G
Gandalf Grey
Guest
ELECTION OFFERS BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO PUTRID STENCH OF BUSH'S TWO TERMS
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT -- The end of the era of someone named Bush or Clinton serving as
president or vice president for the last 28 years is a welcome prospect. As
a republican (the lower-case type), I deplore dynasties. Merit and
achievement should trump surnames and the entitlements that come with them.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's sputtering campaign could mark the end of the
Bush/Clinton/Bush progression through the White House. Bill Clinton -- the
best of them -- is the only one whose name was not his major ticket to high
office, the only one who struggled without the bestowed benefits and
privileges of a famous name and inherited influence.
A nation of 300 million people surely can provide talented people to replace
these ruling families. You certainly can't count Hillary out yet. She showed
a lot of spunk in Saturday night's debate in New Hampshire, but her claim
that she is an instrument for change rings hollow, especially since she
still will not admit her vote to give President George W. Bush a blank check
to wage war in Iraq was a monumental mistake.
Former senator John Edwards says his vote for the war was a mistake and he
is now the first top-tier candidate to call for the withdrawal of U.S.
troops from Iraq. To their great credit, Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike
Gravel and Republican Ron Paul have been advocating immediate withdrawal.
Democrat Bill Richardson wants a one-year withdrawal.
Paul's principled positions on the war and his spirited criticism of Bush's
systematic assault on basic constitutional liberties will serve him well in
New Hampshire. He speaks more common sense than all the rest of the GOP
candidates combined.
The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows 25 percent of Americans favor an
immediate withdrawal from Iraq and another 38 percent support a one-year
deadline to get the troops home. While those numbers are significant -- 63
percent of the electorate -- the debate time the candidates supporting those
positions receive has been significantly less than for the "stay the course"
chorus.
Chuck Todd, NBC's political director, crunched the numbers and reported in a
New York Times piece that only 19 percent of the network time has gone to
candidates whose views on the Iraq war are shared by nearly two-thirds of
the American people. The shaping of the debate on Iraq, skewed far away from
actual public opinion, helps manufacture consent for endless war and
occupation.
The mainstream media trumpets the great "success" of the troop surge,
pointing to the relative pacification of many areas in Baghdad. Lost in the
glowing assessments is this stark fact: 2007 was the deadliest year for U.S.
troops since the war began. More than 900 were killed, bringing the death
toll on the American side for Bush's war to 3,900. More than one million
Iraqis have died or fled their homes.
The purpose of the surge was to buy time to allow the Iraqis the chance for
political reconciliation. That simply has not happened. Creating segregated
sectarian zones in Baghdad, with American forces acting as buffers between
Shiites and Sunnis, is a phony military solution that fails to address the
still-festering hostilities the invasion and incompetent occupation
unleashed.
Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their corporate sponsors want to divvy
up Iraq's oil reserves and maintain permanent military installations there
to protect the booty. All the Republican candidates, except Paul, support
these imperial designs and the neoconservative fantasy of using U.S. force
to dominate the region.
Edwards recognizes Iraqi political and religious leaders must salvage what
they can and the U.S. military can no longer serve as a national police
force enabling the Iraqis to avoid accommodations and power-sharing.
"I honestly believe this in my soul, we are propping up their bad behavior,"
Edwards told The New York Times. "I mean really, how many American lives and
how much American taxpayer money are we going to expend waiting for these
(Iraqi) political leaders to do something?"
Fresh from his impressive win in Iowa, Barack Obama made his most forceful
statement yet on what should be done in Iraq. Chicago radio talk-show host
Roland Martin asked Obama the morning after the Iowa caucus, "If you are
elected, what is the very first thing you focus on as commander in chief?"
Unlike Clinton -- who still argues an indefinite deployment of U.S. troops
is required to sustain "remaining vital national security interests in
Iraq," a position essentially indistinguishable from Bush's -- Obama wants
to change course.
