Obama’s magic is gone

From Economicnoise, September 29,2010

The abject failure of the Obama Administration is painfully obvious. Herman Cain described the situation:

Millions of voters have come to realize that this presidency lacks leadership, direction, decisiveness, economic urgency and, most of all, solutions. This combination of deficiencies has produced a more than uninspired citizenry, except for the most loyal and misled supporters of the president.

While many recognize the failure, few are aware of the potential dangers ahead.

The Failure

The White House billed this summer as “the summer of recovery.” To those who believed, this promise turned out to be a cruel joke. The phrase rapidly took its place amongst other memorable political gaffes like “Read my lips …,” “Whip Inflation Now” and “Economic Malaise.”*

Despite the obvious, the President travels the land proclaiming economic successes.  Mr. Obama is either oblivious or believes he is unaccountable for what he says. The “white lies” of politics provide wide boundaries for the truth, yet he is well outside them.

Mr. Obama’s narcissism and self-proclaimed (and self-believed) messiah image drive his behavior. Unfortunately, the magic is gone. Mr. Obama is now perceived as the Emperor sans clothes.  The public no longer sees Moses, but Elmer Gantry. Elmer Gantry knew what he was about. Obama seems to still believe he is Moses and therein lies the danger.

The recent CNBC town hall provided evidence that Moses was no longer. Attendees were carefully screened. Most voted for Mr. Obama. The President played his role, but the cherry-picked audience did not buy it.. The dissatisfaction and disillusionment was palpable. The defining moment was provided by Ms. Velma Hart:

I’m a mother. I’m a wife. I’m an American veteran, and I’m one of your middle-class Americans. And quite frankly I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are.

Softball-tossing John Harwell was unable to provide enough fat pitches for Mr. Obama to overcome the chagrin-drenched room. Only one person appeared to not understand what was happening. That person was the President. Even TOTUS, his teleprompter, had to know.

This is no recovery summer for the economy. Nor is there respite for the American people from the incessant preaching and onerous legislation coming from Washington. The White House economic team knows what is happening and they are bailing out.

Non-economic officials will be leaving. The signs of the coming political and economic debacle are too obvious to miss. The population of rats on ships destined to sink always decreases. Rats instinctively know when it is time to leave. They are survivors.

Even the dim bulb, “Baghdad Bob” seems ready to go. His Iraqi namesake shamelessly spun or dissembled almost up until the time US soldiers entered the TV studio. In similar fashion, Mr. Gibbs’ loyalty did not crack until recently. As expressed in an article by Kurt Brouwer:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made a rather startling statement in a press briefing on September 21st.  He acknowledged that the economy is bad and he further stated under questioning that the recovery would take several years.

A few things should be noted:

1. Our crackerjack media has mostly ignored the inconvenience of Mr. Gibbs’ admission. Their complicity with this incompetent group of Marxists is deplorable.
2. The economic mess could take decades to resolve.
3. Through the entire charade the President appears unaffected. He continues to pompously spout obvious untruths and exaggerations. Believing (correctly so far) that he owns the press, he has no fear of being called out.

Enter reality. Political opponents are angry. Supporters are disappointed and rebellious. Democrats are scared. They don’t campaign on their or Obama’s so-called accomplishments. Their political ads noticeably omit any party affiliation.

The country is energized for the coming election which is likely to be epic. After the election is when danger could occur.

The Danger

The President is toxic. His poll numbers are dismal. Democrats are running from him. In a recent pieceit was joked that if a Democrat running for election had to appear in public with either Michael Vick or President Obama, he would choose Mr. Vick. That is more probable since Mr. Vick’s considerable football skills appear to have returned.

This election will be the political equivalent of shock and awe. Media and Democrats will be confused and disorganized. Reports concerning the survivability of the party will follow. Republicans will not be spared as long-overdue reform is imposed. The unprincipled media, sensing the mood of the country, will no longer be able to shill for the Democrat Party if they want to survive.

Serious danger will arise  inside the Democrat Party. President Obama will be at the center of the storm. He is a newcomer, still viewed as an outsider. Obama was never personally popular among his peers; he was tolerated. To the extent that he could advance the agendas of those in power, he had value. Now his oratory and popularity no longer sell and he will be held responsible for galvanizing the public against the criminal enterprise we so politely call Congress.

Obama is a liability. His aggressive agenda jeopardized the establishment. Presidents come and go but the old bulls of Congress die in office. It is they who own and run Washington, not some figurehead president. Obama’s magic is gone. It duped the Party just as it did much of the country. This wunderkind is viewed as a pompous, dangerous fool by both sides of the aisle. He embarrassed the real power in Washington and threatened the political version of their Cosa Nostra.

