The Truth: Jeff Jacoby, I really do try to see your point of view. Sometimes, though, I wonder if we are living on the same planet or if our eyes are biologically constructed of completely different stuff. With all that has happened in Iraq, all that has been written, all the corruption, lies, half-truths and murderous behavior that has been exposed how you can write what you do I will never understand. How you can write in support of a policy that has wrought one of the greatest human disasters in modern history, with the exception of the Hitlerian era, is beyond me. Do you even realize the hundreds of thousands of human beings who have been decimated, how many millions have been uprooted not to mention the trillions spent and wasted?

There is often not one Iraqi family to be found who has not lost someone as a direct result of George Bush's Iraq war. While the insurgency is probably temporarily squelched, water, sewer facilities, electricity, hospitals and other modern constructs in Iraq are often non existent or spasmodic at best. Buildings are ruined, bodies are ruined and there is still the killing and still the death. Of course, as you put it, success is now measured by "just five Americans killed in combat in July 08." Just five -- mmm -- I wonder who those five are. Are they members of YOUR family? Are they YOUR son or YOUR daughter or YOUR wife or YOUR cousin? Who are those "just five?" How easy it is for you to talk about those "just five" as if those statistics were representative of merely lines on a graph. Moreover, and maybe more disturbing to our security is that US occupation of Iraq has destabilized the entire region including Pakistan, a nuclear armed country. It is evidenced today with yet another bombing there. Our preoccupation with Iraq and the reemergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan has even emboldened Russia as it knows the US can do nothing. We have no army left with which to do anything. The border of Georgia, a thoroughfare for possible nuclear enriched uranium contraband, is closed to US monitoring of possible terrorist smuggling. A dirty bomb, because of that, could find its way into the US. I am more than frightened I am horror stricken.

What is there in the conservative brain that is the missing link to a concern for humanity -- ALL humanity not simply American humanity. I would love to know where the missing synapse is located in the conservative cerebral hemisphere that sees only American life as valuable life or thinks it can bamboozle an uninformed public to think our country is benevolently spreading democracy all over the world. If there were no oil in Iraq we would not have cared a wit about democracy there. To the contrary at a different time in the history of Iraq and when the US found it convenient, Saddam Hussein was our friend even as he gassed his own people. I would love to know how you can eradicate truth so easily. How can you deny all the deceit? How can you not see all the evidence showing documentation of events -- letters fabricated, dubious anthrax investigations, cover ups galore, not to mention exposing a CIA operative and thereby compromising the efforts to uncover terror? There is, too, the ever-present advocacy and implementation of torture. Under different circumstances the perpetrators of these fabrications, lies and illegalities would be apprehended and tried by an international criminal court. I do not know how anyone, after so much that has been shown to be false, horrendously executed, woefully wrong about the nature of Iraq its real threat and the cultural realities of its people, could offer a rationale for this war and say if they could they would do it all over again. I am staggered by your utterly imperviousness to truth.

I have watched Generation Kill -- an excellent HBO documentary which follows a company of marines as they invade Iraq during the first phase of the war. I am struck dumb by the stark difference between the two peoples who face each other in combat. The US military and the Iraqi citizen look like two different species from different planets. Each has no idea who the hell the other is. I think this captures the essence of why this war is utterly futile. The insurgent enemy is nameless, faceless, endless and alien. When one dies another is replaced. Life is cheap. Fighting terrorism, as Gore Vidal has quite rightly said, is like fighting dandruff. To wage a war against it requires continuous maintenance and can never be curtailed no matter how much professional military might is used. It needs prescient national and international localized police vigilance to capture or kill those few who would do great harm to this country and to others all over the world. It also needs, most importantly, insightful foreign policy behaviors which do not antagonize people but try to win them over -- hearts and minds and all. War does not do that. Winning a military victory or the glorious fight in Iraq is an ILLUSION. It will never happen. You are duped. The cruel immorality is you dupe others into believing up is down and wrong is right. I don't mind if you and your ilk sacrifice your own lives but the frightful thing to me is you will sacrifice my life and others I love for your blinded vision which does not see the truth.

The Pastor's Question: The media’s handling of Pastor Rick Warren’s exchange between Barack Obama and John McCain about abortion was obviously biased. The question that Pastor Warren posed: When does a human being get human rights is a TRAP question. The answer Barack gave "it is above my pay grade" meant, I believe, that he is not God, therefore, he cannot answer that question. Perhaps he could have answered that question more completely BUT I believe he meant that when life begins is a profound determination which each person has to make for herself. He could, and perhaps should, have said that decision is between her and God not her and the state or the president.

The media editorialized and called his answer flip. It was not flip. The media holds Obama to a different standard from McCain. Every word Barack Obama utters is parsed to try to "get" something on him. The news media made McCain, during that exchange, look direct and sure. That audience which is from, generally, the religious right, liked McCain's answer and, of course, as described, appreciated it.

Perhaps, Senator Obama should have said if abortion is made illegal many women, probably mostly poor women because the rich always find a way to do what they want, will seek abortions often times from a person who is not a doctor carrying the obvious risk of a full term human being dying from infection and other toxic occurrences. This was the fate of many women when abortion was illegal.

In addition, possibly, he SHOULD have said there are other very complex factors where the mother's life is threatened, other fetal complications occur, or when a pregnancy is conceived through rape or incest which MUST be taken into account when determining the fate of a pregnancy and the answer to that question.
The moral question should be: Do we want full term human beings being killed by abortions performed by unqualified persons in filthy settings for money?

I suspect most media moguls want McCain to win for their own avaricious reasons. If John McCain wins we will get a presidency which not only will attempt to sink Roe v. Wade but, most importantly, will sink this country with respect to the other grave life threatening issues we all face.

The audience in this decidedly biased arena espouses, generally, its well known view. One should try asking that same question at Boston University, Harvard, MIT or Yale and see the response one gets. I suspect it would be quite the opposite. Perhaps, John McCain should give his answer there?

The Victims of Victory: The horrific the consequences of Bush's Iraq War are evident. Nearly every single problem of magnitude we now suffer both domestically and in foreign affairs can be laid at the foot of the Iraq War. This quagmire has had extenuating consequences which include a trillion buck war responsible in pertinent part for an economy gone sour, nearly 5000 dead, thousands wounded, and yet thousands more returning home with significant psychological disorders. What victory have we won? I submit, victory in Iraq is an illusion.

We have almost no credibility throughout the world and no way of defending ourselves against anything as our military is stretched so thin. The Taliban have reemerged stronger than ever in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, probably harboring Bin Laden, and are out anyone's control. Iraq is a direct cause of the unrest in Pakistan (a country which actually has the bomb) and our guy Musharaf will either be gone, exiled or worse. The entire region is unstable with millions of Iraqi refugees having fled to Jordan and Syria, two countries which cannot support them. The refugees languish. Can you imagine the social consequences of that? Families have been ruined probably for generations.

Most importantly, Bush's war is directly responsible for the rise of Iran, a threatening country, which now has hegemony and great influence in the region and beyond. Iraq, too, is responsible for Russia's brazenness in the Caucuses i.e. Georgia and probably in other Baltic states soon. After the unilateral unprovoked invasion of Iraq, George Bush calling the Russian advance in Georgia aggression is laughable if it were not so utterly hypocritical and consequential. The Decider-in-Chief thinking he can flex his muscles with a "defense" system in Poland in response to that is idiocy. Russia will not stand idly by. It understands American weakness. The United States cannot, because of Iraq, devote its necessary attention elsewhere where it needs to.

The fact that bellicose McCain can even be thought of as a possibility for the continuation of the George Bush presidency is testament to the lack of the American public's understanding, foresight and lack of caring about issues which threaten all of us. If we elect the same as usual we will have only ourselves to blame if the usual remains the same. When times were tough our country often was blessed with great leadership. That needs to happen now. If we do not experience systemic change we may not have a country left to change. Potential war with Russia is serious business ... VERY serious. There needs to be someone in charge who has a degree of intellect and a penchant for systemic change if our nation is to survive. We have no time left.

No Time Left: John Turman "What Counts as Success in Iraq" see link below, was right on the money. He is EXACTLY correct in EVERYTHING he says about the so called "victory" in Iraq.

The AWFUL the consequences of Bush's horrific execution of the Iraq War are evident. Every single problem we now encounter can be laid at the foot of the Iraq DEBACLE. A trillion buck war, an economy gone sour, 5000 dead, hundreds of thousands wounded, not to mention hundreds of thousands with psychological disorders. We have NO credibility and no way of defending ourselves against anything as our military is stretched SO thin. Worse the Taliban have reemerged stronger than ever in the tribal areas of Pakistan which will be OUT of Musharf's control very very soon. Iraq is a direct cause of the discombobulating of Pakistan (which actually HAS the bomb) and our guy Mussharf will either be gone, exiled or killed shortly. The WHOLE region is unstable with MILLIONS of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria languishing. Can you imagine the social consequences of that? Families have been ruined.

