After telling the American people on Friday that our nation faces fiscal "Armageddon" in a handful of days unless immediate action is taken, Barack Obama cancelled everything on his presidential schedule (and possibly a golf game) to hold a high-level weekend meeting with... um... the Dalai Lama.
Despite protests from China about the meeting, the ever-courageous Barack Obama expressed his concern about Tibetans' human rights, basic human values, and religious freedom...then sternly warned China that US policy does not support Tibetan independence, so "please forget about the whole meeting, we didn't mean anything by it. Seriously, the only thing I care about less than independence is Tibet."
Okay, he didn't say that out loud...but any president who is preparing to throw Social Security recipients and Medicare patients to the wolves isn't likely to give a hoot in hell about a bunch of abused mountain-dwelling bald-headed monks in saffron robes who have neither oil reserves nor taxable incomes.
Following this dramatically pointless meeting, Barack Obama began feverish preparations for another week of debt-ceiling negotiations in which he is expected to reiterate his conviction that "we must raise taxes on the evil rich RIGHT NOW la la la la la la la la I can't hear you la la la la la...!"
Because unlike human rights, fiscal Armageddon can't wait.
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37 comments:
Interesting.
O met with the Dalai Lama during the China-U.S. Governors Forum in Salt Lake City this weekend.
Wild guess: We won't be reading about that in the MSM any time soon.
Wow two fake gods in one photo. Usually when Narcissist demigods get together, someone dies, but these are two pussy demigods.
@Anonymous, WOW! That was some comment. I would love to hear more from you about His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Please expand your thoughts.
He met w/ the Dalai Lama? Probably thought it was a "Llama dolly" - like an inflatable sheep...
Naw, I got nothing
As to the debt thing I sincerely hope the R's tell him "hey, WE put UP a budget - sign it, or suck it"..
Jug-ears and the Democrats are deadly serious about fear-mongering and threatening. The debt...not so much. As for the Dalai Lama, you wouldn't think a man so close to perfection should need glasses. I guess perfection isn't all it's advertised to be.
@Readers- Just to clarify, I've got nothing at all against the Dalai Lama...to me, the meeting was "pointless" because Obama doesn't have the testicular fortitude to stand up to China even if he wanted to. But he doesn't want to.
And I also question Obama's priorities. If he really thinks we're on the cusp of Armageddon (his words, and the words of his media flacks) then shouldn't he be working round the clock on that instead of doing photo ops?
By the way, he made the Dalai Lama meet with him in the map room (not the Oval Office, which is considered an honor), dressed down for the occasion, and then made sure an official photographer documented those two facts so that China could see that the president wasn't actually giving the holy man any significant support - even on a symbolic level.
Totally gutless.
Remember the last time obama met with the Dali Lama? He had him leave the White House via a back door, next to garbage bags, so as not to offend the Chicoms.
http://bergheimfollies.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-take-it-back.html
Although I've always sympathized with the plight of Tibet, I've also recognized that short of going to war with China, there is very little we can do.
So whenever I encounter brainless liberals with their "Free Tibet" bumper-sticker mentality, I feel compelled to ask, "Exactly what should we do? Beyond the usual and meaningless diplomatic gobbledygook, they offer nothing. I inevitably ask, "Would you support the US going to war with China over Tibet?" Of course, the answer (if they even bother to reply) is "No!". So what's the point? Liberals tend to care to the point of putting a bumper sticker on their car, but that's about as far as it usually goes.
How does this relate to our fiscal situation? Well, mainly it does because every day, we get weaker and weaker in relationship to China. A country where hundred-of-millions still sleep with their livestock out of economic necessity continues to loan us billions of dollars so that American union workers can retire in the 50s and welfare housing can have granite countertops.
Eventually, the interest we pay on the debt to China alone will be more than we spend on defense.
How well will Tibet, Taiwan, or any other vulnerable nation on this planet fare then?
Dear John the Econ, I agree with you about the bumber sticker libs. I happen to be very conservative. But I am a Christian that has studied many religions, Bhuddism included. I have no bumper stickers on my gas guzzling SUV. I see those insipid bumber stickers and I think, I'm not the one you need to convince.
Should we go to war with China? Probably not. Would His Holiness want us to go to war. Not likely. Bhuddists don't belive in killing. Real Bhuddists are vegans.
