The Signs Are All Around Us.

Unless one has been living under a very large rock, one is aware that the The American Dream, while perhaps not dead, is, for many of us, on life support. As a sign of this alarming state of affairs, a plethora of articles have cropped up in various main stream media outlets about how to exist in three hundred square foot dwellings, vacation and recreate within one hours drive of home, and devise meals for the entire family that cost less than five dollars. Recently Yahoo even ran a piece on a man who "chooses" to live life at virtually no monetary cost by inhabiting a cave and foregoing such niceties as heat, refrigeration, and health insurance.

Frankly, these stories, in the aggregate, suggest that our choices of self abnegation are along the lines of virtuous fads made of our own volition. Perhaps, but I doubt it. The truth is more probably that between massive job losses, sizable pay cuts, and the epic private swindling of uber crooks like Bernard Madoff and the even more epic pillaging by Wall Street serpent firms, there is even less wherewithal in the hands of the nation's bottom ninety five percent than ever before. And so, living in houses the size of tool sheds, and preparing dishes about as scrumptious as military MREs, and enjoying one's free time at the local lending library are about the best many of us can scrounge up these days. In the meantime, the disparity between the winner (take all) contingent and the rest of the nation grows greater each day. This growing chasm is nothing but a recipe for both social unrest, and the inevitable response to social unrest, which in our present not so crypto-fascist nation probably involves coercion and restrictions on Constitutional liberties.

Be All You Can Be.

Is Barack Obama a legal citizen of the United States? Apparently even asking such a question puts one in danger of suffering castigation by such media paragons as Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and their minions. Despite this state of affairs, I choose to venture forth. Why? Because as odd as the folks are who are singing in the "Obama was not born in the U.S." chorus, their demeanor, and more importantly their case seems more compelling than the one offered by the many powerful characters who are lined up against them. Check out the "debate" recently on CNN, and see for yourself who seems to be making the most sense. I must admit, I fully expected that the CNN discussion would reveal Alan Keyes and Orly Taitz to be obviously way off the beam in this affair. I'm sorry to report it was their attackers who seemed more than a tad desperate and hysterical, incapable of offering anything to allay one's concerns with anything but bluster and empty appeals to authority.

What spawned the lively television tete a tete was a little known case involving U.S. Army Major, Stefan Cook, who recently challenged his deployment orders to Afghanistan on the grounds that the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces, President Barack Obama, is not a legal citizen of the United States. As a prerequisite for obeying his deployment orders, Maj. Cook, with the assistance of the aforesaid Orley Taitz acting as a sort of quasi professional legal advocate, demanded President Obama's proof of citizenship. A date in court was set to judge the matter, but before Judge Clay D. Land could hear the case in Middle Georgia District Court, the Army rescinded Major Cook's deployment orders.

My first thought upon hearing about this outcome was the following: Since when does the U.S. Army cave in to a lone soldier on a matter so important as a deployment order, and why didn't the U.S. Army simply produce, as requested, a copy of the "Long Form" certificate of live birth, demanded by Major Cook? Long form birth certificates include, among other information, the name of the birth hospital, the attending physician, and time of birth. The long form birth certificate also contains a state seal proving the document's authenticity. Even if the U.S. Army legitimately decided, at the last minute, that it did not want Major Cook serving in Afghanistan, it must have been mindful of the potential fallout from rescinding deployment orders, especially on such an arcane basis. So, why didn't the Army simply provide a copy of the long form birth certificate, thereby settling not just Major Cook's case, but all cases that might arise on such a basis? Perhaps because there was no long form birth certificate used in Hawaii when Obama was born. It is unclear, as yet, if that is the case. However it seems equally clear that, even if this is the case, it is not, by any means, necessarily exonerating. Bear with me.

It is worth nothing that the brouhaha over Obama's citizenship goes back well before the Presidential election. As it happens, The Daily Kos blog, in an attempt to put to rest claims arguing against Barack Obama's citizenship, posted a birth document that did not, by any means, provide compelling evidence to make the claim disappear. At this point, I can't help but note the not so faint sophistry of Donald Rumsfeld, who observed while Secretary of State under George Bush Jr. that "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." Be that as it may, The Daily Kos is a highly trafficed blog, and well known to those who operate in Democratic political circles, and it simply stretches credulity to imagine that the Obama campaign was not aware of the Daily Kos' efforts on their candidate's behalf. How could Team Obama, not to mention Obama himself, countenance the release of such an obviously phony birth document if a genuine one already existed? Suffice it say, that tabulating all the data on this question does little to remove my own growing skepticism regarding The President's supporters claims that he was born on U.S. soil.

