Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama's big convention speech in which he assured us that the American economy has come roaring back and his plans are working perfectly, a new jobs report came out which suggests, ever so subtly, that the president is having Shinola recognition difficulties.
Not only was job creation pathetic, but another 368,000 workers gave up even looking for work - which in the magical statistical world of Obama means that they've ceased to exist. That's approximately enough people to have filled Obama's "unfillable" stadium in Charlotte five times.
So with jobs, jobs, jobs being the issue on everyone's minds, Barack Obama is hitting the campaign trail to say what must be urgently said: that Medicare might be more expensive in the year 2030, when neither he nor Romney will be president.
Specifically, the president is citing a brand new, totally impartial study by the chief medical advisor for Obama's 2008 campaign, stating that in the year 2030, senior citizens would pay an additional $124,600 in Medicare costs under the Romney plan. (The study does not mention, however, that under Obama's policy of inflating our money, $124,600 will also be the cost of a Grande Capuccino at Starbucks in 2030...or that Obamacare has already raised the average cost of health insurance $2500 for people unfortunate enough to be living in the present).
While the president's numbers may not be entirely accurate, it is true that if people are going to have Medicare in the future, they're going to have to pay something for it. Because under Barack Obama's current plan to do nothing whatsoever to preserve the program, the Medicare trust funds run out in 2024.
And yet, he's using this bass-ackward position as an actual bragging point on the campaign trail because he knows A) his supporters don't want to pay for anything ever, B) they can't do math, C) the media won't challenge him on it, and D) if Romney won't show his tax returns, how do we know he isn't giving big donations to NAMBLA and the Ku Klux Klan?! Hey! Look over there!!!
Frankly, despite his new "Barack to the Future" theme, we think the president should pay a little less attention to 2030, and a lot more attention to the 368,000 who, just last month, lost all hope in any future whatsoever.
Hey Barry, whatever happened to "the fierce urgency of NOW?"
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Great image, SJ! - It could be filed under "Pulp Science Fiction".
ReplyDeleteHe's also not mentioning that seniors will pay less if they're DEAD...
ReplyDeleteHey, is that a large metallic bottle rocket she's strapped to? Seems like a WECoyote moment about to happen.
Unfortunately or otherwise, even though I consider social security *not* to be an entitlement, but something you (supposedly) buy into (at the point of a gun) throughout your working career (at least for those who actually did so...), many, many, many seniors have the same entitlement, gift from big government mindset as all the others at the front of the gimme line. Like welfare recipients-et-al, they are set in their thinking that the democrats - the band of thieves that have so effectively looted that supposed "trust fund" over the years - are their saviors. Many do not see the sleight of hand being played by the Despot-elect with his Øbamacare v. the HHS "experiment" that prevents its effective de-funding until *after* the election. Lord knows, it has gotten some publicity, but primarily within the conservative press - therefor, a huge swath of these folks would never see it.
ReplyDeleteThis makes the Medicare scam one of the most frightening of the Jackass-In-Charge's schemes. It clearly demonstrates how willing the democrats are to feed on their own - all while painting their eating habits in rosy, comforting terms to ensure their prey are kept blind to their actual purpose - and kept in fear of any alternative...
Stilton, this is some of your best work - text and graphics!!
ReplyDeleteI am so very glad to have run into your site!
When I was a kid a long long time ago, we studied arithmetic in school. In junior high, they started calling it math. Then along came "new math." We need a name for new math's replacement. Obamath? Libmetic? Bendover-metry?
ReplyDelete@Pete,
I believe you have hit upon HRH's plan. Perhaps us geezers will simply be "put to sleep" when we hit 65 or something. I have a plan too. Come at me with that effing needle and you might find out that .45 inches is a lot bigger number than it looks like.
Pandering and fear-pushing to groups of people (name your demographic) already with a wary eye on the future. Can it really get any lower than this? I keep harping on this, Stilton, but I do believe he's counting on people to be too afraid to opt for real change. Somehow he sees this will be a greater number than those of us who are mad as hell and damned well ready for a change.
