COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, August 17, 2012

Jon Corzine Walks


No One Will Charged With a Crime for the MF Global Collapse


Authorities are winding down their criminal investigation of the failed brokarage firm, MF Global, and despite the lack of oversight and the loss of more than $1 billion in customer funds, it now seems unlikely that anyone at the firm will face criminal charges. 

The New York Times is reporting this morning that after ten months of investigation by federal prosecutors, sources say there isn't even enough evidence to charge any of the firm's executives in a criminal probe. The company may have failed spectacularly when it came to oversight and risk management, but the losses cannot be chalked up to outright fraud.

The company placed a grossly outsized bet (more than $6 billion worth) on the health of the European debt market last year and when it went south, the firm "borrowed" money from the accounts of its customers to try and salvage its own losses. Most of the blame for those trades fell on its CEO (and ex-New Jersey governor) Jon Corzine, and while his reputation and firm are ruined, it seems he will escape any legal sanction. He could still face massive civil lawsuits or fines from regulators who have a lower standard than a criminal prosecution, but jail isn't in the cards.

Of course, if the company's bankruptcy is the result of incompetence rather than theft that won't makethose who were burned by it feel any better. Nor will it help ease the fears of anti-Wall Street types who already believe the financial industry is a wasteland of greed and corruption. Those waiting to see bankers and traders hauled away in handcuffs are going to have to keep waiting a little longer.

130 comments:

  1. Has anyone not read Quirk's new bestseller yet?

    "Making Billions By Getting Ahead In Business and Politics: One Thousand and One Ways To Stiff The Customer and Milk The Rubes", including the exciting new supplement "Voting Fraud: Fifteen Previously Unpublished Ways To Roll The Man". Also the acclaimed new essay "Scam!".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have it on the QT a new essay is 'in progress': "Nothing To Believe In: They're All Dicks".

      Delete
    2. .

      You forgot about, From the Frying Pan Into the Fire for Dummies


      .

      Delete
    3. .

      Or,

      Painful Truths for the Callow and Naive

      Delete
    4. .

      Or

      Phthisis: The Sad Story of a Degenerating Mind, a biography of an Idaho alfalfa farmer.


      .

      Delete
    5. I forgot about "Dementia Exposed: Arguing Aliens Have Inalienable Rights - A Study in Incoherence and Sadness"

      Delete
    6. .

      Lord, you're a silly old man. Of course aliens have inalienable rights, such as life, liberty from slavery, etc.

      Inalienable Rights

      Definition (from Dictionary.com): a right according to natural law, a right that cannot be taken away, denied, or transferred.

      Try and get with the program, Bob. You seem to be stuck in the 19th century.

      .

      Delete
  2. .

    Par for the course. One more slimebag walks. Unfortunately, it is not the perp walk.

    The only thing you can hope for is that the civil lawsuits strip him bare. However, these guys always seem to find a way to protect a stash somewhere.

    Word is he is already talking of opening a new hedge fund. You might ask, who would invest in it after MF Global. But it's true that there's a sucker borne every day.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But it's true that there's a sucker borne every day.

      A truth carved in the walls of Souls. A business model.

      Delete
  3. Probably getting a manicure instead of sharpening his sling blade.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Obama is so confident, he is keeping Biden to clean his office and carry his golf clubs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hillary is not so confident. She said no.

      Delete
  5. Romney is busy explaining his support for the 15% "carried interest" (which really has nothing to do with cap gains, or interest, at all) Tax Rate.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. .

      Pussy Riot Gets Two Years


      Before Friday's proceedings began, defense lawyer Nikolai Polozov said the women "hope for an acquittal but they are ready to continue to fight."

      The case comes in the wake of several recently passed laws cracking down on opposition, including one that raised the fine for taking part in an unauthorized demonstrations by 150 times to 300,000 rubles (about $9,000).

      Another measure requires non-government organizations that both engage in vaguely defined political activity and receive funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents."


      .

      Delete
  7. Romney shows up in his letter sweater and Obama pulls it over Mitt’s face.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Replies
    1. Romney is reminding me more of Nixon every day.

      Delete
    2. We already know Obama did not report some incomes on his taxes. He didn't pay 13%, he paid 0% on that money.

      Delete
    3. Where's the outrage around here?

      Awfully quiet.

      Delete
  9. .

    Fareed Zakaria will resume his jobs at both CNN and Time after a full week of being 'suspended'.

    Evidently, plagiarism can get you kicked out of school, but all it does if you are a high profile writer is get you a week vacation.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Plagiarism is polite. When your trade is in words and you use the work of others, you are a thief.

      Delete
  10. The primary responsibility of the Educated, and Wealthy, is to keep the masses Uneducated, and Poor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  11. They have succeeded beyond measure with you on the uneducated part.

    What an utterly stupid statement.

    It has been the educated and wealthy who have contributed most to the building of our educational establishment. Which establishment is failing today due to a host of liberal non-sense.

    How many jobs did Henry Ford create?

    How many jobs did Rufus create?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How many jobs did Bob create?

      Delete
    2. How many jobs and millionaires has Bill Gates created?

      How many jobs and millionaires has Rufus created?

      How many lives has Bill Gates saved in Africa?

      How many lives has Rufus saved in Mississippi?

      Delete
    3. When the wealthy found a college it's for their Own children, not the children of the employees. Get a grip.

      Delete
    4. Interesting that you should bring up Bill Gates. He agrees with Rufus on virtually all social/taxation issues.

      Delete
    5. Couple truck drivers, and a combine mechanic, plus long time work for an engineer, and part time work for a construction company.

      Lots of work for attorneys.

      How about you, Commando?

      But, I'm not wealthy, and you were talking wealthy -

      The primary responsibility of the Educated, and Wealthy, is to keep the masses Uneducated, and Poor.

      God that is stupid.

      Delete
    6. He hasn't caught up with me on Solar, and Biofuels, yet; but he's getting there.

      Delete
    7. Rufus, you are really becoming brain dead.

      Delete
    8. Well, then, why did you bring my name into it?

      Delete
    9. As far as that goes, as an insurance agent with thousands of policy-holders, there's no telling how many lives I've saved.

      Delete
    10. I'm glad he agrees with you Rufus.

      But we weren't talking ethanol and wind, or taxation or social, we were talking about this idiotic comment -

      The primary responsibility of the Educated, and Wealthy, is to keep the masses Uneducated, and Poor.

      And if Gates agrees with you on taxation and social, wind, solar and ethanol, then certainly you have just dug the grave of your own argument, which was "The primary responsibility of the Educated, and Wealthy, is to keep the masses Uneducated, and Poor".

