Debate Team, Why Does Obama Cause So Much Conflict?

Taking the long route today.

Debate club, old man style. That's why I like Huffpo. Debating causes me to think. I am in awe at some
of the positions liberals take.

I am not kidding when I say this. Dyed in the wool leftists often cannot grasp why government would lie. They simply give government officials, particularly "theirs" the benefit of the doubt. It defies belief. But in as much as they defend "theirs" they hate "yours." Leftists always think they know your agenda.

Whenever I am debating an issue, let's say in the case of the Congressional Budget Office's allegation that this year's deficit will only be 642 billion, I stick to the facts. Generally what happens is this. a) Intelligent people realize when they are wrong or at the very least, realize when they have been mislead. They will go quiet. b) Every once in awhile, I actually have a decent back and forth discussion with an intelligent person without name calling. This causes me to re-think or reinforce a position with fact checking. It happened last week. c) Some ego maniac will start calling you names when you disagree with an unsubstantiated position that they have taken. When they start calling you names, you win. It is always that simple.

The single greatest conflict generator of my entire life is Barack Obama. I have never ever seen an individual more adept at lying than this guy. He is a pure professional. When I see his particular quality of deception- I am in awe. Even when caught in a lie, Obama simply shuts up. Thus he gives the detracting side no credibility and no power- knowing full well that the issue will fade. Benghazi, and where he was during that 7 hours, is a perfect example. He has never addressed the issue.

The reason that Obama causes so much conflict is because he is so damn good at being deceptive. Bush was a piker compared to this guy. Even ardent conservatives had to agree that Bush was a shitty liar. So Bush didn't generate the kind of entrenched conflict that Obama does. It doesn't hurt that Obama is black either. Supporters will often use the race card anytime they are losing a debate involving Obama.

I don't think I have ever researched anyone more thoroughly than Obama. I certainly have never researched anyone, anywhere, who is a bigger enigma than this guy. His entire life makes no sense to me.

e·nig·ma  (-ngm) n. 1. One that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable.

Let me tell you a little story which will make sense once you think about it. Hillary Clinton, while in college, aspired to be President. She had actually stated that to classmates in the 70's. So Hillary got the right education, made all the rights moves, protected her husband from scandal which included a cocaine habit and a 12 year year affair with Gennifer Flowers. Eventually, Bill made it to the White House. Now I have a friend who attended school with Hillary and claimed Hillary was gay. She has told me that she had always believed Hillary was a lesbian. For all of our alleged "open-mindedness" in the U.S., it is highly doubtful that a female, moreover an openly gay female, could ever be President. At least that was the America of Hillary's youth. So Hillary, ever the master planner, got married and had one child. She manufactured a life that was acceptable to voters. A facade. Hillary could care less who Bill screws around with- that was never important to her. What is important to Hillary is her ego and ambition. I have always believed the whole marriage, kid, thing was just a cover story for a Presidential run or two. There are now rumblings that in Hillary's upcoming book, she is going to disclose that she is bi-sexual. So after 4 decades, maybe the truth will come out.

That was never a mystery to me. So why is any of this important? Because it showcases the great lengths that people will go to satisfy their ego and ambitions. What are you willing to sacrifice, to do, to get what you want? That is the great lie that is Hillary's life. Hillary Clinton is no enigma. She is simply a woman who has gone to great extremes to cover up who she really is to get what she wants. Hillary knows sacrifice.

It's a bit pathological really. But Hillary is not an enigma. In fact, she is quite transparent at least in this stage of her life. Which brings me back to Obama, the man with two biographies. The one he presents to the public and within his books, and the real man- the enigma.

How do I know this? Because quite simply- his life and the piecemeal narrative he gives us- does not make any sense.

For five years, I have studied Obama. I have read his books, looked at every childhood picture I could find, read accounts. I am amazed at how difficult it is to place him anywhere at any given time- the lack of specific times and dates- in any of his books.

I know he left Indonesia sometime in late grade school. Pictures taken in Indonesia and Hawaii with his sister make it difficult but not impossible to at least take a general stab at how old he was when he landed back in the United States as Barry Soetoro. He looks much older than he claims to have been. (5th grade) I'm not even sure where Obama lived before college. With his grandmother I suppose- while attending Punahou school in Hawaii. His real mother, father, and grandparents are all dead. That doesn't make this fact finding any easier.

