Stock Market and Political Commentary

What Is My Solution?

My Canadian friend writes.....

Jim you sure know how to distort things. GM shuts down = dealers shut down, part companies shutdown, GMAC shuts down(that is the one that got GM into trouble), my friend's warranty on his new chev. is invalid, etc..

Phil

PS what was your solution to the car industry, banking and the economy? 

My reply...

The fact that you think I have distorted the facts is simply confirmation that I am correct.  With interest, how long do you think it is going to take the taxpayers to pay back all these hundreds of billions of dollars given to banks and car companies?

And what were the opportunity costs for spending the money on bankrupt car

companies and banks instead of somewhere else in our economy?

btw, are we taxpayers supposed to be on the hook for $70,000,000,000.00 because some GM and Chrysler owners who could afford to buy a new car might not have their warranty honored?  I didn't buy a new car from GM or Chrysler... how is that supposed to be my financial problem?  Or worse yet, why is making this my children's problem a good idea by forcing them to pay back this debt when they are adults?

You know the amazing thing is that liberals today and many misguided conservatives think that we have to reinvent the wheel every time somebody or some business has a problem, financial or otherwise.  They think these type of situations never occurred in the past.

Very, very wise white men (not Latina women) created the Constitution of the United States.  It is an incredible document that allowed the United States to produce over 30% of the world's GDP with only 5% of the world's population in less than 200 years after the country was founded.  Even today we still are producing over 20% of the world's GDP.

Why?  Because the Constitution established a rule of law, property rights, and freedom that allowed men to create wealth through their labors and not have it confiscated by lawless dictators.  When people are allowed to freely trade and become wealthy through their ingenuity and hard work they work hard and create ingenious inventions that benefit everyone.

Just consider the cases of North Korea vs. South Korea.... East Germany vs. West Germany.. the Soviet Union vs. the United States.... there is no comparison in economic output.  Why?  Freedom, property rights, and contract law  vs. authoritarian dictators and government officials making all the rules and decisions for the people, it's as simple as that.

The solution to most all of our problems today is to simply follow the Constitution, but we are gettting further and further away from it and Obama is trying to trash it completely.  Take our national debt for example.  If the federal government would follow the Constitution we would not have this debt because they would realize the powers of the Federal government were narrowly defined in the Constitution and that most everything they are doing, except for national defense and interstate commerce, is power that resides with the states.

Therefore, if they were actually following the Constitution the federal government would not be

able to throw money at every cause they think is worthwhile and that includes education

and health care.  Nowhere in the Constitution does is allow the federal government to be involved

in these areas of our economy, but those are the primary things our idiot politicians running

for a federal office wants to talk about.  I guess they think the people in the states are

just to stupid to be able to handle the education of their kids and their health care needs.

This was addressed by James Madison, considered by most to be the father of the Constitution, in the Federalist papers (45 I think).  He stated that the "general welfare" clause

did not give the federal government the right to do anything beyond what was specifically

outlined for them to do in the Constitution and again stated that those powers for the federal

government were very narrowly defined.

The Constitution outlined a process called bankruptcy.

The founders knew that sometimes in life things go south financially for people and for businesses.

Bankruptcy law is well established and is the proper mechanism for handling situations like the banks,

GM, and Chrysler found themselves in during the last few months.  

This means real bankruptcy through actual bankruptcy courts where contract law that has been established for over 100 years is what determines how the assets will be divided... and the bondholders are first in line, not last in line like the Obama thugs decided just because the new King wanted to pay off his supporters, namely the UAW.

Would all these jobs have been lost if GM and Chrysler went belly up?  No. 

The other carmakers, including Ford and Toyota which have plants here in the US, would have sold more cars and

hired more workers if the market needed more auto production.  So in reality we taxpayers

were soaked $70 billion to date ($50 billion for GM and $20 billion for Chrysler) and in reality

we saved few if any jobs when you subtract the additional workforce that would have been

hired at the surviving car companies.

Low tax rates, reasonable regulations, and free markets are always the answers to more prosperity for more people.  

