February 2007 Archives

She was born much as a child is born, bloodied, loved, cut from her bonds, but dependent. Her birth came with a hope, a vision, and a promise, marked so eloquently in her Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

As the Declaration state in the very next sentences, as if to anticipate the loathsome state of government without guidance or structure, and freedom without responsibility:

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Pres. Bush wants our soldiers to fight Iraq's civil war with them. Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has a vested interest in seeing the numbers of our soldiers fighting his battles grow, not decrease. A very large number of Iraqi's believe a lot of the violence is due to America's presence in Iraq. If, however, our presence is reduced, then al-Maliki becomes the person to blame for violence, not the Americans.

This is why the Prime Minister is quoted in the NY Times as saying: "The security plan has been a dazzling success during its first days." But this "success" which Bush and al-Maliki refer to, is anything but success. When the police launch a raid on a criminal gang only to find the gang has left the premises to whereabouts unknown, do we call that a successful raid?

Lou Dobbs of CNN just reported that Bank of America has announced it will extend credit cards to illegal aliens in this country. In this latest and most blatant example of how capitalists have no allegiance to country or law, the issue of regulation is again raised. Pro-capitalist purists say it is none of the government's business who they give cards to. Moderates on the issue say supporting and abetting the breaking of our nation's laws demands government response.

The irony is many of those who support Bank of America's decision are the very same who argue that the non-binding resolution against escalating the war in Iraq, is aiding and abetting the enemy. Apparently, Bank of America and their supporters do not view criminals, those who violate our laws, as the enemy. How very profitable for them, eh?

Independent parties are springing up like dandelions after a warm Spring rain. Some are very religiously based spin offs of the Constitution Party like the Independent American Party and the American Independent Party of California. Some take a very non-ideological approach like the oldest Independent Party which has been around since 1934. And some are very democratic (small 'd') oriented, focusing intensely on restoring democratic processes and principles, like the Independence Party of New York.

But, there is a new wrinkle to these largely marginalized parties few have ever heard of that may change all that. That new wrinkle comes in the form of very intelligent unifying efforts. With so many independent parties with differing agendas, they remained localized and marginalized because they had no unity with other independent parties and no common platform. That is changing quite rapidly.

With a slew of Democratic candidates announcing and pondering a run for the presidency in 2008, with Sen. Hillary Clinton refusing to reveal the names of her million dollar campaign raisers, (she already has raised $100 million), with Sen. John McCain now making a run of his own and in need of some big bucks from some big donors, I hereby officially declare campaign finance reform Dead! No doubt, there will be dancing in the aisles of Congress when they read this.

And because it is dead in the hearts and minds of incumbents of both parties, it is going to take an outsider to try to breathe new life into the issue on behalf of voters and our democratic republic. There is speculation that Ralph Nader may become a late announcer; not that he would win but, to give voice to millions of voters whose agenda's have been thrown overboard by the incumbent politicians and presidential candidates. He has a new book out, The 17 Traditions: Ralph Nader, about the traditional values he grew up with. It will be on bookshelves Feb. 15. It is already receiving critical acclaim and being discussed on TV political news channels.

Secretary of Defense Gates said in a briefing today that the first benchmark is to see if Iraqi forces show up on time and in the numbers they were supposed to. Gen. Pace then said two brigades showed up for duty in Baghdad this last week, but only about 60%, (actually 55% according to reports), of the soldiers in each brigade showed up. The first benchmark has not been met.

Then Sec'y. of Defense Gates flat out lied to the American people; likely his first since taking his new role. When asked about our making war on Iran, he said we are not planning...er, well, er, we are not planning for war with Iran. That of course, is a complete and total lie.