Friday, March 15, 2013

The seven-year twitch

These musings humbly began seven years ago, today.  Of late I've had little time to devote to thoughtful writing, and I've generally tried not to post just for the sake of posting.

I made time for today, however.  Seven years is a long time to observe trends and try to distill one's thoughts about the goings-on around them.  Over that period:

- The national debt more than doubled, from $7.8 trillion to $16.7 trillion.  In seven years, we added more debt than we did in the previous two-and-a-quarter centuries, world wars and all.

- Emperor Dubya--first elected on a campaign platform of 'humble foreign policy' and an aversion to nation-building--doubled down on the optional war in Iraq.  Since this blog began, 2,855 American service members died in Iraq.  Another 2,000 or so have died in Afghanistan which, after eleven years, remains unfinished business.  More than 50,000 other Americans have been wounded--many of these maimed for life.

- Growing public dissatisfaction with such figures resulted in the 2008 election of Emperor Hopenchange who, after "growing in office," not only didn't end the wars he'd campaigned against, but upped the ante by helping topple the Libyan regime, regularly buzzing Pakistan (among other places) with robotic air raids, and enabling proxy forces to dip their toes in places like Mali and Niger.

- But wait!  There's more!  Bellicose rhetoric against that favorite of villains, Iran, seems inversely proportional to economic woes in the Indispensable Nation.  Whatever else they are, the Mullahs are useful tools of distraction for an increasingly impoverished America.

- The financial crisis of 2008 caused the Bifactional Ruling Class to deploy around $50 billion (TARP) to deal with unemployment approaching 6.7 percent.  Four years and several additional floods of bailout (taxpayer) money later, overall unemployment is a full percentage point higher.

- The Guantanamo Bay Retirement Home for Suspected Jihadists remains open for business, though it seems nobody's really in a hurry to, you know, actually reach a verdict on any of the guests' statuses...

- The "Eye in the Sky" went from being a Top-40 hit to a growing reality in the Formerly Land of the Free 

- The price of gold went from $600/oz to $1600/oz;  silver from $10.25/oz to $28.50/oz

- The price of hi-velocity lead tripled... due in no small part to Uncle Sam's buying spree and the public's growing realization that the Constitution, 2nd Amendment and all, is merely a piece of paper to our so-called betters.

- This post, four years ago, was on the day the Senate last passed a budget for the Feral Government.

The pain and the pace continue to increase.  Please excuse me if I've chosen to minimize my focus on that fact in recent days.  My deliberations, like those of many people much more knowledgeable than me, are unlikely to bring about the sober course corrections needed to avert national disaster.  In short, my goals have morphed from raging against the dying of the light to stockpiling matches for my family and seeking out others with the foresight to do the same.
"A nation preserved with liberty trampled underfoot is much worse than a nation in fragments but with the spirit of liberty still alive.  Southerners persistently claim that their rebellion is for the purpose of preserving this form of government."
Private John H. Haley, 17th Maine Regiment , USA

1 comment:

Jim said...

JT -- I read you loud and clear. Standing fast here -- looking up, but still working!! Thank you for taking the time to write -- for me it is a blessing.

Jim

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