Power to the People

A letter to the editor which I wrote was published in today's Steubenville Herald Star.

Let’s end the surge

To the editor:

As I write this, it is Sept. 11, 2007, the sixth anniversary of the day that supposedly changed everything. Monday was the day that Gen. David Petraeus spoke to Congress asking that they ignore the GAO report and the recommendations of several military experts, and they instead trust that his own assessment of his own job was the only reliable one.

Three years ago this month, Petraeus wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post in which he said, “Now, however, 18 months after entering Iraq, I see tangible progress. Iraqi security elements are being rebuilt from the ground up. The institutions that oversee them are being re-established from the top down. And Iraqi leaders are stepping forward, leading their country and their security forces courageously.” In that same editorial, he also wrote “Iraq’s security forces are, however, developing steadily and they are in the fight. Momentum has gathered in recent months. With strong Iraqi leaders out front and with continued coalition — and now NATO — support, this trend will continue.”

To read his pronouncements from that time, one wonders how we have yet to see the Mesopotamian Utopia he promised already come to fruition. Yet, now, he would have us believe that up is down and black is white and that the deadliest summer for American troops since the beginning of the war is actually a sign of progress, and that the surge is somehow working.

To justify the rationalization, Petraeus argues that Iraqi violence is down, but this is true only if you start counting in May, the deadliest May yet, and only if you don’t count car bombings or assassinations where the bullet went through the front of the victim’s skull.

According to the most recent Government Accountability Office report I referred to earlier, the “average number of daily attacks against civilians have remained unchanged from February to July 2007.” Another GAO report earlier this summer showed that the Pentagon lost track of nearly 200,000 weapons given to Iraqis. Moreover, U.S. troops died in greater numbers every month this year compared to the same month last year. Also, a recent BBC survey of Iraqis found that 70 percent think the escalation worsened rather than improved security conditions.

These are the facts of the surge. It is time for us, as Americans, to recognize that the Iraqi invasion was a mistake at every level and to insist that the president acknowledge the failure of his ideological best wishes and to leave the fate of Iraq to the people of Iraq. In fact, the 20-member independent panel led by retired Marine Gen. James Jones last week recommended the “significant reductions, consolidations and realignments would appear to be possible and prudent.” Said Jones, “The force footprint should be adjusted in our view to represent an expeditionary capability and to combat a permanent-force image of today’s presence.”

J. David Core

Toronto

Why Not Call Him, "Mr. Putin?"

Bush Says Russians Have Derailed Democratic Reform

PRAGUE, June 5 — President Bush delivered a double-barreled message to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia today, two days before the leaders are to meet in Germany, by assuring Mr. Putin that he has nothing to fear from a missile defense system but also chiding him for derailing democratic reforms.

On the first day of his eight-day tour through Europe, Mr. Bush wasted little time in prodding Mr. Putin to cooperate with the United States on a proposed network of radar and missile defenses in Poland and here in the Czech Republic.

But he also risked provoking the Russian leader, who is already up in arms over the missile defense plan, by taking Mr. Putin to task over human rights.

“My message will be, Vladimir — I call him Vladimir — that you shouldn’t fear a missile defense system,” Mr. Bush said during a morning appearance with leaders of the Czech Republic at Prague Castle, high on a hill overlooking the city.

Seriously, first he gropes the German Chancelor, then he calls the British Prime Minister's name as if he was calling a bassett hound, and now this.

But what more should we expect from this guy?



Cross posted to The Gamut.

Lessons Learned

Well, it's been one month since the election, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to post on some of the things I learned from this run to hopefully educate any future first-time candidates so they won't make the same mistakes I made.

Lesson one; even though you see the same people day after day, constantly reminding them that the election is coming and that you need their vote, DO NOT assume that they will remember to actually vote. Many people don't have the memory even of a goldfish. Call them on election morning - ALL OF THEM, and if necessary take them by the hand and drag them to the polls. This is especially true in a primary, because it's newly warm in Ohio in May and people are not thinking about elections.

Lesson two; take outside money. Don't try to do it all on your own. Yes, in a perfect world, honest candidates don't want to be beholden to anybody, and so one is tempted to rebuke offers of outside donations; but even small-time local elections cost money. Accept and even ASK for donations from those people who tell you "we need a man like you in office."

Lesson three; news nine sucks.

