Why Nuclear Weapons Prove Obama Is A Faithful Husband!

I’ll give the president this.  He does NOT like to take the easy way out. 

Case in point, today I read that he’s revamping US nuclear weapons strategy to make it less vague.  He’s going to move the US towards a policy of a more narrow use of nuclear weapons. 

According to this NY Times article online at MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36185431/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/

the president even has the US not using nuclear weapons in the case of certain biological attacks.

Now I’m no blood-loving hawk and I generally think the less we rely on nukes the better.  On the other hand, I’m not some hippy dippie tree hugger who doesn’t believe that we in fact have some enemies that look to hurt us.  9/11 taught us that much.

Mostly, I’m no expert on nuclear weapons as effective deterrents, but I kind of liked a vagueness to our policy.  Sure, it’s not the perfect moral policy. But, I do think it helps to keep our enemies a little unsure of what our exact policy is.  Why spell out when we wouldn’t use nukes?  Isn’t that just asking for trouble?

For all any of us know, this may in fact be the right policy decision.  I for, one, was none to comfortable with the last adminstration’s attitude of shooting first and asking questions later. 

But, if I’m asking questions then I can only begin to imagine what mileage the talk radio right will be getting out of this.

President Obama’s decision on nuclear policy is debatable.  What’s not debatable is that short-term it’s awful politics.  It plays right into the hands of the stereotypes the right-wing media loves to dole out. 

It wasn’t the easy road.  That would have been doing 800 other smaller and non-controversial things.  In the president’s mind though, I’m guessing it was the right road.

And so here’s the point.   Long wait!  I know. 

But, if this president is so willing to take on the tough tasks, not take the easy way out, and stay committed to doing what’s right, than I’ve got one last guess about him. 

This is probably a man who is faithful to his wife. 

Either that or he’s addicted to taking huge risks.   Wait, that would be another of my favorite presidents, Bill Clinton.

Maybe Democrats Aren’t Stupid After All!

With tonight’s historic votes, Democrats may have finally pushed healthcare reform across. In the process, they might have also proven that they’re not completely stupid after all.

On this blog, I’ve argued that Democrats had no choice but to vote yes and get healthcare reform done.  After all, this November they’ll be facing Republicans reminding all of America about the Democrats’ push for healthcare win or lose.

The fact is that history is written by the winners.  So, as I see it Democrats had a choice, they could either run in November as the majority party who failed to pass healthcare reform, which the Republicans would have spun as a failure to impose socialism or worse on America thanks to the kindly GOP.

OR… They could go into November’s elections as the majority party who actually got something done.  Sure, half the country is pissed right now.  But, that won’t last.  Already on the local news, I saw a woman interviewed on the street who opposed healthcare reform but now that it passed said “she hoped it would be good for the country.”  That sentiment will be more and more the case as time goes by.

What people are REALLY mad at is incumbents on both sides who seem to be less and less able to get anything of real substance done.  Well, wake up America.  The Democrats just got substantial.  They’ll now go to the polls as the party that opened up health care to 30 million people AND got rid of the whole “pre-existing conditions” thing.   Not too shabby.

So, yes, there will still be people angry about this so-called “power grab” and expansion of government intrusion into our lives come November.  My guess is that that group is the fringe.  A very very large fringe, but a fringe none the less.  And remember, you don’t have to win elections by anything more than one vote. 

Now, the president needs to focus even more on jobs and the economy.  Then, the Democrats can claim true momentum come  November.

And the GOP?  Oh yeah, they’re the ones who are fine with the government requiring us to buy auto insurance, but feel that requiring that everyone has health care coverage is a nake power grab.  Nevermind that that naked power grab just opened up health care to millions and made it illegal for your insurance company to deny you coverage due to “pre-existing conditions” also known as “you might cost us too much money so we’d rather than you die as soon as possible”.

I think we’ll be talking more about that fractured logic come November.

Hey Idiot Democrats! Don’t Let Abortion Kill Health Care For All!

I believe that abortion should be legal.  I also believe everyone should have access to decent health care.   But now, there are some abortion rights supporters in the House of Representatives who are willing to see health care reform go down the tubes if the reform legislation bans federal dollars from paying for abortions.  Not making it illegal just not paying for it, mind you.

These are people who are willing to keep 30 or so million people shut out of access to healthcare unless it covers abortions.

Is abortion really the issue to get stuck on?

As I said, I believe in the right of a woman to abort her pregnancy and don’t want to see women have to resort to back alley abortionists.  But, honestly why should 30 million people suffer if the federal government isn’t willing to cover what was ultimately a personal mistake made by two people that they after the fact want to undo.

