Additional thoughts from Claude-

I thought that the selection of Sarah Palin was an interesting one. I have to say that what I believe Obama and McCain have in common, above all, and particularly in this season; is that they are both politicians. McCain, to his abiding credit, has a well documented history of reaching across the aisle for great consensus change (McCain-Feingold is one of several bills), and Feingold in addition to being one of my idols is just about as lefty as you can get without falling off the table. That said, Tailgunner Johnny’s conservative credentials are unassailable. This Vice Presidential pick is a political one in that she is a pro life stalwart, something that McCain had to do as a nod to the Cons to shore up their support since he is on the outs for his “maverick” record over the years. Of course, the inherent problem with that is that he secured the nomination being John McCain, and now he is romancing the electorate being someone else. This is nothing new. Everyone has to do it, or thinks they do. Dukakis rides a tank and hesitates about his wife getting raped. Kerry is out on a surf board and gets “swift boated’ by T. Boone Pickens, who, four years later is Al Gore’s best friend. Yes, Virginia, there MUST be a Santa Claus, and politics DOES make strange bedfellows, and the Emperor has no clothes.

And please, you don’t want to get me started on the guy on Pennsylvania Avenue. America didn’t elect him twice, and he served two terms. This is a stunning tribute to great politics. Lee Atwater would LOVE this. What George the First learned is that it doesn’t matter where in the ticket you place the incompetence, so long as you have the entire tree rotting from the roots. It wasn’t Danny Quayle that made Bush the First a crook any more than it is poor W that makes Cheney the most awful and able thing to happen to American politics in our generation. Witness that poor baby girl they put in the Justice Department to hire all the Attorneys General who got her Law Degree from Pat Robertson. She had them all take litmus tests, and she didn’t even know what litmus was!!

I am certain that Sarah Palin will make a formidable campaigner, and that her debates with Joltin Joe, although they will be utterly hysterical, will be of little consequence. This is true because of Markey’s First Law. You cannot underestimate the American People.

Our greatest accomplishment as a nation in the past eight years is not that we haven’t shot ourselves in the foot. It is that we survived having a guy at the helm that is essentially Bizarro President.

And experience? I challenge you to look up the experience of the following two men. JFK and Lincoln.

If I am not for myself who will be for me? If I am only for myself what am I? If not now when?—-Rabbi Hillel

 

As Dawn and I watched the documentary, then Obama’s speech (her through tears, me smiling), we talked about who McCain was going to pick. I told her I would like for him to pick a pro-choice candidate to split the party. Otherwise, I said in my estimation there were no good choices.

So this morning, it’s Palin. The first thing to come to mind (besides disbelief) was Mondale/Ferraro. That choice in 1984 was a net-zero impact choice, in spite of it being the first woman on a major party ticket.

How do the Republicans even whisper “experience” regarding Obama? Palin would be within a split second of the Presidency under the oldest candidate to be sworn in, yet she has two years as Governor of Alaska and no previous experience outside of local elections. I don’t get it.

From Ranmar:

Did you see Barney Smith?

Well, Sarah Palin…I think I will call her Danielle Quayle…she was a former Miss Alaska contestant (runner up maybe?) and she is a foxy chick for early middle age.  Remember, though, Markey’s corollary to Barnum’s law…you CAN fool all of the people.  Particularly when they appear to either a) want to be fooled because of the 3 card monte rule (they are only paying attention to THEIR card) or b) they are staying at home and watching football and not involved in the game and then when it’s pay day or April 15^th, they get all upset and it’s somebodies’ fault but not theirs.  We, yes WE, elected the village idiot, and then re elected the village idiot, and I do believe that Quayle was Bush Sr’s way of subtly warning us to watch out about who was on the way.

 

On the one hand I think this proves that McCain’s operatives are as cynical and awful as the Bush people, and even as Lee Atwater, but on the other hand, their premise must be that it doesn’t matter.

 

 

 

Change. No other word captures the essence of the period in US history from the era of post-Civil War Reconstruction to our present day. Yet it seems ultimately inadequate, probably because the scope and intensity of the change Americans have experienced when viewed from our perspective is more dramatic seen as a whole than what any given person experienced. I will attempt to chronicle in these few pages the panorama of change as seen by the participants, and by us looking back. I will focus on the components of change in the following areas- social, politics, economic, racial, and international.

 

Social Change-

          History’s building blocks are people, and the people of the days following the Civil War saw a ‘scarred landscape and wrecked economy’ in the South. The country had lost over 600,000 lives in what even today is the bloodiest war our soldiers have ever been involved in. Yet even more traumatic was the fact that those losses all occurred here on our native soil, while brother fought brother. The scars were deep, as were resentments. Unfortunately for the all sides was the fact that the president who longed to see forgiveness and unity restored during Reconstruction was felled by an assassins bullet, leaving men with lesser motivations and intents to oversee the healing of a nation. It wasn’t till 1877 that the South saw Federal troops removed, and the process of healing begin.

