This Talk of Cheney Running in 2012 Should Remain Talk: I Wouldn’t Support Him

An MSNBC columnist pointed out in a recent column that the conservatives do not yet have a viable candidate to run against President Obama in 2012. He raised a few possibilities: Sarah Palin, John McCain (the not-conservative), and Dick Cheney.

John Meacham thinks that Cheney should run, so that voters will have an opportunity to cast a “final judgment” on the Bush years.

I don’t think so.

Dick Cheney should stay retired, and out of the media. He’s more of a hindrance than he is a viable choice to take on Obama. It’s not his qualifications that I’m questioning, but his judgment. Aside from the fact that he’s disregarded presidential traditions by criticizing the new Administration immediately after leaving office, I disagreed with most of his public stands as they were too far to the right, were reactionary, ill-conceived and war hawkish. And when Iran re-appeared on the radar screen, it was Cheney who was beating the war drums the loudest. That scared me. I was glad that Bush and Cheney left office before they got us into a war with Iran too.

Our side didn’t find WMDs in a bunker in the Iraqi desert like I thought they were going to. That was the entire rationale for going into Iraq in the first place. Cheney’s never admitted to the mistake, which causes issues with more than a few voters, including me.

Cheney presents the image of a man with his finger poised on the little red button, just itching for an excuse to press it. What the red button controls is of equal importance; is it a paper shredder with the Constitution loaded up and ready to shred? Or is it the control that will empty all the missile silos?

I hope Cheney is enjoying his retirement. I like the current administration even less than I like Cheney, and his influence on America’s foreign policy would be a prime target for Obama to go after. This needs to be a one-term President; he needs to be turned out on Election Day.

No thank you on Cheney. We need someone who has broader appeal.

Obama Looks Ready to Reject All Afghanistan Proposals in Favor of New Strategy: He’s Looking For an End to the War

President Obama appears to be ready to reject all of the current proposals on what to do next in the Afghan War in favor of a new strategy. It’s hard to predict which way he might go next.

He will probably reject General McChrystal’s request, and others put forth by the Defense Department. McChrystal got himself into some trouble when he went off the reservation and launched a PR campaign aimed at pressuring the Administration into accepting his battle plan, but there are other factors in play that weren’t present when McChrystal presented his proposal. General McChrystal’s decision was regrettable and probably contributed to the current state of affairs in the White House Afghanistan strategy.

Another factor is that the current government of Afghanistan is highly dubious. A run-off election was cancelled when President Karzai’s opponent dropped out of the running as he was unconvinced that the fraud that took place in the first election wouldn’t be repeated in the run-off election. International monitors reported ballot boxes being stuffed and voter intimidation happening across the country, to the point that Karzai lost votes during the supervised recount and didn’t have enough to win outright, as was originally projected.

The Taliban has been gaining ground in several provinces, and they won’t be dislodged without a major ground offensive to retake those provinces. Sustained battles with the Taliban means there will be more American casualties, something that the war-weary American public may not accept, and something that Obama will take the blame for, as Commander-in-Chief.

He wants the Afghan government to shoulder more of the responsibility so that the war can be wound down, but I wonder if the current Administration will repeat the mistakes of the 1980’s and 1990’s, when the U.S. left Afghanistan to it’s own devices following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Taliban came to power with their al-Qaeda allies.

We cannot leave the Taliban intact, but our government needs to decide what it’s going to do, and soon. The last thing we need is for al-Qaeda to rebuild in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, because we’ll eventually be back over there dealing with them again. Given the national treasure that we’ve spent freeing Afghanistan—and I’m talking more about lives than money—would we have the national will to do so again, as well as the strength of arms?

The other question is one of anti-government factions (non-Taliban) that are currently fighting against the Afghan government and against NATO forces. Given the success of getting Iraqis to switch sides and fight alongside the American military, can something similar happen in Afghanistan?

Where is this Administration taking us?

White House Behavior With Fox News is Childish: They Really Need to Grow Up

The White House is in a tit-for-tat exchange with Fox News over what they perceive as slights on the part of Fox over Obama's questionable health care and political views, and it's the most childish thing I've ever seen coming out of an Administration.

All it's done is drawn more attention to Fox to the point that they're totally dominating their competition even more so than usual.

Obama should focus on more important issues than a single media network that doesn't bow and scrape to him like the others do. No other President that has taken this kind of approach has been successful in waging a media campaign against a network.

Move on, Mr. President.

President Obama Shouldn't Use Last Administration's Poor Spending Record to Justify His Own: Make Some Cuts

President Obama made the statement during his speech to Congress that he had a $1 trillion deficit as soon as he walked through the doors of the White House due to the last Administration's spending spree, including invading Iraq, etc. And the Democrats in Congress cheered.

