Congo: Africa's next genocide

At the beginning of 2012, more than 1.7 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were internally displaced persons, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. About 72,000 of those refugees were living in "spontaneous camps" where they received UNHCR assistance. /Truls Brekke photo via Global Knowledge

Starting in April 1994, the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda was targeted for genocide. In 100 days, more than 500,000 Tutsis were killed and thousands of women were raped. The total Tutsis killed in the conflict is estimated at 800,000. /Image via United Human Rights Council


In 1994, the international community turned a blind eye to a genocidal conflict in the heart of Africa. A half a million Rwandan Tutsis were killed in 100 days, a blink of an eye in the halls of power in Washington, New York and Paris, where officials took no action while a small U.N. observer mission bore witness to one of history's most barbaric episodes.

The latest civil war in the Congo has been dragging on for 14 years, grinding away in plain sight if anyone cared to watch. According to GlobalSecurity.org, 3.8 million people died in Congo from the beginning of the civil war in 1998 to an attempted political solution in 2004, the period of most intense warfare. The fighting, which has involved several neighboring countries, has flared off and on ever since.

The civil war has claimed at least 5 million lives, with no end in sight. The Germans are accused of killing 6 million Jews during World War II.

Several armies and guerrilla movements that have fought in the Congo's civil war have enlisted child soldiers. /Image via wordpress.com

The introduction to the 2012 Amnesty International human rights report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo speaks volumes:

"Impunity for crimes under international law continued in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), despite some limited progress. Government security forces and armed groups committed scores of human rights violations in eastern DRC. Nine soldiers from the Congolese armed forces, including a lieutenant colonel, were convicted of crimes against humanity, notably rape, committed on 1 January in the town of Fizi, South Kivu. They were sentenced to jail in February in a rare example of perpetrators being promptly brought to justice. However, investigations stalled into other cases of mass rapes committed by the national army and armed groups. The general elections were marred by many human rights violations, including unlawful killings and arbitrary arrests by security forces. Human rights defenders and journalists faced intimidation and restrictions on the freedoms of expression and association."

War on U.S. doorstep: Mexican drug cartels

Decapitation is the calling card of Mexican drug cartel death squads. /AP image

Illegal drug cartels are locked in open warfare with the Mexican government, with at least 55,000 lives lost during the Calderon presidency from 2006 to 2012. In addition to the carnage, the drug cartels are infiltrating and subverting key Mexican institutions such as the police, civil government and financial sector.

The stakes are enormous on both sides of the nearly 2,000-mile long border between Mexico and the United States. Mexico faces a prolonged struggle, with drug cartels vying for at least partial control of the government and economy. Mexico is not only the No. 3 trading partner of the United States, exchanging goods and services valued at more than $450 billion in 2011, the Land of the Hot Sun also poses the most serious U.S. immigration policy challenge. In Washington, crafting a solution to illegal immigration from Mexico has been elusive for decades, and the lawlessness in northern Mexico makes the problem more vexing than ever.

Mexico Drug War by the numbers:

Businessinsider.com recently compiled statistics about the Mexico Drug War. Here's a sample:
• 3,000 police officers and soldiers have died since 2006, which is equal to the number of coalition soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2001.
• 5,000 people have disappeared since 2006.
• The Zeta cartel, which controls more territory than any other drug cartel in Mexico, commands 10,000 gunman from the Texas border to Central America.
• In May, 49 corpses were decapitated, dismembered and dumped on a northern Mexico highway. One of the worst atrocities of the Mexico Drug War, Zetas drug cartel kingpin Daniel "The Madman" Elizondo is suspected of orchestrating the slaughter.

Mexican drug cartels have obtained most of their guns from U.S. suppliers. /AP image

2010 U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Threat Assessment:

The 2010 Justice Department National Drug Threat Assessment details the rising availability of most illicit drugs in the United States [as] largely the result of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations' efforts to increase drug production and distribution. In fact, in 2009 the prevalence of four of the five major drugs — heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) — was widespread and increasing in some areas. The diversion and abuse of Controlled Prescription Drugs are also increasing throughout the country. ... Mexican DTOs remain the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States. ...

