Washington File

To my most worthy American neighbour; if oil is the lifeblood of the economy, then there is a big problem because there is not enough oil in America to supply the domestic market with all its needs, especiall because of the consumer driven SUV market. Thank goodness for all the young people (and old people too) in America, Canada, China and all around the world who do ride their bicycles. Bear in mind that you are just buying oil from world markets, you do not own that oil. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Iran, Iraq and other countries like Nigeria do. It is a good thing that there are systems of communication available to discuss ideas of global importance. The politics of America has a large influence on the world. Dialogues such as this forum can help solve the problems. Water is the lifeblood of the planet and wars are an abomination. Let's stop planting landmines and start planting vegetables. Political stripes are just that. It is time to put on the stripes of peace. Let's pull our soldiers out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Let us start dreaming about peace and to do that, let's get on our bikes whenever we can.

The most basic question you have to ask Americans today is this:

"How could you allow a despotic regime to hijack your 1776 Constitution and its principles of freedom from tyranny for yourselves and others - and I ain't talking about 'IRACK' don't you know?"

If you can answer that question, you will see the future of your country clearly, if it's not too late before the Empire burns as the entire population fiddles with the latest force-fed CNN and FOX propaganda."

There's nothing inconsistent about it. The situation with Bush is completely different: Bush lied to the American people and provoked an unnecessary war which continues to produce endless and needless casualties. Clinton, for all his faults, did not. There's no comparison really. I just read today that the U.S. has now been at war in Iraq longer then they were during all of WWll, with no end in sight, no exit strategy, the country in a state of civil war, and the war in Afghanistan a muddled mess that NATO now has to try and solve. Heroin production in Afghanistan has reached an all time high. Just what is it that America is trying to acheive for Heaven's sake? You guys haven't got one thing right yet! Give it up and go home already.

Well sure, either the repubs are in trouble or we have lost our country. It's that simple. To those of you who posted in support of Bush, I recommend some serious soul-searching. You are my fellow American and what is being done to me is also being done to you. You just don't get it yet. We have a chance to come back together as a nation if we can just agree on one thing: always tell the truth. It makes for good decision making.

When Clinton "got it wrong" it can "hardly be his fault"? This because the military got it wrong. But Bush can be blamed because he relied on military (intelligence)? Is that really your contention Mr Henshaw? Sounds a bit inconsistant. The fact is that Prez Clinton was offered Bin Laden by Sudan (who had him in custody) THREE times. Bill declined the offers THREE times. We all remember what BL did after Sudan let him go. You may love Clinton, and he worked hard at being loved, but he was useless against terrorists. He was prez when the first World Trade Center bomb went off, two US embassies were blown up and when the USS Cole was blown up killing 19 US sailors.

Sorry about that: I should have written "succesor" not "predecessor". George Bush (41st President) was a far better man and a far, FAR, better President.

It was my choice to use the word "soft" instead of weak. I also know the difference between the two, however the word "soft" has a storied history that I find appealing when it comes to this sort of thing. I remember debates about who was "soft" on crime, or "soft" on communism from the 1960s and 70s. We continue to use the word to this day on a regular basis, so I think that it's as good as any to use when discussing the actual and real records of the Republican and Democratic parties with regard to war and terror. Clinton's response to terrorist attacks was to attack their bases in the Sudan. The fact that "he got it wrong" and blew up a pharmaceutical facility instead is hardly his fault, after all the US military is in charge of targeting and firing, are they not? So you can't blame Bill for that little bit of incompetence now can you? At least he demonstrated an awareness of where the danger lay, unlike his predecessor, who was perceived as being a simpleton when he acquired the Presidency. Talk about seeing and hearing only what you want: President Bush refused to hear about anything remotely to do with terrorists and al-Qaeda until after the fact, and even then he preferred to sit in a Florida classroom, the picture of indecision, panic and inaction, while New York burned. Moreover, where was the President when Lebanon was burning? He blocked every attempt at a cease-fire resolution and permitted hundreds of needless deaths to advance his own sick, twisted, foreign policy of a "new" Middle East. Better sometimes to do nothing than to do the wrong thing, which America has done consistently ever since this man took office. If it’s any consolation whatever, I happen to agree with you on France and UN command in the south of Lebanon: as ever, they want all the glory and prestige while someone else carries all the water. Lester Pearson must be spinning in his grave.

