I have so many thoughts going through my head I don’t know what to write about. I just know that I need to write or it’ll be another sleepless night. I want to start by saying in my last post I wrote about the vice presidential debate from the perspective of only listening to it on my car radio while I was heading home from the doctor’s office. Also, I only heard about half of the debate. Since then I have had the chance to see almost all of it on video and it was almost more than I could stomach. Especially after listening to John McCain at a rally shouting out something like, “Did you see Sarah Palin last night?” and as the republican crowd cheered, “How about that Sarah Palin!” and then one of those hideous giggles from McCain that would even put GW Bush to shame almost made me gag. And the republican audience he was speaking to just sucked it right up. We have big problems in this country! As one of McCain’s advisors said early on, “We’re going to make this campaign about personalities and not about issues.” As stupid as that statement seems, that is exactly what they’re doing and the republicans, starving for someone to cheer for, are doing the same thing they did in 2000 with GW. The fact that their candidates are incompetent seems to be irrelevent. You would think, considering the state of our country both economically and in its world standing, their own self-interests would lead them to want someone with a brain in the White House.

As I watched Palin winking at me as she answered something other than the question which had been posed, and doing so quite confidently (and repeatedly,I might add), I realized that she had been coached to just say anything and pretend like it’s meaningful no matter what was asked of her. And she had a quiver full of one liners that she shot out at random – like, “Say is aint so, Joe!” When I heard the references to “Joe six-pack,” “Hockey moms,” and other folksy bull s@#$ all the while with this unbelievable painted on smile, I realized that she was the perfect candidate to run with McCain. She might be new to the ticket, but she’s an expert at looking you in the eye and shamelessly lying, in a way that should make GW proud. Also, she definitely draws a crowd. The so-called republican base who got energized because she is definitely anti-abortion are coming out in droves and the democrats and independents are looking on, I think, just to see if what they’ve been hearing about someone completely incompetent running for vice president could possibly be true. Well, it is true and it is a bit scary thinking that the republicans have stolen two elections and knowing that if they pulled it off twice, they could do it again. That is why, to me, this election has to be anti-republican. We need two parties, but the only republicans I would consider voting for would be the ones who reject the Bush doctrine – both internationally and domestically.

The good news in that regard is that there seems to be a solid group of “conservative” republicans in the house that are willing to reject Bush and hopefully McCain/Palin. At least on the Wall Street bailout bill there were over 100 who voted against Bush/Paulson/Cheney/McCain (and I’m sorry to say Obama) along with about 60 democrats. With the economy in the shape its in, I can’t imagine why anyone would consider voting for McCain/Palin. Neither one has a clue about what is going on and we would end up with the likes of Phil Gramm and associates running the economy should McCain succeed in stealing this election. This bailout bill is just one more example of how low McCain will go. First he “suspended” his campaign so that he could return to Washington and “solve” the crisis. The result of that was the first plan (which he hadn’t read) falling apart. He even took credit for getting the republicans “onboard” before the original vote when they banded together to defeat Paulson’s initial proposal. He then supported the modified version that passed only because a bunch of “pork,” you know the earmarks he so detests, was added to the bill to “persuade” enough of the no votes to change their mind. I haven’t heard any commentary on the irony of that.

On top of his self-centered and disengenuous claims about his role in the economic crisis (that he helped create along with a plethora of republicans who believe that the government is the enemy) he continues to claim responsibility for the so-called surge in Iraq, which he says is leading us to “victory” in that occupation. Of course, he had nothing to do with the surge, other than the role of cheerleader because the thought of accepting that we made a huge mistake, like we ultimately had to do in Viet Nam, is unacceptable to him no matter if Iraq bankrupts our country and no matter how many more troops have to die for Bush’s blunder. Due to our economy being in meltdown the Iraq “war” has made it to the back pages of any newspaper that is still paying attention. Therefore, the public is pretty much unaware of anything that is going on over there. The thought of a hot head like McCain (he is really showing what a grumpy, tempermental “dude” he is as the campaign unfolds) and an air head like Palin (I appoligize to all my female friends for that last characterization, but I’m calling it as I see it) in charge of this war and the destabilized world that Bush has created should scare even the most rabid of republicans, let alone the rest of us.

The reduction of violence in Iraq, as far as I can tell, is the result of two distinct things, neither one of them related to the surge. First, in around August of 2006 (approximately one year prior to the surge troops being deployed) the Americans started arming and paying Iraqi Sunni’s to take the fight to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. These were insurgents who had been killing American troops and now their attention was diverted to Al Qaeda. Secondly, somewhere around the end of 2006 Moqtada al Sadr ordered his Mehdi army to cease fire. The Iraqi government temporarily went after Sadr’s forces in Southern Iraq after the surge troops were in place, only to be soundly defeated, causing them to initiate a “cease fire” to a conflict that they had started. Whether the US, along with the Maliki government, like it or not, Moqtada al Sadr has a following of somewhere close to 2 million Iraqi’s or more. This lull in violence is very likely temporary.

As I’ve written previously, I believe it is a bit naive to expect these Sunni tribes to lay down their arms and accept a government ruled by Shia who are bitter enemies and want nothing more than revenge against those who supported Saddam Hussein for all those years and have so much Shia blood on their hands. If the US stops paying these “Awakening” Iraqis – again, they were killing Americans before we bought them off – I find it hard to believe they are going to just lay down the arms we gave them and go away. To me, it’s kind of like Bush’s management of our economy, just hoping that over time some miracle happens and they all live peacefully “ever after.” Additionally, Sadr is in Iran and within three years, by the accounts I’ve read, will attain the designation (I’m not sure if that’s the correct word) of Grand Ayatolla. I have no doubt that his intention is to return to Iraq after the US leaves (or before if McCain should somehow win the election) with the ultimate goal to institute a Shia led theocracy similar to Iran. Of course, when this happens, if the “battle” with the Sunni’s that we have armed to the teeth hasn’t happened yet, it will probably happen then. The ultimate result of Bush’s misadventure into Iraq will be a Iraq/Iran coalition that will totally tip the balance of power in the middle east away from the US’s interests.

We can’t afford “more of the same.” We can’t afford McCain/Palin in the White House. Even republicans should be able to see this. There are so many other reasons why, but trying to fix the problem in Iraq/Afganistan/Pakistan will require a completely different approach to our foreign policy. There is hope if Obama is elected, but he is going to have to be willing to make some tough decisions and he is going to have to act like a statesman. Returning the moral authority of our nation needs to be a top priority. He will have to be doing this while, at the same time, taking extreme steps to restore the fundamentals of our economy. He is going to have to be willing to challenge the American people to sacrifice. This idea that we just keep “cutting taxes” has to be debunked. The trickle down economists have brought us to the brink of bankruptcy as a nation and on top of that, Bush has nearly destroyed our military along with our standing in the world.

As I listened and watched Palin the other night, I thought maybe these people don’t “get” how bad things are. How could they possibly think that Sarah Palin has any idea how to solve these major problems. She couldn’t even connect the script she was given with the right questions. When she answered the question about what the McCain/Palin administration would cut due to the money spent on the Wall Street bailout with an answer about how she was an expert on energy and how Alaska had a lot of oil, or something of that sort, I actually shuddered. I hoestly can’t even believe that I’m having this discussion. The republican party, starting with Reagan and then with the two Bushes, along with a little help from Clinton (he went along with a lot of deregulating) have driven this country to the verge of bankruptcy. And the nomination of McCain/Palin in the face of all these crises has proved that the Republican Party is bankrupt.

