President Barack Hussein Obama
Today was a special day in the history of the world. Regardless of whether or not one supported or preferred the Republican or the Democrat candidate, the fact is Barack Obama won a very healthy victory in the election to be the 44th President of the United States.
When Barack Obama was born in 1961, the marriage of his black father and white mother would have been illegal in half the United States, and blacks across the South were virtually barred from voting.
The United States is a great country, and it is great not because it is perfect, but because in just a few decades it can go from the stains of segregation (and slavery before that) to electing an African-American to the most powerful job in the country, and the world.
And the stench of slavery is not ancient history, but only a few generations away:
In 1989, Douglas Wilder, the grandson of a slave, became the first African-American to win an election for governor. The Democrat did it in Virginia, a former slave-owning state. Wilder ran for president in 1992, but quickly bowed out.
There will be plenty of days to disagree with the policies of President Obama, to complain about the media hype. But for me today is not one of them. Today is a day to celebrate a peaceful transition of office in the most powerful country on Earth, and to celebrate Obama’s achievement in becoming the first African-American President.
His inauguration speech is here.
In a few days the celebrations will end, and I have no doubt the mettle of Obama will be tested both in domestic and foreign policy. It will be interesting to observe how he responds to the many challenges of the job.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:41 am
“We will restore science to its rightful place”
Boo yaa dumb ass creationists!
January 21st, 2009 at 9:45 am
You could not have predticted on 12 September 2001 that a man with the middle name “Hussein” would be president of the USA in less than 8 years.
I’m not a big fan of the US, but it is a great country.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:46 am
How refreshing to have a US President whose first language is English.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:50 am
Go Barack
He spoke about all the right themes, the need to respect the earth and do something about climate change, the need to look after communities, to help other countries and to realise that the US consumes excessive amounts of the world resources. And to respect science.
I particularly liked his line about offering “a helping hand” to those dictators who “unclenched their fist”.
Bye bye George Bush. Hello to a more liberal and compassionate US.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:51 am
Joe Biden’s resemblance to LBJ is scary. I wonder if he will be designing the motorcade route for Obama through Delaware.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:51 am
If Obama’s abilities can match his rhetoric he will become a truly great President.
It is interesting to note that America now has its first African American President in a country
where African Americans make up 14% of the population.
By contrast at 50% of the population, a woman has never made it to President or even VP.
Freedom and hope – perhaps but statistically only if you are a man.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:59 am
Well that was
sickhistory making alright. Is there some kind of support group for those of us of a more cynical disposition?January 21st, 2009 at 10:02 am
I wonder what was going through the mind of Chief Justice Roberts as he administered the oath of office to Hussein Messiah Obama?
Obama should not underestimate the determination of the Supreme court, they already have the numbers to overturn Roe V Wade and other causes so loved by the left.
The battles Obama will have with the Supreme court are going to be most interesting.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:03 am
Seems that Wall street has already passed judgement, stock are down 2.5% already.
Where is the promised miracle?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:06 am
Weren’t activist judges a bad thing a few hours ago?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:10 am
Ironically, as the USA finally begins to draw a line under its socially divided history, where it had separate facilities for blacks and whites – here in New Zealand the “progressive liberal” elitists embrace the creation of anti-Jewish segregated restaurants.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:12 am
I wish BHO well.
However you can call me cynical. Why is it that the liberal talking heads are all saying it is a time to put differences behind and all unite behind the “man” when we all know if McCain had won, the search and destroy missions would have been released long before inauguration.
For them unity is only desirable when a Democrat is in power.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:19 am
RG,
“Is there some kind of support group for those of us of a more cynical disposition?”
