*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.

1/1/08

*Lox and liver knishes – Certain things do not seem to go together. A recently released study of American Jewry by the American Jewish Committee verified an interesting phenomena/contradiction that I have wondered about. The study found that a strong majority of Jewish Americans are liberal in political philosophy and opposed to the Bush administration and its “campaign against terrorism”. By over a two-thirds majority they believe we should never have invaded Iraq. The contradiction is that the leading political Jewish voices in this country are Bush apologists and conservative/neo-con adherents. They helped concoct and/or support Bush’s misguided and failed unilateral foreign policy and preemptive war. Eric Alterman, writing for The Nation, notes that these less-than-representative Jewish voices dominate the political conversation. They include Irving Kristol, William Kristol, Seth Lipsky, Martin Peretz, Norman Podhoretz, John Podhoretz, Richard Perle, Richard Cohen, Mortimer Zuckerman, Alan Dershowitz, Jeffrey Goldberg, Lawrence Kaplan, Charles Krauthammer, David Horowitz, Jonah Goldberg, David Gelernter, Ruth Wisse, David Brooks and David Frum. Alterman notes, “Given the scare tactics the neocons routinely employ--from their frequent deployment of the intellectually vacuous term "Islamofascism," to Perle and Frum's warning that the nation's only choice is "victory or holocaust"--it is a remarkable tribute to the good sense of American Jewry that it remains a bastion of liberal humanism despite such naked attempts to manipulate longstanding fears and insecurities.” AND, like mayonnaise on corned beef, these pundits have been consistently wrong.

*Jews for Jesus in a Secular Society – This is a phrase I suggest characterizes the above noted Jewish “voices” that strongly support the poster boy for Christianizing America. Included in this group should be the Jewish Orthodox Joe Lieberman who genuflects at the Bush altar and recently endorsed for president John McCain, the man who said that America is a Christian nation. Apparently, selling one’s political soul has become a dollar store commodity.

*Let the games begin – Regardless of who wins the upcoming Democratic primary elections I will feel that America will be the winner. Edwards, Dodd, Biden. Obama, Kucinich, Richardson and Clinton give America a substantively better alternative to what we currently have and what the Republicans are offering. As noted by Markos at dailykos.com “every candidate on the Democratic side shares the same core principles, and that every candidate on the Republican side opposes them.” The choices are so clear and diametrically opposed that any candidates who speak of bipartisanship have a better chance of having pigs feet declared Kosher. Until the Republicans can locate a soul that embraces “American” values and the well-being of us citizens let them continue on the road to political Siberia.

*Platform for change ~ John Edwards– In an email I received this week from the John Edwards campaign he outlines some steps that he would take if elected President: “He will work to restore America's moral authority in the world by upholding the rule of law and safeguarding our civil liberties. He will say no to torture, protect our troops and our values by upholding the Geneva Conventions anywhere American security forces, military or civilian, are engaged. He will also restore habeas corpus. Because no president is above the law, he will respect the letter and spirit of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and end Bush's warrantless domestic spying program.
While much of the Patriot Act was necessary to ensure that intelligence agencies are able to share critical information, it included provisions that have been abused by this administration. John Edwards will restore important safeguards to the three provisions most susceptible to abuse: the "sneak-and-peek" delayed-notice searches, National Security Letters and the business and library records provisions.” These are certainly qualities that I expect of an American president.

*Recommended reading:
~NY Times Editorial 12/31/07 – As America moves beyond the Bush era it is imperative that we understand what took place during this administration so that it can be corrected and not repeated, continued or expanded. This editorial is an excellent primer.
~The Death of the Bill of Rights – markthshark at dailykos.com has written a well-documented timeline about how the Bush/Cheyney administration has damaged our democracy over the past seven years. The change that these men have insinuated into the framework of our government is not widely recognized nor does it bode well for our democratic well-being. When a society is relatively prosperous, relatively peaceful and has enjoyed unprecedented freedoms, there is a sense that it will continue unabated. World history has demonstrated this future view is naive. The vigilance that a free society requires has taken on a new importance.
~Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics has released it top ten ethics scandals of 2007

*Lest we forget – In 2007, one thousand and fourteen (1014) U.S. service men and women were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since these wars began over 3900 American service men and women have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these deaths as well as 30,000 injuries were unnecessary.

