Morning Joe 12/22/2011 -- It's the ideas, stupid

On Morning Joe today the guests were John Heilemann, Steve Rattner, Al Sharpton, Carl Bernstein, Mika's dad and a few others I can't recall. Mika and Joe started out by sarcastically saying that Ron Paul supporters complain about lack of media exposure, then referred to a hit piece on Paul by a writer for the Wall Street Journal regarding what Paul thinks about America. Scarborough comically claimed his libertarian leanings, then stated his concerns about Ron Paul, then played several times a clip showing Paul walking off a CNN interview in which the old, racist newsletter story was brought up for the 10,000th time.

The media can damage Ron Paul, but Paul's popularity among a growing part of the public isn't about Ron Paul -- just look at him -- it's about Paul's classical liberal ideas. Media and the political class have no substantive rebuttals to classical liberal ideas, so they go after the messenger. Other messengers will follow, and the greatest boon for classical liberal ideas will be statism which continues to unravel.

I follow Morning Joe because it represents the political class and the status quo reaction to an assault from classical liberal ideas -- limited government, free market, balanced budget, non-interventionism overseas, freedom from statist coercion, individual rights, equal opportunity, the absence of cronyistic, power elite arrangements. To show the Orwellian thought processes of the media and political class, the Morning Joe panel discussed the current conflict surrounding the payroll tax cut issue before the House. The consensus is that House Republicans are doing the right thing by insisting on a one year extension, but they are losing the political battle. Let's get this straight. We have media reporting two sides of the story -- one side is Republicans attempting to do what's best for the American people, including the creation of jobs by proposing approval of the Canadian oil pipeline -- on the other side, we have the President and Democrats in congress playing political games to make the Republicans look bad, therefore hurting the American people by blocking a one year extension and not agreeing to job creation. Media and the political class are suggesting that the public will listen to these two sides and will blame the Republicans. If this is true, then there's no hope for America at this point in time.

I believe, though, that there is hope, and the hope is in the ideas surfacing among the American people. The public realizes that government interventions in the economy and in the mideast have wasted our resources and stagnated our economy. The public realizes that government has to be brought under control, and these ideas can't be wiped away by a Wall Street Journal article.

Going back to Scarborough's claim that he leans toward libertarian/classical liberal ideas -- Steve Rattner called Scarboroguh on it when, right before sticking the knife in Paul, Scarborough said he's all about Paul's domestic ideas -- Rattner said "No, you aren't." Scarborough and other establishment type Republicans give lip service to "small government" positions, but what they mean is that they want a more efficient statist government which will manage the economy the right way. In the last few months Scarborough has praised FDR, China-like infrastructure building which is creating a bubble in China, Elizabeth Warren as a potentially great senator, and the military draft. What these Republicans, the media and the entire political class fail to realize is that the American people aren't playing with "small government" ideas, and the popularity surrounding Paul is about serious ideas, not the individual, like happened with Obama. Obama might be the last President elected on personal popularity. Obama had nothing behind his story and personality but the dead ideas of progressivism/statism. Ron Paul might be knocked down, but his ideas will only grow -- not the racist ideas erroneously charged against him, but the classical liberal/libertarian ideas he's propmoted and fought for during the last 20 years. If anyone in politics is defending ideas which will help minorities, it's Ron Paul. If you don't how, then read Paul's book in which his own words and ideas are written down for everyone to judge.

At the end of first segment, Mika's dad was on to talk about foreign relations and the wars in mideast. Zbigniew Brzezinski sounds like a non-interventionist until you listen closely, then you detect his real worldview -- it's okay to attack Iran and start another war if we do it with the UN. Scarborough agrees. Iran is not a nuclear threat to the US. We can destroy Iran in a nuclear battle, and Iranian leaders know this. They are not maniacal martyrs at the top -- Iranian leaders will sacrifice a few of their people in small attacks, but they won't risk extermination. It's a joke to think that the power elite in the mideast will give up their luxurious lifestyles and power in a nuclear war with the US. Leaving the mideast alone to collapse will be the worst blow we can deliver them.

Morning Joe 10/21/2011 -- Democrat Hour of Power

At least Morning Joe hosts and guests are admitting their bias -- this morning Scarborough said that critics are calling them out on their biased slant toward Democrats. Morning does more than inflate Democrats, in fact, they don't inflate Democrats much, because they can't without calling more attention to their damaged credibility -- they simply ignore Democrat deflation. I mean, who can really defend Pelosi, Reid, Biden and the Democrat Senate without coming across as delusional? So what Morning Joe does is what they did this morning -- John Heilemann, Mika, Barnicle, Katty Kay, Carl Berstein, David Gregory and Eugene Washington pick the worse aspects of the Republican candidates for President and they gang-attack the entire party-- they single out Herman Cain and make it appear that Cain represents opposition to Democrats -- they cherry-pick verbal gaffes by Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry and play them up, while giving lip service to the other candidates, Romney, Paul, Gingrich and Huntsman -- they take a temporary poll in a Republican primary without giving complete context of ups and downs in past primaries and make it appear that this temporary fluctuation in polls is indicative of all opposition to Democrats -- they find the most ridiculous statements and focus on these statements without presenting the body of ideas on the Right which contrast with the body of ideas on the Left -- they ignore the implosion among Democrats and horrible economy which the Democrats preside over and the failed policies Democrats are pushing.