          In 1867, Horace Greeley encouraged the adventurous to ‘go West, young man’, and so we did. The expansion of our country to the Pacific occupied our minds and hearts as a people. The allure of open land drew farmers and ranchers, and transformed our economy. The discovery of gold in California further hastened the growth, and by the 1893 historians were analyzing the “closing of the frontier”. The westward expansion encouraged immigration, and opened up natural resources that helped fuel further expansion. After the dark days of Civil War, a new start is what our country needed and found. It is no wonder that much of our literature and movies have been preoccupied with the time and place that we called the “Wild West”.

          The end of the 19^th century saw not only the completion of westward expansion, but two other major forces were now reshaping our society and culture- industrialization and urbanization. Westward growth required new and improved technologies, and as efficiencies improved, production and distribution of goods from coast to coast became the lifeblood of our economy. At the same time, waves of immigrants continued to come to our country, seeking a new life and better opportunities. That factor led to the rapid urbanization of our major Eastern cities, as the new citizens helped to man the factories that fueled our expanding economy. But this urban growth brought with it the problems that accompany greed and overcrowding. Tenements sprung up in the major urban centers, which became areas of crime, disease, and discontent. Other significant social changes were happening in America during the last quarter of the century. As our economy expanded “goods spread through American society, so did a sharpened and aggressive materialism. Workers felt the strains of the shift to a new social order.” Materialism, coupled with family, culture, and religious changes resulted in an ever changing landscape of recreational and entertainment opportunities and interests. Major urban newspapers were the first examples of mass communication, and helped identify and fuel new trends. They chronicled the church event on one page, society weddings on another, and baseball scores on yet another. And there, somewhere in-between, was an editorial page that gave opinions on arts, culture, religion, and politics.

          As the years progressed, cities continued to grow out and up, and their influence was felt in politics, education, entertainment, and family life. “By 1920, they had become the center of American economic, social, and cultural life.” Education became a major focus in American life. The last thirty years of the 19^th century saw illiteracy decline from 20% to just over 10%, but still the average adult only had five years of school. More and more universities were built, and higher educational opportunities increased for women also.

          Even as educational opportunities and emphasis were increasing, many people, especially immigrants, found themselves with meager incomes in dangerous jobs like mining. In the midst of all of this change and restructuring of the social and cultural norms, the U.S. economy was gripped by a depression. The impact of the weakened economy caused people to reassess their conventional ideas about government, their society, and the economy. Many husbands and fathers lost their jobs, forcing women and children to enter a work force that often was fraught with danger. These factors led workers to look for ways to improve their situation, leading to organized labor and unions. 1894 saw the employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company strike to protest wage cuts, high rents for company housing, and layoffs. Soon after, Eugene Debs led the American Railway Union to join the strike. This would be the start of tensions between labor and management that would continue well into the next century, and result in increased government involvement in the life of business.

          The new century saw the rise of Progressivism, a political force borne out of concern for change in the countries social well-being. The Progressives saw that bigger and bigger businesses, resulting in monopolies and trusts, were a source of abuse of political and economic power. They also saw that the lot of the ordinary working man or women did not improve, although the riches gained by the owners continued to grow. The Progressive movement lasted from 1890 to 1920, and drew upon developments in the social sciences the writings of social commentators.  It cut across the borders of party politics, and excited by the prospects of a new century, the movement fueled changes in the legal and governmental landscape that still exist today. Particularly in the large cities, a concern for the poor led to improved housing and sanitary standards. Working and safety standards were imposed upon businesses and factories. The labor unions grew in significance, and discrimination based upon creed or race began to be recognized for the wrong that it was.

          Leaders of this movement included Louis Brandeis, Robert Lafollette, Eugene Debs (Socialist), Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. Increasingly, the focus of the Progressives became the future of capitalism, and the role of government in the wake of the abuses of the trusts and monopolies.

          The presidential election of 1912 was a pivotal time in the life of our country. Like the late sixties yet to come, the political and social air was electrified by calls for change and reform. The four of the major actors in this drama all were contending for control of the nation’s future. Teddy Roosevelt leading the new Reform party, Woodrow Wilson the Democrats, William Howard Taft the conservative Republican, and Eugene Debs the Socialist. When the dust settled, the Princeton University president Woodrow Wilson was now president of the United States. With his moralistic Presbyterian upbringing, and his academic skills, he set out to complete then Progressive agenda.

          Much was accomplished, and yet much was unsolved. By 1916, Progressivism was in decline, and the 1^st World War caused many to lose hope in the ability of education and good intentions to affect long term change. But the U.S. government was changed forever as a result of the efforts toward reform.

