If I Were A Democrat Again, this is What I’d Tell Obama

If I Were A Democrat Again, this is What I’d Tell Obama
Posted by: "Kathy Leonard-Bushman" sassykathy464@gmail.com sassykathy46
Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:26 pm (PDT)
This is exactly & precisely the way I feel; I cannot understand any
progressive who can cast a vote for awfully evil rather than terribly evil -
The shade of black I see in both McCain and Obama can only be matched by the
color of the devil's heart - and be assured that I'm not referring to skin
color. (I will cast my vote for Cynthia McKinney, an African-American
woman.)
If I Were A Democrat Again, this is What I'd Tell Obama
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article205 94.htm
*By Timothy V. Gatto *
*22/08/08 "**ICH* *" -- -
I*would be utterly confounded, confused, upset, hopeless and most of
all,
hurting like hell. Even though I'm not a Democrat, I still feel all of these
particular emotions. It feels as if the end of the world is coming and there
is not a thing I can do about it, and unfortunately, nobody seems to care,
especially the Democrats.
I can't help but be the eternal optimist. Somehow, someway, we are all going
to understand what's happening to this country and we will demand that the
corporate politicians and the corporate media stop this march towards
fascism and imperialism, and give this nation back to its people. There are
some that believe in a second coming of a political messiah that will right
all the wrongs and make the government represent the people. This is a
pipedream. There is no single person, no political party and no movement
that can, or will, do this. We must do it ourselves if we want to see it
done.
The Democrats are wondering why their candidate's numbers are slowly
circling the drain. How stupid is that? Could it be that the man chosen by
the mainstream corporate media and the corporate political party is behaving
like a corporatist? This entire drama between the two political parties has
got to be the most expensive con job that this world has ever seen. Barack
Obama is either incredibly naive, or the worst straw man that has ever
appeared on the American political scene. If there was any chance in hell of
America voting in a Republican after two terms of George W. Bush, the
Democrats have found that chance in the hell that are the neo-con theories
of war and corporate rape of America.
If Obama is not a plant, if he is really trying to win this election (and I
have my doubts about that), than he has to stop listening to his "advisers",
this practice of reaching out to dissatisfied Republicans and vying for
their votes must cease. Why elect a make-believe neo-con when you can have
the real thing? Democrats must realize that they have completely lost the
support of anyone that thinks. This can be turned around in a flash if the
Democrats will do but a few simple things.
First of all, stop competing with the Republicans for the right wing
polemic. It's just not going to work. Obama must demand that Congress
restore the Constitution. Demand the rescission of the Patriot Acts, the
Military Commissions Act of 2006, the John Warner Defense Bill (the revamped
Insurrection Act that eliminated Posse Comitatus and allows the government
to use Federal troops for law enforcement on the whim of the president)
close Guantanamo, denounce torture in any form, and join the International
Community. He must state his intention of limiting the powers of the
Executive Branch that Bush instituted with the "Unitary Executive" theory.
This must be done before the elections so that he will not use these powers
for his own administration. The prospect of that much power in the hands of
one man is too inviting to ignore.
The next thing he must do is to denounce these wars of aggression against
the Muslims in the Middle-East. Moving the war from Iraq to Afghanistan is
not the way to peace in that region. This Afghan adventure could easily
spill into Pakistan, and even if it is contained in Afghanistan, it is a war
that will never be won. It will require an endless supply of dollars we
don't have, and an infinite amount of time that we also can ill-afford. The
war in Afghanistan is a trap that will bleed the life from the United
States, and killing members of the Taliban will not solve anything. *Hamid
Karzi*, a former *Unocal* executive that built the Afghan oil pipeline is
but one example of America's war for resources.
Obama must also disengage this nation from the right wing government of
Israel. Genuflecting to AIPAC is horrifying to every liberal or moderate
voter in this country. Most American Jews do not support AIPAC, in fact, 60
to 80% of them (depending on the source) despise the lobby. Obama must
demand that Israel seriously engage its neighbors in peace negotiations or
risk the cut-off of US aid. The siege of Gaza must end and Israel must drop
its demands that the Palestinians' surrender their right of return and the
payment of reparations for seized property for Hamas to recognize the
Israeli State.
