The American Report Card

Written : Jan. 26, 2010

”It’s not about me!”, President Obama says. All right, then let’s give America his “one year report card”. How did we do after the first quarter of his administration?

The U.S. is seen the way the rest of the world wants us to be seen. We are weak, apologetic, and pathetic. We cower to world leaders instead of being the world leader. I think the president succeeded in what he sought to accomplish, but as a country we should get an “F” for his efforts. We shut out opposition when we try to force bills through the legislature. We ignored the tea party folks, we don’t hear the people’s voices. We know better than anyone, we’ll pass health care legislation, no matter what anyone says. We make back room deals to buy Senators’ votes such as “The Louisiana Purchase” and “The Cornhusker Kickback“; ahem, we get another “F”, we failed.

Our President got a Nobel Peace prize for doing nothing. He failed to get the Olympic games to come to Chicago in 2016. President Obama campaigned for incumbent Governor Corzine of New Jersey, Creigh Deeds in Virginia, and Martha Coakley in Massachusetts and all three lost their races. His administration dismissed the term, “terrorism”, and replaced it with “man-made disaster” and favors reading terrorists their Miranda Rights. The president hinted at prosecuting Bush administration people for using advanced interrogation techniques - information from which saved American lives. He pledged to close Gitmo (fail) within a year (fail), promised to confront special interest groups, predicted unemployment wouldn’t go above 8 percent and that we’d save money, told us he’d televise the health care debate on CSPAN, and said he’d have the most transparent administration - ever. None of those things happened, but he’s right, it’s not about him! We get another “F”.

Why did the health care bill not have any conservative ideas? Not because the Republicans didn’t propose any; they did. They were shut out of the process. That’s an “F” we must receive for the “works well with others” category! Unemployment is at ten percent, fail. We’re bringing Kalid Sheik Mohammed to NYC to try him as a criminal and not an enemy combatant, fail. According to CBS News on Jan. 25, 2010, we sent 21 congressmen to Copenhagen’s Global Warming Summit where they spent $2,200 per day each – just on the hotel! Read all about it, here: CBS Story The entire trip cost America over $1 million! America, you failed again!

All is not lost. President Obama’s just over a quarter of the way through his first term. I admit it, there’s a possibility he’ll make things right. I’ll be listening to the State of the Union speech on Wed., the 27th. I hope he eats some humble pie and becomes more moderate, and turns our out-of-control ship around, but I don’t expect it.

I’m not one sided, I generously give the president one “A” - for “spreading the wealth”, success! - But it’s really an “F” in my book!

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You can also read this blog at “Your Hub”, which is part of The Denver Post online, at Your Hub Scroll down or “Edit/Find” the word, “blog”.

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Mr. Awad’s Take

Written : Jan. 19, 2010

”It’s in our best interests… We have to do all we can to assure the Muslim world that the War on Terror is not a war on Islam.” Who said it? The quote can be attributed to Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. While I don’t agree with everything he says, Awad carefully walks a tightrope during his public appearances. He’s an astute politician, and he’s one of the world's best modern diplomats. He avoids being a target of the extremists while stoically explaining moderate American Muslim thought. For the most part, I admire his approach. And, I admire him - while maintaining a healthy skepticism.

It’s interesting to hear Awad’s analysis of America’s reaction to the Christmas Day "underwear bomber" on the international flight bound for Detroit. He says we (and he means “we”, as in we Americans) overreacted, giving Al Qaeda what it wanted; a sort of panic. This came in the form of scrambling in the ensuing week when the Obama Administration made up ridiculous, impossible rules to follow and then rescinded them. Some of us on the right called – metaphorically, of course - for heads to roll, and Mr. Awad explained the terrorists liked that reaction, too. But, should we really care what the terrorists like or don’t like? Wouldn’t such empathy, cowering, and/or catering also appear to the terrorists as a victory they should savor?

Mr. Awad said we should profile, but not by race. Behavior is the key, I agree, but as several callers on the CSPAN show on Jan. 9, 2010 pointed out, most recent terrorists have been young Muslim men. Awad countered by saying it was mainly Caucasians who gunned down abortion doctors. I didn’t like his answer, but if you think about it, aren’t the results of such behaviors similar in nature to terrorism? Don’t they terrorize, too? Think of Columbine and church shootings and mall massacres. Still, Awad’s example was out of context, and doesn’t apply to the “War on Terror”.