The Red Chinese invaded Tibet and destroyed thousands of monasteries and murdered over a million monks and nuns.
There are now more Chinese in Tibet than there are Tibetans.
And you rightly ask, "So what's the point?" I've asked myself that very question. And I still don't have an answer. But it is a fine example of how the communists operate. As an aside, I've also wondered how can all these so called libs can be for a guy like B. Hussein and be against what the reds did to Tibet? Ask them that question if you really want to blow their minds.
I wish I had the answers. I don't.
But I think I know an evil empire when I see one.
As far as our fical situation, well, the Chinese made Clinton a millionaire when he sold them our missle technology. Missles that are likely pointed at us right now. And B. Hussein is clearly wetting his diaper over what they will think of him meeting with His Holiness the Dali Lama and how he stands to lose millions himself. All of this clearly demonstrates the regressives complete self-centeredness and total lack of concern for this country and it's citizens.
Thank you for your attention. (Off my soapbox now.)
Well I don't understand what the meeting was all about to begin with....like the Commandant-in-Chief would ever be anti-Chinese....it would have been like the Soviet Premier meeting with the Dalai Lama. Like the old USSR would have supported Tibetan independence. I don't understand how the USA....center for freedom of the world can NOT support a FREE Tibet.
Go to war with China to free Tibet?! That would be like me declaring war on the bank that holds my home mortgage.
God help us when these fockers start demanding their money back, or raise the interest rate to 30% or something.
My heart goes out to the Tibetans, but we have tied our own hands by sleeping with the enemy. Thomas Jefferson would have been SOOOO disgusted!
@Readers- Sadly, there IS very little America can do anymore to stand up to China regarding Tibet, or any other issue.
When selling out America - lock, stock, and barrel - the politicians neither noticed nor cared that one of the outgoing assets was our moral strength. And now it's gone...reduced to pointless bluster and photo-ops.
And as long as China leaves cash on the nightstand on the way out, America (at least under this president) will continue to be its willing whore.
Bumper-sticker liberals: Every time I see one of those insipid "Coexist" bumper stickers, I think "You clueless, gutless wimp. You think you're making such a bold statement, but you're doing so in the most tolerant country on the planet, where you have little fear of someone even keying your car, much less pulling you out, beating you senseless, and then either throwing you in prison or putting a bullet in you. Try driving around with that bumper sticker in China, anywhere in the Middle East (outside of Israel) or even in certain neighborhoods in Britain for France and see what happens to you. Only then will I be impressed.
But there is an upside: My wife just told me of an article she read regarding the upcoming generation of college kids, who were raised on "Harry Potter" novels. Get this; whereas previous generations were raised on a steady diet of secular moral relativism, (there is no true "good" or "bad"; evil is relative and "judging" is "bad") Harry Potter is all about "good" versus "evil". There is no relativism or "middle". Harry and his friends have no compulsion to examine the reasons for Voldemort's dysfunction and to find compassion for him. Voldemort is evil, and must be destroyed. Hopefully those values will stick. It's our only hope.
I don't know what J.K.'s politics are, but I read and loved the Harry Potter books, especially as they got darker and the struggle between good and evil became a war for the world's survival. The message dovetailed nicely with someone else's warnings about an axis of evil. Remember how G.W. was mocked for being an idiot because he reduced matters to simple truths? Sometime's truth is uncomplicated. Ever remember hearing B.H. discuss or explain something simply? He can't. He has to throw out straw dogs to impress the gullible with his "nuance" and "depth." Joe Wilson (was that his name?) had it right.
Earl - Joe Wilson - "You Lie!"?
Yeah, that sounds right.
Full agree on HPotter - just saw the last movie last night - Whoo HOOO!
Yeah, they took liberties, and yeah, there were things I would have preferred done differently (always DID hate the representation of the castle) but overall, brilliant. Just Effing Brilliant.
Part of the problem, natch, w/ Libbies (both the bumper sticker variety, AND the militants) is that we do not agree on on the definition of 'good' vs 'evil' - some see 'a woman's right to choose (after the fact of several previous poor choices)' as "good" others see "murdering an unborn fetus" as "evil." See also "supporting worthless parasites" as "good" and "forcing able bodied persons to take care of themselves" as "evil."
@John the Econ- Interesting idea that Harry Potter might help give moral structure to the younger generation. Now if they could only be taught that doing good doesn't require magic...
