The current daily loss of life in the "Middle East Experience" (Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc.) seems to be weighing less and less heavily upon the psyche of the American mind as, much like a Shakespearean tragedy the body bags and parts add up. American newscasts spend more time talking about the "American Idol" Experience or whether Tiger Woods is in a slump than doing any real in-depth coverage of what is now considered old hat. But below the surface of the matter we see an ev...

Many people seem to have made up their mind on who they will cast their vote for in November in the Presidential election. This may have to do with a primary season that was over by early April and an incumbent who went unchallenged. However, it seems to me that making up one's mind about voting 5 months early makes for an even more divisive situation in a country that needs, if anything, much more solid information about candidate's abilities and platform for the next four years than we ha...

( footnote: I would like to thank all those people who took the time to read and/or comment on the blog "No Constitutional Amendment against Lefties." Once again, the conversation showed the intelligence and decorum of the JoeUser! ") The 1992 election was winding down and the American people were still undecided about whether they would vote for George Bush or Bill Clinton. Networks were doing audience participation "town hall meetings" and "round table discussions" about whom the voter...

The debate over how to deal with terorism and more specifically "terrorist entities" (organizations like Al Qaeda, countries like the old Afghanistan and Iraq) centers around 2 central themes. The first approach is that the U.S. and the coalition of the "dragged along" (those who will not oppose us) should decide which places need to have their people subjegated or destroyed. The second approach is that we must learn to deal with cultures different from our own, accept their right to be wha...

The new Michael Moore film is being painted two distinct colors, black and white. The 9/11 Committee has been called both wrong and superb. The foes of Mr. Cheney claim he is a vile blasphemer and unworthy of being Vice-President, the friends say his tirade on the Senate floor was long overdue. Why are people taking all of these things so seriously? Have we truly lost our moral compass of respect for the other guy that says the concept of free speech is for both sides of the argument? ...

One of the oddest things about politics is the concentrated effort we make to bring young people into the voting booth, when most of the people who are making the effort wouldn't agree with the young voters choices when they get there. Concentrated "get out the vote" efforts in the U.S., Canada, England, etc. are designed to ensure the continuation of democracy in a way similar to the church trying to get young folks to attend church. This is not to say that I think young people should ...

(I wrote an article "There Ought to Be a Law" to express the opinion that I felt that maybe our society should pull back a bit on making sports such a central feature of our kids life and provide a level playing field for maybe (if their parents chose) getting them involved in Sunday Schools by making Sunday mornings sports free. Many respondents (and I appreciate all views, even those 180 degrees opposed to mine) expressed outrage about interference into their lives by doing something like...

We want the world to be happy, like us. We want terrorism removed from the Middle East. We will say that we want democracy, free trade and general abundance. Of course, to do this, we might have to do a little inventing. But Americans won't mind, they like invention. Since the war ended in Iraq last year the quiet voices in the Bush Administration (Wolfowitz, in particular, but Rumsfeld to a degree) have been considering what our "next best move" is in the Middle East. Now that Mr....

“I think a presidential election year is a marvelous thing. I think Senator Kerry is a patriot. And I think what ... what we’re doing is, we’re seeing an attempt to sort of draw the lines between the two parties in this country. And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Franks said." There seems to be a certain amount of sentiment suggesting John Kerry should be given little or no credit for his service in Viet Nam. Kerry was awarded 3 purple hearts and regardless of how you try and slice ...

A few weeks ago there was a bunch of hoopla over John Kerry's Hollywood Star-studded cash bash when personalities like Whoopi Goldberg and John Mellencamp made derogatory statements about President Bush and the administration. John Kerry said at the end of the night that "Hollywood conveys the image of America" which many neocons saw as absurd and insulting. Michael Moore (not a Hollywood insider) is the right's whipping post for how the film industry misrepresents American culture and valu...

Every 4 years one of the seminal events of politics used to capture the attention and television audience with its glitz and grandeur, suspense and drama. They were shown on all networks and received great ratings because they provided a peak at the democratic process. My parents were glued to their sets as each political party laid before the American people their positions on the issues that confronted them. Men like David Brinkley and Eric Severeid provided commentary on the real and un...

There are many issues that surround the death penalty and the debate goes on now 7,000 years into real human history. Both those for and against can make compelling philosophical arguments why their position is correct. Of course, 99% of those who make such arguments will never be in a position personally where it will be an issue. Perhaps the focus, then, should be on where there might be a middle ground available to both sides, the application of the penalty itself. There are 3 areas ...

The current political hysteria over the menace of Lefty marriages in the U.S. and the threat it poses to our Righty society has now reached the point where many church and social leaders want to pass a Constitutional Amendment banning Lefties from marrying. The language of the amendment: "We hereby define marriage as a union between two right handed people." fits scriptural reasoning in the old testament because we read in Exodus when God speaks to Moses at the burning bush, "Go and tell Pha...

The American healthcare systems (it would be inappropriate to say there was only one) have begun to reach the point where the costs to the retired (actually, those over 40 probably qualify) that Americans are beginning to see that comprehensive reform of the system(s) is necessary before they become bankrupt. Most Americans are fairly sure it is not on the Republicans priority list to do so and President Bush is the flagbearer for the party. Make no mistake about it, the retired vote and th...

The United States of America has always been about the concepts of freedom and responsibility. It was founded on those principles 225 years ago when a group of mostly rich, mostly well-educated people got together and decided that representation in a government was more important than loyalty to the King of England and freedom to achieve was more important than supporting decisions of a government that didn't have your interests at heart. A poll taken among the new citizens of the united co...