BARACK, THE MAGIC NEGRO

Once again the Republican National Party proves it can’t negotiate the parking lot of the local mall without stepping in a cow pattie. RNC chair candidate, Chip Saltsman, has been sending around a "comedy" CD to fellow party officials featuring the song "Barack the Magic Negro”, set to the music of the 1960s song, “Puff, the Magic Dragon”. Living in one of the nation’s major African-American cities, we have been taught from birth that such mean spirited jokes are rude, hurtful, and, well, just bad manners. However, that’s not what we are concerned about. There will always be people who belittle people outside their group because there will always be ignorant people afraid that aren’t good enough unless someone else is beneath them.

What we are concerned about is the fact that political dissent in this country is being mistaken for racism. We did not support President Elect Obama and we still believe that he is ill suited for the most important job in the world. However, we are encouraged that he has surrounded himself with many people from the Clinton administration, an administration that brought us the most prosperous and peaceful period in our country’s history. Nonetheless, our nation faces the most difficult challenge in our since WWII. If we are to survive we need everyone to do their part and that includes the press. The media must keep a watchful eye on this administration and assure that it stays on the path of recovery.

Our journalists have been asleep at the wheel for the last several years, failing to blow the whistle on the faulty intelligence that lead us into a disastrous war, failing to condemn the loss of our liberties under the Patriot Act, failing to foresee the economic apocalypse that we now face, and failing to investigate the least qualified candidate for President in a 150 years. The sycophantic behavior of news people regarding Barack Obama is frightening. Someone has to risk being called a racist and be a critic, in the true since of the term, of our government, including the President Elect. The American people need their fourth estate to do its job, keep the three branches, all three branches, of government in check.

A ROSE BY ANOTHER NAME

We admit it. We hate our name, Billy DeWayne Wheeler. The name conjures up visions of trailer parks, long neck beers, and women with tattoos. OK, in deference to our mother, we do have a certain populist pride in the name, a lifetime of admonishing smirking teachers, government clerks, and CEO receptionists, “It’s not William. It’s Billy. It’s Southern.” Why do parents do this to their children? Is it the drug hangover from childbirth, revenge for the discomfort of pregnancy, or a parental statement that their child is special?

We are, after all, the most staunch defenders of parental rights, but when does the exercise of the first amendment cross over into child abuse? Here we have a the sad story of a New Jersey child who almost didn’t have a birthday cake because the local bakery refused to adorn his cake with the greeting “ Happy Birthday, Adolph Hitler”. That’s right little Adolph’s jerk of a father, whose own parents lovingly gave him the very proper Scottish name of Heath Campbell, decided to sentence his own child to a lifetime of abuse and derision, while creating a living, breathing hate crime. And as if dooming one child to 20 years of therapy wasn’t enough, white supremacist wannabe Campbell also named his two other children, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler. (It‘s Himmler, you dufus) In a happy ending,frosted in delicious political satire, three year old Adolph’s mom got his cake at the same place she did the previous two years….Wal-Mart.

And to remind you that we are in the middle on almost all issues, here’s a piece on unique Africa-American children’s names. Our own children’s names? That would be Winston Wycliffe Wheeler (Wink) and Wellesley Windover Wheeler (Windy). Today, we have grown accustomed to our name and now tell people, “It’s Barack, not Barry, and it’s Billy, not William.”

IS THE MONROE DOCTRINE DEAD?

We realize it’s the holiday season and, like Auntie Mame, we need a little Christmas right now, but could we get our press to focus for just one moment on things that matter. We are like the man dying of thirst in the desert, as we channel surf through the news looking for reports of real news. While we can find plenty of reports on little Caylee Anthony, Madonna’s divorce settlement, and a shoe throwing Iraqi newsman, we have not been able to find anyone interested on the fact that the Monroe Doctrine has been abandoned by our President and President-Elect.

For those of your deprived of an elementary school education, the Monroe Doctrine is a nearly 200 year old US foreign policy position that the US will not allow any interference in this hemisphere by foreign powers from outside this hemisphere. For the past few months, Russia has been thumbing it’s nose at our lame duck President and his appeasement minded successor. A glimpse at our sidebar reveals a link to the very under reported story that Russia intends to send warships to visit Cuba, a mere 90 miles off our shores. We realize that the world is shrinking and that we can’t hide from the rest of the world, but just because we live in a zero lot line home, we don’t have to let the neighbors pee through our window (and, no, we didn’t forget the “r”).

While we appreciate the attention being given the current financial crisis, we still believe that the defense of our shores is a major function of the federal government. So would one of you guys who is lucky enough to have a job as our elected official, do something about the thugs in out backyard?

WHERE DO WE GO FOR UNBIASED REPORTING?

We find ourselves surprisingly repetitive in manners concerning the press in this country. We are possibly obsessed, overly focused, or justified, possibly all three, in bemoaning the lack of unbiased reporting by those employed as journalists True there are exceptions, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and NBC’s Tom Brokaw, come quickly to mind. We are certain that other names would surface if we thought longer, much longer.

So with apologies for the required redundancy, we report that former Hillary Clinton campaign advisor, Hilary Rosen is now hosting CNN’s After Party. Rosen is the Washington Political Director for the Huffington Post and one of the Democratic Party’s most vociferous advocates. Now all three major cable “news” outlets have in their employ, political operatives of the most insidious type. By that we mean, likable. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Fox News’ Mike Huckabee, and Rosen are all charming, entertaining people and, even worse, they have experience in American politics that makes their point of view eminently credible. It isn’t their credentials than we question, it is their ethics.

We were stuck by something Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates said about his political affiliation. As a professional intelligence officer, he never registered his political affiliation, so he could serve any administration in a professional and unbiased manner. As an aspiring journalist we took a college course in journalistic ethics, but that was long ago. Funny we thought ethics would never go out of vogue. We are comforted that our Secretary of Defense shares our view and dismayed that the press does not. However, we feel confident the American people will recognize the former and reject the latter. Otherwise we are lost.

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Years ago, a coworker visiting in my home saw a photo of me and my wife at my daughter’s baptism, he said to me, “I didn’t know you were Catholic. I thought you were an atheist.” I was raised to believe that it was inappropriate to discuss one‘s religion, finances, or sex life in public. I am not ashamed of my religion, finances, or sex life, but they are personal matters and to be shared only with my intimates. Like most social conventions, such a practice is rooted in pragmatism. A couple of recent events illustrate why our founding fathers sought to keep public life and religion separate.

