2008 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION; CATHARSIS OR CHAOS?

Hillary Clinton claims her supporters need a "catharsis", a healing, to get over their loss. To hear her tell it, it would seem that her supporters are the first in history to be disappointed and to have to deal with their candidate failing to meet their expectations. In an effort to placate her supporters, Barack Obama has agreed to allow Hillary's name to appear on the nomination at the convention and to be voted on. For Barack's people, or the DNC, to believe that Hillary's supporters will be pacified by losing yet again in a very public fashion seems insane to me.

At the DNC Rules and Bylaws meeting May 31st of this year, the dems gathered to decide what to do with Michigan's and Florida's suspended delegates, the mood could not have been any worse. Despite repeated attempts by the chairwomen to keep control, Hillary's supporters shouted out comments and disrupted the proceedings throughout. Any Democrats watching must have been embarrassed by the lack of class and decorum exhibited by some of their own. To expect that the DNC convention will be any less chaotic seems naive at best. My prediction is that at least on Wednesday, the day the V.P. nomination takes place, you can expect much of the same if not worse.

How the DNC thinks this will lead to a catharsis is beyond my thinking.

The problem the Democrats have, and will continue to have, is that they have to explain to a group of very pissed off Hillary Fem-bots how it is completely fair to have one group win out over the other. Democrats sub-groups have been taught by the DNC all their political lives that any loss is the direct result of some prejudice, not the result of one group doing a better job of representing their point of view. Is it any wonder then that a women that every single pundit (including me) thought would win the democratic nomination hands down, now tries to blame misogyny and sexism as the cause of her downfall. This despite the fact that her own chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, said in a recently released memo that Obama, "Couldn't win against Attila the Hun." It couldn't possibly be that they simply underestimated their opponent.

To make matters even worse, Obama has to try to pacify Hillary's supporters while choosing someone else as V.P.. This has as much of a chance of flying as Lead Zeppelin. While I'm sure Howard Dean will do everything in his power to keep everything under control, this convention will be sure to have Republicans grinning from ear to ear. H.C.

EDDIE

Sad is the story of a life gone past

Muddled in secrets and memories cast

The tears of a child who fears his own home

Ended in a basement dark and alone

Edward Farrar was a "Paste Eater." He was the kind of kid who didn't seem to have a lick of sense. His hair was greasy black and combed in a Pompadour like Elvis used to wear. Strands of it would break loose from the rest and hang in front of his eyes. His clothes were dirty and out of date and he smelled of poverty. He had a maniacal laugh that reminded you of the Joker from the old Batman series and he could be counted on to disrupt every class with his outbursts and antics. He was hyperactive, out of control, and was put on Ritalin by our school. The only time Eddie seemed in the least bit restrained is when the Ritalin would take effect and he would nod off. I don't believe anyone knew why Eddie was like he was, and I don't think anyone really took the time to care. Sadly, this included me.

Eddie entered Merrill Elementary School on the north end of Flint in third grade and right away it was obvious that he was a troubled child. In those days, acting out was not tolerated, children who misbehaved were sent for spankings by the Principle. So common was this form of discipline that our Principle's office included outlined hands drawn on the wall. When you were to be punished, you put your hands on the outline and then your feet were moved back to put the pressure on your hands. This method was devised to keep kids from putting their hands in the path of the swinging paddle. After you were paddled, you were then told the reason for your discipline and what kind of behavior was expected of you. It seems cruel now, but back then it was totally excepted. I have to say one thing about that form of discipline; very few kids acted out and classes were far better behaved then now.

Eddie was clearly the exception to that rule. No amount of punishment seemed to effect him. He beat a path to the Principle's office and soon the Principle gave our teacher permission to paddle him herself. The first time our 60-something teacher tried to spank Eddie, it didn't turn out so well. She lead him out into the hallway to receive his discipline and seconds later, in burst Eddie paddle in hand, our teacher in pursuit. Around and around the desks Eddie ran, laughing and tormenting his pursuer in a game of "Keep away." The class, sensing a rare moment of chaos, roared it's approving laughter. After Eddie was finally caught with the help of two other teachers, his Ritalin was increased to a point where he rarely raised his drugged head from off his desk.

