Kill the Messenger

Other Presidents have lashed out at the press when it suited their purposes. Jack Kennedy famously called and cancelled his subscription to the New York Herald Tribune and was rightly chastised for it by Richard Nixon who later tried to cancel the entire New York Times for publishing the Pentagon Papers. Nixon unleashed the criminal Spiro Agnew on the press and they ended up doing a jig on his political grave. So now the Bush leaguers want to take on the New York Times with righteous indignation about the newspaper revealing yet another secret executive power grab of questionable legality. Taking on the press is fair enough, but there should be one rule. Before you start criticizing a newspaper, you must first have to read it.

The Presidents red-faced tirade about the Times revealing the government's secret sifting through Americans' private bank records, calling it a disgrace that gave aid and comfort to the enemy was transparently rehearsed. Cheney's speech was just plain eerie. Cheney must be wondering who they are going to cast in his role in the movie. Is Donald Pleasance dead? Then Anthony Hopkins it is. "Hello Clarice." What took them two days to work up sufficient rage about the story? The fact that they used the Times like they were Jeff Gannon/Gunterts for hire to plant favorable stories about their rogue schemes, then allow one of their reporters to twist slowly in the wind, and the Times has the gall to turn on them? Every day, someone, somewhere reveals another of this regime's secret dealings and it is frightening.

This photo-op, propaganda saturated administration is like a bad dream that just won't quit. Look at these guys. The speaker is Denny Hastert, the majority leader is Bumbling Bill Frist, the political guru is Karl Rove, and the President is George By-Damn Dubya Bush. They are like the Student Government at a bad community college. The only thing they are capable of doing is choosing the band to play on the Washington mall this fourth of July. I'm certain it won't be the Dixie Chicks. I'd like to see them get Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, Hank, Jr., and Charlie Daniels too, for a grand old Texas style celebration of xenophobia and ignorance. And nobody better burn a flag, Hoss, even though that jingoistic screed went down in flames in the Senate. Here's a solution to the flag burning amendment. Pass a law that says real American flags must be made of non-flammable material. They did it for children's' pajamas. Then anytime someone burned a flag, you would know it wasn't an "official" flag.

If the carnage in Iraq continues at the current pace, we'll need all the flags we can get to fold up for our servicemen's families. The Senate Republicans scorned the Democrats as cowards and traitors for suggesting a timetable for troop withdrawal, then General Casey announces just such a plan. I'll take my troop withdrawals any way I can get them, but it seems particularly sinister to release a token group of forces from their grinding duties just in time for the fall election. How cruel it must feel to wake up in a war zone knowing that you just missed a politician's required quota of troops to go home. If Cheney turns up with Bin Laden's head on a pike in time for the next presidential election, I won't be surprised. Everything the Bush leaguers do is for political effect.

This is the result of an electorate so distracted and delusional they will elect a President according to reality television rules. Outlast, out wit, out survive. This President came to office with no real vision for the nation, he just hired his Daddy's old administration, and they had a metaphoric hard-on for Saddam Hussein. The Bush Posse seized power after being appointed by the Supreme Court, with no mandate, and proceeded to operate government according to their own narrow ideology. They believe that government functions to reward your friends and punish your enemies, like the Baathist Regime. But for them to use the worst attack ever suffered on this soil to sell the American people a bill of goods including mushroom clouds, enrichment of uranium, and biochemical weapons factories on wheels, is beyond cynical. It is evil.

I still hope for some miracle of diplomacy to bring a political solution to the Iraqi insurgency. The hard figures require a miracle to even begin to reconcile the irreparable damage that the Bush government has done in our name. Beyond the 20,000 American casualties, the journalists kidnapped and killed, the beheadings, and the other atrocities, there is one stark figure that screams out; 50,000 dead Iraqi civilians whose only crime was being born. That's going to take more diplomacy to resolve than Karen Hughes can provide. I want every cabinet officer of this administration to remain hale and healthy. I want President Shemp to mountain bike, jog, and clear some brush. He'll need all his stamina for his trial in the Senate next year. And Daddy's Boys are ripe for an appearance at a war crimes tribunal in the Hague. It would be fitting for "Old Europe" to decide what punishment befits new world liars and warmongers.

Queer Baiting

Let's all go Bill Fristing down memory lane. For the next three weeks, while our democracy is challenged from all sides and both borders, our eminent Senator/Doctor has determined the schedule for topics of debate in the Senate; a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a bill, approved by the ruthlessly ambitious Hillary Clinton, criminalizing flag burning, and the repeal of the estate tax, also known in the Orwellian world of Karl Rove as the "death tax." Does Frist know how to do the bidding of his masters, or what? If this guy thinks he's going to be President, he is even more deluded than I imagined.

Frist has not only been a failure as an effective representative, he has failed himself as a human being. As a surgeon, Frist took the Hippocratic Oath, "First, Do No Harm." As a Senator, he took the Hypocrite's Oath, "First, do no harm to conservative, wealthy Republicans." Here is a scion from a family who's fortune comes from the broken and derelict health management industry, who gave up a career as a healer to become one of the most mean-spirited, lock-step lackeys in government. He was, and is, a political novice who never held elected office, spending millions in both personal and public dollars to win a Senate seat from a conscientious legislator like Jim Sasser to fuel his misguided fantasy of being President of the United States. It will never happen.

The utter collapse of the "gay marriage amendment" should be an embarrassment for conservatives enlightened enough to tell when they are being used like a strap-on, yet Frist promises to bring the issue back up in a matter of months. It's ironic that this hate screed against homosexuality is called, "energizing your base," but let's be honest. Homosexuality is the tip of the iceberg for this gang of moral absolutists. It is sexuality itself that makes them uneasy. The "faith-based conservatives" are opposed to any sort of sexuality beyond the bonds of matrimony, and even then, the preferred manner is under the covers and in the dark and never in an upright position, lest they be accused of dancing. There is even a lunatic fringe that believe a "homonucleus" exists in every sperm cell. Is it that far of a stretch to imagine an attempt to pass a bill criminalizing Onanism? After all, if a little man lives in each sperm cell, then masturbation must surely lead to serial murder.

And this Doctor, like Mengele, will do anything to further his party's cause, even if it means misdiagnosing a brain dead woman by videotape as a viable member of society. This man of medicine was one of the architects of the pharmaceutical friendly Plan B for Medicare. Yet he doesn't want the Plan B contraceptive to be readily available for women, even though the FDA finds no reason why it should not. Nor does he favor sex education, legal and safe abortion procedures, universal health care, or same sex partnerships, even though the retiring Archbishop of Chicago said he could "live with the concept of civil unions." In this devastating age of AIDS, wouldn't you expect a doctor to see the value of committed relationships to our society regardless of the genders involved? But Frist prefers the "slippery slope" argument that gay and lesbian unions will naturally lead to inter-species unions.

So let's stop playing semantics. Stop persecuting people for the way they were born into this world and we'll reach a compromise. Conservative Christians can call their bonds "marriage," and same gender partnerships can call their bonds "civil unions." It's not the label, but the bonds that matter. Grant the same rights to all and cease this cruel stigmatization of gays and lesbians as evil. The evil is in the persecution. I understand the biblical reference of man not "lying with a man as a woman." Does that mean lesbianism passes muster, or was that covered by something Saint Paul said to the Corinthians?

There are thousands of Holy Scriptures in this world. Hinduism teaches that every soul is bestowed with a spark of life by it's Creator that is the equal to every other soul. By persecuting someone for their transient sexual nature in this corporal realm is a sacrilege against one of the world's major faiths. To intentionally harm anyone is an affront to God. And need we be reminded of the words of two other world religions; "Love Ye One Another," and "Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself." The oldest faiths teach service to all mankind as akin to being service to God. This hysterical tormenting of individuals that mean no harm to you, or your marriage, is evil, plain and simple.

When Frist brings up the "death tax" he isn't talking about you. This is in the interests of families that have amassed great wealth and wish to pass it along to their heirs "en toto," without feeling a need to chop anyone's estate up to feed the needy. This only exacerbates the already disparate chasm between the rich and the poor, and leads to the sort of class society that brought about the French and British Revolutions. Don't be concerned. Frist and friends are ready to trickle down on you. As for Frist's bosses in the Party of Hate, this attempt to create discriminatory law is a violation of that oath that promises to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

I would suggest that Bill Frist forget about politics and return to the nobility of his former profession. I understand that he was an excellent surgeon. What a sin to trade healing men's hearts to hurting men's souls. And as for Frist's pandering to the evangelical Christian wing of the Republican party to curry favor for his intended run for the nation's highest office, he would do better to ask them to pray for his soul. In terms of Eastern religion, he has a lot of bad karma to resolve.

Collateral Damage

"Within minutes of their approach, a mine was tripped, and the men of Bravo Company heard screams. One was killed and four GIs were seriously wounded... Frustration reached a fever pitch...(It) was a confluence of disasters- inexperienced line officers, edgy troops, higher ups who covered up and eventually got off scot-free, inept intelligence..and an endemic, pervasive feeling in the military that wasting 'mere gooks' was of no great consequence."
Myra MacPherson; "Long Time Passing; Vietnam and the Haunted Generation"

All people have a right to be shocked about the emerging story of the murder of Iraqi civilians at Haditha, but for the Vietnam generation it is certainly no surprise. We have been through all this before. The massacre of 400 Vietnamese villagers at My Lai in 1968 came to be the epiphanous moment when we realized that in times of war, the U.S. is not always on the side of democracy and justice and that in dehumanizing conditions, our forces, too, are capable of evil. The similarities between the atrocities at My Lai and those at Haditha are uncanny and differ only in the magnitude and terrain in which the events took place.

