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Post by AztecWilliam on Oct 27, 2010 21:37:12 GMT -8
This is a piece I wish I had written. In point of fact, a lot of my posts in the political sections of AztecMesa are along the lines of much of what Shelby Steele says here. Let me say here that I dislike almost everything about Obama's policies. I think that he has already done extreme damage to this country and if allowed to continue in this vein would do even more. I'm not too crazy about him as a person, either. I see him as supremely egotistical to the point of suffering delusions of grandeur. If there is any job in the USA that requires a level-headed, commonsense evaluation of one's own capabilities, it is the US Presidency. A bit of humility goes a long way in the Oval Office. But we now have a man who, since it is his goal to "transform America," seems to have little or no time for exploring the possible benefits of humility. Unfortunately, that is not all. There is something else about Obama that is at least off-putting, perhaps even deeply disturbing. That is the man's understanding of and attitude toward his own country. Frankly, I don't think he likes the US all that much. Since that is the basic topic of Steele's article, I won't comment further on that idea. Some readers may not care for my strongly critical appraisal of our President. I hope that those who feel that way will read Steele's piece and react to it in detail. It's hard for me to see how anyone cannot see the man's shortcomings, but I'm quite willing to consider counter arguments. online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304173704575578363243019000.htmlAzWm |
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Post by waztec on Oct 28, 2010 3:19:55 GMT -8
This is a piece I wish I had written. In point of fact, a lot of my posts in the political sections of AztecMesa are along the lines of much of what Shelby Steele says here. Let me say here that I dislike almost everything about Obama's policies. I think that he has already done extreme damage to this country and if allowed to continue in this vein would do even more. I'm not too crazy about him as a person, either. I see him as supremely egotistical to the point of suffering delusions of grandeur. If there is any job in the USA that requires a level-headed, commonsense evaluation of one's own capabilities, it is the US Presidency. A bit of humility goes a long way in the Oval Office. But we now have a man who, since it is his goal to "transform America," seems to have little or no time for exploring the possible benefits of humility. Unfortunately, that is not all. There is something else about Obama that is at least off-putting, perhaps even deeply disturbing. That is the man's understanding of and attitude toward his own country. Frankly, I don't think he likes the US all that much. Since that is the basic topic of Steele's article, I won't comment further on that idea. Some readers may not care for my strongly critical appraisal of our President. I hope that those who feel that way will read Steele's piece and react to it in detail. It's hard for me to see how anyone cannot see the man's shortcomings, but I'm quite willing to consider counter arguments. online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304173704575578363243019000.htmlAzWm Obama's unpopularity has more to do with the 9.6% unemployment rate than it does any radical policies. People want to work and no work is available. As far as your (and the Wall Street Journal individual) opinion of Obama, George Bush was an anathema to more than a few people in this country as well, so whats new? I think our attitudes are more a function of the fact that the two parties have become more ideological and less willing to cooperate. Therefore each side sees the others leaders as representing radical ideas. We are fast becoming mortal enemies. I feel the animus too and you can certainly see the angry tropes on this board. Actually, I am very tired of being seen as someone's enemy. So, you will think what you think and I will think what I think and we will all probably lose in the end. |
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Post by uwaztec on Oct 28, 2010 6:31:11 GMT -8
