Tag Archives: politics

by | November 28, 2012 · 2:06 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 28

politics

politics (Photo credit: Asoka G M)

LEADERSHIP, NOT NOW

The nation is in trouble. Trouble, that is not the fault of either political party. We are all to blame. The problem is identifying and fixing the tax code, Government spending, social programs, allocation of resources and regulations. The problem can be fixed. Beginning to correct what needs corrected is not hard. What is hard is finding the leaders who can move us toward the required results. Leadership is sometimes defined as a person who can influence a group of people toward a specific result. If you have found that kind of leadership in our political system, you are either very kind or a lot smarter than I am. I’m from the school that believes leaders and managers are not necessarily the same thing. Managers are born out of experience. Leaders are born. Governor Romney is an example of a very good manager. The people were looking for a leader and he didn’t convince them he was that person. President Obama is neither a leader nor a manager, except of campaigning. There have been few equals of the President when it comes to winning election against formidable odds. He wasn’t born a leader and he didn’t have the opportunities or desire to learn management skills. And they must be learned in a crucible where results and progress are harshly measured. My examples of Presidential leaders are Washington, Lincoln and Reagan. Every major American industry has produced scores of good managers. Even the Government has had a few.

Don’t blame the President for seeming like he is always campaigning. He has mastered that skill and with David Axelrod in his corner, he is a winner. One of my rules of life is that no matter what the problem, people do what they know how to do. Our President knows how to win elections. Don’t fault him for talking to the people. He won on a successful campaign of dividing the populace. Don’t expect him to now work to bring the people together to solve our common problem. He can’t and he won’t. Why change when you are winning? He promised to transform America and he is making progress. To transform anything  you must destroy the existing system. Is he a champion of Capitalism, the free market, individual freedoms or the belief that economic growth is the answer to overall prosperity? Off the basketball court, I don’t believe he sees winners and those who don’t. His fair shot rhetoric means to lessen the gap between those who have too little material goods and those who have more than enough, by handicapping our best achievers.

On the other side of our political spectrum are those who lost a political campaign when all odds were in their favor. Until they figure out who they are and that the goal of political life is more than getting re-elected, don’t expect much help from them.    Fiscal cliff or not, go over it or not, is not the issue. Getting the Democrats to move back toward the center and the Republicans to move into the 21st century and both recognizing the crisis is at least half their fault, must come before a responsible solution is even remotely possible. Expect instead more kicking the oil drum down the street. Oil drums don’t kick very far, especially uphill.

http://www.factsandfictions.com                                                                 By the Author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series.

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by | August 16, 2012 · 7:31 am

Eight Decades of Insights – 15

YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION WHEN THE OPPOSITION DEVOUTLY BELIEVES THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS.

My last blog emphasized the need to focus on the big picture and not on shifting issues. The president and his whole administration know the goal is to get re-elected: “Nothing else matters. Say anything. Do anything. Never mind the law. Sort that out later. When we win, we will own the courts. Use the full power of the executive office where it is needed. Increase subsidies, extend payments, fight voter ID, sue states, block investigations, try to deny late voting to veterans, leak if it helps build short-term credibility.” These are things the administration is willing to do. And don’t expect a serious effort by the administration to find and punish the leaker.

I have seen real leak investigations. When the president is angry about leaks, the leaker is found and sometimes exposed. These leaks are so spectacular that only a few people could have provided the information to the NYT. The FBI and a counter-intelligence team could find the leaker in two weeks if allowed to do what they know how to do. Mandatory polygraphs of less than twenty people to start. But remember: The end justifies the means. Failing to get four more years is the only thing to fear.

These are smart people. Take immigration. President Obama showed the brilliance of his campaign when he bypassed Congress and issued the essence of the Dream Act by executive order. Senator Marco Rubio lost his unique platform and the Republican Party its chance to make serious inroads into the Hispanic community and to win Florida big.