The truth begins to take shape only as you examine his sister Maya. She was born in Jakarta when Obama would have just turned 9. Read her "early life" in this wiki entry. Pay close attention to the second paragraph, one line. Barack's mother went back to Indonesia with Maya and left Barack behind? Is that what is implied? Maya was born an Indonesian but home schooled by her mother there? Does any of this make sense? Do you leave one kid behind and take another? Clearly Maya is an Indonesian. Was Barry? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Soetoro-Ng

Don't take issue with wiki. I have read this in other places.

Things get really murky about the time Obama's mother leaves Indonesia to go to Hawaii, drop Barry off (I guess with grandma) and then return with Maya to Indonesia. I don't understand that.

The more I read, the more puzzled I get. Pieces and years are missing and then all of a sudden, a high school prom picture shows up. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-prom-photos-resurface-1979-article-1.1352743

How could Obama afford to attend Occidental, Columbia, and Harvard with little or no money? He has no discernible income and he certainly didn't come from a wealthy family. Did he have any jobs? Not that I know of. Wealthy relatives, inheritances? Nope.

The problem I have with all of that of course- is that I went to school at the same time. School was expensive. There is little doubt that Obama would have required financial aid. Where are the records of grants, scholarships, student loans? Undisclosed, of course.

Unlike Obama, I had nothing to hide. I received grants, a student loan, borrowed money, and I worked. In Obama's case, a person who should have been vetted and scrutinized far more than I ever was, I am not sure anybody even bothered asking him how he financed that college career.

So either Obama was a fantastically good drug dealer, had financial help, or the world recognized how gifted he was and gave him a free pass. (I worked three part time jobs) How about ex-girlfriends in college? Was Obama a-sexual? How come nobody ever steps up to say, I dated Barack in college?

What of that 1981 passport Barack used to travel back to Indonesia? What happened to it? What's with the social security number assigned to Obama from Connecticut? He never lived there. What I am going to do here is clip a Snopes piece that purports to debunk the origins of Obama's social security number from a state he never lived in. In an all out effort to twist the truth, Snopes postulates that Barack's social security number was a clerical error! I'm not kidding. (Paragraph 7) When I was a kid, my number 516 was assigned to all Montana residents. They did not give me a regional Wyoming number by mistake nor did they say we assign numbers according to regions. That is complete bullshit. In my youth as a cop, numbers were assigned according to states- not regions. We were taught that as a matter of fact and I used that fact to solve a number of identity riddles amongst people I arrested and who were trying to hide their identity usually because they were wanted in the same state as their SSN was issued in. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/ssn.asp

At no time, in literally hundreds of cases, did an individual living in New Hampshire get a regionally generated number- let's say one normally assigned to Vermont. Not once did that ever happen to me or anyone I worked with in 25 years. Snopes is full of shit.

Less than two years in the Illinois legislature and suddenly a man that most of us never heard of, Barack Obama, surfaces and becomes President??

I will summarize with this. The more I have looked at Obama's life the more confused I have become. Nothing makes sense. As a retired police officer with a quarter century on the job, let me offer this. If I had discovered something as inexplicable and confusing as Obama's life while on the job, I damn sure knew that I was missing a number of facts. In an investigative sense, when people with hold routine facts about themselves, or fail to present innocent and harmless things about themselves, they do that because they are hiding something. They are hiding something because they know that the truth will bring them a boat load of trouble. It's as simple as that. Always.

Obama has single handedly polarized this country into two camps. The people who believe his bullshit and those of us who don't. Debating who this guy is becomes a zero sum game. It doesn't matter at this point. Well, unless you live in the middle east underneath the shadow of those drones or you are trying to get health insurance from one of these state sponsored exchanges come January.

Obama's skin tone is a non issue. Unfortunately, the left was reluctant to vet him because that might raise the specter of racism among their anointed appointee. I honestly think that's why Obama has gotten away with his half assed story. If some old white guy with Obama's history had run for President the media would have dumped him on his head. Look at the NSA kid, Edward Snowden. I knew more about Ed Snowden (where he went to school, his employers, his parents, and everything about his life) in two days than I do about our President. It's a fantastic comparison really. To see how well the media works when it is not compromised by the credentials of an Ed Snowden, and to see how poorly it works when it has a dog in the fight that it desperately wants to win. The media has always been for sale but never as cheaply as it is now.

