Hillary/Biden, Obama/Biden - Both Winning Tickets

I've been paying some attention to the race for the Democratic nominee and I've begun to notice a recurring theme lately in pundit rhetoric. Many are beginning to acquiesce to the idea of a possible Hillary/Obama ticket, or vice versa, as if this is really the only winning team. The argument in favor of this is that since Dems can't decide who should be their nominee, and since both are so overwhelmingly popular, why not just make them running mates. In Jonathan Allen's article "Superdelegates Ponder a Clinton/Obama Ticket," he outlines a good dozen or more who feel that this should absolutely be the case.

One such person, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy , D-R.I., a superdelegate and Obama endorser, said “We’ve got so many people so vested in both candidates that you have to find some way of vesting each candidate in the final endgame somehow.”

However, I'm not so sure this is necessarily the only winning ticket. I've been mulling around the idea of a possible Clinton/Biden or Obama/Biden ticket, not because I necessarily like Biden, but because the man really has become quite a scholar on foreign policy and the Iraq war. He could bring to the table exactly what both camps are missing, someone intelligent enough to deal with the chaos in the Middle East and who has a decent track record meeting with foreign diginitaries.

Keep in mind, Biden also has good relationships with both Clinton and Obama. Dems would not feel the tension that would come with a possible Clinton/Obama ticket when all this mess is over and done with.

And my final point is that despite being a bit windy during debates and interviews, Biden can debate the issues well. This is exactly the person Clinton and Obama want facing Governor Romney, the golden boy whom McCain will ask to be his running.

Honor in the Face of Political Destitution

Brian Beutler writes in his piece "Folding on FISA" regarding Congressional Republicans inability to update FISA, stating "Or maybe it was a sign that the American public is genuinely suspicious of such broad power in the hands of the government." Although he presents it as theoretical, he's giving the American public too much credit. At one point in time this might have been true, but I'm not so sure "many" Americans can see past the issues that CNN, MSNBC, or FOX News tell them. Nor can they see beyond their six packs of beers, or bags of Chicharrones, or SUVs, or $5.00 a gallon of gas (now being reported in San Francisco).

The irony in this whole FISA issue is that Republicans, even slack-jawed, redneck Texas Republicans, should be incensed that this Administration illegally spied on Americans and that this President wants to broaden that power. But they are not! Historically, Republicans have vociferously opposed such government intrusion. Remember how much hell, and rightfully so, Janet Reno endured by some of these same Republicans hailing the updating of FISA and the provision of immunity for telecommunication companies involved in the illegal wiretapping of Americans?

However, Beutler also states, "And if they nonetheless decide they can't win, one might cynically conclude that, deep down, Democrats enjoy the thought of unchecked government surveillance authority as much as Republicans do... they will be signalling that...they haven't learned to speak as a party about national security with anything resembling confidence or principle." I won't cynically conclude that "deep down" Democrats "enjoy" it, but I will cynically conclude that they are in essence giving the Republican argument relevancy by caving. Listen man, if we don't have principles, what do we have?

I believe, and maybe naively so, that politicians should "always" fight for principles that are good and just. I once personally knew a guy who would fight for these principles no matter what: bodily harm, imprisonment, etc. He was an inspiration to me. Because of these principles, he would literally risk his life for people, even those who had come from considerably more priveleged backgrounds than his . These rich, bloated, comfortable Democrats on the Hill know nothing of this. And, I could give a rat's ass if it costs them politically should they do so. At least I would be able to look at them with pride and honor, something this nation has forgotten about.