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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Him





He came out of nowhere but you still voted for him because you wanted change. Between you and me, at first you could hardly spell his full name.
Somehow he managed to win the elections and become President. He did appeal to the masses. He talked a lot even without saying anything meaningful. He had made lots of promises, but didn’t deliver any of them. 

When he became president, instead of doing anything to improve the situation of the people, he did everything to improve his own position so that he could stay in power. He was supposed to stand for the little guy, but the big corporations he preached against were the ones he benefited instead. Kids would chant his name in schools like some mantra. Supporters would say his name again and again like brain dead zombies. No one understood what he was really all about, he never said it in the first place, but charisma, millions in campaign marketing would do the trick.

The man who was supposed to bring change and for once take the side of the working class ended up repeating socialist blabber on one side, and handing tax payers money to mega corporations on the other. He made sure to milk the middle class as much as possible so as to redistribute it fairly. To him, that would mean giving the biggest chunk of the pie to corporations and then throwing scraps through welfare programs that benefitted him politically, forcing the will of the people with handouts.
Whenever he could he would strike against individual liberties. Any form of criticism was no longer considered a natural consequence of debate and observations, but an unpatriotic act that shouldn’t be accepted.
Soon enough, you noticed that less and less people criticized him. Even celebrities didn’t dare speak against him, some afraid of being shunned by their peers, who would never accept someone “from the other side”, others were simply in his payroll in one way or another. 

When the time came to vote again, people just didn’t learn the lesson. Some couldn’t live without uncle sugar´s money, he made sure of that during his first term. It didn’t matter that the opposition had been demonized, that he had created a new kind of politics, of hatred and revenge.

I was as if no one noticed that he had turned a once proud nation into a shadow of its former, glorious self.  He simply was unworthy of the Presidency he held. Seems people wanted more of that, and went out and chose that again through their vote.
The damage done will take decades to undo. In the end, we got the country we deserved.
His name was Nestor Kirchner and he destroyed my country.

FerFAL

38 comments:

Don Williams said...

1) I've tried reading about past Argentine political history because I was curious about the causes behind its collapse --but trying to sort out the complex betrayals makes my head hurt.

2) I think that it is hilarious that past Argentine President Fernando de la Rua received an honour named the "Order of the White Double Cross (1st Class)" from Slovakia.

Anonymous said...

Say an extra prayer for us Americans. I'm watching the coverage right now and I feel this will be a hard story for me to retell to my family someday.

Totalinvestor said...


Ferfal, this is your best post ever.

Anonymous said...

It wasn't until the end of your post that I realized that you were not referring to Obama! Nestor sounds a lot like Obama!!

Anonymous said...

Are you implying that Hillary is next?

A sad day for the US.

Jose

Anonymous said...

This has just happened in USA - a Marxist has been elected for a second time in a row.

Greek Caste System said...

No. His name was Andreas Papandreou. Hopefully, most Greeks now are very angry at him, but they are reluctant to get rid of the crony system he created or to live without the subsidies (from borrowed money) he gave to people to vote for him.

Kuba said...

Well put.

You could change the name not only into the today most obvious one, and then 'president' for 'prime minister' depending on the political system, and see that this text is universally applicable for most decaying countries of the so called western world.

And it won't get better, gradual decline is one of the core characteristics of a democracy.

Anonymous said...

Fernando,

I agree...one of your best, most insightful posts ever, proving once again that those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it.

May God bless you and your family.

J stuart said...

Thanks Ferfal. Unfortunately, we have nowhere to go from here.

Maldek said...

For the wise reader.

It is no coincidence that the same situation brings the same type of "mesias" to the masses.

The masses are stupid sheep and they want exactly what they get.

"In Fiscal Year 2011, the federal government collected $2.303 trillion in tax revenue. Interest on the debt that year totaled $454.4 billion, and mandatory spending totaled $2,025 billion. In sum, mandatory spending plus debt interest totaled $2.479 trillion... exceeding total revenue by $176.4 billion."

