“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
-Benjamin Franklin
So it’s quite late already and tomorrow is still a work day, however, after watching this video posted by Jed Lewison on McCain’s Never Ending War I feel compelled to write down my thoughts to help release the frustration built up from watching the video. It is quite well done, and it highlights various excerpts provided by Arizona Senator and Republican Presidential candidate John McCain on his flip-flopping views on the War in Iraq.
As a Vietnam veteran, McCain is widely viewed as the most experienced of all the candidates in military tactics and leadership, and perhaps at the core that is what is driving the comments and views that he is presenting. However, through the chronological time line that Jed reveals masterfully in the video, one can see how McCain initially supported and promoted the tactics and strategy that the current Bush administration have used in Iraq, only to backpedal in recent months and claim the opposite and instead has been, in his own words, “the greatest critic over the initial four years” of the war and agreed that “the Bush administration has pursued a failed policy” and “strongly disagreed with the Bush administration’s mismanagement of the War in Iraq“.
Now having a politician flip-flop on his views and policies is nothing new. It is sad but it is almost expected in politics. What’s aggravating here though is the whole misconception that he continues to have that the Iraqi people view America as liberators and actually feel thankful for the war-torn, impoverish, crime-ridden state that their country is in. Along with that the whole misconception that he has that he knows better than all of the Iraqi people and government, which is why he is against having the Iraqi people vote on a referendum on the whether the American troops should stay in Iraq, nor ask the Iraqi government if they want a timetable for the American troops to leave. No, McCain KNOWS BETTER than the majority of the American people, because he disagrees with the majority consensus that the troops should come back. But what’s most appalling is the fact that he feels that America should and will continue to occupy Iraq indefinitely and in his own words for “maybe a hundred years“. How irresponsible is that? How can you even consider what is going on in Iraq anything other than an occupation as opposed to a liberation and fight for freedom when you make such irresponsible claims?
The War in Iraq has been fought on a false pretense and to continue on the same course of action with the benefit of hindsight and experience is insane. There is no better explanation for that. America … please stop the insanity.
Watch the McCain’s Never Ending War video on YouTube.
Get more information on the 2008 Presidential Election here: www.2008americavotes.com
and 
.
Reviving the American Dream
Tags: barack obama, democratic party, george bush, presidential election, republican party
It has been almost a week since Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, took the stand to deliver a well-received speech in Berlin and then take a subsequent whirlwind tour of France and England. Due to some real estate responsibilities that has been keeping me busy, it wasn’t until yesterday that I had a chance to watch the speech on YouTube. It was definitely well worth waiting for.
On a day when Republican rival, John McCain, was dining at a German Sausage House trying to gain some publicity (no coincidence with the German connection), Obama was working on rebuilding bridges (which the arrogant incumbent President Bush has so carelessly burned) by inspiring the people of Berlin. This inspiration ultimately touches the rest of the world because we do live in an age of real-time global media and communication.
Obama chose Berlin to make his speech because its historic struggle with freedom and democracy symbolizes the message that Obama wanted to communicate. The rise and fall of the Berlin wall and Germany’s ultimate victory over inward communism represents the same journey that Obama wants his country to travel, and bring America back to a state of respectability that it has lost from a global perspective, over the past 8 years. The walls that he feels the world must now overcome are more on a mental level than physical. It is the walls of race, country cultures, religion and beliefs. All the things that the people my age, the generation of the Information Age, can truly appreciate. It is the doctrine that we were taught while growing up, and it is the lifestyle that we try to live out everyday in our multi-national, multi-cultural societies. And at the core that is probably why Barack Obama’s views and ideas resonates so well with the younger generation. It is because he understands that America is not a nation that can and should be above all other nations, and can beat to its own drum and rules without any conscience of the consequences these ignorant decisions have. For America to win the War on Terror, it will need the help of their allies and acknowledge and respect the voices of other nations, as opposed to isolating themselves and ignoring the sound advice of their friends.
Perhaps being born from a Caucasian American mother and a immigrant Kenyan father has given Obama the perspective of seeking unity as opposed to segregation. To break down walls and build relationships, as opposed to building boundaries and initiating conflict. With his speech in Berlin, Barack Obama reminds us how great a nation America can be, if lead with proper direction and noble motives. America has strayed so far from the American dream during the recent Bush era, secluding itself under a blanket of fear and alienating allies with the pompous and ego-driven decisions that have been made. It’s time that America, as a nation, stops living in fear and take its rightful role in the global society. To be a role model that other countries look towards as a symbol of hope, freedom, democracy and the American dream. And that path to respectability starts at the top, by electing a respectable and diplomatic leader with a noble vision, in Barack Obama. The world is watching America. Don’t let us down.
Get more information on the presidential candidates and process here: www.2008americavotes.com