Obamaism, the 1st 100 days and taiji

I really think this short article clearly sums up what a president Obama will be in the days ahead. He said :

But he said what makes the country “so special” is that Americans are willing to uphold their own values even when it is difficult to do so.

In that one sentence, he has described what America seems to have lost under the Bush years. Under Bush, America has chosen to trade off precious human lives, Americans and Iraqis with dubious geopolitical gains by going to a ill-conceived and reckless war in Iraq. They have chosen to trade off human rights ideals enshrined in the constitution in favor of torture to extract intelligence from terrorists. They have chosen to trade off intensifying cooperation with the rest of the world with I-don’t-give-a-shit go it alone cowboy attitude. They have chosen to trade off long term sensible economic growth in favor of policies that let laissez-faire, get-rich-quick schemes run amok without supervision so as to spur the virtual prosperity that makes those in power look good. They have chosen to trade off the necessary infrastructure investments to the nation’s health care system with the unhealthy preoccupation on the Iraq war. They have chosen to trade off addressing climate change, which will be the greatest peril to mother earth in this century with short sighted concern about protecting the economy and the oil industry. In short, they have already sold America out and have done more damage than good.

Here, Obama’s approach is refreshingly different. During this time, he has shown that he’s trying to tackle problems at the root instead of just snuffing out fires only to let it reignite again elsewhere. This is what impress me most about him. He’s less inclined to be shy about telling it to our faces what we must do and what we must be for our own sakes instead of dressing it up to please us. He is committed in doing what is necessary to get the nation back on track rather than for political expediency. He is not afraid to be conciliatory to foreign countries not simply because he’s out to please them, but it will help us push for bigger things later. He’s a president with a long term vision. He is firmly rooted and he knows where he’s going.

The conservative forces are clearly missing a point here. Media like Fox News, Republicans, evangelists, fundamentalists are setting themselves up for failure if they are to be taken as blocking Obama’s stewardship instead of complementing it. They are probing for chinks in his armor but what they will probably find is strength and resilience to their attacks. John McCain had a taste of it during the elections. McCain is everywhere but in fact, nowhere. This is what is happening now with the conservatives. They are clearly lost and instead of finding their own root by offering constructive contributions to the nation’s needs for the next decade, they are wasting resources picking on piecemeal issues to attack Obama. This type of hit and run will not work against a skilled opponent like Obama.

Obama is the quintessential taiji exponent who also happen to be well-versed in the fine art of war. He clearly knows where his root is and, at the same time, flexible enough in dealing with opponents who only understand the language of stupid brute force. He is the right kind of 21st century president America needs now to deal with the complex economy, domestic unseen enemies, hit and run terrorists in Pakistan, emerging powers in China and Russia, rogue states like Iran and North Korea. I would dare predict the golden age of revitalization of America in the next decade under his leadership.

The Obama Doctrine

In the LA Times, President Obama defends his Obama Doctrine. What is striking to me is these paragraphs.

He noted that Latin American leaders had mentioned to him that thousands of Cuban doctors were deployed across the region treating patients, the type of humanitarian aid that spreads goodwill.

That, he said, is “a reminder for us in the United States that if our only interaction with many of these countries is drug interdiction, if our only interaction is military, then we may not be developing the connections that can, over time, increase our influence and have a beneficial effect when we need to try to move policies that are of concern to us forward in the region.”