Political power is respected, even when it is disliked. Obama came into office displaying contempt for Congress. He established his own advisory group of czars. Congress was to be tolerated, but little more. Much of what was done was in violation of the Constitution. In a Congress where principles don’t matter, advancing the ball is all that mattered.

Political alienation is never pretty. In this case, it could be tragic. We have a President with a Messiah complex, blinded by extreme narcissism. He has lived in an unreal bubble all his life, supported by shadowy figures who viewed him as a meal ticket for ideological change. Most of his life has been outside the realm of discipline and reality.

Mr. Obama has never experienced real failure or unpopularity. How will this abnormal, pampered man-child react to what may be total rejection? That is the problem. The President is likely a sociopath, The nation and his personal tragedy are inextricably linked. So is the Democrat Party. How this drama plays out could have serious ramifications for the entire world.

Mr. Obama is unlikely to be able to handle what is coming. His two-year record contains too many examples of pettiness and “it’s-never-my-fault” behavior. Whether he behaves as a spoiled brat and strikes out at some country (say Iran) to demonstrate his manhood is unknowable. Perhaps he will surprise and accept the fact that he has replaced Jimmy Carter as our worst President, although that is unlikely.

An intervention is inevitable. An intervention might be from trusted friends or it could be a Nixonian pre-resignation meeting. The Democrat Party likely will intervene. They will do so out of self-interest rather than concern for the tragedy we call Mr. President. This meeting is likely to be the Nixonian type.

The initial reaction is predictable. The President and his Chicago thugs will resist. These are tough guys, but from a small pond. The amateurs from Chicago don’t stand a chance against the Washington pros. This is street-crime versus organized crime.

Once this match is determined, the next one becomes the important one. It is the title match, featuring We the People in one corner versus the Congressional thugs in the other. This is a battle to return government to the cage from which it escaped. This one must not be lost!

This post originally appeared on American Thinker

Man Slams A Cement Mixer Into Irish Parliament Building As Austerity Protests Erupt Across Europe

Revolution time! (hopely):

From The Business Insider:

Anti-austerity protests have erupted across Europe, with a particularly aggressive Irish cement truck driver leading the charge:
AP:

Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday — Greek doctors and railway employees walked off the job, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even rammed a cement truck into the Irish parliament to protest the country's enormous bank bailouts.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into Brussels, hoping to swell into a 100,000-strong march on European Union institutions later in the day and reinforce the impact of Spain's first nationwide strike in eight years.

...

"There is a great danger that the workers are going to be paying the price for the reckless speculation that took place in financial markets," Monks said. "You really got to reschedule these debts so that they are not a huge burden on the next few years and cause Europe to plunge down into recession."

The cement mixer in question slammed into Irish parliament at about 7 a.m., with the phrase 'Anglo Toxic Bank' painted across it.
Irish Central:

One of those politician is my brother, Fergus O'Dowd, an opposition party member who happened to be the only politician in the vicinity when the truck came careening up on the footpath.

Still shaken by the incident he told me a police officer had barely jumped out of the way as the truck approached at speed

A 41-year-old man has now been arrested and charged.

Already he's a hero. Talk radio here is full of texts from members of the public praising him for his act of desperation.

Join the conversation about this story »
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Related: 

Report From Europe: Update on the Great Currency Devaluation Race

Proof of a continuous influx of suckers in the markets found

Data shows that lots of people are defaulting on their mortgage (which in itself may be a smart move) to buy US treasuries with their savings (aaargh!):

From Clusterstock:

American households are cutting back their debt so rapidly that debt payments as a percentage of disposable income has hit about a nine-year low. Yet there's more to this national deleveraging than belt-tightening.
Americans are cutting their debt levels due to mass defaults:
Fortune:

Total household debt fell by $77 billion during the three months ending in June, but nearly half of that decline stemmed from bank charge-offs of residential mortgages, credit cards and other consumer loans, according to Capital Economics Group. In a recent report, the London-based economic research consultancy found that this isn't necessarily a new development. Household debt has fallen every quarter since the beginning of 2008, leaving it $473 billion below the peak, which is the equivalent of reducing debt at every household by $4,200.

Here's where it gets strange:

Shedding away debt - however it's done - is critical to the overall health of the economy. But the wave of households de-leveraging by default is worrisome. And many Americans are using their new savings to buy up U.S. Treasuries instead of devoting it all toward paying down debt. During the past year, households bought 42% of the new Treasury debt issued, equal to about $616 billion and far more than the $432 billion absorbed by foreign investors.

This is a typical example of investors' propensity to mentally compartmentalize their financial life into different 'buckets', despite the fact that what ultimately matters is the complete sum of our financial positions.
Thus if you happen to be included in the above, then by all means pay down debt completely before buying U.S. treasuries. Else you're losing money on the spread between the yield you earn on your government bond and the surely higher interest rate you pay on your debt outstanding. Savings aren't savings when you have a loan outstanding that nets against them.


