"Two of the most senior members of the CBC, the most loyal Democratic vote in the House, both to be pummelled by the media . . . "

Aren't you assuming facts not in evidence? Where's the media stories heavy on criticism and not larded over with apologiae on how important these two have been for the rise of black electoral power and what a blow it would be to black prestige for them to go dooooooooown? Stories I've seen have been more defensive than critical, so I'll believe the media cares about corruption by a black Democrat when I see evidence of such care. Maybe 40 years ago media would have thought it their public duty to investigate, but now media perceives its public duty as to elect those whom the editorial board likes, which means they look the other way when Democrats are corrupt.

JB - You still treat this election as any other similar cycle. The November midterms will not hinge on anything as flimsy as accusations of scandal. In normal times, scandal, smear, and innuendo even, could turn elections - as could race, looks and/or a trophy wife and cute kids. November will bring on recycling day, when we put all our stuff considered crap out on the curb.

To appreciate the difference this time around you only need look at the media. Nobody is paying attention to the media anymore. In fact, major media endorsements, like POTUS himself, are a liability. People will read fawning puff pieces in the NYT about the Cuomo legacy for instance; and that will be enough for people to vote against Andrew (HUD). Similarly, they will read scathing attacks on Tea Party candidates in the same elitist, partisan rag; and that will be enough for people to give them their support.

Scandals are no longer to be believed. These are seen as petty smear contrivances that are usually effective only against Republicans. We are now in a post partisan phase. The ‘anybody but Bush’ crowd has been swept aside and replaced with ‘anybody but Obama’ types.

Strangely enough, the country is now as unified as it ever was in it’s belief that Obama occupies the extreme fringe. The people will not rest until this fringe is driven from power. The anti-Bush mania was only a warm-up; a dry-run based on fun. This time it’s serious. The question remains: Will normal methods suffice in abnormal times?

http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

September 7, 2010

Dear Captain Chaos AKA President Barrack Obama,

Reading your last economic address reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Cannonball Run. In this movie, a merry band of lead foot drivers blast from one coast to the other wreaking havoc upon the nations roads; kind of like liberal democrats and the body politic. Back to Captain Chaos. This fellow had a mental disorder that he would soothe by putting on a costume and taking on a presumably difficult task. Thus, I crown you, Captain Chaos. The honor comes with a cape, funky boots, and of course a speedo. I recommend you only wear the speedo in private, as it may make a NY Times reporter pass out and the rest of us puke. So the next time you are going to deliver a speech that frankly no one cares a lick about, just step up to the microphone and scream out, “Captain Chaos to the rescue!” At which point the citizens of this great nation will then be on notice to take cover, and use extreme caution.

Let’s take the healthcare bill that my representative John Hall voted in favor of. This is one piece of legislated chaos an order of magnitude higher that would make a Nazi proud. We don’t need death camps, we need chaos and confusion, as doctors and patients wait to die, or die from waiting, a unionized bureaucrat will be there with form 42-B to inform the concurrent parties that the Tylenol that is so desperately needed will not be available until next weeks allocation comes through the factory - which is on strike because the unions think they are underpaid, and the lawyer that is needed to fill out the waiver for the Tylenol is on sabbatical studying yoga. Cogito ergo sum Chaos!

Now let’s take financial reform. I have been investing and dealing with money in a mostly responsible way my whole life. Like most people I strive to learn from my mistakes. Like that first year at ASU, that should have been my first year in the Air Force, when that broad in the tight t-shirt, with Citibank emblazoned across you know what, asked me if I wanted a credit card, I said “how many can I get?” I promptly used that card to buy everything I was not supposed to. I made the monthly minimums on time and in cash with the odd jobs I picked up while at school. By the time the summer rolled around I was doing three to four jobs to cover the bill, but I did it. Is the Congress and are you, Mr. Obama, telling me that grown people are incapable of understanding that they are going to have to pay for what they buy, and if they don’t they will be charged interest. Are you all nuts? Don’t answer that. I know the answer. Recently you signed the Financial Regulatory Reform Act, that would among other nasty things, increase the minutia that a borrower would be faced with and create a higher burden for the companies to raise rates on borrowers; in short you are treating adults like children, and this will only lead to more chaos, and not to mention less credit.

You see Captain Chaos Obama, We The People, get to vote last, while you get to bully us when ever you desire with or without the cape and the funky boots. I am well aware that your ilk has been maneuvering in chaotic fashion to make each vote not about forming a more perfect union, but about administering to the government induced chaos; and the last election, like trained seals, people voted for Democrats, wrongly thinking that they are better at managing the chaos. We The People, are coming to the conclusion that the ordered chaos that evolves out of the free market is far more desirable than the one that the federal government manufactures, with the willing help of unions, via pitting one economic class, or one race against another. We The People are coming to the conclusion that we would rather have a hospital room and insurance at some price, than none at any price, we would rather have a seat on a flight at some price than none at any price, we would rather have a Big Mac at some price than none at any price, we would rather have credit at some price than none at any price; and so on for everything we rely on to lead our modern, and productive lives.

On November 2, 2010 - we will be choosing new leaders that understand all of this and are willing to represent these convictions with authority.

Respectfully,

Joe Doakes

If your Mom liked that she may like this . . .