"War changes men's natures. The barbarities of war are seldom committed by abnormal men. The tragedy of war is these barbarous acts are committed by normal men in abnormal situations."
Soldiers' Defense Attorney; "Breaker Morant"

The apologists for the Bush government have been arguing vociferously that we should not confuse Iraq with Vietnam, when in fact, Iraq is becoming exactly like Vietnam except the blood is absorbed by the desert rather than the jungle. The U.S. forces, whose mission in Iraq is now unclear, are fighting an enemy without uniform that sets land mines by night and blends back into the population by day. We are supporting a fragile government without popular support and our soldiers are unable to tell friend from foe because of the indigenous nature of the insurgency. The official cover-up of My Lai lasted a year; Haditha lasted seven months. This incident, and the others under investigation, are bound to happen when you demonize the enemy and devalue the lives under your subjugation.


"You had the whole chain of command trying to keep My Lai quiet. In any war where you lose so much, soldiers will want revenge. Anytime you have a losing situation, you've got a potential My Lai. That is when it is up to the commander to set the tone, to halt it."
General Eugene "Mike" Lynch, who fought in WWII, was an aide to General Matthew Ridgeway in Korea, and served in Vietnam.
Ibid. MacPherson

Donald Rumsfeld might have foreseen this since he was a Navy pilot. But the rest of the lot; Cheney, Rove, Rice, and especially Bush, have known not war, nor protest, nor conscientious objection or personal loss. Yet they pursue an ideological and political war with other people's children and misuse those same courageous forces for their own ends. Bush rightly claims that the individuals who participated in this atrocity will be punished, but the lessons of Vietnam tell us that responsibility goes beyond the soldier who's finger was on the trigger. The only man convicted for the My Lai massacre was Lt. William "Rusty" Calley, who served about half of his seven year sentence confined to his own quarters until a chorus of hawks and conservatives persuaded a pardon out of Richard Nixon. This investigation needs to go straight up the chain of command and place the culpability with the people who put our young men and women in this untenable position.

So, how should one feel upon hearing that this type of terrible event has happened again? After humiliation that this was done in my name, I feel sadness. I am saddened for the innocent Iraqi people who were killed and their families left to grieve them. I am saddened that our excellent troops working in impossible conditions will be tarred with the despicable acts of cruelty of a few. I am saddened for the Reservists and Guardsmen who joined the military to earn money for college or for their families, and are now on their second and third tours because our Commander in Chief doesn't have the luxury of a military draft. And I am sad for this country , involved in a war with seemingly no end, led by inexperienced and intractable "yes men" for geopolitical purposes. Surely pressure must now be applied to bring this horror to an end, because the saddest thing of all is that it never had to happen.

I have mentioned Robert McNamara's book, "In Retrospect; The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam," before. It was published in 1995. Rumsfeld, the neocons, and co-members of the Project for the New American Century were so certain in their militaristic theories that they did not even ask the advice of Bush the Smarter. So why should they consider consulting with the architect of our nation's most tragic foreign misadventure? Perhaps because McNamara, unlike Rumsfeld, assumes responsibility for his mistakes and urges others to learn from them. With Rummy, "stuff happens."

McNamara enumerates several "Lessons of Vietnam" that were the "major causes for our disaster." Some of the cogent ones are, "We misjudged then, as we have since, the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries, and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions."; "We viewed the people and their leaders in terms of our own experience. We saw in them a thirst for, and a determination to fight for, freedom and democracy. We totally misjudged the political forces within the country."; "We failed then, as we have since, to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment...We failed as well to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture."; "We did not realize that our leaders are not omniscient. Where our own security is not directly at stake, our judgment of what is in another people's or country's best interests should be put to the test in open discussions in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image or as we choose."; and most prescient, "We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action, other than in response to direct threats to our own security, should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces fully supported by the international community." In conclusion, McNamara stated that in future "limited" wars, that "our leaders, and our people, must be prepared to cut our losses and withdraw if it appears our limited objectives cannot be achieved at acceptable risks and costs."

The risks and costs of this war are now beyond unacceptable. Only real investigations into the selling of this war can make clear how we got to this terrible place. And these investigations can only come about by individual and personal determination to create a change in the political dynamic of the United States. If we attempt to punish a handful of soldiers while the administration and higher-ups in the military washes theirs, we will miss this lesson as well, and can expect a My Lai or a Haditha again and again.


"We should strive to do things in (Ghandi's) spirit. Not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by non-participation in anything you believe is evil."
Albert Einstein

Goodbye Humvee

On this auspicious occasion that General Motors announced it will no longer produce the Hummer I for public consumption, I would like to take a moment to bid farewell to the worst, most wasteful, quasi fascist automotive fad to ever come down the road. In this monkey see culture, Arnold buys a fleet of Hummers and suddenly they are on the streets of your city. Imagining the arrogance it takes to drive one of these garish vehicles, I tried never to confront one of the owners personally to avoid bloodshed, probably mine. But I had to express my outrage somehow and ordered a package of fake parking tickets from an online prank company. They look very much like a government regulated citation and say "Violation, $100.00 Fine." Then they give you a list of offenses that you can check off. For the Hummer I usually checked the boxes next to "Driving a Hunk of Crap," and "Mentally Handicapped Driver," then put them under the wiper and slunk into the night with silent satisfaction. In fact, it felt so good, I started to put them on some of these Suburban Assault Vehicles. Maybe I gave one to you.

A Disclaimer: I am the co-owner of a red Ford Explorer that I inherited in my wife's divorce from her previous husband. It was either that or a pick-up truck. But it's paid for and we will probably drive it until the wheels fall off. But if I had my druthers, I'd trade it in for one of those sleek Japanese sedans. A solid and low highway bullet that needs minimal maintenance and has a tight turning ratio and responds to your urgings. That's the same symbolism the auto industry used to sell the SUV. The populace sees O.J. fleeing the police in a white Bronco, and suddenly our streets are filled with mammoth, gasoline swilling boxes of steel and chrome that obliterate all trace of the station wagon, which at least you could see over and around. Advertising emphasizes the security, but tests show that a 7000 pound vehicle rolls more easily than a 3000 pound vehicle. I ask my friends why they buy them and the answer is always the same; The Kids! I never had the obligation to take the children to soccer practice and I know it takes some space. But when I am in traffic, nine times out of ten the SUV contains only the driver, usually a woman and more often than not, on the phone. I am not attempting to be sexist. That's just how it is. Try the experiment yourself. No matter what time of day or night, the half hour of 3:00 to 3:30 aside, while you sit at a light, observe the SUV. If ten pass, they usually contain ten people.

Then there is always the response, "It's my money. I earned it and I can do damned well what I want with it." All these sentiments are undeniably true. But living in a civil society sometimes requires you to be cognizant of those around you. It requires more than ostentation, of doing things merely because you can. Civility is based on empathy, of imagining the consequences of your actions on others. Back in the day when our hair was long and our eyes were bright, I drove a Volkswagen mini-van until I realized what an enormous mistake I made in acquiring it. I couldn't park it or maneuver it, or heat it for that matter, but for a while it gave my self esteem a boost to be sitting up there high looking down on the other drivers. Now that it costs $80.00 to fill the tank, there are less expensive thrills. There will always be those who operate these vehicles regardless of the price of gas and the meager mileage because they wish to prove that they are able to do whatever they want. For anyone with a conscience, the game should be about over.

There is no real reason for optimism according to a poll run by Kelley Blue Book, (KBB.com). According to a survey that asked what a customer would be willing to sacrifice to achieve five more miles per gallon, only 27% were willing to step down in the size of their vehicle. And an additional 27% said that they were willing to sacrifice nothing. And every day the streets are more clogged, manners are non-existent, and the air is fouled. I used to love to drive. I hate it now. I have passed up opportunities to be with friends and family merely because I wanted to avoid the rage that encompasses me from here to there. It wasn't always this way.

I also once truly believed that by the turn of the century, we would have perfected the electric car. And instead of filling stations, there would be charging stations all up and down the highway. And you could zip along cleanly and quietly and drive into the heart of the city and still be able to breathe clean air and see the sun. Our energy dependence would be over and we could be about the business of cleaning up some of the century of automotive mess we've made. But, on the good side, I guess we're not going to Mars anymore. A good start would be to cease electing to public office those who feel obligated to dole out favors to Big Oil.

Jimmy Carter tried to tell us. We were too weary of the stage managed fireplaces and cardigan sweaters to remember the first campaign promise Carter made, "I will never lie to you." And he didn't. Considering that Carter was two helicopters short of being a national hero, the truth might have cost him the election. Carter's warnings about our energy dependence created a shift to more efficient cars and created an atmosphere for Saturn to begin. Too bad they made lousy cars, but it was the right direction. We need to right our course again and send a message to Detroit that the day of the family monster truck is over. Now that the kids are teenagers, maybe it's time to consider taking up less space on the road. A killer sound system always sounds better in a compacted space and increased fuel efficiency will drive down the price of gas. And imagine being able to park again. Until then, I need a ride.

The Real World

And here I sit so patiently/Waiting to find out what price/You have to pay to get out of/Going through all these things twice.
Bob Dylan, "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again"

Now that everyone I see, hear, or talk to is outraged, furious, or frustrated, I would like to pose a question. Who could have imagined that electing a political novice as president, a Texas one and a half term governor who was incompetent and unprepared for the job, would have turned out so badly? I couldn't. I thought President Jethro would be a caretaker who would try to reverse the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson, at worst. When Dubya made his speech to the joint session of Congress after the attacks of 9/11, I not only thought it was a great speech, I thought it was one of the best speeches I had ever heard. But Dubya's posse had a chip on their collective shoulders from the unfinished business of Bush the Smarter in Iraq. They rolled an amiable dunce into believing he was Charlemagne. Perhaps Secretary Rumsfeld should have read Robert McNamara's book, "In Retrospect; The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." Does that say it plainly enough?

