AND SO IT BEGINS

Of all the problems that plague our government, none infuriates me more than the "Pardon Season". Although Presidents typically pardon people throughout their terms, controversial pardons are usually avoided until this time of year. This is the part of the election cycle that America suffers a "lame duck" President. That is, a President who is nearly powerless, but has nothing to fear from voters. He doesn't fear the voters because he's already been voted out or termed out and his Party has two years before another election. Let's face it, no one can ever remember who any President ever pardoned anyway, much less two years later. The Pardon Season starts sometime just after the Presidential election cycle and can last right up to the very last day of the departing President's reign. Each departing President tries his best to do this outrageous act in a way that draws as little attention as possible. Maybe during a hot news day, or after a major sporting event.

Today the Bush Administration released a list of 14 people who would be the recipients of a Presidential Pardon from George W. Bush. Including these pardons, he has now granted a total of 171 pardons and eight commutations. Conveniently, this list was release at the same time that every journalist was covering Barack Obama's announcement that his new economic team would include Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers. Yes, the same Larry Summers that I wrote about a while back who lost his job as Harvard's President because he had the nerve to suggest that women might just not be interested in becoming engineers. That infuriated the leftists at Harvard who demanded, and got, his resignation. Despite that, it appears Obama is unconcerned that the press will make an issue of his appointing a known sexist. My guess is that he's right, since the press always seems to be far more forgiving to the Dems for acts of racism or sexism. But back to Bush.

Bush's pardons so far are in line with the usual lame duck pardons. A bunch of rich people, a bunch of well connected people. Each has fought long and hard to make their way on to the list. Whether it's Republicans or Democrats doing the pardoning, you can rest assured that each pardon is represented by sizable donations to the President's campaign or his soon to be constructed Presidential library. Clinton pardoned domestic terrorists along with an assortment of white collar criminals and drug dealers and George H.W. Bush pardoned his Iran-Contra buddies and a long list of white collar criminals, both sides abuse this loophole terribly. Among Bush's recent pardons were for 3 people who committed various types of bank fraud, a women who committed medical insurance fraud, a couple of drug dealers and even a killer of bald eagles.

So how do we stop this abuse of power?

First, there should be no lame duck pardons at all! All pardons should be given out before Oct. 1 of their last year in office. That way the press has time to publish all their pardons and let the voters take it out on their candidate or party. This system of allowing criminals to buy or barter their way out of their convictions through lobbyists or personal connections is a form of nepotism and elitism that we should all be trying to limit in our government. Government is a service to one's country, not a position of power to shield one's friends and relatives. Presidents, Senators, House Representatives and Governors all abuse this power for their own benefit and it's time to make it so that it's also at their own peril. Justice can never be completely equal, but it is what we should all strive for. H.C.

TWO DAVIDS VS. TWO GOLIATHS

The banners have all come down, the streets are all swept free of the confetti, and the last party has been thrown. Now comes the time to analyze the election, the blame and the credit. To be sure, a lot of the credit for the big win on the Democrat side has to go to Barack Obama and a lot of the blame for the loss has to go to John McCain. That's just the way it is, the buck stops at the top. The McCain campaign leaders (not to be confused with the RNC) have thrown Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to the wolves. This is to be expected, they certainly don't want to take the blame themselves, after all, they're all hoping to work on another campaign in the future and that's not likely to happen if they blame themselves. Governor Palin is doing the right thing. She's defending herself while pointing out that these attacks aren't coming from McCain or the RNC. Her future, from my point of view, has to be bright, I can't picture the RNC throwing away anyone with that much star power and name recognition. On the Democrat side, everyone wants in on the credit, as can be expected. But who was really the brains behind the impossible? From everything I've seen and read, it was two relatively unknowns that brought down the the twin Goliaths of McCain and Clinton; David Plouffe and David Axlerod.

So, who are the two Davids? Let's take David Plouffe first.

