This is for OldSouth's friends from overseas who grace this page. Hopefully, some insight into life on the ground here can be gained for the minutes you spend here.
********
OK. I watched The Speech. I tried to resist, but the same morbid curiosity that draws people to watch hotel fires and train wrecks worked its dark magic. I should have strapped myself to the mast, and resisted the song of the Sirens. Alas, woe is me.
Barack Obama is truly one of a kind. Never, ever in history has a sitting President scolded the assembled justices of the Supreme Court in front of the assembled Senate and House, and invited the legislators to cheer for his behavior. And cheer they did, the Democrats.
Not even FDR did that. Not Nixon. Not Reagan.
No one. Ever.
It is the surest indicator of a narcissism that knows no limits, of a profound ignorance of both the Constitution and basic polity of this nation. It's as if, well, he hails from some other place entirely, and never assimilated himself to life here. Even if he has a live birth certificate from Hawaii (and I assume he does, somewhere), that's not the real issue. It is a cast of mind, a way of being in the world that seems, well, alien to American culture. Even as we hear him sing its praises, it's like listening to Tony Blair paying compliments to America as he addresses an American audience. Always at one or two removes, always looking over the heads and never into the faces of the audience.
As always, he talked about Himself.
And Himself.
And Himself.
He simultaneously talks about expanding government spending (what he calls 'investment') while reducing the deficits of the Federal government. He truly believes he can walk both north and south at the same time.
He really believes he and his have been conciliatory in their behavior, that they have been open in their dealings, and that his word can be trusted.
He really believes He can re-inflate the housing bubble, although there was no mention of Fannie and Freddie (and the taxpayers' unlimited support of them, announced the afternoon of 12/24/2009). He believes the housing bubble should be re-inflated.
No mention of GM, Chrysler, AIG, the UAW...as if those events just did not happen.
He really believes that the government that runs all the above enterprises should take over the health-care system. That His solution is The Only Solution.
He really believes he has done a great job in protecting us from terrorists. You know, like Major Hassan, or the Underpants Bomber, sitting in a Detroit jail with a government-paid lawyer.
He really believes that printing money, and spending 250k per 'job created or saved' actually creates economic growth. His vision of the future requires that government and industry join irrevocably at the hip, so that the line between enterprise and governmental power eternally blur. And then he decries corporate influence upon the government.
That's the scary bit.
He really believes what he's saying. He's really not being cynical. He believes these things like the Pope believes the Credo.
I don't worry so much that Obama's followers have drunk the Kool-Aid; like Smilin' Joe Biden, nodding and grinning at every line, like the preacher's favorite deacon at Bugtussle Baptist Church, or Miss Nancy the Church Lady, scanning the audience constantly, ever vigilant for any outbreak of guffaws of laughter or cries of protest.
The problem is--he has.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Meanwhile, Back In Caracas
Hugo Chavez has suddenly discovered if you nationalize industries, suppress speech, and debase the currency...the economy tanks, and your hold on power weakens.
Hmm...I see a plane-load of bullion headed toward a safe location, and someone always making sure the Presidential chopper and executive jet are fueled and staffed.
Remember, as you watch the President hold forth tonight, he and his really admire Chavez!
**********
The Bernanke vote is tomorrow. Have you called your Senator?
Hmm...I see a plane-load of bullion headed toward a safe location, and someone always making sure the Presidential chopper and executive jet are fueled and staffed.
Remember, as you watch the President hold forth tonight, he and his really admire Chavez!
**********
The Bernanke vote is tomorrow. Have you called your Senator?
Grins From Down Under
The human condition seems pretty universally funny, so for your consideration, the cartoons of Alan Moir of the Sydney Morning Herald.
The offering from Jan 21 especially telling!
Enjoy
The offering from Jan 21 especially telling!
Enjoy
Things That Do Not Make Sense
We read, we write, we talk with our family and friends every day. One reason we do this is to attempt to make the world make sense.
