Life At Versailles, In Sum: the Final Round

Versailles

Well. Wasn't that refreshing?

Himself and The Other One seemed to really get into it for once. The Other One looked to me to be pale and sweaty and even a bit blotchy under the intensity of the teevee lights and the penetrating gaze of Himself. The Other One even seemed to be "out of his depth" as they say on the all-important topic of Foreign Policy, unable to dent the rather gory record of the President of the United States even while bringing up a string of disasters and failures of this or that importance "on his watch."

"Commander-in-Chief" was the oft-repeated phrase, and as far as I could tell, Wromley (h/t Crowley) didn't really want that bit of Presidential Prerogative. This Killing of Brown People that Obama seems to relish these days appeared to make Wromley somewhat queasy. In a sense that's a good thing I guess. Presidents -- at least the way we are expected to regard them -- should not really be into the slaughter game. It hasn't been a celebrated characteristic in White House residents since TR, and he was always careful to make it clear that he "deplored" the slaughter he was (of course) forced to engage in (particularly in the Philippines)  and he loudly condemned the troops who went too far in their extermination of the Natives so as to secure that piece of American Empire.

Much of the "debate" -- which was closer to a real debate on substantive issues than previous forays -- focused on domestic issues and policies, particularly with regard to the economy, rather than foreign affairs. Good enough. There's not much to be said about America's foreign policy that isn't a factor of the rotten economy for the masses. Obama pointed out time and again that Romney would simply reinstate the same economic policies that crashed the economy under the Busheviks (true), but what he didn't say was that the Obama economic policies are almost identical. There has been very little positive change under Obama, and everybody knows it. As a rule, most of Romney's main criticisms of Obama economic policies are spot on: the economy is "sputtering," unemployment and underemployment is way -- way -- too high, ordinary people are struggling while the government lavishes money and favors on the rich, and so on. These things are not accidents, they are policy. And the Obama Administration proposes to "stay the course," essentially making no changes in the policies that are causing so much misery for the millions.

Meanwhile, Romney's prescription borders on insanity: he would return to the Bushevik Era free-for-all, crony-capitalist loot-fest, only now with the targets being Social Security and Medicare and whatever else is left of the social safety net and piddly middle class wealth, and he would call it a Good Thing.

Obama would do the same only with a few more controls on the looting and who gets first dibs.

Hm. Some choice there.

The "First Dibs" issue is basically all that the candidates are contesting. Their policies -- both foreign and domestic -- are all but identical in every important way (which is the way our political/governmental system is designed to operate in any case). The choice before the voters is not between policies, it is between personalities, styles, and who among the Highest of the Mighty has First Dibs on government and the benefits flowing therefrom.

It's not "tribal," it's inner-tribal. In other words, the political class is all the same tribe. The struggle, to the extent there is one, is between factions within the political class itself, and between factions of the Overclass that owns and controls the political class. But they are all, every single one, of the same tribe.

They are all denizens of Versailles. They all live in the bubble of a palace culture; and their realm is not that of the People.

For them, holding the keys to the Throne and the Treasury for the benefit of themselves and their friends is what it is all about; "First Dibs." The People don't factor in, or if they do, it is as an afterthought. Or sometimes, very rarely, because they are restless and throwing things.

At the on stage meet and greet after the "debate" the fact that these candidates were on the same side was made manifest what with all the Hale Fellow Well Met backslapping, hugs and handshakes. Even Tagg and the President had a good guffaw over something or other (Gee, I wonder what?) and the plethora of Romney children and grandchildren practically mobbed Obama ("Gee, can you be Our Dad?")

As for The Winner? I would give it to Obama because he didn't look like he was going to faint.

But who will win the election -- at this point -- I have no idea. The Rs have been diligently setting up their plans to steal the election outright if need be. Ds have done little or nothing about it, so even if Obama has a strong plurality at the polls, it won't necessarily lead to victory. I wouldn't be surprised if we had another Election 2000 situation, something that our Overlords seem to relish.

On the other hand, many have come to the conclusion that it will be a run-away Obama victory, that Romney will be thoroughly trounced, and that this has all been carefully planned for a very long time. What we see is just the Show; what's going on behind the scenes is what matters, and the result is to be a resounding Obama victory. He, after all, institutes Republican policies far better than Republicans ever did.

We'll see.

