2008 is upon us, and the big thing this year is the election.
The last two elections were supposedly decided on moral issues. How moral is it to lie and start a pre-emptive war against a people who had nothing to do with 9-11? We have sacrificed not only 4,000 of our brave young men and women but also brought home 20,000 maimed to be given substandard care due to this administration’s neglect. Not to mention the 30,000- plus Iraqis dead, to say nothing of the homeless and displaced.
Try as I might, I can see no moral justice in that. But that is history. We must now focus our attention on a number of issues to bring this nation back to its former greatness.
Being a Roosevelt Democrat, I was leaning toward John Edwards until he dropped out. Why? One reason among many was his answer to a question asked of all candidates: What country are you most concerned about in the future? To a person, except for Edwards, Republicans and Democrats alike stated the obvious: Iraq, Iran or Pakistan.
Only Edwards said China — demonstrating his shrewdness and wisdom.
We owe that nation a trillion dollars. China has just been outed for sending us bad dog food, seafood raised in cesspools, and lead-tainted toys for our children. They have a slave work force, a million-man army, nuclear weapons and, thanks to this administration, the technology to dispense them — and they hate our guts.
The only two wars we lost were ones when we were fighting against China: Korea and Vietnam. How our corporations could do business with China after the sacrifices our young made in those two wars is beyond me. (Sorry, one war, one police action, but one is just as dead in a “police action” as in the other.)
Of course, I can’t place all the blame on corporations, as they have no allegiance to country or people, only reverence for profit. We the people must take a goodly portion of blame for China’s rise in the world marketplace. We stumbled over one another to get cheap merchandise sold to us by the world’s richest corporation, Wal-Mart, which got its start with the slogan “buy America” and then left us by the side of the road like roadkill in the pursuit of profits.
Would I like to see a woman or a black as president? You bet. But this is not the time. The two running in this election have taken their eye off the ball, whereas Edwards has the most important game ball in sight.
We, whether Republicans, Democrats or independents, need to really look beyond the sound bite and the 100-percentwrong pundits and pollmakers. I said “makers” for the simple reason these egotistical Rupert Murdoch employees think we are stupid.
Well, we were stupid once when we fell for the Moral Majority’s propaganda. We have to have some pointed questions for people seeking employment from us. We must put things in perspective. Politicians are not knights and kings; they are our employees and as such should be held accountable. Yet it appears we spend more time questioning people we employ to mow our lawns and clean our homes than we do those we hire to manage our country.
The people we put in place now are going to affect the lives of our children and possibly grandchildren. Let’s vote with our heads instead of our hearts. Become involved. This is your country, not theirs. Find out who your precinct people are in your district. Show up at the caucuses Feb. 5 and voice your opinion.
Remember, there is no such thing a a stupid question, only dumb answers. Politics is like a septic system: If you don’t care about it you are soon up to your neck in something that smells bad.
If you don’t care, you won’t get the government you want; you get what you deserve.
Galen Larson lives in rural Montezuma County.
