Are we that cynical?

Why have we become so cynical? Almost instantly after Obama’s speech in Denver before 80,000 excited Americans, the blogs and pundits began attacking it from all sides. Obama spoke to health care, lost jobs, education, the environment, our tarnished image abroad, ending the war in Iraq, and solving our dependency on foreign oil. All issues that are both timely and call for a renewed effort on the part of each of us, yet there are many that say it is just an appeal to our emotions. I have heard that it “reminds me of Hitler”, to “someone will assonate him”. What has happened to us as a people that we can no longer simply disagree but we have to attack the person in the vilest manner.

“Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.”
These were the words he used so eloquently to offer his view of what America can mean and yet, there are people that would attack him for being so eloquent. He spoke to the promise of America----“It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect. It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.” Can anyone possibly disagree with those words? Words that describe the best of what we can be, words that offer hope to every person, no matter what color or greed. But there are people that will damn him and say, “impossible absurd, liar, cheat”, etc., etc. It seems we have lost our ability to believe in the best of man, lost the idea that things can improve, that each of us can pitch in to make a difference but rather we are more satisfied to think the worst and that this man, will not only not deliver on his word but somehow will cheat us in the process. Higher taxes is the drum they pound and yet they take for granted that highways and bridges, airports and sea ports, fire and police will be ready whenever the need. No one enjoys paying taxes but it beats having no income upon which to pay.
“But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism. The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America. So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.”
I do not know how good a president Barack Obama may make and I do not know how many of his ideas will work but I do know I like the idea of a America that works for all of us and not just a few. An America where the dream is not only alive but becomes reality and the very best of what we can be is shown to the rest of the world. How many times have we all complained about politics and politicians; it is almost an American pastime. Now----maybe just now is our time and instead of our usual pessimism, maybe we can join together “to form a more perfect union” The definition of cynical is-----“believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief.” Hope however, is defined as “believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary”. This is the stand I make and this is the America I believe in.

GEORGIA LETS NOT GO

To most Americans, Georgia means Atlanta and maybe the busiest airport in the world but in the last few days, Georgia has been center stage with not only both presidential candidates bidding for the spotlight, but Bush and Company using all the old political rhetoric. Certainly this part of the world ranks very high in the lack of understanding by Americans. It is one of those places that is so often described as "over there" and until the present, has been of no real importance to the average American. To even attempt to understand the region, you must go back and look at it historically, and when you do, you find it was part of the Persian, Greek and Roman Empire; was overrun by the Mongols in the 13th century, followed by the Ottoman Empire and became part of Russia in the early 19th century. It had a brief period of independence after the Russian Revolution but once again became part of Russia in 1921. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the son of a well-known Georgian family, whose father was one of Georgia’s most famous writers, became president. Gamsakhurdia as a youth led protests against the Soviets, was jailed and then released and began his schooling. He earned a PHD and MD and was also known as a writer. Soon after his election as Georgia’s first democratically elected president, he was caught by a coup that plunged the country in 3 years of civil war. In 95 Eduard Shevardnadze returned to Georgia and was elected president. At this time, the two regions so much in the news today, South Ossetia and Abkhazia were fighting with local separatists and gained a de-facto independence. Shevardnadze was re-elected in 2000 only to lose in another coup, known as the Rose Revolution and Mikheil Saakashvili became president.
Georgia has had a stormy history to say the least, and although Saakashvili is seen as a duly elected president, he does have a history of suppression of the press as well as arresting those that would demonstrate. Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have looked to Russia for protection and it would seem that Saakashvili was the first to provoke the Russians when he moved troops to the two regions. On a recent trip to Georgia, Sec. Rice told Saakashvili that "we always fight for our friends" and whether she meant support for Georgia’s membership to NATO or was she sending a veiled message to Putin, we will probably never know. In either case, if Saakashvili thought the US would have a face off with the Bear, he is far too stupid to be president of anything. It ‘ain’t going to happen’ and I would guess that South Ossetia would now be part of Russia. Both McCain and Obama of course must now make political rhetoric and it was the ideal time for McCain to espouse his knowledge of foreign policy but when he said it is not acceptable in the 21st century for a country to invade a sovereign nation, I though I was going to fall off the sofa. Of course had Russia been smarter they would have simply accused Georgia of having WOMD’S, and then it would have been ok. But we all know that Russia has always lacked finesse, they simply send in the tanks. They also found out that by sending in the tanks to Afghanistan, it could be very expensive and cause political upheaval just as the U.S. is finding out in Iraq.
To say the least, it is a complicated question and does not have a simple answer but one thing that is not the answer, is committing troops to another war. The high water mark for this country in the world was WWII and the few years after with the rebuilding of both Europe and Japan. Germany and Japan, our enemies, in this struggle are now two of the most advanced countries in the world with a higher standard of living than the U.S. History has proven Vietnam to be a tragic mistake and it will say the same about Iraq. I just returned form a month in Vietnam and it is a booming economy, people are busy, friendly and there was no anti-American sentiment, as well as no feeling of "North vs. South". Perhaps in the years to come that will happen in Iraq but at what price? At any rate, whoever is the next president he will have his hands full and I predict that within two years that either will be unpopular. There is no way that the problems we now face, thanks to the 8 Bush years will be solved. Certainly the war in Iraq will be over, as well as Afghanistan but once again, at what price?

