*A surprise in Pakistan – When we learned on Tuesday that the parliamentary elections in Pakistan resulted in the sound defeat of President (dictator) Pervez Musharraf I was quite surprised and wondered why. He rigged the elections in 2002 and recently suspended the Supreme Court (for fear they would rule against his powers) and he arrested many of his opposition. My question was answered by Trudy Rubin, someone I feel is an outstanding observer and analyst of international politics. In her column in the Philadelphia Inquirer “...these elections were unexpectedly fair due to the new army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who recently succeeded Musharraf” (previously Musharraf headed both the military and the government). The army did not interfere in elections and as Rubin noted, “The general appears determined to focus on providing necessary security for Pakistan.” If only our Commander-In-Chief were so focused.

*No surprise in Bush – “The Bush administration is pressing the opposition leaders who defeated Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to allow the former general to retain his position, a move that Western diplomats and U.S. officials say could trigger the very turmoil the United States seeks to avoid... The U.S. is urging the Pakistani political leaders who won the elections to form a new government quickly and not press to reinstate the judges whom Musharraf ousted last year” (Bush fears the judges would try to remove Musharraf). A number of foreign policy experts have criticized Bush for investing U.S. energy and treasure in a particular individual, Musharraf. The Bush push to keep Musharraf in power could be dangerous. “The effort to persuade Pakistan's newly elected parliament not to reinstate the judges could be perceived in Pakistan as a U.S. attempt to keep Musharraf in power after voters overwhelmingly rejected his Pakistan Muslim League-Q political party”. Aside from Bush protecting his best friend/dictator he wants to have it both ways – pontificate about bringing democracy to the world until inconvenience presents itself.

*Justification to stop some people from propagating - Someone called into CSPAN insisting that Barack Obama was Muslim and would be sworn in on a Koran, should he win the presidency. When the show’s host explained that Obama is not Muslim the caller responded,” Well, that's what I heard, and it was on the television."

*They don’t build walls like they used to – The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to build an 18 foot high steel and concrete fence along the Texas/Mexico border that will pass through the backyards of family homes (whose owners face condemnation lawsuits if they protest). Further angering homeowners is the decision to stop the wall at one end of the property of River Bend Resort and Golf Course and resume the wall at the other end of the resort. This same procedure is being used in another part of Texas on the property of Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt, a close friend of President Bush who “recently donated $35 million to Southern Methodist University to help build Bush’s presidential library.” Aside from being another costly and seemingly bungled project of Michael Chertoff and the DHS I find it curious that the wealthy and privileged Texans don’t want to be as “protected” as the proletariat. I also wonder about the merit of building a multi-million dollar defensive wall that is designed with large openings. Reference the Berlin Wall. The East Germans knew how to build a wall.

*Speaking of the DHS - In 2002 the DHS attempted to create a separate personnel system for its employees outside of the civil service labor-management agreement that covers federal workers. In 2005 this anti-union move was denied in District court and once again by a Federal Appeals court in 2006. In the fiscal 2008 appropriations bill for the DHS congress denied funding for a new personnel system. DHS has announced it will not seek further litigation on the matter.
“Bush officials contended that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks required changes that would give more discretion to managers and permit quicker deployment of workers without notifying their union representatives.” Given the incompetence and lack of forthrightness of DHS management its actual intent is open to question. The Bush administration’s record on (anti-)union policy may be a hint.

