Where to?
The last time I rode in a taxi was 1969 in London, but I think taxi drivers still ask the entering passenger, "Where to?" As the driver of this blog and of my own daily activities, I am now asking myself, "Where to?"
During the long Presidential campaign, I concentrated my Sense postings on the political process. Now that the Democrats will be taking over the White House and working with even greater control of Congress, I expect my Sense postings will not be as intensely political. The passage of significant pieces of legislation may prompt Sense postings, but preliminary skirmishes may not be chronicled here. Between now and the Inauguration, there may be a farewell or two to Bush.
Our country needs to head out of Iraq, go after bin Laden and then head out of Afghanistan. On the home front, we need to navigate out of the current economic crisis and set a long range fiscal course of sophisticated nuance to replace the disastrous total free market approach that set the taxi on cruise control and allowed it to careen into a very deep ditch.
To go somewhere, we have to know where we are now and where we want to end up, in order to determine the route to follow. Our country did an excellent job of plotting its course at the time it was established. We have not had to alter the course very often through the years. The most important alterations have been in the direction of greater inclusiveness, ending slavery and adopting civil and voting rights protections for all races and genders. We have allowed some administrations to drive off course, usually in times of war, but we eventually get back on track, as I expect we will do now with President Obama.
On the personal side, I am continuing to work on my own navigation. The preamble of this blog begins with, "Common sense thoughts on life and current affairs". After emphasizing current affairs at Sense for the last two years, thoughts on life deserve equal time. Amateur blogs are narcissistic. I write for myself. My "wider" audience is extremely narrow and spotty, one or two contemporaries, and my children and maybe one or two of their contemporaries.
This challenging but hopeful time for our country is an opportunity to reflect personally on where we are in our lives and to ask ourselves, "Where to?" That's the next ride I expect to be taking with Sense.
posted by Tom Blake | 10:30 AM
5 Comments:
Tom,
The following comments from you are stated as not open to discussion: "Our country needs to head out of Iraq, go after bin Laden and then head out of Afghanistan".
The Democrats have not given any credit to the improvement in Iraq's security due to Bush's surge. Because of the apparent success of the surge, leaving Iraq becomes more difficult in my mind. If Obama pulls the troops from Iraq and Iraq returns to the pre-surge chaos, Obama and the US will lose credibility.
If we go after bin Laden with full force, that means violating Pakistan's borders. Pakistan has a new government which is responding to new constituencies.
As always the answers to the issues are not as easily realized as you state or as Obama orated.
Now that he is president, he must step back and look at the big picture and make policy that will be in the best interests of the US on many fronts: the threat of terrorism in the US, rebuilding US influence in Europe and Asia, and making Americans proud of their government.
Achieving those goals may mean not pulling out of Iraq and not invading Pakistan.
Maybe Napolitano will have some new ideas about protecting the US from terrorism.
As far as widening your focus for Sense: I'll believe it when I see it. You love politics more than any other subject.
John from Phoenix
I was stating general goals for our country. I agree they will not be easy and I am open to discussion of them.
The relative calming down of violence in Iraq is due to three things: more US boots; a cease fire order from Sadr; and paying money to discourage insurgency. All agree in principle that the US boots need to be replaced by Iraqi boots. Sadr could order fighting to resume whenever he wants. Insurgency can reinvent itself while still taking the money from the US. This fragile de-escalation could shatter at any time. Iraq has the right to negotiate our withdrawal, which they have begun to do with Bush and will finalize with Obama. What happens in Iraq as we withdraw is up to the Iraqis. As for losing credibility, the US currently does not have any, while Obama has a fair amount considering his opposition to the US invading Iraq in the first place and his continual insistence that we must withdraw and turn the situation over to the Iraqis.
The new American government has to negotiate a deal with the new Pakistani government to enable us to pursue bin Laden. There will be political elements in both countries that disagree with whatever deal is cut, but the leaders must reach a mutually satisfactory deal that can be accepted by the majority in each country. This should not be as hard as before, now that Pakistan is not being run by a military dictator and as the US leadership changes from a barely functional illiterate to a man of superior capabilities.
Napolitano's job, assuming she does become head of Homeland Security, will be challenging, and not helped by having Joe Lieberman as chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Politics does have a way of rising to my top, but stay tuned and we'll see if I can expand my horizons some.
Hello Tom,
I have been hiding in the shadows of your blog, just reading and soaking it all in.
If you are interested at all about what I enjoy the most about your blog is the stories from your youth. They don't have to have my dad involved for me to be interested, just stories from that time and what you perceived then and what you think of those perceptions now.
This is not to say I didn't enjoy your political posts and banter with John from PHX. I did read them as well. Although at times I felt they were "over my head" but that isn't your fault.
So anyhow, I hope this post finds you well. I guess it's time to start gearing up for the holidays. If I had my way I'd fast forward to spring!
~Rake
Hi Rake and thanks for your input. I am very interested in hearing what you like to read here. As we grow older, we tend to look back more often, sometimes just being nostalgic and maybe with some melancholy, but also trying to make sense of how we got where we are and what we have learned from the journey. I do want to incorporate more of that reflection into my writing in this blog and I appreciate your encouragement to do so. Sometimes young people tire of hearing memories from their elders. But when the elders die, the memories die with them, unless the memories are somehow preserved. So it is good that young people like you are interested enough to listen and preserve the stories, and pass them down, along with your own, when you become the elders.
Hello again, Tom!
I don't know, maybe it's because I've grown tired of all the stories my dad has told and it's time for some new ones from someone else? :) I don't know, and I can't think of one specific story you've posted as my favorite, but I do enjoy reading them.
And just to let you know, I'm no longer "young people"... I turned 40 last week, and a good deal of folks I have grown fond of at work are all taking early retirement! I guess that is what happens when they start cutting heads at work.
Anyhow, thanks for using my post as food for thought and I look forward to reading of your experiences and what you think of them now as opposed to when they occured.
Have a great holiday!
~Rake
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