Bush and His Cronies Are Going Insane

Now he wants another 42 billion dollars to perpetuate his mistake in Iraq. Not only that, the drumbeat against Iran is increasing and, instead of finding political solutions, this administration seems bent on repeating the same mantra they used when invading Iraq. Then, was the ghost of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, now, is the possibility of Iran becoming a nuclear power.

I don’t’ know - and I guess nobody knows for sure - if this scenario may become a reality in the future, but, given the terrible mistakes made by Bush and Co. in the recent past, the lies, the manufactured half-truths - more fiction than anything else - and the horrific consequences and lives lost in the present war, why should we believe anything that comes out of Bush’s mouth? Why?

Isn’t time to stop this mad group? And if so, who is going to do it? It’s urgent that any and all candidates think hard about what‘s coming because they are the ones who will have to deal with a very messy and potentially bloody situation when assuming the presidency next year.

Partisan ideology aside, we as citizens, should also consider speaking loudly against the escalation of conflict that is looming in the horizon. Our youth and our troops are the ones who’d bear the burden of this insane administration. Bush, Cheney and all others of this group of ill-thinkers will be gone by the time we have to say goodbye to yet more of our own.

Let’s get out of Iraq NOW! Let’s sit down and talk our differences with Iran NOW! Let’s also ease off the protectionist policies in favor of Israel to show the World that we are really the impartial party we boast to be. In the process, let’s have Congress take some initiative for a change and deny more funds for this crazy venture.

Simplistic Definitions and Ideas

Are for mass consumption only. Watching the so-called debates among political candidates my observation is that very little substance is present. Answers, being limited by time, are just a superficial glance of what the real sentiments of the participants may be. On the other hand, some candidates are so fixed in one or two issues that are pathetic. The media also contributes to the one theme story by repeating bits and pieces of the same answers ad-nauseaum. So, we have Hillary and her health care proposal, Tancredo wanting to deport 12 million people, Paul and Richardson and their common goal of ending the war now, Edwards with his humble beginnings and successful lawyering, Giuliani, perennial references to how he repaired New York, Obama the outsider, and everyone else on the list identified by mostly one or two issues.
I have never witnessed a more bland presentation of primary candidates. Basically, we could toss a coin and pick one, the result being the same.
The truth is that none of the candidates, some for lack of exposure to the media, forever concentrating on the top three or four, others because they simply don’t have a clear platform, can be distinguished from the others.
Where are the Kennedys, Reagans or Clintons (Bill) when we need them?
Voters as a whole are ready to follow a leader, strong, decisive and convincing. Not even a party, since the political traditions in both of them are blurred and sometimes undistinguishable from the other.
To compound the puzzle, given the totalitarian attitude assumed by the present administration, many are convinced that their vote makes little difference, given the absolute power presently vested in whoever sits in the White House. For all we know, any of the candidates, once at the helm, can tell us whatever they want, do anything they decide and change or void all the promises made. All they have to do is call on the magic words: Terrorism, War, National Security and label everyone who disagrees as Unpatriotic.
When not even the Congress can save us from a bad president many of us have become less gullible and a tad more pessimistic. That’s sad.

The outdated Electoral College system should be abolished.

When this country was founded, given the more or less primitive means of communication at the time, perhaps was a good idea to have a few people, members of the Electoral College, decide who the president would be. Representatives with the mandate to elect a certain person was a form of assuring some sort of fairness to the process. Today, this system is totally outdated.

Every citizen can see and hear each candidate at any time and decide which one is the best person for the job without having to delegate the power of decision to others.
Those in favor of keeping the present system may argue that has worked to date and there is no valid reason to change it. Well, it has not worked all the time.
Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and George W. Bush, all Republicans, lost the popular vote but won the presidency thanks to the Electoral College system.
Without going into the shenanigans of politics it's obvious that many people are going to be frustrated when their vote, apparently, didn't count.

That's why, while surveys of political scientists support the continuation of the Electoral College but Public opinion polls have shown that 75 percent of Americans favored abolishing it.

We are probably one of the few, if not the only one, democracies in the World still hanging on to this antiquated form of electing a president. No matter where in the country you reside, your vote should count even if you are one of the three residents of Lost Springs, Wyoming.

Stupid Immigration Laws

Welcome to the U.S. - You are free to die for us but your family must move!

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN) -- Eduardo Gonzalez, a petty officer second class with the U.S. Navy, is about to be deployed overseas for a third time. Making his deployment even tougher is the fact his wife may not be around when he comes back.”

We should be ashamed of ourselves when situations like this are allowed to happen!
Apparently, for the U.S. government is OK for an illegal to join the armed forces (That’s how Gonzalez entered the country), and even become a citizen like him (He became a citizen in 2005), go to Iraq and risk his life not once but three times (He’s about to be shipped again), but his wife (due to a technicality) could be subject to deportation.

Gonzalez’ wife was brought here as a child under the Guatemalan Refugee program and, while her mother is now a legal resident, Gonzalez’ wife, simply because she married him became ineligible for a visa under the original petition.

An insult to anyone who is serving in the military and an aberration of our immigration laws. Even if this was not the case of someone enlisted, to deny and deport the wife (or husband) of a citizen is akin to totalitarian. While the spouses of citizens may have few rights, at least for a couple of years, where are the rights of a citizen - man or a woman - to marry and live with anyone they want to, regardless of nationality? Is it just and outdated law? Is it racism? Is it stupidity? Aren’t we supposed to have the freedom to choose our mates? Or because some twisted law so dictates we must move out of our own country with our spouses when they are not in the immigration quotas?

Not only this is unfair to someone like Gonzalez, who may or may not come back alive from Iraq, but to anyone who decides to marry and live happily ever after in his or her own soil, the United States.

What an example of freedom we are giving to the World!