Hammered on The Anvil of False Eonomic 'Audacity.'

Ne'eman suggests EU leadership felt compelled to move:

a) Out of fear Hamas must be curtailed.

b) President Obama may not be as in tune with GW's thinking and as they were, though they seldom admitted so in public.

It is lamentable that EU leaders may be motivated more out of fear of radical Islamism's 'surge' than they are driven by morality. Israel must take what it gets and disregard how the train arrived at the station. (See 1 below)

Obama calls Middle East leaders as well. (See 2 below.)

A fellow memo reader and friend responded to my comments re Geithner. My friend is retired and held a high position in the IRS. His comments are worth noting. (See 3 below.)

It really is hypocrisy for the new president to be talking about high ethical standards, while continuing to support his Treasury nominee. This is the kind of double talk that hurts his own cause and I am not trying to nit pick. I just don't understand how you can pitch new ethical standards, accept an apology and overlook such blatant behaviour. It demonstrates either Geithner's indifference to tax laws laws or complete incompetence. No matter how bright he might be this is the fox they are going to put in charge simply because he is so smart and it leaves a bad taste. That said Geithner's eventual approval seems assured though not without more outcry because his many apologies, it is believed, will carry the day.

In a conversation with another long time friend we discussed the new president and his beginning. My friend pointed out the world's 'glee' and thought that a positive sign which might indicate a willingness to be more co-operative. Tonight a news report showed pictures of various leaders and their welcoming comments but, specific to Sarkozy, when asked would France be willing now to pony up more by of way sending troops etc. Zarkozy quickly backed away.

I pointed out to my friend when Bush left office more of GW's thinking had been embraced by Merkel, Sarkozy etc. as noted by Ne'eman below (see 1b above and 1 below.) and that one of GW's most blatant detractors, Germany's Schroeder, after being voted out, had become a paid employee of Putin and Russia's GazProm at the alleged salary of $250M/year

Only a blind partisan can deny President Obama enters office with a wellspring of good wishes and good will unlike President Bush who was deemed an "illegitimate president" from the git go because of the Florida 'chad' espisode. Broad public conviction, stoked by the press and media, deemed The Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision was flawed. I consistently have argued, The Supreme Court should have voted unanimously as Warren got them to do regarding their ruling ending segregation. Five to four does not convey legitimacy. It sends a 'squeak by' partisan message.

If that was not enough, Democrats, still incensed over Clinton's impeachment, hungered for 'pay back.' GW's inarticulateness, personal baggage and off standing executive style also underserved him throughout his time in office.

For sure, Obama comes across as someone much more approachable and affable, someone who projects an easy and less stiff style - a person comfortable wihin his own skin and exuding self-confidence. Finally, we have a 'cool' president!

My greatest fear remains that racial bigotry like anti-Semitism always lurks, like cancer in remission, below the surface. As with all presidents, Obama's every move will be watched and judged and more is this the case because he is new, youthful, inexperienced and because he is who he is.

One might be pleased with Obama's centrist beginning but his more patronizing agenda whereby government intrusion and dictation is inevitable but makes this conservative apprehensive. Succeeding in a direction contrary to what I deem best for a nation of freer more entrepreneurial people is not something I am comfortable supporting. I look at Europe and am glad I am here.

Excesses are what has harmed our nation, not our economic system. Freedom to fail is not our enemy. Government policies which seek to determine outcomes is far more dangerous. Social safety nets, evening the playing field, up to a point, is acceptable but not at the expense of irresponsible management of our nation's fiscal and monetary affairs.

We have extended ourselves while we have shuttered much of our manufacturing capabilities. We have become an unsustainable service economy that consumes more than it produces. We have been able to do so because the world extended us credit in order to purchase what they sold us. We grew our middle class under false economic pretenses.

Because of the collapse in home values, a Bear Market and defaults in our banking system we are vulnerable to the soothing siren song of government solutions. With unemployment rising, a social system out of whack, the hue and cry for action sweeps the land. Politicians are ready to respond but have yet to convince me they offer sensible solutions. The hangover effects might be worse than the medicine.

Patronizing union demands, rewarding and/or bailing out incompetent management is not the road to take but we are well down that path. Just as we seem ready to appoint Mr. Geithner because he is "indespenible" we selectively concluded many mis-managed enterprises were too large to fail so we hurriedly put billions of clean shirts on dirty frames - and the 'bailed' ones are now failing.

Yes, I want Mr. Obama to succeed but at what cost? That remains the unanswered question. If those who philosophically differ with his proposals are muted or gagged by an adoring press and media, are tagged with racial bias for proposing alternatives and questioning the direction we are being taken then we are truly in a serious state.

The press and media have both reporting and commentary responsibilities but balance and searing analysis are also comparable and essential responsibilities. The press and media have been more prone to protect than to reveal and ultimately there will be a price to pay for their abdication just as we are already reaping the negative 'benefits' of an education system gone awry and a comparable decline in societal values.