Yet this is the same President Obama whose Office of Budget and Management says will add another $10 trillion in debt by the end of his two terms in office, at a minimum.

We're looking to President Obama to restore financial sanity in Washington, not use excuses like he made before Congress (see the first paragraph) to engage in his own budget-busting spending spree.

Someday a President will be forced to make catastrophic cuts in order to keep the country out of bankruptcy. And those cuts will be massive, and painful. It would be better to make cuts now and keep from reaching that point.

President Obama needs to shift gears, put the health care stuff on the back burner, and make some cuts. Get the budget under control and reduce the debt before adding more to it via this costly health care proposal that Obama is keen on passing.

Presidential Advisers Should Go Through Stronger Vetting Process: Current System Allows Unqualified Candidates to Advise the President

One of the most perplexing parts of the government is the Executive Office of the President, which was created in 1939 by FDR, and continues to this day. The advisers are appointed by the President and under the day-to-day management of the Chief of Staff.

The appointees are not subject to Congressional review, which I'm uneasy with. These people are advising the President.

The President's cabinet officers do require confirmation by a simple majority vote of the Senate. But this is a separate body of politicians than the Executive Office of the President. The media has taken to referring to these advisers as "czars."

The offices that are in the Executive Office of the President are:

• Council of Economic Advisers
• Council of Environmental Quality, which has been in the news quite a bit lately with one of the appointees resigning under fire due to his radical communist views.
• Council on Women and Girls
• Domestic Policy Council
• National Economic Council
• National Security Council (Congress should definitely have some input here as the last several appointees by the last three Administrations were not so hot).
• Office of Administration
• Office of Management and Budget
• Office of National AIDS Policy
• Office of National Drug Control Policy
• Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Office of the Trade Representative
• President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
• President's Intelligence Advisory Board (should be combined with the NSA)
• White House Military Office (position vacant due to Air Force One flyover of New York and subsequent resignation of the chair).
• White House Office

Each of these departments have sub-departments, so it's a pretty complex system. And very few are vetted by Congress. And in the case of Van Jones, the former "Green Czar," he didn't fill out the 63 question background questionnaire, which would hopefully have lead someone to raise some red flags.

The system needs to be strengthened, and background checks need to be performed. Or they should be voted on by Congress, following a question-and-answer session by a select committee.

Democratic Lawmakers Are Learning What Happens When They Try to Mandate Health Coverage That Punishes Those Who Opt Out: People Push Back

I'm wondering if Democratic lawmakers, under heavy barrage at their town hall meetings across the country, are getting the message that people don't like to be forced to purchase government health care plans or ELSE?

What did they think was going to happen? That people were going to let Congress and our Socialist President push them into a Socialist agenda? And submit to fines for not wanting to get into the government health care plan, especially if they can't afford the premiums?

Then there's the fuzzy math...taxing the rich to pay for this mandatory health system? The Administration hasn't come out and said how much of a shortfall that the government will be forced to pick up. That bill is likely to be HUGE to the taxpayer, who will also be paying for the system if they don't have health care through their employer or on their own.

This is the wrong battle to be fighting right now. And Congress is learning the hard way that if they push a socialist agenda on the American people, that they'll push right back.

It's extremely unfortunate that there has been violence and disruptions at these meetings; in civil discourse there is no place at the table for those who intend to disrupt the town hall meetings through acts of violence or aiming to prevent the exchange of ideas.

Congress needs to know how their constituents feel about the issues; if that flow of information is disrupted, they're likely to go further off course than they already are.

If I was going to give advice to the protesters, it would be to register your opinions at the mike, and in your reactions to what the legislator says, then leave it at that. They'll hear you, loud and clear.

And my advice to the other side would be to not restrict the debate by underhanded tactics, such as letting your own supporters fill 85% of the seats before letting the rest of the public in. In order for a town hall meeting to be legitimate, let everyone in.

And both parties need to stay out of these meetings. They'll taint the proceedings even more.

ObamaCare Needs to be Put on Hold: Government Revenue is Decreasing

Many of the new government spending programs need to be suspended until someone figures out how much revenue the government is taking in from income taxes and other types of taxes.

This includes suspending all plans to put Obama's health care nightmare into effect.

According to the Associated Press, tax receipts are poised to drop 18% from one year ago, which means the government needs to go on a crash diet immediately. They cannot keep spending more money than they actually have.

Congress ought to forget about health care reform for the time being until we are on firmer ground with the economy. We're already $11 trillion in debt, with another $12 trillion or more in debt on the way.

Stop this madness!