Join the conversation about this story »
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P.S. The rationale behind this crazy behavior is here: 

It's Just Ridiculous To Call The Bond Market A "Bubble"

My comment posted to that article: 

You “receive your entire principle back at maturity” IN NOMINAL TERMS! After the FED & C. hyperinflated the hell out of it. Good luck with that. I sense that buying gold & silver like there is no tomorrow for the dollar (like it is) is a more sensible move.


Related: 

Gold, Bonds and Currencies Move on Fed Money Printing

John Williams From Shadow Stats: “The REAL Deficit Is Running At $5 Trillion Per Year” (Audio)

GATA’s Douglas Makes a Case for $56,000 Gold and $936 Silver

From Munknee, September 29, 2010 by Editor:

 · Leave a Comment 

“An unbelieveable 105 economists, academics, analysts and financial writers have stated, with sound reasons in their opinions, why gold could quite possibly go to a parabolic top of at least $2,500 an ounce – to even as much as an unimaginable $15,000 – before the bubble finally pops! In fact, the majority (62) maintain that $5,000 or more for gold is likely.”

So says Lorimer Wilson (www.munKNEE.com) in an article in which he identifies all the economists, academics, analysts and financial writers by name with their specific projections and provides the URLs to their articles which give some substance to their predictions. You can read his article here.

Wilson also wrote an article (here) in which he said:
“Given silver’s historical price relationship with gold we are looking at an extreme case scenario of a future parabolic top of perhaps as much as $714 per ounce for silver.”

Nowhere on either Wilson’s list of 105 prognosticators or in his analyses of the implications of the historic relationship of silver to gold did he convey what this video has to say on the subject.

The video is very enlightening and worth your time to listen to.

- Permission to reprint, in whole or in part, is granted provided the site is mentioned and a hyperlink is given to the article.

Antiwar activists raided by FBI could face prison

by Tom Eley

Global Research, September 29, 2010

World Socialist Web Site

The antiwar activists issued grand jury subpoenas after last week’s FBI raids in Minneapolis and Chicago could face jail time for their political support for third world movements the US declares to be “terrorist,” an attorney familiar with the defense case told the World Socialist Web Site. On Friday, September 24, at 7 a.m. in the morning, the FBI launched simultaneous raids on the homes of eight antiwar activists in Minneapolis and Chicago. Brandishing search warrants asserting that those under investigation have offered “material support of terrorism,” FBI agents and local police ransacked the homes for between three and five hours, taking the residents’ computers and cellular phones as well as thousands of books, letters, documents, and other personal belongings. In the case of the Minneapolis apartment of Mike Kelly, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), the FBI broke his door down and entered with guns drawn. The FBI issued subpoenas demanding they appear before a grand jury in Chicago on October 12, and in the case of Minneapolis resident Tracy Molm, on October 5. It has been reported that subpoenas were also issued in Michigan and North Carolina, but homes there were evidently not raided. The FBI’s intentions at the grand jury hearing are not entirely clear, but it is possible that the Obama administration seeks criminal indictments under the “Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,” which essentially proscribes political speech in support of organizations the US president defines as “terrorist.” The law, which prohibits “knowingly provid[ing] material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization,” even if the “support” consists only of “expert advice or assistance” for “lawful, non-violent purposes,” was upheld in June by the Supreme Court in the case Humanitarian Law Project v. Holder. The FBI does not claim that those targeted pose any danger. “These were search warrants only,” said FBI agent Steve Warfield in Minneapolis the day of the raids. “There’s no imminent threat to the community.” Minneapolis attorney Bruce Nestor, who is involved in discussions over a legal defense for the raid victims, told the World Socialist Web Site that the government could seek to imprison the activists. This might result if the defendants refuse to speak before the grand jury, which could result in civil contempt and jail time, or if the grand jury ultimately issues criminal indictments, which would result in a criminal trial. Nestor pointed to the chilling implications of the Obama administration’s move. What movements Washington labels as “terrorist” has always depended on the aims of US imperialism. For example, the African National Congress (ANC) was, for much of the 1980s, officially labeled a terrorist operation for its struggle against apartheid in South Africa. But the Contras in Central America, who slaughtered and tortured tens of thousands of civilians in the dirty wars of the 1980s, were “freedom fighters,” according to the Reagan administration. “Anyone who was a part of the anti-apartheid network in the US, under the current law, would have faced criminal charges and could be put in prison,” Nestor noted. Nestor believes the raids have far-reaching implications, saying they appear designed to harass and intimidate the targeted groups. “But more importantly,” he continued, “they will have the effect of scaring away anyone who might want to find out more, to learn about their government’s activities all over the world.” “This is the first time that the authorities have aimed broadly at what might be called ‘the mainstream antiwar activists,’” Nestor added, noting that the targeted individuals and groups are well known in the protest movement. “I don’t mean to minimize the repression that has taken place against Arab-American and Muslim groups in the US. But with these raids it appears to be a direct strike against the antiwar movement.” In spite of the clear threat the raids level against democratic rights, the response of the liberal media has been virtual silence. The New York Times, theWashington Post, and Los Angeles Times have largely buried the story. The Nation has so far written nothing, a review of its web site reveals. Protests against the raids have been held in a number of cities. On Monday, about 200 gathered in Minneapolis, and a smaller demonstration was organized in Chicago. In New York City about 100 gathered on Tuesday, one of thirty-two demonstrations reportedly organized across the US.

