THE HARDEST JOB IN AMERICA

Hot Tar Roofer, Cement Worker, Cab Driver, and even my personal favorite; Assistant Crack Whore, are all some of the worst jobs in America, but what job is the hardest? What job is out there that is so hard, it's almost completely impossible to accomplish? What job is out there that can't be done, no matter how hard you worked, no matter how hard you tried?

Well, I've been thinking about it and I've come up with the one job that I think Conservatives and Liberals, Moderates and Independents can all agree is the hardest job in America. This is a job so hard, you can pretty much count on not keeping it for very long. It's a job that is littered with the bodies of those that came before you. A job that almost guarantees that you'll fail no matter what you do. Oh, they'll thank you for your service on the way out, but you can bet under their breath they'll be saying how you failed, how you couldn't do the job you were hired for; to defend the President's policies no matter how insane. That job is White House Press Secretary.

The position of White House Press Secretary is presently held by Tony Snow, and as if the job wouldn't be hard enough no matter who you had as a President, poor Tony Snow gets to be an apologist for none other than George W. Bush. Now, to make matters worse for Tony, he also has to draw a happy face on the worst foreign policy disaster of recent times; The Iraq War. I'm sure everyone here would agree, that's one tough job, but it gets even worse for Mr. Snow. His boss can't seem to put a coherent sentence together explaining why we need to even be in Iraq or why it's important to not leave. If fact, he can't seem to put together a coherent sentence at all. Instead he just keeps repeating the same mono-symbolic statements over and over. Twenty speeches later I still have yet to see him explain the importance of fighting terrorism in a way that would take Tony Blair or Rudy Giuliani five minutes. And yet, immediately after a Bush speech, here comes Press Secretary Tony Snow, looking a little like that Indian from Go-Go Gophers, to do his "Him say..." explanation.

And as if that isn't enough stress for poor Tony, he has to fight Cancer while doing it.

Now, all Presidential Press Secretaries have had it tough. Jimmy Carter's press secretary, Jodie Powell, for example, had to explain to the American people why President Carter had seen fit to attack a poor defenseless rabbit with an oar while on a fishing trip. Reagan's Press Secretary had to defend Iran-Contra, Nixon's had Watergate and Bill Clinton's four different Press Secretaries had to defend a plethora of problems ranging from missing FBI files to sexual liaisons. One thing that is for sure, White House Press Secretaries don't last long. In fact, since Jody Powell left with Jimmy Carter in 1981 there have been 11 White House Press Secretaries for only four Presidents. And to top it off, the job can even be dangerous. In 1989, Ron Reagan's Press Secretary, James Brady, took a bullet to the head during an assassination attempt.

Now, before you try to tell me that it can't be all that tough a job, think about this one. Scott McClellan, Tony's predecessor, got fired shortly after Vice -President Cheney shot his hunting partner. Apparently Scott just didn't put a positive enough spin on it. Gee Scott, he did shoot a lawyer, you couldn't spin that positive?

But, like the magician that Tony Snow has to become, he has one little secret weapon. Neo-babe Dana Perino. All good magicians know the purpose of the pretty assistant is to distract your eyes so you don't see slight-of-hand and Dana fits that bill. If every things going south, out comes Dana and the mostly male press corps forgets what they were going to ask. Now if they can only find a beautiful lesbian to distract Helen Thomas.

So Tony, I just wanted to let you know, 'Ol H.C. has your back. I know that in the dark of the night, as you lay in your bed trying to think up new ways to excuse G.W.'s missteps, you ponder back to your earlier days and think, "I should have been a Hot Tar Roofer, or a Taxi Driver, or even an Assistant Crack Whore. At least those jobs can be done." H.C.

A LETTER TO GOD

Dear God,

I'm sorry that I'm writing to you instead of praying, it's been so long it no longer felt comfortable. I'm sure you can find this if you want to anyway, you are after all, God. I'm not going to ask for anything or question your existence. I just wanted to explain where I've been.You see, the earliest recollection I have of considering you is when my grandfather died. He was the only person in the world who thought I was special. You took him when I was only 4 years and yet, I still believed you were a good God.

Then you put me in a dysfunctional home and I wondered what I had done wrong. But I still trusted you.

And then you put me into a school where I was the clear minority, and you showed me the cruelty of humans to one another. And I grew angry. I had been good, I had done my best. Why did you seem to hate me so much? And some of my faith in you slipped away.