I believe you are posting on it.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:29 am
“”There will be plenty of days to disagree with the policies of President Obama, to complain about the media hype. But for me today is not one of them. Today is a day to celebrate a peaceful transition of office in the most powerful country on Earth”"
Radvad, I agree completely. Clamouring now for unity when the left were threatening fire and brimstone if Omaba was to lose
And yet this was not the message observed by those when Bush won in 2000, the claws and poison was out before he even had the keys to the White House. Sad.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:31 am
And the Angel of the Lord said unto the people… jesus wept people, making a bit of production of this aren’t you?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:34 am
Argh, damn edit function, let me try that again…
“”There will be plenty of days to disagree with the policies of President Obama, to complain about the media hype. But for me today is not one of them. Today is a day to celebrate a peaceful transition of office in the most powerful country on Earth””
And yet this was not the message observed by those when Bush won in 2000, the claws and poison was out before he even had the keys to the White House. Sad.
Radvad, I agree completely. Clamouring now for unity when the left were threatening fire and brimstone if Omaba was to lose
January 21st, 2009 at 10:36 am
Boy, those folk must feel silly now.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:37 am
It is not a day to celebrate, is is a day to mourn.
Obama is an evil man, Helen Clark with more guns and more money, capable of threatening the freedom of the whole world instead of merely threatening the freedom of a few islands at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Many people voted against Bush because of his attacks on personal freedom: the joke is on them, because Bush is an amteur compared to Obama.
http://kiwipolemicist.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/barack-obamas-inauguration-a-communist-and-a-terrorist-is-now-the-worlds-most-powerful-man/
Rakaia George: you’ll find plenty of cynicism about the state of world affairs on my blog. DPF/Kiwiblog is an amateur compared to me in that regard (no offence intended). I don’t mince words: if I think that something is wrong I’ll load for bear and give it both barrels.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:38 am
Really, who cares – nothing will change. The US is in decline and must stay in the M.East to hold onto the oil reserves.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:39 am
You like the end of Joseph Lowerys speech, . “We ask you to help us work for that day when ……… white will embrace what is right”
Okaaaay then………
January 21st, 2009 at 10:40 am
Ryan,
Bush was brought down by the lefties. If they hadn’t opposed his every move, giving harbour and succour to the terrorists, then the USA would have triumphed in the war on evil terrorism and generally related badness long ago. Is this not obvious to you?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
Well, now the chimpanzee is in the house, the US is going to be further ensconsed on the road to ruin. Which means we are going to reach hell in our handbasket a damn site faster!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:44 am
“Well, now the chimpanzee is in the house, the US is going to be further ensconsed on the road to ruin.”
And we have a winner for the daily “biggest fucktard” competition, at only 10:41 am! Congrats, Mattyroo … your prize is waiting for you in Harlem, any time you feel like dropping by to pick it up.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:46 am
Who am I now going to have to hate??
With GWB having departed to Texas what are our media going to do. The new Messiah will sort out the world in a short time. Our MSM particularly the Harold cartoonists are going to be stumped as to whom they are to ridicule.
I suppose JK and our new government will have to do.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:47 am
On the positive side for the US they have managed to borrow loads of cash from China and then engineer a financial bankruptcy that will stop China developing for the next decade or two.
AG, how about those Islamic terrorists aye, they rock huh.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:47 am
Can we now see the original birth certificate?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:49 am
AG Says:
“And we have a winner for the daily “biggest fucktard” competition, at only 10:41 am! Congrats, Mattyroo … your prize is waiting for you in Harlem, any time you feel like dropping by to pick it up.”
Mate…. You and your lefty mates have a mortgage on the “biggest fucktard” prize, so I’m only too happy to relieve you of the burden for a day!
A good measure of Obama’s progress will be the DJIA – I bet it won’t be above 9000 by end of 09.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:50 am
Not a chance – NZ politicians have shown themselves to be consistently faultless and pure of heart.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:52 am
I suspect that crash landing of an airbus in the Hudson provided some “transformational” images equivalent to the first NASA photos of the earthrise over the moon.
Up until this event the image of an aircraft near Manhattan was the image of the planes flying into the twin towers and piloted by terrorists- an image burned into the minds of people all around the world.
Now there is a new image – a plane surviving a crash, a plane piloted by an American hero and the “miracle” made complete by the work of surrounding heros.
