LEE RODGERSPRISONERS IN LOVE WITH THEIR CAPTOR ...
NOT EVERYONE THINKS LIKE YOU -- OR ME ...
WHAT A REAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE LOOKS LIKE
NOT EVERYONE THINKS LIKE YOU -- OR ME ...
WHAT A REAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE LOOKS LIKE
A key element in Obama's approach to an election in which, by all rational measures, he should have no chance, is a political version of the Stockholm Syndrome. That's the mental state that afflicts some hostages or kidnap victims in which they come to sympathize and identify with the very people holding them captive.
The political version, which Obama has already put in place, works similarly. You create economic conditions in which millions are unemployed, then give them government handouts, making them feel dependent upon you and therefore emotionally obligated to vote for you.
Obscene, but it works with multitudes.
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Conservatives and liberals share a common failing in their analysis and expectations regarding elections and political trends. Since human nature leads us to spend most of our time in the company of people with whom we agree, there is an almost automatic expectation that most people think as do the people within our own social circle. This always leads to many people being greatly surprised the morning after an election.
For instance, there were liberals who believed to the bitter end that Jivin' Jimmy Carter was going to defeat the hated Reagan and win a second term. More recently, there was Wisconsin ...
Then there were Republicans who couldn't believe a couple of wooden campaigners like Dole and McCain could lose to, respectively, a draft-dodger and a nonentity of no accomplishment other than a facility for using a teleprompter.
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Can Ron Paul fanatics really be so dumb that they don't realize their ongoing effort to undercut the Romney campaign, if successful, will only guarantee giving Obama four more years?
Apparently the answer is, "Yes, they CAN be that dumb." Or petty, spiteful, vengeful ...
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One of the more interesting states to watch thru the presidential campaign and election will be Colorado. Reduced to basics, the question is whether so many Californians who have moved there, have brought with them the political insanity that has plunged their former home-state into fiscal quicksand and an unsustainable political culture. Judging from local election results and polling in Colorado, it's a close call.
Here in Arizona, there's an undercurrent of fear that the influx of California refugees from that state's general nuttiness may bring the infection that might take root here. In my neighborhood and many others throughout 'zona, California transplants are viewed with deep suspicion, although it's usually leavened with the kind of hospitality that the newcomers may find unfamiliar.
When I built a house here and moved to Arizona ten years ago, coming from San Francisco and its well-deserved reputation for all-around craziness, acceptance came only after considerable scrutiny.
Arizonans ask of Californians who come here and attempt to replicate the very culture they left ... the same question many Californians ask of immigrants (legal or not) from south of the border: "If you thought things were so great back there, why didn't you STAY there?" We do NOT want our state "Californiaized."
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Remember this for the inevitable "spin" after any election ...
Even if the winner barely ekes out a one-point win, his spokesparrots will claim he has a "mandate" to carry out whatever cockamamie schemes he has in mind.
If the winner is victorious in a landslide, the losing side will claim he does NOT have a "mandate."
The meaning of the very word, "mandate," was a lot clearer when I lived in San Francisco.
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Wonder what an economic collapse might look like? Business Insider carries a report on what's going on in Greece right now. Here's a small sample ...
"Tourism, Greece’s second largest industry after the shipping industry, and already in a downdraft, is taking another hit as tour bus drivers will go on strike for four days next week; wage negotiations have deadlocked. Owners demand that drivers take a 50% cut in pay and benefits on top of the 20% cut they’ve already suffered. (Footnote to tourists: only fools go to Greece these days.)
"The National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY), Greece’s state-owned health insurer, hasn’t paid pharmacists for months and owes them 540 million euros ($675 million).
"In turn, pharmacists are refusing to sell medications to insured patients, including cancer patients, unless they’re paid in cash—and even hospitals are reporting shortages. And unpaid bills are now threatening Greece’s electricity supply.
"Greek politicians, even the new generation, are sticking to their time-worn strategy: vote-buying with ruinous promises that can only be fulfilled with an endless flow of borrowed money."
Does that concluding formula sound familiar? It should. It's precisely what Obama is doing.
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It could only happen in the loony liberal media. This headline in the Washington Post ...
"It is time for governments to borrow more money"
Do we need more evidence that liberals are crazy?
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“The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive.” -- Barack Obama at his latest "press conference."
Offended you may be, Mr. President, but what do you say to the mountains of evidence -- printed in the leftist NY Times, no less -- that you are guilty? And "offended" is not denial.
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"The smaller the man, the easier it is for him to believe in his own greatness." -- Yalkut Shimoni, quoted in Jewish World Review
Remind you of any White House occupants you know?
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Mark Steyn with a guide to Obama's endless celebrity fundraisers ...
"Any American can attend an Obama event for a donation of a mere $35,800 – the cost of the fundraiser hosted by Dreamworks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the one hosted by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, and the one hosted by Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas. $35,800 is a curiously nonround figure. Perhaps the ticket cost is $36,000, but under Obamacare there's a $200 co-pay.
"However, there are some cheap seats available. Democrats in Rhode Island paid $7,500 per person for the privilege of having dinner with President Obama at a private home in Providence. He showed up for 20 minutes and then said he couldn't stay for dinner. "I've got to go home to walk the dog and scoop the poop," he told them, because when you've paid seven-and-a half grand for dinner nothing puts you in the mood to eat like a guy talking about canine fecal matter.
"For a donation of $35,800, he'll pose with you in a Seal Team Six uniform with one foot on Osama's corpse (played by Harry Reid). For a donation of $46,800, he'll send an unmanned drone to hover amusingly over your sister-in-law's house. For a donation of $77,800, he'll install you as the next president-for-life of Syria (liability waiver required). For a donation of $159,800, he'll take you into Sarah Jessica's guest bedroom and give you the full 007 while Carly Simon sings Nobody Does It Better'."
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Confidential to Bill Clinton: If you REALLY want to help Obama -- a doubtful proposition at best -- you might remind him of your own words, "The era of big government is over." He clearly didn't get the message.
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An apt biblical reference from reader Grover in Idaho ...
"Your report that the Madison (Wisconsin) turnout for last Tuesday's election was 119% of registered voters reminded me of the many Bible verses that state that the dead shall rise again. However, on further reflection I thought it might relate closer to 2 Timothy 4:3 ...
2 Timothy 4:3 -- 'For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear'."
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The disputed split-decision in the Bradley-Pacquiao boxing match (favor of Bradley) reminds one of the classic definition of horse-sense: The reason why horses don't bet on people.
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Dan Sorkin forwards excerpts from a medical dictionary, attributable to whatever regional or ethnic group you care to demean ...
Artery -- The study of paintings.
Bacteria -- Back door to cafeteria.
Barium -- What doctors do when patients die.
Benign -- What you be, after you be eight.
Caesarean Section -- A neighborhood in Rome.
Cat scan -- Searching for Kitty.
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Conan O'Brien --
"Comedian Bill Maher has purchased a minority share of the New York Mets. He's going to change the team's name to the New York Smirking Atheists."
"...and now, if you'll excuse me..."