I hid behind drugs to ease the pain of your abandonment, but you found me anyway, and then you took one of my friends. On that day, I decided I had had enough! What kind of God are you? I thought. One who takes children? Who cripples them? Who would leave them to be abused when he has the power to stop it? Who creates a world of riches for some and starvation for others? One who would stand and watch as the world ripped itself apart in war? If that was the kind of God you were, I reasoned, then I would worship you no more.

And I denounced you. I shook my fist at you and I walked away from you.

And things got better.

I found another person who thought I was special. I married her and still appreciate every day I have with her. I know now; people who honestly think your special are rare. And I enjoy every minute I have, because I know none of us are here to stay. I worked hard to give my kids a good stable home, with loving parents, so they never have to wonder where "home" went. I made friends and learned to perform musically and write. I was surprised to find I had an understanding of being alone, of being a minority and of loss. I had learned empathy for people in a bad place, and to be slow to judge.

Then you gave me Cancer, and I began to consider you again.

What was my purpose? Why was I here? Why had you chosen to take me now, when things were finally looking up?

I spent the next 6 weeks getting radiation treatments, 5 days a week. They schedule everyone for the same time everyday, so soon I got to know some of the other patients. Frankly, I've never known people so alive, so appreciative of every day. I guess when you feel the end's presence, you see the world from a whole new point of view. I began to wondered how it could be that people with less time would be more appreciative of it than people with more time. So I promised myself, if I beat this, I would never forget that feeling of limited time, of moments slipping away.

And when I finally felt the danger had passed, I started noticing things in a different light. The joy of my children's laughter, the beauty of an Autumn morning, The ripples growing on a pond all seemed somehow better than before. I had learned to appreciate my own life and the beauty of all you've created. And I started to consider you more.

So now I stand at a crossroads. Uncertain, and yet more certain. Still confused, but thinking clearer than ever. I guess what I really want to tell you God, is simply this;

I understand now.....and thanks. H.C.

A "SICKO" REVIEW

Michael Moore's newest opinion film, once again disguised as a documentary, is set to hit the big screen on June 29, 2007. In this film Mike takes a harsh look at the U.S. heath care system and all it's failings. I was lucky enough to have received an early edition, wrapped in brown paper, sent to me anonymously. A special thank you to Mr. X who found a way to get an early release for me. The film was of excellent quality, not the hacked kind you would normally find on the web with shaky filming and "exit signs" on each end. I have to believe it was released on purpose by someone who attended an early review. Heck, maybe Mr. Moore released it himself to create a buzz. At any rate, here's what I thought of Mike's latest effort. As a point of reference for all of you, I'm temporarily moving my two posts "Tax the Rich" and "How they Control You, Part 2" right after this post so you can see what I was talking about and what I think is the best solution to our health care problems.

What Micheal Moore does best, is satirical humor. In "Sicko", Mike shines in the parts where he demonstrates the hypocrisy of our government. In one scene he shows how Americans can go over to Canada and receive heath care for free (provided you pose as the common law wife/husband of a resident) but Canadians fill out forms to extend their coverage into the U.S. so they won't get stuck with a bill. I couldn't help but think how happy the Canadian Government must be that Mike demonstrated for all Americans how to scam their system, but it did point out the difference in how our two countries respond to even a friendly country's citizens. Later in the film Mike goes to the U.K. and then to France and finally even to Cuba, all the time showing us how much better the socialist health care system treats it's citizens. In true Michael Moore style, he uses mostly exampling and not statistics (see my post) to make his point. Some of his examples, particularly the ones involving kids, are very heart-wrenching. At one point I even found myself getting angry at the U.S. government for being so cold-hearted. Some of the more disturbing parts of the film are when Michael interviews two firefighters and a rescue worker from New York who preformed heroically during 9/11. All three were suffering various problems with their health do to their service and found themselves with huge health care bills to pay. The children broke my heart, but it was the firemen and rescue worker that made me the most angry at our system. All and all, I would say Mike did a pretty good job of demonstrating the failings of our system. One scene that I found particularly interesting was an interview with an Insurance Claims Representative. She showed a list of "pre-existing conditions" 36 pages long that the insurance companies would use to either refuse you coverage, or deny your claims. No matter how I personally feel about Michael Moore or his tactics, this was one issue where he is definitely on the right side. As I said in "Tax the Rich", our health care is a disgrace, and an embarrassment to the greatest country on earth. Every day that some child loses his or her life, every day that some decent hardworking American goes into bankruptcy through no fault of their own, we all add to that disgrace. Even though this is a case of the wrong messenger, the message was as true as it could be and on that I give Mr. Moore kudos.