Obama's Health Care Math is Fuzzy: Taxing One Group to Pay for Everyone Else Won't Even Come Close to Making Obama's Program Work

President Obama's health care plan is nothing short of full-scale LUNACY.

Taxing the rich to pay for his entire health care proposal won't work: he's talking about insuring 46 million people. There aren't enough American millionaires in existence to come up with the cash necessary to support this plan, which is still in infantile stage. And if they do have enough money to pay for all of this, will they the following year? And the year after that? And the year after that?

What has been left unsaid is how much the government will have to pony up to cover the shortfall in Obama's math.

There is a solution out there, but this isn't it. And the sooner they change their tune, the better.

GM and Chrysler Now Have Credibility as They Finally Admit That They're Bankrupt and HAVE Been Bankrupt for Over a Year

I made a comment last year on this blog that the Big Three were already bankrupt but didn't have the guts to admit it; as of Monday it will be true for two of the Big Three.

GM is set to go into bankruptcy on Monday; Chrysler is already there and restructuring. Ford looks like it's got it's act together and successfully changed course in time to avoid joining GM and Chrysler in bankruptcy court.

The sad part about this is that they could have avoided this problem many months ago, and adapted to changing conditions much more quickly. But they chose not to, preferring not to change their already-decided auto lines to match what was happening in the economy.

I'm not interested in who was more at fault in the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler; the management vs. union debate has been going on for many decades before this, and will likely continue for many years into the future, once this crisis has abated.

The government needs to complete this work quickly, then get out of Detroit's business. Government doesn't have time to run the auto industry; they can barely manage Washington's problems as it is, without having two auto companies to run as well.

Abuse Photos Should Be Released AFTER U.S. Troops Are GONE from Iraq, Not Before

I am of the opinion that the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos SHOULD be released, but not until U.S. troops are GONE from Iraq, not before.

The ACLU and the media can wait two more years. They've already waited seven. They have NO RIGHT to demand that our troops be placed in any more danger, especially now that the war in Iraq is scheduled to wind down. The release of those photos may shift the sands again and turn Iraqis who are currently helping the U.S. forces against them.

The early release of those photos would be a mistake. The Obama Administration should stand it's ground on that point. When our troops are gone, THEN they can release everything and begin to make amends, but not while there's still shooting going on. We need to stop handing ammunition to the enemy and then having them shoot it back at us.

Cheney is in the News Again: Stirring the Pot Up Again With His Flawed Approach to National Security

Keeping traditions is an important part of our American tradition, and one tradition is that former Presidents of the United States do not criticize their successor for a while.

Former President Bush is honoring this time-honored tradition, saying that he "...doesn't want to criticize President Obama as he deserves my silence." His Vice President, Dick Cheney, is honoring no such tradition. He's been blasting away at Obama's approach to national security.

I thought that Cheney should have resigned alongside President Bush's former Defense Secretary, Don Rumsfeld, due to his contribution to the hype behind the Iraq War, and the mismanagement of the occupation, and his willingness to shred the Constitution in the name of national security.

In fact, I tried to blister both their hides (Rumsfeld and Cheney) with criticisms of those points, to the point that someone who reads this blog sent me an e-mail, warning me to "tone it down" or else I would end up disappearing when "martial law was declared" as that reader put it. I ignored that advice. Martial law was NOT declared, President Bush didn't seize power like some thought he would, and he and Cheney left the White House precisely on time.

Since Cheney has refused to fade quietly into the background, I'm going to dial my criticism of him back up.

And make no mistake, I think Obama's mismanaging things pretty badly, but he'll get his own articles once I have a clearer picture of what direction he's steering us in. For now, Cheney is invoking the wrath of my poison pen. Again.

Human rights should NEVER be sacrificed in the same of national security, as Cheney has suggested. Rather, human rights and national security should go hand in hand. But that means changing what our perception of "national security" is.

"National security" should involve a free American people being able to live their lives, free from fear of terrorists, of criminals, and free of being afraid of what their own government might do to them for speaking up, and criticizing the government. The American people want their government to stand up for the rights of individuals, and to honor and cherish the Bill of Rights, on which their natural rights are confirmed.

Cheney's version of national security involves star chamber justice, weakening the parts of the Constitution that he doesn't like, because they're INCONVENIENT, holding people without trial indefinitely, and denying people accused of crimes the right to challenge their imprisonment, in spite of all the international treaties that the United States has signed that says it would take the lead in upholding international norms of decency and human respect.

Human rights need to be considered in all national security matters, and shouldn't be subordinated. There are ways to do both, and still get the job done. And that's what infuriates me the most about Cheney's approach to things. His approach is that there's only one approach to all of these problems, and human rights can be sacrificed in the name of national security. His inflexibility has made him one of the most controversial Vice-Presidents of all time.

