Friday, November 28, 2008
Change I Could Believe In
Here’s a quick thought that the tragedy in Mumbai motivated:
Barack Obama’s election to replace George W. Bush as President provides a golden opportunity for the U.S. to correct one of the most dangerous debilitating mistakes of the Bush era. In the aftermath of 9/11, Bush inexplicably refused to name our enemy, and instead attributed our problems to a tactic. The grossly misnamed “war on terrorism” obscured what should have been evident for all to see: We are at war with Radical Islam. Or perhaps, it would be fairer to say that Radical Islam is at war with us, because no matter what the Islamists do, we stubbornly refuse to identify them as our true enemy.
As I write these words, it is not yet clear PRECISELY who the Deccan Mujahadeen is. While some reports suggest that it might have some sort of Al Qaeda connection, it appears likely that the Mumbai attacks were not “true” Al Qaeda operations a la the Cole bombing or 9/11. It is nevertheless already clear, however, PRETTY MUCH who the Deccan Mujahaheen is: yet another violent Radical Islamist group.
Will Obama choose to use his new bully pulpit to speak the truth that Bush dared not utter? Or more precisely, the truth that Bush let leak a few teams before retreating behind the saccharine GWOT terminology? Will Obama retire the GWOT, and confront, instead, the true enemy? Will President Obama lead the West in a direction that might prevail--a direction that starts by actually identifying the enemy?
If so, that would be a change I could truly believe in.
Just one more thing to watch as we learn who we have elected…
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Friday, November 07, 2008
May the Faithful Prove Prescient
Last night, standing amidst a small group of friends, including some to whom my host had just introduced me, holding a glass of champagne, one of the assembled suggested a toast.
“What should we toast?” asked another.
“How about Barack Obama?” said a third. Numerous eyes turned towards me—perhaps not the only McCain voter in the room, but likely the most vocal one (I do live in San Francisco, after all).
I shrugged and raised my glass:
“To President-elect Obama. May the faith that so many have placed in him prove fully warranted.”
All agreed that the toast was proper regardless of affiliation or preference.
It was more than simply a face-saving attempt on my part. It was—and is—heartfelt. We are finishing eight years that I characterize as having had incompetent governance and irresponsible opposition. It is time that we do better on all fronts. The country has chosen Obama as the person to lead us there, and I hope that he does.
Yet my reference to “faith” was a careful, deliberate choice. Though most Obama supporters spoke of hope, what I heard from them was more aligned with faith. Obama supporters—strong Obama supporters—have assured me that when the dust settles and he actually moves into office, he will: govern as a Clintonian centrist; galvanize a truly “progressive” agenda; end affirmative action and racial preferences and setasides; and elevate the status and standing of black leaders and leadership. At least some of these supporters will soon find themselves sorely disappointed. It is, as a friend noted, a testament to Obama’s genius that he could convince all of these believers that he is, at heart, one of them. I could not join them for the simple reason that I could not share their faith. My read on our President-elect remains that though he is certainly “the kind of guy with whom I hang out,” his policy instincts are protectionist, accommodationist, and redistributionist. Still, I concede that my lack of faith is based on little more than the faith of his supporters; his record is thin enough for many to see him as many things.
All of which leads to the next, and critical question: What cues might we—or more honestly, I—receive over the next couple of months? What might our President-elect do over the next few months to convert me into a believer? What steps might he take to move the Democratic Party back to where it was—or at least, where I believed it had been—for the many years in which I was an enthusiastic supporter? I have been pondering that question, and I’m beginning to devise answers.
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Monday, October 20, 2008
An Independent’s Endorsement: Vote for McCain
So…following a fairly long hiatus in which I declined (or perhaps merely failed) to blog about some pretty interesting happenings, a chorus of friends have requested that I say something before the election—particularly given that, unlike most of them, I am supporting John McCain. While I don’t know that this entry means that I’m “coming out of retirement,” so to speak, it will at least record my thinking as the nation heads into a rather consequential election.
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Monday, June 16, 2008
I hope I’m Wrong
As I survey the political terrain, I see us heading for a Democratic rout. I suspect that Barack Obama will become the next President of the United States, and that he will arrive in office with the full backing of a compliant, comfortable Democratic majority in Congress.
For the first time in my political life, the thought of such an outcome fills me with dread. I believe that the prospects for both the country and the world under such American governance are bleak. I believe that Obama has the potential to usher in some very negative trends—trends that may take a generation or more to reverse (if they ever become reversible). In short, I believe that he is capable of delivering upon his campaign promise of “change.” Regrettably, change for the mere sake of change is not what the world needs.
Here’s why:
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Thursday, January 17, 2008
So Now I’m a Republican
I guess. Sort of.
It’s been a few years since the Democratic Party abandoned its historic commitment to the growth of human rights and liberalism abroad.
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Friday, November 30, 2007
The SF Chronicle uncovers the Secret
The San Francisco Chronicle, which published the first review of Digital Phoenix way back in May 2005, has come through for me again. Today’s paper contains a very nice review of The Secret Circuit--though somehow, my own hardcopy of the paper seems to be missing the alleged “M” section.
Yet one more pointer that I belong in San Francisco. . .
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Tuesday, October 02, 2007
New Publications
Well, it’s been far too long since I’ve posted anything here. I guess some years the mood hits fairly often, and others it just doesn’t. It’s not like nothing interesting has occurred in the past six months--just that it has all unfolded without my comments. Yet somehow, the world seems to be muddling through. Disturbing. It is entirely possible that it’s not all about me. (Then again, I’m just throwing that out there as a possibility).
Meanwhile though, things have been happening in my own little corner of the universe. In particular, some of my publications have cleared the publication queues, and are now in print:
Publication information is as follows:
The Secret Circuit: The Little-Known Court where the Rules of the Information Age Unfold (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007).
Intellectual Property and the Alleged Collapsing of Aftermarkets, Rutgers L.J. 38(2) 399-472, 2007.
India’s Journey Towards an Effective Patent System, World Bank Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 4301.
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Monday, April 30, 2007
A Cautionary Tale of our Times
Continuing with my theme of making up for April’s delinquency, here’s another disturbing story.
A few weeks ago, The San Francisco Chronicle ran a bizarre, largely fictional anti-Israel screed written by Omar Ahmad. At the end of the article, the newspaper identified the author:
“Omar Ahmad is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He is the CEO of a Silicon Valley technology company.”
This identification interested me for two reasons. First, it is disconcerting to see major media outlets running posts from CAIR. CAIR is a well-known apologist for Islamic terror, funded by foreign sources unfriendly to the U.S. and the West. Ample documentation explains who CAIR really is. Nevertheless, its leaders continue to dupe major media outlets into accepting it as a valid spokes-organization for the “mainstream” American Muslim community. It is precisely this sort of misidentification that makes life difficult for people who wish to be both good Americans and good Muslims; it alienates liberal Muslims by elevating the status of soft-spoken radicals.
It was the second point of interest that motivated this posting, however: I have a friend named Omar Ahmad who heads a Silicon Valley technology company.
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