Now for my complaints; (Surely you didn't think I was going to let Mr. Moore off that easy.) In his effort to vilify the American health care system, he neglects to note the good things about our system. Such as our Research and Development, quality of service, or access to the newest drugs and equipment. Mike then stumbles over himself to praise Socialized Medicine. He goes to Canada to see how Canadians like their health care system, and amazingly, can't find a single complaint anywhere. No one having any complaints about a branch of Government is a physical impossibility. The real odd thing is, they all just continue badmouthing the American system and not mentioning the downfalls of their system at all. It's as if Mike never even asked them if their system had any drawbacks. Hmmmmm.

Next stop;U.K.. Where again Mike can't seem to find anyone who has any complaints about their health care system. You know, I'm beginning to think he cut those parts out.

Then to my favorite segment; France. Again Michael forgets to ask them if there's any problems with their system. Again everyone loves every aspect of their health care. Oddly, Mr.Moore didn't go down to the Muslim section and ask them how they liked the system. Then, the greatest irony strikes me. He's gushing about a system (France's) that has just committed the worst health care disaster in the history of man. During a heat wave in the summer of 2003, 14,802 mostly elderly and government-cared-for people died from heat exhaustion, because the nation's health care workers that were supposed to be taking care of them were on a state sponsored vacation. Once again people die waiting for the government to save them. And yet, Mike neglects to mention it. It seemed to me to be a bit like praising FEMA and forgetting to mention Katrina.

Last Stop; Cuba, home of beautiful beaches, Gitmo, and Fidel Castro. You may remember Fidel from the 60's when he wanted to bring in nuclear weapons and point them at Miami. If I didn't know better, I'd swear it looked like ol' Fidel and Michael struck up a deal. You show my country in a positive light, and I let you have all the footage you need. Oh, and I'll even help your Firemen friends. Maybe I'm just being too suspicious. It did make you laugh a little though when Mike is demanding that the soldiers at Gitmo give his friends the same medical treatment that Al-qaeda gets. Once again Mike shows the genius of his satirical side.

All in all, I'd give this movie 3 Peace Signs out of 5. (No I'm not going to start doing movie reviews.) I found a lot of it interesting and even informative. The rumors that Mike was going to be less partisan turned out to be far from true and a few minutes of him gushing over Hilary Clinton might be hard for some Conservatives to stomach. The thing that works in Michael Moore's favor here is; no matter what his methods, in the end he's right. Our heath care IS a mess. If this movie is a vehicle for more people to stop thinking about Paris Hilton and start thinking about our failing health care delivery system, then I guess more power to you Mike, I just hope the message doesn't get lost behind the messenger....again. H.C.

HOW THEY CONTROL US; PART TWO-HUMANIZING, DEHUMANIZING, AND EXAMPLING

"If the voice of prophets blew on flutes made of murdered children's bones. . . If they built a bridge of old men's dying groans - Ear of mankind occupied with small sound would you hear?

In my last post we explored the reasons why they want us to hate and fear in order to keep the party faithful in line. In this post I'm going to get into how they do it. The quote I used above is from the Jewish prayer book Siddur Sim Shalom and is often used in reference to the Holocaust. The opening sentence in this prayer gave me goosebumps the first time I read it and is still one of my favorite quotes. I think it defines well the point I'm going to try to make about humanizing and dehumanizing.

*HUMANIZING*

Humanizing, as the more clever of you may have already guessed, is the act of making something more human. In politics, it's the act of putting a face on an issue. Let's take the Iraq War for example; If you are on the side of ending the war, you would show the misery that war causes. One way to do this, as you've probably already seen, is to find a family in Iraq, preferably one that has lost their home, relatives, livelihood, etc. and interview them about how badly the war has affected them. By showing their faces and their grief you have "humanized" them and raised your empathy for them. Now, if you are on the other side, you would interview the families of people that were mistreated by Sadam and show their grief, the loss and torture of their relatives, how they were oppressed and mistreated and so on. By putting a face on it, the suffering seems more real and you are more likely to personalize it. Oddly enough, both sides criticize each other for using emotion to control you like this, even as both are doing it. Humanizing is not necessarily a bad thing either, but it is necessary for you to know when someone is trying to play on your emotions as opposed to your logic.

