US self-interest could destabilize the world…

Short-sightedness has become the hallmark of American foreign policy. This is by no means a recent phenomenon. Ever since the premature death of FDR, there has not been a long-range vision for America’s role in the world. It was President Harry Truman who actually messed-up the clear-thinking policy of the United States to be followed by an equally incompetent President Dwight Eisenhower administration. It was Truman who gave his consent to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus letting the nuclear genie out of the bottle. It was Truman again who decided to recognize the State of Israel without doing the necessary ground-work and therefore creating this 60 year old on-going dispute. Truman’s incompetence and aloofness was the result of India’s partition and the genocide that followed. He couldn’t wait to recognize the unviable State of Pakistan, now a failing ‘Terror State’. It is difficult to imagine one single President of the United States of America who created more problems than the dim-witted Harry S Truman!

President John F Kennedy had the intellectual capacity to reorganize America’s foreign policy but unfortunately his life was cut short by an assassin’s bullet. But for Cuba, his vision for the new world order was bold and different. Unfortunately he was followed by another Truman like President Lyndon B Johnson who was an excellent legislator but terrible diplomat. Johnson aggravated Truman’s policies by escalating the Vietnam War and miss-managing the Soviet Union. Richard Nixon gets the credit for opening the doors to China but other than that he was the devils incarnate. He nearly went to war with India over the break-up of his beloved Pakistan. Nixon used Pakistan as a conduit to open dialogue with China. This is the single most important diplomatic achievement in America’s foreign policy in the last 60 years. Large part of the credit goes to Nixon’s Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Nixon was followed by a peanut farmer from Georgia, Jimmy Carter as the next President of the United States. Carter was probably the biggest calamity in America’s foreign policy!

President Carter’s biggest achievement was the Camp David Accord that resolved the long-festering conflict between Egypt and Israel. Other than that he comes only second to Harry Truman in creating more problems around the world than solving anything substantial. America’s electronic media is in love with this guy as a number of anchors were connected to his administration. When asked an opinion on major foreign policy issue, he gives that knowing smile and shares his pearls of wisdom. Incidentally this bloke is responsible for creating al-Qaida and messing-up the relationship with Iran. But for Truman and Carter, America would have had half the problems around the world. Ronald Reagan replaced the illustrious Carter after just one term. Reagan came with a pre-conceived idea of Soviet Union as the ‘evil empire’ and spent all his 8 years destroying it. On the flip side, Reagan compounded Carter’s problems in using al-Quida in Afghanistan and ratcheting-up Iran boogie. The world has since paid a heavy price for ‘Islamic Terror’, largely created by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Their terror legacy lives long passt their administrations!

Justice Antonin Scalia is a professional ‘Goonda’…

Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court is an unrepentant professional ‘Goonda’. He hides his political bias behind words like ‘originalism’. The fact of the matter is that he is a typical political hack who pretends to be an intellectual and tries his best to intimidate his colleagues on the Supreme Court bench to his conservative agenda. His biggest achievement on the US Supreme Court has been the selection of George W Bush as the President of the United States of America, and he knows that. His argument that the Constitution of the United States is a dead document is bogus and shows a lack of understanding and a preconceived dogma.

Antonin Gregory Scalia was born on March 11, 1936 in Trenton, New Jersey. His father, S Eugene Scalia, was born in Sicily and immigrated to the United States as a young man and became a professor of Romance languages. His mother, Kathy Panaro, born to immigrant Italian parents, was a school teacher. Nino (Antonin Scalia) is the only child of his Roman Catholic parents and has no cousins. When Scalia was five years old, his father became a professor at Brooklyn College, and the family moved to Elmhurst, a section of Queens, New York City.

