opinions

WE NEED TO THINK STRATEGICALLY TO WIN

I support the progressive agenda represented by people like Steve Cohen and most of the blue state Democrats. The issues are things like fighting climate change, protecting Social Security, promoting public education, providing health care for all, stem cell research, ideological freedom, the right to choose and so forth.

As far as I am personally concerned the important thing is getting a person in the white house who is for these things and getting as many progressives in both houses of congress and in the state offices as possible. These issues are the important thing and to me personally I do not care about who delivers these things but that they get delivered. John McCain will not be a progressive but would be 4 more years of Bush. Things like geography, age, race, gender, national origin and personal choices of lifestyle on the part of a Democratic candidate mean nothing to me personally.

There are many women in the Congress who would be good presidents like Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Loretta Sanchez, etc.. There are many blacks in the Congress like Charlie Rangel, Maxine Waters and the others in the Democratic black caucus that would be good presidents.

There are many others like Chuck Schumer of New York or southerners like Al Gore and John Edwards that would be good presidents as well.

All of these have substantial assets and most if not all have at least one million and many of these have much more. None of these are for leveling everybody down to the lowest common denominator like the far right tries to say in their underground emails.

All of these believe in work for those who are able bodied and under retirement age. All of these realize that government in our time has to play a role to solve those problems that the individual cannot but all of these believe in private business, especially small business.

None of these that I am aware of are advocating the world government idea but all of these realize that international cooperation by negotiation is needed to solve the problems facing our environment, the trade disparities and the need for ideological freedom without the use of force from the outside so that people everywhere can make their own personal choices, etc..

There are differences among Democrats of course and elected officials must be mindful of public opinion and specific issues in their own states and districts. The lies and fake conspiracies that the far right continually talk about are simply means to try to stop the solutions that are needed for our country and to reverse things like Social Security, Medicare, public education, etc..

Whoever the Democrats nominate would if elected have a diverse administration with people from various groups and various locations. On the other hand John McCain will not have the interest of average people at heart.

In the case of Hillary and Barack there is the reality of who they are but to win swing voters they must have an image that makes enough of the swing voters feel comfortable as they would with the southerners that I mentioned.

The reality is that Hillary is fully capable of being president if Bill were not there. If she is elected she will have the power and not Bill. She could if she chose to simply tell him to leave. Each has plenty of money to live on separately if they chose to do so. On the other hand having Bill around can create the image in the minds of some of the swing voters that are necessary to win that their marriage is intact and that the successful Clinton philosophy is back. The colonial American ancestry can help as well.

Obama can help his image in the following ways. He recently said in a speech something to the effect that government has to do what people cannot do for themselves but that people have a big role to play such as parents making kids study their lessons instead of the video games n school nights. This needs to be mentioned often. Because there are low down people like the Republican Congressman from Iowa who tried to falsely put the radical Muslim label on him Obama needs to continually mention his faith.

The fact that his mother was a white lady from Kansas with typical colonial and Magna Carta ancestry from both of her parents who also rendered service in World War II needs to come out more. Obama has the kind of ancestry from his mother that is typical of most presidents. He needs to get more documentation down to Edwin Hickman and down to William Harris in Colonial Virginia.

I think that Obama probably has at least one ancestor who served in the American Revolution and if he can document down to the two people that I mentioned then he can ride on the claims of many others on down to the immigrant ancestors and on to the Magna Carta. He was raised by his mother and her parents so he has an upbringing that should not scare some of the swing voters that are necessary to win.

The other problem that he faces is the fact that if he should be nominated he needs Florida and Michigan to win against John McCain. If the Democrats in these two states were responsible for changing the dates of the primary then the argument about the rules would be different. It was in fact Republican Governor Charlie Crisp of Florida and the Florida legislature that moved the dates in Florida and the Republican legislature in Michigan that pushed that state.

Punishing Democrats only makes the Republican trick work. Obama needs to accept the results that are already there and move on. If he can still win the nomination he will be stronger in these two states in November against McCain. If he has to keep these delegates out to get nominated then he will have a problem in these two states in November.

The far right hates Hillary because Bill has won two presidential elections and he is the only Democrat since Roosevelt to have done it. Employment rose and the deficits and crime dropped during the Clinton years in the nineties.

Some people want Obama as the next president. Others like myself want the Democrat to beat McCain regardless of which one of the two leads the ticket. There are some Republicans who have voted for Obama in the caucuses and primaries who think that he would be the easiest to beat in November and who fully plan to vote for McCain in November.

Obama needs to join with Hillary in demanding that the Florida and Michigan delegates be seated without any more money spending or inconvenience to the voters of these two very important states. Then they need to stop talking about each other and both go after McCain. We need state by state polls instead of just the national polls to try to see which one scores the best against McCain and do some electoral math.

I believe that Hillary has the better chance against McCain but if Obama got things straightened out and actually won in November I would still have the last laugh at those Republicans who thought that they were making the Democrats nominate the weaker candidate.

Joe Ramirez II, Chattanooga

Blackburn Tied to Big Oil

Nobody should doubt Marsha Blackburn’s ties to big oil. On the House floor last week, she accused Democrats of “a classic bait and switch” when they proposed legislation to rescind the oil companies’ right to plunder the Gulf of Mexico for free oil---free for them, $3.00 a gallon for us. Blackburn feels if oil companies have to pay royalties for drilling in the Gulf, (like we would if we drilled on another’s property), it would amount to a tax increase for them and subsequently they would have to raise prices. This is faulty logic at best, and price gouging at worst. With Blackburn’s help, big oil has made record profits. Fortunately, 272 legislators of conscience voted “YES”, passing the resolution.