I’m not judging here.  Mistakes happen.  I get it and I’m no saint.  But, for the 30 million not covered by health insurance right now, the mistake isn’t theirs so much as a function of our broken health care system and values.

What we’ve lost both between our two major parties and EVEN WORSE within each party itself, is the art of compromise.  This will never be a perfect bill.  No one is going to be 100% happy with it.  That’s just the fact if it stands any chance of being passed.

So, for the idiot House Democrats threatening to vote no over abortion coverage I suggest this or a lobotomy. 

Why not pass the bill which benefits all of us ultimately by giving 30 million access and getting rid of pre-existing condition bans now and continue the debate of abortion coverage after health care reform is enacted? 

After all, something is better than nothing here and it’s always easier to tweak something once it’s law than starting all over.  Anyone for another year of health care debate?  Nah?  Didn’t think so.

A lot of Democrats are nervous about their election prospects in November should health care reform become law.  The political truth is that it’s a lot easier to go before the voters as a winner versus a “politician who tried to engineer a government takeover of healthcare but lost“, which will be the Republican spin.

If on the other hand Democrats go to the polls as winners in the health care battle, the Republicans will have to take a moment to explain how they fought against eliminating pre-existing condition bans.   Good luck on that one, GOP!

When Barak Obama was elected he talked a lot about bringing people together.   We assumed he was talking about Democrats & Republicans. 

The reality now is that he must unite Democrats.  He must turn them into winner even if the victory isn’t perfect.  And even the ones who are idiots and are willing to squander the opportunity to achieve something of historic benefit in the name of a objections based on a narrow interest group.

Let common sense  and compromise prevail!

Republican Senator’s Best Defense Again Sotomayer? Ethnic Humor!

Ok, you’re a Republican Senator from Oklahoma.  You know Sonia Sotomayer is going to get confirmed for the Supreme Court, but you’ve got some questions to ask first.

What’s the best approach to get the answers you need?? 

Why, of course, it’s ethnic humor!  Nothing like dropping in a Ricky Riccardo  reference while you’re grilling the likely first Hispanic Justice.

Personally, I don’t think this is the hugest deal in the world.  I’ve actually used the phrase Senator Coburn used “you’ve got some ‘splaining to do” myself to try to get a laugh.  I think it even worked, once.

Just never during Supreme Court Nomination hearings.

What GM Proves About Our Government That The GOP Doesn’t Want You To Know!

General Motors exited bankruptcy on Friday in just about 40 days.  That’s about two days less than it took the much small Chrysler to get out of bankruptcy.  Leaving aside whether government intervention was the right answer or not, getting both companies out of chapter 11 so quickly is amazing.

What certain Republicans would have you believe is not necessarily true.  Government can work and it can move quickly.  Granted, it doesn’t happen every time out, but GM proves that the system can work well.

Let’s keep that in mind as the health care debate continues.

Republicans Still Foxy After All! In Shocker They Pause Spending Bill!

Let’s put it out there.  I think a lot of what the GOP has done since the election of our new president is wrongheaded.  They have seemed tone deaf and in denial about the desire for change the election signaled.  I get that they were shut out of drafting the stimulus legislation in the House, but giving only 3 GOP votes on the stimulus bill strikes me as self-defeating.  When our economic nightmare is over, people will remember who was helping and who was playing politics. 

For the GOP there will be a price to pay at the polls.

So it struck me as quite a shock to find out the GOP is still foxy after all.

This morning I read how the Republicans had stopped a $400 billion spending bill pregnant with 8,000 earmarks in its tracks.  I had recently written that Obama was making a mistake not challenging all the earmarks in this bill and that the representatives involved should be ashamed.  How, at this time of crisis, do we let business as usual play out to the tunes of several billion dollars of unnecessary spending I asked. 

I guess the GOP was asking for the same question.  At this point, they’ve stalled the legislation.  Good for them and maybe us.   Stopping earmarks now has to be a winning political issue and if we can chisel out a few billion of waste from the $400 billion in spending than perhaps we can put it to better use or at least into my bank account (that last part is a joke for those of you from the IRS…)

Anyway, the president is pretty foxy too or slick as I also recently wrote.  He’s a bright guy.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn around on this bill and join the Republicans fighting against that bill.

That’d be bipartisan after all….

A Shock Jock Runs The Republican Party! And That’s Only The Second Worst Thing To Happen To Republicans This Week!

