Orchestrated Downdraft

Money-Supply Growth Falls to 8-Month Low as Mortgage Rates Rise

You Are Being Replaced

WHY THEY MUST REPLACE YOU by Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform

Leftist Lunacy

A Restrictive Economic Idea

Quite an interesting deep dive from Rich Hoffman on why rich liberals, with incredible brilliance in a particular arena, step outside to attempt to curtail our freedom by advocating more governmental control using manipulated economic data.

"Even though they are part of shaping tomorrow technologically, they are still liberals who don’t understand the nature of productivity properly—thus they have nothing to contribute on the really big philosophical issues of our time."

ELON MUSK AND MARK ZUCKERBERG HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS: THE FLAWED FACEBOOK DATA AND ADVOCACY OF UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

It is commonplace for those who have achieved at a very high level to forget that items that partnered with their own ambitions, work ethic and intellect to find fame, fortune, and perhaps, fulfillment.

You have to wonder why?

Did they not recognize their ideas fueled by incentive, along with the freedoms that allowed them to test, forecast and most importantly, fail, to reach their goals?

Their ideas about Universal Basic Income are all incorrect.

This effort is not a fix all, or even a band aid. It is another level bureaucracy that place individuals, committees, boards and governing bodies as a restriction on your goals, choices and incentive.

With UBI, rules set forth by the issuers will be put forth, more than likely placing recipients in a box, a box that fits an overlying political agenda of those running the governance.

And without question, as Mr. Hoffman accurately notes, productivity will be lost, taking a whole host of other positive economic byproducts with it allowing government to fill the void, gaining control.

But, isn't that the elephant in the room

Order A Screwdriver

There are very few tools in the toolbox to deal with this sort of fiscal catastrophe.

As Zero Hedge notes, "As the past 8 years have shown, only debt cures more debt, so expect nothing to change."

Zero Hedge also provides evidence the CBO is yet another agency with a leftist political agenda, as the ponder: Also, we find it just a little confusing why the CBO never warned of an imminent "fiscal crisis" over the past 8 years when total US debt doubled, increasing by $10 trillion under the previous administration.

CBO Warns Of Fiscal Catastrophe As A Result Of Exponential Debt Growth In The U.S

There may be one tool in the toolbox other than increasing the debt!

Maybe the bartender can bring us a screwdriver?

Socialism Curtails Propserity

Socialism is the antithesis of individual freedom and liberty, placing constraints on prosperity.

It is amazing these facts surrounding socialism are so widely misunderstood. Perhaps it is because economics is also a blind spot for most Americans.

A great article investigated the economics of why socialism fails.

"Freedom also fosters competition, bringing prices of goods and services down and quality up. In the free market, the people are served. In the socialist state, the unsustainable state is served at the expense of the people. And this is the economics of why socialism fails."

THE ECONOMICS OF WHY SOCIALISM FAILS

Under Pressure

We noticed the following chart and subsequent commentary from Investment Research Dynamics.

What are we to make of the information presented?

Market manipulation.

And no, there has never been such a sustained absence of volatility historically.

The FED wants to insure any volatility remains in check, for if the beta became uncontrollable, things could unwind in high velocity.

Although we have no documentation, it appears certain the FED is buying and selling stocks when the deem necessary to stop any downdrafts from gaining traction.

This cannot continue, as the market will take control of itself sooner rather than later.

We have great respect for the thinkers over at Investment Research Dynamics, particularity their spot on analysis of the capital markets, although we do part company politically on occasion.

IRD nails it again, and it is warning you should heed.

The U.S. collapse will happen either now or later. For the latter outcome, at some point the Fed will need to print 10’s of trillions of dollars to prevent that horizontal line on the graph above from turning into a downward-pointing near-vertical line. Of course, please review the history of Germany circa 1923 to see how the money printing alternative worked out…

In The Tank

Economic forecaster and best selling author Harry Dent identifies seven reasons America can expect Donald Trump to become the 45th President of the United States.

"These people are mightily pissed and Trump speaks to exactly what they are feeling. These are the people working as hard as ever and getting absolutely nowhere. Real wages have been declining since 2000 and are back near 1973 levels."

