Obama Picks Up A Belated Jihadist Endorsement

The NY Times reports that Obama has picked up a jihadist endorsement:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The leader of a jihadi group in Iraq argued Friday that the election of Barack Obama as president represented a victory for radical Islamic groups that had battled American forces since the invasion of Iraq.

The statement, which experts said was part of the psychological duel with the United States, was included in a 25-minute audiotaped speech by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that claims ties to Al Qaeda. Mr. Baghdadi’s statement was posted on a password-protected Web site called Al Hesbah, used to disseminate information to Islamic radicals.

In his address, Mr. Baghdadi also said that the election of Mr. Obama — and the rejection of the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain — was a victory for his movement, a claim that has already begun to resonate among the radical faithful. In so doing Mr. Baghdadi highlighted the challenge the new president would face as he weighed how to remove troops from Iraq without also giving movements like Al Qaeda a powerful propaganda tool to use for recruiting.

Well.  I deplore this next example of unimaginative reporting:

Intelligence officials working in the region said that they did not see Mr. Obama’s election as having any fundamental effect on Al Qaeda, and that any talk of a truce was likely to go nowhere. But two intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of their work said that they were concerned that any step that could be perceived as a victory for Al Qaeda, like pulling troops out of Iraq right away, would only strengthen its ability to recruit.

“If he withdraws the soldiers from Iraq before the country gets really stable, Al Qaeda will see it as their victory, and they might get stronger again,” one regional intelligence official said. That dynamic was already beginning to play out on Al Hesbah.

For heaven's sake.  Sure, Bin Laden cited Reagan's withdrawal from Lebanon and Clinton's withdrawal from Somalia as jihadist success stories, but can't a commited Obama press organ like the Times dredge up some intelligence or military official somewhere who is not recyling the stale Bushian talking point that an American defeat in Iraq will embolden Al Qaeda?  Geez, don't they even know that Al Qaeda scarcely had a presence in Iraq in 2003?  (No, I am not sure either why that is relevant to Al Qaeda's presence there in 2008, but surely the Times can span that logical chasm.)

What the Times needs to do is find some source to explain (on deep background) that Al Qaeda welcomed the Awakening and the surge and that Al Qaeda recruiting benefited when they had their action kicked up and down Anbar and Baghdad.

Then the Times can segue to an explanation of Obama's "strategy" for the region:

1.  Blame the local Iraqis for having failed to resolve their ancient differences;

2.  Blame Bush for starting a stupid war and withdraw US troops precipitously.

3.  Re-deploy these troops to the "real" war in Afghanistan

4.  Explain to the locals in Afghanistan and Waziristan that, even though no government has pacified and ruled this region since Alexander the Great, Obama the One has every intention of maintaining a US troop commitment until the region is stabilized.

5.  This is the genius part which illustrates why the One is The One and the rest of us are just whatever we are.  The locals in Afghanistan will look at the chaos in Iraq (yes, news travels) and conclude that the eternal commitment of The One has a shelf life of about twelve months.  As they watch Anbar Sunnis who allied with the US wave goodbye to US troops today (and their heads tomorrow), they will fall down helplessly with laughter at the idea of aligning with the US.  And while everyone in the region is thus incapacitated, US troops will swarm in (*NOT* surge in) and pacify the region.

It can't miss.

Comments

[Boatbuilder]

"The statement, which experts said was part of a psychological duel with the United States . . . "

Duh.

Hey, not to worry. The genius "experts" are in charge now.

[Ranger]

“If he withdraws the soldiers from Iraq before the country gets really stable, Al Qaeda will see it as their victory, and they might get stronger again,” one regional intelligence official said. That dynamic was already beginning to play out on Al Hesbah.

Is that a friendly warning from the NYT that even they won't be able to cover for him if this happens?

[E. Nigma]

Well, when we withdraw and Iraq begins to fall apart, the Obama administration will just say, "See, we WERE right about this."

They're always going to be right, and some of the media will always cover for them.

[clarice]

In the meantime, the Iraqis are newly motivated to cut a longer term "occupation" deal with the US. The One has inspired them to get off their asses.

