Our Girl Friday

In the 1940 screwball comedy, His Girl Friday, Rosalind Russell plays Hildy Johnson, a star reporter for the Morning Post in Chicago. On her way out the door for a quiet family life, Walter Burns, played by Cary Grant, coaxes her back to the paper for one final story. As the film progresses, the audience realizes that Hildy is born to do one thing and one thing alone: write the truth.

In the end, all of us (and Cary Grant) thank God that she sticks around because she uncovers a city wide corruption ring that was almost responsible for hanging an innocent man.

I guess I feel that way about Joanne Tucker. She is Our Girl Friday and I thank God she has been sticking around the Middle East for the past few years.

After studying languages and politics in England, Joanne started her career at the BBC in the 1990s where she worked her way up assignment production & reporting for seven years. Directly after the 9-11 attacks she went to work for Al Jazeera, working directly under the editor in chief at the network. She ran their temporary web site for the war, in English in 2003, which received a lot of US attention including feature articles in the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, LA Times & Chicago Tribune. In 2004, she left Al Jazeera to produce and direct the film I have been talking about for the last two weeks, Breakdown.

I have gotten to know Joanne rather well over the last month and, without a doubt, she, like the character of Hildy Johnson, is a person of great intelligence and integrity who tells the truth about our country, which these days seems to be a bitter pill for many of us to swallow. I thought it would be interesting to inaugurate my first ever interview with someone like Joanne.

This is Part One.

M: You have told me that you made this film because you were surprised at how little Americans know about their own country let alone what is going on in the world. Is that the main reason why you made this film? Are there others?

J: The film from the start and in many ways made itself. I was looking for the behind the superficial headlines facts about US foreign policy in the Middle East and beyond. I was looking at why 'Terrorism' and who that specifically refers to in our 21st century foreign policy had replaced Communism as America's new greatest enemy and those facts emerged from people who deal with, analyze or face them on a daily basis in their lives and work.

When you watch the News, do you really understand what's going on? No. For most Americans, who don't already have a continuous book-informed, first-hand or in depth knowledge about the region policies or events being broad brushed in a 90 second TV report, 30 seconds of which is about making the reporter or anchor look good or impressively knowledgeable when that's rarely the case, the ordinary viewer's knowledge is not advanced and often becomes more skewed and biased based on inaccurate information or politically motivated sound bytes.

Many news channels and particularly when it comes to US global economic interests, in which those networks are direct stakeholders, or matters deemed for or against national security by the political players, have no desire or intention to spread facts. The facts and big picture accuracy are low-priority and expendable, because they are not in the News but the propaganda business.

So commercial, corporate (and inherently politicized) TV News networks are rarely about informing you the viewer -- unless it's an ultra-trivial subject when you'll get unasked for details and analysis coming out of your ears -- but not those topics or subjects where American lives and billions are at stake.

M:The Perkins segment is staggering. He has a new book out called The Secret History of the American Empire. Do you agree completely with what he says? Is the US government that awful in its economic policies in the rest of the world? Why do you suppose that is?

J: What he reveals in the film, as a former NSA-insider is logical and completely in sync with any military and economic superpower's overt and covert actions backed by considerable budgets. In other words, the US is simply behaving as a superpower empire, like so many before it, economically, military, diplomatically and through the use of global military-political proxies.

Two things stand out however and are very noteworthy. The Unites States exists as a nation today out and was born out of the imperative to defend universal human values including equal economic opportunities regardless of religion or race, impose judicial accountability and equality of all before laws, erase political favoritism or constitutional elitism and stamp out imperial arrogance and overreach in world affairs. And two, there has never in all of history been a bigger superpower from every angle including but not limited to, the spread and number of global military bases, pay-rolled proxy regimes worldwide, military lethality and destructive power, corporate economic monopolies of public assets directed by US-led international institutions & the redirection of global wealth and resources into US capital, equity (stock) markets and the dollar currency. So there is a giant and growing gap between rhetoric and reality, cause and result.

M: So if the US "exists as a nation today out and was born out of the imperative to defend universal human values including equal economic opportunities regardless of religion or race, impose judicial accountability and equality of all before laws, erase political favoritism or constitutional elitism and stamp out imperial arrogance and overreach in world affairs" how is it that this definition of the US "soul" if you will is perverted by men like Bush/Cheney etc..?Why is this happening? Is it simple greed? Or something more?

J: Why is it happening? Simple. There is no soul without a mind or heart to work with and guide it. The Founding fathers including Washington and countless independence politicians of stature gave numerous warnings of the end of democracy and beginning of tyranny when the people are not informed or involved in their leaders' decision-making. No democracy can survive for long without an informed public acting as the conscience and constituency of mainly unscrupulous politicians and without a rigorous Legislative or Judicial branch doing its job, doing it with justice and in the public eye for the greater good.

For at least thirty years and I would say after the mid 70s, politicians have learnt the WRONG lessons from those years, what they have learnt is NOT to get caught next time. The media giants work for them not to inform or educate the public, leaders and politicians including in Congress work for unelected unaccountable companies whom they will join once their employment contract in the White House or DoD is over and whose bottom line is maximizing profit at any cost: human cost, including loss of jobs, extreme polarization of wealth, the loss of global democracies, cultural independence and the earth for future generations.

So, why is the soul perverted by people like X & Y? Because the body is sick, the mind is weak and the heart is full of fear and reluctant to get hurt again. It's hard, it's tough but it's do-able. To get healthy, get organized and once again get our priorities as the greatest nation on earth, straight.

Part Two of this interview will be posted on Wednesday July 11, 2007.

Got a question or comment for Joanne? Post in Comments below.

Childish Understanding of the Region

The sad and unbelievable truth as seen through the eyes of people who have actually been there...

BreakDown: The Exploitation of 911

Lots of interesting information in this clip. The woman from the Pentagon was in another one of my favorite films, Why We Fight (2005)

Note From The Cocoon

When I started this blog a few years back, I wanted to try to make some sense out of the 9-11 attacks. My main goal was to try to get the people that read my stuff (around 200 of you now)to start thinking globally. I really felt that people would really start to wake up in this country and realize that there IS a world out there and, as of September 11th, we have been brought to the front lines of it, hence the name Notes From The Front.

For a time, it actually did look like the citizens of this country would take an interest in United States foreign policy and its effect on the countries with which we are involved. It seemed that my childhood dream of our people thinking more internationally and less nationally would finally be realized.

After all, there were people from all over the world that died in the 9-11 attacks. Right? Boy, was I wrong.

We have gone from being the United States of America to the United Simpletons of Abnegation.

The current administration and their lapdogs in the media spun a cozy cocoon around our borders and have proceeded, since that day, to alternatively pummel us with patriotic cotton candy and fear of the unknown. And those of us that escape this brainwashing don't like to talk about politics...gawd, it's like so serious and stuff!

