How not to get Sucked into Election Season Madness

Wow, my Facebook news feed has really changed lately.  I knew the 2012 political season was in full swing  when the normal posts featuring my "friend's" travel adventures, babies being born, and what they had for breakfast were usurped by updates showing why the apocalypse will reign down on America if there is a Democratic or Republican victory in November.

What's most disturbing from my vantage point is that the most bombastic and "cringe worthy" posts come from Christians who, ironically, are supposed to be identified by the love they have for people. I'm left wondering at what point during the election season is the Sermon on the Mount  no longer applicable to Christ's disciples?

Back in 2003 when I was a graduate student at the University of Colorado our department invited former Democratic Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson in for a panel discussion.  One of the questions asked was how things in Congress had changed from when they served.  Their immediate response was the adversarial nature between the parties was much more bitter and personal than it had been in their day.  They noted how President Reagan (R) and House Speaker Tip O'Neill (D) fought passionately over policy but at the end of the day "they were two Irishmen who enjoyed beer."

What happened?  Why have Christians, who are supposed to be putting out fires of strife and discord, are instead fanning the flames?

I recently listened to an excellent teaching by Brian Zahnd called Election Season and your Soul.  He gives his church congregation a 10 point "voter guide" on how NOT to get sucked into the "madness" of the political season.

The original post can be found here:  Let me say I agree with the below points 150%...and you should too.

1. The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world.
For more on this point go here: The Church as an Alternative Society

2. The fate of the kingdom of God does not depend upon political contests.
Don’t be swept away by apocalyptic political rhetoric. It is what it is. Another election cycle. Jesus is Lord no matter who wins the Big American Idol contest and gets their turn at playing Caesar.

3. Don’t be naïve, political parties are more interested in Christian votes than they are in Christian values.
Do you doubt this? Thought Experiment: Imagine if Jesus went to Washington D.C. Imagine that he is invited to give a speech to a joint session of Congress. (He’s Jesus after all, and I’m sure the senators and congressmen would be delighted to hear a speech from the founder of the world’s largest religion—it would confer great dignity upon the institution.) Imagine that the speech Jesus gave was his most famous sermon—the Sermon on the Mount. Can you imagine that? Jesus is introduced. (Standing ovation.) He stands before Congress and begins to deliver his speech. “Blessed are the poor…the mourners…the meek.” “Love your enemies.” “Turn the other cheek.” After some perfunctory applause early on, I’m pretty sure there would be a lot of squirming senators and congressmen. The room would sink into a tense silence. And when Jesus concluded his speech with a prophecy of the inevitable fall of the house that would not act upon his words (Matthew 7:26–27), what would Congress do? Nothing. They could not act. To act on Jesus’ words would undo their system. In the end, the U.S. Congress would no more adopt the policies Jesus set out in the Sermon on the Mount than they were adopted by the Jewish Sanhedrin or the Roman Senate. The Jesus Way and the Politics of Power don’t mix.

4. The bottom line for political parties is power. The bottom line for a Christian is love. And therein lies the rub.
The problem with our “change the world” rhetoric is that it is too often a thinly veiled grasp for power and a quest for dominance—things which are antithetical to the way Jesus calls his disciples to live. A politicized faith feeds on a narrative of perceived injury and lost entitlement leading us to blame, vilify and seek to in some way retaliate against those we imagine responsible for the loss in late modernity of a mythical past. It’s what Friedrich Nietzsche as a critic of Christianity identified as ressentiment and it drives much of the Christian quest for political power.

5. While in pursuit of the Ring of Power, you are not permitted to abandon the Sermon on the Mount.
When the world is arranged as an axis of power enforced by violence, the pursuit of power trumps everything. But in the new world created at the cross (an axis of love expressed by forgiveness), love trumps everything. The Sermon on the Mount is our guide to this new kind of love. Among other things, this means you cannot deliberately portray your political opponents in the worst possible light. (Attack ads? Remember the Golden Rule?) Jesus also taught us that if you call someone you disagree with a “fool” you are liable to the “Gehenna of fire.” I might put it this way: When your political rage causes you to hurl epithets like “fool” and “idiot”—you are kindling the fires of hell in your own soul!

6. If your political passion makes it hard for you to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to turn it down a notch.
Right?

