Unbelievable -- well, not really

Now we know. Having finished his book about his presidency, and waiting until after the election to release it, George Bush perhaps was giving a teaser-preview this week.

Speaking to a trade conference in Chicago, he said the following:

"I would like to be remembered as a guy who had a set of priorities, and was willing to live by those priorities. In terms of accomplishments, my biggest accomplishment is that I kept the country safe amidst a real danger."

Well, yes, we didn't have another 9/11 -- but then one could argue that 9/11 did actually happen on his watch, with evidence that he and his advisers ignored clear warnings in August that an attack was highly likely. And his policies and failures seriously eroded our security worldwide.

As to his biggest failure?

Not privatizing social security.

That's what he really thinks, huh? His biggest failure was not that he allowed the financial system to implode, leading to the biggest failure in 75 years, or that he bungled the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from the start, but that he failed to privatize social security -- he failed to jeopardize seniors' life savings to the volatility of the financial markets. We can only cringe in horror at the thought: suppose he had succeeded and our seniors' lost everything like so many private investors did?

No wonder we were left in a mess for Obama to deal with. This was the thinking of his predecessor -- and Dubya apparently learned nothing, has no second thoughts.

Ralph

DADT is dead #4

OK. Mark Sherman, writing on Huffington Post, explains why the Department of Justice is appealing the judge's decision to overturn DADT, despite the fact that President Obama opposes DADT and is working with Congress to repeal it.

The explanation:

There is a long tradition that the Justice Department defends laws adopted by Congress and signed by a president, regardless of whether the president in office likes them.

This practice cuts across party lines. And it has caused serious heartburn for more than one attorney general.

The tradition flows directly from the president's constitutional duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, says Paul Clement, who served four years in President George W. Bush's administration as solicitor general, the executive branch's top lawyer at the Supreme Court.

Otherwise, Clement says, the nation would be subjected to "the spectacle of the executive branch defending only laws it likes, with Congress intervening to defend others."

OK. Maybe. Only I'm not totally convinced that they always do that. I think there is some judgment involved, particularly if they think there is no legitimate defense of the law in question.

I think the more likely explanation is that Obama wants DADT overturned, but he wants it done in a more orderly and planned way than suddenly lifting the ban. The military's prediction of chaos and possible violence is overplayed, but they do have a point that planning needs to be done. I just think they should be targeting the homophobia more than seeing it as gay soldiers causing the problem.

Ralph

Gay teen suicides

It seems doubly tragic that we have had this recent spate of highly publicized suicides among gay teenagers linked with bullying and shaming tactics by others, given that so much has changed and society is on the verge of the most far-reaching changes yet: gay marriage and freedom to serve openly in the military.

But it is an awful reminder of how much prejudice and hatred and scapegoating there is left in society -- and it always is worse during an election cycle when conservatives reach for anything that will rouse the fearful to come and vote for them.

So it is particularly heartening that words of support and encouragement for gay teens are being broadcast via the internet. That latest from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, quoted in Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has joined the chorus of celebrities offering support to gay teenagers who are suffering from bullying, advising them to "hang in there and ask for help."

In a videotaped message posted Tuesday on YouTube, Clinton said she was saddened by recent suicides by young people who were bullied for being gay, or because people thought they were gay.

"These most recent deaths are a reminder that all Americans have to work harder to overcome bigotry and hatred," Clinton said. . . .

Relationship and sex advice columnist Dan Savage started the "Itgetsbetterproject" channel on YouTube in September in response to the latest teen suicides. While Clinton's message appears on the State Department's YouTube channel, it appears to be the latest to echo Savage's cause.

"I have a message for all the young people out there who are being bullied, or who feel alone and find it hard to imagine a better future: First of all, hang in there and ask for help," Clinton said. "Your life is so important -- to your family, your friends, and to your country. And there is so much waiting for you, both personally and professionally -- there are so many opportunities for you to develop your talents and make your contributions."

Clinton said she is "grateful every day" for the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees at the State Department.

"It wasn't long ago that these men and women would not have been able to serve openly, but today they can -- because it has gotten better," Clinton said. "And it will get better for you."

When I was growing up, this was inconceivable; even in my 50's, I never thought it would get this far. So, yes, it has gotten better and will get even better. But there is so much to counter -- including such despicable acts as Nathan Deal's smear of YouthPride in a tv ad in the Republican primary, all for a few votes he would likely get anyway from the bigoted fringe.

Ralph

DADT is dead #3

Two weeks ago, a federal judge in California ruled that Dont Ask, Dont Tell is unconstitutional. Now she has refused to grant the stay of her ruling requested by the Department of Justice. As I wrote on Oct 13, the DoJ plans to appeal the ruling, even though Obama seems committed to getting Congress to repeal the law.

The motives could be anything from the obvious of wanting the more orderly timetable, which allows the military to complete its study of how to implement the change, to wanting to force a ruling by a higher court to give the overturn a stronger voice.