Makes a helluva lot of sense ! Indeed, if Americans think that to project American power in this century is mainly to reuse the old & tired tactics of intimidation, threats, armed intervention and condescending lecturing, then we’re in for a rude shock as it is bound to fail. Here is an example that Americans can take a page from. Cuba, so reviled by the US and its media in its undemocratic institutions, cannot possibly have such an advanced system of health care that it’s even able to export to the rest of the Latin American countries. C’mon, it’s bullshit ! it’s untrue ! I seriously think we should hold up a mirror to ourselves and re-examine our assumptions. Conservative America is so indulged in itself that it failed to sense that the world is creeping up to it in some quarters. Cuba’s methods of projecting its influence and power will put all the American foreign policy hawks to shame. They don’t have the guns, the planes, the carriers and the missiles that the US have, but their doctors have managed to impress Latin America so much that those countries are coming to its defense in a show of gratitude. Of course, you can argue that Cuba is not without its imprefections and there quite a few. But aren’t we all ? Aren’t Americans also guilty of the same thing, by casting a rigid stereotype of others, especially its enemies, Americans have left no room for finding creative solutions to disagreements. They have locked themselves in a box, refusing to give credit where credit is due and refusing to admit its own mistakes. They have given themselves no room to maneouvre in some situations. This is a sure way for any superpower in the 21st century to fall by the wayside. America does not need to be soft on its enemies, that’s not the point. It has to stand up for its ideals and make no apologies about it. There must be strength in character, not hypocrisy, double standards and expediency. For it to lead, it must demand on itself what it demands from others. It must learn to navigate the diverse and complex world. The world that its citizens want is certainly not going to come from the imagination of the conservative forces in America as it is a sure path to self-destruction. There must now be more enlightened ways of dealing with differences and disagreements between peoples and nations. This is the only sure path to self-preservation.

The Obama bow to the Saudi King

Ok, another conservative ruckus over the bow to the Saudi King. What’s wrong with these Americans ? It may not be meant as a bow but if it is, what’s the big deal ? Is it wrong to show a bit of courtesy and maybe observing some customs of the other party. It just exposes how extremely insecure and narrow these people are. They are afraid to show weakness and any outward attempt by our president to show respect and deference is automatically taken as a sign of shame. What happened to us, have we become Chinese all of a sudden where saving one’s face is more important than substance in politics ? We all know the power equation that exists between nations today. Why do we have to fear what the Saudis think of us or, for that matter, what others think of us. It is pretty obvious still who’s boss today but of course that is slowly eroding away. And it will erode away faster if we don’t do something to save the economy, health-care, energy, education, blah. Sooner or later, future presidents will really end up bowing to Saudi kings for fear of them turning off the oil taps. It is a ploy to buy time. Whether we drill baby drill ( which is not a viable long term solution ) or we transition to other energy sources, we still need time to implement solutions to the energy problem. In the meantime, we need to make sure oil does not go to 10 bucks a gallon if not we all have to kowtow to the Saudi king. C’mon, people, the issue is not whether President Obama bows to the Saudi king, the issue is our president is telling us in no uncertain terms that we have to put our energies to coming up with alternative clean energy sources so that we do not have to coddle these monarchs in future any more. So shut the frak up and get to work instead of whining !

Is America really in decline ?

From some of the reactions to President Obama’s trip abroad, it seems some quarters, especially the convervative ones, are unhappy with the almost apologetic and conciliatory tone struck by him. I think they are still living in their own dreamland bubble and have failed to appreciate the seismic changes that have taken place in the world today. Relative to the rest of the world, America is seeming to be in decline. Is it ? It depends on how you perceive what this decline means.

In my view, it is in decline because everyone else is improving and catching up. There is no doubt that China, India and Russia, Brazil have in general seen much progress especially in the economic zone. As such, unlike in the past where these countries have regimes that tried to spend beyond their means with a broken political system to nurture a military force at the expense of their people, they have now sensibly taken a page from America and are now mostly embracing market economics to better finance their influence and power. It has also added more stability and peace within their societies as they also try to incorporate some aspects of the Western political model. In a way, these countries have learned their lessons in the 20th century and are now in fact prudently customizing Western models of development to apply to their own local contexts. For all of the high-brow strategic objectives about exporting American democracy and way of life that the neocons love to shout about, it is in fact slowly succeeding for these countries. But while the children are growing up, the parents have aged. Conservative America has stood still all this while. It has allowed itself to be gradually consumed by egoistic self-indulgence and arrogance. It still thinks it knows best and keeps harping the same old song about “democracy” and “human rights” to these countries. It still expects, almost to the point of demanding, a “head of the household” treatment. It has still not woken up from its postwar euphoria. In a sense, the children are now teenagers and they are not going to stand for an overbearing attitude towards them. They are now finding their own footing and their own niche and are increasingly asserting their independence. They are becoming adults in their own right.