MOST importantly Bush's war is directly responsible for the rise of Iran, and responsible for Russia's brazenness in the Caucuses i.e. Georgia and probably other Baltic states soon. The Decider in Chief thinking he can flex his muscles with a "defense" system in Poland in response to that is IDIOCY. SURE, the United States has as much credibility as NOTHING. The fact that bellicose McCain can even be thought of as a possibility is testament to the insipidness of the American thought OR lack of it. If we do elect the same as usual we will have only ourselves to blame for the coming catastrophe. When times were tough for our country often great leaders came to the our rescue. It better happen now. If we do NOT change our ENTIRE system, Republican AND Democrat alike, we will not have a country left. We may not even have our life. Potential war with Russia is serious business ... VERY serious. There needs to be someone in office who has a DEGREE of intellect. We have no time left.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/15/what_counts_as_success_in_iraq/

The Love of My Life: Is there some kind of eternity life pill that we could give to Bill Moyers? What would we do without him? I have no idea. He is priceless. Bill, you are not just loved you are adored. Every time I tune in I learn something new. Every time I tune in what I learn new is yet another scurrilous episode of the rich and powerful or big business, big money or big media going wild at the expense of those who cannot fight back. Money always wins except when Bill Moyers and a few righteous others point their spears. Where, indeed, is the America that I knew as a child? Gone to graveyards everyone. It is no longer. Without Bill us little Americans would NEVER know how big America is ruining our lives. Long may you live, Bill. You are justice's only hope.

No time to waste:

A relative of mine asked me what I hoped to gain by an Obama presidency. I gave it a lot of thought. What did I really feel would change for our country through an Obama presidency? Often people say that it really does not mater who occupies the seats of power as things usually stay the same. George Bush has shown that to be false but will the Obama presidency really change anything?

I concluded after much thought that an Obama presidency WILL significantly alter the course of our nation. I believe the very core -- the very essence -- of Senator Obama is different from all others who have occupied or attempted to occupy the most powerful position on planet earth. I am HOPING and believing not only for a change to occur, I am hoping for an about face in the course of our ship of state.

I believe Barack Obama does not have to use, as George Bush and the Republican Party did, the word “compassionate” modifying a word conservative. The Democrat Barack Obama is ABOUT compassion. His party does not need a modifier explaining it as such. I believe compassion sits in the circumference and depth of Barack Obama’s heart because he has known difficulty, he has known disappointment, he has known loneliness and he has known rejection. Barack Obama has risen above the vicissitudes of life to create a movement unparalleled in US history and perhaps unparalleled in the world. The character of the man comes not from privilege or from marrying into great wealth but from appreciating what it feels like to be relegated to the back of the bus. He is an example to all.

I believe Barack Obama is about intellect. He has a LOT of it. He is about reading and searching for truth. He is about using science over ignorance to fight disease and to fight the melting of our planet. I believe he will not simply TALK about reversing global warming, stem cell research or alternative sources of energy he will DO something to create these life saving remedies. I believe in his heart he is about we the people those who gave a lot of money BUT more for those who gave five, ten or even two dollars to his campaign. There are reasons his presence brings so many adoring crowds and his campaign coffers are full.

He will change the course of this nation. I believe he will enact a new foreign policy. He will rely on not bombs, the superficialities of swagger and the bellicosity of war first but understanding, dialogue and negotiation with our adversaries. He will not be afraid to use our nation’s awesome force BUT only as a last resort. He will never relegate our country, its resources and its blood to a preemptive war based on lies with no end in sight.

By redirecting the course of our nation we could use its abundant resources to improve our human condition. Roads could be built, bridges could be repaired, a crumbling infrastructure could be renewed and healthcare, most of all, could be afforded to everyone and not to simply the few who were blessed with either money or good health. Never to have to worry about the onslaughts of disease mixed with the reality of poverty which seals a person’s fate will, I believe, truly be one of his greatest legacies.

I believe he will turn this country around. I believe he will bring hope but more than hope I believe he will bring that hope to reality. He must do that as the time is short and our burden is heavy. I believe by changing the course of our ship of state, Barack Obama can deliver a NEW New Deal and keep our Titanic ship of state from its impending disaster. We have no time to waste.

George Bush's China Syndrome: It is the height of hypocrisy that George Bush is lecturing China on the birthright of freedom. This coming from a man that pushed for anything but in his own country with the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, signing statements galore, torture and executive orders stripping one of the bedrocks of our republic, habeas corpus. It is utterly ridiculous for him to preach to anyone. While China has a lot of improvement to go incorporating a Bill of Rights and changing its policy toward most especially Tibet and Darfur, China has made ENORMOUS economic and cultural strides in their nation. They are PROgressing not regressing. The US is going backwards -- our economy in the tank, our infrastructure crumbling, our Constitution shredded, quagmired in a war for over five years based on lies for no reason which it cannot end.

The only thing positive taken from the failed presidency of George W. Bush is that presently Barack Obama is ahead in the polls and may win in November. I surely hope so. I am looking forward to a new day in my country I love. It will be a day without George W. Bush or one like him and a day which I hope sees to it that another president with an utterly corrupt agenda and savage bullying soul never crosses the threshold of our beautiful White House again. He never deserved the honor in the first place and has proven that over and over again. Go home from China, George, and take the speck out of your own eye before you criticize the one in anyone else!

What ME Worry?: I enjoyed Jeff Jacoby's editorial "What them worry?" in the August 6 Globe. I cannot argue with any of it. It was well written, as usual . There is truth to this one. Conservatives, though, start worrying me when they begin to wax on and on about the horrendous deficit and what they perceive are its causes. The similarities between I as a progressive and Jeff Jacoby as a conservative are that we both agree the Bush deficits are absolutely humongous and will be a horrific burden for future generations to undo. The difference between the two of us, though, is what government expenditures we would love to trim. When conservatives decry all the "entitlement programs" they are speaking about the various humanitarian programs government since the New Deal has employed. I then start to get nervous as those so called entitlements save my and the whole country's life. When conservatives want to cut entitlements they mean they want to cut programs for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the handicapped, the retired or the dispossessed. When I talk about balancing the budget I mean cutting huge wasted expenditures on a military and now a war industrial complex gone haywire. The operative word here, I believe, is humanitarian. I know, of course, a military is necessary so please do not think I am stupidly naive and want to cut out military spending to the degree it would put our country at great risk. Even Dwight Eisenhower, president and five star general, though, talked about the dangers of a bloated military and I believe Dwight Eisenhower was no liberal. If the cuts come anywhere, I believe, they should start trimming our military budget and revisiting nature of our foreign policy which gets us into purposeless no-end-in-sight wars which cost a fortune. That is the real culprit which puts this nation at great risk.

I tried to email benfurw as he asked me to respond to his comment about the Anthrax investigation and the alleged perpetrator's suicide. The email did not for some reason go through. So I will do it on my blog itself. Thank you for your comment.

If you read well what I said I never make a statement saying that there is proof positive that something conspiratorial occurred. I would NEVER do that without having absolute proof positive that it did. All I am saying is there are questions. I am NOT absolutely NOT a conspiracy theorist advocate usually ever. I am one of the few who believe Oswald actually acted alone. In the Bush's administration's case though the corruption -- documented corruption -- has been SO systemic and so part of this administration's modus operandi, I really said the thing about THINKING this government -- the Bush government -- complicit in the Antrax attack to push its insane war was that it really did NOT seem totally kooky. THAT is what I find surprising.

In Ron Suskind's new book, "The Way of the World", this administration, to drum up advocacy for the war, allegedly did impeachable and very illegal things. Yet more questioning occurs about this rancid administration's proclivity to, by any means necessary, do what they have to do to support their cause INCLUDING, according to Suskind's taped reliable sources, constructing a fake letter stating the connection between Mohammad Atta and Sadam Hussein. Of course, there was none.

This administration EVEN has US attorneys fired because they are not political enough in the right direction (Pardon the pun). Really, sir, there is ample proof of a thousand different scandals of corruption and manipulation of facts whether it's Anthrax or global warming or justification for Iraq. They even fudge science. This administration promulgated a war which we now know UNEQUIVOCALLY was falsely based on lies. Sir, we are talking LIVES. 4000 of them plus hundreds of thousands of others and horrendously wounded and a Middle East discombobulated like it needed to be discombobulated any more. Now Iran is a huge player and top dog and could gain hegemony in the worst of all possible areas, the Middle East.

The funniest part is that I, an ardent Democrat and more often than not a progressive, actually supported the Iraq war initially because I really thought in my stupidity that my president was telling the truth. I thought, what if what our government told us was true. Others more savvy and in-the-know than certainly I said it could be true based on the "proof" of what the government said. I even once entertained the idea that maybe it was divine purpose, even though I never supported Bush for the presidency, that he with his cowboy bully mentality was in there for a reason. I was so utterly angry and aggrieved by 9/11, I forgot to question everything this government said. I should have known better. Truth be told I suppose I am SO angry now that what I believed initially was so categorically false in every way. I look like an idiot to all my very smart friends and am constantly having to defend the indefensible.

So to recap..it's not that I see the truth of an Anthrax government conspiracy staring me in the face. I don't -- not yet. There are questions though and more today in The Boston Globe as the FBI tried to PAY Iven's daughter to turn in her father. What is that about? So it's that it really does NOT seem preposterous that an attempt was made by this White House to either perpetrate the Anthrax attack or USE the Anthrax attack to sell its agenda. That I can even entertain the possibility of that is what is startling to me and says so much about this administration. They surely verbally tried to link the attacks to Iraq and Iraq to all things terrorist but surprise they were wrong. Iraq had nothing to do with anything. How could a government go SO wrong and the people let it happen?

My point is this government is capable (as probably all governments are) of anything and does, in fact, do unethical and even illegal things. True they do not do much well so it probably was not a conspiracy. I just thought this country was above going to the sewer or as Cheney characterizes it "the dark side". I'm all for "going to the dark side" IF there is some light shed on truth. MY mistake. That is what I am really so angry about.

Rakan's War: I have never read a more poignant overwhelmingly emotional story than the Sunday, August 3 Boston Globe front page story "Rakan's War". It is absolutely beautifully written and, I believe, says so much. It says much about man's kindness and abilities to do good. The sadness, too, was piercing. I read it with tears streaming down my face. It says all people Christian, Muslim and Jew are capable of such good. It is an incredible story that should, I think, be memorialized in film.