Muslims are not heard condemning terrorism and terrorist groups enough in our media. I want to hear more of it, don’t you? Perhaps it would put them at some moderate risk, but speaking out against terror would also embody bravery, heroism, and express the right message. Regardless of how you feel about Islam or religion in general, it’s important to hear and consider the opinions of many.

You can read about Mr. Awad’s group at the home page of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In addition, a link to the very CSPAN segment with Mr. Awad I watched can still be found there. Just below the video area, click a few times on the pair of right-carets (>>) at the top-middle of the page at: CAIR

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Citizens of the World, Beware!

Written : Jan. 11-12, 2010

Why would anyone want to make their own country weaker? You can take any nation in the world and hold it up as an example. Would a citizen of Saudi Arabia say they have too much oil? Would a Canadian or a Russian claim his or her country has too much territory and should give some away? Would a Chinese person say China is growing too fast? No, of course not!

Yet, many U.S. citizens and home-grown groups oppose America’s strengths. One such group is the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). You can check them out at: IPS

At first glance, IPS appears to have a noble goal. They state, “Ideas into Action for Peace, Justice, and the Environment.” It sounds nice, but if you listen to their personnel speak, you may think there’s more to it than a noble idea. Phyllis Bennis, the director of IPS’ “New Internationalism Project”, appeared on Washington Journal on CSPAN this past Christmas Day. She began by saying America has about 1.1 million troops around the world on about 865 bases. Ms. Bennis clarified the definition of “bases” to be very broad – they can include golf courses and storage facilities! However, unlike most of the world’s people she spoke against her own country’s power and said the cost in dollars is too high, we are wasting resources, and it doesn’t make us safer by being in so many countries. She may have a point about the money; it’s a massive amount. However, she and other U.S. detractors overlook what might happen if we don't maintain a global presence. While others may specialize in fashion, oil, or plastics, one of our specialties is security. You can’t argue against 20th Century history, we’ve kept and still keep the world safe.

What is internationalism, anyway? It sounds like a concerted effort to dissolve or at least dilute the power of all the countries in the world. The stronger and more powerful a country is, the more it has to lose - in theory. We are the top nation on the globe. We would give up the most - and, to whom? What would happen to us if the U.S. went away and was run by a world government? Who would lead us? Who would protect the innocent from global tyrants such as Germany’s Kaiser (WWI), Hitler, Moussolini, Hirohito, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Ghadafi, Saddam Hussein, or Ahmadinejad? And, I’ve only named a few. These thoughts scare me. As an American I don’t like the sound of internationalism very much, do you?

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Drilling for Civility

Written : Jan. 05, 2010

Watching Washington Journal on C-SPAN this past week, I was struck by the opinions expressed by some callers on the Democrats’ line. One bemoaned America’s dependence on oil. She said it was the reason for our involvement in the Middle East. The viewer was partially correct. We are dependent on oil because there currently is no alternative fuel with the same, vast infrastructure available. As President Clinton (D-AR) has said, the reason we do not have electric cars yet is because there are few recharging stations we could conveniently pull up to. However, there are seemingly gas stations on every corner!

We are dependent upon foreign oil because there isn’t enough yanked out of the ground and refined here. While we invest in research to find the next generation’s fuel supply and infrastructure, we could and should drill, extract, and process our own oil here. There’s plenty, and it would reduce our cost. To ease the mind - all of us - and especially poor people would not have to spend as much money on gasoline and heating fuel. It seems the right thing to do, but it’s not being done yet. I can’t wait, can you?

Another caller called FOX News’ Catherine Herridge a feminine FOX fascist. How nice! On the radio this morning on The Ed Schultz Show, I heard Katrina Vanden Heuvel speaking about the “tea baggers”, which is a derogatory term. She said multiple times they, and those on the right were mostly haters and racists. In the first place, the Tea Party attendees did not display any hatred or racism. They were expressing their opinions and were frustrated their leaders were not listening to them. Why do so many people descend to the level of name-calling and use such negative and insulting comments? I think we need a little more civility in our society and in the media, don’t you? It’s time for a resurgence of intellect over rhetoric.

Calmly listen to both sides - with an open mind – even if you think you’ve already made up your mind. Try a personal experiment to see which side of the aisle more often uses an angry tone and hateful language. You may be surprised.

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