Commentary on Presidential Debate by Linda Z in Texas

The television program they called a debate tonight was BORING! I almost threw my water bottle at Tom Brokaw on the TV. I wanted Obama to interrupt and make his point. At least that was spontaneous. At the end Barack and Michelle talked to people in the audience. John and Cindy left. Did the McCain campaign have Sarah Palin ready to shoot off at the mouth in the spin room? I thought Obama sucked too because neither McCain nor Obama know more than a 5th grader about the economy and mortgages and helping home owners. McCain talked how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac screwed home owners. Actually Freddie and Fannie buy loans from the lenders/mortgage companies/mortgage brokers.

And Obama didn't call him on that and Obama didn't call him on how Phil Gram and McCain specifically supported less oversight of the SEC, but then McCain wanted to fire the Chair of the SEC. McCain has not been able to demonstrate that he lifted a finger to stop these people from selling the horrible ARMs, where people found their mortgage rates doubling, these horrible loans where people put no money down, which meant they had no equity in the home and so they just walked and neighborhoods have suffered and tax revenues have suffered in places where a lot of home owners lost their homes, but then McCain doesn't like taxes.

Both candidates voted in favor of the bailout. Neither candidate did their job as Senator and asked who gets the money? Dennis Kucinich has been asking those questions and he voted NO to the bailout twice and he is angry that Congress supported Paulson in printing up this money and the amount of interest that goes to tax payers to cover these bets on mortgage packages. On foreign policy Obama said all the centrist things. His campaign is working hard to win over "red" states. Why do people trust McCain with "national security" when he sings songs like Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran? Even if McCain was singing to military people? He was doing so as the Republican candidate for Commander-in-Chief. If McCain has spent energy fighting torture as a policy then why make jokes to anyone about bombing a country? I thought McCain looked like a scary person when he couldn't stand or sit still while Obama was speaking.

Letter to the Editor on “Sullivan for Congress” campaign in NYC by Bob S

The Sullivan for Congress campaign was a valiant, even noble effort to raise impeachment of the president and vice president as a major issue in this election cycle by local people without major party support. It was born of a genuine disgust with Jerry Nadler's intransigent refusal to take the Executive to task for breaking the law. The campaign was a true grassroots initiative in the best spirit of real democracy. Too bad the Democrats and the Nadler campaign and people didn't recognize that and crushed the campaign before it had its full chance to engage Nadler on impeachment. But why should any other behavior be expected? As the Democrats prove time and time again, they are a moribund, decadent party unwilling to squarely confront injustice, unable to stand on their principles dwindling like Antarctic ice caps.

That the Nadler campaign stopped the Sullivan campaign based on petition filing technicalities, two of these alleged irregularities being trivial, even ridiculous, shows just how far the Democrats, hypocritically hawking "Change You Can Believe In," will go to stifle debate on anything straying from a very bland, centrist discourse, designed not to offend anyone with money, power and influence. What's the change here? Do I hear The Who's chords: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?" That is, if the Democrats can even win this presidential bid!

We are living through a zeitgeist of fear and cynicism so that many of us now refuse to do what we know to be right, believing that legal, ethical and moral privation can only be challenged by political maneuvering rather than the truth. But some reject this craven tack, and the Sullivan campaign was one with the intrepid.

I wish Nadler were as lenient about applying the rules to Sullivan as he is about applying them to Bush and Cheney. But as we all know, the rule of law is often not evenly applied, used like a hammer on the relatively weak, or excused as impractical to wield when the wrongdoer is strong and politically powerful.

Indeed, meet the new boss......

Recent Commentary from Jay C in Florida - Revolution in America

Our forefathers fought the American Revolutionary War seeking independence from taxation without representation, to escape the tyranny of an uncaring and distant English Monarchy, for the right to govern themselves and to have the right to equal measure (the right to vote) in choosing their own destiny. That is the standard American classroom history version of course. However, my viewpoint of history is that the American Revolution was born in 1776 and it still is still very much alive and nimble at the age of 234.

Black Americans who in large part had suffered through a couple of centuries of slavery in America, saw the Civil War of 1861 to 1865 fought to abolish their enslavement. More Americans died fighting in that bloodbath over the abolition of slavery, than had died in the combined American military death tolls of both of the World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

Female citizens in every state of the union, on Tuesday November 2 of 1920, for the first time had exercised their right to vote en masse. That right to vote came after several decades of demanding, petitioning and demonstration. Women’s right to vote came 131 years after the ink of the Continental Congress representatives signatures dried on the United States Constitution.

