Dark Times Indeed

"These are dark times indeed," said Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic, shortly before his ministry and his health went south. Scrimgeour was an auror and head of the Auror Office, so he had practical experience hunting down dark wizards and at least a little experience as an executive. Things might have gone better for him if he had had a job in the real world (or even the surreal world of wizards and witches), or if he had done a bit as Governor of an American state—say, Wisconsin or maybe Texas—before he became Chief Executive of the magical world. Or at least the British part of the magical world.

I thought of Scrimgeour, I now must confess, when I read Benny Morris's piece in the National Interest.

Prediction is always risky or plain silly, but my guess is that when the dust settles, which it will, in a month or two or three's time, one will see that Western—and Israeli—interests in the Middle East will have been substantially undermined and anti-Western—and anti-Israeli—interests substantially bolstered. Similarly, one will see that the regimes which are, by nature and tradition very brutal, such as Iran's, Syria's and possibly Libya's, will weather the storm whereas those which are softer, more inclined to measures of liberalisation, partly because of attentiveness to messages from Washington, will either have fallen or will have given ground, and a large measure of power, to anti-Western, often Islamist, elements within each country.

I am not at all without hope. I think that there is at least a chance that the turbulence in the world's unstable middle will lead to better governments, regimes that are more stable because they are more attentive to the needs of their peoples. Such regimes would not necessarily be pro-American, to be sure. They might be a lot less so. But they would be equally suspicious of Iran and very concerned to avoid becoming another Iran.

Only a fool would trust that that is where the Middle East is going. Morris gives us a view that is much less pleasant but annoyingly plausible. The more brutal regimes will survive precisely because they are more brutal. The regimes that tried to manage their populations—stretching from the most modern to the most Medieval—with an eye to approval from the West will curl up like plastic wrap on hot charcoal.

Only a fool would suppose that the United States can determine the outcome of events in the Middle East. Perhaps we could make a difference here or there, but would require attention, coordination, and shrewd judgment. We can assume the absence of all three.

What we might do is prepare for the worst. The developed world is dependent on oil from the Middle East. If the regimes in that regime become more hostile, the rest of the world may have to become harder than we want to be. We might want to put our economic house in order, for example.

Unfortunately, we have as our Chief Executive a man who has never even been an auror. At present his attention is focused on a labor dispute in Wisconsin. He has no plan whatsoever to restore the American Government to financial solvency. He isn't interested in that. His foreign policy consists of speaking harshly to our allies while being polite, if not scrupulously silent, about our enemies.

These may be dark times indeed. Where is Voldemort now that we need him?

Comments

[larry kurtz]

Cute post, Ken.

He Who Must Not Be Named is practicing law in Sioux Falls, his Cadillac is locked and loaded.

[Dave]

I say we consult the oracle that is Glenn Beck.

[KB]

Dave: Like Voldemort, Glenn Beck isn't real. He's made for TV. Obama and Qaddafi are real.

[duggersd]

Unlike Morris, I believe Libya will have something new before very long. I am not very optimistic the new whatever forms will be particularly friendly towards the West. On the other hand, I believe they will want the cash that comes from their natural resource. This should lead countries such as Libya to at least be willing to trade.

[larry kurtz]

Saw a great twitter post today: "Khadafi defeats spellchecker."

[Dave]

KB,

Do your friends know that you are saying GB is a fraud?

[Dave]

And...

Khadafi didn't get where he is today because of any thing Obama did, or didn't do...

[Dave]

Or perhaps your remark is meant to "refudiate" Fox "news" in general...

[Donald Pay]

Huh? Our last President held hands with Middle Eastern autocrats, and Obama has made one or two short statements on Wisconsin's situation, which gets weirder by the day, thanks to our Khadafi-lite governor. Obama has spent the last two years cleaning up after Bush's failed economic program and fiscal irresponsibility. I have a hard time understanding your hallucinations.

[William]

Leaving aside the political blame game (there's plenty to go around and the Middle East has never had easy, nor good, answers to its problems), the simple fact is that without energy neither the US, nor any other developed country can maintain it's current standards of living.

