One of the drawbacks to writing a once-weekly column is that you have to write it a week ahead of time. That really makes it difficult to respond to current events. For instance, I’m writing this on January 2. On December 31 the big news was still the instability of Pakistan after the assassination of opposition candidate Benazir Bhutto. This morning, nearly 300 people have been killed in Kenya amidst violence after President Mwai Kibaki allegedly stole re-election. Kenya used to be considered one of Africa’s most stable democracies. Now slums in Nairobi are burning, leaving thousands homeless and suggesting that tribal violence may soon tear the nation apart as it has in neighboring Somalia and nearby Rwanda.
God only knows what will be happening in the world when you’re reading this, sometime after January 10.
I’ve been itching to poke fun of twelve different candidates for the U.S. President, but of course I have no clue as I write this what the outcome of the January 3 Iowa Caucus will be.
We should all thank God that there probably won’t be riots or mass murders as a result of the results. And don’t be too quick to assume that we’re too advanced or evolved for that sort of thing to happen here. How different would America be in 2008 if Robert Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated before he had a chance to get his parties nomination back in 1968.
Tuesday, January 8th was the New Hampshire Primaries. As I write this, some people say that if Barrack Obama wins or gets second in Iowa, he will attract droves of voters in New Hampshire and win handily over Hillary Clinton. Still others anticipate that John Edwards will surprise both of then in Iowa and then New Hampshire and by now (Jan 10) his people will be talking to Obama’s people about the V.P. spot. But from where I sit, a week ago (Jan 2) I think that both states are anybody’s race.
January 19 will be the Republican primary in South Carolina. From Jan 2, I can see Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee absolutely swamping both Guliani and Romney in South Carolina- however, from what I’ve been reading on the web, libertarian Texas Congressman Dr. Ron Paul may be the surprise victor in both Iowa and New Hampshire, throwing the GOP into chaos.
Ron Paul may seem like a fringe candidate, but he has some serious supporters. Recently, when FOX excluded him from presidential debates in New Hampshire, his supporters organized a mass sell-off of their stock in NEWS Corp., FOX’s parent company. No joke, it dropped almost half a point in one day.
Maybe we still won’t have a clear idea of who the two final candidates are until after “Super-Duper Tuesday,” February 5 when 23 states have their primaries and around 40% of the summer convention delegates are decided. Then again, maybe you, living there in Jan 10 know more than I do back here in Jan 2.
Come to think of it, next week (my next week, your last week) Jan. 7 there will be a little gathering of folks in Tulsa that may have a major impact on the shape of America’s oligarchy. At the University of Oklahoma, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be having a pow-wow with some movers and shakers to talk about mounting a third-party campaign for the White House. Bloomberg claims that he’s not planning to run for President, but listen to some of the big-Whigs he has coming to this conference: Democrats like former senators Sam Nunn (Ga.) and former presidential candidate Gary Hart. Republicans like Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), former party chairman Bill Brock, and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.
Other people planning to attend include William S. Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary in the Clinton administration, Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida; Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman from Iowa; Susan Eisenhower, a political consultant and granddaughter of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower!
Now, if they aren’t up to something serious, then Ralph Nader didn’t screw things up for Al Gore in Florida in 2002.
Who knows, what the future holds? Well, I guess you do since from here in Jan 2, my future is your past there in Jan 10. Lets hope it’s a good one.
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