Don't believe it?  When the automobile was invented people started losing jobs in the horse and buggy industry.  Would it have made sense for taxpayers to subsidize these companies in order to save jobs?  No.

Let the strong survive and let the weak fail.  This clears the way for capital and labor to move into something new and more prosperous based on market demands when companies are allowed to fail based on market conditions.

Through this process we will all be better off.  It's the "invisible hand" at work which Adam

Smith talked about in his Wealth of Nations book written many years ago.

"But the annual revenue of every society is always precisely equal to the exchangeable value of the whole annual produce of its industry, or rather is precisely the same thing with that exchangeable value. As every individual, therefore, endeavours as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by aninvisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it."

Wealth of Nations

J. Cogburn

You Heard It Here First

Yesterday I sent out an email which said in part the following:
 
----------------------
But here is what's most interesting I think.  I've actually been pondering what Obama might do at the end of his term or more importantly if this birth certificate deal ever comes to a head.  It is a real long shot now, but it is also still not dead.  Would he willingly relinquish the Presidency if he was shown to be the fraud that he is and ordered to step down from the office?
 
One piece of evidence strongly suggests he would not.  I've observed how guys like Obama accuse the other side of doing exactly what they intend to do themselves.  I've seen it over and over again.  And some of them openly said they feared that President Bush would not give up the office when his term was over.
 
So nobody knows for sure how history will play out, but hearing them say this publicly lends credence to the idea that a guy like Obama might in fact try to stay in office through emergency powers granted to the President in times of a national crisis.  And after he did this there might indeed be a national crisis.

-----------------------
 
Today Rush Limbaugh said the following (paraphrasing):
---------------------
I don't want people to think I've gone over the edge, but I think his backing of the man who tried to ignore the Hondurus Constitution and continue in office beyond the term limits is very instructive.
 
The cult like following of Obama may mean he will try to stay on as President past 2016 either through repeal of the 22nd amendment or through some other means.  I think he may be plotting right now to ensure he is President for life or as long as he desires.
---------------------------
 
In my opinion the more likely the way he would do it is to declare a national emergency and exercise powers granted the President under such a situation.  And believe me guys like Obama can screw things up so much we will have chaos, but if necessary they have no problem in declaring an emergency or doing anything else to stay in power.
 
Keep in mind this man has already moved us swiftly toward being a banana republic where there is no rule of law (remember the bondholders at car companies and how the dealers were simply forced out of business with no reason or compensation given?) but simply a country ruled by whoever is in power at the time however he chooses to rule.
 
He also committed fraud to get into the office.  Obama knows full well he was not born in America and that is why he has refused to release his long form birth certificate.  Perhaps he can get a forgery made someday, but in the meantime he is spending huge sums of money across the country on lawyers who have been hired to fight any suit that would simply require him to show his birth certificate (not the phony certificate of birth he posted on the internet).
 
Do not put anything past this man and his thugs in the Congress.  If you don't believe this, just think about the fact that the Congress is now forcing votes on a bill, Cap and Trade, with some of the most sweeping regulation and increased taxes in American history without even allowing the members of the House, much less the American people, to read the bill.
 
They did the same thing on the so called stimulus bill which will cost the taxpayers $785,000,000,000, i.e., almost 1 trillion dollars.  Just ram it through.  People who do this type of thing will do anything to include trying to keep the airhead in office for life.
 
If you think it can't happen here you had better wake up and smell the coffee.  This type of thing is the norm in most parts of the world and will be here too when there are no longer enough people who have the knowledge and backbone to ensure the rule of law is enforced.
 
When that happens, and it is actually underway now right before our very eyes, then you can kiss freedom and prosperity goodbye.  The good news is that much of our population will no longer be overweight.  The bad news is many in America will have an appearance more like the people shown in the link below:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation
 
My advice is for you to do what you can to keep the freedoms you have now because it is tough to maintain freedom, but it is a lot easier to keep it than it is to get it back after it is lost.
 
J. Cogburn
 

--
Making Money Fast is Fun
http://www.QuickProfitStockTips.com/

Buchanan Article Worth Reading

Long ago I identified Obama as the anti-Reagan because he is exactly the opposite of Reagan in most every way.  Now I see Pat has done the same.