          “The 1920’s saw an outpouring of literature, fueled by a new class of intellectuals- writers commenting on the new industrial society”. Disillusionment with the War recently ended, and the changing social mores also fueled the minds and passions of these writers, which included T. S. Eliot, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, H. L. Mencken, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather. For the first time, American writers were taken seriously by Europeans. In music also, American artists were leading into new territories with the development of jazz. All the artists were decrying on one level or another the increasing materialism and conformity.

          With all of the energy and enthusiasm of the progressives and artists and academics finding voice in the cities, it was inevitable that there would be a countermovement against change, and it grew out of the rural mindset. The Red Scare, Prohibition, the Ku Klux Klan, nationalism, and Fundamentalism all were responses against change.

          The start of the Great Depression in 1929 was another turning point in the social life of Americans. Many working women in the 1930’s were single or the sole supporter of their families, but their wages remained lower than men, and their unemployment rate 20% higher through the 30’s. If it were not for the psychological lift provided by President Franklin Roosevelt, the Depression would have been even harder to survive.

          On the heels of the Depression came the Second World War, which saw an enhanced importance for the role of working women, with so many American men fighting the Axis powers. At the conclusion of the war, the country saw a major migration of population from the large urban centers to coastal regions, especially California. Housing was scarce, family life suffered, and divorce rates climbed. Schools and social agencies were hard pressed to keep pace with the baby boom that followed the war. The Baby Boom of the post war era and the migration to the Sunbelt states are still major factors in our lives today.

          The Fifties saw a response to the turmoil of war and tragedy that emphasized materialism (again) and conformity (again!). And once again, the voices of progress and discontent cried against this, and the recognition that in the midst of all of the wealth and increased status of Americans in the 50’s, there were members of our country that were still oppressed and discriminated against. Racism still had a stronghold in the South, and when calls for educational equality became the law, President Eisenhower upheld the Supreme Courts ruling against segregation in Little Rock, Arkansas.

          The climate of the Cold War, the assassinations of two Kennedy’s and Martin Luther King, the weariness of Americans with the Korean and Vietnam war, and the recognition of the uselessness of a life obsessed with materialism, found its voice in the Counter-culture movement of the 1960’s. The beatniks, then the hippies, expressed their discontent with the world through literature, poetry, and especially music. They challenged the status quo, and advocated self-expression through drugs, art, sex and other methods with very mixed results. Like all reform movements though, they caused the country to confront its sins and weaknesses. Even in the current Presidential cycle, we see cries for change clashing with the forces of conservatism. And like those progressive movements in the past, we see inequity that has been allowed to continue unchecked. We see an historically unpopular President, stuck in an equally unpopular war in a country on the other side of the world.  Let us hope that we are seeing the flowering of another decade of progress.

 

Political and governmental change-

           The period following the Civil War found the two party system at least in name as it exists today. The Democrat Andrew Johnson was not the man of political skill that Lincoln was, so we see the Radical reconstruction occur. In fact, the abuses of the Reconstructionists led to a counter movement in the South in the 1870’s that resulted in the Jim Crow laws that set the continued segregation and barriers to voting in place till the Civil Rights movement in the 1950’s and 60’s. Johnson and his predecessors (all Republicans) weakened the power of the presidency until the 1890’s.

          As populations grew across the entire United States, especially in the large urban centers, the role of civil government became more and more important. The 1890’s saw the birth of the city political machines, like Boss Tweed in New York City. Operating on the fringes of criminal activity, these “machines” granted power and wealth to a select few, and tried to control political processes. A young Theodore Roosevelt helped dismantle the corruption in New York.

          1884 saw the election of the first Democratic president since the beginning of the Civil War. Grover Cleveland was an honest, hard working governor of New York, who followed the Democratic platform of curtailing federal activities, and eliminating tariffs. In 1888 the Republicans elected Benjamin Harrison to the presidency. The Republican controlled Congress spent lots of money, increased tariffs, passed the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The 1890 Congressional elections saw a 78 seat reversal in the Congress for the Republicans.

          In 1892 the Democrats elected Grover Cleveland to the Presidency. Unfortunately for them, The Panic of 1893 plunged the country into a depression, and Cleveland’s repeal of the Silver Purchase Act caused further economic problems, and the Democrats lost miserably in 1894 and 1896, setting them back till 1912.

          Civil War veteran William McKinley defeated the Democratic and Populist candidate William Jennings Bryan, which also signaled the end of the Populist party. The economy revived under McKinley, and the U.S. passed the Gold Standard Act, which ended the silver controversy, and America showed itself to be a world power in the Spanish-American War. In 1900, McKinley won again in a landslide, but was murdered by an assassin in 1901, and his Vice President Theodore Roosevelt became President.  

