Special Blog Post: Featured Bumper Sticker

In the interest of showing a modicum of support for the Democratic Party, some of whose members and strategies have been harshly criticized and parodied by certain bloggers, and inspired by former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich's interview with Time magazine, from which he is quoted in the March 29, 2006, edition, your host has created his latest bumper sticker, available at The Dark Wraith Forums e-Store via this this link.


This attractive bumpersticker will look nice on any post-1970s vehicle of reasonable quality and workmanship, and proceeds of sales go to keeping The Dark Wraith Forums online. Yes, you too can have the bumper sticker designed to amuse and annoy former Bush supporters finally noticing the five years of phone messages from Clueville.

That's right, and if you order before midnight, you will also receive the gratitude of the Dark Wraith, a $19.95 value not available in stores.

You get all this for only $3.99.

And while you're visiting the e-store, be sure to check out all the other Dark Wraith merchandise, including the attractive courier bag and the ultimate in tasteful coffee mugs seen on the left. Carry the bag to work or school, and people will know right where you stand on the issues of the day. Drink coffee from the mug, and you just might start channeling the Dark Wraith, himself, as you cruise the Blogosphere. Now, wouldn't that scare the Hell out of friends, families, and concerned pets? Each and every item says, "I know the Dark Wraith, so back off, or I'll get him to write another obtuse post about economics that'll make everyone fall asleep until after the November elections."

So order today!

UPDATE:
The bumper sticker above will be offered until 12:01 a.m. EST on Sunday, April 2, 2006, at which time it will be replaced in The Dark Wraith Forums e-Store catalogue with the bumper sticker below.




The Dark Wraith thanks you for your support.

Inflammatory Opinion: The Belt of Justice

On Sunday, I published an editorial in which I called on candidates in the 2008 Presidential Election to pledge commitment to the establishment of a Truth Commission of the United States of America to investigate and expose the extensive and multi-faceted wrongdoing that has been the legacy of the Bush Administration. The support I have received is welcome and heartening, and the criticisms have been legitimate. In the present article, I offer clarity in precisely why the remedy of a Truth Commission would be effective despite the many in this country who remain supportive of President Bush and the Republicans who have prosecuted the agenda of neo-conservatism.

What I am about to write here may trouble some readers, particularly because I must unabashedly put on display that side of my views decidedly not in keeping with my more progressive, tolerant side. In advance, I forewarn that what I write below might not sit well with many, and I shall understand that discomfort. In some ways, it troubles even me that my patience with neo-conservatism has become so truncated that I must revert to attitudes within myself that pose in such harshness. That, unfortunately, is one of the many downsides of becoming agéd: patience in some areas of life takes the form of a precious commodity to be reserved only for those worthy of it. Neo-conservatives and Right-wing evangelicals have fallen off my list of those for whom patience, tolerance, and acceptance is warranted. I trust that they shall never again find their way to the limited space that remains within my soul for good will. With that caution in preface, suffer now my statement of position.


I have no delusions about the American people. Enough of them liked the mean, nasty, hateful words, ways, and innuendos of the Republicans to turn this into one of the grimmest chapters in American history. People like that don't change their stripes, and they certainly wouldn't do so in the span of a mere few years.

Those same people whose rah-rah, kick-some-ass-Georgie mentality got us into this mess are still out there all around us, and their attitudes now are every bit as disgusting as they were.

But those same people, like the people of every age, are craven and cowardly. When their former heroes get hanged in the public square, they'll be nowhere in sight to protest the swinging of the apes.

At worst, they'll hide in their homes grumbling about the horror of it all; at best, they'll feign shock and dismay at the "betrayal" by their former heroes, and they'll swear to God they had "no idea."

Bull. That's the same apology of the Germans as the truth about the Third Reich got rammed down their throats in the years after World War II. The facts shut up the Hitler generation and allowed a much more benign couple of generations to grow up. It took all of fifty years for Fascism to become once again fashionable in European polite company and its hate speech to become wholly defensible by American liberals.

We may yet again have to beat the Hell out of its ugly pigs over there in the decades to come, but at least we had more than half a century of peace and quiet, in no small part because the common people by the millions who had grovelingly supported Hitler, Mussolini, and their ilk laid low, died quietly, and got buried with their hate and their stash of commemorative swastikas.

That's how it can be here, too; but this will happen only if there is a loud enough, authoritative enough, and harsh enough presence standing in judgment over the leaders of this failed neo-con rebellion against the American rule of law and the progressed civil society we were achieving.

That is the dual purpose of a truth commission in every country where one has been established: not only does it expose and punish the wrong-doers who had infected and perverted the government, but it also puts their miserable supporters whose mentality had infected the society on notice that they weren't just wrong, they were also bad.

And, no, by that I don't mean they had bad ideas; I mean they were bad.

I might not be able to make a bad kid into a good one, but I can sure as Hell scare him into keeping his bad behavior to himself. If he wants to act like a hellian in his own private little bedroom, that's fine; but I want him to understand that, not only is his kind known for its ways, but if he ever again shows those attitudes in public, he'll get the same treatment as those he thought were so cool for their destructive malevolence that caused so much pain before.

That might not sound like a particularly caring, liberal way of thinking on my part, but then again, I have never called myself a "liberal" here or anywhere. I may be progressive—Lord knows, I might very well even be a Progressive—but speaking as an anachronistic version of old-time, Rockefeller-type conservativism (and this is just between you all and me, mind you), I really do know what a belt is for; and God knows, there isn't any other remedy of which I know that will cure this country of its current brand of Republicanism.

When a gang of kids has spent the past week tearing up the house, the first and most important thing I need to do is to turn the ringleaders over my knee for the swift Belt of Justice. I mete out the punishment right where the other kids can see it, and I make the sound of righteousness hitting paydirt ring thoughout the land. The rest of those malcontent kids will suddenly turn into the nicest, sweetest, most God-fearing little angels anyone would ever want to have to help clean up the mess they'd made.

That's how we used to take care of bad kids, anyway; and speaking here as an old-time conservative, it's high time we returned to some old-fashioned values in this country.

Let freedom ring? You bet. But not until the belt swings.



The Dark Wraith has spoken.

