In the USA, 35% of healthy Americans ages 16-64 are unemployed, but what does that word mean? Millions of women are unemployed as they choose to stay home to raise families. Nevertheless, 25% of healthy American men ages 16-64 are unemployed, yet the U.S. Government reports an unemployment rate of just 8.1% (1)

by Carlton Meyer Poor Richrard - April 6, 2009

Per-family household debt more than doubled from 1989 to 2007, going from $42,000 per family to $97,000 per family, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Most of it, 85 cents of every dollar, is home equity or mortgage debt. This is not the consumer's fault for borrowing it, nor Congress' fault for legislating it, nor the Fed's fault for enabling it, nor Fannie Mae's or Freddie Mac's fault for packaging it. - This is all Wall Street's fault.(2)

by Alex Castellanos - Republican Party Media Consultant.

"...the United States is not and never will be at war with Islam."

President Barack Obama to the Turkey's Grand National Assembly In Ankara Turkey on April 7, 2009

Forecasting the Obama Presidency

What can be far worse than fighting two wars simultaneously? Is it financing two wars with a critically crippled domestic economy in tow? CNN's John King skillfully paints just such a portrait of the Obama administration in the excerpted following editorial:

Second 100 days will be bigger test for Obama
By John King
CNN Chief National Correspondent
Fri April 24, 2009

It is the second 100 days that will give a much more comprehensive test of President Obama's approach, his resilience -- and his effectiveness.
Still, the White House cites significant accomplishments, including:

• Passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.
• Signing into law an expanded children's health care program that it says provides benefits to 4 million additional working families.
• Signing the Ledbetter law requiring equal pay for women.
• Winning approval of a congressional budget resolution that puts Congress on record as dedicated to dealing with major health care reform legislation this year.
• Implementing new ethics guidelines designed to significantly curtail the influence of lobbyists on the executive branch.
• Breaking from the Bush administration on a number of international policy fronts, including climate change, while spelling out his plan to withdraw American troops from Iraq.

However, the author of this editorial also cautions a down side for the new president:

• Obama is perceived as a liberal, a word that is often more a liability than an asset in national politics.
• Nearly four in 10 Americans voice the concern that he is trying too much at once.
• If there are a few major stumbles and setbacks, the risk is that voters will question his leadership and governing skills.

His core supporters are wary of two major Obama initiatives: taxpayer-funded bailout of big financial and auto companies, and his plan to significantly increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan.

"If Republicans aren't nervous, they should be. Obama is arguing for his activist agenda not on the basis of class consciousness, which is alien to America, but as a defense of middle-class morality, which is central to it. Obama is positioning the Democrats as the party of order, responsibility and small town values. If he pulls this mantle away from the Republicans, it would be the greatest train robbery in American politics."

Iraq and Afghanistan are inherited tests. But Obama has placed such a heavy fingerprint on these policies that success will bring him credit, but setbacks will leave no doubt where the responsibility lies.

Blaming George W. Bush was an easy -- and often credible -- foil for Obama in his important first 100 days. Not so much in the defining second 100.

It should also be noted with particular emphasis, that should the Democrats gain the 60 seat veto proof congress they seek, they will no longer have the luxury of the forced participation of the Republican opposition: whatever success or failures their decisions bring about will be their own.

In other words, it will be Obama's ball game from there on!

Smoke and Mirrors War Funding

Following in the footsteps of George W. Bush's example of keeping war funding off the books, President Obama is privately goading Congress to appropriate $83.4 billion in additional "emergency" funding for the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If he manages to pull it off it would bring the 2009 funding to nearly $150 billion, and the overall costs of the two wars would then leap to nearly $1 trillion.

Obama was a harsh critic of the Bush administration tactic of avoiding placing the costs of both occupations in the overall military budget, but he is now attempting the same. His latest request is in addition to a $534 billion military budget the administration recently unveiled.  The budget in question was for fiscal 2010, which in turn is an increase over the Bush administration military budget from 2009.  Some would say this is a blatant sleight of hand maneuver of the very tactic of which he was once so openly critical.

