On the 12th of September, the United States saw a large amount of nationwide protests aimed at President Obama and his new health care bill. I personally have no problem with protesting, in fact I encourage it because it is a direct reflection of the citizens that the government is serving and should therefore be respected and acknowledged. But I do have to say this, the 9/12 protest were nothing but a nationwide display of idiocy, in my opinion. Why do I say this? Because it was fueled by none other than Glenn Beck, the most misinformed anchorman to grace cable news. Anybody that knows me personally knows that I have never been a fan of Beck, and the reason is my belief that he really has no idea what he is doing. His show, The Glenn Beck Program, is nothing more than right wing propaganda at its very finest. And just look at his track record, from crying like a little baby on screen several times, to throwing a live frog into boiling water on live TV to prove a foolish metaphor, Glenn Beck has always proven himself to be more dimwitted than anyone expected.
And thanks to the popularity of show, he has been able to spread his dingbat method of thinking to quite a few people. Fox News is infamous for organizing these mass protests against the President, and having the nerve to call them a 'grassroots effort'. I'm sorry Fox News, but a major cable news network organizing mass protests is definitely not a grassroots effort. And the 9/12 protests are no different.
The people who were out protesting on 9/12, in my opinion, had absolutely no idea what they were there for. Some were out there accusing the President of McCarthyism/ Socialism/ Nazism and Fascism. And when they were asked by a camera crew as to why they are accusing the President of these acts, all they could do was give a blank stare to camera, and then start blathering about things that were completely irrelevant, in the same manner as Glenn Beck.
I saw a great video done by Chase Whiteside, a member of The New Left Media, and I though that short film summed up exactly what went on during 9/12. Mass confusion.
According to the US Surgeon General report, obesity is responsible for over 300,000 deaths a year in the United States alone. And we have also seen that the number 1 cause of death in the US is Heart Disease, and with Obesity being the main link to heart disease, it is clear to see that we have a major problem on our hands. And people do not really have to turn to CDC facts to acknowledge that the US has a problem, taking a walk down any busy street will paint a quite accurate picture to you about the weight problem in the US. And with late night TV being full of weight reduction pills and gimmicks, you would expect that the issue had been curbed, but all these efforts have been proven to be of no avail. How bad is the issue you say? Well here are a few statistics that really opened my eyes up;
-- Between 1962 and the year 2000, the number of obese Americans grew from 13% to an alarming 31% of the population. -- 63% of Americans are overweight with a Body Mass Index (BMI) in excess of 25.0. -- 31% are obese with a BMI in excess of 30.0. -- Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past two decades.
So now the question is, how do we attack this problem? Well, I sure do wish that there was a clear cut answer to this question, but the reality of the situation is that it would take a large collaborated effort by the people of the US to curb this looming disaster, and I am yet to see any signs of this.
I believe that the US Government should fight this disaster the best way they can, raising taxes. Now for a long time I have been a staunch critic of raising taxes, but when to comes to this issue, I am all for it.
A group of health and nutrition experts have been pushing for a large increase in Soda tax, similar to the highly successful Cigarette tax, for a very long time and are yet to be successful in passing any legislation on the matter. The newest effort that is being proposed is a sales tax of 1 cent for every ounce of soda sold. Now this is a far cry from the tax being imposed on cigarette smokers, and yet it is having the hardest time trying to be recognized. And my question is why not? This will simply mean that instead of having the regular 5 cent tax for a $1 can/bottle of soda, the tax would be 12 cents. And how much will this slight increase of 7 cents help the US? Well, it would mean that there would be an additional income of $15 billion a year for the government, and considering the economic fiasco that we are currently in, it would not hurt to have an extra $15 billion lying around. And it would also curb the increasing obesity epidemic in the US, with an average of 2 pounds less weight gain for every soda drinker within the US.
But I highly doubt this bill will pass due to the fact that the Soda conglomerates have the best lobbyist protecting their interests within the US. And yet another brilliant plan that will not see the light of day because of lobbyists.
It feels like it has been forever since I wrote my last blog entry, and it almost has been too. I would like to apologize to my readers, I have been extremely busy. But now I am back and ready to assess all the political issues facing the United States. Quite a few of my readers have complained that my website has been strictly about US Politics, but it was purely because I started my blog around the historical election of President Obama, and I, like every other person in the United States, had been stricken with Election fever. Now that that is in the past, I will make it a point to be as balanced as possible with my choices in stories to cover and look forward to analyzing world politics as well as US politics.
Today in the main auditorium of Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt, President Barack Obama gave what I found to be on the most memorable speeches of my lifetime. The reason why I found this speech to be more honorable than any other of the countless word-perfect speeches given by our most articulate President in recent history is how much purpose this speech served. We all know how rocky the ties between the US and the Middle Easy have been, and the Bush Presidency only made this worse. With the War in Iraq and 9/11 aggravating both sides of the equation, it was hard to see any healing coming from the severed ties. But today, President Obama extended an olive branch of peace and harmony to the Middle East that I never expected to see coming from any US Official in my lifetime.
Ever since his days on the campaign trail, Obama had preached of religious equality and fixing ties with the Arab World, but I had never really expected such a well coordinated effort so soon. The people of the Middle East have recently had low expectations from American leaders, and have all the right to do so after having dealt with our obviously dyslexic Ex-President Bush for 8 years. But today, when they were greeted by a very articulate and brilliant man who reflected his education and understanding of the Middle East and the Islamic religion, I am sure they were very impressed.
President Obama started of his speech by respectfully saying "AsalamAlakum" (which means peace be upon you an Arabic, a common greeting). He then when on to admit how much mislabelling Muslims had to deal with, especially in the US, in the wake of 9/11. He put out a call for a new beginning, so that the Muslims shall not be persecuted in the US solely based on their religious principles and beliefs. He admitted that this much needed change will not come overnight, but yet was willing to put in as much work as he needs to to achieve this distant goal. He then goes on to say that this uneasiness and distrust between the Arab World and the US should have never happened in the first place, because the US was known for its ties with Middle Eastern countries centuries ago. He used the Treaty of Tripoli as an example, because that was the time that Morocco, Tripoli and Algiers had signed an peace agreement with US, and upheld it well as well. He then went on to show his support for the fight against the rise of a negative and "crude stereotype" for Muslims in the United States, and also went on to praise the 7 million Muslims living within the Us borders by revealing the little-known fact that they actually have an average income than the average American. He also appealed to the more traditional Muslims in the audience by pointing out the fact that the US Courts have ruled in the favor of Muslim girls being allowed to wear their Hijabs freely within the US. (I actually want to see what the Liberals in the US will say about this since they have always fought the acceptance of the Hijab in favor of women's rights). He then concludes his introduction by letting it be known that 'Islam is a part of America'.
