Hillary and Trump - No Real Choice - Election 2016

It was the night before THE Election, and 'cross this great land...

I would have finished this poem except that my feelings about this coming election are most definitely NOT poetic.

For instance, I am disappointed and disgusted that the American political system produced this "any way you look at it you lose" Presidential ballot.  I mean, if we try to ignore all the news about Hillary and all the rumors and naughty photographs of Trump, and just vote based on both of their past "records," then pretty much "any way you look at it, you lose."  Thank you Simon and Garfunkle for that classic line from "Mrs. Robinson."  To further quote the Duo, "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?"

The Democratic candidate, based ONLY on her record as a career politician, is a proven liar.  The Republican candidate is a proven "get to the top BAM" kind of guy.  You know, BAM means "by any means."  Plus, there are decades of news stories and photographs to show that Trump has been an associate of the Clintons for many years.  Is he really so opposed to Hillary?  It is my belief that we will see, as usual, "business as usual" no matter whether Hillary or Donald goes to the White House.

When I think of politics and especially about "Presidential" politics, I can't help but be reminded of President Richard Nixon from way back in the '70s.  Good grief, I was just in junior high way back then.  If you, my dear reader, are too young to remember, or if you skipped out of history class in college to do your laundry, let me refresh your memory.

Richard Nixon won a hotly contested Presidential Election in 1968, overcoming Senator Hubert Humphrey in a close race, electorally speaking.  Flashing forward to 1972, President Nixon was a shoe-in for re-election, and pretty much everyone knew it.  In fact Nixon did win the popular election by one of the largest "landslide" victories in election history.  And he went on to serve his second term, happily ever after...well, almost. 

It turns out that the only person who was not sure of Nixon's inevitable victory was Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon himself.  So, Nixon had his "CREEPs" (the Committee to RE-Elect the President) break into Democratic headquarters in Washington D.C. so that he could learn all about the Democrats' election strategies.  The Democrats had rented a suite at a nice little hotel in D.C. called the Watergate Hotel.  Long story short, the CREEPs were caught by an alert security officer, and...well, the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.  Tricky Dick was busted!

Now pay attention, class, to this part of my post.  President Nixon was NEVER CHARGED with a crime.  The police and the FBI had all the evidence needed, and of course, the news was FULL of this evidence.  What was President Nixon's crime?  Burglary.  More precisely, CONSPIRACY to commit burglary.  That's it. No illegal use of emails (or teletypes back then), no deliberate inaction when Americans were about to get murdered in an American embassy overseas.  No trail of corpses linked to other scandals.  No leaked emails of sex with children or flying to the Bahamas with a registered sex-offender.  No foundation accepting illegal contributions from foreign governments.  Just a rather simple felony, conspiracy to commit burglary.

When Nixon's actions were exposed, the public, and Congress, were outraged, and rightly so.  Nixon tried to ride out the remainder of his second term, but after a blistering Congressional hearing into the Watergate affair, the Senate made up its mind to impeach Nixon.  And it was the right thing to do.  The President was more than likely a felon, and evidence of his actions, if sent to a court, would have resulted in his conviction.  President Nixon, the most popular American President since John F. Kennedy, was now disgraced and dishonored in the public's eye.  But this disgraced man did something that should be an example to all politicians.  With the last sliver of honor left him, President Nixon became the first (and ONLY, so far) President to resign from office, sparing the nation the expense and trauma of impeaching and removing the President from office, something Bill Clinton did not have the guts to do two decades later.

Now, nearly two decades after Bill Clinton left office, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former senator and former Secretary of State, has run up a list of scandals that makes Tricky Dick eligible for the clergy.  The FBI Director, Mr. Comey, ADMITTED on television and in other media that his agency had enough evidence of wrongdoing to INDICT Hillary Clinton, and this for just the email scandal.  Granted, he said he would not allow his agency to CHARGE Hillary (A WHOLE OTHER SCANDAL ITSELF) but he candidly pointed out that "other persons" (you or me, for instance) most definitely WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED if the same evidence were used against such other persons.

