America is shuddering in a struggle to shake off a recession, just as it is told the recession might morph into a depression. The admonishments coming from the daily teleprompter addresses of its President further shake the nation’s confidence, as blame becomes the only strategy dripping from the country’s leadership.
America has ushered in a new age of self admonishment led by a White House and a Congress that are using the widespread economic crisis to reinvent the country. As the administration increases spending, and augments government intrusion into all corners of human endeavor, rationalizes the trillion dollar budget deficit, and ignores the looming burden of overwhelming debt. The government ignoring the imminent and inevitable monetization of this debt, doesn’t subdue the anxiety felt by entrepreneurial or mid-sized businesses in every corner of the country.
Beside shattering the economic foundation with which America has been endowed, this Administration and this Congress are also doing everything possible to internationalize their own feelings of impotence. Through promotions of head-numbing programs such as those given energy in Copenhagen, or the exaltations on the cap and trade contrivance, there is astonishing evidence that a radical transformation of the country is being attempted.
Actions and policies of this White House are either purposeful or the result of ignorance, but in either instance, the MSM is providing it a pass on the majority of its follies. In some cases the MSM even applauded from the sidelines such as when Obama strengthened the influence of the United Auto Workers over the US auto industry. Americans watched passively as the very unions who destroyed Detroit were provided even greater influence over companies that now flail against advancing forces of extinction. The people who abused their power and the cash of their own membership for most of a century, now dictate the future of the American automobile.
Working Americans, and all those who have lost good paying jobs, will not be lulled into believing in taxpayer funded windmills, but they are being demoralized by Washington politicians who can’t seem to tell truths, or provide direction. The endless releases of nostrums pitched by a floundering President leave little suspense as to his abilities, or capacities to lead the country creatively out of the doldrums. His limitations have further evidenced themselves in those he has surrounded himself with. His most senior advisors and appointments are either reflections or lesser versions of their boss.
There is also failed leadership in the richest corners of corporate America where the most visible captains of industry have not shown themselves to be diligent or effective in administering their fiduciary or managerial duties. Some, such as the CEOs and Directors of City Bank, AIG, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and Citygroup, have in fact proven to be weak-kneed, and self serving hacks who had to run for cover, begging for taxpayer bailout money when twenty years of easy money, easy growth and easy markets turned against them.
Americans do not appreciate bailout receivers or givers. Americans don’t respond so well to whiners and blamers who depend on committee regurgitations for direction. Americans, like most fellow human beings, respond positively to optimistic visionaries who are clear, confident, and straightforward on goals and strategies.
The current leadership appears incapable of pulling the national consciousness out of its stagnating paralysis. The nation has slowly slid into react mode, with no charisma-with-purpose pulling its attention. The result is a country of demoralized taxpayers staggering to pull the eject lever on incumbents. Unfortunately this negative energy is simply a reaction against the current leadership, rather than a wave of confidence empowering an inspiring champion.
America is once again playing “find a leader.”
Crossposted from The Pacific Gate Post
A constituent of the vast baby boomer generation with a career which has been fortunate to know the ponderous corporate worlds, as well as the intimately pressurized, and invigorating entrepreneurial domains of high tech and venture capital, I have harvested my share of mistakes meandering through corridors of enterprise from Silicon Valley, to London and endless, colourful, sometimes praetorian points in between. The voyage has provided an abundance of fodder for a pen yielding to an inquisitive keyboard, a foraging mind, and a passionate spirit.
Whether political or business or social or economic or personal, is it not all political? It is a privilege to write, and an even greater privilege to be read by anyone, and sometimes with the wind at my back the writing may occasionally be legible. I do not write to invite scorn, nor to invite respect, but if I get really lucky the writing can stimulate thinking. I also write for the very selfish purpose of animating my own processes, and engaging the best of what life offers. Above all, whether biting fire or swatting shadows, I am grateful to be gifted the freedom to write and publish whatever flows down to the keyboard. To all those who enabled this freedom, and to all those standing guard to preserve it, I am indebted.
America is in a war for it’s Constitutional republic, against the progressives. The recession is just a weapon in that fight.
Because every entrepreneural attempt is squashed by Obama and his thuggery Administration, and the Democrats, unless THEY say it’s o.k…
@ bill-tb,
I think that if we take a close look at how the politicians in California have killed the entrepreneurial spirit at all levels of business, and in all industries, we can see the future of America if the trend is not reversed urgently and with prejudice.
It’s unnerving that this occurred, but even more disturbing is, . . . how did this happen?
