The Story of the Scorpion and the Frog.... The New U.S. Foreign Policy!

The Scorpion and the Frog

One day, a scorpion arrived at a river and wanted to cross it.  He new he couldn't swim across, but he saw a frog sitting on a rock on the other side. 

The scorpion called to the frog across the river.  "Hello, Mr. Frog.  Since I cannot swim and you can, will you please come here and give me a ride across the river to the other side?" asked the scorpion.

The frog looked startled, but quickly responded, "Oh, no!  You are a scorpion.  If you sting me, I will die."

"But if you give me a ride, I promise, I will not sting you.  I give you my word," responded the scorpion.

"Well now, how do I know that if I try to help you, you won't try to sting me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," continued the scorpion, "if I sting you, then I will die also because I cannot swim!  If you will kindly give me a ride, I give you my word that I will not sting you."

The frog thought about it, but the scorpion's reasoning made sense, but still questioning it, the frog asked, "What happens if you really don't want a ride, and I get close to the bank? You could sting me and go back to the shore!"

"That's true," agreed the scorpion, "but then how would I get to the other side?"

"Okay, so if I take you to the other side, how do I know that you won't wait until we get to the other side before you sting me?" asked the still uncertain frog.

"Ohhh, do you doubt my word?  I cannot cross the river on my own.  If you give me a ride across the river," said the scorpion in his friendliest voice, "I will be forever grateful to you, so grateful in fact, that I could never sting you.  That wouldn't be very nice of me now, would it?  And we can be good friends!"

After thinking a little bit longer, the frog thought it might be nice to have a scorpion as a friend, so the frog told the scorpion to wait for him ... that he'd be right over to give him a ride.  The frog swam across the river to the bank and told the scorpion to hop on his back.  The scorpion crawled on the frog's back and they started back across the river.  The frog was very careful to stay close to the surface so the scorpion wouldn't drown.

Halfway across the river, the frog felt a sharp, painful sting, and a throbbing numbness coursed through his body.  Realizing that the scorpion had stung him and that death was inevitable, he looked back at the scorpion shocked and bewildered, and asked, "Why did you do that?  You gave my your word!  Now we are both going to die."

"It's my nature!"

So why am I telling you this story?

Russian spies were caught in the United States.  Hurriedly, a deal was struck with Russia to release the spies in a prisoner exchange.  For reasons or strategies that are not obvious to us, this may have been  a gesture of goodwill by the frog, but let's call him a toad instead, with a hope of increased cooperation in the future between the two countries.  Were any promises made or were this administration's expectations unreasonable or inflated?

So who is the toad and who is the scorpion in the story? Actually, barf is the incompetent, inexperienced naive toad, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are the scorpions.  Barf just didn't have the good sense to realize he could not make friends with Russia. Russia will always be Russia, and Russia "[S]ometimes ... [got] the impression that America does not need friends" but only "auxiliary subjects to command."[1]  "... Putin and his administration dramatically curtailed freedoms. His government has shut down TV stations and newspapers, jailed businessmen whose wealth and influence challenged the Kremlin's hold on power, defanged opposition political parties and arrested those who confront his rule."[2]  As a child, one learns that tigers do not change their stripes. Putin is former KGB. Once KGB, always KGB ... It's his nature.

Add Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, into the scorpion nest and it's not looking good for the toad. We have a scorpion able to cajole and appear to entertain the seemingly reasonable requests made by the USA and by the United Nations for inspections.  Instead, the naive, incompetent toad found a disingenuous scorpion that actually takes great pleasure in stinging an unsuspecting victim despite ensuring its own death ... It's his nature!

What is the toad doing?  Barf has neither the competence, nor the experience to deal with such an opportunistic and deadly predator.  The scorpions are working together to ensure the destruction of the toad.  I don't think the toad realizes that he's in over his head.  You can't be nice to scorpions.  The relationship in the real world, as is portrayed in the story, is one of "mutually assured destruction."  There are no winners when a toad tries to be friends with scorpions!

