If John McCain and Newt Gingrich get it, why not the RNC?

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sent a rather scathing letter to Mike Duncan today, accusing the RNC chairman of engaging in "a destructive distraction" by attempting to tie Barack Obama to Rod Blagojevich. In particular, Gingrich hit the RNC for putting out a web ad that made it seem as if the President-elect was hiding a nefarious chapter of his personal history with the embattled Illinois Governor.

"The RNC should pull the ad down immediately," Gingrich wrote.

The GOP is a party that, apparently, has learned nothing from its recent election defeats. Gingrich is trying to get RNC leadership to understand that Barack Obama is the real deal. You will gain nothing by attacking him on character issues.

Obama is a man of the highest integrity. If we didn't know it before, we know it now.

Several days ago, John McCain told David Letterman's audience the RNC should “lay off.”

Will someone please call Mike Duncan and tell him to turn the page? The opposition party is supposed to oppose when it has something to oppose. The current attempt to diminish the stature of Barack Obama just makes the RNC look foolish and amateurish.

By these words shall they be remembered...

“Just remember, if you break it, you own it.”

Colin Powell to Bush 43 when warning Bush of the consequences of invading Iraq.

The so called Pottery Barn rule was referenced by Bob Woodward in his book, The War Within, on page 48: “’'You are the one who is going to have to pick up the pieces and put it back together again. And it’s not going to be easy to do,” said Powell.

Powell added on another occasion, “You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people.” He told the president, “You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You'll own it all.”

“It’ll be a slam dunk.”

George Tenet in describing his certain view that Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, had weapons of mass destruction and the evidence soon would be obvious.

"I can't imagine anyone here wanting to spend another $30 billion to be there for another 12 years."

Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense testifying before House subcommittee on Iraq, February 28, 2003

“The cost of the Iraq war will be about $4 Billion, and most of it can be paid for by the Iraqi’s from their oil revenues.” (Later, Wolfowitz elaborated.) “There's a lot of money to pay for this. It doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money. We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."

Paul Wolfowitz in congressional testimony, March 27, 2003

“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

Bush 43, standing on the deck of the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier with “Mission Accomplished” sign behind him, May 1, 2003.

“So?’

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

Comment from Cheney in ABC interview of March 2008 with Martha Raddatz. President Bush added, “So what?” when he was interviewed by Raddatz this week.

“So what?”

BUSH: One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al Qaeda was hoping to take–

RADDATZ: But not until after the U.S. invaded.

BUSH: Yeah, that’s right. So what? The point is that al Qaeda said they’re going to take a stand. Well, first of all in the post-9/11 environment Saddam Hussein posed a threat. And then upon removal, al Qaeda decides to take a stand.

Comment from Bush 43, Dec. 15, 2008, in interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz:

That’s right, Bush said, “so what?” I wonder what the mothers of the young men and women who died in his “so what?” war are thinking today? I’m confident it is not, “So what?”

Finally, we shall never forget this one:

"Waterboarding was appropriate."

"It (waterboarding) was appropriate -- and I supported it. I think the results speak for themselves."

Comment of VP Cheney on ABC's Good Morning America, Dec. 16, 2008, ignoring historical precedence that waterboarding is a war crime.

Colin Powell speaks to GOP

I'm going to keep this very short....so my Republican friends will "get it" clearly and unambiguously. In an interview with former Sec. of State Colin Powell, taped for Sunday broadcast, Powell said his party should stop listening to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

I know, it's OK; catch your breath....and read on.

"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" Powell asked. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?"

Got it? Good.

Now -- Turn. It. Off.

Change? You want change?

Every day, I hear from friends who say something along these lines: So far, I honestly have to say I don't see as much change as retreading in the Obama cabinet selections. (Clinton, Richardson, Daschle, etc.)

I tell them all, "The change is before you; open your eyes."

Look no farther than Barack Obama. The "change" is the judgment, integrity, intellect, and instinct required to surround himself with the best brains in the business.

Yes, Obama could go down to Main Street and pick up Joe Jones, Sam Barley, and Dick Frick -- that would be change, and the media would say, "Wow, he really meant it, we certainly have change." And 15 minutes later, the media would say, "But will this change work? Are we sure we trust this change? What do we know about these selections? Shouldn't Obama have selected men and women of substance, and ability, and experience to help him affect the change he talked about?"

I find it incredible that reasonable people aren't telling the talking heads to sit back and give the man a break ...and a chance to do the job we elected him to do. He has a mountain to climb, and he is hard at it. In fact, he hasn't taken one day off since the election. He is the de facto President because Bush 43 is NOT. Obama has been forced already to deal with a range of national security issues, an economic meltdown with international repercussions, and a criminal in Illinois attempting to sell his Senate seat. Good grief!

