Africa In The Raw

Africa is a continent known for its vast natural beauty and resources, but also for its abject poverty. For many African countries the journey from colony to full-fledge nation has been a perilous one. Because of its vast size and diversity of cultures, Africa to many is an enigma. How can a continent with so much natural resources and raw materials continue to suffer from crushing poverty and hunger? Africa has suffered and continues to suffer from the same problem that doomed the Native Americans, there is too much tribalism. By the time the Native Americans became a cohesive force the battle was already lost. Africa suffers from a lack of unity.

This is not to say that external forces have not wrecked havoc on Africa. The colonialism of the West has had devastating effects on the African psyche. It has bred a culture of distrust and animosity between those who share a common history and a common future. A future that could be bright for all of its people, if there were more unity. Africa not only needs unity between nations, but just as importantly unity within nations. There are too many civil wars involving tribalism, sects and clans. As long as there is division there can be no progress. A house divided cannot stand. It is time for unity in Africa. Some sort of loose confederation of states united in purpose, with the goal of reducing poverty and increasing opportunity for all Africans.

For Africa to overcome its many problems the West must begin to shift from the current attitude of assistance to one that will allow Africa to begin to compete on a global scale. Currently, the West is providing Africa with its own subsidized agricultural products flooding the local markets with cheap products and driving down prices for local farmers. While keeping the local markets depressed they in turn refuse to allow the African access to their markets, thus perpetuating a cycle of poverty. We must begin to rethink how we provide aid and how we promote prosperity in Africa. By supplying Africa with these surplus products we are not allowing the local people or the countries from developing their own markets or exporting to international markets.

If the world is truly serious about helping Africa develop, then some tough choices have to be made in how they do business. We need to begin to move from just sustaining populations to the process of developing populations. We ship over all this aid, but how are we helping to develop their futures. Are we only postponing the inevitable and actually adding more misery to the people we claim to be trying to help. If the land cannot sustain the people that are there now, why are we creating more people to live on the land? If a land is uninhabitable shipping food in will not solve that problem. It may be a good short-term solution and look good on those charity infomercials, but it is not providing these people with the long-term solutions they need.

The industrialized nations have to stop trying to solve the hunger problem by dumping its subsidized products on the Africans. While this provides a short-term solution and allows them to claim they are helping to fight global hunger, but the reality is they are perpetuating more hunger in the future. These nations must begin to take a more long-term view of developing Africa and the leaders of Africa must begin to create the environment for growth and development. This has to begin with an end to tribalism, tribalism is what allows the rest of the world to camouflage their racism and to continue to treat Africa as a third-class world citizen. Freedom for all African citizens must become a reality for true development to take place.

We must begin to throw off the last vestiges of colonialism, which is being played out in African versus African violence. Ethnic cleansing and tribal devotion has to give way to national and continental development and freedom. Africa has the resources to surpass India or China’s economic development, the question is do they have the will and the leadership. They need for the leadership to unite Africa for the benefit of all Africans, as well as the pride and development of the Africans living abroad. We Africans that were taken into bondage all over the world and those who have chosen to live abroad can never have complete equality and freedom until Africa once again takes it rightful place in the world. As long as Africa remains weak and divided, we will continue to be treated as less than by the rest of the world. Africa must once again regain its educational and economic leadership position in the world for the benefit of all Africans.

It is time to invest not only money in Africa, but talent and knowledge. The current trend appears to be to export the raw materials and manufacture the goods someplace else, but until goods are manufactured in Africa, by Africans the cycle of poverty will never be broken. The development of Africa can only occur when Africans gathering the raw materials begin manufacturing finished products, and exporting those products. The cycle of industrialized development must follow this process. Africa must be given the tools and the capital to develop its markets both in agricultural and manufacturing, without the development of those two key areas we will not have enough surplus food to sustain them.

