On the Whole Presidential Race Mess

So let me see if I have this straight: Russia is angry that the USA is putting missile defense systems in Poland (to protect against non-existent Iranian missiles that will not go near Poland if fired). It's angry that we have bases in Khazakhstan and are sucking up to Uzbekistan and are still goofing around in Afghanistan. And to make things worse, we have just shot down a malfunctioning spy satellite, proving that we can do it, and threatening their spy satellites.
In Afghanistan, things are going swimmingly. The Taliban is back in power in all but the capital region, and opium poppies have now become the Afghan's single best cash crop. In our other "theater" of the Warren Terra, Iraq, we are told the "surge" is working. Which is quite possibly the biggest lie you have been told since the last lie about Iraq.
Meanwhile, next door to Iraq and Afghanistan, and just south of Russia, the Iranian government is struggling desperately to get a nuclear power station online (with the help of the Russians). The USA is opposed to this, since the fuel enrichment facilities might be used to make a nuclear bomb. Of course, my daughter's Easy Bake Oven might be used to make a seven course banquet for eighty too; both are about as likely. And that nuclear bomb, screwed to the top of the non-existent Iranian missiles might be used to attack Israel. Allegedly the missile will be launched from Iran, head straight for Poland, make a U-turn, and using the totally advanced Tom-Tom Go navigation system turn left and incinerate Tel Aviv. Why this should concern Americans more than Israelis is beyond my pay grade.
Iran has also decided to open its own oil bourse. What is a bourse? Well a bourse is a bourse, of course of course, unless of course that bourse does not take American dollars in exchange for the oil purchased. Not that this is a significant problem (for the Iranians at least) since we have an embargo in place to punish them for their non-existent weapons program, and to get even for those dastardly Iranians taking our spies--I mean embassy staff--hostage and evilly not harming them for more than a year THIRTY YEARS AGO. It merely shows that the American dollar is being viewed as more and more worthless as the months go by.
Which is not surprising since the dollar has lost a third of its value since the Bush administration took office. The Euro, once rated at 90cents is now at $1.49. The Canadian dollar is worth more than the American dollar too, for the first time since the late great Richard "Lion Heart" Nixon. Gold, silver, platinum, copper, and other shiny things are through the roof. And oil, which cannot be bought in Iran with American dollars, is $102 per barrel.
The Federal budget is out of control, to the point now that the US comptroller just ran screaming from his office. Not only is our budget the largest in the history of the country, it is the largest governmental budget in the history of planet Earth. It is also owes more money than any government since the beginning of human civilization. As a denizen of the United States, your share is now an arm and a leg, and a spleen and a pancreas, one kidney, a pint of blood, and a uvula.
Wheat prices are through the roof trading somewhere around $23 a bushel (normal range is $3 to $4 per bushel). The price of corn has doubled, as has barley and hops. This means in a few months we will see a massive rise in the price of BEER! Nectar of the Gods, and the real reason the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth Massachusetts (they were looking for a Seven Eleven), beer is what has long powered the North American Five-toed Couch Sloth. Imagine: It will shortly cost twice as much to sit in front of the TV, watching Tony Stewart and 40 of his friends drive around in circles, and yelling "WOOOO!" The couch potatoes yell "wooo"; I don't think Tony does until he wins.
More houses are being foreclosed every minute. The liars who lied on their loan applications to the mortgage brokers who encouraged them to lie, who passed it off to the mortgage companies that knew what was going on and turned a blind eye, to the banks which bought the loans, to the securities dealers who gold plated these turds and sold them as AAA bonds are now seeing the chickens come home to roost. The mortgage dealers have observed a new phenomenon called "jingle mail". This is where an upside down home owner walks away from a house, and instead of sending in a mortgage payment, mails in the keys to the house. Real estate prices are crashing across the board. Banks, which have lost billions in this debacle, have no money to lend, and have tightened loan requirements. This is like closing the stall door after the horse has run away, and after an Iranian missile has blown up the barn (via Poland). Banks are on the verge of going under one after the other. The crisis has spread from the housing market throughout the entire economy in the United States and the rest of the world as well. European banks are feeling the pinch too, since they heavily invested in these mortgage backed securities.But that is not the half of it. As houses are foreclosed upon, and new loans are getting harder and harder to qualify for, people are watching real estate values dive, and are finding they have no equity left in their houses to borrow from. Their credit cards are maxed, and there is no hope of getting more cash anywhere else. Business is booming in the bankruptcy work out industry, and little signs are popping up like mushrooms all over Phoenix saying such things as "Stop foreclosure now!"
The Feds are out of money. The States are out of money. Businesses are out of money. Individuals are out of money. Lucky thing the Federal Reserve is printing more money in an effort to save us all! Of course, this is inflationary, and the government last week stated that inflation is averaging 1% a month. That's twelve percent per year. Using government stats! Which means the REAL inflation rate is quite a bit higher unless you magically can eat washing machines.
All of this! And the Presidential race is concerned about whether or not Barack Obama looks good in an African dress.
They say if you don't vote, you can't complain. they are right. So I am no longer voting AND no longer complaining. Instead, I am laughing. (With you, not at you dear reader.)