Election Issues Today

There is a scene from the 2009 season finale of “Desperate Housewives” where Lynette’s husband plans to return to college to study the Chinese Language to better position himself as a “marketing” executive.

To many Americans, me included, China seems even more foreign than Russia. The people look different. They eat different food. They have different social customs and manners. They use a different way of writing. We have much to learn about them. Language is just the beginning.

If we do a little research into the Barbary Coast Pirates and the two Barbary Coast Wars, we do find one similarity with today’s piracy problem: a power vacuum.

I think that the technology must exist to “mark” each legitimate merchant ship, electronically, so they can be identified from satellite. Merchants ships could be boarded and “marked” at the choke point off the coast of Djibouti. Then, by satellite, any vessel putting out a heat and noise signal that is not “marked” would be identifiable as a legitimate target for boarding and inspecting, and then engaged militarily if necessary. There are several navy ships of many different countries operating in the area, and the USA, with the technology, could coordinate these “inspections.”

In the wake of an overseas trip, that by most all accounts was a resounding success, U.S. President Obama has many problems facing him, some inherited, such as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global economic emergency, and new problems that loom ahead, including a resurgent power play by North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il.

The recent missile test, which is regarded as highly provocative by both Japan and South Korea, underscores the continuing power play that Jong Il believes will strengthen his position in nuclear and economic negotiations with the West.

Although the missile test was overwhelmingly condemned, there was no attempt by the U.S. to “shoot down” the missile, evidently, trajectory data confirmed a course that would not threaten any other country. The U.S. says the missile splashed down in the ocean, North Korea press releases claimed that a satellite had been placed in orbit.

There is also an internal power play in North Korea that is of concern to Japan, South Korea, and western nations as well. Just how long Jong Il can hold on to power in view of his health problems is a question that remains to be answered, and just how firmly he remains in control will largely determine who will hold power upon his death and if a power struggle is likely to erupt. The possession of nuclear weapons (of any sort or degree of sophistication) by an unstable government will keep the U.S. military presence nearby and on alert.

President Obama’s surprise visit to Iraq shouldn’t really have come as a genuine surprise to anyone, it simply wasn’t announced and was “unscheduled” on his travel agenda. He stated that it was time for Iraq to be accountable for its own future. A great deal depends on the leadership of Prime Minister al-Maliki, President Jalal Talibani, and the new General in Charge of U.S. forces, Raymond Odierno.

Full Speed Ahead is obvious from the new White House web site that was up and running within a few seconds of the new President’s inauguration.

A visit to the new site convincingly reveals how quickly and efficiently this new Administration intends to operate.  I look forward to the “First 100 Days.”

The Obama Agenda is one of the best new pages to examine. (There is a menu bar at the top of the page.) You will find two dozen topics that have fully developed positions and goals.  Incredible!

The new web site also features an updated biography of the new President and Michelle Obama, and of Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill.

Over all, it is a VERY professional web site.  It firmly announces two things: (1) We have Arrived! (2) We mean business!

One of the new President’s likely first acts in the next few days will be an Executive Order to close down the Guantanamo detention facility.  The closure will not occur overnight, but the order could come almost immediately.  Part of the problem facing the incoming Administration is what to do with the detainees.  The fact is: nobody wants them.  No country in the World would be willing to “hold on” to these people while their cases are adjudicated.  Most of the remaining detainees are very dangerous.  The problem is presenting evidence and establishing a viable case for prosecution.

Some of those who were already released as not being a threat, have, in fact, rejoined terrorist organizations and do pose a future threat.  The United States will probably end up bringing all the detainees to United States facilities.  This will entitle them to new rights and legal remedies.  They can’t be held indefinitely without being charged and taken to trial.  This will be a sticky issue for President Obama.