Obama Speech

Well-written and delivered, in form a challenge to the other side -- "You pass this or the consequences are on your head."  So now Obama can to a degree sit back and relax, knowing that the whole thing probably will not get passed unchanged and if any change is made, he can blame the Republicans for any problems with the economy.  A win-win scenario for the Big O.  Unless the whole proposal passes and the economy is still sour, in which case Obama takes the hit.   But what is the likelihood of that?   (The Jobs bill passing, I mean, not the economy staying sour.)

As to the bill itself, I cain't kick.  I would like to see more of a carrot and a stick applied to American companies who move operations or jobs abroad, and more tax disadvantages to companies with officers paid a lot more than the rank and file.   It ain't American, and while we can't tell companies how much to pay their board and executives, we can sure as heck penalyze them when it comes to taxing. 

Also, as always, there is too much deference toward the financial industry.   American business is separate from the casino shell games played in the finance sector.

And in the meantime,  Republican presidential hopefuls will be tearing each other apart, while Obama, like Caesar at the Colisseum, sits on his throne and watches.   

I'm disappointed in Bachmann's reception.  Not that I consider her a good candidate.  It's the way the GOP faithful are bypassing her in favor of taller and louder men.  Her content is not that different from Perry's, both being on the looney side of the street.   Why is he getting the attention while she is fading?  Not fair.  I think it's because she is a little woman.

I've said before that the Republican candidates are a handsome bunch this year.    The hair dye and transplants, the botox, the spa treatments, have really paid off.  And I am sorry to say, that is what a candidate most needs:  handsomeness.   The time is past when Americans will elect a fat, bald, stooped, short, or wrinkled person to the White House.     We are all about appearances and soundbites and shortness on substance.

Perry would have appalled previous generations, whose children and grandchildren now stand enthralled.  Sad to say, he is the man of our time, which says more about us, about some of us, than about him.

Not that Perry will win against Obama if nominated.   I feel Huntsman is the best candidate to go head to head against Obama.    The loss will not reform Perry or his (or Bachmann's or Gingrich's or Palin's) supporters.  They will retire to their dens to lick their wounds and plan revenge.    As a character said in Lord of the Rings, "After a rest and a respite, the evil grows again."  

I know it's bad to characterize a significant segment of the American population as evil, but that's how I feel.   They have cleaved to the false prophets and the anti-Christ prophesied in the New Testament. 

See!   I can wax religious too.

On Obama's Handling of the Egypt Situation

Republicans have been trying to make hay of Liall Ferguson's criticisms of the way the Egyptian situation was handled by Washington.   Can the administration be blamed for not being prepared for all this? Probably.

But remember, the best intelligence in the Middle East comes from ... the Mossad. Which was blindsided. The speed at which demonstrations are mobilized via facebook can take intelligence services by surprise. There can be chronic discontent, but in an instant it can boil over into mass action that was not forseen or forseeable, except in hindsight.

And what kind of policy is it to fund dissenting/revolutionary groups when you are allied with the guy they want to rebel against? Playing both sides is a dangerous game. You end up as the enemy of whoever wins out.

What is almost humorous is that Obama would have been criticized whatever had been done. Fund Egyptian dissent and you get blamed for the fall of a long time ally. Don't fund dissent and you get blamed for not preparing for Mubarak's exit. Support Mubarak's rule publicly and you are exposed as a damn fool and a friend of dictators when he falls or dies. Whatever you do there will be carping and second guessing.

Sure there are what we from our point of view deem undesirable elements that are going to have more voice in Egyptian government. But that is in the nature of democracy. If you shut out selected groups from the democratic process, then what you end up with is not democracy.