We're Not too Enthusiastic about Some Acts

Since when have the Dismalcrats acted like they stand for something principled? OK, we're aware of FDR's New Deal, and Jimmy Carter's stance on human rights, tho he's the one for whom the Carter Doctrine on the Middle East is named:

Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force. - State of the Union Address on January 23, 1980

George Bush can claim that he was simply maintaining consistency with a long-held US doctrine voiced by President Carter.

I highlight the word "acted" in my opening sentence, initially thinking of the synonym "to behave", as in "actions are louder than words." But, there's another use of the word as in, "Ronald Reagan was an actor" .... he acted... as in "make-believe" both in the movies and the White House.

That's what we're seeing with Democrats, and Republicans and the establishment in general, be they conservative or liberal. It's becoming part of the fabric of American culture, instilled by our TV culture. They say lots of nice sounding phrases like "Healthy Forest legislation", and "we're getting tough on Wall Street," and they even act the part.

Another example that comes to mind was an early sign of how Obama would act if he became President... there's that pesky word again. You might recalled the incident during the last presidential campaign when Obama advisor Austin Gouldsby was caught telling corporations not to worry about Obama's statements regarding renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Gouldsby assured the business establishment that Obama was just rattling the saber on NAFTA to gain popular support.

So, we've had half-measures from the Obama administration at best and sell-outs to the powers on Wall Street and the healthcare industry as well. Is it any wonder why there is an "enthusiasm gap" in the upcoming elections?

Plan B

I went to dinner with a group of people recently and actually heard a Republican guy say that the Wall Street people... insinuating Republicans in general... deserve their riches because they are SMARTER ... smarter than ... Democrats? Never mind the fact that many Wall Street insiders are Democrats, or at least give a lot of money to Democrats.

I had to inform him that Clinton's Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers actively campaigned along side Republicans for Wall-Street-friendly laws that resulted in the current financial melt-down... laws such as the repeal of the 1930s ear Glass-Stegall Act that separated regular commercial banks from high-flying investment banks. Glass-Stegall was put in place prevent any future melt-down of greedy speculative investment banks from spreading to the main street economy via commercial banks.... oops. These SMART people thought a key principle of economics, that the value of money had to actually be founded on something tangible, no longer applied.

Clintonistas ALSO helped pass the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, Sponsored by Senator Phil Gramm, John McCain's economics advisor. This Act allowed the Credit Debt Swaps, used by AIG's Financial Products division, to go unregulated. So, I guess this makes democratic economic policy makers Robert Rubin and Larry Summers just as SMART as the Republicans with whom they collaborated.

I have a theory about why Obama has picked Larry Summers and Tim Geithner, Wall Streeters, to lead his economic team. Obama knows he's up against the immense power of Wall Street .... So, there's a little "if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em" pragmatism going on here. Obama ALSO knows that, there's a fairly good chance no one can fix this mess, meaning these guys are going to fail... So, he gives the wall streeters a chance to fix their mess, and if the wall streeters fail, they take the blame and Obama has retained a non-wall street back-up option. That is, Obama can dump the Wall Streeters, Summers and Geithner, and bring in a new non-wall street team ... "Plan B" as it were.

The only problem with the theory is that Obama might not be given a second chance.

Sources:

Episode 10 of GDAE Podcast

Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse

We've all heard, or experienced, a similar story. Someone commits a traffic violation or other legal infraction. The person honestly didn't know that they were breaking a law. The police officer and court system says, "Sorry. You're guilty. Ignorance of the law is not a legitimate excuse."

Recently, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting the sanctioned torture of detainees by the US Military. AP Article According to the AP article, "A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr. Greg Hicks, said the military is reviewing its procedures regarding detainees following a Supreme Court ruling that the Geneva Conventions should apply in the conflict with al-Qaida."

It sounds like the military and political establishment are gearing up to say, "Oh. We didn't know that the Geneva Conventions applied. Now that we know, we'll follow them, but you can't blame us for our past actions."

Sorry, "Ignorantia juris non excusat," latin for ignorance of law is no excuse, is a long standing maxum that applies in this case.

More Information:

Human Rights Watch Press Release

Human Rights Watch 53-page Report by John Sifton, “No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers’ Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq”

Update:

Once we had laws that made it OK to own slaves. Now Congress has passed a law to make it OK, retrospectively, to violate the Geneva Conventions. (The Military Commissions Act signed into law October 17, 2006.)

I can't understand how they can legislate themselves out of this one. It's like a fox gets caught in the hen house. Then the fox puts on a chicken suit while the farmer is standing there and pretends he isn't a fox.