From The Voice of America:
The U.S. Army said the number of soldiers who committed suicide last year has increased for a fourth straight year. Army officials said despite an increase in funding for programs to help soldiers, they are having a hard time fighting the stigma attached to seeking professional help. At least 128 soldiers committed suicide in 2008, an increase from 2007 when a total of 115 suicides were recorded among active duty and those in the Army Reserve and National Guard. Officials said the number may go even higher pending the examination of 15 additional cases that could be self-inflicted.
Highest Suicide Rate Since Vietnam War
This is the first time since the Vietnam War that the rate of suicide in the Army, about 20 deaths per 100,000 soldiers, has surpassed the civilian suicide rate.
Original story here:
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-30-voa59.cfm
Other news sources reporting this story point out the number of multiple deployments that these young people have endured, and the longterm effects of repeated exposure to combat and other stressors. My cousin has been deployed several times to the middle east, and the stress of these deployments have cost him a marriage and given his young children an absent father.
I also wonder about the other soldiers who return from their deployments. Are they receiving enough care and support to help them make a successful transition to civilian life? Is there really an effective way to help someone erase the horrors of combat that many of them have experienced?
I have nothing but respect and admiration for those who serve our country. Before we send these young people to fight, we, as a country, should be damn sure we are asking them to fight a battle that is truly worth fighting. That it is a real threat to our national security, or that of our allies. That it is a just war, a right war. That there is verifiable proof that the war is justified.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sarah Palin Redux
There are many choices an actor makes when building a character. When Ed O’Neill auditioned for the role of Al Bundy on Married with Children he drew inspiration from an uncle who had been beaten down by life, his job and his family. After watching dozens of actors channel Jackie Gleason’s blowhard Ralph Kramden, the show’s creators saw O’Neill stop at the front door on the set, hang his head and let out a defeated sigh before walking in to see his family. He had the job before saying a word. Although the script was the same, O’Neill saw a more interesting way to play Bundy.
Every actor has choices to make on how the printed word of the author will be brought to life. Tina Fey was naturally thrust into the role of Sarah Palin because of the physical resemblance and had the usual choices to make in building a character plus more because Fey surely had a hand in writing the material.
Let’s think about from what Fey had to draw. Palin hunted moose, played high school basketball, won a beauty contest, is the married mother of five children. She rose from the PTA to mayor of her small town to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner to Governor, taking on and defeating entrenched and corrupt male politicians in her own party along the way. She has an 80%+ approval rating. She has a funny way of speaking, dropping the g’s at the end of words and sounding a bit like a character from the movie Fargo, don’t you know.
Surely Fey would want to celebrate a woman who has risen so adeptly while raising children. She could have found humor in Palin’s story but still played her as the strong and intelligent woman she is. Or Fey could have chosen to play her as a moron, which she did.
Reporters have also have choices when defining the subject of a story. Even before the Katie Couric interview there were rumors about whether Palin was the actual birth mother of her son, if she wanted to ban books in the library, if she acted properly if firing the Public Safety Commissioner and whether she had an affair. Throngs of reporters were dispatched to Alaska to dig up dirt. Her speech at the convention was masterful. By the time she said another word she was on defense.
Reporters and entertainers were in the tank for President Obama to the point of being embarrassing. The thrill going up Chris Matthew’s leg was part of a media epidemic that caused them to ignore the questionable facets of Obama’s background (Rezko, Rev. Wright, Ayers) and nonsense spewing from Sen. Biden (President Roosevelt went on TV in 1929?).
I will agree with some that Gov. Palin may not be ready for the Vice Presidency. She would have benefitted from another term as Governor or perhaps a run for Senate to gain some international experience. Her interviews were less than stellar but she is an intelligent and driven woman who needs some polish. She may be a good President someday.
