The first priority for America is money. Yes, the good old greenback. The buck. Not so much the actual material money, but how we use our dollars for the greatest good.

There are a couple of more questions one must ask first before tackling this money issue:

▪ Do we want to strengthen and maintain our prosperity and our culture?

▪ Are we willing to take the blinders off and see exactly where our country stands?

▪ Are we happy with the amount of money we have sent abroad in the hopes of bettering people’s lives? Do we want to continue our foreign aid, our charity work?

America, among all nations, and with all its faults, has been the greatest blessing the world has ever seen. Our foreign aid donations, our generous charity from the hearts of everyday, ordinary Americans, our citizens’ response to emergencies and crises around the world, surpasses what every other single nation gives multiple times over. Does this make us good? No. Our assistance to others is evidence of our good, not the good itself. Accept criticism from no one on this issue. The citizens of this country are good.

What is the bad? Yes, our corporations are greedy, yes; some of our leaders seek world glory and dominance over others. Yes, sometimes we vote our pocketbooks instead of our wisdom. Yes, we have behaved badly at times with foreign governments that we were unhappy with. However, I submit to you that the failings of our country as a whole are not the result of an attitude of our citizens, but instead are a result of how much faith we put in our elected leaders. In the end, many let us down. In the end it displays our naiveté, said naiveté amazing other countries. However, better naïve than calloused and cynical.

America is the favorite target of the so-called progressives in the world, not just American ones. Instead of being thankful for the help we give, we are criticized because we don’t do more. In spite of what progressives say, most of the aid we give has very few strings attached if any. To appease the progressives in our society we would have to give nearly all of our wealth to the poor. Which begs the question:

What has made us capable of helping the world in so many areas? If we give all our wealth to the poor, what do we have left to nurture and grow our own culture much less those who are strangers to us?

The answer to the first questions in this post is: our money. This is not to take away from the inherent goodness of our citizens or our culture, but the incomparable prosperity we have achieved has made it possible for us to assist others in need. Our incomparable prosperity has also made us the richest nation on earth. We have had the most means to do the most good. And although not perfectly, we have done a lot of good.

Our economy has been a blessing to the world. We have fed the world through our enormous agricultural resources; we have given technology to help modernize the world; we have sent thousands of volunteers into various countries, sometimes in dangerous conditions, to help build infrastructure in lagging countries; we have sent our military into chaotic, war zones to uphold the safety and freedom of others. Our volunteers have built houses, barns, community centers, drilled vital water wells, and installed sewage systems, all in an effort to better benefit the humanity of this world. Again, this is not what makes us good, it’s merely the fruit of our good.

Part 3 of 7

The first priority for America is money. Yes, the good old greenback. The buck. Not so much the actual material money, but how we use our dollars for the greatest good.

There are a couple of more questions one must ask first before tackling this money issue:

▪ Do we want to strengthen and maintain our prosperity and our culture?

▪ Are we willing to take the blinders off and see exactly where our country stands?

▪ Are we happy with the amount of money we have sent abroad in the hopes of bettering people’s lives? Do we want to continue our foreign aid, our charity work?

America, among all nations, and with all its faults, has been the greatest blessing the world has ever seen. Our foreign aid donations, our generous charity from the hearts of everyday, ordinary Americans, our citizens’ response to emergencies and crises around the world, surpasses what every other single nation gives multiple times over. Does this make us good? No. Our assistance to others is evidence of our good, not the good itself. Accept criticism from no one on this issue. The citizens of this country are good.

What is the bad? Yes, our corporations are greedy, yes; some of our leaders seek world glory and dominance over others. Yes, sometimes we vote our pocketbooks instead of our wisdom. Yes, we have behaved badly at times with foreign governments that we were unhappy with. However, I submit to you that the failings of our country as a whole are not the result of an attitude of our citizens, but instead are a result of how much faith we put in our elected leaders. In the end, many let us down. In the end it displays our naiveté, said naiveté amazing other countries. However, better naïve than calloused and cynical.

