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ARTICELS Politics And Government

Sunday, March 25, 2007

You Are Being Politically Manipulated

by:Steve Gillman

Have you ever had a friend hit you with the classic word trap, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Answer yes or answer no, and you incriminate yourself. This joke is based on the technique of using an implicit premise. While it may get a laugh, it is also used by politicians as more than a joke.

Political manipulation is most effectively accomplished when you control the framework in which others can argue and, ultimately, think. For example, if you want to get your viewpoint accepted without openly debating it, you make it an assumption, a premise for any other debates. Not only will you win the public over to your view, but you will effectively exclude the possibility of any serious opposition.

Suppose many years ago a government wanted to expand it's power to by having control over what people put in their bodies. There may have been real debate among the populace as to whether this is an appropriate function of law or government. Many may not have wanted such a "war" on drugs, which, after all, is just a war on people who ingest certain plants or chemicals.

How, then, does the government get the public to accept such control? By simply presuming that all people want to see drug use controlled, and arguing only on the basis of the best way to do that. The politicians and the public can argue all they want about whether more treatment or stricter laws are needed. In fact, such argument only strengthens the underlying premise.

Soon anyone who questions whether there should be any government involvement in this area is on the "fringe." They are not allowed in the "serious" debates, because they don't share this now "obvious" premise. The control of government over what goes into a person's body is assured, and it's power to regulate peoples lives in other similar ways is easily expanded.

As I write this the U.S. government has held people in prisons for years without charges or access to attorneys. They claim this is okay because these prisoners are not citizens. The public accepts this, because the premise has been firmly established in their minds that "rights" are granted by governments.

The founders of this country explicitly stated that rights are inherent in all humans. They fought against the idea that rights are mere "privileges" bestowed by governments. However, this second idea has become the basis for all argument now, and so even the opposition is unable to make logical arguments against these current violations of human rights. Implicit premises are a powerful method of control. We should get in the habit of recognizing the premises hidden in political debate.

Rule Their Language - Rule Their Thoughts

Another way to politically manipulate is to carefully choose the labels or words used. For example, social security is referred to as a "fund" or even a "retirement fund." Of course, not a penny was ever actually invested in any "fund." The payments are taken from current tax revenues, so it is a welfare program, to be more precise.

Welfare, of course, is less acceptable to the public, so the truth of this pyramid scheme (a much more accurate label) is hidden behind better labels. You can see how the words used control the debate. If you are for this kind of "welfare program," you get get more mileage out of "social security retirement fund."

Words matter greatly. It might be politically difficult to get millions of dollars to spend on bombs designed to cut people to pieces, right? Perhaps that's why they are called "daisy cutters." Start paying attention, and you'll see how words are being used to influence and politically influence you.

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:05 PM 0 comments

The Environment: A Global Overview

by:Larry Butz

It is not difficult to become a believer in global warming. According to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center 2001 was the second warmest year on record and it was the 23rd consecutive year of above normal temperatures. Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the rate of temperature increase is accelerating.

Add to this the data just released from insurer Munich Re stating that deaths from natural disasters were more than double in 2001 versus 2000 and insured losses were up more than 50%.UNEP estimates that the extra economic costs of disasters attributable to global warming are running at more than $300 billion annually.

Some 180 countries are proceeding toward an expected ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of this year. Of the six gases it will control CO2 is by far the largest contributing nearly 90% of the global warming impact. The primary source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels. Therefore the focus on energy will continue to increase.

Throughout the world different methods are being used to encourage reduced energy use. Japan has enacted the Energy Conservation Law in 1999 mandating huge efficiency improvements by 2004 for nearly all air conditioning products. The U.S. has revised ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for buildings to raise the minimum COP level for centrifugal chillers from the current value of 5.2 to 6.1 effective in October 2001. DOE and Green Seal have revised their recommended efficiency levels to an even higher level of 6.27.

Some countries use laws. Others use codes and standards. An increasing number of countries are using environmental costing which increases the price of energy thereby increasing the financial attractiveness of high efficiency products. European countries have been using such “carbon taxes” for more than a decade. However a rapidly growing trend in developing countries is the reduction of subsidies to energy industries “so prices more accurately reflect environmental impacts” according to OECD’s Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century.