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Progress On The Curve

Well, it’s September. The month we’ve all been waiting for. The kids are back in school, the long days of summer are shortening, and the Iraq dog and pony show continues. I am reminded by the changing of the leaves of how often this President has changed the meaning of progress in Iraq. Let’s have a recap of just what exactly progress in Iraq has meant over the last four years, because if you are like me it has been hard to keep track. Under this administration progress has been such an elusive concept to define because every time I think I understand what it means it changes. Here we go I hope you have your scorecards ready.


1) The first use of the term “progress in Iraq” came in June 2003, on June 23rd in a speech President Bush outlined what progress in Iraq would entail.[1]
2) Progress – Free and democratic Iraq with elections.
3) Progress – Restoring Iraq economy and oil revenues.
4) Progress – Iraqi Constitution and Iraqi sovereignty.
5) Progress – Unified central government and reconciliation.
6) Progress – Iraqi government benchmarks.
7) Progress – Secure and stable Baghdad.
8) Progress – Sunni tribal chiefs stop attacking American troops.

So, as you can see progress in Iraq is a very obscure concept, as the years have gone by its meaning has evolved. The question is why has the definition of progress changed? Could it be because every benchmark of progress that this administration has setup has yet to yield any real progress? Let’s look at the record after over four years in Iraq and see how much progress has been achieved.

Free and democratic Iraq with elections: While there were democratic elections, I think anyone would be hard pressed to claim freedom and democracy in Iraq at this time. What the election demonstrated was what the real experts in the region already knew, that the Iraqis would split along sectarian lines in their voting. By voting along these lines instead of unity we have sectarianism, instead of a central government with a popular mandate to govern we have a sectarian government rife with division.

Restoring Iraq economy and oil revenues: The Iraqi economy is in shambles for the Iraqis, however for the American contractors working in Iraq and the corporations doing business in Iraq, it could not be better. Rather than improving the lives of the Iraqis we have improved the lives of our corporations. This is not progress, this is war profiteering. The oil industry is under constant attack and the price and supply of gas in Iraq is outrageous.

Iraqi Constitution and sovereignty: Yes, Iraq does have a Constitution written under our tutelage and representing our values. Does it reflect what the Iraqis want? I happen to believe that it does not and that is why the current government is dysfunctional. We tried to instill western values into their culture rather than conforming our values to their culture, just another display of western arrogance and hegemony towards those heathen Arabs.

Unified central government and national reconciliation: Any thoughts of this being a sign of progress should have been dispelled at the execution of Saddam Hussein. It’s funny how the signs continue to appear that there are problems and yet they continue to be ignored. There has been no national reconciliation, if anything there has been more sectarianism and division. The central government is paralyzed and the local councils feel no loyalty to the central government in Baghdad.
Iraqi government benchmarks: According to the recent GAO report, the Iraqi government has failed to meet 11 of the 18 benchmarks. Remember it was this administration that created and defined these benchmarks, so it is tragic that they are now attempting to back away from these benchmarks as a measuring stick of progress. No matter what your political stripe, I have yet to hear even the wing-nuts proclaim this government as progressing. The PM has stated that he does not feel obligated to meet these arbitrary goals set up by politicians in Washington; he represents the citizens of Iraq.

Secure and stable Baghdad: This of course will depend on who you talk to in order to gauge any progress. If you talk to Senator McCain and his straight talk, you will learn that it is as safe as a market in Indiana. If you talk to the locals, they tend to disagree. Though the deaths of American service personnel have dropped, the ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods, the sectarian violence, and the number of attacks outside of Baghdad have not. The surge has managed to relocate the violence out of Baghdad and into the other parts of Iraq. The security has also been increased in the Green Zone, one of the few safe havens in Iraq.

Sunni tribal chiefs stop attacking American troops: In an effort to generate support President Bush has redefined progress in Iraq to getting the Sunni tribal chiefs to accept our money and our guns in exchange for no longer supporting the insurgents, whom they had come to resent. It seems that this administration has finally come to accept its limits in Iraq. The President seems to be moving away from his grandiose vision of Iraq as the beacon of democracy in the Arab world. Right now it seems he would settle for just a little peace of mind, if he finds it it will be short-lived. The Sunni chieftains have shifting loyalties and no loyalty to the central government; so on the one hand Mr. Bush is becoming cozy with the Sunnis and alienating the government. This truce will not last long.

