Ralph is at it again. His running for president is now nothing more than an ego trip and not an attempt to get attention for his causes -- whatever they may be. The worst thing to happen was when he got 3% of the vote in 2000 tipping the election to George Bush (who still lost the popular vote). It seems to have emboldened Nader and made him think that he is actually relevant.
He is not relevant and his cynical comments that there was no difference between George Bush and Al Gore hurt his own causes. He needs to work within the system to get his message heard and his issues dealt with. In Europe's parliamentary systems such small party candidacies have their place. However, in the US two-party system, for better or for worse, Nader is merely a spoiler and spoil sport.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Loss
Over the last six years the Bush administration has led the United States into its greatest loss since the Vietnam War. And that loss has nothing to do with military success or failure in Iraq, Afghanistan or the war on terror. The loss is that of Moral Authority. The shining city on the hill, which shone brightly with the fall of the Berlin Wall, is now obscured by the fog of paranoia and the quest for power; the quest for security at the expense of liberty.
America stood out in 1989 not as a beacon of perfection or the ultimate society, but as a sharp contrast to the corruption and moral decay that fell the Soviet empire. Even through the 1991 Gulf War the United States maintained itself as flawed, but with a stead moral compass. President George HW Bush put together a coalition of nations to liberate a small nation overrun by a large one only for the sake of territorial expansion and a grab at wealth. There was an undercurrent that this was only being done to defend the supply of oil, but the broad coalition validated the use of force and showed that the United States was not acting brashly solely in its own national interest, but was acting as the leader of the international community.
The United States is no longer the leader of the international community. The coalition of the willing sent into Iraq in 2003 was a mere shadow of the coalition that liberated Kuwait in 1991. The outpouring of solidarity with the American people following 9/11, the zenith of which was the declaration of French editorial boards that "we are all Americans" and the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by the Welsh Guard at Buckingham Palace, has collapsed into near universal condemnation of Bush administration policies both at home and abroad.
The American people have finally recognized that the erosion of their civil liberties by the Bush Administration does not assure security, but political tyranny. The once moral Bush administration advocating "faith-based initiatives", whose political philosophy was based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ, is now shunned by the conservatives who championed him.
However, America is on its way to regaining its moral authority. The American people are rejecting the ways of the Bush Administration. The abuses of the Patriot Act are coming out which will lead to its repeal, or at very least its emasculation. The majority of the populace has taken to hear the truism that those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither. The Bush administration is reviled like that of Nixon -- however, without the foreign policy success (and of course we cannot forget the Endangered Species Act which may qualify Nixon as a "compassionate conservative" at least in regard to animals). On both sides of the political spectrum Americans have recognized that we have lost our way and it is time to get back on course. Presidential candidates on both sides are rejecting the absolutism brought forth by the unitary executive and a real debate is now occurring; and open and honest debate, while dirty, is the only way to clean-up America's reputation in the world and once again become that beacon that lets the world see both its qualities and its flaws.
America stood out in 1989 not as a beacon of perfection or the ultimate society, but as a sharp contrast to the corruption and moral decay that fell the Soviet empire. Even through the 1991 Gulf War the United States maintained itself as flawed, but with a stead moral compass. President George HW Bush put together a coalition of nations to liberate a small nation overrun by a large one only for the sake of territorial expansion and a grab at wealth. There was an undercurrent that this was only being done to defend the supply of oil, but the broad coalition validated the use of force and showed that the United States was not acting brashly solely in its own national interest, but was acting as the leader of the international community.
The United States is no longer the leader of the international community. The coalition of the willing sent into Iraq in 2003 was a mere shadow of the coalition that liberated Kuwait in 1991. The outpouring of solidarity with the American people following 9/11, the zenith of which was the declaration of French editorial boards that "we are all Americans" and the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by the Welsh Guard at Buckingham Palace, has collapsed into near universal condemnation of Bush administration policies both at home and abroad.
The American people have finally recognized that the erosion of their civil liberties by the Bush Administration does not assure security, but political tyranny. The once moral Bush administration advocating "faith-based initiatives", whose political philosophy was based upon the teachings of Jesus Christ, is now shunned by the conservatives who championed him.
However, America is on its way to regaining its moral authority. The American people are rejecting the ways of the Bush Administration. The abuses of the Patriot Act are coming out which will lead to its repeal, or at very least its emasculation. The majority of the populace has taken to hear the truism that those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither. The Bush administration is reviled like that of Nixon -- however, without the foreign policy success (and of course we cannot forget the Endangered Species Act which may qualify Nixon as a "compassionate conservative" at least in regard to animals). On both sides of the political spectrum Americans have recognized that we have lost our way and it is time to get back on course. Presidential candidates on both sides are rejecting the absolutism brought forth by the unitary executive and a real debate is now occurring; and open and honest debate, while dirty, is the only way to clean-up America's reputation in the world and once again become that beacon that lets the world see both its qualities and its flaws.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Iraq
Iraq has reached a new level of stupidity for me on a personal level.
Sure, the handling of the execution of Saddam Hussein was typical of the handling of the entire Iraq expedition (or is it a foray?). Should he have been executed before being put on trial for all his other crimes? Is execution even an acceptable way in 2007 to deal with a war criminal?
