AUTO COMPANIES NEED TO GO BANKRUPT!

Here we go again ladies and gentlemen, now that Obama is our next president, we need to make sure the Democrats don’t get too crazy trying to help too many people.

My concern today is the proposed bailout of our AUTO COMPANIES headquartered here in Michigan, my home state.

The current situation is that people have stopped buying new cars and the ones they do buy are fuel efficient foreign cars like Toyota and Honda. Since “leases” are no longer viable and not offered by most dealers, people want to “purchase” autos that are known to last a very long time such as Toyotas and Hondas. People who want to purchase an auto from one of the BIG 3 (Ford, GM & Chrysler) can no longer get a car loan; are you getting the picture?

For many years, a few people in Congress had tried to pass legislation mandating better fuel efficiency standards onto the Big 3 (others already met the standards). The Big 3 had powerful members of Congress (JOHN DINGELL, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMERCE COMMITTEE) who thwarted any and all attempts to compel the auto giants to think in terms of better MPG numbers. The Big 3 continued to make and sell their gas guzzling trucks and SUVs because that is what the public wanted and the Big 3 made BIG BUCKS on those models.

Barack Obama, speaking in Detroit at the Economic Club reiterated that Detroit must make more fuel efficient cars or suffer the future consequences of their actions or non-actions. Detroiters made fun of Obama and threatened to withhold their political support if he kept saying those crazy ass things!

Well today the Big 3 and their union UAW cohorts (now there friends?) came to Congress with their empty cups asking for handouts! The Democrats are saying that the country cannot allow the Big 3 to fail because the whole country would suffer. I say BULLSHIT to that!!!

The auto companies and the union had been warned a long time ago and just like the greedy bastards on Wall Street, these greedy bastards in Detroit were not heeding any warnings because they were raking those dollars and those benefits in, hand over fist.

If we are bailing out financial institutions why can’t we bail out these titans of manufacturing? Well, you may have a point there but their MUST BE STIPULATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES.

Congress has already allotted $25 Billion for re-tooling factories to produce fuel efficient vehicles. This can only go for that specific purpose. Congress should demand specific plans on how the Big 3 plan to manufacture these fuel efficient cards that the public will buy.

BUT the Big 3 also want another $25 Billion to help them through this trying economic time. I SAY – NOT SO FAST. GM, Ford and Chrysler are running out of cash. They are close to declaring bankruptcy and they should be allowed to do that. We cannot prop up a failing business. The companies must be allowed to re-organize under bankruptcy protection and emerge as small, efficient auto manufacturers.

The auto companies together with their unions must pay for their greed and their stupidity. I realize that this will be tough on my state and the people in the state that have for generations worked and prospered at the auto plants. There is no other way and the taxpayers will not put up with using their hard-earned money to prop up artificially, a business that has no legitimate reason to exist and operate under their current untenable business model.

John Dingell, the Congressman that has blocked legislation mandating better gas mileage for our autos is being challenged after 26 years as chairman of the Commerce Committee by another Democratic Congressman, Rep. Waxman from California. As much as I hate to lose a Michigan Congressman with such great seniority, he needs to pay for his lack of foresight.

Barack Obama is surrounding himself with all sorts of economic types including labor leaders, to help him grapple with our economic melt-down BUT he has to retain his own COMMON SENSE abilities to handle the auto dilemma.

He cannot allow taxpayer money to be pored into a black hole; he needs a plan, a plan that has a great potential to succeed and in my mind, the only plan that would work is to allow the Big 3 to declare bankruptcy and then stand ready to help the newly re-organized, smaller and smarted Ford, GM and Chrysler.

GOING BACK TO "NORMAL"?

This has been a hard fought battle and it divided the country down the middle. It was an emotional battle and it was a dirty political battle and it drove a wedge, in many cases, between friends and family members.

At the end, there was nobody to convince one way or another. I think minds were made up early on and then hardened to such a state that a civil discussion on issues could not be held.

I am not painting myself as someone that was always open to discussion; no, I am told I grew pretty loud and obnoxious during family political “chats” to the point that politics was a banned subject at all our social occasions. Why?