David Plouffe began his political career when he went to work for Senator Tom Harkin's 1990 re-election campaign. He later worked as a state field director for Harkin's unsuccessful 1992 Presidential campaign. He then successfully managed Congressman John Olver's first re-election bid in Western Massachusetts. In 1994 Plouffe managed Delaware Attorney General Charles M. Oberly's unsuccessful campaign against Senator William V. Roth Jr.. He then worked as campaign director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1995. In 1996, Plouffe managed Bob Torricelli's successful campaign to fill Bill Bradley's seat in the United States Senate.From 1997 to 1998 Plouffe served as Democratic leader Richard Gephardt's Deputy Chief of Staff. From 1999-2000 he worked as executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and then in 2003 he met David Axelrod and began working on Barack Obama's successful 2004 U.S. Senate Campaign and finally on Barack's Presidential bid. From the very start of Obama's campaign, Mr. Plouffe made one thing abundantly clear. There would be no drama. As Barack's campaign manager, David was the "details man", in charge of the Obama strategy to win. With every state thought out in his head and every move calculated, David Plouffe believed the only possible problem would come from either his staff acting out badly or his candidate coming across as an "angry black man". On that, he was completely correct. White America had seen it's share of passionate black presidential candidates from Rev. Jesse Jackson to Rev. Al Sharpton and they had demonstrated one thing beyond any doubt. While all were popular among black people, white people would not vote for them. Without the white vote, Mr. Plouffe concluded, Barack could not win. This theory of "no drama" was applied not just to Barack Obama, but also to his wife, his spokesmen, his supporters, campaign workers and anyone else that could be tied to Obama. David Plouffe was directly responsible for the discipline that the Obama campaign showed.

David Axelrod was Barack's Senior Political Advisor, but he could better be described as Barack's "Right Hand Man". David began his political career at age 13 handing out campaign buttons for Robert F. Kennedy. He pursued his passion for politics by attending the University of Chicago where he majored in political science. Like his counterpart, David Plouffe, he didn't graduate and went to work at the Chicago Tribune and became the City Hall Bureau Chief and a political columnist. Unhappy as just a writer, (I can relate), in 1984 he joined the campaign of US Senator Paul Simon as communications director and within weeks he was promoted to co-campaign manager. He then formed his own consulting firm, Axelrod and Associates, and was hired by Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor.This established his experience in working with black politicians and he later went to work on similar mayoral campaigns of blacks, including Dennis Archer in Detroit, Michael R. White in Cleveland, Anthony A. Williams in Washington, D.C., Lee P. Brown in Houston, and John F. Street in Philadelphia as well as Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley. David met Barack Obama in 1992 through a mutual friend and the two became so close that Obama consulted Axelrod before he delivered his famed 2002 anti-war speech and asked him to read drafts of his book, The Audacity of Hope. Axelrod is credited with coming up with the Caucus Strategy and post Super Tuesday Strategy that helped defeat Hillary Clinton in the primaries. I think it's fair to say that without David Axelrod, we would be looking at a Clinton or McCain Presidency.

As we assess the 2008 historic election of Barack Obama, let's all remember that Barack is not just the product of the streets of Chicago, not just the product of a caring Grandmother or the support of black people. Barack Obama is where he is today by virtue of his gift of communication and the efforts of two Davids who helped him slay two Goliaths that no one, not even me, thought he had a chance against. H.C.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

On September 11, 2001 all of our lives changed forever. On that fateful day, Americans were no longer black, brown or white, we were all Americans. The attacks on the World Trade Center unified us all in a way I have never seen. In the face of an enemy that didn't care if they killed who they killed or what color they were, we suddenly all became Americans, brothers and sisters. But time has a way of making us forget the significance of a single day, of a single moment in history. Whether it's April 4, December 7, or September 11, we slowly drift back into all the things that divide, not unify us all.

