A History Lesson...

...of the musical kind.

Gillibrand Questions Obama

If you didn't catch President Obama's Q & A with Senate Democrats today, check out Senator Kirsten Gillibrand' question here. I think it's important.

You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train

I was first introduced to Howard Zinn in my 11th grade Advanced Placement US History class, and I read A People's History of the United States shortly after graduating college. And now that he's gone, we have to remember his greatest lesson: You can't be neutral on a moving train.

Patterson Not the Only One Being Replaced

2010 does not look like a good year for Governor David Patterson. His polls are in the tank. His campaign funds are desperately low. He just lost one of his top campaign strategists. And he's faced with making severely unpopular proposals in an effort to bridge New York State's $7.4 billion (that's with a "B," people) deficit. Do you think imposing a one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks is going to send people running to pull a lever next to his name? How about that $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes? (By the way, I'm not saying these proposals are good or bad, just that they are most likely bad PR for a governor in Mr. Patterson's position) I guess those commercials I mentioned back in November haven't been helping all that much.

So, with each passing day it looks more and more like Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will be the Democratic nominee for governor of New York this November. He has the numbers, the money, and the image to defeat Patterson in the primary, and Patterson's campaign is in a state of turmoil. I guess we'll find out September 14.

But Governor David Patterson isn't the only one that's going to be replaced this year. I am, too. For a few different reasons, I have decided to indefinitely suspend my blog, and it will subsequently be removed from the Poughkeepsie Journal website once a replacement has been chosen. If you are interested in being the person who replaces me, please send an email of interest and sample blog posts to Irwin Goldberg at igoldberg@poughkee.gannett.com. Until then, I'll still be making a few posts here and there.

Waste

If you haven't checked out the front page article from yesterday's Poughkeepsie Journal, I suggest you do so. However, if you do not have the time, I will simply quote the first sentence for you:

"Dutchess County spent $1,092 for each of 27 desk chairs for use at the county's Emergency Command Center in the Town of Hyde Park — a room used sparingly as a coordination and control facility during natural or man-made disasters."

What!? Are you kidding me!? Do I really need to bloviate on about how terrible a decision this was? I think not.

And people wonder why taxes in our county are so high.

In the wake of Wednesday's New York State Senate defeat of a law that would have legalized gay marriage in our state, I would like to post for the 3rd time:

"I believe in 50 years, our society will look back on the fight against gay marriage the same way we now look back at the civil rights movement of the 1950s, or interracial marriage, or slavery, our country's original sin. 'They were fighting over this?' they'll ask. On a long enough period of time, social progressives will overcome social conservatives every time. And if our textbooks are any indication, history will not judge well those who try to keep others from enjoying the same freedoms."

The majority does not have the right to limit the rights of the minority.

The Escalation

I watched President Obama's speech from West Point last night with skepticism, and I don't believe my opinion has changed at all. I believe that Afghanistan is a quagmire, and I do not think the escalation of 30,000 additional US troops is going to solve the problem for 3 main reasons:

First, the point of the war is to destroy Al Qaeda and its ability to use Afghanistan as a safe haven. However, many of Al Qaeda's forces -- supposedly including Osama bin Laden, himself -- are not located in Afghanistan, but rather Pakistan, a country whose territorial sovereignty we cannot breach. With the Pakistani government and military in the constant state of turmoil that it is, how can we expect them to secure their own land?

Second, the Afghans as a whole have no confidence in their central government. How can we be expected to stabilize a people and a government when the people don't have faith in the government?

Third, history. From December 1979 to February 1989, the people of Afghanistan were able to withstand the invasion of the Soviet Union. That's almost 10 years. We've been there just over 8. Do we really expect a different result? These people will wait us out. No matter how long we stay, they will wait longer. They will wait forever.

So, because I am extremely skeptical of our ability to accomplish this goal, I am also extremely skeptical that the withdrawal of US forces will be able to occur in 3 years. In a meeting with top members of Congress prior to last night's speech, President Obama was pressed by Senator McCain on the timetable he was laying out, and President Obama conceded that any troop movements would be based on conditions on the group. This mean if it comes time to start withdrawing and conditions aren't favorable, we won't. Rest assured that this war has no end in sight. President Obama may be telling us where the end is, but believe me when I say that neither he, nor the military, nor anyone else can actually see it.

When Osama bin Laden orchestrated the attacks on September 11, 2001, the goal was to bring the United States to its knees -- politically, financially, militarily. More than 8 years later, where are we? We are stretching our political clout throughout the world to the limit. We are hemorrhaging money that we don't have, sinking deeper and deeper into debt. And our military is under pressures that are pushing it steadily toward the breaking point.

I imagine he's feeling quite good about himself right about now.