The Obama brain trust has at least one more ace up its sleeve. They must now be talking about cutting some baggage. Does anyone believe that the vice president is a net gain for the campaign? He is a gaffe a speech and standing beside the president on the platform he looks and acts like he has been or never was politician. Can he debate Ryan? I think not. So, think about it, should this end justifiy the means and should ‘followers of Saul Alinsky’ even think twice about throwing the VP under the first bus?

No! Watch the convention when a tearful VP tells the convention that the campaign and the responsibilities of another four years is just more than he can do. It isn’t fair to the president or the American people and the highly respected financial genius replacing him will help the party and the nation, thereby challenging Ryan’s contribution to the Republican ticket.

That is my prediction. It will happen unless the Obama brain trust believes it can win with Joe. In that case, the Romney/Ryan ticket must have made some catastrophic blunder or blunders.

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by | May 1, 2012 · 4:41 pm

Eight Decades of Insights – 10

This November, we will have a chance to exercise our freedom of choice at the polling places. Important principles will be identified on the left and on the right and our positions on those principles will determine our vote. In a true republic, contesting adversaries usually must compromise on some of their  principles.  This is only possible when the voter recognizes that all principles are not equal. Some cannot be compromised. Others can. The hard part is deciding where you stand.

I have thought my  position through. I’m basically a right/center conservative who will, at times, chose to vote a split ticket. There is no perfect candidate for any office. Sorry about that. When Barack Obama was elected, I was proud of my country for electing a black man as president. Not that I voted for him. He did not fit my requirements  for a president. I served in the White House under President Reagan and it is not a position where learning on the job is a viable option. Without significant leadership and management experience, no one can succeed as president. Experience as a community organizer, state senator,  a two-year member of the Senate, and four years campaigning from the White House just does not prepare you for the job , no matter how intelligent you may be. Enough about that.

Back to the hard part. Where do you stand? Where can you compromise? What is your ranking of governing principles? Below are 20 questions I believe are worth considering before November 2012. There is nothing scientific about these questions or the order in which they are presented. They don’t even reflect my own order of political  principles. Below I have presented the number of yes votes as a means for you to classify where you fit in the political spectrum from the far right to the far left. No scientific process here. It is all subjective and you can do your own scoring.

1. DO YOU BELIEVE THE FREE MARKET WITH LIMITED GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IS PREFERABLE TO A  GOVERNMENT MANAGED ECONOMY?

2. DO YOU BELIEVE OUR CURRENT DEBT IS A NATIONAL CRISES AND WE SHOULD TAKE  IMMEDIATE STEPS TO END BORROWING AND PAY DOWN THE DEBT?

3. DO YOU BELIEVE THE CURRENT CORPORATE TAX RATE SHOULD BE LOWERED TO ENCOURAGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE RENEWAL OF MANUFACTURING IN THE UNITED STATES?

4.  DO YOU BELIEVE EVERY PERSON WITH AN INCOME ABOVE MINIMUM WAGE LEVELS SHOULD PAY SOME FEDERAL INCOME TAX?

5. DO YOU BELIEVE A VOTER I.D. REQUIREMENT SHOULD BE UP TO THE STATES?

6. DO YOU BELIEVE FREEDOM REQUIRES ETERNAL VIGILANCE AND BIG GOVERNMENT PRESENTS A BIGGER THREAT TO INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM THAN A MORE LIMITED GOVERNMENT?

7. DO YOU BELIEVE OUR CURRENT  INCOME TAX  CODE NEEDS TO BE REVISED?

8. DO YOU BELIEVE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES UNIONS  SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONDUCT  COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR SALARY AND BENEFITS?

9. DO YOU BELIEVE ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS  NEED TO BE REVISED TO ENSURE SOLVENCY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS?

10. DO YOU BELIEVE COURTS SHOULD INTERPRET AND ADJUDICATE EXISTING LAW VERSUS MAKING LAW?

11. DO YOU BELIEVE TERM LIMITS FOR LEGISLATORS  WOULD IMPROVE THEIR RESPONSIVENESS TO THEIR CONSTITUENCIES?

12. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAINTAINING A STRONG MILITARY?

