As stated in my previous post, I’m fresh out of the hospital from a pretty significant – although not life threatening – surgery, and still taking the pills and still having a hard time sitting here to write. However, I’ve learned in the past couple of days that Robert McNamara died while I was away. For anyone under the age of, say, 55 – this post might not be for you (although, as usual, I don’t know what to expect myslelf until I finish writing) – but just the name Robert McNamara brings back the thought of the trajic Viet Nam conflict – where approximately 50,000 Americans died along with somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple million Vietnamese (included in that 50,000 number were 13 members of my graduating class from high school – that I know of). Upon graduating from high school in 1965 myself and most of my friends believed the lie that Viet Nam was the place to stop the spread of Communism – I think this is why I get so upset when our government blatantly lies to us – because, usually, many people die as a result – AND NO ONE IS EVER HELD ACCOUNTABLE! Along with many of my friends I enlisted in the US Marines. I was in the so-called PLC (Platoon Leader Corps) which became identified as the 90 day wonders – that is, you would get 90 days of training and you were off to Viet Nam as a 2nd Lieutenant – with a high probability of returning home in a body bag.

When the doctor failed me in my physical prior to my heading out to Quantico, Virginia for basic training I was very disappointed and had no idea what a blessing that was. Had my disease, which is causing me so much trouble today, not been apparent to the Marine doctor – I would probably have written my last many years ago. As my high school buddies kept getting killed, or coming home almost unrecognizable – the ones who “made it” – I quit listening to our “leaders” and started researching why we were in Viet Nam. And, the really sad part of this story, is that the answers were so similar to the answers I got when I started researching what we were doing in Iraq and why we were doing it. The irony here is that former President Bush and most of his surrogates have no conception of what war is like. Bush got the “my Dad’s really important” deferral – which was being enlisted in the National Guard, but not having to attend the meetings – AND NO CHANCE OF GOING TO WAR! Dick Cheney was the master of the deferrments (I believe he received at least 5), and you can go through the list of the “tough guys” representing the “neo-cons” and find nary a one who served in Viet Nam.

McNamara’s shame was somewhat akin to Colin Powell’s in Iraq (there’s just so many eerie parallels between the two fiascos). He understood that the war was wrong, but “being the good soldier” he just did what he was told to do as Secretary of Defense. Powell, of course, was opposed to the Iraq occupation (or at least he understood the dangers of the invasion) and, at some point, he had to understand that he was “used” when the Bush administration sent him in front of the United Nations to regurgitate their lies about Saddam’s nuclear capabilities – but, for the most part, he kept quiet until long out of office (there have been reports that his silence was in return for his son’s government employment – which if true, in my mind, makes matters worse for General Powell). What all this did for me, was to re-ignite my thoughts and frustrations about the FACT that our troops are still STUCK in Iraq and we’re increasing our efforts (a mission which is unclear to me) in Afganistan. In essence, President Obama seems to be marching in lock-step with the President he vilified during the campaign on the issue that brought him to the forefront of a large group of candidates – most of whom had originally supported the Iraq invasion.

Both Viet Nam and Iraq were wars of “choice” by American politicians who were connected at the contribution box to companies who made obscene profits (actually, I fully realize that with the companies involved – NO PROFIT IS OBSCENE) while their countrymen were dying in droves and while the United States of America was undermining her own principles in the eyes of the rest of the world. I believe I became so angry about Iraq because, after the Viet Nam affair, I had no doubt that something like this could never happen again during my lifetime – BOY WAS I WRONG! The fact that President Bush was able to lie us into Iraq shows just how hollow the leadership of this great nation really is. Now, everytime I hear a politician giving a speech, it appears to me they are looking out of the corner of their eye to make sure their corporate “donors” or their lobbyist “buddies” are approving their message. I mean, just recently the Franken/Coleman Senate race was ended and the reports were that there was over 50 million dollars spent between the two campaigns for a job that pays a couple hundred grand each year – NOW, WHERE’S THE SENSE IN THAT? Well, the truth is that no matter who won that race, or who wins any other race in America – the real “winners” are the donors who get their “man” in office, with an “expectation” of what they will do once there.

