WAR TIME LEADERS

WAR TIME LEADERS

Resolute, purposeful, direct, compelling and non-political

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT – 1941

“As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the un-bounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.”

WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL - 1941

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR - On Crossing The Rubicon/49 b.c.
' (As recounted by Suetonius-Roman historian and biographer)

'Still we can retreat! But once let us pass this little bridge, - and nothing is left but to fight it out with arms!’

Caesar cried out, ‘Let us go where the omens of the Gods and the crimes of our enemies summon us! THE DIE IS NOW CAST!’

KING HENRY V - Battle of Agincourt: October 25, 1415.

“He which hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart; his passport shall be made, and crowns for convoy put into his purse; we would not die in that man’s company that fears his fellowship to die with us.”

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother”.

* * * * * * * * * * *

.......and then we have……

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA II – On Afghanistan/Nov. 1, 2009 at West Point

“….the review has allowed me ask the hard questions, and to explore all of the different options along with my national security team, our military and civilian leadership in Afghanistan, and with our key partners. Given the stakes involved, I owed the American people - and our troops - no less.

This review is now complete. And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home.”

* * * * * * * * *

In the words of GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON:

“Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war.”

Note: General Patton’s reasoning that America ‘has never lost nor will ever lose a war” holds true as long as it is applied to America's Military, not its politicians.

A WIZARD IS A WIZARD AFTER ALL

Dorothy.........If you were really great and powerful, you'd keep your
......................... promises!

Wizard........Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful
.........................creatures! Think yourselves lucky that I'm giving you an
.........................audience tomorrow instead of twenty years from now!
.........................Oh! The Great Oz has spoken!
........................ Oh! Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
.........................The Great Powerful-- has spoken –

Dorothy.......Who are you?

Wizard........Well, I - I - I am the Great and Powerful - Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy.........You are?

Wizard........Uh -

Dorothy.........I don't believe you!

Wizard.........No, I'm afraid it's true. There's no other Wizard except me.

Scarecrow...You Humbug!

Lion...............Yeah!

Wizard.........Yes - that's exactly so - I'm a humbug.

Dorothy......Oh - you're a very bad man!

Wizard.........Oh, no, my dear. I - I'm a very good man. I'm just a very
........................bad Wizard.

A humbug? A very bad man? A very good man? A very bad wizard? Just 100 days into a new administration, these are the questions being asked by an increasingly disillusioned electorate. As buyer’s remorse starts to creep in, America is just starting to ask the questions it should have been asking two years ago. The country wants to know who it is that it has chosen to be its President. More importantly, who is it that lurks behind the curtain, producing the sound and light show and projecting a two-dimensional face to the transfixed masses? Exactly who is this Modern-day Wizard of Oz?

Throughout the campaign, Barack Hussein Obama presented himself as the anti-Bush to a weary electorate – an electorate that had been beaten over the head for over seven years by the liberal media’s constant drumbeat against President Bush. Forget about the absence of any more 9/11 attacks. Forget about the Democratic fingerprints all over the sub-prime lending debacle at the heart of our banking/credit crisis. Forget about the miserable performance of Princess Pelosi’s Democratic Congress. The citizens of Oz had been convinced that Bush did nothing right and all the bad things happening to them were Bush’s fault. Forget about the gymnastic feats of tax dodging, influence peddling, social engineering and other malfeasance of Democratic members of Congress. Forget about the headline-grabbing transgressions and worse of Democratic Governors. In the Land of Oz, Republicans are the party of greed and self-indulgence. The Democratic Party represents goodness and light, a massive tent sheltering all of life’s victims.

If you’re a victim because your neighbor earns more than you, welcome. If you’re a victim because you’re a single mother with four children from three different fathers, and need someone to support your fatherless household, your pain is felt. Welcome. If you’re a victim because you believed the spiel of the snake-oil salesman and invested in his promise of unrealistic financial returns, we respect your innocence and hold you blameless. Welcome. If you’re a victim because you disagreed with the policies and laws of the foreign country in which you were born and decided to disregard this country’s laws and enter illegally, we are not judgmental. Welcome to our healthcare system, our educational system, our banking system. Welcome to our everything.