Many in the press are now also beginning to link his actions with those of Jimmy Carter's.  I did this on 02/26/08 after hearing the guy speak a few times.  I was in the military during the Carter years and remember it well; that's why it is easy for me to spot another Carter, even in a different flavor, from a mile away.
http://stocks-politics.typepad.com/stock_market_and_politica/2008/10/jimmy-carter-on.html
 
For weeks I've pointed out in my commentaries that foreign leaders are laughing at Obama.  They know the man is inexperienced and foolish.  Pat obviously agrees and here is how he says it...
 
"If Obama believes he can build himself up by tearing America down, he is mistaken. Cynical foreigners will view it with snickering contempt, patriotic Americans with disgust. What kind of leader is it who talks down his own country on foreign soil?" 

See Buchanan's article at:
 
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32195
 
J. Cogburn

An Interesting Prison Comparison

Let's do a quick comparison of the prison for citizens in North Korea and the prison for terrorists at Guantanamo shall we?
 
The Prison in North Korea - Populated by Citizens of North Korea
 
"Kyohwaso life is extremely harsh: scholars estimate only 50% of prisoners survive their first year. One of the first accounts of the North Korean prison system, a 2000 memoir called The Aquariums of Pyongyang, tells of routine torture and deprivations on par with Nazi concentration camps. The book's author, Kang Chol Hwan, was imprisoned in Yodok concentration camp at the age of 9 for 10 years with his family, where he suffered starvation, disease and was forced to attend public executions. "I attended some 15 executions during my time in Yodok," he wrote."
 
Why was this person imprisoned?
 
"Kang was imprisoned at the camp because his grandfather had been sentenced for suspicious behavior. "It's guilt by association," says Tim Peters, a Christian activist living in South Korea who has helped numerous North Korean defectors find safe havens in other countries."
 
Who has escaped the prison?

"Shin Dong Hyuk, a 27-year-old who is reportedly the only living former prisoner to escape a North Korean prison camp, also wrote a recent book about his experiences, Escape to the Outside World. Shin says he was born and raised in a camp about 55 miles north of Pyongyang, and like many prisoners, witnessed routine atrocities, including the execution of both his mother and brother. Before his escape in 2005, Shin was tortured at least twice, once for accidentally dropping a sewing machine in the garment factory where he was forced to work at the camp. He also watched a prison guard beat a small girl to death for hiding a few grains of wheat in her pocket."

The Prison in Guantanamo - Populated by Terrorists from Other Countries who Attacked the US and Killed Thousands of Our Citizens

Now at Guantanamo we made 3 of the most hardened terrorists very uncomfortable by pouring water on  them for a few seconds (with a physician standing by to ensure they were not actually harmed) on a routine basis until we were satisfied they had told us what additional attacks were planned on the US in order to kill more innocent people in our country and further do economic damage as well.

This included guys like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks." He is also thought to have had, or has confessed to, a role in many of the most significant terrorist plots over the last twenty years, including the World Trade Center 1993 bombings, the Operation Bojinka plot, an aborted 2002 attack on the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, the Bali nightclub bombings, the failed bombing of American Airlines Flight 63, the Millennium Plot, and the murder of Daniel Pearl.

Other than that the worst we do is put a harmless caterpillar in their cell, but the lawyers have forbidden the guards from trying to convince them it might be a dangerous insect.  We just hope they come to that conclusion on their own and are frightened by this scary looking bug.

Prisoners at Gitmo, who are for the most part citizens of another country,  are given a copy of their holy book, prayer rugs, laptops, cable TV, access to lawyers, and so much to eat of culturally prepared foods that most now have the "Gitmo Gut" from gaining at least 20 pounds while living in this nice tropical facility we have provided for them.

So knowing that the true liberal mind always turns everything upside down and comes to the wrong conclusion almost without fail, especially when dealing with guilt and innocence of various humans and how the rules would apply differently to them, which prison do they spend all their time protesting?  Why Gitmo of course!
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090609/wl_time/08599190357200
 
J. Cogburn
 
 
 
 

Airhead Case Study - April 2009

Why are some people airheads?

