What I Care about Politically

Posted on November 20, 2008
Filed Under Personal, Politics | 3 Comments

Okay, I have a couple of non-political posts in the hopper, but I want to get this down in pixils before returning to regularly scheduled programming. So, here’s what I care about at the present political moment:

  1. Real health care reform that does not simply reorganize the current domination of insurance and pharmaceutical companies. I would prefer a national single payer plan, but I am open to innovation.
  2. An economic stimulus plan that pushes investment in infrastructure, education, and and green energy.
  3. A complete and unambiguous repudiation of extraordinary rendition, torture, and the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens.
  4. A complete & final withdrawal from Iraq & no escalation in Afghanistan.

Number three will be a bright line indicator for me of the Obama administration’s moral seriousness. There are also several things I don’t give a hoot about:

  1. Hillary as Secretary of State — might create something of a circus atmosphere, but if Obama wants her I don’t have any objections.
  2. Same goes for bringing in seasoned professionals from the Clinton administration. I seem to recall that, long ago, in what seems like a fairy tale, president Clinton presided over eight years of peace and prosperity despite the frothing radical right’s attempts to destroy him.
  3. Prosecuting Bush / Cheney for war crimes. Some on the left are disappointed that this appears unlikely & yes the invasion of Iraq was a crime, but a prosecution wasn’t / isn’t ever going to happen in any case & would consume all of Obama’s political capital if it did. That’s just not the way the system works & I’m not going to spend too much time regretting this. History, as Bush himself has said hopefully, will judge. (I think his hope is misplaced & that he will be judged harshly.)

Comments

3 Responses to “What I Care about Politically”

  1. edward mycue on November 21st, 2008 2:38 am

    THIS works for me. edward mycue w/p.s.’s probably as it all sings over, sinks in, rises up. spreads out after a splash expands the chorus.

  2. chris robinson on November 22nd, 2008 10:25 am

    This is a good time to reflect on what changes must occur in the first hundred days of the new administration. We’re close. I tend to have a simple two plank platform: Peace and Justice. It helps me keep things clear. Last week I wrote the President-elect a letter outlining my hopes. I don’t expect him to actually read it, but I felt the need to communicate these thoughts.

  3. edward mycue on November 23rd, 2008 1:05 am

    RED SKY
    JOHN F. KENNEDY

    Everybody has
    a given life.
    None get out alive.
    Sense, sex, intellect

    friends (maybe
    w/ benefits).
    Some learn or
    take instruction.

    Caring, Ecstasy,
    Sympathy, Insight:
    life’s fateful cast:
    before endarkening

    graying blue skys
    greening red nights.
    Don’t care now if
    you’ve an ill-fitting

    wrinkled tan jacket–
    less suspect tattoos.
    You gave life a nod
    let it snake by pissing.

    Boston hero, plum lad.
    Red sky at night,
    Sailors’ delight. JFK:
    remember his light.

    (MEMENTO MORI 22 NOVEMBER 1963)

    EDWARD MYCUE 22 November 2008