George W. Bush

Foreign Policy Debate Tonight Is Crucial In So Many Ways!

Ronald 2 Comments

There is a tendency among many observers to think that foreign policy is not an important campaign issue this year, but they are wrong.

Foreign policy affects the American economy and its future, as it often adds massively to the national debt.

Foreign policy affects civil liberties, much more than we realize, as our rights are being chipped away in the name of “national security”.

Foreign policy affects the military, and the likelihood of more military engagements and military spending, in a nation which already spends more on the military than the next 10 nations combined.

Foreign policy under Mitt Romney is more likely to bring about a revival of the “neoconservative” influence, and intervention in Iran, Syria and elsewhere, which only benefits the war industries and wealthy people, who are too willing to send poor, unemployed men and women in as cannon fodder for economic gains that make the plutocracy ever more powerful.

What we need is a measured and rational hand on foreign policy, and the record of Barack Obama makes him far better qualified to be our Commander in Chief and our Chief Diplomat.

Mitt Romney would be a massive gamble, a man who knows little about foreign policy, leans on George W. Bush advisers too heavily, and loves to shoot at the hip with his rhetoric, antagonizing even our friends, as well as our rivals. He does not deserve to be in charge of America’s role with the outside world!

Two September 11ths—One Unifying, One Politicizing

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On September 11, 2001, the greatest attack on American soil took place, and the nation united around George W. Bush. Only much later were there political debates surrounding that tragedy.

Eleven year later, on September 11, we saw the horrible attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, with the resulting death of four Americans, including our Ambassador Chris Stevens. Instead of uniting around this tragedy, which as bad as it was, is far less of a tragedy than the killing of 3,000 Americans in 2001, instead the opposition Republicans have utilized it as a way to weaken the image of Barack Obama in an area that he has a reputation of great success—foreign policy!

If it were not for this unfortunate attack, the Republican Party and Mitt Romney would have no leg to stand on in the foreign policy debate tonight in Boca Raton, Florida.

As it is, polls show that President Obama has favorable ratings in foreign policy, and the hope is that tonight, Obama will show the inadequacies of Mitt Romney to be our Commander in Chief in charge of foreign policy for the next four years!

The Ultimate “Firewall” For Barack Obama: The Midwest

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This author has commented before about the fact that the Midwest, an area of declining electoral votes and representation in Congress, because of the rapid migration from the “Frost Belt” to the “Sun Belt”, remains an area that has had a dramatic effect on American politics and Presidential elections.

Ohio and Missouri have been the ultimately accurate states to predict elections, with Missouri only voting with the loser twice—1956 and 2008—and Ohio, also only twice with the loser—1944 and 1960—since 1900.

And now, with Obama clearly winning Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, and seemingly ahead in Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the President could afford to lose the three Southern states he won in 2008—Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina—and still win the Electoral College.

With 237 electoral votes in Obama’s camp, and only needing 33 more, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin would give him 34, raising his total to 271, exactly what George W. Bush won in 2008, against Al Gore, who won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes.

With some observers seeing a popular vote surge to Mitt Romney, we could be witnessing a scenario of the same situation as in 2000- –the winner of the electoral vote NOT winning the popular vote, which would make it the fifth time in history, and the second time in 12 years, that such a situation occurred.

The difference is that this time the Democrat will have benefited, while the last time, the Republican benefited.

In a way, if that happened, it would be “justice” for Al Gore supporters and Democrats!

However, it would also lead to growing demands to change the Constitution and get rid of the Electoral College, with the reality being that the likelihood of such a change is near zero!

Mitt Romney “Aint” No George W. Bush! So Says Barack Obama, And He Is Right!

Ronald 3 Comments

The most interesting discussion last night at the second Presidential debate was about Mitt Romney being compared to George W. Bush, the last Republican President.

Romney tried to show how he was different from Bush, and was pretty lame at that exercise.

But Barack Obama took advantage of the situation to say that Bush was not for making Medicare a voucher system; was for a plan for illegal immigrants to become citizens; did not suggest that the government get involved in contraception decisions of women; and was for a more “compassionat” conservatism than Romney!

Imagine–George W. Bush brought to a level where he stands out on some issues as BETTER than Mitt Romney!

There is no case for Romney as President, because he is a totally callous individual, and not likeable, which George W. Bush actually was, by comparison!

The Biden-Ryan Debate: One Of The Most Memorable Debates In History!

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The Joe Biden-Paul Ryan debate last night will go down in history as one of the most memorable, most lively, most stimulating debates in the history of Presidential and Vice Presidential debates. The two men were aggressive and challenging toward each other, and kept the pace of the debate going well, with the excellent assistance of moderator Martha Raddatz!

With most observers seeing a fairly even division as to who won, a lot of it based on one’s own ideological leanings, one can say both candidates came across as intelligent, knowledgeable and competent to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

Ryan can be seen as another life long public servant in national politics, entering Congress at age 28, similar to Joe Biden entering Congress at age 30. The two men are diametric opposites, but certainly have the equal ability to stir their bases, and one could imagine Ryan having a long career in Congress and being a factor in Presidential politics for the long term future, similar to what Biden has had in his long career of distinction.