These domestic points, however critical, pale in comparison to the nightmare future coming at the untested 'dream team administration', led by an inexperienced new president.

Iraq’s Coming Eruption  

The US-created al-Sahwa (Sons of Iraq), a Sunni militia comprised mostly of former resistance fighters and some members of al-Qaeda, that grew to 100,000 in number, now threatens to fade back into the shadows to resume anti-occupation resistance operations against the US military and Iraqi government security forces.

The Sahwa, which were to be incorporated into the government security apparatus, have instead been suffering attacks by that same apparatus for several months - attacks that are now occurring daily. And they are reacting in kind.     

On April 14, ten Sahwa-controlled checkpoints were abandoned in Babel, south of Baghdad. The Sahwa forces left their posts after not receiving their salaries. This was exactly what was predicted would begin to happen by a Sahwa commander in Baghdad two months ago. At the time, he had told a reporter that many of his men had not received payment from the government since October, and he feared it was only a matter of time before they would leave their posts to likely resume resistance operations.

Gathering Middle East Clouds

The fate of the Obama administration rests heavily on there being - no ‘third Middle East conflict’: which means of course no Israeli attempt to take out Iran’s rapidly evolving nuclear structure. Such a war would be one of far reaching impact, with the diplomatic consequences pivoting on Obama’s foolishly naive overture to the Arab world – “America is not at war with Islam!”

There simply is no backing away from such a stance after such an attack, particularly one of the intensity and complexity required to have any effect. It would be regarded by the Arab world as – Black American speaks with forked tongue.

The increasingly dangerous fragility of the situation building up in the Middle East between the Arabs and Israelis, is described in a recent editorial from Tom Dispatch.com, of which the following was excerpted:

The Explosive Israeli Factor

An "island" nation in the Middle East, Israel today plays a role arguably similar to that of an actual island which held formidable sway in American domestic politics decades ago. Known then as Formosa, ...From the late 1940s deep into the 1950s, that island version of China had a firm grip on what room for maneuver was available to any American government when it came to China policy. With various Nationalist Chinese representatives and their congressional and media allies, then known as the China Lobby, putting key issues and realities beyond discussion, the results were disastrous. It's a cautionary tale that shouldn't be ignored in the present debate.

The Israeli Lobby

While the appointments of Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state and Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff were reassuring, other appointments were far less so... An additional source of worry was Daniel Shapiro and Daniel Kurtzer, both Jewish, who served as Obama's top Middle East aides during the campaign and were seen as not sufficiently loyal to the causes favored by hard-line, right-wing types.

Since the election, many lobby members have viewed a number of Obama's top appointments, including Shapiro, who's taken the Middle East portfolio at the National Security Council, and Kurtzer, who's in line for a top State Department job, with great unease.....to mention one more appointment, Samantha Power, author of A Problem from Hell and now a National Security Council official who has, in the past, made comments sharply critical of Israel.

As it happens, however, this may prove anything but a moment of strength for the lobby.... According to polls taken in the wake of Gaza, growing numbers of Americans, including many in the Jewish community, have begun to exhibit doubts about Israel's actions, a rare moment when public opinion has begun to tilt against Israel.

Perhaps most important of all, Israel is about to be run by an extremist, ultra right-wing government led by Likud Party leader Bibi Netanyahu, and including the even more extreme party of Avigdor Lieberman, as well as a host of radical-right religious parties. It's an ugly coalition that is guaranteed to clash with the priorities of the Obama White House.

Israel Will Hit Iran Unless Obama Says "NO"

by Roane Carey, Managing Editor of THE NATION in ALTERNET, reprinted from Tom's Dispatch.

April 14, 2009

"Given the Netanyahu government's visible determination to attack, an ambiguous signal from Washington, something far less than a green light, could be misread in Tel Aviv. Anything short of a categorical, even vociferous U.S. refusal to countenance an Israeli attack might have horrific consequences. So here's a message to Obama from an observer in Israel: Don't flash the yellow light -- not even once."

