There’s a tendency in this country to overdo it when addressing tragedies, victories, defeats, deaths, successes, as well as ethnic-defined accomplishments regarding all races. To comment on this subject is to invite criticism, even charges of racism or worse…if there IS anything worse. Perhaps the most profound excesses have to do with death, particularly death as experienced in tragic circumstances for which the deceased bore no responsibility such as a plane crash or involvement in war.
The excess is usually enhanced in the death of a young, as opposed to an older person, though the “young” identification can be quite high, often with the attached circumstance of the survivors – young children or a large family, for example. The disagreements connected with planning and constructing a “proper” monument for the 9/11 victims, or the Oklahoma City victims of 1995, or the 49 victims of a plane crash in Lexington, Ky., in 2006, not to mention the expense, can make memorials something of a hassle, though those who die in the line of duty deserve recognition.
An egregious example of overdoing it is seen in the 30-foot-tall statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., not because King doesn’t deserve recognition, including a statue, but because of the flamboyance exhibited by the out-sized statue accompanied by the four acres of land and other accoutrements connected with it that actually trivialize the memorial. The effect is a sort of garishness that demeans one of the great men of the twentieth century.
The height of the statue equals that of a full three-story building. By contrast, it is eleven feet taller than the nearby statue of Abraham Lincoln. Even if Lincoln had been sculpted as standing, his statue would still be shorter than a three-story building. The mall includes statues and monuments remarking the heroic figures that have made the country what it is – people in government service, often spending years in mortal combat, and, of course, sometimes dying by the hundreds of thousands in the process.
King’s is the only statue on the mall of a private citizen, yet it towers above all other statues, as if meant to denigrate the services of people such as the 405,000 American GIs, including blacks, who died in World War II or the 58,000, including blacks, who died in Vietnam. Even Lincoln, besides being a president, fought in a war, albeit not one of great significance. By contrast, the statue of FDR, a four-term president, is merely life-size.
Perhaps adding insult to injury, whether or not intentionally, the group controlling the MLK project had the statue designed by a Chinese sculptor and actually produced in China. After promising to use American union labor in constructing the memorial, which came in pieces from China, the group reneged and used unpaid Chinese laborers, notwithstanding that King was gunned down during a trip in Memphis in 1968 to support sanitation workers.
One might suppose a black American sculptor would have been engaged for the project, or at least an American, but such was not to be the case, which might also make one wonder if there was an “in-your-face” motive, especially noting the outrageous size underlying the project, whether or not consciously so. Facts are hard things with which to argue and the fact that the memorial was outsourced to communist China gives the appearance that it was never meant to reflect anything American, meaning that the sponsoring group perhaps wanted no connection of King to the U.S.A. If so, more’s the pity.
The King speech most closely connected to the area involved was his “I have a dream” offering delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. President Eisenhower had already used troops in Little Rock many years before to integrate a school, but King’s speech was a precursor to the civil rights enactments by Congress of the 1960s. It was an important speech remarking the right of every American to try to achieve his/her goals…on an equal footing.
The enactments resulted in a comprehensive example of the law of unintended consequences. Far from culminating in helping African Americans accomplish their dreams, the civil rights laws eventuated in nightmarish results, most notably the disintegration of the African-American family, the basic unit of any society.
A three-story statue of Mao Tse Tung would be expected in China, where communist rulers think big when commemorating themselves…or Russia’s Stalin – egos demanding out-sized memorials. Think the famous statue of Saddam being torn down in Baghdad. On 09 April 2003, CNN reported the statue to be as tall as four men – some 24 feet. This about says it all. Notwithstanding whether or not the statue belongs on the mall at all, the MLK Memorial Foundation exhibited a total lack of taste and delivered an undignified memorial, more like pop art than a serious subject, a monstrous Buddha-like object looking DOWN on everyone.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Minority Rule
The decision of Bell County High School officials (Kentucky) to dispense with the offering of a prayer before a football game, a longtime tradition, was supposedly based on the requirement of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The officials were reminded in a letter from an outfit in Madison, Wisconsin, that they would be in line for an expensive lawsuit if the exercise was continued, claiming it to be a violation of that First Amendment.
The prayers are usually offered in behalf of safekeeping for the players, who ironically are about to commit mayhem upon each other, and for other generic concerns such as safekeeping for military personnel as well as guidance for the nation’s leaders. The efficacy of such prayers is not the issue. The recognition of God is the issue, even though no recognition/establishment of any religion is offered.
The exact wording of the First Amendment as related to this matter: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The applicable definition of religion: “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.”
In a prayer, there is no attempt to respect or disrespect or even to acknowledge an establishment of religion. There is no attempt to recognize or advance any cause, principle, or system of beliefs. There is only the addressing of God for a certain result, as well as the offering of thanks for whatever is conceived of as a gift from God, either past, present, or future.
The prayer, therefore, besides having nothing to do with religion, by definition cannot in any way injure those who believe God doesn’t exist. They consider themselves outside the activity altogether, thus cannot possibly be harmed. To them, the prayer is no more than a harmless comic strip. They hear no sermon, are not victims of evangelistic effort, are not coerced in any way, and are not victims of religious teaching. Neither words nor a moment of silence do any harm.
So, the prayer does not represent an establishment of religion. Indeed, prayers are offered before the daily activities in Congress even though those prayers, as part of actual government operations performed in government facilities, not at a mere ballgame, would seem far more condemnatory, if out of order. The inscriptions of God on coins and official documents and government buildings, in state constitutions, and in certain oaths that are affirmed furnish proof that God does not represent an establishment of religion. God just is…or isn’t, depending on individual preference.
But suppose the prayer is considered an establishment of religion, in this case established by the School Board reflecting the will of the citizens. According to the First Amendment, Congress shall make no law prohibiting its exercise. The amendment says nothing about when or where or how or by whom the exercise may or may not be conducted.
The amendment was enacted to prohibit the state from affirming a specific official religion, as was the case during colonial rule vis-à-vis the Anglican Church, with Queen Elizabeth II as the present Supreme Governor and titular head of the Church. The amendment was also enacted so that people could not be constrained from observing a religious exercise if collectively they so desired, no matter the location. It’s doubtful that any cleric was/is paid for praying at a ballgame, so the prayer is not taxpayer-supported, therefore not an infringement on any tax-paying atheist’s rights. If/where this is not extant, the status quo can be changed.
Rule by the minority has become the norm in this country not just concerning religion but concerning virtually everything. For instance, the notion that men should marry men because a miniscule minority says so is unconscionable and represents an act in violation of federal/state laws as well as against nature itself, without remarking any religious context,
The Judeo-Christian God was part, if not the foundation, of the founding documents. The miniscule minority is trying to erase God. The Wisconsin group has some 125 members in Kentucky out of a population of 4,339,367, amounting to an infinitesimally small .003%.
Rule by the minority shouldn’t happen as long as no one gets hurt, as in this case.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
The prayers are usually offered in behalf of safekeeping for the players, who ironically are about to commit mayhem upon each other, and for other generic concerns such as safekeeping for military personnel as well as guidance for the nation’s leaders. The efficacy of such prayers is not the issue. The recognition of God is the issue, even though no recognition/establishment of any religion is offered.
The exact wording of the First Amendment as related to this matter: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The applicable definition of religion: “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.”
In a prayer, there is no attempt to respect or disrespect or even to acknowledge an establishment of religion. There is no attempt to recognize or advance any cause, principle, or system of beliefs. There is only the addressing of God for a certain result, as well as the offering of thanks for whatever is conceived of as a gift from God, either past, present, or future.
The prayer, therefore, besides having nothing to do with religion, by definition cannot in any way injure those who believe God doesn’t exist. They consider themselves outside the activity altogether, thus cannot possibly be harmed. To them, the prayer is no more than a harmless comic strip. They hear no sermon, are not victims of evangelistic effort, are not coerced in any way, and are not victims of religious teaching. Neither words nor a moment of silence do any harm.
So, the prayer does not represent an establishment of religion. Indeed, prayers are offered before the daily activities in Congress even though those prayers, as part of actual government operations performed in government facilities, not at a mere ballgame, would seem far more condemnatory, if out of order. The inscriptions of God on coins and official documents and government buildings, in state constitutions, and in certain oaths that are affirmed furnish proof that God does not represent an establishment of religion. God just is…or isn’t, depending on individual preference.
But suppose the prayer is considered an establishment of religion, in this case established by the School Board reflecting the will of the citizens. According to the First Amendment, Congress shall make no law prohibiting its exercise. The amendment says nothing about when or where or how or by whom the exercise may or may not be conducted.
The amendment was enacted to prohibit the state from affirming a specific official religion, as was the case during colonial rule vis-à-vis the Anglican Church, with Queen Elizabeth II as the present Supreme Governor and titular head of the Church. The amendment was also enacted so that people could not be constrained from observing a religious exercise if collectively they so desired, no matter the location. It’s doubtful that any cleric was/is paid for praying at a ballgame, so the prayer is not taxpayer-supported, therefore not an infringement on any tax-paying atheist’s rights. If/where this is not extant, the status quo can be changed.
Rule by the minority has become the norm in this country not just concerning religion but concerning virtually everything. For instance, the notion that men should marry men because a miniscule minority says so is unconscionable and represents an act in violation of federal/state laws as well as against nature itself, without remarking any religious context,
The Judeo-Christian God was part, if not the foundation, of the founding documents. The miniscule minority is trying to erase God. The Wisconsin group has some 125 members in Kentucky out of a population of 4,339,367, amounting to an infinitesimally small .003%.
Rule by the minority shouldn’t happen as long as no one gets hurt, as in this case.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Obama & TREASON
Much has been made in the liberal media of the fact that Texas Governor Rick Perry used the term “treasonous” in his remarks about Fed Chairman Bernanke’s continuing to print money, thus devaluing the dollar without solving any problems. Indeed, President Obama, the darling of the liberal media, very condescendingly suggested that Perry was new to the game of presidential politics, did not understand the value of words spoken by those elitist/intelligent enough to engage the game, and that everyone should “cut him some slack.” The president was actually saying that Perry is as dumb as a gourd and that he should be paid no attention because of his stupidity.
The irony, of course, lies in the fact that the media is either so shallow or so agenda-driven as the propaganda arm of Obama’s presidency and now his campaign that it failed to pick up on the fact that the president has practically made it a mantra lately to describe the Congressional republicans as “treasonous.” Treason amounts to the putting of something ahead of the welfare of the country, so when the president accused the republicans of “putting party ahead of the country” he actually accused them of treason. Thus, the question that should be asked is, “Should the citizenry cut the president some slack for being so obviously mentally-challenged that he couldn’t understand what he actually has been saying, especially on his recent tax-paid campaign through three states.”
Words do come back to haunt but in this case regarding what actually amounts to treason regardless of how the words are used, the candidates will do well to express themselves accurately, not as expressions designed to merely “snow” the public. Perry was not out of order simply because neither he nor Bernanke nor anyone else is forced to agree on the meaning of treason as it relates to the economy. Don’t cut him any slack because he misspoke because he didn’t. Also, don’t cut him any slack because he seemed to lack the astuteness or guts to stick by what he said. He had a point. Bernanke DOES seem to be putting politics above country.
While Perry expressed a problem with one man, Bernanke, Obama threw his unspoken but just as obvious accusation of treason at a whole congregation of folks – those treasonous republicans who he claimed put party above country. He didn’t mind putting party and personal privilege above country when he used tax-bought buses, Air Force I and a gaggle of secret service agents and other taxpayer-funded officials for the purpose of campaigning for another term. The ridiculous assertion that he was on a “listening tour” or some such other silly description comprises an insult to the collective intelligence. He made far too many speeches for his effort to be other than blatantly political. The “listening tour” was designed not for him to listen but for the citizens of Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois to listen to him campaign.
Notably, the president while in Illinois was quite near Michigan, where the unemployment rate stands at 10.9%, which is 20% above the national average. He would have gotten an earful in that state if he actually had been interested in listening, but Michigan is automatically democrat and blacks are automatically democrat, so what would have been the point of conducting a “listening tour” in that state? Iowa’s unemployment rate is 6%, so those folks needed badly to instruct the president on their hardships. Iowa’s population is 2.7% black while Michigan’s is 14.2% black, or 426% greater than Iowa’s, so what was the use of preaching to the choir…or listening, for that matter? The white folk in Iowa needed instructions.
By going to Iowa instead of Michigan, did the president put the comparative prosperity of Iowans above the comparative poverty of Michigan, thus committing treason with respect to people who have much greater need to have him “listen?” The president, already providing a shaky administration, is so disconnected with reality that he can’t even see what the citizens can easily see, to wit, that the president has no clothes?
Is it possible for a president to commit treason with respect to his own convictions vis-à-vis the welfare of the country, especially if they are strongly enough held to make a profound issue of them? In 2008 when Obama was vying for the vote, he was adamant and quite publicly so that marriage should only be between a man and woman, which, of course, was/is also the law of the land. However, in 2011 the president believes that marriage should also be between a man and a man, clearly in violation of federal and state laws in nearly all states, not to mention a multiplicity of state Constitutions.
Obama is blatantly putting personal opinion above what the vast majority of the country’s citizens believe is best for the nation and enacted into law. Iowa’s Supreme Court handed down a ruling recently that a man may marry a man, thus committing treason as a state. Obama felt quite at home there, since both he and Iowa share that description – TREASONOUS!
“Listening tour?” BAH…HUMBUG!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
The irony, of course, lies in the fact that the media is either so shallow or so agenda-driven as the propaganda arm of Obama’s presidency and now his campaign that it failed to pick up on the fact that the president has practically made it a mantra lately to describe the Congressional republicans as “treasonous.” Treason amounts to the putting of something ahead of the welfare of the country, so when the president accused the republicans of “putting party ahead of the country” he actually accused them of treason. Thus, the question that should be asked is, “Should the citizenry cut the president some slack for being so obviously mentally-challenged that he couldn’t understand what he actually has been saying, especially on his recent tax-paid campaign through three states.”
Words do come back to haunt but in this case regarding what actually amounts to treason regardless of how the words are used, the candidates will do well to express themselves accurately, not as expressions designed to merely “snow” the public. Perry was not out of order simply because neither he nor Bernanke nor anyone else is forced to agree on the meaning of treason as it relates to the economy. Don’t cut him any slack because he misspoke because he didn’t. Also, don’t cut him any slack because he seemed to lack the astuteness or guts to stick by what he said. He had a point. Bernanke DOES seem to be putting politics above country.
While Perry expressed a problem with one man, Bernanke, Obama threw his unspoken but just as obvious accusation of treason at a whole congregation of folks – those treasonous republicans who he claimed put party above country. He didn’t mind putting party and personal privilege above country when he used tax-bought buses, Air Force I and a gaggle of secret service agents and other taxpayer-funded officials for the purpose of campaigning for another term. The ridiculous assertion that he was on a “listening tour” or some such other silly description comprises an insult to the collective intelligence. He made far too many speeches for his effort to be other than blatantly political. The “listening tour” was designed not for him to listen but for the citizens of Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois to listen to him campaign.
Notably, the president while in Illinois was quite near Michigan, where the unemployment rate stands at 10.9%, which is 20% above the national average. He would have gotten an earful in that state if he actually had been interested in listening, but Michigan is automatically democrat and blacks are automatically democrat, so what would have been the point of conducting a “listening tour” in that state? Iowa’s unemployment rate is 6%, so those folks needed badly to instruct the president on their hardships. Iowa’s population is 2.7% black while Michigan’s is 14.2% black, or 426% greater than Iowa’s, so what was the use of preaching to the choir…or listening, for that matter? The white folk in Iowa needed instructions.
By going to Iowa instead of Michigan, did the president put the comparative prosperity of Iowans above the comparative poverty of Michigan, thus committing treason with respect to people who have much greater need to have him “listen?” The president, already providing a shaky administration, is so disconnected with reality that he can’t even see what the citizens can easily see, to wit, that the president has no clothes?
Is it possible for a president to commit treason with respect to his own convictions vis-à-vis the welfare of the country, especially if they are strongly enough held to make a profound issue of them? In 2008 when Obama was vying for the vote, he was adamant and quite publicly so that marriage should only be between a man and woman, which, of course, was/is also the law of the land. However, in 2011 the president believes that marriage should also be between a man and a man, clearly in violation of federal and state laws in nearly all states, not to mention a multiplicity of state Constitutions.
Obama is blatantly putting personal opinion above what the vast majority of the country’s citizens believe is best for the nation and enacted into law. Iowa’s Supreme Court handed down a ruling recently that a man may marry a man, thus committing treason as a state. Obama felt quite at home there, since both he and Iowa share that description – TREASONOUS!
“Listening tour?” BAH…HUMBUG!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
DNC Memorandum #4
From the office of the ChairWOMAN, 16 August 2011
***Listen up! The chairWOMAN (me, for recent Harvard grad-staffers) is fed up with the terminology being used by some DNC smart-alecks referencing the current bus-tour by POTUS. The bus is NOT to be called the Mobile Mortuary because of its completely black color, including all windows, nor is the effort to be characterized as the Under-the-bus Tour. The rumor that POTUS has said anyone using that term will be assigned to the complaint desk in Baghdad is untrue and POTUS has said he will not say that again. In addition, any remarks concerning what goes on behind those totally black windows will not be tolerated, except as they relate to POTUS planning his September jobs-program between town-hall meetings and speeches, which are essentially the same. The fact that there are two of these buses has nothing to do with nobody but the Secret Service knowing on which bus POTUS is riding. In any case, at just a paltry $1.1 million each, who would care if POTUS took ten buses, his family (Kenyans included) and half the population of Honolulu? As POTUS has said before, WE WON!.
***All staffers are to refer as often as possible to POTUS as the Commander-in-Chief. This is important because Texas Governor Rick Perry has entered the republican circus for the nomination. Perry spent five years in the Air Force in the 1970s as a pilot, flying all over the world, meaning that he has military experience, something that perhaps only Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who also spent five years in the Air Force as a doctor, can match. This makes a problem for POTUS, who has finally learned how to return a salute but now has to appear more macho than ever. In this regard, emphasize that POTUS is now leading from behind in perpetuating the highly important Arab Spring through unilaterally (Congress a bunch of chickens who would have said “no”) attacking powerful Libya, which boasts a troop-strength of 76,000, and has a huge population just two million less than that of New York City. This has been a daring example of military-use; however, do not mention that POTUS said Qaddafi would be gone in days, not weeks. Simply mention that POTUS did not mention months, another example of his superior intellect.
