The Larry Kane Report

As debate over Iraq continues today in the US Senate, some important political games are underway.

The Barak Obama - Hillary Clinton dance has begun.
Tuesday, Obama announced formation of an exploratory committee to run  for President. Yesterday,  not to be ignored by the media spotlight, Senator Clinton roared back with a call for a cap on the number of troops sent to Iraq, and a call for more troops in Afghanistan. But the big test will come for Obama and Clinton in the next few days when the Senate votes on a bipartisan resolution expressing no confidence in the Bush plan to fight on with more troops. One of the sponsors of the Senate resolution is Delaware’s Joe Biden, also a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

The early presidential battle is on and the war is the central issue.
More on the anti-war resolution:

Republicans Chuck Hagel and Olympia Snowe are on board with the Democratic resolution. But the key questions is whether Obama and Clinton will support it. The resolution states simply that the Bush plan for more troops is not in the best interests of the nation. Presidential politics plays a background role in all of this, primarily because the apparent frontrunners know that the public has had it with the current situation in Iraq. But, at the same time, they have to carefully walk the political tightrope. They want to support the safety of our troops, without supporting current White House policy on Iraq.

Another key factor: Democrats want to vote on the resolution just before the President’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. That would be embarrasing to the President at a time when he would be trying to shift the emphasis away from Iraq and on to what is left of his domestic program.

It is wild world in Washington this week. A President struggles to hold on to power. And several Democrats play a game of power. Who would have thought that in 2007, the Iraq war would be issue number one, for the White House and the Democrats who want to get there?

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Anti-American dictator Hugo Chavez is aligning himself with Iran as he pursues a socialist agenda that is hardly aimed at helping people. Chavez now wants to shut down the only independent TV station in Venezuela. He is also hinting at travel restrictions for young people.

Chavez is a colorful man in the great tradition of Fidel Castro.

Before anyone offers eulogies on the life of Fidel, just remember this: He was and is a mass murderer who killed political opposition, caused great starvation in his early reign, and aligned himself with enemies of the United States, who later abandoned him.

Castro’s reign of terror included the jailings (for decades) of any opposition, and a fierce determination to stop any sense of change or progress. The only accomplishment in nearly 50 years of strongman rule was a national health system, that is so basic that he had to fly in doctors to treat his own critical diseases. As a legend, Castro will live on. As a leader, he has failed his people. If free speech were alive in Cuba, Fidel Castro would have been finished a long time ago.

A final note. It makes me sick to think that Castro and the late Che Guevera are idolized around the world as revolutionaries. Castro was a killer. Guevera was also a murderer who tried to spread the rampage of death to other South American nations.

I covered the great Cuban exodus to Florida in the early years of my career. I know and feel the joy of Cuban-Americans at the expected demise of Fidel Castro.

When Castro does leave the world, Cuba will reform itself, and after half a century, freedom will reign.

Hugo Chavez should pay attention.

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The Democrats, flexing some muscle in Congress, are pushing for a five day work week for Congress.

It is the dumbest idea around.

Currently, Congress is in session on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, allowing lawmakers to travel home on Friday and return late Monday.

The idea has always been very productive. It gives elected officials the chance to return to their districts to sound out the voters, to listen to the debates, to bring fresh ideas back to Congress. The five day work week seems like a great concept of work-ethics, but it is actually counter productive to the democratic system.

If you represent the northeast states, it works well. But if you’re from the west, northwest, and even the upper midwest, you would never get a chance to get back to the people to face the real-life questions and concerns that they may have.

The five day work week for Congress will, even more than ever, shut the voters out of the process.

While I’m pontificating, I have a few questions about Iraq.
What if?

What if the hangman and his henchmen could have kept their mouths shut and thier cell phones hidden when the dictator went down the trap door?

What if the hangman knew how to tie the knot so the hanging of the two other thugs didn’t turn out to be a beheading of one of them?

What if the Maliki government can’t deliver on its promise of support go after Shiite death squads? Will we be at war with the Iraqi Army again?

Those are important questions as we prepare to send thousands more American troops into the clutches of danger.

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I am drained from watching the Eagles-Saints game, but like many of you, I can’t imagine as many thrills as we’ve had in a season of football. Think of it: a team given up for dead, a dismal mid-season record along with the loss of the star quarterback, and the most amazing comeback led by a backup who hardly looked like one!

In this town, losing is never easy. We’ve made an artform of our suffering, but the fact is that the Eagles are winners. The Saints game was disappointing, but how many fans in the nation can talk about having that much fun in December and January. The Eagles never gave up, although some of us did back in early November. Remember that?

This team and its spirit and this season will be long remembered as the the year of the comeback.

Let the post-mortems begin. I mean, everybody is an expert. But this has been fun and thrilling and exciting. We have to thank Andy Reid, Jeff Garcia, Brian Westbrook, and let us not forget the man who brought us all these years of winning, Donovan McNabb.

I think once we get over the loss, we will all appreciate this team of winners, and how far they got under difficult circumstances.

Sometimes winning isn’t everything. How you accept defeat and move on in life shows a lot about you. The 2006 Philadelphia Eagles will be remembered as the team that clawed their way to victories from the clutches of defeat.

Anyway, that’s enough cliches’ for one Sunday.

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I don’t want to spoil Game Day for the Eagles, but I’m beginning to think we’ve been duped by the double-dealing Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq. With friends like this, who needs insurgents.

Since the President’s speech on Wednesday night promising a major surge of forces to help stablize the country, Maliki has remained strangely silent. It is no secret that the Shiite Prime Minister will not confront death squads that are loyal to his regime.

If the Iraqi PM fails to cooperate with our “surge”, he will make a sham out of the latest effort by our nation and our troops.

On to New Orleans. I love the feeling surrounding the 2006-2007 Eagles. Because expectations were so low after the McNabb injury, the area’s fantastic fans are enjoying every minute of this run. The Eagles
will win. That’s because Merrill Reese told me so. Merrill is never wrong. I enjoy the sense of community coming together in a “shared” experience.” The Eagles are one giant shared experience!

Back to the future. You heard it here first. Philadelphia DA Lynne Abraham may run for Pa. Attorney General in next year’s election. Abraham is enormously popular and would be a serious threat to incumbent Tom Corbett. Keep your eyes on this one.

Mayor’s Race: Look for Bob Brady to announce for Mayor on either January 24th or 25th.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE COMCAST VIDEO ON DEMAND: TRY TO SEE MY INTERVIEW ON COMCAST “VOICE OF REASON” WITH STEPHEN GALE. IT WAS BROADCAST LAST SUNDAY NIGHT. GALE IS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE EXPERT ON TERRORIM. HIS COMMENTS ON THE NATION’S VULNERABLE POWER GRIDS AND RAIL SYSTEMS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

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