Tonight I was at one of my many doctor’s appointments which was pretty typical. The appointment was for 4:45 and the doctor entered the room almost an hour later. Now, I don’t want to leave the wrong impression. This doctor has been a godsend to me. I gladly wait, because the reason you wait is because he genuinely cares about his patients and he takes the time necessary to treat them. As I wait for him I know that somebody else is getting everything they need without regard for what time it is. I also know that I will get his full attention when he is in the room with me and I greatly admire him for that. Additionally, I know that when he “fixes” something he does it expertly and just as I try to treat each student in my class according to their needs, he does the same thing. Considering I have had situations where a doctor was casual and careless, this is more re-assuring to me than I can put into words. I only bring this up because the result of my leaving his office after 6:00 tonight was that I listened to the vice-presidential debate in my car instead of watching it.

Listening to the debate really made it more interesting, I believe. I could only imagine the body language of the participants based on the tone of their answers. Prior to the debate, I had read in several sources that it would be a mistake for the democrats to underestimate Sarah Palin. As I think back to what I heard, several thoughts come to mind. First, it really sounded as if the moderator was a bit frustrated by the debators unwillingness to directly address the questions. Also, it seemed like the debators must have had some idea of what the questions would be because almost all of the answers from both of them seemed a bit too “canned.” Finally, my sense was that the republicans would be shouting for joy because Palin did not seem to make obvious blunders, as have been evident in the couple of interviews she’s submitted to prior to this evening’s event. What will be interesting will be how the answers are debunked post debate and whether or not a vice presidential debate actually means anything anyway.

I have heard reports, again from multiple sources, that McCain has exhibited stroke like symptoms on at least one and maybe more occasions of late. Of course, it that is true then it makes Palin’s responses that much more important. One thing I noticed was that she seemed to want to answer most of the questions posed to her while I was driving with answers relating to energy. She seems to be portraying herself as an expert on energy, doing this while expousing McCain’s energy policy that he put forth in the Saddleback interview; drill, drill, drill! I find it interesting that the public must have fallen for that one because the dems have pretty much caved on the issue – tonight Biden said something like, “of course, drilling is important.” Following that up with what I’ve found to be the consensus folly of that argument that any drilling will produce results in a minimum of ten years and the amount of oil will go onto the world market and hardly make a dent in what we are paying at the pump. Of course, if we fall for the drill, drill, drill approach that will just put off our transition to “clean” energy that much more. It would be refreshing to me to hear someone say Bull S#@* to that approach without worrying how many votes it will cost. Just call it what it is.

I really wasn’t that impressed with Biden’s debating prowess when he was running for president in the early primary season, and he did nothing tonight to make me feel any different. He had the opportunity to look into the cameras and say to the American people that McCain has supported Bush 90% of the time and look at where that has gotten us. Depite their rhetoric of being “change agents” their election to the White House will guarantee more of the same irresponsible economic policy and virtually isolate us from the rest of the world – which is watching this election closely. There is a plethora of evidence that if McCain wins this election our economic standing in the world is in serious danger. That is not to say that significant change must be made should Obama win, but he will get a period of grace that the European countries, the Asian countries, and the Middle Eastern countries won’t give to McCain. The dollar is in jeopardy as the world’s exchange currency. Now, I don’t profess to be an economist, but the things I’ve read about what will be the result of the Euro taking the place of the dollar is a bit sobering.

One way or the other, we are in for change. The idea that we can just go on borrowing our way out of every crisis has finally reached the dead end road. Palin continued the republican mantra of tax breaks for the upper echelon of Americans as “vital” to our economy and therefore to our national security, and I was totally disappointed that Biden had no significant rebuttal to that ridiculous claim. If we can’t convince Americans that the “trickle down” philosophy is empty at this point, then we aren’t very good debators. Recently, I’ve even talked to several republicans who are fed up and are going to vote for Obama. It was almost like Biden didn’t want to offend anyone. We not only need to offend some people, we need to hold them accountable.

Also, so far in the the campaign and also in this debate, I’m not hearing much as to the importance of restoring our constitution and holding those who have violated it responsible for their actions. Now, I didn’t hear the entire debate tonight, but it would have been refreshing to hear the two candidates positions on torture and whether or not Bush administration officials should be investigated for violating the Genevea conventions, I didn’t hear anything about the violations of the FISA bill. Would Palin support criminal prosecution of anyone found violating American’s right of privacy under that law. Should the politicization of the justice department be investigated and should members of the executive branch be allowed to ignore supeonas? I would have liked to hear why Palin encouraged members of her own staff, including her husband, to ignore supeonas in Alaska. It would be interesting to hear her legal justification for such actions – she would probably answer by going into a diatribe about how she is an expert on energy.

After listening to this debate I have to say that I hope neither of these two politicians ever become president. The stark reality is that Palin would be the most likely to be put in that spot should McCain prevail in November. I hope Americans think their vote through clearly prior to casting it. Tonight, probably the main thrust of Palin’s performance was a continual kind of dumbing down of her rhetoric, I suppose with the idea to appeal to the people she referred to as “Joe Sixpack.” She sounded about as far from “Presidential” as I can imagine someone in that position could sound. The thought of Sarah Palin as MY PRESIDENT makes my stomach quiver. It’s not really her fault – even though she is obviously overly-ambitious – McCain picked her. McCain is gambling that the American public and especially American women are stupid. I sincerely hope that John McCain loses his gamble!

I, like probably anyone who might happen on to this site, am spending a lot of time thinking about the financial “crisis” we (America) find ourselves in. I’m saying this kind of tongue in cheek because many people, including myself, have seen this coming for quite some time. It has not been a matter of if, but only a matter of when. About three weeks ago I listened to one of the so-called republican experts on “trickle down economics” talking on the radio as I was heading to work. He was justifying the huge deficit and saying we could handle a deficit twice the size of the present one and he was saying that John Mccain’s proposal to further reduce taxes and reduce government regulation would “stimulate” the economy. Well, in a sense, I think he was correct – only he was thinking it would stimulate things in a positive direction.

Well, now we are in a situation where the entire banking system could fail – I’ve read that even money market accounts that people invested in as “safe” investments are in danger of failing. The thing that is most amazing to me is that there are people still supporting Mccain – mainly, at least the ones around me, because of Sarah Palin. In my mind her lack of experience and knowledge (and possibly intelligence) is a bigger drawback today than when people first started to question whether or not she was “ready” to be president. Mccain, for his part has clearly demonstrated that he’s not ready. Every day I look for the newest flip-flop but lately it has gotten even worse than that.

Mccain has shown off his quick temper and his penchant for making rash decisions in many of his comments and choices of late. For two days he ranted against the head of the SEC saying “I would fire him” first, until he found out the president can’t fire him, and changed that the next day to “I would ask for his resignation.” His claim that the chairman works at the pleasure of the president was not accurate and Mccain just gave another example that in the 26 years he’s been in Washington he’s been a slow learner. Today he said he was “suspending” his campaign and going back to Washington to “fix” the problem – as if the people in Washington who’ve been working on this for the last 5 days or so won’t be able to get anything done unless Mccain is there. I believe we’ll hear a few choice comments from other lawmakers who’ve actually been in Washington this year about the presumptiveness of that statement from someone who hasn’t even submitted a vote for over 6 months. Additionally, it will be interesting if Mccain fails to show for the first debate because he’s “fixing” the problem.