Inflammatory Opinion: The Clear and Compelling Case for a Truth Commission

Newsweek magazine is reporting in its online edition with dateline April 3, 2006, that U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, in unpublished remarks on March 8 before an audience at the University of Freiberg, Switzerland, declared that "War is war, and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant you have to give them [sic] a jury trial in your civil courts... Give me a break." This week, the case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld of a detainee from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Associate Justice Scalia has made no offer to recuse himself because of his prejudicial remarks on the merits of cases like the one to be presented to him and the other eight Justices.

Mr. Scalia's remarks drew "quite an uproar," according to a member of the law faculty of the University of Freiburg. Apparently, at one point during Mr. Scalia's talk, he was challenged by a member of the audience who reminded him of applicable U.S. treaty obligations, a counterpoint that caused the Associate Justice to rant, "If [a detainee] was captured by my army on a battlefield, that is where he belongs," a stunning statement (aside from Mr. Scalia's description of 'my army'):

• many of the Gitmo detainees were in fact not captured in any combat situation;
• the Geneva Conventions protocols to which the United States is a signatory explicitly set forth the matters regarding battlefield captures;
• and the United States was the aggressor nation in both Iraq and Afghanistan, where most of the current detainees were originally found, although neither nation yielded the principal target for which the assaults were justified prior to action, which was the top leadership al-Qa'ida.

Because of the virtual blanket immunity of Supreme Court Justices to consequences from the decisions they render and the conditions of personal belief and professional conduct under which they render those decisions, Mr. Scalia will likely face no material sanction should he proceed with what is now his apparent intention to participate in the adjudication of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

This becomes further evidence that the United States Congress, President, and Judiciary are in no way prepared to once and for all come to grips with the legacy of the Bush Administration and the neo-conservative radicals who have taken over the halls of the legislature, the executive branch, and the federal courts. At this point, nothing short of the appointment by the next President of the United States of a Truth Commission with nearly absolute subpoena powers will serve to extract from the participants in this degradation of the Republic the details of and truth about the actions they committed, the decisions they made, and the extent of the harm they caused.

It is to the end of the eventual establishment of such an independent investigatory body that I shall in the months ahead ask others to join me in demanding of any candidate running for the Office of the President of the United States in 2008 that he or she commit to the establishment of a Truth Commission of the United States of America within 90 days of assuming office, and that this Truth Commission comprise independent members without any connection whatsoever to those who have been the architects and engineers of the policies of the Bush Administration. As suggested, this Truth Commission must be vested of full powers to subpoena any person deemed necessary, be he or she a politician, a military official, or a member of the judiciary; and the Commission must be charged with having no duty to negotiate any terms upon which testimony will be rendered by any person so subpoenaed. In other words, with regard to this second point, the results of the Truth Commission of the United States will not be suspect and thoroughly tainted as were the results of the 9/11 Commission or the criminal investigation by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald of the outing for political revenge of non-official cover operative Valerie Plame.

In the months ahead, I shall more fully and formally press this demand upon candidates, and I shall for my own part make agreement to the pledge the first requirement of any candidate seeking my assistance, financial support, and/or endorsement. No less than a Truth Commission will right what has happened during the Bush Administration, and no less than harsh, swift, and certain justice of retribution rendered upon the neo-conservatives and their social and political allies will ensure that this era is not soon repeated.


The Dark Wraith has spoken.

Wraith Classics: Aftermath of the 2004 Presidential Election

This is the first in an occasional series of posts offering readers here at The Dark Wraith Forums some of the original writings I authored in and for other venues. This series will comprise an eclectic mix. Included will be articles written when I was a business consultant, as well as selections from contributions I made as the Selig Wraith (the Blesséd Ghost) in the Medieval History Forum of About.com, where I created and contributed to a thread entitled, "A Once and Future Language," which was my platform to teach and answer questions about the history and current trends in the English language. That thread still stands as the longest ever created in the Medieval History Forum. Wraith Classics will also present comments and analyses I posted on message boards and blogs before the launch of The Dark Wraith Forums.

Regular readers here know that my writings vary from the straight, expository lectures on through to slice-of-life factual and fictional narratives. Occasionally, I use the vehicle of a play to make a point.

To launch this series, I am republishing in extended form a play I wrote and posted in a comment thread at AmericaBlog late on the evening of November 11, 2004. This was, of course, shortly after the 2004 Presidential Election, when the comments at AmericaBlog and other progressive sites had become decidedly downbeat with the defeat of John Kerry by George W. Bush. Hope was fading that anything could be done to change the outcome of the election, despite rumors already swirling of vote fraud, particularly in Ohio but in other states, as well. At the time I wrote this play, my principal intention was to bring a touch of levity to depressed readers, but I also wanted to poke minor, if irreverent and slightly blasphemous, fun at both the Republicans and the Democrats.

My intention in this current republication of that little play is different. In my judgment, the Democratic Party is driving headlong toward the same mistakes it made in 2004, when the chosen candidate declined one opportunity after another to deal with the viciousness, mendacity, and hatefulness of the Republicans. The cowardice that John Kerry showed both before and after the election was a tribute to the dominance of the Republican strategy in an era of voter ignorance, mean-spiritedness, and tolerance of corruption of purpose and morals. Playing nice, being dignified, and posing with reason were trumped by the Republicans, who neither cared for those rules nor abided by them. To imagine that somehow the fundamental dynamic has changed is to hope for politics to move toward some old-fashioned, largely repudiated, entirely obsolete, and somewhat mythical strategy. Hardly ever does politics move toward strategy; rather, the successful politician moves his or her strategy toward the politics of the era.

According to important Democratic consultants, we bloggers in Blogosphere Left 2.0 are irrelevant. We're too strident, we're too untamed, and we just don't understand. These charges are all too true. Unlike conservative bloggers, who march in lock-step grinds of Party Line diatribes, we in Blogosphere Left 2.0 are a cacaphony of voices coming from all different directions, having rather disparate focuses of primary interest and showing a growing intolerance for our very own politicians and their groveling, cowering appeasement of the black-hearted hate machine of neo-conservatism and its nasty apostasy of Right-wing evangelicalism.

The Democrats who would pose to win our approval must be forewarned, however. We bloggers can be very creative, and we have no qualms about making appeasers within our ranks the object of our derision. We can make laughing stocks of cowards, and we can do it in many ways, from many angles, and from thousands of places both here in cyberspace and in the world of the meat puppets. This is what we do: we disrespect institutional rigor mortus, we disrupt the best laid plans of our more respectable and reputable betters, and we enjoy our craft like some people enjoy chocolate, sex, and low-amperage cattle prods.