[Rick Ballard]

"As they watch Anbar Sunnis who allied with the US wave goodbye to US troops today (and their heads tomorrow)"

Given the history of Sunni domination of Shia Arabs, that's not a bet I would make. It's rather obvious that Obama has some ties to the Iranian/Russian/Venezuelan axis but I remain unconvinced that he does not also have ties to the Saudis.

Obama being a rent boy to billionaires Soros, Lewis, Pritzker (and Buffett) et al makes it difficult to assess the course which will be dictated to him. Pritzker is easy to figure - she'll just want to continue looting banks. What kind of tricks will Soros, Lewis and Buffett command Obama to perform? What happens if the two pursue antithetical goals?

The rent boy is obviously much closer to Soros and will balance whatever ball is tossed to him by Soros on his nose while clapping but Soros is no builder, he's a destroyer. Kinda tough to make a claim to being in favor enlarging the economy with the destroyer advising.

I'm sure that the course of The Odyssey of the Billionaire's Rent Boy will become clear over time but it sure isn't today. Aside from his fervent desire to impose the largest regressive tax the world has ever seen through the carbon credits scheme of course.

[fdcol63]

Obama's experience growing up in Indonesia, as a Muslim youth, will make him more sympathetic to the Muslim cause.

Obama's experience sitting in Wright's church for 20 years, listening to anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western, and black separationist theology rhetoric, will make him more sympathetic to our enemies.

What a horrible combination for an American president and commander-in-chief when we're in a cultural war with radical Islam and confronting the dangers of a nuclearized state-sponsor of terrorism like Iran and its proxies in Hezbollah.

Dark times are definitely ahead.

[kim]

Wheeee! Ain't this an exhilaratin' ride?
===========================

[kim]

Man, if this keeps up we may see the majority of Americans already regretting their choice by the time of the coronation of their new Czar.
========================================

[kim]

That honeymoon shattered the morning after to the sound of missile maracas on the Polish border.
====================================

[matt]

Mekaleka Hi! Meka Hiney Ho!

what a bunch of kooks.....

[kim]

I've already figured out what our enemies are salivating about; they know we've been conned into electing a stone cold fool.

Free as bird, stupid as sin; America, what a great country.
======================================

[kim]

Maybe the danger will get those Eurocrats to show a little spine.
======================================

[clarice]

Worked in child raising, kim. I always pretended to be stone stupid so my son had to take responsibility for his own decisions and it worked just swell.
Son:"Can I go to a party at X's Sat night?"
Me:"Sure, go ahead. If you want I'll drop you off."
Son:"Let's think about this. His dad and mom are out of town and his brother always has a lot of dope around. There won't be anyone there chaperoning."
Me:"Oh, I see what you mean. Would it help if you could say,'My mom says I can't go to parties where parents aren't home'?"
Son:"Yes."
Me:"Consider it done."

[Joe Gloor]

The only way we can depend on the Eurocrats to show us their spine is as the yellow streak running down their backs as they flee from danger.

[Frau Jedöns]

"...the sound of missile maracas on the Polish border.
In a lighter vein, I misread that as "missile macacas." That *would* be some sound. Oh, the humanity!

I've lost the source of the description of duties and privileges of the citizens of the "Open Society." As I remember, Uncle Soros gave the real governing power to a few elites while the common folk got to whoop it up at city councils and determine street sweeping schedules. Is that where we're heading?

[nabalzbbfr]

Obama doesn't have U.S. interests at heart

For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be an American. We as a nation have proved Osama bin Laden correct: We no longer have the stomach for any kind of fight.

The American people have elected a man who hates America and all it stands for. In our epic war on terrorism, he is a man who sides with our enemies. Although I have disagreed with the policies of many politicians, I never questioned their desire for a better America. I disagreed with almost every policy of former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, yet they all had America's best interests at heart. Obama has fooled the American people into thinking he is a middle-of-the-road Democrat, relying on the laziness of the people to avoid checking his voting record. He is the most hard-core leftist radical in the U.S. Senate, who has condemned America at every chance.

We have elected a socialist with strong anti-American beliefs, a man with a United Nations view of the world.

May God bless America; we certainly need it.

[Rick Ballard]

Three Obama Supporters Killed In Cold Blood

[Rick Ballard]

Oh dear, another Obama supporter suddenly departs this vale of tears. Couldn't they wait until the inauguration?