"If the economy sharply tanks in the second half of this year – as I anticipate – it will work against the establishment candidate, Clinton." said Dent.

Time to break the chain of dependency and reinstalling the dignity of a job turning into a career.

7 Reasons Why Donald Trump Could Be the Next U.S. President

Kaboom

By any measure, the jobs report released Friday was a complete disaster, and the economy, for all the manipulation, is extremely fragile with weakening market conditions creating uncertainty moving forward.

As reported Friday by Marketwatch.com, "The U.S. economy created just 38,000 jobs last month, the weakest level of hiring in nearly six years."

Zero Hedge reported, "The household survey was just as bad, with only 26,000 jobs added in May, bringing the total to 151,030K. This happened as the number of unemployed tumbled from 7,920K to 7,436K driven by a massive surge in people not in the labor force which soared to a record 94.7 million, a monthly increase of over 600,000 workers.

Reports Reuters, "Underscoring the report's weakness, employers hired 59,000 fewer workers in March and April than previously reported. While the unemployment rate fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 4.7 percent in May, the lowest level since November 2007, that was because 458,000 Americans gave up the search for work."

While the dismal non farm payroll numbers do not typically have as much of an effect on the market of the level of homes similar to the subject as the market as a whole, it does at the very least signal a weak economy and weakening market conditions creating uncertainty moving forward.

"The chart below shows the gaping disconnect between declining total business sales (all businesses, not just the S&P 500 companies) and total non-farm employment. Something has to give – it’s starting to:"

Beware.

What Makes this Jobs Report so Truly Ugly?---Wolf Richter of WolfStreet.com

Firebombing Truth

A few weeks back, I had the occasion to visit with Breitbart's Sonnie Johnson. The impressive Johnson is not playing around; she is firebombing TRUTH!

Johnson is a disciple of Andrew Brietbart, the conservative innovator who dies suddenly just when the fight of Obama's overreach hit full stride.  The Breitbart Organization was founded by those associated with Andrew to continue his, our, fight. "I promised Andrew 2 things... More voices and I'll sell freedom...I will keep my promise" said Johnson.

Johnson notes the GOP establishment fails to recognize and build upon their own history. Beyond the recent rejection of the Tea Party movement, they fail miserably in the inclusion of the African American community, whose long history in the party houses Booker T. Washington and MLK.

An army of folks are ready to embrace freedom and liberty, but the GOP fails to recognize their value while embracing the continuance of the ruling class.

"They want rain without thunder and lightning."--Frederick Douglass.

It is time we roll in with some thunder, disrupting the business as usual crony capitalism we find so commonplace in today's world. It is time we all stand with Sonnie!



Find the wonderful Sonnie Johnson at DidSheSayThat.com

Propaganda Gloat Signals Theater of the Abdurd

When we have our President taking a victory lap over propaganda, in this case the inaccurate unemployment numbers and the portrayal of a sound economy, we truly have reached the theater of the absurd.

Obama gloats over the "fake" unemployment rate of 4.9%, but is the real story being leaked out?  Major layoffs have been announced, and the BLS is crying foul.

The Economic Policy Institute claims the real rate unemployment rate is 6.6%, a whopping 34.70% higher than our gleefully arrogant President proclaimed.

But even their number is understated.

ShadowStats.com indicates the actual unemployment rate is just over 10%, which we consider reasonably accurate.

There are approximately 94 million people out of work and the real unemployment rate is approximately 10.2%. If real full time jobs were available, the unemployment rate would be ticking higher as more folks would be entering the pool of those looking for work.

And we have not even entered a discussion of the staggering numbers of folks who have moved from the category of  unemployed to disabled.

We are being lied to by our government on a daily basis.


What jobs? BLS says 665,000 job LOSSES

The Coming Storm

By a slew of market data, a crash in the capital markets appears imminent. The market is extremely toppy, and as Doug Ross notes in analysis of John Hussman's weekly letter, "When weak participation, rich valuations and scarce bearish sentiment accompanied a record high in the same week, the handful of instances diminish to surround the precise market highs of 1973, 2000, and 2007, as well as 1929 on imputed sentiment data – and the week ended July 17, 2015".

