Boy, Howdy!

"Tautochronous exercises"

On July 3rd,  according to Democracy Now ! Admiral Mullen states that the occupation of Iraq threatens the efforts, of the United States, in Afghanistan.  On the face of this, this does not seem, at once, problematic, and it is not, save for the fact that this an election year, and one candidate, in particular, a savvy manipulator, bordering on demogoguery, has begun to lose himself in the morass of his own rhetoric and his lack ability to exercise a sagacious mouth.  By that I mean,  he prefers to paint himself as a liberal's liberal, a friend of the dispossessed and the laborer, a friend of the educated elite and the well-heeled, but, by July 7th, according to the same news source, he takes the position of, "refining his policies," regarding Iraq when he consults with his Joint Chiefs.  He turns around several hours later, and insisted that, he had not, "equivocated," on his position to end the occupation of Iraq, within sixteen months of his presidency.  Obama denies his shift in policies.  Clearly, he has.  On July 9th, information emerges about his support for the telecom immunity bill, the revocation of the D.C. handgun ban, said ban overturned by the Supreme Court, and his constant iteration of his desire to, "revise," his pledge, to withdraw U.S. troops, from Iraq.  In a thwarted attempt to clarify himself, in a splendid display of a well-executed tautochronous manoeurvre, in which, his rhetorical flourishes crest, sliding through his speech, coming to a point that converges with the torpor in his policies, and reaching the lowest point at the same time.  By this I mean, not meaning what he says, not saying what he means.  He says:  "Let me...talk about the broader issue.  [T]his whole notion that I am shifting to the center or that I'm flip-flopping, or this that or the other.  You know the people who say this apparently haven't been listening to me...I've been organizing with churches for years, in the commyunity.  And so, the notion that somehow that's me, trying to look like I'm, you know more centered, more centrist, is just not true." 

More centered would not be a bad idea, Senator, You're defintely off your game.

On July 11th, same news source,  Obama says the U.S. should not committ to a pereenial occupation in Iraq.  This is in response to Admiral Mullen's, July 3rd, warning about our troop strength, and their commitments.  These remarks also follows, close on the heels as U.S. troops were engaged in a fire-fight, lasting several hours on a U.S. base.  This occurs on the border that Afghanistan shares with Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of nine serviceman.  On July 16th, the same news source states that Obama wants to increase troop strength in Afghanistan, saying: "This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the twenty-first century.  By any measure, our singleminded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe.  I am running for president of the United States to lead this country in a new direction and to seize this moment's promise."

Seems to my mind, Senator, you, apparently, aren't listening to yourself.

"Oh my word! What would Hamilton and Madison say? 

     To be honest, what I dislike about Barack Obama's candidacy is that it is dishonest, or, rather, the work of a masterful, and, cunning politician.  Once Hillary Clinton dropped out of the campaign, he moved back to positions that were true to his ideological bent ( and he is ideological-driven, not the kind of politician this country needs). In essence, Justice Charles J. White, writing a partial dissent of Newberry v. United States,  states, speaking of the overweighted primary system:

...They serve to indicated the tenacity of the conviction that the relation of the primary to the election is so intimate that the influence of the former is largely determinative of the latter...in some cases at least the reslut of the primary has been in substance to render the subsequent election merely perfunctory...

There it is, and Column Davies  promises to give us the full treatement when he takes on the Electoral College for his latest publish-or-perish venture.

Obama is, also, a, "Chicago Boy," a school of conservative economic theory out of the University of Chicago, hence the name. Those regular readers of this blog know that we discussed the role of the Chicago Boys in the subprime debacle.  Obama has moved to the right of the John McCain, a feat in itself, and a consolidation of the one-party state.  Democrats and Republicans are, now, all on the same page, and the differences are merely cosmetic.  For instance, Obama's campaign is fueled with money, rolling in from Wall Street, hedge funds, corporations and defense contractors.  Where does this leave the average American?  Hold on a minute, and I'll tell you.

   Why Move-On.org. ?

