Tag Archives: obstructionism

The Debt Ceiling Mythified: Sisyphus

06 Wednesday Oct 2021

Posted by in Economy, Pandemic, United States, US Debt Ceiling

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Persephone supervising Sisyphus in the Underworld, Attic black-figure amphora, c. 530 BCE, Staatliche Antikensammlungen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

—ooo—

‟U.S. default this fall would cost 6 million jobs, wipe out $15 trillion in wealth, study says.”
(30 September 2021, The Washington Post)

After last Thursday’s vote, a refusal to raise the American debt limit, I wondered to what extent the Republicans could be considered a legitimate political party. In other words, I wondered how much the Republicans (=½) serving the government (=1) could differ from the Democrats when the goal is to pay a government’s debt? Members of a political party represent the people (=1) whose welfare it normally seeks. So, can they jeopardize the economy (=1) of the country (=1) they represent?

Voters do not give their representatives (=½) the right nor license to harm their government (=1). Representatives discuss an issue, such as their joint economy, which is an essential process in a healthy democracy. However, although the government of the United States is bi-cameral (=½ + ½), Republicans and Democrats, its two houses, are the two sides (=½ + ½) of the same medal (=1) and, by extension, the two sides (=½ + ½) of their nation’s economy (=1). There is only one medal, the government (=1), and one shared economy (=1).

Therefore, although the government is a forum, a place where a discussion occurs, it seems to me that it cannot be an arena. When all is said and done, representatives of the people usually reach a consensus or make a decision following a vote. The majority wins. The government may otherwise be rather lame or seem lame. Remember the myth of Sisyphus.

The Myth of Sisyphus

“He [Sisyphus] was punished for cheating death twice by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.” 
(See Sisyphus, Wikipedia.)

The figure of Sisyphus was used by Albert Camus in Le Mythe de Sisyphe to represent absurdism. I have mentioned Sisyphus in at least one previous post to portray futility. It is in this regard that the metaphor remains useful, but Sisyphus’ fate is also absurb. Given that the Republicans are one side of the same medal, they must agree to raise the debt ceiling or face an economic debacle. Another stopgap could lower the United States’ credit rating and inflation may follow. In other words, a second stopgap could lower the purchasing power of the poorer half of the middle-class and the poor in the United States (=1). Moreover, the credit rating of the United States may be lowered, unless flexibility can be attained otherwise. In 2011, as a result of turmoil, the United States losts its AAA credit rating.

United States federal government credit-rating downgrades – Wikipedia

Current US Inflation Rate August 2021 (thebalance.com)

Last week’s failure [on the part of the United States (+1)] to raise a debt ceiling it must raise was an exercise in futility. The boulder may stumble down to the bottom of the hill only to be pushed to the top once again. All years are not equal. So, the United States must give its economy a degree of flexibility, which raising the debt limit currently provides. The United States is grappling with a deadly and financially ruinous pandemic. More than 700,000 Americans have died and some have little if any income. Moreover, in the second half of August 2021, the United States’ government had to pull its troops and its supporters out of Afghanistan after the unexpected takeover of Afghanistan by the Talibans, a fundamentalist group. The war had lasted twenty years, a Sisyphian scenario.

Americans pay their taxes. It has been reported that avoidance of taxes is frequent among the very rich, but most middle-class Americans pay their taxes in full. So one wonders whether Republicans are honest representatives of the citizens of the United States. They threaten the economy of a nation.

I am not an economist, but it would be my opinion that the Republicans had nothing to gain by postponing raising the debt ceiling. They cannot laugh for very long. Responsible representatives of a nation are not expected to misuse a citizen’s tax dollar by threatening their constituents at the best of times. Republicans did so at the worst of times. Obstructionism has seldom been so flagrant and so wrong.

By and large, the victims of Covid-19, in both Canada and the United States, have not been not been vaccinated. This disaster must be addressed by the government (=1).

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—ooo—

Love to everyone 💕

Sisyphus as a symbol for continuing a senseless war. Johan Vogel: Meditationes emblematicae de restaurata pace Germaniae, 1649. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sisyphus (1548–49) by Titian, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
6 October 2021
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The US Election: its Aftermath

17 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Election 2016, United States

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Obstructionism & Populism

President-elect Donald Trump has stated that American elections were rigged. Although there could be truth to this statement, it is a generalization.

