This morning, February 25, 2007 Hillary Clinton once again viciously attacked Obama, not on the grounds of his political campaign but with a picture of his doing what most polite Americans would do in a foreign country. Can you imagine, Obama had the nerve to dress in native dress for what appeared to be a ceremony of some type. My family has ventured into Africa for safaris and they were also privileged to be offered the opportunity to participate in some native festivities. It was little different than when we have visited Hawaii and chose to dress in mumus and leis. If this isn’t desperation on the part of the Clinton campaign then I can’t fathom her reasoning for allowing such a negative look at herself as a petty, vindictive woman who will do anything to win.

Along these same lines Bay Buchanan,  younger sister of Pat Buchanan and former treasurer of the United States, has written a well-researched and documented book entitled the Extreme Makeover. This book exposes Hillary as the cynical ruthless person that she is and exposes her downright devious plan to deceive American voters.

In her book, Buchanan has uncovered the truths behind the real, actress set aside, Hillary Clinton. Yes, actress, remember the tears before the Iowa Caucus when she claimed to be so misunderstood.  It would be ludicrous to believe that the American public is so naïve or focused on getting a woman president that they can overlook the truth and how Hillary’s strategists have juggled it to show her in a positive light.

Of course, Hillary’s dream team is the largest ever to be used in an American election but after all their work is cut out for them if they hope to present a kinder, more thoughtful, person of faith who believes in Mid West values but is tough enough to be our commander-in-chief.

However, with her long-time anti-war stance, the facts say that Hillary Clinton is one of the worst candidates to defend America against terrorism or any other attack. This is just one of the facts that Bay Buchanan supports in her book and after having read it I can promise you that you will be aghast at the underhandedness that the Clintons will sink to as they once again reach for the country’s top-level office. This story of high stakes intrigue will appall even the most ardent Democrat.

Buchanan’s book exposes Clinton as being totally devoid of character and lacking in any monumental aspect of leadership. She documents these facts with a complete look at Hillary’s Clinton’s senate voting record revealing the senator’s total unfamiliarity with responsibility for the measures she promotes as well, as exposing her as a prolific and stunning liar, much like her husband who was nearly impeached from office just a decade ago.

To support her claims the author traces the integral scandals attached to Ms. Clinton and finds that the damage could have been mitigated in practically all situations had Ms Clinton just acknowledged the truth at the outset. Some of the scandals covered included a venture in cattle futures, the Whitewater fiasco, Travelgate, her collection of FBI records on “perceived enemies, and the White House looting scheme of 2001. Sound interesting then please before you cast a vote for Hillary Clinton, please take the time to explore her record for yourself and if you have time read Buchanan’s  Extreme Makeover. If nothing else it will show you that the picking apart she is doing of Obama is nothing short of her attempting to deal with her own inadequacy to deal with the real issues and to formulate a strategy to work towards repairing the damage that this country has suffered under the absurd presidency of the current  self-righteous, delusional commander-in–chief.

Tags: hillary clinton, obama, barauk obama, commander-in-chief, bay buchanan, extreme makeover, presidential campaign, whitewater, travelgate, white house looting scheme 2001, cattle futures, democrat, pat buchanan, united states treasurer, non-fiction, expose

I was quite disturbed to hear Hillary Clinton’s latest attack on the Obama campaign. So far we have suffered through rumors of Obama’s Muslim ties, which were supposedly destined to throw the country back into the Dark Ages, charges of plagarism because he repeated what someone else once said, and now an attack against Ms. Obama.

What’s up with the Clintons? They are not going to lose this campaign through negative campaigning by the Obama team but rather by their own short sightedness. Look at their feeble attempt to draw in the Hawaii voters. I was personally appalled by Chelsea’s cold “don’t touch me — don’t you know who I am?” attitude when being welcomed by the Hawaiian people. It has always been my experience that the Hawaiian people are a warm, loving and affectionate people who deserve our respect and appreciation for the beautiful country that they willingly share with us.

Then I listened to Hillary trying to garner the Latino vote in Texas and couldn’t help but pick up on her condescending attitude. She actually made a big deal out of the fact that she lived in San Antonio for three months and learned to like Mexican food. What was ever wrong with Mexican food? It has always been one of the best choices around. Why anyone can’t see through her chameleon-like changes is beyond me.

