Dealing in good faith?

Two Words

Debt Ceiling!
I cannot think of a more ridiculous reason for a "showdown" between our parties. It was raised 7 times under Bush.....7. None of those seven times were under the scrutiny of a microscope. It is this madness that turns Americans off to the political process. Ironically, it is the citizens that will suffer when/if this game of chicken ends in someone not being able to open the car door and escape. Have we learned nothing from Greece? Do the republicans care so little about the country that they are willing to destroy it to prove a point? I'm just asking....because I honestly don't know.

What Happens When Americans Order Change?

Obama & Huckabee!

Dutch Holland, a man I respect, penned a business management book entitled, “Change is the Rule”. In business that makes sense but in politics change is something politico’s like myself laugh at the notion of…because it is an illusion. Tonight Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee got the last laugh when they emerged as giant pillars of the American CHANGE theory.

Governor Huckabee is a change candidate and although an evangelical Christian winning in Iowa seems less than noteworthy, I invite you to look a little closer. Mr. Huckabee dances outside the fire of typical republican circles. He’s no battled war veteran like McCain, or 9/11 rough rider like Giuliani and isn’t a Mormon (which I think endears him to a sect of the republican party who are afraid of too many changes); Instead, Mr. Huckabee is the republican follower to Bill Clinton (as Arkansas governor) and a former minister. At least when this man panders to the religious right he will be pandering to himself as well. I’ve reviewed where Mr. Huckabee stands on the issues and I only found one thing that I think will hurt us as a nation if he were elected president. No, I’m not telling you what that is…..do your own research, form you own opinions, think for yourself. http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

I could write a book about the significance of Obama’s Iowa win. Tonight when Senator Obama addressed his Iowa supporters he began with, “They said this day would never come….” I have never heard such an understatement in my life! The notion that a black man could win a caucus in nearly all white (less than 3% of the population is African-American), conservative, Iowa speaks volumes about change in this country. I’m inspired by that level of change just months after the Jena 6 made headlines with memoirs of how little things have changed. I’m inspired my Mr. Obama’s willingness to work with America, not just the democrats or republicans. I’ve read his stances on the issues and find his approach fresh in that he looks at the world from a very different perspective than any other candidate I’ve known. Again, do your own research. http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

Alas Iowa is but one stop along the long road to the presidency so allow me to impart a few parting thoughts. If your candidate came up short, don’t give up. This is just the beginning. Supporters of those who won tonight, bask in the night but with this dose of realism; Neither Bill Clinton, nor George HW Bush, won the Iowa caucus the year they were elected President of these United States. Running for President isn’t a sprint….it’s a marathon……….. ask Howard Dean. ;)

So say the polity….
-A

As the race for the presidency continues.....the king and the queen of the democratic hill individually out-raised (in terms of money of course) all republican candidated combined. Impressive??? I'll say.

Off topic:

I call on all Americans to send a note of thanks to our troops.

It's as easy as logging on: http://www.letssaythanks.com/

-A

Happy Anniversary!

Today is the anniversary of "Operation Iraqui Freedom" or "Vietnam II," as a very industrious reporter once called it. Four years and counting...


Out of respect for my country I won't even explore my personal feelings about the war...instead I'll simply pray for our soldiers and thier families. I hope this was all worth it.

Think Progress "Iraq war" Timeline: http://thinkprogress.org/iraq-timeline

-A

Domestic Policy: What have we done for ourselves lately?

"America....America.. God shed his grace on thee.."

We're in a war and constantly extending our help and money to other countries and but what have we really done for ourselves lately? It sounds selfish, I know but our government is, aferall, in the business of protecting our national interests and its citizens first and foremost....at least that's the way it should be.

We have been so bogged down in the shadow game that was "immigration reform" that Americans neglected major domestic issues of the day.

The Issues: Agriculture, Business, Economy, National Security, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Delevopment, Labor, Education, Social Security, Capital Punishment and any number of sub-categories within each.

Voters typically list Health Care and Education as the two most important domestic issues:

Health Care: Yet we are the only "1st world" nation not to have a national healthcare plan. Some Americans even resorted to crossing the canadian Border to fill thier perscriptions because they could not afford it in thier own cuntry (That's shameful). Citizens and "Big Coporations" (i.e. Walmart & Target) have made the only good significant cahnges in the battle over percription medication by initiating a monthly $4 plan.

Education: No Child Left Behind(NCLB), a H.W. Bush iniciative that focuses on accountability and open exchange of information to parents. Some research has shown that more money for public education cannot improve schools without the reform of school bureaucracies and the creation of competitive incentives. NCLB addresses alot of that...and as most legislation does creates a few new problems. All in all I appreciate the effort and attempts NCLB introduced. it will require tweaking but its a good start.