Most frustrating is the mirror image of the war in Iraq with the war in Vietnam. Out of the whole bunch, only Colin Powell seemed sobered by that war and learned its painful lessons. The tag-team of Rummy/Cheney came aboard during the Ford administration after the war had ended. President Jethro was partying hardy and the neocons who participated in planning their war fantasy in Iraq never got a whiff of gunpowder. Neither did a lot of people who's lives were torn asunder by arrogant politicians who refused to admit their errors. But this regime never participated in the protests but, rather, had contempt for the protesters who they felt aided the enemy. History has disproven this lie as history will reveal the current lies. The people who are now shouting the loudest about accountability for the warmongerers are those same people who helped drag the Vietnam War to its inevitable conclusion through outrage and protest. They are attempting to keep up the pressure to end our presence in Iraq quickly, before the body count is to ghastly to conceive. The rage is the result of most 60s protesters believing they would never have had to experience such a tragedy again.

But the Vietraq comparisons will be the same at the end as they were at the beginning. Here is how I know. The turning point in the Nixon administration's intransigence began when the soldiers who fought came home and founded the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and marched on Washington. That was John Kerry's finest hour, unfortunately. Two weeks ago in New York there was a protest march attended by 300,000 people and it was led by soldiers disillusioned by their tour of duty in Iraq. You would think a third of a million people in the street would be banner headlines and leading news stories on the networks, but the corporate press was too busy covering the phony "crisis" in illegal immigration. This Rovian scheme to make illegals into felons even fooled the immigrants. Their turnout for amnesty was the result of the fear of being criminalized for existing, but it overshadowed the war protests.

Unprecedented, however, is this revolt of the retired generals and the mutiny at the CIA over the very real possibility that the Bush regime is going to bomb Iran. A great many people feel we have a score to settle with Iran over the humiliation of the hostage crisis during the Carter administration. Most don't know that in 1953, the CIA and the British Secret Service arranged and executed a coup to overthrow the democratically elected President of Iran, Dr. Mohammed Mossadeq, because he would not allow foreign interference in Iran's oil industry. Instead, our government re-instated the Shah, who's brutal secret police terrorized the citizenry until the Iranian revolution of the 1970s. Our government created the environment for the mullahs who now rule Iran to come into power. These are the unlearned lessons of intervention and intrigue. Was that those chickens I heard coming home to roost? I just hope we can impeach President Jethro before he starts World War III.

On this, the cusp of Karl Rove's indictment for perjury, and the eve of a breaking corruption scandal that will make Watergate look like Travelgate, it's good to reflect on the abuses of power that led to Richard Nixon's impeachment. No leader since Nixon has been more deserving of impeachment than President Jethro, maybe since Andrew Johnson, who botched Reconstruction. This President, however, if impeached and put on trial in the Senate will not only be removed from office, he will be sent to jail or The Hague, along with his fellow travelers who have caused so much misery and instability in the world.

We cannot afford to allow another three years to pass without holding the offenders accountable. The hapless and spineless Democrats are no lead pipe cinch to win back the House because they are busy pandering to the cult of personality that elected Bush. The only politician other than Russ Feingold who has been consistently anti-war and vocal in his denouncement of this cynical cabal has been Al Gore. If one potential freshman Congressman or Senator would run for office on the promise of initiating real investigations with subpoena power into this regime's deceptions, that would be sufficient reason to vote for them. The only political progressive with those kind of guts plays a funny conservative on TV with the courage to risk public condemnation in order to tell the truth.

Mealymouth Republican candidate for president George Allen of Virginia recently said, "We need people like Tony Snow, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh to speak out. They know what's going on in the real world." That is akin to the Democrats urging Courtney Love to be more outspoken. While Limbaugh was swimming in a sea of Oxycontin, in the real world a local home moving business has to drastically raise prices to put gas in their trucks. In the real world, a round trip from Memphis to Nashville in an SUV costs nearly as much as an airline ticket. In the real world, if you own stock in Exxon you're doing fine, but if you need Exxon to get to work, you're in trouble. And ultimately, in the real world, this president is not "The Decider," you are! It is past time that we should remember that.

My Exit Strategy

ISLAMIC PEACEKEEPERS! How much louder can I shout it, and why haven't I heard this suggestion from anyone in government? The Bush administration's reckless adventure in Iraq is fast approaching the time when it will be beyond our ability to influence events on the ground. Our soldiers are in the crosshairs of every wanna-be jihadist with a weapon and the elected representatives of the Iraqi people refuse to compromise on a coalition government despite the prodding from Dr. Rice to hurry up and get something done before the U.S. mid-term elections.

This is something President Bush could accomplish on his own, without the coaching of his failed policy-makers or his soon to be jailed political advisor. President Bush has assets he could yet bring to bear toward a favorable outcome in Iraq. He has old friends in the Saudi Royal Family; an ally in Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; a convert in Khadaffi of Libya; a grateful populace in Kuwait; and emerging Arab states like Qatar and the U.A.E. who wish to prove to the U.S. that they are trustworthy enough partners with which to do business. The President could appeal to these nations and leaders personally, or through Secretary Rice, to provide troops to act as peacekeepers while the Iraqis determine their own future.

This would relieve the American military of daily and deadly street patrols and allow them to redeploy to what John Kerry called in a N.Y. Times editorial, "a garrisoned position, over the horizon." Kerry failed to note that U.S. trained Iraqi security forces are not yet capable of suppressing the violence, either against coalition forces or against Iraqi civilians. If the American and British forces were removed from the equation and replaced by Muslim troops, proportionately Sunni and Shia to the Iraqi population, neither Al Qaeda nor home grown Iraqi insurgents would be so zealous to kill them in the name of jihad. The U.S. could prove to the Iraqi people that we have no permanent designs on their country by withdrawing our forces to secured positions and allowing those Arab states that claim to be America's friends, to stand up and prove it and assist us in our time of need.

The time is running out in this endeavor. If the breaking news concerning the Scooter Libby testimony to the grand jury proves to be true, the President is about to become embroiled in a maze of political and legal difficulties that will dominate the remainder of his term, however long that may be. President Clouseau promised to get to the bottom of who was leaking classified information from his administration, but he forgot to get a "lizenze for his minkey," and found the leaker in the mirror. The President claims patriotic amnesia. While mountain biking in Crawford, he heard one too many Toby Keith songs on his iPod and felt justified in trashing the reputations of the sneaky traitors who dared question the true lies that the White House Iraqi Group so meticulously concocted. Jethro's in a heap of trouble this time.

But our soldiers in Iraq can't afford to wait for legislative justice to be meted out to the neo-cons and war planners who's bankrupt ideology put them there, along with the President who said of Iraq that "God told me to strike them, and so I did." Unless God suddenly changed His mind and decided, "Blessed are the warmongers," Bush was probably hearing the voice of God through Dick Cheney. It is now clear that both Cheney and Rumsfeld believe that if Bush the Elder had given Norman Schwartzkoff one more week, he would have been in Baghdad and either captured or killed Saddam. But Poppy Bush wasn't interested in the uncertainty of a long term occupation of Iraq. That's why Bush the Clueless wasn't interested in asking his father's sissy advice and instead claimed council from a "Higher Father." It's tough to argue with schizophrenics or politicians who claim they hear voices.

Everyday the status quo is maintained in Iraq, is one day farther from resolution, and another day of bloodshed. The discredited architects of this conflict are now obligated to extricate us from it. They should, without delay, impose upon the President to call on America's Arab friends, cowboy hat in hand if necessary, to request military assistance in helping to lessen the turmoil in Iraq. It is in the interest of modern Arab states to assist first in ending the slaughter of Muslims by their fellow Muslims; to pacify the home grown insurgency and restrict Al Qaeda targets by limiting the American military presence; and to assist in encouraging the emergence of a representative Iraqi government that could put a check on Iranian ambitions in the region.

The question is, can this macho, posturing administration find the humility to ask for help? Our armed forces have done everything that could possibly have been asked of them and more. The American military cannot impose a political solution on the Iraqis, and their presence is now a flashpoint for Islamic rage. Bush is the first president since Nixon with a daily body count. And though Nixon was elected on a "secret plan" to end the Vietnam War, over 20,000 more soldiers died before the "secret plan" was implemented. Will Bush's Urban Cowboy attitude cause him to keep our forces in Iraq beyond the point of their usefulness? A personal appeal for Muslim troops may yet earn Bush his coveted place in history as the man who was brazen enough to alter the Middle East political landscape. Then this President can honor the service of the men and women he placed in danger by returning them safely to their families.

I Have A (Bad) Dream

I have a bad dream today. That one day, this militaristic administration will realize the dire conditions in which they have placed our armed forces, and try to find a premise to re-institute the draft, just as they found one to invade Iraq. Because of Secretary Rumsfeld's complete misjudgment about the forces needed to control Iraq, along with our soldiers stationed in Afghanistan and around the world, our military is stretched like a taut rubber band. Ask any member of the cabinet or the Congress and they will say that there is absolutely no popular support for a draft. Yet, they don't rule it out. And with our armed forces missing their volunteer goals month after month because war doesn't seem like much of a career choice for someone who is merely trying to raise money for college, we simply need more soldiers. This means that any provocation against the United States, be it along the Iranian border, or another attempt to strike at a major American city, can be used by experienced propagandists to stir up patriotic fervor to, by God, raise an Army large enough to crush our enemies.

