Obama And That Other Ponzi Scheme. The Hsu trial is set to begin January 12. Pods head won't expode - but they may be torn in half. Clinton AND Obama are set to get some rotten press. How will the Pods defend THEIR LORD and while condeming the Clintons at the same time?
love you all. No posts after this until Friday. Happy New Year!
Face forward! Eyes open! Onward to 2009! Hallelujah Here is the song I've been trying to learn on guitar. It is hard. I took up classical guitar a while ago because I wanted to stretch my brain and I hate crossword puzzles. Also guitar is sexy and we middle aged types must get inventive with seduction....lol, as the kids say...
Gavin Newsom is exploring a run for Governor of Calif. I like Gavin Newsom. Mayor Newsom courageously struck a blow for equal and human rights by allowing gay and lesbian Americans to marry in San Francisco. Barack the Coward refused to be photographed with him. Sometimes Obama makes his sneaky, contemptible, fraudulent career so very easy to loath. (L.R. would not be L.R. without one last backhand to Barry O. in 2008. Prediction: Busting Obama's chops and pointing and laughing at Obama Pods will become a growth industry sometime in the July-September window.)
Bubble discusses the new year. Still funny after 15 years.
Photo below can used to respond to nonsense emails from an ex or in-laws or Code Pink: Does anyone know who made this photo?
Finally listen to Ana Vidovic and have a wonderful night!
On a local note - for me at least - California will form the nucleus of what he calls "The Californian Republic," which always feel just under the surface to me anyway. California, a nation-state, has a specific identity - that most residents ignore. Ignoring this identity is part of the identity. We would be upfront about it like Texans but to be like Texans would not be Californian.
Alas, Igor goes on to say: and will be part of China or under Chinese influence.
Uh,no, Igor. I think not. Like Obama, I am not an actual professor, but Igor clearly has no concept of the Californian-American identity. We might get in bed with Mexico if it were not a worse basket case, but not China. I don't care how many dollars they are holding.
Even the Mexico scenario is suspect. In the 25 years California was a part of Mexico (Yes, it was only 25 years.) Californios didn't much acknowledge or like their overlords in Mexico City. California was a backwater - which is why the Spanish built "missions" up the coast. The nation Cali most mimics is Australia. So the Risk Game scenario lends itself more to a California/Australia alliance. Crazed surfers and outback rednecks fighting off the Commie hordes. Communication will be difficult as Cali surfers and Aussies both speak an incomprehensible English - but we'll figure it out.
I am being silly.
However, the potential for large scale social disruption in this country in the short term is real. We are not prepared for another Great Depression. The societal glue of 1932 is not nearly as strong now. Entitled brats were confined to a few rich families on the Eastern Seaboard then. Now, it's the national disease up to and including the current and next President. And I do not see a unifying American leader on the horizon. As I said last night, I could be wrong. Mr. Obama looks more like Neville Chamberlain than FDR. His soaring rhetoric could morph into "Can't we all just get along?" pleading if the breadlines get long enough.
The answer, to him in particular, is going to be a resounding "No".
Obama still strikes me as "the other". An interloper. This sense I have has nothing to do with race. Colin Powell feels American. As does Jesse Jackson. Whatever one thinks of Jackson he emerged fromhere. His American bonefides are not in question. He exists in the part of the house most of us ignore - but he is still in the house. Regardless, Obama is a concoction, a creation (a confection to many) whose history has largely been blotted out, Soviet style.
Obama has alight here...there...and everywhere. He is a man of the world (or rather, he plays one on TV) coming to power at the precise moment globalization is cratering. The "America as lone superpower" Neo-Con project is snapping back. We are entering an inward looking time.
Diversity is only a strength if all agree to a final answer. If not - it's just a bunch of fraternities partying in a nice mansion - libel to disintegrate into a fracas when the Bud runs out. The great American ideals have been subsumed into a "consumer culture" now apparently on the verge of collapse. I consume, therefore I am does have an answer: Okay, then you're not.
To paraphrase James Howard Kunstler: An endless string of strip malls, Walmarts, and drive thru windows won't be fought for because they are not worth fighting for. Even the most TV addled American knows this. An eruption of regionalism that shoves aside nationalism is a real possibility in this mix, if not quite yet a probability. I can see people circling the wagons to protect actual places say Asheville, North Carolina, much of New England, or the California central and northern coast. In other words: places built with citizens in mind, not consumers, that are worth protecting.
