NO on more money, soldiers, or equipment being spent on Iraq. There is no face to be saved, that childish notion was never an option. Every minute spent there only compounds the idiocy of our original transgression in 2003. Bush has definitely moved on, by what right are we still held hostage to this atrocity, why aren’t the rest of us allowed to move on? Whether we left in 2004 or left today or leave ten years from now there will be no difference in that county; women will continue to be regarded as chattel regardless of the rotation of men in power. This is the true raw measure of our irrelevance in Iraq. Despite all of our killing we’ve just been treading water in someone else’s befouled pond. Time to exit; take the usual pounding from the right wing about the resulting cataclysmic nation security failure that’s sure to come. It’s time to face the reality of our power within the universe. It’s time to get humble, go home and attempt to clean up our own abundant messes.
We can start with a job for me. I am 67 years old, worked damn hard all of my life, was laid off almost three years ago, cannot afford to retire, mortgage not paid off, have burnt through all but a few thousand dollars of my savings. These are the “Golden Years” American style. My daughter is 32 years old, was laid off four years ago, back living with me. Unemployment long since gone for both of us. I still send out resumes frequently, sometimes get phone interviews, occasionally get a face to face interview. Face to face interview from last week . . . was told they received thirty resumes for the one position, they granted interviews to only three applicants. I got one of those interviews but not the job. And my country’s priority is to dump obscene amounts of money into the black hole known as Iraq and Afghanistan, eh, to keep me safe. Hoorah.
Instead of sending me back a flowery form letter how about sending me a job, I live in the San Francisco area.
Power To The People.
Port Tack 
Obstructing the Vote
29 SepThe super hypocritical thing about all this push to legalize obstructions to voting and the practice of gerrymandering is that these very obstructionists are the hardest flag wavers in the country.
One person one vote is held as the ultimate symbol of all that is American; except, it would seem, if the flag wavers are panicked about losing an election.
These flag wavers would boast that the United States is the fairest most honest country on the planet, that all the world should follow our voting practices, that corrupted voting abroad is a bastardization of democracy. They would say with great pride that here in the United States we are staunch champions of the fair fight; that we hate filthy cheaters; that we despise athletes that cheat with performance enhancing drugs. We even pee test horses after races to make sure the races are fair and free of artificial advantages. Cheating is seen as a shameful weakness, a character flaw and those who practice it should be shunned. A fixed prize fight or (God forbid) point shaving in a football game is a disgrace, it’s simply unAmerican. These flag wavers would tell you that America is the Poster Child for the level playing field . . . . except, it would seem, if they are panicked about losing an election.
Our wildly flag waving Tea Party was founded on the bumper sticker “no taxation without representation”. Where are the Tea Party folks now that this most sacred of American rights is under attack? Quiet as a thief in the night. Would they argue that there is a category of Americans who can be taxed but who don’t merit representation? If there’s an election at stake in America is the catchy slogan suspended, does the end justify the means for an inauguration?
Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times talked to donors on their way to one of Romney’s several fundraisers in the Hamptons.
“A New York City donor a few cars back, who also would not give her name, said Romney needed to do a better job connecting. “I don’t think the common person is getting it,” she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. “Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them.” We’ve got the message,” she added. “But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies – everybody who’s got the right to vote – they don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income – one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”
So waving the flag while wagging the tongue . . . . that pesky common person vote, it makes maintaining power much more of an effort than it should be for her people; the people who know best.
Power to the People
Tags: Congress, Cowards in Politics, Elections, hypocracy, Level Playing Field - Not, obstructionists, politics, progressive commentary, republicans, Voter Obstructionism, voting