Yet Mrs Hillary Clinton suspects that the investigation into her emails jeopardized her bid for the Presidency of the United States. I believe it did. I have read that she had been somewhat careless in handling classified material, but the FBI had not found criminal wrongdoing at the close of its first investigation. However, reopening the investigation suggested wrongdoing. Nothing more was needed to eliminate Mrs Clinton and open the way for a tragedy.

Therefore, one could say that there was obstructionism, but obstructionism of a kind that cannot be pinned down entirely on people at the top, such as FBI Director James Comey. The court of public opinion is ruthless. It undid Mrs Clinton. Unless there were errors in calculating the votes, which does not seem to be the case, Americans voted Donald Trump into office. And he was elected by a populist United States, not its élite, which is somewhat ironical. As a billionaire, Donald Trump is probably one of the wealthy Americans who hide their tax dollar, which tends to put him on the very same level as the establishment, or part of the establishment.

It could also be that Americans wanted a change. Mrs Clinton had been in Washington for many years, which was both an advantage and a disadvantage. She was the experienced nominee, but she had already spent two terms in office as the wife of former President Bill Clinton. In the eyes of ordinary and not-so ordinary people, a husband and wife are one and the same person.

Consequently, contrary to Pascal’s Wager, a large number of Americans chose “infinite” losses rather than “limited” losses. One may argue that four years is a finite period of time. Mathematically, four years are four years. However, there are other yardsticks. The events of these four years may be defining and irreversible. As President Obama pointed out, if a person loses self-control twittering, will it be safe to trust him with the nuclear code? The results would be limitless.

In short, taking a risk, i.e. voting for Mr Trump, was a perilous choice and, therefore, not a  choice. He is the laughing-stock of the world.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/u-s-becomes-laughingstock-of-world-for-something-other-than-gun-laws

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Detail of Elihu Vedder‘s mural Government (1896), in the Library of Congress. The title figure bears a tablet inscribed with Lincoln’s famous phrase. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

America’s Credibility

There will be consequences. On 8 November 2016, the credibility the United States had gained during Barack Obama’s presidency was shaken by an amnesia-stricken and reckless American electorate. During his term as President of the United States, Mr Trump is likely to be what he was before his election: sexist, racist, lewd, brash, narcissistic, xenophobic, an unbearable misogynist, etc.

As well, Donald Trump is a nativist and his natives are white Americans. We know that he is married to Melania who is not an American by birth but is somewhat trans-cultural given her former occupation as supermodel. She was one of the tall and very slender ladies flying from runway to runway. They “appear,” as does Donald Trump.

The fact remains that when and if Donald Trump attends summits, the American discourse will no longer have the logic and fluency it did under President Obama. But, as President, Mr Trump may not attend summits.

Had Mr Trump not been elected, he might have appointed himself President of the United States and would have been a usurper. Mrs Clinton was not a perfect candidate. It appears she had some baggage, but she was more experienced which made her a safer choice. She was not likely to deprive Americans of social programmes. These programmes are not charity. Americans pay for them through their tax dollar.

Consider that, theoretically, it is now “open season” on Mexicans, Muslims, people of colour, persons of a different sexual orientation or women, and various dissenters. Mr Trump’s presidency promises to be authoritarian.

He is in favour of the death-penalty and he will penalize women whose life was threatened by a pregnancy that had to be terminated. I hope he will seek the advice of doctors in this respect. Doctors cannot let a woman die because she is pregnant. Doctors performing abortions will also be penalized. It is as though Mr Trump did not know that abortions and birth-control are different issues. When abortions were decriminalized in Canada, doctors could, at long last, intervene if the health and life of their patient was at risk. Their only option had been a hysterectomy. Is a woman’s life so unimportant that she should be left to suffer and die if a pregnancy threatens her health and her life ?

The United States should be as Abraham Lincoln defined it in the Gettysburg Address: a democracy. Mr Trump, whose bid for the presidency was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan, militant racists, is a clear and present danger. He may also allow the bearing of guns in mid-town Manhattan.

He also had the support of the National Rifle Association.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/20/politics/nra-donald-trump-television/

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The Bigger Picture

Let us look at the bigger picture. The European Union has been weakened because of Brexit and with Donald Trump steering the USA, the leader of France’s Front National, nativist  Marine Le Pen, feels emboldened. Under President-elect Donald J. Trump, I believe Russia stands to become a greater power, perhaps the main power. By electing Mr Trump to the presidency of the United States, Americans may have elevated Russian President Vladimir Putin to a more commanding position. Americans may, in fact, have changed the balance of power.

