Tag Archives: Election/Politicians
Conservatives sell out for war (except for Ron Paul)
Former Marxist guerrilla sworn in as president of Brazil
The new president hopes to keep the country’s booming economy on track while advancing her Workers’ Party social agenda.
(Read more from latimes.com)
New Year’s Predictions for 2011
My predictions:
1. We will see the beginning of the collapse of the bond market. The truth about flawed fiat currencies will begin to emerge. No one will want government debt. The specter of the choice between government default and hyper inflation will haunt us all.
2. In response to a great, violent threat, President Obama will appear on television and make a heroic speech about security, the American way of life, and preserving our liberty. Despite its design, the speech will not salvage his popularity.
3. Ron Paul will be accused of racism, nazi-ism, and/or homophobia. As Ron Paul popularity grows, and as his long record of accurate predictions becomes increasingly verified by the economic crisis, his message of liberty becomes increasingly threatening to the status quo. Look for slander, followed by more extreme tactics.
4. Governments hate a free press. Look for internet regulation in the U.S. and western Europe. Secret blogging and anonymity services will become increasingly valuable. More scandals will emerge, some directly threatening, incriminating the White House. The Democratic party will attempt to salvage itself by abandoning Obama.
5. Socialist explanations for the economic crisis, which blame greed and private enterprise, will get great exposure on television and in print as government looks for reasons to increase power and taxation to cover its many irresponsible programs. The socialist explanations will gain some support, but the liberty message and the culpability of government will not go away.
6. Faced with plummeting popularity, even in Donetsk, Ukraine’s ruling party, the Party of Regions, will have to chose between failure and tyranny. They will attempt to chose tyranny.
***
Peter Schiff:
* Higher commodity prices will begin to hit consumer.
* Mortgage rates will continue to rise.
***
Gerald Celente:
1. economic crisis wake up call
2. economic unions will splinter
3. government will intensify efforts to take wealth from the people
4. crime waves
5. crackdown on liberty (in the name of fighting crime)
***
RIP Congressman Gross
Never heard of this guy, but he sounds like a hero:
Tea Party Congressman Allen West (FL): “America should be censoring the American news agencies which published Wikileaks information”
As Lew Rockwell predicted, the betrayal begins.
I guess the more optimistic analysis would claim that the distinction between the conservative and libertarian wings of the Tea Party is beginning.
SA@TAC – The Conservative Purpose of Wikileaks
Scandal Coming to White House?
Part 1:
And I take no pleasure in saying Obama should not be re-elected in 2012.
That is a very strong statement – anything recent that causes you to now say you will not support Obama in 2012? (Long pause – question is repeated) There is much I have been told, some I know, some more that will probably develop in the coming weeks and months. But you want specifics, right? I understand that…I’ll give you an example of why President Obama is not right for America. He sure as hell has not been right for the party. Not long ago, the president took a meeting. He’s late, which apparently is becoming more and more common with him. The meeting was almost cancelled. In strolls the president, joking with an aide. He plops down on a sofa, leans over and claps another guy on the back asking how he’s been. Apologizes for being late, says he was “held up”. He laughs some more. The meeting begins. After just ten minutes, during which time the president appears to almost totally withdraw into himself, an aide walks in and whispers something to the president, who then nods and quickly stands up, shakes a few hands and tells another aide to update him later on the rest of the meeting. As the president is walking out he is laughing at something yet again. He asked no questions of those at the meeting – not one. He left after just ten minutes, coming in laughing and leaving laughing. His behavior during that brief time he was there was described as “borderline manic”.
Ok, you have already stated previously that the president doesn’t show much interest in the day to day business of being president – why is this example so bad, or different? Care to know what that particular meeting was about on that day?
Certainly. Afghanistan. That meeting was an update on Afghanistan, and the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, could give a -expletive-.
