Voter Enfranchisement

Although it doesn't affect New Jersey voters directly, the ongoing debate about how to deal with delegates from Florida and Michigan in the last Democratic primary can't be confined to those states.

Cut through the issue of what to do about the seating of delegates in the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and what you encounter is the basic right of voter enfranchisement -- the obligation of government to count every person's vote.

Viewed in this light, it doesn't really matter what Howard Dean or the DNC think. The votes of Michigan and Florida need to be counted as cast in the party's primary elections. Voters should not be made to pay for the mistakes and disagreements of party leadership.

A recent front page story in the Cape Coral Daily Breeze (Florida), affirmed that the "Democratic delegates will be seated." But, when you read further into that article, what you come across is that Leonard Joseph, Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party concedes that, "The slates's composition is out of the voters' hands and (is) now up to the national party's rules and bylaws committee and the credentials committee." So much for according the respect which voters are due!

We in New Jersey have our own problems, and they are not trivial. But at least the votes of both Democrats and Republicans will be counted as cast in each party's primary. Where are Al Gore and of all the other Democrats who were so outraged in 2000, when Florida was in the midst of its 'chad' problem, an issue which resulted is the election results of that state going all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court?

Peace for a Day

This weekend was at least one day that I had to remove myself from the political dissonance of the last two weeks. The Easter holiday, it seems, needed to be a time to focus on something more meaningful than the posturing emanating at both the state and national levels, some of it, ironically enough, in the name of religion and patriotism.

My wife and I drove to Potomac, Maryland, where we rendezvoused with our children and our grandkids to celebrate this joyous feast. There comes a time when an American has to call a timeout and pay attention to matters other than government and politics. For us, Easter is one of those times.

I hope that those of you who profess the Christian tradition as your claim to faith had a weekend of good will. It’s just as important to extend the spirit of Sunday’s celebration to all sincere people of faith in the Bridgewater area, however different that tradition may be. Even to those of good will with no particular faith conviction.

In the words of the Irish bard, “May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.”

Iraq the Ungrateful

This is a story that you can expect not to read much about, or to see analyzed in depth on cable news networks and prime time television: In a disgusting display of cowardice and extreme prejudice, terrorists in Iraq are responsible for the death of Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho who was kidnapped in Mosul, Iraq on February 29.

According to an Associated Press report, Rahho was “the second most senior Catholic cleric in Iraq. " In the same dispatch, “President Bush, the Pope and Iraq's prime minister condemned Rahho's kidnapping,” and “U.S. officials in Baghdad called it 'one more savage attempt by a barbaric enemy to sow strife and discord.'”

The Chaldean Church has had a presence in the land that is now Iraq since the 2nd Century, well before the time of the Prophet Muhammad, who was born around 570 A.D.

Before the steady sectarian crackdown on Christians in Iraq after the second U.S.-led invasion, Chaldeans comprised about 550,000 of Iraq’s estimated 700,000 Christians. Since then, there has been a vast exodus of Christians from Iraq, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. Some observers believe that the remainder may be forced to go underground to assure its minority survival.

Is this the kind of democracy we can continue to expect from our Iraqi “allies?”

Sad, Nonetheless

He became known as “Client Number 9” in what began as a Federal investigation into a possible money structuring scheme. Now, the matter might just as well be renamed with the title of a song made famous by the Beatles, "Love Potion Number 9."

My mom had many short admonitions, one of which was the popular, The bigger they are, the harder they fall. It’s such a simple statement, but so full of wisdom. I don’t know precisely what it was about Eliot Spitzer, but he seemed to have a way about him that left a question mark – as if there were something else unsaid or undone, or that the hammer would fall later, when you least expected it.

The fact that he tagged himself as a (expletive deleted) steamroller before his fellow politicians wasn’t a good way to begin his career as Governor of New York State. I don’t like arrogant people. Never have; never will.

Some have tried to wash away Spitzer’s alleged trysting as peripheral to his personal life and public service, so as to make it inconsequential. In a recent TV interview, no less a figure than Harvard’s Alan Dershowitz, a high-profile lawyer, said of Spitzer’s behavior, “We are making much too much of sexual deviation...”

