Month: February 2009

It is very disturbing to learn that President Obama is planning a commitment in the next six months to a year of an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and Al Quaeda.

While certainly the US and NATO cannot totally abandon the fight against international terrorism, the history of Afghanistan does not bode well for any possibility of success.  Afghanistan has historically overcome all invaders, including Great Britain and the Soviet Union.  Its mountainous, inaccessible landscape has led to tragedy after tragedy over many centuries.  There is no way to WIN in Afghanistan and the thought of a major escalation, and the likelihood of a growing number of casualties, is alarming.

The investment in money and personnel will create a tremendous burden on the US economically and create more disillusionment and division at home.  We cannot afford the sacrifice involved,  in the midst of problems presented by the move to withdraw troops from Iraq, dealing with the growing threat of Iran and North Korea and Venezuela, and the constant challenge from Russia and China. 

We do not have the ability to commit troops everywhere and expect to have any opportunity to bring urgent domestic reform.  President Obama, please reconsider what you are doing, and do NOT allow Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a carryover from the Bush Administration, to commit us to a situation which has no practical end!

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has angered human rights activists by her statements de-emphasizing the role of human rights in dealings with other nations, and most particularly, China.

This is very disappointing, as China is well known as one of the leading violators of human rights.  It indicates how much the former Bush Administration harmed our economy by greatly expanding trade with China, and allowing that nation the ability to lend our country so much money that they are our leading creditor, therefore undermining our ability to promote morality and ethics in foreign policy.

An alarm bell is ringing loudly, that due to our economic crisis, the Obama Administration seems to be on a course of abandoning a very important principle–that we should be the leaders in promoting or restoring a sense of ethics and morality in our dealings with the outside world.

It is hoped that President Obama will reconsider this very important issue as he works on reshaping our relationship with the world’s nations!

Unfortunately, both the Republicans and Democrats have senators who are a big embarrassment to the party faithful.  I am referring to Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Senator Roland Burris of Illinois.

Senator Bunning, a Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, has been considered strange in his behavior since before his re-election  by a very small margin in 2004.  Now he is threatening to sue the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee if they do not support his re-election with campaign funds.  It is obvious that Republican leaders in the Senate would like him to go away, as it will be very difficult to retain that seat due to Bunning’s penchant for saying inapppropriate things, including recently asserting that Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg will be dead from pancreatic cancer in less than a year, and then having to issue an apology for his insensitive statement.  He also has made other statements that raise eyebrows.

Senator Burris looks more crooked in his dealings with former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich as the days go by, and it is obvious that he is refusing to resign, despite the entreaties of fellow Illinois Senator Dick Durbin in a private meeting.  His appointment and behavior in the last month is very much a burden on his party, and fellow Senators privately wish he would just go away.

It is sad that the Senate has its reputation sullied by such embarrassing individuals, this particularly after the chamber finally got rid of Senator Larry Craig of Idaho who remained in the Senate a full year and more after being arrested in a men’s room in Minneapolis for inappropriate conduct involving an undercover police officer.  One would wish that the American people could have confidence that all Senators are truly the best available to fill those important positions in our government, but tragically that is NOT the case!  🙁

The United States Senate has finally agreed to consider a bill that would give Washington, DC a voting Representative, along with adding a new Congressman for the state of Utah, which just missed adding a Representative after the last census in 2000.  This bill would raise the number of members of the House of Representatives permanently from 435 to 437, with the Utah seat up for contention after the 2010 census based on the population growth at the time.

This means we would see a Democratic seat added for DC and a Republican seat added for Utah.  It would rectify the wrong of not giving Washington, DC, which has the population of a small state, representation throughout its long history.  Just because DC is not a state does not mean that the district should be denied full representation in the House. 

Senator Robert Bryd, the senior member of the Senate, claims that this move to grant DC equal status is unconstitutional as DC is not a state and only states are to be given congressional representation.  This is, in my opinion, short sighted and unjust, but a solution would be to try again a constitutional amendment to make DC the state of Columbia.  The problem is that it is unlikely that the states would agree to create a state guaranteed to have two Democratic senators due to its heavy African American population.  This was the reason why the proposed amendment years ago collapsed after only a few states went along with that idea.

So despite Senator Byrd and constitutional "purists", the only way to give any justice to the nation’s capital is to push this idea of one voting Representative as one small token of accepting the legitimacy of the DC population’s right to representation.  Let us hope this action takes place very soon!

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal really scored a low rating yesterday when he agreed to give the Republican response to the speech of President Obama before a joint session of Congress.

Even those who are of his party persuasion and share his conservative philosophy panned his performance, and he was also criticized for drawing attention to a portion of the economic stimulus bill that called for funding for Volcanic Monitoring.

Anyone who knows anything about the geology of  North America, and including Alaska and even the Hawaiian Islands, knows that we are a geologically active continent and that it is necessary to monitor volcanoes as a sudden eruption could have a disastrous effect on planes flying nearby.  In fact, this has already happened in the past, one time shutting down all four engines on a 747. 