When we were both graduated to Emerson Junior High I knew Eddie's life was going to get far worse. Some of the black kids immediately recognized him as an easy victim and Eddie was tormented endlessly. His tattered clothes and dim intelligence gave the poor oppressed black kids a rare chance to feel better than someone else. Even better for them, someone white. Eddie soon found himself being ridiculed by the lowest rung on the social ladder. For him, it must have seemed life could get no worse. I always watched from a distance, glad that it wasn't me. Glad that their attention was directed on someone else. In hindsite, I could have been a better person, a better human. It's a guilt I still feel today. Normally the few white kids banded together, co-miserating at their mutual misfortune. Eddie suffered alone and walked home alone.

On the day we were told that Eddie had killed himself. I remember that there was no crying. No one walked around with a vacant stare, in fact, no one seemed to care at all. His obituary read like a life wasted. No baseball trophies, no school accolades, no achievements. It described his 9 brothers and sisters and grieving mother, nothing else. For some reason, I started asking questions about Eddie. I realized that despite knowing him for 4 years, I knew nothing about him. I rode my bike past the address I had read in the obituary. His house was a small 235 house (houses given to the poor that only had only about 600 square feet of living space.) I tried to envision how 9 kids and an adult could live in one. The house was in complete disarray; broken bikes, chewed-up lawn, dog feces everywhere and broken windows. I learned from one of his brothers that Eddie had been molested repeatedly by one of his many step-fathers and severally beaten by all of them. His mother was an obese women who tolerated any behavior by her men as long as they would stay. I tried to envision even one happy moment in such a scenario. I could not. Eddie, it turns out, had hung himself in the basement during a very rare moment alone.

The more I found out about the sad life of Eddie Farrar, the more shame I felt for having laughed at him, for being part of making his already pitiful life even worse. I still think about Eddie sometimes and wonder why God had seen fit to treat someone so badly, who had so little to begin with. Life is filled with regret and all you can do is ask for forgiveness. I have tried to make up for my transgressions by being a better person now. Part of that process is recognizing what you have done wrong. The purpose of this post is part of that process. I now recognize that I wasn't as good a person as I could have been to Eddie. That I could have tried to help him or at least listened to him. For that, I am truly sorry. Forgive me Eddie, I didn't know. H.C.

BARACK'S BIGGEST PROBLEM? BLACK PEOPLE

I know what your thinking. How could Senator Barack Obama have a problem with black people who are supporting him 90 to 95 %? Isn't that his strongest base? Absolutely. But Barack can not win this election with black people alone. He needs to have a decent chunk of the biggest group in the U.S., working class white people. And these are the people that are the most fickle constituents that Obama has in his stable. Ask your average white person if there is a disadvantage to being black and the majority of them will say "yes". Ask the same group what to do about it and they split into fractions. Race politics divides. Every since the Reverend Wright videos surfaced on youtube and all of our T.V.s and radios, Barack's support among white people, particularly white males, has fallen. I now believe that the biggest threat to Obama's campaign is the very people who have shown him the most steadfast support.

After the Reverend Wright videos, Barack's support among white people fell off considerably. In fact, Hillary Clinton actually got more of the Democrat's votes afterward. Is that the fault of white people? The mostly white media? No, and I'll tell you why. With the advent of the Internet, it's virtually impossible for the Main Stream Media to ignore a story that big. It's the introduction of the story that is the problem. Afterward, Reverend Wright went on to make even more outrageous statements, dragging poor Barack's misery out even further. Is it the media's fault that they responded to the Reverend's requests? If they didn't allow him his voice wouldn't the argument that Hill made of media bias be even more sound? Of course.

Later, when Jesse Jackson made his infamous, "I'd like to cut his nuts off." statement, was it the media's fault, or Jesse Jackson's? More recently, when Ludicrous, a black rapper, sang about painting the White House black, was it wrong for white people to be stunned? What if a white person became mayor of Washington D.C. and white people started saying it was time to "Whiten-up the place." wouldn't black people be equally stunned?

The truth of the matter is; Barack doesn't need to have race brought into the race at all.

Part of the problem is that black people are not used to black politicians avoiding the issue of race. Far from it. Black politicians usually thrive on it, it's their oxygen. Without it they can't survive or win in their mostly black districts. Obama avoiding the issue seems to black people the same as not caring. That's simply not true. Barack just understands white people far better than the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of old. The reason both Jesse and Al couldn't make their campaigns work as well as Barack's is because they cast themselves as a "black candidate", centering on black issues. With the possible exception of a very few guilt-ridden white Liberals, most of the white people ran to the white candidates as fast as they could. That is not how you win a Presidential election folks. You win by forming a constituency that is bigger than your opponents.

