Who's the Patriot in the race for President?

Friends say I see something political in nearly everything these days. If that be true, it’s because this election is so vitally important to America’s future.

All that we are, as a nation, is the result of those who walked this way before us, applying the full measure of their personal energy, integrity, resources, service, and frequently, sacrifice to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

That’s the essence of our federal system, isn’t it? So, can you blame me for being a bit concerned about the damage the Bush folk have done to our nation, our republican form of government, or as Lincoln so eloquently described it – a "government of the people, by the people and for the people.” As an American, concerned about this republic, I can’t escape these thoughts, even when I watch the Olympics.

It is at once a beautiful and inspiring experience, watching gifted athletes compete for the highest honors the world community can bestow. That makes them special, to be sure, but I see something else. Look at those who represent America. A woman of Chinese ancestry, now a naturalized American citizen, proudly competes in ping pong for the USA. A young man of Mexican descent wrestles his heart out for his new country. I saw another young competitor whose grandfather came to America from Hungary following the Soviet invasion in 1956. In nearly every competition there is someone just a generation or two removed from an immigrant family that came to this country seeking escape from poverty, war, or oppression. They or their parents or their grandparents came to pursue the American dream – to secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity. One look into their faces and you see the most dedicated of US citizens. No one would dare question their patriotism.

And yet we have a John McCain whose campaign staff finds it easy to suggest that Barack Obama does not love his country the way they do. McCain says “I will never question Obama’s patriotism.” But his staff will, his campaign will, his surrogates will, those 527 committees will.

“He doesn’t have the same values we have,” they have said and will say again. Excuse me; Barack Obama is an American citizen running for President of the United States! He says, “we don’t have red states, we don’t have blue states, we only have these United States.” Those are values fundamental to our federal system. Those are values we all believe in. And who among us does not want a President who shares that view?

The McCain campaign has demonstrated already it will seek to destroy Obama’s character, his integrity, and question his patriotism along the way if it has to in order to win the office. Who wants a President like that? Who wants a President who believes in the Partisan States of America, not the United States of America?

And I ask you, who is the real patriot in this race – the man who will do and say anything to get elected OR the man who believes so much in America that he is willing to tell us the hard truth about the Herculean effort it will take to become energy independent, or the hard truth about the cost of providing health care coverage to all of us, or is willing to ask us to actually sacrifice when it is time to defend this nation, who believes the bankers son and the miller's son share the same obligation to this republic?

It is not a display of patriotism, or leadership, to employ reckless bellicose rhetoric on the world stage as John McCain has done on more than one occasion. Saber rattling may get you votes today, but it will not earn you respect tomorrow when it is time to actually be sworn in as Commander-in-Chief.

So do your damndest, Mr. McCain. Have your minions practice their dirty politics. Have them attempt to tear down a good man, a real American, with their race card and their fear card, with their distortions, their fabrications, their lies, their innuendoes. We’re not buying your politically expedient approach to politics, “my friend.” Your anything goes approach is going to be rejected by the American people this November. We’ve seen it before and we’re not buying it this time.

And I hope you are sufficiently ashamed on the day after the election that you will go back to the US Senate, apologize to all those you have offended, especially the newly minted US citizens, and vow to read the US Constitution again (Robert Byrd will loan you the copy he carries in his pocket every day) and become the US Senator the people of Arizona deserve, and no doubt, thought they elected.

Obama Listens to Sam Nunn - Here's Why

If you want to know why Barack Obama considers Sam Nunn one of the wise people he turns to for advice, read here his insightful answer to a question posed yesterday by the Atlanta Journal/Constitution about Russia’s invasion of the Republic of Georgia:

What’s the largest interpretation we should give the Russian invasion of Georgia?

Nunn:Number one, I think the stakes are very large, both for the United States and for Russia, and of course for Georgia and South Ossetia. Russia has brought back historical memories of the horrors of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Those memories as well as the actions taken by Russia cause fear in all of Russia’s neighbors.

