Two Climates of Fear: In Jeff Jacoby's 12/24 editorial in the Boston Globe entitled "Climate of Fear" he berates the scientists for creating a "climate of fear." He says "there is always a market for apocalyptic foreboding." I think he is right if it's not one fear it's another. Both George W. Bush and he are so fond of telling us whom and what to fear as well. The only thing the Republican party wants to promote to maintain their power is fear.

The remedy for the global warming fear and the terrorism fear is ending mankind's dependence on oil. Getting us off oil and developing other fuels such as corn, sugar, wind, solar and the like would serve to extricate us from the quicksand of Middle East oil. Let's finally do something about a fear he and the Bush minions hype so often. Let's get rid of our dependence on oil. It just may cure global warming which I think exists and at the same time it just may erase our dependence on the Middle East thereby reducing that other fear ... terrorism. In that way we could cure two fears with one stone and save lives at the same time.

Response to Jeff Jacoby's Globe Editorial 12/20/06
Iran's promise

Jeff, on Iran and Israel we completely agree. This issue is where I part with the academic left and agree with you. If Iran and others say it will completely obliterate the Jewish state by nuclear weapons if necessary, the Jewish people have had too much experience with genocidal anti-Semitism not to take all of them at their word. There is no question about it you are completely correct.

However, where I think I part with you, is that I think American foreign policy since WWII has been nothing short of abysmal. The greatest victory in WWII was that it unequivocally showed US strength. Now since even Korea, certainly Vietnam and the worst debacle of all Iraq II because of its humongous regional consequences, the US has showed what the Middle East bloodhounds sniff and that is weakness. We are perceived as a weak country with the most moronic leadership by even our allies. That is, I believe, our nation's greatest threat and the greatest threat indeed to western civilization itself. No one ever gained anything through weakness. Nations gain prestige through strength.

How we arrive at a position of strength is the golden key. I believe we do not, as things exist today, arrive at strength through bombs. It is a new kind of world. A new policy for a new world order needs to be hewed. This requires the utmost brilliance and in depth understanding of international diplomacy and leadership. It is so very clear we do not have that in Washington today. I don't care if it is Republican or Democrat or the Martian party in power I am salivating for intellectual excellence especially in our executive branch. So far it is not to be found and our nation and world are at risk.

Exception to American Exceptionalism--A response to Howard Zinn:

Dear Prof. Zinn: I read your article “American Exceptionalism” you emailed to me. I do not dispute one fact in that. Of course you are right there have been centuries of brutal behavior by the American government as well as by the western Europeans.

I think what galls you, and me too, as I began to question US Foreign policy, is as you say "The idea that America is different because its military actions are for the benefit of others." It is the fact that we are given American history pablum almost since birth which is supposed to pass off as ultimate truth and upon which our policy both national and international is hewed. It has been responsible over centuries for the death of thousands. There is no question of that.

The problem is I do not possess the reality of what things would have been like IF US foreign policy had been different OR not at all that is even if the west had not colonized the Americas. What would it have been like if people simply left other people alone? What if the western European settlers came peaceably to trade or to live without denying those rights including the right to life to those who were here first? What would have happened if no slave ships arrived?

I think THAT is the apex of the continuing dilemma and conundrum I have had throughout the years. What would it have been like if things historical that were so were not? Would the Indians have lived peaceably, never attacking other tribes or maybe have advanced their culture so that the creature comforts we enjoy now they would have enjoyed as well? Would blacks have remained solely in Africa? How would things have been different?

This sounds perhaps ridiculous because we obviously can never know but I wonder often what things would have been like had the west not imprinted its culture on all those “innocent masses.” Would they have remained innocent? Would they have been benign? Would the world have looked all together different from what it does today if the US and the European west had not placed its hegemonic and cultural stamp on nations? Would Islam have reared its fundamentalist head? Would it have been so bestially violent? Of course, a subject near and dear to my heart: What would have happened to the Jews?

I think those questions are far from being ridiculous. That is why I cannot make a final judgment or assessment of US policy. I do not know what would have happened had the US not happened or if things had been different.

I have suspicions, of course, as I think I have stated in other emails. I believe in the dinosaurs. Watching the Science Channel devoted to the Jurassic and Triassic period looking at what dinosaurs were like gives me a fundamental truth. My partner sums it up by saying: “The dinosaurs stink.” I think that is true they did stink. They were eating and killing machines. I believe, though, they were more than that. I believe they show us a window into the human condition. I think our species is not all that far removed. Salt and pepper in a few million years of evolutionary development so that humans emerge and develop some ethical systems but, generally speaking, I think we still possess a reptilian core.

The program Sleeper Cell on Cable Showtime is riveting. It is about, as you may know, a terrorist cell within the US and the FBI’s never-ending attempt to foil its plots. It is violent indeed but it shows exactly what both sides Islamic and western alike are capable of doing. The brutality of both sides is horrendous. Both sides are two dinosaurs fighting in the same way for the same thing couched in lofty cerebral rationales. They fight brutally, maim, torture and kill each other for the shear acquisition and maintenance of dominance and power. I cannot see much difference between the brutality of yesteryear and the brutality today. The players are different but the reality of what we are in our core is the same.

