Charles, this is one of my favorite things you have ever written:

In short, making up stuff can only go so far. There is an end to it. That end is the truth, which, like the living body of the laborer (muscle, bones, flesh), postmodern economics has failed to melt into thin air.

Thanks.

Does this mean that the World Bank is going to barge in and tell us what to do with our economy and government now?

Well, given that the entire persona Barack has presented to the American people for the past year and a half is entirely fictional, then yes, he can't.

Example: he presents himself as the poor child of a single mom.

Well, sure. But wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he was the son of two academicians who travelled the world, were highly intelligent...and at the point his mother raised him, he continued to live in relatively nice surroundings surrounded by intellectual and cultural stimulus?

In short, he was upper middle class.

Do you guys like mashups?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2834237827_55307846b3_o.jpg

One thing that I have seen discussed very little, if at all, is the simple negative economic impact of the Iraq war. There is at least $700 billion, so far, simply pissed into the wind in terms of fuel expenditures, munitions, and wastage (blown-up Humvees, death settlements, administrative costs, payoffs, CORPORATE PROFITS, what little meaningful rebuilding we've done that was subsequently destroyed, etc.). There's another $2-3 trillion in morally imperative costs over the next 50 years or so for ongoing care for our wounded veterans and their families, additional aid to Iraq, etc. All of that money will be unavailable for improving the standard of living for the majority of the population.

World War II, despite tragic losses and destruction, seemed to have clear spin-off benefits for the post-war economy: the rescue of a large portion of Europe, the G.I. Bill, the baby boom, advances in aerospace, medicine, electronics, etc. Every war since then has had far fewer obvious benefits, in my view because the military-industrial complex has gotten much better at making sure that any spinoffs accrue only to a tiny percentage of individuals at the top of the economic food chain.

$500 billion would have put 4kW photovoltaic solar systems on the roofs of 20 million American homes AT CURRENT PRICES, eliminating a large percentage of our dependence on foreign oil and creating an instant market for plug-in hybrid cars in addition to tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of jobs. $200 billion would have rebuilt much of our transportation infrastructure, as quantified after the I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse at $20 billion/year for 10 years and deemed unaffordable by the government. I leave it to you to imagine what $2-4 trillion could have additionally accomplished in terms of reforming healthcare and funding biomedical research, treating and housing the homeless, etc., etc., etc. Yet we as a people have already committed to that amount for this ridiculous war, with astoundingly little protest. "We" are about ready to bail out the elite investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by effectively creating tens or hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air and guaranteeing inflation and economic stagnation for years to come. There is sadly very little that Obama, with the best intentions, can do to overcome the train wreck that this administration has created for ordinary people, or to recover the billions that will flow to fat cats for generations to come.

One thing that I have seen discussed very little, if at all, is the simple negative economic impact of the Iraq war. There is at least $700 billion, so far, simply pissed into the wind in terms of fuel expenditures, munitions, and wastage (blown-up Humvees, death settlements, administrative costs, payoffs, CORPORATE PROFITS, what little meaningful rebuilding we've done that was subsequently destroyed, etc.). There's another $2-3 trillion in morally imperative costs over the next 50 years or so for ongoing care for our wounded veterans and their families, additional aid to Iraq, etc. All of that money will be unavailable for improving the standard of living for the majority of the population.

World War II, despite tragic losses and destruction, seemed to have clear spin-off benefits for the post-war economy: the rescue of a large portion of Europe, the G.I. Bill, the baby boom, advances in aerospace, medicine, electronics, etc. Every war since then has had far fewer obvious benefits, in my view because the military-industrial complex has gotten much better at making sure that any spinoffs accrue only to a tiny percentage of individuals at the top of the economic food chain.

$500 billion would have put 4kW photovoltaic solar systems on the roofs of 20 million American homes AT CURRENT PRICES, eliminating a large percentage of our dependence on foreign oil and creating an instant market for plug-in hybrid cars in addition to tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of jobs. $200 billion would have rebuilt much of our transportation infrastructure, as quantified after the I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse at $20 billion/year for 10 years and deemed unaffordable by the government. I leave it to you to imagine what $2-4 trillion could have additionally accomplished in terms of reforming healthcare and funding biomedical research, treating and housing the homeless, etc., etc., etc. Yet we as a people have already committed to that amount for this ridiculous war, with astoundingly little protest. "We" are about ready to bail out the elite investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by effectively creating tens or hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air and guaranteeing inflation and economic stagnation for years to come. There is sadly very little that Obama, with the best intentions, can do to overcome the train wreck that this administration has created for ordinary people, or to recover the billions that will flow to fat cats for generations to come.

Charles, I like this new style where you start off grounded and sensible and only slowly descend into irrationality and oblique incomprehensibility over the course of the post.

And John@3: Obama's *entire* persona is false? Well, hell, where did he go to college, if not Harvard? Why did he need student loans for Harvard if he was upper middle class, and why did it take him so many years to pay them off? Since his father worked as a clerk for years to raise the money to move to the US, when did his parents experience the windfall that lifted them to upper middle class? Since you're also attacking the "single mom" claim, can you point to where we learn that his father was actually around?

