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Random Thoughts from the Long, Hot
Summer
Posted 7-26-2006
Are the neocons still
claiming that Iraq hasn't disintegrated into Civil War? The United Nations
estimates that at least 100 people a day are being killed in Iraq. The odd
thing is the media has relegated news from Iraq to secondary status since
trouble has flared up between Israel and Lebanon.
We aren't "winning" there,
and frankly no one is. The Shiites that we "liberated" from Saddam Hussein
are now the group with the most muscle and are aided by the Iranians. The
Sunnis, who made up much of the insurgency, are now asking for U.S.
protection from the Shiites. The Kurds have felt so emboldened that their
interaction with Kurds in southern Turkey has prompted the Turks to threaten
to invade northern Iraq where the Kurds essentially operate an autonomous
state.
The situation in Afghanistan
isn't much better. The Taliban has resurrected itself and controls parts of
the country. Warlords control much of the rest. We ignored the history of
Afghanistan that no invading army in modern times has been able to maintain
control of the country. The British couldn't do it, the Soviet Union
couldn't, and we invade, then shift emphasis to Iraq and are now in two
quagmires.
And now fighting has flared
up between Israel and the Muslims around them. Hezbollah has emerged as a
power in Lebanon and has battled the Israelis in the northern part of
Israel. Their actions helped incite Israel to bring extreme devastation to
Lebanon, affecting many Lebanese, whether they were Hezbollah or not. And in
the south, trouble has flared in the Gaza Strip. I'm sick of both sides'
endless fighting. The creation of modern Israel is not going to be undone,
so the Muslims might as well accept Israel's existence. And the Israelis can
no longer be given a free pass on their treatment of the Palestinians. Over
10,000 Palestinians sit in jails, millions have no citizenship. If the USA
doesn't take a more even-handed approach, the cycle of violence will
continue.
While a dividing line hasn't
been a perfect solution in Korea, it has kept a relative calm there for over
50 years. By the way, did Eisenhower, cut and run when the USA accepted the
dividing line as a resolution to the Korean War? It is time the world
community forces that solution on the Israelis and Palestinians. One side of
the line is Israel and the other is Palestine. Re-deploy our troops there if
it is desirable to keep them in the Middle East and have them enforce the
new arrangement.
Through all of this, where is
the real leadership from this administration? Bush appears out of sorts when
interacting with other global leaders and always seems to be in big hurry to
get home. His antics at the G-8 Summit only reinforce my sense of
embarrassment that he represents the USA on the global stage.
He sure wasn't much better at
the NAACP convention. He's like a fish out of water unless he's in front of
a handpicked crowd of flunkies.
In Pennsylvania, both Ed
Rendell and Bob Casey had great visits to the Twin Lakes Art & Heritage
Festival. I had the opportunity to witness each walking through the crowd on
different days. The Governor, who is a skilled and savvy politician, worked
the crowd with ease. Though his polling numbers might not be great in
Westmoreland County (thanks to the local paper), he was very well received.
Bob Casey, who should do very well here, walked through the crowd while
filming a segment for CNN. The response for Bob was tremendous. Virtually
every person he spoke to gave him words of support, even vendors from out of
state knew of the high profile election and wished him well.
The U.S. Senate race is far
from over, but the advantage Casey has seems to be a strong 55% unfavorable
rating for his opponent Rick (you still don't know me after all these years)
Santorum. Yes, after all these years, poor Ricky is so misunderstood that he
had to put out literature identifying "50 things you don't know about Rick
Santorum". Unfortunately for Santorum, people seem to know enough already
although he'll do his best to make people think he isn't a right wing
extremist that votes 98% of the time with a very unpopular President.
In the Governor's race,
Swannie, get ready for the sidelines because that is where you'll be after
Election Day. While some celebrity candidates make a go of it, Swann simply
doesn't have the knowledge or substance to compete with Ed Rendell. Say what
you want about the Governor, but he is knowledgeable, hard-working, and,
despite both Houses of the Legislature being run by the Republicans, he has
lead Pennsylvania forward. And for those of us in Westmoreland County,
Rendell has been extremely attentive. He has seen to it that more money has
come back here in four years than the previous administration did in eight
years.
Locally, he's back!!!!! Yes,
former Democratic County Chairman Dante Bertani was re-elected chairman. Mr.
B. oversaw the county party during the 1980's and early 1990's. While the
political landscape has tilted more to the right in Westmoreland County,
Bertani's enthusiasm, and outspoken style will be good for the political
battles ahead. And I am happy to see the outgoing leader Rosemary Trump is
going to stay active and committed because we are stronger together.
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