American leaders are full of it

[Encephalon]

This isn't your typical anti-Obama rant from the right, where he is regularly excoriated for being a foreign-born Muslim who hates Christians like Sarah Palin. This is a rant on the man who sold himself to the Establishment, which is what most presidents do anyway because it's not a real job.

Pass the Little Debbie Cocoa Cremes.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Jive Talkin

By James Howard Kunstler

on January 30, 2012 8:52 AM

 

 

Well, he had to get up there and say something. In this particular winter of our discontent, the wispiest nostrums and baldest lies will do. America is not interested in reality. America is a nine-hundred pound man imprisoned in a fetid trailer bedroom begging for one more case of Little Debbie Cocoa Cremes before the front-end-loader bashes through the wall to haul him to intensive care. America just wants to hear another story about its own wonderfulness before that happens. America's soul is so lost that it has disappeared into the same cosmic wilderness that MF Global's client accounts were last seen entering.

 

Mr. Obama keeps telling nationwide audiences that "we have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years." That is just not true. If he believes it then he is either 1) getting treasonously bad advice from dishonest advisors or 2) not reading reports issued by his own agencies or 3) just making shit up. This was the same week, by the way, when the US Department of Energy dropped its estimate for the Marcellus shale gas play by 66 percent, while the estimate for all US shale basins went down 42 percent. The shale gas industry is another Ponzi bubble that is about to founder on a scarcity of investment capital. Just watch.

 

The "energy independence" trope is a lie, too. At least in the sense that Mr. Obama means - that we can run the suburban clusterfuck and all its accessories by other means than fossil fuels. He just says it because it makes voters feel better. By the time they find out it was just a story, he won't need their votes anymore. Meanwhile, we'll do nothing to prepare for a different way of life, and so, necessarily, the result will be an obscene scramble for power and resources that will leave a lot of people dead.

 

The topper for me, though, was the President's cheeky announcement that he'd ordered the Department of Justice to form a "special unit" to investigate mortgage fraud and other lethal irregularities in the banking sector. The fact that his congressional audience did not bust out laughing shows what a convocation of craven and perfidious cat's paws they are. Note to readers: the DOJ has a long-established criminal division fully empowered to prosecute all the familiar scams of our time from NINJA lending to the robo-signing of titles to MERS mortgage mischief, to the bundling and sales of booby-trapped CDOs - up to and including whatever Jon Corzine thought he was doing at MF Global.

 

Notice how lame the major newspapers and cable news networks were in responding to Mr. Obama's impudent japery. None of them, including The New York Times, bothered to ask Attorney General Eric Holder what he's been up to along these lines for the past three years. It is really hard to account for the stupendous incompetence of the news media in recent years. Of course, I'm allergic to conspiracy theories and the only explanation that adds up for me is the diminishing returns of technology. Among other untruths we've embraced collectively is the idea that computer-distributed information amounts to knowledge and understanding, tending toward judgment.

 

Apparently, it's only made our society much dumber and more irresponsible. After all, none of the supposed media watchdogs even asked The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, or CNN and a hundred other outlets why they didn't interview the Attorney General of the United States and ask him why he has not been taking care of the business now assigned to this special unit.

 

Not included in the State of the Union message was any reference to the provision in the recently signed National Defense Authorization Act that allows the US government to suspend due process of law and use the military to arrest and indefinitely detain US citizens on vague and opportunistic charges of "suspicion" You will remember a month ago when Mr. Obama signed the law and issued a "signing statement" that said his administration would not carry out these specific provisions. Did anyone notice that it is an impeachable offense for the president to state his opposition to enforcing the law? In which case, why isn't there a bill of impeachment making its way through Congress right now?

 

I've had enough of Obama, though I voted for him in 2008. I won't vote for him again. But I'm not altogether confident that any of us will be voting for anyone in the fall of 2012. Too many systems we depend on are spinning out of control. I suppose we will continue feeding ourselves a diet of lies and evasions until circumstances become so extreme that language itself loses all relevance and only real action will answer. I believe that moment is approaching in the yet-to-be-acted-out political uproars of the spring and summer. In the meantime, American leadership is bankrupt. Just accept the fact that America has no legitimate leadership. The vacuum is total and we know how nature feels about a vacuum.

