The Obama Presidency

[Fe 26]

It wouldn't be capitalism. The capitalism of yesteryear was focused in towards ourselves. Capitalism now has changed along with the way we communicate and conduct commerce. If you don't compete globally there is little chance of you surviving.

I think you are either ignoring what I said or you missed the point.

What you said has little to do with poor people being unhappy. I'm saying that a major part of their unhappiness comes from the perspective that Americans have about happiness in regards to comerical goods. We believe we must own things to have worth and be happy. This mind set becomes even more true the stupider you are. And its a mindset that leads to depression as you will never have enough stuff. There is always something new to buy. You will always be lacking the new thing and feel inferior to those you perceive to have more.

It isn't the whole cause but this is a big motivator for crime and poverty. People become fixated on happiness through material goods and are unfilled. Those at the bottom go as far as to take from others. Those at the very bottom have a low self image and feel removed from the system. This sense of being removed me/them attitude makes it a lot easier to kill others. Or at least comparatively to a person that feels like they are part of society and is successful as our society defines it.

We as a nation do not really know how to be happy with ourselves.

[Shooting Love]

When you add that to Clinton's complete unwillingness to deal with Al Qaeda, I don't think Obama was the guy who inherited the set up.

I had thought Clinton retaliated after the USS Cole attack, apparently not.

[icarusfall]

Did you short the real estate and stock market? If the answer is no, then your perception that this was the most predictable downfall in memory is what is bullshit. Hindsight is 20-20 and if you didn't in any way profit off this obvious bubble, you're either a fool or unbelievably stupidly lazy. The extent, timing, and nature of the damage was not obvious, not to the majority of academics, politicians, bankers, investors, not to those directly involved, but yet it was obvious to you.



It is the Obama administration and Barry himself who keeps saying they inherited this mess. Ok, you did, from your own guy and the guys you hand picked in your own administration, including the wife of the man herself! Ok, now these same guys are supposed to lead us out of this.

It is Obama who is saying "that one party was diametrically opposed to an issue and imply some moral high ground". I hear him say this every time he speaks. Every time.

I absolutely knew this was a huge bubble. My wife and I were living in a 3rd floor 1b/1b apartment in S Florida for $930 a month. This apartment would have cost $5-6 a few years earlier. Nothing had changed in the area that should have propelled such a stratospheric rise, and if you had any sense at all you didn't buy land. It was all real estate speculation, and the people that had lived there for 20 years damn well knew it. Now all you see is For Rent and For Sale signs everywhere at 2/3 the price paid.

I didn't profit from this because I think The Market is evil and don't want to contribute to it. Maybe this makes me stupid, but I sleep better knowing I have as little to do with that as possible.

[Gooch]

You gotta go with what you believe in.

And yes, many did see a bubble forming, but calling the timing and the magnitude of that bubble bursting is where the difficulty is and only a few had real any idea, and those people are now infamous (Roubini, John Paulson, Meredith Whitney, etc). We also knew that there was a bubble in oil and other commodities, but it's one thing to say there's a bubble, it's another to take action that displays your conviction. It's easy to say one was certain via hindsight. If you keep saying there's a bubble, eventually you'll be right but that doesn't mean you had any prescient knowledge. For example, I will say now there is a fear bubble, but who is willing to put their money on that bubble bursting today?

Bill Clinton benefitted from much (many said he had it easy i.e. he didn't have to deal with a USSR, etc) and he gets far too much of the benefit of the doubt.

[icarusfall]

I will say I know many people that cashed out their equity during the bubble and waited to repurchase them after the bubble burst. I have 6-7 friends that all did this and now own their homes free and clear.

So, as far as the people paying attention in S Florida who had lived there long enough, we all knew it was coming in the next year or two. Here it is 2 years later and here we are.

[Gooch]

And even with that Florida (along with CA, Vegas, AZ) is among the areas most devastated by the housing crash.

[icarusfall]

That's because no one in Florida is actually from Florida. No frame of reference. They just see these land prices skyrocketing and figure "I gotta get me some of that!" Then the peasants revolt and eventually say, "No! We will not pay your outrageous prices! Good DAY sir!" And they're all, "Whaaaa! All my Monies! Whaaa!" And we bust out, "I SAID GOOD DAY!"

Then the government steps in and hands everyone that was stupid enough to finance this bullshit a big check.

Awesome.

[youandwhosearmy]

Mike Shedlock's letter to the president. Note that some of Obama's harshest critics are those who voted for the man. It's not about being right, it's about getting it right.



I hope this does not get the typical TNL treatment by redirecting the attention to some Mickey Mouse bullshit like a candidate's religious beliefs for other issues that are obviously secondary to what may be the greatest crisis this nation has ever faced. Just be reasonable rather than defensive. This is also why I don't blindly pledge my allegiance to one party or candidate. That loyalty must be dynamic if this country is going to be worth a damn. Stop being sheep and think as an individual. Is what is going on right now the right thing, and if not, we must voice our concerns and anger. Goddamnit.

I'll be the first seemingly religious Democrat to say Obama has this all wrong. It is not an understatement to say that the entire government under the Bush administration and their initial support for this is all wrong as well.

I think the most terrifying aspect of it all is that so many people can look at this package and see the flaws held within it so clearly. There is no doubt in my mind we are handling this the wrong way. My statement about it earlier, which even Yoshi of all people agreed with, was that whether it was a Dem or a Republican in the White House we were going to be getting some kind of ridiculous Stimulus package.

The problem I think really is in this idea that if you are a politician in the time of a crisis like this, you feel the pressure to do something so you don't look like you're doing nothing. Its really sad though.

This idea behind this bill in general is a travesty. That's what the Republicans should have spent their time attacking, not the bizarre talking points Jindal brought up.

Though in all honesty, I doubt it would help much at this point.

[Doc Holliday]

Gupta Drops Out

Put that shit in your pipe and smoke it.

source

[Nirvana]

Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter

Obama’s reliance on the teleprompter is unusual — not only because he is famous for his oratory, but because no other president has used one so consistently and at so many events, large and small.

...

“He uses them to death,” a television crewmember who also covered the White House under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush said of the teleprompter. “The problem is, he never looks at you. He’s looking left, right, left, right — not at the camera. It’s almost like he’s not making eye contact with the American people.”