Even IF all Americans saw the brutality of what our foreign policy has been would they want it to be different? I suspect not. Everyone wants to be on top and everyone is afraid to die. We simply want the other guy to die first. It is truly a tough world indeed. However, when I sleep at night the last thing I think about is I, a Jew, still feel fortunate that blind luck has determined that I live here and not in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, the Sudan, North Korea or Cuba. At least so far I have won the right to life lottery and have the ability to write my thoughts down in this format without fear of a knock at the door. I’ll put my money still on the US with all its faults and hope that the Age of US cultural hegemony will not go the way of the dinosaur but that Darwinian survival prevails.

My Ire Against Iran: Yesterday, the major news networks carried the story of Iran hosting a conference to determine the veracity of the Holocaust. I tried to keep my blood pressure down so I would not have a stroke. This story infuriated me beyond any verbal description. Iran's Ahmadinejad is holding that so-called conference, of course, because he wants to eliminate any rationale for the creation the Jewish State of Israel after the devastation of the Holocaust by validating his denial of it. Invited to this "illustrious" event in Iran was David Duke former KKK member and extreme right wing politico as were several ultra orthodox Jewish rabbis. Ahmadinejad probably let the rabbis attend because he wanted the news media to see how "fair" and balanced he is. Why the Hassidic rabbis chose to attend is beyond the outer limits of my imagination.

I cannot think of one -- not one -- event in human history that was as singularly catastrophic to the Jewish people and to the world as the Holocaust. The evidence for it is more than overwhelming. It has shaped every fiber of my being, every political view I hold and all that I am. I never go a day without thinking of it. There is no single event, in my opinion, which compares to it and the survival of the Jewish people despite it is, as far as I am concerned, the holiest of events. For anyone to desecrate it is more infuriating to me than I have words to describe. I am sure Ahmadinejad would love to hear that I am so angry thus I am trying to quiet my fury so as not to give him that satisfaction. I take a deep breath and know that one cannot deny truth when it is written in black and white for the entire world to see. If some do deny it, however, I am hoping that rational thought will prevail and few will believe what Ahmadinejad has to say about it and everyone will understand him to be crackpot he really is.

ISG: Truth Between the Lines: Iraq is lost. If George Bush does not follow the ISG points which were excellently conceived and more than fair, he and his minions who lied about FACT in order to invade a country who did not invade us, should be impeached, convicted and tried for treason. If he does not change his "stay the course" insanity, Congress needs to cut off funds, gather our troops and workers as safely as possible, declare victory and leave. The presidency of George Bush is a disgrace, Iraq is insolvable and the best I hope for is that regional Middle East violence in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt or God forbid Saudi Arabia does not break out because our weakness is obvious. It is unimaginable that Vietnam could be repeated another time. OUR FORGEIN POLICY AFTER WWII NEEDS TO BE REASSESSED. The US has gone to war constantly, consistently over decades. There is NO truth that we want to make the world safe for democracy. Rubbish. We do things for our perceived national interest power, money and influence. That is what all states do. We dupe our electorate by telling them OUR wars are good wars. War is NEVER good but it is, admittedly, sometimes necessary. Because war is so brutal as well as phenomenally expensive, presidents of this country should NEVER be able to take this nation to war without declaring it as the Constitution requires and ALL of Congress BEFORE war is declared should legally have access to every single document available that offers proof that war is necessary. This is a tragic time for our country. I only hope it is not a fatal time for us all.

A Gate to Paradise? Why is any nomination George Bush offers up is suspect by me? Why was I not fawning over Robert Gates for Secretary of Defense? Anyone, as Maureen Dowd, says including an axe murderer, would have looked good next to incompetent Rumsfeld. Still, I am not at first THAT impressed. I think his nomination like the Iraq Study Group is smoke and mirrors to make "W" LOOK as if he is doing something but in reality he will not. What about Iran Contra? No one asked Gates about that illegality he was a part of? What's so great about him that the Dems fawned and fell over backward for him? He is white bread vanilla ... just the type the Bush crowed salivates over and tries to protect their fortune with. It's back to 1950's future. Maybe the guy is smart and maybe he does have a resume -- well a Republican one. He's from Texas A&M? Doesn't that school have something to do with agriculture? Are they known for their foreign policy expertise? Why not pick someone with experience from Harvard, Yale or Princeton ... or BU? You know Yale, our cerebrally challenged president's alma mater. I'll bet that fact inflates Yale's admission applications. I digress. This is a cynical entry. I can't help it. The decision to invade Iraq was so utterly lied about and so wrong and so stupid and SO lost now I do not see how even God himself could extricate that mad crowd in Iraq which we put there. Malaki I believe will fall. Then what? TOTAL and I mean TOTAL civil war will ensue. Why prolong this misery? Declare victory and leave. Can't we say instead of creating democracy that we just wanted to topple Saddam? Well, we did that, so let's leave before 3,000 more troops have to pay with their lives. I can take defeat. I have many times. Like Bush's father, I am not afraid to cry especially if the rationale for crying would save lives.

