George W Bush and the Free Market

For such a supporter of free market capitalism, it was funny to see Bush say the following:

"I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system."

Response from Andrew Sullivan:

" . . . Just as he used torture to defend freedom. And occupied a country in order to liberate it."

Over the next few weeks up to the inauguration, I am going to do the best I can to look at the Bush legacy. I won't promise something everyday, but it is important to look at what our country has gone through, and what it looks like today after eight years of his presidency.

Reassuring

Some have doubted that we will be getting out of Iraq within 16 months, as Obama promised, since he has announced his national security team (particularly keeping on Robert Gates). But Matthew Yglesias lays out some convincing points to those critics:

"The reality, obviously, is that the SOFA and the security agreement have made 2007-vintage disagreements about timeframes for withdrawal essentially irrelevant. Between an American government that wants to set an end to our involvement in Iraq and an Iraqi government that wants to set an end to our involvement in Iraq, it really does become a question of hammering out the logistics and framing the politics. The strategic debate about the wisdom of things like John McCain’s plans for a hundred years of occupation is over."

It also helps that Gates supports a withdrawal:




Now putting troops from Iraq into Afghanistan is another matter. I haven't quite made up my mind on that one yet.

Election 2008 (repost)

The following is the exact text I have copied and pasted this morning on the first version of my blog. It is the last post I made on there (other than my post saying that my blog has moved). I am re-posting it because it states my position on the election which I have yet to talk about until I started up my blog again. Enjoy!

I haven't talked about the 2008 election yet. It is probably not a surprise that as liberal as I am in my politics, that I am supporting Barack Obama. There are numerous reasons for this, including:
His support for getting out of Iraq as opposed to John McCain's belief that any kind of "victory" is still achievable (it isn't).

-His belief that economic policies should be geared more towards helping poor and middle class Americans instead of the wealthier ones.
-His background in civil rights and academics (hey, the guy is actually intelligent).
-His pragmatic approach to decision making.
-His youth and lack connection to the divisions of the 1960s (for more on this one, read Andrew Sullivan's outstanding essay for The Atlantic back in December 2007).

In addition, I really do not want John McCain to be President. Not only because of Senator McCain's stance on Iraq, but for his reversal on other issues. While he is still a man I greatly respect for his long service to America, he is no longer the "maverick" he used to be. McCain, who once ran probably the most honorable campaigns in modern American political history in 2000, has now sold his soul in the hopes of winning the White House this year. For a while I thought that if McCain won the White House, he might actually say "the hell with 2 terms. I did what I had to do to win, and now I'm going back to being the Maverick I really am." However, his choice of the disastrous Sarah Palin proved to me that it isn't just politics. John McCain is a poor decision maker, and would make a terrible President.

Given the past 8 years, now more than ever, I feel we need Barack Obama. If he wins, I will celebrate his victory, but I promise, I will be his biggest critic starting after Inauguration Day (as I would for any President).

I promise that, before the election, I will do an UNBIASED analysis of both candidate's positions on education issues.

The Photograph comes from Barack Obama's website.