STATE OF PAIN IN THE UNION-OBAMA 2011 ---Now that President Obama has sold out political and economic change for continuity, there seems to little hope for the future; expect more war, more deficits, continued high unemployment and more US stupidity in the middle East and other areas..

No need to pay attention to the president's recent State of the Union speech; he proposes to reduce spending without stopping the expensive US war machine from rolling onward; he wants big spending on infrastructure, fast trains or free lunches for the children of illegal aliens--but there is no money--he spent special rescue funds on bankers, wall street bailouts, auto companies and stimulus packages that saved bureaucratic jobs. Any new proposals to spend are delusional , that is,unless it helps Republican fat cats.

Dismissing his latest speech before both houses of congress as rhetorical puff, the American people are faced by a president that has no fresh agenda-he has surrendered to Republicans on the wars, taxation and social issues by default.

If the US wanted a Republican president after GWBush, it would have voted for the frightening McCain /Palin ticket--as of now both these bizarre Republican candidates have wandered far from reality, making Obama by comparison appear as a bipartisan savior, the black man on a white horse now with poll ratings over 50 percent' approval.

Obama has rescued himself by becoming a Republican on taxes, social security, trade agreements, national and homeland security and foreign policy.--most of these Republican policy positions have driven the country over the edge economically and more isolated the country politically.

Obama has joined the opposition instead of fighting it. His recent appointment as his White House Chief of Chief of Staff..Daley is emblematic of the complete Clintonista take over of his administration. Daley was Clinton's point man for NATFTA which was the beginning of the end of US jobs in heavy and light industry--he is certainly not going to protect US jobs. Expect more trade agreements that favor corporations.

Obama's social agenda is sputtering. His Heath care is up for legal target practice; his DON'T ASK D'ONT TELL revision is tangled in the Pentagon on implementation. Closing Guantanamo is still a political dream.

America's foreign policy is shot.as Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen unravel with anti American implications. Hetzbollah has finally taken power in Lebanon democratically; Islamic Turkey is taking a very hard line on the Jewish state after it slaughtered 9 of it citizens. US blind support of Israel has increasing costs in foreign relations and is not sustainable if the trends continue.


Well, the Republicans TALKED THE TALK, lets see if they can WALK THE WALK. Man Tan Boehner, the new WEEPER OF HOUSE and his majority leader Cantor are an underwhelming duo to lead the charge. Cantor was even rejected by a post menopausal dame as a date for the last State Of The Union. So much pain!

The real storey of the week was Jesse "THE BODY" Ventura is suing TSA for foundling him or was it Congressman Kucinich suing a cafeteria for 150,00 thousand over finding an olive pit in a sandwich ? Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret

DEATH IN TUSCON---Murders in Tuscon at a supermarket eight days ago by a deranged 22-year old has intensely captured media attention since the horrible event. Details of the slaughter have been over taken by a search for what caused the male shooter , J. Loughner, to kill 6 people and wound 13 others. What is surprisingly obvious are the frenzied efforts by different elements to proclaim, IT IS NOT MY FAULT.

Those entities that appear; most sensitive to criticism are: The Mainstream Media, The Gun Lobby, Sarah Palin and Right Wing Talk Radio. President Obama made an effort at the memorial service for the victims in Arizona to diffuse efforts to blame anyone person or group.

He invoked sympathy for the dead and wounded, and called for a civil discourse over the events.Almost to a person leading gun-crazy Conservatives complemented him on the speech; they were apparently relieved the president did not turn the doleful event into cheap political shot at the gun lobby or advocate for more gun control. On the other hand, the left wing gritted its teeth and wondered why he did not use the event for such purpose.

The media reported initially that congresswoman.Rep G. Grifford, had been killed by the gunman ,but had to revise the storey to she had been seriously wounded by a head shot. The storey evolved into discourses on brain surgery;heroic actions of individuals at the shooting; high school antics of the killer--even to the extent a girl friend from six years ago was interviewed .

By Sunday, eight days later , the storey morphed into full-throat psycho babble over the killers mental health with a parade of psychiatrists and those who had experience with mentally disturbed persons .The press is now directed toward anguish over the condition of mental health institutions in the USA.

The trial will probably end up in an OJ Simpson circus before it is over. The chance that this will happen becomes greater as California is the leading candidate for change of venue.

In the same week two US soldiers were killed by an Iraqi while training him; a virulent anti American leader el Sadr returned to Iraq as Maliki's king maker after 4 years in Iran; Tunisia turned revolutionary making it unstable. These events were almost ignored by the media as it wallowed in especially issues it subsequently developed in Tuscon.

The left wing took aim at" pistol packing Palin "whom it accused creating an environment that fostered the attempt on the congress women's life--it cited Palin's frequent gun metaphors and the fact that Palin's website graphically put a gun sight on the congresswoman's district. No evidence produced that linked Palin with the shooter. Unlike Obama's conciliatory, statesman' remarks . Palin flew into self defense mode blasting the media and accusing her critics of" blood libel",an anti semitic slur most Jews would prefer to remain lost in history. Many Jews cringed over the reference. The wounded congresswomen is a Jewess, so Palin's reference is politically awkward at best or just plain stupid.