It is about most especially, too, our country's staggering Iraq invasion which after all is directly related to the young boy Rakan's ultimate fate. Although I do not often wax Biblical there are some things said within it that, I believe are true. I thought of two: Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind"; I might add: Father, forgive us for we know not what we have done! I paste the link below.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/

Suicide? What do YOU think? The suicide of the Bruce Ivans the alleged perpetrator of the Anthrax attacks is problematic at best. Could our own government have had any knowledge of the 2001 Anthrax attacks before they even occurred? Could our government have been involved in the perpetration of these Anthrax attacks or in any way used these horrendous attacks which killed five people and sickened 17 others to help push its war in Iraq? Ask Valerie Pflame how far this government will go to silence its critics of the war. It is seemingly ridiculous to think our government could, in any way, be linked to the knowledge of the Anthrax attacks of 2001. Yet it is not ridiculous. It is believable. John McCain in 2001 said on the David Letterman Show that the Anthrax attacks COULD have been perpetrated by Sadam Hussein. Tell me another lie. For eight long years our government has lied, cajoled, corrupted, destroyed peremptorily and without cause a sovereign nation, destroyed our constitution and our nation has become the closest thing to a fascist state that I would ever imagine in my wildest dreams possible in this our once democratic country.

There are too many questions that are unresolved about the Antrax attacks. Who knew what and when did they know it? Why did it take so long and why did they harass and accuse initially the wrong man when the "right" man was in the same locale and cameras were always rolling in this top secret US government facility? Why were only liberals like Tom Dashle and Senator Patrick Leahy targets as well as Tom Brokaw of NBC News? Could the CIA and NOT the FBI have been involved in the Anthrax debacle so that the Iraq war would be wholeheartedly accepted by the American public in 2001? These are questions now that do not seem outrageous. They do not seem nutty. That is what is outrageous.

A government which can conduct a Bay of Pigs, remove an Iranian democratically elected leader and place in power the puppet Shah of Iran which led to the current Islamic fanatical regime, fib about the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam ultimately getting nearly 60,000 troops killed in a futile war, help defeat Allende of Chile who was ultimately assassinated putting the fascist Pinochet, then more to US liking, in power, try to poison Castro, conduct a war in Iraq based on lies, talk about dressing up Americans to look Iranian to shoot on American ships to provoke an incident, and the list of unthinkable documented behavior or considerations of behavior by our government against other governments as well as our own people which come back to haunt us, goes on and on and on and on.

Can we REALLY believe someone somewhere in highest echelons of the government knew about the Anthrax attacks? I ask YOU.

A Local Candidate for our times: While attending a couple of the Framingham-on-the-green concerts and attending a political event for a reception for Senator John Kerry, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Dawn Harkness, a candidate for the office of State Representative from the Town of Framingham. I had seen her name around the area but never encountered her personally before then. I spoke with her about her candidacy and some of the issues facing the Town of Framingham, our state and even our nation. I was distinctly impressed by the depth of her knowledge of the issues, her verbal excellence and her humanitarian concern for our people.

She is a Wellesley College graduate, an attorney and the expertise of her background, indeed, shows. In addition, I tuned in to the Audrey Hall Show and the David Hutchinson Political Discussion on local Framingham cable programming where she was interviewed. Yet again, I was significantly impressed by Dawn Harkness's command of the issues. She has a refreshing and, I think, unique way of addressing those issues absolutely on point without political evasion understanding the detailed intracies and nuiances of everything about which she was asked. I told her I thought her abilities were so impressive she should go far in the political arena. Because of my perceived excellence of her candidacy, I have decided to give her my vote. I urge the people of Framingham who care about the issues facing our town and state to give her your consideration. If you want more information about her go to her web page (www.dawnharkness.com) and I hope, ultimately, you will decide, as I have, to give her your vote. I think it will be a vote well spent. She is, I believe, a credit to our town, understands the issues extraordinary well, is independent of thought and would do her best to serve. I believe she is the choice for our times.

I attach a link -- http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/letters/x2109423246/Rosen-Hope-for-the-futurel
to the Metro West News where there are some oppositions to my opinion letters supporting Obama. I inclusively responded to them the following:

It is impossible to talk about THIS election without mentioning George W. Bush or John McCain. This election is, after all, ABOUT electing either John McCain or Barack Obama. This election is in RESPONSE to the presidency of George W. Bush and Republican party policies. Unfortunately, to court the religious right, McCain whom I admired in 2000, is an anathema to me now because he tries very hard to reflect that less-than-thoughtful mostly religious base of the Republican party. It is impossible to address issues without mentioning both George Bush and John McCain. They are nearly mirror images of one another. In my opinion, George Bush has ushered in the most corrupt and utterly tyrannical administration in this history of this country. He has put all of us at great risk. The policies one spoke of (including 9/11) that were so disastrous happened on his watch. Pelosi, et al while admittedly APPEARING weak in some ways did not have the numbers to overrule the Bush disaster.

Moreover, I am, after 59 years, most assuredly not so naive as to think Barack Obama is the savior for everything. Of course, I know that. I regret if I gave that impression. I do not think that. I do not believe in messiahs. However, last civics book I viewed mentioned that third parties were rather ineffective in this country. In view of that, the choice now is between two candidates. I do believe of those two that Barack Obama is by far the better choice. He is, of course, younger and, in my opinion, more intellectually astute. He will support not only a foreign policy I agree with more but a social policy that is more acceptable to me as well.

I can assure one insulting blogger that when taking 'civics', I did NOT 'look out the window'. My minor in college was political science. That most assuredly does not make me an expert. It does though, I would like to think, make for opinion that, hopefully, has a background of expertise which cultivated it. Over decades I have given my opinions much thought as I waxed throughout the years from the left to the right and back again.

We define differently what we think is good policy for our nation. I want a more just, more humane, and less belligerently bellicose country. I think that Barack Obama and the Democratic party can best provide more of what I want than can John McCain and the Republican party. Barack Obama certainly, though, cannot and will not do it all. George Bush and his cronies have assured us of that.

I added another comment addressing a point I omitted.

Calling Obama Osama is not only insulting to the senator it is juvenile. It reminds me of children on a third grade playground. If I said More of the Same Pain McCain, for example, people would criticize me and quite rightly so.

In addition, Biblical quotations are ineffective when arguing politics. For every quotation one can find and equal and opposite Biblical phrase. The Bible is filled with contradictions. As stated in my previous response, I do not think Senator Obama is a savior and I do not believe human beings messiahs. Rather, Senator Obama promulgates policy and belongs to a party that is more in accord with my political beliefs. He has voted, by my standard, correctly on most issues.

I do realize that both the Republican and the Democratic parties are guilty for the mess our nation is in. However, it is clear, and has been for decades, that there is a DECIDED difference between the two parties although both admittedly depend inordinately on monied interests for their survival. Despite that, I submit, for example, the Iraq invasion and occupation would NEVER have occurred if Gore had been the victor in the Supreme Court presidential choice of 2000. We would have four thousand men, who are now dead, alive. Moreover, we probably would have captured Bin Laden, the REAL perpetrator of the 9/11 tragedy. I even postulate that 9/11 may NOT have happened since a President Gore would most likely have heeded the myriad of clues and one prescient memo which said 'Osama Bin Laden to attack the US.' Bush smugly and stupidly ignored that crucial memo and a number of other warnings from outgoing Clinton administration officials regarding the danger of Al Qaeda.

I can point, too, to other social issues which might have been different had a Democrat held the reins of power. A relative of mine, a former Harvard College, Harvard Medical graduate, a physician and person of professional/personal excellence has a debilitating disease similar to Lou Gherig's disease which shortened his career, placed him in a wheelchair, and relegated him to a life of much suffering. A Gore presidency might have helped, through stem cell research, cure his tragic malady. Our nation could have been, for the past eight years, at the forefront of research and cures for hideous diseases through the use of stem cells. Can you imagine, too, the effort a Gore administration would have devoted to the environment and reversing global warming? Instead of life AFFIRMING policies the Bush administration has been responsible for the unnecessary death of thousands many of whom are children and other innocents. For ALL these things and so much more, I believe the Democratic and Republican parties are more than SIGNIFICANTLY different. They are LIFE SAVING different.

I disagree with you. All politicians are NOT the same despite many being placed into office by corporate interests. The common people like you and I (as you put it), do occasionally get a vote.

The Audacity of Joan Vennochi: For those of you who do not know Joan Vennochi is a very popular Boston Globe columnist. Often I agree with her sentiments but it seems the times I disagree with her I do so with great ire. Her article in the Sunday, July 20, 2008 Boston Globe entitled "The Audacity of Ego" was such a time. She brazenly stated, among many other unflattering things, that "Obama has a crush on Obama." She goes on to give her irrational rationales. I stated the following in an email to her:

Try as I might not to be paranoid about the real mission of the corporate media to defend its own corporate interests and keep things Republican, I cannot. Although many articles you write are well done yet again I find myself enraged by your Sunday editorial The Audacity of Ego, concentrating on the alleged uber ego of Barack Obama.

Now, really Ms. Venocchi, I do not know of a political candidate, now or in history who does not or did not have an abundance of ego. In fact, I might aver that a certain amount of ego is necessary. I cannot in all of US history find the meek among our presidents. I am quite sure Senator Obama has ego but I am MORE than sure John McCain has a substantial amount of that as well. In addition, if what I read in the news and from what people I meet say who actually have had contact with John McCain is true, not only does he have ego but he has an abundant supply of profanity and insults toward most especially women. In addition, I have heard from some reputable sources that he treats his support staff abysmally and generally has a mean temper-filled temperament.