California’s Proposition 8, the so-called “Defense of Marriage” proposal to amend that state‘s constitution, was passed by a slim majority of voters. Fueled by money from the Mormon Church and other churches, the supporters of Proposition 8 would have us believe that marriage is solely a religious institution. When I worked for the Department of Justice, I remember reading a legal definition of a marriage that said, in part, that marriage was a contract among three parties, the spouses and the state. As I recall, the standard ending to a marriage ceremony includes something like, …by the authority vested in me by the state…” not “by the Mormon Church” or any other church. It is clearly unAmerican to allow any church to force our citizens to follow their religious beliefs. So why are we trying to deny gay and lesbian people the rights conferred to straight citizens, the right to inherit property, the right to make medical decisions as next of kin, the right to Social Security and IRS benefits? Because the Bible says so? Find me two people that read and interpret the Bible the exactly the same way. Besides, I thought our laws were exempt from that religious test.

Lest we malign the Mormon Church too much, I have special disdain for the African American community on this one. On the same day when African Americans were celebrating the watershed moment of electing the first Black US President, …with the overwhelming support of gay and lesbian community, 70 percent of them were voting for the legal discrimination of this very vulnerable minority. I don’t want to hear that it’s not the same thing. I was at both Martin Luther King’s memorial service in Memphis in 1968 and Harvey Milk’s memorial service in San Francisco in 1978. While there are important differences in the two movements, it is the same fundamental principle. The hypocrisy is staggering, 70 percent of African American children are born out of wedlock, but they want to “Defend Marriage”. Please.

Even more tragic is the carnage going on in Mubai, India, and in Nigeria, all in the name of religion. I’m no religious expert, but I’m pretty certain that, “Thou Shall Not Kill” is pretty universal. When did hatred of others become the standard fare of our religious communities? Every church community I’ve been exposed to has demonstrated concern for our fellow man and peace fostered by an all powerful being. I’m not your typical sheltered boy from the Bible Belt. I spent ten years of my life working with refugees from every religious group on the planet. This hate, whether it is perpetrated by the pulling of the trigger of an automatic weapon or the pulling of the lever in a voting booth is not the exercise of religion, but it is what Thomas Jefferson was hoping to avoid by the doctrine of separation of church and state.

So the next time you act to persecute a minority, you remember on which side of the religious argument you fall, and on which side your maker sits.

MILITARY WE CAN AFFORD

We spent a good part of our career advising the US Navy and other military organizations on how better to manage their operations. We came away with the firm belief that we have the most dedicated, the most well trained, and the most well equipped military in the world. We also have one of the worst managed military in the world. In simple terms we pay way too much for our military. The Department of Defense gets around 43 percent of the national budget, $711B in 2008. We are so conditioned to accept these large numbers that to suggest that they are too high is considered anti-American and suicidal. Well, it is just the opposite. We are in a death spiral of spending that will soon accomplish what no other enemy has been able to do, bring our great country to defeat. Simply look at the numbers (remember, we love numbers) We spend nearly as much on our military as the whole rest of the world combined. That’s right, our military costs are an amazing 48 percent of the world total military expenditures. Now remember that includes our allies. All of Europe spends $289B, about 40 Percent of what we spend. More importantly our adversaries spend a fraction of what we do. China spends $122B, Russia spends $70B. However, any way you want to look at it, there is no rational reason for us to be spending the kind of money we do to sustain our military.

So how do we figure out what is the right amount to spend? Well, first let’s decide what it is we want to accomplish. Are we out to be Ming The Merciless and dominate the entire universe or do we simply want to protect our shores? In all seriousness, there is a legitimate debate. Recent administrations have perpetuated the belief that the only legitimate form of government is democracy and it is God’s choice that the United States install such a government in all non-believing countries. We are unsure that the former is true and certain that the latter is lunacy. There is, perhaps, some legitimacy in protecting democracy where it exists and where we have treaties and self interest. However, we feel that it should be a pay as you go proposition. We have always marveled that Germany and Japan should have been allowed to develop into global economic powers while we provided their security. Maybe it‘s because we lived in a Sicilian neighborhood in Brooklyn, but we believe you pay for security. How did we allow the rest of the world develop industries to rival our own while we paid for the military services? Along the way we had the opportunity to investigate how other governments run their military.

Once we decide on what it is we want to accomplish, then we can go about deciding how we accomplish it. Our military expenditures are focused five areas: weapons systems, non-weapons equipment, facilities, manpower, and logistics. There are substantial economies to be had in all areas. An exhaustive discussion is beyond the intent of these pages, but here are few items.

• We own too many military installations, here and overseas. The US military is one of the largest, if not the largest landlords in the world, with over 30,000,000 acres of land around the world. This does not include bases in the UK, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan which were built with US tax dollars, but are technically belong to the host countries.
• We have too much non-weapons equipment. A good chunk of the military’s real estate is used to warehouse giant machine tools, huge trucks, personnel carriers, and other pieces of no-ordnance equipment.
• We have too many non-combatant military personnel. Because other countries rely on global social services to support their military, they do not need separate medical services, social services, housing services to support their military.
• We have too many of the wrong kind of weapons. Our nuclear arsenal is beyond what is needed to maintain a deterrent. Discussion is futile.
  

Ronald Regan oversaw an military expansion designed to destroy the world’s second greatest superpower, the Soviet Union. The design worked, perhaps too well. Will it bring down the world’s greatest superpower as well?

LEARNING FROM OUR ELDERS

One of the more stupid things that was said by Republican supporters during the recent Presidential campaign (and there were many stupid things said by both sides) was, “We don’t want European style democracy.” As much as we love the USA and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, there are many things European we admire. We’ve always been fans of English furniture, German cars, French food, and Italian shoes, but we also think that the Europeans do a lot of things better than we do. However, since one of things they do better is reading, we are going to address this in a series of posts so not to strain the attention span of the average American reader.

First, and most frequently mentioned is universal health care. Frankly, we are weary of the debate. The facts are irrefutable. In Europe life expectancies are higher. Infant mortality is lower. Every citizen has access to health care. Every type of illness is less common…cancers, heart disease, stroke, diabetes. Finally costs are lower. Isn’t it simply a matter of putting a group of experts in a room and asking them to design a US health care system based on European best practices? There is really no reason why we can’t have a European type health care system implemented within a couple of years. That is, there isn’t any reason other than the lobbies of the AMA, pharmaceutical labs, medical equipment manufacturers, and insurance companies. In the end we will do it for the same reason the Europeans did it. We can no longer afford the way we’re doing it now.

Second is mass transit. Rail transportation in Europe is convenient, safe, clean, and fast, very fast. Eurostar trains transport passengers from London to Paris at speeds of 186 mph in just over two hours. Try getting through an airport, board a plane, and leave the ground in less than two hours here in the US, much less arrive at your destination. All major cities in Europe can conveniently be reached by train. Furthermore, once you arrive in the city central, you can transfer to the city’s light rail system/subway and be taken to a convenient distance, often walking distance of your destination. This one is a little harder to accomplish. We have to make a major infrastructure investment and a major cultural change.

