POST ELECTION UPDATE (NOV 5, 2008). What a feeling! It feels like New Year's Day. I am ecstatic. Have
not been this relaxed in 8 years. It felt like waking up from a
nightmare that had gone on for too long. Finally, the world's super
power is free from the tyranny of idiots and bigots. I am so glad not
to hear Palin and McCain's rhetoric and cunning lines in media any
more. What a fight Obama fought, and what a victory he earned. In
Baden, even the marouni-man was wishing Obama well.
Tom recalled our watching the 2000 elections together and the saga
by which Bush stole the election from Gore. "Who would have thought 8
years later the shit that would have gone down". We did. We knew how a
fool could derail a nation and the world, but millions didn't.
What a jubilee. It is not about race, but it is also historical that an
African American becomes the president. The bigots burned by prejudice
are still posting racial messages anonymously. Shame on them. I am
thrilled that a black brother has become the President.
After being burned out on politics in 2004, and lack of enthusiasm for
either candidate, I was trying to stay out, but the fever is high in
the media and it's hard to stay out of it.
Just dropping a quick note to a few friends to share what I see.
Four and eight years ago it was clear Bush would steer the country and
the world in the wrong direction. Sure enough it happened. To the point
that recent polls put his job approval rating at below 25% which makes
him one of the, if not, the worst president in history. Yet -- yet, so
many people, including my dear cousin in Ohio was hard core Bush fans
and bragged about him being a cowboy. Well, that cowboy mentality got
the country into deep troubles, every where you turn your eyes, to the
degree that Bush has been completely absent from the campaign.
It's clear to me that John McCain -- whom I used to respect before I
saw how disgracefully he's conducted his campaign -- will not be that
different than Bush, as much as he wants to distance himself from Bush.
But let's not get into that. What intrigues me is how could so many
people, including my dear cousin, have been so wrong in 2000 and 2004,
and didn't see what was so clear to me and some others -- and -- have
these folks changed despite the value of their homes and their dollars
having dropped and all the other factors that makes Bush be considered
by some 75% of Americans as a failure? If they have not changed, then
the will make the same mistake and vote for McCain. But I warn them
that just as they were wrong in 2000 and 2004, they'll be wrong again
this time -- it's crystal clear to me.
Let's just leave it at that. It's crystal clear to me that a Palin
McCain administration will further ruin the economy, will restart the
Cold War, will further isolate the US, will perpetuate the wars, will
start new wars until McCain fulfills his complex of having to win a
war, and God forbid, if McCain dies in the next four years, a more
hardcore fanatic, i.e., Palin, will finish the job of destroying the
American dream, which is the very fear that fear-mongers like Rove and
the rest of the Republican strategists use to scare people against
voting for the democratic ticket.
I am not a Democrat. I liked Obama when I first heard him speak in
2004, but in 2008, the hype around him turned me off. But later, I grew
to like him, and specially the level headed people he'll bring on board.
I particularly like Obama's proposals for renewable energy. His
presidemcy will give a big boost to this sector, and I know this from
talking with some big shots within the renewable energy industry.
McCain will take us back to of 1970's and 80's and the problems
associated with nuclear power which he apparently does not understand.
McCain, like Bush, finished near the bottom of his class, maybe this is
why he appeals so strongly with certain folks!
Folks, let's let some smart people run this country for a change,
people who care more than just for big oil and big phrama -- you'll be
surprised at the result and how it will make your life better. Vote
Obama-Biden. And if you don't like either candidate, then just don't
vote. If you vote for McCain, you're going to make a big mistake.
We are all on as a planet and the concerns of one part concerns us all.
Just like our body in which every part is related to the other and the
well being of a part effects the whole. I don't usually write political
commentary and the last time I did a political mailing was same time,
four years ago, urging folks not to vote for Bush/Cheney. The grave
danger of another four years of this administration was clear then and
today we see the consequence of their failed leadership. In fact, in
year 2000 it was also clear to many that Bush's presidency would mean a
world worse off but when people live in prosperous times they don't
think of how bad it can get. We lived in amazingly prosperous times in
year 2000. The US had a huge budget deficit after the Clinton years,
and yes, Clinton was a Democrat whom the Republicans accuse of being
for big government and runaway spending. Those were good prosperous
years and I clearly remember how we all felt lucky to be living in such
times.