Compare the media treatment Palin received to that of Caroline Kennedy. In one 30-minute session Kennedy said “you know” over 200 times with a smattering of “um’s” for good measure. Kennedy has never held office and sometimes didn’t vote. Did SNL get Laraine Newman out of mothballs to portray her as a stumblebum? Have any reporters grilled her? Of course not. There is actually some disdain about how Gov. Paterson passed over Kennedy for the Senate appointment as if she were entitled to the office. Conversely, Tina Fey gets the Entertainer of the Year Award.
Sarah Palin is setting up a fundraising committee to run for President. I wish her well.
Every actor has choices to make on how the printed word of the author will be brought to life. Tina Fey was naturally thrust into the role of Sarah Palin because of the physical resemblance and had the usual choices to make in building a character plus more because Fey surely had a hand in writing the material.
Let’s think about from what Fey had to draw. Palin hunted moose, played high school basketball, won a beauty contest, is the married mother of five children. She rose from the PTA to mayor of her small town to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner to Governor, taking on and defeating entrenched and corrupt male politicians in her own party along the way. She has an 80%+ approval rating. She has a funny way of speaking, dropping the g’s at the end of words and sounding a bit like a character from the movie Fargo, don’t you know.
Surely Fey would want to celebrate a woman who has risen so adeptly while raising children. She could have found humor in Palin’s story but still played her as the strong and intelligent woman she is. Or Fey could have chosen to play her as a moron, which she did.
Reporters have also have choices when defining the subject of a story. Even before the Katie Couric interview there were rumors about whether Palin was the actual birth mother of her son, if she wanted to ban books in the library, if she acted properly if firing the Public Safety Commissioner and whether she had an affair. Throngs of reporters were dispatched to Alaska to dig up dirt. Her speech at the convention was masterful. By the time she said another word she was on defense.
Reporters and entertainers were in the tank for President Obama to the point of being embarrassing. The thrill going up Chris Matthew’s leg was part of a media epidemic that caused them to ignore the questionable facets of Obama’s background (Rezko, Rev. Wright, Ayers) and nonsense spewing from Sen. Biden (President Roosevelt went on TV in 1929?).
I will agree with some that Gov. Palin may not be ready for the Vice Presidency. She would have benefitted from another term as Governor or perhaps a run for Senate to gain some international experience. Her interviews were less than stellar but she is an intelligent and driven woman who needs some polish. She may be a good President someday.
Compare the media treatment Palin received to that of Caroline Kennedy. In one 30-minute session Kennedy said “you know” over 200 times with a smattering of “um’s” for good measure. Kennedy has never held office and sometimes didn’t vote. Did SNL get Laraine Newman out of mothballs to portray her as a stumblebum? Have any reporters grilled her? Of course not. There is actually some disdain about how Gov. Paterson passed over Kennedy for the Senate appointment as if she were entitled to the office. Conversely, Tina Fey gets the Entertainer of the Year Award.
Sarah Palin is setting up a fundraising committee to run for President. I wish her well.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Where Will the Guantanamo Detainees Go?
President Obama made a change in direction, ordering the closure of Guantanamo Bay yesterday after signaling that it may stay open longer. What wasn’t said is more prescient than what was.
President Obama asked his White House Counsel Greg Craig whether moving the prisoners was part of his own executive order though you’d assume he’d know what’s in it. Anyway, we’ll learn the fates of the Gitmo residents in a later executive order sometime this year. The White House is going to wing it.
There’s a slight problem with the Gitmo detainees: no one wants them. Of the estimated 245 prisoners at least 60 have been rejected for repatriation to their home countries. These “worst of the worst” could be sent to prisons in the mainland U.S., however there will be resistance for that too. There is much squawking about taking them at Leavinworth because it would instantly change it from part of a sleepy Kansas community to a terrorist target. Prepare for protests no matter where they’re located. Maybe President Obama will have the good taste to put them in a blue area of a blue state, such as downtown Manhattan or Hollywood.
