Round 1 : KNOCKOUT

The 1st presidential debate occurred tonight and it was both wonderful and terrible. Wonderful because Kerry did a masterful job explaining his positions plans and vision for America. Bush on the other hand seemed at times confused, incoherent and totally out of his element. It was terrible to see a sitting U.S. President unable to give a clear concise answer on many questions throughout the night. He stumbled and at times seemed to be unsure of what to say. It is no secret that I support Kerry and I feel that he is the only hope the world has to return to a sense of rational thinking that has been lacking since Bush took office. That being said I believe that Kerry outlined a plan for our future while Bush said we must be strong with little detail on future plans. Although since the entire world has seen the President's previous plans (since we all have to live with them) any new plans would be met with a heavy dose of skepticism. My basic feeling about the president's performance is this: He seemed to be a broken record stuck on a scratch repeating the same thing over and over. His arrogance shone through with statements saying he doesn't think he is going to lose the election (even though this was the answer to a question no one asked.) He kept referring to Kerry giving mixed messages while he employed the strategy of giving no message at all.
Are we going to win a war with a repetitve message of never waivering or an actual plan?
Kerry seemingly spent his time during Bush's responses writing or organizing what he was going to say next or a point he wanted to bring up. While Bush spent his time looking much like a petulant child. It is embarrassing that the leader of the most powerful country in the world stumble and repeat campaign slogans instead of actively defending his policies and rational to the country. He seemed to want to continue his baseless attacks on Kerry and the tired portrayal of himself as being a strong leader.

There are some things that I wished Kerry has said:
1. When Bush said Kerry looked at the same intelligence as he I wished Kerry would have said I believed in my President but my faith was misplaced.
2.When Bush said "Saddam had no intention of disarming" I wished Kerry said Saddam didn't have anything to disarm.

Kerry said "Truth is what good policy is based on"
I believe this President has the ultimate responsibility to make sure that war is the last resort and that the intelligence given to America is sound and truthful and not wishful thinking for what he wants it to be instead of what it is.

Maybe people don't like Kerry because instead of painting unrealistic pictures colored with words of optimism he tells America what it needs to here. The hard ugly truth. People need to understand the hard reality of our current situation and realize that blind optimism is only going to dig a bigger hole for all of us. The
GI Joe approach to diplomacy was fine when we had more missiles than anyone else but now with more countries becoming nuclear powers it is a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Can the America afford to have a President that resorts to strong arm techniques first instead of using diplomacy first so that we all live in peace? I forgot, our president likes us being in a constant state of fear. But don't we deserve better?

In his closing statement Kerry said" the future belongs to freedon not to fear"
It is a choice all Americans will have to make on November 2.
Personally I'm choosing freedom.

My Solution for Iraq

This may be a little simplistic but I believe I have a way to get Iraq back on it's feet. First we elect Kerry. Then he goes to Iraq and tell the people that it is going to be a new day but they are going to have to work together. Then next thing is to remove all U.S. government contractors and bring in U N peacekeepers. The next thing that needs to be done after basic water and power are running (using Iraqi labor) is to do a census. A census would give an accurate picture of the country. It would show where schools and hospitals and roads should be built. A complete census would also show how to district the country so that fair elections would be possible. Then you could create a government that would accuratly represent the population. You would have localized elections that would increase in size until you reached the top. Even though I hate that we would impose our view of demcracy on Iraq since they have to start from scratch it is the only way to be fair. The representational system would have to be weighted so that one party does not control the entire country. The census would also report the education and previous careers of the Iraqi people. So that the proper people are doing the jobs in which they are trained. After you know what the people are trained for then those people can be reunited in their proper careers. The money from Iraqi oil would be used to fund education, health care, security, water, sewage and basic necessities. Once the infrastructure is created then business can be created and any enterprising Iraq could use the census information to create businesses that serve any given need. The UN could over see the census and the creation of the government elections. Just as long as the body overseeing the reconstruction has no financial ties to Iraq. America would provide any equipment, food medicine and any humanitarian aid that was needed until Iraq is able to stand on their feet. Just a thought.