Mind you, I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I don't belong to
any parties and in fact think the bi-partisan system is very limiting
and primitive. It is merely a manifestation of the duality in the
physical universe, including magnetic polarity, genders, and the two
sides of our bodies and brains. We do not have to live according to
that duality but I have no hopes of changing a two-party system. In
fact I don't have much hope for politics and politicians in the USA
anyway because the uneducated masses managed to re-elect Bush in 2004
after it was so very obvious that the next four years would be terrible
for the US and the world. Today, we see the consequence of it in the
meltdown of the banking and credit system. Who would have every thought
Lehman Brothers or Washington Mutual would go insolvent or Wachovia
would have to sell itself?
Everyone and their mother went into mortgage business. I have several
engineer friends who quit their jobs to go into mortgage business. It
was not hard to see a few years ago that something has to give. What
did the government do to regulate abuses? Nothing, until it was too
late.
What did the government do in the last few years to ensure terminal
patients receive safe life extending biologics? Nothing. The Bush FDA
is a failure. A panel of 17 expert doctors voted for the approval of
Provenge, as a safe and effective treatment of late stage prostate
cancer, not through chemotherapy but through educating and enabling the
body's own immune system to fight the disease. What did the Bush FDA
do? For the first time in history it went against the recommendation of
its own panel of experts regarding a treatment for terminal patients.
Why? The theories are abundant: power-play within the FDA, influence of
hedge funds who had shorted the stock, fear of chemotherapy industry
who stood to lose a lot if a non-chemical treatment for cancer hits the
market. Fact is, two of the doctors on the panel who had undisclosed
conflict of interest lobbies incessantly against Provenge and they got
their way. Since then, FDA has changed the rules since patients have
sued it and protested and cried. But it failed the patients, and tens
of thousands of men will die by years of delay in this approval. That's
the Bush FDA for you. The commissioner was appointed by Bush and he is
a long term family friend of Bush from Texas.
I won't go into how Bush's FEMA mishandled the Hurricane Katrina relief
effort (according to a Republican congress's own report). The
head of FEMA, Michael Brown's biggest job before landing at FEMA was
supervising judges at Arabian horse shows. He was brought in by the
college friend / former campaign manager of Bush, Joe Allbaugh, who
left as the head of FEMA to become a consultant and lobbyist. Allbaugh
then began signing up clients who wanted—and
got—FEMA’s lucrative contracts.
Bush's SEC is another story. Sometimes I wonder if the Securities and
Exchange Commission is protecting people of the US or Wall Street. Take
one example: According to SEC rules a naked short sale has to be
settled within three days. And by settling they mean shares have to be
identified. An SEC lawyer told me recently that that "identification"
can be abused -- another words, two sellers could "identify" the same
share although it is not ok, SEC won't do anything about it until each
case is individually investigated. We're living in 21st century folks,
and we have computers. That's the tip of the ice berg. If you look at
the list of companies that are on the list of companies whose stock has
"failed to deliver" you will find companies have been on that list for
10, 50, 100, and 200 days. That's a lot more days than 3. What's the
SEC doing about it? Nothing.
That is the Bush's SEC for you, and the hands-off policies that John
McCain also promotes. Folks, this mind-set has failed. Why would anyone
want four more years of it? The head of SEC himself has called selling
shares not intended for delivery criminal but they're have not stopped
the practice. They've been reactive and ineffective. When a company is
on a naked short list for 200 days, while it may be true that the naked
short settled the trades every 3 days and took new positions, this
should still be considered manipulation and investigated. Why has the
SEC not investigated these abuses? And you go on SEC's site and find
letters from large hedge fund managers who are lobbying SEC to not
regulate. They love lack of regulation. They want to run the show and
run companies to the ground by selling shares that do not exist. In
every justice system selling what you don't have, and selling what you
have not even borrowed, is criminal. Bush's SEC's hands-off policies
has failed the American people, and hurt the economy of the US and
subsequently the world.
If one read American history one would know that most of the time the
second term of two-term presidencies has been worse in performance. Now
we are witnessing it clearly. The list of what's wrong is long. Bush
really destroyed the respect that American once had around the world. I
know many people in Europe, doctors, engineers, students, and so on,
who say they will not go to American as long as Bush is in office
because of his arrogant unilateral backward mindset. I won't go into
how many lives are lost in Iraq or how much money is being wasted there
every single there. I won't go into how Bush attacked Iraq and took his
eye off Afghanistan. Let's forget the lies about Saddam's weapons of
mass destruction that never existed, that the Congress's own report
indicated they never existed, and yet, many in the US still believe
they did. Let's not remind ourselves of the ignorance of many who
thought Saddam and Al Quada were in bed while it has been proven that
they were not. I was happy Saddam was captured but the Iraq quagmire
makes me sick. And McCain talks about being there another 100 years.
McCain's bully attitude towards the international community is a sour
reminder of Bush's Cowboy Diplomacy which has failed the American
people. He seems increasingly desperate to make any promise to become
president. This week he's promising to balance the budget in four years.
