The Republican Governors Conference

Republican Governors met in Miami on November 13 to map a future for their party after the GOP's devastating election day defeats.  The governors said the future of the GOP rests within their ranks (the governors) and not Washington politicians (Senators and Congressmen). 

 

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said that in his view, the Republican party needs more than a combover.  Other comments included a need to reach out more as a party and become more inclusive.

Gov. Palin said, "we are the minority party, let us resolve not to be the negative party.  Let us reach out to Barack Obama, show him how lower taxes provide opportunity for the private sector to grow." 

Obviously, the theme of their conference was that Republicans are looking to their governors to fill the leadership vacuum.  But lets look at what has actually taken place with in the Republican party, both on the national and state level.

 

During the 2008 presidential election, Republican governors failed to reject and denounce the personal attacks by the McCain-Palin ticket and the divisive issues they conjured up.  Once again, the governors failed to promote an inclusive campaign and were silent on the issue; they just went with the flow.  Many of them even appeared on television and used the talking points of the national Republican party.  They did not practice what they now preach. 

 

Gov. Palin's above comments are laughable when she says "lets not be the negative party."  She had a great opportunity to actually be positive as a V.P. candidate and change the tone and she blew it big time.  

 

If the Republican governors really want to change their party than they need to stand up and speak out to the neocons who have been running their party and say enough is enough.  Time will tell if they have the wisdom, character, and judgment to do so.

George W. Bush: What Could Have Been

When George W. Bush leaves office in 10 months, the U.S. will have gone through a tragedy and a dark age for the past eight years.  Never in my lifetime has our country witnessed so much incompetence, arrogance, and self proclaimed righteousness by our President.  And it happened concerning everything he has touched.  Lets examine the record.

 

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY:  Bush inherited a $5.6 trillion surplus and 4 years of balanced budgets from the previous administration.  He not only blew that in his first year in office, but also gave the country the largest federal budget deficits in history.  When he leaves office he will have added over $4 trillion to the national debt.

 

THE WAR ON TERROR AND 9-11:  Bush failed to fight the real war on terror against the people who harmed our country on 9-11.  The war in Afghanistan is going bad according to recent reports and may even be lost.  We and our NATO allies in Afghanistan still have a token presence there seven years after 9-11.  We just added more Marines and are trying to get NATO to add more troops.  The problem: our resources are being wasted in Iraq instead.

 

THE WAR AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ:  Bush started the war and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist and tried to plant the seed in the peoples' mind that Saddam was involved with Al Qaeda.  The President did not have the wisdom or character to make sure the intelligence was right.  Instead, he manipulated the intelligence as an excuse to go to war.  After 5 years of war and occupation, the President still can not tell the American people when this war will end or how.

 

SOCIAL SECURITY:  The President sunk any chance of keeping Social Security on a sound footing with his reckless deficit spending and insisting on private accounts.  This is the same President who told the people he would do something about Social Security.  There was enough money in the $5.6 trillion surplus to make a difference in the program, but he blew it.

 

THE ENVIRONMENT:  The President failed to have the U.S. join the Keyoto accord and left the safety of the environment in the hands of the polluters whose only regulations were to police themselves.  Bush has even refused to recognize a problem exists. 

 

LEADERSHIP:  The President lost the moral mantle of world leadership with his arrogant go-it-alone, I'm-right attitude and tried to assume the position of "king of the world."  He also has lost the respect of the American people and his approval rating still stands at around 32%.

 

THE ECONOMY:  The economy has gone through one recession and another one is looming.  $110 barrel oil with no end in sight, job losses, home ownership in peril with record foreclosures, a mortgage crisis, and the President still does not have an economic policy.  He only has a tax policy.  He has no policy to bring down oil prices and no policy deal with all the other economic problems the country faces.  He is without any solutions.

 

SECRECY:  The most secret administration in my lifetime is the current one.  Afraid to let the American people judge the truth for themselves, Bush has openly lied about the Valarie Plame issue.  Cheney has kept his meeting agenda with the energy companies secret.  The President secretly authorized wire tapping of Americans without a warrant from the FISA court.  The list goes on and on, including torture. 

 

A DIVIDER, NOT A UNITER:  The President openly divides the American people with his ideology and arrogance.  He is such a small person he has to accuse people of not supporting our troops when they disagree with his Iraq failures. 