Into this tent rides The Manchurian Candidate, a worker of wonders, a sorcerer with super human powers. With “CHANGE” emblazoned on his cape and riding a white charger named “MEDIA”, he promises to wave his magic wand and make us all feel better again, ‘cause that’s what a wizard does. And, in the absence of any sense of personal responsibility, we seek supernatural solutions to our everyday problems. We seek wizards. If we see our crops are dying from lack of rain, we call in a wizard called “The Rainmaker”. If we overeat and become overweight, we call in a wizard called “The Diet Doctor”. If we lack meaning in our lives, we turn to a wizard called “The TV Pop Psychologist”. If we seek excitement for our lives, we rely on a wizard called “The Celebrity”. And, when we feel we can’t shift for ourselves any longer, we cede all responsibility for our own well-being to that biggest Wizard of all, the one we call “The Government”.

In his quest to be the biggest Wizard of all, Barack went forward as the essential jedermensch, the everyman, ‘fellow citizen of the world’, as he called himself in Berlin in July 2008. He was all things to all people, sensitive to everyone’s misfortune, promising to use his healing powers to solve all of the world’s ills. When elected he would be President of all the people and no one would escape his largesse. Since the election, he has performed well as the teleprompter reading, canned speech delivering, talking points enumerating, stand-up comic – the not ready for prime time President.

He is the embodiment of Oz, the direct opposite of the Miracle Worker. The real Miracle Worker, Annie Sullivan, used her talent and tenacity to enable Helen Keller to know and communicate with the real world beyond her blindness and deafness. She managed to penetrate the black and soundless world of a young girl and gave her the tools to create an abundant life. On the other hand, we have the Ozian Wizard, Obama, who uses his talent to blind us to reality while delivering the message fed to him by the shadows behind the curtain.

In the final analysis, what is our Wizard capable of delivering? If we look at the model, the original Wizard of Oz, we may get some guidance.

Education -...Did the Wizard of Oz give the scarecrow a brain? Did he
...........................educate him? No, he only presented him with a diploma
...........................so he’d feel educated. Sound familiar?

Healthcare - Did the Wizard of Oz give the Tin Woodsman a heart?
...........................No, he only presented him with a ticking clock to make
...........................him think he had a beating heart. Might this be a
...........................metaphor for healthcare reform?

Security -.......Did the Wizard of Oz give the Cowardly Lion courage?
...........................No, he only gave him a medal with the word “courage”
...........................written on it. Word instead of action. Form instead of
...........................substance. Bye-bye to National Security.

But, what’s the difference if he’s good or if he’s bad? A wizard is a wizard, after all.

"GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!"

"GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!"

Monday – 9 February 2009

Today I did several things. On and off throughout the day I watched television accounts of the wrangling over the proposed 1 trillion dollar Democratic spending (excuse me, economic recovery) plan. I listened to President Obama (echoed by countless Democratic politicians and liberal pundits) follow though on his promise to bring civility and bi-partisanship to the process, by attacking the so-called ‘failed policies’ of the last eight years and blaming all our ills on Bush. I saw President Obama pandering to the citizens of a small town, a town with a 15% rate of unemployment, a town whose economy is almost completely dependent on relatively large, fairly expensive, fuel inefficient Recreational Vehicles. No irony there. I heard him tell the country that the Pelosi/Reid spending plan was America’s must-do, must-do-immediately, must do-or-die bail-out package. I saw the NEWSWEEK cover which says “WE ARE SOCIALISTS NOW” and, while channel surfing, I caught the end of PLANET OF THE APES where Charlton Heston screams out in frustration at the people who had destroyed his planet, “God Damn You All To Hell!”

I am sure that many of my countrymen, if not most, would agree with me when I vent my frustration at the people who would destroy my country, "God Damn You All to Hell!"

➢ I am sick to death of the Democrats screaming about the ‘failed Bush policies of the past 8 years”. Up until the Democrats took control of Congress 2 years ago and Speaker Pelosi started spreading her wings, we were doing just fine, thank you. (In spite of Osama bin Laden, the naysayers of the mainstream media and the assortment of befuddled leftovers from the drug-infused anti-war at any costs crowd.) Up until Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and other Democratic officials, in cahoots with their Liberal/Progressive allies at Acorn and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, helped destroy our housing industry, undermine our banking industry, debauch our currency and wreak havoc upon our society in general.

➢ I am amused at the performance of our ‘Not ready for prime time’ President, all style and no substance, using his first televised press conference to recycle all of his old campaign speeches, thinly disguised as rambling answers to questions posed by his adoring press. (Even as I write this, I am hearing the smartest man in the world refer to OPEC and when they were “first formed in the early 70’s”. What’s a decade or so, more or less, anyway? (Since when has historical accuracy been a prerequisite in political speech?)

