“A principled man could change the atmosphere in Washington, once lobbists and legislators knew he was really serious. I believe in the theory that a single individual can make change occur by the strength of his convictions, his or her ability to gain and keep the respect of the people in his country and how well he follows through to back up his words. I believe all of that.”

Based on the flip-flop Senator Obama just publicly made on his election financing, the 2008 Democratic Nominee for President no longer fits Bob’s description.

We Independents are watching closely how the Presidential candidates are handling themselves before before we vote. Hopefully, other Americans are open-minded about the candidates. But I know, some Americans have already made up their choice for President before all the facts are in place.

The more things change, the more things stay the same…

Don

The waste of government spending isn’t only restricted to military expenditures. For decades money was given away for social programs with absolutely no oversight of how that money was spent. Some of that money was sent to gangs and used for criminal activities.

So, the wasteful spending needs to be better controlled, but for all government programs, not just the military..

Also, although the Osprey was a controversial design and did have many accidents, it seems to be working pretty well in Iraq.

I’ll point to another aircraft that nobody liked, the A-10 Warthog. That is until the first Gulf War in which it was a God-send by wiping out over 1,000 Iraqi tanks with a vengeance and taking severe damage and still keeping its pilot’s safe and able to return to base.

Bob, you said,

“A principled man could change the atmosphere in Washington, once lobbists and legislators knew he was really serious. I believe in the theory that a single individual can make change occur by the strength of his convictions, his or her ability to gain and keep the respect of the people in his country and how well he follows through to back up his words. I believe all of that.”

That would be a nice thing to happen, but the established lobbyists are pretty smart people and will end-run any efforts so proposed.

Don

I wanted my evolving “Obama Action Manifesto” to be compact and all of one piece.

After all, the Torah (other readers, look it up) is one long pasted together scroll composed of about 50 separate hand-written pieces of parchment held on two short round wooden poles, and that seems to have lasted pretty well, so far.

I’m not planning any more additions to the above–not the Torah, the Manifesto–because the list of to-dos is sufficiant for any serious administration to accomplish.

I was pretty clear about the crime and the punishment.
I also want to separate the temptation from the purchasers. We need more degrees of separation to stop the weak from secumbiing to temptation and future job offers. We need more Watchers to keep our government under control and more evenly applied justice to terrify the wealthy that in fact, they are just like the rest of us, and there is room in our many jails for them.

I believe supplying substandard anything to forces in combat or likely to be in combat is a criminal act and morally inexcusable. A strong administrator could make an impact if he made it clear that no one was winking at his harsh words, it was no longer business as usual and that, if fact, for the next president the buck would truly stop with him.

A principled man could change the atmosphere in Washington, once lobbists and legislators knew he was really serious. I believe in the theory that a single individual can make change occur by the strength of his convictions, his or her ability to gain and keep the respect of the people in his country and how well he follows through to back up his words. I believe all of that.

Bob

Maybe you should post your additions as separate articles.

On the “Consequences of Military Contractors…”, at least half the blame for substandard equipment should be shared between the procurement offices and Congress. The procurement people have a strong bias to keep buying what they have been buying from the same companies. Doing anything else looks like personal risk to them.

Congress insists on buying big expensive systems the military does not want or need. The Osprey is an example. That project was deemed a failure in the 1970s but it kept getting funded. Now it is almost (last I heard) “ready” for deployment - numerous accidents not withstanding.

Having worked as a defense contractor, I understand the $900 toilet seat problem. The goverment gives you a spec and you build to it. The two things I learned about working for the government are: Accounting is our4 most important product; The government is willing to pay anything to keep from being cheated.

I fully support #9 without hesitation and without reservation.

I would feel better about #10 if my country had the true focus of America first, and the rest of the world a far distant second. The reason I feel hesitant about #10 is because by accepting your premise while we also try to protect the entire world is giving in to the realm of socialism. I won’t do that.

I am and always will be an America first person. I don’t buy into One World Government or a world run by the U.N.

I like diversity among nations. That perspective worked for thousands of years until some fools decided the United Nations was the answer for everyone. The world has become much more dangerous for everyone as a result of the U.N.

Thanks again for writing your thoughts. I’ll add that whoever is President, they will need America’s support or else we are just kidding ourselves further.

Don

If you blame President Bush for Katrina, what blame to you asses to the New Orleans Mayor whose blatant incompetence for holding back the use of school busses that would have saved lives? And what about the Louisiana Governor who failed to act on the warnings by the President?

Those two individuals held far more blame in my mind than the failures of HomeLand Security.

Don

Since you expanded your list I must comment again.

On Puerto Rico: Leave it alone. There have been referendums there and the Puerto Ricans like things the way they are. They have a great deal. i lived there for 2 years and got to see. All the advantages of being a state (except for voting for president) and none of the disadvantages.

All for One: I think the American people do pull together. Americans gave mightily after the Katrina disaster. It was the Bush Administration’s incompetence that made the situation so much worse than it needed to be.

And since you brought up New Orleans, I think rebuilding the city is a bad idea. It was never a good location for a city. Now, because of our efforts to “control” the Mississippi, the coast gets closer to it every year. It is projected to become an island by the end of the century.

LOL!

I can’t wait to see you in about a month.

Whoever is President, they will have to deal with the Legislature and the Courts. It’s called the balance of power and I have to say, I really enjoyed it, especially during the current President Bush’s terms.

Even with a Democratic Congress, elected with a “mandate” back in November 2006 (so they say) the balance of power has remained. The Freedom of Speech for the opponents of the current Administration has been very active. Yet, much of what those Democrats were elected to do back in November 2006, is still unfinished.

That’s a good thing. I say that because the extreme opponents of the current administration say the War in Iraq is the most important issue. But I already know they have been and remain out-of-touch with reality, myself knowing all along with the vast majority of Americans, that the economy is the most important issue.

No matter who is President, the current majority of Americans will continue to strongly, if not completely, mitigate the vocal claims of the extreme opponents of the current administration. I know this because in the last 40 years, those same kinds of opposing voices have not gotten their way.

Freedom of Speech is alive and well here and where you are. That’s good. It’s even better for America that Centrists will continue to govern and keep America from straying too far in either direction.

I’m not sure who I’ll be voting for yet as President. But as for my other votes for legislative representatives, I already know what party I will be voting for to help keep the balance of power centrally focused.

Don

So, be it # 8 or # 25 I don’t care. You and I are mostly on the same page (unless that page happens to have trigonometry on it…)and my goals for America can only be enhansed by your contributions.

Don, what can I say? You are an excellent example that there is still free speech in this country and anyone can say anything, as you have, and still be entitled to be heard. I realize you and I will always cancel out each other’s vote, but I hope you will take comfort knowing that McCaine will have free beer for the rest of his life.

That’s something…isn’t it?

love, Bob : )