I can’t but help to wonder how a man with the intellectual challenges of John McCain could even make it to the point of being a candidate for president from one of the two “major” parties of the US. I can only imagine what this process looks like to the rest of the world. Today, the thought driving my wish to express my opinion comes from recently McCain saying something like “I’m willing to lose an election in order to win a war while my oponent, Senator Obama, appears to be willing to lose a war in order to win an election.” At first, when I first heard him say this and then saw him break into his cheshire cat grin upon completing the sentence was to think where does this guy get off? Does he really think that because he managed to get shot down in Viet Nam, that makes him uniquely qualified to be president and some kind of “commander in chief?” The implication that Senator Obama is willing to “lose the war in order to win an election” is about as over the top unethical and ridiculous as anything I’ve heard in my 40 some years of following American politics. I mean this is coming from a man who doesn’t yet know that Chechoslovakia is no longer a country, that Al Qaeda is Sunni and not supported by Iran (in fact they are funded mainly by our “friends” the Saudi’s), and that Iraq and Pakistan do not have a common border, just to name a few of the “gaffes.” I have watched McCain shift his position (I’m being nice here because we all know the political correct term is “flip-flopped”) on one position after another and then try to portray Senator Obama as a flip-flopper – today it was because of some pictures of his daughters! This is almost laughable to me, except that I fully understand that there are many Americans who are too busy trying to just get by to be paying close attention to what I consider the most important election in the last 50 years in this country. McCain, should he somehow fool enough people into voting for him, is the perfect stooge for the people that are behind the last 35 or so years of “Reaganomics” in this country, the people who have been robbing the middle class blind and seem to have no end to their greed, the people who believe the oil in Iraq is more valuable than the lives of the American heroes who have volunteered to serve in our armed forces. I hope the tide swings so dramatically that the people of this country send a loud and clear message to the republicans that they have to come up with someone who at least has a clue as to the real needs of this great nation. We do need at least two viable parties to make our system function and McCain, following the disastrous GW could turn the republican party into an afterthought. In my opinion, the wisest thing for the republicans to do would be to change their minds as to their “presumptive” candidate and come up with someone who can carry on a legitimate debate on real issues and prevent a total blow out in November. While I am a supporter of Obama, I fear the results to too much “democrat.” The democratic congress have not proven themselves to be courageous in dealing with the far reaching abuses of power perpetrated by bush. They are the ones who are constitutionally compelled to “check” the power of the executive branch of government. As much as I like Obama, it is not his job if he’s elected to restore the executive branch to it’s rightful position in our system, it is the job of the congress. We need the give and take of the two party system. I believe Obama will be a uniter, but if the dems have too tight a grip on congress there won’t be any need to unite. Republicans, if McCain stays in this election, I fear Obama’s “coattails” will reduce your position in congress to one of spectator and complainer. You might think of finding a way to get McCain to step aside and at least get someone like Romney in there who could make this a real contest, if it’s not too late. The bottom line to me, John McCain, as a presidential candidate, is pitiful!!!!

