US President’s weekly Yahoo News updates

Once per week, I consolidate comments I’d posted to recent articles appearing on Yahoo News. I share my views, written as if I actually were the US President. [I’m working on that.] The following – excepting the one I’d written to Rabbi Lerner –  were posted between June 26 and today, though appear below in no particular order. As is my usual custom, if I open with a quoted item, that’s from the article itself.

I hope you enjoy all 18 of these mini-essays/comments.

Posted on Yahoo! News

ONE:

The Greeks should approach the Chinese for a loan [and intentionally default with the EU]. Maybe they could get a better deal than the EU is offering. By approaching the Chinese, and being obvious about that, the EU might suddenly offer more generous, less sovereignty-threatening terms.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“In the world of capitalism, isn’t competition supposed to be the name of the game?”

TWO:

In an earlier article:…one of his French lawyers…[said]: "What [former IMF President] was accused of has no relation to his personality. It was something that was not credible."

(sigh) Talk about a lawyer, referring to the rape charge, walking a fine line. Tell me, counselor, what about a married man having consensual sex with a total stranger, probably for money? Does that have any relation to his personality?

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“If the French elect this Dommy as their next president, former Congressman Weiner should become a French citizen and run for office over there. He’d win in a landslide.”

THREE:

[RE: American citizens held in Greece after attempting to sail to Gaza.]

“The U.S. Embassy wasn't immediately available for comment.”

Of course not. They were on the phone to ask permission from Israel if it would be okay to respond to American passengers’ calls for assistance.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Let’s see if Israel learned anything from the last flotilla incident. Clue: There are a lot of creative ways of stopping a boat in the water.”

FOUR:

We should just go ahead and default. This is a golden opportunity, since we are still in the driver’s seat. If we wait too long and keep on borrowing, we’re going to default anyway and then it will be too late. We won’t have any leverage left due to our weakened condition. Then, China will be in the driver’s seat and I don’t think they’ll be too merciful with our indecisive a$$es.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“No mainstream economist would dare make this proposal, but (really) this is our best chance.”

FIVE:

“… a defiant House overwhelmingly rejected that authorizing [of continued military action in Libya] but stopped short of cutting off funds…”

In that case, the House wasn’t being very “defiant,” now was it? In fact the House, by refusing to cut the funding, lent its de facto authorization to Obama’s renegade actions. As I keep saying over and over again, only when we throw every last Dem/Pub out of the House and Senate will we be able to correct our moral compass – not to mention our financial one.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Too many people are hypnotized into Brand X vs. Brand Y (that is, Dem vs. Pub) thinking. As the old saying goes: It pays to advertise.”

SIX:

"[Michele Bachmann] can say something that's just outrageous and just completely wrong and move on..."

Uh huh...tell you what - that ain't gonna work if she becomes the nominee and squares off against Obama in three televised debates. She'll magically transform into the deer in the proverbial headlights. Barack will turn her into toast.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

"We truly love our oddballs but even this is too much - Bachmann is definitely not ready for prime time."

SEVEN:

"For capitalism to work…financial firms… must be held accountable for their failures," Hoenig said. [NOTE: Dr. Hoenig is one of the 12 Fed Reserve Bank presidents.]

Uh huh…and just now he’s catching on to this?

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Tell me, Mr. Hoenig, is the Fed itself too big to fail? If so, what would you propose?”

EIGHT:

“But Stephanopoulos interjected, insisting that the younger Adams had never been considered one of the Founding Fathers.”

Maybe Bachmann thinks of the younger Adams as a “virtual” Founding Father by “virtue” of him doing what the Founding Fathers really (in her opinion) had in mind to do had they not been so distracted by the prospect of the War of 1812 “immediately” on the horizon (yeah, these mystics could see into the future, yew betcha).

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“There could have been only one reason why the men who agreed that ‘all men are created equal’ could tolerate slavery – and that is because they didn’t regard blacks as human beings.”

NINE:

“The legislation had been approved by Congress at the last minute, and there was no time to fly it to France for Obama's signature before the anti-terrorism powers expired.”

First of all, since Congress approved at the last minute, it would have been Congress’s fault if the expiration of those anti-terrorism powers had been the cause of a successful terrorist plot. The lesson? Don’t wait until the last minute, next time.

Second, do you seriously believe any court would have held anyone liable for using those expired powers? This is the land of look the other way, and throw out inconvenient cases due to technicalities.

Third, suppose that bill had been flown to Obama and he signed it as soon as it left the plane – that is, without him reading every single page. Do you think anyone would have raised a squawk about that?

All Obama had to do was issue a quickie Executive Order declaring that a cover sheet his aides could whip up on the spot would suffice, upon affixing of his signature with his own hand, to be the same as signing the bill itself. After all, when a president signs a bill, he doesn’t sign every single sheet; he signs a cover sheet.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“None of this is rocket science, except to the 21 Pubbers who want to be presidential obstructionists by wrapping themselves in the Constitution – as if the Constitution really mattered any more.”

TEN:

Surrendered his passport? So what? All he has to do is cross the border to Canada, jump on an Air France flight, end of story…I doubt Dommy [Strauss-Kahn] will want this to go to court where he’ll (most likely) try to claim the sex was consensual. Double-doubt that if his wife will be sitting in that courtroom. My money is on either: Case dismissed or he flees.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“The case might not be ‘ironclad’ as first appeared, but he’s still as much of a flight risk [especially since he no longer has to post bail]. What gives?”

ELEVEN:

QUOTE: Legal scholar Garrett Epps… said that a case could easily be made for simply ignoring the congressionally mandated debt limit. [and, debts] must be paid regardless of the political whims of the current congressional majority…

“Political whims?” Is that what we call opposition these days? Sounds like Epps is pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Why is Congressional approval being questioned now? Our long-standing practice for decades was to run this by Congress first. Now that Congress is balking, Obama finds some prostituting lawyer to find a rationale to bypass Congress?

