War, what is it good for?

This was an interesting week in politics. A number of interesting developments on the war front. First, Democrats gave up on the General Mukasey “torture” issue. They caved out of fear of losing support from the center during the 2008 elections. Interestingly enough, they are starting to lose support from there more liberal base, as there is a feeling of hopelessness in the party, because no matter what they do, they cannot defeat the Republican agenda.

Six Democrats joined 46 Republicans and one independent in approving the judge, with his backers praising him as a strong choice to restore morale at the Justice Department and independently oversee federal prosecutions in the final months of the Bush administration.

Thirty-nine Democrats and one independent opposed him.

“The Department of Justice needs Judge Mukasey at work tomorrow morning,” said Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “The Department of Justice has been categorized as dysfunctional and in disarray. It is in urgent need of an attorney general.”

But Democrats said Mr. Mukasey’s refusal to characterize waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, as illegal torture disqualified him from taking over as the nation’s top law enforcement official.

“I am not going to aid and abet the confirmation contortions of this administration,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “I do not vote to allow torture.”

All five senators who are running for president — Joseph R. Biden Jr., Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Christopher J. Dodd, all Democrats, and John McCain — did not cast votes. The four Democrats had said they would not support Mr. Mukasey because of his equivocation during the confirmation hearings over whether waterboarding is torture. Mr. McCain has also denounced the interrogation method but he issued a statement last week saying he would vote to approve the nomination.

Part of the problem that Democrats are facing, is they are making great efforts to remain “centered”. They know that come election time, it’ll all turn on the votes in the middle. Of course, on the other side of the aisle, Republicans aren’t making such concessions. As it stands, they lost a lot in 2006 when Congress was awarded to their adversaries, but now they have no reason to veer towards the middle. If anything, the best strategy for the GOP is to cater to special interests and maybe even take a more extreme position which they could exploit by showing Americans how ‘liberal’ the Democrats really are.

The GOP has a major obstacle to overcome, if they continue running on a more extreme platform because of one special candidate. Ron Paul is a looming threat in the GOP, and though he hasn’t picked up the support that Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney have, he is starting to rake in the money through some very savvy marketing and a message that resonates with all Americans. Ron Paul is running the kind of “freedom” message that Barack Obama is running, but Ron Paul is much better at promoting it, partially due to his strong personality and character.

From Ron Paul’s recent New Hampshire Commercial:

“I’m Ron Paul, and I’m the only presidential candidate who will bring our troops home from Iraq immediately and stop wasteful government spending. But here’s something else I care about, and I hope you do, too. The war on terror and the growth of big government have had a dangerous side effect: the loss of privacy rights for the American people. Both parties have put their pet schemes ahead of our rights. Not me. As president, I won’t stand for it. No national ID card, no invasion of privacy. I’m Ron Paul, and I approve this message.”

As a Democrat, I’m conflicted on whether I’d support Ron Paul over one of the major Democratic candidates. On the one hand, I don’t like his stance on the social issues, not because I believe he could successfully demolish the Department of Education, but because he is uncompromising on his ‘limited government’ position. Education is a serious problem in America, and our poor and lower middle class will struggle to move up on the social ladder if they are continued to be treated as scum in America. On the other hand, Ron Paul’s position on the war along with his strong belief in privacy rights and liberty, really have a grasp on my spirit. He excites me, his desire to kick the corporate fascism that has overtaken our government seems very important during this troubling political decline in American history.

Finally, the war is starting to wear everyone down. Many Republicans are starting to relax their strong stance on war, and that’s a good sign in my opinion. The war drums are still pretty loud, but when over 70% of Americans are anti-War and anti-Bush, the war stance has to be reconsidered. President Bush had a chance to visit with Veterans this week and see first-hand the devastating effects of war.

Here is a link to the Veteran’s Gallery, but I warn you, many images are difficult to view. Regardless, every American should be informed on the effect it has had on our troops and the reality of War that we rarely have the opportunity to see. Veterans aren’t just hurting physically, but in another sad story printed this week: one out of every four homeless people are former Veterans. After the United States uses “the troops” ™, they are left to fend for themselves with disease, mental illness, homelessness, and poverty.. that too is a reality of war, one we often ignore.

Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11% of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education non-profit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.

Luckily, we have the anti-War, liberal hippie losers to take care of the homeless Veterans out there because far be it from “supporters of the troops” to waste their time helping the poor.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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