Many of the Tea Party leaders came to Palin's. defense; more importantly still other Republican leaders smugly let her twist in the wind. These Republicans finally dumped RNC Chairman Steele this week--Palin's recent ineptitude undermined her further as a contender in 2012 and that is okay with those fiscal Republicans who stand apart from the fervid Religious Right.

The US gun lobby is a mighty thing to behold--it never loses for long. There are 90 guns per hundred people in the US.' Yemen with about 60 guns per 100 people comes the closest with all other countries far behind. The Gun Lobby's immediate problem is to preserve the extended magazine GW Bush permitted to be reinstated at the end of his term. The Tuscon killer used the extended magazine--it gave him 33 shots in his 9mm Glock pistol-20 of the 33 bullets hit human flesh--the killer was taken down as he was trying to insert a fresh magazine.

As far as carrying a gun for self protection, it was reported that two of the attendees at the Safeway meeting were carrying , but could not determine the shooter and drew on each other. We almost had a Mexican standoff or Russian mob Razborka.

Reference the 'running dog 'Right Wing talk shows, they will do and say what the Gun Lobby talking points dictate. What do you think is the function of propaganda ?

America is a violent place. That our films,music and video games grow more violent is probably linked to our permanent wars with big time killing. Sometimes a demented person, with low self esteem, is swept away in this environment and uses a gun as an equalizer.

Congressman Gomer from Texas wants to introduce guns into the House--I say BRAVO; Maybe the congressmen would scare the hell out of each other and behave with more civility; however, this is dumb, despite what convicted felon Tom Delay says
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One thing for sure, if I lived in Texas I would wear a ten gallon hat and string tie,snake or lizard skin cowboy boots and carry a Glock with an extended clip as it is all apparently the dress code..

All I can say with certainty, is really THAT IT WAS NOT MY FAULT. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

Shrapnel's Man of the Year 2010--By now even the average American should have concluded that Time Man of The Year is just another media farce; it is designed mainly to promote a desperately failing Time Magazine. The whole selection process is a study in hubris; how a burnt out editorial staff in a declining news journal could provide serious judgements is a stroke of audacity that by all standards should fizzle faster than it is ignited.


FACE BOOK founder Mort Zukerman was anointed as TIME 2110 hero of the year, according to it, because he changed so many lives with his social net work. Zukerman is a creative, financial success who was clever enough to link technology with man's preening lust for vanity, self importance and social status, but by those standards so was 65 billion dollar swindler Bernie Madoff . TIME simply tried to hook itself to Zukerman's star to help itself soar from the depths of mediocrity

TIME mentioned also-rans in its contest: The Tea Party; Hamid Karzai: Julian Assange and the Chilean Miners. I am uncertain why these runners failed to cross TIME finish line or why most were even considered, but here is my take on them.


The Tea Party is just a rehash of the religious right who votes for Jesus, no taxes, no government, and permanent war rather than in the interests of the country. It now has a few more sensible libertarians in its ranks than in the GWBush era, but with weird sisters Palin, Angels, O'Donnell and Backmann in its vanguard ,it is doomed for quick flame out as the American people wake up to the fact that it is as as foolish Obama, , especially now as the ladies try to climb the flag pole higher.


Afghan leader Karzai is a bigger crook than Bernie Madoff; his stunning talent is that he overtly steals from under President Obama's and General Petraeus's noses and gets away with it...he could win the Thief-of-Year award hands down. Obama and Petraeus appear to ignor the thievery--after all it is the US tax payers' money not theirs. Petraeus may tell you that the key to his failing counter insurgency is population protection; it is not. Try bribery.


Chilean Miners are brave souls who withstood disaster with fortitude and courage --that they had no choice other than self-destructive panic. Forms of survival under adverse death-dealing circumstances are not uncommon, deserve recognition, but to be held in perspective.


About the only one in the TIME pack that has any world or global heft to pull his weight in whatever-man-of the year competition is WikiLeaks Julius Assange. His information leaked is sensational, has not been disputed, but the process certainly has. Assange, an Australian, is tangled up in some legal sexual issues in Sweden and is the target of a fuming US Government over his massive leaks of US national security information.


Assange's information over the year makes the US media total production look like a high school year book in comparison'.


The US Government is hinting to charge him with espionage, despite the fact he had no US security clearances; he is part of the public release of data involving US and world newspapers and journals. Should the USG proceed with espionage, the finding will involve a long court battle. The USG should also focus on the criminal negligence involved in the recent development of a STATE/DOD computer that was so easily hacked. Where was the USG supervision during the theft?


Extremism from the Right and Left has already joined the fray. Right wing wants him killed without due process. VEEP Biden has called him a technical terrorist.{IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT IS, ASK JOE}

The Left wing is making the issue a cause celebre. It has foolishly trotted out Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsburg who escaped espionage conviction, because Nixon Administration bungled the case. Ellsberg, now a fund raiser, believes leaking is good for the nation's soul. Progressive media hostess Amy Goodwin, DEMOCRACY NOW, has even linked the plight of Assange the tribulations of executed spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg--with such pals Assange has increased his chances for a long sojourn in Guantanamo.

Unable to resist the temptation to nominate Shrapnel's loser of year, I hereby nominate PLAYBOY's own 85-year old Hugh Hefner on his third marriage, to a 24-year PLAYBOY bunny. Ask how he can keep it up, he replied "with God's little helper VIAGRA twice a week". Good bye 2010 and Hello 2011- Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.