I nice kick start to a New President’s reign. And given the power of symbols and images compared to the power of “fix it” economists, the image of the plane and the hero may do more to lift the US economy than the Government’s Stimulus Package.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:52 am
I think Obama will be good for ‘merica. Can’t be any worse than Georgie but do you ‘folk’ really think that US foreign policy and global strategy will change significantly in the next one or two presidential terms?
Additionally the global economy is now fucked for about a decade. Anyone remember how to darn socks?
January 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
President Obama is so far shown himself to be the most charismatic and best orator President since Kennedy, now we will see if he can roll up his sleeves and get the “change” he promised implemented.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
Owen, its a bit early in the morning for political epiphanies isn’t it?
>“transformational” images equivalent to the first NASA photos of the earthrise over the moon.
Gag, more like a bird strike and some lucky circumstances that followed.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:07 am
I wonder if any US veterans of Korea and Vietnam are ticked off about a communist being the president of the USA?
http://kiwipolemicist.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/barack-obamas-inauguration-the-communists-have-won-the-cold-war/
January 21st, 2009 at 11:09 am
http://whoar.co.nz/2009/comment-whoarit-was-a-goodgreat-speechbut-i-still-reckon-a-capewith-tasteful-insigniawould-have-sealed-the-dealeh/
phil(whoar.co.nz)
January 21st, 2009 at 11:18 am
Market now down 3.5%…..
Where is the miracle Obama????
January 21st, 2009 at 11:19 am
phil,
obama only cares about africa as a) political capital b) if they can turn africa into the next china funded and under the US influence then happy days geopolitically. Good luck to him though.
As JFK actually delivered f.all so Obama will be resigned to history as the guy who dreamed big but had the 2000’s recession to deal with.
Good ole George, well he stole the oil off them A-rabs.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:23 am
Point of order Mr Speaker!
Philu has linkwhored without even a pretence of comment.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:27 am
Is wonderful to see. Go America! Home of the brave, land of the free alright.
I’m pretty sure his economic plans will be terrible, that his speeches are his greatest skill at the moment. If he gets his hands burnt and the world economy survives hopefully he’ll pull his hands back from the public purse and continue to inspire. Americans only need inspiration.
Hail to the Chief!
January 21st, 2009 at 11:30 am
And some small village in Texas is celebrating the return of its idiot…
January 21st, 2009 at 11:33 am
Atheist
I would never have know that you are American!
Are you flying directly to Dallas or is their a smaller airport closer to your home town?
January 21st, 2009 at 11:37 am
>Americans only need inspiration
and a banking system, and a car industry, and housing and middle east oil and…
January 21st, 2009 at 11:38 am
Big Bruv, actually that cracked me up!! Thanks for putting a smile on my face on a boring work day
January 21st, 2009 at 11:47 am
Is big bruv the first of the disillusioned Obama-ites?
January 21st, 2009 at 11:49 am
Right. And Japan attempting to conquer the Pacific is only a few generations away too. So what? Do you worry about the US going back to slavery any more than Japan attacking again. It’s over. It’s in the past. Let it go. Stop bringing it up.
MickySavage – The term BHO used was “warming planet”. That’s being debunked on many fronts.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:56 am
expat,
“transformational” was in quotes to indicate a certain irony derived from the fact that Obama is something of a walking cliche to whom such terms come naturally and frequently.
However, I have always been interested in the power of images and I am sure that Obama and his friends will be thrilled by a new “aircraft/New York” symbol – complete with New Man Hero – at just the right time. Think of Dame Whina Cooper on that long dusty road. Think of the EarthRise which unfortunately did much to promote the notion that the Earth is a fragile crystal like sphere and hence helped launch a new religion, and so on.
Inaugarations bring on ephinanies by the hundred – I just wanted to get in first on this one. Let’s see if it catches on.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Ryan… I suspect you’ll never feel shame for your bad choices in life. I suspect even if Obama makes some shocking mistakes the lefties will cover it up with heartwarming stories to make him seem perfect. Kind of what they did with Clinton.