Despite recent government of Mexico efforts to prohibit the importation of methamphetamine precursor chemicals, methamphetamine availability increased as the result of higher production in Mexico using alternative, less-efficient precursors. ...

Mexican DTOs, already the predominant wholesale suppliers of illicit drugs in the United States, are gaining even greater strength in eastern drug markets where Colombian DTO strength is diminishing. The extent of Mexican DTO influence over domestic drug trafficking was evidenced in several ways in 2009.

• Mexican DTOs increased their cooperation with U.S.-based street and prison gangs to distribute drugs. In many areas, these gangs were using their alliances with Mexican DTOs to facilitate an expansion of their midlevel and retail drug distribution operations into more rural and suburban areas.
• Mexican DTOs increased the flow of several drugs (heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana) into the United States, primarily because [of] the increased production in Mexico.
• Mexican DTOs smuggled bulk cash drug proceeds totaling tens of billions of dollars from the United States through the Southwest Border and into Mexico. Much of the bulk cash (millions each week) was consolidated by the DTOs in several key areas, including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and North Carolina, where it was prepared for transport to the U.S.–Mexico border and then smuggled into Mexico.

In 2007, Mexican authorities made the largest cash seizure in drug interdiction history after finding $205 million in the home of a suspected cartel supplier of meth-precursor chemicals. /U.S. Department of Justice image


2006 U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency report on Mexico Drug War money:

The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that Americans spend approximately $65 billion per year on illegal drugs. ...

A 2005 DEA study determined that during 2003 and 2004 there were excess U.S. dollars present in Mexico that could not be accounted for from legitimate sources totaling at least $9.2 billion and $10.2 billion, respectively. It is estimated that the four major drugs that are smuggled into the United States from Mexico ( i.e. methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana,) generate as much as $22 billion per year for the sources of supply.

Particularly after the additional tools provided by the USA PATRIOT Act came into force, law enforcement generally has access to the information it needs to identify and thwart significant money laundering efforts within the United States. However, this same transparency is not present in many other countries, including Mexico. Accordingly, DEA believes that most drug proceeds are now smuggled out of the United States to Mexico in bulk, rather than inserted into the financial system within the United States.

Because of the lack of transparency of their financial system, the Mexican financial services industry continues to be a facilitator for drug money movement. Although it is a sophisticated financial sector, obtaining financial information from the Mexican financial services industry remains difficult.

However, based on intelligence information from various DEA, ICE, and other United States law enforcement operations, we do know that once bulk currency is delivered to its intended recipients in Mexico, it can take a number of paths. Most commonly, bulk currency is deposited into the Mexican banking system through casas de cambio, centros cambiarios and banks, and then repatriated to the U.S. banking system through correspondent banking and bank note sales to United States institutions. While some of the bulk cash can be used to purchase precursors and equipment for methamphetamine manufacture, it also can be infused into the financial system through Mexican front companies or used to purchase real estate, businesses and other luxury assets in Mexico. In some instances, the bulk cash is converted to larger denominated United States dollars at casas de cambio or centros cambiarios for further smuggling to Colombia or for further smuggling to Panama for delivery to the Panama Free Trade Zone to purchase commodities on behalf of Colombian businesses. The combination of widespread corruption within Mexico, coupled with insufficient regulatory and criminal enforcement, makes disguising and moving drug proceeds in Mexico a relatively safe and simple task.

Dearest Europe: Don't forget our past

In 1916, British soldiers "go over the top" from a trench during the Battle of the Somme in France. At least 13 million soldiers and sailors died in World War I, with many of the missing never accounted for. /Image via British Library


Times have been really tough on all our families these past few years. Your relatives here in the U.S. have been watching the troubles you have been having in your family, and we're deeply worried about you.

