Thoughts After A Winter Hybernation

After a nice winter nap, my brain has begun to thaw and out of it has emerged the following thoughts:

President Obama:  Yes, republicans can second guess the job he has done with our economy and other domestic issues but compared to his predecessor, Obama's foreign policy has been a great success.  My guess is if he is given another term in office he will do just as well on the home front.
Mitt Romney:  He can offer different solutions and approaches to improve our country but unless you are part of the one percent, Romney can not claim to be one of us.  He may even end up having as much trouble finding a decent running mate as he is having lock up his party's nomination.
Hillary Clinton:  I admit it, I hated her when she and Bill first came on to the scene twenty years ago.  However, I hope she sticks around another four years if Obama wins re election.  She has long escaped the shadow of her husband and proven herself to be a first rate Secretary of State.
Occupy Movement:  Funny how winter changes a person's priorities.  The real occupy protesters are those who braved winter's cold to keep the movement relevant.  Standing outside Wall Street on a nice fall afternoon is something anyone can do.  Doing it all winter is something only the true believers will do.
Syria:  An oppressive government that kills its citizens who protest its rule while we sit and watch is nothing new.  Remember Tienanmen Square?  The fact is we can not afford to get involved in another war.  If we could, and if human rights and suffering were the litmus test for our involvement, we would invade Mexico rather than allow it to be handed over to drug lords.
Bounty Gate:  Don't kid yourself, all football coaches who are successful will tell you if you knock out opposing players you greatly increase your chances of winning.  Most will stress that it is done within the rules of the game and not from dirty or cheap shots.  However, any coach or player dumb enough to lie to the NFL commissioner to cover up a bounty system is more than deserving of a one year suspension.
Whitney Houston:  While sad, her death should not surprise us any more.  Fame and fortune showered on the young is a recipe for an early exit from this world.  The list of those who went before her is a long one and the waiting list for those who will follow shows no end in sight.
Tiger Woods:  Good to see him back.  Golf is pointless without him and only watchable with him now that he is back to his winning ways.  We are about to see if all these young guns on the PGA tour can improve their game because if they can't, they don't stand a chance against the Woods who won two weeks ago.
Tim Tebow:  Enough!  He is nothing more than a mediocre quarterback who should be nothing more than a third stringer carrying a clipboard.  The Broncos did not win so much because of him as much as they did in spite of him.  Tebow may be the type of guy you hope your daughter will marry but I would much rather have Ben Rothlesberger quarterbacking my team.
The Masters:  What's all the fuss about?  The last time I checked, Augusta was a private club.  If it only wants wealthy white males as members, that's their right.  If we do not like it, it is our right not to watch their tournament or do business with those companies that sponsor it.  I don't recall seeing a line of men protesting the Red Hat Society.

Answer The Question, Newt

The other day, CNN news man John King began a Republican debate by asking Newt Gingrich if he wanted to comment on his ex wife's claim that he wanted to maintain an open marriage. Newt's reply, in which chastised King and the media for asking such a question, drew loud applause and eventually a standing ovation. It's too bad he did not answer the question.

Thanks to the lies and indiscretions of Bill Clinton, questions like the one asked by John King to candidates with a checkered past personal life, like Gingrich, are fair game if you are running for public office.

Newt's response would have been a proper one had this been 1992 and he was being asked what kind of underwear he wore as was the case with Bill Clinton. However, when a candidate for president is on his third marriage and his current wife was the congressional staffer he had an affair with while married to his second wife, Americans are entitled to ask questions about the fitness of his personal life, past or present.

Candidates with questionable past financial dealings or voting records are asked and expected to explain themselves when they run for office so there is no reason one with a questionable past personal life should be excluded. Bill Clinton was hounded by the media over these matters as was Herm Cain, who recently dropped out of the primary process as a result.

These are difficult and challenging times for this nation and there is nothing wrong with voters wanting a leader they can be assured is not going to conduct himself in a manner that will adversely affect his ability to lead. George W. Bush was asked about his past drinking problems and Ted Kennedy never escaped questions about Chappaquiddick. To ask a candidate whose second wife claims he wanted to maintain an open marriage to explain himself is perfectly fair.