Under The H. W. Bush Administration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_policy_of_the_George_W._Bush_administration

Under the William Jefferson Clinton Administration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Administration
-A

President-O-President

Let the race begin...

From Barack Obama to Rudy Guliani the race for President has begun...which wouldn't be such a big deal accept it's February 2007 (not 2008).

I will cover every aspect of the presidential election in this blog--but I have to tell you...I'm just not ready to start yet.

Since the candidates have shown up early I may as well ask the question: WHO (of the 3 majors of today) WOULD YOU VOTE FOR?

Hillary Clinton

Barack Obama

Rudy Guliani

-A

Websites:

Rudy: http://www.joinrudy2008.com

Hillary: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/

Barack: http://www.barackobama.com/

From "Do Nothing".....to "Do Everything"?

They're back!!!
The Democrats have officially moved into the majority again. After living through the so-called "do nothing" congress I'm just happy to see that the Democrats want to come to work. Okay, so my standards have diminished since the ninties. Can you honestly tell me that yours haven't? I didn't think so. Let us move on. The political shift has been felt but what can the Democrats do to improve conditions under this President? If nothing else it should certainly be entertaining.

Pelosi and company have a mountain to climb. They have a full agenda and I hope they can get something done. At this point I don't even have to agree with it, I just want to see congress working again. It won't be easy. This President and his "Stay the course" rhetoric seem to be joined at the hip. The Democrats have all but admitted that they will not use Congressional power to stop this war or take away supplies to troops (which should never be done by the way--leave the troops alone!). They have left the option of using congress to block the president from sending more troops to Iraq but just hours ago President Bush vowed to do just that. His plan is to send more troops to squelch sectarian violence which beggs the question; When is enough enough? I want to trust my President but he hasn't been very trustworthy(i.e. -WMD, -Osama bin Laden, - "Mission Accomplished", -Hurricane Katrina, -Domestic policy etc.). In theory, I can appreciate the President's strategy but I find myself doubting whether this White House can get it done. To me a fight against ideology is always a losing battle...how do you defeat something you cannot contain or kill? I want what's best for the iraqi's but mostly I want an end to this increasing American death toll. I'm selfish that way. More people would be if thier children were the ones dying and no greater good was in sight.

In the wars we all studied in school purpose was derived from a sense of loyalty to our country...and unity over a common enemy...in WWI we honored an alliance with the UK (sort of), in WWII we stopped Hitler and got revenge on Japan, and in Desert Storm we freed a nation. What are we doing now? (Other than protecting 65% of the world's oil supply)? I don't want what happened in Vietnam to happen to Iraq but I want a plausible end in sight. It should go without saying that Democracy can't be forced. If the Iraqi's are not willing to take control of thier own government....we have no choice but to walk away and exhibit some tough love. The conflicts in the middle east have existed since before the days of Christ and I find it foolish to think it can be stopped by anyone other than the major players within that region. I say we find Bin Laden and get out. Of Course we must do our part to rebuild what we tore down, but we can't be babysitters. Turn it over to Iraq and help while allowing the world to also mentor and aid the bustling new democracy. All democracies begin in bloodshed and sacrafice but it can only survive by the will of the people. We can't make them want it.


So say the Polity,
-A

p.s
Next time I'll address domestic policy.

Farewell to a President...

Gerald R. Ford

Tonight, as regular Americans watch a former President lay in state I am reminded of a good man and a good President. Arguable one of the greatest from "The Great Generation," President Ford was a great football player(Michigan), an athlete, a coach, a veteran, a lawyer, and a husband. He was elected Vice-President and later, following the impeachment of President Nixon, confirmed as our 38th United States President. He took the helm in a time where our system of government was a run away train, and like a good engineer he slowed the train down and, in a easy-going manner, guided our country back on the right tracks. In my humble opinion, President Ford never got his deserving measure of respect because he chose to pardon his predecessor....But even in that act of forgiveness, I see humanity. President Ford, I pray that you rest in peace with the assurance that you served your country when it desperately needed you.


-A

Now What?

The man we once knew as Saddam Hussein is no more......now what?
I know Hussein was a bad man, maybe even evil but I can't feel good about his death or the way he died. Although, I hope the people most affected by Saddams vicious reign find some solace in his demise, I cannot join them. To be honest, when I heard the news last night I was filled with a sense of dread. We are living in trying times and the implication of a man being put to death as a result of our waging war with no provocation and phantom WMD's leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I do believe the world is safer and justice was carried out but I wish American fingerprints were not all over this verdict and Hussein's death. I will say this, I appreciate the swiftness with which the court saw about the carrying out of its verdict.

