Radical Avenue

Rest in Peace, Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto displayed tremendous bravery over the past few months in her quest to bring democracy back to Pakistan. Last week she gave her life for that cause. It’s a terrible loss for Pakistan and a sad end to a tumultuous year for the Pakistani people.

The United States continues to support Pervez Musharraf, a guy who now finds himself with one less rival in his bid to maintain power. Will our leaders ever learn? Musharraf has no legitimacy in the eyes of Pakistanis because he was never elected by the Pakistani people.

The United States should always support the democratic process in other countries around the world. Instead we continue to follow the same old Cold War strategy of casting our lot with any dictator that will sing our tune.
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I suppose we had a false start in this millennium. In its relatively brief history, the United States has shown a tendency to take two steps forward, then one step back. We’ve stepped out in the wrong direction a lot lately.

It’s no coincidence that presidential candidates offering a clear change find themselves on the upswing in recent polls. Huckabee, Obama and McCain all differ from Bush stylistically, and seem ready to lead us in a totally new direction. Here are some disappointing trends that our country would do well to reverse.

Torture
If we engage in waterboarding to get information, what will stop our enemies from using even more gruesome tactics against Americans? Our country made the right decision to sign the Geneva Conventions. We should go back to following them.

The US should immediately discontinue the use of torture under all circumstances. Torture yields questionable intelligence, diminishes our moral standing in the world and unnecessarily endangers our soldiers.

Boot Camps
Young recruits attend real boot camps to prepare themselves for military combat in a foreign country. Chances are, juvenile delinquents already know about hand to hand fighting. These kids need job skills training and assistance in handling real world problems without resorting to violence.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen youngsters die at boot camp style facilities after getting beaten by guards. Vagrant teens don’t deserve the death penalty. We should abandon this flawed strategy.
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Good news. These citizens deserve recognition for providing the kind of exceptional leadership our world needs in troubling times.

Barack Obama used a positive campaign message to overtake Hillary Clinton in the polls for the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama may have hit his stride at just the right time. He’s winning accolades for an inspirational stump speech and has shown a sense of humor in unscripted moments on the campaign trail.

Obama seems less polarizing than Clinton and more capable of reaching out to independents and moderate Republicans. Of course Obama was also right about Iraq from the beginning. Senator Obama and his followers want a clean break from the extreme partisanship of the past two decades.

Ron Paul called out the neo-cons in the Republican Party this year. He’s done the GOP an enormous favor by openly discussing the failures of the Bush foreign policy. Congressman Paul recognizes that the current Republican course is unsustainable and not in keeping with conservative principals.

Over the past few months, Mr. Paul has demonstrated an ability to raise astonishing amounts of campaign cash without much effort. This indicates that he has a loyal following. We’ll hear a lot more from Ron Paul in 2008.
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All right children, gather round and show everyone what you got for Christmas this year. Yes the presidential candidates can leave early this time. There are only seven vote shopping days left until the Iowa caucuses.

Look here’s little Bill Clinton. Bill received a set of luggage from Hillary this year. I guess she wants him to get a head start on that roving ambassador job. And Santa gave Bill a universal male to female adaptor plug so he can get turned on wherever he goes. How nice.

What’s that you’re wearing young Nancy Pelosi? “I went big game hunting with George W. Bush and all I caught was this lousy T-Shirt”. And on the back it says “Congressional Cave In Tour 2007″. Very trendy.

And who could forget the new Attorney General Mike Mukasey? This year Santa brought little Mike a Waterboard Fountain. Relax to soothing trickling and gurgling sounds. Feel the comfort of knowing that your government will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Flip the switch and it will sing any song you want to hear. Batteries included. Well that will come in handy.
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Christmas Day has arrived in Burma but the Grinch is still in charge. We’ll celebrate the holiday on this side of the world. But it’ll be another Blue Christmas in Rangoon.

The Burmese junta government continues to incarcerate citizens it suspects of having participated in pro-democracy demonstrations. The Democratic Voice of Burma recently reported that three people were sentenced to over two years in prison after giving water to protesting monks in September.

