Out of Sorts

With the pandemic, resulting economic swoon and widespread civil unrest, people are currently feeling all out of sorts ... and this doesn’t bode well for re-electing the party in power ... since incumbents often carry the blame for such problems. Will voters therefore throw the Republicans out of office in November?

The answer to this vital question depends on if it is a “head” or “heart” election. In other words if emotion carries the day, the Orangeman and his posse are toast. If somehow logic prevails ... a realization that Biden is not the solution to all this distresses, then the Republicans have a chance ... a slim chance ... but nevertheless a chance.

How might this minor miracle happen again? Well, a vaccine for the coronavirus would help. And some good employment numbers in the current quarter. And finally, some oil on the civil unrest waters ... maybe some high-profile arrests of anarchists? All would sooth voter dyspepsia ... and not force Trump back to Mar-a-Largo.

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

World Opinion

In my blog post, The Morning After, I mentioned how world leaders (and the U.S. national media) are dismayed at the growing possibility of a Donald Trump presidency. The world is perplexed and perturbed ... not appreciating how the American people might elect such a clown and a con-man to lead the free world in this time of growing crisis. However, it could be argued that the decisions these very same international pundits had made were, in fact, mainly causative of this same world-wide crisis.

To draw an important contrast ... wasn't it the naive opinions of these same world leaders eight years ago ... surmising that America's current president would be the solution to all our problems ... even to the point of giving him premature kudos and a Nobel Peace Prize? These international poobahs might be right this time in exhibiting such dyspepsia ... but experience suggests not.

Angst Redux

Change produces anxiety.  Radical change produces angst.  Not that change necessarily is bad.  It’s just that its results are not necessarily predictable.  Take Obamacare for instance.  This is a radical remake of the United States’s health-care system … not just the way the insurance process works within it.  Therefore the American people (at least those who are paying attention) are suffering a bout of dyspepsia over this transformation … particularly since much of its consequences clearly have not been well thought through.  

It’s always been a puzzle to me that the Obama-ites are so good at the political processes … planning, polling, message construction, computer systems building, funding, communications, etc. … yet so inept at the policy processes.

Our current administration is fumbling so many fundamental policy issues that those who are watching things justifiably have great concerns.  Viz:

-        Our current handling of the nuclear threat from Iran is gone squishy.  Six months ago we seem to be putting the squeeze on Iran.  Now we are pulling a u-turn much to Israel’s consternation … see: Weekly Standard Story.

-        The United States military is undergoing a radical transmogrification under Obama.  In the last five years 197 top military officers have been summarily removed from their posts … including General Petraeus and General Ham.  For the disturbing details see:  Investors Business Daily Item.

-        President Obama has dramatically expanded the U.S. welfare state … despite his timid talk of entitlement reform.  Obamaphones, EBT cards, Medicaid expansion, etc. are costing tens of billions of dollars more than when he took office … see: National Review Article.

-        The many scandals that the Obama administration is playing Whack-a-Mole to keep off the front pages – Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS suppression of the Tea Party, NSA snooping, his extra-Constitutional executive orders involving immigration, global warming, gun control, etc.

-        [Add three or four more here of your own choosing.]

Barack Obama promised “hope and change” in his first Presidential campaign.  In fact he often added the word “fundamental” before the word “change” ... read this rather as "radical"… and he is surely living up to this pledge … a simple recipe for our current national angst.

Ulcers

I think it was David Sarnoff (among many) who once said, “I don’t get ulcers.  I give them.”  Even though ulcers are now recognized as being most often caused by a bacteria (see: WebMD) and are usually curable, it appears that many in our society are still exhibiting severe dyspepsia ... see: Americans Snapping.  Apart from listing most of the symptoms, manifestations, and palliatives for our society’s current stress levels, this posting offers an interesting insight: 

Make no mistake: This sort of stress on Americans is not only intentional on the part of Team Obama – it is strategic. Remember, these people are revolutionaries (that is, engaged in “bringing about a major or fundamental change,” …) and utterly committed to replacing one societal structure – America’s constitutional, limited-government, free-enterprise system – with another – a socialist, wealth-redistributionist system run by an all-powerful government. 

I myself have sometimes had this very thought when I realize what appears to be our current administration’s irrational and/or extra-Constitutional actions (giving ulcers).  I hope I need not list them here, but take a few moments to reflect on what has recently caused you to stop and scratch your cranium or churn your stomach.  Or try reading The Drudge Report for a few weeks and see if you can’t construct your own extensive list.  Unless you agree with the direction Obama is taking this country, you probably might also need some psychiatric drugs or “medical” marijuana. (Is this why such new state laws are often succeeding at the polls?)

What else might one do?  Rather than buying Maalox or vodka by the barrel-full, you could try my solution and start political ranting on your own Internet blog … it does help.