France
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/15/politics/marine-le-pen-interview-donald-trump/index.html
http://www.azfamily.com/story/33696717/french-far-right-leader-le-pen-trump-win-boosts-her-chances
Russia
http://www.nola.com/articles/19671900/putin_trump_discussed_ways_to.amp
Canada ♥
https://static01.nyt.com/video/players/offsite/index.html?videoId=100000004759858

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Conclusion

Mr Trump is the President-elect and this is his honeymoon period. Moreover, hope springs eternal… We have to think that all will be well. It is a matter of survival, but the campaign tends to indicate that all is not and will not be well. I fear the aftermath of Mr Trump’s election to the presidency. It may lead to purges in the United States and a degree of erosion in Canada’s social programmes, if he slashes into Obamacare.

I opposed Mr Trump’s election for reasons which I believe were very good reasons. I will continue to oppose him if I see danger and abuse. But he may surprise us. He’s no longer a nominee and he is not a usurper. He is the President-elect of the United States. We’ll have to wait and see.

Love to everyone ♥

“Beautiful Dreamer”
Stephen Foster
Jonathan Guyot Smith & Stephen Sasloe

13obama-jp1-master768

© Micheline Walker
17 November 2016
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November 8, 2016: the USA Votes

07 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by in Election, The United States

≈ 6 Comments

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07campaign4-superjumbo
Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia on Sunday. The F.B.I. informed Congress on Sunday that it has not changed its conclusions about Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state. (The New York Times)

“WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, told Congress on Sunday that he had seen no evidence in a recently discovered trove of emails to change his conclusion that Hillary Clinton should face no charges over her handling of classified information.” (The New York Times)

What is particularly shocking in this story is not only the timing of Mr Comey’s decision to re-open the investigation into Mrs Clinton’s emails, but the fact that Mr Comey knew that re-opening the investigation would not show criminal wrongdoing on the part of Mrs Clinton, but would give Mr Trump an advantage.

It was obstructionism, i.e. putting obstacles in the way of a nominee, and it was political. Mr Comey gave Mr Trump an advantage. Mr Comey all but removed Mrs Clinton’s bid to the presidency of the United States by suggesting partisanship.

It is for the American electorate to choose the President of the United States, not the FBI. By announcing it was re-opening its investigation regarding emails sent from her personal computer, the FBI put Mrs Clinton under a cloud of suspicion. She is a strong woman, but the stress the announcement generated was harmful.

Colin Powell

  • Donald Trump is a “national disgrace,”
  • Donald Trump is an “international pariah,”
  • Mrs Clinton is an “experienced” politician.

Retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is not an admirer of Mrs Clinton, has stated that he would vote for her because she is an experienced politician. He has called Donald Trump a “national disgrace” and “international pariah.” If Donald Trump is a “national disgrace” and an “international pariah,” voting for him makes no sense. One may as well jump off a plane without a parachute.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/leaked-colin-powell-emails-lambaste-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-1473862328

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-u

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/14/politics/colin-powell-dcleaks/

colin-powell

Colin Powell, NYT

I share Mr Powell’s view. Mrs Clinton is a veteran politician and a former Secretary of State. She is “by leaps and bounds” the more qualified nominee. As for Donald Trump, evidence points to his suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. If Mr Trump believes he can be President of the United States without being elected, he is indeed a very sick man. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is relatively easy to detect. Narcissists care for one person only, their person.

apascal001p1

Pascal

Blaise Pascal

Colin Powell‘s attitude reminds me of Pascal’s Wager. Blaise Pascal (19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and a very devout man. His best-known work is entitled Les Pensées, Thoughts, which includes Pascal’s wager.

As a mathematician, Blaise Pascal, in collaboration with Pierre de Fermat, developed the probability theory, or le calcul des probabilités, which has to do with calculating the odds. In the case of Pascal’s Wager, le pari fatal, the discussion is about the existence of God. Pascal states that if one does not believe in God and does not live a virtuous life, one may spend an eternity in hell. Not believing in God could therefore lead to “infinite losses.” On the other hand, one who chooses to believe in God and lives a virtuous life may suffer limited or “finite losses,” i.e the virtuous have to make certain sacrifices. Consequently, Blaise Pascal proposes that the rational choice is to wager that God exists, as one may avoid “infinite losses.” (See Pascal’s Wager, Wikipedia)

In other words, by electing Donald Trump, one has everything to lose. Not so if Mrs Clinton is elected. One may not be an “admirer” of Mrs Clinton—as noted Colin Powell isn’t, but he will vote for her because she knows what she is doing. She is competent. The security of the United States and the world is very much at stake in this election because one nominee is unfit to perform the role he is seeking. If Americans elect Mr Trump, they will empower a Narcissistic ignoramus. Voting for Donald Trump doesn’t even begin to make sense.