[Thomas Collins]

Having visited my favorite bar in Providence, RI last night, I am in a cheery and optimistic mood. So, I will express an optimistic thought, namely, that reality has somehow intruded upon the abandon Iraq crowd. The reality is that Barry-O is likely to inherit from GWB a stable Iraq and a Homeland not hit by a major terrorist attack since 9/11/01. Iraq falling apart on Barry-O's watch, or a major Homeland terrorist attack occurring on his watch, is likely to turn Mr. 52% to Mr. 42% in 2012.

[bad]

Clarice, my kids use the parent excuse to avoid dumb stuff as well. They've also been known to say, "Gosh I hope my mom doesn't ever hear you are doing stuff like this, it would break her heart."

Sarkozy appears to be over the love fest, although I never thought he was on board in the first place. Exquisite manners and a meeting of the minds are very different things.

[Ranger]

Sarkozy appears to be over the love fest, although I never thought he was on board in the first place. Exquisite manners and a meeting of the minds are very different things.

Posted by: bad | November 08, 2008 at 03:00 PM

I think Sarkozy see a chance to be a new DeGaul. He saw that Barry is a man of no real convictions and even less international policy experience. Sarkozy will stand up and offer to be the leader of the free world, and Obama will follow his lead (because it is so much easier to follow rather than lead).

[qrstuv]

I let myself get into a conversation about politics at work (where I was previously in the closet politically).

Anyway, my co-worker (who is no dummy) said that he had absolutely no idea why we were fighting in Iraq. So I explained to him about Islamofascism, and how this evil ideology needs to be defeated, and how better to go about that than offering a non-dictator alternative -- spang in the middle of the Mideast.

He said that a civil war would have been far more likely (a reasonable opinion), but otherwise reacted as if he had never heard a single word spoken on the subject.

He said well why didn't Bush explain any of this?

And I told him that Bush did explain it, again and again and again. I said, go back and read the speeches.

It was extremely disheartening.

[Captain Hate]

Sarkozy will stand up and offer to be the leader of the free world, and Obama will follow his lead (because it is so much easier to follow rather than lead).

That would provide a great deal of comfort because I trust Sarkozy.

[Amused bystander]

Somehow getting in front of the American people what is going on with these pupetters is the key to it all. Soros is key.

[hrtshpdbox]

"Oh dear, another Obama supporter suddenly departs this vale of tears."

Watch for a concerted uptick in attacks on Al Qaeda during the next two months, as Bush tries to do what he can to keep America safe (and ensure a safety buffer for his successor). The media, of course, will accuse Bush of adventurism and not kowtowing to O's muddle-headedness; Bush will pay no attention, thank goodness.

[clarice]

He doesn't need Soros any more..there's still a little room under the bus whenever the old Hungarian nutter becomes inconvenient.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

He can't just dump Soros. Soros knows far too much and has the mechanism in hand to reveal what he knows. OTOH, blackmailing someone holding the most powerful job in the world is a bit delicate.

Soros could wind up in very poor health very soon.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

Obama being a rent boy to billionaires Soros...

The key I think was that Soros' cronies at the ICG were stirring up trouble in Kirkuk about a week ago. Soros took a pretty big stake in Pertobras about 2 months ago and once Iraq gets its oil industry sorted out they could easily be producing 4-6 million bbl a day. Needless to say, Uncle George wouldn't like a modernizing Iraq oil industry which would compete with Brazil for marketshare and also put to lie the "Peak Oil" business he's spent so much money cultivating.

[RichatUF]

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi?

Curious.

[RichatUF]

hrtshpdbox-

Watch for a concerted uptick in attacks on Al Qaeda during the next two months...

Don't disagree with the main point, but I'd watch for action in South America and Europe targeting Hezbollah and others. The winter is going to be fierce in the Hindu Kush, so al-Qeada and the Taliban are going to be regrouping and redirecting resources soon.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

Petrobras is really only worth something with oil north of $80. The Saudis have a completely different resource maximization model which depends upon oil remaining at a price which discourages substitution - around $60 (IMO). At $60, the KSA weakens the Persians and Chavez and realizes their goal of blocking substitution. I still think the KSA has a hook in Obama somewhere but I can't figure out the location. Why wouldn't they? Rent boys are rent boys.

