Just two days ago we were given a stark and terrible reminder of why real foreign policy experience matters when choosing a President. When terrorists killed Benazir Bhutto on Thursday, they sent a message to the world -- that those who treasure and fight for democracy do so at great risk.
The above is a quote from a December 29 speech in Coralville, IA (suburb of Iowa City) by Bill Richardson. He held on in Iowa and checked out after the New Hampshire presidential primary. The next morning, the Manchester Union Leader printed a reworked AP profile datelined Las Vegas. I read the Governor’s March 2008 book, called “Between Worlds.” All pertinent facts about Richardson’s family life were in both. Momentarily, I felt cheated, because AP spent so much space on the bio already laid out in the book. Three Hispanic grandparents and the Gringo father of his father. Although he lived his early life in Mexico and spoke Spanish at home, his father played a big role in his life. They both played baseball. For a short time, young Bill tried to ditch college for a shot at the big leagues. However, his father, who had insisted his mother come to Pasadena, California for his birth, was also bent on his son’s having a university degree. Disadvantaged for not studying more English writings before coming to the States, he eventually made the cut to get into Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Finding the right mentors tells a lot about his brand of politics. During pre-primary debates, I was anxious to find out how Richardson’s role as diplomatic dike-plugger played out after the Clinton years. No bitterness but a little hurt shows through, because he didn’t get the Secretary of Energy post in the beginning. In the second term of his governorship, might he not want to come back to Washington with Democrats in charge? We may not be reading “ Leading by Example: How We Can Inspire an Energy and Security Revolution,” published last October. Yet, as he points out, he’s addicted to talking to those not on our side. A Hispanic with an English last name and the appearance of an American Indian, the man talks straight. Get rid of No Child Left Behind. Tear down the Tex-Mex wall. Bring all the troops home from Iraq, now! To remember the governor was once US Ambassador to the United Nations, one wonders how such blunt statements work. He tells in the book. With more hints than Heloise, he calls them Richardson’s Rules, which he lists in the appendix in the order they were introduced in the book. And he was blunt about party politics, too. Where else can you get a Hispanic, with an English name, who looks American Indian?
Margaret Bassett is an 86-year old, currently living in senior housing, with a lifelong interest in political conumbrums. She hopes to hold out for one more presidential election. Bachelors from State University of Iowa (1944) and Masters from Roosevelt University (1975) help to unravel important requirements for modern communication. Early introduction to computer science (1966) trumps them. It's payback time. She's been "entitled" so long she hopes to find some good coming off the keyboard into the lives of those who come after her.
