As soon as Bush slithers out of the Whitehouse, the next president, presumably a Democrat, unless the Dems totally screw up, will have a huge cleanup job.
Athena Advises Hercules on How to Clean Out the Mythical Augean Stables The task of cleaning up Bush's mess is one of mythical, Herculean proportions. Hercules came to a creative solution that was totally outside of the box.
Hercules was ordered to clean the stables of King Augeus, which had not been cleaned in years. This is an image from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (approx. 460 BC) portraying Olympia advising Hercules on how to clean the stables by diverting a river to course through the stables. The new president and the 111th congress will need to be equally creative and out of the box.
Hillary and Barack both talk about the mess they'll need to clean up. It would be useful to put together a list of things to-do, to recover from the Bush-Cheney disaster.
Here's my shot at it. I'm hoping you'll help fill it in using the comments.
-Get projections of the impact of continued problems caused by Bush Admin policy and widely report them as soon as possible so the public knows what to expect and who to blame.
-Reach out to leaders who are further left than your inner circle in building your team. Liberals and progressives are a growing portion of the population. If Obama is the winner, then part of his defeat of Hillary will be a repudiation and rejection of the right wing DLC policies she championed.
-Dump all of Bush's political appointees. Do it immediately, in the first weeks in office. These political hacks, many former directors or lobbyists for industries they are supposed to regulate, have little or no retention value. Fire them all on Day One. Use career employees temporarily, replacing them with qualified appointees as soon as possible. Draw upon leaders who have advocated for stronger regulation.
-Urgently re-evaluate all the most important statistics used to report key numbers the people, businesses, industries and others depend upon. Identify changes in policies for calculating those numbers. Assume that Bush and Cheney have used statistics and revisions of the way things are counted to mislead and lie. Re-calculate them using the older, former formulae and policies to see just how bad the situation is, compared to the lies, distortions and deceptions Bush and company have perpetrated.
-Call for whistleblowers. Declare a period where whistleblowers are safe from repercussions and will be secure in their jobs. Ask them to identify any partisan activities, any policies of hiding or partially reporting important information. Congress should hold hearings on this. Whistleblowers should be offered large rewards for coming forward.
-Convene meetings with consumer, environmental, social justice organizations to identify abuses of the Bush admin and the 107th, 108th and 109th congresses that might be quickly reversed.
-Start investigations of all missing monies-- Iraq reconstruction funding, military, New Orleans/Katrina, 9/11.
-Set up a new, unimpeded 9/11 investigation.
-Call for congress to re-submit, immediately, all the bills that Bush vetoed.
-Reverse Every signing statement Bush wrote against laws passed by the 110th congress. Take a look at all the signing statements Bush wrote. See if he violated any laws passed by congress. Put all laws passed by the 109th and 108th congress under close scrutiny.
-Replace Mukasey with a tough, honest attorney general charged with investigating the corruption in the justice department first thing, with the target of prosecuting any and all who engaged in partisan political corruption.
-Bring in a replacement for the Secretary of Defense who will be tough and honest in appraising the current situation at the pentagon and in Iraq. Assume that the current top brass wave been promoted because of loyalty to Bush and that they are just about worthless.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
The framed magazine cover, with the word "IDEAS" spelled out in lightbulbs, is based on an article Rob wrote for Writers Digest, telling the magazine's quarter million readers how to come up with and pitch article ideas.
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A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
That if a candidate is the only candidate running in any district and faces no opposition from his own or another party then the election for that post should be disqualified.
If we are not already too far gone the elimination of the electoral college would be nice, and while were at it do away with caucuses and go to popular vote, on paper and counted with reps from both parties present to have a seperate tally for later comparison. Mexico has better elections than we do, although still controlled by the press, and thats another dragon to kill.
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john riggs (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 347 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 9:42:42 AM
Ask your guest about how the 150 pages in Obama's first book helped (or not) his chances at the White House. It seemed crucial that he had to find out who he was (Emerson: self-realization, etc.).
On a new president--if he's smart enough to get elected he most likely knows he'll need hip boots when he gets in the White House. It will take 2 terms to shovel the BS he would find there. So question is: How do good leaders succeed? Finding good staff, etc.
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Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1092 quicklinks, 24 diaries, 606 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 10:37:38 AM
But I think you skipped the very first one, and it should be corrected as promptly as it was instituted. This is the edict that locks up all presidential papers for time immemorial. This one step, indicating that he was intending to do things about which he did not want the public ever to learn, is probably the most important to rescind. The Democrats are campaigning on a policy of open and honest government and this one step could expose the breadth of the violations of Constitutional law which should end the "Bush legacy" forever.
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Mary Pitt (60 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 159 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:14:16 AM
Great ideas, of course it may take slightly longer than a day or so to get rid of all the Bush appointees. I see the problem as two fold: one is an Administration that isn't interested in being accountable, and the other is a legislative branch uninterested in demanding accountability. Let's start by re-doing the entire process:
1. Reduce the number of political appointee's running the various Departments of Government with career people who understand their primary function is to make their Departments work efficiently, effectively, transparently, responsibly and accountably.