@Earl- Yes, the libs hate things like "good and evil" or "right and wrong" because they require moral choice. And wasn't it Ronald Reagan who got razzed for referring to the Soviet Union as the "Evil Empire?"
And you make a good point that Obama can't say anything simply. In fact, he can rarely even say anything decipherable because he's always nuancing both sides of any argument.
@Pete(Detroit)- Excellent point! You're right that there's a huge "definition gap" between the Right and the Left. What we see as compassion, they see as cruelty. What we see as "equal rights," they see as racism. And what we see as our money, they see as their money.
On the left, there is no "good" or "evil". Everything is relative. There is no black and white, only shades of gray ... unless, of course, there is an opportunity to play the race card. And every time is the right time for the race card!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when Obama speaks, most of what he says is a lie. What isn’t a lie isn’t anything at all. He can speak for an hour and never actually say anything!
He is not any of the things he was advertised to be. He is mostly the opposite. Our first affirmative action president is just what you would expect: sub-standard.
And if it makes me a racist to speak the truth, then so be it. He does not represent the people of this country. He doesn’t even represent the useful idiots he has fooled into believing in him, and they are blind to the truth. They have too much of themselves invested in this false messiah to admit that they have been misled.
The meeting may simply have been about having O visibly meet with one of the more widely-covered persons to recently announce themselves to the world as being a Marxist. This would help some of the Kool-aid addicts to regain some faith in the Messiah they put in place while "under the influence"
The Dalai Lama should have peed on his leg.
The problem with Harry Pothead is that the "good" you speak of is still evil. So in the books, Satan and his evil witches defeat Satan hand his Narcissistic witch so you see it is all about moral relativism - Evil is in the eye of the beholder and there is no true good just evil playing good. Like the new "good" vampires who save mankind by being just a little less evil and the Prophecy movies where man is saved by Satan himself. No there is nothing good about Harry Pothead from the way it has inspired millions to dabble in witchcraft to the way it has dumb-down fiction. Reading Harry Pothead is like reading a 3rd grade book report when compared to the works of Lewis & Tolkien. People who like these rags may be fiscally conservative but morally you are just little Obamas. OK now attack me for telling the truth
The politics and positive message of Harry Potter: It goes well beyond "magic".
The message is that evil exists, it must be resisted and destroyed, and it's up to individuals to take personal responsibility and action to fight it, even if it means there is great personal risk in doing so.
If you ask me, that's diametrically opposed to the message that the liberal establishment has been feeding our kids since the '60s, which is mostly "join the crowd" and where taking action mostly means "protest to make someone else act".
Also, do notice that the "Ministry of Magic" (the "government" in Harry Potter's world) is a meddling, mostly useless bureaucracy that eventually gets co-opted by Voldemort and his cronies to perpetrate their evil.
And I absolutely loved the brutal mocking of "political correctness" and brainwashing in education that was the basis for "The Order of the Phoenix". It was a hilarious parody of the reality that comprises most of public education these days.
Harry Potter is the antithesis to modern liberalism. It's all about questioning authority and taking action. The one thing that definitely does not happen in Harry Potter is Harry and friends waiting around for the proper authorities to do anything.
If as a conservative you had the opportunity to pick a modern literary series for impressionable young minds as an antidote to the mindless moral and socialistic "Rainbow Fish"-like drivel that represents most of "children's literature" today, I don't think you could do any better than Harry Potter. If the left had any clue as to the real values behind the series, they would have joined forced with the rabid Christian fundamentalists (who were upset about promoting "witchcraft) in seeing the book banned from schools and libraries.
@Anonymous (two above)- I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with at least some of your assessments about Harry Potter. I imagine you're coming from a theological standpoint in which all magic can be traced to Satan, but it certainly wasn't explicit (or even implicit) in the book series - which was, after all, fiction and not a competing theological tome.
As for the writing, I actually consider JK Rowling to be a talented and imaginative author. I felt that the later books in the series were overlong (hugely overlong) and didn't advance the story the way they should. I think Harry Potter was such a phenomenon at that point that no editor dared to tell Rowling to cut a word - let alone a few hundred pages.
And my opining continues as I respond to...
