Slip of the Tongue

    My new novel of the post-oil future, World Made By Hand, is available at all booksellers.

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   Barack Obama caught hell last week for daring to tell the truth about the ragged thing that the American spirit has become. He said that small-town Pennsylvania voters, bitter over their economic circumstances, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” to work out their negative emotions. He might have added that the Pope wears a funny hat (see for yourself this week), and that bears shit in the woods (something rural Pennsylvanians probably know). Nevertheless, in the manner lately prescribed for those who slip up and speak truthfully in public (and in contradiction to the reigning delusions), Obama was pressured to apologize for his statements.

      The evermore loathsome and odious Hillary Clinton, co-owner of a $100 million personal wealth portfolio, seized the moment to remind voters what a normal, everyday gal she is -- who would never look down on the small-town folk of Pennsylvania the way her "elitist" opponent had -- forgetting, apparently, that the Clinton family's consigliere, James Carville, famously described the Keystone State as a kind of redneck sandwich with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as the bread, and Alabama as the lunch meat in between.

      As I mull over all this, I begin to think that Hillary is exactly what the USA deserves and, that should she manage to winkle away the nomination and get elected president, the outcome would be instructive and salutary. For one thing, she will be buried under an avalanche of political woe, beginning with the basic financial insolvency of everything in the nation except the Clinton family. Then she would proceed straight into an oil-and-gas clusterfuck that could take this society back to the eighteenth century economically.

      This would have the positive effect of forcing the American public to look elsewhere for governance than the usual parties in Washington, D.C. It's time for a national purgative, anyway. In fact, it's way overdue. Are the Democratic and Republican parties anymore necessary than the Whigs? Neither of them can really articulate the problems we face (and when their honchos slip up and come close to the truth, they're persecuted for it).

      A President Hillary will also go a long way to defeating the popular delusion that a world ruled by female humans would be heaven-on-earth. (It would be more like one of those chaotic single-parent households in Section-8 housing, ruled by a harried and distracted mom, with a shadowy man in the background molesting the little ones while she was off working at the WalMart.)

      I'm very sorry that Barack Obama apologized for his remarks. It compromised his authority. They were truthful and correct. He might have added that the anxious and bitter lower classes were also neurotically hung-up on cars, and that his first act as president would be to shut down the Nascar tracks by executive order in the interest of national energy security.

     It's been illuminating to see how almost nobody has come to Obama's defense in this matter -- hardly anyone in the press, anyway. It shows what the mainstream media's interest in the truth is (close to zero).

     In the background of these sad and sordid campaign doings, the financial sector -- and the dog's-body economy that the wagging financial tail used to be attached to -- is whirling steadily down a big wide culvert, along with the rest of the debris shaken loose by the spring rains. Congressman Barney Frank and Senator Chris Dodd have been putting together mortgage rescue schemes that are gut-bustingly hilarious because they don't seem to take into account the basic fact that nobody knows who the lending parties to all those distressed mortgages really are. (Hint: they're not the "servicing" companies who send out the default notices.) So when they say that the government will "negotiate down" the principal owed on a house hemorrhaging dollar value, who exactly did they have in mind as the negotiating partner?

      These are issues that would, in a more mentally-healthy republic, occupy center stage of the political conversation -- not whether a cohort of Cheez Doodle addicted rural Pennsylvania morons prays out loud for God to shoot all the Mexicans.
 

 

Comments

[StephenB]

Obama has his problems, but he at least totters on the edge of telling the truth sometimes. It kind of reminds me of when, in Massachusetts, former Boston University president John Silber ran for governor, if anybody reading here recalls that.

[baileyalexander]

Nothin wrong with women...Merkel's still as magnificant as ever, paid off the east side bill and EU invoices still haven't done too much damage to Germany's economy. They generally mirror America's economy but weren't stupid enough to let the hustlers run on the banks....they're fine.

maybe we shouldn't take the gov't so seriously or at least , learn via the Italians...everyone laughs at them, but with 75% black market, most everyone owns a car, a flat, can give their kid a flat, no drink problem, little drug problem, families hang out, little desire to acquire...i lived in the middle, Rome and the family up north does just fine and those living down south are doing alright..

[Riddick]

"Billary's" sense of entitlement to office would be amusing if she was not so dam serious. It is as if she is next in line to the throne and how dare anyone stand in her way. She was talking today about how she'd shoot skeet with her grand daddy in rural PA back in the year. She is a chameleon who will say anything at anytime to sound as though she is one of the folk and not a multi-multi millionaire.