That brings me back to her mud-slinging at the Obamas. How many of you in your hearts, when you are being totally honest with yourselves, can say that you have been as proud to be an American in the last seven years as you were during the Reagan era? I can’t. I have felt that Bush is an embarrassment to the country and his policies have destroyed our standing in the global economy. The Arabs no longer need America’s good will and even the offer to sell them weapons did nothing to stop them from slowing the production of oil. China is now taking our place as a world-provider of almost everything and they are preparing to raise prices so that they can increase the quality of life for their people. The European Community cannot understand America’s position on global environmental issues and those of us in America are appalled by the huge increase in the national debt. This is especially frustrating when we are also faced with increased costs in heating our homes, driving our cars, and putting food on our tables.

America seems to have become a land that is rapidly dividing into a place where the rich get richer off the backs of the middle and lower classes and the poor get poorer. Even health care is beyond the reach of many American with no relief in sight. The price of prescription drugs alone keeps many seniors without the ability to buy sufficient food to eat. With education being another target of the government bigwigs it appears that the future is not much brighter for our children — if anything a parent cannot help but wonder what future our children have.

As for Ms. Obama, I believe that she is just voicing this same frustration. She knows what being poor is like and worked hard to rise above it. She is also younger and since the last twenty years of the Bush/Clinton White House has been embarrassing what was there for her to be proud of. Remember Bill Clinton, the almost impeached president, who couldn’t keep his pants zipped up? Remember Bush senior’s “Read my lips, no new taxes” only to get hit with a war and increased taxes? Now we have Bush junior who has dug a hole that will be difficult for anyone to dig us out of. So yes, I understand where Ms. Obama is coming from and I am also sure that her comment was taken out of context by the Clinton camp.

Be prepared, Clinton is looking for anything from stating that Obama is all about the campaign, in other words, all talk to being determined to garner superdelegate votes despite the popular vote. I would think that the public is speaking loudly when Obama has won the last 10 caucuses/primaries. It would be so nice if the Democratic Party would wake up and give us a candidate that stands a chance against the Republicans that none of us wants to see in office.

I was appalled to read the description behind the new CBS series Dexter, which revolves around a serial killer named Dexter. Of course this serial killer is made to look like a national hero since he only kills those members of society that he deems less than human due to their crimes.

I watched the first episode just out of curiosity to see how in the world CBS was going to try to make this go. It was terribly frightening to think that our society has come to a point where a broadcast station would believe that it was appropriate to turn a serial vigilante killer into a series hero.

Especially in this era of increased discontent with the judicial system, how can a responsible media person encourage anyone to act in a vigilante manner? Of course, their defense is that it is meant for entertainment purposes only but given that so many unbalanced persons out there may take it as an approval for serial killing I find it totally irresponsible.

Let’s try and get back to reality folks, life is dangerous. We don’t need vigilantes encouraged to go out and kill those that they view as evil. Once that mindset gets instilled it is only a short jump to killing those who offend you or look different and then you don’t have vigilantism but just serial murderers running loose. CBS you should be ashamed of yourself for your irresponsible programming choices. After all, it is bad enough that we are inundated with vampires, werewolves, and reality shows. Can’t you just come out with some intelligent dramas that sustain a need for honesty, decency, and caring for your fellow man?

The current beef recall is just another in a series of recalls that should make the consumer concerned about the safety of the foods that they are buying. Just this last October, 2007, Topps Meat Co. had a massive frozen hamburger recall after 25 people were sickened by the meat in eight states. In all this recall of meat that was on the market for human consumption resulted in 21.7 million lbs of ground beef being recalled. Just think how many people did or could have consumed this contaminated meat and how many may have been seriously sickened or died as a result of the meat industries focus on profit rather than on the good of the consumer.

The worst part of it all is that the product in the above recall was contaminated with e-coli. In e-colis worst form children are especially vulnerable to die in a slow and painful manner. This is especially frightening when one considers that this was enough meat to feed a McDonald’s regular hamburger to every adult in the United States and since children love the smaller hamburgers each of us was subjected to the possibility of losing someone we love when we purchased one for ourselves or our children. No wonder I have avoided ground beef as much as possible for the last several years.

