Requisites for One Country, With Liberty, and Justice for All

When we vote for someone to represent us in any government body we believe that the individual is at least as intelligent as we. Why would we want to vote for someone who is less intelligent? When we vote we also expect that the individual we select will be as wise as we, otherwise why would we select the individual? Whomever we decide to vote for should be more informed as we on matters that are relevant. Should we ever ever vote for someone who is less informed? When we vote for someone we expect that individual to honor all laws and the U.S. Constitution. Would you do otherwise? When we vote we expect the individual we select to represent all of the people and lead with objective analysis and vision based upon their intelligence and wisdom. Otherwise we could vote for anyone regardless of their leadership qualities and honesty. Would you? We expect that the individuals that we vote for are better educated than we and have the intelligence to apply their knowledge to wisely guide and benefit the people. Otherwise we would become leaderless, or be led into chaos. Would you want "that"? Have we had "that"? Will we prevent that from happening again?

Our form of government, erroneously called a democracy, is a Constitutional Republic governed by a basic set of principles spelled out in our constitution. How many of us have read and studied our Constitution? It is the essence of our legal system and basis of all governance. It also descibes our individual responsibilities. Our Constitution was developed by educated and wise immigrant leaders who engaged in rigorous debate and discussion and compromised to establish our country's bedrock foundation. The foundation that they built was not perfect, and over the two plus centuries that have elapsed since its adoption many amendments have been made to provide more rights for all the people, and to right wrongs. All of us are the beneficiaries of the wise actions of our founders. As beneficiaries we are also obliged to protect and support our constitution. This responsibility is not a passive duty. We must be proactive and demand and vote for leadership that will continue our Constitutional heritage that provides liberty and justice for all. Being proactive means that we must constantly educate ourselves and become fully aware of national and world events. We must actively engage in the political discourse that determines our future. We must dedicate some time every day to self education and study so that we become better informed voters.

Many politicians who we have voted into office lacked the intelligence, wisdom, and vision to provide needed leadership. We, as a society bound together by the easily torn fabric of our Constitution, cannot fall into a state of apathy and ignorance. Instead we must dedicate ourselves to the renewal of faith in the words and inferred actions that our Constitution demands. Read our Constitution again and discuss it with your friends and neighbors. Any reasonably intelligent person can do this. Having a degree in law is not only unnecessary, but also potentially blinding.

Dedicate yourself to spending more time to become better informed and educated. You may be surprised what you can learn and apply, at any age. Consider the questions in the first paragraph of this blog when you vote; again, and again, and again. The requisite for being citizens of a Constitutional Republic are simple yet demanding. We must all apply our intelligence to become better educated and more visionary so that we are better able to  make wise decisions about our Country's future, and to become  responsible citizens of "One Country, With Liberty, and Justice for All".

 

Vote For Your Grand Children and Children--Vote for Obama

Last nights debate clearly demonstrated clear differences between Sen. Obama and McCain and their respective party's policies. McCain and the Republicans represent avid partisanship, and McCain never acknowledged any common ground with Senator Obama. Obama clearly reaches out to find common ground, and will if he becomes our next president. McCain persistently attacked Obama with fearful associative connections, some beginning when Obama was 8 years old. McCain somehow felt that Obama  was nonetheless coddling "terrorists" when he was on an educational board with "his childhood terrorist by association" that actually was bipartisan, and organized by a life long Republican. McCain's aggressive attacks on the "Ayer's fairy tale" clearly shows that McCain is not able or interested in dealing truthfully with the issues, and would be reluctant to consider any compromises. Obama clearly demonstrated that although he has clear policies and goals for our country he will be open to bipartisan compromise for the sake of our country. McCain's angry attitude and unwillingness to acknowledge Sen. Obama as another human being , let alone a fellow Senator in the highest legislative body in the U.S., portrays a man whose ego is so great that neither Obama or anyone else is his equal, and is instead considered by McCain as an inferior human.

Another distinct difference surfaced when McCain introduced "Joe the Plumber", and stated that he, McCain, and Joe the Plumber are opposed to Obama's tax policy plans and he , McCain, admonished Obama for "spreading the wealth", by increasing taxes for the wealthiest 5% of our country's tax payers and reducing them for the other 95%. McCain's opposition to "spreading the wealth" is typical of the Bush/Republican Party and their avid attachment to the richest power brokers who want to dominate the rest of the citizens of our country including "Joe the Plumber" Fortunately, their are many very rich supporters of Sen. Obama, like Warren Buffet, who support Obama's tax plan and, and support tax balance that lowers taxes for the middle class. Why should McCain be opposed to "spreading the wealth"? He and his heiress wife will still be very wealthy even if they have to pay more taxes on their approximately $10 million dollar annual income, as will many others who earn more than $250,000 annually, including Barack Obama and his wife.

A third clear difference pertains to our national health care crisis. John McCain states that health care is a "privilege", while Barack Obama believes that affordable, quality health care is a "right" for every citizen of our country. This distinct difference drives McCain to keep a sick system and to assure insurance companys abilities to increase costs and decrease care. Sen. Obama aims to provide affordable health care, equal to what all federal employees get (including Senators McCain and Obama), for all citizens. McCain calls this government bureaucracy and socialism. If McCain doesn't like his tax-paid medical coverage supplied by our taxes, why does he accept it as a Senator? Why, Sen. McCain should you, and other privileged government employees (state and federal), get tax-subsidized health care while over 47 million American have nothing, and millions of unemployed Americans have suffered a similar fate after losing their jobs. Sen. Obama's plan will provide affordable health care for all who do not have it or cannot afford the insurance premiums. This includes all children who Sen. McCain waved off when he voted against poor children's health coverage during this current session of Congress.

