Yesterday's results in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia make it clear that Mitt Romney will be the Republican candidate for the presidency in the November election.
As if confirming this, President Obama mentioned Romney for the first time by name yesterday in his speech attacking the GOP budget proposal. Some time ago, I wrote that the best evidence of Romney's status would be the attacks that would start to come his way from the Obama camp.
Yesterday, Mr. Obama even blamed Mitt Romney for rising gasoline prices in the US...as if President Obama himself weren't in office and had nothing to do with the prices of gas, or with anything else negative, for that matter. Barak Obama often lives in a dream world, and it is worrisome when he is supposed to be the leader of the world that his automatic reaction is to blame someone else for all his shortcomings.
Romney shot back his answers and it seems that now we have the beginning of the 2012 presidential campaign in real time.
What also surprised me yesterday was the relative calm of Mitt Romney and the sharpness of the attack from Obama. We do not need a mindless machine gun in the White House. We need a calm, organized and thoughtful president who understands the problems and has good ideas about how to solve them.
Romney's speech last night in Wisconsin was clear and precise. He laid out his plan for his presidency and he honed in on the errors of the Obama presidency with the precision of a laser beam. He noted the differences between government controlling everything, which has led to the mess the country is in right now, and letting the private sector do its job, which has always worked for America.
Romney has the right instincts. He has the right ideas. He has the calm and composure to get the job done without turning everyone who didn't vote for him into wrecking cranes aimed at his programs.
Mitt Romney is on track to be the next President of the United States.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Syrian People Suffer While Diplomats Try to Force al-Assad Compliance
While those not completely bored with the long process are waiting tonight for news about a Romney victory in the latest GOP primaries - a subject for tomorrow’s blog - today the world should be looking toward Syria.
Al-Assad has sent military reinforcements to the cities where the opposition is strong. This may be the most honest of his answers to the UN and Kofi Annan’s peace process. Certainly, his allowing diplomats to come and go to and from his Damascus capital is not honest.
And, today while the diplomats were scouring their plans, papers and draft accords, 44 people were killed in Syria among then 31 civilians. The attacks took place in the south and north of the country, as well as close to Damascus.
And what was al-Assad doing…arranging for yet another visit by a UN delegation and promising to work with them on their plan for distributing aid to those in need - in need because of al-Assad’s murderous war on his own people.
The UN says it will have a plan agreed by Thursday to insert observers into troubled areas, and al-Assad has agreed to stop the shelling and put the country in a “ceasefire” mode by the 10th of April.
A militant in Deraa, an insurgent stronghold, told French reporters that “in their effort to starve the people, they [al-Assad troops] are entering houses, destroying any stocks of food found” and cutting electricity for 15 hours per day. The troops are also destroying wheat stockpiles in bakeries and throwing rising dough into the streets.
The International Red Cross president will be in Damascus on Wednesday and has asked to visit Deraa, as well as to see detention centers being used by al-Assad’s regime.
Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN has said that America sees no proof that al-Assad will keep any of these promises. Further, and with good reason, the insurgent army says it will not lay down its arms until al-Assad tanks and troops have withdrawn from their cities.
If this all sounds too familiar, it is the same song we have been listening to for more almost two months now. There seems to be an endless wave of plans, papers, meetings and resolutions…while the Syrian people are being killed and starved to try to break their spirit and desire for freedom.
Al-Assad has sent military reinforcements to the cities where the opposition is strong. This may be the most honest of his answers to the UN and Kofi Annan’s peace process. Certainly, his allowing diplomats to come and go to and from his Damascus capital is not honest.
And, today while the diplomats were scouring their plans, papers and draft accords, 44 people were killed in Syria among then 31 civilians. The attacks took place in the south and north of the country, as well as close to Damascus.
And what was al-Assad doing…arranging for yet another visit by a UN delegation and promising to work with them on their plan for distributing aid to those in need - in need because of al-Assad’s murderous war on his own people.
The UN says it will have a plan agreed by Thursday to insert observers into troubled areas, and al-Assad has agreed to stop the shelling and put the country in a “ceasefire” mode by the 10th of April.
A militant in Deraa, an insurgent stronghold, told French reporters that “in their effort to starve the people, they [al-Assad troops] are entering houses, destroying any stocks of food found” and cutting electricity for 15 hours per day. The troops are also destroying wheat stockpiles in bakeries and throwing rising dough into the streets.
The International Red Cross president will be in Damascus on Wednesday and has asked to visit Deraa, as well as to see detention centers being used by al-Assad’s regime.
Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN has said that America sees no proof that al-Assad will keep any of these promises. Further, and with good reason, the insurgent army says it will not lay down its arms until al-Assad tanks and troops have withdrawn from their cities.