The results are easy to predict. The New York Times is reporting that the deputy leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, Said Ali al-Shihri, is a graduate of Gitmo and a Saudi reeducation camp for terrorists. The camp apparently is like a 12-step program with a high rate of relapse. Mr. al-Shihri should be captured and sent back to make his own bed and have a group discussion about how his mother’s neglect caused him to kill nonbelievers.
Some of the Guantanamo Bay detainees will certainly be set loose and many will plan to attack us. If there is another terrorist attack carried out by those released from Gitmo we’ll have ourselves to blame for not analyzing campaign promises.
President Obama asked his White House Counsel Greg Craig whether moving the prisoners was part of his own executive order though you’d assume he’d know what’s in it. Anyway, we’ll learn the fates of the Gitmo residents in a later executive order sometime this year. The White House is going to wing it.
There’s a slight problem with the Gitmo detainees: no one wants them. Of the estimated 245 prisoners at least 60 have been rejected for repatriation to their home countries. These “worst of the worst” could be sent to prisons in the mainland U.S., however there will be resistance for that too. There is much squawking about taking them at Leavinworth because it would instantly change it from part of a sleepy Kansas community to a terrorist target. Prepare for protests no matter where they’re located. Maybe President Obama will have the good taste to put them in a blue area of a blue state, such as downtown Manhattan or Hollywood.
The results are easy to predict. The New York Times is reporting that the deputy leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, Said Ali al-Shihri, is a graduate of Gitmo and a Saudi reeducation camp for terrorists. The camp apparently is like a 12-step program with a high rate of relapse. Mr. al-Shihri should be captured and sent back to make his own bed and have a group discussion about how his mother’s neglect caused him to kill nonbelievers.
Some of the Guantanamo Bay detainees will certainly be set loose and many will plan to attack us. If there is another terrorist attack carried out by those released from Gitmo we’ll have ourselves to blame for not analyzing campaign promises.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Goodbye to Guantanamo
President Obama set his moral compass strong and true through the issuance of executive orders to close Guantanamo Bay Prison and other secret CIA prisons throughout the world. Additionally, prisoners in Guantanamo and other such prisons must now be treated according to the tenets of the Geneva Convention. Through this sweeping and immediate decision, the Obama presidency announces to Americans, and to the world, that the United States will no longer compromise its essential values and principles in the treatment of the accused.
There are some who believe torture is justified in this "war on terror"; that it might be used to destroy one life, but preserve many. In reality, this belief is misguided.
Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. (Army Field Manual 34-52)
Several weeks ago, I heard an interview on the radio with one of the chief Army negotiators for the Iraq War. He spoke eloquently about his interrogation techniques, which primarily consisted of forming relationships with the prisoners and gaining their trust. He was sometimes able to obtain accurate information through a combination of "psychological ploys" and "verbal trickery" (also describe in 34-52), but he mainly emphasized the creation of a series of agreements made with the prisoners. Through gaining their trust, he was able to interview a chain of prisoners, eventually leading him to those who were the most culpable.
We now have a moral, ethical leader of our country. The closing of Guantanamo is just the beginning of ending the ugly chapter of disregard for human rights introduced by the Bush administration in the name of "national security." I eagerly await the next coordinates on this new moral journey.
There are some who believe torture is justified in this "war on terror"; that it might be used to destroy one life, but preserve many. In reality, this belief is misguided.
Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. (Army Field Manual 34-52)
Several weeks ago, I heard an interview on the radio with one of the chief Army negotiators for the Iraq War. He spoke eloquently about his interrogation techniques, which primarily consisted of forming relationships with the prisoners and gaining their trust. He was sometimes able to obtain accurate information through a combination of "psychological ploys" and "verbal trickery" (also describe in 34-52), but he mainly emphasized the creation of a series of agreements made with the prisoners. Through gaining their trust, he was able to interview a chain of prisoners, eventually leading him to those who were the most culpable.