This is a piece I wish I had written. In point of fact, a lot of my posts in the political sections of AztecMesa are along the lines of much of what Shelby Steele says here. Let me say here that I dislike almost everything about Obama's policies. I think that he has already done extreme damage to this country and if allowed to continue in this vein would do even more. I'm not too crazy about him as a person, either. I see him as supremely egotistical to the point of suffering delusions of grandeur. If there is any job in the USA that requires a level-headed, commonsense evaluation of one's own capabilities, it is the US Presidency. A bit of humility goes a long way in the Oval Office. But we now have a man who, since it is his goal to "transform America," seems to have little or no time for exploring the possible benefits of humility. Unfortunately, that is not all. There is something else about Obama that is at least off-putting, perhaps even deeply disturbing. That is the man's understanding of and attitude toward his own country. Frankly, I don't think he likes the US all that much. Since that is the basic topic of Steele's article, I won't comment further on that idea. Some readers may not care for my strongly critical appraisal of our President. I hope that those who feel that way will read Steele's piece and react to it in detail. It's hard for me to see how anyone cannot see the man's shortcomings, but I'm quite willing to consider counter arguments. online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304173704575578363243019000.htmlAzWm Obama's unpopularity has more to do with the 9.6% unemployment rate than it does any radical policies. People want to work and no work is available. As far as your (and the Wall Street Journal individual) opinion of Obama, George Bush was an anathema to more than a few people in this country as well, so whats new? I think our attitudes are more a function of the fact that the two parties have become more ideological and less willing to cooperate. Therefore each side sees the others leaders as representing radical ideas. We are fast becoming mortal enemies. I feel the animus too and you can certainly see the angry tropes on this board. Actually, I am very tired of being seen as someone's enemy. So, you will think what you think and I will think what I think and we will all probably lose in the end. A huge problem for us right now. Just at a time when we need to be innovating and having a unified vision to compete with "up and comers" like China and India... the Right / Left hatred just escolates. Extended gridlock at this time is a really bad scenerio. We really need a "Moderate" based vision. If Palin were to somehow win in 2012, the hatred would go through the roof! |
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Post by aztec70 on Oct 28, 2010 7:20:41 GMT -8
His first sentence gives a clue where he is coming from. "Our first black president", the conservatives have sure made certain that uppity "Negro" is going to be put back in his place. Nothing new there. As to his health plan. We need to do something, our health care system is a mess. I have pointed out countless times on this board how other advanced nations have better health care outcomes for less money than we do. I don't care for the current reforms. It strikes me as the health insurance company full recovery act. I supported a single payer system, or even national health care system. I suggested modeling after the military system. As to foreign policy. He has really just kept the Bush plan in place. Just changed countrys. It makes my laugh see the writer say that the Bush plan was all about democracy. He came up with that when it became evident that Powell was right. After Bush came to the realization that his invasion of Iraq was off the mark. There was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, there was no WMDs, he had to come up with something to justify that war and all the human cost to us and Iraq let alone the hundreds of billions of dollars. Democracy it was. Anone know if Iraq has formed a government yet? The answer, of course, is NO. As to Wall Street reform. Damn right Wall Street needs to be blamed. Their blind greed, which continues, put this country at great risk. We continue at risk. The whole deregulation of the economy has been shown to be a farce. All it did was allow those with more information and money to get even more power than they had before. My finance professor at SDSU back in the early 1970's explained financial regulation quite easily. He told the class that during the 1920's we found that when bankers and brokers sleep together their clients get screwed. Boy, have we ever been screwed by Wall Street. Letting financial institutions become to intertmingled that they become "Too Big To Fail" is wrong, wrong, wrong. The market does work, and work well, if it is honest. It has not been honest. It has been opaque to a degree that no one can see what is happening. It is my opinion that people will lie, cheat, and steal if they think they will not get caught. Our government, under Democrats and Republicans alike, deregulated our economy and let the cheaters prosper, we can all see what happened. We are, and have been a great country. The best in the world. Now and in the past. I am afraid for the future of our country if people like those that run the Wall Street Journal ever completely take over our government. We will go to hell. When that happens all the retired school teachers and public employees can whine about their lost pensions. Those that save for the future on their own will never be able to save enough. The rich people that will own this country will not care. They got theirs in cash, at the expense of the rest of the country, and not care about anyone else. Let me devil take the hindmost. Ayn Rand rocks.   |