7. Your task is to bring the salt of Christian civility to an ugly and acrimonious political process.
If you cannot contribute to the redemption of the political process, but are instead being contaminated by it, then you are salt that has lost its savor…and what’s the point?

8. To dismember the body of Christ over politics is a grievous sin.
This business of denying that someone is true brother or sister in Christ based upon their politics is horrible and must be repented of! It is no small sin. When the Corinthian church carried their class divisions to the communion table, the Apostle Paul said, “Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” Don’t do it!

9. Exercise your liberty to vote your conscience and conviction, while accepting that other Christians will do the same and vote differently than you.
There are committed Christians who conscientiously vote Republican. And there are committed Christians who conscientiously vote Democratic. This is true. You simply have to accept it.

10. It’s more important that your soul be filled with love than it is for your political team to win the game.
If your team loses, the sun will come up and life will go on. But if you damage your soul by succumbing to politically motivated vitriol that causes love to whither, you would have been better off to have never got yourself politically entangled in the first place.
I leave you with this…

Love is patient and kind.
Love does not envy or boast.
Love is not arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way.
Love is not irritable or resentful.
Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love bears and believes all things.
Love hopes and endures all things.
Love never fails.

This is what the Apostle Paul calls the “more excellent way.”
It is the way of Christ.
It is the holy way of love.
It is the way we are called to.
It is the way of human flourishing.
And if you have to choose between love and politics—choose love.

Dylan Ratigan's Rant and President Obama's failed leadership

There is a Shakespearean sentiment that is brewing within America.  Republicans and Democrats alike have been completely ineffective in dealing with the economic crisis that is beginning to jeopardize, at least the perception, of America's place in the world and for that reason the American people seem to be unified in declaring " A Curse on both your Houses" towards their elected representatives.

That sentiment was expressed admirably (and quite passionately) by MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan where he exploded in a video clip that has gone viral on the internet:



Those of you that follow Beyond the Pale know that I have tried to be a Republican that refrains from bashing President Obama simply because he exists. In fact I often take a bit of heat from my GOP cohorts for not seeing past his nice guy, family loving, reasonable mannerisms smokescreen to the Kenyan born, socialist / fascist anti-Christ he obviously is...at least to them.

But I gotta say it... America needs a leader right now and President Obama just ain't doin what needs to be done.

When President Reagan talked about America being the greatest country on Earth and that our best days were ahead of us he meant it. It oozed out of the very fiber of his DNA and we all caught what he had. Like the classic line from When Harry Met Sally we looked at the Gipper on TV and said, "we'll have what he's having."

When President Obama talks about American greatness however it seems like its something he knows you want him to say and although he'd like to help, well...you see... his hands are tied.

I wrote in 2008 that one of my fears of Obama was that we were electing another Jimmy Carter. Carter was a nice guy but an ineffective President who created a depressed state of affairs for America. Likewise, Obama has that nice guy thing which really helped get him elected (as did Carter) but is increasingly demonstrating the lack of ability to lead the American people with any sense of conviction or urgency.

Mike Barnacle on the MSNBC show Morning Joe says it best in this short clip where he seems perplexed and frustrated by Obama's apparent inability to say and do what needs to be done:

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For all of our sakes, lets hope the President and the Congress get their acts together soon...

Happy Birthday to The Gipper!

He would have been 100 years old today!  Across America, Cenetennial celebrations are being carried out to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of former President Ronald Wilson Reagan. 

I miss the Gipper!  He gave America hope after the malaise years of Vietnam and Carter.  Like today, the economy was shot, unemployment was up, and we were constantly told that Japan was the rising economic power that would eventually dislodge America's economic might and the Soviets were going to dominate us militarily .  America's Best Days were behind and we needed to accept the fact we were a superpower in decline.  (Anything sound familiar?)



Then a little known B-grade Hollywood actor out of California said, "Well, we'll just have to see about that..." and over the next 8 years put the pride back in America's soul.  He called the United States a "shining city on a hill" pronounced the Soviet Union "an evil empire" and turned the U.S. economy into a global powerhouse again.  Leaders of the Democratic Party were agast as their rank and file broke away to reelect him by a landslide in 1984.  The same year a young 18 year old Steve Hackman cast his first vote which proudly went to the Gipper!  What a time it was for Republicans....a time when we didn't have to canvess the trash bin for our leaders, we KNEW who our leader was.

