Go fight, then have a great life - MAYBE!?

Does it shock you that our leaders expect the brave men and women to put everything on the line for our two front war in Iraq and Afghanistan? They serve bravely for extended periods in a war that has lasted longer than WWII.

Then, when they come home, our leaders want to forget them. Taking care of our veteran's physical, emotional, and educational needs are not our problem our government leaders say. Now I ask you, is that fair? Forget fair, is it just and moral?

I am proud of our men and women in uniform. Whether you agree with the war or not, you should be proud of them too. But that's your call.

If we are truly fighting for freedom and our way of life, then we should help those who fight for us. In many cases, we take their youth and leave them broken with no means to get their lives back in order. We should be able to help them return to happy, healthy, and prosperous lives.

Both the current administration and our Congressional leaders have the power to fix this and yet they do not. The brave generation of WWII became very, very prosperous as a result of the GI Bill and other government sponsored programs, yet now we barely want to treat the wounded in uniform (remember the Walter Reed Hospital issues from a few years ago) much less those who are wounded after they leave the military.

I am proud of this country yet I find it hard to come to grips with our leaders who are reluctant to help those who give so much to make this nation strong. It just doesn't seem moral to me.

Bush is no Truman

Today our fearless leader gave a speech at the White House aimed to sooth our concerns for the economy. The speech was ever eloquent, as always, but there was something about it that really concerned me.

The President basically shifted the blame for the state of the economy and high gas prices to Congress. He basically stated that Congress did not follow his lead on domestic oil exploration in Alaska or on the use of switch grass for bio-fuel. His thoughts were that if these two initiatives had been accepted than fuel and food prices would not have risen.

To a certain extent he may be right, however is leadership about blame or about action? Wasn't it our 33rd President, Harry Truman, who kept a plaque on his desk that said, "The buck stops here".

Truman did not place blame, he made the tough decisions (right or wrong through the lens of history) and took action. He led the nation through uncertainty and fear.

Well, America is uncertain and fearful of the economy and our global standing, but unfortunately our "leaders" pass the buck, spend our tax dollars like drunken sailors and offer no solutions or leadership. It's a game at which both the President and our Congressional leaders have become quite efficient.

Hillary or Barrack?

That is the question. If these two keep it up it will more than likely be John. There are things that I like about all three of them. There are things that I do not like about all three of them. What about you?

Have you really listened to their principles, policies, goals and objectives? Have you really listened to their vision for the country. Yes, we are in a war, actually several wars. Of course we all know about the two front war that our brave men and women in the military are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. It doesn't matter how we got there or why we are there, the point is that we are there. We are also in a war against poverty, a war against racism and prejudice, a war on drugs, a war on poor health, a war on environmental pollution and climate change, and probably a few others that escape me right now.

Wow, that's a lot of wars. Are we winning any of them? Which candidate will lead us to victory in one of them? Or does the President really matter in these wars? Will the new leader of the free world be able to impact any of these wars significantly over four years?

Maybe. What would make the new administration successful in your view? Would it be lower energy prices, lower food prices, universal health care, victory in Iraq, peace in the Middle East.

Think about it. Will the next administration be effective? It will definitely be historic in one way or another. Why you say? Well because it will be a first. Either we will have the first woman, the first black or the oldest person ever to take the oath of office in January 2009.

Pennsylvania is over - now what??

Fellow independent thinkers. It strikes me quite odd that for three weeks we heard that Pennsylvania would put an end to the Presidential Democrat nominee race. Well, PA was a few days ago, Obama got creamed, and all we hear is that we have four more months of this.

I am an independent. I have voted for Republicans and for Democrats. Four more months of this is driving me away from the news channels that I so love to watch. The crazy thing is that it is driving me to watch more Boomerang. Yep, that's right - I am watching more cartoons.

Unfortunately, the cartoons are not nearly as funny as the candidates and their antics so what is a controlled sporadic supposed to do?