"We Must Be Able to Do More Than One Thing at Once"

We are in the midst of an important time in history because we face a broad range of issues on the global and national levels simultaneously. Under normal circumstances, each of these deserves the focused attention of our leaders and the American people. However, we do not have that luxury, and we must, as President-elect Obama states, be able to do more than one thing at a time.

I will only touch these topics today, and I will dedicate additional space to each of them as time permits.

Briefly:

1. Bailout Bingo, Why Wouldn't We All Play? - I almost titled this subject "Back in the USSA" (and I still may). The seemingly endless stream of bailouts coupled with the contemplated government 'stimulus' of nearly $1,000,000,000,000 (that is a lot of zeros) is eroding our capitalist system. Big government is not the answer. Rather, it is part of the problem. Let us implement smart regulations that do not destroy the core fabric of what helped make America great, namely Americans taking risks with the expectation that they will reap its rewards if they are successful or pay the price if they fail.


2. If You Don't Fight to Win, You are Fighting to Lose - I sometimes paraphrase COL (R) Jack Jacobs, who likes to remind people that the way to guarantee you'll take the most casualties in the long run is to fight a war when you're not willing to take any on your side or to inflict them on the enemy. Hamas is a terrorist organization which seeks the destruction of Israel and does not care whether Israeli civilians, or for that matter, Palestinian civilians are killed. Its fighters are TERRORISTS, and not "militants" or any other politically correct euphemism. Israel has to fight to win, and thus far, they are to be commended and supported for their actions. The tough question, though is, "What is the objective of the war?" If Israel needs more than a few words to define its objective, it may be falling into the political correctness trap of trying to please everyone with unnecessary precision. Doing so emasculates Israel’s cause and lowers its probability of success.


3. Playing Politics with National Security - Until recently, Obama has made impressive decisions with regard to the people he intends to bring into the new administration. Generally speaking, they have been qualified people with credible experience who are not ideological zealots. While everyone may not agree with all of them, at the end of the day, it is important to have qualified people who can get things done in positions of responsibility. He is to be commended for these selections. Unfortunately, that trend changed in the last couple of days when Obama indicated that he will nominate people with partisan agendas to play critical roles in protecting America. Some of these will fill roles in the Justice Department. However, the most troubling intended nomination is that of Leon Panetta to lead the CIA. Based on everything we know, Panetta is not qualified to lead the CIA, amongst the most important national security roles. Panetta is obviously smart and capable, and if Obama wants him in his administration, he should find an appropriate role. Many people criticized the Bush administration of ‘playing politics’ with intelligence, whether fairly or unfairly, in the lead up to the Iraq war. Therefore, Panetta’s nomination to the CIA is particularly worrisome because it comes on the heel of these accusations and the valuable lesson we learned that intelligence must not be influenced by partisan politics. The CIA suffered through a difficult period in its history, and it took the stewardship of Gen Hayden, a career intelligence officer with an impeccable record, to restore its reputation. Hopefully, Obama will reconsider the Panetta nomination and ask Gen Hayden to remain in his position as he did with Secretary of Defense Gates.


4. Chemotherapy for Corruption - Corruption is the scourge of all societies. If unchecked it can cause societal illness here just as it does in other places around the world. Now, we are still a long way from Zimbabwe or Venezuela or Russia, but corruption is a cancer that can metastasize if not treated and controlled. Gov Blagojevich is infamous for the degree of chutzpah he displays, but he is not unique. We should enforce fully existing anti-corruption laws, and enact new laws with more appropriately severe punishments. Our government and civil service employees, at all levels, must be held accountable.