In the next four or eight years, I fully expect to be let down (at least a few times)by Barack Obama (despite being a strong supporter of his during the campaign)….I think there are certain interest groups in America whose power is currently too great to be tampered with and Obama, in order to get at least a portion of legislation proposed by his administration through congress, will have to fall into step somewhat.
I was going to wait until the 90 day probationary period is over (as with most jobs when your supervisor sits down with you and gives you an informal evaluation on your performance) before critiquing him but hey it’s been awhile since I blogged about politics….
For everything’s Obama’s done that I disliked he’s done something that I liked….For example, I remain adamantly opposed to the idea of government bail outs to grow the economy….This does not work….It’s like hooking up someone in an irreversible coma to life support….Yes, you can keep them alive but only artificially and if they are removed from the machine they will die….Hooking someone up to life support will not kickstart life in them.
I’m especially opposed to bailout bills when they contain all kinds of unrelated spending for items such as sex education, primate protection, electric trains etc. Some of these items are worthy of expenditure but perhaps can be put off until America is more financially settled again….They definitely should be addressed in separate bills not as earmarked pork.
However, I was very happy when Obama addressed America’s humongous debt promising to half it by 2013….The debt had been largely ignored during the election campaign and since Obama won there had even been disturbing talk along the lines of Reaganomics that one could grow the debt and deficit spending is an acceptable practice….I could not disagree more….We know the deficit spending of the 1980’s in the end made the recession of the early 1990’s worse….It’s hidden tax on a nation’s future GNP and will cause either higher and higher taxes and less spending on essential programs in the future when the bill finally comes due or the government to indulge in the dubious practice of printing more and more money inflating currency in an unhealthy, destabilizing way….I’ve said it before, I remain 100% against the Federal Reserve system….Having the banks in charge of currency is like having Michael Jackson babysitting your children.
In foreign policy, Obama’s silence on what went on in Gaza is inexcusable….There have been some good signals sent to Israel(Hillary’s indulged in some public scolding although one wonders if these are not choreographed with the Israeli government ahead of time) but also nonsense as well….Hamas was democratically elected by the Palestinian people in Gaza whether or not they are terrorists (and one man’s terrorist is definitely another man’s freedom fighter)….Refusing to deal with them is insulting especially when Israel itself I would argue is a huge terrorist organization.
I do though like his tone with Iran and his willingness to meet with them….That is exactly correct although I think he could go farther in this area set a timetable for a meeting, be like Nixon going to China etc….I say go for it….I also think that Obama should open talks with Venezuela and Bolivia and lift the travel ban on Cuba.
Strategy wise, Obama’s been on a tight rope but he’s done a good job….It was once noted that Bill Clinton was fortunate to have the enemies he did because they made him look good by being so shrill, irrational, hateful etc….One could say the same thing about President Obama.
I think the tactic of making Rush Limbaugh the de facto leader of the Republican party is a brilliant one and should be continued….Limbaugh has high negatives not only with those who identify themselves as liberals but also with independents and even a large percentage of conservatives….He is the embodiment of what people have grown to hate about conservatism and Republicans in the last eight years and that is the absolute hypocrisy of their public actions vs. their private lives….Whether it’s publically homophobic legislators trolling public restrooms for sex or Republican draft dodgers knocking Democratic war heroes or President Bush stepping out of a jet on a carrier declaring Mission Accomplished when he did everything to get out of military service a couple decades previous.
Limbaugh is an ultra hawk who also dodged military service due, believe it or not, to a boil on his ass….A family values advocate who has been married three times….A man of supposedly conservative virtues who was arrested for illegal drug purchases….A supposedly self-made man which is fiction as he comes from a very old money family of lawyers and diplomats (his grandfather was President Eisenhower’s ambassador to India)….He has been publicly humiliated by being stopped in airport customs with Viagra but what wasn’t pursued about that story was the circumstances of his trip….He was coming back with two male friends from the Dominican Republic….Now, the Dominican Republic is well known as a sex tourism destination much like Thailand….In particular, sex with underage girls, with children still occurs there….I could easily picture Rush Limbaugh as the type of person to engage in this type of activity….Why else would he need Viagra on this trip (unless he’s gay of course)….It’s embarrassing and sad that a man of great wealth such as Limbaugh has to pay for sex but easy to understand as Rush Limbaugh is a huge, fat pile of sh*t with absolutely no redeeming qualities(and you can quote me on that).
Although things can easily change especially with any worsening economic news, the
Republican Party seems totally lost right now….They don’t have anybody who can step up and take control of the party apparatus and be their spokesman.
Mitt Romney won the CPAC poll the other week for the 2012 election (largely by paying for hotel rooms and other amenities by those who voted) but Romney has to be one of the most unappealing phonies ever to seek higher office in the USA which I have blogged about before….It seems he just says whatever’s popular and one finger is constantly wet and in the air….I’d like to show him one finger!
Bobby Jindal is a dull functionary who speaks in generalities….Imagine Obama without the eloquence or charisma but with double the platitudes….He’s all hat and no cattle as his less than inspiring performance answering the State of the Union showed….
Sarah Palin is still an idiot and I think future idiotic statements from her which are a certainty will doom any future campaign….
http://www.xanga.com/rgdinmalaysia/675213855/excuse-me-for-saying-this-but-sarah-palin-is-an-idiot-and-a-hypocrite/http://www.xanga.com/rgdinmalaysia/680016352/my-last-pre-election-post-plus-sarah-palin-is-an-idiot-and-a-hypocrite-part-2/Mark Sanford is right about the stimulus bills and the bail outs….I respect his public statements stating he won’t take any of the money despite his state’s needing it ….When he was in the congress, he did show some reticence on foreign policy and perhaps is not as big an Israel supporter which may make it harder for him in a Republican primary….Still, I think he is their best bet.
Before Mark Sanford became Governor of South Carolina, he was in the House of Representatives where he was known as kind of a lesser Ron Paul for his voting record….
And that reminds me that there is one thing that has become very clear recently….Ron Paul looks even more like a genius and a prophet now….He predicted the credit based recession and the falling apart of banks and derivative based investments….He’s always been right about the Federal Reserve, Israel, out of control government spending and interventionism and many other issues.
One other thing that has irritated me about Obama policies is the length of time it will take for US troops to leave Iraq….This is not what was promised during the election….Ron Paul said all US troops would be out of Iraq in 90 days if he took office….That’s what I would like to see….The longer they are there, the longer they will keep postponing their departure.
If Obama falters in the next few years (and I really hope he doesn’t), I may have to start a DRAFT PAUL IN 2012 campaign.
