Proud to be an American in 2008

In some of my posts I have said that I want to feel proud again to be American.  I understand how people can take that.  It sounds like I am not proud.  I am proud to be an American and I still think that America is the greatest country on earth.  We have our faults but what country doesn’t.  What I am really trying to say is I want to be more proud; like I did when I was a kid.  Does anyone remember the Bicentennial celebration and all of the local town parades that took place?  I do.  And I remember going with my father and every time the American Flag would pass by, we would stand up and put our hand on our heart.  I did it because he did it.  I was a young, impressionable kid and that one small act of patriotism stays with me still today.

It is not as if I am not proud at all.  Even if I look at just this presidential race, I am proud of our country for the simple fact that we have a woman and a black man as our choices for the Democratic party.  That alone is an unbelievable accomplishment for America.  As wonderful and progressive a country as we are, we have been behind the times on the issue of non-conformity.  So it is great to see a shift in the American consciousness.  I am also proud that our country as a whole, not just the Democrats, have begun to open their minds and look at other perspectives.   I will always be proud of our troops.  They voluntarily give their lives to protect us and our feedom.   The must blindly put themselves at terrible risk whether or not they agree with the resons they have been given for doing so. 

I have heard from, and read about, so many people who call themselves republicans who have decided to take a fresh look at what is going on in this great country and make some difficult choices.   I am so enamored with the idea of not just voting for your party because it is your party.  For me, as crazy as it may sound, I would have seriously considered Ron Paul if he was the republican nominee.  He didn’t make it that far.  But I believed in his passion for the Constitution of the United States.  He is the one who inspired me to get a pocket copy of the Constitution so I could read it and refer to it during this time of great political change in our country.  It’s a great thing to have around when you want to argue your points at a cocktail party, too.  I highly recommend each of you to get a free pocket copy (available in several places on the web).

Here’s an example of what I am not proud of.  Yesterday during a press conference George W. Bush said that he had no idea that gasoline could easily get to $4.00 a gallon very soon.  Let me say the important part again; he had no idea.  He also said he is working hard on economic stimuli so that Americans “can put money on the table”.  I’m pretty sure that when I sit down with my family for dinner that we won’t be eating Nickels a la mode.  You can pass that off as someone who just misspoke.  But, I’m sorry, if you look at the number of times that this man has misspoken, it’s not a mistake, it is stupidity.  I tried to think of a funny metaphor for George W. Bush; something like the crazy old uncle in your family.  But the truth is, he is a one of a kind idiot, incomparable on all levels to anyone or anything.  And no, I am not proud that he is representing America on the world stage and I am ashamed if anyone on this earth thinks that I am anything like him.  I wrote about the countdown clock, as of today, it is only 325 days until he is gone and we, together, as Americans, can stand proud once more.

American Presidental Election 2008 should be about America

I know we are at war in Iraq, although I call it an occupation.  I know we are at war in Afghanistan.  And I could rattle on about trade deficits, atrocities in third world nations, the Cuban embargo, and so many, many other things. 

I hate to say it but right now I honestly don’t give a damn about what wars we’re involved in (other than I care what happens to our troops).  I don’t care about terrorism, Cuba, North Korea, or China.  What I care about right now is my country.  I know that sounds cold and I don’t mean it to be, but I don’t think that we, as a nation, can do anything about the rest of the world until we do something about ourselves. 

I want to feel good about being an American.  That does not mean I hate my country (as the conservatives would want you to believe if I say that), and it doesn’t mean I am not patriotic.  If anything, it is quite the contrary.  I am patriotic and I miss the country we once were.  Actually, I just miss the country we really are, underneath it all.

I also want to feel welcomed around the world, like we used to be, as the great country that the world looks up to.  You know, before George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfled, Condoleeza Rice, and all of the two-faced, lying, homophobic (yet in fact homosexual) Republicans in Washington, ruined our reputation, and my own faith in the people in positions of power.

I don’t think that Hillary Clinton would be a bad President.  I just think that Barack Obama would be a better one.  He has a way of getting you to WANT to stand behind him and follow him.   And not in a cult-like, blinded-by-the-light way.  It’s more like “hey, I understand what he is saying, what he believes in, what his core values are and that he is not lying to me.”  As much as Hillary tries, she just doesn’t inspire me.  Hillary touts her 35 years of experience and that’s what I don’t want.  I don’t want anyone who has been doing this for 35 years.  Because anyone that has, isn’t seeing it clearly anymore, doesn’t have enough new and fresh ideas, and has already made their friends and enemies in Washington.  And if that’s true, we will be no better off than we are right now.