      Certainly you don't want to keep the masses uneducated and poor, do you Rufus?

      And how many scholarships has the Gates Foundation given out?

      How many scholarships has the Rufus Foundation given out?

      Delete
    11. Well, then, why did you bring my name into it?
      Rufus IIFri Aug 17, 09:17:00 AM EDT

      Cause it was you that made an extremely stupid statement?

      As far as that goes, as an insurance agent with thousands of policy-holders, there's no telling how many lives I've saved.

      Yes, yes, I've said many many times, I owe my life to my life insurance agent, bless him. Without him insuring my life, I might well be dead, which sometimes these days I think might be just as well.

      I recall my daughter saying long ago, when she was listening to us talking about life insurance, I want my life insured too, I don't want to die!

      :)

      Delete
    12. I sold "Health Insurance," Bob, not Life insurance.

      Delete
    13. And, 20 years after hanging up my spurs I still have close to a thousand policy holders.

      Delete
    14. And, I wasn't referring to "newly-rich" college dropouts; I was talking "Old, Serious" Money. Those people have absolutely no interest in your kids, or mine, being anything but cheap labor.

      Delete
    15. And, I'll guarantee you that if I had ever taken customers' premiums, and lost them down at the local casino I would have gone to jail.

      Delete
    16. .

      You might be right, but nothing ever happened to AIG.

      :)

      .

      Delete
    17. Speaking of AIG I happened to play a round of golf with a Risk Manager from the company. When he told me that I laughed and said "oh, you work for the government" he laughed and said they had paid back all the money". I asked him if he was there in that role back in the '08 crisis. He said "yes" and I remarked "that must have been interesting, especially given your job". He replied "Yes, it was pretty wild and we learned alot.". I replied, "Yeah, it is amazing how one small department, off in England wasn't it? could do such damage" He nodded.

      Delete
  12. We are being told on this blog that only the uneducated vote Republican.

    Fear and scarcity, the “Gullibility Scale” of the pseudo-intellectual.

    Fear and scarcity, the “Gullibility Scale” of the pseudo-intellectual are always with us. Fear and scarcity frequently appears with, “We’re afraid the world is running out of oil, so we have to have more public transportation (Union jobs with dues to subsidize a Party that has a hard time getting contgributions any other way) and tiny, unsafe, light-weight, expensive cars that we can subsidize to SAVE ENERGY.”
    New, horizontal drillling methods prove that we are not running out of energy. Real scientists have known that for decades, but truth matters little to the left. Big money and fat margins are generated by fear and scarcity, so an endless stream of shills lets us know that, “We’re running out of energy!”. That’s an intellectual conclusion on a par with Chicken Little’s “The sky is falling!” from minds of similar analytical ability.
    The Gullibility Scale
    Consumer choices often let us know where people stand on the “Gullibility Scale”. Those who drive Priuses, Volts, and autos of similarly dubious value identify those gullible enough to believe the alarmists. Often, they’re nice people, just unfamiliar with facts. The truly gullible pseudo-intellectuals will spend their own dollars to appear to be intelligent. Those who manipulate them have trained themselves not to snicker. Both the gullible and their manipulators will say, with a straight face, “We’re running out of energy.” when justifying every boondoggle from vast solar collectors to wind farms to their own giant battery packs on wheels.
    While the gullible go on being gulled, the latest estimates are that the Siberian shale oil fields are fifty times greater than the recently publicized (does anyone think that real geologists haven’t known what was a mile or so underground for years?) Bakken reserves, which are greater than the Saudi’s.

    There is one good thing about Priuses and Volts. When they had a bridge to sell, or an Imaginary Problem to plug, alarmists looking for contributions searched for people who drove Volvos. Now, Priuses and Volts identify the gullible. The difference? Priuses and Volts are produced at far greater expense to taxpayers and battery disposers. Such is progress.

    Real progress, of course, would be converting our cars to natural gas at little expense and filling them at home. But, no one on the left wants a simple, cheap solution to any problem. Actually, in Cash for Clunkers, a million old cars that could have been modified to run on natural gas for a few thousand each were trashed, making it even harder for a million of America’s poorest workers to get to work. Again, we see that the left hates anything that would help make people more prosperous by reducing their cost of living. They prefer to stick them with overpaid bus drivers and huge batteries to get rid of at high cost.

    Like the Global Freezing/Warming scams, the Rising/Falling Sea Level horrors, the imaginary “gyre”, a continent-sized island of floating plastic recently reputed to be floating around in the middle of the Pacific, or the Land of Prester John, human ingenuity knows no bounds when contemplating imaginary solutions to often-imaginary problems. And, if money can be gotten from helpless taxpayers in the process, so much the better.



    ReplyDelete
  13. As far as that goes, as an insurance agent with thousands of policy-holders, there's no telling how many lives I've saved.


    geeeez.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What? You think Doctors, and Hospitals are Free?


      Oh, right; I forgot. You really do.

      Delete
    2. .

      Obamacare apparently does. That's were the $700 trillion is coming from.

      .

      Delete
  14. No Gag, I said that if you were "POOR," and voted Republican you were most likely uneducated. If you are "Wealthy" and vote Republican you are, quite likely, just voting your own perceived self-interest.

    As for gullible: My definition of that would be to mistake the oily rock in the Bakken (which will, most likely, never yield a million bbl/day) with the 10 Million bbl/day output of Saudi Arabia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder how that "convert the clunkers to nat gas" thing will look the next time Nat Gas goes back to $15.00/kcuft?

      Delete
    2. You are truly a legend in your own mind. Please carry on.

      Delete
  15. Oop, might want to put Bob back on "suicide watch;"

    Rasmussen: Obama +1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No watch necessary here. I have a Rufus Perpetual Life Insurance Policy. I.m told I couldn't bump myself off if I tried. By the way, RPLI was originally a sub of Souls but I was told 3Q's conscience got to bugging him bad, so he passed it on to the first sucker he could find. I heard some woman come after Rufus once with a shotgun, after her husband actually died, and she was pissed to find there were no benefits to the surviving spouse. Ruf had run across the holla, swum the swamp, and disappeared into the mangos by the time she blew the dead bolt outta the front door.

      Delete
  16. From earlier thread:

    GAI [Government Accountability Institute] details how the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations both actually took down financial criminals - unlike the Obama administration. Between 2002 and 2008, for instance, GAI points out how a Bush administration task force "obtained over 1,300 corporate fraud convictions, including those of over 130 corporate vice presidents and over 200 CEOs and corporate presidents."

