411 Politics Fact or Fiction: Week 9

Posted by Jason Easley on 07.10.2006

This week Douglas and Richard go head to head on the issues of catching Bin Laden, sanctions against N. Korea, the future of NASA, and internet gambling.

1). This week the CIA disbanded its Bin Laden unit. This is evidence that catching Osama Bin Laden is no longer a high priority for the Bush administration.

Richard Mimms: Fact. Bin Laden hasn't been a priority for the current administration since at least as far back as the invasion of Iraq. The big three in the war on terror (Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfield) have marginalized and then dismissed bin Laden in favor of broadcasting their successes, such as the capture of Hussein and the death of al Zarqawi, two individuals who had little or nothing to do with the September 11th attacks. What's sad is the fact that we Americans suffer such cultural ADD that bin Laden has become nothing more than a Trivial Pursuit question akin to Steve Guttenberg: most people seem to only casually wonder what ever happened to him. Just like Mr. Guttenberg, I'm sure that his eventual death at the hands of Father Time will be trumpeted with a resounding "I thought he died a long time ago."

Douglas Ferro: Fact. IF Bin Laden is still alive, which I am still not fully convinced of, his personal control over worldwide terrorism has been marginalized to the point where he is of little importance to any immediate threats, what with him hooked up to a dialysis machine trapped in an Afghanistan cave. Bin Laden has been relegated to a symbol, although still an important symbol. The War on Terrorism is not a conflict against one nation or one man; it is a fight against an ideology that is greater than Bin Laden. Now, if the tenor of this question was meant to imply that the Bush Administration is moving away from attacking terrorism then I would point no further than today's announcements of the breakup of a terrorist plot to destroy New York City tunnels as evidence both that this Administration is still conducting the war successfully and that Bin Laden is not the lynch pin to international terrorism he once was.

By the way Douglas, our own government feels that Bin Laden is still very much alive. I think any talk about him being a non-factor is a lot of whistling through the grave yard. It looks like we have two big time players this week. 1 for 1

2). Sanctions are the best way to get N. Korea to halt their nuclear program.

R.M.: Fiction. North Korea has stated that imposing sanctions would be tantamount to declaring war. Added to this, by depriving North Korea of the means and funds to create or sustain their weapons program, you also take away the possibility of sending economic aid to their citizenry; groups who already live under sever human rights violations. North Korea operates under the ideology of Juche (spirit of self reliance). By taking away all aid, it lends credence to their "underdog fighting the tyranny of stronger nations" mentality. Though usually I am a dove, North Korea demands a unilateral hawkish action for the safety of the Pacific Rim nations.

D.F.: Fiction. China is the solution to the North Korean problem. There today exist few more sanctions that can be placed on Kim Jong Il. His people are dying of starvation and he doesn't have enough power to keep his country lit at night. In response, China basically keeps the Communist North Koreans afloat, and therefore retains ultimate power over the dictatorship. It will be China's fears over a nuclear Japan and a Taiwanese response to Jong Il that will eventually be enough to impede his nuclear ambitions.

Don't look now, but they are 2 for 2.

3). After the delays launching the space shuttle Discovery this week, it is clear that the shuttle program is still dangerous, and a waste of money. The government should shut the program down until NASA has better design for the next generation of shuttle, and spend the money it would save here on planet Earth.

R.M.: Fact. I actually believe that NASA should be shut down entirely or incorporated into a general technology advancement program. NASA was created for the purpose of winning a swordfight between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Though it is really cool to go into space and fly to the moon, though the pictures from Hubble have been awe inspiring, NASA was a rushed program that succeeded in making Americans feel good about themselves. The money that is spent funding the agency needs to be redirected to programs that have a more immediate benefit for our country and our planet. Once we have some of our planetary concerns taken care of, then by all means continue with the program. I would absolutely love to vacation on Mars one day.

D.F.: Fact. NASA needs a new mission, something a tad sexier than "let's try to grow lima beans in a zero-g space station" or whatever it is they do up there when they're not fixing the Hubble. President Bush admitted as much a few years ago with his proposal, all be it lukewarm, to go to Mars. Space is the future, and eventually we will have more success up there, but it won't be in twenty year old space shuttles that people are so afraid will explode that we get 24 hour news coverage of them sitting on the launch pad. Whether the future will be reached by NASA or private industry remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, the NASA of today will not be in the vanguard of space exploration for long.

3 for 3!!! I can see the people at NASA cringing while reading your answers.

4). Next week, the House of Representatives will be debating a bill that would ban Internet gambling. Playing poker on line is no big deal and the government should keep their nose out of it.

R.M.: Fact. But not because of the lesser evil of online gambling. The internet is bigger than the U.S.. It's bigger than any individual country. Even though the U.S. is in control of divvying out domains and regulating the internet, it cannot try to enforce its own laws and morals upon a true international community. And besides, it would be futile. Just look at how successful the government is in prohibiting illegal file sharing.

D.F.: Fiction. Have we not yet learned that you can't police the internet? Unless you're already a dictatorial regime and have the support of the same web portals you intend to control, as was the case with China's censorship through Google, it is difficult to limit offensive online material let alone end it. Online gambling's advantage is that the websites do not originate in the U.S., instead coming from the Caribean or other foreign nations, and therefore there really is little to be gained through legislation to limit their proliferation other than to make some political points, of which I was not aware online gambling was such a barnburner of an issue. What will really stop this is the same solution to the NASA problem; private industry. Once Harris Inc. or Trump International find out they can make money out of online gambling they will find a way to police the industry, but the U.S. Government is in no position to do so at this time.

Douglas answered Fiction, but to me his answer sounded like he meant to say Fact. We were this close to our first sweep. By the way, wouldn't it be easier for the government just to legalize and regulate on line casinos? Richard and Douglas finish 3 for 4.

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