If you understand this and are aware that 2012 the last number is now $251.8 billion, you need not know much more.

Interest on debt + mandatory spending (Medicare, Social Security, VA benefits, etc.)
is more than the total of all taxes. Without military or TSA or whatever. Just the "mandatory" part.

This is unsustainable. Clearly. And yet ~80% of americans are against cuts in mandatory entitlements.

In a democracy it is impossible to correct this systemic flaw. The masses will always vote for more debt and more entitlements.

Happened in argentina. Happened in Greece. Happened in France. Happened in the US just last night.

It is always the same picture and the outcome is always the same. And no. YOUR country is not different.

Anonymous said...

Thank dog we didn't elect Nestor RMoney prez.

Anonymous said...

The sad thing is most people just do not see it. They close their eyes to inflation. The slow loss of freedoms. We are going to be hit with another terror attack because there is a refusal to close the borders. Mexico will implode and then there will be hell to pay. I go out to dinner and hear how the all the problems are Bush's fault after 4 years. And they believe this. Time to speed up the exit plan. Oracle

Don Williams said...

1)Obama is not a Marxist. He is not a socialist or even a liberal. He is a white Republican that can camouflage himself as a Democratic liberal and get into power in order to get wealthy men off the hook for their crimes and looting.
2) If you don't believe me, look at who has profited from the Obama Administration --and who has suffered.

Who is in prison -- and who is not.

Why do you think rich men spent $1 Billion to put Obama into power in 2008?

3) And people RIGHTFULLY blame Bush and the Republican Congresses of 1995-2006 for this Depression. Karl Rove, Fox News and the Republican leadership are fortunate that they are not swinging by their necks from the lampposts. Look at the massive job
losses that occurred on their watch
(including Jan-April 2009 ).

http://cloudfront.mediamattersaction.org/static/images/17moprivsecjobs.jpg


4) America's Wealthy just spent $6 Billion on this election. They weren't buying "Free Enterprise" or a "Free Market" -- they were buying the favors of a corrupt crony capitalism. Republicans and Democratic Congressmen merely compete over who sells the favors.

Don Williams said...

1) Conservatives saw last night that Fox News and conservative pundits were CLEARLY full of crap. Remember all those predictions of Romney victory?

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/11/how-pundits-are-explaining-their-totally-wrong-election-predictions/58796/

We are not talking minor errors here.

2) You should be asking whether they might be misinforming you on other things as well--and WHY. Because you can't win political battles if your political equivalent of a nervous system/brain has mad cow's disease.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/how-conservative-media-lost-to-the-msm-and-failed-the-rank-and-file/264855/?google_editors_picks=true

Anonymous said...

Hey All. Senor Fiesta here.

Good post Fernando. Sorry it happened to your country. However, I don't see the same happening in the US. Are we at a precipice? Yes. Are hard decisions ahead? Yes.

However, we must remember that this coming year, tax revenue will increase greatly ($1 trillion over the next decade is the popular number) as the tax cuts expire (commonly called "Bush Tax Cuts" but are really the same that Reagan did). In response to Obama winning and the anticipation of the expiration of the cuts, you will see a very noticable dip in the stock market as people take their gains out and get taxed this year at 15% rather than the 30% they will be taxed next year and beyond. It will be a blip and not a double dip. The money will be re-invested but the market will most definitely take a hit for the selloff.

As jobs are slowly added to the economy the number of people on assistance will decline (slowly as well). The majority of people on assistance don't want to be on assistance. Americans love their cars, big screen LCD's, smart phones and other conveniences too much to not want something better.

America has some more work to do. But I believe in the American people. They will not allow the government to go too far. Obama is not this great socialist he is made out to be. He came into power with a massive unemployment downward spiral. The economy was losing 500,000 jobs per month. I'm not blaming the previous president. It was what it was. There were a lot of first time filers. People were actively looking for work but there was none to be had. They had all paid into something we have here which is Unemployment Insurance. The downturn continued even after the time limits had expired on that assistance for most people. The decision was made to extend the benefits. When Romney made the 47% remark he pissed off a lot of people in his own party because they were among that 47%.

