The Hope of Obama
Monday, November 3rd, 2008
Whenever I talk to Obama supporters, with little exception, they seem to impart their hopes and wishes upon the the vision of the candidate with little or no regard for what he has said or done. But then, he has made promises in his speeches that cover nearly every possible scenario. Whether it be NAFTA, health care, taxation, energy, the war in Iraq, his associations with shady characters, anti-American pastors, unrepentant terrorists or the bailout bill, he has constantly changed his story to cater to the feedback of the polls; move over Bill Clinton, there is a new master of chamillion politics. (more…)
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, Democrat from California, began dragging Wall Street titans from failed institutions in front of his committee on Monday to answer for the world wide credit crisis that has devastated markets around the globe. There is no doubt, as confirmed by their own testimony, that greed in these institutions ran rampant with generous bonuses being dolled out to parting executives even as those institutions became insolvent and headed toward bankruptcy. These true confessions make for great theater and give those affected by the rapidly declining economy a target for their disgust and frustration but ignore the fact that the primary cause of the failures were the non-performing portfolios dominated by sub-prime mortgages generated in staggering dollar amounts under guidelines set by the quasi-government mortgage institutions of Fannie Mae [FNME] and Freddie Mack [FMAC]. 
All the glorious rhetoric about the achievements of the socialist revolution won’t put a Russian can opener on the shelves of Wal-Mart. Any hopes the former core of the Soviet Union and one time beacon of the world wide communist revolution would join the world economy with the reforms of Gorbachev and Yelstin have been dashed by the regressive rule of Vladimir Putin. For all practical purposes Russia is a resource rich third world country with nuclear weapons intent on reviving it’s expansionist aspirations using it’s energy resources to subdue Europe and expand it’s control of those resources by reasserting political control of any former republic that could supply energy to the West on it’s own. 
As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated his threat to shut down the straight of Hormuz on Monday it becomes apparent that development of domestic oil supplies is as much a matter of national security as it is a solution for skyrocketing gasoline prices and all other petroleum related products. After dragging oil executives into hearings time and again [ 
Barack Obama warned us on Wednesday that his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain, will try to scare us saying Obama “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” Anyone who rides a bus in a major metropolitan area from time to time is quite aware of, and comfortable with, the ethnic diversity we encounter. None of us would deny the trepidation we experience with the occasional presence of gang bangers, skinheads or mischievous teens we encounter regardless of our own ethnic composition. But I doubt our elected representatives have been inclined to take advantage of the experience in the districts or states they represent. Nor has the press that covers them. 
Barack Obama launched a vigorous ad campaign coupled with stops across the country presenting an image contrary to stands he has taken in the past on a variety of issues including campaign finance, gun control, free trade, welfare reform, FISA legislation, faith based initiatives and Iraq, supported by a series of statements that are contrary to reality. Denying his own image, the new Barack Obama may be a better representation of a third term for George Bush than John McCain. The “Change” Obama constantly preaches appears to be about changing his position on issues to mirror public opinion and altering the facts to support them betting that most of his supporters never paid much attention to them in the first place. 
Oil company executives are dragged before Congress time and again suffering indignities at the hands of elected officials who are more to blame for the current oil prices and pending shortages than the industry titans that have consistently delivered this complex product for more than a hundred years with the exception of 1973 when the Arab Oil Embargo sent a delicate delivery system into disarray. Exxon-Mobil, British Petroleum, Shell Oil and others are threatened by the legislators with excess profits taxes on profits that, while staggering by their numbers, are hardly excessive representing eleven percent or less on investment over the last five years. They are more than willing to invest these profits developing new domestic supplies and refineries to process petroleum products were it not for the restrictions imposed by the pompous interrogators who cast a shadow of wrong doing but never issue an indictment for their acts. 
Speaking to the Israeli Knesset last Thursday President George W. Bush reminded all who would listen that appeasement in the face of aggression has a history of failure. While Bush failed to name anyone in particular a whole flock of birds raised their heads as if to heed the call at a county fair turkey shoot. Among those who took offense at the President’s statement was Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama whose reaction was as though the statements were directed specifically at him, stating 
Barack Obama’s call for change has inspired millions across America, particularly the young, but has never included much substance about where this change would take us or where his notion of change was born. Now with the outbursts of his minister of 20 years, those of his wife, the depth of his relationship with a Chicago operative recently indicted for corruption, his association with an unrepentant terrorist and his elitist statements recorded at a gathering with San Francisco progressives, an unflattering picture has emerged of the candidate. While his campaign has still managed to advance absent any real details of his agenda, we are learning more than many cared to know about his lack of judgment if not his character. 
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s stand against Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army is essential to establishing the political authority of the popularly elected Iraqi government. Anything less would result in the Lebanization of the country mirroring the chaos of competing militias that has plagued the Lebanese and Palestinians for decades. It also sends notice that the Maliki government will take the initiative against Shiite militants just as the Coalition Forces have against Sunni militants.