Happy New Year I Think

Well, it has arrived without incident: the new year. It's amazing how optimistic some people are at the start of this year, as if tearing a sheet of the calendar is going to make any difference. But maybe this time will be different. There are signs.

First of all the beginning of the withdrawal of our forces from Iraq is underway. This news didn't appear on WHATREALLYHAPPENED.com and I think that's too bad. What really happened is that the United States turned the Green Zone over to the Iraqi government. It's our way of claiming victory when we have truly been defeated. Of course Baghdad is far from secured, violence still runs rampant, and the fact that our casualties were lees in 2008 is largely due to the fact that our troops didn't venture out from their fortified positions very often. The bill for this fiasco will end up costing the US taxpayers THREE TRILLION dollars.

Then there is the fact that in eleven more days we will inaugurate a new president who doesn't seem to be the shining star that many suppose. After all, he was shoved down our throats by the corporate controlled media. It was either him or that nut case John McCain and the beautiful Sarah Palin. Personally, I like Sarah and think she might have been a great president. Seriously. I mean in political terms as we have come to witness them: it's not that Sarah would have to be particularly adept at running the government, she just wouldn't have been as bad as the last guy. Better is often defined in politicalspeak as "not as bad." But Sarah would have made some difference. Most of the world leaders are men. Put a bunch of men together and they will usually act like a bunch of rectal orifices; squabbling, bragging, cussing, and threatening. But when a woman shows up and the difference is astounding. These jerks turn on the charm, watch their language, and act almost human. Imagine the scene at a summit meeting. There's president Palin looking chic, hair done just so, and smelling good. When it's her turn to speak she turns on the charm, flashes that beautiful smile: "Guys, do you think you could help us get some more oil?" Who could say No to those gorgeous eyes? And photo ops? Sarah could get everybody interested in politics once more. "Gosh, fellas, we have to raise taxes again." Guy is bars all over the country watching her on television: "Anything for you, baby!" And how's this for a foreign policy coup? The Sarah Palin calendar sent out every year to all the world leaders.

The Bushes are moving to Dallas of all places; this should cause a huge spike in shoe sales. Dallas is a nice city, too nice for the likes of George W; besides, we have the Cowboys, that's bad enough. A couple of weeks ago circumstances got out of hand where I work. I had too much territory to cover, not enough time, and more problems arose to make matters even worse. In explaining the fiasco while offering suggestions to avoid future instances, I described the experience as a "Cowboys game." Everyone understood my meaning.

The economy is still in the toilet and the bigwigs on Wall Street and Washington are praying that the Chinese don't flush it. But down here on the street things look pretty good. Things are getting cheaper as businesses try to stay afloat by slashing prices. Retail concerns who actually go under sell their inventories to liquidators for pennies on the dollar; so, if you are not in a lot of debt, have an income and savings you should do alright. Like Dave Ramsey says, "Money's fun when y'got some!" It's going to be a lot of fun.

Obama will take residence in the White House and will quickly have to come to terms with the idea that he is the president of the United States, not Israel. The boys on the hill and he will have to stop kissing Knesset ass, especially after the pogrom that's still going on in Gaza - and which has attracted condemnation worldwide. The old saying about absolute power corrupting is playing out now. Israel wants to attack Iran - or they want us to attack the place for them - go ahead! Try it! Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons but their friends in Moscow and Beijing have plenty of them. But even on its own, Iran has a powerful military and it's getting better every day. Who is fool enough to believe that the Arabs are just sitting idly by? Under the Bush regime we were all living in a fantasy world; time to wake up and face reality. Next, watch Saudi Arabia turn on us because of our support of Israel. Dangerous times ahead.

Finally, one professor of political science has predicted that the United States government will collapse, and that the continuous 48 states will be divided into four nations. Hmmmm.

Happy New Year!