He then started to be more specific and spoke of 7 important matters that I have discussed below;
1. Extremism: Continuing on with drawing a line between Muslims and terrorist, Obama went ton to speak about the US's ongoing fight with Extremist parties in the Middle East. He made his point clear by saying that "America has never been, and will never be, at war with Islam". I found this to be a very powerful sentence because this addresses the ongoing persecution and racial profiling that Muslims have faced within the US since 9/11 based purely on their religion.
He said that the US solely blames Al Qaeda for the attacks and will continue fighting them, with the aid of 46 countries in the coalition and the commitment will not weaken because not only have these extremists killed many Americans (civilians and troops) but Muslims worldwide as well. And he goes on to say that his fight against the extremists is not just through military excursions, but by working together with the governments harboring these terrorist, and goes on to explain how the US has invested $1.5 billion in aid Pakistan's build new schools and infrastructure, and $208 billion to help rebuild Afghanistan's economy. He concluded this part of his speech by admitting that Iraq was a war of choice (by a misinformed leader), but will not be an occupation. He said that he plans on rebuilding the Iraqi government and will withdraw all US Troops from Iraq by 2012 (the first clear outline given of the withdrawal of troops)
2. The second issue he discussed was the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Now this was a very touchy issue and I congratulate our President for being able to speak about both sides without showing any form of bias. He acknowledged Israeli-American ties, but announced that they don't have anything to do with the US's views on the matter. He admits that both Israeli's and Palestinians have suffered greatly and have lost a lot in the fight to gain a homeland. He then went on to support the Two-State Solution, which I personally believe is also the best method to resolve this conflict. He then wrapped this part of the speech up by proclaiming that he wants Jerusalem to be a place of peace, and to serve its role as the birthplace of the 3 major religions.
3. Nuclear Weapons. Even though he did not speak greatly on this matter, he did outline his intention for the world, which is a world with no nuclear weapons. Now do I believe this to be possible? No. I find it to be highly unlikely, but for the fate of mankind, I sure hope he succeeds.
4. The fourth matter he discussed was the the eternal pursuit of Democracy the US seems to have. We have seen the US get criticised time and time again for their views on foreign policy, and for their eagerness to 'stick their nose in others business', but he said that the only reason is the quest for international democracy. He said that the US aims to achieve freedom internationally and will continue to support a government of the people, by the people to set standards.
5. His fifth speaking point was about Religious freedom. When discussing this matter, Obama slightly criticised the Muslim world for their inability to accept other religions. He also spoke of the riff between Sunni's and Shiites within the Muslim community, and let his thought be clear on the matter, that the US was not happy about this. He went on to say that "Freedom of Religion is central for people living together".
6 & 7. The last two points that Obama spoke of was abouts women's rights and how denying a woman education is denying her equality. He pointed out that nations who have educated women, and more so, women elected into power are usually the most prosperous ones. He then connected his mention of prosperity to speak about development. He mentioned many aspects of development and the constant struggle between development and tradition. He advocated the growth of scientific research and pointed out many examples of how he is pushing for scientific innovation and the technological growth within the US.
Overall, I thought this speech was brilliant and will surely be a stepping stone to strengthening US- Middle East ties.
In case you have missed the headlines, the Tri-state area is buzzing about the new case of 'homegrown terrorists' that have emerged from Newburgh, NY. Apparently, 4 African -American men with extensive prison records had hatched a plan to blow up a couple of Synagogues in the Bronx while simultaneously shooting down military jets at the nearby Stewart International Airport, a widely known military base.
The reason I am choosing to write about this case as my first post as I return from my hiatus is because I believe that it is a very controversial case. Why is it controversial? Well, the media will chose to spin this in whichever direction they please. If you turn on Fox News, they will make it seem as a large invasion of Homeland Security and that the US is still under heavy risk of attack from our 'enemies'. And then if you turn on to any other left-leaning media source, they make it seem as if this was an inevitable terrorist attack, that only fell through because of the well coordinated efforts of the FBI, and the overall idiocy of the 'terrorists'.
Now, I may not be a very trusted news source, but since I can be classified as the independent media, I will try and call this case for exactly what it is.
Now lets go back and analyze this case. These four men have extensive prison records, and according to the NY Times, they also have mental issues. Here is an interesting quote I found about one of the suspected bombers;
"An assistant imam at the mosque, Hamin Rashada, said that another one of the four men, Mr. Payen, seemed disturbed. Mr. Payen often talked in circles, showed signs of paranoia and kept bottles of urine in a messy apartment." (NY Times)
So, we firstly see that these men are not really the most sane people on earth, but I guess we can also argue that terrorist are not really the most judicious people around. But what I found to be most interesting about this case was how foolish these "terrorists" really are. Apparently the reason they decided to hatch these half-baked plans is because they were unhappy about the large amount of Muslims (all four of the suspects converted to Islam while incarcerated) and by setting off these bombs at synagogues and by shooting down military aircrafts, they will prove a point. That's just plain foolish and I simply do not see the connection.
And therefore, these men started attending mosques in their area looking a way to commit Jihad against the US, and that is when they met an undercover FBI informant, posing as a connect to a Pakistan based terrorist group (the media is still unsure whether it is Al-Qaeda or not). This man therefore set these men up with the bombs and surface-to-air missiles they would need to carry out their attacks. But since these men were completely untrained the FBI informant tricked them by giving them fake bombs and fake weapons, and they were oblivious to this until they were caught.
So on the day they planned to carry out their attacks, the men went to 2 synagogues in the Bronx and planted the bombs and planned to drive down to Stewart Airbase and blow up the so called bombs from a cell phone activated detonator while shooting down military aircrafts, but they were apprehended by the FBI, and other Homeland Security services that had worked with the FBI, before they left the scene.
In conclusion, I fail to believe that this case should be sensationalized in the way it is being shown. These were just a group of mentally unstable ex-convicts who sought to carry out attacks against an undefined enemy. They were completely untrained, and therefore failed miserably. But I am glad to see that the FBI is staying on top of Homeland Security like this. They have really proven themselves as hardworking, and I do feel a bit more secure now. Therefore I salute the brave men and women that thwarted this half-baked scheme, and look forward to more of these heroic moments.