“Ko Shwe Thway, Ko Zaw Gyi and Ko Yazar were charged with incitement of offences against the state or public tranquility under section 505 (b) of the penal code, and also with defamation, according to Monywa residents.”

The report continues, “Local residents said that none of the men were political activists or affiliated with any political groups.”

The government forces villagers to supply recruits to the Burmese army. “Local troops from government brigade (66) in Nattalin, Zeegone, and Kyopin Kout townships are demanding that local villagers contribute one recruit from each village group or 1500 kyat per household to hire mercenaries.”

The Burmese military also amuses itself by pillaging from local merchants. “Leh Pyin village, located on a railway line half way between Thar Si and Kalaw township in Shan state, is well known among people in the gold business for its mines and is populated by informal gold diggers.”

“Village residents said that around 70 soldiers from the government’s Defence Services Command and General Staff College in Kalaw township, led by major Myat Htun, raided the village on 14 December and seized items from several gold shops.”
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Santa Claus called. He’s making another list and checking it twice, but needs assistance with the current crop of presidential candidates. I told him how things were looking from out here in the blogosphere.

Very Naughty
Mike Huckabee’s dark side got the best of him recently. Do Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers? Ask Mike the Sucker Puncher Huckabee. The former governor could have taken the high road and not insulted Mitt Romney’s religion for political gain. He took the low road instead.

Mike thinks his words were taken out of context. What would the correct context be for such an insinuation? Unless Huck just wanted to get under Mitt’s skin…

Mitt Romney has responded by going medieval on Huckabee over everything from pardons to immigration. The Romney campaign shows no signs of backing off during the holiday season either. Bah, humbug.

Rather Naughty
Hillary Clinton says she had no idea that the New Hampshire chairman of her presidential campaign planned to trash Barack Obama over teenage drug use. Right. Fortunately for Hillary, she’s gotten her groove back after an endorsement by the Des Moines Register. And that “you need experience to change” line is more confusing than threatening.

Rudy Giuliani enjoys slamming Hillary a bit too much. The former mayor’s terrorist warning system could use a rest as well. Giuliani gets bonus points though, for his buoyant Christmas message which includes a cameo by good old St. Nick. Heartwarming.

Naughty
John Edwards hasn’t had anything nice to say about those poor insurance companies and their lobbyist friends in a while. I guess that’s better than complaining about the other presidential candidates.
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When did Mitt Romney become a pretzel? He’s always absurdly twisting his words to impress cultural conservatives and ending up tied in a knot. Here are few bloopers from the highlight reel.

December 17, 2007 - Romney Slams Huck with Rubber Chicken
The former governor of Massachusetts is peeved over an article Mike Huckabee wrote for the January/February 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. In the article, Huckabee said that “American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out.”

“The Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad,” Huckabee wrote. “My administration will recognize that the United States’ main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists.” Mitt thinks Huck should apologize for the editorial on Bush.

Straight Line: Former Governor Huckabee is dead on in his assessment of Bush’s foreign policy of course, but Romney likes to stand up for GW.

December 7, 2007 - Freedom Requires Religion
At a speech to the faithful earlier this month, Romney proclaimed that “Freedom requires religion”. Here comes that rainy day feeling again for Atheists and Agnostics.

Straight Line: Romney desperately needs to have evangelical Christian voters in his camp.

October 16, 2007 – Lawyers Decide on War
Asked if he would obtain congressional authorization before taking any military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Romney said, “You sit down with your attorneys and they tell you what you have to do, but obviously the president of the United States has to do what’s in the best interest of the United States to protect us against a potential threat.”

You sit down with your attorneys? I guess all of that time in divorce court teaches lawyers everything they need to know about mortal combat.

Straight Line: Although Article 1 of the Constitution says that Congress shall have the power to declare war, Romney likes to look decisive. He would never bother to ask members of Congress for approval before invading another country, especially not Congressional Democrats.

August 8, 2007 – Young Romneys No Help to Uncle Sam
When the former Massachusetts Governor was forced to explain why none of his five sons were serving in Iraq, he responded “Well, the good news is that we have a volunteer army and that’s the way we’re going to keep it.”
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Perhaps America needs a bed time president. After the election we can all drift off into a healthy slumber and forget about the fact that our military is dealing with two quagmires in the most dangerous part of the world.