He says he would call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and "will give them a new
assignment, and that is to bring the troops home in a careful, responsible
way, but to end the occupation of Iraq. I will call my secretary of state
and initiate the diplomacy that's needed to make sure that exit is
accompanied by negotiations between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds." Obama's
victory speech in Iowa was inspiring, some of the best political oratory
I've heard in a long time. He is drawing young voters and independents with
enthusiasm and he certainly has upset the Beltway's parroting pundits who
anointed Clinton the Democratic Party nominee months ago.
In the glow of victory, Obama told his supporters, "They said this country
was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common
purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you
have done what the cynics said we couldn't do."
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee also defied the cynics, topping
former Massachusetts governor Willard "Mitt" Romney, who spent millions of
his own cash but finished second behind Huckabee in the Iowa Republican
caucus.
"We've learned that people are more important than the purse," Huckabee told
his triumphant campaign workers. His speech sounded more like the populism
of a William Jennings Bryan than the corporate-cozy Republican rhetoric we
usually hear.
His campaign and others will benefit from a faltering U.S. economy.
Unemployment is on the rise, housing values continue to decline, oil has
topped $100 a barrel and we may already be in an election year recession.
Bush's reckless spend-and-borrow policies continue to contribute to the
erosion of the U.S. dollar. In India, American tourists must now use rupees.
Businesses and merchants around the world now treat U.S. Federal Reserve
Notes like Typhoid Mary touched them.
We are witnessing "The Fall of the House of Bush," the title of Craig
Unger's new book. It is a chilling account of how this undistinguished man
with a famous name became the beneficiary of vile political and corporate
interests that ushered him into the presidency.
Bush presided over the worst foreign policy decisions in U.S. history, and
his fiscal policies will saddle generations with onerous debt. One percent
of the American people are realizing an enormous gain in wealth as a result.
This year's presidential election will determine what the other 99 percent
can do to begin cleaning up the national air from the putrid civic stench
Bush will leave behind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Gallagher, a Peabody Award winner, is a former Niagara Falls city
councilman who now covers Detroit for Fox2 News. His e-mail address is
gallaghernewsman@aol.com.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Bill Gallagher
DETROIT -- The end of the era of someone named Bush or Clinton serving as
president or vice president for the last 28 years is a welcome prospect. As
a republican (the lower-case type), I deplore dynasties. Merit and
achievement should trump surnames and the entitlements that come with them.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's sputtering campaign could mark the end of the
Bush/Clinton/Bush progression through the White House. Bill Clinton -- the
best of them -- is the only one whose name was not his major ticket to high
office, the only one who struggled without the bestowed benefits and
privileges of a famous name and inherited influence.
A nation of 300 million people surely can provide talented people to replace
these ruling families. You certainly can't count Hillary out yet. She showed
a lot of spunk in Saturday night's debate in New Hampshire, but her claim
that she is an instrument for change rings hollow, especially since she
still will not admit her vote to give President George W. Bush a blank check
to wage war in Iraq was a monumental mistake.
Former senator John Edwards says his vote for the war was a mistake and he
is now the first top-tier candidate to call for the withdrawal of U.S.
troops from Iraq. To their great credit, Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike
Gravel and Republican Ron Paul have been advocating immediate withdrawal.
Democrat Bill Richardson wants a one-year withdrawal.
Paul's principled positions on the war and his spirited criticism of Bush's
systematic assault on basic constitutional liberties will serve him well in
New Hampshire. He speaks more common sense than all the rest of the GOP
candidates combined.
The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows 25 percent of Americans favor an
immediate withdrawal from Iraq and another 38 percent support a one-year
deadline to get the troops home. While those numbers are significant -- 63
percent of the electorate -- the debate time the candidates supporting those
positions receive has been significantly less than for the "stay the course"
chorus.
Chuck Todd, NBC's political director, crunched the numbers and reported in a
New York Times piece that only 19 percent of the network time has gone to
candidates whose views on the Iraq war are shared by nearly two-thirds of
the American people. The shaping of the debate on Iraq, skewed far away from
actual public opinion, helps manufacture consent for endless war and
occupation.