***With regard to the forgoing, be advised that Dan Rather is said to be investigating whether or not Perry has been given favorable treatment by the Air Force, perhaps by letting him be an officer/pilot rather than a tail-gunner, which is what his father was in WWII, or a surfer, which is what Obama was in the 1970s. Rather had a problem with Air Force typewriters of the 1960s but is open to any suggestions regarding Air Force typewriters, especially in Texas, during the 1970s-era. Any former colleague of Perry who can testify to even so much as Perry’s shoes not being properly shined during inspections is requested to contact the office of the ChairWOMAN immediately. Anyone having knowledge that Perry might have returned late from a furlough (delicious AWOL stuff) will be rewarded handsomely for any information and may remain anonymous. Even bogus information will be entertained on the basis of Rather’s being able to make it authentic. Now is the time for all democrats to come to the aid of their country…or something like that.
***POTUS has expressed brilliantly that the high unemployment rate is due to the Arab Spring and the Japanese tsunami and nuclear meltdown. He has requested a red/yellow/black/white paper explaining why this is the case. He would prepare it but he’s booked up until November 2012, even though press-person Carney has promised to give the reasons any day now. Carney isn’t clear about the Arab Spring and hasn’t the time, anyway, since he’s in charge of town-hall teleprompters and the teleprompters to be used at bedside in case POTUS is awakened for an emergency at 3:00 a.m. Also, the yellow/black/white/red paper (note diversity in colors compared to the above paper) explaining why POTUS is leading from behind in Libya has not been received – not even one. See to this at once. The chairWOMAN would take care of this but spending 100 hours a week in the work of the House and doing this job, too, leaves no time for such activity.
***POTUS has requested that Iowa be made to appear as the most advanced state in the Midwest since its Supreme Court has made it official that men can marry men. This contravenes state and federal law (DOM ACT, 1998), which states that marriage must be between one man and one woman. The justices apparently made no further restrictions concerning marriage, so it may take place between men-and-men, not just man-and-man. In other words, the more the merrier, so emphasize that Iowa, as a democrat state, is on a par now with San Francisco, where anything goes. The subject of group marriages will be taken up by the DNC very soon, the better to present the party as forward-looking and fun-loving. POTUS, as everyone knows, has changed his position on this subject from the one he held in 2008 but the rumor that he said exotic-marriage sounds exciting is untrue and he’s said he will not say that again.
***Finally, the tour-buses will not be used for more than three or five days a year, so the OMB has suggested they be rented out for weddings and funerals, not that all such are the same, though some may be. This is a time-saving one-time-for-all thing, meaning that those attending a funeral can be transported immediately to the grave-site without the bother of a funeral procession, and then back to their cars, which can be parked in most any WalMart lot. The same is true for weddings, without the bother of finding the reception-location…just stay in the reclining seat and leave the driving to the non-drunk.
***Good teleprompter-constructors and speech-writers are always in short supply so be advised that applications will be taken for these positions. POTUS, who understands the profoundness of his gravitas and worries that he sometimes speaks “over the head” of his audiences, has said that speeches are always to be directed toward those on the level of a seventh-grade education, so the field is wide-open and the more illiterate among the staff may have an excellent chance of succeeding.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
***Listen up! The chairWOMAN (me, for recent Harvard grad-staffers) is fed up with the terminology being used by some DNC smart-alecks referencing the current bus-tour by POTUS. The bus is NOT to be called the Mobile Mortuary because of its completely black color, including all windows, nor is the effort to be characterized as the Under-the-bus Tour. The rumor that POTUS has said anyone using that term will be assigned to the complaint desk in Baghdad is untrue and POTUS has said he will not say that again. In addition, any remarks concerning what goes on behind those totally black windows will not be tolerated, except as they relate to POTUS planning his September jobs-program between town-hall meetings and speeches, which are essentially the same. The fact that there are two of these buses has nothing to do with nobody but the Secret Service knowing on which bus POTUS is riding. In any case, at just a paltry $1.1 million each, who would care if POTUS took ten buses, his family (Kenyans included) and half the population of Honolulu? As POTUS has said before, WE WON!.
***All staffers are to refer as often as possible to POTUS as the Commander-in-Chief. This is important because Texas Governor Rick Perry has entered the republican circus for the nomination. Perry spent five years in the Air Force in the 1970s as a pilot, flying all over the world, meaning that he has military experience, something that perhaps only Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who also spent five years in the Air Force as a doctor, can match. This makes a problem for POTUS, who has finally learned how to return a salute but now has to appear more macho than ever. In this regard, emphasize that POTUS is now leading from behind in perpetuating the highly important Arab Spring through unilaterally (Congress a bunch of chickens who would have said “no”) attacking powerful Libya, which boasts a troop-strength of 76,000, and has a huge population just two million less than that of New York City. This has been a daring example of military-use; however, do not mention that POTUS said Qaddafi would be gone in days, not weeks. Simply mention that POTUS did not mention months, another example of his superior intellect.
***With regard to the forgoing, be advised that Dan Rather is said to be investigating whether or not Perry has been given favorable treatment by the Air Force, perhaps by letting him be an officer/pilot rather than a tail-gunner, which is what his father was in WWII, or a surfer, which is what Obama was in the 1970s. Rather had a problem with Air Force typewriters of the 1960s but is open to any suggestions regarding Air Force typewriters, especially in Texas, during the 1970s-era. Any former colleague of Perry who can testify to even so much as Perry’s shoes not being properly shined during inspections is requested to contact the office of the ChairWOMAN immediately. Anyone having knowledge that Perry might have returned late from a furlough (delicious AWOL stuff) will be rewarded handsomely for any information and may remain anonymous. Even bogus information will be entertained on the basis of Rather’s being able to make it authentic. Now is the time for all democrats to come to the aid of their country…or something like that.
***POTUS has expressed brilliantly that the high unemployment rate is due to the Arab Spring and the Japanese tsunami and nuclear meltdown. He has requested a red/yellow/black/white paper explaining why this is the case. He would prepare it but he’s booked up until November 2012, even though press-person Carney has promised to give the reasons any day now. Carney isn’t clear about the Arab Spring and hasn’t the time, anyway, since he’s in charge of town-hall teleprompters and the teleprompters to be used at bedside in case POTUS is awakened for an emergency at 3:00 a.m. Also, the yellow/black/white/red paper (note diversity in colors compared to the above paper) explaining why POTUS is leading from behind in Libya has not been received – not even one. See to this at once. The chairWOMAN would take care of this but spending 100 hours a week in the work of the House and doing this job, too, leaves no time for such activity.
***POTUS has requested that Iowa be made to appear as the most advanced state in the Midwest since its Supreme Court has made it official that men can marry men. This contravenes state and federal law (DOM ACT, 1998), which states that marriage must be between one man and one woman. The justices apparently made no further restrictions concerning marriage, so it may take place between men-and-men, not just man-and-man. In other words, the more the merrier, so emphasize that Iowa, as a democrat state, is on a par now with San Francisco, where anything goes. The subject of group marriages will be taken up by the DNC very soon, the better to present the party as forward-looking and fun-loving. POTUS, as everyone knows, has changed his position on this subject from the one he held in 2008 but the rumor that he said exotic-marriage sounds exciting is untrue and he’s said he will not say that again.
***Finally, the tour-buses will not be used for more than three or five days a year, so the OMB has suggested they be rented out for weddings and funerals, not that all such are the same, though some may be. This is a time-saving one-time-for-all thing, meaning that those attending a funeral can be transported immediately to the grave-site without the bother of a funeral procession, and then back to their cars, which can be parked in most any WalMart lot. The same is true for weddings, without the bother of finding the reception-location…just stay in the reclining seat and leave the driving to the non-drunk.
***Good teleprompter-constructors and speech-writers are always in short supply so be advised that applications will be taken for these positions. POTUS, who understands the profoundness of his gravitas and worries that he sometimes speaks “over the head” of his audiences, has said that speeches are always to be directed toward those on the level of a seventh-grade education, so the field is wide-open and the more illiterate among the staff may have an excellent chance of succeeding.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Obama's Solution - TAXES!
England is afire and has been for a number of days now. The excuse of a police shooting was turned into riots by people who make no apologies for the claim that they intend to have what the rich have, the rich being most anyone who works and tries to make the economy sustainable. It is the result of class-consciousness carried to the extreme.
The socialist government is supposed to guarantee that everyone has the same “things” as everyone else. It’s supposed to do this by taxing the workers to a degree that will take care of everybody cradle-to-grave. Eventually, as is happening now in Greece, Spain, England, Italy and now France, the government will bankrupt itself, can no longer feed the classes, and the classes take to the streets. For these countries, it’s virtually too late to do anything constructive, a lesson that is almost too late for the learning for the U.S.
The top tax-rate in England is 50% for those making over 150,000 pounds ($241,950). This doesn’t touch all the other taxes they pay, so the better off are being taxed inordinately at a rate that still can’t support the system. The next step down, tax-wise, is at 40%, (those making over $56,900), both rates far above those paid in this country, yet the economy can’t be sustained. Germany’s tax rates are similar (top rate at 45% but with corporate rate at 33.3%).
The corporate tax-rate in this country stands at 35%, among the four highest in the world, in which the average rate among developed nations is 25%. By contrast, the corporate tax-rate in Canada is 16.5%, its way of proclaiming to the world that it’s ready to do business, create jobs and hopefully enlarge its individual tax base to the point that it can support its essentially socialistic system. The top individual rate is 29% but applies to all income above $128,800, as compared to Obama’s goal of 39.6% on all above $250,000 (for starters). The corporate tax-rate in China is 25%. Is it any wonder that shoes and nearly everything else bought in this country are made in China?
The U.S. economy can’t be sustained under current law but when Obamacare is added it will further crumble, never mind any of the glorious statistics that have been presented, although no one seems to know what’s actually in the new law. These countries have found it out the hard way, though Germany may last a while longer. In 1966, Medicare cost to the government was $3 billion, with the House Ways/Means committee projecting its cost for 1990 to be $12 billion.
The actual governmental outlay in 1990 was $107 billion, a mistake in prediction of 3,467%. That just about says it all with respect to the government’s understanding of economics/demographics. The outlay in 2010 was an astronomical $458 billion, an increase of 328% in just 20 years, while population of those 65 and over grew by only 1.3% from 1990 to2010. That is an amazing almost unbelievable discrepancy vis-à-vis reality. No legislator in Congress read the whole healthcare bill and it’s a lead-pipe cinch the president didn’t, either, but on the basis of history, when it kicks in (2014, well after Obama’s reelection effort) it will be a budget-buster.
Private insurance agencies handle all Medicare claims, not the government. The government got out of this complicated business a long time ago, realizing it couldn’t administer its own programs. If and when Obamacare gets real, the bureaucratic quagmire will only worsen, with layers of overlapping bureaucracy similar to that which already exists in all areas of government. Congresses have tweaked the original Medicare bill through the years, as in 2003 when prescription drugs became a part of it, but by far the main reason for its out-of-control costs is corruption.
Anything that belongs to the government actually belongs to no one, thus open season on the government till, in this case by the pharmaceuticals, doctors, lawyers and hardware providers and individuals who can figure a way to game the system. As a for instance, U.S. Attorney Stephen Pence estimated that while Dr. Steve Henry was lieutenant governor of Kentucky 1996-2001, he committed fraud amounting to between $400,000 and $600,000 account not being present in surgical procedures for which he billed Medicare/Medicaid. Henry settled for $162,000.
Part of the tragedy in the socialist health systems is the rationing of care and the long lines, for which Obama wants taxes raised (his 39.6% for the better-off just the start), but it’s been proven that constant raising of taxes, besides not saving the economy, degrades all the goods and services. These countries go after the middle class just like they go after the biggies, and this is also Obama’s agenda, notwithstanding any of the high-flown rhetoric about saving the middle class. The middle class to Obama is the unions.
At any rate, increasing taxes is not the answer. A complete revamping of government enterprise is.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
The socialist government is supposed to guarantee that everyone has the same “things” as everyone else. It’s supposed to do this by taxing the workers to a degree that will take care of everybody cradle-to-grave. Eventually, as is happening now in Greece, Spain, England, Italy and now France, the government will bankrupt itself, can no longer feed the classes, and the classes take to the streets. For these countries, it’s virtually too late to do anything constructive, a lesson that is almost too late for the learning for the U.S.
The top tax-rate in England is 50% for those making over 150,000 pounds ($241,950). This doesn’t touch all the other taxes they pay, so the better off are being taxed inordinately at a rate that still can’t support the system. The next step down, tax-wise, is at 40%, (those making over $56,900), both rates far above those paid in this country, yet the economy can’t be sustained. Germany’s tax rates are similar (top rate at 45% but with corporate rate at 33.3%).
The corporate tax-rate in this country stands at 35%, among the four highest in the world, in which the average rate among developed nations is 25%. By contrast, the corporate tax-rate in Canada is 16.5%, its way of proclaiming to the world that it’s ready to do business, create jobs and hopefully enlarge its individual tax base to the point that it can support its essentially socialistic system. The top individual rate is 29% but applies to all income above $128,800, as compared to Obama’s goal of 39.6% on all above $250,000 (for starters). The corporate tax-rate in China is 25%. Is it any wonder that shoes and nearly everything else bought in this country are made in China?
The U.S. economy can’t be sustained under current law but when Obamacare is added it will further crumble, never mind any of the glorious statistics that have been presented, although no one seems to know what’s actually in the new law. These countries have found it out the hard way, though Germany may last a while longer. In 1966, Medicare cost to the government was $3 billion, with the House Ways/Means committee projecting its cost for 1990 to be $12 billion.
The actual governmental outlay in 1990 was $107 billion, a mistake in prediction of 3,467%. That just about says it all with respect to the government’s understanding of economics/demographics. The outlay in 2010 was an astronomical $458 billion, an increase of 328% in just 20 years, while population of those 65 and over grew by only 1.3% from 1990 to2010. That is an amazing almost unbelievable discrepancy vis-à-vis reality. No legislator in Congress read the whole healthcare bill and it’s a lead-pipe cinch the president didn’t, either, but on the basis of history, when it kicks in (2014, well after Obama’s reelection effort) it will be a budget-buster.
Private insurance agencies handle all Medicare claims, not the government. The government got out of this complicated business a long time ago, realizing it couldn’t administer its own programs. If and when Obamacare gets real, the bureaucratic quagmire will only worsen, with layers of overlapping bureaucracy similar to that which already exists in all areas of government. Congresses have tweaked the original Medicare bill through the years, as in 2003 when prescription drugs became a part of it, but by far the main reason for its out-of-control costs is corruption.
Anything that belongs to the government actually belongs to no one, thus open season on the government till, in this case by the pharmaceuticals, doctors, lawyers and hardware providers and individuals who can figure a way to game the system. As a for instance, U.S. Attorney Stephen Pence estimated that while Dr. Steve Henry was lieutenant governor of Kentucky 1996-2001, he committed fraud amounting to between $400,000 and $600,000 account not being present in surgical procedures for which he billed Medicare/Medicaid. Henry settled for $162,000.
Part of the tragedy in the socialist health systems is the rationing of care and the long lines, for which Obama wants taxes raised (his 39.6% for the better-off just the start), but it’s been proven that constant raising of taxes, besides not saving the economy, degrades all the goods and services. These countries go after the middle class just like they go after the biggies, and this is also Obama’s agenda, notwithstanding any of the high-flown rhetoric about saving the middle class. The middle class to Obama is the unions.
At any rate, increasing taxes is not the answer. A complete revamping of government enterprise is.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Boogity Boogity Boogity Amen!
For some strange reason, there just has to be a prayer preceding the action at sports events, notwithstanding that prayers per se have fallen out of favor with every entity from Atheists United to the ACLU. Here is the prayer offered before a NASCAR race in Nashville the other night by Pastor Joe Nelms:
“Heavenly father, we thank you tonight for all your blessings. You said ‘in all things give thanks.’ So we want to thank you tonight for these mighty machines that you’ve brought before us. Thank you for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank you for the Fords and most of all thank you for Roush and Yates partnering to give us the power we see before us tonight. Thank you for GM Performance Technology and the R07 engines. Thank you for Sunoco racing fuel and Goodyear tires that bring performance and power to the track. Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin’ hot wife tonight, Lisa. My two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them — the little E’s. Lord I pray you’ll bless the drivers as usual tonight. May they put on a performance worthy of this great track in Jesus’ name. Boogity boogity boogity. Amen.”
One can only wonder how that entreaty rates in the Great Beyond, especially when – at the encouragement of NASCAR pooh-bahs – the drivers bump their opponents’ cars during races, sometimes causing dangerous high-speed wrecks, in order to get a high-powered edge for their “mighty machines” that God has “brought before us.” One can just see the angels in the clouds covering their eyes at the prospect of a crashing, smashing spinout, perhaps sending a new traveler to the pearly gates. Of course, the pastor prayed that the Lord would “bless the drivers as usual,” so was that supposed to invoke no trip that night to bivouac with St. Pete forever? Who knows?
How would such a prayer go preceding a hockey game, another sport in which a premium is placed on fights and skull-creases? First would come thanks for the lethal hockey sticks/clubs/whatever that make mayhem (and good gate receipts) possible, not to mention the padded armament worn by the players to ward off fatal injuries, at least. If the presiding invocator should have a smokin’ hot wife, he naturally would give thanks for such a blessing and hope no one is checking her credentials while he’s blessing the gladiators. If he should become suspicious he can just borrow one of those hockey sticks aka weapons and imitate the players.
Football is almost as sacred in this country as prayer itself, so there must be a prayer before an NFL game, in which, after the prayer is offered beseeching the Lord to “protect as usual,” the gangs of millionaires will proceed to knock the stuffing out of each other, sort of daring God to let anything bad happen since the reverend had specifically requested deliverance from all concussions, broken bones, torn tendons, and displaced kidneys, as well as ruptured tattoos. The reverend wouldn’t have to worry about his wife, no matter how “smokin’ hot,” since the NFL cheerleaders take care of that part of prayerful concern. As for the proper fuel, he would simply express thanks for the steroids and human-growth-hormones that make the macho-men fearless, lean and mean enough to totally disable anyone who gets in the way. As for putting “on a performance worthy of this great” game, the reverend could pray that no player will hurt/embarrass himself through celebration-gyrations after cracking someone’s collarbone, known to have completely thrown crotches out of sync and sometimes cause broken ribs.
A prayer before a soccer match is always in order. After all, people who bounce hard balls off their heads and occasionally crash their heads into the heads of other people trying to do the same thing to them definitely need help of an otherworldly nature…a higher power. The reverend might pray for a minimum of concussions, since concussions are expected to happen, else the players would protect their heads from both balls and other heads. Even the macho footballers dare not go into combat bareheaded since a simple concussion is preferable to an all-out skull-fracture, the obvious intention of any linebacker worth his tattoo vis-à-vis any quarterback (or for some linebackers, just anybody still on his feet, wobbling or not).