Next one must wonder how long it took to notify the public of the supposed danger. According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, which oversees the industry, the meat in question was presented to the public in late June or July of 2007 and the E.coli began making people sick in August. However, it took an additional six weeks for the first recall to be issued. So, between the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Dept of Agriculture, both of whom are charged with keeping our food supply safe, I must wonder if any of us is really safe.

Voices from all over the nation, including the Consumers Union are decrying the delay that began with a small recall only to be expanded by 600 times within a matter of days. One victim was Samantha Safranek, a fifteen year old, who nearly lost her life over eating one tainted burger. However, our fears cannot rest solely around tainted meats but appear to also encompass items like spinach and salad mixes. Could these outbreaks be intentional forms of terrorism? That is unlikely. It is more probable that the contamination is the result of poor standards and cost cutting measures being employed by food manufacturers throughout the U.S. and poor oversight by those agencies charged with protecting the consumer.

As if this recall wasn’t sufficient to wake up the food industry it is only four months later and we find ourselves facing yet another recall. This time from Chino-based Westland/ Hallmark meats based in Southern California. This recall is the largest ever to hit the United States and a scramble is on to try to make sure that none of the tainted meat hits children’s lunchboxes. However, it is thought that the majority of the 143 million lbs of beef targeted in this latest recall has most likely already been consumed.

What is causing this repeated contamination of our meat supply? It appears that animal rights activists have taken objection to the terrible animal abuse taking place at the slaughter houses. Yes, we all know that the animals must be sacrificed to provide food for the consumer but most of us thought that at least their deaths were humanely done. Apparently, this is not the case in this latest round of recalls where it appears that the animals were so sick that they could not even stand up. When that occurred the worked stabbed the animals in their eyes and used fork lifts and dragging chains to force the animals into the slaughter pens. Frightenly, the investigation further revealed that the company did not routinely contact a veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory, after passing inspection, violating health regulations resulting in all of the meat processed being deemed unfit for human consumption.

To fight back Americans need to call for testing of every lot of meat that is produced to ensure its safety for consumption, something which is not required today. Let’s band together to force the public entities entrusted with the safety of our food supply to comply with federal regulations and punish them severely for accepting graft and/or failing to do their job. I for one feel that the safety of my family should take precedence over the profits of the company producing the food supply.

Tags: federal food and drug administration, fda, u.s. department of agriculture, beef recall, topps meat company, westland/hallmark meats, animal abuse, slaughter houses, food safety, food supply, e-coli

Thankfully, we are seeing momentum build in Barack Obama’s campaign with a parade of victories that have given him the upper edge. This is partially due to Hilary Clinton’s arrogant attitude that only the states with the most delegates at stake matter to her campaign. However, what it says to the rest of us is that her intention is to represent only those states and to heck with the rest of us.

While Ms Clinton appears to feel that all she needs are the delegates and to heck with the voters it is not surprising that Obama’s charisma has sliced across the nation forging a new electorate that crosses across party, gender, economic and ethnic lines. However, it is frightening to think that despite the fact that Obama could continue to win state after state the Democratic Party could still force Senator Clinton on us as the Democratic candidate come November.

How could this happen? Easily. If Obama cannot win all of the remaining states by a margin of 60% or better it will result in neither Clinton nor him having enough delegates to secure the nomination. In this event the party uses what they term Super Delegates. These delegates are rich, powerful men within the party with built-in agendas of their own. Example: Bill Clinton is a Super Delegate. Who do you think he is going to support? These super delegate’s votes basically wipe out all of the other delegates votes meaning that they get to put up whoever they choose despite the choice of the nation.

To me this is unacceptable. I believe that given the fact that Mr. Obama has went undefeated in states across the country, in many cases by big margins over Hillary Clinton, it time that the Democratic party coalesce around his candidacy since it appears that Democratic voters have broken in favor of him.

