In many respects, she's right. Washington doesn't give a shit about inspiration, public speaking skills, or depth of vision. Washington eats such kittens for lunch. What we need is a person with integrity, honor, skill, intellect, and the ability to bring people together in a bipartisan way to pursue and achieve a truly good vision of what this country can become.
I don't believe there is a candidate running for President today that has all the attributes required to get us where we want to go. All three major Democratic candidates have made promises that they cannot possibly keep, yet they make them because that's what people want to hear. It goes without saying, to anyone who knows even a litte about my political views, the Republicans are not even in the same solar system as I am with respect to....anything. As many things as I like about Obama, Clinton, and Edwards, none of them has the wherewithal, in my book, to be completely, brutally honest, and yet still receive a strong measure of support and appreciation and complete approval of the American people. The reason is that they are hell-bent on lying about themeselves and one another and they can't bear to try the unique approach of sheer honesty for a change. For example, all three of them drone on and on about not putting any more burden on "the back of the middle class." Bullshit!
No matter who is elected, the only way we're going to get out from under the horrendous debt that Bush & company have left us with will be for everyone to shoulder part of the responsibility. I believe we'd have an ideal candidate if we could find one who could effectively articulate and successfully promote the pursuit of these strategic issues (and by selecting the best combination of the following as appropriate):
- Increased taxes, with more burden at high income levels, but with increasingly escalated shared burdens at all levels above 2 times poverty level
- Cost cutting/efficiency measures at all levels of federal, state, and local government
- Economic stiumuli for business and consumers
- Incentives to business to spend money in the U.S.
- Disincentives to consumers to spend money on foreign goods, but not so strong as to create unreasonable barriers to imports
- Dramatic restructuring of the health care industry to reduce costs
- Threats of nationalizing the pharmaceutical industry if obscene profits are not reigned in
- Threats of nationalizing the oil and petrochemical industries if obscene profits are not reigned in
- Universal health insurance coverage for everyone
- Strong disincentives for both corporate and individual welfare, while providing a strong safety net for individuals and families who need assistance
- Very strong disincentives for exclusive reliance on personal vehicles for transportation
- Some measure of protection against the disincentives above for trucking and related industries, provided those industries step up to the plate to reduce fuel consumption, minimize greenhouse gas emissions, etc.
- A nationwide conversation to reach some degree of consensus on a clear articulation of the responsibilities of each of the following: Federal government, state government, municipal government, businesses, church and community groups, families, and individuals
- Clear articulation and institutionalization of the premise that the U.S. will never again engage in preemptive military action nor attack another nation, unprovoked
- A strong global presence and international dialogue, without the arrogance of pretending we're the biggest and best and without the selfishness of insisting that we will support nothing that is not strictly in our self-interests.
So, who is this knight in shining armor? I haven't a clue. But we certainly need this man or this woman to step forward and into the limelight about now.
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