From earlier instances of The Hindenburg Omen, to a recent death cross formation and an increasing disconnect between the worlds of equity and fixed income, multiple and increasing signals within the capital markets indicate trouble on the horizon.

Interest rates should have been hiked over ten quarters ago, even with the putrid economic status.  The raising of the rates would have had a serious negative ripple effect on the overall economy, but this would have been healthy, an opportunity to cleanse the market of excesses and establish true points of equilibrium.

It will not happen now, as multiple, far more significant issues have arisen that threaten to torpedo the not only the capital markets, but the overall economy as well. Of particular note in this well crafted piece is the collapse in the price of oil, which would not be happening in a healthy environment with normal and reasonably efficient supply and demand levels. Rather, it signals great weakness, which in this case, could be catastrophic.

Historical Oil Chart/InvestmentResearchDynamics.com

The collapse in oil is documentation of a contracting economy. Despite the propaganda and data manipulation, as eloquently stated in the Investment Research Dynamics piece, "It’s hard to hide the truth when there’s still checks and balances around to counter-balance the Orwellian fog that is engulfing our system."

As Jim Quinn, who runs truly outstanding blog The Burning Platform, points out, department store sales are imploding, noting "What is revealed when you look under the hood of this economic recovery is that it is a complete and utter fraud. The recovery is nothing but smoke and mirrors, buoyed by subprime auto debt, really subprime student loan debt, corporate stock buybacks, and Fed financed bubbles in stocks, real estate, and bonds."

Add in the massive expansion of the FED balance sheet increasing inflation, and you indeed have an unsustainable mirage of a recovery.  No doubt; the storm is coming ashore.

In the aftermath of this impending collapse, engulfed with smoldering evidence of failure of a slew of centralized government programs, most notably Dodd-Frank, perhaps it will dawn on the minds of those placed in command of governance to all to unwind the centralized government programs, reduce taxation and regulation, unleash the great entrepreneurial spirit of America and embrace the power of free market capitalism, which in the words of noted economist Larry Kudlow, is the best path to prosperity.

Intellectual Squeeze

Excellent piece by Charles Hugh Smith via Zero Hedge, which presents clearly that as governments squeeze the top earners, who are also the employers, through taxation and regulation, it is in fact the middle class and lower income earners ( just the folks the rhetoric claims to attempting to help)  who pay the price.  Simply put, when you tax something, it produces less utility; or it cost more.

Charles Hugh Smith/oftwominds.com

It is simply to observe the lack of knowledge the low information crowd has in the realm of basic economic theory.  A classic example of this is the recent protests in front of fast food chains, demanding a higher hourly wage because the employer can supposedly afford it, rather than due to superior work performance by the employee.

Extra costs placed on corporations, or employers, are not just simply absorbed.  They place reductions on revenues, profits and limit choice, each of which negatively affects the consumer.  In fact, the pain is greater upon those who can least afford it; the low income/information crowd.

If the a large faction of the citizenry fails to recognize terrorist organizations of evil aiming the destruction of the US, we certainly cannot expect them to grasp basic economic principles.

Even at upscale and elite Harvard University, we have mind boggling levels of intellectual vacancies.

Whose Buying?

While there is a large contingent who despise such activity, I have always enjoyed respectful political discussion at the many local watering holes I frequent.  A recent topic engaged upon with one of my favorite participants is why, if we are indeed at war with the evil terrorist group ISIS, why has the Obama administration not thoroughly dismantled their main sourcing of finance; oil.

Furthermore, who are the buyers of this oil, and what are their motivations behind helping to finance this evil band of terrorists?   Curious George deemed this subject worthy of putting pen to pad, so therefore, BAHL'S Blog welcomes our third guest on this timely subject from Curious George:

    Are we at war with ISIS or not? This seems to be the question that The President, Congress and the press are bantering about as events play out in Iraq and Syria. Just for the sake of argument let's say that we are. This makes sense since we are dropping bombs on and shooting missiles at our enemies over there. Also let me say at the outset that I support these moves and whatever other military action we feel we need to take over there to defeat ISIS.

