War Birds

George Bush and his kettle of hawks must be feeling pretty smug about now. They were taking the rap for having gotten us into a no-win quagmire. Their ill-conceived invasion of the Middle East had turned into a monstrous albatross. The Chicken Hawk-in-Chief was stuck with terrible legacy.

Then along comes President Obama with this terrific speech on Afghanistan. He was eloquent, thoughtful and thorough. His speechwriters really strutted their stuff. And with that speech, he took that dead rotting bird and hung it around his own neck.

General McChrystal and his cohorts were able to sell the President on their testosterone-fueled fantasies about taming Afghanistan. Our Middle East foreign policy was hijacked by the military/industrial vultures and national security theorists who play war games with other people's lives and money.

Their foolhardy attempt to conquer Afghanistan has nothing to do with enhancing our national security. It’s an American intrusion into a civil war they don’t understand and can’t use military force to control.

This new troop deployment and its huge cost will have no impact on the insignificant number of al Qaeda in Afghanistan. It won’t keep the Taliban influence from growing. And unless we’re prepared to dump billions more into the illegitimate Afghan government, it won’t make any significant contribution to nation building.

Most independent analysts believe it will take at least 10 years to turn Afghanistan's illiterate and corrupt security forces into anything resembling competency. And cost us three to four billion dollars a year to do it.

The President’s contention that Afghanistan is a "war of necessity" is false. This is a war of his choosing.

I had hoped we elected a leader who would reject the same old interventionist mindset of those who profit from permanent war. But his Afghan policy shows he’s not that leader. He's a hawk in dove's feathers.

Holiday Doors 09

On the way home from shopping up in St. Johnsbury, I took pictures of some of the town's wonderful doorways decorated for the holidays. Click on the image for a closer look. Best wishes for a peaceful holiday season.
Karl

Faded Hope

If you read the very first entry in this journal, you know I was very excited about the election of Barack Obama. I had high hopes that he would restore the integrity of the United States Presidency and the American people.

I’ve been through enough election cycles to know that Presidential candidates say whatever they need to say to get elected. I’m not so naïve to think Barack Obama was any different. I did, however, hope that he might lead the country in a new direction

1. I hoped he would close Guantanamo as he said he would. Maintaining this illegal facility and our other “black site” prisons makes us no better that any of the repressive regimes we claim to oppose. There is not one valid reason why these prisoners should not be given due process. We were able to bring Timothy McViegh and a whole host of other terrorists to justice using our legal system and prisons. We’re a country of blind justice, not selective justice.

2. I hoped that he would give the American people a thorough investigation of the Bush Administration’s bailout of the financial industry. We know it involved extensive corruption, mismanagement and cronyism, but there has still not been a full accounting of the $700 billion TARP spending or the $2 trillion+ in loan guarantees by the Federal Reserve.

3. I knew that Obama opposed the military invasion of Iraq and supported the invasion of Afghanistan, but I hoped he would stand up to the hawks who think military action is the solution to all international political problems. I hoped he would have the insight to see that continued military action in Afghanistan is causing more harm than good.

4. I hoped that he would get us out of Iraq. Thousands of US troops permanently remain in Iraq to protect our business and political interests. By recommitting the United States to the imperialistic nation-building policies of the Bush Administration, President Obama is continuing the legacy of saying our country is doing one thing when it’s in fact doing another.

5. I hoped he would use the bully pulpit of his office to lead the country toward meaningful healthcare and financial reform. He came into office backed by a populist mandate and a Democratic-controlled Congress, yet he has done little to discourage the upward flow of our nation’s wealth into the hands of a decreasing number of people at the top of the income scale.

What attracted me to Barack Obama was that he seemed like a political outsider who possessed the idealism and commitment to bring about change. I may have projected more of my progressive goals onto him than was realistic; but I thought he would stand up to Wall Street, the healthcare/pharma industry and the military on behalf of middle-class America.

He has turned out to be a disappointing centrist focused on pleasing the same special interests as the last four administrations. President Obama seems more dedicated to maintaining the status quo than change we can believe in. He's not leading. He is placating.

I still have hope, but it’s fading fast. My biggest hope is that I’m wrong about him.

A matter of priorities

According to a recent study by the American Friends Service Committee, the United States spends $720 million dollars per day on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s $30,000,000 per hour - 24/7.

These wars have cost us more than a trillion dollars to date.

The Federal government today announced it will cost one million dollars per year per soldier to send troops to Afghanistan, and President Obama is sending an additional 30,000 soldiers to that country.

