Politics

Earlier this week, Glenn Beck outlined on his show, his belief that America is slowly turning into Nazi Germany. To help illustrate his point, Beck shows Nazi propaganda that was once used to create an feeling of apathy towards the disabled. Now, maybe I am confused as to the definition of propaganda, but isn’t Beck using Nazi propaganda to push forward his agenda, to scare his audience into believing that if you are not a member of the dissenting party then you are no better than a German living during the days of the Third Reich?

As support for his outrageous claims, Beck cites that the weakness of the Dollar is reminiscent of the collapse of the Mark, which ultimately ushered Germany into the Great Depression. While it is true that the Dollar is at its weakest in generations, I ask you who was the party of power during its collapse? And does Beck not comprehend the perfect storm of circumstance that allowed the Nazi party to assume power? The hyperinflation of the Mark ceased in 1923, yet the Nazi party did not assume power over the country for another ten years. The collapse of the Mark was not the sole reason behind the Nazi’s rise to power.
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While not officially construed as law, the preamble of the Constitution, was meant by the Founding Fathers, as an outline to the role of the government in its most ideal state.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

When the Supreme Court heard the case of Ellis v. City of Grand Rapids, the court cited the phrase “promote the general welfare” as evidence that “the health of the people was in the minds of our forefathers.” It is in the vein, the issue of health care in America needs to be address. Many Americans are without medical coverage and as a nation, we owe it to those without coverage, to provide a solution. The current bickering in Washington and town hall meetings across the country need to stop and intelligent debated needs to follow. Conservatives need to quit the filibustering and reach a compromise.

However, we should not stop there because we Americans are flawed as well. We need to look at ourselves to improve the health care system in this country. When compared to the rest of the the world, Americans live unhealthy life styles, which only drives up medical cost. If we all vowed to live healthier life styles, then health care may not be as big of a problem. We are a society that wants to have our cake and eat it too… Rather then look exclusively to Washington for a solution, as we do way too often, it might be time to look at ourselves and just put down the cake.

After surviving eight years of a president that did not understand the finer nuances of foreign policy, I am proud that we finally have a president that understands the United States’ role in the world. Currently, mass protest are crowding the streets of Tehran, as the repressed citizens of Iran are attempting, via peaceful demonstrations, to have their voices heard. Many serving members of our government, have criticized the Obama Administration for not taking a hard line stance in support of those speaking out against the elections in Iran. One fierce critic has been former Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain.

“He should speak out that this is a corrupt, flawed sham of an election, and that the Iranian people have been deprived of their rights. We support them in their struggle against a repressive, oppressive regime and they should not be subjected to four more years of Ahmadinejad and the radical Muslim clerics.”

While I believe most Americans would agree with the sentiment of McCain’s words, having the administration take sides in this developing conflict, would be disastrous at this stage. America is viewed as the Great Satan by many of the Iranian people and not without just cause. In the past, our government has meddled in the affairs of the Iranian people many times. Our actions helped organize a coup of a truly democratically elected official, install a Shah (Iranian Monarchy) that many felt was corrupt, and supply Iraq with chemical warfare to aid in their eight-year war with Iran. We are hated. If we were to come out and openly support those currently protesting, we would be giving the ruling Mullahs the ability to change the debate. No longer it would the debate center around the democratic ideals of freedom of speech and of the media… rather it would become a debate between the Iranian nationals and the American-supported rebels. Considering our standing in that region of the world, the latter is not a winnable debate.

Back in 2002, there was an attempted coup in Venezuela to overthrow Hugo Chavez. While initially successful, American involvement allowed Chavez to scapegoat the United States, consolidate his power, and resume control of the country. Since then, the freedoms of the Venezuelan citizens have diminished. Seven years later, we are learning from history. Our president understands that the United States needs to remain supportive of democratic ideals, but ensure that our involvement does not compromise the message of those democratic movements we support. It’s a fine line, but President Obama is walking it correctly.

The recent debate over the use of torture while gathering intelligence during CIA interrogations to me is a farce. While one may argue that the ends justify the means, I ask you to view the situation from the other side. How would you feel if American soldiers, who were captured in the middle of a war, were subjected to similar interrogation techniques? We would be appalled… It is a double standard.

As Americans we pride ourselves as a country that promotes freedom. Part of the Bush Doctrine promotes the spreading of freedom and democracy in countries who do not currently share those beliefs. How can we be taken seriously when our actions contradict our words? Shepherd Smith of Fox News recently said it best, “We are America! We do not fucking torture!” We cannot have it both ways.