First and foremost, we really love you and we're not trying to be judgmental. While some can certainly argue that we stole her from your family, you gave us our greatest gift: beautiful, placid Canada. We hope you can all see how the strong relationship we have with her is one of our greatest treasures. We hope you can see the treasures in your own relationships with one another.

Financial woes have the potential to strain any family, and we wish there was more we could do to help solve your debt crisis. This kind of problem should be settled between family members, and we are not trying to meddle, just support you through this difficult situation. The best advice we can offer is for you to stick together, to look past your current struggles to a far more prosperous future, and look to the past, where the divided European family turned on itself time and again with horrific consequences.

To our western and northern European relatives, we know how hard you have worked to educate your children and build strong financial foundations for your homes and businesses. We also know it will take patience and commitment to help your southern clans develop a comparable level of financial strength and discipline. Please don't give up on them, many of whom like elders Greece, Italy and Spain have contributed greatly to the family institutions and culture that bind all of us together.

Germany, Germany. You've always been one of the smartest and most industrious members in our extended family. When it comes to holding your European family together through this debt crisis, you probably bear the heaviest burden. We know it's not fair for someone who has worked so hard and been so responsible to sacrifice for family members who have not lived up to their responsibilities. But you have tried to go it alone or impose your will on your European brothers and sisters several times in the past 150 years, and everyone in the family paid a terrible price.

To our southern European relatives, we know how hard it is to compete with members of our global family, to carve out a comfortable niche in an ever-changing world. We also know how ungrateful some family members must appear in your time of need ... ungrateful of your considerable contributions to the European family such as democracy, architectual innovations and your leading role in the Renaissance many centuries ago. But there are some aspects of your modern lifestyle, such as over reliance on government subsidies, that you will have to change to keep your family together.

To our eastern European relatives, you are the long-lost loved ones who only recently were welcomed as full-fledged members of the European family. Don't despair over the forces threatening to pull your kin apart after enduring decades of painful hardship on a long road home. Do your utmost to encourage your squabbling European siblings to not only settle their differences but also reaffirm their commitment to each other and move forward with a shared sense of purpose.

We in the U.S. ask all of these things not just for our European family but for our own. Since the great discords of the last century, everyone on both sides of the Atlantic has thrived most when our families have tackled challenges with unity and cooperation.

With peace and love,
Your U.S. family

Fukushima raises grave nuclear power doubts

 

The Fukushima nuclear plant cleanup in Japan is expected to take decades. /IAEA image

 

Over the past six months, several informative reports have been released on the Fukushima nuclear disaster, including a status report from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Japanese legislature's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigations Commission report. The Independent Investigations Commission report provides a well-written and shockingly frank account of the disaster, the manmade failings that contributed to it and the daunting cleanup challenges ahead.

 

The excerpts from the Independent Investigations Commission report below should raise red flags at countries around the world that have nuclear power plants. Is the relationship between nuclear power plant owners and regulators too cozy? Are there proper procedures and resources in place in the event of a severe nuclear disaster? Are there adequate evacuation plans to help members of the public escape a nuclear plant disaster?

 

As someone who has been following the U.S. nuclear industry since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, I believe American society could benefit greatly from the same kind of nuclear power soul searching that is under way in Japan.

 

While working as a Connecticut Citizen Action Group fund-raiser in the 1980s, I had a lengthy discussion with a former U.S. Navy nuclear engineer who made a convincing case that regulation of U.S. military nuclear reactors was far more strict and effective than regulation of reactors under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency charged with making sure civilian reactors are safe. The veteran said he and his crewmates had their careers on the line every time Navy inspectors visited their ships; he openly ridiculed NRC inspections.

 

After living within two miles of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass., and covering the Pilgrim plant and the Seabrook plant in New Hampshire as a journalist, I have grave concerns about U.S. evacuation plans. For example, in the case of a nuclear disaster at Pilgrim, the evacuation plan for Cape Cod essentially calls for residents to hunker down in their homes as their communities are bathed in radioactive fallout. 

