These are some of my miscellaneous thoughts of the upcoming election.  For an election that may be one of the most important to occur in my life time, a month ago our choices appeared to be grim.  On the Democratic side we had a charismatic empty suit who is a socialist with virtually no achievement that would qualify him to be running for the presidency.  On the Republican side we had a maverick who is a legitimate war hero who claims to be a conservative, but whose recent record would not lead you to think so.  His joint bill with Teddy Kennedy on immigration and his stance that the area in ANWR where we should be drilling for oil is pristine territory were both totally wrong. 

A lot of conservatives, including me, were really at odds with the Republican Party because when they controlled congress they acted almost like Democrats and did not act in the best interest of the country.  They cut taxes, but they didn’t cut spending.  Of course the events of 9-11 and the need to get rid of Saddam Hussein didn’t help.  When the American people were dumb enough to give control of congress to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in 2006 we went from bad to worse.  In my lifetime I have never seen such a pathetic excuse for a congress as we have had since they took control.  In 2006, in some areas the Democrats elected people they thought were more moderate or even conservative, but they ignored the fact that these people would have to march to the tune of Nancy and Harry!

The discontent with the Republican performance in congress led a lot of conservatives to look to people like Ron Paul and Bob Barr who both represent many traditional conservative views, but who also hold opinions and positions on some issues that cause me to put them in the kook category.  This is a really dangerous group because they could just hand the election to Sen. Obama on a silver platter (example Ross Perot).  Many are as fanatical in their support of Paul as those who worship at the altar of Obama.  Realistically, we have two choices of candidates who have a chance to win the presidency, Republican or Democrat.  My parents and common sense taught me as a youth that “you don’t cut off your nose to spite your face”.  The only statement or message these people will send by voting for a fringe third party is that “I want Obama to win and I want to turn the United States of America into a socialist State.”

If Obama wins he will most likely bring in a Democratic congress on his coat tails.  Also, If Obama is elected; I think it is almost inevitable that he would be President for eight years (example Bill Clinton).  Can you imagine how much damage can be done to this country with a socialist president backed up by a congress run by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in eight years?  In my opinion, it is the prospect of such a tenure that makes me believe that Hillary Clinton definitely does not want Obama to get elected.  If he does, her chance of ever becoming president will be greatly reduced.  I may be wrong, if her real goal is to become a judge on the Supreme Court.  This would probably appeal to her since it is a lifetime appointment where she can continue permanent government employment and continue to push her left wing agenda.  I’m not sure being on the Supreme Court is enough power for Hillary.

After McCain’s announcement of his vice presidential candidate, the whole mood of this election has changed.  I know it certainly has changed my outlook.  I now have hope that we will avoid a potential disaster.  Gov. Palin is a breath of fresh air, the type of person that we so seldom see in politics these days.  Someone who is there to serve the people they represent instead of their own personal gain or ambition.  The Democrats realize this and they are scared to death of her.  Along with the liberal left (most modern Democrats) and a mainstream media that is gaga over Obama as if he were a rock star they are trying their best to distort information about her and destroy her personally.  Because she is real it is going to be hard to do and hopefully it will backfire on them, because I still believe the majority of Americans are smart enough to recognize the real thing when they see it.  If you can’t see that Sarah Palin is not your run of the mill politician then you are blind.

When you look at the Democratic ticket, neither has any executive experience and the top of the ticket has almost no experience in getting results.  Obama’s major attainment being a U. S. Senator has been spent running for President.  Biden adds experience to the ticket, but it is the experience of continuing to be wrong on just about all issues.  Personally, he is one of the most obnoxious people in the Senate (don’t forget Chucky Schumer). Neither Obama nor Biden has ever shown any attempt to work cooperatively with the Republicans to do anything.  They follow the party line religiously!

On the Republican side, you can’t honestly deny McCain’s experience.  You may not agree with all his positions, but he has a record of getting results and actually trying to work with the other side.  He is clearly his own man and in no way a rubber stamp for the Republican Party.  Palin clearly has a track record of achieving results at every level of government where she has served and has also been willing to work with the other side.  She has taken on the big oil companies and beaten them, but she is not anti-business.  The Democrats accuse her of lacking experience to be president when she in fact has more executive experience than either Obama or Biden.  Few people realize (even the “all knowing media”) that as Governor of Alaska, she is the commander in chief of the Alaskan National Guard which is unique in that it has missile units that are on duty full time as part of the North American air defense system.  As such she is privy to highly classified defense information.  No other governor that I know of has such responsibilities.

We have a lot of problems in this country and we are not going to solve them by throwing more money at them or a bunch of pie in the sky naïve idealistic slogans about change.  Change can be bad as well as good.  Change that gives government more control of your life or that takes more of your money to support government give away programs is not good.  That is the kind of change that Obama offers.  A socialistic form of society has been tried in this country and it failed miserably.  When, you may as?.  It was tried in the original settlement at Jamestown, VA.  They originally started off with the fruits of everyone’s labor pooled for the benefit of all the settlers.  They soon found that many settlers were lazy and were willing to sit on their butts and live off the labor of the other settlers while the colony was on the verge of failing.  The leaders got together and changed the policy putting all the settlers on their own.  If you didn’t work you didn’t get any free hand outs.  The fortune of the colony changed and the colony was saved.  Are we dumb enough to try it again?  Sometimes it appears so.