Every week, events happen in our lives, for good or ill, that don't easily make sense. How come, for instance, despite all his obvious failures and shortcomings, does this insignificant guy at his laptop enjoy such a wonderful (if modest) life? Why is the twenty-one year old life of an old family friend tragically ended in a car wreck less than a mile from her home? That's just a couple of questions from this week. Every reader has his own Things That Do Not Make Sense list, updated often.
There are other, even more horrible Things That Do Not Make Sense. The ongoing tragedy of Haiti is one, brought to bear upon our consciences by the recent earthquake. The death toll may well top 200,000 souls before all is said and done. The imagination has a hard time taking it in: 200,000 people, mostly desperately poor, their lives cut short. Each of them a soul as fully human as any of us sitting here in our comfortable chairs, drinking our coffees.
For now, we send money. Short term to the Red Cross and our church missions on the ground--and there were a lot on the ground before the quake. Long-term to Heifer International, which seems to do a great job in the nitty-gritty of improving lives one family at a time. It's tough work, short or long term.
So, we attempt to make sense, and if wise, we step back and ask 'How did this happen? What can we do to head off the next Haiti? Earthquakes are a fact of life, but mass death doesn't have to follow, does it?'
David Brooks offers some thoughts worth consideration in last week's New York Times.
(OldSouth tripped across it because it infuriated someone in academia, always a good sign.)
In part, he says:
'....Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh retribution when kids hit 9 or 10.
We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures. But some cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them.'
Brooks doesn't just point fingers, but makes a couple of very good suggestions on creating real remedies.
He makes sense.
And, these days, this is a valuable commodity.
*****
PS--The Bernanke vote is tomorrow. If you are a US citizen, have you called your Senator yet?
Every week, events happen in our lives, for good or ill, that don't easily make sense. How come, for instance, despite all his obvious failures and shortcomings, does this insignificant guy at his laptop enjoy such a wonderful (if modest) life? Why is the twenty-one year old life of an old family friend tragically ended in a car wreck less than a mile from her home? That's just a couple of questions from this week. Every reader has his own Things That Do Not Make Sense list, updated often.
There are other, even more horrible Things That Do Not Make Sense. The ongoing tragedy of Haiti is one, brought to bear upon our consciences by the recent earthquake. The death toll may well top 200,000 souls before all is said and done. The imagination has a hard time taking it in: 200,000 people, mostly desperately poor, their lives cut short. Each of them a soul as fully human as any of us sitting here in our comfortable chairs, drinking our coffees.
For now, we send money. Short term to the Red Cross and our church missions on the ground--and there were a lot on the ground before the quake. Long-term to Heifer International, which seems to do a great job in the nitty-gritty of improving lives one family at a time. It's tough work, short or long term.
So, we attempt to make sense, and if wise, we step back and ask 'How did this happen? What can we do to head off the next Haiti? Earthquakes are a fact of life, but mass death doesn't have to follow, does it?'
David Brooks offers some thoughts worth consideration in last week's New York Times.
(OldSouth tripped across it because it infuriated someone in academia, always a good sign.)
In part, he says:
'....Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh retribution when kids hit 9 or 10.
We’re all supposed to politely respect each other’s cultures. But some cultures are more progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy was just exacerbated by one of them.'
Brooks doesn't just point fingers, but makes a couple of very good suggestions on creating real remedies.
He makes sense.
And, these days, this is a valuable commodity.
*****
PS--The Bernanke vote is tomorrow. If you are a US citizen, have you called your Senator yet?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Lest We Forget Why Chemical Ali Met Justice
OldSouth just couldn't quite form the words yesterday to say anything appropriate about the execution of Chemical Ali.
Andrew Bolt in Melbourne did find them.
The picture he posted with his few words tells us all.
The western press mob chose to concentrate on the suicide bombings in Baghdad instead, with the subtext: 'If the government hadn't executed the mass murderer Ali, then those insurgents would not have been compelled to drive vans full of explosive into the hotel district.'