We have gone willingly into our cocoon because we are all bunch of fucking cowards who would rather live in a fantasy land of bullshit than confront the world and the horrors we have created in it. A shining example of how far we have actually sunk is our soldiers in Iraq sending Paris Hilton letters of comfort while she was sleeping off her 8 year drunk in prison, recently related to her on the Larry King Show on CNN.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I realize that they were probably just horny dudes but I think their priorities are way off. And, by the way, aren't they supposed to be worrying about themselves and their unit? And what about the media? Good lord, the coverage alone of Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith is proof enough of my cocoon theory. The other night my wife and I wanted some news...real news...not the nonsense that passes for news on the "big" networks....real news, y'know what's happening in the world, important issues in our country, and intelligent stories that spark the mind with wonder. Instead, as we flipped around, we got:

Paris Hilton discussion on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

Dangerous Minds, a true crime story of murder and rape on MSNBC.

Greta Van Sustren discussing a.....true crime story of murder and rape on Fox News.

Great.

Imagine being someone who actually thinks THIS is what is important in the world. Sheesh. Thankfully, though, since I have a satellite dish, I get Link TV. Link TV is Television without borders. It shows newscasts from around the world, including several from the Middle East. It runs documentaries on a variety of subjects in a variety of countries. They are all extremely insightful and highly intelligent. When I watch them I feel enlightened as opposed to fearful, angry, and ignorant like the powers that be want us to feel when we watch what laughably passes for news on the major networks. It was on Link TV that I first saw the film Breakdown. And it was one of those moments...

You know what I am talking about, right? It's like you have your life before you heard Abbey Road by the Beatles and your life after you heard it. You are altered. You are changed in such a way that there is no going back. Your width of vision is expanded and it is impossible to look at things in the same way again. This film caused one of those moments for me and I will never, ever be able to look at our country in the same way again.

Breakdown essentially confirms everything I have said on this blog and goes even further to sharpen and clarify United States foreign policy in the Middle East. It is a film in six parts, each about twenty minutes, that includes:

-The specific lies the Bush Administration told leading up to the Iraq War.

-Details about the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia AKA The real reason why Al Qaeda attacked us on 9-11.

-Footage of our support of Saddam Hussein's murderous rampages in the 1980s

-The dollar and the Euro AKA why we really attacked Iraq.

-How US Energy Policy, as early as May of 2000, has dictated our foreign policy.

-A stunning interview with John Perkins, a former economic "hit man" for the US government, which details how our government essentially acts like the Mafia when it comes to Third World countries.

-Nauseating testimony from troops, who have been on the ground in Iraq, relating what is actually going on over there as opposed to the lies or non-coverage we hear on a daily basis in the lamestream media.

After watching this film, I went to the gym to work out and try to get my head around what is essentially the main point of the film: The United States government thrives on terror. Terror is good, which is the title of the fourth chapter of the film. It's good business for our whole country. As I was thinking about this, I looked up to one of the TVs above me and saw the following sentence on the Fox Ticker on Fox News:

TERROR THREAT IN LONDON-GOOD FOR GOP.....AND STOCKS!!

They are not even bothering to try to deny it anymore. They don't care. They know that most our country doesn't even vote (for the president that is, plenty more do for American Idol). They know that most of our country is too busy worried about discovering new ways to become fatter and more brain dead. They know that most of you are too biased, too busy, or too lazy to watch a film like Breakdown.

Prove them wrong. Buy this DVD by clicking here. The cost is about 15 bucks and it is well worth it. Use the information in it to pick the right candidate to lead out country in 2008. Start talking to people about what the film says and why it is so vital for us to change the course of this country. If we don't start to make an effort for change, the greedy bastards that have run this country for the last 44 years will run it straight into oblivion.

The daily torture that we inflict upon the peoples of the world coupled with the denial that it is actually happening has already caused many Americans to lose their lives. Do you want more people to die? Are you ready to expand your width of vision?

Let your voice and your mind be heard.


Tuesday: A clip from Breakdown entitled "The Exploitation of 9/11."

BreakDown: Breaking The War on Terror Facade

In the next couple of weeks you are going to be hearing a lot from me about this film. It is called Breakdown and it is, quite simply, stunning.

For those of you (including myself) who think they know what is going on in the Middle East and why we are there...well...you might change your mind after watching this film. It will expand your scope and vision.

This clip from Breakdown has an extremly disturbing image about 35 seconds into it so please don't watch this if scenes of graphic violence disturbs you.

For more information about Breakdown visit:

http://www.breakdownfilm.tv/Breakdown%20Film/Breakdown.html

and stay tuned here for a review of the film, why every American should own a copy, and an exclusive interview with the director herself!!

A Milestone

Well, it was about time we got some good news. Yesterday, my 89 year old grandmother hit me with a big one: She is sick of George Bush. Bear in mind, this is woman who is card carrying member of the Republican party, voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and is as conservative as they come.

Her reasons, and I am quoting:

"All those young boys...what are they dying for in Iraq? Nothing."

"My brother in law died from Lou Gehrig's disease. I sat by his bedside and watched him die and he didn't have to go, y'know Mark, I read a lot about stem cell research and for the life of me I can't understand what President Bush is thinking. If he had to sit by the bedsides of some of these sick people...well, he'd probably change his mind."

Amen, Mommo. Amen.

A Day In The Life (Warning: Graphic Pictures in this Post)

Last Thursday evening, I heard that a friend of my mom's lost his son. His name was Peter. He was 19 years old and he had a rare form of cancer which attacked his liver very quickly. He died a violent death because his body refused to give up and, more than likely, he was afraid to die. Peter had health issues earlier in his life but it was not readily identified as cancer. In fact, the doctors weren't sure what it was right away, how it came about, or how it progressed so quickly. In short, they were mystified and consoled Peter's father, Bob, with the fact that someday research would help them to understand what happened to his son and possibly prevent it from happening to someone else.

Oh, and in Iraq last Thursday a roadside bomb struck a military vehicle in northeastern Baghdad, killing five U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and an Iraqi interpreter.

The soldiers were all around Peter's age or a little older. They all have fathers and mothers who I'm sure will mourn them in the same way that Bob is mourning Peter. At least Bob has the comfort that doctors, through research, may learn from Peter's death and be able to help someone. The only comfort the parents of the dead soldiers have is knowing that they will have more shoulders to cry in as they will be joined by other grieving parents this week....and the week after that....and the week after that....because there are still people in this country who hold the incredibly misguided belief that we are actually fighting for our freedom.

Of course, one of the areas of research that will help people like Peter and other folks is embryonic stem cell research. The day before Peter died, President Bush, vetoed the latest stem cell bill that would allow federal funds to be used for research After he vetoed the bill, he said:

"Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical. The United States is a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred."

When I first read this, I pretty much lost it for about a day. I don't mean I "lost it" like a normally do on this blog. I mean I fucking I LOST IT. For those first 24 hours, I was seriously entertaining the notion of calling the richest and most influential people I know (I do know a few) and doing everything in my power to get this moronic, hypocritical shit-for-brains removed from office.