For the benefit of a couple contributors, I did not say "soft" on terror, I used the word "weak'. No big difference but it may be symptomatic of the Canadian trait of seeing what they want and not what actually is. Up in great white north where the evening news leadoff story is apt to be the latest on lumber, it is easy to be righteous and condesending about the only country in the world who is actually attempting to DO something. (yes even when it turns out to be wrong) Contrast this with the pathetic performance of the EU on Lebanon. Big mouth France is all over the UN and the press about peacekeepers in south Lebanon and how they will send thousands and command too. Turns out it is all talk and they are sending a couple hundred (but will still insist on being in charge) So Canada, just be thankful that France is not the lone superpower. You might be obligated to learn French! Oh, thats right, you already are.

Major General Barber may have taken one too many to the head in basic training if he thinks that Bush is a great leader with high moral principles. Major, how would you describe sleeping at the switch in the months prior to 9/11 and ignoring all intelligence warnings from within and outside the country? How would you describe lying to Congress (Yellow Cake Uranium) to move the country in the direction of a war of choice? How would you describe believing that an invading force would be greeted as liberators? How would describe the subversion of the US constitution by a group who took a solemn oath to uphold said document? Why are active duty generals openly opposed to the war in Iraq? On the domestic front, how would you describe the near-bankrupting of the treasury in the interests of the very rich? How would you describe the delay in reacting to Hurricane Katrina, even after being warned in advance of the storm?

If this is what the military feels is principled and moral leadership, then I thank God that a key feature of any democracy is that the military "stays in the baricks".

As for Harper, we'll see, but since we've heard nothing from the man that distingushes him from Bush, we can only hope that enough Canadians have learned from the unfolding tragedy in the US and vote him out before he can take Canada down the same road.

Forgive me for posting twice, but I have to ask Major General (Ret'd) Russ Barber: As a former senior military officer, can you please explain to us the military sense behind George Bush's invasion of Iraq--arguably both the most significant act of his presidency and the biggest threat to the Republicans' hold on power? Do you really feel that its outcome--in terms of both his "war on terror" and as "a continuation of politics by other means" in the Middle East--marks him as a "great leader"?

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Bush hasn't been impeached already. His war crimes should be enough, let alone the outrageous fortunes he & his cronies have amassed while this diversion is taking place. The Corporate media has enriched itself through fear-mongering in the sleaziest of fashion by understanding how to addict their viewers' with a pap of, fear & loathing aimed at third world countries in the middle east and beyond.

Five Manitobans, Maurice Strong, Don Newman, the Axworthy brothers and you, and not one of you can see beyond your hatred of George Bush,your dislike of Harper. Your Liberal biases are showing. Thankfully we now have two great leaders in North America, Harper and Bush, both of whom have the courage to honestly address world affairs in the light of their own principles and high moral standards. Unlike the Liberal practice of accepting the daily polling of the left wing news-media and translating that mush into Policy, Stephen Harper is providing true leadership and statesmanship in the governance of this great country - Canada.

What I find incredulous is that no one has even uttered the first syllable of impeachment. The Bush administration have subverted every bill by allowing a presidential override. Americans have lost and continue to lose their constitutional rights, the very foundation of their democracy and no one has stood up and said "Wait a minute, that's unconstitutional." Quite simply, no one is willing to challenge the office.

On my travels to the US I found warm welcoming people everywhere. I feel sorry for them now because they have been hoodwinked and with only a small push face a depression unlike any in history. All of the cards are in place to see the USA fall. If we read our history, the parallels are there.

It wont matter who wins the elections. Is it too late? That will depend on whether the lawmakers can pull together as one and start to rectify the damage done.

Yes, Kari Ellis Canada would welcome you and anyone else who values freedom and democracy.

I HAVE TO LAUGH AT HOW CANADIANS LOOK TO THE SOUTH AND SAY "OH, THOSE AMERICANS HAVE PUT A LEGION OF EVIL MONSTERS IN POWER. TOO BAD FOR THEM." I SHOULD REMIND ALL CANADIANS THAT THE TURMOIL IN THE MEXICAN ELECTIONS SOUTH OF THE U.S. COULD BE COMMING THEIR WAY. OUR RULERS HAVE ALL THE MONEY THERE IS TO PUT THEIR PEOPLE IN CHARGE, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE", JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO IRAQ FOR RESISTING. PEOPLE HERE ARE FEARFUL OF OUR GOVERNMENT. FEAR GROWS EVER GREATER WITH EACH PRONOUCEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE OF HOW THEY WILL PROTECT US BY PROTECTING US FROM OURSELVES.

I find it amazing how long it has actually taken our friends south of the border to catch on to what's happening. To realize their government and country has been hijacked! That they are fighting a false war, based on false facts. (among all of the other things mentioned above). And even still, there will be those who cast all logic out the window based on long-standing report for the Republicans.
The real question is why??? Ask anyone who has travelled to the US and they will tell you how friendly and welcoming they are. Like any other place in the world (including the middle east) the majority of the population are good caring people. Why can a few greedy men hijack the country? A country with short, yet tremendous history is on the verge collapse in many senses. Yet, the people have idled while it happens.

