The Rivett Report 01.08.07

Posted by Joe Rivett on 01.08.2007

Obama will not be president but read about a black man that can, also the news on the troop surge and this begs the question, can it be worse than the soda-pop Surge?

Happy New Year Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the 2007 edition of the Rivett Report. I'm sorry about the lame teaser joke but I promise the Report will be better.

My Thought of the Week

I decided to think about if a black man could really be elected to office. I wasn't sure but then I read a piece by Harold Ford Jr. on the DLC's website and he writes about his success:

"By presenting a platform of ideas rooted in Tennessee values, we won 48 percent of the vote, falling short by only 50,000 votes out of more than 1.8 million cast. In fact, on a percentage basis, our vote outperformed the 2000 and 2004 Democratic presidential candidates. We won 13 counties that John Kerry did not. We even beat my opponent, Bob Corker, in his hometown, Chattanooga.

From the beginning, we were given little chance of being competitive -- let alone winning. Yet the race was so close that the Republicans were forced to spend more and work harder than anyone expected. Still, we entered this race to win, not to make a statement. While we are disappointed, we are not discouraged. We will run again one day, and we will win."

Harold Ford Jr. – a black man - performed better than Al Gore who is from Tennessee. Not only that, but he outperformed last day polling that stated he could lose by 5-10%. Historically, black candidates do well on polls because white folks like myself don't want to appear racist and then unlike myself, vote against the black person. Based on Ford's success in a conservative state, I believe a black person can be president. However, to be president, you have to campaign than your opponent and have better ideas. Obama can be president IF he fits the mainstream and does not allow himself to be shoved around. My prediction is that Obama will not be president not because of his blackness but because of his ideas, or lack thereof. Harold Ford on the other hand, I believe can be president one day.

The Possible Troop Surge

While I don't like to predict what the president will say, many newspapers and magazines are stating that Bush will call for an increase of troops to Iraq. Here is what the New York Times reports:

"President Bush's new Iraq strategy calls for a rapid influx of forces that could add as many as 20,000 American combat troops to Baghdad, supplemented with a jobs program costing as much as $1 billion intended to employ Iraqis in projects including painting schools and cleaning streets, according to American officials who are piecing together the last parts of the initiative.

The American officials said Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, formally agreed in a long teleconference on Thursday with Mr. Bush to match the American troop increase, made up of five combat brigades that would go in at a rate of roughly one a month, by sending three more Iraqi brigades to Baghdad over the next month and a half.

Nonetheless, even in outlining the plan, some American officials acknowledged deep skepticism about whether the new plan could succeed.

They said two-thirds of the promised Iraqi force would consist of Kurdish pesh merga units to be sent from northern Iraq, and they said some doubts remained about whether they would show up in Baghdad and were truly committed to quelling sectarian fighting.

The call for an increase in troops would also put Mr. Bush in direct confrontation with the leaders of the new Democratic Congress, who said in a letter to the president on Friday that the United States should move instead toward a phased withdrawal of American troops, to begin in the next four months.

Mr. Bush is expected to make the plan public in coming days, probably in a speech to the country on Wednesday that will cast the initiative as a joint effort by the United States and Iraq to reclaim control of Baghdad neighborhoods racked by sectarian violence. Officials said Mr. Bush was likely to be vague on the question of how long the additional American forces would remain on the streets of Baghdad. But they said American planners intended for the push to last for less than a year."

I don't like losing and I hope this plan works. However, other than McCain who is more worried about winning a primary, I don't see anyone else in a position of power clamoring for such a proposal. Reports from the Salt Lake Tribune point out that Susan Collins wanted to brief the president on what she found in Iraq and he did not speak with her. Carl Levin, chairman of the armed services committee sent Bush a letter offering counsel and never heard back. We have a president that does not see himself as a representative of the people. If the Democrats care about future elections, they should stand up otherwise Ralph Nader or some other nitwit will steal the 2008 election.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Meet Steny Hoyer
Speaking of Democrats standing up to oppose the troop surge, here is a partial transcript of what Steny Hoyer had to say on Fox News Sunday with Brit Hume:

HUME: Let's talk for a moment here about what we now think the president is going to propose or announce this week, something on the order of 20,000 more troops, as you heard me mention to Senator McConnell; the possibility now, we're hearing, of a billion-dollar package to try to enhance the job situation in Iraq.