We have too many McNamara’s and Powell’s in the upper echelon of our government. There are too many people willing to just do what they’re told. The end result has been these illegal occupations of soveriegn nations, our own citizens being wiretapped by our government – “to keep them safe” :o( , US citizens torturing people ALL OVER THE WORLD, and – worse than everything else (probably combined) A POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT IS OWNED AND OPERATED BY MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS who have no interest in anything beyond “the bottom line” and/or “shareholder value.” Our nation is becoming mean spirited and our people are becoming – MORE AND MORE – unhappy! Our family units are disintigrating in the face of the constant pressure created by a job market which treats employees as statistics. We, as a nation, are in desparate need of leadership – STATESMANSHIP – that is, leaders who are willing to put what is “RIGHT” ahead of their own self- interest.

This all gets me back to where a lot of my thoughts end up these days – I’m not like Rush Limbaugh – I WANT PRESIDENT OBAMA TO SUCCEED. And, I truly hope that my recent thoughts are wrong – not my thoughts when I so vigorously supported him. However, it just doesn’t feel right. The death of Robert McNamara intensified my thoughts about the Iraq invasion and the FACT that President Obama – at least in my mind – has shown absolutely ZERO courage in extricating our troops from that mess. I’ve read enough books about the Shiite/Sunni conflict to “get” that “victory” in Iraq as GW Bush (at least) implied – IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE. Last week, the Americans pulled out of all the major cities in Iraq – essentially ending the “surge” strategy (which, in my view, has just put off the inevitable) and presumably setting the stage for our withdrawal, right? Well, I’ll believe it when I see it (and, already in major polls, I’m being asked questions like “if violence breaks out again, are you in favor of sending our troops back into the cities?”) – regardless of how all this plays out, the 16 months we were promised during the campaign ARE IMPOSSIBLE at this point – and if you read Thomas Ricks book “The Gamble,” you will understand what I’m saying when I point out our military wants us to remain (in the cities) for upwards of 20 years – as the only possible way to procure “victory.” Everytime I think about this, I get sick to my stomach.

Now, I realize that the economy is uppermost in many American’s lives – and it has pushed the military conflicts in Iraq and Afganistan to the “back pages,” but, to me, President Obama’s actions regarding Iraq (or should I say in-actions) remind me of when my son lies. Until someone finds out about what he did, in his mind, it’s OK – he’s gotten away with it. However, eventually, almost every lie becomes an issue. In President Obama’s case – the Iraq war is on “the back burner” in most people’s minds – and his supporters are busily trying to get health care legislation and an energy bill which will fight “global warming” through the corporate maze called Congress (honorable goals, without question). However, the reality is, in my view, that Obama is going to have to answer for this inaction at some point (he’s essentially following the course set by Bush – if you can believe that!). I can see it now, he will blame the fact that the economy was the “first priority” (I guess continuing the argument that spending $10 billion + per month on unwinnable wars is not hurting our economy) and because the “mess” he inherited was so huge he just had to prioritize. And, I suppose, if MoveOn.org and some of his other ardent supporters ever notice that we’re still as entrenched in Iraq as we were 6 months ago when Obama took office – AND MORE ENTRENCHED IN AFGANISTAN – maybe they’ll start putting some pressure on him to get us out.

