As George W. Bush leaves the White House on a "high note" (but that’s just the pisco sours talkin’) blaming everyone but him for the nation’s problems, let us note that the delusional gene runs strong in his party.
And to make Chris Wallace happy, let’s return to that magical era of wide lapels, wider ties, and awesome audiotapes as Tricky Dick strode the country like a colossal ass:
Early December 1972:
Both men [Nixon and Kissinger] sometimes avoided the word "bombing." Instead, they talked of "the action."
As Nixon said, "Let’s look at the action. We can’t have any doubts about it."
Meanwhile,
…in a Dec. 9, 1972, conversation, Nixon told his daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, that the purpose of the presidency is "to do good things every day."
Oh, for a secret taping system of the last eight years.
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Impeachment Now?
Hello Attatrurk
subpoena doG! witnesses ALL. ;-)
1,845 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND:
Citizen Attatrurk and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
These fascist bastards never go away even to die they keep comin back under different names but with the same old tired shit…as one who held his 3 year old son on his shoulders to watch the televised impeachment hearings and the chopper ride to nowhere as it took that fuckin’ krypto-Nazi back ta San Clemente, I ken tell ya that Bush is Nixon on steroids but they’re BOTH outta the same fuckin’ genepool.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THIS TIME THEY GOTTA BE GONE FOR GOOD!!
BBC had this report for Mac users last night:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7760344.stm
Bush was right about one thing, many of the things that have caused the economy began some time ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRzr1QU6K1o
August 15, 1971: Nixon Takes US Dollar off Gold Standard President Nixon officially announces the end of the gold standard system of monetary policy for international exchange of gold deposits in an evening address to the country. Nixon’s move to sever the link between the dollar’s value and gold reserves effectively ends the Breton Woods system of monetary exchange and changes the dollar to a “floating” currency whose value is to be determined largely by market influences. Nixon’s decision results from a run on gold exchanges and rampant speculation in gold markets in Europe, and he changes the US monetary policy after receiving advice from Treasury Secretary John Connally, Under Secretary for Monetary Affairs Paul A. Volcker, and others in a special working group. The dollar becomes a fiat currency, causing a brief international panic before other countries follow suit and also allow their currencies to “float.” [New York Times, 8/16/1971, pp. 1]
This did more to damage this country than Phil Gramm’s ‘Enron Loophole’
Citizen 1970cs:
I remember that well but I think the repeal of Glass-Stegal was bigger…goin’ off Gold only enabled money to be exchanged as a commodity and ushered in monitorism…the repeal of Glass-Stegal took away the goal posts, the sideline markers and burned the rule book.
Good morning, pups. MoDo is off today, so Mr. Friedman has the floor to himself. In “Calling All Pakistanis” he asks a question: Who in the Muslim world, who in Pakistan, is ready to take to the streets to protest the mass murders of real people, not cartoon characters, right next door in Mumbai, India?
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got apple walnut muffins warm out of the oven. There is no joy in Mudville, as the odious Saxbe won. At least Chatham County, where I am, went for Martin. I’m going to go out into the freezing (33° here now) garden, eat worms, and die. Have a great day.
Bush is not nearly as smart as the Trickster, not even close.
A gold-bug is amongst us, displaying their fine senses, and lack of economic knowledge.
Adam Smith, in his seminal work, the founder of modern economics writes about this very problem. Assigning value to one commodity to judge the value of other commodities and ultimately the value of labour. He noted in “The Wealth of Nations” the economic effect this had on Spain when the gold and silver arriving from the Spanish empire depressed the value of gold to a third of its prior value. The result: the destruction of the Spanish economy and the ascendency of the English empire.
Your assessment lacks substance. During the latter years of the Johnson administration, the balance of payments had become a problem re the “gold drain” on the US Treasury occasioned by the Breton Woods Treaty. Three years after, Nixon did the only sane thing available, the decoupling of the dollar from gold that disturbs you at this late date. It was not until R. Reagan’s administration who instituted policies which turned the US from the worlds largest creditor nation into the worlds largest debtor nation, mainly to finance the MIC that fiscal and monetary policy became a political instrument to attain and maintain political power, the end result is the abomination of an administration just ending. It is the current administration’s running the printing presses “hot” that has undermined the full faith and trust for the dollar in the world. Those effects are yet to be felt.
All the best……
Citizen Savannah:
Though the old southern Confederacy is shrinkin’ with the loss of Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, what’s left of the solid fascist south is still plenty malignant…as a matter of fact it’s like a tumor that jest won’t go away no matter how much radiation ya give it…you ken shrink it but it will take generations to get rid of it completely
Citizen Raven:
But he has the “immunity” given those of the oligarchy…he has the power of the rulin’ class and their minions in the media. If the Tickster had been from the oligarchy he would never have been impeached.