Were you actually there to witness this? No, I was long gone from the White House by then. It was told to me though by someone who was. They were there. First hand. They were also left to apologize to the ones left in the room after the president left. Some of these were military. They were not happy. No…that is not accurate. They were pissed. They didn’t say much at the time, but word got back. They were in shock at the president’s behavior. The country had just lost a number of soldiers the week prior, the public opinion on the war was falling…and the president didn’t seem to care. He arrives late, leaves early, appears to emotionally shut down during the actual discussion, and to then start laughing once again as he is leaving…how does someone reconcile with that kind of behavior? I can’t. It turns my stomach. I didn’t want to believe what I was being told, but I had seen similar kinds of behavior from the president myself, and I can’t dispute the credibility of the source. They have no reason to lie.
. . . .
So is that one example the real tipping point for you in no longer being willing to support Obama in 2012? Or do you have any others you wish to share? Oh, I have others, though I cannot share all of them at this point because they involve some still in range of potential White House retribution. Then again, I suppose I am still in range of such retribution myself.
What do you mean by retribution? Punishment. Political punishment, and even personal punishment. The powers of a president extend far beyond the Oval Office – you know that. I make my living, and it has been a very good living, working within the system of politics. A president can create considerable…pressure if you will, to limit or even destroy my place in that system. Working with a president is an extraordinary and terrifying thing. In regards to my experience with Obama, it became far less extraordinary and far more terrifying. And it’s getting worse.
Terrifying? Yes, terrifying. To see one’s expectations so disappointed. To see a figure who wields such great power and influence fall so short of the responsibilities of that power and influence…that is terrifying to witness. Initially I developed great fear for my party – for the Democrats whose political careers were being destroyed by this administration and party leadership. Now I sincerely fear for my country.
. . . .
I do not know if the country can survive another four years of Barack Obama, and frankly, I want nothing to do with helping us find out. The man is an incompetent. The man is a tool of the extreme far left that has utterly corrupted the Democratic Party. The man and those now closest to him in the administration appear to abhor America’s history. They detest anyone who does not fully subscribe to their positions. They are corrupt, they are increasingly paranoid, and they are taking this country down a path by which we may never recover.
You sound like Rush Limbaugh. -Expletive- you…(pause) I apologize for that, but no, I am not some right winger. You know that. I have spent decades helping to build the Democratic Party up.
. . . .
My primary goal now is to help as many good Democrats survive the disaster that will be the November elections, and from there, provide a far more capable and competent candidate to be the Democratic Party nominee for 2012.
Here’s your headline for today – there is a movement within the Democratic Party to make Hillary the nominee in 2012 – not Obama. I’m not talking a small group of “what ifs” here, I’m talking about significant members of the party, significant financial backers…a legitimate and serious move to make Hillary Clinton our nominee. It is not quite fully initiated yet, but it’s getting there.
Part 2:
Ok then – I’ll point your nose in the right direction. Enough people are sniffing in the same garbage pile anyways, including the Times. Though I suspect they are burying it at the moment, or trying to. They are still heavily invested in Obama, but that may change soon… Go back to Chicago. That is the key. There is other crap around the White House, other things that could trip them up, but Chicago is where the real heavy deal is that could bring the administration down. Go back and review Blagojevich. Go back and review Rezko, Barton, Stern, Giordano, Carothers, Jarret. It’s one and the same. It’s all connected, and it’s big. And people know. The White House is -expletive- itself over this stuff. Pelosi has it. Clintons have it – more of it than they had in 2008.
(Interrupts) What do you mean “have it”? The information – the story. At least some of it, enough of it. It’s all a chess match you know. A series of moves. Right now the White House is scrambling, and they don’t know enemies from friends anymore. The party is attempting to localize the damage so it doesn’t spread. Make it just about Chicago, and worst case, Obama – but not the party. And so you look back to Chicago, you look at the Justice Department, connect the dots. One investigation will potentially reveal the other. And it’s all setting up to happen now if the November elections go down with a Republican landslide. Obama will be left without protection. His inner circle is scared to death. I mean truly frightened by the prospects of what could be coming at them in the coming months. They have enemies both in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. President Obama is lost. Absolutely lost.”
