KICKING THE CAN

North Korea has now tested it's second nuclear weapon. This removes all doubt that the regime headed by one of the true madmen of our time is now a growing nuclear power. The weapon that North Korea exploded underground is said to be significantly more powerful than the first one that it tested a year ago. The U.N. immediately condemned the testing, which means only slightly more than me and my dog condemning it. President Obama responded by challenging the world to "stand up" to this new threat. He is going to be very disappointed.

This all coincides with the recent testing 5 days before of Iran's long range missile that can now easily reach Israel. Needless to say, the world is getting far more dangerous right before our eyes. It really doesn't take a Evil Genius to put these two events together. North Korea is a very poor country that could use the money that rich countries like Iran would spend for nuclear secrets or weapons. To believe that we could stop them is tantamount to believing we can stop international weapons trade or drug trafficking. North Korea has already been accused of sending nuclear components to Syria that resulted in Israel doing a very clandestine attack that no one really knows the true extent of. If Iran, or Hezbollah, or Al Qaeda, doesn't already have a nuclear weapon, they are only a billion dollars away from having one.

How this will play out in international politics is anyone's guess.One thing is certain, it will effect it.

Increasingly, around the world, countries from Venezuela to North Korea have been openly flipping off the once-powerful United States. To the Liberals in the U.S. who have been praying for America to be far less influential on the world stage, you are getting your wish.

The new policy of the U.S. is one of diplomacy over threats, condemnation and embargo over military action. I'm not a hawk, I believe that diplomacy has it's place and military action should be the tact of last choice. However, I have come to the conclusion that the villains in the world now believe the U.S. to be a Paper Tiger, no longer having the capacity or the will to address the problems facing the world. That leaves us with only our combined efforts with Europe and the U.N. to stop a nuclear disaster. I hate to say this folks, but that doesn't sound too good to me. The U.N.'s history of stopping nuclear proliferation is dismal at best. The E.U. believes that the U.S. is the cause and answer to all the of world's problems.

This new frightening development in North Korea has demonstrated that we are powerless to stop what is going to be a second Arms Race around the world. One that is not between two superpowers, but between dozens of countries all with their own agendas. I believe this will eventually lead to a nuclear weapon going off somewhere in the world. The most likely candidate? London.

We humans have a hard time excepting things that we fear. Much like our inevitable death, the thought of nuclear weapons going off is too frightening for most people to deal with. Perhaps when the first nuclear weapon strikes and we see the results on our T.V.'s and computer screens we will wake up to the reality. Much like how we realize our own mortality when we have a near death experience. Until then, I'm afraid we will continue to "kick the can" on down the road, God save us. H.C.

FRAN ON THE FIRE

There are some politicians that I will openly admit to not liking much, even though I always caution people not to fall into the trap of hating someone that they really don't know. For example, during the run-up to the Presidential elections this past fall I made it pretty clear I was no fan of Hillary Clinton, although I will admit to having a certain amount of respect for her ability to put herself into the public eye. However, there is one politician that I find so vile, that I occasionally catch myself grinding my teeth at her image on my T.V. That person is San-Fran Nan, better known as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

I'm not really sure why I have such a problem with Speaker Pelosi. Maybe it's her Botox-laden face, maybe it's her anything-goes-as-long-as-someone-else-is-paying-for-it San Francisco values. Maybe it's that she reminds me of a scary elementary school teacher I once had. Whatever the reason, I have found great joy watching her squirm lately as she lies through her capped white teeth.

In the past week, Nancy has found herself in the uncomfortable position of having the curtain pulled back on her more private conservative moments. After exhorting the evils of "enhanced interrogation" for the later part of the Bush Administration, it has now been revealed that Ms. Pelosi quietly sat in on CIA briefings on interrogation and said nary a word in protest. Like a lot of Liberals on the Hill, President Obama included, she has to keep a bit of a duel personality going. On the one hand, she is privy to a lot of sensitive material on the threats facing our country and she knows the threats are real. On the other hand, she is the main spokeswoman for the left's anti-war, anti-torture, peace-nic wing. The two sides can never be seen together in the same room.

So what's a politician to do? Simple, you do what you accuse your opposition of doing-you lie through your teeth. You claim that the CIA "misrepresented the facts" and that you didn't know they were talking about "torturing" anyone. In fact, you thought they were talking about taking suspected terrorist Abu Zubaydah to a water-park for some afternoon fun.

There's only one problem, and his name is Leon Panetta. The ex-Clintonite and present CIA director Panetta refuses to just sit there and watch his department get trashed so's Ms. Pelosi can save her lipo-suctioned, silicone-implanted ass. He had this to say about Nancy's accusations, "our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing 'the enhanced techniques that had been employed." Come on Leon, can't you just take one for the team?

The Republicans have been smelling blood in the water and refuse to let this political grape fall off the vine before it's good and ripe.Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner had this to say about Ms. Pelosi's accusation, "Lying to Congress is a crime. Purposely misleading Congress is a crime. And if the speaker is accusing the intelligence community of lying to her or purposefully misleading her, then she ought to present that evidence, turn it over to the Justice Department, [and] have them prosecute it," Yikes! I believe the Republicans have finally made a point.

