National (In)Security

   It's not that I have anything against Laura Ling, or Euna Lee, or any of Al Gore's other acolytes for that matter. It's just that I hate to use up our few points of influence with Kim Jung-Il to avoid 12 year prison sentences for reporters who stupidly and illegally entered the territory of a frightening adversary. So, Bill Clinton has had his moment in the sun, KJI has had his photo-op with the American president coming to pay him homage, and - as the New York Times reports - the Obama administration is quietly moving from the Bush-era policy of using six-party talks and sanctions to make North Korea give up their nuclear program, to a more enlightened and realistic policy of "containment" in which the objective becomes to prevent North Korea from exporting the technology to countries such as Syria and Burma. We await the pronouncement from mouthpiece Robert Gibbs.

    And it's not that I object to Obama deferring to his Attorney General who wants to override candidate Obama's pledge to not prosecute CIA operatives for aggressive interrogation techniques which helped to kill or capture senior al Queda leaders shortly after 9/11.  (What will be interesting is whether the "show trials" make their way up the food chain to the Bush-era lawyers who tried to define the boundaries of allowable interrogation techniques.) After all, when we close Guantanamo, these prisoners will have to go somewhere, and they will be telling the world about how they were abused. Besides, the CIA is obviously filled with rogue officers (like that stupid cop in Cambridge) and they must be brought back in line. It wasn't the Attorney General's pledge anyway; the president is just deferring to the experts. 

   And it's not that I want to obsess over the real time figures at www.debtclock.org which track the national debt and underlying accounts - now at over $11 trillion and projected to be up over $1.8 trillion this fiscal year.  I am hopeful that there are some principles of economics that I missed in my pre-Obama/Pelosi/Reid education, that a couple trillion dollars of debt to China won't really matter, and that this is a great time to add a few hundred billion dollars per year to our health care spending. Our grand kids will be able to handle this one.

        The real problem - thanks for Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer for pointing it out - is these "un-American" protesters on health care.  Never mind that Obama's assurances are patently false - taxing employers WILL cause citizens to lose their coverage as their companies drop out; he HAS openly advocated for a single-payer system; government panels WILL determine allowable coverage; and he HASN'T READ the 1000 page House and Senate drafts of the bill which doesn't yet exist.  It is obviously time for all of us to chill out, and appreciate that "elections have consequences".  

    The broader context for the Town Hall meeting disruptions is the hope that many Americans still believe in security built on fiscal responsibility, military strength, an effective intelligence service, and an informed electorate - even if the White House does want them to be reported so that their "misinformation" can be countered.  Hope and Change indeed!!!!

    

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    This week's You Tube is an AARP meeting called to discuss health care with members who would have none of it. A few days later, Obama claimed that AARP had endorsed his plan - a claim that the organization promptly refuted.   

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Next week: Obama's Business Cycle

bill bowen - 8-14-09

     Favorites: 
    1. Mitt Romney's "Free and Strong America" PAC web site. 
    2. Tom Campbell's California governor campaign web site.

Comments

[Financial conservativesocialmoderateLisainSt.Louis]

I too appreciate reasoned discussion and look forward to comments by William McCormick, Harrycat, Flyoverstate and others than have not commented for sometime.

Harrycat, would you please let us know your feelings on national security and healthcare? Without hearing other viewpoints, discussion does not happen.

I follow healthcare carefully since I do believe ours is too high and would like to see a more universal plan. I would not like a single payer system. To wit: Obama himself stated that the model should be FedEx and UPS and not the US Postoffice. Interesting. Why then did Press Secretary Gibbs follow up with a remark that Obama was not ruling out single payer insurance which implies heavy government control? I think this is what is frustrating to the American people. They hear one thing from Obama and then something else from Gibbs or Emanuel and have no idea what to really believe. It worries people because they wonder who is running the show. Does Obama give speeches to placate us and then someone else call the shots?

I think that Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (liberal policy wonk) has an interesting plan. There is an article in the August 18 issue of the Weekly Standard called "Let's go Dutch" and an OpEd piece in the NY Times on August 15 by Bob Herbert that are interesting...all plans are different and none seem to advocate a single payer program. I'm not in favor of the UK or Canadian systems but do wonder about the French. On the other hand, France does not balance its budget well. Would truly enjoy hearing other input.

From a personal viewpoint, I'm not willing to give up much from what I have even though it is expensive. I like choice. And I am grateful that the healthcare plan is slowing down and that other ideas are burbling forth. I absolutely don't understand that bit about sending emails to the Obama staff to report people who disagree with him. That was over the top.

