Ilargi: Yesterday's post, The Shortest President, got me a lot of flack. And that is not a surprise, nor is it unwelcome. By all means, let's talk. Part of it may have been that we have a lot of new visitors these days, who don't yet know what we do or why we choose to do it the way we do. I suggest you all read a bunch of the primers you can find in the right hand side column. And then there are many people who feel that Obama's party was a good reason to focus on something else than economic trouble, if even just for one day. I hope you understand that I don't see that as my role, and that I also think the problems are too large and too imminent to act for even one day as if they don't exist. Plus, I think that the day when everyone focused on Obama is a very good time to explain the issues I have with his approach of the economy. Finally, I have the nagging feeling that many people still don't fully grasp the depth of the downfall, both so far and ahead of us.
I didn't say Obama would be the president with the shortest term in history, only that if he doesn't act now, there's a risk he might be. And by that I don't mean to bring up the risk of physical aggression against him, I abhor it and don't think he deserves that at all. I’m talking political crisis. The fact remains, though, that he is now responsible, and that his choices and appointments for his finance team are highly dubious, and that's putting it very mildly. Tim Geithner today in his conformation hearing had nothing to say about toxic debt than that it is "very hard to value". And from what I can tell, no-one pushed him to clarify his, or Obama's position. And that is just plain dangerous territory.
Yesterday there was a small inaugural rally in the markets. The pundits on CNBC were loving it. Obama has restored confidence in the markets. Peacenik just checked the Dow and TSX. Both are down almost 200 points. The banks sold trillions of dollars worth of worthless assests. They reaped millions of dollars in profit. And it was all an illusion. A fraud. A Ponzi Scheme. The game is almost up. Illargi thinks there is no way out. Peacenik hopes Illargi is wrong, for once.