A prayer before a basketball game was once unnecessary since the sport was classified as “non-contact.” No more! Weight rooms are designed to make the famous HULK appear as a pantywaist compared to the seven-foot behemoths who roam under the basket these nights looking for their prey, usually other behemoths returning the compliment. The resulting collisions, calculated to rev up the fans exponentially (especially if blood spurts on the sensitive referees) are definitely a subject of prayer, since the multi-millionaire players involved might actually get mad and kill a totally expendable referee…may the reverend pray him onward and upward in that case. In other words: Boogity boogity boogity. Amen.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
“Heavenly father, we thank you tonight for all your blessings. You said ‘in all things give thanks.’ So we want to thank you tonight for these mighty machines that you’ve brought before us. Thank you for the Dodges and the Toyotas. Thank you for the Fords and most of all thank you for Roush and Yates partnering to give us the power we see before us tonight. Thank you for GM Performance Technology and the R07 engines. Thank you for Sunoco racing fuel and Goodyear tires that bring performance and power to the track. Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin’ hot wife tonight, Lisa. My two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them — the little E’s. Lord I pray you’ll bless the drivers as usual tonight. May they put on a performance worthy of this great track in Jesus’ name. Boogity boogity boogity. Amen.”
One can only wonder how that entreaty rates in the Great Beyond, especially when – at the encouragement of NASCAR pooh-bahs – the drivers bump their opponents’ cars during races, sometimes causing dangerous high-speed wrecks, in order to get a high-powered edge for their “mighty machines” that God has “brought before us.” One can just see the angels in the clouds covering their eyes at the prospect of a crashing, smashing spinout, perhaps sending a new traveler to the pearly gates. Of course, the pastor prayed that the Lord would “bless the drivers as usual,” so was that supposed to invoke no trip that night to bivouac with St. Pete forever? Who knows?
How would such a prayer go preceding a hockey game, another sport in which a premium is placed on fights and skull-creases? First would come thanks for the lethal hockey sticks/clubs/whatever that make mayhem (and good gate receipts) possible, not to mention the padded armament worn by the players to ward off fatal injuries, at least. If the presiding invocator should have a smokin’ hot wife, he naturally would give thanks for such a blessing and hope no one is checking her credentials while he’s blessing the gladiators. If he should become suspicious he can just borrow one of those hockey sticks aka weapons and imitate the players.
Football is almost as sacred in this country as prayer itself, so there must be a prayer before an NFL game, in which, after the prayer is offered beseeching the Lord to “protect as usual,” the gangs of millionaires will proceed to knock the stuffing out of each other, sort of daring God to let anything bad happen since the reverend had specifically requested deliverance from all concussions, broken bones, torn tendons, and displaced kidneys, as well as ruptured tattoos. The reverend wouldn’t have to worry about his wife, no matter how “smokin’ hot,” since the NFL cheerleaders take care of that part of prayerful concern. As for the proper fuel, he would simply express thanks for the steroids and human-growth-hormones that make the macho-men fearless, lean and mean enough to totally disable anyone who gets in the way. As for putting “on a performance worthy of this great” game, the reverend could pray that no player will hurt/embarrass himself through celebration-gyrations after cracking someone’s collarbone, known to have completely thrown crotches out of sync and sometimes cause broken ribs.
A prayer before a soccer match is always in order. After all, people who bounce hard balls off their heads and occasionally crash their heads into the heads of other people trying to do the same thing to them definitely need help of an otherworldly nature…a higher power. The reverend might pray for a minimum of concussions, since concussions are expected to happen, else the players would protect their heads from both balls and other heads. Even the macho footballers dare not go into combat bareheaded since a simple concussion is preferable to an all-out skull-fracture, the obvious intention of any linebacker worth his tattoo vis-à-vis any quarterback (or for some linebackers, just anybody still on his feet, wobbling or not).
A prayer before a basketball game was once unnecessary since the sport was classified as “non-contact.” No more! Weight rooms are designed to make the famous HULK appear as a pantywaist compared to the seven-foot behemoths who roam under the basket these nights looking for their prey, usually other behemoths returning the compliment. The resulting collisions, calculated to rev up the fans exponentially (especially if blood spurts on the sensitive referees) are definitely a subject of prayer, since the multi-millionaire players involved might actually get mad and kill a totally expendable referee…may the reverend pray him onward and upward in that case. In other words: Boogity boogity boogity. Amen.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Monday, August 01, 2011
Hillary Rides Again!
State Secretary Hillary Clinton blew into Istanbul, Turkey, a couple weeks ago and announced to the world that Libya had a new government, one that she personally approved…well, what would any government be if she didn’t personally approve of it? The Libyans didn’t take a vote concerning their new government and Libyan President (or whatever he is) Qaddafi didn’t resign or appoint it, but there it was – signed sealed and delivered by Hillary of derring-do fame when she dodged those bullets in the sniper infested fields of Bosnia, circa 1996. Don’t believe it? Just check the campaign of 2008 for all the grisly particulars.
This new government is something called the Transitional National Council (TNC), though it doesn’t seem likely that anyone quite knows who runs the thing, how it’s financed, and exactly how Hillary decided it was just the cat’s meow for improving not only Libya but the whole world, which is in her hand. Take that, you fundamentalists! You thought the whole world was in God’s hand, you cretins! Now you know, so shape up.
Seems that a “gang of thirty,” with Hillary presumably the main equal among equals scrounged from various and assorted governments, had met about four times to decide about Qaddafi, whom President Obama said back in March would have no country to rule in “days, not weeks,” courtesy the U.S. Air Force. It’s been about 140 days since then, but what’s a month here or there (or even a year) when Obamessiah has made a pronouncement from the sacred press-room of the White House? Actually, the gang-of-thirty ostensibly met to decide about the makeup of the post-Qaddafi era, but Qaddafi hasn’t accommodated the group yet by providing the post to its era.
Why have a TNC, in the first place? Libyans will do what Muslims do all the time anyway, i.e., fight among themselves, so what does it matter what the government, if any, is? Hillary’s husband knows beyond a doubt what is is. For one thing, if a new Libya government installed by Hillary et al takes over, couldn’t it just take all of Libya’s now-frozen assets and spend them…on the Libyans, of course, at least that part that doesn’t go into those deep bureaucratic pockets. But what would the ever hovering United Nations think of such a robbery, seeing as how the TNC doesn’t signify there? Only the Shadow (and Hillary) knows.
It seems that at least 32 nations are in it with Hillary/Barack against poor old Qaddafi. In fact, Germany has loaned (or will loan) $144 million to the Libyan rebels, who presumably will divvy it up amongst themselves…and why not? After all, Libya was a disaster area for Germany in World War II. Not even the mighty Rommel could defeat the Brits and Patton. It’s payback time. A “Group of Fifteen,” including Clinton, will also coordinate aid for Libya, which, being translated, means Uncle Sugar will be doling out billions to pay off some entity for being nice, as per usual in these matters of high diplomacy.
But…why not? Obama is on track to spend a total of 1.1 billion taxpayer-dollars by the end of September in the ongoing effort of “leading NATO from behind” in killing enough Libyans to make even Qaddafi think twice. There’s no telling how many innocent Libyans U.S. and NATO forces have killed since 19 March, but, after all, they’re killing Libyans in order to keep Qaddafi from killing Libyans. So, it makes perfect sense – right?
Left to their own devices, Qaddafi and the rebels probably would have made some kind of peace by now – Mid-east peace, that is, which essentially means fighting until neither side has anything to gain and everything to lose – of what’s left, of course, if anything. This is what’s going on in Syria and Yemen now, but nothing has been heard from the gang-of-thirty about those places. Meanwhile, in liberated Tunisia and Egypt, folks have chosen up sides predictably and set about doing each other in…perfectly normal for Muslim countries. The Egyptian army and police have just cleared the squatters out of Tahrir Square, that veritable bastion of niceness earlier this year. Can Camelot be far behind?
So…Hillary has approved a new government for Libya…hallelujah! The top general in the rebel force, presumably TNC to the core, has just been assassinated, unfortunately, so what else is new? He wasn’t killed by Qaddafi…he was killed by members of his own rebel army…so go figure. Surely Hillary will come to the rescue and surely goodness and mercy will follow Libya all the days of its life. So there, all you fundamentalists! Hillary leads through the green pastures to the still waters.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
This new government is something called the Transitional National Council (TNC), though it doesn’t seem likely that anyone quite knows who runs the thing, how it’s financed, and exactly how Hillary decided it was just the cat’s meow for improving not only Libya but the whole world, which is in her hand. Take that, you fundamentalists! You thought the whole world was in God’s hand, you cretins! Now you know, so shape up.
Seems that a “gang of thirty,” with Hillary presumably the main equal among equals scrounged from various and assorted governments, had met about four times to decide about Qaddafi, whom President Obama said back in March would have no country to rule in “days, not weeks,” courtesy the U.S. Air Force. It’s been about 140 days since then, but what’s a month here or there (or even a year) when Obamessiah has made a pronouncement from the sacred press-room of the White House? Actually, the gang-of-thirty ostensibly met to decide about the makeup of the post-Qaddafi era, but Qaddafi hasn’t accommodated the group yet by providing the post to its era.
Why have a TNC, in the first place? Libyans will do what Muslims do all the time anyway, i.e., fight among themselves, so what does it matter what the government, if any, is? Hillary’s husband knows beyond a doubt what is is. For one thing, if a new Libya government installed by Hillary et al takes over, couldn’t it just take all of Libya’s now-frozen assets and spend them…on the Libyans, of course, at least that part that doesn’t go into those deep bureaucratic pockets. But what would the ever hovering United Nations think of such a robbery, seeing as how the TNC doesn’t signify there? Only the Shadow (and Hillary) knows.
It seems that at least 32 nations are in it with Hillary/Barack against poor old Qaddafi. In fact, Germany has loaned (or will loan) $144 million to the Libyan rebels, who presumably will divvy it up amongst themselves…and why not? After all, Libya was a disaster area for Germany in World War II. Not even the mighty Rommel could defeat the Brits and Patton. It’s payback time. A “Group of Fifteen,” including Clinton, will also coordinate aid for Libya, which, being translated, means Uncle Sugar will be doling out billions to pay off some entity for being nice, as per usual in these matters of high diplomacy.
But…why not? Obama is on track to spend a total of 1.1 billion taxpayer-dollars by the end of September in the ongoing effort of “leading NATO from behind” in killing enough Libyans to make even Qaddafi think twice. There’s no telling how many innocent Libyans U.S. and NATO forces have killed since 19 March, but, after all, they’re killing Libyans in order to keep Qaddafi from killing Libyans. So, it makes perfect sense – right?
Left to their own devices, Qaddafi and the rebels probably would have made some kind of peace by now – Mid-east peace, that is, which essentially means fighting until neither side has anything to gain and everything to lose – of what’s left, of course, if anything. This is what’s going on in Syria and Yemen now, but nothing has been heard from the gang-of-thirty about those places. Meanwhile, in liberated Tunisia and Egypt, folks have chosen up sides predictably and set about doing each other in…perfectly normal for Muslim countries. The Egyptian army and police have just cleared the squatters out of Tahrir Square, that veritable bastion of niceness earlier this year. Can Camelot be far behind?
So…Hillary has approved a new government for Libya…hallelujah! The top general in the rebel force, presumably TNC to the core, has just been assassinated, unfortunately, so what else is new? He wasn’t killed by Qaddafi…he was killed by members of his own rebel army…so go figure. Surely Hillary will come to the rescue and surely goodness and mercy will follow Libya all the days of its life. So there, all you fundamentalists! Hillary leads through the green pastures to the still waters.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Friday, July 22, 2011
DNC Memorandum #3
From the office of the ChairWOMAN, 22 July 2011
***Listen up. Discipline has been lax lately and will not be tolerated. I’ve set the example for toughness with my speech in the House by calling out Congressman West, who may think his Bronze Star and 22 years in the military is a match for WOMAN. A mere lieutenant colonel, probably lower than a sergeant – who cares – he dared to disagree with a DNC chairWOMAN, probably the second most important person to the First Lady in the country now. In response, West said I am the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives. I wear that badge proudly and advise all women staffers to become the same. Do NOT – repeat – do NOT mention in any meeting that Congressman West was not in the chamber when I took him on. The rumor that I had him called to the phone before I spoke is untrue, and I won’t do that again.
***Republican harridan Michele Bachman is unfit to be president because it is well documented that she has migraine headaches, a debilitating ailment that would make her dangerous if called at 3:00 a.m. in the midst of one of those attacks, especially requiring a decision as momentous as whether or not the breakfast eggs should be scambled or taken on the half-shell. State Secretary Clinton stated that she would be fine at 3:00 a.m., but she didn’t have migraines. POTUS is also clear-headedly wakeable at 3:00 a.m. and keeps a teleprompter handy at his bedside programmed to answer any emergency. All new campaign materials are to include information concerning the ravages of migraines, complete with diagrams of how they disorient the brain and distort performance accruing to even well-prepared teleprompters, much less the ones used by POTUS, who does not suffer from migraines despite his ramblings during press conferences, concerning which POTUS has announced officially that SACRIFICE is a keyword in his campaign, on which he plans to spend a billion big ones, roughly 67 times the GDP of Tuvalu, an important ally in the Pacific.
***My patience is running thin concerning the red/yellow/black/white paper that POTUS has demanded be prepared explaining why he is still leading from behind in the Libya shootout. Not one has been received except those from recent Harvard graduates that blame George Bush for not stopping the carnage he started in March. These reflect the party-line that Bush and his father were/are/will be responsible for everything bad at least through 2050 but simply form too big a stretch. The Harvard gang is being sent to the Durbin Reeducation Camp for a remedial course in something as soon as Durbin decides what their problem is, other than LSD, Mary Jane, Meth, Ecstasy and the like. They will be treated gently and not accused of being what Durbin has described American GIs to be: SS troops (Nazis), keeper of the Gulags (Soviet KGB), or killing-field operators (Pol Pot).
***There’s been talk around the water-fountain (only bottled, since D.C. water is suspect) that POTUS has decided to lead from behind regarding the space program, leaving it to the Russians, Frenchies and any other entity that can get anything off the ground (besides U.S. missiles over Libya or Iranian rockets from Gaza over Israel). POTUS has correctly concluded that people can’t live comfortably on the moon, so what’s the use? The rumor that he has stated that neither golf nor cigarettes will ever be available on the moon, besides the fact that Air Force One can’t even get there, much less land, is untrue and he will not make that claim again.
***IMPORTANT NOTICE: In the interest of gender equality, bathrooms exclusively for men and women only are being abolished in the headquarters building, except for the chairWOMAN’S suite. These outdated facilities have to remain there since uncultured visitors might be traumatized by the new emphasis on unisex. This new arrangement will place men and women on an equal footing with the waiting in line problem, the effort geared officially toward erasing male insensitivity and indirectly toward getting even with the &%^$#&^ so-and-so’s. Any male staffer caught outside in the tree-area will be disciplined severely, perhaps made to canvass South Carolina and eat grits three times a day. VPOTUS has stated that this is a big #%*$^# deal, so pay attention.
***Notwithstanding the evidence in all the history-books that a nation is headed for oblivion when homosexuality becomes all the rage and men marrying men makes perfect sense, the DNC is instituting a new policy of nullifying the Equal Opportunity Act in its hiring policies, giving homosexuals (actually the GLBTW gang) first dibs on every job that comes open, with the blessing of POTUS (executive order), of course, who thinks men marrying men is cool and maybe even exciting, perhaps even improving dunking techniques and chip shots. On applications, homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, in-betweeners and whatevers will not be required to fill in the gender blank but, if they prefer, may check any box they like or make up a new gender, though a description must be submitted in the latter case. Bestiality, however, will not qualify since People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claim this designation humiliates and discriminates against animals, most of whom cannot write or even hire lawyers, the latter an absolute necessity in working for the government.
***POTUS is being regularly referenced by evil republicans like Allen West (see above) and evil news outlets such as Fox as “the dear leader” and, while he enjoys the warm-fuzzy nature of the appellation, suspects the term is often used sarcastically, perhaps even juxtaposing his regal bearing with that of Kim Jong Il, that snipe in North Korea. POTUS is probably a nine-iron taller. Staffers are warned not to use this term, even in friendly town-hall meetings, and to stamp their feet and exit any un-friendly town-halls if the term is used.
***Finally, POTUS is tired of the charge by republicans that, while they’ve presented deficit-reduction and other fiscal plans, he has presented nothing, which is true, of course. Needed immediately by POTUS is a complete economic plan. POTUS would take care of this but he is booked solidly through November 2012 and simply hasn’t the time. Every staffer – repeat – EVERY staffer is to have a plan (preferably 25 words or less) on the chairWOMAN’S desk by in the morning. Anyone not responding will be disciplined by walking the Mall come hell, heat or high water for 12 hours. Note: When placing the plan on the chairWOMAN’S desk, don’t even think about using the toilet, either one of them.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
***Listen up. Discipline has been lax lately and will not be tolerated. I’ve set the example for toughness with my speech in the House by calling out Congressman West, who may think his Bronze Star and 22 years in the military is a match for WOMAN. A mere lieutenant colonel, probably lower than a sergeant – who cares – he dared to disagree with a DNC chairWOMAN, probably the second most important person to the First Lady in the country now. In response, West said I am the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives. I wear that badge proudly and advise all women staffers to become the same. Do NOT – repeat – do NOT mention in any meeting that Congressman West was not in the chamber when I took him on. The rumor that I had him called to the phone before I spoke is untrue, and I won’t do that again.
***Republican harridan Michele Bachman is unfit to be president because it is well documented that she has migraine headaches, a debilitating ailment that would make her dangerous if called at 3:00 a.m. in the midst of one of those attacks, especially requiring a decision as momentous as whether or not the breakfast eggs should be scambled or taken on the half-shell. State Secretary Clinton stated that she would be fine at 3:00 a.m., but she didn’t have migraines. POTUS is also clear-headedly wakeable at 3:00 a.m. and keeps a teleprompter handy at his bedside programmed to answer any emergency. All new campaign materials are to include information concerning the ravages of migraines, complete with diagrams of how they disorient the brain and distort performance accruing to even well-prepared teleprompters, much less the ones used by POTUS, who does not suffer from migraines despite his ramblings during press conferences, concerning which POTUS has announced officially that SACRIFICE is a keyword in his campaign, on which he plans to spend a billion big ones, roughly 67 times the GDP of Tuvalu, an important ally in the Pacific.
