Take Inventory

We often assume that the outcome of an election won’t really matter in our daily lives. We have enjoyed the luxury of choosing a pretty face in the horse race and blithely voting for whomever. Deep in our hearts we think that we could stay home or vote our emotions without much concern over whether or not our society would collapse around us. That gradually has changed.

You might offer the historical argument that it changed on August 6th 1945 with a nuclear weapon over Hiroshima. Or, you could say the change took place a few years later when the Soviet Union became a nuclear power and we began to watch the Doomsday Clock. Maybe it was the political turmoil of 1968 erupting in our streets and universities. But, then things quieted and we continued on our slide into antipathy and government by emotion. The video of the World Trade Center collapsing one September morning changed that forever. Now we know that it does make a difference whom we elect. Our future security depends upon it.

Despite that, we have failed to seriously take an inventory of what qualification the winner has for the office. We seem oblivious to what he really plans to do when given the reins of power. We’ve grasped the sound-bites and taken them into our lexicon without applying any analysis or reason. Joseph Goebbels rules. Simply say something, even if it is totally counter to observation, and if you do that often enough, it becomes reality. “New-Speak” of Big Brother’s 1984 is prevalent. Black is white, peace is war, and we believe it unquestioningly.

What is going to happen with regard to taxes under an Obama administration? It is absurd to believe that 95% of the people are going to get a tax cut. It defies simple math to think that government spending can increase by several trillions and it only needs 5% of the people to fund it. What will he REALLY do, now that he’s in office with an obviously leftist Congressional leadership?

What is going to happen in the global war on terror? Sen. Obama has repeatedly denied the efficacy of the surge in Iraq, touting as his greatest achievement his opposition from the start. Regardless of that, his stated policy will be to increase troops in Afghanistan—a surge—to deal with the situation there. How can that work? What happens in Iraq? Can we get someone with maturity in charge who can read the history of the Russian experience in Afghanistan? Can we get someone with a broad world view who relates Middle East stability to a counter-balance for Iran and security for global energy sources? Did I really read in the morning paper that the SecState choice seems to be between John Kerry and Dick Lugar? Ain’t no way even as moderate a Republican as Lugar is going to get that plum seat in the Cabinet.

Does he have a plan for Iran’s threat? How will he do the only thing he suggests, meet with Ahmadinejad, if the president of Iran doesn’t want to meet with him? Will a President Obama defend Israel? Will he do it in the event of an Iranian attack? Why did Jewish voters trust him? How will he strike terrorists in Pakistan, a sovereign nation, when they deny us access? And, what of Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia? Africa anyone? Hugo Chavez doesn’t have our best interests at heart.

How do you reduce our dependency on foreign oil while simultaneously refusing to exploit America’s domestic resources? How do you supply our growing electrical power needs with wind and solar, but not using nuclear energy? No drilling, bankrupting builders of coal-fired generating plants, no nuclear and some sort of diversion of money into an alchemy project to create “new alternative energy sources,” whatever that means.

What are his plans with regard to the environment? I don’t mean feel-good discipline in the US. I mean the overwhelming impact of the two big kids on the global block, India and China. Our contribution is a drop in the polluted bucket compared to those behemoths. Will he notice the broad range of defeat across the country in this election of enviro-whacko proposals? Or, will he continue to cater to the Gore crowd and implement policies that funnel our energy dollars down a non-productive rat-hole?

What sort of an administration can we expect with regard to First Amendment protections when we see the strong arm tactics his campaign employs against those in the media who might actually challenge some of the mindless assertions of his campaign? Are you folks in Orlando comfortable after the Biden/West interview? Is there anything “fair” about the “Fairness Doctrine” which muzzles one side and force-feeds the nation alternative views?

What really is the function of this domestic police/youth/service corps which he intends to create? What is going to happen to a military under an Obama administration which anticipates a 25% manpower cut and denial of new weapons acquisitions? Who defends? Who supplies? Where do the former defense contract employees work? Am I simply too history minded to liken this “domestic security force” which is equally funded, manned and armed with our military to the parallel organizations of Hitler’s brown-shirted SA and black-shirted SS? That’s not an isolated incidence. Consider Spain’s Guardia Civil and military; or Italy’s Carabinieri and military; or even Stalin’s political commissars within the military backed by the NKVD.

What has Sen. Obama ever managed, directed, operated or administered? How many people has he supervised? What size payroll did he budget for? How much profit or loss did his effort generate? What problems did he encounter? How was his leadership instrumental in facilitating “change”? What executive experience does he bring to the office?

Where are his writings? How do you edit the Harvard Law Review without leaving a legacy of work? How do you become a Constitutional Law professor at a major university without a curriculum vitae that includes extensive writings and records of professional presentations? Where are his undergraduate and graduate grades?

Where are his moderate, non-controversial, friends and mentors? We’ve heard about Ayers, Dohrn, Wright, Pfleger and Alinsky. Now I want to find some reasonable people. So far Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff doesn’t reassure me on moderation.

We’re going to learn a lot in the coming months. We’ll see what the cabinet looks like. We’ll hear soaring rhetoric in another Leni Riefenstahl “Evening in Nuremburg” event at the inauguration. The real indicators will surface in February when we see what’s on the agenda. What is really going to happen in the first 100 days? Tax cuts? Another “bread & circuses” stimulus disbursement? A socialized medicine healthcare proposal? A summary redeployment from Iraq to Afghanistan? A nationalization of banks and key industries? Defense department budget cuts? A terrorist attack? Gun control legislation? Wage and price controls? An immediate enlargement of the Supreme Court to eliminate the waiting for resignations or deaths before making appointments?

The Chinese Curse is still operative. We live in “interesting times.”