This could easily be a series of essays on its own. Virtually nothing is uniquely American as the cult of private ownership of an automobile. Only New Yorkers actually have the opportunity to mature unencumbered by the forced reliance on private transportation. There is no other aspect of the American way of life in which we are so uniformly inculcated. An adult without a drivers license in the US is more of a minority than a black Lesbian with a Hispanic surname. In all seriousness, we have been codependent with the oil companies, the auto industry, and the insurance companies in an unholy addiction to the automobile. Try this exercise, add up your car note, your insurance premium, the cost of gas, the cost of parking, and your annual maintenance costs. When I talked to my dad about buying my first car, he told me, “Son, I started to work as a welder when I was 14 years old. I was making so much money I didn’t know how to spend it all. Then I bought my first car and I’ve been broke every since.” It’s time for America to grow up and get a real transportation system.

Next: Managing our military.

BY THE NUMBERS

We love numbers. We remember a science fiction film where Pi, the constant used to calculate the circumference of a circle or the volume of a sphere, was used to create a universal language with which to communicate with extraterrestrials. Well, we want to use numbers to communicate with just the American electorate. Your elected representatives have just committed to giving $700B (that’s shorthand for $700,000,000,000.00) to the people who have made a living loaning you money. Think about that. Your elected representatives, the people you have chosen to look after your interests, have just given $700B of your money to people to loan to you WITH interest. Now that doesn’t make much sense to us. How about we loan $700B to these incompetent, greedy, lazy leeches on the American people, AND they pay us interest?

Here’s the good news, most of us won’t have to pay the $700B. According to the National Taxpayers Union 25 percent of the American population pays 86.27 percent of what our government spends. (We were going to round up, but when dealing with numbers this large, a fraction of a point is a whole lot of money) That means 75 percent of us will only have to pay for $175B. What’s that you say? $175B is still a big number? Well, let’s see if we can make you feel better. Fifty percent of the American households will only have to pay for 2.99 percent (No, we don’t want to round up to three percent) Fifty percent of the American households will only have to pay for 2.99 percent of the tab or $20.93B. That’s only $214.77 per family. That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Americans are generous people. We are always willing to help a starving child in Africa or a Harvard MBA who just had his Christmas bonus cut from $100K to $50K.

Now what is your individual liability? Well, like we just said if your household income is $32,000 or less, you only pay $214.77 of the cost of the bailout. What? You and your wife no longer work at MacDonald’s since you got out of high school? Well, if you make more it’s not too bad. If you and your better half make $65,000 or more your share will be $24,787.12. Don’t worry. It seems worse than it is. Little Johnny can probably get a student loan. Now, suppose you worked your way through college and you and your spouse are living the American dream…paying a mortgage, two car notes, and private school tuition (you went to public school and you wish your kids could too, but the schools were safe then) OK, if you make $110,000 or more your share of the biggest sucker bet in history is a whopping $50,848.40. That’s right, nearly half of your income has been given to a group of losers, in fact the biggest losers in history. We’re right there with you. We have an income of about $150,000 a year, pay a mortgage on a $250,000 home, own three cars (we have a daughter in college), and help our mothers with their rent. Our share of the debt will be $82,545.10, 55 percent of our income. We, too, were panicked until we remembered that we can pass this bill to our children, and their children, and their children…Isn’t American a great country? Isn’t it???

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

During our Presidential campaign Vice President Elect, Joe Biden, infamously said, “…It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama …”. Well, it didn’t even take six hours before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threw down the gauntlet. On Tuesday, while 53 percent of the American electorate was celebrating over the election of the US first non-white President, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced the deployment of conventionally armed ballistic missiles on the borders of Lithuania and Poland, in response to US missile defense plans. On Saturday Obama spoke with the Russian President after which the Kremlin issued a statement which said, in part, that Obama and Medvedev "…expressed the determination to create constructive and positive interaction for the good of global stability and development…" Obama foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough said Saturday that Obama also had "a good conversation" with Polish President Lech Kaczynski on Friday about the U.S.-Polish alliance but that Obama had made no commitment on the missile shield plan.

During an 18 minute press conference Friday, most of the media exhibited the typical American myopia, focusing on the US economy and what type puppy the Obamas would bring to the White House. When pressed about foreign affairs Obama sidestepped the issue, citing political protocol and reminded us all the George W. Bush was still President. Well, people, we are old enough to remember John F. Kennedy’s disastrous first dealings with the Soviet Union and we want to know more about that conversation between Medvedev and Obama. It is chilling that the exact same issue is on the table now as was in 1962. Is our press corps so young or ignorant of history or both that they don’t recall why they call it “The Cuban Missile Crisis”? While 53 percent of voters may cast a ballot based on the belief that Obama is a 21st century version of JFK, we don’t think they knew that they were betting their lives on it.

ACTORS AND POLITICIANS

We love the King’s English and are unabashed fans of those who have mastered it. We agree with the theater critic who once remarked that he could listen to Sir Richard Burton read a grocery list. We are therefore forced to comment on the mystical status that has been conferred upon the speech of Barack Obama. Having been raised in the center of the Bible Belt we recognize the rhythm and intonation of the Baptist Preacher in President Elect Obama’s rhetoric. He has the sing-song, repetitive form that is the hallmark of that oratorical tradition. It is clear that he has been influenced by the late Martin Luther King Jr. and his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. However, King and Wright were raised with the legacy of soaring speech and it became an integral part of them. For Obama, it is an acquired talent which he puts on as an actor dons a costume for a play.

We just watched Obama’s first of many Presidential press conferences and we were struck by the contrast in his rhetoric between his prepared remarks and his extemporaneous answers to the press’ questions. While delivering the prepared remarks he appeared cooler than the last four iterations of James Bond (No one can approach the benchmark coolness of Sean Connery’s Bond). However, he quickly dissolved into a verbal flop sweat while taking questions. He punctuating every third word with an “um” or “uh” while blinking like a drunk staring into a traffic cop’s flashlight. Contrast this with the performance handed us by Rev. Wright at the National Press Club breakfast. Offensive as it was, it was genuine and powerful. What we take from this is Barack Obama is an actor. His public appearances during the campaign have been performances, well written, well rehearsed, well directed, well produced, theatrical events.

