I’d argue that the al Sauds in Saudi Arabia are very fond of the United States, as we’re a stronger supporter of them. If we do have tenuous position there, it is because of American blunders that included Iraq. The Western world has a duty to the Middle East to ensure its peace, mainly because we have helped fuel the conflict there, in more ways than one.
I do not think Americans should be the people to “settle the country” if that is Iraq or Arabia. We are, after all, the Land of the Free, and it is our duty to be the beacon of Freedom throughout the world. We should not be withdrawn isolationists, like the Republican senator President Bush quoted who believed that he could have just talked to Hitler and solved the war. But neither should we bring democracy to the world by way of force or by establishing ourselves abroad in any way beyond allied assistance and cultural diplomacy. An American force should be wise and smiling. After all, diplomacy might very well be the art of hiding one’s strength. The clean looking great America is more appealing than the America that drops bombs.
My personal belief is that the current administration has severely crippled the myth of the mighty American military. It is now known that the most powerful military in all of history can be stopped and severely bloodied by what amounts to little more than well-armed bands of thugs. The loss of the belief in the eyes that American force was overwhelming has been catastrophic and has only emboldened our enemies around the globe. We must retract and rebuild.
I do not think however, that there is a perfect candidate before us. John McCain is a man with questionable health, from a rapidly aging generation, and is running on a reputation that has been diminished by pandering for the last four years. What makes it worse for McCain is that his economic package is undercut by the fact that Obama’s tax program actually saves money for those of us who make under $112,000 a year (the majority).
Barack Obama is a shrewd politician, has garnered unpopular support from radical elements of the left, is backed by a juggernaut of a grassroots campaign, has an inspiringly vague message and powerful speaking qualities. However, he has not committed to discontinuing the use of the unconstitutional signing statements that were created by the current administration, making me fear an expansion of the executive branch beyond the current increase it has gained in the last eight years.
That said, Congress has a duty to check any radicalization or increase in the President’s power, and I rather wish that the way politics worked was that legislators didn’t all want to be president, but were proud of representing the people directly. The fact that we our top candidates were all senators makes me fear a continued diminishing of Congress’ power in exchange for a stronger executive as no senator will check the the power of the presidency in case they should find themselves in the position to use such power. In fact, I venture to say that Congress only comes to battle with the president when there are party politics in the mix.
Which brings me to the next point: we do nothing to decrease the vitriolic atmosphere of this political season by calling one another names distinguishing between liberal and conservative, left and right, republican and democrat, as though we are all not Democratic Republicans. The Obama-McCain showdown was predicted in January to be the most civil of the possible scenarios in this General Election, and instead, I can imagine no scenario worse. I am sickened by the venom on both sides, whether it’s the idiocy of those pretending to be proponents of the Republicans, or those masquerading as supporters of the Democrats. Both do their party harm.
Racism is not distinct to one party, as anyone who has studied American history can tell you. We did not slay racism in 1862, nor did we slay it in 1964, and I can guarantee it will not be defeated in 2066. But we have the ability to recognize what racism we can find in ourselves, and we should thus be aware of it.
As Jesus said, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” There are none among us who have the right to cast our stones at Michelle Obama. If you cannot appreciate that, perhaps you should choose a less free nation.