Please don't think I am being paranoid about a draft. After all, the Selective Service system was never disassembled after the draft was ended by Congress in 1973, and it is still the law for young men to register with Selective Service on their 18th birthday. Though representatives from both parties continue to repeat that proposing a draft would be the political kiss of death, Salon.com reported that on an obscure federal web site devoted to the war on terror, the Bush administration quietly began a public campaign to restaff and restart the regional draft boards that men from the Vietnam era remember so well. The announcement read, "If a military draft becomes necessary, approximately 2000 Local and Appeal Boards throughout America would decide which young men...receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from military service." The only thing that has changed about a potential draft are the rules.

Neither President Shemp, Deadeye Dick Cheney, or Karl "The Konquerer" Rove, ever had to worry about the draft during the Vietnam War. Cheney, the king of deferments, merely stayed in college until it was over, and Rove was likewise disqualified. President Shemp, of course, was in favor of the war in Vietnam and allowed the military to train him as a jet fighter pilot. Only, that was sufficient. He didn't really want to fight or nothin'. Now we see that the National Guard and the Army Reserve are no longer safe havens from combat and if required to confront North Korea or Iran, we don't have the manpower to do it. Under current law, if the Congress and the President agree that military forces are needed in the defense of this country, the President's signature re-activates the draft. Federal law then requires the Selective Service to immediately set up a lottery and begin to send out induction notices. And you can forget about that college silliness. New law states that students who's lottery numbers are picked would only be permitted to finish their current semester and then it's "grab your toothbrush and get on the bus."

In addition, a proposal from Selective Service director Lewis Brodsky to senior Pentagon officials, just released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2004, suggests for the first time, that women should also register for the military draft and that young Americans regularly inform the government if they have acquired any "niche specialties" needed in the armed services. If you think you are too old for the draft, Brodsky also proposed extending the age of draft registrants from the present 25, to 34 years old. If the war in Iraq continues to be, in Rumsfeld's words, "a long hard slog", where will the new soldiers be coming from? Just this week, the Supreme Court ruled that any University that accepts government funds must allow military recruitment on campus. This riles former Vietnam era students who rallied to prevent military recruiters on campus when their only purpose was to find warm bodies for the meat grinder in Southeast Asia.

We have been told by leaders of both parties that it's not a matter of "if" but "when" there is another attempt at a terrorist attack on this country. This administration is filled with master manipulators, and it would take very little to appeal to the sort of patriotism we saw after 9/11 to raise the forces necessary to fight Bush's wars. My observation is that young people, especially college students today, are on the whole a patriotic group and would be inclined to serve if their country called. They should remember the words of Mark Twain that "Patriotism is being loyal to your country all of the time, but to the government only when they deserve it." I try to emphasize to my 20 year old step-son that it's important to differentiate between the nation and what it stands for, and a regime, only temporarily in power, that uses jingoism and patriotism to achieve its political agenda.

This is my bad dream and greatest fear; that this government will attempt to rob young people of their plans and futures in order to fight in a rich man's war. Already, this new conversation about a "War on Christianity" has Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it. This is a blatant attempt to create an emotional wedge issue in time for the 2006 mid-term elections. Banging the drums of war hysteria accomplishes the same purpose, and what better issues for the Republicans to run on than God and War? Already, congressional leaders have proposed bills to introduce some sort of mandatory "national service" for young people, be it in the military where they are needed, or some quasi-altruistic program based on Peace Corps ideals that they haven't thought up yet, but will be impossible to join because of the waiting lists. Here's the most frightening part. Should President Shemp sign legislature re-instituting a lottery draft, federal law requires that the first group of conscripts be processed and ready for boot camp within 193 days of the program's start.

I can't tell my step-son what to do. The best I can tell him is how the draft affected every aspect of my young life, and put strain and anxiety on me and my family who were frustrated at my inability to resolve this personal crisis by appealing to the Draft Board. And I was one of the lucky ones. I avoided killing or being killed in an unjust war of choice, begun by a lie. We don't need another memorial wall on the Mall in Washington. This latest rumbling about a draft must be opposed at all costs. And if my step-son should come to me for advice about what to do should he find himself in such a situation, I will tell him to do the honorable thing and go to jail.

Takin' It To The Street

When I read that the Southern Republican Leadership Conference was to be held in Memphis at the Peabody Hotel with 2500 hardcore Southern True Believers in tow, I decided to protest the event. If I can sit at the computer in my lounging clothes and encourage others to take action, it was the least I could do to drive downtown and join the hundreds of other protesters certain to be there from all over. I have my priorities of course, and first had to watch the Memphis Tigers win their conference championship. I figured I would catch the Republicans for the afternoon session. But my sign was ready. I had made it the day before with posterboard, tomato stakes, magic marker, and staples. It said "Sheep," on one side and "Fools," on the other. I felt anyone who can still defend this administration is either a sheep or a fool. I added the address of this blog, just in case.

It wasn't the first sign I've made. I wasn't always a protester. In college, I was a raging moderate who believed that whatever the question, the answer was "love." Then I witnessed a peaceful demonstration by students at the University of Tennessee turn confrontational and then violent as a squad of Knoxville, helmeted, riot police charged the crowd in a club swinging melee that sent students scattering down the famous Hill, dripping blood into the new Student Center from their fresh head wounds. I realized that protest was a matter of conviction. Then when Richard Nixon announced he was coming to Knoxville to speak at a Billy Graham Crusade after the secret bombing of Cambodia, it fell upon me as a resident Knoxvillian to physically demonstrate against this political misuse of a religious gathering. That's when I made my first sign. It said "Crusade for Christ," but I had drawn an X through Christ and written "Nixon" below it. We picketed the main drag in front of the campus for the benefit of the afternoon Knoxville rush hour, and just to show that we were there. I didn't ask for it. It came to me. Same thing with the Republicans last Sunday. I was obligated to show my face in the place.

I got into a minor confrontation the minute I arrived. I grabbed my sign and headed for the sidewalk on Union Ave. in front of The Peabody when two policemen told me I could not protest on that side of the street. I asked if this wasn't a public sidewalk and was told, in fact, "no," that The Peabody owned the sidewalk all around the block. I was skeptical but crossed the street. Then as a measure of civil disobedience, I walked to Third Street and down the sidewalk on the Peabody side but the back way where the service entrances are. No one stopped me but the hostility was palpable for a single picket. I decided I would feel better when I found the rest of the protesters. I returned to the Union Ave. entrance of the Peabody, (across the street), and found three others. A young gay man with a back-pack holding a sign that said "Impeach Bush Now;" a young man of college age holding a sign that said "Stop Republican Fascism;" and a former hippie housewife from Lakeland who's sign read "Evildoers." I asked the woman where everyone else was and was informed that this was it. There were four of us.

You could spot the Republicans in a second. Everyone was in their Sunday, go-to-meetin' clothes, and wearing a laminated badge around their necks held together with a red ribbon which they wore like the scarlet letter. No sooner had I staked out my spot when a heavyset, red-ribbon wearing man in his forties walked behind us and paused to say, "Well, aren't you all proud of yourselves?" There was something in his sneering condescension that set me off. I replied vociferously, "I'm very proud of myself for standing out here in opposition to people like you." He said, "It's people like me that guarantee your right to stand out here." I lost it a little,"People like you? I thought the Constitution gave me that right..." and then I called him a synonym for a donkey's sphincter. I was sorry as soon as I said it, but the guy froze and looked at me very hard. I thought, "My God, I haven't been here five minutes and I'm about to be in a fistfight." Thinking that the best defense was a good offense, I immediately said in my best Chuck Norris, "You better just keep on walking, mister." The fat Republican looked at the ground and shook his head, paused for a second and walked on. I was relieved not to have to throw or duck punches. I apologized to my fellow demonstrators and told them it had been a long time, but now I remembered that if you plan to demonstrate where you are not in the majority, you can prepare to take a little abuse.

I had no idea how much abuse could be packed into a few hours, most of it drive-by name calling, some of it confrontational. The ugliest remarks were from the Republican women. Although, Kathryn Harris had cancelled her appearance at the shindig, most of the women I saw looked like Kathryn Harris impersonators, only longer in the tooth. They had that 60s Mary Tyler Moore hair-do shellacked in place, deep lipstick scars on their faces and lots of cosmetic surgery. What looked like startled shock on one woman's face was actually a brow lift gone terribly wrong. She said to the protesting housewife, "Is Osama Bin Laden your best friend?" (BTW, just writing that name gets me on a list somewhere), to which the protester replied "What the hell does that mean?" There was a tense stand-off until the GOP women remembered their dinner reservations.

I tried to time my protest to be there when the Republicans ended their afternoon session. They were all there. Frist, Hastert, George Allen, Mitt Romney, Trent "Highty Tighty" Lott, and the rest of the contenders. When a girl came up to me and asked what I thought of Mitt Romney, I replied that I liked his Daddy because he was a Democrat. When the three o'clock hour arrived, no grand poohbahs came out of The Peabody, but we caught the delegates' eye. The four of us posed for photographs for the next half-hour. We were indeed a collective curio. One guy even had me put my arm around him and hold the sign on the "Fools" side so his wife could take the picture. And dozens of cell phone memories were imprinted with our images. I reminded my fellows that someone among these happy few was from the FBI. They looked alarmed but being the oldest, I chuckled and said with false bravado, "they can just dust off my old picture from the 60s." Then several carloads drove by shouting "Faggots," and the antiquated "Commies." I laughed at that one thinking the closest Commie to Memphis was an old man in Cuba. A smaller number of drivers honked in support or gave the thumbs-up sign, but although there were numerous black Republican delegates in attendance, every African-American that drove by, without exception, honked or waved in approval. I forgot to mention that I was also wearing my "George W. Bush is a Punk-Ass Chump" tee shirt.