    Based on that premise let's take a look at the last war that we can arguably say we won, World War II. During that war, and the one before, we came to be introduced to what is arguably the age old concept of interdiction. No interdiction is not a term coined by the DEA during the war on drugs. In war, this is the concept of seizing or destroying your enemy's ability to rearm, re-enforce and resupply. This includes interdicting their commerce, their ability to sell goods to others to make money. This significantly effects their ability to replace their losses and to make war. In WWII, the allies bombed axis factories and attacked their shipping. Right after the disastrous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Secretary of the Navy issued issued a very short and direct order by radio to all US. Navy submarines operating in the Pacific. "Conduct unrestricted submarine warfare on Japan." This meant that any vessel flying the Japanese flag was a target. This order, and the effort that followed by our subs, came at our lowest point in the war. It was none the less very effective in greatly reducing the Japanese ability to make war and was a major factor in the eventual allied victory.

    Although I served in the military, I am far from an expert on warfare or for that matter, economics. But in light of all that I have seen, heard, and read; it would seem to me that the way to defeat an enemy in war is to 1) Kill them and root them from the ground they hold, and 2) as a second axis of war, interdict their resupply and commerce. In the past, these terror organizations finance infrastructure was underground and had o be investigated and rooted out. This is true of the terror state ISIS with regard to some of their financing activities. But with regard to the selling of "black market oil" we know what oil fields ISIS holds and we know that they are selling at rock bottom prices to folks who are close enough to send tank trucks to get it. Supposedly, from there, it "MAY" be going to refineries in Iran, Turkey, and to small refineries run by ordinary individuals. In addition, it has been rumored in the press that some of our EU allies have also admitted to buying ISIS black market oil. It should be noted that Turkey is also a NATO "ally", and examples of such activity have been presented in a piece at (The Daily Star, July 26th, 2014 article by Mazin Sidhmed, and an in a piece at Zerohedge.com by Tyler Dudren on 9/15/2014). It should be noted that Turkey has denied any involvement in ISIS oil smuggling operations.

    So who is buying? where is this oil going. Turkey? Oil rich Iran? Perhaps an EU "ally" like France, who has recently made comments against what is known as the petro-dollar according to the Durden article. In addition to these things, it has also been reported that sympathetic, (to ISIS), militia groups along the route are making money "protecting these shipments en-route. They are certainly no match for our air power. According to online reports, ISIS controls 11 oilfields in Iraq and Syria. We know where they are. From that information it is safe to assume that we also have the tank truck routes. Why we are not interdicting these shipments raises the question of who's interests are being protected here. We do not have to destroy the oil fields if we can stop the trucks, although I would never take the first option off the table because it might become necessary. The 'black market oil" is netting ISIS millions of dollars a day. Interdiction of these trucks would go a long way toward putting a serious dent in ISIS ability to make war. It would also fit in nicely with Obama's degrade and destroy philosophy. Take the war directly to ISIS and also destroy their ability to rearm and resupply. Why are we not doing this? Why only now is the mainstream press beginning to discuss it?

    As I stated above, I am far from an expert on economics and warfare. I'm just a taxpaying American citizen with a question, which to paraphrase Jimmy Buffett, bothers me so.

False Argument of Minimum Wage

Facts are indeed stubborn.  Given the economic facts we have seen continuously seen for decades regarding the minimum wage, it should be clear the argument is not about "working families"; but rather a political agenda. Once again, the minimum wage is not a wage designed to support "working families" and raising it reduces employment.

Over at Zero Hedge today, a chart showing retail trade offers a notable emerging difference between states that recently hiked the wage and those that held firm. Retail is most telling, as the indusrty has among the highest level of these type of workers.

Retail Trade/Chart via Zero Hedge

Again, raising the wage hurts the very people the propaganda tells us it will help.  In the macro, it reduces the efficiencies of firms, raising costs and restricting their abilities to add workers, which is an overall drag on economic production regionally and thus nationally.