The End

__________________

[1] Ignatius, Adi. "Person of the Year 2007: A Tsar is Born." Time Magazine, http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1690766-1,00.htm

[2] Id.

The United States of America has been mortally wounded... and like the Titanic, now it's just a matter of time.

God may be the only one to help us now.  This boat is sinking.  She has been mortally wounded ... the other bills they will pass between now and during the lame duck session (before the new Congress is sworn in) will only ensure that she sinks faster.  It is now a matter of time, and out of our hands.  My posts on other sites, and for those of you who do not believe that dirty harry is as sinister as they come, I'll tell you, if he gets a nod from the NRA  ... this guy is toxic, the bill is toxic ... another 2000+ page bill that adds another level of Venezuelan/Nazi Germany-style government bureacracy.  The IRS tax evader, geithass-ner can go in, grab your company, and liquidate assets ... Sound like what the Founding Fathers had in mind?  Didn't think so.  This is not about protecting the people.  It is all about control!

I have called Scott Brown's offices, and hope you will also. He was a candidate that was not supported by the GOP, and it was NOT MA that got him elected against Coakley, but a nationwide effort of patriotic Americans.  I told him I wanted my money back.  He has turned his back on the American people.  It was the American people who raised $1.5 million during his moneybomb and I am ashamed I rallied for it.  At a time when the dems NEED Republicans, they were there, lining up to sign onto these liberal, socialized, progressive bills.  The Republicans needed to stand together.  I am so pissed I cannot see straight.

Scott Brown WA contact info:
Phone: (202) 224-4543
Fax: (202) 228-2646

Scott Brown MA contact info:
Phone: (617) 565-3170
Fax: (617) 723-7325

I was in my car today, and an economist (sorry, didn't get his name) was interviewed on the radio ... the dems have created entitlements.  By 2012 we may have a new president, but he/she will not take office until 2013 ... HELLCARE will be in effect, we will have been taxed out the wazooo for three years, and no one will have the stomach to revoke it, nor the power to do it.  With the Financial NIGHTMARE bill ... it is no longer if, but becomes instead, simply a matter of time.  How long are they able to keep this Titanic a/k/a the USA afloat after she has been mortally wounded?  Crap n tax, the Financial NIGHTMARE ... these will just ensure that she sinks faster.  The government has NEVER HAD such unprecedented power in the history of this Republic.  I can't believe it's happening, but guys ... prepare to go down.  The races are incited, the rhetoric is inflamatory.  Oh, God, please help us. I cannot stop the tears from flowing.  Dear God, I pledge to you, my life, my fortune, my sacred honor, anything, for just one opportunity to turn this around and stop the madness ... I beg for just one chance.

They cannot pass a financial reform bill without disbanding Freddie and Fannie ... but wait, F&F have the crap n tax patents, don't they?  These rats in power will be the ones making the money ... and will reduce the rest of the country to paupers.  It gives the government untold and unspecified power.  Ovomit was pleased.  Why is the Dept of the Interior handling the Gulf spill and not the Dept. of Energy?  Add immigration to the mix with an ADDITIONAL pricetag of over a trillion dollars. 

It's over; Endgame; Checkmate; Game, set, match.

****

Senate Plans Final Passage of Finance Bill This Week

July 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate plans to take up the financial-regulation bill on July 15 as Democrats secured the 60 votes needed to enact the biggest rewrite of Wall Street rules since the Great Depression.

Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will file a procedural motion today that will permit the Senate to take final action by the end of this week and send the bill to President Barack Obama’s desk.

“We’re cleaning up Wall Street,” said Reid, a Nevada Democrat. “We’re going to make sure big bankers never again gamble away our future.”

The decision to seek a vote comes after Republicans Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, said they would back the bill. Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, announced today he would vote yes after telling reporters yesterday he was undecided.

Their support gives Democrats the 60 votes needed to end debate in the chamber and move to a final vote, which will require a simple majority. Reid said the final vote could come as late as July 17.

