President Clinton Speaks

I admit it, this blog is long overdue. This is not because I have had nothing to say, or that, thanks to my blog about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright I have been to embarrassed to say anything at all, but that my computer has been on the fritz. (P.S. While throwing ones computer from a three story window may be cathartic it will, in the long run, not help you and not really bother your computer, what with it being an inanimate object.) At any rate, I am back now and have no shortage of things to say.

First off, I went, on March 19th, to see former President Bill Clinton speak at Stroudsburg High School. And, if you have not already seem him speak, I can not recommend enough that you do.

The President took the stage 90 minutes late, and yet, he quickly recaptured an audience that anybody else would have lost for good. He gives facts and figures, outlines policies and procedures, and recalls both his own history and the histories of those administrations which came before his without once referring to a single note. Add this to a charisma that simply can not be expressed in words and, whether you agree with him or not, you can not help but be impressed and, hopefully, take a lesson about how public speaking should be done.

Okay, now that I have built an alter to the man’s abilities as a speaker; let’s get down to the business of what he had to say about Hillary Clinton’s proposed policies.

IRAQ/U.S. MILITARY:
Hillary has said that over the course of her first 16 months as President she will pull the troops out of Iraq. There are several reasons for this but, according to what Bill Clinton said, the primary one is the need to go into Afghanistan.

Both the current President and John McCain are saying we can do both, stay in Iraq and go to Afghanistan. The problem with that is that we currently have a lack of enlisted men/women. This is evidenced by the fact that the Marines and Navy are now being trained in Army combat. What is worse is that our Government/Army is breaking contracts with those soldiers we do have. Soldiers who were promised ten month tours can find themselves overseas for as many as 3 years.

And yet, we are being told by the Republican Administration and Republican’s Candidate for President that we can be in both places at once!

Also, former President Clinton explained, the reason we went into Iraq was so that they could set up a Democratic Government. What we have failed to recognize is that so long as we are there the Iraqis have no catalyst to start up or maintain this form of Government (which is not to say it is something they would do anyway). What we are asking the Iraq’s to do is take on a great responsibility and, so long as we are there to shoulder that burden there is no reason why they would.

CARING FOR OUR VETERANS:
Former President Clinton explained that roadside bombs literally rattle the brains of the people standing anywhere near them. This leads to our soldiers having deadened sensors in their brains. This can, in turn, lead to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and a multitude of other problems.

Veterans become home bound because their brains can no longer process how to go to the store, or to work, or to take the dog for a walk. If they do leave the house there is the risk that they will not be able to retrace their steps and find their way home.

But, these sensors which have been cut in their brains can, with the proper care, be regenerated. In order for this to happen we need to start devoting the kind of money needed to build Veterans’ Hospitals devoted to helping these people lead normal healthy lives.

EDUCATION:
Hillary Clinton recognizes the failure that is No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the premise that all students must reach proficient or higher by a given year. What is more, the standard used to judge proficiency is left entirely up to the individual states or even districts. So, if the standard is reached it means only that we have been able to manipulate numbers and change standards so that we can give the appearance of producing better educated students.

What Hillary has suggested is that we come up with some hard and fast standards and educate our teachers on how to reach these standards. The way to do this is not to insist that they reach some arbitrary benchmark but rather that we find schools (20 of them Elementary through High School) who are producing well-educated well-rounded students and take what they are doing to other schools.

“Well-Rounded” is a term which is still thrown around but it no longer has any meaning. We need, as Bill Clinton said, to bring back Music, Art, and Gym classes. Not only will this help raise well-rounded students but these breaks between Science, Math, and English classes will help our students to better concentrate in all of their studies.