Further, I can see people ditching those places thatrepresent the height of post war American civilization - like Plano, Texas or Peoria, Arizona - "towns" built for cars to easily shuttle consumers whose lone purpose is to ingest something at all times. Soulless Walmart horizons, with nothing in the middle distance except parking spaces.
BUT underneath the thick layer of post moon landing American lard there still lives a "Live Free or Die" attitude. Like the Japanese on December 6th 1941, Mr. Panarin neglects to add this into the equation. It remains to be seen if that impulse will unify the nation or result in a bunch of dudes with shotguns screaming "Get the hell out of New Hampshire"...or Texas... or Biloxi...
Bush's problem was always his lack of curiosity about the details. So far, BHO appears to have the same character defect. It looks as if he is going to get bored quickly. Presidenting is hard after all. It's not as if he has any experience following through on anything except his own self promotion.
Of course, I could be wrong. Certainly the build up for Obama Messiah over the next few weeks is going to be massive. But can't you just see a massive letdown coming?
I overslept and do not have a lot to say this morning. I responded to a post reader Kara linked in the comments last night...a Rick Warren interview. Kara and I pretty much agree on this issue...and I am really foggy right now...and I have an arduous day of college football ahead. So my comments are my morning post- punched up a wee bit as the coffee kicks in:
Thanks for the link, Kara. Just read it . The trouble I have with Warren was not assuaged. His arguments are soothing but foolish. He states he is for equality for everyone but wants to take possession of the word "marriage" using lame historical excuses....for five thousand years all societies have... agreed on quite a lot, actually:
-Until recently slavery was the norm in many...for 5 thousand years -Most societies have been and remain male dominated - for 5 thousand years -War is a part of all societies for the last 5 thousand years.
The same "5 thousand year" argument could be made to re-institute slavery, or create a monarchy here, or legalize child beating....
What's so weird about Warren in this piece is his attempt to CLAIM the word marriage. Which is his way of saying "some loving couples are more valued than others." without saying it. "You Gays are nice, so you can have everything except this". He has no logical reason for denying this one thing to gays - except ill conceived "history". But still this word "marriage" must be wholly owned by heterosexuals- (even though in many - if not most - cases they have made the institution a joke and/or a torture chamber)
That is the rub: Why "marriage" for gays is so contentious for many straights - It cuts at the heart of too many fantasies about family, Father God in the Sky, and perfect romance. Making sure that gays and lesbians do not get a seat at the ADULT table allows conservatives to persist in the "nuclear family is the supreme unit of society" horseshit.
"Mommy. Daddy, kids, car, pets" as the fundamental social construct is a very recent development - say the 1920s-50's or so. Throughout "history" as Warren likes to say - it actually took a clan, or - as Hillary reminded us - it took a village to raise a child.
(What most white conservative Americans can't abide ishearing that the 1950s sucked for a lot of people. Blacks, women with ambition, gays...and so on and so forth.)
Gays should not be expected to sign off on second class status so close minded conservatives can keep their delusions alive.Also, Gays are not some post-war phenomenon that arrived with hippies and fluoridated water. Hard to believe, I know, but homos have been around for...well...at least 5 thousand years just like the wheel, alphabets, and Phyllis Schlafly.
In some ways the "nice" evangelicals are worse than the monsters. At least the monsters are upfront. Rick Warren doesn't want to reach out to Gays in any real sense. He wants to look loving and expansive while maintaining the unequal status quo - rather like El Presidente Obama, come to think of it. An updated version of "I am not a bigot. I have black friends, I swear!"
Being handed warm blankets at the back of the bus by nice evangelicals, and told to sleep well in a kindly voice- will not shut gays up. Separate but equal did not work before and it won't work now.
Many people are angry about the lyrics below sung to the tune of Puff the Magic Dragon:
Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C. The L.A. Times, they called him that 'Cause he's not authentic like me. Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper Said he makes guilty whites feel good They'll vote for him, and not for me 'Cause he's not from the hood.
It is okay as far as satire goes. Not great. A little funny. The singer is supposed to be Al Sharpton - though I would not have known this had I not read it first. Speaking very much for myself: As a send ups go it gets a C plus.
I don't see how this little piece of mockery crosses any line. Is it the word "negro"? The word serves two functions without being offensive in my book. 1. It has 2 syllables like "dragon" so it fits. 2. It is used to mock WHITE PEOPLE. Good lord, are we so trapped in the sensitivity fog that we can't see something so obvious.