Edited February 28, 2012 by Encephalon

[joeblast]

haha...his dubious eligibility aside, conservatives generally dont give a shit whether or not he was born a muslim, whether or not the water under the bridge tells of any legitimacy on his father's part, or that he attended a racist church for 20 years and claimed to have not heard a single sermon. Conservatives give a shit that he's doing things like undermining the constitution and extending the concept of "The Federal Government" beyond what most of us would conjure in a horrid nightmare. Telling us all that the Commerce Clause can be extrapolated to mean anything that anyone in the government wants; undermining the second amendment by secretly selling guns to drug cartels with the sole intention of causing a public uproar of enough magnitude that more anti gun legislation can be excused; damn near ending energy cultivation; taking over businesses/industries and undermining eons of bankruptcy law just to make sure that his union contributors got their money....hah, not to mention simply conjuring up a "stimulus" that made sure his donors could keep donating...blaming the entirety of the country's ills on The Rich...excoriating Wall Street when they are his biggest donors and donate to him more than republicans...blaming everything that goes wrong on his predecessor, please forgive me, I was lied to, they didnt tell me how bad it was!

 

I'm surprised he thought he could put just about every conceivable election issue off until after the elections. Its a pretty proven fact that cheap access to energy is quite responsible for economic growth, how can he placate both environmentalists who think humans should never ever develop any energy ever again unless its 140% clean, and at the same time deny his union backers all those jobs? It must be the charm of the teleprompter that allows him to connect with people so. Its tough when you constantly put your foot in your mouth every time you leave without your TOTUS.

 

Its the same reason why there's a preponderance on the right that dont want Romney - he ostensibly IS the status quo in terms of "leadership." Its a struggle between "we need to get this quasi communist out of office" and "we might as well get a conservative candidate since Obama has no record to run on." And then half relying on a media who wouldnt even do so much as investigate anything about Obama's past to tell them who'd be a good candidate to beat him! No wonder all we've heard since 2008 is that a "republican" from massachusetts is what will get the independent vote, and really, that's all that matters anyway is "the independents." (Which I think is a crock.)

 

At least some people are starting to accept that he's an empty suit that doesnt necessarily have their interests in mind. People that ask questions have known that since about...2008.

 

But really, I can sum it up pretty simply:

[Encephalon]

You should save a few words for the populace too, Joe.

BTW, there is also a preponderance on the right of people who don't want your champion Gingrich, either, for reasons that have been getting a lot of attention recently. what say you about that, JB?

Edited January 31, 2012 by Encephalon

[joeblast]

Yeah, I didnt think sitting on the couch with Nancy was a good idea either

[zerostao]

gingrich is probably too smart to be president imo. we need to keep this dummy on down policy going on.

i am not sure we can ever find a candidate who can match GWB 43 as the perfect dummied down president.

and what a mess obama had to deal with in the wake of GWB43 who took bailout/stimulus to a brave new height.

well , if you actually think the president actually really has any input in the process, i dont think he does and he hasnt in quite awhile.

 

gingrich is totally full of himself. but he or whoever wins the popularity contest will take their orders from the billionaires club.

in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

 

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

 

wonders how the delegate count will look after super tuesday. its not too late to toss the hat in the ring. for entertainment purposes, and for me that is all politics offers, i want to watch a brokered convention.

 

for me i still like that america is from rags to riches and riches to rags.

here one can go from the bottom 10% economically to the top 1/5 and has a 1 in 12 chance of doing so.

think about that. this is still the land of opportunity.

you can learn alot from a dummy.

[Cameron]

edit

Edited February 2, 2012 by Cameron

[idquest]

I wonder what would be the oil price if we performed an accurate financial allocation of all related costs. FOr instance, $1 trillion cost of the Iraq war that was all about oil, and this is just one example.

 

Another point is that for difficult to understand reasons, the USA public think that digging holes in the Earth to get oil and natural gas will maintain the greatness of the state as a superpower. Digging new holes doesn't make countries great, new technologies do. Allocate all related costs, stop subsidizing oil companies, see what the real price of gazoline will be - and then talk about market forces driving new technologies.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

president this, president thas, but what about the people who get screwed over every time congress takes a step forward or back, or every time an elected official doesnt amount up to the job, or when new legislature is floated around that no one knows what it is or what it will do?

 

 

Time to stop scapegoating people! that's all the government is, yeah?!

[konchog uma]

but hot nirvana judo trend!?!

 

passing the buck is the american way. If americans took responsibility for the american destiny themSELVES that would make no sense. I think the timespace continuum would be disrupted and the sky would rain frogs and small blue gelatinous balls on our heads!!