Antonin Scalia – 60 Minutes pt 1 of 4

Antonin Scalia – 60 Minutes pt 2 of 4

Antonin Scalia – 60 Minutes pt 3 of 4

Antonin Scalia – 60 Minutes pt 4 of 4

A decent man is going down the drain…

Senator John McCain of Arizona is a decent man, at least compared to some of his Republican colleagues. He should have been the President of the United States of America at some point. Unfortunately, he is too late to be one this time around. The political deck is stacked-up against the incumbent party and it would have been a miracle to have beaten a Democrat in current circumstances. Providence intervened and the most favored Democrat, Hillary Clinton, was pre-empted by a young unknown black-man from Chicago. This was a golden opportunity presented to a moderate Republican who couldn’t be tied to the unpopular incumbent, President George W Bush. McCain was cruising along within striking distance when he suddenly decided to pick a young un-experienced Governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin, as a running mate. I knew then that he has screwed-up and wrote about it in my blog. He did get a boost in the polls after the Republican Convention but lost the argument on experience!

The nomination of Senator Barack Obama as the nominee of the Democratic Party split the party in half. It was not just the media that circumvented the process, but whole-sale desertion of the Clintons by the blacks created an unpleasant situation. Campaign Obama used his race effectively to black-mail the Clinton supporters and pushed the ‘Super Delegates’ to support their candidate. A substantial percentage of Democrats felt cheated and presented an opportunity to an acceptable Republican candidate. All that John McCain had to do was to behave rationally and he would have been leading by a decent margin by this time of the year. The Hillary Clinton supporters and a vast majority of independents expected him to pick former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, to be his running mate. This would have strengthened his economic credentials besides his own foreign policy and national security advantage. He also needed Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, and Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, to be an integral part of his presumptive administration. Instead, he did exactly the opposite. He took a totally irrational decision and went for a highly political and a short-term candidate. He managed to fire his base but lost the independents that were crucial for this election.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin comes across as a very bright individual but has been given a raw deal. She is expected to out-perform Barack Obama in 6 to 8 weeks. If she had gone through the rough and tumble of 18 month long primary season, she would be as ready as anybody. Add to that the open hostility of the conventional media towards her. The CNBC, CNN and others like them can barely hide their contempt for the new intruder on their favorite Barack’s territory. Hillary Clinton built Barack Obama as a potential candidate all through the spring and early summer. He had very little going for him except his race and the adoring media. Hillary really whipped his ass and prepared him for the national debates by exposing him to the real issues. Sarah Palin has received no such training or the challenges that a viable candidate must face. In the early stages Obama used to look at Hillary’s face for any complicated question. She was too willing to answer for him and get the applause. He would then turn around and make that his answer. The moderators and commentators were either too dumb or were willing to ignore the obvious and accept Barack’s excuses. The whole process was at best, distastefull.

An imperfect union called…

American politicians like to call on their citizens to build “a more perfect union”. They all seem to believe that a lot of work needs to be done before they can achieve a ‘Perfect Union’. Americans should know, they have spent their blood and treasure to preserve a union in a bloody Civil War. Now that they have a secured ‘Union of States’, they strive for a more perfect union where all it’s citizens have an opportunity to achieve their “God given potential”. Yesterday, the Democratic Party in Denver, Colorado, nominated a Black American to be the nominee of their party for President of the United States of America. Not only the party was feeling proud of this achievement, but all Americans were emotional about this milestone. However, in this nomination they sacrificed the first woman to have reached the same goal. To us in India, it is difficult to accept the discrimination the American women take for granted. That is why Americans call their country an imperfect union. And rightly so!

Now look at India, we have achieved the later but not the first. Can you imagine a Muslim Prime Minister of India? We have had three Muslim Presidents over the past 60 years but with no executive powers. It is a ceremonial office and everyone knows that. But more importantly, have we really built a ‘Union’? We escaped a Civil War but lost twice as many people. We allowed the succession of several states, but satisfied nobody. We were scared to spend our blood and treasure to create a union, but spend we did none-the-less. Pandering to minorities does not create democracy. Providing for them does. India must create a union first before striving for a ‘Perfect Union’. A union can not be created unless the country is ready to spend it’s blood and treasure. And once it is ready, the secessionists would know first and believe it. All 35 states and union territories of India must be a party to it. I would go one step further and say all 610 districts must be a party to forming an Indian Union.

