A Watershed Election

Spectator Editorial
Opinion
A Watershed Election

During the Democratic convention the big story was unity, or the lack thereof. The forces of Hillary Clinton were not happy about their candidate being passed over, not only for the nomination, but far more important, vice president. This is conventional wisdom, we happen to think that it wasn’t a bad decision considering Clinton’s high negative ratings (mid 40’s) and the baggage of husband Bill. Having said that Hillary Clinton did have a constituency of female voters who had to witness the appearance of a glass ceiling in their own party. Compound this appearance with the pick of Joe Biden as VP. If Barak Obama had picked a woman he would have at least dispelled the notion of discrimination, an ongoing infatuation within the Democratic party. A pick of a woman would have mitigated the gender conscious forces confining the shafting of Clinton to Clinton herself and not her gender.

With John McCain’s pick of VP going to Sarah Palin, not only has he exasperated the disgruntlement of the gender conscious woman vote within the Democratic party but has brought about the real prospect of taken away a large section of voters who would’ve gone Democrat. Add to this is the possibility of re-aligning the woman vote to the Republican party and the prospect of women taking a look at conservative philosophy as a whole viewing it on its own terms and not through a charactered depiction from Democrats.

We have opined that this election is an up or down vote for Barak Obama. A popular and groundbreaking figure that has shown that there is hope for Americans of all races to reach high office. For this reason we have said that if Obama lost in the general election it could only be attributed to his liberal philosophy. A loss for Obama would cause the Democratic party to re-think its positions. A mistake would be to attribute his loss to something other then his positions, the pick of Sarah Palin could do just that. If that’s the case expect liberalism to be shut out of national politics for another generation

Comments (0) | Permalink | Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

The War is Over and We Won

From the pages of Waterburyspectator http://waterburyspectator.blogspot.com

As in all wars the Iraq war has been a rough ride. While the invasion and ousting of the Saddam Hussein government was not difficult, the aftermath came close to making the campaign a failure.

The war can be divided into two phases, the first that of toppling the government and the second the installation of stability. The first phase of the war was executed successfully. Once Saddam Hussein was removed from power this should have been the end of what it is that is traditionally called war. Everything that transpired afterwards ought to have been nothing more then an installment of order and a democratic society. It was the second phase of the conflict that disaster struck. The US did not anticipate the magnitude of the insurgency and when news story after news story of bombings and body counts started climbing so did the second guessing of the Bush administration and dissent.

The dissenters could be split into two factions. The first being the group who did not want to invade in the first place. In this group there are those who would be against the war on strategic grounds or simple pacifism. The other group of dissenters are political opportunists. In this group the war became a vehicle of attacking the Bush presidency for political reasons. If truth is the first casualty of war it is apparent in the protagonists of a conflict also, in this case, the political adversaries of the war. During the second phase there was a drumbeat of charges of lying and incompetence. That Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction or that he had nothing to do with 9/11 became a rallying cry to foster dissent. This group would have us believe that if a Democrat were in office they would make the same arguments. This is a canard. This is apparent due to their own rhetoric. They would have us believe that president Bush was the first to mention weapons of mass destruction when he was not. It was also the position of the Clinton
administration as well as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and foreign intelligence agencies. More important was the use of wmd’s as a means of genocide. If wmd’s were not found by the time of invasion it did not matter. Hussein could have stayed in power and while there could have accumulated a fresh stockpile with the intent on using them for another round of genocide or in another conflict with it’s neighbors and if not Saddam then certainly his sadistic sons who would have eventually taken power.

As for culpability in 9/11 Hussein had no direct involvement, no one ever made the case that he was. However it was the policy of the Iraqi government to harbor terrorist and export terrorism abroad. Whether or not he was culpable the fact that he was a terrorist enabling nation made Iraq a rouge and dangerous presence especially post 9/11.

The political dissenters while ignoring past arguments of nefarious behavior of Iraqi made by their own side in the past are now denying the successful strategy of the surge and the growing stability of the Iraqi nation now. Nothing could assuage the dissenters other then the installment of a Democratic president. If the current policy is unchanged in the event of a Democratic administration and stability continues, look for this crowd to take all the credit.

At no time from now till January 2009 will our involvement in Iraq be labeled as anything but war. The fact is the war is over and we won, not only the in the first phase but also in the second. The Iraqi government is democratically elected with a governing body of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. There does not exist any enemy combatant with anything resembling an army or insurgency. The only true battle that is left to be fought is one of perception. It is a battle that will be lost in the short run pace the political success of the Democrats in congressional seats and their current lead in the run towards the white house. When the dust settles the world will have over 30 million middle-east citizens living in Democracy in regions unthinkable less then a decade ago while America has been safe of
terrorism. The Republican party is inept in regards to winning the current debate on Iraq. It will be left to History to have the final say.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

City Lifestyles

What are the lifestyle opportunities in and around Waterbury, Connecticut. Are there hiking clubs, biking trails, civic clubs, golf clubs, local arts and theater, lakes, streams, fishing, boating, camping or other types of lifestyle opportunities?

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lifestyle, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...