Hey Barack! Some Free Advice - Part I

Hey Barack!

You have many friends who believe in you, but it's much easier to beat the Republicans than your advisers seem to be making of it. So here's the first post from me with free advice. While I have your debate with McCain in mind, the following sample responses will do just fine in other settings as well.

QUESTION: You have a short resume and haven't accomplished much. Why do you think you're qualified to be President?

SERIOUS REPLY: The most important quality in a President is good judgment, having competent and informed people around you who take advice-giving seriously and who help you make the most informed decision. I had the good judgment to be against the Iraq War from Day One, saying it would distract us from the far more serious problems in Afghanistan - that country that harbors the 9-11 terrorists and sits next door to a nuclear-armed Pakistan. A top general just reported that the problems in Afghanistan are at the top of the list of serious national security issues facing the United States. Given that Mr. McCain has been an advocate and defender for the Iraq War since the beginning, I'd say his judgment on the most important national security issue of our time was entirely wrong and mine was right.

SIMPLE, FUNNY REPLY: Anyone who can beat as qualified, passionate and intelligent a person as Hillary Clinton in a Presidential primary can do just about anything.

QUESTION: You're going to tax people into submission once you take office. The economy is tanking. That's exactly the wrong direction to go.

SERIOUS REPLY: By curtailing the disastrous tax cuts that Bush enacted during war time, and which blew a whole in the budget, we will actually be able to give 95% of American families tax relief. And while the Republicans don't talk about this, the massive deficit spending Bush and company have overseen is actually worst than any tax, because the bill for this administration's reckless policies will have to be paid by your children. The Republicans won't call pushing the bills on your children taxes, but I'll call it what it is: theft.

QUESTION: John McCain was right about The Surge. You weren't. Why won't you admit that you were wrong?

REPLY: As discussed earlier, John McCain's tragically wrong decision to push for the invasion of Irag remains the issue to decide which of us has the better judgment to serve as President and Commander in Chief. For the sake of Iraq's people, hundreds of thousands of whom perished during this war and who are never mentioned in George Bush's or John McCain's speeches, I'm happy if the surge helped increase their internal security. But it's McCain's advocacy for the Iraq War, and my opposition to it, that people should remember when they vote in November.

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I have to take a nap now, sir, but I'll write again later.

Cordially,
Sam

Dear John (McCain):

Dear John:

Mr. McCain, it would be a great service to the country you supposedly love if you took your soul back from your party before it's too late!

Pretty please!

Is becoming President worth soiling your legacy with lies?

Will it feel good when you're President to know that you got there by the most cynical marketing? By downright lying?

I'm sad, but I'll write again soon. Maybe there's still hope.

Yours truly,
Sally

What the Republicans Really Mean by Change

It's no surprise that the cynical, self-serving, no-ideas Republican Party has tried to hijack Obama's call for change on the American political scene. Of course it defies logic to imagine that voting for another Republican after the eight years of the Bush two-term disaster could possibly be a way to change the direction of the country - particularly since McCain, after voting with Bush 90% of the time, has now abandoned virtually every "independent" position he ever held. So, let's give it to the Republicans and admit that they are indeed the party of change. But what does change really mean to the Republicans? To really appreciate their definition of change, let's review just a few of the changes that have happened since the current Republican President took office:

* A country that had a massive budget surplus now has a massive deficit.
* Millions of people lost their homes.
* The disparity between the wealthiest and the poorest has grown dramatically.
* Millions more people, especially children, have been pushed into poverty and have lost (or have never had) health care.
* The United States has lost the vast majority of its prestige abroad.

Considering just these five examples (and there are dozens more), how can any patriotic American not see that the changes the Republican party brings - and would continue to bring under the Republican ticket of McCain/Palin - are precisely the changes we can no longer endure if we have any hopes of remaining (or perhaps becoming is a better choice of word) a healthy, just society?