I digress.

Without further ado, from mid-November of the year 2004, The Dark Wraith Forums herewith presents the Director's Cut of the re-release of...


The 2004 Presidential Smackdown Extravaganza


Camera and music on cue... three, two, one, and... GO!

[Blaring, high-energy music]

[World Political Wrestling Federation Logo fast-zoom. Flame burst across screen.]

[Camera 3 pan audience. Hard-in zoom on screaming fans.]

[Camera 1, face-on: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Satan]

[Cue Schwarzenegger]

Schwarzenegger: Vee are heer aht the Peoria Ceevic Center for the BEEgest tag-team match in the heestory of the universe.

Satan: That's right, Arny. ToNIGHT, it's the tag team of George "The DUH-bya" Bush and Dick "The Dick" Cheney going head-to-head with Jesus Christ and John Kerry!

Schwarzenegger: VAHT a fight eeet's going to be: A no-holds-barred, veeenner-take-all, three-round battle for control of the Earth!

Satan: Well, everyone knows which side Arny and I will be cheering for; but we know it's going to be one helluva match, if you'll forgive that little self-promotion.

Schwarzenegger: Of course vee vill. The majority of Americans vant our team to vin, anyvay.

DING-DING-DING!

Announcer: LAYDEEEEES... and... GYENTLEMEN! The Dark Wraith Forums Production Company in association with Way Over the Top Entertainment, LLC, proudly brings you the The 2004 Presidential Smackdown Extravaganza! In THIS corner, the WINNER of the ANNO DOMINI 2000 AND the ANNO DOMINI 2004 United States Presidential Elections, MR. GEEEEEEEEORGE "The DUH-bya" BUSH and DICK "The Dick" CHENEY!

(Crowd goes bananas, cheering wildly)

Announcer: And in THIS corner, the LORD JAY-SUS "The Savior" CHRIST and JOHN "The Loser" KERRY!

(CROWD boos, hisses)

(Round card girl—Donald Rumsfeld in drag—circles the mat holding up Round One card.)

Announcer: NO HOLDS ARE ILLEGAL, THREE ROUNDS, THREE-SECOND PIN WINS.


DING-DING!


We'll be right back.

---

Commercial RG1 On.
Friends, are yew in need of Salvation? Has yer life turned into a hedonistic Democratic orgy of lustfulness, desire, and delicate French pastries at Barnes & Noble? Do you read literature other than the Living Word of God in the Bible and tracts written by the Reverend Thomas H. Girdlestamp?

Well, it's time for YEW t' come home to the grace that only the Reverend Girdlestamp can offer. Call our toll-free number right now, and we'll send yew, without obligation, our 36-page pamphlet, "Say 'YES!' to the Lord, Say 'NO! to Your Groin." We have operators standing by t' pray with you for Eternal Salvation. Yer donations can be made right there on our Prayer Hotline. Major credit cards are accepted.

So call right now, before another minute passes. Remember: Gawd loves yew, but He ain't got no problem with throwin' yew into Hell if yer a sinner.

---

[Blast music, WPWF Logo fast-zoom. Flame burst across screen.]

[Camera 5, 45-side-on: Satan and Schwarzenegger, turn to camera]

[Cue Schwarzenegger]

Schwarzenegger: Just eeen time. Vill the sorry-ass team of Kerry and Jesus even last three rounds?

Satan: I don't know, Arny. They're already broken. You can see it: Kerry's slow, and those weak knees of his are starting to buckle every time he tries to put up his dukes. And that Jesus character: who would've believed the 'Messiah' would be such a wimp when it comes to death, destruction, and oppressive occupation? Looks like that 'forgive your enemies' strategy is about to meet the big-time, real-world whammy.

Schwarzenegger: Zee bell ees about to...

DING-DING-DING!

(Crowd roars.)

Jesus steps out into ring from right corner.
Cheney strides out from left corner.

Jesus opens his arms, palms of hands revealing scars of the Crucifixion: "Welcome, my son."

Cheney roars, "FUCK you, Jesus!" and grabs Jesus by the throat, lifts Him into the air, spinning Him 'round and 'round.

Jesus cries, "FATHER, why hast Thou forsaken me this soon?!"

Cheney bawls, "Mushroom clouds! MUSHROOM CLOUDS!!!" and slams Jesus to the mat, grabs his foot, and starts twisting it.

Kerry reaches as far into the ring as he can, screaming: "TAG ME, JESUS! TAG ME! I'm ready for battle! I'll SAVE YOU!"

Jesus claws his way toward Kerry but suddenly gets dragged to the middle of the ring. Cheney jumps up, runs at ropes, bounces off, makes flying dive onto the Lord's chest.

DUH-bya screams from ringside, "Lemme at 'im, lemme at 'im. C'mon, Dick, you PROMISED I could do something. I'm a BIG boy! I flew an airplane!"

Cheney gets up slowly and deliberately. Jesus lies still, eyes glazed. Cheney walks toward the corner of the ring and picks up giant remote control device. "Okay, George. GO GIT 'EM!"

Cheney starts pressing buttons furiously as Bush climbs into ring. DUH-bya yells, "Axis of EVIL. Weapons o' Mass Destruction. Long-term effects of alcohol and cocaine. Mission Accomplished. Served with honor. No one saw Jeff on top, so it doesn't count."

Jesus grovels to the side of the ring, tags Kerry.

Kerry leaps into ring, runs at Bush.

Cheney grabs M60 machine gun and starts firing wildly.

B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BAM-POP-POP-BAM!

Jesus dives for cover. Kerry hollers: "I'm gonna charge that machine gun nest!" Cheney aims at Kerry, fires point-blank. Kerry shrieks, "I'm HIT! I'm HIT! He got me right in the ass! MEDIC! MEDIC!... I want a Purple Heart for this!"

Kerry staggers backward, tags Jesus.


DING-DING!


We'll be right back.

---

Commercial GW1 On.
[Smirking middle-aged man] I used to have a limp you-know-what. Couldn't pulse beef worth a damn... Then I tried Porkalis... And now... [Blaring trombones; cut to picture of the Matterhorn]

[Deep male voice-over] Ask your doctor about Porkalis. See if it's right for you. Side effects may include blood loss to small brains; uncontrolled sense of being attractive when actually old, fat, and ugly; and certain gristly tissues bursting into giant, flaming torch. Use only as directed on fire extinguisher.

