A Sorry Lot

I watched the debate last night from St. Anselm's College, the debate among the Iowa survivors.  A few notes:

Romney - His utterances appear to be a mish-mash of well rehearsed and vetted responses that political consultants (the best that money can buy) have provided him.  It doesn't really seem that Romney believes a lot of his own  "pablum."  His bleating about "America the Beautiful" rings hollow in the face of the bald fact that neither he nor any of his richboy sons ever chose to spend some of their oh so valuable time in the US military.  Better things to do?  The military is something for the lower classes to do?  His responses to questions over his leadership of a largely destructive Wall Street M&A company that specialized in wrecking distressed companies to profit from sale of pieces of the wrecks are always to claim that he knows how to "run" the US because he was so good at the wrecking.  Among other things this ignores the very different nature of business and government.  At the most elemental level business exists to make money by selling things and minimizing costs while government exists to spend money it collects in taxes or creates and provide services otherwise unavailable.  Perhaps the nost enjoyable of his bleatings was the moment in which he referred Diane Sawyer to Ron Paul on a point of information concerning the US Constitution.

Gingrich - Ron Paul has called him a "chickenhawk."  In other words, that would be someone who thinks other people should fight.  The basis for this is Gingrich's failure to serve during the draft and the VN War.  He appears to love wars in which he, personally, will not fight.  When confronted by this "awkwardness" he goes on about his father's 26 years of service in the US Army as though it were his own.  He also goes on to cite his "experience" as a child in seeing his father go to war as though that is somehow ennobling.  This is rubbish and someone should "call" him on it.  Been there, done that, and it is not an informative experience.

Perry - Sad.  The fool actually said that he would send US forces back into Iraq by force so that the Iranians would "stop taking over the country."  Even Sawyer managed to stop contemplating her own beauty long enough to express surprise.  "Well, these Iraqi individuals" as he referrred to the government that we "mid-wifed" into being "should be talked to..."  Perhaps a constitutional amendment barring presidents from Texas might be contemplated.  Paul could be excepted by name.

Santorum.  Last night's SNL sketch on him should be savored.  Santorum, aside from the Google joke, still seems to justify my earlier comment that he must have been some Sister Mary Margaret's favorite little boy student.  So far as I know he is not an Opus Dei type but he surely looks like one, sounds like one, and walks like one.  He really seems to be running for Holy Roman Emporer.  His world view seems medieval.  His obsession with what he calls "radical Islam" is transparently a call to arms against the Islamic World.  He clearly believes that "radical Islam" is a threat to.... What?  The USA? Or is it really Israel?  His attitude ignores the simple truth that Islam is not one thing.  It is many, many things as is Christianity.  As I recall, there are a lot of widely differing Jewish sects as well.  The number of Muslims who are real threats to the USA is minuscule.  Those people are being well "dealt with" by SOF, clandestine intelligence and alliances with foreign police.  The COIN wars have been nothing but welfare for generals and  self-serving theorists.  If Santorum is president look for an official renewal of the crusades.

Paul- He is running to change peoples' minds about the role of government.  He knows very well that he is unelectable.  The "we are all 'Austrians'" outburst is indicative of that intent.

Huntsman- Out after NH.

Except for Paul, a sorry lot.

On the other hand we have the incumbent, a disguised Rockefeller Republican who opted for black identity because he didn't think he could be "white."  Colin Powell made the same decision years ago under the influence of his wife.  Obama is a man who wrings his hands and then signs laws like the Defense Authorization bill that authorizes the armed forces to arrest and hold American citizens on American soil and to hold them indefinitely without benefit of habeas corpus.  In apology for this outrage he says that he will not arrest Americans in his time in power.  Apres lui, quoi, le deluge?  Did he put a "frowny face" after his signature?  pl

 

Comments

[John Minnerath]

Almost a year till the choosing and we're at the point of trying to decide who will be the least bad!

[alnval]

Col. Lang:

Thank you. Copied it off to share with the family.

[WILL]

Dr. Ron Paul is our Overton Window

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

"At any given moment, the “window” includes a range of policies considered to be politically acceptable in the current climate of public opinion, which a politician can recommend without being considered too “extreme” or outside the mainstream to gain or keep public office. Overton arranged the spectrum on a vertical axis of “more free” and “less free” in regard to government intervention. When the window moves or expands, ideas can accordingly become more or less politically acceptable. The degrees of acceptance[3] of public ideas can be described roughly as:
Unthinkable
Radical
Acceptable
Sensible
Popular
Policy
The Overton Window is a means of visualizing which ideas define that range of acceptance by where they fall in it. Proponents of policies outside the window seek to persuade or educate the public so that the window either “moves” or expands to encompass them. Opponents of current policies, or similar ones currently within the window, likewise seek to convince people that these should be considered unacceptable."