Chris Matthews from "Hardball," walked outside and looked up at our signs. I waved to him and he smiled back and removed his sportcoat. For a moment, I fantasized about arguing my position with Matthews on MSNBC, being the oldest of four demonstrators, but Matthews asked a policeman which way to Beale Street, then turned his back and walked in the opposite direction. The crowd thinned. The Republicans were eating and resting up for the evening session and we were discussing calling it a day when a homeless black man wearing a choir robe with a velvet collar and a broad-brimmed Jack Abramoff hat approached. He thanked us for being there and said even though he was homeless, he kept up with the news and knew that the Republicans under Bush were not looking out for the poor. I asked him if he had heard what Rev. Joseph Lowry had said at the Corretta Scott King funeral, and to my astonishment he told me he was at the funeral and proceeded to quote from the various speakers at length. He said that an elected city official looks after him sometimes and gave him the money for the bus ride to Atlanta and it was one of the greatest events in his life. Just when I was beginning to feel good about that, from the corner of my eye I saw a rough looking man in a dirty shirt and an unkempt moustache rushing towards me. I braced myself and turned to confront this wild man when he handed me a fountain coke with ice and a straw and said, "thank you for doing this." I was glad that I did and would do it again if some others would join me.

That's why I want you to know about the March for Peace, Justice and Democracy sponsored by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. People will gather at the First Congregational Church at 1000 S.Cooper at 1PM, this Sunday, March 19th and walk somewhere. It marks the third anniversary of "Shock and Awe." I felt better after having exercised my right to freely assemble and protest my government's policies, and you can probably be home in time to watch the Tigers in the NCAA Tourney. Before our merry band of four protesters at The Peabody finally parted company we shook hands all around and agreed to meet at the Peace March. I said to them in closing, "We didn't do much, but at least we did something."

All Wet

I wish to apologize to Michael Brown. I have just seen the Associated Press video footage of FEMA's pre-Katrina briefing to President Shemp, and it appears to me that Brownie was, indeed, doing a heckuva job. He anticipated a storm of historic magnitude and even anticipated the chaos in the Superdome as a possible "catastrophe within a catastrophe." He inquired about medical and mortuary services and told his subordinates if there were any territorial disputes to do what they needed to do and he would take the blame. I have seen hours of news footage and read hundreds of press accounts regarding Katrina and the FEMA response. I thought I knew, yet I did not know. Now I have seen and heard and realize that Brownie wasn't the weak link in the criminally neglectful non-action after Katrina. It was President Shemp himself.

My first reaction to the Bush briefing video was "so what?" He's inept and we know it, so what's new? President Shemp did what he always does; say whatever he needs to say at the time, in this case "help is on the way," and leave it to his underlings to take care of the details. What is so blatantly obnoxious is President Shemp's bald-faced lie five days after the hurricane struck that "No one could have anticipated the breach of the levees." Hell, I anticipated the breach of the levees. That's the first thing they teach you as a visitor to New Orleans. "They have to bury the dead above ground here because it's all below sea level." Maybe President Shemp forgot that they call those funny drinks at Pat O'Brien's "Hurricanes" for a reason. And his stammering response about "no situational awareness" (a statement that would make Al Gore wince) on the ground after the hurricane would be more credible had we not now seen evidence that he had detailed situational awareness before the storm hit. I just thought he was vacationing and detached. Now I'm starting to agree with Kanye West, he just doesn't care. There was campaign money to be raised and photo-ops on the schedule. President Shemp knows his priorities.

I understood the gravity of the situation listening to Jeanne Meserve, normally a composed CNN reporter, break down while relating the breaking grim news that after the levee breach people in New Orleans were drowning in the dark with no one to help them. The online headlines read "New Orleans Descends Into Chaos," and because I have a heart, I cried reading those stories. Now, I'm repulsed by the President's conduct, just as I was in watching his conduct for the first ten minutes after he was informed that "the nation is under attack" on 9/11. In fact, during President Shemp's "fly-over" the Gulf Coast to assess the damage, his recorded words were, "It's devastating. It must be doubly devastating on the ground." And then some, Bubba. Maybe President Shemp has a heart, just no soul.

A supervisory board in San Francisco just made news by being the first governmental body to call for the impeachment of the President and Vice President for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. Thirty five years ago, the Bay area was the first to have Free Speech demonstrations and anti-Vietnam War marches, and the rest of the country dismissed them as "peaceniks," and Communists. Big ideas often start in small ways.(Please refer to my previous post "President Hastert"). I am also convinced that this government must be held accountable for their crimes. But I am not in such a hurry to insure that we must prioritize and, IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST.

The tragic thing about this President is that though of good heart but slight of head, he never really wanted to be President in the first place. He is entirely a creation of Karl Rove (read Molly Ivans' "Bushwacked"), who had to first talk him into believing he could be Governor of Texas. Karl Rove first saw President Shemp as a young man with a steely gaze and a lot of charisma and thought, "I can make him president." That is a long way from having an ambitious young man or woman with ideals and ideas of their own who actually wants to be President and sincerely wishes to serve. Bush accepted the Presidency much as he might have accepted the presidency of his college fraternity; like it was a popularity contest or a feather in his cap, and no matter what damage he does to the bylaws, there's no permanent harm done. Now he has done permanent harm. It's there for anyone to see who wishes to see. And those who will suffer the worst, Katrina victims aside, are the Congressional Republicans and administration apologists who have to face the voters in 2006. Then we will see a hurricane of a magnitude that not even President Shemp can ignore.

Chimpeach

I figured no one needed me to chime in on the Cheney shooting incident, especially after the professional comedians chewed him a new one. I heard every Dead-Eye Dick and "Administration That Couldn't Shoot Straight" reference that they could pepper the old bastard with. Still, it was an unfortunate accident,especially for poor Harry Whittington who, as part of the White House clean-up, had to get out of bed, put on a suit, and apologise for getting shot. If Cheney had not been so taciturn and surly, he might have absorbed the ridicule for a few days and the whole matter would have been over. Cheney's post-accident conduct, however, gives genuine cause for alarm. His disdain for the media is so thorough, his aloofness from the electorate so complete, that Cheney doesn't feel that he is accountable to anyone on matters both public and personal, including the President.

Cheney's delay in reporting his accident to the President shows that he either outranks him, or has the same contempt for Bush shared by most of the world. Can you imagine such an accident happening to Walter Mondale and he decided to wait a couple of days before informing Jimmy Carter. Or Quayle not being immediately forthcoming to Bush the Elder? They would both be asked for resignations and be out on their respective asses the next day. This situation should even convince the Bush partisans what the real hierarchy of power is in this White House. Cheney is, and has been, the de-facto president who is responsible for government policy decisions in league with his secret underworld of advisors. Karl Rove makes all the political decisions, in case a Cheney policy, like torture, falls afoul of the polls. And GeeDubya, the amiable global village idiot, is merely a meat puppet for corporate interests who looks good in a suit and can lead the traveling road show doing what he so accurately describes as "catapulting the propaganda." I would think the Bush voters might be feeling a little buyer's remorse about now.

I was resigned to enduring the three years left in this circus. But there is a real crisis within the administration itself that does not bode well for anything other than damage control to continue from here. No more speeches about men to Mars or America's "ownership society." The United States is now practically a wholly owned subsidiary of China and Japan. And all Bush can do is try to outrun the looming financial crisis like a tourist in Pamploma about to be gored by a bull. This nation cannot afford three more years of this irrational and destructive behavior. So, for the good of the nation, after Mr. Cheney's full involvement in the CIA leak case is made public, he should resign his office and be replaced. Bush and Rumsfeld deserve Impeachment for lying to the American people and taking this country to war without sufficient planning or equipment. Rove just needs to be arrested, and like Ambassador Joe Wilson said, "frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs."

This government is the worst fraud ever perpetrated on the American people. The Iraqi war has the Muslim world in a rage, Iran has become a present danger with our armed forces too stretched to respond if necessary, and for the first time since the Reagan years, new Latin American leaders, contemptuous of the Bush government, are being elected by railing against U.S. imperialism. Bush has made this a much more dangerous world. If his intentions were to roll back social progress to the fifties, he succeeded in returning us to the twenties. We will be a very long time cleaning up the wreckage left behind by this bunch.

And the blundering, inept Homeland Security Department just granted rights to the United Arab Emirates to operate some of our most vital ports. I guess they figure that Arabs are better at finding the bad apples in their bunch who wish us ill, and will prevent them from infiltrating the Port Authorities better than our government. Sort of like how the military outsourced the job of capturing Osama Bin Laden to the Pakistanis at Tora Bora. Michael Jackson already lives in Dubai. Following the logic of the Bolton and Brown appointments, Bush should just go ahead and make him ambassador. I'd bet he would do a "heckuva job."

Homeland Security's bastard child, FEMA, has yet to adequately respond to Hurricane Katrina. People on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are sleeping in tents while acres of mobile homes lie sinking in a field in Arkansas. Say what you will about Bill Clinton's integrity, but had this hurricane taken place on his watch, you can bet that things regarding housing and health would be fixed by now. These wretched citizens are still waiting for loans, trailers, and assistance, while millions of dollars intended for the victims have already been stolen and the levee problem has yet to be addressed. Hurricane season is right around the corner.

After the 2001 attacks on this country, I recall feeling grateful that experienced men like Cheney and Rumsfeld were in power. I never believed that they would cynically use those attacks to manipulate the American people into backing their distorted and discredited world view. Now, I am bone weary of them and I just want them to go. There is criminal conduct to be accounted for and justice to be meted out for all the people in this White House that helped push the fraudulent case for war. Since this administration continues to morph into the Nixon model, when they are convicted and gone to prison, President Condoleezza Rice can tell us, "our long national nightmare is over."

