President Barack Obama

[John]

Now that Barack Obama is the President-elect, it will be interesting
to watch how he does. In particular, it's my expectation that Obama
will not be able to fulfill even a single one of the national and
international promises that he's made.

We can watch what happens from here.

Sincerely,

John

[The Grey Badger]

> Have to admit I am dumbfounded. What on earth do these people use
> for criterion of cheap ? It almost appears that some form of
> institutional buying is going on to insure the year end bonus. If
> a comet was forecast to hit earth and destroy a major continent,
> the dow (dax,FTSE) would rise 250 points. Can't understand it at
> all. John do you have an insight into this apparent madness ?

Hey what's your problem, buddy? I don't know what your problem is.
Don't you know that the world changed on Wednesday? Investors know
it. Why don't you?

And lo, President Obama will rise, and gaze out over the land. And
his gaze will see problems and troubles. And he will say, "I see
great trouble in the land. I will change it, with change you can
believe in."

And lo, he'll raise his hand, and stretch his arm forward, and wave
it back and forth, so that it encompasses the entire land.

And lo, He will say, "Change! I command you to change!"

And the land will change. Idled machines will run again. Foreclosed
homes will once again ring with the laughter of children. Deserted
shopping centers will once again have their drugstores and pizza
parlors open again, bustling with customers. Jobs will be restored,
everyone's income will be above average, and people throughout the
land will be joyous and happy.

And lo, President Obama will gaze out over the land and see how much
has changed, and he will say, "This change is good."

Next, President Obama will gaze out over the world, and he will see
problems and troubles. And he will say, "I see great trouble in the
world. I will change it, with change you can believe in."

And lo, he'll raise his hand, and stretch his arm forward, and wave
it back and forth, so that it encompasses the entire world.

And lo, He will say, "Change! I command you to change!"

And the world will change. Hamas will sit down with Fatah, and
together they will sign the Roadmap to Peace agreement with Israel.
The Janjaweed militias in Darfur will lay down their arms, and will
apologize and offer peace to the farmers whose relatives they've
raped, beheaded and slaughtered. Iran will discontinue its nuclear
weapons program, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will beg forgiveness for
saying that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth. China
will say, "What the f--k, let's give Tibet and Taiwan their
independence, and quit all this hullaballou." And Vladimir Putin
will quit politics and start preparing to participate in the 2012
Olympics.

Your problem, buddy, is that you're too gloomy and negative. If
there's anything I can't stand, it's gloomy, negative people. If you
weren't so gloomy and negative, you'd understand what's going on.

Sincerely,

John

Heh-heh-heh --- and the bears will be gentle,and the wolves will be tame, and the lion shall lay down by the lamb----

To his credit, I think Obama knows it. Let's hope he does, anyway.

[umoguy]

Hahaha! Pretty funny stuff here guys, Obama will fix everything, *poof! Ta-DA! I bought some SDS ( S&P Double Short) right before the Obama speech yesterday, and sold it during the speech for a small profit. I am going to take a longer term position now that I know there is both a double short and a triple short ETF out there. Some one may as well make some money while the financial system circles the drain, why not us?

[mkrogh]

John, a question for you.

You make the comparison between the US now and Europe in the 1930s with both of them being indebted. Asia is the new creditor corresponding to the US back in the 30s.

Will you then continue the analogy and predict that the US will elect a Hitler like president?

[Witchiepoo]

My cousin, who campaigned for Obama in Indiana and went to the party in Chicago, was explaining to me yesterday why he learned to love Obama. It started with Obama taking a public service job after law school, helping poor people, caring about others, writing books about his wonderful self, inspiring people to make changes ... on and on it went. I sat there silently, then asked him what changes Obama had inspired HIM to make in his life so far. The answer was nothing. My cousin is on unemployment, not actively seeking work, and smoking pot almost constantly. Apparently, the only thing that Obama has "inspired" him to do is vote/campaign for Obama.

