What's Up With Hillary?

What in the world has gotten into Hillary Clinton?

As a woman, I am disappointed in her behavior, especially during the last half of the 2008 campaign for nomination as Democratic party candidate. I mean no disrespect to the first serious female contender for the highest office in the land. My pride in her success is immense. But, Hillary... Mrs. Clinton... Senator Clinton, don't you think it's time you backed down, now.

I no longer recognize this new, desperate, image of a woman grasping at straws and doing anything to attain the object of her desires. Her willingness to do and say anything to achieve that which she seeks. This had once been a woman whose strength in how she had dealt with a husband--governor of Arkansas, at the time--who did not have the sense to respect himself, his office, his wife and their vows, nor their little girl, had kept her own sense of self-worth intact through it all.

No, this desperate version of the Hillary Rodham Clinton that captured my attention and won my admiration, circa 1991, does not much resemble that Hillary. In fact, I catch a glimpse of Bill, not you who for me was the all encompassing definition of the First Lady of the boomer generation: just the right amount of will, plus the perfect level of class, and a large helping of intellect; stir; and pour. No matter what the country thought, you knew you--not Ms. Flowers--called the shots. You knew you, Hillary--not Gennifer--held the place as First Lady of Arkansas, installed beside Bill in the Governor's Mansion. Actually, before these affairs (no pun intended), I had no idea you nor your husband even existed. You, not Bill, impressed me with your strength of character. I hope you will do no less, now.

Accept defeat, graciously. Do not diminish all your hard-won respect as an experienced politician by behaving like a sore loser. Gracefully, remove yourself from the political platform. Tactfully insist that your followers grow up and maturely get away from the spotlight. Please handle this situation with the same admirable taste you exhibited when husband Bill--Mr. President, at that time--so irresponsibly soiled your marital union. Show some of that same grit that you employed to face down a nation, bravely and courageously holding up your head to exult yourself, your young female child, and every American woman who has been forced to deal with such infantile behavior by the man they had given much to support--morally and physically.

Now, let me assure you I am not some religious fanatic. I am not. Religion has nothing to do with this. This is only one run for the White House. If you remain the dynamic icon you have been in the past, it will be the first that will precede another first... a woman in the White House, and not as First Lady, either. I regret that the party has decided to allow your name onto the ballot for the Democratic Convention. I don't believe any self-respecting male candidate would have wanted to find theirs there had he come in second. Why must you allow these women who are obvious sore losers to put you in such a humiliating position? You have always had so much more class than that. Many of them have lots of mouth, but no class. I would not wish either of them to represent me, my values, nor what I stand for. In all honestly, they could not. With those who have claimed they speak for you, I am completely unimpressed. Get new supporters or at least don't allow them to be seen. They represent the American woman, badly.

Hillary, tell these grown up women that we do not want to have others get the idea that we--American women--need special treatment; that we do not need to be pitied or handled with kid gloves when we have lost a political challenge, even if the nomination of a party for the highest executive office in the land. Then, go on out there and show them what you are really made of. You, Senator Hillary Clinton, will be back. They can count on it.

U.S.; Russia-Georgia Conflict

Have you been following the Russia-Georgia Conflict? Just how effective do you believe United States' interventions in behalf of Georgian interests will be? Apparently the U.S. is attempting to mediate between Russian government and that of the Republic of Georgia (not the U.S. state, of course). Since early August, Georgia has been engaged in armed conflict with separatists and the state of Russia.

I am confused, here. With the international opinions what they are--and have been for the past 5 years--about the U.S. and our international affairs, how successful will we actually be in mediating affairs of state in European or Asian countries? Won't any attempts we make to use threats of force be seen as just that, threats? Will we be seen as hostile, as opposed to the goodwill nation role that we have enjoyed in yesteryear? Could our true concern over the human rights of the besieged country's citizens be misinterpreted, construed as a bid or an attempt to take-over that same ailing territory? Now, it becomes apparent that this status which we have held as the nation so trusted to protect the underdog throughout our short history (we are a very young nation as compared to every other) might have quite possibly been significantly damaged by the hot-headed tactics and decision-making of our government during the past five years? It's devastating to consider the implications.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is at this moment making an effort to extend assurances of our support to the Georgian government and people, while warning the Russian war machine to back off, or else. When asked, or else what? She replies that the USSR is aware that this is not 1968. That in today's global community, Russia understands that they must honor the rules that govern that community or suffer dire globally-related economic sanctions, to their country's detriment.