Fast food workers recently went on strike to obtain higher wages, not due to their hard work on the job, but because of the perception that they deserve it and the corporate employer can afford it. In an interview with Business Insider economist, Paul Krugman thinks the overall costs of raising the wage would not cause as many issues as most think.  Krugman fails to recgonize the adminstration he advocates for has no right to direct the capital of private firms through social engineering. Economically, why cause any issues? Why not reduce encumbrances firms face limiting the obstacles faced in advancing growth? 

Unless, of course, you have other objectives.

Common sense would dictate that government intervention in this arena is designed to help the workers and help the economy grow, but that is a farce.  Government mandated wage levels, along with price controls, are impediments to growth.  Therefore, the goals are not economic, but politically driven, with the plans set forth in the Cloward and Piven Strategy the objectives.

Free market capitalism, with limited governmental restrictions on business, is without question the best path to prosperity.  Under the current administration, fees, taxes and government regualtions have increased while freedom and prosperity have decreased.

In the form of the old argument regarding the minimum wage, now you have an example of why.

Promoting Prosperity Path

 

Larry Kudlow
Photo Totalpic.com

Last Friday, CNBC announced The Kudlow Report, hosted by Larry Kudlow, will end its run this month after over a decade of producing top notch analysis of the financial markets in its 7PM EST time slot.

CNBC president Mark Hoffman said "Larry expressed his love of the network and personal pride in what had been accomplished on his program over the years but now wanted to slow down just a bit."

I certainly hope Hoffman was being truthful when discussing the end of The Kudlow Report, as Kudlow well deserves the opportunity to exit on his own terms.

Ratings at CNBC have been in freefall, and although shows on all networks discussing financial topics are in decline (have folks just thrown in the towel?), CNBC is on the wrong side of the relative strength in this matter.

The dismal ratings are no fault of Kudlow, whose show and analysis are tops on the network.  There are other outstanding individual hosts and reporters on the network, most notably Joe Kernen, Bill Griffeth and Rick Santelli, so the decline really has nothing to do with the talent on board.

Unlike Hoffman, I know why the decline at CNBC has been deeper.  It comes from what can only be a dictation from the news division of parent company NBC to season the broadcasts with a left leaning agenda mindlessly supportive of President Obama and his agenda, with global climate change a prime example.

Those of us in disagreement with Obama who have been longtime viewers of the network, have grown tired of being relentlessly "nudged" on the progressive agenda.  Each night on The Kudlow Report, we have to get a dose of John Harwood on Capitol Hill, who may win the Obama ass-kisser of the decade award.  His blatantly bias, and incorrect, observations detract from the insightful analysis Kudlow, with guests from both sides, presents.

If indeed Kudlow is being forced out, it will be yet another mistake by CNBC and we can all witness the 7PM time slot ratings continue in decline.  I suspect, if she were so inclined, this would be a golden opportunity for Maria Bartiromo, newly hired away from CNBC by FOX Business Network, to own the time slot from a financial perspective.

Rather than worry about the inside baseball at CNBC, I know that I will really miss joining Kudlow for analysis of the activities of the day, political and financial. As a former associate director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan administration and chief economist at Bear Stearns, Kudlow was very knowledgeable and a true professional all the way around.

If Kudlow was shoved out, I hope to perhaps see him turn up over at The Blaze. If not, I hope Larry enjoys the extra time with his family and hitting balls out on the tennis court. 

Although Kudlow's tenure at CNBC has produced many memorable moments and exchanges, if we remember Larry for one thing, perhaps it will be his spot on mantra that "FREE MARKET CAPITALISM IS THE BEST PATH TO PROSPERITY.

Don't you forget it.  All the best Larry!

Driven Out

Football, Food and Family. 

Sadly, while we celebrate during this time of Thanksgiving, we must watch the other hand as the encroachment of liberty engaged upon by our President continues. Exhibit A for this weekend has emerged. 

 

President Barack Obama

The Daily Caller reports the EPA is preparing to unleash a deluge of new regulations.  No doubt,these regulatory actions are engaged upon under the accepted premise that Global Warming, or climate change, exists and is a significant threat to the existence of mankind.

 

At BAHL Revere, we reject the premise.

