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Rick Santorum And Barry Goldwater Would NOT Be Friends!

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Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was the MOST right wing nominee for President we have ever had, and lost in a massive landslide to Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Barry Goldwater was an economic conservative, who was against the New Deal, wishing Robert Taft, the earlier conservative Republican leader, had become President, because he wished to repeal the New Deal, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower institutionalized the New Deal as the first Republican President since Herbert Hoover. Goldwater wished to make Social Security voluntary, rather than required as part of the tax collection, which it had been for a quarter century.

Barry Goldwater was also a foreign policy conservative, who believed in ultimate confrontation with the Soviet Union and any foreign enemy, including potential use of nuclear weapons.

Barry Goldwater appealed to states rights advocates, and although supportive of the broad concept of civil rights for African Americans, he criticized the civil rights movement and its leaders, and accepted the backing of Southern segregationists.

BUT with all of his faults, one thing Barry Goldwater was NOT–a social conservative a la former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

Barry Goldwater was NOT a believer in the role of religion in government, and was a major critic in later years of the Christian Coalition, and the Moral Majority, led by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and other evangelical Christian ministers.

Barry Goldwater never believed it was the business of government to interfere in private life of individuals and their families, so did not support the Pro Life Movement against abortion rights for women.

Barry Goldwater never believed it was anyone’s business to condemn or vilify people because of their sexual orientation, and so supported the rights of gay men and women.

Barry Goldwater believed that all Americans should be allowed to serve in the military, so was against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” interfering with the right of gay men and women to serve our nation, asserting that he did not care what one’s sexual orientation was, as long as he or she could “shoot straight!”

Barry Goldwater would have been mortified to see a candidate who condemned sexual relations except for procreation purposes, and to observe a candidate speak out against the use of contraception by couples for their family planning and the health and welfare of women.

It is clear that were Barry Goldwater alive and active today, he would repudiate Rick Santorum as a social totalitarian, an extremist, a dangerous man to give power to, as there is nothing worse than a “Puritan” trying to promote morality by force!

Conclusion: Barry Goldwater and Rick Santorum would NOT be friends!

Barry Goldwater came across as whacky, extreme, untrustworthy to be our President, and he often “shot from the lip”, getting himself into major troubles that could be exploited by Democrats and President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. IF Rick Santorum ends up as the GOP nominee in 2012, the same weaknesses will get him in major troubles that could be exploited by the Democrats and President Barack Obama!

The Ides Of March: Significant In The Past And The Present!

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Today, March 15, marks the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar in the Roman Republic in 44 BC, so well depicted by William Shakespeare.

But in America, it is marked by the speech of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, calling for the Voting Rights Act to stop discrimination in voting for African Americans in the South.

Ironically, 47 years later, we are seeing many states, primarily in the South and Midwest, trying to deny the right to vote for the elderly, college students, the poor, and minorities by onerous Voter ID requirements, in many cases for people who have voted for decades without trouble, but now are being told they cannot vote in this year’s Presidential election.

This is all designed by Republicans and conservatives in their effort to defeat President Barack Obama by any means they can find, because they do not have the issues to win the election without utilizing dishonesty. And yet they claim they are trying to prevent voter fraud, which is only a few cases in many millions, far less than even one thousandth of one percent in the past decade!

So the Obama Administration, through Attorney General Eric Holder, has brought lawsuits against South Carolina and Texas, as well as Arizona and Alabama on other issues of racial and ethnic discrimination related to voting and basic human rights. And many Midwestern and Southern states, other than those mentioned, are also setting out to abuse the Voting Rights Act, trying to take us back to the era of Jim Crow voter laws, that denied poor and minority voters their basic rights!

Also, today marks the beginning of what is seen as an end to our engagement in Afghanistan, as President Hamid Karzai is calling for Allied forces to retreat to bases, and remove themselves from Afghan villages. This is the reaction to the tragic massacre by one American soldier last week, the murder of 16 civilians, including nine children and three women and four men, as they slept in their village a mile away from an American military base; and the earlier burning of Korans by American soldiers, leading to the killing of several soldiers by Taliban terrorists.

America has been in Afghanistan more than a decade, and the war is leading to no improvement worth the continuation of the sacrifice of our troops, or those of our allies.

Afghanistan has been the doom of Alexander the Great in the ancient world; the British Empire in the 19th century; the Soviet Union in the late 20th century; and now the US and allied nations in the 21st century! It is time to expedite our exit, and just use drones and the air force against Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists. Making Afghanistan a democracy is, sadly, a lost cause!

So March 15 past and present has significant meanings we must not forget!

