[rumble]

Please forgive me if this too long. It is from a book, so there is no link to it.


"...It is amazing there's not a lot more outrage expressed by the American people. There is plenty of complaining, but no outrage over policies that are not part of our American tradition. War based on false pretenses,over 20,000 American casualties, torture policies,thousands jailed without due process, illegal surveillance of citizens, and unwarranted searches, yet no outrage. When the issues come before congress,executive authority is maintained or even strengthened while real oversight is ignored.
Though many Americans are starting to feel the economic pain of paying for this war through inflation,the real pain has not yet arrived. We generally remain fat and happy,with a system of money and borrowing that postpones the day of reckoning. Foreigners, in particular the Chinese and Japanese, gladly participate in the charade.We print the money and they take it - as do the OPEC nations- and provide us with consumer goods and oil. Then they loan the money back to us at low interest rates, which we use to finance the war and our housing bubble and excessive consumption. This recycling an perpetual borrowing of inflated dollars allows us to avoid the pain of high taxes to pay for our war and welfare spending. It's fine until the music stops and the real costs are realized, with much higher interests rates and significant price inflation. That is when the outrage will be heard, and the people will realize that we can't afford the "humanitarianism" of the Neoconservatives.
The notion that our economic problems are pricipally due to the Chinese is nonsense. If the protectionists were to have their way, the problem of financing the war would be readilyapparant and have immediate ramifications - none good. Today's economic problems, caused largely by our funny money system, won't be solved by altering exchange rates to favor us in the short run, or by imposing high tariffs. Only sound money with real value will solve the problems of competing currency devaluations and protectionist measures.
Economic interests almost always are major reasons for wars being fought. Noble and patriotic causes are easier to sell to a public who must pay and provide cannon fodder to defend the financial interests of privileged class.
The fact that Saddam Hussein demanded Euros for oil in an attempt to undermine the US dollar is believed by many to be one of the ulterior motives for our invasion and occupation of Iraq. Similiarly, the Iranian oil purse now about to open may be seen as a threat to those who depend on maintaining the current monetary system with the dollar as the world's reserve currency.
The theory and significance of Peak Oil is believed to be an additional motivating factor for the U.S. and Great Britain wanting to maintain firmcontrol over the oil supplies in the Middle East. The two nations have been protecting "our" oil interests in the Middle East for nearly a hundred years. With diminishing supplies and expanding demands, the incentive to maintain a military presence in the Middle East is quite strong. Fear of China and Russia moving into this region to assume more control alarms those who don't understand how a truly free market can develop substitutes to replace the diminishing resources. ..."
April 5th, 2006
Dr. Ron Paul

[I_Like_Plants]

It looks like we're headed for a McCain presidency, I hope RP is able to get the nomination for vice pres.

[rumble]

Really? I don't think McCain has a chance in hell.(thank god) He is simply the worst candidate who will be conveniently placed against Obama (or possibly clinton) so that Americans will run out and think they are voting for a change when in fact they are voting for more of the same. But hey - he has great speeches, right? Nevermind the fact that he is a member of the CFR, is for the Patriot Act, is for No Child Left Behind, is for NAFTA, supports Fed, voted for all war funding, hasn't committed to bringing all troops home within his first term, hasn't really voted on anything of real substance (for example he didn't even bother to vote on the Real ID act), and can't explain where in the hell he is going to get all of this money to pay for all of his plans (maybe from Goldman Sachs - his largest contributor)

[Schadenfreude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('I_Like_Plants', 'I')t looks like we're headed for a McCain presidency, I hope RP is able to get the nomination for vice pres.

[jasonraymondson]

Fuck McCain in his shiny asshole


Anyway you did get at the heart of one matter. The reason the american people are not outraged is because we are still fat and happy. We don't care about anything if it does generally affect us in there here and now.

[Cloud9]

Not one of them speaks for me. Elect whom you will. I will simply be voting for the lessor of evils.

[greenworm]

Don't vote, it is a waste of money and gas. The sad truth is that most Americans never took a statistical methods class and they don't quite grasp the fact that they don't count. You don't. Do the math.

[lawnchair]

Count me in for Bloomberg/Hagel. I think Mike might try to work his way, possibly sub rosa, into an Obama administration. But if it's Hillary v McCain, Bloomberg will run and should (in a proper world) mop up the floor with 'em.

"[cash rebates are] like giving a drink to an alcoholic."

"[The US] has a balance sheet that's starting to look more and more like a third-world country."

WCBS quoting the Mayor

[hubbertspeak7777777]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('greenworm', 'D')on't vote, it is a waste of money and gas. The sad truth is that most Americans never took a statistical methods class and they don't quite grasp the fact that they don't count. You don't. Do the math.

[frankthetank]

We don't vote for quite some time people. I was thinking this over a little while ago. We've got a long, hot, high gasoline priced summer to get through. Hopefully once B/Hill take the wheel, it'll calm down. Its just overwhelming. I guess this just shows how bad it really is and how bad people want Bush/Dick out of office.

Tonite Bill Clinton was in town, Huckabee was here, Kumar (from the "White Castle" movie), and the guy who played "Superman". Tomorrow its Commander McCain.

[FreakOil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'N')ot one of them speaks for me. Elect whom you will. I will simply be voting for the lessor of evils.

[greenworm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') agree. Why should I wait in line for 3 hours just to vote for some pompous, hypociritical windbag who's full of shit? I've got better things to do and even when I don't, I still have better things to do.