Additionally, while Mccain is trying to blame the “mess” on Senator Obama because Obama supposedly received campaign contributions from Fannie Mae – one of the large mortgage companies rescued by the Fed, Mccain’s own campaign manager has been receiving 15,000 dollars per month for the last three years from Freddie Mac – the other large mortgage company bailed out by the Fed, money that presumably was for nothing, although it totals over half a million dollars which is a lot to pay for nothing. And when you find out that Rick Davis, Mccain’s campaign manager, was paid almost two million dollars in the preceding few years as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac, money that was intended to get them access to Mccain, well, if that doesn’t get you thinking about the meaning of the word hypocrit, I don’t know what will. Supposedly, Mccain – the man who claims that he is the champion of the fight against special interests, despite the fact that the top seven “advisors” on his staff are major Washington lobbyists and Phil Gramm, his financial advisor, led the fight to end the depression era regulation of the banks in this country – a move widely considered to be the catalyst to the present crisis – was going to “fire” anyone on his campaign who was actively lobbying but now is forgiving of Davis because he is on leave from his firm – so supposedly the money is just going into a trust for him to spend after the conclusion of the election.

This is all beyond incredible to me. I live in an area that is dominated by republicans, and they seem to be doing the same thing that President Bush is doing – turning off the TV and pretending that nothing is happening. They refuse to repent and admit that they made a terrible mistake in supporting Bush. It’s almost like if our country becomes another Mexico that it’s just God’s will, or this is the end times. I say no matter what “times” it is, we have an obligation to our children and grandchildren to be good stewards of what we have been blessed with in this nation. The idea that it’s OK to look the other way while people are stealing, killing, torturing, and undermining the very fabric of this great nation – our constitution – is unthinkable to me. As a coworker of mine and I agreed today it is “We the people” and we (her and I) feel guilty by the decisions of these criminal leaders because they represent us. It is very difficult to sit here and watch people destroy our standing in the world, our economy, our military, our moral authority, right before our eyes and not feel a sense of national unity in “throwing the bums out.”

Please understand that I’m not a big fan of the democrats. They clearly should have had the guts to impeach Bush and Cheney long ago – if for nothing more than to make a clear statement that their actions are completely unacceptable. I don’t have a large amount of confidence that they will instill a sense of moral authority after the coming election should they prevail (and they certainly should) – but the best message would be a united vote against the republicans and then a clear message to the democrats (and any republicans left) that things are going to be different. Lying is not OK. Stealing is not OK. Accepting huge amounts of money from lobbyists or corporations is not OK. They should have to collect their money in small amounts from individual people. The budget will be balanced, even if I have to pay more for that. The thought that our best young men and women have been giving their lives and/or limbs for their nation in Iraq and Afganistan and the entire cost has been borrowed is unacceptable. We should all be asked to sacrifice to solve this problem. Business as usual should no longer be an option.

The people need to take back control of this country and the corporations that don’t want to participate with honor should go with Cheney’s company, Halliburton, which chose to move to Dubai instead of face regulatory overstight regarding the huge amounts of money they pilfered from our economy on the no-bid contracts in Iraq for services that, in many cases, were never performed. We will find replacements for the companies that don’t want to put their employees and their honor ahead of their shareholders. This obsession with the bottom line at the expense of the very people that make this country great should be a thing of the past. The only way that will happen, in my view considering the present state of things, is if the republicans get voted into history and democrats get the message that they’ll be next if they can’t perform as the people intend for them to perform. We definitely need two parties, it’s just that I’ve listened to “I’m going to cut taxes and balance the budget” for thirty years – it didn’t make sense when I first heard it – it doesn’t make sense now – and now we are “paying the piper.”

I have respect for Senator Obama, I’ve read his book, I’ve read many of his speeches, I’ve admired that he is apparently a genuine husband and father, I respect that he is extemely intelligent, and I really respect that he chose a lifetime of service when the other option was getting rich quick as a Wall Street lawyer. However, he has to know that he has my vote, but I will be just as vocal an opponent if he gets into the White House and demonstrates that his words are nothing but hot air. I believe he has the right ideas for tackling the huge problems the next president will inherit (Mccain has no ideas as far as I can see other than firing someone he couldn’t fire if he was in the office) and he has also shown me a level of energy during this long grueling campaign that will be a requirement if he is to have any chance of success. The next president will not be able to spend close to fifty percent of his time on vacation. The next term of the office of the president will have a profound effect on this country, one way or the other, for the next several decades. There you have it, a quick thought on the economic crisis! :o)

Oh yes, one more thing, for what it’s worth – to me the bailout of Wall Street is like asking the fox to rebuild the chicken house and expect there to still be chickens when he’s done. I prefer to tough it out and No bailout!!! unless the money goes to the homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

Last night I posted an email that I received from Dennis Kucinich that I thought would be useful to anyone who might read this blog. Tonight I received another and I admire his integrity and intelligence so I’m posting his “Main Street Recovery Plan” for anyone who might not be connected to him. He’s definitely, in my view, a friend of “Main Street.”

Kucinich’s Main Street Recovery Plan

1. Health Care for All: Insurance companies make money not providing health care. As the co-author of HR 676, a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system, Medicare for All, I understand millions of Americans want health care that is accessible and affordable.

Medicare for All will help businesses large and small, create jobs as well as save the jobs of thousands of people including those of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers who are currently leaving medicine because it is run by the insurance companies. $1 in every 3 dollars of the $2.4 trillion spent annually in America for health care goes to the insurance companies. If we take that money ($800 billion in unproductive wasteful spending) and put it directly into care, we will have enough money to cover everyone. We are already paying for Medicare for all, but not receiving it. HR 676 changes that!

2. Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors: HR 6800 is the MEDS Act, which provides a fully paid prescription drug benefit, under Medicare, for all seniors. I wrote this bill to help alleviate the economic pressure that comes from the high cost of prescription drugs. We can pay for it by letting the government negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies as well as by permitting re-importation.

3. Stop the Oil Companies’ Price Gouging: As you know, I was the first one to step up to challenge of the corrupt price gouging and market speculation of the oil companies by proposing a windfall profits tax, on oil and natural gas companies, with revenues put into tax credits for the purchase of fuel-efficient American-made cars. However, it may be that nationalization is the only way to put an end to the oil companies’ sharp practices.

4. Protecting the American Homestead: As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Oversight Subcommittee, I am working to protect your basic right to have a roof over your head, whether as an owner or renter. I have investigated and helped to expose the manipulation of mortgage markets, and I am crafting a new federal policy so that neighborhoods with the highest number of foreclosures get the most help.

5. Jobs for All: Congressman LaTourette and I have co-authored the bi-partisan New Deal-type jobs program, HR 3400, “Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure.” It will create millions of good-paying new jobs rebuilding our roads, bridges, water systems and sewer systems.