---

[Blast music, WPWF Logo fast-zoom. Unfortunately coincidental flame burst across screen.]

[Camera 1, face-on]

DING-DING-DING!

Schwarzenegger: VAHT A FIGHT!

Satan: You SAID it, Arny. This was billed as the Battle of the Apocalypse, and it sure IS. Goddamn! I've never seen anything LIKE it! Dick and DUH-bya CONTROL the agenda, no doubt ABOUT it.

Schwarzenegger: Jesus and John have no plan, no strategy. Did you SEE the way Kerry was flip-flopping around after he got hit with that round from the M60?!

Satan: And look at JESUS: Just lying there acting like some kind of martyr!

(Round-Card Rumsfeld parades around the ring, holding up ROUND TWO card.)

DING-DING

Jesus staggers into the center of the ring. DUH-bya, controlled by Cheney's remote from ringside, lands blow after blow, backing the Lord into a corner. DUH-bya pushes Jesus's upper body under top rope, flips Him over so His body is tangled between top and middle ropes.

DUH-bya turns around to wave to the crowd. Crowd shrieks approval of twisting Christ to conform to Bush's agenda.

Satan: I don't see John Kerry ANYWHERE around.

Schwarzenegger: He's over there in front of the judges testifying about the atrocities going on in the ring.

Satan (laughing): A lot of good THAT'LL do. (mocking) Boo-hoo-hoo.

While George is busy waving to his fans, Jesus has managed to untangle Himself. Without anyone seeing how He got there, He's suddenly standing on top of a corner ring post, towering over DUH-bya.

(Crowd howls hysterically.)

Satan: Oh, my GOD! Jesus is about to lower the BOOM on George.

Schwarzenegger: Vaht can save heeem, NOW?!

Suddenly, Cheney leaps back into the ring and knocks George out of the way as Jesus descends upon His enemy. Jesus hits the ground with a THUD, lies unconscious.

Kerry scrambles under ropes into the ring, yells to Cheney: "You can't DO that!"

Cheney screams, "WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE WANT! WHO'S GOING TO STOP US! WHO HAS EVER STOPPED US?!!!!"

George rushes over, flips Jesus on his back, pins His shoulders to the mat.

Referee: ONE... TWO...

DING-DING!


We'll be right back.

---

Commercial RC1 On.
[Female voice-over; somber violin music] The Republican National Committee needs your help. As we speak, America is being overrun by Democrats on every street corner, encouraging young boys into homosexual encounters at local YMCAs, telling girls it's okay to have multiple abortions after rape and incest, putting help wanted ads in newspapers to draw women away from their homes and families, making God-fearing American men sympathize with the billions of Muslim terrorists all over the world, and teaching impressionable college students how to use the American flag for toilet paper.

[Switch to up-beat, redneck/techno-pop fusion music] But the Republican National Committee is at the forefront of the war to protect our dear, beloved country from the people who hate it. This vile, liberal scum CAN be stopped and its minions sent to secret prisons for testicular electrification and disembowelment. But we need your donations. Send them in now, or make a donation at your local Right-wing church, where God is on your side... and ours!

---

[Blast music, WPWF Logo fast-zoom. Flame burst across screen.]

[Camera 1, backed out, face-on to Schwarzenegger and Satan. Pull in, Schwarzenegger.]

DING-DING-DING!

Schwarzenegger: I AM EXHAUSTED!

Satan: SO AM I. Can you BELIEVE it? The Lord Jesus Christ saved by some idiotic technicality like the end-of-round bell? Where's the justice?!

Schwarzenegger: Kerry and Christ are broken, defeated, hated by the majority of the audience! Why don't they just throw in the towel right NOW?

Satan: John Kerry is such an EMBARRASSMENT! Jesus could have joined the Bush/Cheney ticket, but instead, He chose the losing side... once AGAIN. Will he ever LEARN? This round's gonna be ugly, I can feel it in my bones, can't you, Muscle Man?

Schwarzenegger: I sure can, O Summoner of Blood Rivers. The end is at hand, and VEE are here to see it!

Round-Card Rumsfeld prances around the ring, holding up ROUND THREE card.

DING-DING

Kerry marches forward, salutes. Cheney and Bush, together in ring, give him a double head slap. Kerry stands firm, refuses to address personal assault.

[Ear splitting, roaring engine sound fills auditorium] VROOOOM! VROO-VROOO-VRRROOOMMMM!!

Satan: DO YOU SEE WHO'S JUST ENTERED THE ARENA?! It's... it's... MARY CHENEY, and... and... SHE'S WEARING A VIKING MAIDEN OUTFIT, COMPLETE WITH HORNS ON THE HELMET!!!

Schwarzenegger: And she's accessorizing with a 1973 Harley-Davidson!

Satan: What STYLE!

(Crowd screams in complete hysteria.)

DUH-bya and Cheney grab Kerry and haul him into the air, rushing him toward ringside where Mary Cheney is standing, leaning forward. George and Dick heave Kerry over the ropes and slam him down right into Mary's horns.

(Crowd shrieks.)

Satan (bawling above mob): HO-LEEE MOSES!! They just GORED Kerry!!!

Schwarzenegger: VAHT an END to a caREER.

Kerry slumps over, falls off hat, tags Jesus as he crumples onto the floor of the arena outside the ring.

Jesus goes under ropes into the ring and stands up directly in front of Dick and DUH-bya.

Cheney cries out, "Where is your kingdom, NOW?"

Bush echoes, "Yeah, where is your kingdom, NOW?"

Together, they step forward, flogging Christ, driving Him backward into a corner of the ring.

Satan: They're gonna CRUCIFY Jesus!

Cheney snarls, "Join me or DIE, Sweet Jesus!"

Jesus turns to look for Kerry, but he's gone. All alone, Jesus stands, waiting for the EndTime.