I just read an article that said President Obama was trying to study Reagan to learn how he coped through some of the similar hurdles they have both encountered.  In the piece they quote Pres. Obama saying:

"No matter what political disagreements you may have had with President Reagan -- and I certainly had my share -- there is no denying his leadership in the world, or his gift for communicating his vision for America," Obama wrote in an op-ed for USA Today.  Observers argue that Obama is looking to Reagan to find out how to turn around a bad economy, reach out to the other side of the aisle and restore faith in the American spirit.

Study hard Mr. President ...Study hard!

Best Movies Ever: "The Right Stuff" or My thoughts on how to get Obama to fund the American space program again!

Yesterday I felt this compulsion to watch "The Right Stuff" the 1983 film chronicling the test flights of Chuck Yeager and first flights of the original Mercury 7 astronauts.  My friend Tom reminded me on Facebook that it was probably because it was the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy!  Wow, I hadn't put the two together but it is funny that I really wanted to watch that movie last night!

BTW, not to digress, but where were you when the Challenger exploded?  I was working out at a gym doing some cardio on a bike machine.  The gym had the radio on and suddenly there was breaking news that the Space Shuttle had exploded shortly after take off killing everyone on board.  I just sat on the bike stunned as everyone in the gym just went quite.  A mixture of horror, helplessness, and sorrow...

Anyhow, The Right Stuff... Why is it called "The Right Stuff".  When you see what these pilots and early astronauts went through...you'll know immediately.  The film is a snapshot into an era where America was reaching for the stars and every boy my age wanted to grow up to be an astronaut.

Scott Glen, Ed Harris, Sam Shepherd, Fred Ward, and Dennis Quaid are the flyboys whose competition and comraderie turn this film into a high octane film for men.  I must have seen The Right Stuff  20 times and every time Alan Shepherd is about to launch or Chuck Yeager is accelerating to Mach 1, I get goose bumps and giddy inside.  Fast cars, fast planes, fast rockets...yep this is a "guy night" flick.

And this all got me thinking.  President Obama recently put the axe to President Bush's vision to see NASA go back to the moon as preparation for a manned trip to Mars.  I admit it, I'm a hypocrite because I think the President doesn't do near enough spending cuts...but I flipped out when he cut NASA.  Why?

Because reaching to do the impossible is what makes America.  It's in our DNA.  If we are told the boundary is "X" we'll make it "X" + 1.  We HAVE to go...because its THERE! It's who we are as a people!

So how do we make Obama change his mind?

We have to trick him.  We have to frame it as an issue that he and the Democrats can really sink their teeth into.  And there is nothing Democrats love more (after taxes)  then turning any completely random issue into an issue of racial and gender discrimination.  Now watch closely (but don't try this at home, leave it for the professionals):

"President Obama do you realize that at this very moment the American flag is flying on the moon  but that only WHITE MALES have been allowed to go there.  That's right...women, minorities, gays...ALL have been excluded from that private bastion of white male privilege we like to refer to as 'the moon".  


And have you seen the film footage of them there?  


Astronauts taking golf shots and driving around their private country club in that expensive moon buggy bought and paid for by the American taxpayer.  I have no doubt that while they were hidden behind those protective visors, they were secretly laughing and joking about how they don't have affiliate  with "those people" while "up here.".  

President Obama, this discrimination and exclusionary policy must be stopped at once! The moon must be a place where men & women of all ethnicities are able to stand tall and walk proud. (By walk I mean that 'hopping walk' thing the astronauts do there)  

Please Mr. President, for the sake of fairness & equality, we need you to fund NASA now!!!!

John Boehner & the 112th Congress

I'm becoming more and more impressed with John Boehner!  As the new Speaker of the House assumes his gavel and the newly crowned Republican led 112th Congress take their seats, a lot of expectation is growing as the country tries to climb out of the downward spiral of unemployment and debt. 

Boehner delivered a short, thoughtful speech making special note of the humility the congress felt at being reminded just how temporary their time there could be.  I believe Boehner just might be what America needs right now.  He is not a firebrand or a radical.  He has the ability to cooperate with the far right of his own party and yet have enough respect in the "relationship account" to reach across the aisle to create working policy.

