Iraq is no Germany

Somebody needs to tell Monica Crowley of MSNBC's Connected that there is a big difference between our 60-year presence in Germany and our current presence in Iraq. She has been known to cite the former as a reason why setting a timetable for pulling out of Iraq may not be forthcoming. But we haven't had insurgents blowing up car bombs in Berlin for the past sixty years, whereas, if we're still in Iraq in 2065 we may still be facing a violent insurgency, and counting our dead in the tens of thousands.

By the way, just think back to early 2003. We were at relative peace in the world then. Now we're in a hornet's nest, and we may still be there in 2065.

A Few Ideas

In thinking about the important issues of today I came up with the following, for starters:

1) If we create a problem, then we have a duty to fix it. This goes for the situation in Iraq, of course, but also applies, I think, to issues like homelessness, racial inequality, etc.

2) A President should not favor one group of citizens over another. He should not favor, for example, the top one percent of the wealthy. He was elected to be President of all the people, not just of a privileged few.

3) a. The present administration in Washington is good at Politics but not good at Government.

b. Government should be about truth. Politics is largely about deception and lies.

c. A crisis of trust exists between the American people and the administration of George W. Bush. The people have difficulty believing this administration.

In the Beginning

Welcome to The Tao of Politics. In coming weeks I hope to have this blog up and running at full speed. But for now I would like to say that I hope we can have some valuable discussions in the future about the future. Certainly the present is not all that it should be or could be. It is up to us, here and now, to make the future what it will be. I feel optimistic. I hope you do as well.