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Post by AlwaysAnAztec on Oct 28, 2010 8:19:07 GMT -8
His first sentence gives a clue where he is coming from. "Our first black president", the conservatives have sure made certain that uppity "Negro" is going to be put back in his place. Nothing new there. As to his health plan. We need to do something, our health care system is a mess. I have pointed out countless times on this board how other advanced nations have better health care outcomes for less money than we do. I don't care for the current reforms. It strikes me as the health insurance company full recovery act. I supported a single payer system, or even national health care system. I suggested modeling after the military system. As to foreign policy. He has really just kept the Bush plan in place. Just changed countrys. It makes my laugh see the writer say that the Bush plan was all about democracy. He came up with that when it became evident that Powell was right. After Bush came to the realization that his invasion of Iraq was off the mark. There was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, there was no WMDs, he had to come up with something to justify that war and all the human cost to us and Iraq let alone the hundreds of billions of dollars. Democracy it was. Anone know if Iraq has formed a government yet? The answer, of course, is NO. As to Wall Street reform. Damn right Wall Street needs to be blamed. Their blind greed, which continues, put this country at great risk. We continue at risk. The whole deregulation of the economy has been shown to be a farce. All it did was allow those with more information and money to get even more power than they had before. My finance professor at SDSU back in the early 1970's explained financial regulation quite easily. He told the class that during the 1920's we found that when bankers and brokers sleep together their clients get screwed. Boy, have we ever been screwed by Wall Street. Letting financial institutions become to intertmingled that they become "Too Big To Fail" is wrong, wrong, wrong. The market does work, and work well, if it is honest. It has not been honest. It has been opaque to a degree that no one can see what is happening. It is my opinion that people will lie, cheat, and steal if they think they will not get caught. Our government, under Democrats and Republicans alike, deregulated our economy and let the cheaters prosper, we can all see what happened. We are, and have been a great country. The best in the world. Now and in the past. I am afraid for the future of our country if people like those that run the Wall Street Journal ever completely take over our government. We will go to hell. When that happens all the retired school teachers and public employees can whine about their lost pensions. Those that save for the future on their own will never be able to save enough. The rich people that will own this country will not care. They got theirs in cash, at the expense of the rest of the country, and not care about anyone else. Let me devil take the hindmost. Ayn Rand rocks. + 1,000,000,000,000 |
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Post by AztecWilliam on Oct 28, 2010 17:27:41 GMT -8
I'm no expert on the financial reform act, but reliable sources indicate that it will not solve much of anything. Also, it does not do away with Too Big To Fail. Worse, it allows the federal government to step in a take over just about any company it feels is a "systemic risk to the economy." Wow that's a mouthful. And it's also a lot of power put in the hands of politicians. Speaking of Ayn Rand, she would be the first to condemn the growing size and power of the federal government. (Actually, that's just what she did, about a million times)
I believe that we have the best health care system in the world. Not perfect, but the best. The feds could have done a lot to reform the system in sensible ways but instead decide to change pretty much the whole thing. (Please don't tell me that ObamaCare will not, in the long term, give the government virtual control control of the system.) But instead of a (somewhat) sensible one-payer system, the Dems. have created a monstrosity which even many Democrats admit is unworkable.
As for Bush, I did not vote for him and do not believe he did a great job. But at least he did not set out to redesign American society as Obama has attempted. If the country is to be transformed, that is a task to be performed by all the citizens as they deal with one another in their daily lives, not by some messianic pol.