America is the favorite target of the so-called progressives in the world, not just American ones. Instead of being thankful for the help we give, we are criticized because we don’t do more. In spite of what progressives say, most of the aid we give has very few strings attached if any. To appease the progressives in our society we would have to give nearly all of our wealth to the poor. Which begs the question:

What has made us capable of helping the world in so many areas? If we give all our wealth to the poor, what do we have left to nurture and grow our own culture much less those who are strangers to us?

The answer to the first questions in this post is: our money. This is not to take away from the inherent goodness of our citizens or our culture, but the incomparable prosperity we have achieved has made it possible for us to assist others in need. Our incomparable prosperity has also made us the richest nation on earth. We have had the most means to do the most good. And although not perfectly, we have done a lot of good.

Our economy has been a blessing to the world. We have fed the world through our enormous agricultural resources; we have given technology to help modernize the world; we have sent thousands of volunteers into various countries, sometimes in dangerous conditions, to help build infrastructure in lagging countries; we have sent our military into chaotic, war zones to uphold the safety and freedom of others. Our volunteers have built houses, barns, community centers, drilled vital water wells, and installed sewage systems, all in an effort to better benefit the humanity of this world. Again, this is not what makes us good, it’s merely the fruit of our good.

Do we wish to maintain the good we do for our citizens and the world at large? Do we wish to maintain a culture that all envy and want to be a part of? Do we want to maintain the economic power that has given us the means to better humanity?

If so, it is time to concentrate on going back to some basics in this blessed country. It is time that we stop allowing corporate greed to dictate our foreign policy and our domestic structures.

This post is contained in a series of posts. Please stay with me!

Part 2 of 7

Our game of politics is exactly that, a game. It’s a game of one-upmanship, “gotcha”, and win at all costs competition – that competition to control the purse strings of America. Make no mistake about it, that is where the real contest lies. Witness the recent exposure of Clinton’s fabrications about Bosnia, 9/11, and her non-existent soccer team; witness Obama’s judgment crisis with the Wright controversy; witness McCain’s flap about Al Qaeda. These are all gotcha maneuverings. Mostly pertinent, but still a contest of personality not concrete issues.

The citizens of America have to really shake themselves, come out of their rose-colored view of our country and realize that we possibly have mortal wounds that require hard choices. And somehow these citizens will have to show enough backbone and organization to convince Congress to act on the most important issues that are quickly becoming crises or have already achieved that condition. The resistance of the American people to the comprehensive immigration bill is a good example of citizen involvement that seriously affected a single issue.

Are you convinced that neither of the parties really concentrate on policies that are of foundational benefit to America, but instead focus on policies and legislation that will get them the most votes in the next election? (I’ll have to make an exception on this for the Republican Party for the last 8 years, because they surely haven’t created policy to get votes – instead, they’ve cut their own throats).

Let’s face it. In America, we have so many issues to deal with that it is impossible to handle them all at one time. No citizen involvement will dictate how we handle all of our issues. That kind of involvement would produce another political party (which may not be a bad idea – but not likely to happen on a national scale).

It is past time that the American people organize and concentrate on what are our most important priorities. We must clearly define and pursue policies, as citizens, that we actually have a chance of putting into effect. We have to do this as citizens, not as Congressmen and Presidents. We need to effect our leaders’ decisions with our input. After all, we know it works but only if a critical mass is reached in the number of citizens involved.

Let’s take a minute view of significant issues that we will try to solve by electing a legislature and a new president (in no particular order):

▫ Ethics reform in Congress

▫ Unethical lobbying and influence of lobbyists

▫ Transparency in government

▫ Wasteful spending

▫ Campaign finance reform

▫ Healthcare

▫ The war in Iraq

▫ Tax issues

▫ Free trade and the global markets

▫ Imminent bankruptcy of Medicare

▫ Imminent bankruptcy of Social Security

▫ A failing educational system

▫ Energy

▫ Spending more than we earn

▫ Immigration

▫ Civil rights

▫ Foreign policy issues

▫ Terrorism

▫ Nuclear proliferation

▫ Infrastructure – highways, bridges, utilities, dams

▫ Economy

This, of course, is not a complete listing of all the problems we face. But it is an accurate compendium of some of the most important ones.