From that Tuesday, 88 years ago in America, the men and women of America have made mistakes together and have had triumphs together. True to the American Revolution and 45 years after the end of women’s suffrage, Americans finally abolished the Jim Crow laws after listening to decades of similar demands, petitioning and demonstrations of the NAACP and other civil rights groups. This enabled civil rights to minorities and the voting voices of all Black Americans in the 1960’s.

Therefore, it came to be that after an initial denial of a unified voice for the better part of two centuries, the American Revolution had finally provided the vast majority of the American population with the ability to exercise the right to speak to their leaders through their vote. The right we all deserved to have all along. That ability of action of all of its citizens truly made this nation a whole nation in which now, every one of our citizens has a voice. Make no mistake about it that an Americans vote is an Americans voice.

It may seem outwardly at times that we Americans are a splintered people because we are so diverse. At least it would seem so to those people outside of the United States, if that opinion were based strictly upon of all of our various Election Day differences. However if you examine our ongoing American Revolution on election days, it really is not so splintered. That is when you base the view on the fact we have all agreed to come together in this compact of service based primarily upon the precious common ground of being Americans.

To live in agreement is easy. The real proof of our strength and of our unity, is that we as a people live together peacefully and united even when in great disagreement, because we have concluded as a people to agree to disagree. Our national and mutual disagreement is an American Revolutionary compact of service that we have affirmed and reaffirmed for 219 years. We have continued to live up to those ideals as set forth by our founding fathers by the Constitution of the United States of America in 1789 (With our most notable failure being the Civil War from 1861 to 1865).

We Americans have a chance every Election Day to be whole, to be a part of a truly unified U.S.A. There were times in our history when our republic was much less of a democracy, when most Americans had no voice, but that is no longer true. Does that make the U.S.A a utopia? No, it does not. Do we still have prejudicial practices and discrimination? Yes, some of that part of our past still plagues us. We will ever live in a perfect America. Probably not. However, that does not mean we as Americans will give up on the concepts of the Constitution as the way to improve America.

This revolutionary compact of service including the right of the republic for Americans to vote, whether gifted or born into comes with a compact of responsibility. This compact of service is what the founding fathers and the generations of Americans to follow them would be in debt to and bound to. We all have this responsibility to take part in our government’s dealings whenever the opportunity presents itself. The consequence of surrender to apathy or acquiescence (acquiescence: meaning failure to act) is not only to surrender our nation to those who would make it less than it could be. To surrender to apathy or acquiescence is to become one of those who make it less than it should be.

Americans by my definition, are inescapably involved as part of an intertwined greater whole. I say inescapably because although you may think you can avoid involvement. Dropping out, not to speak out, not to care or not to vote still has consequence. Even if the effect is primarily on someone else’s life, the lives of all of those around that one life will feel ripple effects. Eventually that ripple will find its way to you. Whether you like it or not it is an inescapable fact that every action or inaction bears consequence. So, if you are here that means you are involved, so what you do or what you fail to do, will in turn touch you and your nation in some way.

Lastly, the American Revolution had provided us with a duty. Our duty is that compact of service to America as Americans to make our country a better place. The way we all have been empowered to do so that is of the highest impact, is to exercise our RIGHT to vote. This is our country and it will become what we make of it because we have choices. Go vote. Choose to make yourself heard. Whether you are a man, woman or regardless of the color of your skin, let your voices ring out in this chorus of America and let your voice be heard.

Look, the sun will rise and set upon us whether you vote or not, so wake up and be a part of it all.

Epilog

There are of course, many ways Americans may take part in their compact of service. Men and women of the military carry weapons, artists carry cameras or wield a brush, a writer wields a pen, vocalists sing, directors make films, etc. However, most Americans are not of these professions. So when one of those individuals vote is counted, whether it be for an issue, against an issue or for a candidate for office, their vote counts with no more weight than the vote cast by the "ordinary" American. This in effect shows how your vote can be the great equalizer.

P.S.

By the by though I have calmed down some since my last political blog, unfortunately I am still angry with the DNC. Because the vote I cast (my voice) in the Florida democratic primary does not seem to matter much to the DNC "Politbureau". I attribute the loss of my vote to someone who proves by his actions that he is under the belief that he knows better as to what is good for the electorate than the voters do. That someone is Mr. Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

He and other Democrat elitists have made the card carrying fascist decision to throw away my vote and to silence my voice along with all of the other Democrats that participated in the primary elections of Florida and Michigan. Howard Dean is taking the people of the United States for a giant fascist leap backwards.

