Barak Obama welcomed in Germany

I have always wanted to take a vacation in Europe but for two reasons I haven’t. First of all – I don’t like feeling stupid and like a typical US citizen I only speak English fluently. I don’t want to be walking around Europe like “Hey, I’m a dumb American – can you speak English to me”. Secondly, US behavior has been very narcissistic, especially during the Bush administration. That makes it somewhat embarrassing to be an American. I don’t want to be the recipient of rudeness because of my country’s narcissistic foreign policies. Hence, no trip to Europe is on the horizon.

However today there is hope that one of the obstacles to a European vacation may go away. When speaking in Germany today, Barak Obama was welcomed with cheers instead of the jeers and sneers that Bush receives. That’s one more reason to vote for Obama. If Obama wins I might get to enjoy a European vacation. I hope that doesn’t sound too narcissistic. ;-)

Obama versus Tupac

I just got back from vacation. I went to Los Angeles and San Francisco to take a break from the rain in Seattle. I am now wishing I had had the foresight to go to Chicago instead to witness Obama's victory speech in person. Below is the part of Obama’s victory speech that I like most, but before you play it consider an excerpt the lyrics to 2PAC’s song Changes:

Come on come on
I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself is life worth living should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch

Now in contrast consider the words of Barak Obama:

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow ...

... Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Does Jeremiah Wright define Barak Obama?

The person I most admired and wanted to be like when I was growing up was my uncle Roger. My uncle Roger is a Professor of Physics Emeritus at Cal State Fullerton, speaks six or seven languages fluently, spent his life working for peace, and basically lives in a free spirit kind of way. Those are some of the things I admire about him. Uncle Roger is also an atheist and a member of the Communist Party and those aspects of my uncle don’t represent me at all.

Many Americans, my self included, are inspired by the words of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner. Does this mean Americans endorse slavery? Of course not.

Why should it matter if Barak Obama’s pastor and mentor, Jeremiah Wright, said something offensive in some of his sermons? Which one of us hasn't said something offensive? Jeremiah Wright doesn’t define Barak Obama no matter how much respect Obama has for him.

Vote Against War

When it comes to choosing a President I am pretty much a single issue voter. I vote against war and I do this in a non-partisan way. For example, after listening to the Bush-Gore debates I voted for Bush because it was clear to me that Gore would get us into a war. What wasn’t clear to me was that Bush was just plain lying when he said:

“If we don’t stop extending our troops around the world in nation-building missions, we’re going to have serious problems coming down the road. I’m going to prevent that.”

According to Paul O’Neil Bush planned to attack Iraq even before 911. Even now the Bush Administration is busy trying to force us into yet another war with Iran before the next election. I may have voted for the guy who will be the one most responsible for starting World War III. Yikes!!!

In the last Presidential election there was no choice. Bush was going to fight the war and Kerry was going to fight it smarter. I didn’t want to “throw away" my vote so I voted for Kerry as the lesser-of-two-evils.

Right now it looks like it will be McCain versus Clinton in the presidential election; or possibly McCain versus Obama. If it comes down to McCain versus Clinton, Clinton becomes the lesser-of-two-evils choice because McCain is determined to fight the war and Clinton claims that she will get us out of it. I doubt she will though. While Bill was President the US was busy selling weapons to 165 out of 183 existing countries and attacking the Iraqi water supply. This attack may have been responsible for even more deaths than the current war in Iraq. Now I know this is guilt by association but I also feel that Hillary represents big business which has benefited from the war. Also the Democrats could end the war by cutting off funding but they won’t (more guilt by association). As a result, I don’t believe Hillary will get us out of Iraq.

So if it comes down to McCain versus Clinton I am going to have to write in Ron Paul (assuming he doesn’t run independently) because I don’t want to throw away my vote on the lesser-of-two-evils again. I know Ron Paul would get us out of the war. If it is McCain versus Obama I will have to think about it. If I decide that Obama will get us out of the war like he says he will, I’ll vote for him.

Colin Powell's stunning endorsement of Barack Obama

You can watch Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama below. I think the most profound part of Colin Powell's endorsement came 4:28 into the video and it says:

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim; he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian.

But the really right answer is, "What if he is?" Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated [with] terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

Ron Paul for President

I voted for Obama last time around. There were a few things I liked about his policy but mostly it was a vote against McCain. However, if Ron Paul had won the Republican nomination he would have been my man. I am glad to see he is running again. I don't think he has a chance of winning but at least he's a sane voice in the wilderness.

Ron Paul repsonds to questions (GOP debate #1, 2011)