Let us talk about President Obama’s administration…

The presumptive nominee of the Democratic party, Senator Barack Obama, is all set to be the next President of The United States of America. There appears to be little evidence to show that Senator John McCain (presumptive nominee of the Republican party) has any chance of winning this fall. If things change, we would then examine that situation. Before we reach the election, both candidates have to choose a running mate for the Vice Presidential (VP) spot on the ticket. As far as Obama is concerned, the test would be to see if he picks a loser. The list of losers in the Democratic party is very long. Staring with Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Al Gore and the list goes on. The fact of the matter is that they are all losers and so bring nothing to the table. Besides, does Obama really need another person to deliver any state, come November?

The most sensible choice would be to pick a young person, between the age group of mid-forties to early fifties. Someone closer to his age, so that he really turns the page. Another ethnic or a female choice would be too much for the independent voter. A young white male away from the Washington crowd, some happy face, not threatening to his own persona, might be a good choice. Besides, a VP in Barack Obama administration would be like a potted plant in any case. Barack Obama and his ego can not accommodate another person to share the spot-light. He just needs to fulfill the constitutional requirement. This choice would show his character.

Once the general elections are over, the transition would be the most critical this time around. We have not seen such a fluid situation in a generation. When George Herbert Walker Bush took over from Ronald Reagan, he was the Vice President and did not need a transition. Bill Clinton took over from an angry George H W Bush and the transition was at best not ugly. The situation in January 1993 was placid except for the economy. International situation was not bad, except for Bosnia. Bill Clinton’s first term was a disaster in terms of foreign policy. The reason was simple, he and his administration had no reasonable transition and Bill Clinton packed his State Department with the left-overs of Jimmy Carter.

George W Bush took over from Bill Clinton in January 2001 with an open contempt for the previous administration. George W Bush was not only cocky, he brought the whole neo-con movement with him. Economy was good and the international situation appeared calm and under control. Bill Clinton and his State Department knew better. They warned the incoming administration of a very dangerous movement i.e. Al-Qaeda. No one was listening. Dick Cheney (Vice President) and Donald Rumsfeld (Secretary of Defense) were like the two old ‘Hooligans‘ who got excess to a candy store without supervision. Condoleezza Rice (National Security Advisor) was like the ‘Bimbo‘ who got her first date. She threw the file on ‘National Security’ in the bottom drawer. The result is in front of you. She never accepted the blame for it.

Today, the situation is far worse than 1981 when President Reagan took over from President Carter. Economy is in recession whether you admit it or not, inflation is leaping forward, energy crisis is looming large and America is at war on two fronts. The third war with Iran is being promoted by the neo-cons again. Our reputation around the world is in shambles. Who is the best person to help the new administration? The answer is the current President George W Bush. If Barack Obama is the next President Elect, he would need all the help he could get from the incumbent. There is no better consul that Obama could seek from than the man who created the situation in the first place. The next President of The United States would need the current President of The United States to facilitate the transition. A candidate that magnanimous should be our next President.

Charles Hagel is probably the best candidate to be the next Secretary of State. The senior United States Senator from Nebraska would be 62 years old in October this year. Hagel is not only a moderate Republican but I would call him an independent. His demeanor is better than Joe Biden’s and he is less mouthy, a definite qualification in the current situation. Besides, Chuck Hagel has the least amount of ego, an important attribute for Obama administration. Fareed Zakaria could be considered as a deputy to Hagel. Many have suggested that the Republican Senator from Nebraska could be a vice president pick. That is simply impractical because the Democratic Party would revolt. A complete over-haul of the State Department is long over-due. Barack Obama keeps talking about a need to change the mind-set in Washington. Nowhere is the need more acute than in the Department of State of the United States of America. Another important addition to the State Department should be an increase of Political Appointees at the rank of Deputy Secretaries of State rather than having just one. Career diplomats are too dangerous and often irresponsible. The world has changed and United States can not afford a low level engagement with countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran and Mexico.

The primary job of the President of The United States is the National Security, Foreign Affairs, Trade and then the Economy. Because of the domestic compulsions, the candidates talk about economy and jobs the most. They also keep talking about the Health Care, Education, Environment and Immigration. These are largely the responsibilities of the States and The Congress. Once the new President takes office, he gets over-whelmed by the world-events. The next President must be cognizant of this fact and use the small window available to him in the first few months of his first year in office. The time to discuss all this is, NOW.