We now have a moral, ethical leader of our country. The closing of Guantanamo is just the beginning of ending the ugly chapter of disregard for human rights introduced by the Bush administration in the name of "national security." I eagerly await the next coordinates on this new moral journey.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bush Booed
The new tone in Washington has escaped many on the left. In his last few moments of his Presidency George W. Bush was booed and subjected to a rendition of “Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye” as if he were a baseball pitcher getting pulled after a good shelling.
http://www.wjno.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=244038&article=4878923
He deserved better. President Bush went to Washington eight years ago with a history of bipartisanship and reaching out to the other side of the aisle as Governor of Texas. Even after the Florida recount debacle and catcalls about him being an illegitimate President he naively tried to bring the same spirit of teamwork in Washington. Early in his first term he invited Sen. Kennedy over for movies and let him write an education bill. Conservatives could see the folly in this strategery, but then we were hoping Bush was a fellow Conservative.
We had seen how the left cost George HW Bush a second term when congressional Democrats wrote a budget deal that included tax increases. When the President signed it they screeched like stuck pigs about how he broke his “no new taxes” pledge. This trap caused his 90%+ approval rating after the first Iraq War to evaporate bringing us the Clinton years. It’s unfathomable how George W. Bush didn’t learn from such recent history and then repeated it.
The angry left in this country has become Terrell Owens: when they win they do an end zone dance and taunt the loser. When things go wrong they point fingers and make demands. Loudly. If the country is a team those who jeered The President are the cancers in the locker room.
The Bush Presidency was a failure in the sense that he didn’t defend himself. He has two qualities that aren’t assets in Washington: he was too nice and too inarticulate to counter attacks on his character and policies. President Bush made mistakes but handled himself with class and composure until the end of his Presidency. Even the far left should give him credit for that.
http://www.wjno.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=244038&article=4878923
He deserved better. President Bush went to Washington eight years ago with a history of bipartisanship and reaching out to the other side of the aisle as Governor of Texas. Even after the Florida recount debacle and catcalls about him being an illegitimate President he naively tried to bring the same spirit of teamwork in Washington. Early in his first term he invited Sen. Kennedy over for movies and let him write an education bill. Conservatives could see the folly in this strategery, but then we were hoping Bush was a fellow Conservative.
We had seen how the left cost George HW Bush a second term when congressional Democrats wrote a budget deal that included tax increases. When the President signed it they screeched like stuck pigs about how he broke his “no new taxes” pledge. This trap caused his 90%+ approval rating after the first Iraq War to evaporate bringing us the Clinton years. It’s unfathomable how George W. Bush didn’t learn from such recent history and then repeated it.
The angry left in this country has become Terrell Owens: when they win they do an end zone dance and taunt the loser. When things go wrong they point fingers and make demands. Loudly. If the country is a team those who jeered The President are the cancers in the locker room.
The Bush Presidency was a failure in the sense that he didn’t defend himself. He has two qualities that aren’t assets in Washington: he was too nice and too inarticulate to counter attacks on his character and policies. President Bush made mistakes but handled himself with class and composure until the end of his Presidency. Even the far left should give him credit for that.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Wall Comes Down
It was a cold, sunny day in the midwest today, just as crisp and bright as that in Washington.
Between work tasks, I listened to the press coverage of the inauguration on NPR; read blogging updates on NYTimes.com; stole glances at CNN-Facebook internet video streaming; and caught some PBS coverage on T.V. I was struck by the amount of people in the crowd holding up cell phones and taking pictures. This day was not only remarkable for the historic significance of the first person of mixed racial heritage becoming President of the United States of America, but also because of the widening participation of citizens of the world through the wonders of advanced technology. It was (almost) like being there! The Facebook streaming included live comments by its members, most just as overjoyed as I was to be witnessing the passing of the helm in such a dramatically immediate way.
