Pericles,

By and large I would tend to agree with your analysis.
However, I am not so sanguine about the influence of the 'teabaggers' (as they are called) on the Republican rump. As individuals,they are as innocuous enough but as a collective they are simply mob inanity.

I think you are correct that the Tea party only hangs together because its aims/policies are viscerally mob rule.
To me what is missing is the other side of the right to have one's say... the responsibility to activate the primary (the brain) before the drive (emotions).

To me there in lies the philosophic difference between moderate, and the far larger great unwashed, either side.

Bill Maher comedian/talk show host makes some telling points on the smarts of America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fys3MsKMpms&feature=related

Humour aside the previously mentioned inconsistency in Conservative thinking reigns true here in good ole Aus. i.e. With every right comes a logical responsibility, regardless of which side of the political fence you inhabit.

Steven,
Three things come to mind about your topic.
- why, the bias is palpable
- If you lay down with dogs...you get fleas. translation you read and believe(cite) self-interested sensationalized (i.e.media sources and believe them) then don't be surprised if you are merely one of the manipulated.
- the final point is more difficult to express in 350 words.
It seems that your interest in discussion is more subliminal that surface interest in the topic per se. Or perhaps I over rate your capacity for rationality.

*Back in the real world, I'd like to think that Americans are wise enough to work out that the Republicans do not represent a positive move, insofar as combatting the problems Obama is handling is concerned.*

I hope you'd be right Pericles, but IMHO alot of Americans are
still in denial, lashing out to blame someone, anyone but themselves
for their problems.

Few seem to admit that it was their vote for George and Dick twice,
that got the US into this mess in the first place. Expecting
Obama to wave some magic wand to fix it all in a year, is quite
unrealistic. It took years to drag the US down, it will take
years to drag it back out. IMHO Obama is doing as good a job
as can be expected, given the shocking deal that he interited.

Palin as prez would indeed be a disaster, not only for America,
but for world peace of any kind.

Are American voters smart enough to not just lash out emotionally
in the November elections? I somehow doubt it.

Examinator

I haven't the faintest idea what point you are trying to make. You are over-estimating my capacity to decipher riddles.

Yabby

It's not that I disagree with the steps Obama has taken; but I think he has displayed a lamentable lack of something called "leadership".

The essence of good leadership in a democracy is to be able to tell the electorate unpleasant truths and carry them along with you. Obama doesn't seem to have it. He is an administrator rather than a leader.

I had hoped he would seize the moment in his inaugural address. Less "yes we can" and more "we're in a mess and here are the hard things I'm going to have to do to get us out of it." Back then I think the American people were ready to hear some harsh truths.

But Obama let the moment pass and never regained the initiative.

Pericles

There is certainly a danger that Hilary could be tarred with Obama's perceived failures. But not if she separates herself from the administration after the mid-terms. That puts two years of daylight between her and the administration

*The essence of good leadership in a democracy is to be able to tell the electorate unpleasant truths and carry them along with you. Obama doesn't seem to have it. He is an administrator rather than a leader.*

I will have to disagree with you there, Steven. Let me explain.

The danger with any leader is that he is driven by ideology and
thinks that he knows everything, then pushes ahead regardless,
as Bush used to. (after he had talked to God)

There is huge wisdom in knowing that we don't know everything and
that many of the best brains around can make a contribution too.
Its what Kevin Rudd got so wrong, as Hawke has pointed out.

I watch a fair bit of Bloomberg and I know of no president or
leader anywhere, who has gone to more trouble to assemble
the best brains around and try to examine issues from all perspectives.

So Obama limits the fixed ideology and claim to know everything,
with a very open and consultative process, of being open to reason,
of being open to ideas, of being open to change.

I think that is hugely positive, but I am aware that many seek
a saviour in their politicians, rather then an open minded leader.

I have yet to see a saviour get it right, so I much prefer the
openmindedness and flexibility of Obama.

But he really has had bad luck. Take the BP saga. Half of
Louisianna condems him for stopping deep sea drilling until
the reasons are sorted out, the other half reckon he's not been
tough enough on the drillers. Yet the real mess was created
when the Bush regime virtually forgot any kind of enforcement
of the Govt office which overseas deep sea drilling.

So anyone who expects him to play Jesus, is likely to be
dissapointed.

Ah,the usual suspects arise in unison.See Who Owns the US Fed http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10489

Also http://www.apfn.org/apfn/fed_reserve.htm or http://www.save-a-patriot.org/files/view/whofed.html 1976 but look at the names.Rothchilds,Henry Schroder,Morgan,Grenfel,Lazard Bros,Lehman Bros,Solomon Loeb,Abraham Kuhn,Lehman Stern.While Lehman Brs US went under they did not do so in Europe.The Bank of England (previously owned by Rothschilds) was nationalised after it had been stripped of its assets.The tax payer left with the debt.

Pericles ,it is no longer theory about 911.I met Prof Niels Harrit from the University of Cophenhagen last weekend.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_tf25lx_3o This was shown on national Danish TV,yet our ABC will dare not air it,let alone disect the science. His peer reviewed paper on nano-thermite ( ie explosives used at 911) after 15 mths has not been disputed,let alone disproven.Conspiracy fact has been proven.

Unless you Pericles and others of your ilk,face the reality of this totalitariarn facism,our humanity will enter a new dark age.

So we have 1218 Architects and Engineers,400 scientists,hundreds of academic and thousands of ordinary folk asking for a new and unbiased enquiry into 911.So let's do it and put the lies to rest.

One day, Arjay, when you have grown a little older and a little wiser, you will look back on all this tripe, and blush at your naïveté.

>>The Bank of England (previously owned by Rothschilds) was nationalised after it had been stripped of its assets.The tax payer left with the debt.<<

This is a statement entirely without foundation in fact of any kind, and makes me wonder why on earth you could possibly write it, while keeping a straight face.

The Bank of England has never, at any stage, been owned by any Rothschild, or combination of Rothschilds. Where on earth do you find this garbage?

There were no "assets" to strip, either, since the stockholders were only entitled to a dividend, not the underlying capital. Take a look at the 1946 Act, if you doubt this.

As for this 9/11 stuff, it is becoming increasingly threadbare.

>>Conspiracy fact has been proven<<

Only if your standard of proof is so low that you believe that pigs, given favourable wind conditions and a long enough runway, can fly.

>>...thousands of ordinary folk asking for a new and unbiased enquiry into 911.So let's do it and put the lies to rest.<<

Sadly, there is no verdict, from any enquiry, however it might be constituted, anywhere in the world, at any time between now and Armageddon, that would prevent a new conspiracy from being invented and promulgated by an over-stimulated anorak, a nanosecond after it had been delivered.

Time to move on with your life, Arjay. Start enjoying it for a change.