And now, on November 4, 2008, after all the divisive attacks by both sides, America has seen another equally important moment in time. Unlike the previous days I mentioned, this day is a joyous one, even for the people who did not support the change that has come. On this day America chose an African-American, Senator Barack Obama, for their highest, most powerful position, the President of the United States of America. This happened even though blacks are only 14% of the population. It happened with the help of white people, Asian people, Hispanic people, Gay people and people of every race, creed, and religion imaginable. It happened because a majority of people did not care about his color or his mixed race and mixed religion background. What they all shared was his positive message of an America that could be better, of an America that lives up to it's creed; "That all men are created equal". They all shared his vision of unity, not divisiveness, of hope, not of fear.

On this one day America is again unified by the one bond that binds us all, a future that is tied and bound by our love of the United States, our home.

Don't get me wrong, there will be times of trial, and divisiveness will again rear it's ugly head, but after today, we will never look at America the same. The Nay-sayers, the haters, the people stuck in the sad reality that was the '50's, '60's, and '70's will have to admit that America has changed and for the better. On this day, November 4, opportunity has spread and now warms the hearts of people who honestly felt that it was simply not theirs to enjoy. It is truly a day for hope and optimism.

The saddest part of all of this is that one day separated Barack's grandmother, the women who raised him and the person he credits with being his biggest influence, from seeing her son become everything she believed he could be. I am sure, however, that she is in heaven smiling down, knowing that the sacrifices she made were not for naught. Family has won out.

To all my black friends, congratulations. It has been a long hard road but one that has lead to a better tomorrow. Yesterday is gone, the moment is fleeting, and tomorrow is all we have. On this one day, history has been made, hope has resurfaced and racism has been dealt a serious blow. What a difference one day can make. H.C.

WHO AND WHAT I'LL BE VOTING FOR AND AGAINST NOVEMBER 4th

In this historic election, I have tried to give you as fair an analysis of the issues and events that I possibly could. I believe I have treated each candidate with equal suspicion and equal respect. But at some point we have to make a final decision. I will say this one thing to help comfort you in case your candidate should lose, either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama would make a good President. Neither of them will destroy our country or our economy. The rhetoric that you has been fed to you by the Mainstream Media and the campaigns has been carefully designed to make you fearful of the other. The differences between the two lies simply in their philosophy of what would be best for our country. Nothing more. Barack Obama is not a secret Muslim America hater and John McCain is not trying to destroy the Middle Class for fun and profit. So, with no further adu, here is how I will be voting, why I'm going that way and what I think the results will be.

*President of the United States of America*

I have given this considerable thought and I feel that Senator Barack Obama is the best choice for this moment in history to lead our country. I'll say right up front that Barack's association with a Preacher that spews hatred instead of Love as commanded by the very religion that he embraces, bothered me the most. I do not believe that Obama didn't know. I believe that is a lie, simply put. What I do think happened was that Barack thought he could benefit from Rev. Wright's connections and that he needed the Church to get elected, as is the case for all black politicians running in black communities. For his support, Barack sold out and then lied about it when it was no longer convenient. However, in this respect, Obama is no worse than John McCain who ran legislation for shady people like Charles Keating. The difference is that Obama's associations didn't cause thousands of people to lose their life savings and didn't cost me a dime. So, on the issue of associations, McCain lost.

Now, on the issue of oil. I can only hope that Obama will lead us out of our dependency on foreign oil. John McCain, I am dead certain, will not. With his Bush ties, his 20+ ex-oil lobbyists on his staff and his "drill baby drill" mentality, I have no faith that John McCain will lead us away from the biggest danger we face today. We will be out of domestic oil in 12 years at our current pace and I am tired of bowing and sending young lives and billions of dollars to countries that hate us and have our destruction as a goal. This is my number one issue and it effects our foreign policy, our domestic policy and our economy. On this issue, again, McCain lost.

