Peace in Afghanistan?

Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace

This was very encouraging news this morning. This is exactly the kind of event that could possibly bring about true peace in Afghanistan, and the current administration and the people of the U.S. should be behind these talks 100%. We're not going to be able to bring peace to Afghanistan or Iraq militarily, which seems to be our current strategy. The reality is that "we" aren't going to bring peace at all. We need to encourage the Afghanis and Iraqis, along with their neighbors, to look for a long term strategy for governance and peace that is driven mainly by themselves.

The days of imperialism and costly nation-building are over. We should definitely do everything we can to assist the Afghani and Iraqi people in drafting constitutions, setting up governments, or consulting on governance issues, but we should not remain there to play the role of world police. With the current economic crisis the American people cannot afford these costly mistakes and it's apparent that the majority of the people who actually live in these countries don't want us there.

Leaving would kill two birds with one stone.

I'm not encouraging a sudden pull-out, but more so a comprehensive strategy with a flexible time table that will allow us to responsibly bring our troops home and transfer government and order to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The hubris we exhibit by pretending that we know how to run everyone else's country needs to go the way of the dinosaurs.

Flashback: McCain says focus on the issues

I love this ad because it directly hits McCain on the same thing he complained about 8 years ago when running against Bush to be the Republican presidential nominee, negative attack ads and an ignorance of the problems facing the nation. What happened to that John McCain? I liked that guy. Who knew 8 years could change someone that much.

The Economy according to Economists

Examining the candidates

I know McCain and Palin would probably call it 'elitist' to listen to what experts on the economy would have to say... but I think it's very telling how the majority of economists believe Obama would be a better shepherd of the American economy. As Sarah Palin tries to convince us "Joe Six-Packs" (whatever the hell that means, i drink malt liquor baby, call me "Frank Fourty-Ounce") that we shouldn't be listening to supposed "experts", just remember.... they are the ones that actually understand how the economy works, unlike McCain and our current president.

P.S. I'm sure you will notice how the majority of Economists polled in this study are self-identified Democrats. I think the important thing to note is that the number of economists who voted McCain over Obama were roughly equal to the number of self-identified Republicans, while it shows that the overwhelming majority of Independent economists trusted Obama more.

Justice?

5 O.J. Simpson jurors disagreed with 1995 acquittal

I'm sure now that O.J. has been found guilty there are people all across the nation doing a little celebrating (I'm looking at you, white people). Now I'm not saying O.J. did, or did not do it, or that he should, or should not have been acquitted back in '95. But here's the thing, he was acquitted.

There's this thing in our justice system called double jeopardy which basically makes it illegal to try someone twice for the same crime based on the same set of facts. Therefore, once you are acquitted, unless there is new evidence or something changes... that's the verdict.

Where I am going with all this is that it seems like the jury in the most recent O.J. case may have had some bias which would have led them to try and seek revenge through a guilty verdict in this case based on his former case. Obviously it's hard to tell, and it appears O.J. definitely did something he shouldn't have, but feelings about the past murder case should have played no part in this most recent case.

I really hope the decisions of the jurors were based solely on the facts and not on any bias they may have had because as much as it would have pleased the "O.J. Haters" in this country, it is a severe perversion of our justice system.

I'm sure we all remember the racial strife that erupted after the '95 trial, so I really hope people would move past dwelling on race as an issue in criminal cases and judge solely on the facts.

Get ready America...

... the McCain campaign is raring up to test your intelligence.

Obama campaign rejects Palin 'terrorist' gibe

Seeing how McCain is now sinking in the polls with the current economic crisis and his inability to keep a consistent message, their campaign is getting ready to unleash some character assassinations on Obama to try to tear him down. This Bill Ayers topic is exactly that. Despite being refuted by multiple researchers and media sources, Sarah "Teddy Ruxpin" Palin is trying to push the issue anyway. In her mind, I guess it's better she talk about that than try to answer any questions, cause we all see how she fared with that.

Let's just hope the American people don't fall for the Swift-Boat attacks and fear mongering like the did in 2000 and 2004, because that's pretty much how we ended up in the crisis we are in now. To be fooled three times would be a travesty.

Got yourself a gun... (these miners are my heroes)

Blacksville #2 Mine Idle After 440 Workers Stay Home

It's about time someone stood up to the NRA crowd who loves to smear Obama (and pretty much any other Democrat). I mean really... trying to distort Obama's record on gun ownership is getting a bit old. He constantly says he's not going to take your guns away. The NRA is such a clown show it is ridiculous. The resort to the same far right smears just like the party they pretty much always support, the good old Republicans. I'm all for reasonable gun ownership, in fact I have a few myself thanks to my pops. People should be able to have guns for hunting and protection (like rifles, shotguns and hanguns). It's a constitutional right that's left over from a time when our forefathers believed the people should have the right bear arms in order to defend themselves and stand up militias when necessary. They didn't believe in having a standing army as they thought the government might use it to trample the freedoms of the citizenry (what foresight these guys had). Now we have an insane defense budget and a military-industrial complex to go along with it, so sorry, but your need for a fully automatic elephant gun with a 50 round clip probably isn't reasonable (or is it?).

Anyway... if the NRA wants to remain relevant outside of militias and the NASCAR and hunting crowds... they might want to try and preach the facts and real reasons for owning a gun rather than just trying to smear every single Democratic candidate as some anti-gun terrorist-lovin' tree hugger. Those of us who support guns while seeing through their lies don't really appreciate it.

McCain's support of selling the Iraq war to the American people

It's no secret that most people think the Iraq war and subsequent occupation were a mistake. The American people were railroaded into a war by their own leaders (of which McCain was one, as evidenced by this video). As more details emerge from the buildup to the war, it becomes very apparent that this administration did everything they could to find intelligence and data to support their war effort while ignoring the massive evidence that Saddam and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and represented no threat to the U.S.

As long as we allow our leaders to so easily sway us into a costly war while our economy collapses without them having to suffer any consequences, the people who run our government will continue to take advantage of our nation. Regardless of what happens to this country, whether it be a terrorist attack or a natural disaster, we need to continue to question our government and make sure they are doing the right thing. When we fail to question our government we are nothing more than sheep being led to the slaughter.