On the 19th of January, 2001 the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,587.59.
On January 18, 2008 the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12,099.30.Last night (January 21, 2008) at 7 p.m. Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures contracts closed at 11,657.00.
That's a whopping success over seven years of the Bush administration of 14 percent for the Friday number, or less than 2 percent annual growth compounded. For last night's futures contracts number just 10 percent, or less than 1.5 percent annual growth compounded.
Everything these guys touch turns to absolute dross. It's like Midas in reverse.
And it's not 9/11 causing this. The markets actually survived that pretty well. It's discretionary spending on military adventures wracking up huge debt, lack of regulation and/or oversight of our food industries, radical re-writing and abusing of financial controls for the banking/ insurance/ mortgage industry and more.
These jackasses chose the route they took, and this dead market accompanied by horrible growth is the direct result of their choices. They could have invested in massive research on renewable energy, but instead they shipped billions to Iraq they can't account for. They could have ensured mortgages were issued to people who could actually afford to pay them, but instead they decided to use our telecom industry to spy on us. They could have encouraged thrift and savings to pay for our response to 9/11, but instead they told us all to go out and buy and SUV. Instead of pushing for increased preparedness in homes and communities to get ready for potential disasters like Katrina or another attack, they decided that torturing people who might have been in a taxi with a terrorist was the shining path.
It's not like this is news, but every once in a while it just gets slammed home and shoved down your throat. And you just want to scream, "DON'T YOU PEOPLE FUCKING SEE WHAT A COLOSSAL CLUSTER-FUCK THESE ASSHOLES HAVE CREATED?"
How can the media ignore this? How are there no front page exposes of the complete idiocy Bush and his band of merry morons have foisted off on our great country?
Idiocy that has destroyed our standing in the world, our economic prosperity, and our military. Idiocy that is stealing the future from our children, and the present from ourselves. Idiocy that seems to me obvious, blatant and intentional.
I'm just blown away by the fact that the media still takes any of these jackasses at face value anymore.
Seriously. Am I insane? Am I a complete psycho like the dudes with the purple sneakers waiting for the Hale Bopp comet to save them? Have I been that way since 2000? Am I completely blinded to reality and all these other people know and see things that I blank out on?
Am I?