Nice Guy Might Finish First

Now that we know who our presidential candidates will be, I am inclined to agree with the author of the commentary “Lending a Helping Hand”. It is very nice to turn on the TV and at least have the mudslinging going in TWO directions rather than three or four. I will also say too, that there isn’t much of it going on. I have seen criticisms of policies, views, and past political actions but that is to be expected. The American public deserves to know the ins and outs of each candidate and then make an informed decision on which candidate should be chosen.

That being said, I think that Senator Obama knows EXACTLY what he is doing. This election is going to be a hard fought battle for the Illinois Senator. He’s young, he’s inexperienced (compared to the seasoned McCain), and he’s black. Yes…..black. To an informed intelligent person, that shouldn’t matter, but unfortunately not all the citizens of America are informed and intelligent. By helping Senator Clinton with her debt from her campaign he will accomplish three things. One, he will be viewed as a good sport and fair player. Two, he will gain a huge support from the female voting public, and three…..he gets Bill. Like it or not Bill gets votes, specifically black votes. So add it all up. He will have the votes of the majority of the women, the vast majority of the blacks, and the historically democrat voting lower class Mexicans. Now throw in every white Democrat supporter that’s out there. How can he lose??

The point of the story is this. It pays to be a nice guy……but it’s also smart to be one too.

Common Sense At Last

As I logged onto my computer to begin researching the topic that I was going to write about today I was quite shocked at the headline of nearly every newspaper site that I went to. In a landmark decision the United States Supreme Court 5 ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment does in fact guarantee all Americans, barring felons and the mentally ill, the right to own firearms.

At last some sense. For thirty-two years, the citizens of Washington D.C. were unable to protect themselves and their families properly because of vague and unclear wording within a document over two hundred years old. Now don’t get me wrong. If the Framers had specifically said that “no citizen without having specific membership in a state militia shall possess firearms” I would have respected and supported the upholding of their wishes. But the fact is….they didn’t. Like many passages within the Constitution, the Framers left it up to the interpretation of the current government. They did not seek to create a rigid and inflexible country that would be ruled by a set of rules set in concrete by a group of men who lived hundreds of years before.

What I believe truly controls the case at hand though is the question of who the law was helping and who it was hurting. In my humble, yet at times quite outspoken, opinion, the only people that this law was helping were the criminals! Try to transport yourself into the mind of a criminal about to rob a house. Would or wouldn’t you be more inclined to carry through with that crime if there was a reasonable chance that your victim did not have a firearm? ESPECIALLY.......since you don’t listen to laws and HAVE a firearm. Seems to be a no-brainer to me. Outcome……criminal helped.

Now….transport yourself into the mind of the victim listening/watching as that criminal invades the sanctity of your house. Unless you happened to be one of the owners of a registered pre-ban firearm, or can unlock the trigger and/or assemble your rifle or shotgun in time, you had only a few choices. Do nothing and hope the criminal doesn’t hurt your family or try to physically combat the criminal and hope that you don’t get shot in the process.......since criminals don’t listen to laws and HAVE firearms. As a man who loves his family, this also is an easy answer. Outcome..….innocent hurt.

Fortunately for the people who live in D.C., this never will have to be a reality again. Yes, the District of Columbia may not be a “state”. But by letting common sense seep in a little bit, it is easy to see that they are every bit a state without the title. Heck, they even get electoral votes due to their population being GREATER than the smallest state. I’m glad that the splitting of hairs is over and we have finally woken up, given back the rights of people who deserved them, and clarified a long contested argument.

Shame on THEM not US

A lot of noise has been made in the last couple of years in response to the supposed unfair policies that the Bush administration has adopted since the 9/11 attacks. The author of the blog “…it tolls for thee” contends in her commentary "Shame on US" that the civil liberties of the American public as well as the detained prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are being infringed upon. I respectfully but wholeheartedly disagree.

I, as an American citizen do not feel that my rights are being infringed upon. I believe that as members of this great country, we have a right to our privacy to a certain extent. Wiretapping and recording of phone conversations is a policy that I for one do not have a problem with. The government is free to listen to my conversations about cramming for tests and the latest sports scores. Even if the information that I talked about over the phone was more important, I would consider it a small price to pay to help insure that another terrorist attack did not occur.

