A Simple Question For The Vice President

In my previous post I complained that the Vice President was trying to confuse people by equating the war in Iraq with the war on terror and al Qaeda. I also said that this confusion made the war on terror more complicated. I should have added that even worse, his repeated connection of Iraq and al Qaeda trivializes the war on terror by implying that it will be won or lost depending on the outcome of the war in Iraq. With that in mind, I'd like to ask the Vice President another question.

If every member of al Qaeda now in Iraq were killed tomorrow, would we be able to declare victory in Iraq and start bringing home all the troops the next day?


Technorati Tags: Political Iraq Cheney al Qaeda War On Terror

Accept Your Responsibility

Vice President Cheney in a recent interview said, "I think if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we will do is validate the al Qaeda strategy." He then added, "The al Qaeda strategy is to break the will of the American people ... try to persuade us to throw in the towel and come home, and then they win because we quit."

I have a few questions I'd like to ask the Vice President. I'd like to ask the Vice President if he realizes that Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are reflecting the current opinion of a majority of American voters? I'd also like to know if he ever considered that it is the failed policies of the Bush administration that have led the American people to question the value of surging additional troops to Iraq? Finally, I'd like to know if realizes that his lying to the American people has contributed to the public's disillusionment with the war in Iraq? For example, he continues to confuse the war in Iraq with al Qaeda. The war on terror is complicated and he makes it even more complicated by not being honest!

If the war in Iraq ends as a failure rather than a success, it will be the direct result of the failures by the current administration. If the war in Iraq had already been successfully concluded, they would have claimed responsibility for the success. As it is, this administration alone must accept responsibilities for the failures, including waning support in the US. If the administration could give us a clear definition of victory and a clear plan that had a chance of success, the American people would support them.



Technorati Tags: Political Iraq Cheney Pelosi Murtha

DoughNut Dollar

The US Mint is once again trying to get the American people to accept a dollar coin. They plan to release a series of coins bearing the images of US Presidents starting with George Washington. The Mint may make a mint on the coins people collect and take out of circulation, but this will not convince the public to use these coins.

The first attempt at a new dollar coin was the Susan B. Anthony coin which was too similar in size and color to a Quarter. People rejected this coin for everyday use. The next attempt was the Sacajawea gold coin. This too was rejected. I think it is the same size and weight as the Susan B. Anthony, but it has a gold colored finish. I haven't seen the new President dollars, but unless they are radically different than the previous two attempts to make dollar coins, people won't use them for everyday commerce either.

I believe the problem has to do with size and identification, the reasons that the Susan B. Anthony coins were rejected. As a person who likes the idea of dollar coins and who tries to use them, I think I understand the problem. Put 10 one dollar bills in you pocket and you would never know they are there. Put 10 one dollar coins in you pocket and they start to get heavy and the coins are still too hard to distinguish from a Quarter. A worn Sacajawea coin looks gold colored only in the right light.

I suggest they create dollar coins with holes in the middle. I should note that the Mint considered this and rejected the idea. I can't remember why. Maybe it was because it is hard to put an image on a coin when the center is missing. Even if you kept the diameter of the dollar coin the same, with a hole in the middle it would be easy to recognize and lighter. You can't make the coin too light (for example, aluminum coins feel like play money), but you can make a pocket full less noticeable.

The President dollar coin program is supposed to last about 10 years (four new coins a year), so it will probably be about 15 years before the next new dollar coin attempt. Maybe by then the Mint will have some people who can think outside the box and inside the hole.

Technorati Tags: Dollar Coin

Universal Post Secondary Education

It is time to start talking about how to make post secondary education as available and expected as a high school education for US adults. We live in a world where our manufacturing labor costs cannot compete with the developing countries without drastically lowering our standard of living. Unless we get immigration under control, we will have more unskilled workers than we can use. Our future lies in remaining a country that can produce workers with skills that are as good as or better than other countries. New technologies and new uses for current technologies are being generated at an ever increasing pace. The US must remain the world's technological leader, but to do so it will have to take active steps to increase the number of skilled workers at all levels.

I don't know how we do this, but I'm sure we have people who can come up with many good solutions we can debate. We don't need to do this overnight, but we should start soon with a goal to make a post secondary higher education, continuing education and vocational education available in an affordable and practical way to every citizen within 10 years. I included continuing and vocational education because we know that the labor market will change drastically over the years of a person's life time. Encouraging people to enhance or gain new skills and knowledge will help people in an ever changing labor market.

In addition, as people live longer and our population ages we will probably see the age at which a person can retire increase. Helping people prepare for jobs that match their life conditions and job market opportunities so they can be productive longer and meet their financial goals will benefit everyone.