I calmed down enough to realize that I have children to raise and a career to pursue (which will actually help to insure that no one this reckless and inhuman is ever afforded the highest office in the land again) So I really don't have time to take on such a monumental (and ultimately defeating) task. Instead, I thought I would take a step that I have thought about taking for awhile but always refrained out of a sense of wondering....should I go this far?

Sadly, President Bush, his administration and their supporters,with his latest action and statement have left me with no alternative but to show you these pictures.

Take a look at these photos.

Let's read the above quote again.

"Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical. The United States is a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred."

And again.

"Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical. The United States is a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred."


How about one more time for people that seem to have trouble hearing?

"Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical. The United States is a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred."

All of these children were killed by an American bombing raid in Iraq for the sake of "protecting us from terrorism." All of these lives were, in fact, lost by sacrificing them to "save" us. Oh, and all of these dead bodies?

Terrorist's fault. Yep. All their fault. It was our bombs but hey, Dick Cheney says so..it must be true. They brought it on themselves. We are not responsible, even though we are the ones that attacked them. We are not responsible...it's Saddam's fault. He brought it on his own people and would've done this anyway. We are not responsible because it's all for the greater good of freedom.

We are not responsible--

(insert sound of needle scratching across record album)

Hi. My name is Mark. The next time I hear a neocon or Bushie lecture me about "individual responsibility" I am going to show them these pictures and then take the biggest pile of horse manure I can find, throw it directly in their face, and say "You are completely full of shit."

(back to our regular scheduled programming)

Now, I am willing to take my lumps on the fact that the majority of this country is against gay marriage. Fine, I have to live with the reality of how democracy works. But Iraq? Most Americans have realized that this policy has failed. And stem cell research? Overwhelmingly, the majority of Americans favor it and yet.....I still lose.

We lose. Because there are just enough people in this country that need to believe the lie...the lie that this administration is protecting us. The lie that employs fear rather than reasoned logic and fact. The lie that keeps us rooted firmly in the stone age, dragging our knuckles and scratching our uni brow.

The lie that, quite simply, means death.

And all of this is not even the worst of it...do you know what the truly awful part about all of this is?

The thousands of Iraqi civilians and American soldiers that will die in the next year and a half because we have an administration that would rather have people lose their lives needlessly than admit fault. The thousands of people in this country that will die in the next decade because our president and his supporters think that science is "voodoo " and "the devil's handiwork."

Think about all of the people, young and old....people like Peter, whose bodies are going to writhe, shake in agony and die because President Death Boy is too lazy to take the time to learn what an embryo is. And he is so rooted in his belief system that the only people that he is listening to about embryos got their medical degrees from All Non Christians Should Be Burned As Witches University (that's ANSBBAW U btw, a sister school to Fire Bad, Science Evil State University, (FBSESU))

So basically President Bush is saying that an embryo--something that cannot exist outside of the womb--that "life" is worth more than someone like Peter's. Or someone who has Alzheimer's. Or any of the dead Iraqi children we see above. In other words, people that ARE, in fact, existing outside of the womb.

It's funny. Sad funny, not good funny--people accuse me everyday of mocking people's beliefs and being cruel to those who think differently than I do. When those false and narrow minded beliefs carry into actions that result in the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, I think that mocking them actually shows an incredible amount of restraint. The next time a neocon or a Bushie whines (like the shirking, denying, and running away from responsibility asshead cowards they are) that you are "mocking their beliefs," pull out one of these pictures and tell them to shut their hypocritical mouths.

Tell them to say to this grieving father, pictured above, that he "brought it on himself." And that it's all the fault of the terrorists.

Tell them to to say to my mom's friend Bob that his son Peter's life is worth less than a undeveloped human cell.

Ask them how long they have had the delusion that they are human.

I Feel Therefore I Believe

Generally, I have found that people don't like me when the subjects of politics, sex, or religion come up in conversation. Throughout the years I have micro-analyzed why this dislike arises, kicked around some ideas, and quite recently have figured out the answer.

I get them to think.

And thinking, to Americans these days, is just too much darn work. It takes them out of their Cheeto-bliss comfort zone, which makes them extremely uncomfortable. Thinking is like that other bad thing.....reading...and we all know what happens when people read:)

One of the phrases I always hear out of the mouths of conservatives is, "Say 'I think', not 'I feel' or 'I believe'...it shows intelligence." If I had a dime for every time I heard a conservative say this little gem (gee, I wonder if they get all their talking points from the same source...hmm....), I would be fucking chicks with great big round asses on top of a pile of cash. Honestly, though, I think this is a good way to look at things because it is the first step towards examining issues from multiple perspectives.

Too bad, though, I have yet to meet a conservative who actually lives by this phrase.

To illustrate my point about the FACT that conservatives talk a good game about thinking but in reality are wrapped up in a one dimensional, overly emotional 8-year old stubborn-temper tantrum-child like view of the world, we need look no further than Fred Thompson.

In 1994, Fred Thompson took over Al Gore's Senate seat in Tennessee when Gore became Vice President. He was elected again in 1996 in a landslide victory. He decided not to seek re-election in 2002 citing Congress as "boring and slow." The scuttlebutt around DC at the time was that Thompson was basically a lazy Senator who was using his post as a stepping stone to the Presidency. There were also many stories of adultery and philandering. After he left office, occasionally he would grace us with pearls of wisdom like "When people ask what has Saddam done to us, I ask, what had the 9/11 hijackers done to us -- before 9/11."

Gosh, that is so insightful......and...um....completely fucking wrong.

And, in between acting gigs (see Die Hard 2 and Law and Order), he would spend his time making sure that people who have cancer as a result of working for big corporations would not see a dime of Anderson T. Wilson's third vacation home money. Super!

Oh, and ol Fredo might be running for president. Republican nomination, of course. How could they resist someone who plays the part so well? And conservatives are going wild. Can you blame them?

Because you see, dear readers, the current crop of possible nominees for the Republican ticket are "a group of midgets" who aren't "real conservatives" (sidebar: will someone please explain to me what a real conservative is these days?) Thompson, however, is a REAL conservative and you can make book on that, sister! There would be no equal rights for sinful faggots, no more uppity broads who think they know shit about loose nukes and stuff, and...praise the Lord(!), the beginning of the extermination of the Islamic Empire would finally begin. If Thompson is elected president the policies of George W Bush will graciously continue in earnest, save one of course. All of the spics will be deported back to Mexico or killed because that's what it's all about.....people killing people cuz they fucking deserve it, dammit. They're taking away our freedom, after all.

Go out to any conservative blog and read about how all the little Bushies and neocons are dropping their pants, jacking off, and cupping their balls (with a little taint tickle for good measure) at the thought of a Thompson presidency. Read what they have to say and please tell me where the "thinking" part comes in.......

"Big Fred's a coming and he's a gunnin'"

"If Thompson runs, my worries will be over. I will finally feel (what the?) happy.