Since both stir animosity in the opposition, and each is very willing to be confrontational in a pleasant manner, one must wonder if either could ever win the White House, but it is not impossible to imagine the two men facing each other four years from now in the Presidential Election of 2016. Stranger things have happened—such as:

Richard Nixon coming back from defeat in 1960 to be elected in 1968.
Jimmy Carter coming from oblivion to be elected in 1976.
Ronald Reagan, after being defeated for the nomination in 1976, coming back to be elected at the oldest age first term of any President in 1980.
Bill Clinton coming back from revelation of a sex scandal to be elected in 1992.
George W. Bush winning the Presidency based on a disputed election count in 2000.
Barack Obama, coming out of “nowhere”, to become our first African American President in 2008.

Eleven Years Of War In Afghanistan And Counting: For What?

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Today marks ELEVEN years of US combat in Afghanistan, with over 2,000 Americans killed, and thousands more wounded, many severely.

George W. Bush messed up the whole involvement from the beginning, and it took nearly a decade to kill Osama Bin Laden, and weaken Al Qaeda dramatically, although they still exist in other nations in the area.

But the Taliban threat remains a power in Afghanistan, and President Hamid Karzai is one of the most corrupt foreign leaders we deal with, and is not even appreciative of American and NATO involvement and sacrifice! Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta expressed the total disgust of our nation with Karzai, and his constant criticisms of America, while he has done nothing to make life better for his people, particularly the women living under a medieval standard of behavior!

Barack Obama is committed to withdrawing in 2014, but the case can be made that if he wins reelection, he should speed up the withdrawal to end a year early, as Afghanistan is a nation that seems hopeless to reform, at the high cost of American lives and treasure.

It is impossible to accept that this is, by far, the longest war in American history, and it is time to declare it over, and bring the men and women home for good!

A Good Week For Barack Obama, Including Debate Performance!

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The first week of October has been good to Barack Obama!

His Gallup poll rating is at its highest since the fall of 2009, now registering at 54 percent! This is a strong indication of his upcoming victory precisely one month from today!

Many want to believe that his debate performance harmed him, without realizing that while he might not have been at his best, it really does not matter, as incumbent Presidents tend to do poorly on the first debate with a challenger, as indicated in an earlier post. After all, they have more on their mind than the campaign, such as governing and dealing with crises on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has done nothing for the past six years other than run for President, and he has had a multitude of mistakes and poor performances with his rhetoric and comments!

If Obama had come out charging in this first debate, he would be accused of being an “angry black man”, which terrifies many working class whites and uneducated people, who are accustomed to a different image of blacks, which is an unspoken sign of massive racism! So if he smiles and lets Mitt Romney hang himself as a phony, a chameleon, a liar on a massive scale, he is criticized, but Romney has added to the image that he is untrustworthy by his aggressive performance full of deceit and manipulation! Obama actually handled the situation well, and that will be seen as time goes by!

Now that Romney has proved again that he is a charlatan, Joe Biden will go on the assault against ideologue Paul Ryan, and then Obama will go after Romney in the last two Presidential debates. He will follow Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush in recovering from a theoretical first debate that was unimpressive, to go on to electoral victory!

But also, the victories for voting rights in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the stopping of voter registration by Republicans in Florida and four other states, due to obvious GOP corruption, will upend the Republican attempt to cut out millions of potential Democratic voters in “swing” states.

And the economic revival that is going on, lowering the unemployment rate below 8 percent for the first time in his term of office, will help Obama, as most sane people will dismiss the conspiracy theories of conservatives and Republicans that the honorable and independent Bureau Of Labor Statistics is corrupt!

And the fact that Obama saved the auto industry; has seen the stock market double during his term; that manufacturing is reviving in America; and that energy production is up domestically without destroying the environment—-all this is further proof that this has been a good week on the road to ultimate victory one month from now!

Republicans Condemn Downturn In Unemployment, Claim Conspiracy, Condemn Bureau Of Labor Statistics As Corrupt: Showing True Contempt For Unemployed!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics contains statisticians and economists who pride themselves on their work, and have a firewall to prevent any doubts about their work.

But it is easy to condemn government ‘bureaucrats”, and Republicans have now promoted a conspiracy theory, that Barack Obama is manipulating that revered agency, setting up lower unemployment numbers just in time for the Presidential Election of 2012. This is the theory promoted by Congressman Allen West of Florida, Senator John McCain of Arizona, and other irresponsible Republicans, angry over the dramatic drop in unemployment from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent, the first time unemployment has been under 8 percent since the Obama Presidency began, and occurring just a month before the election.