The first two hours are propaganda against Republicans, and Scarborough plays the "conservative" voice, but Scarborough is more moderate/modern liberal than limited government conservative, and Scarborough doesn't have a libertarian bone in his body -- he's a Big Government Republican who pretends to be a "small" government conservative. More than that, Scarborough is a political animal who will go wherever the political winds blow. When Morning Joe does have a Republican on the show who can articulate a limited government/free market position, the Republican is overwhelmed with opposition, and I have never seen a real libertarian on the program besides Ron Paul.

This morning on the show, they talked even more about Herman Cain accusing him of running for President to sell books and make money. Either Herman Cain threatens them, or they think it's a good strategy to make it apprear that the Republican base is extreme and wants to elect an unexperienced person for President who will endanger America because he doesn't know anything about foreign policy. You would think that we're deciding on the next Dictator who will make decisions without input from anyone else. In a way this shows how the political class thinks about Presidents and American governance. The executive branch has taken on so much importance in the minds of modern liberals and progressives, they want a Super Technocrat who can really, really manage the US from central control in DC. I mean, Obama's central, technocratic management has been astounding, right? Plus, he's single-handedly killed bin Laden, Awlaki and Ghadafi. But let's not worry about Obama -- let's focus on Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, a year out from the next election. Don't worry about unemployment, the coming financial disaster of Obamacare, the streaming regulations coming from DC and crippling small businesses or the mideast quagmires or the unilateral actions of Obama in Libya and Uganda or Solyndra or Fast and Furious or Democrat support of OWS or Democrat attempts to reward unions with more stimulus money or the stalled and uncertain business community or the continued bleeding of Fannie Mae or the Fed's destructive monetary policy or Dodd-Frank or Democrat cronyism or blocked energy production -- no, let's focus on Herman Cain and his books -- yes, Cain is the biggest issue facing America right now, and he must be stopped at all costs.

Morning Joe 9/15/2011 -- Political obscurantism

On Morning Joe today, the guests were Jim Cramer, Paul Ryan, Carl Berstein, Joe Klein, Chuck Todd, Rick Stengel, then regulars like Barnicle and Geist, and of course there was Mika and Joe. What was clear today is that the political class has reduced analysis to obscurantism. Both sides in the political realm do it, but the Left/Center have mastered the art of obscurantism -- it helps to keep the public off balance and to avoid ever having to lay out a set of principles -- plus it allows politicians and pundits to dodge  tough issues. The only person on the show who was clear and principled was Paul Ryan, and he was a breathe of fresh air. Ryan called for an end to corporate welfare and tax looholes by reforming the tax code. The people around the Morning Joe table all agreed, but when it comes down to reducing the power of government none of them will beat the drum for limited government.

The conversation fluttered from Obama's failures to Obama's continued popularity in spite of his failures (based on one Reuter's poll which is contradicted by other polls). Just about everyone agreed that the jobs plan fell flat, but then it was stated that Obama is addressing national solutions while congress is worried about re-election. Obscurantism is what the political class does when the facts are too harsh and reality too unfriendly for their purposes. Pundits have no problem contradicting themselves, saying one thing one minute and another the next. It's clear that many Americans are dissatisfied with government, but pundits manufacture different reasons for the dissatisfaction to avoid admitting that statism itself has failed -- Obama inherited a mess; political division prevents the best plans from succeeding; people like Obama personally, but they believe government is out of touch; Obama doesn't understand the realities of business, but business is out to profit at the expense of the poor; taxes are too high on businesses, but not enough businesses pay their fair share -- on and on it goes, with no clear analysis of any one problem, with the result being doubt and confusion. Ryan forced a moment of clarity, but it soon vanished when Ryan was gone. In the end, the question they ask is whether the Right, with Rick Perry as the model, is too extreme.

So, if the Left and the Center are accused of being biased, they can point to the times they criticized Obama and progressive policies, but in the end the choice is between an extreme Rightwing or a more moderate status quo. The political class wants to save the statist system and the Washington game. You hardly ever hear the principles of limited government and free market promoted as an alternative to government planning and engineering -- it's always a matter of who can plan or engineer the best in government.

Rick Stengel and Time Mag have Perry on the cover, and Stengel was defending Perry as a man who's tapped into public dissatisfaction -- Mika asked Stengel what he was doing, and there was a moment of insider winking. What Mika was asking is -- Rick Stengel, are you talking up Perry because you'd love to see Perry and Obama as the choices in the 2012? Stengel slyly smiled. Oh, isn't the insider game so interesting? Scarborough caught on and began pressing Stengel and Klein about Perry's extremism, because Scarborough believes that between Perry and Obama, Obama will win in landslide, and Scarborough wants a Centrist candidate on the Republican side. The political class doesn't care which party wins, although they prefer Democrats, as long as the statist system is kep intact. Democrat politicans care, of course, because they want to maintain their power, but those who make their living in the political realm just want the status quo protected because it would upset their lucrative gigs if government became limited and the private sector became empowered.