 

THE MILITARY:  Our brave men and women are over extended with 3 and 4 deployments in Iraq with no end in sight.  Our wounded veterans came home to the horrors of the Walter Reed Hospital, where they received treatment or the lack there of.  The recruiting of members in our armed forces has been declining because of the war in Iraq and the toll it has taken on our military families.  Going into the sixth year of war in Iraq, our troops still do not have the necessary equipment to protect themselves.  It's bad enough the President got us into Iraq and refuses to do the right thing by leaving, but he should at least have the decency to care for those he sends to fight the needless war. 

 

CONGRESS:  Bush used the Republican controlled Congress in a partisan way to promote the neocon ideology and to block any legislation proposed by Democrats.  The energy problem, fiscal discipline, a true economic policy, and other progressive policies that could have greatly benefitted the American people were ignored. 

 

MONEY AND GREED:  Bush's policy is let business regulate itself and everything will be fine.  Yea, for the wealthy.  No checks and balances needed.  Plant the seed that oil inventories are being depleted in order to run up the price.  Destabilize the Middle East and Iraq in a war over WMD that did not exist to assist the escalation of oil prices.

 

The list can go on and on, but the American people understand.  The bottom line is that the country and its people were better off in all walks of life under the previous administration and were also safer.  Bush has accomplished just what he set out to do.  Reverse the progress that America enjoyed and instead govern with an ideology that has been destructive and divisive.  

 

This is the President who had the country and the world behind him after the tragic event of 9-11 and so much good could have been done, but he exploited that unity by using the good will of the people to undermine our Constitution and what America and its people stand for.

Politics And Religion (Part I)

The American people are their own worst enemy when it comes to politics and religion. Americans elect the same politicians over and over most of the time.  All one has to do is look at the make up of the Congress and State Legislatures.  The great majority are incumbents with many years of service.

 

Elected officials create the laws, regulations, tax codes and etc., that the people have to live with.  They create some bad ones, but the people still reelect them.  Has any one noticed how many times Senator McCain has said the tax code is unfair and has to be changed?  Yet it is he and Congress who create the tax code.  The people of Arizona have not called McCain down for this, instead he is elected and reelected over and over. 

 

The people have allowed the right wing neocons to divide the country.  They govern by fear, innuendo, character assassination, bigotry, and lies.  They do that because they know a lot of people can't make a decision and believe any thing they hear.  They have teamed up with the religious right to play God.  Many of the religious right even have T.V. shows that bring in millions of dollars.  They, along with the neocons, preach God and family, but God would surely not condone their hypocritical behavior.

 

Why  do people let themselves fall for this con game?  Do they realize these con artists are laughing at them everytime the people support them?  Because the neocons are so sure of themselves and their ability to control the people, I call your attention to the recent resignation of Karl Rove, Bush's  chief operative.  He resigned to write a book and rewrite the history and lies of the Bush administration.  The right wing T.V. and radio networks will give him center stage to continue the con job.  And worst of all, many people will continue to be conned.

 

Elected officials rub their power and greed right in the people's faces. They have no shame when accepting money from special interest, even though it is influencing their vote.  Neither is concerned about doing what is right and necessary for the country and the people.  Greed and power is their make up.

 

They preach no taxes and then turn around and give the people massive deficits and a massive national debt, and every year they waste billions of dollars paying interest on the deficits and debt they created.  That money could instead be used to further the quality of life for the American people.

 

Many members of Congress go to work for these special interest groups when they retire from Congress.  They are welcomed with open arms.  Is there any wonder why?

 

The people will elect a new president next year and also those in Congress who are up for reelection.  Time will tell  if the people can make a choice that truly changes the course of the con game.  One can only hope so.  

Troops Surge, But Still No Political Progress

Every reason George Bush gave the American people for going to war in Iraq either never happened or was wrong.  Misleading America is the one thing Bush will be remembered for.

Almost one year ago Bush ordered a surge in troops in Iraq.  His stated purpose, he told America, was to reduce the violence so that the Iraqi government would make the needed reforms to unify their country.  Well, as of right now, the Iraqi's have achieved very little, if any, of that unity.  American's and Iraqi's are still being killed in a civil war and it is now reported the Bush administration has lowered its political expectations in Iraq to a few limited goals.  This is just one more blunder and policy failure added to the many other ones. 

 

As of this very moment, our military and civilian leaders say our military can't change Iraq's need for political settlement.  Senator Joe Biden has been saying that for over 3 years.  Al Sidar, one of the Shiite's militant leaders, ordered his army to stand down for 6 months and they have done so.  However, even with the stand down of the militants, the Iraqi government can not reconcile its political differences.

 

It is past time Mr. Bush realize what other countries have already figured out.  It is time to bring our brave men and women in uniform home.  This war over WMD that did not exist was won before it even started.  Mr. Bush just did not have the wisdom to understand that because he and his neocon friends wanted to play God in the Middle East and now America and its people are paying the price.  