 

EXCERPTS FROM JAPANESE LEGISLATURE'S FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS COMMISSION REPORT:

 

Chairman's introductory remarks:

 

THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI of March 11, 2011, were natural disasters of a magnitude that shocked the entire world. Although triggered by these cataclysmic events, the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cannot be regarded as a natural disaster. It was a profoundly manmade disaster – that could and should have been foreseen and prevented. And its effects could have been mitigated by a more effective human response. ...

 

What must be admitted – very painfully – is that this was a disaster “Made in Japan.” Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to ‘sticking with the program’; our groupism; and our insularity. ...

 

Following the 1970s “oil shocks,” Japan accelerated the development of nuclear power in an effort to achieve national energy security. As such, it was embraced as a policy goal by government and business alike, and pursued with the same single-minded determination that drove Japan’s postwar economic miracle.

With such a powerful mandate, nuclear power became an unstoppable force, immune to scrutiny by civil society. Its regulation was entrusted to the same government bureaucracy responsible for its promotion. At a time when Japan’s self-confidence was soaring, a tightly knit elite with enormous financial resources had diminishing regard for anything ‘not invented here.’

This conceit was reinforced by the collective mindset of Japanese bureaucracy, by which the first duty of any individual bureaucrat is to defend the interests of his organization. Carried to an extreme, this led bureaucrats to put organizational interests ahead of their paramount duty to protect public safety. ...

 

The consequences of negligence at Fukushima stand out as catastrophic, but the mindset that supported it can be found across Japan. In recognizing that fact, each of us should reflect on our responsibility as individuals in a democratic society.

With their white protective gear, a TEPCO crew works inside one of the devastated reactor buildings at the Fukushima nuclear plant. /Image via BBC
 

 

Independent Investigations Commission report conclusions:

 

The TEPCO Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and TEPCO, and the lack of governance by said parties. They effectively betrayed the nation’s right to be safe from nuclear accidents. Therefore, we conclude that the accident was clearly “manmade.” We believe that the root causes were the organizational and regulatory systems that supported faulty rationales for decisions and actions, rather than issues relating to the competency of any specific individual.

 

The direct causes of the accident were all foreseeable prior to March 11, 2011. But the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was incapable of withstanding the earthquake and tsunami that hit on that day. The operator (TEPCO), the regulatory bodies (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and Nuclear Safety Commission) and the government body promoting the nuclear power industry (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), all failed to correctly develop the most basic safety requirements — such as assessing the probability of damage, preparing for containing collateral damage from such a disaster, and developing evacuation plans for the public in the case of a serious radiation release. ...

 

Since 2006, the regulators and TEPCO were aware of the risk that a total outage of electricity at the Fukushima Daiichi plant might occur if a tsunami were to reach the level of the site. They were also aware of the risk of reactor core damage from the loss of seawater pumps in the case of a tsunami larger than assumed in the Japan Society of Civil Engineers estimation. NISA knew that TEPCO had not prepared any measures to lessen or eliminate the risk, but failed to provide specific instructions to remedy the situation. ...

 

There were many opportunities for taking preventive measures prior to March 11. The accident occurred because TEPCO did not take these measures, and NISA and the Nuclear Safety Commission went along. They either intentionally postponed putting safety measures in place, or made decisions based on their organization’s self interest, and not in the interest of public safety. ...

 

Although the two natural disasters — the earthquake and subsequent tsunami — were the direct causes of the accident, there are various points in the unfolding of the event that remain unresolved. The main reason for this is that almost all the equipment directly related to the accident is inside the reactor containers, which are inaccessible and will remain so for many years. A complete examination and full analysis are impossible at this time.

TEPCO was quick, however, to assign the accident cause to the tsunami, and state that the earthquake was not responsible for damage to equipment necessary for safety (although it did add, “to the extent that has been confirmed,” a phrase that also appears in TEPCO reports to the government and to the IAEA). However, it is impossible to limit the direct cause of the accident to the tsunami without substantive evidence. The Commission believes that this is an attempt to avoid responsibility by putting all the blame on the unexpected (the tsunami), as they wrote in their midterm report, and not on the more foreseeable earthquake. ...

