State of the Superpower

The Republican National Convention has come and gone and we still have little to no idea what John McCain will do if elected president.

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Despite the Sarah Palin sideshow, aside from the same anti-Washington rhetoric about lower taxes and less government spending, Mr. McCain unveiled little to differentiate himself from George Bush.

In fact, by selecting Governor Palin as his running mate, John McCain all but ensured himself a vice president as divisive as Dick Cheney. Her convention speech made it quite clear Mrs. Palin has little or no respect for those who don’t share her views. Yet Mr. McCain believes she’ll help “reform” Washington.

The Democrats under Mr. Obama promise change, yet not only failed to deliver on their 2006 anti-Iraq War mandate, but capitulated to Mr. Bush over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Republicans under Mr. McCain promise reform, but it is their party that has unquestionnably lead down the path we now find ourselvess on.

And so the train wreck that is the November election lurches forward.

Today Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced her unmarried teenage daughter is 5 months pregnant. Bristol Palin, a 17 year old high school senior, plans to marry the father and raise the baby.

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And in what can only be described as a creamy helping of irony with a giant cherry affixed to the top, when Mrs. Palin ran for governor of Alaska in 2006 she vowed to only support funding for abstinence only sex education in schools.

How’s that abstinence policy working out, Governor?

According to the Associated Press, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales violated government policy while handling sensitive classified documents. Mr. Gonzales failed to secure sensitive documents and may have actually taken some home.

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This is the latest in a series of management “errors” that occurred at the Justice Department under Mr. Gonzales watch. Mr. Gonzales was pressured to resign as head of Justice in 2007 after a string of embarrassing scandals, including the firing of several U.S. Attorneys for partisan reasons.

Considering everything that happened at the DOJ under Alberto Gonzales, mishandling top secret information is refreshingly benign.

On Friday President and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki reportedly agreed to a phased withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by June 2009.

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I’d add more about the number of troops exiting, conditions for the pullout, and even gloat about Bush & Company finally agreeing to a timetable, but why? The truth is, at the insistence of the Iraqi Government, there is now a timetable for American forces to exit Iraq.

And anything George Bush says or does is really irrelevant. By this time next year he will be out of office and, despite the horrible damage his administration has done to this country, America will pick up the pieces and trudge on.

On Friday Federal regulators closed the Colombian Bank and Trust Company, a Kansas-based bank saddled with unsustainable real estate loan losses.

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Columbia Bank and Trust is the ninth FDIC insured bank to go under this year, with ninety others considered at risk. In 2007, only three banks failed.

And so the FDIC serves up another “Friday Night Special” praying we don’t notice just how bad the housing sector really is.

House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi finally agreed to include provisions for limited oil exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf in new energy legislation scheduled for debate later this year.

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In a major policy reversal, Mrs. Pelosi said legislators will “consider opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, with appropriate safeguards, and without taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil”.

By allowing for limited coastal oil drilling, Mrs. Pelosi and the Democratic Majority not only diffuse a political landmine, but also force their Republican counterparts to confront some unpleasant political realities of their own.

Any energy legislation granting expanded oil exploration will certainly be laced with provisions House Republicans oppose, including windfall taxes on Big Oil, the release of oil from the strategic reserve, and mandates requiring specific amounts of power to come from renewable sources.

Congressional Republicans would be left with two choices: vote for a bill they don’t like or oppose drilling legislation that doesn’t “coddle” the oil industry and further cement their image as the champion of Main Street over Wall Street.

The two sides could compromise, but after 7 years of the Bush Administration’s “my way or the highway” philosophy coupled with traditional election year posturing, it seems unlikely.

House Republicans should be careful what they wish for. They just might get it.

Last Friday The Hershey Company announced it would raise prices 11% after lowering its 2008 and 2009 earnings estimates.

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Things aren’t well at “Sugarland” if Hershey, and iconic American candy maker, keeps dropping profit estimates. I’d like to see it as a sign that Americans are eating healthier, but a recent visit to a local Walmart dispelled that notion.

Last Thursday Russian forces invaded Georgia to retake South Ossetia, a pro-Russian province. Fighting actually began when Georgian military forces attempted to retake the province, which declared independence from Georgia in the 1990s. That claim is not internationally recognized.

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On Sunday the Bush Administration warned Russia that continued military escalation could have a “significant, long-term impact” on relations between Washington and Moscow.

Returning from the Olympic Games in Beijing on Monday, Mr. Bush said, “Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.”

Georgia, itself a former Soviet satellite, is considered a U.S. ally.

John McCain and Barack Obama also spoke about the deteriorating situation, but their comments ran along the “Russia must leave or we’ll be cross” line used by Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney.

The truth is Russia is going to “stomp the guts” out of Georgia and, aside from righteous indignation peppered with sporadic whining, the international community will sit on their hands and do nothing.

If you’re big and bad enough, then you can do whatever you want. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone because it has been the guiding principle behind American foreign policy for the last seven years.

Ron Suskind, author of The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism, will release interview transcripts which he claims confirm his allegation that Bush Administration officals ordered the CIA to fabricate documents linking the 9-11 terrorist attacks to Iraq.

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Mr. Suskind’s recent book levels serious charges against Mr. Bush’s White House, and he should share his “proof” for public consumption.

Now if only the White House was as forthcoming.

The United States and Iraq are close to an agreement which, if ratified, would bring all American combat troops home from Iraq by 2010.

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Although still in the negotiation stage, the deal gives Iraqi forces control over portions of the Green Zone by year’s end, and would pull American forces from Iraqi cities by the end of 2009. If security conditions allow, all combat forces would exit Iraq in 2010 followed by support personnel in 2013.

And there you have it, a complete reversal of U.S. policy in Iraq. Since the war began in 2003, the Bush Administration has rejected any sort of time table for withdrawal. Mr. Bush’s open-ended approach not only squandered American lives, treasure, and international prestige, but also led to a revitalized and emboldened Iran.

With Mr. Bush’s presidency facing twilight time, reality will once again replace ideology in American foreign affairs.