*The McCain Double-Flip-Flop with One-and-A-Half Twists – Matt Corley at ThinkProgress.com notes that prior to his presidential bid John McCain repeatedly was against the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. For example, "I am disappointed that the Senate Finance Committee preferred instead to cut the top tax rate of 39.6% to 36%, thereby granting generous tax relief to the wealthiest individuals of our country at the expense of lower- and middle-income American taxpayers." [McCain Senate floor statement, May 21, 2001]. Appearing on ABC’s This Week last Sunday Mitt McCain reversed his engines like a 747 that has overshot the landing strip. He performed a political polka around the definition of wealthy and then vowed, “under no circumstances would he increase taxes”. To categorically ignore the current tax structure is absurd.The Iraq war is now costing $250 million per DAY. America’s infrastructure (bridges, roads, toxic bodies of water) is in disrepair. The military and National Guard equipment is shot to hell. Education is sorely under-funded. McCain’s economic alchemy is as spurious as his claim to be at arms length from lobbyists where “virtually every one of his closest advisors are part of the Washington lobby culture. “A review of campaign finance filings shows that the Arizona Republican has accepted more than $100,000 in donations from employees of Greenberg Traurig, the very firm where Abramoff once reigned”. “According to opensecrets.org Sen. McCain has received over $400,000 from lobbyists.” ABC News on January 29, 2008 reported that McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign – more than any of the other presidential candidates. Responding to his lobby connection on Friday McCain called his senior staff “honorable” for their lobbying work. "These people have honorable records, and they're honorable people, and I'm proud to have them as part of my team." When he recently made the statement that “economics” was not his strength it was the most straight talk we have heard from the Senator.

*The “equal time” principle – Both Clinton and Obama have benefitted from campaign donations from Greenburg Traurig and other lobbyists. RawStory.com has a rundown of major donations these Democratic candidates have received from this industry of lawyers and influencers. Lobbyists do serve a function in our system. Unfortunately, their influence and impact have far exceeded an appropriate role as their economic resources skyrocketed and in too many instances their ethics became questionable. In today’s election system candidates need huge sums of money and special interests are a gold vein waiting to be mined. The answer appears obvious - public financing of elections and stronger ethics regulations for lobbyists and politicians. The problem is that the inmates make the rules. The solution is substantial public pressure.

*The Dukester’s devil is going to hell – Former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) is currently in prison for accepting over $700,000 in bribes. The briber is defense contractor Brent Wilkes and he was just sentenced to 12 years in prison. The Washington Post points out, “Wilkes is a Republican Party "Pioneer" who raised more than $100,000 for President Bush's reelection in 2004 and donated -- in concert with his business colleagues -- $656,396 to 64 other Republican lawmakers and the national Republican Party committees in Washington from 1995 through the third quarter of 2005, according to campaign finance records.” It is no secret that defense contractors and companies such as Halliburton and Blackwater have been major donors to Republican interests. It appears that their investments were quite prudent in light of the billions of dollars they have reaped from the Iraq war. Since there was no legitimate reasons for Bush to invade Iraq it seems reasonable to examine possible illegitimate reasons.

*Modern Reform - John Halpin, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress was a recent guest blogger at ThinkProgress. I recommend his brief review of reform movements in America and his suggestion that together they have a place in today’s world. Mr. Halpin concludes: “To build a real case for modern reform efforts, we should draw on and defend all three traditions: Liberalism (liberty with economic opportunity); Populism (a stand on the side of the people and “equal rights for all, special privileges for none”); and Progressivism (honest government and a commitment to the common good). From one perspective it is not considered hip or cool or desirable in current society to associate with ism labels. I would suggest that current conditions in America warrant that each of us commit to ideas or concepts beyond the amorphous “political party” affiliation that in recent history has not served the interest of ourselves or our nation.

*Did the earth move for you? – The attempt of the religious right to dictate how we should lead our lives is not limited to activity in the U.S. or Afghanistan or Iran. Even Israel has its “interpreters” of the Almighty’s verse and word. A parliamentary member of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party, Shlomo Benizri, is blaming two recent earthquakes in Israel on Parliament’s tolerance of gays. Israel decriminalized homosexuality in 1988 and has since passed several laws recognizing gay rights. Israeli court rulings in recent years have granted inheritance rights to gay couples and recognized same-sex marriages performed abroad. I find it interesting that these “religious” reproachers spend more time judging others than aiding a neighbor, the sick or the needy. They prefer tearing down over building up. Recall some of the religious right in the U.S. claiming that 9/11 resulted from America’s tolerance of gays. Shlomo may be correct that God is ticked off. For the reason I suggest he look in the mirror.

*Quote of the week – From the blogger Blue Gal: Did you ever wonder that the reason everyone is talking about what Michelle Obama “thinks” is because she can?