Ever since the Bush Administration stepped down, many new things have been popping up about the interrogation methods that were used in the Bush era. And with the big Waterboarding scandal that has erupted, and with the constant argument of waterboarding not being a form of torture, the US Government is looking highly confused on the whole interrogation process of terror suspects.
Barack Obama was quick with his public denunciation of these interrogation methods, especially when it comes to Guantanamo Bay. And to further drive his point home, Obama appointed Leon Panetta (who is not a big fan of torture) as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
If you have read any of my earlier articles, you do know that I am not the biggest supporter of torture as well, but I do have to say that some of the methods that people are speaking up against are slightly out of hand.
The recent outpour of people speaking out against the US's interrogation methods are mainly due to the highly publicised holding of AbuZubaydah, a high ranking Al Qaeda member and close associate of Osama Bin Laden. AbuZubaydah was, according to CIA papers, subjected to 'enhanced interrogation techniques' that now currently have the media and the public speaking out very harshly against the CIA and Bush Administration. And the 10 main interrogation methods that are under heavy scrutiny are as follows;
(l) attention grasp
(2) walling
(3) facial hold
(4) facial slap (insult slap)
(5) cramped confinement
(6) wall standing
(7) stress positions
(8) sleep deprivation
(9) insects placed in a confinement box
(10) the waterboard.
Now what I am beginning to wonder is, are these really torture methods? When dealing with a confirmed Al-Qaeda member and Bin Laden associate, should the US really be concerned about slapping him? Come on, these are basic interrogation methods, and even though some of them (like waterboarding) can be dangerous they are in place only to guarantee Homeland Security. Really is the deprivation of sleep really a method that can be classified as dangerous, especially when dealing with such a high ranking individual?
I must say that I am confused and looking forward to the proposed interrogation methods, if the ones listed above are outlawed.
The following is just a random thought tangent I went off when I was looking at pictures of the $2 bill.
When studying Civilization in we have seen how important the rise of organized religion was in the Roman era. And as we have seen over time, there has been large amounts of progress made when it comes to organized religion. And now 33% of the world population is Christian, 21% are Islam and the rest are a mix of Hindus, Jews and of course, Atheists/ non believers. We have come a long way from believing in idols, and other such less popular forms of religion, some which have even been called ‘witch craft’. When studying the rise of religion, there are many things that can be credited for helping it get to where it is now. Firstly the popularization of Greek philosophy provided average citizens with too many questions about life. “Why are we here?, How did we get here?” and questions of that sort were on the minds of people everywhere. In my opinion religious leaders used this general uncertainty about life as a method extending their churches popularity to the masses. And unlike other forms of religion and idol-worshipping, Christianity at that time was very open (in the sense that anyone can join). Also another reason that I believe that major religions- Christianity especially, got to where they was through, for lack of a better word, propaganda. They were able to present the people with mental comfort by answering one of the main philosophical questions at the time that was haunting the people, which is “Where will we go after we die?”. Nobody at the time was willing to accept that they were going to be buried and end up as fertilizer, instead when Christianity offered the people a chance to live in a luxurious and free place in the sky, they were able to get large amounts of support. I personally have nothing against religion. I believe that it teaches people to be mature and helpful citizens. It also gives people mental and emotional strength when dealing with things in their life. But one main complaint I have about religion in the Western world is that it is being used in politics way more than needed. I am a Secularist and therefore I believe in the Separation of Church and state, and I will spend the second half of this entry writing about how well the Western world has done this, in comparison with the rest of the world. The reason that I have such an active opposition of mixing Religion and Politics is because I have seen many unnecessary prosecutions of individuals due to their religious views. And I am sure we have all heard about the Shari’a law (A Muslim law), with countries like Iran, Nigeria and Sudan etc. using the death penalty on anyone accused of homosexuality. Therefore after analyzing the US Constitution, I was pleased to see how far the Separation of Church and state had come. But this was not achieved overnight, this was achieved by the hard work and determination by people on both sides of the problem who worked diligently to achieve their goal. I will try and point out the few most important factors that have made the Separation of Church and State successful. The first person to make great strides in this effort ( and a personal hero of mine) was President Thomas Jefferson who himself was a staunch believer in the cause. Jefferson believed that religion was a deeply personal matter, and therefore had no business being mixed with Politics. In 1802, Jefferson wrote a very historically important letter in response to a letter by the Danbury Baptist Association. The letter the President received was a complaint about the lack of religious liberties in the DBA’s home state of Connecticut. In response, the President wrote; Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state. (Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association)
This letter has been regarded as a very historically important document because it not only demanded the Separation of Church and State, but also led to the Establishment Cause in the US Constitution Amendment 1 which is ; Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (US Constitution Amendment 1)
This in my opinion was one of the most important, if not the most important, steps towards building up a stable and strong government. I believe that one of the main reasons that the US’s Government is now the strongest in the world is mainly due to the fact that people are willing to work hard and work together in the pursuit of a common goal. And now due to the steps taken by the great Jefferson, the US is one of the foremost leaders in the exercising of religious freedoms .
Now the question is how do we spread it to the rest of the world?
