Winds of Political Change Sweep Through Indiana; Iran Will Be Armed With Nukes

Indiana residents took it on the chin today when Senator Evan Bayh made the surprise announcement that he will not seek a third term. Given that Bayh is one of the very few voices of moderation and compromise, in this era of heavily divisive partisan politics, Bayh's decision is a blow to the American political landscape in general. Again, it highlights how difficult it is in the current environment for incumbents to hold their seats.

Since the mid-1990s the winds of political change have been sweeping through our country, as Independent voters swelled to a current majority. Independent voters like myself are fed up with big dollar interest groups running Washington. And we are tired of politicians bitching at each other on the TV screen instead of working together to construct sound legislation and public policies that are capable to sustain the American dream for generations to come. When the "leadership" cannot reason and act outside of the powers over the purse or beyond the party line, they are no longer leaders -- they are puppets. Washington is one big puppet show.

Because of structural impediments, it is very difficult for a third party to have a substantial place in Washington. But if there is a time when a third party is possible, it is now. That many people are sick of the puppet parties.

What is baffling to me, is that the Republican Party and Democratic Party are on the brink of blasting their cozy duopoly into the history books. How smart is that? Not very. All these two knucklehead parties had to do is get along (even a little bit), write some good legislation together, and don't bow to the party line or to the powerful dollar nearly as often, and in so doing Independents would have remained a distant minority. I can only liken their simple-mindedness to two powerful companies that previously agreed to work together to dominate a market with a duopoly, and then totally ruining it with tit-for-tat litigation (AMD-Intel with chips come immediately to mind; HP and Canon with inkjet cartridges also comes to mind).

Boneheads.

Speaking of boneheads, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is about to put his cozy little seat in jeopardy. Young Iranians have taken to the streets in recent months with hopes to bring positive change to their country. Ahmadinejad and the Revolutionary Guard are responding with a iron fist. Hopefully, the will of the people will prevail.

It is uncertain what the state of Iran will look like years from now. My hope is that those who have longed for a real democracy will one day have it. What is for certain, whether it is a democratic Iran or dictatorship Iran, it will be an Iran armed with nukes. The world is incapable of stopping it just as it was not possible to stop China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea from obtaining them.

American leadership has over the past many years voiced opposition to Iranian nukes; this was hot air and Iranian leaders knew that. The only real course of action that the U.S. can take is set up anti-missile defense systems in various locations in the Middle East and in eastern Europe as it is in the process of doing (the U.S. is currently in talks with Bulgaria to set up a shield there; the U.S. is also deploying a missile shield to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait).

Remember the day when there were no nukes? Neither do I.

*sigh*

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow'd my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

'Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- published in December 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War.

Peace

Jeremy