So now it is the eve of the most disgusting Presidential Election of this and last century.  Will Hillary do the right thing with the last vestige of honor she could muster, and drop out of the election?  Of course not.  Two reasons for this: One, she does NOT HAVE a last vestige of honor to muster.  Hillary Clinton is the most dishonorable person, bar none, to have ever held a political office in the United States.  Two: If she is EVER charged with a crime, President Obama will no doubt pardon her prior to leaving office.  If she is indicted after taking office, there is no reason to believe she would step down until the trial was over.  But seriously folks, we know that neither the Director of the FBI, nor his boss, the Attorney General, will EVER indict Hillary.

Not only will Hillary Clinton never be forced from, or voluntarily leave, the Presidency, but also nearly fifty percent of registered voters will support her no matter what she does as President, or what she HAS DONE, on the road to the White House.  My gut feeling and my prediction is that she will win this election and, not only that, but she will serve two terms, just as Bill did.  Wouldn't it be great if I were wrong?  The only thing that could cut Hillary's two terms short would be if she keeps poking President Putin and starts World War III.  Don't laugh...we may have been distracted by all the news about Hillary and may have missed the threats she has directed toward Russia, but Mr. Putin has not missed them, I can assure you.

Before I go, I will indulge you quickly with my fantasy, and that is pretty much all it is at this point.  My fantasy is that the FBI Director has simply thrown a smoke screen to Hillary, and at some point between now and January, 2017 Hillary Clinton et al WILL BE INDICTED.  Ahh....we can all dream.

May God Bless and SAVE America

Election 2016 or, Donald VS Hillary - What A Choice!

The 2016 Presidential Election is fast approaching, and early voting is in progress now.  I cannot remember a worse Presidential Ballot than the one we have coming up this November 1st.  Maybe someone older than me can, but that may hark back all the way to the pre-World War I years.  That is just a guess, and it is really irrelevant.

The fact that our American political system cleared out the pack leaving just these two candidates escapes my belief.  Out of all of the candidates who declared in the primaries, it is outrageously appalling to me that the "best" of the field were supposedly Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  First I would like to rant about Donald Trump.  Mr. Trump is a loud-mouthed, contentious man who is full of himself.  He represents great wealth with which he buys anything he wants, including influence.  He appears to have no "class," by that I mean he says and does anything he wants without thought as to whom he may be hurting, or how silly he looks when he is so boisterous.  As a business man he accomplished a lot by any means he had to use.  I do not know enough about him to know whether he "started with nothing" and built an empire, and I am not really interested enough to do that research.  Regardless, he made a fortune and now reaps the king's benefits from having made that fortune.  But until last year he had no interest in the US Presidency; in fact, he was often busy decrying government intervention in the world of business.  In his rise to billionaire, Mr. Trump learned to deal with people in a brash, rude, and arrogant way.  Will this be the way he deals with his contemporaries should he become President?

There is something about Donald Trump, besides all the above, that concerns me.  He has contributed funds over the years to Bill Clinton.  To Hillary?  I am not sure about that, but I know that Donald, Bill, and Hillary go back for at least the past couple of decades.  Don't believe me...do just two or three minutes "research" on the Internet.  I know this is just the very tip of the tip of the "ice berg" and there is so much more.  The point is, Donald Trump was very, very chummy with Bill C back in the 1990's.  It would not be a stretch to imagine that he was very chummy with Hillary C right up to...well, right up to the beginning of the primaries.  Are Donald and Hillary REALLY arch-rivals now?  Maybe, but I find that really hard to accept.

If it is really possible that Donald and Hillary's rivalry is a sham, then is it not also possible that all of Donald's rhetoric regarding Hillary is also a sham?  If elected, isn't it possible that Donald will suddenly "decide" that some of his ideas as Candidate Trump are just "not feasible" for President Trump to carry out as promised.  In fact, isn't it possible that someone who was "chummy" with the Clintons even as late as last year might also be "chummy" with Clinton ideas and goals?  Said another way, is our choice REALLY a choice at all?

