Dispense with Bullshit

First, let's talk about socialism. If you, or anyone else, says that Obama is a socialist, or is trying to advance socialism, then you have no idea what socialism is. A committed Socialist will understand what dialectical materialism is about (to an extent), will know what Marx and Engels were referring to when they wrote about workers, the bourgeois, class struggle, the proletariat, the means of production, and continuing revolution, and think and work towards the day when the wealth of labor will be distributed equally among the laborers. More to the point, a socialist will NATIONALIZE an ENTIRE INDUSTRY; offering more service to the public for their tax dollars just doesn't qualify. Obama is NO SOCIALIST. He is a Capitalist; he's the chief executive of the biggest capitalist state in the history of mankind. None of the proposed healthcare legislation seeks to nationalize any industry- Obama is not trying to put the insurers out of business. Consequently, if you try to label Obama a Socialist then you are COMPLETELY FULL OF SHIT and IGNORANT.

Second, let's talk about economics. A lot of you guys out there (Dille! Codner!) have put forth a bunch of alarmist gobbledygook about the markets, and how the signs are all very bad. I'm sure that you are right. I'm not qualified to argue about markets, stocks, or macro- (or even micro-) economics. Quite frankly, that shit bores me to tears, and it seems to have replaced the obsession with sports statistics that used to be the sole intellectual pursuit of certain guys. But none of it will make Obama a socialist. There are many reasons to be alarmed these days, and concerns about the health of the economy are on everybodys mind- even TPM wants Geithner fired.

Finally, let's talk about Ayn Rand. Here is a sexually repressed demagogue who writes an overheated romance novel with political pretensions, that lucks into a boyfriend with an inheritance. Then some years go by, and the cult around her grows to include a few Washington pinheads who use her bullshit "philosophy" to excuse the most inhumanly evil behavior writ upon the modern scene; up to and including genocide, racial hatred and wholesale theft of public assets. This is not something anyone should be proud of; I myself hang my head shamefully, for the (not one but two!) copies of The Fondledhead on my shelf....but the real point here is that it's all DOCUMENTED and A MATTER OF FACT. To wit: Ken Lay, noted Objectivist/Randian, ripped off MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. Donald Rumsfeld, devoted Randian (are any of you in favor of Rumsfeld? Please explain why, and show your work...). Wolfowitz, Cheney, Greenspan, I could go on and on. The Whole Sick Crew, as it were.