China has shown leadership by reducing subsidies to the coal industry from $24.5 billion in 1990 to $10 billion in 1996 resulting in 7% emissions reduction while seeing a solid economic growth of 36%! China is now moving aggressively into environmental costing with the just announced (1/13/2002) 5-year environmental plan that commits 700 billion yuan ($84 billion) to help protect the environment. The government will provide the fist 65 billion yuan to initiate the project but will apply the “polluter pays” principle for the rest. The “environmental protection authorities will collect funds from the pollution-producing companies”. The impact on the price of energy is not known at this time. However it is clear that the addition of environmental costing will increase energy prices. According to a European Research Commission Report of July 2001 “The cost of producing electricity from coal or oil would double if costs such as damage to the environment and health were taken into account”.

The global movement to high efficiency is accelerating just like the rate of temperature increase. But this is not all that is changing. This second environmental threat of global warming is making it clear that we need to give combined consideration to ozone depletion and global warming. But more important is the need to focus on the real issue which is the total environmental impact not address each individual environmental threat in isolation. This includes the concept of environmental risk exposure, which recognizes that there are other environmental threats that are less well understood today. However, there are “no regrets” decisions we can make today (such as minimum refrigerant charge, minimum atmospheric life refrigerants, etc.) to minimize these risks.

Combined consideration would place more emphasis on reducing the use of CFCs, which are still being produced in developing countries until 2010 in accordance with the Montreal Protocol. Little attention is being given the large contribution to global warming from CFCs. Actions which cause confusion and delay the phaseout of CFCs cause increased environmental damage rather than lessening the environmental impact.

The other rapidly changing factor in the HVAC industry is the shift to becoming a hermetic industry, where refrigerant is contained throughout the life of a chiller and recycled for further use when the chiller is replaced. This simple understanding that “if it doesn’t get into the environment it does no harm” is a powerful argument, which will lead to the continued use of the most efficient refrigerants in such closed hermetic applications as chillers. In just 15 years annual refrigerants emissions from chillers have been reduced from 25% to well below 1% today. This defines a whole different world than that which existed when the Montreal Protocol was crafted some 15 years ago.

But perhaps the most important change coming to our industry is the realization that there are no new or “perfect” refrigerants waiting to be discovered. There are eight elements that can be combined for use in a vapor compression cycle. All feasible combinations of these eight have been evaluated. The reality is “what we have now is all there is”.

This recognition is why we are now seeing a shift from the search for a perfect refrigerant to a search for the right refrigerant(s) for the right application. Said another way, the highest efficiency refrigerants for the lowest emissions applications. Many in our industry call this “Responsible Use”.

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:04 PM 0 comments

Prelude to Hillary/Warner ‘08

by: Stephen Oakes

With all the debate and discussion in regards to the 2008 Presidential race, I’ll throw in my two cents. At first, I thought maybe Mark Warner (D-Virginia) really does want to spend time with family and live a normal life. Yea right!

Last night I came to my senses…

I pondered, if I were a politician who had recently been testing the presidential waters for a year and worked hard to gather support and funds for other Democratic candidates around the nation, why give up on any hope for a political future.

As with anything in politics, candidates have to be calculating and realistic about their chances when it comes to being elected to office. I believe that Warner did intend to run, but soon found out that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be too formidable of an opponent in the primaries to overcome.

Warner knows this and you are now beginning to see why he is stepping out of the race for the time being. The sooner he announces his plan to stay out of the primary fight, the more time Hillary has to plan and defeat other presidential hopefuls. The only other electable moderate Democrat besides Warner is Evan Bayh (D-Indiana). With Warner out, this allows Hillary to move to the center. She would then be able to chew Bayh up and spit him out in the primaries, leaving the most attractive moderate, Warner, to be drafted by to be her running mate in 2008.

So, for now, Warner will continue to speak abut his family and how much he has done to help get Democrats elected, knowing that if he behaves and rolls out the red carpet for Hillary, she may very well return the favor. This means the possibility of bringing him along for the ride into White House as Vice President.

The one thing Warner realizes is that he still holds value when it comes to cracking the Southern and Western states. He can speak to various groups around the nation and appeal to the masses. His popularity as Governor of Virginia, a Republican stronghold, proves that he is extremely marketable.

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:04 PM 0 comments

North Korea: A Nuclear Player

by: Stephen Oakes

The days of a non-nuclear Korean peninsula are over. With troops from the United States bogged down in Iraq and ineffective multilateral talks with North Korea, the world is on track for another major disaster.