Let me just quickly reply to these imagined positions. It would have taken one order the day Obama took the “reigns” of this great nation to begin the complete pullout of our troops in Iraq. By now, over half of them could be back home getting the treatment they desperately need and unquestionably deserve for the “issues” that go “with the territory.” It would have taken one order to instigate a thorough investigation (by the Justice Department) of the abuses of power and the alleged criminal activity (not the least of which was obvious torture) authorized by his predecessor to state clearly this won’t happen again in America (and Obama could have stayed totally “above” the fray politically – it’s too late for that now). It would have taken just a strong belief in our constitution and a frim resolve to stop the NSA from “data mining” phone conversations and emails by the millions from American citizens. Holding Wall Street accountable for “change” similarly to what was done with GM and Chrysler would have led to a hope that any recovery would not revert to “business as usual.” In sum, just a willingness to stand on the principles that got him elected and acting as a statesman – reaching out to only those who wish to be a part of the “new America” was all that was needed. Well, and – of course – the courage to look Republicans and Democrats in the eye and tell them that it is no longer politics as usual on Capital Hill either. In that case there would be a lot to be excited about. So, in that spirit – I’m going to try to take these thougts which were instigated when I discovered McNamara had passed away – into something positive. Let’s see – maybe a statement giving thanks and expressing optimism will do it. I’ll give it a try. I’m thankful that McCain/Palin didn’t win the election and I REALLY HOPE PRESIDENT OBAMA SUCCEEDS!

I’m one day home from the hospital and probably a bit loopy to be attempting to write, but have a thought or two which I want to throw out to the 30 or so people who seem to be visiting this site (I really have no idea who “stops by,” only the “numbers” supplied by my service provider – at this point in time, the record number of “unique visits” in one day is 57 – I also have no idea how anyone happens upon this site, but it makes it more interesting knowing that someone is “watching.”) – Please excuse the potential for a lot of grammatical miscues! :o)

First off – this isn’t my main thought – but having been out of commission for almost a week – tonight was the first time I was able to listen to Sarah Palin’s pathetic meandering public statement about her impending resignation from (what probably seems so small to her at this point in time) her job as governor of Alaska. When she was first chosen as John McCain’s running mate I remember pointing out that she had been the mayor of a town the size of the little community I grew up in, Hazel Dell, with something approaching a population of 9 or 10 thousand people and had then advanced to being governor of a state that had a population somewhat comparable to the University of Washington. At the time, I was just expressing my astonishment as to how the Republican party could allow such an inexperieced person be “a heart beat” from the presidency – should McCain – 72 years old and a two time cancer survivor – be elected President. I haven’t studied all the details of her resignation as governor, but my initial instincts tell me it will allow her to raise money in an attempt to gain the Republican nomination for President in 2012. Should those instincts be correct, my brain is telling me that by resigning her position in “midstream” she will have enough negative labels (she didn’t need any more than she had already accumulated) to make a run for President possible only in the most extreme parts of the rapidly fading Republican party.

In fact, to my way of thinking, it is what Sarah Palin represents that the Republican party needs to “cleanse” itself from before it can again be considered viable in our national politics. At this point in time, it is my opinion that should Sarah Palin succeed in becoming the Republican “nominee” we will finally see a third party emerge which may be a viable alternative to the choice now presented to voters every fourth year. While Palin is seemingly wanting to “defend herself” from all the attacks – I guess, from what I heard if you take her on her word, that COULD be the reason she resigned – the more she does that – the more “attacks” there will be. I honestly picture her as someone about as qualified as me to run for President. SHE HAS DONE NOTHING TO PUT HER IN THAT RARIFIED AIR! In fact, I remember thinking that John McCain was more “out of it” than I had originally thought in listening to him as he sought the nomination when he chose her – over some others who might have made a positive difference for him. It seemed like an act of desperation at the time – and, from the reports I’ve heard coming from McCain “insiders” there is a lot to come out should Palin push on. I believe the political professionals inside his campaign will have a lot to share in the coming months if Palin attempts to put herself at the “head” of their party.

Sarah Palin is not what I wanted to write about – in fact, it is how her candidacy would effect the next election – that has my brain “swirling” as I’m trying to grasp my feelings about the President that I voted for and who seems to be on quite a different “path” than I expected when I sent in my paltry donations. Of course, that would be President Obama. As I’ve stated many times on this site – I REALLY WANT PRESIDENT OBAMA TO SUCCEED. But, I have to say RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW – that success won’t be winning a second term in office. I say that because should the Republicans continue on their present course of self-destruction – Obama could continue some of the present direction and still easily remain in office. Now, I’m not capable of a lengthy diatribe tonight (if my daughter happens by – that will make her happy :o) – but suffice it to say that I want President Obama to have to answer for his decisions to the “base” who voted him into office. Should someone like Palin be his opponent, Obama could easily continue some of the “bush-like” actions he’s been taking and still easily win re-election.