    "Clinton's DOJ prosecuted over 1,800 S&L (savings and loans) executives, senior officials, and directors, and over 1,000 of them were sent to jail," GAI adds.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/who_really_unchained_wall_street.html

    =====

    AG under Clinton: Janet Reno (Waco)

    AG under Bush: John Ashcroft (resignation prompted by the illegality of GWB's domestic intelligence program), Alberto Gonzalez (resigned under vote of no confidence pressure from Congress), Michael Mukasey (placeholder.)

    =====

    Sixty-one percent of defendants sentenced in the Bush administration's crackdown on corporate fraud spent no more than two years in jail, escaping the stiff penalties given WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp. executives.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awztp90u5kEo

    Our analyses show that the FBI’s investigative personnel resources for financial crime investigations decreased from 1,641 on board agents in FY 2000 to 1,335 in FY 2004, or an almost 20 percent reduction.

    http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/FBI/a0537/chapter5.htm

    =====

    FBI's Financial Crimes Reports began in 2005. A series of precursor reports go back to 2000. They can be found here.

    Pending Fraud Cases:

    Corporate Fraud: Up under BHO after leveling under GWB
    Securities & Commodities: Up under BHO after leveling under GWB
    Health Care: Up under BHO after leveling under GWB
    Mortgage: Guess
    Financial Institution: decline from 2007 (first year of record; new reporting category in 2010)
    Bank Failures: post-2008 spike (new reporting category in 2010)
    Insurance: steady decline
    Tele (Mass) Marketing: steady decline
    Money Laundering: steady with decline starting 2008

    =====

    Length of time to build and prosecute a white collar fraud case? Beats me but I'm guessing more than two years.

    Cost of S&L scandal (most of Reno's conviction effort under Clinton) was $160 billion, plus or minus. Cost of the market collapse of 2008 was what?

    The role of GWB as eagle-eyed prosecutorial hero? His hand was forced. The Enron boys crossed the line. Examples had to be made. Aside from that, two years was deemed appropriate.

    =====

    Apologies for the interruption. Some of this crayola cr@p is too egregious to let go.



    ReplyDelete
  17. I saw a clip, this very morning, of Mr Biden saying that Jon Corzine was the smartest man he's met.
    Seems that the even the smartest man in Mr Biden's circle of associates doesn't know what he doesn't know.

    ReplyDelete
  18. still no change at the RCP Electoral College count

    Obama 237
    Toss Ups 110
    Romney 191

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While the map without toss-ups...

      Obama 332
      Romney 206

      Delete
  19. Rufus IIFri Aug 17, 09:17:00 AM EDT
    As far as that goes, as an insurance agent with thousands of policy-holders, there's no telling how many lives I've saved.


    more like a parasite...

    after all what do you DO to earn those commissions?

    absolutely NOTHING...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Just a little factoid or two for all of you (not here of course) that love the use of the US military, the empire and our non stop meddling in the Middle East:

    China GDP 1990: 1854 RMB billion
    China GDP 2011: 32,069 RMB billion

    A 17X expansion

    The US GDP since 1990 has doubled.

    The US fought the first Gulf War in 1990 and has been pissing away lives and assets ever since. This morning 2 more US soldiers were killed by one of our Afghan uniformed allies.

    There are no reports of any Chinese casualties at either of the Chinese state owned enterprises (SOEs), a copper mine southeast of Kabul at Mes Aynak and an oil field in Amu Darya. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is seriously looking into a trans-Afghan natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Faustian Bargain:

    Obama to Wall St: You walk from jail time but the American people get health care.

    Romney to Wall St: You walk from jail time, but we tighten up the franchise.

    Voter ID here to stay. Two responses:

    From Kansas to Tennessee to Pennsylvania and beyond, a new effort is popping up: the voter identification drive. Modeled after voter registration drives, where groups help underserved populations get registered to vote, voter identification drives help ensure that citizens get proper photo IDs so they’re not turned away from the polls when they go to vote. Led by independent groups like the NAACP, as well as innovative elected officials and tireless individuals, voter identification drives will likely be increasingly common in states with voter ID.

    http://www.salon.com/2012/08/15/voter_id_is_here_to_stay/

    In a July report on voting irregularities in Philadelphia, City Commissioner Al Schmidt compiled a list of assorted errors at the polls, including a woman who voted twice, 23 unregistered voters who cast ballots, and eight non-Democrats who voted in a Democratic primary.

    That number of votes won't turn any except the closest elections, but it's still useful democratic hygiene to ensure that voting lists are as accurate as possible. Access to the ballot is important, but so is the integrity of each vote. If fraudulent votes are routinely cast, they cancel out the ballots of legal voters.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443343704577553103036704574.html

    FBI needs to add a new section for voter fraud to its annual Financial Crimes Report. Make grandma famous.

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

    So many things that stick in the craw. Now judgments have to be made with the bar set in a totally different place. Should vs would as multiple trajectories of tragedy intersect.

    Practically speaking, neither 2008 candidate was going to prosecute Wall St. The allegation that the "cronyism" "began" with Obama is ludicrous and delusional. The self-righteous mask placed so delicately over the sound and fury is a shallow disguise for the surprise and rage that Obama plays the Washington game oh so very well, for a young and relatively inexperienced outsider.

    Practically speaking, any "assault" on Wall St will have to be spear-headed by the Fourth Estate, which so far has done a pretty good job. The broad-based support has to be in place before a Washington pol will act. A second-term Obama administration would be in a good position to act but I doubt it will happen. Romney? May I have a show of hands, please?

    Practically speaking, the TBTF breakup debate has commenced - Sandy Weill, Meredith Whitney and so on. What is interesting about the debate is here.

    Twice as many business executives around the world say the global economy will prosper better if incumbent U.S. president Barack Obama wins the next election than if his Republican challenger Mitt Romney does, a poll showed on Friday.

    Democrat Mr. Obama was chosen by 42.7 percent in the 1,700 respondent poll, compared with 20.5 percent for Mr. Romney. The rest said “neither.”

    The result was different among respondents in the United States, where a slim majority thought Mr. Romney would be better for their businesses than Mr. Obama.

    Situation hopeless but not critical. We're several booster stages beyond that. Wild ride indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can "Played" Read?

      "Practically speaking, neither 2008 candidate was going to prosecute Wall St. The allegation that the "cronyism" "began" with Obama is ludicrous and delusional. The self-righteous mask placed so delicately over the sound and fury is a shallow disguise for the surprise and rage that Obama plays the Washington game oh so very well, for a young and relatively inexperienced outsider."

      ---

      Unchain Wall Street!
      They gawn' put y'all back in chains!


      Who really unchained Wall Street?