These actions, masked under global climate change and spearheaded by United Nations mandates, are part of a plan for the transformation of wealth on a global scale.

In addition, these regulatory actions place controls upon private and personal property; and therefore, the citizenry.  Costs of everyday activity will increase, curtailing economic prosperity.  The ripple effect of these regulatory actions is standard economic theory which many of our readers learned in high school.

It is imperative that the media driven propaganda on this and similar subjects be driven out, and common sense truths be recognized.

Please pass the word to your friends and neighbors!

Economic Freedom Regression

Given the terrorist acts in Beantown yesterday resulting in the deaths of three American citizens and injuries, some most significant, to potentially hundreds of others, Americans appropriately lost focus on what April 15 is commonly known for; the day individual income taxes are due.

With every American becoming a Bostonian in heart yesterday, the 100th anniversary of the income tax passed without fanfare.  It is hard to fume at Woodrow Wilson when you are on a seek and destroy mission after the ruthless terrorists who aim America harm.

Should the events in Boston not have occurred, the Progressives would have spent the day rejoicing at the ever increasing levels of taxation they have levied on working Americans.  Ronald Reagan once half sort of joked that "Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15."

How true. The Progressives under President Obama, exponentially increasing what was already a bloated national debt upon their election, find nothing that cannot be taxed.

Just in the past week, we find Obama seeking to find ways to tax the 401K accounts of individual citizens and under the Progressive leadership in Maryland, under the false premise of global warming, comes word of a complete absurdity; a rain tax.

The progressive elites claim knowledge superior to the rest of us, but somehow, obviously slept during economics class.  Standard economic theory indicates when you tax something, you get less of it.  As the Progressives seek to continuously raise revenues, oh excuse me, taxes, it is clear every American should have a thorough understanding of The Laffer Curve.

As such, please see the following short tutorial from Prager University:



The Progressives leadership has a fundamental understanding of this, so therefore, their policies are illogical and in full scale violation of basic economic theory.  But why?

The reasons are found in the concepts put forward by Cloward and Piven, basically centering upon crashing the current system to have it replaced by a form of socialism which prohibits individual economic growth and entrepreneurship. Obama is doing a fine job achieving this goal thus far.

When over half the country is dependent upon government assistance, those footing an increasing bill will ultimately collapse, allowing an all too welcoming government to take control.  The individualism of the citizenry is lost when your wages and benefits are not rewards for your hard work and accomplishment but rather controlled hand outs from those in governance, ultimately unelected technocrats.

Increasing taxation is restrictive to economic freedom.  It should be remembered that free market capitalism is the best path prosperity. Always.

Eyes on the Tentacles of Terrorism

The situation is fluid, but we conclude terrorists have attacked America in Boston. We will have plenty to say in the future, but for now, please keep our Bostonian friends, race competitors and their families in your prayers.

Contrary to the opinion of the Obama administration, we have been and remain in a global war on terror, both militarily and economically.  In times of a crisis, when attention is directed in appropriate fashion in a particular arena, our eye is temporarily taken off many other, and perhaps more important, issues 

Today may be such a day, as gold was in free fall as the markets closed sharply lower on Wall and Broad.

While we keep our Bostonian friends, race competitors and their families in our prayers, we must watch the other hand. There IS something to see here.

Kevin Freeman over at Secret Weapon has all the tentacles of the gold collapse covered, it is well worth your time to get up to speed over at his Global Economic Warfare site.

The economy is not doing better, and whether it is the Obama administration of Goldman Sachs informing you it has, they profit from delivering false information to you, so eliminate the noise.

Another strong piece describing the precarious situation can be found over at Zero Hedge.  As noted on this stellar website, gold volatility is signaling counter party risk again.  Is another bubble bursting?

Financial analysts are all over the place, and due to excessive market manipulation, guidelines from past history are out the window.

On top of this, we had what appeared to be a natural landslide the other day at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott mine in Utah which erased a large portion of Silver mining production for what may be years to come. Silver joined gold in tanking today.

 
Could these events possibly be related?  What does the immediate future hold?