@John the Econ - Very well argued response, and I agree with everything you're saying. Harry Potter's struggles (and - spoiler alert!- ultimate victory) have much less to do with magic than morality: he shows courage, responsibility, loyalty, self-sacrifice. And as Earl points out, Rowling also showed that finding and living by these values is a struggle.
And Rowling absolutely was skewering bureaucracy (and its usefulness in committing evil) with the Ministry of Magic. Similarly, she showed magical newspapers giving skewed propaganda instead of reporting the truth...an idea I think we can all relate to.
And as a writer, I really respect the way Rowling reintroduced a generation to the wonder of reading words in actual books.
@ anoymous: "Harry Pothead"? I don't recall Harry using mind altering drugs, polyjuice potion (body altering), yes, but not dope, meth, cocaine, etc. Maybe I missed it, I'm a speed reader.
What you obviously missed, in your single-minded witch hunt, was the emphasis on strong frendships, loyalty, courage, honesty, hard work, the necessity of action in the face of evil and the willingness to sacrifice everything for truth and justice (If Harry weren't British I'd add "and the American Way") and the destruction of that evil and those who promote it. These are all qualities we pray we can teach our children to have in abundance (and wish we had more of ourselves).
@John the Econ: Yes, Harry Potter is a better series than most of the liberal drivel on the shelves today, but I would also recommend the Little House on the Prarrie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Little Women and Little Men Books by Louisa May Alcott or The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew (personal favorite) to anyone who is looking for good literature for their children. These books may not have all the cutsey pictures but the values and ideas these books espouse are first rate.
graylady. Great job of being liberally PC with that witch hunt crap, the New Your Times would be proud of you. All witchcraft comes from Satan. Can a demon possessed Harry truly love anyone other then himself - the first commandment in Satanism? NO! There in Nothing good about Satan or Witchcraft no matter how blind you choose to be. It is a road that always leads to hell, Demonic possession and evil. As one who has help deliver many from Demonic Possession I would know. It all starts out innocent like Wolves in sheep's clothing but ends up with Demonic grunts and screams as the demons try to hold on to their victims before being driven into the pit by the blood of Christ. To let your kids read this book is nothing but child abuse by unfit lazy parents.
Wow! We went from the Dalai Lama to Harry Potter. You definitely have an interesting blog, Dr. J.
But since we're on Harry Potter. I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that these are Christian books, but wouldn't some of you agree with me that Jesus, in his time, was considered by the Pharisees and Sadducees to be what they considered a witch of sorts? They crucified him for performing miracles such as healing the blind and raising the dead. I am not trying to imply that Harry, et al draw their power from God. Ms. Rowling does not suggest that at all, nor does she suggest that Harry draws his power from Satan. She merely wrote some very entertaining, FICTION books based in fantasy to earn a living, and was quite successful in doing so. Are these books truly evil? Only if there are people PREACHING from them as though they were God's word. I don't believe for a minute that was in Ms. Rowling's agenda.
@Anonymous,
Re: "demonic possession"
Uh, yeah....okay, whatever...
@Colby,
There will be people preaching from any book. There have been people trying to make "magic" work for millennia and in the end, they have all found that all it's good for is hoodwinking fools.
There have been people trying to "perfect" society for millennia, too. Nowadays it's socialists who think that if only everyone listened to them the world would be perfect. I always get the feeling when listening to Barack Hussein that what he's really saying is, "Everyone should do what I say, because I know what's good for you." I wonder if he'll ever awaken to the fact that he's TOTALLY WRONG?
I just wanted to say that I am the "anonymous" from back on the 18th at 12:05 and I'm not the one going on about Harry Potter. That is a diffrent "anonymous" I've never read one of those books nor have I ever seen one of the movies. In fact, I'm only anonymous because either this blog or the stupid computer I'm using won't let me log into HnC and comment under my screen name.
So Anonymous #2: How would you feel about C.S. Lewis? Are you aware that he dabbled in the occult before becoming one of the greatest Christian writers of the 20th century?
Right above the 'anon' selection, it has an option 'name / url'
Type anything you like in the 'name' part
No log-on required
JustaJeepGuy - yes demonic possession. I have seen things that would make you crap you pants. One woman's face changed from being female to being male in about 1-1/2 mins. I saw one man go from kneeling on the ground to standing on both feet in one move. I also saw large hand prints appear on his wrists where we asked for two angles to hold him as he got violent. One women women from Mexico who didn't know any English spoke perfect English at one point and a teenager spoke Greek that he never learned all in a voice that was not his. My friend who was involved in one deliverance even had the person levitate about 3 feet off the ground. Every one included lots of Green and black vomit that smelled like road kill. So yes when I say Demon Possession I know exactly what I mean.