"Green energy" is no where near capable of meeting our energy requirements now, or in the foreseeable future and no amount of government (or private) investment NOW is going to change that fact. The truth is, we have neither the wealth nor the capability to "transform" our energy infrastructure in any meaningful time-frame to react to changes in our energy supplies TODAY.

Oil and coal are the lifeblood providing the comfortable existence most Americans have known for their lifetimes.

America IS being transformed, not by design, but by circumstances beyond our control and the very measures we might use to mitigate this transformation are being thwarted, for the most part, by those that are supposedly representing us.

There is a growing number of citizens and elected officials that realize the challenges facing us and are attempting to face up to them, yet they may still be too few to avoid some serious pain in the near term.

With high energy prices comes higher prices at the gas pump, higher prices in the grocery stores, higher rates of defaults on debt (including mortgages), higher unemployment, higher levels of government debt, higher prices on additional consumer goods and ultimately higher inflation and interest rates in both private and public debt that increases risk of default.

If left unchecked, it becomes a "death spiral" as our monetary system is based on the credibility of our government's ability to honor its debts in a currency of value. The Federal Government can always "print enough money" to meet it's "dollar debt", but to do so devalues the dollar. States don't have the option of monetizing its debt, but must make hard choices in meeting its budget and when (not if) States begin to default the Federal government absolutely cannot off them "bailouts" by increasing it's own debt or its monetary supply!

If we reach a point, and I fear we're much closer than many would like to admit, where the value of the dollar is undermined to the point that it's no longer valued relative to the goods and services it requires to save and invest, and in turn no longer valued by trading partners, we're enter a very scary place that has very bad consequences.

Those of us old enough to remember gas lines and stagflation are seeing troubling signs of "back to the future". A big difference to consider now, in comparing that period is this; we're no longer the dominant industrial and military power we were then.

If we don't start fixing problems, instead of simply attempting to fix "blame" for them, we're not seriously facing the reality that confronts us.

[Donald Pay]

William,

Fine, William, but I've heard the same blather for the last thirty years of center right hegemony. This blather has not solved the problems. Ignoring the need to transition from old energy to new energy has brought the day of reckoning closer.

[Jimi]

"Do your friends know that you are saying GB is a fraud?"

Once again Dave shows his ignorance! The Left believes that their political enemies on the Right don't have any experience, don't know how to read, and get all their information from T.V......just like they do. I have found they actually believe that the only place the Right gets it's information from is Glenn Beck, all because there are many things Beck agrees with the Right on and because he has such strong ratings.

It's amazing....and it really exposes the fact that the Left refuses to understand it's political enemies....which is a good thing....because they will be defeated in the culture war in the public eye very handily because of it.

[Jimi]

Donald,

"Obama has spent the last two years cleaning up after Bush's failed economic program and fiscal irresponsibility."

Make an analysis with some, because where I'm standing....you sound like teenage idiot!

[Jimi]

FACTS

[Dave]

Jimi demands "FACTS" but provides only innuendo and personal attacks to support his position...

[Jimi]

Dave,

And your point???

[BillW]

Ths is a real breakthrough. I think that for the first time since I have been following the blog we have harmony in that we all agree that Glen Beck is an idiot. Now if we can come to similar consensus on just one of equally moronic left wingers we might really get somewhere.

[Dave]

I think it's funny and insightful, but...

from http://dipshitconservatives.com/you-might-be-a-tea-bagger-if/

1) You’re offended at any suggestion that the Tea Party is racist, even though nobody objects when people show up at your rallies with blatantly racist signs and slogans.

2) Ronald Reagan is your hero because he was against raising taxes and big government… even though he raised taxes 11 times, doubled the national debt, and tripled the size of government.

3) You mocked Nancy Pelosi for getting emotional when she reflected on the murder of her friend, Mayor George Mosconi, but you think it’s manly when John Boehner blubbers when he watches reruns of Flipper.

4) You were all in favor of George Bush bringing “Democracy” to Iraq by invading and killing hundreds of thousands of women and children, but you think Obama “blew it” by staying out of it when the people of Tunisia and Egypt toppled their dictators in popular revolts.

