America and Americans have made a historic first step in correcting the errors of our government. The election is over, negative ads had a negative outcome and the potential for change is at hand.

I very seldom ask God for a favor (much of the time I do not even acknowledge him/her), but I beg that higher being to protect our new President and his family from the mindless idiots, racist pigs, christian right wing radicals and any other entity that would hurt them. I was 16 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and have seen others who could have reformed America and made her better gunned down by assassins with a different agenda; I never want to experience those feelings again. Barack Obama is sincere in his desire to right some social wrongs and move this nation to a better place; God help him achieve those goals.

I am not in the minority, I am not a Democrat nor Republican; I am an Independent thinking American. I criticize John McCain's rational, his negative approach and his VP choice for a reason; he has lost touch with the man he used to be and is now pandering to right wing conservatives, not mainstream Americans.

This story quotes Mccain handlers, and their opinion of Sarah Palin. This story reflects a study by the Culture and Media Institute, a conservative media watchdog group, but it is not the story, but the readers responses that again prove that SP was the wrong choice for VP.

The general election is one week away, which means:
1. One more week of candidates telling us what the other guy will and will not do, while continuing to confuse us about what they themselves represent

2. One more week of annoying calls from pollsters with slanted questions, who really don't want to hear how you really feel.

3. One more week of disclosures about fraudulent activities committed by those who would represent us.

4. One more week until the RNC returns Sara Palin's $150,000. wardrobe

5. One more week of listening to a multitude of your friends bitch about the guy who isn't their candidate.

6. One more week and John McCain can go fishing in the Nile instead of living in denial

John Mc Cain likes to reflect back on his military career pointing out that he has been tested. He has spoken about being on an aircraft carrier in 1962 heading towards Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis, "I sat in my plane waiting to carry out a bombing mission; I had my target and I was ready. I have been tested." Fortunately the level headed Democrat (John Kennedy) in the oval office showed force, but not stupidity. John McCains idea of a test was to follow orders (not give them) and sit and wait.

In 1962 I was 15 and was listening to the news, learning about an action that would cause an all out nuclear war. Many people had fallout shelters built in the event of a nuclear holocaust, but my family didn't have that kind of money; instead I started digging up my fathers back yard (to build a shelter). I had dug a hole 6 feet long and 3 feet deep before I realized it looked like a grave. I remember thinking, "I would rather be at ground zero and be vaporized, than spend the next 20yrs in a hole underground. John Kennedy, not John McCain was tested in 1962 and John Kennedy did not flinch; he also did not take us into a war with the USSR.Today John McCain and Sarah Palin ready to start a war with Russia over a territorial dispute between former Soviet states.

He also is considered a "War Hero" for having been shot down over Hanoi during the Viet Nam War. I came across this footage from Hanoi made by a french news correspondent; the last 4 minutes is an interview with John McCain from his hospital bed in Hanoi. The interesting part was not the interview with him, but the film footage of Hanoi in 1968 as American planes flew a mission over the city. Women and children, everyday people running for cover as anti-aircraft guns fired at their enemy's planes. I was in Viet Nam from 1967-1968, but I was on the ground; the place where people (American and Vietnamese) died. I was in Hue City during the 1968 Tet Offensive and I saw men die who were more heroic than John McCain.

Everyday I read what he said the night before during a campaign rally and am always underwhelmed. He has yet to focus on what he can do, without going into a tailspin of negativity. He likes to create an environment of fear with regard to Obama, but in the last debate it was Obama who kept a cool head even when confronted by Mccain.

McCain was not John Kennedy in 1962 and today acts and reacts (and looks) more like Kennedy's nemesis Nikita Kruschev:

I watched the final Presidential debate to see if John McCain could pull a rabbit out of his hat. I viewed it on CNN opting for a less slanted (Fox being to the right and NBC to the left) analysis. CNN had Ohio non-committed voters in a room and gauged their responses as they viewed the debate.

What the world witnessed was a lively debate, but Jon McCain's posture and temperament was what everyone was talking about today; he appeared angry and hostile to the point of almost losing self control. All of the polls I saw after the debate and since show that he lost ground to Obama. Unfortunately his aggressive behavior overshadowed his message.

