Hawk of 2012

Mike Huckabee, a strong supporter of the conservative American right and a Republican candidate in the recent American presidential election, called for the nomination of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney as a candidate for the next presidential election in 2012. This comes at a time of increased criticism of President Barack Obama, who is actively pushing the passage of health care reform in the already divided congressional corridors. Perceived by some as a first step toward the nationalization of U.S. health care, opponents view its passage as the end of the private health insurance sector and a strategic hinge in putting health care within the custody of the U.S. government’s bureaucracy and expanded powers, a change strongly opposed by Republicans.

Huckabee is known for his harsh, sarcastic statement to Newsweek magazine in which he said, “Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff,” referring to Obama’s supposed attempts toward forming “socialist republics.”

Even the least stringent of the conservative hawks, like Newt Gingrich, believe that Obama’s action is “the boldest effort to create a European socialist government we have seen.” Nearly two-thirds of the total E.U. membership is governed by democratic, socialist, or labor-oriented parties, even though the right was the driving force in building the foundation of Europe.

The position of the Democrats is represented by one of its proponents, Harold Meyerson, when he talked about the German socialist Eduard Bernstein “who argued that the immediate struggle to humanize capitalism through the instruments of democratic government was everything, and that the goal of supplanting capitalism altogether was meaningless.” Meyerson is re-reading history and likening President Barack Obama to one of his predecessors, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, who also faced a failing capitalist system, a lack of adequate consumerism, hysteria over private investments, and rampant unemployment. He finds that Obama — like Roosevelt before him — does not seek to establish a socialist system in America, but instead, is attempting to aid in the recovery of a collapsing capitalist system which, in this case, needs intensive care!

However, Obama’s popularity has fallen remarkably. The fact that the bold steps he has taken to stimulate the national economy and stop the collapse of major banking institutions have not borne fruit, the lack of decreasing unemployment rates, and the declaration of “The Just War” in Afghanistan are combining factors contributing to the resurgence of Republicans in the political arena.

Since Obama’s victory in Washington was announced, the defeated Republicans were forced to examine the reasons for their defeat on the legislative and executive levels, after they had been in full control of the government since 2002. This had not been the case since the era of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Dick Cheney, the old hawk, is back in the political forefront intensely criticizing Obama’s administration without reservation, accusing the president of a “lag” in taking the lead in decision-making due to “lack of experience.” In an interview with Politico, he described President Obama as walking around the world distributing American apologies to foreign counterparts. Cheney said that America does not need to be loved, but needs to be respected around the world. He expressed fears regarding America’s vulnerability against attacks that could be more dangerous than 9/11 if the perpetrators are armed with more than a plane ticket. All of this, according to Cheney, is because of the [Obama administration’s] lax approach in dealing with international terrorism and distractions about concerns to ensure legal rights for Guantanamo prisoners in federal courts.

Cheney’s comeback campaign, reinforced by his stinging attacks, caused White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, to respond to Cheney’s statements and accusations, given their sensitive nature regarding national security, something for which Cheney is a major advocate. Cheney is also considered the most influential vice president in American history.

Americans must not forget that the Republican position of strict regulation on immigration issues, empowerment of national security, and war against terrorism throughout the world are what spared them from possible terrorist attacks over the past seven years.

Republicans believe, without controversy, that former President Bill Clinton’s softer approach in dealing with issues of terrorism was a key factor in aiding al-Qaida and turning it into an international terrorist network that killed many Americans during his reign. This sentiment was especially strong following the terrorist attacks on two U.S. embassies in East Africa, two attacks in Saudi Arabia, and an attempt to sink the USS Cole off the cost of Yemen. They believe that today Obama is following in Clinton’s footsteps and, even worse, turning a blind eye to the center of Islamic radicalization and ideological hatred in Persian Iran. They think he is ignoring the reckless approach of clerical rulers who are indifferent to international appeals and resolutions demanding a reduction of nuclear escalation for non-peaceful purposes.

Twenty-first century America, with 50 million citizens lacking health insurance, is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and has unemployment rates that are tearing it apart. The U.S. witnessed the gravity of terrorism on 9/11 and has lost, as of this writing, 4,371 of its finest young men and women in the venture called Operation Iraqi Freedom and 936 more in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, according to icasualties.org, which lists victims of the war against terrorism.

America is asking: How many new coffins will be received before the return of its troops from wars overseas? How many fears will it see fulfilled when it finds itself facing the nuclear-armed monster of ideological extremism? And how much hope will be lost if Obama the “savior” continues failing it and the rest of the world?