The only candidate besides Donald Trump that has a realistic chance (VERY REALISTIC, I am afraid!) is Hillary Clinton.  About Hillary I have to ask, how is it even possible that she is a viable Presidential candidate?  She has made former President Nixon look like a jay-walker with her various criminal and political activities, including involvement in scandals in Arkansas even BEFORE the Clintons ever made it to the White House!  These activities are well-known, well-documented, and I do not have the time nor the patience to list them here.  Suffice to say that Hillary Clinton is a disgrace to America and, had she done the "email thing" back in 1974, she could have resigned along side of Nixon, who was castigated because eighteen minutes of voice recordings were erased.  I wonder how long it would take to read over thirty thousand emails into an old fashioned cassette recorder? 

Hillary's involvement with events that have left a trail of bodies across this nation and in various countries around the world is also easily traceable through the various recorded media.  Yet millions of Americans are literally fawning over her, literally can't wait for her to be the FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!  Her character, her actions, her words in woefully pitiful denial of those actions - all this notwithstanding - there are half, possibly more than half, of registered voters willing to put this unindicted criminal into the White House.  The gutless Director of the FBI himself said that, although he would not recommend Hillary's indictment, he had found illegal activity of the kind that would have resulted in someone else's arrest.

This election would be laughable if it were not such a serious matter.  One of these two unpalatable choices, barring something totally unexpected, will be our new President of the United States.  One of these two undesirable choices will lead this nation for at least four years.  I can only believe that, like the old Simon and Garfunkle song, "any way you look at it you lose" will hold true for this nation.  Do I think the US is "doomed?"  Do I think this is "the end?"  No, but I think this election more than any other is a wake up call for America.  Do we want to "stay the course" with either Trump or Clinton in 2020?  I hope for this nation's sake that we do not.  More than that, I hope for an awakening of Americans who desire to rein in the government and truly make it a government of the people, to make it a government that truly works FOR the people.  I think we still have time to get this nation on course, and ultimately, to make this nation truly one that is governed under the law of the land, the United States Constitution, to make America great again with neither Clinton nor Trump at the helm.

Cast your vote in the coming election and ...

May God Bless America

A Beautiful Sunday...

Today is a very beautiful day outside and inside, too.  We have just finished with a couple hours of house cleaning (maybe not two, it just seemed like it) and now we are both lounging in our loungers, except she (my lovely bride) is not technically "lounging" since she is engaged in working on her never-ending collegiate assignments.  She loves to learn, my lovely bride.  I, however, do not engage in learning so much anymore...actually I am now more engaged in forgetting what I have learned, as well as forgetting where I put the TV remote...dang it!

I have taken several days away from this blog, for a number of reasons, but today I felt the need to get back into my blogging rhythm.  I have to say that the biggest reason for my lack of blogging for the past couple of weeks is that there is so much going on that I do not like, that is negative for our nation, that is not so good for the world, that I did not want to write about.  I felt that I would get trapped in a negative cycle with my posts, and no one wants to read a succession of negative blogs...not even ME!

As you might guess, the biggest negative thing going on right now is the Hillary Trump Satire On American Politics.  Neither one of these persons deserves to be President of the United States.  Neither person is the "best choice."  How could the American election system have produced this NO CHOICE election ballot?  Not only that, but it appears that as few as forty percent of all legally registered voters will cast ballots.  I may be overly optimistic here...maybe as few as nine or ten percent of the people will cast ballots.  The reason for this low turnout is that many people believe that the Electoral College will select Hillary no matter what the "popular vote" might be.

Another big negative is our government's program of constant warfare somewhere on the globe (actually MANY SOMEWHERES!) so that our military is constantly engaged in some conflict.  On top of that we have "military advisers" located in many other points of conflagration around the world.  Along with this government "permanent war" mindset is the military industry that, to earn maximum dollar, promotes the permanent war mindset and actually exerts a large degree of control or influence on the Defense Department as well as on senators and congressmen.  The last thing this "military/industrial complex" wants is "peace on earth."

Then there is the unrest throughout the nation because of various political and social beliefs conflicting to the point of open violence and rioting.  In both houses of the federal legislature, with both sides refusing to agree on anything except congressional pay raises, no laws can be passed except in watered down, weakened versions that accomplish nothing.