If these prominent black figures continue to inject race into the election, either through gloating or out of concern that it's being left out, Barack Obama will lose this race. Every time they bring up anything racial in nature, Barack's opponent's will seize the opportunity to make the election a racial issue and Obama loses the support among white middle class voters that he so desperately needs. The right will simply say, "We didn't bring it up." and they'll be right. Black advocates need to take a page out of the Republican hand book on this one. When the conservative right started showing up at functions and making statements, the Republican Party suffered. Now they are kept in the backfield. They still have as much influence, just not so publicly. Black people need to make a choice; do you want to have your problems heard during the race, or do you want influence and win. It's your choice, and I promise you can't have both. H.C.

BREAKING THE GRIP

It's an ugly truth most people just don't want to admit. We Americans are puppets on a string. We're forced to send our money, our influence and even our children's lives to nations that hate our guts and take turns pulling the strings. Nations like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Russia and many more. With one meeting between the OPEC nations our economy can go into a panic, with one war in a oil-rich nation our life style becomes precarious. And we do it to ourselves. Like an animal that will eat and eat until it kills itself, we don't seem to know when to stop. Like an addict, we run to the pump for our fix no matter the price and like an addict, it's our addiction that will kill us. This addiction to oil is ruining us, and my friends, it can not go on.

When I was quite a bit younger in 1973, I saw all of this play out in a way that should have been a warning to us of times to come. In response to the Yom Kippur War, the OPEC nations announced they would no longer ship oil to nations that support Israel. The United States, along with several European nations and Japan caught the worst of it. Gas prices jumped through the roof and our economy took a serious hit. Later, during the 1979 Energy Crisis, we again got a glimpse of what was to come. Because of unrest in the Middle East we again found ourselves at the mercy of our puppet-masters. Just as we were gearing up to finally take action to end our dependency, the price fell back down again. Just like the addict that we are, there was no problem as long as we got our drug, and just like the addict that we are, we continued to bow to our drug dealers.

The recent rise in gas prices is just another example of the oil rich nations exercising their strength. With the collusion of Oil companies, speculators, politicians and investors, our dealers have become even more powerful than they could have ever imagined 50 years ago. They now have the power to bring us to our knees and quite possibly destroy our economy and our way of life. I can not stress enough how important this issue is. For me personally, it's the only issue. The amount of oil money that we export has now reached $700 billion dollars a year, the largest exchange of wealth in all of the world's history. If it continues it will ruin this country. Our politicians are all feigning outrage while stuffing their pockets with oil money. They pretend to search for solutions, when all they are doing is shifting the profits from Chevron to Exxon. As a reward for their misdeeds we offer them even more subsidies, more access to our land, less regulation and more power. In an effort to secure our supply, we have prostituted ourselves and our land.

In the past year, Americans have begun to wake up to the reality of our problem. People like T. Boone Pickens have taken it upon themselves to try to force our government to act. Researchers everywhere are searching for new answers and a way to self dependence and a cleaner form of fuel that is safer for our environment and our children's future. Fuel cells, Ethanol and hydrogen are all being explored as alternative energy. Wind and Solar power are getting a second look as are new ways of harnessing geothermal energy and even wave energy. We are standing at a crossroads and our choices are clear; continue being an addict or clean up our act and be self-dependent. Unfortunately, like an addict, as soon as we begin to get sick of our situation, as soon as we decide to change our ways, the dealer makes sure to give us what we need, until the next time they want us on our knees. H.C.

JOHN McCRASH

I've wrecked a car or two in my time. I guess that's kind of bad since I drive for a living. The first one was when I was 17 years old. A guy and his girlfriend were timing a string of lights and caught me going through the yellow. Result; one very smashed Impala. In my next accident, nearly twenty years later, I was on the side of a dirt road cleaning off my windshield when a guy with his entire windshield frosted over drove right into me without ever touching his brakes. Result; one destroyed Chevy Nova. Other than that, I've had a small bump or two, but nothing that made my car any where near undrivable. Considering that I've driven professionally for over 30 years, I don't feel that's too awfully bad and shouldn't keep me from being anything I want to be.