Obama causes conflict because he is non transparent. He is deceptive. He punishes his enemies while smiling at them. He has chosen his side and by his very actions, he demands that you get on board with him. He is not a unifier or collaborator. He is that kind of guy who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. He wants you to cooperate with him because he knows what he is doing and you do not. He believes that. He is forever the knowledgeable college professor and you are the lowly student. Everything is a teachable moment- because you are just too naive to understand anything. Obama cannot understand why anybody would question his credentials. Truth be told, it would genuinely puzzle him.

I can't wait until Obama's term is over. That will be our first opportunity to really find out who this guy is- without the interference of the media or the leftist minions. To actually figure out who this guy is without starting WWIII. Unlike Bush, I think Obama is going to entertain us for years to come. No matter who we elect, if I ever see a picture of Obama with a word cloud over his head that says, "Miss me yet?"

I will simply reflect, "Barack, if that is your real name, I hardly knew ye."

Snowden 1, Darth Cheney 0

Over the weekend, Darth Cheney called Edward Snowden the NSA exposer- a "traitor."

Here's what Snowden had to say.

"This is a man who gave us the warrantless wiretapping scheme as a kind of atrocity warm-up on the way to deceitfully engineering a conflict that has killed over 4,400 and maimed nearly 32,000 Americans, as well as leaving over 100,000 Iraqis dead," Snowden purportedly wrote in a public, online chat Monday hosted by the Guardian newspaper.

"Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American," he added.

First, Let's Kill All of the Optimists- The Sunday Collage

“Show me somebody who is always smiling, always cheerful, always optimistic, and I will show you somebody who hasn't the faintest idea what the heck is really going on.” 
― Mike Royko

As a child, I read Mike Royko everyday. In fact, I write here probably because of the influence Royko had on me. I can't imagine what might have happened had Royko (who might have been the greatest smart ass columnist of all time) lived in the days when computers spawned bloggers.

For the record I believe I was born an optimist. In an effort to keep my sanity, I have turned into a cynic. It is my refuge against what is true and if there is anything I hate worse than a flaming liberal wanting to tell me how to live-

It's an optimist denying the truth in favor of his or her own fantasy version- of how things are.

I have known four dyed in the wool optimists. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I have hated all four of them. They are delusional creatures. These people are often seen running around exclaiming, "Oh Happy Day" while smiling after swallowing anti-depressants and pretending to be optimists.

It is all a show you see. 

Once in awhile, justice comes on swift wings for these Mr. Rogers type- loons. Such was the case for a cop I used to work with. I will give his initials for the record as DB, but most will not remember who that is. He was one of those annoying bastards who pretended to be happy all of the time with one of those shit eating grins on his face- and for some unknown reason- I always just wanted to kick his ass. Kicking people's asses is one of the quickest ways to lose a job. It's a shame because that was once a very effective tool.

So one morning in the old days, DB the optimist, shows up to work with one eye black and swollen shut. Seems DB got more than a little bit friendly and optimistic about another guy's girlfriend and was jerked out of a hot tub naked and beat on a little bit. I think he told upper management- the Chief- that his injuries were the result of an unfortunate ski accident. I was well acquainted with the situation and I was pretty sure that had the Chief known the actual truth about what happened including the big yarn spun by Mr. Optimist- he would probably would have received a couple of unpaid weeks on the beach- if not fired altogether. But I let it go. I think I was just happy that he got his ass kicked by a private citizen and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Years later, he got canned anyway.  

Very often- I come across political writers who think that "We the people" are still in charge of this government. I have to admit, that I once and somewhat recently, numbered among those optimists. I realize now how foolish I was.

Time and time again, I will read these political writers who talk about taking control of the government or (get this) writers who will say something like- we will vote them out! Really? 

So let the facts speak for themselves. With a 9% approval rate for Congress- 94% of the incumbents in the 2012 elections- were voted back in. If nothing screams TERM LIMITS more loudly than that- I don't know what does. That level of hopelessness is astounding. I have come to terms with it.

Term limits will never happen. I will die first. But that's just the optimist in me.

Here's the part you will really enjoy. The two remaining optimists that I know refuse to talk about politics. You know why? Get this. They see it as a no win situation. In other words, they are not very optimistic about talking about politics. Isn' that some rich shit? Apparently they pick only subjects that they are optimistic about! Therefore, if I can simply hijack all of the conversations and only talk about what I want to talk about- well I too, can be an optimist. Maybe join an old age nudist colony and sing Que sera, sera- whatever will be, will be- the future's not ours to see- que sera, sera.

