Category Archives: Political thoughts

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Abuse epidemic

US child deaths per day timeline

Every ten seconds a case of child abuse is reported.  More than five children a day die of it.  Where is this gruesome place?  The United States.  We do like to tout ourselves at being exceptional, in this case we are.  The US has the highest rate of child abuse in the world.  That’s right, in the world.  You can listen to the BBC report on this here.

We don’t talk about child abuse, not when reports on it are released.  We only think about it when a high profile person such as a Penn State football coach in involved.  Or when we get to feel the collective anger at someone like Casey Anthony.  We fret and shout and wring our hands and say someone should have done something.  We never consider ourselves to be that someone because when we use that term, we really mean someone else.

Why is this?  We are not a war torn country, like Congo, where children are forced to be soldiers.  We have child labor laws so we aren’t forcing children to make our Nikes (at least not here).  When you compare the rates in the US to that in other developed countries, it becomes clear that the thing they have that we do not is a social safety net.  Hillary Clinton was ridiculed for her book It takes a village but it does.  We have a growing number of younger parents and provide little or no real support — 80 percent of childhood deaths due to abuse or neglect occur in children four or under.  Some of our leaders like to crow about ‘pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.’  Where does that leave these children?  No where good.  Keep in mind, these statistics are low.  The cause of death for many kids who were the victims of abuse or neglect never makes it on to their death certificates.  Medscape article here.

The impacts of the epidemic are felt far and wide.  Abused children are more likely to abuse their children, go to jail or suffer a mental disorder or substance abuse problem.  More details here.

Remind me why the football program at Penn State is worth all of this?

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Who would Reagan endorse?

Every Republican candidate has referenced President Reagan at some point.  All want to be seen as being the most like their icon.  After watching most of the debates, as you know, there have been many.  If Reagan were here today, he would endorse (drum roll, please): Jon Huntsman.

While his level headed and non-rabid demeanor has made many paint him as a liberal, he is not.  He is pro-life.  He has a 100 percent approval rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA).  He worked for President Obama, sure, but he has also worked for Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.  He served two terms as governor of Utah. Those are not liberal bonafides.  You don’t have to take my word for it — and I am a liberal so you shouldn’t (it’s all about perspective, you know).  But Haley Barbour knows a thing or two about politics and conservatives and has said this:

Jon Huntsman and I served together, and while we don’t agree on some issues, there’s no question that he’s a conservative. He’s way to the right of Barack Obama for goodness sake. But yeah, I consider Jon a conservative. As I said, we have some issues that I think are important that we have different views on. But he was in the Reagan administration, elected governor of a very conservative state — elected and re-elected by the way. So if you’re asking me if Jon Huntsman is qualified to the Republican nominee for President of the United States, the answer is, of course he is.”  View it here.

Plus, Huntsman did a good job.  Taxes went down.  Job creation went up.  The Pew Center on the States found that Utah was the “best managed states” under his tenior.

And Huntsman has solid foreign policy experience and knowledge.  We live in an increasingly interconnected world.  We need someone at the help who will not need to rely on advisors in high level meetings with foreign leaders — they will not be in the room.

President Ronald Reagan — and I can assure you waxing nostalgic for him is something I never thought I would do — would look at the current crop of GOP candidates and pick Jon Huntsman because he is a competent, pragmatic, intelligent and thoughtful person.  He has been consistently conservative.  To my friends on the right, being rabidly anti-Obama doesn’t make you conservative, it makes you rabidly anti-Obama.  There are plenty of lefties who are upset with him, too.

But what about the fact that Huntsman worked for President Obama?  Reagan started off as a Democrat but more than that, he saw the value in working with the other side of the aisle.  Tip O’Neil never would have given a press conference saying that “Democrats and Republicans are drom different planets.”  Never. Would. Have. Happened.