*DEHUMANIZING*

Dehumanizing is, yep you guessed it, the opposite of humanizing. Dehumanization is also, by far, more dangerous. It is responsible for some of the very worst atrocities that mankind has ever demonstrated on itself, and yet, we all do it. It's the act of reducing someone to a group instead of an individual. Blacks, Whites, women, men, Jews, Germans, Democrat, Republican, poor and rich have all seen it. It is the very essence of what makes it possible for us to hate people we have never even met. In political circles dehumanizing is absolutely necessary to keep you fearing, hating, and under control. But it is also almost impossible to eliminate from your vocabulary. We have to have a way to describe different people and their unique situations. To keep yourself from falling into the trap of dehumanizing people, your best defense is to try to avoid ever hating a group....period. There are, believe it or not, decent people in Germany that do not think you should kill all Jews, decent Muslims that do not adhere to radical Islamic beliefs and decent Liberals, Conservatives, Democrats and Republicans. Stop hating by group and I can guarantee you will be a better person and a clearer thinker for it.

*EXAMPLING*

If you truly want to see me turn into a howler monkey, make a stupid example. It drives me nearly mad to hear someone say, "Smoking doesn't cause cancer. My Aunt Nellie smoked her whole life and lived to be 112 years old." To save all of you the unsettling sight of me freaking out, understand this one absolute truth; an example proves only that something happened once. Do not try to use it as proof that all Republicans are evil, that all Christians rape little boys, that all Democrats fool around, that all blacks are violent, that all white people benefit from being white, that all Jews are miserly, or whatever stereotype you want to perpetuate. Even though it irritates me to no end, that doesn't stop Democrats or Republicans from using exampling to prove their points. For example; if I know it's true that most soldiers in Iraq support staying till Iraq is stable, but I want it to seem otherwise, all I have to do is turn to my good friend "exampling". To do this, I simply find several soldiers who agree with my side and then interview them one after another. The viewer is left thinking that all, or at least most, soldiers support leaving Iraq immediately. They can do this with any issue. Early on in my time at my University, we did a study on the effects of Welfare Reform on former Welfare recipients. Questions asked were; "Did they find jobs? Did suicide rates increase? Did drug use increase?" and, "How did their kids fare?" Governor Engler, Michigan's governor at the time, planned to use the study as proof of his successes in the upcoming election. There was one problem though. When the preliminary results came back, the answers weren't what he'd hoped. So Engler, being a masterful politician, used exampling in his commercials to show all the people who bettered their lives through Welfare reform with no ill results. End result? Your left with the impression that welfare reform benefited everyone and hurt no one.

So, now that you know some of the ways they manipulate you, you are armed with knowledge. Critique your sources and see if they are purposely trying to mislead you. Ask yourself why they used examples instead of facts or figures. Check to see if they are using humanizing and dehumanizing to play on your emotions. And most importantly, be aware that they want to win at all costs and have no problem causing hate and fear if it means they will get their way. H.C.

Next up; How They Control Us; Part Three- The Sources

TAX THE RICH

Mark this day, you'll probably never hear me say this again. I think we should raise the taxes on the rich. No, I'm not part of the overwhelming masses that think that taking from other people is the answer to all their problems. I find that to be the defining trait of Liberals, and I'm not one. It's just that I can't seem to grasp their philosophy; these people have lots of money, I do not, so they should give it to me. Hell, if you want to take that route why not justify robbing people if they have more than you. Keep doing that until you have more than most people and then we'll rob you. The perfect system.

I respect people who go out there and make their way towards wealth through hard work. I do not buy into the lie that most people inherit their wealth. I even admire people like Michael Moore or Rush Limbaugh. They don't lie about who they are or what they stand for and they've managed to pull themselves up to the top of their field from nowhere. They have every right in my eyes to enjoy the fruits of their labor, no matter how much I disagree with what they say or what they're doing. What I don't believe in, is rewarding people who do nothing to help themselves by giving them the money of the hard working and talented. Period.

With that out of the way, let me explain why I have a change of heart on taxing the wealthy.