I got home today and all the water in my house didn’t change to Merlot! I feel let down after all that hype… disappointing!
January 21st, 2009 at 12:01 pm
“Well, now the chimpanzee is in the house, the US is going to be further ensconsed on the road to ruin.”
I came into this thread expecting some semi-extreme and stupid but still remotely-interesting comments but this takes the cake!
What are you 16 mattyroo?
January 21st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Expat,
“AG, how about those Islamic terrorists aye, they rock huh.”
No. They’re fanatical morons. Like Bush was. You don’t have to be for them to be against him, you know!
January 21st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I think that history will judge Bush to be a greater president than Obama. So he made some mistakes, but who would have thought that the US would have 8 years free of domestic terrorism. And who knows what the long term effects of his actions in Afghanistan and Iraq will be.
I think the Obama presidency will be a disaster for the US.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Clintheine,
What on earth are you talking about?
Democrats in America have trouble thinking ill of Democrat presidents. Republicans in America have trouble thinking ill of Republican presidents (Bush was just particularly bad). It’s not much of a revelation that Americans are partisan, assuming that by “lefties” you mean “Democrats”.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:09 pm
beautox: what about Obama’s character and policies do you feel will contribute to him being a disaster for the US?
January 21st, 2009 at 12:09 pm
“We will restore science to its rightful place”
that means he doesnt believe in the global warming scam?
January 21st, 2009 at 12:09 pm
beautox,
“So he made some mistakes, but who would have thought that the US would have 8 years free of domestic terrorism.”
So, if we don’t count 9-11, Bush kept America safe? That’s a bit like saying “aside from hitting that iceburg, the Titanic’s voyage was uneventful”. And if this really is our yard-stick for greatness, Bill Clinton was the best of the lot -right?
January 21st, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Did anybody actually hear Obama take the oath?, he stumbled, mumbled and completely made a hash of it, this just proves that Obama is not much more than an Autocue reader.
I wonder if the media will point this out as they did with every mistake Bush made?
January 21st, 2009 at 12:22 pm
big bruv: see here: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/32505_Video-_Who_Stumbled_on_the_Oath#rss
January 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pm
AG : You are not history. Wait 20 years and you will see. President Truman had just as bad “approval ratings” when he left office, but history makes a very different judgment. He’s remembered for the things he achieved (finishing WW2) not the mistakes he made (korea).
fishe : He is man who has done little with his life but has written about his achievements. He’s all style and no substance. He will lead the US from being in a bad economic situation to a complete disaster. He only got elected because he is (half) black. He is a man who can’t even decide what kind dog to get without tying himself in knots.
imho
January 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I often surprise myself with the petty things I care about, but here’s how it happened:
January 21st, 2009 at 12:40 pm
beautox,
“AG : You are not history. Wait 20 years and you will see. President Truman had just as bad “approval ratings” when he left office, but history makes a very different judgment. He’s remembered for the things he achieved (finishing WW2) not the mistakes he made (korea).”
No – thankfully I’m not yet history. You also might note, however, that Calvin Coolidge and Warren G Harding left office regarded as failures … “history” (i.e. retrospective reappraisal by future generations) doesn’t quibble with that assessment.
You don’t know the future, I don’t know the future, so we’ll stick to the present … in which GHWB may be summed up (to quote the Economist magazine) as follows: “It is not all his fault. But for the most part, good policy repeatedly took a back seat to Mr Bush’s overweening political ambition. Both the country and, ultimately, the Republican Party are left the worse for it.”
January 21st, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Admittedly, Harding died in office, so maybe I’m being unfair to him … but anyway, my general point stands.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Last week all the pundits on Bloomberg TV were forecasting a rally this week due to the ‘Obama Effect’ though expecting a long term down trend…..The O’Bama Effect instead was accompanied by a massive 332 point fall on the Dow over 4%. The rest of the big powers so euphoric at the victory of O’Bama also seem to be marking his coronation with similar Market falls.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:59 pm
… and presumably it goes without saying that the markets are down because of Obama, not because of the balance of supply and demand for oil, butter, capital or computer chips!