***My patience is running thin concerning the red/yellow/black/white paper that POTUS has demanded be prepared explaining why he is still leading from behind in the Libya shootout. Not one has been received except those from recent Harvard graduates that blame George Bush for not stopping the carnage he started in March. These reflect the party-line that Bush and his father were/are/will be responsible for everything bad at least through 2050 but simply form too big a stretch. The Harvard gang is being sent to the Durbin Reeducation Camp for a remedial course in something as soon as Durbin decides what their problem is, other than LSD, Mary Jane, Meth, Ecstasy and the like. They will be treated gently and not accused of being what Durbin has described American GIs to be: SS troops (Nazis), keeper of the Gulags (Soviet KGB), or killing-field operators (Pol Pot).
***There’s been talk around the water-fountain (only bottled, since D.C. water is suspect) that POTUS has decided to lead from behind regarding the space program, leaving it to the Russians, Frenchies and any other entity that can get anything off the ground (besides U.S. missiles over Libya or Iranian rockets from Gaza over Israel). POTUS has correctly concluded that people can’t live comfortably on the moon, so what’s the use? The rumor that he has stated that neither golf nor cigarettes will ever be available on the moon, besides the fact that Air Force One can’t even get there, much less land, is untrue and he will not make that claim again.
***IMPORTANT NOTICE: In the interest of gender equality, bathrooms exclusively for men and women only are being abolished in the headquarters building, except for the chairWOMAN’S suite. These outdated facilities have to remain there since uncultured visitors might be traumatized by the new emphasis on unisex. This new arrangement will place men and women on an equal footing with the waiting in line problem, the effort geared officially toward erasing male insensitivity and indirectly toward getting even with the &%^$#&^ so-and-so’s. Any male staffer caught outside in the tree-area will be disciplined severely, perhaps made to canvass South Carolina and eat grits three times a day. VPOTUS has stated that this is a big #%*$^# deal, so pay attention.
***Notwithstanding the evidence in all the history-books that a nation is headed for oblivion when homosexuality becomes all the rage and men marrying men makes perfect sense, the DNC is instituting a new policy of nullifying the Equal Opportunity Act in its hiring policies, giving homosexuals (actually the GLBTW gang) first dibs on every job that comes open, with the blessing of POTUS (executive order), of course, who thinks men marrying men is cool and maybe even exciting, perhaps even improving dunking techniques and chip shots. On applications, homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, in-betweeners and whatevers will not be required to fill in the gender blank but, if they prefer, may check any box they like or make up a new gender, though a description must be submitted in the latter case. Bestiality, however, will not qualify since People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claim this designation humiliates and discriminates against animals, most of whom cannot write or even hire lawyers, the latter an absolute necessity in working for the government.
***POTUS is being regularly referenced by evil republicans like Allen West (see above) and evil news outlets such as Fox as “the dear leader” and, while he enjoys the warm-fuzzy nature of the appellation, suspects the term is often used sarcastically, perhaps even juxtaposing his regal bearing with that of Kim Jong Il, that snipe in North Korea. POTUS is probably a nine-iron taller. Staffers are warned not to use this term, even in friendly town-hall meetings, and to stamp their feet and exit any un-friendly town-halls if the term is used.
***Finally, POTUS is tired of the charge by republicans that, while they’ve presented deficit-reduction and other fiscal plans, he has presented nothing, which is true, of course. Needed immediately by POTUS is a complete economic plan. POTUS would take care of this but he is booked solidly through November 2012 and simply hasn’t the time. Every staffer – repeat – EVERY staffer is to have a plan (preferably 25 words or less) on the chairWOMAN’S desk by in the morning. Anyone not responding will be disciplined by walking the Mall come hell, heat or high water for 12 hours. Note: When placing the plan on the chairWOMAN’S desk, don’t even think about using the toilet, either one of them.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Libya & the "TRUTHERS"
After every calamity of any substance, some government agency or Congressional body conducts an investigation or hearing to discover what caused the problem, usually with the stated purpose that the effort is designed to effect adjustments so that the calamity can never again happen. With respect to either government or private enterprise, the primary purpose, however, is to fix blame. This is especially true with government since elected officials are always in campaign mode and looking for ways to point the finger at opponents.
Also after every calamity of substance, some sort of “truther” organization will come on line to dispute the findings of the official body. There was an investigation/hearing into the Pearl Harbor massacre back in the 1940s (FDR knew all about it beforehand); after Katrina in 2006 (the House democrats didn’t participate since the official version was on point, but the truthers fingered FEMA); concerning the Iraq War (9/11 conspiracy by Bush/Cheney/Osama and known about by Bush beforehand); JFK assassination in 1963 (take your pick of conspiracy theories, including that LBJ did it); and more recently, torture (Bush approved it and practically wrote the torture-manual).
Usually, the truther-stuff is laughable but it seems to provide great entertainment and, of course, furnishes an outlet for whatever political agenda any group/individual has. For instance, President Obama was gung-ho against the Patriot Act until he got elected. Recently, he signed law to continue that act upon realizing that he’d get the blame if anything untoward happened that could have been prevented by its use, which abridges no one’s rights, or at least those who have nothing to hide.
It hasn’t been held yet and, of course, will not be held unless and until the republicans have the power to do it (and they do in the House), but Obama’s personal declaration of war against Libya will someday be investigated, as it should be, especially since Congress was not even consulted, much less given an opportunity to approve or disapprove. The president simply got a UN resolution and ordered the U.S. military to attack a nation posing no threat to any other nation, including especially the U.S. Libya’s total population of six million souls is two million less than that of New York City, and it was/is virtually defenseless. The plan was to just bomb the bejesus out of Tripoli/Libya and hopefully kill Qaddafi in what Obama said would take days, not weeks. That was nearly four months ago.
For the sake of argument, assume that a hearing/investigation is held and that Obama’s actions will be certified as perfectly desirable since, being a superior human, he substituted his choice of Libyans to be killed for that of letting Qaddafi make his own choice of which Libyans to kill. The latest “truther” organization to answer this could be something called the Questionable Affairs Department for Discovering Avaricious Fuel Invaders, known by its obvious acronym, QADDAFI.
This organization claims that Obama, Biden, British Petroleum and its Middle East tyrant-connection, Ahmadinejad, met secretly in a New York mosque to plan the March 19 attack on Libya in order to guarantee that its oil operations either be shut down or simply overrun with a view toward directing its shipments to Marseilles or San Francisco, where strange things happen as a matter of course and no one would be suspicious of oil tankers from Libya with blood-stained decks tying up at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Such “truther” notables as former general Wesley Clark could head QADDAFI, which has already also discovered that the Gulf oil spill last year was also planned by O,B, BP and A, who have captured most of the millions of gallons and have them stored in a huge underground cave in the Pacific island-nation of Tuvalu, elevation 15 feet and therefore susceptible to quick ingress and egress of product, which can be used at any time to flood the market and bankrupt selected nations or simply stack euros and dollars in banks in the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, or Switzerland, where partners-in-crime Bush, Cheney, Halliburton and Osama (RIP with the virgins, although he didn’t fire a shot) stashed all the Saudi money they received account of 9/11 action.
The truth seems perfectly obvious. Why would Obama spend $55 million a day for ten days straight in March dropping bombs and missiles on Libya for no logical reason other than OIL, the only industry other than camel-rehabilitation that Libya has. The Foreign Legion doesn’t count except for the elements paid by Qaddafi. Obama is up to about $750 million now and counting ($1.1 billion by Oct. 1), with Congress, in another of its frequent moments of lunacy, probably on line to give him at least until the end of the year to finish off Qaddafi, with the provision that body-counts may not lawfully be publicized, especially those of children.
The truthers know that LBJ colluded with Fidel to off JFK, that Bush 41 colluded with the whole world to do Kuwait, Bubba colluded with Tito’s ghost (channeled by Hillary and Eleanor’s ghost) to do Bosnia, and that Bush 43 colluded with Cheney, Halliburton and Osama to do 9/11. The Obama/Biden/BP/Ahmadinejad conspiracy to reduce Libya to rubble makes eminently more sense than any of the others.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Also after every calamity of substance, some sort of “truther” organization will come on line to dispute the findings of the official body. There was an investigation/hearing into the Pearl Harbor massacre back in the 1940s (FDR knew all about it beforehand); after Katrina in 2006 (the House democrats didn’t participate since the official version was on point, but the truthers fingered FEMA); concerning the Iraq War (9/11 conspiracy by Bush/Cheney/Osama and known about by Bush beforehand); JFK assassination in 1963 (take your pick of conspiracy theories, including that LBJ did it); and more recently, torture (Bush approved it and practically wrote the torture-manual).
Usually, the truther-stuff is laughable but it seems to provide great entertainment and, of course, furnishes an outlet for whatever political agenda any group/individual has. For instance, President Obama was gung-ho against the Patriot Act until he got elected. Recently, he signed law to continue that act upon realizing that he’d get the blame if anything untoward happened that could have been prevented by its use, which abridges no one’s rights, or at least those who have nothing to hide.
It hasn’t been held yet and, of course, will not be held unless and until the republicans have the power to do it (and they do in the House), but Obama’s personal declaration of war against Libya will someday be investigated, as it should be, especially since Congress was not even consulted, much less given an opportunity to approve or disapprove. The president simply got a UN resolution and ordered the U.S. military to attack a nation posing no threat to any other nation, including especially the U.S. Libya’s total population of six million souls is two million less than that of New York City, and it was/is virtually defenseless. The plan was to just bomb the bejesus out of Tripoli/Libya and hopefully kill Qaddafi in what Obama said would take days, not weeks. That was nearly four months ago.
For the sake of argument, assume that a hearing/investigation is held and that Obama’s actions will be certified as perfectly desirable since, being a superior human, he substituted his choice of Libyans to be killed for that of letting Qaddafi make his own choice of which Libyans to kill. The latest “truther” organization to answer this could be something called the Questionable Affairs Department for Discovering Avaricious Fuel Invaders, known by its obvious acronym, QADDAFI.
This organization claims that Obama, Biden, British Petroleum and its Middle East tyrant-connection, Ahmadinejad, met secretly in a New York mosque to plan the March 19 attack on Libya in order to guarantee that its oil operations either be shut down or simply overrun with a view toward directing its shipments to Marseilles or San Francisco, where strange things happen as a matter of course and no one would be suspicious of oil tankers from Libya with blood-stained decks tying up at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Such “truther” notables as former general Wesley Clark could head QADDAFI, which has already also discovered that the Gulf oil spill last year was also planned by O,B, BP and A, who have captured most of the millions of gallons and have them stored in a huge underground cave in the Pacific island-nation of Tuvalu, elevation 15 feet and therefore susceptible to quick ingress and egress of product, which can be used at any time to flood the market and bankrupt selected nations or simply stack euros and dollars in banks in the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, or Switzerland, where partners-in-crime Bush, Cheney, Halliburton and Osama (RIP with the virgins, although he didn’t fire a shot) stashed all the Saudi money they received account of 9/11 action.
The truth seems perfectly obvious. Why would Obama spend $55 million a day for ten days straight in March dropping bombs and missiles on Libya for no logical reason other than OIL, the only industry other than camel-rehabilitation that Libya has. The Foreign Legion doesn’t count except for the elements paid by Qaddafi. Obama is up to about $750 million now and counting ($1.1 billion by Oct. 1), with Congress, in another of its frequent moments of lunacy, probably on line to give him at least until the end of the year to finish off Qaddafi, with the provision that body-counts may not lawfully be publicized, especially those of children.
The truthers know that LBJ colluded with Fidel to off JFK, that Bush 41 colluded with the whole world to do Kuwait, Bubba colluded with Tito’s ghost (channeled by Hillary and Eleanor’s ghost) to do Bosnia, and that Bush 43 colluded with Cheney, Halliburton and Osama to do 9/11. The Obama/Biden/BP/Ahmadinejad conspiracy to reduce Libya to rubble makes eminently more sense than any of the others.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Monday, July 11, 2011
New Protective Order - Worthless?
Steve Nunn, a onetime Kentucky legislator and governor-aspirant, shot and killed Amanda Ross, a state employee, in late 2009 after she had obtained a protective order against him in Fayette County Family Court. Since the two were not related, one wonders why anything was done through a Family Court. It would seem that the protective order should have simply been secured in whatever other court has always administered them. Recently, Nunn confessed guilt instead of going to trial, thereby bargaining his way out of a possible trip to the execution chamber, whatever it is now.
As a result of this sordid event, the state legislature spent an inordinate amount of time in 2010 – instead of passing a budget – debating and passing some sort of law requiring anyone with a protective order against him to be tracked via GPS, necessitating that he wear some sort of device at all times. There was great debate – much ado about very little – and a weak bill of some sort was coughed up. Some counties are not equipped to satisfy the law and all the counties are strapped for cash and probably won’t do much anyway. The budget was finally signed on May 30 in, of course, one of those boondoggle-for-the-lawmakers “special sessions.”
How does the tracker, assuming someone has to be monitoring the appropriate devices, know how close an offender is to the aggrieved, anyway, if he/she doesn’t know where the aggrieved is? Or, does the wearer of the device just have to stay away from a particular area, meaning that the order is virtually useless and assuming that the protective order doesn’t amount to house arrest?
There’s nothing new about protective orders and “domestic” violence. An inordinate amount of time and resources are expended by law-enforcement agencies and the courts in taking care of this stuff. While it’s true that in some instances vulnerable people need help, in many if not most instances the people who need these orders, or think they do, have brought much of their difficulty upon themselves and then expect the officials to bail them out of the messes into which they’ve gotten themselves.
Ross and Nunn had co-habited, apparently had fought, had split, and apparently Nunn figured the publicity had cost him a good state job. Who knows what else had been going on in this seamy business? The point is that the two had done their part in bringing about all the mess, including the protective order and murder. This happens all too often, especially with women who take their panties off one time too many and wind up with a problem when they turn the old boy away, perhaps for another old boy.
This may sound crass but taxpayers have a right to be unhappy when they spend money to clean up the messes caused by these woeful indiscretions, whether through domestic violence that often costs the lives of law-enforcement officers or just piling the courts with junk, the supposedly aggrieved either participating in the violence (he warn’t all that bad so the police [or po-lice] shouldn’t have been here even though I called them) or rescinding the orders.
Bottom line: Nunn would have carried out his objective even if he’d been wearing a GPS bracelet on both ankles and around his neck. The ladies need to understand that they should choose wisely, not party indiscriminately, stay sober, and avoid adultery and fornicating. Sound insensitive? So what!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
As a result of this sordid event, the state legislature spent an inordinate amount of time in 2010 – instead of passing a budget – debating and passing some sort of law requiring anyone with a protective order against him to be tracked via GPS, necessitating that he wear some sort of device at all times. There was great debate – much ado about very little – and a weak bill of some sort was coughed up. Some counties are not equipped to satisfy the law and all the counties are strapped for cash and probably won’t do much anyway. The budget was finally signed on May 30 in, of course, one of those boondoggle-for-the-lawmakers “special sessions.”
How does the tracker, assuming someone has to be monitoring the appropriate devices, know how close an offender is to the aggrieved, anyway, if he/she doesn’t know where the aggrieved is? Or, does the wearer of the device just have to stay away from a particular area, meaning that the order is virtually useless and assuming that the protective order doesn’t amount to house arrest?
There’s nothing new about protective orders and “domestic” violence. An inordinate amount of time and resources are expended by law-enforcement agencies and the courts in taking care of this stuff. While it’s true that in some instances vulnerable people need help, in many if not most instances the people who need these orders, or think they do, have brought much of their difficulty upon themselves and then expect the officials to bail them out of the messes into which they’ve gotten themselves.
Ross and Nunn had co-habited, apparently had fought, had split, and apparently Nunn figured the publicity had cost him a good state job. Who knows what else had been going on in this seamy business? The point is that the two had done their part in bringing about all the mess, including the protective order and murder. This happens all too often, especially with women who take their panties off one time too many and wind up with a problem when they turn the old boy away, perhaps for another old boy.
This may sound crass but taxpayers have a right to be unhappy when they spend money to clean up the messes caused by these woeful indiscretions, whether through domestic violence that often costs the lives of law-enforcement officers or just piling the courts with junk, the supposedly aggrieved either participating in the violence (he warn’t all that bad so the police [or po-lice] shouldn’t have been here even though I called them) or rescinding the orders.
Bottom line: Nunn would have carried out his objective even if he’d been wearing a GPS bracelet on both ankles and around his neck. The ladies need to understand that they should choose wisely, not party indiscriminately, stay sober, and avoid adultery and fornicating. Sound insensitive? So what!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Friday, July 08, 2011
Obama's Libya-Rape Continues
ABC News, 18 March, concerning Libya: “In his meeting with Members of Congress today, sources tell ABC News, President Obama said he expected that the period that the US would be involved in heavy kinetic activity would be ‘days, not weeks,’ after which he said the U.S. would then take more of a supporting role.” Assuming that “kinetic activity” does not include the use of drones and that “supporting role” does include the furnishing of bombs and missiles to NATO nations which, coincidentally, just don’t have any more missiles and bombs to fire upon the Libyans , the president has carried double-speak, teleprompted or not, to a whole new level.
This is the definition of “kinetic” (Merriam-Webster, 11th Collegiate): “of or relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and energy associated therewith.” In other words, anything this country has done regarding Libya at any time is “kinetic.” U.S.-GI-material-bodies were ordered by the commander-in-chief to kill Libyans, starting on 19 March and (through NATO, owned and controlled by Obama) continuing until today. They used material bodies called bombs and missiles to do so, and Obama has continued that use until today.
So…everything that has been done and/or used since 19 March can be classified as “kinetic” (not just the first ten days when the U.S. spent $55 million on the project each day) and “supporting role” (both in the first ten days and now). Current cost in dispatching Libyans/Muslims to eternity continues to mount.
ABC News, 15 June, concerning Libya: “In a report revealing that the total cost of US intervention in Libya as of June 3 has been $716 million and will reach $1.1 billion by the end of September, the Obama administration today told congressional leaders in a report that the role of the US military is so limited, congressional authorization is not needed.” The president said “days, not weeks,” but apparently he didn’t consider that the 105 or so days or the 15 or so weeks since 19 March actually amounted to days/weeks, or maybe he was thinking of months, now up to 3.5 months and counting.
Obama invested $550 million tax-dollars in the Libya massacre in the first ten days and is on line to invest another $550 million by the end of September, the latter, of course, in a non-kinetic supporting role, which is just as kinetic as the first kinetic role. One wonders if he thinks the general population is so collectively dumb that it can’t figure out both the kind and volume of his subterfuge.