Education is at best a second thought with John McCain who seems to think that college education is a privilege for the richest children, or those who are burdened with huge debt after graduation. McCain blithely ignores this crucial issue, and seems to believe that the status quo is just fine. Obama plans to aid all college-eligible students with a $4,ooo grant per year in exchange for service to our country (including the Peace Corp or military service).

Finally, McCain clearly enunciates his support of the worn and failed "trickle-down" Republican/Bush policy that states that lowering taxes for the rich and the multinational corporations will trickle down jobs and money to the rest of us by some form of osmosis. Just the opposite has occurred, as the current economic and housing crisis clearly proves. The trickle, if there ever was one, is now a loud reverse suction draining even bare necessities from the typical middle class workers and families. And what is McCain';s solution--more of the same kind of tax and regulatory policies that McCain has supported with the Bush administration. Obama clearly supports the necessity for massive job creation in our country, and states that implementation of energy-independence technology, and rebuilding infrastructure are necessary to help create jobs for the middle class, and young people entering the job market for the first time. 

The debates are over. Slightly more than three weeks remain before we make the most important decision for us and particularly our grand children who cannot vote. Their future is in our hands. Do you want a President who will work for us to create a better future? Or, do you want to continue the policies that caused the present whirlpool of problems engulfing us? Obama is the leader for our time, and for your children's and grand children's future. A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for them. Vote for Sen. Barack Obama.

Importance of the Liberal Mind in the Quest for Progress and Peace

Petrification is a phenomena that occurs when organic material slowly become rock or mineral in consistency. The current presidential election suggest that the same process occurs in voters as we age. We tend to become frozen in time and more rock-like in consistency. Notably, this seems to occur in our grey matter in our brains. We often accept deception for truth and the past as irrevocable. A recent survey by The Annenberg Center for Public Policy stated the following. " Young adults 18 to 29 years of age are more likely to describe themselves as liberal in comparison to other age groups, according to recent data collected by the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s National Annenberg Election Survey. Thirty-four percent of 18- to 29-year-olds called themselves “liberal” or “very liberal,” while only 27 percent of 30- to 44-year-olds, 25 percent of 45- to 64-year-olds, and 18 percent of those 65 years and older described themselves the same way." The word "liberal" can be interpreted differently depending upon your slant. However, generally the word connotes a leaning toward contemporary thought and action as opposed to dogma.

Our society seems to cling stubbornly to the "past", although the past is never "now". The older we become , the more attached we become to the past and the more petrified we become. We become less able to accept change and hearken back to "the time when". We seem to sink further into rigid thinking established during some period of our lives when we were "satisfied" with the status quo. As we age we seem to lose our ability to think more "liberally". We tend to hold on to our ingrained beliefs that began petrifying years ago. This explains in part why we as society seem to repeat the mistakes made in the past since we cannot let loose of experiences that have shaped our thinking and frozen our ability to expand our reasoning. Cubic inch by cubic inch our brains seem to lose their "elasticity" and we gradually become mummified in a live body.

The liberal mind retains elasticity and is able to see new horizons and analyze them without being burdened by stultifying rigidity caused by aging. The liberal mind, however, also tends to age and often becomes inflicted with the same malaise that has already overtaken older, partially petrified, minds. Overall societal progress is slowed because each generation starts clunking along and the previously liberal mind slowly tends to become rigid. The journey of a society is analogous to climbing a ladder that has broken rungs that impedes our escalation and finally limits our advance. We become stuck. We must overcome the impediments that are always in our way.

Our challenge as individuals and society is to recognize petrification before it take over. We must always seek the better pathway, the more human way, the more peaceful approach. This can only be achieved if we allow our minds to expand as we age. We must retain the liberal elasticity in our brains that we posses as youths, and tend to lose later. Each generation starts anew on a new rung on the ladder to the future. We can make the future better for all of us and future generations if we resist the petrification of our minds and welcome the liberal thoughts of youth rather than condemning any deviation from what you consider to be "wrong". The liberal mind sorts our self-destructive and harmful actions and will reject them on their own. But instant condemnation and negative judgemental  reactions of the partially petrified mind cannot help guide those who are seeking progress in a partially stultified society. 

We owe a debt of gratitude to all the liberal minds who helped provide societal improvement. We must show gratitude and support those who retain their liberal minds as they age and encourage the younger members of society to seek more knowledge to held solve mankind's relentless and often repetitive backward steps. We must all retain our "liberal minds" to assure a future society and a world that eventually achieves progress and and peace for all.

The Reborn Nazi Movement Under John McCain and Sarah Palin

Within the last several days the McCain campaign has become a Hitler-like Nazi propaganda machine. They have resorted to lies and distortions just like the Hitler propaganda machine did under Goering to incite hatred against Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals. Palin and McCain both incited recent gatherings to shout out "terrorist" and "kill him" in reference to Sen. Obama. Neither McCain nor Palin rebuked their supporters for their hateful responses to their implications that Obama is an"terrorist". How low can the McCain hate machine reach in their desperate attempt to tar and feather Obama? This paranoiac Nazi-like behavior proves, if any more hateful attacks were needed for proof, that a possible McCain-Palin administration could never "reach across the aisles" to achieve partisan solutions to our critical economic and war issues. As a veteran of the Koren war I am totally dismayed how McCain, veteran of the Vietnam war, can completely forget why he served our country. He should have learned that hateful propaganda does nothing for the propagandist, other than deep revulsion. Palin and McCain must immediately stop their Nazi-like propaganda and apologize for the hateful lies that they have already spread. Otherwise, we can only conclude that McCain endorses Nazi tactics and is the leader of the "Reborn McCain-Palin Nazi Movement."