          Roosevelt turned over his successes to his Vice President, William Howard Taft in the election of 1908. But rather than continuing the Progressive measures of Roosevelt, Taft retreated to the safety of his conservative nature, which angered his predecessor, who in 1912 ran against his former friend for the Republican nomination. Failing in that, Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party, but lost to Woodrow Wilson.

          Women gained suffrage in 1920, and increasingly politics were the avenue for social change. “And increasingly, government at all levels accepted responsibility for the welfare of various elements in the social order. A reform minded and bureaucratic society took shape.”

          American foreign policy became increasingly aggressive and nationalistic. The U.S. dominated in the Caribbean, and became involved in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Typical of this mentality was the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which warned Latin American nations to “keep their affairs in order or face American interventions.” This was the rise of the role of President as Commander in Chief.

          In 1917, Woodrow Wilson asked for a declaration of war against Germany, and on November 11^th, Germany signed the armistice. In the year that followed, Wilson tried to bring his dream of a League of Nations to fruition. The Senate would not pass it, but ultimately it saw birth in the United Nations after the Second World War.

          The following three Republican administrations of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover tended to reverse the Progressive reforms of Roosevelt and Wilson, and in 1929 the Great Depression began, leaving Hoover as it’s victim. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, defeated Hoover in a landslide. Roosevelt’s aggressive, proactive New Deal provided for the unemployed and destitute, and his harnessing of the governments power brought Americans hope, and help. The presidency was transformed during his administration, and the Democratic was unified as it never had been. Rural and urban, Blacks and organized labor formed a new coalition.

          The Second World War lifted the U.S. out of the depression, and for four years our efforts were focused on defeating the Axis powers, all under then leadership of Roosevelt. FDR died in 1945 and was replaced by his Vice President, Harry Truman, who completed the war effort when Japan surrendered in 1945 after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

          The Truman era marked the beginning of Cold War hostilities that carried through till the 1980’s. It also marked the beginning of the arms race with the Soviets, and the Red Scare of Senator McCarthy.

          The Republican General Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson in 1952. The “space race” with the  Soviets began with the launch of Sputnik 1957. Eisenhower sought to stabilize spending and the economy, and overhauled the interstate highway system in the United States.

          In 1960, John F. Kennedy defeated the Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy oversaw a time of continued growth economically, while tensions with the Soviets increased, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy committed the U.S. to supremacy militarily and in space, which resulted in Americans landing men on the moon in 1969, six years after his death by assassination. Kennedy was succeeded by Lyndon Johnson, who oversaw the most significant advances in civil rights since the Civil War, and oversaw major legislation resulting in Medicare, greatly increased spending for education, and the Voting Rights Act. Johnson’s Great Society programs accomplish more than any president since FDR, but his domestic achievements were overshadowed by the increasingly unpopular Vietnam war.

          Except for Jimmy Carter in 1976, the Republicans won all presidential elections from 1968 till 1992 when Bill Clinton won. Richard Nixon had notable achievements in foreign affairs, particularly normalization of our relationship with Red China. Carter won in 1976 largely on the moral failures of Nixon, and Carter was defeated by Ronal Reagan in 1980. Reagan reduced spending, eliminated some federal agencies, and instituted tax cuts. The Reagan years were primarily years of growth, and saw the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and satellite states. Reagan’s Vice President Herbert W. Bush won the 1988 election, but lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. The Clinton era was marked by significant economic growth, and a moderate approach to domestic spending. In light of the moral lapses of Clinton, the Republicans regained the presidency by electing George W. Bush in 2000 and again in 2004.

 

 

 

Economic change and development-

          The Reconstruction period saw the United States economy still primarily agricultural based. The North had the most factory production capability, which gave it a distinct advantage during the war. The South was in shambles, and a key part of its agricultural workforce was lost with emancipation.

          The push for settlement to the West was fueled by the promise of free land for those willing to settle in the new territories. Many others, including corporations, bought large tracts of land, and the railroads became the largest landowners. The Gold Rush, and other mining opportunities contributed billions to the economy also. And of course, farming and ranching grew in popularity and enticed even more Americans and Europeans.

          The last quarter of the 19^th century saw explosive industrial growth primarily in the North and East. By 1900, American industrial output exceeded the combined out put of England, France, and Germany. Our system of government encouraged economic growth on every level by giving manufacturers land, money, and resources. American government also provided stability by virtue of our commitment to private property, and unwillingness to regulate industries. Ultimately the railroad, steel plant, and oil industry owners would have to be regulated in a greater way by government, due to mans greed. But for a number of years, the “captains of industry” or “robber barons”, depending on your perspective, grew and monopolized their businesses unchecked. Names that are still well known like Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Rockefeller were representative of capitalisms great success in America. And innovation, like the production techniques of Henry Ford, would keep America solidly in the lead well into the 20^th century.