Is it a lazy, mis-informed or even biased media? Poor education? Or is it possible that common American's are just too busy enjoying the modern comfort brought to them by good ole capitalism. When you're going to and from air conditioned office in your big comfy SUV back to your super-cool suburban house with your big-screen TV, the big game on Sunday, and cooking dinner on your huge BBQ in your enormous freshly watered back yard....who has time for all the so-called "political" issues. When you work 40 something hours a week and take the kids to soccer, watch your shows and visit the superbly stocked grocery store....how can you be expected to have a slightest concern? Besides, you've got to get home to watch American Idol and cast your vote.
When everything seems to be cruising along just great for the average American....what's there to worry about??? Anyways, Fox News has filled them in on what's going on in a matter of minutes....and it doesn't seem that bad...right?

Ann Coulter is right, maybe we should just roll over and crush those crazy left-leaning Canadians....

Republicans in trouble? Watch out for Newt..he's coming back and he's got a plan.

He's quoted in the Seattle Times in the spring as saying all the Republicans need is for America to believe thery are in the middle of WWIII, then two months later is quoted in McLeans as saying they are in teh middle of WWIII!!!!!

Scary.

I would like to take this opportunity to clear up some misconceptions about how these unusually hard-core right wingers got their hands on the presidency. Americans were *not* sound asleep, as some have implied here. We were just naive.

Americans knew that, in some countries, dictators would forcefully take control of the government. We never thought it could happen to us! That someone would illegally steal the election was unthinkable.

Bush bullied his way into office. People outside America only have a taste of how evil he is, and how far-reaching is his power and money. Ethnic groups known to vote liberal were turned away from polls in Florida; various people across the country were barred from voting.

Another misconception: liberals are lazy and unproductive. Absolutely untrue. Look at Al Gore, look at Bill Clinton. When they were in office, those were the best years of my life. The economy was good, America's mood was good. How we got from there to here, I'm not sure. But don't stick us with all the stereotypes I'm reading here. Americans are far more intricate than that.

One more thing, I am hoping to move to Canada soon. I sure hope Americans are welcome there.

How can one possibly equate the London plots to the Democrats being "soft on terror"? JL Ronish needs to open his eyes to who has had control of the executive, legislative and, increasingly, the judicial branch of his/her government since 2001. As Richard Clarke, pointed out in his book, "Against all Enemies", the Bushies were not interested in Al Qaida prior to 9/11 (and only for a short while afterword). Clarke couldn't get a meeting with the Bush cabinet until August 2001. This sort of inaction is criminal negligence and should not only get the repugs tossed from office (if they don't steal ANOTHER election), but tossed in jail.

Thank God for Canada. It gives those of us who are thinking, rational Americans a place to go if the rest of America chooses to reelect a GOP congress this fall.

Don't be surprised when more Amerians apply for Canadian residency. Those of us who have had the fortune to have grown up near the border and can get CBC actually can get a less-biased view of what is going on.

Canada, even with a Conservative government, still tops what has happened in the US. The Bush regieme has started the decline of the American state and it's probably too late to stop it.

Bruce is quite right, the GOP is going to lose seats in the Mid-term Elections. However, that is not really the saddest part of the story. Political winds ebb and flow with the times, let the people of the United States decide what government they want to represent them. But that is not the whole story here. The saddest part of this story is the pervasive and overly-hyped rhetoric in US politics today. Liberal thinkers and activists are at war with hard-line, right leaning politician and journalists, and somehow the left lost.

One has to realise that this Left-Right schism began long before George W. Bush. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and I do recall a time when journalism was seen as the 'eyes and ears of democracy.' The Washington Post brought down a corrupt President, and America could breathe a sigh of relief because they were keeping an eye on the government, and keeping everyone honest. But then something got started in the Reagan Era. The message that the liberal media is destroying America.

This message gained a lot of momentum in the 90's. Right-wing journalists became much more influential than those on the left, until finally the conservative voice has edged out the left almost entirely, at least on TV. On TV news, for example, the liberal correspondent is almost non-existent, being replaced by those who take an extreme, right-wing, point of view. FOX-News should really post a disclaimer before their broadcasts, to warn viewers who may be offended by the blatant propaganda that they present as news.

The GOP, and the neo-cons, have had a good run with their vision, but it looks like most people are finally sick of it. But Bruce should not despair I think. If he's young enough he will be around to watch the Democrats self-destruct. And so the pendulum swings.

