Nation of Fools

The elections are close at hand and the candidates both seem to be in full war mode on each other. Both there negative ad campaign which in today’s society seems to be the only way to address the public with enough force to where the public will respond in shock or awe. These tactics are what work best and to be honest these tactics are the only methods that work well enough to get the people’s attention. It is sad to think… no, know that as a society we are blinded with mere commercials and picture ads to even know the truth about who is representing our nation. We rely heavily on what we see in commercials (which are mostly negative ads) to even know a candidates stand on the issues plaguing or society. Don’t get me wrong there are those out there that do their homework and know what’s going on but, for those who don’t it is they who really need to wake up and take a look around. The nation is not ran on hopes and dreams it is not a movie and it does not always end happily, and if they think their vote counts without any knowledge of what they are voting for they are severely mistaken. It is not difficult to put a check on a ballet, the difficulty lies in whether what you are checking is the right box or just an excuse to be able to say “Yeah I voted, too.” These people vote because it is what our society expects of them not because they really care of what they are voting for. I am not claiming to be an expert I don’t know if my theories are fact, I am just stating what I observe and believe whole heartedly. So, by all means jump on the voter’s bandwagon and vote, be sure to watch all your commercials and read all your negative campaign ads. That way when a political conversation does arise you can be like half the naïve Americans out there and know what little/distorted truth to discuss and be able to have that moment you dream of every night. The nation is at a peak of change do you really want to be left out of that transition if you are thinking no, then maybe you should read a little more about what is going on. Hopefully when voting time comes you will have enough information to make a educated choice and help pave the way for a better future.

Does It End?

It seems that all the all the hassle with the economy’s financial downfall and the controversy over the bailout has made us forget the whole reason we are in this mess to begin with. The war overseas seem to be the last thing on candidates, it seems discussing each other’s faults is more important than addressing the real reason the economy is in state it is in. In Bankrupt and Belligerent, a post by Robert Fantina in the Counter Punch Blog, Robert discusses how the economic crisis, tragic as it is, has distracted us from the situation overseas and in my opinion (as well as many others) the reason for our nations crisis in the first place. Fantina exhales a lot of his frustration toward Bush’s actions the last eight years with a comparison of former presidents and their actions that were less then intelligent. After, Fantina begins discussing Mc Cain and how his views match that of the present and soon to be prior president Bush. According to Fantina Mc Cain’s insistence of a “win” in Iraq and clear “definition” of what is meant by “win” he entices his audience. The war’s end is long overdue; many Americans think this, as well as, the Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki, who agreed with Obama on the removal of troops within a 16 month “timeframe”. It is clear that the only outcome of this wars continuation will be more war. As Fantina would say the Secretary of Defense seems to be an inappropriate name for the position the U.S is always in, which is of course offense.

I agree with Fantina this war book needs to be closed and we should cut our losses. There was nothing to be gained by this war, and still nothing to gain so why continue? Mc Cain says the U.S needs a win, and then what? We establish ourselves are a military super power and a poor nation all in eight years. Like Fantina I agree with the sight of a clear win for Obama, but gods forbid every U.S. citizen catches the cold and is unable to make it to the polls while that one crazy Mc Cain fan is the only voter who doesn’t get sick. Well, hopefully Canada isn’t too cold.

A Gamblers Debt

In an editorial, Nixon, Bush, Palin, in the Opinion section of The New York Times, the author Roger Cohen discusses our current economic and market status, while also addressing the cost left by the Bush Administrations mistakes. Roger Cohen, the International Herald Tribune's first editor-at-large in 2006, and former foreign editor for the New York Times begins his editorial with a quote of former president Richard Nixon made in 1970, “Frankly, if I had any money, I’d be buying stocks right now.” At this quote Cohen comments a plea that Bush will not follow Nixon’s example believing the market would tank if Bush made such a remark. Cohen begins to discuss the gambles the current administration made and the price to be paid. He begins with the gamble of going to war with Iraq, which cost an estimated 700 billion dollars (much like the amount selected for the bailout plan). Around the same time Bush according to Cohen; “opted to allow an opaque derivatives market to grow into the trillions without supervision, regulation or information”, the result of which was markets ability of turning “capitalism into a pyramid scheme for trading worthless paper.” Now, do to these mistakes we have been forced into financial alertness. Cohen states that already banks in Europe of failing, soon after maybe even the dollar. Will we be forced to the gold standard again? “We are getting closer to a tipping-point,” a comment from Benn Steil, an economist, satisfies the verdict that our economy may plummet. According to Benn Steil this economic down fall is causing people to ask, “Can we really trust the dollar as a store of value?” With the financial stability who knows. A lesson learned and it only took 8 years, according to Roger Cohen, “when power is a passport to gamble, people can end up seriously broke or seriously dead.”

I am in full agreement with Roger it is one thing to run a country it is another to gamble its stability. War was an unnecessary tactic and could have been avoided, if Bush had the competence and was not so gun-ho we would not being in the financial situation we are in today. It’s as Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “How far can you go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?” Question comes to mind how much further will we go?