Tom Eley is a frequent contributor to Global Research.  Global Research Articles by Tom Eley

U.S. Expands Afghan War Into Pakistan

From Nation.com.pk
September 28, 2010


AS so many had been predicting, if the Pakistani state did not delink itself from the misguided US ‘war on terror’, the US would eventually shift the centre of gravity of the war from Afghanistan to Pakistan and move militarily into Pakistani territory. This is exactly what is now happening. Already the US has been carrying out drone attacks against Pakistanis, killing thousands of innocent citizens in their wake and perhaps in the process a few militants also. Meanwhile, US covert operatives and Special Forces have spread themselves all over Pakistan and these revelations and warnings in the Pakistani media have been there for some time. Now the US has begun the next phase of its agenda targeting Pakistan and that is the aerial gunship attacks from across the Afghan border into Pakistan. On Friday NATO admitted that two gunship helicopters had entered Pakistan and killed 30 people – euphemistically termed “suspected militants” – just as Dr Aafia has been penalised for being a “suspected terrorist”! Since the government of Pakistan has to its eternal shame, kept silent on this new military targeting of Pakistani citizens, NATO has undoubtedly become emboldened and on Monday two gunship helicopters again came into Pakistani territory and killed a few more citizens – so far the tally is five killed in Kurram Agency. 


Accompanying this new upping of the military ante inside Pakistan, the US drone attacks continue – with their frequency rising rapidly especially after Obama’s coming to power in the US. Almost daily there are reports of 10 people or more killed by these unmanned drones – as if Pakistani lives were worth nothing. Perhaps the US is right about this as far as Pakistani rulers are concerned since President Zardari is said to have told the CIA Chief that collateral damage from the drones was not an issue that bothered him!


Given the growing killing of Pakistanis by the US and NATO militaries, citizens of Pakistan have a right to ask what our military is doing in this regard? After all, our defence forces are meant to be protecting our borders and the Pakistani citizens from external military threats. Yet they are not only unable or unwilling to do so in the case of the NATO gunship helicopters, they are actually complicit in the US drone attacks – if the US government officials’ statements are to be believed. This is truly condemnable and throws the purpose of the military and its defence budgets into question. If the Pakistan military is aiding in the killing of its citizens – no matter how misguided or militant some may have become – then who will the latter seek for their safety and protection? After all, if a citizen is guilty of militancy he must be punished according to the law – not simply be allowed to become a sitting target for foreign forces. It is time the Pakistani nation demanded of its state that it provide protection not become a party to its killing.
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Related: Pakistan: Provincial MPs Unanimously Blast NATO, U.S. Attacks

CIA PLANS MUMBAI-STYLE ATTACKS IN EUROPE?

WTF IS THIS???

I always thought that we have more urgent and serious problem on this tiny planet than UFOs, but today someone draw my attention to this: go to sky-map.org and enter this coordinates: 19 24 26 -89 45 58. Below what you will see (you might have to zoom in):

Related: Cosmic Deception: The Hoaxed Alien Invasion Scenario

The fake alien invasion operation has been mentioned by numerous NWO writers over the years. I first read of it in Bill Cooper's book, Behold a Pale Horse. Don Croft mentioned in a few of his Adventures Episodes that the not-so-secret inner government had obtained large spacecraft from the B-Sirians for the purpose of staging the phony alien invasion scene.

Red Elk cautioned against the idea of allowing yourself to be beamed up into alien spacecraft when things get rough. I'm afraid that a lot of people will think that this is the Rapture. In fact, the incessant preaching about the coming Rapture may have been a set up to prepare them for this. I don't know for certain, but according to Red Elk, it's not going to be exactly heaven where those people wind up.

Bear in mind the larger game: the inner government. had made a secret deal with negative alien groups in 1947 which was formalized in a written treaty in 1954 under Eisenhower. The agenda has grown more negative and destructive as the years rolled on. The Illuminati wants to reduce the world's population down to 400-500 million. The negative aliens, on the other hand, want to take over this planet completely and use it as a stargate jump off point into other dimensions to extend their empire.'
Read more...