Even though I have a strong belief in the American Government and also believe that the officials we elect into office are of high caliber, I have to admit that somehow we make mistakes. The 'mistake' that I am particularly aiming at right now is Congressman John Shimkus (R-Ill). Now before I get into criticizing this man, I have to make it known that I am not one to criticize or lambaste a person for making the occasional mistakes, but when I see an elected official making outlandish remarks and continuing to lead in a way that is not beneficial to the citizens, I have to speak up. The United States (so far) has proven to be a no-nonsense type of government when it comes to dealing with elected officials that make mistakes (we have all seen how easy it was for the people to turn their backs on such worthy politicians such as Clinton and Spitzer for making mistakes) and I am proud of this. This showed to me how demanding the American people are of their representatives, and therefore I support this attitude 110%. But occasionally, we forget to criticize certain officials who are doing and saying things while they are in power that could be far more damaging to us than Clintons extra marital affairs. Which brings us to John Shimkus. At a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment hearing on March 25, Shimkus went on to say that God will be the one who decides when the earth will end, and Global Warming is but a myth. Excuse me?! That is what this man believes to be a good introduction at an Energy and Environment Committee hearing? And he started his foolhardy speech by quoting the bible, which I thought was completely irrelevant. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the Christian faith or the bible, but I am a strict supporter of the Separation of Church and State, (I am a soft Secularist) so therefore I was angry when I saw that this man did this. First of all, Shimkus has gone on the record plenty of times to say that he does not believe in evolution or global warming. I wont criticize him for not believing in evolution (its pretty common) but is he really going to stand there and say that global warming doesn't exist? Secondly, what ever happened to the Separation of Church and State? Is quoting the bible really a legitimate method of justification in government meetings nowadays? And this man is still a Congressman? And therefore because he quoted a few verses of the bible did he really think that people will completely abandon the global warming cause and stop worrying about it? I am not asking this man to be like Al Gore or anything, I would just like him to know that their are problems being faced by the world that cannot be fixed by reciting a few words, and the main reason he was elected was for him to help fix these problems. And if he wants to rely on his Christian faith to help him make decisions, then that's fine, but if he wants to be able to make decisions that will help our nation, then maybe he might have to start accepting the large problems we have facing us, the main one being Global Warming. Watch the video of the hearing here; http://tiny.cc/Ph7yv
I know I haven't posted anything for a while, I have just been busy with exams But I will start writing again soon, and the first thing I will discuss is the new documentary 'The Obama Deception'. If you haven't seen it yet, here is the link: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=obama+deception&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f# Its something to watch, and stay tuned for my analysis of the film. (coming soon)
Rush Limbaugh has always been quite a character. He is a man who publicly (and proudly) said that he wished Obama "failed" a few days after the President got sworn in. With a radio show that he claims attracts 20 million listeners a week, he has gained a heavy following amongst Conservative Republicans. But his fame has slowly evolved into notoriety lately because of all the mistakes that he seems to be making. With all the biased and even sometimes racist things that he is known for saying, he has slowly evolved into someone, who in my opinion, can be classified as the Bill O'Reilly of the radio circuit. And now with the Republican party at its worst, the Obama administration pulled a great piece of political strategy to make sure that the Republicans stay down. And what is this great political move? Labeling Rush Limbaugh as the de facto (unofficial) leader of the Republican party. Who better to label as the head of the Republicans than a infamous Conservative with a wide fan base, who is known for having the most unstable personal life (with all the drug addictions and marital problems he faced), and a natural skill of making himself and anyone that supports him look like fools? Even though the Obama administration claims to never take part in underhanded Politics, there has never been a finer move (in my opinion) to suppress the already struggling Republicans. But what is the outcome of labeling Rush Limbaugh as the de facto leader? First of all, last week, the new head of the Republican National Convention, (and also the first African American leader of the Republicans) Michael Steele came out to publicly deny Rush Limbaugh, claiming his statements are sometimes "incendiary" and "ugly". I personally thought that was a bold move by Steele, even though he retracted his statements a few days later. And while the official Republican heads are being hesitant to publicly deny Limbaugh, the Conservative population in the US are not backing down in denying this "aggressive and bombastic" guy as their leader. I just finished reading an impressive article by David Frum, a neoconservative journalist, who has made it known that even the Conservatives, let alone the regular Republicans, find the labeling as Limbaugh as their leader to be a disgrace. Even though it was quite a long article, it not only highlights the views that Conservatives share on Limbaugh (which is highly negative), but it also highlights how eager the Republicans are in reviving the US. Overall, I must hand it to the Democrats for letting Rush get where he is, and letting him continue his sabotage of the Republicans will guarantee a Democrat stronghold for quite a while to come. For the sake of the Republican party (and my support of bipartisanship) I hope the Republicans find another de facto leader, or just accept Michael Steele as their leader. The David Frum article; http://www.newsweek.com/id/188279/page/1
Our favorite megalomaniac Hugo Chavez of Venezuela never ceases to amaze me. Apparently he appeared on National Venezuelan TV and proposed that Obama follow in his paths towards socialism. He extended his sympathy to the suffering working class before offering this ridiculous alternative. I dont know how heartfelt this offer was, seeing the US is track record of dealing with Socialism is nothing less than brutal. But to me Hugo Chavez seems to be nothing more than a crazed dictator who strangely enough has majority support and will stay in power for a while longer. But what I'm eager to know is how much longer? http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aB6yw1ihGZ2k&refer=latin_america
If their was one Republican in this world that I would vote for, it would be Ron Paul. He has always proven himself to be the most outspoken and brilliant person to happen to the Republican party in ages. Through out the recently passed Presidential campaign, Paul (who was running for the Republican ticket) proved to America that he is the only one from the Republican party with any form of common sense. Even though a few of his beliefs were a little too farfetched for me to vote for, I still was intrigued by his ideas. Sadly though, he was forced to dropout of the campaign due to lack of support (which did not surprise me one bit because this man was too radical to get any Republican support.) This week is when the Conservative Political Action Conference meets, and Ron Paul gave a speech on Friday that made more sense to me than any other speech I have heard from the GOP. Paul (R-TX), went to on to criticize US Foreign policy extremely hard, saying that our FP costs us more than a trillion dollars a year, which is probably one of the causes for the economic chaos. He also added that the only person who could be satisfied by our Foreign Policy is Osama Bin Laden. I am attaching the news article with this post, and if you scroll down you will find an video excerpt of the speech and I recommend that everyone see it. The applause that he gets from the Conservatives is impressive, since Republicans, especially Conservatives, are not known for criticizing war. News Article; http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Ron_Paul_One_million_dead_Iraqis_0227.html
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal, the first Indian American to be the Governor of Louisiana, and the rumored 'future' of the Republican party has admitted today of lying about his role in the Katrina disaster. Jindal, claimed he "stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a local sheriff who was battling government red tape to try to rescue stranded victims", in a speech he gave Tuesday night at the GOP address to America. But after further investigation by the media, Jindal was found to have been nowhere close to the affected area during Hurricane Katrina. In a recent interview with Politico.com, Jindal's people changed their story, instead claiming that Jindal was in recently deceased Sheriff Harry Lee's office trying to get permits for the boats used to rescue stranded people. Of course since Sheriff Lee is dead, it would be quite difficult to verify this story, but the media is still investigating this. I have a feeling that this was just another form of propaganda by the great Republican party, I would not be surprised if we found out that Jindal was nowhere near Sheriff Lee's office (let alone standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" with anyone.) If Jindal and Sarah Palin are being labelled as the future of the US Republican party, it is safe to say that the GOP is in a bit of trouble. News article; http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/jindal_admits_katrina_story_was_false.php?ref=fp1
The Economy must surely be the most important thing on people's minds right now. With polls emerging that 3 out of 4 Americans saying that they are scared about the way things are going on in the country, and the Obama cabinet recently announcing its intentions of halving the federal deficit by 2013, its plain to see how everyone is stressed about the economy. And I was curious to see how the Republicans were dealing with these issues, so I started doing research on what alternatives that they suggested. Even though there were no real outlines established by the GOP in the wake of the economic crisis, apparently a group of 44 House Republicans apparently have decided to try and pass a bill that would eliminate income taxes. Wait what? Get rid of a vital source of income for the US Economy? Don't income taxes make up about 27% of the Federal income of the United States? This is just ludicrous, in the wake of an economic crisis, the best alternative that the Republicans can come up with is getting rid of income taxes. * on a sidenote; is it coincidental how the GOP started talking about eliminating income taxes around tax season? Instead of following the Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner's method of paying income taxes (which is not paying them altogether), the Republicans decided on coming with a bill that would completely eliminate income taxes? Pure humor.
