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?