This country has an image problem abroad. We need to realize that as one of the most influential countries in the world, our actions are scrutinized and used as propaganda against us. We need to live by the example, otherwise we are no different than those who we deem the enemy.

While Congress grilled Edward Libby, the CEO of AIG, over the distributed bonus money that amounted to less than a tenth of a percent of the $170B of the TARP funds that AIG received from the US Treasury, the Federal Reserve pledged to purchase over one trillion dollars worth of mortgages and long term bonds. In elated exuberance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped two percent in a matter of minutes. Much to the media’s delight, they reported about the strong positive reaction the markets had to the actions by the Fed. However, there was much more to the story that was going unnoticed; the Dollar was crashing.

The Dollar fell four percent against the Euro, four percent against the Sterling Pound, three and a half percent against the Yen, and three percent against the Candian Dollar. If you were a foreign investor and invested in the American markets Wednesday morning, a day in which the markets rose two percent, you would have actually lost money by the end of trading. This example could eventually become the end game for our recent economic woes. While the worry should be on the collapsing of the housing markets and the freezing of the credit markets, the long term health of the Dollar should be of the utmost importance and it is not.

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While on a visit to the African continent, Pope Benedict XVI reiterated the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the use of condoms; it is forbidden. However, the AIDS pandemic has been ravaging Africa, where some countries have seen the disease infect upwards of twenty five percent of their population. In hopes of curbing the prevalence of the disease, condom use has been encouraged by a few of the African governments. These countries have seen decreases in the number of new cases of HIV. Unfortunately, the Church has taken the moral high ground and is preaching abstinence only. Maybe the Pope could learn something from the likes of Bristol Palin… Abstinence only education does not work.

Studies have shown that such programs do not work in preventing pre-martial sex and that in many cases, those who were taught abstinence only engage in more reckless behavior than those who were taught about having safe, protected sex. The Pope is naive if he thinks that by telling someone to not have sex will have any effect on curbing the spread of HIV. People will continue to have sex… it is a natural human desire. It is unfortunate that a man who is among those in position to make a difference is instead, condemning the members of his church to further anguish at the hands of this deadly disease. Shouldn’t the lives of those living be more valuable than those yet to be born? The Church needs to change with the times…

Yesterday, I discussed how the stock market is a poor tool in evaluating the failure or success of the president. Well, apparently Jon Stewart is a reader of my blog  as he decided to bring up this issue on last night’s The Daily Show.

What is the stock market? It’s an instrument of speculation and while it tends to reflect the nature of the economy, it should not be used to judge the strength of the economy. This is a common fallacy of the public. The market tends to reflect the public’ confidence on the economy as a whole. When it becomes common knowledge that the economy is in trouble, the market will feel the impact. If you were to search the web for articles regarding the housing bubble in this country, you will find articles from a few years ago, spelling out the impending economic catastrophe that we are experiencing today. But when one looks at the market in ’06, they would conclude that the economy was thriving. The common person never cares to look at the numbers behind the market and for this reason alone, the success or failure of the stock market should not be used as a model for success or failure of the economy.

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When riding on the New York City subway during rush hour, you tend to see two types of people. Those who sleep and those who read; I fall into the latter category. My taste, which happens to vary quite a bit, includes the area of socio-economic thought, as found in Levitt’s Freakonomics and Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. I am intrigued by the concept of how what we take for granted, can be explain when analyzed using economic models, such as cost-benefit analysis and game theory. In recent months, I have tried to take a step back from my biases and view situations economically. One such situation has been the political climate in this country since the Obama administration has assumed power.

Only days before Obama took the oath of office, the de facto spokesman for the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, drew a divisive line in the sand when he uttered the words, “I hope Obama fails.” (more…)

Earlier this week, the North Dakota House of Representatives voted 51-41in favor of granting full legal rights to “any organism with the genome of homo sapiens.” This new measure would by default, make abortions the equivalent to murder within the state as a fertilized egg would qualify as a human being. While I would disagree that an embryonic cell qualifies as human life, I must give those North Dakotans credit for thinking outside the box. Since you cannot pass a law outlawing abortion due to Roe v. Wade, why not circumvent the Supreme Court decision and grant the act of abortion as de facto murder. Brilliant!

However, if this bill becomes law, there are a few other caveats that will need to be considered.

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