The question is who is Barack Obama really? We always thought it remarkable that African Americans identified so closely with Obama. Apart from his genetics, he shares none of the common experience of Black Americans. He was raised in a white, upper middle class home. He attended the a prestigious white prep school in Hawaii. He started college at an elite private liberal arts school and completed his studies at two Ivy league institutions capped by graduation from the Nation’s most exclusive old boys’club, Harvard Law School. In fairness, he has taken great pains to join the African American community since graduation. Through his work as a community organizer and association with Trinity United Church of Christ he has immersed himself in the African American experience, albeit from a comfortable upper middle class distance.

As much as we believe we have not been introduced to the real Barack Obama as of yet, we are equally certain that his true persona shall not remain hidden for long. There are few more scrutinized homes than the White House and few confidants more willing to leak items to the Press than Rahm Emanuel , the man Obama has chosen as his White House Chief of Staff. In the end Obama’s legendary cool will be stripped from him. After all, we understand that Sean Connery really isn't very nice in person.

RATS AND REPORTERS

One of our favorite themes is the paucity of journalism integrity in the US today. Perhaps it is our age which allows us to remember Murrow, Brinkley, and Cronkite. Perhaps it is an archaic college class in journalism ethics. Perhaps it is just an old fashioned sense of decency. Whatever the antecedents, we are horrified and saddened by the media’s reporting of the sleazy stories coming out of the McCain campaign corpse.

Chief among these reports was Carl Cameron’s piece on Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor yesterday evening. Citing anonymous sources, Cameron reported that the McCain organization was doomed by Sarah Palin’s inadequacy as a running mate. Without the hygiene of rubber gloves or disinfectant, he offered up stories of a Palin who did not know Africa was a continent, that the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was an agreement between the North American countries of the US, Canada, and Mexico, or the most rudimentary facts about US government. He even threw in the salacious tidbit of Palin greeting McCain staffers fresh out of the shower, wearing only a bathrobe.



Now we have a problem with this report on a couple of levels.

• The only defense for slander is the truth. Absent named sources, this report cannot rise above the primordial slime of vicious rumor.
• It is incredulous that a sitting US governor could not name the countries in North America, identify the three branches of the federal government, or know the diffefrence between a continent and a country.
• The bathrobe item makes us cringe at the inappropriate intimacy.

The real story here is the rodent-like behavior of the McCain staffers. In a frenzy to save careers from drowning in a boiling sea of ineptitude, they are clammering over the body of the one person that gave the McCain campaign a shot at the Presidency. Palin’s nomination was the only point in the campaign that the media lights were turned away from Barack Obama and focused on McCain. Had McCain selected any other running mate, he would have lost by three times the margin. Post election finger pointing is inevitable, but the press’ role is analysis, not gossip. Now, we need a shower.

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT

We have a reverence for our political system akin to a religion. We look to it for comfort when a cruel world batters us and threatens us. We take solace in the constitution the way some rely on the Bible and look on our founding fathers as wise prophets that provided the roadmap that guide us and all future generations. Just as we rely on the book of Job to remind us that sometimes we must simply accept the challenges the Almighty has given us, so we must accept the path a democracy has chosen.

We don’t purport to understand why our citizenry has chosen Barack Obama to lead us for the next four years, but we do know we will embrace him as our President and wish him well for our fate is now inextricably intertwined with his. More importantly, the fates of our children and grandchildren rely upon his decisions and actions. What we truly believe is our republic will endure. It is that well designed and soundly crafted that it will survive any missteps a less experienced leader may make.

One thing, our countrymen must do is hold President Obama to the high standard demanded of a US President. A free press, and active opposition party, and an involved public must serve their role. For all of us that supported another candidate, it is time we stood alongside Barack Obama and point out the path we wish to travel with him. It will not serve any of us well if we allow him to go astray or lead us into the abyss. So put your regrets behind you, there is work for us all to do.

OBAMA'S MEDIA LAP DOGS

The meek manner in which the press is handling the news that Barack Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, is here in the US ILLEGALLY living in Boston public housing ILLEGALLY, and has contributed money to the Obama campaign ILLEGALLY is a testament to the effectiveness of Obama’s anti-free speech thugs. During this campaign the Obama organization has threatened radio stations with legal action, boycotted television stations for asking probing questions, and kicked daily newspaper reporters off the candidate’s aircraft in favor of ethnic monthly entertainment magazines. Half the press is afraid of being branded racist and the other half is afraid of losing access.

Well, we are not afraid. We are mad. Let’s take a look at the story of Obama’s aunt. Onyango, a Kenyan citizen, was reportedly denied political asylum in the US four years ago. This is a subject we know something about, having served as the Political Asylum Officer for the San Francisco District Office of the US Immigration Service. The Obama campaign has released a statement which says, in part, "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed…" No knowledge, huh, now that sounds familiar. “I never heard Reverend Wright say anything anti American, anti-Israel, or anti-white.” “I never knew William Ayers was an unrepentant terrorist.”

Well, the Obama campaign admits that Onyango attended Obama’s US Senate swearing in ceremony two years ago, has been a guest in the Obama’s home, but has not spoken to Obama, “…for a few months.” OK, follow this logic closely, we don’t want to lose any of you. Barack Obama is an attorney, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, former law professor at the University of Chicago Law School, but he has no knowledge of the immigration status of a near family member whom was a guest in his home and an invited visitor to his swearing in? Either he is the most inept Harvard lawyer ever (we doubt it) or he is a bold faced liar (we suspected it all along) or he believes that his followers are the stupidest sheep ever to cast a ballot (we are certain of it).

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

SEEING THROUGH THE SMOKE

US Navy ships are equipped with anti-missile defenses that spew chaff, metal confetti, into the air to confuse the radar of incoming missiles. We couldn’t help but see the comparisons in the clogging of the media this weekend with pro-Obama propaganda. We hope the American voter will see through the smoke and see the stark reality of their choice, the clearest choice given to the electorate in 50 years. Up front we will admit that both candidates are flawed. Neither was our first choice. However, in the cold, clear light of morning, it comes down to a few criteria:

USS Howard

• Experience. We have one man with a long public record of selflessness and honorable service and we have one man with a past shrouded in mystery and a resume that fits on an index card.
• Who is more centrist? One man has a three decade long record of bi-partisan efforts and has frequently defied his party when it veered too far from the center. One man’s record is remarkable only for it’s brevity and extreme adherence to radical, leftist ideology.
• Trust. One demonstrated his loyalty to his fellow Americans by refusing to leave their side even when it meantt his imprisonment under the most inhumane conditions. One man has repeatedly turned his back on those who nurtured him for years, all for political expediency.
  

It’s the last criterion that we can’t shake. Whatever anyone says about John McCain, we feel confident we know what he will do. Whatever Barack Obama says, no one knows what he will do. Pretty simple.