In the interest of good sportsmanship, I'm going to try to give Frying Fran a bit of advice. It's O.K., Ms. Pelosi, to be an unapologetic Liberal, some of my best friends are Liberal, that's not a problem. What is a problem, Fran, is standing in front of your Liberal friends and telling them how evil you think our intelligence community is, or how terrible our military is, when you know in your heart the vast majority of them are trying their level best to keep us all safe. For that, Ms. Speaker, I will never respect you. H.C.

HOW THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CAN SAVE ITSELF

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" -Mark Twain

The young Democrat approached me with a smile that came close to swallowing her ears. "Haven't the past three months been wonderful?" She practically giggled. "The Republican Party is finished, they'll never come back." I just smiled. The last time she saw me she was proudly wearing her Barack Obama for President "Yes we can!" T-shirt. I told her I was going to be voting for Barack and I guess she figured I was a Democrat like herself. She was mistaken.

Like a lot of the Democrats I've been talking to since the election, she took the results of last November to mean that the message of the Democrats had finally broken through the lies and rhetoric of the Republican Party. That people had finally seen that their message was one of kindness, hope and freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Republicans have simply found themselves at the end of their cycle. And a bad cycle at that. Two terms is usually the limit for a party to control the Presidency and the fact is, up untill 3 years ago, the Democrats had seen themselves falling further and further out of favor with the mainstream. They lost the House that they had controlled for over 40 years during the Clinton Administration and in 2004 couldn't even stop G.W., a relatively unpopular president, from getting a second term. In fact, over the past 17 years the Republicans have been running the show 15 of them. The Dems have only seen a resurgence in the past two elections with only the last one reestablishing their power. Most of that can be attributed to a bad economy, an unpopular president and a misbehaving Wall Street. Not something the Dems can count on continuing to profit for them.

So in the interest of fairness, I'm going to demonstrate why the Republican party can, and almost assuredly will, come back from the dead, if they follow this platform.

*Nation Security*

As I've said before, the Democrats are one major attack on the U.S. from losing it all. From closing Gitmo, to stopping interment, to outlawing "Advanced Interrogation", to allowing the suspected terrorists access to our courts, the Democrats have put themselves in the position of champions of the rights of people accused of terrorism. That's well and fine for now, but the people's view will change dramatically if we're attacked. Remember, the vote on the Patriot Act was 98-1-1 in the Senate. No one wanted to be seen as soft. For the Republicans the message is, "Obama and the Democrats are sacrificing our safety for their principles" Should an attack happen, they'll look like prophets.

*Social Issues*

Gay Marriage is not going to go away. With 30 states already outlawing G.M. in their constitutions (even California has joined) and another 18 outlawing it in other ways, the Republicans have public sentiment on their side. Gay advocates have a bad habit of being their own worse enemy. They have turned to judge shopping and using their connections in Hollywood to "blacklist" opponents and overturn laws instead of using public sympathies. The Civil Rights argument angers minorities and their lack of compromise is seen as all or nothing politics. For now, this is still a winning issue for the Reps.

*Guns and Abortion"

I like to say, "We will always have guns and abortion in this country, only the restrictions will change." Any attempt by the Dems (and there will be some) to restrict guns will lose Moderate Democrats and Independents like myself. Democrats have a bad habit of not understanding guns or the culture that surrounds them. Unlike some of my moderate Republican friends, I do not think Anti-Abortion is a losing position for the Reps. Recent polls show more and more people rejecting the idea of abortion. The Dems will further anger those in the middle with daffy legislation against parental notification and defense of the gruesome act of partial birth abortion.Those issues will lose a lot of people on the fence for the Dems.

Now for some positions I would change if I we're in charge of the Republican Party.

*Global Warming*

For the Republicans to win young people over, this issue has to go. The problem is the Reps look like they're defending polluting our planet. Plus, they use phrases like "Clean Coal" which sounds a lot like "Clean Dirt". Young people and people from my hippie generation are very environmentally conscious. They don't want to continue polluting because it "might" not be hurting our planet.....yet.

*Corporate Greed*

Defending excessive executive pay, trusting profit driven corporations to do the right thing unregulated, pollution, labor exploitation, deregulating the banks and our entire economy are all a black eye for the Republicans. Despite their attempts to refocus the blame, the American people understand one truth. Unregulated people will do whatever they can get away with. The Republicans need to lose the "Deregulate to prosperity" line. After two Bush Family driven banking scandals, the people no longer trust Wall Street unregulated...and they shouldn't.

*Health Care*

Get an alternative plan out as soon as possible. Predict rampant overspending on the Dem plan (a guaranteed winner). Offer Catastrophic coverage for all Americans as a compromise. The lie of "everyone gets care in America" isn't cutting it anymore. People see the jars in the stores begging for help to pay for 5 year-old Timmy's bone marrow transplant. Too many people know someone who's lost everything because of no insurance. Worst of all, poor working Americans aren't covered as well as those who don't even work. Republicans are seen as heartless on this issue and too many people fear their own health insurance may soon dry up.

If the Republican Party re-invents itself as the party of traditional social values, Nation Security, reasonable, controlled, and sensible moves toward universal health care, well-regulated Capitalism, and non-radical environmentalism, they can reestablish their place in politics. If they should continue fractured or adopt a "Democrat Light" platform, they are assured of more losses. On the other side, my advice to the Democrats is simple, "Don't dig the hole while the body still moves." H.C.