On the heels of the ELECTED head of the Republican Party apologizing for nothing to blowhard Rush Limbaugh comes more bad news for the GOP.  A Wall Street Journal poll reports that the president that Limbaugh hopes fails currently has his highest approval ratings ever.

After six weeks on the job, according to this poll, Americans overwhelmingly approve of the job the Obama Administration is doing.  Americans, the poll finds, are blaming Republicans for the lack of bipartisanship in our nation’s capitol.

Boy oh boy, that’s bad news for the GOP.  Looks like the GOP’s “principled stand” against Obama’s stimulus package is being read by Americans for what it truly is… politics as usual.  Republican leadership just doesn’t get it.  Now is not the time for back in the day politics.  Now is the time for new ideas not old platitudes.

No amount of election losses  can get it through the thick heads of the GOP elite.  The mood in the country has changed and it’s not changing back quickly.

Michael Steele would have been much better off telling Rush he’d never cow tow to him rather than embarrassing himself by apologizing to a guy who is busy defending the polices that most Americans think got us into this economic mess in the first place.

It’s too bad because America could use a second party of new ideas right about now…

Risky Games! Does The President Or The GOP Have The Pulse Of The Nation?

I think it was soon after being elected that Barack Obama started making statements about how we needed to get the economy going again and so his administration wasn’t going to spend much time worrying about our record deficits.  The logic was job was to get America working again and once that was accomplished it’d be easier to cut our massive deficits.

As far as I could tell, Obama’s logic was widely accepted as reasonable.  People were willing to give him a short term pass on the deficit problem.  Most politicians would have stopped right there.

President Obama we may be finding out isn’t just any politician.  The President is proving to be a truly ambitious guy and a risk taker to boot.  Not only is he putting billions of dollars towards stimulating the economy, now he’s planning on cutting deficits at the same time.  Basically, he’s increasing spending massively while pledging to cut drastically.  That’s going to be one difficult trick to pull off.

These are tough times.  These are times that demand ambitious plans.  Perhaps our best bet is a comprehensive approach that tackles many of the big ticket items that ail and drain our economy:  Iraq, Afghanistan, deficits, health care, the auto industry, infrastructure problems.  I can go on…  So, maybe it’s all tied together and President Obama is wise to try to tackle it all while he’s still got the political capital to do it.

For the country’s sake and his own political future, he’d better be right.  Obama is persuring a high risk/high reward strategy.  If things work out, he may end up as one of our most accomplished leaders.  If the economy doesn’t turn around and if he’s unable to bring down the deficits, he risks being labeled as someone who could not deliver on bold promises made to a country in need of some good news. 

Obama could have chosen a safer route and everyone would have understood.  I admire his refusal to do so and pray that he’s right.

Speaking of the right… The GOP is clearly playing their own version of a high risk/high reward strategy.  Putting some context on  it, it’s very clear that at least in the House, Democrats have not been governing in much of a bi-partisan manner.  Republicans simply haven’t been given much input into writing bills like the recently passed stimulus package.  Furthermore, the GOP doesn’t have the numbers to block the Democrats from shutting them out.  So, y0u can understand why they’d be a bit grumpy.

Still, the GOP decision to stand idly by while the country continues to struggle is a big risk.  If things go well for them, things will go bad for the country.  That means that the GOP will be able to say “see, we told you so”.  Hmmmmm….  I wonder if the country is going to give them points for being right in the end or if people will wonder how the Republicans they elected to represent them could have sat out on the sidelines while things got worse and worse?

These are not ordinary times and so ordinary politics just won’t do.

Let’s look at the flip side, let’s say the economy improves.  What will Republicans say then?  Won’t the public remember a new president who spoke about bi-partisanship only to find very few Republicans willing to work with him at a time when the country needed them most?  Sure, as I noted earlier in this post, the Democrats in the House aren’t playing nice either.  The question is will the general public remember that?

Obama is clearly taking a massive risk.  Yet, I can see clearly how there’s a potential upside.  The GOP on the other hand is pursuing a risky strategy that seems destined to either leave them with no potential upside or very little even if they end up being right and Obama’s policies don’t improve the economy.

Perhaps Republicans aren’t understanding how bad time are?  How can some GOP governors say with a straight face that they might turn down stimulus money?  I’m suspecting that if I’m a struggling conservative everyman in a conservative state where services are being cut  at a  time when I need them and my governor is refusing aid, I would not be happy about it.  In times like these ideological concerns quickly give way to the practical.  Maybe that’s what the GOP isn’t grasping.

