Politics As Usual

I've been following the presidential campaigns as well as our state campaigns for the U.S. Congress and I am sad to say that the faces change but the rhetoric stays the same. I was once married to a U.S. Congressman so I have a bit of experience in this "campaign stuff."

Last week McCain said he didn't know how many houses he owned and this week Obama didn't know what town he was in. Both have made major gaffs that give the other side ammunition for derogatory comments and negative campaign ads. Each is bashing the other, each is reaching for anything that helps them win. They're tired, they're overbooked and they're human. While they say a lot of words, neither candidate offers any hard specifics about what they'll do once in office. Each offers a lot of generalities. Actually, they can't do much more than that because, thank God, they are not a one man show once they get elected.

They have a Legislative and Judicial branch they have to work with and getting that many "important" people to work together is like herding cats. The also have to cut through all the lobbyists and that is an even bigger challenge.

Last night I watched the opening of the Democrat Convention and felt like I was at a pep rally. Little of substance was said. Michele Obama gave the keynote address and I found myself feeling a bit distressed. She wore a beautiful designer dress, was coiffed and impeccable in her appearance and tried to convince the conventioneers that she was "middle class" just like them. (Actually, she has her own dress designer, Maria Pinto, whom she has used "for a long time." I don't know many middle class women who have their own dress designer, do you?) She gave a speech that was full of words but short on both feeling and substance.

I wasn't convinced. She kept trying to persuade the "congregation" that she and her candidate-husband are middle class - just like them. She painfully recited all the problems encountered by herself and Barack in their early years growing up in middle class neighborhoods. She failed to mention that she graduated from both Princeton and Harvard. I felt she "protesteth too much." I came away from it wanting to know who the "real" Michele Obama is.

The children were beautiful.

The commentators afterward lined up on both sides, of course. Some seemed to think the speech was on target, wonderful, portraying a true picture of a middle class family that is headed for the White House. Others saw them portrayed as Bevear-Cleaver-family-wanna-be types in an effort to get votes. There was little middle ground with the news media.

On a state level it's much worse. We have a number of candidates in the race for a congressional seat in my district in Arizona. All talk about "clean campaigns" and the mud is flying faster than I've ever seen political mud fly. I get 3 or 4 pre-recorded phone messages a day from these candidates, each bashing the others and asking for my vote - and my money. It will be a matter of picking the "lesser of the evils" on election day. That is very sad.

Where are the statesmen? Who has a passion for this country strong enough to put all the personal aggrandizement aside? Don't tell me what you think I want to hear. Don't read the polls in the morning paper and stand for the " issues of the day." What are your stands on the issues? What do you want to accomplish? That's what I want to know - consistently and unembellished.

Senators McCain and Obama, don't think I'll vote for you just because you're a war hero or a black man, a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative or because you're the "media darling." I'm not voting for your wife or your children or  for you because you have a nice personality. I'm not turned off because you make a mistake or misspeak when you're rushed or tired. I will vote for you based on your record and your stand on the issues. I will place my vote where I see integrity and openness. Please, please let us know what your positions really are and what you truly want to accomplish as President of the United States of America.

Readers, don't get mad at me because you think I bashed your favorite candidate. I'm an equal opportunity basher. I love America. I want the best leader we can elect as President because we are in trouble as a nation. We need a statesman. Will the real statesman please stand up?

Let's see some honesty, here. Let's see some leadership. Let's see some truth.

Can we shift gears and make it Politics NOT as usual?

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Political Thoughts

It has been an interesting campaign.

We had Hillary vs. Obama vs. Edwards and all the rest that dropped like flies early on. It seemed that this campaign to choose one versus another would last for ever.

We got sick and tired or the drama, we suffered from political exhaustion, but like a train wreck, we were not able to pull ourselves away from it.

We kept a watchful eye and intent ears. We discussed it long after the talking heads stopped giving their assessments, and in fact, we became our own talking heads.

It was exciting and it made us tune in to the issues that truly affect our lives; remember "is the economy, stupid"? and paying attention to who was behind the housing market fall out, the rising cost of gasoline, and who was for something one moment and against it the next? Who was pandering to special interests and who was in tune with the average working stiffs?.

