President Obama has a very tough job ahead of him.  He’s inheriting a country with a very bad economic crisis and two wars (one of which our commanding generals say we’re losing).   Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and millions more might still.  Unemployment is on the verge of being in the double digits percentage wise and our economy is slowly grinding to a halt.   Large corporations who have never had layoffs in their existence have just announced their first ever layoffs…  it’s a very bleak picture.   Somehow though, through all of this, one man has managed to stir up hope in millions.    One man has gone from an unlikely candidate for president to actually getting elected and eliciting the one thing that seemed to have been lost:  Hope.

I don’t care much about the color of his skin.  Is it historic that he’s our nation’s first black president?  Sure.  Is it all that shocking that it happened?   Not really.    There was a black man portraying the president in Fox’s hit series “24”, a few seasons ago.   There have been other instances in Hollywood of black presidents.   There was no major outcry by this.  It did not seem outrageous or preposterous – it simply was.   It was 100% completely plausible.  

What I do care about are his policies, just like everybody else should.   I’m not paying attention to the fact that he’s the first black president – I’m paying attention to his proposed tax stimulus.   I’m paying attention to his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan.  I’m paying attention to how he plans on fixing our economic plight.      I’m paying attention to how well he will work with congress and live up to his call for bipartisan politics.   I’m paying attention to his actions as a president, because, y’know,  that’s what’s really important here.

It’s great that he’s inspired hope in a lot of people.  I just hope that, through careful execution and a clear vision that will lead to success,   he won’t let everyone down.   Only time will tell.

There is one thing in particular about this election that has annoyed me from the start.  That is – people who make the claim that Obama is Muslim, and/or Arab.  This is usually used as a negative attack against Obama.  It’s used in such a way as to suggest that, were he either, he would be unfit for the job of being president.    They’re used as slurs.    

I say: who gives a shit what religion he is?   I don’t know about you but, I prefer to focus on things such as economic policy, foreign policy, health care policy and reform, tax plans, etc.   I care about the real issues, the ones that actually matter.   The rest of America should too, however for some reason this has become a SERIOUS issue for some people.  For some, the very notion of someone being Muslim makes them an enemy of the state, a terrorist.  This is fundamentally flawed thinking in a country founded on the tenant of freedom of religion and separation of church and state.  When did being Christian become a prerequisite for being POTUS?

 It seems like many people have a hard time differentiating between the radical jihadist Muslims who are waging a “Holy War” against us, and your everyday Muslim-Americans who just want to lead normal lives and practice their religion in peace (you know, one of those basic rights we have in this country…)

It’s a lot like the difference between the right wing, radical Christians and the normal Christians – some take it to extremes while others just want to follow their faith and lead a normal life.

Seriously though, people, let’s stop making religion an issue – it’s time we all grow up and respect not only ourselves and our countrymen, but people everywhere – from all walks of life and belief. 

A problem I’ve found myself having lately, in regards to our upcoming elections, is getting real answers about the various issues.   It’s almost impossible to get anything out of the press these days and take it for face value.  Everything with politics in the media is one big ball of spin  - depending on your news outlet of choice.  I’ve also found that, depending on your political leaning, your news outlet of choice varies.   For instance – if you are fond of the Republican party, and pretty people, you can’t go wrong with Fox News.   If you’re fond of “The Dems” you probably enjoy CNN and The New York Times. 

Why is this the case?   And Why does Ann Coulter, a journalist,  have 3 books that all have “Liberal”, used in a negative way, in the title?   The answer is corporation.

Gone are the days (or, perhaps more likely, NEVER were the days…) where reporters and journalists reported “just the facts”, and present are the days when reporters and journalists report “just the facts, as spun in such a way to make it palatable to the corporation that owns the newspaper, station or network I work for”.  If that corporation happens to favor the “right wing”, then the stories will have a slant that is favorable to the right wing.     If It’s more “liberal”, however,  the stories will be more favorable to the left. 

