
The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment. - Bertrand Russell
It's over.
I had such hope 1 year ago.
Obama gave me that hope….and now he has killed it.
I honestly thought that Obama would be a true progressive and, with a focus on health, education and energy, would help a moribund America reclaim its leadership role in the world.
Instead, it looks like, for the foreseeable future, the world's leadership role will belong to the dynamic and growing European Union, with China providing everyone cheap goods (...until its sex-selective abortion practices and skewed-to-the-male population imbalance results in the same thing you get every time a mammal population has more males than females; increased aggressiveness. Look for a land war in Asia in the near future).
America has become the modern Rome…with excessive military commitments, high income disparity and economic stagnation.
It did not have to come to this.
IF Obama had used the bully-pulpit to decry the abuses of the last 8 years, and remind people that popular policies are not always good policies…
IF Obama had castigated the pre-Depression economic mentality of the Republicans and reminded people that the private sector can only thrive with sound rules, regulations and boundaries put in place by a strong yet cooperative public sector…
IF Obama had hired Paul Krugman or Paul Volcker for Treasury instead of Tim Geitner...
IF Obama had presented his stricter banking rules in January, 2009 instead of January, 2010…
IF Obama had offered a focused, progressive message on health care outlining the private sector economic benefits of a public sector health insurance program, instead of letting Congress perform its legislative sausage-making in public…
IF our political culture had not been so corrupt, with politicians running on fear and dollars...
IF the media had not surrendered its First Amendment duties in pursuit of profits...
…we might not still be the Second Rome.
A president has a brief window of opportunity at the beginning of his or her administration to spend political capital. The ruthlessness of the corrupt American election cycle demands nothing less.
But Obama didn't.
I wonder if Obama can see the barbarians at the gate…like Marcus Aurelius before him...
Finally...here is a little something to make you laugh...before you start to cry.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Indecision 2010 - The Re-Changening | ||||
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(I am going on hiatus now, at the beginning of these Dark Ages...I shall return at the beginning of the Renaissance...which if history holds, will be in about 1200 years.)
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34 Comments
jhayett - Jan 22, 2010 9:16 AM
jmark - Jan 22, 2010 11:47 AM
See ... it ain't so bad. ;-)
jhayett - Jan 22, 2010 12:03 PM
Jacob Pickard - Jan 22, 2010 12:24 PM
jhayett - Jan 22, 2010 1:53 PM
Little can you understand that you and your liberal hardballers are what caused Americas rising. Tea parties too pal!
jhayett - Jan 22, 2010 3:03 PM
Read more at GALLUP.com.
Carl Hicks - Jan 22, 2010 3:30 PM
I wonder if the Chinese are looking for revenge for the genicide they endured at the hands of the Japanese as they massacred Chinese males during the Japanese Empires expansion that became WW2 in the Pacific. You can thank Japan for China becoming communist.
jmark - Jan 22, 2010 5:00 PM
jmark - Jan 22, 2010 5:05 PM
Andy_Kristensen - Jan 22, 2010 5:35 PM
2Cents - Jan 22, 2010 9:20 PM
I do business in China, I have associates & friends in China. They are some of the most considerate, caring people you will find on this planet. I go to a city of nearly 3 million and there is next to no crime. People are very happy, they work and care solely for their family, both young and old. They are free to go and do as they please. Chinese children are well educated and disciplined, like the old days here in the America.
When was the last time you saw a Chinese immigrant on the news that committed a crime in America? The limits on freedom in their culture are a necessity to keep peace among a population four & a half time ours with the same landmass.
Most of our problems we made, stop blaming the Chinese people.
jmark - Jan 22, 2010 10:58 PM
Government place limits on personal freedom. When governments murder their own citizens for protesting against repressive policy, as they did at Tiananmen Square, that's limiting freedom to a point that I'm not comfortable with. Imagine if dissent wasn't tolerated in America.
America has her faults, but I'm not ready to trade in my first amendment rights under the guise of my authoritarian masters keeping me safe.
Victor Ponelis - Jan 22, 2010 11:01 PM
Personal observations are no substitute for rigorous statistical analysis. Aside from my envy of never having been to China, I will take the analysis of an MIT economics professor over hear-say any day.
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/1553
2Cents - Jan 23, 2010 1:09 PM
FYI, here is the USA . . . Since 1940, an average of 91,685 more male babies have been born each year than females, a total of 5,776,130 over that 63-year period. Maybe that's why there is so much "increased aggressiveness" (as you put it) here in the US. Or maybe it's just our declining moralistic culture.
All this is just ridiculous to be part of your "What If Obama" blog. Killing babies whether they are boys or girls is murder. The "ratio" of the 49,551,703 babies murdered in this country since 1978 is irrelevant to me.
Victor Ponelis - Jan 23, 2010 2:40 PM
An N<30, as we all know from basic statistics courses, presents serious problems for statistical analyses (indeed, a sample size of 30 is itself problematic). Your N=1 statement is meaningless for a quantitative conclusion, though not necessarily so for a qualitative conclusion.
And, for the record, killing babies is illegal and murder in this country; killing fetuses is not. Murder is a legal definition, and the law, whether you like it or not, agrees with the aforementioned statement.
If Obama cannot achieve a progressive reform agenda in this country and we are at the whim of 19th Century economic mindsets, that have no ability to recognize that markets CAN be irrational (ex: housing prices ALWAYS go up), then there will be no government capacity to counter private sector abuses...and the EU and China will surpass us...my statement regarding the population imbalance in China is valid...and means if we are too out of it to take care of ourselves, what happens when China explodes?
Onlyoneme - Jan 23, 2010 3:21 PM
Your rational thought and logical arguments will be missed.
On the flip side, Heinrich Heine said; "When the heroes go off the stage, the clown come on."
"We wander through this life together in a semi-darkness in which none of us can distinguish exactly the features of his neighbor. Only from time to time, through some experiance that we have of our companion, or through some remark that he passes, he stands for a moment close to us, as though illuminmated by a flash of lightning. Then we see him as he really is." Albert Schweitzer
"We have fewer friends than we imagine, but more than we know." Hugo von Hofmannsthal
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." Helen Keller
referee33 - Jan 23, 2010 3:50 PM
Victor Ponelis - Jan 23, 2010 5:42 PM
Your comments, and humor, are appreciated. One thing I know, for sure, is that I don't know everything, and I hoped to engage in valuable discussions on this site. But when actual "discussions" devolve into mudfights, and I find myself defending FACTS....I mean, ACTUAL, DEMONSTRABLE FACTS...well, it gets tiring.
I CRAVE an honest debate with a smart, savvy conservative....who can teach me something, challenge my preconceptions....not say "why are you Liberal and hate America?"
Back to the hiatus....family coming over, and all...
Tami Klink - Jan 23, 2010 9:58 PM
While things may look dreary now (the sun would help!), know that one of the great things about the good ole' USA is that we don't give up easily. There are still alot of us out here that will not hesitate to get up each morning, put on our boots and plow on.
For those of us that are over the age of 40, we remember the dark, dreary days of the 1980's when the financial markets were scary, the economy was a horror story and the future was looking dim. But, alas, we pulled together and did what needed to be done.
So, rethink your 'Hiatus' and continue to tickle our brains with your opinion and facts of our world as we know it today. Who knows, it just might inspire someone to get off of the government hand-out programs and actually try and achieve a future for themselves!
Have a great week!
Onlyoneme - Jan 23, 2010 11:59 PM
I'll go for the Terminator 2 Sarah Connor style weapons stockpile, in the Mr & Mrs Smith style garage.