I heard John McCain today talk about Iraq, and the back-and-forth quips between him and Obama.  Barack had said there wouldn’t be an “Al Queda in Iraq” if it weren’t for people like George Bush and John McCain.  McCain’s comeback was “that is the past and we need to deal with what we’re going to do in the future”.

I say “EXACTLY”.  How can John McCain defend the conditions in Iraq saying that the “surge” is working.  You would think from listening to John McCain that Iraq is the new Disneyland.  The only problem is you need several thousand American Troops to die just to keep the Tilt-a-Whirl running.  So John McCain’s idea is “let’s have no new ideas and let’s keep doing what we’re doing”.  God I’m sick of this.

So having said all of that, my point really is that I want this election to be about this country.  I am not saying that we stick out heads in the sand, but all of the problems going on OUTSIDE OUR COUNTRY will still be there and if we had the answers, we would have put them in place already.  But we don’t have the answers. 

So I’m not going to cast my vote based on what’s going on in the rest of the world.  I believe that anyone in the world is qualified to make foreign policy because you’ve got a ton of advisers, allies, and since we never quite seem to get it right, that’s not going to be what I base my vote on.

I want to wake up on November 5, 2008, assuming I’ll still be around then, and take a deep breath and say to myself “OK America, let’s get going and take on the day”.

How many days left before we get rid of Bush?

Every time I see him on TV, whether it is a sound bite or, like today, a news conference, I get just down-right pissed off at 50% of the American people who voted this complete idiot into the office of president of my country.

I remember 2000 and I remember that the election was stolen.  I remember 2004 and how the election was almost as bad in terms of the voting fraud that went on.  But the bottom line is there were enough Americans who voted for GWB that made it close enough for the election to be stolen in the first place. 

I don’t even have the stomach to call him Mister or president with a captial P so don’t expect it here.

How can you listen to this man speak for more than 15 or even 30 seconds and think “Yea, this is the guy I want to lead my country”.  What is WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.

The only solace I have is the countdown clock on National Nightmare (http://nationalnightmare.com/.  I never thought this would go beyond 2004, but it did.

I check it every day, sometimes twice or three time a day just to give myself an emotional and political boost; to remind myself that it really is true that he is almost gone.

For all of you who voted for Bush, SHAME ON YOU.  If you have changed your mind or feel remorseful about what you did, good for you, but I still blame you for not doing your homework back then.

Don’t make the same mistake.  Do your homework this time, please.  Get on the Internet, read everything you possibly can both for and against all possible candidates and do some real soul searching before you pull a lever.  It is your right and your responsibility.

I need to say one thing about this infamous “surge” that is being touted as a true winning move.  Again, you need to do your homework.  The only thing that has really changed is that the media isn’t reporting all of the violence in Iraq as much as they used to.  The NEXT president is more interesting that the current one and people have become immune to the war.  It is sad that so many have tuned it out and don’t want to hear it anymore.  The only thing that has surged is complacency.

Let the countdown continue.

Why is Whoopi Goldberg so bored on The View?

Have you ever paid attention to Whoopi Goldberg when the panel is interviewing a guest (most celebrities, obviously).  For the most part, she doesn’t say a word to the guest, rarely asks a questions, and if you really pay attention, count how many times she looks either off to the side or out toward the audience with raised eyebrows and a “who is this person” look on her face.  The alternative to that is a scrunched up eyebrow with the same “who is the person” look.  I’ve even seen her look right toward the guest with these same looks.  If she’s not interested, why be on the stage with them.  Is it in her contract that she must appear on stage with these guests.

Now she may use the excuse that she can’t get a word in edgewise, which I can almost understand considering her co-hosts, but as the moderator of the show, she can get a word in if she wants to.  She does it all the time during the “Hot Topics” segments at the beginning of the show.