In the meantime, whatever views one may hold towards Major Cook and Orley Taitz regarding their motivation in making their case, there are now serious implications for the armed forces. Will this case, now that it has been, after a fashion, successfully prosecuted, snowball in such a way as to motivate other military personnel to challenge their deployment orders? If so, matters could get very interesting for all branches of the armed services both at home and overseas.

Health Care Legislation Catastrophe.

For those of you who didn't know, but perhaps suspected, Congress is inhabited by grifters and incompetents, who are, at the moment, hell bent on making a bad problem worse. Despite the warnings of many, including Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendord, who warned lawmakers that the legislation that he has seen so far would raise costs, not lower them, Congress is moving ahead with ill concieved health care reform. I predict that it won't matter if it is passed since the U.S. will be well down the road to third world status before this all but certain to pass monstrosity takes ill effect.

Between the steadily deteriorating economy- witness the dreadful numbers on shipping traffic out of the very important Long Beach, CA port- and the capital flight that will ensue for, among other reasons, much higher tax rates on what is left of the wealthy in the U.S., there won't be anything like enough revenue to pay for nationalized health care. Between such epic swindles as cap and trade, and the latest rammed through health care reform package, things are playing out in the manner of the blackest of black comedies. It truly is a charade. Who is Congress fooling? The nation is irretrievably insolvent. There simply isn't the money to pay for this audacious nonsense, and since we have long since entered the realm where adding debt is counter productive, we have no hope of making this health care legislation work.

So, at least for me, the burning question becomes, what is going on? Is there some sort of psychosis at work that is compelling our elected officials to engage in what, for all the world, appears to be a grand fool's errand? Is it possible that many in Congress know that this is simply folderol, but that they are best served by pretending? Your guess is as good as mine, and if you have any ideas that you feel amount to keen insights do pass them on.

Foreign Policy Revelation.

Nothing has changed on the foreign policy front with the arrival of Team Obama, and I can prove it. Recently there were allegations of election fraud in Iran. In the election's aftermath, large nationwide demonstrations ensued, albeit, with a minimum of bloodshed. In response, President Obama was given to no small amount of critical comment regarding Iran and its government.

Now juxtapose Obama's response to the Iranian contretemps with his reaction to what just transpired in China, where government forces cracked down to such a vicious extent on protesters that over one hundred and fifty of the aforesaid were killed. And an equally large number were also arrested, presumably destined for either execution or extended incarceration. Not one word has been uttered by Obama about the savage treatment by the Chinese government towards some number of its discontented citizens, even though the Chinese government's response to dissent has clearly been more severe than Iran's response to their recent upheaval.

To what can we attribute this tale of two responses? Is it the invisible hand of Adam Smith at work as one commentator has suggested? After all, China, while certainly a burgeoning economic and geo-political rival of the U.S., also happens to be a vital trading partner and a critical source of government funding, at least for now. Iran? Well, they hardly fit that description. And that is why China can murder its people with impunity while Iran comes in for heavy criticism, sanctions, or worse. Obama, the self styled "change you can believe in" agent is literally and figuratively a business as usual President. Just ask the Chinese and Iranian governments.

Just As I Suspected.

In a nauseatingly (but all too) characteristic display of narcissistic grandiosity, Sarah Palin, aka The Whore of Babylon, has revealed that she has a "higher calling" than the governorship of Alaska. I'm afraid that those of us who reside in the lower forty eight states must beware, because, clearly, TWOB has plans for us. On the other hand, because TWOB is, among other things, such a grifter, she may be getting out before some scandal erupts. In the meantime, as the ImPalinator seeks to control the world, those of us who blog in none too complimentary terms about her have been threatened by a Palin attorney with possible legal action should we print (or reprint) fraudulent allegations. I'm so glad to see that TWOB, a self styled conservative and intrepid defender of constitutional freedoms, has such a deep and abiding respect for The First Amendment. Well, I say, by all means, if TWOB or her attorney thinks that some of us are spreading lies about her, let the piss ant soon to be former governor of a state with a population smaller and less diverse than San Diego sue away.

As for any of my claims about TWOB, well, clearly, they are all patently true. After all, isn't it obvious that Palin has at least ten times more ambition than brains? And isn't it equally clear that Sarah "Bridge to Nowhere" Palin is a smarmy, mendacious, self aggrandizing cancer on the body politic? Well, isn't it?

The Whore of Babylon Update!

The Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has resigned from office. I'd like to say, "Ding dong the witch is dead", but the ghastly Whore of Babylon almost certainly has ambitions of higher office up her poisonous sleeve. So, even as she abdicates office with some self serving and verbose farewell drivel, "Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," do not for one second think that we have seen or heard the last from TWOB.