Platform & Programme

I have written several times that Donald Trump has failed to present a coherent platform or program. He doesn’t, except for despicable goals.

Normally, I avoid redundancy, but I am quoting New Yorker journalist  for the second time. Mr Gopnik writes that:

His [Mr Trump’s] platform is resentment and his program is revenge, and that is an ideology with many faces and one name. This is fascism with an American face.

By NOVEMBER 3, 2016
The New Yorker

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/why-trump-is-different-and-must-be-repelled

Endorsements

  • Economists foresee a disaster and oppose Donald Trump. (The Wall Street Journal)

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/11/01/prominent-economists-including-eight-nobel-laureates-do-not-vote-for-donald-trump/

  • The Atlantic endorses Mrs Clinton, or disendorses Mr Trump.
  • Mr Trump has been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.

PRESS ON “The Editorialists Have Spoken… ” TO READ THE ARTICLE

The United States is a Democracy

Americans live in a democracy and cannot allow anyone to take over the presidency, without being elected to the position. Such a person would be a dictator, as was Adolf Hitler.

He would, in other words, exercise absolute power over the American people, depriving them of what has made America great: the freedom to choose their leaders and to live a private life.

Who would have thought, a year ago, that Donald Trump would be the Republicans’ nominee for the presidency of the United States? Americans have been taken by surprise. Could this be an American Brexit?

Conclusion

I’m with Colin Powell. If I were an American citizen, which I am not, I would vote for Hillary Clinton because she is the competent candidate, not Donald Trump.

Remember that Donald Trump

  • wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans from entering the United States;
  • that he will not allow Muslims into the United States;
  • this is how he will deal with the Migrant Crisis brought about by Isis and Autocratic regimes;
  • that he is a racist, endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan;
  • that he does not like women, he’s a misogynist, has assaulted women and may have raped a 13-year old;
  • that he will abolish Obamacare: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act;
  • that there is little doubt that he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder;
  • and that he does not care for the people of the United States.

The only person Donald Trump cares about is Donald Trump.

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Love to everyone. ♥

John Philip Sousa
Semper Fidelis – “The President’s Own” US Marine Band

andrew-wyeth-independence-day

Independence Day by Andrew Wyeth

© Micheline Walker
7 November 2016
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Suing President Obama: Related Posts

04 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by in Art, United States

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Branch of Lilacs, by Henri Matisse, 1914

Branch of Lilacs, by Henri Matisse, 1914 (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

My sincere apologies to anyone who found my last post offensive.

My post was not offensive, nor was it subversive. However, this new event invites serious reflection on a number of issues. Among these, the numerous attacks on the President of the United States. These point to behaviour that cannot be considered reasonable and acceptable. There are rules of conduct that preclude harassment.

I hope sincerely President Obama did not abuse the power vested in him. I doubt that he has. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the United States’ military, but he is not belligerent.

My post entitled “Suing President Obama” contained a list of related articles. This list disappeared. My computer is no longer stable. It sometimes erases part of what I have written. I think I need a birthday.

RELATED ARTICLES

“Suite bergamasque, four-movement suite for piano by French composer Claude Debussy, begun in 1890, when the composer was a student, and revised and published in 1905. Its most readily recognizable segment is the third movement, the ever-popular Clair de lune (“Moonlight”).

The work’s title derives from Bergamo, a city with ancient origins that is located in the foothills of the Italian Alps. It is traditionally considered the home of Harlequin, a standard figure of the commedia dell’arte. The first movement, Prélude, has open and flowing phrases with much use of legato phrases. The second movement, Menuet, and the fourth movement, Passepied, are quick and light-footed, more staccato in mood than the first. The gentle and familiar Clair de lune in its original context provides an elegant contrast to the sprightly second and fourth movements.”

Betsy Schwarm[I]

My kindest regards to all of you.

_________________________

[I] “Suite bergamasque.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 04 Aug. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1944683/Suite-bergamasque>.