There is a gap in our health care system that I find unacceptable. It exists for people who go to work everyday and are making an effort to get ahead without relying on the Government. With all the people in this country who have health care, including people too lazy to work, the drug and alcohol addicted, and those who are faking injuries so they can get on SSI, it is an absolute travesty that the one group of people that we are not taking care of is those that work menial jobs that pay near minimum wage and don't qualify for government assistance. Now, I could act Republican and say that the answer is to stop giving assistance to all the aforementioned leeches on the leg of society, but I really feel that their punishment is knowing they will never advance beyond where they are now. A better and more humane answer would be to help the people who are helping themselves to have a life that is better than their lazy-assed counterparts. Think about it for a second. People who do nothing to contribute to society get their health and the health of their children taken better care of than those who work the 9 to 5. In a country as rich as the United States it is shameful to say the least.

I have given considerable thought as to how to cure the health care crisis in this country and I have to say it is a bear of a problem. It's the killing off of the enormous health care industry that causes most of the problems with creating a universal coverage of the type that most socialist countries have. Look around the place that you work. Even in a small business that supplies health care for it's employees, you have at least one if not two people who spend most of their days going through the paperwork involved in health care. For larger companies it's even more people, and in any doctor' office there may be three or four, and that's not even including all the people who work for the providers themselves. It is a massive industry on par with the automotive industry. To give all those people walking papers at once would send a huge ripple through the economy.

Now, the way I look at it, it is rich investors who would suffer the most from having that kind of a system forced on them. (Although the regular 401k investors would also be hurt on their retirement.) Since it is them that gains the most by leaving the system the way it is, it is fair to say it should be them that fixes the hole in the coverage so the system works. Think of it this way. They pump money into the health care system by paying for the coverage of people who are working to get ahead and the health care companies get bigger returns thereby helping to float the market which returns some of the money back into their pockets.

So how would we do it? I like an idea being floated by Ben Stein (Yes, of "Win Ben Stein's Money") On Bill Reilly's "The Factor" program, Ben suggested a new tax bracket for people who earn more than 5 million a year. 36%, a jump of approx. 3% for the over 1.5 million Americans who file that much currently. That money would then be earmarked specifically for health care for working Americans that could not otherwise afford it. It's not just that they can afford it and it's not just that they would be the ones to suffer the most if we changed our system. It's also that they are the people who could best monitor it and try to keep people off it. Since the very rich control this country in one way or another, if they were taxed for every individual who does not have health care, there would be more motivation for them to find innovative ways for companies to supply coverage thereby lessening their personal tax burden.

You know, when I first heard Ben suggest this, I was against it. But after listening to his reasoning, both Bill Reilly and myself were convinced. I generally feel Bill is a little too unsympathetic to the plight of the little guy. A little too quick to defend his rich counterparts. And a little too strict in his opposition to any tax on the wealthy. But if this is an idea that a very rich Jewish guy (Ben) and a very rich Irish guy (Bill) feel is worth paying for, then this, not at all rich Bohemian guy has no choice but to say.....Tax the Rich. H.C.

DAMN THE CHEERLEADERS

There are times when something will occur to me while letting my mind wander that I'm sure I would not have thought of if I had a normal brain. Today was one of those days. While pondering the budget problems we are having here in Michigan, I started thinking what a disaster it's been having Jennifer Granholm for a Governor (Not really a new thought for me). I then thought, "Well it's our own fault for putting a cheerleader in office when we needed a player." Then it occurred to me that G.W. was a cheerleader too (Doesn't he look cute in his little outfit?). Then I struck on a big revelation; cheerleaders make terrible politicians. At this point, I'd like to apologize to all cheerleaders for what I'm implying. Both my daughters were cheerleaders and are both very bright and capable people, I'm quite sure it's just a coincidence that the worst President ever and the worse Governor ever were both cheerleaders. But it does make one think.

As my mind continued to wander, I started thinking how utterly similar Buffy the Job Killer and G.W. really are. I mean, think about it, Granholm is overseeing the worse State Fiscal Policy ever and Bush is running the worst Foreign Policy ever. Both, for some strange reason, were re-elected mostly because their opposition ran such unpalatable candidates. Both like to blame "things that are out of their control" for why their policies are failing, and both claim the problems that they face are the product of prior administrations not addressing them and leaving them for Bush and Buffy to clean up. Both are overwhelmingly supported by their base which makes excuses for their side while excepting no excuse for the other side.

