Haggle Over Hagel

The Republicans seem to be having a fine time waving their red capes in front of the Democratic bulls.  The problem is the bulls keep winning and the Republicans keep getting gored.

That's why a headline on Politico caught my attention. GOP sees payback in Hagel pick.  Now there's an example of child's play if ever I've seen one.

I have mixed feelings over the selection of Mr. Hagel just as I do with Kerry for State and Brennan for CIA. Every one seems warm and fuzzy over Kerry.  Senatorial courtesy we're told.  The difference between Kerry and Hagel?  Hagel isn't well liked and it would seem Kerry is.

I hope the hearings focus on policy and how these men will continue implementing it.  After all it is the President's purview whether or not I agree with it.  To turn it into a witch hunt as payback for past disagreements will make those partaking in it appear petty.

I don't think the credentials of any of these three is any better or worse than many others serving in the Cabinet. If either, I'd probably lean toward better.  That's a positive.  They don't appear to be merely political payback.  Obama knows, likes and most importantly trusts Hagel and Brennan.  Kerry wasn't his first choice for State but being Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he comes in with a depth of knowledge and personal relationships with most of those with whom he will be working.  That too is a positive.

I differ with the President on many aspects of his foreign policy but it is what it is.  If it has any chance of being successful or at least maintaining the status quo, he needs that trusted leadership doing his bidding.  So do we.

The time for celebrity appointments is past. The world is far too dangerous a place any more. I don't know how Hillary as Secretary of State will rate when all is said and done but suffice it to say that a "name" doesn't necessarily equate with success.

What I do understand is that none of these men have much appetite for war.  That again, is a positive.  Where they stand on readiness as a deterrent is more of an issue but that's not my call.

What I don't want to see is "payback" in the hearings.  An attempt to denigrate a nominee for so called sins of the past.  I daresay there won't be one on the panel of questioners that hasn't changed his or her stand on an issue for political expediency.  After all, the President himself has "evolved" in many areas of policy.

Let's have hearings that are informative.  If the men are ill suited for the positions for which they've been nominated then don't vote for them.  Personal agendas against a nominee will only make this President dig his heels in deeper and we've been seeing of late how good at it he is.

Leave the red capes home.  Conduct yourselves like grown ups with your major concern being your country. If the bull deserves to, let him live. Being gored in the name of payback could be excruciatingly painful!  For all of us.

Out With The Old, In With The New

It has been said the United States Senate is the world's greatest deliberative body. That's out.  You can't deliberate an issue if it isn't presented.  That's in.

Washington's game of 'survival of the fittest' has had the rules changed.  I was thinking it was age related but then decided that was wrong.  Neither Harry Reid nor Nancy Pelosi are exactly spring chickens.  Neither is Mitch McConnell. What it boils down to is the ability to change with the times.  The Democrats have mastered it.  The Republicans have failed miserably and don't seem to get it.

We have a President who was unprepared for the job and has yet to develop what we elderly seem to think are the necessary skills.  So much for our not adapting!  He has instead decided to ignore those niceties and do what suits his own skill set best.  He doesn't know how to negotiate and as long as he's able to bully the opposition into bending to his will he feels the effort to learn would be wasted. So far it has worked wonderfully well for him.

I'm beginning to get it.  Within the Tea Party most members, Obama's age group rather than mine, share the skill of bullying.  So do those who support them.  Compromise?  How old school! Thus the fracture within the Republican Party.

So what are they to do with the next round of fiscal talks?  I know what I'd like to see.  I'd like the House to write their own legislation laying out the trade offs between cutting spending, more taxes and raising the debt ceiling.  No new taxes without a complete tax code overhaul.  They offered closing the loopholes.  Obama said no so that's it.  You want them closed now?  Tax code overhaul. Write it up, send it to the Senate and broadcast that you've done it and the details at the top of your lungs.

Debt ceiling?  This is what we will raise it to and this is what will be cut to make it at least cost neutral. Period.  Write it up.  Send it to the Senate and broadcast it to the people at the top of your lungs.  If the Tea Party continues to defect let it be known the consequences of doing so.  At the top of your lungs. No matter they are fellow Republicans. One of you is wrong and the one who will be deemed wrong is the quiet one.

That's the new way of doing things.  In your face and none too polite to boot. It's not the way I was taught to do things, but it's how they are done today.  I was fairly young when I realized my Mother was uncomfortable with confrontation.  I'm not particularly proud of it but I did learn how to manipulate that bit of knowledge to my advantage on more than one occasion.