What excites me most about the new Obama presidency is this sense of passionate participation among so many who have expressed disenchantment with the political process in the past. It truly feels like a "gathering of the tribes," so wonderfully captured with humor by Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery near the end of the ceremony today, calling for a new day "when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white would embrace what is right.” I do not recall, in my lifetime, speaking with so many people who wanted to BE THERE--whether it was in Grant Park for the acceptance speech last November, or on the mall in D.C. today. People feel compelled, drawn...driven to be present...to witness this incredible day on a very personal level.
It reminds me a bit of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When I was in my mid-twenties, traveling through western Europe by train, the wall came down, and it seemed like everyone was heading there to see it collapse into a pile of rubble. This day feels, to me, like one of those days. The creators of the Berlin Wall built it not only to contain people, but to limit ideas. Years later, the will of the people brought that wall down and opened the world for a new generation of dreamers. People, historical events, and conditions in this country have created real obstacles...walls...for people of color, for women, and for people in poverty. Yet, today, we bear witness to another achievement of the will of the people. Barack Obama's inauguration represents the destruction of another ugly, divisive wall. And, oh, does the light shine bright and true without its shadow!
Between work tasks, I listened to the press coverage of the inauguration on NPR; read blogging updates on NYTimes.com; stole glances at CNN-Facebook internet video streaming; and caught some PBS coverage on T.V. I was struck by the amount of people in the crowd holding up cell phones and taking pictures. This day was not only remarkable for the historic significance of the first person of mixed racial heritage becoming President of the United States of America, but also because of the widening participation of citizens of the world through the wonders of advanced technology. It was (almost) like being there! The Facebook streaming included live comments by its members, most just as overjoyed as I was to be witnessing the passing of the helm in such a dramatically immediate way.
What excites me most about the new Obama presidency is this sense of passionate participation among so many who have expressed disenchantment with the political process in the past. It truly feels like a "gathering of the tribes," so wonderfully captured with humor by Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery near the end of the ceremony today, calling for a new day "when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white would embrace what is right.” I do not recall, in my lifetime, speaking with so many people who wanted to BE THERE--whether it was in Grant Park for the acceptance speech last November, or on the mall in D.C. today. People feel compelled, drawn...driven to be present...to witness this incredible day on a very personal level.
It reminds me a bit of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When I was in my mid-twenties, traveling through western Europe by train, the wall came down, and it seemed like everyone was heading there to see it collapse into a pile of rubble. This day feels, to me, like one of those days. The creators of the Berlin Wall built it not only to contain people, but to limit ideas. Years later, the will of the people brought that wall down and opened the world for a new generation of dreamers. People, historical events, and conditions in this country have created real obstacles...walls...for people of color, for women, and for people in poverty. Yet, today, we bear witness to another achievement of the will of the people. Barack Obama's inauguration represents the destruction of another ugly, divisive wall. And, oh, does the light shine bright and true without its shadow!
Inauguration Day
Throngs are in the nation’s capital in a spirit of optimism thinking that President Obama will save the economy, end wars and “bring us together,” whatever that means. Millions braved the sub-freezing weather to celebrate hope and to overflow a woeful undersupply of 5000 port-a-johns. Thankfully it’s not summer.
It is a good thing to have our first President of African descent. If nothing else many minority children will see that they can do anything and be anybody in this country. Too often people of color don’t put the hard work in to succeed because they are defeatist and for much of our nation’s history they were correct in thought. They can now look up to a well-spoken leader who doesn’t jump on every racist slight, real or perceived, for political gain. Hopefully today’s youth will see more clearly that we’re all first of the United States of America, not some group with a hyphen. They may see that the game is fair rather than stacked against them.
A new wave of optimism is sweeping the country, according to polls. 71% of Americans think the economy will improve and 72% think the stock market will bounce back. Evidently 1% of those polled don’t think the two are related. In addition, 84% think that President Obama will help them lose weight and 93% believe their Uncle Jerry will sober up, stop mooching money and get a real job. Optimism is good for an ailing economy and necessary for recovery as people stuffing mattresses with cash halts the velocity of money (the “V” in GNP=M1 x V).