Even though those two issues alone would have pushed my vote away from McCain, there are other considerations that have moved me to Barack. I feel that Barack Obama's election would send a message around the world that is so powerful, it can not be ignored. We, the United States of America, will have elected a person that represents a minority of less than 14% of the population, African American. This doesn't happen in any of the so-called "progressive" countries around the world. France will never elect a Muslim, the U.K. will never elect a Catholic and Ireland will never elect a Protestant. Only in the U.S. is this possible. The message sent within our borders could be equally important. Every minority child in the U.S. will now know they have the opportunity to be anything they want to be. This is America at it's finest. I believe the odds of this happening are very good. I predict Barack Obama will win by 2 to 3% of the popular vote...maybe even more.

*U.S. Senate seat now held by Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich)*

Despite the fact that Carl has lost my respect, deserted our state, and sadly become another Democrat partisan hack, I believe he will handily beat his challenger Republican Jack Hoogendyk. I will be voting for a 3rd Party candidate out of disgust. Carl, you were once my hero, how far you have fallen. J.P. McCarthy would be ashamed.

*Proposition One-Medical Marijuana (Michigan proposal)*

I would be a complete hypocrite if I didn't support this proposal. I have been a advocate for legalization of Marijuana my entire adult life. I used medicinal Marijuana when I was being treated for Cancer when I was 32. It absolutely helped. For my complete testimony check out my video at http://hk.youtube.com/user/bentdrive. I believe that this proposal will pass. Opponents claim it's an effort to move toward legalization and I don't care. To quote Jimmy Carter (the only time I do), "The punishment for a crime shouldn't do more harm to society than the crime itself."

*Proposal Two-Stem Cell Research (Michigan proposal)*

The fact is, we don't need this. Stem Cells can be grown from skin, umbilical cords, amniotic fluid, placenta, and even testes. This is a attempt to discount life at conception, a"fuck you" to people with religious morals, and I do care. Although I am Pro-Choice, there are issues surrounding this that can reach far beyond simply Stem Cells. The issue is whether it's O.K. to create life just to destroy it and I just can't support that. My joke on this issue is that when the Democrats found out that there was other ways to get Stem Cells they asked, "Can't we kill them anyway?" It is unnecessary at this point and I've done a lot of research including asking some of my very knowledgeable University colleagues. After reviewing the polls and doing some "man on the street" interviewing, I'm going to update (10/3 at 7:30am) my prediction and say that this proposal will pass. I will still be voting against it.

There you go folks, I hope all of you will make up your own minds and do what you feel is best for all of us. Most importantly, don't forget to vote November 4th. It is our most sacred right. H.C.

A WORLD IN CRISIS, A WORLD OF HOPE

The housing crisis, falling stock markets, shrinking government revenues and rising unemployment all have us feeling more than a little anxious lately. On top of all that, we have a historic election for the President of the United States, the most powerful country on Earth and the country the rest of the world is both blaming for the crisis and hoping will lead us out of it. At the root of all our problems is the problem of debt. How much is too much and how do we go about shrinking it without sending the world's economy into a tailspin? I wish I had an answer.

As I've said here several times before, "You can't be better off tomorrow by spending tomorrow's money today." It's as simple as that. As long as we insist on living beyond our means by demanding loans we can't afford, houses we can't afford and luxuries we can't afford, our problem will continue and grow. It's total hypocrisy to point at the excesses of Wall Street, or the Government, as we live in excess ourselves.

For far too long the situation was twofold. The lenders were pressured by politicians to lend to people who couldn't afford it and in return the lenders got less regulation so they could offset their losses by engaging in shady market dealings that pushed the risk around to other countries and businesses. The return for this game of "hot potato debt" was a booming economy built on a shaky premise that couldn't possibly be sustained.

So what is the end result? Millions have now lost their homes to foreclosure, the housing market is flooded with too many houses that can not be sold, credit cards are being defaulted on because the equity the borrowers once used to refinance is gone (mark my words, this will be the next crisis.) Financial Rapture is upon us. Markets worldwide have seen their wealth disappear at 20, 30 even 60 percent. Countries like Iceland have gone completely bankrupt and Russia has frozen their stock trading. Buying is shrinking and the domino effect is reverberating throughout the Global Market.

