Apres Moi Le Deluge

The pitter pat of “happy feet” grows louder; Barack Obama nears the White House. His mentor, the communist poet Frank Wilson, smiles. Sol Alinsky taught the Ivy League graduate the marvels of socialism and introduced him to money. Bill Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn, both terrorist founders of the “Weathermen” with bombings to prove it, controlled millions.
Walter Annenberg left part of his great wealth in the hands of the far left. Ayers was the man. Ayers brought a new first to education—eliminating math, English and history. He introduced a radical view of education by stroking a socially oppressed student body. No administrative skills required. Competition was undemocratic. Violence used when necessary for political aims. Barack Obama can carry this message.
South side Chicago was restive. The elder Mayor Daley’s successor created a euphemism—“Chicago Style Politics.” Obama was a community organizer who David Axelrod, a master at manufacturing proletariat support for politicians, recognized as a power base leader to be elected ‘Chicago style’. This required the disqualification of all of his democratic opponents by pre-registration infractions. Obama WON the senate seat, UNOPPOSED!
The issue for Obama became visibility and wealth. Rezko, the jail bound real estate developer, financed his election to the Illinois Senate. Obama voted present 132 times, avoiding all major issues. Rezko found the Obamas a mansion.
Obama also needed a platform. Reverend Wright and Pfleger were the religious teachers. Not political idealists, they were respected couriers of a religious populism which South Chicago accepted and clerics praised. Christ was black and when resurrected, will right the wrongs that white society has visited on its black brothers.
The political mantra was housing for the poor, the poorer, the better. Control Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and control the banking system. Get Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mozilo and you control marketing. But where is the money?
Enter Barney Frank (D-MA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Harry Reid (D-NV), John Kerry (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The church was filling. ‘Juice’ was required. Engel and Hoffman at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wrote mortgages without collateral or income verification. They made millions for themselves. Hedge funds losing equity capital welcomed a new product. Swaps were not contracts and could be regulated. Wall Street took off. Credit swaps!
A close relative was making $250,000 a year and looking down his nose. “I never heard of a derivative or credit swap—please explain.” Three hours later, I know nothing! I was forced to ask, “How much money do your customers make?” Silence! “What is the take of the syndicators?” More silence! “What do your principals earn?” Silence, once again. He left for Fisher’s Island. Wall Street was in the tank.
Under Perry Hall of Morgan Stanley, Gus Levy of Goldman, Bill Salomon of Salomon Brothers, other firms Kuhn-Loeb, Kidder-Peabody, Loeb-Rhodes, Lehman, Dean Witter all were partnerships. Partnership capital is at risk. They were intrinsically conservative and risk averse.
Then Merrill Lynch cut out the profit for partners by allowing negotiated commission rates. Partners cashed out. Under the euphemism of public ownership, public money replaced partnership equity and Harvard Business School grads—with no skin (money) in the game took over. Fast money replaced investment and housing was the vehicle.
Obama’s men prospered. Yet when the bubble burst, they stood unscathed. Stock commissions now down 80% to 90% were replaced by product nobody understood.
The collapse was near. Neophytes sang with the voice of Enrico Caruso and nobody understood.
Bush’s preppy band had disarmed the Iraqi army. Al-Qaida created a civil war. Tommy Franks’s brilliant victory was forgotten. Vietnam was not. War was again the issue. Obama, an underdog to Hillary, found the internet. Money and organization flowed. Values nearly caught on with McCain/Palin but were drowned out by Obama money. Kalide emerged. Obama was raised a Muslim. Kalide was a pal of Farrakhan. Does anybody care?
To Republicans, Romney looked like a banker, Guiliani a cop, Huckabee a hillbilly, and John McCain a relic. The Denver Coliseum with Obama’s pillars signaled a change. McCain found Palin.
Not political, she epitomized Middle America. Her assets: honesty, patriotism, the resurgence of the soccer mom, and her loyalty to John McCain. Then came the credit crisis. Obama would raise taxes and McCain would cut them off. Seventy years ago, my grandfather predicted that the only way out of a credit crisis was a capital levy. Everyone gives 25% to 50% of what they own to the government. The credit crunch called for a ‘bail out’—private money to repay the government debt. Joe-the-plumber saw what was happening. McCain/Palin got a new breath.
Are we at the point where the ‘have nots’ eat the ‘haves’? Anyone owning assets must run to McCain. Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Frank have announced they want your money. Even the 40% non-taxpaying voter realizes that his Social Security check, Major Medical, state and local taxes, are all bearing down on him. How will he vote?
Obama’s speeches are reminiscent of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Artfully said so that no one understands him.
This black proponent of socialism, mesmerizing through his words, makes us think of Huey Long and Hitler. Remember their fate.