Earthquake Gabfest.
The large 8.8 undersea quake that rocked the Pacific coast of Chile late in the overnight (two hours after I stopped talking but while I was still watching the news cycle) did much damage to the city of Concepcion and mild damage to Santiago along with sending tsunami warnings across the Pacific. The damage is much, much less than in Port-au-Prince, and the loss of life looks slight in comparison, chiefly because the quake was at sea and also because most of the buildings are said to be better -- new ones built with rebar, for example. What is significant to me is that the Chile quake story will dominate the narrative for the next days, competing with the closing day of the Winter Olympics on the Pacific Rim in Vancouver (and the Canada vs. US hockey final). This illustrates what we watched for last week with the healthcare summit. Any large event steps on the story line by the Obama administration. POTUS was lucky to get his one-day gabfest in a news hollow.
Who Won Blair House?
POTUS was a clear winner just because the dutiful Congress showed up and blabbed away. POTUS went into the meeting with a fixed opinion -- that he orders reconciliation from the House and Senate in order to deliver the bill to POTUS desk by Easter -- and he left the meeting having achieved his aim and redoubled his opinion. The GOP was a self-infatuated foil. The Democrats in Congress were the audience. The choice is the Lady (Pelosi) or the Tiger (November)? There will be more events to distract from the main story line of healthcare at all costs, but from now till Easter the theme is established. No business but reconciliation. No coversation but reconciliation. No deals, no promises, no policies, no future but reconciliation. If rioting shuts down Athens, beggars the Greeks, spills the euro crash onto Spain and Portugal, all will be a shrug -- no story in Washington but reconciliation. The Chile 8.8 is an appetizer. A perfect 9.9 is coming. The delusions of the GOP are specially entertaining. Mike Pence thinks he will be POTUS after the midterm knocks out the Democrats. John Boehner assumes his Speakership. The zombie Republican senators such as McConnell and Kyl assume they will be in command of the agenda. The lobbyists have already changed the stationery orders to reflect Republican taste. And POTUS? As unaware and uninterested as a sea lion with a tsunami approaching.
Within the next few weeks we all should know: the direction this current American administration will take. Will there be enough of what can pass for a health care bill (for Obama to sign) that can qualify as that second dot (the first being his election) to connect to the first? If yes, all the rest will follow as has already been outlined: cap and trade, immigration reform, judicial appointments, card check – even a second term for Obama himself. Elections have always wrought consequences.
If, on the other hand, healthcare is stopped, the Obama presidency will be stopped as well; derailed; defeated. Nothing more can be expected to come of it – only impeachment, perhaps. Barack Hussein Obama would go down as the single most failed president ever. Next to it, Carter’s single term would appear as an overwhelming success.
Investors are always told never to put all one’s eggs in the same basket. Obama has done precisely that. It’s white knuckle time at the White House. It’s white knuckle time on Main Street.
Even if health care were not to pass, it must be kept in mind that Democrats tend to keep coming back to failure; to revive it; to celebrate it and thrust it front and center. As far as Democrats are concerned, failure is never dead and buried. It can always be exhumed and dressed up in bride’s clothing – just as long as the white, gossamer veil is quadrupled.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
John's point a few weeks ago about the similarity between the Dems' push for HCR and the Brige Over the River Kwai rings truer with each passing day. The original point of trying to achieve universal coverage was ostensibly to show compassion for one's fellow man, who can't afford to see a doctor. Very noble aspiration. And they're going to destroy everyone in their path to achieve it!! They are warping themselves with their own focus. They've become something quite disagreeable in the process. Even though I really dislike liberals, I'm starting to feel sorry for the Demcrocats in Congress and Obama as well. They are dancing to the tune of a terrible Master at the moment - they are slaves to their own power. Some of them have lost their souls in the process. I sincerely hope they find their way as human beings; I hate to see the destruction of a fellow human being simply to achieve a political goal.
On the other hand, if it's got to be either them or me, then I guess I'll just have to cringe and watch in horror as they destroy themselves. C'est la vie.
Went into my local Star Market in the Nutmeg State this evening, and there was only 10% of the lettuce you would expect. bare shelves in the produce section. Blizzards in the Northeast or lack of Fresh Produce from Chile?