Because they never learn even when a clear example is provided for them that should teach them something.  The simple lesson can be presented over and over for 8 years on all the national news and all the national newspapers.

But does it sink in to their empty skull?  No.  Thus the label is an accurate description of a human condition, which I'm going to call airhead-itus to lend a clinical flavor to my analysis of this affliction. 

Now let's do a quick case study of the US Airhead in Chief (AIC), Barack Hussein Obama, to see how this plays out in real life and on the world stage for a simple yet profound example.

After back-slapping and fist-pumping with Hugo Chavez, another dictator who openly hates capitalism and the United States, Obama defended his actions by saying the following:

"we have nothing to fear from Venezuela, whose defense budget is probably 1/600 that of the U.S."

Now why you ask is this an airhead statement?  Because anyone but an airhead knows the threat in the 21st Century is from asymmetric warfare, not conventional warfare.

Of course no other country in the world could possibly even come close to defeating our Air Force in a conventional war.  And the military that holds the high ground will win in a conventional war. However, even that could change in time if the military budget continues to get cut as Obama is proposing, but at the moment that is the way it is.

Low budget operations can do grave harm to our nation through asymmetric warfare.  On 9/11 we had an asymmetric warfare example when 19 men armed with box cutters and airline tickets did the following:

    - killed 3,000 of our citizens,

    - grounded our domestic airlines,

    - shut down our financial markets for days,

    - cost us untold billions of dollars in direct and indirect damage to our infrastructure and our   economy,

    - caused us to add layers of security from now on that costs us billions every year in security costs, time, and frustration at the inconvienience.

    - started the war on terror which has resulted in a 2 front war that cost hundreds of billions more dollars,  thousands more deaths, and is still not over years later.

So there you have it.  I'm sure the airhead heard about 9/11, read about it in the paper, saw it on the radio and TV news, and has probably even had security briefings on possible attacks like this in the future since he is now the President of the United States.

But what is his conclusion from all this?  If a country has a small military budget they are no threat to the United States.

This clearly demonstrates that the airhead called Obama had 8 years to get it right and still did not learn the simple lesson.... through asymmetric warfare large defense budgets and capabilities are not necessary to do grave harm to our nation.  All that is needed is a hatred of capitalism and America plus the willingness to act on that hatred to harm us economically and / or militarily.

Chavez has made it clear that is his intentions.  But the Airhead Obama thinks his small military budget prevents this man from being a threat to America.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

J. Cogburn

Who's Helping the Poor - Me or You?

All you liberals out there who are always droning on an on about helping the poor and then we find out you personally donate almost nothing to charity and support dictators who enslave and impoverish whole nations of people, listen up!
 
I've advocated taking strong action against the Somali Pirates who are hijacking ships and taking hostages.  In a strange irony some of the ships being hijacked are carrying a cargo of supplies and food for the Somalia people.
 
But some of you bleeding hearts that never believe force is necessary to stop evil men and who run around with asinine bumper stickers such as "war is not the answer" are in reality the enemies of poor people all over the world.
 
That's right.  I have outlined a specific program to help poor people both directly and indirectly by dealing with this pirate problem swiftly.  If you disagree with this then read the following article and see who is really a friend of the poor... me or you?
 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_piracy_forgotten_hostages
 
If you are still too obtuse to grasp this truth I have just clearly laid out for you then by all means please tell me how your spineless approach of allowing the pirates to continue hijacking ships, impeding the delivery of needed goods, and taking hostages is a better plan for helping the poor than what I have proposed.
 
My Help the Poor Plan
http://stocks-politics.typepad.com/stock_market_and_politica/2009/04/how-to-deal-with-pirates.html
 
J. Cogburn
 
--
Making Money Fast is Fun
http://www.QuickProfitStockTips.com/

Liberals and Animals

My friend writes....