Don’t these numbers tell us something?

Our healthcare system is failing. Our childrens’ education is suffering. The polar ice caps are melting. And we’re spending $30,000,000 per hour to do what?

Round up a few thousand insurgents? Stabilize a country that has been unstable for centuries? Prove that our military doesn’t lose wars?

The President is fiddling while Rome burns.

It’s time to rethink our priorities. We need get out of Afghanistan. We must reduce our spending on war and instead focus on functioning schools, healthy communities, good jobs and stopping global warming. Instead of robbing from our grandchildren’s economic well-being, we must invest in it.

Let's spend that $300,000,000 per hour on things that will solve problems instead of creating them.

Even a small shift in our priorities would have a huge impact on our children's future.

Shop and Drop

In December of 1966, I was a recent college graduate with a good job in an industrial publishing department. I had a pretty young wife, an eighteen month-old son and a two month–old daughter. This was the first Christmas that our son, Brian would be old enough to really appreciate the holidays; and since it was the first Christmas following several years of college-induced poverty, it was the first year we had any money to spend on gifts.

We went shopping at the brand new Natick Mall in nearby Natick, Massachusetts. It was the first enclosed shopping mall in the area and situated near the very first New England shopping mall, Shoppers’ World.

I was feeling proud as we walked along the crowded mall toward the exit. After four years of going without, I was dressed nicely and my arms were full of gifts. No more worn out clothes and tennis shoes. No more apologies for paltry gifts.

The style in men’s clothing at the time was slim and trim. I wore a fitted button-front shirt with a narrow necktie, black tapered-leg chinos with no belt and black pointed-toe shoes. The look was made for a skinny guy like me.

Chris walked beside me carrying Kelly Anne while Brian toddled ahead, exploring the indoor plants and benches.

When we reached the doorway, I switched the packages to my left arm and squatted down to scoop up Brian in my right arm and carry him out to the car. As I stood up, I heard a ripping sound. The seam down the back of my pants had split open, and they began to slide down my hips.

I stepped out into the frigid winter weather walking bowlegged to keep the pants from falling to my knees. The throng of shoppers entering the mall stared as I struggled toward the parking lot. I turned to my wife for help, but she was enjoying my predicament.

The pants slid down to my knees after ten or twelve steps, prompting peals of laughter from Chris. I switched from walking bowlegged to walking with my feet apart, hoping to keep the pants from falling any further. It was no use. After a few more steps the pants dropped to my ankles. With both arms full, I hobbled the rest of the way to the car.

When I reached our Volvo Duette wagon, I opened the back doors and set Brian and the packages inside. Chris caught up with us, still laughing hysterically. I pulled up my pants and lifted Brian into the rear seat.

We didn’t talk much on the ride home. I was nursing my wounded pride, and Chris was giggling the whole way.

Your wallet can talk

I decided to break down and buy a new mattress and box spring today. After looking around on-line to learn what to buy and where, I decided to buy a memory-foam mattress from an outfit in Poughkeepsie, New York. Their product compared favorably with the more expensive Swedish mattress, and they were offering free shipping for the next two days.

I called twice to place an order—once this morning, once this evening. Both times I was forced to navigate a voice prompt after which I was treated to several replays of a pre-recorded announcement telling me all their mattress specialists were busy helping other customers but the company valued my business. I was then sent to voice mail where I was promised a call back if I left a message. I never got a call back.

If I couldn't reach a sales person to order their product, what would happen if there was a problem with my order? I decided that I'm just not comfortable dealing with a company that can't or chooses not to hire enough sales people. I went elsewhere.

If you ever hope to get businesses to give you good service, take matters into your own hands.

The next time a business keeps you waiting on hold, sticks you with a rude or incompetent salesperson or treats you poorly, go somewhere else. I know. It’s easier to stay or wait or say nothing. You’ve got enough things on your plate without another hassle.

But by putting up with it, you’re saying it’s acceptable behavior. You’re giving them your permission to continue. Don’t do it.

Humans need regulation

It’s not that we’re all evil. It’s just that we all think about our own welfare first. It’s probably instinct imprinted in our DNA.

But it’s why we have laws, social rules and governments. Why religions evolved. Why we need regulation.

So when free-marketers proclaim that businesses, corporations and investors should be completely unregulated, they’re ignoring human nature. They’re disregarding thousands of years of history. They’re either kidding themselves or lying to us.