All of a sudden, beside Him are standing men and women: My Pet Goat, OddJob, Lizzy, Wild Clover, Barbi, elf, Trailer Trash, Shakespeare's Sister, Jen, Gary A., PoliShifter, Dread Pirate Roberts, Lily, Paul the Spud, Missouri Mule, Phoenician in a time of Romans, Chief, BlondeSense Liz, Old White Lady, Fat Lady Sings, DemiOrator, BadTux, Culture Ghost, Green Knight, Elise, meEE, Karen M, Lisa Renee, Pam, Julien, Guy Andrew Hall, Kenneth Quinnell, Ron Brynaert, Charlie, isabelita, Eric Hopp, Mary, Debra, blackdog, Eli Blake, Radical Russ, No Blood for Hubris, Tim, Kate, Cyn, Misty, Lab Kat, Me4President, Stealth Badger, Charles Perez, Gary, Mixter, Cherizac, ROF, Red State Blues, dorsano, Gordon, LindiB, SB Gypsy, Lymond, binky, Treban, DonViti, Pissed Off Patricia, Mr. Shakes, Dark Daughta, Chuck, Deborah, Peter of Lone Tree, Ben Wood, Wadena, Holly, Anntichrist S. Coulter, Progressive Traditionalist, NC Gal, Siri, Luther, T. Rogers, Culture Ghost, DeLLBerto, Left Behind Child, eponymous, litbrit, Andi Allen, Fixer, badgerpup, actor212, ROF, Kathy, D., Jaye Ramsey Sutter, and a Host of Angels, all proclaiming, GLORY BE TO THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT!

Then...


DUH-bya and Dick kick Jesus's ass.

Referee: ONE... TWO... THREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!!!!



Satan: DONE! FINISHED! FINAL VICTORY OVER ALL THAT IS GOOD, DECENT, AND HUMANE!

Schwarzenegger: Vell, that's eet from the Peoria Ceeevic Center Arena, vhere you've just veeetnessed George "The DUH-bya" Bush and Richard "The Dick" Cheney destroy all hope for the future of the human race!

Satan: Right you ARE, Arny. It was EVERYTHING a politics and religion fanatic could've hoped for! And now begins The Thousand Year Reign of Blackness.

Schwarzenegger: I'm Ahnold Svahtzenekkehr.

Satan: And I'm Satan. Good night, and may God bless you... NOT!

[Music fast fade-in]
[Logo on screen.]
[Camera 7 pan empty arena]
[Camera 6 outside shot of Civic Center; demons swooping down, snatching fans' souls and dragging them down into Hell]
[Fade to black]


[Cut]








(Darkened arena. Lone janitor sweeping aisleways.)



Small stage door creaks open. Head peeks out, looks around.

Janitor (looking startled): Who're YOU?

Figure in doorway: I'm John Kerry. I used to be a contender.

Janitor: Oh. Well, I'm Dark Wraith; I'm just the janitor. The closest exit is over there, sir. Please make sure the door locks behind you on your way out.

Kerry (walking out the exit): Thank you for your support.

Janitor: You're quite welcome, Mr. Kerry.

(Door closes.)


(Silence.)






Janitor: Asshole.

---

The Dark Wraith Forums Production Company
in association with
Way Over the Top Entertainment, LLC





The Dark Wraith bows to the applauding audience.

Wholesale Prices Plummet in February

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday that the producer price index (PPI) for February fell by a dramatic 1.4 percent, indicating an annualized rate of deflation of 15.6 percent at the wholesale level. This surprising result was driven by falling costs of food, which experienced a decline of 2.7 percent for the month, and energy, which slid by 4.7 percent. The so-called "core" producer price index, which excludes wholesale prices of food and energy, rose by three-tenths of a percent, representing an annualized inflation rate for wholesale goods other than food and energy of approximately 3.7 percent.


Although the dramatic drop in wholesale prices was something of a surprise to economists, the jump of 0.3 percent in the core PPI was quite a bit larger than expected: the consensus among economists was that wholesale prices other than for food and energy had risen in February by a modest 0.1 percent, meaning that the actual figure was triple what had been anticipated by experts. This surprise comes on the heels of the revised core PPI of 0.4 percent for January. The graphic at left shows the core inflation rate over the past six months for which data is available. As noted, the core does not reflect the whipsaw of energy prices that have plagued the economy during the past several years. Although many anticipated that, as the military and political situation in Iraq stabilized and that country was again able to deliver significant amounts of oil to the world markets, energy prices would generally decline and no longer exhibit the up and down swings that characterized the first months after the invasion by Coalition forces led by the United States. Because of the continuing insurgency in Iraq—an insurgency some now characterize as civil war—and because of the attendant, continuing supply disruptions, the global markets have continued to be roiled. Although an important part of the continuing volatility of energy prices at both the wholesale and retail level, the situation in Iraq is but one of many factors contributed to edgy, volatile world markets for hydrocarbon products. Among the other causes of oil price volatility have been a spate of temporary refinery closings in the United States due to fires and natural disasters, as well as concerns on the international stage about the possibility of widened conflict in the Middle East and threats by Iran to curtail sales of oil to the West in the face of threats by the United States and the several European nations regarding the Persian nation's on-going nuclear research and development program.

No doubt exists that there has been a general trend upward in wholesale and retail energy prices since at least the beginning of the Bush Administration, but it could be argued that the substantial February decline at the wholesale level indicates the possibility that the worst of the overall price increases might be coming to an end, at least for a while. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the 4.7 percent slip in energy prices was largely the result of a 9.5 percent slide in gasoline prices paid by retailers and a stunning collapse of 24 percent in wholesale natural gas prices. While these declines represent real respites at the wholesale level, there is no reason to believe that a significant portion of those savings were passed on to consumers and businesses that pay retail prices. More importantly, however, is that the volatility in and of itself of energy prices has an adverse effect on wholesalers, just like similar volatility in retail prices adversely affects those who pay the prices at the level of final goods and services.

Dark Wraith CyberGloss

As a general rule, companies do not want to experience gains and losses merely because of rapid, unpredictable swings in the costs of inputs. To make net cash flows more predictable, large companies form positions in securities so they will gain on the investments if they lose money on the factor cost, and they will lose on the investments if they gain on the factor cost. This is called "hedging."

  The problem is that, when prices swing wildly from month to month and even from week to week, consumers and businesses become more defensive in their spending patterns because of the increased uncertainty with which they must make spending plans. For example, even if, on average, the overall cost of energy rose by a relatively modest two percent over a year, the business could face considerable budget challenges if in two consecutive months the cost of energy first fell by fifteen percent then rose by seventeen percent. The volatility has created business planning risk, and this same principle of increased risk is faced by households. For both households and businesses, this elevated level of risk tends to encourage a less aggressive planning pattern for expenditures. An interesting differential effect can also be noteworthy: large and medium-sized firms can use the financial managers and brokerage services to hedge against a substantial share of random price volatility. This is one of the important benefits of so-called derivatives, which are used to buffer the ups and downs of everything from energy costs to exchange rates. The securities in a hedging portfolio earn money as a certain price moves adversely to a firm's business position and lose money as that price moves favorably to the firm's business position; hence, the derivate acts to nullify or at least to mitigate the non-business related volatility in the firm's earnings. Unfortunately, however, small businesses and consumers are rarely able to deal in these types of investments, both because of the up-front costs of getting involved, as well as because of the significant amounts of capital required to regularly and continuously participate in hedge markets, where exacting care and high costs deter occasional, untrained, and amateur investors.

