A QUESTION OF JUDGEMENT

A lot of us lately have had a "Come to Jesus" moment when it comes to the economy lately. We realize without the intervention of some Higher Power we cannot help ourselves. This is now the case with the national economy. But as Jimmy Stewart says in the movie "Actually, it's just money that we've loaned to ourselves". We should think of yesterday's intervention as a "United we stand; divided we fall" type of thing. The government has intervened in a massive way to buy up all these shakey mortgage loans which are themselves bought and sold like comodities. Only now you can pick them up for pennies on the dollar. If the mortgages do not default, they will be worth a whole lot more than that in money markets, and the tax payers rather be on the hook for that money might actually see a profit in the coming future. President Bush knew that he had to act soon. Candidate Obama has pointed to various proposals he's made in preceeding years which, he would have it, if they were followed we wouldn't be in the crisis we're in now. Seeing it is how it's "money we owe ourselves" another thing to keep in mind is "There for the grace of God go you and I". But the thing is if these big lending institutions like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley go under, we will all suffer in the wake of their destrutions as the waves ripple out. You know that. Johnny Wendell was saying "perhaps a bad recession wouldn't be such a bad thing". As exhibit A against Johnny's notion I give you the plot to "Sunset Boulivard". You remember when that William Holdman character was told by his agent "The best thing that could happen to you now is to lose your car. That way you'd be forced to sit behind a typewriter and come up with something decent". If you've seen the movie you realize "It didn't work out that way". Some advice deserves to be tossed in the waste basket two seconds later. There is such a thing as "The urgency of Now". We are living with the urgency of Now, with the national economy. Help has to be timely or it will be useless. You know the addage, 'A stitch in time saves nine". You don't wait till your car is smoking before taking it to a mechanic. If you do it may already be too late. If you're an Obama fan you think like Mal Evans (who died in Jan. 1976) who says that the government should let the free market prevail and let the chips fall where they may and let each rich person suffer according to his own karma. Johnny Wendell may think a recession is a nice "time to take a vacation" or something or to "reorder the priorities on your life" but the fact is if these people really had their ear to the ground they would have done what I recomended a couple posts back and start buying up stocks at these low rates and get real bargains. Also my judgement was sound in saying that now is a time to sell or short oil futures. Just think how rich I'd be if I had money.

Judgement is also a factor with Obama and Mc Cain on how they conduct their campaigns. At the end of the day it's a good thing to say "I backed the right horse; I bet on a winner". Obama for one can't say that when it comes to success or lack thereof of the Surge in Iraq in 2007. I said in February 2007 on "Man's misguided guest to be God" that I thought the surge would work. My big problem with it was that apparently the move bypassed congress. I would hope none of us would wish failure on the other political party just to further our own success. If you are you are not being a Christian, and I recomend you see your local pastor and have a talk with him about it. When we hit the top of the oil futures market, I said so. I think it's just wrong and probably unpatriotic to wish failure in Iraq on our troops just to further your own political aims. There is one Bible passage against the "Nya- - Nya- - " people pertaining to the nation of Edom, who taunted Israel when they were "getting it". As the following editorial states- - Obama's rather bull headed stance on the subject of the Surge of 2007 is a major area where he exercised faulty judgement.

We need to keep the people of Houston and Galviston in prayer. Over half the people in that area are still without power, and some in Galviston may not have electric power for weeks. Kids can't even attend school. People's travel is restricted and people in Galviston who were evacuated are not allowed to return to their homes.

A friend of mine who gave me a loan of more money than I expected today had an anti gay flyer. There are a number of points that merit repeating. Marriage is not just for the couple themselves, but for society as a whole, with the knowledge that kids will be raised in a proper environment. As Hillary's book states "It takea a village". If just isn't the parents but a whole neighborhood that determines how moral a kid will turn out. Also marriage protects women. It does this by saving them from man's more beastly instincts, because some men would "accumulate" wives only to either ignore them or abuse them, and in the end society would not be served.

Here is the editorial that has been edited with one sentense added, and you smart ones should be able to find that one with no problem at all.

Mr. Obama's "new kind of politics" - which was based on telling the truth, being a principled politician and treating one's opponents fairly - collapsed once he secured the nomination in June. He reversed course with dizzying speed on NAFTA, FISA, public financing of campaigns, whether the D.C. gun ban was constitutional, meeting with rogue leaders without preconditions and the unity of Jerusalem. He even qualified his Iraq policy by stating it would be "refined" according to "conditions on the ground." Most recently, in light of the economic downturn, Mr. Obama stated he might reconsider implementing the tax increases in his economic plan.

Mr. Obama appeared authentic during the Democratic campaign as a liberal champion: In running to the left of Hillary Clinton, he was passionate, fiery and convincing. Yet since his mad dash to the center, he appears uncomfortable: He stammers and stutters in response to questions rather than speaking forthrightly. The polished, Ivy League-educated senator now uses "folksy" expressions. This downhome speaking manner is geared toward attracting white, blue collar voters - and is not in consonance with his impeccable oratory. He is now packaged and artificial And that ain’t no way to win no campaign no-how.

Mr. Obama stated that voters need not be spooked by his thin foreign-policy resume, but should look to his judgment. These statements were cheered throughout the primaries when the Iraq war was going badly. But once the surge succeeded, Mr. Obama has been unable to convince Americans that his judgment is in fact sound.

For weeks, Mr. Obama refused to acknowledge the success of the surge. Now, he acknowledges it at last, but still does not admit that he was initially wrong in his opposition. Clearly, his judgment on foreign affairs is often overcome by prejudices or expediency. Again, he set the terms of the debate and then failed his own test.

Many voters and critics are still asking: Who is Mr. Obama? He has told us who he is through his record and deeds: a liberal politician who will abandon all his principles at the drop of a hat in order to be elected. This is not new or fresh: It is precisely the "failed policies of the past" that he brilliantly identified, but cannot surmount.