This is a good article about the changing waves that America is facing now. In it, it argues that America’s moral leadership have been battered by Bush’s cowboy policies. The Bush “don’t give a shit, go-it-alone” doctrine have not won America the much needed cooperation from the world but have done more to isolate America. It is finding it hard to rally the world and its public opinion to its causes. As such, it has to bear much of the burden as demonstrated by Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the recent G-20 summit. The most sensible thing in the long term is still to reengage America to the world in solving problems. America is now fraying at the seams. Its seemingly deep pockets are now emptied out and it’s finding itself gradually losing in the global hearts and minds division. Its only solace today is in its still mighty fighting machine but what’s the use of all the firepower when you cannot really use them at all ? In the 21st century, using force to solve problems increasingly comes with a heavy price to pay. There are numerous consequences you have to account for like affordability, the complex moral dilemmas, implications and support from local constituents and the global community. Public opinion about right and wrong, good and evil is becoming more complex and there are more shades of gray now than in the past. You cannot really unleash weapons of mass destruction today without having to deal with a huge moral and ethical backlash against yourself even if you’ve succeeded in completely wiping out the enemy. The 21st century is very different from the medieval times where land grab and securing resources for survival are the main concerns. Using force today only results in a net lose-lose even for the so-called “winner”. Cooperation, the four-letter word of the conservatives, is becoming the winning formula for the future. Imposing your will on others through guns is becoming a very unattractive option except for dealing with enemies still stuck in medieval times like Al-Qaeda.

President Obama clearly recognizes the ground-shifts that is taking place now. What he’s doing is setting the tone and laying the groundwork for a more adult-like relationship with the rest of the world. Of course, things will still not go 100% America’s way as hoped for by the conservatives. As David Axelrod said, “the waters did not part”. The conservatives are clearly missing a point here. They are too engrossed in short term point scoring and immediate gratification that they missed the big picture. President Obama is still America’s president and I believe first and foremost on his mind is still America’s interests. But our interests and our destinies are now in a large part intertwined with the world’s and we have to move together. It would do well for those still nostalgic about America’s past dominance to wake up. What President Obama has done is to ensure that America will not go the way of Rome at least for the next few decades. What he has ensured is America’s continuing leadership position in the world at least for as long as he’s at the helm. What he has done is what any wise sitting president will do.

Drugs and the White House

Go visit the white house here. This is a recent program by President Obama’s administration to solicit input from people through the internet and will pick the top few voted-on questions to answer on Thursday. If you go to topics like budget, green energy, etc, you will be amused to find the top few questions to be about marijuana and hemp. What the heck ? Not sure if they have implemented a filter for duplicate votes or voting fraud but the amazing thing is the top questions about legalizing marijuana actually garnered thousands of votes. Now I don’t have strong opinions against ingesting drugs but c’mon, is this all people care about these days, gettin high ? What is happening here ? No amount of Obama spending or reforms will get America standing upright again if gettin high is the topmost priority. Is this the true real concern of Americans ? Do they realize they are illegally shipping billions of dollars and weapons across the border to Mexico to buy drugs from those shady drug terrorists there ? I don’t believe the legalizing of marijuana will be the solution. It is simply because of the lure and addiction that comes with drugs. It drives people to madness and irrational actions to try & obtain those drugs to satisfy their addiction. Legalizing and raising high taxes on drugs simply gives a more convenient way for the rich access to them but those who cannot afford will still resort to illegal means to get it. It’s still going to fuel a black market which will still be run by the same old shady drug terrorists. Instead of your high translating to enormous profits for the terrorists who use it for more destruction and violence, you will be the slave to another equally unscrupulous party who’ll be making enormous profits legally. Eventually, these people may in turn be controlling the government and your lives one day just like in Mexico. Is getting your high really so worth it or you just simply do not care ?

Be transparent or be expedient

After reading this article on Huffington Post, I’ll have to agree on some of its points. Though I strongly dislike some quarters cooking up a big fuss over the AIG issue for the sake of political points, the issue of transparency and integrity in this case trumps above all else. Someone in Obama’s administration killed a provision in the bailout deal with AIG that explicitly curtailed those bonuses but it was withdrawn. The amendment to curtail it was drawn up by Sen. Wyden.