First, I realize that until someone “discovers” my so-called blog, I’m writing to myself. However, it seems to help with the frustration of watching my country seem to be fading into the sunset, and a large percentage of people not caring. I will say this, as I’ve watched Barack Obama make a trip through Europe and into the Middle East, it is very apparent that the rest of the world is waiting for the citizens of the US to wake up. I honestly believe that if by some strange miracle – like maybe fixed voting machines as per 2000 and 2004 – McCain is elected president we will be considered a third world nation by the rest of the world. I’ve seen some incredible numbers as to the excitement Obama is generating in the rest of the world and I’m hopeful that it is just a matter of time until more people in this country wake up. Back to my topic; can you imagine if we elect a self proclaimed “expert” on foriegn policy that doesn’t understand that the country of Chechoslovakia (I’m not ever sure how to spell it, but I’m not running for president and if I was I would figure it out!) has not existed for over 15 years, a person who talks about the Iraq/Pakastani border (evidently he’s thinking along with many of the rest of us that the ultimate outcome of the US invasion of Iraq will be the consolidation of Iraq and Iran – therefore calling it the Iraq-Pakistan border), and a person who is so unfamiliar with the Sunni-Shia rivalry in the Middle East that he suggested that the Shia in Iran were training and equipping the Sunni led Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. What I find very interesting is that the incompetence of McCain is much better understood outside the borders of this country. I’m wondering if this is because should the general public really understand what a bafoon he is and how unqualified he is to lead this country at this point in our history it would cost the media conglomerates millions because the upcoming election would be such a landslide. I mean, I can’t even picture republicans voting for this guy once they see him up close and personal as will be the case during this election cycle. I don’t believe a party has ever rebelled against a “presumptive nominee” before, but how could the republicans have come up with this guy? When I heard that he placed close to the bottom of his class in military college, something like 850 out of 860, I didn’t get the significance. But you put the fact he’s 72 years old (I’m 60 and have a good idea of what it means to be getting old and I can’t imagine electing a 72 year old person to the most important position in our country at such an important time in our history) with his apparent intellectual weakness and you look at all these gaffs he’s committing on a regular basis, and I honestly wonder how he could even get to this point. I really am concerned that the republican party is going to get hammered so hard in November that we will face the reverse of what got us to this point, and that is a democratic president along with a democratic congress. I truly believe that our founders devised the system of checks and balances to prevent what they called “tyranny of the majority” and while we are seeing the result of that from this batch of republicans that are hopefully on the way out, I don’t think a good dose of the same thing from the other side is going to solve anything. Obama calls himself a uniter and I hope that is the case, and I also hope that we can begin to elect people to congress, whether republican or democrat, that have the best interests of the public in mind. A good first step would be to eliminate the ability of congressional members from accepting any money from special interest groups – but that is a topic for another day.