On the other hand, Mary Matalin, a political strategist being interviewed on the Don Imus Show, observed that, “…What higher calling is there than a dad’s behavior relative to his daughters.” You decide which of those statements makes the most sense.

Michelle Obama’s ‘Pride in the USA’

Not so long ago, when Bill Clinton was campaigning for his wife in New Hampshire and beyond, some observers thought that he might have gone over the top a few times in some of his talks. If nothing else, Bill Clinton can be a very eloquent and passionate speaker. His remarks were widely reported by the media, and he took a lot of heat for some of them. Example: In a TV clip which you may have seen, he got right in the face of a TV journalist on camera, and heatedly accused him of floating a loaded question.

I wonder if Michelle Obama’s comments on Monday, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will get the same sort of media scrutiny. While addressing a group of supporters, she said, “Let me tell you something: For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well…” (Emphasis is mine.)

If Barack Obama gets the Democrats’ nod for the nomination and subsequently gets elected President, I wonder if that will be only the second time that Michelle Obama is proud of the USA.

Politicians have always made gaffs and will continue to do so. And it would be easy to simply dismiss her statement as merely an unintended observation and to just move on. But Michelle Obama is very intelligent and articulate. She graduated cum laude from Princeton in 1985, and obtained a law degree from Harvard in 1988. She is known for saying what she intends and for intending what she says.

This country is not perfect, but it’s got plenty of things to be proud of. What about the Civil War to eliminate slavery and to keep this nation united? What about the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after WWII? What about the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Is there any need to go on?

Michelle Obama suffers from an affliction not uncommon to some bright and highly educated persons; namely, that history started on the day they were born, and that events of the past have no meaning for the present or the future.

Perhaps Michelle Obama could benefit from being reminded of what she either did not learn or that she forgot from her university training: There is so much to be proud of in this country, that only an ingrate would be so self-absorbed as to think that it takes 44 years of one’s lifetime to finally discover even one thing.


Note: For a brief bio of Michelle Obama and for some good family pictures, see http://www.squidoo.com/michelle-obama-pictures-biography For a video of her statements, go to YOU TUBE at, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYY73RO_egw

“Flip Flopping” on Public Issues

Ever since the 2004 election, when George Bush and John Kerry were competing for the presidency, there’s been no lack of one candidate accusing another of “flip flopping.” It began with the famous quote attributed to John Kerry about his vote on the Congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq: “I voted for it, before I voted against it.”

I don’t know your thinking about casually calling another person a “flip flopper,” but I don’t find it useful. Yet, I grant that it can be very effective and that it can even destroy a person’s credibility.

A vital consideration in evaluating the sincerity of a politician’s change of position is that of intent. Why did the politician change her or his mind? If it’s merely expedience, or yielding to inappropriate pressure from peers, lobbyists, or political hacks, then it may be valid to classify that politician as a “flip flopper.” Conversely, it could be the result of a well-thought-out change of mind undertaken after serious reflection.

Politicians should be given leeway to change their views as long as they adhere to the critical caveat of explaining logically and convincingly why they have done so.

When circumstances change, do we really want thoughtless elected officials to keep us in Iraq for 100 years, simply because of a prior vote to have gone to war there?

Note: Photo Source: http://www.undermars.com/gallery1.html

Bill Maher’s View of Mormons and Evangelicals

Did you watch the Larry King Show last night? If you did, you were treated to an hour of humor by Bill Maher, a sharp wit and a good comedian. But much of his humor yesterday was disparaging and witless.

Several times, Maher could not help but to get off on a tangent. When Larry King asked him what he thought of Mitt Romney, Maher’s response was that, “Mormons have always been shape shifters.” King had not asked him what he thought about Mormons, but what he thought about Romney. The question was politically oriented – nothing else.

Maher could not resist the temptation to twist the answer into a broadside aimed at all Mormons. Shape shifter is a derogatory term meaning that a person does not stay put on solid ground, but moves about constantly, hoping to present an illusive, unsteady appearance.