With respect to the inflation in the United States economy, even as the federal government's inflation figures continue to present a picture of price levels that is not in any way pointing to catastophe, the underlying situation may be quite different because of controversial data manipulation techniques used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Two of the principal techniques are "hedonic pricing" adjustments—downward corrections of price increases on the assumption that some part of any given price rise is not inflation, but merely a reflection of quality improvement—and "substitution effect" corrections—lowering actual, observed price increases under the assumption that, as the prices of certain goods rise, people will substitute away from those goods, thereby mitigating the effects of the price increases.

Regardless of how the federal government's figures deviate from the experiences of businesses and households in the actual economy, management of the underlying inflation rate is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve, which is supposed to be independent of the government and the particular political party that might be dominating fiscal policy. Although the Federal Reserve many months ago, while under the chairmanship of Alan Greenspan, stated clearly that monetary policy to the purpose of accommodating the Bush Administration's fiscal policies was coming to an end, the continuing inflation at both the wholesale and retail levels appears not to be responding adequately, at least not so far. Moreover, as the government continues to report that inflation is far tamer than what business and households are experiencing, the current chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, and his fellow Fed Governors will have considerable leeway to allow the Federal Reserve to continue printing money at a rate in excess of what is necessary for the real growth rate of the economy.

The Federal Reserve's motivation for printing excessive amounts of money is transparent: it is that excess money that allows the Fed to "monetize" the irresponsible budget deficits being run by the radical Republicans in Congress and in the Administration. Essentially, the Fed is printing the money it needs to participate—either directly or through the financial intermediaries of its banking system—in Treasury auctions to purchase debt instruments the government is issuing to pay for its expenditures that exceed its tax revenues. And the reason the government cannot pay its bills is because of its profligate spending on a war of opportunity, coupled with the severe erosion of the taxable revenues it collects from the wealthier people in the nation who were the primary beneficiaries of three rounds of tax cuts instituted by the Bush Administration and its Republican allies in Congress.

The enduring comfort to be found in this otherwise dire current state of affairs is that it cannot last indefinitely. That, on the other hand, is also what should worry everyone enough to lose sleep at night: ultimately, the gambit will come to an end; and when it does, few will be the places that average Americans may turn for help, and even fewer will be the places the neo-conservatives may hide from retribution.


The Dark Wraith will in all circumstances be available, if for nothing else, to note that everyone was sufficiently warned.

Special Blog Post: Koufax Awards Finalist

The Dark Wraith Forums has survived to the Final Round of the Koufax Awards in the category of Best Expert Blog. Voting is now open for the winner of the Koufax Award in each category. The final slates for all categories may be found on the main page of Wampum. You may vote for the Best Expert Blog by clicking here.

Several of the Dark Wraith's off-campus hang-outs can also be found among the finalists in various categories. The Fat Lady Sings is up in a slew of categories, including Blog Most Deserving of Wider Recognition, Best Commenter, Best Series and Best Post.

Both BlondeSense and Shakespeare's Sister are in the finals for Best Group Blog.

Majikthise is in the running for Best Writing; and Pandagon, where one of the contributors is Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend, is in the finals for Best Blog, Non-sponsored.

The Dark Wraith calmly and with the feigned objectivity of an unconcerned observer thanks you for your support.

Special Blog Post: The Message and the Message

Below is the screen capture of an e-mail message I received several days ago. The message seems nice enough: it's from a rather friendly sounding church in the community in which I live. This place has lots and lots of churches. A few are quite progressive, although most are not. The area is growing by leaps and bounds. Middle- and upper-class households are in abundance because of the huge financial services companies located here. Many of these upwardly mobile people consider themselves quite the progressives; but they're the minority. The tradition of this place is deeply conservative in a uniquely Middle America, Bible Belt way. Politics and religion are dominated by views that would probably infuriate most of the readers here.


So, is there a problem with the e-mail solicitation above? Not really.

Except that it came to me at my college e-mail address, a public school with excellent spam blockers on the servers. It is a near certainty that the school directly provided this church with the e-mail addresses of faculty members and then ensured that the spam blockers would not touch e-mail messages from this sender. What would otherwise be easy pickings for a good institutional system of policy filters slid through unmolested.

In other words, elements of a database of employees of a public institution were provided to a religious organization, and then the servers of the public institution were set to permit solicitations from that religious organization to pass through to those employees.

That might be appalling to some, but I'm used to such things. Last year, the weakling union was not just given the names and e-mail addresses of faculty members, but it also was given their home addresses. I received a solicitation in the mail to join the union. It was couched in the form of a "survey," but the message was clear, at least to me. The union that I was considering working to decertify because of its let's-not-cause-trouble negotiating style—leading as it has to an hourly equivalent wage for me of just about $10—knows exactly where I live. If I were the paranoid sort, I'd think the administration knew exactly what it was doing giving that database to the union.

This is obviously all petty stuff. To many, academia is still the last bastion of enlightenment—the repository where stands all the great knowledge that continues to be available even in the worst of this degraded but temporary time of ignorance and mendacity. The supporters of academia must certainly see it as the bulwark of the Age of Reason, the institutional setting where the irrationality of religious superstitions and cultural ignorance are set aside in favor of disciplined thought, processual integrity, and objective analysis.

Not that it matters, but I no longer believe that. You see, awhile back, I was in the common faculty area describing to an adjunct professor some trouble I'd gotten from a Christian student who didn't like me talking about evolution. The particulars of the incident with the kid had to do with my description of a computer program that autonomously designs self-replicating circuits. It seems that, as these circuits evolve generation over generation, they tend not to eliminate unused architecture from previous generations; instead, these evolving circuits retain "junk" they no longer find useful, and this is very much how DNA works: genetic-level structures that organisms no longer need, use, or express in traits don't vanish, even over millions and millions of years. Apparently, evolutionary processes have a principle of conservation, something that probably (among other uses) allows for rapid adaptation to environmental changes.