In Defense Of John Kerry

While I was watching a rerun of Real Time with Bill Maher I was struck by a thought. This week included a panel of people who will vote for him in November and who realize what a disaster George Bush is for this country. And I watched these people say that John Kerry has been feminized by the republican party. He has not . It is just an image projected by the people in power and their corporate friends who control our media.

George Bush has engaged our country in a war for profit. People are dying so that the rich people of the current administration can engage in war profiteering and make even more money. But are Kerry supporters on tv telling Americans what our administration is really doing?

No.

They are saying what wrong with Kerry. And by repeating the same lies they reinforce them. Why is it that the fact that John Kerry refuses to swim in the sludge that is Bush, Cheney and Rove seen as a weakness. People in America are so accustomed to politicians being crooked that when we actually have a candidate that is honest like Kerry and Gore before him we have to denegrate them by calling them weak. Laura Bush does nothing with her life and she is portrayed as a feminine ideal while Teresa Heinz Kerry spends her life fighting for injustice and giving away money to needy people and she is protrayed as an opinionated banshee. How dare she use her mind? It is so illogical. Bush and his cronies have killed thousands of innocent people. But is he protrayed as evil? No he gets to be strong. Bush avoided service in the military but he's strong. Kerry VOLUNTEERED to Go to Vietnam came back and then with courage spoke out against the atrocities that occured and for that great service to our nation he gets to be called weak. It is sad that our country has denegrated to the point where people who lie, steal and make false attacks are lauded.

We need to people like John Kerry to remind our country that we don't have to resort to name calling to have a debate. I myself have written to Kerry on several occasions to ask him to speak plainer and stop with the nuance because our uneducated populace doesn't seem to understand. But I will never ask him to lie down with dogs just to satisfy the whims of some people. If he did that wouldn't he become what people think of politicians, that they will say anything to get elected? Kerry doesn't have the charisma of Clinton or the callousness of Bush and if he acted like anyone but himself people would say he wasn't genuine. So he can't win, but he has to. If there is any hope for us, our country and our planet Kerry has to get elected this November. Since half of the people of this country, who are in a fog, seem to think Bush is doing a job it makes Kerry's job that much harder when his supporters take shots at him. Bush's supporters always say the same things about him never mention his weaknesses and always without failing support everything he does. We democrats should learn to do the same.

I believe that John Kerry will make a fine President. I believe he will, unlike the current president, try to keep the promises that he is now making to the American people. And maybe if we give ourselves the chance and elect Kerry we can have a better future.

Dreaming about Al Gore

The thing I remember most about the 2000 election was a poll taken, by whom I don't remember, was that people didn't like Al Gore because they thought he was too smart. That's right some of us Americans voted for Bush because he seems to be dumber than Gore. The last time I really thought about how different our world would be if Gore was allowed to accept his presidency was when he made the speech on May 26 in New York. That was the speech in which he said " How dare George Bush drag the good name of the United States through Saddam's torture chamber." I may be a little off but that is what he said. Yesterday after listening to Bush's speech at the United Nations I again thought how different our world would be. What I should say is how much better our world would be.

Bush stated in his speech" We know dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free governments fight terrorists in their midst. We know free peoples embrace progress and life instead of becoming the recruits of murderous ideologies."

Huh?

Let's take this section by section:
We know dictators are quick to choose aggression-
Didn't Bush remove the U N inspectors and start a preemptive war that we all know now was with out cause against a country that did not attack us, had no WMD's, no links to Al-Qaeda and 9/11 ? According to the movie Uncovered : The Whole Truth About The War In Iraq ( which along with Fahrenheit 9/11 should be required viewing before anyone goes into a voting booth this november) This administration KNEW that Iraq was not a threat. But we went to war anyway. Not to mention the fact that Bush is unelected, lost the 2000 election and was appointed by the republicans on the Supreme Court. Isn't a dictator someone who seizes power without being elected?

