BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

The Democratic party is flush with candidates for the first time in years.  Can we remember a few years ago when the party was in “disarray” fumbling for a platform, when the party was all but willing to say we didn’t have a candidate?  Of course, we did, but at that time Al Gore looked as stiff as a ventriloquist’s dummy.  We didn’t listen to what he was saying.  We all got caught up in appearances and personalities, not policies.  Instead of electing the man who looked like a dummy, we elected the dummy.  And, he’s still sitting on Dick Cheney’s knee with Dick Cheney’s hand up his… well, you know.

As the primaries roll along and the November election approaches, if I have a single disappointment it is that once again we seem to be more caught up in something that won’t matter one bit when it comes down to policy, and that’s whether we can elect a black president or a woman president.  I would love to see us do something new, a first of some kind.  But, the real fact is that we need a sound policy going into the White House.  

That said, I must bring up my candidate of choice, John Edwards, as boring as he may be.  After all, there is nothing special about him… except his policies!  Well, he isn’t black and he doesn’t wear a skirt.  So, I suppose that makes him a bit of a bore in this election year.  We said the same about Al Gore.  And, once again I will state emphatically that we all know where that got us… into Iraq, into national debt, into denial of global warming, into foreclosures and into consumer bankruptcies.  About the only place we can’t get into these days is a hospital.

We are selling, trading or giving away our country faster than we took it from the Native Americans.  Jobs are being shipped overseas in the same containers that continue to bring us foreign products.  If China stopped exporting to America, WalMart wouldn’t last two months.  (Of course, that would take care of two of our problems.)  I can remember when Sam Walton proudly displayed signs in WalMart that said “Made in America”.  Maybe we should have looked a little closer at where the signs were made.

The fact is that slavery is returning to America.  We have all but sold our souls to corporations.  Banks and credit card companies own us and everything we are working for.  We don’t own anything.  The great American dream of owning our homes is still a dream (or a nightmare) for most people.  Even the people who have a mortgage are in essence renting it for as long as they can make the payments.  Few of us will ever own our homes free and clear.  We will either trade up and continue to make payments or we will refinance hoping to hold on to what we think we have. 

We struggle to pay insurance premiums on everything and in many cases for nothing.  If our house is insured and we have a claim, it is either denied or the rates go up.  If you make three claims through no fault of your own, the policy is canceled in many cases.  Our medical insurance determines the care we can receive and who can provide it.  All to often after the initial care is given, the patient can’t afford the medication. 

The point is simple.  We are not enjoying the freedoms our forefathers and our brothers and sisters fought for and are continuing to fight for.  We, as typical middle class citizens, are at the mercy of corporate America to determine where we live, how we live and if we live. 

We need John Edwards, a man of deep principle with the will and the courage to lead the charge to reclaim America.   Isn’t that the real change we all hope for?