A free people incapabale of controlling their appetite, who place their fate beyond self and who look to a government bent on re-distribution of wealth to solve their every problem, cannot be sustained. In time they will become hammered on the anvil of false economic 'audacity. '


Dick


1) The EU Contains Obama's Initiative?
By Yisrael Ne'eman


It is not everyday that six major European leaders (PM Gordon Brown – Britain, Pres. Sarkozy – France, Chancellor Merkel – Germany, Pres. Berlusconi – Italy, PM Zapatero – Spain and EU President Todolanek of the Czech Rep.) show up for a one day tour in the Middle East including a stop in Sharm el-Sheikh to give support to Egyptian Pres. Hosni MuBarack and his Saudi counterparts and then continuing on for dinner with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert where they accord full backing to Israeli policy. The uniting factor is to halt Hamas (the Moslem Brotherhood) rearmament and by extension make clear their goal of curtailing extremist Islam and Iran. Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire at 2AM on Jan. 18 and Hamas followed suit half a day later. All this coincided with the European diplomatic initiative. But why so fast?

Call it an end run circumventing Barack Obama. Europe was always thought to be more sympathetic to the Palestinians than the Americans, which they most likely still are, but the EU has learned a few lessons in the past decade. Palestinians, the two state solution and peace initiatives in the Middle East are one thing, battling Islamist extremists is a different game. For all the optimism and enthusiasm in the US and world-wide over the election of Barack Obama the Europeans along with the moderate Arab states and Israel are far from convinced that he understands the issues in this part of the world. Everyone had to move lighting fast, exploiting the last moments of the Bush Administration to ensure a fait accompli of joint EU, Egyptian and Israeli diplomacy. The idea is to box in the new administration.

For incessant criticism of the Bush regime and its refusal to "engage" with Islamic extremists it appears that Europe's political leaders agree with him much more than they are willing to acjnowledge in public. They do consider Hamas a terrorist organization and do not want Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniya legitimized. They support the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah and the two state solution. Obama has declared his willingness to speak with Islamic extremists including the Iranians. No one knows exactly how serious he is or under what specific conditions discussions could take place, hence no one wants to take chances. With approximately 50 million Moslems living in Europe, with not a few given to Islamist ideas and an apparent rising terrorist threat casting its shadow over the continent the Europeans and the majority of Mideast leaders have pre-empted American diplomacy. America is expected to line up with joint Middle Eastern and EU perspectives by limiting overtures to confined guidelines if they want to engage with radical Islamists.

Obama will be faced with an American commitment to halt the illegal arms smuggling to Gaza (Rice-Livni: Memorandum of Understanding) and his own prerequisite, now emphasized even more fully – that any discussions with whomever, begin with a recognition of Israel's right to exist. Most clearly, the last few days of diplomatic efforts have emphasized moderate Arab and EU fears of Islamic militant activities against their regimes and societies. Some will see here an Israeli diplomatic success but a more accurate appraisal is that the EU is defending its own interests. The same goes for Egypt and its allies. All wanted to pre-empt Obama, fearing a pendulum swing reaching beyond the confines of the joint anti-Islamist interests.

Having noted all of the above the new administration may be working on a handoff and reverse whereby on the threshold of taking office they urged immediate European and Egyptian involvement effectively tying their own hands and forcing an abandonment of campaign declarations intended to show the supposedly glaring differences between themselves and the outgoing Bush Administration. Obama may have made his first foreign policy move two days before assuming power.

Only one factor seems assured, Iran and its allies Syria, Hezbollah, Sudan and radical Islamist organizations will not surrender regardless of the opposing coalition. For Israel, Operation Cast Lead has been a tactical battlefield success but the day of reckoning will arrive when the arms smuggling begins anew and Israel will call upon the EU, the US and the Egyptian led moderates to halt the flow of contraband into Gaza. Most likely this will be Barack Obama's first major foreign policy test.

2) Obama calls Middle East leaders
By BEN FELLER

President Barack Obama called four Middle East leaders on Wednesday, weighing in for the first time about the Gaza crisis by pledging to support a fragile cease-fire.

Obama called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"He used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued cooperation and leadership," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Obama inherits the aftermath of a conflict that roiled the Middle East anew and dogged the final days of the Bush administration. An Israeli offensive ravaged Gaza and left some 1,300 Palestinians dead, at least half of them civilians, according to estimates. Thirteen Israelis also died. Israel launched the war to halt years of militant rocket fire on southern Israel and to stop arms smuggling that put one-eighth of the country's population within rocket range.

A tenuous halting of the bloody fighting is in place.

Gibbs said Obama "emphasized his determination to work to help consolidate the cease-fire by establishing an effective anti-smuggling regime to prevent Hamas from rearming," and by working with Palestinian leadership to help create a "a major reconstruction effort for Palestinians in Gaza."

In his phone calls, Gibbs said, Obama pledged that his government would do its share to make those efforts successful and work with international partners "as they fulfill their responsibilities as well." The White House described the calls as warm in nature.

The last Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, and Israel dispatched its foreign minister to Europe to try to rally international support to end arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled territory.

The timing of the troop pullout reflected Israel's hopes to defuse the crisis before Obama settled into the White House. The military said troops remain amassed on the Israeli side of the border, poised for action if militants violate a fragile, three-day-old truce.

In the weeks before getting sworn in as president, Obama engaged deeply in the economic crisis at home. But he deferred to then-President George W. Bush on the Gaza conflict and declined frequent opportunities to comment, saying the country should speak with only one voice on foreign policy.


3)"Re Geither: Perhaps it is my IRS background talking but if I had ever owed IRS $30K, I would have been fired. I recall in the past a number of people who lost their chance for key govt. posts because of failing to pay social security taxes for housekeepers or nannies. In fact, while in VA, Ina could never have individual household help because the worker would not agree to have their income reported to IRS, even though I was willing to pay their portion of social security tax."