'Chemical Ali isn't morally culpable for mass murder. The people who planned yesterday's attack aren't morally culpable. The US, UK, Australia, Italy, Spain, Poland, et al who removed Saddam and his cousin Ali from power, and made certain they could not continue to fill mass graves--those guys are the true criminals.'
This essay in the Guardian might help put things into focus a bit.
Many of the 5,000 Kurds killed that day died almost instantly as the cloud of poison gas settled upon them. Others suffered a slower, more gruesome death as the gas gradually liquidated their organs but did not actually kill them. Today, the few surviving victims suffer from their injuries; birth defects, breast, lung, skin, and other cancers, along with miscarriages, infertility and mental disorders have painted a dark, permanent, mark on their lives.
Although OS always takes Wikipedia with a grain of salt, this article seems very well-cited and gives a dispassionate account.
There are videos posted as well, you can find them easily enough, out of sight of the children.
And, yes, the West sat silent in 1988 as this crime occurred.
Iraq, lacking the ability to engineer its own plants, had indeed purchased the means from Western suppliers to make and deliver the poison gas upon its own civilian population.
And, yes, had Colin Powell not halted the troops as they had Hussein's personal regiments on the run in 1991, many thousands of lives would have been spared.
And, yes, had Bill Clinton not been chasing skirts, and Mitterand not been chasing Iraqi petrodollars, and the UN not buried its head in the sand, many more would have been spared.
And, yes, the West stood by and watched the horrors in Rwanda.
And, no, Rwanda doesn't have any oil.
We all know the litany. We are not saints. Therefore, it's always our fault, as if people with brown skin and funny names are just not capable of ethical judgment like WeTheGuiltyOfTheWest are.
But Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid gave the orders for the slaughter of civilians, not just in Kurdistan, but across that country, more than once. The troops who ousted them ran upon a number of mass graves.
For all our shortcomings, and they are many, the West, on one occasion in our generation, said 'Enough is enough.'
Al-Qeada made the choice to set up shop in the aftermath. The Iranians made the choice to pump their own arms and zealots into the situation.
Could we/should we have forseen it, made wiser choices? Yep. But other parties chose to incite a civil war, and squander the opportunity given Iraq.
And, no, Ali's execution did not cause the mass murders in Baghdad yesterday.
Someone else made the choice to do that.
Andrew Bolt in Melbourne did find them.
The picture he posted with his few words tells us all.
The western press mob chose to concentrate on the suicide bombings in Baghdad instead, with the subtext: 'If the government hadn't executed the mass murderer Ali, then those insurgents would not have been compelled to drive vans full of explosive into the hotel district.'
'Chemical Ali isn't morally culpable for mass murder. The people who planned yesterday's attack aren't morally culpable. The US, UK, Australia, Italy, Spain, Poland, et al who removed Saddam and his cousin Ali from power, and made certain they could not continue to fill mass graves--those guys are the true criminals.'
This essay in the Guardian might help put things into focus a bit.
Many of the 5,000 Kurds killed that day died almost instantly as the cloud of poison gas settled upon them. Others suffered a slower, more gruesome death as the gas gradually liquidated their organs but did not actually kill them. Today, the few surviving victims suffer from their injuries; birth defects, breast, lung, skin, and other cancers, along with miscarriages, infertility and mental disorders have painted a dark, permanent, mark on their lives.
Although OS always takes Wikipedia with a grain of salt, this article seems very well-cited and gives a dispassionate account.
There are videos posted as well, you can find them easily enough, out of sight of the children.
And, yes, the West sat silent in 1988 as this crime occurred.
Iraq, lacking the ability to engineer its own plants, had indeed purchased the means from Western suppliers to make and deliver the poison gas upon its own civilian population.
And, yes, had Colin Powell not halted the troops as they had Hussein's personal regiments on the run in 1991, many thousands of lives would have been spared.
