The Obamanation

[Griff]

I remember a graph of post war crashes from a US History class years ago. I'll search the net... of course we are not even close to ending our present engagements. Go us.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Griff

I remember a graph of post war crashes from a US History class years ago. I'll search the net... of course we are not even close to ending our present engagements. Go us.

I'm trying to figure out how much of the money spent on the war is creating jobs here. Mercenaries like Blackwater (Xe) don't really represent the US workforce, and a lot of the work by Cheney's old firm (KBR-Haliburton) involves subcontracters overseas which they overcharge for. This is one reason why there are a number of electrocution cases in Iraq.

In previous wars, at least most of the money was spent in the US. Now services, components, and equipment are as likely as not to be from sources outside the US.

[ZenGum]

Take a look at Griff's graph.
Firstly, note that it gives job losses as an absolute value. Since there are more people in jobs now compared to 1950, losing a million jobs is a smaller percentage now than previously. I'd like to see an adjusted graph of that (but not enough to go and look for one).


I also notice that if you trace the recessions in their chronological order, after the first cluster of five recessions which lasted 18-23 months, they get progressively longer: 28, 32 and 47 months. The present one is shaping up to be a doozie. Is the trend strong enough to support a general hypothesis? Are US recessions getting longer? If so, why would that be?

[TheMercenary]

An interesting relationship here:

Obama, Soros, oil.

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/o...-oil-in-brazil

[capnhowdy]

Sign this petition.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

This Krauthammer article probably belongs here.

[Radar]

Originally Posted by capnhowdy

Sign this petition.

Why would anyone sign a petition for the president to release his birth certificate when he already did during the campaign and it was a legitimate, authentic, certified, signed, sealed, and verified copy of his actual birth certificate?

Only a nutjob or an insane person is stupid enough to believe he was born in another country. Only jackasses like Orly Taitz or Phil Berg are that dumb.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Radar

Why would anyone sign a petition for the president to release his birth certificate when he already did during the campaign?

Then do it again - its the department of redundancy dept - one of the largest in our Gov't. Shouldn't take a petition anyway. Personally I would hope it would shut up a bunch of them once and for all.

[ZenGum]

That doesn't work on idealogues with the memory of a goldfish and the attention span of a toddler.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Though it does work well enough on everybody else, leaving the cranks to be encysted in their isolation. Works for me [shrug].

[classicman]

'A Lot Like Jimmy Carter'

An end to diplomacy is also taking shape in Washington's policy toward Tehran. It is now up to Iran, Obama said, to convince the world that its nuclear power is peaceful. While in Asia, Obama mentioned "consequences" unless it followed his advice. This puts the president, in his tenth month in office, where Bush began -- with threats. "Time is running out," Obama said in Korea. It was the same phrase Bush used against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, shortly before he sent in the bombers.

There are many indications that the man in charge at the White House will take a tougher stance in the future. Obama's advisors fear a comparison with former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, even more than with Bush. Prominent Republicans have already tried to liken Obama to the humanitarian from Georgia, who lost in his bid to win a second term, because voters felt that he was too soft. "Carter tried weakness and the world got tougher and tougher because the predators, the aggressors, the anti-Americans, the dictators, when they sense weakness, they all start pushing ahead," Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, recently said. And then he added: "This does look a lot like Jimmy Carter."

Link

Good gracious, please tell me that we aren't going there again.

[TheMercenary]

Don't hold your breath.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

There are T-shirts that say "Welcome Back, Carter" advertised on The Drudge Report.

[classicman]

Barack Obama’s Top Ten Foreign Policy Follies

This has hardly been a stellar year for the projection of American global power. Weakness, rather than strength, has been the hallmark of US foreign policy under Barack Obama, from the Iranian nuclear crisis to dithering over the war in Afghanistan. Instead of strong American leadership, the White House has all too often offered humiliating apologies for America’s past and embarrassing gaffes.

Here is a list of the ten biggest foreign policy follies of Barack Obama’s first year in office. I’ve tried to make the list inclusive of all corners of the world, ranging from Tehran to Tokyo to Khartoum, and frankly could easily have expanded it to a top 20 or even top 30 list. There are plenty to choose from, including some of the most cringe worthy moments in modern American history.

Link
Some of the comments at the end of this are amazing. I don't agree with all of what is said, but I was more than a little surprised at this mans perspective nonetheless.

[Undertoad]

That list is tiresome carping. There has been no actual foreign policy test as yet. If one of the worst ten things O could do is mess up gift-giving he will be in the same boat as most families tomorrow.