Even though President Bill Clinton participated with NATO in Kosovo, Democratic presidents since Lyndon Johnson have been haunted by the “Desert One” fiasco, when on April 24, 1980, an American attempt to extricate the 52 hostages held in Teheran failed in a bungled military operation in the Iranian desert.
Since that military disaster, Republicans have been rated far stronger on national security and defense issues than Democrats. It didn’t help that the last two Democratic presidents never served in the military.
During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly told campaign audiences that if elected he would reengage the hunt for Osama bin Laden. I’m sure many thought Obama was utilizing campaign rhetoric, saying that to get votes, but not really serious.
Once he took office, though, President Obama began to utilize the military and intelligence capabilities of the United States not only to pursue Al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, but also to resume a serious hunt for the mastermind responsible for killing thousands on Sept. 11, 2001.
That culminated in the successful raid on the compound in Abbottabad that resulted in the death of bin Laden and four others last Sunday.
American intelligence has been ridiculed since the weapons of mass destruction debacle during the previous administration. And there have been questions as to how good American intelligence was, especially in having “assets,” spy speak for human spies, on the ground in the world’s trouble spots, like Pakistan.
But, under the inspiration and leadership of this president, he’s fashioned a national security team, that is disciplined and committed to implement this president’s goals, orders and directives.
Once President Obama was told that maybe they had an idea where Osama bin Laden was, the president ordered his intelligence agencies and military to proceed. They discussed plans and options.
And when they were convinced they had their target in sight, the president gave the order to strike.
We don’t know what the ramifications of bin Laden’s death will be. We know terrorists still exist. Sen. Richard Lugar worries that we still face a threat not only from terrorists’ networks, but there is still the danger that those terrorists could obtain a weapon(s) of mass destruction, which would make 9/11 seem like child’s play.
Our military, especially the Navy SEALs, have earned the admiration, thanks and gratitude of their nation. As have our spies and intelligence gatherers. But praise also should go to the man who created the environment, encouraged his teams, oversaw the planning and gave the final order to “go.”
In 830 days of an Obama administration full of special moments; this may have been the most special.
What I’m hearing in the streets
There was very little good that came out of this legislative session. Urban school districts, which in Indianapolis include IPS and the townships, stand to lose millions of dollars.
The radical Republicans controlling the General Assembly not only kicked Planned Parenthood to the curb, but they greatly restricted and abridged a woman’s right to choose. The radical Republicans cut benefits to Hoosiers unemployed while giving more tax breaks to Hoosier corporations.
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ education reforms are now law. And now he and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett have to make them work. And the first big test will come with vouchers and the expected lawsuit; and with school takeovers, which despite efforts by the state to educate the community, still will come as a major shock.
The only good news to occur, from the African-American community’s perspective is the defeat of the Marion County-only township reform legislation.
This massive proposal, supposedly written by top staffers of Mayor Greg Ballard, would’ve gutted township government and forced the merger of the three remaining township fire departments into the Indianapolis Fire Department. The legislation would strip township trustees of virtually their entire power; make township employees of the city/county. The proposed legislation would consolidate even more power to the mayor, including the administration of poor relief.
It was Mayor Ballard’s major legislative priority. No, check that, it was the mayor’s only legislative priority.
In the last hours of the legislative session, all the mayor’s top advisors, including the mayor himself came to the Statehouse to fiercely lobby for his pet legislation.
But it was defeated by two votes in the Indiana Senate, just a little more than three hours before the Legislature adjourned. A major defeat for Ballard.
The comments to last week’s column about the IPS Board’s invisibility have been interesting. Board member Annie Roof took strong exception that I lumped her in with the other board members that haven’t been forthcoming.
Roof did point out that the board has yet to formally vote on the IPS administration’s budget cutting scheme. I thank Commissioner Roof for the clarification and on that point I stand corrected.
But I stand by my criticisms and concerns that all seven board members have been less than forthcoming and visible to our community.
But I welcome Roof’s start at a dialogue. She and her six colleagues must do more of that, especially with the media that serves a significant part of their district.
Over the years, the Republican Party has challenged African-Americans to switch from the Democratic Party to the GOP. Several years ago, a longtime Democratic activist Jocelyn Tandy-Adande, took up the challenge and switched to the Republican Party.
This year she decided to run for City-County Council At-Large. She ran against the party bosses’ choices; as Jocelyn is a firm believer, even when she was a Democrat, in the people, not the bosses, choosing the candidates.
Unfortunately, the Marion County GOP poobah’s came at Adande with a meat ax, sending out a full color mailer, that showed a photo of Adande, photo shopped into dark, menacing black and white times, to make Adande look heinous and sinister.
It’s the same tactic the party used in 2002 against Julia Carson and Frank Anderson. Depict Black candidates the GOP doesn’t like as sinister figures in horrid black and white photos in mailers sent to predominantly white voters.
The race-baiting campaign has no place in local politics then and it doesn’t now.
See ‘ya next week.
You can e-mail comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