Maybe we’ll wake up one day to hear that the US has followed the British lead, declared victory in Iraq, and completed a full withdrawal. Wouldn’t that be a morning in America? I guess if you’ve tried everything else and failed, why not sleep on it?

Fred Thompson’s pillow soft approach shows that he has the right stuff to reach drowsy voters. It all started with his rather late and relatively lackluster entrance into the presidential race. And while Mr. Thompson does generate some excitement with his move star status, he compensates for it with a dull stump speech, loose grasp of the facts and relaxed schedule. Hazy Americans, Fred Thompson is the man for you.

While the other Republican candidates fight it out, Thompson sits quietly by and waits for the nomination to come his way. Of course the former Senator is the sleeper candidate in this election. Just look at the less than inspirational crowd he’s up against:

• Rudy Giuliani – his penchant for dressing in drag doesn’t help him.
• Mitt Romney – he may like hunting varmints, but he’ll never be a regular Joe.
• John McCain – the GOP doesn’t trust him.
• Mike Huckabee – he pardoned murderers instead of sending them to the chamber.
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Long term solutions don’t sell in today’s political marketplace. Every new Congress adopts a fresh agenda. Priorities shift every time the presidency changes hands. Programs that take 10 years to show clear results have no chance in this environment. But we still need to find durable solutions to our nation’s chronic problems.

Water Conservation

When storms blow through the state, rain pours off our roofs into the oil covered streets and down the storm drains. All of this rain water gurgling through the gutters could be collected and used later to water our lawns. This would save drinking water and help keep our rivers and streams clear of polluted run off.

We’ve certainly had the technology to collect and store groundwater for a while now. It’s just another proactive solution our government should promote more heavily than it does.

Crime Prevention

Prison overcrowding continues to plague California, and is now made worse by the massive budget deficit projected for the coming year. A federal judge has already intervened. This chronic problem has been exacerbated by “get tough” sentencing mandates over the past 20 years.

A program of aggressive intervention in the lives of at risk kids would work better. It would require a long, slow process of reaching out to one youngster at a time with training or mental health counseling in an effort to turn them away from a life of crime. Apparently plans of this sort don’t have the same emotional appeal as do tough law and order regulations.
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At the 1996 Republican national convention, Bob Dole offered himself up as a bridge to the past. He invoked a simpler time when gas was cheap and we all liked Ike in the White House. Dole mistakenly believed that American voters would welcome a return to those good old days.

Democrat Bill Clinton mocked Dole’s maudlin rhetoric by announcing that he would build a bridge to the future in his second term. Americans chose the future over the past in 1996.

In 2007, Hillary has followed the Bob Dole playbook. She has mistakenly assumed that America wants a return to the Bill Clinton years. That casts Barack Obama as a bridge to the future.

Every four years, presidential candidates repeat the same old mistakes. They believe that they can chat up their extensive experience, pick up a few key endorsements and play it safe in pubic settings. The strategy never works. You don’t win the presidency by default. You win by capturing the voters’ imagination.
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Rudy and Hillary reek of old school politics. Rudy has taken the Republican surge of scare tactics to whole new level. He’s full of bluster and surrounds himself with cronies. Rudy has the neocon wing in the bag.

Meanwhile Hillary is running a Dick Gephardt style presidential campaign. She touts her experience. She plays it safe. Even-handed. Boring. And like Gephardt four years ago, Hillary has finally realized that she might not breeze through Iowa. And so in a blink she’s gone sharply negative on her major rival. Iowans have seen it all before.

Hillary has another problem in that it’s not clear how many of her supporters are drawn to her husband rather than to her. Does Hillary really excite people or do Democrats just want a repeat of Bill’s presidency without the sex scandals?

Ms. Clinton has exacerbated the problem by touting her “experience”. But this experience includes the time when Bill was running the show, not Hillary. No one elects a first lady. Hillary is building a bridge to the past. We saw how well that worked for Bob Dole.

