So we are currently swamped with the latest rhetoric, "Time for change!" Change to WHAT? Real change can only come when a real honest to goodness Washington outsider becomes president. Why? The very fact that McCain and Obama are the choices solidifies the Washington insider mentality of both parties. Both candidates are dependent on other Washington insiders to get to the point that they are now. Both need the support of Big Business. Both need the support of Big Money. Without that they cannot possibly win. Neither candidate has enough fortitude to stand up and fight for his platform of ideas. Real change will not get their face on TV. Presidential elections are not really about changing anything but the face that occupies the Oval Office. Since the Kennedy-Nixon debates our presidents have been elected as much on the basis of how they look as what they talk about. Obama is a perfect example of this. His speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention catapulted him into the national spotlight. But his popularity has nothing to do with his politics. What are his politics? Change? But, the fact that he speaks intelligently and makes a good appearance is enough for many people, especially those who are sick to death of the neo-cons now in command. But the reality is that he offers little that is directly opposed to McCain. McCain's campaign is based on one point and one point only: He is not Obama.
That leads to my next point. Why is it that politicians seem to have only one approach, i.e. my opponent is a crook, a liar, and worse. Why aren't these guys ashamed of their own record which is probably just as unseemly as their opponent. And why not tell us what you would do if elected, rather than what your opponent has so dastardly done in the past and would do if elected. That's the politics of negativity. And it's used ad nauseum.
Soon we will be inundated with Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton bad mouthing Obama courtesy of the McCain clan. They will throw every negative comment used by the Democrat side at Obama. In the meantime they will adroitly sidestep any direct answers as to what McCain is all about.
Soon we will be inundated with remarks about McCain being more of the Bush years. They will throw every weapon they have at McCain. In the meantime they will adroitly sidestep and direct answers as to what Obama is all about.
Is this the best America can do?
You want real CHANGE? Write in Ron Paul.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Going to "Electoral" College
Many students throughout the US will be heading off to college during the next few days and weeks. The future of America rests in their hands, or so we like to think.
But how many of us know that we, too, are heading off to college? Huh? Yes, everyone who votes in the November election will be going to college.
How many voters in the country are aware they we do not directly elect our president? Chances are that even our current president may not be aware of this fact. Our system of electing the next president is an outgrowth of the Virginia Plan. It is known as the "Electoral College." Basically the idea was to incorporate both the popular election and the legislature into one system. Thus in each state the voters actually elect delegates from one party or the other who pledge to cast their votes for the winner of the general election in their state. Pledge but are not obligated to do so. The number of votes for each state is the total of Senators and Representatives from that state. The total number is 538. You need a majority to become president, hence 270. Originally the idea was to prevent election fraud and the fear that the voting population would not be informed enough to vote properly. Thus this somewhat cumbersome and antiquated and misunderstood system. But in all fairness to the Founding Fathers, they were not far off the mark when they worried about an uninformed electorate. Just ask an American to name the first five presidents, or even the last five.
So, my thinking here is that rather than deal with this 200+ year old method, we stand McCain and Obama up (in McCain's case prop him up) before the American people and ask them a couple of questions. The one who gets the most right answers is our next president.
So, fellas, here we go:
1) Who is considered the "father" of both the Virginia Plan and the Constitution?
Hint: His wife's name was Dolly, he was our shortest president, and probably weighed less than 100 pounds soaking wet.
2) Who was the first president born in the United States?
Hint: It's probably not who you think it is.
3) Name the presidents who were assassinated while in office.
Hint: There were four of them.
4) There is one mention of religion in the US Constitution.
Hint: Fill in the blank...
______religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States
5) Which president was the author of the Monroe Doctrine?
Hint: It wasn't Marilyn.
6) Who was the first Secretary of State of the United States?
Hint: He was also the second Vice President
7) Who was the second Vice President?
Hint: He was also the first Secretary of State
8) Which amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure?
9) Which amendment guarantees every American citizen "due process?"
10) Which two presidents died on the same day, July 4, 1826?
Hint: The day is exactly 50 years to the day after the signing of the famous document that one of them wrote, the other stepping aside so the former could do so.
11) What number president was Benjamin Franklin?
Hint: It's less than ten
12) Which president is buried in Grant's Tomb?
Hint: He became president after Johnson
13) What famous cemetery was once a plantation belonging to a president?
Hint: He was NOT president of all the states
14) Finish this famous quote. "I know not what course others may take; but as for me..."
Hint: He was the real "Patriot Act"
15) True or false: there is a Constitutional provision for a personal income tax.
16) Abraham Lincoln wrote in the Gettysburg Address, "Four score..." What is a score in years?
17) Who was the youngest man to become president?
18) Name the president's represented on Mount Rushmore.
19) Who was the only man to be President, Secretary of War, and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court?
20) Do you still beat your wife?
Sorry, fellas, no sports trivia or questions about how many houses you own.
That's my idea, and I'm sticking with it.
But how many of us know that we, too, are heading off to college? Huh? Yes, everyone who votes in the November election will be going to college.
