Sentry over America: Issue 19 Page 4

Ignorance in America

Read The Label

America's Bewildering Propensity to Mislabel

August 12, 2002

There are few other American traditions that are as bewildering as the propensity to mislabel.

Mislabel ideologies—like calling Bush a conservative.

Mislabel enemies—like calling Saudi Arabia a friend and an ally.

Mislabel things—like calling the stock market lousy, horrible, or corrupt.

Americans need to learn to read the label.

You have to wonder if some so-called conservatives really know what a conservative is. A conservative is one who "tends to conserve established traditions and oppose changes in these." The established traditions referred to here would be our founding principles, a limited government with freedom, liberty, and justice. Bush's wild socialist spending clearly puts him in the radical liberal fringe category, about 180 degrees opposite a conservative.

It is possible Bush is a conservative. One could say that the bloating of federal expenses in proportion to the bloating of Ted Kennedy's backside has established the tradition of a bloated statist government. In that sense, these people may not be so ignorant after all. Since Bush is conserving the tradition of socialist spending sprees then that makes him a conservative.

Twisted but true.

"Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." That Bush Doctrine really sounded great when we first heard it, but the propensity to mislabel is clearly evident at the Pentagon. You knew and I knew that Saudi Arabia has been a terrorist state. The 911 hijackers were mostly Saudi and they will not let us use our own base that we built in the war against Hussein, let alone support us. If that is not enough for the Pentagon spin doctors, then how about this from the cleric who ran a two-day telethon that raised $109 million for blood money to pay to the families of the homicide bombers, Shaikh Saad Al-Buraik:

I am against America until this life ends, until the Day of Judgment...My hatred of America, if part of it was contained in the universe, it would collapse...She is the root of all evils and wickedness on earth...Oh Muslim Ummah don't take the Jews and Christians as allies...Muslim Brothers in Palestine, do not have any mercy, neither compassion on the Jews, their blood, their money, their flesh. Their women are yours to take, legitimately. God made them yours. Why don't you enslave their women? Why don't you wage jihad? Why don't you pillage them?"

That does not sound like a friend or ally, and neither does this:

"The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader" . . . "Saudi Arabia supports our enemies and attacks our allies," said Laurent Murawiec, an analyst at Rand. . . "the kernel of evil, the prime mover, the most dangerous opponent" in the Middle East."—Laurent Murawiec, an analyst at Rand, along with numerous respected luminaries at the Defense Policy Board.

Who is reading the label wrong here? The Pentagon or the Defense Policy Board? Look at the Pentagon's response:

"Saudi Arabia is a long-standing friend and ally of the United States. The Saudis cooperate fully in the global war on terrorism and have the department's and administration's deep appreciation."— Pentagon spokesman Victoria Clarke who actually said this with a straight face.

I 'll place my bet for the better label reader with the Defense Policy Board.

Are you crazy? A bad stock market? How is it that most American investors, business show hosts, and the press pouncing on the latest company scandal can call the market horrible and adjectives unfit to print? What is it with this inability to read the labels?

"The Stock Market" is actually a market for stocks. The market is just fine. In fact, it has never been better.

It is the stocks—the ownership of the corporations—that have a problem.

We have a financial marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers of ownership rights in publicly traded companies. That market has never been stronger. The technology has never been better. Trades are executing flawlessly, or corrected easily if not so. Executions have never been better. The settlement procedure has been hitch free. From the NYSE 2001 Annual Report re September 11:

Overshadowed by the emotion of the day was the flawless performance of our people and technology in handling a record 2.4 billion share day, followed by a historic 10.5 billion-share week. Stock prices plunged, but our market was strong. Trading was fair, orderly and transparent. Buyers and sellers had ready access to our market and were able to trade without delay. Under the most trying and demanding circumstances, America’s premier equities market fulfilled its promise to investors and issuers. . . In anticipation of rising trading volume, the Exchange more than doubled systems capacity to 3,000 messages per second by year-end, which enables us to handle more than 10 billion shares a day. In 2001, average daily volume topped 1.24 billion shares, a 19% increase. The NYSE recorded eight of its 10 most active months ever, as well as the 10 most active days and weeks in its history.

The market has performed a near flawless performance, even during some of the most stressful times the market has ever had. The market is just fine.

The ownership—the stocks—have some serious problems.

Read the label.

Issue 19 Page 1

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