5) You think Climate Change is a big hoax because Senator James Inhofe, firmly in the pocket of the oil companies says it’s bogus.

6) You think president Obama’s birth certificate is a forgery, and that he managed to fool the CIA, FBI, NSA, Secret Service and the entire US government archive of documents with one Photoshopped image.

7) You think president Obama is a socialist, because he wants all Americans to pay their share of taxes, including the rich, and all Americans to enjoy the same benefits of an equitable society, including the same healthcare that Congress enjoys.

8) You think Glenn Beck’s theory of a Code Pink/Muslim/Communist alliance conspiracy to take over the world in a 21st Century caliphate makes perfect sense. (JIMI)

9) You believe the Citizens United decision was all about corporate “free speech,” yet you’re against the Fairness Doctrine being reenacted, because you think it’s contrary to “free speech.”

10) You are absolutely pro-life, under all circumstances — except when an abortion doctor is executed in his church, because he asked for it.

11) You thought it was cool when Sarah Palin “targeted” Democratic seats on her website with crosshairs, including Gaby Giffords. But when Giffords was shot in Arizona, you didn’t see any connection.

12) You think Sarah Palin would make a good president because she’s a feisty conservative, but that Diane Feinstein should be run out of town, because she’s a feisty liberal.

13) You think George Soros, a Hungarian born American citizen, is an enemy of freedom because he uses his vast wealth to meddle in foreign affairs. But you think it’s great that Rupert Murdoch, an Australian citizen, uses his vast wealth to meddle in American affairs.

14) The main reason you despise George Soros, is because he helped bring down three foreign governments; the Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, and Soviet Georgia. Three communist regimes. Ronald Reagan on the other hand, took down one communist regime: Grenada… Reagan: 1, Soros: 3. Ergo, Soros is an un-American commie. Besides, Sean Hannity said so.

15) You think being a Teabagger makes you more patriotic than liberals, because you own more guns than them wussies.

16) You screamed bloody murder when president Obama rescued GM and Chrysler, because they were “going to fail anyway.” But now that they’re both on the road to recovery, you think George W. Bush deserves most of the credit.

17) When Barack Obama was sworn in, the Dow Jones was at 6500. Today, it’s at 12,400, almost double where it was. And at that time, the economy was shedding 700,000 jobs per month, a trend that has been arrested and reversed ever since. From that, you deduce Obama’s the one who wrecked the economy.

18) You still believe Saddam had WMDs.

19) You are dead-set against “judicial activist” judges, but you were okay with it when the five conservative justices of the Supreme Court voted in favor of Citizens United, effectively guaranteeing our politicians will be bought by the highest bidder, rather than elected by the people.

20) You’re strongly opposed to gay rights, because you claim it’s not biblical. Except in the case of Ken Mehlman, Mary Cheney, and Ted Haggard, because they still vote “right” on the issues.

21) You want all illegal immigrants rounded up and deported, ASAP, no exceptions, period, period, PERIOD. But you don’t want any criminal charges filed against the corporations that have been hiring them en masse in violation of law.

22) One of your stated concerns with Barack Obama’s candidacy, was that he was too inexperienced for the job, yet you want Sarah Palin to challenge him next year.

23) You hate tax cheats, and people who abuse their status for personal advancement — but you admire Clarence Thomas, and have no problem with his wife “speaking on behalf of her husband” at the Heritage Foundation, a far right-wing organization.

24) You went ballistic when an illegal immigrant murdered an American in Texas two years ago, and you demanded justice. But when three members connected to the Tea Party murdered 9 year old Brisenia Flores, you and your right-wing media barely even mentioned it, nor the conviction.

25) You equate being a “community organizer” to being a Marxist, yet you claim to worship a God whose entire life was being a community organizer.

26) You claim Barack Obama is soft of terrorism and that he’s sympathetic to Muslim extremists. Yet during his first two years in office, his administration captured or killed more terrorists than George Bush did in all eight years of his presidency.

27) You cheered as Andrew Breitbart and his faux journalists brought down ACORN. But when Breitbart got caught doctoring footage of Shirley Sherrod, which brought into question his veracity, you accused her of waging a “race war.”