6. American Manufacturing Policy: I am drafting the American Manufacturing Policy Act, which for the first time, will state that the maintenance of U.S. steel, automotive, and aerospace industries are vital to our national economic security and must be maintained through integrated public-private cooperation, new trade policies, and investment.

7. Works Green Administration: I am also drafting plans for a green New Deal jobs program, in which the government creates millions of jobs by incentivizing the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and maintenance of millions of wind and solar micro-technologies for millions of homes and businesses, dramatically lowering energy costs and reducing our dependence on oil.

8. Fair Trade: The U.S. has lost millions of good-paying jobs, and more jobs have been out-sourced. As you know, I have helped to lead the way in opposition to trade giveaways. I strongly urge repeal of NAFTA. We must include workers’ rights, human rights and environmental quality principles in all trade pacts. We must also protect the Great Lakes’ water resources from the reach of multi-national corporations.

9. Education for All: I know families need help with the rising cost of day care. That is why I introduced HR 4060, a universal pre-kindergarten program to ensure that all children ages 3-5 have access to full-day, quality day care.

10. Protecting Pensions: I am working to change bankruptcy laws so pensioners’ claims will be first, ahead of banks, and that corporate executives who misuse workers’ pension funds are subject to criminal penalties. I want to fully fund the Pension Benefit Guarantee Board.

11. Social Security: From my first moments in Congress, I have exposed Wall Street’s efforts to privatize Social Security and attacked it in the Democratic Caucus when it was being proposed. Can you imagine where seniors would be today if Social Security had been turned over to the stock market? Social Security is solid through 2032 without any changes.

12. Protect Bank Deposits: I will work to make sure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has sufficient funds to provide for insurance of deposits up to $200,000 at all banks and savings and loans. This is an urgent matter since so many banks are said to be vulnerable.

13. Protect Investors: Bring back strong regulation to Wall Street. As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, I challenged the Wall Street hedge fund speculators as a threat to small investors. I intend to keep active watch over the machinations on Wall Street.

14. Strength through Peace: You’ll remember when I led the effort against the ill-conceived Iraq war, which has now cost more than 4,100 US soldiers’ lives, cost U.S. taxpayers between $3 trillion and $5 trillion, and resulted in the deaths of more than a million Iraqis. We must bring our troops home and end the war. We must engage in diplomacy. We must reduce the military budget, and we must stop outrageous cost overruns by the likes of Halliburton.

15. Safety in America: I am proud of my work for peace. In July 2001, I introduced a bill, which today is HR 808, that for the first time creates a comprehensive plan to deal with the issues of violence in American society, particularly domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, gang violence, gun violence, racial violence, and violence against gays by establishing a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Restorative Justice. This proposal has sparked a national movement and when implemented will save tax payers millions of dollars.

16. Monetary Policy: It is long past the time that we looked at the implications of our debt based monetary system, the privatization of money created by the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, the banks fractional reserve system and our debt-based economic system. Unless we have dramatic reform of monetary policy, the entire economic system will continue to accelerate wealth upwards. I am currently working on drafting legislation for an ‘American Monetary Act’ to address these and other issues in order to protect the economic wellbeing of America.

I’ve been thinking about how to express my thoughts about the impending bailout of Wall Street, which I strongly oppose. However, tonight I got an email from Dennis Kucinich which I thought anyone interested in the subject should read. So here it is thanks to Representative Kucinich.

Dear Friend,

The U.S. government has been turned into an engine that accelerates the wealth upwards into the hands of a few. The Wall Street bailout, the Iraq War, military spending, tax cuts to the rich, and a for-profit health care system are all about the acceleration of wealth upwards. And now, the American people are about to pay the price of the collapse of the $513 trillion Ponzi scheme of derivatives. Yes, that’s half a quadrillion dollars. Our first trillion dollar compression bandage will hardly stem the hemorrhaging of an unsustainable Ponzi scheme built on debt “de-leverages.”

Does anyone seriously think that our public and private debts of some $45 trillion will be paid? That the administration’s growth of the federal debt from $5.6 trillion to $9.8 trillion while borrowing another trillion dollars from Social Security has nothing to do with this? Does anyone not see that when we spend nearly $16,000 for every family of four in our society for the military each year that we are heading over the cliff?

This is a debt crisis, not a credit crisis. Just as FDR had to save capitalism after Wall Street excesses, we have to re-invigorate our economy with real – not imaginary – growth. It does not address the never-ending war on the middle class.

The same corporate interests that profited from the closing of U.S. factories, the movement of millions of jobs out of America, the off-shoring of profits, the out-sourcing of workers, the crushing of pension funds, the knocking down of wages, the cancellation of health care benefits, the sub-prime lending are now rushing to Washington to get money to protect themselves.

The double standard is stunning: their profits are their profits, but their losses are our losses.

This bailout will not bring real jobs back to America. It will not bring back jobs that make things. It does not rebuild our schools, streets, neighborhoods, parks or bridges. The major product of this financial economy is now debt. Industrial capitalism has been destroyed.
In the next few days I will push for a plan that includes equity for every American in any taxpayer investment in this so-called bail-out plan. Since the bailout will cost each and every American about $2,300, I have proposed the creation of a United States Mutual Trust Fund, which will take control of $700 billion in stock assets, convert those assets to shares, and distribute $2,300 worth of shares to new individual savings accounts in the name of each and every American.
I will also insist that all of the following issues be considered in whatever Congress passes:

Reinstatement of the provisions of Glass-Steagall, which forbade speculation
Re-regulation of the finance, insurance, and real estate industries
Accountability on the part of those who took the companies down:
a) resignations of management
b) givebacks of executive compensation packages
c) limitations on executive compensation
d) admission by CEO’s of what went wrong and how, prior to any government bailout

Demands for transparencey
a) with respect to analyzing the transactions which took the companies down
b) with respect to Treasury’s dealings with the companies pre and post-bailout
An equity position for the taxpayers
a) some form of ownership of assets
Some credible formula for evaluating the price of the assets that the government is buying.
A sunset clause on the legislation
Full public disclosure by members of Congress of assets held, with possible conflicts put in blind trust.
A ban on political campaign contributions from officers of corporations receiving bailouts
A requirement that 2008 cycle candidates return political contributions to officers and representatives of corporations receiving bailouts
And, most importantly, some mechanism for direct assistance to homeowners saddled with unreasonable or unmanageable mortgages, as well as protection for renters who have lived up to their obligation but fall victim to financial tragedy when the property they live in undergoes foreclosure.

These are just some thoughts on the run. You will hear more from me tomorrow.

Again thanks to Dennis Kucinich for these thoughts

Tonight I forced myself to watch the fox “news” channel for a couple of hours which included “hannity and combes” and Greta Van Sustern. I found the dialogue very interesting and I should probably force myself to do this more often. It’s just so hard to see every issue twisted in a way that is so predictable. Now, I fully understand that when I watch Keith Olberman he is totally biased (and it’s easier for me to watch because he pretty much agrees with me), but at least I can say that I don’t remember him calling his show “fair and balanced.” The truth is that whatever I watch, no matter where it comes from, I know I’m watching a “show” and not a news broadcast. There is always an agenda. That being said there were a couple interesting things said that I felt I had to comment on.