Sadam Hussein invaded Kuwait. He threatened our oil supply by doing so. We drove him out of Kuwait and established a military presence
in the middle east. The Arab world and its culture felt threatened by our presence.
Arab terrorist attacked America by destroying the World Trade Center buildings in New York killing 3,000 American civilians and drove a plane into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, killing hundreds more. A third plane failed in its mission to hit either the White House or the Capitol building. All this while Sadam failed to comply with UN resolutions while Ben Laden hid in Afganistan and urged Muslim terrorist to wage war against America.

Should we apologized for our presence on this planet? Should we park our SUV's and purchase bicycles? Let's not kid our selves; Oil is the lifeblood of our economy.

Having read through these, the same concept keeps coming through: Most people feel that the people calling the shots in Washington don't reflect the values of its people. From the standpoint of someone in another country watching the US try to self-destruct, I certainly hope so.

Canada-US relations have been uneasy most of the time to begin with. We have a far greater commitment to peaceful resolution, I think, (we *did* at one point have a much more powerful military, but the government chose to dismantle it in the Diefenbaker era. It happens), but that said, the two countries believe in fundamentally the same things. We just differ in how we should approach those things. This is normal. This is how countries should interact, and the occasional friction is a good thing.

What has been worrying me is the things I can point to from the outside. Things like the US being something like 200 billion in the black when Bush took office, and now being so far in the red they had to vote to adjust their own bankruptcy limit to keep the country from insolvency. And while the Bush Administration may not like Michael Moore, the facts say that no matter who benefits on the world stage, the Bush family is likely to rake in vast profits through their ties to the Carlyle group and their military contractor coprorations.

So, is Bush simply looting the country to pad his family's fortune? An insider could probably shed some light on that, one way or another. it's worth mentioning however, that to an outsider, that's exactly what it looks like. And that shows a system so fundamentally broken that a group of gun-toting reactionaries can run the nation while looting its international bank account and riding out of town laughing as the city burns behind them.

No matter *who* takes the reins next election, I really think they're going to have their work cut out for them. It's going to take decades to undo the damage done in the last two terms.

Finally the people in the U.S. are waking up and holding the Republican party and its leaders responsible for the utter failure of its foreign policy. This is the only message that these bunglers will understand. High time!

George Bush took over the reigns of a country which was being run by a group of liberals who kept hoping if they turned the other cheek the al-queda and such would just go away. Remember Somalia, the 1st. World Trade attack and numerous other attacks against the US and other western interests. It is time you people wake up. Turning the other cheek MAY only work if your foe is Christian.

This is one time when I really hope a Republican is right...

The Republicans are not in trouble enough. The present administration by the Grand Oil Party (as they are (under)currently known) has become synmonymous with corruption. As Rove said, the Rightists rejoiced at 9/11 because they knew they could sell a war. False witness bearing Bush, evil crank Cheney and grubby torturing Rumpsfield presiding over a gang of congress persons and senators as purchasable as dime store trinkets, HAD to steal the last two elections. Sadly, Americans don't seem to care so much. One can only hope that the atrocity that is Iraq will press their fingers forcibly down on the fiery braille of the truth.

What happened in the US cannot be blamed only George Bush:he probably managed to grasp the meaning of "hegemony", somebody had to explain it to him.

I hope that the "real" Americans will come back soon!

50 seats! Let's hope. And 6 Senate seats too.

Americans are decent people, regardless of their political leanings. What the Bush government represents has never been readily identifiable with the mainstream tenets of any party, but has represented instead a nasty amalgam of extreme fundamentalist religious views, a blatant commitment to enriching corporations and the already rich, a belligerent and ignorant view of "others"--whether they be the poor of your own country or foreigners--and a cynical contempt for democracy while forcing it down others' throats and committing unspeakable crimes in its name.

I think many Republicans are as horrified by their current government as non-Republicans, and would welcome leadership within their party that would snatch it back from the extremists who have hijacked it. If inspiring leadership with a commitment to traditional decency and moderation arises in the GOP, the party will have at least as good a chance at governing as the Democrats.

Bruce still might have a couple of aces up his electoral sleeve -same-sex marriage and stem cell research. Focus on the Family is on a nation wide campaign to get right wing conservative Christians back to the polls to vote Republican and for "pro-family values" Attacks on gays and lesbians may just do the job. Come to think of it...didn't Harper promise to reopen the vote same-sex marriage legislation to appease all those Western conservative Christians?

