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.