"Obama cynically appealed to the idiots -- the young, the stupid, the naive, the silly, the rock idol worshippers, and probably the drug-addled masses, all the lowbrows in the land."
Yes. And it's appearing that Buffet is starting to realize what an idiot he was for buying into this idiot in chief.
The liberal/conservative paradigm is a joke. Presidents walk into an existing office, with existing rules and existing power structures. At best, they can introduce their own "pet projects" or views - medical marijuana, stem cell research, reading programs, etc... At worse, they fail at "trying" to somewhat reign in the existing power structures of Finance and Defense and Big Pharma. When we look at things like Medicare, the intuitive response is to think "socialism" when in fact, the program is a windfall to Big Pharma. When we look to things like "Global Warming" the response by many is to deride tree huggers - when in reality, it's a windfall to the upcoming green bubble of cap n trade and new technologies, leverage in trade treaties, etc... that may or may not actually do anything for the environment. When we look at things like "homeowner bailouts" we scream that deadbeats will unfairly live in their McMansions - when all the while those programs are really Big Finance subsidies to maintain asset values. In terms of foreign policy - it's just a seesaw of two types of policy. Strong Arm the world until you piss them off, and then schmooze them, all the while committing more money and troops to controlling the world. You guys really think Obama is some peace activist? Please. It's classic good cop bad cop. Try out the Neocon approach, when it fails or the rate of return diminishes, try a different tactic, like say, get the son of a muslim to schmooze them. It's all coordinated. And when the voters argue amongst themselves, be assured that their eyes are off the ball, that they lose the "big picture" and their real strength is marginalized as it should be for an Imperial Power. Real decisions are made by those with real wealth and power - "townhall" meetings are wonderful distractions that make people feel "empowered." LOL Wake up people - Obama and Bush are a lot more similar than they are different. We're supposed to be indifferent unemotional traders - use that line of thinking and follow the money... And then speculate/invest accordingly. Off hours - follow your patrotic instincts and do something worthwhile - like support a third party candidate. Otherwise, whatever wealth you attain will be taken by the power structure that ALREADY KNOWS things will never be the same and will do whatever it takes to plunder this country to the point that even having a couple million will be worthles. Open your eyes, and good luck. Otherwise, you are all falling into the meaningless liberal/conservative paradigm - just what they intend.