The Peasantville Blog

Its Not the Destination, It's the Journey - But I Think Bush and McCain are Lost

I can't tell from here who will be the Democrat nominee, both Obama and Clinton are certainly excellent prospects.

However, George W. Bush's blunders have killed over 4000 Americans, we've p-issed away trillions of dollars, the national debt has doubled under his administration, countless people are losing their homes, fuel costs have doubled and on their way to triple what they were since Bush took office, food shortages have appeared in the last few months, wages aren't keeping up with inflation, Bush is well on his way to delivering The Great Depression II ... and the list goes on.  Al Qaeda hasn't damaged us to the degree George W. Bush and the Republican leaders in Congress have damaged us.

And John McCain as Republican nominee offers more of the same in the form of George W. Bush's third term.  How do you think that's going to work out for him? He may as well use "Heckuva Job, Bushie" as his campaign theme.

Creators Syndicate

And Now the Wall Street Journal Sounds the Food Shortage Alarm.

Load Up the Pantry
April 21, 2008 6:47 p.m.

By BRETT ARENDS

I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

No, this is not a drill.

You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)"

Soup line for children

Food Shortages and Rationing -

Families have been warned that the prices of basic foods will rise steeply again because of acute shortages in commodity markets

Wal-Mart's Sam's Club limits rice purchases

Americans hoard food as industry seeks regs

And Bush fiddles as the world burns. 

by Danny Hellman

Bush Breaks Record!! 69% Job Disapproval Rating Highest in Gallup History

And he earned it!!!

John McCain Distances Himself From Yet Brings Closer John Hagee

ABC News has this story about John McCain. What more can be added to it to show how irrelevant and lost the man truly is, that he has no shred of integrity left, that's he's not even a shadow of his former self?

"McCain Admits Hagee Endorsement Was A Mistake

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April 20, 2008 12:42 PM

ABC News' Mary Bruce Reports: Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., admitted this morning that it was a mistake to accept the endorsement of Evangelical pastor Rev. John Hagee. When asked in an exclusive "This Week" interview with George Stephanopoulos if it was "a mistake to solicit and accept his endorsement", McCain replied "oh, probably, sure." Despite admitting his error, McCain made clear he's still "glad to have his endorsement."   

McCain spoke out against Hagee's "condemning of the Catholic church," but added that "I admire and respect Dr. Hagee's leadership...  I admire and appreciate his advocacy for the state of Israel, the independence of the state of Israel." McCain has previously admitted to soliciting Rev. Hagee's endorsement........"

It's Not Your Father's Republican Party

I'm not going soft, but sometimes I like these heartwarming stories, and this one truly is. In 1986, Dan Harrison was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Dan approached it very carefully.. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Dan worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Dan stood frozen, thinkng of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away. Dan never forgot that elephant - or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Dan was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Dan and his son, Dan Jr., were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Dan, lifted its front foot off the ground and then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Dan couldn't help wondering ... Dan summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Dan's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn't the same elephant. And it's not your father's Republican Party, either. Look what it and George W. Bush have done to us.

Let's Play "Where's Osama bin Laden?"

Mired in Bush's Blunder in Iraq (you know, where Osama isn't), and like a bizarre version of the children's game, 'Where's Waldo?' Congress is finally asking, Where's Osama? 

"Congress plans to press the Bush administration aggressively to justify its policy in Afghanistan following a nonpartisan report that concludes that the administration "lacks a comprehensive plan" to take on al Qaeda in its stronghold. "  Wow!! What a revelation.

 

Play Where's Osama?

Jack Cafferty on China - No Argument Here.

On the April 9 airing of "The Situation Room," "Cafferty said of America's relationship with China: "We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export . . . jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart. So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed. I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

CNN later said Cafferty's comments were directed at the Beijing government."

And Cafferty is incorrect at what point? Seems to me he's dead on accurate.  Remember when Walmart claimed to Buy American?

John McCain - Integrity Lost

For all the publicity about the Clintons' $109 million income earned since leaving office, you'd think John McCain would know better.  "The Arizona senator declared income of $419,731 in 2007 – a fraction of the multi-million dollar earnings reported by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rivals."  But nothing about his wife's income - As reported in Financial Times:  "But the disclosure excluded the income of his wife, Cindy, the heiress to a large Arizona beer distribution company, whose wealth is estimated at more than $100m (€63.5m, £50.2m)."  Why, Johnny, why? 

This event is simply more evidence that Republicans talk the talk but they can't and won't walk the walk.  John McCain, particularly, is a man with a record of accomplishment and honor who is diminished by his acts in later life.

That John McCain promises, if elected, to continue the policies of George W. Bush - and George W. Bush's single greatest 'accomplishment' is to take James Earl Carter's place as the worst president in American history is disgraceful and that is high on the list of why John McCain illustrates integrity lost.

Barack Obama Is Right

As has been shown by Hillary Clinton, Greg Stumbo and others, Barack Obama's recent statements are subject to spin. 

Obama said this, "...But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. ..."

But what do Americans want in their leaders? Someone who'll tell them the truth, as has Obama, or a continuation of status quo, someone to blow smoke and sunshine up their asses? People are searching for solutions, they are hopeful solutions will be found, but that does not mean they do not recognize their cirucmstance - wages are flat, prices are rising, asset values are falling and the economic indicators are clear and there for all to see. It's a roller coaster ride and no one can get off of it.

To characterize Obama's statements as "elitist and condescending" -- is to work off the Clinton campaign's talking points, along wih Greg Stumbo (who does not speak for all E. Kentuckians). Obama was dead on accurate in his assessment - his words were not a slam on God, Guns or anything else -- his words were a sensitive and, again, accurate insight into people who are fearful of the future.

Some focus on Obama's refusal to wear that wardrobe accessory, the lapel pin -- c'mon - reminds me of going to court, be it criminal or domestic, and that defendant or that individual who just beat the hell out of his wife carries to the bench his bible,tucked securely in the crook of his arm with the little silk marker hanging out - if a lapel pin is all you have, you don't have much.

Then there's Rev. Wright and the controversy surrounding him.  Did you miss that part about Rev. Wright's words? At least one of the most inflammatory clips used by the RNC FAUX News Propaganda Ministry was of Wright quoting the words of Ambassador Peck: "One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News. That’s what he told the congregation."

Get in the check out line at your grocery store and watch those people in front of you or behind you as they analyze their purchases - 'should I get the eggs?' 'put back the corn flakes?' 'can I get by without the cheese?' -- real people with real questions -- 'can I afford the gas to go to work this week?' 'will I be laid off at work?'

Where do these individuals seek solace? Not from the Republican Party or their application of religion to politics, not from the single issue of gun control ala' the NRA, not from the racism/ethnic hate of immigrants, the oh so convenient scapegoat of the right -- therein lies all that smoke and sunshine I'm talking about.

Obama is offering real solutions to real people to their real problems. We've had enough of politicians and entire political parties like the Republicans who sell special solutions to special problems for special interests.