Thursday, November 08, 2012
The new norm
Conservatives sound positively suicidal. Listening to Rush on the way home after Election Day and he said it doesn't jibe. Ann Coulter said if we can't win with Romney in a bad economy we've reached a tipping point. Conservatives in general have the ominous foreboding they're somehow outnumbered but Z-man has spotted a political trend of late and it goes both ways. Bill Clinton was a two-termer, so was George W. Bush and now Obama. I think the populace at large now sticks with the same leader for reasons of political and social stability, at least we know who he is. This also helps on the foreign stage, doesn't confuse world leaders and a foreign policy gets a chance to work itself out and while I didn't agree with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on everything I'd much prefer him over the socialist Hollande. So basically I think the new norm may be Americans want a president to finish the job whatever that job is and if he doesn't put a positive end to it all he'll get his just and deserved blot in History. Kinda tolerant and fuzzy but I ain't that way. If the economy doesn't improve however those hordes who voted for Obama have no right to complain and I like to reserve that right and so I voted for Romney/Ryan of course. It wasn't a good day for the GOP in general and for those of you who like to say the GOP needs to become more moderate on the social issues in order to win I have one thing to say: Linda McMahon. Fiscally conservative and socially moderate as they say she looked good on paper and put together some very professional ads for the Senate slot in CT against Chris Murphy. In fact if you didn't know any better you'd think she was the incumbent and she also spent a hell of alot of money or so I heard. Wasn't even close and I don't think professional wrestling had anything to do with it. Did it ruin my day? no, I just went off to work and did my usual, didn't get into the whole Rush/Coulter mindset. There was alot of talk among the pundits on Tuesday night and the day after about the country's changing demographics and how they helped Obama and the Democrats, more Latinos and less whites say although if I were a Democrat and heard some chucklehead at one of the media roundtables say the less religious are somehow more inclined to vote Democratic I'd be offended. You talk about your Tea Party and OWS movements but be on the lookout for perhaps the next big trend/movement, the movement to get rid of the Electoral College. Where do I sign up? Oh I know the framers put it there and I think the original rationale may have been to provide some kind of counterbalance to the natural stupidity of the American public but I was never a fan of the EC even when I was a kid and this movement can definitely be bipartisan, after all the case can be made that Al Gore should at least have been a one-term president. I mean why not just let the six battleground states so-called vote for the President and the rest of us can just take the night off? First president to win re-election with a jobless rate over 7.2%, the new normal:)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Try unemployment at way over 7.2% - like 7.9%. Disgusting. The only silver lining is he can't blame Bush anymore, this is the OBAMA Economy now.
ReplyDeleteYes Beth, it is...
ReplyDeleteI predict and will bet that. We see 9 percent unemployment in 2013.
ReplyDeleteCurious if you actually do any research or if you just here this 7% figure in the news and then just run with it? A simple analysis of unemployment data shows that if we were measuring unemployment data the way the did during the 1930's, today's unemployment would be worse than any single year of the great depression at roughly 23%.
ReplyDeleteMore info at shadowstats.com
As government is want to do, when they don't like the outcome...they simply change the rules and the way they calculate the data. It requires diligence and fortitude if you want to see the real picture as governments have perfected the art of lying and disinformation.
ReplyDeleteA couple quute notable examples is the federal reserves tabulation of inflation which conveniently ignores both fuel and food in their calculations. If you conveniently leave out such neccessities inflation appears to be held in check when in fact the opposite is true. Second case in point, and indeed a corellation to the previous statement, is the federal reserves decision to cease providing M3 data in March 2006. Those paying close attention would be apalled by the surge in the money supplyso naturally what is the solution??? Quit publishing it.
ReplyDeleteFacts are stubborn things....
To those who voted for Obama you can think about what they have done when they pay their electric bill, buy groceries or fill up at the pump the next four years because of his policies all of those things are going to get very expensive.
ReplyDeleteBeth,
ReplyDeleteI can tell you right now that grocery prices are going to increase due to the massive drought that hit the country last year (climate change). This, of course, has nothing to do with the President.