However, there is one thing that's very different. How they've been handled by the press.

While G.W. has been raked over the coals (And rightly so.) for his failure on foreign policy, The Granholm Administration has yet to answer at all for her failings. In example; Every since it became obvious to everyone but Rush Limbaugh that the post war plan was a failure in Iraq, the press has been howling for someone to pay for that mistake. In response, Bush has fired (albeit late) Donald Rumsfeld, George Tennet, and his entire Joint Chiefs of Staff. Then add to that a whole string of Generals and his Press Secretary. So, who has had to answer for Governor Granholm's miserable state fiscal policy? Not one single person. And who's head is the press calling for? No one. Now, before you start screaming how no one died because of Jennifer's stupidity, let me say that I understand there is different degrees of stupidity on trial here, but to not make a Governor answer to a one state recession is being a little too forgiving.

As I sit here in Michigan with the highest unemployment of any state in the U.S. I can't help but think the time has come. Let me the first in the media to say, "We've had enough, somebody has to pay for doing a job this badly." Recalls on Governors are pretty much a waste of time given the number of signatures you would have to get, so the only way to make things right is to call for some sacrificial lambs. If Jennifer Granholm will not except the blame and step down then she needs to hand us the head of her economic team or her advisers. It's time to stop handling Granholm with kid gloves, she needs to answer for her FUBAR the way we rightly made G.W. answer for his. Too many people here in Michigan are suffering while she skips off Scott-free. It's time we realized we need a player, not a cheerleader. If she's not up to the job, she should step down and get back on the sidelines where she belongs. H.C.

HOW CAN WE STOP "DOCTOR DRUG DEALERS"?

Death by drug overdose, also known as drug poisoning, increased by 68.3% between 1999 and 2004 according to a report by the Center for Disease Control. The majority of those deaths were legal prescription drugs and the majority of those drugs were prescribed to the person who died. In fact, prescription painkillers by themselves now kill more people than Cocaine or Heroin. There has been a recent surge in prescription drug abuse in America and shady Doctors are behind a great deal of it. In this article, I'm going to decipher for you what has been going on and how little the law seems to want to do about it.

This problem strikes home for me, I have a younger brother who has been battling drug addiction most of his life and it will probably surprise most of you that he has always gotten most, if not all, of his drugs through doctors, not drug dealers. A few years back his problem had gotten so bad I was convinced he would end up being one of the thousands of deaths that occur each year here in the U.S.. In fact, once he overdosed at my Mom's house and we fought to keep him alive while we waited for an ambulance. At the hospital, the police summoned me into a private room and questioned me about the montage of various drugs that we had turned over to them that he was carrying on his person. They asked me if he did any Cocaine, "No" I replied. "Does he smoke Pot?" they questioned. "He didn't O.D. on Pot." I informed them. "Does he do any other illegal drugs?" They continued. Frustrated, I pointed to the vial filled with Oxycontin's, Vicodins, Valiums, and other drugs I couldn't even name and shouted, "Those are his drugs! That's what he O.D.'d on. What the hell are you grilling me about this other crap for?" I pointed out the Doctor's name on the vial, "That's your dealer, that's the guy who's killing him, go after him!" That's when I was baptised into the reality of our crazy drug distribution system, a system so crazy, that if you know the right Doctor you can have a script for anything you want. You can even charge it all to Medicaid.

The officer then proceeded to inform me about how, even when they know the Doctors who are creating these "Script Mills", there is very little they can do about it. For those of you that are uninitiated, it may seem like I have to be making this up, but I can assure you, it's true, and it's going on everywhere.

The problem stems from the fact that Doctors go through a great deal of education and debt to get their degrees, and the American Medical Association lobbies hard to make sure that it's very hard to take that profession away from them. They fear that Doctors can get in trouble by simply trying to do their job, relieving the pain that their patients claim that they're suffering, and that they shouldn't be held responsible for the fraction of people who lie to get the prescription and then abuse the drugs they're given. While I can certainly sympathize with that justification, the doctors I'm referring to seem to me to be easy to separate from the decent doctors that are obeying their oaths of office.

