YETMO

”The Excitement Builds (Week of May 15 – 19, 2006)"

There are so many mega-issues on our political plate that these are truly exciting times, even if you’re not a punditry junky.

First, a prediction. Bush is toast, Republicans lose the House in 2006, and the country struggles until the next Presidential Election to demonstrate any facility to achieve reasonable bipartisan dialogue on anything. Democrats and Republicans can’t agree whether the sun rises in the East or the West.

Of course, there’s a lot of time between now and November, but the Bush brigade hasn’t seemed to understand the public’s desire for candid, honest, and straight-talking discussion. I believe the trust factor, once very high with the President, is largely gone. And we know how slow and hard it is to rebuild that commodity.

The Democrats, however, must appear to be planners and not pugilists merely pummeling a President when he’s down. That, too, appears to be changing. If the Dems can resist the urge to carp and criticize the Administration almost incessantly and, instead, advance proposals to alter the domestic and foreign affairs landscape, the party’s Fat Lady can start warming up her vocal chords right now. Yet, if the President’s polling pattern continues, the loyal opposition can probably attack with impunity. What once appeared as an attuned, in control White House, now seems more Vaudevillian than valiant.

Note to readers: What are your theories on this? Lyrics from the Eagle’s song, “Lyin Eyes,” come to mind. Did the administration “get tired or just get lazy?”

Second, the “I’s” have it! Immigration, intelligence, and infighting. The latter, of course, covers a multitude of sins, ranging from General Hayden’s confirmation as CIA Director, which despite the DC noise is likely to occur, to revising civil service employee performance evaluation systems in the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and many others as the next few years unfold.

Immigration is so important that this country must, simply must, engage in reasoned and constructive dialogue. My fear is that we won’t. We humans are good at discussing only those aspects of problems about which we are either comfortable or confident. However, many aspects of managing the milieu of millions of Mexicans milking American employment opportunities to mail billions of dollars back to their home country raises many questions. I doubt that we, the public, or our representatives, will develop a comprehensive check list of all relevant factors and discuss dispassionately the pro’s and con’s of each. In any case, no matter how well the debate evolves, a sub-optimal solution was result. That’s merely the nature of matters of this magnitude and complexity.

What more can possibly be said about intelligence? We know that we weren’t on top of the Iraq ballgame, although a January 4, 2004, Barton Gellman article [“Iraq’s Arsenal Was Only on Paper; Since Gulf War, Nonconventional Weapons Never Got Past the Planning Stage”, The Washington Post] indicates that even if we had a mole in Saddam’s cabinet, which we may have had, the Iraqi inner circle believed that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction. Why? Gellman says that Saddam Hussein’s closest generals were fearful to tell him the truth. Why? They feared execution. This would explain Saddam’s stonewalling the international community by not easing the task of the weapons inspectors. He likely thought weapons existed. After all, that’s what his generals told him.

Infighting, of course is nothing new, and it will continue as long as people serve in government posts. Whether we’re talking about office politics in a group of one supervisor and 6 employees or Department heads, some people can’t help themselves. They devolve, and engage in craven practices designed to elevate themselves at the expense of everyone else. If people like this remain our workforce, which they will, we will be challenged.

So, that’s the report for the week. You gotta love the suspense, the game, and the promise of change. Of course, one person’s exciting change is not necessarily viewed as such by another.

No matter. This has got to be fun to watch. What’d’ya think?

What are the biggest national itches that you feel we need to scratch?