Maher’s prejudice was not reserved only for Mormons. When asked by King to comment about Mike Huckabee, Maher wasn’t too enthusiastic about him either, indicating that anyone who believes in “The old book of Jewish fairy tales” doesn’t suit his fancy either.

Maher offered his philosophy that, “I think all religions are cuckoo, but I’m not a bigot.” He went on to say, “You can’t shut me up by using the word ‘faith’ because I think it’s dumb.”

During that entire hour, King did not once ask Maher his opinion of the candidates’ faith. I don’t know why Maher thinks that someone is trying to shut him up by using the word faith. Certainly it didn’t happen during last night’s interview. Larry King needs to get a grip, control the format of his show, and not act like such a wimpy host when one of his guests gets so far out of line.

Note: 06 July 2006 Photo by Jesse Grant - © WireImage.com - Image courtesy WireImage.com

Religious Freedom? C’mon!

At lunch time in Bridgewater, while catching up with the midday news, I came across a TV clip of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee stumping for votes in Michigan. Addressing a gathering in what appeared to be a church, he said, “It’s better to change the constitution than to change the Word of the living God.” The media sometimes like to put Evangelical Christians on the spot, so the rest of the message wasn’t provided. Huckabee was probably referring to the controversial abortion question, a topic which crosses secular and denominational lines.

No matter. The point is that in this country he has the freedom to say that. The U.S. is not a theocracy, and people are free to challenge his views on the “Word of the living God.” Some Americans may think that he should leave the Constitution alone and study up some more on Biblical interpretation. Religious dialogue of that nature, though, is not permitted in some other countries.

Later today, while going through my e-mail, I came across a dispatch from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, of all places, in which our President, George Bush, issued a proclamation establishing January 16, 2008, as “Religious Freedom Day,” a 16 year-old U.S.tradition.

Here is an excerpt, “…Religious freedom belongs not to any one nation, but to the world, and my administration continues to support freedom of worship at home and abroad.” I wonder if the President includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the definition of “and abroad.”

There is no religious freedom permitted in Saudi Arabia. The king and princes of the House of Saud have long had an understanding with the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism, whereby religious Sharia Law is allowed to dominate much of the judicial system of that nation.

While Bush was offering smart bombs to the Saudis to be paid out of inflated oil prices with deflated U.S. greenbacks, Mike Huckabee was someplace in Michigan looking for votes. Gee, if he ever makes it to the White House and decides to visit the Saudi king, I hope that he doesn’t try to stash a Bible in his luggage. That’s verboten in the desert kingdom – could get him thrown in jail.


Note: For the full text of the “Religious Freedom Day” proclamation, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/print/20080114-5.html

Getting it Right

When you mess up, you need to fess up. That’s the result of what happened to me Monday, when I wrote in this blog that, “Tomorrow’s voting results will show that Barack Obama will have locked up the Democrats’ delegates and that John McCain will have garnered the Republican ones.”

I called the McCain victory correctly. He won by a margin of 5% over Romney. But I blew it on the Clinton/Obama race, where Hillary Clinton squeezed out a win over Barack Obama by a margin of 3%.

I should have listened more closely to my sister when she said that she and her two daughters were voting for Clinton. New Hampshire voters are notoriously independent and don’t like to be told by pollsters what the outcome will be.

Humble pie isn’t the sweetest thing, but sometimes you just have to get it down!

Note: For N.H. politics, see the Manchester Union Leader at http://www.unionleader.com/

Hold the Coronation!

Politics is a strange craft. For those in power, it can sometimes present itself as a deceptively calm sea, inviting the flotilla of front-runners and their supporters to sail blithely ahead, unaware of unseen storm clouds. But the once serene sea of pundit-projected winners is now roiling in a storm of defeat in New Hampshire: Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney are bracing themselves to lose the first-in-the-nation primary to Barack Obama and to John McCain.

The storm began in Iowa, and only time will tell whether it will abate for Clinton and Romney when, after tomorrow, they turn the prows of their campaign ships into the wind of the other primary states.

