Legislators: A Time for Principled Action on Iraq is Now

"Key Democrats To Vote Against Bill That Excludes Iraq Timetables"

There is a time when principle should trump or overwhelm any inclination or propensity to embrace some "calculated compromise" approach. And this is it.

I am sure that before the Dems caved to Bush, the leadership was looking ahead to the 2008 elections and what the impact would be. It's obvious that they were more concerned over how their refusal to fund Bush's war of choice would go over in the public's eye. And with the type of mainstream media that we have at the moment, I really don't blame them for thinking that way.

But this is a clear example where one has to assert one's principles and do what is fundamentally right. The people respect difficult decisions that are made on the basis of "authentic" considerations. They disrespect those made for purely "practical considerations" when those considerations trump a more principled course of action. The latter shows true leadership. The former, a type of crass political calculation.

It's time the Democratic leadership show some authentic leadership. Regrettably, our politicians have shown an alarming and increasing inability to connect with their primary constituency over the past several decades as corporate influence has outstripped fundamental principles of democracy...And it's very, very depressing.

Bill Gates Shows No Allegiance to U.S. Roots

Here is a man, Bill Gates, who made his billions largely as a direct consequence of the opportunities, benefits, rights, and priveleges that are derived from American citizenship.

His citizenship enabled him to solicit and enlist the support and cooperation of his fellow citizens in helping him to create and market his products to an American market comprised of American citizens who purchased his products in huge numbers.

And now, 25 years later, after having become the wealthiest person on the planet, he wants to make it more difficult for those same American citizens to enjoy the same benefits and priveleges that helped to catapult him to unparalleled levels of financial success?!

So watching him lobby Congress for the right of American businesses to hire from an immigration pool of "unlimited SKILLED workers" created within me a growing sense of disgust and despair -- despair over the increasing plight of American workers in this new age of "corporate globalization".

More and more I am finding myself feeling less like a citizen and more like a "unit of production" hopelessly embedded in a market-based economy with no national boundaries and no sense of national sovereignty. Where is a sense of national pride? More importantly, where is our sense of national "self-preservation"? It seems to be quickly vaporizing in Corporate America's lustful quest for profit maximization on a global stage.

The sense of a "national identity" and of having a vested interest in American citizenship is quickly being supplanted by a growing and looming sense of hopelessness and despair amidst a culture dominated by corporate greed and malfeasance.

More and more I feel as though our very lives and dreams have little to no significance as they are officially subjugated to the needs and desires of a corporate elite that has no sense of community, allegiance, or gratitude to the country of its origin. There is no patriotism in this paradigm. It is vapid and soulless

The war on the middle class rages on. It's an outrage and a shame. And, to put it bluntly, it sucks!

Global Warming: The Time For Immediate Action Is Now

Earth In The Balance
Richard Nixon was praised in the early 70s for having the vision to start the Environmental Protection Agency. It was viewed optimistically as an acknowledgement that industrial societies must be sensitive to the environmental imbalances and damage that is wrought from modern industrial processes.

Unfortunately, the early efforts to draw attention to environmental pollution remained largely symbolic as American industry reneged on its social responsibility to rectify and reverse the damage done by virtue of its normal industrial operations.

Given this reluctance and irresponsibility on the part of American industry, the world now stands at the brink of an irreversible trend towards global suicide. How can Americans, or for that matter, the world, embrace industrialization if we know that to embrace it is to accept suicide -- on a global scale. It is utterly insane for industrial societies to continue in this course that leads to a dead-end. To be sure, the future of humanity, and the earth, lies in the balance.

It is high time for political forces to muster the vision and the courage to confront industry and demand, through legislation, that urgent and corrective measures be taken immediately to reverse that which will ultimately kill us all. There is simply no more time for delays or postponements. Clearly the time is now.

Unless industry reforms itself in environmentally friendly ways, there is no future for the industrial revolution. The world should, in the absence of reform, reject industrialization out of hand. It should realistically be seen as a metaphor for the individual hooked on cigarettes -- it will kill him.