Which, btw, makes me wonder. Who and why is Bill being paid millions for speeches and appearances these past few years? I mean what is the point, tips on interns perhaps?

The USA is in an inevitable and inexorable decline just as the new world order is in ascendancy. Brazil is booming and now has a bustling middle class, China is squirreling away all the energy it can scrounge and especially right in the US backyard of South America. So much for the Monroe Doctrine I guess, the US is pre-occupied chasing "terrorists" in deserts 6000 miles away. India is about to cement a massive new trade initiative with China that when combined will make their economies ultimately dwarf the west and japan.

And, of course, as the energy supplies dwindle, these rising powers are working feverishly to undermine US access to energy so they can maintain their growth. Hugo Chavez is even helping the cause by sending his heavy oil shipments to China now and away from Louisiana. CITGO is building 3 major heavy oil refineries in China as I write.

All this portents a really bad wind down for the good ol US of A. Our distracted leadership (latter term used only for reference not quality)spends billions upon billions in the deserts of Babylon and Afghanistan; a place that has sucked more previous empires dry then one can imagine. Our economic and soon political foes are out-foxing us around the globe and all we can do is cry "waa" when big bad Obama calls it like it really is. Yep, we do deserve Billary alright.

Look at your life right now folks, expensive gasoline, stagnant wages and employers that will fire you in a heartbeat if needed. Truly, if you are trying to remain amidst the clueless masses and perhaps hit the lotto then perhaps you would be more prudent building the pine box your family will be using for you in the not so distant future.

[Tangurena]

After 7 years of republican rule, the US has lost any interest in truth. Which is why Obama is having such a hard time in the media, and Hillary is so loved by the media (and also by the republicans).

[Lost Horizon]

".....mortgage rescue schemes that are gut-bustingly hilarious because they don't seem to take into account the basic fact that nobody knows who the lending parties to all those distressed mortgages really are."

The Fucktards of American Finance, in their greed and cleverer-than-thou scheming to hustle and steal from the middle class, managed to weave an unfathomable trail for anyone trying to figure out the Big question of the day:

"Who the Fuck Owns My Mortgage?"

Anyone getting a 'foreclosure notice' from one of the Running Lackey Dog 'servicing companies' should get a good lawyer to force the foreclosure court to prove, in court and to a judge's satisfaction, who actually 'owns' the mortgage on their humble abode.

The banks can't do it in most cases. The judges should start dismissing 'foreclosure' cases and essentially allowing people to have their houses until such time as proof is forthcoming (Never, Ha)

This alone would unhinge the Wall St Gang Banksters.

This would be Sweet indeed.

The high pitched squeak coming from tightening asses of the monied classes could be heard all through the land, even down on Main St.

The Mainstream Media Whores would gnash their teeth and express faux outrage that foreclosures could not proceed. How will the Wall St Gang Banksters survive without their pounds of flesh! OMG!

No sense in paying a mortgage if no one owns it!

A different kind of 'Bank Holiday' than everyone expected.

[jp]

If Barack can't tell "us" what is going on in a polite way..what is going to happen when he becomes president and has to pull an FDR? That's when we really experience the thrill of it all...directly from "us". roving bands of evangelicals indeed.

So..HRC gets in..the frustrated rich aunt from the suburbs scolding her poor blue collar relations in the ex burbs..or McGramps..scolding the grandkids with "no values", who fahnked everything up..or Barack, the socialist elitest who daannonottin about t' way we REALLY live..

hmm..upstate New York..hydro..farmland..

actually..New Zealand..hydro..small vineyard..

[jp]

new reality show.."Where's My Mortgage Dude"..supply the details please, I am going back to bed.

[david]

Jim,

I loved your new book, World Made by Hand. It made me feel strangely hopeful and optimistic for the first time in a long time. The next society will make more since than this one. I'm just sorry it will be such a bumpy road getting from here to there.

[upnatpishtim]

i heard obama ask folks to trust him. sounded exactly like any other person running for office.
i hate voting for strangers.hillary is the strangest.
white is the new black.
there is no limit to human greed and folly.(tm)
the worst will happen.
maybe JHK will be one of the rotting dead corpses after the collapse.
and you and you and....me!