. . . .
Look at the Democrats who are now openly challenging the president. Every day another one rebukes the president. That is an incredibly dangerous thing to do politically – it can destroy a career. Ask yourself why they would be so willing to do that. Are they just stupid, too bold – or is it something else?
I don’t know… (shakes head) The word is out there – President Obama is in real trouble. They may not have the specifics, but the story of a big scandal coming is circulating now within the party – both parties. So why put your own political career on the line supporting a president who is facing such a fiasco? Simple – they won’t. (Read more from newsflavor.com)
On Voting
Personally, I’m still torn between Hoppe’s view of Democracy, the argument that we should simply turn our backs on government to the best of our ability, and my desire to support Ron Paul.
Ambivalence aside, I love Stefan Molyneux’s rant:
Here are his thoughts on Ron Paul. His argument is analogous to the Hoppian anarcho-capitalist argument that a minimal state is impossible.
What’s wrong with the scared, unreasonable, unscientific, uninformed, inattentive, stupid, mean, cowardly, racist American people?
What’s wrong with the American people?
Obama — Scared, Unreasonable, Unscientific. “Part of the reason that our politics seem so tough right now, and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared.”
Senator Kerry — Uninformed. Inattentive.
Bill Maher — Too stupid to be governed.
First Lady Obama — Downright Mean.
Attorney General Eric Holder — “a nation of cowards.”
NY Times editorial writers on opposition to Obamacare — “racist”
Ron Paul’s analysis of the Midterm Election
Jump to 4:00 to get into the more interesting part of the discussion.
@ 4:45 — “It’s always a good day when politicians get fired, and it’s even better when they get fired for the right reasons.”
:D :D
@ 5:20 — Washington’s definition of “compromise.”
@ 6:00 — Lots of anti-liberty results in local propositions.
@ 7:25 — Ron Paul speaks about Congressman elect Justin Amash from Michigan.
@ 9:15 — “This is not a victory for the Republican Party, this is a wake up call.”
(I’m a little less optimistic, but it’s nice to see a small step in the right direction.)
Cut, Cut, Cut the Budget… Just Don’t Touch Israel
Politico‘s Laura Rozen reports, via the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, that House Republican whip Eric Cantor “would propose separating U.S. aid to Israel from the foreign operations budget, which the GOP may vote to defund”:
Cantor, of Virginia, said he wants to protect funding for Israel should that situation arise.
“Part of the dilemma is that Israel has been put in the overall foreign aid looping,” he said when asked about the increasing tendency of Republicans in recent years to vote against foreign operations appropriations. “I’m hoping we can see some kind of separation in terms of tax dollars going to Israel.”
Cantor’s statement was a sign that the Republican leadership was ready to defer to the party’s right wing on this matter. Some on the GOP right have suggested including Israel aid in the defense budget, and a number of Tea Party-backed candidates have said they would vote against what is known in Congress as “foreign ops.”
Commentary on the election of Rand Paul
I guess we’ll wait and see. I like his support for auditing the Federal Reserve and limiting spending. I like this skepticism about our wars too, though greatly prefer this father’s outright opposition.
I’m also very much influenced by Hans Herman Hoppe’s earth-shattering book, Democracy the God that Failed. I’ve begun to doubt that Democracy works, so I’m largely just an amused bystander when a politician is elected who seems to support my belief in individual liberty.
The Constitution was good, so good that it took 300 years for power to become centralized, concentrated, and predatory, but nevertheless, here we are. Realize that we used to be a nation in which half the population didn’t have to work.
Perhaps the best thing that can happen is a falling apart of the United States, preferably into 310 million independent nations. (peacefully!)
What Kind of Person Runs For Political Office?
A wonderful and shocking show from Radio Free Market:
“If you want government to intervene domestically, you’re a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you’re a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you’re a moderate. If you don’t want gov’t to intervene anywhere, you’re an extremist.” ~Joe Sobran
Mencken on Democracy
“Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed, and are right.” ~ H.L. Mencken