This is a Presidential race and I believe that the American people had hoped to see an intelligent discourse between to respected members of the Senate, but felt disappointed by McCains presence on the stage. He pandered to his party's base (the old vets in the funny hats, and seniors more interested in conservative values than the needs of the country), he negated his negative ads and appeared hurt and surprised that another member of congress would liken him to George Wallace. The problem is that when you spend your time bashing the person you are running against and try to create a link to enemies of the state, the average Joe Six Pack believes that your opponent should not just be beaten in a political sense, but should be eliminated. The fringe radical right is much more dangerous than the fringe radical left. The person he linked Obama to may have done bad things 40 years ago, but today he is a respected college professor, while on the right anti-abortionist have blown up Clinics and shot or threatened to shoot doctors. Is John McCain responsible for shouts of "terrorist" or "kill him" when Obama's name is mentioned at McCain-Palin rallies...yes.

When Adolph Hitler was rising to power in Germany, he convinced his followers that the Germany and the worlds ills were due to the Jews, creating a hostile environment for Jewish people. In the South the Ku Klux Clan made blacks the enemy, and today John McCain and Sarah Palin are trying to make Obama the enemy. Fortunately this is a more civilized America and the majority of voters (as shown in the polls) see failed policies and economic planning as the enemy. John Mccains aggressive posture did nothing to prove that he would change the policies that have us spending billions on wars we will see no compensation for or the bail-out of banks and financial institutions that should have been more closely regulated. In a grandiose statement he said he could balance the budget in 4 years, not by cuts in funding wars, but rather in using a "Hatchet" in freezing program funding.

Americans have three more weeks to endure before the election; I hope that Grumpy is not their choice.

It's not just McCain and Palin, though the fact they smear their opponents with unsubstantiated innuendo just adds to pile. There seems to be this tendency (which I can remember going back to a time when "Tricky" Dick Nixon smeared his opponent in a race for Senator in California) to fabricate or endorse rumors about an opponents character, rather than campaign on the substance and merit of their own position.

Sarah Palin is new at this but is as full of shit as a tried and true politician. She tries to smear Obama because a former member of the Weatherman (1960's radical) was at a fund raiser and lives in the same city (Chicago) as Obama. Sorry Sarah, but many so called radicals from that era went on to be businessmen and even elected officials (see what became of the notorious Chicago 7, who also were tried for their activism in Chicago). Radicals in the 60's brought an end to the Viet Nam war, were the foundation of social change in this country and may even be responsible for Ms. Palin's place on the Republican ticket; after all it was then that "Women's Liberation" was born. Gloria Steinem was a radical, and became a strong political force.

If Ms. Palin knew anything of American history she would know that our fore fathers were radicals and activist who attacked the ruling British government and were considered traitors at the time. All of this is irrelevant as is her charge against Mr. Obama; the fact that John McCain allows her to rant in this manner demeans him as well.

The GOP elephant is full of shit and rightly represents that parties candidates for the executive office. I suggest a colossal enema to right verbal wrongs

OK here's the definition of debate:

Main Entry: 1de·bate
Pronunciation: \di-ˈbât, dç-\
Function: noun
Date: 13th century
: a contention by words or arguments: as A: the formal discussion of a motion before a deliberative body according to the rules of parliamentary procedure B: a regulated discussion of a proposition between two matched sides

A does does not really apply; that is what occurs in the two houses of Congress when a bill is brought up- They debate its merit before voting.

B was what we were supposed to have witnessed during last nights "debate" between Sarah (I want more power) Palin and Joe (I have to be nice) Biden. It was hardly a debate; the moderator would ask a question and Senator Biden would give a frank answer based on the Obama/Biden tickets position. Biden quoted generals, while Palin got their names wrong and misquoted them (probably hoping the average "Joe six-pack and soccer mom" were as uninformed as she is. Does she really believe that the average American is that uninformed in a world where information is only a click away? I don't know. Maybe John (I can't send an email) Mccain is, but not the average American. Anyone with a computer (except McCain)could read what www.factcheck.org came up with with regards to both candidates.