The Critical State of the Union

Is he delusional? Is he insane? Or is there just not enough oxygen getting into that bubble he is in? What in the hell was he talking about? Is some evil scientist somewhere about to perfect a cloned centaur that I don't know about? Then what was all that business about banning inter-species cloning? We already have Ted Williams' head in a freezer somewhere and some DNA from Secretariat. Just think of the baseball playing racehorse we could create if the President would relax the regulations a little. He has on everything else, why not cloning? We could clone Bush and impeach him twice.

The wonderful thing about our President is that it does not matter what you say or write about him. He is not listening so he is not concerned. Bush is the walking example of the axiom "ignorance is bliss." As long as there is another hill to climb on his mountain bike, the world is a wonderful place. As evidenced by the State of the Union speech last night, that's too bad for the rest of us. Usually, Bush says whatever he needs to say to get through a crisis, (i.e. "We'll build back New Orleans better than ever," or, "Listening to Americans' conversations without a warrant is covered under Congress' vote to give the President power to wage war.")But last night, he did not even attempt that. It was the same old bovine leavings. "9/11, terrorists are trying to kill you, don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain, God bless America, Git-R-Done."

Bush speaks of the dangers of isolationism and protectionism. Are we back to the Monroe Doctrine? Who in the United States is speaking of "isolationism" except President Bush? Back in college philosophy, we learned that such an argument is called a "straw man." You create a bogeyman from whole cloth, create fear or confusion about it, then you knock it down. Saddam Hussein has proved to be very much of a straw man except he keeps walking out of court and defying the law. Who does he think he is, George W. Bush? And the only protectionism I've heard about comes from Republicans, horrified by our trade deficit, who wish to put tariffs on goods coming from other countries who's labor is cheaper than ours. Bush realizes his corporate donors along the Texas border need that cheap labor, but he engages in doublespeak because the people who vote for him want to build a wall.

Bush says "freedom is on the march." Unfortunately, it's a forced march at bayonet point. If he has admitted intelligence failures caused him to "adjust" his battle plan, why in five years has he done nothing to improve our intelligence capabilities? What good does it do to read Americans' e-mail but miss the fact that the Palestinian elections are not going the way you thought? Bush pointedly warned Hamas about conditions they must meet before being recognized by the United States. My question is, do you think they care? The Palestinian people elected a terrorist organization to represent them right under the nose, and financial aid, of the U.S. government. Are they concerned that the Bush administration scolded them? Judging from the news footage from the West Bank, the outcome of this election could have been predicted by the administration just from finding out who had the concession for green baseball hats in Nablus.

It has reached the sad point where it does not matter what the President says. Most people just don't believe him anymore. Last night, Bush read a Karl Rove "strategeried" speech poorly. It was a waste of an hour for all concerned. Now that it's over, we can turn our attention this week to the largest case of corporate fraud ever, and hope that somewhere during the Enron trial it will be pointed out that they were the Bush team's major corporate donors since his first run for Governor of Texas. What I am eagerly awaiting is the State of the Union address for next year. I realize that it is twelve months away, but the mid-term elections are only ten months away. And if the American people have finally drawn the conclusion that our engineer and his crew are, and have been, asleep at the switch, they just may rise up in righteous indignation and decide to throw the bums out. In that case, without the cloak of a Republican Congress to protect him, next year's address may come while the President is under indictment for high crimes and misdemeanors. Come on, calendar! Meanwhile, no cloning Granny along with Fluffy to try and create a housecat that bakes cookies.

Clinton's Sin Pt.II:Hillary

Hillary Clinton has been listening to her political advisors again, and I'll bet that Bill is not one of them because she's getting bad advice. Her "Congress as Plantation" remark in a church in Harlem on Martin Luther King Day was hamfisted and insulting. Bill would have been much more nuanced and said something like, "the Republicans run Congress like a company store." Then he could have made his black reference so appealing that all those listening would believe they were in on the same inside joke. Bill grew up in 1950s Arkansas, and the cadence and pitch of black oratory come naturally to him. Hillary grew up in a Chicago suburb and attended private schools. Her attempt at relating to an African American church congregation sounded more like Vivian Leigh than Hattie McDaniels. Something happens to white people when they address a black audience. Their speech becomes more Southern and measured and if they receive a response from the audience, it starts feeling good to them and they believe that they, too, can pontificate like Martin Luther King,Jr. And before you know it, they're talking about plantations and what-not. This manner of speech coming from Mrs. Clinton in that setting can be called only one thing; pandering.

Since it is no secret that Mrs. Clinton is the frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic Party's presidential nomination, she is attempting to position herself to become more palatable to middle America. Thus, last month she announced her co-sponsoring of a bill in Congress with Republican Senator Robert Bennett to criminalize flag burning, even though the Supreme Court has already determined that the symbolic act of burning the flag is free speech protected by the First Amendment. That was then and this is now. A new Supreme Court with a decidedly conservative bent may decide to revisit the issue. If the bill has Hillary's name on it, she may look more patriotic to the yee-haws but ultimately, it won't work. Liberals know who she is and where she came from and so do Conservatives. Her stance in this matter is pure posturing and everyone can see it but her. This insults both the left and the right and though Hillary may well capture the 2008 nomination, I believe she will get rolled like George McGovern in 1972. She is as polarizing a figure as Bush and is perceived as someone who cares more about political power than the issues. The real shame is that this is a perception of her own construction.

So it is also with my hometown Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Bill Frist. Junior is the son of the patriarch of the most powerful black political dynasty the city of Memphis has ever seen. He has been cautious to avoid the sort of rough racial politics his uncles and aunts played in the 70s and 80s. Yet, because he is positioning himself to be acceptable to the conservative voters of East Tennessee, he voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage. This from a young man educated at the University of Michigan who inherited his father's congressional seat before he even graduated. This smacks of hypocrisy. I don't think he really believes in his vote, and instead tried to execute a "stealth" vote after the issue was already decided to show conservative voters he was no liberal like Dad. If Congressman Ford, Jr. actually believes that an amendment to the Constitution is needed to prevent gays from marrying, then it is doubly troubling. Regardless of how you feel about Jr.'s controversial family, they were political and civil rights pioneers, and it would be deeply upsetting to know that a person who benefited from the advances in civil rights would attempt to pass a constitutional amendment denying those same rights to others.

I am sick to death of political posturing and the ever increasing influence of the political advisor. It was widely reported and heavily criticized that in one phone conversation between Bill Clinton and his advisor Dick Morris, Morris put one of his call girls on the line to listen in on the President. When Bush was elected, however, Karl Rove went ahead and moved the entire whorehouse into the West Wing. Rove has proven how so much power in the hands of an unelected official can be misused with impunity. My sense is that voters are also tired of the political advisor and yearn for someone to emerge with real convictions and sincere intentions.

Last month, Senator Barack Obama spoke about his political philosophy and leveled a sober critique of the current government in a speech sponsored by the family of the late Senator Robert Kennedy. Ethel Kennedy was so impressed, she was quoted as saying that Obama reminded her of Bobby at that age because of his intelligence and his conviction. Obama is a freshman senator and needs more experience in office, but he seems to be the type of honest and forthright speaker this nation is seeking in a candidate. And in the three years before the next election, perhaps someone will rise from obscurity to capture that national imagination like Jimmy Carter did in 1976. Or a man of the people like West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin could be thrust into the forefront by unpredictable events.

I hope that whoever is the eventual Democratic nominee will get there without pandering or talking down to the American voter. And if there is to be any tampering with the constitution to garner votes, I hope someone will propose to do away with the 22nd Amendment setting Presidential term limits. This bill was forced into law by Republicans who were tired of being clobbered by FDR. Term limits thwart the will of the people by setting an artificial and arbitrary time for the President to retire. This seems to be the antithesis of true Democracy and counter-productive to our society. If we could repeal the 22nd, it would put an end to the problem of lame duckism and allow our chief executive to concentrate on the problems of the nation other than raising money for the next election. What I'm attempting to say is that I believe Bill Clinton is now ready to be President. Why settle for a pandering Hillary when we could have a contrite and polished Bill?

Quid Pro Quo

To understand what is at the heart of the Washington lobbying scandal you don't even need to know Latin to discern the meaning of "Quid Pro Quo." Quid is English slang for what used to be the British Pound Sterling, as in, "Hey mate, how 'bout half a quid for an old soldier?" Pro is who you give the quid to in Washington in order to spread it around to all the crooked legislators willing to accept cash to vote a certain way, as in, "that Jack Abramoff is a real Pro at stealing from the Native Americans." The quo is a little more difficult to understand. We're still looking for the "quo" because it's hard to prove whether a Congressman is stealing or if he just votes that way anyway. "Quo" could be the quorum you need to pass earmarks and pork barrel projects. Or it could be the mathematical quotient to figure which Congressman, plus how much laundered cash, equals a vote. Or it could reference the novel, "Quo Vadis," in which Nero fiddles while Rome burns. If whatever is on the wire that former Representative "Duke" Cunningham was wearing for the FBI can prove which other representatives gave up the "quo," there's going to be hell to pay.

I understand that Democrats are implicated in this potential bribery scandal as well as Republicans. Just not as many. Because only the Republicans could self immolate in such a spectacular way. They have control of both houses of Congress, the executive branch, and the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, and they turn it into a food fight. This is positive proof about absolute power corrupting absolutely. Here they were with no one to monitor their bad behavior, intoxicated with the perks of office, and puffed up with power. They put their wives and their staffers on the lobbyist's teat with no qualms at all. They took and took until there was no more to take and then they started devouring each other like cannibals. Wave some cash around and the vaunted Republican discipline comes tumbling down and it's every man for himself. They are reminiscent of the ruthless, shipwrecked schoolboys in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" who reward the strong and punish the weak. And if you recall the mid-sixties, black and white film of that novel, Karl Rove looks exactly like "Piggy." You can almost hear them screaming, "kill the pig," bash it's head." Only the Republicans self destruct in this way. Ask John Dean or Ollie North.