In my mind, opponents of Barack did not really prefer McCain; they just didn’t want Obama, a black liberal, to be president and not because of any real, specific issues. That is what I assumed when silly arguments about Barack’s citizenship, his rumored, incorrectly, Muslim faith and his associations with questionable individuals came up.

My brother-in-law said he was convinced Obama was a terrorist and all because the Internet was rife with rumor mongering by seemingly reputable people who emailed to their list and then individuals on that list forwarded the message to people on their lists, etc., etc.

These were not legitimate issues that could have valid differences of opinion; they were lies designed to appeal to people looking for an excuse not to vote for Obama.

The fact that political campaigns are getting so dirty and obnoxious is alarming and I don’t mean just the campaign for president. In Michigan, TV ads told blatant lies about candidates and proposals. A State Supreme Court candidate lost because the opponent’s ad accused him of sleeping on the bench during an important hearing, over and over and over again. I found out later that it was a lie from people that were at the hearing – is this legal?

I heard that in North Carolina a candidate’s speech was dubbed with a voice saying she does not believe in god and in North Carolina belief in god is mandatory for any office. The candidate is suing and I think more people should sue when they see their character besmirched by blatant lies or even manipulations of their image or their very words.

I think we should have a code of political campaigning conduct and instead of having “truth squads” investigate all claims by political propaganda and report their finding to the general public, they should be given the power to severely fine campaigns that are caught lying.

On the other hand, the Internet has definitely changed the way political campaigns are and will be conducted from here on in. The Internet cannot and should not be regulated and therefore any one running a political campaign must have geeks manning computers to defend against attacks from opponents.

Psychologists say that after the election, we must all let go and get back to normal. It will take me some time to just return to normal if for me, there ever is a normal.

WE WON, THE COUNTRY WON, THE WORLD WON!

Well I stayed up for the whole thing last night and it was worth it; we were part of history in the making!

McCain’s concession speech was a great speech and I think, reflected the words of the real John McCain and not the words of his handlers. It was gracious and heartfelt. I printed out a copy to have in my library – that good!

Obama’s speech to the huge, cheering and celebrating crowd at Grant Park in Chicago was classic Obama like only he could deliver. He seemed pretty serious at times knowing full well what is now ahead of him.

I am glad he won but now I will start to worry about what damage unbridled Democrats can cause to me, us, our nation, etc.

Monday morning quarterbacking has begun as to what McCain did wrong or what he should have done. I will always feel, since I was an early McCain backer, that he let people (former Bush people) dictate to him how the campaign should be run. He once knew better but surrendered his better judgment to so called pros that proceeded to blow it.

His pick for VP (Palin) was going to be either a brilliant move or a dumb decision; it ended up biting him on the ass.

His opting to attack Barack Obama on character with negative ads also bit him on the ass as people were clearly saying they did not like negative ads; stick to the issues.

The biggest factor in his demise was the sudden, historically unprecedented economic fall here and around the world. The change was instantaneous; Obama jumped in the lead and never looked back. Obviously, people felt more comfortable with Obama handling the economy than a guy who allowed it to happen.

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA LEGAL USAGE: The proposal passed big time with nary any opposition.

LEGAL STEM CELL RESEARCH: The proposal also passed but the battle the Catholic Church waged ($10 million) against it nearly defeated it. I am happy people saw through the Church’s flimsy and untrue arguments.

Have to call my friend in North Carolina. The state elected a Democratic Senator and nearly elected Obama by a fraction of one percent. Wow, now that IS historic!!!

FINALLY IT ENDS - I HOPE!

Well ladies and gentlemen, the end is near; tomorrow it ends – I hope!

I am a little apprehensive about the election, you just never know. I gave Obama my vote and so did my wife.

I am not a Democrat and I am aggressively anti-socialist. I am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal and there is NO party out there that represents me. The closest one is the Libertarian Party but obviously they do not have a role in our political structure.