This brings up a fundamental problem.  If you were to ask the majority of people what the purpose of the nightly news, or the daily newspaper, was – their answer would probably be “to report the news”.  This seems like a fairly straightforward notion – a news program, and news paper, should report … well, NEWS!  What many people may not immediately realize (and some unfortunate souls NEVER realize) is that this isn’t straight news,   it’s news filtered through that agency’s agenda.   Sure, some things are just straight news,  i.e. “a triple homicide occurred last night in the downtown neighborhood of blah blah blah” – it’s pretty hard to politicize that (ok, it’s not that hard, but it IS easy to pick out when they’re doing that).  But for the most part it’s all spin.  The problem, then, is that we’re not having the news reported to us in an unbiased way, and many people (forewarning: some will probably accuse this of being elitist – it is not.  It’s the truth, and sometimes the truth sucks) don’t possess acumen to realize it.  Some people DO possess the acumen but, for whatever reason, choose to either not care or to ignore it. 

So,  why is this a big deal?     Well, perhaps it isn’t for many – but it is for me.   Why?   For the simple fact that – when a news agency starts filtering it’s stories through it’s own agenda it loses it’s objectivity, and in doing so, loses it’s credibility as a source of real, actual, news.    I can then no longer trust it to give me the facts – I have to go out and check it’s story to verify the facts, and if I have to do that then why am I even bothering to view it’s stories in the first place.

Why do they get away with it?    I have a theory on that.   People don’t like to hear things that are contrary to their beliefs.   Want proof of this?  Have a philosophical debate with someone sometime.  I was a philosophy minor in college – I know what the end result will be (I’ve been there MANY times).  If you like debating and actually KNOW philosophy you’ll probably GREATLY enjoy the conversation.  The other person will likely eventually devolve into rambling, cursing and shouting (in some rare cases, foaming at the mouth).  It will probably end with balled fists being slammed onto a table and/or someone walking out in a huff. 

Because people like to hear things that parallel their views they are instantly drawn to news sources that have a slant similar to their own.   That’s why right wing fundamentalists flock to Fox News as if it were the Mecca of television news.  

This all stems from the realization that – despite several months of reading about both candidates, I know NOTHING about what they really stand for.  Why?  Simple.  If I were to believe what I’ve read, both are, absolutely without a doubt, the single best candidate for the presidency.  Since you can’t have a plural singularity (that’d cause the fabric of space-time to implode and destroy us all.  So could the LHC at CERN, if it ever were to REALLY work, but I digress…), I know something must be broken with our media.   Or perhaps it’s working exactly like it’s intended. 

The changes I’m noticing in myself go beyond just culinary habits, though. I’m finding that my priorities in life are starting to change. Instead of wanting to go out all the time and hang out with my friends I am finding myself wanting to stay at home more and relax. I’m sure part of that is a sheer determination to enjoy this house I’ve worked so hard to get, and so hard to put together. The rest of it, though, is a desire to return to basics, to re-center myself and focus on myself for a while – rather than focus on hanging out with friends.

The other change I’m noticing is that I am settling down. I’ve moved on (finally) from the “college years”, and am starting to settle down in life and grow up. I’m planning more for the future ( with investments, savings, etc) and thinking about things I would have shrugged off in the past as something for “somewhere in the future”. Specifically, I’m thinking about getting married and starting a family. Somewhat surprising (to me, anyways) this thought doesn’t scare the bajesus out of me like it once did – in fact, it’s something I am looking forward to.

One could say that the key to THAT difference is that I’ve found someone who is worth spending the rest of my life with, which is part of it to be sure, but I think there is a level of maturity one needs to reach in order to take that step. Some people don’t wait to reach that maturity, and then end up getting divorced six months later because they couldn’t handle it. I don’t count myself to be in that group – rather I finally feel like I am READY to take that step.

Other areas of my life seem to be falling into place – I’ve got what looks to be a promising career ahead of me, I’ve bought my first house and am living on my own, I’ve got a wonderful girlfriend…. the big three are definitely there. The time is right.

There’s one thing left to do – I’m working on that.

It’s fun to sit back once in a while and try to identify how you’ve changed. You sometimes learn things about yourself, little insights. Totally worthwhile.

