Midterm Elections
As a "political scientist" (I can call myself that since that was my undergrad major, right?) I am following the upcoming midterm elections closely. Ivy and I already voted, actually, with our absentee ballots and both of feel that the Republicans need to get a good thumping. Yes, this is coming from a Republican household. But it is clear that when you mess up badly--in the business world or in athletics--you pull out the people who can't perform. You oust them, you fire them or--as the British say in our favorite magazine The Economist-- you SACK them.
The Republicans need to be sacked for the following: gambling and losing on Iraq and a shocking level of corruption in regards to personal morality and influence peddling. The depressing reality is that, on an international level, we thumbed our noses at the world and invaded Iraq. This would probably have turned out mostly ok if we had "won" as we expected. But this outcome is a triple disaster: we've created an absolute mess where hundred of thousands of innocent Iraqis have died along with 3000 U.S soldiers; we've lost respect throughout the world for our moral clarity and are viewed in many ways as an arrogant and incompetent country; and we've probably emboldened Iran and other dictatorial countries--e.g. North Korea--because it's evident that the military power of the U.S. can be effectively overcome by suicide attacks and roadside bombs. After such criticism, what's my suggestion as to what to do? I unfortunately don't know. However, the Republicans clearly don't know what to do--they've been given their chance for many years--and now they must be tossed out of power.
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