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William D. Randall's Blog (of no particular interest to no one in particular)
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"We Have Just Begun to Fight...." Winston Churchill "Audentes Fortuna Juvat" - "Fortune Favors the Bold"
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Thursday, January 20, 2005
The first day of a lame duck term starts today. Yes, I turned my back to the T.V. when Bush took the oath of office today. After working so hard with the Kerry campaign both in Boston and in Orange County, the inauguration was more salt in the wound. Of course I watched the parade and some of the pomp and circumstance of the day because of the political scientist in me and to finally have closure to the last presidential campaign. The first true test of the next four years will be the end of this month. Iraq is scheduled to have their first free and open elections. However it has been far from free. Candidates have been killed, voters are being intimidated, and attacks on our troops are starting to increase in pace. Much like the Tet Offensive, the elections in iraq are a golden opportunity for radical groups in Iraq to put up a fight. The difference however is that in Vietnam the NVA were an organized military force. The terrorist groups in Iraq have been referred to as "pathetic" (60 Minutes), due to their McGyveresque contraptions used to attack American forces. Bush also has two domestic challenges as well. First is his ambitious Social Security overhaul. His call for individual retirement accounts is the pillar of his call for an "Ownership Society." This is great in theory. Why does one have to put their hard-earned money into a government run fund only to receive less then what they put in to it. We will be able to save our money and be able to have a larger return on our investments then what the government is capable of giving. But there is a catch. The catch is that we will actually want to save our money. Most young adults have to make a plethora of decisions of what to do with their scarce funds. Unfortunately the people who are going to need Social Security the most, the blue collar factory line/ service industry employee, are more likely to spend their earnings on 20 inch rims. Who really has the time to research investment options. If the recent election was any indication, the people who should be speaking up are too busy doing other things to care. Bush also has underfunded his "No Child Left Behind" act leaving many of the states to foot the bill. Secretary Spellings is going to face a lot of pressure to ensure this program is fully carried out despite ever increasing budget restrictions. I take great pride in the fact that second presidential terms are usually the great booby prize of electoral politics. Nixon was forced to resign, Reagan had Iran-Contra, and Clinton (unfortunately) had Monica-gate. I think the increased pressure from Sens Boxer and Kerry will lead to further scrutiny of the administration. Yet other factors are in play, that may mitigate the second term curse. First, congress is under GOP control. If any investigations where to occur a number of Republicans would have to partner with the Democrats to trigger any investigation. Second, conservative media outlets will move to protect the President by taking the protective angle on any critical story that may lead to pressure on the president. If CNN and the big three are talking about the lack of WMD's, Fox will be discussing the "pressing need for war." So much for unbiased reporting. Third, the Democrats will have to grow teeth and bite hard in order to invoke any response from the people. The GOP has been relentless in attacks and the Swift Boat group was just a taste of what they are capable of doing. Tough questions need to be asked, and they must be answered before we give an inch. So as we embark on the next 1460 days of a second Bush term, let us not be afraid to ask the tough questions. We deserve answers. We deserve answers for the lack of WMD's, We deserve answers for the inability to bring OBL to justice. We demand accountability and competence from our national leaders. Until then, we must continue to be vigilant and fight for what is right. One Fustrated Democrat......WDR
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