Ahmadinejad proves Mark Steyn's point; Gholam Hossein Elham; Barack Hussein Obama

On December 30, 2008, Mark Steyn wrote the following:

The electors have made a bet that we can return to that happy capering playground at the Summit of the Americas where all the great questions have been settled and indulgent governments can subsidize their own anarchists. If 9/11 ultimately revealed America’s self-imposed constraints, November 4th [2008] is already understood as a comprehensive repudiation even of that qualified resolve. Like I said: for America's enemies, that’s useful to know.

For "centrists" who are still struggling to understand that quote, I will give you the bottom line. By electing Obama, we voted to repudiate even the half-hearted wartime actions of the Bush administration. America's enemies, smarter than the average Obama voter, understand this point and will take advantage of our renewed weakness.

Today, as if to prove this point, Iran and Ahmadinejad renewed their verbal hostility:

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama.

"This request [Obama's request for talks] means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham [Iranian spokesman] was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

Obama is not offended by these attacks, as leftists view foreign enemies as allies against their real enemy.

Previous - Obama: Iran IS NOT a threat, Iran IS a threat.

Praetorian Guard; Augustus; Obama

Augustus








Ever since Obama's proposal to create a civilian national defense force and his creation of the shadowy tax free foundation, the term "praetorian guard" (and worse) has been used to describe what is really going on. Here is one historian's discussion of the Praetorian Guard in ancient Rome.

Caesar Augustus was Rome's first permament emporer, succeeding Julius Caesar who was assassinated after a brief reign. Julius Caesar did not institutionalize the empire. But Augustus (taking total power circa 30 B.C.) undertook many steps to make the empire permanent. One of these steps was the insertion of the military in a permament way in Roman politics:

Further to assure order of the desired kind, and support his own power, Augustus, seriously violating precedent, kept six cohorts of a thousand soldiers each near Rome and three cohorts within it. These nine cohorts became the Praetorian Guard - i.e., guard of the praetorium, or headquarters of the commander in chief. It was this body that in A.D. 41 made Claudius emporer and began the subjection of the government to the army.

Durant, Caesar and Christ, p. 216

While Obama's proposals are a far cry from military dictatorship, all such transitions begin slowly. Neither Obama nor any of his successors will someday announce that they are imposing a dictatorship. It will happen gradually. The Roman transition was much more obvious and identifiable.

For Obama to institutionalize his election year supporters into a permanent force, using taxpayer and tax-free dollars, that will work to keep Obama or his successors in power is a subtle, yet distinctive move in the direction of empire and away from constitutional government.

Obama to tamper with 401(k)'s, IRA's.

My Obama 401(k)prediction is found here.

This item has appeared in Commentary:

It’s still more than two months before the Obama administration takes office, and we are already seeing signs of just how the Democrats intend to govern.

One proposal being floated by Congressional Democrats aims to abolish the tax incentives for individual 401(k) retirement plans. With the recent financial meltdown having hit a lot of people’s funds heavily, those lawmakers think that the time would be ripe to end the private system and fold it into an expansion of Social Security.

The current plan, crafted by Professor Teresa Ghilarducci of the New School of Social Research in New York City, would eliminate tax breaks for these retirement plans. This would be coupled to an increase in Social Security taxes to fund an expanded retirement plan for workers.

Any plan to tinker with IRA's or 401(k)'s would not only constitute theft of the life savings of American workers, but also would cripple new investment in the stock market. For years, a major selling point for continued investment in the stock market has been the projected future influx of additional 401(k) money. Because so much 401(k) money would be available, the argument went, stocks could not help but increase in value regardless of the fundamentals. While that argument has proven to be flawed, any government plan to undermine retirement programs would destroy one of the last good things the stock market has going for it.

Any such action would also make Social Security even more precarious, as retirees would not have their own retirement plans to rely on, but would be more dependant on Social Security.

It looks like Boomsday is turning out to be worse that predicted.

Praetorian Guard; Obama 501(c)(4); "Obama/Biden Transition Project"

The Praetorian Guard pre-election prediction is found here in the final bullet point.

The fulfillment of this prediction is already taking place:

Lost amid all of the jubilation of the Obama victory was the announcement by the Obama transition team that it had set up a separate transition program beyond the one that is paid for by the American taxpayer. Called the "Obama/Biden Transition Project," it is a 501(c)4 tax-exempt organization, with no limits on the contributions it can receive and no requirements to divulge the names of individuals or organizations that give it money.
. . . .
No one is certain that any political organization has ever set up a tax-exempt entity that would be shrouded in such secrecy, particularly when Obama claimed he would be more transparent about the way things were done.

"To my knowledge, it's never been done, and people should be asking why the Obama people chose to do it this way," says a longtime Washington Republican, who has been involved in transitions for the Reagan and Bush campaign teams.
............
As well, the nonprofit may also serve as a haven for Obama supporters and campaign loyalists who for one reason or another can't be employed by the Administration or in the federal government. "There are some people who have been with us from the beginning who are clearly political liabilities or who won't be able to qualify for a job, say, because they can't get a security clearance," says another aide, who was unaware of the unique Obama transition project's tax status.

Regardless of the purpose, Obama campaign officials say there is no intention of shutting down the 501(c) 4 Project after the transition is over.

emphasis added

H/T Atlas Shrugs.

Praetorian Guard; voter intimidation;

The Praetorian Guard pre-election prediction is found here in the final bullet point.

A step toward fulfillment was seen on election day, as private thugs tried to intimidate white people at the polls.





As usual, I have posted the video using different software in the event Youtube deletes their version.