Looking at the long term, should that be the scenario, then the abuses of power orchestrated so masterfully by Dick Cheney while GW Bush was “at the healm” will still be there when Obama leaves office – and potentially there forever – which would be a GREAT VICTORY for the so-called “neo-cons” and a disastrous failure to people like me. This weekend (over the 4th of July) while laying in a hospital bed, I had several opportunities to listen to President Obama speak. There can be no mistake about this – THE MAN IS A GREAT ORATOR. However, it was during this weekend that I started questioning how “empty” is this rhetoric? The troops will come home on the “time-table” negotiated by President Bush, we’re still being wiretapped by the NSA and Obama is defending the Bush wiretapping policy in court, the economy which was undermined by “Wall Streeters” is being “fixed” by – you guessed it – “Wall Streeters,” the Obama justice department is supporting the same “States secrets doctrine” that Bush used to hide their illegal activities, and I learned today that the Obama White House is siding with Cheney in the fight to find out his role in the treasonous “outing” of a covert CIA agent – for political retaliation reasons! THIS IS ALL UNTHINKABLE TO ME!

Because of my condition, let me just rationalize the last noted “shocking’ position that the Obama adiministration is taking. Everyone knows that it was Dick Cheney who “outed” Valerie Plame after her husband proved Cheney and Bush were lying about Iraqi’s importing Yellow caked uranium from Niger – presumably to make an atomic bomb – I’m sure you remember Bush’s reference to the “mushroom cloud” when “selling” the Iraq invasion to the American public in a state of the union message – ONE OF THE MOST ARROGANT AND DESPICABLE LIES EVER IMPOSED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Let me just say that Cheney was not very nice to people who disagreed with him – and he did the unthinkable here. We will probably never know the full ramifications of Plame being identified – the ones who would feel those ramifications would be those over seas who were associated with her “network” which, ironically – was set up to provide information on Iran’s capabilities to build a nuclear weapon. Cheney outed her through his surrogates and “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff, took the “fall” for him (Cheney was very bitter when President Bush did not pardon Libby in his last days in office).

OK, here’s the real rub. Why on earth would President Obama stand in the way of the truth coming out on all of this? Remember all the promises of transparancy? (If you’ve been paying attention, those promises are less transparent ALL THE TIME) It get’s worse. The defense that the “Cheney side” is using – and the Obama side is agreeing with – is the executive privilege doctrine – another of the technical legal tactics that Presidents have used for years to try to hide transparency. The argument goes like this – if Cheney’s discussions with Bush are allowed to be made public then the same thing could happen to conversations Obama has with his surrogates. What is interesting here, is that by making this claim, the Cheney side is essentially bringing President Bush into the picture – as a co-conspirator. And, as Richard Nixon found out, executive privilege is not a way to hide criminal activity – which TREASON would fall into that category. To me, the more President Obama gets “sucked in” to defending the indefensible actions of the Bush administration – the more EVERYTHING HE SAYS becomes HOLLOW to me. Yes, we’ve gotten used to politicians breaking promises – but I expected more from Obama – I REALLY DID! Call me naive, but I never could have imagined President Obama defending Dick Cheney in court!

Again, my opologies for all the grammaticla “foopahs” – but my leg is reallly hurting – so I”ll try to edit this later – I just had to get this off my “chest” – It was a shocking realization to me this weekend when I began to think of Obama as a good orator – but potentially a weak President (at a time when we really need someone willing to demonstrate that the days of criminal activity in our government are over )

This will be my last post for a while because I’m going into the hospital for a major surgery (not life threatening I hope – but 3+ hours under anasthesia just the same) and I’ll be “out of commission” for a bit – I have no idea how long. The circumstances lead me to say how thankful I am to have health insurance so that I can follow the advice of my doctor (who’s brilliant at what he does, in my view, and I’m thankful for him as well) and it’s leading me to want to write about the health care debate that seems to be raging in Washington DC and around the country these days. This debate has allowed the Democrats to finally push their failure of leadership in holding the Bush administration accountable for criminal behavior out of the news, but I believe that failure of leadership could be even more evident when all is said and done here, if they are unable to come up with legislation consistent with the overwhelming majority of Americans. There will become a point where voters will hold Democrats accountable for their “fear of Republicans.”

