Tom Murphy, December 24, 2007
Since 9/11, American ideals like freedom and fairness have been tested unlike any time since World War II, when the nation interned Japanese-Americans for nothing more than their ancestry. And that underscores the importance of the 2008 presidential election. Today, there are open debates as to whether the government should torture prisoners, hold them indefinitely without charges or ever allow them to see a judge. Interrogation methods like waterboarding are so horrific that the CIA destroyed secret tapes that were made in secret prisons so that Americans would never know what they did. This isn’t just a Republican issue; Democrats like Nancy Pelosi knew of these activities for years. We applaud John McCain, who was driven to the brink of suicide by torture while a prisoner of war, for speaking out against this issue. We know by shedding light on these activities, we will take a step in the right direction. Trying to hide them from the public, as the Bush Administration continues to do, only shows that the 9/11 terrorists did far more than hijack airplanes and demolish buildings; they stole our freedom and destroyed our decency as a nation.
John McGowan, December 20, 2007
I chatted with Bill Clinton this week about a mutual friend and our alma mater, Georgetown, then watched him speak in a Raleigh, N.C., country club. He didn’t repeat his Charlie Rose line about Obama being too green. Instead, he said the Democratic candidates were all excellent, but that Hillary was excellent-er. His ability to analyze the hole America has dug for itself was exhilarating in its clarity though dispiriting in its details. He said trade isn’t bad, but that we are currently unable to enforce our trade agreements with the Asian nations, notably China, which are flouting those agreements. Why are we helpless? Because China, Singapore, and the rest are bankrolling our dependence on oil, which accounts for half of our foreign trade imbalance. He asked: When was the last time you slugged your banker? The key to America’s future – to creating new jobs, to restoring our position in the world, and to enabling us to have a sane foreign policy – is, according to Clinton, to attack our reliance on oil. It’s a compelling vision that reminds us that we have made little progress on this front in 40 years.
Tom Murphy, December 1, 2007
Barbara Bush probably never had that chat with L’il George about picking his friends carefully. That’s the only thing that can account for the president’s friendships with the likes of Vladimir Putin and Pervez Musharraf. When Bush looked into the eyes of his "good friend" Vladimir a few years ago, he told us he saw the “soul” of a “trustworthy” man. Now we see former chessmaster Garry Kasparov get beaten and thrown in jail for questioning Putin in public. Kasparov, and many others, warn the Russian leader is on the verge of establishing a dictatorship in Russia through a rigged election. Speaking of dictators and elections, Pervez Musharraf has graciously agreed to restore the constitution after declaring a state of emergency and rounding up his opponents over the past few weeks. He thinks that might legitimize that country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, but the two leading candidates – former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif – are already calling foul. And they’re right. Musharraf’s hand-picked supreme court judges and his iron-fisted rule leave little room for dissent or agitation. As he told ABC’s Good Morning America, "In your country, maybe you don’t hang people. Here, we hang people. OK?" No, actually, that’s not OK, Mr. President. And maybe Barbara Bush better have that talk before George makes any new friends.
John McGowan, November 27, 2007
It’s hard to know what the official reports out of Annapolis mean. Is it progress that the two sides have agreed to talk again? Is it even really the two sides talking if Hamas is not one of the parties at the table? Is there any reason to believe either side really wants peace, or could deliver on their side of the bargain if a deal were struck? The outlines of a peace agreement have been clear for almost 10 years. The Israelis must dismantle the settlements and retire to the pre-1967 borders. The Palestinians have to accept Israel’s right to exist and give up on the unrealistic insistence on a “right of return†to the pre-1967 Israel. And both sides must accept a divided Jerusalem. All the evidence suggests that neither side can come to that agreement without significant international pressure. In other words, any Israeli or Palestinian politician who tries to enact an agreement along those lines will lose office very quickly – and will be lucky if his office is all he loses. The only way forward is for those on-the-ground local politicians to be able to say “my hand was forced.†The US must make it clear that they will cut aid to Israel and the UN should make it clear that it will cut aid to the refugee camps if a peace agreement is not signed and not put into practice. Until the US (primarily) and the UN and EU (in a secondary role) play hardball, the Palestinian-Israeli impasse will remain just that: an impasse.