      For all the bluster of Obama, pre- and post-2008, as well as that of Attorney General Eric Holder concerning the alleged criminal activities on Wall Street, there have been zero Wall Street prosecutions under Obama/Holder. Compare that with his predecessors Bush and Clinton:


      GAI [Government Accountability Institute] details how the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations both actually took down financial criminals - unlike the Obama administration. Between 2002 and 2008, for instance, GAI points out how a Bush administration task force "obtained over 1,300 corporate fraud convictions, including those of over 130 corporate vice presidents and over 200 CEOs and corporate presidents."

      "Clinton's DOJ prosecuted over 1,800 S&L (savings and loans) executives, senior officials, and directors, and over 1,000 of them were sent to jail," GAI adds.

      But, despite having "promised more of the same," especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Obama administration's DOJ has not brought criminal charges against a single major Wall Street executive.

      The Bush and Clinton administrations' track records on prosecuting white-collar crime, and the Obama administration's failure to do so, Schweizer said, is "evidence that this has less to do with some sort of partisan or philosophical issue."

      Bush - 1,300 convictions;

      Clinton - 1,000 convictions;

      Obama - Zero attempts.


      And why the difference in prosecuting the law? The GAI report reveals that the Department of Justice upper echelon is stacked with attorneys, including Eric Holder, from law firms representing the very same companies involved in the financial meltdown of 2008, as well as financial corporations with questionable actions during the Obama administration...AIG, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, CitiBank, Deutsche Bank, ING, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Wilmington Trust, and John Corzine's MF Global.

      These very same DoJ attorneys also happen to be some of Obama's biggest bundlers for Obama's 2008 bid for president.

      "When we think of cronyism and the problems of cronyism and crony capitalism, we think in terms of economic loss and gain," Schweizer said in a phone interview. "What we're showing here is that cronyism is now permeating our justice system.

      So, it's not just a question of dollars and cents, it's a question of whether you're going to face legal jeopardy or not on what you're doing."

      Delete
    2. Tell us there's no difference.

      Like Dick-Man Quirk Asserts.

      ...some never learn.

      Delete
    3. 2,300 convictions = 0 convictions

      To Some

      Delete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You asked a few threads back what business I did.

    I make videos. I am a post-productions specialist. I am an editor by trade though I get out and wave my arms about and direct occasionally but I find going on set requires getting up too early in the morning and babysitting a whole bunch of people. I prefer others to do the shooting and I finish it off. In addition to editing we do animation, graphics and sound work plus, since everything went digital and much of it is destined for the web we do websites and other internet stuff.

    So, I too build stuff, but it is more virtual, picture and sound oriented.

    ReplyDelete
  24. You didn't build any of that, someone else built it for you.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Yes, that is especially true in light of how many shoulders one stands upon when dealing with software applications.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Why bob, you have seen the light.

    No one does anything by themselves.
    Your family got the land from the people of the United States and will always be beholden to them for the Granting of Title to it.

    ash is beholden to those that produced the work he edits.

    rufus to those that bought the insurance policies.

    gag to those that initially paid for the InterState Highways the trucks run on. As well as those with the foresight to build them.

    The oft maligned postal service, the backbone of the distribution network in my early days in publishing.

    Yes, b, none of US did it alone, we all had help from someone else.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, r, and how many times have I sung the praises of the wheat breeders at WAZZU, and our beloved American chemical companies?

      And have I ever said John Deere is the best company in America? In the world?

      Sure have.

      The trouble with Zero's quote is the absoluteness of it.

      If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.

      Which is pure ideological bullshit.

      His true colors shining through.

      Delete
    2. You edit the quote, removing the context, b.

      Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business -- you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.

      Mr Obama was referencing the infrastructure, the unbelievable American System that allows business to thrive as being what the business did not build.
      To read the quote in the entirety and come to any other conclusion, partisan delusion.

      Delete
    3. Many brave, young men paid with their lives to allow me to work, and do business in this wonderful, and free country.

      And, in my case, it wasn't just the purchasers of my policies, but some people that went way out on the limb, financially, to allow me to implement a unique, and risky marketing program.

      Delete
  27. "Pizzeria to no longer deliver in Detroit after dark..."

    What will poor Quirk do now?

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is a good article -

    Republicans are convinced that voter-ID laws coupled with absentee-ballot protections will cut down on fraud, and in areas like Philadelphia will lead to lower Democratic margins. The more honest among them acknowledge that the city has long been a fount of corruption, including when Republicans ran a machine that dominated it for 80 years until the 1950s. During that period, not a single Democrat was elected mayor, in part because of massive Republican-led voter fraud. All that changed after Democrats seized control of the levers of city power was that they perfected what former Democratic mayor Ed Rendell once admitted to me was “a yeasty system where the rule of law isn’t always followed.”

    Counting the votes in Philly --

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314273/voter-fraud-keystone-state-john-fund

    Quirk may be onto something with his 'they are all dicks' meme. But I've always maintained, and will continue to do so, that there is a difference between dicks, and some are bigger dicks than others.

    And the biggest mega-dick of all is sitting in the White House now. And he's out to screw America.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Just received from B-HO -



    Friend --

    I just got back from Iowa, where we are being outspent 2 to 1 on the air. Voters there mentioned it to me more than once.

    We expect Mitt Romney and the Republicans to outspend us.

    What I will not abide is getting outspent by a margin that negates all the hard work our volunteers are doing -- talking to voters, knocking on doors, making calls.

    We are in control of that outcome, but our time to close the gap is dwindling. After three consecutive months of being significantly outraised, it couldn't be more urgent.

    Will you make a donation of $3 or more?

    https://my.democrats.org/Outpsent-in-Iowa

    If we win this election, it will be because of what you did.

    I don't get to tell you enough how grateful I am.

    Thank you,

    Barack

    P.S. -- In a few weeks, I'll accept our party's nomination for president onstage in Charlotte, North Carolina. I wouldn't be there without you. Any donation you make today automatically enters you and a guest for a chance to join me and Michelle as VIP guests of the convention. Hope to see you there as VIP guests of the convention. Hope to see you there




    "for a chance to join me and Michelle" should of course read "for a chance to join Michelle and I" but Bill Ayers wasn't around today.


    ReplyDelete
  30. .

    "for a chance to join me and Michelle" should of course read "for a chance to join Michelle and I" but Bill Ayers wasn't around today.


    :)


    Lordy, Bob, you keep embarassing yourself. You're supposed to be the English major here.

    You are correct in pointing out that Michelle should come first, but that's a point of etiquette not grammar. Then you go on to misuse the nominative and objective pronouns, respectively, I and me. I is a nominitive pronoun. If you remove Michelle from your phrase, you end up with the nonsense phrase "for a chance to join I." The correct phrasing is "for a chance to join Michelle and me."