Another element in favor of Obama is that he is the candidate most likely to be acceptable to Republican voters whose apathy towards the Republican candidates was obvious with the poor turnout of GOP voters in the Potomac primaries. These voters who detest Senator Clinton actually found her an asset to their bid for the 2008 presidency but given facing Obama they find themselves split knowing that he actually has something fresh and new to offer the country during these troubling times. Something no one expects from Lobbyists and Big Company owned Clinton. After all how does one really expect her presidency to be any different than her almost impeached husband’s presidency given that they owe the same people for helping them get into office?

The question then becomes why wouldn’t the Democratic Party back Barack Obama? Why wouldn’t the super delegates choose to vote for the good of the country and to basically secure their win of the White House come November? One can only assume that the Clinton’s have found a way to buy off, through promises of power, these same delegates. Scary? You bet, but the only way Senator Clinton can feel so confident about ignoring so much of the electorate is to assume that she is in control of these super delegates.

What can you do to prevent Senator Clinton from stealing the Democratic nomination? If  you haven’t already voted make sure that you get out to vote. Don’t allow apathy or Obama’s current lead to give you a false sense of security. If you have already voted consider donating to his campaign. He does need your support since being a man for the people he is not accepting any bribes from lobbyists or big companies.

However, if you do not agree with my support of this candidate, at least let your voice be heard and make sure to vote come the November 2008 election.

Tags: barack obama, hillary clinton, super delegates, november election, 2008 presidential election, delegates, candidates, democratic nomination, john mccain, republican, democrat

I don’t know about you, but I get tons of junk mail every day offering everything from phone service to credit cards at discounted rates only to find out that, if accepted, there are all kinds of hidden fees attached if the whole advertisement wasn’t just a lie. I had this confirmed once again when I called Capital One to take advantage of a no interest transfer from one of my other credit cards. Capital One promised no transfer fees and 0% interest on transferred loans through 2009. Since the card I had faithfully been using and paying off monthly had a 23% interest rate (a United Airlines Miles Credit Card used for business), I took the opportunity seriously since I would still get free travel miles. However, as soon as I got my first statement, I realized that its promises and, yes, its representatives had deceived me. I called and read them the confirmation letter with the promises and still I was charged 22% interest on the transfer. In addition, the supervisor I talked to was rude and unhelpful, so my response is that Capital One has no integrity — so it would be wise to ignore its constant junk mail.

Given my experience, I was motivated to pick up Bob Sullivan’s new book, Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day. In the book, he reaffirms my above statements that it’s a hidden-fee jungle out there and he clearly shows how we are all being taken advantage of through wanton consumer fraud. After reading his book I was furious but much better prepared to protect myself from being nickel and dimed to death. If you take the time to read this book cover to cover, like I did, you will discover that the average citizen pays an average of $1,000 or more a year in hidden fees through Internet scams and downright consumer fraud. This may seem ample reason for most of us to protest, but when you consider that this adds up to more than $216 billion dollars a year for corporate America, you have to be enraged. Another example of this is gas prices. I don’t how many of you are sick of never knowing what to expect at the gas station but when one considers that companies such as Exxon made their largest profits ever, I burn a slow burn. How can they be making such huge profits if they are simply passing on the increase in their costs on to the consumer?

Another recent scam that the author points out comes from third-party companies who offer ring tones and services such as “premium” text messages that can increase the cost of a text note from 15 cents to $2 each.

How do these companies get away with these hidden fees? Sullivan tells us that it is because the laws governing false advertising are seldom enforced and most have actually faded away since 1980.

So beware out there, folks. Look at fees tied to cell phone service, credit cards, and satellite TV. Look for sneaky “upgrade fees” and “premium text messages” or for charges attached to the purchase of a new phone. These charges may not show up on your first bill so look for them appear up to two months after the purchase, making it easy to overlook. One this Mr. Sullivan points out in his book is that consumers can secure a refund by complaining and pointing out the fee was not disclosed at the store.

The only negative I found in the book was the lack of an index to make the information easy to locate once you have read it. Other than that, Sullivan’s breezy no-nonsense style made the reading quick and enjoyable.

So, if you have found yourself a victim of consumer fraud due to hidden costs and fees, it is definitely worth the cost of Sullivan’s book to discover how to fight the system and recover your losses.

