Friday, November 16, 2012

Benghazi - What's The Worst You Can Imagine?


I submit that however bad you imagine it is, it's at least that bad, probably much worse, and I believe I can make a convincing case to support that argument.

I'm not going to go too deep into the weeds on this, because you need to decide whether my perspective holds water.

Remember when there was speculation about the underlying factors behind the Benghazi coverup. For inexplicable reasons, that speculation stopped some time ago. The two main ideas being floated immediately after Benghazi went down were a gun running operation to the Syrian rebels, and the second was a staged kidnapping in order to justify an exchange of the Blind Sheik that went horribly wrong. I actually believe there were other possible operations gone wrong that centered around the type (wmd) weapons involved.

Right now, the administration is probably giddy that the Benghazi investigation has been very superficial in nature and that it has been centered around the 'narrative' that the administration only wanted to obscure the Benghazi details until after the election in order to not negatively impact Obama's chances.

This idea may have held water a week ago, but no longer. If the coverup had only been about the 'narrative' then the administration would have certainly came out immediately after the election with all of the proof that would have put this scandal to bed. That they didn't, and haven't since then essentially screams that the scandal underlying Benghazi is worse, and probably much worse than we can possibly imagine.

One needs to also consider all of the mass of coincidental incidents that have happened since Benghazi went down, e.g.; all of the senior military figures being ousted, Hillary Clinton being sent to the far reaches of the planet... there are others, you know what they are. Add all of this together, and the argument that the coverup is all about the 'narrative' loses all credence.

If this scandal is allowed to progress with the focus being on the 'narrative', I would be extremely skeptical about the people helping to push this, no matter what side of the aisle they are on. I think that what happened in Benghazi at best, was a kidnapping gone wrong and on the other hand, was as bad as you can possibly imagine – for the U.S. and for “our best ally in the region.”

Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Grand Ole Ruling Class Party

Every time someone suggests this they are scoffed at, so it’s not like I don’t know what’s coming. So let's just dive right in:

The time for starting a viable third party was years ago. Just like in politics in general, those who suggest starting a third party become drown out by entrenched, organized voices of the establishment parties with admonitions like: It’s crazy. It will guarantee perpetual power to the opposition party indefinitely. It is a betrayal of… something. Etc. etc.

Look. The GOP is just like the Democrat party with one very glaring difference. The Democrat party actually listens to, and appeals to its base. The Republican Party, on the other hand, resists its base when campaigning and ignores it completely between campaigns. That the Republican Party was once again repeatedly described as the party of old white men is no mere cynical portrayal. That, more than anything other general portrayal, is a perfect description for the party overall.

The old timers within the establishment of the party and in positions of power in congress, who have been there for decades, have no fear for the future. They know that even in the odd chance that they will lose, their colleagues will keep them feeding at the trough of government as long as they want to. They know that their sons and daughters can partake of the established machinations to perpetuate familial ruling class dynasties, if they so choose.

That we can even utter the words “ruling class” should be revolting to us. We are the owners of the country supposedly, but we hear the term bandied about as if it was referencing a class established by divine right.

That's not to suggest that the Democrat Party has any less of a problem. It does. But they have the pander market cornered. Both parties can’t just give stuff away, there’d be no difference. The fact that the Democrat Party can hold itself out as the party that gives people stuff, means that it can weather its obsolescence better than the Republican Party can.

Most of us can look back to the primaries this year and remember the level of frustration that existed with the way the nominee was being picked. This says nothing about Romney as a person, as a matter of fact, as things turned out; it's believable that he was one of the best candidates the Republican Party has put forth in a long time. It’s just the way the process worked. We were told by the establishment within the Republican Party from the very beginning that Romney would be the candidate and he was. Because of how this unfolded it became clear that the agenda of the majority of the base wasn’t reflected in the agenda of the party establishment. As a matter of fact, the party’s agenda was substantially at odds with the agenda of the base.

A case can be made that social libertarianism and fiscal conservatism are likely the majority position of most Americans let alone those on the right, but they've never been embraced by the establishment of the Republican Party. This should make obvious the course that must be taken. That Tea Party ideals which more closely resemble the attributes of social libertarianism and fiscal conservatism are currently under fire by the Republican establishment should solidify the path forward.

It's arguable that a party with the attributes described would appeal to a huge segment of the population and would attract Republicans, Independents and a significant number of Democrats.
Edison told us what the definition of insanity is.

And we all know he was right.