"Thompson is a kick ass, no bullshitter who knows how to fuck people up. He's a big stud and he can park his shoes on the side of my bed anytime." (Just to be clear, this was a woman, btw, not a man....which, given some of the current preferences that have come to light vis a vis the conservatives....well, I just wanted to be prudent)

"Just wait to ol Fred gets in...he'll show that homo loving, gun hatin Giuliani a thing or two about national defense. God, I love him."

"Thompson's got guts and we need someone who will think with his guts, not his head like those pansy liberals." (Question: How does one think with their guts?)

I could go on and on. Google "Conservative Blog" and "Fred Thompson" and find out for yourself. That's how I got these. It's hilarious.

So, here are my questions: where is this "thinking" that I have heard so much about? Could it be that conservatives actually have feelings and perhaps a set of beliefs that govern how they make decisions? Are they sooooo hypocritical to the point of silliness that Clinton's philandering-bad, Thompson philandering-good? Could it be that this group of people, that stupidly force certainty in an uncertain world, have finally found their man?

Could these beliefs and feelings be so myopic, jingoistic, filled with abnegation and rooted in fantasy that someday it will cause the deaths of thousands of people?

Oh, wait. That's already happened. Time for some more, I guess.

Praise the Bible!

Well, the "let's kill all those fucking faggots" crowd has apparently decided to take over the club where I exercise. It's funny because there have been rumors for years that it was a great place to men to meet, share a steam, and maybe some other things. :)

But now...ah, no. The fun loving shower/whirlpool hook up crowd are now gone and have been replaced by some of my favorite people: bigots. Here are some quotes from some conversations I have overheard at the club in the last couple of weeks. These are word for word as I jotted them down immediately upon hearing them.

"I don't have anything against gay people-I just think they are disgusting. I don't want them anywhere near me."

"Maybe the gays could live in their own town or state."

"I saw a couple of them holding hands last week--in public! It was so gross. I wanted to vomit."

"I wish it was legal to kill them. They are acting against God's will."

"Mark, in Leviticus 18:22 it clearly states 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.' So, you can clearly see that God doesn't like gay people. They are sinners."

The last quote was from a conversation with a friend of mine. I have a lot of respect for him so I went home, looked it up and sure enough, he was right. I decided that maybe I should take a look at the rest of Leviticus and the rest of the Bible, for that matter, and make sure that I was on track, not only to live my life, but how to tell others to live their lives. Far be it from me to disobey the will of the Lord and I really don't want to misinterpret anything. Thank goodness I recently came across a letter of questions, originally addressed to Dr. Laura but has since been sent to the likes of Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins and, yes, even George W. Bush, that thoroughly summed up my confusion. I know many Christian Conservatives read my blog so now I am sharing these same questions with you. I need your help, Bushies. I am befuddled. What should I do about the following?

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? Should I call the police? Or the nearest Bush supporter?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

7. Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear glasses and contact lenses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? Do I need to plunk down the dough for lassic surgery?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die? Perhaps a boiling pit of sewage only with the rest of the homosexuals and fornicators.

9. I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

Since you Bushies have the Lord speak directly through you and pass judgement on the rest of us (i.e. what constitutes being a real Christian), please enlighten me. How would you tackle these questions?

Ah, the reluctant warrior

General Colin Powell was on Meet the Press yesterday. As usual, he had many insightful and intelligent things to say. On the subject of Guantanamo Bay, he said that it had become a "major problem" in the way that Americans were perceived around the world.

"If it were up to me, I would close Gitmo-not tomorrow but this afternoon."

Huh. This is what we need more of...someone every American respects speaking the glaringly obvious truth...

For the full transcript and videos of the show, click here.

The Worst in History?

Yeah, well he had to have help.

Hallelujah, I Have Seen The Light!!

As Sam Cooke sang so well, "It's been a long time comin' but a change is gonna come." It's taken me years of heartache, toil, and sweat but I've finally figured it out. I have discovered the grail of grails, the treasure of treasures....I know the secret. What is it?

I finally have figured out why conservatives win and liberals lose.

Actually, before we get to that, I need to amend some of my previous posts. When I wrote that "conservatives" do this or "conservatives" do that, I was way off base. And, really, I was overgeneralizing, falling neatly into Karl Rove's plan of divide and conquer. I know many conservatives and, to be truly fair, it was really not them I was laying into with my literary scythe. To be honest, I feel a great deal of regret at laying into a group of people that I have actually developed quite a bit of respect for over the last few months. Real conservatives stand for good things , many of which I agree with, like states rights, less taxes, or less government. It was unfair of me to lump so many people into a category that is really only suited for a specific type of conservative. The fake conservative.

The Bushie.

Yes, we have all heard much talk of late as to who is a "loyal Bushie" and who is not. In fact, several former US attorneys (all REPUBLICANS) have found out, through the loss of their jobs, that they are not good enough conservatives. Bushies are the best. They are the left hand of God, after all, and can pretty much do no wrong. In fact, I think I have heard them say that, from now on, God has decided to speak directly through them and will tell us what is right and what is wrong....who is good and who is evil. Why do they get to do this? Because they know how to win. How? Because they know that they're opponents are weak little pieces of shit. They know how to beat them every time.

It all comes down to my favorite line in the movie Dogma (1997, d: Kevin Smith). Some of the characters are speaking of Jesus and how what he was really all about was good ideas, not beliefs. One can change an idea but one can't change a belief. Bushies are all about belief. In fact, that's all they have because they certainly don't have anything close to the truth. And they are fucking great at sticking to that belief, no matter how many lives it costs. Someone once wrote on this blog:

It is not at all surprising that Bushies choose to believe what they want, and ignore the facts. This is the basis of their core beliefs: do not believe what your eyes tell you, believe what you are told to believe. If you doubt, you are damned.They choose to portray this as a strength, but it is in reality a weakness. Any person who believes "If I didn't believe in X: 1) My entire world would collapse, 2) Life would not be worth living, 3) I would kill myself" is in serious denial about their own strength of character.

This is a pearl of wisdom wrapped in gold. Y'see folks, liberals will never win against this mountain of titanium. Never. I offer as evidence...oh...any debate between a liberal and a Bushie. They start off fairly normal and as soon as the liberal begins to bring up unpleasant facts, the Bushie will then say something along the lines of "Gee, why are you so angry?" The liberal will then pause and reflect because that is what liberals do: they QUESTION THEMSELVES. There is another word for this. It's called thinking.

The wily Bushie senses this moment of self actualization (perceived as weakness by said Bushie, who has a belief system akin to a third grader, but in reality signifies someone who actually wants to evolve past the uni brow/knuckle dragging phase) and then attacks its prey. The liberal doesn't know what to do. He/She begins to backtrack...wonder if they are being too harsh (a-ha! compassion, something else completely absent from a Bushie's persona)...and then they roll over, stick their asses up in the air, and let ol Bushie fuck away like there's no tomorrow. They are effectively done...in more ways than one.