Rudy’s problem is more straightforward. Americans quickly tire of living in fear. We are an optimistic, forward thinking people. By now we’ve seen that Saddam actually posed no threat to us. It turns out that Iran isn’t so scary either.
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It seems that every depressingly familiar story on the evening news these days reminds us of how badly we need new leadership in our country. Some kid from Middle America grabbed an automatic weapon and killed several innocent people before taking his own life. There is a video which may show federal employees mistreating prisoners, but the evidence has since been destroyed. We now know our president has vastly overstated the threat from a country in the Middle East. And the guys who actually attacked us on 9-11 continue to taunt us via poorly produced videotapes from a country we treat with kid gloves.

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee both present a stark contrast to George W. Bush. They come across as easygoing and relaxed, like the smell of home cooking after a long day at work. America may be looking for someone with a good sense of humor. These candidates appeal to our optimistic point of view.

Some voters consciously tune out the nasty accusations that fly back and forth this time of year. They’re hoping that some candidate will inspire them to get behind a worthy cause. Hillary and Rudy are good at scaring people, not so good at inspiring people.
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The massacre in Omaha followed a familiar pattern: troubled kid decides to go out in twisted blaze of glory, gets an automatic weapon and kills several innocent people before taking his own life. And what have our leaders done to stop these terrorists among us? Our government expects the threat of the death penalty to deter them from acting on their evil impulses.

The threat of capital punishment didn’t deter the murderous kid from Omaha, or the psychopathic student from Virginia Tech, or the teen killers from Columbine. Why? Each of these young murderers administered the death penalty on themselves after finishing their killing spree.

Capital punishment never deters suicidal killers. With violent crime rates still on the rise in America, it apparently isn’t deterring many other would be killers either. A more effective crime prevention policy would include aggressive intervention in the lives of at risk kids before they resort to violent crime.

Like the others, the young killer from Omaha was known to the local law enforcement authorities. And like the others, the authorities didn’t do enough to put this kid on the right path. There’s no magic bullet when it comes to helping emotionally disturbed youngsters. Some need long term mental health counseling. Some need job skills training. Some just need a stable home environment where they can feel welcome.

Assisting wayward kids and giving them an opportunity to live a normal life isn’t glamorous. However if we hope to stop the carnage in our schools and shopping malls anytime soon, it’s worth the investment.

terrorists, Omaha, violence

Republicans vying for public office next year will have a difficult time explaining where they want to take the country. The course plotted by George Bush is clearly unsustainable, but Bush remains popular in many Republican circles. Worse yet, most elected Republicans have left their conservative credentials behind during a decade long borrow and spend feeding frenzy. Republicans call themselves conservative, but they haven’t governed that way.

Empire building is incompatible with smaller government.
Apparently the Bush crowd thought we’d be able to leave Iraq within a year of the initial invasion. They fantasized about Ahmed Chalabi taking over and turning Iraq into a powerful American ally. Things didn’t work out that way. Those of us living in the real world know that when we invade a foreign country, we usually stick around to help that country rebuild. Experience also tells us that nation building is extraordinarily expensive. It’s difficult to reduce the size of government when you’re spending a trillion dollars on the other side of the planet.

Borrowing to expand government is unsustainable.
When the Republicans had control of Congress they went on a massive spending spree. They passed a generous farm subsidy bill. They greatly expanded Medicare. And they brought us the Alaskan bridge to nowhere. At least Democrats pay for their favorite programs. Republicans pass their debts on to future generations.
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Who would have guessed that the governor’s mansion in Little Rock, Arkansas would become a proving ground for presidential candidates? Recently Governor Mike Huckabee became the front runner among the Republican presidential candidates in Iowa. A victory in the Iowa caucuses is a long ways from winning the Republican nomination, but at least now it seems within the realm of possibilities for Huckabee.

Although Huckabee may not appreciate the comparison, he’s not unlike his predecessor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton. Like Clinton, Huckabee comes across as a guy who is comfortable in his own skin. Huckabee’s personality really shines in comparison to the abrasive Rudy Giuliani and the prickly Mitt Romney.

Some voters put a lot of stock in personality. Every president since Nixon has been aided to some extent by a jovial public image. Voters want to have a personal fondness for the candidate they choose. You could picture yourself inviting Huckabee over for a barbecue.
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