Chesterton put it well when he contrasted the pessimist and the patriot. A patriot can see anything wrong with his country because he will side with it regardless and wants it to be worthy. A pessimist, on the other hand, looks for anything that can detach men from its cause. Where you fall on that divide is obvious from your previous post.
As for why I need to debate many here, it is because we get articles like this one, at the very time TARP is being terminated for every large bank, having proved successful in its primary mission. In case you hadn't noticed, countering anti-American media spin is a primary purpose of FR, which is founded on the understanding that the MSM cannot be trusted to tell the truth, but will always distort everything.
Bank of America has not screwed the taxpayers again. The taxpayers did not lose a dime supporting Bank of America. Having now round tripped on Fed support to the banking system, TARP support to BAC, Citi, Wells Fargo, etc, we are at the precise moment in time in which nearly all of the stock allegations against this *Bush* policy have been refuted by reality. That is why its opponents spin desperately at this moment and on this subject. They don't want anyone to notice that their endlessly screamed lies that it was all bankrupting the taxpayer, were and remain flat out lies.
But I do notice, and I rub their noses in the fact, and they bloody well do not like it. Tough toenails.
So are you saying I’m incorrect when I mentioned that all countries rise and fall?
After you get done agreeing with me that all countries live and die, insert the US of A in that equation since we are a country.
You (or your hero) call it patriot vs pessimist. I call it pessimist vs optimist vs realist. You’re the optimist, I’m the realist. The realist says if we move toward the correct path, we can delay the inevitable, but we can’t remove it all together. It is like saying... if I work out and eat healthy, I can potentially live longer. The truth of the matter is, I will die eventually.
Sounds like Chesterton should have used “Peter Pan” instead of “Patriot” to denote one who lives in a fantasy land. Merely changing “optimist” to “patriot” is a silly attempt at trying to create the illusion of good. Kind of like “patriot act” as opposed to calling it “searches without judicial oversight act” which would have been more accurate.
TARP is/was a failure because it didn’t allow the big/weak to fail. The strong surviving is what makes the world go ‘round. Allowing the fat cats to survive is only putting off until tomorrow what should have been done today. Let’s let the tree continue to grow by cutting off the dying branches.
There were still companies giving loans. A friend of mine owns his own mortgage company and is about to buy a bank (since the time to buy is now when everyone else is selling). Business has been phenomenal for him during the downturn because his loans were made using sound practices. Those that didn’t use sound business practices, piss on them. Small to mid companies like his could easily pick up the slack for the dead weight.
So the MSM was against TARP? Really? They were eating it up while simultaneously blaming Bush for the problem. True conservatives (such as those on FR) were the ones sounding the alarm AND blasting Bush. Tea Parties were sounding the alarm. The MSM loved it because the Dems and moderate Repubs loved it. That also lead to the BO bailout which was again loved by the MSM.
Your beloved TARP is about to be converted to more “stimulus” and that my misinformed amigo is why TRUE conservatives were against it. Once monies (or freedoms) are freely taken from the people in a “crisis”, they are never returned. Sure, we might get some chump change out of it, but we’re still going to get hosed by TARP.
One suggestion, don’t use phrases like “bloody well”, it makes one sound like a pompous posterior, English chap. It further affirms my previous assertion and up until your last paragraph, was almost willing to think I had the wrong impression of you.