With a hat tip to Bidabunch, The Onion shows how utterly predictable Bush was.
Utterly, utterly predictable, but carefully ignored by 99% of the media and the vast majority of Americans, which makes Bush himself Black Swan number one.
In a mostly pointless piece at Marketwatch Paul Farrel talks about a test to see whether we'll profit from the next Black Swan event and in the comments a racist, fascist republican (I know, mostly redundant) calls Obama the Black Swan and predicts awful things for the US.
He is taken to task but actually he may be right. Go back two years and none of those in power would have predicted that the black junior senator from Illinois would start with nothing, bankroll his campaign via the Internet, roll the Clinton Machine inside the Democratic Party and them blow the Republican permanent majority into the weeds.
That he took the oath of office today is unprecedented in so many ways and we have to hope that he is Black Swan II because only a force with that kind of power will be able to prevent the US from crashing and burning and taking the rest of us with it.
Unlike many, I didn't get up early to watch the inauguration live, much as I love Obama's rhetoric; there is little to celebrate in it. He has inherited the whirlwind and he has almost no time to unwind it.
But if anyone in the US can inspire and energise people and canalise that energy through grass-roots level organisation, it is Barack Hussein Obama. We must all wish him well, our lives and the lives of our children actually depend on him delivering.
PS, I think the real black swan in the Dems was probably Howard Dean. He is Obama's prophet at least and paved the way for his candidacy in a party that was functionally depressed and totally clueless.
"My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."
Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.
During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"
Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.
During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"
Utterly, utterly predictable, but carefully ignored by 99% of the media and the vast majority of Americans, which makes Bush himself Black Swan number one.
In a mostly pointless piece at Marketwatch Paul Farrel talks about a test to see whether we'll profit from the next Black Swan event and in the comments a racist, fascist republican (I know, mostly redundant) calls Obama the Black Swan and predicts awful things for the US.
He is taken to task but actually he may be right. Go back two years and none of those in power would have predicted that the black junior senator from Illinois would start with nothing, bankroll his campaign via the Internet, roll the Clinton Machine inside the Democratic Party and them blow the Republican permanent majority into the weeds.
That he took the oath of office today is unprecedented in so many ways and we have to hope that he is Black Swan II because only a force with that kind of power will be able to prevent the US from crashing and burning and taking the rest of us with it.
Unlike many, I didn't get up early to watch the inauguration live, much as I love Obama's rhetoric; there is little to celebrate in it. He has inherited the whirlwind and he has almost no time to unwind it.
But if anyone in the US can inspire and energise people and canalise that energy through grass-roots level organisation, it is Barack Hussein Obama. We must all wish him well, our lives and the lives of our children actually depend on him delivering.
PS, I think the real black swan in the Dems was probably Howard Dean. He is Obama's prophet at least and paved the way for his candidacy in a party that was functionally depressed and totally clueless.
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