So is Whoopi just not interested, unimpressed, or bored with the guests?  Only she can answer that.  Now I love Whoopi, but after today, when she was hawking her new line of “bedding” on (oh yea) QVC, if she wants us to be interested in what she’s doing, she could maybe show some interest in what others are doing.  It’s just not all about you Whoopi, and the eye rolls and funny looks are getting tiresome.

Barack Hussein Obama – Cunningham isn’t the first

As ugly as it was, conservative radio talking head Bill Cunningham wasn’t the first to emphasize Barack Obama’s middle name in an attempt to instill fear.  Mike Gallagher, another right wing blow hard, has been doing the same thing for a long time.  I couldn’t tell you which one of them did it first.  Maybe they both got it from the daily RNC talking points memo.

I already wrote about this several days ago in a post I entitled “Conservative Talk Show Host Mike Gallagher thinks YOU are stupid”.  I’m not normally ahead of the curve when it comes to hot topics of the day but I noticed this trend happening a little while back.

Don’t get me wrong.  There is nothing wrong with middle names, I have one, you have one.  Many times there are meaningful translations.  Mine means “king” or “crown”.  But let’s not kid ourselves.  We know what both Cunningham and Gallagher are trying to do.  They want you to associate Barack Obama’s name with terrorism in your brain simply because Saddam’s last name was Hussein.

Gallagher, in my mind, is worse, because he thinks you are so stupid that he had to spell it out for your by saying, and I quote “Nobody with the name Barack Hussein Obama, is ever going to get elected in this country”.  Yes he actually said those exact words on his radio program, check the transcripts.

Or is Cunningham worse by not being honest about what he is really trying to say.  I’m not sure.  They should both remove themselves from any national dialog, including their talk shows, based on the obvious crime of slanderous speech.  Isn’t this really a hate crime?

Hillary Clinton sinks to desperate new lows and it shows

Hillary Clinton is getting desperate.  I was actually feeling a little bit sorry for her and began to write a post today to apologize to my readers for the lack of professionalism in a recent post.  I felt a tinge of guilt because of introducing the post-menopausal hormone issue into her persona.  But I’ve decided not to retract anything.

I did a bit more research before I actually posted that semi-retraction.  There was an article in the New York Times that I will quote here as follows:  The Clinton campaing is now

“unleashing what one Clinton aide called a “kitchen sink” fusillade against Mr. Obama, pursuing five lines of attack since Saturday in hopes of stopping his political momentum.”

Fusillade is a word I had to look up, to be quite honest, and is defined (in the American Heritage Dictionary) as “A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession.

So they basically used a WAR analogy to describe what they were going to do to Barack Obama and is campaign.  And speaking of war, she compared Obama’s lack of foreign policy experience to that of George W. Bush.

But she did authorize Mr. Bush to go to war and use whatever means he felt was necessary.  It was a blanket approval that went unchecked.  The same approval that she gave to her staff to rage an all out WAR against Barack Obama.

So who’s the hypocrite, who’s bends the truth, who is actually a liar?  Hillary Clinton is also engaging in an all out smear campaign against George W. Bush for his war policies and practices, yet she voted to give him that authority and has yet to apologize for it.  Talked about a mixed message. 

I have no idea what to believe anymore.  What is she for, what is she against.  Somethings are OK for some but not others.  She is honored to be with Barack on Friday, but isn’t proud of his abilities on Monday.  The confusion and desperation continues to mount.

The latest attempt today to try and discredit Barack was a photo of him in native Aftrican garb when he was there on a visit.  To me he looked like a sous-chef.  But Clinton is making an attempt at fear mongering, assuming that the American public is too stupid to know what this picture was all about.  She wants us to think that Obama is somehow linked to what, terrorists?  I find it offensive that Clinton thinks so little of the American public.  I said a long time ago that the major difference between Obama and Clinton is that Clinton will do absolutely anything to get elected president.  And I do mean anything.  One new low begats another nad you can smell defeat in the air. 

So Hillary Clinton is hell-bent on pointing out “gaps” in political experience for Obama.  I think she’s doing a very good job of that, I guess.  If her “experience” has led her down this path, the path of underhanded, dirty tricks, treating the voting public like they are stupid, and showing her true colors instead of trying to unite the Democratic party, then yes, she certainly does have a lot more political experience.

Clinton attacks Obama’s foreign policy experience

Clinton referred to Obama as ”inexperienced, impulsive and indecisive — in short, a risk to the nation.”