The Great Debate – On Thursday I watched the debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that took place in Austin, TX. As I suspected, it would not really be a “great” debate since their positions are so close on so many key issues. What particularly impressed me about the event was witnessing two intelligent and knowledgeable adults discussing serious issues of import to me and my country and proposing reasonable solutions.
~Afterthought – Did you look forward to the day when you could have confidence your leader when Obama said he would be willing to meet with leaders of countries at odds with the U.S. “with preparation but no preconditions”? It is a different approach than Bush has taken and even his predecessor, as noted by Katrina Vanden Heuvel at The Nation: “during his two terms President Clinton did not meet with Fidel Castro or with Hugo Chavez or with the leaders of Iran, Syria, and North Korea--while generally pursuing a policy of trying to isolate these countries. But what did the Clinton approach actually accomplish?”

*The children of Iraq – Little is spoken of the effect of the Iraq war on its children. UNICEF just asked for $37 million to support vulnerable Iraqi children and their families. The cold reality: “A large number of children, estimated in the tens of thousands, have lost parents, siblings and other family members to violence; At least one in five primary school-age children is unable to go to school: Only 40 per cent of children have regular access to safe drinking water; Some 600,000 children are among the 1.2 million Iraqis displaced over the past two years. Most families are still unable to return home.”
When we see much of the violence around the world our hearts may be touched but a shrug usually follows because we are helpless to do anything about it. I would suggest that there is a difference with Iraq because America’s fingerprints are all over the smoking gun. It is beyond time that we do something about it. John McCain is comfortable with American troops being in Iraq for 10 to 100 years. Americans can do something about that on November 4, 2008.

*Quotes - Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)
~ If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.
~ An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
~What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.
~ God has no religion.

9/20/07

*Integrity postmortem – The NY Times published an article about former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s new book “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.” Greenspan criticizes Bush, Cheney and the Republican-controlled congress for abandoning their party’s principle on spending and deficits. He says, “They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. …Mr. Bush was never willing to contain spending or veto bills that drove the country into deeper and deeper deficits, as Congress abandoned rules that required that the cost of tax cuts be offset by savings elsewhere. The Republicans in Congress lost their way.” Recall that Greenspan favored these tax cuts that since 2001 have amounted to $1,000,000,000,000 (trillion). I find it interesting that a number of government officials, after they leave their position, have much criticism of the Bush administration. I find it disingenuous that while on the job their silence allowed deception and incompetence to proliferate.

*Greenspan spins the barrel – He says that he favored the invasion of Iraq because Saddam was a threat to the Straits of Hormuz, a major route for our oil supplies that needed protection. I seem to recall that the U.S. crushed the Iraq army in under a week. Quite the threat! At that time oil was $33 a barrel. Today a barrel of oil costs $80. Quite the protection!

*Conservative wisdom – Pat Buchanan is a conservative commentator with whom I often disagree. What he had to say about the President of Iran not being allowed to lay a wreath at the site of the 9/11 attack in NYC made a lot of sense. Whatever the motivation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his appearance at the site may have opened a door to diplomacy, something the U.S. sorely needs. The U.S. has a long history of diplomacy with some of the most horrible men who have walked this planet – Khrushchev, Mao, Khadafy and their ilk. It was in the U.S. and world interest to engage such men following their reigns of murder and destruction. There was only an upside to engaging Ahmadinejad at the World Trade Center site.

*An about face ~ industry seeks regulation – The NY Times is reporting that many major U.S. industries are abandoning positions of self-regulation or no regulation that have been supported by the federal government. Why the change? Fear of low-cost foreign competition, stricter state rules, potential consumer law suits and the anticipation that new regulations now will be more palatable than what may ensue as the Democrats gain more control in Washington.

* Taxation without representation - The citizens of Washington D.C., under current law, cannot elect someone to the House of Representatives. This week the inequity had a chance to be corrected. However, a bid to bring D.C. voting rights legislation to the floor failed by a mere three votes. The vote was not on an actual bill. The vote was on whether to even consider such a bill. D.C. is a major black city and Democratic in make-up. While the Republicans raised constitutional questions those issues could have been addressed through legislation and the courts. It is not surprising that they would oppose adding a potential Democratic vote in congress. The right of representation for Washington D.C. citizens was immaterial.