I don't know what I am having for lunch on Tuesday, much less the direction of equity and precious metal trading in the capital markets, but I do know the market is being manipulated by the FED and that the economic fundamentals (yes, I know many companies are beating much lowered earnings expectations) are not good at all. 

I will point the labor force participation rate to hang my hat on. Caveat Emptor!

As A General Rule

Obviously, with the election of Barack Obama in 2008 we knew the military would be at increasing odds with the administration. Historically, the left has held disdain for our military and although most of the nation was fooled, Obama is as left wing as it gets.

One of the first eyebrow raisers was the saga surrounding General Stanley McChrystal. A request by US Army General Stanley McCrystal for the immediate need of some 40,000 additional troops to take control over the terrorists in Afghanistan remained unanswered for what seemed an eternity by the all knowing Obama. Due to later comments critical of the Obama administration published in a Rolling Stone article, McChrystal was appropriately fired in 2010. Gen. McChrystal was correct in his assessment, but due to his position he should have withheld commentary.

In June, Brig. Gen. Neil H. Tolley was removed reportedly due to remarks regarding espionage in North Korea.

Beloved General David Petraus resigned after an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, became public.  You may recall Petraus,whom the left found abhorant, was slandered as David Betrayus by the civil left. As it turns out, the administration knew of this inappropriate relationship for some time, seemingly hanging on to the information to box in Petraus when deemed appropriate for a political victory.  However, through his own actions, Petraus made his bed, and although his job performance was explemplary, these actions made him unfit for duty.

But there was more to the Petraus story, as Broadwell was said to have threatened a Tampa socialite who was friends with Pertraus.  The socialite, Jill Kelley, not to be confused with the porn star of the same name, had a most intriguing background.  A jubilant supporter of President Obama, Kelly had been awarded an honorary consul for South Korea, a ceremonial position, and along with her sister, had inside dealings with many of the top brass over at nearby McDill Air Force base.  Gen. John Allen also had numerous interactions with Kelley, and after an investigation, was recently cleared.  I am not sure we completely understand exactly what was going on with Kelley, and we may never know.

 

General Carter Ham was seemingly made a Benghazi scapegoat and was replaced, although there is word he may have left due to personal family health issues.

 

This past week, there was continued upheaval among our military leaders.  Navy Commander Luis Molina was dismissed Friday as commander of the USS Pasadena due to lost confidence.

 

In addition, United States Marine Corps Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis was notified that he was being replaced as commander of U.S. Central Command by a note rather than a face to face meeting which is disrespectful.  As Mackubin Thomas Owens writes in The Weekly Standard, "By pushing Mattis overboard, the administration is sending a message that it doesn’t want smart, independently minded generals who speak candidly to their civilian leaders. The message that generals and admirals may receive that they should go along to get along, which is a bad message for the health of U.S. civil-military relations,”

 

While I agree with the assessment concluded by Owens, I am not an expert in military rank and the criteria for evaluating the performance of high ranking military officials. However, it appears there is an unusually high amount of turnover.

The military is one of the few held in high esteem by our citizenry, a group not known for strongly supporting President Obama.  President Obama partially blames our military strength for handicapping third world advancement. For Obama, who is an apologist for American military might, would opportunities to discredit those in charge be useful to his globalist agenda of wealth transformation?

The inability to remotely address the catastrophic economic issues of our country may lead to massive cuts brought about by sequestration, and these cuts would have a deeply negative impact on our military.  By design?

 

Then, I came across the following video presentation. 

 

Given my distrust of this administration, coupled with the seemingly extraordinary number of turnover among the top military brass, the litmus test could in fact be a source of the high turnover rate and therefore bears strong consideration.

With regard to the additional topics covered in the video, I concur with many of the conclusions, particularly the obfuscation of the real agenda and the fusion of the administration and the mainstream media and their propaganda distribution. The economic issues are alarmingly real.

President Obama, as he has said, views the Constitution as a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.

So, when you have a President at odds with the document he swore to protect and defend, you find yourself in a country with significant internal issues for which governance takes place against the consent of the governed.  Historically, as a general rule, these outcomes have not gone well to say the least.