My conversation with the adjunct was in the presence of no fewer than three biology teachers at the college, who began to talk very loudly among themselves about how terrible it was that evolution was "still" believed by so many otherwise educated people. The conversation was specifically intended for my attention and consumption. I left quickly enough since I wasn't in the mood to try to overcome the certainty with which no fewer than three educators (all middle-aged) were declaring their position and affirming one another's belief system.

A few days later, my mention of the incident to a full-time, tenured faculty member who teaches biology was met with a polite, diplomatic, and altogether condescending rejoinder that I don't know about "everything that's going on" in the field of biology these days.

She was right, of course; but I surely know more now than I did when I thought academia would be the salvation of the Age of Reason.




The Dark Wraith watches the tide ebb.

Special Blog Poll: If You Knew

Suppose you had an article you wanted to write. Your intention was to present a conclusion you had reached, one you had offered or strongly suggested in previous articles you had published. The article you were considering was different from the others, however, in that you had gathered more information, and some of that information was of a different kind: many new bits and pieces—facts, observations, hearsay—from people with whom you had spoken. None of these individuals were "connected" in any meaningful way to some central source of secrets; they were, instead, rather common men and women living as they are in extraordinary times and circumstances. What they had told you had created in your mind a compelling case: their individual perspectives had coordinated with your own general and specific knowledge to lead you to near certainty. Whether or not you would put your judgment quite so starkly in a planned article would be a matter of rhetorical style, but you have no doubt that what you have to say is worthy of publication.

The problem is that this is an era in which publishing such a story could very well be construed by federal law enforcement personnel as a national security issue. Worse still, those with whom you had spoken might or might not know about your particular political leanings, but you are pretty sure they did not at the time and still do not know you are a writer whose works are read by people all across the nation and the world. It is possible that your sources would not have spoken nearly so freely with you had they known about your literary and journalistic work; and as such, you have no direct permission to quote them. (However, you can't shake the suspicion that some of them actually did know about your journalistic work and were trying to warn the country through you.) If their association with your article were to be revealed, their careers could be in jeopardy were national security interests to learn their names; and even if you were to minimally buttress the credibility of your article by citing "anonymous sources," you know very well that federal courts have now dismissed journalistic source privilege as an affirmative assertion before federal grand juries.

Knowing all that you know, what would you do?

An Exclusive Online Poll by The Dark Wraith Forums
If You Knew

   

The Written Peace: Open Forum of March 4, 2006

After the thread from the last post ranged over topics from the equation of exchange to English grammar to baseball, it seemed that an open thread was sorely overdue. Your host asks only that commenters carefully consider the consequences of getting the Dark Wraith started on a long-winded rant about something like negative externalities or the history of the English language: the universe has only so many free electrons available for use in threads, and Lord knows the Dark Wraith has no qualms about enslaving large numbers of them for use in his responses.

Suffer a brief note of promotion. Voting for the Koufax Awards is now open. The Dark Wraith Forums has been nominated in the following categories:

Best Blog (Non-professional/Non-sponsored)

Most Deserving of Wider Recognition

Best Single Issue Blog

Best Post
    ◊ The Ancient Future
    ◊ La'ana-hum Allah
    ◊ Fire and Seeds
    ◊ An Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly
    ◊ I Am Become Battle, How White Be My Tears

Best Series
    ◊ The 21st Century   Opus 1 ◊ Opus 2 ◊ Opus 3 ◊ Opus 4

Best Expert Blog

Best Commenter

Vote. And suffer no compunction to vote for articles from The Dark Wraith Forums. The point is that the character of the outcomes in all categories will be shaped by how many people express their preferences. The more people who vote, the more likely the results will reflect the genuine assessments of blog readers as a whole.

Moving on, The Dark Wraith Forums extends a welcome to commenter Jenny of donkey o.d., Night Bird's Fountain, and The Divided States of bu$hmeriKa, the latter two blogs also being homes variously to Barbi, Cyn_NY, Eli Blake, Chuck, Karen, and Lizzy, these people comprising as they do quite a community of bloggers, perhaps with more potential to be influential in the months to come than even they know. Time will tell.

From that same general sphere of bloggers—a region of Blogosphere Left 2.0 with which I am still becoming familiar—comes Lily Branford of Lose the Noose and Consider the Boot. Welcomes also go out to Steven Perez (SAP) of Thoughts from an Empty Head and to karen m. of Evil Mommy (whose daughter had a birthday just recently), as well as to Texas Shiva at Hole in the Bucket, A. Citizen of Devourmag, Dark Daughta of One Tenacious Mama, and CorrespondAnt. Finally, welcome back to Luther, Lymond, and elf all of whom had sort of vanished for a while, as had Gary A. (although at least we knew where to find him should a rescue mission have been required).

And as an addendum to the original version of this post, I call your attention to a Weblog I found through a comment at BlondeSense: the blog is called Romance Novel Review. Actually, the full title in the relevant site meta-tag is Romance Novel Review — Smart Bitches: Come for the Dominican Bitches, Stay for the Man Titty. (And with God as my witness, yes, I do feel weird even so much as typing that.) Aside from generally impressing me with bloggers and commenters possessing good grammar skills, those fine people are currently on a campaign to bring the word napoli into the American English lexicon. For those of you unfamiliar with the history of this brand-spanking new word, it has its origin in the South Dakota state senator Bill Napoli, who set forth the conditions under which he believes an exemption to South Dakota's abortion ban could be justified. For the definition of this newest word for America of the 21st Century, go to Romance Novel Review and see the drama of language evolution as it proceeds before your very eyes.