Pascal's Pensées, Henri Matisse

Pascal’s Pensées, Henri Matisse, 1924 (WikiArt.org)

Debussy‘s “Clair de lune” (Suite bergamasque)
Angela Hewitt
Angela Hewitt performs a live concert for the Royal Conservatory of Music at Toronto’s Koerner Hall.
 

Bouquet of Mixed Flowers

© Micheline Walker
4 November 2014
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Henri Matisse, 1917
(Photo credit: WikiArt.org) 

The Art of Andrew Wyeth & Posts on the United States (1)

19 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by in Art, United States

≈ 4 Comments

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The Master Bedroom, by Andrew Wyeth
Photo Credit:  Google Images
 
first-snow_jpg!xlMedium 
First Snow, Andrew Wyeth
(12 July 1917 – 16 January 2009)
(Photo credit:  Wikipaintings)
 
The US Economy (19 July 2011) 
On Raising the Debt Limit (26 July 2011)
First things first: President Obama’s address (26 July 2011)
A Great Favor (28 July 2011)
The Damage so Far (29 July 2011)
The Compromise (5 August 2011)
Leaders and Education (8 August 2011)
More on Education (9 August 2011)
President Obama as Scapegoat (10 August 2011)
“It is the fate of princes to be ill-spoken of for well-doing” (15 Sept. 2011) 
Fraternité: Individual Needs and Collective Needs (17 Sept. 2011)
A Sense of Urgency (19 September 2011) 
The Short Term and the Long Term (19 September 2011)
Obstructionism: the Consequences (26 October 2011)
Respect for life: on Anti-Abortion Extremism (28 October 2011)
Austerity the Republican Way (10 December 2011) 
An Obama-Clinton Ticket (13 December 2011)
Mutiny in Congress: Ship them to Guantanamo (21 December 2011) 
Respect for life: on Anti-Abortion Extremism (28 October 2011)
The Art of Alfred Thompson Bricher & Posts About the United States (2)
 

spring-fed_jpg!xlMediumSpring Fed, Andrew Wyeth
Photo credit: Wikipaintings
 
© Micheline Walker
19 June 2012
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Posts on the United States

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in United States

≈ 6 Comments

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Scene_at_the_Signing_of_the_Constitution_of_the_United_States
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 

On President Barack Obama

No one is perfect.  But President Obama has been keeping his nation afloat and growing.  Given the burden he inherited, he has in fact done very well.  Were it not for President Obama and members of his administration, it would be extremely difficult for the international community to trust the US.  At the moment, the credibility of the US within the world community is based almost entirely on the intellectual and moral principles of its President.

This is cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face and it is petty, in the utmost.

A lot of people are like the cock of the fable told below, by Jean de La Fontaine (8 July 1621 – 13 April 1695).  They cannot tell quality.

◊◊◊

“The Cock and the Pearl” (I.20)

A cock scratched up, one day,
A pearl of purest ray,
Which to a jeweller he bore.
“I think it fine,” he said,
“But yet a crumb of bread
To me were worth a great deal more.”
So did a dunce inherit
A manuscript of merit,
Which to a publisher he bore.
“It’s good,” said he, “I’m told,
Yet any coin of gold
To me were worth a great deal more.”
 
Jean de La Fontaine (I.20)
Le Coq et la Perle (I.20)
 

Post on the United States

Here are two lists of posts and two posts.  The second list is not complete.

List One

 
 

List Two

 
 

imagesCAI0D4K5

(Photo credit:  Google Images) 
 

◊◊◊

Giuseppe Tartini (8 April 1692 – 26 February 1770)
”Devil’s Trill Sonata”
Itzhak Perlman, violin 
 
 
 
 140775904 
© Micheline Walker
October 2, 2013 
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Mutiny in Congress: ship them to Guantanamo

21 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in United States

≈ 68 Comments

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— Wild Turkey, National Geographic

Mutiny in Congress:  ship them to Guantanamo!

David (Plouffe), it’s a game, but it’s a nasty game…

Congress did not pass a bill that would have prevented an increase in taxes and, once again, I see the robotic naysayers, Tea Party and hardline Republicans, rearing their not-so-pretty head.

I have suggested in earlier blogs (see Obstructionism and Scapegoating) that these naughty Republicans are trying to find fault with President Obama, by fabricating “errors” he has made: the classic set-up.  They have nothing to pin on him, and this last “error” is proof of bad faith on their part.  At the last minute (it’s always at the last minute: debt-ceiling crisis, etc.), when members of Congress are preparing to go home for the holidays, the robotic naysayers object to what they would normally accept and, once again, those who will be burdened are the ordinary people.

