I think it comes from that Marvin Gaye song "What's Going Yuan?"

Bob Dylan song - Idiot Wind

"You're an idiot babe, it's a wonder you still no how to breathe"

I heard a wingnut caller on talk radio today present a response to a report of a purported Obama proposal to alter/reduce the tax deduction for charitable contributions. He claimed that this was in reality a conspiracy on Obama's part to drive down charitable contributions to further his plans for socilaist government.

Really. They think this.

The reason the notion of a "global currency" throws the extreme right-wingers into a tizzy is that it is one of the "signs of the Antichrist," according to the End-Times checklist promoted by loonies like Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsay, Rod Parsley and John Hagee. It's one of the major "plot points," if you want to call it that, in LaHaye's idiotic and heretical "Left Behind" series. To get the media even to talk about a "global currency" just allows these nutjobs to go on TV and say they were right about Biblical "prophecy" and, you know, please send more money because Jesus is coming. This is not mainstream, orthodox theology, however much the media presents it as such. These guys are way, way, way on the fringe.

This obsession with a global currency is a significant feature of wingnut mythology. It's all bound up with end times Bible prophecy, the mark of the beast (666) and so on. So that Chinese statement was right in their strike zone.

With Obama as the anti-Christ, I suppose the end times are right around the corner. What a bunch of lunatics.

Andy and Lee are absolutely right. Sounds like the religious right is spewing its Antichrist/End times crap again.

Its a part of the "end times" philosophy. And no I am not joking. The Anti Christ rises to rule the world, then he makes a one world religion and then he institutes a one world currency. Its in the "Left Behind" books beloved by the religious right. Its a dog whistle to them plain and simple.

With Obama as the anti-Christ, I suppose the end times are right around the corner.

I hope this is true, they all get raptured away, and leave the rest of us alone.

The Tribulations would be better than Bachmann and Beck.

norbizness, I lost a little milk through my nose reading your post. Thanks ;-)

This isn't a conservative vs. liberal talking point, though, Steve.

If the EU is right on their inflation worries, and wanting more Obama financial regulation legislation first, and only then more stimulus plans, the euro looks like a better and better alternative world currency. And rightly so.

No wonder both China and Russia are pushing it.

Too bad neither Steve nor any of the posters here get that.

And, and, did you hear?

The government is also labeling highway signs with symbology that only UN Forces can decipher, and with which they'll use to navigate in efficient fashion when they roll in to take over the "Homeland."

Major Garrett, Michelle Bachmann and Glenn Beck don't get it either, SocraticGadfly. sgwhiteinfla is exactly right: dogwhistle city!

Andy, I must disagree with the 'fringe' part. While Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity is, ahem, rather obviously heretical, it's pretty popular. And, in their own very weird way, they are quite united. So historically/theologically speaking, yes, they are fringe. But in terms of power, they are not. And so in another sense their bizarre theology is in fact fairly mainstream.

(And Gadfly, the Euro is no prize since it burdens you with the European Central Bank. Nonetheless, this _is_ in fact a religious talking point, not an economic one. )

Is the amount of time it takes for a meme to become "conventional wisdom" (normally a years-long process) a metaphor for the general depth of the movement?

I think so.

SocraticGadfly: Too bad neither Steve nor any of the posters here get that.

In real life, do people run out of the room as soon as you come in, or do they wait 10 seconds to do it?

The key word is 'reserve'. The U.S. currently has the immense advantage of being able to denominate its debt in the world's reserve currency. It can both create debt AND print the money that pays off that debt. If it ever loses that advantage, we are truly and deeply screwed. Can you say 'Third World Country'?

(sigh) Time was, wingnuts tried to get us riled up about rumors of black helicopters. Now that was at least exciting.

Global currency? Hell, these days *any* currency that will stay in my pocket for a while is OK by me.

Who cares about Global Currency? First bring back the Fairness Rulz!

You couldn't make this shit up We have become "Idiocracy". I have to go rent it again , duplicate a bunch of copies and send them to every Republican I know so they can use it as a blueoprint for their campaign stragerty.

Tim, disagree in fair, though not total degree.

It's a geopolitical talking point, as well as an economic one, that has also been made into a religious and social conservative talking point.

And, the fact that it has been made into that in no way negates the actual news, and newsworthy, background, of this.

1. Russia, as well as China, has mentioned the second reserve currency idea. While Beijing still likes to be low-key in leveraging its muscle, nobody's ever leveraged that accusation at Moscow.