We know, too, that he has not done much to ensure the sanctity of marriage as he divorced his first wife and married his second turning in his first wife for a healthier and younger specimen. His oft-told vituperative profane comment to his current wife is well known and a recent horrific joke he does not deny saying but has conveniently forgotten is up for discussion and allegedly verfied by some. This truly says something about John McCain.

John Mccain has MUCH to answer for that Senator Obama does not. Whether its his constant flip flops on policy, lack of knowledge of international events and facts, lack of understanding on things economic or his profane behavior towards women I'd say John McCain has audacious ego and PLENTY of it!! How about commenting on that?

The Joke is on us: I am no apologist for John McCain. I am an ardent Democrat and support the Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama. However, whether it is McCain's bad joke or the New Yorker Magazine's bad cover page, we must eschew the media's attempt at sensationalizing and pop culturizing absolutely EVERYTHING a candidate says and every movement he makes. It is the media's attempt to get viewers to watch and by doing so it is their attempt to make themselves very very rich.

Ad infinitum commentary on a joke, a fist bump, a turban picture, a minister's utterances have no importance in relation to the desperate issues facing our country and the world today. We are a nation facing an abyss. Wasting time talking about things ridiculous will be tragic for our nation. We face a probable recession if not depression, we face eternal war, we face killing and dying, we face a planet melting, we face systemic corruption and an erosion of the essence of what makes us free. In short, we face a tyrannical Orwellian world. The American public must take an interest in the forces of history and understand just what it will mean if a particular candidate takes office. We must recognize what is important and concentrate on the nuance of policy not the insanity of superficiality. We must discuss the issues and the issues alone. Our lives, our planet's life and our country's life depend upon it. Wake up, America, before it is too late.

Our Only Hope: I had polio in 1954 which left one leg completely paralyzed. I, through, my father's work with the March of Dimes and his love for Franklin Roosevelt, saw the wonder of the profound changes one man could bring. The changes Franklin Roosevelt initiated affect my life today. Because of three fractures of my polio affected leg and complications of post polio syndrome I no longer could work at a job I did for nearly 30 years. I can see how one man influenced for the better the lives of millions as his work walked from generation to generation. Without social security I would be lost.

We live, I believe, in a mirror image of that catastrophic time where looming war fused with disastrous economic conditions is born out of corrupt Republican policies and philosophies which do not work. Those policies did not work in 1929 and they do not work now. Government is not the ONLY answer but it is ONE IMPORTANT answer to profound difficulties which are beyond the ability of the suffering many to improve. We have an economic system because of the disastrous policies of George W. Bush which has run wild and we have a war which will cost trillions. Recession if not depression is looming and horrendous debt emanating from a war which should not have been waged is the reality. Barack Obama truly is our hope. The hope in me was born from a man with polio whom I never knew. He lifted this nation up, restored its vitality and GAVE us a reason to hope.

I never thought I would see again the hope my father saw in FDR those many years ago. I was wrong. I DO see hope again. Hope is here. Hope is now. I can only pray the country sees it is here too by electing Barack Obama its next president. Lives are at stake, our country is at stake and the world awaits a better day.

A Killer: HBO's "Generation Kill" is phenomenal. It is a dramatization of an embed experience with US soldiers while en route in 2003 to Iraq. As the series progresses it is supposed to reflect the milieu of the US soldier as they slog through the Iraq War experience. I do not know how the film crew got the logistics together so expertly or how they acquired such a perfect cast but they did. It is probably one of the best if not THE best docudrama ever shown.

The violence, at least in the first episode, was NOT an issue for me as the episode concentrated on the relationships and the character of the group more than what they were there to do i.e. kill. Despite the possibility of watching violence as the war unfolds, I believe this drama is a must see.

I have very mixed emotions. I am a realist. I know the realities of an often brutal world. Our soldiers, I believe, are the only ones standing between us and world assault against us. However, their culture as depicted in the film, and often their views, are hard for me to take. This film presents an image of our military which while showing its incredible strength and phenomenal professionalism also shows a condescending cruelty, some extreme right wing political philosophies, love for the fight and love for killing to which I cannot relate. There is plenty of white supremacism thrown into the mix with the verbal constancy of crude vicious hatred of all things homosexual and insults spewed often towards women.

Their views toward Iraqis are often ones of indifference and a lack of cultural understanding. They are incredulous by what they see. The military hierarchy in its ineptness sees fit to give them but one Iraqi translator. Didn’t someone in the Pentagon think that our soldiers just might want to communicate with those they confront, capture or wound? I cannot even imagine how an Iraqi felt as they cowed their head in fear of the alien American assault. The two humanities saw each other but did not understand what they saw. It seemed as if the two peoples were from different planets.

Perhaps underneath all of the crudity, profanity, significant racism and sexist comments lies a profound fear for what the Marines are about to encounter. Perhaps, in the final analysis, our soldiers are more than Marines. They are human beings and young boys with incredible energy, Herculean bodies and brute strength playing the war games they loved as a child. This time though the stakes are higher. They cannot end the game when they want and go home to mom. War transcends the macho machismo that feels and looks so good. War means death, it means disability, it means fear and it means tragedy. It means making the once invincible vincible. It means encountering things made only of nightmares. No war can avoid that. I think these Marines despite their bravado know that deep down underneath. These soldiers are in the military because they WANT to be. Why they do is beyond me. This program is riveting. It is, uniquely, television at its very best.

Bill Moyers on his blog asked the following: "We're asking our guests and our viewers what is their vision for the future of the American Dream — and how we can achieve those visions."

The American Dream, in my opinion, has always been and, I believe, continues to be an idea of hope. It is the hope that one's economic progression can can spread and, indeed, improve from generation to generation. It is the idea that the achievement of a comfortable existence can cut across class and social lines. The old rigid class monarchical structure that was much European and world history is not, at least ideally, cemented in the American system. Our system allows for the possibility or at least the hope that one can, irrespective of class and, in more recent history, race, incrementally achieve a better life. It is the hope that the ossification of a rigid class system will not prevent that achievement.

The ideals of that hope, though, walk hand-in-hand with the freedoms and Constitutional protections our form of government provides. The security that prevents the threat of government usurping those freedoms without just cause makes, in my opinion, our American Dream possible. It allows the individual the opportunity to devote his or her energy to that personal improvement and to that pursuit of happiness making the expenditure of the adrenaline imperative of basic physical survival unnecessary. Our Constitutional protections ALLOW us the luxury to develop our own happiness. I believe, the American Dream is not possible without one ensuring the other.

A Nuclear Nightmare: A UTUBE of Ron Paul discussed the absolute eventuality of a blockade, an attack and an eventual nuclear attack of Iran. He makes a convincing case that it is at hand. I responded on that possibility in a blog.


It is beyond my imagination that this country, after Afghanistan and the debacle of Iraq with little capacity to wage more war, would even contemplate striking Iran much less bomb them ultimately with nuclear weapons. I feel completely powerless. What can the average person do? Ron Paul is in the Senate, has some power, has a somewhat large following and yet he really is impotent when one looks at the national stage. Libertarians and progressives simply do not make up enough of the national psychic reality to reverse our course.

I believe there is a segment of this country especially within the Republican party which loves war. Let me rephrase that. They love the victory of war. Unfortunately, since WWII those victories have been few and far between because American foreign policy since then has been so stupidly and without foresight conducted. I think most Americans are angry for 9/11, so angry for the failure in Iraq (and Vietnam too), so angry at the pulsating furor of the Arab/Middle Eastern world against the west, and so angry for huge oil prices that they truly want to annihilate. I think many, if honesty could prevail, want to visit a nuclear obliterative war upon the Middle East without regard and without understanding the nature of their own desires, the countries involved and what the consequences will be.

Ron Paul has said and I believe it is true, Iran WILL strike back in some capacity. Other powers, albeit nuclear powers, may engage and our troops, 160,000 of them, will be caught in the middle. The Israelis will be caught in the middle too as nuclear dust and nuclear winters have regional and even world-wide consequences. Nuclear fallout knows no boundaries. The price of oil, of course, will be in the stratosphere and the dollar will be worthless. Our country, too, is not immune from the physical and medical consequences of a nuclear exchange.

I am reminded of Shakespeare's Macbeth: "If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twer well, it were done quickly" as we will all suffer the hellacious consequences. Severe burns, starvation, disease, cancer and death are some of the poisons nuclear war will bestow. Ridiculous to even say, no one will be converted and lifted into heaven. The destruction of billions of years of evolved life and the ruin of our beautiful planet is impossible to understand but understand it we must. I simply hope that somehow the better angels of our nature prevail among those who have the real power to do something. There are a few voices who want to stop this insanity. We must become the many before it is too late as the hour I fear draws near.

What is Patriotism?: The word patriotism comes from the Latin patria which, of course, means country. Patriotism has come to mean love of country. But what does that mean? To be sure patriotism in Russia or Syria means something quite different than it does in the United States. Why? It does, it seems to me, because the tenets by which our nation functions bestowed by history to which most here subscribe are wholly different than they are in many other countries of the world. Love of country, in my opinion, means more than simply a love of this government or that which happens to occupy the seats of power. Love of country, I believe, means love of those rights and responsibilities which are enumerated Constitutionally and without which we would be subject to the abuse of government. Love of country means something different than love of the government. Patriotism to me means MONITORING the government watching ever vigilantly how it uses the power the governed bestows upon it. It means loving not the particular government or its policies but loving the FORM of government which our prescient Founders and men of the Enlightenment carefully crafted and which they hoped would last.