So, what can be done to confront this nuclear threat?

The current situation can not be addressed by the United States alone. It is my fear that the Republican majority in all branches of U.S. government will continue with the typical and ineffective go-it-alone strategy that has not won us the key support needed in protect our international interests. The international community is the only body capable of effectively handling the North Korean situation which has now developed into a global problem.

Global issues need to be met by the global community. This does not mean that the United States can not lead the way. Obviously, there will always be the need for someone to take the initiative, but it has to be done in a way that does not isolate us from the other global players and delay effective resolution.

First, in a global economy, it is necessary for voters in the upcoming election to cast their votes to bring a more Democratic balance into the make-up of our current govenment. Democrats would be more effective in diplomacy and can speak the international tongue. Whether you agree with their policies and beliefs or not, they are more likely to restore trust and a sense of humanity to our foreign agenda.

Second, if the international community is the channel of tough sanctions, China is the key. The country of China is an emerging dominate player in the Asian region and is also responsible for trade that equates to roughly 50% of North Korea’s energy and food imports. If China does not accept its new international role in a responsible fashion, then the world will continue in its struggle to suppress renegade dictatorships.

Finally, North Korea has already been warned in their efforts to develop nuclear capabilities, but apparently decided not to listen. I believe we should impose the toughest of sanctions and work with our allies to allow for massive refugee transportation out of North Korea. At this point, deadlines should be drawn up for an international force to work together in removing this dictator from power if president Kim Jong-il does not comply and agree to dismantle his nuclear program.

If you do not believe that a solution similar to the one I have just discussed then I would invite you to focus more on the consequences of not taking action. Iran is watching world events very carefully right now. If they seek weak international resolve and come away from this scenario with the conclusion that North Korea has in fact strengthened its global position, then what is to stop them from developing nuclear weapons? Iran would probably target Israel and North Korea would likely make a hit on South Korea.

In regards to a potential North Korean attack on South Korea, we already know that underground tunnels have been discovered to be dug deep into South Korean territory. The scary thing to note is that millions of people live in the capital of Seoul, South Korea, which is not very from the border with the north. If it is already assumed that some tunnels have not yet been discovered, what is to stop North Korea from detonating a nuclear weapon right under the heels of a major South Korean city such as Seoul? This would cause millions of people to suffer a horrific death. Another possibility to ponder is North Korea’s capability to transport weapons of mass destruction to our enemies whether it is Al Qaeda, Iran, Syria, etc.

Right now, the United States needs to continue its focus on immediate action in line with the international community, while at the same time researching preventative technologies that could strengthen our defenses within our own national borders. We have been warned, not the next question is whether or not we have what it takes to lead the international community and finally get something right.

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:03 PM 0 comments

Media in Society

by:Stephen Oakes

Last night I saw a debate on television about what role the media is to play in our society. I found one speaker to be somewhat appalling. This person argued against the involvement of media in our societal discussion on issues that matter. Well sir, you are dead wrong...

Now if you happen to be on the right you’d be saying, "Well there is an obvious liberal bias in most of the media we receive and hear." I agree with you to a certain extent. Media in its purest form was designed as a tool people can use to provide a forum or platform for the issues we publicly debate. This would be an admirable role in a perfect society, but what it does not take into consideration is the human element. Our ability to modify the perceptions of others through the media in order to achieve political gain has hit the liberal bias peak. The inevitable backlash on the media monopoly I sense is coming to an end. The market of information is efficient and fair only when there are alternatives for people to chose. Can we blame Democrats who using the tools at hand to the fullest extent? Of course not.

It was inevitable.

Democratic candidates and leaders obtained the urban vote where media centers are controlled in most part by the majority of left-leaning civilians who work and live among its domain. Yes. This was the fate, seduction, and role media was to play on behalf of the Democratic Party for many decades.

However, imbalances eventually lead to balance. The old truths and myths of a liberal media are rapidly declining. Sure there has been a recent surge in popularity among the left media, but it is only because the country was fed up with a Republican held congress and presidency that failed to serve the interests of the public. In the long-term, I expect an equal following to build and continue amongst the supporters of the right media to provide the balance and difference in opinion that our country needs. It pushes elected officials to compromise and allow people to digest information from both sides in order to make effective electoral decisions based on their beliefs.