The republicans under Bush are not Republicans as far as standard and historic Republican ideology is concerned; I don’t know who they are now. The Democrats are predictably socialist-like but they have been all along.

I voted to return to Congress Thaddeus McCotter (Republican) even though I vowed not to because of his arrogant stand with Bush for the Iraq War. His last minute defection from the Bush camp where he stood against the “bailout” as socialism endeared him back to me plus I don’t want the Democrats to have unbridled control of Congress.

I would have voted for a Republican Senator but Carl Levin just has too much seniority and as we know, seniority gets you stuff. I hope the Senate remains even as it is now so really obnoxious Democratic bills like the “Freedom of Choice Labor Law” which is anything but, can be quietly killed off.

I notice on TV tonight that many and I mean many people are voting tonight using “absentee” ballots. It appears the lines are at least 4 hours long tonight, so I don’t know what they will be tomorrow. I think this election will hit a historic number of voters. I hope we make it way passed 50%.

I just talked to my sister who hasn’t voted in years because she was not moved – until this year – why – proposal 2 (stem cell research) – she had to vote YES and she is a very good Catholic – take that Catholic leaders; you don’t know your own members you twits!

The UNPRECEDENTED turnout, the unprecedented emotion means that Americans are up and awake and they are paying attention. I hope all this energy and interest means we have had it with our current government and we really do want a change and to me that can only mean Obama; I hope I am not reading this wrong.

McCain Campaign Reaches Out to Polish Americans

McCain Campaign Reaches Out to Polish Americans

This is actually a pretty smart move on the part of the McCain campaign. Poles tend to reside in a number of specific states and cities but not all Poles really care about their heritage or even keep up with what is going on with Polish-American relations.

One huge issue is the fact that Bush has granted "visa free" entry status to many Eastern European countries but NOT to Poland. Poland has had troops in Iraq from the very beginning and has suffered quite a few casualties but NO visa free entry into the U.S.

You may think this is so ungrateful on the part of the U.S. especially when Poland has been such a close friend and supporter of all things American for quite some time. I guess they don't hold a grudge against Franklin Roosevelt for selling Poland to Stalin after WWII and subjecting countless Polish generations to suffering under 50 years of Communist rule; but they still love us.

The visa issue is getting Poles pretty pissed but there are valid reasons for not granting visa free entry to Poles and the biggest one is the fact that many Poles came here on a visit and stayed for years and many are still here - illegally? I guess Poles were compared somewhat to Mexican immigrants who came here and took up jobs no one else wanted.

Anyway, I have to give McCain a star for reaching out to European immigrants - every vote counts.

THE VATICAN AND THEIR HOPELESS BATTLE

I came across an interesting article about how the Vatican is expanding psychological screening of candidates for the priesthood in an attempt to filter out potential pedophiles.

I guess I would have to admit that the Vatican is at least trying something but I maintain that the situation with priestly celibacy is so abnormal, so contrary to natural maleness that no matter what they do, they will NEVER be able to attract and keep NORMAL males.

I am not saying that men that never have sex are abnormal. What I am saying is that young virginal men who are thrust into roles of social and spiritual responsibility without being allowed to mature in their own sexuality, will, in most cases, evolve somewhat abnormally into an adult with a very real potential for some type of behavioral dysfunction.

The Vatican does acknowledge this as a problem when they specifically mention that problems with “confused or not yet well defined sexual identities” need to be addressed.
My question is how? Males have to grow into their sexual identity, they cannot just be told about it.

Vatican guidelines say priests must have a “positive and stable sense of one’s own masculine identity” and have the capacity to “integrate his sexuality in accordance” with the obligation of celibacy. I posit that this is practically impossible to do in a natural or normal way without messing up something in your psyche.

The Vatican is adamantly against homosexuality and considers it a sin yet they, as an institution, create the perfect attraction for homosexuals or at least youths that feel attracted to an all male society but don’t know why.

I will go back to my old argument that the Catholic Church’s insistence on priestly celibacy is without any religious foundation and was only instituted (yes priests were married in the past) when certain rich bishops were willing church property to their next of kin.

