Showing posts with label George Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Bush. Show all posts

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Obamaville November 12 - If the eyes of the world are upon us - what must they think?

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In the past, I have mentioned how nearly 50% of the readers of the Coltons Point Times are from outside the United States.  The past week the top ten countries in terms of readers are 1. United States, 2. Ukraine, 3. Canada, 4. Ireland, 5. China, 6. Germany, 7. France, 8. Russia, 9. United Kingdom, and 10. Portugal.


Note that four of the top ten are English-speaking countries.  All the countries have been around for thousands of years except the USA and Canada, which are less than 500 years old.


All those ancient nations must be shaking their heads in dismay at the antics of the colonies here in America.  Oh we clearly are the crown jewel in the world when it comes to democracy but how our brand of democracy gets anything done, let alone is a world superpower, must stump the masses outside of here.


Take our political leadership, the dismal record of non-foreign policy over the two terms of the Obama presidency, and now our elections to replace Obama.  Here in the land of the free and home of the brave we have a timid president whose party has nearly crowned Hillary Clinton, their candidate to replace Obama.


Hillary is the same person who was First Lady when her husband, Bill Clinton got elected president thanks to Ross Perot, an Independent, nearly 24 years ago.  So a quarter of a century later, after Hillary served as Senator and Secretary of State for Obama, a time when we have one of the worst foreign policy messes in our history, she is the front runner for Democratic nominee.


Her husband might have been the first pot smoking baby boomer elected president, but Hillary is no spring chicken to politics.  If she is elected the 45th president of the United States, she would be 69 years old when she took office, and would be 77 years old at the end of two terms.


That would make her the second oldest person out of 45 people in our history, to ever become president, as Ronald Reagan was just eight months older than Hillary, he was also 69 when taking office and 77 when leaving.  Imagine that, Hillary the same age as Ronald Reagan when they were president.


Under Obama, the Democrats represented a new generation of hope for a new century.  I guess under Hillary the Democrats represent an old generation of fixing the mess of the younger generation.  Challenging Hillary is an avowed Socialist and Independent Bernie Sanders and if elected, Bernie will be the oldest person to serve as president.


In less than eight years the Democrats went from the party of the young generation and their hope for the future, to a party represented by a couple of old wheezers hoping to clean up after the Obama debacle.


And then, there is the Republican party, the Grand Old Party with a smorgasbord of extremely varied choices for whatever the palate might desire.  So many choices, in fact, it leaves most foreigners astounded and even our enemies wondering what in the world will happen next in America.


We have crazy populist outsiders, un-populist outsiders, even smart populist outsiders running for president and there are still more than a dozen others vying for attention.  The favorites are buried deep in single digits in the polls, while the radicals (anyone not part of the political establishment), seem to control over 50% of the voters.


In other words, the colonies are being the colonies, thinking they are anointed by God to save the world while often acting more like impertinent and spoiled children than saviors of the Earth.  It seems many people around the world still think America is the real wild west, full of gunslingers and bad guys.


Somehow, in spite of the problems and politics and personalities, America survives not because of the leaders but because of the Founding Fathers some 239 years ago.  They called for a revolution and adopted the tools to make it work, far into the future.


Armed with a couple of written documents called a Declaration of Independence and a Constitution, the latter of which took years to perfect before submitting it to the people, they put in place a living will of sorts for a nation.  Tools were incorporated into the documents to assure the principles of the New World could never be compromised nor hijacked by and political party or people.


Ours was the first Constitution in the world to be written in the first person present tense, to demonstrate the vitality of the concept of freedom and equality.  Methods to continually update the laws of the land and even amend the constitution were incorporated.


The power of the president and federal government were limited, states retained a major share of the power of the nation, and political leaders faced election and re-election in order to keep serving the nation.  If people grew tired of the progress, a mechanism was built in to allow them to vote out those they did not want.


Nothing like it ever existed before and somehow, through the insight of a group of men opposed to the lack of rights being granted by the King of England, declared independence and went to war against the most powerful force on Earth, the English Kingdom.


Against all odds and with a lot of help from Divine Providence, over the years the colonists succeeded.  After fighting off another invasion from the English and other wars, and then a painful civil war, the world finally needed the United States to rescue it in World War I and World War II.  Those wars and the phenomenal growth and innovation of the Americans resulted in America becoming a superpower.


Fast forward to today and we outlasted the only other superpower in the world, the Soviet Union, and now stand alone.  It was a pretty good set of documents put in place all those years ago and not only did the Declaration of Independence and Constitution persevere but the ensuing amendments, beginning with the Bill of Rights, strengthened the nation over time.

Paul Ryan new Speaker of the House

So my advice to the rest of the world is do not be overly concerned that Bush and Obama failed to solve the problems of the world.  Here in America when someone fails, a new group of leaders will be selected through our electoral process.  That is what we are experiencing with our current election.