It's blatantly obvious to anyone who cares to examine the evidence that the AGW fraud was designed to allow the imposition of carbon trading schemes in order to impose a "silent" regressive tax which will be adjusted as necessary to benefit billionaires such as Soros. Dig into the funding for the Warmers and Peakers and you'll wind up at Soros pocket every time.

I'd be looking at Goldman Sachs just as hard as Soros - their next step (having screwed the American public royally with the phony $150 oil forecast) is promoting the "alternative" energy gimcrack companies in order to grab subsidy money and then sell some development bonds which will wind up being worth far less than even the worst of the MBS garbage.

What a sewer.

[George S]

If we pull troops out of Iraq right away it's a recruitment tool for Al Qaeda? Huh? I thought it was the other way around - at least that's what I was hearing for the past five years from the NYT.

I tell ya, I am so nuance-challenged.

[$80,000 and i’ll tell you]

Huge resinous buds, but not really hash like.

We need to kill some foreign operations officer and see what happens. The Basque recruitment was excellent.

[RichatUF]

George-

I thought it was the other way around - at least that's what I was hearing for the past five years from the NYT.

I'm not getting the nuance either. I thought once Obama has his adoration session at the 57 states of the OIC, at which he'll apologize for all manner of America's imagined crimes, it was going to be rainbows and unicorns. It won't be-no rainbows and unicorns...

Wonder when he is going to make a weepy apology for slavery to loathsome African dictators and the price of the first reparations lawsuit in "International Court".

[Amused bystander]

Obamas ius a front man. Do you think a "man" like this can engineer this sort of thing?

I doubt if the O gives many orders in the inner circle.

[Rick Ballard]

AB,

I agree - I'm still working on who has to wash their whole arm every time Obama stops speaking. Certainly Soros own the largest piece of Obama but Goldman Sachs has a piece as well. Who else has a big chunk of the carbon tax fraud?

[Amused bystander]

RB: It is sad that we have come to this. This is why it must be exposed so that this never happens again.

The new media is the only place this can get out.

I still think that if a real forensic team looked at the "financial crisis" we are having, they would find Soros' fingerprints all over it. That will not happen now, at least not in the political or criminal investigative realms/organizations.

I would hope that someone in the intel community would be on it. It probably would require that sort of resources to really get to the bottom of it.

What is up with establishment democrats? they have children too. It is not like the Chicago machine represents every power faction in the party.

The Ivy liberal Intel community needs to get their ducks in a row with this crowd. A nuke in NY hurts them more than anyone.

I have actually heard Soros speak. He is a real lunatics, and not nearly as intelligent as people give him credit for.

More Clever than intelligent in the hightest sense.
Very narrow education too.

The Tranzi/Enarch crowd eats his stuff up though. What does that say about their capacities?

[Amused bystander]

lunatics=lunatic

[RichatUF]

Who else has a big chunk of the carbon tax fraud?

The Europeans, but who? I'm sure that Maurce Strong, Paul Desmarais, and Albert Frere are among the pigs at the trough though.

I'm heartened by the fact that the EU ETS was a complete failure in phase 1 (the credits collapsed from a high of 30€ to about 7 cents a year and a half later), and although the EU itself isn't deterred from failing again with phase 2, member states (mostly Germany) are.

[Amused bystander]

You are right about BS too, I'd bet.

I would like to see how JPM and BONY fit into to.

You know BONY has new elements in it after the Mellon crowd is in there, and they have HUGE Custodian and clearance system for stock trading. Big Securities lending operation to.

BONY seems very absent from discussions, and I find that surprising.

I cannot figure out a financial line business that JPM is not in.

Morgan Stanley and Citi are other question marks. Lots of GS connections there too.

I do not know how these people leive with themselves.

I have had to listen to this bunch crow about how brilliant they are, what masters of the business world they are.

They have been shown to be clueless and villainous buffoons. It is the analog to the Ivy Intel establishment totally blowing in on bin Laden and Co. Mendacious and arrogant brats to a man.

I hope that at the very least their children notice.

[Lori]

Rick and others--I am not up to speed on this carbon tax fraud stuff. Please help.

[RichatUF]

Amused Bystandard-

I still think that if a real forensic team looked at the "financial crisis" we are having, they would find Soros' fingerprints all over it. That will not happen now, at least not in the political or criminal investigative realms/organizations.