Let me run a little scenario by you for a point of reference. A doctor from another country, let's call him Dr. Hindu Bin Ladin, comes to this country with his PHD in Medicine from a prestigious Mid-Eastern University. He sets up shop in a poverty stricken big city in the U.S. and immediately begins writing scripts to any Joe who complains about back pain for Vicodin. Word gets out quickly among the local addicts, many of whom are on Medicaid, and soon a line forms. Dr. Bin Ladin charges all of them for an office call and then refers them to his brother-in-law who runs a local pharmacy to fill the scripts. Soon he's making in excess of $500,000 a year. Local law enforcement gets wind and starts filing complaints (assuming that they even waste their time) and the long 4 to 5 year process of getting his license revoked begins. Since the complaints usually aren't coming from his patients, the AMA moves slowly and when he finally can't write anymore scripts, he gathers his millions and heads back to his home country to practice medicine in his new office paid for by U.S. addicts and taxpayers. Not a bad scam.

However, it's not only foreign doctors writing these bad scripts for profit. Take a look at this long list of doctors being disciplined for abusing their Hippocratic oath.

So what can we do to put the brakes on all this abuse? Well, to start with, we can change our culture of believing that a pill is the answer to all that ails you. While I certainly wouldn't want people to refrain from getting the help they need, the problems you can create for yourself by abusing drugs can be as bad as the problem you started with if not worse. Often, once you are addicted to painkillers or opiates, the need for more may drive you to dealing with people you wouldn't normally even associate with. The cost of maintaining your habit can push you into poverty and bankruptcy. Better oversite of these "Script Mills" can help, better education of doctors wouldn't hurt either. A lot of the time, the only info doctors are getting comes from the pharmaceutical industry itself that down plays the addictive qualities of the drug. To much money is being made both by the doctors, and the pharmaceutical industry for them to monitor themselves, so obviously we need more oversite. But with the problem getting bigger every day, we need to do something soon. H.C.

HOW LEGALIZING MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS WILL EFFECT BLACK AMERICANS

Should we or shouldn't we legalize the estimated 10 million illegal Mexicans that are now living in the United States? That's the question that is being debated in our Congress as we speak. One thing, however, that is being left out of the Fight for Hispanic Votes by both the Democrats and the Republicans is how legalizing those millions of potential voters will affect the power and influence of black Americans. From access to Social Programs to the future of the Black Caucus, it's worth everyone's time to take a look at how the influx of all those voters will affect the political climate for the next decade if not the next few. There's one thing that I'm certain of; it can't bode well for the Black Power Structure in Washington or the poor segment of the black community.

In the rush to find a way to legalize all those illegal Hispanics, Dems have only been looking at the brass ring; getting those people voting Democrat. There's a good reason for the Dems to be drooling over legalizing these people, Hispanics vote overwelmingly Democratic. A quick influx of millions of Hispanics voting Democrat could guarantee them controlling the House, Senate, and maybe even the Presidency for years to come. If this should mean pushing the African American community into the back seat, so be it. They'll benefit from a Democrat controlled government more than they would under Republicans anyway. I have serious doubts as to whether or not this will be true.

The first thing we need to look at to get a clear picture of what's going on is the population trends in the U.S.. Hispanics have seen a surge in their percentage of the U.S. population over the past few years, going from 12.5% in 2000 to 14.5% in 2005. And that's only the Hispanics that are here legally or at least willing to have someone from the U.S. Census count them. Having had some experience in dealing with both legal and illegals from my time working at a Spanish-Speaking Center, I can tell you, they didn't count a large part. The most notable part of this trend is that they have now surpassed African Americans as the 'Majority Minority".

Oddly enough though, that hasn't as of yet translated into representation on par with their population percentages in the Halls of Congress. While the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that was formed in 1969 has gone from 9 founding members to 43 members, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) langishes with only 21 members despite their being a larger segment of the U.S. population. This isn't lost on Hispanics who are seeing their chance to put more people in power and are pressuring both parties to back more Hispanic candidates or risk losing their support. The end result for Black candidates? Less support.

In fact, I view the amount of minority help given by the clear majority White Power Structure as a piece of the pie that is only so big and now must be divided between blacks and Hispanics when it used to be reserved almost exclusively for blacks. Social Programs that were directed by the CBC towards black poverty-stricken areas are now going to be fought over to help the huge infusion of Hispanics. Remember this; how did the Democratic Party win over blacks to their side? Civil Rights and Social Programs. How will they try to win the immigrant Hispanics, most of which live in far worse poverty than their black counterparts? By granting them Civil Rights (citizenship) and Social Programs. End result? Less money to help impoverished blacks.

