Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and call it for Bush. Its not a sure thing by any means yet, but its looking like we're going to get four more years.
This is an issue.
Before the Republicans (those who actually read bleeding heart journals like mine) start grabbing their rifles to come and shoot me for saying that, let me preface this discussion with the following statement.
I didn't like John Kerry.
Really.
I didn't like him not because I thought he was unpatriotic, nor because he has more waffles than a house of pancakes. No, I didn't like him because he has no definition. Just as Bush has too much of a definition, Kerry really doesn't fit any roles because he hasn't bothered trying to take any roles on. He is, in other words, completely selfish - all for John Kerry's career, with no risks attached.
That aside, Kerry's fundamental flaw - his pursuit of his self-absorbed career - pales in comparison with Bush's underlying flaw. Bush cannot admit he is wrong, and as anyone who actually lives in reality will tell you, that's a problem.
I think Lincoln put it best. When asked if he'd ever made any mistakes, he replied "I certainly hope so. I hope that I am smarter today than I was yesterday."
Bush, on the other hand, cannot, will not, admit what have been egregious mistakes in both domestic and foreign policy. It doesn't bother me that he made poor choices - shit happens. But if you don't recognize that you're standing in shit, you're bound only to step in more shit later - and since my brother is in the Marines and is likely to find himself back in that fucked up mess that is Iraq, that is fucking unacceptable.
Okay, so Bush is back in office. Lets be proactive about this - because in the end analysis, I do honestly believe that Bush wants to do what is best for the country. I do believe that Bush could help this country survive the next four years, but not if he doesn't learn from his past mistakes. All that being said, the following is MY plan for America...and a wishlist for things that will not happen.
Item 1: Terrorism - or winning "The War on Terra"
Step 1: Recognize that this is not a typical war. Easier said than done, but the fact of the matter is that just taking out random cells, or even nonrandom cells, doesn't win the war. Killing Osama won't win the war, nor will killing his lieutenants, etc. I'm not saying it won't help, but even if we wiped out all the top guys, that doesn't win the war. Why? Because any 15 year-old with a killer instint and a willingness to die for his cause can be a terrorist. This takes little or no coordination from a leader - it just takes a culture that breeds it and a healthy dose of motivation.
Step 2: Disempower the terrorists. First, get rid of their funding. This takes a fundamental understanding of the Arabic system of exchange, which is drastically different than our own. Figure it out. Track the money suppliers, and arrest them. Get them out of the picture. If nothing else, this stops the rich guys from sitting on their asses and funding the camps.
Step 3: Take out cells, and for the love of god, don't use bombs. Bombs are nice, they make big explosions, but when terrorists put their camps in cities, you kill a whole lot of innocent people. What happens to the relatives of those innocent people? They become terrorists - because they hate America now too. This will increase the risks of Americans dying, which sucks, and believe me, I don't advocate this position lightly. But if you're going to take out terrorists, you can't be indiscriminate about who you kill.
Step 4: Take away the motivations. People have to not want to become terorrists, or support them. This occurs when the young men in these countries don't hate America, which occurs when they are a) Educated b) Have jobs and c) We aren't actively fucking them over with our companies and / or military. Okay, so we're in their country, and there isn't anything we can do about it. It is imperative however that we do NOT insult their culture and that we ensure that they feel empowered to achieve the society they want. If this doesn't happen, every fifteen your old kid is gonna want to take a pop at your American soldier, and its going to happen. A lot.
Step 5: Get the intelligence community back together. Reform those idiots, get 'em workin, and get 'em back in there. This really should be step 0, but hey, this is a no-brainer.
Item 2: The War in Iraq - or NOT the war on terror
Step 1: Admit you were wrong. Okay, this is a big requirement, but lets face facts: Iraq wasn't a war we really should have started. It didn't involve terrorism - for the record, Iraq has only one instance of terrorism recorded, the attempted assassination of Bush Sr., which was responded to in force by Clinton, via the destruction of the Iraqi Intelligence Building. They never even attempted another terrorist activity against the United States after that strike. So face facts Bush: no terrorism in Iraq, no WMD, no real plan for getting WMD, all of this means we should have done something differently. Is getting rid of Saddam a good thing? Sure. All of which leads me to step 2:
Step 2: Convince the American people, AND THE WORLD, that it doesn't matter that we shouldn't have started this shit up. This can only occur if you first acknowledge that you were wrong. But say hey - look, Saddam sucked, he's gone. We've got a chance to build a real democracy in a place in the world that has known only terrorism. And yeah, I did a half-assed job at this first, but now we have to succeed, and we are stuck there. So please, forgive my dumb ass, and come help us out here. For all our sakes. This leads to step 3:
Step 3: Rebuild our allies. And I'm not talking about France, fine, its popular to say "fuck the French" so fine, fuck the French. But we have to convince the British people, the Australian people, the European people, and most importantly, the Arab people, that it is in their best interests to help us succeed. I don't know how Bush can do this. I don't think he can. But has to, because we honestly DO NOT have the troops for this occupation. We don't. Do the statistical analysis - in terms of percentages, we are far short of the number of troops we need to do any rebuilding in comparison with post-war Germany, Japan, Afghanistan, or any other country we've ever been in before. And our armed forces are stretched to the breaking point. I'm not exagerating this shit - the numbers hold true. We need some help in order to succeed. And not just soldiers - we need contractors, doctors, lawyers, politicians, engineers, laborers - shit you name it, we need it.