One wonders, also, about Congress, which in Obama’s mind seems not to exist, and perhaps for good reason. The president obviously is accountable to no one. He unilaterally declared war on Libya – without even a presidential proclamation, to say nothing of one from Congress – and ordered decent men to commit murder on a nation with a population two-million less than that of New York City that has never been a threat to this country in either words or actions. The representatives and senators had no say in the matter, meaning that the people didn’t, either. The collective congressional spine is made of jelly and the citizens are un-represented. The founders of this nation would flip in their graves.
The people who have the greatest dread of war, as well as the consequent motivation to do anything to avoid it, are those who have experienced it…those who have seen and smelled the blood, gathered the dead and ministered to the twisted and torn bodies of the wounded. The president can’t even imagine what it’s like to be a Libyan when the planes or drones are heard overhead. He also can’t imagine what it’s like to administer bombs and missiles on innocent people, never mind the talk of taking out only “strategic targets.”
The bombs in Libya have been falling in residential neighborhoods, with Obama and NATO insisting that the targets were legitimate, usually “command-and-control centers.” Just one malfunctioning part of a bomb or missile sends it anywhere but where it’s intended to blow up “things.” That means that the carnage is anywhere an errant or even a properly functioning device lands. People are where the things are…euphemistically labeled “collateral damage.”
If there were a reason for all the Libyan bloodletting at the hands of Obama and NATO, there would be no condemnation of it. As it is, Obama has much innocent blood on his hands and is aiming to be smeared with much more. Disgusting! It’s long since past the time to stop the killing.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
This is the definition of “kinetic” (Merriam-Webster, 11th Collegiate): “of or relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces and energy associated therewith.” In other words, anything this country has done regarding Libya at any time is “kinetic.” U.S.-GI-material-bodies were ordered by the commander-in-chief to kill Libyans, starting on 19 March and (through NATO, owned and controlled by Obama) continuing until today. They used material bodies called bombs and missiles to do so, and Obama has continued that use until today.
So…everything that has been done and/or used since 19 March can be classified as “kinetic” (not just the first ten days when the U.S. spent $55 million on the project each day) and “supporting role” (both in the first ten days and now). Current cost in dispatching Libyans/Muslims to eternity continues to mount.
ABC News, 15 June, concerning Libya: “In a report revealing that the total cost of US intervention in Libya as of June 3 has been $716 million and will reach $1.1 billion by the end of September, the Obama administration today told congressional leaders in a report that the role of the US military is so limited, congressional authorization is not needed.” The president said “days, not weeks,” but apparently he didn’t consider that the 105 or so days or the 15 or so weeks since 19 March actually amounted to days/weeks, or maybe he was thinking of months, now up to 3.5 months and counting.
Obama invested $550 million tax-dollars in the Libya massacre in the first ten days and is on line to invest another $550 million by the end of September, the latter, of course, in a non-kinetic supporting role, which is just as kinetic as the first kinetic role. One wonders if he thinks the general population is so collectively dumb that it can’t figure out both the kind and volume of his subterfuge.
One wonders, also, about Congress, which in Obama’s mind seems not to exist, and perhaps for good reason. The president obviously is accountable to no one. He unilaterally declared war on Libya – without even a presidential proclamation, to say nothing of one from Congress – and ordered decent men to commit murder on a nation with a population two-million less than that of New York City that has never been a threat to this country in either words or actions. The representatives and senators had no say in the matter, meaning that the people didn’t, either. The collective congressional spine is made of jelly and the citizens are un-represented. The founders of this nation would flip in their graves.
The people who have the greatest dread of war, as well as the consequent motivation to do anything to avoid it, are those who have experienced it…those who have seen and smelled the blood, gathered the dead and ministered to the twisted and torn bodies of the wounded. The president can’t even imagine what it’s like to be a Libyan when the planes or drones are heard overhead. He also can’t imagine what it’s like to administer bombs and missiles on innocent people, never mind the talk of taking out only “strategic targets.”
The bombs in Libya have been falling in residential neighborhoods, with Obama and NATO insisting that the targets were legitimate, usually “command-and-control centers.” Just one malfunctioning part of a bomb or missile sends it anywhere but where it’s intended to blow up “things.” That means that the carnage is anywhere an errant or even a properly functioning device lands. People are where the things are…euphemistically labeled “collateral damage.”
If there were a reason for all the Libyan bloodletting at the hands of Obama and NATO, there would be no condemnation of it. As it is, Obama has much innocent blood on his hands and is aiming to be smeared with much more. Disgusting! It’s long since past the time to stop the killing.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Fragile Freedom
“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.” ~ Ronald Reagan, from his first inaugural speech as governor of California, January 5, 1967
This gem of wisdom from former president Reagan is particularly apropos currently as Americans celebrate Independence Day. The tendency is to think of freedom only in terms of attaining and maintaining it through the trials and tribulations of war. This was the tool of necessity – certainly not the weapon of choice – that was used to form the United States. Blood was shed as the seed…the nation germinated and grew from it.
Freedom for the nation as a whole was threatened by the secession-states in 1861. Whereas the nation was declared on 04 July 1776, it was re-declared both symbolically and substantively 04-06 July 1863 at Gettysburg exactly 87 years later, with respect to the shedding of blood. The war that developed as a result of the former was long and bloody. So was the war vis-à-vis the latter, of which Gettysburg was but one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles. When this writer was born, there were a number of Civil War veterans still alive. To him, therefore, that victory has a unique meaning, especially since his great-grandfather and two great-uncles, all immigrants born in England, fought in the Union Army.
Freedom, however, can be lost un-militarily and it is this fact that should concern the nation currently. This has to do with Reagan’s observation that freedom is a “fragile thing.” Even now, when both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars were/are little more to today’s youngsters than stuff in history books, young people will fight and die for what they have – fragile freedom saved through the shedding of blood. They know the good life, especially as compared to the lives of people in other countries.
The present danger to freedom is not susceptible to military action. It’s the danger that either creeps or quickly strikes from within. In his 2008 campaign, President Obama spoke of the need to rewrite the Constitution in order to provide for the redistribution of wealth, i.e., taking possessions from one person and giving them to another, in this case probably through taxation. He also spoke of the need for a national police force, reminding those old enough to remember of Hitler’s Gestapo and Stalin’s KGB. This represents two dangers to freedom – denial of ownership and the force to make it stick.
In 2008, the president said he intended to make electricity rates “skyrocket” and that he would see to it that those who presumed to build coal-fired generators would be bankrupted. The House, with no member having read the bill that would make this happen, went along with its approval of the cap/trade legislation but the Senate won’t touch it for good reason. So, the president, through his czars/regulators, is attempting to make it happen administratively. The president claims his action is to protect the climate from manmade warming, but by now everyone knows that manmade global warming is a hoax, so the president’s agenda seems to be the sinking of the economy through pricing power, its providers and its users out of the market. To what end? Total control of the population!
The president’s healthcare bill, also unread by legislators, was passed through the browbeating of legislators and finally through outright subterfuge involving Congressional parliamentary maneuvers. It’s common knowledge now that this unbelievably expensive program represents the government’s attempt at total control of its people through its bureaucracy making all medical decisions, thus stealing the freedom of life itself – perhaps the most telling one – from the citizenry.
Obama has surrounded himself with perhaps 35-40 “czars” who are responsible only to him and whose collective job is to regulate everything and everybody to an extent designed to usurp individual freedom – the saving of people from themselves. The fact that this is happening is proof that freedom is what Reagan said it is – fragile. The eroding of freedom eventuating in Socialism – the welfare state – has been creeping-up on the citizenry for some time but is now quickening its pace. Is the nation about to lose its freedom…forever, as Reagan said would be the case if and when it is lost?
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
This gem of wisdom from former president Reagan is particularly apropos currently as Americans celebrate Independence Day. The tendency is to think of freedom only in terms of attaining and maintaining it through the trials and tribulations of war. This was the tool of necessity – certainly not the weapon of choice – that was used to form the United States. Blood was shed as the seed…the nation germinated and grew from it.
Freedom for the nation as a whole was threatened by the secession-states in 1861. Whereas the nation was declared on 04 July 1776, it was re-declared both symbolically and substantively 04-06 July 1863 at Gettysburg exactly 87 years later, with respect to the shedding of blood. The war that developed as a result of the former was long and bloody. So was the war vis-à-vis the latter, of which Gettysburg was but one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles. When this writer was born, there were a number of Civil War veterans still alive. To him, therefore, that victory has a unique meaning, especially since his great-grandfather and two great-uncles, all immigrants born in England, fought in the Union Army.
Freedom, however, can be lost un-militarily and it is this fact that should concern the nation currently. This has to do with Reagan’s observation that freedom is a “fragile thing.” Even now, when both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars were/are little more to today’s youngsters than stuff in history books, young people will fight and die for what they have – fragile freedom saved through the shedding of blood. They know the good life, especially as compared to the lives of people in other countries.
The present danger to freedom is not susceptible to military action. It’s the danger that either creeps or quickly strikes from within. In his 2008 campaign, President Obama spoke of the need to rewrite the Constitution in order to provide for the redistribution of wealth, i.e., taking possessions from one person and giving them to another, in this case probably through taxation. He also spoke of the need for a national police force, reminding those old enough to remember of Hitler’s Gestapo and Stalin’s KGB. This represents two dangers to freedom – denial of ownership and the force to make it stick.
In 2008, the president said he intended to make electricity rates “skyrocket” and that he would see to it that those who presumed to build coal-fired generators would be bankrupted. The House, with no member having read the bill that would make this happen, went along with its approval of the cap/trade legislation but the Senate won’t touch it for good reason. So, the president, through his czars/regulators, is attempting to make it happen administratively. The president claims his action is to protect the climate from manmade warming, but by now everyone knows that manmade global warming is a hoax, so the president’s agenda seems to be the sinking of the economy through pricing power, its providers and its users out of the market. To what end? Total control of the population!
The president’s healthcare bill, also unread by legislators, was passed through the browbeating of legislators and finally through outright subterfuge involving Congressional parliamentary maneuvers. It’s common knowledge now that this unbelievably expensive program represents the government’s attempt at total control of its people through its bureaucracy making all medical decisions, thus stealing the freedom of life itself – perhaps the most telling one – from the citizenry.
Obama has surrounded himself with perhaps 35-40 “czars” who are responsible only to him and whose collective job is to regulate everything and everybody to an extent designed to usurp individual freedom – the saving of people from themselves. The fact that this is happening is proof that freedom is what Reagan said it is – fragile. The eroding of freedom eventuating in Socialism – the welfare state – has been creeping-up on the citizenry for some time but is now quickening its pace. Is the nation about to lose its freedom…forever, as Reagan said would be the case if and when it is lost?
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Obama - War Criminal?
Though it has no police powers or police force, the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, has just issued an arrest warrant for Libyan strongman/dictator Muammar Qadaffi. Presumably, any individual, military force, nation or group apprehending Qadaffi must turn him over to the Court so he can be tried on the charge “crimes against humanity for killing civilians who rose up against his rule,” according to the Associated Press, 28 June. Presently, Qaddafi is more or less hunkered down and dodging bombs and missiles being rained upon him by the U.S. and NATO, though obviously not in its usual “peace-keeping” mode.
Similar “crimes” have been the order of the day in the Middle East since time immemorial, with a few others also in motion now in places such as Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and, of course, Iran. The word from Libya is that hundreds have been arrested, injured or killed, with reasonable grounds that Qaddafi and his son were responsible. Of course, the figures are without verification (always hundreds or thousands in these dustups – no one knows). The current figures in Syria in that ongoing bloodletting is something like 1,400, but where do the figures come from? Only recently has strongman Assad allowed any reporters in.
So…Qaddafi is in trouble with the Court because he allegedly has killed Libyans, his own people. He probably has…probably quite a few of them, and he promised to maintain his methods, like all the other dictators, until the insurgency is stopped. There probably is proof of this, though it has never been brought forward. Perhaps – if it had either the authority or the funds – the Court should offer a $25 million reward for the capture of Qaddafi (but not for killing him – that would be un-Courtly). After all, the U.S. offered that reward to anyone leading to the capture or killing of bin Laden, about which the president crows on a daily basis. Bounty-hunters would crawl out of the woodwork all over the world, especially in Somalia, where flesh-trading and kidnapping are a way of life.
Beyond a shadow of doubt and with abundant proof, however, the president of the United States has ordered his military to kill Libyans, beginning last March and continuing until now, with no end of the killing in sight and with some $750 million invested in the project already. His claim to have handed the killing operation off to NATO is, as Veep Biden would have it, FLUFFERNUTTER, the appellation he ascribed to John Edwards’ speeches in 2008. The U.S. owns NATO lock, stock and barrel and finances its operations as well as kicks in with human resources. At a word from Obama, the killing would stop immediately. Virtually all, or at least a huge part, of the killing was done by the U.S. in the first ten days of Obama’s massacre, while NATO was deciding whether or not to do as told by Obama and continue the carnage.
Since it is abundantly demonstrable that Libya had not attacked the U.S. and had made no threats to do so, as well as it being a public record that Obama did not consult Congress as required Constitutionally
for the act of war he committed, there is an extreme irony. Under current law and the manual for courts-martial, “An order requiring the performance of a military duty or act may be inferred to be lawful and it is disobeyed at the peril of the subordinate. This inference does not apply to a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime.”
Since the president was not acting in defense of the nation in attacking Libya and therefore willfully committing warfare, he was committing a criminal act (murder), thus violating his responsibility as commander-in-chief and citizen. Since the president was guilty of committing the same crimes as the Court accused Qaddafi of committing, i.e., killing Libyans, he was (or should be judged) just as guilty as Qaddafi under the aegis of the Court in the Netherlands. In other words, if Qaddafi is a war criminal, so is Obama.
The further irony lies in the fact that a service-member might well have been absolved of any order-disobedience because of being ordered to commit a criminal act (murder of innocent civilians). Indeed, both Defense Secretary Gates and Joint-Chiefs Chairman Mullen had publicly advised against Obama’s off-the-wall, totally wacky action, apparently taken on a mere whim without even sufficient military or post-war planning, as evidenced by Gates’ further description of the action during his trip to Russia as the hostilities began: "We haven't done something like this, kind of on the fly before." He obviously was out-of-the-loop.
There can be no greater arrogance or infamy than willful killing. The president will not be hailed into Court in the Netherlands, though he for no reason has attacked a weak nation with a population two million less than that of New York City…sort of like a lion attacking a mouse, except that the lion has a reason. One wonders if Obama has a reason for continuing the massacre, and if it might have something to do with NATO members Britain, France, Spain and Italy vis-à-vis Libyan oil. One hopes not.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Similar “crimes” have been the order of the day in the Middle East since time immemorial, with a few others also in motion now in places such as Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and, of course, Iran. The word from Libya is that hundreds have been arrested, injured or killed, with reasonable grounds that Qaddafi and his son were responsible. Of course, the figures are without verification (always hundreds or thousands in these dustups – no one knows). The current figures in Syria in that ongoing bloodletting is something like 1,400, but where do the figures come from? Only recently has strongman Assad allowed any reporters in.
So…Qaddafi is in trouble with the Court because he allegedly has killed Libyans, his own people. He probably has…probably quite a few of them, and he promised to maintain his methods, like all the other dictators, until the insurgency is stopped. There probably is proof of this, though it has never been brought forward. Perhaps – if it had either the authority or the funds – the Court should offer a $25 million reward for the capture of Qaddafi (but not for killing him – that would be un-Courtly). After all, the U.S. offered that reward to anyone leading to the capture or killing of bin Laden, about which the president crows on a daily basis. Bounty-hunters would crawl out of the woodwork all over the world, especially in Somalia, where flesh-trading and kidnapping are a way of life.
Beyond a shadow of doubt and with abundant proof, however, the president of the United States has ordered his military to kill Libyans, beginning last March and continuing until now, with no end of the killing in sight and with some $750 million invested in the project already. His claim to have handed the killing operation off to NATO is, as Veep Biden would have it, FLUFFERNUTTER, the appellation he ascribed to John Edwards’ speeches in 2008. The U.S. owns NATO lock, stock and barrel and finances its operations as well as kicks in with human resources. At a word from Obama, the killing would stop immediately. Virtually all, or at least a huge part, of the killing was done by the U.S. in the first ten days of Obama’s massacre, while NATO was deciding whether or not to do as told by Obama and continue the carnage.
Since it is abundantly demonstrable that Libya had not attacked the U.S. and had made no threats to do so, as well as it being a public record that Obama did not consult Congress as required Constitutionally
for the act of war he committed, there is an extreme irony. Under current law and the manual for courts-martial, “An order requiring the performance of a military duty or act may be inferred to be lawful and it is disobeyed at the peril of the subordinate. This inference does not apply to a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime.”
Since the president was not acting in defense of the nation in attacking Libya and therefore willfully committing warfare, he was committing a criminal act (murder), thus violating his responsibility as commander-in-chief and citizen. Since the president was guilty of committing the same crimes as the Court accused Qaddafi of committing, i.e., killing Libyans, he was (or should be judged) just as guilty as Qaddafi under the aegis of the Court in the Netherlands. In other words, if Qaddafi is a war criminal, so is Obama.
The further irony lies in the fact that a service-member might well have been absolved of any order-disobedience because of being ordered to commit a criminal act (murder of innocent civilians). Indeed, both Defense Secretary Gates and Joint-Chiefs Chairman Mullen had publicly advised against Obama’s off-the-wall, totally wacky action, apparently taken on a mere whim without even sufficient military or post-war planning, as evidenced by Gates’ further description of the action during his trip to Russia as the hostilities began: "We haven't done something like this, kind of on the fly before." He obviously was out-of-the-loop.
There can be no greater arrogance or infamy than willful killing. The president will not be hailed into Court in the Netherlands, though he for no reason has attacked a weak nation with a population two million less than that of New York City…sort of like a lion attacking a mouse, except that the lion has a reason. One wonders if Obama has a reason for continuing the massacre, and if it might have something to do with NATO members Britain, France, Spain and Italy vis-à-vis Libyan oil. One hopes not.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Three Caveteers
It’s midnight in a cave somewhere in the mountains just east of the Afghan-Pakistan border. Ayman al Zawahiri, new al Qaeda chief, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, and Bashir al Assad, Syrian head of government, are meeting. Hereinafter, they are referenced as Z, M and A.
**M: I’m tired of meeting in these caves, Ayman…Allah be praised anyway…and would rather meet somewhere else, preferably in my safest of all countries.
