No More Incumbents Blog

I’ve been having an ongoing discussion about how to compare the candidates running for President and Vice President.  Their backgrounds are widely diverse and there is no single measurement that provides a good guide.  However, during the course of the conversation a number of people have offered very inaccurate descriptions of experience.  Some have claimed that experience is absolutely necessary for a President and others say that it is not.  Some people say that campaigning for office of President is itself experience that qualifies a person for office, which I disagree with, but would make Ralph Nader one of the more experienced candidates that the world has seen in some time.

Regardless, I put together this simple guide that shows the time of service of current candidates, plus a couple milestones of comparison that include John F Kennedy and George W Bush.  This guide only shows time spent by the candidates where they were sworn in to office to serve the Constitution or the Government.  In this regard, this includes all elected office, and military service which requires the same oath that the President of the United States takes.  JFK held up his own military experience as proof that he had experience commanding troops, and so has John McCain.  Both men were officers in the Navy, and War Heroes.

The candidates are listed in order of total days in office served (Highest Number of Days, John McCain to lowest Number of Days, George W Bush.)

There you have it.  Go forth and choose wisely or share some additional feedback on this if you have additional perspectives.  This is not intended to be an end all to this issue.  This is one of those ‘duty’ things so other than a ‘I voted sticker’ you can’t expect cute personalized gifts for doing what we all must do.  This might just give you a little more balanced perspective on where the thing are.

People sometimes ask me why we are working to promote non-incumbents.  This week two Democrats came out to defend a Republican Attorney General Nominee that would not take a stand on the constitutionality of Water Boarding, an ancient form of torture.  Senator Schumer (d) and Senator Feinstein came out Friday and said that they would support the nominee who couldn’t recognize torture if  . . . if he were being tortured himself. 

For the record Senator Schumer actually suggested the nominee to Republicans himself offering up what he thought was an example of a Judge that could pass through the nomination process easily. 

That’s just great by my book.  We really need more acquiescence by the parties.  Democrats just do not give in to Republicans enough.  Furthermore, we really need more acquiescence by Congress to the President.  Republican Congress men and women should stop working to hold power from George Bush.  How is George Bush supposed to lock up power and assume full control over the government if members of his own party block him in Congress?

Senator McCain, I’m speaking to you on that one.  You were originally a foe of George Bush and then for several years you became the acquiescent lap dog of the President, offering up a few ‘I wouldn’t do it quite that way’ protests.  But now that the President has found a second potential Justice Department leader that supports torture (by not setting a line in the sand to define known examples of torture) you are finally getting a little concerned.  You were tortured, held prisoner and you of all people should be doing something to stop our country from becoming everything that you despised and everything that enabled you to be tortured yourself. 

Get off your complacent protective rear end and start actually doing something to protect people.  Hell, I supported you for your bid going into 2000, but you have been locked up in a cell or something for the last 7 years.  You need to get out of your self imposed prison and start exhibiting some of the strength and leadership that you appeared to have back then.  If you can’t, if the religious right has some dirt on you somewhere that has kept you bridled, well then just get out of the way, because you are doing more harm than good right now.

In Your Defense (Your own words)

YouTube - John McCain on Waterboarding

However, Why are you not doing anything to follow up.  The Administration ignored you, ignored Congress and tortured people anyway.  Why is the Congress not holding the administration accountable for torture?  For breaking the Geneva Convention?  For not following the rules set by Congress?

Any parent knows that if you tell a child they can not do something and you do not hold them accountable, they will often times do it.  After they do it, if you still do not hold them accountable, they will do it again if they so choose.

By failing to hold the Administration accountable, you are just as guilty of allowing torture to continue as the people that gave the orders. 

You have not punished the people that gave the orders. 

You enable the people to continue giving those orders. 

You CAN do something now to start fixing this problem.  HOLD Bush, accountable, HOLD Cheney accountable, HOLD Gonzales accountable (losing his job removes him from power, but does not set an example for the next AG).

So now it looks like this new nominee, will be pushed towards confirmation thanks to Democrats that protest but really give in.  The incumbents in Congress need to go.  If Congress can not recognize a Judge too stupid and ignorant to understand what torture is, then they are too stupid to keep their own jobs and need to be voted out of Congress post haste.

THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS

There are two very fundamental problems with the concept that the ends of torturing people justify the means of getting that information.

1.  Its wrong.  If you have to do something evil to stop evil, then you have not stopped evil at all.  You have just made greater evil.  Anyone that actually studied the teachings of religion would understand that the concepts or constructs that embody evil (for Christian types, I’m talking about the devil here) will always try and set up a checkmate situation where evil happens almost no matter what.  So if you are a Christian Conservative or an Islamic Fundamentalist or believe in good and evil, then you eventually have to learn that evil wins when you commit evil to stop evil.  You can only stop evil and do good by finding a non-evil solution to the problem.

What Would (Jesus/Buddha/Allah) Do? 

They sure as shit would not water board someone to get answers!

2.  The history of torture (we humans have a very long history of torture and a very recent history as well) has taught us that when you torture someone, they will tell you anything.  Anything to end the torture, anything to get a break from the torture.  They won’t even remember some of the things they tell you themselves because they are at the breaking point.  They become delusional, they see things, they hear things, they hallucinate, they start putting the words in your questions into statements spoken back to you.  The information is useless. 

To follow up from the first point, if you torture someone for information, you essentially become evil, do evil, and get no benefit to actually stop evil.

Why the AG Nominee should no that Water Boarding is Torture

1. He is an educated person.
2. He is a Federal Judge.
3. He is a person.

That should be enough but in the crazy twists that are destroying our country, rotting it from the inside out, that seems to not be enough.

