Tuesday Roundup

Back to work and it looks like I will be non stop busy for the next 8 months!

So much to write about: each topic worth of a long article. But it would take me days to do that so I will have to be brief.

First of all, the Presidential Campaign has taken a disappointing turn for the worst. John McCain has evolved into the typical Karl Rove candidate, mocking his opponent, over-simplifying the issues and pandering to the ignorant and hateful. Like I said the other day, if this strategy proves to be a success, it will end this experiment in Democracy. This isn't an overstatement. People of my generation have seen this our whole lives and the younger folks coming in, I believe, will not have the patience to "wait until next time" that we have. If ignorance and hatred wins the day then I think Americans will start looking for another way. John McCain has some serious policy issues differences with Barack Obama. He should address these issues seriously, he should take the process seriously, he should take the voters seriously and stop this deadly attempt to deepen the division and ignorance that has dominated American political discourse for the past generation.

Next, it's the Anthrax case. Why in the world would they close this case just because a scientist they say they suspected is dead? The investigation should continue. It should also be expanded to determine why and how the Anthrax attacks were used to push the war in Iraq. Something here smells and the fact that they want to close this case now just makes it reek even more.

I am disappointed that the mainstream media has not reminded the public that the Anthrax attacks were a case of domestic terrorism by the Right Wing. If you look at the people who were sent the Anthrax it is the hate list of Rush Limbaugh and his flock. We all remember Oklahoma City and the militia movement of the 1990's. Let’s not pretty this up - let's tell the truth: the voices of the right setting the debate encourage hatred which has consistently leads to domestic terrorism by these same conservatives. Just last week there was that church shooting by a guy echoing what is heard in the right wing media. Coincidence after coincidence after coincidence? Absolutely not.

Seymour Hersh, one of the most accurate and respected journalist in America history, reported the other day that Dick Cheney wanted to dress up Americans as Iranian soldiers to instigate military action against that country. In a place once known as The United States of America, that would have been an outrage and criminal. In what we have now it’s an afterthought at best. That's what happens when long term ignorance and hatred breeds deep cynicism.