2. A constitutional amendment submitted to the American people on whether Americans support health care being a RIGHT of every American. If ratified it would become law and the government would no longer argue about the need to fund Universal health care. If not, then the discussion about Universal Health Care is over, the public has spoken.
3. Foreign policy based on cooperation and humanistic values instead of special and business interests alone. Consideration of business concerns when interacting with other countries is fine, but not when those interests dominate to the detriment of people living in the foreign countries. Let's make sure our foreign policy is not being carried out to the detriment of people in other countries.
4. Make voting possible for all eligible voters. A 60-70% average eligible voter turnout at election time is ridiculous for this country. Let's consider making election day a holiday to encourage voting every 2 years, and let's make it easier for people to register and vote in elections instead of more difficult.
5. Educational improvements -- Federal support for the best quality books in the classrooms, support for training and equipping teachers and greater incentives for teachers to teach in less desirable places. Education affects earnings, voting, crime and quality of life. Let's at least make sure everyone has an equal chance for a quality education.
6. Taxes -- these are an obligation of the citizens of this country and they should be based on the relative financial benefits people enjoy by living in our society. The greater your financial benefit from living here, the higher the taxes. Bush cut the IRS and its ability to investigate tax cheating which is one of the most profitable within all of government. Let's fix that.
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Peter Wedlund (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 123 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:24:01 AM
...with a Constitutional Ammendment "submitted to the American People" is that it actually isn't. It is submitted to the State Legislatures of the 50 states. Think about it. Most people don't even know who their representatives in the State Legislature ARE. But, I can tell you, they are 95% white, men, mostly balding and slightly to heavily obese with big round faces. They like to eat and drink, and paid lobbiests from the health care industry are happy to wine and dine them.
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Charlie L (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 613 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 11:59:34 AM
I am aware that State Legislatures vote on approval, not the people directly. However, states vary considerably with respect to who actually make them up and some states will likely put the amendment to a vote of the people in the state before deciding to approve or disapprove of it. Actually, it takes 2/3rd of the states to approve, not 2/3rds of the population, but that is not why I like the idea. Only one amendment to the US constitution has ever been repealed -- prohibition. It is likely that if 2/3rds of the States could agree they supported health care as a RIGHT and not a PRIVILIGE, that RIGHT would remain LAW throughout the US.
Some states are already working to make sure everyone in their state has health coverage and it shouldn't be hard to convince their Legislatures this was a good idea. Other States may well be more problematic, but change, particularly important change is worth working to achieve because of its long term value to this country. I believe this change is so fundamentally needed it would be well worth the effort to at least try.
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Peter Wedlund (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 123 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 8:07:17 AM
Instant Runoff Voting would be a great way to bring Democracy back, and make a third-party candidacy viable. (and, DO IT ON PAPER!)
People could finally vote for who they REALLY want, instead of just the lesser of two evils, because their SECOND choice would cover them, and prevent their vote from defaulting to who they LEAST wanted.
It should be the Law of the land; then we wouldn't have this miserable hodge-podge of election laws that have made such a mess of this primary!
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Bia Winter (1 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 170 comments)
on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 9:25:42 AM
An Impressive List - Where would we house the Guilty?
Rob's list is stellar, a dream that should become a reality, but as I examined the list, the investigations that would follow, and thought about how many people we are actually talking about in literal terms - it begins to boggle the mind.
The people that have been involved in this rape of America number in the dozens, hundreds, or thousands? To imagine an investigation that would actually delve deeply into Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, that could implicate many of the major oil companies, turn some of the nation's largest Mega-churches on their heads, not to mention the people "on the take" who would be prosecuted would be enormous. Where would we house them all?
Have we considered the possibility that the FEMA detention centers built by KBR might actually be of value someday? Imagine the irony of that...
Oh, and pass legislation to make it a crime to knowingly produce and broadcast propaganda that is labeled as "news". A free press is essential to the survival of democracy, and without the facts, the population can never become outraged enough to act in unison to defeat a common enemy. It's especially hard to defeat an enemy that is so closely associated with our everyday life, that for some Americans, inadvertently reaches into the inner fabric of their lives.
Finally, consider sending the most prominent criminals, those who are guilty of war crimes - and let them be prosecuted by The Hague! When we speak of image building, America owning-up to our transgressions and complying with international law would give our nation's tarnished reputation a huge boost - and right now, it's a boost we all need and deserve.
William Cormier
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William Cormier (110 articles, 5 quicklinks, 16 diaries, 269 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 12:11:49 PM
Rob you got at least 4 years of work here, and since clean up usually takes longer than making a mess I hope we will have 8 years of a president who is the embodiment of the way I end my articles.
I hope the next president will promote Peace and Liberty and be full of intelligence, strength ,and integrity.
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Michael Chavers (40 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 165 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 12:15:31 PM
OR a big "boom" - since nothing short of blowing up the freakin' Pentatgon, with all those mass murdering criminals IN it, will fix anything.
Bush & Cheney are just the public face of a whole industry whose primary product is weaponry. The wars we have engaged in over the past 50+ years have been product demonstrations.
