President Obama's First Day

Here's what I'd like President Obama to say on his first day in office:

"From this day forward, the United States of America will strictly adhere to the Geneva Conventions. I call on all U.S. departments and agencies to familiarize themselves with these guidelines and carry out their duties accordingly. As the Commander-in-Chief, I will accept nothing less. I do this, even if our enemies and detractors won't, because it is just one example of why our form of government, culture, and ideas are better than theirs."

I sent this to Fareed Zakaria in response to his question of the week from last Sunday's show, "In two days, all of us will have a new President-elect. What's the very first thing you want him to do?"

Maybe Fareed will read my email on his show this Sunday afternoon on CNN!

Chances Of Americans Dying In Terror Attack Minimal

In the May 12, 2008 issue of Newsweek, there is a large article adapted from the new book The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. You may have seen the author on various news programs or Sunday morning political talk shows. I find him incredibly perceptive and unaffected by political parties. In other words, he's a reporter, not a pundit/talking head.

In the run-up to the election, count on the Republicans to stoke fear in the American public to win in November. But as he points out, the world has never been safer! Why this disconnect between perception and reality? I would say it is the current administration's propaganda campaign. He attributes it to the 24-hour news cycle.

We didn't watch daily footage of the two million people who died in Indochina in the 1970s, or the million who perished in the sands of the Iran-Iraq war ten years later. We saw little of the civil war in the Congo in the 1990s, where millions died. But today any bomb that goes off, and rocket that is fired, any death that results, is documented by someone, somewhere and ricochets instantly across the world. Add to this terrorist attacks, which are random and brutal. "That could have been me, " you think. Actually your chances of being killed in a terrorist attack are tiny—for an American, smaller than drowning in your bathtub. [Emphasis mine.] But it doesn't feel like that.

We need to keep perspective and soothe our fears with the facts.
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