Catholic priests are becoming an endangered species and the ones in existence are all suspect so go ahead Vatican, keep doing what you have been doing and see what that gets you.

I predict that the only men priests in the future will be widowers or divorcees that do not want to re-marry or priests that have a nice woman in the parish that will be willing to service them for the greater glory of god.

RACISTS AMONG US!

I have touched on the role of racism in this election before but when it hits close to home, it roils me even more.

It is hard to find overt racism today because it is so déclassé but it is there none the less and very discernable if you give it some thought.

I have recently engaged in political discussions with a number of people and became convinced that the totally absurd reasons given why Obama should not be president (read: I am not voting for him) are there to mask their real reason: racism.

I can understand not voting for Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton; they are totally unfit for the presidential office and could not even run a dog pound, let alone a whole country. Voting for them would be absurd.

But here is Obama, raised white but with dark skin because his biological father was an African (Kenya) but did not play any role in his life. Obama has the energy and the brains to run this country but because his skin is darker than ours, he cannot be president?

It reminds me of Colin Powell and his recent interview. He defended Obama as a Christian and not a Muslim but he stopped and said what IF he was a Muslim, does that mean he cannot be president? This is America, since when do we have these standards (white & Christian) for the office of president. The Constitution explicitly says that NO religious test is necessary for any public office; the Constitution does not speak about skin color.

I guess I am frustrated because I just don’t understand their racism because to me it lacks logic or reason and must stem from a deep rooted emotion programmed by racist parents living in a racist society that generalized the negative traits of some blacks into a condemnation of all people with dark skin leaving no room for seeing people as individuals.

If you could see people as individuals you would learn that there are jackasses of every skin hue as well as angels and heroes.

I grew up in this generation, in a lily white, Polish Catholic neighborhood, white Catholic grade school and white Catholic high school except for one tall black basketball player that was recruited to help us win the state basketball championship. So why am I not a racist? Well how about that I had absolutely no reason(s) to be one, for starters.

I went into the U.S. Air Force when I was 18. I met not only people with different skin colors but non Catholics and even people that talked with a different accent – the whole experience just blew my eyes wide open – look, there is a different world out there. I am also cognizant of the fact that many that grew up like me did not have the opportunity to leave their little isolated piece of the world and experience the rest of the world and therefore were stuck in that one dimension forever.

I will look into my life experiences even more down the road to see why I turned out the way I did but for right now; I will remain puzzled as to why some in my generation turned out the way they did.

I can only hope that more white people vote for Obama because he is the right man for the office than those that will not vote for him strictly because he has dark skin.

CALL FOR AN END TO DIRTY POLITICS!

Just a few quick notes on our political scene.

The Detroit Free Press in a bold editorial today called the Michigan Catholic Church’s campaign against Proposal 2 (Stem Cell Research) “FULL OF SHAMEFULL DISTORTIONS”.

The Michigan Catholic Conference that has poured millions into this campaign (without acknowledging it like most people who say “I approve this message”) has indicated to me that they are as dirty and underhanded in politics as the worst offenders. They have no ethics or morals and will lie like a dog any time it suites their purpose.

They may defend themselves by saying that the end justifies the means and I just say SHAME ON YOU!

_________________________________________


Just heard that McCain will distribute a 90 minute DVD trashing Obama with lies and innuendoes right before Election Day. The DVD will be included with all Sunday papers in the so called battleground states.

This is the very bottom of the sewer. I realize McCain is desperate and the Republicans have played this type of dirty politics in the past and have won. It is becoming an accepted practice and what does that say about us and our country; you don’t see the Democrats using the same tactics.

The American people need to show these political pigs that we, as a nation, will not stand for this type of behavior; and they call themselves family value Christians. They are pigs and above all, hypocrites and should be treated as such.

The internet is filled with anti-Obama diatribes trying to camouflage their RACISM with appeals to the more basic interests of the so called “red necks” among us. They are succeeding but let’s hope on a very limited basis and that the new generations among us will not be susceptible to such ignorant racist pseudo-logic.

