President Bush made a speech tonight. He said we're staying in Iraq until the job is done. That doesn't surprise me. Nor am I watching the cable channels or reading the postmortem because I know what I'll hear, "Despite the polls showing declining support for the war in Iraq, President Bush said we'll keep our troops there, blah blah blah." But I will get my flag out for the Fourth and I'll see what else is on www.americasupportsyou.mil. I supported the War on Terror at the start (and it's not just Iraq as events in Afghanistan tragically proved today), and I'm going to follow through on it. I think I understand what's at stake.
However, I wonder sometimes if we're spending too much time and energy as conservatives worrying about fighting tyranny from without when we are losing our freedoms from within, given the Kelo v. New London decision. After tonight I do feel somewhat more assured about our staying to finish the Iraqi job, at least until early 2009. Anything less would be betrayal and probably spell doom for the GOP for a generation.
A follow-up on my Michael Steele post a few days back. Got to listen to him on the local radio this morning in an interview, and while he was coy enough to not say he's running for the Senate, you got to admit the signs are pointing that way. Given he got an important first endorsement from the Baltimore FOP, that's a segment of the public asking him to run. He was looking for that kind of assurance, and of course to see what kind of money he could raise. Talk to me, I'm willing to slip a Bennie or two in the campaign if you run. Like I said before, I like golf fundraisers.
Here's a news item that has me worried. I can just see the D's playing politics with this if we ever get in more trouble with China. (Seems like we're in enough considering they have missiles that use technology stolen from us pointed in our direction.) It's intriguing that the CNOOC (the ChiComm oil company looking to buy Unocal) hired TWO PR firms, including one linked to the Bush/Chaney campaign. Of course, for their part, CNOOC noted that Unocal's oil and gas production is less than 1% of America's total and that "substantially all" of Unocal's US-based workers would retain their jobs, the others being replaced by ChiComms specializing in industrial espionage. (Ok, I added the last part, but why would it not be true?)
That's one reason I attempt to steer away from Chinese-made goods when I can. It's hard to do, though. A good friend of mine works for a company in the wheelchair industry, and she's done the math regarding moving production of one of their products to China. Even with the cost of importing, they just can't do it domestically with the price of labor. So 120 U.S. workers, albeit mostly temporary, will be out of work, and somewhere in China they'll add another shift.
Additionally, the price of oil continues to climb in part because of Chinese demand. (Remember, the $60/barrel price of oil is that of the futures market, and their demand's slated to rise again).
To sum up: once we finish with the War on Terror, we may have another one on our hands. We may have a bunch of allies when it comes to Iraq, but if China invades Taiwan, not a lot of countries may be willing to join us on the front lines - if we go. Like 1984, once the war with Eurasia is over, we'll go to war with Eastasia.