How can we possibly raise our children in good faith to believe that industry and science are beneficial to society when we are confronted by our ultimate demise through its embrace?

We need a radical and unparalleled world effort to uncover, discover and implement solutions for our industrial ills. In this effort, hopefully science will play an essential role. For absent an environmental healing, we will continue to look into an increasingly darkening mirror that portends no real hope for the future of humanity and the earth.

Did Bush Escalate the Escalation Process For the "Surge"?

Speaker Pelosi's Criticism Hit The Proverbial Nail On The Head

Yes, the escalation has begun. In fact, Bush escalated the escalation process when confronted by the real possibility that Congress would withold its approval and funding of the "surge". Bush pretended for two months to be weighing his military and diplomatic options in Iraq. Turns out, he knew all along that he wouldn't listen to anyone outside his inner circle. His mind had already been made up. During this phony deliberative stage, plans were already being executed to mobilize the "surge" -- before Congress would have an opportunity to stop it.

What Nancy Pelosi said is true: Bush rushed to put the extra troops in play for Iraq to avoid having to finally listen and conform to others' points of view. His play for time was merely an attempt to convey a false "image" that he was deeply considering others' opinions. Image over substance -- PR and spin over truth and reality -- These will be known as the earmarks of this Bush administration.

The truth of the matter is that he felt that he already had all the answers and to hell with everyone else. His stubborness, a euphemism for stupidity, manifested itself again to the dismay and consternation of most observers within the United States. Once again, he domonstrates that he is impervious to reason and logic when it differs or conflicts with his own.

One could reasonably ask if Bush is a "dictator". And the shocking truth is that one can reasonably answer the question in the affirmative. The argument by some against such a label or definition is that Bush is merely executing his authority as "Commander-in-Chief". This argument, however, loses its appeal in rather dramatic fashion when viewed in the context of his history in office. Domestic spying, "Signing Statements", Patriot Act, Rendition, Habeas Corpus -- all these point to an alarming centralization and concentration of power in the Executive branch. And this is just the short list. There are many other examples of constitutional overreach. The point is that Congressional and Judicial oversight has never been more important in our nation's history. The integrity of our constitutional democracy weighs heavily in the balance. The results of the midterm elections confirm this analysis. People are concerned. And justifiably.

Domestic Spying Seriously Threatening Our National Identity

History has taught us that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The recent spate of revelations of domestic spying involving various governmental agencies is alarming and represents a serious threat to the idea of America as a land that cherishes and promotes freedom and liberty as valuable national ideals to be protected and preserved.

Those individuals who seem to be in favor of such spying activity need to ask themselves if they've given any thought to the fact that hundreds of thousands of their countrymen have paid the ultimate price to protect and preserve our freedoms guaranteed to us under our Constitution. It is essential that the sanctity of our Constitution not be subverted in order to protect us from tyranny in its many guises. And yet so many seem so willing to so easily and quickly surrender their constitutional rights! Their silence on this subject is deafening and disheartening. All Americans should be outraged with this serious violation of our Constitutional protections!

In my view and in the view of many of my countrymen, the Bush Administration has exceeded its authority and has gone too far in their overzealous efforts to prosecute the war on terror. It only serves to change the face and dynamic of our country in ways that are abhorrent to freedom loving people.

Our system of checks and balances, which has served us well since our country's birth, includes the absolute necessity of having a free and independent press. It plays an essential role in keeping all of the players honest and our system free and open. This system seems to have gone awry in the Bush administration's quest to assimilate, consolidate and concentrate an unprecedented amount of power in the Executive branch. Of course, this accumulation of power comes at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches. (Whatever happened to the concept of three separate but equal branches?!) This is simply too high a price to pay for patriotic Americans.