In fact , until the end of the clip the entire song is mocking white liberals. Therein lies the real issue. The media reaction that makes this "news" (it is not) comes from whites who do not like being called out for what is an obvious truth: they voted for BHO in part because he's black. Wouldn't it be nice if these types would own up to it. As a Left leaner I've done this kind of voting many times. When presented with a slate of judges I know nothing about I vote for the woman. Why? It satisfies me and my gut tells me we need more women on the bench.
Whoop Dee Do.
Should I do due diligence on all candidates? I guess. But there is an election in California every full moon. I participate. I think it is important.
Voting for President is the big leagues, though. If I'd looked into Obama and found him experienced and qualified and reasonably ethical his being bi-racial would have caused me to pull the lever for him with a little extra zing. It's about damn time the all while male President club dissolved. But I found little worthy about the man except his being bi-racial. So I voted for a black woman - who is wildly unsuited for the job - but it was a safe bet she was not going to win. I made a little statement. Plus, I like the Green Party. Though nearly pointless in the U.S., they serve a purpose.
Of all the denial white liberals have indulged in this year, pretending their votes for Obama had nothing to do with him being a safe Black, has now reached a level of absurdity. It is thicker than molasses frozen in tundra. This denial got ugly when Ferarro pointed it out last Spring. That bug eyed ego maniac Olbermann, apparently taking it personally, did not like the implication that he was a smug brat. So he attacked the first female V.P. nominee proving himself to be...a smug brat. With fully engorged privileged white maleness he screamed RACIST!
Like so much of the racial conversation this year - this brouhaha has little to do with blacks. The song is mocking white guilt. With apologies to any black Americans who are offended by this song - let me say once again - while pretending to be open and liberal all whites are doing here is chattering amongst themselves about black people. It is what we do instead of self examination and/or taking responsibility. I presume Black Americans are already quite clear about this character defect with the majority.
Now what I do find stupid, but not surprising, is that a GOP politician included this on a Christmas CD. WTF? The man is a moron. Neither party will ever have a corner on the dumbass market.
Besides, Obama consciously presented himself as a safe black man to whites. It was part of his plan. I, for one, reserve the right to mock the President of the United States and his fan base regardless of their race.
The end of the clip dives into some mockery of Sharpton. So what? Is there anyone more mockable on the American scene? Paris Hilton comes to mind, but few others.
Meanwhile a pastor who said all gays were child molesters and Jews would burn in hell will be giving the blessing at the inauguration. To THAT many of the same white liberals are yelping for gays and lesbians to "get over it."
Among the chattering "liberals" some victims of oppression are more worthy than others this year. Women, Jews, and gays get thine arses to the back of the bus and SHUT UP!
Today's' Photo is of a hawk in my tiny backyard. He/She has just ripped a small family of birds to shreds and is now enjoying a moment to reflect. Los Angeles is weird in many ways. One is that you'll be living in the city, thinking it is a city, then all of the sudden - Wild Life!!! A coyote at the dumpster...a deer or two trotting across Mullolhand Drive...a hawk killing a very sweet bird family in Koreatown...
My favorite quote about marriage: Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness, and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy. It was the time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other trials, of course, but that no longer mattered: they were on the other shore. from Love in the Time of Cholera By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Frank Rich, returning from a long vacation in Kool-aid-i-stan, starts to nibble abound his beloved Barry's ankles here:When Obama defends Warren's words by calling them an example of the "wide range of viewpoints' in a "diverse and noisy and opinionated" America, he is being too cute by half. He knows full well that a "viewpoint" defaming any minority group by linking it to sexual crimes like pedophilia is unacceptable. Did Rich, or his sad sack cell mate at the NYTs, Ms. Dowd, ever give fact based reasons for their adulation of Barry? I don't remember these gassy gussies ever questioning Obama. Huh. Whatdoyaknow...liberals who forgot rule one: Question Everything.
Prayer: Dear Lord, what did we do to deserve THIS?
Music: THis is Not RoseMaRy ClooNy! Pop Song I never seem to get sick of #2: Is that a great song or what?
Gaza is heartbreaking. The recent eruption of violence is unbearable. Strong opinion either way eludes me. Children being hurt enrages. Yet, no nation can tolerate hundreds of missile attacks.
As with all Israeli military actions, this one brings the air of doom with it. The endtimes clock, embedded in our collective psyche, always moves forward with the news of widespread Middle East violence. Though this is about Hamas on the surface- the subtext is all Iran. Israel, with or without our help, is going deal with Iran. This may have been what prompted Biden's now infamous remark about PEBO being tested. Regardless, I doubt the Israel/Iran situation will be status quo next December.