Good morning everyone. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone had recorded all of George & Dick’s conversations without them knowing it all these years? I guess they couldn’t bitch and complain about it, since they made it legal to wiretap anyone.
Thanx T-Bear a great analysis of a long dead horse.
5×5
what are the letters for: It’s Not OK If You Do It To A Republican ?
Those bloody Mercantilists will never come to grips with reality and the 18th century. ;-)
INOIYAD — It’s never okay if you’re a Democrat.
The typical letters:
IOKIYAR
(”It’s okay if you’re a republican”)
;-)
LOL Marion. You are so freaking funny. ;-)
I thank NorseFlamethrower and yourself, both of you have a very good understanding of the historical understanding of the U.s. economy, well beyond mine. What Nixon did in ‘71 I feel was one of things that allowed us to reach the catastrophe we are now in.
I agree, my post was not inclusive of many other factors due to a lack of knowledge, I’m learning. On the very rare occasion I agree with Bush about anything doesn’t mean I’m mixing up a batch of Kool-Aide.
The tapes that I want to hear are those of Cheney and Addington.
It’s a sanity maintenance thing — laugh or scream!
ROFLMAO…Citizen T-Bear,you have a wit that has the sharpness of one honed on lots of undergraduate teachin…am I very far off…I s’pose ya get ta endure grad students too.
Is it my imagination or is scar getting increasingly more
insanenasty by thedayhourminute?Sad but true!
For most people, they have never received any education in Economics or had need to learn definitions being used. Without education, these people are easy prey for political charlatans and demagogues. In the late ’60s, if you had only 3 hours of university level economics it put you in the 85th percentile in the world; with 6 hours you moved up to about 94th percentile. You can see the trajectory there.
What Nixon did was to free the dollar to find its value in the marketplace, free from political influence. It was Reagan that through monetary and fiscal policies coupled the dollar to political ends, George the Turd took that political ends to its logical extreme. The price will be exacted for that excess.
Sorry to disappoint, never got a degree, solely an autodidact, I always found the subject of interest.
Thanx again T-Bear…as an English and History Major with a couple a years in graduate school I had only the most rudimentary formal education in the “dismal science”…most a what little I understand I’ve recieved from reading and tryin’ ta figure it out on my own but I’ve gotta say your two offerings on the gold standard provide the best and quickest understanding of it and it’s historical context that I’ve had the priviledge to read. Thanx again.
Brother Raven, where you been buddy…haven’t heard any of yer rants for a good while here…is everything okie dokie?
Martin was a long shot I understand so his defeat is not all that surprising. You guys down there did your best but it seems that lies. lies and more lies is what the goopers want. I fear it is going to be two long years (at least) of filibuster hell with that dreadful, arrogant, McConnell holding the country’s business up to appease the ever decreasing numbers of right wing fundamentalists. Shit!
Obama does know how to use the microphone and at least early in his term, he should be able to rally the American people.
Odetta
True but will the critters listen to the people. Even the Dem “leadership” has turned a deaf ear to the wishes of the people…
Does this fall under the category: Some places you can fool a lot of the people most of the time ? ;-)
Yep! It’s either laugh or scream alright! Thankfully you make us laugh. ;-)
Good Morning everyone?
Did you ever read “Pass The Buck, Flynn”. It’s a frivolous book about that very subject. At the end of the book $100 bills are somehow falling to the ground into a crowd and no one bothers to pick them up. I fear that day is coming.
Ooooooo, me too. I hope there was someone close to these assholes who decided to play ‘mole’ and did record their conversations without them knowing it. *crossing my fingers*
Good morning all,
The 60 senator thing is not something that is set forth in the constitution it is just a club agreement like giving a convicted felon a protracted standing ovation. There are many things that have to be done if these people are going to be in the way use the “nuclear” option.
Are you giving us hope this morning, Foothillsmike? How dare you! Just kidding. ;-)
I’ve still got my fingers crossed for Franken. I’ll take 59.
I will look for it, thanks.
hot chocolate morning here! Brrsky
Washington Journal (live)
7:30-7:55 GOV. MARK SANFORD
Uplink R-South Carolina http://www.sc.gov
Topic: Discuss the desire by the nation’s governor’s to have the Obama Administration provide fiscal assistance for job creation. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this week, Governor Sanford argued against assistance from the federal government.
7:55-8:15 GOV. BILL RITTER D-Colorado http://www.colorado.gov
Topic: A look at the impact of the economy on states.