And, yes, had Bill Clinton not been chasing skirts, and Mitterand not been chasing Iraqi petrodollars, and the UN not buried its head in the sand, many more would have been spared.
And, yes, the West stood by and watched the horrors in Rwanda.
And, no, Rwanda doesn't have any oil.
We all know the litany. We are not saints. Therefore, it's always our fault, as if people with brown skin and funny names are just not capable of ethical judgment like WeTheGuiltyOfTheWest are.
But Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid gave the orders for the slaughter of civilians, not just in Kurdistan, but across that country, more than once. The troops who ousted them ran upon a number of mass graves.
For all our shortcomings, and they are many, the West, on one occasion in our generation, said 'Enough is enough.'
Al-Qeada made the choice to set up shop in the aftermath. The Iranians made the choice to pump their own arms and zealots into the situation.
Could we/should we have forseen it, made wiser choices? Yep. But other parties chose to incite a civil war, and squander the opportunity given Iraq.
And, no, Ali's execution did not cause the mass murders in Baghdad yesterday.
Someone else made the choice to do that.
Western Australia Wishes To Thank The US Congress, President, And Fed Chair
These guys are blowing and going.
They are mining, refining and selling gold.
That's okay, mate. Just keep cranking out those T-bills!
We're doin' just fine down here, thank you.
They are mining, refining and selling gold.
That's okay, mate. Just keep cranking out those T-bills!
We're doin' just fine down here, thank you.
The List! Senators Who Face The Voters In 2010
A little digging, and congress.gov tells all.
These are the Class III Senators, whose terms expire in January 2011. Their seats are subject to the voters in November 2010.
These are the ones who will have the most immediate 'xplainin' to do if they vote to reconfirm Bernanke this week.
Dodd and Dorgan have already bailed, announcing their retirements. More will follow soon.
Joe Biden's son won't even run for his dad's seat in Delaware this fall. Hard to gauge how devastating that would be, were he to fail to win his Dad's old seat. Ask Al Gore, son of Senator Albert Gore, who lost Tennessee by a mile in 2000, how embarrassing it is. His own zip code featured a 'Gore-Free Tennessee' sign in every yard.
No doubt about it, they're nervous, all of them. Today's take from the AP is here, courtesy of MSNBC.
Hmmm...MSNBC sounds like they're ready to throw these guys under the bus as well.
And if you think Hopey-Changey's not worried, why is he working the phones on behalf of Zimbabwe Ben?
Do your grandchildren a huge favor. Call a Senator, tell them you'll contribute to his/her opponent if he/she votes for ZB.
These are the Class III Senators, whose terms expire in January 2011. Their seats are subject to the voters in November 2010.
These are the ones who will have the most immediate 'xplainin' to do if they vote to reconfirm Bernanke this week.
Dodd and Dorgan have already bailed, announcing their retirements. More will follow soon.
Joe Biden's son won't even run for his dad's seat in Delaware this fall. Hard to gauge how devastating that would be, were he to fail to win his Dad's old seat. Ask Al Gore, son of Senator Albert Gore, who lost Tennessee by a mile in 2000, how embarrassing it is. His own zip code featured a 'Gore-Free Tennessee' sign in every yard.
No doubt about it, they're nervous, all of them. Today's take from the AP is here, courtesy of MSNBC.
Hmmm...MSNBC sounds like they're ready to throw these guys under the bus as well.
And if you think Hopey-Changey's not worried, why is he working the phones on behalf of Zimbabwe Ben?
Do your grandchildren a huge favor. Call a Senator, tell them you'll contribute to his/her opponent if he/she votes for ZB.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
From The Weekend
It was a very good weekend.
Friday evening, OS encountered two nominees for the 2010 Green Shoots Award.
