On the vice-presidential nominees influencing the election... While we cannot overlook the fact that we're in the process of electing a new president, (And, indeed, what we may now perhaps regard as both candidates' first demonstration of executive decision making is the manner with which each went about in their choice of a running mate)... we cannot at the same time completely disregard the significance of the second highest office in the nation, specially given the unprecedented degree of influence the position has had under the current incumbency....
On Iraq... The latest spin is that the war-tide is perhaps now turning in favor of the military intervention. Was there ever a need for the U.S. to be placed in a position to win or lose in the first place? Can history ever term the war a win regardless... after countless lives have already been lost on both sides, allowed a cross-section of American and Iraqi families and individuals to have become deeply scarred as "the fog of war" often does to so many, which may in effect later haunt a succeeding generation if not the current? Would we be able to ever let the cause justify the injury the U.S. economy has received and is still profusely bleeding from as a result... the stretching of the military to beyond what it was strategically prepared for, thus exposing a degree of American vulnerability? Vote your answers in.
On the domestic economy... Is there logic on why Iraq is currently sitting on quite a significant budget surplus while the U.S. deficit continue to multiply to levels never before thought of. Meantime, the American economy dangerously and falsely floats as billions worth of economic activities are directly or indirectly tied to the war efforts at ambiguous fronts. With that said, there hasn't been any public discussion on whether the U.S. even has a strategic economic plan aimed to thwart domestic turmoil should the Iraqi war end so suddenly... considering the added hurdle the American economy will have to confront once defense related industries receive major demand cuts in products and services... Is it why the hesitation in starting a major pull-out of American troops?
On the other hand, the long glorified identity of the American spirit being "innovative and ingenious" has seen erosion, as ideas continue to see their production move overseas... only to be marketed back to the continent, thus the marginal domestic labor market, cloudy GNP projections, and for the average consumers... the costs of basic needs ever on the upswing.
On national security... Simply, does our sense of protection border between practicality and paranoia... considering that even "sandals" need to go through X-Ray scrutiny when entering secured airport passenger areas? Meantime, our borders remain ever porous, our immigration policies made even more complex and inconsistent, and the Transportation Security Administration remains an agency stubbornly mired in bureaucratic and budgetary inefficiencies.
On energy costs and conservation... Shouldn't it be time to let the international market dictate the cost of fuel rather than by a continued government subsidy through outdated legislative policies favoring the energy industry status quo? The continued high prices just might result in diversified and more efficient modes of transportation, creative urban planning, improved study in infra-structure designs... while encouraged research might in turn bolster break-through advances in the discovery and processing of alternate-fuels, and finally spurn a sustained growth in still a relatively dormant new industry focused on renewable energy. (Just imagine how transistors have transformed electronics to where it is now... continuing to grow exponentially.) Also, such creative and concrete examples can only help the U.S., for once, take the lead among industrialized nations in adopting new policies endorsing the need for universal awareness, concern and participation in nature conservation, and promote the need for improved international cooperation in shouldering the responsibility to help curb the rate of global warming... as the caution becomes increasingly ever so critical...
On international relations... While the U.S. continue to promote the ideals of a unified global community, American policies and actions have been prone to unilateralism often enough resulting in a perplexed dance of opinions and interpretations among both new and old ideological allies, among emerging and traditional economic partners. The U.S. needs to lead in "walking the talk"... by being able to first earnestly engage in dialogue with governments and market blocs, friendly or indifferent... realizing the need to at times forgo demands for prior conditions, if it in fact wishes to gain a matured sense of diplomatic leadership. It might just be the page that may ease the desperate need to open up a new chapter for the world to find easier to comprehend...then graduate from...
So, while the candidates charge each other with "not getting it"...
this November, let our voices be heard...vote...and... "AMERICA, LET'S GET IT!"
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