AzWm
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Post by aztec70 on Oct 28, 2010 20:17:39 GMT -8
I'm no expert on the financial reform act, but reliable sources indicate that it will not solve much of anything. Also, it does not do away with Too Big To Fail. Worse, it allows the federal government to step in a take over just about any company it feels is a "systemic risk to the economy." Wow that's a mouthful. And it's also a lot of power put in the hands of politicians. Speaking of Ayn Rand, she would be the first to condemn the growing size and power of the federal government. (Actually, that's just what she did, about a million times) I believe that we have the best health care system in the world. Not perfect, but the best. The feds could have done a lot to reform the system in sensible ways but instead decide to change pretty much the whole thing. (Please don't tell me that ObamaCare will not, in the long term, give the government virtual control control of the system.) But instead of a (somewhat) sensible one-payer system, the Dems. have created a monstrosity which even many Democrats admit is unworkable. As for Bush, I did not vote for him and do not believe he did a great job. But at least he did not set out to redesign American society as Obama has attempted. If the country is to be transformed, that is a task to be performed by all the citizens as they deal with one another in their daily lives, not by some messianic pol. AzWm By what rational do you use to say ours is the best health care system in the world? |
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Post by waztec on Oct 31, 2010 5:51:07 GMT -8
Obama's unpopularity has more to do with the 9.6% unemployment rate than it does any radical policies. People want to work and no work is available. As far as your (and the Wall Street Journal individual) opinion of Obama, George Bush was an anathema to more than a few people in this country as well, so whats new? I think our attitudes are more a function of the fact that the two parties have become more ideological and less willing to cooperate. Therefore each side sees the others leaders as representing radical ideas. We are fast becoming mortal enemies. I feel the animus too and you can certainly see the angry tropes on this board. Actually, I am very tired of being seen as someone's enemy. So, you will think what you think and I will think what I think and we will all probably lose in the end. A huge problem for us right now. Just at a time when we need to be innovating and having a unified vision to compete with "up and comers" like China and India... the Right / Left hatred just escolates. Extended gridlock at this time is a really bad scenerio. We really need a "Moderate" based vision. If Palin were to somehow win in 2012, the hatred would go through the roof! Cooperation is impossible when one group's sole aim is to end the tenure of the nation's leader (Rep. Bo[eh]ner) , rather than to cooperate to solve problems. I would say that Sarah Palin is unqualified to be president. If there are a couple of real journalists out there who ask her real questions, she will step on her ( ;D ) if you know what I mean. If we elect her, we deserve the half term president we will get, you betcha! |
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Post by aztecwin on Oct 31, 2010 7:49:03 GMT -8
Saw an interesting poll this morning that says that 47% of Democrats vs 51% would like someone to step up and oppose Obama in the Dem Primary in 2012. Nobody thinks it will happen, but it does say a lot about what Democrats think of Obama. Almost half would like someone to replace him but nobody wants to step up to the plate.
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Post by waztec on Oct 31, 2010 8:07:25 GMT -8
Saw an interesting poll this morning that says that 47% of Democrats vs 51% would like someone to step up and oppose Obama in the Dem Primary in 2012. Nobody thinks it will happen, but it does say a lot about what Democrats think of Obama. Almost half would like someone to replace him but nobody wants to step up to the plate. I did not want Obama in the primaries, because he wanted to cooperate with republicans. I disagree with that tactic. Now, I just don't know. He is talking cooperation again and I still disagree. |
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Post by aztecwin on Oct 31, 2010 8:25:10 GMT -8
Saw an interesting poll this morning that says that 47% of Democrats vs 51% would like someone to step up and oppose Obama in the Dem Primary in 2012. Nobody thinks it will happen, but it does say a lot about what Democrats think of Obama. Almost half would like someone to replace him but nobody wants to step up to the plate. I did not want Obama in the primaries, because he wanted to cooperate with republicans. I disagree with that tactic. Now, I just don't know. He is talking cooperation again and I still disagree. I like your way of thinking. If I was on that side of the fence, I would want to resist or try to pick off enough votes to get my agenda in place. Lets wait and see how Obama acts when his ObamaCare things gets defunded and/or modified to make sense. I just don't think he is as weak minded or pragmatic as you think he is. I expect gridlock on anything new, but since the house is where appropriations originate, things will not get funded and therefore essentially repealed. |
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Post by The Aztec Panther on Oct 31, 2010 9:20:53 GMT -8
A huge problem for us right now. Just at a time when we need to be innovating and having a unified vision to compete with "up and comers" like China and India... the Right / Left hatred just escolates. Extended gridlock at this time is a really bad scenerio. We really need a "Moderate" based vision. If Palin were to somehow win in 2012, the hatred would go through the roof! I don't think it would be any different than when George W. Bush won the 2000 election. Democrats HATED him before he even took office, and they did everything they could to block any agenda item he had. Hell, there may be fewer bad feelings towards Palin (who will never get elected, by the way - she won't even win the primary should she run) if she did somehow, miraculously win than there were towards Bush. |
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Post by Montezuma on Oct 31, 2010 9:43:33 GMT -8
The man is a Socialist through and through, he lives by "Rules for Radical". Democrats want Mrs Clinton and cannot find a way to rid themsleves of this man. I honestly do not believe that this man child president loves this country or the liberties that we have. He wants to punish this country for its success. Come Tuesday he will have to take note that we Americans love liberty and the pursuit of happiness more than we love a polictical party or a race of people. Tuesay is a day to vote to save our country from the Socialist agenda....Liberty lost is NEVER regained. Love of country will rein supreme. God Bless America.