I'm with you here. I'm really surprised that no one has been arrested yet regarding the collapse of Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, or AIG either here or in London. Chaco let me have it though when the NYT's flagged up an article in their business section about "when people don't feel in control they think in conspiracist terms".

I'd even throw in a "helping hand" goosing the oil market from $70 to $148-the parked and full Iranian tankers, Vitol (a Swiss energy trading company) having about 11% of contracts on a single trading day, the "for press release" Nigerian oil facilities attack. I'd even throw in the active measures on AGW and Peak Oil. Soros' own special brand of "reflexivity" in action.

[Amused bystander]

*You are right about GS*

[Rick Ballard]

AB,

Soros was certainly clever enough to find the chink in the MBS/CDS armor. The method used for exploiting the the design weakness in the two products isn't that complicated but it required a fairly large network of individuals/hedge funds with access to a significant amount of money. The problem that I see at this point with a revelation concerning the network is that no one is fessing up to the size of the losses taken in the synthetic CDS market. It's theoretically a net to zero market but there were still two sides to every transaction.

How can an unregulated market be adequately investigated? Certainly, the naked short selling can be investigated because it occurred on regulated exchanges but it would take a level of cooperation which I truly do not expect to see to uncover the Soros involvement with the CDS arsonists.

The little piece that is fascinating to me is that MBS packages containing the ALT-A and ARM tranches continue to be sold. I suppose that theoretically a set of properly documented mortgages with lower LTV ratios is "safe". I wouldn't touch one but I'm sure that pension funds are still putting them away.

Lori,

I'll reply in a few minutes. I need to try and find a decent link to an explanation.

[Lori]

thanks Rick

[RichatUF]

Lori-

Rick and others--I am not up to speed on this carbon tax fraud stuff.

In what way? Wiki has a pretty good overview on the the EU Emmissions Trading Scheme and less so on the European Climate Exchange. It developed (and correct me if I'm wrong here) from the EPA using credits for SO2 emissions and the Kyoto Treaty's call for limiting CO2 emmissions. Here in the US, the late Enron and late Lehman Brothers were big believers in "the new paradigm".

[Amused bystander]

Yes, I am with you on the oil thng too.

I do think what ever the plan was it got out of hands anyway.

These people are playing with fire in this day and age with all the nukes that are out there.

What complete Cretans our "elites" are. I would think you would have to go back to the Final years of Rome or Byzantium to find a precedent for these clowns (and even then they did not get them in one generation)

I take that back, this is eerily like the how decrepit aristocracy of Europe just before WW1 and during its initial stages.

Hope we are a resilient as some folks think we are.

[Amused bystander]

*aristocracy of Europe BEHAVED*

[RichatUF]

Rick-

I'll reply in a few minutes. I need to try and find a decent link to an explanation.

Sorry I stole your thunder;)

[RichatUF]

AB-

I do think what ever the plan was it got out of hands anyway.

It was a systematic failure. Pushing oil to $148/bbl created conditions similiar to those that existed in the Asian Financial Crisis in many developing countries (and for another day, a "reflexivity" regarding inflation). I had a blindspot regarding the US however with the interaction of Basal II, the CDSs "market", and the decline in housing prices. Some people have gotten very rich over the last few months exploiting that regulatory hedge.

[Rick Ballard]

Lori,

Rich's links are good - here is another one on carbon credits. Essentially, governments have come up with a tax on air (disguised as "emissions"). While they haven't started taxing you or me on the amount of CO2 we emit, they plan on taxing utilities and fuel producers. That tax on the companies will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy prices. Energy usage is very regressive by it's nature. A rich person who is 1,000 times more wealthy than a poor person does not use more than 2 or 3 times as much energy (speaking about people in the same country).

Of course, the govs will feed back money to the very poor - and absolutely nail the middle class.

Remember that you're saving dear Gaia when you pay your utility bill and thank Supreme Leader Obama for forcing you to write the check as a demonstration of your selflessness.

[Thomas Collins]

There is a story on Drudge that the Barry-O is not yet confirming our commitment to put a missile defense shield in Poland. I hope an adult on the O-Team (if there are any) tells Barry-O that reneging on the missile shield commitment would not be the kind of change we need.

There is no excuse for this. Barry-O is a US Senator. He should know hedging on this commitment is dangling food in front of the Russian Bear.

