BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

What’s going to make the difference in tomorrow’s votes?  Healthcare?  The wars?  The economy?  Probably not.  Of course, the exit polls will show that voters’ interests are healthcare, the wars, the economy in some variable order, but chances are those are the first appropriate responses.

The truth is that most of us don’t want to admit that we vote for Hillary because she is a woman or for Barack because he is the first viable black candidate.  And, we are even less likely to admit that we vote for Hillary because we would never vote for a black man or we vote for Barack because a woman just shouldn’t be president.  Unfortunately, that is the dilemma in some cases.  Try as we may, some of us can’t get over the race and gender issues.  

The economy is a major issue.  Both candidates have been talking jobs, jobs, and more jobs.  Healthcare, or the lack thereof, continues to be an issue.  We may see little differences emerging on those issues, but if we look and listen we can see that the candidates have separated on some of the more pressing and present issues.  The real issues facing us are far more important than gender and race.  Luckily, if anyone has been paying attention, there is a gap that is widening between the two Democratic candidates that allows us to see their differences or at least how they would handle situations.

Senator Clinton has called for the “gas tax” hiatus over the summer months.  Obama has staunchly opposed it.  Ah!  A major difference in political positions!  Personally, I would love to see a gas tax elimination during the summer.  I would love to see a few pennies chiseled off everything… gas, groceries, heating and cooling.  But, the truth is that in the overall scheme of things those few dollars saved by the individual wouldn’t amount to, as my mother would have said, “a hill of beans.”  (Of course, beans were cheaper when my mother was alive.)  The truth is that $20.00 saved over the next four months… averaging out to five dollars a month… won’t change my way of living or yours.  It sounds good, but “tax cut” always sounds good to those who get it.  However, that same $5.00 a month from drivers across the country will amount to quite a bit… maybe enough to fix just one of our bridges before it collapses.

My first thought was that a gas tax rollback for a few months would make us all think that the government is encouraging us to vacation and drive to our destinations.  Spending money is a part of the idea of that stimulus check that apparently got lost in the mail.  But, I noticed that on the PBS news program with Jim Lehrer, they were unable to find one economist who would come on the program and defend the Clinton-McCain tax cut for the summer.  Not one!  This could be a first!  Imagine a topic that the entire field agrees on.  I had hoped for at least one dissenter… one economist in the nation who would at the very least offer a reason we should support the gas tax cut for the summer months.  Nope.  Nada.

Another issue that we have seen wide disparity on is the “bomb Iran to obliteration” stance of Clinton vs. the non-threatening rhetoric of Obama.  Well… seems to me that once upon a time during an early debate, Obama had made mention of a unilateral attack if the exact whereabouts of OBL were known in some remote area of Pakistan and the Pakistani government failed to act.  Oh, for heaven’s sake!  Clinton all but nailed Obama to the cross for that one.  I mean she had the hammer in her hand!  Of course, we now know that our present administration has unilaterally bombed in the remote areas of Pakistan and “taken out” a few of the known al-Qaeda leaders.

Clinton has put her hammer back in the tool box and pulled out the daisy cutters.  The only difference is her target isn’t al-Qaeda, it’s Iran.  And, to use the word “obliterate!”  How out of touch has she become?  Even the most uninformed among us have probably heard that the present administration has recently moved the ”Mission Accomplished” Navy ship, the U.S.S. Lincoln.  The ship is now repositioned to off the coast of Iran… within bombing range.  Rumors abounded following that move, but let’s hope we run out of Bush days left in office before he runs out of his last shred of intelligence.  And, I’m not talking about CIA intelligence.   

Rumors may be rumors and nothing more, but the “Mission Accomplished” ship is not a rumor.  It is real.  It can be seen.  It has been repositioned.  That is a signal of something… if nothing more than letting the Iranians know that we have not forgotten them.  To follow up that move with Clinton’s comment of “obliteration” is threatening.  It makes me uneasy.  Can you imagine how the Iranians are interpreting it? 

At the same time, Obama has taken a more laid back approach to the situation, chastising Clinton for those comments.  Clinton wants us to believe that Obama is weak on the issue.  My view is that Clinton crossed the line in the sand.  It is her “hot” talk using words like “obliteration” that scares me.  We don’t need to be playing truth or dare with a volatile situation.  Threats don’t need to be made.  The Iranians are not stupid.  They know we will drop a bomb in less that a New York minute and take our Texas time doing it.  We have recently dropped bombs in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia.  The Iranians need no more proof.  And, they certainly don’t need threats. 

Imagine our national reaction if some foreign power said to us that if we dropped another bomb in Iraq they would obliterate us.  Think about it.  We would be up in arms… literally! 

As for Obama being weak?  Let us not mistake a quieter tone of rhetoric for weakness.  As a nation we have been led to believe if we aren’t out front making threats and rattling our bombs in the cargo hold of “Mission Accomplished” U.S.S. Lincoln we aren’t prepared or capable of taking action.  I’m presently living in Tennessee where the message has been to walk softly and carry a big stick.  Perhaps, for once, Tennesseans have something to teach the nation.  We can walk softly and talk softly.  Every country in the world knows we carry big sticks and have big bombs.  There is no need to yell it across the hollows or the ponds or the Gulf. 

These are a couple of issues I hope the voters in Indiana and North Carolina will consider tomorrow rather than race and gender.  We need responsible leadership in our country.  Hopefully, the primaries tomorrow will show a taste for responsibility in government, not a preference for one gender over another or one race above the rest.