For those of you that enjoy seeing the rich suffer out of jealousy, I have a wake-up call for you. The rich throughout the world pay the majority of the taxes. This is even more true in the socialist countries. As their wealth has shrunk, so has their tax burden. This is much like the way we want people to stop smoking at the same time we use their "Sin Tax" to fund health and education. If we get our wish, we are the ones to suffer. Capital gains is a thing of the past. In fact, the richest amongst us will be claiming losses, not "gains". Retirement accounts based in the stock markets are seeing huge losses (although better lately) and that will lead to increased burdens on social programs aimed at the elderly. Automaker pension programs are in danger of not being able to meet their obligation. The government will be forced to take over more and more of the burden while receiving less and less revenue. You don't have to be an economist to see tough times are ahead.

The bright side of all this is that we have finally had our veil lifted. John McCain and his Band of Merry Deregulators are being seen for what they truly are. Robber Barons. The Democrats, for their part, are being seen for what they truly are; irresponsible and too focused on the now. We are seeing the "It's all good" generation realize that it's not all good. You can't just hand money to people who can't afford to pay it back. You can't just rely on the Rich to pay all of your bills, you can't just live for today with no foresight into tomorrow and you can't push your responsibly to yourself, your children and your future onto the Government. This is the ultimate lesson on personal responsibility. If your benefactor disappears, can you survive without him? The next President of the U.S., whoever it ends up being, will find himself, from day one, in the uncomfortable position of explaining to the American public that we simply don't have the money that we had just one year ago. We can't create more programs with less revenue. The Entitlement Generation is in for a shock.

The bad news is that hard times are ahead without a doubt. My suggestion to all of you is to save, cut down on the unnecessary, and prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. The good news is that we are finally, once again, going to understand what is really important in this world. Our families, our friends, and our inner strength.... not our possessions, our appearance and our Ipods. H.C.

A PERSONAL UPDATE

With hunting season now upon us, I'm having a little trouble keeping up with all my chores. Such as posting on my blog. For those of you interested, I've already bagged a fat 6-pointer that I caught trespassing and the venison is already in my freezer. (I do all my own processing) Outside of that, here's a quick update.

Unfortunately, Flinttalkradio and me have parted ways. The removal of Steve Brewer, who I consider a good friend, from the show has caused me to re-evaluate my relationship with the owners/operators of Flinttalkradio and Studio 1714. While I hold no animosity towards either Steve Meyers or John Wilson (they did give me good exposure), their view of the world and our working relationship is considerably different than mine. This happens even among friends. I stand by my view that everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect those of both Steve and John even as I adamantly disagree with them. I would have hoped that I would get the same respect, but I unfortunately, did not.

I will however, be trying to keep our business relationship solid and would not discourage anyone from visiting their sites.

This leaves me with only my blog for venting and I've already decided that is not enough. So, in order to create a new venue for my music, opinions and commentary, I've started working on several new sites that I'm hoping to link all together with my blog. The main idea is for me and Steve Brewer to build our own studio where we will not be under the whims of other people's visions of our show. Steve is a gifted comedian/commentator and I can't wait to start producing what I'm sure is going to be the best product we've produced yet. Part of what we're looking to do is to help promote local bands and music by running their songs between our commentary.

I'm going to be posting our show on YouTube and any other venue that will have us. I'm looking forward to working with Steve and he is already full of ideas on how we can make our show even better. I'll keep all of you posted as to our progress and I'll let you know when and where you can catch us on the Internet. For now, here's a sample of the kind of stuff we'll be running. We had a misunderstanding with Eric and Carson from Banana 101. I apologize for the bad audio, it was out of my hands. H.C.