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or,

      Me, and da Bitch,

      or,

      Yo, an' da Ho

      Delete
    2. That ain't what Mrs. Roebeck taught usuns.

      When you remove Michelle, you start over, nitwit.


      Yo, an' da Ho

      Rufus, see directly above.

      That should read:

      da Ho an' I

      Delete
    3. I an' da Ho sounds too much like Idaho.

      Michelle could plausibly say "I da Ho"

      Delete
    4. How about 'Michelle and me, myself and I', as a little ego enhancer?

      Delete
    5. .

      Mrs. Roebeck?

      Damn, do you mean when you said you were an English major you were talking about grade school?

      Go look it up on the web. You're a big boy now.

      P.S. I agree with regard to the Obama "you didn't build that" speech showing his true colors. Rufus and rat are just flat out wrong. Not only is context important but also tone and the initial subject that Obama was addressing.

      I am looking for a copy of the original video to show Obama's animation and tone of voice as he delivers the lines. I'll put up the post when I have it.

      .

      Delete
  31. There are two key contradictions in Mitt Romney's messaging on Medicare reform.

    First, Romney says Medicare is "unsustainable" in current form. So why has he pledged to delay any Medicare reforms until 2022 and even repeal Medicare cuts contained within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, at a cost of $716 billion over ten years? Doesn't that make Medicare even less sustainable?


    Second, Romney says that his premium-support based Medicare reform, to be implemented in 2022, will be "an improved program" and everyone will get benefits "at least comparable to what Medicare provides today." If premium support is an improved program, why is there any need to delay implementation? Romney says his plan "honors commitments to current seniors" by waiting until 2022, but if his proposed benefit is as good as Medicare, why wouldn't it count as honoring those commitments?


    More at Bloomberg

    ReplyDelete
  32. GALLUP:

    ROMNEY 47%
    OBAMA 45%

    I think today's Rasmussen must be what they call 'an outlier'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :)

      Yeah, All the polls are "blue" except for one, but It's not the outlier. Uh, huh.

      Delete
    2. PPP for instance?

      CNN Opinion Research?

      CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac?

      Delete
    3. Yeah, plus Politico, IBD, and Fox


      If I were a Romney supporter the IBD Poll would probably worry me the most. They're known for running a pretty good poll, and the internals didn't favor the Dems nearly as much as some of the others.

      Delete
  33. 2 UPS Workers Busted With 40 Pounds Of Marijuana In Their Truck ...

    This reminds me of the time when the wife of our Magistrate Judge, a good guy even though a democrat, got busted for using UPS, for whom she worked, to import maryjane into our fair city.

    Prosecuted, she got off with a minor penalty, a slap on the wrist.

    While our sometimes employee Mr. F the felon, taken under wing by my wife cause no one would rent to him, did time in the Idaho pen for growing the stuff domestically. Turned in by his own wife, who didn't like the idea of the kid being around the operation, he was convicted with that enhancement, hence the short prison time. That marriage dissolved in a shambles, I can tell you.

    UPS moves a lot of drugs.

    ReplyDelete
  34. MYTH THREE: OBAMACARE SLASHES $700 BLN FROM MEDICARE

    Facts: The Romney-Ryan campaign has trotted out this scary-sounding number to deflect attention from Ryan's voucher plan. But it is largely a false claim because it implies that the health reform law slashes benefits.

    The Affordable Care Act actually delivers expanded benefits to seniors. It closes the prescription drug donut hole over time, with 3.6 million seniors saving a collective $2.1 billion last year; it also expands preventive services, including an annual wellness visit, mammograms and prostate cancer screenings with no out-of-pocket cost.

    Obamacare does cut $700 billion in Medicare spending over a 10-year period. But the cuts are adjustments in payments to Medicare providers, which are mostly meaningless to patients. According to the CBO, the ACA's 10-year cuts include $415 billion in fee-for-service payments to healthcare providers, $156 billion in reduced payments to Medicare Advantage plans, $56 billion to hospitals, and $114 billion in other miscellaneous cuts far too numerous to detail here.


    Top 6 Myths About Medicare

    ReplyDelete
  35. Did Hillary Clinton turn down the opportunity to replace Joe Biden as soon as two weeks ago in a White House lunch with Valerie Jarrett? Ed Klein, author of “The Amateur,” says his sources in the Hillary camp say it’s true in an appearance last night on CNBC with Larry Kudlow. Not only did she turn Obama down, but according to Klein, Obama’s “socialistic policies” are part of the reason the presumed 2016 frontrunner wants to maintain her distance from the campaign

    http://hotair.com/archives/2012/08/17/too-good-to-check-hillary-turned-down-vp-slot-two-weeks-ago/

    Hillary is no fool, one must admit. She doesn't want her good 'reputation'(!) soiled by too close an association with smarty pants.

    What an absolute gaggle of goose crap we have in there now.

    ReplyDelete
  36. An alternative way of understanding why Obama is keeping Biden -



    Barack Obama had the chance to replace Biden with Hillary Clinton, a move which would have energized the Dem base. But he could not be seen agreeing with or taking the advice of Sarah Palin, who suggested that Biden's "chains" remark should earn him a firing. When Palin appeared on Fox and said that Biden should go, Obama had to keep him. Palin forced his hand.

    The dummy Palin outsmarted Professor Obama once again. Heh.



    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/joe_biden_twisting_in_the_wind.html#ixzz23qfAnV3z

    My hunch is Hillary turned the offer down. Bill will probably tell us one fine day.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Oh, you want "goose crap," do ye?

    As recently as Wednesday in Ohio, Mitt Romney's running mate told ABC's Cincinnati affiliate, WCPO, he did not.

    "I never asked for stimulus," Ryan said. "I don't recall… so I really can't comment on it. I opposed the stimulus because it doesn't work, it didn't work."

    Two years ago, during an interview on WBZ's NewsRadio he was asked by a caller if he "accepted any money" into his district. Ryan said he did not.

    "I'm not one [of those] people who votes for something then writes to the government to ask them to send us money. I did not request any stimulus money," the congressman answered.

    But as we've now learned, Ryan did write letters. He did request stimulus funds.

    "The Olympics may be over but Paul Ryan could have gotten a gold medal in hypocrisy," a senior administration official told ABC's Jake Tapper. "As someone who spends all day every day railing against government spending, but then secretly seeks millions in funds for pet projects, he is as Washington as it gets."

