Thoughts & Commentary on the Obama Administration

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Thanks Sasaki, that was a good read. I voted against Webb, reluctantly, based on party loyalty the last time. If he continues in this vein, I doubt they'll field a GOPer who I would vote for in preference.

Yes, and that's exactly the point the author was making--when a politician is willing to stake his career on an issue, people will take notice and minds can be changed. That's what being a leader is all about.

[Ironside]

A minor note about those prison numbers if anybody is interested. The US have comparable conviction numbers compared to the rest of the Western world, but the punishments are much longer.

[Major Robert Dump]

Sasaki where was that article from pls I need to send it to some people.

[KukriKhan]

Sasaki where was that article from pls I need to send it to some people.

Salon.com opinion piece.

[Hosakawa Tito]

That's a good article. Prison reform is definitely coming to my State, New York. However, it's more of a budget issue than any sense of leadership. The "Rockefeller Drug Laws" are to be repealed and a more viable alternative for some offenders will be enacted, but nobody really has said what that is. A program that I've been working in for years, Shock Incarceration , is one such alternative.

Yes, and that's exactly the point the author was making--when a politician is willing to stake his career on an issue, people will take notice and minds can be changed. That's what being a leader is all about.

Another good reason for term limits. Take the worry out of getting re-elected and maybe some politicians can find the will to do the right thing.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Another good reason for term limits. Take the worry out of getting re-elected and maybe some politicians can find the will to do the right thing.

Seems like a tricky issue though. If you give them more than one term, they will still probably act the same way until their last term. And if you only give them one term, then who do we elect president? Someone who has served on term in the state senate and one term in the US senate? I also worry that with only one term, they will have the tendency to make out like bandits with corporate "gifts" while they still can, with retirement looming. And when you get an actual good guy, he won't be there for long.

I don't think you can legislate a solution, especially when the problem is with the legislature. The point needs to be hammered home to more people: being "pragmatic" is usually an excuse.

[drone]

I like the way Virginia imposes limits on the governor, no consecutive terms. Keeps the governor from spending half his time in office running for reelection, and the electorate gets a good chance at reviewing the results of his/her prior session in office in a long-term sense.

Webb is a solid Virginia Democrat, I'm happy with my choice.

Haven't seen it mentioned in any other threads, so here is the WaPo's headliner from Sunday's paper:
Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When CIA officials subjected their first high-value captive, Abu Zubaida, to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, they were convinced that they had in their custody an al-Qaeda leader who knew details of operations yet to be unleashed, and they were facing increasing pressure from the White House to get those secrets out of him.

The methods succeeded in breaking him, and the stories he told of al-Qaeda terrorism plots sent CIA officers around the globe chasing leads.

In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.

Moreover, within weeks of his capture, U.S. officials had gained evidence that made clear they had misjudged Abu Zubaida. President George W. Bush had publicly described him as "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," and other top officials called him a "trusted associate" of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a major figure in the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of that was accurate, the new evidence showed.

While all of this was pretty much known/expected, hopefully this will kick the Obama administration to get the ball moving on bringing some charges against the former administration officials behind this disgrace. Yoo and Addington at the least need to face the music for this.

[Xiahou]

Seems like a tricky issue though. If you give them more than one term, they will still probably act the same way until their last term. And if you only give them one term, then who do we elect president? Someone who has served on term in the state senate and one term in the US senate?

Sort of like we have now?
But yeah, I agree term limits may not be the answer. The problem is really with us- the voters. We keep sending the rats back to office because they bring home the bacon, or pork, as it were. People can overlook a lot of shady dealings or back scratching as long as their representative brings in federal dollars.