If this all sounds too familiar, it is the same song we have been listening to for more almost two months now. There seems to be an endless wave of plans, papers, meetings and resolutions…while the Syrian people are being killed and starved to try to break their spirit and desire for freedom.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Romney Closes in on Nomination
Tomorrow there will be Republican primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia (Washington, DC). These decisions should all go into the Romney column and put an end to the Santorum fantasy candidacy.
But, it will then be time for Mitt Romney to get busy with his wavering constituencies - moderate Republicans, independents, women and Hispanics.
The grinding primary season, far too long and divisive to help whoever the winner would have been, has been particularly hard on these natural Romney supporter groups. To ward off the right wing attacks coming from Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, Romney has had to move to the right on social conservative issues such as abortion, same sex marriage, immigration and contraceptive availability.
Anyone with any sense of where Mitt Romney comes from politically must know that he is a moderate conservative on all these issues, preferring to let them be settled outside the political arena when possible. His instincts are right here because, as I have noted before, they are simply not politically solvable issues but rather religious beliefs - and no one is going to give an inch on his or her principles. But, the result has been to alienate women and Hispanics and the gay community.
The plain truth is that neither Romney nor any other GOP presidential candidate can win if women and Hispanics vote against him. So, Romney must mend fences with these voters even while he is holding on to the social conservative right wing of the GOP.
This is not going to be easy, and the sooner Santorum stops his attack dog running commentary against Romney on these issues, the better the GOP chances of moving into the White House in November will be.
But, Romney needs more...and he has one weapon that will be extremely useful, his wife. Mrs. Romney should waste no time getting out onto the women's circuit, making the case that her husband is not the arch anti-woman conservative he is being made out to be. Anne Romney can deliver this message with the warmth and openness that are her trademarks, and she will be credible.
As for the Hispanic vote - the answer seems so obvious that it's almost a waste of time to write it. Romney needs Florida Senator Marco Rubio on his ticket as the VP candidate. Rubio can deliver the Hispanic vote, with his meaningful and honest representation of this group which has become very important in GOP politics. And, I don't think Romney ought to wait until the convention to name Rubio. He should do it as soon as he has the delegate vote count sewn up, thus giving Senator Rubio the chance to work his constituency over a longer period.
But, it will then be time for Mitt Romney to get busy with his wavering constituencies - moderate Republicans, independents, women and Hispanics.
The grinding primary season, far too long and divisive to help whoever the winner would have been, has been particularly hard on these natural Romney supporter groups. To ward off the right wing attacks coming from Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, Romney has had to move to the right on social conservative issues such as abortion, same sex marriage, immigration and contraceptive availability.
Anyone with any sense of where Mitt Romney comes from politically must know that he is a moderate conservative on all these issues, preferring to let them be settled outside the political arena when possible. His instincts are right here because, as I have noted before, they are simply not politically solvable issues but rather religious beliefs - and no one is going to give an inch on his or her principles. But, the result has been to alienate women and Hispanics and the gay community.
The plain truth is that neither Romney nor any other GOP presidential candidate can win if women and Hispanics vote against him. So, Romney must mend fences with these voters even while he is holding on to the social conservative right wing of the GOP.
This is not going to be easy, and the sooner Santorum stops his attack dog running commentary against Romney on these issues, the better the GOP chances of moving into the White House in November will be.
But, Romney needs more...and he has one weapon that will be extremely useful, his wife. Mrs. Romney should waste no time getting out onto the women's circuit, making the case that her husband is not the arch anti-woman conservative he is being made out to be. Anne Romney can deliver this message with the warmth and openness that are her trademarks, and she will be credible.
As for the Hispanic vote - the answer seems so obvious that it's almost a waste of time to write it. Romney needs Florida Senator Marco Rubio on his ticket as the VP candidate. Rubio can deliver the Hispanic vote, with his meaningful and honest representation of this group which has become very important in GOP politics. And, I don't think Romney ought to wait until the convention to name Rubio. He should do it as soon as he has the delegate vote count sewn up, thus giving Senator Rubio the chance to work his constituency over a longer period.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Name for the Ages
The National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar, or as we usually call it, Burma, has said that its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has won a seat in the Burmese national parliament during Sunday’s elections.
Not only did she win, but she took 99% of the vote in her district according to the NLD.
It is difficult to fully appreciate, to take in, this momentous event.
We are used to hearing that Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested…been sentenced to years of house arrest…been denied the right to see her family…been denied even the right to go to London for her husband’s funeral without knowing that she could never return to Burma…been refused visits by her sons for years…in short we are used to Aung San Suu Kyi being deprived of all the human events and joys that make life liveable in the best of times and worlds.