America has historically been the economic engine of the world. That
engine was fueled by consumer spending. Now that spending has slowed.
People have to spend twice as much money on petrol as they did not long
ago. The price of homes have dropped substantially. The millionaires
who voted for Bush to save taxes are finding their total assets have
shrunk and the value of their dollars have dived. The religious
fanatics who voted for Bush are witnessing the value of their
retirement account dive. The uneducated and fearful who fell for the
Carl Rove type of propaganda, also known as "fear mongering", may have
noticed that they were played with. Certain people never learn. Their
patriotism translates to calling Obama names which are not at all true.
Obama is not un-American. He is the embodiment of what the "American
Dream" is all about. I was impressed with him four years ago but in the
preliminary elections the euphoria surrounding him, and his over-played
motto of change scared me, because in my life experience I have seen
that euphoric call for change doesn't always mean change and can get
you worse off. Biden added a lot to the ticket. I always liked
him, as much as one can like a politician who seem categorically to not
be philosophers, or lover of truth. On the other side, I liked Palin a
lot in the beginning, but only her looks. Even that attraction wore off
quickly as I saw what was behind the looks. Just yesterday an Alaska
legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws
and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired
as a state trooper. Anyway, the idea of her becoming president is the
scariest thing since hearing Bush beat Kerry in Ohio in 2004.
That days is unforgettable. I happened to be quite close to the whole
process and the things I witnessed were pretty appalling, specially,
the length Bush supporters were willing to go to press their case, some
of which violated every rule of decency and civility
McCain's has failed to address the economic chaos. All I hear him say
is he's going to stop government spending except for Veterans and
military, etc., and hear him talk about his hero Reagan, and say he
will balance the budget (while his tax cuts add $5 trillion to the
debt!), which is very contrary to his hero's outlook who did not see a
large deficit as a deficit because of the strong military which meant
the deficit never had to be paid back. Well the world is different now.
The mighty super power military is now stretched thin. Bush's biggest
mistake was to rush to the war in Iraq. McCain supported him.
A muscle used is never as strong as a muscle shown, i.e., diplomacy.
I the years preceding Bush's disaster years you could never
imagine the tone of what you now hear around the world because
America was viewed as a super power whose military you would not
want to mess with. That cowboy diplomacy led to the cause of 911 still
being on the loose, and according to several western sources, the
causes of 911 actually are having an easier time recruiting new
members. The alternative, meaning, closer work with allies, and
diplomacy absolutely would have worked. Look at Libya. Even North Korea
-- today the news headline is "The United States is ready to drop North
Korea from a terrorism blacklist". But Bush/Cheney seemed to have other
axes to grind.
Folks, just as it was crystal clear to me 8 years ago, and then again,
4 years ago, and in both cases I was right about the disastrous outcome
of Bush's nomination, it is now crystal clear that if McCain/Palin win
the US and the world will go into a period of pain that never before
seen. Bush/Cheney made such a mess that we need an administration to
start a repair job. Relationships need to be repaired. The economy need
to be repaired. Alternative energies need to be fostered, and so on.
Obama/Biden will bring the right mind-set and the right people, e.g. Al
Gore, and hopefully Robert Reich.
I am very concerned that McCain's temper and closed mindedness will
ignite the dreadful Cold War some of us are old enough to remember. It
is only common sense see the simple fact that conflict is a loss of
energy and resource. I am also concerned at the rhetoric around nuclear
energy and am afraid once again alternative energies will take a back
seat in the McCain administration just as it has in the last eight
dreadful years of Bush energy policies. On the other hand, the Obama
campaign together with Clintons’ vision has explicitly declared
clean technologies as a new source of energy and engine of job creation.
Days of the rules of the ultra right wing is over. At least this is
what the American people are saying. Bush's approval rating has fallen
to historical lows of any President. and yet, I am sure, my dear far
cousin in Ohio is still touting Bush's cowboy hat and cowboy mentality
as a symbol of what America is about. He is still as wrong as he was
four and eight years ago. It's no longer a matter of opinion. It's a
matter of facts and hard numbers -- facts and numbers Rush Limbaugh and
other gurus of the fanatics like to ignore. Most fanatics can’t
think for themselves. They think according to how they’re led to
think.
The IMF reported recently that "The world economy is now entering a
major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature
financial markets since the 1930s." This is not a coincidence and it is
the direct result of the mis-management of the world's super power by
the current administration. A vote for McCain/Palin would simply mean 4
more years of the same, and even worse, God forbid, if Palin becomes
president.