    In 2009, Ryan wrote to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis asking for stimulus money to cover costs on two energy conservation projects in his home state of Wisconsin. In the letter, Ryan said the funds would help create jobs and reduce "energy consumption" in the state. At least one of the companies received the requested cash.

    The letters were first obtained by The Wall Street Journal through the Freedom of Information Act back in early 2010. The Boston Globe turned them up for the first time during this . . . . . .


    Hypocrisize Much?


    Yeppers, he's a "winner." :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But, but, the money was for energy projects, Rufus.

      Isn't there an exemption for that, in Green World?

      :)

      Delete
    2. There's no crying in baseball, Bob, and no "exempshuns" in politics.

      Delete
  38. Geezeress Romney supporter spat upon by geezeress Obamabot --

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/romney-supporter-spat-protester-wisconsin_650154.html

    If this isn't a prelude and indicator to a civil war, what could be?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Talk about "running bad"

    Driver swerves to avoid Moose

    Hits Bear!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Three out of four Americans think the U.S. needs “to start focusing more” on clean-energy sources like wind and solar that require less water than conventional power generation as the country faces its most widespread drought since 1956, according to a think-tank survey.

    The concern about water and its use is shared by 61 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 80 percent of independents, the Newton, Massachusetts-based, non-partisan Civil Society Institute said yesterday in a statement.

    The Palmer Drought Index reported on Aug. 15 that drought covered 57.2 percent of the contiguous 48 states in July, the worst since December 1956, when 57.6 percent of the country was dry. About 50 percent of U.S. water withdrawn on average is used to cool and make steam at power plants, Seth Sheldon, an analyst at the institute, said in the statement. . . . . .


    Facing Drought, Voters Want More Clean Energy


    Another issue the Pubs have managed to land on the wrong side of.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Then, logically, facing drought, voters want more clean energy and less ethanol.

      .

      Delete
    2. In our new owner's manual it is specifically forbidden to use E-85.

      Delete
  41. ”If he saw what you’ve been doing, he’d see that there are places like Newton where a few years ago the Maytag plant closed down. Jobs dried up. Folks are now back to work manufacturing these enormous new towers and blades for some of the most sophisticated high-tech wind turbines on the planet.”

    Romney would let the wind production tax credit expire. He and other Republicans argue federal tax policy should not prop up green energy projects– like “windmills” — that cannot make a profit on their own. Obama told the crowd in Oskaloosa that he is willing to “fight for” the “good jobs” in the wind energy industry.

    “If Governor Romney understood what you’ve been doing, he’d know that we used to have to import most of the parts that were used for wind turbines. They’re now being made here in America by American workers in American factories,” Obama said. “That’s not imaginary. That’s real.”

    Obama cited recent reports indicating 20 percent of the electricity generated in Iowa comes from wind turbines. And, according to the president, the wind turbines that have been erected in the past three and a half years generate an amount of electricity that’s equivalent to what would be produced by 12 Hoover Dams.

    “Governor Romney may have figured out that you can’t drive a car with a windmill on it, but he doesn’t seem to know that America now has enough wind turbines installed to generate enough electricity, from wind, to power nearly 13 million homes with clean energy,” Obama said. “That’s how we leave something better for the next generation. That’s worth fighting for. That’s what’s at stake right now.”

    A spokesman for Romney issued a written statement early this afternoon in response. “Mitt Romney is a strong supporter of wind power and appreciates the industry’s extraordinary technological progress and its important contributions to America’s energy supply,” said Shawn McCoy, communications director for Romney’s Iowa campaign.

    That sentiment seems at odds with the campaign website, which has said for months that . . . . . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obama says Romney doesn't "get" Wind


      He was ag'in it before he was for it . . . . . .


      Oh, wait, I think he was "for it," before he was ag'in it, but now he's kinda/sorta "for" it ag'in - 'cept maybe he ain't


      Yeah.

      Delete
    2. No, wait, I got it; He's kinda/sorta for it, as long as nobody "does" it. There ya go.

      Delete
  42. Ahmadinejad, in his speech, claimed that "Zionists" triggered World Wars I and II, and had "taken control over world affairs since the moment they became dominant over the US government."

    The old time worn threats to wipe Israel and the USA off the map. Same chants in the streets on Quds Day of 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel'.

    I find it disconcerting.

    "The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour," he said.

    "The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land.... A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists," he said.


    Even the French find it troubling --

    French deputy foreign ministry spokesman Vincent Floreani hit out at the "latest provocations" from the Iranian president.

    "We firmly condemn these outrageous and totally unacceptable statements and we remind (Iran) that we would never allow the right of Israel to live in peace to be called into question," he said.


    What French propose to actually do about it remains in doubt, having had to call in reinforcement over Libya.

    http://news.yahoo.com/tumour-israel-soon-destroyed-ahmadinejad-091548418.html

    ReplyDelete
  43. A little something for Ruf to consider -

    Mean+Gene
    If CNN says Wisconsin is a toss up, then Romney is likely up by 8 points or more.


    anotherworriedmom
    Keep in mind that WI is a heavily unionized state, which means that when pollsters call with questions the responses are the "correct" ones. Union members and dems know that the pollster could be someone local who will be knocking on their door if they don't provide the "correct" answer. So, if the polls are showing a dead-even race, it really means that R&R are ahead by 5 to 10 points. The landslide is coming.


    Ray_FL
    Excellent analysis. I agree. I believe that many people are not advertising their support for R&R for fear of retribution from union thugs.
    The landslide will occur on election day, in the privacy of the voting booth.
    The libs will be totally caught by surprise!



    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/08/more_ryan_fallout_cnn_moves_wisconsin_to_toss_up_state_comments.html#disqus_thread#ixzz23s5qccwR


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e4Zv-0O3uc



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb_sQzp2aVA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=fScZa8X4u2g

      Delete
  44. More Arab 'spring' --

    “So, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood haven’t the option to not include crucifixion within their legal code. It’s obligatory to comply with Shariah. And yes, it’s for shock value also to be sure,” Lopez said.

    Lopez includes a warning for Egypt’s Christians and compares the coming treatment of the Christians to the Jews in Germany.

    “The Copts must get out of Egypt as soon as possible – for the many millions who will not be able to get out, I expect things will continue to deteriorate – just as they did for Germany’s and Europe’s Jews from the 1930s onward,” Lopez said.

    “The warnings were there long before the ghettos and round-ups and one-way train trips to the concentration camps began in the 1940s,” she said.



    http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/arab-spring-run-amok-brotherhood-starts-crucifixions/


    Where's Obama?

    ReplyDelete
  45. He be takin' care of business, bucko.