FANTASY CANDIDATE

A guest pundit on Fox News recently likened the rationale used by Barack Obama’s supporters to explain his continued association with an army of unsavory characters to a “Jedi Mind Trick”. For you who are not fluent in Star Wars terminology the Jedi mind trick is a ruse used to convince the weak minded to ignore the facts and accept the Jedi version of reality. For many of us it is the only possible explanation of a nation’s rush to elect the least qualified President in US history, a man whose past is largely a mystery, a man who counts among his associations a spokesperson of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from its terrorist years, a former domestic terrorist who escaped, on a technicality, conviction for bombing a police station and the Pentagon, and a hate mongering pastor whose congregation danced in the aisles while he chanted “God damn America”.

In the past few days we have had revelation after revelation, peeks under the candidate’s mask, giving us a glimpse of the real man.

• Obama tells “Joe The Plumber” things are better when, “…we spread the wealth around.”
• Tape of Obama telling public radio the civil rights movement had not gone far enough because, “The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.”
• The admission of the existence of a video tape of Obama at a party honoring the aforementioned PLO spokesperson, attended by the aforementioned domestic terrorist, at which anti-Israeli remarks went unchallenged by Obama.
  

Two nights ago, comedian Dennis Miller put Obama’s relationship with radical pastor Jerimiah Wright in perspective. He said that his moment of disenchantment came when Obama stated that he went to church twice a month on average. You mean that he sat in the pew listening to Reverend Wright, twice a month for 20 years, listened to nearly 500 sermons, yet claimed he never heard was aware of Wright’s animosity toward whites, the American government, and the state of Israel? Either he is the dumbest man ever to run for US President or he is the most accomplished liar to ever run.

Yesterday evening Sean Hannity reported that Obama associate William Ayers published a terrorist manifesto in 1974 which he dedicated to “political prisoners”, including in the dedication Robert Kennedy’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. How much more do American voters need before they wake up from this electoral stupor. How much longer will they accept O-B-One-Obama saying, “You never read those words Barack wrote. You never heard Barack say those things. You never saw photos and video showing Barack with those people. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” The force be with you. You’re gonna need it.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

We are conservative and we don’t like George W. Bush. Now that may see a paradox to you. Perhaps because so many people who don’t like the younger Bush are supporting Barack Obama in a mass exhibition of biting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. However, we are conservative, no, not one of those people who want to force their political and religious beliefs on others, but truly conservative. We don’t want to force our beliefs on others and in return we ask that they and their government stay out of our bedroom and out of our bank account. President Bush has transgressed on both. He has raided our purse. In the first nine months of his administration the S&P lost 40 percent of it’s value and we lost 40 percent of our savings. He has invaded our privacy. He and his henchmen at Homeland Security have limited our freedom while claiming to protect us from terrorists.

However, as much as we dislike George W. Bush, we know which of the candidates is likely to be more damaging to our personal finances and liberties. We cannot understand, therefore, why two major constituencies, one traditionally Republican, one traditionally Democratic, are supporting Barack Obama. Why are Roman Catholic and Jewish voters leaning toward Obama? Obama’s extreme position on the issue of abortion frightens even most Pro Choice voters. Whatever you have read, it is a matter of record that he enabled physicians in causing the death of babies that survived near term abortions. Some call it murder. Some call it infanticide. Call whatever you like, it won’t make such a monstrous act acceptable. How can any Roman Catholic cast a ballot for such a man?

For over 20 years, Obama has associated with people who have sought the destruction of Israel. He may claim his eternal allegiance to the Jewish state, but his history fails to reassure us. Chief among these associations is Rashid Khalidi, whom Obama has known for over 25 years. Khalidi, a Palestinian with reputed ties to a PLO terrorist past, is a well known a professor at Columbia Univesity and an expert on Israeli-Palestinian matters. While there are no copies of Khalidi’s PLO membership card, his writings leave do doubt of his opinion of Israel. He has stated that Palestinians have a right to kill Israeli soldiers. Obama has repeatedly stated that Khalidi has had a influence on his beliefs. At minimum Obama has been inconsistent in his statements in support of Israel. If you are Jewish, do you take him at his word and ignore his associations and his previous statements? We think not.

When you cast your vote next Tuesday, ask yourself, “Do I trust Obama to protect the lives of those unfortunate children and those Israeli citizens?” We don’t.

CHANGE WE CAN'T BELIEVE

We, like may in the mainstream video, thought a bit too much was made of Barack Obama’s verbal misstep when he responded to “Joe, the Plumber” that things work better when we redistribute the wealth, that it was just an unfortunate turn of phrase. However, this morning a 2001 radio interview with Obama has surfaced. The program, entitled “Slavery and the Constitution”, included some shocking comments by sometimes constitutional law lecturer Obama.

Most of the conservative pundits have seized on the repeated concept of redistributing wealth as anti-capitalism, maybe downright socialist. In the 2001 interview Obama stated that, “"The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society.” This comment is important for two reasons. First, it proves that Obama’s comment to Joe the Plumber was no mere slip of the tongue. Secondly, it indicates a dedication to a “share the wealth” philosophy that goes beyond the simple progressive income tax.

However, this was not the comment that startled us. Anyone that doubts that Obama is a big spending liberal at best, if not a for real Marxist, has had an extra helping of Kool-Aid. This reputed expert on the US Constitution said it was a tragedy that the US Supreme Court, “didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution.” We interpret that statement to mean that a President Obama, backed by a Democrat dominated Congress, would try to legislate changes not intended by the Constitution. Now that’s change you can’t believe.

PROOF OF A SOCIALIST OBAMA?

Just when we thought we would make it through this month’s Presidential campaign without the long predicted October Surprise comes this bombshell, proof positive that Democrats’ Presidential nominee once belong to the Socialist Party. The New Zeal blog has dug up a copy of the spring 1996 newsletter of the Chicago based New Party, listing Barack Obama among New Party members winning election from the Chicago area. The New Party is affiliated with the organization, Democratic Socialists of America, who reported on the New Party’s successes in the 1996 elections:

“The Chicago New Party is increasely (sic) becoming a viable political organization that can make a different in Chicago politics….the NP's '96 Political Program has been enormously successful with 3 of 4 endorsed candidates winning electoral primaries. All four candidates attended the NP membership meeting on April 11th to express their gratitude. Danny Davis, winner in the 7th Congressional District, invited NPers to join his Campaign Steering Committee. Patricia Martin, who won the race for Judge in 7th Subcircuit Court, explained that due to the NP she was able to network and get experienced advice from progressives like Davis. Barack Obama, victor in the 13th State Senate District, encouraged NPers to join in his task forces on Voter Education and Voter Registration. “

Should any of you doubt that the DSA’s true socialist roots, see their website, which includes this statement:

“We are socialists because we share a vision of a humane international social order based both on democratic planning and market mechanisms to achieve equitable distribution of resources,…”

We hope and pray that the American press will wake up prior to November 4th and seriously investigate these allegations before our worst fears are realized, that Obama IS a modern day Manchurian Candidate, a dedicated socialist that has been slickly marketed by older, experienced Marxists, both here in the US and abroad. No amount of candy coating is going to make palatable this radical, leftist candidate, who represents the most serious threat to the traditional American way of life in our experience.