28) You support Israel’s policies regarding the West Bank and Gaza, because Israel is a democracy, like us. But when Arabs democratically voted in anti-American and anti-Israeli governments, it bewildered you.

29) Your spiritual hero, the Grande Dame of the conservative movement, is Ayn Rand; the dedicated anti-socialist. And yet, she herself in her later years, had no problem secretly cashing in on social security and Medicare.

30) You still think fascism and socialism are the same thing, because Glenn Beck has convinced you of that with his magic blackboard. This way, nobody can accuse you of being similar to the Nazis… even though you are.

[Jimi]

Hehe!

Ignorance is bliss isn't it Dave?

[duggersd]

Dave, I read your first you might be and after that quit. I knew there was no point in going farther. The fact of the matter is TEA Party activists have gone out of their way to marginalize racists, etc. from their rallies. As a matter of fact, many of the racists as you point out are actually liberals carrying the signs to sully the reputation of the TEA Party. And if you really want to see who the racists, homophobes and sexists are, just look at Madison, WI. Your post is nothing but hate and really shows the level of intellect you apply. And I see Jimi is right there with you.

[Dave]

duggersd,

You say that "As a matter of fact, many of the racists as you point out are actually liberals carrying the signs to sully the reputation of the TEA Party" and "if you really want to see who the racists, homophobes and sexists are, just look at Madison, WI."

Specifically, which of the many racist I pointed out were liberals? Perhaps a link to a story with some sort of evidence would be helpful.
And I assume when you talk of "racist, homophobes and sexist" in Madison, you don't know what you are talking about... Again, a link to a story of some sort would be nice.

[Dave]

Oh, I see... Andrew Breitbart accuses a lefty website of using deceptive editing and actors... Well, if there's anybody that could be called an expert in these techniques it'd be Andy.

[Jimi]

Duggersd,

Not sure what your trying to say in reference to me, but I have been to few Tea Party Rallies...have you?

I don't agree with Dave's little childish analysis, and after previous comments from this guy, I'm not gonna give him the honor of learning a damn thing. He doesn't want to learn anything....he just wants to be a hater.

What you are saying to Dave is correct, because I saw it with my own Eyes, and watched how the local media spun it after the rally.

Dave,

Why aren't you concerned about the Racist comments from Obama?

"White Man's Greed runs a World in Need"

"I ceased to advertise my mother's race at tweleve or thirteen when I began to suspect I was ingratiating myself to whites"

"Still there was something about him that made me wary, A little too sure of himself, maybe...And White. He had said himself that that was a problem."

"I found solice in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race"

[duggersd]

Jimi, I read your comment as being in agreement with Dave. I guess you meant the opposite. I apologize.
Dave:
http://www.breitbart.tv/more-hate-from-union-thug-protesters-youre-a-bad-jew/
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/02/24/video-rhode-island-union-supporter-to-cameraman-ill-fk-you-in-the-ass-you-faggot/
http://newsbusters.org/?q=blogs/lachlan-markay/2010/04/11/lefty-group-tries-infiltrate-tea-parties-offensive-signs-will-msm-ta
Enough?
BTW, these are all videos.

[Dave]

Yes, of course they're all videos... Videos from honest people with no political agenda... lol...

[Jimi]

Dave,

Here is your big chance to redeem yourself. Duggersd made a case using evidence to support his position. In a normal debate, you would provide a rebuttal with evidence of your own, that supports your position.

Instead, you add another claim to the debate which transitions from the original point, by claiming that his evidence actually isn't evidence.

By doing so you, have officially been defeated, and therefore leave a common sense thinker to make the conclusion that you yourself do not have faith in your own original arguement.

Therefore, at this point in time you only one of two options:

1.) Concede the point to Duggersd, and change your original position based on newly learned information

2.) Defeat Duggersd with evidence of your own that not only counters his evidence, but trumps it!

Which is it going to be?

[Dave]

Of course when i said "a link to a story" I gave you the benefit of the doubt that you might choose a reputable "news" source...

But nothing on the protesters in Madison, eh? Try worldnetdaily... I hear they've got a top notch crew...

[Jimi]

Dave,

Do us the honor of defining what and who are the "Reputable News Sources?"