Now will someone please point us in the direction of Osama Bin Laden? If anyone out there still remembers.....he's the person we were looking for when we found Hussein. I yearn to awaken to the news that Bin Laden was delivered a dose of JUSTICE. That's what this is all about, isn't it?

-A

Scandals Are "U.S."

Nothing says America like a Mom's appple pie, baseball and a good ole Poiltical scandal.

From "watergate" to "email-gate", Every election season has its fair share of carefully timed scandals. This season has been no different. Timing is everything!

Where to begin, where to begin....
The Tom Delay scandal kicked everything off this year. At this point wer'e all so familiar I can just throw out names....Delay and Rove, Cunningham, Abramoff and Ney, Foley, Rumsfield.

Our president is riddled with so much scandal that his "issues" deserve thier own blog.















Foley was molested....Kerry was misunderstood... But then Rumsfield was fired because the American people were fed up!

Election Day was set to the soundtrack of "Mosh"(Eminem), "Dear Mr. President," (Pink) or my personal favorite "A Change gon' come" (Sam Cook)....and just to round out the musical analogies "The revolution will not be televised"(Gill Scott Heron). It wasn't televised. It was internet-ized....with Yahoo streaming national election turn-outs and dividing the winners by party. If you were so inclined you could have played the political stock market on casualobserver.com .

It always takes me about a week to overcome the stress and anxiety of any election day and with a week's worth of perspective I've come to the conclusion that this election was tipped in the Democrats favor for one reason...our country's need to rage against a phrase. We've all heard it, "Stay the Course". Our president seems intent on sailing this country into Vietnam II. Why is it always the Texans? Stay the course on a illconcieved war that should never have been.....stay the course although Americans are dying every day and now everyone knows we had no reason being there to begin with, Stay the course, Stay the Course! Stay the Course! This phrase stands as a shining example of the Ultra-conservative, unapoloegitc thought that always sinks Republicans. Democrats, for all their faults, always one up the Republicans on adaptability or what I like to call thinking outside of the trust fund. If my President had simply said, "We made a mistake but we've opened this can of worms and we can't leave until we can close pandora's box," we'd forgive him and move on. This country is divided because our leader is divisive. But all things change in time. Although, I dissagree with the majority of Democrats (and the President) on Immigration reform I fully support the notion of a balanced power structure. No party should control the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of government. It just wasn't meant to be that way. The Republicans had six years of total control and failed to move on anything with a sense of urgency. Our entire system, of government is built on checks and balances...clearly balance is very neccesary.

Now that the scandals have all played out....let's get moving on making our government work for the people again. As an American I feel like for the last six years my country has been under a fog of deception. For what its worth I believe President Bush is sincere in his efforts but horribly misgiuded on how to be a leader and a President. Americans, all Americans, want very simple universal things; (i.e. a safe country, job secutiry, comprehensive health care, access to employment etc.). Now is a time for healing. I pray that our leaders work to preserve American values and protect our country and our familes....and I'm going to work to make sure it happens that way.

So say the polity,
~A

Hurricane Katrina (After the Storm)

WARNING: I am about to play "The Blame Game" only I call it "Governmental Accountability" (and yes these days that is an oxymoron).

None of the the people listed below are responsible for this disaster. Nature is what it is but response is everything when you are dealing with the lives of people you have been charged with protecting.

















LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Mayor Ray Nagin
Mayor Nagin faced aging population of people who have grown very accustomed to waiting out storms. In the simplest terms many people could have left and choose not to leave in order to stay with an elderly parent who would not leave. My great-grandmother in Baton Rouge is the exact same way. She refuses to leave when storms are coming. The mandatory evacuation was announced. After that, it became a statewide issue because once the storm hit, all communication was wiped out. It would have been impossible for ANY local government to handle a disaster of this magnitude and scope (Consider the possibility of the entire local chain of command being dead--would we stil be waiting for people to be rescued?). The mayor asked for help. More help should have come faster. Period. The moment the storm hit and flooded the city this became a State and Federal problem.

What ELSE could Nagin have done?:
He could have provided buses to transport citizens who wanted to leave and could not afford it or lacked personal transportation on the day he declared a mandatory evacuation.

