Step Aside Republicans and Pundits

Barack Obama has been President of the US for a almost 6 weeks now. Already the Republicans and right-wing pundits have tried to derail his agenda! The right-wing have been doing nothing but complaining about this strategy and criticizing the agenda of President Obama. They really want to see President Obama fail!

I say to them: "Step aside. Get out of the way! Watch as President Obama turns this nation around with our help!" The Republicans had the past 8 years to mess everything up. The Bush Administration had the last 8 years to let the important things facing this country like the environment, health care, education, take a back seat to their wordly domination philosophy. Now it's a Democratic President that has to step in and make some hard choices. The people of this nation put Barack Obama in office to make change, to start a REVOLUTION, and that is what he will do.

President Obama has my total support! He has done more in the past 6 weeks to try and restore the greatness of the US than George W. & Company did in the past 8 years! Get move up to the front of the bus or take a back seat, but don't let the change the people want stop!

Why Is SOCIALISM Such A Bad Word?

The "in" word of this past week seemed to be socialism. The Conservatives and Conservative Media have been using this word to describe President Obama's agenda, particularly his economic agenda. I ask: what is so wrong with socialism anyway?

Wikipedia defines the term as, "Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal opportunities for all individuals....Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society."

Socialism has its beginnings many times throughout history during revolutions. The People get tired of being left with nothing and being treated with inequality, and revolution brings about change. Did the American people begin a revolution with the election of Barack Obama? Did the people in this country finally get so sick of the wealth being distributed unevenly amongst the rich, that they said, "Enough is enough!" Isn't it said that 1% of the US population has 95% of the wealth?

I ask again, "What is so wrong with Socialism?"

A Warm Welcome For Obama

I thought it was great to see the warm welcome President Obama received earlier this week in Canada. More than 3000 people withstood freezing temperatures and snow on Ottawa's Parliament Hill to watch as the US President waved to the crowds during his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Lesley Marshall, a university student, said, "We came for the Bush protest here (in 2004). There were just lines of police officers with gas masks because there was so much anti- American sentiment. It was horrifying..." What a difference!

It made me proud to be an American to see this welcome of our President! Even during the campaign, I felt a tingle of pride when then Candidate Obama met with other world leaders. To see the crowds then come to see OUR future President was awe-inspiring. I remember Obama being criticized for taking this trip during the campaign, but other candidates for US President would not have received the same reception!

It was actually embarrassing to see George W. visit other countries! Nothing but protests and scenes of police in riot gear were seen on TV. The world hated Bush, and the world hated US Americans! Now maybe we will be seen in a different light!

Early Signs of Spring

The bulbs are starting to pop!

It's Criminal And Someone Should Pay

In January, China sentenced two men to death and imposed life in prison on Sanlu Group Co.’s former head for their involvement in the tainted-milk scandal that claimed the lives of at least six babies, Xinhua news agency said. If you recall that incident, at least six babies died, and 294,000 suffered kidney ailments and urinary problems after drinking infant formula tainted with melamine.

In the US, we have had our episode of food poisoning as well. Our culprit, salmonella-laced PEANUT BUTTER! One of my favorite foods (excluding the salmonella)! Now the president of a peanut company and a plant manager are accused of knowingly distributing contaminated food. During a grilling by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, these men refused to answer many of the questions posed to them. At one point, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, displayed a container sealed with yellow "caution" tape and said to Stewart Parnell, president of the Peanut Corp. of America, and Sammy Lightsey, manager of the company's Blakely, Georgia plant, "In this container are products that have your ingredients in them, some of which were on the recall list, some of which are probably contaminated....It seems like, from what we've read, you were willing to send out that peanut base [that] went into these ingredients. And I just wonder, would either of you be willing to take the lid off and eat any of these products now, like the people on the panel ahead of you, their relatives, their loved ones did?"

Nine people in the US have died as a direct result of the peanut butter contamination and many others have been sickened. This is criminal and someone should pay, and pay with more than just a monetary fine, which will come out of an insurance company. I am not suggesting these men, if it is they that are guilty, be executed like the case in China, but the guilty in the US peanut butter case are guilty of murder and should be sentenced for such a crime.

“China pays great attention to food safety and product quality,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a press briefing today. “In the Sanlu case, China is strictly handling the case according to the law,” she said, adding the country has strengthened its rules and regulations after the scandal. The US should be following the same standards! After all, aren't our standards so much higher than the rest of the world's?

Really Hoping Obama Fails

Has anyone else noticed how hard the right-winged media and others (Republicans) are trying their hardest to get negative reactions to everything Barack Obama says and does? Rush has said he hopes Obama fails, then tried to clear it up by stating that he only hoped Obama's stimulus plan failed. The other day some newscaster asked a "blog" question something like, "If the stimulus plan does not work, will you still support Obama? How much time will you give the stimulus plan to work?" The expected answer in each of these and many other questions/polls is a negative response against Obama.

Obama has been in office about four weeks now! He inherited a mess and it will take a lot longer than four weeks or even four months to fix it! So how long will I give him? I would say, FOUR YEARS maybe! George W. and his party took eight years to screw things up so badly, I think FOUR YEARS is enough to give Obama to start turning things around!

Are the Republicans just jealous that Obama still has such a favorable rating? Are the Republicans going to continue their hardest to try and change peoples' feelings about Obama? I hate to tell them,but I believe the American people are tired of the BS that the Republicans have fed them for the past eight years! I think, and I am hoping, that the Republican strategy will backfire on them and make people dislike the Republicans even more.

Get on board, Republicans! You and your strategy has failed this country. Get on board and give Obama an honest chance to turn things around. Guess what? He's going to do it with or without you anyway!

Freedom To Marry Week

Today is the first day of Freedom To Marry week. Across the nation, there are activities being planned in churches, homes, schools, businesses, government offices and community spaces. Please visit the site for more information.

"I think I screwed up"

"To err is human..." Barack Obama never said he wasn't human! He made a mistake! I think there is nothing better than to admit it and move on................That's exactly what Obama is doing. When was the last time we heard a President say, "I think I screwed up"?

Michael Phelps-You Don't Need To Aplogize To Anyone

By now I'm sure everyone has heard about the photo of Michael Phelps smoking a pot pipe that surfaced in a British tabloid. Michael response to this was, "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment.... I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

Yes, Michael, you acted in a "youthful" way. Maybe that' because you are a youth! (Or "yoot" as Pesci would say). You need not apologize to anyone for being "youthful!" Enjoy your youth while you can because it will be gone all too soon! Sure you're a role model, but that doesn't mean you have to be perfect for the entire world! It's ok to cut loose and lighten up once in awhile!

Joe Windish, The Moderate Voice, wrote an interesting "interview" with Michael Phelps in which Phelps says, "Dear America,
I take it back. I don’t apologize.
Because you know what? It’s none of your…business. I work my ass off 10 months per year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture."

How great would that be? And Michael, don't worry about your sponsorships and commercials, I'm sure Budweiser will give you a nice contract.