To Ms. Rice I say, I sincerely hope that is so. I honestly wish this current American administration the best in their diplomatic interventions. I send the people of the independent territories of Georgia my heartfelt desires for a speedy and peaceful resolution to the mayhem within which their homeland had fallen. To all parties I ask for humane considerations.

What do you, most honorable reader, say? Don't be shy. Your thoughts on this matter of international relations? Put them on the table for our consideration.

The Edwards Scandal

What happens to people when, for reasons we common people cannot seem to understand, they forget they are high-visibility personalities? What happens to people when they, for whatever reasons they feel are more important than how they are portrayed in the media, step out there and forget they have huge obligations to other people who depend upon them? Not only do we the taxpaying American citizen depend upon people who hold these positions, they have families--children, wives/husbands, mothers, fathers, and siblings--who stand to be hurt by their selfish behaviors.

Don't get me wrong. I am highly aware that we are only mere men (that also will cover women or any variety of the two); that we will and must make mistakes. We should learn to forgive them of those mistakes. However, forgiving is not forgetting (I know; sounds like a Love Story line, doesn't it?). They must still take responsibility for their misbehavior. Whatever it is they may have done, they have caused great damage to someone else--on both sides of the issue. The regular man who commits such inconsiderate acts against those they say they love (as well as to themselves), hurts a significant number of people. But, the person whose deeds and misdeeds are witnessed by the throngs of people who look on, hurts more souls than they could number at a moment's counting. How can this keep happening?

It keeps happening because, somehow, when we feel a need, we do not stop an instant to consider the repercussions which might result from our satisfying that need. I must say--after pondering the latest headlining indiscretion of Senator John Edwards with his speechwriter, Rielle Hunter--that Senator Edwards did not think. Had he, I do not believe he would have so disrespected his trusting wife, Elizabeth, nor the memories of the life the two have shared, the losses incurred (as with their teenage son many years ago), the trials they've surmounted (as with Elizabeth's struggles with cancer, past, present, and future), nor the joys they have received from the twins, years after the death of their son, who came into their lives and filled the empty void parents have when losing a beloved child. The Edwards had history upon which their marriage was based. John did not think!

No matter why he had an affair, he was first and foremost, unfair to the love and life he and Elizabeth shared and unfaithful to the vows exchanged between the two of them. I, personally, am not an individual who relishes the role of judge, jury, and executor. Therefore, I want it known right here that my purpose for even initiating conversation/comments on this topic is to better understand the whats, the whos, the whys, and how to give those who might find themselves here in the future an incentive not to go through with it (or, at the very least, give them pause for thought before committing an irrevocable act). While Edwards is the latest political figure to be in the news for committing adulterous acts, we all know he's not the first...nor will he be the last, I regret to say. Mr. Edwards, may I suggest you be accountable?

According to Mr. Edwards, his affair with Ms. Hunter was in 2006 at a time when his wife, Elizabeth's, cancer was in remission. I don't understand what that really means in his own mind. For me, it makes what he did make even less sense. Seems to me, when her cancer had gone into remission, Mrs. Edwards should have physically felt more like enjoying the company and attentions of her loving husband while her cancer was no longer a factor preventing them the enjoyment of each other; it was no longer a prominent restriction on Mrs. Edwards' energy being used elsewhere for life-saving purposes like fighting for her survival. So, why after the threat had passed did you decide to become a major news story, Senator? Obviously, Mr. Edwards is not as loving a husband, nor as bright a man, as one would have originally thought--considering the glowing praises wife Elizabeth had sang not long ago on Good Morning America. I so respected him for his unwavering support of his wife and her fight with such a powerful opponent.

On the political front, I do not think Senator Edwards could have chosen a more inopportune time than right now to have his little dalliance become headline news. With the myriad array of issues facing the American people, there is little enough time to focus upon the issues and the platforms of the presidential candidates as they relate to those issues. The last thing we need to have thrust upon the political landscape of this election year is anything which might detract from the seriousness of where we find ourselves on economics, national security, employment, immigration, or international competitiveness (just to name a few from the burgeoning list of things which pose real spirit-defying threats us here at home). He could have done nothing else which would stand to divide his already divided party, could he? Nor, could he have done anything even remotely more satisfying for his party's opposition, and thus to take our minds off the more important things to our great society. It is so detrimental that this election we get it right! We as a nation have so much more to lose than a presidential race. Senator, what could you have been thinking?