January 21st, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Well well, the left and the media are already covering up for Hussein messiah Obama, apparently his complete cock up of the Oath is the fault of Justice Roberts.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Rat
The markets were going to bounce back because of Hussein Obama if you remember correctly, he is the Messiah!
January 21st, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Well when Justice Roberts says ‘repeat after me’, and then says words in the contrary order to how you’ve learned them, I think it’s fair that a cock-up follows a cock-up. No big deal in any sense, except to people who might decide that it’s symbolic of the way the country is going to be run, or something ridiculous like that.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
BB:
“baxter (704) Vote: 1 0 Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Last week all the pundits on Bloomberg TV were forecasting a rally this week due to the ‘Obama Effect’ …”
Is it really the pundits on Bloomburg TV – that well known haunt of lefty intelligentsia – that you are castigating for crowning Obama as the new messiah?
January 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Obamas remedial measures will take 4 years to implement and by that time may no longer be required.
January 21st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I suspect many school children think the US invented slavery. At the time the US practised slavery the whole world did.
The UK and the US happened to be the first nations to outlaw it. (The French did as part of the revolution but typically decided to excempt the colonies where it was economically important.)
January 21st, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Recession? What recession? Look at the up-beat celebration! Bit like the Roman emperors staging a circuses to keep the minds of the great unwashed off an impending routing by barbarians.
Still, nice sounding speech from OHB. Full of hope, grace and determination. And now for the actions to match those words …
January 21st, 2009 at 5:36 pm
.. and a nice one from BHO too (blush)
January 21st, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Nice to see Wall Street is a buyers haven as everybody with a brain knows Nobama is a joke.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Just to get away from the pretty pointless bagging or boosting of a Prez barely sworn in, how about pondering this. During the election campaign Obama’s running mate Joe Bidden was secretly taped predicting that there would be a foreign power that would test the new prez’s mettle within the first months of his term. Any predictions? How about we give odds – Russia, China, Iran, N korea…
January 21st, 2009 at 6:48 pm
John B – tough call. The 3News showed an Iranian rent-a-mob in Tehran chanting “Death to America. Death to Obama” and burning flags, photo etc. A clue perhaps?
January 21st, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Of course Rat while Bush was in office, the plunging markets were all his fault. Had the markets risen today the media and people like you would’ve hailed the Messiah’s wand being waved over Wall Street. Now that the markets have fallen of course its just mundane supply and demand issue.
If he governs as the idealogue he clearly is then we’re all in a for a rough ride and a long recession. If he governs as a pragmatist and listens to experienced real world economists who dont have an agenda (ie not following Hoover who turned the post 1929 crash from a recession to a depression by raising taxes and restricting trade) then the economy could recover quite quickly (Reagan’s tax cuts in 1982 saw a quick bounce back from the stagflation of the Carter years and Bush’s tax cuts saw a post 9/11 sharp contraction recover into economic growth for all quarters of his presidency from then on excepting the last 2).
Regardless of ideology, Obama’s inauguration does represent a stunning chapter in US history and closure on the issue of the disconnect between the lofty ideals of the Declaration of Independence and reality of Jim Crow.
Obama’s soaring rhetoric will not solve the problems he must now manage. He can no longer vote ‘Present’ as the proverbial buck stops with him. Islamic fundamentalists will merely switch their anti-American hatred to the new President as he can offer no concession that would ever appease them.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:04 pm
This is a change and an interesting one. What sort of a signal is this sending?
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January 21st, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Have at look at this for another big change:
http://www.kottke.org/09/01/the-countrys-new-robotstxt-file
January 21st, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Bush’s tax cuts saw a post 9/11 sharp contraction recover into economic growth for all quarters of his presidency from then on excepting the last 2).