I implore you do not let Howard Dean silence the voices of 2,378,027 Americans. Because if the voice of one American is denied it is an act against ALL American voices.

Recent Commentary and Dialogue from Linda Z in Texas on Certain “Issues”

People argue against "socialized" medicine. The current system that we have now is that if you are not poor enough to be on Medicaid, but you are pretty poor and working class, you can not afford health care, even if you have insurance, it doesn't cover everything or it might not cover anything, even certain life or health maintenance medications. And who might be left out of the good health coverage equation? The same young people who are signing up to go to Iraq and Afghanistan, often from lower income neighborhoods and in some cases to earn citizenship. And when they are sick and injured in battle, they struggle to get dignified healthcare.

What are the numbers of white people verses, African American and Hispanic who have no health insurance or who are underinsured? What are the number of people who die by race, because they have no insurance or they are underinsured? An example was on Congressman Kucinich's website, (about a year ago) the kind of dental care a young African American boy in Maryland, Prince George's County, North of the White House, received and too late when he had a dental infection and he died.

What else do I mean by Eugenics, when talking heads say the surge has been working in Iraq? Well, did the surge only have a chance of becoming effective, after the U.S. government did not keep statistics on how many people died in the ethnic cleansing before and after Bush and Cheney's 2003 invasion and after so many people died in the ethnic cleansing after Saddam was removed and so this helped the surge to eventually be effective?

In the U.S. 1930 - 1960: The most popular female contraceptive is Lysol disinfectant.

I'm saying in cultures which do not put a value on birth control, do not put a value on teaching women to be the architects of their own bodies and using birth control/family planning, putting a value on waiting to have children until they are in a mature developed relationship or married, is there also a lack of labor standards, for example, what are people being paid, how many hours a day are people working, how is safety in the work place being supervised and what actions does the community take to make the production of goods and services sustainable for the environment?

Like U.S. factories on the Mexican side of the U.S. border?

What do I mean by Eugenics, lack of availability of birth control and lack of labor standards? Even in places where the U.S. military isn't enforcing divisions of one kind or another, what does "culture of life" mean? What George W. Bush talks about? People are expendable or as George W. Bush says, you're on your own.

Congressman Kucinich, when he was running for President, said he would get rid of NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO because he wanted to have a system where labor standards and environmental standards are addressed. President Bush says we can not rescind our agreement on the NAFTA treaties, but it was President Bush who has used his power under his crony connections to undermine labor standards in the U.S. by placing CEOs sympathetic to his business interests on the National Labor Relations (NLR) Board. And it was President Bush who withdrew the U.S. commitment to the Kyoto Treaty.

When U.S. companies move their manufacturing plants to Mexico and China, they place profit margins as a priority over treatment of workers and leaving a smaller trace of damage on the environment. People in China say they are coming to a time when they can no longer see the sun and clouds from the mass pollution. It is as if the workers/people of China are expendable. When there is no regard as to a sustainable workplace, leaving mass scars on the environment in certain ethnic or poor areas of the world, and also no regard to the safety of a clean water supply, which is required for human sustainability, this leads to EUGENICS, the spiritual and physical murder of large numbers of people of a certain race, ethnicity or socio-economic level, however gene is a part of the word, eugenics so this would mostly pertain to race, religion and ethnicity. And when birth control is left aside, this allows a society to produce of a working class people with no regard as to the quality of life.

U.S. citizens are expendable. Right now the talking heads are talking Obama vs. Clinton after the popular vote seems to have deemed Obama the winner. The nomination process has not concluded yet, because in the Democratic Party, Clinton can take advantage of an undemocratic process and lobby for the votes/selection via super delegates over-ruling the will of the people. Are we moving towards a one government rule where people in the United States, who are not part of the Bush/Clinton power grid, will be as equally bad off as the people in China under a Communist government. When you look at the USA PATRIOT ACT and the undermining of FISA laws that are supposed to protect U.S. citizens and the fact that only half the people who lived in New Orleans before the hurricanes can live in New Orleans now, could we the people, as a massive movement, have imagined this deterioration in the way things are going in our country before the 9-11 attacks, before the 1993 Word Trade Center attacks?