STATE GOVERNMENT
Governor Kathleen Blanco
I feel the most regret for the middle-woman in this tragedy. She is female governor amongst men, a democrat among republicans and is less charismatic and spotlight oriented than her male counterparts. Her status as a Democrat made her the official scapegoat of federal administration for their lack of response (although the exact same things happened in Mississippi). Haley Barbour, Mississippi’s Governor has been both protected and held at bay by the same administration. Blanco declared a state of emergency and asked for Federal intervention days before the storm.

It has recently come out that Governor Blanco asked FEMA Director Brown for busses, on the day of the storm so that they could to be dispatched to the superdome to bring the people there to inland shelters. As Brown said, “I asked for it and it just fell into a black hole.” It was Thursday when the buses arrived. Brown has further admitted that Blanco had the appropriate paperwork completed and submitted before the storm hit and provided information obtained by her office to him immediately after the storm(although informaiton was skewed in some cases because of the breakdoen of technology). As a governor, her main job was to declaare the emergency and secure and submit the correct paperwork to enable the federal government to the BIG job that partially obliterated states probaly can't do. BUT she also mobilized her troops, the national guard, (and borrowed a few from other states) and got them to New Orleans in short order. Sadly the majority of Louisianas Army reserves were deployed in the middle east (and that has never really been discussed). Governor Blanco has done many great things for the state of Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina and I think when history judges this time in history she will be placed in a favorable light. If this were a greek tragedy, Governor Blanco would be Antigone (charged with seeing to the honor of her state and being bullied by Creon--President Bush).

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
President Bush
Homeland Security & FEMA

For the federal response I have a keyword : Incompetent
I could just put the keyword in big bold letters and conclude my appraisal of the federal response but that wouldn't be my style.

Mr. President, incompetent describes your reaction to Katrina. Incompetent also describes your decision to continue your schedule while a natural disaster was taking place in your country. The “fly over” the gulf-coast was un-presidential. Okay, so President Bush is no statesman, big deal. Not everyone has the same gifts. I can live with that. Here’s what I can’t live with: the lies. Better yet, my president glad-handing political cronies when he should have been tending to our country. Appointing unqualified people is despicable in general but appointing them to such necessary and important posts is inexcusable. People died because of your lack of response. Deal with it. Above all, the most despicable act was playing the blame game in lieu of assuming responsibility for your overwhelmingly sluggish response. As a president who ran his first campaign on restoring honor to the presidency, you have been quite the disappointment in that particular area.

Moving on, incompetent also describes what the W. Bush administration turned FEMA into. I remember when FEMA was the shining star of the federal cabinets (yes, it was once treated as a cabinet). Remember, if you can, the work of FEMA during the Clinton administration. Before FEMA was placed under the bureaucracy of homeland security, it was a very useful department. If you do nothing else Mr. President please remove FEMA from Homeland Security. Give them their own cabinet seat, how about, “The Department of Homeland Response”? At least then everyone will be clear that the job is to respond.


In closing:
What happened at the superdome (and convention center); A hot, wet environment where people were packed in together in the dark without food or water, being prayed upon by less moral people. All the while awaiting shipment to other places was the visual equivalent of slavery to my psyche. My mind could not help but draw the comparison. I saw the superdome as a slave ship. What hurts so much is to know that my people are always the recipients of this kind of treatment. I have always believed in the beauty of the process of this government (I even became a Political Scientist to preserve and make it better) but watching the photo ops after Katrina and going home to view the damage I was left with one realization, in times of crisis we only have ourselves. Mississippi was obliterated. It does not get as many sound bytes as Louisiana does but be clear the American gulf coast was reduced to a third world nation and the federal government of the richest country in the world stood by and watched. It was shameful. In light of that, we need to build stronger city and state governments and prepare to help ourselves more. The veil of false security about federal disaster response has been thrown off and cast aside. We should act accordingly.


So say the polity,
-A

Immigration Reform

Firstly let me dispel a misconception, illegal immigration is not a Mexican or Hispanic issue. This country attracts people from nations all over the world. But since the Mexican diaspora have made themselves the poster children for this particular issue I would be a foolish not to address it the way it is being presented.

The illegal immigrants lost me as a possible ally when Vicente’ Fox said they, “do the jobs that not even the blacks will do.” That day I resolved not to get involved in this madness but the insults continued. Here, in Houston, the misguided high-schoolers likened their “struggle” to be illegal and be afforded the rights of citizens to the struggle of African-American citizens who marched and protested for basic human rights in this country. They called themselves “sleeping giants”, and after a day of boycotting and waving flags of their nations had no effect (except a loss of revenue for Mexican-American businesses) they released what was the final straw for me, the Spanish version of our national anthem. I consider myself a patriot and a gentle-lady but that display of disrespect was the last straw. In a lot of ways this anthem is symbolic of the way these cultures have treated our nation. We are in a sense a test tube for their babies. We provide safety, healthcare, room and board for them but when they are born they will raise the flag of their mother (country). I applaud the right of any citizen to wage lawful protest on any issue of our country but if we continue to allow non-citizens to take to our streets in protest we have done ourselves a great disservice. Why don’t these people demonstrate in the countries of the flags they raise, instead of on our soil? A lot of columnists have asked the question, “Why are we responsible for people who willfully abandon their countries and illegally enter ours?” It is a good question. The answer is simple, we’re not.