Certainly, every politician tries to present themselves in the best possible light. And Obama is far from perfect or honest. But wow, if character and honesty of personal narrative is the issue here, Obama's spin pales in comparison to the McCain camp's flat out dishonesty on substantive issues like immigration reform and taxes.

@3, and everyone knows how much you conservatives fear education, especial an educated black man. That's some scary shit. Better to just stick with some white guy who barely made it through college so you'll feel comfortable having a beer with him.

One thing that I have seen discussed very little, if at all, is the simple negative economic impact of the Iraq war. There is at least $700 billion, so far, simply pissed into the wind in terms of fuel expenditures, munitions, and wastage (blown-up Humvees, death settlements, administrative costs, payoffs, CORPORATE PROFITS, what little meaningful rebuilding we've done that was subsequently destroyed, etc.). There's another $2-3 trillion in morally imperative costs over the next 50 years or so for ongoing care for our wounded veterans and their families, additional aid to Iraq, etc. All of that money will be unavailable for improving the standard of living for the majority of the population.

World War II, despite tragic losses and destruction, seemed to have clear spin-off benefits for the post-war economy: the rescue of a large portion of Europe, the G.I. Bill, the baby boom, advances in aerospace, medicine, electronics, etc. Every war since then has had far fewer obvious benefits, in my view because the military-industrial complex has gotten much better at making sure that any spinoffs accrue only to a tiny percentage of individuals at the top of the economic food chain.

$500 billion would have put 4kW photovoltaic solar systems on the roofs of 20 million American homes AT CURRENT PRICES, eliminating a large percentage of our dependence on foreign oil and creating an instant market for plug-in hybrid cars in addition to tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of jobs. $200 billion would have rebuilt much of our transportation infrastructure, as quantified after the I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse at $20 billion/year for 10 years and deemed unaffordable by the government. I leave it to you to imagine what $2-4 trillion could have additionally accomplished in terms of reforming healthcare and funding biomedical research, treating and housing the homeless, etc., etc., etc. Yet we as a people have already committed to that amount for this ridiculous war, with astoundingly little protest. "We" are about ready to bail out the elite investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by effectively creating tens or hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air and guaranteeing inflation and economic stagnation for years to come. There is sadly very little that Obama, with the best intentions, can do to overcome the train wreck that this administration has created for ordinary people, or to recover the billions that will flow to fat cats for generations to come.

So poor = stupid?

Good to know.

intellectual and upper-middle class are not synonymous, john. you appear to hold his intelligence and education against him, just like all the other palin fans.

Sarah Palin isn't the hockey mom. She's the Schlockey Mom.

Schlockey Mom

Didn't Barack only live with his mother for about 5 years, then it was his grandparents who finished raising him? I'd say he was lower middle class.

Thanks for this.

Country Western First!

Rush Limbaugh's "Undeniable Truths," #35: Words mean things.

FWIW.

According to the essay below, he went to a private prep school in Hawaii...hardly a child of the slums...or of any kind of poverty. Add in the world travels, and the intellectual climate of his mom, and there's really nothing to cry about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_and_career_of_Barack_Obama

Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents while attending Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from the fifth grade until his graduation in 1979.[16] Obama's mother, Ann, died of ovarian cancer and uterine cancer a few months after the publication of his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.[17]

In the memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother's middle class family. His knowledge about his African father, who returned once for a brief visit in 1971, came mainly through family stories and photographs.[8] Of his early childhood, Obama writes: "That my father looked nothing like the people around me — that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk — barely registered in my mind."[18] The book describes his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.[19] He wrote that he used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind".[20] Obama has said that it was a seriously misguided mistake. At the Saddleback Civil Presidential Forum Barack Obama identified his high-school drug use as his greatest moral failure.[21] Obama has stated he has not used any illegal drugs since he was a teenager.[22]

Barack Obama lived most of his minor life with his Indonesian stepdad, an oil company executive, or with his gradparents in Hawaii, including his gradmom who was a bank vice president. He went to a private elite school in Honolulu then Occidental Colelge an elite private college then Columbia University then Harvard.

Having loans means nothings most kids of the upper class have loans, too, esp. in law school.

They say for a "brief time" his mom got food stamps. This is a huge gap in his story. Apparently this would be after she left the Indonesian dude and returned to Hawaii...?? In other words, while she chose to not depend on her parent the bank VP? Or maybe while she was in grad school, ie poor by choice?

In sum if you think he grew up poor or working class you've bought this clever fairy tale.

Another interesting period in his life is after he got married and was living in Chicago, his mom got cancer and died. They never tell what did he do for her during this period?

I would assume she was living in Hawaii with her parents at that time, but what's kind of weird is on the CNN bio of Obama they told how he went to Hawaii to scatter her ashes but not how he went there to be with her while she was in extremis. Was she at the wedding in Chicago for example? Was he estranged with her somehow?

I don't know if he did or he didn't go visit her a lot while she was sick or how busy he was with a new family or whatever, not judging him on that, it's just weird we don't know. It's one of those gaps that doesn't fulfill any campaign myth so we don't know about it.