Building on public outrage and presidential denunciations of executives at bailed out companies getting bonuses, Wyden and his Republican colleague, Sen. Olympia Snowe, crafted a provision in the stimulus bill that would have forced bailout recipients to cap their bonuses at $100,000 (any amount above that would be taxed at 35 percent).

According to Wyden, he “spent hours on the Senate floor,” working to get the bipartisan amendment passed. He succeeded — not a single Senator voted against the provision. “But,” says Wyden, “it died in conference.”

So who killed it? Wyden doesn’t know.

Now it starts to get weird. Who kicked the provision out ? Here in this interview with CNN, Treasury Secretary Geithner claims he only knows the “full scale and scope” of this issue on March 10 and they have explored every possible legal avenue to recoup the money. When pressed about whether he knew about the provision to allow the bonus payments in the bill back in November, his answers are a little dodgy and vague. He keeps hammering that his main concern is whether the legislation can stand up to legal challenge.

Here is current AIG CEO Edward Liddy’s letter to Geithner expressing concern about the government’s demands that could affect AIG’s ability to retain “the best and brightest talent to lead and staff the AIG businesses” if “employees believe that their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.”

Here is National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers about AIG spending hundreds of millions in bailout money on executive bonuses. He’s defending the fact that we need to prop up companies like AIG at all costs because of the ramifications it will have for the national and global economy. The consequences will be disastrous otherwise.

Here is a disclosure by AIG on the counter-parties who have received funds from the bailout money.

Now the argument about consequences will be dire if we don’t prop AIG up smacks somewhat of the excuse used by Bush to plunging the country into war with Iraq. Of course, to be fair, it’s not entirely an apples to oranges comparison. But the underlying point here is the outright honesty, integrity and transparency promised by President Obama when he takes office. That we should not trade basic common sense and conscience for expediency in solving problems. The problems afflicting AIG and the financial system are complex and dire but I don’t believe it is absolutely the worst thing to allow these companies to fail even if the repercussions are very painful. The laws of nature must be allowed to take its course and accountability must be assigned to the right parties. AIG is accountable for their own actions and they will have to fight to survive. But if they know that they cannot be allowed to fail, then they can end up more complacent and recalcitrant. Sometimes it is better to let them go and try and minimize the fallout. I don’t think we should risk trading off the basic values embraced by President Obama for supporting a failing organization out of fear for the consequences otherwise.

A shitty unproductive farce

The AIG fiasco now being played out in the hallways of Washington just simply makes me wanna puke. Is this truly what makes up America ? For crying out loud, there are many more important bigger things to focus on than making such a overrated fuss about a couple of Americans getting bonuses. I’m not interested in hearing about they getting bonuses or didn’t get bonuses. If they get it, good for them, and let’s see if they have the decency and conscience to keep it after what they have caused the company. If they don’t get it, who cares. Congress just took only a couple days to pass a 90% tax on the bonuses but shit, guess what, it can be thrown out of court because it is unconstitutional for Congress to pass laws that punish a select group of people. Imagine Congress putting the same zeal and energy behind getting the economy going again. It would be awesome man ! It just goes to show what this Congress and the Americans behind it are made of. Petty, shortsighted, useless pieces of shit, that’s what they are. I don’t hear any cooler heads prevailing among this group of leaders. It speaks volumes of the quality of leaders that we have nowadays. They are just a bunch of spineless idiots who gets swayed by which way the wind is blowing. Who needs them anyway ? I think this whole drama is just an unproductive soap opera and distracts from the main stuff that needs to be done. C’mon, people, we need to get money in our pockets and making a huge fuss about money in others’ pockets isn’t gonna put more money in ours. We need to get this economy going again and taxing a few measly dollars back from these suckers isn’t gonna make a whole lotta good. That’s not the issue ! Let the government solve what it needs to solve and we do our part by being cool-headed and keep our focus on the real task at hand.