With that in mind, let's compare my experience with John McCain's flying.

John McCain has crashed and burned 5, count 'em, 5 planes.

McCain graduated (fifth from the bottom of his class) from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1958. He also graduated from flight school in 1960. One of the planes he crashed, was during flight training where he was learning to land. I assume he flunked at least that lesson. For whatever reason, (maybe his Admiral dad and grandfather) they saw fit to give him a pilot's license anyway.

While deployed in the Mediterranean, McCain lost a second aircraft. McCain was reportedly, "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral." Oddly enough, shortly thereafter McCain was promoted to, of all things, a flight instructor.

However, John wasn't quite done wrecking planes. He lost a third aircraft while flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game. He claimed he was experiencing a "Flame out" where his engines cut off. After several failed attempts to get his plane to restart, McCain bailed out leaving his plane to crash into a clump of trees. Thankfully, John wasn't close to any major city.

The fourth plane McCain took out was by far the most damaging. I should point out here that there are several versions of the events of July 29, 1967 on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal. The official version is that the plane behind McCain suffered a "electronic malfunction" of one of his missiles which launched on deck and struck McCain's plane. McCain then leaped out of his plane which was leaking fuel and was struck by scrapnel when the missiles on his plane blew up. Some witnesses have a different story. Their version is that McCain, always a joker, allowed fuel to build up in his engines before firing them up. This "wet start", would cause a large fireball to blow out the back of the engines startling the pilot behind you. In their version, this set off the missile which then struck McCain's plane. As McCain fled his injured plane, he inadvertently dropped two of his missiles onto the deck of the carrier causing further damage. In the end, 134 people died that day with even more dying of their injuries later. The U.S. Forrestal almost sank. John McCain was the only person evacuated immediately off the Carrier despite the fact that several other people had more serious injuries. (evidenced by the fact that several of them went on to die later.) Some of McCain's fellow crew mates claimed he was evacuated to keep him from being assaulted for his stupidity.

The fifth plane to be reduced to rubble by McCain is the only one he'll talk about. On Oct. 26, 1967, he was shot down and captured by the Vietnamese. McCain spent 5 1/2 horrific years being tortured before being released in 1973. This event lead to the "Hero" status that McCain enjoys today.

I would like to say that I have utmost respect for John McCain's service. My opinion of McCain from ever thing that I've read, and even things that have come out of his own mouth, is that John is simply not that bright. Five planes is an awful lot of planes to destroy no matter your excuses. These plane cost (in 1960's dollars) close to a million dollars each and that's not even including the enormous damage to the Forrestal. During the "Keating Five" trials, McCain claimed he was "duped" into supporting legislation that he didn't understand. Given his history, his education and his own words we should all take a long look at McCain and decide if this is a man who's intelligent enough to be President. Before he crashes our country. H.C.

IN DEFENSE OF TONY SNOW

I don't much care for President Bush or his Assministration. Let's get that right out of the way. I called for the head of Donald Rumsfeld way back in '04 when George Tenet was fired. I've criticized their handling of the war, the Nation Debt, and damn near everything that they've done since they took office. However, I have to admit an admiration for Tony Snow and here's why.

First, as I've explained before, I think the job of White House Press Secretary is the hardest job in American politics. Your life expectancy is shorter than that of a suicide bomber. Presidents flip through Press Secretaries faster than Bill Clinton goes through women (which is pretty quick.). Bush is now on his fourth, or is it fifth, Press Secretary. It's hard to keep count. Tony's predecessor, Scott McClellan, was shit-canned for his inability to defend Dick Cheney's bad shooting. (He mistakes his friends for quail.) That's how hard it is to keep the job. In the arena of Press Secretaries, Tony Snow did something that was amazing, he was one of the very few that left before he was fired or asked to leave. Which is the same. But it's not his handling of the job that earned my respect, or even his devotion to his ideology. It's because Tony Snow showed dignity in doing the one thing that will be the hardest thing in any of our lives to do...dying.

Prior to his death on July 12, 2008, I got to know Tony mostly through his occasionally replacing Bill O'Reilly on "The Factor" radio show. Since I have aspirations to be a talk show host, I study successful radio personalities like Bill regularly. Their positions concern me less than their ability to draw people in. Tony was a surprisingly likable guy. He never made any concessions to his guest's point of view but still managed to be respectful and fun. That is something I'm striving to emulate. I learned a lot about Mr. Snow on Bill's show. That he once played in rock bands much like me, that he has always been married to the same women just like me, that he had 3 kids, two daughters and one son, just like me. And that he had cancer, just like me.