He tells of how she lay in bed struggling to make sense of her medical bills....was this in bed in the highrise condo her mom owned? Was he visiting her? Wa he helping her out financially? Did she get a divorce settlement from the Indonesian guy?

Hey how do you divorce in Indonesia anyway and why'd she leave that guy?

Meanwhile as to Charles: govt. actions to save capitalism don't mean capitalism is on the road to destruction or that

Of course not reported in Slog: new Gallup tracking poll showing that 8 point bump Obama had is now down to 2 points.

It's like there is a rule that it's only reported when itRemember, this is the poll that Slog only reports when OBama is about 8 points up; all other times, it is consigned to oblivion as not fitting the pre-ordained narrative.

Kind of like "I had a single mom [who them married an oil company exec. and I also lived with my gradmom a bank VP] who [for a very brief time, totally unexplained] was on food stamps [in part cuz she spent years in college and grad school studying anthropology but seemingly never had a job in it, and basically had chosen to be a free spirit instead of using her education to develop a career or any remunerative skills]."

Rob of the triple post:

I'm in agreement with you on this. We've spent an awful lot of money in Iraq under the pretense that it was necessary to protect America. I wonder how much safer we really are.
The government stepping in to help Fannie and Freddie seems completely illogical to me.

And why are people paying attention to John Bailo?

Well put Charles.

elite private school or not, he's a lot more intelligent and prepared to lead than Sarah Palin OR John McCain. If Obama loses, it will be because this country is full of racist idiots

That's the undeniable truth. And I say that not as an Obamatron (because I'm not - I would have voted for Clinton. Or Edwards. Or even a Republican, if they would for once run one who wasn't a joke.)

Rather than CM's inchoate ramblings which do nothing to help us win, how about starting with the entire Obama quote?

quotes are from politico:

1. "“I know the governor of Alaska has been, you know, saying she is change,” Obama said at a town hall here. “But when you [have] been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person. That is not change, come on. I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff up.”

Taking about 50 words to get to the point that Pail is a CORRUPT EARMARK HOG FEEDING AT THE TROUGH AND WASTING TAXPAYER'S MONEY then not even coming out and saying it is poor and INARTICULATE communications.

Especially bad: repeating the opponents' message while making your point; having our PRes take on their VP not their Pres candidate; and appealing to rules of fairrness to make a point.

Ever notice how the GOP just gets to it and things like John McCain is the ONLY MAN IN THIS RACE with love of country, THE ONLY MAN IN THIS RACE who can protect us etc. I mean they just take out that gelding knife without hesitation and our dude is whining about making up "stuff" like he's appealing to the 3d grade teacher that Johnny and Sarah are being unfair.

2. "Obama has spent most of the week since accepting his party’s nomination in Rust Belt states, appearing on factory floors, talking up his vision of a new economy ....
The economy “will dominate both our schedule and our speeches in every appearance we make now through Election Day,” Obama senior strategist Robert Gibbs said."

Well you're very welcome Robert, I see you've been reading my posts to make it all about the economy.

But notice how the big quote of the day about making stuff up -- ISN'T about the economy.

3. "Honing an “us versus them” battle cry, Obama is positioning himself as the champion of the working class. Venturing into towns and counties in the past week that Hillary Rodham Clinton carried 2-to-1 in the Democratic primary, Obama could sound strikingly similar to his one-time rival."

Well well well, we said look she won 18 million, we said it's mainly the same swing states, we said she won the states we need to win in the fall, we said HRC as VP is the best quickest way to get those key constituencies in those key states to our side and to get the economic message out, we said HRC and Billdawg both would be pretty heavy amunition to bring to this battle but no, Obama was too arrogant his supporters were too arrogant to have her on the ticket despite these obvious politics 101 "How to Build a Coalition" advantages.

Obama in his INARTICULATE way is now using the ECONOMIC results under Bill Clinton and one of his main factoids.

How much more stronger and credible that would be with the Clintons fully yoked to Obama victory.

"You can't just make stuff up" is so weak and wussy; trite crap like "There is an end to it. That end is the truth, which, like the living body of the laborer (muscle, bones, flesh), postmodern economics has failed to melt into thin air" is also not a useful "narrative" we can use when on the phone to our wavering relatives in Scranton and Youngstown.

You know, the real, physical flesh and blood "laborer" folks.

please!!! lets remember that the dems have been in control at the end of the bush admin. leberals always want to forget to mention that when they are pioting to the 5.3 trillion. please!!!

#5

You were going along good there until you got to the PV bullshit.

Wow, someone as verbose as PC and so full of himself. I find such a phrase as "Taking 50 words to get to the point" to be very ironic.

But wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he was the son of two academicians who travelled the world, were highly intelligent

Exactly how much money does the average grad student have? Grad students at that time made bookcases out of boards and cinder blocks, and used cable spools as a dining table. The futon was still far in the future.

Indonesian stepdad, an oil company executive,
According to wikip, he was first a grad student, then an Army geologist, finally a government relations consultant to Mobil Oil. A consultant by definition executes nothing. "Oil company employee" is as far as you can go.

Bush is as far from socialist as he could possibly be. Fascist, sure. Mudede, do you have any idea what socialism is, or is it just a bad word to you?