First of all, rush limbaugh apparently made some very inflammatory and racially insensitive remarks about Mexican immigrants (surprise! surprise!). Now, I know people who would probably say that rush is not a racist – but the evidence is overwhelming to the contrary. I mean he only lasted about a week on Monday night football due to a racially insensitive remark made on national television and his penchant for insensitive remarks on his radio show is legendary. He gets away with it on his radio show because there are so many people who have become totally disgusted with him and no longer listen. However, he still has a large base of “ditto heads” and he definitely has an influence on American politics, that has to be admitted whether one agrees with him or not. Tonight I found it interesting that he was trying to defend the essentially racial slur he made about Mexican Americans because Obama has taken his exact words, put them in an ad, and called out mccain on one of his many flip flops – that being the immigration issue – which has been essentially pushed under the rug because of all the other issues we’re dealing with right now. Obama is now, evidently (I haven’t seen any ads because they don’t show up where I live) giving it back to the republicans as they’ve been giving it to him. Whether or not Obama has twisted the “context” or not, I guess this proves that the republicans are correct – American politics need to be fought in the gutter. If Obama doesn’t go there, he will be labled “weak.” Now that he seems to be fighting back, he will be accused of abandoning his pledge to fight the election above “board.”

To me, Obama has no choice but to get in the mud. Tonight as I was listening to limbaugh talk about sarah palin – she is obviously the one on the republican ticket that has energized him – it was almost as if he was applauding her willingness and competence at lying. Of course, limbaugh is a famous liar and he seems duly impressed with her skill in this area. And I have to admit, she is pretty good. In fact, even after things she has claimed have been totally debunked, she continues to say them – with a completely straight face – I guess assuming that the people she is talking to don’t know any better or don’t care. Now, I realize that all politicians “spin” things to meet their needs, but the blatant outright lying coming from the palin/mccain campaign has been over the top for me. Also, palin is showing true republican credentials by refusing to allow her surrogates to answer supeonas regarding the so-called “troopergate” investigation, thereby making something that presumably was a non-issue a major one. Even the people in Alaska are wondering what does she have to hide. Why didn’t she just cooperate and therefore get the issue out of the news and behind her? If she did nothing wrong, what is she worried about? Suppposedly she has an 80% approval rating (although I believe that is inflated) in Alaska, and the commision that is investigating is made up predominantly of republicans – so doing the republican refusal to honor supeonas probably excites people like limbaugh, but to me, someone who feels he would have to answer a supeona or be jailed, it seems like a stupid choice.

The other thing I found interesting in listening to the “news” on fox, is that they are mounting a concerted organized effort to put the blame for the economic meltdown on Obama. Now, if they can pull this one off, they will be magicians! mccain has committed gaffe after gaffe this week to go along with the long line of gaffes he’s spewed out of his mouth from the beginning of the campaign regarding the economy. It only takes him a day to reverse what he said the day before – and the limbaughs and the hannitys continue to support him (although I’d guess that at this point even they would admit the economy is not sound). Tonight limbaugh reinforced in my mind why they are willing to do this. mccain’s campaign “mantra” is “country first.” However, these talking heads and their associates could never do that – they always put themselves first. 8 years of bush hasn’t affected them in any way other than to pad their net worth, they still cling to the idea that invading Iraq was wise and we need to stay there until we achieve “victory” (in fact limbaugh is now making claims that Obama has a plan to “steal” victory away from bush), the democrats ruined the economy, and I’m sure they want to “bomb, bomb, bomb” Iran. limbaugh made it clear his deepest concerns about Obama though when he said, “I can’t afford for Obama to be president, I can’t afford to pay the higher taxes.”

Now limbaugh and other republicans, including mccain, claim Obama is going to raise the taxes on all Americans – that is obvious because they know they are in the target group, those earning over $250,000 per year. limbaugh and mccain are going to have to pay a lot more once Obama is president – I can’t wait! What they don’t talk about is the way republicans raise taxes. I mean who is paying for the bailout of Wall Street? They act like no one will ever have to pay back the trillion dollars or more their failed economic policies caused taxpayers to pony up. Of course, they are famous for running up debt and then blaming it on democrats. They even rob the social security trust fund and then complain that it isn’t solvent. That’s because they have no intention of ever paying back the money they take out of it. You can’t believe a single word people like limbaugh say – they are ripping us (the taxpayers) off for billions of dollars, laughing all the way to the bank, and then convincing us that it’s the democrats fault so that they can get another four years in the “candy store.”

You know, they had a great plan – the permanent republican majority. They only need one more victory, four more years in the White House, and they will have the Supreme Court tied up for maybe 30 years. I’m sure at this point they are kicking themselves in the butt for putting gw bush in office. Watching him during this economic crisis has just shown how pathetic a leader he is. He has been invisible, with the exception of maybe five minutes to give short speeches that were written for him by people who are trying to keep him from being in a position where he has to publicly answer questions and further expose how incompetent he is. I believe the republicans are almost as anxious as the democrats to get him out of office. His incompetence is costing a bunch of them a lot of money – and, for them, that is where the “rubber hits the road.” I do hope that the democrats and republicans can work together in the next week to figure out a solution to the crisis we find ourselves in, I’m like anyone else who doesn’t want the entire economy to collapse. This whole episode just makes me feel even more frustrated that there are so many people who could vote for another incompetent politician, one who is there only because he was “born with a silver spoon,” one who looks like a toy windup doll when he’s giving a speech, and one who is totally tied into the special interests that got us into this mess in the first place. mccain is proof that the “invisible” people who are actually running the republican party just need water carriers as the politicians and they think they can win any election no matter who is on the ticket. palin/mccain (as she put it) is the epitome of the arrogance of rove and the others in the background who are really running the show. tonight limbaugh said, “we need to vote all the democrats out, you can’t work with them.” Well, I couldn’t put it better, although you might guess that I would substitute the word republican for democrat. There should be no republican voted in anywhere until they totally refute the policies of the bush/cheney/mccain crowd that got us to where we are. The republican party should be in the same category as the dinosaurs, extinct!

I have to write tonight, but it’s hard for me to figure out where to start. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about our troops and what it must be like to be in the situation of going to Iraq over and over again. I remember Viet Nam, and it was unlikely anyone had to go more than once (of course there was a draft in those days so many of the troops going over were not doing so willingly) but in Iraq I’ve heard stories of soldiers going as many as 5 tours – that doesn’t leave much time for “downtime.” I believe that the troops develop such a bond with each other when they’re in that volatile situation that they feel guilty leaving their “brothers and sisters” over there when they come home which leads to “volunteering” to go back. I don’t have any statistics to back up my thoughts, but I’m just trying to make sense out of all the “stuff” that seems so crazy to me. I guess my thinking is influenced by an experience I had where I went to Mexico on a “mission” with my church to build a small building at a children’s home with a group of people that I will forever consider my brothers and sisters. The only thing that kept me from going back several more times was physical problems that made it virtually impossible. And I say this because most of the people who I shared that experience with have nearly opposite political views to mine, yet I fully understand what wonderful people they are.

I’m saying this to try to frame my thoughts this evening. I really don’t understand why these people continue to support a republican party whose actions totally, in my opinion, defy the words I’ve read in the Bible. I realize that abortion is an issue that drives much of what they think, but at some point I have to believe that they will look past that to the reality of what the republican party has done to our great nation in the past 30 years. The difference between Obama and mccain is stark in almost every instance – including the issues of family values that these people see as so important. The bottom line to me, though, is the real reason for their unwillingness to “trust” Obama and it is a black and white issue.