So based on the data it would appear that in all areas being touted at one time or another by this administration as progress, they have failed miserably. But yet they continue to create newer, lower benchmarks, if this were a school in the “No Child Left Behind” program it would be condemned. My fear is that we as a nation are still not that outraged by what is happening, we are still willing to grade this assignment on a curve. Soon, there will be no curve that can measure complete failure.

[1] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030723-1.html

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Diversity In Blogosphere?

Lately there has been a lot of talk in the Blog world about diversity and its place in the world. There are voices that say all whites, liberal and conservative are basically the same and share the same agenda. There are voices that say that all whites are bred to feel superior and therefore are inherently racist, whether they acknowledge it or not. It’s in the DNA. There are voices that say because of our troubled history we can never have true unity as a nation and that the best we can hope for is an uneasy co-existence. There are voices that say because a person is born a certain race they can never truly identify with anyone from another race or their plight. What do you believe?

The first question we must ask ourselves is do we want diversity and why? Do I want diversity because it is the PC thing to do or do I honestly feel that we are strengthened as a nation, when all voices are heard, even those that do not echo my own? Why do we seek the comfort of likeminded in our dwellings, in our relationships, and jobs? Why is something different always to be feared? Can I only trust those of like mind and complexion? Why are we so divided? Can we ever truly be united as a nation?

These are questions I ponder all the time and I wish I could say that I have it all figured out, but I don’t. Sometimes the more I think I know, the less I really know about people. What I do know is the atrocity that was slavery cannot be compensated for. It is time we all got honest and admitted this fact. No matter what is offered it will never be enough and whatever is asked will be too much. Do you think that the casinos make up for the genocidal treatment that the Native Americans received? Do you think that they would trade them for their past, for their culture back? We as Black and White must move beyond this argument and come to a mutual understanding and equitable arrangement to help combat the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in America. While nothing can ever remove the stain of it, there are definite vestiges of its insidious nature that must be dealt with in a constructive way if we are to achieve any type of lasting peace and unity.

There are concrete things that we can do as a nation to begin the healing process that has for too long been ignored for various reasons. The things that divide us are so deeply entrenched that we as men and women can never overcome them of ourselves. Look at us on Sunday mornings, today it is still the most segregated time in America. We can’t even worship God together, how can we live together?

Gandhi was asked by a Hindu who had killed a Muslim child’s family and orphaned him, how can the Hindu make up for what he had done? Gandhi told him that if he were truly serious and repentant that he should raise the orphan, but not as a Hindu. He was to raise him as a Muslim, like his dead father would have done. The simplicity of this answer is powerful and yet most people miss it. Today, we want solutions that don’t require any work. We basically have become lazy. We sit behind these computers and bang out all these ideas and theories and yet what do we actually physically do to change things? The message that Gandhi was relating is that in order to know a man you have to walk as that man walks, live as that man lives. So often today, due to our laziness we just readily accept stereotypes, rhetoric, and demagoguery. How much do we really know about each other? How much are we willing to learn?

Until we get enough people willing to do the things that are uncomfortable, we will merely continue to have an exercise in futility when it comes to race relations in America. Black people can’t force the issue and White people won’t. If you want to know what is wrong in the world all you have to do is just look inside your own heart. We all suffer from the same fears, insecurities, and shortcomings. I am every man and every man is me. Until, we recognize that we have more that unites us than divides us we will continue to fall into the same old traps. We need to stop allowing those that are exploiting the poor and the working class to continue to foster this false racial identity game. So long as they are able to divide and conquer they will remain free to continue their price gouging, profit stealing, and Wall Street inside trading. While we fight over the crumbs, they reap the gourmet meals.

