we really are in a jihad here in America too aren’t we
that being government is incompetent – let tribes prevail

problem is all* tribes make war with each other – little people are abused by the power
there you have it the jihad circle

* never generalize to the max .. more like all tribes compete to some extent

On foreign policy side, he has been scolded by Indian government for unnecessary remarks regarding Kashmir issue (disclosure: I am from India originally). N. Korea and Iran are dissing him.

GMO’s Grantham has also predicted that Volker will resign in less than a year.

When asked why Lincoln added a true enemy to his cabinet, his response was “I’d rather have him inside pissing out than outside pissing in”. So just maybe there’s more there than we’ve given him credit for.

Why is an FDR type desirable? FDR was never able to accomplish anything positive on the economic front because the NRA and other idiotic programs tried to prevent the necessary liquidation of malinvestments. The average American did not see a real improvement in his standard of living until after WWII. A better role model for Obama would be Harding, who knew exactly how to handle a sharply contracting economy and did what he should. By doing nothing Harding allowed the sharp contraction to liquidate malinvestments and the economy started to grow very quickly after the contraction began.

For the life of me I can’t understand Americans and their failure to understand their own history. The ones that most people think of as the best presidents are typically the worst (Lincoln, FDR, Wilson, Reagan) and the ones that are seen as unimportant are usually the best (Harding, A. Johnson, Grant, Monroe, Van Buren).

But Obama is losing credibility at an alarming rate. He pledged change, but he has surrounded himself with the same old tired Washington elite and career politicians. He pledged “no earmarks”, but this bacon filled plan out of the House is loaded with earmarks, and I interpretted his remarks yesterday to mean he’s not prepared to scrap it and start over. He pledged no lobbyists, and he’s already made exceptions to that policy. He pledged a new era of responsibility in government, and at least 2 of his high level nominees have been forced to withdraw from consideration for failing to pay taxes. Geithner somehow managed to get confirmed for failing to pay taxes, but one wonders if he has the moral authority to be an effective Treasury Secretary. Richardson was forced to withdraw from consideration because he’s under grand jury investiagation for influence peddling.

I was shocked to see that even Maureen Dowd took a shot at him.

“1. The failure of the Daschle nomination begins to reveal further the underlying disarray and lack of focus within the Obama Administration. More than an FDR type figure, Obama resembles an intelligent, hopeful young monarch surrounded by powerful family and tribal elders, many of whom lack competence and have various personal conflicts. Unlike FDR, whose intellect and political skills were widely underestimated, even ridiculed, Obama starts with seeming competence, thus has nowhere to go but down. It is interesting, for example, that the media is already questioning the choice of Hillary Clinton at State. At some point, Obama is going to need to make some choices in terms of the ownership of various policy portfolios. If the US/global economy continues to track lower in terms of employment and GDP, look for a UK-style cabinet reshuffle before year-end.”