re: 9-11 Was Bush's Fault

Agreed.

re: Bad Markets Are Bush's Fault

Agreed.

re: The market does't reflect today' realities, it discounts future probabilities

Which, thanks to Bush's endless wars that have sucked up trillions of dollars, coupled with his profligate deficit spending that has sucked up trillions of dollars, are pretty bleak indeed.

You don't seriously expect anyone to believe that the market is ignoring the present reality, which was created by eight long years of Bush economic policies, do you?

Of course, you knuckleheads would like to try to blame Obama -- even before he takes office(!) -- for your hero's mess. But the majority has spoken, and you've been voted off the island.

Have a nice swim.

re: Now we are faced with a government run by self described liberals and progressives

Not until January 20th. Until then, as much as you would like to, you can't blame Obama.

re: "Liberal" comes from the Latin word for "free."

In the real world, however, it has come to mean many different things to many different people, in large part because of the fact that individual political leaders who have proclaimed themselves to be "liberal" or "conservative" have diminished the brands, so to speak.

Bush calls himself a "conservative", for example, yet he pursued blatant wars of aggression, ran up trillions of $ in debt and increased "big guv'ment" in size and scope more than any previous President. Hardly conservative positions by any definition of which I am aware.

Conversely, LBJ lied us into the nightmare of Vietnam and indiscriminately murdered millions in the process, which is hardly something I would associate with the term "liberal".

This is why I simply refuse to be labeled as anything other than an American.

I love The Constitution. I respect others' right to dissent, no matter what the issue. I believe in a free and open society, with equal opportunity, liberty and justice for all. I hate political correctness. I have no problem whatsoever with law-abiding Americans owning firearms, or with people smoking in public places. I believe that we have a moral obligation that is also a Constitutional one to "promote the general welfare". I believe in as much personal freedom as possible, limited only by those actions that may endanger the peace and freedom of others. I believe that America should practice what it preaches...

Sorry. I didn't mean to get carried away. It's just that labels are far too confining and confusing. Am I a "liberal"? Or a "libertarian"? Or even a "conservative"? Depending upon the issue, some may even categorize me as a "socialist".

I'm just an American.

re: there's much more at stake here than the two or three million jobs the MSM is reporting

A whole lot more.

Sun sets on US power: report predicts end of dominance

• US intelligence: 'We can no longer call shots alone'

• European Union will be 'hobbled giant' by 2025

• Triumph of western democracy not certain

The United States' leading intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an increasingly unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of western-style democracy is no longer assured, and some states are in danger of being "taken over and run by criminal networks".

The global trends review, produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) every four years, represents sobering reading in Barack Obama's intray as he prepares to take office in January. The country he inherits, the report warns, will no longer be able to "call the shots" alone, as its power over an increasingly multipolar world begins to wane.

Looking ahead to 2025, the NIC (which coordinates analysis from all the US intelligence agencies), foresees a fragmented world, where conflict over scarce resources is on the rise, poorly contained by "ramshackle" international institutions, while nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East, and even nuclear conflict grow more likely.

"Global Trends 2025: A World Transformed" warns that the spread of western democratic capitalism cannot be taken for granted, as it was by George Bush and America's neoconservatives.

"No single outcome seems preordained: the Western model of economic liberalism, democracy and secularism, for example, which many assumed to be inevitable, may lose its lustre – at least in the medium term," the report warns.

It adds: "Today wealth is moving not just from West to East but is concentrating more under state control," giving the examples of China and Russia.

"In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the state's role in the economy may be gaining more appeal throughout the world."(MORE)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/20/barack-obama-president-intelligence-agency

re: The oil slump, however, exacerbates Russia's already severe economic problems

This is precisely why I made this comment:

http://tinyurl.com/64zj3p

Of a ghost town.

How much can go wrong in the two months before Mr. Obama takes the oath of office? The answer, unfortunately, is: a lot. Consider how much darker the economic picture has grown since the failure of Lehman Brothers, which took place just over two months ago. And the pace of deterioration seems to be accelerating.

Most obviously, we’re in the midst of the worst stock market crash since the Great Depression: the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has now fallen more than 50 percent from its peak. Other indicators are arguably even more disturbing: unemployment claims are surging, manufacturing production is plunging, interest rates on corporate bonds — which reflect investor fears of default — are soaring, which will almost surely lead to a sharp fall in business spending. The prospects for the economy look much grimmer now than they did as little as a week or two ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/opinion/21krugman.html