CLOTHES DO NOT A MAN MAKE, BUT A WOMAN?

We admit it. We cling to tradition. We prefer a Jesuit education, classic movies, opera, and paintings by the old masters. We also love a well dressed woman. As much as we admire Hillary Clinton and wish she were the Democrats' nominee for President, we hate her pants suits. We are, therefore, not surprised the McCain campaign has spent some $150,000 on clothes, hair, and makeup for their Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. We appreciate the fact that Palin, a former beauty queen, is the country’s most visible hope a woman can have it all…career, family, youth, and looks. While we would prefer $150,000 had been spent on sending Palin on a worldwide visit with the world’s most influential leaders, we understand the Republicans putting their money where they think the American public interest lies. However, the media has romped all over the story, feigning shock and outrage. In the meantime, we hear no mention of Barack Obama’s $1,500 suits or the Obama’s room service lunch of lobster, caviar, and champagne at the Waldorf Astoria last week, all at his campaign donors’ expense. We recognize the attacks for what they are, misogynistic and self serving. Perhaps the Obama campaign wishes they had the foresight and forked out some cash to get Joe Biden a decent hair weave?

A FREE PRESS?

One of our reasons for starting this blog was we wanted an outlet to vent out frustration over what passes for journalism today. At one point in our life we wanted to be a journalist, like many other concerned, involved citizens who worked on high school and university papers in their youth or on church and club newsletters in their leisure time, or even on professional journals in the pursuit of careers. We even had the opportunity to take a course in journalistic ethics during our college years, where we learned the principles that Murrow and Cronkite employed in their daily reports.

It wasn’t too long ago that we could trust a Brokaw, a Rather, or a Turner to tell us something akin to the truth. Are we befuddled by age, isolation, or social class, or has there been a distinct abandonment of journalistic objectivity since the beginning of this Presidential season some 18 months ago? We began to suspect something afoot when Bill and Hillary Clinton came under attack during the primary season, two people who have done as much for the rights of African Americans and women as anyone during the last 25 years. The press, to whom we look to champion the rights of the disenfranchised, enthusiastically engaged in sexist and racist behavior, joining people who owe their political careers to the Clintons in a chilling demonstration of political cannibalism.

In the last week the press has totally abandonment any attempt to appear objective or unbiased. Unashamedly embracing a Hearst-like yellow journalism, CNN gave us these four audition tapes for position of official Obama propganda network:

• A piece on the “Black McCains” a shameless attempt to paint John McCain as a descendant of racist plantation owners who sexually abused their slaves.
• A new math lesson by Jack Cafferty converting a poll showing 30% of non-US citizens favoring Obama to a poll showing Obama preferred by the rest of the world 4 to 1.
• Another Cafferty rant against Sarah Palin, calling her “sleazy” and “opportunistic” for using official funds to pay for her children to accompany her own her travels, a legitimate expenditure practiced by John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton before her, all the time ignoring the obvious question of who was funding the travel of the Obama children.
• The misrepresentation by Drew Griffin of a Byron York column in the National Review criticizing the press’ reporting on Governor Palin, falsely claiming that York had called Palin, “…incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt or all of the above.”, a deliberate lie.

In the end, we believe that the American people will see through this blatant attempt to push a modern day snake oil salesman into the oval office.

CNN MATH

This afternnoon Jack Cafferty, who’s been taking smirking lessons from Keith Olbermann, reported that citizens of foreign nations preferred Barack Obama over John McCain by a margin of four to one. While a “4 to 1” graphic remained on the screen Jack hypothesized on the reasons Obama was so popular around the world, save for backward places like the Philippines (Jack, have you checked the number of voters of Pacific Islander background in California lately?). What Jack hiccupped over was the actual number logged by the Gallup organization, 30% of those surveyed preferred Obama, 8% preferred McCain, 62% did not have an opinion. Here’s our take on Gallup’s poll. Two thirds of the world doesn’t care who wins the US Presidential election. So much for Obama’s claim that his election will change the world.

OBAMA, YOU'RE NO JACK KENNEDY

Everywhere we turn, we read/hear/see comparisons of Barack Obama to John F. Kennedy, both young, attractive, charismatic men, who inspired a generation; both history making candidates, one African-American. one Roman Catholic. The Obama campaign would like us to believe that JFK was also a young, inexperienced candidate. JFK served in the US Navy for four years, in the House of Representatives for six years and in the US Senate for eight before entering the White House. And whatever, one thinks of the Kennedy legacy, Joe Kennedy’s sons were raised to lead. From the time they were children, they shared their dinner table with the greatest minds of the day. Obama himself often cites Kennedy’s own words, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” as rationale for negotiating with renegade countries. What Obama doesn’t say, perhaps doesn’t know, is that that attitude led to a disastrous meeting with Nikita Khrushchev, then the leader of the Soviet Union, which in turn led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest point to a nuclear war this world has ever seen. Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, this weekend told a roomful of well healed Democratic contributors in Seattle that, "Mark my words, it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy… Watch. We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.” We remember the near panic of the missile crisis, the “duck and cover” drills in elementary schools, the makeshift bomb shelters on every block. We have no desire to walk with Obama through such a scenario.

We actually see more parallels to another President elected on a wave of hope and optimism, James Earle Carter, Jr. Jimmy Carter is a brilliant man, reportedly the highest IQ of any US President, graduated from the US Naval Academy with a degree in physics. He served in the US Navy from 1946 to 1953, ran his late father’s business in Georgia and served on several local community boards, like Obama, before being elected to the State Senate, like Obama. He ran for Governor unsuccessfully in 1966, and was elected Governor in 1970, an executive position he held until becoming President in 1976. To this date, he is considered to be a good, sympathetic man, known for a lifetime of good works. Like Obama, a press weary of the Imperial Presidency of Richard Nixon, lionized him. Who can forget the sycophantic Barbara Walters interview. Like Obama, he ran as a Washington outsider and he was, bringing to Washington, DC, a group of adviser woefully ignorant of the ins and outs of Capital politics. The administration will be remembered for 15% mortgage rates and the humiliating Iranian hostage crisis, and lower popularity ratings than Nixon or George W. Bush. Obama hasn’t the IQ or moral character of Carter nor the experience or family history of Kennedy. Why should we expect a more favorable experience if/when Obama matches wits with a foreign adversary. We close with a paraphrase from the 1968 Peter O’Toole/Katherine Hepburn film, “A Lion In Winter”

We know. You know we know. John McCain knows you know we know. We’re a very knowledgeable bunch. On the other hand, Barack Obama….

