Political campaign for President and lack of "civility." UPDATE Feb. 18

Many in the media have said that the 2012 Presidential election campaign was shaping up to be a clash between the 99% and the 1% or Class warfare. While that surely seems to resonate with many of us who write Blogs, I would offer a more sinister look into the 2012 campaign. It looks to me like it is a reenactment of the Civil War. I would suggest to you that the plain hatred for this President and the insistence that he be a "one term President" is racially motivated and the reason why Newt Gingrich won South Carolina and why Mitt Romney won New Hampshire. To me if you peel back this onion, the presidential race seems to be about reliving the "Civil War" in the political arena. Look at the arguments on both sides of the issues. If you frame them through the prism of "Civil Rights", you can easily make the leap to that argument. That is why the "Birther" conspiracy took hold for so long. Being "civil" means being courteous or polite. And the sad truth is that there is nothing "Civil" about this election campaign season.

It is going to get much worse I fear, before this election campaign is over. Notice the language of Newt when he talks about President Obama being the "Food Stamp" president. Yes, there are many on Food Stamps today, but not just minorities are getting them. Mostly white Americans receive them today. But the racial undertones are there and the dog whistle call to the far Right gets the applause lines from the far Right. For one brief moment yesterday the Congress was able to put this war behind them and join in a tribute to Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona in her struggle to survive a gunshot wound to the head last year. She has given up her Congressional seat so she can focus on her rehabilitation. That's smart. A small glimpse of sanity in an otherwise anger filled political season.

UPDATE Feb. 18th
Last night on the show Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill closed his New Rules segment commenting on the disrespect of President Obama, in an affront to the first Black President that seems to be based on racism. I totally agree with his views and want to say here I really valued his persistent reference to how this President has been disrespected from the very beginning of his Presidency, unlike the treatment of any other President in history. Thanks Bill!

The Republican Party has not accepted the election of President Obama. It's a disgrace!

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas wants to revert to an earlier time by repealing the 17th Amendment which allowed for 2 Senators to be elected from each State. He wants to have the States "appoint" rather than elect a Senator by its citizens. Seems like many on the far right of the Republican Party are trying to replay the Civil War. They don't want the "Union" deciding any more. They want their States to have the power again.

And with all this hate speech and slurs out there being pushed by the Republican Party and the Tea Baggers, they are trying to instigate violence by their rhetoric. Even today Sarah Palin has shown her map of the U.S. with "Cross Hair" marks on Districts where Democrats who voted for the Healthcare plan have made her "Hit List". She Tweeted a message saying, "Don't Retreat -- Reload!"

There are inferences here that these Democrats who voted for Healthcare Insurance reform should be "eliminated. This isn't Free Speech, any more than yelling Fire in a theater is. It is as dangerous and serious and needs to be condemned by reasonable people. There is no place for violence in dealing with differences of opinions. We need calm voices of reason from the leadership of the Republican party lead by Rep. John Boehner, Rep. Eric Cantor and other Republicans, with the leaders of the Democrats, speaking out together. This is important, especially when 10 members of Congress have had death threats to them and their families. It is no surprise that the leader of the lunatic fringe, Rush Limbaugh, is fueling the flames also, when he said this the other day after the passage of the Healthcare Bill, "These people need to be eliminated. Wiped out". This is insane!

It's time to stop this before someone is hurt or killed. Those who don't speak out against this share in the responsibility and consequences to our Country.

UPDATE: Thursday March 25th 6:15pm PST

The Healthcare Bill designed to reconcile the differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate has just passed the House and the fixes passed in a final vote of 219 to 207 votes. Alan Grayson, Democrat from Florida, was the last one to vote for the Bill. The President will now sign the fixes and make it law. Meanwhile, the inflammatory rhetoric subsided somewhat today. Let's hope going into the weekend and the Congressional recess, things will become more civil and hopefully more bipartisan.

U.S. Fatalities for January 2008

The good news is that U.S. Casualties are down again for the 4th consecutive month. The bad news is that our brave soldiers are still getting killed each month. Any deaths are unacceptable in my view. I think if I had a son, daughter, wife or loved one there I would be on pins and needles every day they were away.

This latest month had 40 deaths as compared to the following numbers for January in previous years:
2007 83
2006 62
2005 107
2004 47

We need a President who will bring the troops home starting when they are elected. Remember, the cleric Sadr promised a cease fire until the end of March and that time will soon be here. The war will become front and center again I am afraid to say. It will not be Al-Qaeda, it will be a continuation of the Civil war, which was never civil. It will be Sunni against Shia, Shia against Sunni, and we will be in the middle.

Iraq: The only real Option

I was challenged yesterday by a client and friend. He said that I have written a lot about Iraq but haven't given any solution to the problem. So here, in clear language, I rise to the challenge and will give a clearer statement of what I believe we should do now.

LEAVE!

As I have stated in my recent post on the Baker Commission, there can be no solution until both Shiites and Sunnis have leaders who have the support of their people to negotiate a settlement to this Civil War. Yes, I said Civil War. When the good guys and bad guys are indistinguishable in Iraq, it's time to get our good guys and bring them all home.

I have heard in past few days that Sen. McCain and others are calling for more troops being added. I have written why this will not be done. We would have to institute a DRAFT and no one has the guts to do that, Republican or Democrat, President Bush, VP Cheney, Dr. Rice, Stephen Hadley or Donald Rumsfeld.

For those who say things will get worse in Iraq, they are correct. But this is how true leaders emerge. Someone decides enough is enough and puts their life on the line for their beliefs and their country. Right now we have neither in any leadership in Iraq. It should have been obvious to everyone 3 years ago that if the "freely elected government of Iraq" must live and exist in a protected Green Zone indefinitely; this is not really a free government. We are their codependents, and I know you know codependent relationships are dysfunctional. There I said it. An intervention is needed.

Call it "tough love" if you like. But we must stop enabling cowardice and truly allow freedom a chance. We may not like the outcome but I still believe in survival of the fittest. And only those fit to govern Iraq deserve to have the job. You can say what you like, but Saddam ruled Iraq and there was no question about that. And yes, we may get someone worse to rule than even Saddam, but let's remember who is to blame for that. According to the well respected Colin Powell, if you break it you own it. So blame Mr. Bush and ensure that legacy is part of his Presidential Library records. Yes, it is President Bush and VP Cheney who are the ones to blame and no one else. So let it be written, so let it be done.

I hope it is now clear where I stand.