    If he got excited everytime one o them Muslims did his five butt-ups, and started mouthing bullshit, he wouldn't hardly have time for a fast game of golf, much less a fundraiser, and a campaign speech.

    Ahmadumshit is scared to death. His buddy to the north is just a couple of days from swingin', he's getting ready to have his vaunted nuke program get got, and the damned sanctions are actually showing signs of working. It ain't a good time to be the chief crazy in Iran.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As for Wisconsin, we hear this stuff every 4 years. Then the Dems win it by eight or nine, and everyone goes back to making cheese, and picking cranberries (or, whatever they pick up there.)

      It doesn't matter, anyway. It's all Florida, now.

      Delete
    2. Romney has a must win situation in Florida.

      The over 65 crowd there seems not to fear Ryan, actually likes him, most of them, I read.

      I am scratching my head and wondering how in such a democratic cheese eating cranberry picking state they could have elected Republican Scott Walker governor, when the dems are always winning by eight or nine.

      Delete
    3. Listen up, buckaroo. They are starting to crucify people. This is a few major steps beyond 5 butt-ups.

      It's why I posted it, to show things are going orbital.

      This is the Arab Spring of your bozo and Hillary.

      Delete
    4. Ahmadummy has no ground game against Irael. He knows that the minute his army gets to the Golan Heights (if it can even get That far) he loses it.

      All he can do is shoot a few rockets at Israel, and most of the ones that don't end up in Syria, or the Mediterranean will get shot down. If he loads some chemicals on one of'em, Qom, and Tehran will cease to exist.

      Trust me, he ain't sleeping well, at all.

      Delete
    5. Here's the deal, vaquero.

      He is taking care of business, alright.

      Unemployment rates rose in 44 U.S. states in July.

      Much more of this and we won't have any businesses left to take care of.

      Delete
    6. I never look at your links, Bob. Primarily because they're all stupid, but also because they're non-clickable. I haven't seen anything about Copts being "crucified."

      Egypt is in a worse situation than Iran. They're not even self-supporting any more. Genocide against the Copts would be an extremly dangerous thing to do. I'm not going to pretend I have a clue how they think, but I've seen no evidence that anyone in power over there has a death wish.

      Beware of Right-Wingers (and religious fanatics) selling war. It's just getting too damned expensive.

      Delete
    7. You're right about that, General, no ground game against Israel.

      But Israel has no ground game against Iran either.

      Iran can get lots of missiles launched against Israel though, and not just from Iran. From Lebanon too.

      If I were Israel, I'd hang on until after the elections, hoping Romney wins.

      From what I read, the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister want to go, but others in the Cabinet don't, at least not yet, so they are deadlocked there currently.

      If he loads some chemicals on one of'em, Qom, and Tehran will cease to exist.

      I wouldn't mind much to see Qom go, but I hate to think about the innocent dead in Tehran.

      Delete
    8. I never look at your links, Bob.

      That's a shame. All because you are such a lazy ass. Your loss. Nobody's gain.

      Delete
    9. Bob, why would I mess around with a link from someone who doesn't even make it clickable? It doesn't make sense.

      You do realize that there are in the neigborhood of Ten Million Copts in Egypt, right?

      They have a lot of what little money there is over there, and a fair amount of political power. They're not quite as powerless as I suspect you think they are.

      Delete
    10. I'm sorry about the no-clickable link, Ruf. I should try harder, though my linky no worky for a long time. I know it's asking a lot of you to flip your wrist a couple of time in the cause of education.

      I know there are, ten million if you say so, a large number of Copts in Egypt. Yes, I read that somewhere. As a percent, not so large at all.

      And overall, the Copts are the poorest of Egyptians. Many live in and around the garbage dumps, a primary food source for them.

      And no political power whatsoever.

      They had a protector, of a sort, in the Egyptian military, not very zealous at the job. Now they are at the mercy of the mobs.

      And when they call the cops, the cops never come. They are forming a Christian Brotherhood now, presumably for self defense.

      A short synopsis of my non clickable article: basically it was a warning and a plea to the Copts to leave Egypt pronto, those that can, because a German type holocaust is just around the corner for them.

      Delete
    11. Goodnight Ruf, I'm going to beddy bye.

      Delete
    12. For your convenience -

      Lopez includes a warning for Egypt’s Christians and compares the coming treatment of the Christians to the Jews in Germany.

      “The Copts must get out of Egypt as soon as possible – for the many millions who will not be able to get out, I expect things will continue to deteriorate – just as they did for Germany’s and Europe’s Jews from the 1930s onward,” Lopez said.

      “The warnings were there long before the ghettos and round-ups and one-way train trips to the concentration camps began in the 1940s,” she said.

      Delete
    13. Google is your friend. You might want to do your own research. They're ten percent of the population, and they have seats in the cabinet.

      Those old Copt Priests are just as corrupt as any other bunch of preachers. There will always be squabbles between one set of religious crazies, and the ones next door, but I don't think you have to worry about widespread "crucifixions."

      later.

      Delete
    14. Can't sleep.




      The Arab Spring takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood has run amok, with reports from several different media agencies that the radical Muslims have begun crucifying opponents of newly installed President Mohammed Morsi.

      Middle East media confirm that during a recent rampage, Muslim Brotherhood operatives “crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others.”

      Raymond Ibrahim, a fellow with the Middle East Forum and the Investigative Project on Terrorism, said the crucifixions are the product of who the Middle Eastern media call “partisans.”

      “Arabic media call them ‘supporters,’ ‘followers’ and ‘partisans’ of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Ibraham said.

      Ibrahim also says the victims can be anyone, including Egyptian Christians.

      “It’s anyone who is resisting the new government,” Ibrahim said. “In this particular case, the people attacked and crucified were secular protesters upset because of Morsi’s hostile campaign against the media, especially of Tawfik Okasha, who was constantly exposing him on his station, until Morsi shut him down.”

      Ibrahim said extra brutality is reserved for Christians, but the crucifixions are because of Islamic doctrine and are required by the Quran. The time and other details about the crucifixions were not readily available.

      “Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist” sorts out what this clash of civilizations is all about

      Delete
    15. Center for Security Policy Senior Fellow Clare Lopez cited chapter and verse from the Quran to explain that crucifixions are not simply normal for Islam, they’re demanded.

      “Crucifixion is a hadd punishment, stipulated in the Quran, Sura 5:33, and therefore an obligatory part of Shariah,” Lopez said. “It’s been a traditional punishment within Islam since the beginning, even though it’s not exclusively Islamic. The Romans used it too.

      “So, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood haven’t the option to not include crucifixion within their legal code. It’s obligatory to comply with Shariah. And yes, it’s for shock value also to be sure,” Lopez said.