This is systematic and abusive posturing.  It shows callousness and I hope sincerely that US taxpayers can see despite the smokescreens.  Members of Congress can oppose a bill, but when members of Congress do so systematically and contrary to what they would normally do, they have crossed the line. 

The Constitution

Moreover, the current situation calls for changes in the Constitution.  It is obvious that the President of the United States should be allowed to help his nation, but his hands are tied.  Basically, the President of the US is little more, which is a lot, than Commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the public face of the United States.

* * *

Sorry, but President Obama should also be able to care for the Nation that has elected him into office, but he is facing systematic obstructionism and scapegoating.  As I wrote above, the naysayers in Congress will say no and are now saying no to what they would otherwise approve.  That shows that they are robots and that the only game in town is politicking.  The welfare of millions of Americans should not be irrelevant.

* * *

“Just watch me,” Pierre Elliott Trudeau

Therefore, I would suggest that President Obama take the bull by the horns, say: enough, basta, genug and ça suffit, and bring in public opinion to remove unconscionable Republicans from Congress.  President Obama would be dealing with an enemy within, but an enemy of the nation is an enemy of the nation.  When dissenters do not know how far they can go too far, let the President declare the American equivalent of Canada’s War Measures Act, now the Emergencies Act (1988) and say, “just watch me,” as did Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, in October 1970: the October Crisis.

Guantanamo

These naysayers are acting so irresponsibly that merely sending them to Camp Shelby, Mississippi,* might not suffice.  They should be sent to Guantanamo where they belong.  If the President can be impeached, it would seem that disorderly and dishonorable conduct on the part of members of Congress should also be impeachable.

*as General Russel T. Honoré (ret.) suggested last summer

Although tacit, the “good-father-to-the-nation” clause is constitutionally acceptable and imperative.  As we all know, there is  both the spirit and the letter of the law, and the spirit overrides the letter.  J.-J. Rousseau’s concept of “natural justice” (The Social Contract) would also support rebuttal on the part of the President and his administration.

* * *

Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama, you have no choice.  The nation should not act against itself during your presidency.  Get on the airways and pounce on the villains!

December 21, 2011

The US: Obstructionism and Scapegoating

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in United States

≈ 2 Comments

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imagesCAI0D4K5
(Photo credit: Google images)
 

Obstructionism

Since the 2010 mid-term elections, Tea Party members and hardline Republicans have systematically opposed all proposals brought forth by the current President of the United States, President Barack Obama, and his administration.  That is called obstructionism, and it is a very ugly practice.

Scapegoating

Moreover, since the 2010 mid-term elections, Tea Party members and hardline Republicans have also, and systematically, blamed the President and his administration for not doing what they, i.e. Tea Party Members and hardline Republicans, are systematically preventing him from doing.  That is called scapegoating, and it is also a very ugly practice.

Distortion of reality

As things stand, President Obama and his administration are even being blamed for the debt caused by the two unfunded wars authorized by the Bush administration, a Republican administration.  The former President (R) and his administration are the ones who engaged into two wars, gave tax-cuts to the affluent and incurred a huge debt.  Not to mention that these wars, unnecessary wars, caused the maiming, the death and the disorientation of thousands of young lives.

After 9/11, America had to hunt down Bin Laden.  All that was required was intelligence work and well-trained commandos.  This is how Bin Laden was found, under a Democratic administration.

—ooo—

Given the above, I would like to ask not that a former Republican President and his administration be crucified, but that Americans remember the facts.  By the same token, I would also like to ask that Americans stop throwing stones at a Democratic administration that did not incur the debt now bedeviling the United States and destabilizing global markets.

President Bill Clinton:  his legacy

When President Bill Clinton left office, Americans had a substantial financial surplus.  In fact, America was rich.

Consequences:  America was near bankruptcy

However, because the former President Bush declared two unjustified wars and gave tax-cuts to the affluent, the former President spent the funds the United Sates needed to remain a prosperous country.  President Bush (R) may have had the best of intentions when he went into Afghanistan and then entered Iraq, a sovereign nation, but he acted blindly and irresponsibly.  He took money from less affluent Americans until the bubble burst.