   Move-on, whatever that means, purports to be anti-war, yet it has hitched its wagon to the star that is Barack Obama;  an Obama who has back-tracked on every single thing he ever said, regarding Afghanistan and Iraq, and sounding so pro-war that he has John McCain, agreeing with his positions.  Those of us who don't swallow any of the hog-swallow which passes for commentary, journalism and analysis, wonder what it is, or who it is Move-on.org is, and why we should give a doggone.  If anything, this proves that anti-war left has no position, based on sound logic and reason, and more that not, it is an emotional response to something that has to be approached with thought.

   I suppose Move-on.org needs a job after the election, so what the heck?

Boy, Howdy!

"Oh my word! What would Hamilton say? 

This is an election year, and, unlike other election years, this one has taken on the cast of a cynical circus.  Someone, somewhere, sometime ago, once said, “the people get the government they deserve.”  Well, and, I must say I decry the American citizen who has fallen for this cynical circus as a harbinger of change. There seems to be some sort off quadrennial penitence in which the average, beleaguered American feels it necessary to self-flagellation for being a decent American The truth is that this quadrennial change promises to further indenture the American citizen to the corporate store nor matter which party gains the White House.  The bank owns your mortgage owns your house, owns the land beneath your house;  the bank owns your car, owns the gas in your car, owns your shoes, your clothes, your furniture, your appliances, your dishes, your cutlery, your collection of cds and dvds and videos, owns your phone, owns your cell, owns your physical condition, in some cases, owns the food on hour place, in other cases, and, in many cases, owns the wedding.

          What change, and what hope do these candidates represent?  You tell me.  Please, I’m all ears.

"Oh my word! What would Jesus Say?  Part 2"

Dad called to remind me of the other half of Jesus the Christ's statement, and it is, from the King James Version:  "Render onto Caeser the things that are Caesers, and, unto G-d, the things that are G-d's."

"Clearly," Dad said, "Jesus preached separation of Church and State.  that's why he got himself so hung up.  You remember, Tyler, that Rome's state religion was Caesar.  When they died they became gods, decreed by the senate.  Caligula wanted to get ahead of the line, on that, so he had himself declared a god by the senate, long before they got sick and tired of his, terrorizing all and sundry.  He'd stand on his balcony, and, if he didn't like the fact that some poor bugger was walking down the wrong side of the sidewalk, as was everyone else, he would single that one out for prison, if he was lucky, crucifixion, if he wasn't."

"Sounds familiar, Dad."

Silence on the line.  "You're an Independent, now?"  He should have known better than to venture down this conversational road.

"Yeah."

"McCain?"

Silence on the line.

"Nader."

"I see.  Well, I've got to go.  You're mother seems to want me for something or other.  I just wanted to help you with that verse."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Don't mention it, son.  Separation of Church and State is worth getting hung up for."

"Oh my word! What would Jesus Say?"

the presumptive nominee of the Democrat party has further distinguished himself as the slickest and the most venal candidate since Richard Nixon, and i am not putting to fine a point on it.  Yesterday, he made a speech to some, "faith-based organization," in Ohio.  Besides, negating everything he said, he managed to offend those of us who happen to believe that the framers meant two things about separation of Church and State.  The first, being that a state religion was one side of the monarchial coin, and smacked of all of that, "divine right of kings," nonsense that caused so much catastrophic suffering, long before and longl after the French Revolution, as a case in point; two, religion and government have nothing to do with each other, because, according to the Gospels which no one wants to read anymore, Jesus the Christ had a serious issue with the Romans who were poised to annihilate the Jews, and Herod, a half-breed Jew (his father was a Jew, his mother a Roman citizen. Anyone who knows the history knows that you could not be a Jew and a Roman citizen; the two were anathema.) in the pocket of Roman, meaning Herod did whatever it was that Herod was told by Rome (bells of alarm should be going off, about now).  It was Jesus The Christ who said, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesars..." It's been a long time since I read those.  Those of you who are long time readers of this blog know I come from a mixed marriage, my mom was Roman Catholic and my dad, Baptist.  The point is that Jesus the Christ would find this proposal of Barak Obama's, indeed, the original proposal of the current President, ludicrus, preposterous, counter-productive, anti-Christian, anti-progressive, anti-Semitic, pro-Rome and pro-Herod, anti-inclusive.  Basically, he'd be offended, and think he got himself in all of that trouble for nothing.  

Move over, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, et al, Jesus the Christ needs room to spin in his grave.