Bush's Third Term?...You're Living It (Deja Vu All Over Again)
If you're anything like me, you voted for Obama last Fall because you foolishly believed that he would quickly bring our troops home from Iraq, and more importantly, that he would charter a different bailout course than the crony capitalism of Paulson-Bush. I suspected that McCain & Palin were bailout socialists of the Bush-Paulson doctrine, and was proven right by this clip of Sarah waxing just plain stupid to Katie Couric. It doesn't get much more disgusting than that. Except, it does. Enter President Obama.
Though I expected tax increases and continued growth of government under Obama, 8 years of Bush had taught me that Republicans are fans of big government, too. Big fans. And I knew that McCain would be no different from Bush when it came to reigning in the public purse. In other words, there would be no reigning in, just surreptitious expansion while publicly delivering a small government message.
So, when you add (or subtract) the effect of putting Caribou Barbie on the ticket, and her 800-SAT cerebellum so close to the Presidency, it was an easy decision for me. Anyone but Palin, was my mantra. (In my defense, I was a supporter of Dr. Ron Paul, but like the rest of you I was forced to make a decision on a ticket that did not include him.)
However, we are now 8 months into Obama's term and it feels just like Bush. Our troops are still getting their limbs blown off daily by Iraqi IEDs--with no return date in sight. And in Afghanistan, Obama is considering a troop expansion. Our post 9/11 personal liberties remain under siege despite campaign promises to the contrary, and most egregiously, the bailouts have not stopped, and new tougher financial regulations are long-forgotten.
Who would have been worse, Phil Gramm or Larry Summers and Turbo Geithner? It's a freaking toss-up, with the only guarantee being that taxpayers would be the eventual losers.
In a choice between the stupid and the unknown, I took the latter, and now I'm the ignoramus.
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From James H (who discovered the article):
David Swanson, anti-war activist and co-founder of After Downing Street, has written an impressive piece describing a hypothetical third Bush term. But Swanson isn’t just playing with counterfactuals here. Everything he talks about, from wars to civil liberties to bailouts, is already happening, exactly as he describes it, except under President Obama.
From our perspective, this is a significant development. For the most part, the political Left has been deadly silent for the last seven months, but this blistering indictment from Swanson indicates that’s beginning to change. Most honest of all, he points out that when it comes to the bailouts and regulatory capture, the new boss is indeed same as the old boss.
- It sounds like the plot for the latest summer horror movie. Imagine, for a moment, that George W. Bush had been allowed a third term as president, had run and had won or stolen it, and that we were all now living (and dying) through it....Can't you just picture it?
- There's Dubya now, still rewriting laws via signing statements. Still creating and destroying laws with executive orders. And still violating laws at his whim. Imagine Bush continuing his policy of extraordinary rendition, sending prisoners off to other countries with grim interrogation reputations to be held and tortured. I can even picture him formalizing his policy of preventive detention, sprucing it up with some "due process" even as he permanently removes habeas corpus from our culture.
- If Bush were in his third term, we would already have seen him propose, yet again, the largest military budget in the history of the world. We might well have seen him pretend he was including war funding in the standard budget, and then claim that one final supplemental war budget was still needed, immediately after which he would surely announce that yet another war supplemental bill would be needed down the road. And of course, he would have held onto his Secretary of Defense from his second term, Robert Gates, to run the Pentagon, keep our ongoing wars rolling along, and oversee the better part of our public budget.
- In addition, the bank bailouts Bush and his economic team initiated in his second term would still be rolling along -- with a similar crowd of people running the show. Ben Bernanke, for instance, would certainly have been reappointed to run the Fed.
- Now, here's the funny part. This dark fantasy of a third Bush term is also an accurate portrait of Obama's first term to date. In following Bush, Obama was given the opportunity either to restore the rule of law and the balance of powers or to firmly establish in place what were otherwise aberrant abuses of power. Thus far, President Obama has, in all the areas mentioned above, chosen the latter course. Everything described, from the continuation of crimes to the efforts to hide them away, from the corruption of corporate power to the assertion of the executive power to legislate, is Obama's presidency in its first seven months.”