I for one find it fascinating how those things we despise in others we someday become. I know for myself I use to say as a child I would never treat my children this way in response to some perceived slight of my father. Well, a few years later and a couple of kids and guess what. I say that to say, that we as people can sometimes make the same mistakes we find fault with in others, it isn’t that we are bad, we are just human and it is a part of our nature to do so. Do I think all Progressives are racists? No. Do I think that we all can learn lessons from each other? Yes, but you have to acknowledge that you have need of knowledge to get it. If I believe that I am not a racist, then I won’t look at myself and see where maybe I have been insensitive or could use more self evaluation from another’s perspective. If I say I am without sin, then I am a liar and the truth is not in me. Am I the worst sinner ever? Maybe, it will depend on who you talk to. My ex-wife has me somewhere near the top. In my mind I can always find someone worse than me, but does that make me innocent? The point being is that until I acknowledge I have fallen short in some area, I will continue to lull myself into a false sense of security. (I have friends who are…)

Einstein said it best, “It is all relative.” To the man who has been cheated over and over; can you blame him for being suspicious? If you are White think about how it feels when you are in a situation where you are the minority. Now imagine that feeling every day. If you are Black think about how it feels to be falsely accused just because you are Black or lumped into the generalization pot. He’s Black of course he can play basketball. We will never find unity if we can’t get past the fear and the stereotypes that continue to define us. This is a marathon, not a sprint. There has been a lot of mistrust, fear, and social conditioning to overcome. There are many who will not want to, but for those who want to build a better world we must overcome our prejudice and fears. It is going to take a lot of work and many years. I have had many white friends who truly believed that they were not prejudiced, and then they would say you are handsome or smart for a Black man…Articulate

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The End Of Civility?

It began with the first George Bush (Willie Horton) and has continued to this day. Each and every year it keeps getting ratcheted up higher and higher. The American public is being bombarded by it on a nightly basis through the 24 hour news cycle. What is it you ask?

It is the loss of civility in our political discourse. There was a time when we could disagree with someone’s ideas and not be disagreeable. We could debate the merits of ideas without debating the patriotism or the character of the person behind the idea. Why is there so much rancor and demagoguery in our governance? When did it become fashionable to discount ideas not based on their value, but based on what side of the political spectrum they came from? Our political dialog has been in a slow and steady decline for a number of years and no one but those who would seek to divide us gains from it. I wish I could say that it was just one side or the other, but that is not true. We can debate from now ‘til doomsday about who started it, but the fact remains we all are doing it. From the extremes of discussing the sexuality of a candidate to the President being the anti-Christ, it is all demagoguery. Do we have to demonize each other to prove who is right and who is wrong? Is it possible that because someone disagrees with my assessment of the situation it doesn’t mean that they are inherently evil and the devil’s spawn?

I read an editorial that said that we as a nation have become so competitive that this new political reality is merely the out-growth of that. It stated that we generally are as a nation fractured and splintered right down the middle and the red/blue state debates are fueling this animosity. That we are so divided on certain issues that any settlement is next to impossible. These issues are so personal and so basic that there can be no compromise. You are either with us and right or with them and wrong and going to hell! Is this really how the majority of Americans feel? There is also a book that argues this same point, “Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America” by James Davison Hunter. He argued that on an increasing number of "hot-button" defining issues—abortion, gun politics, separation of church and state, privacy, homosexuality, censorship issues— there had come to be two definable polarities. Furthermore, it was not just that there were a number of divisive issues, but that society had divided along essentially the same lines on each of these issues, so as to constitute two warring groups, defined primarily not by nominal religion, ethnicity, social class, or even political affiliation, but rather by ideological world views.