ReplyDeleteWe will take your bet, Barry. I think we'll win.
@Coon Tasty- Glad you liked the nod to pulp science-fiction. I love this style of art!
ReplyDelete@Pete(Detroit)- Under Obama's plan, seniors can also pay less because all of their money will go to bureaucrats, and none will be wasted on doctors, hospitals, or caregivers. Which is also the case with the $716 billion in Medicare "savings" that Obama is bragging about. Unquestionably, people will die from lack of access to care.
And I'm not sure which futuristic medical procedure involves strapping women to rockets, but it looks exciting! Maybe it's an advanced form of birth control for Sandra Fluke?
@Emmentaler- It's frightening how many voters really don't understand the truism that "anything the government gives you, they took from someone else." They seem to think that they can enjoy free goods and services simply by government edict - so why not vote for them? But even better for the Dems is that Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare are all ways of giving the state life-and-death power over the individual. It's the ultimate liberal wet dream.
@The Doktor- I'm glad you found the site too! Tell a friend or two - this site is all about community!
@Colby- I believe that the updated term for "math" is now "myth."
@Angry Hoosier Dad- There's no question that Obama is trying to make people fearful of change- hence, the repeated threats that Romney/Ryan will end "Medicare as you know it." But "Medicare as you know it" is already as dead as the Raccoon coat. So the real question is whether people want no Medicare (the Dem plan) or modified Medicare (the GOP plan). Unfortunately, very few in the media are making those options clear to the voters.
Stilt - the only thing missing from the pulp-sci illustration was an AARP logo on the robot's chest.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of the 50+ brigade, I'm actively searching for alternatives to AARP. One that looks good so far is AMAC. Any of you other old coots have a suggestion?
@CenTexTim- I've heard about another group for seniors called "Soylent Gray"...
ReplyDeleteAbout that "anything the government gives you, they took from someone else":
ReplyDeleteWhat pisses me mightily is that it's being stolen from my grandkids while they're busy learning long division.
I live in fear of the shin kicking they're going to lay on me while asking me why didn't I STOP OblameBush from robbing them.
The study does not mention, however, that under Obama's policy of inflating our money, $124,600 will also be the cost of a Grande Capuccino at Starbucks in 2030...or that Obamacare has already raised the average cost of health insurance $2500 for people unfortunate enough to be living in the present.
ReplyDeleteI wish! My insurance premiums alone have gone up almost $5,000 a year since the inauguration of the savior. Naturally, this is far short of the $2,500 a year he promised that my rates would be down by the end of his first (and hopefully only) term. I weep for the things I might have done with that extra $7,500 a year in my pocket, and for the jobs not "created or saved" by my not having that money to spend or invest.
Good call on the inflation observation as well. Printing money is the only tool the Fed has left now that rates are already near zero, and the more they do it the less effective it becomes. And yet they keep doing it because they politically can't say "That's enough; we're done". Inflation is the inevitable result of this monkey business. Printing money for the sake of supporting government spending is, in fact, at tax on everybody who spends dollars. It literally sucks the value out of your money and savings for the sake of supporting Federal spending. The sad reality is that inflation punishes the poor and middle class far more than it punishes the rich, since the less affluent spend a greater percentage of their wealth instead of investing in non-depreciating assets. The average voter, and especially Obama voter doesn't have a clue that inflation actually taxes them at a higher net rate than the "rich" they think are going to get soaked by "taxageddon".
I ran some quick numbers last week, and confirmed that our grocery bill alone has gone up over 6% in the last year alone. And it's not like we're having steak every night.