 

The Commission concludes that there were organizational problems within TEPCO. Had there been a higher level of knowledge, training, and equipment inspection related to severe accidents, and had there been specific instructions given to the on-site workers concerning the state of emergency within the necessary time frame, a more effective accident response would have been possible. ...

 

The government, the regulators, TEPCO management, and the [Prime Minister's Office] lacked the preparation and the mindset to efficiently operate an emergency response to an accident of this scope. None, therefore, were effective in preventing or limiting the consequential damage. ...

 

The Commission concludes that the residents’ confusion over the evacuation stemmed from the regulators’ negligence and failure over the years to implement adequate measures against a nuclear disaster, as well as a lack of action by previous governments and regulators focused on crisis management. The crisis management system that existed for the [Prime Minister's Office] and the regulators should protect the health and safety of the public, but it failed in this function.

 

The central government was not only slow in informing municipal governments about the nuclear power plant accident, but also failed to convey the severity of the accident. Similarly, the speed of information in the evacuation areas varied significantly depending on the distance from the plant. Specifically, only 20 percent of the residents of the town hosting the plant knew about the accident when evacuation from the 3km zone was ordered at 21:23 on the evening of March 11. ...

 

The Commission recognizes that the residents in the affected area are still struggling from the effects of the accident. They continue to face grave concerns, including the health effects of radiation exposure, displacement, the dissolution of families, disruption of their lives and lifestyles, and the contamination of vast areas of the environment. There is no foreseeable end to the decontamination and restoration activities that are essential for rebuilding communities. The Commission concludes that the government and the regulators are not fully committed to protecting public health and safety; that they have not acted to protect the health of the residents and to restore their welfare.

 

Approximately 150,000 people were evacuated in response to the accident. An estimated 167 workers were exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation while dealing with the accident. It is estimated that as much as 1,800 square kilometers of land in Fukushima Prefecture has now been contaminated by a cumulative radiation dose of 5 millisieverts or higher per year. Insufficient evacuation planning led to many residents receiving unnecessary radiation exposure. Others were forced to move multiple times, resulting in increased stress and health risks — including deaths among seriously ill patients. ...

 

The Commission has concluded that the safety of nuclear energy in Japan and the public cannot be assured unless the regulators go through an essential transformation process. The entire organization needs to be transformed, not as a formality but in a substantial way. Japan’s regulators need to shed the insular attitude of ignoring international safety standards and transform themselves into a globally trusted entity. ...

 

TEPCO did not fulfil its responsibilities as a private corporation, instead obeying and relying upon the government bureaucracy of (the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), the government agency driving nuclear policy. At the same time, through the auspices of the (Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan), it manipulated the cozy relationship with the regulators to take the teeth out of regulations.

 

 

Sexual predators are stalking all of us

Portsmouth Herald photojournalist Deb Cram, on stage at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth this week, illustrates an act of domestic violence her father perpetrated when she was a child. /Ioanna Raptis photo


In a heart-breaking reality of American life, millions of children, women and men in the United States bear the permanent scars of sexual assault and domestic violence. How many millions is hard to say because sexual assault and domestic violence have been taboo topics for generations of Americans. Based on personal experience and the 18-month long series of stories on sexual assault I supervised at the Cape Cod Times, I can say it's highly likely that the vast majority of U.S. families have been marred by these heinous crimes.

This week at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, one of my journalism colleagues had the extraordinary courage to lift the shroud off her darkest secrets for the whole world to see. Portsmouth Herald photo director Deb Cram survived years of domestic violence at the hands of her father then endured her foster mother's sexual abuse.

Cram's story, and the reaction to its telling, shines light on the many facets of this national tragedy.