We are at a VERY DANGEROUS time to be sure but I feel confident that we will emerge from the other side without turning into an Argentina or a Greece. Is it possible we go that route? Absolutely. But no party holds enough power to make it happen and Obama cares to much about his legacy.

Cont. next post

Anonymous said...

Cont. from prior post

In truth, Obama entered the office with the right idea (for the most part); ween America off fossil fuels and work towards renewables, thereby making us more self-sufficient, and to re-invest in our infrastructure (who could possibly be against that). I'm not that big of a fan of wealth redistribution but I also do not think that a 35% tax on income over $250,000 is completely unreasonable. As long as the tax dollars go towards his first two goals and use the government spending to spur demand for labor and products (like Reagan did with the massive cold war spending) and to pay down the deficit, we should emerge OK; but NEVER again will we, or should we, see growth at more than 7% per annum. America (it's people AND financial systems) have overextended themselves with cheap money (debt). It has been and will continue to be to be a slow crawl out. Once we do, we MUST be happy with 3-5% growth per year. Anything else just isn't sustainable over the long term and brings about periods of re-adjustment.

What the Republicans need to do (and seem to be planning to) are 2 things: 1.) stop wasting time and effort to repeal Obamacare (they'll never be able to and 4 years is a long time to waste trying) and work towards fixing it so it's easier on business. 2.) Be willing to negotiate on EVERYTHING and make concessions as long as concessions are given. Standing firm is fine and dandy in principal but it's also the enemy of change. AND, they must be vocal with the concessions they are making so the American people see that they are trying which will put pressure on the Dems to counter with their own concessions thereby striking deals that are better for all.

A big part of the problem is someone comes up with a plan then the opposing party needs to respond with their own plan. Now they each have ownership of their own plans and neither will approve the others' plan as they can say, "that was my plan." That needs to STOP. "Counter" plans are not required. Just work towards tweaking the one presented so it goes from "his plan" to "our plan." Because in the end, we are all Americans. Being an American means that you don't always get your way. Work to please the most not the loudest.

If we can sustain that path, America is going to OK. I see much doom and gloom on many prepper sites. But one thing holds true for anything: If you don't believe it, you'll never achieve it. If our country fails, it won't be Obama's fault. It won't be G.W. Bush's fault. It will be OUR fault. Work to improve your situation locally and it will spread. For those who believe, God bless you all. For those who don't (such as myself), positive thoughts. So let's take a cue from our grandparents and work together towards a common goal. Making America the greatest place to live and the envy of the rest of the world.

I do see the parallels you are trying to establish, but it is my opinion that it is a bit of stretch to say that is where we are headed. I do however applaud you for continuing to be the watchdog and warning that if we don't do better, that's where we will ultimately be.

Anonymous said...

Senor Fiesta here.

I'd like to give an award to Don Williams. Great post.

A free thinker for sure. Not that I agree with everything he says but his blinders aren't on.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe how delusional some of the comments are even here. I think some people are still going to belike this forever. As they are being shoved into the oven they will be saying, 'This is just so we'll be warmer. They're helping us. It's cold outside. I believe in the future.'

Not a Moocher said...

Thank you for the very insightful post.

An intelligent man learns form his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. We Americans are clearly neither intelligent nor wise.

Obama is evil, plain and simple. Anyone who voted for him is at best stupid.

Don Williams said...

1) Re Anon at 4:55pm, the Americans who have actually died in large numbers recently have been our soldiers in Iraq. Did George Bush and Dick Cheney ever find those nukes of Saddam Hussein's?