So I think it is safe to say that our American political system is broken and does not appear to be capable of internal repair.  We (including me) the people are too divided to fix it ourselves.

So this blog post could be nothing but negative....

But it is a beautiful Sunday.  There are a lot things that are good and right with the world and right here in our lovely abode.  For instance we got to have Baby Baby with us for two whole days this weekend.  This little angel brightens up the day like a thousands suns could not do.  She loves to sing and play, and she loves to explore.  Honey and I (Pop-ee) spent many pleasant hours with her this weekend, and also got to spend a few hours with her mother, Child B.  Finally Child B and Baby Baby had to go.  My goodness was the house quieter after they left! 

Child A resides with us while going to college and working, and we get to spend a little time with him every now and then.  Child A provides us with many hours of interesting and humorous conversation, sprinkled with his very sharp witticisms.  His personality is as warm and bright is this sun-shiny day today.  Child A, Child B, Son B, and Baby Baby are such great bright spots in our lives, brightness that outshines all the negative in the world.

I just needed to take a while to get things back into perspective.  With all that is going on, with all that could happen after the election, that is going on in the world, overall our nation is a great place to live, and our world is still a world full of beautiful, wonderful, and mysterious things.  I cannot say that I will never write another negative blog, but I can say that I believe the positive in our world, in our nation, and in each of our families, outweighs every negative thing that can be thrown at us here in this "vale of tears."

So today I pray that God bless you all, even in the midst of your troubles and worries, and...

May God Bless America

Protest and Pro Football

In these United States today we have seen many athletes, whether amateur, collegiate, or professional, choose to openly, as representatives of their respective sports, teams, and organizations, show public disrespect for the National Anthem and the Star-Spangled Banner at the opening or closing of one event or another.  Many Americans, including myself, have been outraged by this increasingly common form of "protest."  I find this conduct angering, although I am the first to acknowledge that those who chose to protest in this manner have the constitutionally-guaranteed, bought-with-blood right to do so.

As an American citizen, though I do find the above mentioned conduct angering and disgraceful, I also am very thankful that our government must allow this protest to go on.  Why?  Because if I decided to protest something (I would never dishonor the Flag or the nation for which it stands) I am protected from government action, such as arrest or prosecution, just as are the men and women who are grabbing headlines these days.  I will say it again, plainly: though I find their protest disgusting, I whole-heartedly agree with their right to do it, and their right to remain free from government retaliation.

BUT....
The "right" to protest does not mean that one SHOULD engage in a form of protest that dishonors the blood sacrifices of so many who have died to keep our nation free.  And, while GOVERNMENT prosecution of such protesters cannot and SHOULD NOT be allowed, there is nothing that says these people should face NO CONSEQUENCES.

In 2003 Natalie Maines chose to criticize then President Bush II during a "Dixie Chicks" performance in France.  Maines had every right to her opinion, and every right to blast out her opinion over international airwaves...BUT...she (and unfortunately her two band partners as well) faced the consequences of an enraged nation.  The "Government" did not prosecute her in any way, but her hasty, poor-thought out comments outraged virtually her entire fan base.  Because of Natalie Maines the Dixie Chicks became OVERNIGHT OUTCASTS.  Over a decade later the Dixie Chicks have not regained their position as one of the most popular country acts of the past few decades.  This was because the fans pulled out their support for the Dixie Chicks like a rug suddenly pulled from under a juggler's feet.

Country music fans are some of the most independent people in America, who believe in freedom, and who believe in America.   Back in 2003 the country fans knew that America was not perfect, that maybe the war was not the best solution, but they also knew how to properly respect the ideals that this nation stands for and strives, not perfectly, to uphold.  Natalie Maines did not "speak" for America or even the majority of country fans, and they let Natalie know that in a big way!

Now, over a decade later, a highly popular and athletically gifted pro football player has opted to exercise his right, to publicly dishonor this nation, and to encourage others to follow his example.  We all know that pro football teams want only ONE thing, that is to win!  The particular player that has stirred up this controversy is indeed a highly desirable player.  His team wants to win.  The owners of his team want the team to win.  And the fans of this team want them to win.  Rah! Rah! Rah!