[Rick Ballard]

"He should know hedging on this commitment is dangling food in front of the Russian Bear."

He's just helping out an ally, TC. Wait 'til he starts giving arms to Chavez.

[Porchlight]

This should be no surprise. He said a while back that he "will not weaponize space."

[Captain Hate]

This must be the beginning of Carter v2.0 where we screw our allies and help our enemies.

[Porchlight]

This must be the beginning of Carter v2.0 where we screw our allies and help our enemies.

Yep. That's been the goal all along.

[Pofarmer]

That tax on the companies will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy prices.

The new thing is mandating "green" energy, and also legislating that the companies cannot raise rates to pay for it. Look up MO Proposition C, for an example.

[Lori]

Rick-what does it all have to do with Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions? Do they now have large carbon trading operations? I know someone who works for a hedge fund (I think) involved in this somehow. He tried to explain it all to me and it sounded like nonsense. What happens if someone figures out that CO2 has nothing to do with global warming/cooling or climate change or whatever they call it?

[clarice]

"What complete Cretans our "elites" are. I would think you would have to go back to the Final years of Rome or Byzantium to find a precedent for these clowns (and even then they did not get them in one generation)"

Nah. It was evre this. This is why in The Leopard the smart aristocrat wants his son to marry the crude peasant's daughter.It's why smart people who've made it, hope their children marry the children of immigrant's. Get too far from dirt under the fingernails and you get weak chinned nitwits.

[clarice]

**the children of immigrants****

[Rick Ballard]

I think there's a lot of chaff being floated to test reaction. The first pass was the JugenschwarzeLeopard forced labor corps.

I believe that the measured reaction to such blather is a review and discussion of posse comitatus and the duty of every able bodied male as a member of the militia to protect and defend the Constitution.

I'm really pleased to see the long gun sales jump up as they have. I hope our arms and ammo plants enjoy brisk and enduring sales increases to people who understand the Bill of Rights.

[Porchlight]

That tax on the companies will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy prices.

Which will in turn increase the flow of carbon tax dollars back to the gov't, if I'm understanding it correctly.

But at some point won't high energy prices reduce demand and/or cause problems for the party in power as consumers get fed up?

[Mark Turner]

Obama is getting seemingly friendly overtures from Ahmedinejad of Iran and from Hamas because he is, in part, of Arab ancestry from his father's side. His entire name is Arab (although "Barack" can also be derived from the Swahili language") and he has strong ties to Islamic tradition. Our enemies in the Middle East may perceive these circumstances as more conducive to open dialogue with the US resulting in concessions which would be in their favor.

Of course, having Rahm Emanuel (a Zionist Jew) as Chief of Staff would seem to contradict this assumption.

[clarice]

"But at some point won't high energy prices reduce demand and/or cause problems for the party in power as consumers get fed up?"
I'm lucky, living in DC we can just toast porkers to stay warm.

[Rick Ballard]

Lori,

AGW is a fraud, just like Obama and AGW will continue to be pimped by the science frauds. Obama will still be sworn in though. Wall Street is trying to get in on the cap and trade portion which involves exchanging permissions to emit. I can't say I follow it any better than you do but I know that Wall Street is slavering to add their friction cost to the mess.

"But at some point won't high energy prices reduce demand and/or cause problems for the party in power as consumers get fed up?"

Porchlight,

Sure but look at Europe. The cost of gas there is double what it is here and the difference is all taxes. Think like a politician - the trick is to starve the goose while still getting the Golden Egg. The Euroweenies have shown the way for years. Socialist immiseration is a long and nasty process of trial and error concerning the health of the goose. The socialists don't mind killing a few geese every day to test their hypotheses.

[Porchlight]

Rick,

I would imagine the average European is far less dependent on their vehicle, though, than the average American. We saw the outcry this summer when the prices went up.

Though there is no doubt some of the environuts want to see prices get as high as possible. Most people I know bitched about prices but voted Obama anyway.

[PeterUK]

The Pharaoh Obama is having trouble with his Treasurer. Anyone experienced would have had key member of the cabinet selected and ready to go on the starting blocks.

[ouc]

Evolvonuts, pimp my White House!!!

Congress ordered low gas prices, lucifer complied and there's no pains. 1/2 the population?

[Extraneus]

I'm really pleased to see the long gun sales jump up as they have.