I am a school teacher and virtually everyone who works in my workplace has a college education. I say that because the presumption would be that they can think for themselves and would be looking past the rhetoric as responsible citizens in an election that few people should be able to deny the importance. I have felt compelled for about the last 3 years to stop passively just letting things happen without at least speaking out to the people around me about the direction of our country. Some people don’t even want to hear it, but I find that unacceptable for a teacher who is supposed to be preparing students to be responsible citizens. I work next to a teacher who I respect completely, who I did everything I could to help him get a teaching position as a second (or more) career. We disagree completely on politics, but that is the beauty of being American, we can discuss, argue, whatever you want to call it – but we can say what we think to each other and we should be doing that in appropriate settings. I’m OK with him trying to convince me to vote for mccain despite my difficulty in understanding how he cound be a mccain supporter – what is important is the dialogue. As teachers we should be making sure that students understand the importance of participating in the process and we should be working to help them learn to think for themselves, learn how to find and disseminate information, and how to learn from sharing ideas with those around them. What we shouldn’t be doing is ignoring what’s going on and looking the other way when we are confronted by issues of importance.

I have been talking to younger teachers for about two years now warning them of what was coming as far as the impending recession, that it was going to be severe. The jury is still out on how severe it will be, but the volitility in ALL the markets of late, not just the stock market, should get most people’s attention. This gets me to what is bugging me this evening (probably more than this evening). If people are paying attention at all, I don’t see how they can possibly be even considering voting for mccain. I suppose die hard republicans who are going to vote for the republican no matter what get a pass here. But even they should be wondering what is going on with their party. bush is in hiding, he came out of his hole today for about two minutes, took no questions after a short generic message, and went back into his hole while everything around him is melting down. HE IS A PATHETIC LEADER! and mccain – well he keeps getting more absurd as each day passes which makes me wonder what is in the water that he would even have a chance in this election.

Tonight I got into a heated argument with one of my best friends over my frustration that bush would not be in office without the almost total support of the so-called “Christian Right” and if mccain wins it will be due to the same group. mccain has set the bar almost out of reach for any future candidate on lying – even the king of liers, karl rove, says he’s gone too far – but the thing that worries me the most is mccain’s incompetence. He seems more incompetent than bush and bush has bungled everything he’s touched. I regret that I didn’t keep track of all the “flip-flops” mccain has made during this election – I remember the furor John Kerry got for a couple times changing his position (and of course, you wouldn’t want someone that was so rigid that they wouldn’t change course if someone convinced them there was a better way to do something) – but mccain is in the ridiculous stage. Just this week he was spouting about how he was “a deregulator” one day and wouldn’t be baling out these big companies on Wall Street (his first brush with trouble as a senator was when he tried to help charles keating avoid regulators with his bank which was instrumental in the S & L crisis in the 80’s) then the very next day pushing for tighter regulations on these big Wall Street firms. Additionally, today, as if it was his idea, he was pushing for a “resolution trust” – he called it something else presumably so he could take credit for the idea that was, I believe, initiated by Barney Frank a few days ago – as a way to take away the burden of this massive bad debt that is destroying the financial industry in our country and around the world (remember, much of the investment in the US of late comes from foriegn governments or entities that are flush with US dollars). Of course that debt will be put on the backs of the taxpayers, something republicans don’t mind doing – although in this instance it’s possibly the only way to avoid a world wide recession, or maybe even depression. The point is; what mccain says depends on which way the wind is blowing.

It should be obvious to anyone who takes just a few moments to fairly look at these two candidates that Obama is extremely bright and mccain is, well to be nice, not so bright. mccain has much in common with bush, probably the most significant being that he wouldn’t be anywhere had he not had a father that “pulled the necessary strings” for him as a young man to get him into Annapolis where he graduated almost at the bottom of a class of around 860 midshipmen. He is called a war hero by the same people who bludgeoned John Kerry in 2004 despite the fact he lost 5 planes including the one that was shot down over Viet Nam, in which he supposedly had committed a blunder. I believe the thing that bothers me the most about mccain is his willingness to say whatever he thinks the people in front of him want to hear – no matter what he said previously. He has no firm positions. He voted against his own immigration bill in congress, and despite being tortured in Viet Nam and speaking out against torture in Iraq he voted to give the president and his underlings the right to torture “enemy combatants” whatever that means.

He opposed expanding offshore drilling, knowing it solves nothing as far as our dependence on foriegn oil, yet to get votes in this election his energy policy (at least at the saddleback forum) has become “drill, drill, drill!” He tries to take credit for the so-called surge in Iraq as if that has been successful. To me, this just shows how ill informed and short-sighted he is. The idea that the “sunni awakening” participants are going to lay down their arms, supplied by the US as we paid them to stop killing our troops and, instead, kill the Al Qaeda insurgents, and then submit to being ruled by the Shia party of as Maliki is a bit optimistic in my view. The Sunni and Shia in Iraq have a history that predates our country by at least a thousand years, and they solve their differences by killing each other. While I truly hope that Iraq is going to become a peaceful, democratic ally of the US, I’m not going to hold my breath. (by the way, the Sunni Awakening began almost a year before the so-called surge took effect and was initiated by a General in Iraq, not mccain)

This week mccain is also trying to lable himself the “change agent” for Washington DC. Now if he wasn’t close in the polls, that would be about as laughable as it gets. The top seven “advisors” in his campaign – which always includes promises to stop earmarks in congress and to fight special interests – are the most powerful lobbyists in Washington. I’m sure once he is elected they are going to just stop what they’re doing. What’s the old saying, “if you believe that I’ve got a bridge to sell you.” I’ve heard the tally by those keeping track that mccain has reversed himself 54 times during this campaign. That is one for the guiness book of records. When I got in the “heated debate” with my friend tonight, he says “Obama is no different.” It is true that Obama is starting to fight back more agressively, but there is nothing he’s said yet that I’ve heard about mccain that isn’t true. It might not be complimentary, I can see how it could be termed “negative,” because it is an attack. And the campaign is heading for the gutter, which is what Obama was trying to avoid. But there becomes a point where if you’re up for the job of president you have to show that you’re a fighter. Anyone who is paying attention knows that the next president is going to inherit a huge mess. In my opinion it will be the biggest mess since what FDR inherited in 1932. The ironic thing about that is the neo-cons have been talking about how they were dismantling the policies of Roosevelt for the last 30 years. And the results of what they’re doing to the “New Deal,” which led to the strongest middle class any country in history has achieved, is apparent in the melting down of our markets – along with the world markets. The solution: more regulation, more government intervention- exactly what they’ve been trying to do away with.

