Harris Sherline: The Devil Is in the Details

» Bob on 01.25.09 @ 06:13 AM

Harris, either you really do not understand, or you are an unrepentant conservative. My guess is the latter. You will probably never understand the ideas of the fine Democratic party unless you find yourself in a situation where you truly need help. Only then, might you understand.

I think once you can truly feel empathy for those less fortunate, you would then also know in your heart that torture is wrong and inexcusable, that greed is immoral, and that the common good is greater than the individual gain.

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» Mark Collier on 01.25.09 @ 08:17 AM

Obama: “That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood ... Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”
Sherline:
Whose “collective failure”? The fault lies with our politicians, who have steadily expanded the role of government in the economy and have been unwilling to restrain spending. The public is responsible only in the sense that they have repeatedly elected politicians who do not understand economics and whose primary interest is getting re-elected.

The US government is not solely to blame for this crisis. There is a collective failure on the part of the American consumer. We’ve known about the energy crisis since the 1970’s but Detroit keeps making oversized, poorly made gas guzzlers because Americans keep buying them. The public shares responsibility in the housing crisis. It was consumers that accepted irresponsible loans. The public has been careless, wasteful and short-sighted.

Obama: “… the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

Sherline: Are all Americans childish, or only those who do not agree with Obama?

This is a childish remark. Maybe Obama is refering to Hummers, Lincoln Navigators and other wastful status symbols so popular in the country. It is childish to put profit and appearance above all else. It is childish to be only consumed with the present and near future.

Obama: “But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

Sherline:
No one seems to know what Obama thinks the country should look like. Before I start remaking America, I want to know what it means. So far, his vision doesn’t seem to include fiscal restraint. With something on the order of $2 trillion of new spending in the offing, I don’t intend to be led somewhere I know is wrong.

I share your concern about fiscal restraint but at least Obama seems to offer far more transparency in tracking this money. Sometimes when it becomes clear you are heading in a disasterous direction, you need to change course even if you don’t know yet exactly where you are going. Some of this stuff we will need to figure out as we go.

Obama: “The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.”
Sherline:
It’s hard to know where to begin with this litany of ambitious goals. Who knows what any of this means, except perhaps his health-care prescription, which he seems to think should be some form of nationalized health care. This is a formula for a health-care disaster. Socialized health care has never worked as promised in any society, generally downgrading the quality of care and causing rationing.

It seems you offer nothing but critiscism. Do you deny that our infrastructure has been neglected? We are experiencing the collapse of what we call ‘the American Way’. We need a paradigm shift on a fundamental level. We need to stop leaving it to future gernerations to sort out this mess we’ve been making.

Obama: “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

Sherline:
This is a repudiation of the use of torture and the presumed abuses of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA). However, Obama does not offer any alternative to protect the nation? He has already signed an executive order to close Guantanamo — without having the slightest idea of what to do with the prisoners there and without any agreements with other nations to take them.

Guantanamo has become a worldwide symbol of American arrogance. We are showing the world that we don’t even follow our own laws. We are disgracing ourselves on the international stage with this illegal prison. I admit closing the prison has complications but leaving it open does us more harm than good.

Obama: “… our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.”

Sherline: The idea that we can be protected from our enemies by the “justness of our cause” or “the tempering qualities of humility and restraint” is simply naive. Try telling this to the Israelis. Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran believe just as strongly in the “justness” of their cause, which is the extermination of the Jews.

To what extent do you suggest we abandon our moral values? We can’t take on the whole world. We are way out numbered. Iraq taught us that we can win the war but if we don’t win hearts and minds, there will be no peace. How do we win hearts and minds? With integrity. We need to stand for what we believe in and then less people will hate us and we will have more allies.

Obama: “With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet.”

Sherline:
This sounds like another nuclear treaty in the making. The question is, with whom? Are Russia, China, India or Pakistan going to give up their nuclear weapons? Or Iran, if and when it gets them?

Are you seriously suggesting that we shouldn’t be concerned about the spread and potential use of nuclear weapons?

Sherline:
As for “the specter of a warming planet,” evidence has been mounting that the theory of global warming is being challenged by a large number of highly credible experts.
Evidence has been mounting that an even larger number of even more credible experts say that the fact of global warming is indisputable. What are you going to say next, that we never went to the moon?

Sherline:
If Obama takes the nation to a “cap-and-trade” program, it will increase costs and disrupt the economy with little or no result, including putting our coal industry out of business.

I would suggest that there may come a time when the environment becomes more important than the economy. We need to be aware and take responsibility for our emissions. Perhaps ‘cap and trade’ is not the perfect solution but it at least monitors the situation. Information is a good thing. We can’t keep ignoring thie problem.

Sherline:
At the risk of being pilloried as another negative, nay-saying conservative, my take on Obama’s inaugural address is that it was long on platitudes and short on substance. The most important message he conveyed to me is his intent to turn America into another socialist state. Having the United States become more like France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and other socialist countries is not my idea of progress or “change” that I think is good.

Do you disagree with Obama’s goals or just the way he hopes to achieve them? It seems you offer little but critiscism. Issues are complicated. It’s not one or the other.. Left unchecked, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class disapprears. The free market system needs to be monitored. You consider this government interference and thus; socialism
It seems to me that we finally have a president that is willing to address the difficult issues that many people would continue to ignore. If we wait until we have all of the answers before acting, it’ll be too late. You have questions. Great! Ask away but get specific. Enough with the generalized, vague critiscism. What solutions do you offer?

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» Des M. Atticus on 01.25.09 @ 10:31 AM

Sherline: “Having the United States become more like France, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and other socialist countries is not my idea of progress or ‘change’ that I think is good.”

Words alone convey such intrinsic psyche of the human mind. Mathematicians can only ponder and agree. From the statement above if broken down to subjects, predicates, nouns, verbs, syllables and finally, consonants and vowels, we can all agree what the true message says.

Want the proof?

I’ll give time for other people’s response while I script it out. I’ll be back shortly.

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» AN50 on 01.27.09 @ 09:03 AM

Bob, I would suggest if it is so magnificent there that you pack your bags. I for one am sick of you self loathing, mediocrity loving nit wits extolling the virtues of other countries while showing nothing but contempt for your own. Europe’s socialist “lite” economies are very heavy on taxes and very light on innovation. The average unemployment in Europe over the last ten years has hovered around 11%. Hmmm, I guess it doesn’t pay to create jobs or to work for that matter if the government is going to take care of you. As for the socialized healthcare systems there, does the word rationing mean anything to you? So what if everyone’s covered, if you can’t get treatment it doesn’t really matter does it? It is the same for anything you leave to a command economy rather than a free market. Once the incentive to produce goods and services is gone the goods and services usually follow. Governments cannot produce a surplus of anything but debt. So Bobby if that is what you desire, you go man! Go and take all your other limousine liberals with you, thank you very much.

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