Nuclear Weapons: A Blessing and a Curse

So I have been asked my opinion on the nuclear arms reduction that Obama has been leading. And my answer has been I don't know, because I really have mixed opinions on this subject. But I have been reading the articles and watching the progress that Obama has been making, with both China and Ukraine, and I have decided I am with Obama on this. One thing I will give Obama is that he can really get people to follow him and to listen to him. previous presidents have tried multiple times to reduce or flat out eliminate nuclear weapons from the world stage, but none of these men have succeeded. Reagan was one of the first to propose abolishing nuclear weapons completely while Clinton and George W. Bush both pushed programs intended to reduce the amount of weapons, primarily between the U.S. and Russia. Each was slightly successful but the threat of nuclear war is actually more likely now than it was 10 years ago.The reason behind this is that there are so many sources of material that are just waiting for a terrorist with the time and money to come and build a nuke. I have mentioned before the danger of a attack on Israel, and again I believe that the U.S. has nothing to fear from a direct attack. We are reasonably secure and separated from the terrorists, it would be far easier to just attack one of our allies. Anyways the point is that while we do not have much to fear in terms of a nuclear attack, there are countless others that are at risk. We as "The Worlds Police Force" have a responsibility to use our technology and man power to help and secure these sources of plutonium and uranium. And now with Ukraine stepping forward again and giving up their stockpiles of enriched Uranium we see that countries do still have faith in America and are willing to trust us. Another point that I really appreciate about Obama is that he has done more to tick off China than any president, yet he is still able to go and talk face to face with Hu Jintao and get a agreement from him to impose sanctions against Iran. That is some talent in foreign policy and it shows a mutual respect between the two men, something that George Bush never saw when he was delving into foreign policy. Now my gripe with Obama's foreign policy is his promise to China that he is "sensitive to China’s energy needs” and would work to make sure that Beijing had a steady supply of oil if Iran cut China off in retaliation for joining in severe sanctions. Okay, great, how in the world are we going to do that? We rely on the Middle East for nearly a third of our crude oil, if Iran were to get ticked off enough who is to say that they don't try to close down our oil import too. They have quite a bit of say in the Middle East and at the very least they have the ability to drive the price of gas through the ceiling here. How does Obama propose that we help China when we can not even help ourselves? And not only that but China has done this before, they did it to Bush twice. They would agree to a sanction but when it got to the U.N. board they would use their influence and water it down until it did very little harm to Iran while still making China look like they are trying to help solve the problem that Iran presents. So once again I will say congratulations Obama, and if he is able to secure the the nuclear stockpiles and actually do something more than talk and make verbal agreements I will even say tat he deserves that Nobel Peace Prize. But until Ukraine stockpiles begin moving into Russia, Iran has tough sanctions backed by China, and other countries are beginning to follow Ukraine's steps. Once all of that begins then I will say that Obama deserves a place as a great president, maybe not the best for America, but what the world needed. And maybe my children and grandchildren will be able to live without the thought of a nuclear war or even such weapons. 


So there it is, when I tried to explain this to one person I was called a flaming Liberal, perhaps... But this was Reagan's dream too...

Changes, Good or Bad?

Justice Stevens has stepped down from his post on the Supreme Court. This will be interesting to see how Obama handles the next appointment and how the republicans respond to Obama's appointment. I am in favor of another man like Stevens, not necessarily like him in beliefs but like him in the fact that he had set views and would not change them. Even though when Ford appointed him to the Court Stevens was a Republican, today he is considered a liberal. This is because he set his opinions and has never changed them, even though both parties have changed their ideals, he has kept his the same. This I respect, now I have never agreed with his stance on abortion or his ideas about freedom of speech, and I am hoping that Obama appoints someone who is not really associated with a party. By that I mean someone who has not either campaigned for a office before or helped in any way a campaign. Because as a Judge it is not your job to think about whether or not your party will like your choice, that is why they are appointed for life. So hopefully we get a judge with a good moral compass and a mentality like Stevens that no matter what they go with what they feel is right.

Why Things Are the Way They Are

I just finished reading a book called the Defining Moment:The Great Depression and the American Economy in the 20th Century, by Micheal D. Bordo, Claudia Goldin and Eugene N. White. It is a interesting theory that they put forward, that the changes that were brought about by the Great Depression would have happened with or with out it. The Depression just spend things up a little bit. The government prior to the Depression was small and did not have things like social security and never considered things like standardized health care. But people were growing to the idea that it is the governments job to look out for the welfare of it's people. While at this time that would have simply meant that the government should be able to help keep unemployment rates down, help stop price hikes and unfair labor practices. All of those things were not even expected of the government it was just something it would be nice if they could do. Then the Great Depression came. People who had worked and saved their whole lives, who had never gotten into debt or risked their money in investments, suddenly found themselves with out a job and their savings gone. Who could they turn to for help? No one. So they turned to the government and said "if you had been doing your job none of this would have happened" not realizing that they had voted Coolidge and Harding and Hoover into office because they had promised a small government that would run on the basis of laissez-faire. When the crash hit, Hoover's policies were that through volunteer efforts the people should be able to pull themselves out of this mess. He believed that getting the government involved was a bad idea and would only make the people dependent upon the government every time there was a need. In many ways he was right. When FDR took office he immediately began pushing new acts and committees to take care of those acts. For every problem that a American group faced FDR had another committee to help that group out. Also he believed that by giving the business's money it would help to employ those off the streets hence putting money in their pockets to go spend. That did not work (funny how history repeats itself). However out of all of FDR's committees, only one is still active and that is Social Security, but the idea that it is the governments responsibility to be taking an active part in the lives of all its citizens is still planted and growing steadily. The problem is that to go back to the days of small government, where the government only intervened after it was clear that the people could not fix it themselves, we would have to have a candidate that would say to the people "We are going to take away..." and as soon as people hear that they turn to the other guy, the guy who is offering more money for school, free health care (nothing is free), better living quality.  And nobody stops to think about the consequences of these decisions, all that they see is what is in it for them.

Baseball season is here!!!

Yet I have to remember this is not a sports blog, I will try and not compare the two.