[Protector]

That was a close one, good thing I moved to Canada instead

[konchog uma]

That was a close one, good thing I moved to Canada instead

 

canadians are nice people in my experience. Nobody minds a brony doing his horse stance and drinking his tea i imagine. And thats how it should be.

 

Then again, sometimes in montreal i've spoken english and been rudely dismissed in french. But thats forgiveable. Ho hum.

[Aetherous]

If americans took responsibility for the american destiny themSELVES that would make no sense.

 

How can we take more responsibility to alter America's destiny for the better?

 

I am passionate about this, but aside from having conversations (which are worth a lot), how can we really make significant positive changes on an individual level...which affect the collective level?

[konchog uma]

How can we take more responsibility to alter America's destiny for the better?

 

I am passionate about this, but aside from having conversations (which are worth a lot), how can we really make significant positive changes on an individual level...which affect the collective level?

 

Well, bless you for asking! I personally believe that changing a nation is not the responsibility of its leaders, it is the responsibility of its citizens. But for each person to do something to affect positive change in the world (or even just the nation) seems a pretty tall order these days. Maybe the best thing you can do is affect change within your sphere of influence and let that influence spread. So by boycotting GMO or just eating organic, shopping at your local co-op, you are making a statement with your money, and shifting the tide just a little. Now it might seem like a small thing, but if you do it every week, it adds up, and if every american did it every week, Monsanto would invest in organic agriculture and sustainable energy.

 

Thats just one example, but it points to the underlaying issue, that EVERYthing we do affects change in some way. Every choice we make as consumers and citizens is important in that way.

 

So down to getting cut off in traffic and deciding to flash the peace sign instead of the bird, everything you do helps your community and your world to be better. Everything affects the collective level in some small way. Its just such a small way that it takes a critical mass of people to really make a perceivable difference (like Monsanto ACTually investing in sustainability) but it makes a difference nonetheless. Its like stacking paper to make a high pile, you don't notice that one more sheet is added, but if you don't add your sheet, and everyone who sees you neglect to add your sheet decides not to add their sheet either, how will there ever be a high pile?

 

great question scotty. The mass of people is brainwashed and pacified, but that doesn't mean that we have to do anything differently to affect change.. everything is change, and every decision (especially the conscious ones ) affects change. So just start where you are and make lifestyle and consumer decisions that involve consciousness, education, and integrity.

[zerostao]

change will not come from the elite leaders at the top.

change will work its way up from the bottom/grass roots levels.

in fact it is already underway.

the leaders at the top havnt noticed becoz they are full of themselves.

shhhhhh

be the change you wish to see

[JustARandomPanda]

How can we take more responsibility to alter America's destiny for the better?

 

I am passionate about this, but aside from having conversations (which are worth a lot), how can we really make significant positive changes on an individual level...which affect the collective level?

 

This is a good question! I've been pondering this myself.

 

You know what's really odd? Any of you remember the heated debate in the Global Revolution thread? The more I think it over the more I am beginning to think maybe Twinner was on to something. Basically he was counseling for people to begin selectively withdrawing their support from the organizations/institutions/businesses that one disagrees with and replace them with alternatives.

 

Of course most people - me included - can't do a massive change like that. But it's possible on a small, local scale to begin.

 

Here's some things I've done in the past and want to do again.

 

Support the teaching and passing on of Pre-Industrial Revolution skills. A lot of those old skills were surprisingly high tech and should not be lost. The skill needed to make shoes, create tools, spin wool into yarn, plow land without benefit of modern machinery, etc needs to be kept. Someday society may have a real need for such skills again.

 

There's a society that helps do just that:

 

Society of Primitive Technology

 

Society can still be specialized...it would just be at a less oil-dependent/mechanized level.

 

2. I've put in an application to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Amazing organization that both teaches volunteers *how to build a new "Green" house and wire/pipe it from start to finish - and do it to Gov Code. Or alternately renovate an old one. The recipients don't even have to pay interest. The only thing they'll ever have to pay is the principle. The interest rate is set to 0%.

 

This will not solve homelessness but it can help rebuild / restore dilapidated neighborhoods one house at a time.

 

3. Start seeing if you can buy things that are built locally or handmade. Or better yet - learn a skill that teaches hand making something and sell it on the side.