If you’ve been following politics lately you are probably aware that the Minnesota Supreme Court just ruled that Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota, must certify Al Franken as the second Senator from Minnesota and, theoretically the 60th vote in the Democratic caucus in the Senate. So, the Democrats should have no excuses about passing President Obama’s agenda, right? 60 votes in the Senate, a bi-partisan majority in the polls, and a President with a high approval rating (which I believe is getting to the point where you could say that rating is “on the line”) – good things should start to happen, correct? Well, again, if you’ve been following politics you probably already had realized that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

However, from my perspective, it should be. I’ll get to the health care issue, but I will point out up front that I believe President Obama is squarely on the “hot seat” at this point and we will be getting a good idea of what kind of a leader he is as we go through the second half of his first year in office. Now, we all know that everyone has to “learn on the job,” and I truly hope that President Obama is doing so. If you’ve read many of my previous posts you know where my misgivings come from. I’ll try to sum them up by saying that in my view President Obama has been too focussed on “reaching out” to the bull-headed Republicans who are going to VOTE NO on everything he wants – NO MATTER WHAT! Now, he might be able to “squeeze” a vote here or there out of one of Maine’s two moderates – Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins – kind of the last of the breed in the Republican Party – but what about his own caucus? And by refusing to allow investigations of the Bush administration and seemingly caving on one piece of legislation after another, President Obama had better soon start worrying about his own base more than he’s worrying about Republicans. I GUARANTEE YOU REPUBLICANS WANT NOTHING OTHER THAN OBAMA’S FAILURE – AT PERIL TO OUR NATION!

So, this 60 member caucus that everyone was so excited about and that was “billed” as the solution to all our problems didn’t take into account the fact that many of the Democratic Senators have been “feeding” out of the same “trough” as the Republicans – that is the endless supply of “campaign contributions” from lobbyists and multi-national corporations which have got into the – hard to break habit – of RUNNING OUR GOVERNMENT. So, we now have a CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP! A few posts back I wrote about how I’m concerned that I’m seeing more politician than statesman from Obama. Politicians are a dime a dozen – WE HAVE 535 of them in Congress (well, there really are a few good ones, but I’m going to leave that discussion until later) – WHAT WE NEED IN THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW IS A STATESMAN! We need someone with a clear vision for America and the courage to FIGHT for it NO MATTER WHAT! If President Obama wants to show bipartisanship he should do so in the fight – THAT IS, PUT THE DEMOCRATS ON THE SPOT! And, when I listened to Bernie Sanders tonight on TV – he’s smart enough to be an independent, even though he caucusses with the Dems – there’s a way to do this. BUT IT WILL TAKE COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP!

To me, worse than the Republicans holding the so-called filibuster over the heads of Democrats on every piece of legislation, the fact Harry Reid NEVER FORCES THEM TO ACTUALLY FILIBUSTER is very frustrating. EVEN REPUBLICANS WOULD GET TIRED OF TALKING ENDLESSLY AT SOME POINT! But here’s what should happen according to Sanders. President Obama and Reid should get the Democratic caucus together and get them to agree that they will stick together on every attempted filibuster and vote as a bloc to stop any filibuster the Republicans attempt. That would not preclude individual Senators from voting against any particular piece of legislation; it would simply insure that each piece of legislation got an “up or down” vote. THAT WOULD BE A GOOD FIRST STEP IN RESTORING CONFIDENCE with those of us paying attention. The other thing it would do is force Senators to take PUBLIC positions on important matters SO THAT THE VOTERS KNOW WHERE THEY STAND ON ISSUES! This no filibuster, no vote process is very clever in making sure that nothing gets done and no one is held responsible. Of course, the Republicans are OK with being held responsible because their entire agenda is based upon helping President Obama to fail! And, it’s no secret what they’re doing.