➢ When asked about Senator Leahy’s plan to go after members of the Bush Administration for the ‘crimes’ they committed over the last eight years, President Obama said that anywhere a crime has been committed, a law broken, the people responsible should be prosecuted. No one is above the law. I wonder if Tim Geithner, Charlie Rangel, Tom Daschle and Barney Frank were listening and, if so, have they lawyered-up and gone into hiding?

➢ President Obama said he was disturbed that Alex Rodriguez was guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. After his performance during the first few weeks of his administration, I’d suggest he contact A-Rod’s supplier.

➢ And finally, according to Newsweek - WE ARE ALL SOCIALISTS NOW -

“In many ways our economy already resembles a European one.
As boomers age and spending grows, we will become even more French.”

Make you feel good? Then - ALLEZ VOUS TOUS À L’ENFER.

LIFE IMITATES ART

LIFE IMITATES ART
- or -
SECOND CITY SHENANIGANS

To the extent that the Chicago political morass is the cesspool from which the incoming Obama administration arose and the Illinois political circus is the flavor of the month, it would be helpful if we could learn more about that City and that State. What really constitutes Chicago Politics? What really constitutes the ‘pay-for-play’ approach to Illinois Politics?

As to Chicago Politics and its impact on the President-Elect, the mainstream press has had two years to investigate and hasn’t yet asked question number # 1. To underscore the complete lack of vetting of Obama by the mainstream media, in a conversation between Tom Brokaw and Charlie Rose on Public Television shortly after Obama’s election victory, they both indicated that they had no idea of what Obama might do as they didn’t know enough about him. Watching them, you also realized that that same lack of knowledge was not an impediment to their overblown opinion of him.

As to the Illinois ‘pay-for-play’ political supermarket, it will probably be another few months before U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald releases any more information regarding Governor Blagojevich's own version of THE PRICE IS RIGHT.

So, what are we to do? Where do we go to get our questions answered? To whom do we turn to gain enlightenment? As the only providers of wisdom in the real (?) world would seem to be the Liberal/Obama press and television networks, it just might be that our only source for context might be the world of make believe, the movie-makers of Hollywood, the titans of tinseltown.

For instance, if the movie THE GRADUATE were to be released today, on the eve of President-Elect Obama’s push for massive infrastructure expenditures, rather than in 1967 when the Baby-Boomers were more interested in massive inhalation experiments, the one iconic line from the screenplay might be changed just a bit. The advice to Dustin Hoffman’s character, young Benjamin Braddock, ”I have one word for you, plastics” , could be rewritten as “I have one word for you, asphalt”. Especially if young Benjamin lived in Illinois where, if you dig deep enough with your government-issued, TARP-funded digging implement/shovel, you just might find some very well connected asphalt providers, their commercial sticky fingers embedded in political tar babies.

In the movie SOME LIKE IT HOT, a pair of down-at-heels musicians (played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) are accidental witnesses to a mob rubout in a Chicago parking garage. They flee their mob pursuers and join up (in drag) with an all-girls orchestra entraining for a gig in Florida. The movie ends when a dotty old rich guy (comedian Joe E. Brown) proposes marriage to the cross-dressing bass violin player (Jack Lemmon) forcing Lemmon’s character Daphne to reveal his charade, whipping off his wig and admitting his maleness. An iconic movie moment was born when Joe E. Brown deadpanned Billy Wilder’s (and I. A. Diamond’s) classic closing line, “Well, nobody’s perfect”.

That line might also apply to Governor Blagojevich's defiant choice for the successor to Obama’s Senate seat. As Eric Zorn wrote in his column in The Chicago Tribune the other day, Roland Burris is “.....annoying, but he's not a nitwit, a kook or a criminal.” Certainly not perfection, but who could ask for anything more?

In the satirical movie musical CHICAGO, based on the Broadway musical, an earlier play of the same name and, ultimately, the real-life adventures of two Chicago jazz age female killers, almost everyone is a sleaze. “Cell Block Tango” is a number from the show in which the “six merry murderesses of the Cook County jail” plead their innocence. “He had it coming. He had it coming. He only had himself to blame.” In the current situation, it could be rewritten as the Blago Tango, the song and dance wherein Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Illinois) explains himself. “I had it coming. I had it coming. And I know how to play the game.”