-While free governments fight terrorists in their midst.
Bush went from wanting Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" to saying he actually said this that he doesn't think about him (Osama)much. We stopped chasing him in Afghanistan to start this useless war in Iraq.
Also for all you freedom loving Americans have you noticed that it is us Americans who are losing our freedoms. The Patriot Act still exists. American citizens are jailed without due process. Anyone going through an airport is treated as a terrorist. All the while Al-Qaeda is probably having recruitment parties all over the globe.

We know free peoples embrace progress and life-
This president doesn't believe in evolution or stem cells.
This president during his illegal war has caused the deaths of over 1,000 American soldiers and anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 iraq citizens (our government doesn't bother to count how many Iraqi's we've killed).

-instead of becoming recruits of muderous ideologies
Is he referring to the recruits in Iraq that are fighting our illegal occupation of their country. Or could he be speaking about the neocons in this country who have begun this murderous war to try to change the middle east into their vision of democracy. Which according to people like former Secretary of the Treasury Paul H. O'Neill was a Bush goal from day one.

When the President says these words is he talking about himself or someone else?

How much better would our country if Gore was president?

Think of the possibility of 9/11 not happening. Clinton's administration was actively fighting Al-Qaeda they even averted some attacks. I believe Gore would have continued down this path and if he had received a PBD titled Al-Qeada determined to attack in America he would not have been on vacation for a month.

How about the possibility of not being a seven trillion dollars in debt ( which comes out to about $25,000 for every man woman and child in America today), which grows by over a billion dollars everyday and being in debt to countries like China and Saudi Arabia( the country that attacked us on 9/11)
The debt was 5.7 trillion when Clinton left office.

I heard this from a caller today 9/22 on The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio: A way to think of your tax cuts America. When Bush got into office he spent all the money he had. Then he gave everyone a tax cut. Now since he had already spent all the money, he had to borrow the money for the tax cut, which means America we will have to pay back the tax cut because it is now part of the deficit. Or our children will. It is not a tax cut it is a loan with interest.
Think About it.

Think about the cleaner environment we all would enjoy. Since Gore was an environmentalist I'm sure he wouldn't have deregulated the country out of cleaner water and air.

There is no doubt that he wouldn't have taken us into Iraq. He wouldn't have had an administration that approves of torture( causing Muslims all over the world to despise us) and used lawyers to figure out a way to get out of the Geneva Convention.
He probably would have not removed America from the Kyoto agreement. Would he have increased corporate welfare favoring corporations over American citizens? Would he have used God as a reason for war? I think not. We know he would not have raided Social Security to pay for tax cuts for the richest among us.

I know Gore did the noble thing in ceding the election to Bush. Which makes him only more admirable. He is a intelligent decent man who I believed would have made a great president. Imagine where our country would be if we had President Gore taking us forward instead Bush dragging us back.

Insurgents and other Misnomers

Merriam-Webster online dictionary definition of insurgent is:

A person who revolts against civil authority, or an established government; especially : a rebel not recognized as belligerent.


It is time to stop calling the Iraqi people fighting our illegal occupation of their country insurgents and terrorists. These people have had their home turned into a war zone by the Bush administration. Their water is untreated sewage. They have no power. They used to have clean water and power but not anymore. It is estimated that anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 Iraqi citizens, the people we are supposedly liberating, have died since our invasion, Operation Iraqi Freedom. We've liberated them alright: from breathing, loving, even existing. We've liberated them from their husbands, wives, parents, children and friends. We've liberated them from clean water, electricity and safety from looting. We have liberated them from their jobs so that neocons can run their country into the ground like they have ruined ours. It is nice to know that the unemployed Iraqi are making good use of their time off. By shooting at our soldiers, those brave men and women who put their lives on the line for our safety. We have liberated them from the comfort of their homes to put them into prisons where they are raped and tortured. We promise free elections that have yet come to pass all the while installing a prime minister chosen by our government not the people of Iraq. I bet they go to sleep every night thinking how lucky they are that America came to save them.