We are reaching the silly season when we are being told NOT to monitor something that could lead to a natural disaster that could cost the government billions of dollars and major loss of life, and would lead to recriminations that our government was unprepared for a natural emergency. 

Public opinion polls show clearly that the majority of the American people back Obama and have no faith in the Republican party, which was the major contributor to the series of problems we now face.  This is the result of 12 years of Republican Congresses and eight years of a disastrous Republican presidency.

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana tonight presented the GOP response to President Obama’ s speech to the nation.

Certainly, Jindal is a brilliant man, a Rhodes Scholar who at a young age (37) has already made a great impression on America.  He is well spoken and highly intelligent and knowledgable.  He is said to have ambitions to move beyond the Louisiana Governorship and stands out as a better leader of the Republican party than just about any Republican in the Senate or Governorship.

However, his prescription of cutting taxes and making smaller government is so out of line with what is happening, and his earlier statement that he intended to refuse unemployment aid but accept other parts of the economic stimulus legislation, portrays him as unconcerned with the plight of so many Louisianans, including the unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina.  He failed tonight to give recognition to the role of federal aid ($175 billion already) in the vast rebuilding project in New Orleans. 

Jindal has potential, but if he continues to promote the same old, dull Republican philosophy that has led to the demise of the GOP, then his future national role will be curtailed.

President Obama this evening gave a speech promoting hope, confidence and optimism about the future, while also making clear the great challenges faced by this nation.

He urged action on energy, education,and health care while also advocating direct action to deal with the abuses that have led to the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.  He spoke to the average American in a way designed to build faith and patience as the country attempts to reverse the terrible damage that has occurred through lack of regulation. 

The President also promoted the New Deal philosophy of FDR and the Great Society activism of Lyndon B.  Johnson.  The speech was inspiring, and was greeted by tremendous applause throughout the House chamber.  Indications are that he accomplished his goal of restoring the belief that America would overcome this latest challenge to its security and future. 

There is no debate that Obama stands out as one of the best Presidents to speak before Congress, on the level of FDR, JFK, Reagan and Clinton.  One can only hope that his rhetoric can be put into concrete results!

President Obama today took an unusual step.  He held an economic summit, invited members of both parties, economists, media people and other influential citizens and proceeded to take questions for nearly an hour, as if this was a parliamentary system of government, as Great Britain has.

This included comments by John McCain and Eric Cantor and good natured ribbing by Obama of  these and other critics.  No President has ever put himself into such a situation, and it shows his willingness to hear all points of view and keep a good humor in the process.

Obama has already shown that he believes in constant public contact and this idea followed through today has proved to be useful and may be utilized in the future.  This is one of the many reasons why public opinion polls show he remains very high in public opinion one month into his Presidency!

Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama has made a record of being an obstructionist in his years in the Senate, but now he is wasting our time with statements asserting that Barack Obama may not be a citizen of the United States.

Recently, he declared that he had not seen Barack Obama’s birth certificate, as  if it is a requirement that a senator examine a president’s birth certificate.  This rumor about citizenship was first spread by conservative websites and backed up by an unethical college professor who started a website asserting what Shelby is now advocating.

The fact of Obama’s Honolulu birth is not subject to debate and his birth certificate is available online for those who are interested.  Does not Senator Shelby have better things to do than waste our time spreading gossip  and half truths?  Can’t we expect Shelby to do his job and stop diverting attention away from the real problems this country faces?

As a former Democrat, who switched parties after being elected Senator, Shelby already has a shady image, and it is not improved by his disgraceful assertions designed to undermine our government. I ask Senator Shelby to do the job he was elected to do: to help solve the problems faced by the citizens of Alabama in the present economic mess!

Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky is the only senator ever to be a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, having a superlative record as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies in the 1950s and early 1960s.

I remember admiring Bunning,  as a young man who was a baseball fan.  But that is long past.  Senator Bunning, who also served as a Congressman before his Senate tenure, has become a public embarrassment with his outrageous statements on many matters over the years, and there have been signs that he might have mental issues as he is nearing 80 years of age.

Now he is showing a disgraceful lack of class and judgment by declaring that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who has totally different views of the law and society than conservative Bunning, and recently underwent pancreatic cancer treatment, will be dead within nine months.  While the prognosis for pancreatic cancer is not good, no one should EVER make such a public statement about someone else’s health.  Instead, everyone should pray for the restoration of the health of a Justice highly respected and admired.  Her leaving the Supreme Court would be a sad moment as she has added a lot to the Court’s image and respectability.

It is clear that many Republicans wish that Senator Bunning would retire in 2010, as he is seen as likely to lose his seat to a Democrat as things stand now.   With all due respect for Jim Bunning, the Baseball Hall of Famer, it is certainly time for Senator Bunning to leave the Senate, where he has NOT made a distinguished record in action or statements!