You are wasting your time trying to get Phil and other liberals to see reality. They really are incapable of sorting through facts and coming to a logical conclusion and they are too stubborn to ever change their minds. You might as well try to teach a pig to talk. After all his arguing about the impossibility of snipers taking out the pirates, have you heard from him when it, in fact, happened.

My response....

You are right on this.... it is a part of my observation long ago that the truly liberal mind is "impervious to facts".  Facts bounce off the liberal mind like raindrops bounce off a plate glass window.
 
I want to catalog your "You might as well try to teach a pig to talk" analogy for future study and possible use.  But first I must make sure there is a zero chance of teaching a pig to talk.  It is similar to what my cousin said regarding liberals and animals.
 
He says that you could use flawless logic backed up by undisputed scientific and historical fact to get a liberal to see an obvious truth.  But they won't see it because it is like presenting this argument to a cow who is out in the field picking grass and expecting the cow to be convinced by your argument.  It won't happen.
 
No I didn't see anything from Phil that said I was right and he was wrong about the snipers.  Instead he tried to defend his attack on President Bush by trying to equate a pirate "attack" on a ship with a successful hijacking of an American ship and / or the taking of American hostages.
 
The former is an incident that shouldn't be taken lightly while the latter is a much more serious situation that demands immediate action.  The liberal mind has trouble with nuances in a given situation and how that it affects how the situation should be viewed and dealt with and whether the two situations are equivalent.
 
For example, the truly liberal mind always thinks guns are bad and  should be outlawed.  They fail to see the nuance of the situation.  The nuance is that is guns are inanimate objects and can be used for bad purposes (murder of innocent people in the commission of a crime) or for good purposes (to stop criminals from robbing, raping, or murdering innocent people).
 
There are many other nuances I could give, but let me just give one other example.  My friend Phil is very interested in helping the poor which is fine an comendable if it is directed at helping those who through no fault of their own need some help and is not done in such a way that it stifles initiative from those receiving the aid to where it becomes an expectation and way of life.
 
Giving to the poor, especially through government programs, can be like feeding animals in the wild; soon they lose the ability to feed themselves and are totally reliant on others to survive.   Again it is all in how it is done as to whether it is ultimately a good thing or a bad thing for all concerned.
 
But while I believe my friend has a good heart and wants to help those in need he supports guys like Castro who literally enslave and impoverish whole populations for 50 years.  He doesn't get the nuance in the situation here again, otherwise he would be with me in opposing dictators at all times in all places.
 
Generally I don't spend time seeking out liberals to argue with because as you have rightly pointed out it is an exercise in futility.  But as a hobby I do spar a bit with my friend Phil and occasionally others who seem to be misguided who cross my path.  However, I have little expectation that they will grasp my arguments and change their way of thinking so I don't really do it for that purpose.
 
As to the pirates, I'm pretty sure at least 3 of them, and maybe 4, will not be hijacking any American ships in the future.
 
But unless my 3 part program outlined in a previous commentary is carried out many others will continue this activity as long as it is profitable to do so.
 
One caution...if we decide to take out the pirate strongholds it must be a major strike that kills thousands and makes those who live tremble at the idea we will be coming for them should they decide to continue in their old occupation.  A timid or half hearted strike will probably not help at all and may in fact make things worse.
 
Most of the pirates at this time seem to be interested primarily in the money.  An easier way to stop this is for everyone to advertise they will no longer pay a ransom for any reason and mean what they say.  But what are the chances of this?  It is possibility but a low probability I think that this would be carried out indefinitely and uniformly by the entire globe.
 
Of course you may have some pirates that would like to involve themselves in this activity for terrorist type reasons instead of financial gain.  In those cases you have to deal with them the same way you deal with other terrorists.... find out who they are, where they are, and take them out before they strike.
 
So we shall see what happens.  The pirates have vowed revenge while our Secretary of Defense is carrying out the young King's wishes by cutting the defense budget and has stated they don't see any need for further action against the pirates at this time.
 
Will additional attacks on American ships change their mind or are they in fact planning a massive raid on the pirates per my recommendation even now?  We shall see.
 
J. Cogburn

Does Attack Equal Hijack?

My friend writes...