 

4. Support local alternative currency movements and Exchanges as much as you possibly can.

 

5. Build your own home made seed bank. Seed banks are going to be hugely important in the next hundred years or so. You can make one with anything that can be sealed air & moisture tight. The biodiversity of local habitats is decreasing - especially in suburban backyards. This is one way of preserving genetic lines that are being lost so they can be re-introduced/restored later.

 

6. If you own a house switch from a water-intensive lawn to Xeriscaping. Especially important in the draught-plagued Southwest and West and join a local group that teaches it.

 

7. Begin buying LOCAL Food - yes, even if it isn't necessarily organic. The Organic Food Industry alas has become oil-dependent/water-wasting as consumer demand has outstripped supply. Better yet, if you have some land or large patio try growing your own food (preferably with non-GMO Heirloom seeds). If you have further room you can even learn old-time Root Cellaring for storing excess veggies safely.

 

8. Begin supporting Scientific and Technology Research directly. Lots of orgs are popping up that allow individuals to chip in and donate money directly to a scientist/engineer and his/her team. Funding from Government, Industry and Universities is drying up so Scientists are starting to take their Grant Proposals directly to the People.

 

Here are two:

 

OpenGenius.org

 

SciFlies

[Aetherous]

Those are good ideas, but I'm thinking more along the lines of big changes...for instance, the national defense act which recently passed, which enables citizens to be imprisoned indefinitely without evidence or trial. How can we stop these types of things from happening?

 

I guess the basic answers are: contact your state representatives, stay up to date on all of the laws that are being passed. Ya know, things no one really likes to do.

 

Edit: Didn't see your reply, Serene. Really great resources, thanks!

Edited February 1, 2012 by Scotty

[zerostao]

great post Serene Blue

i especially agree with the seed bank idea. i live in a very rural setting and have many of the skills you have mentioned. for example , i know some easy ways to work up the ground without machinery. and i have discussed on this forum how our food supplies (becoz of hybrid seeds ) are in fewer and fewer hands. and this type of thing folks seem to accept without reservation.

 

scotty i share your concern over the obvious tryanny, but lets start with the small practical things and then as we become more self sufficient and less dependant on the large corporations and the govt, we can then tackle the larger concerns. let us build our foundation first.

[Aetherous]

Zerostao,

 

Well, I believe that tyrants and the greedy-rich don't ever just go away...it's nice to gain self sufficiency and have a minimal "footprint", but that lifestyle does not in any way solve the collective issues of the country.

[zerostao]

Zerostao,

 

Well, I believe that tyrants and the greedy-rich don't ever just go away...it's nice to gain self sufficiency and have a minimal "footprint", but that lifestyle does not in any way solve the collective issues of the country.

 

 

i hear ya brother and they don't just go away and they dont play nice either. i am looking at a long run approach.

not sure if you know about timisora 1989? it is true they gained their freedom but it was bloody costly.

the powers that be are already concerned , that is why they passed that punk legislation.

[joeblast]

change will not come from the elite leaders at the top.

change will work its way up from the bottom/grass roots levels.

in fact it is already underway.

the leaders at the top havnt noticed becoz they are full of themselves.

shhhhhh

be the change you wish to see

yup, but if its the tea party then you must be racist I love how the very thing that is needed is demagogued.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

yup, but if its the tea party then you must be racist I love how the very thing that is needed is demagogued.

 

What happened with the Tea Party anyways? I remember it being run basically by Ron Paul and Alex Jones, and then all of a sudden it was headed by Sarah Palin and the overflow from the KKK rally.

[Encephalon]

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Right, that's the Tea Party we see now. But before Obama was even elected, when I used to read Infowars.com, there was a Tea Party movement to get Ron Paul on the ballot to run against Obama. It seems like the original Tea Party got co-opted and spit out by filling it full of so much RedneKKK mucus that the original movement just walked away bewildered. It was all about Ron Paul at first. Then I stopped paying attention to Infowars and the next time I heard about the Tea Party it was about Sarah Palin. It looked to me like all these useful idiots got thrown in a bucket with "Tea Party" painted on it and that became the new Tea Party.

 

That's a good article though. That last part about Paladino and those emails, man, how did he not disappear under the turd he crawled out of?

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

but hot nirvana judo trend!?!

 

passing the buck is the american way. If americans took responsibility for the american destiny themSELVES that would make no sense. I think the timespace continuum would be disrupted and the sky would rain frogs and small blue gelatinous balls on our heads!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uhhhh..... right, so maybe sinfest could stand to have a roommate? i will walk to Canada if i have to!!!