Krzysztof Penderecki and Barry Douglas
joined forces with the Nashville Symphony to present Penderecki's Piano Concerto, which dates from 2002. The composer conducted. OS bought tickets, expecting no more than to be able to say, 'I saw the great Penderecki at work before he went to his reward', since the gent is now seventy-nine years old.
He is still spry, conducts pretty stiffly, but managed to convey enough to the musicians for them to carry the piece off.
It was an amazing event. The Concerto is a long, complex, madly difficult, and utterly luminous piece of music. One long, long movement, and OS was saddened to hear it end. If Solzhenitsyn had written music, it may well have sounded like this piece.
Barry Douglas' performance was, well, amazing. The piece is fiendishly hard, with none of the usual mental landmarks a standard concerto contains, and was performed from memory. We sat in the balcony over his right shoulder, in full view of the keyboard.
Why, the reader asks, does this matter to anyone? Well, again, look at the header of the blog. We need the Pendereckis and the Douglases to keep reminding us of our better angels. Truth and beauty walk hand-in-hand, and moments like this remind us that the grim realities of economics, politics and power are not all there is. There is an Unseen Hand involved, actively at work in a lot more than our daily soap opera, and two of The Hand's emissaries showed up last Friday night in Nashville. If you view their bios, linked above, you'll see that these gents are not ivory tower 'artistes'--they're teaching, mentoring, building bridges across hostile real-estate, really contributing to the world. Contrast them with the narcissism of our pop culture heroes, and reality comes into focus a bit better.
It was a good night to meet up with friends, in the same balcony. One college professor friend at the LargeStateU was describing how the campus is literally being over-run with students, with kids parking themselves in halls and stairways of the aging building he teaches in, because there is no place for them to go. Of course, no capital projects even in planning now.
He is graduating bright kids to a world of no jobs, where previously there were always openings.
And Tennessee's in better shape than a lot of states!
At the same time, he reports good morale amongst the students. They're all happy to be there, working hard and happily.
OS has work to complete today, opportunities to meet, a loving wife, two thriving adult children.
He lives a blessed life, and every single day is a gift of grace, completely undeserved.
P.S.--If you are a US citizen, have your called your Senators yet? Ben Bernanke's gotta go. Strike a blow for the culture. We don't want to be Argentina. One is enough.
Even if he stays, he and the Senate need to know there are a ton of really really unhappy voters out there who daily wish him gone. Last week's moment of sobriety needs to be extended.
Remember, thirty-three of those guys and gals have to explain themselves this November.
Make them think about their vote this week, and yours.
Friday evening, OS encountered two nominees for the 2010 Green Shoots Award.
Krzysztof Penderecki and Barry Douglas
joined forces with the Nashville Symphony to present Penderecki's Piano Concerto, which dates from 2002. The composer conducted. OS bought tickets, expecting no more than to be able to say, 'I saw the great Penderecki at work before he went to his reward', since the gent is now seventy-nine years old.
He is still spry, conducts pretty stiffly, but managed to convey enough to the musicians for them to carry the piece off.
It was an amazing event. The Concerto is a long, complex, madly difficult, and utterly luminous piece of music. One long, long movement, and OS was saddened to hear it end. If Solzhenitsyn had written music, it may well have sounded like this piece.
Barry Douglas' performance was, well, amazing. The piece is fiendishly hard, with none of the usual mental landmarks a standard concerto contains, and was performed from memory. We sat in the balcony over his right shoulder, in full view of the keyboard.
Why, the reader asks, does this matter to anyone? Well, again, look at the header of the blog. We need the Pendereckis and the Douglases to keep reminding us of our better angels. Truth and beauty walk hand-in-hand, and moments like this remind us that the grim realities of economics, politics and power are not all there is. There is an Unseen Hand involved, actively at work in a lot more than our daily soap opera, and two of The Hand's emissaries showed up last Friday night in Nashville. If you view their bios, linked above, you'll see that these gents are not ivory tower 'artistes'--they're teaching, mentoring, building bridges across hostile real-estate, really contributing to the world. Contrast them with the narcissism of our pop culture heroes, and reality comes into focus a bit better.