The Democrats have done just that to the Republicans.  They are uncomfortable taking a hard nosed stand on anything.  So the Democrats take full advantage of it and win and win and win.  They are anything but likable when they take this stance.  They do, however, get things done their way.

The Republicans haven't learned how to counter.  Fight apples with apples, not oranges.  Because fight you must. Deliberations and compromise are the old way.  Not that it wouldn't still work but trying when the deck is stacked against you is the real waste of energy.

Maybe it is time for new leadership.  It's time to place people in those position that have scrapped for advancement rather than those who have gone along to get along hoping the promotions would come by that virtue alone.  Those who can take on the sacred cows and win.

Nope.  Being 'nice' and 'sensible' no longer cuts it. Israel knows that having our finger poked in their eye means they're on their own.  Obama knows that Chuck Hagel isn't the most popular choice for Secretary of Defense. The end?  Israel will do what it feels it must.  Obama will do what he wants no matter the wisdom of it. It's how things are these days. We either adapt and make the best of the hand we dealt ourselves or retire to the rocking chair with a good book.

Books.  They are so old school!

There's Nothing Left That's Sacred Except The Suspicious In Airports

I've just been reading about the President extending FISA for an additional five years.  You know, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allowing the clandestine gathering of information on just about everyone for just about any reason without a search warrent.

It's making me think about how little privacy we still have.  Consider social media where anything posted is 'out there'.  Anyone with any computer savvy can access it.  There is controversy now as to whether or not employers can demand an employees or prospective employee's pass word. Of course, one doesn't have to participate.

There are traffic cams posted all around cities.  Stores are swept with surveillence cameras.  Drones are being used as stealthy harbingers of death be one guilty or not. OR to see if cattle are laying waste too close to a water source.  The aim of course is to get the bad guys but all too often innocents also get hit. Hopefully when it comes to the cows they just move the herd, but one never knows. This is all pretty sophisticated gadgetry used behind the scenes purportedly to search out the enemy.

Have you ever wondered how many data bases might contain your name for having posted blogs such as mine or having tweeted something that triggers some code word  that make us suspects of some nefarious doing?  Those data bases must be huge considering how many eyes are upon us.

With all this sophisticated capability it brings to mind another pet peeve of mine.  Airport security where we're subjected to incredible intrusions of privacy.  Sure, sure.  No one has to fly.  Unless you have to!

I don't any more.  I'm not even sure if I can, though I don't know that I'm on any list as being suspicious.  I'd have a tough time of it.  I'd no doubt have too much shampoo or hair spray in my bag. I might forget to discard my bottle of water. I'm loathe to have strangers put their hands anywhere on my person.  I don't even want to think about full body scanners. Yet we all endure it because it's supposedly keeping us safe.

I have to ask, however, if we have all this ability to listen in on phone calls and monitor social media, isn't everything that needs to be known known without having to be pawed at the airport?  If it isn't quite that good yet, well, okay.  But if we can profile anyone any where in the world with our sophisticated methodology, why can't we profile those we profile in other places at the airport and leave the rest of us alone?

If it's okay to do all this behind the scenes, it should be perfectly okay to do it in a public venue.  We should alredy know if a person has something to hide.  After all, no fly lists come from somewhere.  I'd like to know why anyone who doesn't fit a profile has to be subjected to what amounts to mass profiling and those who do fit a profile are given a pass.

One would think the eyes have it but maybe they don't and maybe that's the problem. It should certainly raises doubt about selecting a bad guy from a deck of cards and sending a drone after him in a game of 'hit of the day'. What happens when one of those bad guys isn't one at all and they hit one of us? How could that happen?  Well, maybe the bad guy is wandering barely noticed through an airport while one of us tweeted an ill timed 'code' word.

Republicans Need Squeaky Wheels

The press has been asking if Chris Christie's outburst against his own party would hurt his Presidential prospects.  Considering the meek and mild party leaders we see before us, it figures that the consensus is yes.  I heartily disagree!  If anything, the Republicans need more like him.

First of all, Mr. Christie has never been what you might call meek.  That was part of his appeal when he was being encouraged to toss his hat in the ring this last go round.  So why the change of heart?  Are the Republicans so cowed by their opposition and even could be supporters that they have to parse every word and mannerism?

