Thursday, June 01, 2006
Do not give in to the unrelentingly depressing political news
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The unrelenting attacks on the Presidency from Democratic politicians, ex-Generals and an ex-CIA analyst successfully calling Secretary Rumsfeld a liar are depressing. The world is losing respect for us.
The opinion polls speak for themselves, we all know the mantra, that the Bush government lied about WMD, botched the conduct of the war and has left us without a solution; that their tax policy has dug a deficit hole that makes even the Conservatives shudder; that the horrid balance of trade with Chinese and Japanese ownership of the US can cause a collapse of our economy; that a feeble oil company- friendly resources policy has driven gas prices sky-high; that Washington’s denial about greenhouse gases will eventually melt the ice caps and flood Florida and all low-lying world areas; that the undercutting of the Clean Air Act will eventually choke us all. The unsuccessful Chavez policy has created a South American leftist monster, and the Bush North Korea and Iran policy wrecks have put us in danger of nukes. There’s more, the Texas Senate redistricting and the Abramoff scandals, the mind boggles.
What is truly horrifying is that we do not know is whether anybody – the Republican post-Bushite followers, the Conservative reformers, and particularly the all-but triumphant Democratic putative successors in both 2006 and 2008 general elections – can produce the silver bullet, the policy that will save America and protect Planet Earth from self-destruction, both physically and politically. One is almost prompted to invest in white sheets and bicycles, and lurch towards Doomsday, proclaiming the end of the world as we know it. Why any sane person should want to be the President in this environment and pretend to have the answers to the world’s problems is puzzling, and the candidates’ self-assurance makes one wonder about their grasp on reality. A candidate’s enrolling in a Condi Rice-type Kaplan SAT refresher course on world politics and a quick trip to Israel is no guaranty of instant knowledge and a balanced mind.
Of course, the Democrats, trying to lure the middle-of-the road Republican voters back into the 180-degree party, are not going to make general announcements of middle-of-the road politics that might push their left-wing voters into a Naderite camp, with shades-of-2000 election results. The left-wing marginals are reckless, and any mention of soft-pedaling of gay marriage, late-trimester abortion and anything short of instant withdrawal from Iraq might just send the far-out Deaniacs into a splinter party. Bush has no such worries, the confirmed Conservatives have no place else to go, and John McCain has broken bread with the Bushists and the Religious Right, whose leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell offer reckless policy recommendations that make one shudder.
Looking at Dems one wishes for a young Clinton-like mind with an early acquired frame of reference that easily slots new facts into the populated matrix and offers non-cowboy reactions. Senator Clinton is not the same, and neither is the ex-President of today, and counting on him as being her shadow cabinet is wishful. As for her merits, she carries a lot of luggage, and there are Right-wing fringes that see her as the devil incarnate. But she continues, with 26 staffers in the HillPac, first for a reprise as Senator, then the big job.
There was a point when Bill Richardson, Governor of NM since 2002 (b. 1947, as is Hillary), seemed a choice, but he has faded. Ex- Tufts baseball pitcher (candidate for KC Athletics), State Department official, NM congressman 1978-92, Ambassador to the UN, peace negotiator, Secretary of Energy, he knows the territory. Contrast him to the current young hopes, ex- Governor Warner of VA, and John Edwards, ex- one-term Senator of NC (b. 1953), who made his fortune in liability litigation, until an epiphany produced a near calling, directing him into help-save-the-mankind political lifework.
The less well-known Mark Warner (b. 1954), a Harvard lawyer, former aide to Senator Christopher Dodd, who used his knowledge in cellular technology to build a $200M fortune in franchise licenses, co-founding Nextel and Columbia Cellular. He ran Democratic campaigns in Republican Virginia, making alliances with moderate Republicans, winning the Governorship in 2001 by a large margin, and lowered taxes, realigned budget and improved education and economics. Out in 2005 (VA constitution forbids successive terms), he was hugely liked as a person, activist and bridge-builder.
On the Republican side, the moderates who hope to gain from the shift away from Bushism are George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani. The lame-duck NY Governor hopes for red-state support, and has built up a strong FreedomFund. The ex-Mayor Giuliani is currently exploring his options. As advocates of abortion and gay rights, they have limited expectations for support from the Religious Right masses in the red states. As for the Republicans, Bill Frist (b. 1952) and his Volunteerpac, George Allen, Senator and ex-Gov. of VA (b.1952), and MA Gov. Mitt Romney (b. 1947) of Commonwealthpac are gearing up, more on another occasion.
Our local political activists, Democrats of the Samuel Tilden, Eleanor Roosevelt and Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democratic clubs, and the Republicans of the Vincent Albino Club have a lot of factors to evaluate in the next four years.