I give up you cannot deal with a radical.If you would have read the article titled : (CNN) -- U.S. Navy personnel cleared unexploded ordnance from a luxury cruise ship Monday, two days after pirates attacked the vessel off Africa, the U.S. military said.  
  The ship was attacked and nobody was killed thanks to Captain keeping the passengers off the deck and using evasive action to get away from the Pirates. The word attack is mention in all three articles. Again you read what you want and bullshit the rest.
  As For Bush when he was first sworn in he visited Mexico or was it Israel or Bangladesh but did not come to Canada until much later. After 911 he accused Canada for allowing the terrorist into the US. Next he diverted all planes coming from aboard to Canada. It was not until his second term he thanked Canada for allowing US planes with potential terrorist to land in our airports. Apologize to Bush you got to be kidding.

My response.....

The untold story...find out what actually happened in taking down the pirates. I outline the interesting details below, but first a reply to my friend Phil's latest correspondence....
 
My original statement on this was the following:
 
"Do some research will you?  Tell me when ships with American flags were taken by pirates off the coast of Somalia and American citizens held hostage by the same during the Bush administration.  Then after you can't find it you can send an apology for unfairly attacking President Bush once again."
 
See the commentary where this appears at: http://stocks-politics.typepad.com/stock_market_and_politica/2009/04/did-bush-allow-pirate-attacks.html
 
Notice the words "were taken"... this means successfully hijacked.
 
Also notice "American citizens held hostage by the same"... this is pretty self explanatory, but would normally occur only after the pirates achieved the first objective.

So based on this check your dictionary to see if "attacked" is a synonym for "successfully hijacked" and / or "hostages".  That's important because only a successful hijacking of an American vessel and / or American hostage being held by the Somali pirates would qualify as something similar to this during the Bush administration regarding pirates.
 
Your own quote from the article makes it clear that "the ship took evasive action to get away from the pirates".  To me that means they did not succeed at hijacking the ship.  What does it mean to you?
 
Also, since they were not able to hijack the ship it would be assumed they were not able to take any hostages.  This is especially true since the article didn't say anything about hostages being taken. 
 
Notice by actually reading what the article says and using a bit of logic we can determine that:
 
a.  Pirates fired at the ship in order to attempt to get control of the ship, i.e., hijack it.
 
b.  The crew took evasive action so the pirates were unable to achieve their objective.
 
c.  Since they were not able to board the ship no hostages were taken.
 
d.  Some of the ordnance did not explode when it hit the ship; it was later cleared by U.S. Navy personnel.
 
As to what Bush did when he first became President, I didn't say anything about that.  What I said was that he made his first speech as a private citizen after two terms of President in Canada.
 
Since you previously equated him with Saddam Hussein in moral equivalency, and you seem to have an affection for dictators, I thought perhaps you liked our 43rd President and would want to correspond with him if given the chance.  Maybe I was wrong about this.
 
But it looks like I was right about snipers taking out the pirates, eh Phil?
 
And now for the UNTOLD STORY of what really happened to the poor pirates..
 
What you don't know is that our 44th President is a real hero, even more so than President Bush.  I have it on good authority that what actually happened was this....
 
Obama had a chef flown in from 1/2 way across the country to make pizza for a party of 140 people, because he liked the crust this guy makes, as a diversionary tactic.
 
While everyone was focused on this King like summons (fly in a chef from the midwest to make pizza for a party...at taxpayers expense?), he snuck out of the White House and flew himself directly to the Navy ship in his own private jet that he bought from the royalties of his inventions while in the private sector.  Of course he got his flight training as a military officer and honed his skills while flying secret combat missions over enemy terroritory for many years.
 
Since he is also a weapons expert from his special ops training, and a world class swimmer from his days in a Navy Seals unit, he carefully selected his weapon of choice after landing his small jet on a destroyer (never been done before, but he did it in this emergency situation).  This background is why even today he is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment.
 
He carefully lowered himself into the water, despite swells up to 10 feet at the time, with his hi-powered sniper rifle firmly gripped between his teeth as he had to keep his hands free to complete the 5 mile swim required to get him within range of the pirate's vessel.
 