Political Processes and Impeachment

I signed a petition to return to paper ballots which will ensure, I think, a fairer election and reduce the possibility of computer fraud. I will attach below a link to the site if you are interested. In my opinion, we need to prevent the Republican and other cheats from stealing elections again. Paper ballots would be one way to ensure they do not steal another as they did in 2000, 2004 and even some in 2006!

Thankfully, Democrats prevailed this time but we can NEVER give up, and must always be vigilant because these Republicans generally do not care about morality (except in our bedrooms) and will do ANYTHING to win. 2008 is a critical election yet again especially if a Bush clone such as Romney, God forbid Jeb Bush or anyone else tied to the coattails of the religious right, runs in some capacity. Even a vice-presidency made up of candidates such as they who will renew the Evangelical religious threat, its reemergence and assumption of power ensuring decades more of religious rule. The influence of this hostile takeover and threat to our fundamental structure in the separation clause of our Constitution must not be allowed to happen again. It has had disastrous consequences from Iraq and US foreign policy to global warming, privacy rights, a belief in science not superstition, stem cell research and many other things crucial to the survival of humanity.

I believe, too, in intense subpoenaed-under-oath-hearings in January, 2007 as to why Bush took us to war. Bush and his corrupt minions need to be held accountable for their murderous policies and above all lies. He should, in my opinion, if these investigations show (which I believe they will) he lied us into war, be impeached. In my opinion, too, he and his cohorts should be convicted, removed from office and prosecuted for manslaughter and crimes against humanity.

He has, I believe, been responsible for the murder of 3000 of our soldiers and the horrific life-long wounding of others because of his lies. He is responsible for COUNTLESS other deaths and injuries as well. He cannot talk about murders in Iraq when he lied his way into a war and committed his own murders which actually PUT more terrorists in Iraq who were not there before the invasion. He shattered a country and all the king's horses had no plan to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Al Quaeda is now in Iraq because HE put them there.

He is a liar, he is cruel, he is a coward who evaded the draft and he is a moron. He is an embarrassment to this nation for the world's eyes to see and he, above anyone else, should be held accountable under the Articles of Impeachment of the US Constitution. Clinton was impeached for so much less. SURELY Bush should be as well because his lawlessness has been so much more egregious, devastating to our way of life and much more unconstitutional. He has committed acts worse than anything committed by any other president (including Andrew Johnson who was the only other president in US history to face impeachment besides Clinton.) None has ever been convicted but I think Bush, et al should be.

George W. Bush and Vice President Cheney, through their administration's policies have breached US Constitutional Amendment I, Amendment IV, Amendment V, Amendment VI, Amendment VII, and Amendment VIII. What is worse then bringing a country to war under false pretenses, lying to Congress, torturing, unlawfully imprisoning and wiretapping our citizenry? These policies have cost unnecessary death, loss of physical capacities, expenditure of huge sums of monies, and the ruination of a sovereign nation state which had not attacked us and had no weapons of mass destruction. He created Middle East regional discord under false pretenses. The list goes on seemingly without end. He has threatened our way of life because he has opened up a hornets' nest of angry people in a part of the world that is one of the most violent areas on earth.

Send email, letters, faxes to prevail upon your elected representatives that you want national leaders to be held accountable for their policies and misdeeds. Send them so our leaders know they can never again take us to war lightly, preemptively without strong evidence and without a Declaration of War as stipulated in our Constitution. Our Founders gave us the tools. As Ben Franklin said when he was asked what kind of government our Founders gave the world he said: "a republic if you can keep it." I believe he would say the very same thing today.

PAPER BALLOT PETITION

http://us.f314.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=2097_5704849_10143_2419_3464_0_8448_9107_2071519180&Idx=1&YY=15750&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Inbox

A political rant: Forgive the rather lose phrasiology but this is a rant. A friend of mine sent me a petition to have paper ballots. I signed the petition! We need to crush those Republican cheats and paper ballots would be one way to ensure they don't steal everything like they did in 2000, 2004 and even some in 2006! Thankfully, we prevailed but we can NEVER give up, always be vigilant bec. they have no morality and will do ANYTHING to win. While I'm revved up, I believe in intense subpoenaed under oath hearings come January. Bush and his corrupt minions need to be held accountable for his murderous policies. He should, absolutely without question be impeached and in my opinion he should be convicted, removed from office and prosecuted for manslaughter. He has been responsible for the murder of 3000 of our soldiers through his lies and murders of COUNTLESS others. He cannot talk about murders in Iraq when he lied his way into a war and committed his own murders and actually PUT more of the murders in Iraq to begin with. If Al Quaeda is there HE put them there. He is a liar, a coward and a moron and he above anyone else should be held accountable under the articles of impeachment of the US Constitution. If they did it to Clinton they SURELY should do it to Bush who has committed the most EGREGIOUS acts much worse than anything any other president (including Andrew Johnson who was the only other one to face impeachment besides Clinton) None has ever been convicted but I think Bush should be. He deserves it. What is worse then brining a country to war under false pretenses?