Tonight I wrote a lengthy message to Senator Obama expressing my dismay with his choice to cave in to the Bush criminals regarding the warrantless wiretapping that evidence suggests has been going on long before 9/11. The administration justifies this lawbreaking and intrusion on our constitutional rights by saying we needed protection from terrorists. If that is the case then why is there evidence that the government approached Joseph Nacchio of Qwest Communications fully 6 1/2 months prior to 9/11 with a request for warrantless wiretapping, in February of 2001? If Nacchio is correct in his assertion the Bush reaction to his refusal to do so without getting lawyers involved, the canceling of large government contracts, is par for the course for this administration. Emotionally, I really want to see GW Bush held criminally accountable for the most wide spread lawbreaking I’ve seen in my voting life (40 years) – but when I think about this rationally, my main concern is the willingness of the Congress and many in the public sector to stand idly by while our constitutional rights are being chipped away at. My hope is that somehow this will be rectified through the courts – retroactive immunity? That doesn’t even sound right. If people broke the law, if they violated the rights of individuals, should they get a pass because we’re afraid? If that is the case it feels to me like the terrorists are winning. What more could they ask for but for us to crumble from within? Al Qaeda got a virtual free pass when Bush chose his adventure into Iraq, based on lies that apparently we’re going to let him get away with. A covert CIA agent was “outed” which is a treasonous offense and there is ample evidence that Bush and Cheney were involved, Bush in the very least being part of the coverup, and yet no investigation. Our economy is crumbling at the seems – being steered by people who seem incredibly incompetent and interested only in their own fortunes. The republicans incredibly couldn’t come up with anyone more qualified than John McCain who is laughable and getting worse. He seems like a downgrade from Bush to me. So what is it the democrats are afraid of? Why would Obama cave on such an issue of principal? I really don’t get it. Here is the scenario that I’m really afraid of: The dems are going to just try to let GW ride out his term so they can heave a great big sigh of relief next January. In the mean time, we go into a severe recession, with hyper inflation, in our national economy and Bush, Cheney, and their cronies take a shot at Iran. Of course Iran is the big winner already from Bush’s ineptitude. About the best the US can hope for in the Iraq invasion is that the Shia ruling party takes hold and, as they are kicking us out of their country, they end up with some kind of stable country that inevitably is going to be allied with Iran, making Iran the major power of the region. Iran will be thanking Bush for years to come for getting rid of their nemesis Sadam Hussein. The mess is getting worse every day, and the democrats appear to be so focused on “winning” the next election that the losses from their inaction will possibly linger for decades to come. If Bush is allowed to, as McCain put it, “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” the mess will be huge. Due to the fact that we have emboldened Iran, it is our responsibility to figure out how to reign them in without bringing the Middle East to the brink of a major war. I realize the people associated with Bush are OK with that because they have a long history of profiting from war (GW’s Grandfathers made a fortune selling arms to Hitler prior to WWII). This is why I can’t figure out why Obama would agree to anything to further Bush’s agenda. I read his book “The Audacity of Hope” and it lifted my spirits. And the truth is that he’s the only hope we have at this point to turn around this assault on our government, our freedoms, our economy, and our standing in the world (I can’t even imagine John McCain as president – I can’t picture that there are enough people that stupid in this country). If Obama starts to feel the urge to placate the so-called “right” we’re all in big trouble. The way I see it, if these criminals are allowed to get away with their crimes, the precedent will be devastating. I don’t trust the next president, whoever it is, to give up presidential power – even though it has been attained illegally. As they say, “What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander!” and I’m really concerned that the damage being done won’t be reversed post Bush. It needs to be done now. Impeachment is a constitutional check for situations just like this, it wasn’t intended for lying about sex. What are the democrats thinking? Bush is going to, provided he gets his free ride to the end of his term, give everyone in his administration “blanket immunity” and they are going to laugh their way to the bank with the rest of the bounty from his eight miserable years in office (not even taking into account that history will be robbed of anything that resembles the truth as to what they were really doing). While I can’t wait for Bush’s term to be “history” I will probably spend the rest of my life wondering what was wrong with these democrats to allow him to get away with this. One last thing- it has always boggled my mind that more republicans haven’t stood up against this crook. However, some people that I thought I would never be on the same side of the fence have. Noteably: Bob Barr, Bruce Fein, John Dean, and most inspiring to me Kevin Phillips. These republicans can see past the partisanship better than most that I’ve listened to or read and they recognize the danger of what is transpiring with Bush/Cheney et al (I have read a couple books each by Dean and Phillips and they are quite informative and direct in their “looks” into the action of this despicable president). I hope the Congress wakes up before it’s too late and especially in Obama’s case; the thing that most encouraged me as I got to know him was the feeling he would be a forceful leader. However, this cave-in on the warrantless wiretapping and the “trust me” comments are making me queasy and feeling that my worst fears are still in play. This country, in my opinion, has survived due to our steadfast acceptance and reliance on our written constitution. I don’t want to have to “trust” anyone with this, I just want my leaders to uphold their pledges to protect, obey, and enforce the constitution as it was written over 200 years ago!

I guess I’m writing this post just to get my thoughts down with a date on them.  Sometime back I submitted one of the many unaccepted Op-ed articles I’ve sent to the NY Times asking what is going to become of our professional, private armies once America finally withdraws from Iraq.  The thought came to mind again after hearing commentary about the recent Supreme Court decision regarding guns and our “right to bear arms” in America.  While I didn’t get totally involved in the discussion of this decision, I noticed that much of it centered around the reference to “militias” and what the interpretation of that was.  Most of what I heard referred to the “militias” as the National Guard – that being the present day interpretation of the term.  However, I was reminded of my previous thought back when Blackwater employees had killed something like 17 innocent Iraqi civilians and it was determined that they were not subjet to Iraqi or American law.  So I raise the question again, just in case someone out there notices: what is going to happen with these multi-billion dollar para military organizations once there is no Iraq war for them to thrive on no-bid contracts from our militaristic government.  It is clear (or at least I hope I’m seeing this correctly) that the American people are resoundly rejecting the war mongering of bush and, dutifully waiting in the wings, mccain.  However, it is also common knowledge that corporate America has a huge investment in the present direction of our country, and I’m just wondering what’s going to happen to these private armies?  Are they just going to go away?  I’ve heard that blackwater has training facilities that rival our own military.  I’ve heard that they have recruited some of the toughest international thugs out there to “man the ship” so to speak.  I’ve heard they are a billion dollar “industry.”  So the question is, again;  Are they just going to go away, or is there something up someone’s “sleave” that we don’t know about?  I invite anyone who sees this to clue me in!