The Obama Cabinet has now launched a website called Recovery.gov, which enables regular citizens to track their tax dollars in the new Stimulus Package. Ever since President Obama took office a month ago, he has promised that his cabinet will be a very transparent one, a new look for the US Government. In the Bush administration, transparency was obviously the last thing on their minds as they conducted 8 years full of shrouded cover-ups and lies. And now, the launching of Recovery.gov is a great example of how hard the Obama cabinet is working to fix the downward economic spiral that the US is in. Even with the signing last week of the $787 billion Stimulus package brought together by Obama's economic team, people were still pretty nervous about the Stimulus package, and I am sure the launching of this site will help ease quite a few nervous minds out there. The website itself is a very efficient and organized one, and greets all visitors with a personal address given by President Obama, discussing the launching of the site. I for one have been pretty skeptical about all the Stimulus packages and bailouts, but now my confidence is starting to build up and I find myself being more and more in favor of the package. The new website shows exactly how the Stimulus package is being allocated, and I was happy to see that $144 billion is going to State and Local Fiscal relief. This comes in light of California's big budget crisis that had dominated US news for the past week or so. Overall, I must say that this was very positive move, and I look forward to more actions of democracy from the Obama Cabinet. Visit the website; http://www.recovery.gov/
Is it just me, or are some Republicans just sounding like conspiracy theorists? And now Former Lieutenant Governor Betsey McCaughey is accusing the government of setting up a correspondence between doctors and the government to "guide" your doctors decisions. Well, the statements made by McCaughey were actual quotes from the bill, but they were (obviously) taken out of context. The medical database mentioned in the bill is actually there to "provide appropriate information to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care". The way McCaughey mentioned it almost made it seem as if the government was going to control the people's medical proceedings. And this is the main reason I am accusing McCaughey of being a conspiracy theorists. But MSNBC quickly caught up to the mistake, and sent its best and most brutal 'debunker', anchor Keith Olbermann, to clear up the obviously incorrect statement. In my opinion Olbermann is one of the best Liberal political minds in our society, and I for one believe that he should run for office. Watch the following video to see Olbermann doing what he does best, debunk.
Its about time that somebody brought forth a legitimate judicial stance against the Bush Administration. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D. Vermont) has started an online petition to "urge Congress to consider establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration's abuses". These 'abuses' are a variety of violations such as, use of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws. Please visit the site for more info and don't forget to sign the petition! (After signing the petition, you will be asked to forward it to people you know, please forward it to as many people as possible, every signature counts!)
Ever since the emergence of the new Stimulus/ Bailout package brought forth by the Obama cabinet, there has been a surge in Republican protest concerning the bailout. Republicans usually tend to vote for lesser governmental involvement with business, and lower taxes (a classic case of self-interest) so I was not too surprised by their outcry against the bailout. But now, the GOP is taking a much more ridiculous stance against the bill. All my regular readers know that I (as a true Progressive Democrat)am all for bipartisan movements within the US, and the fact that 3 GOP Senators voted in favor of the new bailout package had made me confident of continuing bipartisanship movements within the US. But I ran across an article that made me very annoyed yesterday. Apparently a influential conservative political action committee is promising to oppose any Republican who voted in favor of the bailout, and as an outcome of this the three GOP senators are unsure if they will vote in favor of it again on the final version of the bailout (they had first voted on an earlier version of the bailout). Now, I may not be much of a economist but it is safe to say that the US economy is in trouble . A total of 598,000 payroll jobs vanished in January — the most in nearly 35 years — and the unemployment rate jumped to 7.6 from 7.2 percent the month before, and this is just the proverbial 'tip of the ice berg' for the hardships the US Economy is facing. And at the same time, I understand that a Republican is a Republican and must support their ideology, but if Republicans do not seem to be in favor of the bailout, what better alternative do they promote? I have not heard of any legitimate alternatives being brought up by the GOP. Do they sincerely believe that not helping the failing businesses that make up their economy, and letting such vital job creators such as Chrysler and Ford go bankrupt will fix this problem? Now is not the time for Republicans and Democrats to bicker over bailouts, now is the time for bipartisanship and economic recovery. I hope this case is cleared up before it gets out of hand.
* And on a side note, am I the only one who noticed that the Bailout is being coyly referred to as a 'Stimulus package' instead? Is this propaganda, or simply a change of name to signify that this bailout is completely different from the first bailout (which I personally thought was absurd). Just a point to ponder. CNN article on GOP opposing its own people
It seems nowadays that insane political scandals are just a norm in the US. I was browsing through headlines this morning when I read an article that had me downright appalled. As a Liberal, there are not many things that will catch me off guard. The Portland mayor's scandal was a bit shocking to the Conservative world that are not used to homosexual partnerships, but since the age of the young man was legal, I did not go further and attack the mayor. Even the Larry Craig incident could have been justified seeing how it was legitimate (the soliciting of sex, without any monetary transactions is legal, as far as I know). But now, John McCain's former Presidential Campaign in Pueblo is being accused of molesting the 5 year old son of a fellow campaign worker. The website that I got the information is not the most trusted site, and in the hopes of a undisturbed bipartisan movement in the US, I am hoping this is just a rumor. If this rumor does end up being true, I hope this man is prosecuted the fullest extent of the law, and put through the same embarrassing fate as previous politicians with sexual scandals have faced (Larry Craig, Elliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevy etc). Please discuss...
