<Font size=5>What the Hell is going on!?<Font size=3>
I used the interbang because this is both an exclamation and a query (see teched.vt.edu for an explanation and geocities.com for a discussion). First the explanation.
Connecting the dots
Everyone remembers playing the childhood game of drawing a picture by connecting dot 1 to dot 2 to dot 3 … So, dot #1 is Rove’s decision to change the political discussion in the summer of ’02, Remember the economy was in the tank, and it was a mid-term election – which usually means the “outs” do well. Hence, the Dems were anxiously anticipating the fall election. And the Rove’s ploy unfolded - change the topic. Cheney et al started beating the Iraqi war drum, and a congressional vote was scheduled. War hysteria gripped the nation, and the Republicans won handily. Now as we all know, there was more to Iraq than just the mid-term elections, but in the fall of ’02, the timing of the congressional vote was exactly about the elections.
Dot #2 comes from an O’Neill conversation with Dick Cheney exhibited on 60 Minutes (see cbsnews.com ) where in response to fiscal responsibility Cheney replies about more tax cuts:
‘You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due.”
Dot #3 comes from Nobel Prize Winner Economist George Akerlof on these finance policies of the US government
“There is a systematic reason. The government is not really telling the truth to the American people. Past administrations from the time of Alexander Hamilton have on the average run responsible budgetary policies. What we have here is a form of looting.”
peacetalks.net
Dot #4 Comes from that well known political philosopher Hermann Goering
"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY COUNTRY."
rense.com
So now to connect the dots, if you can successfully “goering” the public, it is your “due” to loot the national treasury.
Mass hysteria?
Now I’m not the brightest bulb on the test bench. I plod along, and with sufficient effort sometimes reach my goal. Nevertheless, with minimal effort, I was able to connect the dots. Yet, when I talk to some otherwise very intelligent people, about the resulting picture, I get a blank stare. Why? What’s happening here? Now, people that frequent this board typically have some familiarity with the market, and know all too well the irrationality of the recent bubble (much less the current one). Is there some kind of similar delusion in the political realm? Are we dealing with mass hysteria? If so, how do we pop the bubble?
JMO
lurqer |
