Friday, June 19, 2009

Coming in Iran and Elsewhere





Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
To The Point (TTP) News
Friday, 19 June 2009

Tomorrow's the day, folks. Crunch time in Tehran. You know what happened today: head mullah Ali Khamenei delivered the Friday sermon everyone was waiting for, and he didn't give a fig for freedom.

He insisted the June 12 elections were fair and not fraudulent, ordered the protestors to stop demonstrating in any way, and obey their master Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Any opposition rallies are banned, he said, and any attempt to hold one will be put down with armed force. His speech was as hard-line as it could possibly have been.

It is 10pm Friday evening in Tehran as I am writing this, and protestors have begun shouting Allahu akbar - their cry of protest - from the rooftops. Their cell calls, emails, and twitters give every indication that they plan to hold enormous rallies tomorrow in straight defiance of Khamenei and the mullah regime.

There will be blood tomorrow. But whose?

The Army has so far refused to crack down on the protestors - and word is they will continue to refuse tomorrow. The feared Pasdaran or Revolutionary Guard (IRG) is evidently so split that the mullahs can't rely on them. There is even word that soldiers and IRG will turn on the regime's basiji militia thugs who have been doing the beatings and killings so far, and defend the protestors.

But nobody knows. Everyone's scared, scared they might die or suffer horrible brutality tomorrow. Yet they say they are going through with it. They have heard the words of Patrick Henry - Give me liberty or give me death - and taken them to heart.

The Iranian people have suffered so much ghastly tyranny for 30 years. This is their chance. Our prayers should be with them tomorrow.

***************************************************************************
That the democracy protestors in Iran are proceeding without the slightest regard to what America's Coward-in-chief thinks shows how irrelevant he is becoming to the world.

Another demonstration was provided this week by the brilliant speech by Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Sunday (6/14). It was a total middle finger salute to Zero, yet performed in such an elegantly accommodating way that all Zero could do was thank Bibi for agreeing with him.

Zero's demand is to split Israel in half with the "two-state solution." Bibi said, okay, Palestinian independence, two states, no problem. All the P's have to do is recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish country, and absorb their own people - currently in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan where they've been for 60 years. Forget us absorbing them here in Israel.

And boom - just like that, the debate is over and Zero shuts up. Arabs seethe and fume, Mubarak petulantly says Egypt will never recognize a "Jewish" state, but they do nothing either. Noting Zero's sudden silence - and not just over the Palestinians but over the mullahs in Iran whom they hate and fear - the Arabs are now just as contemptuously dismissive of him as... Bibi.

*************************************************************************
This week with his usual acuity, Jack Kelly wrote about The Abject Failure of Obama's Foreign Policy. The sequel is unfolding before our eyes: The Abject Failure of Zero's Domestic Policy.


How about this for an inspiring above-the-fold front page headline in this morning's Washington Post? Obama Initiatives Hit Speed Bumps on Capitol Hill

Every chief of staff I know for Republican senators tells me Waxman's cap-and-trade climate bill - a Zero legislative centerpiece - is flaming out. It's so bad Dems are being advised to stop even using the terms "global warming," "cap-and-trade," and "green jobs." Watch for their new linguistic con, "clean energy."

The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) just scored the ObamaCare health bill as adding $1.6 trillion to the deficit while leaving tens of millions still uninsured. As a result, "health care reform is on life support," says Democrat senator Jim Cooper (TN).

And Zero's amazing power grab for the Fed to seize control over a widening swath of US business ran into a buzzsaw yesterday (6/18) when both Dem and Pub senators on the Banking Committee raked Tiny Tim Geithner over searing coals.

This means that every one of Zero's top legislative priorities - even with full Dem control of the House and Senate - now stands an excellent chance of crashing and burning.

We should all drink to that. Could I suggest an under $10 favorite red? It's Castaño, a Monastrell from Yecla, Spain. 90 points from Wine Advocate.

***
A month ago we talked about the coming economic train wreck in China. This week, after long-time bragging by Beijing that the PRC would quickly rebound out of recession and ascend back up to 8% growth in 2009, the Chicom State Council admits that China's economy faces "long term difficulties."

Say goodbye to 8%, warns Chicom Vice Premier Li Keqiang. "It's impossible for China to have a V-shaped recovery," states government banking specialist Liu Xin.

Now the fellow who accurately predicted to the day (September 5, 2008) the US equity market meltdown, Albert Edwards of Societe Generale in Paris, in a thoroughly researched report, is warning of a "bubble of belief" in China that is about to pop.

Back in 1997, Edwards also predicted the popping of the Asian Bubble. Now, he is saying that "China is the global Achilles Heel."

"I believe we will look back on the Chinese economic miracle as the sickest joke yet played on investors," he concludes, citing collapsing earnings for most of China's major industrial companies. Consider reading the whole report, linked above.

Yep, just like we said, China, like Zero's economy, is a sucker's train wreck.

Oh, that means the smart money is on oil failing to $50 a barrel by September 1st.

***
The HFR raises a full glass of Castaño to all TTPers who are lucky enough to be Dads.

It is the most wonderful and rewarding thing in the world for a man to be a father. I have been blest with two of the most awesome boys a father could ask for. Of all that I have ever been able to do in my life, being their Dad is the best thing I've ever done. Nothing comes close.

So Happy Father's Day this Sunday!

No comments:

Post a Comment