That form of government encompasses many things. Love of that form of government for me is the essence of patriotism. I love our freedom to speak, to write, to worship (or not), I love being able to petition the government for redress of grievance, I love habeas corpus so that the whim of some government cannot simply lift you from your home whisk you off to a place unknown to do as they wish without bringing you to a court to give you the opportunity to state your case and provide you with a defense, I love that government troops cannot be quartered in one's home, I love that we are free from government intrusion without cause in our personal life, I love our trial by jury, I love our separation of powers and the specific construct of our government. Love of our country means loving all of that because, in short, THAT is what our country is about.

Those precious rights so many take for granted are now under assault. Men of this particular government have sought to use this moment in history with all its attendant fear, to ignore those rights which are the foundation of all things patriotic. We MUST be vigilant. It is our duty to monitor tyranny when we see it. To do anything less is NOT patriotic. Benjamin Franklin when asked what form of government the Founders had constructed said: "we have a republic IF you can keep it." Patriotism is, it seems to me, making sure that we do.

FISA Ferment: We have only two candidates from whom to choose. The presidency literally can mean the difference between life and death in our nation and, indeed, in the world. Whether it's a national health care plan we so desperately need as a nation, the absence of war we so desperately need as world citizens, environmental clean-up we so desperately need as a planetary civilization, a Supreme Court which will ensure individual rights over corporate rights, racial fairness over subliminal racism, the right to choose what we do with our own bodies, the right to determine whom we want to love and with whom we share a life and yes, the sanctity of our civil liberties over unbridled power and because of a thousand other issues, we must, even though we may not like a few specific policy points, avidly support the election of Senator Obama. We must, as difficult for some as it may be, ignore a few disputed issues because we support his position on many other issues. Not to do so is to divide us and ensure the election of John McCain. We MUST NOT do this. The stakes are too great and our civilization is at risk. More of the same McCain is UNACCEPTABLE. I can live with the few policy issues with which I may disagree because I AGREE with so many others. If John McCain is elected I will agree with none. The choice is ours. The choice is change NOT more of the same. To me it's that simple.

It is hard to believe nearly seven years after 9/11 and the search for Bin Laden that he may be dying of kidney disease. Bin Laden will, of course, be a martyr to his minions. For at least two of those years directly after 9/11, I looked on the Internet every single day sometimes in the wee hours of the morning to see if our forces captured that monument to evil. What a colossal disappointment and an example of team Bush's utter ineptitude that after so many years Bin Laden may be dying of natural rather than US military causes.

This country looks impotent as the REAL perpetrator of the horrors of 9/11 lives out his natural life. His henchmen breath free too while the US got embroiled in an endless unnecessary war in Iraq for oil completely unrelated to 9/11. The war goes on in perpetuity with even one presidential candidate, John McCain, supposedly with foreign policy as his strong suit, saying we could be an occupying force for 100 years. The devaluation of the dollar while we borrow ad infinitum to pay for this war, the waste of this country's resources not to mention the incalculable expenditure life is unfathomable and utterly disgusting!

Our entire foreign policy MUST be revisited. Oil must be eliminated as humanity's existential holy grail for survival. Alternative sources must be developed quickly. Wars for oil such as Iraq I and II with its attendant quagmire and intercontinental maze of bad policy puts our nation and the world at great risk.

The Magic of Moyers: How many times can Bill Moyers deliver the most excellent commentary on television? Friday's segment about the ties of big oil to the Iraq War was one of the best. One can so clearly see the i's dotted and t's are crossed. It is not surprising but it IS gut wrenching.

Bill Moyers made it ever so crystal clear. No WMD, no democracy, no freedom. Oil is it. The Iraq War was all for oil. Alan Greenspan said it in his book, Cheney and Wolfowitz said it way before 9/11 as the oil barons under cover and in secrecy met with the big guys on campus right in the White House. The Supreme Court upheld the secrecy of those meetings. Oil, said Rupert Murdoch, after Iraq was going to be twenty bucks a barrel. 4000 dead, thousands horrifically wounded, millions displaced, trillions spent -- 130 bucks a barrel later, a recession if not a depression looming the rationales for the Iraq War go down the toilet. We are suffering and our planet is suffocating.

I don't know how these guys sleep at night. They simply do not care. That is the nature of the American right wing or maybe any right wing. It's what they are all about. They just do not care about anything except money and power any way they can get it. If it means rolling over the Indian, carting human cargo in slave ships or bombing any country into oblivion some administration perceives as defeating American monied interests, they will do it. Perpetrating deception and lies is how they operate. Middle America and low income Evangelicals fight their battles and are duped into thinking Republicans and yes a few bought blue dog Democrats too support their cause. Then the robber barons laugh all the way to the bank as big money and big God walk hand in hand to get there. Maybe they are the ones that have it correct as they bestow their fortunes upon them from one generation to the next on the backs of our blood, sweat and tears. This time they win big IF they have a planet left to bestow!

The following is a response to my letter to the Metro West News of June 8, 2008 by a George Hickey. His letter appeared June 20, 2008. See: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/letters/x875593367/Hickey-Thanks-but-no-thanks#comments
My response is as follows:

I thank Mr. Hickey for his compliment and criticism of my letter in the June 8, 2008 edition of the MetroWest Daily News which was entitled 'Do We Dare Hope.' My letter supported Barak Obama's candidacy. I will address a few of Mr. Hickey's comments. First, yes, the stain of slavery has been 'lightened some' after over 300 years. Barak Obama still, however, has had to suffer insults and worse, threats to his person consistently. Moreover, African Americans everywhere suffer every day the slings and arrows of outrageous racism which stings and burns like the nooses of ropes which are still used to intimidate them. It has been an inch by inch crawl for a person of color to achieve that which the rest of us take for granted.

Second, I give no credit to George W. Bush for anything including as Mr. Hickey mentions 'keeping us safe.' As a matter of fact many experts with whom I concur believe that the responsibility for the attacks of September 11, 2001 belong squarely at the feet of George W. Bush. Who can forget Bush's flip response when he was told by the CIA that Bin Laden was 'determined to strike in US'. He crudely said 'All right now you have covered your ass' dismissing it and then he did nothing. In addition, many also believe that invading Iraq far from making us safer has, indeed, put us at risk by angering potential terrorists and empowering Iran.

Third, equating the eloquence of Barak Obama, a candidate for the presidency, with a Frank Sinatra or the movie 'The Notebook' is an incongruous non sequitur. I might equate Barak Obama's verbal inspiration with other presidents such as Lincoln or Roosevelt. Words mean something and give us reason to hope our historical reality could change for the better. Sinatra sung beautifully but I did not think he had the power to determine who shall live and who shall die.

As I write this response there have been, this week, dozens killed in Iraq including some US soldiers. It is folly to think because of this colossal foreign policy error that we are 'winning' or that we are somehow safer. Gore Vidal once said 'fighting terrorism is like fighting dandruff. It is impossible.' Continuing to blast, as war hero John McCain would, often innocent people into oblivion sending millions into exile has not made us safer. I submit, it has put us more at risk. I believe we need a new new deal. I will have the audacity to hope there is one.

The following is a reply to my Obama blog below. Below that is a reply by me.

Slavery existed for thousands of years and the cost is horrible. It is very sad reality that people have enslaved people on all the continents of the world. Slavery still exists in many countries today. Americans did not invent slavery but embraced it. And fortuantley we have outlawed it. Christians were slave in Rome. Jews were slaves in Egypt and the list goes on. It is a horrible thing and a horrible way to treat humans. And Africans had enslaved Africans even before the Europeans got involved. Europeans enslaved other Europeans. There was a serf system and that was slavery. Slavery existed all of the world. There is no excuse to treat people horribly or to force any humans into slavery. All humans deserve respect and love.

And I agree that we are all genetically the same. I believe that there is only one race. We are the human race. Our skin color has to do with how close or far from the equator our ancestors come from. It takes generations. The darker the pigment of the skin the more melanin to protect our skin from the sun. The lighter our skin the less protection. We have brown eyes, green, hazel eyes. Hair can be black, brown, blond or red. Some people have freckles some don't. Really no one is black or white. People have shades of brown from very dark to very pale and shades in between. So why make a big deal of the differences?
No two humans look exactly alike. We are all unique yet we are all similar, we need to respect each other and stop making a deal out of how people look. We need to let go of any grudges or anger we have and go forward and make the world a better place. We have to start with ourselves. Improve our own attitude and take care of our families and community and respect ourselves and our neighbors and all humans. We

My Reply to the reply:

I will briefly comment on your comment to my blog. I agree with you too. There has been slavery for as long as homo sapiens has existed on the planet. It is often quoted Biblically which probably indicates it existed over 5000 years ago as well.

What makes our slavery a bit more egregious, in my opinion, is that the nation itself was, of course, founded on an egalitarian principle. A dark man, though, was considered less than a man and was, therefore, not included in the sentiments of the nation's founding. Not until events leading up to the Civil War and many decades afterward was the black man included in our foundational documents. That is, as I see it, the stunning irregularity of the American experience and its most uncomfortable truth.

The candidacy of a Barak Obama is long overdue. All those who fought for that to happen have a right to their anger. I am angry too. It simply was not fair that this was so.

Many things are surely not fair. We must, though, play the ball where it lies. It is lying just short of the goalpost waiting for the votes to kick it through. Barak's candidacy is a HUGE step to that moment of glory. This time we will score a win for humanity -- for ALL humanity. The world is watching as victory awaits.