So when more people gain employment, that is bad news, as it works against the Republican attempt to prevent Barack Obama from having a second term in the White House. It also shows the contempt of the Republican Party toward those who are unemployed! Instead of celebrating the wonderful event, instead besmirch hard working, loyal federal government employees as Obama lackeys, tainting the whole Bureau of Labor Statistics!

But think about it: Why, if the Bureau of Labor Statistics is being controlled by Obama, did it take until now to bring unemployment numbers down? It could have been done a year ago, so as to make the Republican campaign more difficult, instead of giving them the economy issue that they could hold over the head of Barack Obama constantly! The whole concept of collusion is so preposterous that it reflects badly on West, McCain and others!

One could excuse the West statements, as he is a well known whacko in trouble in his Florida district, as his Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy, is leading in many polls. But for McCain, Barack Obama’s opponent in the Presidential Election of 2008, it again indicates the dual personality of the Arizona Senator—sometimes responsible in his utterances, and other times, totally loony and nutty—a good sign that maybe McCain should resign, as his behavior is truly embarrassing, and maybe he should just retire and enjoy his family, and stop his reckless, conspiratorial accusations, with no backing, which embarrass him and remind us that his prime is past!

As has been commented by others, the true answer is that EDUCATION is the best way to bring down unemployment, and that there are seasonal variations up and down in unemployment. The idea, that employment numbers are finally starting to improve greatly, should be celebrated by any patriotic American, who should be happy that unemployment is down and employment is up!

But the Republicans only see it as politics, since they refuse to take responsibility for the fact that it was under their watch that the Great Recession occurred, just as was so with the Great Depression eighty years ago! George W. Bush was the updated Herbert Hoover, without the integrity and intelligence of Hoover!

And again, a reminder, EDUCATION is the best guarantee of employment. So Asians have an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent last month; whites have 7 percent; Latinos have 9.8 percent; and African Americans have 13.4 percent. Also, college educated have an unemployment rate under 5 percent, while high school graduates are almost double that rate, and dropouts even higher!

So instead of complaining, what Republicans, Democrats and everyone who is independent should be doing is promoting EDUCATIONAL opportunities as the way to insure the future of the American economy!

Historic Record Of First Presidential Debates With Incumbent President Running: One Win, Six Losses

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We have seen seven incumbent Presidents run for reelection and participate in debates, and in the first debate in all cases but one, the incumbent President lost the debate, but three went on to win the election!

Gerald Ford in 1976; Jimmy Carter in 1980; Ronald Reagan in 1984; George H. W. Bush in 1992; George W. Bush in 2004; and Barack Obama in 2012 lost the first debate, while Bill Clinton won the first debate in 1996.

So far, the record for winning the election that followed is 3 wins, 3 losses—with Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush winning, and Ford, Carter and George H. W. Bush losing.

One forgets that Presidents have a lot of things on their minds, while Presidential challengers only are thinking of winning the debate and the election.

So be assured that Barack Obama, still close to having 270 electoral votes, will win the Presidential Election of 2012, and make the Republicans like it!

Past Presidential Debates With An Incumbent President: Naturally On The Defensive!

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When one gets away from the momentary panic that many Obama supporters had after last night’s debate against Mitt Romney, and thinks rationally, and analyzes Presidential debate history, it is not all that surprising that a challenger will go on the attack and be aggressive with a sitting President, and set him back in the first debate they have in a campaign year.

Remember that a sitting President is busy every day, and is not as up to date in debating as a challenger, who has had to survive many debates and questions in order to reach the point of a Presidential nomination.

So when we look at the past, we realize the following:

Gerald Ford was on the defensive against Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Jimmy Carter was on the defensive against Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Ronald Reagan was on the defensive against Walter Mondale in 1984.

George H. W. Bush was on the defensive against both Bill Clinton and Ross Perot in 1992.

George W. Bush was on the defensive against John Kerry in 2004.

Despite this reality, Reagan and the second Bush recovered to win, while Ford, Carter, and the first Bush lost the election that ensued.

But also realize that Ford had inherited a mess from Richard Nixon, and had never seen himself in the Presidency before being selected by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice President, and he was strongly challenged by Ronald Reagan in the primaries in 1976.

Also realize that Jimmy Carter was challenged by both Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown in the primaries in 1980, and faced a charismatic former actor in Reagan, and a tumultuous crisis with Iran in 1980.

And realize that the first Bush faced a challenge from Pat Buchanan in the primaries in 1992, and a double challenge from Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, which undermined his ability to win votes that Perot took away from him in the fall campaign.

Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush faced no such challenges, and were able to overcome their weaknesses in the first debate of 1984 and 2004.

Additionally, Bill Clinton, facing no challenge in 1996, simply overwhelmed Bob Dole in the first and all debates of that year, with his charisma a major plus!

If one remains calm, one realizes that Barack Obama will recover from this disappointing debate, has charisma, had no challenger in the primaries, and therefore, will do like Reagan, Clinton, and the second Bush did–win reelection—-rather than lose election as Ford did, and reelection as Carter and the first Bush did!