As for the rest?  Mitt Romney would be a second choice, if we could figure out WHICH Mitt Romney would be headed to the White House.  After that, I almost thing Reagan would stay home rather than vote for someone proud of their ignorance.  Yes, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry — I am talking to you.  Newt Gingrich?  Believes his own PR too much and will self-destruct — we want a winner here, people.  Ron Paul & Rich Santorum, right, like that’s gonna happen.

I want President Obama win reelection but having Jon Huntsman as his rival — as scary as that might be for Democrats as he has the best chance of any of them to win the general, it would move our conversation to a better, more productive place.

Every four years, we have the opportunity to look at our government and decide how we want to govern ourselves, who we want to be as a people and what we can do — together — to solve our problems.  We have serious issues that deserve more of our attention that birth certificates or fighting over who knows less about what.

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How stupid does he think we are?

There’s one angle to Herman Cain’s presidential campaign that has not been covered.  One question I would like to ask: How stupid do you think we are?  Clearly, the answer is very, very, very stupid.

After watching him in the debates and doing interviews, it is pretty clear that he lacks even the most rudimentary knowledge of policy and politics.   I didn’t think it was possible to be alive during the last decade without having heard of neo-cons.  And his foreign policy knowledge is downright scary.  Didn’t know China has had nuclear weapons for fifty years?  You think the Israelis would be open to discussing the ‘right of return?’  Do you read any news at all?  And for good measure, the 9-9-9 plan would be horrible for everyone — especially the poor and anyone living on a fixed income.  The federal sales tax of 9 percent would be a tax increase on everyone, and the 9 percent income tax would be a tax cut for the wealthy and a big tax hike for those who are barely holding on.

What makes Cain’s economic plan even worse is that he doesn’t seem to understand it all that well.  I thought Governor Mitt Romney made a great point about the sales tax.  He asked Cain if the sales tax included in his plan would replace the current state sales taxes.

“No, your’re mixing apples with oranges,” Cain said.

“So I am going to get a bushel of oranges and apples?” Romney asked.

“You’re mixing apples with oranges,” Cain replied.

Way to stay on message but he didn’t answer the question and I think that is because he didn’t understand it.  Supporters point to his business successes and he done well but I don’t sense a whole lot of intellectual curiosity there.  In his defense, no one knows everything but being proud of knowing nothing doesn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence.

The newest political scandal is almost the least important clue that this man would be a disastrous president.  But the allegations are serious — and growing more so as more women come forward with stories about Cain.

Herman Cain’s response to the allegations — and it’s hard to use the ‘none of this is true’ line when there are two recorded settlements with the women in question.  But his denials have morphed from one to another so much that he’s only making this much worse for himself. Threatening to sue Politico in a move inspired by Dan Snyder, won’t help things.

Mr. Cain, you are not ready for prime time and everything you do just makes that case more.

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Not ready for prime time

When  “Saturday Night Live” first started, it’s performers were called the “not ready for prime time players.”  There is a certain irony in that description, as they were clearly ready for it.  That was my first introduction to the phrase, which is now being used to describe Herman Cain and his presidential campaign, which is truly “not ready for primetime.”

Why do I think that?  Is it his pride at not being able to name leaders of made up countries?  His poorly conceived economic plan?  His bizzarre schedule that includes book signings in Alabama but few stops in Iowa?  His campaign commercial that features his  “Chief of Staff” smoking?  His go to response of “they are attacking me!” whenever someone questions him?  All of the above?

As someone who grew up in the era of Bill Clinton rather than Jack Kennedy, sexual harassment is not something you dismiss. These are serious allegations against someone who considers themselves to be a serious person, but only when they want to be one.  When asked about border security, an important issue to a lot of people, Herman Cain said he would put an electrified fence along the border that would have a sign attached “this can kill you.”  That’s your plan?  He then clarified that he was joking.  My mom uses the same tactic when she says something stupid. It works no better for her than for him.

