Wednesday, November 5, 2008

America

The United States of America has a fairly unique claim to fame.  Every 4 years we trudge out to the polls after enduring endless tongue wagging and silly promises and elect a new leader for the nation.

Here comes the cool part:

The change of power comes without anybody firing a shot in anger.

We get to vote for a leader, the majority wins, and the minority accepts this and wishes the new president well.  Take a look down through history - it will help you with the proper level of amazement you should have.

So here is my sincere hope and wish for a successful presidency for Barak H. Obama, soon to be the 44th president of the United States.  May his presidency be all of the things that the people hope for.  And let us dispel once and for all the idea that America is a racist nation.  After all, a bunch of White Christians just elected a black man with an Arabic name in the first non incumbent race since 9/11.  And his plurality extended across every income bracket.  Truth certainly is stranger than fiction.

But the election is over.  The People have spoken.  

The banking crisis has passed (judging from LIBOR drop of 17 days in a row).  

The Energy Crisis is still with us.  

Now is the time to communicate with our elected representatives, because the honeymoon won't last.  And time is of the essence.

Mentatt (at) yahoo (dot) com

12 comments:

bureaucrat said...

When Bush entered in 2000, the national debt was $5 trillion. It is now headed towards $13 trillion (partly to save Wall Street). Barack won't have a prayer. He will not be able to get any more money from the world for much longer. And the only reason we aren't a "racist nation" is because of the kids and good economic times. The older people are just as racist as before, and when 2009 rolls around, all the racist shit will re-appear.

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

Bureaucrat:

I did not vote for him, but I wish him every success - he is soon to be the President of the U.S.

Yes, he will have difficulty financing stuff - but he has great credability. Let us hope he uses it wisely.

Older people racist? Maybe, but over the next 4 years the folks in that birth epoch will be leaving the stage. No matter how you look at it, the U.S. is no longer the nation it was 40, 30, even 20 years ago.

I grew up in a neighborhood of cigarettes and 40 OZ bottles of Malt Liquor (my parents did not drink, but if I look in the photo albums of my extended family it has to find a photo absent these 2 items). Poor people must take responsibilty for their behavior - alcohol and tobacco KEEP PEOPLE POOR. So do drugs. You cannot legislate morality. This is an individual decision, blaming others for ones poor decisions does little for the individual.

Anonymous said...

The Left just can't let go of the race thing. Why are you people all race all the time? My guess is that it has been a successful wedge, just as class is used as a wedge to divide us and further the ultimate socialist goal. Knock it off already. While there are plenty of racist butt heads around, racism is no longer institutionalized. Success exists for anyone who is willing to work for it. Remember, the most economically successful race in this country is the Asians. They refuse to be victims.

I'm really tired of hearing race, race, race from a bunch of people that believe in a Welfare system that makes it economically advantageous for 15 year old girls to get pregnant, then are mystified by our intractable problems with poverty and crime.

Unfortunately for the Blacks in this country, the Great Society legislation passed just as they were working their way up and out. Blacks moved from the rural south to the big cities and replaced the Italians and Eastern Europeans as sort of the next wave of immigrants. They are the greatest victims of the Great Society, because they were the largest block of the poor at the time. Fathers deserted their families by the millions, as welfare money was better than they could earn. The illegitimacy rate among black teenage girls skyrocketed from 21% to the 68% it is today. A human disaster if ever there was one.

No one has the guts to fix it. They would immediately be labeled a racist. Obama actually talked around the subject once. Only thing I agree with him about. Prompted a black "leader" to want to castrate him.

I am older ( than you ) and I'm not a racist. I wish Mr Obama good luck. He will need it.

Regards,

Coal Guy

Donal Lang said...

I disagree about the banking crisis. Phase One may be over, but the derivatives crisis, the recession, the insurance crisis, the credit card crisis, are all to come. And who will bail out the government from the government bailouts for banks, insurance companies, bankrupt states, auto-makers, and whoever else comes along with their hands out?

I feel sorry for Obama; he's inheriting a crock o' shit and could easily end up taking some of the blame when he can't sort out the mess.

And all the while he'll be spending his life hiding behind 3" armoured glass in case some right-wing nutter with a 9mm decides to 'fix' what McCain couldn't. He may as well paint a target on his forehead.

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

Donal:

There is a difference between a banking shutdown and a currency shutdown. Banks have no idea of the VALUE of the currency they are banking. The currency does know if there are banks or not in a fractional reserve system.

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

Coal Guy:

Unintended consequences always rear their ugly head. I don't know what could have been different. Much has improved as a result of these programs, much has gotten worse.

One thing is FOR SURE. Declinging energy availability will = decling economic output will = less money for ALL social programs... For better or worse.

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

Donal:

President-elect Obama has some clear problems, but he also has some real opportunities.

Perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised.

Americans have a habit of rallying around the president, even when we did not vote for the individual. This is one advantage over the parlimentary system. In the end, we tend to like our presidents - for the most part.

Anonymous said...

Unintended consequences, the downfall of socialism. $1.00 of good, $1.25 of damage. We could have done better, we still can. The biggest losers in this are black men. No social function beyond stud service. Men don't do well without responsibility. Listen to Hip-Hop. They get the problem, just not the source.

Regards,

Coal Guy

bureaucrat said...

Mr. Jeffers-on :),

My friend Mac is a smoker (I learned a LOT about MO, PM, LO, RAI and UST from him -- great dividends!) and he seems to like those 40ounce things, which I didn't even know existed till he started drinking them in front of me. :) I was suburban and sheltered. That world you think disappeared is very much alive. And I'll bet in 20, 30, 40 years it will still be alive. :) I'm hoping Mac decides someday to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Because right now, he is a defective human being. :) The racism is still there, but like with the Clinton Administration, cheap oil covers up a lot of economic problems.

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

"Pumpin a 40" will always be with us. So will cigarettes and other drugs.

But younger folks now know that "there, but for the grace of G-d" - they could have been born into a "family" from my old neighborhood.

Most of my contemporaries are DEAD. Not from war. From alcohol and drugs. I grew up in a gritty factory town (and it had some really nice suburbs, too) 10 miles north of NYC, and even with all of the opportunities that NYC has to offer, most of the guys I went to school with succumbed to substances and car crashes from being impaired.

I know, from personal experience, that if you are born with no advantages the absolute, unconditional... if you want to break into the middle or high income classes, you gotta take a pass on substnace abuse.

But this is a PERSONAL decision. It is no one else's fault if YOU decide to harm yourself and your future offpring by imbibing.

Know what the definition of WHITE TRASH is? Being from a family that spent more money on beer and cigarettes than was spent on their children's education. Well, that is my definition... and I was a Spam and Velvitta kind of kid.

This is why I cannot listen to Democrat politicians call people "rich" if the make $250k per year. I think Teddy Kennedy is rich and that his trust fund should be confiscated. It would be OK with me if ALL trust funds were confiscated. But why tax the shit out of hard working, smart people?

Caudy said...

Jeffers,

Call me. I can't find your number!

Thanks,
Caudy

Caudy said...

oh.

My new cell number is 845-741-8667.