The Bubble burst

Yes, the bubble burst.  This happened in the late summer and early autumn of 2008.  Having been apprised that the ship was sinking, President Bush went to the Democratic Party, told that the United States was no longer solvent, and asks for assistance on the part of the Democrats.  The Democrats agreed to prevent the collapse of both the US economy and the economies of its financial partners.

The Mid-Term Elections: robots are voted into office

After President Obama and his administration were voted into office, a shockingly unqualified Sarah Palin started sabotaging the work of President Obama and his administration.  She was not alone; she had helpers.  She opposed health-care reforms claiming that big government would kill grandmothers, etc.

Birth of the Tea Party

Out of Sarah Palin’s ill-conceived speeches and the support of mindless and irresponsible politicians, grew the Tea Party.  After the mid-term elections of 2010, members of the Tea Party and hardline Republicans suddenly found themselves in a position that prevented not only a reasonable, but also a sane discussion of issues facing the US.

Robots

With all due respect, those members of Congress voted into office in 2010 are robots that have been programmed to say “no” to any action President Obama presents to save America.

As you know, robots do not think.  They are programmed and the ones I am speaking of have been programmed to say “no” systematically to any action proposed by President Obama and his administration.

Saving America

Saving America begins with making sure Americans have jobs.  Too large of chunk of American products are manufactured by people who will accept a very small income.  Consequently, too may products are manufactured abroad.  And, to make matters worse,

  • the robots in Congress will vote against any package that would stimulate the growth of jobs.  Tea Party members and hardline Republicans are saying “no.”

—ooo—

Therefore, I would ask

  • that Americans stop blaming President Obama and his administration for a debt he and his administration did not incur.

And I would also ask

  • that Americans support President Obama in his attempt to help his nation.

Conclusion

It short, I am seeing bad faith, amnesia, various forms of extremism, ignorance of societal needs, frequent instances of inhumanity, blindness, pig-headedness and the tail end of racism.  Sorry, but the job, i.e. the Presidency, goes and should go, to the person best qualified to perform the required duties.  Unfortunately, there have been too many exceptions to this fundamental requirement:  competence.

If the Republican Congress will not provide President Obama with the funds he and his administration require to create jobs, I’m sorry but, between obstructionism and scapegoating, the narrative is over.  The consequences will be an economic depression so profound and so broad, it will hurt everyone including Tea Party members, hardline Republicans and, eventually, those who fund their campaigns.

Stop the robots or face the consequences.

The End

© Micheline Walker
November 7, 2011
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The Art of Destructiveness

06 Thursday Oct 2011

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Occasionally, WordPress suggests topics to blog about.  Destructiveness, or something to that effect, is one of these topics.

What I am seeing at the moment is a nation, namely the US, who has a fine administration, but where Tea Party members and hardline Republicans are putting obstacles in the path of this administration in the naïve expectation that getting rid of the Democrats will magically eliminate America’s economic woes.

First, the current administration had nothing to do with the debt.  That debt was incurred by a former administration (who had inherited a surplus by the way) and it would still be there the morning after a Republican administration might, to the consternation of most of the rest of the world, be voted into office.

It appears to most observers that the world would prefer not to deal with a parochial and intellectually weak Republican administration.

So pay the debt and support President Obama’s stimulus package.  Republicans messed up America and should be charged to pay for the clean-up.

But, don’t expect miracles.  Given the size of the problem; given also anti-tax extremism, the problem will not be fixed overnight.

Second, Tea Party members and hardline Republicans don’t really care about the people, and, by extension, about their country.  They only care about the rich citizens who fund their election campaigns. If they cared for the nation, anti-tax extremism would disappear.  If they cared, the US would have a comprehensive social program.  If they cared, these elected officials would repair the harm caused by natural disasters and rebuild New Orleans.  If they cared, there would be food on every table.  If they cared, at least certain jobs would be repatriated and many more would be created.  If they cared, veterans would be employed and suitably housed.  If they cared, they would respect the duly-elected President of the United States and work with his administration at improving the lot of the common man instead of making the rich richer. Finally, if they really cared, America might actually be a genuine democracy.

G.  K. Chesterton (1874-1936) writes that in a democracy, first, “the things common to all men are more important than the things peculiar to any men.”  Second, in a democracy “the political instinct or desire is one of these things which they hold in common.” [1]

But they don’t care.  Obstructionism is a game and, given what is at stake, the survival of America and the health of global markets, it’s an unacceptable game.

Where could I find a better example to shed light upon destructiveness?