CNN PLAYS THE RACE CARD

Today CNN aired a less than subtle propaganda piece titled the “Black McCains“, featuring an African American woman, Lillie McCain, who claims to be a descendant of slaves once owned by John McCain’s ancestors. Also included in this so called “news” piece, was Douglas A. Blackmon, author of a race-baiting book titled "Slavery By Another Name". Blackmon is a native Mississippian and the Atlanta Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Blackmon’s book focuses on the second class citizen status of African Americans during the period prior to WWII.

No American is proud of this country’s past treatment of African Americans. However, CNN’s thinly veiled attempt to connect John McCain to this shameful period of US history is slanderous. Especially offensive, was Ms. McCain’s assertion that she had no doubt that she and John McCain shared the same gene pool, implying that John McCain’s ancestors were not only slave owners, but rapists as well. Whatever, the status of McCain’s relatives of two centuries ago, we know that he is a man of unimpeachable character, who has contributed more to the freedom enjoyed by Lille McCain and every other American than a thousand muck raking authors like Mr. Blackmon could ever hope.

This report has removed any doubt we had concerning CNN’s journalistic integrity.

STRANGE BEDFELOWS, POWELL AND OBAMA

Having worked with the military for over 20 years, we have a great respect for our service members. Whatever one may think about the morality of war, it is a fact that a US four star general or admiral is the peer of any major CEO. A former Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the US, is in the company of the heads of General Motors, Exxon, and US Steel, the crème de la crème. Colin Powell is not only a former Head of the Joint Chiefs, he is a former Secretary of State and probably the most distinguished African American ever to serve in public office, rivaled only by Thurgood Marshall. We are, therefore, gravely disturbed and more than a little confused by Gen. Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama today.

Gen. Powell gave three major reasons for eschewing his fellow military officer, John McCain, in favor of the much less experienced junior Senator Obama:

• Obama’s ability to inspire not only the US citizenry, but the world at large,
• McCain’s perceived lapse of judgment in choosing Governor Sarah Palin, and
• The extreme conservative focus of the Republican Party.

We don’t see it quite that way.

• We don’t find Obama inspiring, but frightening in the same way we were frightened by Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Reverend Sun Jung Moon.
• We don’t consider Governor Palin’s choice as running mate to be poor judgment, but evidence of political genius and amazing perception. Her critics fail to recognize that she is a Governor, one of 50 chief executives, one of eight female Governors, and the most popular Governor in the US. The pundits and late night stand ups would have us believe that their judgment trumps that of the Alaskan people who know Governor Palin’s ability better than any of us. While we wish Palin was more moderate, we do not question her experience or potential.
  
• We believe the Republican Party to be far more centrist than the Democratic Party. Senator’s McCain’s nomination is evidence of the GOP’s retreat from the dark days of the Moral Majority and Newt Gingrich. Obama’s purge of Clintonians and the hijacking of the party’s credentials committee heralds the leftist extremism to come.
  

Because we don’t believe General Powell lacks judgment, experience, or intelligence, we are left with some ugly alternative conclusions.

• Gen. Powell is more embittered by his treatment at the hands of the Bush administration that previously believed. Without question, his unwitting involvement in the scam that was the selling of the Irag invasion severely damaged his legacy and his ego. With this endorsement he does a one finger wave good-bye to the Republican Party.
  
• Age and circumstances have robbed Gen. Powell, and all of us, of the preferred first African American President of the United States. Through this endorsement Gen. Powell, hopes to share in making history. We have no doubt that Obama will show him the same gratitude that he has shown Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and the other elders of the civil rights movement.
  
• As a retired Army General, Powell, sees retired Navy Captain, McCain, as less than a top level candidate. Had McCain followed in the footsteps of his Admiral father and grandfather, no doubt Powell would hold him in higher regard.
  

Whatever, Gen. Powell’s real reasons for endorsing Barack Obama, we are certain that it relegates Powell to being a footnote in history.

MODERATION IN ALL THINGS, NOT

As our masthead proclaims, we are advocates of moderation in all things. However, there are a number of moral and ethical areas where moderate seems cowardly. From England comes the sad report of a 23 year old student athelete, a rugby player, who was so distraught after a paralyzing accident that he persuaded his parents to take him to the quintessential moderate country of Switzerland for the purpose of finding a legal, if not ethical, venue to assist the young man in ending his life. Switzerland is one of a handful of European countries were assisted suicide is legal. The others are the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, all countries with lengthy histories of never taking sides in disputes.

Daniel James, an all star rugby player was injured when a “scrum”, that group hug thing the players do when restarting a play in rugby, collapsed on top of him, resulting in the young man being paralyzed from the chest down. As tragic is such an injury, James was by all reports an intelligent, well educated young man whose main was not physical but emotional and mental. Most people we know feel empathetic toward those people with illnesses or injuries that leave them in extreme physical pain or in a persistent vegetative state, even if they are ambivalent toward assisted suicide. As parents, we can appreciate the pain of young James’ parents. The serious injury or death of a child of any age is tragedy that is every parent’s worst nightmare.

We have had the unwanted experience of family members incapacitated by illness and the loss of a child before his time and it has left us with this belief. Life is not ours to take. We grew up in the company of wheelchair-bound family members and have a current family member who has been confined to her bed for over 20 years. It is true that we would prefer that these loved ones not be so challenged, but we love them and our lives would be diminished without them. There is no middle ground on this one nor any response, except this, Mr. and Mrs. James, we mourn your loss.

VOTER REGISTRATIONS, POLL NUMBERS, AND OTHER PARTY TRICKS

As the scandal around the group, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), unfolds we got what they call in the military a BGO (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious). Maybe, just maybe, all this hype, about how amazing an organization the Obama campaign is, is an elaborate hoax, some sleight of hand party trick to make us see what isn’t there. Watch us closely, ladies and gentlemen, for the political spin is quicker than the eye.

The Washington Post reports that there have been about 4 million new voters registered in a dozen key states during the past year. ACORN claims to have registered 1.3 million of these. Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, estimates that 200,000 Ohio voter registrations, that’s one third of all new registrations in Ohio, are suspect. We do believe that only a few of these phony registrants will actually show up at the polls. If this premise is accurate, pundits may be red faced to find on November 4th that the expected tsunami of new voters to be just a trickle.

