President Obama must stay steadfastly on course
In the past few weeks, President Obama has received a frontal assault by the Republicans and right wing media on the developments occurring in the wake
of the Iranian Presidential election and healthcare reform. Now more than ever, it is critical that the President stay the course in providing the leadership
required to move our nation forward.
In a hotly contested election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated his most significant challenger, Mir Hussein Mousavi, a reformist candidate who
galvanized support from women and a wide swath of supporters from Tehran and other urban areas. Mr. Mousavi and his followers decried that the election was
stolen from them by Mr. Ahmadinejad and expressed their satisfaction with widespread protests in the streets. Mousavi’s appeal to the lead Cleric of the
Theocratic State, Supreme Leader Holmeni was denied and when protests continued, Holmeni ordered a harsh and widespread crackdown on all of the
protestors that was denounced by nations all over the world.
President Obama issued several statements in support of the democratic process in Iran and called on the leadership to exercise restraint. He received
several criticisms statements from Republicans and the right wing pundits such as Senator John McCain, Dick Bennett, Newt Gingrich, Senator Lindsay Graham
and Rush Limbaugh. Always looking for ways to put forth the issue of the Democrats being soft on national security, they declared that President Obama was a
creampuff on national security issues kowtowing to Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader.
The stern yet measured response by President Obama was the right way to handle a rapidly changing and volatile situation. During the Presidential
campaign, Obama called for dialogue with all leaders, friend and foe, to address issues of mutual concern; while McCain joked and quipped using the Beach
Boys refrain “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.” All of these critics were consistent in this case as in others, in that they offered a critique without presenting any other
viable strategy. Just what would have been a better approach? Take a strong position against Ahmadinejad which Ahmadinejad could have used politically to
consolidate his base in Iran? These critics have short memories. They don’t remember, as do the multitudes of Iranians do, that the U.S. has a checkered past in
terms of its role in foreign policy in Iran. Those who claim that the U.S. must be on the side of democracy and freedom are also some of the same who supported
the Coup d’etat that snuffed out democracy resulting in the propping up of the dictatorship of Shah Reza Pavlavi. The duplicity is so thick you can cut it with a
knife. President Obama is aware of our checkered past and was right to proceed with caution.
The debate on healthcare reform has heated up and gotten fairly nasty. With 47 million Americans left uninsured or with inadequate coverage, the stakes
are very high. As the President has indicated, the U.S. pays twice as much per capita for insurance than the next highest western nation yet we rank sixteenth in
terms of what we get for what we are paying for with that investment. None of the stakeholders, the insurance companies, the hospitals and healthcare
dispensaries, the pharmaceuticals, the American Medical Association and a whole host of other ancillary industries are willing to give up the goose that lays the
golden egg for them.
The Republicans, many of whom are in the hip pockets of all of these entities, have begun to put out some of the same old tired arguments that have stifled
healthcare reform efforts in the past. They are warning that our nation is moving towards socialized medicine; that President Obama will put a bureaucrat
between you and your doctor; and that the cost will be enormous and bust the budget. What folly. There is no one between the patient and the doctor for the 47
million with no healthcare coverage. They are not concerned with the plight of these Americans. They also know that it is penny wise and pound foolish for these
individuals to go without insurance getting the most expensive treatment in the Emergency Room.
The President faces an enormous challenge in moving reform legislation forward. This challenge is not only coming from the vested interests and the
Republican right, it is also coming from those representatives in the Democratic Party who are either too timid or have sold out to the same vested interests. With
national polls indicating that 75% of the nation feels that now is time for serious healthcare reform; the people must continue to put pressure on ALL of the
politicians. President Obama must also be adamant in staying the course particularly with the issue of a single payer so that having healthcare insurance is a
right and no longer a privilege for those who are fortunate enough to be able to pay for it.
of the Iranian Presidential election and healthcare reform. Now more than ever, it is critical that the President stay the course in providing the leadership
required to move our nation forward.
In a hotly contested election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated his most significant challenger, Mir Hussein Mousavi, a reformist candidate who
galvanized support from women and a wide swath of supporters from Tehran and other urban areas. Mr. Mousavi and his followers decried that the election was
stolen from them by Mr. Ahmadinejad and expressed their satisfaction with widespread protests in the streets. Mousavi’s appeal to the lead Cleric of the
Theocratic State, Supreme Leader Holmeni was denied and when protests continued, Holmeni ordered a harsh and widespread crackdown on all of the
protestors that was denounced by nations all over the world.
President Obama issued several statements in support of the democratic process in Iran and called on the leadership to exercise restraint. He received
several criticisms statements from Republicans and the right wing pundits such as Senator John McCain, Dick Bennett, Newt Gingrich, Senator Lindsay Graham
and Rush Limbaugh. Always looking for ways to put forth the issue of the Democrats being soft on national security, they declared that President Obama was a
creampuff on national security issues kowtowing to Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader.
The stern yet measured response by President Obama was the right way to handle a rapidly changing and volatile situation. During the Presidential
campaign, Obama called for dialogue with all leaders, friend and foe, to address issues of mutual concern; while McCain joked and quipped using the Beach
Boys refrain “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.” All of these critics were consistent in this case as in others, in that they offered a critique without presenting any other
viable strategy. Just what would have been a better approach? Take a strong position against Ahmadinejad which Ahmadinejad could have used politically to
consolidate his base in Iran? These critics have short memories. They don’t remember, as do the multitudes of Iranians do, that the U.S. has a checkered past in
terms of its role in foreign policy in Iran. Those who claim that the U.S. must be on the side of democracy and freedom are also some of the same who supported
the Coup d’etat that snuffed out democracy resulting in the propping up of the dictatorship of Shah Reza Pavlavi. The duplicity is so thick you can cut it with a
knife. President Obama is aware of our checkered past and was right to proceed with caution.
The debate on healthcare reform has heated up and gotten fairly nasty. With 47 million Americans left uninsured or with inadequate coverage, the stakes
are very high. As the President has indicated, the U.S. pays twice as much per capita for insurance than the next highest western nation yet we rank sixteenth in
terms of what we get for what we are paying for with that investment. None of the stakeholders, the insurance companies, the hospitals and healthcare
dispensaries, the pharmaceuticals, the American Medical Association and a whole host of other ancillary industries are willing to give up the goose that lays the
golden egg for them.
The Republicans, many of whom are in the hip pockets of all of these entities, have begun to put out some of the same old tired arguments that have stifled
healthcare reform efforts in the past. They are warning that our nation is moving towards socialized medicine; that President Obama will put a bureaucrat
between you and your doctor; and that the cost will be enormous and bust the budget. What folly. There is no one between the patient and the doctor for the 47
million with no healthcare coverage. They are not concerned with the plight of these Americans. They also know that it is penny wise and pound foolish for these
individuals to go without insurance getting the most expensive treatment in the Emergency Room.
The President faces an enormous challenge in moving reform legislation forward. This challenge is not only coming from the vested interests and the
Republican right, it is also coming from those representatives in the Democratic Party who are either too timid or have sold out to the same vested interests. With
national polls indicating that 75% of the nation feels that now is time for serious healthcare reform; the people must continue to put pressure on ALL of the
politicians. President Obama must also be adamant in staying the course particularly with the issue of a single payer so that having healthcare insurance is a
right and no longer a privilege for those who are fortunate enough to be able to pay for it.