The strategy of being tough and mean apparently is spreading thin with voters. The tough kid on the global block may terrorize the neighborhood and yet win fawning followers, but after a while the fear wears off and the fops withdraw to the caucus room of reason. The fear of the voters has incrementally transformed into the echo of nothing to fear but fear itself. After all, terrorism has been around for centuries, yet we make it sound as though it were exclusively and continuously directed a...
“The draft — which will include both boys and girls this time around — a no-brainer in ‘05 and ‘06.” — David Hackworth; www.hackworth.com Hackworth’s position is that the war on terror, excluding Iraq, will require more boots on the ground and that no amount of sophisticated blockbuster weapons can effectively hunt down terrorists. The “Stop Loss” program of the Pentagon extending enlistments beyond contractual agreements in effect has transformed the volunteers as “backdoor draftee...
When ever liberals express an interest in giving the disadvantaged a leg-up, why do conservatives regularly presume that it is hogwash being for the unwashed who are unambitious, and completely reliant on the government, and then add that liberals are implying that conservatives have no compassion? Other than perhaps unthinking extremists, the prevailing liberal slant on things is that the business world, particularly now, is primarily concerned with the bottom line and any costs that shrink th...
In a nutshell it is indeed a black and white decision — no buts and ifs about it. You are either satisfied with the current administration or you’re not. You cannot say that though you’re unhappy with Bush but conjecture that you would be unhappier with Kerry without his having a chance to prove himself is what we use to say in the marines “you don’t have a crystal ball up your arse, so be gung ho.” That is, if you think, having been given four years to prove himself, Bush has not don...
Comparing a senator’s voting record with that of one in the executive branch is entirely bogus, particularly when cherry-picked senatorial votes of a different era are exploited to make a point in the present. Legislators are bombarded with clauses, amendments, and pork when a bill is up for passage, causing exactly the role of the senate which is a deliberative body, leaving little room for the usual gut reaction of the House of Representatives. Nevertheless, it is perfectly appropriate...
Low and mid-skilled manufacturing jobs have been shrinking, due to cheap labor abroad, not to mention the long habit, like circuit board printing and assembly, of low-tech jobs going overseas since the ‘70s, spinning off lower wage earners here to service these products. To block this runaway tide, the government should absorb the bulk of medical insurance to keep US companies relatively competitive, and engage the obvious need for massive infrastructure and environmental initiatives for the ...
The recession that rolled in on the 2000 election was suspiciously timed but still inevitable owing to the jobs no longer needed when the panic over Y2K disaster proved unfounded, let alone the overblown business potential of the internet. Neither was Greenspan’s warning of “irrational enthusiasm” over the booming stock market heeded; yet at the same time he and Clinton did nothing to force SEC to head-off the reckless investments that were equivalent to wild speculation on penny stocks. Furt...
Global problems abound and can no longer go unaddressed. There are still five million people who are suffering owing to nations that have effected torture on political opponents. North Korea systematically uses famine as a weapon to control its own people. Iran uses religion to suppress its citizens. Many African nations need massive humanitarian aid and education to erase its label of dark continent. The world needs to be assured that nations with nuclear weapons are under strict observation...
"Four More Years of Bush" means unlimited corporate power; the end of a woman’s right to choose, and civil unions denied gays. Even passage of continuation of the tax-cuts, which were broadcast as mainly affecting the middle class, will cost $145 billion over ten years and over 80% of it is for corporate tax breaks. Apparently it would take an exorcist to remove from the conservative mind the “trickle-down” theory. Over and over again we are reminded on JU and the media that Kerry’s pro...
Briefly we praise those who made the ultimate sacrifice while the families forever mourn. Indeed love is blind, inflicted by the rude glare of divorce. Statesmanship is the love of prudence; politics is the love of impudence. Only when elections are over does the truth begin. CBS is pilloried for putting the wrong wrapper on the sugar-coated sidebar. The affluent have no compulsion to give back to society because as entrepreneurial wizards they actually believe their ...
Just before WW II the draft was enacted and remained through peacetime and wars until Nixon ended it toward the close of Vietnam. Until then all males 18-25 had to register. In those days, because of the magnificent achievement of draftees during the big war, no one thought of the services made up predominantly through selective service as an ineffective force. The draft was actually considered an excellent way for the nation’s youth to take on responsibility and grow in character, while the ...
There would be no question about the outcome of the presidential race had Bush played it safe, rather than stirring up a hornet’s nest by choosing to engage in a preëmptive war. His poll numbers had been skyward making the character of the Democrat candidates probably different, since so many would be un willing to risk utter defeat. The only contention with Bush would have been his dismal domestic policies and unconcern for the environment, which would not have been receive...
Though in running for the presidency Kerry is no Eisenhower, who simply expected the voter to trust him in that he would end the war in Korea, which was also unpopular, Kerry’s statement that it is the wrong war at the wrong time is not necessarily a non sequitur in his pledge to finish the war with honor. Every president inherits some anomaly and has to honor the obligation by corrective measures. Given that it was a horrendous mistake the way in which Marines were beached at the batt...
The columnist Thomas Sowell calls social security a “pyramid scheme” : pay up now not for the future but for those now reaping the benefits. This was true in the beginning but there were sufficient numbers of working people to quickly build up a surplus. In addition, it was never Roosevelt’s intent that social security would in the long run pay for itself; the ultimate plan was to supplement it by general funds once social security became institutionally acceptable. Besides in the midst of th...
Kerry blasted Bush for having: M isled the nation into war with Iraq; m iscalculated, the resistance there, despite innumerable warnings; m ismanaged continually the prospect of peace once there. It is true the UN was sitting on its hands with regard to Iraq because the flow of oil was uninterrupted and let Saddam, among others, profit by it; but that could be said of virtually all of OPEC. Furthermore, the administration had been sitting on its hands when contrasted with the rel...