Any American who allows themselves to believe that this war was about terrorism is truly deluding themselves.

We Americans are very lucky. With the exceptions of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 war never comes to our shores. The ugliness of war is never in our backyard. We never fear mortar attacks or bombs from the air on a consistent basis. Our children go to school without the fear of being bombed. It is a luxury that the Iraqi don't posess. This illogical and unnecessary war is the the biggest recruitment tool for Al-Qaeda. And thanks to our president every American may soon know what it is like to live in the fear of a war zone that we have inflicted on the Iraqis. Instead of a few Arabs fighting against we have an untold numbers of young men and women willing to blow themselves up for the chance to blow us up.

The most poignant moment of Fahrenheit 9/11 for me was the child with its arm blown apart to where you could see the bones. This is what we've done to the people we came to save. So how dare this administration call the people fighting against us insurgents or worst terrorists. These people have a greater right to defend their country than our founding fathers had fighting the British. But they were called revolutionists and freedom fighters when all they were fighting against was taxation. The Iraqis are fighting for their country. If the situation was reversed would Americans fighting an unwanted invasion force be called terrorist by the invaders?

I believe most Americans know how many soldiers have died since the invasion of Iraq. Over 1,000. I believe some know how many have been wounded. Over 6,000. But how many care about the lives of the Iraqis that have been destroyed through the actions of this President. If it is one less than all that is too few.

Fear and Loathing in Washington, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania...

I was just reading in the New York Times where Cheney said that if John Kerry was elected president there would be an terrorist attack.

And I thought they could stoop no lower.

Since they lost over a million jobs what do they talk about?

Fear

Since more people have slipped into poverty during their administration what do they talk about?

Fear

Since less people today have health insurance than when they stole the White House. What do they speak of?

Fear

Bill Maher on his show made the best comment about the convention and election
He said (I'm Paraphrasing) You can't run on your biggest f**k up.

It was amazing watching ,during the republican convention, women who had lost someone on 9/11 stand up and help the people who did nothing. NOT ONE THING to save anyone on that day. And now they use it to say we deserve 4 more years.
Teresa Heinz Kerry said it best when pro Bush supporters were shouting 4 more years and she said "You want 4 more years of hell."

I would like a pro Bush supporter to say what has these guys done to earn a second term.

What?
They claim they can make us safer but that didn't help the 3,000 people who died on 9/11.

They say they will go after those who threaten us, so why are in a war with a country that didn't attack us and posed no threat to us.


Meanwhile yesterday the 1,000th soldier died in Iraq but did they mention that No. But they support the troops.

Bush himself said that he doesn't think about Osama Bin Ladin ( you know the guy that attacked us) much.

People of America you are being played fool a fool if you think that either
A. That you are safer now or
B. That they can protect you.

Maybe they could if they cared. Polls tell them that their numbers go up on the issue of terrorism, while they go down on the other issues like the economy and health care.

So they hawk fear and hate.
Don't we deserve better?

Bush and Cheney against military and veterans

The other day I was looking at a veterans for Bush website and it bothered me. This administration has sent our troops into a war without Kevlar vests and in vehicles without doors, floors or ceiling. They were sent into a desert in trucks not equipped to handle driving in the sand. The President threatened to veto the 87 billion resolution that included Tricare insurance for the National Guard that is serving in Iraq. This administration has closed VA hospitals and reduced veterans services. Haliburton which is STILL paying our Vice President over 150,000 dollars a year has through it's subsidiary Kellog Brown & Root has served our soldiers, those men and women who put their lives in danger for our security, SPOILED FOOD!

Our Vice President during his time in congress as a representative of Wyoming voted against Veterans Administration Funding in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1986, 1987, and 1988.
For our brave members of Police Departments across the country our Vice President in 12/85
voted against removing armor piercing bullets from our streets.

