One of my liberal colleagues at Valencia emailed to fuss about my infrequent posts over the past couple of months. He almost suggested that I am lazy. Being called lazy by an Obama-supporter is like being called stupid by Donald Trump (more on him later...) so I thought I should post something today, even though I would rather sit on my couch and stare out the window.
First, is the War on Terror over now? I was just wondering because, after all, we did finally kill the economist who started all of this. No, I do not mean Milton Friedman.
As many of you know, Osama had a degree in economics and used it very, very well. Mark Zandi - one of the more reputable economists in America - has estimated that the full cost of September 11th - counting the destruction, the wars, the inflated interest payments from the accelerated debt obligations and the opportunity cost of the War on Terror - is around $2.5 trillion over the last ten years.
If someone came to Osama an hour before he was shot and said, "Was your investment of time, money and capital worth it?" he would have said, "Let's see....we spent a few hundred million dollars to bring down the Twin Towers, kill 3,000 people that day - and thousands of American troops since then; led our enemy into two wars - one of which (Iraq) largely destroyed America's credibility around the globe and cost upwards of $1 trillion; led to the signing of the Patriot Act which basically caused the American people to turn their government against their liberties; led to a massive reallocation of tax dollars away from productive economic pursuits (like not taxing the money away to begin with); helped cause massive debt which will be repaid with even higher taxes in the future; caused incredible delays in airports while watching people who barely graduated from high school grope 103 year old - and 3 year old - potential terrorists; all while helping to recruit more people into this Jihad than we had on September 10, 2001. "Yes, as an economist, I would say our resources were allocated in an efficient manner."
Oh, for you Republicans out there who would say, "But we have not been attacked since!" I would argue this: Why would they need to attack us again? One attack did enough damage to last two decades or more. In one area alone - America's perception of the tradeoff between liberty and security - the damage was enough to lead many people to conclude that Osama won.
Now to Donald Trump. As of a few weeks ago he was leading potential Republican candidates for President with 16% support. I have always wondered if post-Reagan Republicans were stupid. Now, I am sure of it. Add it up folks.... DONALD TRUMP + SARAH PALIN + MITT (I believe in national health care too) ROMNEY + NEWT ( I believe in government subsidized ethanol and don't like Paul Ryan) GINGRICH = Barack Obama needing to spend around $3.17 to win in 2012. For you Republicans who keep harping on where President Obama was born, I am sorry that Mr. Trump has left the building. Can I, as a Libertarian, ask you people a question? Do you know how dumb you are? I mean, do you really care if he was born in Hawaii, Indonesia or on Mars? Do you think he is going to resign after admitting he was born in some remote village in Kenya? Wouldn't it make more sense to find a candidate who actually focused on something like, you know, our bankrupt country as their key issue rather than some idiotic 'Birther' question?
I MIGHT EVEN VOTE FOR OBAMA IF THIS IS THE BEST YOUR PARTY CAN DO!
Not really - I will vote for Ron Paul again. After all, I keep sending him money that he refuses to use to run an effective campaign with, so I might as well vote for him to at least feel like I am getting a little return on my investment - all while waiting for the Paul Ryan/Marco Rubio ticket in 2016.
Until 2016 I think I will go back to what I wanted to do this morning in the first place - stare out of my window and wonder why people believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, when one study of our collective brains would prove that Americans are devolving as a species. If I were a monkey I would be insulted to be compared to American humans with voter registration cards.