Only Russia can reduce those fears by moving out of Georgia, quickly, keeping their word of a cease fire and withdrawal, and allowing some type of international peacekeeping force to go into what I call the enclaves, the regions that were autonomous after 1991 but part of Georgia, legally - South Ossetia and Abkhazia

So Russia’s got to step up to the plate if they want to preserve their place in the international community. This is a lose-lose-lose situation for everybody. Obviously Georgia has suffered. The South Ossetians - depending on who you believe - the Russians say, and this really needs checking out, that there are some 1,500 or 1,600 South Ossetians who were killed before the Russians came in, by the Georgians. The Georgians would deny that. I don’t know where the truth is on that.

Wherever it is, Russia used disproportionate force and overreacted. As I see it right now, there’s going to be serious - and it could be permanent - damage done to U.S., NATO and Russia relations, as well as their neighbors, unless wise leadership prevails in Russia, Europe and the United States.

The Russians, for instance - there are several parts of Russia that would like to be independent still. Obviously Chechnya. And if they take the view that these countries are going to be basically independent - these enclaves, not countries - they’re setting a precedent. They’re relying on the Kosovo precedent, and the way the West handled that.

But they better think through what they’re doing because they’ve got some other regions within Russia at stake here. So the only way out of this is for Russia to move out of Georgia proper and have international peacekeepers come into South Ossetia and Abkhazia

I think it’s important for Russia to understand that the historical context cannot be dismissed here. It’s not simply what happened and who started it and so forth. This has to be overlaid into the historical context and the aggressions of the past. So they’ve got some rethinking to do.

I think NATO, as I view it, and clearly the United States, needs to pause, look and listen before we rush into making Georgia and Ukraine part of NATO. If we’re going to do that, we have to understand that this is a military commitment. And we have to back it up militarily.

Right now, we’re not doing well in Afghanistan. Our NATO allies seem to be reluctant to put in more forces. NATO’s got a lot of credibility at stake in Afghanistan. And the defense spending by most of our European allies is way down. And if you look at the map, you can see pretty quickly that defending Georgia will require enormous expenditures unless we’re going to go back to a Berlin sort of situation, where we threaten to use nuclear weapons in response to conventional progression by the Soviet Union. That’s what we did then. We were very lucky to avoid Armageddon all those years.

So we need to understand that when you make military commitments, you’ve got to back it up with military capability. And right now, NATO is in danger of turning itself into a political organization rather than an effective military organization, and making political commitments which cannot be backed up with current forces.

That’s extremely dangerous, particularly when you project the possibility of a resurgent Russia with $100 [a barrel] oil. And you add into that a Europe that is dependent on Russia for oil and natural gas…..

NATO has to think through, how do we expect Russia to react when they see themselves surrounded by a military alliance which they’re not part of? And from the Russian point of view, how do they expect their neighbors to react - how do they expect them to do anything other than to want to be in NATO - if they take this kind of aggressive military action?

Large countries have acute obligations. Small countries can afford to be somewhat more irresponsible. But large countries have a real obligation. And Russia has a real obligation if it wants to be part of the international community.

The rest of the interview can be found on the AJC blog: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2008/08/18/nunn_on_the_russiangeorgian_co.html

McCain Can...and Will...If We Let Him

I heard from a good friend the other day who, after watching the Rick Warren interviews at Saddleback Church, is concerned that John McCain may use the same formula Republican right wingers have used in recent presidential races to secure a win. "Can McCain pull it off?" he wanted to know.

McCain CAN pull it off IF Americans let him. He had all the correct answers for Rick Warren the other day. He didn't have to stop and think about any of them since he knew exactly what to say to please them. Obama, on the other hand, tried to give each question a thoughtful answer...but will Americans give him enough time this fall for those kind of answers? We are so insistent upon being able to pigeon-hole our candidates on the issues. We want to be able to make a decision regarding our support based on simple answers to complex questions. Voters need to exercise a little mental discipline. Voters can do it, they have the freedom to do it, but I'm not sure the have the will to do it.