And with fewer people working (thus creating wealth) the situation will not improve. The ratio of people working and creating wealth against the number of dollars in circulation literally defines what our money is worth. Getting people off the employment rolls might be good for Obama's U-1 rate, but it's tragic for our long-term problems. The less people working means that fixing Social Security and Medicare is even more impossible than it was already. It means that the fewer people actually working will have to be taxed at even higher rates just to sustain things as they are, much less improve them. And as that happens, fewer of them will see the point and join the "disenfranchised" class. (which is likely the Marxists real goal)
The only upside is that inflation is a far more "fair" tax than anything the Democrats have in mind as it touches literally everyone, especially those that today pay absolutely zero income tax. Perhaps we should just abolish the IRS and run the government by printing money. Can't do much worse.
John, oddly enough that's an economic theory espoused by RHeinlein back in the day. I never quite understood it, but the plan is that the gov't would issue a 'dividend' to each citizen based on annual production / surpluses. I think the gov't then took all production. I think he dropped it when he realized not everyone is motivated to work if they're not hungry, and "paying" the producers the same as the looters was not sustainable...
ReplyDeleteI'm not certain HOW hard he was backing it, but it showed up in at least two books - "Beyond this Horizon" and (I think) "Anthem" Neither of which were particularly good...
@rickn8or- I look at the policies of Obama (and many before him) as direct enslavement of our future generations. But instead of using slave ships, they using legalistic time machines.
ReplyDelete@John the Econ- The numbers are indeed depressing and the future isn't looking bright. The only economic figures that Obama shares have been baked like a souffle (and are just as filled with air). I'm genuinely concerned with the possibility of hyper-inflation hitting us hard and soon. Especially because I'm not entirely convinced that Obama doesn't actually desire it as the final, great tool of economic leveling.
@Pete(Detroit)- Sounds like an unusual misstep from Heinlein. Assuming that all people have a desire to work and be productive goes way beyond science fiction and is simply unbelievable.
A one (long) sentence describing Obamacare by Dr. Bellar:
ReplyDeleteSo, let me get this straight. This is a long sentence. We’re going to be gifted with a healthcare plan that we’re forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least 10 million more people without adding a single doctor but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President who smokes — [laughter] — same sentence! — with funding administered by a Treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government that has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese — [laughter] — and finally, financed by a country that’s broke.
So what the blank could possibly go wrong?
H/T: Ed Morrissey@HotAir
YouTube Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdnY8r7_fLw&feature=player_embedded#!
@Stilton, inflation is hardly a "leveler" that does anything good for Obama's constituency; quite the contrary. It's the very "rich" that stand to benefit since most of their money can be invested in commodities that are certain to hold value relative to the dollar. On the other extreme, the "poor" have no appreciable assets. >100% of the poor's money goes to goods and services. They will be decimated. The middle class is right behind them; it's literally "tricked up poverty". The one meme that both conventions had in common was that they were all for "the middle class", almost to the exclusion of everyone else. After terminal unemployment, nothing makes people "poor" better than inflation. Using inflation as "tool of economic leveling" makes little sense ideologically, unless his goal is to totally destroy the economy by destroying the dollar altogether. That, I might believe.
ReplyDelete@Seadog, an excellent quote. That ObamaCare even was and still is debated as an idea worthy of consideration is absurd; only possible in a political world of complete cognitive disconnect.
While most of us can do the ShinOla test visually or by smell I am beginning to think he really likes the taste test. Kinda sad because I don't think he has ever really seen smelled or tasted shinola. So he has no idea that everything he passes on to us is not shinola and we know it.
ReplyDeleteWould it be better to have inflation of deflation? A loaf of bread for 10 cents or 10 dollars? Inflation can (almost always WILL) always go up, so a loaf of bread will be (like Germany in the '20s) hundreds of million dollars. How low can deflation go? And where would Barack Hussein prefer it to go?
ReplyDelete@JustaJeepGuy, a deflationary cycle would be even worse; sending us into a deeper recession or a real depression. Look at it this way: If you were about to make a discretionary purchase, and you knew that if you waited another day, month, or year that you could buy that item or service at a fraction of what it costs today, what would you likely do?
ReplyDeleteThe better part of our economy would freeze as everyone stopped buying TVs, cars, vacations, or whatever else could wait. More jobs lost than even Obama is capable of destroying by fiat.
