22 October 2010 Who needs haunted houses?

Going, Going, Gone

By ROGER COHEN

Published: October 21, 2010



JERUSALEM — Among the minor fiascoes of the Obama administration’s foreign policy, the rapid White House-to-wipe-out course of Middle Eastern diplomacy in recent weeks rates high.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/opinion/22iht-edcohen.html?_r=1&th&emc=th



Christine O'Donnell's misconceptions of the Constitution



By Michael Gerson

Friday, October 22, 2010

“The Founders were not secularists. They assumed that people would bring their deepest moral motivations to political life -- motivations often informed by religious belief. But they firmly rejected sectarianism. America was designed to be a nation where all faiths are welcomed, not where one faith is favored. This was and is the American genius.

So does the Constitution, in Jefferson's gloss, require the "separation of church and state"? Institutionally, yes. Theologically, yes with one notable exception. Nearly all the most important teachings of faith -- doctrines on individual salvation or the destination of history -- have no public role or relevance. They are compromised by contact with power. But one belief -- a belief in the nature and rights of human beings -- is the basis of any political philosophy, including our own. It matters greatly if "all men are created equal" or not. …”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/21/AR2010102104858.html?hpid=opinionsbox1



George W. Bush Reveals His Biggest Failure Was Not Privatizing Social Security

The Huffington Post
Elyse Siegel First Posted: 10-22-10 08:50 AM


“Former President George W. Bush signaled on Thursday that he sees not reforming Social Security as his greatest failure from the eight years he served in the White House, the Chicago Tribune reports. In 2005, the president unsuccessfully tried to partially privatize Social Security. “

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/22/george-w-bush-reveals-his_n_772209.html



Nuclear launch card was missing for months, new book says

From Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd, CNN

October 22, 2010 8:51 a.m. EDT



CNN) -- A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says in a new book that while Bill Clinton was in the White House, a key component of the president's nuclear launch protocol went missing.

"The codes were actually missing for months. This is a big deal," says Gen. Hugh Shelton. "We dodged a silver bullet."



http://us.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/21/shelton.clinton.nuclear.codes/index.html?hpt=T2



Cassi Creek:

The coming battle over Jerusalem worries me. If left alone, Israel might become aware that it is going to have to begin removing settlers from the West Bank. No nation in the world, at this time, will support Israel in their claim to the entire confines of Jerusalem. The use of orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews as human walls was strategically and tactically a failure and should not have been implemented. It will ultimately result in some form of intramural war among Israelis. There is no way for Israel to buy peace by giving up land. But there is no way Israel can remain in control of East Jerusalem without essentially declaring war on the proto-Palestinian government. This would partially duplicate the situation at Israel’s declaration of statehood and must be avoided.

The influx of money and other support by Christians hoping to bring about their end of days scenario is probably Israel’s worst external enemy.

The lack of familiarity with the Constitution and the willingness to accept GOP re-written talking points instead of actually learning what is in the Constitution marks O’Donnell as an extremely poor candidate for Senatorial office. She and the other Palin clones have repeatedly demonstrated that they lack any real grounding in American history and civics. Even more frightening is the large portion of the voter base that is willing to accept their lies and misinformation as true. We are likely to witness a huge vote in favor of GOP and Tea Party mob candidates due to the poor preparation of the American public to actually participate in self-government. They have such poor recall and understanding of the last ten years that they are apparently willing to hand the government back to the very people who wrecked the world’s economy. We are probably witnessing the beginning of the Unites States 3rd World edition.



That Bush II failed is a small favor for the nation and a huge stroke of luck for the millions of Americans who would otherwise have lost all hope of any income if Bush and friends had been able to privatize Social Security. Given the damage to the stock market in 2008 and the inability of people who actually depend upon Social Security to wait out any possible return to profitability, it is likely there would be wide spread starvation and homelessness among our elderly citizens. There should be no doubt that they would have been neglected by the government that beggared them in the interest of corporate greed and profits for the very rich.

The Clinton White House was rumored to have next to no regard for the Armed Forces. It is entirely likely that they would choose staff and aids with the same attitudes. That anyone working in the White House, under any administration should have so little regard for an instrument of national security that is used to control the use of nuclear weapons against any enemies of the U.S. is beyond belief. The loss of a weapons key code card should have resulted in immediate job loss and the permanent revocation of any security clearances the individual ever held. Since the Clinton administration was deviled by continual attempts to unseat Clinton and overturn the 1992 election, it is possible that this incident was overlooked by Clinton due to his continual need to deal with all manner of inquisitions and other attacks by the GOP that had nothing at all to do with governing the nation.



If these events don’t raise fear levels as we approach Halloween, I’m sure that the news in the coming days will provide things that do.



Shabbat Shalom