The movement of fanaticism is the exact movement of fanaticism you
witness in other countries around the world. We are one planet, one
people. Our fanatics need to get educated and open their minds. So,
education is at the root of the world crisis and that's another reason
to vote for Obama/Biden. They seem to understand this. The other side
seem to prefer a less educated constituent who are more easily swayed
by rhetoric while Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, and Big Hedge
Funds, etc. continue to get away with their agenda.
The more educated you are the less you fall as victims of fear
mongering. When you can think for yourself you see through the rhetoric
of McCain/Palin/Bush/Cheney/Rove/Harris, etc.
Disclaimer: Although I do not like Mr. Bush and his entire
administration, I have no hatred for them. I do not in any way or form
endorse any action which is not completely peaceful, civil, and legal.
A COUPLE OF MORE NOTES WRITTEN ON DIFFERENT OCCASIONS:
October 26, 2008
PS -- The world would have been a very different place if the
presidency was not taken away from Al Gore in 2000. By 2004 it was
clear to any clear thinking individual who read history that Bush's
second term would be disasterous. It was. He's the most unpopular
president and his presidency has been termed the worst, ever. Yet, so
many people voted for him. Many of them have changed their minds but
many are still caught in dogmatic fearful thinking. Religion was abused
used by politicians to control the minds of the uneducated and
fearful.That has not changed.
Obama talks of Change. Yes, it's needed badly. He has a big cleanup job
to do. McCain is desperate and angry. He seems that he will say
anything and not fall short of any angry attack to win the Whitehouse.
He still seems stuck in Vietnam with a unfulfilled dream of winning.
Winning comes a different way. Americans have lost the economical
foundations of the great country. Wall Street has corruption and SEC is
not doing enough. FDA is letting patients die. FEMA was a disaster. It
seems everything Bush touched caused more fragmentation. No wonder.
Because he seems not to have the capacity to see the big picture. Too
much booze? Too much cocaine? Who knows. He seems to have lost
something at some point. It was so easy to see yet many didn't
see it. Why? Because of lack of education. And education is not only in
the books and degrees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI5EY5kqiBU
PSS -- I used to like like McCain until I saw how cunning him and Palin
got during the campaign. I was disgusted by the negative campaigne
which seemed to be the focus of his campaign. I have yet to see one of
his speeches in which he is not bashing Obama during most of the speech
instead of talking about what he will do. Seeing the GOP campaign was a
sour reminder of the kind of ugliness I witnessed during the 2004
elections.
1928-1932: Republican Herbert Hoover managed to take a prosperous
American economy and drive it into ground and was the father of the
Great Depression with massive bank failures where many American lost
their life savings and many Americans began keeping their money in
mattresses instead.
"Fake Flyer in Virginia Tells Dems to Vote Nov. 5"
With less than a week to go before voters are expected to head to the polls
in record numbers, a bogus flyer directing Republicans to vote Nov. 4
and Democrats to vote Nov. 5 has surfaced in Virginia... The Virginia
flyer was printed with the state's logos so that it appeared to be on
official letterhead, complete with a state seal and contact information.
LA Times: Carl Cameron [Fox News] reported that campaign
sources told him Palin had resisted coaching before her faltering Katie Couric
interviews; did not understand that Africa was a continent rather than a
country; and could not name the three nations that are part of the North
American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Canada and Mexico.
"Wasilla Hillbillies Looting Neiman Marcus From Coast To Coast" [Newsweek]
One aide estimated that she spent "tens of
thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000
went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently
been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla
hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast”.
On top of the $150,000... Palin spent "tens of thousands of dollars" on
additional clothing, makeup and jewelry for herself and her family, including
$40,000 in luxury goods for her husband... The campaign was charged for silk boxer shorts, spray
tanners and 13 suitcases to carry all the designer clothes...McCain senior staffers arrived
at her hotel room for a briefing and found her wearing nothing but a towel…
Just because a country is ruled by fools it does not mean it is a
country of fools. George Bush is a fool. Dick Cheney is a cunning
animal. The two put together managed to have the worst American
administration in recent history.
“The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment
to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this
administration -- is ridiculous." Obama
NOV 5 2008
Obama won.
What A Feeling !
It feels like New Year’s day to me.
Everything went well. All signs were positive.
Credit card lady has the same birthday as me :-)
She was ecstatic too: "My goodness. Bingo"
American just woke up from a bad dream.
“I feel like coming out of 8 years of nightmare” a lady said on CNN. Very true.
Obama also won Ohio - specially good news for me after the 2004's loss due to the lies and crookedness.
South Carolina too!
- it’s a red state isn’t it?
- It’s a red state on the map …
- But the hearts are blue …
- Ya.
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