What’s really great about President Obama is that he’s not George Bush and, even better, he’s not John McCain. Another four or eight years of a Republican President trying to make friends and getting slapped around for it would be difficult for this Conservative to take. In a sense the outgoing Administration failed but only because President Bush allowed it. He lost the nation after the response to Katrina because he failed to articulate that FEMA is not a first-responder. He was already teetering because he couldn’t explain that Saddam’s missing WMD’s were there but went “poof” and that WMD’s was only one of many reasons for invading anyway. A President McCain would similarly cross the aisle with a big smile and good intentions and take flurries to the face until he’s a punch line. Let President Obama try to work with Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi. A Republican cannot.
To President Obama’s credit he’s treated our outgoing President with dignity. Since the election he’s refrained from taking shots at President Bush and hasn’t called for investigations or arrests, unlike many in his party. President Bush may be able to ride off into the sunset quietly, as he should. Here’s my hope for change: The Office of the President will be esteemed and respected no matter how one feels about the current occupant. Today we’re not hearing ”He’s not my President” and worse as we did eight years ago. Maybe we can all have a renewed respect for the Presidency that can continue on to the inevitable next Republican. Hopefully on the way out the White House employees won’t take even one “w” off of a keyboard, scribble funny titles on office doors or steal the furniture. It’s a good thing that housekeeping isn’t scrubbing DNA out of the Oval Office.
I wonder if I’m the only one scratching his head at the new President’s moves since the election. His only stated reason for challenging Hillary Clinton for the nomination was because of her misguided stance on foreign policy, meaning her vote for the Iraq War. She’ll be in charge of foreign policy even though her husband Bill has ethical issues with foreign cash. His Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner doesn’t know how to file a tax return and his Commerce Secretary nominee Bill Richardson resigned because of a corruption scandal. Don’t forget the Blagojevich circus and who talked to whom when about Sen. Obama’s choice of replacement for his Senate seat.
But who cares? You the electorate wanted change and you wanted it big and fast. However the Iraq War seems to be status quo with Bush’s Defense Secretary Gates in place even though Sen. Obama campaigned on the idea that we’d be out in 16 months. Afghanistan will see a buildup as President Bush promised and planned. Guantanamo Bay won’t close immediately but perhaps by the end of the first term. The financial bailout Bush started will continue unabated. All this non-change must be unsettling to you. Woops, there’s more! The Obama camp believes that V.P. Cheney’s warrantless surveillance is legal as is detaining terrorists without trial.
There really isn’t much change so far and not much more on the horizon, save for some issues regarding gays and drilling restrictions. That oozing down the streets are bromides about change and hope, perhaps not what’s coming out from under all those outhouses. It’s mystifying to me that no one seems to care that the bulk of policy on the important issues will remain the same. Sen. McCain was to be Bush’s third term, wasn’t he?
What’s hard for me to get my arms around is how one person who hasn’t done anything yet can generate so much excitement. I’ve avoided the “savior” comments thus far but I wish someone could tell me what President Obama has done in the past that would make one think he’s going to be one. He may end up as a greater President than Lincoln or Jefferson, but also could be worse than Carter or Johnson (Andrew or Lyndon, take your pick).
A caller to a radio show this morning is on the right track when he said that liberals tend to have no faith in God so they put their faith in people. Being a savior is a daunting task and I wish our new President well. No pressure.
It is a good thing to have our first President of African descent. If nothing else many minority children will see that they can do anything and be anybody in this country. Too often people of color don’t put the hard work in to succeed because they are defeatist and for much of our nation’s history they were correct in thought. They can now look up to a well-spoken leader who doesn’t jump on every racist slight, real or perceived, for political gain. Hopefully today’s youth will see more clearly that we’re all first of the United States of America, not some group with a hyphen. They may see that the game is fair rather than stacked against them.