@REM1875: Sorta backwards from the Movie The Jerk, when Steve Martin's black father teaches him about 'S*** and Shinola'.
ReplyDelete"Soylent Gray"
ReplyDeleteYou first... :-)
Funny, sad, and scary all at the same time.
John the Econ said...
ReplyDeleteIt's the very "rich" that stand to benefit since most of their money can be invested in commodities that are certain to hold value relative to the dollar.
One of the reasons why the stock market is doing well & holding it’s own and the other is the weakened dollar.
Yes, the poor & middle class will get spanked!
John the Econ said... Using inflation as "tool of economic leveling" makes little sense ideologically, unless his goal is to totally destroy the economy by destroying the dollar altogether. That, I might believe.
Did you see the movie “2016"? Almost exactly the conclusion of the writer. I saw it a couple weeks ago, very interesting and (to the logical, common sense side of me) plausible, therefore, extremely scary.
Quite true, @SC. The stock market is "doing well" not because of any change in the fundamentals or outlook, but because it looks like the Fed is going to do another "twist" and/or QE3, and the Democrats are stumping for another phony "stimulus". Inflation is on the way and the smart wealth doesn't want to be stuck in bonds or dollars.
ReplyDeleteThe 99%s are going to be taking it in the shorts.
Haven't seen 2016, but the destruction of Obama combined with neo-Keynesianism wasn't hard to figure out having studied both economics and the hard left for decades.
@CenTexTim I'm an AMAC member - I did it more for the benefit of liberty, than any benefits they offer. And I mail all of AARP's postpaid membership cards back to them taped to a carefully and lovingly wrapped box of beach sand. My neighbor is a member of Generation America. There are two alternates for you. AMAC, like AARP, is an insurance company. Generation American ain't...
ReplyDeleteAnd QE3 is imminent - it was pretty much a foregone conclusion when the last jobs report came out as pathetic. And I think that the results of another round "quantitative easing" on our economy will be devastating. Similar "official" expectations may explain why odd departments of our government have been such good customers of the ammunition producers (whom the leftists would ordinarily have been happy to put out of business...)?
I will be soooo much happier when 21 January 2013 is behind us. Assuming 6 November is alolowed to occur...
Emmentaller, for YEARS I'm hearing the "end of days, buy gold / silver" ads on the radio. I'm all Bite THAT!!! Precious metals *I* stock up on are brass and lead...
ReplyDeleteBuddy once asked me what caliber "survival" gun to get - I told him .22 - you can carry both a rifle and a pistol, eff UP a human sized target at 100 yd, and carry 10k rounds in a pack on your back. (yeah, it's heavy - but compare to just 1k rd of .223...)
It's also VERY cheap to practice w/...
@SeaDog- Painfully funny. But mostly painfully true.
ReplyDelete@John the Econ- I agree with your assessment of what hyper-inflation would do to our poor and middle-class, but I actually subscribe to the anti-colonialism theory advanced by Dinesh D'Souza in "2016" - I don't think Obama give's a rat's ass about either the poor or the middle-class; I think he wants to decimate the United States for the good of the world. How else to explain his eagerness to strap a suicide debt-bomb to Uncle Sam?
@REM1875- I think Obama considers himself to be the new King Midas: everything he touches turns to Shinola.
@JustaJeepGuy- John the Econ nailed the answer for you. Both conditions would suck, but runaway deflation would really be an impact with an unyielding brick wall.
@SeaDog- I need to watch "The Jerk" again. Steve Martin actually makes me happy...and it's been awhile.
@CenTexTim- I imagine that "Soylent Gray" would be like bad jerky.
@SC- Since I respond to these comments in order, I hadn't seen your note about 2016 until now. But I already mentioned above that I saw the movie (and was already familiar with D'Souza's premise) and think it's extremely plausible.
@John the Econ- I've still got a dab of funds in the stock market (for retirement) but don't have much confidence that it's the best place for my waning funds to be. I keep thinking about stocking up on baked beans and cheap whiskey...