So, I say to you: sit tight. January 20 is still 39 days off! He is not even on the payroll yet! And by the way, 79% of the American people approve of the way he is handling his transition so far.

You want change? You got it already...and you are going to get a lot more!!

When I was introduced to my first political campaign nearly 37 years ago, I was told by one of the experienced campaign professionals, “There is Chicago politics, there is Lose-i-ana politics, and there is all the rest.”

Over the years, his assessment of the American political landscape has been proven correct over and over. As yet another Chicago politician faces our justice system, I find it very sad, and have only one question: Where are the people of Illinois?

Ok, and maybe several more questions.

Why do you elect these scumbags? As my mother would say, “What were you thinking?" Aren’t you in charge? Why can’t you tell the difference between those who only want to line their pockets and those who only want to serve the public interest? What keeps you from doing a better job of discerning the qualities we all hope for in our leaders: unimpeachable integrity, sound judgment and an innate instinct to do the right thing? After all, integrity and sound judgment are all that is required to earn the public trust.

Is that too simple?

When Sam Nunn retired from the U.S. Senate in 1996, he said he had tried “by word and example” during his 24 years of service, to demonstrate “that it remains possible to be involved in the political process and still retain both intellectual honesty and ethical behavior. In the final analysis, this may be the single most important responsibility of public service.”

Indeed.

We need men and women in public office who firmly believe in Nunn’s basic tenet of public service. And we need an electorate in every state that will not vote for anyone who demonstrates anything less.

What's wrong with the GOP?

It seems everyone is trying to figure out what the Republicans did wrong in the last election. Why can’t these people stay in the majority once they have it? The answer is easy and some of them recognize it but they refuse to do anything about it because it would cause them to accept an internal revolution (which would dismiss the extreme right wing) and strike out on a serious effort to identify what they stand for in the 21st century. In other words, as Bush 43 would understand: a do-over.

And we all know how likely that is to happen.

My good friend Charlie Cook, a contemporary of mine who also paid his dues on The Hill, wrote a recent column in which he let a couple of Republican consultants offer their analysis of the current state of the GOP.

One of them hit the problem on the head while listing a range of problems the GOP has been unable or unwilling to address. He identified a major problem as being “the shallowness of our policies.” Oh, really? He explained. “Republicans are a whole lot better at being against things than at being for things. That’s a problem if you’re in the majority. On topics the center really cares about, such as education and health care, we do one of two things. We either avoid them like the plague and are scared to talk about them or, if we say anything at all, it is to propose a tax cut or a tax credit.”

Any more words from me would be superfluous. He got it right. As Jo Dee Messina would say, “Let 'em dig a little deeper…nope…sorry, nothin’.”

They could go back to the ideas of Newt Gingrich. He had plenty but they were not good ideas. So, that’s not a place to start.

Maybe they should go back to what they do best: sit on the back row and complain about everything the Democrats are doing and when the problems are solved, stand up and take all the credit they can while blaming the D’s for spending too much.

That is not much of an exaggeration.

I’m sorry but I’m still ticked at what they did to my country – and yours – these past 8 years.

"But what can you do?"

As frequent readers know, Ben Franklin is my favorite Founding Father, and I enjoy sharing his insight. Once, Franklin, writing to friends in England, declared, “America is where people do not ask a stranger, ‘what is he?’ but ‘what can he do?’” Status and lineage were not important to Franklin, only talent and skill.

The freedom that Franklin and the others gave us is the freedom to be the masters of our own destiny, to be problem solvers who “do” whatever is necessary with our talent and skill to “secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.”

When I look at my grandchildren, I wonder what they will “do” to contribute to America’s strength. I know they will be encouraged by their parents and teachers to develop the potential they possess.

Above all, I hope they and their friends will help us avoid repeating past mistakes and use experiences of their lifetimes to help find solutions to problems that vex us as a nation. And there are plenty of problems for them to address. Nuclear proliferation, energy independence, illegal immigration, international terrorism, and a crippling recession are but a few.

It is a cliché but our children and grandchildren are, indeed, our best hope for preserving this republic. Among them right now are individuals who will emerge uniquely prepared to make a difference – in the arts, science, education, business and government. Our duty as citizens is to provide them with every opportunity to share their potential with all.

Barack Obama’s election is an affirmation of the sentiment that America is now – more than ever – a nation where the horizon can be seen equally well by every citizen, and where what is discovered just over that horizon is determined only by those willing to travel there.