elevated/edited from the diaries by DemFromCT. While other issues such as voting reform and unfinished 2004 election topics remain important, they are getting covered. These are some that are not. lsoderman reminds us it shouldn't be either/or.It's three weeks after the election. And a number of issues have literally disappeared off the face of the map. When I created the first post of this series, I listed what I thought were pressing issues that still needed addressing, election or not. As a whole these issues still have not been adequately addressed. We're still looking for answers. Especially now that the Bush administration thinks they've gotten a "mandate" and therefore will be immune to questioning, we need to turn the heat up. So, in the interest of keeping things top of mind, I'm doing a periodic recap at election plus x days (E+x). Let's take a little survey of the landscape at E+21.
Some folks suggested some additional topics. If you have others, please be sure to let me know.
More below the fold...
380 Tons Of Missing Explosives - Talk about disappearing! There was virtually no further coverage of this. Unless you count explosions that took November's death toll for American soldiers over the 100 mark.
Halliburton - Another issue that has virtually disappeared. In fact, in what I consider to be an odd twist...LONDON (AFP) - Halliburton, the oil services giant once run by US Vice President Dick Cheney, has emerged as a leading contender to manage the construction of two British aircraft carriers, The Sunday Telegraph said.
The Ministry of Defence would not confirm or deny the report that Halliburton's subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) was one of two companies to have won the recommendation of MoD officials to take on a "physical integrator" role in what the Sunday paper said was a nine billion pound (17 billion dollar, 13 billion euro) carrier program.
North Korean Nuclear Plans - The administration is still sticking by its guns on holding six-nation talks, and the DPRK says they won't talk unless the US makes more concessions. Stalemate still.
Iran - Some movement on this issue, but how much did the US do? On one hand, Colin Powell gets hoof-in-mouth, first making the statement that there was evidence of nuclear weapons construction, then having to back off the statement when it's revealed that the information is coming from a dubious source. Iran does say that they will give assurances that their nuclear enrichment programs will not lead to weaponry, but will not stop enrichment. The US' threat of taking the issue to the UN Security Council is likely moot, as China says it will not support that move.
Unemployment / Underemployment - Slight growth in jobless claims. Which means we're still on the negative side of the jobs numbers. On a side note, I can personally attest to the jobless rate going up, having lost my job on Friday. Happy Thanksgiving.
Healthcare - Nothing of note on the national level, but on a state level, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has come out with a plan to create low-cost health insurance in his state. A Republican governor in a Democratic state with a state assisted healthcare plan. Go figure.
Energy Dependence - No national news, but an interesting take on the issue appeared on NBC's "The West Wing". The episode featured a room full of advocates for different energy options, such as hydrogen fuel cells, wind power, ethanol, etc., and the inherent problems with trying to choose one over the other.
Education - Again, not much news here. But one thing seems to be making itself clear - the "mandate" the Bush administration thinks they got may be quickly unraveling - on the Republican side. Many Republicans were not thrilled about No Child Left Behind, but voted for it to give the President a win. But as pointed out by many a pundit, House Republicans now have to start thinking about their own campaigns for 2006, and since they don't have to worry about re-electing Bush, they can be a little less congenial.
So what do we take out of all this? Were these issues not as important? Were they just hyped up to add tension to the already ugly election cycle? Or are these real issues that have been left behind because the administration is currently holding the cards?
My take is that these issues do have importance. But there's no more cash value in them when it comes to the media. Case in point - they're more interested now in Arnold for President than the death toll in Iraq, stagnation in Afghanistan, or our lack of direction when it comes to dealing with nukes in the hands of North Korea or Iran. These latter stories don't interest the "average" American, and therefore, have no weight as far as the media are concerned.
So what do we do about it? We can continue to write out letters to editors, email the news programs, keep the discussion going. Continue to ask questions, and demand answers. And ask ourselves - why are these issues important? If we can't answer the last question coherently, succinctly, and with a passionate interest in finding the truth, we can't expect anyone else to take any interest.