Reality Of America’s Future: The Growing Role Of Asian Americans

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In the midst of “Linmania”, the rise of Jeremy Lin to stardom in the National Basketball Association, we are seeing people promoting humor about Asian Americans, specifically in the case of Jeremy Lin being Chinese, but we are also seeing the ugly tone of racism rearing its ugly head.

The fact that Asian Americans of all nationalities are high achievers academically is causing resentment among other racial and ethnic groups, which in itself is a sign of racism by people who have themselves experienced racism.

And of course, whites who are uncomfortable with the growing diversity of America’s population are alarmed at what this means, although hopefully, the number with such feelings is miniscule. But face the facts, that there are those who are nativists and racists and join paramilitary organizations determined to keep America’s white Christian population in control of the future.

But it must be recognized by all Americans that the growing role of Asian Americans of all backgrounds is the reality of the future in this nation.

While smaller in numbers than Hispanics and Latinos on one hand, and African Americans on the other hand, the Asian American population is rapidly growing, and will be an influential part of America long term.

The average American is certainly not aware that Asia is the largest continent with THIRTY percent of all land on earth; that Asia contains SIXTY percent of the world’s people; and that six countries have EIGHTY percent of all the population of the continent (China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan); and that if Pakistan and Bangladesh had not separated in a civil war 41 years ago, the combined Pakistan would be larger than Indonesia.

The future of the world is in Asia, and the defense and economic growth of America is based on what happens in Asia, as well as the growing Asian population in America. No wonder Barack Obama has said that our focus must be on Asia in the future, not the Middle East as the priority, as it has been, even though much of the Middle East is actually in Asia. But he is referring to East and South Asia, where the major population countries exist, not West Asia, also known as the Middle East.

And remember that our wars in the past century have focused on Asia, with Japan the enemy in World War II; North Korea and China in the Korean War; North Vietnam and China in the Vietnam War; and the Soviet Union, a Eurasian power our enemy during the Cold War years. And wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are also Asian wars, although not technically in East or South Asia.

So we must as a nation learn more about and understand Asia, and specific nations and cultures in Asia, and understand the role and significance of Asian Americans in our country’s future.

There is no room for the kind of discrimination visited against the Chinese and Japanese in the past, as well as generalized nativism against Asians of all backgrounds that expresses itself even today, and even with the success of Jeremy Lin. It is time for enlightened understanding for our country’s economic future and security and safety!

Richard Nixon (China) And Barack Obama (Iran): Why Not Try Diplomacy Before War?

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Forty years ago, Richard Nixon, a Republican President, took a bold step and went to visit and negotiate with the government of the People’s Republic Of China, better known in America as Communist China or Red China.

We had had no negotiations or dealings with mainland China since 1949, had made a career of demonizing the leadership of that nation, and had made clear that we would defend the island of Taiwan (Nationalist China) at all costs. We had also fought Chinese troops in the Korean War, and had known of Chinese support of the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam War, and were still bombing near the Chinese border.

But with all that, Richard Nixon went to China, negotiated trade and travel and cultural exchanges, and opened up our country and China to the promotion of less fear and more diplomacy and understanding in the interests of international harmony and avoidance of war.

Many conservatives bitterly condemned Nixon for going to China, and reversing his own anti Communist stand of twenty five years standing. But Nixon went anyway, and this occurred in an election year. It was statesmanlike and showed Nixon to be a pragmatic man in foreign policy.

Today, in 2012, forty years later, we are on the brink of possible military conflict with Iran, with which we have not had real dealings since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the fall of the Shah of Iran from power. Iran has become a very belligerent state, heavy on rhetoric and threats, similar to what China was for 25 years. In the case of Iran, it is now 33 years since the two nations, in the midst of tensions and stress, have sat down and tried to negotiate differences.

It may seem as if there is very little hope for a breakthrough with a harsh enemy who wishes us ill, but remember that was the same mentality toward China, and even more so, toward the Soviet Union, during the Cold War years, but still Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and even Reagan all agreed to joint meetings, often in each other’s country, and made progress toward coexistence, and to avoid a direct confrontation that would benefit neither side.

So when the Republican candidates for President, conservative talk show hosts, and many others call for war on Iran, and think the idea of negotiations with Iran are fruitless, remember what Richard Nixon, the ultimate anti Communist did forty years ago this week. He went to the enemy and NEGOTIATED, and prevented any conflict with China, a dramatic and significant moment in world history!

It is time for Barack Obama to show courage and statesmanship, and since the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he is ready for diplomatic talks, it is wise to take him up on it, and see if it can go anywhere. If it does not, and war results, at least we will be able to hold our heads high and say we TRIED! Is Ahmadinejad really any worse than Mao Tse Tung, Nikita Khrushchev Leonid Brezhnev, or Mikhail Gorbachev?