*A look ahead, empty pockets - Recent statements by various Bush officials indicate that they are planning for a long stay in Iraq. The cost will be in the trillions of dollars. For math-challenged people like me a trillion is 1000 billion. What will be left for healthcare, education, social security, basic human services, repair of infrastructure, food safety inspection…?

*Is it a small price to pay? - Following last week’s post a reader brought to my attention a web site that offers photos and much more of our military men and women who have served in Iraq and how this war has impacted their lives. The site is: http://www.purpleheartsbook.com/. Our government has gone to great lengths to shield Americans from the war’s reality. Recall that the media is banned from photographing caskets arriving home from Iraq. The consequences of the Iraq war deserve our attention.

*It is a big price to pay ~ non-enforcement of laws - The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 requires that the financial systems of major federal agencies “comply substantially” with generally accepted accounting standards. Each year those agencies are required to release results of outside audits. The Department of Homeland Security has failed every audit since 2003. Its annual budget is $35 billion. The Defense Department has never come close to passing. Defense’s annual budget is $460 billion representing 20% of all federal spending. The departments seem incapable of providing even the most basic level of accountability by balancing their financial books. Our money is spent with little oversight. The question to be begged is who is enforcing the law? This is not unlike the illegal immigration crisis in this country. There are laws against entering the U.S. illegally and there are laws against employing illegal immigrants. And yet, both practices are rampant. The soap box politicians keep telling us that we are “a country of laws” and that we live under “the rule of law”. Blah, blah, blah. Where is the sheriff?

*The price of political corruption –Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-partisan watchdog holding public officials accountable. CREW just released its list of the 22 most corrupt congressmen (and women) in Washington. Nineteen on the list are Republicans and three are Democrats. This link provides the list and the details. Why is corruption so prevalent? Congress has vigorously opposed attempts to limit special-interest influence on elected officials as well as attempts to establish an independent commission to oversee and penalize ethics violations. And, some people are just outright crooks who won an election.

*The price of the corporate tax shell game – A USA Today article by Robert S. McIntyre, a Director of Citizens for Tax Justice says that corporate tax loopholes will cost ordinary citizens over the next ten years 3 trillion dollars. On one hand U.S. corporations face the highest tax rate of industrialized countries at 39%. However, due to loopholes and subsidies they only pay taxes on about half of their income. The extra funds left in the hands of corporate America certainly have not benefited the majority of employees as demonstrated by the number of jobs corporations outsource to foreign countries and the number of illegal immigrants they hire in this country. This system not only lacks fairness but is shortsighted. Corporations sell a product or a service. If the market lacks the resources to purchase what they produce, they are out of business. Unless the business community begins thinking beyond the next quarterly report they should start selling their stock short.

*A world apart – In 2005 Hillary Clinton gave a speech in New Delhi to Indian businessmen. She offered a blunt assessment of the loss of American jobs across the Pacific. "There is no way to legislate against reality," she declared. "Outsourcing will continue. . . . We are not against all outsourcing; we are not in favor of putting up fences." In 2007 the presidential candidate told a group of students in New Hampshire that she hated seeing U.S. telemarketing jobs done in remote locations far, far from our shores. Senator Clinton’s ties to corporate interests and money leave me in knots about her candidacy. The special interests supporting her are not that far, far away.