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Joe Scarsbough, on his show Morning Joe, discussed the increased humility he is seeing from both Democrats and Republicans alike.  Back in 1994 when the Republicans assumed power, it had been a Democratically controlled house for 40 years!  The obituary of the Democratic Party was wrote after that but all it took was 3 or 4 years of Newt Gingrich and a Congress who felt entitled to be there for the American people to send them packing.

After the 2008 Tsunami that swept Barack Obama and the Democrats in, multiple news organizations were declaring  the end of the Republican Party as we knew it.  At best, it would be regulated to a regional party centered in some of the southern states.  Everytime someone would say that to me I would shake my head and respond, "The Democrats will screw it up soon, and then all will change again."

Well, the Democrats screwed it up and the the "dead" Republican Party rose from the grave and have taken up control of the House of Representatives... again.  This time though, there is a sense of humility.  John Boehner knows, as do many of his colleagues, that if they can't deliver jobs and lower our national debt, they'll be given their walking papers in the next election.

But I think John Boehner is no Newt Gingrich.  I used to think that was a bad thing. Now? ...I think that's a good thing...and maybe a thing America needs.

Christmas Shopping with Obama and the Republicans

Its Christmas time and President Obama and the Republicans have been out shopping just for you.  Using China President Hu Jiantao's Platinum MasterCard they have bought a mountain of presents for the American people I know you're just going to love!

You got to hand it to the Republicans, when they come into power, they know how to deal. The new plan they worked out with President Obama and the Democrats will balloon the American budget deficit by a whopping ...wait for it... 1 TRILLION Dollars!

Funny then how both parties had agreed in principal to address the deficit crisis.  The Democrats of course, want to do it by raising taxes, targeted predominately at "the rich."  The Republicans in turn want the deficit to be curbed through budget cuts aimed at social entitlements.

What happened though was that in mental abyss that we like to call party politics, somehow we ended up with lower taxes renewed and spending increased.  The thinking being, "Hey, why tighten the belt and make hard choices when our Chinese friends seem more than happy to keep lending us money."

A trillion here, a trillion there, sooner or later it starts becoming real dinero.

The deficit troubles really began to hit hard when President Bush decided to engage in two wars AND cut taxes. That made as much sense as saying to my wife, "Hey Hon, let's remodel the kitchen, buy a new car, and take a vacation overseas, oh, and by the way, I've decided to go to part time at work."

Then, rather than asking the American people to stand with the soldiers fighting overseas by making sacrifices at home, the narrative from the White House was "this doesn't have to affect you much at all. Don't make sacrifices and whatever you do, keep shopping."  This just reenforced into our national psyche that important things have no cost associated to them whatsoever

The downside of a democracy with a very large credit rating is that you can use that credit rating to keep showering presents on the electorate to keep them happy.  Its like these celebrities who you find out are broke, but still live a high lifestyle for sometime.  Their perceived wealth gives them the ability to live beyond their means for much longer than the average guy.  Thats America right now.  Its living a lifestyle in really can't afford and we now need politicians that can make some of the hard choices.

Either that, or we can end up like Greece where the hard choices were forced on them against their will.

Great Britain has done it though.  Finding themselves in an even higher deficit than the U.S by percentage of G.D.P.  they have instituted an austerity program program where they are cutting 25% almost across the board over the next five years.  The people there are generally supportive of it as they see, and can appreciate, the dire consequences for them if they don't begin acting now.

Obama can't seem to make the hard choices though because he has to get himself reelected in 2012...and so the Christmas presents keep coming out...

...even though they're all Made in China!

Election 2010 recap

Tuesday's election came and went leaving a result everyone pretty much anticipated. Recently I had connected here in Hong Kong with the Republicans Abroad and so received an invite to their gathering downtown to watch the GOP tide roll in.

I caught the 6:30 AM ferry from my place on Park Island and spent the 22 minute ferry ride downtown simply trying to wake up. The Whiskey Priest pub hosted the event and due to the 7:00 AM start, was ready with a buffet of eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and bottomless pots of coffee. The large screen TV was tuned to Fox News (I know, I know, but it was a Republican event, what can you do) and slowly a large group of American Republican Hong Kongers (that's a mouthful huh?) filled the pub.