Well, tonight I was sitting with some friends, I’m 60 years young, and when a couple of my friends actually, with passion, said they hope bush (I can’t even force myself to use a capital letter to spell his name because I don’t consider it a proper noun) “stays the course” right up to the end of his term, it was all I could do to remain polite.  And these are long term friends who I love dearly.  They are devout Christians, as am I, and I know better than to get on the topic because to me comments like that remind me of what Jesus said when he was being crucified: “Forgive them for they don’t know what they’re saying” (I changed it a bit :o).  I refrained from going off on them, but since they left all I can think about are the 4000+ men and women who have been sacrificed for the greed of a small cabal of people who put money and power ahead of human lives – while portaying themselves as “prolife.”  I have a three year old granddaughter, and ever since she was born I started to feel guilty for the lack of commitment I have had in the last 25+ years as I’ve watched our government being hijacked by a group of people who are seemingly insatiable in their greed.  There seems to be no bounds as to what they will do for money and power, as I mentioned earlier.  I’m not going to get into all of my feelings and frustrations at this point, I just decided to create a “blog” after listening to my friends tonight. 

Actually, I don’t even know what a blog is.  I’m kind of getting the idea as I sit here and write.  I hope this works and ends up being posted, I hope it goes to the right spot, and I hope I have set up my domain correctly.  What I know is that I have a domain with 1 and 1 internet services (I got this a few years ago so that I could have my own email address and try to control the spam that comes to my computer) – and by the way, if you’re looking to get your own domain or to start a website, I actually created a website, MostlyMorgans.com, where I’m trying to sell my silver dollar collection and it is working, I highly recommend 1 and 1.  I already feel better just sitting down and writing this, so my plan is to start expressing my thoughts, feelings, frustrations, ideas, etc. on this blog.  If you discover it, I would enjoy the opportunity to share ideas, argue about politics, agree about politics, or talk about whatever – I just hope that anyone who participates in any discussion that might take place on this site would be polite in the language they use – although passion is certainly welcome.  I know that I’m feeling a lot of passion for the coming election and that is what my messages will probably be focused on, but there are a lot of areas that are worthy of discussion, because in my opinion, there isn’t much that is working correctly when it comes to OUR government. 

I’m a public school teacher, I teach my students that my goal is for them to mature into productive and responsible citizens, and I feel the obligation to be more responsible myself.  It is easy to feel that one person can’t make a difference, but I know that it is important for everyone to participate in our democracy because we are “we the people” and by not participating, paying attention, looking past the headlines, we the people are in danger of losing this system that many of my friends and relatives have died to protect.  So, this is my attempt to gear up my participation in our “system” and I hope that somehow people find this site and contribute their thoughts.  I started this election cycle as a John Edwards supporter and have evolved into a strong Obama supporter.  I can’t even imagine a scenario where John McCain could become president.  That’s what really bothered me tonight listening to my two friends.  They would accept McCain because he’s a republican.  They would be happy to see the war continue and they don’t seem to be able to connect the dots when it comes to the state of our economy and the policies of the bush administration.  The fact that our president has admitted to violating the constitution and one law after another, doesn’t seem to bother them.  They have what I call the limbaugh, hannity, orielly justification for these crimes. 

In fact, regarding the bush “outing” of Valerie Plame Wilson, which is a treasonous act, one of these two friend said to me “she was just a secretary.”  How do you respond to that when it’s your friend?  I want to respect what people think, but I truly believe our country is at stake here.  I’ve been paying attention (just not being active) for over 40 years – and I feel that we are possibly going into the most severe economic time since the great depression, and if all the short term “fixes” that the fed has put into place over the last 8 months or so backfire, as I believe they might, it could conceivalby be worse.  Even if Obama wins, I believe that if he doesn’t take strong measures to address the misbehavior of the bush “crime family” our standing in the world is teetering on a disastrous one and we need change, as he campaigns, but we need to show the world that torture, military adventurism, total disregard for the planet, greed, and unilateralism is not the “American way.”  Well it’s time to sign off, I hope someone sees this and it spurs a conversation.