2) And that was no fluke -- in the recent campaign , Newt Gingrich was
practically auctioning the lives of another 10,000 American soldiers off to invade Iran in exchange for several $Million from Israeli Lobby billionaire
Sheldon Adelson:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/sheldon-adelson-newt-gingrich-israel_n_1195867.html

3) When Newt crashed, Romney took over giving oral sex to Adelson --
openly criticizing the President of the United States for not showing sufficient deference to Bibi Netanyahu.

That would be the same Bibi who also helped lie us into that disasterous $3 Trilllion Iraq war in 2002:

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/diplomania/iraq-2002-iran-2012-compare-and-contrast-netanyahu-s-speeches-1.468213

Did Bibi and Mossad ever find those nukes of Saddam's?

(Haaretz, by the way, is the Israeli newspaper.)

4) Evidently stabbing the American military in the back is okay if you wave the flag, sing "God Bless America" and wear the right
lapel pins.

5) And if you want to see why Democratic Senators like Hillary Clinton went along with the bloodly 2002 scam, check out Wikipedia's article on Israeli
billionaire Haim Saban -- who , at $15 million, was by far the Democratic Party's biggest donor in 2000-2002.

6) Ask Ferfal how the Argentine junta's invasion of the Falklands worked out.

Anonymous said...

The true hilarity in these posts is that some people believe the choice we make for president can alter the laws of thermodynamics... This country is in the position Great Britain found herself in circa the 19teens... the sun WILL set on American empire.

Anonymous said...

Don Williams said..."Did George Bush and Dick Cheney ever find those nukes of Saddam Hussein's?"

No nukes were ever found, however Sadaams nuclear scientist was. Dr. Mahdi Obeidi wrote a book called "The Bomb In My Garden" that explained the terror that he lived through in attempting to develop the bomb for Sadaam. His family was kidnapped and only released as Dr. Obeidi met certain checkpoints in the development program.

He also told of how the Iraqi scientists were getting around UN inspections and the lengths they went to in order to avoid detection. They even went so far as to demolish buildings, haul out dirt, and then rebuild to the exact specifications in order to hide traces of radioactivity.

The Bomb in my garden part came because Sadaam, thinking that he would survive the invasion had Dr. Obeidi in charge of concealing equipment, prototypes, blueprints, documents, etc. Dr. Obeidi simply buried what he could in his garden where it stayed until he gave himself up to the Americans.

I found the book credible, as does the CIA, and it shows that Sadaam did not have nukes.... yet.


http://www.amazon.com/Bomb-My-Garden-Secrets-Mastermind/dp/0471741272

Anonymous said...

Don Williams is a perfect example of a "useful idiot." He has been so completely brainwashed by a liberal media that walks lock-step with the administration that he thinks people here will swallow all the misinformation he has fallen for. Don is the reason America, like all other democracies fail.

And as far as Senor Fiesta is concerned. I would ask everyone to remember his post and how incredibly wrong he was just 4 years from now. Of course he'll just write more drivel, pretending everything he had previously written never existed.

Anonymous said...

Senor Fiesta here.

I love the posts about the "ignorants". If you just sit and complain, have no hope (it's a real word not an Obama slogan) and keep naysaying, eventually everything you say will come true because you did nothing to stop it. Don't like it, change it. If your party can't get elected work to reform your party so it can. Take, the religious right out of the republican party and they win every time. Look at CA, prior to the 1992 election it voted Republican 6 straight elections!!! What changed in 1992? The elder Bush allowed Pat Buchannan to conservatize the party with his famous speech of the war on the progressives. Since then CA has voted Demo every time (even though they had a Republican Governor very recently). And if you say you don't vote because it doesn't mean anything, then you get what you deserve.

Look at the Blue states; they are the most progressive and educated, new technologies and most innovations come from them. They are also revenue positve states, meaning they pay more into the national coffers (more that 70% of national tax receipts) than they get out. Look at the Red states, less college educated, more poverty, and are revenue negative (they take more than they put in). However they all need each other. The only state that could truly survive as a stand alone country from the perspective of being able to provide for itself and maintain it's infra-structure is CA. Sure, it's got budget problems like most other states but if all the national tax revenue from CA went to it's own coffers, there would be no budget problem.

