October 3, 2005
Commentary - Cindy Sheehan
:They say everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame. There should be an addendum that states that people need to realize when it is over. The anti-war movement in this country received a huge morale boost this summer when the mother from California who lost a son went to Bush’s ranch to protest the war. Huge story and Cindy Sheehan was the darling of the left, which opposed the war. But if she helped galvanize protests this summer, by fall, she can only be described as a hindrance to actual progress in the cause against the war. Sheehan cannot seem to stop saying silly things like “Remove the troop from occupied Iraq and New Orleans.” Two weeks ago she was arrested in front of the White House demanding that the troops be removed immediately. I have opposed the war from the beginning but one should be realistic in their demands. Until then, nothing will change. So would someone please tell Cindy that her time is up?
(Filed under: Iraq, America at War, War Protests, Middle East, Politics)
Commentary - White House Cronyism
:Bush’s selection of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is the latest in a series of poor choices for top positions by this administration. Don’t get me wrong, a Justice Miers may be a fine choice to replace Justice O’Connor, I certainly have no great insights into her life or her judicial philosophy. And it is clear that the White House is not going to say much when the Press Secretary said that he had no comment on her beliefs. No, my anger is not with Harriet Miers, it is with the President and his lack of character.
The first time it was apparent that President Bush had little sense of decency in selecting people for positions in his administration was when he selected Dick Cheney as his running mate. At the time, I commented that Mr. Cheney would help the President on his biggest weakness, foreign policy. But I also noted that it was a problem that the President thought it was appropriate to nominate the person that was supposed to be running his search for a Vice President. The man, after all, had sat in on countless meetings hearing about very personal information about potential candidates. To then select that man as your running mate, in my opinion, showed very little character.
Most recently, much was said about Michael Brown’s position at FEMA. He joined the agency with no experience in disaster relief. His previous job as the president of a horse showing association had led to his resignation when the agency was furious at him for using their funds for his legal defense. And journalists have speculated that appointments to positions at the EPA, the FDA, and others mirror Brown’s experience and expertise.
Again, the President has showed his willingness to go with his gut and instinct and not any real sense of his responsibility to this nation to nominate the best candidate for the job. Again, the President nominated the very person that was taking the lead in the search for that position. Again, the President nominated someone with no practical experience or expertise. Again, the President has failed to live up to his responsibility. Instead of getting another solid Justice like John Roberts, the President nominated a complete unknown. That may be good for getting confirmed. It remains to be seen if it is good for the country. And for that, I am mad at the continued cronyism of this White House and this President.
(Filed under: Supreme Court, Bush Administration, Commentary, Politics, Miers Nomination)
Commentary - Rebuilding the Gulf Coast
:With the President’s announcement that he will seek $200 billion to rebuild the Gulf and the Louisiana delegation’s request for $250 billion, it is time to begin to end simple sympathy and begin to talk about the rebuilding of the Gulf states. It is important to begin this dialogue now, before it is accepted that the government will spend that much money because if Louisiana gets its way, the Federal Government will be contributing $50,000 for every resident in the state. This would be in addition to the billions already spent in rescue in recovery. This is just insane.
To make matters worse, the proposals do not even begin to address the real problems revealed by the storms. It is clear that the Federal and State governments did not pay enough attention to the levy system. Further, nationally, Federal flood insurance has allowed people to build in regions that the private sector will not ensure. When storms happen, millions of dollars of damage must be paid by the Federal Government, which could be dealt with by our private insurance groups. Both of these things are not fully addressed by the Louisiana money grab.
The nation showed great generosity in the aftermath of the two hurricanes that slammed into the coast. It provides an amazing moment for the nation to realign certain priorities and streamline certain regulations and bureaucracy to make for a better emergency response system and a better life for all Americans on the coast. But that opportunity does not include corporate and personal welfare that exceeds any amount of fiscal sanity or necessity. The debate over how much money is spent to rebuild the region should not begin from such an inflated number but instead from how much is actually needed. And that will take some time to identify and figure out.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Commentary, Politics)
Sports
:Baseball concluded its most exciting pennant race in at least ten years as the Yankees and Red Sox played three games for the division in Boston. The Yankees and Red Sox actually ended the year even but the Yankees were awarded the division crown for the eighth straight year. Meanwhile, both the AL and NL wild card came to the end of the week as well. The end of the regular season set up these four playoff match-ups beginning this week: Boston v. Chicago White Sox, Yankees v. Angels, Padres v. Cardinals, and Braves v. Astros.
(Filed under: Sports, MLB)
New Planet
:The possible tenth planet in our solar system, 2003 UB313 better known as Xena after the television warrior princess, has its own moon. The dim satellite of Xena has been named Gabrielle. The two orbit the sun beyond Pluto in an orbit that crosses path of Neptune, similarly to the path taken by the planet Pluto. Xena’s discovery and its size has prompted the International Astronomical Union to rethink the definition of a planet.
(Filed under: Science / Technology)
Terrorism in Bali
:Three terrorist suicide-bombers killed themselves and nineteen others (14 Indonesians and five foreigners) in Bali, Indonesia. The attack took place in a tourist hot spot in the middle of shops and restaurants. Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world and has been the scene of a number of terrorist attacks from fundamentalist organizations such as al Qaeda.
(Filed under: Asia, Indonesia, Global Issues, Terrorism)
Republican Party Troubles
:Tom Delay (R-TX), the House’s Majority Leader, stepped down this week facing an indictment in Texas for campaign finance violations. Delay is accused of trying to sidestep a Texas law that limits individual contributions to a campaign by having that person give more to the national RNC, who then turned the money around and gave it to the Texas race. While, Conservatives have accused the indictment of being slim on facts and charges, Texas law does not require that in an indictment and prosecutors rarely show their hand in the state. In addition, Senator Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, is faced with an S.E.C. Investigation of stock sales he made and Judy Miller, the New York Times reporter that had been jailed for refusing to talk in the Plame investigation, was released from jail when she revealed that her source had been Vice Presidential chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby.
(Filed under: Bush Administration, Politics)
Israel/Palestine
:Israel continued its week-long offensive against Palestinian militias on Friday, while Palestinian elections in the West Bank showed that Hamas, which the United States considered a terrorist organization, gained seats. The Israeli attack has led to 441 arrests of people suspected of being members of Hamas or the Islamic Jihad. Some Israeli military officials have admitted that the attacks are intended to cripple Hamas before the January 25th general Palestinian elections.
(Filed under: Israel/Palestine, Middle East)
German Elections
:Nearly two-and-a-half weeks after a deadlocked election, Germany still does not have a government elected. Neither Chancellor Gerhard Schroder’s Social Democrats nor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union won a majority of seats during this election. It has led to widespread belief that the two parties would create a super-coalition in government together. At this moment, there has not been an agreement of what this coalition would look like.
(Filed under: Europe, Germany)
Afghanistan
:After a series off good news for rebuilding the nation, including a seemingly successful election, violence broke out this week with the first major bombing in Kabul in months. Eight members of the military and a civilian bus driver were killed. Meanwhile, with 80% of the vote counted from elections two weeks ago, widespread fraud is feared. Approximately 4% of ballot boxes across the nation are under investigation for potential fraud, which the European Union, who is observing the election, said “we are taking irregularities very seriously.”
(Filed under: Asia, Europe, Afghanistan)
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