@Emmentaler- QE3 is coming for sure; the magician has already pulled all the rabbits out of the hat, and so now has to tear out the lining or get off the stage.
And geez- Obama didn't make any budget cuts (quite the contrary!) in his first term, so he had to create a superdupercommittee. And the superdupercommittee couldn't come up with any acceptable cuts, so we got stuck with the sequester cuts. But Obama was supposed to report what those cuts would be last Friday, and didn't even bother. It's all an enormous game to these people - and one with an entirely predictable and disastrous end.
@Pete(Detroit)- I wish I'd purchased some gold awhile back, but I wouldn't even consider it now. Plus, if the feces really hits the fan, I wouldn't be surprised to see the government confiscate all the privately held gold.
@Pete (Detroit) - I'm with you on the precious metals = brass and lead, although I tend towards a heavier caliber. If you can shoot, you don't need 10k rounds (altho they might be useful for barter).
ReplyDeleteFWIW, if you really are concerned about the SHTF, I wouldn't buy into a gold fund. It's just paper. You don't possess the actual metal.
@Emmentaler - thanks for the info. I figured out pretty quick that AMAC was a front for the insurance industry, but at least it isn't a shill for the dems/libs. I'll check out Generation America.
@John the Econ - are you old enough to remember stagflation during the Carter years? Do you think we're headed there now? We've got two out of the three necessary conditions - stagnant business activity and high unemployment.
Oh yes, @CenTexTim; I remember the '70s well. Probably too well. And there are plenty of similarities between the '70s and today; A big-government GOP administration followed by a big-government Democrat "reformer" who promised "change". (How many people remember that "Change" was Jimmy Carter's theme as well?)
ReplyDeleteI remember gas lines and wondering what the point of saving money was when inflation robbed it of 1/10th or more of its value every year. Seemed better to spend it on something tangible at the time.
As to where we are headed, I wish I could tell you. While I know my brain is more objective than Paul Krugman's, I don't have a crystal ball that's any better than anyone else's. While there are too many similarities to the '70s to make me happy, the world today is also much different than it was 35 years ago. The US isn't the single dominant economic player we once were. Money today is far more liquid, literally moves at the speed of light, and jumps global borders at will. Also, before the '90s, relatively few people had direct control over their investments. Only upper-level types and "the rich" had self-directed vehicles like 401-Ks and IRAs. And, of course, the Federal Government controls far more of the economy than it did in the '70s. All these factors drastically affect volatility and make things far less predictable.
Actually, I believe that we've been experiencing inflation for over a decade now; it's just that it manifests differently today than it did generations ago; instead of raising all prices evenly, I believe that inflation now moves in bubbles in sectors of the economy. The housing bubble is a good example; I think that most of the value that evaporated from America's balance sheet in housing that relatively few could objectively afford never really existed in the first place.
I think one of the best indications of inflation is oil. Since oil is traded internationally in dollars and everyone everywhere uses it, it's probably the last relatively stable indicator. (I thought it was obvious 5 years ago when oil, the dollar, and the euro diverged)
Personally, I was predicting the hyper-inflation hit over 3 years ago. I still believe that we'll see it once the economy really does want to move and people start trying to spend all of these static dollars floating around on real goods and services. Perhaps we're now on the edge of a new kind of stagflation, where every time the economy moves more than a couple of percent, it comes up against a wall of quickly rising commodity prices, unaffordable employee & overhead costs costs, etc, that push it right back. When the geniuses at the Fed start figuring that one out, they'll finally start questioning the "easy money" policy of the last decade.
@Pete(Detroit), you are right about what to buy if you want to survive the "end of times" scenario. If the economy really does crash to that extreme, gold is not going to do you all that much good. (If you are just buying gold certificates, it really isn't going to do you any good) If and when everything hits the fan, you are going to need stuff to survive, and stuff to exchange with people who need it to survive. Few people will be trading gold. They'll be trading supplies; food, fuel, equipment, and firearms. You can't eat gold.