But I will say, I am intrigued by the platform of one of the candidates – Barack Obama.  Anybody who has read this blog knows that I have been calling for change in Washington for a long time – for a government that works for the people, rather than against the people.  That,  seemingly, is what Obama stands for.   I keep hearing his campaign tout how the people want change, and Barack does too.   The cynical portion of my mind (about 99% of it),   believes this to be a complete load of BS from a politician who is no different from the rest.  That other 1% of my mind, though, wonders – could it be possible that an honest man,   one who really seeks change,  could exist and make it THIS far in an election?  I honestly don’t know the answer to that.

I’ve heard interviews with people who have had the chance to meet Obama who say he’s the same off camera as he is on camera,  and that he really does seem to want to change the way things work in Washington.   I’d be lying if I didn’t say it fills me with hope – hope that the damages done can be reversed.   Hope that our country will survive,  that our ideals and freedoms will be preserved, that we won’t lose the core of what it means to be American.

I have hope that our economy will recover,    that we will once again be at the forefront of technology, the Internet,  and innovative new fields.  I have hope that we will slow our focus on wars overseas, and focus on rebuilding ourselves.

Most importantly,   I have hope that one man will resist the temptation of corruption,  will stand behind his words with his actions and will honestly work to change the status quo in Washington.

So,  Senator Obama – I throw down a challenge to you:    I challenge you to “put your money where your mouth is”,  live up to your promises of change.   Work long and hard, and try not to disappoint those who support you.   Show us that it’s not audacious to hope.

There are, however, times when I find government secrets to be wrong. For instance, when the NSA conducted ILLEGAL (at the time, though congress just passed legislation legalizing it…) warrantless wiretapping against americans. Or, for instance, the federal no-fly list, we’re assured nobody is on the list who shouldn’t be, but there’s no oversight and no way for anybody to know for sure if they’re on the list or not. This is not the way things should be run. Illegal black ops that spy on americans? Classified lists of persons who are not allowed to fly in the US? I’m sorry, but these things are not acceptable.

In my opinion, if the government wants to keep some things secret – fine, but do so legally. At the same time, though, if the government wishes to be allowed to keep secrets from it’s people, the people  must also be allowed to keep secrets from the government. As such, if I were president I would put a stop to these illegal programs, and would work hard to restore the civil liberties that we’ve found being eroded by our current government. Habeas Corpus, for instance, would be reinstated. Torture of prisoners would be dealt with harshly, and the detention camps like Guantanamo would be shut down.  People have rights, and it’s about damn time the US Government respect them.

Next, though, I’d like to talk briefly about our Legislature. The democrats made a lot of headlines when they first took over congress by extending their work week to 5 days a week (you know, like the rest of us). They also pissed off a lot of other members of congress by doing so. I applaud the move, though. I’m somewhat surprised by the outrage from the senators who didn’t want to work a full week so that they could travel to their home states for long weekends. I’m sorry, senators, but during the week I spend precious little time with my loved ones.   Why?   Because I am busy working.   I work five days a week, full time,   plus time at home after work and on weekends (and the occasional trip to the office on the weekend).  If you’re not willing to put in the time “in the office”, for what honestly is a pretty nice salary,   then give up your office and let someone who is willing to WORK in to do the job you SHOULD be doing.    Get back in touch with reality, senators, and do your damn jobs.

Anyways,  while I got a LITTLE off topic in that last paragraph,  I do have plans for congress.    For a long time I’ve found it strange that the legislative branch gets to legislate things pertaining to itself.    Such as, for instance, how many days a week it works , or how much they get paid.   Things like that need to be done elsewhere.    No governing body should be able to directly govern itself – it’s ripe for plenty of abuse.    Sorry, Congress,  your fate would be where it belongs: in the hands of the people.

In the next, and last, post of the series you can look forward to topics such as the war on terror and the war on drugs.