Don't believe me? Why don't we take a look at what these sorry sacks of shit (pictured at left) did in the last week? Ignoring the reason why they were actually elected in November of 2006, they rolled over for ol Bushie and let him continue his charade in Iraq so they could all go on summer break. They gave him his blood money until September when, after a few dozen more troop deaths and probably hundreds of civilian deaths, they can reconvene better rested. Yipee!



Just to recap and make sure you are still with me, the Democrats decided that the best course of action was to listen to a group of men who have said:

"Mission Accomplished"

"The Insurgency is in it's last throes"

"Anyone who says there will be sectarian violence in Iraq is wrong. And terribly naive."

In other words, we are being told by the people we elected in the midterms that even though the Bushies have been wrong about everything that has come out of their mouths, we're gonna give 'em one last chance. Super! So, my question at this point is, who is the bigger group of fucking morons? More and more these days, I have slowly begun to accept the fact that the reason why President Bush has won all the time is because he has had help from the other side. At first, I thought they were just weak. Then I thought they were stupid. Now I think they sense an opportunity to use Bush's unpopularity to gain power in 2008. In other words, they are doing they same thing that Bush is doing or has done: they are letting people die for political and financial gain. How are they getting away with this?

The population of this country has become conditioned to accept information only in easy to swallow caplets (aka sound bites). They don't have time for questioning. They want a simple answer, one that requires little thought, and surprise surprise...along comes Bushie with that answer. And, hey, let's all point at the weirdo who is a sittin' there thinkin' all the dad gum time...what a loser! Right?

Keep it simple, stupid...isn't that the phrase we hear everyday?

Just Hilarious

I am throwing this up quickly as I am working on my next poltical post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. This dude's cheese has slipped off his cracker.

Ron Paul Wins Debate Despite Being Defamed by Pundits

Someone put this link in comments and it is great. I thought I would bring it out front.

Remember who watches Fox News? Wow!

Presidential Profiles Redux

God, was I wrong about Ron Paul. After the Fox Debates (which polls on the Fox web site show that he won!) and this interview with Bill Maher, my view of him has launched him to second best...just behind Our Mayor...with the highest possible B.

Someone had to say it. Our dicking around in Middle Eastern affairs, by both Democrat and Republican administrations, was one of the causes of 9-11. Sorry to burst your bubble out there, folks, who believe that the good ol US of A is just this weepy little innocent babe in the woods who couldn't have possibly done anything wrong...please go buy a clue...but it's true.

Now's the part where all of you call me and Ron Paul "America Haters."

Gospel and Verse

It took me awhile to track down this article. Rather than link to it, I am reprinting it here in full. This is from a David Brooks column in the New York Times last April and I think it is an excellent example of just how different Senator Obama is from the rest of the candidates. He really nails the reality of foreign policy in the world of 2007 and does it in a suprisingly non partisan way. I hope this interview turns some conservative heads.

Obama, Gospel and Verse
By DAVID BROOKS

Sometimes you take a shot.

Yesterday evening I was interviewing Barack Obama and we were talking about effective foreign aid programs in Africa. His voice was measured and fatigued, and he was taking those little pauses candidates take when they're afraid of saying something that might hurt them later on.

Out of the blue I asked, ''Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?''

Obama's tone changed. ''I love him. He's one of my favorite philosophers.''

So I asked, What do you take away from him?

''I take away,'' Obama answered in a rush of words, ''the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naïve idealism to bitter realism.''

My first impression was that for a guy who's spent the last few months fund-raising, and who was walking off the Senate floor as he spoke, that's a pretty good off-the-cuff summary of Niebuhr's ''The Irony of American History.'' My second impression is that his campaign is an attempt to thread the Niebuhrian needle, and it's really interesting to watch.

On the one hand, Obama hates, as Niebuhr certainly would have, the grand Bushian rhetoric about ridding the world of evil and tyranny and transforming the Middle East. But he also dislikes liberal muddle-headedness on power politics. In ''The Audacity of Hope,'' he says liberal objectives like withdrawing from Iraq, stopping AIDS and working more closely with our allies may be laudable, ''but they hardly constitute a coherent national security policy.''

In Chicago this week, Obama argued against the current tides of Democratic opinion. There's been a sharp rise in isolationism among Democrats, according to a recent Pew survey, so Obama argued for global engagement. Fewer Democrats believe in peace through military strength, so Obama argued for increasing the size of the military.

In other words, when Obama is confronted by what he sees as arrogant unilateral action, he argues for humility. When he is confronted by what he sees as dovish passivity, he argues for the hardheaded promotion of democracy in the spirit of John F. Kennedy.

The question is, aside from rejecting the extremes, has Obama thought through a practical foreign policy doctrine of his own -- a way to apply his Niebuhrian instincts?

That question is hard to answer because he loves to have conversations about conversations. You have to ask him every question twice, the first time to allow him to talk about how he would talk about the subject, and the second time so you can pin him down to the practical issues at hand.

If you ask him about the Middle East peace process, he will wax rhapsodic about the need to get energetically engaged. He'll talk about the shared interests all have in democracy and prosperity. But then when you ask him concretely if the U.S. should sit down and talk with Hamas, he says no. ''There's no point in sitting down so long as Hamas says Israel doesn't have the right to exist.''

When you ask about ways to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, he talks grandly about marshaling a global alliance. But when you ask specifically if an Iranian bomb would be deterrable, he's says yes: ''I think Iran is like North Korea. They see nuclear arms in defensive terms, as a way to prevent regime change.''

In other words, he has a tendency to go big and offer himself up as Bromide Obama, filled with grand but usually evasive eloquence about bringing people together and showing respect. Then, in a blink, he can go small and concrete, and sound more like a community organizer than George F. Kennan.

Finally, more than any other major candidate, he has a tendency to see the world in post-national terms. Whereas President Bush sees the war against radical Islam as the organizing conflict of our time, Obama sees radical extremism as one problem on a checklist of many others: global poverty, nuclear proliferation, global warming. When I asked him to articulate the central doctrine of his foreign policy, he said, ''The single objective of keeping America safe is best served when people in other nations are secure and feel invested.''

That's either profound or vacuous, depending on your point of view.

Barack Obama at 2004 Democratic National Convention Part 2 (of 2)

Better fetch that second hanky.

2004 Democratic National Convention Part 1 (of 2)

The Torch Is Finally Passed

In the film Bobby (2006, d: Emilio Estevez), a campaign worker, Dwayne, is having a conversation with one of the campaign leaders, Wade. It is June 4, 1968 and it is the day of the California Democratic primary. Robert F. Kennedy is just about win. Dwayne turns to Wade in a very poignant moment and says:

"Now that Dr. King is gone, no one left but Bobby - no one. "

Within hours, Bobby Kennedy would be shot. In the film, the last time we see Dwayne, he is walking out of the ballroom with his head in his hands, shaking his head and crying. The actor who plays Dwayne, Nick Cannon, perfectly conveys the total loss of all hope for the future that many, many people at the time felt.