I for one disagree with this analysis. The problem as I see it is that we have become a society that feeds on entertainment and conflict. We want to be entertained and see a good fight; hence the obsession with reality shows. There is a time and place for that type of entertainment, but our political arena is not it. The issues we face as a nation are too important to settle with name calling and personal attacks. In order for us to overcome these obstacles we will need the cooperation of all Americans. There are extreme groups on both sides of these issues that would have us believe that the lines are drawn so sharply and run so deep that there is no room for compromise, but they are not right. They said the same thing about slavery, integration of our schools, and women voting. It is just that the extremist are always the loudest and the moderates are becoming complacent. We don’t have to completely agree with each other on everything, but we must respect one another in the process of discussion. We will never get anywhere with the politics of demonizing our opponents. Think about it, what can you say after you have identified your opponent as the anti-Christ? Any meaningful discussions are really limited at that point. It is time to end the politics of division and hate. It is time to stop this viscous cycle before it destroys any chance we have to heal this nation. Do I disagree with this administration? You bet I do, but there are some decent and honorable people in this administration and on the other side of the aisle that deserve my respect. Not because they are right and I agree with them but because they are Americans and have the same right of free speech that I do. The American people deserve better than what the political landscape is now providing. There are many able and qualified people who will not enter into the public arena because of this environment. When that happens we all lose.

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Poverty In America

WASHINGTON - The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots" continues to widen.

A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 - half the federal poverty line - was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.

The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.

If anyone needed a reason to support John Edwards this should do the trick. No one in the race Republican or Democrat is speaking out more or with the specificity of Senator Edwards. After we finally get untangled from Iraq, poverty will be an issue that must be recognized and dealt with. This administration has used the Iraq war to ignore and deprive the poor, while allowing the corporate profits and CEO salaries to reach all-time highs. There is a problem when you have these types of record extremes. It is an indication that the ones in the middle are disappearing. If we do not address this problem America will begin to resemble our Central and South American neighbors, where you have a few very wealthy people and the majority very poor. I believe that democracy cannot survive without a middle-class. I think that the larger the middle-class the stronger the democracy. Those with the largest stake in democracy are the middle-class. The rich don’t need it and the poor don’t believe in it.

So, what are we to do with the severely poor? How do we defeat the systemic causes of extreme poverty in America? Can we free those who are entrenched in this cycle of poverty?

Fighting poverty is a job for government, but it is also a job for all of us in our own communities. I believe our nation is up to this challenge. Hurricane Katrina exposed us to heartbreaking images of extreme poverty but it also reminded us of the extraordinary compassion of the American people -- millions opened their hearts, homes and wallets after the storm.

We need to speak up when we know something is wrong. Let's put poverty on top of the national agenda and pledge to hold our government accountable for ignoring the suffering of so many for far too long. I’ve traveled the country for more than a year, meeting with people who are struggling to get out of poverty. One thing I’ve noticed in these conversations is that they have never had a champion. They have no idea what it’s like to have somebody to speak up for them. All of us must champion their cause.

We must act both locally and nationally to fight for a higher minimum wage and other measures that will improve the lives of low-income families. And we need to get involved when our neighbors are in need. This can be as simple as volunteering your time to be a mentor to a young person or to help build a house for a homeless family. Each of us can make a huge difference.[1]

According to Senator Edwards government and individuals must play a role in solving this national scourge. There is no one right way to do this. It is going to require all of us to come together and collectively exchange ideas and resolutions. I think one of the biggest problems is that we have allowed Conservatives to scare us off this issue. So what everything we tried in the past didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean we throw out the baby. We must be willing to do what this administration is not and that is to evaluate our strategies and when they don’t work, we try something different. We need to include everyday people in the process as well. One of the things that help to drive innovation in the business world was the suggestion box. A simple little thing like that can make a world of difference. It allowed the people dealing with the problem an opportunity to help solve the problem. Who knows better where to start looking for a solution than those who are at ground zero of an issue?

Solving this issue is one of the most difficult and pressing concerns of this nation. We can no longer continue to let the gap between the richest and the poorest grow at these record rates. We have the money and we have the knowledge[2] of what works from years of studies and experience. What is missing is the political will to act. We are also missing the leadership to take up this challenge. When President Johnson launched his “war on poverty” there were plenty of naysayers and intransigents, but because of his strong leadership and political capital he made hard fought gains. And in doing so, he helped to reduce poverty by its largest margins since the depression.