[georgeg]

Colonel, I wonder how your response to last night's awful Republican "skit" would be received if somehow you were able to appear on any of the cable "news" programs.....

[turcopolier]

georgeg

You assume that I care? pl

[SAC Brat]

Stephen Colbert could win this election if he stepped in. One wonders if he has been told to behave himself.

Thanks for writing your analysis. It helps me that others see this slow motion train wreck the way I am watching it. It's a sad sign when this has to be said by adults: http://www.nationaljournal.com/dempsey-candidate-remarks-offensive--20111218

While I don't agree with Ron Paul on many things, I admire his fight to keep the constitution relevant and appreciate his attempts to broaden the topics discussed, including bringing up the disconnect between Ronald Reagan the president and this Saint Ronnie figure everyone swoons over. I plan to vote for him in the open primaries here in Georgia, but fear the voting machines will register it as a vote for Romney.

[stanleyhenning]

Yes, it sure appears that the terms "leader" and "leadership" are sad misnomers and America has hit rock bottom.

[Pirouz]

"On the other hand we have the incumbent, a disguised Rockefeller Republican who opted for Black identity because he didn't think he could be 'white."

So true.

It sure is easier voting in state and local elections, at least it is here in California.

[steve g]

"Perhaps a constitutional amendment barring
presidents from Texas might be contemplated"
Had some bumper stickers made up in 92' that read
"Read my lips no new Texans" when Ross Perot was
in the mix with 41 and Clinton. After 43 and now
Perry should we reissue?

[FB Ali]

For a mere observer: a brilliant analysis! Very well put.

[walrus]

Welcome to the end of empire. The British passed through here around 1916. Before his untimely death in September of that year, Raymond Asquith made a passing reference to paid intellectuals who constructed wonderful theories about why their masters should not be taxed nor their dominance reduced - the same creatures that now infest America.

The Liberal media has also just cottoned on to the fact that intergenerational income mobility in America is decreasing, apparently approaching British levels - which suggests to me that a hereditary upper class has formed and the great American dream is dead. The "career" and marriage of Chelsea Clinton as well as the latest events in the Kennedy clan are examples of this.

http://www.bostonfed.org/economic/wp/wp2011/wp1110.pdf

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-26/chelsea-clinton-joins-board-of-directors-at-iac-interactivecorp-.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/us/a-young-kennedy-may-run-for-office-in-massachusetts.html

The outcome is predictable; New talent is not nurtured and developed because the people with it come from the wrong side of the tracks. Businesses stagnate for lack of talent and the hard eyed common sense that America used to be famous for. Over time the economy becomes sclerotic, riven with accomodations to special interests of all sorts that prevent a free market from functioning correctly - like a cirrhotic liver.

Unless a wrecking ball is taken to the Washington Establishment and its wealthy enablers, nothing will change for the better. I also note that the establishment is flirting with Fascism, for that is where the NDAA incarceration provisions, The Patriot Act, "Fusion Centres", "No fly/train/bus" measures as well as the utterances of candidates about badly behaved judges are heading.

What a future; a fool will continue to occupy the White House, until it is decided that an authoritarian must take charge. I guess at least he might make the trains run on time.

[Farmer Don]

Ron Paul saw most of this coming in 2002. He gave 5 min speech in Washington.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meFjza6BpEA

His prediction of what has happened in the years since they are amazingly bang on.

Listen at the 1min 45 second mark about Iraq.

Only wrong so far about high interest rates and actual chaos in US

[WILL]

Andrew Exum of the Abu-Muquwamma blog echoes the Col.'s sentiment about the bad luck w/ wars & a prez from TX. he quoted an unnamed Col. awhile ago that the great strategic lesson gleaned from Vietnam & Irak was not to vote for a Texan for president!

But I don't see Dr. Paul starting wars even tho he's a Texan. Now Perry, he's a panderer no doubt, but if he got in, would he surprise people by exercising independent judgment?

[Allen Thomson]

> but if he got in, would [Perry] surprise people by exercising independent judgment?

God help us if he did, or tried to.

That kind of leads to something I've been wondering about: who's the best VPOTUS candidate for each of the GOP candidates who would a) help or at least not hurt in the general election and b) would complement the POTUS in terms of skills, background, etc. if they got elected? In the present case, who would best help compensate for Perry's comprehensive set of deficiencies?