Letter to Newspaper Editor in Hudson Valley Region of NY State by Wendy D

I have written this letter over and over because every time I get it written something even worse happens to upset me. How do you like having the corporate media decide who the next President will be? The American public is being snowed by the corporate media, deciding what we will hear and see. Are we outraged yet? I sure am. Dennis Kucinich, who is on the ballot in every state except one, has been banned from debates in Iowa, New Hampshire (live free or die?) and Nevada. Why are Edwards, Clinton and Obama afraid to be on the stage with Kucinich? Debate host NBC in Nevada, has contributed to these three candidates, is owned by GE, has a financial stake in Nuclear Power plants (think about Yucca Mountain in Nevada. . . .nuclear disposal area), GE also owns Rathion, a military defense contractor.

NBC took the case to the Nevada Supreme Court to block him after a judge decided either he was included or there would be no debate. ABC, host of the N.H. debate is owned by Disney. What is the corporate media afraid of? What are Clinton, Obama and Edwards afraid of? Follow the money. Kucinich, who has plans for health care and tuition for all, in his fifth term in Congress has introduced a bill to Impeach Cheney, An interesting site http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ has a table that shows how candidates have batched money from corporations and lobbyists, but not Kucinich. He does not take corporate donations. When you call to donate you are questioned to screen out unethical donors. He is beholden to no group, he is for the people. Imagine that! I am honored to have met Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich. They are the real thing. If you go to the Kucinich web site, http://www.dennis4president.com/, you can read about Elizabeth, a woman who went to India alone as a teen and worked with Mother Theresa and has done amazing work since! Imagine her as Our First Lady!

Dennis Kucinich voted against the war and was firmly against it from the start. He voted against the "patriot act" unlike Clinton who has tried to excuse herself by saying "she didn't read it". She is trying to worm out of her vote for the war now too by twisting words. I have not forgiven her. Dennis Kucinich will get us back on board with the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty. We owe this to our children, not the bill for a projected 1.8 trillion dollar war they will be paying off for generations. Congressman Kucinich has the experience to lead and the proven record of doing the right thing, even at personal loss. Democracy Now asked Kucinich the questions from the debate; you can hear or read them there at Democracynow.org, heard on WRPI and WBCR locally. Air America Radio I have found is airing a lot of information we are not allowed to hear elsewhere as well. As citizens of the planet we owe it to others to be informed and work for the future rather than continuing to trash everything around us.

Incidentally, the Board of Elections was giving out incorrect information about the Democratic Primary February 5th. You can vote for Dennis Kucinich and he can take delegates to the National Convention if enough of us vote for him. Please folks, wake up and smell the fair trade coffee...our future depends on our being informed, involved citizens of the planet. We are all in this together. And by the way, I favor a pen and paper to vote! I think we are capable of counting and adding since they have discovered the machines can be altered with a blackberry and a magnet! Pen, paper and a count. Sure costs a lot less, we can still arrange to provide for disabled and you have a record!

Commentary by Doreen from Queens, NY – “Some Thoughts on Change”

Some of you have probably heard the word CHANGE a lot by a variety of candidates over the past week.......... The appeal of CHANGE is that it sounds dynamic without actually committing to anything in particular. So it is really pretty meaningless. The word alone can mean many different things to different voters.

The word alone was effective since people are so weary and can't wait for a new administration. Our nation’s citizenry wants so desperately to emerge from this 7 year nightmare. To complicate matters even more our media is very biased and true journalism is only seen outside the mainstream media.

So no wonder people fell in love with the WORD change and ran to it like flies to honey. It sounded nice........ right?

So why did the people of New Hampshire fall out of love with the word CHANGE?

The people in New Hampshire realized that we need specifics and a platform of actual change.....not just words and smiles. They stood back and realized this is SO important and that it can't be taken lightly-----we have endured too much and waited too long.

In addition New Hampshire ignored the idiotic polls, biased so called news casters, and the constant propaganda----they voted as they wanted to. They actually listened to the speeches and actually READ the positions of the candidates! The people of the tiny state of New Hampshire took our Democracy back. They stuck it to the pundits on TV. Good for them.

The domination of very few individuals in control of our airwaves and media has effected this election more than ever before. The same corporate media shoved Hillary down our throats as the "presumed front runner" for 2 yrs now. The likes of Chris Matthew's and others on the insipid cable TV are telling us who WE like...... and the same pollsters are trying to mold us.