**Z: Bah, Mahmoud, you Shiites are all alike…Allah be disappointed…tenderfoots…
**A: That’s tenderfeet, Ayman. Your Arabic translation of the western words, besides being scandalous in the first place are…well…I lived in England for years and I know…
**M: One more word about Shiites, Ayman, and…Allah forgive me for not making it a suicide assassination…I’ll have you dispatched to the devil. (reaches for AK-47)
**A: Fellow Muslims…Allah, forgive us all…let’s not fight among ourselves! Let’s show disrespect for the Great Satan by speaking in English…or American…or whatever the actual tenderfeet class is speaking these days in the U.S., which has as many strange accents as…takes folks in Mississippi, for instance, a full minute just to say good morning and everything is in Spanish these days…hoo hah…try to get American on the telephone!
**M: Well, I hate these caves…Allah be not blamed for caves…but I understand a drone dogs your every move, Ayman, so you can’t leave the country…so…no offense intended. (puts away the AK-47)
**A: So, why this urgent meeting, Ayman? I can hardly afford to leave Damascus…Allah, give me safekeeping…while there are still insurgents to be shot down in the streets.
**Z: Yes, Bashir, not since your father shot them down like the dogs they are have you had such an opportunity to keep order in your country. What was it…20,000 dispatched by Hafez to the hereafter, with blood in the streets? Allah be praised for sanctioning bloodshed! That was about eleven years after he took charge, about the same as since you took charge.
**M: I notice the Great Satan president Obama is not threatening any action toward you, Bashir, even though he is killing Libyans right in their houses with his bombs…Allah, take revenge on the great Satan!
**A: The Obama is smart enough to pick on the weakest of nations if he feels, as American presidents sometimes do, that he is entitled to at least one war.
**Z: Allah be amused…the Obama says he is killing Libyans for humanitarian reasons…oh hoo hah…humanitarian reasons! (giggles wildly) Everyone knows he is the lackey for the Brits, Frenchies, Latinos and Italians, who get their oil from Libya and are tired of paying those humongous kickbacks to that serpent Qadaffi. The Great Satan has spent $750 million and counting while the others say they are out of ammunition, planes, rockets, missiles and everything else. O hoo hah! The U.S. gets no oil from Libya but Obama tries to kill Qaddafi anyway.
**M: Back to the subject, Ayman! Why are we meeting in this bat-infested cave? How is it that you’ve been in these miserable caves while bin Laden was living in luxury until some Pakistani gave him up for that $25 million reward?
**Z: That’s just it…Allah be beseeched for a little luxury to go along with the bat-droppings. (brushes his hair) The Pakistanis loved Osama because he gave them money. I can’t even feed all my wives and children, much less bribe the Pakistanis to hide me as they did Osama and even furnished him a TV so he could watch the soaps and the reality shows from the evil Great Satan…all those women not wearing burkas…Allah be shamed.
**A: So what do you want, Ayman? I don’t have all night.
**Z: I’m sure you’ve heard that I’m now the head of al Qaeda…Allah be praised for his wisdom!
**M: So, how many competitors did you knock off, Ayman, to get the top job? From what I’ve heard, most of al Qaeda’s assassins hate your guts so you must have gotten to them before they got to you.
**A: Or did you take a vote…oh hoo hah…take a vote in al Qaeda…Allah be amused, Ayman.
**Z: Not funny, Bashir. As a matter of fact, Osama planned it that I would take his place if it ever came to that. Why do you think I’ve been number two all these years? Actually, it’s a dangerous job. Instead of a paltry $10 million on my head, I’m sure now that the Obama will raise it to the same as Osama’s – a cool $25 million. How many goats and poppy fields would that buy, Bashir? Even my bodyguards have bodyguards.
**M: So you’re a big deal now, Ayman…so what else is new? Allah, do not look upon this boredom. What do you want from us?
**Z: Part of the deal I made with the other leaders to get this job included my promise to infiltrate and/or attack Guantanamo and grab Khalid Sheik Mohammad from the Americans, sort of an eye for an eye since the SEALS not only grabbed Osama but shot him, too. So, I need help and…
A: Oh…hoo hah, grab Khalid from the Americans…Allah forgive this fool. You have as much chance of that as Mahmoud, here, has of getting the bomb.
**M: (grabbing his AK-47) Them’s fightin’ words, pilgrim.
**Z: Oh…so you’ve been watching the evil Great Satan TV, too, Mahmoud. Hahahahaha! Fightin’ words, pilgrim…oh hoo hah.
**M: (fires gun into the ceiling) Oh no…not again. (wipes bat-feathers and -intestines out of his eyes). You did that or somebody did that the last time I met with you and Osama. Look, the latrine is running under your rug, Ayman…I’m outta here. (leaves)
**A: Me, too, Ayman…Allah, have mercy on this Sunni madman. What you need are the armies of China, Russia, Pakistan, England, France, and even the Taliban if you can find Mullah Omar.
**Z: But the Castro brothers have already agreed to give me the key to their side of Gitmo so I can just slip in and…by the way, Bashir, I have to pay for that key…so… (Assad leaves) a-a-r-r-g-g-h-h-A-A-R-R-G-G-H-HA-A-R-R-G-G-H-H!!!!!!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
**M: I’m tired of meeting in these caves, Ayman…Allah be praised anyway…and would rather meet somewhere else, preferably in my safest of all countries.
**Z: Bah, Mahmoud, you Shiites are all alike…Allah be disappointed…tenderfoots…
**A: That’s tenderfeet, Ayman. Your Arabic translation of the western words, besides being scandalous in the first place are…well…I lived in England for years and I know…
**M: One more word about Shiites, Ayman, and…Allah forgive me for not making it a suicide assassination…I’ll have you dispatched to the devil. (reaches for AK-47)
**A: Fellow Muslims…Allah, forgive us all…let’s not fight among ourselves! Let’s show disrespect for the Great Satan by speaking in English…or American…or whatever the actual tenderfeet class is speaking these days in the U.S., which has as many strange accents as…takes folks in Mississippi, for instance, a full minute just to say good morning and everything is in Spanish these days…hoo hah…try to get American on the telephone!
**M: Well, I hate these caves…Allah be not blamed for caves…but I understand a drone dogs your every move, Ayman, so you can’t leave the country…so…no offense intended. (puts away the AK-47)
**A: So, why this urgent meeting, Ayman? I can hardly afford to leave Damascus…Allah, give me safekeeping…while there are still insurgents to be shot down in the streets.
**Z: Yes, Bashir, not since your father shot them down like the dogs they are have you had such an opportunity to keep order in your country. What was it…20,000 dispatched by Hafez to the hereafter, with blood in the streets? Allah be praised for sanctioning bloodshed! That was about eleven years after he took charge, about the same as since you took charge.
**M: I notice the Great Satan president Obama is not threatening any action toward you, Bashir, even though he is killing Libyans right in their houses with his bombs…Allah, take revenge on the great Satan!
**A: The Obama is smart enough to pick on the weakest of nations if he feels, as American presidents sometimes do, that he is entitled to at least one war.
**Z: Allah be amused…the Obama says he is killing Libyans for humanitarian reasons…oh hoo hah…humanitarian reasons! (giggles wildly) Everyone knows he is the lackey for the Brits, Frenchies, Latinos and Italians, who get their oil from Libya and are tired of paying those humongous kickbacks to that serpent Qadaffi. The Great Satan has spent $750 million and counting while the others say they are out of ammunition, planes, rockets, missiles and everything else. O hoo hah! The U.S. gets no oil from Libya but Obama tries to kill Qaddafi anyway.
**M: Back to the subject, Ayman! Why are we meeting in this bat-infested cave? How is it that you’ve been in these miserable caves while bin Laden was living in luxury until some Pakistani gave him up for that $25 million reward?
**Z: That’s just it…Allah be beseeched for a little luxury to go along with the bat-droppings. (brushes his hair) The Pakistanis loved Osama because he gave them money. I can’t even feed all my wives and children, much less bribe the Pakistanis to hide me as they did Osama and even furnished him a TV so he could watch the soaps and the reality shows from the evil Great Satan…all those women not wearing burkas…Allah be shamed.
**A: So what do you want, Ayman? I don’t have all night.
**Z: I’m sure you’ve heard that I’m now the head of al Qaeda…Allah be praised for his wisdom!
**M: So, how many competitors did you knock off, Ayman, to get the top job? From what I’ve heard, most of al Qaeda’s assassins hate your guts so you must have gotten to them before they got to you.
**A: Or did you take a vote…oh hoo hah…take a vote in al Qaeda…Allah be amused, Ayman.
**Z: Not funny, Bashir. As a matter of fact, Osama planned it that I would take his place if it ever came to that. Why do you think I’ve been number two all these years? Actually, it’s a dangerous job. Instead of a paltry $10 million on my head, I’m sure now that the Obama will raise it to the same as Osama’s – a cool $25 million. How many goats and poppy fields would that buy, Bashir? Even my bodyguards have bodyguards.
**M: So you’re a big deal now, Ayman…so what else is new? Allah, do not look upon this boredom. What do you want from us?
**Z: Part of the deal I made with the other leaders to get this job included my promise to infiltrate and/or attack Guantanamo and grab Khalid Sheik Mohammad from the Americans, sort of an eye for an eye since the SEALS not only grabbed Osama but shot him, too. So, I need help and…
A: Oh…hoo hah, grab Khalid from the Americans…Allah forgive this fool. You have as much chance of that as Mahmoud, here, has of getting the bomb.
**M: (grabbing his AK-47) Them’s fightin’ words, pilgrim.
**Z: Oh…so you’ve been watching the evil Great Satan TV, too, Mahmoud. Hahahahaha! Fightin’ words, pilgrim…oh hoo hah.
**M: (fires gun into the ceiling) Oh no…not again. (wipes bat-feathers and -intestines out of his eyes). You did that or somebody did that the last time I met with you and Osama. Look, the latrine is running under your rug, Ayman…I’m outta here. (leaves)
**A: Me, too, Ayman…Allah, have mercy on this Sunni madman. What you need are the armies of China, Russia, Pakistan, England, France, and even the Taliban if you can find Mullah Omar.
**Z: But the Castro brothers have already agreed to give me the key to their side of Gitmo so I can just slip in and…by the way, Bashir, I have to pay for that key…so… (Assad leaves) a-a-r-r-g-g-h-h-A-A-R-R-G-G-H-HA-A-R-R-G-G-H-H!!!!!!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
DNC Memorandum #2
From the office of the ChairWOMAN, 22 June 2011
***Listen UP! There has been dereliction of duty in the DNC. A request was made in last month’s memo for a red/yellow/black/white-paper describing the reasons POTUS has been bombing Libya since March. Thus far, only two papers have been received, with one locating Libya in California and the other wondering if Libya is in POTUS’s denomination and needed retribution instead of prayer. Both were from Harvard graduates, who have been assigned to the Everglades for door-to-door organizing. Since 24 Libyans, none of whom were soldiers, were wasted in raids over the weekend, either NATO’s aim is worse than Cheney’s or there’s something rotten in Demark (not a racist remark because I say it isn’t). Possible research sources are Britain, France, Italy and Senator McCain, all of whom are gung-ho for wiping Libya off the map without putting boots on the ground. If possible, make the paper 25 words or less since POTUS maintains that amount of verbiage to comprise the attention-span of the public. This is why his speeches are long and often…no harm can be done after the first 25 words, whether teleprompted or not.
***Account former Congressman Weiner’s bizarre activities of late, liberalism has been given a bad name and, consequently, must be refurbished. The wag who posted on the bulletin board that a Weiner/Frank garnished with exotic sauces will soon be served in the House cafeteria has been banished to digging up dirt on Rand Paul, starting with the fact that the latest al Qaeda goons were arrested in his hometown. In any case, the Weiner/Frank will be served with the usual – catsup and mustard. A good starting point for reestablishing credibility will be researching all Congressmen and CongressWOMEN to discover how many served well in either Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, but certainly not in both. That would only add to the problem.
***Make every effort to quash the rumor that the First Lady and her mother and daughters each had her own Air Force plane for the goodwill trip to South Africa. The rumor has come about, apparently, because POTUS and FL needed three planes just to have a date in NYC soon after the wearying inauguration. Also, no mention is to be made concerning the actual number of planes, helicopters, armored cars, secret service agents, hairdressers, marines, personal chefs, personal dry-cleaners, costume/dress designers, vegetarian gurus, food-tasters, etc., were needed for this important trip. When questioned about these apparent extravagances, mention that Hillary visited at least 75 countries when she was first lady and even camped out in Morocco.
***In town-hall meetings, stress the fact that SCOTUS erred in ruling against the class-action suit brought against WalMart by 1.6 million women employees or former employees. Though eight justices agreed in one part of the ruling, the main ruling was agreed to by five men. All the SCOTUS women voted to make the 1.6 million plaintiffs wealthy even if bankrupting WalMart were the outcome. This is further evidence that men are not capable of running the country, and no apology is offered herein to DNC male-staffers who might think of suing the DNC over this statement. It is not discriminatory or sexist because the chairWOMAN says it isn’t. Facts are facts.
***Chief DNC propagandist and movie producer Michael Moore is planning a new movie tentatively entitled The Guantanamo Brief. It will feature the actions of a Mississippi lawyer protecting a president from underhanded actions by scurrilous republicans determined to stop POTUS from closing the terrorist prison on the island shared with Cuba. Moore has been denied the use of Guantanamo as the location by the military but is appealing to POTUS, who, as commander-in-chief in an election cycle, is deciding whether or not to intervene, meaning that he’s keeping a close eye on the polls. If POTUS reads the polls as negative, the movie location will be moved to just the other side of the gate at Guantanamo and rented from Fidel Castro or his brother Raoul (who knows who’s calling the shots there?), who has promised Moore that he will furnish all the torture-victims for the realistic torture-scenes, actual water-boarding included, even though it has been declared as non-torture since it neither injures nor kills. Moore is deciding whether or not Cubans could be made to look like Arabs and is devising applications for potential Obama-look-alikes.
***Be aware, account the Libyan action, that the term “no-fly-zone” has been redefined. It now includes, besides planes and helicopters, birds (especially birds of prey), butterflies and other creatures that can be used for carrying chemicals or small nuclear warheads and programmed as to available sites for dive-bombing activity. This explains why NATO pilots often kill civilians, the reason being that their ammo has already destroyed creatures defying the new no-fly-zone, which nevertheless lack the mass to slow the ammo before it hits the ground or a child or whatever else has no right to be in a certain place at the wrong time. This is very important to POTUS since the old no-fly-zone was accomplished four days after the action started on 19 March, while attacks have been continued ever since, meaning that this should be part of the reasoning as the red/yellow/black/white-papers are prepared. Also, since Defense Secretary Gates announced in Moscow that the action was done “on-the-fly,” implying no planning, the actual definition for this term is “strategic planning via leading from behind,” thus describing POTUS’s genius in military matters.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
***Listen UP! There has been dereliction of duty in the DNC. A request was made in last month’s memo for a red/yellow/black/white-paper describing the reasons POTUS has been bombing Libya since March. Thus far, only two papers have been received, with one locating Libya in California and the other wondering if Libya is in POTUS’s denomination and needed retribution instead of prayer. Both were from Harvard graduates, who have been assigned to the Everglades for door-to-door organizing. Since 24 Libyans, none of whom were soldiers, were wasted in raids over the weekend, either NATO’s aim is worse than Cheney’s or there’s something rotten in Demark (not a racist remark because I say it isn’t). Possible research sources are Britain, France, Italy and Senator McCain, all of whom are gung-ho for wiping Libya off the map without putting boots on the ground. If possible, make the paper 25 words or less since POTUS maintains that amount of verbiage to comprise the attention-span of the public. This is why his speeches are long and often…no harm can be done after the first 25 words, whether teleprompted or not.
***Account former Congressman Weiner’s bizarre activities of late, liberalism has been given a bad name and, consequently, must be refurbished. The wag who posted on the bulletin board that a Weiner/Frank garnished with exotic sauces will soon be served in the House cafeteria has been banished to digging up dirt on Rand Paul, starting with the fact that the latest al Qaeda goons were arrested in his hometown. In any case, the Weiner/Frank will be served with the usual – catsup and mustard. A good starting point for reestablishing credibility will be researching all Congressmen and CongressWOMEN to discover how many served well in either Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, but certainly not in both. That would only add to the problem.
***Make every effort to quash the rumor that the First Lady and her mother and daughters each had her own Air Force plane for the goodwill trip to South Africa. The rumor has come about, apparently, because POTUS and FL needed three planes just to have a date in NYC soon after the wearying inauguration. Also, no mention is to be made concerning the actual number of planes, helicopters, armored cars, secret service agents, hairdressers, marines, personal chefs, personal dry-cleaners, costume/dress designers, vegetarian gurus, food-tasters, etc., were needed for this important trip. When questioned about these apparent extravagances, mention that Hillary visited at least 75 countries when she was first lady and even camped out in Morocco.
***In town-hall meetings, stress the fact that SCOTUS erred in ruling against the class-action suit brought against WalMart by 1.6 million women employees or former employees. Though eight justices agreed in one part of the ruling, the main ruling was agreed to by five men. All the SCOTUS women voted to make the 1.6 million plaintiffs wealthy even if bankrupting WalMart were the outcome. This is further evidence that men are not capable of running the country, and no apology is offered herein to DNC male-staffers who might think of suing the DNC over this statement. It is not discriminatory or sexist because the chairWOMAN says it isn’t. Facts are facts.
***Chief DNC propagandist and movie producer Michael Moore is planning a new movie tentatively entitled The Guantanamo Brief. It will feature the actions of a Mississippi lawyer protecting a president from underhanded actions by scurrilous republicans determined to stop POTUS from closing the terrorist prison on the island shared with Cuba. Moore has been denied the use of Guantanamo as the location by the military but is appealing to POTUS, who, as commander-in-chief in an election cycle, is deciding whether or not to intervene, meaning that he’s keeping a close eye on the polls. If POTUS reads the polls as negative, the movie location will be moved to just the other side of the gate at Guantanamo and rented from Fidel Castro or his brother Raoul (who knows who’s calling the shots there?), who has promised Moore that he will furnish all the torture-victims for the realistic torture-scenes, actual water-boarding included, even though it has been declared as non-torture since it neither injures nor kills. Moore is deciding whether or not Cubans could be made to look like Arabs and is devising applications for potential Obama-look-alikes.