JAMES RAIDER: I like this POST, thank you; yes the people will rest when that leader will appear
to be the one to respond to their concerns, and listen carefuly before expressing his views of the
future to returned the country to the people and for the people, to bring the hope back in this beautifull AMERICA, THAT LEADER will tell the people what his position will include to serve the people of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LEADER, WILL tell of what will be repaired
and what will be broken when he decide to be THE LEADER of the SUPERPOWER that is and will remain AMERICA FOR THE AMERICANS. and dont anyone doubt it.
The Obama regime is trying to destroy this country in any way it can. All moves and policies by them have been deliberate to acheive that goal. bill-tb is correct we are in a war for our Constitutional republic. How many of you are willing to fight to save it?
In Calgary, we’ve ridden the downturn in fine fashion. Energy resources and real estate have appreciated to where they were before. A second wallop is going to hurt. Alberta is the driver for Canada. Stephen Harper, a Rino by your standards, paid off national debt for 4 years, until he subsidized Ontario and Quebec industries, bringing us back to where we were before. Leftest policy from Obumbler, hurts us also.
Our banks are solid, but we need foreign investment, especially form Americans. If you guys go bust, so do we.
Being used by whom, primarily?
Who politically benefits the most by encouraging increasing levels of demoralization that serve to retard the nation’s economic recovery?
Recovery of the American economy is largely a matter of the restoration of confidence. The retail outlets are still there. The factories are still there. The necessary resources are still there. Workers who want nothing more than to get back to work are present in abundance. Our native ingenuity and creativity haven’t gone anywhere. There’s money to spend and capital to invest, but people who have it have lost the confidence to spend or invest it.
So, who’s been working 24/7 sending out messages intended to errode confidence?
It’s not a war to preserve our Consitutional republic. That’s just the spin. It’s actually a war to regain political control, conducted by powerful special interests who want to totally dominate the entire system and return to a dysfunctional status quo that has always worked to their own financial advantage, regardless of its consequences for anyone else. The vast majority of Americans are part of that “anyone else”.
Government on the federal level is a debacle of such magnitude that even if this nation returned to FULL Conservatism, right now, it would still take generations to turn this travesty around.
We are in a fight America. Are you doing all you can to help the RIGHT side win this fight?
In the words of a Czech leader, Vaclav Havel. The Confederation of Fools that is the voting public handed the nation over to the Prince of Fools with the cheerleading of the liestram media. The commentary by the Czech leader who lived the destruction of his once fourth wealthiest nation in the world by statism and socilaism said it aptly.
The damage done by a Price of Fools can be undone but the folly of the Confederation of Fools is far more dangerous to our nation’s future.
How did we get to the mess we are in? We can thank only the Confederation of Fools who elected the Obowme, Dingy Harry, and Peolusy Politburo.
@ oil guy from Alberta,
Canada has two legal industries fuelling its standard of living – Energy exports and Immigration. Other than that, Canada can’t seem to get its act together on developing any high tech sectors, . . . and RIM is only one company, not an industry. Canada refuses to fund the entrepreneurial spirit. For some reason Canadians can’t believe such a force exists North of the 49th parallel.
Millions are coming in and sitting on the nationalized medicare system they haven’t paid for. Now the medicare system is breaking absolutely, and will crack even more over the next decade. People waiting one year for an operation, isn’t simply anecdotal, it is fact. America will enjoy the same results in the next few years.
The Canadian dependence on rapidly expanding immigration for new requirements for homes is a temporary support to the economy. The long term impact will overwhelm the country.
Canadian politicians are inept, unlike their brethren in Washington too many of which are principally “on the take” ideologues.
Yesterday you had a perfect example of abject political stupidity in Vancouver, . . . the local government decided to use “stimulus” money to rebuild the Stanley Park Sea Wall around what may be the most beautiful park of any city on Earth. They have decided to import granite from China, while the whole North Shore of the city is granite, and B.C. has enough granite to cover the continent. How more stupid can you get than this, when the locals of B.C. are falling onto the unemployment ranks in numbers as high as in the U.S.? . . . Not much.
@ Old One,
“How did we get to the mess we are in? We can thank only the Confederation of Fools who elected the Obowme, Dingy Harry, and Peolusy Politburo.”
Yes, but the question remains, how did we get to a point where a majority of voters could possibly fall for empty promises from an empty suit with no experience whatsoever? I can see how California might elect Palosy, . . . strange things happen in Lallaland, but the Whole Nation falling for preachy vacuous silliness? What happened? . . . And it’s not as simple as everyone having believed the B.S. fed us by the Hollywood goofs who fuelled the campaign.
