The Lap Dogs That Aren't Barking

The sycophantic national press, having carried Obama throughout the campaign, now is providing ready-made excuses in advance for his upcoming struggles. No sooner does Obama call for reduced expectations, than the press obliges by telling us how hard he will have it. Why he's just like Lincoln and Roosevelt. Power Line comments:

"Well, yes, I can see the analogies. Like Lincoln, Obama will take office confronted by a threat of secession and civil war from the states that supported his opponent. No, wait....

The better analogy must be Roosevelt, who took office with the nation more than two years into a depression and with unemployment at 25%. Hey, at 6.5%, we're a quarter of the way there! In addition, of course, not only did Roosevelt face a "banking crisis" of his own, he had to worry about fascism rising in Europe and the threat of world war.

The 'two wars' meme is one we're hearing a lot, but by historical standards it's pretty silly. The war in Iraq is nearly won, while the Afghan conflict has so far claimed the lives of 609 American military personnel, every one of them a hero. But still: around 400,000 American servicemen died in World War II. Let's have a little sense of perspective here.

Actually, it isn't just Lincoln and Roosevelt who took office under more difficult conditions than Obama. Think of Truman; World War II was still raging and he had to decide to use atomic weapons to bring it to an end; beyond that, the Soviet threat was visible on the horizon. Or Eisenhower, who assumed office while the Korean War was going on. Or Richard Nixon: Vietnam and riots in the streets. Or Ronald Reagan, who began his Presidency with unemployment at 7.5 % and inflation at 12%. Was there a banking crisis? Oh yes, interest rates were at 18-20%. Now, THAT was an economic challenge! In addition, not only was the Cold War in full swing, the U.S. was losing with the Soviet Union advancing around the world."

What Does It All Mean?

Jonah Goldberg takes a look at Election Questions No One Asks:

"Ever since the primaries, Democrats have been promising to be 'agents of change' (which kind of sounds like a brand of James Bond villain; watch out -- he's an agent of C*H*A*N*G*E). It's a weird quirk of our television-soaked culture that we think change is a good in and of itself. The phrase 'change the channel' is a ubiquitous explanation for voters' desire to be done with President Bush. Fair enough, but change has no moral content. Winning the lottery is change, and so is catching a ball peen hammer to the bridge of your nose. The desire for change for change's sake is the stuff of children and attention-deficit disorder."

He hits a couple of pet peeves of mine, the near-deification of the Youth Vote and Undecided Voters. Why should we expect better outcomes by drawing in more people who aren't paying any attention?

Not Post-Racial

Diana West has a good article on what a real post-racial candidate/election would look like.

Diana West : You Elected a Man, Not a Moral Judgment - Townhall.com: "If we really inhabited a 'post-racial' world, the news of the week would be that a Democrat has won the White House. But since we don't inhabit such a world, there is much more to the news, even more than that an African-American, far-left Democrat has won the White House."

Our Hearts Go Out to Them

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Interesting Site Traffic

On a normal day DLMSY gets 50-75 visitors, but since TheOne's Ascension things have really been hopping. On Election Day, it spiked to 165. Yesterday, day 1 of the Age of Obama, there were 442, and today with 2 hrs to go we're already over 300. What's happening here?

The vast majority of the visitors are arriving from search sites and landing at our Obama Jokes page. Obviously, the nation's comedians are in a panic, fearing for their jobs. They have just realized that in a few short weeks George W. Bush and Dick Cheney jokes will be as worthless as our retirement accounts. Sure Joe Biden provides many, rich opportunities, but we've already seen how quickly that source can dry up when Team Obama puts Joe under wraps.

With the shortage of Obama jokes and the soaring demand, sellers of these jokes are raising prices, leading to an investigation by the Illinois Attorney General.

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There is another, more sinister possible explanation for the sudden surge in search activity. Most keywords for DLMSY hits were variations on the theme of "racist Obama jokes." Perhaps an army of Obama supporters is compiling a master list of enemies...

Obama Wins

What the Heck Did He Mean Here?

This is from a speech Sen. Obama gave in Colorado in July, 2008. Watch it and ask yourself what in the world he's talking about.

Here's the long version (24 min) from the Obama Campaign site. You might want to skip to the 14 min mark or so for a reasonable lead in.

So why would we need a "civilian national security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, and just as well-funded" as the military? We already have the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, TSA and various federal and state law enforcement agencies. Since Defense is about 20% of regular federal spending (whatever that means these days), this suggests a massive spending project without any apparent purpose.

Taking the relatively benign interpretation of Obama's proposal, he may be suggesting, as the Left is wont to do, that all desired spending is a matter of "national security." He doesn't really have anything useful for them to do, but he's sure it needs to be done in a big way. In this interpretation the plan is only a colossal waste of money, to be spent on make-work projects like the FDR administration promulgated during the Great Depression. These kinds of programs were ineffective then, and they might well precipitate a depression if tried now.

Looking beyond that, we can guess that this may be a vehicle for channeling more federal money into favored "community organizations" such as ACORN, Nation of Islam, etc. Such a powerful, strong, well-funded civilian force would be very handy to have in the future for stealing elections, intimidating opponents, and perhaps busting a few heads, as needed. Anyone for pogroms?

Obama Economic Debris

Some Pittsburg plumbers describe exactly what will happen to their businesses and employees if Obama's tax plans are enacted.

Flush go the plumbers: "By RALPH R. REILAND
I INTERVIEWED two plumbing-company owners in Pittsburgh recently about Barack Obama's economic proposals for small businesses. One has 15 workers and 12 trucks, the other 52 and 34 trucks. It's Joe the Plumber, writ large.

Both had the same reaction to Obama's proposed new taxes and mandates. To not have their bottom lines reduced by government fiat, both said they'd be forced to lay off employees."

They go into detail on exactly how much each regulatory change and tax will increase costs, and how that translates into corresponding layoffs. Anyone who has ever run a business, or even part of one, will immediately appreciate that personnel costs are the biggest chunk of the budget. Well, not every small business will have layoffs; some will just close. Peer into the future offered by TheOne.

Obama on Your Shoulder

An oldie but goodie (june 2008).

Obama Reloaded

Some Good Links

"Why I'm Voting for McCain" Essays:

1. David Frum - Ten good reasons for his choice. Not a fan of Palin.
   
2. Rick Brookhiser - McCain gets it right on the issue of our time: the war against Islamic fascism.
3. Jay Nordlinger - McCain stands up.
4. John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson (Powerline) - Joe Biden was right about the test.

Interesting Tales from the Future: satirical takes in the New York Post on where we would be in year four of an Obama administration:

1. Jonah Goldberg - "It's hard to believe that just four years ago, some were talking about Barack Obama as a national savior, a secular redeemer, a 'light worker.' Even more shocking, President Obama lost the nomination of his own party to none other than Hillary Clinton. How did we get here?"
2. Ralph Peters - "His Triumphs Abroad: Our Greatest Foreign Policy President. Looking back on the four years of his first administration, President Obama can be proud: He made the US welcome among the family of nations again; he reduced our reliance on military force; and he gave us peace by reaching sensible accommodations with our enemies."
   

Spread The Wealth Around