      Lopez includes a warning for Egypt’s Christians and compares the coming treatment of the Christians to the Jews in Germany.

      “The Copts must get out of Egypt as soon as possible – for the many millions who will not be able to get out, I expect things will continue to deteriorate – just as they did for Germany’s and Europe’s Jews from the 1930s onward,” Lopez said.

      “The warnings were there long before the ghettos and round-ups and one-way train trips to the concentration camps began in the 1940s,” she said.

      Delete
    16. If you think this is just an Egyptian problem, you’re wrong. Dead wrong. Read “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America”

      Author Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs, an analyst of the Middle East and Islam, fully agrees and also cites the Quran.

      “The Christians are in serious trouble, because the Quran in Sura 9:29 commands Muslims to wage war against them and subjugate them, and they’re also identified with the hated West and the U.S.,” Geller said.

      Geller also turned to Sura 5:33.

      Islamic hardliners

      “These are Islamic hardliners who do everything by the Quran. The Quran says, ‘Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land,” Geller said.

      International Christian Concern’s Middle East analyst Aidan Clay believes there is a relationship between the recent attacks on the regime’s enemies, a recent Sinai military skirmish and Morsi’s moves against the ranking generals.

      The “Sinai skirmish” involved suspected Hamas guerrillas trying to cross into Gaza from Egypt. The Israeli Defense Force and intelligence learned of the attempted crossing in advance and stopped the incursion. Sixteen Egyptian border guards were killed in the attempted Rafah border crossing incident.

      “It’s hard to believe that President Morsi could have dismissed Field Marshall Mohammed Tantawi without the help of lower-ranking military officers. The military’s sense of prestige, which millions of Egyptians still take great pride in, took a battering following the militant attack in Sinai that killed 16 soldiers,” Clay said.

      “The military should have been prepared for the attack. Israel was. And the blame has largely been placed on Tantawi for his negligence and for embarrassing the military establishment,” he said.

      Lopez agrees that Israel’s preparedness is a slap against the Egyptian army.

      “That border skirmish that resulted in deaths of Egyptian border guards was known ahead of time by Israeli intelligence, which warned their Egyptian military counterparts,” Lopez said.

      She notes that Israeli intelligence avoided contact with the Muslim Brotherhood in the incident because the attacks were a Hamas plot.

      Lopez added that even after notification, the Egyptian army didn’t act.

      “The Egyptian military did nothing, even as Israel expected. Thus the attack was carried out, Israel was totally prepared and responded and the result was Egyptian military deaths,” Lopez said.

      Delete
    17. Responding to ‘crisis’

      She added that Morsi wasted no time in responding to the “crisis.”

      “Morsi jumped on the incident as the perfect reason to purge the top ranks of the Egyptian military, install his own MB-sympathizers in positions across the top, chief of staff and intel chief,” she said. “Some call it an internal coup d’etat – and I agree. It put Morsi in sole control of the legislative branch (there is no parliament right now) and in control of the political power in Egypt. The new defense minister is a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer. Things are moving very fast.”

      Clay said there are mixed feelings among the military top brass in Egypt. He said some still support Tantawi; some have called for change.

      “While many senior military officers maintained their support for Tantawi, his reputation took a dive among many younger officers who saw the need for a replacement. It wasn’t just the attack in Sinai that led to this, but the military’s reputation has been on the decline since a few months following the country’s uprising early last year,” Clay said.

      “For some, the Sinai attack was the final straw and Morsi may have viewed it as an opportune time to remove Tantawi and other high-ranking officers from key positions,” Clay said.

      He noted that Morsi, not the military, took the lead in responding to the Sinai attacks.

      “In doing so, while also forcing Tantawi out of his cabinet, Morsi has set a precedent that it is he who decides who runs the army,” Clay said.

      “While the generals will still advise Morsi, he can decide whether or not to listen to them. It’s apparent that Morsi is quickly becoming Egypt’s sole leader which means control of the country will be in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said.

      However, Geller believes Morsi had a second motive for his action.

      Delete
    18. Reign of terror

      “I suspect that Morsi’s action was timed in part to forestall any further military action against the jihadis,” Geller said, adding that the results will make Egypt’s government more monolithic than it already was.

      “Morsi is instituting a reign of terror to consolidate his power,” Geller said.

      American Enterprise Institute Middle East analyst Michael Rubin agreed: Morsi is after the power.

      “Morsi certainly wants absolute control. The Egyptian army have never been saints, but Morsi will broker no checks to his power as the Muslim Brotherhood writes a constitution and imposes its dream of an Islamic state on Egypt,” Rubin said.

      Lopez says this all means that Morsi is shedding his “moderate” veneer.

      “The point I would make is that Morsi is not bothering to play ‘moderate’ anymore. He’s moving very aggressively to consolidate power for the Muslim Brotherhood,” Lopez said.

      She added that Morsi is now free to act without any concern for public opinion.

      “He doesn’t seem to care who thinks what anymore. He knows he’s got the USG and president in his corner no matter what he does. He doesn’t have to pretend, no need for ‘plausible deniability.’ He also knows he’s got the majority of the Egyptian people behind him,” Lopez said.

      Rubin believes, however, that Morsi will still try to play the “moderate” to continue to gain U.S. support.

      Playing the moderate?

      “Morsi is going to play the moderate and the mediator for the world media, all the while complaining that he can’t take more forceful action against the extremists because the radical fringe won’t allow him to do more,” Rubin said.

      “It’s nonsense, of course, but still an explanation that will satisfy American diplomats, safe behind the walls of their compound,” Rubin said.

      Lopez added to Rubin’s explanation, but points to the White House as the main cheerleader for Morsi and the Brotherhood.

      “This is exactly what many of us expected him to do (consolidate power) and I think the White House knew, too, and not only expected but wanted Morsi and the Brotherhood to take over Egypt,” Lopez said.

      “As far as I know, the White House invitation for Morsi in September still stands – nor have I heard the slightest hint of criticism from any top U.S. government leadership figure about Morsi’s coup. He knows he’s on solid ground with this administration,” Lopez said.

      Delete
    19. Bob is your friend, Rufus. Though you might want to do your own research.

      Delete
    20. She added that Morsi is now free to act without any concern for public opinion.

      “He doesn’t seem to care who thinks what anymore. (((((((He knows he’s got the USG and president in his corner no matter what he does.))))))) He doesn’t have to pretend, no need for ‘plausible deniability.’ He also knows he’s got the majority of the Egyptian people behind him,” Lopez said.

      Delete
  46. Pamela Geller is not research, Bob.

    ReplyDelete