@Anonymous-Maybe you should watch what you're smoking? Sounds like someone had a bad trip.
Anon (above, not the one wanting to post under a 'real' tag) - It sure sounds like you've seen some "intersting" (in the Full Chinese sense) stuff. And it would seem silly to 'believe' in Angels, and not Demons - so, possession, of either type seems possible.
However, that does not mean you know squat about literature. Arthur Clarke once posited that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
Consider the (ultra) sonic remote controls for TV's back in the 70's - you would push a button, maybe hear a click, and the TV would change channel, or adjust volume. Just Like Magic.
Now, you don't even hear a click.
And you can bounce the signal off a wall, a ceiling, whatever - don't even have to be line of sight.. so common, we use it every day, hardly "magic" - it's just a remote.
Can you explain it? Really? The code modulation of the IR laser? How the signal is generated, or gawd help us RECEIVED? Is it truly "magic" or 'just' a technology you don't understand? (and apols if you actually ARE a EE who DOES know / understand this stuff, I'll trust you to see my point). So, we have, in this little fantasy world (so like / unlike our own) these "special" people (they even get 'special' parking!) w/ the ability to use 'remote controls' (wands) on the world at large. Simply tech we don't understand. Funny thing, the power for the remote comes not from batteries, but from within one self, based on inherent ability / skill - much like a professional athlete of any sport. Only THIS 'sport' is "wands" - and like fencing, it can be VERY deadly. What did swords look like to stick wielding cave men? Guns to the Native Americans? "Like Magic"
But no, simply just tech that was not yet understood.
JK merely labeled her tech "magic" as opposed to "The Force" (widely accepted as a God metaphor) and her "techno-mages" as "wizards" and "witches" as opposed to "Jedi"... just words that are convenient, to help the readers differentiate b/n "users" and "schlubs" as computer geeks might say... (or not - been out of active geekdom for a while now)
Also, if you knew ANY thing about "witches" or "Wiccans" as is more proper, you would know that they are followers of the Lord and the Lady, God of the Sky, and the (earth)Mother. Sound familiar? Duality, virgin (re)birth of the world, yeadda yeadda - all the "pagan" crap that was co-opted by the early Christian church to insinuate itself into the calendar / life as it was known. (NOTE - I am NOT saying there is no difference b/n "Christians" and "Pagans" - PUH-leeze! Just pointing out they co-opted many of the pagan festivals / rituals to get along)
ALSO, the Wiccans that I'm aware of, are particularly annoyed at the hell bent co-opting THEIR designations. Devil worshippers are NOT "witches" as far as THEY are concerned. And they've been using the term since before the druids.
So, the EASY remedy is for the dEvil worshipers and the Demon chasers to come up w/ a unique word that describes the (crazy evil) crap THEY do, and leave the "witches" and "wizards" (especially the techno-savvy JKRowlings types) the heck OUT of it, ok?
Again - yes, there ARE dEvil "worshipers" out there, and certainly the possibility of "demonic possession" exists - it's simply that neither have anything to with "witches" (Wicca) or Harry Potter (techno-mage)
Get over it.
Find your own vocabulary.
Or shut the eff up, as you're highly annoying to those of us who are actually able to comprehend the difference b/n reality and fiction.
Wow, Dave - I took over an hour to write that, and you were like what, 38 sec?
Succinct!
>bows down, sweeps hat in best 'pirate captain' style...
Main difference being that, as someone who has had "unusual" experiences, I'm inclined to cut some slack to those who believe what they've perceived... *I* wasn't there *I* don't know. Yeah, it sounds funky when s/he says it, but hey - what one perceives, one is inclined to believe - and would you have 'believed' in the loaves and fishes if you were not there? The casting out of the demon? Resurrection of Lazarus? All pretty freaky stuff, as described by those who claim to have seen it...
Just sayin'...
Hey, it's after midnight, and no "newer post"
Must be because I no linger live in Texas...
(stalks off, sucking thumb in a totally pissy manner)
Sounds more to me that he's been visiting roadside revival shows run by carnies from the distant past.
John - certainly possible
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