When faced with allegations that he harassed two women while at the National Restaurant Association, Mr. Cain’s answer was to ask the reporter “has anyone ever accused you of sexual harassment?”  I suspect the answer would have been no but it doesn’t matter.  Jonathan Martin is not running for president, Herman Cain is.  These questions are not due to a liberal, media establishment attacking someone because of their beliefs, they are part of the due diligence media outlets engage in while covering a credible presidential campaign.

(Question for the class:  When will we all tire of candidates blaming the media for asking tough questions? )

As someone who has worked in campaigns for a long time, the idea of doing things differently is very appealing. We are in a new world and using the new tools offered by social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is exciting.  Anything that gets more people interested in the system is good to me.  There are a few things that need to still be part of a campaign — a solid policy platform, an honest dialogue and an ability to not be annoyed by people who ask honest and decent questions.  These are not just “politics as usual” but part of the process to get to know a candidate enough to determine if they deserve your vote.

Any candidate who does not understand that will never be ready for primetime.

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Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

Kind of ironic bok title, huh?

Kind of ironic book title, huh?

Herman Cain, aka the pizza magnate and current flavor of the month in the GOP POTUS candidate, has made some interesting choices and statements. He seems to think running for president and selling books are not mutually exclusive activities.

To give him his due, the Cain campaign has bought a lot of his books so he is definitely selling a ton while running for president. And Governor Sarah Palin would tell you her VP run and the speculation about her possible 2012 run did not hurt her book sales but just because you can do something, does not mean you should.

This is not an anti-capitalist view I am trying to promote. Sell as many books as want but it seems a little unseemly to use a presidential run to do it. Any presidential campaign is really a multi-month (or year) job interview for the most (or one of) important jobs in the country. Nothing a candidate does will really prepare anyone to be president (and it’s not supposed to, you should be qualified to run before you make that decision) but it does give the nation a chance to get to know the would be candidates. This is not a time to bring anything but your A game. When you think about that, is this really the time to split your energy between running and doing anything else?

Running for president is hard. Not has hard as being the leader of the free world but it is hard. That’s why I criticized Cenk Uygar when he said that Mike Huckabee was “too fat and happy” to run. I have a lot of respect for people who admit that it takes a lot of time and energy to run and there are no guarantees. Good for you, Governor.

Governor Rick Perry has learned how much harder it is to run for national office (I believe he thought that his track record in Texas would prepare him better for the presidential race) than any state-wide. That’s one of the reasons he has said he may not take part in upcoming debates (not that his underwhelming performances have had any role, seriously, if you cannot stay awake past 8:00 pm, how can you be president?).

Congresswomen Michele Bachmann has learned this, too. Maybe that’s why her New Hampshire staff all quit in a huff. Maybe she thought she could make up facts as she goes along in this campaign the way she does every other time she opens her mouth but it doesn’t seem to be working as well as she thought.

So we come back to the current front-runner (in national polls, though, not the state polls, where it matters more), Herman Cain. It is worth noting that the title of this post could also refer to Godfather’s pizza. With all due respect to Chicago deep dish pizza lovers, you can theoretically make pizza outside of New York, but why would you?

Full disclosure, which is pretty obvious to anyone who has met me or read what I write, I am a liberal Democrat and have every intention of voting for President Obama. Having said that, I think having two robust parties and a vigorous discussion about where we want the country to go, is in everyone’s best interest. I was really impressed when Governor Chris Christie said that he believes in “small government, lower taxes and less regulation,” not because I agree with ANY of that, in fact I do NOT, but that’s where our conversation should be.

Herman Cain is not advancing our political discourse at all. His economic plan (the “9/9/9” or “9/0/9”) would be disastrous. His ignorance of foreign policy is scary. It is his lack of interest in running for office, while he runs, that bothers me the most. With little or no campaign infrastructure, few details on his policy proposals and a general laissez-faire attitude towards the process, I am left with the thought that if he doesn’t care about his campaign, why should anyone?