Christie was roundly criticised when he welcomed Obama for a typical PR photo op after Hurricane Sandy did its dirty deed.  He's even been blamed for Romney's loss for having given Obama a chance to look Presidential.  Let's get real here.  Obama was the man who could move things forward.  That he opted not too is hardly Christie's fault.  It was a calculated risk and one he felt necessary for the victims of the storm residing in his state.  His constituents.  Both Republicans and Democrats.  To heck with the election! He wasn't running for office and if Romney couldn't hold his own so be it.

Now, once again, he's being criticised for having blasted Speaker Boehner and Congress for not yet having gotten much needed aid to these very same victims. Blasphemy!  He criticised his own party!

Well, I'll tell you what.  Both parties could use a lot more Chris Christies.  Here is a politician that actually cares about his constituents.  If his own party isn't getting it done he's not afraid to say so.  How amazingly refreshing!

It's far too soon to determine who will be leading the pack in either party at this point.  We have four years to muddle through first.  I do know one thing, however, as I watch candidates emerge I know who I'll be comparing them against.  Yep.  Mr. Christie.

Someone who is willing to stand up and tell the people what it's all about is what we need.  Romney didn't.  He was too worried about offending someone.  Boehner and McConnell spoke among their inner circles but never got their argument out to the people nor their membership.  Communication is fast becoming a lost art.

We're so used to sound bites we have lost the patience to listen for substance.  We love flash and flourish.  It's catchy.  It's memorable even if it's an outright untruth.  We're mentally lazy.

So go for it Mr. Christie.  You may not have the eloquence of some of the other politicos waiting in the wings but you do have the substance. So you can be considered abrasive on occasion.  I can live with that it you're telling me to get off my duff and pay attention; to get with the program.

Wouldn't a whole presidential field of similar candidates be absolutely wonderful?  Squeak away Mr. Christie.  There's plenty of grease to be had.  In some circles it may be considered slime but then you know what to do with that.  Just make yourself heard.

Two Different Worlds - Ours And Theirs

We're doomed.  We really are.  We've just been witness to a spectacle that should never have happened.  You'd think with all the puffery and preening going on today Congress actually accomplished something for the people.

Well, they did if you think raising taxes as a stand alone will solve our economic woes.  It won't.  But then we know that the President has no intention of cutting spending nor containing government so we might as well accept it.

The economy is going to continue to suffer.  There will be no tax 'reform'.  Only increases.  One more time they cobbled together a 'make do' that does nothing but please the President who has declared the rich the enemy.  Strange since he depends on them so much for important things like his inaugural hoopla and campaign funds.  Well, at least that much has ended unless he figures he can run again by executive order.

Why am I so angry?  I'm angry because they can't, won't or are just plain lying about Benghazi.  I'm angry because the President can't even stick around Washington long enough to sign his shiny new legislation.  He can't wait to spend another $7,000,000 to get back to his golf games in Hawaii.  I'm  angry because while blaming the Republicans for everything the Democrats won't even bring legislation to the floor nor produce a budget in the Senate. I'm angry because the Republicans are so darn feckless.  I'm angry because they pass legislation without reading it.

Most of all I'm angry about their blatant hypocrisy.  Tax the bejabbers out of us so you can spend it on wind farms and electric cars.  But help us when we really need it?  Not a chance.  You'd think with all the pork that was extended in this new shiny legislation, like subsidies to wind farms and NASCAR teams and movie producers that they just might have put in a provision to get the aid money to the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  But no.

Did you know those poor people are still waiting?  Unsure of where they can go because the lodging  vouchers from FEMA are expiring?  Unsure if they can rebuild or get a new job or even eat?  Voting for this aid didn't have to wait. When was the hurricane?  Late October!

Why was it delayed?  Because the $60 billion tag is too expensive and there's not enough oversight for how it is to be spent.  Go ahead, Mr. Boehner.  Spend Christmas in your car in front of the house you can't inhabit and see if you still feel the same. While you're complaining about lack of oversight,  how about some oversight on how the President squanders our money on his pet projects?

And you Mr. Issa, one of the most wealthy in Congress, how dare you whine that the bill  has been sitting idle because it's filled with pork.  Yes.  It is and who's fault is that?  Yet the people of Sandy sit and wait and wait and wait.  They don't want the pork.  They want their lives back.

You're worthless.  All of you. You should all be ashamed of your self-congratulatory behavior for this past couple of weeks showboating. And we too should be ashamed that we didn't have the guts to turn you out at the polls.  All of you.  Including the President.  That's why I'm angry.