The next "Big Things"

We are not out of the woods yet. Jihadist extreemists remain as a threat to the United States. And the current administration has not made a 180 degree turn in the direction of competence. But some good things are cooking for voters on the winning side - and. consequently, for the nation.

he first big item on our priority list? Iraq, Iraq, Iraq! The issues: Aljazeera summarizes here. The Financial Times analyzes here. The New York Times wrote in an excellent and comprehensive story by Carl Hulse and Thom Shanker that things will start happening fairly soon. To quote,

Democrats sought on Friday to put their new political power to use in shaping the debate over Iraq, promising stepped-up Congressional oversight of the war and a resolution demanding a schedule for reducing the number of troops there.

he very next big thing? Our current president has called for the passage of domestic spying bill, known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The Washington Post has editorialized against such a move, and has pointed to presence of Senator Patrick Leahy as a deterrent. At the very least, it may be changed by the new congress, according to the WaPo. To quote,

But prospects for controversial items such as wiretapping legislation seemed remote yesterday, as the concession of Sen. George Allen (R) in Virginia made it official that the Democrats will control that chamber as well as the House come January.
Meeting with reporters in her office after meeting with Bush at the White House, the House speaker-to-be, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said Democrats could reach accord with Bush on the legislation but will insist on some kind of judicial review of each wiretap the Justice Department seeks.

More and more women are in key leadership positions that have to do with national security. Senator Diane Feinstein is a very effective member of both the Judiciary and Intelligence committees in the Senate. And fellow Northern Californian Representative Nancy Pelosi will be the Speaker fo the House. She is proposing that adopting the remainder of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations be high on the legislative agenda. But this will not be easy, according to today's article by Dan Eggen and Spencer Hsu in the Washington Post. To quote,

Democratic leaders preparing to take control of Congress have vowed to push through a host of reforms recommended two years ago by the Sept. 11 commission, such as better port security and improved radio communications for first responders, but many of the most controversial changes are likely to face obstacles even with Capitol Hill in Democratic hands, according to experts and legislative aides.
Presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has made implementing the commission's recommendations one of the centerpieces of her "first 100 hours" legislative agenda, with particular focus on requiring radiation scans of all cargo that arrives by sea.

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller is the head of MI5, the United Kingdom's internal security agency. She has warned that the nation faces more than one threat from terrorists; I quote from this recent BBC News story,

Blair backs MI5 terrorism warning
Tony Blair has said he supports MI5's assessment that Britain is facing the threat of multiple terror plots.
He said the dangers were "very real" and he spoke of "poisonous propaganda" warping the minds of young people.
MI5's boss has said she knows of 30 terror plots threatening the UK and revealed that her staff had 1,600 individuals under surveillance.

Detainee treatment and legal protections remain as unsettled issues in the United States and for the rest of the world. Bono is advocating for justice and fairness, as the BBC News trial of terror suspects story headlined,

"U2 open tour with political plea"
Irish rock band U2 opened their tour with a political message asking for the only Australian terror suspect at Guantanamo Bay to be sent home. Bono made the plea as he sang Sunday Bloody Sunday at the Brisbane gig.
He asked that David Hicks, who has been held at the US military prison without trial for five years, be sent home to be tried "fairly". . .
Mr Hicks, 31, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit war crimes and aiding the enemy. The US Supreme Court overturned those charges though in June after ruling that the military tribunals were illegal.

he significance of the change happening rather rapidly is that the most crucial issues seem to be of highest priority with the new leadership. This election was about Iraq, about human rights and civil liberties, and it will include women as decision makers. I am, indeed optimistic about seeing more daylight soon.

Technorati tags: bush democrats elections iraq republicans war news politics