I sympathize with the people trying to do things that right way. To the others I say, I’m sorry if our system isn’t fast enough for you but we’re not obligated to accept anyone into our nation. Personally, I welcome any person who wants to be an American, learn the language and contribute to society. Period. To the others I ask, what is the problem with going through the appropriate channels? My deepest belief is that a lot these people do not wish to be American citizens. Instead they want to work here and diminish our economy by sending money home to Mexico (or wherever). I pity these poor people marching and siding with the people who are using them as cheap labor, all the while taking jobs away from American citizens (Yes, Mexican-American, Anglo-America, African-American, Native American…any way you slice it, we are all American).

Dear Mr. Fox:
I know Mexican nationals are hard-working people but this is a country of hardworking people so, among us, they simply blend into the crowd. To clarify, Mexicans don’t do jobs Americans won’t do. They do jobs Americans won’t do for the same minuscule wage. If your people were not here those jobs would get done by Americans who have social security numbers and pay taxes. I hope this clears it all up for you.
-ADJR

Bottom line: Amnesty is an insult to law abiding immigrants who have chosen to follow the laws of this country and go about citizenship the right way. Those who go about being here illegally obviously have no respect for the laws of this land or they would simply follow protocol. Mexican immigrants already have a preference under the current administration (if you doubt that, ask a Haitian). I'm in favor of giving these hardworking people three months to register, and get in line behind immigrants who went about it legally, to begin the legitimate process toward citizenship or be shipped back to wherever they are from. That’s a lot fairer than an illegal American would be treated in any of those countries. If you want to be an American go through the proper steps and channels like any other, would be, naturalized citizen. Learn the language. I’m not saying abandon your culture but let all the other immigrants be your measuring stick. Pick any culture (Chinese, Italian, Indian, Canadian-Americans) we all speak English at work or school and our native tongue at home or in leisure. That is the strength of this nation; we accept all and become all. It’s a melting pot, polarized though it may be at times, but we are one nation derived of many cultures (not many nations in one culture). Furthermore: We raise one national flag, and we speak one national language. This is a land of freedom, and you can choose to adapt to that or be free to choose another country.


The Big Picture:
National security is really what that this immigration reform should be about. Where national security is concerned this is just an American/Mexican issue because the Canadian/American boarder is patrolled by both governments. We need appropriate border security. At the very least, that means a defined border with a fence or some equally effective barrier in place. This country has been launched into terrorism and the plots will probably never stop so we have to protect our citizens. By the same notion Mexico needs to protect their citizens. If the relationship between these countries was not so co-dependant it would be an easy fix. After all, it is in the best interest of both nations.

Dear Mr. President:
The citizens of this country implore you to fulfill your promise to keep us safe, by securing our borders before any other plan involving immigration reform is put into play. When you said, “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people,” did that only apply to war? If not Mr. President, then think now about our security at home on a comprehensive level. Threats to our nation may come from anywhere and it would be unwise of us not to defend all borders vigorously.

So say the polity,
~A

Introduction

Welcome to "Just Politicking" !
In the coming days and weeks I will systematically go about addressing the political issues of these United States.

For Starters: Let me just define the parameters of this Blog.
I am a moderate, so I'm accustomesd to people disagreeing with me, in fact, I'm very comfortable with it. As a political scientist, I am not bogged down with the need to impress party members. I simply want what is best for this country and fair for its citizens and I will persue that which is right with vigor. My perspective is impartial to party politics and only clouded by the act of being just, hence the blog title, "JUST POLITICKING". I hope you enjoy your stay.

" just ( P ) PronunciationKey (jst)adj.
Honorable and fair in one's dealings and actions: a just ruler. See Synonyms at fair1.
Law. Valid within the law; lawful: just claims.
Suitable or proper in nature; fitting: a just touch of solemnity.
Based on fact or sound reason; well-founded: a just appraisal.

pol·i·tick ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pl-tk)intr.v. pol·i·ticked, pol·i·tick·ing, pol·i·ticks
To engage in or discuss politics."

~A