Incidentally, up until Chicago’s tryouts, the musical had another character, The Agent, whose role was to exploit the notoriety of the six imprisoned murderesses for his own gain. This character's role was eventually cut from the show, along with his song, Ten Percent. In our rewrite, we might consider restoring that character, or giving his song to Blago with a significant increase in the percentage.

I’m still trying to decide what we can do with another number from the show, The Press Conference Rag, but Blago may have already exhausted all possibilities.

As an aside, notwithstanding the expertise of Chicago’s Democratic machine in election rigging (see Joe Kennedy), it may not be the only hotbed of Democratic sleight of hand. In their book Defining Moments in Journalism, Nancy J. Woodhull and Robert W. Snyder relate the following episode concerning a well-known Texas Democrat and his version of ‘One person – One vote’.

“On at least three separate occasions he (LBJ) told (David) Brinkley about how he committed voter fraud in Texas. When first running for the Senate, Johnson and a group of friends scoured a graveyard looking for names to add to the voting rolls. When one of the friends found a stone that was difficult to read, he wanted to skip it. According to Brinkley, Johnson responded: 'You will not skip it. He’s got as much right to vote as anybody in this cemetery.'”

With this in mind, I’m considering a rewrite of one of the classic horror films, THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, as a sort of metaphor for our election system. Perhaps we might film it in Minnesota.

THE HISTORY LESSON

THE HISTORY LESSON

In a piece several months ago, during the more feverish segment of the 2008 Presidential campaign, I commented about Obama accusing McCain of trying to bring about the 3rd Bush term. I concluded then that I would prefer that to what Obama was promising, the 2nd Carter term. (I’ve even heard Christopher Buckley refer to it as the 1st McGovern term). Now, with McCain’s defeat, the former can’t come true and, with Obama’s announced selection of members of his administration, neither might the latter two.

The Obama assemblage of familiar names from recent history leads many to posit that he is slapping together the 3rd Clinton term. (The moment we hear that Monica Lewinsky has been named as Secretary of the Interior, we’ll know for sure.) However, Obama’s entering into an asexual ménage à trios with the Clintons in January 2009 will occur in a world vastly different from that of January 1993, when the Clintons sidled into the White House, courtesy of Ross Perot.

So, what has history to tell us about that difference and what might it whisper in our ear about Obama’s presidency?

1. CLINTON had won the White House with the support of only 43% of the voters, his victory aided in no small part by the 3rd party candidate, Ross Perot, garnering 19% of the popular vote.
OBAMA’s victory was less a blowout than many of his supporters expected, but he won convincingly, receiving 53% of the popular vote. Not exactly the mandate they were looking for, but a significantly more impressive win than Clinton’s.

2. CLINTON was handed a burgeoning economy, already on its way to record levels. After eight years, he handed off a declining economy, a recession to his successor, George W. Bush.
OBAMA will be greeted by a worldwide recession, at the root of which is the freezing up of the credit markets, caused principally by the Democratic Congress and their misuse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

3. CLINTON began his regime in a fairly peaceful world, the USSR no longer a threat. He was handed the ‘peace dividend’, the freeing up of large amounts of money which might otherwise have gone to Defense had Reagan not won the ‘cold war’. Despite a series of terrorist attacks on U.S. interests here (The World Trade Center in 1993) and abroad (Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in 1998, the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000), Clinton engineered major reductions in our military strength and did little to carry the fight to the terrorists. (Aspirin factories don’t count!)
OBAMA steps right into the middle of a worldwide jihadist threat, with on-going U.S. military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with Iran as an over-hanging menace. Fortunately for Obama, there is no longer an Arab-Israeli problem as Jimmy Carter solved that, as attested to by his Nobel Peace Prize……or, did I miss something?

4. CLINTON had a less than sparkling 1st two years, taking a long time to put his team together and making several missteps before the biggest one of all, HillaryCare. It took Newt Gingrich’s ‘Contract with America’ in 1994 to regain Republican control of Congress, leading to Welfare Reform, tax reductions and the first balanced budget in decades. Lord only knows what might have happened in the Clinton years had the Democrats continued to control both the Legislative and the Executive branches.
OBAMA, in contrast, is assembling his team early and it’s not unreasonable to hope he’ll be ready to move immediately after inauguration. However, with the three tenors in the White House (Barry, Hillary and Bill) and the back-up singers in the Congress (Nancy and Harry), hope is not an easy thing to come by. Apprehension is more like it. And, while we were all alarmed about Candidate Obama’s ‘share the wealth’ philosophy, the spate of recent and impending bailouts of just about every failing enterprise Congress and the Administration could find, has already turned Washington D.C. into Moscow on the Potomac. President Obama will be hard-pressed to do worse.