But this player has made his statement.  The only question now is this: Will football fans, players, coaches, owners, and the armies of profiteers of pro football have the same kind of integrity displayed by country music fans over a decade ago?  That's right...can coaches and a team that wants the national championship demonstrate their integrity by not allowing this person to play?  Could fans of this man and his team actually show the fortitude to boycott every single game until this player is pulled from the roster?  Will advertisers exert pressure by refusing to sponsor this team?  Will owners and stockholders demand that this type of conduct NOT BE CONDONED?  Because letting this man continue to play, and not penalizing other athletes who choose the same means of protest, is saying very loudly that athletes, if they are "good enough," can dishonor this nation and face no consequences.

I am not holding my breath, as the saying goes, as I wait for the rightful condemnation of this man for turning a sports event into a captive venue for his political agenda.  I do not expect that he will face near the degree of ostracism that Natalie Maines experienced, because he is a national football great.

By the way, speaking of being a WELL PAID football star, I believe this man's protest rings with a bit of hypocrisy.  If this man is SO OFFENDED by this nation (including the blessings he has received as both a CITIZEN of this nation and a well-paid football player) why does he not renounce his football contract, give away his millions of "tainted" dollars, and move to a nation (if he can find one) that does not have some social injustice blemish on its record?  

If the day ever comes that the majority of Americans feel no loyalty to the Republic, if some day the vast majority of the people refuse to honor the National Anthem and the Star-Spangled Banner, I myself will still stand tall and salute our flag until that day that my body is finally too weak, then I will ask those standing next to me if they can raise me up just one more time to stand and sing the National Anthem.


May God Bless America

A No-Football Saturday Night

This past Saturday evening proved to be an adventure for my family.  The adventure started out in a very mundane way; I bought tickets to the local university football game.  The day went by rather slowly for a weekend day, but finally game time rolled around.  The weather had been very nice all day, but as my lovely bride and I drove toward Odessa, we noticed that the skies to the south and west were very dark and threatening.  A short time later we hit a small rain squall.  Before we reached Odessa, we a passed through a major storm, but then the skies seemed to clear slightly, and seemed less oppressive.

At Odessa we picked up Child B and Baby Baby (our granddaughter) then headed to the football stadium.  Upon arrival we got our first inkling that something was out of the ordinary.  The gates to the stadium were closed and no one was allowed inside.  We were told that too much lightning was happening and the game was delayed.  A short time later a police officer raced to where we were standing and began shouting for everyone to return to their vehicles, and that a tornado had touched down just a few miles west of our location, moving in our direction.  As we made our way back to our car I saw how many other vehicles were on the parking lot.  I realized that if a panic suddenly started, there would probably be many minor accidents and it would be next to impossible to get out of the stadium.  So I suggested we leave immediately.  Just a few other cars were leaving at this time, so our escape was quick.  We drove to the local mall and went inside.  Just in time, it turned out.

About ten minutes later a storm of quite intense magnitude broke right over the mall.  We could hear the noise of the rain falling on the roof, and over that noise we could hear hail striking the roof as well.  Thunder could be heard over the din of the storm.  We ate our dinner at Fuddrucker's then went out into the mall to walk around.  A few minutes later we were urged into an interior hallway, again due to a tornado being spotted in the area.  The storm dropped slightly in intensity shortly, and we made our way toward the doors by which we had entered the mall earlier.  Before we could get out, the storm gained in intensity again, so this time we took shelter inside the interior of the mall's multi-screened theater.  We passed the time keeping Baby Baby entertained, which kept us entertained as well. 

Later I noticed that the storm's intensity had dropped very noticeably, so Child B and I looked outside.  Rain was falling and the parking lot was flooded, but there was no real hazard now other than frequent lightening.  I braved the lightening and made my way to the car.  It was raining even less by this time and I picked up the family curb-side.  We made our way back to Child B's home and dropped off our precious cargo.  Son-in-law was safe and sound.  We were worried about Child A as well, and had maintained contact with him throughout the storm.  He did not experience the fury of the storm as we did, and  was doing quite well.  By the time we got home, another storm was brewing but we made it inside and no longer cared.

