Wednesday 7 November 2012

Four More Years

What can you say? Politics in Western civilisation is really f****d up. Here we have the greatest economy in the world (if you forget the debt) electing a man who bases his political principles on self first. He had to get re-elected, it was really important to him. The White House is nice, people treat you nice when you go visit, the pay and perks are a hill of beans. And, when he looks in the mirror he can honestly say, without a quiver of doubt, that he is a good man; he likes what he sees.

Then he has to get dressed, go downstairs and get with the business of running the country. This bit is boring, tedious and not something that Barack Obama spends too much brain power on. Why should he? He did this President thing for what he gets out of it. Much like our own Tony Blair, BO is particularly good at posturing. He talks the walk.

The hurricane was due to Global Warming which he is going to deal with and he personally did all the clearing up, don't you know. And mends shoes overnight, with really tiny, perfect stitches. If you listen to Obama you hear a stream of that-can't-possibly-be-true statements, but the thing is, once said they can't be un-said so in a way they become true. Sound daft? Well it happens all the time with the Left.

Ex-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was involved in a televised discussion the other day about wind turbines, the new industrial landscape, modern satanic mills. He said, to substantiate the importance of 'renewables' that we have just had hurricane Sandy and look at the devastation that caused and we have only had a temperature rise of less than 1 degree. Civilisation he said, would be destroyed by the end of this century unless we do something.

When asked if Sandy was due to global warming he smoothly said we cannot be sure of individual events, blah, blah, blah. But hold on. In that simple, short burst, he had given the distinct impression Sandy was due to our affect on climate and that things were going to get very much worse and wind turbines could help stop it. None of which is actually true, but it is now 'out there'. (Man's output of CO2 is insignificant when applied to planetary systems, it increases after temperature rises, not before, there has been no rise in global temperature since 1997 and wind turbines increase significantly the price of energy to consumers and even then cause more CO2 production, not less. But they do make subsidy farmers rich).

So Obama exists in a world where saying is doing. Just as Blair used to announce initiatives (that he then dropped, quietly) with much triumphant fanfare, as if it was an achievement itself. Are people really that thick? Surely they didn't vote for Obama to get more speeches about promises that remain and will be, unfulfilled? Not really no, they forget what he says in detail (as they are supposed to), what they actually voted for was money-tree politics, money-tree economics.

Obama based his 'success' over the last four years on borrowing. He piled debt on debt to keep the people feeling good. He operated the same economics that the insane Ed Balls promotes over here. It worked for Blair (well, as long as you forget the financial crash, obviously).

And people like 'no pain'. For them the fitness mantra 'no pain, no gain' is anathema. And boy are they under the anaesthetic! The most important thing Romney said in his campaign was the 47% thing. He said that 47% of the population would vote for Obama because he pays them, either as state workers or as benefit claimants. So here we have the conundrum of modern, Western politics.

The politicians themselves exist in a world removed from reality and indeed from politics itself. Their world consists of 'winning' arguments with their political opponents, showing up their political opponents and increasing their own wealth and standing amongst world wide peers. The work of government, such as it impacts on them, is done by policy wonks for whom they are nominally responsible. (And now with a second term those wonks, with a warm glow of comfort at 4 more years, will be really dangerous).

Romney was absolutely right about the client state that has been created. The divide between Democrats and Republicans goes something like this. Romney has to convince people to put the country first, that by creating a strong and workable framework, America will then be able to afford an affluent society with more employment and more to spend on social costs. And of course, that he can deliver that.

Obama on the other hand can say anything he likes, he has no intention, or possibly no ability to do any of it, but it is what the audience wants to hear and he just needs to get elected. His people will vote for him because he won't turn on them. He will keep the welfare taps open, he will continue to employ legions of non-productive and counter-productive public sector workers.

They are not concerned with the country, but with themselves, they just want what they want. If the economy goes to hell, so what, the state will always exist - borrow more, whatever! For them, money is not produced by successful businessmen and through making and selling things, no for them money grows on trees.

Similarly, Obama can play the race card, which I suppose we should take in good grace as it is the real slap down for what was done to them in the past, a new 'white man's burden'. You see, whilst it would be outrageous (and probably illegal) to vote for a white man because he is white, it is not only OK to vote for a black man because he is black, it is also OK to shout about doing it! It doesn't matter if he is a fool, he's our fool, kinda thing.

So there you have it, not so much a great socialist victory as a victory for self interest and greed. Not by bankers or millionaire businessmen (how dare they have big houses and yachts and aircraft, they are exploiting the 10,000 they give work to), but by bureaucrats and petty jobsworth's, by make-work non-jobbers in diversity and outreach progammes and by those do not want to work (those who can't have an excuse).

Unless the wealth-creators of America can manage a work-around, can succeed despite Obama in the White House then the US has some real problems ahead. Today, citizens of the United States, having been asked what they can do for their country, by a small margin replied, what can my country do for me.

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