@ ilovebeeswarzone,
It’s probably as simple as someone, anyone, coming to the fore, demonstrating just a little common sense, and that refreshing scent would be welcomed into every home in America.
@ James Raider
Some of your rebuttal I agree with. BC is a socialist mess. Granted. They’re 100 billion in the hole. Ontario and Quebec, about the same. All socialist.
Here in Calgary, where all constituencies are about 80% tory blue conservative, there’s all types of high reseach in numerous scientific endevors. Our population, city wide, is about 25% American. They’re not here to buy subsidized housing or to line up for medicare. They’re here to develop resources and fulfill their dreams. I have many American friends and the respect is mutual.
Medicare is a bust. Privatization will solve that, in our province especially. Last year, 3.5 million Albertans spent 38 billion, with half of it being medicare. That has to change. The province has absolute control of its resources and has 25 billion in the black. At this rate, we can weather the storm for about five years. Most of the other provinces, forget it.
Immigration to Alberta is a good idea, if you want to work!
Demoralizing? Be happy the crisis is escalating so quickly.
A long slow decline is terminal, since you must eventually eat all the seedcorn.
But a hard quick rough ride gets us to the restoration quicker and with more assets to rebuild.
Sure it sucks, but the speed of it – is one thing to be thankful for.
I used to live in Alberta… 80 miles northwest of Edmonton in a little town called Tomahawk, population 206. I was in grade school and what a wonderful place. Except there is so much oil up there that all the water smells like rotten eggs.
sofa: I like what you said, I ‘m pretty sure that when all this past away, the energy will rise all around to restore the broken treasures that AMERICA was before, and whoever try to resist will
see what determination of a united people can mustard in a short time. bye
@ oil guy from Alberta,
Agreed, Harper’s home Province looks like the most financially healthy of any across the country. Still, it remains dependent on natural resources rather than on what it manufacturers or on intellectual property it exports, for example.
@ sofa,
. . . Sad but true.
@ Donald Bly
I’ve walked the northern muskeg for too many years. Methane all over the place. It’s more lethal than co2 a hundred times over. This climate scare is garbage.
@ James Raider
Where’s there’s money- debauchery or scientific method? We have both. Homeless natives on the street, mostly. Doctorates from Stanford and MIT. Capital breeds competence. Last I’ve seen, we’ve been importing brainpower. My forte is chemical engineering and I look at our job postings worldwide. We’re importing the best we can.
James Raider,
The socialists have been peddling their statist wares in the US since 1840 and have frequently gained the support of a large sector of the voting public and at times a majority control of governmant always under the demagogic mantle of progressivism or reform.
Four times in the 20th century the left gained political ascendancy. The American infatuation with leftist staist socialism triumphed during the reigns of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmah the Dimmah. Each time the libturds got their hands on power the nation was delivered foreign policy disasters thanks to pacifist policies, economic stagnation, inflation, and often a war or miltary humiliation.
For 8-12 after a libtard produced regime’s disasters voters remember the left’s destructive toxic kool-aid and reject the democrats. After 8 to 12 years the lessons so meanly delivered to the public by the lefty libs are forgotten in large part thanks to the 35-50 million new voters have come of age who remember not and who have been indoctrinated with the imagined joys of statism by the axis pillar of evil known as our educational system. The older voters have been with the passage of the years reprogrammed and & ceaselessly propagandized by the liestream media so that a majority of voters again elect another legion of kool-aid peddlers.
@Old One:
It would have been nice to be able to stick your comment in this year’s HS graduate’s cards. 😉 😉
A president is supposed to lead. To give confidence to the people. We should be able to go about our daily lives without worrying what freedom killing legislation Washington is attempting to pass today. NEVER in my 55 years have I been SO CONCERNED about government in my life. I kid you not, I am almost afraid to say anything against Obama or the police will come and get me for speaking against the president. This IS NOT the America that I remember as a kid. We need a POSITIVE leader, one that will bring the country’s confidence back and not divide us racially by using the race card at every opportunity because we don’t believe in socialism and government intrusion. OBAMA IS NOT THAT LEADER. The bum has to go for the good of the country.
@ Mikey,
The news out of Oakland is rather emblematic of the “Age of Obama” it appears. Police have issued a list of crimes they will not respond to calls for. IN OAKLAND!
Government’s principal purpose, first and foremost above all else, is to protect the people and their property. With the money sucking sounds getting louder in Washington, local police and local services to protect life and limb are no longer a priority it appears.
Who would have believed this possible only a decade ago?