Like a cartoon character John McCain is running around in circles.  Not knowing what to do he keeps running in circles.  He reminds me of the story of Chicken Little.  Could Foxy Woxy really be Henry Paulson?           

 

Let me retell the story as posted on http://www.geocities.com/mjloundy/.

One day Chicken Little was walking in the woods when —KERPLUNK — an acorn fell on her head

“Oh my goodness!” said Chicken Little. “The sky is falling! I must go               and tell the king.”

On her way to the king’s palace, Chicken Little met Henny Penny. Henny Penny said that she was going into the woods to hunt for worms. “Oh no, don’t go!” said Chicken Little. “I was there and the sky fell on my head! Come with me to tell the king.” So Henny Penny joined Chicken Little and they went along and went along as fast as they could. Soon they met Cocky Locky, who said, “I’m going to the woods to hunt for seeds.”“Oh no, don’t go!” said Henny Penny. “The sky is falling there! Come with us to tell the king.” So Cocky Locky joined Henny Penny and Chicken Little, and they went along and went along as fast as they could. Soon they met Goosey Poosey, who was planning to go to the woods to look for berries. “Oh no, don’t go!” said Cocky Locky. “The sky is falling there! Come with us to tell the king.” So Goosey Poosey joined Cocky Locky, Henny Penny and Chicken Little, and they went along as fast as they could. Then who should appear on the path but sly old Foxy Woxy. “Where are you going, my fine feathered friends?” asked Foxy Woxy. He spoke in a polite manner, so as not to frighten them. “The sky is falling!” cried Chicken Little. “We must tell the king.” “I know a shortcut to the palace,” said Foxy woxy sweetly. “Come and follow me.”

But wicked Foxy Woxy did not lead the others to the palace. He led them right up to the entrance of his foxhole. Once they were inside, Foxy Woxy was planning to gobble them up!

Just as Chicken Little and the others were about to go into the fox’s hole, they heard a strange sound and stopped.

If ever there was a presidency that failed in so many ways it has been the 43^rd president.  The Republican Party carries part of the responsibility.  The only real success is that there have been no additional attacks by terrorists on American soil since 9-11-2001. 

 

However, the attack itself may be the fault of the president.  It is not clear that the blame for protecting the nation lies with the Bill Clinton administration.  The truth about what was known and when may never become public information.

 

 

1. The Iraq War

Too many people have written books about plans in the Bush Whitehouse about an attack on Iraq even before 9-11.   Paul O’Neill wrote a book about his experience as GWB’s first Treasury Secretary.  He told in that biography, The Price of Loyalty, about GWB’s discussion well before 9-11.  What reason would he have to contend the planning of an attack?

 

We all know the Iraq War was sold to Congress based upon bad or phony intelligence.  Colin Powell was made the fall guy for a poorly presented justification at the United Nations.

 

The war is not being won now.  It is clear to most Americans that the war that was supposed to be an easy win will be abandoned because it has become a civil war that the United States cannot settle.

 

2. American Infrastructure

The country has fallen behind in the maintenance of its physical facilities.  From national parks to highways and bridges there has been considerable neglect.  The most glaring example is Interstate Highway 35 across the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to St. Paul.  This should not have been news as there were warnings about the bridge going back to 1990.  The 2007 article says there are hundreds of other bridges around the nation that need attention.

 

3. The National Debt

When GWB took office there was $5 trillion surplus.  Today there is debt of $9.5 trillion.  Well GWB did reduce income tax rates and that was good or was it?  The bulk of those tax reductions went to the rich.  If you earn your income through the receipt of capital gains rather than a pay check your tax rate is 15% regardless of the amount of income involved.  A House Budget Committee Report explains how we got into debt.

 

4. Katrina

There really are no words to explain the lack of preparation for a hurricane or the lack of follow up after Katrina hit.  It was a monumental failure of government to aid its citizens.