To The Editor:

Response to Mr. Geller’s Column:

The Great Depression did not end as a result of government largess; the Great Depression ended because the US went to war, and in so doing annihilated the enemies ability to produce goods, and thus wage war. By the wars end the only country with any manufacturing capacity was the good old USA. Admittedly, FDR’s policies might well have saved this nation from further erosion, but the birth of entitlement programs of that era, and those that followed, will in the next three decades combined with the interest on our debt, completely drain the productive resources of our nation. That is, our entire federal budget will be equal to those financial promises, and if the next forty-seven months of this administration are anything like the first one - those promises will buy me a cup of coffee, and a doughnut when I begin to rely on them.

As far as your apparent animus toward Republicans for trying to be, at long last, responsible with the funny money that is the American dollar; the toughest part of any fight is not deciding to do the right thing - it is doing it. Under Minority Whip Cantor the Republican party demonstrated that it is prepared to, at long last, stand for fiscal responsibility. Seven Democrats stood with Republicans on the last “stimulus” vote. While I do not have the responsibility of being director of any part of the Republican party; I am a registered Republican. My party provided the leadership, Abraham Lincoln, that preserved the Union and ended slavery. My party provided the leadership, Ronald W. Reagan, that pulled the United States, and the rest of the world out of the malaise of the 70’s. I’m proud of the Republican party and the spine it is showing against this self-destructive economic philosophy.

In so far as your assertion that the stimulus bill will create millions of jobs and provide for various forms of alternative energy. Sometimes when it snows I hire my teenage neighbor to shovel; my neighbor is a smart hardworking fellow, he once revealed he is saving it for college. Why? He wants to grow economically, maybe he will decide to sacrifice present wants for a matter of years and realize the goal of coming back to XXXXXXX and raise a family - as I have. That is real job creation; make work projects do not create communities, they destroy them. As for alternative energy, there is only one, nuclear power. At present not one reactor is under construction in the entire United States. All other forms of alternative energy even if we max them out - wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass - do not have the horsepower to do the job. Even if they did we cannot transport enough power from those areas that create it to those that will consume it.

The only way out of our current situation is to determine what is absolutely necessary and to use the organs of the federal government to fix the damage it caused, and take the rest, and throw it away. In doing that we will end the constant cycle that creates one crises after another. In doing this we will be able to rebuild our banks, our military, our communities, and fund restructured entitlement programs via a vibrant and growing economy. Building modern nuclear power plants, using that clean power to convert domestically produced coal to domestically produced liquid fuel; and continue to support applied science to research solar panel technology to shrink the cost of production, and increase its capacity to generate power and batteries to store it on cloudy days.

I did not live through the great depression, and I am sorry you had to - I did however, with the help of my older sister, survive a violent alcoholic mother who thought the world owed her something - she was right, but it wasn’t a roof, or a drink - and it certainly wasn’t something a five year old or an eight year old could deliver. There are “eight million stories in the naked city” mine is no worse nor any better than anyones - it is just different. I survived that abuse, I and you, will survive this abuse. Betting against America or an American(especially me) is always a bad bet; especially when our collective back is against a wall. We did it before and we will do it again, I have not a single doubt in my mind as to our ability to overcome this manufactured fiscal disaster or any other for that matter, real or imagined. We know that when we harness everyday wisdom, and apply it to seemingly complex situations we solve them. Since this Nation’s founding we have overcome every single challenge that has been placed in our way - we innovate, we compete, we overcome. And at times go to war to restore the peace or our liberty, and families all across America bear the raw cost of those battles - including mine.

In fact, I think this nightmare will be fertile ground for any politician, Democrat or Republican, to advocate for fiscal soundness, insurmountable national defense, restructured entitlement programs, and individual State control of the rest. Sir, politics ought not to be about who wins and who looses, or what party prevails, it ought to be about who can best articulate, and promote our shared values, and principles and in doing that lift all citizens up, not a few at the expense of the other. Remember, as President Reagan said, “If we lower our standards we lower the flag.” I say we put the shovels away and grab a bull dozer and a half track and get to work. I say we take our eyes off the politicians and put them back on the business leaders, the engineers, the scientists and the service members who preserve this great country, and all those men and women that make this country move everyday without so much as a thank you. This is where our attention should be, this is where our hope will turn to reality, this is where change will hone the granite that is the impenetrable American spirit.

Pete,

I'm very sorry to hear about your brother. I try to stay in past dark because I know that is when the criminal element is most active. I also avail myself of my Second Amendment rights; but I've learned that the best way to win a gun fight, is to miss the appointment. Recently a man named George Grier, while his family was inside, saw a group of hispanic men gathering on his property having a disagreement, Mr. Grier told his wife to call the police and then, exited his prepared position, ie his home, to engage with a locked and loaded semi-automatic AK-47 in his hand - he fired a few rounds into the ground at which point the crowd dispersed. Mr. Grier was arrested and will now be prosecuted as a felon for defending his family. And his family will likely face the consequences of his erroneous and incomplete actions.

You see, in the northeast, self defense is illegal, unless you are in your own home or your place of business. As a concealed carry permit holder I know this, and I will not lift one trigger finger, even if I witness someone being murdered right next to me in NY state, unless they are a relation. Because I will be arrested and sent to prison, the jury pool in the northeast thinks that "law and order" is real. If I was in CT or a Southern or Western states, it's two to the chest and one to the head.

Just like that old Billy Joel song - in the northeast and Kalifornia - they rule the night, we rule the day.

Be careful out there!

Joe Doakes

Dr. Yo,

A parliamentary system leads to disaster. Our Bi-Cameral legislature and separate but equal branches is our only hope and will win out in the end. The 17 amendment not with standing.

Joe