Well here are some descriptions and images of the practice.  Maybe this will shed some light on it for the people in the cheap seats.  If it doesn’t then I suggest that anyone that doesn’t believe in water boarding as torture should get together and volunteer to be subjected to water boarding.  Just drop by your local FBI office, tell them that you might be a terrorist and will not tell them any more until they subject you to water boarding.

I know a number of very good FBI agents and they will not torture you for information.  Most of the non-political professionals at the FBI and Justice Department are not any where near that stupid.  But obviously, unfortunately, some of the people in our Government like our VP Cheney, look at things differently and this is why they have enabled clandestine groups to take people out of the US, Canada, Europe and other areas and take them to places like Syria of all places where torture techniques such as water boarding are apparently more acceptable to the police and enforcers of justice.  If that doesn’t tell you something about whether water boarding is torture or not, then well again just go get your self water boarded.

Here’s some Water Boarding Images to Help Prepare a few of you pin heads for your future Experience

You and Your Grandchildren are Next!

By the way, the history of torture has taught us after many centuries that people empowered to torture eventually start torturing all peoples for almost any reason.  Today they torture suspect terrorists.  Tomorrow they may torture you or your children or grand children or all of you together.  You can put a stop to it now, before this sickness in our society gets worse.

Humans are not chia pets, if you harm them they feel pain.  If you scare them they react.  Torturing people has negative consequences. Enabling torture is evil and begets more evil.  Enabling people that give the order to torture people for information, is evil.  If you voted for someone that enables people to torture, they have committed evil in your name.  We have to put a stop to torture.  Its very simple.  Allowing it to continue is evil, and is dangerous for all of us.

In the last major Presidential elections many candidates in the primaries and the actual elections were attacked for waffling on issues.  They were beat up and beaten out of office for changing their mind.

This was perceived as a move away from principles, a move away from sincerity, a move towards hypocrisy.

Well, there is a gift that President George Bush has given America.  Its possibly the greatest legacy that George W Bush has given us and maybe the biggest gift he will ever give.  It could go down in history as a turning point in American politics even. 

George Bush has proven that it is not only OK to waffle and change your mind, but there are times when it is absolutely essential.  Now, unfortunately George W Bush has taught us this lesson not by preaching the practice of changing your mind, not by walking the walk and actually changing his own mind.  No instead he has taught us that this is an essential skill for a President by not doing it.  In Texan terms, his Pig Headed downright stubborn attitude has taught the country that staying the course and damning the consequences is bad for the country.

Hillary seems to have learned that lesson and is now amazingly (drum roll please) against the war that she voted for 10 times.  She is now promising that she will no longer vote to fund the war (while she is a Senator).

Now, I do not support Hillary.  For other reasons, I think she is the wrong person for the job.  (I think she is as corrupt as Bush.)

However, I do think she is doing the right thing by changing her mind.  I do think its OK for Senators and Congress people to vote against funding the Iraq war.  I am a Veteran and I do believe that this war needs to be capped off and we need to bring the majority of our people home.  If voting to drop the funding will give the Pentagon and the White House the message and let them know that this baby is cooked its time to send out the birth announcements, This war is over. 

Then more power to the Congress!

Texas is shaping up to become a wild card in the upcoming primaries.  Following hurricane Katrina Houston played host to many refugees from New Orleans and southern Louisiana.  Recently severe rains and torrential flooding have directly impacted many Texans across the state.  A major hurricane has not even hit the US yet, and people are already rapidly getting hit hard by the weather.

I lived in Texas for several months when I was stationed there in the Army in the early 90’s.  I’ve also traveled across the state several times by road and interstate from North to South and East to West by semi, by car and by Greyhound.  I’ve flown through and to Texas many times especially Ft Worth. 

I haven’t spent a great deal of time in Dallas, but I have in Ft Worth, San Angelo and El Paso.  I’ve been meaning to spend some more time in Dallas and Austin to help round out some of my impressions of the state and the perspectives.  Although the state and their hotels are big, you can see that rates for Dallas Hotels are not that big afterall.

Its my impression that some of the mid-western states (emphasis on western) from Michigan down to Texas and all the way over to Utah are going to play heavily in this next election. The country needs to get focused on a balanced reality and the mid-west has often been a source for this balance. Pulling a middle ground mentality out of New York and California and balancing the SouthEastern bible belt into alignment with folks that are for doing the right thing without having a religious zealot get in their face and tell them their business.

Many parts of the state of Texas, as we have recently seen are extremely susceptible to rain and floods.  The weather in Texas can change from sunny summer day, to massive storm to freezing cold temperatures in the blink of an eye, and the beautiful skyline sunsets that go on forever will show up the next night.

So the thing is that Texas is rapidly becoming a wild card for the upcoming primaries.  States like Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama were hit hard by Katrina.  They received knock out punches and salt on their wounds afterwards.  Texas is suffering from a continual round of left jabs and combination body punches.

I do not believe we fully understand how this is going to sway the state in the upcoming primaries.  Many people across the country are feeling less and less reliant on the government.  Texans have an independent streak and extra healthy distrust of ‘promised’ government support (Some of my ancestors did fight and die at the Alamo).

Texas will only take so much.  Historically, the state has followed what might almost be described as a pattern.  They deal with the reality of today.  Take action to fix the reality of tomorrow, and then look around to figure out who is not carrying their weight elsewhere and give them a kick in the pants to cut out the slack.

Texas has dealt with their reality in refugees and storms.  Their taking action to fix their reality for tomorrow and very soon they will have some extra time to identify where the slackers are and that attention is going to focus heavily on the White House and the Congress, the Republicans and the Democrats, the two sets of groups that have definitely been slacking and helping to amplify the blows that Texas has endured recently.