According to former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner, the writer’s strike which has saddled the public with an endless, mind-boggling array of reality shows and mindless reruns for the last three months ended on 2/8/2008 at 12:43 PM. However, the public learned a lot due to the strike. They learned that there were unlikely heroes out there that included the likes of late-night TV hosts David Letterman, who made his own deal with the writer’s guild and Jay Leno, who angered the guild by writing his own jokes and gag routines revolving around the presidential primaries.

Then of course those Americans who couldn’t stand watching another rerun turned to CNN where they learned that there is no end to debauchery or guile as they were informed about the killings of innocent victims from people who supposedly loved them, killings through war or death by weather. In addition, most of us were also privy endless campaign speeches and debates by both Democratic and Republican candidates and will be in an unprecedented position to vote for a candidate in November. However, I personally found that the majority of the speeches contained the same old rhetoric that we have heard over and over in the past only to discover that all the campaign promises held about as much hope of healing a sick country as an empty glass held out to someone dying of thirst.

Now, however, with the Hollywood writer’s strike finally coming to an end we can all rejoice that the writer’s have received a concession by the guild that will entitle them to endless royalties for the work that they have previously done. I don’t know about you, but I sure wish I could receive royalties every month for the countless hours I have spent teaching others computer skills, playing chauffeur to young people, or keeping account records. Somehow, one group of people getting paid over and over again for work that has already been rewarded doesn’t sit quite right with me.

Then, too, even if royalties are acceptable did you realize that the strike extended beyond the traditional form and was targeted at the writers receiving royalties for Internet broadcasts of old scripts? I didn’t but hopefully this will end the standoff but be prepared that this deal still has to be ratified by the union’s 10,500 members before the strikes can officially come to an end.

With the announcement, Eisner on CNBC’s “Fast Money” made it clear that the writers would accept the deal stating that “A deal has been made, and they’ll be back to work very soon.”

I am endorsing Senator Barack Obama because I believe his presidency has the best chance of restoring our nation to the greatness that many of us feel George W’s Administration had destroyed forever. Given that I must admit that never before have I contributed to a campaign for any political office but with Obama I have made an exception due to my firm belief that he is what this country needs. My donation was made for one major reason and that is Obama’s refusal to accept any funds from lobbyists and other special interest groups. The only donations he is accepting are from citizens like you and me. To me that said a lot when one only has to look at all the millions the other candidates have accepted from these sources so while my donation was minimal it was a big step for me towards showing my belief in Obama’s candidacy.

With Obama I believe that there is a chance, though be it slight, of returning the power to the people by restoring our infrastructure, returning jobs from overseas to our shores by denying tax benefits to those companies who chose to use overseas workers, and tending to the needs of our average citizens. This I believe can only be accomplished when the rich and powerful in Washington are shown that they are no longer at liberty to vote themselves tax benefits that continue to erode the living capacity of the middle and lower classes and when CEO’s of big corporations are forced to forfeit the illegal profits they garner when their companies implode.

I need a President who understands that we cannot wait.  I want a leader who willingly stands in the gap understanding the urgency of our current domestic and international crisis even if it is inconvenient to do so. This does not mean that I agree with him on every issue because I don’t but I do know that once committed to a stance Obama doesn’t stagger. This is seen on his stand regarding the issue of pro choice. While for myself abortion would have never been an option I would have considered I do believe that like everything in life individuals have to make decisions that they can live with and that those choices are between themselves and their God. Obama also understands that. He feels for the poor woman who already has four children that she is struggling to support and the teenager who got carried away with emotion knowing that these women are being faced with difficult choices. I also believe that given the choice himself, he would most likely choose life.

I say this because while a senator from Illinois Obama was faced with several extreme anti-choice measures designed to paint pro-choice legislators into a corner. In these situations Illinois allows a senator to vote “present”. These votes are counted in the official roll call of the bill, and they DO affect the outcome. For all intents and purposes, they are a vote against the bill. In these cases Obama stood with his colleagues and voted “present” to protest the politicization of the health and safety of Illinois women. Again something he believed to be women’s best interests.