What struck me was that as we hooped and hollered to the results coming in from half a world away was that these guys, whom I had only just met, echoed my own sentiments about the election. Essentially the Republicans, after the spanking they received in '06, and '08, needed to do some in house surgery. Some strong, intelligent, and charismatic leadership needed to develop and a cogent policy platform that would have broader appeal needed to to constructed.

With the implosion of the Democrats in the last year, those needed adjustments have been ignored and Republicans may be deluded with Tuesdays result into thinking the American people love us again.

They don't!

Sarah Palin may have took a victory lap on Wednesday morning but she is the prime reason why the Republicans failed to win the Senate back as well as the House. Her irresponsible endorsements mobilized the Tea Party faithful around candidates of dubious quality at the expense of seasoned and proven winners.

I can't blame her though, the lack of true leadership in the party makes the likes of her and some of the other crazy talking heads possible.

There is hope on the horizon though. Guys like Marco Rubio who won his senate seat in Florida seems to be a rising star with a good head on his shoulders (that alone makes him a welcome change for the Republicans)

Anyhow, I want to finish this little take on the election with a congratulations to good friends of mine that won this week. Mike Kopp who was reelected to his state senate seat in Colorado's 22nd and to Scott Gessler who just became Colorado's new Secretary of State. Fantastic job guys!

Restore the Sanity 2010

I try not to blog too often on Jon Stewart and the Daily Show...else I would hardly blog about anything else...but when he announced his "Restore the Sanity" rally for October 30 in Washington DC, I had to get on board.

Lets face it, things have gotten really weird...and it started long before Obama. When George W. Bush was in office I was always disturbed when I would see, normally calm, intelligent Democrat acquaintances suddenly have a Jekyll & Hyde reaction at the very mention of his name. Eyes would glaze over, teeth would gnash, and no reason could penetrate the notion that from the time W. got up in the morning till he went to bed at night, he was Satan incarnate.

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Rally to Restore Sanity
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Now it seems with Obama...its gotten even worse. If I mention to some Republican friends that although I wouldn't vote for him, I think he's articulate and has some good qualities I will inevitably be given a look of sheer incongruity.

"But Steve, surely you know he is a: (Choose 1)

A) Atheist
B) Muslim
C) Black Panther Christian

who was born in

A) Kenya
B) Indonesia (but don't ask me where that's at)
C) hell (and is the anti-Christ)

and he's trying to

A) create a socialist Amerika
B) make it legal for a man to be able to marry his own pet
c) take away all my rocket propelled grenade launchers

and I know all of this because:

A) Rush Limbaugh
B) Glenn Beck
c) Sarah Palin

told me so (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit). So here is your

A) handgun
B) shotgun
C) rocket propelled grenade launcher

and get ready, because this revolution will be televised on

A) Fox News
B) Fox News
C) Fox News

I give credit to Stewart in his promotion of the rally. Although he vents Left in his politics, he takes an equal swipe at both sides of the craziness. And they have both gone crazy!

I wish I were in the States in October because this is one rally I would attend. Its my kind of people...people who I can stand with and proclaim with one voice,

"WE ARE HERE...but only till 6:00 because we have a sitter!"

Conviction & Compassion: or What to do with my Democrat, Muslim, and Gay friends

I recently had dinner with a new friend here in Hong Kong. We had been talking about different cuisines and I had been bemoaning the fact that my favorite Lebanese restaurant had closed. When I told him of how much I missed the place and my love for Arabic and Mediterranean food his eyes lit up. "Steve, I am going to take you and Tammy to a Lebanese place you will really enjoy."

And did we! And as we conversed over lamb, humus, hot pita, and red wine he mentioned that although his family had emigrated to the West when he was a boy, he was in fact Palestinian originally and born in Jerusalem.

"Wow!" I thought. I have had a lot of of diverse friends but I had never had a Palestinian friend.

The evening turned out to be full of great conversation and it really got me reflecting. See, I'm a big supporter of Israel. Ever since I read Leon Uris' Exodus in high school I have been behind the establishment and defense of the modern Jewish homeland...and because of that, and knowing emotions can get passionate, I kept my mouth shut. Why?

Because he's my friend...

I think some of the vitriolic talk and bombastic assaults on different people groups, be they religious, ethnic, or social, come because often people don't have friends in those groups.

I'm a Republican...but the reason I don't join in on mindless banter slamming the Democrats is because...I have Democrat friends.