What's more troubling, Newt did not provide an answer, only a commentary about the media. If indeed Newt wanted an open marriage, he should admit it rather than hide behind a rehearsed response aimed to garner the vote of Christian conservatives. By simply telling us he has returned to his Christian roots is not an answer. Newt wants and needs the support of conservative Christians if he is going to have any shot of defeating Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination so it becomes easy for him to tell people about how he has grown closer to God rather than telling him he was once an adulterous male who wanted to have his cake and eat it.

However, Newt did not have this relationship with God when he was speaker of the house. His ethics were called into question and he eventually was voted out of office only to cash in as a well paid consultant to major lobbyists. If he is elected as our next president, many will wonder how he will handle the trappings of power that come with being the most powerful person in the world. Whoever our next president is, Americans deserve knowing we have a leader who will not embarrass the office or the nation because power went to his head.

Nothing about President Obama's past would indicate such a question should be asked of him. The same is true with Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. However, this is not the case with Newt Gingrich and he needs to be held accountable for failing to provide voters with an honest answer to a fair question.

Memo To The President

Mr. President:

I do not want to rain on your parade but I think it is important to remind you what goes up comes back down. You are bound to receive a boost in the polls in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden; however, remember 41 and 43.

George Herbert Walker Bush, aka 41, became the most popular president ever after the success of Desert Storm. His approval ratings topped 90 percent and his re election seemed assured. Then he made the mistake of going back on his promise, "No new taxes," and he found himself having to fend off both Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. Facing the choice of a mud slinging campaign or just going through the motions, Bush took the high ground and lost.

Not to be out done by his father, George W. Bush, aka 43, was also the recipient of a tremendous poll boost following the defeat of Iraq and the fall of Saadam Hussein. However, after the military stalled and questions were raised over the issue of weapons of mass destruction and 43's handling of the economy, it took all of Bush's political weaponry to win a close re election over John Kerry.

November 2012 is a long ways away for the attention deficit voting public. Bin Laden's demise will have been long replaced by months of coverage on the state of the economy, on-going wars abroad, and who knows what else. If you are counting on riding the current wave of success to re election next year, you could be making a huge mistake.

Republicans now have a year and a half to reshape the war issue to their favor. They can focus their argument on how you handle our military involvement and its cost after Bin Laden is long gone and blame our continuing involvement on you. You will be held accountable for the state of our economy and will not be able to blame it on the republicans while also being called into question on your stance on health care, gay marriage, and other wedge issues.

If you want to be assured of re election, you will need more political victories down the road, both at home and abroad, or an impatient and memory lacking voting public will choose to go in another direction.

Why I Will Vote For Obama In 2012

President Obama will get my vote in the 2012 election. I do not care who the Republicans throw at him, he has proven himself as far as I am concerned. His patience and precision are what we need, not just from our President, but as an example to how to lead our own lives.

President Obama received word of Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts last August and yet he waited until May to take him out. He surely could have used a boost last fall with the elections not looking good for him and his party. A successful mission in September would have made democrats look like the party that can get things done and might have been enough to keep the senate under their control. I think, had George W. Bush been in the same position, he would have done everything he could to take out Bin Laden before the election.

President Obama will get my vote because he clearly showed he could put the best interest of the democratic party and his own political needs on hold to make sure the job was done right. He was not going to make the mistake Jimmy Carter made when he hastily put together a rescue mission for the American hostages in Iran only to see it turn into such a major blunder he was never able to recover politically from it.

Obama showed that a few months of patience yields much greater results than the too quick to take credit approach of his predecessor; remember Bush on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier declaring victory to a war still being fought? He made sure the military had all of the necessary intelligence and time to train for a mission that if it failed would probably cost him his reelection, not to mention the lives of several military personnel. In his announcement to the American public, he did not gloat or boast but rather delivered the message all of us have waited nearly ten years to hear in a business like manner that reminded us the war against terror is not over. He made certain Bin Laden’s body was handled according to Islamic custom rather than fanning the flames by televising soldiers or locals desecrating it in celebration.

In a day and age dominated by reality television and self promotion, it is refreshing to have a leader who seems determined to set an example to us that we can accomplish great things without boasting or demeaning in the process. It is for these reasons and not his politics I will cast my vote for President Obama in 2012.