It's good for the party that was elected by promising to protect our "morals and values" to show themselves as so utterly valueless. It helps to keep in mind between election cycles that we vote for individuals to represent us and not some monolithic party philosophy. If someone is elected because they tow the party line, then you can expect them to behave like the party leadership. And Tom DeLay still doesn't know what he did wrong. He thinks all those rounds of golf are his reward for putting his friends in positions of power in Texas while serving as the Majority Leader in Washington.

And this cash cow that once was Jack Abramoff has been turned into a pinata at a children's party. Everyone is trying to throw away the goodies he gave out to children's charities as if that will cleanse the giver. It's great to have a second Christmas in January, especially since the one in December had a war waged upon it, but it won't protect all the little cash receiving elves, or Santa Claus either, from investigations of bribery and special favors. Instead of "quid pro quo," these dirty legislators should consider another Latin phrase; "ex post facto." Giving their ill gotten gains to charity after the fact will not help anything but their mortal souls and the charity of choice.

There is nothing more to do but wait and watch. Abramoff, who likes to quote "The Godfather," ends up like Sammy the Bull, first facilitating and then ratting out his mentors. This will be great entertainment, except for there's a war going on and the distraction could prolong it. But it's necessary to root out the corrupt and contemptible members of the Republican juggernaught before the mid-term elections in order to sod the political ground for new leadership. Peter Clemenza said, "You need to have a war every ten years or so to get rid of all the bad blood." If this bribery/lobbying scandal can be used as a stepping stone in replacing the Republican majorities in Congress, then the legislative branch can begin some real investigations into the Bush doctrine of preemption and whether this administration intentionally misled this nation into war. Perhaps then we may see the return of checks and balances, and not the bankbook kind that this Congress is obsessed with.
With a few honest legislators leading some genuine reforms, this administration may see a little "quid pro quo" of it's own.

Bush Has A Fit

I've heard that the best defense is a good offense, but the President's sputtering hissy fit over the disclosure of his domestic spying ring is about as offensive as it gets. Is he angry at the New York Times who sat on the story for a year? Maybe they finally developed a conscience after the Bush administration used their reporter to leak preferential information during the build-up to the Iraqi war. In the words of George the First, "This will not stand."

Bush may say he's only eavesdropping on swarthy men telephoning the Middle East, but anyone who lived through the Nixon era knows that the next step is the "Enemies List." And when we are discussing domestic enemies, that may include anyone who ever crossed Karl Rove or pushed Cheney around when he worked for Gerald Ford. We already know the Republican blueprint for illegal domestic surveillance. Nixon was impeached for it and half of his cabinet went to jail. Bloggers and journalists of every stripe are wearing out that old Santayana quote about those not learning from the past being condemned to repeat it. This has to be the lamest lame duck we have ever had.

And it's not that there were any obstacles in the administration's way. A special court established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is already in place and ready to sign warrants within hours of their request. And if they don't answer the door quickly enough, the Bush Leaguers had up to four days to inform them of any action taken to tap a cell phone. Even in the Bush copywrited "Global War On Terror,"
it is necessary to go through the motions just to give a wink to the Constitution. They make laws preventing tuna fishermen from casting nets so large and tightly woven that they catch dolphins. The same principle applies here. While fishing for evil-doers, a lot of patriotic Americans that just don't happen to agree with the President get tangled up in the net.

Bush is upset that he was caught in yet another in a string of stunning illegalities. And, let's face it, judging from the President's history, he didn't just make an end run around Congress and the Courts because they impeded his path. Bush is a slacker of historic proportion, so if he did not obtain court orders it was either because he was too lazy or no one explained the meaning of the law to him. For him to come out swinging and say these revelations will hurt our troops is the worst sort of demagoguery. Russ Feingold said it best, "Bush is not king."

Simply put, the Bush Leaguers' attempt to ignore the law and then to paint their critics as unpatriotic, stinks. This attempt at unchecked power to spy on American citizens is the moral equivalent of Joseph McCarthy snooping for Commies in the 50s. Maybe the Communist witch hunts were well intended at the beginning. But history shows that they were bad for our country and put a shroud over political dissent that ruined lives and lasted for decades. It finally got repugnant enough for people of good will to stand up and stop it. And all the Bushies had to do, and all they have to do now, is ask for a warrant.

These disclosures won't prevent the government from monitoring electronic messages. It will just make the evil-doers more clever about not using any "red flag" terms that might give them up. For instance, they won't be able to use any words that are inflammatory, err, make that volatile, or maybe, upsetting. And you can't mention by name that very real terrorist organization that means to hurt us, or the name of that tall, skinny, bearded guy who leads them. And don't discuss the new information regarding our military command structure outsourcing the job of capturing that tall guy to the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. Make that; the rag-tag bunch of scamps that we financed to kick the Russians out in that far away place where the most recent unpleasantness was concocted. They let the tall guy go because, after all, he was one of them.

If the government intends to eavesdrop on American citizens, they should actually have to read the transcripts or listen to the conversations rather than collect masses of data and look for something that might be suspicious. Anyone who has ever been critical of Bush could end up in that naked pyramid. Correct that to say, anyone who says unkind things regarding the imperial power of the current regime runs the danger of being lumped together with people who really don't like us and wish to harm us in a very real way. Wait, that's not going to work either. How about, loose lips equal danger of arrest and incarceration without legal representation for indefinite periods of time. Well, never mind.

It's Just Business

If you'll permit me one more "Godfather" reference, as we slouch toward the end of this turbulent year I am reminded of the scene where the Meyer Lansky/Hyman Roth character tells Michael Corleone in corrupted 1950s Cuba that (I will paraphrase), "We're only one step away from finding someone to be the President of the United States who understands how to do business."

I would never compare our country's successful corporations with the Mafia. Oh hell, why not? These business criminals who pay no taxes to our treasury; this CEO corporate culture of mega-salaries and unlimited benefits that outsources both jobs and corporate bank accounts; this Executive Mafia that rewards the boardroom and punishes the worker even as corrupt bookkeeping practices strip away the pensions and retirement funds that once seemingly secured the retirement of a loyal employee; these cynical profiteers who's only concern is the bottom line have finally found their man in George W. Bush, someone who "understands" how to do business.

In this tumultuous year we have seen natural disasters of cataclysmic proportion. The year began with the largest magnitude earthquake ever measured in the Pacific Ocean that resulted in a tsunami that put half of South Asia under water. Then the crippling earthquake in Pakistan stretched our resources and will to assist because we had just experienced the worst hurricane season ever in the United States and lost a major American city. Already, this winter has caused early ice storms in the warmer Atlantic states and unseasonably warm temperatures where there should be snow, accompanied by a government caveat that winter gas bills could reach an all time high. People and families in Mississippi and the Gulf Coast are living in tents because of ineptitude in high governmental positions and they are the lucky ones. At least some are able to camp out on their own land and hope for the future, while poorer people in Texas and Louisiana may be gone for good and the diaspora from New Orleans continues unabated.

No one can blame the Bush administration for the climate changes that are undeniably taking place. But you can blame them for ignoring the problem. This is why international treaties like Kyoto are important and should be embraced rather that scuttled by our leaders. International cooperation is necessary to study and take measures to prevent the man-made contributors to climate change. This government is so busy stripping regulations from industry under the guise of benevolent sounding programs like The Clear Skies Initiative which allows more pollutants, that they are actively making matters worse instead of better. Their complete indifference to environmental matters is not only a national disgrace but a clear and present danger to the public health and to the well being of the Earth. But it's just business for the Bush cabal and their corporate friends.

The energy policy meetings chaired by Mr. Cheney have yet to be investigated because they were held behind closed doors. But we do know that executives and lobbyists from energy companies wrote our national policy to benefit the industry, and former CEO Cheney's company, Halliburton, has made out like a bandit during this regime's watch. A handful of favored corporate sectors like Big Energy, Big Pharmaceutical, and Big Insurance are doing well while the "Electronic Horde" that Thomas Friedman once described as the excitement and job creation surrounding the technological revolution has moved on to China and India. The brain drain in Science and Medicine continues because of a lack of governmental grants for new research and the major medical breakthroughs are now occurring in Israel and France. While this country argues about what to teach in biology class, the conservative right attempts to shout down dissent and drown their opposition in a sea of self righteousness.

The single year-end optimistic note came with the Iraqi election. Despite our government's arrogant mishandling, there is still a chance for a good result to come from our Iraqi incursion if the Defense Department realizes that this war can no longer be won militarily. Our President's calls for nothing but "total victory" can not be accomplished at the point of a gun. We must do everything to assist the Iraqis in winning their current political wars, so that we may remove the bulls-eyes from our own soldiers' backs. And someone in government must realize the need for Islamic Peacekeepers from the region to restore order in Iraqi cities and give their fledgling democracy a chance to flourish. The Iraqis' chances for parliamentary democracy will be better with our military removed from their streets and re-positioned in secured locations along the borders. Only then will we have the chance to be seen as something other than occupiers.

The lessons in Democracy, however, are better learned from someone other than President Bush and his co-conspirators. The current revelations concerning domestic spying and surveillance of American citizens are only the top layer in this particular pit of blatant illegalities and are much wider than the President has admitted. The President claims that he is "absolutely" within the law to order wiretaps and data collections involving scores of U.S. citizens, without the approval or supervision of the courts. But just because Bush says it's so, doesn't make it so. This man-made disaster, like so many of this governments' other pratfalls, is just now unfolding. In this coming election year, how many of the President's loyalists will rethink their positions when considering facing their constituents for reelection? And George W. Bush, proudly serving his corporate masters, is oblivious to the fact that although he once envisioned himself as the incarnation of Ronald Reagan, he will end up as the historical successor to Richard Nixon. We all deserve better in the New Year. A couple of Congressional investigations into the secret inner dealings of how the Bush administration conducts "business" would be a good start.