ONLY THE LOSERS

There were a few problems with the 2000 presidential election, as all of you probably already know. There were arguments over "Hanging Chads" and "Pregnant Chads" and over missing ballots, and disenfranchised voting groups. In 2004 we went through it all again with accusations against the companies that made the electronic voting machines. For the most part, I think we, the public, view voter fraud as something Republicans do to poor people and minorities to increase their chances at the ballot box. But certainly there's always two sides to the argument, so here's what we'll do. I'll simply list the examples of how both sides try to gain advantage and let you decide. At the end I'll give my thoughts on both sides.

*Democrat Cheating Methods*

Since you already have a few examples of Republican methodology, I'll start with the Dems. When considering the Democrat position, we first have to understand that Democrats, in general, do better with people as their income bracket goes down. Republicans do better as the scale goes up. For the Dems, that means recruiting poor people, lower middle class and minorities to vote. Unfortunately, a great deal of their prospective voting block has felonies, moves often, doesn't register to vote, is here illegally and in some examples, is just plain lazy. The truth of the matter is; Democrats benefit from letting some of these people break the rules. If they let illegals, for instance, register and then vote despite not being a U.S. citizen, the odds are, the result will overwhelmingly favor their party. This is also true with people who vote under several names that they know are registered, even if they happen to be dead. (I'm sure they would have voted for my guy anyway). The Democrats know that these methods are used more by their constituents than by the Republicans, so they turn a blind eye. If it turns out people are gaming the system (like illegals), the Democrats defend them as being disenfranchised and the Republicans get portrayed as threats to the right to vote. Even though those people should not have had the chance to vote to begin with.

*Republican Cheating Methods*

The Republicans would probably like to simply respond-in-kind with districts that favor them. Unfortunately, those districts are overwhelmingly rural. In the small towns across American, cheating is not tolerated. In my small town they will check my I.D. even though I've known most of them for 20 years. No, for Republicans, their best method is to try to stop the Democrat voters from ever reaching the ballot box. Including some methods such as manipulating ballots, shorting the supply of ballots in poor areas, etc.. They demand consistent registration because they know poor people move more, voter I.D.'s to stop the illegals from voting, and clean criminal records because poor people are more likely to commit crimes. They search for any Demographic that fits them best. Drunk drivers favor Democrats? Then no voting if you've had a D.U.I.! Potheads favor Democrats? Let's make sure possession is a felony.

*MY SPIN*

I feel very strongly that the right to vote is the most sacred of our rights. Without it, everything else is out of our hands. I would like to see more people participate in voting, even though I know that would favor Democrats. However, Democrats should remember you shouldn't use public funds to encourage voting only in segments of society that favor you. For instance, Democrat voter outreach programs target the poor or minorities because they stand to benefit from it. Organizations that front being bipartisan such as the American Democracy Project or more recently the organization ACORN, who's being accused of voter fraud. If an effort is made with public funds, it can't be that one-sided, it has to be targeted to the public in general. Not just Universities, big cities or poor neighborhoods. What private people want to do to promote voting and who they want to support, is their own business. As far as the Right to Vote, I would require I.D.'s for voting because it cuts down on cheating. I would continue to demand that illegals become an American citizen before you can vote and I would make efforts to enforce that law. I would make registering to vote easier, even on-line (registering only, I don't favor on-line voting). I would make Voting Day easier in any way I could. For example, I would give every American the first Tuesday of November off from work as a Federal holiday (we could use the 'off years' for local elections). What's more important than voting? I would encourage participation in our system through P.S.A.'s and our public schools. I would monitor election personnel carefully and the companies that run the machines. I would have harsh punishments for all people caught cheating. Cheating the Vote is close to treason in my world.

This election, like every election, will have it's share of complaints by the side that loses. It's funny how the winners rarely complain. All of these accusations should be taken seriously and people found guilty should be punished harshly. So when November 5 finally comes around, and as we're looking over the results, let's remember it should be every one's goal to make our elections fair, not just the losers. H.C.