CATHOLIC CHURCH: Do you approve this message?

Today I voted by absentee ballot; the only way to vote!

I talked to the lunch crowd at work as to what they thought of Proposal 2; the Stem Cell Research Proposal. They mentioned that it was very confusing and they feared that they would somehow be taxed if this proposal went through – indicating that they probably would vote against it.

I explained all the facts about the proposal and how it would help people and no taxes were even mentioned in the proposal. Interestingly enough, what stuck in these people’s minds was the “we will be taxed” suggestion of the opposition ads. The proponent’s ads mentioned that all Detroit media was for the proposal, all doctor and nurse organizations were for the proposals and all medical charities were for the proposal – that did not stick at all.

I mentioned before that the Detroit / Michigan Catholic Church is behind the opposition ads and has donated millions to it but they never, as in most political ads today, identify themselves by saying “I approve this ad” because it speaks for me and my views.

I said that to our resident super Catholic and he said that he opposes the stem cell proposal because of his Catholic views and why can’t the Catholic Church just say that it is against their belief system and that is why they are running these ads?

It appears that the Catholic Church in our state is not above playing dirty political games where they mislead people by outright lying and/or fabricating the truth.

I think the Church should be called out on this but I doubt there is any media type or organization that has enough balls to do that. I guess I will have to be the lone voice in the wilderness of our society that keeps sounding the warning bell against a Church that has a history of deception but depends on their lemmings to keep them in power.

SAME OLD BLACK CULTURE IN DETROIT OR NOT?

Today, our former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick went to jail for 120 days; I will not burden you with the whys’ – see previous blogs.

The man stood before the judge UNREPENTANT and actually ARROGANT TO THE END. He did not apologize to the city or its inhabitants for stealing their money and living large off their hard earned tax dollars. He did not apologize for lying his ass off UNDER OATH. He did not apologize for using the city as his personal playground and he did not apologize for using the citizens of Detroit as his dumb ass puppets.

He was scolded by a white judge for all the above but I wished a black judge would have done that but the last black judge that had anything to do with this case, tried to free him.

When he was handcuffed and led to prison, his supporters cheered and his wife offered her support even though he cheated on her numerous, now public times.

I did not see any Detroit blacks protesting outside with signs saying that he deserved more jail time for what he did to the city and as I have stated before, this is a black culture problem that needs addressed or there NEVER will be a time when Detroit residents are considered just plain citizens of Detroit and Michigan with the welfare of both as their primary concern.

My wife, who is big in the Detroit MLK Annual March Organization, assures me that there are MANY black Detroiters that are mad as hell about what Kilpatrick did to the city but I do not see much proof of that on TV or in the papers.

Kwame’s father was on TV saying his son was railroaded and that he will return ; his father is also under investigation by the FBI for corruption, etc. while a city employee. It seems his whole family was on the take, using their blackness to its full extent.

There are 18 black contenders for the office of mayor, all saying that the city needs a real mayor, one who actually cares for the welfare of the city and its citizens and maybe some of them really mean it. But I have to wonder, how many of them see another black kingship in the making.

Kilpatrick has already said that the citizens of Detroit have set him up for a triumphant return when he gets out of jail and I have to wonder if he knows something I don’t know.

WALL STREET BOYS NEED TO PAY!

Sunday, the program “60 Minutes” took a look at one of the major causes of our financial crisis: DERIVATIVES. I have talked about them a number of times but it is hard to understand and “60 Minutes” tried to explain them to the average Joe.

Basically, “Derivatives” were described as “side-bets”. They showed a football game going on and then showed the public in the stadium and explained that the spectators are not “in the game” but can bet on the game’s outcome (gambling).

Take that scene into a business situation where an individual or a hedge fund buys insurance (bets) on a deal between two other entities. Let’s say a Hedge Fund purchases / bets that a certain bank will fail or a certain company will default on a specific loan; the Hedge Fund is not involved in any of the businesses it is betting on, it is just betting that something will or will not happen.