So far ten of my discussions with people who I consider educated have ended with them saying about Obama, “I just don’t trust him.” Depite mccain setting the record for the amount of lies in one campaign, they do trust mccain. Now that just doesn’t make sense. Until you look at some of the emails that are going around the right wing circles about Obama; he’s a muslim, he wasn’t born in the US, he’s going to raise taxes on everyone, it goes on and on. What none of them is willing to say is that he’s black. I’ve had this discussion with several people who disagree with me, including my own daughter, but I believe there is a large number of people out there who feel they are not racist, and probably aren’t, that don’t even understand the reason they don’t “trust” Obama is because he’s black. I realize that encompasses only a percentage – but I’ve seen a bunch of the anti-Obama emails and the racist undertones are disgusting to me – it’s never overt – but it’s there. As I said to my friend tonight when he essentially put me down for my “blog” I know it doesn’t change anything, but it sure makes me feel better to get out the frustration. When it’s gotten to the point that we stand to lose everything we have, our homes, our jobs, our savings because of an incompetent president that is a puppet for a bunch of gready corporatists – I’m no longer willing to accept that all politicians are alike. These republicans have figured out how to steal the American taxpayers blind, and get away with it. We can not stand a repeat performance of the bush crowd. mccain the agent of change? Look up Einstein’s definition of insanity.

I keep wanting to concentrate on my day job and leave this blogging stuff to the real bloggers (whoever they are – I’m going to have to check the so-called blogosphere out at some point). However, on days like today, I just can’t resist – or maybe better yet – I can’t stand to not write. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight if I don’t let some of the “angst” out. Of course, for anyone who’s got their head in the sand, today was further evidence that bush/cheney/mccain are incompetent at more than war. The fact that the stock market dropped over 500 points today was only surprising to me in that they (they being the invisible people who have been behind 30 years of trickle down economics – propping up bushes and reagans along the way) managed to keep it at just around 500.

With Lehman brothers soon to be a bad memory to thousands of Americans who have invested in the stock market, with Merrill Lynch now being an “arm” of Bank of America (as long as Bank of America remains “standing”), with predictions that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are headed in the same downward direction, with the largest, I believe, Insurance company in America teetering on the brink of insolvency, with the housing crisis spreading like the plague, with the Fed strained to the point that their own “liquidity” has been stretched to the max and, according to investment analysts that have proven correct in the last year and a half, they have little ability to stop the downward spiral – today I heard john mccain – I saw it come out of his mouth and heard it with my own ears, no interpretation – say “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

Well, I wasn’t too surprised in the sense that I’ve heard so much garbage coming out of his mouth that nothing surprises me. But as the day wore on and I thought about what is impending for me, my family, my friends – none of us who have experienced any kind of really severe economic depression – I thought I must be a bit on the extreme contrarian side. Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. So when I got home from school I checked out as much news as I could on TV and the internet to get a better grip on what is happening. Paul Krugman, a columnist for the NY Times and a professor of economics at Princeton (I know that republicans would put that down as a liberal university – you know as opposed to a real “think tank” like Robertson’s regents university) was interviewed on Keith Olberman’s Countdown show. Now I realize that Olberman is not an unbiased member of the media – but Krugman is a well respected member of accademia who has a sound understanding of economics and our economic history. This was a segment worth watching, whether you’re a republican or democrat or whatever (we’re all getting screwed by the bumblers in the white house)

I make that last statement with a bit of reservation. Krugman put the blame for the present crisis on two people – that is to say the most blame. Alan Greenspan and phil graham. Now if that last name doesn’t ring a bell for you – if mccain manages to lie and smear his way into the white house phil graham is destined to be the treasury secretary. If him in that role doesn’t scare you, it is the treasury secretary in bush’s administration who is trying to manage the mess our country finds itself in. It is widely agreed that the abusive lending practices that have taken place in the last 5 or 6 years is the cause of the economic meltdown. While Greenspan has been encouraging “deficit spending” (I say this even though Bill Clinton managed the economy into a surpluss during his 8 years in office and Greenspan was at the helm of the Fed during those years – it must be said here that Clinton’s economic “plan” was put in place without a single republican vote in the senate and Greenspan basically went along with it) – Greenspan was a willing “partner” with the bush tax cuts that took Clinton’s surpluss and turned it upside down in less than a year – and I don’t remember him putting up much of a stink, if any at all, when Graham ushered in the banking consolidation bill passed at some time in 1999 which allowed these Wall Street brokerage houses that are falling like flies to supposedly “cut off a fat hog” in the sub-prime investment market by allowing them to purchase large bundles of these risky loans, thereby encouraging more risky lending practices (ye old viscious cycle).

They purchased millions of loans that were unsound by any historic standard, betting on the indefinite rise in the price of real estate. They encouraged ordinary citizens to use their houses as credit cards by offering them loans that were easy to get and had terms that were unbelievable. At one point I was looking for a second mortgage for my house and the bank was willing to loan me up to 125% of the value of my home – which I found incredible – and I had options for interest only payments or even loans that had negative amortization. I couldn’t believe it at the time. Fortunately, I am old enough to have gone through the banking crisis of the 1980’s (and, of course, mccain was right in the middle of that one too) and didn’t bite for any of the exotic loans. They had “adjustable rate mortgages” that allowed people who were unqualified to get into a house – all the while the bank knowing when the interest rate “advanced” in anywhere from 3 to 5 years the people wouldn’t be able to meet the payments unless they had a significant change in income. Of course the bank is protected by the increased value of the real estate! Oops!!!

The reality is that most people’s incomes have either stagnated or gone down while these interest rates have gone up. On top of that, now the prices of their (our) homes are going down so that in millions of instances people are in homes where their mortgage exceeds the value of the home – and the gap is widening every month. To make matters worse, the government has tried to prop up the big investment companies by infusing hundreds of billions into the market and it is just eventually making matters worse because, as I see it, they have no “bullets” left in the barrell to stop the falling housing prices – which is where their efforts should have been directed in the first place. Their policies (and in this case I’m pointing the finger at the Fed and the bush administration – with an assist from a congress which has shown little spine or sense of leadership) have been directed at the big businesses – surprise surprise – I’ve even heard both bush and mccain say that the government should not bail out citizens who made foolish loans they cannot repay.

The problem, to me, with that line of thinking is that that is exactly what they should have done – in an attempt to stop the falling prices. Lehman brothers is now in bankruptcy with losses supposedly in the 60 billion range, Merrill Lynch wrote down 45 billion in the last year and a half, and I could go on. The Fed is on the block for about 30 billion from the bear stearns bailout – with Morgan Stanley supposedly vulnerable for the same outcome. I find it interesting that the Fed and the bush administration were willing to pump something like a half a trillion dollars at these brokerage houses, the classic good money after bad, because their philosophy is they didn’t want to bail out citizens who got sucked into these bad loans. I guess I’m thinking that the money could have been much better spent!

Well, I’m finally getting to my point. As I write this – the stuff just seems to be flowing out and even, should anyone else read this and think I’m nuts, no disrespect intended but I could care less because it’s sure making me feel better. As I get closer to my point, ugh! I start feeling worse again – much worse. Getting back to mccain and his comment that the economy is fundamentally sound, I get sick to my stomach because I think his smear campaign might work. He might win in November. Tonight on the same Olberman show where Krugman was interviewed (and by the way he compared the present situation and comments mccain has made to herbert hoover – now if you don’t know your American history – google herbert hoover) the polls show that the race is tightening. sarah palin evidently is having a positive effect for mccain (I guess if educated people will fall for the muslim thing, convincing them sarah palin is qualified to be commander in chief is no big deal). This race is definitely up in the air. Today, a teacher at my school, a person with a master’s degree, asked me if Obama really took his oath on a Koran. I about came out of my shoes. Then she told me to calm down because she was voting for Obama, but her husband was voting for mccain because he “loves his guns.” The economy is on the verge of the worst downturn since the great depression, 4100+ American troops have died for a lie and oil that is now going to China, we are losing our civil liberties, the government is being dismantled and the Supreme Court will be antagonistic to true American ideals for the rest of my life if mccain gets in, and there are highly educated people all over the place who believe Obama is a muslim (although that wouldn’t disqualify him for me) and he’s going to take away our guns. YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!