I still feel it to this day.

Because the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert F. Kennedy quite simply signified the triumph of evil over good. These three men represented a grave threat to a group of very powerful men in this country. If Jack, Martin or Bobby were ever allowed to live and have any real power (and Jack did for awhile), these dark hearted men would lose their wealth and influence. The policies of the Kennedys and King would've made things better for more people. Equality in all areas of our country would have been the order of the day. The accumulation of knowledge, not wealth, and of striving to be a better person would've been the goals. Imagine a country filled with intelligent, self-empowered people whose central goal was not greed. Imagine a population that was no longer living in fear. How would these evil men be able to manipulate us and prosper?

They would not be able to grind their boots into the faces of people like you and I. They would not be able to lord over us like medieval kings, demanding our servitude through the empty promise of money. They would not be able to use fear to ask us to sacrifice our lives, most likely for a lie that assists them in their selfish quest for the pretense of power.

On that day in June, almost 40 years ago, evil was victorious. The torch, that was shared and passed from Jack to Martin to Bobby, was extinguished by these horrible men. And they have been running our country ever since. We all know who they are. We see them on television everyday. They talk of "morality" and the "culture of life." What a joke. People like Jack, Martin, and Bobby....they represented the culture of life. The men that have been running our country for the last 40 years represent the culture of death. It's just that simple.

Since I was a child and my mother told me stories about the Kennedys and Dr. King, since I read about them in school and have devoted my life, in as many ways as I can, to spreading the word about their dream, I have held a small, silent hope that someone would come along and take up the torch. Not seeing anyone through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, I had all but given up.

On the evening of July 27th, 2004, I was revived from my negativity when the keynote address was given at the Democratic National Convention. The title of the speech was The Audacity of Hope. It was delivered by the junior senator from Illinois. His name was Barack Obama. As I watched him speak, my eyes began to water. His words....someone had picked up the torch. And I knew I had found the person that I wanted to lead this country.

Barack Obama, to put it simply, is America. You can see it in the story of his life, which can be read by clicking here or by buying his first book, Dreams of My Father, by clicking here. His second book, The Audacity of Hope (click here to buy), to put it simply, is what America should be. He is extremely intelligent, compassionate, and, what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in an abundance of intellectual curiosity.

His vision on the issues of the day, which can be read by clicking here, involve an interactive community of ideas which allow anyone to submit a writing, recording or video that would expand the field of solutions. Whether it's Iraq, health care, energy, or the environment, each issue section contains detailed information that drive hard for common sense solutions. I encourage all of you to click on each section on his issues page and read through his carefully researched ideas. All of them completely blow away anything anyone else has to offer while at the same time allow a blank tableau for new ideas from you and I. Simply amazing.

What does his central message to Americans really boil down to? His words....

"Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn’t matter what it is--improving the school system, developing strategies to wean ourselves off foreign oil, expanding health care for kids. We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result."

"When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished. It also helps if you're willing to give other people credit--something politicians have a hard time doing sometimes."

All of you can now see that it was Senator Obama who inspired me to write this entire series of presidential profiles. He re-affirmed my reasons for becoming a teacher. Barack Obama gets an A and is, hands down, the best candidate out of all of them. It was his words who encouraged me to look, with new eyes, at some of the people who, perhaps in the past, I would've ripped or even ignored and find common ground. And you know what? There is a lot more of it than one might think. That is what the torch truly is...it is the hope that we can all work together and be stronger as a team, learning from each other's differences. This is a very hard thing to do in this day and age when the people that are running our country....the people that stand to lose the most from an Obama presidency....continue to propagate the politics of divisiveness.

We have been divided and conquered. It is time to put someone in the White House who is going to truly unite us and make us stronger. We need a leader that is going to show us the power within ourselves and give us the freedom to explore our true potential. More importantly, we need to realize how sacred his message is and how vital it is that we protect it. There is no doubt in my mind that sometime between now and the election, an attempt is going to be made on Senator Obama's life. If he becomes too powerful, if he gets the nomination, if he wins the presidency, if he uses the power of the presidency for the common good of all of us, the men who stand to lose the most will attempt and possibly succeed in taking him out.

If it happens, people will say it is because he was black. A "crazed racist" will be blamed. That will be a lie. My hope is that all of you reading this will know the real reason why. It will be because he wanted, like Jack, Martin, and Bobby, to give more power to the comman man and make things equal....and better for more people. Now, we will all know who is responsible. We will all be watching.

Let's make sure it doesn't happen. Protect him by spreading the word about the power that each one of us has inside of ourselves. Let's remove the extra large bag of Cheetos from our laps, turn off the latest news on the celebrity du jour's reality show, and get out in our communities and do something that helps. If we all vote for Barack Obama, we give him the power that will, in turn, give us the power we need to vastly improve the quality of our lives. He will unleash the shackles with which those evil men have chained us. We will ignite the flame that will keep our children's future eternally bright. We will truly be free.

Barack Obama's central message speaks to the very nature of all of us, liberal or conservative. Because in the final analysis, the thing that is going to put American back on the right track is the individual effort of US citizens to improve our country's socio- and political systems. Senator Obama is saying look not at me but at yourself. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

What are you prepared to do?

Wednesday: Video, Part 1 (of 2) of Senator Obama's Keynote Speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Bring your hankies....

Great Article

Here is a link to a great article about Our Mayor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/12/us/politics/12rudy.html

It's funny but I've always thought that when someone gets ripped by both the left and the right, that person is usually on the ball. Giuliani gets flamed from the right for being too liberal socially and then gets vilified by the left as "Rotten Rudy," chastising him for supporting too many of Bush's policies. Ah well....

Tuesday: My Democratic choice for president (as if you couldn't guess by now :))

Rudy Giuliani on Abortion

Recently, Our Mayor has been talking about abortion. And in the South. Whew! That's got to be tough and my respect level for him, especially when he says stuff like this, continues to rise.

Conservatives gripe that his explanantion sounds convuluted but it makes perfect sense to me. Abortion is a very grey area and it simply cannot be placed in such a black and white context. It needs a nuanced answer and, as usual, Our Mayor delivers one.

Fox News Interview Part II

Can't import this video either but I can import other ones. Oh well, Fox News must have me on their enemy combatant list

Click on this link for more pearls of greatness from Our Mayor....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bM-r3dDMd8


Friday: More video, Giulianni clarifies his position on abortion.

Rudy Giuliani Interview on Hannity and Colmes (Part 1 of 2)

For some reason, YouTube is not letting me import this video so here is the link to go and watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMAXw3ZZuYU

Now, I know most of you think that I have lost my mind already. And linking to a Sean Hannity video? Don't worry, I still think Sean is a mindless drone. I found this interview interesting because if a Democrat had said the things that our mayor said, Hannity would've done his usual re-frame and attack job. Instead, ol' Sean was quite the smitten kitten, which I found amusing.