First of all, as citizens, does anyone think that a new legislature or new president can adequately address all these problems? Since most of us would answer “no”, we need to move on to our second question.

Which of these issues is the most pressing? Which of these issues affects the other issues? Which of these issues are dependent on each other?

If we can’t solve all these problems, we must decide which of these issues, if solved, would positively affect other difficult problems? How do we prioritize these problems that need to be solved? How do we gain ground by concentrating on solvable problems and not expend energy and money at this point on issues that will take decades to accomplish, if ever? When you’re in a swimming pool full of alligators you don’t try to beat all of them in the head at once, you whack the one that is doing the most damage first.

My next post will outline the priorities we should concentrate on.

 Part 1 of 7

America truly faces a choice of the lesser of three evils. Conservatives and independents need to stop, take a breath, and truly ask themselves what is important in the upcoming presidential election.

How important is it that we end the war in Iraq?

How important is it that we end the war in Iraq immediately?

How important is it to you that we pass the defense of marriage act? Do you think the legislation will pass? Do you even think it has a chance of passing?

How important is it to you that we pass a comprehensive immigration bill? How important to you is it that we have no amnesty or cheap rides for illegals? How important is it to you that we allow illegals to gain a path to citizenship?

How important is it to you that we pass legislation barring abortion? Do you think this kind of legislation has any chance of being passed, much less pass muster before the Federal courts and the Supreme Court?

How important is it to you that the tax cuts passed by Congress stay permanently in effect?

How important is it to you that our country embraces universal health coverage?

How important is it to you that Congress comes up with the money to brace up Social Security and Medicare? Where does that money come from?

How important is climate change to you? Do you believe that we need to take drastic action to deflect global warming? Is global warming real?

How important is it to you that the Rev. Wright heavily influences Barack Obama?

How important is it to you who the presidential candidates choose as their running mates?

How important is the issue of race to you?

How important is religious freedom to you?

How important is freedom of speech to you?

How important is the massive growth of our government?

How important is the intrusions by our government into our private lives?

How important is domestic surveillance to you?

How important is the economy to you?

Are there any more issues you believe you should rate as to their importance?

When all the rhetoric is washed away and we’re left with the basics to choose our next president, what trait or intention should we deem important? Tell me one thing you can do to make a change in all the above questions. The answer is you can’t do much. Yes, it’s important to write the emails, use the phone, and write letters to sway our legislators but in reality, corporate and private lobbyists and special interest groups have our government so tied up they are really in no position to respond to common sense ideas.

So, in the end, what is important? All of these issues fail to measure up, not because they are unworthy, but because when push comes to shove, there’s not much difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. Don’t believe me? Tell me how the Republicans have made life better? Have they restrained the government from ever bigger bureaucracy? Have they curtailed spending? Have they rescued Social Security and Medicare? Have they stopped the infamous earmarks that cost us so much money? How have they measured up in their promotion of conservative values? The fact is they have failed miserably in these efforts. They have failed us in every area that we can imagine. And yes, this includes the immigration issue because if they had tackled that item when Republicans had control of both Houses of Congress we would probably have already sealed the borders.

Do conservative voters think they owe anything to the Republican Party? Do you think you have an obligation to continue to support them in the impossible hope that they will finally pass legislation that truly appeals to conservatives?

Of course, on the other side of the fence we have a mindset that has long dominated the Democratic Party since the days of Lyndon Johnson. If as a conservative or an independent you believe the Democrats will pass providential legislation or really “change” the government maybe you should rethink your position.

Do you really want to make a difference in the annals of this country?

I think we’re missing the most important question of all:

Who do you want to appoint the next federal judges and Supreme Court justices?

This is the most important question of all because citizens have so little effect on legislation. If you want America to face decreasing religious freedom and diminished freedom of speech; if you want to see religion increasingly taken out of the public forum; if you want to see supposedly unbiased individuals dictate the social values of our country, then I think you know who you should vote for.

If not, then there is only one choice. To vote third-party this go-round is insanity. The bleeding must be stopped at the justice level. Are we confident McCain will appoint strict constructionist judges? To be truthful, I’m not sure. But one thing I am sure about is who will be appointed if the Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House.