However, Senator Obama’s healthcare plan is not only about reproductive choice. His plan instead would ensure healthcare coverage for all Americans by making it more affordable. Healthcare should not be a privilege for only a few Americans, it should be a privilege for all Americans. It is time that we honor our commitment to the young, the old, the silent who have not had a voice to ask for what is their right as a fellow human being. With Senator Obama’s plan, we will finally have an opportunity to honor that responsibility.

Regarding the Iraq War, Senator Obama was one out a few that had the insight, judgment and courage to speak out after 9/11 against invading Iraq. This brave act cannot be minimized or negated. Everyday we as Americans live with the tragic consequences of the decisions made by others who did not stand up for what was the truth.

In addition, Obama has the charisma, like Kennedy and Reagan before him, to galvanize the people to force these changes on the tenured senators and Congress Representatives knowing that if they do not work with him the people will not hesitate to oust them come the next election. So, while others talk about greatness, may even utter the right words, only Obama brings those words to life in a manner that can pull us along together.

Thanks to Obama, many like me, who had basically given up the hope that politics would ever again hold ideals of equality, dignity, and justice instead of being corrupted by the political hunger for money, power and prestige are reengaging. Others who had grown tolerant of the intolerable are now ready to demand more ­ and not just from themselves but others. If you want more of George W. Bush go ahead and vote for Hillary, John, Mitt, or Mike but if what your heart is crying out for is change you only have one decent choice and that is Barack Obama for president.

Tags: obama, barack, barack obama, clinton, hilary, george w. bush, john mccain, mitt romney, mike hucklebee, health care, grassroots, donations, lobbyists, special interests, abortion, anti-choice, pro-choice, illinois senator, washington, kennedy, reagan, iraq war

Sadly, if you live in southwest Missouri it was inevitable to hear racist remarks regarding the ability of Barack Obama to lead this nation but fortunately there are enough open-minded, intelligent people that listened to Obama’s message and helped him gain the majority of the state’s popular vote. To me, the opportunity that Obama offers to change the good boy policy of Washington politics is long past due and his statement that “I’m asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington — I’m asking you to believe yours” is strongly reminiscent of JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather ask what you can do for your country.”

Like Reagan, Obama appears to have the charisma needed to restore our faith in ourselves and in our country something that the other candidates seem to be sadly lacking in. Admittedly, my opinion has changed over the last several months since I first threw my support to John Edwards and then Ron Paul.

Now, however, having carefully listened to and reviewed Obama’s stand on the issues I can’t help but believe that he is what our country needs. First and foremost he promises change in Washington and I can’t believe that, unless you are a part of the rich and powerful families, that have unsuccessfully ruled this country for generations, you are not ready for this change. Secondly, and equally important is the fact that Obama has raised his money through grass roots donations, often of just $10 or $20 at a time. He has not sold himself to special lobbyists, nor is he owned by corporate America.

One thing that must be noted are the lies that are constantly being spread among the church people that Obama is Muslim, funded by Al Qaeda, and set on taking over America from within and returning us to the dark ages. First of all, his religious beliefs should not even enter into his bid for office but even if they did he adamantly denies that he is Muslim stating instead that he has actively worshipped Jesus for the last 20 years. Even though his father was a Muslim who I am sure wanted his son to follow in his footsteps this is not hard for me to believe since I was raised in a non-religious background during my earliest years, educated in a parochial school, and then raised in an assortment of churches during my teen years. Today, I have made my choice to be open-minded to all religions though I choose to affiliate myself with the Methodist denomination.

If I can do that why can’t Obama? Then, Obama has to deal with the racist remarks, even on the news stations, about him being black. Who cares? I certainly don’t. I just want to know that the man is capable of getting us out of the mess that Bush has gotten us into. We need our troops sanely withdrawn from Iraq. We don’t need to go to war against any other country. We need our infrastructure fixed. We need our economy fixed. We need jobs returned to America. We need affordable healthcare and affordable energy. We need our schools restored to a place where all children are offered a safe and affordable opportunity to be all they can be so that they can be competitive in a global economy.

Can Obama accomplish all of this? I don’t know. All I know is that if anyone can, I believe he can especially if pressure is put on the tenured senators and House representatives that would force them to work with him.