God help me. I am thinking of blacking an eye or two. I shall leave this place today with another quote from a non optimist like me. 

“No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up.” 

― Lily Tomlin   

  

When Conspiracy Theory Becomes Conspiracy Fact*Updated

In the movie "Red", former spy John Malkovich's character is portrayed as a delusional and paranoid sort who thinks his former spy friends as well as himself, are being followed and watched.

The characters in the movie treat Malkovich like a "nutter" up until such point- that Malkovich is exonerated- when suddenly his group of former spies are attacked by the people watching them.

It's very difficult for people to grasp the idea of conspiracies. Throughout my lifetime, people have dismissed conspiracy talk as the venue of the mentally ill and paranoid. Unfortunately, at no other time in the history of this country, have I seen more conspiracies taking place.

Perhaps the term collaboration is more palatable.

Conspiracies occur for a variety of reasons but are always motivated by perceived needs. For example, if the few major oil producing companies want the most profit for their product- they have the money and motive to keep prices high- by conspiring and collaborating. Even when demand is low.

Former President Nixon employed several people to break into the Watergate Hotel to obtain information on the Democratic candidate. They even used hookers to glean information.

People who don't think that conspiracies can exist are naive. There is so much proof to the contrary- that it is difficult to ignore.

*Update. Here's a piece that corroborates the intrusion onto Sharyl Atkissons' hard drive. (cited below) Ace of Spades speculates that the only one with a motive to hack her computer is the WH itself-which in this case makes sense. There was an inside leak and we know Obama hates leaks. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/340916.php

Here is the original piece I read regarding the intrusion onto the hard drive of a reporter actually investigating the Benghazi debacle. Oddly, it seems someone was worried enough to hack into her computer. Her associates probably thought she was paranoid. From Michelle Malkin:

CBS statement: Forensic analysis shows Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was compromised on multiple occasions

By Doug Powers  •  June 14, 2013 11:53 AM

**Written by Doug Powers

Last month, CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who has done lots of digging on stories such as Benghazi and Fast & Furious, became suspicious that her work and personal computers were being compromised.

That suspicion has been confirmed:

“A cyber security firm hired by CBS News has determined through forensic analysis that Sharyl Attkisson’s computer was accessed by an unauthorized, external, unknown party on multiple occasions late in 2012. Evidence suggests this party performed all access remotely using Attkisson’s accounts. While no malicious code was found, forensic analysis revealed an intruder had executed commands that appeared to involve search and exfiltration of data.

This party also used sophisticated methods to remove all possible indications of unauthorized activity, and alter system times to cause further confusion.

CBS News is taking steps to identify the responsible party and their method of access.”

Declaring War on the Serfs

In 2009, I was well aware of what our government was becoming.

Ever since the banking oligarch helped themselves to a couple trillion of taxpayer dollars with the help of a paid off Congress and President- things have become far worse albeit camouflaged for the time being.

The trade off or camouflage came in the form of free money and food to help keep the mouth breathers and disposable class at bay, while re-inflating the stock market so that the people with real influence and clout would also shut up and fall in line. Government is learning, quite well, that you must keep the angry and hostile disposable class well fed and shut up. The elite just sit at a different table.

It would be a great plan except for a couple of things. Mostly, you run out of money and printing capacity. And then the real ugly stuff happens. With all of this debt to pay and a miniscule number of elite to steal tax money from, all you can do is declare war on the big demographic- the debt slaves and serfs and take their money away.

Here in this part of 'merica, they reassessed the value of my house- it rose 20% this year. Oddly, in all of the BLS inflation figures I've ever studied- no where does it account for lost spending power in the form of taxes. So when my taxes go up a couple hundred bucks this year, nobody ever accounts for that as far as inflation is concerned. Mathematically, it's like it never happened.

The same is true for my insurance. Insurance is this fixed cost that only goes up. Once again, as insurers screw the serfs by raising rates- BLS doesn't account for that lost revenue or call it inflationary.

Why do I speak of this as war? I lose 2400 dollars a year to unrecoverable insurance costs. This includes mortgage insurance, homeowners insurance, insurance on my two vehicles. These are really just forced placed insurance packages that I could not opt out of.  On top of that, Obamacare is going to cost me 400 a month- taking my grand total of forced place insurance north of 7200 dollars or about 20% of my gross income. In war, one entity is trying to take away the freedom of another. So it's a war in every sense, sans the dead people or wage slaves. Think about that for a moment.