In the same way, the President has virtually no control over gas prices unless you believe that he has a little red Batphone that goes directly to the CEOs of Exxon, Mobil and other big-oil companies. Gas prices are controlled for the most part by speculation and by production control by those same CEOs, who scale back or increase production to manipulate supply and keep their prices where they want to be.
I mean, not that facts actually matter to you, but there you have it.
And before you even go there, please let me explain that 'drilling' does not equal 'lower gas prices.'
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, oil companies have leases to drill on thousands of acres that they aren't drilling on.
Second of all the process from 'drilling' to 'gas tank' is something that takes years. It isn't like they will go drill on Tuesday and by Thursday afternoon your gas prices are somehow magically going to be lower.
Third of all the United States is producing so much oil NOW that we're exporting.
So it's all so much deluded propaganda, actually.
Have a nice day.
Had our overlords and masters not debased the currency and ushered in the inflationary policies of the Fed which has brought about a 90% drop in purchasing power since its inception, you would be purchasing a gallon of gasoline for less than one silver dime.
ReplyDeleteAnd Beth, you can quit gloating about "those who voted for Obama". The sad reality is that the same monetary and deficit financing policies would have been in place had Romney been elected. As much as might want to believed otherwise, the Romney/Ryan budget plan contained nothing with respect to actual, meaningful, or neccessary cuts.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't account for inflation. #Fail
ReplyDeleteConsidering how mucb corn and soybean is GMO, I don't know that a 40-45% loss because of drought is really a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteChris, any idea of where the Ron Paul folks placed their ballots?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking maybe Gary Johnson,
some sort of Romney/Obama split, or sitting the thing out?
Some Gary Johnson but mostly abstaining. I saw a figure (I'll see if I can fi.d it and post it herein) which shows a crossreference between ballots cast for Romney in a handful of "key" states and that number is compared against Ron Paul's primary vote totals in the same states. It alludes to the fact that had those RP primary voters participated and cast votes for Romney, it would have been much closer and potentially he may have won. But alas he and his henchmen cheated there way to securing the nomination thereby disenfranchising the hardwork of Ron Paul delegates who played fairly and by the rules. You onow what they say, karma is a bitch.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailypaul.com/262331/the-ron-paul-effect-how-the-gop-threw-the-election-by-disenfranchising-ron-paul-supporters
ReplyDeleteAnd so it goes. What I find rather ammusing BB is that here you have this swath of Republican voters who just clammored for "anybody but Obama" and loudly proclaimed they'd have done anything to get Obama out of office but who didn't phonebank, drop lit, donate money, etc. Their committment was relegated to getting off the couch and standing in line for an hour or two. Converesely you have another swath of largely young folks, myself included, who spent the better part of 5 years networking on behalf of Ron Paul and bringing many people young and old into the fold only to be told our ideas and hardwork weren't desired in the party. Very well they got EXACTLY what they asked for and they will again and again.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more, now you've got this movement right out of the gate touting Rand Paul 2016 all the while many of those very people rejected his father. Further still, it will be hilarious to see them flounder considering that a great many of Ron's supporters have now rejected Rand following his endorsement of Romney. Quite hilarious really.
ReplyDeleteAnd really Z...Rush and Coulter??? There's a lot of water in them thar buckets.
ReplyDeleteThe Electoral College - now let's be honest, if you're a Nebraskan do you feel your vote really counts? Everyone is in awe of wisdom of the Founders but maybe in some ways they were a bunch of dicks. Conservatives don't know what to make of this election, it's puzzling and depressing all at the same time but what it ain't about is Chris Matthews (free speech) but how 'bout presenting an agenda and actual solutions to the country's problems? NYC and Long Island just instituted Christie's odd/even gas rationing system and the storm was what almost two weeks ago? Just another classic example of Government is ineffective so why in hell would you want to grow it?