Technorati Tags: Political

SURGE means Sacrifice

I guess for the troops and their families SURGE now means

Sacrifice Until Radical Groups Eliminated

or

Sacrifice Until Real Government Exists

Either way they bear the brunt of this "new" policy. I hope for everyone's sake it works, but I don't have much hope.

Technorati Tags: Political Iraq SURGE

How do you spell "Stay the Course"?

It sounds to me like Stay the Course is now spelled S, U, R, G, E.

EverybodyHasOne has learned from a White House source that SURGE stands for

Stay Until Radical Groups Eliminated

or

Stay Until Real Government Exists

(the use is context dependant, depending on which one the administration thinks gives the longest time frame).


I suspect that SURGE will join the military terms FUBAR and SNAFU...

Screwed Up a Really Good Effort

As used in a sentence, "Bush really SURGEd us!"

Technorati Tags: Political Stay the course Iraq SURGE

News Or Opinion?

On the January 4 Scarborough Country show on NBC, Joe did a segment on Bill O'Reilly's ranting about bias at NBC. Bill claimed everybody at NBC hates President Bush. I don't think that's fair and balanced. I wonder what Bill would say about a claim that everybody at Fox loves President Bush.

Joe Scarborough had a guest, author Bob Kohn. Mr. Kohn claimed as proof of NBC's bias a statement by NBC's respected, veteran journalist and on-air reporter Richard Engel that Saddam Hussein's execution was a "PR disaster". Mr. Kohn asserted that this was clearly biased reporting.

According to Mr. Kohn, Richard Engel could have removed the bias by adding a phrase like "some people said the execution was a" in front of "PR disaster".

Now that would have really convinced me I was listening to objective reporting. Mr. Kohn clearly didn't convince me I should buy his book.

He inadvertently gave a better example of bias when he made the case that Saddam Hussein was a very bad person and history will remember how many people he killed, not how he died. Kohn's point was that the important story was the execution of a terrible dictator who killed many people. That statement clearly shows how Mr. Kohn would have added his bias to the story. I think news reports over many years have established that Saddam Hussein was a very bad person who killed many people and who deserved to die. That is no longer news. His execution and reactions to it was news.

Bias is always present in reporting. It is sometimes overt, but more often it is subtle. Which stories get covered? What angle and aspects of a story are covered? When you show a picture of a person, do you show one that is flattering or one that makes the person look malevolent? As an example, note which pictures of Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi are shown. Ask yourself if that picture might show a bias.

True news organizations and journalists work very hard to report accurately and objectively.

A respectable news paper clearly differentiates news from opinion. There is an opinion section and there are news sections. The cable news shows mix news and opinion into a witches brew that only the dedicated viewer can separate. I suggest that all media find ways to clearly identify which segments are news and should be held to high standards of objectivity and which are opinion.

It is current practice to clutter the edges of the screen with all kinds of "information". How about the word "Opinion" in big letters on the screen?

Today on Fox there was a segment where a guest commentator lambasted Nancy Pelosi for hypocrisy. She objected to Nancy Pelosi surrounding herself with children at the swearing in ceremony last week. How could Nancy Pelosi, a strong proponent of abortion rights, dare to act like she really cared about children? Obviously, people who support a woman's right to choose must hate all children. Only Fox would give such a lunatic air time.

As bad as that was, just prior to the segment was a full screen shot of the word "NEWS". You can only laugh when anyone at Fox complains about news media bias. I suggest that Fox indicate an objective news segment by replacing that annoying, rotating FOX News icon on the lower left of the screen with a yellow non-rotating icon that indicates that this segment is objective news.

Never mind. Now that I think about it I realize they've already done that. You've seen that yellow box haven't you?

Technorati Tags: Media Bias NBC Fox Bill O'Reilly Joe Scarborough Bob Kohn Richard Engel

John Boehner - Shut UP

John Boehner, Republican from Ohio and House Majority Leader, was on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday. He stated that al-Qaeda is wreaking havoc in Iraq. He repeated the line often used by Republicans that we have to defeat the terrorists in Iraq or "we'll be fighting them on every street in America."

What would you do if you were a leader of this country and believed that a military loss in Iraq meant we would be fighting terrorists on EVERY street in America? Well, in World War II, when that might have been a possibilty, we geared up a massive response. Every fiber of the country was committed to making sure the enemy never got that close.