In regards to the treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, I would have to say that their “civil liberties” are not much of a concern to me. They DO deserve the right to prove their innocence. But that’s it. End of story. As an Iraqi combat veteran, I have witnessed the apprehension of many suspected terrorist prisoners. They are not simply plucked out of their villages on a whim. They are taken in for committing a hostile act (planting IEDs, blowing up innocent civilians, shooting at Iraqi Police and American forces, etc.) or belonging to a group that engages in these activities.

Too often nowadays, people are so quick to wave the banner of “prisoner’s rights” in regards to these detainees. THEY ARE NOT AMERICANS. Because of this fact they do not deserve the same liberties AS an American prisoner. We provide clothing, food, and religious material to them. Their version of prisoner rights has already been shown to us in gory detail. Our way of doing business in regards to detainee handling may not be a perfect system. It never will be, I promise. I, nor the author of the blog, is in any position to say what is warranted or necessary to obtain information that will spare the lives of innocents. Is the torture of one man, proven to be guilty, worth the lives of five, ten, or more? How about the total lives lost due to the 9/11 attacks? 2,974.

There is an old cliché that is thrown around but still rings true. Freedom isn’t free. Like it or not, our freedom is sometimes bought and paid for with a currency that some don’t care to pay attention to or acknowledge. Idealists would argue that any means used to trample or infringe upon another’s liberty and freedom is unacceptable. The irony is that in many cases, it is that infringement itself that has secured them the freedom to do so.

Timing is everything in this race

During these turbulent economic times, I find myself glued to the TV most days, waiting for yet another increase in the cost of oil. As of today, oil is selling at $132 a barrel and we are slapped in the face with a family budget-annihilating $4.08 average at the gas pumps. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that there is no quick solution that is going to ease the pain on the nation’s wallets.

Soon to be Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, has outlined a plan to construct forty-five new nuclear reactors by the year 2030 and use two billion dollars towards the research in technology that would make the theory of clean burning coal a reality. He also would call for the opening of long closed off U.S. coastal waters for off shore drilling. McCain’s plan arrived today, hot on the heels of President Bush’s failed attempt to open up wildlife reserves and federal waters for offshore drilling and exploration.

Seeing that it is an election year, it surprises me none that McCain has chosen to unveil his new energy plan now. The issues of economic troubles stemming largely from our dependence on foreign oil, will be highly debated. People are going to want a solution to their problems and McCain seems to have been the first person to offer one. At this point in time, there are 104 nuclear reactors that are responsible for 20% of the nation’s energy. His plan would nearly double that. The American public, is now using approximately 25% of the world’s oil, we produce 3. So yes, Senator McCain’s plan would definitely help cure some of the energy and dependency problems that we are facing. But not for a while.

Before jumping on the senator’s bandwagon, make sure to realize that none of these plans are going to do anything to help our country in the months to come, let alone in the next few years. Advisor to McCain, Gen. James Jones, USMC (ret), has said that at the current time, it takes about five years to obtain a permit to even begin construction for drilling projects. McCain hopes to cut that time in half. So, optimistically speaking, the American public would not benefit from this plan for ATLEAST four to five years.

Senator McCain is playing on the fears and financial distress of his countrymen to obtain more votes. Is the energy problem becoming unbearable? Yes. Is the mere thought of having to fill up your vehicle enough to make you shudder? I still haven’t fully recovered from my last pit stop at the local Exxon. What the American public needs now are viable solutions to the problem. Kudos for thinking ahead, but the timing of the plan unveiling and the average gas price eclipsing $4/gallon seem to be much more than a coincidence.

Do It The Right Way

The Supreme Court recently ruled against President Bush's attempt to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in the case of the detainees being held at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In Eugene Robinson's opinion column, "A Victory For The Rule of Law", http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/12/AR2008061203473.html he argues that the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling against the President's proposal of suspending habeas corpus was the correct decision. I tend to agree.