Tom Murphy, November 23, 2007
Democracies only work when they truly reflect the will of the people. That’s a message that seems to be ignored recently in governments stretching from Islamabad to Capitol Hill. In Pakistan, "President" Pervez Musharraf plans to go ahead with parliamentary elections while he’s suspended the constitution and locked opposition candidates under house arrest. Candidates like Benazir Bhutto threatened to boycott the vote, but now may run rather than sitting on the sidelines. But what’s the point? That’s not democracy any way you cut it. Closer to home, it’s been more than a year since American voters told Congress they want to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet the latest Democratic funding bill – supposedly to force a withdrawal – would leave tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for many years. Republican proposals are even more out of touch with what voters want. Democracy is a great thing, but these are not examples of democracy in action.
John McGowan, November 16, 2007
Barry Bonds indicted. It’s been coming for a long time and only someone who prefers fantasy to truth thinks Bonds never used steroids. What interests me is how many people do prefer fantasy. It is awfully hard to live in a world where all trust just makes you a sucker. If every time you took a prescription drug, you thought it had more to do with the doctor and the drug company being in cahoots than with any good it might do you. If every election, you assumed fraud was more likely than honesty. If it was generally understood that the reasons government officials give for their actions are always public relations cover-up for the real reasons. Every cynic claims to be a realist – and the real world seems to justify that self-assessment more and more each day. Yes, cynicism is bad for the soul. But it is even worse for society because it means that no one takes anyone else’s words and claims at face value. Instead, we always suspect hidden agendas and secret cheating, which, in turn, motivates our own cutting of corners and reticence. We all lose when it becomes impossible to believe in the virtue of our fellow citizens—and to act daily in the confidence of that belief.
Tom Murphy, November 4, 2007
Despite reassurances from the White House that things are getting better in Iraq – a dubious claim – there is much evidence things are getting worse in the neighborhood. The most obvious problem for the US is the suspension of the constitution in Pakistan, where strongman Pervez Musharraf, a critical US ally, has shut down the Supreme Court rather than face a challenge to his authority. In Turkey, another key ally is threatening to attack anti-Turk militants over the Iraqi border, putting the US in the extraordinary position of having to stand between a NATO ally and a country the US occupies. There’s been little progress in Iran, where Bush’s saber-rattling has prevented a meaningful conversation on halting the spread of nuclear weapons. And the war in Afghanistan faces a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida forces, which appear to be based in Pakistan. If anything is getting better in Iraq, it’s largely because the US is turning over more of the country to the Iraqis. Maybe we should accelerate that.
John McGowan, November 1, 2007
The natives are restless. Everyone knows that George Bush’s approval ratings are in the tank, but a focus group-based study by Democratic strategists reveals just how deep-rooted the nation’s discontent currently runs. Yes, Iraq is a mess, but what all the politicians—both Democrats and Republicans—are missing is the extent to which the past 30 years of stagnant wages, deteriorating health care coverage, outsourced jobs, and increasing economic insecurity have seeped into the average’s American’s psyche. Equal parts of pessimism, cynicism, and anger rule the day. The Republicans have cashed in on these emotions in the past by focusing voter frustration on various convenient scapegoats: welfare queens, illegal immigrants, and government bureaucrats. But voters appear to be waking up to the fact that the Republicans haven’t delivered a single benefit to average Americans while consistently lining the pockets of the economic elites. The question is whether the Democrats can seize the moment. And that’s a question which is not only the key to the Democrats’ winning in November 2008, but also to whether they can actually turn the country around by listening to the voters and giving the disappearing and beleaguered middle class in this country a fighting chance for the good life.
John McGowan, October 30, 2007
Suddenly, the children’s health bill doesn’t look like such an obvious issue. I liked it better in the days when the story was health insurance for kids – and that mean, old president denying it to them. But, with a few facts about the bill on the table, what we get is a glimpse of how screwed up healthcare really is in this country, and how hard it will be to make any progress. S-CHIP is just another stop-gap, a finger in the dike. It’s not a real solution and it causes almost as many problems as it solves. It reminds us once again that our so-called healthcare system requires, just like our so-called tax system, a complete overhaul. Piecemeal solutions aren’t going to provide any significant improvement. Just look at the revenue-generating provisions that are being considered to finance the S-CHIP expansion. Each of them is obnoxious, and none of them comes close to addressing the real problems with our tax code. Not to mention the far, far higher costs of our Middle Eastern wars.
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