The government is quite literally stealing our money two ways. First they seize every nickel they can in the form of taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, gas tax, hidden taxes. They also raise rates on other government controlled utilities like my water, sewer, and trash. After they steal all they can in that respect- they serve us up some force placed insurance.

Eventually, the disposable class- the serfs who lose every fight will get angry and unruly. The government is preparing for that fight also. It is even arming it's IRS agents. This is the same government that is trying to take away the disposable class' guns- while buying millions of rounds of ammo and guns for themselves.

So the government thinks it will leave you with a subsistence amount of your money and if you don't like it...well I don't need a telescope to see where this is going. They prepare. http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/jeff-duncan-irs-rifle-training-92662.html?hp=f2

Spynet, Deconstructing Edward Snowden, the Last Patriot

Yesterday, the UK's Guardian broke the story that a 29 year old government contractor, Edward Snowden, was the man who snitched off the National Security Agencys' version of Spynet.

http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-contractor-risks-steep-jail-time-data-leak-102058950.html

His resume looks like a history of failure. High school dropout, college dropout, security guard, and then Information Technology whiz kid making 200k a year. I actually like that resume. That's a resume of a patriot. A kid who made the most of what he had by thumbing his nose at the credentials offered by Ivy league schools for a king's ransom.

The government can't make a wage slave out of you if you don't buy into the school mortgage theory.

Maybe, just maybe...Snowden is who he says he is.

A patriot.

This is what Spynet and the NSA can do.

Both papers have published a series of top-secret documents outlining two NSA surveillance programs. One gathers hundreds of millions of U.S. phone records while searching for possible links to known terrorist targets abroad, and the second allows the government to tap into nine U.S. Internet companies to gather all Internet usage to detect suspicious behavior that begins overseas.

As if on cue and perfectly predictable, the government is in full damage control with President Bush President Obama defending the wide sweeping and electronic eavesdropping capability of Spynet anywhere in the world. This is what Snowden says of it's capabilities;

     "Any analyst at any time can target anyone. Any selector. Anywhere," Snowden said in a video on the Guardian's website. "I, sitting at my desk, had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president if I had a personal email."

The avalanche of speculation has begun. You want to know the best part??

Nobody can figure out what Snowden's motive is. Is he a spy, did he do it for China, money, fame, is he off his meds?

You see in the jaded, cynical world that we currently live in- the possibility that someone did this as a patriotic act is so far removed from the self absorbed reasoning of Americans that it is seemingly impossible. Why would a guy do such a thing?

Here is the Guardian blog- they are posting developments as they happen. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2013/jun/10/edward-snowden-revealed-as-nsa-whistleblower-reaction-live

You can bet your ass that big brother is going to turn every possible stone until they come up with a narrative that is plausible. They'll want to make an example out of this guy. And you can damn sure bet that nobody in this administration is going to use the words "Snowden" and "patriot" in the same sentence. Their job this week, will be to vilify Snowden while flexing every muscle they have.

Oddly enough, Snowden is asking for asylum in Iceland. You remember Iceland don't you? The only government in the world that stuck a middle finger in the face of central bankers and is doing quite nicely right now with no giant debt pile to contend with.

My name is Edward Snowden. I am not hiding from you. I snitched off Spynet so fuck you. I will risk a life, maybe even death sentence, to be a patriot.

*Update. Found this fascinating bit of info after I posted. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3036789/ns/msnbc-morning_joe/vp/52...

Two key point Greenwald makes here:

1. When NSA defenders argue that Congress knew about the extent to which they've expanded the surveillance state and therefore there's no need for the public to be concerned since this has all been vetted, they are withholding the fact that those Congressman who did know were precluded from saying anything about it. Two senators who did know and WERE concerned - Wyden and Udall - could only hint at the abuse.

2. Those saying that these abuses have met court challenges neglect to mention that the Obama justice department has successfully challenged on the basis that the entities bringing the challenges have no standing. There has been NO court determination as to the constitutionality of this overreach. The NSA claims that since it's all top secret, they can't tell you who is being or has been monitored, so it's impossible for ANYONE, EVER, to have standing.

Edward Snowden is my kind of guy. Big, giant balls. A patriot. Gawd I hope so, this country could use a hero.

"We Wanted a President That Listens To All Americans...

...and now we have one." A very funny video of a Jay Leno monologue.