St. Louis Lisa

[William McCormick]

Harry, Who do you think are shouting the loudest: The politicians or the questioners? Unfortunately the questioners are just frustrated people, nervous and with little training to present their views so I give them credit for the guts to be there. But, some of the politicians are performing poorly. They know better than to shout at the voters or belittle them as Franks did yesterday, or ignore them by taking phone calls. It only demonstrates to me how poorly prepared the politicians are to conduct the meetings. Thus, the frustration and emotion on both sides create shouting and anger. Ever fight with your kid or your wife? Not always a nice orderly discussion of the facts.

[Harrycat]

Shouting people down and preventing a real discussion is not the American way.

[William McCormick]

Hopefully, all the readers of Bo's good words realize that his column this week was written "tongue in cheek". It is a wonderful picture of the Obama dramatics that are driving the people of America to come to their country's defense.

So what is going on? Is this just a guy hell bent on implementing all the ideas he has been exposed to by a foreign parent, a black parent, the elitist educators he studied under, the Union Leaders he worked for, the radiacal minister he listened to for 20 years, the radicals he surely associated with and the Chicago politicians he learned from? If you think rationally about all those influences then you begin to wonder if this president was ever exposed to the American free enterprise system and the goodness of the American people who have fought for freedom in war after war including the war to free the slaves. The American people who give Billions of dollars to charity year after year to help the disadvantaged. Instead was he brought up with the idea that the government is a tool of exploitation of the blacks, the whites running businesses exploiting the laborers, America the great bully of the world exploiting other countries for their resources, the white education system holding back inner city black youth, the conservative prolife policies exploiting the poor women who want to chose abortion over birth control, Wall Street sharks exploiting the legal loopholes to take advantage of the middle class? It is likely he was greatly influenced by these views and denied the benefit of a true middle class view of life in America and the opportunity that a free education offers. His teachers never dreamed that dream. Instead they seem to be the complainers who see things through the prism of the unfair world that capitalism represents. And it is likely that Oabma sees himself as the great liberator destined to make things right for the oppressed in America.

To do so Obama tries to tell the world the USA is no longer the bully but now a compassionate partner. He sees the open door in Congress to implement as many liberal policies as he can while the opportunity exists knowing full well that Americans will close the door shortly. He uses the Chicago tactics to implement systems and organizers to control the voting blocks. His Czar system is surely suspect in it's ability to bypass Congressional controls. ACORN presses his liberal voter registration (and Fraud)secretly funded by congress. He moves Census to the white house where he can influence voting district lines.

And, perhaps worst of all: he lies. You could write a column on all the lies he has told and the promises he has broken. When the President boldly lies or abandons his promises then he loses the confidence of the American people. Richard Nixon did it in Watergate. Bill Clinton did it with his definition of sex. Bush, Sr did it with his "Read my Lips" statement. And, GWB was perceived to have lied about Iraq's weapons programs. And so Obama, the savior of the world's oppressed citizens, lies. Interesting that he is the Commander in Chief and as such he is in charge of the US Military Academies. Many of the readers and contibutors to this website including our leader, Bill Bowen, are Academy graduates who have served this country. All three academies have honor codes. Ours says "We will not lie,cheat or steal. Nor tolerate among us those who do." (We saw 104 of our classmates sent home for violating this code.)
So, Mr President what do you say to the men and women who are training to defend this country and who's lives depend on their ability to believe each other in the heat of battle? Forget it? It doesn't apply to our CIC? I hope one day that President Obama gives the graduation speech at one of the Academies and that the entire student body walk out. Reminds me of Pelosi's visit with the Pope.

And then there are the email collections and broadcasts. The compilation of a list of your political enemies is illegal in America. The Supreme Court has ruled on this before. Compiling emails of dissenters is a violation of the law. It is clear that the White House has embarked on that path. Fox news has slowed them down. However, they have so far simply changed to another website. This is perhaps the beginning of the case against the Chicago political tactics that control this administration.

And then there is the stupid tactic of denegrading the opposition. The unleashing of liberal news and supporters on Sarah Palin was perhaps the best example of how far they will go. And it continues today right after John McCain and Newt Gingrich validated her as a true candidate. She must be seen as the most feared opponent Obama sees on the Republican horizon. And then in the worst political tactic ever they began their attacks on the town hall attendees who where invited by invitation to the meetings to speak their mind. After hearing their opposition to healthcare and massive debt they are branded the worst of lables. It is unbelievably stupid to take on young parents and seniors. They all vote and don't need to be bused in to the polls with ficticious names by ACORN.

So, Is there a threat to American security from this untimely vote by the American people? You bet, Bo. On all fronts. What looked to many as a promising turn in American leadership with the election of a Black President and the hope that he would bring all people together to solve some critical problems for America has turned into an all out brawl. Sides are quickly being hardened. The economy forgotten with the focus on liberal program implementation.
Bill Clinton spent his first 2 years in a Healthcare mess. And his last 4 years in a scandal. GWB spent his last 6 years in a war he couldn't justify any better than Obama can explain his willingness to subject the country into massive debt. It is very sad for the children of America too young to understand what they are losing.