The Return of the Dodo

In the late 16th century, European sailors visiting the island of Mauritius encountered a flightless bird called the dodo. It was said that the dodo was so stupid and so lacking in the instinct for self-preservation that it would waddle up to the sailors who easily killed them for food. By the middle of the 17th century, the dodo was extinct. Over the years, the word "dodo" has become synonymous with being dim-witted and it has only been recently that scientists and historians, examining the accounts of the bird, have determine that, contrary to popular belief, the dodo was actually a swift runner that fled into the jungle to escape their foreign human predators. In reality, it was what came along with the humans - dogs, cats, rats, and pigs - that preyed upon the birds and especially their eggs and young in their ground nests which ultimately led to the demise of the dodo.

Today there is an animal that deserves the reputation unjustly given to the dodo - the modern American liberal. The American left is constantly on the lookout for any group bent on the destruction of the United States and our way of life. Beginning with the Communist Revolution in Russia, American liberals have embraced ideologies that are antithetical to the ideals of their own country and this continued with the rise of Nazi Germany when many prominent Americans such as Joseph Kennedy Sr and Charles Lindbergh seemed to sympathize with the Nazis. The liberal fondness for all things anti-American was sustained throughout most of the late 20th century by the Cold War until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Overlapping the last ten years or so of Soviet communism,  anti-American radical Islam began a rapid ascent which came to the forefront of the American psyche with the horrific events of September 11th. America was blissfully unaware that we were at war with an ideology that is wholly incompatible with our society and way of life. In hindsight, we were terribly naive as there were plenty of indicators and in fact, the radicals made their intentions known to those paying attention.

Unfortunately, American liberals, out of a sense of misplaced fairness, inexplicable national self-loathing  or blind political correctness, refuse to acknowledge radical Islam for the deadly serious threat to our way of life that it is. They insist that the political right or "radical Christianity" pose the same threat to the country as radical Islam.  In their minds, it makes sense to expend scarce resources to give the same level of scrutiny to an eighty-five year old woman from Iowa when she boards an airplane as it does a twenty-five year old, male, Yemeni exchange student.

These tendencies have resulted in a serious defect in the instinct for self-preservation in liberals and one that, if not corrected will lead them, if not our entire nation, down the same path to extinction as the dodo. This time around however the word "dodo" would be aptly applied.

Amazing Coincidence?

Yesterday I began listening to the audio book, "Founding Brothers" by Joseph J. Ellis which is about the subset of America's Founding Fathers - Adams (John and Abigail), Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington during my morning commute. Just as I inserted the first CD in my car stereo, I looked up and saw a bald eagle fly over the road leading into my neighborhood. An amazing coincidence? I'd like to think of it as a sign.

Gas Prices on the Rise! Surprised? You Shouldn't Be!

According to the AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has risen from $2.86 less than two months ago to $3.06 today. What is going on? Traditionally, gasoline prices fall after the summer driving season and bottom out in mid-winter. Why then have prices been going up?  The answer is QE II. No, not Her Majesty the Queen of England but the second round of quantitative easing undertaken by the Federal Reserve.

On November 3rd, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, announced that the Fed would begin buying long-term Treasury bonds from the government in an operation called quantitative easing in order to increase the money supply and thus spur the lagging economy. Since this was the second time the Fed was trying this, it was dubbed QE II. But where does the money to buy the bonds come from? The answer is nowhere or in other words right out of thin air! The news media sometimes refers to this as "printing money" but in reality, the Fed doesn't actually print the money it just changes the balance in its checkbook and ... poof, like magic, more money. Don't we all wish we could do that!

Wait! What does this have to do with the price of gasoline? Glad you asked! Gasoline is one of the most price sensitive commodities so the price of gasoline gives us the first signs of inflation. But how does the increase in the money supply cause inflation? Another excellent question! A rise in the general price of goods and services is what most of us understand as inflation. However, this doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't give us the how or why. Inflation occurs when more money chases the same amount of goods and services. Therefore, the value of money decreases and consumers have to pay more for the same items.

In June of 1980, under Jimmy Carter, the misery index (unemployment rate + the rate of inflation) peaked at nearly 22 and it is currently hovering around 11. (http://www.miseryindex.us/) Will one of the legacies of this flailing presidency end up being a return to a Carter-era misery index level? With the help of this Fed and its chairman, it just might!