Now it is our turn to complete the process. Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the poorest among us, while the wealthiest continue to make record growth? Will we continue to step over the fallen strangers pretending not to see, rather than being the good Samaritan? The answers to these questions will say a lot about who we are as a nation and what values we believe are important. We have the technology to solve this, do we have the desire?

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[1] http://www.southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2006/07/senator-john-edwards-on-poverty.asp

[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042502442.html

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Who Are We?

The next President will have many challenges ahead of him or her. They will inherit our nation at arguably its lowest point in history. We have lost respect abroad and consensus at home. The most important challenge this person will be faced with is to help us as a nation decide just who we are.

Who are we? Are we a nation that respects the rule of law or are we a nation that ignores laws that do not fit into our vision of the world?

Who are we? Are we a nation whose justice system is based on “habeas corpus” and “innocent until proven guilty” or are we a nation where everyone is “guilty until proven innocent”?

Who are we? Are we nation that believes in humane treatment of prisoners no matter what their combat status or are we a nation the practices and condones torture?

Who are we? Are we a nation that seeks to live in peace with the rest of the world or are we a nation that shoots first and ask questions later?

Who are we? Are we the nation that helped to liberate the world from fascism and tyranny or are we a nation that will impose imperialism at the end of a gun?

Who are we? Are we a nation who believes that everyone has a right to health care, a decent wage, and food and shelter or are we nation who believes that our only obligation is to ourselves and our own comforts?

Who are we? Are we a nation that believes in freedom for its citizens from a repressive and secretive government or are we nation that believes all is fair in the war on terrorism?

Who are we? Are we a nation where everyone does and pays his fair share or are we a nation where the wealthy are shielded from their responsibility?

Who are we? Are we a nation that demonstrates the principles of democracy and courage or are we a nation that cowers in fear and paranoia?

Who are we? Are we a nation that learns from its mistakes or are we a nation that has never made a mistake?

Who are we? Are we a nation that leads the fight in solving climate change or are we a nation that buries its head in the sand?

Who are we? Are we a nation that stands united and falls divided or are we a nation that allows politics and demagoguery to keep us separate?

The next president will inherit this country at one of its most important crossroads ever. The next president will have to help this nation define who we really are. Not who we proclaim to be, but who and what we truly believe in. We, as a nation must do some soul searching about some real core issues that supersede red and blue. The answers to these questions will define who we are as a nation for the next generation and beyond. It is time for a national conversation and discussion as to what type of nation we want to be. The choice for now is ours to make. I don’t know how long the decision will be ours at the rate we are going. There are forces at work that want to limit our freedoms and our choices. There are forces at work that want to define for us, who we are.

We as a nation must unite and get past the rhetoric of politics and division and come together to solve the many issues that are facing us. We may not agree on every issue, but we should be able to build a consensus on most. We must all be ready to sacrifice and compromise for the sake of unity and country. First and foremost, we are Americans, any affiliation after that is supposed to be secondary. We are to overlook our petty differences and come together for the greater good. How many of us can truly say we have done this? How many of us can look beyond politics, race, and economics and put America first for a change?

The next president cannot solve all that ails us, but they can be a unifier. They can be a catalyst for the debate we so desperately need. They can keep the discussion on point and steer it away from partisan agendas. If the Dems win back the White House it will be difficult to not dismiss the losing party out of hand, but we must not do it. Our country is greatest when we use all of our assets. My position is made stronger by the opposition not weaker; my ideas must be able to stand up to critical review. Our next leader must have the strength of character to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them. There is no strength or wisdom in being stubborn and blind to changes taking place around us.

America…who are we? The answer to that question begins with, who are you?

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Mission Accomplished?

It was four years ago that President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier with the infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner and announced the end of major hostilities in Iraq. I remember the day exactly, I was over my folk’s house and we were discussing what the President had just done. I had hinted that it was for the upcoming election to be run as commercials with the President all decked out in his flight suit landing on the carrier. You know all the things he was suppose to do in the Guard and didn’t, but that is another story.

