Back to the Dark Ages

As of Tuesday, November 16, 2010

My take on the recent election is opposite to that of Robert Levy. He sees policies favorable to big oil and pharmaceuticals, made easier by a right-wing U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow unlimited campaign funding, as a positive step. I see it as a return to the Dark Ages.

The most recent Republican administration took us from a federal surplus to the brink of economic and moral disaster. Two unfunded wars, scandalous care for returning soldiers at Walter Reed and other VA hospitals, Katrina, Jack Abramoff, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney outing CIA agents for political reasons and other misguided actions are strangely forgotten by Levy.

For all their talk of fiscal restraint and small government, the GOP is generally a pitiful administrator. A huge and sustainable budget surplus was squandered with unseemly haste. The unfunded drug plan pushed through Congress over Democratic dissent due to cost and a structure guaranteeing Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world, caused more debt than the bailout and medical reform combined.

For some reason, requiring health insurance to control costs is tyranny. Requiring auto insurance to drive a car is not. Go figure. For me, as a self-employed person, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC went up 33 percent this year. I welcome health care reform. The insurance companies and their GOP allies do not.

For two years the GOP has fought to keep American workers unemployed and frightened. Unfortunately, keeping unemployment levels high was a good move politically. Mitch McConnell stated that his No. 1 goal is ensuring Obama is a one-term president. He cares nothing about putting people back to work or fixing the economy. Unfortunately Levy will be marching in lockstep with him and the country will suffer.

Jim DeKornfeld

Southern Pines

More like this story

sgmartin 2 years, 6 months ago

Well let's see what they can do. I am willing to be open minded. But to be honest...not a great track record that I can see of accomplishments that would suggest a stronger country. If past behavior predicts future behavior (and it generally does) that I am not optimistic.

marathonman 2 years, 6 months ago

You know, Mr. DeKornfeld, I find your piece devoid of any sanity. You took all of the lefties talking points taken to demonize people and incidents to further their political influence. Nothing that you said is constructive. The election is over, we should all be looking for ways to get our country out of the mess it is in. And do not point a finger at Bush only. He deserves his share of the blame as do we all, but Obama has taken a bad situation and, like the marxist/socialist that he is, made it worse. Now, the American people have spoken despite any allegations of who funded who - there is finger pointing from both sides on that one too -we need to move the country back to safe ground. We have two months of diaster ahead of us as the children in the house and senate spar over who is really in charge.
Valery Plame was not outted by anyone. The minute she married the State Department official, she lost her undercover status, you were used as were most of those who bought into that insideous claim. She is an opportunist who thought she had beaten the system by marrying a discredited ex Ambassador. It failed and she attempted to discredit others in an insane attempt to draw attention to herself for personal gain. Again the left jumped on it as something to try to discredit a conservative. Katrina, for crying out loud! What about the flooding in Nashville. The lefties in charge in LA, Governor and Mayor of New Orleans, did nothing to help. The couldn't because they were and are inept. More illicit behavior in one city than in most other states combined. And screaming for Fed help. Nashville, you never heard much about it except some back page accounts of how they were cleaning it up themselves. Those who live there and make their living there, Nashville, rolled up their sleeves and made it work. No mention anywhere about the Feds. These are perfect examples of Liberal vs Conservative. When we tell the stories to our grandchildren, which do you think most people will endorse as positive and which negative. Unfunded wars! We were attacked for crying out loud. We had to defend ourselves. Clinton denutered the military and the intelligence agencies. So when we really needed them, we had to rebuild nearly from the bottom up before we could support our troops.
Egregious is all I can say about your piece!

CC85 2 years, 6 months ago

George Bush and Dick Cheney should be put on trial for making the decision to invade another country under false pretenses. I recently read where he said that he had a "sick feeling" when it was discovered there were no WMD's found in Iraq.

The most important decision a President can make, sending our son's and daughter's to fight a war. Iraq had zero connection with Al Queda and 911, yet he diverts attention from Afghanistan (a justified war) to invade and "nation build" in Iraq. More evidence of what is his true legacy, the most incompetent President in American history.

fugitiveguy 2 years, 6 months ago

"George Bush and Dick Cheney should be put on trial for making the decision to invade another country under false pretenses."

As long as we can name all the Democrat senators and congressmen who voted in favor of invasion under those same false pretenses as defendents as well. By all means, lets have a long drawn out trial, just what the country needs. Maybe the leftist moonbats can finally get over their Bush derangement syndrome.

CC85 2 years, 6 months ago

Obviously, George Bush was not responsible for anything negative during his 8 years in office, never made a mistake.

No, let's don't waste our time with a trial on an issue that cost over 4,000 American lives. Let's save that for the more important issues....like if the President cheated on his wife.

Jibbs 2 years, 6 months ago

@marathonman. Well put my friend!

@CC85. You said, "George Bush and Dick Cheney should be put on trial for making the decision to invade another country under false pretenses."

