A Time of Great Uncertainty
Friday, May 1, 2009 3:50 PM
There are few things about which we can be certain at the time I am writing this, but one of them is that we are living in a time of great uncertainty. Most of us want to return to "business as usual," but it is even hard to know what that means any more. I made a list of eight questions which I think every American wants answered at this time. The mainstream media will not answer these questions or even publish them. Below I have listed the first four of the eight and attempted to answer them:
1. Will there be a deadly influenza pandemic? At the time I am writing this the mainstream media are sowing panic while simultaneously telling us not to worry about an outbreak of Mexican influenza (yes, that's what it is) spreading in the USA, attributed to porcine livestock, birds, and/or mutations. Although chances are the flu will go away without mass casualties, that outcome is not certain.
Only a few things are certain: a) governments will use the outbreak as a pretext for spending more money which they don't have; b) Mexican nationals will not be quarantined or their travel restricted, by a Democrat White House and Congress, in spite of the known origin of the outbreak in Mexico, and c) panic spread by the mainstream media will surely cause overloading of hospitals, whose staffs would be overwhelmed, hampering treatment of seriously ill influenza victims, should the virus mutate to a deadly form.
2. Will Obama soon lose majority support? As of May 1, 2009, thirty-two percent of respondents to the Rasmussen Presidental poll strongly disapprove Barack Hussein Obama's performance as President of the United States. Should that number increase by nineteen percentage points to 51%, a majority of Americans will disapprove of Obama, paving the way for his removal from office. However, the disapproval rating may not rise and may even fall. If it goes over 50%, it might be still very hard to get Obama out of the White House, given that the Republican party continues to harbor a fifth column, and voter manipulation by the Democrats, or even possibly outright vote rigging are rampant.
What, then is certain? a) Obama's policies are diametrically opposed to the spirit of Americans, which began well before 1776, and has by no means died out whatever the mainstream media assert. b) A movement of angry opponents to Obama and his Democrat allies is growing rapidly and becoming ever angrier, as manifested by the Tea Party events. c) Pacifists, gay rights activists, Black Americans, and environmental radicals will become increasingly disenchanted with Obama's inconsistent support of their ideals. As utopians, such factions have unrealistic expectations as to what Obama can achieve politically, and over time, they will drift away from him. Only hard-core "progressives" will hang tight with Obama, and these are still a small minority of Americans.
3. Will America's health care become second or third-rate? Obama has all but declared war on America's health care system, having made it clear that he will go as far as he can to nationalize it directly or indirectly. How much damage will he and the Congress do before the end of 2009? The mainstream media are already softening up the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical industry by fanning the flames of populist rage against these big-money industries which could be formidable opponents to the Obama power grab.
Some things are certain, however: a) A sizeable minority, or perhaps even a majority of Americans are aware that we have the best health care system in the world. They would be reluctant to see it damaged or destroyed. b) The USA is still the destination for severely ill people worldwide when their own health care systems prove inadequate, as the systems do and the people do with regularity. Americans know that when their system becomes Canadianized they can't simply cross the border into the USA for good medical care because they are already here. c) Americans working in the current private health care industry at all levels, including nursing personnel, lab techs, imaging techs, pharmacists, psychologogists, etc., take pride in the work they do and, when push comes to shove, would be prone to resist the pie-in-the-sky promises of politicians. Obama might have to settle for mandatory health insurance and increased regulation rather than an outright government takeover.
4. Will there be a devastating jihad attack on American soil? Obama has demonstrated weakness in dealing with North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and other sworn enemies of the USA. He notoriously bowed before Saudi Arabia's king. His "you have to talk to everybody" excuse for a future meeting with Iranian mullahs is bogus, since it is clear that "everybody" does not include the Ku Klux Klan or even American conservative talk show hosts. He has sent a clear message to the enemies of the Great Satan: he might even give them a pass if they attack the US. Their agents will not be harshly interrogated or detained in Guantanamo. Instead, they will be given trials like any inner city thug, with America's best "progressive" defense attorneys at their disposal.
When then, is certain? a) If jihad can be waged on US soil as it was in Mumbai, in the trains of Madrid and London, or even with a "suitcase nuke," it will. You can count on it. b) Over time, the world's tough guys will test Obama more and more frequenly, exposing his soft underbelly. Obama, for all his arrogance and condescension, is not a tough guy. c) If the US is attacked, masses of Americans will demand a forceful, dare I say, Bushlike retaliation.
Obama, as he has often boasted, is no Bush.