Sep 16, 2009 at 12:47 AM
Reader Comments (51)
http://disquietreservations.blogspot.com/2009/09/celente-on-revolution-in-america.html
Smarter than Sarah Palin...I'm old enough to remember the plagiarism controversy that engulfed Biden when he ran for Prez in '88...
So maybe he needed some help to get through law school, but he didn't need help to get through Idaho community college like Palin...
One last time to the Palin fans...it's fine to support the message of small governement if you wish, but it makes NO SENSE to support Palin...she barely speaks English...she can't put together a coherent sentence...she sits around her home in Target PJs and begs family members to run errands for her...her favorites are romantic comedies at the video store and Crunchy Bell Supreme's from Taco Hell...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/09/sarah-palin-bad-mother-bad-wife-says-bristols-former-boyfriend-levi-johnston-in-vanity-fair.html
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2009/09/levi-johnston.html
It's neither...the creepy part is that half of this country thinks Obama has made dramatic changes for the better since Bush, when they are the same President so far except for Stem Cells...
http://www.businessinsider.com/john-carney-obama-administration-supports-extending-patriot-act-business-records-snooping-2009-9
Kunstler is not happy with Obama...
All this is to say why it is so dispiriting to see Mr. Obama's White House mount a campaign to sustain the unsustainable in the economic realm. Everything they've done for four months involving money management and enterprise policy -- from backstopping hopeless banks, to gaming the bankruptcies of the big car companies, to the bungled efforts to prop up artificially-high house prices -- amounts to a gigantic exercise in futility. Worse, it gives off odors of dishonesty or stupidity, since the ominous tendings of our system are so starkly self-evident.
Still wondering what you disagree with in the substance of this post...or were you simply saying that it's creepy that Obama is so similar to Bush...?
The critical article we posted came from the Left, not the Right.
I agree with Obama, however, It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is. Otherwise, I am good.
Be quiet Joe.
He had a funny way of showing it. Maybe it's like how Ike Turner "cared about" Tina.
@ Assasin
Best line of the week
That's news to me. Also, like 99% of Congress, including Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi, she had no idea what the bailouts were even for. Personally, if I saw Sarah "Hockey Mom" Palin at my son's game, I'd enjoy chatting her up. She's cute and spunky (sorry DB). But she'd be just as vulnerable as Bush or Obama were she to make it to the White House. I'm sick of idiot puppets running our govt.
Unfortunately your Palin Derangement Syndrome precludes you from reporting the she WAS STRONGLY AGAINST the bailouts!
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Hey Tony...for about the 1,000th time since i launched the site...Palin supported the bailouts completely...
http://dailybail.com/home/sarah-palin-is-a-national-embarrassment-and-a-bailout-social.html
Maybe if you bothered to look around the site you would have seen how wrong you were and you wouldn't have criticized...and of course, now you wouldn't look like a fool for spouting such nonsense...you will also see in the clip that she doesn't even understand economics...that woman is a loon...
You should be supporting Ron Paul instead...
I think you should have said that McCain appeared to support the Bush bailout as it was presented and passed in the Senate. Palin has made some comments that a bailout was needed but she gave few specifics as to the extent of the bailout even in her latest book.
When you say completely, I have some comments and questions for you...
She was McCain’s running mate for VP so she would need to support McCain in her campaign comments, right?
On the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…
“John McCain thankfully has been one representing reform. Two years ago, remember, it was John McCain who pushed so hard with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform measures. He sounded that warning bell.”
“They’ve gotten too big and too expensive to taxpayers,” said Ms. Palin, referring to the two entities. “The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”
See what she did there DB, she was supporting McCain on the campaign. Do you understand her position?
The Toxic Asset Bailout was the Obama Administration’s doing. This is where, I think you would agree, the bailouts took a nasty turn benefitting the banksters as you call them.
DB, be a little more honest and a lot less emotional. We know that for some reason that you can’t stand Palin, I think it has to do with God and guns maybe. It can’t be her experience, Obama had less. I know you think she is dumb but she seems to be doing alright for herself, must be just dumb luck.
Calling her a loon just show your bias, she will say thousands of things and your ears will only hear the few blunders and you are unable to balance that with the things she is saying that is resonating.