[Dave]

Jimi, Trying to have an educated discussion with you is like debating a urinal...

[larry kurtz]

Flush the toilet, Dave. Send 'em to their reward.

[William]

Let me get THIS straight, Dave links to a "rant" from:
http://dipshitconservatives.com/you-might-be-a-tea-bagger-if/ and then CLAIMS "I gave you the benefit of the doubt that you might choose a reputable "news" source...

Let's analyze the link - "DIP SHIT CONSERVATIVES - YOU- MIGHT-BE-A-TEA-BAGGER-IF"

For all the normal folks on Planet Earth, Dave & Larry simply display themselves as the less than useful idiots they really are.

My suggestion; let's quit indulging their self-indulgent, totally irrelevant, intellectually masturbatory rantings go unanswered from this point forward.

They will either cry to their mommies that we're mean to them, or continue to embarrass themselves in a public display of pseudo-intellectual garbage that would be rejected in a freshman-class kegger debate.

Win-win, for serious conversation, lose-lose for the juvenile rantings of those in need of serious medication and adult guardianship.

[Ken Blanchard]

You guys are doing are doing so well, I hate to butt in. But I will.

Dave: the long screed you published discredits the author. Do you really want to share his/her shame? Take, for example, the term "tea baggers". That is homophobic, isn't it? Or do I need to explain the term?

Or consider item #1:"You’re offended at any suggestion that the Tea Party is racist, even though nobody objects when people show up at your rallies with blatantly racist signs and slogans." Tea Party organizations have made strong objections to the rare instances of racism that have appeared among their members or at their rallies. Meanwhile no one on the left objected to racist comments about Justice Clarence Thomas on their side.

There are bad eggs in both baskets. Maybe, just maybe, we should argue about the policy questions and leave alone each other's character.

[duggersd]

Dave, those are contextual videos showing what I said was happening. These videos do not need some commentator giving some sort of analysis. I dare say you cannot refute what is before your eyes. Enough of this one.

[Dave]

Ken,

Thanks for being the voice of reason(?).
And I agree there are "bad apples" all around us. However, I think the problem your readers are having with this list is not so much that it's wrong, but that it hits a little close to home. And while no one person (hopefully) could have all the attributes listed, many have several.

Is there some truth to each remark? Absolutely! Is each remark the gospel truth? Absolutely not! This is the grey area bloggers and the media operate in every day. This is what Ken Blanchard does!

BTW Ken, "tea bagging" is no more a homophobic term than "shaking hands"...

I do however find it curious that you you object to the list statement about tea party racist and defend tea party organizations efforts to rid rallies of racist elements. But go on to make this slanderous statement "Meanwhile no one on the left objected to racist comments about Justice Clarence Thomas on their side."

Working the gray area and getting you "evidence" from Breitbart no doubt...

[Dave]

Still waiting to see who the "racists, homophobes and sexists" are in Madison...
I'm seeing quite the opposite myself, but duggersd claims otherwise...

Just waiting to see the evidence...

[duggersd]

Dave it is there. I showed it to you. If you are not interested, there is nothing I can do about it. Watch the videos or not. I really do not care. And apparently you do not care to see what is before you're eyes.

[Dave]

That's good stuff there... Provocateurs bring out the worst in people... Too bad we never see just what started the incident...

Just an FYI (for your information)

From: http://www.marktalk.com/

MARK WILLIAMS PUBLIC SPEAKER – AUTHOR – RADIO PERSONALITY – TELEVISION PERSONALITY EXPERIENCE 2006 – Present: MarkTalk.com Sacramento, California Freelance Founding member, leadership position TEA PARTY. 4 National speaking tours to 180+ cities with audiences as large as 35,000 Over 100+ appearances on FOX NEWS CHANNEL, CNN, MSNBC and various other outlets to comment on …)

"Here is what I am doing in Sacramento, where they are holding a 5:30 PM event this coming Tuesday: (1) I signed up as an organizer (2) with any luck they will contact me and I will have an “in” (3) in or not I will be there and am asking as many other people as can get there to come with, all of us in SEIU shirts (those who don’t have them we can possibly buy some from vendors likely to be there) (4) we are going to target the many TV cameras and reporters looking for comments from the members there (5) we will approach the cameras to make good pictures… signs under our shirts that say things like “screw the taxpayer!” and “you OWE me!” to be pulled out for the camera (timing is important because the signs will be taken away from us) (6) we will echo those slogans in angry sounding tones to the cameras and the reporters. (7) if I do get the “in” I am going to do my darnedest to get podium access and take the mic to do that rant from there…with any luck and if I can manage the moments to build up to it, I can probably get a cheer out of the crowd for something extreme.