One man, while swimming in rough waters, being able to take out all 3 pirates before they could harm the Captain would be the tough part. But he was sure his confidence and warfare skills, plus an adrenaline rush at the prospect of taking down the bad guys, would be sufficient to accomplish the task.
 
Well you know the rest of what happened.... our superhero President, the smartest and most accomplished man in the world, completed his mission.  His cunning and bravery will be talked about and taught in military tactics classes for years to come.
 
What the most important and amzaing thing to know is that this was in the planning stages for years just in case something like this might come up.
 
To make sure he could keep his cover and strike the enemy by total surprise he had to create an image of being a complete airhead who had no real accomplishments before becoming President and make it look like he had spent his whole life listening to and learning from radicals who hate the US and all it stands for, especially those freedom and capitalism parts.
 
Well done Mr. President, mission accomplished!
 
J. Cogburn

Read Everything About Pirates

My friend writes....

 I am sober. You read only what you want and discard the rest. See this article : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090410/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/piracy_captain
  The word  "enclosed lifeboat" does not describe the boat picture that you attached. I saw a picture of a similar lifeboat on TV and they were discussing the closure of the porthole therefore avoiding sniping.
  Note: The latest piracy attack does not identify the owner of the ship. The Captain is said to be Italian and the ship maybe US or Italian.
  Sober up and read everything not only what you want to throw at Obama and me.

My response....

Good to hear you are working on that drinking problem... as an old friend I've been worried about you!  These type of habits can be hard to break as you know.  Hopefully you have at least got some of that dictator worship problem cured with the counselling I recommended to you a few years ago.  Professional help is almost always a good idea in these situations.
 
These pirates may not be in a totally open boat, but your article makes my point.  Notice it says,

"The pirates are holding Phillips aboard a drifting lifeboat, with U.S. officials trying to negotiate his release."

"After his recapture, Phillips could be seen aboard moving around and talking aboard the lifeboat, from the vantage point of a U.S. Navy ship patrolling nearby, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the sensitive, unfolding operation."

If they can see Phillips they likely can see the pirates at least from time to time.  In addition, does a "drifting lifeboat" sound like an impenetrable craft to you?

They may be able to detect exactly where everyone is on the tiny vessel with heat detection devices and also determine which one is the Captain if they are able to get close enough.  This is speculation on my part but is certainly a possibility.

My understanding is that the tug boat is American owned but was flying a flag from another country.  In any case it is another brazen pirate attack on the high seas.

Don't forget to send me either of the following:

a. the details of cases where ships with American flags were hijacked by pirates and Americans taken hostage during the Bush administration, or

b. An apology to President Bush for falsely attacking him again.

When you send this apology Phil, which I will send on to the beloved former President, make it good since as you know any job worth doing is worth doing right.

J. Cogburn

Obama on Steroids Confirmed?

Over a year ago on 02/26/08 I wrote a commentary indicating Obama would be a Jimmy Carter on Steroids.
 
Additional confirmation of this came in today as Americans were taken hostage abroad.  Jimmy Carter had been President for almost 3 years before anyone got up the nerve to take American Hostages.  But with Obama Americans have been taken hostage in less than 3 months after he took office. 
 
This is a 12 to 1 time ratio and indicates the steroid effect that I outlined long ago.  We will see many of the same steroid effects in the economy and in foreign policy in the coming months.
 
Recently Obama warned North Korea not to launch their ICBM as this was against UN resolutions and would be a provocative act.  He said we should talk about it instead.
 
But notice the little pot bellied dictator in North Korea wasn't interested in a "dialogue". He was interested in launching his ICBM and that is exactly what he did.  Obama said there would be real consequences for this..... so they are feverishly working to get a "statement" from the UN condemning the launch.
 
Like the world's dictators I too have to laugh at such a pitiful response.  They are all singing... Happy Days are Here Again!
 
See more of what is ahead at:
http://stocks-politics.typepad.com/stock_market_and_politica/2008/10/jimmy-carter-on.html
 
J. Cogburn