One of the reasons it is difficult for some to cover the relevant moments in democratic debates is because those moments are so few and far and inbetween.
In a world with serious issues, some at the crisis stage, the left in this country, from the media to the politicians, are preoccupied with nonsense.
Several stories were covered in depth in the last few days. Several serious situations developed during that time. These two aspects of life appear to be mutually exclusive. The overlap between what is discussed and what matters is virtually zero percent.
The main story seems to be that John McCain was accused by the Jayson Blair Times of engaging in adultery and malfeasance with a lobbyist. Yes, I could spend an entire column verbally bashing the skull of Arthur Sulzberger Jr., but others have taken care of that. Besides, at some point referring to an idiot savant as a retard becomes tiresome.
I personally held off on discussing that story because I wanted to wait for the truth to come out, which is what separates me form the Jayson Blair Times to begin with. It could have been a serious story if true, but it wasn’t, so it wasn’t.
Continuing the subject of toxic liberals, Hillary Clinton is still running for President. Will she and Barack Obama spend their next debate arguing about health care the whole night? Of course. Will they discuss Al Queda? Of course not.
While I would prefer the democrats not win the White House, I can take comfort knowing that they cannot govern. Here are some facts.
The troops are not coming home soon. In fact, the democrats winning the White House increases the chances of escalation. Conservatives are trusted to make peace. Liberals have more latitude to wage war. Most wars have been led by democrats, because they could. Their let flank fell into line, and the conservatives certainly would not stand in the way. When liberals make peace, it is seen as surrender.
This is true worldwide. It is why Richard Nixon can go to China, Ariel Sharon can negotiate the West Bank, and Ronald Reagan can shake hands with Mikhail Gorbachev. On the flip side, it is why Tony Blair can emphatically support a war, LBJ can escalate Vietnam, and Ehud Ohlmert can order 34 straight days of bombings on Arab enemies. Ultimate success or failure is less relevant than perceptions. Conservatives have to show their heart. Liberals have to show their steel.
In addition to continuing the war, free trade is here to stay. Democrats can get away with lowering taxes, while republicans that want to destroy themselves in the long run have an easier time raising taxes in the short run.
Yet what eventually shapes the world are world events, and that transcends any one leader in the short run. Serious events occurred recently, and those issues are being lost among the tabloids such as the JBT.
First of all, Fidel Castro resigned. In the short run, nothing has changed. Raoul Castro is no better. Yet there is a chance for improvement. Cuba could turn into Mexico. Mexico still has a long way to go, but they are much better than 20 years ago. After Luis Donaldo Colosio was murdered in 1994, Ernesto Zedillo led political reforms. Vicente Fox is far from perfect, but he did represent a breakthrough from the past. Cuba has a chance to follow the same path.
This should be a major issue in the Presidential election. The solution is free trade. Democrats want protectionism and isolationism. They want to slow down free trade, and in some cases reverse it altogether. This is not fluff. This is a serious policy issue. A republican President could open up Cuba, and a free trade deal with Cuba would be a boon to the world. Bill Clinton could not have normalized relations with Vietnam without John McCain. Clinton did not have the moral authority as a draft dodger. He knew this. When the announcement came, Clinton made sure John McCain was in every single picture. John McCain normalized relations with Vietnam. He can be trusted to do so with Cuba.
The other critical situation involved the bombing of the U.S. Embassy at Serbia. This is not an inconvenience. This is an act of war. Nobody died, but the bombers did not know that. Some Americans are war weary. Unfortunately, the enemy is not war weary. The genie cannot be put back in the bottle. We cannot go back to the sleepy pre-9/11 world.
What did Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have to say about this? It was not even mentioned in the debate. Hillary mentioned the word “Serbia,” but offered nothing else. This was the area of the world where World War I began. Trouble in that region should be on page one of every newspaper.
John McCain can be trusted to deal with these serious issues. He is an adult.
As for his liberal opponents, can they at least talk about it? Can the liberal media at least mention it? Are idiotic non-stories that important? Are we truly unwilling to avoid becoming a nation of imbeciles?
Cuba is relevant. Serbia is relevant. The Jayson Blair Times is irrelevant. I guess I do not have time to worry about their p*ss yellow journalism because there are life and death matters at stake. As I have said before, the War on Terror cannot be won until we are fully engaged. We must first win the war against nonsense.
Hard news is out there. Adult issues require adult conversations. If liberals want to reverse their quarter of a century slide into irrelevance, they might want to start dealing with these matters. It requires making hard choices. It requires being responsible.
Domestic policy and tabloid gossip matters to those that remain employed by it. Foreign policy determines if civilization survives. Foreign policy matters more. So let’s either force the left to start discussing it, or send the children to bed so the adults can begin the serious process of analyzing the trouble spots that can either benefit or cripple our nation, depending on how they are handled.
eric
Neither Hillary or Obama want to touch these serious issues only because it would be like two deaf and blind mutes having an arguement over an IPOD.