But, shouldn’t the voters be totally aware of which Democrats are going along with these obstructionists? OK, let’s get back to the impending health care legislation. President Obama and 72% of the voters (now there’s bipartisanship for you) want a “public option” included in whatever legislation comes out of Congress. In fact, from the polls I’ve seen, well over 50% of the American public would prefer a single payer government run health care policy – which, due to all the private money from insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and others is a “non starter.” However, the “public option” – where people have the option of going with the government “plan” makes total sense – unless, I guess, you’re an insurance company like Blue Cross which spends 10 to 15% of the premiums collected to deny health care and a total of 30+% in administrative costs – compared to Medicare’s less than 5% in administrative costs (costs which could be further reduced with an upgraded computer system dealing with health records). Apparently, the private companies (who spout continuously about how inefficient the government is) don’t think they can compete with the government plan. THAT MAKES NO SENSE TO ME! If the government can figure out how to reduce the costs of health care and, at the same time, provide competitive services – HOW CAN THAT BE A BAD IDEA?

OK, I think you can see where I’m going here. The Democrats have 60 votes in their caucus. President Obama says he wants a “public option” in the final bill. The public is in favor of a public option almost 3 to 1. The only thing standing in the way are the NO TO EVERYTHING REPUBLICANS, RIGHT? Well, the truth is that the real problem are the Democrats. It’s time for President Obama to stand tall and demand that the Democrats unite to “block” the obstructionists. And, then put the votes of these politicians on an issue like health care right out there for all to see. Take for example Senator Ron Wyden, the senior Senator from Oregon (Democrat), right across the Columbia River from where I live. I have long felt that he was above most of this, but he’s proposed health care legislation (which is getting Republican support) which appears to me to have been written in the office of the health care provider’s lobbyists, which doesn’t support the so-called “public option,” and which he promotes very hypocritically, in my view, by stating “The heath care industry isn’t going to stop health care reform this time, I won’t let that happen.” To me, a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” (I’ve heard that Wyden’s bill supports the “McCain option” of taxing employer provided health care benefits) And then there are the two Democratic senators from Washington, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both of whom I’ve sent money to before. I’ve heard that Cantwell, and maybe both of them, are not supporting the “public option.” Well, this will be my reaction to that – and I intend to let them know this – should they vote against the will of their constituents, Democrats or not (actually, I’ve been an independent for over 40 years, but I’ve been sending money to Democrats since the beginning of the Bush era) – no more money from me and I will vote against them when they come up for reelection.

I realize that I’m just one vote – but if you happen upon this site and you agree with me, call your Congressional leaders and let them know how you feel. Recently I heard Barbara Boxer, Senator from California, state that, essentially, she could care less what the voters think. To me, that was as arrogant as anything Bush said while he was destroying our nation. These Democrats who have been bought and sold by the “industrial health complex” need to be identified and “put out to pasture.” And this really is a crisis of leadership for President Obama. In my mind he’s not showing the fight that the present circumstances call for. I WOULD MUCH PREFER TO SEE HIM AGRESSIVELY FIGHT FOR WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT THAN TO SETTLE FOR SOME INCONSEQUENTIAL COMPROMISE. When Republicans are asked if there’s going to be a public option, they very confidently say NO! When President Obama is asked the same question he says something like “it should include a public option, but our main goal is to reduce costs.” THAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH! PUT THESE REPUBLICANS IN THEIR PROPER PLACE! PRESIDENT OBAMA, LET THEM KNOW WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE! THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION SHOULD BE AN UNEQUIVICAL YES! And, don’t let these Democratic Senators get away with secret deals that undermine the whole process and leave them as innocent bystanders. INSIST ON PUBLIC VOTES ON THIS. Let me put it in simpler terms: Overwhelming public support + Super majorities in Congress + Democratic President SHOULD = PUBLIC OPTION! Anything less should equal new members of Congress in 2010! What’s the old saying? $@#* or get off the pot!