Many Republicans are now putting principle over party, challenging Bush’s policies. Blackburn continues walking in lockstep with him, supporting a troop surge in Iraq and Bush’s proposal to tax our health insurance benefits.

Key pieces of legislation passed in the House this month with bipartisan support, but Blackburn’s lack compassion and moral conscience make it easy for her to favor the rich over the poor and middle class. The House voted to negotiate prescription drug prices for seniors. Blackburn voted NO. They overwhelmingly passed ethics reform. Blackburn voted NO. Increasing the minimum wage passed by a vote of 355-116. Blackburn voted NO. Additionally, she voted NO on implementing the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission, funding stem cell research, cutting interest rates on college student loans, and intelligence oversight. And, who does she represent?

Meryl Rice, Whiteville

MARSHA BLACKBURN DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ME!

Last week, our representative spoke on the House Floor against the non-binding resolution to oppose the escalation of troops deployed to Iraq.

Marsha took her remarks straight out of the Bush/Cheney/Rove talking-points memo to Fox News. By strictly following the party line, she has managed to carve out a place in the Republican leadership, never mind representing the people.

She restates the resolution, describing it as a 'no confidence' vote to' discourage our troops and embolden our enemies.' If she had read the resolution, she would know it begins by expressing support for the troops. Of course, lying without proof is what our Republican leaders do best.

She chooses sides, saying the Democratic side wants to lose, is against freedom, and wants the terrorists to win. Of course, she is on the side of winning - what? Over 70 percent of the American people including many troops and commanders KNOW that we are losing and advise getting out. Talk about representing the voters!

She says Islamic radicals are calling Iraq the central front of the global war on terror - yes, and Bush's illegal and ill-conceived attack on Iraq created that central front, providing those radicals with the best recruiting tool ever.

She links staying in Iraq with promoting freedom and liberty here, but Bush has used the war as an excuse to remove Habeas Corpus protection, spy on our phone calls, torture prisoners, and destroy our Courts’ independence, all actions that violate the Constitution - impeachable offenses.

Whose side is Marsha on?

Janice B. Richie

Blackburn Supports Troops with Empty Rhetoric

How dare Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn accuse those who are opposed to the escalation of troops in Iraq of “discouraging our troops and emboldening our enemies”.

Wasn’t she part of the Republican Congress who sent our troops into harm’s way without sufficient body armor and weapons? It is a national disgrace that our soldiers have to write home for safety gear while Halliburton grossly overcharges the government for their meals. Didn’t Blackburn, with the rest of the Republican Congress, vote to cut VA funding? I am personally aware of several Gulf War I and Iraq War veterans, their lives shattered physically or mentally, whose names were put on a waiting list for a VA doctor, and to whom treatment for PTSD was denied. How much more demoralizing can it be for our troops to have to go to war without the tools to do the job and then to come home to substandard healthcare?

Furthermore, Blackburn should have been aware of the deplorable housing conditions of our troops on the Walter Reed Hospital campus--- an environment infested with rats, roaches, and black mold growing on the walls. And, she should have done something -- it was, after all, in her own backyard in Washington, D.C. Instead, she flies to the Iraq Green Zone for photo-ops. Evidently, Blackburn’s only expression of gratitude for our brave military is the hot air she spews—the GOP rhetoric that ensures her position in a much-diminished party that she and other unscrupulous Republicans created.

Meryl Rice, Whiteville

What Patriotism Means to Me

The Fourth of July celebrations have me pondering what patriotism really means. It is not exclusive to one party, but belongs to us all. We are all Americans.

Being the first generation of my family born in the United States, I am especially thankful for the opportunities this land has afforded us. My parents reminded me often that their childhood dreams were realized here in “Gam Shan”, the Chinese word for “Golden Mountain”, their fond reference for America. Many have stepped up to the plate to help secure the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy today, and there are those who are fighting to ensure that we never lose those freedoms. They are the true American patriots. Some are fighting on the battlefield, others in communities across this land. Patriots wear many faces--- soldiers, teachers, farmers, mothers, ministers, lawyers, secretaries, prison guards, counselors, politicians, cooks, brick masons, news reporters, factory workers and just about any other title you can think of. Patriots are just everyday people.

The common attribute they have is a belief demonstrated by action that democracy is not a spectator sport. As Amanda Burgess, one of the winners of our “What Patriotism Means to Me” essay contest so aptly stated, “ Patriotism is found in the responsibility we take in our daily lives to build the community we call America. It is about being well-informed about what is going on in the world, and voting…..It’s about believing in and supporting our rights granted under the Constitution……Patriotism does not mean my country right or wrong. It is when one embraces America’s founding principles and speaks out when those principles are endangered or ignored. It means questioning the notion that America has a divine mandate to rule the world. Real patriots seek peace…..

It is a love for your country….and a hope that your country will live up to your expectations by taking care of all its citizens, using honesty and integrity, and being a positive role model for the rest of the world.”

We are to be active participants. Edmund Burke once said, “All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” As good citizens we must keep our government in check to ensure that our God-given rights ---life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness apply to ALL Americans.

May God bless America and may God bless every nation.

Meryl Rice, Chairman

Hardeman Co. Democratic Party

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