We can begin with ABC which by the way is owned by Disney excluded candidates like Congressman, Dennis Kucinich who in fact embodies the ONLY change in his positions in the Democrats field. Do you think Disney has the right to tell the American people who we have to choose from as candidates for President?? The airwaves belong to the citizens not ABC or Mickey Mouse! They face a lawsuit filed by Congressman Kucinich regarding this matter.

I ask you would you let ABC or Disney choose your spouse, your home or where you go to school??? Why would you allow them to select your candidate??

Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are the only candidates of change----------serious real change. They actually have plans, positions and strategies to accomplish the change we say we want. However real change is scary to people........ it means something new and different..........and imagines BETTER. So if we indeed want change with action it is out there for us to grab.

I am a Dennis Kucinich volunteer and I will vote for him in the primary and continue to introduce people to candidate. He got 1% of the vote in NH --------- so why do I carry on?? His message is reaching people and he got it all right on everything from the war to the assaults on our civil liberties, impeachment and health care.................so I think we need to keep those ideas alive and make sure the so called front runners have to address them.

We can only hope that the citizens of this country will demand to hear the positions of the candidates on a wide range of issues and to CHALLENGE THEM. We are the hiring managers who are filling this position of President. We need to take it seriously and do our homework and look beyond the mainstream media for our information!!!

Message below from Linda Z in TX in reply to a friend's question regarding Glen Beck and the threats that are broadcast on mainstream media about Iran. . . . . .

An element of the war in Iraq overlooked by the mainstream media is the nationalists vs. the separatists. The true divide in Iraqi politics is not between Sunni and Shia or supporters of the Iraqi government and "anti-government forces," nor is it a clash of "moderates" against "radicals"; the defining battle for Iraq at the political level today is between "nationalists" trying to hold the Iraqi state together and the separatists, which means groups who oppose a unified Iraq with a strong central government.

In Washington the alarm bells are ringing because Iran would be able to attack many countries—particularly Israel--if it did have nuclear weapons. And, of course, the U.S. and other nuclear weapons states would be able to obliterate Iran’s cities and industries with their own nuclear weapons.

Many Washington observers with close ties to the Pentagon and White House see in the Iran standoff a repeat of the weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, both justifications that were used to attack Iraq. Scott Ritter, former chief United Nations weapon inspector, who testified before Congress, that the U.S. needed more time for inspections in Iraq before attacking Iraq, has recently appeared on C-Span making this point and Dennis Kucinich has also spoken about this on the Floor of the House of Representatives speaking for the progressives who can see this issue clearly.

Muslims around the world will see a Christian nation seeking to control 138 billion barrels of oil reserves and one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world reminding them of the invasion of Iraq, another oil rich Muslim nation. Saddam Hussein was not a religious leader. Now Iraq is lead by the Shia people who are in the majority of Iraq and the clerics in power in Iran see this as a plus. The Bush Administration is now attempting to make the case that it is Iran's fault we are losing the war in Iraq.

We can not bring peace to The Middle East via a military solution. General Petreaus is a broken record and has been sounding off the same talking points about making progress in Iraq since 2004 and of course I sent examples of this to you in another email. American servicemen were exposed to Agent Orange during Viet Nam and also White Phosphorous (chemical weapons) still being used as a U.S. weapon of mass destruction in the occupation of Iraq along with Depleted Uranium (DU), which Bill Clinton authorized in 450 bombs dropped on Iraq and also in the Balkan wars. Doctors have been treating veteran’s years ­­after exposure. In 2004, the Vietnamese government claimed they cleared 100,000 mines in recent years.

Politicians make time for photo opportunities with Veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have lost a limb, but what about those veterans returning with multiple cancers after being exposed to DU? And what about the people in the Middle East killed, maimed and threatened by the U.S. and the U.S. military proxy in the Middle East, Israel.

The United States has used nuclear weapons against civilian populations, and the United States has the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction on the planet. Most dangerous and incredible it is at this very moment the Pentagon and corporate benefactors are developing a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons. As the administration tries to persuade the world to put sanctions on North Korea and Iran to halt their nuclear programs, two teams in the U.S. are competing to design a nuclear weapon, one at Los Alamos in New Mexico and one at the Livermore National Laboratory in California. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has been reported to make threats against Israel, a key customer of nuclear weapons and military airplanes from the U.S. and President Bush in the tradition of a wild west movie star has proclaimed Bring it On. President Bush advocates the bunker buster nuclear bomb and all options are on the table.