Wednesday: Part 2 of the interview.

The Mayor of Our Town

In 1937, Thornton Wilder wanted to write a play that would define American life. He wanted to convey the pathos of our culture and capture a snapshot of life in our country in the 1930s. Little did he know that it would become the most produced play in American history, and its timeliness become infinite. It was called Our Town.

The story takes place in the 1930s in a fictitious town called Grover's Corners and is divided into three acts. Act I is titled "Daily Life," Act II is titled "Marriage and Love," and Act III is titled "Death." The first two acts are light hearted, fun, and care free. The third act is downright maudlin and exceptionally dark. It is a timeless American story and, in the end, one realizes that it's not simply about Grover's Corners but it is about our whole nation, with its laughter, its anger, and its tears.

Throughout my years, I have seen Our Town performed several times. It was produced at my grade school, my high school, my local theater, and was even made into a film with William Holden in 1940. Each time I watched it, usually at a different point in my life, I saw a new aspect to the play that I had not seen before. Every viewing has evoked a shivering sense of Americana, in all its glory and sadness. Our Town is the purest definition of the word America.

For several days in September of 2001, the man pictured below was the Mayor of Our Town.

I love Rudy Giulianni. The level of respect I have for him as a leader is so high it simply cannot be measured. Last year, I wrote piece on him for my Profiles In Courage series, which you can read by clicking here. Much of that post contains biographical information, his accomplishments, and his extraordinary leadership on September 11th. Since I don't want to repeat myself, I thought I would touch on what he has been up to lately.

He is running for the Republican nomination for President in 2008.

By leaps and bounds, he is the best person out of all of the Republican candidates for the job. For the first time in my entire voting career, I may vote for a Republican for President, if he is nominated and the Democrats put up Hillary. He is pro choice, pro gay rights, supports reasonable gun control, tough on crime, fiscally responsible, cognisant of climate change and desirous of universal health care. Yes, it's true. Finally someone with an "R" behind their name wants to truly serve the people.

More important, he has a very clear understanding of the threat of terrorism....clearer, perhaps then any other candidate, including my top choice on the Democrat side. Definitely more clear than President Bush, Dick Cheney and the rest of our current leadership. Now, many of you liberals who read this may think I have lost my mind. Didn't Giuliani say that terrorists want the Democrats to win? Doesn't Giuliani support Bush's policy in Iraq? Well, the answer is yes to both questions but let's think about that for a moment, shall we?

As far as the first question goes, he has to say that crap to get the nomination. A liberal on social issues, Giuliani needs to throw a few zingers out there to placate the base. The second question, however, bears a little more scrutiny. I think our beloved mayor is pulling a fast one on all of us, much in the same way Hillary is pulling a fast one on the Democrats except in the reverse. I think he says he supports the Bush plan but because he actually has a brain in his head, as soon as he takes office, we will see the Bush doctrine go bye-bye and say hello to the Giuliani era of world law enforcement. Y'see folks, when Rudy was the mayor of New York he did something no other mayor there had EVER done: he lowered the crime rate. And he didn't just lower it, he drastically lowered it.

The man knows how to deal with crime. His track record proves it and so, I think that Giuliani, if he wins, will astutely re-organize our armed services into a strategic fighting force that is more suited to destroying Al Qaeda, which, in the end, is not an army in the traditional sense but is a collection of international criminals. In addition, I think he will turn to diplomacy, more often than our current leader, to also aid in this endeavor. I have no doubt in my mind that he will succeed. Do you know why?

Because I watched him on 9-11. We all watched him on 9-11. He knows how to act in a crisis. He behaved with such decisiveness and courage on that day that we can feel something for a leader we haven't had in a long time: Trust.

He is the Mayor of Our Town, after all, and he gets an A from me.

Tuesday: Video! Part 1 (of 2) of the Fox News interview with Rudy Giulianni w/Sean Hannity (what the??!!....has Mark lost his mind? Sean Hannity?)

Presidential Profiles #8: John Edwards

I feel tremendously sorry for John Edwards. If this were an election year in...say....2000 or earlier, me might actually have a shot at winning the Democratic nomination. But with the glitz and glamour of Barack and Hillary, he is being lost in the shuffle. That's too bad. He would make an excellent president and here's why.

One of his central tenets is that America needs to restore its moral leadership in the world. For the last six years, that leadership has eroded. Contrary to what we here from Bush Co, detaining people without a trial, torturing them, and being partly responsible for the deaths of a few hundred thousand people isn't a blueprint for leadership. Of all the candidates, Edwards is the only one talking about the morality of what we are doing in the Middle East.

His plan for health care is nothing short of stellar. Take a look at it here. It's Universal Health Care through shared responsibility. Everyone from the individual all the way up to the federal government takes responsibility for the care of the nation. It is an extremely comprehensive plan that works to solve the problem that 18,000 people die every year in this country due to lack of access to health care because of the fact that they are uninsured. And it encourages competition between private and public providers so the notion of one monolithic and lumbering public health system is not an issue.

He wants to seriously address global warming, end our addiction to oil through alternative fuel sources, and eliminate poverty by creating opportunity for everyone as well as instilling civic responsibility in every American. His fact sheet on these three problems, click here, offer one comprehensive solution for all.

His only drawback that I can see is that he lacks specifics on what to do about Iraq but his general vision about the Middle East is right on the money. It is for these reasons that I score him at the highest possible B known to man, barely missing the coveted A of my final two candidates.

On Tuesday, I will be putting up my pick for the best Republican candidate. After that and throughout next week, I will be putting up videos from You Tube, pictures, various writings and inspirations about the man who I think would be an exceptional leader.

Presidential Profiles #8: Bill Richardson

The more I hear about Bill Richardson the more I like him. Of all the candidates I have reviewed thus far and the three I have left, he, by leaps and bounds, is the most qualified to handle our foreign policy. During his 14 years in Congress, he visited Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, India, North Korea, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Iraq and Sudan to represent U.S. interests. In 1997, President Clinton appointed him as Ambassador to the United Nations and represented the US at the UN in the ongoing Israel-Palestinian issue.

In 2002, he was elected Governor of New Mexico and was lauded by traditionally right or libertarian-leaning publications and organizations such as Forbes Magazine and the Cato Institute for reforming New Mexico's economy. In 2006, Forbes credited Richardson's reforms in naming Albuquerque, New Mexico the best city in the U.S. for business and careers. Cato has consistently rated Richardson as one of the most fiscally responsible Democratic governors in the nation. Of all the Democratic candidates, he is the only one with executive experience.

In addition, he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times for his work in Sudan, Cuba, and North Korea, from which he just returned a few short weeks ago with the remains of several US servicemen killed in action during the Korean War.