Those are all a start – but there is more that can and should be focused on to improve things.   First and foremost – the issue of climate change.    Our government’s current administration – for whatever reason – has decided to not heed the advice of many many scientists (including government scientists) regarding climate change and our policy positions regarding it.   We’ve decided to reject the Kyoto Treaty,  claiming it would do no good anyways, and our stance seems to be – as  always – pro oil and anti-environment.      A major problem, though,  is that currently there is so much FUD being spread around about climate change that it’s difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.   In order to cut through all the BS,  I would want scientific studies done to really determine the impact of humans on our planets environment – and determine once and for all if we’re a significant threat to the ecology of our planet.   If we ARE, then we need to start taking steps to correct it.    The only way to know is to have the research be done.   The only way to do that is to fund it.   Lets take some of those billions away from spending on unpopular wars, and spend it on determining the fate of our species.

To go hand in hand with that,  i’d also set our government up to sponsor and endorse the development of alternative fuel sources that are better for the environment and can help us break free of the stranglehold Oil has on us.

We also need to focus more on schools and education.   I don’t really have any suggested policy here – but I do know the no child left behind act is not really helping the situation any.    Perhaps a meeting with a random selection of REAL teachers who actively have classrooms could help us understand what they need to help their children succeed.   If we’re going to improve our future, we need to improve the education of our youth.

The most important part of all of these, of course, is the government working WITH the people to improve things.   As it is now, the government doesn’t seem to want to work with real people, but instead with a think tank that supposedly has our best interests at heart.    I want to put the people in touch with the government – make it more accessable, more transparent and a whole lot more efficient.    I also want it to stop ignoring the big issues and focusing on silly little wars in different parts of the world.   Hello, how about we figure out how to improve ourselves first?

as always – comments welcome.

MattyP wrote:

Mr. MMtMM,
I propose to you a challenge. I know how much you like analyzing and breaking down problems into fixable situations. I, like you, am extremely frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned, and generally fed up with the majority of American politicians. My challenge to you is this: IF provided with the necessary clout and authority, how would you re-work our current government to finally live up to its supposed task of representing our best interests?

I want to know specifically what, if you were elected President and chose to totally reboot the government, would you do? How would the Presidency of President Milton Waddums differ from every disgusting, corrupt, and morally bankrupt Presidency before it?

I am MOST interested in reading what you have to say, old friend!

First, let me say – this is quite the challenge. I find so many things that need improvement that it’s very VERY difficult to put it all into one post and keep it fairly concise. As such I am going to break it up into smaller posts. This is part one.

The first thing I would do is reform how elections happen. I would destroy the idea of a two party government that seems to permeate our government. You can’t represent the entirety of the US population and society in a system that only allows for two parties. The current system allows for significant stagnation, which harms everyone. We need some fresh ideas, new platforms and, most importantly, we need the will of the people to become a reality.

Beyond that, I would reform how campaign financing can be done. I would eliminate any contributions from companies or corporations, they cannot vote and should not be financing campaigns. It allows for corruption, kickbacks and the government working for the corporations and not the people. Government is for the people, not companies.

On the topic of HOW voting is done, I would say electronic voting machines WITH integrated paper backup. The software should be open to scrutiny by third party experts – no proprietary stuff.

Presidential signing statements would be made illegal, or at least limited in the scope of their use. If you don’t like a law as written then veto it, no ammending the law at the last second and with no recourse for debate or change.

I would eliminate the bureaucracy that is the Department of Homeland Security. It is a huge spender and isn’t doing much to really protect the people.

I would, as fast as is possible without further endangering our troops, get us out of the war in Iraq. I would then focus our efforts on the home front to try and repair our damaged economy and bring the US back into a prime position as a world economic powerhouse. This would include helping in the research and development of alternative fuel sources and new forms of technology. If we spent as much money on these things as we do on the unpopular wars we find ourselves fighting now, I have no doubt we’d succeed beyond our wildest dreams.

These are, in short, just a couple of things I would do. I will post part 2 later this week.

Probably a month and  a half later, I got another call from NRCC – again informing me of the great honor being bestowed upon me, and how I am being given a leadership award, blah blah blah.   They then played a (very offensive to me) audio recording of Tom Cole lambasting the newly elected democrats in congress who want to take away all of my small business rights, and how the Republicans are the only ones who have my interests at heart.   Given that I believe the only way to improve our nation is to work TOGETHER, I found the message conveyed to be rather offensive.    I felt, though, that if it was perhaps a legitimate invitation and award, I would perhaps be in a position to offer a voice of reason and could work to get people on both sides of the isle cooperating with each other, rather than working against each other.