We all know that in sports betting, if the money amount is high enough sometimes the bettor tries to influence the outcome to his advantage by maybe bribing a player to shave some points, etc. The same can happen in business, where “short-sellers” have been known to influence the way a stock moves, obviously in the direction that they bet on.

I mentioned before that this supposed financial activity is pure gambling and not a productive activity that benefits our economy. 60 Minutes said that this specific activity was illegal and deemed a crime not long ago but Wall Street somehow convinced the bozos in Washington to legalize it for them.

You may wonder how this gambling could have effected our economy so much, well all you have to know is that this gambling activity involved TRILLIONS of dollars and any activity involving those sums has got to cause quite a ripple in our economy and it has.

This type of irresponsible action on the part of our Congress and Wall Street types needs to be hung up for all to see and maybe throw rotting fruit at. New regulation banning gambling on Wall Street needs to happen immediately but I am leery about any punishment ever visiting the people that caused all this and that is disconcerting to me.

Because our Treasury Department is headed by a former Wall Street biggie; I’m pretty sure he will try to protect his buddies as best he can.

I just don’t want this financial mess to be placed on only the shoulders of Joe, the home mortgage defaulter; I want the big boys to pay too by not being rescued by our tax dollars but allowed to swing and die.

INTERNET POLITICAL MISINFORMATION

I was at a social function last night (mostly old, Polish people) and I could not resist bringing up politics even though I promised my wife I would not. As I engaged the couple sitting next to me, I was taken aback by something I have not heard about before; “Did you know Obama was not born in the U.S.”, implying that he is not qualified by birth and citizenship to be president.

I said, where did you hear about this and she promptly said, on the Internet. I said don’t you know better than to believe all that bullshit on the Internet generated by McCain supporters (I have never see like material from the Obama side – ever)? She looked at me in confusion as if to say, it was on the Internet, it has to be true.

I was surprised to read in this morning’s paper “ARE THEY U.S. CITIZENS? HERE ARE THE FACTS”. To me this means that the Internet bullshit is having its desired effect; it is placing doubt in minds that easily accept bullshit no matter how outrageous.

The column in the newspaper ended with “SOME LOGIC:” which basically asked the question, if this was suspected, wouldn’t they have raised this issue before and not with one week to go in the election – dumb ass!

You can go online to: factcheck.org if you have any doubts about any thing.

Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. Hawaii became a state in 1959. Obama is a natural born citizen.

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936. The Canal Zone was a U.S. Territory from 1903 – 1979. He was born to two U.S. citizens in a U.S. Territory therefore he is equivalent to being born in the U.S. according to the Constitution.

I think people, like the couple I talked to, grasp at these nonsensical straws because they don’t want to admit that they are racially biased and cannot vote for a black man period. As I mentioned, these people are older and I guess you cannot expect some of them to change or even become progressive with age; too bad.

A MOVIE FOR OUR TIME - SEE IT!

I saw a movie this weekend (Netflix) called IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH. It starred Tommy Lee Jones as the father, Susan Sarandon as the mother, and Charlize Theron as the detective among a stellar cast. I gave this movie five (5) stars, my best ever because it was an amazing movie that somehow touched me.

A young soldier returns from Iraq and then goes missing. His many body parts are discovered in a field close to his army base. His father, a career army man (retired) wants some answers and the story begins.

The army soldiers are all young and all have seen horrific action in Iraq. I think my experiences with varied personalities in the Air Force at the age of 18 (1966-1970) made me relate to this movie in a way that others with no military experience, may not.

I guess the basis for the movie is the psychological condition of young soldiers when they get back home and the military’s inattention if not downright refusal to admit that a huge problem exists with our returning soldiers.

In Iraq, the young men have the power to kill and also to be killed. They are young, yet have this awesome power of life and death. Under constant alert and apprehension, the people of Iraq somehow become non-humans, just the enemy. Life in general becomes expendable and normal rules of human conduct are somehow suspended.

The father tries to crack the military’s wall of silence about what happened to his son and eventually one of his son’s army buddies admits to stabbing him and dismembering him and not knowing why he just snapped that way. His other friends, who were there, just accepted the irrational, violent behavior as just something that happens to soldiers returning from action in Iraq.