His policy on Iraq, all of which can be read here, is where I have drawn most of my view. His seventh point of his seven point plan states:

We must redeploy some of our troops to stop the resurgence of the Taliban and to fight the real terrorists who attacked this country on 9-11. While all American troops in Iraq must be removed, we need to maintain a military presence in the region, including in Kuwait and in the Persian Gulf. We must have the regional capacity to use air power, special forces and other means to strike Al Qaeda anywhere. We do not need American troops in Iraq to perform this essential task. We also must bring our National Guard home where they are needed for homeland security, and we must focus our energy and resources on real threats, such as nuclear proliferation, Al Qaeda, public health, and global warming.

Bottom line: Bill Richardson just makes sense. Common sense. He doesn't use the language of fear, as Bush Co does, to map out solutions in Iraq and the Middle East. He addresses the real threats we face with a no nonsense flare. His foreign policy experience is sorely needed at present and, at the very least, he would make an excellent VP or Secretary of State.

So, I score Governor Richardson at a B, slightly higher than Kucinich or Huckabee, because of his experience in international relations and his attention to detail in regards to combating terror.

Saturday-Sunday: John Edwards

Presidential Profiles #7: Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee used to be fat. Really fat. In fact, he was so fat that he couldn't walk up the steps to his office when he was Governor of Arkansas without stopping several times to catch his breath. In 2002, he was diagnosed with diabetes which was largely due to his obesity. So he went on a diet.

He lost 110 pounds.

Now, I am not one for "Oprah moments" but looking at the man to the left, all I can say is.....YOU GO GIRL!! Since that time he has become an advocate for a healthier America, citing it as one of our biggest concerns, and trying to increase awareness about how bloody awful for you the food is in this country. And boy do we need it. In addition to becoming extremely lazy and apathetic, we have become fat. Have you seen some of the porkers waddling around lately?

So, this simple fact alone regarding Mike Huckabee is deserving enough for my respect. It's hard to go on a diet and lose that much weight. It requires a great deal of self control, which I feel is a very admirable trait. I recently watched an interview with him on Bill Maher, in which he said, "America's biggest problem is that we think that, as a Christian nation, we are superior to everyone. We are not. People that truly believe in Jesus know that he was not a conqueror but a man of peace who humbly asked for people to follow him." Well, he should know. In addition to being the Governor of Arkansas, he is also a Baptist Minister.

He recently authored a book entitled From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Stops to Restoring America's Greatness. Go buy it here. In the book, he recommends, among other things, that Americans should listen to more music and less talk radio, do volunteer work, and have regular conversations with people of other ethnic, religious, or political backgrounds. The general tone of the book is optimistic about our country and contains, not the politics of divisiveness, but of unity. Yes, he is a creationist, pro-life, and rabidly anti gay. Based on what he has said and written, however, I don't think his personal views are going to negatively factor into his policies, which are largely based on simple kindness.

For that reason, I score Mike Huckabee at a B, slightly higher than Kucinich because his position on the Middle East calls for a more active approach to eliminating terror as a tactic in the region. Being active, though, does not necessarily mean military engagement. The time he spent traveling around the world and spreading the word of God broadened his vision of other cultures. In other words, he has intellectual curiosity and lawdy, lawdy, lawdy...we need some of that mojo.

Friday: Bill Richardson

Presidential Profiles #6: Dennis Kucinich

In October of 1962, President Kennedy faced the biggest crisis of his presidency. The Soviet Union had moved medium range nuclear missiles into Cuba, less than 90 miles away from Florida.

In order to get as broad a perspective on the situation, President Kennedy called in a wide variety of experts on the Soviet Union. Bobby Kennedy, Attorney General, pushed hard for the ultra conservative, Dean Acheson to be in the room at all of the briefings.

The president wanted Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson was known at the time as the doviest of doves, an appeaser that would've made Chamberlain look tough. As they were debating how to confront the Soviets, air strike or blockade, Stevenson suggested they make a deal with the Russians: they remove their missiles in Cuba, the United States would remove it's missiles in Turkey. The idea was extremely weak, ill conceived, and terribly wrong given the provocation on the part of the Soviets.

Ultimately, President Kennedy went for the blockade and it worked. He remarked later in the year that he was actually quite grateful that Stevenson brought up the idea because "all of us need to be reminded that, at the end of the day, we are all human." In the year 2007, Dennis Kucinich has reminded us all that we are human.

Look at this guy. He just looks like a drip. Actually, he looks a goofy cartoon character. There's no way in heck that he is EVER going to get the nomination. And yet...I can't help but think, as my hero did, that we need to hear that voice.

The voice that wants to replace our forces in Iraq with an international peacekeeping force. The voice that wants to really reach out to moderate voices in the Middle East. The voice who wants us to formally apologize to the Iraqi people for all of the death and destruction of which we are partly responsible . The voice that wants to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace.

His unwavering idealism is equalled only by the fact that he makes decisions based on his own principles, not politics. You won't catch Dennis Kucinich putting on an orange camo jacket and going out into the woods to kill something just so he can get votes. His hope for a better place is something that we should all strive for, not something that should draw laughter and accusations of weakness. In all honesty, Dennis Kucinich is probably the candidate who most adheres to the true principles of Jesus Christ. It is for this reason, Dennis Kucinich gets a B.

I wish I could be more like him. All of us should be. I wish I didn't see the world in the jaded way that I do. Having first hand experience with Islamic extremism taught me a long time ago that they are simply too dangerous to treat with so much idealism. But like President Kennedy said, we need to hear that voice. It keeps us measured. It keeps us honest. In the final analysis, it is what makes us American.

Thursday: Mike Huckabee

Presidential Profiles #5: Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney is one strange cat. For starters, there's his name. Could we really live with a president named Mitt? Mitt is actually his middle name. When you hear what his first name is you'll know why he prefers to go by his middle name.

His first name is Willard.

Then there's the whole abortion thing. He was against abortion then he was for it when a relative died of an illegal abortion and now that he is seeking the Republican nomination for President, he is back to being pro-life.

He is for the death penalty, against all forms of equal rights for homosexuals, and his favorite book is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard (yikes!). He supports the Bush Doctrine, is against stem cell research, and is a Mormon sans the extra wives.

In many ways, he seems like an ideal candidate for conservatives....but then you get to health care. Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, made it illegal for anyone to be uninsured in regards to health care. His plan called for all employers to immediately insure all of their employees. If an individual was unemployed, they would be able to choose their provider and the state would pay for it. They also would be able to choose whatever doctor they wanted or keep their old one. Since this plan is highly logical, well thought out, is working out great, and helps our everyone equally, conservatives hate it.

And him, because if everyone gets equal treatment, as we all know, that's one step closer to communism. Besides, heaven forbid, that we would start having healthier people who then wouldn't be bilked out of their retirement money by the pharmaceutical industry. Sadly, as far as most conservatives go, this is too black a stain on Romney to fully support him.

So, even though he is really conservative on most things, he gets a C in my eyes, just above Brownback and Biden, for actually doing something about health care and succeeding.

Wednesday: Dennis Kucinich