Sunday Muse, 3/29/09

Obama's full plate:

Could the axiom "all politics is local" derail the president's green jobs agenda?

Obama skips the Gridiron dinner but appears on 60 Minutes...is he risking offending the Beltway elite?

The recession ripples outward:

Will Congressional micromanaging of financial change the American professional sports stage?

Some local officials worry the foreclosure crisis could result in severe undercounting in next year's census. California could actually lose a seat for the first time since it entered the Union.

Fundraising totals are plummeting for all the campaign committees; will the recession mean more self-financed Congressional candidates in 2010?

Is anyone paying attention?

It looks like all those fears about Diebold being able to highjack our democracy weren't misplaced.

An Amnesty International report describes America's immigration system a virtual black hole of human rights abuse.

Our military men and women are paying a high price for the Bush/Cheney wars.

Hey, Europe, Can You Spare a G.I.?

With renewed violence in Iraqi cities claiming more lives, it appears our military is scrambling to find 7,000 soldiers to combat a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.

Is our military stretched that thin? For quite some time our military leaders have been warning the Bush/Cheney/McCain warhawks that they are simply asking too much from our men and women in uniform. Now, it looks like we're forced beg our allies for reinforcements but:

A majority of America's NATO allies continue to balk at U.S. requests to send thousands more of their troops to Afghanistan. At the same time, the renewed violence in Iraq and the White House decision to suspend further American troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer will make it harder for the Pentagon to send more American forces to Afghanistan next year as President Bush has promised.

"I'm deeply concerned," Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday. "In this economy of force operation, we do what we can. Requirements exist that we simply cannot fill and won't likely be able to fill until conditions improve in Iraq."

If our country is facing an endless, multiple front war isn't it irresponsible to NOT have a draft? Shouldn't this question at least be asked of the candidates running for president (and Congress)?