[asoka]

Yeah, the point Obama was making is that people are cynical and no longer believe anything politicians say.

I think he has a point.

[tom_ miller]

Well BLOW ME, James Kunstler

I live in Pennsylvania, and I NEVER hear small town folks bashing blacks. What Obama said is a crock. Yes they like to go hunting - big deal, we have so many deer in this state that they would be a major environmental and safety hazard if them gun-totin' townies didn't cull their numbers. Yes we have lots of churches here - as if we're alone in that respect. Yes, Pennsylvanians do complain about illegal aliens, just like the rest of the country, because our towns are being overrun by them. And no they aren't too wild about our trade policies - no one who is familiar with them and knows the damage they've wrought would be.

And what a hypocritical assh*le you are. You've complained about our immigration and trade policies yourself. And what exactly makes a town in upstate New York where you live so much different from Pennsylvania?

Arrogant f*cking New York Jews....

[Laura Louzader]

Jim, I am not a Clinton fan, but your sexism is really showing here?

Since when is there a "popular delusion" that a world run by women will be better than the present set-up? Some people have this delusion, yes, but it is not popular.

Frankly, Obama and Clinton are so close to each other in their beliefs and positions as evidenced by their voting records and position statements, and are both so equally clueless about either the energy situation or the proper remedy for our fiscal situation, that there is very little choice here.

Lest you think that Obama is any better informed on the oil situation than Clinton, he made one of the most irresponsible statements I've ever heard, which was to recommend that oil be released from the SPR to drive down prices at the pumps..... the better to enable people in the belief that they can keep on truckin' like it's still 1992.

He also has at least as much dirt on his record, and the trial of his long-time associate, and notorious Chicago influence-peddler and slumlord, Rezko, could not have been timed worse. Rezko is going to take a lot of people down with him, and there is no way Obama can argue that his association was accidental.

Don't kid yourself- while I still have a faint preference for Obama, he is still a part of the filthy Chicago Dem machine, and frankly, the only reason I will pull the lever for either Obama or Clinton is because either one is better than McCain, which is not saying much.

And I ask myself.. do I slightly prefer Obama because he is truly better, or only because he has so much more likeable the personality.

Because we are really down to a high school popularity contest, based on personality and "likeability" at this point. Let's not kid ourselves that there is any other diff between these two Dem candidates.

[Nicholas Paredes]

We have hit a nerve with Tom! Nobody would want to imply that you or your specific neighbors are bigots. So let me do the work. I'm from the northwest side of Chicago, blue collar land, and I suppose that I did not hear the N word unless the "other" showed up or was on television. Although I guess this was enough to make me think that most of Chicago was racist.

My experience in the land of the working class is obviously different than your, but with relatives in various industrial cities throughout the rust belt, I cannot say that it is aberrant. Unfortunate, yes. Even my aunt tries mightily to shutter my uncle's mouth as he spews in front of the impressionable. I didn't raise my son that way, so I just leave the room.

No bitterness or racism around here! Move on to the next town. I hear they hate everybody…

Laura, I am sorry that I cannot vote for Hillary after her vote authorizing force. I liked her, but found that to be truly patronizing and somewhat contemptible. I won’t go to the booth for anybody who has their signature on that one, so she is not alone. Certainly one can argue whether Obama would have. But he didn't.

Gotta love how the mortgage crisis finds its way into everybody's economy! Europe may be worse than the US, although with a much different ownership demographic and penetration, it will be much different. Like whack-a-moles the people will laugh at those who dared to stick their heads above the average.

[Nicholas Paredes]

We have hit a nerve with Tom! Nobody would want to imply that you or your specific neighbors are bigots. So let me do the work. I'm from the northwest side of Chicago, blue collar land, and I suppose that I did not hear the N word unless the "other" showed up or was on television. Although I guess this was enough to make me think that most of Chicago was racist.

My experience in the land of the working class is obviously different than your, but with relatives in various industrial cities throughout the rust belt, I cannot say that it is aberrant. Unfortunate, yes. Even my aunt tries mightily to shutter my uncle's mouth as he spews in front of the impressionable. I didn't raise my son that way, so I just leave the room.

No bitterness or racism around here! Move on to the next town. I hear they hate everybody…

Laura, I am sorry that I cannot vote for Hillary after her vote authorizing force. I liked her, but found that to be truly patronizing and somewhat contemptible. I won’t go to the booth for anybody who has their signature on that one, so she is not alone. Certainly one can argue whether Obama would have. But he didn't.