I have relatives in the Granite State from its north country to its southern border, and they tell me that they are being bombarded with telephone calls. My sister up in Laconia said that the Granite State is the only one in the nation where you can’t go outside at primary time without bumping into a candidate looking for your vote. They are swarming all over the state.

Tomorrow’s voting results will show that Barack Obama will have locked in the Democrats’ delegates and that John McCain will have garnered the Republican ones.

It’s almost redundant to say that this is a major glitch in the prior momentum of the Clinton juggernaut. It’s also a big disappointment for Romney who served as an outstanding Republican governor in adjacent Democratic Massachusetts. Both are significant upsets which will require crucial campaign changes, if Clinton and Romney are to recover.

Note: For N.H. politics, see the Manchester Union Leader at http://www.unionleader.com/ For Iowa politics, see the Des Moines Register at http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Congratulations Bridgewater!

One of the nicest surprises about Tuesday’s election in Bridgewater was the 43% voter turnout. To all of you faithful constituents out there, partisan and non-partisan alike who graced the polls with your presence, give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. You definitely deserve it.

There are few things better than an election where the incumbents are challenged and compelled to run hard. It sharpens everybody’s wits and clarifies the issues, giving voters a much better basis upon which to decide. Although it’s a real personal bummer for those of you candidates who didn’t make it, don’t waste any time second-guessing having entered the race, or what you might have done differently that would have made a difference.

Our system, despite all of its practical shortcomings, is based upon gutsy, aspiring office holders willing to question current political policy and practice, while risking the possibility of bruising their egos in a contest which they might lose.

The downside of our democracy is that it is often grimy, exasperating, non-responsive, inefficient and costly. Worse yet, some of it is populated with corrupt people – just pick up today’s newspaper to verify that.

Nevertheless, so far as I can see, there doesn’t appear to be any other structure of governance anywhere else than that of our U.S. democracy that’s better able to get the job done. In the end – even though at times it seems interminably long – the system seems to self-correct and to respond to the collective will of us all. The miracle is that the darn thing works at all.

We’ll Survive this Also!

There’s not much more that can be said or done on the last evening before Election Day. Probably most of you have made up your mind on the candidates and the questions. If you haven’t kept on top of it and aren’t sure what to do, remember this: The most important single thing that you can do is to go out and vote.

You’d be surprised if you knew how many elections have been determined by a tiny margin, simply because people just didn’t show up at the polls. Here’s a real life example that I’ll never forget: An incumbent candidate for the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board, a friend of mine and a good person, once lost his re-election bid by a single vote. He appealed via a re-count, but the numbers held.

The irony of that true-to-life story is that, at the last minute, I had asked two people to go out and to vote for him. Not thinking their vote important, they stayed away from the polls. Those two votes would have kept him in office for another three years!

Telemarketing Electioneering

We were sitting in the family room anticipating the beginning of the best football matchup of the season, the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, both undefeated at game time, when the unwelcome, computerized electioneering calls started up again.

For the past seven days, my caller ID has been recording an incessant stream of these inane messages from out-of-area and unidentified political telemarketing firms, wasting more $ that could be put to better use. Does anyone seriously believe that this practice will have any impact upon voters, except to annoy the dickens out of them?

When politicians make law, you can always rely on this: They will invariably make sure to look out for their own self-interest. Guaranteed! When the Do-Not-Call Registry went into effect on October 1, 2003, legislators exempted themselves. The result has been incessant election-time barrages of computer-driven phone calls.

It isn’t soliciting voters over the phone that’s bad. It’s that none of these calls are personally from a human being asking for support. Getting a personal call from an elected official: Now that’s something tangible and worthwhile. What you receive, instead, is a flood of digital computer 0’s and 1’s coming to you over the phone in the guise of a human voice. And to make matters worse, they just don’t quit.

There is a way to intercept this political garbage, but why should you and I pay a fee to the phone company to block computerized calls from politicians and special interest groups? Not receiving unsolicited, unwanted telemarketing calls is precisely what the Do-Not-Call Registry is designed to do. Except, that is, for politicians.

Note: To read consumer facts about the National Do-Not-Call Registry, see the Federal Trade Commission at, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/donotcall.shtm