I don't support homosexuality or a homosexual lifestyle...but one of the reasons I rarely, if ever, blog on the issue is because I have gay friends.

I am a Christian and desire to share my faith with Muslims across the globe but the reason I don't engage in demeaning talk about Islam is because I have Muslim friends.

Its a shame some people believe if they show compassion, they sacrifice conviction. Nothing could be further from the truth. Compassion legitimizes conviction.

Jesus gave us the example. The Bible says he was friends with "publicans and sinners" He was friends with people whose lifestyles he wouldn't necessarily endorse or approve of. He didn't protest them, harm them, or even start a radio talk show claiming the end of the world if their evil agendas were allowed unchecked.

Instead, he loved them and became an example of a better way. His conviction was never lost in his compassion. He didn't tell the woman caught in adultery, "Your sins are forgiven, now follow your heart and if you really love this man, go and be happy." No...he forgave her (compassion) and told her to "Go, and sin no more," (conviction).

Now anyone that knows me knows I love good argument. I am quite happy to debate political, social, and religious issues just about anytime and anyplace...but I refuse to join the mob and too much of the American political landscape has been overrun by a mob mentality. Intellectual discourse has all but disappeared...and much of the reason is the balkinization of society into groups where people are only surrounded by other people that think like them.

Both sides of the political spectrum, Left & Right, are equally guilty but I have a solution...

Get more friends!

Tuesday's Election Recap

“The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated” said a witty Mark Twain more than a century ago. Perhaps the same could be said of the Republican Party.

Last night’s GOP victories for the Governorships of New Jersey and Virginia were a major setback for the Obama administration. The President carried both New Jersey and Virginia in his victory last year and personally made trips to New Jersey to campaign for the Democratic incumbent Joe Corzine but it was not enough to for Republican long shot Chris Christie to take the victory by an amazing 4 percentage points. What’s even more stunning is that Corzine outspent Christie by a 2-1 margin. For a Republican to take New Jersey is HUGE for the GOP.

Likewise in Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds in a closely watched race for the Governor spot there. What is most worrying for the Democrats in 2010 though is the swing in voting habits for voters claiming to be independents.

In New Jersey, the Republican candidate took the Independent vote by 27% over the Democrat incumbent. Likewise, in Virginia, the Republicans won Independents by a 62% to 37% margin. This bodes well for the Republicans as Obama hands down won Independent voters in his 2008 victory.

Now last year people were talking about the demise of the Republican Party; that it was destined to become a regional southern party. I was always doubtful of this. True, the Republican Party was acting, speaking, and portraying themselves in a way that was completely embarrassing to many in our party and much of our defeat was self inflicted. But at the end of the day, Americans are inherently minimalists when it comes to government involvement in their lives and I knew that once the Dems were in power, taxes started going up, and Washington began telling us what to do and how to do it, the scales would begin to balance itself again.

Then there is New York’s 23 Congressional District. A solid Republican stronghold that could only have been lost once Sarah Palin got involved. Not that she should be blamed alone; but the Republican revival would be faster, stronger, and more palatable to the average American if she would confine her activities to the fringes of civilization.

Another surprise was the voter's of Maine overturning a homosexual marriage policy passed by their legislature earlier this year. This was viewed as a major setback for the homosexual rights lobby as Maine is one of the most liberal minded states in the Union. Homosexuality is much hipper in America these days... but apparently not hip enough.

All of this bodes well for the Republicans but they are far from out of the woods yet. We still lack a Statesman who can articulately state a vision from America that can inspire the average American. Their gains two days ago were more the result of Democratic disgust than Republican trust.

But Democratic disgust may be a pretty good place to start...

Pelosi & The CIA

Last month I wrote in a blog that U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi needed to be very careful with her talk of a "truth commission" in regards to the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" employed by our intelligence gathering agencies. I wrote:

"Many Democratic members of congress knew full well about the policies being implemented so when Speaker Nancy Polosi starts stating that she supports a "Truth Commission" to investigate Bush era policies, she better be ready to explain as George Will says, "how a 10 year veteran of the House Intelligence Committee is shocked and surprised about what was going on."