Even though Obama has taken office, it seems that the appointments to prominent cabinets are still going on. And today, in a unexpected turn of events, former US Senate Majority Leader and current Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) has withdrawn his candidacy for the office of Secretary of the Health and Human Services (a seat currently held by Charlie Johnson). This came as a bit of a surprise for me, because I had known that his time spent as Senate Majority Leader, and his general outspoken nature would have made him a favorite for the job. he also was one of the first prominent Democrats to come forward and endorse Obama, a while ago in the Presidential Campaign. But what I have to admire is the reason that Daschle gave as his cause of withdrawal, which is his belated payment of over $128,000 in taxes. Even though tax evasion is a crime, many tax evaders in US Politics have gotten away scot-free, the most recent example being Tom Geitner who got appointed to the post of Treasury Secretary last week regardless of the fact that he was facing tax evasion for his failure to file income taxes for over 6 years. (irony?) Daschle has an impressive record as a member of the House of Representatives and as a Senator. I personally must say I am not very happy about his withdrawal of candidacy because I believe that he is the best pick for the job, and yet I am satisfied by how democratically this case was handled, and by how his case was not swept under the rug as it would have been done if it were any other prominent politician. President Obama said in an interview today with NBC Brian Williams that he was saddened by the loss of such a good man that he personally believed would have done a good job, but justice is justice and this man committed a crime and is paying for it now.
“I appointed these folks. I think they are outstanding people. I think Tom Daschle, as an example, could have led this health care effort, a difficult effort, better than just about anybody. But as he acknowledged, it was a mistake. I don’t think it was intentional on his part, but it was a serious mistake. He owned up to it and ultimately made a decision that we couldn’t afford the distraction.”
President Barack Obama has come off to a great start in my opinion. In true Progressive Liberal form, our new president extended his hand to the Muslim world by having an interview with Al Arabiya, a Dubai based TV network, and announcing that 'Americans are not your enemy'. I thought this was a very honorary example, for a US President to actually propose peace with Arab nations, after looking at the history of US-Middle East ties. Even though Obama clearly stated that his administration will continue to hunt the terrorists that kill innocent civilians, he has also clearly announced that he will work towards a better relationship between the US and its Muslim counterparts. I personally believe that this is a very positive act, seeing how Muslims worldwide were under seige due to Bush and his wild goose chase for terrorists and WMD's. I am sure I was not the only person who was disgusted by the Bush regime's thoughts and actions towards the Muslim nation, and this to me seems like a reversal of that inaccurate view previously held of the Muslim community. Even though President Obama was a bit vague about how he is going to deal with the Isreal-Palestine conflict, and the recent 3 week invasion that Israel just recently concluded, it was overall a great interview. CNN news article on interview
With unemployment at a record 16 year high, the government is struggling to come to terms with this, and create new jobs, but that is proving to be a hard task indeed. This week, on Monday alone there were 65,400 reported job cuts in many Fortune 500 companies across America. Not only was the amount of jobs lost shocking, but also the fact that it came from otherwise stable companies that had not really shown signs of weakness throughout the fiscal year. With steadfast American companies such as Sprint, Home Depot and Pfizer accounting to this massive nationwide job cut, the only question that comes to mind is who's next? And with the announced bankruptcy of Circuit City (the second largest tech store in America, following Best Buy) in the horizon, the path towards the Economic Revival of the US is looking dreary indeed. And there are many questions being asked of the government and the supposed bailout that had been passed before the Obama administration, and I am curious as to how they will be answered because supposedly, half of the $700 billion bailout plan has already been pumped into the failing economy. I was actually shocked to see how the upper part of the AIG hierarchy had used some of their bailout package, after I read this article on how they went on a luxurious vacation (cleverly dubbed a corporate retreat) as soon as receiving their $85 billion bailout package. I was not in support of the first bailout anyway, and this only reaffirms my views on corrupt companies. And what surprised me even more was how the same politicians who nonchalantly passed major bailout plans for obviously mismanaged companies as AIG, were hesitant to grant the US Auto industry a bailout (the same industry that employs over 5 million American workers). Hopefully the new bailout organized by the Obama cabinet will be better than the first one. The reason I am so critical of the first bailout plan was not only because it was being distrubuted improperly, but also because the figure $700 billion did not come around after diligent calculations, it was just a number put together to appease the masses. The real cost of that first bailout was estimated to be over $1 trillion, and therefore it was like handing a blank check to these fraudulent companies so that they can do as they please with US taxpayer money.
In the disastrous economy that we are facing, it is shocking sometimes to hear of companies earning a profit. And in the wake of the economic problems, Exxon Mobil has has has broken the previous record earned by a US based company of $40.6 billion (which Exxon itself earned in 2007), by reporting a profit of $45.2 billion for the 2008 fiscal year. I must say I am not all that surprised by this earning statement seeing how crude oil had hit the triple digits around mid July. The price for a barrel of oil was almost $150 around July, which was the highest it had ever been. But recently there has been a sharp decline in the prices of crude oil, with gas prices in the US falling almost 100% in the last quarter of 2008. I guess its safe to say that only Exxon Mobil, and maybe a handful of other large public companies will be reporting such a hefty earning in their stock's and bonds. News article; http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_exxon_mobil
I was browsing through CNN, my new favorite Political site, when I noticed the following piece. It is an interactive profile of all of the major Obama cabinet's White House staff appointees, and a very effective way of knowing our new leaders. The Obama administration have promised us that the new government will be highly interactive and we have seen many steps taken by the administration to drive this point home. Even though I am not entirely in support of every appointment made by our new commander-in-chief, I do believe he has assembled a team of the most able and eager candidates ever.
In the cabinet picking process, there were quite a few candidates that I was skeptical about at first, including Timothy Geithner, who was being investigated on tax fraud. And I was actually getting ready to write a piece on the irony of appointing a person who has not paid income taxes for several years to the role of Treasury Secretary, but now after reading more about how he oversaw the AIG and Lehman Brothers bailout, I am slowly rescinding my criticism of Geithner. The new administration seems to be ready to go, and we are ready to see what they have in store.
