Responsibility

In previous posts, another blog site, we have for two years concentrated on matters of national security. We are certainly not "insiders" but we are far more in tune with key off shore developments than most. Past two years we have focused naturally on the crucible know as the Middle East. We have been pulled into the presidential election only because of the situational powers given to the commander-in-chief. It has been a stretch. Thus we have birthed this site to better analyze the presidential electoral process, maintaining the Robert Craven Report to monitor developments which directly relate to matters of US security.

At the moment we have three presidential contenders, one of whom has such a set on her that she offered the VP slot to a guy who has more pledged delegates than she (!); we have a convoluted Democrat primary process which, although most of the party unwashed don’t realize it, is anything but grass roots, and finally a Republican candidate who has offended many of his own party for his candor, most recently rebuking a fellow Republican who said that terrorists "would be dancing in the streets" if B.H. Obama is elected.

The key danger to the United States and the balance of the free world is illiteracy in the U S voting booth. This is not Denmark. If it were, a partisan vote or a vote cast just for the hell of it makes little difference to the free world. Here we have the biggest fish in the pond. Thus, American voters carry a further burden - one of responsibility not to just themselves and family, but to Western civilization.

Let’s take these three, one at a time. BH Obama’s message is "change," a word he used 33 times in a February primary victory speech (someone buy this guy a thesaurus). Maybe he’s right. A lot of our liberal friends in Marin County apparently hope a young president Obama would recast the United States as a hip, likable, multi cultural society, marking an end to the stereotype of the U.S. as a stodgy white-guy superpower. We need to find out. Is this a country that needs major change, and if so, is he our man? Well, we received from the Obama campaign eight pages of examples of his reaching across the aisle in the Senate. But these are small-bore items of almost no controversy — more help for war veterans, reducing loose nukes in the former Soviet Union, and the like. Bipartisan support for apple pie is hardly a profile in courage. While a state senator he regularly voted "present" 130 times rather than take a stand. But then again, we may be missing something.

Is the USofA in dire need of a fix? Despite all of its problems, America is not a deeply flawed place, at least we don’t think so. It is the greatest nation in the history of mankind we think. It allows Barack Obama to run for president; it allows his wife to attend Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Yet Obama’s constant emphasis on change carries the disturbing undertone that the country is a disaster requiring radical reform. This isn't a message of optimism -- it's a message of profound pessimism. But then we may be missing something. Apparently Obama wants us to believe that America is in trouble and that it can only be cured with a big lurch to the left. Take from the rich and give to the non-rich. Redistribute income and wealth. It's an age-old recipe for economic disaster. It completely ignores incentives for entrepreneurs, small family-owned businesses, and investors. You can't have capitalism without capital. But Obama would penalize capital, be it capital from corporations or investors. Won’t this only harm, and not advance, opportunities for middle-class workers? Haven’t we all been through this before? Obama wants a greater government role in healthcare, higher taxes, tighter regulation, more social welfare, an increased flow of low-skilled migrants with amnesty for those already here, a cut-and-run from Iraq: these are not measures likely to improve US competitiveness or enhance America’s standing in the world. Or are they?

This country deserves the pride of its citizens. A popular bumper sticker in Marin County reads - "Dissent is Patriotic". Naturally, but only if it is grounded; noise is not patriotic. Sure, some policies need change -- some policies always need change. But the soul of the country is intact. It doesn't need a soul-fixer. It needs a leader.

Robert Craven