REDUX: "Mr. Cool Reveals Himself"

This is from May 28, 2010---

Barack Obama once stated to an interviewer that one of his jobs was to make the Presidency "cool" again. Until his latest press conference, he was having quite a go at that. But then, it all fell apart.

I'm about to state an opinion; you may or may not agree. I'm picking on Obama and the Democrats mostly because they often somewhat haughtily claim to be on the "High Road", and along with the Globalist Media, look down upon the Republicans as nothing more than naysayers. [It's too bad that more Congress people don't say "Nay" to the asinine levels of borrowing and spending by the Fed Government.] Don't misunderstand, though, I don't think much of the Republican Party either.

If you watch Obama's last press conference carefully, quite often you'll see right through the man's polished slickness directly into his true nature. At times his normally composed, clipped speech pattern becomes hesitant, a little confused, and disingenuous. That usually happens while he's trying to relate to the people being impacted by the catastrophic oil discharge in the Gulf. He can't quite get there; he comes off as being too academic, too distant, almost uncaring. At one point the normally eloquent Obama summed up the catastrophe to Gulf residents and the environment as "messed up". That seems to be his grasp of the depth of the disaster. Members of the Press Corps sometimes looked at each other in disbelief according to a few pundits. His performance was dismal and basically demonstrated that he really isn't much of an inspiring leader.

Toward the end of the conference, Obama finally admitted that the Fed Government has been in charge of the oil discharge response since day one. I knew that should be the case because I'm familiar with the 1990 Oil Pollution Act and the National Contingency Plan (dealing with responses to massive oil and hazardous substances spills). I'm convinced that the only reason he finally claimed ownership of the response is because so many critics were asking, "When will the government take over?". That ownership was not apparent prior to the press conference because, in my opinion, the Executive Branch didn't want people to know that the Feds were totally in charge...because the response was perceived as not going well. After finishing speaking, Obama almost ran out of the room...no smile, a somewhat blanched look on his face. He knew he had given a poor performance, that he had not related well to the situation.

That press conference demonstrated to me that Obama is not the person his devoted followers perceive him to be. He's just another slick, millionaire, well dressed, normally well spoken politician who really can't relate to people out of his sphere, or to their suffering in cases like this disaster. I saw the same exact thing in Bush (except for the well spoken part) relative to Katrina.

So much for "cool". Who cares about that in the Presidency anyway? Just once I'd like to see a President who dresses like Ralph Nader, cares like Jimmy Carter, communicates like Ronald Reagan (in his prime), and thinks as well as William F. Buckley, Jr. once did. Oh, and please, no more millionaires.

Be Well

Evidence of Oligarchy

At various times throughout the history of the USA, the following men made the following statement (paraphrased) regarding U.S. citizens:
"The ignorant public must not be allowed to truly participate in Government.".
~  James Madison, one of our Founders
~  Walter Lippman, a so-called "Liberal" and known as the Dean of American Journalism
~  Edward Bernays, the author of Propaganda: Molding the Public Mind (1928) and generally recognized as the Founder of the Public Relations industry

Carroll Quigley, a well respected Professor at Georgetown U. and Bill Clinton's mentor, wrote this in 1966:
"The tragedy is that we no longer have a representative government in this country; the hope is that the little people will come to accept that... because there is nothing they can do about it."
From Tragedy and Hope (1966) by Quigley
Professor Quigley considered himself one of the Oligarchs, thus he referred to the rest of us as the "little people".  He had been given unfettered access to the papers of various Institutions and members of the "ruling class" for the purpose of writing his book.  In addition to the above, he claimed that the Council on Foreign Relations (the CFR) was a front for the J.P. Morgan [Chase] Company.  In other words, a mega bank was highly influential in the determination of U.S. Foreign Policy.  Keep in mind that Quigley was not some conspiracy theory nutcake; he was a very well respected historian.  Toward the end of his life, he came to believe that this particular book of his was being suppressed in the United States; however, he never claimed that was any kind of conspiracy.  One thing was clear:  various Oligarchs were not happy with Tragedy and Hope.  It was too revealing.

Alberto Gonzales, the former Bush Attorney General of the U.S., not long ago testified before a Congressional Hearing that "The Constitution does not grant us the Right of Habeas Corpus; therefore, the Gov't doesn't necessarily have to observe it."  [The U.S. Constitution DOES NOT GRANT us any Rights whatsoever; instead, it protects the Natural Rights we acquire at birth.  Governments cannot grant Rights, only privileges.  Natural Rights are held by people completely independent of any government.  That is a very well established principle dating at least as far back as the Magna Carta.]