ReplyDeleteFew years ago we had a massive power outage in my neighborhood in the middle of January, truck hit a pole or something and we didn't get power back until four or five days later. This particular winter was extremely cold and so some evenings I'd huddle up with my afghan and my brandy and read a book by lanternlight but somehow I made it through being philosophical. Try taking a shower in the middle of friggin' January with no hot water, you kind of shoot your arm in and out of the cold spray and other body parts and you get out there quick so that's just a personal reflection. Local government didn't really help but Con Ed or I think some other company eventually came and got the job done. Guy in the bakery the other day was arguing with the black co-manager over Obama. The black guy is against Obama all the way but the Italian guy kept going on about Obama may not be 100% correct on everything but Romney's a rich guy and what would he have done? Obama's class warfare has worked and reached the masses. I thought this was maybe fiction until I saw it myself firsthand, it was rather stunning.
ReplyDeleteThis election isn't puzzling in the least. I knew Romney would lose and I know exactly why he lost.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to listen to your power outage woes and the like in conjunction with your other jabs and comments regarding Soapster as a "prepper".
ReplyDeleteThen we had the famous hailstorm of a few years ago. I was looking out my window one evening and to this day I never saw wind so powerful and in a kind of vortex and the next day there were wide swaths of fallen trees in everyone's yards but the Nat'l Weather Service called it something other than a tornado. I lived through at least two major 'canes in my life but never did we have a gas crisis in the aftermath, the last time there were such lines was in the 70's under Carter so I would pose the question has Government become more effectual over time?
ReplyDeleteSo conventional wisdom is quickly forming here and so it goes that Romney and the GOP didn't recognize basic demographic trends and had a hard-right stance on the illegals during the primaries which hurt him so the GOP needs to address the Hispanic population. What does that mean exactly? come out for illegal immigration?
ReplyDeleteHe lost cuz he didn't get the Latino vote? Good god they are a clueless lot.
ReplyDeleteChris, I love how you talk about the ignorant clueless 'theys' who got what 'they' deserve, like you live in a little plastic isolationist bubble that's somehow not part of the rest of the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe difference Saty is that I don't presume government will help me and therefore sanction my own demise. I do quite well for myself thanks and I sleep well and my moral compass isn't spinning wildly. It is pointing directly northward.
ReplyDelete"For those of us who envision a future where there are no coercive nation states and what governance that remains is local, decentralized and voluntary, our network of small groups is both our secret weapon to achieve our ultimate goal, as well as the way we daily practice the lifestyle all humanity will ultimately follow. If there is to be civilization in the future, it will be patterned around networks of small voluntary groups of individuals. This is what we believe and hope for, and therefore this is how we choose to live."
ReplyDeleteI have the fortitude to live the way I want to live. My actio s are in accordance with my beliefs and the thi gs I advocate. I don't grovel to government to permit raw milk I just do it. I don't pay attention to a "No turn on red" sign I just turn anyways when I can clearly see there are no cars. I buy my food and meat locally and avoid fiat in so doing. Everyday I work with like minded folks to find different ways in which to actually LIVE in accordance with those aforementioned values. And everyday we come to find what amazinging piwer we each individually have.
And for the record Saty, the "theys" in this context would be the Republican rank and file who thought they could win without the Ron Paul supporters. Since we see no significant difference between he and Obama it makes no difference to us which one wins.
ReplyDeleteSmall voluntary groups of individuals.
ReplyDeleteLittle tiny groups of people.
Of course, we live in a country of 300 million in a world of 6+ billion.
I can see how that's gonna really work well.
Hey Chris you can come on over to Yonkers any time you want and make all the rights on red you like just hope you have the dough to pay all those red-light cam tickets.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a top down approach Saty. As a socialist I realize that is perhaps quite daunting for you to grasp.
ReplyDeleteRed light cams are unconstiturional Z. You need some better judges.
ReplyDeleteOr, just go out in the dark of night and cover them as is done with the police cams here in the city.
ReplyDeleteUnconstitutional? apparently Yonkers never got the word, ditto Chris Christie.
ReplyDeleteAll this voluntaryist stuff. While you piss about the system and try to circumvent it, you still live off it. You utilize it for your service every single day at the same time you belittle and berate it.
ReplyDeleteKinda like a tapeworm, except that it's more elitist, isn't it?