“We listened to them carefully and I’m very appreciative of their support,” Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat and the lead architect of the legislation, said today of the three New England Republicans.

The House of Representatives approved the legislation on June 30, five days after lawmakers worked through a 20-hour marathon session to merge versions approved separately by the House and Senate.

Obama Pleased

Obama said the legislation would help prevent another financial crisis. “I urge the Senate to act quickly so I can sign it into law next week,” he said.

The bill creates a consumer bureau at the Federal Reserve, a council of regulators to monitor firms for systemic risk to the economy and a mechanism for liquidating large financial firms whose collapse would threaten the economy.

Reid, whose party controls 59 of the Senate’s 100 seats, must avoid further defections by Democrats to retain the 60-vote supermajority needed to thwart Republican opposition.

Senator Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who opposed the Senate bill in May, said last month that he will again vote against it. Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat who opposed the measure in May, said she plans to back the final bill.

Not Perfect

Brown praised the legislation for setting up and defining some types of trading, improving transparency and ending the government practice of propping up large financial firms.

“While it’s certainly not a perfect bill, I think it goes a good measure to make sure we don’t have the same type of problems that we had before,” he told reporters.

Snowe said in a statement that the bill “takes necessary steps to implement meaningful regulatory reforms, create strong consumer protections, and restore confidence in the American financial system.”

Another Republican vote could come from Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, who voted for an earlier version of the bill. He said today in a Bloomberg Television interview that he remains undecided. His spokeswoman, Jill Kozeny, said in an e- mail last week that the lawmaker is “very concerned” about the mechanism Democrats created to pay for the bill after removing a bank fee. The revised plan calls for ending the $700 billion bailout program early and increasing banking-industry deposit- insurance fees.

Byrd’s Death

Republican support became more crucial for Democrats when West Virginia’s Robert Byrd died last month at age 92 after serving more than 50 years in the Senate. West Virginia’s legislature is scheduled to meet July 15 to clarify the process for replacing the Democratic lawmaker, Sara Payne, a spokeswoman for Governor Joe Manchin, said yesterday in an e-mail.

The overhaul bill drew scant support from Senate Republicans because it “stayed on the far left and therefore was not in the end appealing to most of my members,” Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said today at a news conference.

--With assistance from Phil Mattingly, James Rowley and Kate Andersen Brower in Washington. Editors: Lawrence Roberts, Gregory Mott

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-13/senate-plans-final-p

Obama Finance Bill Will Allow Seizure of Companies
Friday, 21 May 2010 02:38 PM
By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

President Barack Obama has taken the United States one more giant step towards socialism by ramming through the Senate his financial regulation bill.

The bill authorizes the secretary of the Treasury — a political appointee — to seize any financial company (bank or nonbank) simply because, in his opinion, it is too big to fail and in danger of insolvency.

This power can be used for political retribution, pressure for campaign funding, or any other abuse bureaucratic whim or partisan politics can conceive. It is a power Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez would love to have!

The legislation also requires that any business that extends credit, in any form, to clear the loan instrument in advance with the new consumer protection agency. The backlog of pending applications will strangle consumer credit.

And the bill fails to do the one thing it must do — regulate derivatives and make them transparent. Senator Chris Dodd, D-Conn., bowed to pressure from his sponsors on Wall Street and deleted the regulatory provision and set up a commission to study the situation for two years!

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., protested the cop-out with a no vote against the legislation.

So how did it pass? Four Republicans sold out, that´s how!

Among the RINOs were, of course, Susan Collins and Olympia Snow of Maine. But, surprisingly, Scott Brown, R Mass., the newly elected Massachusetts miracle defected as did the normally stalwart Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Now the federal government has effectively taken over about one-third of our national economy by passing Obamacare and regulatory reform in almost the same breath.

Repealing this regulatory travesty must be high on our 2011 agenda!
http://www.newsmax.com/Morris/finance-bill-barack-obama/2010/05/21/...