ReplyDeleteThe other day, I watched part of a dismal "pandemic" scenario on the History Channel where billions died, infrastructure collapsed, and eventually America was thrown back to the 1800. The show dramatized a hypothetical LA family caught in the mayhem, showing all of the trails they would face. For the entire program, I kept thinking that most of the problems they had would have been effectively mitigated if they only had a few guns and adequate ammo.
@John - saw that show a few years ago while stationed in C-eh?-N-eh?-D-eh?. I recall a relatively young head-of-family dying from an infection resulting from a simple scratch - pretty much unheard of today - after failing to barter for left-over antibiotics from some travelling group. It was a very sobering show.
ReplyDeleteFor the immediate period after such a collapse, ammunition and compatible, functional firing platforms will be of the utmost importance. The PEOPLE who make the ammunition critical, though, likely will not survive in vast numbers - eventually, the balance between need of ammunition for self defense and need of ammunition for the gathering of food will lean back to the food purposes, and less energetic modes of delivery will be usable and sought after - bow and arrow, knives, spears, etc. It will be those who can think strategically and have the knowledge and wherewithal to do for themselves that ultimately pull themselves out of the ditch. Ultimately, it would be an enforced Darwinian self-correction for our species.
Pete is absolutely correct that hoarding .22LR cartridges during good times will put him ahead of the survival curve: .22LR and the platforms that use them are absolutely the most plentiful in the world. Next most common cartridge in terms of the world would be the 7.62x39 - the round the AK-47 eats. If you expect, during any scheduled holocaust, to be relocating outside of North America, this would be a good round to hoard; however, though increasing in popularity here, it is still a rather tiny player in the North American market. The 30-06, though probably not the #1 seller in North America, is in the top five and enjoys the added benefit of being in use in every corner of the planet - you will *not* run out of this ammunition. For handguns, the venerable old 9MM Luger is the top handgun cartridge. And you should have a 12Ga shotgun somewhere in your arsenal. Round it out with a few good full-tang knives, a decent recurve or compound bow, and a case each of duct tape and WD-40, and you should be set for just about anything hunting and self defense needs throw at you. If you're planning to go nomad, pack the pistol, a knife or two, and then choose between the rifle or the shotgun. (I'd take the rifle...and a cleaning kit.)
Gold? Silver? We - society - place the value on these. If and when society collapses, so will any "monetary" value of gold. Sure, some will still be hoarding it in the hopes because they still believe it valuable, or in the hopes that society will reassert itself and once again place a high value on the stuff, but in the interim, the only value to gold will be its relatively low melting point, high malleability, and its density - perfect for making things like bullets and adding weight to cudgels...
"Shinola recognition problems"
ReplyDeleteI am so stealing that. It's almost as good as "rectocranial inversion" for which problem Barry and the rest of the commielibs need plastic bellies, so they can see where they are going.
You can call me hard cheese but I disagree that 9/11 is not a day for politics. I do not want reflection, I want smoking craters all over the middle east.
ReplyDeleteThere was no Pearl Harbor Memorial until AFTER the war was won.
After.
Islam delenda est.
@CenTexTim, John the Econ, & Emmentaler- Great economic discussion here. I don't have anything intelligent to add; I'm just benefitting from reading what you folks are posting (and I agree, of course).
ReplyDelete@Ogrrre- Run with that phrase and spread it. I have to admit I even tickled myself.
@Anonymous- To be clear, when I say that 9/11 is not a day for politics, I mean "politics as usual" - which tends to be chatter and sometimes a lot of heat and very little light. But 9/11 is a vastly important day for the real politics of thinking about who we are, morally and as a nation, and about what each of us must do to preserve and defend what is best about this nation. I don't want smoking craters created indiscriminately in the middle east (nor am I implying that you do), but to the extent that we can identify our true enemies, I favor bombing until the sand under their feet is green, glowing glass.
ReplyDeleteGreat page today, Stilt...I may not comment much of late, just wanted you to know I'm still here every day! Keep up the good work!