Kerry Will Prove His Case

The American people have seen first hand how many Republicans have attacked the patriotism of many veterans who wore the uniform of their country during their generations war.  It came to a head when veterans questioned the way Mr. Bush has managed the war in Iraq.  I mentioned before in a previous commentary how a good many of the neocons who clamored for war in Iraq either never wore the uniform of their country or joined the reserve to dodge the draft.

 

Now we know that T. Boone Pickens, an oil tycoon, provided $3 million to bankroll the group "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" (the group that ran the attack adds against Senator John Kerry).  Mr. Pickens is a well known neocon and was willing to be used by the Bush campaign during the 2004 elections to try and discredit Kerry's election bid and service to his country.  Pickens said he would pay $1 million to anyone who can disprove even a single charge against Kerry made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

 

Senator Kerry is taking Mr. Pickens up on the challenge and now Mr. Pickens is throwing up road blocks to that challenge.  It is interesting to note that T. Boone Pickens was of prime age during his generations war but according to several sources, he has no military record.  If that is true, he follows the pattern of so many neocons in this administration who love to see other's children go off to war while they stay home and count their money.  The neocons feel inadequate so they take it out on our veterans who volunteered their service to their country, one of the highest acts of patriotism. 

Neocons and their warped ideology (a special editorial by John Lucia)

Neocon Republicans believe they and only they have the answers to life and its many problems; they believe they and only they possess moral and family values; they believe they and only they know good and evil; they believe they and only they know how people should live their lives; they believe they and only they are patriotic and know what is best for the world; they believe they and only they can remake the U.S. and other countries in their own warped image...And sadly they believe they can tell the same lies over and over again and often enough that the people will buy into their ideology and believe their lies.

Neocon Republicans have the worst of all character problems. They can't admit to any mistakes; they are hypocrites who accuse others but yet are guilty themselves of the same accusations; they believe they can act in any manner to further their neoconservative beliefs; they believe the way to govern is to divide the people and push divisive issues; they believe in passing the buck instead of accepting responsibility for their own failures.

Neocon Republicans feel so inadequate they brand anyone who does not support their position as unpatriotic; they feel so inadequate they try to talk tough, yet many of them were of prime age during their generations war and they cut and ran. They try to assert they are the protectors of our National Security but more Americans have been killed on their watch by terrorists in the last 40 years than all the Democratic Presidents combined who served during that time and the tragic events of 9-11 was the worst ever foreign terror attack on U.S. soil. Moreover they support a war in Iraq over WMD that did not exist and now say we have to stay in Iraq well into the future.

With the exception of Ron Paul, does the rhetoric coming from the present republican group of candidates running for President sound familiar? That should be a warning to our nation and to the people. The Supreme Court elected one President over 6 years ago. This time around the country needs a leader with the character to stand up and be an American and one elected by the people.

The Real Story of the Iraq War(a special editorial by John Lucia)

General Petraeus and our ambassador to Iraq are scheduled to speak before committees of congress all this weak concerning the war in Iraq. Congress would do well to ask questions concerning the real story about the Iraq war and not get caught up in Petraeus' report.

The real story is the price being paid by our men and women in uniform, the Iraqi people and the country itself over WMD that did not exist. The neocons, who made up the President's Iraqi policy group, said the war would be a cake walk. They care nothing about our men and women in uniform fighting this war. Over 2 million Iraqi's have fled the country; utilities are a hit and a miss for the people and over 60% of Iraqi professional people have left the country. That's lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, etc. Think of what that is costing the people and the country. The people of Iraq are less safe today than they were prior to the invasion and occupation. Iraq and the region has been destabilized. The reckless decision of President Bush to order the invasion and occupation of Iraq and his failure to have a plan to deal with the situation that has follows has placed our troops in jeopardy and in the middle of a civil war. All the President can offer is to pass the problem on to the next President.

Now when the President tells Iran to stop sending people and munitions to Iraq, Iran says we did not start a war in Iraq over WMD that did not exist, you did; we do not occupy Iraq, you do with 160,000 troops; this is not your part of the world, it is ours. This is the sad situation that our men and women in uniform are exposed to.

Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy two leaders who wore the uniform of their country during their generations war and served in combat would never have committed our country and our men and women in uniform to an unnecessary war and occupation of a foreign country over WMD that did not exist.

This is the real story of the war in Iraq that is now well into its fifth year. Neither the President nor those who continue to support the war can articulate how it will end nor how many more lives will be lost in order to "win".