So, how will Obama govern? The psychological and monetary costs of the current financial collapse will impede (if not completely negate) his ability to throw the taxpayers’ money at every social problem. His desire to move to socialization (if such a desire really exists) may not be capable of fulfillment. As to Iraq, he will inherit a winning hand from George Bush and there’s a good chance he’ll play it out. The last thing Obama could afford to do is to acquiesce to his lunatic far-left fringe, pull out of Iraq prematurely, and let history saddle him with the disastrous consequences certain to follow. And how will he handle the Clintons? Quite possibly, we’ve been given a peek at the Hussein side of the Barack Hussein Obama gene pool. Is he acting in accordance with the old Bedouin admonition about it being better to have the camel inside the tent pissing out?

“History is just one f**king thing after another.” Alan Bennett – ‘The History Boys’

JACK DEENEY
November 30, 2008

THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH

THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH

The number seven seems to permeate the current political silly season. Seven years seems to be a recurring time frame and groups of seven seem to define the mess in which we find ourselves.

THE NEW 9/11 – THE SEVEN YEARS wherein the Liberal Democrats succeeded where the 9/11 terrorists failed.

In September 2001, fanatical Muslim terrorists attempted to topple the U.S. financial system and the Twin Towers that embodied it. They succeeded in bringing down the Twin Towers but failed to topple the U.S. Economy

In September 2008 (seven years later), Congressional Democrats completed their socialistic agenda’s decades-long misuse of their own twin towers (and cash cows), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their attempts to deny their complicity, to protect their party and to shield their Presidential nominee from blame for the resulting financial fiasco blocked any realistic chance of containing the damage to our financial system.

These Liberal Congressional Democrats succeeded not only in bringing down their own twin towers (Fannie & Freddie), but also succeeded where the terrorists had failed by dealing a crippling blow to the U.S. Economy.

Score The Democrats – 1 The Country – 0

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS – An Association Test wherein you are invited to match one from Column A with one from Column B.
---A ----------------------- B
Gluttony ..............Franklin Raines (CEO Fannie Mae, Carter & Clinton OMB, advisor to Obama)
Lust ......................Barney Frank (D. Mass.)
Greed ...................Chris Dodd (D. CT)
Sloth .....................Chuck Schumer (D. NY)
Wrath ...................Maxine Waters (D. Cal)
Envy ......................Nancy Pelosi (D. Cal)
Pride .....................Barack Obama (D. ILL.)

(Hint to solvers: THERE ARE NO WRONG ANSWERS.)

Score The Democrats – 2 The Country – 0

THE INNOCENCE OF THE SEVEN YEAR OLD – Wherein the Child is Father to the Man

When Adolph Hitler marched into Poland, I was only 7 years old. Years later, had I the opportunity to socialize and work closely with him, I might have politely refused (possibly even impolitely) and if he’d offered to host my political coming-out party and do some fund-raising for me, there’s a good chance I might have refused his help.

When 60’s radical Bill Ayers began his public career as a terrorist by bombing New York City Police Headquarters, Barack Obama was only 8 years old.
When 60’s radical Bill Ayers bombed the United States Capitol building, Barack Obama was only 9 years old.
When 60’s radical Bill Ayers bombed the Pentagon, Barack Obama was only 10 years old.

Therefore, Obama claims his close association with Bill Ayers years later is not to be regarded as a reflection on his own patriotism, his judgment, his political philosophy or his fitness to govern. Of course, this rationalization doesn’t take into account the following:

When 60’s radical Bill Ayers publicly expressed his regret for not having done more damage to the United States, Barack Obama was only 39 years old.

Obama never knew about Ayers’ terrorist activities. Never knew, even while living in an area where Ayers was celebrated and idolized for his past. He never heard about it, never read about it, never realized that his benefactor, mentor and co-director was a detestable hangover from the ranks of the 60’s anarchists, bomb-throwers, cop-killers and America-haters.

Just as the smartest woman in the world didn’t have the faintest idea of what her husband was doing (or rather, having done to him) while they both lived in the White House, we now have this smart fellow who would use his wisdom and insights to govern 300 million citizens. The same smart fellow whose wisdom and insight never provided him with the faintest glimmer into the heinous crimes of only one citizen, the acts of terrorism his friend, benefactor and fellow-traveler had committed, admitted to and bragged about.