It was a good night to meet up with friends, in the same balcony. One college professor friend at the LargeStateU was describing how the campus is literally being over-run with students, with kids parking themselves in halls and stairways of the aging building he teaches in, because there is no place for them to go. Of course, no capital projects even in planning now.
He is graduating bright kids to a world of no jobs, where previously there were always openings.
And Tennessee's in better shape than a lot of states!
At the same time, he reports good morale amongst the students. They're all happy to be there, working hard and happily.
OS has work to complete today, opportunities to meet, a loving wife, two thriving adult children.
He lives a blessed life, and every single day is a gift of grace, completely undeserved.
P.S.--If you are a US citizen, have your called your Senators yet? Ben Bernanke's gotta go. Strike a blow for the culture. We don't want to be Argentina. One is enough.
Even if he stays, he and the Senate need to know there are a ton of really really unhappy voters out there who daily wish him gone. Last week's moment of sobriety needs to be extended.
Remember, thirty-three of those guys and gals have to explain themselves this November.
Make them think about their vote this week, and yours.
A Must-Read To Begin Your Week
I really hope Denninger is not correct about this.
Chin-straps on. This is beginning to look like the OK Corral.
Call your Senators. Bernanke's gotta go.
Hug your wife and kids extra-good this week.
Chin-straps on. This is beginning to look like the OK Corral.
Call your Senators. Bernanke's gotta go.
Hug your wife and kids extra-good this week.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
I Have Seen The Light--Well, Maybe Not
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Ellie Light sure gets around.
In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers. Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area.
“It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News.
A letter from Light in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Francisco Examiner concluded with an identical sentence, but with an address for Light all the way across the country in Daly City, California.
How DOES she do it? OldSouth certainly is impressed...
Another blogger followed up and located many more nearly identical letters from Ellie Light, from diverse parts of the country.
Let's see...the hundreds of thousands who showed up to town hall meetings, and marched on Washington last summer were all just 'AstroTurf', poor rubes organized by nefarious persons. All those handmade signs and moms and dads with small kids were simply camouflage.
No big deal, not worthy of coverage by the MSM.
But, Ellie is a different case. She likes Prez Hopey-Changey, so she gets to be everywhere all the time.
She's the true voice of 'the little people' in the Heartland. No one need check to see if 'Ellie Light' might be an alias.
I wonder how many different states she's registered to vote in? How many absentee ballots does she return every year?
How many Ellies are out there?
Ellie Light sure gets around.
In recent weeks, Light has published virtually identical “Letters to the Editor” in support of President Barack Obama in more than a dozen newspapers. Every letter claimed a different residence for Light that happened to be in the newspaper’s circulation area.
“It’s time for Americans to realize that governing is hard work, and that a president can’t just wave a magic wand and fix everything,” said a letter from alleged Philadelphian Ellie Light, that was published in the Jan. 19 edition of The Philadelphia Daily News.
A letter from Light in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Francisco Examiner concluded with an identical sentence, but with an address for Light all the way across the country in Daly City, California.
How DOES she do it? OldSouth certainly is impressed...
Another blogger followed up and located many more nearly identical letters from Ellie Light, from diverse parts of the country.
Let's see...the hundreds of thousands who showed up to town hall meetings, and marched on Washington last summer were all just 'AstroTurf', poor rubes organized by nefarious persons. All those handmade signs and moms and dads with small kids were simply camouflage.
No big deal, not worthy of coverage by the MSM.
But, Ellie is a different case. She likes Prez Hopey-Changey, so she gets to be everywhere all the time.
She's the true voice of 'the little people' in the Heartland. No one need check to see if 'Ellie Light' might be an alias.
I wonder how many different states she's registered to vote in? How many absentee ballots does she return every year?
How many Ellies are out there?
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