Step 4: Win the Iraqi people. You can't stop the insurgents from killing people via guns and bombs. It doesn't work, see the explanation under terrorism. If you want the people to turn over the insurgents, to stop them and to help you rebuild their country, you have to give them a taste of what they can have. Build their schools - and make it safe for them to go there (again, this is why we need allies). Provide power to people. Give them a sense of security, and I guarantee you they will help you against the insurgents. There is a saying in the Arab countries - "Better a lifetime of tyranny than a day of anarchy". They have anarchy now, they'll take anything over it. Give them something to hold onto, and they'll go for it. But they won't go for unfulfilled promises, empty gestures, and a lot of hand-waving backed up by lackluster effort.
Item 3: Environment - or "What in the fuck were you thinking here".
Simple - when the entire civilized world - and some parts that aren't so civil, sign a global accord to reduce pollution and you back out of it, you look like a fucking jackass. Since the rest of the world wants to be able to breathe clean air again, go ahead and sign that agreement. Oh, and stop selling out all the fucking national parks to oil interests. Christ on a pogo stick, this is simple shit, and you know what - giving in to big industry on the environment certainly hasn't helped our economy one lick here, so you may as well give us some credit with our allies by signing some global pollution agreements.
Item 4: Fiscal Responsibility - or "don't spend more than you can make".
This means repealing your tax cuts. It sucks. I know. Believe me, no one likes paying taxes, and no one wants to pay more. But we have two wars going on, we have a shit ton of expenses in our domestic policies, and as I'm sure Mrs. Bush tells you all the time, money doesn't grow on trees. (P.S. - making more money == inflation and currency devaluing, which is a bad thing). Your tax cuts have barely propped up the economy, and certainly are creating a whole lot of sustainable growth. If Clinton and your father, Bush Sr., showed us anything, its that tax cuts only work if you're fiscally responsible. By the way - that IS the definition of being conservative.
Item 5: Economy - or "omfg, I making how much after 6 years of college?"
I hate to say it, but here's a good analogy for our current economic status. I went to an engineering school. When I started, we had a 95% job placement for graduating students. The joke was always companies didn't ask why they should want you, but that you asked them why you should work for them. When I graduated, four years after Bush took office, our placement overall had dropped to somewhere around 40% - and the amount of money we were making had dropped about 60%. That, my friend, sucks. SO:
Step 1: Stop the insane oil gouging. This means regulating the oil companies, i.e. stopping them from forming monopolies, and stopping them from price gouging everyone - which is what is happening. At least stabilize the prices, even if you can't drop them. The insane rate of growth on oil prices is asinine. There is no fucking goddamn reason why they should have risen as fast as they have, crisis in the Middle East or not. And guess what? Solving some of that crisis will probably help here - so read some of that advice I gave above.
Step 2: Control job outsourcing. Just like candy, too much of a good thing is indeed a bad thing. Here's a place to put your tax breaks to a good use - use them to encourage companies to keep high tech jobs (and fine, other jobs too) within the United States. I'm not talking just about Customer Service positions here either - most high tech people are from India and China now. Companies are shipping design positions over there by the butload, and its only bound to continue...which leads to:
Step 3: Allow people, who have earned degrees here, who have shown that they can massively contribute to our economy, the ability to stay. You'd be shocked at the numbers of Indians and Chinese and Japanese who like America, have gotten their Master's and PHd's in America in technical and scientific fields, and are shipped en masse back home because we don't want them as citizens. This is fucking stupid.
Item 6: Education - or "hey, Amerikans can't speell"
We are a nation of idiots. No shock there. What is a shock is that the rest of the world isn't, and they're getting smarter. I detailed the disparity between us and China / India before, I'm not going to go into it again. But suffice to say, simply "holding schools accountable" isn't enough. Hold them accountable, but for God's sake, give them the opportunities to succeed. The schools and the states need Federal help, that's obvious. Don't withdraw it, and then get upset when they fail.
There's more really. The insane stupidity of the Patriot Act, which will unfortunately never be overturned. The idiotic color schemes of Homeland Security. The disgusting human rights abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the lack of effort in halting the genocide in Darfur, the restrictions of civil rights of American citizens, the list goes on and on. The above to me, however, are what we have to focus on for our country to survive in the long-term. We can, hopefully, someday, recognize the things we've done to our social liberties. We can't do this however if we continue to live in fear of terrorists, because we have no successful policy to deal with them. We cannot do this if our citizens are uneducated and poor.
Something, Mr. Bush, has got to give. Please, for the love of God and all your fellow American citizens, give.
Miss Any?
Alright, we're gonna give this a shot
January 02, 2005
Let's see how badly I failed these last year
December 31, 2004
Okay, so its trendy
December 28, 2004
Its just like that asshole, Joe fucking Lieberman. Annoying and rather pointless.
December 27, 2004
Is this a typical Christmas?
December 26, 2004