All you have to do is look at the TV ad McCain is running now to know how he intends to defeat Obama. The message will be "Obama wants to raise your taxes; indeed, he has already done so." And the second half of the message will be to play the fear card well, "Obama is not capable or experienced enough to handle the next terrorist attack, so be afraid, be very afraid. Vote Republican and we will take care of you." They are appealing to the very people who don't want Big Government in their lives by saying, in effect, let us, your only friends at Big Government, take care of you.
In other words, the party of destructive political tricksters, Lee Atwater and his protege, Karl Rove, has learned how to manipulate American voters so well that the voters often don't even know when they have been manipulated.

There go the lemmings...down to the sea...every one.
Unless...

"Stay Away from Lawyers and Politicians"

Last night at the Olympics was a proud moment for America and for the disciplined athletes on stage. I wish our political leaders could demonstrate as much discipline when they are on stage. But, alas, I think we may never live long enough to see that condition come to pass.

My father told me I could do whatever I wanted in life, but he advised, "stay away from lawyers and politicians; lawyers lie and politics is dirty." Children seldom pay attention to such wise advice and I was no exception. I have paid the price of hanging around too many lawyers and politicians who lie, cheat, steal...and lie some more. Oh well. This 2008 presidential race will get ugly, it will get dirty. Too many people are being paid good money to make it so.

You and I should step back as best we can, take most of the attacks with a grain of salt, and make up our own minds. Pay very little attention to what TV's talking heads say, no matter who they are. Listen to the candidates, listen carefully, and make up your own mind. Consider, for example, John McCain's comment on the Russian invasion of the Republic of Georgia: "In the 21st Century, nations don't invade other nations." Really? What planet is he living on? Does he spend his whole life watching re-runs of Gunsmoke? The policy of preemptive first strike of another sovereign nation was exercised for the first time as a policy of this nation under Bush 41and Cheney 1! Good grief!

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This presidential race should go to Obama. If it doesn't, this nation is in even greater danger than it was when Bush 43 was sworn in. In the last week, Russia's Vladimir Putin has helped reveal America to the rest of the world as a total paper tiger, unable to wield a baton much less a Roosevelt "big stick." As for our military, we got nothin' -- bupkus! We couldn't put a division into Afghanistan or anywhere else if our national life depended on it. Bush has decimated our military, spent our treasury, destroyed our international reputation, destabilized oil markets through his foreign misadventures, undermined our banking system through disinterested oversight, and weakened virtually every department and agency of government through benign neglect or intentional malfeasance.

When George Bush was elected to office, I turned to my wife and said, "This country is in great danger." I had no idea how much danger or how incompetent this administration would be.

Obama has an excellent chance to do well -- once elected. He has indicated he will lead by seeking consensus on issues, reaching across the aisle to do so. I take him at his word...and will do all I can to hold him to it. He is also committed to bringing into his administration individuals who have something to contribute to making America stronger, and he will not check first to see if they made a contribution to his campaign.

If McCain wins, it seems clear that it will be more of the Bush approach to mis-government. This is one of those times when Americans must ask themselves, as they go into the polling booth, "Have I given up, believing my vote won't make a difference, accepting a dismal future for my children, or do I want to help restore the principles upon which we have been governed these 232 years, and roll up my sleeves after the vote in the knowledge that my vote is only the beginning of the process of renewal? That is the only question we need ask.

How to Begin to Repair Damage

My good friend, Joe Fab, recently described to me how Barack Obama could repair some of the damage Bush 43 has done to the US Constitution. Here are his thoughts:

“I'm repeatedly shocked to notice how few Americans seem to recognize the degree of destruction that the current administration has perpetrated in this regard. (If Obama would make this issue part of his campaign),Obama would also be buttressing his own image with respect to that critical factor: patriotism.

“A true patriot would understand the fundamentals on which the United States was built and would be able to explain how badly they've been broken. And, a patriot would stand up for those principles. Like those who serve this country in time of war, he would defend them with his life -- or in this case, with his presidential viability.