For the 1,000 time, you claim you are just here to talk about the economy, the bailouts, and the like but you contradict yourself almost every chance you get. I thought you could see the bigger pictures but lately you have failed miserably. Just my opinion. You still can’t bring yourself to mention Obama, the guy who is making (at least at face value) the economic decisions. Yes, he is just a puppet on a string but he is the face of his administration and that ) fraud needs your attention. More Obama, less Sarah Palin.
Palin supported TARP...during the campaign she said that the bailouts were necessary...she never said a negative word about the Fed bailout of Bear Stearns...or AIG...or any of the others...
You lose much credibility around here by supporting her...and i don't get it...much better candidates exist not the least of which is Ron Paul...you don't seem bothered by her demonstrable lack of intelligence...5 or 6 colleges, community colleges, jucos, etc. to get a communications degree...and yet you would be happy with her as our President...i think that says a lot about your thinking...
Republicans can do better...way better...and so can you. Palin is NOT the answer.
I may not vote for Palin but I do support a lot of her agenda and goals.
Is your problem God and guns? That is my guess.
Ron Paul is great but what has he done. Still no audit of the Fed.
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If you're referring to the PPIP, it's tiny....barely even a blip...
At the time of the interview clip of Palin with Couric, 99% of the bailouts were in place and she said nothing negative about any of them...
TARP, Bear Stearns, AIG, and trillions in Fed programs and guarantees already existed...
Watch the clip again, she doesn't even understand the basics of economics...she sounds like she read come cliff notes in preparation....I don't think I can ever take you seriously because of your support for her...it's a litmus test and you fail...
As for the guns and god comment, that's comical...i could care less about either...all politicians talk about god...it's a job requirement...
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Gobias...watch the clip...they are talking about TARP...why are you wasting time with such questions....?
The clip was shot during the 3 weeks last Fall when TARP was before Congress...couric asks her point blank if she supports the bailout legislation before Congress...
Have you even watched it?
http://dailybail.com/home/sarah-palin-is-a-national-embarrassment-and-a-bailout-social.html
About your clip, Katie Couric is a complete ass. Questions were asked over and over and over and then the answers were badly clipped together to paint Palin in the worst light. You should stop worrying about Palin and start worrying about Obama. Palin has potential, Obama is already dangerous.
By unanimous decision of the Senate, Obama and Mccain were both allowed to run for the office, this was a Constitutional violation, as only the Supreme Court can decide the eligibility of both these candidates. Cast down your party tickets and vote out all Senators for their arrogance in the face of the American electorate (the majority), and the coddling of the criminal minority (the contributors).
Our nation is messed up not because of the elected, because they can only get away with what we allow them to. It is messed up because the majority is conditioned to vote party tickets unthinkingly, thus there is no accountability in goobermint.
The media has convinced most people that Obama has produced his birth certificate. The facts are clear, he went to Hawaii and sealed his birth records. Without full release of those records, everything else is subject to disputes. Now that Obama is in office, if he were to release his birth records he would be removed from office and jailed. This would be a problem in so many ways that I don't anyone who has turned a blind eye to this issue would support full disclosure. His past is now a state secret that will stay that way until like the Soviet Union, the state falls and some of the secrets are revealed. I am not counting on that. The best case scenario is that a foreign government leaks information on Obama's (Barry Soetoro's) past.
Gomp, there is no majority when 45% vote left, 45% vote right, and you vote for the third guy. This is not even counting all the people who don't vote or only vote when they see a guy who looks like them and talks like them and shoots hoops like them. With a three party system, we will be further away from a majority.
Again, back to the media. Take a look at DailyBail. He knows who he supports and what he stands for and 90% of his site supports his views. He, however, will tell you that he is fair and balanced in his approach. I am opposed to any "fairness" doctrine but the media needs to be reminded that their shameless one-sidedness is more laughable than honorable or productive. Like you are told as a child, ignoring things won't make them go away. I understand DB needs to make a buck so he may have a monetary interest to pander to one side over the other.
Gomp, you and I will never be on the same page. That is for sure. I am just going to point out when you and DB and others start to wander. I mean really, calling Obama's agenda a continuation of the Bush agenda is not only silly but irresponsible and very thick headed. I mean really, do you ever expect to win the support of the conservative right by basically saying I can’t hear you I can’t hear you I can’t hear you over and over. DB and you need to be honest with your approach so that people with common sense don’t see right through you and call a liberal socialist a liberal socialist.