          Industrial growth did not benefit all, however. The farms of America were still very important to our overall economy, and farmers found themselves even more challenged as improved distribution by rail, and increased production by Western expansion, kept downward pressure on prices. The government was forced through the years, and still today, to offer subsidies to farmers in order to regulate production. Often tariffs were imposed on imports to protect the farmer. The challenges faced by farmers, coupled with the increasing influence of Eastern and Northern industrial powers dominating governmental and political attention, forced the farmers to attempt to exert their own political force. Granges, Coops, and the Populist movement all were attempts to increase attention to farmers needs.

          From the 19^th century to the Great Depression of 1929, many economic dynamics changed. The United States adopted the gold standard, which had a stabilizing effect. The diversification of our economy, coupled with greater production and export capability was strengthened. The average worker saw his income increase, and workweek decrease. There of course remained areas of inequity, but we were transitioning into the world economic leader. The Progressive movement caused government to recognize its obligation to at least monitor the power of capitalism, and protect the worker and labor unions from unfair abuses. The Depression further increased the federal government’s involvement in American economic affairs. Through the Federal Reserve system, the money and credit supply could be better managed.

          World War II pulled the economy out of the Depression, and the period following to the present day saw America overall experience unprecedented economic growth, and further assert its position as the driving economic force on a global scale.

 

Racial Developments

          The end of the Civil War found the African American emancipated, but in many cases far from free. The forces of Reconstruction too often were more concerned with retribution or reward than helping the lot of the freed slaves. This underlying inequity of segregation persisted in the South until the 1960’s.

          The earliest Americans, the Indians, found their situation even worse. Extermination, and loss of land, food, and rights resulted in the “reservation system”. By the end of the 19^th century, there were less than 200,000 Indians in the country, and most of those were on reservations.

          In the Southwest and California, the Spanish speaking peoples had a significant cultural effect. In 1880, 25% of the residents of Los Angeles County were Spanish speaking. Because of their importance as workers, and their ties to the original Spanish settlers in the Southwest, the Mexicans as they came to be known were better assimilated into American cultural life.

          The increasing numbers of Eastern Europeans and Asians immigrating into the U.S. at the turn of the century caused increased ethnic tensions, and forced Americans to recognize our tendency to marginalize those who are not “like us”. And at the turn of the century, the life expectancy for blacks and other minorities was 33 years.

          The rise of organizations like the Ku Klux Klan inflicted increasing violence against minorities, especially the blacks. It wasn’t till FDR and the New Deal that blacks started to receive any aid from the government. As a result, blacks rallied behind Roosevelt and the Democratic party, which is still the case today. Post-War America found blacks increasingly moving to the North and East, which raised race relations to a national level priority, and Supreme Court decisions striking down segregation and Jim Crow laws led to significant change finally in the 1960’s. Blacks became better organized, and the efforts of leaders like Martin Luther King further brought attention to the inequities that existed more than 100 years after emancipation. And today, we see a man of African ancestry poised to win the Presidency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

International developments-

          International entanglements were probably the last thing that Americans wanted. In the wake of the tragic Civil War, and with new frontiers beckoning, American’s were to be expected to be internally oriented. All of that changed in 1898 when war with Spain began in April. A 39 year old Teddy Roosevelt, who was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was eager for the fight. Quoting our textbook authors, Roosevelt believed there were three reasons for war- “first on grounds of freeing Cuba and expelling Spain from the hemisphere; second, to take Americans’ minds off material gain; and third, because the Army and the Navy needed the practice.”

          Roosevelt did believe the war would establish America as global power, and expand commerce and influence globally, especially in Latin America and Asia. Differences with Spain regarding Cuba  brought on the war, and was the first step in an American empire.

          The first motivation to move outside of our national borders was the desire to open up new markets for American goods. This would benefit both farmers and industrialists, so there was abundant momentum behind this thinking. Particularly key to this change was Secretary of State Charles Seward, who aggressively pushed his vision of an American empire extending to Central America, and westward to Asia. Seward served from 1861 till 1869, and he was also responsible for the acquisition of the Midway Islands, and the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Ulysses Grant and the presidents who followed him took an active and often aggressive stance towards Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Starting in the early 1880’s, the U.S. began building a sizeable Navy, so when war with Spain began, we were well up to the challenge. Victory over Spain, and then war in the Philippines proved our ability. The United States had started a colonial empire, and was an Asian power on the doorstep of China.

          There was resistance to the growing “imperialist” efforts of America, but it was never very well organized, and had no coherent program.