8:15-9:00 Hotline hit/Newspaper Articles/Phones
9:00-9:40 BOB GRAHAM RT WMD Commission
Chairman
Former U.S. Senator, D-Florida
1987-2005
JIM TALENT
WMD Commission
Vice Chairman http://preventwmd.org
Former U.S. Senator, R-Missouri
1993-2001
Topic: In their final report, the Commission on Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation & Terrorism has concluded that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013. The Commission’s Chairman and Vice Chairman join us with their findings and recommendations.
9:40-10:00 Newspaper Articles/Phones
The liberals CAUSED the Raygun/Bush fiasco by viewing politics as a game you win and then taking the trophy home for the party. We partied, they regrouped, and in 1980 we had our ass handed back to us to suffer 28 years of right/center-right triangulation bullshit.
Talk about opportunity squandered. We had it back then. Now it’s going to take years or even decades to unravel the mess that Bush has done, and we’re shutting the brightest and best minds out of the process. The GOP and Dems NEED each other to use as foils and punching bags, so those are the choices they offer you. You won’t see any progressives involved in the mix because in order to play this game you have to buy the ticket. Those come from the DNC and the RNC and nowhere else.
Since Obama won the election, I give the US another 10 years tops. If McCain/Palin would have won, 5 years. So we get another 5 years before the crash dive. Big deal.
-Wexler
They just said on C-span that this might not be known until the end of the year if then.
Citizen nomolos:
I don’t think that we are gunna see a lotta major filibusters (like the last two years) because there are a number of Rethugs up for re-election in 2010 and with 3-4 Blue Dogs Obama is gunna need some Republican “bi-partisanship” and he has the political skills ta get it. No Citizen, I worry more about Obama’s ability to handle his own leadership in the House of Representatives more’n the Senate…but the Democratic leadership in the Senate is where the roadblocks are gunna come from in my opinion if there are any.
Get to hear a bunch more banging of the fear drum with Graham and Talent.
The WMD has already been used – Weapons of Monetary Destruction
Did anyone read Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post today? He mentions Bush’s major failings, Iraq, New Orleans and his biggest fiasco yet the economy. He talks about his policies dealing with the economy being exactly the same as Hoover. What he failed to mention is that there is a group of folks who thing that Hoover was right. In the whacko world they don’t know how to read graphs so they blame FDR for the depression.
Yea, just walkin on a thin line here. Don’t you know me I’m the boy next door.
Surf’s up
Swim
I’m not recommending the book. It’s humor, not serious, written by the author who wrote the Fletch series (which were very good, btw). You’re not going to really learn anything, but he did attack taking us off the gold standard.
Not trusting the MSM to honestly report on the tapes, I went to the archives.gov website to look them up myself.
The website states that the tapes have not been transcribed.
And then there was this little gem:
So much for the American citizen having access to information.
that doesn’t sound unreasonable, that you show a photo ID, sounds like a way to protect the records, not restrict access to them — imo anyway.
I just think it’s a barrier raised up to discourage folks from trying to gain access to the information.
And why not allow recording devices? Why not allow someone to use a tape recorder to transcribe the tapes?
But do you have to rub it in?
As American’s we see our way to a different path. Isn’t that just like us?
I went to there and it took all of 5 minutes to get the ID card made.
My point is–why should anyone have to show ID to view the records?
I would humbly, like to offer a new tact. Mayber it would be to everyone’s benefit to utilize our knowledge to educate those who will come after us? We seem to have the benefit of hindsight, and supposed foresight. Even if we can’t get it all done in the time frame that we would like – our lifetimes. Which doesn’t get done anyway, in anyone’s lifetime. Maybe we should shed our egos, and try throwing everything we have into those who come after us? Whether that is our children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, whatever. We should give the benefit of our wisdom to those who will come later. I’m talking about a concerted effort, a concerted educational program that we, without, the government, lay on our children. Why is it that we seem to have a need to provide children with a “perfect” life? What the hell is that anyway? It should strike someone at some moment that this is a really bad idea. Life isn’t perfect. You do your children a disservice to provide them with a “perfect” life. It isn’t possible, it doesn’t exist. Life happens, you can’t control all of it. They need to become adults who can handle the problems of tomorrow. What is wrong with you that you need to provide a “perfect” experience for your children?
No kidding! And now, Obama’s getting rid of his Blackberry…makes me wonder sometimes.
No, please. Right now my heart could not bear to hear or read one extra word, taped or live, from the mouths of Shrub and his loathsome associates. They should go away and stay silent. I therefore request that prosecutions be initiated only after my stomach has settled, say in about 2 years (I’m pretty sure there is no statute of limitations for treason, war crimes, massive election theft and looting the assets of an entire country).
Seriously, do you want yourself or your children or grandchildren to say such things…..Without regulations, you just might hear them…..