Oh yes! it was fun.

Now it is not so much fun.

It is dirtier than ever, deception abounds and we are supposed to take it and accept it because we don't know any better.

The distractions are worthy of a cheesy sitcom or television melodrama that has no substance, but just like the aforementioned train wreck, we can't pull away from it.

We must know if Palin's youngest is hers or not. We must explore footage from YouTube because she won't answer unprepared and unscripted questions.

We love the mystery.

We flock to every bit of non-important news and discuss them as if they were actually relevant to our lives. We have in fact, welcomed the distraction so we don't really have to face the ugly reality that has become our economy.

The fact is that you and I know that these issues are not important.

Whether that is her kid or their daughters, whether the youngsters get married or not, whether she is a religiously obsessed individual who believes in the End of Days (and is coming soon, they say) or is using religious views as a way to promote her ambitions in life is irrelevant.

Once again, we are caught in the distraction game, the "don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain" and it works beautifully.

No one has any reason to discuss issues when distractions are so very effective.

What I wish we all did, and I hope I am not alone in this, is to take a breather and two steps back and get back to the real basics that affect our lives.

If you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, Atheist, Religious, Agnostic, Female or Male, should be irrelevant to the purpose of this article. What is important is how are you doing?

Yes, in all of this, no one is asking you: "How are you doing?", right now. At this moment.

Is your checkbook on life support? Are your kids schools so overcrowded and underfunded that instead of an institution of learning, the place and their rules resemble a prison yard? How is your mom and your dad? are they doing okay? Have their medical bills (or yours for that matter) turned their 401K into a 101?

How secure is your position with your company? Do you cringe when you have to put gas and buy groceries? Do you feel trapped in a situation where you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel?

And just as important: Do you really think that the current political distractions have anything to do with how your life is going? Are you living the dream or surviving a nightmare?

My Democrat neighbors are stressed out over making ends meet and want justice, they want Bush impeached, they want Chaney and Rove in prison, they want people to pay for their actions and to be held accountable for crimes against our Nation.

My Republican friends are depressed by the state of the economy and their shrinking retirement accounts; their American Dream (which is the same as the other party, by the way) is now a nightmare. They are ashamed of having voted for Bush, but most importantly, they feel betrayed by their own party and truly hurt that they had been used to serve someone else's purposes.

My Republican family members are not voting in this election, they feel the betrayal to the core and are insulted by the assumption that their religious beliefs should be used as a commodity.

They will be the first ones to tell you that they are not stupid people and resent being lumped in with those they perceived as being so; the ones who latch on to the political slogans with no substance, the ones that are so single minded that can only repeat slogans; the ones with tunnel vision that are incapable of seeing the full picture and look towards the future.

I thought my Republican friends and family deserved a moment of acknowledgment and recognition and not to be blamed for taking the action they thought was right at the time because they were afraid of another 9/11 and could not handle a change in leadership. Most importantly, they were loyal and that is an American quality worth its weight in gold.

On behalf of them, I stand to their defense, It is not their fault, they did not betray us, they were betrayed and their loyalty used against their best interest. They are still family, they are still friends, they are still neighbors and they are human beings who are paddling in the same boat everyone else is.

Humans make mistakes, we all do.

What we should not tolerate is being lied to and distracted with nonsense to serve the higher interest of companies that are American in name only. Their logos are just that, logos. 70% of their work force is in other countries, the only thing they value in America is the legal tender. Your legal tender. The one that is a mandatory contribution and you have no say on how it is spent and what company gets bailed out with YOUR legal tender.

No one is bailing you out and it is your money. We need answers, but in order to have those answers, we need to ask the tough questions.

We need to ask questions even if they are unpleasant and, most importantly, we need to unite for the common good: Our future and that of our loved ones.

Because the old saying: "Divide and conquer" has proven to be true and to have worked well in military tactics and politics.

When we hear: "We are number One!" We should ask: "At what?" Let them explain the bumper sticker and see if it makes sense

When we hear: "Americans have not sacrificed", we should reply: "Are you kidding?" and then list all the things you have done without just to make ends meet and if your spouse, your child, your sibling is serving on their 3rd tour in Iraq, you have every right to set them straight.