Leading up to the general election you know they’re going to have to answer to these questions. Right now its all about selling personality.
Most on the left in random interviews cant even tell you what either one of them has done in the last 8 years.
[…] mandy787 wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptContinuing the subject of toxic liberals, Hillary Clinton is still running for President. Will she and Barack Obama spend their next debate arguing about health care the whole night? Of course. Will they discuss Al Queda? Of course not. … Read the rest of this great post here Posted by […]
1. Can you explain how Cuba is relevant? I’d like to know. Why has the US enforced an embargo against it? How has that embargo benefited Americans? How has it benefited Cubans in America? Please explain. What should be our policies toward Cuba now? Didn’t we defeat communism?
2. Can you tell me why Serbia is relevant? Why were the Serbians angry with America so that they bombed the embassy? What are the ramifications of an independent Bosnia.
Free Trade? You’re an expert on free trade too? This is interesting.
3. Can you explain how allowing China and other countries to refuse American products while we have a trade deficit with it is free trade and therefore a good thing? What does America get out of this example of free trade? I can’t wait to hear.
Not only has America fully embraced a free trade agenda, we are the prime movers behind global markets, global labor and Globalization and world trade agreements that demonlish our Consitution and laws.
4. In the new global economy, how does outsourcing jobs benefit America?
5. How does selling off America’s industry benefit America?
6. As a result of Globalization the UN has perdicted that by 2050 the United States will be overwhelmed with immigrants from Africa, Asia and the middle east. Can you please tell me what will happen to American culture, religion, traditions not to mention the Consitution when our nation is overwhelmingly Muslim and whites are a minority? What will happen to us when all these people land on our shores and they don’t give a shit about our history of government or our way of life, they know nothing and they care about nothing. Can this be justifed under the mantle of free trade?
Were we not forced to watch the spectical of a bunch of Mexicans over running our Capitol and demanding their “rights” because of free trade agreements and the global economy? Isn’t that just the beginning of what is going to happen to us as cheap labor pours into our country. What is happening in Europe and Great Britian because of the Muslims whove immigrated there and don’t like the laws which conflict with their religion. Since you are an expert on these things I hope you will tell us.
If we are no longer the economic engine of the world can you please tell me how we are going to sustain our military superpower might? I am truly curious to know since free trade is so important and such a good thing. Wouldn’t it just be wonderful if the chinese become the world’s only military superpower? We’d just love their benevolent rule. If the United States will sink to committing a holocaust in the middle east what do you think the chinese are capable of.
7. During Reagan’s term in office we left the Bretton Woods economic standard and adopted a neoliberal economic model. Can you tell me how America is better off today than we were 30 years ago? What were the causes of adopting the neoliberal economic model? Who will benefit from it. Whose standard of living will be reduced to that of a third world country by it.
Historically how did government regulation and involvement in the markets produce a strong America? How are the interests of the international corporations and big business more important than America’s standard of living and standing on the world stage? Inquiring minds want to know.
I am anxious to learn from you all about free trade since you are an expert. Please tell us which candidate is against globalizaion since you think Republicans will serve us better.
Can you please explain why democrats must project “steel” but republicans can afford to “negotiate” in regard to warmongering.
The United States is the only military superpower in the world. We defeated the Soviet Union without a shot being fired because we used our own WMD as deterrants.
8. Please name the country that would dare attack us so that we have to go to war.
Please remember, we were dragged into a holocaust in the middle east based upon lies.
9. While you’re at it you might explain why we can’t leave Iraq. Tell me how the Iraqis could destroy their country any more than we have already done. Iraq is no more. What will happen if the middle east becomes completely destablized?
We have destroyed its culture, its infrastructure, bombed it most holy cities and destroyed priceless Blibical artifacts and other historical artifacts in the very cradle of civilization. Iraq’s different religous groups have as much chance of resolving their problems without us there as they do with us there. Why shouldn’t we leave?
We should think about oursleves. We are bankrupting ourselves in the middle east. We have destroyed the petro dollar which was the basis of our economy. The dollar is no longer the world’s currency. The longer we stay in Iraq the worse the situation becomes.
Experts tell us that our resources should be in the Pacific because of China’s efforts at creating a military and a navy to challenge our own. We shouldn’t be spending everything in the middle east for no purpose.
Liberals have taken over the Democratic party and driven the traditional democrats out. Now neocons have taken over the republican party and are following an agenda that is detrimental to the United States.
In the last election the moneybags in the democratic party got rid of Al Gore and gave us John Kerry. Whether a liberal or neocon got into the WHite HOuse our foreign policies would be the same. Liberals and neocons are the new ruling elites. Christians, American traditions, culture and history have lost the cultural wars.