I wish, fancifully, that the religious agony between Muslims and Jews would suddenly and miraculously cease. From the widest angle Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are not separate religions. They are sections of one. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the God of Abraham. This singular God could be a centering force, if truly respected.
But, alas, the people of the Book are lost in fury - so my fantasy is foolish and I am a simpleton.
Read the post - but my answer is this: Obots remain a kool-aid drunk mob with no concept of the troubles on the horizon. Being entirely fueled by a dangerous fantasy spoon fed into their infantile heads (by people who are NOT like you and me) the Obots have yet to demonstrate the slightest capacity for contextualizing the reality of Obama. Double digit unemployment and a President -stuck in 2 or 3 or 4 wars - with few answers other than dumping truckloads of increasingly worthless "currency" into the "system" and begging people to go to Wal-Mart-might wake up a few.
Get this: OBAMA IS AN ERRAND BOY, SENT BY GROCERY CLERKS TO COLLECT A BILL. I repeat this line from Apocalypse Now on L.R. for a few reasons. None nearly as nasty as the line implies.
1. This line distills what clearly happened in the election - buttressed further this Fall by the financial meltdown. Therefore it allows a vision of unfolding events from a tangible, illusion less perspective. It is a direct counter point to the "Obama is going to pay my mortgage" meme in all its forms. 2. Part of me does think a kind of apocalypse is upon us NOW. The bill is past due.
To me Barry and Michelle represent the worst of America in many way. Both are gliders. Barry has gamed the system through out his alleged career. Both give off the stink of arrogance with every third public move. (The "Lincoln train ride" to D.C. is sickening. Who in God's name does this man think he is?) But it is his cult that continues to garner my deepest contempt. I see no need to be polite: They are assholes. I write from experience. Even without direct experience with BHO my guess is that he's an asshole, too. Unearned position creates this outcome. Trust me, I work in Hollywood.
It is therefore no surprise that his most ardent fans lapse into assholery. There are no good reasons to support the man. With a 10 month handjob from the media, he glided to the top this year mostly because W is so revolting. There never have been verifiable reasons to support the man. The Obots response to this: don't vet. Lame reasons, usually screamed, continue to stand in for rationality and inquiry.
Millions voted for Obama that I do not loath. The choices were not good. It's the fanatic cult members and their handlers in the media and blogosphere that try my Christian soul.
Please note before taking this poll: I am prone to silliness, and believe the only time ALL is lost is if we stop laughing. I am not making fun of conspiracy theorists. I happen to be one - though not of the nut job variety. (Example: I do not think Oswald acted alone. However, I also don't think C.I.A. agents popped out of the sewers in Dealey Plaza with rifles and noise makers.) History is largely a string of conspiracies. Not believing in conspiracies is like not believing in weather. Of course powerful groups conspire. Only in America do a substantial number go out of the way to condescend to the idea of conspiracies. It is a form of American exceptionalism. Ask the same folks if secret conspiracies among the ruling class existed in the Roman Empire or Elizabethan England - and they give a hearty: Of course!
Certain events, once given their close ups, make no sense sans conspiracy. (How did a guy who lost all the primaries in large, traditionally Democratic states and got fewer votes overall than his main opponent -still get the Democratic nomination?)
But we must always guard against the tinfoil hat brigade, often found swarming downtown Roswell and generally making fools of themselves on the History Channel.
L.R. has it on good authority that a number of the most committed Obama activists are reporting near death experiences. The phenomenon, while not widespread, has occurred in Chicago, Berkeley, and around David Geffen's pool in Malibu. Remarkably, all report the same visions while technically - albeit momentarily - dead.
Unlike the usual tunnel ending with a white light, the activists all report entering a small room decorated with Che posters. Inside the room David Axelrod and William Ayres cackle deviously while mocking an angry looking man clinging to a gun and a bible. At some point all report Axelrod saying "Welcome, please partake of some kool-aid." After sipping, a hall with 5 doors appears. The "dead" Obots are then lead down the hall. "Now you must choose where you will spend eternity." Ayres interjects "Don't look at me you capitialist pig!"
Behind each door is a tiny windowless cell containing one person. All report the same five people.
Behind door number one a bug eyed Keith Olbermann is screaming "I am the king! I am the king! I AM THE KING!" at a knee buckling decibel and without pause.
Behind door number 2, is an even tinier cell with Chris Matthews. He is naked and rubbing his flabby thighs. He invites the Obot in saying "Touch them. They tingle. Feel the tingle. Please touch me, Obama supporter."