The unrelenting attacks on the Presidency from Democratic politicians, ex-Generals and an ex-CIA analyst successfully calling Secretary Rumsfeld a liar are depressing. The world is losing respect for us.
The opinion polls speak for themselves, we all know the mantra, that the Bush government lied about WMD, botched the conduct of the war and has left us without a solution; that their tax policy has dug a deficit hole that makes even the Conservatives shudder; that the horrid balance of trade with Chinese and Japanese ownership of the US can cause a collapse of our economy; that a feeble oil company- friendly resources policy has driven gas prices sky-high; that Washington’s denial about greenhouse gases will eventually melt the ice caps and flood Florida and all low-lying world areas; that the undercutting of the Clean Air Act will eventually choke us all. The unsuccessful Chavez policy has created a South American leftist monster, and the Bush North Korea and Iran policy wrecks have put us in danger of nukes. There’s more, the Texas Senate redistricting and the Abramoff scandals, the mind boggles.
What is truly horrifying is that we do not know is whether anybody – the Republican post-Bushite followers, the Conservative reformers, and particularly the all-but triumphant Democratic putative successors in both 2006 and 2008 general elections – can produce the silver bullet, the policy that will save America and protect Planet Earth from self-destruction, both physically and politically. One is almost prompted to invest in white sheets and bicycles, and lurch towards Doomsday, proclaiming the end of the world as we know it. Why any sane person should want to be the President in this environment and pretend to have the answers to the world’s problems is puzzling, and the candidates’ self-assurance makes one wonder about their grasp on reality. A candidate’s enrolling in a Condi Rice-type Kaplan SAT refresher course on world politics and a quick trip to Israel is no guaranty of instant knowledge and a balanced mind.
Of course, the Democrats, trying to lure the middle-of-the road Republican voters back into the 180-degree party, are not going to make general announcements of middle-of-the road politics that might push their left-wing voters into a Naderite camp, with shades-of-2000 election results. The left-wing marginals are reckless, and any mention of soft-pedaling of gay marriage, late-trimester abortion and anything short of instant withdrawal from Iraq might just send the far-out Deaniacs into a splinter party. Bush has no such worries, the confirmed Conservatives have no place else to go, and John McCain has broken bread with the Bushists and the Religious Right, whose leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell offer reckless policy recommendations that make one shudder.
Looking at Dems one wishes for a young Clinton-like mind with an early acquired frame of reference that easily slots new facts into the populated matrix and offers non-cowboy reactions. Senator Clinton is not the same, and neither is the ex-President of today, and counting on him as being her shadow cabinet is wishful. As for her merits, she carries a lot of luggage, and there are Right-wing fringes that see her as the devil incarnate. But she continues, with 26 staffers in the HillPac, first for a reprise as Senator, then the big job.
There was a point when Bill Richardson, Governor of NM since 2002 (b. 1947, as is Hillary), seemed a choice, but he has faded. Ex- Tufts baseball pitcher (candidate for KC Athletics), State Department official, NM congressman 1978-92, Ambassador to the UN, peace negotiator, Secretary of Energy, he knows the territory. Contrast him to the current young hopes, ex- Governor Warner of VA, and John Edwards, ex- one-term Senator of NC (b. 1953), who made his fortune in liability litigation, until an epiphany produced a near calling, directing him into help-save-the-mankind political lifework.
The less well-known Mark Warner (b. 1954), a Harvard lawyer, former aide to Senator Christopher Dodd, who used his knowledge in cellular technology to build a $200M fortune in franchise licenses, co-founding Nextel and Columbia Cellular. He ran Democratic campaigns in Republican Virginia, making alliances with moderate Republicans, winning the Governorship in 2001 by a large margin, and lowered taxes, realigned budget and improved education and economics. Out in 2005 (VA constitution forbids successive terms), he was hugely liked as a person, activist and bridge-builder.
On the Republican side, the moderates who hope to gain from the shift away from Bushism are George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani. The lame-duck NY Governor hopes for red-state support, and has built up a strong FreedomFund. The ex-Mayor Giuliani is currently exploring his options. As advocates of abortion and gay rights, they have limited expectations for support from the Religious Right masses in the red states. As for the Republicans, Bill Frist (b. 1952) and his Volunteerpac, George Allen, Senator and ex-Gov. of VA (b.1952), and MA Gov. Mitt Romney (b. 1947) of Commonwealthpac are gearing up, more on another occasion.
Our local political activists, Democrats of the Samuel Tilden, Eleanor Roosevelt and Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democratic clubs, and the Republicans of the Vincent Albino Club have a lot of factors to evaluate in the next four years.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 6:51 PM 