I realized later that it sounded just like listening to someone who has found Jesus for the first time.

If we are to have our own version of Hitler, Obama will be it. Blind faith is a key ingredient in a dictator's success. We'll see what war our new prez decides to gear up the masses for, when the economy continues to flop around and there's nothing he can do about it.

Or maybe not. It all depends on whether Obama starts believing his own press.

And they'd better damned well adopt a puppy instead of buying one from a breeder ... his only campaign promise that I actually agree with.

[John]

> John, a question for you.

> You make the comparison between the US now and Europe in the 1930s
> with both of them being indebted. Asia is the new creditor
> corresponding to the US back in the 30s.

> Will you then continue the analogy and predict that the US will
> elect a Hitler like president?

This is a VERY interesting question, because it depends on what you
mean by "Hitler-like".

Why is Hitler considered so unique? Probably not because of the war,
but because of the Holocaust, and the plan to exterminate all Jews.

Being an exterminator itself is not particularly unique. Josef
Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot were also exterminators. So were/are
the leaders of the Rwanda and Darfur genocides. But, for whatever
reason, those leaders are not generally referred to as "Hitler-like."

It's quite possible that any leader who pursues a genocidal crisis
war could be portrayed as "Hitler-like," by selecting the right
events.

For example, Franklin Roosevelt (and Harry Truman) could be called
"Hitler-like," having done the following:

• Locked up thousands of Americans of Japanese descent.
• Sent thousands of American boys to be slaughtered on the beaches
  of Normandy.
• Firebombed Dresden and Tokyo, killing millions.
• Used nuclear weapons of mass destruction on Japanese cities.

And that brings us to President-elect Obama. Could he be
characterized as "Hitler-like"?

I doubt that anyone will use that phrase to describe him, but there's
little doubt in my mind that he will be a ruthless Generation-Xer. He
hates Boomers, and he hates any Gen-Xers who disagree with him, and
he'll walk all over these people. If he's still President when the
Clash of Civilizations world war begins, he'll overreact, and may do
something that could be recognized as genocidal.

And so, to answer the original question, it all depends on what you
mean.

Sincerely,

John

[mkrogh]

Hi John

Thanks for your answer. Yes, I was not clear on Hitler-like, and there are probably many possibilities.

But one criterium could be a person who wanted to throw all immigrants out. Someone who said that the US was a better country when it was
inhabited by white Christians, and not by Hispanics, Chinese or anyone else. One could also imagine extreme protectionism, maybe a resource war.
But anyway, there is no way to predict this now.

About Obama. I am surprised, that you don't think he will be a "socialist". His programs seem like they are taken out of European "center- socialist" party programs.

Why wouldn't he? He doesn't believe in it?
Or he will not get through congress with it.

Why will he not increase unemployment support, increase public health care funding, raise taxes on businesses, strengthen unions, attempt development programs for poor neighborhoods, etc?

Will he be afraid of being called a socialist and hence do something else?

[Matt1989]

About Obama. I am surprised, that you don't think he will be a "socialist". His programs seem like they are taken out of European "center- socialist" party programs.

But most of Europe isn't "socialist," since they are still broadly capitalist. Not even Scandinavia fits under the definition.

I was bored on Friday so I made these:





With regard to the above image, consider the green dots to represent the sum of everything that came before it. (Side note: Come to think of it, 1925 is a little too low)

[JimZ]

And the Chosen One will pick his new Chief of Staff. And they shall call his name......Emanuel.

[myk_87]

i guess after erecting the big tent he's going to have to disappoint someone, and i sure hope its the New York Times and their ilk, but that's just me.

it is scary. I don't want to jump the gun, Obama could well turn out a great president, but the blind millie servitude worries me nevertheless. Do they like Obama because they want a centrist post-partisan leader? or do they like him because they're hoping for a starry-eyed rockstar? how will they react should he feel the need to do a bush and invade a foreign country without UN approval?