I love stormy weather and I even love to find somewhat precarious places from which to watch the lightning and the cloud formations, sometimes even to the point of endangerment.  My lovely bride has no sympathy for me if I meet my demise in a "stupid way" such as being struck by lightning while standing outside during a monsoon.   Mother Nature can be so beautiful and so dangerous all at the same time.  It truly was an awesome sight, this storm, even with all the built-in dangers.  I do love watching these storms, and I guess my hope is that should I get struck by lightning, it will not hurt badly, or at least not for very long.  Most of all I was happy that our family, and all those that attended the rained-out game Saturday evening, made it home safely.  And, there was surprisingly little storm damage.  All in all, a grand adventure.  Can't wait for next Saturday!

We, the Deplorable

So the great and terrible, all-seeing, all-knowing Hillary Clinton declared a few days ago that "half of Trump supporters are 'deplorable.'"  Later Ms. Clinton attempted to "clarify" herself by stating "I did not mean to say that half of Trump's supporters are deplorable."  How clarifying, yes?  Did she actually intend to say that ALL of those who support Trump are "deplorable?"  We may never know, although it is fairly easy to INFER that is exactly what she meant.  So Trump supporters are deplorable.

Deplorable has a couple of meanings according to dictionary citations.  First, deplorable means "deserving strong condemnation."  Another meaning is "deserving censure or contempt."  A third meaning is "shockingly bad in quality."  Hillary always picks her words and phrases carefully.  There is no doubt that she indeed finds those who support Trump (thus NOT Hillary) to be deplorable.  Ms. Clinton also no doubt knows that synonyms for "deplorable" include disgraceful, dreadful, horrifying, intolerable, lamentable, miserable, reprehensible, tragic, unbearable, and wretched.  Thus we may infer that anyone who does not support Hillary is all of the above.

By the way, one more synonym for deplorable is "SCANDALOUS."  Ahem...er....Hillary?  Did you know you YOURSELF are DEPLORABLE.  Yes, ma'am, being very scandalous from your early attorney days as a lawyer on the Watergate committee (from which you were FIRED FOR LYING), to the scandals with you and Bill in Arkansas, to your illegal email activities, and most of all, all the way to your depraved indifference to the plight of the desperate heroes of Benghazi, you have been the VERY DEFINITION of DEPLORABLE.  When, Ms. Clinton, other than during your pre-school years, have you ever NOT been scandalous, or "deplorable?"

It would seem to me that if supporters of Trump are, in your word, deplorable, how much more so are you and those who support you?  In the current two party system, the only way NOT to vote for you, Ms. Clinton, is to vote for Donald Trump.  At least it appears at this point that the third party candidates cannot win the presidential election.  So for many Americans there seems to be no alternative but to vote for Donald Trump.  I personally would rather vote for Donald Duck but he has no chance of carrying enough delegates at this point to win the election, so that just leaves Trump.

Ms. Clinton, I am very pleased that you find me deplorable, if being non-deplorable means having YOUR values (cannot keep a straight face as I type "values" in the same sentence with "Clinton") and YOUR sense of honesty, indeed, YOUR integrity (rolling in the floor now, give me a second!) than I am more than happy to wear the label that you so boldly bestowed on probably forty percent of American voters.  I understand that there is even a T-shirt for "deplorable people" to purchase.  I will be getting one of my own, for sure. 

I have never wanted to be deplorable, but Ms. Clinton has given that word a new meaning, and now I am indeed honored to be "deplorable." 

Stay DEPLORABLE, my friends, and may God Bless America.

America Fifteen Years Later

Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of the 9/1/1 attacks.  I joined millions of Americans and probably thousands or millions of people across the globe Sunday in remembering the attacks and the lives lost, both Americans and visitors to this nation.  Fifteen years ago, but like yesterday in my mind.

Unfortunately fifteen years later we are STILL fighting in Iraq, still sending death raining from the skies down on unsuspecting people, many of whom are innocent bystanders, often in nations that are not our enemy.  We are still watching our soldiers die in Afghanistan, and in a word, we are STILL AT WAR. 