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. how do you pass a buck, i would imagine they are very heavy, and would not tolorate someone grabbing them in attempt to throw them. Unless it's a trophied buck and you're just tossing his head around, but then the hunter might get mad at you for throwing his bust.

[joeblast]

Here's what happened.

 

April 20, 2010

Comment on the Tea Party Movement

A Brief History of the Movement

by Robert Altemeyer - "The Authoritarians"

 

summation: the tea party is racist, sexist, prejudiced and a bunch of hicks and rednecks that secretly subscribe to KKK newsletters and hate Obama solely because of the color of his skin, there are authoritarian aspects that want to control every bit of the message, lefty blah blah blah incoherent warped lens assessment, let's make up a narrative and follow a theoretical model halfway through, make the comparison, and watch half convinced people be totally convinced!

* * * * * * *

tea party people liked Ron Paul because the first thing most of 'em heard was his economic and domestic ideas - great! Then the tea party starts hearing about all of the conspiracy theories he subscribes to, says what do we have to fear in the least about Iran having nukes, basically shot himself in the femoral artery on foreign affairs. Done, he will never be supported (for president by the R party or "the majority" of the tea party today) except for his seat in congress, where he does a good job.

 

the problem with tarp was....yea, at 11:59:59, it was almost justifiably necessary "to prevent the re-correction necessary to reflect something a little closer to actual real value." People wanted to keep dreaming - while that band aid put off the inevitable, most of the systemic issues that caused it were swept under the rug. We see more of the same root causes being proposed by Obama even now: let's have the government get in there and "help people with their mortgages" - which is a crock and one of the many reasons so many of us were tempted to be shouting "YOU LIE" during Obama's recent TOTUS reading. (I shouted it and I wasnt even watching )

 

 

authoritarian seriously going to make that comparison?

 

Now let me ask...why do people keep confusing TARP & all of Obama's stimulus programs? The author goes from one to the other right in the very next breath as if there was no difference between the bank bailout "loans" (the preponderance of which has already been paid back, although certainly not all) and Obama's "stimulus" omnibus, cash for clunkers, et al are phrased in velveteen wrapping with a nice red bow and a card. (roofies more likely to be found in the box of chocolates) He's just trying to help!

 

#2 - mom & gram were present in september and 70k was a laughably small number given the size on 4/15 and the relative similar sprawl of the healthcare debate timeframe. Its okay, journalists have long since abandoned any semblance of impartiality.

 

#4 - no shit - what political party do you think a fiscal conservative would associate more with? "dont like big spenders, but would rather have a big spender that subscribes to freer economic policy that actually produces enough wealth to support the structure" has been the meme. Well, after too many spendthrifts in a row, now some rational minded folk have raised spending alarm bells. Hey, Obama's on track to add another trillion to the deficit this year! Cripes...if Osama really wanted to collapse us financially, the best way for him to do it would have been to come over here all nicey nicey and support Progressive spendthrift policies that choke the economy - Obama's harmed us more financially than Osama ever has!

 

 

Obamacare is unconstitutional, end of story. The government cannot make you buy things and we have seen an overly complicit judicial branch nod its head in approval at ridiculous extrapolations of the commerce clause to such an extent that it just about doesnt even matter anymore, so long as the government can come up with a thousand page excuse for why it needs to piss on the constitution, we the people simply become subjected to it. Why do you think George Soros, ultimate financier of most things progressive, finds it so important to send funds to promote the changing of judicial selection so that local judges are selected by a merit panel as opposed to having the people elect them? (Of course this 'merit panel' will be selected by fellow lawyers and disagreeing doesnt win you much merit now does it?)

 

 

Astonishing how much is right in front of your eyes, yet you take your spoon fed blognews and rally against those evil tea party people who...simply want the constitution to be followed. Not in there? Then GTFO, feds. Simple.

 

Instead you have a bunch of people spoon fed liberal news from a taken over industry (of course there have been studies that show that people will tend to follow the slant of the news they have available) telling us that undermining fiscal principles is a good thing, undermining the constitution where convenient is a good thing...

 

Its just nuts. I dont get it. And then get railed at for calling such things anti american, because they plainly are.

 

 

Pass the buck, Obama - and the torch while you're at it, we know the buck aint going to stop with you and the torch will run out of gas in short order with your hand holding it.

Edited February 2, 2012 by joeblast