When this administration claimed mission accomplished in 5/03 this allowed the government to stop paying the soldiers in Iraq an extra 75.00 a month for combat pay. For the 130,000 soldiers in Iraq this would be 10,000,000 a month while Haliburton has gotten 7 billion dollars in contracts of which over 1.7 billion dollars is missing and/or unaccounted for.

This administration has sent our soldiers in a war of choice without a war plan.
Money is missing from Iraqi accounts. Haliburton which got a no bid contract overcharged the government 61 million dollars for gas.
My question is this.
Why would any veteran vote foir Bush?
If you are a veteran who is lucky enough not to need the VA for anything why would you vote an administration that has never valued our military?
Our President has an unaccounted for year in Alabama when he was supposed to be serving his country. Vice President Cheney got 5 deferments during Vietnam. There is a story in the Guardian ( a U.K. newspaper) alleging that Bush was sent from Texas because he was a disorderly drunk.
During the Republican convention republican operatives were passing out bandaids with Purple Hearts on it which demeans all veterans service to this country.
Does this seem to be a party that values your service?
If like I said you don't need the VA or have a family member serving in Iraq think of the veterans that will need the VA when they return and vote for the person who will help them most.

We The People

To the citizens of the United States,

We The People

America needs a constitution lesson. The first sentence of our Constitution is We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility. provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity, do ordain and establish this constitution of the United States of America.

We the people do ordain and establish this constitution of the United States of America. It all begins with the people.

America, our constitution is being abused ignored, and disrespected. And it is up to every American whether Democrat or Republican; Black or White; Rich or Poor; Educated or Illiterate; Young and Old to say no more. We the people need to take back our government.

We the people want to form a more perfect union by working together to ensure every voice is heard.

We the people want to establish justice so that no one can be held without due process.

We the people want to insure domestic tranquility by not using our Constitution to discriminate against our fellow citizens.

We the people want to provide for the common defense and provide those who protect us with what protects them.

We the people want to promote the general welfare by helping those who cannot help themselves.

We the people want to secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity by being free to be ourselves and have our beliefs respected.

Our government was founded by bold men with even bolder ideals. Those ideals became the frame work in which one of the world's greatest nations has grown. We as a democracy must respect others if they choose diffferently and not force our opinions or values on the world. We the people must recognize we are part of a greater community and work together for the betterment of all mankind. We must protect our earth. We the people need a press that is unbiased. We must express ideas, thoughts and not let our fears or the fears others would impose upon us dictate our beliefs or our actions.

We the people are at a critical junction in our history. Our core beliefs are being threatened by those sworn to up hold our laws. Our branches of government are being blurred together into a partisan mass that was never intended by our founding fathers. The security of our nation is being compromised by those responsible for protecting it. Our Supreme Court practices partisans politics. Corporations control our media , our politicians, and our livelihoods with ever lessening accountability. Our government publishes partisans viewpoints. Our executive branch advocates that the people watch networks that push their agenda. Our government censors information at an incredible rate. One of our country's worse days is used as political fodder.

We the people need a revolution. We need to stand together and say no more. We the people will decide how clean our air and water should be. We will decide how and what to teach our children. We will decide who our predident will be. We will decide how we live and love and reproduce. That is our responsibility. We as a nation are more polarized than any other time except for the Civil War. When this pivotal moment has passes how will history see us. Will we be an America that stood up for our rights or will we lay down and contribute to our ruin. People it is up to us. We have shown courage in the face of devestation and togetherness in the face of fear. We support each and watch out for each other. So I am asking all Americans to stand up for We the People... We the people are the power. We the people are the government. We the people bear the responsibility to watch and monitor it. We need to be heard but for that to happen first we must speak. All of Us. How can a government represent its people if all of its people do not speak to that government. Speak to your mayor, your alderman or councilman, your state representatives, your governors, your congress and your President about what you like, what you don't and what you need. It is more than a right it is our duty because We the People are the United States of America.

What are you willing to do for We the People?