The perpetrators who denied Cram any semblance of an innocent childhood were not strangers, they did not jump out from behind a bush, they did not flee the scene of their crimes. They lived in her home. In most cases, the perpetrators of sexual assault and domestic violence are known to their victims: they are relatives, boyfriends, girlfriends, co-workers, neighbors, priests, teachers, youth group leaders. They are all around us. The only way to stop them is to cast aside the veil of secrecy that our society has allowed them to hide behind. In previous generations, only the bravest victims dared to disclose these crimes and, far more often than not, the perpetrators escaped justice because their families and the authorities were ill-equipped to take action.

We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Cram and those like her who have found the strength to share their horrific stories of abuse. And we must encourage all of them, especially our young children, to step forward and ask for help.

Many of our fellow citizens are still in denial about the pervasiveness of sexual assault and domestic abuse, and their unwillingness to confront this scourge on American society is a major stumbling block to addressing the problem. In the days since Cram appeared on the Seacoast Repertory Theatre stage, dozens of people have reached out to her privately to share stories about abuse that have touched their families. The editor of the Portsmouth Herald has only received one comment from the public: a woman who called the newspaper to complain that the Page 1 story on Cram's stage appearance should have been replaced with the photo of Santa Claus that ran on Page 3. We obviously have only begun the process of coming to grips with sexual assault and domestic violence in a way that will turn the tide.

At least three of my family members have survived sexual assaults, all before they reached the age of 20. In all three cases, my loved ones knew their attacker. In all three cases, the perpetrator escaped justice. One of the monsters stood trial, twice, but is free to continue his sociopathic behavior because the court failed to put him behind bars.

Sexual assault cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute. Young children do not make good witnesses. The actions and even the attire of adult victims become key issues at trial: defense attorneys imply "she was asking for it." Members of the jury, like the hapless caller to the Portsmouth Herald editor this week, either can't be brought to understand the evidence or don't want to face the facts.

Momentum is building to curb this deadly epidemic. It is one of the great challenges of our generation. Just as Deb Cram found the courage to bear her soul on a theater stage, we must all be willing to expose and confront those who would inflict the torment of sexual abuse and domestic violence on our families.

The case for an Animal Kingdom Bill of Rights

Tanja Askani image via www.animalintelligence.org

There is a mountain of evidence that humans are far from alone in the animal kingdom in possessing complex emotions such as compassion and the ability to form intricate social bonds such as friendships. The video above that was released by PBS' Nature program in November provides several compelling examples of this evidence in species including canines, goats, monkeys, horses and felines.

I first became interested in this topic many years ago, when I saw a video on elephants. Early studies of these massive animals demonstrated highly complex social structures built around a dominant female elephant and the ability to communicate vocally over long distances. The evidence of emotions in elephants that I have found most convincing is their behavior when encountering elephant remains. There are several examples of these encounters available on YouTube. In these encounters, elephants exhibit a set of behaviors that demonstrates what can only be described as deeply felt emotion, from members of an elephant group falling unusually silent as they gather around elephant bones to ritualistic interactions with the remains.

This mountain of evidence begs the question: How should this knowledge of emotion and even consciousness in other animals affect humanity's interactions with other members of the animal kingdom?

Many countries, including the United States, have already granted protected status to several species that have demonstrated human-like intellectual capacities such as chimpanzees and marine mammals. But whether humans like it or not, we must eat to survive, and even a corn muffin was at one point a living thing. After an exhaustive and global examination of this dilemma is conducted, I suggest the creation of an Animal Kingdom Bill of Rights.

The first article of this international treaty could be a prohibition against animal species genocide. The decimation of the elephant population, which once stretched in contiguous territory from the Horn of Africa to Southeast Asia, is clearly genocidal. Recent studies of marauding elephant males indicate a breakdown in elephant society similar to the strains in human societies that have been subject to genocide.