Tonight I’m REALLY going to try to write something short. Last night I heard that Iraq had canceled the “deal” made with our multi-national oil companies that was going to allow bush/cheney/mccain to declare “victory.” I had heard a few weeks back that bush had finally strong armed some kind of agreement with al Maliki (Iraqi Prime Minister) to open the spickets of their oil to bush’s “buddies” – while at the same time calling people like me who have claimed from the very first day they began this misadventure to gain possession of Iraq’s oil – I can’t think of the word, but I know it is not a complimentary term – something akin to pro-terrorist. I believe the reason mccain has been spouting about how the surge “has worked” despite the fact that the Shia and Sunni in Iraq are no closer to reconciliation than they were 18 months ago – in fact possibly farther away considering the Sunni “Awakening” is heavily armed (by us) and not likely to give up those arms and submitting to Shia rule – is because of the supposed “oil agreement.”

Well, last night I heard that the Iraqi’s have “scuttled” the agreement with BP, Unocal, etc., etc., (I can’t remember the name of all the companies – I think there were 6 or 7 of them) in favor of an agreement with the Chinese national oil company. Now, I don’t want to say much here because I don’t know much in this regard. However, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that it will be hard for any historian to call any ending to this occupation a victory for the US when they measure how emboldened Iran has become thanks to our incompetence, how our own economy is close to being in ruins thanks to this war and the incompetence of the people waging it, and now the oil that was supposed to pay for it going to China. I guess that’s the best way for the Iraqi’s to get our dollars. As I sit here thinking of the consequences of this if it’s true, I think back to last night and say to myself, did I hear this right?????

Last night I finished Ron Suskind’s book “The Way of the World” and, before I start on my day, I feel I have to write about it. First, for anyone looking for a good read that will stimulate thought, I highly recommend this book. Second, this morning while reading the New York Times online I came across an article about bush pushing for more power for the FBI to “fight terrorism” in the US including in the “decree” additional powers of “racial profiling” which, of course, was worded in another manner. In the justification for this “executive order” bush stated something like “we’re still engaged in an armed war with al qaeda.” The racial profiling and the lying about war are two of the main thesis of Suskind’s book. To me, they are profound reasons why I’m so concerned for the future of my daughters, my granddaughter, my son, my wife, my friends, etc.

The most startling part of Suskind’s book comes at the end. I don’t believe reading this will ruin the book for you if you’re planning to read it. I bought the book after listening to Suskind being interviewed about the book on Keith Olberman’s “Countdown” program on MSNBC. Suskind is not just making statements that he has concluded from circumstantial evidence. He is pointing out actions taken by the bush administration, presumably ordered through cheney’s office, but clearly with the duplicity of bush. The actions were orders given to the CIA and Suskind’s reporting is from direct interviews with the CIA agents who carried out the white house orders. As I read the book I was thankful that finally a couple of the people involved in all this insane American policy have finally “fessed up” and I’m hoping something in the line of accountability comes from this.

Prior to the US invading Iraq bush/cheney et al clearly had evidence from multiple sources from inside Iraq that Saddam Hussein had destroyed all of his WMD. He was postering that he still had them because he didn’t want the Iranians to know that he was disarmed, so to speak. Of course this knowledge “trumped” the reasons for bush/cheney’s plan to invade, but they chose to ignore it. In fact one of the sources, the head of Iraqi Intelligence – a man named Habbush, was being paid $5 million by the CIA for the information, and after bush/cheney chose to igore him they sent him into exile (I believe in Jordan) to live in secret away from retribution from the Iraqi’s.

Once the war was engaged and the US began to have problems politically because everything Habbush told them was true and they found no WMD the White House came up with another plan. They ordered the CIA to have Habbush, in his own handwriting, create a phony document linking Mohammed Atta with Saddam Hussein with the intention of linking Hussein with 9/11, therefore justifying their action of “invading a soveriegn country.” (If you’ve been paying attention to world events during this time you’ve heard bush/cheney/mccain say on several occasions “this is the 21st century and civilized nations don’t invade soveriegn countries”) Once this document was created the CIA planted it in Bagdad with, or so it would end up with, the original “stooge” they put in power (not bremer, but I believe his name was Allawi – the Iraqi refugee who was on the CIA’s payroll prior to the invasion). This document was then given to a British reporter who took it to London, verified that the hadwriting was that of Habbush (who, by the way, the bush/cheney team cleaverly put in the card deck of “wanted” Iraqi’s while hiding him in Jordan) and then the document was published in a widely read conservative newspaper in London.

Of course people (I use the term loosely) like o’reilly, hannity, limbaugh, etc. then picked up on it and the plan had supposedly succeeded because the spinmeisters were spouting how they were right in connecting Hussein and bin laden. Well, eventually the document was debunked because the whereabouts of Atta was such that the “meeting” in the document could not have taken place – so they screwed up on the dates – but until Suskind’s book there was nothing to suggest that the forged document originated from the CIA through orders from the president himself (I’m still not sure if that means bush or cheney). Suskind is very clear in pointing out the severity of this action. The CIA guys knew that it was illegal and there is no question that ordering it done was impeachable. OK, I know what you’re thinking (I’ve already thought it) – Pelosi took impeachment “off the table.” And there’s only a few months left till this nightmare is over (unless they can somehow get mccain in office – uggh! the thought makes me want to throw up). But I have to say that every day the democrats don’t bring this stuff to public light and allow bush/cheney et al to continue unabated really worries me. It appears the republicans are correct – the democrats really are spineless!

Epilogue:I wanted to include one final thought regarding Suskind’s book. One of the characters in the book was a Pakistani citizen who came to America to go to college and ended up working in Washington DC. Part of his experience in America included being arrested and questioned about whether or not he was a terrorist, and it led to a lot of fear on his part that he would be whisked off into some internment camp somewhere never to be heard from again. This is the message we are sending to the rest of the world. They are probably more anxious than those of us who have had our fill of the “bush doctrine” (you know, the doctrine that sarah palin hasn’t a clue about!) for the US to re-exert its “moral authority” in the world. We need to live up to our Ideals. That is why Obama was received with such large and enthusiastic crowds when he made his trip over seas. This idea that we should be suspicious of people who are of middle east descent, just like profiling African Americans or Jews, is unconstitutional and should not be OK with anyone – republican or democrat. bush/cheney have pushed this almost down our throats and the world is waiting for the American public to “get it.” I am hopeful that the bizaar selection of sarah palin to be mccain’s vice president will be the final straw, that people will ultimately understand the futility and absurdity of that decision by mccain, and it will usher in the Obama presidency. Then it will be up to progressives (personally I’m going to start calling myself a liberal) to hold Obama to the promises he has made and the ideals this country was founded on, so that the healing can begin.