Although Clinton serves on the Armed Services Committee in the Senate, I don’t believe she ever led our troops into battle, or prevented our troops from entering battle.  In fact, she has essentially done nothing except give George W. Bush the authority to engage in an unjustified, unprovoked war.

She added “(Obama) wavers from seeming to believe that mediation and meetings without preconditions can solve some of the world’s most intractable problems to advocating rash unilateral military action without cooperation among allies in the most sensitive region of the world.”

I don’t have a clue to which “rash unilateral military action” she is referring.  Also, I don’t see a problem at all with Barack Obama wanting to meet with world leaders without what she calls “preconditions”.  What she means is that if she were president. she would not meet with people like Raul Castro, or the President of Iran, or the leader of Hamas unless there was a laundry list of what could be talked about, what couldn’t be talked about, and what are the specific intentions of the meeting.  As if Barack Obama doesn’t understand how other world leaders who are not “on our side”, so to speak, operate.  The whole point of these meetings would be diplomacy and an honest effort to have candid, meaningful conversation.  How would laying out all of the “rules” of speaking to another human being establish open dialog and trust, I’ll never know.

With a half-dozen retired generals standing behind her, Clinton said she was the only candidate who could restore a U.S. foreign policy that had the right combination of diplomacy and military might.  Said Clinton “We’ve seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security”.

OK, is that why she voted to go to war in Iraq and refuses to say that it was simply the wrong thing to do?

Clinton also mocked Obama by implication, suggesting he would need a manual to understand the complexities of foreign diplomacy.

I’m tired of the mocking.  What this country needs is a new approach, a new vision, and a new strategy for developing world peace.  Even though Clinton has said “The same old faces, the same old players, and the same old ways of doing things in Washington doesn’t make someone “experienced”, it makes them stuck in a rut, unable to think outside the box”.  And even though she has said  “We have to change our tone and change our course.”, she has no intention of changing anyting.  Her so-called experience comes from 15 years or so in Washington, playing the Washington game, and doing things the same way Washington does them now.  That’s not what I’m looking for in my next president.

Hillary Clinton has multiple personalities.

“I am proud to be here with Barack Obama”

 ”Shame on you Barack Obama”

“The skies will open up and the celestial choirs will sing….”

Here are three different statements from Hillary in three consecutive days.  Reflective, angry, and sarcastic.  That’s a lot of personality changes.  Maybe there are some  post-menopausal hormones rolling around in there.   Maybe that’s why she wears those pant suits and has just a hint of a mustache.

Really, though, what happens if she were to ever get in the White House (again) but this time as President?  Does she treat her staff this way?  Or, only people for whom she has respect?

Buffenbarger calls Obama supporters “idiots”

I just watched NBC News and saw this idiot, sorry, I saw this guy Tom Barfburger, sorry Buffenbarger, (known as Hillary Clinton’s bulldog) who said the following statement which was, in essence, ABOUT ME:

And I quote:

“Give me a break! I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won’t last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter. “

I could care less if this guy attacks Barack Obama, but he didn’t as much as he attached Obama’s supporters. THAT’S ME.  And maybe that’s you.

Well let me tell you something, you cookie cutter old white guy with a bad haircut and an even worse ego problem; I don’t drink expensive coffee drinks, I’ve only been in a Starbuck’s once, I don’t drive a hybrid, I wear Sketchers and I am so poor I can’t even afford to pay attention.  I lost my job and have been unemployed for almost a year.  I have no more unemployment and after being in the workplace nonstop for over 25 years since graduating high school, I am now one of the invisible poor, forgotten and not even on anyone’s statistics anymore.

So I hate to say it but you can kiss my trust fund.  Never mind, I don’t have a trust fund, you can kiss my ass.  If you think that all of Barack Obama’s supporters fall into some sort of Stepford Wife mold, then there is no wonder that whatever you think you are doing to help Hillary Clinton, isn’t working.  I am strong enough, however, to lift up the rock from under which you crawled so that you can go back there and don’t come out until you have something nice to say.

Obama and Clinton differ on NAFTA and Health Care

If you compare Obama and Clinton on issues, it is true that they have the same basic platform, beliefs, and commitment.  I’m not one to go along with generally accepted truths blindly, but in this case, I do believe that Obama and Clinton really only differ on Free Trade and Health Care.