Now, take a step back and look try to imagine the big picture. Most would agree that media needs balance, but why? Let’s view this angle from the perspective of polarization and nationalism. In my estimation, media needs to ask tough questions, report on unethical behavior, and to provide an independent voice that serves as a check and balance to government. However, if media were to play the role of polarization and bias too well, then our nation would drift apart and stoke a fire of bitterness toward each other. Sure we have our differences, but in reality we share much more in common with each other. So, how can we work together with those that we have a hatred for? For example, how long must we see the election map showing red states and blue states when we are in fact a sea of purple swayed by moderate group of independent voters? Political parties must have a way to differentiate themselves, but occasionally the media does push the envelope, resulting in uncomfortable ramifications.

On the other hand, media also must be a spirit free of government control. If media casts its opinion with the government without any checks, it is likely that an unhealthy state of nationalism may take hold and shortly thereafter promote imperialistic tendencies. I can only imagine a state made op of a single-minded society where group think suffocates the ability of people to think freely. Would those of an opposing view be subjected to secrecy and casted away from society? Would new ideas be lost forever? Would an opposing political party have a voice or even cease to exist? It is certainly possible.

Think of a scenario where the media was used to promote the activities of government in a negative way. I believe this is the descriptive label for propaganda. A tool used to control and persuade the masses for better or worse. World War II is a perfect example. The good and honest people of Germany were lead to believe that their ideas and opinions should be forced on the rest of the world because the propaganda machine said they were a superior race. The civilian population for the most part bought into these lies. This is the absolute opposite end of the spectrum in the role that media has to play in society and we must be careful to learn the lessons that history has to teach us.

Media does have a role to play, but I would suggest that it strive to create balance and avoid extreme nationalistic and polarized political outlooks.

What of the present and future of media? Some say the internet is the next layer catalyst for fair and balanced opinions, news, and research. I couldn’t agree more. It is the wild card that few saw coming in the early 1990s and has proved to be a tidal wave of new found power that gives back to the people. Bloggers all over the United States and the world are spreading ideas and providing a balance of opinion far greater than anyone could have imagined. The blog world is the champion of the individual and protector of free speech. It will not eliminate old media, but instead provide an added channel or source of information and empower the individual like never before.

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:03 PM 0 comments

Jesus And Mohammed Were Schizophrenics

by:Charles Sabillon

According to all medical encyclopaedias and psychiatric reference books, schizophrenia is any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, being accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances.

Schizophrenia is associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and defects of the frontal lobe and is caused by genetic, other biological, and psychosocial factors.

Just about everything of what is said in the Bible and the Koran about the founders of those two creeds, points in the direction of a biochemical imbalance in their brain. These men showed systemic signs of delusion in their behavior.

They claimed to have heard heavenly voices, which is a typical symptom of this disease. People with schizophrenia tend to hear, see, feel or smell things that are not there. Just as in a dream, where fantastic events can not be distinguished from real ones. Thus, the hallucination of a voice is perceived in the brain just like a real person talking.

In present times psychiatrists and psychologists have reported millions of cases of people who claim identical things, consisting of two or more voices conversing with each other. However, nobody else has ever been able to hear the voices. Not the doctors, not the nurses, and not even the family members of the patient. That was exactly the situation for Jesus and Mohammed. Only they heard the voices and it was not because they were the chosen ones. It was simply because the others did not suffer from that neurological disequilibrium.

Since in modern times religion does not play a powerful role in the lives of people, many of the persons assuring to have heard voices did not claim it came from God. In ancient times when the belief in the divine was omnipresent, everybody assured it came from above.

Whether in the past or in present times, in all cases the person always clings to these beliefs even after the beliefs are shown to be false. That is a typical symptom and that is what Jesus and Mohammed did. In their times many contested their claims with strong rational arguments but both clung on to their unsubstantiated ideas.

It is human nature to explain things simplistically and religions excel in simplifying things when trying to explicate any phenomenon. Due to the total absence of scientific information in the ancient times in which those two characters lived, it was inevitable that they and their contemporaries would interpret that situation as a divine calling.

Illogical patterns of thinking, is another common expression of this mental illness and both men experienced it. The structure of their thoughts was completely detached from reality and there was never an effort to search for correlations or establish causality linkages. These men never substantiated their arguments with statistical evidence or with historical facts, basing everything on anecdotes and so called commands from God.