The fact is last night Palin didn't win, she just made some Republicans happy, because she didn't self destruct not really what we want in someone who needs to be a diplomat whether at home or away. It was a low expectation and she made it. A higher expectation that she might have a handle on world events was not met, but in the face of her lack of knowledge she improvised and strayed from the topic of the question (always with a smile on her face, a wink and a nod {oh and the occasional "you betcha"

The one thing I heard and haven't seen a comment about was her responses to Biden when he reflected on McCain's support of Bush's economics over the past eight years. Her response was "There you go again "Joe" looking back when you claim to want to bring about change". Well duh, Ms. Palin have you never heard "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it" Well that is why Joe Biden reflected on the past eight years, because he does not want to see it repeated under a McCain administration. Our economic problems are beyond John McCain's understanding. Last night Ms.Palin suggested that leaving Iraq in 16 months was "Raising the white flag of surrender" (a Mccain quote as well), but that is exactly what the Iraqi government wants and negotiated for us to do (as Biden pointed out to those large deaf ears), to stay past our welcome makes us an occupying force much like the (dreaded) Russians in Georgia.

Here is the review of last nights sham from the commentators "Hard Ball"

Watching the debate I saw John McCain try to show the nation that he could or would bring change to our failing economy and convince us that his experience as a military leader would heighten our security by remaining in Iraq. Problem was I also remember him blasting Bush's economic proposals when he ran against him and endorsing those same economic policies when he dropped out of that race. As for Iraq, it is a dead horse; the Iraqi government wants us out by 2011 if not sooner, to stay would portray us/the U.S. as an occupying force. The real fight is in Afghanistan as Obama pointed out. McCain has had 30 years in government to "fix" an economy and benefit working class individuals; now as economic disaster looms he wants us to believe he can do it with executive power. Unfortunately as GW has learned the executive pen can not simply right a wrong that has been building for generations. Those same people that head our banking institutions are GOP supporters (less regulation and oversight) who contribute to the people who tend to cut taxes required to pay down our deficit; those same people that allow industry to out source jobs to 3rd world nations while ignoring those poverty stricken communities across America. Obama has his faults, but being "Old Guard" isn't one of them. Obama scored a victory in that debate gaining public approval.

In some respects the debate reminded me of "Mr. Smith goes to Washington" a 1939 film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jimmy Stewart. In it a new Senator takes on the old rank and file members of the Senate. It showed what one man could do in a government built on deal making to the point of corruption.



Now on to the Palin - Biden debate. The valley girl from Alaska vs. the senior Senator from Delaware. Maybe she can win as Reese Witherspoon was in "Legally Blonde". Unfortunately for Palin, this isn't a movie and Reese Witherspoon had a script and could shoot a take until she got a line right. I will watch Thursday's debate, but believe Tina Fey will probably do a better job on Saturday Night Live.

You know how sometimes a movie trailer is shown months before the movie is released and you wait anticipating the release, because it has a good cast and a plausible plot that has caught your interest. Finally the Friday comes for the release and you stand in line with hundreds of others still anticipating the greatest show on earth; the lights go down and the movie begins. You sit for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs in the dark and when the lights come back on, you feel a sense of disappointment. You know that feeling.

Well as I wait for the presidential and vice presidential debates, I have that same sense of anticipation. Unfortunately in the back of my head a voice says, "Don't get your hopes up, it will be over scripted, the dialogue will be old, there will be no surprises and when it is over you will have seen the greatest politicians money can buy.

Months ago I suggested that Presidential candidates should be made to take a lie detector test; well maybe instead of a series of debates we should ask that it be a series of test (sort of like "Survivor"). The lie detector could be "Truth or Consequences", Another show could be "The Price is Right" during which each candidate could explain their ties to failed Wall Street entities and lobbyist who might/will profit by their election. Finally Alex Trebec could host Presidential "Jeopardy", during which time the candidates could vie for electoral votes by answering questions. Categories could include, "Foreign Policy Blunders I've voted for", "Things I've said and wish I hadn't", "Waffling" and "If I ruled the Free World".

I am afraid the voice is going to be right and I will be disappointed. How about "Presidential Smack-Down"?