Hoping for the dumbness of people

Of all the candidates in the 2008 Presidential election, I find Rudy Giuliani to be the most dangerous. Under him, I see USA becoming a police state with his cronies running the country. I do not think Giuliani has any tolerance for ‘nuisances’ like individual rights and world opinion. He will make us wish for our days under George Bush. Until last week, I did not worry about this possibility. The chance of any Republican candidate winning against a Democrat like Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama, looked so slim then. But things have changed dramatically with the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, signaling his intention to enter the Presidential race as an Independent candidate. The billionaire Bloomberg has an excellent record of accomplishments as mayor, and his progressive views are quite similar to the Democratic platform. Although he has very little chance of winning the Presidency, Bloomberg will drain a lot of votes from the Democratic candidate, thereby creating the opening for the Republican candidate to slip through. My only hope is that the hard core conservative block of the Republican party will be so dumb to deny Giuliani the Republican nomination, as they do not like his stand on abortion and gay rights!

Illusions of grandeur

The people in positions of power have big egos, and a sense of importance which is annoying sometimes. Today’s statement by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, explaining why he refused to resign, is a good example. Here is the chief of the U.S. military who silently went along with Don Rumsfield’s the stupid theories and tactics for the Iraq war (anybody remember the ‘shock and awe’?). As an experienced military man, who had participated in the failed Viet Nam war, he should have known the implications of occupying a foreign country, and the risk of your butt getting kicked by insurgents whom you cannot identify. He should have listened and supported his subordinates who spoke up about the cost and risks associated with this foolish war. Although the war hungry Cheney-Rumsfield-Wolfowitz gang may not have listened to him anyway, Gen. PAce should feel some guilt about not doing his job to protect the military from another misadventure like Viet Nam. Instead, he is now worried that the soldiers will feel let down if he leaves his post! Who is he kidding? With him gone, the soldiers can at least hope for a Chief of Staff with guts, who may save them from their ‘no win’ hell hole. And, what is the ‘battlefield’ Gen Pace is worried about leaving? Must be his huge office in the Pentagon.. it cannot be the dusty streets of Baghdad where our brave soldiers are getting shot at!

Assault on reason!

Last week the travails of Paris Hilton, who went to jail for a traffic violation, dominated the news here in USA. It is disturbing how people try to smooch off whatever they can get from the worldwide publicity of Paris Hilton. First, there is the traffic judge and the prosecuting attorney who intervened instantly when Paris was let go by the Los Angeles County Sheriff, after serving only 5 days of her 45-day sentence. They were concerned about the ‘special treatment’ Paris was getting. (Actually, most jailed for non-violent crimes in L.A., serve less than 10% of their time in the jail). Within 24 hours, the judge had a court hearing, and announced his ruling with a press release to go with it to clarify things! Would this have happened for anyone else other than a celebrity like Paris Hilton? In short, the judge gave a special treatment to Paris Hilton to prevent her getting any special treatment. This is absurd. Next, there is the opportunist Al Sharpton, on T.V., trying to make this a case of injustice to Blacks. Of course there is MSM spending hours with news updates and live T.V. coverage, and comedians who are having a field day with Paris Hilton jokes. Everyone has an axe to grind (who would have heard of the lowly traffic judge in the L.A. before this?) And in the end, poor Paris Hilton is sent back to the jail to serve the full 45 days of the her sentence, instead of the previously agreed to 23 days -- as if she did something wrong by getting released early!

Comments on the debate of Democratic candidates

Watched the debate of the Democratic Presidential candidates at New Hampshire tonight. It was a lively debate. I am very impressed with the caliber of the candidates. With the exception of two obviously flaky ones, all look so capable of leading this country restoring her strength and glory. (This is a sharp contrast to the ‘empty suits’ I saw in the last debate of the Republican candidates). Here are my observations:

- I find it difficult to accept Hilary Clinton’s claim that ‘we are safer now’, which she gave in response to a question about terrorism. Does she not know that this country is weakened with most of the military, and the National Guard stuck in Iraq? How can she feel safe with our Homeland Security, which has consistently demonstrated their incompetence starting with Katrina disaster?

- John Edwards is proving that he is not a ‘Bill Clinton who has not read books’. He showed good grasp of issues, and an ability to identify the root of a problem cutting through all the fluff. His answer that General Musharaf’s downfall in Pakistan will be an even a bigger problem for USA with the possibility of religious extremists talking over, is a good example.

- I wonder if anyone noticed that Barack Obama pronounced ‘Pakistan’ the way we do in India (which possibly is the correct way). He must have learned this from his early school days in Indonesia.

- Senator Joseph Biden continues to demonstrate that he is the most knowlegeable of all the candidates in foreign policy matters. He cares about the plight of the people outside USA, which is something you rarely see in a politician. He has no chance in getting the nomination. But should make an excellent Secretary of State. I notice that his is quite respectful towards Clinton and Obama. Good move!

- I am happy that all the major candidates are passionate about improving the health care system of this country. If elected, they will be able to actually do something about it, assuming that the Democrats retain their majority in Congress. This is good news to the over 40 million people who have no medical insurance, and others, like me, who have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for health insurance.

Hilary Clinton is on her way to winning the nomiation as she can express well her excellent knowledge and experience on the issues and challenges. Barack Obama is fast losing his ‘glow’ as a candidate with a new message, while John Edwards is going to rise in polls. I think there is a high probability of Al Gore entering the race, if Hilary falters. Next few months are going to be quite interesting.

How times have changed!

An headline in today’s Wall Street Journal is that the India’s economy grows at annualized rate of 9.4%. Yesterday’s headline was that the USA economy has slowed down to a rate of .6%. What a difference! Economy in India is booming with the government worrying about her foreign exchange reserves, and the currency (ruppee) getting stronger. Here in USA, it is the exact opposite – the government is struggling with huge trade deficits, and a weakening dollar (means less incentive for foreigners to invest in USA). I remember the time I came to this country, about forty years ago (1966). I used to get two typical questions whenever I told new acquaints that I am from India -- “How are the famines there?” “What about the 'holy cow'?”. Also, some people used to mistake me for an American Indian when I tell them that I am an ‘Indian’. How things have changed over time. Now, ‘India’ stands for its educated labor force, which is taking away jobs from here. And, everyone knows an ‘Indian’ who is their doctor or a colleague at work.