Irony and Death

Liberal activists such as myself resent the Bush Administration’s cynical exploitation of fear. Bush and his enablers in the Republican Party have utilized fear to justify an immoral and unnecessary war in Iraq. A cabal of reckless warmongers and profiteers undermined our moral authority and geopolitical position. Even worse, while the Bush Administration was busy hyping the strategic importance of Iraq, Al Quaeda reconstituted itself. America is in great danger as a result.

Frank Rich is a liberal columnist not prone to exaggeration or fear mongering. In his most recent New York Times column, Rich noted how the CIA’s former head of the Bin Laden unit, Michael Scheuer told MSNB’s Keith Olberman, that Al Quaeda,

“are going to detonate a nuclear device inside the United States.”

I believe him. Tactical nuclear weapons are quite obtainable and these fanatics believe mass murder serves a higher purpose. Such warnings resemble the intelligence community's desperate attempt getting both Presidents Clinton and Bush to pay attention to the threat of an Al Quaeda attack prior to 9/11. Clinton was properly engaged but hamstrung politically following the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Bush wasn't even stirred by that infamously straightforward memo of August 2001.

Immediately after 9/11, I debated my fellow liberal friends about the merits of toppling the Taliban government in Afghanistan because of their support for Al Quaeda. I found myself in the unusual position of justifying a military response. The loss of innocent life utterly sickened me but there was no way we couldn’t respond. My problem was I didn’t trust an administration stocked with corporatist ideologues and imperialists.

As we’ve seen, the Bush Administration’s obsession with Iraq has facilitated
Al Quaeda's resurgence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s bitterly ironic how Vice President Cheney’s meeting with Pakistan’s President Musharraf earlier today, featured a suicide bomber targeting him. The sort of terrorists the Bush Administration opted to neglect signaled they’re very much here by attempting to take our Vice President out.

The bomber killed 23 people instead. Much of the civilized world would not have grieved had Cheney been killed. Symbolically, today’s bombing was a propaganda bonanza for Al Quaeda.

It’s said that laughing is better than crying. How comically ironic that after letting Bin Laden escape in Tora Bora in December 2001, redirecting resources from Afghanistan to the Iraq theatre and giving Musharraf’s regime billions in aid, the Bush Administration finally decided to express displeasure at their ally in Islamabad. A useless exercise, because what can Musharraf effectively do without jeopardizing his own regime’s grip on power?

America’s enemies are ascending. Our veracity and moral legitimacy is not trusted by many of our western allies. Five and a half years after 9/11, we still haven’t developed a containment policy with the civilized world that provides a bulwark against radical Islam and empowers moderates. The “global war on terror” is perpetuating a treadmill of death with no end in sight.

January 20th, 2009 can’t get here soon enough. Hopefully, the next occupant of the White House won’t be a moron. Otherwise, the next attack may be far more catastrophic than two airplanes crashing into a building.

And Round One Goes To ... John Edwards

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama engaged in political combat for the first time today. Maureen Dowd reported in her New York Times column that David Geffen, a Hollywood mogul and former ally of the Clintons is raising money for Senator Obama.

Geffen teamed with fellow Tinsle Town tycoons Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg yesterday to collect $1.3 million for Obama at a fundraising party. As Geffen noted, Dowd had harsh comments for the presumed Democratic frontrunner:

“Not since the Vietnam War has there been this level of disappointment in the behavior of America throughout the world, and I don’t think that another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is — and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton? — can bring the country together.”

On her Illinois rival Geffen said,

“Obama is inspirational, and he’s not from the Bush royal family or the Clinton royal family. Americans are dying every day in Iraq. And I’m tired of hearing James Carville on television.”

For good measure he added,

“It’s not a very big thing to say, ‘I made a mistake’ on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t. She’s so advised by so many smart advisers who are covering every base. I think that America was better served when the candidates were chosen in smoke-filled rooms.”

I didn’t think much of Dowd’s column this morning. Geffen’s disenchantment with the Clintons is old news and it’s not suprising some donors are open to alternatives beyond restoring the Clintons to the throne. What really captured my attention was the heavy handed and ungraceful response from the Clinton campaign.

Communications Director Howard Wolfson made the Geffen fundraiser event bigger news with this comment,

“If Senator Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce these remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign and return his money.”

The response gives the impression of lacking grace under pressure and suggests the Clintons feel threatened. Successful politicians typically follow the tag line from the old deodorant commercial, “never let them see you sweat.” Bill Clinton was a master at the game. Today, Hillary Clinton's spokesman Howard Wolfson made her appear weak with his overreaction.

Wolfson has forgotten about more political skirmishes than most political operatives have participated in. His clumsy response however gave Obama Communications Director Robert Gibbs an easy rejoinder,

"It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom.”

Gibbs also gleefully pointed out that, Hillary Clinton had not condemned the comments of South Carolina state Sen. Robert Ford. Ford, a Clinton supporter. Ford claimed the Democratic ticket was "doomed" if Obama was the party's presidential candidate. Translation: Democrats better not nominate a black man.

While the Clinton camp came across as heavy handed and hypocritical, Senator Obama’s team kept their composure with a measured response. Tactically, Obama prevailed but the real winner is John Edwards.

It serves Edwards best to fly underneath the radar for a spell while Clinton and Obama trade punches. In 2004, Edwards found traction as Richard Gephardt and Howard Dean destroyed each other in Iowa while he remained sunny. Governor Bill Clinton valuted from third place to the presidency in 1992, when Ross Perot and the first President Bush hurled rhetorical grenades at each other. The future President proceeded to promote his “People First” agenda with specifics while Bush and Perot took each other out.

Similarly, Edwards is served by the Clintons focusing their guns on Obama. If it continues, Edwards can deliver his retooled populist message and keep himself above negative campaigning. Hillary Clinton comes off as shrill and insecure while Edwards appears comfortable about acknowledging error over Iraq and courageous in putting forward a specific plan for universal healthcare. And while Obama’s campaign was tactically efficient, their theme of a fresh politics above invective was knocked off message.

Hence, I give this first round to John Edwards. If there are many more rounds like today, Edwards will win Iowa. Sadly, while all this horse race positioning continues, more blood is being shed in Iraq and America’s geopolitical standing is deteriorating. And no candidate in either party is offering any solutions beyond platitudes.

Sayonara For Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, John M. Shalikashvili published an op-ed in the New York Times (Click Here) today expressing second thoughts about the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell policy” regarding homosexual personnel. Shalikasvili became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under President Bill Clinton in 1997. Clinton reneged on his campaign promise in 1993 to lift the ban on homosexual’s serving openly and instead instituted the infamous don’t ask don’t tell policy guiding the military today.

Shalikasvili contends our culture has evolved and the military is so over extended it may finally be time to allow homosexuals to serve the armed forces openly. Although Shalikashvili doesn’t advocate for a sudden change in policy he concludes his piece with this:

“By taking a measured, prudent approach to change, political and military leaders can focus on solving the nation’s most pressing problems while remaining genuinely open to the eventual and inevitable lifting of the ban. When that day comes, gay men and lesbians will no longer have to conceal who they are, and the military will no longer need to sacrifice those whose service it cannot afford to lose."

Our country’s treatment of homosexual personnel serving courageously in the armed forces is disgraceful. The time has long past for the military to let homosexual soldiers serve openly. When institutions such as the military sanctions prejudice a message is delivered to society that intolerance is acceptable. And as Shalikashvili notes in his op-ed, George Bush's military is over extended and needs all the help it can get. How ironic if Bush's imperial designs in Iraq, Afghanistan and perhaps Iran are buttressed by the very community his most loyal constituency has condemned to hell.