Political Recap 011

The "Puertorican Bambino" Mike Lowell #24 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates with the World Series MVP trophy after defeating the Colorado Rockies in Game Four of the 2007 World Series at Coors Field on October 28, 2007 in Denver, Colorado The Red Sox defeated the Rockies 4-3 and won the World Series 4-0. The Colorado Rockies were totally out-matched, and this time around the BEST team did win the World Series.

Wait a minute Mr cfs, this is supposed to be a political recap, why then do you have a photo of a Bostonian here? Just because my friends and family from Boston will hang me if I do not mention the victory of the Boston Red Sox over the Colorado Rockies. Now let's get back to political business.

From First Lady to President. No, we are not talking about Senator Hillary Clinton. We are talking about the First Lady of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Her and her husband [president Nestor Kirchner] are trading places. Her husband is the current president of Argentina, and she won the presidential election yesterday. They have a good setup in Argentina, a person can serve for life, as long as there is a "break in service", meaning that the current president can run again and replace his wife as president during the next presidential election. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's triumph is historic. She is first woman "elected" president of Argentina, but she not its first "woman President." Vice-President Isabel Peron assumed the office in 1974 following the death of her husband Juan Domingo Peron. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is expected to continue the policies of her popular husband Nestor Kirchner [he is credited with saving Argentina from a long financial crisis]. Oh by the way, the "next door president" is also a female, the Socialist Michele Bachelet was elected president of Chile in 2006, and she too is the first female elected president in her country. Could Senator Hillary Clinton be the next female elected president in our continent? Only YOU the voter can make it happen.

Remember Senator John S McCain? A few months ago this man was considered out of competition by the media. Not by me. And now everyone is writing about how good the man is looking again. Some of the reasons why he is making a comeback on the polls is due to the fact that there is not one Republican candidate standing in solid ground. Not one candidate has emerged as a the clear front runner. But what about Rudy Giuliani? Well, he is leading in national polls, but is lagging in several early primary states. What about Fred Thompson? This man has not impressed anyone in the past two months and he could not capitalize on Senator McCain's BAD months. What about Mitt Romney? He is leading in a few important states, but his support is not solid and he is still trying to connect with a large majority of voters. Senator McCain was able to score a few points thanks to the Democratic front runner. He continues to mention Senator Hillary Clinton's One Million Dollar funding request for The Woodstock Concert Museum and during the last debate he earned a standing ovation when he alluded to his 5 1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison. On the Woodstock concert he said "I wasn't there ... I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time." Translation: While others were protesting on the streets and enjoying a life of drugs, US Navy aircraft carrier pilot John S McCain was suffering abuse in a North Vietnamese POW prison. To his opponents I say this, under-estimate Senator John S McCain at your own risk.

Iraq politics. Iraq is slowly moving away from the news headlines and is is becoming another forgotten war. We have made some progress in Iraq, and the voters have finally accepted the fact there is nothing they can do about this war because the administration will continue to stay the course. We have made some progress buying the hearts and minds of our enemies in Iraq. We were able to buy the Sunni militias, and now we need to work hard on buying the hearts and minds of the Shia militias. It is all down hill from here on in Iraq. I expect the number of attacks against our GIs to go down and the number of combat fatalities to go down significantly. Another piece of good news is coming from the holy city of Karbala where US forces will turn over security to Iraqi authorities Monday. Karbala will become only the 8th of Iraq's 18 provinces to revert to Iraqi control. The area is still troubled by daily violence but our GIs need to move on. The BTW [Bush War Team] is beginning to see the light at the end of the Iraqi tunnel.

More Iraq politics. Just saying no to the American Embassy in Iraq. From a CBS report. As expected, the State Department is having serious problems filling vacancies at the American Embassy in Iraq. There are no volunteers, so, beginning next Monday, 200 to 300 diplomats will be notified that they have been identified as prime candidates to fill 40 to 50 vacancies that will open next year at the embassy. Those notified that they have been selected for a 1-year tour of duty will have 10 days to respond, and only those with a good reason will be excused. Those refusing to serve without a valid reason may face disciplinary action up to and including dismissal for failing to uphold their oath to serve the United States and the Constitution.

Remember Howard Dean? The Democratic Party chairman criticized Republicans in Congress for not supporting legislation to expand a popular State Children's Health Insurance Program [SCHIP]. As per Howard Dean the Republicans support significant borrowing to continue wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but are not willing to support the legislation to increase spending for the SCHIP. This month the president VETOED legislation to add $35 billion [over five years] to the SCHIP, and the House of Representatives failed to override the veto. However, the president have requested $46 billion to continue the war in Iraq and in Afghanistan [that is in addition to all the billions and billions already approved for the current year].

FEMA's fake conference. Well, we did not have a Katrina moment here in San Diego with the infamous Browny you are doing a heck of a job type of moment, however, the leadership of FEMA once again blew it. As reported by NBC, last Tuesday, FEMA held what was called a news briefing on the California fires, but the questions asked did not come from reporters. They were asked instead by FEMA staffers. But, why fake it? The FEMA briefing was called with little lead-time and reporters didn't get there fast enough. Instead of acknowledging that reporters were not there, the FEMA Deputy Administrator [Harvey Johnson] pretended and even used the typical practice of calling a "last question" but he did not indicate that the questions were coming from staff who were in essence playing reporters. Six questions were asked and the phrasing and subject matter were not typical for a news briefing give and take. This group needs to be held accountable. If FEMA wants to be respected, then some heads must roll.

UPDATE as of 10/29/2007 1700 Pacific. Heads are rolling at FEMA. This was published by the AP just a few minutes ago. The man who oversaw a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference is out of a job. John P. "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's former external affairs director, was to take over public affairs for the Director of National Intelligence on Monday. But after Philbin's involvement in staging a fake FEMA press conference, DNI Mike McConnell decided not to have him as his top public information officer. And more heads are expected to roll as the investigation continues, check this out: FEMA administrator R. David Paulison scolded the public affairs staff involved in the incident. And in a letter to FEMA staff Monday, Paulison called the incident "an egregious decision" by the external affairs director and his staff. "As I continue to investigate this matter further, I may take additional disciplinary measures." Accountability in the US government?

Best political Halloween costume? Well, shipmates, Halloween is just around the corner, do you have your costume yet? Here are some ideas for you, what about a political costume? Again Senator Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani are placing one and two in a poll. No we are not talking about election here, we are talking about which major 2008 presidential candidate would make the scariest Halloween costume. On the AP-Ipso survey the two New Yorkers came on top. Hillary Clinton came on top with 33% and Rudy was second with 14%. The good news for the two front runners is that no other candidate exceeded 6 percent on the the scariest Halloween costume poll!

Thanks for reading!