[Bobo]

Somehow, sometime and somewhere the Republican party will suck it up and back Mitt for the big match against Barack and a lot of hot air will get expended but the result will leave us in the same spot with an economy sputtering along at a dismal 1 to 2 percent GDP. Older folks will continue to leave the work force allowing the unemployment numbers to go down giving some false hope while those on the dole (SS/Medicare to the Cons) continue to grow. We are out of Iraq and soon to be in Afghanistan which will help the direct expenditures but be assured something else will pop up within five years as we cannot seem to escape our escapades afar. But four years will pass by quickly and our present 20 to 40 year olds will be so upset that they will force a candidate down our throats who will actually be to our betterment. So there is always hope and who knows Ron Paul may still have a chance.

[Jose]

Tuesday - Absentee ballots arrived

Wednesday - Really inspiring letter from Paul signed, "For Liberty, Ron Paul, MD.

I agree with your excellent analysis, best of a "sorry lot", but he can not win.

Sir, I thought people that were married or in religious missions were except from the draft, is this correct?

[turcopolier]

Jose

I don't think that is tue. I had several soldiers in my first infantry platoon who were married and had children. They had been drafted. Of course these were men who had no way to defend themselves from the local draft board which was usually made up of the flunkies of the local "notables." They could have run away but they did not. Ggingrich must have "found" his way out of it. Paul mentioned that he had a wife and two children when he was drafted as a doctor. pl

[Leanderthal]

Col.Lang,

Your analysis of the GOPher presidential wannabees is so accurate as to appear to be truth, a scarce commodity today.

Re: Obama. I don't think he "opted for Black identity". In our world any hint of Black ancestry is considered to be sufficient to label a person Black in the minds of virtually all people. That's not to say that he doesn't use it to his advantage. And why not? It's who he is in the eyes of the world. He married a Black women and has two Black daughters. Obama is not the Tiger Woods of politics.

I agree with your comments on his signing of the DA bill. He is not immune to the hypocrisy which infects most politicians.

[turcopolier]

Leabderthal

Nah. Black people don't think he is Black enough. They think of him as an "oreo." That's how we had an African-Virginian governor a while back. He registered with folks as just another Richmond lawyer, and he was. We have progressed far enough that there is a whole class of people of African descent who are not thought of by many whites as Black. Colin Powell, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Justice Thomas, etc. IMO Powell could easily have been elected president. pl

[Mj]

"Black people don't think he is Black enough". Some black people may feel that way but that's a pretty wide net to cast don't you think?

[Sean McBride]

Col. Lang,

Every point dead bang on.

The only candidate (despite his many flaws) that one can muster up any respect for is Ron Paul. The others are mediocre, lackluster or outright preposterous.

Barack Obama could have been a highly respected president if he had lived up to his 2008 campaign promises, but he permitted the neocons to turn him into hireling and gofer. Glib golden tongue, no spine. He has been stripped of his dignity (especially by Benjamin Netanyahu and his network of American operatives in the US Congress and the Democratic Party).

[turcopolier]

mj

No. I am good at generalizations. That is how I have made a good living since probably before you were born. OK. Most Black people. pl

[Sean McBride]

What has gone wrong with American politics in general and presidential politics in particular:

"Adelson gives $5 million to Super PAC supporting Gingrich"

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/01/08/3091079/adelson-gives-5-million-to-super-pac-supporting-gingrich#When:19:53:00Z

BEGIN QUOTE

Casino and hotel magnate Sheldon Adelson donated $5 million to a group supporting Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination. The Washington Post reported late over the weekend that Adelson gave the money on Jan. 6 to Winning Our Future, an independent committee, or Super PAC, run by former Gingrich associates. An unnamed source close to Adelson, a long-time Republican donor, told the newspaper that the billionaire planned to spend another $5 million during the campaign. The first $5 million check is meant to keep Gingrich competitive in the Jan. 21 primary in South Carolina, according to the newspaper. Adelson and his wife have each given the maximum $2,500 to Gingrich's campaign. Super PACs can raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions and other groups, as well as individuals, and indirectly support a political candidate. Adelson, chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., is worth more than $21 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

END QUOTE

A single neocon gambling billionaire, whose policy program revolves around the agenda of a foreign political party (Likud), is funneling $10 million to an American presidential candidate.

How did we get to this point? How can this problem be fixed?

[graywolf]

Well, Obama got 90%+ of the black vote.

[turcopolier]

greywolf

90%? Sure. they were voting for themselves and the desire to see one of them at the top. in spite of the effrts he has made in personnel etc., they feel he has not done enough for them. he has not affected enough transfer payments. the prisons are still full of their men.they will vote for him again because they feel they have no choice. pl