Month: May 2009

Imagine this:  Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, one of the most divisive political leaders of modern times, and shown over and over again over the years to be a hypocrite, is attacking Nancy Pelosi over when she knew about the Bush policy of waterboarding.

He wants a full House investigation of her for her statements refuting the CIA,  which claims she was fully informed.  He states that her comments and her defense are "the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I’ve seen in my lifetime." 

Oh really,  Mr. Speaker?   Are you not looking in the mirror or need to be, considering your reprehensible behavior against former House Speaker Jim Wright in 1989,  your campaign against Bill Clinton when you were yourself cheating on your wife,  were involved in constant dirty politics and conflicts of interest during the four years you were Speaker,  and saw your party lose seats under your leadership because of your constant "despicable, dishonest and vicious political efforts?"  LOL

Your becoming so outraged by Nancy Pelosi’s behavior shows you have not learned any lessons from the divisive political behavior you displayed in the House of  Representatives in the 1980’s and 1990’s!  If this is an attempt to build up for a campaign for President in 2012, be aware it will not succeed but it will lower the level of political discourse by MANY decibels!

President Obama has become enmeshed in controversy at both Arizona State University, where he gave a great commencement address earlier this week, and this weekend at Notre Dame University,  one of the leading Catholic universities, where he will be delivering another commencement address.

The Arizona State controversy was over his not getting an honorary degree because it was argued that he has yet to accomplish enough to get such an award.
Obama handled this issue very well,  first by teasing that the university administration would be audited,  then thanking the university for establishing  a scholarship program in his honor,  and then pointing out that everyone, including himself, should look at life as a constant striving for new accomplishments and improvement, a great message for him to deliver, not only to the university graduates,  but to all of us.

The Notre Dame controversy is over his support of abortion rights, and the principled belief of many of the graduates, as well as undergraduates and faculty and staff of the university, that he should not have been invited at all to give the commencement address. because abortion is against Catholic doctrine, and to top it off, a new poll shows a majority of the public, for the first time nationally,  are anti-abortion.  Many graduates intend to boycott the event,  which is their right. 

But the question arises, should not freedom of speech and the ability to discuss differences of opinion,  which I am sure he will have as a main part of his commencement address, be allowed?  The answer is yes, and hopefully even those who boycott will at least want to hear or read how the President handles this issue.  I have a feeling he will handle it with grace and sensitivity!

President Obama has come under fire this week for reversing himself on releasing prisoner abuse pictures and maintaining the military commission system of trying detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.  Far left liberals are denouncing him for his change of heart, while critics on the right are applauding his change of mind.

Obama has discovered that campaign rhetoric can be difficult to follow through on, and it is obvious that he has learned a lot on national security issues which is changing his mind in a way we will never know in detail.  Obviously, the danger to our country from Islamic Terrorism is much greater than we even realize, and he does not want to be accused of undermining our safety, and therefore is setting himself up to be a centrist on foreign policy issues,  which makes a lot of sense to me.

Obama’s top advisers–Robert Gates,  Hillary Clinton and  General James L. Jones  (the National Security Adviser)– have had an effect on his judgments  and have made him realize that being President is a lot different than running for President,  and that the world is, unfortunately,  a lot more complicated than one can imagine, since the ordinary citizen cannot have access to secret information. 

Obama’s decision to conduct covert action in Pakistan, arguably the most dangerous country on earth right now,  and also to escalate our involvement in Afghanistan and slow up the removal of troops from Iraq is,  regrettably,  a realist,  pragmatic view of the outside world.  But the point to remember is that Obama IS going to close Guantanomo Bay as a detention center and IS ending torture as a means of getting information from detainees.

So Obama is making course corrections and compromises,  and while some will be disappointed that his is not a purist government,  it makes total sense what he is doing. 

It is on DOMESTIC social and economic policy  that much greater change and more consistency in campaign rhetoric to reality has occurred, and can be expected to continue.

A new bill being promoted by House Democrats and Senator Edward M. Kennedy would guarantee that all workers in companies with more than 15 workers  would have the entitlement to seven sick leave days a year to take care of family or personal illness. 

This is a long overdue idea, but of course business interests and the Republican party are against it.  The political atmosphere is such now that it is likely the bill will make it to law either this year or certainly next year when there are congressional races in the midterm election.

After years of labor suffering under Republican administrations, finally the worker will get a fair shake and also lessen  the chance of illness spreading through a company’s workers.  This is especially needed now with the growing danger of swine flu and other communicable diseases that seem to be a growing  problem in America.  The passage of this is a case of the sooner the better!

Barack Obama,  in  his inaugural speech in January and in press conferences and speeches since then,  has adopted a slogan for  his administration, which may impact as part of our history:  New Foundation.

Just as other Presidents adopted slogans that came to be seen as the image of their administration,  Obama has come up with a term that seems to me to have lasting effect.   Theodore Roosevelt had the Square Deal when he was President and the New Nationalism when he ran on the Progressive Party line in 1912.  Woodrow Wilson had the New Freedom in his Presidency.  Franklin D. Roosevelt had the New Deal, and Harry Truman had the Fair Deal.  John F. Kennedy had the New Frontier and Lyndon Johnson the Great Society.