That was truly a Karl Rove moment. Everything appeared so rosy and bright for Iraq and for us. Unfortunately, it was exactly at the moment that we lost Iraq. It was at the height of their arrogance that the deal was sealed. Because they had not done their homework, which seems to be a recurring theme for the President, this administration believed and still does that liberation is about military force. Whoever has the most sophisticated weaponry and the most troops wins. Well, four years later we continue to pour in more sophisticated weaponry and more troops and we are no closer to accomplishing the mission.

Which leads me to a question that we should have asked four years ago, what was the mission? Was our mission to disarm Saddam of his “weapons of mass destruction”? Was our mission to enact regime change? Was our mission to liberate the Iraqi people? Was our mission to bring democracy to the Middle East? Was our mission to secure the rights to permanent military bases and oil concessions? What exactly was our mission Mr. President and what is our mission today?

Until we know what the mission is we cannot know if it has or will ever be accomplished. It appears right now that our main mission is to support our troops. Well, that to me is sort of like saying, “Do you support Iowa or Rhode Island?” The question or mission is not whether we support the troops; the question should be why our troops there are? By framing the question in patriotism this administration has framed the answer. If you want to control the answer you do it by the questions you allow to be asked.

If we really supported the troops we would want them to have a mission they can accomplish and a plan to get them home. At this time we have neither of those, but we support the troops. Because of the bullying tactics of this administration and the atmosphere of “McCarthyism” that they have created, they have in effect silenced all critics with the “unpatriotic or soft on terrorism” label. We, the people must rise above this demagoguery and foolish rhetoric and begin to hold this President accountable for this debacle. They have everyone afraid to admit that this mission is beyond our scope to repair. They say this is defeatist talk. They said the same things about Vietnam and all the rally behind the flag boys rhetoric did not change the circumstances on the ground. We are actually harming our troops and the Iraqi’s by prolonging this occupation. We cannot wait for this President to acknowledge he has made a mistake. This goes against everything he has shown us about his character. We have a better chance of pigs flying than for this President to admit he was wrong.

We are at a crossroads as a nation. We are at one of those pivotal moments in human history when we get to decide who we are as a nation and as a people. Do we believe in those principles we espouse? Continuing to support a failed policy based on lies is not patriotism, it is tyranny. Before we can teach others democracy maybe we should have a refresher course ourselves. We may not be able to save democracy in Iraq, but we can begin to save our democracy here in America. Let’s make that our mission for today.

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Desperate Times

Throughout the course of human history there have been certain times that have required remarkable men to meet desperate and difficult challenges. The list includes Jefferson, Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, King. These men were ordinary men who through circumstances beyond their control were presented the opportunity to rise above their common lives to experience greatness. While these men share very different backgrounds and challenges the thing that they did share was strength of character and courage of convictions.

Today, our world is in desperate need of such a man who is willing to overcome his "commonness" to lay hold of greatness. Our country and our world has been ravaged by partisianism, sectarianism, and fanaticism. Overcoming these strife's will take a man of courage and vision. It will require someone who is not leading by opinion polls, but by an "internal compass". The thing that George W. has shown is that the country will follow a leader with a vision, the problem was that his vision was flawed.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish"

People do not follow programs or plans-these things are important because they are the nuts and bolts-but people follow visions. Look at the history of man, those who were able to move and change history were those who were able to articulate a vision. Mr. Rove is a master of this, however just as Mr. Goebbels was, the problem is that their visions were not to unite but to divide.

Now is the time for leadership and a vision that will unite the "many Americas" into one America. If we are to lead the world we must do so united and morally centered. As a result of the actions of the current administration we have surrendered much of the moral high-ground at home and abroad. It will be difficult to restore our position in the world. It will require consensus building and not gun boat diplomacy. If our way is right we should not have to export it at the end of a gun. If our path is true, terrorism can not stand against us. They may attack us, but they will never defeat us. The politics of fear and division must end if we are to truly win the war on terror and not destroy ourselves in the process.

Is John Edwards this man of vision and destiny? I don't know, but I pray that he is...

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