Specter of a Presidency

Specter of a Presidency

 

With 18 months left on America’s prison sentence its warden will retire having undermined every institution, tradition and industry that made this country great. Obama is a specter of a president. His ghostly apparition is rarely seen except visiting with the elite, the immoral and the fantastically wealthy. His demagoguery raised him to the Oval Office yet was not infective enough to keep his supporters on a string for the balance of his second term. Obama is being mocked by an array of people who have awoken to the fact that a ghost inhabits the White House. World leaders recognized America’s failing leadership early in Obama’s first term. From an apology tour to handing the keys to our prison over to terrorists our presidential specter is always absent when the going gets tough. If America had the ability to recall this inept person he would be drinking a Mai Tai on a beach facing west rapidly.

 

A dozen potential candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are already in the declared column. On the other side Hillary Clinton continues a strong run for the Democrat dais though she has a few competitors recently new to the run. America has lost something special during Obama’s reign in office, its integrity. These masters of words all promise to bring America back into the orbit which the Founders placed this nation. Most come from backgrounds that provide little substance for the task at hand. A few have the political vigor to overcome the most difficult obstacles. Today’s announcement that Donald Trump wants to sidestep his empire to move into the Oval Office has sent ripples across the political spectrum. Who amongst this variegated group will cross the finish line is uncertain. What is certain to this observer is most of these candidates look like marshmallows waiting to be roasted. To repair the damage caused by Obama’s ineptitude and overreach will take someone with insight, affability and the cojones to act even in the face resistance. Several candidates are up to this challenge. Media circles continue to push the weakest candidates with the most popular names. When they fade the few left standing will be positioned as the best of the best to repair what the worse of the worse has done to America.

 

Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Media and Writing Services.

www.daviswritingservices.com platomd@gmail.com

Cut, Cut, Run, Run . . .

Call me crazy, but I come from the school of common sense ethics and logic that says . . . You don’t say “We love and support our troops” while at the same time yanking the rug out from beneath their feet.

But then, what does common sense, ethics, or logic have to do with most Democrats and a growing number of Republicans in Congress today?

All the Democrats, with the exception of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., are almost unanimous in their opposition to Bush’s war plans.

Congress is currently considering several cut and run solutions to prevent Bush’s 21,500 troop increase: a nonbinding anti-war resolution, proposals to cut off funds for the Iraq war, and/or a cap on the number of troops in Iraq.

Democratic presidential hopeful (let’s hope not), Sen. Barack Obama, has introduced a bill to bring combat forces out of Iraq by the spring of 2008. The bill would also cap troop levels in Iraq at around 130-thousand (the level before Bush announced he'd send additional U-S forces to the region.)

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, has sponsored a bill that would call for troops to come home in 180 days and allow for a minimum number of forces to be left behind to hunt down terrorists and train Iraqi security forces.

Will the GOP continue to splinter in the U.S. Congress?

Many Republicans fear that consequences of the Iraq war will hurt their election prospects for years to come.

Here’s a little Reminder!!! Nearly half the Democratic members of Congress voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, and the political consequences could tarnish individuals from both parties.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), supports a non-binding resolution opposing Bush's troop "surge."

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., ex-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a challenge to Bush, "I would respectfully suggest to the President that he is not the sole `decider, . . . The decider is a shared and joint responsibility'"

Former White House lawyer, Brad Berenson, who served as White House associate counsel for most of Bush's first term, stated "I think the constitutional scheme does give Congress broad authority to terminate a war."

Specter and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the White House's views on Congress' war powers.

James Pinkerton, a former aide to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush said: "In times of war, the instinct is to trust dad more than mom, and the Republicans have benefited from that, . . .But if dad keeps wrecking the car, then there may be reason to change.''

Will the military splinter over Iraq?

Navy Adm. William Fallon, Bush's nominee to head the U.S. Central Command, said at his Senate confirmation hearing that “time for finding solutions in Iraq is running out.” As head of U.S. Central Command, Fallon would have overall responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the lefty AP, Fallon said, "What we have been doing has not been working," he said. "We have got to be doing, it seems to me, something different." He did not say what might change under his command.

"I believe the situation in Iraq can be turned around, but time is short," Fallon told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Reuters reported that Fallon also said, "The likelihood that Iraq is suddenly going to turn into something that looks close to what we enjoy here in this country is going to be a long time coming."

Note: Under the Constitution, lawmakers have the ability to declare war and fund military operations, while the president has control of military forces.

But presidents also can veto legislation and Bush likely has enough support in Congress on Iraq to withstand any veto override attempts.

Congress has not issued an official declaration of war since World War II!!!

Have Americans gone completely daffy???

An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted earlier this month -- which found 70 percent of Americans disapproved of Bush's handling of the war -- found that a majority trust Democrats to best keep the country safe from terrorists. The same survey asked respondents to say whom they trusted to do a better job handling the situation in Iraq. Sixty percent said Democrats, and 33 percent said Bush.

Fox conducted a poll on January 16-17, 2007, asking "Do you personally want the Iraq plan President Bush announced last week to succeed?" . . . 51 percent of the poll participants who identified themselves as Democrats responded, "Yes," and 34 percent responded, "No," while 15 percent answered, "Don't know."

The latest CNN poll (1/19-21/07) found 61 percent support for a Congress voting "to block the government from spending money to send more troops to Iraq." A recent Newsweek poll (1/17-18/07) showed the public evenly split on the question of cutting off funding.

News sources:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0130-01.htm
http://mediamatters.org/items/200701260005
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/31/MNGQCNS3NE1.DTL
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/493267p-415449c.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR128760.htm
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/16587007.htm
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6014661&nav=HMO6HMaY
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/16586068.htm

Cross-posted to Wake Up America

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