          America under Theodore Roosevelt also modernized its army, and continued to exert its influence. The Progressive movement, with Roosevelt as one of its leaders, had high hopes in the ability of man to reason his way through conflict rather than wage war. Woodrow Wilson to an even greater extent believed in the value of “moral diplomacy”. As a consequence, it was three years after the start of World War I, and two years after the sinking of the Lusitania that Wilson called on Congress to declare war on Germany. Neither Wilson or the American people were eager for war.

          In the aftermath of the war, America emerged as the strongest economic power in the world. Wilson hoped to use the signing of the Versailles Treaty, which formally ended the war, to propose his “14 Points” to help prevent further global wars. Only one of his points, that calling for a League of Nations, was given serious consideration. The brutality of the first World War quenched the spirit of Progressives, effectively ending the movement.

          America once again retreated from involvement with other nations, which was called “isolationism’. It wasn’t until 1941, when the armies of Hitler and Japanese expansion in Asia finally forced America to enter the war. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked America out of its isolationist sleep, and the full force of our industrial production capability was harnessed for the war effort, pulling America fully out of the Depression. And in 1945, after the victories over the Axis powers and the use of the atomic bomb, America was recognized as the greatest world power in history. The decades following were characterized as the Cold War, in which American foreign policy was one of “containment” of Communist governments. This policy, along with thhe expectation of America as the “world policeman”, combined with the ever escalating Cold War and “arms race” race with the Soviet Union, resulted in Americas involvement in regional conflicts. First in Korea, and then in Vietnam, American soldiers died to support democratic governments or to stem the tide of Communist expansion. Vietnam particularly sparked antiwar sentiments that toppled the Johnson administration, and resulted in a loss essentially by our forces.

          The next major conflict America faced was the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990. American forces, which as a result of a military buildup during the Reagan administration were the most technologically advanced forces on earth, easily halted the Iraqi attack. Eleven years later, terrorists struck the Twin Towers in New York City, and the Pentagon with commercial aircraft. This was the start of the conflict that is known as the War on Terror.

To be continued……

Ranmar writes- “I still want to know who his (Obama’s) running mate is going to be. That is so fascinating to me. I have a sinking sinking SINKING feeling that the HYPOCRITE Lieberman is going to run with McCain.

Who do you think will run with Obama? Separate question who do you LIKE to run with Obama/

Aqualung responds- If we were Huntley/Brinkley, which would I be?

First the McCain issue. Another geezer with McCain probably won’t work. Plus, his shtick is foreign affairs, which McCain has covered, as long as he can discern between Sunni and Shiite. He needs a younger man with Conservative and preferable Evangelical bonafides.

Who cares, ultimately. The Democrats are going to sweep in a dramatic fashion, I believe.

Now, Obama- that is certainly interesting. Latest news today is that he has hired Patty Solis as assistant to his VP candidate. That is the kiss of death to HRC, who fired Ms. Doyle a couple of months ago. Obama needs the foreign affairs credibility enhancement to offset the inevitable replays of HRC saying he has no experience, etc. Jim Webb has been mentioned a lot (by you, too), and Sam Nunn is often named, also. I believe Obama’s people have also looked at one or two Generals- although I would think Wesley Clark is a no go due to being too connected to Clintonists. BTW, for Obama to be true to his core campaign philosophies, HRC was never a possibility. I have no idea how Sam Nunn is “on the stump”, but I am disposed towards him if he can articulate his ideas clearly and persuasively.

Final wild card- what about Al Gore? I am still meditating on all that.

 

 

What a chimera then is man. What a novelty! What a monster, what a chaos, what a contradiction, what a prodigy. Judge of all things, imbecile worm of the earth; depositary of truth, a sink of uncertainty and error: the pride and refuse of the universe. - Blaise Pascal

“Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom.”  G. K. Chesterton

“The poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens in to his head. And it is his head that splits.” G. K. Chesterton

From the AIADA newsletter (AIADA’s First Up [firstupnewsletter@aiada.org]

“Americans Cut Back on Driving
The amount Americans drove fell 4.3% in March compared with a year earlier, the first time driving has fallen in the month since 1979. U.S. driving began to taper off in November, said Doug Hecox of the Federal Highway Administration, but at first it was thought the decline could be seasonal. Then came March, and the largest year-to-year driving drop in the agency’s recorded history, going back to 1942. U.S. drivers drove 11 billion miles fewer in March than a year earlier. The Wall Street Journal reports that the reduction comes amid high gas prices and a shaky U.S. economy. The average price of gas is hovering around $3.87 a gallon, and things may become even worse as prices continue to rise for the summer driving season. Consumers have already taken note, with U.S. gasoline demand down 0.6% this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to the Department of Energy. Year to date, driving is almost at 2004 levels. For more on gas prices, click here.”