The Syrian Threat

Syria resumes pursuit of nuclear weapons
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent  Telegraph.UK
 02 Oct 2008

With North Korean assistance, Syria is rumored to have at least one, possibly two other secret nuclear facilities - other than the one bombed by the Israelis in September 2007. Israeli officials believe Syria has resumed attempts to acquire a nuclear programme, according to reports.

Afghanistan/Pakistan: Gateway to Hell

Added to this incredibly messy situation is the building Pakistan/ Afghanistan debacle, which for all intents is now - totally out of control. And who would be so foolish as to think that the Israelis are not disturbed by events taking place in this arena?

Just think about it for a moment: The Israelis do not want the Iranians to develop nuclear weapon capability, namely the feared - Islamic Bomb. But the Islamic Bomb already exists in Pakistan, with Taliban and al-Qaeda forces moving ever closer to that country's capital.

So to buffer that situation more to their favor, the Israelis have been snuggling up to India's extreme right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who themselves are not comfortable with their Pakistani neighbor's nuclear capability.

Should those weapons (even one) fall into the hands of the Taliban or al- Qaeda - the possibilities for a breach of Israel's security are mind boggling - and the Israelis are well aware of them.

Reading Between the Lines

Possibility one – sometime between now and the end of this year, the Israelis will do - 'something spectacular' - in the Middle East. And they will not ask the Obama administration for permission before execution. If indeed this event does take place, it will leave the Obama administration running in place to catch up with events.

Possibility two- The Arab world will or will not believe American protestations of non complicity in the event.

Possibility Three – nothing will happen by the end of this year and I personally would be more than elated if it did.

A successful outcome will balance on the experienced capability of the Obama administration, and their ability to negotiate the potential crag-mire that could enflame the entire Middle East?

Personally, I have never been a devotee of fantasy.

REFERENCES

Poor Richard's (1): click HERE

CNNPOLITICS.COM (2): click HERE

Your comments - The voices of our readers

Hi, cool site, good writing. Poonia Brurnot, Norfolk Island, Australia If the author is only noticing that American/European culture/society is only now shadowing the collective behaviors that signals the end of empire I think he hasn't been paying attention. This administration is not immune to the social context in which it was spawned and grown. The previous administration had much to garner it top billing in this respect. The preceding administration had its personal and political foibles rubbed raw. But when did presidential politics have anything to do with social mores? There are those who saw the end of empire in the Bush administrations failed imperalist project in Iraq. There are those who chronicled all the necessary elements in the sexual peccadilloes of Pres. Clinton. Many foresaw the end wrapped in the demagogic demands of the Reagan administration. Pres. Johnson's escalation of the Viet Nam War has been marked as the beginning of the descent of the American empire. Pres. Roosevelt's New Deal was viewed as capitulation to the forces of evil and even now is reviled by revisionist economic historians as the reason the Great Depression 's length and depth. Push back a little farther and we find that the root of the American historical project's demise is the presidential order called the Emancipation Proclamati Dubyah H, Manchester NH Couldn't agree with the article more.  Escept for one thing: "(3) We have allowed the Israelis to dictate our Middle East foreign policy to alleviate their national fears." I'm of the firm conviction that we (the US) are doing "the dictating" treating the Israel government since '48 as a puppet nation doing OUR bidding & our dirty work - putting them at risk and reaping the current consequences of world economic bankruptcy. If we're not there yet, our partiality to Israel will take an even a greater toll. . . . all because our government has not adhered to our repeated egalitarian "VALUES" across the globe.  norma pressimone, Atlanta GA For what it is worth I think you just don't like having a black president. All you want to do is please the white man. And maybe think about this. He don't like being the kind of person who wants you as a brother. And I don't either. So go to hell you bastard. E.B, Charlottesville, VA