Now the judge has refused to grant the stay requested by the DoJ, so as of yesterday and today, the military has instructed its recruiting offices to accept gays and lesbians, although it is telling them it could be short lived; and advisory groups are telling gay military personnel not to come out yet because the judge's ruling could be overturned by the Appeals Court.

But first in line yesterday at the recruitment office was recently discharged Army Lt. Dan Choi. An Iraq war veteran, Arab language specialist, and West Point graduate, Lt. Choi was discharged under DADT after challenging the law by coming out. He has since become a highly visible activist, including chaining himself to the White House fence.

In an odd quirk, he decided he wanted to enlist as a Marine. He was turned down, not because he was gay but because he is older than the Marine's age limit. So he went back and was re-instated as an army officer. It could be a revolving door, but as of now, Lt. Choi has his enlistment papers in good order.

The Department of Justice may have some good tactical reasons for appealing the ruling, but I think they will be overshadowed by the negative image of trying to stop what is inevitable. Just drop the appeal and let it happen. The army dealt with Truman's order to end racial segregation. Other nation's armies have accepted gays and lesbians with minimal problems. Just get out of the way and let it happen.

Ralph

Chris Wallace acting like a journalist, for a change

This morning on "Fox News Sunday" -- yes FOX NEWS -- Chris Wallace was a bulldog, going after Carly Fiorina for not answering his question about how she would pay for the tax cuts for the rich. Here's the exchange as reported on Huffington Post:

On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace told Fiorina that he hadn't "gotten many specifics" from her and said, "So now, as a non-career politician, as the anti-Barbara Boxer, you tell me specifically what are you going to do to cut the billions, the trillions, of dollars in entitlements?" Fiorina replied by blasting talk of a value-added tax, but Wallace interrupted her and again asked her whether she would cut entitlements. The result was a lengthy exchange in which Fiorina accused Wallace of asking her a "political question" and coming up with no answers other than cutting "waste" and saying "we ought to engage in a long conversation with the American people so they understand the choices":

FIORINA: See, Chris, I have to -- you know, Chris, I have to say, with all due respect, you're asking a typical political question. [...]

WALLACE: Ms. Fiorina, but that's where the money is. The money is in Medicare. The money is in Social Security. We've got the baby boomers coming. There is going to be a huge explosion of entitlement spending, and you call it a political question when I ask you to name one single entitlement expenditure you're willing to cut.

This went back and forth a few times, Wallace trying to pin her down and her dancing away, talking about cutting waste and fraud, etc. Then:

WALLACE: I'm going to try -- I'm going to try one last time and if you don't want to answer it, Ms. Fiorina, you don't have to. [...] You're not willing to put forward a single benefit -- I'm not even talking about the people that are 60 or, let alone, 65 or 70. I'm talking about people under 55.

You're not willing to say there's a single benefit eligibility for Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security that you're willing to say, Yeah, I would cut that?

FIORINA: What I think we need to do to engage the American people in a conversation about entitlement reform is to have a bipartisan group of people who come together and put every solution on the table, every alternative on the table. And then we ought to engage in a long conversation with the American people so they understand the choices. Instead of rushing off into a closed room and having 100 senators figure it out for themselves, we need to engage people in the conversation. And I'm willing to consider any alternative. But we cannot continue to just jump over the fact that our government is bloated, wasteful, inefficient, in many cases inept and, frankly, in many cases as well corrupt. We have to deal with that.

And so it went. David Gregory had a similar exchange with Republican Senatorial candidate from Colorado, Ken Buck. Gregory pressed him for specifics of what he would cut, but Buck stayed vague, talking about "cutting expenses" and "growing government."

Now isn't that what we've been needing? Don't let them get away with it, and show them up when they try.

Ralph

Obama: "Don't get discouraged"

In a rally for Massachusetts' Governor Deval Patrick, Obama spoke words of empathy for people's frustrations, blamed the tide of anti-incumbent fervor on the bad economy, and urged the crowd not to get discouraged. He (rather dutifully, it seemed) said he believes the Democrats will retain control of Congress.

It fell flat, at least as I read the blurb on Huffington Post. I don't know what more he could have done or said -- and, speaking of empathy, it must be awfully discouraging to Obama himself. Add to that the weight of all the problems on his shoulders and the knowledge that he probably made a huge mistake in trying to compromise with Republicans to get bipartisan support, when they were dead set on obstructing anything he tried to do.

My forever-optimistic cloak is dragging the ground and close to falling off. The latest from Nate Silver is that odds predict Republicans will gain 50 seats in the House, well more than enough to take control.

The one last grasp at a silver lining: then at least they can't blame the failures completely on the Democrats, although they will try to say that we dug such a deep hole that it will take time to get us out of it. Exactly what we should have been emphasizing in reverse these two years, instead of trying to make nice and hoping they would too.

Let's face it. They are not nice. Not when it comes to a chance to win.

Ralph