To reiterate, Barack Obama is funded entirely funded by grassroots supporters and unlike Clinton he does not accept money from special interest groups and Washington lobbyists. Therefore, Obama owes nothing to the health care insurance industry, to the oil industry, or to the weapons industry. This means that his only obligation is to the American people and doing what is best for America.

Like me, there are many citizens out there who believe in Obama which was obvious with his wins in thirteen of the 22 states in Super Tuesday’s primaries with some of his wins coming from such unlikely states as Alabama, Utah, and Missouri. There is no way that Clinton can claim that his win in these states were the result of purely black vote since I am white and many of those in Missouri that I know who voted for him are also white.

Given this win and his strong showing in the other states I think that Obama has shown that he can win the support of Americans of every race, gender, and political persuasion in every region of the country. With that in mind one must give him serious consideration as the one Democratic candidate who actually has a chance to defeat John McCain in November.

It did not take someone of genius intelligence to figure out that the war economy was devastating our economic future. One only had to realize that the billions of dollars being spent on the war effort and the national attention that it was diverting from domestic issues was bound to jeopardize national security on a note closer to home than Iraq.

Unfortunately, our esteemed leaders, mainly our blind president, refused to see the possibility of disaster until now when it could be too late to avoid a tragic depression that will make the 1929 collapse of the stock market look like a mild hiccup in the grand scheme of things. That makes me wonder how someone with an average intelligence could tell we were in trouble as soon as the national debt escalated to the trillion dollar mark while our commander in chief and his minions kept reiterating the fact that the economy was basically sound and a recession could be avoided.

I believe that their blind sightedness to the economic issues is at least in part due to their ridiculous foreign policies that have made them one of the piranhas of the modern world. Or was it that they were to weak to admit the failure of their economic policies? Well, let’s face it folks the recession is here and isn’t likely to go anywhere any time soon.

As a result of these failed policies millions will soon lose their jobs (yes, even some of you reading this article who thought your jobs were a sure thing due to longevity or whatever) as our economy is attacked by everything from high energy costs, inflation, the subprime mortgage crisis, a plummeting stock market, weak retail sales, and the decline in the housing and manufacturing markets. While we have faced and survived similar economics downturns over the years this one is sure to be one of the worst and may take years not months to recover from. Of course, Old George wants to make us think that the next president can fix his errors in a few short months but the grave he has dug us into is going to take more than a few shovels of good fortune to fix.

To be fair, however, the failure lies with all the members of both parties in Washington who have been more concerned about fighting wars, getting reelected and catering to special interest groups than in performing their best for the citizenry that elected them. It is a sad day indeed when the country stands on the precipice of a national election and the populace is faced on voting once again for the lesser of the evils that are being offered up for nomination.

Today I voted, not for who I thought would make the best presidential choice or who could actually change the downward spiral America is on but on who might do the least damage in the future. After twenty years of a Bush/Clinton White House and legislatures who have been bought by lobbyists long before they take office isn’t it time for change. I am not talking about anarchy or violent change but a change in the electoral practices that only allow rich, powerful men who have their own agendas to have the opportunity to run for national offices. It is time to give an independent without any strings attached to him by bigwig CEOs or lobbyists a chance to truly turn this country back to the roots that our Founding Fathers sacrificed their lives to give us. Remember apathy is always a precursor to destruction and Americans now seek dependence on the government by asking for more and more handouts from the treasury coffers which make us ever and ever more susceptible to dictator control. Just think about after 9/11 when Bush made maumau sounds about extending the two term limit for president and the devastation his actions that amounted to little more than those of a dictator caused. 

 So remember, the economy is in the hands of the American people. All that has happened has occurred under George W. Bush’s watch and he cannot simply wipe away his responsibility when another owned politician takes over his office. Like so many of America’s problems, this cold have been avoided or the impact blunted if both parties and Bush had not been asleep at the wheel and so determined to keep the warmongering spirit of revenge alive. Who do you vote for? I don’t have an answer but you must vote if you realize that this country is in trouble and you want real change.

Tags: united states economy, economy, economic collapse, bush administration, iraq war, clinton, 9/11, lobbyists, special interest groups, retail markets, housing decline, stock market plummet, subprime mortgage crisis, energy costs, depression, national debt, foreign policy, national security