It didn't take long for Iran to brush aside President Obama's
holiday video.
In his video message to Iran, complete with Farsi subtitles and
timed to coincide with the celebration of the Persian New Year,
Obama praised the "true greatness of the Iranian people and
civilization" and said that the United States wanted to engage
Iran and reverse decades of animosity.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the
overture the next morning. "They chant the slogan of change but
no change is seen in practice," said Khamenei, sounding not
unlike some of Obama's disillusioned supporters in the United
States.
"We haven't seen any change," replied Khamenei. "If you are right
that change has come, where is that change? What is the sign of
that change? Make it clear for us what has changed."
Bush-basher Michael Moore might well say the same words. What's
changed since the days of Bush and Cheney when it was charged
that too big a piece of the pie was being grabbed by those who
already have too much?
Obama told Joe the plumber that he wanted to "spread the wealth
around." True to his word, Obama has done the spreading in record
time and in unprecedented amounts. The only problem for guys like
Moore is that the trillions have been flowing for the past two
months in exactly the opposite direction of the "change" that
Obama promised in his big stadium speeches during the campaign.
No one chanting "Yes we can" was pushing for a change that would
stick America's middle class taxpayers with additional trillions
of new debt in order to fill up the coffers of some of the
biggest and richest swindlers on Wall Street.
Where's the change, in short, between Bush's TARP-1 and Obama's
TARP-2?
Khamenei, similarly, pointed to the lack of change in responding
to Obama's video: "Have you released Iranian assets? Have you
lifted oppressive sanctions? Have you given up mudslinging and
making accusations against the great Iranian nation and its
officials? Have you given up your unconditional support for the
Zionist regime? Even the language remains unchanged."
Obama kicked off his video overture to Iran's leadership by
praising "the great and celebrated culture" of Iran, a culture
that "made the world a better and more beautiful place." As
Khamenei delivered his reply to Obama, the crowd around him in
the better and beautiful place chanted "Death to America."
Khamenei could have additionally asked where the change was in
Obama's decision to send an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to
Afghanistan by May, increasing the number of American troops in
Afghanistan to 55,000, while keeping 50,000 American troops in
Iraq. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cindy Sheehan jumping the
White House fence and pulling the arugula out of Michelle's new
vegetable garden.
Regarding Obama's budget proposal and his big-government schemes
to boost the U.S. economy, the president of the European Union,
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, warned last week that
Obama's strategy of spending his way out of recession is a "road
to hell."
Obama's banking bailouts, massive stimulus packages and proposed
deficit increases, cautioned Topolanek, will weaken and
destabilize the entire financial system of the world economy.
"Americans will need liquidity to finance all their measures and
they will balance this with the sale of their bonds but this will
undermine the liquidity of the global financial market," warned
Topolanek.
Two days earlier, Zhou Xiaochuan, the head of China's central
bank, called for the creation of a new international currency
reserve to replace the U.S. dollar. China, currently holding over
$1 trillion in U.S. Treasuries and other dollar-dominated bonds,
is concerned about the real, adjusted for inflation, value of
those assets.
"On March 13, China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, said he was
concerned about the safety of those assets, particularly because
huge economic stimulus plans could lead to soaring deficits in
the United States, which could sink the dollar's value," reported
The New York Times.
You know things are dangerously off track when even the commies
in China are worried that Obama is pushing for too much
government, too much spending and too much borrowing.
With China providing the warning, Sen.... Judd Gregg, who
withdrew as Obama's nominee to head the Commerce Department,
stated that Obama's proposed 10-year spending plan and soaring
deficits would bankrupt the nation: "People will not buy our
debt, our dollar will become devalued."
