Headed for a Constitutional Showdown?

The President and Congress appear to be headed for a showdown at the O.K. Corral over executive privilege.  Excuse me, but is this what we elected you people for?  This is yet another tangential non-issue that takes away from addressing the real problems this country faces.  Everyone knows that this White House stonewalls and obfuscates.  The people elected them for a 2nd term anyway.  So Congress, get on with your business, it looks like you are on a partisan witch hunt.  Mr. President, by stonewalling and constantly protecting your secrecy you look like you are hiding something even when you are not.  You do not have executive privilege to keep non-national security information from the Congress.  Produce the information and stop wasting the time that we the people are paying you for.  Once again, both sides are wrong and the people lose.

Articulation

Political parties are failing us in a major fundamental way.  Primary elections have caused the demise of centrist politics in the United States.  No candidate for President who has moderate, pragmatic beliefs will get past the partisan, money infested political party primary process.  People who vote in primaries are only the most extreme wings of each party.  While candidates “run to the center” for the general election they cannot hide who they are or govern from a centrist philosophy.  The blue candidate is very blue, the red candidate is very red and this leaves those of us who have the power for original thought without a horse in the race.

Personal Responsibility?

When President Bush ran for President in 2000 he promised to usher in the “era of personal responsibility”.  How is that going so far? 

-Bush refuses to acknowledge any mistakes until it is too late (Harriet Myers, Social Security, Immigration……)

-Tom Delay (the list is too long but suffice it to say he did lots of bad stuff)

-Jack Abramoff (Ditto!) 

-Rush Limbaugh and the pills

-The righteous indignation about gay marriage from thrice married politicians

-Halliburton and their billion dollar no-bid contracts

-Harriet Myers for Supreme Court???

-Tank Johnson, Pac-man Jones, and Barry Bonds from the world if sports (he so did steriods)

-Alberto Gonzales firing people for political reasons

Election 2008

  I make the following vows for the election cycle of 2008.  I hope anyone who reads this will follow suit.

1.  I will not believe or disbelieve statements made about any candidate without checking it out for myself (I don’t care if it is someone who I agree with bashing someone I hate.  We have a need for truth)

2.  I will not allow myself to be sucked into formulating opinions about candidates positions based on votes taken out of context (no credence nor quarter shall be given to political adds claiming someone voted to raise taxes infinity times)

3. I will not vote for any candidate that balks in the least about debating his/her opponent (if candidates are shy about sharing their message in an open forum where they have to actually formulate answers to questions and respond to criticism, I don’t believe they are capable of doing the job)

4. I will not believe any message, add, billboard, poster, pamphlet, email or any of the other garbage put out there by 527s, PACs, or anyone else not subject to the (minimal and insufficient) campaign rules of the FEC

5. (This will be the most difficult for you partisans)  I will not vote for candidates who attack their opponent personally to the detriment of having a debate about the profound issues affecting this country. 

Sorry, I’ve been on vacation

In the time since I have written on this blog, there has been so much to write about.  In the politics of personal achievement, Michael Bloomberg has declared himself an independent.  This is a thinly veiled move to run an independent challenge for the Presidency.  While I like a lot of his politics and don’t like the primary process which polarizes candidates and nominates “dividers rather than uniters” I am concerned about his 5 billion dollar fortune.  Another politician who is “in touch” with real Americans.  The Army is considering increasing the length of combat tours.   This is just the latest example of a war fought by a few while the rest of us are not asked to share any of the burden (see the only country to implement tax cuts in a time of war in the history of the world*).  Perhaps my favorite has been the book I am reading.  I am more and more convinced that Sean Hannity has some sort of pictures of something illicit going on at Fox News.  How else do you explain his continued employment at a news organization that is other wise so “fair and balanced”.  That is all I have time for now but, coming soon are Jim’s rules for participating in the election of 2008.

*I admit I did not spend a great deal of time checking this fact, it just seems intuitive

Rant #72

Sorry it has been so long since I said anything political.  I have been preparing to dig a hole (insert your favorite Presidential hopeful joke here).  My rant for today returns to to that time honored topic of money.  For like the 10th time, money is not speech.  For you un-nuanced political ideologues here is the scoop.  In economics, money is used to vote for the products and companies we prefer.  In the political realm, we vote in a different way.  IT’S CALLED VOTING!!!  All other uses of money in the system are called: bribery, kickbacks, influence peddling and the like.  And the next time some political hack tells you different send them my way.  Have a nice day.