As Mr. Robinson states in his column, some of the detainees have been in incarceration for six years. Six years. I will be the first to say that if they have been found guilty and belong there, they can stay there. Forever. I have no patience nor feel remorse for any person that seeks to inflict pain or suffering on any of my countrymen. They have to be found guilty first though. Like it or not we are governed by rules and laws and we must abide by them. As an Iraqi war veteran, I also realize that it is at times EXTREMELY difficult to discern who the "bad guys" are while in a combat zone such as Iraq where enemy combatants are not uniformed. Our American forces are fighting an enemy that is virtually impossible to tell apart from the innocent civilians. Sorting out enemy combatants can be a very imperfect and time consuming ordeal. Nevertheless, it must be done. By suspending habeas corpus in Cuba, this task becomes an impossibility. How can any court determine the guilt or innocence of any man or woman if they are not afforded the opportunity to be represented by proper counsel and tried fairly?

A second point that Robinson makes in his column is that America does not have the right to arrest somebody just because they happen to fit the demographic profile of a terrorist. He likens the detaining of a suspected terrorist to the detaining of a suspected embezzler or armed robber. Apples to oranges Mr. Robinson. You cannot compare one to the other. As stated above, from personal experience in Iraq, I know that it is not often feasible to spot a suspected terrorist from a normal citizen. Sometimes all you can do is round them all up and find out who the enemy is. The fact that terrorists can, and HAVE, been responsible for the deaths of thousands of American lives leaves me with not a lot of remorse for this way of doing business. As long as the prisoners get a fair trial. To leave a prisoner to rot because he cannot prove his innocence is wrong and not our way.

Congratulations for accomplishments....not race

Reading the editorial titled, "Just Savor the Moment" by Eugene Robinson http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/06/06/0607robinson_edit.html, it is hard for me to say if I agree or disagree with his stance. I will say that he makes some very good points in that Obama has definitely opened the door for minorities to truly enter the political arena on the grandest of scales. The problem that I DO have with his editorial is that he chooses to focus on the wrong thing. It seems that Mr. Robinson only wants to focus on the fact that after "389 years of history" people of the same skin tone as his have finally made it. Nowhere in his article is applause to Mr. Obama's political stances nor his skillful debating or any other number of positives that the senator has in his favor. The best that he could come up with is his ability to gather lots of money for his campaign and that he is black. The true praise that he does give is more directed towards the young supporters of Mr. Obama that have used devices such as MySpace and Facebook to entice more voters.
I am not that naive to think that that the best man always gets the job but that is what I think everyone strives for. There have been many people in the past that that has not been true for, black AND white. That is why I believe that Barack Obama should be held up and congratulated not because he is a black person who won the day, but because he is the BEST person who won the day. The fact that he is African American, makes no difference to me. He could be of any ethnic origin and I still would have voted for him if I agreed with him. Mr. Richardson gives a quick reference, so as not to get to over his head, to the fact that the "promised land" will be a place where race does not matter but unfortunately overshadows this statement at the end with yet another counting of the years since slavery began.
The fate of the next four to eight years of our beloved country is going to be largely in the hands of the man that we elect this year. I truly believe that it does not matter the skin tone, or sex for that matter, of the person that is steering the ship, just as long as that person steers it true. Slavery was an awful thing and thank God that it no longer exists, but that is an argument that should not be brought into this arena. I would not be surprised if Mr. Obama thought this way as well. Leaders do not dwell on the past but look upon it as a compass in order to guide them in the future. If Obama is a true leader that deserves to win the presidency he will do exactly that.

Clinton taking a bow....finally

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/us/politics/05dems.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

The article in today's edition of the New York Times talks about Hillary Clinton's decision to concede to Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for the general election. It also touches on her possible consideration of taking on the running mate slot on his ticket. This will be decided by a committee that Barack Obama has chosen. Whether or not she becomes his second in command is still up in the air. I will say though, after reading the article, it leaves me sighing with relief while at the same time asking, "What took you so long?" Fair's fair, he won, you lost. You've known it. It’s good that she will finally face the public as someone who put up much more of a fight than others would have thought she would, pat the man on the back and say, "good job...I'm behind you." This article is more than worth reading because it shows that finally, the entire Democratic party (yes, including Hillary), is willing to stand behind the winner. That's what he is and EVERYONE is willing to say it now. Do I see V.P. in her future….maybe, maybe not, but it sure wouldn’t hurt Obama’s chances……