So last weekend my precious wife and I did our part to stimulate the economy. We traded in our 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser (Voodoo Blue), known as “the Beast”, for a 2008 Toyota Yaris 3 door. According to www.fueleconomy.gov , we will acheive an annual fuel savings of $1710.00, or $142.50 per month! And Al Gore will be pleased with us, because this transaction cuts our carbon footprint in half.

After buying the Yaris (which reminds me of an extraterrestrial VW Bug), we went out and did something really cool. We bought two 125cc scooters from Fort Worth Vespa www.VespaFortWorth.com . Mine is crimson red, just like the cover of Mark Knopfler’s latest album “Kill to get Crimson”  www.markknopfler.com . Dawn’s is “tangerine” colored. To see the real thing, go to http://www.genuinescooters.com/scooters/buddy/buddy_3.html 

 

The true intellectual has posted a blog called “are we there yet” that was delayed by my ineptness with this new technology. Regardless, it is worthy of your consideration- and I am very grateful for his participation in the Trip. Love, Ed

My earliest political recollection was 1964, at the tender age of 9. I knew at that time that I was a Republican. If I could have sneaked into a voting booth when no one was looking, I would have pulled the lever for Richard M. Nixon. Except for a brief dalliance with George McGovern in 1968, I have been consistent in my allegiance. I was wearing a Nixon/Agnew button to elementary school. Imagine a 9 year old today with a McCain button.

So it is with a sense of loss that I look at the political landscape today, and realize that things have gone strangely wrong with the world as I knew it. Bizarro world has come to be.

The Republican party has a Presidential candidate that the base as it exists doesn’t want. Don’t get me wrong- John McCain is a good man, and probably would have been much more comfortable in 1964- certainly more popular. There is a new Peggy Noonan column that expresses most of my remaining thoughts for now…..

DECLARATIONS By PEGGY NOONAN

Pity Party
May 16, 2008

Big picture, May 2008:

The Democrats aren’t the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they’re finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech. Then hand-to-hand in the general, where they see their guy triumphing. You see it when you talk to them: They’re busy being born.

Terry Shoffner

Clarke Reed

The Republicans? Busy dying. The brightest of them see no immediate light. They’re frozen, not like a deer in the headlights but a deer in the darkness, his ears stiff at the sound. Crunch. Twig. Hunting party.

The headline Wednesday on Drudge, from Politico, said, “Republicans Stunned by Loss in Mississippi.” It was about the eight-point drubbing the Democrat gave the Republican in the special House election. My first thought was: You have to be stupid to be stunned by that. Second thought: Most party leaders in Washington are stupid – detached, played out, stuck in the wisdom they learned when they were coming up, in ‘78 or ‘82 or ‘94. Whatever they learned then, they think pertains now. In politics especially, the first lesson sticks. For Richard Nixon, everything came back to Alger Hiss.

They are also – Hill leaders, lobbyists, party speakers – successful, well-connected, busy and rich. They never guessed, back in ‘86, how government would pay off! They didn’t know they’d stay! They came to make a difference and wound up with their butts in the butter. But affluence detaches, and in time skews thinking. It gives you the illusion you’re safe, and that everyone else is. A party can lose its gut this way.

Many are ambivalent, deep inside, about the decisions made the past seven years in the White House. But they’ve publicly supported it so long they think they . . . support it. They get confused. Late at night they toss and turn in the antique mahogany sleigh bed in the carpeted house in McLean and try to remember what it is they really do think, and what those thoughts imply.

And those are the bright ones. The rest are in Perpetual 1980: We have the country, the troops will rally in the fall.

“This was a real wakeup call for us,” someone named Robert M. Duncan, who is chairman of the Republican National Committee, told the New York Times. This was after Mississippi. “We can’t let the Democrats take our issues.” And those issues would be? “We can’t let them pretend to be conservatives,” he continued. Why not? Republicans pretend to be conservative every day.

The Bush White House, faced with the series of losses from 2005 through ‘08, has long claimed the problem is Republicans on the Hill and running for office. They have scandals, bad personalities, don’t stand for anything. That’s why Republicans are losing: because they’re losers.

All true enough!

But this week a House Republican said publicly what many say privately, that there is another truth. “Members and pundits . . . fail to understand the deep seated antipathy toward the president, the war, gas prices, the economy, foreclosures,” said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia in a 20-page memo to House GOP leaders.

The party, Mr. Davis told me, is “an airplane flying right into a mountain.” Analyses of its predicament reflect an “investment in the Bush presidency,” but “the public has just moved so far past that.” “Our leaders go up to the second floor of the White House and they get a case of White House-itis.” Mr. Bush has left the party at a disadvantage in terms of communications: “He can’t articulate. The only asset we have now is the big microphone, and he swallowed it.” The party, said Mr. Davis, must admit its predicament, act independently of the White House, and force Democrats to define themselves. “They should have some ownership for what’s going on. They control the budget. They pay no price. . . . Obama has all happy talk, but it’s from 30,000 feet. Energy, immigration, what is he gonna do?”