The Speaker just didn't heed my advice and now she is knee deep in controversy surrounding an intelligence briefing which occured in the fall of 2002. The Speaker said that the CIA "lied" about telling her that such enhanced techniques (like waterboarding) were being used to gather intelligence. CIA Director Leon Panetta (who is a Democrat and former collegue of Pelosi) offered her an "out" by suggesting that the CIA records show that the briefing occured but it is ultimately for congress to decide the facts.

Pelosi then switches her guns onto the Bush Administration and says:

"We all share great respect for the dedicated men and women of the intelligence community who are deeply commited to the safety and security of the American people. My criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not properly inform congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe"

Are you kidding me??? First she calls the CIA liars and then when it blows up in her face she say, "No, No, actually I like you guys...its the Bush Administration...its all their fault isn't it?"

Everyone warned Pelosi not to stir this up because she was a culpable as anyone. The dilemma she faced though is that there are those out there that want to see George Bush and the gang punished and have been pressuring those with the ability to do so to press the issue.

Personally, I'm just enjoying watching a Democrat in the hot seat for a while.

Torture & The Democrats

Last week in a press conference President Obama let slip for the first time that an investigation into the use of "enhanced interrogation" by policy makers in the Bush administration was a possibility depending on a decision made by the Attorney General. This is a nearly unprecedented approach whereby a current administration uses its power to scrutinize the decisions made by a previous administration with the possible intent of criminal prosecution.

I believe this very well could be a disaster for the Obama presidency.

To his credit, the President seems VERY reluctant to chart this course of action knowing where such an investigation could lead and how it could impact his ability to enact legislation he seems commited to pursuing. Until recently, Obama has consistently deflected the question by repeatedly stating he was concentrating on moving forward rather than looking back and spending the time & energy needed for such an investigation to tackle the large problems currently facing our country.

A recent ABC news poll shows only 49% of Americans support his torture ban and 53% of the country supports his having released the classified CIA memos which brought this issue to the for front. In effect, its a 50 - 50 split and hardly the political numbers needed to take such a move.

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So, why the sudden change by the President? The truth is that there are a number of supporters on the far left side of President Obama's base that have been pushing this issue. There is a strong desire in those circles to punish President Bush and his entourage . The image of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, and Rice riding into the sunset and not held accountable literally drives them crazy and they will have blood.

But, as the saying goes, "Careful what you wish for, you just may get it."

These angry voices need to cool their heels and take a lesson from history. It was roughly 20 years ago when another angry group of Democrats thought they had President Ronald Reagan and his entourage in their gun sights. They felt Reagan and a number of intelligence officers had circumvented the law to fund the Contras fighting the Sandanistas in Nicaragua. In the end, a number of those involved were found to have broken the law but but the accused ended up winning in the court of American public opinion. The heroic efforts of Oliver North, John Poindexter, and CIA Director William Casey were laid bare and even as they were charged on various counts, they were applauded by the American people...much to the chagrin of the Democrats.

Its with that scenario in mind that I offer a few thoughts for my Democratic friends to consider:

* Although its popular to say at dinner parties over a glass of Cabernet that "torture doesn't work" when Pandora's Box is finally opened and the memos and evidence come out, it will most likely show that lives were saved and plots were thwarted by such policies. There will be disagreements with that evidence and accusations and recriminations will fly back and forth, but there will be enough support for the policies to exonerate the actions. Both former CIA Director George Tenent as well as Former National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell have released statements stating that there are people walking around alive today because of these policies. The Democrats are kidding themselves about how angry the American people are going to be when those details come to light.

* Many Democratic members of congress knew full well about the policies being implemented so when Speaker Nancy Polosi starts stating that she supports a "Truth Commission" to investigate Bush era policies, she better be ready to explain as George Will says, "how a 10 year veteran of the House Intelligence Committee is shocked and surprised about what was going on."

* Despite the Republicans minority status right now, the President is still going to need G.O.P. support for his rather ambitious social agenda. He will expend a lot of political capital to mount an investigation and will receive almost nothing in return for it save headaches and frustrations.

Although we are a nation of laws, the American people love the Rebel with A Cause. If the minority of Democrats, led by Senator Patrick Leahy, get their way and an investigation is mounted, my prediction is that more than a few "Jack Bauers" will emerge. The nameless, faceless men and women whose stories are rarely told but toil night and day to keep Americans safe will come to the surface...

...and it will drive the Dems crazy!!!