That's what separates a person like myself from a statist. You seem to care less about who or what Obama is drone bombing as long as you get your government run Obamacare or whatever largess they are willing to dish out. It's quite immoral if you ask me. On the otherhand, I abhor it and work my ass off to call out the transgressions and to make my government footprint as small as possible.
ReplyDeleteI abhor it and work my ass off to call out the transgressions and to make my government footprint as small as possible
ReplyDelete..while still living in it, using what it provides, and essentially reaping all the benefits, while looking down from some ivory tower of libertarian elitism, and claiming to hate it.
Cmon, Chris. If Libertarianism could actually exist, practically, in the real world of 2012, it would, not just in the minds of conspiracyists who want to run off to the middle of some national parkland and set up some sort of voluntaryist squatters' village like a backlot from Survivor.
Reality, I know it's difficult and it doesn't always give us everything we want, but there it is.
Obama's warmongering or droning is ok as long as he delivers your healthcare that's part of Chris's point. Hell he could go out and have the CIA assassinate Castro tomorrow and you and Shaw would be down with it because he's pro-birth control and pro-choice. You two are not so much concerned with his foreign vision and actions on a day-to-day basis just that he delivers the goodies at home.
ReplyDeleteNo, Chris' point is that everyone who isn't Ron Paul is worthless and that everyone who didn't work their asses off for Ron Paul are essentially brainless sheep who are entirely ignorant and should be chained out in the middle of the desert to die a slow and painful death.
ReplyDeleteAnd my point is that Libertarianism is a lot of pretty words and theories that are just that: theories, abstractions, that cannot function in a real world environment in the real world of 2012. If it could, it would, and it doesn't, because it can't.
Pick your poison kiddo. As for me, I have no interest in voting for psychopathic liars. And really, you should get out of that town and get out some more and meet other people besides Krishnas. You might find some clarity. Anarcho-Capitalism/Libertarianism/Agorism is alive and well.
ReplyDeletehttp://247wallst.com/2012/09/05/greeces-underground-economy-grows/
Lots more similar tales in Spain, Germany, etc. as well as rivht here in the good old USA.
Funny thing too...you read o.e book by Hazlitt and suddenly you're an expert on Austrian Economics and Libertarian philosophy. Yeah...you should probably just stick with your top down socialist approach. Statists gonna state.
ReplyDelete"The best chance for achieving peace and prosperity for the maximum number of people worldwide is to pursue the cause of liberty. If you find this to be a worthwhile message spread it throught the land." - Ron Paul (Congressional farewell speech 11/14/2012)
ReplyDelete*throughout
ReplyDeleteMore on underground economies:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/black-market-black-market-economy-organ/12/21/2011/id/38512?page=full
It might be time to back off from the French Press a bit.
ReplyDeleteI'm just sayin.
I doubt that but you might try a cup of humility and concede that you haven't even a morsel; a grain of understanding about libertarianism and the philosophy and application thereof. If you had, you'd admit you are wrong.
ReplyDeleteI stand behind everything I've said. Libertarianism is an abstraction that can not work in a country of 300 million divers individuals that functions in a global economy.
ReplyDeleteIt might work for a stray group of castaway schoolboys a la Lord of the Flies, but once you get more than a schoolbus-full of people involved it all becomes so much fiction.
So, having little to no knowledge or understanding of the doctrine, its ideas or its pri.ciples you draw this conclusion how?
ReplyDeleteGo ahead, Chris, enlighten us on how you intend to take a country of 300 very diverse million people in a global economy and dismantle its federal structure and make it operate in happy little voluntaryist villages, in 2012.
ReplyDeletePlease. Explain.
As soon as you enlighten us as to how a mixed bag of elected leaders can move 300+ million people (individuals that is) like chess pieces on a board in an effort to bring about positive social change and betterment.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting on you, man. You're the one who wants to dismantle the status quo into a happy group of villagers all running around up to their elbows in organic beeswax and loaded down with assault weapons.
ReplyDeleteTell me how you're gonna make that work.
We know how a mixed bag of elected leaders fits in a large society:
ReplyDeleteit started with the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton and Franklin....and is termed 'US
history'.