And in the end there’s this; this really isn't a proposal for the establishment of a third party as much as it is a proposal for the elimination of the Republican Party. Especially now the times call for something different than what we’ve always had – something better. Much better. Of the people.

We should do this.  Seriously.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Truth Is Dead - or

Finally! An Objective Analysis of This, and If Nothing Changes, All Future Elections


I don't think that I am much different than most people on the right who were gut punched by the results of the election as they watched the events unfold on Tuesday. Even though Obama's performance in his job the last four years had been dismal even by any honestly objective evaluation, and for that the election should have been a walk in the park for Romney, this election contest had set itself up as a contest unlike any in generations. The stakes as many on the right saw them, were existential for the country.

We were told that this election would certainly come down to the wire. Many pundits gave the advantage to Obama, but most people handicapped what the pundits said with the knowledge that the main stream media skewed their coverage and opinions heavily in Obama's favor. More independent, or impartial pundits gave a slight advantage to Romney noting the breakdown in enthusiasm among the ranks of Obama's supporters that was a direct result of his horrid performance as president. If there were to be a breakout performance contrary to the polls we were told, it would certainly be in Romney's favor.

The set up:

For two years, Americans had been subjected to exceedingly negative campaigning. First, a cannibalistic Republican primary followed by a historically nasty campaign on the scale of the Judge Bork confirmation process. Not in recent history anyway, has there been a campaign more infused with lies about an opponent or more singularly designed to destroy a person's character.

From the very start of the presidential campaign, one provably dishonest ad followed another as one staffer after staffer told one indefensible lie after another eviscerating Romney but never defending Obama. They couldn't defend Obama because to do so would draw attention to his breathtaking incompetence. When history looks back on the Obama campaign, and insofar as history is capable of telling the truth about someone whose essence is as obscure as that of Obama, it will regard it as one of the sleaziest, most despicable endeavors to maintain power ever foisted on a 'free' society.

While the dishonesty of the Obama campaign continued to reveal itself, even pundits on the left decried there being nothing from the Obama record to tout. But the tack the Obama campaign took of character assassination was successful. As was the campaign of dividing American society into discrete segments and setting them against each other.

So as the date of the election approached, the stage was set for either Obama or Romney to achieve a hair thin victory, or conversely, for Romney to win going away. There was no probable scenario where Obama would win in a landslide.

For weeks, media told us that there just weren't that many undecided voters left. I'm writing from memory, but as I remember, the contest boiled down to winning over a lion's share of anywhere from 7 to 9 percent of voters who at that time remained undecided.

Enter Frankenstorm. The storm smashes the Northeast and puts 10's of millions of people in dire straits. So the President does what presidents do and he visits the hardest hit areas including NJ. Certainly a gift with regards to taking a bite out of the very few undecided voters and sucking any wind out of the Romney campaign sails. The storm had not one iota of impact on the projected election results in the areas hit by the storm. They were, and had always been in the president's camp. Another unexpected gift came when the Republican governor of New Jersey publicly embraced the president and complimented him on his awesome presidentiness. So, another couple of points out of the undecided pie – probably enough to win the election but not enough to really change the fact that it would almost certainly still be a nail biter of an election.

For weeks there were two spins on the polls: 1) that the race was neck and neck and vacillating between the candidates, and 2) the polls were wrong and Romney would win in a landslide. Enthusiasm had been identified as a factor likely to influence the election and that enthusiasm was on the side of the right across the board. Conversely, the left's lack of enthusiasm was viewed as likely to have a negative impact on Obama's chances, notwithstanding a well organized “ground game.”

In the days leading up to the election, we were still being reminded that there was virtually no chance that we would know the winner of the election before Wednesday morning. In fact, on the day of the election, analysis of early voting, the polls, and the exit polls that had been conducted throughout the day indicated that the election was just too close to call and still indicating a very late night finish before any winner would emerge.

So the night started off and progressed pretty much as advertized and then... chak ta slsls spak* BOOM!

When the announcement was made suddenly that Obama had won Ohio, and then mere minutes later that he'd won the election, considering everything we had seen up until then, considering everything we had been told would happen up until then, and when it happened in a way that defied everything we expected – the end. Game over. Like a conditioned response. They said that Obama had won and that (even though there was an obvious letdown) was that.

There was certainly shock, but there was no, “Hey wait the f**k just a minute! This isn't right!” None of that. What came next was an automatic, “Why?”

The news programs scrambled to fill a vacuum and they filled it with trying to explain what had just happened. In short order, exit polls provided a quick answer that mysteriously hadn't existed in any conversation or analysis of the election earlier. Suddenly 42% of the people polled called Obama's handling of the storm response a key influence for their vote.

