THE DRAMA HEIGHTENS, THE TENSIONS MOUNT

by

Michael C. Ruppert
(C) Copyright 2009, Michael C. Ruppert. All Rights Reserved.

JAN. 21, 2009 -- 9 PM PST -- What a day. OK, the good news: Obama is doing as much or more than I had hoped. By his repudiation of Bush-era FOIA policies today he made it a one-two after his inaugural (well-deserved) bitch slap of Bush over the Constitution. It looks like he has his priorities straight and is acting like a commander. (His salute is pretty good, but I've seen better.) But look, I'm as hardened a cynic as they come. In thirty-two years at this crap I have seen just about every kind of "let down" imagineable. The fact is that the force majeur of global economic collapse may make these efforts symbolic only; stillborn. But otherwise I could not be more encouraged over the last 36 hours. I know, that's a small sampling to judge an entire presidency. What will count most immediately -- and what will show us the Heart of Barack Obama -- will be what he does on the economy and he is going to have to make some very UGLY decisions within two weeks at most.

I was reading a piece today by Captain Hook at Financial Sense. It said that gold was like a beach ball being held underwater. That's a perfect analogy. My only minor disagreement was with Dr. Hook's assumptions about a recovery. There isn't going to be any recovery. And, knowing that, I say that gold will rise orders of magnitude higher. It all has to do with currencies and it looks like they are all going FUBAR at once... in several different directions. Hook made the point that the massive currency instability which is rocking the planet has made it difficult and/or impossible to negotiate trade contracts or even to ship commodities. That's just the tip of the iceberg. The British pound is plummeting and even approching parity with the dollar. British banks are -- according to some -- insolvent. Russia has devalued the Rouble five times in six weeks. A credible report says that hyperinflation is about to ravage China. The Gulf Cooperation Council has just approved the establishment of a single currency by 2010. The dollar is becoming a sea anchor to some of the biggest currencies and economies in the world and EVERYBODY has their
parachutes on; they're hooked up, and they're standing in the door. When no currencies are trustworthy there is nothing else to trust to keep ANYTHING going... EXCEPT GOLD. I think we see the behemoth holding the beach ball down losing its grasp. But the behemoth knows that the beach ball will pop out. Shoot, everybody knows that after age 4 or 5. The behemoth is trying to control the when and... of course to profit from it. Hence the massive hoarding of gold. I know
there's a lot of talk about Ameros and all these "newfangled" currencies. I don't care if there's a new currency called a "Bullwinkle" (I love Bullwinkle); without energy whatever you call it is just useless fiat paper. Currencies are becoming like the Tower of Babel.

In the meantime the second-largest Tar Sands developer in Canada, Suncor, has just announced it is cutting back Tar Sands costs by 50%. Even the OLD energy infrastructure necessary to fuel a recovery won't be there to enable it, let alone any alternative energy options. They're all shutting down too.

Energy and Money; Siamese Twins.

At this moment, all we can do is pray and exert our influence as much as possible to make people listen. We know that we have the right map here. Time has vetted it again and again. What we must make sure that those deciding our immediate future are reading this map too. Our lives are all at stake, here and now; and it is the last half of the ninth, two outs, and we're behind by three with one man on base. This is not over yet, not by any stretch so I'll resort to a cliched -- but very appropriate -- quote from Winston Chruchill. As far as collapse goes, "It may not be the beginning of the end; but it is the end of the beginning"... of the collapse.

REQUEST TO REGULARS -- Hey guys, I am going to be getting seriously busy... seriously soon. It's all very good stuff that will really help all of us get through some damn doors. There's no big red "S" painted on my chest anymore and you guys are super sharp. I need to ask you to follow closely and stark tracking anything you see out of Prez. Obama's first executive orders and report back what you find in the comments. Why should I use my fingers and toes when we -- combined -- are a super computer. Those EOs will be the best predictor we'll have this early.

The worse this gets, the more I read Henry Miller.

--
MCR
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VARIATIONS ON A THEME

by

Jenna Orkin


Not a moment too soon, the new occupant of the White House has thrown open a few windows.

It has been breathtaking, the swift, sure dismantling of Executive Orders whose only purpose was to serve not the people of the country but the people who had issued the Executive Orders in the first place.

The secrecy that for eight years, in the interest of 'national security,' has been invoked across the board - even to the EPA, where Policy Analyst Hugh Kaufman, railed, "We're the country's janitors, for God's sake!" - is going into reverse.

Guantanamo is being closed and the United States is forgoing policies of torture or rather, since we never officially espoused them in the first place, 'enhanced interrogation.'

Scientists are sighing with relief that once again their disciplines will be considered objectively rather than twisted to serve industry's needs.

And an insidious practise of inbreeding between lobbyists and government employees just got harder. The one-hand-washing-the other, inbred military-industrial complex (originally referred to by Eisenhower as 'the congressional, military industrial complex' before some antsy speechwriter intervened) is not going to have such a smooth ride.

No question: This guy's showing what he's made of. He's got good intentions.

Ah, but the road to Hell....

Will this inspiring start turn out to be no more than a wistful salute to idealism before reality returns from its heady few days or weeks of euphoria?

So far, Obama's got the wind at his back, universal approval for his reforms.

That won't be the case when it comes to the economy. The inevitable correction that must follow the parade we've witnessed of ever larger bubbles is not going to be popular. The biggest bubble, in Treasuries, is going to make the biggest pop. Were Obama to tell the truth, much less do what needs to be done which is to say, allow nature to take its course, he would be booed, Congress would vote down his initiatives and the people would vote him out of office ASAP.

Americans, being the most spoiled people in the history of mankind, not only want the good life back; they want it now. Man-on-the-street interviews by CNN reveal that some people expect the President to be able to turn things around in a matter of months. The more circumspect allow him a second term. But unless there's some major editing going on (as there may well be,) no one dreams that perhaps it is the President, not to mention we the people, who will be turned around.

What we have lost in the period of ease since World War II is a sense of time, investment and history. Having never known lack, we believe it's obsolete, like, oh, getting places on horseback. Why should it return, now that we have so much cool stuff like cellphones and computers?

Because what goes up must come down, especially if the 'up' part was artificial. Everything returns to equilibrium, reverts to the mean. Taking in the big picture, the balance of our consumption with the depletion of resources somewhere outside of frame and therefore consciousness, this abundant garden is turning out to be mortal. It could have nourished us forever but not without some stewardship on our part.

We are learning this, but too little too late.

And Obama, being the people's hero, is not far enough ahead of us. Rather than offering us what we need, he is offering us what we crave. Now that the birthday boys have gotten their supersized bailout, it's time for party favors for everyone else.

There's something goofily fitting about the stimulus package, like balancing the loss of a leg by cutting off the other one. But the tragedy of it is that it is throwing - I want to say 'good money after bad' but by now it's worse money. (I'm also tempted to call the stimulus package a kneejerk response but for the two amputated legs of the previous metaphor.)

The point is: Obama has the potential to be a great president. The question is: Will we let him?

JO


PS: Re the twaddle that I (not Mike) at times allow into the comment section of the blog. This is also in the interest of the big picture. It helps to know who your correspondents are. It can shed retrospective light on their other comments which may or may not also contain a certain amount of twaddle.