If I thought a loss in Iraq meant fighting terrorists on my street, I would reinstate the draft. I would gladly go. I'm 50+, but I can shoot a rifle, or drive a truck or cook and deliver meals. I would expect Homeland Security to be organizing local self-defense units. I would expect my taxes to go up to help pay for whatever resources are needed. I would send an Army of 500,000 to Iraq. Seal the borders and then scour the country.

What kind of sacrifices has John Boehner, the President, the Vice-President and most Republicans asked of the American people? Reinstate the draft? No. Raise taxes? No. Significantly enlarge the armed forces? No. Send more troops to Iraq? Not really. The only sacrifices Republicans have asked from Americans to help win the war in Iraq is to live in a state of fear and give Republicans more power. The main thing they want from you is your vote.

John Boehner's actions do not show that he is really worried about fighting terrorists on every street. He is just trying to scare you into voting for Republicans. To my fellow citizens in Ohio, please vote the jackass out of office!

I've heard many times that Democrats think Repbulicans are stupid. I don't think all Republicans are stupid. But I saw Richard Nixon elected twice. When he was elected the second time it was clear that he was a very bad President to anyone who was paying attention to the news. I saw George W. Bush elected twice. Similarly, it was obvious by 2004, that George Bush was not up to the job of President of the United States. If voters do not throw Republicans out of office in droves next week, I and many Democrats, will once again have reason to wonder what kind of logic Republicans use when they enter the voting booth.

Are you really willing to retain politicians who support an ill conceived and an utterly failed policy in Iraq for a promise of a ban on gay marriage?

Technorati Tags: Political John Boehner Iraq War on Terror

Stay The Course? Sorry, My Bad!

According to President Bush, when he said "Stay the course", he didn't really mean "Stay the course". At least not the way we all understood it.

Since we just don't understand that the war on terror requires new thinking, we really can't appreciate the subtleties behind the phrase "Stay the course". So as not to confuse our simple minds further he is not going to use the phrase any more. Maybe Karl can come up with something less complex.

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Stay the course Iraq Political Cartoon

Used with permission.

It Takes A Rack To Keep You Safe

Click on cartoon to enlarge.

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Habeas Corpus Political Cartoon

Used with permission.

Send The Bill To My Kids

The President today said something along the lines that you can count on Republicans to keep your taxes low.

Are you really motivated to vote for Republicans because they promise low taxes? Even when you realize the country is running record deficits each year and that your children and grandchildren will be paying the bill for your low taxes?

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Republicans Taxes

This Is A Sad Day

An American citizen is declared a terrorist by a government, grabbed by the police, spirited off, tortured and never told what he is accused of or given legal assistance to defend himself.

Guess which country this could happen in...

The United States - after the Congress passed and the President signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 today.


Wake up people. This President and the Republicans pose a greater threat to the long term security of this country than do terrorists.

VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE!

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Republicans Habeas Corpus

Happy Birthday! You Owe $28,500.

Happy Birthday to the 300,000,000th U.S. citizen born today.

Your share of the national debt is about $28,500 and growing every day.

Grow up fast. Get a good education and a good job. We need your taxes.

Technorati Tags: Political National Debt

The President Can't Lose in November

News reports have President Bush and Karl Rove very upbeat about the coming election even though polls show Republicans in trouble.

This make sense. President Bush is very concerned about his place in history. If Republicans lose either the House or Senate or both, President Bush will spend the rest of his term blaming Democrats for his inability to do what is necessary to solve problems. It has to have been very frustrating to have Republican control of the Presidency, House, Senate and Courts and have such a terrible record to show after six years.

President Bush might even be relieved if Democrats won one of the legislative branches. He could dump all of the problems he has created on the Democrats and probably start sleeping a little better at night.

Karl Rove would love a Democratic win. He would have two years to prove Democrats are just as incompetent as Republicans when they can't solve all the problems Bush created in six years. Two years to spin six years of failures and orchestrate a Republican Presidential win in 2008.

So, of course, President Bush and Karl Rove are upbeat about the mid-term elections. No matter who wins, they can't lose.

Unless the Democrats win big, then get their act together and show how a party in power can truly lead.

Technorati Tags: Political Republicans

Hey, Republicans, Listen Up

I know this is a waste of time, but I do believe that when presented with the facts in a straight forward, non-confrontational manner, people can understand truth from obfuscation. I believe Republicans are good people who want the best for this country, but sometimes they are not skeptical enough of what the authority figures in their party tell them. So Republicans, listen up.