Score The Democrats – 3 The Country - 0

THE SEVEN VIRTUES – Another Association Test wherein you are invited to match one from Column A with one from Column B.

---A-------------------- B
Faith ...............Chuck Schumer (D. NY)
Hope ...............Bernie Sanders (I. VT)
Charity ............Ted Kennedy (D. Mass)
Fortitude ........Hillary Clinton (D. NY ?)
Justice .............Henry Waxman (D. Cal)
Prudence .........John Conyers (D. Mich)
Temperance ....Harry Reid (D. Nev)

(Hint to solvers: THERE ARE NO RIGHT ANSWERS.)

Score The Democrats – 4 The Country – 0

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN – Wherein the Seven ‘Masters of the Universe’ were duped by The Seven Deadly Sins into betraying The Seven Virtues (see above)

Lehman Brothers
Goldman Sachs
Wachovia
Washington Mutual
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Indy Mac

Score The Democrats – 5 The country – 0

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD – Wherein I Wonder:

1. I wonder when the Liberal/Progressive, Socialist-Leaning Media will wake up and realize that their reward for blindly backing the Obama Manifesto could result in they, themselves, being destroyed by it?

2. I wonder when the Liberal/Progressive throwbacks will realize that their visceral hate for George Bush, the Military and business in general is at best childish, at worst treasonous, and that George Bush saved their asses in spite of themselves.

3. I wonder when the right will stop trying to make nice with the left? When will they learn that you don’t defeat duplicity by encouraging it?

4. I wonder when the 60’s crowd will grow up, stop looking for their lost youth, their lost causes, their lost hates and realize how their generation and its spawn have done lasting damage to this country that shelters them?

5. I wonder if the party that supports partial birth abortion and wants governmental control of a socialistic healthcare delivery system realizes that neither position promotes human well being?

6. I wonder why the feminists of the left (a redundancy) have so much hate for their country that they spew their venom on a successful woman simply because she doesn’t support abortion on demand, the indiscriminate murder of millions of their fellow citizens?

7. I wonder if, at age 75, I will live long enough to see the rebirth of a Democratic Party that rejects the Clintonian principles of character assassination, dissembling and outright falsification, that stands for something other than the failed collective ideologies of the last several centuries and that reemerges as a vital and vibrant contributor to honest and intelligent political discourse? I Wonder.

YESTERDAY PEOPLE: THE U.S. CONGRESS - STONE AGE SOLUTIONS IN THE HYDROCARBON AGE

OIL SURGES OVER $134 ON SUPPLY WOES, WEAK DOLLAR. (Reuters – May 21, 2008) “Weakness in the U.S. dollar encouraged Wednesday's buying spree by bolstering the purchasing power of buyers holding other currencies, dealers said.”

OIL PRICES PASS $134 AFTER REPORT OF SUPPLY DROP. (AP – May 21, 2008)
“With demand for oil growing in the developing world, and little end in sight to supply problems in producing countries such as Nigeria, few analysts are willing to call an end to crude's rally.”

So, is it the weak dollar or the time-honored story of supply & demand? Whatever the underlying cause, the fact remains: we have an energy crisis, so what do we have to do to solve it? Not to worry. Our politicians are stepping up to face this newly emerging crisis.

1. The Senate calls in the oil company executives (May 21, 2008) and Senator Durbin (Illinois Democrat) berates them for having no “corporate conscience”. "Is there anybody here that has any concerns about what you're doing to this country with the prices that you're charging and the profits that you're taking?" Durbin asked.

According to the unbiased reporter from Associated Press, “The titans of America's oil industry sat quietly for a moment.” And further, from that fair and balanced reporter, “The executives, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the hearing room, said they understood people were hurting, but they tried to blunt the emotion with economic analysis.”

How dare the Oil Company executives blunt emotion – and with economic analysis, of all things?

2. The House votes to pursue legal action against OPEC “CONGRESS' LATEST ANSWER TO RISING GASOLINE PRICES: SUE OPEC” (The Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2008)
“Defying a White House veto threat, the House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would allow the Justice Department to pursue legal action against the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for conspiring to restrict supplies or drive up prices.”

So, the Democratic House goes in a direction different from the Democratic Senate and wants to lay the blame for our oil-related problems squarely on OPEC, of all people.