The ghost of race, the politics of hope:
The first African slaves were brought to this country at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The “peculiar institution” of slavery, as it was so often historically referred, gained steam by the mid 1700’s. It ultimately, of course, flourished until, the events leading up to and including our most human-life costly Civil War. Our country has been, even to this day, rent with and divided by the discord of race. Its costs have been huge.

Science through the discovery of the unarguable DNA tells us that we are one species, homo sapiens. The National Geographic Genographic Project yet again reaffirms all of us, each and every human on earth, has their etiology in one place -- Africa. We are, indeed, all related and science proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Still, undeniable proof of these facts is not enough. Four hundred years later, the ghosts of slavery and race continue to chain our conscience, plague our culture and enslave all of us so that still we truly cannot be free. The sands of change shift slowly. Since the first slave ship in 1619 unloaded its human cargo, much blood has been spilled, much controversy generated but much progress has been achieved. It has been a slow hard slog in order that a man so simply, as Dr. King eloquently said nearly forty-five years ago, would be judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character.

Who would have believed in 1619 or in modernity today that an African American man, Barak Obama, would seek and most possibly achieve the highest office in our land? The time for that is long overdue. The time is right. The time is now. The world waits with hope and so do I.

The Politics of Pride: I have gone to Boston Pride for over two decades. This time it seemed like something was missing. Perhaps it is the fact that rights for homosexuals in Massachusetts have progressed so much that the fervor has gone out of Pride. I continue though, as in other years, to think the carnival-like atmosphere is tactically unwise. The visuals are often so gross and so, in my opinion, obscene, there are times I had to look away. I believe the profanity of Pride often goes overboard. Women with naked tops covered only by tattoos or pasties and men whose covering leaves nothing to the imagination are vulgar. Worse, it is politically inexpedient. Of course, I am an ardent believer in our First Amendment. I am not in any way advocating censorship. I would, though, unlikely as it may be, love to see some self restraint.

Groups that support gay right such as certain churches, Jewish groups, businesses, PFLAG, hospitals, nurses, doctors and others like them help dramatically. The overt anomic sex display, I believe, does not. We all know right wing extremists and religious fundamentalists come to various Prides and photograph only the bizarre, show it to their groups and say see this is what your children will be exposed to if you let them have their way or let the Democratic party rule. They instill fear. It serves their purpose but does not serve ours.

The lewd part of Pride is not representative of most and it does not, I think, help compatriots in other states secure what should rightfully be the benefits of everyone. It does quite the opposite. Pride has turned into, in many cases, a cheap carnival. Men from leather bars on floats with graphic movements and outlines of things many would rather not see turn a lot of potential allies off. The right to free expression is important but when that free expression impinges on the ability of a minority group to gain important survival rights and benefits from the much needed mainstream I can only hope political expediency takes precedent.

A DATE WITH DESTINY: Franklin Roosevelt talked about the Day of Infamy which was, of course, December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor. This event galvanized a nation. Barak Obama and we the people have A DATE WITH DESTINY on January 20, 2009 as Barak Obama will be sworn in as this nation's 44th president to galvanize a nation once again.

It is inconceivable to me given the utter corruption, lies, failed policy and even treason which so many within the Republican party have committed that once again this nation could deliver itself into the uncaring arms of yet another chaotic and despotic rule. John McCain tells you he is for change but that is a ruse. He is not for change he is for more of the same. The Republican party has lied to such an extent and committed our country to such disastrously failed policies that, I believe, THEY BELIEVE their own lies to be true. $135.00 dollar a gallon oil is proof positive that a war which was supposed to have produced cheap oil did anything but and we the people are suffering its terrible consequences.

Alas, as Joseph Welch said to Joseph McCarthy during the Army/McCarthy hearings as Joseph McCarthy sought to ruin lives based on lies: "Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" I say the same thing to Senator McCain. At long last, sir have you no sense of decency? Have you not the decency to admit your party is rife with corruption, saturated with lies and you cannot and will not break away from that course. The lies of Senator McCain's party and its corruptions have cost this nation dearly in lives and treasure. John McCain acquiesced to it all. We MUST have a DATE WITH DESTINY to reverse this disastrous course, to change policy and to make Barak Obama our 44th President of the United States. Our hour and our date with destiny is now. YES WE CAN, YES WE WILL AND YES WE MUST!

Do I Dare Hope?: So many times Barak Obama has moved me to tears through his verbal eloquence. So many times I wondered in comparison to the uninspiring opposition, how Obama can lose. I need look to a grain in the sands of yesteryear’s time to see how. The brilliance of our Founders extraordinary experiment over two centuries ago to hammer out a more just political process, despite the nation’s obvious inequities, cannot be denied. Will, though, the seemingly indelible, indefatigable and haunting historical stain of slavery still not be washed clean?

At our country’s most perilous moments, great leaders have emerged. Washington, arguably the greatest of our presidents, for our nascent nation, chose not to claim the mantle of monarchy. Lincoln was determined, by any means necessary, to keep the nation united despite its intractable differences over slavery and its legal underpinning of “states rights.” When the Great Depression enveloped our land and the cacophonous discords of war in Europe could be heard, Franklin Roosevelt breathed into us new national life with his melodious tones of hope and faith in our country that encouraged us to prevail.

Now, in our own time, we face, perhaps, an equally dangerous shift in the historical sands. Our nation desperately needs hope, it needs unity and it needs to chart a new course. A new leader in the Democratic party now can give us this new course to chart to ensure our nation survives to see a new day. Do I dare have the audacity to hope?

Scotty the Brave: I think Scott McClellan is incredibly brave. Finally, one lonely man in an administration of ethical refuse that is brave enough to want to offer an explanation for the unending lies, utter corruption and gross incompetence which led to the invasion of a country which did not attack us. One man out of so many who cares about the disastrous Bush policies which have murdered so many and cost so much. His book is stunning in its daring veracity. Whatever money he stands to make I say good for him. He deserves it.

The press and people of all political persuasions who possess an ethical compass need to keep this on the media map. It is huge. This is the important smoking gun amid many smoking guns. This administration needs to be held accountable for the egregiously illegal and unscrupulous things they have done. I simply hope somewhere, sometime, somehow they pay the price for their egregious behavior that none of us who does not posses big money and power would ever get away with. They have cost this country thousands of lives and incalculable treasure. They have uprooted and imbalanced the entire Middle East. Moreover, they have given Iran the keys to the kingdom.

Kudos to Scott McClellan who is one near solitary important voice in the wilderness. He occupied a position of gravitas in a corrupt, immoral, and self-serving administration. This is his day of atonement. He restores my faith in the American system. Hang in there, Scott, there are many out there of all political stripes who are with you!

A Shakesperian Tragedy: I have loved both Hillary and Barak. I do not, however, understand how a candidate could even think her assassination comment would not engender scrutiny. Exhaustion is no excuse. I would say it was a gaffe, bad phraseology or that she COULD CERTAINLY have described it differently BUT she had said it three times previously using the word assassination at least once before. She could have said one can never tell anything can happen during a campaign and left it at that.

She should know there are going to be cameras, microphones and tape recordings EVERYWHERE so she damn well better be careful what she says and to whom she says it. Candidates cannot blame the media, even if the media report to excess. They know the climate before they run for the presidency or they CERTAINLY should.

Because this was said so many times before I think she knew EXACTLY what she was saying and that it was not a gaffe. That is EXTRAORDINARILY disturbing even to one who appreciates Hillary Clinton's phenomenal abilities.

God forbid a trillion times if anything were ever to happen to ANY of the candidates there would be hell to pay; the country so many of us love would, this time, I fear be unrecognizable. To say something repeatedly that would even touch upon this horrific thought is more than absurd it is sick. In Shakespearian fashion this fatal flaw of ambition gone wild should sink her ambition but good!

Raging Religion: The latest flap over the gross faux pas of a variety of religious pastors is reflection extraordinaire of the folly of religion. The good religion sometimes reflects is eclipsed over millennia by the discord is has sewn. Our own oft reactionary century does, indeed, seem to be going backwards. Although we deem ourselves technologically advanced and the heirs to the Age of Enlightenment, we are soaked in religiously futile unprovable argument the irrational tenets and truth of which no one can effectively argue. The Bible, a 5000 year old document, loaded with divergence of thought, historical and scientific error, is used by the three major monotheistic faiths as allegedly provable justification for nearly any philosophy one may want to adopt and any behavior, no matter how extreme, one may want to justify.

Pastor Hegee claims to know exactly what God had in mind for the Jews. He uses an ancient Jewish text to make the unmitigatedly insulting postulation that God used Hitler for the purpose of creating the contemporary Jewish state. The utter absurdity of a comment that suggests a God would slaughter 6 million innocents including 1 million children to create a nation state stands on its own.

Pastor Parsley suggests he knows just what our Founding Fathers had in mind and that was to destroy Islam. The absurdity of that, yet again, is not only self evident it is historically ridiculous and blatantly untrue. The pastoral indictments go on and on. Yet there are many in our country who believe preposterous things and question nothing. There are others, still, who care nothing about religion usurping a place in the halls of power. They stand silent. Our candidates for the highest office in the land feel, sadly, they need to court those who hold these inane beliefs and pay homage to those who want to translate those beliefs into public policy. This is chilling. Science in its quest to alleviate human suffering and its bedfellow critical thought are at risk.

To the contrary of what these utterly ridiculous pastors aver, our Founding Fathers knew religion could be dangerous because they witnessed its onslaught. They tried by constitutionally enshrining the wall of church state separation to prevent the barbarity religious argument can impose. Our country depends upon recapturing their sanity. Our very survival hangs in the balance.

A Man for This Season: I vacillated many times between Barak and Hillary. I think she would have made a great president. Barak Obama, if elected, will be great too. Those of us in the Democratic party can be proud. We have made history times two.