13. DO YOU BELIEVE WHILE ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL UNDER THE LAW, THEY HAVE VASTLY DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ABILITY?

14. DO YOU BELIEVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING IS  THE WRONG WAY TO ENCOURAGE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT?

15. DO YOU BELIEVE THE RECENT LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION ON INDUSTRY SLOWS ECONOMIC GROWTH?

16. DO YOU BELIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AT ANY LEVEL, SHOULD NOT EXCLUSIVELY TEACH PARTISAN VIEWS, EITHER LEFT OR RIGHT?

17. DO YOU BELIEVE THE RIGHTS OF STATES TO GOVERN SHOULD BE PROTECTED FROM FEDERAL INCURSIONS?

18. DO YOU BELIEVE OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED FOR ALL CITIZENS?

19. DO YOU BELIEVE WE NEED TO HAVE AN ENERGY POLICY TO INCREASE FOSSIL FUEL DEVELOPMENT NOW WHIIE CONDUCTING BASIC RESEARCH TO FIND OTHER FORMS OF ENERGY?

20. DO YOU BELIEVE THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT AND RESPONSIVE  TO CONGRESSIONAL GUIDELINES? 

If you have  16 to 20 yes answers, you are a strong conservative. I judge a score of 12 to 16 yes answers puts you in the right of center wing.  If  your yes answers are less than five I think you can call yourself far left. My guess is a score of 6 to 10 yes answers puts you in the political center. Remember, this process is subjective. If you don’t like the results change the range of numbers. The important thing is that you consider  these principles and some I’ve missed before you vote. We  must find a working center in the next administration. We have historically been a slightly right of center people. We can govern from there and let the political fringes have their say.

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by | March 31, 2012 · 7:04 pm

Eight Decades of Insights – 9

Afghanistan. Yes, it is time to pack up and come home. The original mission was  to drive out the Taliban and deny Afghanistan as a training/staging site for al Qaeda. Five hundred or so CIA , Special Forces troops, plus the fighters of  the Northern Alliance assisted by the firepower of the US Air Force and Navy did exactly that years ago. War over. Mission accomplished. Leave some Special Forces and CIA personnel in country and focus on other strategic problems.

But no. Then the liberal politicians took over. Iraq was a mistake, they said. Afghanistan is the “good war.” Get the troops out of Iraq and surge our force in Afghanistan. Develop a nation-building strategy, for that is required by the new mission. Wait a minute, didn’t we try some of that in Vietnam? Our military forces, even though frustrated by archaic rules of engagement, never lost a firefight, much less a battle. In war, our uniformed men and women do very well. No one is better. But nation building is another thing. We don’t do that. No one trains in the skills, whatever they are, for nation building. If there wasn’t a nation there to start with, there will not be one when we quit trying. I know. I was there. Corrupt leaders ruling by military and police forces do not a nation make.

Alexander the Great, and his mixed  force from conquered  lands, once invaded and ruled Afghanistan but he did not make it a nation. And history does not tell us much about his success and tactics. Later, the British and Russians tried to invade and rule Afghanistan. Invading they found easy. Ruling was hard. They both left beaten and bloody. The Afghan tribes are not, never have been, and today are not ready to submit to a centralized government. Just ask the Pakistanis. How well have they have managed or extended their national authority to their tribal areas? Karzai is corrupt and with or without our military forces, he and his “centralized” government will not last.

Failure to succeed at nation building in Afghanistan cannot be blamed on U.S. military forces. They are the best. Just don’t expect them to create a nation out of tribes. Political authority that sees the world as they want or believe it to be rather than how it is should not expect anything but failure. Afghanistan is a near perfect example of “mission creep” and political expediency snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It’s time to leave. Do not spend anymore blood and treasure on mindless political objectives. Leave the course of Afghanistan to the tribes, and our intelligence people and Special Forces, none of whom are interested in nation building.  Afghanistan is not “the good war.”

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