Until we recognize the stranglehold these serial killers have on the entire US agenda, we are all doomed to be jerked around at the end their chain. The first step has to be a recognition of the nature of the enslavement.
Now that the Pentagon/Military/Industrial Complex has taken complete control of the reins of power in the DC/Wall Street corridor, do we really think they will just slink away over some silly little thing like an "election"!? Seriously... they have stated quite clearly on a number of occasions that they don't plan to "govern by focus group." They OWN the companies which make the software to record and tally the votes.
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mrk * (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 294 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 2:32:47 PM
Well, William, how about let's release everyone who is serving time in prisons for ridiculous marijuana possession charges, along with anyone who is imprisoned for prostitution. That should open up at least 10% of our jail space. Don't we have more important "crimes" to punish than these?
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im4unity (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 38 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 5:27:48 PM
The new Dem congress, with support of the new Dem president, needs to offer iron-clad legislation, right from the start, that makes ANY forceful, or financial, lobbying of our congress by professional lobbyists a crime with mandatory imprisonment. And, along with this, we need legislation that mandates "clean" publicly financed elections. We also need to make "earmarks" illegal, punishable by imprisonment for anyone who inserts one or votes for one. Every piece of legislation in our congress should address exactly what it is intended to address, and nothing else!!! And the public needs a way to have a daily report on what each house of congress voted on each day - who was for it and who was against it. Enough corruption based on secret votes, etc. Complete transparency is the key!
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im4unity (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 38 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 5:38:02 PM
How About Ending The War And Bringing The Troops Home?
Rob,
Didn't you leave the essential out or may be I skippped something? Don't you think that the first step should be an immediate end to these shameful wars of agression abroad ? That troops should be pulled out immediately and brought home as soon as possible ? That US military bases all over the world should be closed down; and the rape of Okinawa and other nations be ended ? The US should not have the right to invade a nation at will and torture and slaughter its citizens just because the poor people happen to have natural resources under their feet that corporates covet. Millions have died for corporate generated wars. Enough of it , please.
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ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 361 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 5:42:30 PM
I love the way you guys can picture a free and equitable America. Nearly every suggestion made by Rob and the commentators is excellent.
But let's look at the probabilities. The next president will either be Obama, Hilary or McCain.
With Hilary or McCain you'll just get more of the same.
With Obama there might be some tinkering at the margins or perhaps he does have some real vision. All I have seen so far is a very articulate and intelligent gentleman who knows how to win elections.
My prediction: Obama to win. Very few substantive changes to follow. (But he would be a respite from Bush-Cheney.)
Sorry for raining on the parade.
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John Haigh (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 83 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 5:39:46 AM
I always have a chuckle when the optimisitic hope is voiced that the Dems will do anything substantively different from the middle management that preceded them. The 'hope' rests upon the presumption that the 'middle management' - whoever they may be and whichever party label they were on their lapel - will do anything that truly conflicts with the elites' agenda.
It would be to laugh.... if I were not so depressed.
Seriously, these issues are not so hard to figure out.
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richard (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 662 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 8:02:03 AM
Hope flows eternal. Reality sucks. That is the life we live in, hoping for better things, but never truly forgetting our hopes and dreams are often not achieved. Still, I would NEVER tell my own kids, "hey, just aim to climb that small hill because you probably can't ever make it up the big mountain". Rather, I would tell them this, set your sights on the biggest goals and if you don't make it know this, you will get much further in life thinking big than dreaming small.
We think big because even if we fail, at least we tried. More importantly, by trying we just might inspire others to try and eventually someone will succeed where we fall short. Flight was once considered impossible. The pyramids remain a natural wonder. Mount Rushmore was at one time a crazy idea. Civil Rights a dream. After all isn't it true that, "Once there was a silly old ant, tried to move a rubber tree plant. Now everyone knows an ant can't, move a rubber tree plant".
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Peter Wedlund (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 123 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 8:33:06 AM
Destroying Liberty for 60 Years, How Long Before it Returns?
Good luck to all of you, but I think Mr Haigh suggests a good hold on our expectations. It took three generations to lose our Republic and to tie with Tonga at #53 for freedom of the press.
We lead the world in incarceration and in information control. Our military expenditures top the rest of the world combined. We've so dummied down three generations of kids few of them can figure out why we are universally feared.
What stops Mr Bush from staging a false flags incident, declaring Martial Law and suspending the elections? The outcome finds expression in NSPD 51.
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Jason Paz (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 49 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 9:42:09 AM
Rob Kall's Manifesto For Peaceful Revolution : MFPR
The intensity of hatred boiling inside conscientious and concerned citizens of the world towards Bush/Cheney cabal's crimes against humanity is such that a hero is bound to emerge and bring about changes urgenty called for in Rob's Manifesto. Martin Luther King was a product of social circumstances. Thousand's of his likes are waiting their turn. The agenda has to be ready and it is now.
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ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 361 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 8:42:25 AM
Despite all the evidents to the contrary, it appears that most people still believe the democrats are different than the republicans. Nothing but lip service will change with the next president. As long as people stay this delusional nothing will ever change, except to get worse.
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arlen custer (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 192 comments)
on Friday, March 14, 2008 at 10:31:56 AM