The Senator from Illinois must also revamp his foreign policy team of *Richard
Holbrooke*, *Madeleine Albright* and *Zbigniew Brzezinski.* *
Democratic*neo- cons of the first order, they may be smarter than the
Republican
neo-cons, but that makes them infinitely more dangerous. Barack must declare
his intention to abrogate the missile defense shield treaty with Poland.
Inserting nuclear warheads into Poland is as provocative as putting them in
Cuba in 1963 and will lead to the same results, tension and a possible
thermo nuclear war between Russia and the United States. Attempting to
surround Russia with military force and first strike nuclear capability is
insane. The American people understand this, for some unknown reason, the
Democratic leadership does not.
Barack Obama must call for paper trail elections and for individual States
to stop using electronic voting machines that are totally vulnerable to
hacking. Waiting until he loses in November in States that show he won by
the exit polls will be too late. It has happened before and it will no doubt
happen again.
Corporate ownership of the mass media and corporate censorship of the
networks must end. The Fairness Doctrine must be reintroduced and Obama
should speak out against any attempt to censor or regulate the internet. The
internet is the only thing that resembles a free press in this country.
Suggesting that corporate CEO's and other corporate executives must have a
salary cap. It makes no sense for a corporate executive to be drawing an
annual salary of two hundred fifty million dollars plus perks and stock
options while cutting the hourly pay of workers and shifting health care
benefits to the unions because the company is running in the red. All one
has to do is look at the automakers to understand what I'm talking about.
The Democrats should call for the nationalization of all segments of the
economy that deal with all facets of the population. The oil industry, the
railroads, the water systems, the electric companies, the nuclear power
plants, the ports and the healthcare industry should be nationalized as
quickly as possible. The sustainability of life and our economy should not
be left to the discretion of multi-national corporations. Just as the
economy should be regulated, the military industrial complex should be also.
Declare the intention to eliminate no-bid contracts and wean the nation off
the armament industry as our industrial base. We have been on a war economy
since 1940. This is not sustainable and will eventually lead to the collapse
of our economy. The United States spends 48% of the entire planets military
budget. China spends 8% of what the US spends, and Russia 5%
http://www.globalis sues.org/ article/75/ world-military- spending.
Putting people back to work by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure will
bring dividends in two ways. It will boost employment and restore the value
of our roads, bridges and utilities. A New Deal approach similar to the FDR
years should be instituted. The government should rid itself of the Federal
Reserve that allows multi-national bankers to sell us our own money at
interest is deplorable! Credit to Americans should be offered at low
interest to Americans and lenders that practice deceptive and predatory
lending practices should be regulated. Usury laws must be re-instituted to
prevent the economic rape of American citizens. It is no coincidence that
the richest 10% of the population owns 71% of this nation's wealth. 1% of
the wealthiest families own 38% of the wealth. The division between rich and
poor grows each year, while the middle-class shrinks. Taxing the rich and
forcing them to pay their fair share is essential. The public must be told
that the median income for a Senator is 1.2 million dollars and 675,000
dollars for a Representative (Center for Responsive Politics,
www.opensecrets. org ). Congress will not tax itself without a push from
America's citizens that vote.
I could go on and on. These are the most important issues that come to mind.
Weapons of mass destruction used by our own Armed Forces such as depleted
uranium-235 (DU) white phosphorus and napalm should be outlawed as well as
cluster bobs that kill innocent civilians. There will no doubt be a second
and maybe a third part of this article. Senator Obama should read this. I
did not think of all of these ideas myself; I gratuitously stole them from
some of the best liberal minds in America. If I were a Democrat I would send
this to the Obama campaign, but then again I'm not a Democrat and frankly I
wouldn't waste my time. They believe they have all the answers anyway.
*timgatto@hotmail. com - http://liberalpro. blogspot. com *
http://www.informat ionclearinghouse .info/article205 94.htm