10. who are the new ruling elites and what makes you think you have anything vested in either party’s candidates. What role do you think you play in choosing candidates and what role do the moneybags play.
11. What is the biggest problem facing America today?
Under the Bretton Woods agreement other countries followed America’s lead and would do whatever we asked.
Under the neoliberal econonmic model we must go to war to secure oil and to keep China from getting it. Now that the middle east is destablized that is a necessity more than ever.
12. Doesn’t a neoliberal economy mean that we are fighting to protect the oil on behalf of business rather than defending ourselves or fighting for Democracy?
Why should we defend the interests of big business while our standard of living is declining and Capitalism has defeated Democracy?
13. Isn’t attacking another soverign nation that has done nothing to us an international war crime and breaking our Consitution?
14. Have our leaders not taken us into war without our consent and are they not keeping us there against the wishes of most Americans?
15. Why are we securing an ethnic state for the jews when such states go against our Consitution and we have historicall fought against them and destroyed an Aryan nation?
16. What is being done to America in the name of free trade?
I argued very similar things yesterday in http://www.strategicmessaging.com/how-hillary-clinton-can-still-differentiate-herself-from-barack-obama-on-foreign-policy/2008/02/22/
1. Hillary Clinton can’t differentiate herself from Barack Obama except by out-wonking him on foreign policy.
2. Trade is a large and wonk-friendly part of foreign policy.
CAM
i rarely comment on my own blog, but I was surprised to see a visit from “Southernvoice.” She is a rabid antisemite, but I decided not to delete her post.
I have to say that I was at first very impressed that she managed to write an entire lengthy post without any hate speech. Many liberals come on here, and they are welcome. However, Southernvoice could not help herself, and bullet point # 15 is what she represents.
“15. Why are we securing an ethnic state for the jews when such states go against our Consitution and we have historicall fought against them and destroyed an Aryan nation?”
Does this invalidate her entire post? Yes it does. If some other liberal had written a similar post without # 15, would it be ok? Yes it would.
Southernvoice is no longer welcome on this blog. I am very lenient, but for those who wonder what crossing the line on my blog looks like…that hate speech is what does it.
eric
Alright, I watched the replay.
Hillary must think for some reason shes running against Bush.
She bashed him a total of 15 times during the debate.
Obama twice.
On the border, neither one of them addressed the national security issue involved in that topic. just labor, recreation and visiting families. Hillary finished by saying what a wonderful place the border can be to live on.
Obama said that shipping 12 million people is ridiculous. And the crowd cheered thunderously. Was it ever a threat that was going to happen ?
Obama didnt explain whos going to pay for his 4000.00 tuition credit. And how exactly he was going to change the tax code. Exept for eliminating the Bush tax cuts.
Hillary didnt say how she thought the banks would feel about a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures.
And now shes all pee’d off about his mailers with the same message on health care he’s had for months.
Now shes only hi lighting their differences on health care because shes running out of ammo. She has nothing more to build herself on.
I dont think anyone expected you to answer all of Southernvoices questions. Even her.
It amazing that someone with such a negative view of her country is still living here.
I found a video where I think southernvoice plays the lead role as the squirrel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHSG3BuiOt8&NR=1
Southernvoice, A while back, I mentioned that Obama must have been charged with substance abuse, which is why he avoids substance today…you seem to have gone to the same school of illogical ramblings.
You say, “Please remember, we were dragged into a holocaust in the middle east based upon lies.” What lies? Saddam violated 43 UN Sanctions and Presidential resolutions, to include torture, supporting terrorist camps, and developing WMD. He was warned repeatedly and refused to cooperate or adhere to simple human decencies – stop the torture, stop allowing terrorist camps, and stop developing WMD. What recourse did we have? If you don’t believe in an “if this, then that” logic, then my argument will mean nothing to you. You can cite any reports, findings, or BS you want, but I’ve seen the chemical manufacturing facility in Taji.
Points 13 and 14 are equally puzzling… 13. Isn’t attacking another soverign nation that has done nothing to us an international war crime and breaking our Consitution?” See above arguments arout UN sanctions and resolutions.
“14. Have our leaders not taken us into war without our consent and are they not keeping us there against the wishes of most Americans?” Our Congress took us to war – and rightfully so. If this action were against the wishes of most Americans, it wouldn’t have happened.
It seems your intentions of maintaining a strong republic are honorable, but your implied hatred of Jews and overgeneralized rhetorical questions do not lend themselves to serious debate.
Southernvoice and her hate speech have now been banished until she comes back under an assumed name.
For those who do not know, I am caucasian and happy.
BlackTygrrrr is a takeoff on 80s rock bands named after colors and animals, such as White Lion, Whitesnake, and Blue Tears. Black Tygrrrr combines my favorite color with my favorite animal.
Stay well all. Happy Sunday.
eric