The 14th amendment won’t stop the US from saying “We don’t question the validity of the debts, just the manner and the time in which they are to be paid.”

How about obeying Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution: “The Congress shall have power to…pay the debts…borrow money…to coin money, regulate the value thereof…” Every law school in this country should rise up in opposition if Obama tries to raise the debt limit – on his own authority.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Can you say ‘coup d’etat coming to a theater (of “war”) in your neighborhood soon’?”

TWELVE:

[What follows is part of my response to Stephen M, who challenged my post immediately above.]

I know the word “whims” was said; I questioned the accuracy of that usage. Maybe the president is being “whimsical” by refusing to rein in taxes and make the deep cuts insisted by Congress, which is supposed to “provide for the…general Welfare of the United States…”

You wrote, “he is not raising the debt ceiling…” Say what? In every practical sense, that’s exactly what he would be doing. Furthermore, he wouldn’t be simply “ignoring it,” he would be taking the proactive step of ordering his Treasury sec to (in effect) increase that limit.

I did not interpret what he said as “an attack on Republicans” but as a usurpation of the power of Congress.

It’s not a matter of Congress not doing its job. POTUS and the Congress are equal. If they can’t come to an agreement, then the matter is dropped. Perhaps Congress might feel Obama wasn’t doing his job. And that’s important since Congress holds a power above that of Obama and that of the High Court: It can impeach. Sounds rather final to me…and, no, a conviction for impeachment has no appeal.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Trust me on this one: Obama doesn’t have the spine to bypass Congress on this one.”

THIRTEEN:

“…[Gadhafi] who is a state sponsor of terrorist operations against the [USA] is pinned down and the noose is tightening around him."

“Is” or “was” a state sponsor? Anyway, I don’t seem to recall Obama using that line of argument when we went in. And, don’t believe that part about “no ground forces” or “no casualties.” Our guys who get killed in stealth operations are never acknowledged. If we’re out to get state sponsors of terrorism, wouldn’t you say the more active state these days is Syria? Hmm…maybe Obama’s trying to give us a heads-up.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“All you people who voted for Obama, you never saw this coming, did you?”

FOURTEEN:

Obama can afford to play fast and loose with Libya. No Democrat will oppose him in the primaries, and the GOP’s field looks weak. Obama can take advantage of his lack of opposition to “suggest” Democrats sign up for the Republican primaries and intentionally vote for their weakest candidates. Perfectly legal and this has been done before in isolated incidents. However, since Obama has absolutely no primary opponents, his party can increase the scope of this sabotage.

So, there is no hope…unless…you vote for me. I’m the only independent running on the basis of a written contract. I violate my campaign promises, I lose my office.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Google: Steven Searle US President 2012 ...for my platform.”

FIFTEEN:

Of course the US supports Lagarde. That’s our way of saying, “Thanks for bombing Libya for us, and sorry about that little tiff with Dominique.”

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“How is it that Geithner gets to give US backing to Lagarde? Or is it ‘understood’ that he speaks for Obama, who’s supposed to be solely in charge of US foreign relations?”

SIXTEEN:

[RE: Bank of America’s $8.5 billion proposed settlement with investors…]

QUOTE: For several months, Bank of America battled claims based on estimates "that were much different from ours," Moynihan said.

Before the judge rubberstamps (oops, I mean “approves”) this settlement, he should demand access to back-up docs upon which these estimates were based. “Estimates” don’t just come out of thin air. Somebody – is – lying. All of BoA’s investors and depositors should take their business elsewhere. I assure you, BoA is not too big to fail. We are, and we fail as it succeeds.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

“Throw all Dem/Pubs out of Congress and replace them all with independents – then you’ll get ‘and justice for all.’”

SEVENTEEN:

No, Sebouh, the big one is "You shall have no others gods before Me." Not all liberals support Choice and, if push comes to shove and their little girl "gets into trouble," there are fire-breathing Conservatives who believe in abortion - "just this once." Go figure.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

"BTW, it's not 'Thou shalt not kill,' it's "Thou shalt not murder another human being.'"

EIGHTEEN:

[I sent this to Rabbi Lerner, Editor-in-Chief of Tikkun Magazine, but did NOT post on Yahoo]

I strongly disagree...we don't "have to" raise the debt ceiling. I know, I know...the usual suspects like Geithner would have us believe otherwise. But...has anyone truly thought outside the box on this one? Sooner or later, it's going to take some kind of trauma to restabilize the world economic order. Wars often do that. And, just as in the case of war, the outcomes aren't precisely predictable. However, even wars have their upside (I can't believe I just said that!).

Why should we wait for events to spin entirely out of control? We have control now, in terms of proactively refusing to raise the debt-ceiling. Of course, should that happen, the shit will hit the fan. But…sooner or later, that will happen anyway. And I say, better sooner than later. For one thing, people will finally realize the seriousness of the situation: We can't keep borrowing forever.

If the ceiling isn't raised, there will be a national emergency. But it won't be the end of the world. We should recognize default for the blessing it could well turn out to be. Since defaulting will be our doing, we can have a great deal to say about how the dust settles. Again, better now than later when it will be others (the Chinese?) who will call the shots, much to our powerless chagrin.

I am stunned at how many well-intended people follow Geithner's dire warnings without even trying to think outside the box. I am proud to say, I'm not one of them.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

"Declare your independence by voting for Independents. Throw all the Dem/Pub bums out of Congress now."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“The poet Muriel Rukeyser said the universe is composed of stories, not of atoms. In that spirit, I invite you to contemplate what I’ve written above – and I hope you respond by conjuring some stories of your own” – Steve.

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com