A still smaller cell is behind the third door. In it Rev. Phleger is mock crying and saying to the Obot "Oh you entitled whitey you must atone by listening to me preach forever. Forever! Wah Wah Wah."
Inside the minuscule cellbehind the fourth door Randi Rhodes is hunched over microphone booming "Come in, you fucking whore.You are a whore!!! Ha Ha!"
Finally in the smallest windowless cell of all: Joe Biden just being himself.
Once all rooms have been visited Axelrod says simply "Choose your eternal life." In all cases the Obots begin to cry and yell out "I am sorry. So sorry. I was blind but now I see", running back down the hall.
After coming to, the Obots all report being changed people. All make a commitment to living rationally, to questioning all politicians no matter how much they like them. All come to terms with reality, committing to live in it. All promise to never call a women a cunt again. And all become kool aid teetotalers.
The word "leadership" has been kicked around a lot by the Obama squad this year. Like "change" it has been rendered almost meaningless. In the case of "leadership" I don't blame Obama for neutering the meaning. For years the most duplicitous politicians have debased the meaning. The Cheney/Bush version of the word meant "We are doing it my way or else." Which, since he often got his way in the first term, was a form of leadership.
Leaders aren't always inclusive. But great ones are. The Obama usage of the word "leader" is odder and more restrictive than even Bush's- if that's possible. The Obama vision of "leadership" is entirely about one person - himself. He's lead expertly on promoting a visceral idea called "Obama". Which is not an idea at all. For the life of me I can't think of a single issue he's lead on. I won't belabor this point because Riveraughter has a terrific post on the topic today. I refused to vote for Barack Obama because I knew he came up empty on the capacity for moral leadership.
This sentence is surprisingly true. The Obama cult's meme now is that he is reaching past old divisions. But he is not. He's attempting to paper over them, apparently believing the force of his personality will render the most wrenching social issues mute. It won't.
Obama is increasingly in danger of becoming the anti-Truman. Truman, via executive order, ended segregation in the armed forces in 1948 - the summer before he was to stand for election. That was, as they say , ballsy. The Southern delegates walked out of the Democratic convention.
Obama has failed the leadership test on all major fronts so far: FISA, Public financing, the rampant sexism in the campaign. On FISA and public financing he issued the lamest excuses imaginable for his flip flops. They were laughable. On the sexism, apparent to all thinking people through out the year, he remained all but mute, signalling assent in some cases.
Presidents do not have to be moral leaders. But the great ones are. Once again, the difference between the Obama myth and the real world Obama is enormous.
So far.
Riverdaughter rightly implies that Obama is already hard at work on his re-election, leading the way on his favorite cause - himself.
Quote: At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.
From One Hundred Years of Solitude By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
From the "Please stop hectoring us" department: Will someone tell Tom Cruise to GO AWAY. Has anyone else noticed that in all Tom Cruise vehicles he is always the worst element? Always. Imagine how much better War of the Worlds would have been with Johnny Depp or Will Smith (or a sock puppet, for that matter) saving his kid from the martians.
Speaking of martians.Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still may be the role Keanu Reeves was born to play. Stiff. Emotionless. Robotic. I think we can safely say: Reeves IS Klaatu. The wikipedia entry on Reeves playing Klaatu contains this partial sentence-which makes me indescribably happy: After saving Jacob from Gort, Klaatu sacrifices himself to stop Gort by walking into the cloud of nanites and touches the sphere... News of the Gays:Gay twins porn stars cat burglars by night....so much joke potential in one headline...so little time. But it is true. Plus they have very sweet faces. Check is out. Also: Homo Highness Hoping for Hot Husband. The good news is having some openly gay royalty. The bad news is that blue bloods are now doing reality television...The well of souls is, indeed, empty. At this rate the apocalypse may be a step up.
Bankrupt:California to run out of cash in 2 months. Sounds crazy now but I bet the movement for California to secede will pick up in the next decade. Counter pointed by the move to split California in two. (Logically, it should be east/west not north/south.) The nation-state that is California must either really become one or become smaller. Also - I know it sounds crazy now- but secession movements making a come back in general would not surprise me at all. Prez with an elite vibe who won a 2% majority. Tough economy, add some slow cooked racism (though this is an optional ingredient - in parts of the land it is still added to all "recipes").It's never far from the fantasies of Texans. The Pacific Northwest has a brewing "Cascadia" identity. The New South is connected to globalization in many ways - if the economy really tanks Old South identification could rise again. Ironically, I find this the least likely candidate for a renewed secession movement. Food for thought.