It is not cowardly to agree to talk and negotiate; it is cowardly to refuse to talk and negotiate, with the possibility of avoiding war that neither the United States citizens or Iranian citizens really want. And it would be better for Israel too, if war could be avoided which would likely have a very heavy toll on their citizens, in a country so small in population, it cannot afford to lose even one hundred people in an unnecessary war that MIGHT be avoidable!

99th Anniversary Of Richard Nixon’s Birth: Anything To Celebrate? YES!

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Today, 99 years ago, Richard Nixon was born in California, and went on to become the most complex, most controversial, most divisive President we have ever had.

There is so much that is negative about Richard Nixon, and more is coming out from the Nixon Library itself, with the Watergate exhibits, and the constant revelations from the Watergate tapes, and the research being done by scholars in political science and history, and by veteran White House journalists, including a recent book in October on his judicial appointments (Kevin J. McMahon) and a scathing attack on his ethics and policy making (Don Fulsom), due out at the end of this month.

So Nixon will never be able to rest easily in the afterlife, so to speak, but since it is his birthday, can we find anything decent to say about his time in office, in the midst of the mountain of evidence of negativism?

Richard Nixon continued to expand on the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, even while claiming to cut back on the economic and social programs of both Democratic Presidents. After all, he signed into law many initiatives that are now opposed by Republicans who would like nothing better than to repeal what he signed into law.

Nixon accomplished the following in domestic policy:

The Environmental Protection Agency
The Consumer Product Safety Commission
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Affirmative Action for Women and Minorities
Appointed Associate Justice Harry Blackmun
Supported the Equal Rights Amendment for Women
Initiated Wage and Price Controls in a time of inflation

He also had the following successes in foreign policy:

Negotiated Detente with the Soviet Union
Began Economic and Diplomatic Ties with China
Supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War

This list of ten accomplishments in no way makes up for the many negatives of the Nixon Presidency, and the damage he did long term to the institution itself.

This post is NOT an attempt to whitewash the Nixon record of horrible abuse of power, just a recognition that the 37th President did have a positive impact in ways worth remembering, a year before the Centennial of his birth, which will NOT be celebrated quite the same as Ronald Reagan’s centennial in 2011, or the future centennial of John F. Kennedy in 2017, or the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln in 2009!

How Christmas Day Changed The Course Of American History, In 1861 And 1991!

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Christmas Day has long been celebrated as a special day, but in terms of American history, two particular Christmas Days have had a dramatic effect on our future.

In 1861, on Christmas Day, as the Civil War was entering its second year, it seemed as if the United States was about to go to war with Great Britain, due to the Trent Affair, the seizure of two Confederate agents, James Mason and John Slidell, from a British ship by the crew of an American ship, the San Jacinto.

Instead, the cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln agreed that it was better to release the two Confederate agents, as fighting a two front war against the South and Great Britain would be a losing proposition. It would have made it more likely that the Confederate States of America would have won its independence, and the United States might have been occupied by Great Britain, and transformed our history in a tragic fashion.

Also, in 1991, on Christmas Day, the Soviet Union’s leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, declared the end of the 74 year experiment in Communist dictatorship, and the breakup of the Soviet Union into separate nations, with the largest being the Russian Federation led by Boris Yeltsin.

This was a courageous act by Gorbachev, and was the final end of the nearly fifty year Cold War, seemingly allowing peace in the world, and America without a major competing nation for world leadership.

Unfortunately, the optimism would not last, as Middle East terrorism became the new challenge for the United States and the Western world, in many ways a greater threat than Communism had been.

But both Christmas Days, 1861 and 1991, 150 years ago and 20 years ago respectively, had a massive impact on our history!

Reflections On The Pearl Harbor Anniversary

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The History Channel tonight presented an exceptional two hour program on the 24 hours after Pearl Harbor, and how Franklin D. Roosevelt learned about and handled the matter up to the declaration of war on Japan precisely a day after the attack.

It made this author wonder about how much is taught about Pearl Harbor in the schools of America. This is such a path breaking event, a turning point in our history, unmatched since the attack on Fort Sumter which stared the Civil War, and only matched since by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

How many students would know what Pearl Harbor represents, and would know that Japan was the nation which attacked us? How many would realize the importance of World War II, and know all the “players” in that war, including FDR, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito?

It is horrifying to think of the historical ignorance of America, not only of this event, but of all of the events and facts of American history and government which are needed for citizens to be knowledgeable enough to be good citizens and intelligent voters!

Education MUST be the prime way for this country to prosper and advance into the future, but instead, we are seeing educational cutbacks all over the nation!