When the issue of race is brought up, you may want to ask "How does someone's skin impacts my ability to keep a roof over our heads, pay our bills and educate our children?"

When they start talking about who's baby is that, or who cheated on whom, we should just say: "it is none of my business and it has no relevance on what really matters in our lives".

It is up to us to end the distractions and refocus the conversation on what is important to you, to me, to our friends, family and neighbors and not the gossip and misleading information.

You and I may come from different political and social views. We may have had different things to overcome in our lives which have shaped us into who we are, but the commonalities far outweigh that which makes us different: We all have to eat, raise and educate our children, maintain a roof over our heads, pay for unaffordable medical care and pray to God that things will get better before we can't keep holding it all together any longer.

It is time to help the prayes with some action and start doing. We need to ask the questions and demand straight answers and most importantly, we need to stop the distractions pitting us against each other like stubborn toddlers fighting over a plastic toy.

My neighbors, friends and family are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, God fearing, God loving, Agnostic and Atheist. They live everywhere in our beautiful country and the extent of the miles does not make them any less my neighbors.

I care about my friends in Ohio that are barely making ends meet and count their blessings that they still have a job, while fearing they will be let go because the company is having a hard time meeting their payroll.

My friends in Hawaii who are paying over .00 for a gallon of milk. My friends across the street who are talking to a lawyer about bankruptcy because their two income household is now a one income household and their kids are doing without because they can't provide for what they need.

My friend, a teacher, whose daughter is on her 2nd tour in Iraq and my friend, a businessman, whose son is going for his 3rd deployment after recovering from injuries on his 2nd tour.

It seems to me that the more I talk to these people, the more we talk about the things that truly matter and none of the distractions.

I hope we can all join in the same conversation.

Wishing you PEACE.

Learn Piano All by Yourself

Do you believe that you can actually learn piano without the need of hiring a piano teacher or music instructor? Believe it or not, that is definitely possible. As long as you are determined to learn how to play the piano, there are a lot of ways on how you can do it on your own.

Piano is one of the most fascinating percussion instruments. A lot of people think of it as the most elegant musical instrument. Everybody knows that the piano was invented so many decades ago, but still, it is still widely used nowadays. If you want to pursue a musical career or if you want to become a musician someday, learning how to play the piano is one of the things that you should do.

If you are interested to learn how to play the piano, you should first ask yourself if you are ready for it. You should consider all of the things that you do on a daily basis. Of course, you need to adjust your schedule if you have work or other daily commitments.

Teaching yourself on how to play the piano is similar to self studying. Even though you do not have a teacher or tutor to guide you, you still need to have all of the resources that will provide you knowledge such as books, magazines, and other type of reading materials. Since the technology today is already advanced, you can say that learning resources are not limited to hard copies only. You can also use the Internet to get as many resources as you want. What is good about using the web to learn how to play the piano is that it is full of any type of information and tutorials that you can use whether you are a beginner, an intermediate, or an expert pianist. Not only that. If you want to pursue a career in the music industry, you should always be updated with the different piano playing styles out there. All of the piano playing information that can be found on the Internet are updated from time to time.

Learning piano all by yourself might take a lot of your time, but it is really rewarding. You need to read all of your modules first before taking everything that you have learned into action. What is good about self learning is that you will be able to learn all of the limitations, risks, as well as the different strategies that will work best for you. You just need patience in order for you to become a successful pianist.

If you want to learn piano all by yourself, you need to love reading and watching videos. You might need to read a lot of books and watch a lot of video tutorials that will help you on your way to success. Since there are so many resources out there, you need to be careful in choosing the best ones. Some good online resources are not free, but do not worry because most of them are affordable. It is always good to invest in premium piano tutorial resources. You can keep them as long as you want. You may also share them with your family and friends who are also interested to learn how to play the piano.

Religion and Politics

Politics and Religion is a part of the United States political process. Additionally, the 1st amendment gives voters of the United States the freedom of Religion, press, expression of speech as stated below. This is vital in both State and local politics and the basis for voters questioning a candidate's belief system.

"Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

There is currently a voiced concern over a candidate being a Mormon. Other candidates have religious views that meet the Christian and a Catholic beliefs. Candidates are currently telling voters that their religion and politics will not interfere with the way they govern and people should not be concerned.

However, if following State and a Muslim was a moving force in directing our United States Politics there would be great concern among voters voting in the primary or general election for 2008. The fact that Islam has a reputation of having radical Muslims in both politics and religion promotes questioning of the political candidates religious beliefs when they decide to run for presidency, even though this religion is increasing in State across several countries.
The fact is when voting for a president whether in a general election or in a primary the individual automatically opens their life up to scrutiny or questioning of beliefs be it family beliefs, financial beliefs or religious beliefs.

The realism is, politician beliefs as well as citizen beliefs help form their opinions and how they chose to approach every situation.

This the total package of what makes a person who they are both good and bad. This explains how candidates come up with their decision or solution when navigating the United States Politics It is a responsible voter who questions ones beliefs about the candidate's religious beliefs as it is regarding their beliefs about fiscal responsibility and government's role in the process. Additionally, the United States should never consider a law that prevents any religion for seeking office of presidency, not only because it's in our first amendment and would violate our constitution but also because as religions spread so does the total restructuring of beliefs of the voter both in State and local politics.

The final decision of who will be elected in the United States will always end up on the shoulders of the voters and the Electoral College, thus the voter still drives the United States Politics as long as democracy still has control.

In the end people do not have to choose to be in politics. If they choose not to be in politics their religious beliefs should not be questioned as long as their beliefs do not provoke violence among non-believers. If the politicians religious beliefs are so strong, be it State or local politics they do not want to share or are unable to discuss their views then the candidate should not ask to represent me or the voters of the United States.

History of Chicago Politics

The politics of Chicago is world famous for the greatness that it has produced several presidential nominees such as the new President of America Barack Obama (elected in 2008), Stephen Douglas in the year 1860 and Adlai Stevenson (1952 and the year 1956). There is also the negative side of the history of Chicago politics. Sometimes the world of politics in Chicago has been ruled by corruption and controversies. The city politics has been in majority been dominated by the Democrats. The business men of the 19th century have also influenced the politics of Chicago to a greater extent.In the year of 1855, mayor named Levi Boone had brought the politics of Chicago into spotlight at the national level. He did this with very interesting proposals leading to the Lager beer riot. When the end of 19th century was nearing, the Democratic Party dominated the politics in Chicago. There emerged anarchist and socialist labour organizations during the 1880s and also during 1890s. In 1871, there was a great turning point in the politics of Chicago. The Great Chicago-fire was a famous historical turn in the politics of Chicago. Actually there was a rumor which was spread which said that it was a cow that had knocked down a lantern and that had caused the huge fire. The election which was conducted in that particular year had transformed the fire as 'a political football'. The fire turned out to be a fodder for controversy and questions began to be raised as to who had set the fire and this controversy, due to lack of sufficient control over it, erupted and spread very soon. The allegations of wrong management were used by the winning party to cause a group of voters to fear and excise the duty of voting for more than one time!Now talking about the twentieth century, political scenarios in the years 1920s and 1910s turned bad that organized crime were easily let to be done. Corruption was on an increase. The scandal of Chicago Black sox of the fixing of game by White sox of Chicago in the year 1919 was due to the above mentioned trend and culture. Richard Daley was the man who made the Chicago- Democratic machine as perfect and style honed after the election he faced in the year 1955. It is his son Richard Daley who is the mayor at present. The mastery of Richard Daley helped in the preservation of the Chicago - democratic machine.The politics of Chicago has witnessed and demonstrated several of the conventions and campaigns. The Democratic Party had decided to announce Harry Truman as the candidate for Vice president at the Democratic national convention in the year1944. In the year of 1968 the national convention had the scenarios of political rallies on a mass scale; mass discontent and it had led to the famous trial of 'the Chicago seven'.While considering the politics of the twenty first century, in the year 2008, the governor by name Rod Blagojevich was arrested for the charges that he was trying to sell Barack Obama's US Senate seat!