Category: Politics (Page 43 of 43)

Banning torture makes good headlines. But what is the point if it wasn’t being done anyway? It seems to me this is another case of trying to take the moral high ground, not by doing anything different or better, but by subtly suggesting that others were doing something bad that you needed to stop. My understanding is that for all the fuss about torture, water-boarding had only been used three times, and not at all since 2003.

Of course that still begs the question about when discomfort and embarrassment become torture, and under what circumstances making someone feel uncomfortable or embarrassed in order to obtain information might be acceptable. Comments welcome.

Again, comments from friends that “I must have been moved by Obama’s speech.” Well, no. Not really. 

Apart from generic expressions of hope for the future, with about as much depth of thought as a placard I saw someone carrying that said “Our Future Starts Now,” there was nothing in the speech to suggest a well thought out programme for making the world, or even the US a better place. It was like listening to a series of readings from Helen Steiner Rice greeting cards.

But the crowd and media reaction! Pretty much like the response of the congregation in the last verse of this delightful poem by SJ Forrest:

He preached about the Trinity and how the world began;
Explained the Incarnation and the Destiny of Man.
He carefully expounded every detail of the Creeds,
And tried to show their relevance to modern human needs;
He brilliantly upheld the Christian heritage of Truth,
And sought to make it lucid and acceptable to youth.
They listened with correctitude, but everybody said,
‘He’s far too theological, and quite above our head.’

He gave an exposition of the Church’s means of Grace,
Revealing how the Sacraments revive a fallen race;
Of self-examination and the ways of Mental Prayer,
And why we need Communion, and how, and when, and where.
He spoke of Bible-reading, and to make it all complete,
Gave practical instruction on the value of Retreat.
And everyone agreed that it was logical enough,
But only suitable for those who like that kind of stuff.

He chose the Ten Commandments as the basis of a Course,
He amplified their meaning and emphasized their force;
He took the eight Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount,
And spoke of Christian stewardship and rendering account.
He did his best to penetrate beneath their toughened skins
With pointed expositions of the Seven Deadly Sins.
They felt a little slighted to be led across this ground,
For morals in suburbia are basically sound.

One day, in disillusionment, believing no one cared,
He flung at them a homily completely unprepared,
Endeavouring his customary quarter-hour to fill,
With sentimental platitudes that meant precisely nil;
Returning to the vestry in the grip of horrid fears
That people would consider it insulting to their ears.
But no, they were enraptured and devoured every word:
‘Oh, Vicar, it was lovely! Quite the best we’ve ever heard !’

I’ve copped a bit of flack the last few days over my repeatedly expressed concerns about Obama’s abilities.

It’s not that I am sure he is incapable, it’s just that there is nothing in his life so far which suggests he is. He has a beautiful voice, he is handsome, he reads well from a teleprompter. But that’s it.

 “But he is a good man, and that’s what we need,” one friend said to me. Well, yes, we do need good men. That ought to be a necessary qualification. It ought not to be the only qualification.

But I’m not even sure it applies to Obama.

He appears to have had some very ill-chosen friends over a long period of time, friends like Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, who have actively opposed what most people would think of as the “national ideals” (a phrase from his inauguration speech). You cannot be judged for your family, but you can be judged for your choice of friends. He appears to have done little or nothing to assist the poorer black members of his extended family. He repudiated his grandmother and her care for him in what was surely cynical political point scoring. He tolerated, if not actually approving (that’s harder to prove) the most appalling libels about Sarah Palin and her family during the election campaign. And his inauguration was speech was possibly the most ungracious ever made – certainly since Franklin Roosevelt similarly called for a restoration of American values. making it clear he believed these had been abandoned during the time of his predecessor Hoover.

In fact, for all his bumbling with the media, George Bush seems to me to embody far more of the qualities which have genuinely made the US great – genuine integrity and courage, generosity, and a willingness to do what he believes is right, even when those around him find the going too tough. I, at least, am grateful for Bush’s presidency, and what has been achieved in it.

I hope Obama will do well. I would like him succeed. But I am not hopeful.

Instapundit links to a post by Walter Shapiro suggesting Barack Obama wrote himself into the presidents’ job.

His memoirs are an impressive piece of writing, and he has certainly done nothing else that would qualify him for the job – he’s never had a steady job (half a single term as a junior state senator doesn’t count – half because for most of the second part of his term he was campaigning for another job altogether). He has never run an organisation of any size – actually never run anything at all. So yes, Shapiro is probably right. Obama wrote himself into the job.

The only problem is, it is now almost certain his “memoirs” were not written by him, but by unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. Here and here for more detail. So the truth of the matter is: Bill Ayers wrote Obama into the presidency.

The idea of using taxpayers’ money to bail out failing companies would have to be one of the worst.

Let me see if I’ve got this right. The government is going to take money from companies and people who get things right, who care for their assets, make sound management decisions, and thus provide a future for their clients, employees and shareholders, and give that money to people and companies who don’t.

And this is supposed to supposed to ensure greater employment and a sound financial future. It won’t. And it is a disincentive to future financial responsibility. How would any state, business or person be encouraged to be responsible when those who have been careful managers are punished with increased taxation, and those who have not are rewarded with hand-outs?

This is a plan which is monumentally and obviously self-destructive of future financial growth.

Before the US Presidential election I wrote a latter to the Editor of the New York Times as follows:

Dear Editor,

I note with interest your endorsement of Senator Obama for President.

Senator Obama is a very attractive man. He has a lovely voice. These are bonuses in a public figure, but they are not qualifications.

Character and policies are important. These are the factors on which a voting decision should be made. In both these factors there are differences between the two candidates.

But before these things are considered, before a candidate is even proposed, he or she must have shown the ability both to manage and to lead.

To manage is to use available resources effectively and efficiently to bring about a desired result.

Senator Obama has never managed a state or an organisation of any scale. He has never even run a corner store.

On what basis  could anyone believe him capable of managing the financial, personal and organisational complexities of the presidency?

To lead is to have  a vision which is shared with others by consistent example. To do this one must clear about one’s own beliefs, and stand for them unswervingly.

A leader cannot simply say, when asked to make a difference, “Present.” That may be an option in the Illinois Senate, It is not an option for the President.

Past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour.

Senator Obama has not shown any ability to manage. He has shown no ability to lead.

There is nothing in Senator Obama’s history to encourage confidence that he would make a wise, courageous and capable president.

Yours, etc

He has done nothing since the election to make me change my mind. 

As Joe Biden said “The presidency is not the place for on-the-job training.” 

America, what were you thinking?