The army content on just sweeping the whole thing under the carpet because that is what they normally do.

In my time, most of us were drafted or joined the Air Force so as not to be drafted into the army; I guess we did not want to be canon fodder. The all volunteer army was supposed to be better; soldiers that wanted to be soldiers. I guess during the Vietnam War, the draftees were more like citizen soldiers; knowing that their place is not in the military when the war is over but does that really make a difference?

Any time a police officer is involved in a shooting, he is ordered to undergo psychological evaluation not to see if he is crazy and that’s why he was involved in a shooting but because taking someone’s life is a traumatic experience for any one and he may need help to mentally handle what just happened.

I guess our soldiers do not receive any psychological debriefing when they return from war; maybe they should. This movie makes a case for such psychological help in a most dramatic and well told movie.

It is available on DVD and I can see why it garnered some Academy Award nominations.

REMEMBER MCCAIN AND IRAQ - FOREVER!

Hate to bring up Iraq at this late date but I have to keep reminding my friends that supported the war and Bush and many still do, about how wrong they were and how stupid they look now; your voting rights should have been taken away for your blind ignorance.

The United Nations legal mandate for U.S. occupation of Iraq is coming to an end. Not that Bush gives a shit about the U.N. or even the war in Iraq (he will be gone) but it is important if you want your actions and current position in Iraq to appear at least somewhat within some type of international legal framework.

To extend their “legal” occupation mandate, the U.S. and Iraq must agree to a plan for the future. The Iraqis must agree to allow the U.S. to maintain a troop level in Iraq for a specified time. Well, the Iraqis want the Americans OUT NOW!

Why do they want us to go? As I said countless times before, the various Iraqi factions want to get on with ruling the country their way not the American way. The Shiite clergy want to take control, unite with Iran and eliminate the Sunnis and Kurds; they don’t want to share the wealth.

So, countless Americans dead and maimed, countless Iraqis dead and maimed and what the fuck do we have to show for it – nada!

I guess I will always be ticked off at the people that supported Bush and his idiocy because I don’t think it is something that can be excused. Now some family members admit that they may have been wrong; I just want to remind them every chance I get.

I think people should keep reminding McCain about his stubborn and asinine support of Bush and the war in Iraq – every day. And I think the nation should reward McCain for his arrogant, misguided views on Iraq by dumping his ass big-time in the election.

WHAT OBAMA SHOULD BE SAYING RIGHT NOW!

This is what Obama should be saying towards the end of the campaign:

This economic crisis we are in has the whole nation as well as the world, on pins and needles; people are scared as hell.

People are wondering, how in the hell did we get into this mess; how did we allow ourselves to be blind-sided this way. Don’t we have smart people in Washington looking out for our welfare? Actually, you don’t and have not had someone watching out for you for some time; the Republicans fell asleep at the switch.

John McCain is attacking me as a socialist, as a big spender, as a wealth re-distributor; name calling from someone whose economic modus operandi allowed the mess we are in right now, happen.

Senator McCain cannot be telling voters that he will change things in Washington when he has been supporting all things Washington and all things Republican for years and years; is he saying he will dismantle what he has built?

What I will do for the nation and for the world is I will clean-up Wall Street and make sure it never causes such financial calamity ever again.

Wall Street was allowed to run wild. Alan Greenspan, the former Fed Chairman, testified in Congress that he erred in thinking that Wall Street would police itself. He assumed institutions there would not engage in practices that could hurt not only their shareholders but the national economy and even the global economy. He now realizes he was wrong to make such assumptions – obviously we are seeing the results of his assumptions.

Alan Greenspan and the Republicans that supported him failed us all and that is why I am telling you today that I will not fail you. There will be a new sheriff in town that will clean and sweep Wall Street from one end to the other.

