So, looking around at the government and the world a few things go through my mind.
1. I was never terribly happy about the whole “bailout” thing but figured if all they are doing is buying up bad loans how bad can it get? Well now we know. They have officially decided to dump everything the told us about what they were going to do and are now busily buying banks. I really don’t like the idea of the government owning several different banks around the country. There is an inherent conflict of interest when the regulatory agency is also part owner of some of the elements being regulated. Worse than this though is the mission creep that is seting in. (Creep? More like SPRINT!) Once you buy out one company others will very quickly decide they NEED a piece of that pie too. After all, why change business practices and go through the pain of reorganization when Uncle Sugar can just give you money? And of course politicians will not have the intestinal fortitude to tell major donors and large collections of voters “Sorry, not going to give you the money.” This is already clearly evident by Pelosi’s sucking up to the UAW by proposing that we bail out GM. This of course ignores the fac that GM ahs been ignoring purchasing trends in the US market while continuing to manufacture non competitive vehicles for YEARS! Chapter 11 bankruptcy is designed for companies like this. It would deal with GMs problems just like it dealt with Delta Airlines. And it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a penny. But no, giving them hoards of cash with keep a bunch of UAW members at their jobs making vehicles that not that many people are buying. Just what we need in this country.
2. Obama talks a lot about bi partisan efforts na dhow he wants to pull everyone together to make things work. Yet he chooses as his chief of staff a recognized partisan pit bull. I think his idea of bipartisan is going be “Just shut up and do it my way.”
God knows his Chief of Staff has no history or apparent interest in working with anyone who does not agree with him wholeheartedly.
3. Many people, no the least among them Joe Biden, are making much of the fact that the Iraqi government is making plans for the US to pull out it’s troops in about 2 years. They are gloating that this proves that Obama had the right plan all along. Of course if Obama had had his way a few years ago our troops would have already left long before the situation in Iraq was any where near stable. They are also of course misrepresenting the Republican approach to the Iraq situation by saying that they (the Republicans) want to keep troops there for years and years. Of course the truth is that the President, John McCain and most rational Republicans (and Democrats) have actually said is that we should keep troops there until the situation on the ground allows for their safe withdrawal. If that happens in 2011 Joy to us all, if it takes till 2015 so be it. Indecently, I rather expect a great many Obamites are going to be very disappointed when he doesn’t start pulling troops out as fast he can. Actually being responsible is a great dissuader to idealistic over reaction.
4. I hear announcers on NPR and such making abig deal about how Karzai is making overtures to the Taliban. Are these people totally out of touch with reality? Karzai has been making approaches to the Taliban since the day he was put into office. And he has had some success at it. Numerous lower and middle level officials from the Taliban era came in and joined the process in Afghanistan. It has been less successful lately because the only ones left out there are pretty hard core. But he keeps making the offer if we are lucky some will take it and make the situation better. Of course the Taliban knows that they don’t need to actually fight US or NATO troops to “win” all they have to do is kill enough civilians and create enough chaos that we get sick and tired of it and go home. They learned from the Iraqi insurgency. Car bombs and suicide bombers are a cheap and easy way to disrupt things without actually putting any of them at risk. At the cost of some C4 and a few low level losers they keep in the news and make the government look ineffective. It is a very good strategy especially given the US’s and Europe’s often displayed lack of will power to stay in a messy situation. As soon as it is clear we are leaving Iraq Obama can expect mounting pressure from his anti war supporters to give up in Afghanistan too. I wonder how he will stand up to it? Or if he will stand up to it?
5. Africa….. Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Congo……. Good lord…… I have an idea, the Europeans created than mess with their colonial policies and boundaries. Let’s let them settle it. The French, the Italian, the British and the Belgians can clean up their own mess for once.
