| The Literary Divide/Dr. Paul Barrows A retrospective on 2007 |
The wars, politics and the nation
President Bush’s troop “surge” appears to be having short-term success in thwarting the level and scale of violence in Iraq. However, the purpose of the surge was
to provide stability that would allow the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Al Maliki to bring together all of the various warring factions in his country, provide
more direct services to the Iraqi people and equitable ways to distribute the oil revenues. Despite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip there, very
little progress has been achieved on the political and diplomatic fronts. The “Coalition of the Willing” has been diminished with the loss of its biggest ally with
the retirement of Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, the British withdrawal from Basra and Australia’s departure from Iraq.
The situation in Afghanistan appears to be getting worse. The number and scale of terrorist attacks against U.S. and NATO troops by the Taliban have been
steadily increasing. The central government has limited control across the country with most of its influence being in Kabul and other metropolitan areas. Vast
regions of the country continue to be under the control of tribal chiefs who have little or no loyalty to the Mohammad Kharzi government. Some of them
continue to provide refuge to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. To make matters worse, the cultivation of poppy plants used to make heroin is at an all time
high. This can only serve to spread more death and destruction around the world.
In national politics, the good news — Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was forced to resign. The bad news, the Bush administration continues to try to cover
up the destruction of the tapes of the torturing that took place in Guantanamo. This year, the Democratic Party completed a full year as the majority party in
control of both Houses of Congress. They came to office with a mandate to begin the process of ending the war in Iraq. Despite having majority status, they
caved in on several occasions thereby being unable to muster a sufficient number of votes to defeat President Bush and Republican budget bills that continued
providing funding for the war.
The race to become the nation’s next president is beginning to heat up as the primary season comes nearer. On the Republican side, it appears that Arkansas’
Mike Huckabee has the momentum coming into the Iowa Caucuses, New Hampshire and South Carolina Primaries. Huckabee, the former pastor at Liberty
University, has tried to establish himself as being further to the religious right than Gov. Mitt Romney — how frightening and short-sighted! The biggest story on
the Democratic side for 2007 has to be the strong emergence of Senator Barrack Obama. Recent polls have indicated that Obama has edged ahead of Senator
Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire and is running neck and neck with her in South Carolina on the heels of the massive turnout that he received there in
a rally attended by over 30,000 people with Oprah Winfrey. Hillary has also made good use of “Slick Willie” to woo the Democratic vote in the early primary states.
Sadly, the nation continues to be plagued by the tragedy of senseless murders. Such was the case at Virginia Tech were scores of individuals were killed as was
the case with the recent mall massacre in Omaha, NE.
Sports
In sports, Brett Favre has returned to lead the Packers in what many thought would be his last year. The recently anointed Athlete of the Year has been fun to
watch and has been a boon to viewership in the NFL. My “other” favorite team, the New England Patriots, appears to be the juggernaut that nobody can defeat.
They are part of a new powerhouse combination that includes the World Series Champion, the Boston Red Sox ,and the Boston Celtics who many speculate will
win it all in the NBA this year.
On the downside, we lost Washington Redskins cornerback Sean Taylor — also to a senseless murder. We also now have the Big Ten Network and the NFL
Channel limiting access while driving up the costs for all their customers. Superstar Barry Bonds has been indicted for alleged use of steroids and Human Growth
Hormone (HGH) and for lying to Congress. With the recent release of the Report by Senator Mitchell that documents widespread use of these performance
enhancing drugs by so many athletes, many are crying foul and saying that Bonds has been unfairly been singled out to be the poster boy who will pay the
ultimate costs while other superstars like Mark McGuire and Roger Clemens have been given a reprieve. We shall see what the future holds …
President Bush’s troop “surge” appears to be having short-term success in thwarting the level and scale of violence in Iraq. However, the purpose of the surge was
to provide stability that would allow the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Al Maliki to bring together all of the various warring factions in his country, provide
more direct services to the Iraqi people and equitable ways to distribute the oil revenues. Despite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip there, very
little progress has been achieved on the political and diplomatic fronts. The “Coalition of the Willing” has been diminished with the loss of its biggest ally with
the retirement of Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, the British withdrawal from Basra and Australia’s departure from Iraq.
The situation in Afghanistan appears to be getting worse. The number and scale of terrorist attacks against U.S. and NATO troops by the Taliban have been
steadily increasing. The central government has limited control across the country with most of its influence being in Kabul and other metropolitan areas. Vast
regions of the country continue to be under the control of tribal chiefs who have little or no loyalty to the Mohammad Kharzi government. Some of them
continue to provide refuge to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. To make matters worse, the cultivation of poppy plants used to make heroin is at an all time
high. This can only serve to spread more death and destruction around the world.
In national politics, the good news — Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was forced to resign. The bad news, the Bush administration continues to try to cover
up the destruction of the tapes of the torturing that took place in Guantanamo. This year, the Democratic Party completed a full year as the majority party in
control of both Houses of Congress. They came to office with a mandate to begin the process of ending the war in Iraq. Despite having majority status, they
caved in on several occasions thereby being unable to muster a sufficient number of votes to defeat President Bush and Republican budget bills that continued
providing funding for the war.
The race to become the nation’s next president is beginning to heat up as the primary season comes nearer. On the Republican side, it appears that Arkansas’
Mike Huckabee has the momentum coming into the Iowa Caucuses, New Hampshire and South Carolina Primaries. Huckabee, the former pastor at Liberty
University, has tried to establish himself as being further to the religious right than Gov. Mitt Romney — how frightening and short-sighted! The biggest story on
the Democratic side for 2007 has to be the strong emergence of Senator Barrack Obama. Recent polls have indicated that Obama has edged ahead of Senator
Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire and is running neck and neck with her in South Carolina on the heels of the massive turnout that he received there in
a rally attended by over 30,000 people with Oprah Winfrey. Hillary has also made good use of “Slick Willie” to woo the Democratic vote in the early primary states.
Sadly, the nation continues to be plagued by the tragedy of senseless murders. Such was the case at Virginia Tech were scores of individuals were killed as was
the case with the recent mall massacre in Omaha, NE.
Sports
In sports, Brett Favre has returned to lead the Packers in what many thought would be his last year. The recently anointed Athlete of the Year has been fun to
watch and has been a boon to viewership in the NFL. My “other” favorite team, the New England Patriots, appears to be the juggernaut that nobody can defeat.
They are part of a new powerhouse combination that includes the World Series Champion, the Boston Red Sox ,and the Boston Celtics who many speculate will
win it all in the NBA this year.
On the downside, we lost Washington Redskins cornerback Sean Taylor — also to a senseless murder. We also now have the Big Ten Network and the NFL
Channel limiting access while driving up the costs for all their customers. Superstar Barry Bonds has been indicted for alleged use of steroids and Human Growth
Hormone (HGH) and for lying to Congress. With the recent release of the Report by Senator Mitchell that documents widespread use of these performance
enhancing drugs by so many athletes, many are crying foul and saying that Bonds has been unfairly been singled out to be the poster boy who will pay the
ultimate costs while other superstars like Mark McGuire and Roger Clemens have been given a reprieve. We shall see what the future holds …
