A China Postscript for The 4th of July

China hasn't really figured out how to modernize in a way that is remotely in harmony with the aspirations of the Chinese people. One might suggest that after hearing for their entire lifetimes that their government exists to serve the people, the Chinese are starting to notice that isn't true. As much as Chinese struggles to censor, shape and double-talk the facts of what is going on, it would appear that the Chinese aren't buying it any longer.  And while the level of violence fell short of using firearms, the optics of such government heavy-handedness in an area recently hit by a devastating earthquake has the effect of sparking sympathy and outrage.

Bob Diamond

Of course, that's China, we live in America, whose birth as a nation we celebrate today. But please consider the staggering corruption of a local official in the far West of China when you hear Republicans, most notably Mitt Romney, say that "Government is not the solution, Government is the problem, business needs to be free, my friend!". As is, free to bribe local officials so the builder can profit through shoddy construction and substandard materials (China) or so that the head of Barclays Bank can engage in a broad-based conspiracy to fix the LIBOR bank loan rates so that his bank profited at the expense of borrowers all over the world (London).

And as it happens, the last story is about an expat American banker named Diamond, who was to be co-chair of Mitt Romney's upcoming fund-raising gala in London, when Mitt is over there to attend the Olympics to try to remind everyone that he rescued the scandal-ridden Winter Olympics in Utah. Which he accomplished by getting the Federal Government to put up more funding for an Olympics event than it ever had before. Romney worked hard to make the Salt Lake City Olympics a success, gosh darn it, and it is a pillar of his claim to be able to make things happen. His three pillars are approximately; Bain Capital (not working so well), He is rich (a mixed blessing), and his rescue of an Olympic event that had fallen on hard times.

Now Barclays Bank and its former head Bob Diamond have just had a meltdown, Diamond, who was to co-host Romney at a major-donors event in London, is spending the 4th of July being grilled by a Parliamentary Committee, who are suggesting he give his "outrageous" bonuses to a feeding the homeless organization. Nice optics for Romney's (not so) triumphant visit to the London Olympics and Diamond is not going to go down quietly, which is the sort of things that gives a story like this "legs" that permit it to run for weeks, probably on until the Olympics.

And so it goes for Mitt Romney. He built a house of cards, based on predatory business practices, and along the way he lost touch with normal Americans. I don't think he will be elected unless a miracle happens, the only question remaining is how spectacularly he is able to melt down and carry significant numbers of GOP candidates down with him.

Hope you had a Happy Independence Day!

Arthur