Vote Tomorrow

RAIN Minus 1

Item First – Let it RAIN: From one month out until the presidential Election Day we have begun each post with a review of the Remove All Incumbents Now (RAIN) campaign. A good rain washes clean all the road scum, dust and filth. We hope that a cleansing of Congress will result in the firing of the legislators who are part of the group that bailed out Wall Street with nearly a trillion dollars, at least 150 billion of which was blatant authorized pork by Democrats to appease Republicans who had previously rejected the bill then changed their vote allowing it to pass after being seduced by pork. We are not sure how much of the bailout, if any, was actually needed.

Early Voting: Early voting in Nevada closed Friday – a state holiday, not because it is Halloween but Oct. 31 is the day Nevada became a state. About 600,000 people had cast their votes in Nevada by close of polls Friday. That number exceeds the total who voted just two elections ago. Colorado has seen 70% of the number who cast votes in the last election vote early. If this campaign has done nothing else it has stimulated interest in one of democracy’s most precious rights. Regardless of the outcome of the state, local, and national elections you need to be proud of yourself for voting and must also support the next president – but watch him as well. Stay involved and remember that we hired him and if he does not live up to our standards, he can be fired at the end of his contract.

Why it is important to vote Obama for President: This is the first time I have overtly come out and supported a candidate. This is the reason: The Republican Party is in disarray if we are to believe the pundits and reporters. As the polls increasingly show Obama in the lead infighting within the Republican Party threatens to tear it apart down to its very fabric and leave it in utter chaos. That is a good thing, for from chaos comes opportunity. Consider this: with the Republican Party in chaos, an opportunity arises to jettison the right wing nuts, the religious zealots, and the Atwater/Rove - style slime mongers, and build the Party from the ground up with REAL American values. See more about this idea below.

Nothing but excess: We have been spoiled as our country has grown and prospered from the end of World War II onward. Our homes have increased in size from an average of less than 1500 square feet to over 2500 square feet. The stock market has grown rapidly and many of us enjoyed watching our 401k, stock portfolios, and savings accounts grow. As children we had maybe one car in our house, now we have one for each member of the family over the age of 16. We have color TV, cable, satellite radio, computers, electronic games, and toys ad infinitum. We have become a society of consumers rather than one of savers. We drive gas guzzlers, travel at the drop of a hat, eat out regularly, and enjoy many more choices than our parents and grandparents had. Then the market crashed.

State of the Union: We are in a $ 10 billion per week war that we cannot win. Our environment is dying, our air is unhealthy, our economy is in the toilet, health insurance costs have skyrocketed, and we are among the unhealthiest of nations in the G-8. We have a high mortality rate, the income tax structure is a mess, FEMA is a joke, and we are perhaps as divided amongst ourselves as we have been since the Civil War. We tremble at the thought of terrorism, are required to remove our shoes and half our clothes before going through an airport, we recently paid $ 4.00 per gallon of gas which threatened to go even higher (it will), and most of that happened on the watch of the current administration. Our Congress has socialized the money lenders with a trillion dollars they call a bailout. The Republicans want another chance but offer no new ideas. The Democrats also want a chance to fix things. I say let them try. We have little more to lose.

Giving the Democrats a chance: The Republicans have controlled the presidency for the past eight years and the senate for six of those eight years. It was on their watch that the sky has fallen. The McCain campaign has operated like a pinball bouncing from idea to idea while spreading gossip and trashing their opponent. They have offered little in the way of solutions. So I say it is time to give the other team a chance. If their election means Congressional Republicans get tossed out and one party dominates the Senate, House and White House, that is not ideal but so be it. If the new group does not turn the country around, when the next elections roll around, fire them.

Few will argue that Congress as it now works (or doesn’t work) has become corrupt with the infusion of PAC money, so-called 527s, and lobbyists. We must give the new administration a mandate to clean up the system and vote out any Congressman who has been a part of it. Every two years when election time rolls around throw the bums out who have not lived up to the “New America” promise. The voter has the power to do that.

What happens to the Republican Party: While the Democrats are trying to undo the damage that has been caused by a corrupt Congress, the Republican Party will have time to rebuild. As stated above, they need to jettison the right wing nuts hate and fear mongers, and religious zealots who would put ideology and religious fervor first. Then they must identify strong leaders with strong ideals. Perhaps the governor of California, or Ron Paul, or even Ralph Nader could form a nucleus of people who have not been corrupted by the system. Follow some of the good things that Candidate Obama has done by reaching out to young people and others not involved in the system. Imbue the party with philosophies of some of our greatest leaders such as Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and the like. Include bright energetic women and minorities in the mix. Seek council from the likes of Colin Powell, Bill Gates, Suze Orman, Stephen Hawking, Robert L. Johnson, Linda B. Buck, Dolores Huerta, and leaders from all walks of life. Now THAT would be a party I could get excited about.

The alternative: The alternative to giving Barack Obama and his party a chance to do their best to repair our ailing country is to reelect a party that is in disarray, that is itself infected by far right radicals, hate mongers and religious zealots who bully more moderate members of the party. The choice is to continue on the path to Perdition that the country is now following, or allow a new generation to try to fix it. The choice is yours. Literally.

A little blogging music Maestro… “A New Day” by Celine Dion.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

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