I don't advocate hating people just for their point of view, I get way too much of that myself. I find that's a common feeling amongst people who get attacked. To be more sympathetic to others who get attacked. I'm not whining, if I wanted to stop the attacks, I could simply stop putting myself out there, but I have learned that people can be vicious. Tony Snow must have learned that too, because I never saw him respond in the vicious way that he was sometimes treated. That shows real restraint, and real class.

I may not have agreed with Mr. Snow's opinions. I never could understand why he would even want to take the job of defending the Bush administration. But in the last days of Tony Snow's life I saw a man who never whined about his bad fortune, who never said, "Why me?" Dying is, without a doubt, the hardest thing that any of us will ever have to do and Tony did it with grace and dignity without asking for pity or pitying himself. For that, he will always have my respect. R.I.P. Tony Snow, a real man and a real gentleman. H.C.

ISRAEL SETS IT'S SIGHTS ON IRAN

The words are being chosen carefully. Threats are being exchanged daily, veiled and otherwise. The drums of war have begun to beat between Iran and Israel. At issue is Iran's on going enrichment of nuclear material believed to be suitable for a nuclear weapon. Iran has repeatedly claimed that it's intentions are strictly for peaceful nuclear power. One thing is for certain, Israel will not stand idly by while Iran develops anything close to a nuclear weapon.

THE HISTORY

Israel's history on this is clear; in 1981 for example, Israel blew up the Osirak nuclear power plant in Iraq because it's intelligence claimed Saddam Hussein was working on a nuclear weapon there. Then, as recently as last October, Israel again attacked one of it's neighbors over nuclear materials. Syria was purported to be receiving nuclear components from North Korea, in response, Israel blew up the military installation where it believed they were. Just the hint of nuclear weapons in the Middle East means a strike by Israel.

THE POLITICS

In Israel, it's important to remember that there is only one main political issue-security. Politicians in Israel are judged by how they manage to keep Israel relatively safe. Israelis do not feel safe with a nuclear armed Iran. Period. Should a nuclear weapon come anywhere near Israel, everyone from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on down would lose their jobs in disgrace. After the unsuccessful Lebanon incursion in 2006, for example, many politicians lost their jobs.

THE RHETORIC

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency, said last weekend that an Israeli attack on Iran would turn the Middle East into "a ball of fire." One of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's deputies, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz recently said, "If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it." Finally, on July 5 2008, Gholam Hossein Elham, a spokesman for Iran said "Iran's stand regarding its peaceful nuclear program has not changed." Meaning, it will continue.

THE U.S. POSITION

The U.S. government has made a point of stressing that it's doesn't want a military strike by Israel. It points to it's already stressed military and uneasy operations in Iraq as reasons enough not to be involved. But to do the kind of job necessary to cripple Iraq's possible response (like blocking the Strait of Hormuz) while at the same time destroying their nuclear capacity, Israel needs, at the very least, U.S. air support and secured fly-over in Iraq. The U.S. knows it's involvement will be bad politics so it is already distancing itself in preparation for what might be inevitable.

There is still hope for Iran's leadership to recognize the threat and come to some terms, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Iran believes it is their right to create a nuclear power plant for peaceful purposes, and they are probably right by the world's own past practice. Several other countries could be pointed to that have built nuclear power plants that didn't have them 40 years ago. The problem is that Iran is one of the worst provocateurs toward Israel. I believe that if the U.N. and the world stand idly by while Iran continues to draw closer to having enriched nuclear material, Israel will believe it has no choice. It will attack. We will deny involvement as much as we can, but the further damage to our reputation in the Middle East will be easy to see. OPEC will respond in protest, Iraq will become even more tense, Iran will try to retaliate, Gas will go even higher.

G.W. sees all this as necessary to achieve his one hope of saving his legacy; a stable Iraq. With Iran crippled, the balance of power between Iran and Iraq is re-established. It's true that eventually things will calm down just as it did after the Yom Kippur War or the Six Day War. But once again the U.S. and Israel find themselves in the increasingly difficult job of keeping the Middle East nuclear weapon free. You have to ask yourself at some point, how long can it really be stopped? H.C.