Another day, another political scandal unfolds. In recent history, the amount of high ranking US Government Officials to be caught up in scandals are outright amazing. From the Ex-Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick (who was the first mayor ever to be charge of a felony while still on office), to the moronic Senator Larry Craig incident (R-ID) (who was caught soliciting gay sex in a airport bathroom) we have seen a succession of US Politicians involving themselves in embarrassing scandals that have cast shame not only upon themselves and their colleagues, but on the US Government as a whole. Today, another scandal is unfolding in Portland, Oregon. The city's mayor, the openly gay Sam Adams is now being investigated for perjury after lying about his sexual involvement with a young male intern, who was 17 when first introduced to the mayor. The mayor first denied ever having relations with the young man, but then went on to admit to it upon further questioning, flying back early from the Washington DC Inaugural Celebrations to offer his city a public apology. Mr. Adams' main argument now is that the young intern, Beau Breedlove, was 18 at the time of their relations. This scandal may not be as outrageous as the other ones we have heard to date, but is still quite appalling seeing as how the mayor committed perjury, and possible statutory rape. This story is still unfolding, so I have chosen not to write too much about it, but I will definitely now say ahead of time that the steps taken by the Mayor were wrong and immoral, and are dampening the otherwise joyous feeling felt by Americans as we welcome our new President. I just hope that more skeletons won't come tumbling out of his closet. News Article; http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008655693_webportlandmayor21.html
I read an interesting article today about how Obama is beginning his work towards fixing the economy. As we all have seen, the struggling economy is one of the main problems the Obama administration are bracing to tackle. And the beginning steps towards fixing the fiscal crisis are already being taken by Obama and the professional group of people that make up his cabinet, as I can be seen in the highlighted and video. Apparently Obama has ordered a pay-freeze for all the senior members of his cabinet citing that his actions will show how ready and willing his administration is take on the fiscal crisis. He is also highlighting how visible his cabinets movements will be by saying; "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency". If his plans go accordingly, he will set precedent by having such an interactive and democratic administration. I, personally, do not see how effective the freezing of his senior staff's salaries will help the economic problems, but it shows willingness to work, so I am just going to wait and see before I state a verdict.
Our new President has already began his attempt at fixing the problems that Bush created. In one of his first, if not the first, acts as the 44th President, Obama has ordered a stop in the Guantanamo Bay prosecutions. For the readers that missed my Guantanamo article, I will restate that I believe that whats going on there is a severe violation of human rights, and the Geneva Conventions' rights the prisoners have. The ongoing support of Guantanamo Bay and its inhumane ways, by Ex-President Bush and Ex VP Cheney have had me and the rest of the Democratic party supporters discombobulated, to say the least. The Obama cabinet have also redesigned the official White House website, whitehouse.gov. The new website is faster, more efficient and goal oriented, while the previous one was a right-wing propaganda machine, that makes Fox news seem Liberal.
After what seemed like decades of campaigning, debating and discussion, Barack Hussein Obama has finally been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. Even though we were all confident of his win, the reality of the situation just took effect today as we saw Obama (the third US President from Chicago, after Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln) place his hand on the same bible used by Lincoln in his inauguration and recite the Presidential Oath. The man who was once criticized for not having any experience or skill to run a successful campaign, was able work consistently on the hard path towards the Presidency. But today that journey is over as Obama, with 2.5 million of his closest supporters showed up in Washington to become the change that America has been looking for. While on his campaign, Obama had faced large amounts of criticism by many people, even from Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden (who are now his Secretary of State and Vice President, respectfully).But he was able to rise past these challenges and make his campaign into a successful one. The campaigning that he has done is also a very different one from all campaigns to date because of his refusal to take any form of contributions from lobbyists or public donations(whose main objectives is to basically 'buy' candidates by donating large amounts of money). Instead the only financial support he got was from contributions by private donations, with the maximum amount donated per person being less than $200. Even though he was bashed for choosing such an unaccustomed method of fundraising, he went on to raise more money for his Presidential bid than any other campaign to date. In the month of September 2008 alone, he went on to make $150 million dollars for his campaign. Even though many people said that his skin color benefited his campaign, Obama ran his successful bid by not once referring to his race, and by showing America that race and racism are things of the past. His appeal to the people came in the fact that he was willing to accept his criticism and learn from past mistakes to work towards benefiting the future. And by not playing the ever-present race card in his campaign, he proved to America that anybody, of any race or background, has the ability to surpass the limits put on people concerning race, sex or class. Another form of appeal that Obama has is his regular guy attitude, and by proving how in-touch he is with the American people, whether it was the close relationship he shared with his family, or his friendly attitude. He has shown time and time again that he is a very regular guy, even playing a pickup game of basketball with the US troops stationed in the US, while on the campaign trail. Another vice that Obama has is his skill as a public speaker. The only other US Presidents that I know who have possessed this skill are John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, both who were fantastic Presidents who had their office time abruptly ended, by an assassination and political scandal, respectively. During his campaign he has given many great speeches that will talked about for years to come, my personal favorite being the 'More Perfect Union' address he gave in the wake of the Rev. Wright scandal, and immediately after George Bush gave his final (and worst in my opinion) State of the Union address. Jokingly referred to as "the speech that cured racism", this speech highlighted what the Obama campaign was about, the refusal to accept the old racial divisions and classes made in previous years, and the coming together of Americans to work towards democracy.
And after overcoming all these obstacles and criticism, Obama was able to build a successful campaign, a modern campaign, that used the internet as a main source of communication with his supporters, sending text messages and emails almost daily (I still receive emails to this day), and was able to make us ordinary civilians feel as though we were part of the policy making. This is one of the reason that more people in the 18-30 demographic voted for him than any other President to date. He actually won over almost every demographic except for the middle class white women and older white male demographic, who were leaning more towards McCain. His victory over John McCain was almost unprecedented, with him earning 52.9 % of the popular vote and earning a whopping 365 electoral votes. This was basically a landslide victory, but Obama once again excercised his humility by meeting up with McCain several times, weeks after the elections, to discuss important matters such as the War in Iraq.
With his slogan 'Change we can believe in' Barack Obama was able to motivate millions into believing that much needed change can come to to America, and the time to earn it was now. Obama's popularity was once again confirmed today as 2.5 million people showed up to see him get sworn in, making the 400,000 that attended Bush's inauguration in 04 (half which were protesters anyway) seem dismal.