Why are people so willing to quickly surrender their freedoms for the sake of what essentially amounts to an infinite, unending war on terrorism? Isn't it understood that collectively we are being asked to permanently sacrifice our freedoms? It is useful and imperative that we put this "War on Terror" into some kind of reasonable context. Important questions need to be asked so that we don't become the unwitting victims of our own efforts to protect our country and our way of life from our enemies. Important questions need to be asked in order to put the "War on Terror" into proper perspective: "What are the conditions of victory in this War on Terror? How do you determine when this war has been won? Who makes that determination? Are we sacrificing our national identity in our quest to prosecute this seemingly unbounded war?" These are all critical and necessary questions that need to be asked in framing this war in a national context. It is an important dialogue that needs to take place. Communications must remain free and open. It is also important that all points of view be freely given a public airing as dissent and debate have always played a pivotal role in protecting and preserving a healthy democracy.

If we are not vigilant, we will awaken some day soon to find that the net result of all of this domestic, anti-terrorist activity has only served to create an all-powerful, secretive, Soviet-style central government. We will have lost this war and not from enemies outside our borders but more accurately from those proponents within our own borders who argue for more security. Do we really want "totalitarianism-lite" and the real possibility of tyranny and dictatorship that are its inevitable result? All of our elected officials have taken a solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. Apparently, it is more solemn to some than to others.

As loyal and patriotic Americans, it is our essential duty to ensure that these Constitutional guarantees remain in full force. For it is that document and that document alone that defines who we are as a people and a country. Without that document, and the spirit that it represents, we are nothing but a group of several hundred million people inhabiting a piece of the North American continent. But with that document guiding our thoughts and actions, we are AMERICANS!

Protect liberty. Contact your congressmen and insist that they take action against this outrageous spying program. It is an alarming and deeply disturbing assault on the essential freedoms and system of government that have served us so well since our nation's infancy when our Founding Fathers had the wisdom, intelligence and spiritual insight to codify that wonderful document into our nation's identity -- our political DNA.

Bush to Pass His "Baton of Failure" in Iraq

Many political observers, including myself, are of the opinion that George Bush's intent is to deliberately burden the next president with the weight of his political mistakes so that the blame for failure in Iraq can be assigned elsewhere -- to the next president and not to him. To any serious student of George Bush, this is just one more manifestation or example of a serious character flaw that surfaces when he is confronted with or challenged by unwanted or undesirable consequences of his personal actions or behavior. His entire life has been one of escaping personal accountability, in many cases through the explicit assistance and help of others -- his enablers. Unfortunately, it appears that he never really learned how to deal with his mistakes in a manner that would foster personal growth and build character. The consequence to the United States of this personality deficiency or character flaw has proven to be monumental and tragic.

What I find most disturbing is the apparent fact that this president is willing to go so far as to be willing to sacrifice more American lives on the battlefield in Iraq just so that he doesn't have to make a personal admission of failure. His personal ego is more important in his mind than the actual lives of our sons and daughters -- of our men and women in uniform. This is outrageous and points to a clear and undeniable lack of leadership, both moral and otherwise.

There have been recent reports in the media that some in the Bush administration have privately acknowledged that the war in Iraq is lost -- that it cannot be won militarily, that only a political solution should now be pursued to achieve some level of political stability in the region. If this is true and Bush's subsequent actions are merely to prolong the Iraqi engagement until he can pass his personal baton of failure to the next president, then Congress must once and for all take it upon itself to hold this man accountable for his actions and misdeeds by forcing closure on this colossal mistake. Congress must do what others were apparently reluctant or unable to do during Bush's formative years: force Bush to acknowledge his mistakes or errant ways, demand a sincere apology, and take appropriate corrective measures to ensure that such irresponsible behavior is not repeated. In other words, George Bush must be publicly scolded and held to account.

It is incumbent upon Congress not to be another in a long line of Bush enablers by forcefully taking a strong leadership position in this matter so that America will not be made to needlessly suffer any further as a consequence of yielding to this man's ignorance and personal flaws. For to do otherwise would be an act of tacit compliance in helping to perpetuate this crime against America and, let us not forget, the Iraqi people (who clearly have suffered the most).