I got enough cyber friends from facebook, so don’t worry about me. I got enough real ones too. Thanks for your compassion.
This still is the fault of the Senate overstepping its Constitutional powers, your Senator included. They gave them both the pass, not the media.
"Without full release of those records, everything else is subject to disputes."
Those records are meaningless, thanks to the Senate.
"His past is now a state secret that will stay that way until like the Soviet Union, the state falls and some of the secrets are revealed."
Again thank the Senate.
"Gomp, there is no majority when 45% vote left, 45% vote right, and you vote for the third guy. This is not even counting all the people who don't vote or only vote"
Your numbers are skewed, the majority is who does not vote, your party percentages are more like in the 20's, nowhere close to a majority.
"Again, back to the media. Take a look at DailyBail. He knows who he supports and what he stands for and 90% of his site supports his views."
Steve's views are his business, the site is his, you are confusing us with Cuba.
"I am opposed to any "fairness" doctrine"
Of course you are, see Cuba.
"Gomp, you and I will never be on the same page."
I'm shocked.
"I mean really, do you ever expect to win the support of the conservative right by basically saying I can’t hear you I can’t hear you I can’t hear you over and over."
You mean like your fake right does to everyone else. By your own admission, wife and kids at home, and hookers on their backs, and what not. See also Foley, Craig, Sanford, Haggardy, and the list goes on and on, don't forget the governor candidate whose first girlfriend was a mule, and second one was a watermelon with a hole in it. Now I am impressed by your fake conservatism.
The cure for fake conservatives is known by many...
"DB and you need to be honest with your approach so that people with common sense don’t see right through you and call a liberal socialist a liberal socialist."
You are the one preaching from the New Republican Bible written by a Liberal Chicago Socialist, By your own admission. Not Steve or I.
Sounds interesting if I understood that comment. I have never voted for a Democrat and I have always voted. Those who don't vote, don't have a voice and don't get a percentage. They need the media more than ever to matter.
God bless you Gomp.
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i remember this clip...someone posted it here i think...a candidate for governor in georgia who admits to having sex with a mule among other things...
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Gobias...i'm not sure i ever claimed balance on this site...fairness yes...but balance no...and i think it's a given that the site represents my views...i praise and criticize individual Democrats and Republicans with equal intensity...i point out hypocrisy from both sides and i attempt to articulate as often as possible that there is very little difference between the parties...both are beholden to K street...the arguments are emotionalized in order to increase the sense of division...
I am neither Democrat nor Republican, though i have probably voted for Republicans 65% of my life on an aggregate basis...as you know the core issue for me is the debt...it forms the basis of most of my views...and the palin focus is only because so many consider her a savior...if she were worthy i would happily support her...so i take my shots as often as i wish at her...again it's my site...
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This makes no sense...i've written about palin i think 3 times...maybe 4...where obama has been the subtext of hundreds of stories and the protagonist of dozens...and none of them flattering...
the problem is in your perception...you love sarah and you are caught up in the battle between both parties...you don't see that you've become a partisan stooge...only and always voting for one side as you claim to always have voted Republican shows that you don't really have an open mind...
I hope when you wrote that you were able to laugh at yourself too.
I love Sarah Palin, how silly, I just want to shag her.
I did, he was a conservative Republican.
"Sounds interesting if I understood that comment. I have never voted for a Democrat and I have always voted. Those who don't vote, don't have a voice and don't get a percentage. They need the media more than ever to matter."
Saul Alinsky, the author of Rules for Radicals, was a Liberal Socialist community organizer in Chicago. You proudly proclaimed this book as the new Republican Bible yourself months ago.
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2314
So you see, you are closer than to one another than you think.
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..'
Both parties were involved in the proud whoring out of our nation.
Mooooo.
They do get a percentage, that is why the exit polls never equal 100%, but rather less than half.
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson
Both parties have failed at this.
I didn't mean you had a thing for Sarah...i meant you supported her...
might add tickers of various sorts later...