Our system of governing incorporates a balance of power between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, civilian control of the military, and a distribution of power between the states and federal government.  It has flaws, but it also has the mechanisms to fix those flaws and that will happen as it always has throughout our history.


Whatever policy failures Obama had during his terms, they will be addressed by the next president and congress - that is what individual freedom and equality is all about.  So my advice it to sit back and enjoy the American electoral process, it is the silly season, and before it is through the people will speak.


For 239 years in the end the People have done the right thing for America and for America's role in the world.  As our most beloved 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, has reminded us:
 

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."


"Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as a heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere.  Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors."


"I am a firm believer in the people.  If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis.  The great point is to bring them the real facts."


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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Obamaville Thursday, February 19 - The Deep Freeze

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Weather...

Here I sit, 65 miles from downtown Washington, D.C., waiting for the coldest temperature on this date in 40 years, maybe since records started in the 1800's, or maybe since the last Ice Age.  Ever since the weather stations went digital, the weather reports have made a shambles of the truth.


I do not know what a meteorologist has for breakfast, but lately the bizarre forecasts might indicate something comparable to LSD.  If they say we will get two feet of snow, we might get five inches.  When they say it will be around 20 degrees tonight, and then they revise it to a wind chill of 25 below, we know it is not just cream in their coffee.


Did I mention that the forecast for just 48 hours later is over 50 degrees?  The good news is no one really puts much faith in the weather reports, I mean it is still a government agency so accuracy and efficiency are distant dreams.


Politics...


Nothing has changed.  Obama trashes the Republicans and the Republicans trash the President and the Democrats watch and strategically trash both the President and Republicans.


On the presidential scene, the apparent front runners are a Bush for the Republicans and a Clinton for the Democrats.  My how things have changed since 1988 and 1992.


It has been 28 years since a Bush was first elected president, in 1988.  During the 28 years, from 1988 until the next election in 2016, a Bush will be president 12 years, a Clinton for 8 years, and everyone else in America the remaining 8 years.

Pot Smoking Ivy League Presidents - Harvard & Yale

What do you think about the dominance of the Ivy League?  A graduate of Yale will be president for 20 of the 28 years, and a graduate of Harvard for 16 of the 28 years.  I think the Ivy League invented the term "Fuzzy Math" which might explain why Yale's 20 years and Harvard's 16 years add up to 36 years, not to 28 years.


Do not worry there is an answer for all deviations and this time a legitimate one.  One president graduated from both Yale and Harvard.  In fact, he is the only president in history with that intellectual distinction, his name, George W. Bush, as in junior.


Is it not ironic that one candidate for president in 2016 with a legitimate chance to win is also the first person in 28 years to NOT graduate from Harvard or Yale.  It is not Hillary Clinton (Yale), or Mitt Romney (Harvard), or Ted Cruz (Harvard).


Yet another twist in logic and reason, one of the top picks to break the Ivy League stranglehold on the presidency is Jeb Bush, whose father and brother are Yale and Harvard alumni.


Other legitimate candidates like Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, and Martin O'Malley are among others who are not Harvard or Yale graduates.


Health, Energy & Education...


Every month brings new super viruses, mutating bacteria, other drug resistant diseases, and fewer and fewer cures to an unsuspecting public.  UCLA Medical Center is the latest breakout of a dramatic new virus, which has already killed 2 and exposed about 180 people in the first reports.


America celebrated becoming energy independent with the third major derailment and explosion of train cars filled with crude oil.  Not even napalm bombing in Vietnam could match the spectacular explosions from the West Virginia fireworks this week.


The North Dakota crude oil apparently burns better than other production here in the west.  With thousands of oil tankers using train tracks through about every major city in America, look for Keystone Pipeline approval as a "safe" alternative to urban trains.


Terrorism...


ISIS terrorists seem to be popping up in country after country with their unique theology and evil ways.  With Obama still in a scolding mood, so far Jordan and Egypt are the only nations taking a lead in armed resistance and dedication to destroying the terrorists.


Our paper tiger approach to foreign affairs has also been a great aid to Vladimir Putin, who used American indecision to carve a land mass to connect Crimea to the Russian border, as predicted a long time ago by the Coltons Point Times.

Economy...


Stock Markets are pushing against their highest levels in history in the midst of a mediocre, at best, recovery that has left most Americans with less cash, less equity, less choices, and a lousy selection of cheap made consumer products.


In my opinion, the markets have nowhere to go but down and they will take all the 401K money with them since most 401K funds have stock based investments.  Market players should have the ability to sit on investments for 5-10 years before needing the funds, in order to come out ahead.  As for the rest of us, forget it.


Sports...

The Super Bowl was rocked by scandal, the deflate gate conspiracy, while the Patriots took home the money.


College football crowned the first playoff king, as Ohio State beat number one Alabama in the semi-finals, and number two Oregon in the finals.


In college basketball, the mighty University of Kentucky have five games left in the season in their historic effort to become the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976.  It promises to be a magnificent March Madness if we survive the Arctic deep freeze.


More later...