As for free trade, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) came into being when Bush One was in power.  I believe that Bill Clinton made some adjustments to it to try and make it better, but in reality he also used it as one of his first attempts in his Presidency to get some form of agreement from both sides of the aisle. 

Now, while Hillary supported NAFTA at the time, she has since said, “I have been critical of NAFTA for years.  I have said repeatedly that it did not realize its potential or its promises and we had to change it.”  I’m not sure what this really means.  It is a passive-aggressive statement, using the word “it” as if to separate herself from a distant idea.  So, she knew NAFTA wasn’t working, or wouldn’t work but she supported it then, but not now.  I’m so confused.  But one thing stands out for me.  It seems that Bill and Hillary didn’t think the whole NAFTA thing out too clearly.  Bill Clinton still defends NAFTA but says that if it is not considered successful, it is because the rules weren’t enforced, not because NAFTA was a bad deal.   The bottom line for me is that since NAFTA went into effect in January 1994, there has been major fighting between the countries involved (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), the unions involved, the industries involved, and the governments involved.  No matter how you slice it, NAFTA is controversial and has never been proved to be beneficial to anyone except big business in America who got richer off the deal.  I’m not too keen on a world leader who takes the approach of “let’s send it up the flagpole and see if it flies”.  This was not typical of Bill Clinton so I’m not sure what really happened back then.  As President, you need to be a lot more insightful than that.  You can’t just “try it” and see if it works.  You owe it to the American people to think about it, listen to your advisers, listen to the citizens of this country, and listen to your gut.  If you truly believe you are doing the right thing, then do it, and own it, successful or not.

As for health care, Hillary Clinton’s plan is similar to the plan in existence right now in Massachusetts.  Essentially, health care is MANDATORY, meaning you must get insurance.  My sister and her family live in Massachusetts and they have told me that this mandate is a financial hardship for them.  They are scraping by now and have the additional burden of figuring out how to pay for this mandatory insurance. 

So, if you can afford it, too bad, Clinton’s plan is that you must have health care.  In many circumstances, the problem is not “getting” health care but “affording” health care.  I don’t see the point in mandating that the citizens of America get health care if the money is coming out of their own pockets regardless of whether or not they will be able to feed their families after paying for health care.  Something just doesn’t make sense.  Hillary Clinton has said, in rebuttal, that she plans to provide tax credits to help defray the cost of health insurance.  As an average American, do you understand how a tax credit is going to help you afford to go to the doctor TODAY because you are sick but don’t have the money to pay the doctor?  Clinton also plans on enforcing, in some manner, her mandatory health insurance plan.  She has talked about “garinishing wages” or some other “enforcement mechanisms”.  What does that really mean.  I’ll be penalized by my government if I can’t afford to buy health care by them taking money forcefully from me?

I believe that Mrs. Clinton misrepresents the facts when she says that her plan is superior to Obama’s because he plan “covers everyone” and his does not.  Barack Obama’s plan is based on the fact that Americans don’t have insurance because they simply can’t afford it.  Many Americans get insurance through their employer, some who CAN afford it, buy it privately, and others may get it by being a member of an association (for example, the Small Business Association) where they can get more affordable insurance because they can be part of a group plan.  With this in mind, Obama is saying that for everyone else who WANTS insurance, he would like to make affordable insurance available (in an insurance plan similar to the one members of Congress enjoy today).  He does not plan to enforce mandatory insurance on anyone but rather offer affordable alternatives so that people who WANT insurance have affordable options.  His only talk of enforcement comes from his belief that children should have insurance and since children can’t speak for themselves, and are our most vulnerable citizens, he may come up with some plan to enforce parents to provide insurance for their children.  Most importantly, Barack Obama has said that his first priority is to bring costs down.  That’s a good priority to have when compared to enforcing health insurance for everyone.  We all know that health insurance companies are second only to oil companies in terms of monumental, undeserved profits.

I am not saying that what I have written is the absolute final word on this.  I have written this based on the research I have done and my interpretation of it.  There are so many misconceptions based on the words that the candidates use and how they are interpreted by the media and the public.  I think it is the responsibility of each of us to do our homework and make our own decisions.  This is just my humble opinion.

Thanks for stopping by.