 

5. Financial Market Meltdown

Merrill Lynch, Countrywide Mortgage, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bear Sterns are the names of some of the biggest companies in America.  They all have one thing in common.  They have received massive aid from the government or were forced into a sellout to protect investors.  The government was not monitoring these large companies that could and did impact our entire economy.  It all had to do with reduced oversight by government agencies.  It is something that John McCain has very vocally supported.  This philosophy has been a corner stone of the Republican Party.

 

6. 45 Million Americans Have No Health Care

This is personal for me because both of my children and my wife are not covered by an employer health plan.  The cost to buy individual plans is astronomical.  GWB and the Republican Party have stood in the way of providing a national health plan.  The reason is quite simple.  Lobbyists from health insurance companies and other health service providers earn more money when things remain as they have always been.  Concern about those big businesses has taken priority over the needs of the citizens.

 

7. Lost Jobs

Worse than the current 6.1% unemployment rate is the loss of major manufacturing industries to other nations.  The government has promoted free trade agreements that have devastated our middle class.  There is no industry on the horizon that will provide replacement jobs.  Our government sits quietly doing nothing.

 

8. Energy and the Environment

Congress, which has been controlled by Republicans for more than a decade (current legislation cannot be passed due to presidential veto), has not developed a single new plan to move the country forward. Lobbyists have more say than the citizens. GWB is more concerned with big business than the country’s future.

 

 

 

Do you need any more reasons to vote the Republican Party out of office?  GWB and the Republicans have failed.

The unfortunate reality of selecting our president is that it is more of a popularity contest than a contest of issues. This is not a new phenomenon. The United States has a history of electing successful war generals to the presidency. This dates back to George Washington. The last general elected was Dwight D. Eisenhower, the leading general in WWII in Europe. His official WWII title was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.

Today we have John S. McCain, who is a war hero from the Vietnam War running for president. He has promoted his biography very extensively. He was not a general but he was a POW for five years. Although the Vietnam War was very unpopular it was and still is viewed by many people as a very worthwhile endeavor.

Barack Obama does not have a military background. He has never served in the military. He does have an interesting and a gripping biography. He was smart enough to put himself through Harvard Law School despite being the Black child of a single White parent.

The election campaign has deteriorated to a smear and name calling contest. Calling Governor Palin a “cocky wacko” is an excellent example of this behavior. The discussion of issues is no where in sight. Perhaps the debates will help to refocus our attention on real issues. However there is no guarantee that this will happen. An ABC Network debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama was primarily focused on the bickering between the candidates and on smear and name calling. If that will be the tone of the planned debates they will serve no purpose.

Perhaps the founding fathers of this nation were wiser than I thought when they created the Electoral College. Those people might be wiser than the general public and not vote for the most popular candidate.

I like Chris Matthews because he asks lots of worthwhile questions and has many excellent guests on Hard Ball and The Chris Matthews Show.  He is obviously in favor of Barack Obama for president.  He obviously  favored Obama throughout the primaries.  Keith Olbermann is even more tilted towards Obama to the point of being obnoxious.  The antics of these two men in their reporting and interviewing at the conventions were so obviously slanted that I thought I was watching the anti-Fox News network.

 

David Gregory, who has been the host on Meet the Press twice since the passing of Tim Russert, really is the balanced interviewer.  MSNBC executives were wise in making Gregory the anchor for the debates and voting day coverage.  People will notice the difference and their ratings will go up.  I hope David Gregory becomes the long term host of MTP.      

The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival is coming to my city.  The above title is part of the scanned full page ad in the Los Angeles Times.  What’s wrong with this picture?  It’s the destruction of the United States culture.

You may think I am a bigot but you are wrong.  The United States is all about hamburgers, hot dogs, baseball, football, and Thanksgiving.  We are a melting pot and ought to stay that way.  Canada says it’s a patch work or a quilt.  What’s the difference?  Americans are unified because we all understand that different cultures improve the stew.  A Latino film festival and similar cultural events define separation.  When the Los Angeles Times prints this advertising they are promoting separation not unity. 

 

China and Japan will be more successful because they are homogeneous societies.  America’s roots were homogeneous too.  To sustain America’s greatness we need to stand for mixing not separation.