I started writing on this “blog” – if that is what it is (so far, no comments from people who have read the posts) – because of my frustration with the direction of the United States of America which peaked (my frustration that is) during the reign of George W Bush/Dick Cheney in the early part of the 21st Century. Kind of like having a couple “Old Testament Guys” at the helm a few thousand years late. During this time my first daughter got married and had a grandchild (well, I think you get the point – she had a child, but I see everything from my own perspective :o) which really heightened my interest in the direction of our country and intensified the conviction I felt about the 30 years or so of silence I had “committed” since I became (originally) disgusted following the Viet Nam Fiasco (Fiasco #1 in my lifetime). Having become more of a realist with the “wisdom” of 60+ years of breathing, I have confined most of my “speaking out” to this venue and the lunchroom at the school where I work. And really, in respect to the other teachers who eat in that lunchroom, it’s really largely confined to this site.

All that being said, I was really hopeful when I “latched on” to the candidacy of Barack Obama during the election of 2008. I read his book (among about 25 books I read to get “re-informed” from my years of “hibernation”), I listened to his speeches, I believed his rhetoric, and I even sent him money. I got tears in my eyes the night he was elected President – called a Black friend of mine to tell him that I never thought I’d see the day this happened, but couldn’t get the words out of my mouth because I instantaneously realized my excitement and relief was miniscule compared to my friend who has spent a lifetime being discriminated against due to the color of his skin – this is a man who I wouldn’t be worthy to wear his shoes. The reality that HOPE was rekindled that day was almost overwhelming.

And I remember thinking that the opportunity was there for the first President of color to be one of the greatest Presidents of all time (despite what I may eventually write tonight – I still believe this). However, at the same time, I realized there would be tremendous opposition – much of it exactly for the reason I was so excited – Our President descended from an African – he is not white. As much as I hate this reason – I know it is there, and I have witnessed it lurching out in many forms since Obama moved into the White House. Those of us who have been watching politics for many years know some of the people with racist tendencies – for example the de-facto head of the Republican party, Rush Limbaugh is an overt racist. He’s practiced his “wares” on national TV and on his radio show repeatedly. The incident that comes to mind relates back to how Limbaugh somehow managed to get a spot on “Monday Night Football” and lasted about a week before making a racially insensitive remark about a Black quarterback. In fact, I figured that Obama is kind of in the same place as the first Black quarterback in the NFL – succeed or there might not be another Black quarterback (President) – because we have such a tendency to stereotype as Americans (probably as humans – I’m just more familiar with Americans – OK, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, I do the same thing – make stupid judgements about people). Worse than the overt racists are the stealthy ones, those “flying under the radar” who just can’t stand the idea that the “Commander in Chief” is of African descent. And, I believe there are many political leaders – members of Congress, governors, etc. – who fall into this category (including many Democrats!)

This gets me to one of the main reasons I say there are so many things to write about – which is the disastrous state of our Congress. It is also why I feel Obama has the opportunity to be a great President. I’m just a bit (actually a lot) concerned that he has his focus a bit tweeked – and the irony here is that what’s bothering me about President Obama is how he’s trying to stay focused by “looking forward” and doing things that are causing the very things he’s trying to avoid and possibly leading him to a “date” with disaster – at least in my “humble” opinion (I’m really trying to save all the “I told you so’s” until another time). Let me get back to the disastrous state of our Congress. First off, the Republicans have been reduced to a bunch of whining sheeplike creatures who are following a shepherd that talks to a national audience of “ditto heads” for three hours a day – and that’s about it. They’re finding themselves defending torture, the shredding of our constitution, the destruction of our middle class, and the public welfare of the largest banks in the country. They’re OK with bailing out banks, but they hate helping car companies who have union workers. They don’t want to pay any taxes, but they want more benefits – more and better roads and bridges, a stronger more violent military, more prisons, safer planes, and lower interest rates. They are opposed to abortion AND healthcare for children, and they favor the death penalty and unprovoked war. They don’t appear to have a single good idea aimed at fixing the MESS created by the Bush administration mostly because THEY’D LIKE TO DO MORE MESS CREATING.