Now for some red meat. Allow your host to offer a tiny snippet of conspiracy theory with a side of possible truth. Here's the story: apparently, the Dubai Port World deal has an interesting background not yet in the public spotlight. The story goes that a senior Democratic Senator is snooping around because he or she believes that the whole arrangement is connected in some way to the Iran-contra network from the Reagan Administration. The way the story goes, George Bush, Sr., was involved in Iran-contra, as was Junior, but neither of them got burned. Neither did John D. Negroponte, who at the time oversaw as ambassador to The Honduras all of the United States interests in the brutal Central American savagery of the death squads and contra forces funded by the U.S. to stop the spread of Communism in the region. Negroponte was appointed by George W. Bush as Ambassador to Iraq and now serves as the Director of National Intelligence. At the end of February, in testimony before a Senate subcommittee he assured Senators that the Dubai Port World takeover of the management of some U.S. ports was "low risk." So what's the evidence that someone in the Senate is trying to pry open a can that could cause a lot of shrapnel to fly out? There isn't much right now: Al Martin, one of the best conspiracy theorists around—although a man given to what some would argue is an anti-Israel bent that borders on anti-Semitism—claims he was "interviewed" by a retired FBI agent who now works for a private security agency. The fellow initially represented himself to Martin as merely looking into matters involving a private lawsuit nipping at Martin's heels. The private investigator subsequently disclosed that he was actually working for someone in the Senate who thinks there's a connection between the DP World deal and nonsense going all the way back to the 1980s. The part about this that lends a smidgeon of believability is that, contrary to Al Martin's usual style of claiming to know everything about everything, this time he glibly represents to be at a loss about how the plot works. That's disturbing: when a good conspiracy theorist is at a loss for words, something might really be brewing.

So in the weeks and months ahead, don't be surprised if a great big meat pounder is brought out that connects President Bush and his '80s-era cronies to his 21st Century deal with DP World. On the other hand, don't be surprised if nothing comes of it. Even if there really is a connection, and even if that connection smells to High Heaven, this is the new world where even the most shocking abuses of power matter not one bit.

Speak your peace here. The espresso bar is open all night, and we've just waxed the floors for those of you who favor break-dancing over the foxtrot, although we ask that everyone clear the dance floor for a moment of respectful silence before we play the new hit single from the Republican National Committee, I've Got th' Low-Down, Polls-Down Mid-term Congressional Elections Blues, sung by Howard Dean, with Bill "The Boss" Clinton on sax, John "Outdoor Hearings Don't Get Me Down" Conyers on bass, and Joe "The Chin" Lieberman on empty jug.



The Dark Wraith turns on the disco ball light.

Analysis: Toward Full Yield Curve Inversion

In its continuing coverage of potential indicators of future performance of the U.S. economy, The Dark Wraith Forums has featured the state and movements of the yield curve, which has been flattening considerably over the past months. The yield curve measures the term to maturity of various government Treasury instruments against their yields. The full story of why this happens and what it means can be found in The Dark Wraith Forums article, "Of Crystal Balls and Yield Curves," where it was noted that the past five recessions have been forewarned by an "inverted" yield curve, arguably making it the most accurate intermediate-range predictor of economic downturns, although in several instances the yield curve has inverted without a full-blown recession following.

An inverted yield curve occurs when long-term Treasury debt yields are lower than short-term yields. Normally, as the term to maturity of bonds lengthens, the yields they provide investors increase, thereby making a graphical representation of maturities of bonds against their yields a smoothly upward-arcing curve. A fully inverted yield displays the opposite behavior: the curve arcs downward from left to right. During a volatile period as the economy moves from relative health to a stage where a recession could come, the yield curve can display "partial inversion," wherein the curve arcs upward for very short-term to short-term yields, then perversely downward from left to right over the short- to intermediate-term bond maturities before recovering the normal, upward-arcing shape from intermediate- to long-term maturities of the bonds being tracked.

In the article, "Yield Curves 2005," published here, the yield curves at the beginning and end of last year were featured. The main graphic from that article is presented below.


In the graphic above, the purple yield curve for the first trading day of last year displays the classic, upward arc; by the last trading day of 2005, however, the yield curve had dramatically flattened and partially inverted, warning investors and government economic planners of a possible full inversion and the potential for a subsequent recession.

In the January 18, 2006, article entitled, "Yield Curve Inversion 2006," here at The Dark Wraith Forums, the progress of the partial inversion was shown: at that date, the yield curve was displaying a troubling, classic partial inversion, looking like a roller coaster with very short-term to short-term yields rising smoothly, short-term to intermediate-term yields falling precipitously, then intermediate-term to long-term yields again rising.

Based upon data provided by the United States Department of the Treasury, the graphic below presents the yield curve as of the end of trading on the last day of February, 2006. The yield curve from the January 18, 2006, article and the yield curve at February 1 are included for comparative reference.


The blue curve of January 18, 2006, was partially inverted: the intermediate-term to long-term yields were still rising, with the 20-year Treasury bond continuing to offer investors a better return than any short-term Treasury instrument. By the first day of February, that was still the case, but the entire curve had shifted upward as interest rates on all maturities had risen. By the end of February, the curve had generally shifted even further up, but the 20-year Treasury bond yield had begun to sag noticeably.

Using the peak yield, which has been at the 6-month Treasury note, as the base for comparisons, the spread between it and the 20-year Treasury bill yield for the three curves is as follows (one basis point is one one-hundredth of a percent):

January 18, 2006
6-month T-bill: 4.46%      20-year T-bond: 4.58%      Yield spread: 12 basis points

February 1, 2006
6-month T-bill: 4.60%      20-year T-bond: 4.77%      Yield spread: 17 basis points

February 28, 2006
6-month T-bill: 4.74%      20-year T-bond: 4.70%      Yield spread: —4 basis points

In other words, by the end of February, the 20-year Treasury bond yield had finally fallen below the yield on a mere 6-month T-bill. At this point, only parts of the curve remain non-inverted: in the range of the very short-term, 1-month and 3-month T-bills, which may persist for a while at slightly lower rates for technical reasons; and narrowly in the 5-year to 10-year range. For all intents and purposes, however, as of February 28, 2006, the yield curve had nearly fully inverted; and while the dynamic of the curve had been moving in this direction for months, the Bush Administration and its Republican allies who control the Congress continued to press their claim that the economic policies of tax cuts biased toward the wealthy coupled with deficit spending on war of opportunity at the sacrifice of major cuts in domestic programs was correct policy.

With yet another near-record federal budget deficit now predicted for this year, the government would have little room to provide counter-cyclical fiscal stimulus directed toward middle-class and working poor households and small business; and even if the Republicans who control the federal government were to radically alter their priorities away from their natural base of support in large corporations and the wealthiest people, any counter-cyclical policies enacted now would have their effect felt far too late to stave off what could be a severe recession starting near the end of this year or early next year.


The Dark Wraith Forums will deliver continuing coverage on the yield curve as its deepening inversion becomes evident even to the most dull-witted of the incompetent neo-conservatives.