Lesson four; campaign ON election day. Actually, if you do no other campaigning during the entire cycle, make sure you are available to campaign on that one day. It's the only day that matters because too many people don't pay ANY attention to campaigns and they have no idea what a candidate stands for or even if he has a plan at all. But if you are there outside the polls on election day pressing the flesh and asking for their vote, they'll give it to you. It doesn't matter that the law says campaigning is illegal within 100 feet of the entrance to a polling place. It matters not one whit that actually following those guidelines would mean that you would have to shout to voters from well across the street. Apparently, you can actually walk right up to the door with voters asking them to vote for you. So do that.

Lesson five; buy signs. It is no cheaper to make hand made signs and it takes a lot of time. True, it's a labor of love and should demonstrate your commitment to actually DOING the job, but people are more impressed with signs that "look" professional, even though any shmo can have boiler-plate, cookie-cutter, mass-produced signs made for next to no money these days.

Lesson five-b; and speaking of signs, you can apparently put your sign in the yards of people who have no intention of voting for you. I didn't know that. Silly me. Here I was asking my supporters if I could put a sign in their yard when all I had to do was ask people I don't even know if they'd mind if I put a sign out in front of their homes giving their neighbors and friends the impression that they actually supported my candidacy.

Lesson six; hand out voter information about absentee voting to people who you know will vote for you. As I said in lesson one, people forget to vote in primaries. So ask them to vote absentee as soon as it is legal to do so. And then hammer that idea home until you know they've done it. I actually wound up picking up three votes from the initial count because of early voting. In West Virginia as we speak, voting has already begun on a planned special election to be held next week because of a strong push by pro-gambling lobbies. Over 3000 votes almost all probably pro-gambling have been cast by people the lobbies and their big cash have driven (literally) to the BOE.

Lesson seven; forget the primaries. As I have already noted, people don't even vote in primaries in Ohio. So just be on the November ballot. Of course, to do this, one has to forsake the party system. That means running as an independent. But if you can get people to see that you are better qualified and that you actually have a reason to run, and that you are the best candidate, you can get their vote in November whether you are listed with a party or not. Besides, you can always shift party designation after the election. So next time, I'm running as an independent and then if I win, I'll change my party assignation to democrat.

Well, I hope you found these notes interesting and informative. I know I learned a few things. Enjoy the cartoons.

Sometimes They Do NOT Write Themselves

White House Calls Carter 'Irrelevant'

CBS News) CRAWFORD, Texas The White House on Sunday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism of President George W. Bush.

Carter was quoted Saturday as saying "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."

I know, I know, this one is very text-heavy. But I had a point to make, damn it.

Cross posted to the Gamut.

Sometimes These Things Write Themselves

Falwell was a uniter and a divider

Falwell, who had a history of heart trouble, was found without a pulse in his office at Liberty University at midday Tuesday and pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital an hour later. His doctor, Carl Moore, said he presumably died of a heart rhythm abnormality. He was 73.

Cross posted to the Gamut.

My First Editorial Cartoon

Lottery to take over gamblers hot line

MORGANTOWN — The Lottery Commission plans to bypass state public health officials and take control of West Virginia’s nationally recognized program for compulsive gamblers, a move that is alarming addiction counselors and church groups.

Under the little-known plan, the Department of Health and Human Resources would stop administering the $1.5 million Problem Gamblers Help Network on July 1, when the current contract with First Choice Health Care expires. The Lottery would then begin paying providers directly.

Years ago, I was editorial cartoonist for the Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh student newspaper. Afterward, I would periodically try my hand at editorial cartoons for my own enjoyment. I think for now I will periodically do one up just to see how it goes. Feel free to let me know what you think of my work in comments.

Cross posted to the Gamut.

At Least We Tried

By a vote of 109 to 65, the final vote tally in the democratic race for Toronto's third ward seat was won last night by Jason Fogle. Congratulations, Jason, on a fair victory.

To those who supported me and those who voted for me, I want to say thank you, and to remind you that we did very well considering that we were running against incumbency.

I would also like to let Mr. Fogle know that I will not be pulling a Joe Lieberman. I have no intention of trying to run as an Independent and courting Republican voters trying for an upset in November. I ran as a democrat because I am a democrat.

At this time I would also like to announce that I plan to continue to maintain this site. I'll use it to editorialize on all forms of local government as I see fit. I may even run the occassional original editorial cartoon.

That's wonderful, however, I need a majority. -- Adlai Stevenson in response to being told that the intellectuals of America supported him.