Meanwhile, an inside look at the Secret Rituals of the Mormon Temple is making the rounds. I watched the hour and twenty minute full version the the internet, embedded and linked below, because I'm into science fiction sometimes, and the whole thing seemed like it was straight out of a 1950's science fiction movie. Which makes me wonder how many science fiction authors and movie-makers were/are Mormons either current or ex. Anyway, it's an interesting -- if somewhat creepy -- diversion. Some of those who have watched it or the shorter version have claimed that "all religions" are creepy like this. Well could be, but this is on a whole nother plane.



http://youtu.be/5VrsFEiTpsQ

The Mortgage Settlement -- Bone Throwing Commences

The Bone Award -- honoring Thrown Bones

The Mortgage Settlement with the major servicing banks was announced with great fanfare the other day as a HHHHHEEEEEUUUUUUUGGE step toward repairing the housing sector, after years of failed attempts to "help struggling homeowners."

It's a thrown bone. Whether it will have more than a marginal effect on the apparently terminally comatose housing sector or whether it will actually help more than a few struggling homeowners remains to be seen. Best prognosis is "We'll have to wait till the swelling goes down."

The problem is, of course, that many millions of Americans have lost their homes and their futures in this Endless Recession, and every mortgage/foreclosure program to "help" them has been operated as a scam by the banks to continue to inflate the value of their phantom mortgage assets while extracting the maximum amount possible from multiple sources of payment for faltering mortgages.

It was in the financial interests of banks to encourage/force homeowner mortgage default, to extend "consideration" of mortgage modification and continue to receive payments from the struggling homeowners, to "approve" modification but not actually enter into it, and then to foreclose; banks were paid every step of this tortuous path for struggling homeowners, and through this and other sleights, they could and quite cheerfully did receive multiple full payments on defaulted mortgages. It was horrible for struggling homeowners, wonderful for the banks. Naturally, they want to keep that con going for as long as they possibly can.

Consequently, few are taking the mortgage settlement at face value or believing that it will actually help more than a few struggling homeowners. The People have been defrauded by these shell-games and promises too many times already.

Nevertheless, it is a bone, the first of what may be a cascade of them this election year.

Millions of Americans have been pushed into poverty during the long years of this Endless Recession. Poverty rates (pdf) are higher now than at any time in a generation, and they continue to rise. Hunger stalks the land. Homelessness is on the upsurge. While unemployment rates are officially declining and "the economy is producing jobs again," much of the decline in the unemployment rate is due to the increase in the number of permanently unemployed who have left the labor market. Wages and benefits for those who still have jobs have been slashed, in many cases by 50% or more, and whatever pensions remain to workers are under fierce assault by the Overclass.

This relentless class war against workers has not even paused to reflect on its many victories as the campaign continues to extract essentially everything of value from the Lesser People in order to keep the Highest of the Mighty in far more whores and heroin than anyone could consume in many hundreds of lifetimes.

But in an election year, bones are traditionally thrown to the ravening masses, and this election year is no exception. The situation is a bit different than previously, though, because of the general discontent at the continuing economic devastation ordinary people are facing, and because of the rowdiness of the crowds of demonstrators and protesters against economic and social injustice which the Occupy Movement continues to assemble.

Something must be done. Bones! That's the answer! Don't make any substantive change that might involve, oh, you know, "shared sacrifices" on the part of the Accumulative Class, heaven forefend! Perish the thought. Just throw some bones.

The People will think the pols really do care about the well being of the masses.

Clue: they don't. The People are nothing but resources to be exploited or parasites to be disposed of; they have no other utility at all to the Overclass. If keeping them docile and servile requires that an occasional bone be thrown, then so be it. The $25 billion or so that this settlement costs is barely noticeable pocket change which will likely not even be paid.

There are more ways to squeeze the teats of this system for the benefit of wealth and privilege than are dreamt of by our philosophers.

Since this particular bone is being thrown earlier by several months than I expected, we may speculate about what all has been set aside by Our Rulers to quiet the the tumultuous hordes beyond the Palace gates. The violent repression of protest that always accompanies the throwing of bones, as well as the separation of the masses into antagonistic segments fighting it out, is also well underway. Damn, everything's a casino as far as Our Rulers are concerned.

It's clear the Overclass is in beginning mitigation mode, but whether their mood turns into a full panic, with visions of tumbrils and guillotines dancing in their heads, remains to be seen. The Revolution may be under way, but it so far only threatens their self-image and their legitimacy, not their persons or even any substantial portion of their property.

Meanwhile, over in Europe, the Rulers do not take the rising tide of protest against the March of Austerity seriously. It's stunning how oblivious they insist on being as they mindlessly insist on their programs of wealth extraction and mass impoverishment to satisfy the ever-hungry, indeed, insatiable, demands of the bankers.

In a sane world, this pattern would never have been allowed to occur, but if by chance it had got under way, the sane response would have been to cancel the bets that are driving the Austerity Train, then cancel the debts and clear the slate. But instead, the bets keep getting paid off and the debts keep increasing, while the People and whole nations are further and further impoverished in a mad race to... what? What do they think the result can possibly be?

Madness...