Be skeptical any time a politician includes the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism in the same sentence. The 9/11 Commission and the President (among many others) have made it clear that there was no connection between Iraq (and Saddam Hussein) and Al Quida. Yes, since we went into Iraq and removed Saddam Hussein there are now Al Quida terrorists in Iraq, but if we killed all of them tomorrow we still couldn't bring our troops home. We would still be in the middle of a civil war in Iraq. And if we killed all the Al Quida terrorists in Iraq tomorrow we would not have decreased the threat of attacks inside the US AT ALL. I have not read of any connection between the Madrid and London bombings and members of Al Quida in Iraq. Iraq is not the central planning location for terrorist attacks and threats around the world.

The war on terror and the war in Iraq are slightly related because we opened the door for terrorists to cause trouble there, but there is only a tenuous connection between Iraq and the war on terror. Whenever someone equates the war on terror and the war in Iraq, start listening very carefully because they are trying to confuse you.

Another way Republican politicians try to confuse the situation is their claim that Democrats do not understand that this is a war. Democrats are accused of wanting to go after the terrorists as if this were a police issue and not a war. Well, let's look at the situation. You can call the fighting in Afghanistan a war. We are fighting pitched battles with heavy weapons. We were correct to go into Afghanistan to take out the Taliban. We weren't completely successful, so now NATO has agreed to take over the fight.

We are in a war in Iraq, but most of the fighting does not involve terrorists. We are in the middle of a war that revolves around internal Iraqi factions and issues.

So where in the world are we fighting a war with terrorists? Where are we fighting battles with mortars, machine guns, tanks, helicopters, etc.? There are terrorists in Spain. Are we fighting a war there? There are terrorists in Great Britain. Are we fighting a war there? Most of the war on terror is being fought by collecting intelligence, disrupting operations, stopping the flow of money and arresting people. We fight the war on terror with tighter security at air ports and sea ports. Most of the war on terror is not being fought with troops. We have certainly needed our armed forces in the war on terror and may need them again, but military action will not win the war on terror by itself. It is not even the major component.

So when Republican politicians tell you that Democrats don't understand how to fight the war on terror, ask them how they think it should be fought. When they start talking about Iraq, ask them how the war in Iraq and the war on terror are related. Then ask them if we won the war in Iraq tomorrow, would the threat from terrorism go away. Listen to the answer carefully because at this point they will be trying to confuse you because they don't have good answers.

Technorati Tags: Political Iraq Republicans

Show Your Patriotism

It is clear that many people believe that the welfare of the country and the welfare of President Bush and the Republican Party are one and the same. If you attack the President, you are attacking the country. If you don't support the Republicans, you are unpatriotic. If you disagree with the President's handling of the war on terror, you either don't understand the situation, you would rather harm the country than admit the President is right or you support terrorists (by Republican definitions all these people are Democrats).

There is one sure way to show them you are as patriotic as they are ..........

VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE!

Technorati Tags: Political President Bush Republicans

Let Them Vote!

A recent poll taken in Iraq suggests that the majority of Iraqis would, at the very least, like the United States to leave, soon. While this poll received some attention, it may not reflect the will of the Iraqi people.

We properly applaud Iraqis for risking personal danger and voting in two national elections. We respected their right to elect their own government. Maybe we should suggest that they schedule a nation wide referendum to let us know their true feelings. Voters would be able to choose from the following options.

• The U.S. should stay until the violence stops and basic utilities are restored.


• The U.S. should stay until asked to leave by the elected government.


• The U.S. should stay for no longer than one more year.


• The U.S. should leave within six months.


• The U.S. should leave immediately.

This would obviously be a non-binding resolution since the Bush administration would refuse to believe any result that didn't match their need at the time.

Technorati Tags: Political Iraq

Good Idea, Newt

I wrote a few days ago that Newt Gingrich suggested that Bill Clinton come up with a few ideas for catching bin Laden. Newt, the sharp witted politician he is, had the start of a good suggestion.

I suggest that Bill Clinton invite the leadership of the Democratic Party and all Democratic 2008 Presidential hopefuls to a secluded location. Probably no more than 30 to 35 people (that was not a joke about how many hopefuls there may be). They would agree that they would stay together until they could work out a detailed plan for an exit strategy from Iraq. Since you could never get that many Democrats to all agree on anything, they should shoot for an agreement that two thirds of the group can support. I good plan with lots of support could turn the tide for the Democrats and the country.

I know I'm dreaming, but what the heck.

Technorati Tags: Political Democrats

Ready, Fire, Aim

Click on cartoon to enlarge.


Technorati Tags: Political Republicans Political Cartoon

Used with permission.

Home For The Politically Arrogant

Click cartoon to enlarge.


Technorati Tags: Political Cartoon Political Republicans

Used with permission.