Some may say an African American cannot win. I say it is about time an African American DID win. A people has been much sinned against throughout American history. I think in our country's long contentious soulful debate about race we should not deny an African American what he so rightfully deserves because his message is correct and his message is true. Let us, as Martin Luther King so correctly said, judge a man not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. I think our country deserves a return to the greatness Barak Obama can provide.

Let us, finally, pull this country together because the time is right and the time is now. Yes we can and yes we will show the world our country's greatness has returned. We will proclaim liberty from that mountaintop Martin Luther King did not get to see. I am praying fervently, through the long and difficult night that Barak Obama and we will reap the benefits of what Martin Luther King and others gave their lives to sew. A return to greatness is within our reach. I implore our nation not let it slip away.

The Wizadry of Oz: Oprah had on a Dr. Weiss who took willing subjects back to a so called previous life. She also had on Dr. Oz who, in my opinion, reduced himself to Oprah's lap dog by allowing himself to be pulled into this junk science by giving it a nod. Naturally, not only am I skeptical I surely don't buy what they had to say. In fact, I believe, although I did not say, that it is really all about the money. People love to hear what makes them feel good. Those like Dr. Oz, of course, make a carload of money IF they verbally pay homage to those whom Oprah gives credence. Willing subjects spend oodles of cash to make other people, who make them feel better about the sadness and difficulty of life, very very rich. It does NOT make what they say true. I wrote the following to her show:


Dr. Oz. I love, listen to and sometimes implement your advice on medical issues. When you, however, leap into things metaphysical, you lose me. The show on past life regression, in my opinion, was snake oil. Keeping an open mind is one thing but science is not metaphysics. You could say you believe and have seen fairies in the clouds but unless and until you show me the proof there are fairies in clouds you jump most likely into the realm of personal desire or dreams which do not make good science and which proves nothing.

The fact that Dr. Weiss brought his subjects to a hypnotic state, perhaps a dream like state, and they had visions of a past life does not prove there is in fact something more to this life and less proof yet that one was indeed another person before taking their present form. I submit, if an ice cube were a sentient being and it melted it would surely still be composed of water but would not be an ice cube in its original form and would not have that sentient quality. I am not disputing that our cells after death morph into another state. That can be proven. What I do take issue with is the belief that the morphing of those cells is into a different being or that we will meet those we loved after our death and theirs. What those people saw probably is explained as the synaptic consequence of their own dream like state and nothing more.

The criticism I have of Oprah when she waxes spiritual is that she never has anyone on to present an adversarial position. I suggest when she does these "spiritual" shows with you she have someone on like a Christopher Hitchens, a scholar or a Richard Dawkins a preeminent scientist from Oxford University who could present cogent scientific arguments questioning things spiritual through arguments based on science and rational thought. Further, when YOU take that so called “leap of faith” you are no longer a scientist. You are simply a speculator like everyone else. People should not be sheep and accept things simply because they want it to be so, miss their loved ones or fear death. They should, after listening to expert alternative thoughts, consider all the options including that after death there is nothing unless and until someone actually proves otherwise.

A Triumph of Life: Jeff Jacoby's article "A triumph of life and hope" about the 60th birthday of the State of Israel was so beautifully written. I had tears rolling down my cheeks throughout as he expressively states "The ovens of Treblinka and Auschwitz had barely cooled, and Jews were again being threatened with annihilation." A thriving Jewish homeland born from the ashes of Auschwitz, hewed by muscle and shear will has morphed the desert into life itself. The emergence of Israel as a Jewish state is testament to man's ability for rebirth in the face of overwhelming death. Am Yisrael Chai. The Jewish people live. On that we can agree.

Yet again, Bill Moyers brings excellence in journalism to the airwaves through the revelatory interview of Phillippe Sands whose book "Torture Team" I hope to read. Who would have thought in 2000 the failure-in-life person of George W. Bush would give us reading material about the plethora of illegalities and debacles of his administration which will be enough to take us into the next century to read and internalize?

In view of ALL that has occurred -- including, I submit, the treasonous activity of the outing of a CIA agent, beginning a war based on lies which has taken 4000 lives and counting costing this country soon-to-be trillions with no end in sight -- it will be astounding if this country does not change the tenor and nature of its power by overthrowing Republican politics then I completely throw up my hands. When a populous has an utterly shortsighted unaware understanding of things political which allow it to continue to vote fools into the highest most powerful office in the world, then it gets what it deserves.

Mr. Sands was passionate, verbally eloquent and academically credentialed. He offers up for examination what most of us already suspect. Our country, to its own peril, has been involved in the overthrow of the Geneva Conventions, has illegally employed torture techniques and brazenly flouted the law. Too bad more people like Mr. Sands do not occupy positions of power most especially within this most inept, corrupt, oblivious, cruel and murderous administration in US history.

The New York Times article today (link below) "Hezbollah has taken control of the streets of Beruit" is chilling.

We can lay the horrific expansion of radical Islamic factional insanity gaining strength every day at the feet of George W. Bush's inept Iraq policy. The factional violence between Sunni and Shia is spreading to Lebanon. I fear it will spread to Egypt , to Saudi Arabia and worst of all to nuclear armed Pakistan. It is not only as simple as Shia on Sunni. It is extraordinarily complex with factions within factions within armed thuggish groups fighting against each other. Oil is in the mix. It is mind numbing.

The US can bail out no one. We have no army, money left or will to do anything more. Iraq was supposed to provide real peace and security in that prone-to-violence neck of the woods -- some peace and some security. George W. Bush's failed international policies have provided psychological impetus to Hamas, Hezbollah and many other radical and terrorist groups.

I have never seen this country or the world on the most extreme precipice of disaster in the history I have witnessed or known. The US has no allies of substance to show muscle to these ideological totalitarian movements except Israel which has its own survival at stake. Europe will only sit back this time and watch the movie. The beat goes on. More reasons we need Barak Obama and not more of the same McCain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/world/middleeast/10lebanon.html?hp

"Where's the Outrage?" See blog www.yomamaforobama.worldpress.com
This is my response:This is my response:Generally I agree with you. I wish the American public were interested in things gravitas too. Alas, they are not. Because of that, I am a political Machiavellian. Uphill I believe we must do what we must do to get elected. It is downhill after that.

It has been part of our illustrious history that even our ever-so-cerebral Founding Fathers concocted the damnable electoral college so that they might better ensure that the selection of the president reside with more intellectually able electors instead of by a popular vote of ruffians. Jefferson, of course, had to endure the scandalous writings of James Calendar, a muckraker and yellow journalist of his era, when he exposed Jefferson’s sexual liaison with Sally Hemmings, Jefferson’s black house slave and concubine.

Even de Tocqueville when he visited America of the 1830’s called much of American culture “a middling mediocrity.” During his inauguration, Andrew Jackson’s picturesque White House sported ducks, geese, chickens and other assorted barnyard fun. He invited gun toting, coonskin cap wearing, and whiskey drinking Tennesseans into the White House or, perhaps, they just barged in. Worse, Jackson had to endure the accusations about his beloved wife Rachel who was said to be a bigamist. Jackson never forgot it, was devastated by it and thought his wife’s death was because of it.

A century later H.L. Mencken uttered the truth of his famous phrase: “You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” This still rings true today.

Barak Obama should have known when he first had thoughts of running for the presidency that before any skeletons in his closet were opened for inspection he should have opened them first and rectified the problem. Now it is a bit late to eschew a Reverend Wright. Obama either looks politically expedient or unfaithful to his former good friend or both.

Had he done what I suggest, we would possibly be talking about the real issues of 4000 plus dead in Iraq, five dollar plus gallon of gasoline, eight dollar a gallon of milk and an economy tilting toward another Great Depression. Instead, we are talking about whether a candidate should wear a flag pin and why he belonged to the church he did for over twenty years. I agree it is utterly insane. Some things, though, never change. I’m sure Andrew Jackson would agree.

Nuclear Strike -- NO: I just read Steve Weisman's article in Truthout in which he thinks the US strike of Iran is imminent. There are others who have predicated the same such as Seymour Hersh in the April, 2006 edition of The New Yorker. It has not come to pass yet.

I do not on this earth know how the US could mount a strike against a country twice the size of Iraq, with a sophisticated army EVEN with the help of the Israelis given the fact that our military is stretched so thin. Striking Iran assumes that the Iranians would not strike back. I suspect that is fallacious and utterly ridiculous to assume. Furthermore, as has been said many times, the Iranian program IF they have a program is probably hidden deep within mountainous regions of that country. It's not that easy to get to, find and strike their targets. It would pose an infinitely greater problem than the precise strike of Israel on Sadam Hussein's Osirik nuclear facility in 1981 and the one recently bombed by the Israelis in Syria.

In addition, assuming the Iranians would strike back we would be fighting on three fronts -- Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Iran. This is an unlikely scenario without the imposition of a military draft. A military draft would encounter further a HUGE opposition probably unlike and bigger than the opposition to the Vietnam War. To begin a war with Iran I believe would need the approval of the Congress and given this administration's utterly insane prosecution of the War with Iraq, Congress sanctioning an additional war on a much larger scale, I believe, would be next to impossible. To use our inept commander in chief own gift for verbiage -- "Fool me once...you can't get fooled again."