Not long after the Gulf Oil Disaster of fairly recent history, the International Head of BP Oil (can't remember his name) stated in a news interview:  "I can understand how the small people [the Gulf residents] would feel that way."  That was in response to a newsperson stating that the people along the Gulf coast felt that BP was not doing enough regarding the spill.  I clearly recall the guy making that statement on TV; I was truly astounded.  His condescension was palpable.

Those are but a very few snippets of evidence (or at the very least, powerful suggestions) that this country is subject to the rule of Oligarchs.  I believe the same applies to most other countries in the world as well.  I suspect that many people don't believe it's true because they keep drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid.  Part of that Kool Aid is the misinformation that the whole business is just another "conspiracy theory".  I again emphasize:  it's not a conspiracy.  It's in plain sight for the most part.  It's more along the lines of super-rich people having similar interests and objectives (power & money), working sometimes independently of each other and sometimes cooperatively to reach mutual goals.  Simply because they don't go out of their way to reveal their methods does not mean that the whole thing is some sort of conspiracy.  The phrase "conspiracy theory" is used by Oligarchs and their dupes to squash serious discussion of controversial subjects.  More often than not, it works well.

Happy Trails

Mr. Cool Reveals Himself

Barack Obama once stated to an interviewer that one of his jobs was to make the Presidency "cool" again. Until his latest press conference, he was having quite a go at that. But then, it all fell apart.

I'm about to state an opinion; you may or may not agree. I'm picking on Obama and the Democrats mostly because they often somewhat haughtily claim to be on the "High Road", and along with the Globalist Media, look down upon the Republicans as nothing more than naysayers. [It's too bad that more Congress people don't say "Nay" to the asinine levels of borrowing and spending by the Fed Government.] Don't misunderstand, though, I don't think much of the Republican Party either.

If you watch Obama's last press conference carefully, quite often you'll see right through the man's polished slickness directly into his true nature. At times his normally composed, clipped speech pattern becomes hesitant, a little confused, and disingenuous. That usually happens while he's trying to relate to the people being impacted by the catastrophic oil discharge in the Gulf. He can't quite get there; he comes off as being too academic, too distant, almost uncaring. At one point the normally eloquent Obama summed up the catastrophe to Gulf residents and the environment as "messed up". That seems to be his grasp of the depth of the disaster. Members of the Press Corps sometimes looked at each other in disbelief according to a few pundits. His performance was dismal and basically demonstrated that he really isn't much of an inspiring leader.

Toward the end of the conference, Obama finally admitted that the Fed Government has been in charge of the oil discharge response since day one. I knew that should be the case because I'm familiar with the 1990 Oil Pollution Act and the National Contingency Plan (dealing with responses to massive oil and hazardous substances spills). I'm convinced that the only reason he finally claimed ownership of the response is because so many critics were asking, "When will the government take over?". That ownership was not apparent prior to the press conference because, in my opinion, the Executive Branch didn't want people to know that the Feds were totally in charge...because the response was perceived as not going well. After finishing speaking, Obama almost ran out of the room...no smile, a somewhat blanched look on his face. He knew he had given a poor performance, that he had not related well to the situation.

That press conference demonstrated to me that Obama is not the person his devoted followers perceive him to be. He's just another slick, millionaire, well dressed, normally well spoken politician who really can't relate to people out of his sphere, or to their suffering in cases like this disaster. I saw the same exact thing in Bush (except for the well spoken part) relative to Katrina.

So much for "cool". Who cares about that in the Presidency anyway? Just once I'd like to see a President who dresses like Ralph Nader, cares like Jimmy Carter, communicates like Ronald Reagan (in his prime), and thinks as well as William F. Buckley, Jr. once did. Oh, and please, no more millionaires.

Oil Spill Response

Obama has been posturing lately regarding BP's handling of the oil spill in the Gulf. Here's what he's not telling you.

Ever heard of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, or as it's better known, the National Contingency Plan (NCP)? Take a look at this overview---
http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/lawsregs/ncpover.htm
Be patient, it loads somewhat slowly.

Here are what some of the various Sections deal with: 300.110, the National Response Team; 300.115, Regional Response Teams; 300.135a, authorizes the predesignated On-Scene Coordinator to direct all federal, state, and private response activities at the site of a discharge. There are many other significant sections.

The current BP oil discharge meets the criteria for the NCP to kick in. So, a few questions arise, as follows.

1. Has the Executive Branch implemented the National Contingency Plan relative to the BP oil discharge in the Gulf?
2. If not, why not?
3. If so, who is the On-Scene Coordinator?
4. What agencies are being coordinated?
5. What is being accomplished by the Federal efforts?

The people along the Gulf Coast deserve answers. We all deserve answers. How about it, Mr. President?

[Thanks go to Alex for generating the idea for this piece.]