2. Re the ECB? No, it's not perfect. But, is the Fed? Errr...

3. Let's not forget the eurozone, for all its faults, IS the world's largest economy, and may well be for years to come. Maybe we should listen to somebody outside our own echo chamber a little more often.

4. Given that the BushCo SEC promised more financial regulation and then didn't deliver, I don't blame the EU for saying, in essence, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

====

Suddenly Remembered: Only the people who don't read The Nation, or farther left... i.e., pseudoprogressives who are wedded to a political party, not political principles, run out.

You're probably the type of person who boo-hoos about Glenn Greenwald, too.

Don't let the cyberdoor hit you in the ass on the way out.

You're probably the type of person who boo-hoos about Glenn Greenwald, too.

Hell, no. He knows what he's talking about and doesn't have a repellent personality.

JB, exactly. That's why the two-party duopoly's mandarins of economic policy are scared shitless at the idea of any reserve currency, even as a far-second backup currency.

Look at the UK after OPEC refused to accept the pound anymore.

I may be wrong, but isn't Matt Drudge an atheist? Point being, the religious right is being punked by the libertarians once again. It's kinda sad in a way, like the slow-witted kid in school who falls for the same practical joke over and over again, but it also symbolizes the fundies' frustration. John Galt, not Jesus Christ, runs the Republican Party; forty years of hard work down the drain.

This all said, might I be wrong about the fiscal policy of the ECB, etc.? Of course. But, we have no guarantee somebody like Paul Krugman is right when he bashes the EU and ECB, and I get tired of the “my country right or wrong,� let alone the, “my Obama, right or wrong,� view of international finance. It’s almost as simplistic as the conservativism it professes to stand against.

Major Garrett: Mr. President, is it true that you have plans to tattoo the number 666 on your forehead?

Ed Henry: Mr. President, why has it taken you so long to get the 666 tattoo on your forehead? Where is your outrage?

Jake Tapper: Mr. President, is there any religious or political significance to the design of the 666 tattoo that you are planning to get?

I'd love to see Obama, instead of answering these questions, delve into the subtext of their origin and make a fool out of reporters who go repeat this bullshit.

But, but, we'll get +1 trade routes in all our cities!

Andy, I must disagree with the 'fringe' part. While Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity is, ahem, rather obviously heretical, it's pretty popular.

I know. I'm just trying to start a meme. Work with me, here!

Instead of trying to make up BS stories about how Obama is "doing too much", can the MSM report on some real kooks: Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann?

Don't forget the Alex Jones Infowars/New World Order crew and their obsession with global currency. Their overlap with the religious and Fox Republican far right is interesting these days.

I know. I'm just trying to start a meme. Work with me, here!

Sorry about that Andy, consider me on board.

Socratic Gadfly: I live in Europe, so I'm not in an echo chamber as regards the ECB. With the ECB running monetary policy and Merkel dictating fiscal policy we're screwed. Really screwed.

As well, the second reserve currency idea comes up quite regularly, usually as part of some good old-fashioned. America-bashing.

FYI it has nothing to do with establishing a world currency. (Because if it did, we would already have a world currency, the dollar. Oh did I say that? The Apocalypse! RFID tags are the Mark of the Beast! Obama the Anti-Christ! Warning in Case of Rapture This Car Will Be Unmanned!)

FYI it has nothing to do with establishing a world currency. (Because if it did, we would already have a world currency, the dollar. Oh did I say that? The Apocalypse! RFID tags are the Mark of the Beast! Obama the Anti-Christ! Warning in Case of Rapture This Car Will Be Unmanned!)

This is the real harm. Russia and China have been talking about establishing a new reserve currency. But the real story which should be reported in a way we can all understand , is being twisted up into some nonsense by a bunch of kooks.

What is the world's "default" currency? The dollar
What is the world's reserve currency? The dollar
What happens to T-bills and the US Government's ability to finance massive debt if that changes? Well, that's the real question, isn't it?

"The president just wants us to think he opposes a global currency as part of an effort to lure us into a false sense of security.

Don't worry, Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann know what's really going on."

So does Tim Geithner:

"Geithner, at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. is "open" to a headline-grabbing proposal by the governor of the China's central bank, which was widely reported as being a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar,"

I love these head fakes.

P.S. Fun's fun - Geithner backpedaled fifteen minutes later, after the dollar crapped out.

About that "echo chamber" thing ...
guess somebody forgot to tell Geithner

The really weird thing is that the new currency will still have that strange pyramid with the eye symbol on it...

Yes, it's the International Zionist Conspiracy. I've been receiving just these messages through my toaster.