So what would you say to the Kurds and young Iraqis if you ever saw them…"tough luck"? I fought during the initial invasion (and then some), and I've talked to many Iraqis and Kurds who've witnessed first-hand the extreme torture (far, far beyond water-boarding) and mass murder by Saddam and his sons. The Hussein regime killed over a million people, often with biological warfare (e.g. sarin gas, a weapon of mass destruction). See for yourself, if you can stomach it (it's brutal).

http://fdd.typepad.com/fdd/2006/01/alert_saddams_c.html

Watch the massive villages of dead Kurdish after WMDs not long before our invasion. Watch the REAL torture at Abu-Ghraib, and the torture of regular Iraqi citizens. Don't forget, the progressive Europeans were the ones who gave Bush much of his intel about Iraqi WMDs and genocide.

Would you say General Eisenhower and FDR should've been put on trial for invading Europe to save the Jews? Or is it only acceptable if the death-toll reaches 6 million, as opposed to 1 million? What if we could've stopped Hitler at 1 million?

I disagree with the whole "spreading democracy" doctrine, and I think we should have pulled out not long after the removal of Saddam, Uday, and Qusay; but considering where we were in 2001-2003, and where the Iraqis/Kurds were then, we had to end the Hussein reign of terror, torture, and murder. We had to stop threats of another attack on our soil. I'm sure at that time you felt the same whether you admit it or not.

Much like so many in this area… I lived it; whereas, you only read about it or heard about it.

marathonman 2 years, 6 months ago

Thank you Jibbs for your service. My service was quite some time ago, but I too lived it. Now about false pretenses; the WMD existed. We gave the UN much to much time and attention and the time for the Soviets to help the Iraqiis move the WMD's to Syria and beyond. Had we hit them when it was decided to do so, we would have found it in spades. We did find evidence of its existence, but not the lethal quantities required to convince those who hate. But you lefties can not allow your mind to understand that we have intelligence which shows caravans leaving Bagdhad and heading to Syria even days before we hit them. There is no proof that the caravans contained the WMD, but it is certainly reasonable to believe they were hiding something they did not want the UN and or America to discover. When we tried to enter Syria to try to locate the caravans, the Syrians had ambushes already in place. If you want to try Bush and Cheney for being Patriotic and thinking of America first, then fry this current resident of the White House for being just the opposite; anti American!

moonchild7 2 years, 6 months ago

This all is never ending you know what. The U.S. supported Iraq in it's war against Iran in the 1980's. Check out the picture of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein in 1983(easy to find). We were there in Iraq to "ensure U.S. access to the regions oil and military expansion." We also helped the Taliban in Afghanistan, in it's fight against the Soviet Union. We either need to get out of this WAR/POLICE STATE Economy or the World needs to pay us for "watching out for them"(Not gonna happen). China is busy building infrastructure, so is Europe and a lot of South America. We've become extreme losers only interested in owning stupid gadgets and junk made in China. "They" beat us by making sure that Americans believed the only important things in life were violent video games, cheap dangerous objects, and so-called social networking. Bye, US of A, it was nice knowin' ya.

marathonman 2 years, 6 months ago

MC7, as owners of the 'big stick' in the world and having the responsibility of keeping the peace wherever and whenever it is threatened, Iran was not and is not our friend. When we supported Iraq in their border war it was in the interest of peace that we gave Iraq the capability to defend themselves against a greater adversary. At risk was the oil and secondarily of importance - even today in the Middle East - is who will wind up as the winner SUNNIs or Shiites. Iran vs Saudi Arabia, then and now. So, our foreign policy notwithstanding, we knew that our interests in that border struggle lie in making sure the Iranians stayed on their own side of the border. In no way can you relate our foreign policy, strategic interests then to the necessary change to foreign policy, strategic interests now. Next: when we gave support to Afghanistan in 1980, after the Soviets invaded in December 1979, it was in our strategic interest to do so in order to continue to thwart Soviet expansionist plans. And then along came Bin Laden in 1984 subsequent to the Saudis opening Whabbist Madrasas schools all over the world. Again, our strategic interests change and so does our foreign policy. Once attacked, we hit back. Not as hard as many of us would have liked. China policy has evolved since 1982. They helped us. They wanted to exchange with us without changing their Maoist policies of Socialism. We needed them. We agreed to limited exchanges. It has now become the big elephant in the room due to failures in leadership beginning in 1988. We are still suffering from failures of leadership. The TEA Party movement is a beginning to take back our Country and government. The Constitution must be preserved as the founders envisoned it, not as it is being interepted by those who are opposed to our republic and free enterprise. It is very easy to read the sound bites of the pundits spurned on by those on the left who hate. It is harder to read history and understand it and how it impacts us today. But I pray you will try.

bigD 2 years, 6 months ago

"For me, as a self-employed person, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC went up 33 percent this year. I welcome health care reform."

Sorry to tell you JIm but the reason your health insurance premiums went up is, in part, because of Obamacare. It is really a simple concept. All the new benefits required under Obamacare come with additional cost to the health insurance company. These costs are easily passed along to you (the consumer) because Blue Cross Blue Shield has a monopoly on coverage here in NC. The only way to bring down health insurance premiums is to introduce competition to BCBSNC

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
28	29	30	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31	1