Withdrawal from reality and the experiencing of hallucinations are also typical symptoms, and both men were completely delusional. They thought they could walk over water, move mountains, feed the masses, and cure diseases. The truth of the matter is that the historians of the time did not report any of these events. Given the large scale following that these men had in Palestine and in the Arabian Peninsula respectively, it was inevitable that something as huge as the supply of food and medicine to a hungry and ill population would have been recorded in some way. However, nothing was reported.

What was reported was the violent way in which Mohammed instituted his belief in the peninsula, for he waged war to impose his will.

What was also reported was the continued misery and sickness of the population of both lands. There were no such miracles as the transformation of uneatable goods into food and wine. Life expectancy was of just eighteen years of age in Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula before the coming of Jesus and Mohammed, and during the time they realized their miracles, people continued to die by the droves at the same early age. Nothing improved while they spread their gospel. Not the food supply of the country, not the level of health, not the quality or the quantity of housing, and not even the level of crime or household violence.

Once they died and rose to Heaven, where they supposedly took better care of their people for they could lobby more directly God, the miserable living conditions of those two territories remained as bad as before. Hundreds of years went by and the people of the region prayed uninterruptedly to the God that Jesus and Mohammed had peddled, but there was still no improvement.

When life finally started to improve, in the nineteenth and twentieth century, it was not because their prayers were finally answered but because there was an inordinate amount of scientific and technological discoveries.

The religions that Jesus and Mohammed founded have never delivered concrete benefits to the Middle East or to any other region of the world. There have been numerous unsubstantiated claims, but non that could be quantified in a serious way or that could be classified as progress.

They on the contrary mislead the world in the wrong direction and in doing that, hindered progress. Over the past two thousand years, the religions they created have systemically restrained the advance of science, which is the only thing that brings wealth to humanity.

Despite the harm that they have caused, they cannot be blamed for misleading humanity. The reason they cannot be blamed is because they were sick. They were mentally ill and cerebral illnesses are beyond the control of the person that suffers from them. Schizophrenia is due to genetic, biological or adverse psychosocial factors.

It is not clear whether the cause driving Jesus and Mohammed to behave like they did was genetic, biological, psychosocial, or if it was a mixture of two or more of those factors. Whatever the cause, the fact is that they were both victims of circumstance.

However, it is almost a certainty that the third factor played an important role. The extreme violence of their times and the deplorable misery of the epoch played a major part, for such atrocious conditions tend to push people into efforts of mental escapism. Just as a child who is regularly beaten and sexually abused tends to seek refuge in a fantastic world of myths and legends, so do adults who are confronted with terrible conditions that seem insurmountable take refuge in a world of fancies.

The poverty and the violence of the times were indeed insurmountable and it was only until the nineteenth and twentieth century that the Middle East and the rest of the world started to experience some significant improvement in living conditions. In that two-hundred year period, life expectancy in the Middle East went from twenty in 1800 to sixty eight in the year 2000.

To understand the dangers that schizophrenia can cause when people who suffer from it attain positions of influence in a nation or in the world, it is worth pointing at what the latest research has revealed about the worst war of all times.

The Second World War was the sole responsibility of Adolph Hitler and new studies show that the Austrian suffered from schizophrenia. In Hitler’s family there was a long history of this disease and in his case the main variable causing it was clearly genetic. However, the psychosocial factors seem to have also played a part for he was brutally beaten by his father, he became orphaned at an early age, lived in dire poverty once his parents died, and experienced the horrid savagery of trench war during the First World War.

The biochemical imbalance in the brain of Hitler caused the death of fifty million people and left traumatized several generations of Europeans, Jews and others who suffered. History teaches that humanity must not deposit its faith in people with unstable brains, and Jesus and Mohammed were that kind of people.

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:02 PM 0 comments

Iraq Study Group – Calling Thomas Jefferson

by:Richard Stoyeck

Next week, the Iraq Study Group, a committee of so-called WISE MEN, will go public on what they feel the United States should do to extract itself from the current civil war in Iraq. I believe that among their recommendations will be:

• Entering into diplomatic negotiations with both Syria and Iran to get their help in settling the violent internal situation in Baghdad.
• The embedding of US troops directly into Iraqi army units to stiffen them up into a more potent fighting force.

The vital question is where does this leave us? I lived through Viet Nam, and I understand the origins of the Korean War. I have also taken the time to study guerilla tactics that were used in Malaysia, Burma, and various African countries. To quote a movie, “Houston, we have a problem”. Our President is asleep at the switch on this one, and is caught up in a cycle of decision making that he doesn’t seem capable of extricating himself from.