What about you out there? Let's put it on the table! What do you say? I'm listening...

Common Sense

I had to run out to the store a moment ago. I had planned to make it a quick, uneventful little trip to pick up a few items and get back home to work on my book, but it didn't end up being as uneventful as I'd planned.

On the way, I happened to run into a bit of construction work on the main street I use often. It caused a back up on the street, no vehicle moved for ten, fifteen minutes. As fate would have it I was stopped, unmoving right in front of a trailer park. Lots of foot traffic was visible from where I sat, stranded in a long line of vehicles. I travel this street all the time; I knew this trailer park community well. However, I never really thought about it before. I'd even noticed a lot of the activities many times as I had passed by in the past. But, I--like most of my fellow citizens of our town--never imagined I was aiding and abetting in a crime.

One source of credible information on the bulk of residents in this community had been one of my lawn crew a few years ago. He'd [I'll call him Juan] mentioned that his sister, her husband, his brother and his wife, and their combined nine children lived in that trailer park. He mentioned he was going to try getting his brother-in-law and his brother on with the lawn care company which serviced the lawns of over half the homes on my street, including my own. It seems the two couples and their children had just moved into the trailer park the day before. They had not moved from around the corner or not even across the state or country. These two families had crossed the border between our country and Mexico earlier in the morning, three days before they had moved into the trailer park.

I was not impressed by what Juan had told me as much as I was that he had felt he could tell me. You see, if we really thought about it, we'd realize that Juan's sister, her husband, and her in-laws had broken the laws which govern our country. They came into our country under the cover of night; they'd come without applying for permissions to enter, nor to stay. Yet, here they stay even until today, as far as I know.

Common Sense. We need to use our common sense in situations like these. As you will tell by a lot of things I write, I care about people because they are people. I do not care what their race, their creed, their color, their nationality, their religious beliefs (or disbeliefs), their political affiliations, their economic status or educational background. I just like people. My weakness is always being able to see the good in everyone I meet, until they prove to me otherwise. I have nothing against Juan, his sister Maria Grace, her husband Jorge. (BTW, these are alias, not their real names...gotta protect the innocent--and avoid lawsuits (more on that in a later post).) But, let's be realistic here. Are these lovely people though they may be, not breaking our laws? Do we not break them also when we know better?

Well, when I phoned the local lawmakers who would (should) handle this situation or at the very least check into the issue, they told me they did not have the authority to even look into it. Unless one or more of these nice folks committed a crime, locally, they were powerless to do anything about them. I was not to bother them in any way, unless I wanted to risk being prosecuted for (now hold on... are you ready for this one?) violating their rights. I was floored... but smart enough to know how to survive. I daresay, that's probably why we all turn that blind eye while our country begins to sink--kind of like the Titanic, while the band played on.

People, we'd better start using our common sense or Rome won't be the only place that burned while the chief authority fiddled around. In the words of one well-known filmmaker in a few films: Wake up!

He's At It, Again

Mr. McCain is adopting the strategy of the Republican party machine. Whenever they don't have anything of substance with which to attack their opponent, they go for the old low-blow, hit 'em below the belt tactic that George "Bubba" Bush used in the 2000 presidential race. Faced with the dilemma of not having a legitimate negative issue to cast at his opponent, they make the accusation that his opponent flip flops, even though the very candidate that makes that accusation flips on every possible issue in which the polls found he was unfavorable with the most voters.

I can't say other Republican presidential candidates never utilized this strategy before Bush the son had. I'm not even going to say that some Democratic presidential candidates haven't used it against their opponents. But, I will say that if they have, they've never done it to the level and to the extent that George W. Bush has done it. But, of course, George the son has had much practice with that low-road kind of tactic. Now, I think the country and the entire world knows why he's had to do just that after his 8 years in the White House. Those Texans who had to watch on as he'd torn the sitting governor down using a weakness that later on we would find out that he too shared with her can see just how he'd really pulled it off back then. Yes, he won the governor's race in 1992, unseating Ann Richards using a low-brow political tactic that the voters should not have fallen for. He later did the same thing to turn the tides in his presidential race against John Kerry. When Bush and his campaign managers perceived he was losing ground, they once again played the old tear down tactic, this time the flip flop for the first time. It would not be the last time, either.