Stop sticking your head in your bunkers being happy that you have two years worth of ammo, dried milk and dried eggs. As Fernando even says, the government will continue on and you'll be forced to deal with it.

Don Williams said...

Re Anon at 5:48 am:

1) What is interesting in the US News Media is often what it leaves out --not what it puts in.

2) Just as the US News Media has refused to discuss WHY the Sept 11 attack occurred, it also refused to note Saddam Hussein's AGE in the runup to the invasion. Which was 66 years.

2) Conveniently so-- that saved the US media the need of having to make up a story about how Saddam was going to bide his time for 10 years, then chow down a bottle of Viagra at age 76 and leap on a white stallion to lead jihad.

3) And his sons? They were more likely to shoot each other arguing over got to walk through a doorway first than to have been serious leaders.

4) Not that Iraq had a chance in hell of making any progress with her devastated economy and hostile surveillance. Go to Oak Ridge or Hanford, Washington and see if you can hide that in your garden. Including the power grid to run it.

Don Williams said...

Re Anon at 5:48am

1) Another interesting anomaly is that people who work on US intelligence programs have to take polygraphs.

So Why did the CIA not polygraph Source Curveball -- whose information was used by CIA Director Tenet to justify the invasion of Iraq?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/17/curveball-doubts-cia-german-foreign?intcmp=239

2) And re Obeidi's blueprints/parts, experts agreed that it was a LONG distance/huge cost/many years of work between that and an actual nuke.
Even if sanctions were ever relaxed. Saddam would have died long before then.

It is like saying a homeless man can get a date with Scarlett Johansson if he acquires a $100 Million fortune -- and that with 25 cents in his pocket he is well on his way.

Steve Janoski said...

I am sorry my dear friend, this is absolutely nothing like Obama. America is recovering, and things are getting better. The pieces about him crushing dissent are FAR, FAR more like the Bush years than the Obama years.

I love this blog, but the politics are simply all wrong.

Steve Janoski

Anonymous said...

Senor Fiesta here.

Anon 9:25. I would ask that people just don't remember my post but act on it. Pressure your elected officials to live it.

If all you want to do is just remember it, watch and do nothing, that's your choice. It's your American right. Just remember that makes you part of the problem, not the solution. This site tells you to prepare for it and gives clues on how to avoid it, not prepare and wait for it to happen.

Don Williams said...

1) I am certainly not infallible --but the difference between dealing with reality and being a brainwashed sheep is actually looking at reality. I don't make up cartoons and myths and claim that they represent the world -- I give references and citations for what I say.

I don't make up imaginary threats or uncritically accept the stories of Fox News' sex perverts, drug addicts and recovering alcoholics -- I worry about the all too real threats facing America.

2) Years ago I belonged to the NRA -- and I still believe in the Second Amendment. But while Wayne LaPierre ranted about the "jackbooted federal thugs" of Bill Clinton, what did the NRA do when Dick Cheney and George Bush wiped their behind on the Bill of Rights?

Not a goddamm thing.

Right of Americans to not be imprisoned without trial? Gone. Right to a public trial of peers and the right to confront your accusers? Gone.

Right to not have the Government search your home and read your communications without a warrent based on review by a judge? Gone. Ban on cruel and unusual punishment? Gone.

3) What did the NRA do when Bush created the Gestapo --aka the Department of Homeland Security? NOTHING.

When Bush created Northcom --to conduct military operations within the continental USA? Nothing.

4) The NRA is good at getting liquored up on Saturday night and shooting off its mouth about what it would do with its guns -- but come Monday morning they go back to kissing the butts of their rich boss and being bitches. Pathetic.

