Romney and Trump, are old school and unelectable. On the Dem side, HRC is the only possible usurper, and that hope is fading fast.
Rog -- blacks and Latinos are unreliable in terms of turnout. It will come down to the suburb/exurb comfy lifestyle ( largely caucasian ) types who will make or break B. Hussein. Unemployment, higher inflation ( "core" reading be damned ) and the potential for another foreign entanglement ( in the person of Khadaffi ), will weigh heavily against him.
I will go so far to predict that Willard Romney will be America's first Mormon President. So it was with 2008, 2012 will be very much the same: a vote against, rather than a vote for.
Cold day in hell before I vote for Mitt.
I'm pretty much over the...ask not what I can do for the country but what the country can do for me meme.
MassCare was/is an unmitigated disaster as it is the same as O-Who-Cares...he stayed silent throughout the ObamaCare debate (what debate there was...LOL) because it is the same thing...that's not leadership...that's failed political leadership...I'd like to know how many waivers his plan wound up with!
Fuck him and all the socialist horses he transferred to in mid stream.
Dammit when are people going to learn...empowering government to lord over other people leads to serfdom for all.
willard admits to the magic underpants and looks and acts too much like a very slick bankster to win the nomination over the next year, especially if that year looks anything like the last month or two.
You are forgetting that Obama has two mutually exclusive problems, either one will sink him - high unemployment and high gasoline prices. The only way to bring gas prices down is to reduce demand for oil by crashing the economy. But then unemployment will spike up. The only way to try to keep unemployment down is for the Fed to keep monetizing the federal debt, but this will keep upward pressure on oil prices. You can talk about Obama's campaign money and his lock on the black and hispanic vote all you want, but if there is high unemployment and/or high gas prices he won't win.
Not to worry -- he'll just roll them back and/or institute price controls by executive order and then blame the oil companies who will dutifly blame the "terrorists/ragheads". Then the "Commander in Chief" can order a few bombing runs over Iran, and win the election with the publicity thanks to the MSM and the ADL and we can all live happily ever after (or not).
The Sheep can be always counted on to run into the slaughter house chutes, even fighting to be first place in line. They'll get all the help they need from The Flock Owner's Sheep Herders.
You know, I remember thinking that Bill Clinton would simply resign and disappear into obscurity after the Elián González debacle, when that picture of the SWAT dude pointing his MP5 at a terrified child came out. And then again, after it came to light he was getting blowjobs from one of the WH interns in the Oval Office itself. But clearly, I underestimated the limitless narcissism of the modern political mind.
I imagine that at some point, a President will be caught in just such a situation. And his response will likely be, "How dare you! You can't prove that. And I contend that that child was decapitated *before* he entered the Lincoln Bedroom Tennessee Log Flume Ride."
Not so sure. 50% approval rating.....really? This country is starting to look a lot like Idiocracy.......
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approv...
Sorry, but I see little or no difference betwen this president or the rest.
the lack of US power is directly related to prior presidents policies. these situations don't happen over night. From nixon removing us from the gold standard to fight foreign wars, to shipping manufactiring base oversea over many presidents, to regans intitial budget busting reforms, to bushes two foreign wars that weren't funded, to insane tax policies of multiple presidents and parties that thought we could live on debt, from continued corporate influcence over sensible polices that woud be needed to overcome our dependence on foreign oil. Clinton failing and removing glass-stegal.
The real failure of Obama was that American people elected him because he appeared to understand and be willing to attempt to rectify these problems. He either doesn't, or won't. The reality is that nobody is willing to upset the status quo for fear of loosing the income/lobby money stream that status quo provides.
the reality is we live in a kleptocracy and have for a long time. these are 30 year problems that have come home to roost with a super power that wasn't willing or able to realize what would be required to maintian it's position in the world.
exactly
very true.
Obama should not serve another term and hopefully Clinton will leave the political world. The US made a mistake with Obama, which many on the left still deny, as does the left media. Clinton may or may not have been a better choice to answer the phone at 3:00 am. Hopefully we never know. The real fear is that Obama can do more damage yet. We are anxious for the fat lady to sing.
obama as president is akin to handing the janitor full control of the corporation simply because he attended a Tony Robbins seminar.
Not qualified.
Hopefully (and doubtfully) America chooses our next president by some methodology other than the 'american idol' format that has a cheesily baised group of 'judges' rooting for the 'top pick'.
That gave us this asshat.
......really like everyone's comments........ sincerely ....
Well, that just makes it all worth it then.........
He is simply earning his way into the Oligarchy.
Only goal.
Only result he is concerned with.
"He paints a picture of Obama as Chicagop-based Louis XIV. "
I'll read the article. But Obama as Louis XIV? The Sun King dominated his world like no other post-Roman king, except of course, Victoria. Obama has a way to go before he gets there.
I think what they meant to say was either Louis Quinze or Louis Seize
thought so too.
Let's take it further. Every President since GHWB hasn't had anything between the ears. Inverse correlation between Walmart stock and the American IQ. We deserve what we get.
"We deserve what we get."
No we don't. We get what is selected for us.
Let's put it bluntly: All our recent administrations are simply reflections of the descent of the American citizenry into ignorance, stupidity and immorality.
Present company excepted, occasionally.
Let's put it bluntly: All our recent administrations are simply reflections of the descent of the American citizenry into ignorance, stupidity and immorality
Well said IC. I think there are apps for that
don't blame it on i.q. though. clinton was plenty smart. he, like cheney, just had other priorities (israel/palestine? yes i care a lot yasser ... a little deeper monica).
The pendulum will swing the other way. The question is, will we like what that brings.
My new saying is :It could always get worse...
Disclaimer: That doesnt mean I like the status quo. Just saying.
Obama is the ...Slap Chop guy... in chief
That's an insult to the Slap Chop guy, who actually sold thousands of real products in the real world. I've got one of those sitting in my kitchen right now. Only thing I've gotten from Obama is a very large tax bill.
what, three wars on islamic nations by a guy named hussein and silver a quadruple since his election doesn't count? and forced nudity while held in solitary confinement/endless detention of a clearly white, male, gay u.s. soldier prior to trial as a bonus? if that's not bread and circuses we're all jaded.