And I'm liking that comments are still 'on' on THIS page, for those who know how to deal...
ReplyDelete@PRY- Glad you're here! It's not like I'm taking attendance, but it really is good to know that the "regulars" are around. The community that this blog has become means a lot to me.
ReplyDelete@Pete(Detroit)- Truth be told, I'm very emotional about 9/11 today (well, every day - but you know what I mean) and I didn't want to worry about checking the blog or commenting on the political insult du jour. But I couldn't back away entirely - how could I? The issues of 9/11 are very much part of the issues of campaign 2012.
And when Barack Obama announced today that the deaths of 9/11 made America "stronger," I about had an aneurysm.
There was no goddamn silver lining to the attacks of 9/11, and I don't care to hear empty platitudes from a man who personally endorses a Ground Zero mosque, but uses the "auto-pen" and form letters to express his faux regret for the deaths of our Navy Seals.
If I am emotional about 911, it's not as much about the attacks themselves, but to the degree that our country (via our "fearless" leaders) have allowed their agenda to succeed. The collateral damage done to our way of live, economy, and freedom is multitudes greater than the 3000 lives lost and buildings destroyed 11 years ago.
ReplyDelete@John: A HUGE amen on that. The TSA alone is a most egregiousness offense against our freedoms - particularly in that they prefer to harass those who have little likelihood of being threats in deference to those who clearly fit the pro forma - all to appear to be "fair"... And that's just ONE of the Islamic victories to have come spinning forth from the devastation of the WTC and the Pentagon.
ReplyDeleteYes @Emmentaler Limburger, the masterminds behind the attacks knew our brainless leaders well, and how they'd react. The billions wasted on the TSA and the harassment imposed upon the honest citizens of this nation was totally unnecessary.
ReplyDelete@John the Econ & Emmentaler- 9/11's damage to our country was huge and remains ongoing. The economics and impositions of the TSA are ridiculous, and rules of political correctness (like placing a limit on how many airline passengers of a certain ethnicity can be thoroughly inspected) make the process a very unfunny joke.
ReplyDeleteSJ, thanks s much for the wise, reasoned discourse in your response. Having lost someone I knew well that day, I tend to get fairly worked up.
ReplyDeleteI'ma figure out this whole intarwebs, and gonna sign in real ways.....
Love your stuff.
Queso Grande
@Anonymous/Queso Grande- I can't think of any more appropriate reason to get worked up, and I'm sincerely sorry for your loss. I didn't know any of the victims firsthand, but still find 9/11 to be a nearly unbearable day each year. For me, it is not a wound which will ever heal - nor would I want it to.
ReplyDeleteRegarding adding your name to comments, just click on the little button that says "Name/URL" below and it will give you a chance to write your preferred user name. I look forward to hearing from you more often!
LOL!!! One can only hope your moniker implies no lactose intolerance as almost EVERYONE I know would urge you to tell me NOT to say too much.....
ReplyDeleteI lived for years down the street on Long Beach Island from the copilot of flight 175, Michael Horrocks(RIP). Stilton, you have never met a nicer man from a nicer family. My own household was the absolute antithesis of the unity, warmth and 'family' that exuded from each and every member in that house. Even the dogs were outstanding!! I was often jealous of the way they were.
I cannot imagine the family's pain.
That day WAS my/our generations Pearl Harbor; I am deeply saddened that too many fail to realize that.
Keep the faith, fight the good fight!!
See you soon.....
@Queso Grande- I agree that 9/11 was our generation's Pearl Harbor. It was a sharp dividing line in our history and our lives, after which nothing would be the same. And yet, there was a "Jay Walking" segment with Jay Leno in which he asked people on the street what day 9/11 happened on - and he found people who didn't know. They couldn't even name the month. They didn't even have the intellectual firepower to figure out that 9/11 is the month and day. And they didn't friggin' care.
ReplyDeleteAnd their votes count every bit as much as yours and mine.