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I am concerned that the so-called party leaders of the Democratic Party are not only divided as to how to win the mid-term elections and the subsequent presidential election but that they really lack an understanding of the basic emotions of american voters.  There is no quarrel about the intelligence  of these leaders, but that is not enough.  Indeed it is often an obstacle-e.g. The Best and the Brightest; Donald Rumsfeld’;Paul Wolfowitz etc.  Constitutional argumentation is not a winning strategy as most people would quickly trade safety for civil rights. Nor is minimum wage support a meaninful position as it does not affect the vast majority of voters.  High gasoline prices, huge debt, and manufactured fear of terrorists are three of the basic issues facing the electorate.  And all have in common the extraordinary costs of the war in Iraq- morally, spirituallly and financially.  And subsets of these issues are the lying, corruption and fleecing of the public  by this administration.  If the president says we do not torture, that everything we do is lawful, we accept that statement when it is demonstrably untrue.  If holding people in prison without charging them with any crimes or not allowing them to have counsel is not a violation of treaties and our own Constitution simply because the president says so contradicts all of our traditions that laws and not men govern us. If the party that controls Congress simply becomes a rubber stamp for the presidency than we have lost the great benefs of our tri-partite system.

Since the Democrats apparently do not have an acknowledged standard bearer, and since our primary system is not a good method for selecting a candidate at this time in our history for reasons that have been enumerated many times, the only hope for the party is to agree now on a plan of attack that all candidates wearing the Democratic emblem  will employ.  They are to be propounded frequently and in simple and clear language.  They would encompass the lies that Bush and Cheney have perpetuated (including the use of footage of statements they made which now they ignore or contradict e.g. that Sadam Hussein was not responsible for 9/11- a throwaway line notwithstanding it was one of the justifications for the premptive invasion of Iraq) or that we have all the troops our generals have requested.  They would also focus on the corruption of this administration in allowing financial supporters to rape the country, on appointing clearly unqualified managers of key agencies, of failing to hold to account those high level appointees who have allowed the corruption and or mis-executions to exist, of giving medals to people who should have been fired for incompetence, of blindly following a policy based on ideology rather than fact, of magnifying the problems by military intervention rather than diplomacy, for angering the rest of the world with our unilateral and arrogant actions in disregard of treaties, conventions and our own laws.  This kind of attack can be made by every candidate, even those withougt the charisma of a Roosevelt, or a Kennedy, pr an Eisenhower.  To paraphrase an axiom of the law, if you have no agreed upon  leadershp stress the issues but do so in a unified effective way.  The Platform has to be written now, not at the convention.  We do not have time. Attitudes are being formed now.  What the hell are we waiting for.

I am so suspicious of this administration I believe that somehow they convinced the oil companies to relieve the pressure on Bush by reducing gasoline prices in this period before the midterm elections.  I also believe it is no coincidence that the lowest prices are in Ohio one of the swing states in the next election.  It would also not surprise me if Bin Laden were found in the next few weeks.

I think our homeland security agency should hire Hezbollah to repair all of the damage caused by Katrina. They seem to have enough American Dollars to do the job properly and their organizational ability seems far superior  to those of the Bush Administration. What brings this  to mind is the tendency of our government to outsource or contract normally governmental funcitions to third party contractors who now collect our taxes, run our prisons, and protect our people in Iraq. Why not go all the way and ask the people we have supported for years with our oil purchases to help us repair the damage caused by natural disasters.

I have been troubled about the Isreali attack on Lebanon ever since it began.  I only wish I had bloged about it before  columnists started supporting the same position.  As a jew I was very proud that Isreal took immediate action and not only flexed its muscles but exercised them.  That was the emotional side of me.  The thinking side was not so supportive.  The first indication that all was not well was the Isreali prime minister’s speech to the Knesset where he used the phrase “axis of evil” to justify his country’s actions,  It smelled too much of the neocon jargon that got us into so much trouble in Iraq and elsewhere.  The second indication was the obvious support of the United States and its intentional stalling to give the Isrealis time to root out the terrorists.  The third was the claim that the entire operation would be successfully completed within a couple of weeks or some other limited time period.

Where have we heard this one before.  And how many times does it have to be proven false before we understand that military means alone do not solve any long term problems.  Do we really expect the Isreali armed forces to clean out Hezbollah and to prevent replacements from arising?  Of course not.  And meanwhile hundreds if not thousands of civilians are being killed and rendered homeless. This is pure and simple an act of punishment to a country incapable of controlling its own terrorists ( some of whom sit at the council table).  Either we find a way to strenghten the government of Lebanon and its security forces or we turn to an international coalition to do so.  If Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are troubled by the existence of Hezbollah in the region why not use that political weapon,  And what has been the impact of the Bush administration’s failure to pursue a settlement of the Isreali/Palestinian problem, the key to stability in the region.Their motto seems to be do nothing and then attack.

I am truly sorry the Isrealis did not pursue a more international approach.  I do recognize that the Bush Administration has denigrated the UN to the point that many feel it is powerless.  But it still can be effective particularly in this area of the world where self-interest of the neighboring countries would encourage cooperation,

I hope I am wrong but that is the was I feel at this moment.

Welcome to my first weblog the view of an american regarding my thoughts on life, politics, relationships and events.