Hillary still has her high percentage of those who view her as unfavorable. Instead of being an insider to the Democratic Party, she is now the recipient of their aggressive disdain. Just witness the maneuverings of Move.on.org, the Daily Kos, and Arianna Huffington. She made a deal with these devils and now she is paying her dues for the support she had hoped to maintain. Instead, these organizations have betrayed her in favor of the orator, Barack Obama and his ambiguous methods to bring about change.

Now that the records of her White House days are public, we find that she had very little involvement in setting any kind of policy. She had far too many political and social gatherings to avail herself of to have time for creating and sustaining policy. However, far from being disappointed with her, we should be glad that she maintained her public posturings and left decisions to the one we actually elected in the first place, namely, her husband, Bill. And let’s face it, those weren’t bad days. Overall, his presidency was a success, excluding that rumor about an intern in the Oval Office.

Hillary has been working hard to place herself in a favorable light with not only the Democrats but with the independents. Of course, that’s what all candidates do. But Hilary can’t have it both ways. Her attempts to convince voters that she was against the Iraq policy all the time, or her votes or statements have been taken out of context, is preempted by her votes in the Senate regarding that war; also, her comments in the first years of the war also portray her as supporting the war and her reasons for supporting its initiation.

But the winds of change caress everyone’s hair. With an unpopular war and our economy in distress, Hillary has tried to smooth out the conflicts in her campaigning regarding the war. She now qualifies her votes and statements to portend a more liberal approach to the war in Iraq. And maybe she really has changed her position on the war. But I don’t think so. I don’t believe that she will precipitously withdraw our troops from Iraq. I think if we knew what she planned to do with our troops, we would find that she’s a lot closer to George Bush than Barack Obama. That’s not to say she will give an open-ended commitment to the government of Iraq. I don’t think she will do that. I believe she will try to fashion the country of Iraq into a state of quasi-stability by leaving our troops in Iraq for the length of time necessary to train the Iraqi forces into an effective battle force and hopefully, end the threat, or at least further diminish, the role of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

This is really not an untenable position to take on the war. A unilateral withdrawal in Iraq would create a vacuum of power in a state that has served admirably as a counterpoint to Iran. And as much as this is anathema to most Democrats, we need to make sure that Iraq is stable enough to properly produce and supply the world with their great deposits of oil. Without this, the price of oil would be astronomically high.

There are those who say the war was all about oil in the first place. I’m not sure that is correct. I think it was probably one of the reasons to engage Saddam but not the only one. Regardless of denials by Hillary, she did believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction – as a matter of fact, most Democrats agreed with that assumption, as did the true believers, the Republicans.

However, the question is no longer pertinent. It no longer matters why we prosecuted the war. We’re there and we have to finish it, and as quickly as possible. Yes, we have to get Iraq stable and more amenable to cooperation with the various ethnic groups, but the cost of the war has become a huge drain on our resources. We have to stop that and soon.

Our economy and weak dollar will no longer support an open-ended commitment to Iraq. By no means should we publish a withdrawal schedule, we have to vigorously defeat Al Qaeda – but we must be aware that our failing economy is being significantly altered by the cost of the war. In this, Ron Paul was right. We can’t afford this war. But to keep it from being a total disaster we have to finish the job and make no long-term commitment to Iraq.

In the end, Hillary should embrace her votes on the Iraq war because they were founded on what everyone thought were legitimate reasons to disarm Iraq. This will not hurt her in her quest for the independent vote and it would probably not hurt her standings with her supporters right now. I think she would get a vote for being honest.

The failure of our intelligence is regrettable, very regrettable, but we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I am shaped by my experiences, my study, and my observations. But these come about not by vicarious pot-luck, but only from a sense of history. To be fully open, I am of the conservative paradigm but not overly in love with any of the conservative politicos. As a matter of fact, my hopes and my expectations have been gravely decimated over the last eight years. And to be fair, I wasn’t crazy about the prior eight years, although those were quiet times, in regard to the present, at least.