This is, therefore, a time to mourn, not just for the victims of Pearl Harbor, but for ourselves as a nation which is poorly informed, which affects our politics and our hopes for a better America in the future!

American Foreign Policy Challenge: The Top Ten Nations

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We live in an uncertain and dangerous world, two decades after the end of the Cold War, and the downfall of the Soviet Union.

Not only is there the threat of international terrorism, whether state sponsored, or outside the state system, but the challenges that various nations present to us are also imposing.

By areas of the world, without ranking, these would be considered the top ten nations that present a challenge to us for the long term.

Europe
The Russian Federation, with its authoritarian leader, Vladamir Putin.

Middle East

Egypt, with its revolution faltering, and the largest nation in population in the Arab world.
Iran, with its sponsorship of international terrorism in the Palestinian territories, and its development of nuclear power.
Israel, with its problems dealing with the Palestinians and terrorism, and alarmed by Iranian influence growing in the Middle East.

Asia

China, with its growing impact on the world economy, and one out of every four people in the world within its borders.
North Korea, with its maniacal leader Kim Jong Il, and his move to develop nuclear weapons that endanger the security of South Korea and Japan.
Pakistan, with its radical Islamic groups, and a deteriorating relationship with the United States, and dangerous because of its possession of nuclear weapons.
India, with the second largest population in the world, and concerned about the threat of its nuclear rival, Pakistan.

Latin America

Mexico, with its growing drug gangs, presenting an imminent threat to the United States border states, and its government unable to cope with promoting law and order within its national boundaries.
Venezuela, with its maniacal leader, Hugo Chavez, and his anti American foreign policy, and friendship with Fidel Castro

In these difficult times, we need a person who understands the world, and again, ONLY Jon Huntsman can truly challenge President Barack Obama and his strong diplomacy under the leadership and advice of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton!

Two Hopes For The Future Of Politics: Elizabeth Warren And Ilya Sheyman

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Many Americans are turned off to politics, and have the growing feeling that it makes no difference who you put in office, as they will be beholden to the “special interests”, rather than the citizenry who elects them.

And yet, there is growing hope that some people running for public office in 2012 actually cannot be controlled or owned by lobbyists and special interests, and two of them are: Elizabeth Warren, running for the Massachusetts Senate seat of Scott Brown, who replaced Ted Kennedy in a special election at the beginning of 2010, but who is one of the most “owned” candidates by the big corporations; and an unknown Illinois Congressional candidate in the Tenth District north of Chicago, Ilya Sheyman, attempting to oust a Tea Party Republican freshman named Robert Dold.

Warren is famous for having promoted the passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the major accomplishments of the Obama Presidency. However, the Republicans made it clear that they would oppose her appointment as its head, so Warren turned around and decided to challenge Brown for his Senate seat, and this will be one of the premier stories of 2012, as she inspires many progressives who have hopes for change from the old system that has dominated Washington, DC for so long.

Just as inspiring is the story of 25 year old Soviet Jewish immigrant Ilya Sheyman, who migrated with his parents at age 4 from the Soviet Union. Appearing on UP-WITH CHRIS HAYES on MSNBC this morning, we learned of his motivation to promote the progressive movement, after experience as a community organizer in Waukegan, Illinois; service in the office of Senator Barack Obama; and national Mobilization Director at MoveOn.org.

Warren and Sheyman are both very impressive in their sincerity and commitment at a time when cynicism reigns supreme, so all who care about the future should work to elect Warren and Sheyman and like minded reformers!

Commemoration Of Two Events On November 9: One Wonderful, One Tragic!

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Today, November 9, marks two events, both in Germany, which changed the world–one in a positive way, the other in a very tragic way!

On this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall, which symbolized the horrors of Communism, came down spontaneously in East Germany, leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union two years later, and the end of the Cold War between Russia and the United States led alliance of NATO.

The collapse of the wall gave the world hope for a peaceful future, no one being aware that the Persian Gulf War just over a year later helped to lead to the new age of terrorism, which had already begun, but accelerated after US forces were stationed in Saudi Arabia, the home of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Islamic faith.

Fifty one years earlier, in 1938, in Nazi Germany, we had the tragedy of Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, when the Nazis unleashed an attack on Jewish citizens and property, including synagogues ransacked and set on fire, along with businesses, shops, and the destruction of cemeteries, and the arrest of thousands and the death of many Jews in a vicious manner. This is now seen as the beginning of the Holocaust, and sadly, while there was condemnation of the actions on November 9 and 10, the international community did little more than condemn verbally.

So the later date marked the end of Communism in Eastern Europe, while the first marked the growing menace of Nazism and anti Semitism, and the horrors of anti Semitism are still a reality in the world today!