Even though we all know that all the problems being faced by Americans are not going to be solved overnight, we were able to see the beginnings of a new movement in America, a much needed movement towards democracy. The problems Obama will face after taking office (the Economic disaster, the failed war in Iraq) are colossal and will require many years of work, but at least we are seeing his will to work towards fixing or hopefully eliminating these problems
Today was a bright day in American history and I am glad to have witnessed it, and would like to say Welcome to the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussien Obama.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) was awake and "feeling well" yesterday evening after suffering a seizure during a post-inaugural luncheon in honor of President Obama, said a physician who treated him.
Kennedy, who has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments since having surgery for brain cancer last June, was rushed from the Capitol by ambulance after he began shaking and convulsing at the luncheon, according to lawmakers and Senate staff members who were present. He was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where doctors said they thought the seizure was caused by exhaustion.
This was a sobering moment in the euphoria surrounding the Obama inauguration, especially since we all remember how the endorsement of Ted Kennedy (which came as a surprise to us all because the last major endorsement given by Ted Kennedy was to his late older brother, slain Ex-Us President John F. Kennedy). Even though Kennedy had supported previous Democratic nominees for President, his endorsement of Obama was the one in which he had spoken out actively about. The endorsement of Ted Kennedy came at a time when Obama was battling Hillary Clinton to get elected as the Democratic nominee for President, and gave Obama quite a bump in the polls.
Ted Kennedy has always been a very progressive member of the US Government, and is the second longest serving Senator next to Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) (who coincidentally also had faced health problems today at the inaugural luncheon). As the youngest brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy has been occupying JFK's vacant Senate seat from the time JFK got elected president, to this very day.
I hope he gets well soon, so that he can be able to see the progression of US Democracy in the hands of the Obama Cabinet, especially since his help did play a role in getting Obama to where he is today.
My favorite Liberal Political Commentator and Media personality Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) had a very interesting piece today on his show Countdown, that summed up the Bush Presidency in 8 minutes. This was the most accurate rundown of Bush's 8 years in office that I have seen thus far and a must-see by anybody, whether Liberal or Conservative, Republican or Democrat.
I thought I was the only one who was sick of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, more commonly know as Joe the Plumber and his constant involvement in everyday news. Ever since he was videotaped asking President Elect Barack Obama a few questions regarding tax while he was on the campaign trail, and John McCain used him as an example of America's middle class in a Presidential Debate, Joe the Plumber has went to every measure to stay in the news. He recently went to Israel and made a few idiotic statements regarding the media and how they cover war situations, and CNN's Rick Sanchez took offense to the said statements and had a few choice words for Joe. Enjoy the video;
George W Bush is infamous for giving inaccurate speeches, and his Farewell Speech today was no different. As President Elect Obama's inauguration draws closer, Bush gave his expected farewell speech today from the White House, in a televised 13 minute effort. Bush presented what I believed to be a very propaganda filled speech as he gets ready to pass the baton to his successor. The reason that I said that this speech was full of propaganda was because after thanking his friends and family for support, Bush immediately jumped into his favorite discussion, The 9/11 attacks. Its been seen time and time again, that Bush takes pride in the steps he took following the 9/11 attacks and seems to consider that as the main preserver of the otherwise tarnished Bush Legacy. Throughout the speech, Bush went on to speak of himself as someone who saved not only Americans, but other Arab states from 'terrorism'. He seemed to take pride in saying that the US had not seen any other terror attacks after 9/11, making it seem like terror attacks were annual occurrences. He thanks all the allies that worked with him (presumably Former British VP Tony Blair being the main object of affection), and went on to talk of how he had done so much for the countries he invaded by saving them from regimes that demanded "total obedience to an oppressive ideology" . When giving his spin-filled speech, he did not once mention the financial cost of the Iraq war (which was last estimated to overall cost the US a whopping $3 Trillion dollars) or the heavy death toll (100,000 Iraqis and 4,000 US troops dead). Instead he seemed to be more interested in talking about how he had liberated the Iraqi women from the oppressive regime and had made sure that their human rights were reserved by making sure they were provided with education and such. He then talked about how he had worked extremely hard to improve the schools in America, to improve Medicaid, and proudly announced how much he had lowered income taxes for the American people. After this he went back to his favorite topic, terror, and warned the US people that another terrorist attack could be coming by saying that "our enemies are patient". And after that, in what I saw as a pathetic effort to promote the Bush legacy, he started talking about how America's character had not faltered and started pointing out live examples of how strong the American character was. These live examples included a principal who started a school in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, a former inmate turned preacher, and a man who joined the Army as a doctor after his son was killed in action while serving in Iraq. Even though these individuals are impressive people, choosing to bring them out was a misguided idea because they had no relevance to Bush or any of his decisions. He then concluded his speech by stating how "proud [he] was to serve America and be an American citizen", a failed attempt at patriotism.
The main reason that I thought his speech was inadequate was because even though he acknowledged that he had made some mistakes as President, he was almost refusing to accept the gravity of the mistakes. Its as if he had forgotten about how he failed to act in the Hurricane Katrina which cost the lives of more than 1,800 Americans and devastated New Orleans, or he did not mention how he did not act when the US was (and still is) facing financial turmoil. As a matter if fact he claimed that it "would have been worse if we had not acted". How much worse it could get, I don't want to know. And my final grievance with this speech is how he to spoke of himself as someone that had to make a series of inevitable decisions and the criticism he is facing now is a result of this. This is untrue. He was a President that went ahead and took the wrong opinions from the wrong people, invaded a country looking for things that did not exist (Weapons of Mass Destruction, commonly known to Liberals as Weapons of Mass Distraction), completely devastated the infrastructure of a country and cost the US a load of money and countless amounts of fatalities in the wild goose chase that was the search for these WMD's. He is also a President that flew his Air Force One Jet over the devastated areas during Hurricane Katrina instead of helping, and was so hesitant to send help that the lives of 1,800 Americans were lost.He also was was a president whose 8 years in power brought about a $10 trillion deficit. These are just a few examples of the many mistakes committed by Bush, and I'm sure he will be remembered in the US for a long time as one of the worst Presidents we will ever have to face.
A Progressive Neo-Liberal, with mostly Liberal views (with the occasional Conservative standpoint here and there). Also a newly minted soft Secularist.