Our DECISION WINDOW whereby we could have possibly turned Iraq into a democracy has now PASSED. We did in fact win the war. It took 29 days to take control of Baghdad. It could take more than a dozen years at this point with a continued outlay of $200 billion per year, and several thousand American lives per year plus ten thousand American causalities per year to potentially build a democracy – no guarantees though. The question is FOR WHAT?

If the answer is to IMPOSE democracy on a country where Thomas Jefferson and George Washington do not seem to exist, then it can not be done. You are simply beating your head against the wall. This is not an American failure in my opinion. What we were attempting to achieve was simply not achievable. Certainly not without the presence of hundreds of thousands of additional American troops, which is not in the cards?

This is a region built on dictatorships. It is no coincidence that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator. The argument has always been advanced as to “Whether Saddam Hussein made Iraq, or did Iraq make Saddam Hussein”. After the last three years, the question is more appropriate than ever.

In our country we consider life to be very precious. Don’t go by the headlines in the newspapers. That’s toilet reading. Go by what happens when miners get trapped in mines, or when a woman is trapped in a burning building. What about when a child falls into an abandoned well? Is any thought given to the cost of saving these individuals? The answer is none. Every conceivable way that can be utilized to save lives is grabbed at by the emergency workers.

When you look at the Mid East, you realize we are dealing with a region that gives no thought to human life. Wasting lives there is a daily fact of living. It always has been this way, and always will be. I am not a pessimist; I must deal with reality however. In over a half century of living I have found certain notions to be eternally true. One of them is that you can’t ever want more for another human being than that human being wants for themselves. You will simply waste your time, and your energy. People have to be ready to fight for democracy. Nobody in Iraq is willing to wage that fight, except for American soldiers. This is a recipe for disaster.

Every day as Chairman of StocksAtBottom.com I am involved in the stock market. We have a saying in Wall Street, a stock is going to go where it’s going to go. You can not support a stock, unless you are prepared to buy the VERY LAST SHARE. The reason is that once you are done buying a stock, it will trade where it’s going to trade on that last share that you haven’t bought.

The analogy to Iraq is that unless you are prepared to kill the very last terrorist, that terrorist is going to remain long after the American presence is gone. I know the President probably sincerely believes that by remaining in Iraq we are working towards the reconfiguration of the government into a democracy. I believe we are simply postponing the INEVITABLE. Right now that looks like a Shia led government in Baghdad with no room for the Sunnis who supported Saddam. In fact, the Shia will continue to kill the Sunni’s and the Sunni’s will retaliate by killing Shia when they can, and our President wants decent young Americans to hang on in between, and get shot at.

To quote people smarter than me, “IT AIN’T GONNA WORK”. We are simply putting off what is going to happen any way. The difference is that later, it will be at a greater cost to our brave American soldiers, and our national treasury. This President chooses to borrow the money from foreigners to finance the war effort. He has asked for sacrifice from our troops only, nothing from Americans.

There have been no tax increases to pay for this disaster, only increases in the national debt so that our children and their children will shoulder the burden. The army is now having problems fulfilling its manpower requirements. We are stretched thin. The Iranians and North Koreans know we can not currently wage another military action in either country. We are bogged down in Iraq.

The American people on the other hand have shown that they are out in front of their President leading him, as opposed to him leading them which is an unusual situation. The recent Congressional elections clearly demonstrate that the people want a change in direction in the war NOW. If the President continues to stay the course, or dig himself deeper into a hole in the face of the people wanting a change, the complete rejection of the Republican Party will take place in the next Presidential election.

You have to realize that the Republican Party in the last twelve years gerrymandered just about every seat in the House of Representatives in order to maintain control of that body. In spite of the cards being stacked against the Democrats, the people delivered the House to the Democratic Party anyway. This was not a vote of confidence for the Democrats. People were simple voting AGAINST the Republicans, and privately the Democrats will acknowledge this.

The answer is for the President to announce immediately a phased withdrawal and put the burden of building a country back onto the Iraqis where it belongs. It is their country. They must be willing to die for building their own democracy, or leave it to the next dictator to pick up the pieces. It won’t be Thomas Jefferson, he’s just not there.

Richard Stoyeck

posted by rizkhey wahyudi @ 10:01 PM 0 comments

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