The second article of an Animal Kingdom Bill of Rights could abolish cruel treatment of non-human animal species. Most of my ancestors were New England farmers. It broke my grandfather's heart when he saw the man who bought his farm beating an ox with a chain. Ethical farmers treat their animals humanely. Most of the cattle raised to produce beef and dairy products in the United States live in feedlots, enclosures prone to knee-deep mud that are so prone to disease that anti-biotics have become a staple of the food given to U.S. cattle. Feedlots are clearly an example of cruelty and should be reformed or banned.

A dairy cow stands knee-deep in a muddy feedlot. /USDA image

Escaping gridlock's deadly grasp

Flying together in the Marine One helicopter, President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie assess Hurricane Sandy damage. /White House photo


The Fiscal Cliff, a sputtering global economy and Iranian nuclear ambitions are huge problems. But President Obama's biggest second-term challenge will be finding a way to work legislation through the U.S. House of Representatives, which is controlled by a conservative Republican majority.

The stakes are far larger than Obama's legacy, the jockeying for pole positions in the 2016 presidential race and even the recovery of the U.S. economy from the Great Recession. The paralyzing gridlock that characterized Obama's first term has called into question the ability of the U.S. government to function effectively. In addition to being the world's largest economy, international and domestic investors have long looked to the United States as a safe haven for their money and other capital because of the enduring and predictable nature of America's democratic system of government.

In a nutshell, a revitalized U.S. economy is only part of what is required to renew confidence in the United States at home and abroad. Political leaders in Washington and state houses across the country must find ways to work together to solve problems. They must prove that the good of the country outweighs the good of their parties.

Capital and labor are more mobile than ever before in the history of civilization. If you have money to invest or are looking for a job, the United States is far from your only option. We've already seen millions of U.S. jobs outsourced to cheaper labor markets. With the ongoing errosion of confidence in the U.S. government, one of the biggest dangers facing the United States now is the allocation of capital to other countries such as Brazil, India and Russia.

In his farewell address as president of the United States, George Washington warned of the dangers political parties pose to the functioning of a democracy:

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.

U.S. democracy's "worst enemy" is stronger than ever and threatens the country's standing as one of the greatest nations on Earth.

Massachusetts Romney or Conservative Romney? Obama the failed uniter?

Frontline's presidential profiles are yet again must-viewing before the election. Would we get the socially liberal Romney we saw in his Massachusetts governorship or the Conservative Romney of the Republican presidential primary season? With partisanship at an all-time high in Washington, can Obama overcome the divisiveness that plagued his first term?

Christie seals deal for Obama on Fox

 

Surprise, surprise, surprise.
Government really can make a huge positive difference in people's lives.
Republicans and Democrats really can work together.
A nationally recognizeable American politician really can tell it like it is, even if it means throwing a presidential candidate from his own party under the bus.
Good job, Christie!

Hold the Chinese government accountable

 

The Chinese government's recent vote in the United Nations Security Council to veto a resolution designed to help end the state-sponsored slaughter in Syria is the last straw for me.

The bloodshed in Syria is playing out much like the genocidal violence in Bosnia in the 1990s. Enclaves of opposition to a brutal authoritarian regime are besieged, and civilians are dying by the hundreds. A massacre of thousands in one of these enclaves could happen any day.

Russia's veto of the U.N. resolution is no surprise. Vladimir Putin is a cold, calculating, larger-than-life figure ... a James Bondesque villain. Russia has had strong political, military and economic ties with Assad regimes in Syria for decades. Putin knows the stakes are extremely high. And as the state-sponsored violence in Chechnya has shown, the death of thousands of civilians does not weigh heavily on his conscience.

China is vying to become the world's prime superpower. The Chinese government's veto of the U.N. resolution is yet another grim example the kind of world the Chinese leadership is trying to craft. Time after time, from the Cultural Revolution, to Tiananmen Square, to the mountains of Tibet, Chinese leaders shown they place minimal value on human rights or even the very lives of those perceived to be in their way.

The Chinese government poses a grave threat to anyone who cares about freedom from government oppression. I'm not opposed to strong ties with the Chinese or any other nation. But people around the world need to stand up to this barbaric regime and demand that the Chinese state act responsibly at home and abroad.