I would like to say here that I support our troops, and I pray for their safety.  A soldier's obligation is to follow his or her orders, to carryout missions as assigned, without question.  I honor the troops who do so.  What I do not support is our government sending our people to fight and die in those places in which our forces completed the stated objectives, but then some new "threat" arises, and more American lives are lost, as well as many thousands of citizens of those nations. 

I do not support our leaders (and the corporate heads pulling their strings) when those leaders arm an irregular force in one nation, while fighting and bombing members of the SAME organization in the bordering nation.  Sounds absurd?  Well this is exactly what is happening in Syria and Iraq.  Our government is supplying arms to ISIS in Syria, while waging war against Isis in Iraq.  Guess where ISIS in Iraq gets it weapons?  Yes, from the ISIS "brothers" in Syria.  To you and me this concept is stupidity.  To our leaders, this is "foreign policy."Please do not believe me on this - do the research for yourself.  It is easy to confirm my statement.

I do not support our leaders who give us a new " bogey man" as soon as we gain control, at least temporarily, of the first one, al la Orwell's "1984."  We (our leaders) got rid of Saddam Hussein, then Muammar Gaddafi, several guys in the Baltic, and finally Osama Son of Laden.  I remember over a decade ago how we were told that the War On Terror (WOT) would be completed once the seventeenth son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was put to rest.  Only ten years after Osama was placed on the FBI's most wanted list, he was supposedly killed in 2011 (although a funeral was held for bin Laden in 2001) in a raid carried out by US Navy Seal operatives.

I do not support our leaders in their decision that the people of America can only be safe if the police state envisioned by Orwell is brought to fruition before our very eyes, never mind the Constitution.  It would appear that our government fears its own citizens more than it fears a few thousand "terrorists" across the globe.  I do not support the idea that it is just fine to circumvent the Constitution through laws and executive orders that are clearly in absolute opposition to our rights as Americans and as people in general.  Think USA PATRIOT and the flagrant spying by the NSA.

In the fifteen years that have passed since that terrible day in 2001, we have lost much of our freedom, or face that potential loss with a stroke of the President's pen.  We have lost thousands of soldiers in foreign lands, not because they were not good soldiers, but because of our own incompetent government and its conflicting, irrational, and illegal foreign policy.  We have lost millions of good citizens of other lands during the last fifteen years, victims of that irrational and illegal foreign policy.  The only thing we have not lost is a permanent state of war. 

Barack Obama promised to end these wars, and like many of his other promises, he did not carry through with the "Hope and Change" he crowed about all through 2008 and again in 2012.  It would appear now, in 2016, that no matter which of the two candidates should win the upcoming election, that things will proceed pretty much as normal into 2017 and beyond.   How can I say this? Simply because President Bush II and Barack Obama were supposedly totally opposite in their beliefs and philosophies.  Obama crucified Bush for signing USA PATRIOT into law and for starting and continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Yet Obama followed and expanded Bush's policies as Obama's administration drug on.

Fifteen years and two days after the terrible attacks of 2001, we do not seem to be any closer to the end of the WOT.  Not only that, it appears that our leaders have accepted, and now are trying to get the American people to accept, the idea that we must be permanently at war with someone or some entity "to keep America safe." They have tried and are still trying to convince us that here at home, our only safety lies in the continuing evolution we are in now from a democratic republic to a police state.  Hope and change?  My hope is that the American people will unite and change the attitude of our leaders by making it clear that we do not accept the premise that we must be at war PERMANENTLY, and that we do not accept the need for a continually expanding police state at home so that the government can "protect us." 

As we remember those who lost their lives on 9/01/01 I also hope we remember that freedom is not free, and that thousands of soldiers have died over the years to keep this nation free.  But I hope we also remember that "freedom" and "safety" are not synonymous.  In fact, freedom cannot exist in the same setting as total safety.  The more our government tries to protect us by continuing the (by definition endless) WOT, and by establishing a stronger and stronger police state at home, the more inevitable it is that we will cease to be free.  And if we cease to be free, in the name of safety, we will have rendered vain the sacrifices made by all those who lost their lives on that awful day, fifteen years ago.