***Be aware, account the Libyan action, that the term “no-fly-zone” has been redefined. It now includes, besides planes and helicopters, birds (especially birds of prey), butterflies and other creatures that can be used for carrying chemicals or small nuclear warheads and programmed as to available sites for dive-bombing activity. This explains why NATO pilots often kill civilians, the reason being that their ammo has already destroyed creatures defying the new no-fly-zone, which nevertheless lack the mass to slow the ammo before it hits the ground or a child or whatever else has no right to be in a certain place at the wrong time. This is very important to POTUS since the old no-fly-zone was accomplished four days after the action started on 19 March, while attacks have been continued ever since, meaning that this should be part of the reasoning as the red/yellow/black/white-papers are prepared. Also, since Defense Secretary Gates announced in Moscow that the action was done “on-the-fly,” implying no planning, the actual definition for this term is “strategic planning via leading from behind,” thus describing POTUS’s genius in military matters.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Obama's Illegal War
This is from the New York Times of June 17: “WASHINGTON — President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations. Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.”
The president’s rape of Libya for reasons known only to him since nobody with walking around sense would swallow some kind “compassionate considerations” is now not only a war of choice but one of stark illegality. Without even consulting the Congress, the president, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, has commited U.S. military and treasure to what amounts to the inculcating of a “killing field.” First the U.S. and now NATO at Obama’s behest, have been “shooting fish in a barrel,” since the Libyan military is virtually powerless against them.
First advertised as the instituting of a “no-fly zone,” the actions have deteriorated into taking sides in a civil war, with the U.S. and NATO just as responsible for the bloodshed as any group on the ground in Libya. The no-fly zone was accomplished within four days of the first U.S. bomb/missile raid on the hapless Libyans. Now, it appears that the targets are residential neighborhoods, although NATO honchos are condemning Qaddafi for using mosques and play-fields as shields, according to the BBC. What did they expect as they rained death on anything and everything, moving or non-moving?
Defense Secretary Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen both went on the record as advising the president that attacking Libya was a bad idea. When Obama pulled the trigger, Gates was in Russia and termed Obama’s war as something “done on the fly,” meaning with little forethought and even less methodology, since Obama seemed to believe that wars could be won just by bombing the enemy into submission. Since Obama also had no exit strategy or even the definition of an end of hostilities, “on-the-fly” was an even more apt description defining the actions of someone with not even one hour’s experience in the military or, certainly, how and when to even use it.
U.S. Constitution Article I(8): “The Congress shall have power…to declare war.” U.S. War Powers Act, 1973, Section 3: “The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situation where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and after every such introduction shall consult regularly with the Congress until United States Armed Forces are no longer engaged in hostilities or have been removed from such situations.” Then comes the requirement cited in the article above concerning Congressional authorization, scaling back or getting out altogether.
From the get-go, Obama has engaged in what amounts to terrorist activities, the killing of civilians. Libya, population two million less than that of New York City, has never posed a threat to this nation, has never attacked it, and has a military of only 76,000 troops, as opposed to the U.S. contingent of 1.6 million active duty and about 3 million altogether. There was not one American interest abused or one American citizen in danger in Libya at any time this year. There was not one reason for Obama’s war, no matter what he claims. His job is to protect the interests and welfare of American citizens…ONLY. Meddling in the affairs of other nations without a compelling reason is not the president’s business.
It’s probable that no U.S. president has ever been as unprepared for office as Barack Obama. Even worse, it’s doubtful that any president has ever learned less on the job once in office. Obama has reverted to the monarchical model in his presidency, having appointed 35-40 czars (no one knows how many) answerable only to him in setting up regulations designed to run the country into the tank. The latest regulations, designed to put coal-fired generating-plants out of business or make electricity rates “skyrocket” (as he promised in his campaign), or both, has just been awarded a two-month abeyance. Apparently, someone has reminded him of November 2012.
Only a socialist/communist/fascist leader could have the arrogance of instituting his own war. This is something Hitler did in the 1930s-40s. The American GIs lacking any provocations by Libya but dropping bombs on ordinary citizens anyway deserve better than to be ordered to commit such atrocities. One wonders where the Congress is. Sadly, Congress probably wonders where it is, too.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
The president’s rape of Libya for reasons known only to him since nobody with walking around sense would swallow some kind “compassionate considerations” is now not only a war of choice but one of stark illegality. Without even consulting the Congress, the president, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, has commited U.S. military and treasure to what amounts to the inculcating of a “killing field.” First the U.S. and now NATO at Obama’s behest, have been “shooting fish in a barrel,” since the Libyan military is virtually powerless against them.
First advertised as the instituting of a “no-fly zone,” the actions have deteriorated into taking sides in a civil war, with the U.S. and NATO just as responsible for the bloodshed as any group on the ground in Libya. The no-fly zone was accomplished within four days of the first U.S. bomb/missile raid on the hapless Libyans. Now, it appears that the targets are residential neighborhoods, although NATO honchos are condemning Qaddafi for using mosques and play-fields as shields, according to the BBC. What did they expect as they rained death on anything and everything, moving or non-moving?
Defense Secretary Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen both went on the record as advising the president that attacking Libya was a bad idea. When Obama pulled the trigger, Gates was in Russia and termed Obama’s war as something “done on the fly,” meaning with little forethought and even less methodology, since Obama seemed to believe that wars could be won just by bombing the enemy into submission. Since Obama also had no exit strategy or even the definition of an end of hostilities, “on-the-fly” was an even more apt description defining the actions of someone with not even one hour’s experience in the military or, certainly, how and when to even use it.
U.S. Constitution Article I(8): “The Congress shall have power…to declare war.” U.S. War Powers Act, 1973, Section 3: “The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situation where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and after every such introduction shall consult regularly with the Congress until United States Armed Forces are no longer engaged in hostilities or have been removed from such situations.” Then comes the requirement cited in the article above concerning Congressional authorization, scaling back or getting out altogether.
From the get-go, Obama has engaged in what amounts to terrorist activities, the killing of civilians. Libya, population two million less than that of New York City, has never posed a threat to this nation, has never attacked it, and has a military of only 76,000 troops, as opposed to the U.S. contingent of 1.6 million active duty and about 3 million altogether. There was not one American interest abused or one American citizen in danger in Libya at any time this year. There was not one reason for Obama’s war, no matter what he claims. His job is to protect the interests and welfare of American citizens…ONLY. Meddling in the affairs of other nations without a compelling reason is not the president’s business.
It’s probable that no U.S. president has ever been as unprepared for office as Barack Obama. Even worse, it’s doubtful that any president has ever learned less on the job once in office. Obama has reverted to the monarchical model in his presidency, having appointed 35-40 czars (no one knows how many) answerable only to him in setting up regulations designed to run the country into the tank. The latest regulations, designed to put coal-fired generating-plants out of business or make electricity rates “skyrocket” (as he promised in his campaign), or both, has just been awarded a two-month abeyance. Apparently, someone has reminded him of November 2012.
Only a socialist/communist/fascist leader could have the arrogance of instituting his own war. This is something Hitler did in the 1930s-40s. The American GIs lacking any provocations by Libya but dropping bombs on ordinary citizens anyway deserve better than to be ordered to commit such atrocities. One wonders where the Congress is. Sadly, Congress probably wonders where it is, too.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Dear President Obama,
In connection with your current effort in Libya, I’m offering the services of the Institute for Modifying All Governmental Entities (IMAGE, for short). It’s the job of IMAGE to enhance the persona of a client in such a way as to make him/her appear acceptable to the public regardless of how brilliant, incompetent, stupid, or just squirrelly he/she (equal opportunity, diversity, multiculturalism, ethnicity, creed, etc. always observed respectfully) may be. Speaker Boehner is publicly on your case presently regarding all those Libyans you have ordered killed in behalf of saving other Libyans’ lives, or something like that. This is not a criticism of your heroic effort, just stating facts. Senator McCain was in Libya in April and said the Libyans you’re saving are his heroes, besides being nice people we can trust.
The arm of IMAGE that would be appropriate at the beginning is the seminar entitled Waging Alien Readjustments, or WAR, for short. You are entitled, as any president is, to conduct at least one war, with two or more even better. Your problem now is that you have told a number of heads of governments to get out of Dodge (little old-west levity there, meaning “run for their lives”) but some of them have refused to do so and have even had the temerity to pay no attention to you, an actual act of diplomatic war, figuratively speaking, requiring not diplomatic revenge, but a reasoned explanation of why they should obey the loudest mouth in the world. WAR operatives can help you form these reasoned arguments, even if there aren’t any, and explain why you can’t just order world leaders around or accuse them of acting stupidly, as you have done with regard to white policemen.
The arm of IMAGE that would obviously follow is the Bureau for Utilizing Loquaciousness in Liberty-Yammering, otherwise known as BULLY. In connection with Libya, you have done what any playground monster would do, namely, pick on the smallest available potential victim. Libya’s population is two-million less than that of New York City and Qadaffi has to make do with hired assassins from the Congo or somewhere, so you could hardly lose, although you actually do need to give Qadaffi the “Osama treatment” before Boehner starts blathering about NATO’s costs, which are mostly borne by American taxpayers. Your choice of Libya for your war was not the problem; rather, you haven’t explained why you chose it. No one expected you to invade Russia or China or even Syria for your war.
Both the Constitution and the War Powers Act of 1973 have to do with your responsibility to protect the public from invasions, etc., but you haven’t explained how Libya was a clear and present danger to this country. BULLY operatives would prepare your teleprompters in such a way as to make the case that Qaddafi threatened the whole world with his huge army (76,000 troops) during his UN speech in 2009 about global things. Also, when he pitched his tent in New York City and demanded camel-space in violation of city ordinances, he was obviously sending a message that a hotel might come under attack at any moment, meaning one that he had planned but obviously went awry. See the difference between all that compassion-dribble and far better, more reasoned propaganda? BULLY would also help you explain why you didn’t listen to the military guys, Gates and Mullen, both of whom said publicly that attacking Libya was strictly bananas.
The next entity in IMAGE that would help you is the Agency for Rationalizing Arab Beheadings and Stoning Prerogatives in Rebellions/Insurrections Necessitating Gravitas, otherwise known by its acronym, ARAB SPRING. This is right in line with your glorification of all the people in the streets this year in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and now Libya, despite the fact that a slew of them have already been buried on the same day their protests took place. If you had been in IMAGE’s care, you would not have encouraged young people, for instance, to take the fall, but old codgers, who are pretty well washed up anyway. ARAB SPRING will help you explain to the American people that Muslims are happy and of no threat, and that their requirements for societal welfare are just different from those of even hillbilly Kentucky. Instead of an eye-for-an-eye, they sometimes require a whole body-for-an-eye. It’s just a matter of degree.
The second area of ARAB SPRING, regarding gravitas, has to do with your needed efforts to convince Arabs and Muslims that they need to have better reasons for cutting off limbs, for instance, just for stealing a loaf of bread. Or, you need to convince them of the need to explain to the world how their punishment is better than civilized punishment, to wit for instance, that a one-armed teenager will have a harder time breaking and entering in order to steal another loaf of bread, or in this country, Lebron James sneakers. This will require IMAGE-ARAB SPRING to work with your state department, but a bit of caution is in order regarding personnel. William Ayers, your friend and mentor, of Weather Underground – Community Organizing fame, is not a candidate for dealing with the Muslims since he is just like them. The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright might be helpful since he’s made it clear that one can damn this country but still thrive quite well in it. That should make any Arab happy and score points for you in 2012.
Hoping to hear from you.
Respectfully,
I.M. Reverself, CEO
IMAGE
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
The arm of IMAGE that would be appropriate at the beginning is the seminar entitled Waging Alien Readjustments, or WAR, for short. You are entitled, as any president is, to conduct at least one war, with two or more even better. Your problem now is that you have told a number of heads of governments to get out of Dodge (little old-west levity there, meaning “run for their lives”) but some of them have refused to do so and have even had the temerity to pay no attention to you, an actual act of diplomatic war, figuratively speaking, requiring not diplomatic revenge, but a reasoned explanation of why they should obey the loudest mouth in the world. WAR operatives can help you form these reasoned arguments, even if there aren’t any, and explain why you can’t just order world leaders around or accuse them of acting stupidly, as you have done with regard to white policemen.
The arm of IMAGE that would obviously follow is the Bureau for Utilizing Loquaciousness in Liberty-Yammering, otherwise known as BULLY. In connection with Libya, you have done what any playground monster would do, namely, pick on the smallest available potential victim. Libya’s population is two-million less than that of New York City and Qadaffi has to make do with hired assassins from the Congo or somewhere, so you could hardly lose, although you actually do need to give Qadaffi the “Osama treatment” before Boehner starts blathering about NATO’s costs, which are mostly borne by American taxpayers. Your choice of Libya for your war was not the problem; rather, you haven’t explained why you chose it. No one expected you to invade Russia or China or even Syria for your war.
Both the Constitution and the War Powers Act of 1973 have to do with your responsibility to protect the public from invasions, etc., but you haven’t explained how Libya was a clear and present danger to this country. BULLY operatives would prepare your teleprompters in such a way as to make the case that Qaddafi threatened the whole world with his huge army (76,000 troops) during his UN speech in 2009 about global things. Also, when he pitched his tent in New York City and demanded camel-space in violation of city ordinances, he was obviously sending a message that a hotel might come under attack at any moment, meaning one that he had planned but obviously went awry. See the difference between all that compassion-dribble and far better, more reasoned propaganda? BULLY would also help you explain why you didn’t listen to the military guys, Gates and Mullen, both of whom said publicly that attacking Libya was strictly bananas.
The next entity in IMAGE that would help you is the Agency for Rationalizing Arab Beheadings and Stoning Prerogatives in Rebellions/Insurrections Necessitating Gravitas, otherwise known by its acronym, ARAB SPRING. This is right in line with your glorification of all the people in the streets this year in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and now Libya, despite the fact that a slew of them have already been buried on the same day their protests took place. If you had been in IMAGE’s care, you would not have encouraged young people, for instance, to take the fall, but old codgers, who are pretty well washed up anyway. ARAB SPRING will help you explain to the American people that Muslims are happy and of no threat, and that their requirements for societal welfare are just different from those of even hillbilly Kentucky. Instead of an eye-for-an-eye, they sometimes require a whole body-for-an-eye. It’s just a matter of degree.
The second area of ARAB SPRING, regarding gravitas, has to do with your needed efforts to convince Arabs and Muslims that they need to have better reasons for cutting off limbs, for instance, just for stealing a loaf of bread. Or, you need to convince them of the need to explain to the world how their punishment is better than civilized punishment, to wit for instance, that a one-armed teenager will have a harder time breaking and entering in order to steal another loaf of bread, or in this country, Lebron James sneakers. This will require IMAGE-ARAB SPRING to work with your state department, but a bit of caution is in order regarding personnel. William Ayers, your friend and mentor, of Weather Underground – Community Organizing fame, is not a candidate for dealing with the Muslims since he is just like them. The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright might be helpful since he’s made it clear that one can damn this country but still thrive quite well in it. That should make any Arab happy and score points for you in 2012.
Hoping to hear from you.
Respectfully,
I.M. Reverself, CEO
IMAGE
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Monday, June 13, 2011
Weiner's Partners in Crime
Everyone is piling on Congressman Weiner now and, of course, he deserves it as more of his disgraceful shenanigans are exposed almost daily. His claim to be seeking solutions (would Obamacare cover it?) for his problem seems vague enough. Is he having a “Tiger Woods Moment?” No such thing as sex-addiction has ever been declared by any psychiatric or social or psychological agency, so all the stuff about treating it is smoke and mirrors.
Interestingly, not much is said about the fact that on the other end of all Weiner’s tweets or Facebook whatevers – everything from phone sex to lewd pictures? – is a gaggle of females, many if not most of them perfectly willing to go along with the sleaze. They’re characterized in the media as “victims,” the watchword of modern-day America – everybody just has to be a victim of some kind – while poor Weiner is the only villain. Gimme a break!
I surfed onto Hannity the other evening (I’m not a Hannity type) and who was there all the way from Seattle or somewhere out west but the (gasp) college student victimized by Weiner, naturally just horrified – actually, amused – by the whole thing and obviously enjoying her 15 minutes of fame. She’s 26, a single mom (child’s father not mentioned) and a veteran of the U.S. Army, hardly a naïve college girl being seduced by a lecherous old congressman. She was as calm and collected as anyone could hope to be on Fox News, not the least bit upset. Even Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer couldn’t have made her weep bitter tears of trauma, though they might talk her into suing Weiner. That would be a great story.
Well…the network girls have dragged out Sanford, Spitzer, Edwards and hammered them, the cads, with great fervor, but don’t mention the distaff operatives involved in their hanky-panky. They even dredged up poor old Gary Hart and resurrected him from the eighties, the better to make their case that men are animals while the women are poor things just USED – oh, mercy, bless them all – by the insensitive creatures. An errant Congressman is not to be tolerated while practitioners of the oldest profession are to be pitied and glorified for showing strength amidst catastrophe. Egad!
I surfed onto ABC the other morning (okay, just five minutes, admittedly) to discover Christiane Amanpour conducting a panel comprised of some of the highest-profile women to be found anywhere. I gathered in my short viewing that the girls agreed that women are team-oriented and get things done while men are competitive to the point of pushing themselves at the expense of everything and everybody else, the devil take the hindmost. Oh…those cro-magnon-types…keepers of the Glass Ceiling, the devils!
The cutest irony, though, concerns the cuties who do these shows – not all but many, especially news and commentary – and take the lead in crucifying poor Weiner. That infamous press conference of his is still playing, and the cuties, who make sure to exhibit the greatest possible cleavage and the most possible thigh-skin put the dagger in Weiner’s back while displaying the most amazing come-ons ever imagined by the girl-on-the-move, doncha know. They give a show-and-tell lesson about how Weiner got hooked…or “hookered.”
The cuties contrive to give learned opinions (oh, the legal eagles among them) and talk about tornadoes and murders and Middle-East blood-in-the-streets while being painted and primped to the penultimate like they just dropped in for less serious things while on their way to the nearest cocktail party. While their male counterparts are dressed to the nines head-to-foot, suit-and-tie, they come in dressed off-the-shoulder (or sometimes off of more) and, prim and proper with their legs crossed just so, seeming to tease the camera-man about a possible crotch-shot lapse.
Let’s face it. Weiner has had it. I don’t care if he resigns or not. After all, the people elected him, and Congress has featured, does feature, and will always feature strange people, so Weiner is not necessarily out of place. If Slick Willie, who makes Weiner look like a Boy Scout, could hold the presidency, Satan itself could hold a seat from New York. In both perverted behavior and consummate lying, Weiner could never hold a candle to Bubba, who actually discovered what “is” is, perhaps the greatest lesson learned from his peccadilloes. Maybe Weiner will discover what “are” is, or maybe that should be what “are” are. Who knows…or cares?