Me, too. I think I've bought a new gun for each new regulation that's been passed since I became an adult. ("Assault weapons" ban? Ok, I think I'll get me one of those, folding stock and all.) I have around 12 or so, and quite a bit of ammo, although that doesn't last forever. (I should probably bury the long guns in the back yard in some kind of hermetically sealed system soon, with a few hundred rounds for each, since the older ones aren't registered.)

No matter what happens, the gun control battle cannot be lost.

[Mark Turner]

If hope Obama, whose charisma and dreamy statements were likened by some to the next JFK, doesn't see administration with the same outcome as JFK's did. Not to wish him or America any bad luck, but I can see this happening, especially if people feel that he has betrayed them, disappointed them, or is making things much worse by not delivering "change we don't need" and "change we can't believe in".

[Mark Turner]

Corrections:

"...see his administration end..."
"...by delivering..."

[bad]

From Peter's link:

It is the President-Elect's first taste of real dissent after having his views accepted without equivocation on the campaign trail.

The feminists are having a cow about Larry Summers and other candidates won't signal change from the current policies.

He could let Michelle choose: look how well she did on the election night dress.

[uc]

JFK was shot in the head by a long .22. If Obama is shot in the head with a long .22, it's all set up to run the same. He starts his service corps, it becomes a dem thing that never dies and keeps people poor, his wife dies in a couple of years and his kids become crackheads and kill themselves. This should make Obama happy. He didn't make JFK and love him?

[clarice]

"Anyone experienced would have had key member of the cabinet selected and ready to go on the starting blocks."

Nah, PUK..See the thing about having such a Broaaaaaaaaaaaaaad coalition of supporters and positions that run the gambit from marxist to centrist is that when the lion lies down with the lamb, one of them doesn't usually get up again.

[PeterUK]

Peter Hitchens - Goodbye America. Brother of Christopher.

[kim]

Naw, uc, a 6.5 mm Carcano. A lot more powerful than a LR .22. It was the standard military issue Italian rifle for almost half a century. Oswald added a scope. Still, amazingly fine shooting, which generated a lot of the skepticism.
=================================

[bad]

Thanks Peter and Peter, now I'm so freakin' depressed...

[sbw]

Anyone else note an excess of mindless verbal vomit since the election?

[Porchlight]

Check out the caption from the photo at Peter's link (my bold):

Barack Obama's view that there is 'only one president at once' means he will steer clear of next week's economic summit in Washington

Wow, generous of you there Barry, to let the President stay President until 1/20.

By the way I don't think this remark has been reported anywhere else - I googled it and this article was the only hit returned.

[Porchlight]

Anyone else note an excess of mindless verbal vomit since the election?

No, but only because I'm in a self-imposed media blackout. Only clicking on a link or two per day - otherwise it's strictly blog commentary for me.

[clarice]

Yes, SBW. I was about to post something similar but got distracted.

[Auoded]

In August 2000the Kursk nuclear sub exploded

[Add]

Obama wants sacrifices and mass hypnosis wasn't enough. It's like Bill with those subs.........

LU

[PD]

I don't get why supporters of His Obamaness tout the comparison to JFK.

They're *hoping* for a missle crisis?

[PD]

Of course AGW is a fraud. Unfortunately, given the election results, frauds appear to be what our country is enamored of.

[bad]

Porch, I thought his remark about "only one president at a time" was a way to avoid work and responsibility.

And when he speaks of "sacrifice" I know he means to raise my taxes.

But then, I'm cynical and a bitter clinger...

[ERa]

It's Congress getting the keys. Bush and Palin are governors. It's not like Obama is lucifer or anything.

LO

[RichatUF]

Lori-

I'll add my 2 cents to Rick's. The emissions trading system, as designed in Europe, is that governments whip up a magical number for CO2 emissions by industry type which is supposed to be a little less than the previous year. This creates an artifical scarcity, therefore the value of the CO2 permits (government premission slips to produce CO2 and it operates as a tax on CO2 producing industries) would go up in value over time. However, governments have been allocating permits to industries that don't need them (a subsidy to those industries because they can then sell the permits) and they provide additional allotments to industries that do need them because of industry pressure (making the aggregate of allotments larger than forecast, therefore worth less over time). The goal has been to put in place hard caps from a central authority so nation states (this is in the Euro zone, but the plans are global) can't game the allotments. The banks involvement in this is as market makers. At the exchange they buy and sell the credits among investors, companies which need a government permission slip to produce CO2, or to some guilt-ridden Hollywood type who wants to make a quick buck saving Gaia.