Now, the McCain party machine wants to do the same thing with Obama. I, as well as any adult in America, should recognize this tired ploy that the Republican party has used to their advantage so often within the past sixteen years, starting with George W's run for governor of Texas. I, as well as any adult citizen of the United States should know better. We should remember that in allowing a candidate to frighten us by trying for the knees of their opponent when they could not stand upon what they could do to make things better for us, the American voter who played a huge part in their being there, we would be forced to settle for what they ultimately ended up doing to us. We should remember that the petty, small-minded person who would focus upon whatever they perceived as their opponent's weakness, as opposed to what they personally planned to do to make life a little better for the people they are supposed to be serving, will not protect our (middle America's) interests. They will not stop the factors of our economy that has been spiraling out of control since 2002, which I can tell you from personal experience. I will as we get to know each other better.

For now, I will say that I do not want to suffer the next 4 years fighting the very same fights that we've had to fight the past 8. I don't think I can stand another 4 years of that. Face it people. They believe what they believe. McCain is no different than Bush. They come from the same cloth. Think about it... I mean, really think. You can do it. They just depend on you--all of us--not thinking, but listening to what they want us to think and then doing what they want us to do. I say let's not focus on their personal grudges. Let's look for the thing that means we here at home will be able to afford the necessities of life, forget about the luxuries! Who do you really think understands what you need and will go after it for you? That should be your decision maker on this issue. Flip flop is what they all mostly do in Washington, D.C. What's really in it for us? I know what I'm looking for? What about you? Well, now's the time to act... not later.

What do you say? I'm listening...

State of Our Nation

Today, Thursday, August 7, 2008 it was found that in many United States counties, minorities are now the majority. No longer are blond, blue-eyed Americans in the majority in those counties. With the influx of Mexican nationals into the U.S., now more than 1/3 of the population is hispanic, not because of the illegal immigrants from Mexico, but because of their American-born offspring. What does this mean for the United States of America?

Common Sense

This is an election year, so naturally most conversations will be about politics. However, everyday people have bouts with a lack of common sense just as do those vying for public offices. I know... I know; it's not as serious because everyday issues of the everyday person does not affect as many people (at least, not usually... unless you're a Hunt, a Rockefeller, a Hutton, a You-Know-Who-Else-Could-Go-Here, any of those with ties to big business and industry, whose families have been a part of that social strata for as long as America has been settled by those from across the seas).

Taking a deep breath, here: Anyway, I will be chatting about the headliners, those in the limelight here, in this little old post. Any time you want, just chime in, okay?

8/10/08
According to a 60 Minutes story, the Israeli Air Force daily fires missiles inside the Palestinian territory, killing hundreds of civilians. The IAF trains their pilots for these missions and, although the military brass feels it is a moral dilemma, they have no choice but to continue.

These missions take no note of the fact that women, and even children, are often among the casualities. To that they say it cannot be avoided.

Those missions are carried out in American made aircraft. Do we bear any responsibility for these masacres? Should we do something about them? What are your thoughts on these horrific acts against an entire race of people because their home is in an inconvenient location for another?

The issues are on the table. What do you say?

The Obama Superstar Ad

What do you think could possibly cause a sane person to say some of the things Mr. McCain seems forced to say about his opponent?

Do you think he could perhaps be feeling eminent defeat in November's race, before we had even gotten into the month of August, at the time?

I think he's going to have to do better than he's been doing with such claims as he's just made over the past couple of days. Don't you? I mean Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? Obviously he was pressed for names of actual people to name on the spur of the moment. Otherwise he certainly would have at least come up with Arnold Schwarzenegger (I know he must remember when he was a superstar) or even the late Ronald Reagan. Hey, those two guys really were actors/superstars--and of the same party as McCain, too. He might need to stop now, before he says too much... if he hasn't already. But, maybe he just doesn't know any better??

And, how can the media (ABC, most particularly) even think he's been "hammering Obama" when his rhetoric makes no sense to me at all?

Let's hear what you have to say about it. Sound off, and be heard!


8/3/08
Well. I allowed you enough time to respond to my queries, but you chose not to. So, I'll elaborate a bit more.

I was up late last night... this morning and caught the repeat of the evening news. I'm getting a little frustrated with the way the news stations equivocate on behavior of McCain. He's much too old to use such petty subjects to attack his opponent. He's tiring me with his inadequate (okay, get them a dictionary and/or thesaurus before we go further; we wouldn't want the media or McCain's campaign to misinterpret--or miss, entirely--what I'm about to say) feints and parries. Perhaps if he had a more competent campaign manager? What do you think? I'm going to give you another opportunity to speak out, here. Go ahead, let's hear what's on your mind?