Dominoes

I've watched with some interest the goings on in Europe, particularly the spectacular meltdown occurring in Greece.  As much fun as Greece's chaotic reaping of the whirlwind they've sown has been to watch, you don't want to make the mistake of Big Media (the BM for short) in ignoring the other nations of the EU and their own slide toward oblivion.

Greece may simply be the first domino to fall.

Next up?  By all appearances, it would have to be Portugal, followed by Spain.  Or is that Spain, followed by Portugal?  Or will Great Britain jump the line and crash before Portugal and Spain?

I could go into all of the reasons why a single European currency pretty much guaranteed the domino scenario.  But I would just be parroting the words of others much wiser than I in matters of economics.  Stick to what you're comfortable writing about, that's what I say.

So where does it end? 

If, in fact, we're in full-blown dominoes mode, how many are going to tumble before it's all said and done?  Are we talking a handful?  Half-dozen?  A dozen?  The entire European Union?  And, if Europe tumbles, are we next?

The next few months will certainly be interesting; that is, if you consider economic anarchy "interesting".

Man bites dog

Criticism of Il Duce and his administration by Big Media (the BM for short) and popular commentators of the Left (is that redundant?) has been virtually nonexistent up to this point.  But the times, they are a changin'. It seems that the near non-response of the Duce administration to the impending ecological catastrophe about to hit the shores of the Gulf states is a chicken come home to roost.

Of all of Il Duce's cheerleaders, no one has been as "in the tank" for their Messiah as the editorial writers of The New York Times.  Until now.

BP seems to have been slow to ask for help, and, on Friday, both federal and state officials accused it of not moving aggressively or swiftly enough. Yet the administration should not have waited, and should have intervened much more quickly on its own initiative.

A White House as politically attuned as this one should have been conscious of two obvious historical lessons. One was the Exxon Valdez, where a late and lame response by both industry and the federal government all but destroyed one of the country’s richest fishing grounds and ended up costing billions of dollars. The other was President George W. Bush’s hapless response to Hurricane Katrina.

Now we have another disaster in more or less the same neck of the woods, and it takes the administration more than a week to really get moving.

Wow! You could knock me over with a feather.  Every word of that critique is true.  And damning.  And, had the President in question been King George the Dim, this singular criticism would be echoing from every media orifice.  But, given that so much of Big Media follows in lock-step behind The Times, more criticism should be forthcoming.

But if you think that The Times criticism of the administration is unbelievable, this is even more unbelievable.

HBO's Bill Maher on Friday asked an extraordinary question of his guest panel: "Why isn't Barack Obama getting more s--t' for the oil spill in the Gulf?

Almost as surprising, the studio audience applauded after the "Real Time" host said this.

Talk about your "man bites dog" moment! Bill Maher, as big a Lefty as you'll ever find in a "political" context, a man who excoriated King George without mercy, questioning why his Messiah wasn't being (correctly) criticized for his lackadaisical response.

Just when you think you have it all figured out, something like this happens [/sarcasm].

I'm the first to criticize the BM and pundits like Maher when they go 24x7 hammering on something that matters to them and harms opposing points of view and then, predictably, fall silent on issues that make "their side" look bad (Climategate, anyone?).  So I salute The Times and Bill Maher for breaking from the pack and criticizing where criticism is due.

Well done, chaps.

Earthquake

Chile was hit with one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded this past weekend. The 8.8 monster killed at least 214 people and was felt as far away as the River Plate in Argentina.

I have some history with Chile. I lived there for a short time in the late 70's. I have very fond memories of the Chilean people. They are very warm-hearted and giving.

Just recently, thanks to the world-shrinking technology of the old WWW, I was contacted via Facebook by two old friends from Chile, whom I'll refer to as 'Carlos' and 'Pati' in the interest of maintaining their privacy. My prayers are with them.

I've never experienced an earthquake bigger than about 4.5 to 5.0 in spite of having lived in a couple of places reknown for their earthquakes (California and Chile). I can't imagine the horror of a three minute quake of that intensity.

Let's keep Chile in our prayers, gang.