*   *   *

October 6, 2011

[1] Gilbert K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, “The Ethics of Elflandˮ (New York:  Dodd, Mead and Company, 1943), pp. 82-83.

A Sense of Urgency

19 Monday Sep 2011

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According to James Carville, President Obama should make changes within his team and replace some of its players.  I wish that matters were so simple that merely reshuffling the team would solve the problem.  With all due respect, I do not think firing and reshuffling will work.  The problem has other roots.  America’s current woes have little to do with President Obama and his administration.  So let us look in another direction.

Foremost in my mind, at this moment, is the total failure on the part of hardline Republicans to work towards the good of their nation.  I have heard a few words to the contrary.  In an NBC Meet the Press interview with David Gregory, Senate minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that, “there are actually things we [Republicans and Democrats] agree on” (quoted by Josh Feldman, 18 September 2011).

However, House Speaker John Boehner, who was quoted and seen in a video incorporated into the Meet the Press interview, says that “tax increases, I think, are off the table.  I don’t  think they can be a viable option the Joint Committee.”  One wonders, therefore, whether or not President Obama has a partner in the Republican party.

Let this be my first question.  I have seen and heard all current Republican candidates tell what each would bring to the United States if he or she were elected to the leadership of the Republican party.  Not in any of their answers did I hear the words égalité and fraternité, equality and brotherhood, the founding principles, along with liberty, of a democracy, or republic.  I realize that Republicans need a leader, but were this leader to become President, would he or she tend to the needs of the nation and require the affluent to pay their fair share of taxes.  Given House Speaker John Boehner’s statement, I doubt it.  Moreover, Senator McConnell pointed out that the elections would be held next year, not this year.  Yet now is the time to act.

Can these Republicans not see that the United States is descending into an abyss and that America cannot wait.  And why this descent?  There is a simple answer.  It seems to me that Congress is not a forum, which it should be, but an arena, a sport’s arena.  And it also appears to me that although the Civil War ended in 1865, it has not ended.  Hardline Republicans are at war with their own country and this is not acceptable.

Yes, Americans can rally behind a leader, but it appears that hardline Republicans cannot see and, more importantly, do not want to see that Congress is not a battle field.  As Abraham Lincoln stated, “[a] house divided against itself cannot stand.”

—000—

Dear Republicans, do make choosing a future candidate to the Presidency a lesser priority than the work you have been mandated to do, but are not doing:  making sure there is bread on everyone’s table.  Moreover, do stop, purposefully and in full view of the entire world, sabotaging the current administration.  Your work is to ensure America remains functional and that it grows.

I hope you realize that there is no quick fix for the harm inflicted on America during the former Republican administration and that you also realize obstructionism is  unacceptable.  It is legitimate for one party to oppose the other party, within reasonable limits, but a party, the opposition, does not engage in obstructionism, especially at the cost of the nation.  Current circumstances call for prompt remedial action.  Therefore, throwing stones at the other party will not benefit the people of America.  Besides, such behaviour is childish.

As for President Obama, I am asking him to be ruthless.  No country should tolerate irresponsible naysayers, but all I hear from hardline Republicans is a constant “let them eat cake.”  They do not seem to care for the people.  Is that a dignified way to treat the citizens who have elected a candidate into office?

In a previous blog, I wrote that I didn’t think Marie-Antoinette ever said “let them eat cake” to the French, but “let them eat cake” is what the French heard, and they stormed the Bastille.  Systematic obstructionism is serious wrong-doing, particularly when a country, the United States of America, is on the brink of an economic disaster.  As I have written in other blogs, there is an enemy within.  America is its own worst enemy, except that markets have become global markets, which means that all stand to lose.  Wake up!

Finally, why am I not detecting in the statements made by the candidates to the leadership of the Republican Party the sense of urgency (not panic, urgency) Mr Carville expressed when he proposed firing and reshuffling in the current administration?  That is my second question.  When will you start expressing genuine concern for the ills of the nation and act accordingly?  I may not think firing and reshuffling are necessary, but I fully agree with Mr Carville that something drastic must be done.  That is why I am asking President Obama to be ruthless, in which my suggestion resembles Mr Carville’s suggestions.

It has always been my understanding that elected officials worked for and not against the good of their country and that, once elected into office, a President is everyone’s President.  President Obama is President of the United States, which means that he is your President.

—ooo—

© Micheline Walker
19 September 2011
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