Of course, then there’s the Democrats (if only there really was a third party out there – one with some guts). I think you can surmise from the last comment in parentheses what I think of the Democrats. First they took my money in the 2006 election giving me the FALSE IMPRESSION they we’re going to end the (endless) war in Iraq. The war that should have never begun, the war that has cost America some 4500 lives (who’s counting anymore? not apparently passe`), has cost Iraq about a million lives (not to mention the wounded, terrified, and displaced), and that everyone I know of voted in 2006 AND 2008 TO END! But, much to my chagrine, the war is still going on – and, in my opinion, much to Obama’s chagrine, OUR TROOPS DON’T SEEM TO BE COMING HOME AT ALL!(It’s almost June) Today, the Democrats joined Republicans in refusing to fund the closing of GITMO because as Harry Reid said, “You can’t move terrorists without releasing them.” Huh? I’m not sure what the guy’s drinking, but personally, if I was worried about moving them, I’d shackle em up pretty tight – JUST TO BE SAFE. Put them in a prison cell next to Charles Manson – and maybe do an experiment to see who is more nuts (probably the “terrorists” if they’ve been through enough of Cheney’s Marqui de Sade impersonations (forgive me if I’m getting a little twisted here, but I keep getting visions of the Abu Ghraib photos – and now we know who cooked those ideas up). Getting back to the Democrats, they have no problem voting against Obama on the GITMO issue, apparently trying to show how “strong” they are on “national security,” but where was all this courage when they could have voted against Bush and ended the Iraqi occupation about 1500 American lives ago. And, of course, then there’s Nancy Pelosi, who will go down in infamy for saying “Impeachment is off the table” regarding a President that SHOULD HAVE BEEN IMPEACHED! Personally, I too want to know what Pelosi knew about torture. (If you’ve been watching the news lately, the Republicans are trying to blame torture on her to deflect the blame from where it belongs – but I’m OK with finding out whether or not she should have been speaking up about this) Between Reid and Pelosi, if the Democrats can’t come up with something better than that, well – we all are hurting!

And this is where my concern for Obama comes in. Right now in our history, we DESPARATELY NEED A STRONG LEADER! We don’t need another pragmatist in the White House. We need someone with a clear vision of what is right for this nation and is prepared to fight for it. Today’s vote on the closing of GITMO should have just assured Obama that he’s in for the fight of the century. These Congress people remind me so much of my sixth grade students (usually, I reserve that honor specifically for Republicans, but tonight I’m throwing the whole Congress in) – everything needs to be BLACK AND WHITE for these guys. They specialize in the grey area – by the time they get done with an issue virtually no one benefits from their results – so that we are stuck in this seemingly endless cycle of the STATUS QUO. Personally, I’m looking for something better than that – and for this to happen, President Obama needs to make a clear SPLIT FROM THE PAST! This would require a lot of COURAGE. However, I’m very certain that his “first hundred days” are leading us right back to where we started – with a slight tweak in direction. (If Obama can get the healthcare legislation and energy legislation through, I’ll maybe recant a bit)

Yes, I’m happy about some of the accomplishments and many of the goals. But, I’ll tell you what I think is the problem – and if you’ve been on this site much before tonight, what’s coming next shouldn’t surprise you too much. First, I understand that getting the economy “back on track” is a priority, BUT – if we end up where we were (cow-towing to Wall Street and the major corporations) we’re just putting off the inevitable. I say, we’ve created this mess, let’s fix it now instead of putting it off on our children (and here, I could talk about many things, but I’ll save the specifics for another evening). I’m seeing way too much GW Bush in the Obama administration. I hate to even say that, because I know that President Obama is a much better man and more honorable man than President Bush – but the evidence is mounting in a way that is not favorable from my perspective (I’ve written Obama about this, and just as I would have expected from Bush, got no reply – even from some flunkee who reads the email messages). Let me list the problems: as stated above, it’s almost June (soon to be six months in office) and I haven’t heard of one troop coming home from Iraq – maybe they’re coming home, but I haven’t heard about it and believe me, I’m tying to hear about this because I want us out of there in the WORST WAY! Second, and I’m now hearing others speaking out about this – the US government is continuing the warrantless wiretapping policy of the Bush administration, the FISA bill hasn’t been “fixed” (and I’ve heard little talk about fixing it), and Obama’s justice department has taken up the torch of the Bush administration defending this utterly defenseless policy. Third, THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION BUSH/CHENEY/RUMSFELD/RICE/TENET/ADDINGTON/ and others authorized torture and many members of the military, the CIA, and some reports suggest “contractors” carried out ILLEGAL TORTURE. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS and President Obama is stubbornly refusing to honor his PLEDGE TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION AND FAITHFULLY ENFORCE THE LAWS OF THE LAND. Fourth, we are “surging” in Afganistan with a seemingly pointless campaign which is killing more American troops and Afganistan civilians than terrorists – apparently continuing the pointless “nation building” premise of the “Bush doctrine.” And finally, our justice department seems to be helpless in actually enforcing the laws of the land if the perpetrator is someone “important” in Washington DC. Today it was reported that President Obama responded a bit angrily when a group of “liberal” human rights advocates “called” him on his Bush-like policies advising him that if he continued the present direction he would be assuming ownership of these policies. HE DIDN’T LIKE THIS SUGGESTION. But let me end here be saying something that grieves me and I couldn’t believe I’d be saying it four plus months ago: President Obama, you are in danger of taking ownership of Bush administration follies!