3. Barack Obama “wants windfall profits tax on oil companies.” (The Guardian April 25, 2008). “Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama today called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies, which he said would be used to ease the burden of rising energy costs on poor and middle-class Americans.”

So, Barack Obama throws his lot in with the ‘tax windfall profits’ gang founded by Jimmy Carter (and we know how well that worked for him) and recently joined by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Chavez announced his ‘windfall profits tax’ in April 2008, claiming that it is necessary to fund key social programs as part of his effort to implement an economic and social system he calls "21st-century socialism."

With all this political posturing, confusion, finger pointing and hand wringing, where do we look for answers? Certainly not to our elected officials who have never some to grips with the fact that, other than through enacting tax related measures and caving in to the manic demands of the environmental lobby, they have negligible power over global markets. In fact, the sum total of their proposals will not produce one additional drop of oil. We are in the Hydrocarbon Age, reaping the rich harvest of rewards of this gift from God. Just as the Stone Age did not come to an end because we ran out of stones, the Hydrocarbon Age is not coming to an end because we're running out of oil.

According to the website http://www.partnershipforenergy.com (a project of The American Petroleum Institute), "As global demand for oil increases, many people are asking how our nation’s oil needs will be met in the coming decades. The good news is that America isn’t running out of oil—and neither is the rest of the world."

"New extraction and refining techniques have opened up opportunities to explore for oil cost-effectively in oil sands, oil shale, and coastal lands and waters. New oil discoveries worldwide would provide billions of barrels of oil for years to come. In the U.S. and Canada alone, these discoveries include:

• Up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil in oil shale in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation
• Up to 19 billion barrels of oil in oil sands in Utah
• More than 30 billion barrels of oil in Alaska’s coastal plains and the Chukchi Sea
• An estimated 173 billion barrels of oil from oil sands in western Canada
• More than 1.2 trillion barrels of oil in oil shale in the Green River Formation in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

What does it mean? 1 billion barrels of oil could provide enough fuel to keep more than 1 million cars running for the next 30 years."

Now I know that Big, Bad Oil is supposed to be the enemy, Congress is our friend (assuming you pay no attention to Nancy Pelosi & Company's approval ratings) and the environmentalists all have our best interests at heart.

How about a novel approach? Might it not make sense to listen to the people who best know about oil, the oil industry itself?

YESTERDAY PEOPLE - JIMMY, HUGO & BARACK

or- DON QUIXOTE OBAMA - TILTING AT WINDFALLS

Windfall Profits Tax 101: How to Make the Producers Pay and Damn the Consequences.

1. April 1980: Windfall Profits Tax - JIMMY CARTER - SOCIALISM FOR THE UNITED STATES IN THE OLD CENTURY

In the United States, President Jimmy Carter signed the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act into law in April 1980.

The windfall profits tax was forecasted to raise more than $320 billion between 1980 and 1989. However, the government collected only $80 billion in gross tax revenue and, to the extent that the tax was deductible against corporate income, the actual net realized was closer to $40 billion.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the 1980 windfall profits tax depressed the domestic production and extraction industry and furthered our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

2. April 2008: Windfall Profits Tax - HUGO CHAVEZ - SOCIALISM FOR VENEZUELA IN THE NEW CENTURY

Venezuela starts collecting new windfall profits tax on oil companies, as part of President Hugo Chavez' plan to gain a larger share of oil company profits.

President Chavez, a Socialist, has said the tax is necessary to fund key social programs as part of his effort to implement an economic and social system he calls "21st-century socialism."

Critics say the tax will slow investment and development in the oil sector, and also discourage other foreign direct investment in Venezuela.

3. April 2008: Windfall Profits Tax - BARACK OBAMA - SOCIALISM FOR THE UNITED STATES IN THE NEW CENTURY

“Obama wants windfall profits tax on oil companies” (The Guardian April 25, 2008). “Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama today called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies, which he said would be used to ease the burden of rising energy costs on poor and middle-class Americans.”

Campaigning in Indiana, Obama selected a gas station as the forum in which to announce his attack on “…the energy lobby, (who) have blocked ‘meaningful relief’ to consumers hard hit by high gasoline prices.” He went on to say that, "It isn't right that oil companies are making record profits at a time when ordinary Americans are going into debt trying to pay rising energy costs. That's why we'll put a windfall profits tax on oil companies and use it to help Indiana families pay their heating and cooling bills and reduce energy costs".

Obama's campaign did not indicate how much money a windfall profits tax would raise.