5) Having guns is a minor part of a successful insurgency -- and when it came to resisting gradual government enslavement the NRA has been missing in action. Those potbellied poseurs are too light to fight -- and too heavy to run.

6) To his credit, former NRA director Bob Barr did try to stand up to Dick Cheney --but he was on his own. Because Dick Cheney's rich masters know how they have screwed this country and are far more worried about the American People than they are about a few goatherds from the far side of the world.

7) By the way , I didn't vote for Barack Obama yesterday. I was considering voting for Romney until he turned into Sheldon Adelson's bitch. I voted for Rocky Anderson -- who called for George W Bush's impeachment and who left the Democrats last year to start the Justice Party.

As Rocky noted in his farewell letter to the Democratic leadership,

“The Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Party."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson

DougFromOz said...

Ferfal, one of the best things about your own writing is it's refreshingly free from such raving conspiracy tinfoil-hattery of both Left and Right as shown in the comments section.

1389 said...

Vote fraud played a large part in the outcome in the US.

dude said...

Don Williams: "Go to Oak Ridge or Hanford, Washington and see if you can hide that in your garden. Including the power grid to run it."

I have. Believe me when I say this, there is a lot that can be easily concealed. The things that were buried were not whole pieces, but key parts.

Sadaam definitely had an interest in getting the bomb.

Dan said...

@Steve Janoski:

FerFAL never said it was about Obama, he said it was about Kirchner.

YOU made the connection to Obama. Congratulations, you just killed your own argument.

Dan

Don Williams said...

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/11/frum-republicans-lied-to-by-conservative-entertainment-149120.html?hp=r12

"Republicans have been fleeced and exploited and lied to by a
conservative entertainment complex."

"Mitt Romney could have been a very good President ...the very people who tied cement shoes to him are now blaming him for sinking."

"Conservatives have been lied to by people who engage in a niche marketing strategy...those people have made tens of millions of dollars .. that's not an election
strategy, that's a business strategy"

Don Williams said...

""The billionaire donors I hear are livid," one Republican operative told The Huffington Post. "There is some holy hell to pay. Karl Rove has a lot of explaining to do … I don't know how you tell your donors that we spent $390 million and got nothing."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/republican-reckoning-defeat_n_2090510.html

Anonymous said...

I thought you were describing Obama until I got to the last sentence. The resemblance is uncanny.

Don Williams said...

1) Re Raymond Chow at 12:08pm, I would think that what you would find uncanny is that Obama could have 4 years of 8%+ unemployment and $5 Trillion in debt -- and yet could still beat the Republicans like a rented mule.

2) And let's not forget that Romney convincingly won the Republican primary -- that he was the best of the best. None of the "real" conservatives could stand up for more than a few weeks without Republican voters themselves cracking up laughing.

3) The Democratic Party itself could not have done a better job of sabotage than the Tea Party--which threw long time incumbent Republican Senators out in the primaries --just so they could put up self-destructing candidates like Todd Akin and Mourdock to lose to Democratic candidates.

4) And the Democratic Party could never have ripped off Republican donors for $400 million and pissed it away.

I myself wonder if Karl Rove was a secret Obama mole -- tasked with getting the economy moving by a covert Keynesian economic stimulus spending program.


Obama couldn't get the billionaires to pull the money out from under the mattresses and spend it -- so he had Karl appeal to their egos.

Keynes notably said that the multiplier effect magnifies the effects of government spending -- that if you dump $400 Million into the economy, the economy grows by $1.6 to $2 billion because the money gets passed around 4 or 5 times.

That it doesn't matter how the money gets injected into the economy --you could do it by paying people to dig holes in the ground and fill them in.

Republican operatives spend on hotel rooms and restaurant meals, that employs waitresses and maids who in turn spend their paychecks to buy consumer goods at Walmart,etc.

I kinda find it amusing that unemployment may have improved recently and reelected Obama because of the desperate Republican billionaires dumping money into a Rovian hole-digging program.