A new wave of optimism is sweeping the country, according to polls. 71% of Americans think the economy will improve and 72% think the stock market will bounce back. Evidently 1% of those polled don’t think the two are related. In addition, 84% think that President Obama will help them lose weight and 93% believe their Uncle Jerry will sober up, stop mooching money and get a real job. Optimism is good for an ailing economy and necessary for recovery as people stuffing mattresses with cash halts the velocity of money (the “V” in GNP=M1 x V).
What’s really great about President Obama is that he’s not George Bush and, even better, he’s not John McCain. Another four or eight years of a Republican President trying to make friends and getting slapped around for it would be difficult for this Conservative to take. In a sense the outgoing Administration failed but only because President Bush allowed it. He lost the nation after the response to Katrina because he failed to articulate that FEMA is not a first-responder. He was already teetering because he couldn’t explain that Saddam’s missing WMD’s were there but went “poof” and that WMD’s was only one of many reasons for invading anyway. A President McCain would similarly cross the aisle with a big smile and good intentions and take flurries to the face until he’s a punch line. Let President Obama try to work with Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi. A Republican cannot.
To President Obama’s credit he’s treated our outgoing President with dignity. Since the election he’s refrained from taking shots at President Bush and hasn’t called for investigations or arrests, unlike many in his party. President Bush may be able to ride off into the sunset quietly, as he should. Here’s my hope for change: The Office of the President will be esteemed and respected no matter how one feels about the current occupant. Today we’re not hearing ”He’s not my President” and worse as we did eight years ago. Maybe we can all have a renewed respect for the Presidency that can continue on to the inevitable next Republican. Hopefully on the way out the White House employees won’t take even one “w” off of a keyboard, scribble funny titles on office doors or steal the furniture. It’s a good thing that housekeeping isn’t scrubbing DNA out of the Oval Office.
I wonder if I’m the only one scratching his head at the new President’s moves since the election. His only stated reason for challenging Hillary Clinton for the nomination was because of her misguided stance on foreign policy, meaning her vote for the Iraq War. She’ll be in charge of foreign policy even though her husband Bill has ethical issues with foreign cash. His Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner doesn’t know how to file a tax return and his Commerce Secretary nominee Bill Richardson resigned because of a corruption scandal. Don’t forget the Blagojevich circus and who talked to whom when about Sen. Obama’s choice of replacement for his Senate seat.
But who cares? You the electorate wanted change and you wanted it big and fast. However the Iraq War seems to be status quo with Bush’s Defense Secretary Gates in place even though Sen. Obama campaigned on the idea that we’d be out in 16 months. Afghanistan will see a buildup as President Bush promised and planned. Guantanamo Bay won’t close immediately but perhaps by the end of the first term. The financial bailout Bush started will continue unabated. All this non-change must be unsettling to you. Woops, there’s more! The Obama camp believes that V.P. Cheney’s warrantless surveillance is legal as is detaining terrorists without trial.
There really isn’t much change so far and not much more on the horizon, save for some issues regarding gays and drilling restrictions. That oozing down the streets are bromides about change and hope, perhaps not what’s coming out from under all those outhouses. It’s mystifying to me that no one seems to care that the bulk of policy on the important issues will remain the same. Sen. McCain was to be Bush’s third term, wasn’t he?
What’s hard for me to get my arms around is how one person who hasn’t done anything yet can generate so much excitement. I’ve avoided the “savior” comments thus far but I wish someone could tell me what President Obama has done in the past that would make one think he’s going to be one. He may end up as a greater President than Lincoln or Jefferson, but also could be worse than Carter or Johnson (Andrew or Lyndon, take your pick).
A caller to a radio show this morning is on the right track when he said that liberals tend to have no faith in God so they put their faith in people. Being a savior is a daunting task and I wish our new President well. No pressure.
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