PANDEMIC OF MIDEAST PROTESTS CONTINUES

President Mubaric is still holding on in Egypt. Of course you know there has been a lot of arson and looting. The death toll was 75 and then went over a hundred, but I’m not sure which side is getting killed the most. These protesters are anything but peaceful. Of course I’m glad they stop everything to pray. It can’t hurt to consult God at a time like this. Now vigilante groups of property owners have been formed, to shoot looters, and I don’t blame them. The idea of a withdraw of the police force to “teach the people a lesson” seems idiotic to me. If you listened to Mubaric’s speech the other day it sounded conciliatory. I don’t entirely get it myself. All we know is that after thirty years of Mubaric rule the people are economically discontent and feel politically repressed. Personally, recent history has shown that you can’t trust the results of elections in this area because Moslem extremists will hijack them for their own perposes. I don’t think the US is helping one bit by threatening to withhold aid. Mubaric is kind of backed into a corner. My hope is that we reassure him to “stay the course” and eventually things will settle down, after the people have it all out of their system. The US has steadfastly supported far more corrupt dictators. Mubaric has appointed a Vice President for the first time, whom he might want as his successor. Of course this wave of mideast protests began in Tunisia a few weeks ago and toppled a government. There also have been protests in Yemen, Lebanon, and in Jordan, which don’t get the press. I think the President needs to be more resolute in his support of Mubaric because if he goes, then the mideast treaty with Israel of some 33 years duration is in jeopardy. Some have said that “this would encourage Palistinians to seek peace”. I see it completely the opposite. There are going to try and “poke the bear” and attack when they think their enemy (Israel) is backed into a corner. (and they will lose) But these protesters don’t want democracy; most seem to want chaos. And they say even the Army wants chaos and some of the protestors are chummy with the Army. Unlike in Iran in June of 2009, the Army shows no inclination to fire on the protesters or to quell the rebellion. This is because they hope to take over. Also this Moslem Brotherhood, which nobody head of till last week, seems to be a dangerous thing. They want to turn Egypt into another hard line Islamic state. I think we had enough of that thirty years ago with Iran. People like Mitch Mc Conell on the other side of the fence see things pretty much the same as those on the left do. Obviously these events have eclipsed anything Obama said in the State of the Union address, which now seems ages ago. It worried me that religious whackos in this country might be rubbing their hands in glee thinking that Armageddon has arrived. You’d think Sunday sermons would advocate peace, but don’t hold your breath. If there is any late news I’ll add it to this posting if it occurs in short order.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S

GRAND VISION FOR AMERICA

The question with last night’s State of the Union speech was how many times the President would use the words “civility” and “investment”. It’s kind of silly for a conservative to balk at the word “investment”, since they say they are so fond of it. But if it involves spending they don’t like it. Dr. Levy said the bailing out of General Motors was a bad thing because what should have happened was that the labor unions would renegotiate their contract to cut worker’s salaries, and now that didn’t happen. Only someone who was basically anti workers rights would make such a statement. Dr. Levy also said that any involvement in government in a business venture is bad. I asked him, “What about the New Deal?” and he had no answer. Dr. Levy is truly a DINO or Democrat in name only. Last night was “date night”. I wasn’t sure about all of this strange pairing up. People were making jokes about it. I will say that things went faster than usual. There was less of a built-up before the speech. There were fewer government dignitaries pointed out. The three most conservative Supreme Court justices were not there. That sends a message loud and clear. The President started by talking about how great America was and dwelt for a while on Congresswoman Giffard. I wouldn’t have done that. He went on and on about how Americans are supposed to act. Then he started talking about energy. Dr. Levy believes we should drill for more oil here. But of course we are over forty years past “peak oil” and this is why prices are up. Even at ten times the price it apparently is not worth reopening long capped wells in Texas. The President had an “anything but oil” philosophy. He wants natural gas and nuclear and “clean coal”, if there is such a thing. But he singled oil companies to say he wanted their subsidies yanked. He then went on to education and spoke at length about that and the restoration of respect for teachers in the classroom. Does he aim to bring back corporal punishment in the classroom? He talked about kids turning off the TV and doing their homework and studying hard to compete with the college grads from India. Though from what I have seen of India they are still living in the seventeenth century, at best. Apparently their government isn’t spending a dime on the poor. He said the US was ninth in the percentage of college grads, though I suspect we are worse than that in some subjects. He then moved on to immigration and getting illegal aliens out of the shadows. He alluded to the dream act of enabling college grads who are illegal aliens to at last obtain citizenship. He moved on to infrastructure and didn’t talk about this nearly enough. It’s the elephant on the room that will be ignored by Republicans. Of course we need more roads and bridges and better sewers and such. But Judy thinks high speed rail is some kind of a commie conspiracy, and voted against Kurt Pringle in Anaheim, because he advocated high speed rail. So what is China and every other nation has it. The president moved on to talking about a universal wireless internet for even the most rural areas. Maybe. Next on the agenda was easing the regulations on business. The President also wants to CUT corporate taxes, after of course, closing tax loopholes. He talked about how many jobs his trade deals with various nations have gotten. However here he again ignored the elephant in the room, mainly our soaring deficit, particularly our 250 trade deficit with China. He talked about the national debt and says he wants to freeze federal spending for five years and even cut some personal favorite programs of his, and says he wants to cut defense. He spoke fondly of his famous deficit commission. The President brought up Health Care and how many people it has helped and will help. He then talked about reorganizing the whole federal government and gave the example of Salmon. It would seem that completely restructuring the entire cabinet would be complicated, and in my estimation, that in itself would mean hiring more beaurocrats to do it. Finally he got around to foreign policy and spoke of our victories against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and spoke of getting tough with Iran and South Korea. He mentioned the separatist election in Sudan but I’ll believe that when it actually happens. Finally he talked about supporting our troops and congradulating gays for obtaining their full rights. One way to cut veterans hospital expenses is not to have them fighting in any more wars for a while. He concluded by one again saying how great America was and how our best days are ahead of us. The speech ran an hour and one minute, which is definitely short by the old Bill Clinton standards. There were fewer references to various individuals but these were in evidence. The applause he got seemed much more curt. Paul Ryan started his speech by saying that the President made many good points, if he’ll follow through on them. In terms of the issues Thom Hartman raises, these were almost completely absent.