While these are very interesting and valid points for discussion, one other thing happened in Iraq that crystallizes all these questions: my friend's son was shot by a sniper in Iraq. Now, I use the term "friend" loosely. He is more of a co-worker. A very nice guy who I work with and interact with on a daily basis. However, having heard that his 20-year-old son, a Marine, had been wounded and was being airlifted back to the US, I was devastated. I was angry. I was sad. I had a very strong reaction. Now, I make it a point to read the names of those who have died in Iraq as they are published in the newspaper. We have to realize that no matter what our feeling about the war in Iraq, people are dying and lives are being irreparably changes. And while I feel empathy for those killed and wounded and their families, there is no feeling as knowing someone who has felt it directly.
It put me into a funk for a good two days and whenever I thought about it I had strong emotions. The rest of us in the office made sure he got to meet his son at the hospital and his family flew there with him. We called friends and relatives in the area of the hospital to make sure that anything the family needed would be taken care of. But with great emotion comes some deep thinking.
What is our objective in Iraq? Why are these young people dying?
No one is sure. We have many platitudes about the frontlines in the war in terror, bringing democracy, stabilizing the Middle East, etc. None of these is an acceptable objective.
World War II was very clear cut. We were attacked by a definable enemy and we looked into the eye of evil. In Korea we were defending democracy and making a stand against China exporting its Communist revolution. We thought we were doing the same in Vietnam, but stepping back, we realized that we had gone in to save a colonial possession (of the French) and were not really containing Communism as much getting in the middle of a civil war. Even in the first Gulf War we had an objective: remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and protect the oil fields of Saudi Arabia that are essential to our economy. We did so with overwhelming force and stopped once the objective was achieved (we made other mistakes, but achieved the main objective and got out).
In Iraq we abandoned what was termed the "Powell Doctrine," the use of overwhelming force coupled with a clear military and political objective and the support of the American people and our allies. We have paid dearly for not listening to those who learned the hard lessons of Vietnam taught in the rice paddies and the jungle and instead paid heed to the political scientists who studied it without experiencing it.
The deaths of those soldiers in Iraq are not in vain if we redeploy to protect our allies and contain the current Iraqi civil war. We removed a dictator and a genocidal maniac, now it is up to the Iraqi's to sort out their differences. We should not spend our blood and treasure to try and stabilize a situation that is not of our making. It is not foreign fighters or elements of Al-Qaeda stirring up trouble. It is hundreds of years of religious animosity that is causing the violence along with the repression of the Sunni-dominated regime of Hussein that has let it explode into the streets. After repressing Shiites for years the Sunni's fear retribution. This is not our fight. Let's pull back and protect Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Let's protect the border with Iran so they don't dominate the now lawless Iraq and lets deploy our troops to Afghanistan to get the guys who attacked us.
Sure, the handling of the execution of Saddam Hussein was typical of the handling of the entire Iraq expedition (or is it a foray?). Should he have been executed before being put on trial for all his other crimes? Is execution even an acceptable way in 2007 to deal with a war criminal?
While these are very interesting and valid points for discussion, one other thing happened in Iraq that crystallizes all these questions: my friend's son was shot by a sniper in Iraq. Now, I use the term "friend" loosely. He is more of a co-worker. A very nice guy who I work with and interact with on a daily basis. However, having heard that his 20-year-old son, a Marine, had been wounded and was being airlifted back to the US, I was devastated. I was angry. I was sad. I had a very strong reaction. Now, I make it a point to read the names of those who have died in Iraq as they are published in the newspaper. We have to realize that no matter what our feeling about the war in Iraq, people are dying and lives are being irreparably changes. And while I feel empathy for those killed and wounded and their families, there is no feeling as knowing someone who has felt it directly.
It put me into a funk for a good two days and whenever I thought about it I had strong emotions. The rest of us in the office made sure he got to meet his son at the hospital and his family flew there with him. We called friends and relatives in the area of the hospital to make sure that anything the family needed would be taken care of. But with great emotion comes some deep thinking.
What is our objective in Iraq? Why are these young people dying?
No one is sure. We have many platitudes about the frontlines in the war in terror, bringing democracy, stabilizing the Middle East, etc. None of these is an acceptable objective.
World War II was very clear cut. We were attacked by a definable enemy and we looked into the eye of evil. In Korea we were defending democracy and making a stand against China exporting its Communist revolution. We thought we were doing the same in Vietnam, but stepping back, we realized that we had gone in to save a colonial possession (of the French) and were not really containing Communism as much getting in the middle of a civil war. Even in the first Gulf War we had an objective: remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and protect the oil fields of Saudi Arabia that are essential to our economy. We did so with overwhelming force and stopped once the objective was achieved (we made other mistakes, but achieved the main objective and got out).
In Iraq we abandoned what was termed the "Powell Doctrine," the use of overwhelming force coupled with a clear military and political objective and the support of the American people and our allies. We have paid dearly for not listening to those who learned the hard lessons of Vietnam taught in the rice paddies and the jungle and instead paid heed to the political scientists who studied it without experiencing it.
The deaths of those soldiers in Iraq are not in vain if we redeploy to protect our allies and contain the current Iraqi civil war. We removed a dictator and a genocidal maniac, now it is up to the Iraqi's to sort out their differences. We should not spend our blood and treasure to try and stabilize a situation that is not of our making. It is not foreign fighters or elements of Al-Qaeda stirring up trouble. It is hundreds of years of religious animosity that is causing the violence along with the repression of the Sunni-dominated regime of Hussein that has let it explode into the streets. After repressing Shiites for years the Sunni's fear retribution. This is not our fight. Let's pull back and protect Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Let's protect the border with Iran so they don't dominate the now lawless Iraq and lets deploy our troops to Afghanistan to get the guys who attacked us.
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