What is likely to be the reaction among House Democrats, many of whom were elected to oppose this war, to that, those two ideas?

HOYER: I think that two things: First of all, we see this simply as an escalation and not a change. Essentially, we've gone up and down on troop levels before. We did so just recently. And when we sent troops into Baghdad, we sort of had community-by-community success but a general escalation, both in violence, sectarian confrontation, and loss of life.

So we don't see this as a new policy, and I think it's going to be greeted with great skepticism. We've also done the economic investment before — unfortunately, with not very good positive results. So I think great skepticism, as Senator Levin said in the Senate and Senator Warner said. They want to look at this proposal.

We have General Abizaid, as you know, interviewed a lot of people on the ground, including General Casey, who's now going to be chief of staff of the Army, and said that they don't think an escalation in the troop levels will work or will be helpful.

Basically, the Democrats are not going to cut off funding but they are going to hold hearings and keep a close watch of how the money is spent. As I stated in a previous column, instead of withholding money, I think the Democrats should attach conditions with it, such as paying for the war with taxes instead of borrowed money. If Bush really wants to win and considers it the struggle of our lifetime, then I would think the compromise would work.

What Would Tom Vilsack Do About Iraq

Last week Tom Vilsack was on Fox News Sunday and he appears to be the more centrist Democrat…

WALLACE: Governor, you say that you oppose a timeline for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, something that's favored by some of your potential rivals. But, on the other hand, as president, you say you would pull our troops out of places like Baghdad, out of the front lines, and put them in enclaves up in the northern part of the country.
What would that do to stop the violence, and what would that do to create a stable Iraq?

VILSACK: Well, the reality, Chris, is the violence is going to stop when the Iraqis themselves make the decision to stop it. No matter how many troops we have there, it just isn't going to work.
I was over there in March, and I was struck by the fact that there is a dependency on America. There is a transfer of responsibility to America in terms of safety and security. It is an Iraq responsibility.

The troops in the north would basically be there so that we would send a message to Iran that we do, in fact, have a military option. We'd make sure that things in the northern part of that country remain stable. And we'd be in a position, potentially, to work with the international community if things got completely out of hand.

But at the end of the day, it is about the Iraqis accepting responsibility.

WALLACE: All right. We have about a minute left.

Where do you think you fit in a Democratic field with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and John Edwards? Do you see yourself as being the most moderate candidate in that race?

VILSACK: Well, I see myself with the most executive experience and the person that I think has the greatest chance of reaching across and expanding the base of the Democratic Party in order to be victorious in 2008. That's where I see myself.
I think I can reach out to rural states, to states where the party has not done as well. And I think that's important and key to winning the election in 2008. We've got to expand the base. I believe I can do that.

I believe I have more executive experience than anyone else who's considering this race at this point in time.

Tom Vilsack appears to be running his campaign on the fact that he has executive experience, he will make good decisions based on competent advisors, and being from Iowa he knows about rural issues and energy independence. He is the chair of the DLC, Democrat Leadership Council, which was formed by Bill Clinton in the 80s to move the Party more to the center.

A Good Column To Read

Lots of good columns this week but Ray Church is the first "good column to read" recipient of the New Year with his Shut the Hell Up Awards. I enjoyed reading it and voting in it as it gave me great memories of the stupid things politicians say. One politician said something so stupid he has no chance at being president:

"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking" - Joe Biden

I'm not joking either, that may be worse than macaca. Nothing is worse than a prejudicial statement followed by: "I'm not joking". It is kind of hard to do damage control on that one.

Good job Ray!

The Individualist Gets Conservative

Now with the Dems in power I can attack them more. This week tune in as I blast their stupid minimum wage proposal.

Bye!