*Flash observations:
-China has announced that it will no longer give Giant Pandas to foreign countries as a way of improving international relations. There was no mention of whether it would improve product safety inspections as an alternative diplomatic booster.
-A Veco Oil Co. executive has testified that his company did in fact participate in the renovation of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) house. Stevens’ son is being investigated on separate corruption charges related to his tenure as President of the Alaskan senate. Is “genetics” a defense?
-Many of us sit at home frustrated with the Iraq war wishing things were different. Many people and organizations are being proactive. If you want to learn more and perhaps do something a good place to begin is: votersforpeace.org
- Republican constituents are angry with the Bush administration's aggressive drive to promote oil and gas drilling on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Energy development is tainting some of the country's most majestic landscape. If current and past presidents had put as much effort into reducing our need for oil as drilling for oil perhaps our purple mountain’s majesty would not be in jeopardy.
-Water-boarding (a suspect has water poured over his mouth and nose to stimulate a drowning reflex) has been removed by the CIA as an approved interrogation technique. Other “enhanced interrogation techniques” remain in place.
-Fading presidential candidate John McCain has always identified himself as an Episcopalian. In a life-transforming religious experience, no doubt stemming from a desire to appeal to the Republican base to support his presidential candidacy, he is now referring to himself as a Baptist. Praise the Lord and pass the grits.
-A little discussed aspect of General Patreus’ report on the surge in Iraq was that it is his plan. The Iraq situation of “looking good, needs more time” is a familiar melody. With the Senators and Representatives offering more windy speeches than insightful inquiries for the General his appearance was not much of a test. Under this system of testing I would have graduated Magna Cum Laude.
-Leading Republican presidential candidates have avoided debates sponsored by Black and Latino organizations. In their world diversity ended in America when the passengers on the Mayflower disembarked. Praise the King and pass the spam and white bread.

*Quote of the week – “The Americans always try to pretend the responsibility for cleaning up this mess isn’t theirs and tend to shift blame onto Iraq, Iran and Syria for everything that goes wrong,” veteran Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman

*Ignoramus of the week ~ Come on down David Frye - Sgt. Yance Gray came from Ismay, Montana. He died in Iraq last week. His death gained attention because he was one of seven authors of a recent New York Times op-ed criticizing the continued occupation. Frye, a prominent Montana Republican, is saying Sergeant Gray probably wasn't smart enough to actually write the op-ed. These neo-conservative ideologues do not give a crap about the lives of Americans being wasted in support of an ideology of annihilation with potential consequences of self-annihilation. If you put a robe and mustache on these cretins you wind up with the Taliban.

*Doing a 180 – Newt Gingrich says he is making a grass-roots push to change how the country is governed so there will be less partisanship. This is the man who, when Speaker of the House in the 1990s, invented partisanship with the fury of a napalm attack. The transformation of Mr. Gingrich can be attributed to one of three factors; a guilty conscience, Alzheimer’s disease, a presidential candidacy.

*I only lie when I am lying - I noted last week that the Director of National Intelligence Mitch McConnell lied to congress about the effectiveness of laws authorizing warrentless wiretapping. This week he appeared once again before congress to request additional spying authority. How does congress determine legitimacy in the absence of credibility?

*Restoration of Civil Liberties – Senators Leahy and Dodd have proposed the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007. This would reverse one of the grievous elements of the Military Commissions Act that sanctioned the detention and jailing of U.S. residents without the opportunity to appear before a judge. This piece of legislation would reverse the error. You can sign on as a co-sponsor by clicking on this link.

*Black ops ~ black oops – A little discussed aspect of the war in Iraq is the large number of private security forces contracted by the U.S. government. These are jobs once performed by our military. They operate outside of the regular command with little oversight. In many cases they guard important U.S. officials. One of the largest of these firms is Blackwater. With strong ties to the Bush administration they have raked in billions of dollars in fees. This past weekend saw a catastrophe not unique to Blackwater and their counterpart contractors. A shootout with Blackwater mercenaries left 9 Iraqi civilians dead. The Iraqi Interior Ministry has ordered that Blackwater be expelled from Iraq. It will be interesting to see who wins this battle. I would not bet on the Interior Ministry. For those people calling for our State Dept. to stop using mercenaries they can’t. They are out of soldiers and Bush has no options.

* I feel that we are doing something so important that it is awesome—it is almost purifying. It has a deep religious meaning, of that I feel certain. Surely it is God’s wish that men not wage wars of aggression. The proof here is absolutely overwhelming. I would never have believed that men could be so evil, so determined on a course of war; of murder; of slavery; of dreadful tyranny. Never before has such a record been written and men will read it for a thousand years in amazement and wonder how it ever happened.
Excerpt from a letter written by Thomas Dodd, a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trial of Nazi war criminals, from a new book:
My Father’s Narrative of a Quest for Justice By Sen. Christopher J. Dodd with Larry Bloom, Crown Publishing New York, 2007