There is no question Mr. Weisman is correct. There is much bluster and it is, indeed, unsettling. I think this bluster is rhetoric backed up with thin air. The Bush administration has put this country at great national security risk by its unnecessary and incompetent prosecution of Iraq and its disastrous failure to capture or kill Bin Laden allowing the reemergence of the Taliban and the increase of Al Queda's prestige in the Arab world. If the US is at risk then the State of Israel at great risk. I believe we at this moment in time have lost Iraq. Four soldiers were killed today in the sandstorms of Iraq which make them defenseless. Every day we are in Iraq more are at risk and more will die. I cannot personally watch the count of our dead. It hurts too much for a war which has been beyond ineffectually prosecuted. There is no doubt there are many things I do not know about US capability. I hope that is true because adding Iran to the mix, in my opinion, would be suicide. The US is not quite at the suicidal point yet. I hope I am right. Time will tell.

A Letter to Pastor Wright: A Letter to Reverend Wright: I am a 59 year old white Jewish American and an ardent supporter of the State of Israel. I think the interview by Bill Moyers of Pastor Wright was a wonderful and the speech that Rev. Wright delivered before the NAACP yesterday was more than wonderful it was riveting. His speeches moved me to tears on several occasions. He is an extraordinarily charismatic man. I kept thinking that maybe what Pastor Wright says is true. Good sometimes comes out of difficulty. This past month has been extraordinarily difficult for all of us, especially those in our culture who consider ourselves unashamedly Democrat and unabashedly liberal who are yearning albeit begging for change.

I hope that Rev. Wright's enunciations of fairness and justice will have an impact even on those in our society who not only have been deaf to the suffering of so many but those who have contributed to that suffering as well. If people can be moved in some small way to defeat the lesser angels of their nature so that, at the very least, we understand the idea of treating each other as we would want to be treated ourselves, than all this controversy and all of the explosive multi-media rhetoric will have not been in vain. That is my hope. That is my dream. That is what I have tried to do in my own life but, have, at times probably fallen short.

If I were in Chicago I would visit your church and find the inspiration I so desperately, all my life, have sought. Never falter and never fail to preach your golden rule of inclusiveness. That is what America is all about. That is why so many risk their lives to get here. I believe the torch which was lit over two hundred years ago still burns brightly. Now, however, hopefully, it lights the way for more.

A letter to Reverend Wright: I am a 59 year old white Jewish American and an ardent supporter of the State of Israel. I think the interview by Bill Moyers of Pastor Wright was a wonderful AND the speech that Rev. Wright delivered before the NAACP yesterday was more than wonderful it was riveting. His speeches moved me to tears on several occasions. He is an extraordinarily charismatic man. I kept thinking that maybe what Pastor Wright says is true. Good sometimes comes out of difficulty. This past month has been extraordinarily difficult for all of us, especially those in our culture who consider ourselves unashamedly Democrat and unabashedly liberal who are yearning albeit begging for change.

I hope that Rev. Wright's enunciations of fairness and justice will have an impact even on those in our society who not only have been deaf to the suffering of so many but those who have contributed to that suffering as well. If people can be moved in some small way to defeat the lesser angels of their nature so that, at the very least, we understand the idea of treating each other as we would want to be treated ourselves, than all this controversy and all of the explosive multi-media rhetoric will have not been in vain. That is my hope. That is my dream. That is what I have tried to do in my own life but, have, at times probably fallen short.

If I were in Chicago I would attend your church and find the inspiration I so desperately, all my life, have sought. Never falter and never fail to preach your golden rule of inclusiveness. That is what America is all about. That is why so many risk their lives to get here. I believe the torch which was lit over two hundred years ago still burns brightly. Now, however, it lights the way for more.

I read Todd Domke's op editorial about the two candidates gaffs and thought it was ridiculous so I sent a response.

Todd Domke in his Thursday, April 24 op ed opinion entitled "Rate those political goofs" made me angry. I looked at his alleged analysis of the two Democratic candidates on his so called supposed humorous "Gaffo-O-Meter. I wondered why there were no gaffs listed for McCain and only one for Bush. For example, I wondered why he did not rate McCain's blunder statement about the 100 years war in Iraq, McCain's ignorance of the historical reality of Iraq by not knowing the difference between Shia and Sunni not once but multiple times or McCain's admitted ignorance of things economic not to mention his many utterances of profanity and violence against his own Republican colleagues or even his utterly profane comments against his own wife when she asked an innocent question.

Listing the gaffs of the current president too would take a bound edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica to enumerate. The gaffs of team Bush are, as we all know, many and staggering. I'd like to rename Mr. Domke's Gaff-O-Meter to the GOP Gaff-O-Meter. Of course, as I read further in Mr. Domke's editorial I saw at the end it describes what he does. As stated, he is a "Boston-area Republican political analyst and public-relations strategist." Now I get it.

Patriotism and Pennsylvania: It is clear to me that the vitriol spewed against this country by a Reverend Wright and others like him did and does exactly the opposite of what we on the left want. Anti-American rhetoric has spawned the likes of Nixon, the Moral Majority, the so called Reagan revolution, extreme religious fanaticism and, worst of all, to me, a George W. Bush. All of those years the left verbally assaulted this country, the Republicans became dedicated to equating patriotism with Republican politics and successfully lured the electorate to vote often against their own economic interest. In the end the majority of Americans, especially post 9/11, love their flag and flag pins and hate the desecrators of them.

I have always said a party and a candidate in this country that eschews those things, in my opinion, cannot get elected. Damning America or an association with that comment simply will not get what we on the left, however morally well-meaning, want. Unfortunately, it achieves quite the opposite.

Barak Obama must appear patriotic and must be a unifier. In my opinion, he should have absolutely done more to distance himself from Reverend Wright, said the pledge of alliance and he should have worn a flag pin at least at times. It would not have hurt and indeed might have helped to close the gap Senator Clinton achieved in Pennsylvania.

The Profundity of Patriotism: Joan Vennochi's article "Obama's Patriotism" in Sunday's Globe was exactly correct. I have been saying the same thing about the American left in general for a long time. As a former sympathizer with the New Left of the late sixties, I was captivated by its hope for change and ultimately for the better, more just and more humane world it promised. For the first time then, too, because of the Left's fervent criticism of the Vietnam War, I absorbed the critical thinking about this country's foreign entanglements and, domestically, its racist past. It was a rude awakening then not to think of my country as historically exceptional.

As I aged though, I began to see the world in more grayish tones. It was clear to me that the vitriol spewed against this country did exactly the opposite of what I thought we on the left wanted. The burning of draft cards, the throwing away of war medals, the burning of the American flag did not usher in a more egalitarian society. To the contrary, it spawned Nixon, the Moral Majority, the so called Reagan revolution, extreme religious fanaticism and, worst of all, to me, a George W. Bush. All of those years the left verbally assaulted this country, the Republicans became dedicated to equating patriotism with Republican politics. In the end the majority of Americans, especially post 9/11, love their flag and flag pins and hate the desecrations of them.

A party and a candidate in this country that eschews those things, in my opinion, cannot get elected. Damning America or an association with that comment simply will not get what we on the left want. Unfortunately, it achieves quite the opposite.

McCain's Madness: Finally a big news story appeared about John McCain's well known temper and obscene outbursts of anger. It is documented that he has said angry, cruel, and profane things to his wife, senate members, colleagues and even the public when they annoy him. If elected president, this man's hand will be on the nuclear button?

Since the media is so intent to focus on small gaffs that the Democratic candidates make why doesn't the press focus intently on McCain's more important issues like his temper, his all-too-cozy relationship with the corrupt and ultimately jailed Charles H. Keating, Jr., which threatened McCain's career and Senator McCain's peccadilloes with women not only his recent raised eyebrow relationship with a lobbyist but also his affair with a woman, now his wife, WHILE he was married to his first wife?

How about focusing on Senator McCain's playing footsie with a Reverend Hege who does not like Catholics or anyone who does not see Biblical interpretation as he does and worse wants to bomb the Middle East to create a Revelationist rapture? How about more talk surrounding McCain's visit to Liberty University to pay a social call on Jerry Falwell, a religious extremist who espoused vitriol and hate? McCain's relationship with THESE religious extremists is far more damaging than Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright. These religious extremists McCain courts have managed to weasel their way into the echelons of power creating an explosive brew and risk to our country. They make egregious comments which have absolutely no validity and yet a presidential candidate has decided to share a bed with them now that he perceived he needed them to get nominated. How about the media talking about that?

McCain has many sins. How about the media devoting equal time to pounding the American public over the head about them?

To Torture or Not -- Fundamental Questions :

This administration will always claim 9/11 as its rationale to do anything it wishes. My anger against them is harsh because I love the ideals of the Enlightenment upon which our prescient Founders formed our American experiment. I do, though, of course, want this country protected from harm in a post 9/11 world. I want to know if the extensions of executive power are keeping us safe. I do not know who our government is capturing, what their charges are, or what methods of "enhanced interrogation techniques" are being used. Because there is no habeas corpus for those apprehended, they languish in jail, without trial, many of them probably tortured for nothing. Some, it seems, if one believes documentaries such as "Taxi to the Dark Side", simply found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and end up dead. I ask the question: is the abridging of the guarantees of habeas corpus, fair trial by jury, and prohibitions of cruel and unusual punishment justified?

If the government is throwing a dragnet over many who pose absolutely no real threat to anyone, that is problematic. It is a colossal waste of time, money and manpower to coordinate a Herculean effort to house people in jails without trial or without charges and to torture them forever. It has been shown that torture, indeed, does not work giving us faulty intelligence. In addition, it makes some who are subjected to this inhuman behavior very angry. So why torture? Our government has not shown sufficiently to me that because of these internationally unlawful tactics we are safer.

I want to know if there is justification for our government's controversial practices. The public is inured to the erosion of so many hard-won principles which have been the bedrock upon which western culture rests. Our nation's reputation in the world is severely compromised. Somehow I do not feel safer. Do you?