If I Were a Dem Again, Here's What I'd Tell Obama

I would be utterly confounded, confused, upset, hopeless and most of all, hurting like hell. Even though I’m not a Democrat, I still feel all of these particular emotions. It feels as if the end of the world is coming and there is not a thing I can do about it, and unfortunately, nobody seems to care, especially the Democrats.

I can’t help but be the eternal optimist. Somehow, someway, we are all going to understand what’s happening to this country and we will demand that the corporate politicians and the corporate media stop this march towards fascism and imperialism, and give this nation back to its people. There are some that believe in a second coming of a political messiah that will right all the wrongs and make the government represent the people. This is a pipedream. There is no single person, no political party and no movement that can, or will, do this. We must do it ourselves if we want to see it done.

The Democrats are wondering why their candidate’s numbers are slowly circling the drain. How stupid is that? Could it be that the man chosen by the mainstream corporate media and the corporate political party is behaving like a corporatist? This entire drama between the two political parties has got to be the most expensive con job that this world has ever seen. Barack Obama is either incredibly naive, or the worst straw man that has ever appeared on the American political scene. If there was any chance in hell of America voting in a Republican after two terms of George W. Bush, the Democrats have found that chance in the hell that is the neo-con theories of war and corporate rape of America.

If Obama is not a plant, if he is really trying to win this election (and I have my doubts about that), than he has to stop listening to his “advisers”, this practice of reaching out to dissatisfied Republicans and vying for their votes must cease. Why elect a make-believe neo-con when you can have the real thing? Democrats must realize that they have completely lost the support of anyone that thinks. This can be turned around in a flash if the Democrats will do but a few simple things.

First of all, stop competing with the Republicans for the right wing polemic. It’s just not going to work. Obama must demand that Congress restore the Constitution. Demand the rescission of the Patriot Acts, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the John Warner Defense Bill (the revamped Insurrection Act that eliminated Posse Comitatus and allows the government to use Federal troops for law enforcement on the whim of the president) close Guantanamo, denounce torture in any form, and join the International Community. He must state his intention of limiting the powers of the Executive Branch that Bush instituted with the “Unitary Executive” theory. This must be done before the elections so that he will not use these powers for his own administration. The prospect of that much power in the hands of one man is too inviting to ignore.

The next thing he must do is to denounce these wars of aggression against the Muslims in the Middle-East. Moving the war from Iraq to Afghanistan is not the way to peace in that region. This Afghan adventure could easily spill into Pakistan, and even if it is contained in Afghanistan, it is a war that will never be won. It will require an endless supply of dollars we don’t have, and an infinite amount of time that we also can ill-afford. The war in Afghanistan is a trap that will bleed the life from the United States, and killing members of the Taliban will not solve anything. Hamid Karzi, a former Unocal executive that built the Afghan oil pipeline is but one example of America’s war for resources.

Obama must also disengage this nation from the right wing government of Israel. Genuflecting to AIPAC is horrifying to every liberal or moderate voter in this country. Most American Jews do not support AIPAC, in fact, 60 to 80% of them (depending on the source) despise the lobby. Obama must demand that Israel seriously engage its neighbors in peace negotiations or risk the cut-off of US aid. The siege of Gaza must end and Israel must drop its demands that the Palestinians’ surrender their right of return and the payment of reparations for seized property for Hamas to recognize the Israeli State.

The Senator from Illinois must also revamp his foreign policy team of Richard Holbrooke, Madeleine Albright and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Democratic neo-cons of the first order, they may be smarter than the Republican neo-cons, but that makes them infinitely more dangerous. Barack must declare his intention to abrogate the missile defense shield treaty with Poland. Inserting nuclear warheads into Poland is as provocative as putting them in Cuba in 1963 and will lead to the same results, tension and a possible thermo nuclear war between Russia and the United States. Attempting to surround Russia with military force and first strike nuclear capability is insane. The American people understand this, for some unknown reason, the Democratic leadership does not.

Barack Obama must call for paper trail elections and for individual States to stop using electronic voting machines that are totally vulnerable to hacking. Waiting until he loses in November in States that show he won by the exit polls will be too late. It has happened before and it will no doubt happen again.

Corporate ownership of the mass media and corporate censorship of the networks must end. The Fairness Doctrine must be reintroduced and Obama should speak out against any attempt to censor or regulate the internet. The internet is the only thing that resembles a free press in this country.

Suggesting that corporate CEO’s and other corporate executives must have a salary cap. It makes no sense for a corporate executive to be drawing an annual salary of two hundred fifty million dollars plus perks and stock options while cutting the hourly pay of workers and shifting health care benefits to the unions because the company is running in the red. All one has to do is look at the automakers to understand what I’m talking about.

The Democrats should call for the nationalization of all segments of the economy that deal with all facets of the population. The oil industry, the railroads, the water systems, the electric companies, the nuclear power plants, the ports and the healthcare industry should be nationalized as quickly as possible. The sustainability of life and our economy should not be left to the discretion of multi-national corporations. Just as the economy should be regulated, the military industrial complex should be also. Declare the intention to eliminate no-bid contracts and wean the nation off the armament industry as our industrial base. We have been on a war economy since 1940. This is not sustainable and will eventually lead to the collapse of our economy. The United States spends 48% of the entire planets military budget. China spends 8% of what the US spends, and Russia 5% http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending [1].

Putting people back to work by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure will bring dividends in two ways. It will boost employment and restore the value of our roads, bridges and utilities. A New Deal approach similar to the FDR years should be instituted. The government should rid itself of the Federal Reserve that allows multi-national bankers to sell us our own money at interest is deplorable! Credit to Americans should be offered at low interest to Americans and lenders that practice deceptive and predatory lending practices should be regulated. Usury laws must be re-instituted to prevent the economic rape of American citizens. It is no coincidence that the richest 10% of the population owns 71% of this nation’s wealth. 1% of the wealthiest families own 38% of the wealth. The division between rich and poor grows each year, while the middle-class shrinks. Taxing the rich and forcing them to pay their fair share is essential. The public must be told that the median income for a Senator is 1.2 million dollars and 675,000 dollars for a Representative (Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org [2]). Congress will not tax itself without a push from America’s citizens that vote.

I could go on and on. These are the most important issues that come to mind. Weapons of mass destruction used by our own Armed Forces such as depleted uranium-235 (DU) white phosphorus and napalm should be outlawed as well as cluster bobs that kill innocent civilians. There will no doubt be a second and maybe a third part of this article. Obama should read this. I did not think of all of these ideas myself; I gratuitously stole them from some of the best liberal minds in America. If I were a Democrat I would send this to the Obama campaign, but then again I’m not a Democrat and frankly I wouldn’t waste my time. They believe they have all the answers anyway.