Mea Culpa

The President's newly found candor regarding his administration's missteps might have been refreshing two years ago when he stood mute in response to a reporter's question trying to think of any mistakes he had made in his first term. Now it is abundantly clear that Bush will say whatever he needs to say to gloss over the grotesqueries committed by his government and pacify the electorate. Now, every response he gives can be contradicted by a speech he made previously. He insists his illegal wiretapping is a mandate from Congress, then a speech is discovered where he vows to get a court order before such measures are taken. Bush is the undisputed king of the flip-flop. And he is a born again prevaricator.

Just recall the hoopla accompanying his call for a Constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. Since his reelection, has anyone heard another word about it? Then there was the scene with Bush sitting with his cabinet promising to ferret out and fire anyone who leaked information outing a CIA agent. We all know who leaked, but no one has been fired. After Hurricane Katrina, Bush made quite a show of promising to personally lead the investigation about what went wrong. He should be on the golf course in Florida with OJ looking for the real killer. No such personal investigation was ever commenced, despite his eerie "blue light special" speech in Jackson Square promising New Orleans the moon. He has not been back since and I am regularly informed that four months after the storm, much of New Orleans resembles Baghdad. In poorer residential areas, heavy equipment hasn't even been moved in to begin to clear the rubble while victims of the storms still suffer the results of Bush's raw cronyism at FEMA and the Small Business Administration. The president of the Red Cross resigned under fire last week because of the mismanagement of that once stellar organization.

And the Bush cabinet was supposed to be so tough, all of Congress was cowed into submission. That is until one former marine Vietnam vet called for the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and suddenly talk of a troop drawdown begins. Secretary Rice had to deflect criticism of the government's torture policy all over the world until Bush called in Senator McCain, adopted his policy regarding torture, and claimed it as his own. Now we see that when you push back, there are no dire consequences in spite of the bellicose posturing of the Bush team. Instead, they cave in. That's what happened with the Social Security privatization plan, the establishment of a cabinet level Homeland Security Department, and the 9/11 Commision which Bush resisted until it became an inevitability. In recent days, the Alaska/Ted Stevens/Halliburton drilling project was drop-kicked along with permanent reinstatement of the Patriot Act. Bush's defense of his unsupervised surveillance of Americans took care of that.

In his speeches about Iraq, it was either "victory or defeat." Exactly like "you're either with us or you're with the terrorists." And no one in the press seemed to make much of a fuss about the one horrendous revelation Bush let fly in his new statement of contrition; 30,000 Iraqi civilian casualties. If Bush gives that as the number, you can safely double it and be closer to accurate. Is there any wonder the insurgency is so vicious? Would anyone not take up arms against an invader that murders 30,000 innocent people and occupies a nation in the name of preventing the use of weapons of mass destruction? Our government is the weapon of mass destruction in this world.

And all of this; the war, 9/11, Intelligent design, the pandering to the religious right, is a smokescreen to divert attention away from the fact that this government is systematically stripping away regulations from commerce and industry in order to reward their friends and punish their enemies. Rather than decrease their pet tax cuts, this government cuts social programs to the poor while bragging of a robust economy. No government has ever cut taxes in a time of war and they will not acknowledge the looming financial crisis facing this country. With the Bush team, it's "stay the course," while the President flounders, the Vice President hides on Army bases making speeches to pre-screened audiences, and the "Architect" of it all, Karl Rove, who never received a single vote from anyone, stares into the abyss.

When the book "Bush's Brain" by Wayne Slater and James Moore was released, it was an eye opener. It tells of the Machiavellian schemes Karl Rove concocts to achieve his political goals. The amendment about gay marriage was such a scheme. On this Christmas Eve, while Bush was taking the offensive about his Iraqi policy and his public approval ratings were at an all time low, a mysterious "War Against Christmas" broke out on Fox News, lead by Bill O'Reilly and highly placed members of the Christian right, including James Dobson, Tim Wildmon of Tupelo, and Jerry Falwell. The dispute wasn't about the commercialization of Christmas, but about boycotting retailers who said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" in their advertising. Sure enough, it was a wedge issue that caused much discussion and division in this country, and Bush's ratings went up four points. This disgusting operation has all the earmarks of a Karl Rove operation, only no one has said so.

But with the coming indictments of the grand jury investigating the CIA leak, the Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay scandals, the surly ineptitude of Bill Frist, and the pending trial of Enron's Ken Lay, there is not much more the government can do to distract us. Instead, they have caused us to begin paying close attention to their crimes. And a mid-term election that returns one of the Houses of Congress to the Democrats will create the ability to begin investigations into the Bush clan and their operatives that will make Watergate look like a misdemeanor. Ironically, it was former Nixon council John Dean who said earlier this week that this President was the first to admit to impeachable offenses in advance. This government's future looks as bleak as "Kenny Boy's." They should start getting used to seeing daylight filtered through iron bars.

I write this with the full knowledge that what I say is monitored by the National Security Agency. I am used to it. I lived through the Vietnam era of CIA excess. So, hello fellows. Hope you all have a "Happy Holidays." See you on the flip flop.

Clinton's Sin

I have a friend, a State Senator, who told me of meeting Bill Clinton midway through his first term as President. He said he told Clinton that he should get a medal for all the hits he had taken on behalf of our generation and I agreed with him. Every societal excess of the 60s was pinned on Clinton from draft dodging to drug abuse. And his progressive stances on gay civil rights and privacy rights in abortion matters made him an instant target for the conservatives who believed that the long-haired protesters of the 60s were the demon's seed. This was before the sex scandal that caused the President's impeachment and near removal from office. With this breach of personal morality, all the hits taken by Clinton for his generation were refocused back on the rest of us, and the cultural conservatives set upon Clinton like Father Damien in The Exorcist.

David Maraniss' fair handed biography of Bill Clinton, "First In His Class," does not refer to Clinton's rank at Oxford, but the fact that he was the first person of the Baby Boom generation to be elected president. My politically involved friends and I rejoiced the night Clinton won the White House from Bush, Sr. Not only because political power was being passed to the post war generation, but because Clinton was one of us. He was raised in the segregated South with a resentment toward racial bigotry and emerged a new kind of Southerner with the abilities to ease the old conflicts. He was a typical college student of the 60s. He grew his hair long, experimented with marijuana, resisted the draft and protested against the Vietnam War. What was not typical was his obvious brilliance and mastery of details within the larger picture. Coupled with his great ambition to live a political life and to make a difference, he was a man capable of understanding every nuance of a policy decision and a born problem solver. More importantly, he was capable of enunciating a vision for a fairer and more inclusive society in the United States. Considering ability alone, he might have been one of our greatest presidents.

The Lewinsky episode changed all that. At first merely shocked, when I learned that the woman involved was a 20 year old intern, I thought certainly Clinton must resign. Clinton's strong public denial caused his supporters to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially when his greatest defender was his wife. Even when the facts were laid bare, many attempted to justify the lie by believing that Clinton was merely speaking in Lawyerese, and in the strict definition of the judge in the Paula Jones case, "sexual relations" meant intercourse. So technically, the argument could be made that Clinton did not exactly lie, but he was actively misleading. I wanted to grab him in a Fredo Corleone embrace and say, "I know it was you. You broke my heart."

Everyone knows a Bill Clinton. Someone who cannot, or will not, manage his impulses and cheats on his wife. No one celebrates such behavior and most consider it a character flaw. But nearly everyone agrees that it is a private matter. The venomous way his opponents attacked him like torch bearing villagers out to kill Frankenstein's monster made his supporters rally to his side. The entrapment, threats, circus testimonials to the grand jury, and the minute sexual detail revealed by the partisan special prosecutor's office were as unseemly as Clinton's behavior. Yes, Clinton lied about sex. So did FDR, Ike, JFK, LBJ, and Reagan. Recent Secret Service testimony has revealed that Nixon beat his wife, but he didn't cheat on her. But these men were not asked about it under oath. And why should any person, much less the President, have to testify under oath about his personal sexual behavior when the prosecutor was appointed to investigate a real estate transaction? Clinton's opponents insist it was about perjury, but it was always about sex, and fellatio out of wedlock is not an impeachable offense.

So Bill Clinton survived but Al Gore didn't. Had Clinton resigned when the scandal was revealed, he would have left Gore with a three year incumbency and retained power within the Democratic Party. I don't blame Al Gore from running away from Clinton. With an eight year record of peace and prosperity, an historic treasury surplus, and the first balanced budget in half a century, Gore should have been able to waltz into the office against any Republican opponent. Gore's experience as honor student, seminarian, soldier, journalist, Senator, and Vice President made him one of the most qualified candidates of the last century to run for the presidency. His belief in, and defense of, his President cost Al Gore dearly, but he should never have lost an election because he was perceived by an image obsessed populace as less amiable or ingratiating as Clinton.

So after waiting until past middle age to see someone of my generation assume power, just as we had discussed all those miserable war years ago, G.W. Bush was elected and promptly turned the reigns of power back to his father's administration. Their Cold War thinking has stalled the progress of American ideas in the world for the foreseeable future. For all of Clinton's talents and administrative accomplishments, his reckless behavior was not merely a betrayal of his wife and family, it was a betrayal of all who trusted in him.

But Clinton's greatest sin was not regarding sex. I still believe that his indiscretion was a personal matter between Clinton, his wife, and his conscience, and that none but his creator have the right to judge him. No, Clinton's greatest sin was in roiling the electorate and creating a backlash against his behavior that allowed the election of George W. Bush. And although I am a believer in redemption, with the current state of chaos in the world, this is a sin I am having a difficult time forgiving.