I shouldn’t be surprised at Mr.Obama’s evocation of the present policy of Hugo Chavez or the past policy of Jimmy Carter. I was surprised, however, that he decided to make his policy announcement at that gas station. He very well could have caused a crowd to gather, evoking images of the lines of those waiting for gas in Jimmy Carter’s time.

Oh well. Just another example of Mr. Obama’s commitment to change.

Now, we know that the Socialists, Liberals and Progressives all love the idea of taxing, their DNA demands it. Most especially, they insist on taxing the producers for, as Willie Sutton explained that he robbed banks ‘cause that’s where the money is’, Liberals tax where they can find the most capital. The possibility that such capital might better be utilized by the producers to expand exploration and production has no appeal.

And specifically, we should ask why the whole question of windfall profit taxation exerts such a strong attraction for the Democrats. Why is it their philosopher’s stone? Is it because there is such an imbalance between the ‘obscene’ profits of the oil companies and the taxes they pay in the normal course of events? Is it because of the extremely beneficial impact that these windfall profit taxes will have on the underlying problem of energy use and availability? Well, at the risk of being accused of using facts rather than emotion, let’s see what history shows us.

It may be an oversimplification, but the truth of the matter is that the price paid by the consumer for oil products is only partially dependent on the price of crude and the costs of transporting and refining it. Historically, "..taxes of various kinds add substantially to the price of the finished product, and greatly exceed the cost of the original petroleum."
(THE AGE OF OIL - Leonardo Maugeri, 2006)

As to the comparison between oil profits made and taxes paid, in the final quarter of the last Century the oil companies paid about 2 trillion in taxes to the federal and state governments – about triple what their profits were for the same period. So, it seems that the real recipients of windfall profits were the governmental taxing agencies who made three times what the rapacious oil companies made. Do you suppose it might be possible for these agencies to impose windfall profit taxes on themselves?

As to the beneficial impact of such Liberal policies on the underlying problems of energy availability and cost, do you remember asking yourself about that as you waited in Jimmy Carter’s gas station lines then - or do you ponder over all the promises made by Nancy Pelosi and company a year and a half ago and the complete lack of accomplishment since then?

The Democrats are trying to characterize John McCain’s campaign as an attempt to establish the 3rd term of the George Bush presidency. Would that they were right. I would much prefer that to what Obama is promising, the 2nd term of Jimmy Carter.

YESTERDAY PEOPLE - THE HIT MAN COMETH

DER SPIEGEL’s man in Washington DC, Gabor Steingart, in his weekly column WEST WING on April 23, 2008, asks the question,

"Will the Democrats Commit Political Suicide?"

“Democratic voters just can't make up their minds between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In Pennsylvania, they denied him victory but spared her defeat. It will be the job of the superdelegates to commit political murder -- but will it mean suicide for the party?”

In other words, the Democratic Party's super delegates, as the final arbiters in the selection of their party’s presidential candidate, must kill off one of their own. In this case, they must deny the nomination to either a woman or a black and, in doing so, run the risk of alienating one of their principal constituencies. These super delegates will operate on grounds both selfish and altruistic. Selfish, in that either as elected officials, union functionaries, or whatever, their collective choice will influence their individual job security. Altruistically, in that as committed liberals, their choice may influence the country’s direction over at least the next 4 years. However, as most of them would seem to be inhabitants of the eighth circle in Dante’s hell, they may be loath to add murder to their catalog.

I think I have the answer to their dilemma, one that lurks right under their noses, one that in fact resides within their bosom. Fortunately for them, there is one amongst their number, a fellow super delegate and one of their heroes, who is perfectly situated to deliver the Judas’ kiss. One amongst them who is able to act as their Brutus, delivering the final cut without ever unsheathing his knife.

Super Delegates of the Democratic Party, may I present you with James Earl Carter, the 39th President of the United States, a fellow super delegate and your ideal hit man. As a result of his disastrous presidency, his political activities and statements since losing his bid for re-election and, especially, his bone-headed efforts to negotiate the unnegotiable with the unspeakable in the last several years, he has now become a bipartisan pariah.

All the peanut farmer has to do is choose between Barack the Rock and Hillary Hardplace and unleash his TCE (Toxic Carter Endorsement). Just say the word, Jimbo, and whomever thou so blesseth shall be history, and the unblest one will go on to lead a wounded and divided party against the forces of right.

As Cain said to Abel, “Have a good day, bro”.