It's Getting Crazy!

Obama and the Clinton's going at each other like caged pit bulls, Mexico's drug war starting to look like a civil war, George Bush advocating more free trade from Columbia and South Korea as a solution to the failing economy, the continuing Iraq War, both ice caps melting at frantic pace, and finally millions of Americans facing the prospect of losing everything because of corporate irresponsibility; this country is in real trouble and the politicians have their collective thumbs up their collective rectums.

Going back to the Mexican Drug War, did you see what happened in Gaza when Hamas blew up the fence separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt? Ten's of thousands of Palestinians rushed across into Egypt to re-provision and some to get out of the crazy hellhole called Palestine. If Mexico's drug war which is raging on our border gets worse and we have a combination of war refugees joining the economic refugees, the situation in Gaza by comparison would look like a (pardon the pun) hat dance. This passage from a recent article by James C. McKinley Jr. of the New York Times:

RIO BRAVO, Mexico — These days, it is easy to form the impression that a war is going on in Mexico. Thousands of elite troops in battle gear stream toward border towns and snake through the streets in jeeps with .50-caliber machine guns mounted on top while fighter jets from the Mexican navy fly reconnaissance missions overhead.

Gunbattles between federal forces and drug-cartel members carrying rocket-propelled-grenade launchers have taken place over the past two weeks in border towns like Rio Bravo and Tijuana, with deadly results.

This is cabinet meeting crisis stuff and our commander-in-chief talks about cucumbers from Columbia. Where are our troops on the border? The question is rhetorical but you know the answer.

The economic stimulus package proposed by the president and congress is a bandaid for arterial bleeding. The leader of the free world is not taking a leadership position on the real issue of global warming. My perception and probably a lot of people's is that no candidate has even "thought" about the immigration crisis let alone come up with a sensible plan on how to tackle it.

This year isn't politics as usual folks, it's politics for survival of the Republic. When are Independents going to get on ballots and when, for God's sake, is an independent presidential candidate going to come along who can herd the political goats and corporate hogs who are destroying this country?

Open and Closed Primary States

Checking the searches that brought many of you to this site, I have noticed queries about open and closed election primaries. Here is a link, I hope it is helpful.

Fair Vote

Hillary - F; Obama - F; McCain - D- on Illegal Immigration

Barack Obama received the endorsement,yesterday, of the Culinary Worker's Union. One of the reasons he received this endorsement is because of promises he has made to bring about comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty). Here's a quote:

"Immigration is a huge issue for our members," said the union's political director, Pilar Weiss, of a local whose members are about 45 percent Hispanic.

Hillary Clinton has never seen a comprehensive immigration reform bill that she wouldn't vote for and her positions are high on amnesty and low on border protection.

John McCain in the last few weeks has had a change of heart from earlier positions, but we must not forget he was the sponsor of one of the largest illegal immigrant giveaways since the Reagan administration. There is nothing in his current positions that shows the hardcore stance many Americans have adopted towards illegal immigrants.

Ballot initiatives denying services and protections to illegal immigrants abound all across the fruited plain. Newly passed laws in Oklahoma and New Mexico have so far been resistant to court challenges.

Yet, while this issue is one that absorbs the hearts and minds of ordinary citizens, it seems to have been forgotten by the candidates - at least in their campaigning. This from a December 2007 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll:

Compared to other problems facing the country, how big a problem is illegal immigration? Would you say it is one of the most important problems facing the country, or is it an important problem but not one of the most important, or is it not all that important, or is it not important at all?"

The results show 27 % polled rank it the most important; 54% rank it important; 11% say it's not all that important; 6 % say its not that important at all; 2 % are unsure.

Without igniting the ongoing immigration debate (Dobbs does that well enough) it would seem that come the REAL election, the final two candidates are going to have to face the populist immigration issue. It may be the deciding issue if the "immigration mullah" Lou Dobbs keeps up the pressure - as he will.

Will a frustrated American Middle Class go "Postal?"

Late last week, I, like millions of Americans,got caught up in the polls. Barack Obama was going to win the New Hampshire Democratic Primary and possibly do so in double digits over Hillary Clinton. All the pundits, major political commentators, and even Fox News ordained it so. But something happened and what happened should be a message to any of you who harbors hope for an Independent to win the presidency.

Of course, Barack Obama, is not an Independent. However, in one sense he is. He is independent from the tired cynical, but extemely powerful, machine that is the Democratic Party. In his bid he has done the unthinkable: He has jumped ahead of the line and not taken his turn to be "anointed" for the nomination. He has not obtained blessings from Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the liberal "grandmas." He has upset cynical donors to the Democratic Party. By "cynical" I am referring to the big political action committees who have it both ways by contributing to both parties.

Obama is smart. I predict that he will quickly recover and wage an intense ground war in South Carolina. Of course, we all know either Obama or Hillary Clinton will achieve the Democratic nomination for president. Edwards is going to run out of money soon, and poor Richardson's hopeful that he meets the dullness meter to qualify for VP.

John McCain will probably not achieve the Republican nomination and its going to be questionable as to whether Romney will either. As much as some of you pin your hopes on Ron Paul, Don Quixote is not going to topple the windmill.

The November election will present us with the choice between the same and more of the same, unless someone - well financed - carrying the mantle of the abused middle class rises to the forefront.

Lou Dobbs is such a person, but the question is: Does Dobbs have the fire in the belly to match the fire coming out of his mouth? Are enough Americans pissed off about the loss of their homes,illegal immigrants taxing their resources,outrageous and soon to be more outrageous gas prices, an unending war, the loss of their jobs to India and China, and the loss of the future they had planned for themselves, that they will reject "the same" and "more of the same?" If not Dobbs, Who?

The multi-national corporations, who have the most to lose if the status quo is not maintained, are funding both traditional political parties with as much money as they possibly can through PACS and other clever devices. These corporations do not want any threat to the pipeline of imported goods and services which flood America. These corporations want business as usual with politicians of both parties - most of whom they own.

One candidate, one example: Walmart this year will pour over 20 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods into America. Hillary Clinton served on the Walmart board of directors for several years. She has, of course, distanced herself from this relationsip. Do you think as a president Hillary is going to impose trade restrictions on goods from China?

How about the other candidates? They all have a weakness for easy campaign funds. No matter how idealistic they sound, how many would prostitute themselves to those who would "rent" them for a lucrative trade deal. Think about Abramoff and those he took down.

What if something happens in China that results in massive civil unrest or possibly a revolution? How long would it take America to retool from the resulting loss of products that we have grown so dependent upon? Or is this something only crazy fools like myself think about? To answer the question: It's hard to capitalize if you have no capital.

The current volatility of the electorate is the surest sign of dissatisfaction in our population. A disappointing general election of "the same" or "more of the same" could have dire consequences for the republic.