How many voters in the country are aware they we do not directly elect our president? Chances are that even our current president may not be aware of this fact. Our system of electing the next president is an outgrowth of the Virginia Plan. It is known as the "Electoral College." Basically the idea was to incorporate both the popular election and the legislature into one system. Thus in each state the voters actually elect delegates from one party or the other who pledge to cast their votes for the winner of the general election in their state. Pledge but are not obligated to do so. The number of votes for each state is the total of Senators and Representatives from that state. The total number is 538. You need a majority to become president, hence 270. Originally the idea was to prevent election fraud and the fear that the voting population would not be informed enough to vote properly. Thus this somewhat cumbersome and antiquated and misunderstood system. But in all fairness to the Founding Fathers, they were not far off the mark when they worried about an uninformed electorate. Just ask an American to name the first five presidents, or even the last five.
So, my thinking here is that rather than deal with this 200+ year old method, we stand McCain and Obama up (in McCain's case prop him up) before the American people and ask them a couple of questions. The one who gets the most right answers is our next president.
So, fellas, here we go:
1) Who is considered the "father" of both the Virginia Plan and the Constitution?
Hint: His wife's name was Dolly, he was our shortest president, and probably weighed less than 100 pounds soaking wet.
2) Who was the first president born in the United States?
Hint: It's probably not who you think it is.
3) Name the presidents who were assassinated while in office.
Hint: There were four of them.
4) There is one mention of religion in the US Constitution.
Hint: Fill in the blank...
______religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States
5) Which president was the author of the Monroe Doctrine?
Hint: It wasn't Marilyn.
6) Who was the first Secretary of State of the United States?
Hint: He was also the second Vice President
7) Who was the second Vice President?
Hint: He was also the first Secretary of State
8) Which amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizure?
9) Which amendment guarantees every American citizen "due process?"
10) Which two presidents died on the same day, July 4, 1826?
Hint: The day is exactly 50 years to the day after the signing of the famous document that one of them wrote, the other stepping aside so the former could do so.
11) What number president was Benjamin Franklin?
Hint: It's less than ten
12) Which president is buried in Grant's Tomb?
Hint: He became president after Johnson
13) What famous cemetery was once a plantation belonging to a president?
Hint: He was NOT president of all the states
14) Finish this famous quote. "I know not what course others may take; but as for me..."
Hint: He was the real "Patriot Act"
15) True or false: there is a Constitutional provision for a personal income tax.
16) Abraham Lincoln wrote in the Gettysburg Address, "Four score..." What is a score in years?
17) Who was the youngest man to become president?
18) Name the president's represented on Mount Rushmore.
19) Who was the only man to be President, Secretary of War, and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court?
20) Do you still beat your wife?
Sorry, fellas, no sports trivia or questions about how many houses you own.
That's my idea, and I'm sticking with it.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Joe Biden, the People's Choice?
How important was it, is it, that Obama pick a "Presidential" VP? Certainly post Cheney we need to have someone who represents the American people. Not a war monger. Biden has been criticized as being outspoken. Maybe that's a good thing. Some of his comments, especially concerning Obama's readiness for the No. 1 job, will be repeated ad nauseum by McCain. But let's give some credit here to both Obama and Biden. Biden spoke his mind, Obama chose him anyway. Biden is certainly a Washington insider, but aren't they all? Is he any less so than McCain? Or Obama? And that catch phrase has been used over and over, but exactly what does it mean? It can only be seen as a scare tactic, but I don't think the Republicans can throw that around considering McCain's experience as a Senator.
And speaking of McCain...he was a prisoner of war for 5 years. He has physical ailments that inhibit his movements. Physical. How about mental? His many slips of the tongue are slips of the brain. Is he what we want in the White House? Is it far fetched that someone who was supposedly tortured for five years would have some degree of mental problems? I once got to know a WWII prisoner of war. He was tortured by the Japanese, and described to me the demeaning methods to which he was exposed. Some fifty years later it was still as if it happened to him just that morning. Would it have any less effect on McCain? Does he have the physical and mental ability to handle the world's most stressful job? I don't believe so.
This is just four more years of Bush. Where are the Washingtons, the Jeffersons, the FDRs that this country once produced? Where is the leadership that we once were praised for in JFK, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt? Even Clinton. Eight long years of America heading downhill is quite enough for me.
I may not be caught up in the Obama headlights, but the Republicans have let this country down and it is time for change, big change.
And speaking of McCain...he was a prisoner of war for 5 years. He has physical ailments that inhibit his movements. Physical. How about mental? His many slips of the tongue are slips of the brain. Is he what we want in the White House? Is it far fetched that someone who was supposedly tortured for five years would have some degree of mental problems? I once got to know a WWII prisoner of war. He was tortured by the Japanese, and described to me the demeaning methods to which he was exposed. Some fifty years later it was still as if it happened to him just that morning. Would it have any less effect on McCain? Does he have the physical and mental ability to handle the world's most stressful job? I don't believe so.
This is just four more years of Bush. Where are the Washingtons, the Jeffersons, the FDRs that this country once produced? Where is the leadership that we once were praised for in JFK, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt? Even Clinton. Eight long years of America heading downhill is quite enough for me.
I may not be caught up in the Obama headlights, but the Republicans have let this country down and it is time for change, big change.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)