Now suddenly, looking back on Christie's intimate embrace of Obama and there it is! Miraculous validation that in fact, a huge number of people saw Obama photo oping and sharing tender moments with the governor of New Jersey and it suddenly all makes perfect sense!

Bullshit.

What the importance of Gov. Christie's Obama hug was, is that it opened the door of plausibility to use the 42% argument to justify how almost 40% of decided voters had suddenly became undecided, then re-decided in favor of the other team all because of an obviously contrived photo op. That arguably the most divisive president in this country's history had instantaneously mutated into a hero and model for bipartisanship.

So what am I saying? That the election was stolen? – You know what? I don't have the foggiest idea whether the election was stolen. I'm amused (in that stupefyingly cynical and incredulous way that we all experience from time to time) at the shear number of coincidences and paradoxes that surround the results of the election. But no, that isn't what I'm saying.

What I am saying is that under this administration, the truth disappeared – vanished. It went extinct. To be fair though, because of the decay of our political system, it had become an endangered species decades ago.

I submit that in any single matter of importance to this country or to the people of this country that this administration has been involved in, we simply have no idea what the truth of that matter is. Let's take Obama's magnum opus – Obamacare. There was not, and there may not be even now, a single civilian American alive who knows all of the possible permutations or implications of obamacare on individuals, the future of healthcare, or the impacts it will have moving forward on spending. What we do know though is that nearly as many people who didn't have healthcare before obamacare will still not have healthcare under it. So where is the truth concerning obamacare? It simply cannot be found.

What about these issues?

Where did the stimulus money go? All of it?
How did Corzine manage to escape punishment for loosing $3 billion?
Besides the UAW, who benefited from the auto bailout?
Who were enriched and who lost out in all of the alternate energy failures and how much did they get?
What is the full truth of Fast and Furious?
What is the full truth behind Benghazi?
Do you seriously expect me to believe that the news about Petreaus is absolutely coincidental? (I hate it when people imply that I'm stupid).
What is the truth about the senior leaders of the military suddenly losing their posts?

Look -- In 2008, everyone – EVERYBODY knew that the Obama campaign was raising money illegally through obviously fraudulent administration of their site security. What was the truth that we eventually found out about this? Well the truth of this is that it happened - with impunity. What was different in this campaign? Absolutely nothing.

Election fraud and voter intimidation were obvious and widespread in 2008. It was ignored following the election and eventually justified because of its difficulty to prove. Fraud was identified throughout 2012 as something that could potentially influence the election, but again, it was universally ignored by both sides.

Further, now that the revelations of Petreaus are out and he's suddenly not fit to serve as CIA chief we are to just accept that it is because of an affair? Seriously? WTF! Obama did drugs. He probably sold drugs. He associated with terrorists, and criminals of the full spectrum. His transcripts are secreted away. Meetings he had with virulent supporters of terrorists that call for the destruction of Israel and the deaths of Jews everywhere is quarantined by people who decide they have some duty to protect us from the TRUTH. Please stop taking us for idiots.

Speaking of which, what about all of the holes in Obama's past. Hell - we don't even know the truth about the stuff we know! Shouldn't we expect to know the truth about the president's past?

Where is the truth? How is it now permitted that it is so difficult, most of the time impossible, to find out what the truth is about anything even remotely related to Obama specifically, and this administration in general?

Look at it this way; Say for example, notwithstanding all of the obvious contradictions and coincidences, that this election was totally on the up and up. Let's take the next election as a hypothetical situation where there are no contradictions and coincidences and a victor is announced the same way it was this time. And what if, hidden from view, a sophisticated mechanism had been put in place say, using the clearing mechanism that tabulates the results and then transmits the results out to the media... Say that mechanism had been corrupted to steal the election. And what if the election results were reported exactly the way they were this time? Do you know what would happen? I'll give you a hint: Exactly the same thing that happened this time. We would look at what happened with surprise and say to ourselves (vainly), “What did we do wrong?” And we would set about fixing problems that may not even exist. Or we place all of the blame on our candidate.

And why, you might ask? Because we do not know the truth. We do not know the truth and we are not permitted to know the truth even if we demand to know it.

The truth as it stands now is that, “We the People,” is a meaningless cliche'. A more accurate phrasing would be, “We the Chumps”. “Of the people, by the people and for the people,” is just patent ridiculousness.

The most transparent administration in history my ass.

But it's not just this administration. And that will lead to my next post.