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Post by aztec70 on Oct 31, 2010 11:52:45 GMT -8
The man is a Socialist through and through, he lives by "Rules for Radical". Democrats want Mrs Clinton and cannot find a way to rid themsleves of this man. I honestly do not believe that this man child president loves this country or the liberties that we have. He wants to punish this country for its success. Come Tuesday he will have to take note that we Americans love liberty and the pursuit of happiness more than we love a polictical party or a race of people. Tuesay is a day to vote to save our country from the Socialist agenda....Liberty lost is NEVER regained. Love of country will rein supreme. God Bless America. ROFL |
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Post by AlwaysAnAztec on Nov 1, 2010 7:47:12 GMT -8
Saw an interesting poll this morning that says that 47% of Democrats vs 51% would like someone to step up and oppose Obama in the Dem Primary in 2012. Nobody thinks it will happen, but it does say a lot about what Democrats think of Obama. Almost half would like someone to replace him but nobody wants to step up to the plate. Link? |
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Post by OfficialAztecINSIDER on Nov 1, 2010 8:44:56 GMT -8
His first sentence gives a clue where he is coming from. "Our first black president", the conservatives have sure made certain that uppity "Negro" is going to be put back in his place. Nothing new there. As to his health plan. We need to do something, our health care system is a mess. I have pointed out countless times on this board how other advanced nations have better health care outcomes for less money than we do. I don't care for the current reforms. It strikes me as the health insurance company full recovery act. I supported a single payer system, or even national health care system. I suggested modeling after the military system. As to foreign policy. He has really just kept the Bush plan in place. Just changed countrys. It makes my laugh see the writer say that the Bush plan was all about democracy. He came up with that when it became evident that Powell was right. After Bush came to the realization that his invasion of Iraq was off the mark. There was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, there was no WMDs, he had to come up with something to justify that war and all the human cost to us and Iraq let alone the hundreds of billions of dollars. Democracy it was. Anone know if Iraq has formed a government yet? The answer, of course, is NO. As to Wall Street reform. Damn right Wall Street needs to be blamed. Their blind greed, which continues, put this country at great risk. We continue at risk. The whole deregulation of the economy has been shown to be a farce. All it did was allow those with more information and money to get even more power than they had before. My finance professor at SDSU back in the early 1970's explained financial regulation quite easily. He told the class that during the 1920's we found that when bankers and brokers sleep together their clients get screwed. Boy, have we ever been screwed by Wall Street. Letting financial institutions become to intertmingled that they become "Too Big To Fail" is wrong, wrong, wrong. The market does work, and work well, if it is honest. It has not been honest. It has been opaque to a degree that no one can see what is happening. It is my opinion that people will lie, cheat, and steal if they think they will not get caught. Our government, under Democrats and Republicans alike, deregulated our economy and let the cheaters prosper, we can all see what happened. We are, and have been a great country. The best in the world. Now and in the past. I am afraid for the future of our country if people like those that run the Wall Street Journal ever completely take over our government. We will go to hell. When that happens all the retired school teachers and public employees can whine about their lost pensions. Those that save for the future on their own will never be able to save enough. The rich people that will own this country will not care. They got theirs in cash, at the expense of the rest of the country, and not care about anyone else. Let me devil take the hindmost. Ayn Rand rocks. +Infinity |
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Post by aztecwin on Nov 1, 2010 11:35:13 GMT -8
Saw an interesting poll this morning that says that 47% of Democrats vs 51% would like someone to step up and oppose Obama in the Dem Primary in 2012. Nobody thinks it will happen, but it does say a lot about what Democrats think of Obama. Almost half would like someone to replace him but nobody wants to step up to the plate. Link? There are lots of them. Here is one. xrl.us/bh6hfm |
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