Krugman disagrees with this. Somewhere in his area on the NY Times you can find graphs he produces to show the recovery was far longer than otherwise claimed. Sorry. Can’t find them at the moment but its worth looking regardless of whether you agree with him or not.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I love so called educated posters like mattyroo(chimpanzess in the white house) allways RACIST SHIT.You are a poor little dickless shit i could say,if i was really mean. OPPS l could have said the dickhead plays with himself(but thats abuse,hes too stupid to do that act) ,is that the best you can do, wopps the markets gone down,Mr Obama might put one of these RICH share manipulators in prision for a long time , that sort of act makes sharebrokers think
January 21st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Yawn.
It’s all down hill for Obama from this point on.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Thrash
Krugman is an ideologue and a very obvious anti-Republican and pro-Democrat partisan and so can always be relied upon to proffer an opinion on Bush and his policies that will be unswervingly unflattering. Check the GDP figures for each quarter post 9/11 – they speak for themselves http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=1&FirstYear=2007&LastYear=2008&Freq=Qtr
January 21st, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Interestingly he is already criticising Obama so he can’t be too partisan.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Found one of the graphs:
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/postmodern-recessions/
January 21st, 2009 at 8:54 pm
“Today was a great day for America and a good man took the oath of office, and we all offer our prayers for his success,” George W Bush said on his arrival home in Texas.
I accept that Bush wasn’t defeated in an election, but that impresses me as a comment of genuine grace about a political opponent from the departing President.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I suspect many school children think the US invented slavery. At the time the US practised slavery the whole world did.
The UK and the US happened to be the first nations to outlaw it.
Weasel words. Most kids I know are are a bloody sight better informed than those you fantasise about, and are well aware that slavery existed in the ancient world. As it happened, Britain had outlawed slavery before the American colonies’ declaration of independence. As Dr. Johnson noted at the time of the revolutionary war, “How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?”
January 21st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
“President Obama is so far shown himself to be the most charismatic and best orator President since Kennedy, now we will see if he can roll up his sleeves and get the “change” he promised implemented.”
Post of the week.
It’s as simple as that. Heads down , arses up.
And remember, Obama has already won against his American enemies. Their tired old has-been mantra; being a bum.
Obama has bummed them out!!
January 21st, 2009 at 11:04 pm
I’m pretty sure i had flash backs when i watched President Obamas inauguration, you know like a bad acid tab, It was really crazy because all of a sudden I found myself in 1934 surrounded by pomp and regalia.
We will not apologize for our way of life, you know how it goes.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:58 am
Owen McShane,
I was wondering what you mean’t, the comment seemed very, well, namby pamby and not you.
I stand corrected!
>>>
Owen McShane (537) Vote: 2 0 Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 11:56 am
expat,
“transformational” was in quotes to indicate a certain irony derived from the fact that Obama is something of a walking cliche to whom such terms come naturally and frequently.
However, I have always been interested in the power of images and I am sure that Obama and his friends will be thrilled by a new “aircraft/New York” symbol – complete with New Man Hero – at just the right time. Think of Dame Whina Cooper on that long dusty road. Think of the EarthRise which unfortunately did much to promote the notion that the Earth is a fragile crystal like sphere and hence helped launch a new religion, and so on.
Inaugarations bring on ephinanies by the hundred – I just wanted to get in first on this one. Let’s see if it catches on.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 am
To quote Bob Dylan
“Even the President of the United States sometimes stands naked”
I thought he spoke well, but seemed a lot faster than normal?
Time will tell, but in reality he is the front man for team Clinton.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Enough rope.
I am sure most school kids no that slavery existed in the ancient world. The point is that to read most post modernist commentaries you would think that in recent times only the US had slaves and that every where else slavery had disappeared along with the ancient world. You may have noticed too that I said the UK and the US were the first to outlaw it and what made this truly remarkable was that this was at considerable cost to the UK economy at the time. By the time the US outlawed slavery most of the world was still practising it and indeed much of the world is still practising it today. The UK slave traders were only able to find slaves to ship from Africa to the US because slave trading was so well established throughout Africa.