Reading the media, you would think that all this was the fault of people making wrong –headed decisions about buying homes. Let me tell you that people who took out loans they could not afford probably should have known better but for highly paid, Wall Street whiz kids that invented creative but deadly games based on those bad loans, knew what they were doing was not financially sound but their greed and desire for immediate financial gains made them close their eyes to the risks involved.

Republican Washington and that includes Senator McCain, fed the greed on Wall Street by ignoring the need for regulation; things are going so well, why disrupt the party.

I promise you, that I will use all means at my disposal, to mend our economy as soon as possible and I will also take steps to prevent a recurrence of the situation we have now.

Senator McCain criticizes my tax plan and says that his plan would mean fewer taxes for all. Let me tell you that our immediate problem is not who will pay more or less tax, our immediate problem is putting our economy back together again and I maintain that I am better prepared to do that then someone who was part of the problem in the first place.
I am the new sheriff and I will bring law and order back into our economy!

MARIJUANA USE IN MICHIGAN: YES

The other proposal on the Michigan ballot is whether to allow the growth and consumption of MARIJUANA FOR MEDICINAL REASONS. Doctors would be able to write permission slips for people that may be helped (pain) by smoking marijuana. There are a lot of legal dos’ and don’ts in this proposal so it does seem there are a lot of precautionary measures to not allow its use for recreational reasons.

I have no idea how many people that suffer excruciating pain will be helped by smoking weed; I don’t think it matters, at least to me. What does matter to me, as in the prostitution case mentioned below, is the total irrationality of banning any and all use of marijuana when, in the same state, you can legally buy booze, get drunk and then jump in your car and potentially slaughter many innocent people that just happen to be out on the roads with this drunk driver.

In view of the legality of alcohol manufacture, purchase and consumption in this state, legal marijuana use would actually be less problematic than the problems created by alcohol abuse.

I am not a marijuana user. My body seems to reject any opiates and other such substances as evidenced by my near death in a hospital that injected me with morphine to alleviate my mega strong pain due to gall bladder / pancreas inflammation; I consider myself very lucky.

No, the marijuana proposal is all about logic and principal. So far, the polls are saying this proposal may pass. Thank heavens the Catholic Church does not object to smoking weed; how else can a hard working priest ever kick back and relax after tending all day to their flock.

STEM CELL PROPOSAL VS CATHOLIC CHURCH

I have written about this proposal on the Michigan ballot but the time to vote is near and the fight has intensified.

The proposal allows owners of embryos from fertilization procedures, to legally donate them to research facilities instead of allowing them to be destroyed; it is as simple as that.

The daily ad wars have escalated to a ridiculous level and I wondered who in the hell was paying for all this media activity. This morning one of our daily newspapers identified the Catholic Church in Michigan as a major sponsor. I can only guess that the proponents are funded by research facilities who would receive the embryos and regular, intelligent and kind people that see the great potential for good this research may provide.

We are talking about millions of $$$$$$ taken from little old ladies who donate every week to their church so they can go to heaven.

The Catholic Church side does not bring up religion in any fashion in trying to defeat the proposal. This is a new strategy on the part of the Church in part, I think, because so many Catholics support this proposal and might object to the use of their money to battle something they support.

The Church here and I guess everywhere, is fanatically against abortion / Choice, throwing out all logic and reason just to stand on a principal their own members do not support.

If the embryos were to be destroyed anyway, would it not make sense to use them in a cause that may relieve so much suffering in the world? The proponents are using this one pretty cheerleader that suffered a debilitating accident when she was fourteen. She said that she will never be able to walk and function as a normal human being and she will NEVER be able to breath on her own. Stem Cell research offers her hope, even a glimmer of hope, for the future.

The Catholic Church ads harp on ridiculous possibilities like combining human embryos with animal embryos and similar absurdities BUT the polls say that they are winning the minds of Michigan residents with their message?

If the proposal is defeated I would have to take my hat off to the Catholic Church since they obviously know the Michigan voter better. They see the voter as a total dumb ass that will believe any sound bite thrown at him or her without due thought and therefore is completely malleable to people with the skills necessary to influence such people.

The Catholic Church is a pro at feeding people bull; they have been doing it for centuries.