Pop Song I never seem to get sick of - Number 1: Into Your Arms, The Lemonheads.
I'm told that in simple terms money will cease to function as a meaningful commodity.
It's funny what you can find while reading about a car. These quotes are from a London Times article by a writer sent to review a car.
I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don't refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days.
It seems clear from here that we are just about out of options. The "rebounds" in the market keep getting weaker. No one - and I mean not one single "leader" - is aware of or willing to tell the truth regarding the economy or much of anything else. If you know of some Democrat or Republican telling some truth about what is actually happening in the system I'd like to know who they are.
My favorite moment in the 2008 campaign came in January. Hillary, getting teary after she was asked why and how "she does it", stated almost as an after thought: "because I see what's coming." This moment was met with derision by the already in the tank Obama media. But the moment was telling. She knew what was coming? I'd bet she was referring to the economic time bomb now in full conflagration.
The Obama transition has been impressive. Too impressive. Too easy. Like everything else about the man - it does not add up. As skilled as he is, the sudden rise has been too slick by half. The unquestioning cheer leading of the media, the machinations of the DNC, the GOP rolling over...I know the word conspiracy is now met with immediate dismissal - so I'll stop just short of that ledge and say: Obama's rise has been scripted with alarming ease. Scripting a campaign is a good thing. All successful campaigns do it. What continues to make my hair stand on end is the hijacking of the process by the DNC and the media. Obama is still not being vetted. It is remarkable. We all need an election break - but Obama's involvement in Blag's gubernatorial campaign is the kind of story journalists once salivated over. In my adult lifetime there are only two examples of this lack of questioning I can think of- both recent. George W. Bush in 2000 and his subsequent win, and the run up to the Iraq invasion. Why we are where we are has everything to do with these two events. Both stories were presented but not covered. Subsequently the media made perfunctory apologies: We treated Gore unfairly, We fell down on the job before the Iraq war - blah, blah. blah. Apologies without amends are gamesmanship. Similar, though weaker, admissions of bias have been made since the election.
Who benefits when journalism takes a holiday? And why is it happening more often? The two red flares small "r" republicans - like me and most readers here - should always watch for on the horizon are 1. Who controls the currency? and 2. Is the public discourse being controlled?
Vast sectors of the economy are now pseudo nationalized and the national conversation has been constricted by a few large media outlets. The illusion of debate has replaced debate. This may have been happening all along - but only in this year has it been so evident. Don't comfort yourself with bromides about the Internet and free speech. The largest blogs are now a part of the media system and the rest of us have no tangible effect - except to comfort a relative few.
Hillary is not the only one who "saw what was coming." I believe many did. What is it that is coming? I don't know precisely. However, it does seem obvious that the house of cards was teetering. Further, it is obvious that at some point trillions in borrowed bailouts morph into a meaningless national currency. That, in turn, becomes a real world crisis for real people. The bloodbath of 2009 has begun in 2008. Again from the London Times: A crash as historic as the end of communism on tap for 2009. Sure the piece is about the U.K. but in economic terms the U.K. is the neighbor across the street.
So I ask openly and without judgement: Why was Obama chosen? Who brought (also "who bought") him? Who benefits?
Our real options are paltry. Two that are always important, valuable and available is to Pay Attention and Ask Questions. Even if those questions are only directed at yourself.
I interrupt this day off to brag: L.R. mentioned in the Boston Globe! My plans to take over the world have officially begun!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Also: Carolyn at Make Them Accountable picked up a L.R. entry in which I mentioned a bumper sticker I saw in east Hollywood. She went ahead and created an image - LOVE IT!
also: Merry Christmas! and now we return to our regularly scheduled day off.....
Music: In many weird and counter intuitive ways this has been my favorite year in a good long while. What a Wonderful World:
I am out until Boxing Day! See you Friday. Please have a great Christmas! The colors of a rainbow, so pretty, in the sky Are also on the faces of people going by I see friends shaking hands sayin' how do you do? They're really sayin I love you.
2 notes to readers: Kara - I watched every bit of the San Diego credit crunch poinsettia bowl...heartbreaking. Boise State is one of my favs after USC. Yttk: Thanks so much for the link in your comments above! I am surprised and pleased at the level of disgust re: Warren among some obama pods. It gives me real hope that thinking liberals are not a historical curitosity - but still might be out there somewhere...