Another smoke and mirrors aspect of this campaign is in the polls. The consensus among campaign watchers is that the Obama organization has no peer in its ability to use technology to support its goals. The campaign has unleashed a horde of cyber robots to manipulate popular internet sites. Like virtual army ants, they crawl all over FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, and the comment sections of prominent blogs. We have no reason to believe that they have not been equally as successful in the usurping of the polling process.

It is important to remember that Obama’s initial election to public office was through his knowledge of the voter registration process. He was able to defeat his opponents, not by the votes of American citizens, but by removing them from the ballot through legal manipulation. We wonder if Hillary Clinton might have been more successful if ACORN’s activites had come to light earlier.

HEEEERE'S JOHNNY!

If you ever wanted evidence of why John McCain has such devoted followers, witness his performance at last night’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in Manhattan. The charity event, held at the dowager empress of hotels Waldorf Astoria, was attended by both Presidential candidates and a plethora of social and political A-listers. John McCain took the stage and delivered a brilliant comedy routine. Not only were the jokes well written, they were delivered with a comic timing that any stand up professional would envy. Barack Obama, by contrast, delivered a clumsy routine, that was met with more groans than chuckles. Viewers were left with the images of McCain as a regular guy that anyone would want to have at your next neighborhood barbeque and Obama as a guy that would bore you to tears if you had to sit next to him at a ball game. Who knew that the old guy the media portrays as slow and tongue tied would be so wickedly funny or that the guy pundits revere for his masterful rhetoric would be as clumsy a joke teller as your great aunt Martha after three glasses of sherry?

Perhaps Obama was intimidated by following McCain’s performance or perhaps the politician with the most extreme view of the right to an abortion felt a little uncomfortable sitting next to the Foundation’s President, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, his Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan. Lest readers think me non-objective, watch the video of the two candidate’s speeches and decide for yourself. Unless you do laugh at Great Aunt Martha’s jokes, we think you will agree with us.

JOE THE PLUMBER WINS DEBATE

The star of tonight’s debate was not a Presidential candidate, but a plumber named Joe, a potential victim of a potential President Barack Obama. For those of you who have not seen a newscast in the last few days, Joe Wurzelbacher, a self employed plumber in Ohio, is the everyman small business owner whose “wealth” Obama wishes to redistribute. Joe was mentioned no less than twenty times during tonight’s dual monologues.

Barack Obama and Joe, the Plumber, Wurzelbacher

Having worked with both the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense, we could not help but be struck by how much these two politicians are products of their backgrounds. Obama failed to answer any question directly, but spun a lawyer’s dizzyingly circular argument that soothed while it failed to inform. Yet McCain was militarily direct to the point of rudeness. His retort that he was no George Bush and that Obama should have run in 2004 if he wanted to run against the current President was as snappy as a salute.

In the end, McCain failed to draw the blood needed to turn this campaign around. If there is to be an October surprise, we recommend that McCain not wait to Halloween to convince America that Obama is a trick not a treat.

BETWEEN IRAQ AND A HARD PLACE

Everyone has an opinion of this Presidential election and we are no exception. After a lifetime of supporting Democrats, we are reluctantly supporting John McCain. We arrived at this unfortunate position based on one simple factor. We know where John McCain has been for the last 70 years. We know who his daddy was and we know who his granddaddy was. We know everything there is to know about him and his ancestors. He has no surprises in store for us. We know all the bad things he has done and is likely to do. We know where we agree with him and where we disagree with him.

On the other hand we don’t know who Barack Obama is. By his own design he is the embodiment of the protagonist of Woody Allen’s 1983 film, Zelig, a fictional documentary about the life of a human chameleon who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whomever is around him. Obama is a 21st century shape shifter who tries to be all things to all people. A charismatic persona dwarfs his thin resume and overshadows his extreme views and unsavory associations.

Despite our uneasiness with Obama’s background, we do have solid objections to his qualifications for President.

• He is inexperienced. No yammering crowd of talking heads and true believers can controvert this fact. The most junior head hunter would reject his resume were he applying for a CEO position, much less for eight years in the oval office. We would not hire a sixteen year old with a learner’s permit to drive our children’s school bus nor would we submit to surgery by a pre-med student, no matter how charming.
• He has not paid his dues. It isn’t just that he is inexperienced, but that he claims an empathy with other African Americans while living a life normally associated with the most privileged Americans. He was born to college educated parents, lived an upper class existence in Indonesia, attended exclusive private schools, studied at the country’s most elite universities, and graduated from the top US law school. He was hired to teach law before he had any practical experience as an attorney. He filled an elected position without having to defeat any opponent. Never has so unworthy a man risen so far, so quickly.
• He has fomented more hatred between the races than we have seen since the 1960s. He falsely branded as racist a former President revered for his advancement of race relations and singlehandedly undid decades of good will between black and white Americans.
• He has kept the company of subversives, racists, anti-Semites, and criminals. He pretends that he is ignorant of his associates’ antisocial behavior and when confronted with evidence of same, he dismisses it all as ancient history. Would you hire a pedophile as a babysitter if it had been 30 years since he last molested a child, especially if he had recently said he wished he had molested more children?

Is this the best we can do? We fear our choices are bad and worse. Perhaps it is necessary that we suffer through a disastrous administration in order to learn to choose wisely. What’s that you say? What did we learn from the last eight years?

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE WANT TO SHARE

The catalysts for this blog are many:

• We are frustrated with the polarization of American society…Right wing talk radio and MSNBC mindless liberalism, elitist media and gangster culture, unbridled greed and crushing poverty, etc.
• We can find no OBJECTIVE source for news and analysis…Journalism has been replaced with talking heads reading the opposing sides’ talking points
• We are dismayed that political correctness has replaced logic and fairness.
• We believe that the answer to the universal question, “Why are we here” is TO LEAVE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW.
  

Every legitimate opinion relies on a credible foundation. Here is ours:

• A blue collar, middle America upbringing
• A degree in Political Science with minors in Sociology and Journalism.
• A career in government that includes positions as a Congressional Liaison, a Refugee Specialist, a Military Planner, and Government Operations Consultant
• Three decades living in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC
• A lifetime advocacy of the rights of the disadvantaged, minorities, and women. Equality not entitlement.
  

We do have a political identity. We are libertarian, with a small “l”. We don’t want government, or our neighbors, in our bank account or bedroom. We do have a social identity. We are unabashedly middle America. We do have a religious affiliation. And that is our business. We do have an opinion on just about everything. We subscribe to the principle, “Keep and open mind, but don’t let your brains fall out.”

We hope you read our posts and share your opinions for we grudgingly recognize our European antecedents, specifically the Frenchman, François-Marie Arouet, who wrote under the nom de plume Voltaire, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it .”