After the recording,  the person I talked with briefly when I first called in came back on the line,    as I expected she went into detail about how they were going to do a press release, etc,  and how a contribution would be great.    Given that I’d heard this spiel before, I decided I would try and get more information about it – I specifically asked if  a contribution is required to receive the award.   I was informed, to my surprise, that no – a contribution is NOT required to receive the award, but that they greately appreciate any contributions that are given.   I told her I couldn’t contribute at the time,  but would consider them in the future.   I doubt in the future I’d feel any more compelled to give than I do now, but you never know.

I was told they would mail me information and a packet of things as part of this – yet it never came.    They never called back, and I’ve received no further correspondence.    I was lied to.

You see,   had I contributed, I have no doubt in my mind that I would have received more information and they would have done whatever they could to get me to keep giving them money.    Once they realized, however, that I probably would never give them money, they stopped bothering with this stupid little ploy of theirs.   They never sent me anything because,  no surprise here,   I no longer mean anything to them.    Not that I meant much to them before (just potential $$ in their coffers) ,  but now I’m not worth their time.    So much for being worthy of their leadership award.

Congressman Tom Cole should be ashamed of himself, and of the NRCC.   Their tactics are shameful,  his message is one of hate,  and the whole business advisory council thing is nothing more than a sham.    How many innocent businessmen have you conned into giving you money in the hopes that it will help them network in washington?  How long does it take for them to realize you’re full of crap and the Business Advisory Council is really a non-entity?

So,   Congressman Cole,   what do you have to say for yourself?    IF I am wrong, and your organization was sincere in it’s award to me,   go right on ahead and prove me wrong.

As it stands, I’m sick and tired of corrupt politicians,  lies and just plain underhanded tactics.   We need to clean up our society,  and the only way to truly do that is to clean up Washington and force our politicians to act in a manner that reflects well upon our chosen form of government, our country and all of her people.

[tags] Tom Cole,  NRCC, National Republican Congressional Committee,  Business Advisory Council [/tags]

If you said “Doesn’t that go against the 5th amendment to the constitution, something that’s in our BILL OF RIGHTS?” then you get a gold star and a much deserved pat on the back. You’re correct!

It’s rather ambiguous as to when the treasury department is allowed to make these seizures, and even more when it details a persons rights in such circumstances. It seems to throw due process out the window completely, allowing for the government to seize the property of anybody THEY determine to be undermining their efforts. But what, exactly, constitutes ‘undermining’? Is a blog post that slams them on their Iraq war policy considered undermining their efforts? Will I have all of my property seized for disagreeing with the administration? What kind of oversight is in place to make sure this isn’t abused? These are all questions that I find are lacking any real answers.

What’s worse, is that this administration ( nicknamed the War Criminal Administration, by some) has been slowly and systematically destroying the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States. Habeas Corpus has been thrown out the window (despite there being provisions protecting this cornerstone of our judicial system…), The Eighth Amendment has been largely overturned when we declared that the use of torture to get information out of terror suspects is OK ( after all, if you can’t beat them – join them! ) and now the 5th Amendment seems to be in serious peril as well.

How far fetched is it, now, for one to suggest that just prior to the elections in 2008, some hideous terrorist plot unfolds and an attack is made – The President, presiding over this crisis, makes the statement that we can’t afford the distraction of an election in a time like this, and that we’ll put it off temporarily while he deals with the new threat. In the emotional aftermath (much like right after 9/11 ) when people are feeling incredibly patriotic, he’s able to get sweeping emergency powers enacted that allow him to pursue the evil doers. Just like hundreds of times before, in hundreds of governments, a totalitarian regime is formed.

I used to think it was fiction myself, but now I wonder if it’s really a possibility…

On a different note, I did try to contact HP again – they are now no longer responding to any email or inquiry from me. I can’t say I’m all that surprised, though.

[tags] Executive Order, President Bush, Fifth Amendment, 5th Amendment, Bill of Rightst, Terrorists, Iraq [/tags]