CAN WE STICK TO ISSUES PLEASE?

As the election cycle heats up, I have noticed a big increase in what I would call "tabloid" emails that will say something like "you must read this, it is scary but if you don’t have time please fdw it to all your friends". Think just a moment; would you agree to a contract without reading it? Would you agree to vote on an issue if you knew nothing about it? That is exactly what someone is asking if they ask you to forward an email that you have not read. I saw one the other day that was comparing Barack Obama to Bin Laden. I am not sure what mental dwarf came up with that but as someone said to me, "if anything were to make me vote for Obama it would be that kind of talk". At a time when the American people are sick and tired of all the political bickering, with major financial institutions failing, job loss, gas at record highs, environmental dangers, and failing infrastructures, some mentally deficient person or persons sends out such vulgar mail. It is one thing to try and attempt to make Obama an elitist, a bit weak when you consider a black man raised by a single white mother, but an entirely different thing to compare him with a terrorist. This is ugly and obscene, and to make an excuse for this type of person by saying they are ignorant and uniformed is simply not enough. It is equal to calling John McCain a coward. Hardball politics does not excuse this type of behavior any more than stupidity does.
The past 8 years has seen the Bush Administration use torture and then try and sell to the American people and the rest of the world that they were justified in doing so; a monumental national debt that now has interest of 1 billion per/day; gasoline at $4 a gal; corruption throughout the Administration; a cowboy foreign policy that has half the world afraid of us and half angry with us and we are quickly moving from the wealthiest nation to a debtor nation. The majority of the American people want these and other pertinent issues to be the topic of the political debate and not the mindless drivel so often seen on television and the ugly emails I refer to. Political debate is not only healthy but is the cornerstone of this thing we call democracy but no where does it say that civility is not also part of this process. It is often the people without facts and merit in their statements that have to resort to character assassination because they are unable to articulate a logical argument. It reminds me of growing up with a boy that would say, "I don’t like him" but when asked why, all he could say was "I don’t like his looks". There will always be people like the kid I grew up with but they are not the people that become part of the solution and the person I grew up with has long since disapered and as far as I know contributed very little.

IT MAY BE THE LAST CHANCE

The 2009 presidential election may well be the most important one in modern history. The country, as well as the world, faces unprecedented problems from environmental disasters to a nuclear holocaust, to millions starving to death. Figures just released show one out of three Americans living at or below the poverty level and that is in the richest country on earth. For years we have been warned about the future of social security and yet as 2017 approaches (that is the year the amount being paid out exceeds the amount coming in) no one in Washington is doing anything about it. The cost to the government, i.e. the taxpayers, is now 1 billion each day for interest on the national debt. That is not to mention 3 billion people living on $2/day or less, genocide and starvation across Africa, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that has tarnished America’s reputation with much of the world, and a administration that has sanctioned torture as a legitimate way to gather information. The Dark Side, a new book just released by Jane Mayer, an investigative reporter that has been nominated twice for a Pulitzer, is an inside view of what happened in the Whitehouse, after 911. Lies to Congress and the American people, manipulation of intelligence to support the invasion of Iraq, total disregards for the Geneva Convention and the rules of war are just the tip of the iceberg. Former Senator Hollings of South Carolina spent 60 years in Congress and has just published a new book, Making Government Work and he states clearly that much of a member's time is spent in raising money from special interest groups and therefore "nothing gets done".
I am not sure what kind of President Barack Obama would make if elected but I reject the idea of being too young, inexperienced, and the biggest single factor with many, that he is black. Doubt not for a minute, that many who would use the excuse of too young are really hiding behind their prejudice. In a recent CNN piece a man in Tennessee was interviewed about Sen. Obama and stated without hesitation, "the only black man I am use to seeing with change is a black man with a cup in his hand". Obama has consistently tried to elevate the conversation from personal attacks to issues but has had to respond to his being a Moslem, his not wearing a flag pin, holding his hand over his heart, ugly comments about his wife, pastor, and his former legal clients; the McCain campaign's constant attack and yet he has kept his composure. He was criticized for not going to Iraq enough and then attacked on his recent trip to Europe and the Middle East. His over whelming reception in Europe was criticized as being "to much like a head of state" and "too many network anchors" following him. But still he remains polite and perhaps the most eloquent speaker in modern history. He talks of peace, fighting poverty and hunger, acknowledging all religious beliefs, and bringing the world to a better place.
He has also on numerous occasions acknowledged Sen. McCain's great service to his country and simply states they have a different vision for the country. Some will say, "not possible" but I say, "why not"? Some will talk about taxes going up, others will talk about being attacked by terrorist. To these people I would simply say, look at the economy under President Bush, from real estate to the automobile industry, to Iraq and Afghanistan, to Halliburton, Exxon, your mutual funds, health care, and schools and then ask your selves if that is acceptable. Also ask yourself if living with 1 out of 3 Americans living at the poverty level is of concern to you. If it is not, then ask yourself "what has happened to your humanity". I have never been hungry, never been without a place to call home, never without opportunity, but that is with the grace of God. I could have been born in a different situation and I could be one of the three. And so could you. "Now is our time". Now is our time". Peace, hope, a better world will be discredited by some that will say, "absurd", naive, ridiculous, and I say, "why not".