We have a clear choice now.  Do we vote for more taxes and government control or for a ticket that shows some hope for trying to straighten out the mess in Washington?   For me I have far more faith in McCain/Palin to run things in Washington than I do in Obama/Biden and a Democratic congress under Pelosi and Reid to run things in Washington and try to run every aspect of my life.  That is my view for what it is worth.

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About the author: Eric graduated from NC State and served until retirement in the US Army. He was privileged to be an advisor to President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later he served in Germany, Korea, and did two tours in Vietnam. He was awarded two Army Commendation medals, three Bronze Star medals for performance, and the Legion of Merit medal.

After leaving the Army Eric worked in Saudi Arabia for a year and then became associated as a consultant with Charles Brooks Associates. He retired for good after 20 years with them and now lives in Atlanta.

Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Politics

In my undergraduate years at UNC, Chapel Hill, NC, a required core course was Political Science; don’t know if it’s still a requirement. Part of the subject material at that time, and probably still is, was a lengthy section on the importance of choosing a party affiliation and rigidly adhering to the platform of your party. Of course, in the US that meant you ought to be a Democrat or Republican to participate in our election process. The idea presented then, and probably even now, was that you can only be heard if you are part of a group that empowers all the individuals to be heard where one voice has no chance. A requirement of this empowerment is that each group member supports the group, Democrat or Republican, with money and personal service like getting out the vote and other campaign duties.

I totally subscribed to this theory for many years. I felt the Democrats were interested in helping people unable to help themselves and the Republicans were the party of greed. I was a true Yellow Dog Democrat, supporting the party line even if I did not agree with most of it. During my Yellow Dog years the encyclopedia would have defined me as basically a Classical Liberal. I always felt government should stay out of economics as much as possible, although I realized some tax increases must be made to remain fiscally responsible. I still feel this way. I also favor some so-called “Welfare State” policies, but there must be some limits on what poor people get and how long they get it so they don’t simply become couch potatoes totally dependent on government handouts.

But the Democrats have become a party totally dominated by far left Social Liberals. I still support some ideas like the minimum wage, some form of health care regulation to include a way to insure everyone, and housing for the homeless. But today’s Democrats are mush farther left than any of this. They became, during the Clinton  years, farther left than even Communists. They now embrace all the ‘Isms, anarchists, political terrorists of any ilk, and whatever other earth scum there is. I quit the Democratic party and registered as an Independent as soon as I realized where they were going.

But, there is no way I can totally support the Republican Party’s Platform on many issues. I oppose partial birth abortion, but otherwise I believe a pregnant woman should have the right, unimpeded by legal requirements, to terminate the life of an early embryo. Many authorities blame so-called “global warming” on too many people. Why exacerbate the problem with unwanted new babies? There should be a concerted effort to discourage unwelcome pregnancy, but this has happened since the beginning of time and it is unlikely to totally go away now.

We are inexorably involved in a growing global economy; because the Republicans are oriented toward strong foreign policy issues, including antiterrorist activities, I strongly support all of these efforts. The Bush Administration has mismanaged the Iraq War in an unacceptable manner, but the Surge and subsequent events appear to be gong down the correct track. I support these efforts to end the war in an honorable manner.

Republicans are tied to the “Religious Right”, a situation I cannot accept in any form. Religion is the root cause of most of the world’s current problems. Islam and Christianity both insist one must accept their religion in order to go to heaven. And they both resent Judaism so there is no apparent way to reconcile the major religions. This is why  I don’t support the religious aspect of Republicanism.

And the death penalty. Republicans support it, Democrats don’t. I used to violently oppose it myself; then I realized there are some people who just need to be killed. Charles Manson, for example, all serial killers, and those who kidnap and kill children, or anyone else, for that matter. They can never be reformed, though many claim to have a religious experience. If it is real it will help them into the next life; most are simply efforts to avoid death.

So what am I to do?  Neither party has enough platform ideas to satisfy me. That’s why I am an Independent. This allows me the freedom to choose people rather than parties. If one candidate seems to have more of my view than the other, I am free from all political constraints and so can vote for the person most likely to do what I want. Being an independent also frees me from any obligation to donate funds to a useless party. This is total empowerment.

This Independent package provides a positive advantage in the  midst of political negativism. A positive attitude regarding everything one does is my goal and the basic reason for this blog. Register as an Independent voter for complete political empowerment. Democrats and Republicans, as a group,  are disgusting. Being Independent offers a positive way out of the political morass, defined by the dictionary as “.any confusing or troublesome situation, esp. one from which it is difficult to free oneself; entanglement.”

Tags: democrats, independent voters, positive advantage, Positive Attitude, republicans