The mainstream media trumpets the great "success" of the troop surge,
pointing to the relative pacification of many areas in Baghdad. Lost in the
glowing assessments is this stark fact: 2007 was the deadliest year for U.S.
troops since the war began. More than 900 were killed, bringing the death
toll on the American side for Bush's war to 3,900. More than one million
Iraqis have died or fled their homes.
The purpose of the surge was to buy time to allow the Iraqis the chance for
political reconciliation. That simply has not happened. Creating segregated
sectarian zones in Baghdad, with American forces acting as buffers between
Shiites and Sunnis, is a phony military solution that fails to address the
still-festering hostilities the invasion and incompetent occupation
unleashed.
Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their corporate sponsors want to divvy
up Iraq's oil reserves and maintain permanent military installations there
to protect the booty. All the Republican candidates, except Paul, support
these imperial designs and the neoconservative fantasy of using U.S. force
to dominate the region.
Edwards recognizes Iraqi political and religious leaders must salvage what
they can and the U.S. military can no longer serve as a national police
force enabling the Iraqis to avoid accommodations and power-sharing.
"I honestly believe this in my soul, we are propping up their bad behavior,"
Edwards told The New York Times. "I mean really, how many American lives and
how much American taxpayer money are we going to expend waiting for these
(Iraqi) political leaders to do something?"
Fresh from his impressive win in Iowa, Barack Obama made his most forceful
statement yet on what should be done in Iraq. Chicago radio talk-show host
Roland Martin asked Obama the morning after the Iowa caucus, "If you are
elected, what is the very first thing you focus on as commander in chief?"
Unlike Clinton -- who still argues an indefinite deployment of U.S. troops
is required to sustain "remaining vital national security interests in
Iraq," a position essentially indistinguishable from Bush's -- Obama wants
to change course.
He says he would call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and "will give them a new
assignment, and that is to bring the troops home in a careful, responsible
way, but to end the occupation of Iraq. I will call my secretary of state
and initiate the diplomacy that's needed to make sure that exit is
accompanied by negotiations between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds." Obama's
victory speech in Iowa was inspiring, some of the best political oratory
I've heard in a long time. He is drawing young voters and independents with
enthusiasm and he certainly has upset the Beltway's parroting pundits who
anointed Clinton the Democratic Party nominee months ago.
In the glow of victory, Obama told his supporters, "They said this country
was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common
purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you
have done what the cynics said we couldn't do."
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee also defied the cynics, topping
former Massachusetts governor Willard "Mitt" Romney, who spent millions of
his own cash but finished second behind Huckabee in the Iowa Republican
caucus.
"We've learned that people are more important than the purse," Huckabee told
his triumphant campaign workers. His speech sounded more like the populism
of a William Jennings Bryan than the corporate-cozy Republican rhetoric we
usually hear.
His campaign and others will benefit from a faltering U.S. economy.
Unemployment is on the rise, housing values continue to decline, oil has
topped $100 a barrel and we may already be in an election year recession.
Bush's reckless spend-and-borrow policies continue to contribute to the
erosion of the U.S. dollar. In India, American tourists must now use rupees.
Businesses and merchants around the world now treat U.S. Federal Reserve
Notes like Typhoid Mary touched them.
We are witnessing "The Fall of the House of Bush," the title of Craig
Unger's new book. It is a chilling account of how this undistinguished man
with a famous name became the beneficiary of vile political and corporate
interests that ushered him into the presidency.
Bush presided over the worst foreign policy decisions in U.S. history, and
his fiscal policies will saddle generations with onerous debt. One percent
of the American people are realizing an enormous gain in wealth as a result.
This year's presidential election will determine what the other 99 percent
can do to begin cleaning up the national air from the putrid civic stench
Bush will leave behind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Gallagher, a Peabody Award winner, is a former Niagara Falls city
councilman who now covers Detroit for Fox2 News. His e-mail address is
gallaghernewsman@aol.com.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
