reply to post by xpert11
J/O posted: McCain-Romney has to be looked at as a tag team. Romney can hammer Obama on economic issues, which can take some of the
shine off Obama's halo because hope doesn't pay the bills. That leaves McCain to tackle Hillary, which he can do if he is willing to be more hawkish
than she is/was.
In 1988 when Bush41 chose the vamp-ish Dan Quayle to be his VP, I would have assigned the older and distinguished looking Lloyd Bentsen to be like
ugly-on-a-monkey to follow Quayle around the US, contrasting his own experience and level headed speaking with the shrill and Bush43-like shallow
thinking of Danny-boy. But alas, I was not consulted.
Yes, some strategy is needed. The one J/O proposes makes as much sense as any other. At this point in time however, with Romney NOT short on money and
McCain with but $3 m. in the bank, I’m thinking the top slot will go Mormon! Leaving John to be the "Elder" statesman and war hero the GOP and
right wings so much love as VP nominees.
See Note 1.
xpert11 says: IMO if Hillary chose Obama as her VP pick she or her team would ensure that Obama would take a crash 101 course on the Clinton
economic plan. Hillary could also go for one of the lesser players and avoid the problem all together. If Obama was to pull off an upset then it would
be a different story.
Although president’s are blamed when the economy does badly, it is my opinion that our $13 T. economy is far too large. too complex for any person
to really get a handle on it. It is mostly one bull****er bull****ing another bull****er. Or economics as they like to call it. The best we can do is
jerk around the overnight interest rate where 100 points equals 1%. Hey, it gives a lot of otherwise unemployable people very good paying jobs!
See Note 2.
Note 1. I know it is UN-American in some circles to raise this issue, but I don’t mind. There were about 650 US airmen held in the Hanoi Hilton
as we called it. All but 5 or 10 came out alive. The Vietnamese said those men were injured beyond their capacity to save their lives. I personally
believe the Vietnamese.
But it is the raw numbers that intrigues me. Now like it or not, from any nation’s point of view, American airmen dropping bombs that kill men,
women and children, are war criminals.
See Post Script. Studies showed “iron” bombs to have been 10% accurate in WW2. That is, 10% of the
bombs hit the intended target. The AF tried to keep that secret but the Navy leaked it. Another study done post-Vietnam showed accuracy was improved
to about 20%. Now, if you have ever seen - who has not? - pictures of the trail of bombs dropped from B52s flying out of Guam, you know if you think
about it the bombs were AREA bombs and not precise targeted bombs.
I have said all that to say this: Of all the surviving US airmen held in Hanoi - over 95% - I have never seen a sign of physical abuse and of those
who have been in the public eye, I have never seen a sign of mental abuse. So who’s a hero? The 18 year old mud-caked Marine private laying in a
flooded rice paddy all day, or a 30 year old AF-USN type sleeping on clean sheets in an 8 X 10 cell with 2 bowls of rice and a dried fish daily?
Note 2. Banks are required to “balance” accounts every night at midnight. If they are “short” they must borrow from the Federal Reserve
System enough money to make it even. Because this is done daily, at midnight, the process is called “overnight.” The Fed charges banks for that
money. That's the rate Bernanke gives to the press with accompanying hoopla. A large bank might have millions borrowed from the Fed, re-borrowing
each night as needed. Or as at a bar, “running a tab.”
Obviously, as the overnight rate goes down, banks have more money - well, cheaper money - available to loan. And the converse being true, as the rate
goes up, money becomes scarce. Compared to the size of our economy, this is much like peeing on a forest fire. Which leads me to believe it is one
more rich man’s scam worked on the poor. ONLY the rich can play the overnight game. As also in bribery and hiring illegals. Which may explain why so
few are ever prosecuted as compared to say, convenient store robbers. Hmm?
Post Script to Note 1. B52s from Guam could carry 80,000 pounds of bombs. The usual load was 500 pound HE - high explosive - bombs. 160 bombs.
Usually ground bursting. Flying at 30,000 feet, and cruising around 300 knots - about 350 mph - the bombs would be dropped two bombs every 3 seconds.
160 bombs to drop in 4 minutes. At the B52s speed - 500 feet per second - this meant one bomb would hit the ground every 100 yards! And the trail of
bombs would run for 9 miles! 9 B52s flying 3 abreast in 3 flights could blanket an area 1000 feet wide and about 30 miles long! Or, 3,000 feet wide
for nearly 10 miles. It was reported that many North Vietnamese soldiers went berserk during such bombings.
[edit on 1/30/2008 by donwhite]