But, for this frail woman, now 63, life has been anything but good or joyful.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been the lone image confronting a Burma scorched by a military junta that has tried everything to defeat her, whose stance for democracy and personal liberty has been the one support of her people, whose quiet voice and smile have inspired us for twenty years and made us all a little ashamed of our small annoyances and inconveniences.
But, she has won...not the last step but the first. She is now a minority member of a parliament controlled by the same junta that has martyred her time and again.
News of her victory sent the Burmese people to the streets of Rangoon, far from her rural district, where they shouted their joy at the gates of the NLD headquarters.
Led with indefatigable conviction by the Nobel Peace Laureate, her party has apparently won not only Aung San Suu Kyi’s seat, but a total of 43 or 44 seats. The NLD can now take its rightful place in the corridors of Burmese power.
This just two years after Aung San Suu Kyi was declared Public Enemy No. One by the military junta. What has happened?
For unexplained reasons, but pushed by Aung San Suu Kyi to do so, the junta gave its public governmental powers over to a group of former military men who for whatever reason have decided to liberalize the country. Some say it is because Burma is now, because of junta policies, so poor that it cannot continue as it is. Some say that these former military men are more democratic than their allies. Some say that Burma cannot stand the pressures placed on it by the economic successes of its Asian neighbors, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Malaysia.
But, if Aung San Suu Kyi had not stood her ground during these long years of isolation, the junta would have had little pressure from within to change. It was Aung San Suu Kyi who held them up to criticism, who told the truth about their vicious regime, who quietly but persistently demanded that the world support her people.
The path in front of her now is possibly even more difficult.
She must be a part of the government without supporting it. She must go about her duties as a member of parliament without forgetting that she is the sole voice of Burma to the outside world and cannot seem to be supporting the junta. Most of all, she must continue to push for democracy and personal liberty for all Burmese in what will surely be a very hostile environment.
But, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Lady of Rangoon as she is lovingly called in Burma, will prevail. Her people, those peaceful, kind and loving Buddhists who are so prone to smile and accept instead of becoming angry and violent, will prevail.
Together, they have taught us a monumental lesson. Determination, combined with civility and a leader worthy of the name, will always win. Even in the Burma of the junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi. A name for the ages.
Not only did she win, but she took 99% of the vote in her district according to the NLD.
It is difficult to fully appreciate, to take in, this momentous event.
We are used to hearing that Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested…been sentenced to years of house arrest…been denied the right to see her family…been denied even the right to go to London for her husband’s funeral without knowing that she could never return to Burma…been refused visits by her sons for years…in short we are used to Aung San Suu Kyi being deprived of all the human events and joys that make life liveable in the best of times and worlds.
But, for this frail woman, now 63, life has been anything but good or joyful.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been the lone image confronting a Burma scorched by a military junta that has tried everything to defeat her, whose stance for democracy and personal liberty has been the one support of her people, whose quiet voice and smile have inspired us for twenty years and made us all a little ashamed of our small annoyances and inconveniences.
But, she has won...not the last step but the first. She is now a minority member of a parliament controlled by the same junta that has martyred her time and again.
News of her victory sent the Burmese people to the streets of Rangoon, far from her rural district, where they shouted their joy at the gates of the NLD headquarters.
Led with indefatigable conviction by the Nobel Peace Laureate, her party has apparently won not only Aung San Suu Kyi’s seat, but a total of 43 or 44 seats. The NLD can now take its rightful place in the corridors of Burmese power.
This just two years after Aung San Suu Kyi was declared Public Enemy No. One by the military junta. What has happened?
For unexplained reasons, but pushed by Aung San Suu Kyi to do so, the junta gave its public governmental powers over to a group of former military men who for whatever reason have decided to liberalize the country. Some say it is because Burma is now, because of junta policies, so poor that it cannot continue as it is. Some say that these former military men are more democratic than their allies. Some say that Burma cannot stand the pressures placed on it by the economic successes of its Asian neighbors, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Malaysia.
But, if Aung San Suu Kyi had not stood her ground during these long years of isolation, the junta would have had little pressure from within to change. It was Aung San Suu Kyi who held them up to criticism, who told the truth about their vicious regime, who quietly but persistently demanded that the world support her people.
The path in front of her now is possibly even more difficult.
She must be a part of the government without supporting it. She must go about her duties as a member of parliament without forgetting that she is the sole voice of Burma to the outside world and cannot seem to be supporting the junta. Most of all, she must continue to push for democracy and personal liberty for all Burmese in what will surely be a very hostile environment.
But, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Lady of Rangoon as she is lovingly called in Burma, will prevail. Her people, those peaceful, kind and loving Buddhists who are so prone to smile and accept instead of becoming angry and violent, will prevail.
Together, they have taught us a monumental lesson. Determination, combined with civility and a leader worthy of the name, will always win. Even in the Burma of the junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi. A name for the ages.
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