Republicans in trouble? Boo Hoo. How selfish of them to only worry about their political futures when the whole country has been completely and irreversibly dismantled and sold off to the globalists by these closet commie fake conservatives. I would say all of America is in trouble and no political party can claim to now have a solution. Democrats are just as responsible for the current problems of the Nation. The erosion of freedom and liberty, dismantling of the constitution, the impossibly large National debt. The formerly unconstitutional militarization of the local police. Erosion of individual State power. The rise of state sponsored terrorism and a shadow government to control the population.
A dollar on the verge of massive devaluation, a population on the verge of massive unemployment save a military career. A aging population about to retire just as the last pennies from the social security fund have been looted to fund unnecessary wars. 80 billion a year just to pay off the media.
And as if voting for the Democrates will make a difference after the last Kerry dive.

Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for those Republicans and Democrates that have sold the country out from under it's citizens.
God Bless real conservatives out there like Alex Jones who are still fighting for their country. At least there are a few real Texans left.

Never trust a "cowboy" who is afraid of horses.

It's at times like these that I find the Canadian political landscape and refreshing departure from our own. Imagine, a democracy with not two, not three, but (count 'em!) four fully functioning and relevant political parties. A system that (in the case of minority governments, anyway) actually requires the cooperation of multiple groups of people (of very different opinions) to get the work of the people done.

In recent memory there have been, unfortunately, blessedly few occasions wherein the Republicans and Democrats have come together to pass meaningful legislation. Instead we are typically force-fed a steady diet of partisanship, finger-pointing, and blame gaming.

Meanwhile, our citizen soldiers are dying daily in a far away land that was promised democracy and has inherited a looming civil war, this country's standing in the world (which, yes, is important, all of you 'America, love it or leave it' types) continues to erode, and we regularly ignore the most pressing and critical social issues of our day. All in the name of who gets to control the most seats in the Congress, along with the Executive and Judiciary.

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be an American and strongly believe in our system of democracy. But every so often (perhaps more often than not) we need to take a look outside of ourselves and see things from another perspective. Thanks to Henry for his updates (and outsider perspective) from 'the front lines' of Washington, D.C.!

Actually, when you look at the record, it is the GOP who are soft (I just love that term) on terrorism and the war. For example, 9/11 happened on the Gop's watch - not that the dems would have been able to prevent 9/11 from happening perhaps, but it did happen with the GOP firmly in the driver's seat. Bush scapegoated American intelligence services unfairly for his own misconduct, undermining morale and effectiveness, not to mention public confidence in those agencies. The GOP continues to rail on about al-Queda and terrorism but they're demonstrably not serious about any of it; why else would they send their troops into Iraq and permit the Taliban and al-Queda to re-establish themselves in Afghanistan? They have seven times as many troops in Iraq as they do in Afghanistan, but despite their "committment" to democracy in Iraq that country is being torn apart by civil war. The result has been that both countries are going to Hell and no one can now do a thing about any of it. They've undermined their military through short sightedness and flavour of the month deployments: they've spent billions - possibly a trillion - dollars on security and defense without producing any positive results anywhere. Civil liberties are in tatters: the Geneva Convention is a distant memory and they can even discuss using torture without moral or ethical reservation, as though it is a common tool that ought to be employed by every modern democratic state. Against all of the above I have to laugh whenever someone accuses the Democrats of being soft on terror. Really. It is too funny.

I think what we are getting here is a little Henry Champ wishful thinking (writing). Each time there is a terror incident such as the uncovered incident in England with the airliners, or even today (8/16) with the plane diverted to Boston, voters are reminded how weak democrats are on defending against terrorists. With a posterboy such as Ned Lamont all Republicans have to do is shut-up and let dems selfdestruct. Henry is probably missing those Clinton era parties.

That the Republicans are in deep trouble comes as no great surprize north of the 49th parallel. Bush will probably eclipse Nixon as the most unpopular American president to date. Not only is he a war criminal, he's a semi-literate Christian cad. Instead of delivering the Iraqi people to peace and prosperity, he has embroiled them in an escalating civil war the only promises more death and destruction. Hopefully the Democrats can get their act together now that Lieberman is gone, and trump Spurious George at the polls before universal justice comes to town.

Well if the Republicans can be defeated in the fall, there may be some hope. With the Diebold voting machines at their disposal (to be manipulated as in Ohio in 2004) it is no sure thing.

I can only hope and pray that U.S. citizens will awake and realize while they were dozing in front of their tv screens, oogling at porn on their computers and gambling their money on the net, someone was stolen their democracy.

Fear is not a good climate for freedom and the neo cons have been promoting fear in all the people of the U.S. Not to mention the rest of the world.

Wake up and take the country back from those neo no goods!!