The Afghanistan shuffle

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/12/06/video-gates-says-no-deadline-on-war-in-afghanistan/

I hope it's obvious to people by now that we can't trust our government. Obama led the country to believe that we would be pulling out of Afghanistan in 18 months, but now the administration is backtracking. If they pass the 5% tax on the rich to pay for the war, expect to be Afghanistan for years to come, and don't expect all that tax money to be spent on the war, and don't expect it to end as troops are drawn down. As long as the government has the power to tax income, the State will continue these schemes to extract as much money as possible from the American people -- this is just the beginning -- we owe trillions, and trillions more are going to be spent.

This is insanity.

Obama's Afghanistan speech

President Obama gave a good speech tonight, and I think his plan is about as good as we can do with a bad situation, yet it remains to be seen if we will pull out in 18 months. Afghanistan will return to business as usual after we leave, but we can't do any more there than what we've done. Afghanistan will have the opportunity to take over its country and change it if that's what it desires, but we must resist being lured into staying for years.

Hopefully we can learn from this war and do as Obama suggested -- learn to prevent conflicts. I understand we were drawn into Afghanistan as a result of 9/11, but if we are attacked again, I prefer the nimble and effective response in the future. This war has not been nimble and effective, but that is no fault of our military -- it's the fault of military leaders who need to accept we are up against a new threat, and our responses must be much smarter. Being lured into long engagements with invisible enemies will only waste resources and lives. We have to find a better way.

Moderates need to get over their Obama embarrassment -- but how?

A big part of the Republican split, in my opinion, has to do with the fact that Moderates don't know how to save face after voting for Obama. As the Obama administration begins to slip in popularity, and as Obama's agenda is being revealed for what it is -- progressive and bad for the country -- Moderates are put in an embarrassing position. To admit they are wrong and the conservative base is right is too difficult to even contemplate, so the Moderates have find a way to maintain the validity of their criticisms against the conservative while also finding a way out from under the Obama wet blanket.

The Moderates have to justify their previous support for Obama, while at the same time distancing themselves from the coming political fall-out. This is not an easy task. The Moderates can't just admit they were wrong about Obama and the conservative base was right, because that would be tantamount to admitting defeat in the war for control of the Republican Party -- plus, the Moderates still think the conservative base is wrong and that they will destroy any chance to win in 2012.

The Moderates, in order to have it both ways, will have to convince independents that Obama turned out to be something other than they expected, but the orginal impulse to vote for Obama was legitimate, because moderation is still the way to go to build that Big Tent and win an election. I have a feeling that the Democrats are going to push their agenda to the point of implosion, and the Moderates will have painted themselves in another corner by continuing to call for moderation and compromise. When independents look at the state of the Democrat Party and realize something totally opposite needs to take its place, moderate statism and compromise are going to be a tough sell, especially when the conservatives have been resisting the progressive agenda from the beginning. The Republican primaries in 2012 are going to be a good show.

Mr. Obama -- you're not King, and we're not your people

 Obama says he will create jobs.

The link above is to an article regarding Obama's Asian trip. This one quote tells it all --

"Above all, I spoke with leaders in every nation I visited about what we can do to sustain this economic recovery and bring back jobs and prosperity for our people," he said.

This is the way Rulers think -- we are their people. The Rulers got together and talked about how they can manipulate the economy to bring back jobs and prosperity as if they have that power, and as if we are their people. This is quibbling over words -- it reflects a paternalistic mindset based on the Old Order of King and subjects. Another problem with this quote is that we are not in a recovery -- we're sinking in leaking boats on a sea of debt and unfunded entitlement promises. Just because some companies are fighting bravely against the stupidity of government and staying above water in better boats, or some were given better government boats as a favor, doesn't make this a comprehensive recovery.

The American people are individuals who once decided to establish a New Order with a government to protect their rights and to represent their interests overseas -- that's all. The American people don't need Obama and foreign leaders acting as central planners for the economy picking winners and losers with green the winning color. Our politicians have done enough damage already, and it's not the President's job to make these kinds of plans -- we'll create jobs if he'll stay out of the way, and we'll have more money to invest if he quits wasting money on statist schemes and useless foreign trips.

Cutting government costs

When private enterprise companies are going through a recession, they cut back on costs -- they find alternative ways to do business and concentrate on essentials.

Our government is spending money like we're in the biggest economic boom in history. Obama is flying around Asia for 9 days burning up money for no good reason. All this business can be handled from afar with modern technology -- there's no need to pollute and spend money on all this travelling.

Obama should be in the White House working daily to find wasteful areas of government which can be eliminated, not adding to the waste by jet-setting around the globe.