And this isn't even the end of it for black people. When all those Hispanic immigrants get their citizenship, they won't need to work menial jobs in the shadows. They will get jobs at Fast Food establishments, in retail, and all the places that wouldn't, or couldn't hire them before. These are low end jobs that don't require education and they will fight for equal access to them and who will suffer the most for it? The poor and under-educated segment of the black community.

Now, as I've said before. I respect the Hispanic community. I've known them all my life and I've never seen harder working people. But it seems strange to me to watch black people faithfully following the Democratic Leadership as they fight to legalize all those people. Maybe no one has pointed it out to them, but I really think that black people, especially the CBC, should take a minute and think about who's job, who's programs, and who's community is going to suffer the most as the Democrats once again step on anyone to gain the absolute power that both parties crave. H.C.

A PRESIDENTIAL RACE UPDATE

A lot has happened since I last commented on the Presidential race. Fred Thompson, an ex-Tennessee Senator and well-known 'Law and Order' T.V. star has all but assured his entering the race on the all ready packed Republican side. John Edwards has run out of feet to shoot himself in, and Barrack and Hillary continue to battle it out. Although it's definitely early, the race on both sides is very much still in the running. Of the two, the Democratic ticket looks to me to be the closest to being decided with Hillary Clinton all but anointed but still not guaranteed. I'm still waiting for that picture of Barrack Obama sitting with his classmates in that Madrassa (Muslim school) he attended in his youth. Rest assured, Hillary's people are all over it and if that picture exists, you will be seeing it. My guess is she'll use the tactic of leaking it to some conservative publication and try to blame it on the right wing thereby killing two birds with one stone. Never underestimate Hillary, that cat has claws.

The award for most disappointing run goes to Senator John Edwards (D-SC). My friend Steve from Studio1714 likes to joke about Senator Edwards having the nearly the same name as the John Edward who talks to dead people. He may have to use his namesake to contact his Presidential run if he keeps making missteps. I for one, liked Senator Edwards when he first entered the scene, but after watching him over the past few months, I'm beginning to think he just doesn't have the good sense necessary to win and lead. Edwards based his run on being the champion of the working man, the middle class that has built this country. By pointing out the disparity between the ultra-rich and the sinking middle, Edwards hoped to rally people to a vision of a New America where affluence is not as celebrated and the lower class is more appreciated. Soon after he began his run though, Edwards moved into his new 28,000+ square foot home, the biggest in his county. This reeks of hypocrisy from a man who shuns the notion of "Two Americas" one rich beyond belief, the other struggling. Not long after that, he again shot himself by defending a blogger that he hired for his website who posted anti-Christian rants. I guess Edwards doesn't think the Christian vote matters in the south, he couldn't be more wrong. To me, it looks like John is all but out of the running.

The Republicans, on the other hand, don't seem to have a clear consensus on what they're going to stand for this time around. Their field is littered with people from all fractions of the Republican Party. Rudy Giuliani, the ex-Mayor of New York, is still leading the pack in all the polls, although I find it incredibly hard to believe that the Republican Convention will elect a man who is basically Pro-choice, pro Gay Marriage, and has been married 3 times. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is the alternate choice so far for the Republicans with Fred Thompson moving up fast on the more Conservative side. Republicans are always searching for their next Ron Reagan and Thompson could fair far better than the polls indicate. Mitt Romney is still my choice for a Dark Horse, he has values, is moderate on most issues and has a sparkling clean record, something extremely rare nowadays. He does however, desperately need a vehicle to get himself more noticed if he's going to have a shot. My advice to Mitt; portray yourself as an uncorrupted Governor of a successful state willing to work with both sides, and point out the extensive moral failings of your opponents.

Well, that's it for now. I'll keep you all posted from time to time as the race heats up. The War in Iraq is without a doubt going to be a major issue in '08 and Women will be a HUGE factor if Hillary gets the Democratic nod. Anyone who doubts this should look at Michigan's past gubernatorial election where women came out 60% for Governor Jennifer Granholm despite her being possibly the worst Governor Michigan has ever seen. If things don't change dramatically, you all might want to get used to the idea of President Hillary Clinton....unless Barrack finds a slightly stained blue dress. H.C.