In the meantime, let’s hear it for the girls who do the necessary in order to seduce these weak legislators and then make hay of it (how smart they are!) and the girls in their iffy clothes (or non-clothes) who make the Tube even boober as they juice up the nightly news and the morning doldrums.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Interestingly, not much is said about the fact that on the other end of all Weiner’s tweets or Facebook whatevers – everything from phone sex to lewd pictures? – is a gaggle of females, many if not most of them perfectly willing to go along with the sleaze. They’re characterized in the media as “victims,” the watchword of modern-day America – everybody just has to be a victim of some kind – while poor Weiner is the only villain. Gimme a break!
I surfed onto Hannity the other evening (I’m not a Hannity type) and who was there all the way from Seattle or somewhere out west but the (gasp) college student victimized by Weiner, naturally just horrified – actually, amused – by the whole thing and obviously enjoying her 15 minutes of fame. She’s 26, a single mom (child’s father not mentioned) and a veteran of the U.S. Army, hardly a naïve college girl being seduced by a lecherous old congressman. She was as calm and collected as anyone could hope to be on Fox News, not the least bit upset. Even Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer couldn’t have made her weep bitter tears of trauma, though they might talk her into suing Weiner. That would be a great story.
Well…the network girls have dragged out Sanford, Spitzer, Edwards and hammered them, the cads, with great fervor, but don’t mention the distaff operatives involved in their hanky-panky. They even dredged up poor old Gary Hart and resurrected him from the eighties, the better to make their case that men are animals while the women are poor things just USED – oh, mercy, bless them all – by the insensitive creatures. An errant Congressman is not to be tolerated while practitioners of the oldest profession are to be pitied and glorified for showing strength amidst catastrophe. Egad!
I surfed onto ABC the other morning (okay, just five minutes, admittedly) to discover Christiane Amanpour conducting a panel comprised of some of the highest-profile women to be found anywhere. I gathered in my short viewing that the girls agreed that women are team-oriented and get things done while men are competitive to the point of pushing themselves at the expense of everything and everybody else, the devil take the hindmost. Oh…those cro-magnon-types…keepers of the Glass Ceiling, the devils!
The cutest irony, though, concerns the cuties who do these shows – not all but many, especially news and commentary – and take the lead in crucifying poor Weiner. That infamous press conference of his is still playing, and the cuties, who make sure to exhibit the greatest possible cleavage and the most possible thigh-skin put the dagger in Weiner’s back while displaying the most amazing come-ons ever imagined by the girl-on-the-move, doncha know. They give a show-and-tell lesson about how Weiner got hooked…or “hookered.”
The cuties contrive to give learned opinions (oh, the legal eagles among them) and talk about tornadoes and murders and Middle-East blood-in-the-streets while being painted and primped to the penultimate like they just dropped in for less serious things while on their way to the nearest cocktail party. While their male counterparts are dressed to the nines head-to-foot, suit-and-tie, they come in dressed off-the-shoulder (or sometimes off of more) and, prim and proper with their legs crossed just so, seeming to tease the camera-man about a possible crotch-shot lapse.
Let’s face it. Weiner has had it. I don’t care if he resigns or not. After all, the people elected him, and Congress has featured, does feature, and will always feature strange people, so Weiner is not necessarily out of place. If Slick Willie, who makes Weiner look like a Boy Scout, could hold the presidency, Satan itself could hold a seat from New York. In both perverted behavior and consummate lying, Weiner could never hold a candle to Bubba, who actually discovered what “is” is, perhaps the greatest lesson learned from his peccadilloes. Maybe Weiner will discover what “are” is, or maybe that should be what “are” are. Who knows…or cares?
In the meantime, let’s hear it for the girls who do the necessary in order to seduce these weak legislators and then make hay of it (how smart they are!) and the girls in their iffy clothes (or non-clothes) who make the Tube even boober as they juice up the nightly news and the morning doldrums.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Monday, June 06, 2011
Weiner Warped in the Whirlwind!
The fact that New York Congressman Weiner was messed up in some sort of sexual business, albeit, at least according to him, at a distance and not involving intimacies, is not exactly surprising since this kind of stuff has been going on with elected officials virtually since the birth of the nation. The fact that he lied through his teeth about his rather sordid behavior when caught also was not surprising. This seems to be the knee-jerk reaction of politicians – perhaps most folks…who knows – when they’re caught in some sort of skullduggery, so what else is new?
The fact that Weiner called a press conference – not in Washington but in New York – to apologize all around to everyone he hurt, especially his wife, and to call himself out as a liar was not surprising, either. After all, he was caught and had no other option short of emigrating to Borneo. The fact that he stated his intentions to make no response of any kind concerning the dirt that is sure to be coming along was not surprising since to do so would merely enhance his guilt. In any case, he’s assured of soft treatment by the so-called mainstream media because he’s a democrat and because he’s Obama’s man Friday.
Weiner made it plain in the press conference that he would not resign his seat, as a New York colleague, also caught recently in shady stuff, did, as have many others. After all, former New York attorney-general and governor Eliot Spitzer, caught in a sordid business with high-priced prostitutes, resigned and is now doing quite well at CNN, a mainstream outlet, conducting his own talk-show and probably making bigger bucks than he ever would have as governor, at least as far as salary and not kickbacks are concerned. Sleaziness as a silent part of a resume apparently speaks well for broadcasters at CNN, so if worse comes to worse and Weiner should be forced out he could figure on a plush job at CNN, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS or maybe the New York Times, though he would probably favor TV, the better to show his anatomy.
The most disgusting thing about the affair, however, is the fact that a Congressman, supposedly a mature man who understands the seriousness connected to his job, could be caught up in the often, if not essentially, juvenile exercise of tweeting, texting, sexting or participating in Facebook or some other online silly bare-all vehicle, in which everything from the lurid to the totally inane, insane stuff is posted for all the world to see. Weiner made a laughingstock of his very position, one to which most folks – the voters – attach grave importance.
Weiner placed himself on the same level as a hormone-driven-high-school-sophomore boy, who’s likely to tweet before he thinks or place some ridiculous picture of some part of his physique on the internet, never realizing that it can be passed around the world in minutes, no matter how obnoxious or embarrassing to his family. Apparently, it never occurred to Weiner that all his tweeting and face-booking – even phone conversations…maybe phone sex a la Bill Clinton & Monica? – could come back to haunt him, even though after sitting through myriad hearings or congressional sessions he had to know how easy it is to surf the internet and find all kinds of incriminating stuff. Should one believe he was just plain stupid?
There’s a darker angle to this matter. On the basis of what Weiner did – with all other officials having the same online/electronic tools at their disposal – should one wonder how trustworthy these public servants are? Congressmen in both Houses have access to sensitive information, often delivered behind-closed-doors-only. How susceptible are they with respect to blackmail when to be embarrassed or – worse – lose their positions could be an outcome if they don’t “cooperate?” This makes Weiner’s utter lack of plain common sense all the more graphic.
In fact, his lack of plain common sense was vividly portrayed in that weird press conference that was actually co-opted for a while by his tormentor, Andrew Breitbart, when he said he would not resign – this despite the fact that he himself was in the process of destroying any credibility he might expect people to believe he had/has. One of his “ladies of interest” has indicated publicly that she talked on the phone with Weiner while he was in his office using a telephone, both provided as resources by the taxpayers. This is patently a no-no and will now be front-and-center in the House at the very time important matters are on the agenda. One suspects the democrats are hoping the problem will go away, meaning that Weiner will go away.
Oh…well…at least Weiner’s wife didn’t appear with him like a zombie standing by her man. Good for her!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
The fact that Weiner called a press conference – not in Washington but in New York – to apologize all around to everyone he hurt, especially his wife, and to call himself out as a liar was not surprising, either. After all, he was caught and had no other option short of emigrating to Borneo. The fact that he stated his intentions to make no response of any kind concerning the dirt that is sure to be coming along was not surprising since to do so would merely enhance his guilt. In any case, he’s assured of soft treatment by the so-called mainstream media because he’s a democrat and because he’s Obama’s man Friday.
Weiner made it plain in the press conference that he would not resign his seat, as a New York colleague, also caught recently in shady stuff, did, as have many others. After all, former New York attorney-general and governor Eliot Spitzer, caught in a sordid business with high-priced prostitutes, resigned and is now doing quite well at CNN, a mainstream outlet, conducting his own talk-show and probably making bigger bucks than he ever would have as governor, at least as far as salary and not kickbacks are concerned. Sleaziness as a silent part of a resume apparently speaks well for broadcasters at CNN, so if worse comes to worse and Weiner should be forced out he could figure on a plush job at CNN, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS or maybe the New York Times, though he would probably favor TV, the better to show his anatomy.
The most disgusting thing about the affair, however, is the fact that a Congressman, supposedly a mature man who understands the seriousness connected to his job, could be caught up in the often, if not essentially, juvenile exercise of tweeting, texting, sexting or participating in Facebook or some other online silly bare-all vehicle, in which everything from the lurid to the totally inane, insane stuff is posted for all the world to see. Weiner made a laughingstock of his very position, one to which most folks – the voters – attach grave importance.
Weiner placed himself on the same level as a hormone-driven-high-school-sophomore boy, who’s likely to tweet before he thinks or place some ridiculous picture of some part of his physique on the internet, never realizing that it can be passed around the world in minutes, no matter how obnoxious or embarrassing to his family. Apparently, it never occurred to Weiner that all his tweeting and face-booking – even phone conversations…maybe phone sex a la Bill Clinton & Monica? – could come back to haunt him, even though after sitting through myriad hearings or congressional sessions he had to know how easy it is to surf the internet and find all kinds of incriminating stuff. Should one believe he was just plain stupid?
There’s a darker angle to this matter. On the basis of what Weiner did – with all other officials having the same online/electronic tools at their disposal – should one wonder how trustworthy these public servants are? Congressmen in both Houses have access to sensitive information, often delivered behind-closed-doors-only. How susceptible are they with respect to blackmail when to be embarrassed or – worse – lose their positions could be an outcome if they don’t “cooperate?” This makes Weiner’s utter lack of plain common sense all the more graphic.
In fact, his lack of plain common sense was vividly portrayed in that weird press conference that was actually co-opted for a while by his tormentor, Andrew Breitbart, when he said he would not resign – this despite the fact that he himself was in the process of destroying any credibility he might expect people to believe he had/has. One of his “ladies of interest” has indicated publicly that she talked on the phone with Weiner while he was in his office using a telephone, both provided as resources by the taxpayers. This is patently a no-no and will now be front-and-center in the House at the very time important matters are on the agenda. One suspects the democrats are hoping the problem will go away, meaning that Weiner will go away.
Oh…well…at least Weiner’s wife didn’t appear with him like a zombie standing by her man. Good for her!
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
U.N. Mandate Distorted by Obama
From the UN Security Council of 17 March:
SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES ‘NO-FLY ZONE’ OVER LIBYA, AUTHORIZING ‘ALL NECESSARY MEASURES’ TO PROTECT CIVILIANS, BY VOTE OF 10 IN FAVOUR WITH 5 ABSTENTIONS
Demanding an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute “crimes against humanity”, the Security Council this evening imposed a ban on all flights in the country’s airspace — a no-fly zone — and tightened sanctions on the Qadhafi regime and its supporters.
Adopting resolution 1973 (2011) by a vote of 10 in favour to none against, with 5 abstentions (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Russian Federation), the Council authorized Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory — requesting them to immediately inform the Secretary-General of such measures.
What began as the establishment of a no-fly-zone (described by Defense Secretary Gates as an “on the fly” operation, translated unstructured) has become an all-out war, with the heaviest NATO bombing to date on Tuesday the 24th, a total of 2,500 air-strikes in the last two months. As far as is known, there is no exit plan/strategy, just continued bombing.
From the New York Times, May 22: “Samantha Power, a human rights crusader, is a member of the National Security Council, which advises President Obama on foreign policy. For nearly 20 years, since her days as a young war correspondent in Bosnia, Ms. Power has championed the idea that nations have a moral obligation to prevent genocide. From her perch on the council, she is in a position to make that case to the commander in chief — and to watch him translate her ideas into action.” Perhaps such as Libya? Disgusting!
It may be that the president fancies himself as a “humanitarian interventionist,” someone who takes a look at various parts of the world and decides that he’d better fix them, even if killing a bunch of innocent people is in the mix. His glorification of the current “Arab Spring” and consequent urging of young, inexperienced, unprepared Middle Easterners to take to the streets, a la community organizing mode, and turn themselves into cannon fodder in the process is disingenuous at best and criminal at worst.
Continuing his Osama victory lap in Great Britain, the president described the action vis-à-vis Libya of this country and England, along with the rest of NATO, as the saving of lives. For more than two months the U.S. and NATO have been bombing Libya in order to save lives? For the first ten days of the rape of Libya, the U.S. was the main player, spending $55 million per day raining death and destruction on Libyans in order to save lives. Since then, the U.S. has been quite active in its role supporting militarily the intrusion into that civil war, no matter the president’s silly reference to non-kinetic participation, something he seems to define as absolving him of responsibility regarding the War Powers Act.
In March, Obama said regime change was not the aim of the U.S. in Libya; however, he and British Prime Minister Cameron, in their joint press conference, made it very plain that regime change is the goal, notwithstanding anything the Security Council mandated, none of which was to effect a regime change in Libya, also a member in good standing in the United Nations. England and France, oil customers of Libya and probably tired of having to deal with Qaddafi, who doubtlessly takes them to the cleaners in behalf of his own corruption, have a high-profile stake in Libya and probably laugh behind Obama’s back, thinking to use him.
This whole sorry episode is indicative of just how lightly the major nations, including the U.S., take the UN. Obama, in his humanitarian interventionist role got a mandate not from the U.S. Congress, which would have been the normal procedure, but from the UN Security Council, which held its collective nose and approved an invasion/attack on Libya to “save lives.” This resolution has been turned on its head by Obama, the UN be damned. He has used it to declare war on a sovereign nation that has never posed a threat to the United States, and especially not in any recent history, i.e., Obama’s lifetime.
Obama has done to Libya what the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor in December 1941 at the cost of 3,000 American lives. No one ever mentions how many Libyans have been killed by U.S. bombs and missiles. The Europeans don’t have many of these weapons, if any. It is known that Qaddafi’s son and three grandchildren were killed in a raid on their house in a residential neighborhood. The targets are supposed to be military in nature but that approach seems to have gone out the window.
In other words, the U.S. and NATO have assumed the posture of terrorists, the killing of women and children and one can only wonder how the people in uniform feel about this. The UN objective, no matter its illegitimacy, was accomplished long ago. Now, Libya is just a killing field.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES ‘NO-FLY ZONE’ OVER LIBYA, AUTHORIZING ‘ALL NECESSARY MEASURES’ TO PROTECT CIVILIANS, BY VOTE OF 10 IN FAVOUR WITH 5 ABSTENTIONS
Demanding an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute “crimes against humanity”, the Security Council this evening imposed a ban on all flights in the country’s airspace — a no-fly zone — and tightened sanctions on the Qadhafi regime and its supporters.
Adopting resolution 1973 (2011) by a vote of 10 in favour to none against, with 5 abstentions (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Russian Federation), the Council authorized Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory — requesting them to immediately inform the Secretary-General of such measures.
What began as the establishment of a no-fly-zone (described by Defense Secretary Gates as an “on the fly” operation, translated unstructured) has become an all-out war, with the heaviest NATO bombing to date on Tuesday the 24th, a total of 2,500 air-strikes in the last two months. As far as is known, there is no exit plan/strategy, just continued bombing.
From the New York Times, May 22: “Samantha Power, a human rights crusader, is a member of the National Security Council, which advises President Obama on foreign policy. For nearly 20 years, since her days as a young war correspondent in Bosnia, Ms. Power has championed the idea that nations have a moral obligation to prevent genocide. From her perch on the council, she is in a position to make that case to the commander in chief — and to watch him translate her ideas into action.” Perhaps such as Libya? Disgusting!
It may be that the president fancies himself as a “humanitarian interventionist,” someone who takes a look at various parts of the world and decides that he’d better fix them, even if killing a bunch of innocent people is in the mix. His glorification of the current “Arab Spring” and consequent urging of young, inexperienced, unprepared Middle Easterners to take to the streets, a la community organizing mode, and turn themselves into cannon fodder in the process is disingenuous at best and criminal at worst.
Continuing his Osama victory lap in Great Britain, the president described the action vis-à-vis Libya of this country and England, along with the rest of NATO, as the saving of lives. For more than two months the U.S. and NATO have been bombing Libya in order to save lives? For the first ten days of the rape of Libya, the U.S. was the main player, spending $55 million per day raining death and destruction on Libyans in order to save lives. Since then, the U.S. has been quite active in its role supporting militarily the intrusion into that civil war, no matter the president’s silly reference to non-kinetic participation, something he seems to define as absolving him of responsibility regarding the War Powers Act.
In March, Obama said regime change was not the aim of the U.S. in Libya; however, he and British Prime Minister Cameron, in their joint press conference, made it very plain that regime change is the goal, notwithstanding anything the Security Council mandated, none of which was to effect a regime change in Libya, also a member in good standing in the United Nations. England and France, oil customers of Libya and probably tired of having to deal with Qaddafi, who doubtlessly takes them to the cleaners in behalf of his own corruption, have a high-profile stake in Libya and probably laugh behind Obama’s back, thinking to use him.
This whole sorry episode is indicative of just how lightly the major nations, including the U.S., take the UN. Obama, in his humanitarian interventionist role got a mandate not from the U.S. Congress, which would have been the normal procedure, but from the UN Security Council, which held its collective nose and approved an invasion/attack on Libya to “save lives.” This resolution has been turned on its head by Obama, the UN be damned. He has used it to declare war on a sovereign nation that has never posed a threat to the United States, and especially not in any recent history, i.e., Obama’s lifetime.
Obama has done to Libya what the Japanese did to Pearl Harbor in December 1941 at the cost of 3,000 American lives. No one ever mentions how many Libyans have been killed by U.S. bombs and missiles. The Europeans don’t have many of these weapons, if any. It is known that Qaddafi’s son and three grandchildren were killed in a raid on their house in a residential neighborhood. The targets are supposed to be military in nature but that approach seems to have gone out the window.
In other words, the U.S. and NATO have assumed the posture of terrorists, the killing of women and children and one can only wonder how the people in uniform feel about this. The UN objective, no matter its illegitimacy, was accomplished long ago. Now, Libya is just a killing field.
And so it goes.
Jim Clark
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