* * *

Could the party pivot from the president? I spoke this week to Clarke Reed of Mississippi, one of the great architects of resurgent Republicanism in the South. When he started out, in the 1950s, there were no Republicans in his state. The solid south was solidly Democratic, and Sen. James O. Eastland was thumping the breast pocket of his suit, vowing that civil rights legislation would never leave it. “We’re going to build a two-party system in the south,” Mr. Reed said. He helped create “the illusion of Southern power” as a friend put it, with the creation of the Southern Republican Chairman’s Association. “If you build it they will come.” They did.

There are always “lots of excuses,” Mr. Reed said of the special-election loss. Poor candidate, local factors. “Having said all that,” he continued, “let’s just face it: It’s not a good time.” He meant to be a Republican. “They brought Cheney in, and that was a mistake.” He cited “a disenchantment with the generic Republican label, which we always thought was the Good Housekeeping seal.”

What’s behind it? “American people just won’t take a long war. Just – name me a war, even in a pro-military state like this. It’s overall disappointment. It’s national. No leadership, adrift. Things haven’t worked.” The future lies in rebuilding locally, not being “distracted” by Washington.

Is the Republican solid South over?

“Yeah. Oh yeah.” He said, “I eat lunch every day at Buck’s Cafe. Obama’s picture is all over the wall.”

How to come back? “The basic old conservative principles haven’t changed. We got distracted by Washington, we got distracted from having good county organizations.”

Should the party attempt to break with Mr. Bush? Mr. Reed said he supports the president. And then he said, simply, “We’re past that.”

We’re past that time.

Mr. Reed said he was “short-term pessimistic, long-term optimistic.” He has seen a lot of history. “After Goldwater in ‘64 we said, ‘Let’s get practical.’ So we got ol’ Dick. We got through Watergate. Been through a lot. We’ve had success a long time.”

Throughout the interview this was a Reed refrain: “We got through that.” We got through Watergate and Vietnam and changes large and small.

He was holding high the flag, but his refrain implicitly compared the current moment to disaster.

What happens to the Republicans in 2008 will likely be dictated by what didn’t happen in 2005, and ‘06, and ‘07. The moment when the party could have broken, on principle, with the administration – over the thinking behind and the carrying out of the war, over immigration, spending and the size of government – has passed. What two years ago would have been honorable and wise will now look craven. They’re stuck.

Mr. Bush has squandered the hard-built paternity of 40 years. But so has the party, and so have its leaders. If they had pushed away for serious reasons, they could have separated the party’s fortunes from the president’s. This would have left a painfully broken party, but they wouldn’t be left with a ruined “brand,” as they all say, speaking the language of marketing. And they speak that language because they are marketers, not thinkers. Not serious about policy. Not serious about ideas. And not serious about leadership, only followership.

This is and will be the great challenge for John McCain: The Democratic argument, now being market tested by Obama Inc., that a McCain victory will yield nothing more or less than George Bush’s third term.

That is going to be powerful, and it is going to get out the vote. And not for Republicans.

 

It is hard to believe, almost frightening to conceive that we have actually begun this road trip.  That said, it is hard to believe, almost frightening to conceive that the Democrats, i.e., Hilary, insists upon continuing her road show.  It’s not that I don’t think she is practically perfect in every way.  It’s just that I wish she would continue her relentless pursuit of power in someone else’s universe.  Really, I mean, what kind of cookies would she make if she actually DID stay home making them?  I shudder to contemplate that.  But serially folks, she does have the opportunity to consolidate influence in the Senate, and be a special voice.  Yeah, it’s a major drag for her that for all intents and purposes, she really blew it.  But the truth of the matter is that she wasn’t the right person this time.  The stars did not align.  I have either an idealistic cynicism or a cynical idealism that continues to whisper in my ear that you just cannot underestimate the intelligence of the genpop.  In my other ear is a voice telling me that this is the same country where farmers and grocers listened for hours to the ORIGINAL Lincoln Douglas Debates and demanded that these arcane hours long debates be rigorous and studied about slavery.

What does that have with an intellectual road trip?   Pffft…heck if I know.  I just know that if HC would call it a day we could get to the matter of the real cage match, and have these guys deciding whether we are going into a Hundred Years Cage Match started by a real live trust fund blue blook trust fund inbred retard or if Obama is going to choose right for his Cabinet and advisors and make the entire rest of the world stop snickering at us behind our back

Welcome to the Road Trip

Happy Mother’s Day