Problems with the model:

1. Governments can issue credits to any company they want and charge whatever price they like. At the ECE, the first batch priced at 10€ tonne, eventually made it up to 30€, which caused industry leaders to blanch, at which point more credits were issued, collapsing the value of all credits (eventually to cents).

2. The model only works in a growing economy. When plants become more efficent or economic growth slows down considerably, industry will produce fewer emissions. Fewer emissions reduces demand for the credits, which were determined at a whim anyway, reducing their price.

3. As long as countries in the EU can game the system (Denmark giving additional credits for windmill power production, but importing nuclear power from the Netherlands) it will never be scaled up because the credits will always collapse to zero.

4. The AGW "paradigm" is collapsing. Folks in Germany aren't going to turn off their heaters in the dead of winter for Mother Earth and the government won't do anything which would require them to do so. VW isn't going to idle a factory for lack of carbon credits, and the government won't allow it to happen either.

[Soylent Red]

I'm not a believer in New World Order conspiracies, but...

Behold our future.

Let me be first to go on the record as saying that I blame lucifer.

[RichatUF]

Sorry I got long winded in that last post folks.

[bgates]

Last up on the tv, Clint Eastwood in "The Enforcer", in which Dirty Harry goes up against the cold-blooded murderers of the Revolutionary People's Army or some such. Difficult to watch these days, knowing that if any of them had gotten away they could have been education faculty by now, advising future presidents.

[Rick Ballard]

I'm glad you did, Rich. Your grasp of this is miles beyond mine. I can see the outcome but I can't describe the process at all.

I just know that nothing of any value to anyone but the tax collectors and slime bankers is produced at all.

[Captain Hate]

Of course AGW is a fraud. Unfortunately, given the election results, frauds appear to be what our country is enamored of.

Unfortunately we were screwed either way since the Maverick took leave of any sense of science he may have ever had and bought into that garbage as well.

[Lori]

Very helpful Rich. Thank you.

[bad]

Mr. Emanuel, an Obama friend from Chicago's insular political world, brings to the post a hard-charging, sometimes profane voice that contrasts sharply with Mr. Obama's unflappable demeanor. He spent much of the Clinton administration inside the White House political office, shaping message and policy with a keen eye on its electoral impact.

Looks like hope and change for sure. Hobama hopes Rahmbo can advice him how best to change red states blue using the presidency to do so.

LUN

[Rick Ballard]

Captain Hate,

You mean you aren't shocked and amazed at the increase in temperature at 11,400 years since the beginning of the current interglacial period? Why a simple glance at those little graphs on the link should convince anyone of the magnitude of the problem.

The AGW fraud should set "science" back for a fair bit if we're actually entering a minimum. If we're headed down one of those really sharp declines, then the survivors will be too busy moving south to hunt climate scientists. Unfortunately.

[Uncle BigBad]

PUK

Thanks for linking Peter Hitchens. He's a better writer than Christopher, and he's on our side....sort of.

[matt]

carbon offset trading is one of the most bogus ideas to come down the pike in 50 years. It's akin to the tulip bubble of the 17th Century...selling nothing for something, basically. Open to massive fraud and gaming of the system.

Soros is probably trying to work that angle as well. Luckily, he'll be off the stage in the next few years, leaving Goldman as the last masters of the universe. One of these days we have to root them out as well. This economic crisis has put them even further into the catbird seat.

[clarice]

Aw, c'mon..think of the possibilities..a cap & trade market AND a cap & trade black market..branching out into indulgences again (Mr. PUK and I really cleaned up on those in the good old days) Even the market possibilties of a book "The Dangers of Phlogiston:What You Can Do to Keep the Planet From Becoming an Inferno"..For people with a little imagination, the world and the idiots who rule it are our playthings..

[Rick Ballard]

It's going to take more to get me into the "fan" column for him but Rich Lowry provides more info on why McCain is no friend of anyone but McCain.

All it would have taken was a word at the right moment, Turncoat.

There are two posts - scroll down.