Morning Joe 6/2/2011 -- Medicare and Weiners

Willie Geist hosted Morning Joe today and had as guests Ed Rendell, Donnie Deutsche, Nora O'Donnell, Pat Buchanan and Carl Bernstein -- a real politically balanced panel. The main topic was Medicare, and O'Donnell believes in the two-pronged approach of cutting spending and raising revenues, and no one really disagreed. Ed Rendell believes that people will sacrifice to save Medicare if the sacrifice is widespread and fair. Deutsche believes that the American people are spoiled brats and will not sacrifice. Bernstein dittoed Rendell. Buchanan wants to know where is the Democrat plan.

They all agreed that the Democrats have won the Medicare argument and that Ryan's plan is toast. They all pretty much agreed that Democrats will demagogue the issue until after the 2012 elections. It's a long time until the 2012 election, especially when our economy is sliding and information is no longer managed by the State. We have serious problems which are directly in front of us, ready to crush us, and the old delay and spin tactics of dinosaur politicians will not change reality.

I believe we're in the same recession that started a few years back -- it's just that the artificial bump from Fed monetary manipulation is ending. Until we face the recession and adjust, all the delay and spin will only make the ultimate adjustment worse, because government is driving us deeper and deeper in debt. Medicare might be the least of our problems, just a symptom of a fundamental problem called statism as practiced now by progressives, and practiced previously under Bush by Big Government Republicans.

We have to go through the pain of economic adjustment, then take the chains off the economy, and when savings are sufficient and the rules of the game are stable, investors will return, and expansion will happen once again. But we also have to end the wars and close unnecessary military bases. Government needs to end all tax loopholes, tax breaks and subsidies, then restructure the tax code so that we begin transitioning from income tax to consumption tax. There also needs to be a downsizing of government across the board, eliminating useless and redundant agencies, programs and departments.

Then maybe entitlements can be handled by proposing the elimination of government programs such as Medicare and SS in favor of private plans purchased early in life. Insurance companies should be brought in to help fix the problem, and plans can be proposed so that people see the difference between the benefits and cost of private plans and the government plans. When people see that private plans will offer much greater benefits, they will be more interested in transitioning. There needs to be a comprehensive discussion and analysis of such a transition. Simultaneously, a plan can be developed that transtions welfare programs to private assistance organizations. Corporations and philanthropists and concerned citizens with low tax burdens and in an expanding economy will respond with more than enough support for private organizations to provide assistance to the needy.

We can either proactively do these things and do them intelligently, utilizing the brainpower and innovative genius of the whole nation, or we can allow the incompetence of technocrats to force us into a hurried emergency situation when the economy collapses. It's not that the technocrats are stupid -- it's that the complexity of our society and economy is too much for central planning -- statism is dead.

No one on the Morning Joe panel recommended this approach. There was some weiner talk, though.

Morning Joe 5/10/2011 -- National debt and Afghanistan

Morning Joe today presented first thing Carl Bernstein, Jonathan Capehart, Mike Barnicle, Mika and Willie Geist discussing the budget battle. Bernstein wants to raise taxes on rich people to pay for what the "people need", so he thinks we have a revenue shortfall rather than a spending addiction. Everyone on Morning Joe agreed that the rich should pay more in taxes, but Willie, Mika and Barnicle at least admit that spending is out of control. This has been discussed to death, and progressives like Bernstein are oblivious to fundamental problems because they are the fundamental problem.

Even when they brought Jack Kingston and Jeff Blake on the show, two Republicans who give lip service to restricting the power of government, there was still no talk about our statist system which is geared to spend more and more money on social programs, wars, entitlements, and payoffs to corporations which partner with the State to ensure a free market never rises. The discussion considered tweaks and gimmicks to avoid financial collapse, but not one fundamental solution was mentioned.

Bernstein then began pontificating on the callous disregard of "too many people" when it comes to black unemployment. The camera showed Capehart looking down and smiling as if to ask what Bernstein had ever done to fight for greater opportunity for inner city blacks. Bernstein is the classic blowhard political class parasite who hasn't had a new idea in 40 years, and who promotes an anticapitalist ideology that has contributed greatly to government dependence, poor education and entrenched poverty.

Later in the show, the discussion was the Afghanistan War, and Michael Hastings from Rolling Stone was on calling for the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. We need many more such voices, and much more influential voices. One of the biggest problems we face is our foreign policy of intervention and this manufactured War on Terror. Even as some of the others around the table agreed that it's time to end the Afghanistan War, they questioned the wisdom of not dealing with Pakistan. This week I'm writing about this issue, so I will address all this later.