I wonder how long it will be before France or Germany have a black president or PM?
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Earlier this year the Centre recommended Robert Higgs paper “Regime Uncertainty” which emphasised that while any Government’s natural response to a crisis is “to do something” the necessary ingredient for ending a recession or depression is to remove all possible obstacles to private investment.
This was an important message then and is even more important now.
We should ask every politician, on waking in the morning, to ask not “What can I do for my country?” but to ask “What can I UNDO for my country?”
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Owen McShane:
You may have noticed too that I said the UK and the US were the first to outlaw it and what made this truly remarkable was that this was at considerable cost to the UK economy at the time.
Hogwash. As you’re no doubt aware, slavery was only effectively abolished in the US at the conclusion of the Civil War. As for voluntary abolition of slavery being a drain on the British economy, Britain supported the South, and benefited from slavery, as the “Manchester cotton trade” was seen as vital to its economy. If you’d been around then you’d no doubt have been part of the cheer squad.
As for the pernicious influences of “post modernist theory”, if you waste your time reading such nonsense then more fool you.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
While George W Bush is gone from the White House in a flurry of ridicule, and a deluge of denigratory comment from the likes of Dominion Post Foreign Affairs editorial writer and former diplomatic hack Terence O’Brien, I want to strike an entirely contrary note to the one sounded by the current tidal wave of Obamania in the NZ press.
Setting aside for a moment the fact that Obama is completely untested in the heat of high-level decision-making and therefore has yet to show us whether he is actually capable of matching the high-falutin’ rhetoric with bold action, let’s instead remind ourselves of a few salient facts about “Dubya” which may show him to have been a much better president that current polls suggest.
For a start, he is a victim of the Twentyfirst Century ceaseless search for novelty. People get tired of the same face. Of all the judgements on him which people have rushed into print with here and elsewhere, there is not one which seems to be aware that it is far too early to make any assessment whatever of his legacy. It will be at least 10 years before the light of history will shine strongly enough to permit such a thing.
There are some other things that we do know now however. One is that by taking the War on Terror to Al Qaeda and its allies in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, he has achieved his principal objective, which was to stop terrorists attacks on American soil. While the loony leftists and the appeasers rant about the deaths in Iraq, they fail to observe that this week, peaceful provincial elections were held ion that country for the first time, with all the factions taking part. This was because US trained Iraqi soldiers and police ensured that there was safety in the streets.
Blair and Bush have been vilified by those numerous commentators who actually believe that murderous terrorists like Bin Laden are really only maladjusted and misunderstood and will settle down if given a year’s free subscription to the New York Times. The truth is that these people are in retreat because of the determination of the Coalition of the Willing to hunt them down and force them to defend themselves instead of allowing them to prey unhindered on the innocent, as the UN is prone to permit them to do. While we must accept that there have been far too many civilian deaths in Iraq (mainly Iraqis on Iraqis) since the invasion there, at least Saddam is no longer free to slaughter 400,000 of his own innocent people with mustard gas. Dictators around the world with the blood of thousands of their own people on their hands are no longer able to sleep as easy in their beds as they once were. A number of them are now before international courts but only because US and British and other forces have spoken to them in the only language they recognize, that which comes out of the barrel of a gun.
Finally Bush is being blamed for the US financial meltdown when in fact is Bill Clinton who fired up Freddie Mack and Fannie May to issue housing loans to all sorts of people who had no capacity to make repayments.
Bush never flinched from what he believed and I for one (though I am possibly the only person in NZ who does) admire that. He didn’t falter even when some maniac journalist threw a shoe at him at a Press Conference, which everyone, especially the anti-Bush journos present, reported the next day as a huge laugh. Would it have been as funny if the shoe had been packed with high explosive and had killed the man at whom it was aimed, and half-a dozen journalists as well?
Thanks to Bush and Blair, some Western democracies have demonstrated a willingness to stand up the Mad Mullahs, and the world is a safer place for that.
9/2/09