Gotta love how the mortgage crisis finds its way into everybody's economy! Europe may be worse than the US, although with a much different ownership demographic and penetration, it will be much different. Like whack-a-moles the people will laugh at those who dared to stick their heads above the average.

[Nicholas Paredes]

No that I think that Jim phrased his opinions of women in leadership positions well... I do find that his phrasing is a bit less than PC, so I find him an equal opportunity curmudgeon!

Also, I'm not sure that I buy the equivalence of Hillary's indiscretions, versus Obama's. Rezko is one of the few things that anybody has ever mentioned. One could only wish that with Bill and Hillary. Again, I liked Hillary, and could have bought the "Barack can have his turn next" argument. "I was wrong" goes a long way!

[Johnny Rico]

@tom miller -

Congratulations you racist redneck, you win Jackass Post of the Month.

Try reading what Jim said again (his best piece in a long time) then read what you said again.

[Nicholas Paredes]

Come on Johnny! You don't have to read the articles to post!

Those aliens and Jews are enough to make anybody consider bigotry! Of course the deer are bound to push one over the edge... Perhaps a scope which places funny faces on the heads of deer as you blow their brains out will release the pressure.

Maybe I'll get me one next time I go out to shoot ground squirrels with my thirty odd six.

[theroachman1]

Tom Miller

you seem pretty bitter.

Here is a funny comment I read from someone who also claims to be from Penn. (I do not think Tom is though, maybe Philly or Pit but not rural Penn.)

Hey, I live in small-town Pennsylvania, and the guy hit it right on the head. He just forgot to add the coal region attitude: Somebody's cheated me and somebody owes me something.

All this aside, I'm still voting for McCain.

http://www.topix.com/forum/who/hillary-clinton/TIIAVRO8K9PLDGJMP

Funny how easy it is for people to vote for the same thing over and over again. Even when it is against there best interest.

[AlbuquerqueGuy]

Wow, check out this story on CNN Money titled:The incredible shrinking city.

It's a story about what Youngstown, Ohio is trying to do. Very interesting on their efforts to get small again.

http://tinyurl.com/5b95ld

[Lost Horizon]

Cheneybushbaby has permanently lowered the standard for Any U.S. president.

BushBaby Fuckard is Cheney socket puppet.

What could be worst than this?

John "The Manchurian Candidate" McCain?

An anonymous soundbite from somewhere on the Web:

"Geez, I guess no one could have predicted that letting a semi-retarded incoherent dry drunk coke head with a history of abject business failure run the country for 8 years might end up having any negative economic consequences."

That's a pretty small puddle to jump Kids.

It's always understandable that 'country folks' from any state would have issues with a black man who can use words with more than three syllables.

You should never 'misunderestimate' the credentials of 'Merikan politicians.

[Nicholas Paredes]

Gettin' it "good and hard" is what it's all about. Those cannons require a continual flow of fodder! Thank goodness the big cities get the girls.

One man (generally speaking), one vote. The distance between the rural and urban is going to become insurmountable at some point. Back to the city states.

[ziggy]

Plenty of women would make fine presidents (See Finland)... just not Hillary! Although as you say, she may be the president that America derserves.

[Nicholas Paredes]

Horizon,

Love the hold out! When the going gets tough, the windows suffer the most!

University towns are relatively easy to fix however...

[Farmgal]

Jim-

To equate a country run by Hillary as representative of any female leadership is no different than that of equating a Bush presidency with being representative of any male leadership. Bush, and Hillary are both individuals- neither is representative of "male" or "female" leadership but just their own form of it. No different than assuming that Obama will somehow represent "black" leadership- his leadership will represent whom and what he is as an individual human being. We need to move beyond the pigeonholing and stereotying inherent in these sorts of portrayals.

I am supporting Obama for what he represents- and not supporting Hilary because of what she represents-not because of blackness or femaleness or any other such thing.

Jim- I'm not sure what your issues with women are- I can only guess- and having read WMBH I am guessing they are significant, but it's time to get over it and move on.

[Lost Horizon]

Some Scandinavian countries have close to or more than 50% women in their legislatures.

The 'Merican Congress has what, 7%?

There is your problem, not one person in the presidency.

A women in the presidency will change nothing in particular, the office itself is now merely an edifice for Grifters.