Our goal is to make the gathering look as greedy and goonish as we know that it is, ding their credibility with the media and exploit the lazy reporters who just want dramatic shots and outrageous quotes for headlines. Even if it becomes known that we are plants the quotes and pictures will linger as defacto truth."

No doubt it was all documented by Andrew Breitbart...

[larry kurtz]

Here's another Fasciculator Orbiculating Xenocide: http://www.frequency.com/video/foxs-shephard-smithwisconsin-fight-has/2910830

[Dave]

Kinda funny when the house "liberal" has to make the conservative talking point to the FOX "news" host... Kudos to Shep, but I'm pretty sure he won't be there much longer...

In other news...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/nyregion/25roger-ailes.html?_r=2&hp

Well... Read it for yourselves...

How much proof do people need to realize FOX "news" is a propaganda outlet?

[Dave]

I'll answer that my self...

My own family members tell me that "it's the kind of 'news' we want to hear"...

[Dave]

“They kept asking me over and over again whether I was
having a romance with Hitler. ‘Are you Hitler's girlfriend?’
I laughed and answered the same way each time: ‘No, those
are false rumours. I only made documentaries for him...’”

— Leni Riefenstahl, about her US tour in 1938, in her book A Memoir

Pretty compelling stuff...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPAxaFxjiDk

[Ken Blanchard]

Dave: did anyone on the left object when Clarence Thomas was subjected to racist slurs? The NAACP posted a condemnation of Tea Party racism (with a very small set of examples). When they were advised of racist comments on the left, they ignored it.

The problem with your list was not that there was not truth to any of the impressionistic charges, but that anyone could draw up such a list about anyone.

You might be a Leftist if:

You complain about racism at tea party rallies, but ignore it when it is directed against the second African American on the U.S. Supreme Court.

You complain incessantly about a map posted by Sarah Palin with cross hairs over congressional districts but ignore almost identical maps produced by the DLC.

See how easy it is?

[Dave]

Hey, I already said there are bad apples all around us. But I don't think making false equivalences should let anybody off the hook.

I just think it's funny that when the obvious is staring you in the face, you refuse to acknowledge its existence...

WE JUST HAD AN EXCHANGE WHERE YOU AND YOUR READERS DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF RACIST TEA PARTIERS AND THEN THE TITLE OF YOUR NEXT ESSAY HAS A RACIST TITLE... WTF?

[duggersd]

"WE JUST HAD AN EXCHANGE WHERE YOU AND YOUR READERS DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF RACIST TEA PARTIERS"
I have gone through the posts since your outrageous post about you might be a ... I have not seen ANY that denies that there are TEA Party people who are racists. I have pointed out that many of the so-called racist incidents turn out to be liberals infiltrating TEA Party events. You have done nothing to indicate what I said was wrong, you have only been able to show that some people who call themselves conservatives have some bad ideas. Other than that, you appear to be having a conversation with yourself. I hope you have a good time with that.

[duggersd]

"WE JUST HAD AN EXCHANGE WHERE YOU AND YOUR READERS DENIED THE EXISTENCE OF RACIST TEA PARTIERS"
I have gone through the posts since your outrageous post about you might be a ... I have not seen ANY that denies that there are TEA Party people who are racists. I have pointed out that many of the so-called racist incidents turn out to be liberals infiltrating TEA Party events. You have done nothing to indicate what I said was wrong, you have only been able to show that some people who call themselves conservatives have some bad ideas. Other than that, you appear to be having a conversation with yourself. I hope you have a good time with that.

[Dave]

duggersd or sdrugged