As Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels considers whether to run for President, I can think of lots of reasons not to support him. Despite his focus on fiscal responsibility, he presided over the Bush Administration’s profligacy, helping fritter away the healthy economy left by Bill Clinton. While he’s never been a “hater,” neither has he demonstrated any moral compunctions against playing to the prejudices of the GOP base–if we had any doubts about his willingness to let personal ambition trump any tendency to do the right thing, those doubts were put to rest when he signed the bill de-funding Planned Parenthood, and effectively denied medical care to more than 20 thousand poor women.
What is certainly NOT a reason to oppose him, however, is his Syrian ancestry.
The same sorts of people who insist that Obama couldn’t possibly be a “real” American (he’s black, you know) are now throwing stones at Daniels because he received an award from an Arab-American group. Daniels’ family background is Syrian, and–like Jewish groups, African-American organizations, etc., this organization recognizes members of its community who have achieved. Bloggers have reacted by connecting the Governor to every anti-American act ever associated with any Arabs anywhere.
This has to stop. Being American means evaluating people based upon who they are and what they do, not on the basis of their “tribes”–their race, religion or national origin. Like Obama or Daniels–or dislike them–based upon their policies and behaviors, and cut the ugly crap out.
I am glad people are challenging the hate that seems to be perculating out in the American electorate. Please join the chorus of hoosiers that are asking the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Dump Trump. He has taken to the national airwaves and questioned the legitimacy of our Commander and Chief, his national origin, his qualifications to get into Harvard and generally made an ass of himself. The IMS when asked by the Indy Star stated they were monitoring the situation. He is on the bubble. Help us pop that bubble and maybe he slinks off somehwere and allows our political discourse to return to a more adult level.
“Despite his focus on fiscal responsibility, he presided over the Bush Administration’s profligacy”
Wow, this talking point has really gotten powerful despite having very little truth to it. Absolutely, Mitch Daniels was Bush’s budget director. However, to blame Daniels for any bit of the debt is ridiculous. At no point did Mitch Daniels have the opportunity to influence decisions on spending. His role was to figure out how much things cost, and try to make the most out of each program.
Would you blame your bank if you spend all the money in your bank account? If you want to blame someone, by all means, point the finger at former President Bush and those in Congress that agreed to his budgets. Mitch Daniels was given a list of spending requirements. The OMB was then tasked to create a budget that includes all of these projects and programs for as little money as possible. So please, there are many things that Democrats can criticize Mitch Daniels for that are actually true; use them, and avoid putting blame on someone who had nothing to do with the decision to approve the Bush tax cuts or war on terror.
Sorry, but this is historical revisionism. While I agree Mitch didn’t make the decisions, he clearly was part of the decision-making process. It was his job to project costs and relay those projections to the Administration and Congress, which relied on those estimates. His widely-quoted estimate of the probable cost of the Iraq war is just one example. To use your analogy, if my bank told me my account had accrued twenty dollars in interest, and I then overdrew my account by 15. in reliance on that information, yes I WOULD blame the bank.