First Democratic Debate

The first Democratic debate on April 26, 2007 in SC in my humble opinion helped me to get to know the positions of some of the candidates.

Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel; I did not know him before and even if they did treat him like a potted plant, when he did get to talk he was very good and I liked him a lot, but they will probably make him look like a nut. I don’t know what his position on other issues than Iraq like health care and education.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich; I like his position on Iraq, but I would have to hear more about his positions on health care and education.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards; I think he has the most detailed position on health care, education and how he would pay for it. He has to work of his Iraq position a little more other than saying he is sorry for his vote on the war.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; she has a good position on the war in Iraq if she gets elected, she has had a great position on health care since she was first lady. I would like to hear more about education, but her husband was good on education when he was president.

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; he has the best position on Iraq of any of the candidates, but I need to hear more about health care and education.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd; another potted plant they didn’t call on him much, but he sounds like a run of the mill politician. I didn’t hear his position on Iraq, Health care or education.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; he said he is against the war, but when asked how he would respond he sounded more pro-war than anti-war and he had very poor response to health care and I am still waiting for his position on education

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; Poor on Iraq, Gun control, health care and education. He fell more than anyone in my opinion as a result of this debate

Military Lies

Since the first recorded military report thousands of years ago there probably has not been one account of military action that has told the whole truth. Which is why they say that history is written by the victors and today’s military is no different.
The Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch stories illustrate how easily the military lies without even thinking about it. Pat Tillman was said by the military to have been killed the enemy in a firefight with al-Qaida and Taliban troops as he led his unit to assist a group of ambushed soldiers. Actually Tillman was killed by a group of US Soldiers that were itching for a firefight and mistook him for the enemy. The military also said that they took him to a hospital where they continued medical care. Actually his head was half blown off and he was dead on the battlefield. The question for congress is how far up does the cover up go.
Jessica Lynch an Army truck driver who was captured in an ambush during the early days of the Iraq war. The military put out the story of the little girl Rambo from the hills that went down fighting. This was not true she was wounded with broken legs and a cut to her head and she had pasted out. She said that she thought this might not be bad because “it would inspire our troops and rally a nation”. What she wants to inspire our troops to do what is the question is it to take unnecessary risks trying to be another Rambo and endangering their lives and that of their follow troops.
So when you hear stories from a War Zone take them with a lot of salt.

Don Imus and Free Speech

What Don Imus said was not covered under the first amendment because he stepped on other people’s rights mainly the Girls on the Rutgers Basketball team and he has a history of using his radio program to do just that to others. The right wing media has tried to marginalize the issue by pointing out how many people were on Don Imus’s show, or how many people had to apologize publicly giving them another excuse to play the file film of President Clinton which has nothing to do with making racial and sexist statements on the air. Speech has never been free actually the ink was not dry on the first amendment when the Government made it against the law to say anything against the president (John Adams) and his administration. Eventually that law was repealed I’ll bet some in the Bush Administration wishes it hadn’t been. No one should have a right that hurts other people that is why Don Imus was and should have been fired.

Cho's Message

Cho’s Message to NBC


Seung-Hui Cho sent a package to NBC containing Photos, Videos and his writings mostly a lot of double talk about the fact he came from a poor family and had to work hard for what he got. When other students seem to have everything they wanted for little or no work. Now they say that Cho was mentally ill and some people knew about him being dangerous for months if not years a judge even said he was dangerous to himself and others. The question here is was he ignored because he was Korean or what? Why was he still able to buy handguns when he had a history of being mental ill? Another question is if his family had stayed in Korea would he have been set off by better off Koreans? You don’t hear of Massacres in other Countries unless there is a war going on. So maybe it was a combination of things. He is poor while other students seem like spoiled brats with everything, but not looking at the fact he had a lot more than other people. He might have felled like an outsider, but there were students from all races and one of his victims was Korean herself. He might have been caught up in the American culture of violence that made the other pressures come to a boiling point that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

Virginia Tech Massacre

Virginia Tech Massacre

The first report about the Virginia Tech Massacre I heard from CNN was that it set a new record for school massacres, that’s what we need to set new goals for our young people. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said he didn’t think anyone should use the Virginia Tech massacre for a political hobby horse while he flew back as fast as he could from Japan to gave a news conference on something he knew nothing about so he could get his Photo-op. Everyone from University officials, Campus police and Doctors patted themselves on the back at how well they did and no one should look back on their actions (Monday morning quarterbacking, 20/20 hind site etc), but the only way we learn from our mistakes is to review our work or we will repeat our mistakes over and over again. The only way to change the culture of Violence is to educate future generations that violence only begets more violence and to give peace a chance.

Wild West America

We all watched as the Pro-Gun people were trying to explain away Cho Sung-Hui with such statements as “there were too few guns on campus”, “It is irresponsibly dangerous to tell citizens that they may not have guns at schools.” This is just some examples of the thinking of the Pro-Gun Culture in America and that keeps the United States of America near the top of Murder by firearms Number eight behind South Africa, Colombia, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Belarus, and Costa Rica. It is interesting to note that Countries with Gun Control have low murder rates per-capita than countries that don’t. See the Web site below:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir_percap-crime-murders-firearms-per-capita

Gun control measures might have made it hard for Cho Sung-Hui to get a gun, but not impossible, what is need is a change in the Pro-Gun Culture which is one of the reasons that Virginia Tech Campus Police did not shut down the campus after the first shooting and a gunman which still loose on campus. It was too normal for someone to shoot his girlfriend in Virginia; if they had thought different they might have saved 31 lives.