I think in time, history will be kind to Bush, but I'm not so sure about how history will judge Cheney. The damage he inflicted on the Constitution is something that should be held up as the wrong approach to solving the nation's problems.

Army Battallion Spends Two Weeks in Iraq, Then Receives Orders to Go to Afghanistan

Wow.

An entire Army battallion that arrived in Iraq in the last few weeks just got orders to head directly to Afghanistan, where their skills set is badly needed.

This doesn't happen too often, where a unit is deployed to one war zone, then gets orders to go to another. The Army logistics people say that it will take between 40-60 flights to get the soldiers, vehicles, and equipment from the 4th Engineering Battallion from Baghdad to southern Afghanistan.

I'm surprised that it actually hasn't happened more, but it appears more likely now that the U.S. military is carrying out their orders to bump up the force in Afghanistan while reducing the size of their force in Iraq.

I think this is a good move as the mine-clearing capability of the 4th Engineers is needed to reduce the number of IED attacks on coalition forces. 60% of coalition losses are now from IED and mine attacks in Afghanistan, and they need to turn that around.

Obama Administration Says Economy's Turned Around? What Planet Are They On??!

The economy is sound, eh?

All I have to do is look out the front window of my house to the state unemployment office across the street and see the line extending out the front door to know that this economy definitely ISN'T sound. And the cars parked in front of my house with the drivers walking over there to join the line just reinforces this observation.

The economy is a LONG ways from turning around. What planet is the Obama Administration broadcasting from, because it certainly ISN'T this one!

Just because the stock market is up over the last five days doesn't mean A THING! It's still down 6,947 points from a year ago and down 3,000 points since President Obama took office. What's causing the stock market to rise is Obama not issuing press releases or having press conferences.

When the line isn't running out the door at the unemployment office and the cars aren't piled up in front of my house, and Michigan workers aren't losing their jobs left and right, THEN I'll believe his rhetoric, but not now.

What I'm watching out my own front window doesn't square with the rhetoric.

OINK!! OINK!! The Piggies are Back at the Trough Again: So Much for Change We Can Believe In

President Obama and Congress decided to break their "no pork" campaign promises and pack the budget full of pork projects.

Change we can believe in, eh? BULL HONKEY!! This looks to me like Bush III.

Someone pass the mustard, because we're all going to be eatin' this pork for a LOOOONG time to come.

Start shoveling!

Obama's Budget Has $1.75 Trillion Shortfall: He Should Balance the Budget By Cutting $1.75 Trillion in Spending

President Obama's budget spends more than it takes in by $1.75 trillion. He shouldn't stand for that and cut at least $1.8 trillion out of his spending proposals.

Yes, that's trillion with a "t." He can start by cutting out the big bailouts and let the system self-adjust, as painful as it will be. All they have to do is protect the value of the U.S. currency, as is Constitutionally required. That will leave him about $800 billion to cut in spending.

He should make these cuts now, and inject the system with a bit of self-discipline, which will help us more in the long run, rather than loaning billions to companies that will fail, unless they learn how to take in more than they spend.

But the socialists won't allow that to happen. They'll keep throwing other people's money at the problem until we are teetering on the brink. How many more problems are they going to create in trying to solve the current ones?

Obama Administration Back-Pedals on Habeus Corpus at Guantanamo and Human Rights in China: MAJOR Disappointments

In the space of one week, the Obama Administration decided that the writ of Habeas Corpus doesn't apply to the prisoners being at Guantanamo Bay, and abandoned challenging China to improve it's domestic human rights policies.

These are MAJOR let-downs as far as I'm concerned.

I had hoped that the Obama Administration would turn things around quit feeding the Constitution to the shredding machine, but sadly, it isn't going to happen.

When are defenders of this Bush-era doctrine going to realize that if we do that kind of crap to foreigners, that the same treatment is only a few steps away from being carried out on American citizens as well? Invoking national security to hold onto someone we don't like will prove to be too tempting for a government to resist. It's only a matter of time now.

Secretary Sniper-Fire announced during her first visit to China as Secretary of State that she's had these discussions with Chinese leaders for the last decade, and both sides know what the other's position is. That's NO reason for backing down from China. And I don't care how much we need China's money either. We need to keep the pressure up on China.

Habeas corpus is NOT optional either. Setting our own Constitution aside for the moment, we agreed to it in the United Nations charter, having pushed the organization to adopt it over the objections of the Soviet Union. We need to live up to our international obligations NOW, not when it's more convenient.

If Obama wants to clean up America's image, he needs to get with the program and start DOING it.