On the drive home this evening, I was listening to talk radio on NPR.  A small business owner called up and said she’d always been a Republican but can’t stand to see her party doing nothing during this crisis.  She told the host and his Republican Congressman guest (whose name I didn’t catch – my bad!) that the GOP keeps saying small business will lift us out of this mess.  The caller said she’s done all she can and now it’s time for government and politicians to help.

Listen, I know it’s NPR, but if the caller truly was a Republican than the GOP just might be in real trouble.  It really calls into question whether the party has the pulse of the nation.

My guess is no.

Shocker! Republican Leadership Is Racist!!

(Mr. Chip Saltsman, self-appointed polical satire expert and apparently a bit of a douchebag)

There’s an old saying that you might have heard in a mafia movie somewhere along the line.  It goes like this “the fish stinks from the head.”  What it means is that if an organization has troubles or problems functioning properly, you can be sure that the people at the top are part of the problem.

On Friday, we found out that the old saying certainly applies to the troubled Republican Party.  Back in Karl Rove’s day, the GOP was quite effective in getting elected by going negative.  Unfortunately for Rove’s party and America, when you run an almost entirely negative campaign, you end up polarizing the country and being unable to govern effectively.

The fact is that to truly cause change in any direction, it’s not enough to define strongly what you’re against.  You’ve actually got to stand for something.  Both Barack Obama and Rick Warren seem to understand that and as a result, despite their political differences, they see the advantages of aligning with each other for the inauguration ceremony.

Unfortunately, for rank and file Republicans (many of whom actually believe in stuff and are not racists), the GOP leadership is still stuck in the negative mindset.

This past Friday it was reported that Chip Saltsman, a Tennessee Republican who is running for the top spot of the Republican National Committee, sent RNC members a special Christmas gift, the gift of racism and negativity.  Nice holiday spirit all round, Chipster!

 The CD, which is titled “We Hate America” includes a song “Barack the Magic Negro” set to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”.  Apparently the song has been played on Rush Limbaugh’s very negative radio show since 2007 and according to the Saltsman, it’s clearly political satire. 

You know what?  I’m willing to buy that.  If that was the only song on the CD that veered into hate mongering territory than I’d be happy to believe that Saltsman is just a fun loving guy who enjoys a good political satire, even when set to a lame song like “Puff The Magic Dragon.”

Then, I found out that the rest of the “We Hate America” CD  includes songs such as “John Edwards’ Poverty Tour,” “Wright place, Wrong  Pastor,” “Love Client #9,” “Ivory and Ebony” and “The Star Spanglish Banner”.   

Hmmmmm….  Sure they all have catchy beats, but….

Not being completely naive, it seems to me that whoever wrote this CD and whoever would feel comfortable enough to send it around to their friends, might just have a problem with African Americans and Spanish people.  The CD title along with their song titles reflects a great deal of negativity and fear.  It’s all about what someone is against.  It’s all about who someone is against.  It’s not the kind of CD anyone should be proud to share or defend as political satire.

But remember, Mr. Chip Saltsman isn’t just no one.  He was the national campaign manager for Mike Huckabee’s presidential campain  AND he’s currently running for the head of the RNC!  Is this who ordinary Republicans want  leading their way?

And what does it say about the atmosphere among Republican leadership when Saltsman felt so comfortable sharing the CD with other top Republican leaders?  This is why the GOP is stuck in negativity and hate.

This is why I will continue to hope Barack Obama proves to be the real deal and governs by standing for something and giving us something to rally toward rather than rally against.

As for the GOP, rank and file Republicans should do America and their party a favor and chop the head off of their stinking fish…

Republican Announces Bid For Re-Election And Democrats Rejoice!

Here’s a scintillating video of Republican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan announcing his bid to keep running the RNC.

 Millions of Democrats are rejoicing.

Among his great nuggets are calling Republican wins in the Runoff Race for the Georgia Senate seat and special elections in Louisiana “a crushing blow to the Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and their liberal agenda.”

So, basically he’s putting a lot of stock about getting Republicans elected in Georgia and Louisiana.  And in a runoff race no less.  There’s no way that race should of been a runoff to begin with unless the GOP was having problems on a national scope.

In Georgia and Louisiana electing Republicans is business as usual, not something to trumpet.  That would be like a Democrat claiming that winning a seat in New England means conservatives are finished nationwide.

Continuing his faulty logic, Duncan goes on to assert that from these (expected) victories, “it’s clear that Republicans still know how to win elections as we build a solid foundation for the 2010 campaign”.

So, basically the lessens of the last two elections required just a couple of weeks to be digested and learned from.  Duncan is ready for 2010 already.

That’s either political posturing, cockiness or outright stupidity.