*Quote of note - Clarence Thomas recently told an overflow crowd at Chapman University that he never wanted to become a Supreme Court justice, or even a judge. "There's not much that entices about the job," Thomas said, answering questions from the public that provided a rare glimpse of the man behind the office. "There's no money in it, no privacy, no big houses, and from an ego standpoint, it does nothing for me." I would like to suggest to Justice Thomas that on January 21, 2009 he resign from the Supreme Court and reduce both his misery and that of the majority of Americans since his jurist philosophy is best suited to a Neolithic society.

*Xenophobia ~ pandering – Many are wondering how the subprime fiasco came about. Theories about greedy financial institutions and unethical mortgage sellers aside, we have an answer from the somnambulant Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson. He told potential voters in Iowa that immigrants deserve some of the blame. "A lot of them couldn't communicate with the people they were getting the mortgage from." Hasta la vista Fredo.

*Scratching the surface ~ finding the tarnish – The site dailykos.com has done a series on Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. When running for this high office virtually nothing in one’s past goes unnoticed. In 1992 The Ron Paul Political Report had the following: “Indeed, it is shocking to consider the uniformity of opinion among blacks in this country. Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty, and the end of welfare and affirmative action.... Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the "criminal justice system," I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal... We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, but it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings, and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers.” No oKKK to Paul.

*Privatizing immorality – “Two hundred and fifty-six people once held in Iraqi prisons -- and who were released without ever being charged with a crime -- have filed suit against a US military contractor for their alleged torture between 2003 and 2004. The former prisoners are asking for millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages against CACI International Inc. of Arlington, VA “. The State Department gave private contractors a free rein with no oversight. We will be learning much more about the murder, torture, rape and theft committed by employees of these private companies during the private war within the Iraq war.

*Did he really say that?
-Warning ~ from Mike Huckabee – The Republican candidate for president, once again establishing his “grasp” of foreign policy and protecting the home front, had this to say following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, "We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there's any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country.”
-Warning ~ about Mike Huckabee – On Meet the Press Mike Huckabee offered his solution to the illegal immigration problem. It goes something like this. During a 120 day window the U.S. will process out 15,000,000 illegal immigrants where they return to their country of origin. (Not to go unnoticed, this would require about 300,000 busloads or 50,000 flights.) The immigrants then apply to return to America while the borders are being sealed. Since this will all occur within 4 months the negative effect on the economy will be minimal.

*What’s good for the goose ~ is good for the goose – Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been one of the leading advocates for campaign finance reform. He must have meant for other people. The Washington Post reports: “McCain...has spent a long career decrying "special interests" and politicians who offer special access to them in order to raise money. As a presidential candidate this year, McCain has found himself assiduously courting both lobbyists and their wealthy clients, offering them private audiences as part of his fundraising. He also counts more than 30 lobbyists among his chief fundraisers, more than any other presidential contender.” McCain likes to characterize his political campaign bus as the “Straight Talk Express”. It may be the only evidence of “straight talk” in his campaign.

*Bah humbug CIGNA HealthCare – On December 11th doctors at UCLA Medical Center determined that 17 year old Nataline Sarkisyan needed a liver transplant. CIGNA denied payment. A groundswell of protests by friends, nurses and caring people eventually convinced CIGNA to reverse their decision on December 20th – the day that she died. The profits of America’s health insurers and the compensation paid to their executives are growing and the actual coverage that most of us receive is diminishing. This is a poignant example of the questionable state of healthcare insurance in this country. It is a situation that will only improve when a responsible and proactive federal government gets involved. At the present time both health insurers and the pharmaceutical companies virtually own the decision makers in Washington. Republican strategists would have us believe that the “profit motive” is the incentive for corporations to be responsible members of the community. Empirical evidence suggests not in this country in this century. It will require a leadership change in the White House and the congress for Americans and their doctors to regain a more responsible and responsive healthcare system.

*The President speaks - At a recent press conference President Bush said, “It’s what I do during my presidency. I go around spreading good will, talking about the importance of spreading freedom and peace.” If I were at the press conference I would have asked the location of the freedom and peace he has fostered. It appears to be one of those state secrets.

*A toast to 2008 - Drinking a little alcohol every day, especially wine, may be associated with an increase in life expectancy in middle-aged men. A 40 year Dutch study found that light alcohol consumption was associated with a lower rate of cardiovascular death and of death from all causes, and a nearly four year increase in lifespan. To your good health!

* “Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.” Oprah Winfrey