“I believe that a task force or some other substantial mechanism ought to be created within an Obama administration with the mission of identifying all the points of damage, and to prescribe and then manage their repair.

“When Obama spoke about the ongoing responsibility to work towards the perfection of the Union, he had one foot metaphorically on the ground I would like him to claim on behalf of us all. If he would vigorously announce his commitment to leading America in reclaiming her Constitution, I believe he would enhance his campaign and begin to organize us all around an issue that is absolutely critical to the future of this country.”

Thanks, Joe; I can’t think of any suggestion more in keeping with the thrust of this blog which is built on Ben Franklin’s description of the type of government he and the founding fathers created: “…you have a republic if you can keep it.”

The Tension Convention?

Tension Convention? Give me a break. Hillary will speak; her supporters will get to place her name in nomination but when the vote comes, Obama will be nominated. Bill Clinton will speak; pundits will talk about how much over his time allotment he went – and the two Clintons will go home. Their supporters will stay behind to support Obama BECAUSE DEMOCRATS WANT THE NEXT PRESIDENT TO BE ONE OF THEM. That's the only bottom line that counts!

Yes, there will be plenty of media discussion of the “turmoil,” “tension,” “conflict,” etc. but it will mean nothing to anyone who intends to vote in November. The Vice Presidential nominee, whoever he or she might be, will deliver a fine speech but it will only be prologue to Obama’s speech, delivered Thursday night (August 28), on the 45^th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. All of us will be watching for that moment, and other than the official vote count, that will be the moment remembered from this convention. Pay no attention to those other folk behind the curtain.

The Republicans will have their usual and dull convention in Minneapolis the following week. John McCain will stumble while trying to read his speech from the teleprompter, and he will wear that empty facial expression during moments of obligatory applause from his sycophants.

Republicans will go back to their negative campaigning, hoping that one more visit to the “slop jar” will yield yet another win for their candidate.

And Democrats will redouble their efforts to make sure another mooncalf is not elected on November 4.

An Energy Plan with Depth

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of politically expedient politicians pandering for our votes with simple solutions to complex problems. I’m also tired of uninformed people allowing themselves to be so easily manipulated. This time, this year, this November, it has to be different.

John McCain says his energy policy consists of drilling in ANWR, and drilling offshore. Yes, that’s the ticket. T. Boone Pickens says in his recent TV advertisement “This is one crisis we can’t drill our way out of.” Who’s correct? Pickens, of course, certainly not McCain. Pickens knows the truth and is telling the American people. He knows the answer will involve a range of solutions that include aggressive development of alternative fuels, renewable energy sources, advanced technology in generating coal-fired electricity, construction of safe and secure nuclear generation facilities, and enhanced development of technology to extract petroleum from American oil shale – to name a few areas of national energy policy concentration.

That’s a lot to put on our plate, but we have to do it all. Americans need to stop looking to candidates to give them short-term knee jerk solutions to complex problems. That will not put us any closer to energy independence – which is what everyone wants. Energy independence is the only way we can regain control of our own economic destiny.

Look, when the first Arab oil embargo occurred in October 1973, lines formed around service stations, sometimes for miles, as Americans waited for gasoline. Politicians beat their breast and said “we must never again put ourselves at the mercy of the OPEC nations.” Yeah, right. We took that to heart, didn’t we? It’s time to get serious.

Obama has come to us in 2008, dismissing Hillary and John McCain’s idea of a gas tax holiday and other short term “solutions.” He has resisted the temptation to play their game. I find him refreshing in that he is truly seeking to put on the table the beginnings, at least, of a long range energy plan. He wants to:

1. Increase fuel economy standards

2. Invest in plug in hybrid electric vehicles

3. Develop the next generation of sustainable biofuels

4. Establish a national low carbon fuel standard

5. Develop and deploy clean coal technology

6. Invest in a “Smart Grid” for the reliable transmission of electricity

7. …and the list goes on and on.

I’m ready for a plan with depth and breath, aren’t you?