With Obama’s move toward major legislation on education,  the environment,  health care,  regulation of the credit card industry, changes in the auto industry,  regulation of the stock market,  plus new initiatives by executive order,  the New Foundation has the potential to transform America like no one has done since Lyndon Johnson.  We shall see if this slogan survives the long term!

I woke up this morning to the stunning news that President Obama is selecting moderate Republican Governor Jon Huntsman of Utah, thought to be a leading candidate for the GOP nomination for President in 2012, to be his Ambassador to China.

Huntsman, who was seen as a person promoting moderation in his views on widening the base of the GOP, and has shown courage on the issue of gay civil unions and global warming, was formerly Ambassador to Singapore under the first President Bush, and speaks fluent mandarin Chinese.  He also served as US Trade Representative under the second President Bush.  Huntsman also loosened the tough liquor law restrictions of heavily Mormon Utah to promote tourism.

With one action, Obama has given the nation a well qualified Ambassador to China,  added another Republican to his team, and eliminated the possibility of Huntsman attacking him and campaigning for President in 2012.  What a brilliant maneuver by Obama, which helps his reelection campaign and weakens the Republican opposition further, and only promotes the marginalization of the GOP,  which promoted recent criticism of Huntsman for advocating moderation.  When will the Republicans finally understand how they are dooming their future strength with their narrowminded,  head in the sand approach to broadening their base?

President Obama "brought down the house"  last Saturday night at the annual White House Correspondents Association to no one’s surprise!

The President poked fun at just about everyone, including Hillary Clinton,  Joe Biden,  Michael Steele,  Rush Limbaugh,  John Boehner,  and Michael Bloomberg, and also made fun of events that have occurred in  his time in office, and also poked fun at himself.

He also spoke up in support of print journalism and journalism in general,  declaring  that while no President likes all things that are published or reported about him and his administration,  still journalism is an important tool in promoting accountability and honesty in government.  He pointed out that journalism makes the complex world we live in much more understandable and relevant,  and educates the American people by providing the knowledge we need to make for a better society and world.

His usual articulate self,  Obama made the event last Saturday night very enjoyable and also very memorable!

Michael Steele, the chair of the Republican National Committee, has had many problems in his leadership of his party, including elements of the party which have repudiated him. 

He is not in total control of the machinery of the RNC and he tends to put his foot in his mouth constantly in public statements and appearances.  He does not promote confidence in his ability to grow the Republican party from its base, and Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh seem more significant in the GOP now than their party leader.

Additionally, a report now out says there will be a special meeting of the RNC next week and they will adopt a resolution declaring the opposition party to be the "Democrat Socialist party",  rather than the Democratic party!

This is ridiculous and divisive, and will not help the GOP to revive its fortunes.  They seem unable to see reality, that they NEED to appeal to the broad base of Americans, not just to the social conservatives and the South and Appalachia.  When, oh when, will they come to understand that the future lies in moderation, not right wing extremism?

Governor David Paterson of New York, who succeeded disgraced Governor Eliot Spitzer a little over a year ago after Spitzer was connected to a call girl scandal, has totally collapsed in public opinion in the past few months, ever since his poor handling of the issue of who should be the successor to Senator Hillary Clinton, particularly his lack of care in dealing with a possible candidacy of Caroline Kennedy.  His selection of Kirsten Gillibrand is not inspiring, and she faces a likely primary challenge from any of three former colleagues in the House of Representatives.

Recent polls indicate that most New Yorkers would actually rather have Spitzer back in place of Paterson, despite the scandal, an amazing comedown for Paterson. 

Additionally, a recent poll shows that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has made quite a record of leadership and reform in the past few years, leads Paterson by 62 percent to 17 percent and has support from every demographic group including African Americans  (by a total of 22 percent)!  These are amazing statistics and show that Paterson basically would need a miraculous recovery in the next year before the primary, an event highly unlikely.

Cuomo also leads Rudy Guiliani by six points in the poll, and no matter who else might run for the GOP nomination, New York is a strong Democratic state, so it is likely that the Democratic nominee will win the gubernatorial race by a large margin.  Right now, the betting money would be that Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo, will be the next Governor of New York!

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, in office only 28 months, has decided to abandon his office and run instead for the US Senate seat of Mel Martinez, who is retiring in 2010.

By taking this step, Crist is essentially leaving Florida in the middle of an economic crisis and opening up the gubernatorial race to other members of the Florida state cabinet, but at this point, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp, Attorney General Bill McCollum,  and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson do not exactly excite the state, and neither does Democrat Alex Sink, the Chief Financial Officer.  One cannot be sure which other Republicans or Democrats will enter the race, but if the Democrats could somehow win the governorship and some open state legislative seats, then reapportionment could help the Democrats after the Census of 2010.

The Senate race looks like an easy one for Crist, although he is being challenged by former Florida House Speaker and conservative Marco Rubio in the primary at this time.  Kendrick Meek, black Congressman from Miami, is the most well known Democrat in the race, but it seems likely that Crist will win the seat.

His running for the Senate indicates to many observers that Crist has White House ambitions, probably more likely for 2016 than 2012.  He will become a voice for Republican moderation, however, and one never can predict the future of a governor who is very charismatic and retains high public opinion ratings despite the tough Florida economy.

In any case,  the Florida races for Governor and Senator will be important to watch, with Florida soon to become the third largest state in population sometime in the next decade.