The American Spectator

Sarge6| 12.31.08 @ 10:40AM

2008 will be to 2012 as 1976 was to 1980? That's the best I got.

VinceP1974| 12.31.08 @ 11:41AM

My prediction for 09 is
1. The US Dollar is going to crash.
and
2. Nuclear war with Iran

Regarding the Dollar

The implications of this most people seem to not have spent any time thinking about.

To people who think this is a joke, have you considered just how angry the rest of the world is that we have completely corrupted the global money system?

We had our Trade Reps deployed all over the world pushing other nations to buy the mortgage derivatives... saying that they were as safe as cash.

Right now the world is untangling all the US-Dollar-Denominated debt and investments. That gave some strength to the Dollar this fall, but this process is almost complete.

Once everyone is done selling their now-worthless positions, they will have buckets of dollars to get rid of.

I think this has started last week.but there's no need for me to go guessing the timing.. it's going to happen and happen soon.

Meanwhile, the idiots in Washington are printing Trillions of dollars, desperately trying to keep a collapsing Star from going super-nova.

The star will explode and when it does there aint no foreign country going to be financing our consumption any more. No one will be loaning us money to maintain our trade deficit. No one will be buying our budget deficit.

Our money will be worth less than Weimer Dutchmarks.

How is our military going to be paid with money that is worth nothing? How is the Federal Govt going to have any legitimacy to the 300 Million People who are now cut off from Imports ?

And the people running the Govt are the same ones who created the Mortgage policies that led to this

Bob| 12.31.08 @ 1:09PM

What about the "suckiness" of ALL of the congressional leaders including Pelosi, Reid, Boehner, and McConnell? Get rid of all four. On the positive side, the emergence of Bobby Jindal as a prospective leader of the party.

Jeremiah| 12.31.08 @ 1:15PM

Bush's presidency began with Enron and 9/11 and ended with the collapse of the economy (and Chapter 11).

Here's a novel idea:

Next time we elect "conservatives" to the highest offices in the land, let's find out first if they detest and despise GOVERNMENT.

I understand the strategy: you announce in big speeches that government "doesn't work."

Then you get yourselves elected and do all in your power to see that government gets nothing done and if anything makes everything worse.

You ignore problems until they become crises; you appoint fools and incompetents to high positions in government agencies; you politicize EVERYTHING, including the Justice Department; you babble incoherently whenever asked a question for so long that after a while no one expects you to say anything smart or interesting or wise.

In short, you torpedo the ship of state so that after eight years of folly, deceipt, ineptitude, and failure, your friends at the American Spectator can write columns that say, "See? We told you so...Government doesn't work."

Brilliant. Wonderful. Excellent.

Enjoy your Depression. Soup lines begin here.

Tony| 12.31.08 @ 1:39PM

Bush is not even close to being a conservative and government is indeed inefficient. However, at least Bush did not ignore the GSE problems that caused the financial crisis. He should have been more agressive in trying to stop what amounted to nationalized subsidized housing. And surely everyone agrees 911 and Enron were practically hand offs from previous administrations.

VinceP| 12.31.08 @ 3:17PM

You'll note that whenever a Lefty attempts to blame Bush for the money problem they never specify what exactly it was that caused it.

It's impossible to these people seriously, especially since when they do complain they do so in a hyperbolic almost deranged manner. You would asssume that hopefully their frenzied anger would be based on a good amount of information but alas it's always some platitude and usually it's one that doesn't apply.

Cheryl| 12.31.08 @ 5:31PM

I just thank God for Sarah Palin--and I am thrilled at not hearing John McCain anymore! I voted for him, but he sickens me now...

ALice Moore| 1.1.09 @ 9:04AM

We can all hope that 2008 is 1976 to 1980 or 1992 to 1994. However, there are always differences.

Many pundits have stated that Obama is cult figure to a large part of his base. His base may be so large it can protect him from any type of electoral or popular action; like Castro, Kim Jong Il or Mugabe.

Of course 2008 could be like 1988 to 1991 was for the USSR. I have wishful fantasies of no longer being citizens with Nancy Pelosi or Holly wood denizens. There would be no Camelot Kennedy cult. Most of Virginia would graciously cede NOVA to the Northeast. There are pesky real world complications. For instance, who assumes what part of the massive debt financed by China and rich Arab families? Who gets the missiles? In a real world scenario there wouldn't be a Velvet Divorce.

vincep1974| 1.1.09 @ 9:33AM

My email signature says

"Prepare for a return to 622AD 1453AD 1929AD 1939AD and 1945AD next year.. why leave out 1948AD and 1967AD too?"

Deborah| 1.1.09 @ 11:45AM

The best thing about 2008 was the amazing turn around in Iraq. My daughter completing her Master's degree is also high up on the list of good things in 2008.

Otherwise, "sucky" is a good description of 2008. I fear for the country in ways I have never feared for it before. The slide toward socialism is the scariest thing I can think of, especially when I think of my daughter's future and her childrens' future.

The dollar implosion as Vince describes it is another of those things that are almost too frightening to think about. These are things the country will have to face head-on with the wind in our faces if we want to hand the next generation a viable, free and democratic republic (wow, what an old-fashioned word, huh?) As James Baldwin said, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." We can't afford not to face these things.