The United White States of America

The Associated Press is currently running this article. The New York Times picked it up today; I am sure others are to follow. Apparently, gun sales are up, as well are threats against those who support Barack Obama.

Seems as if Whitey, and by Whitey I am lumping myself into that group, is nervous about a black man being president. Or president-elect.

The last decade or so, lots of commentary has revolved around whether or not racism, true racism exists in the good ol' USA. No, we are too far removed from the days of slavery, some would argue. People of color are completely at ease in the US. 

The problem with this is that the "people of color," Blacks and Hispanics were saying that no, this is not the case. But we, meaning whitey, and maybe some well intentioned minorities were saying that these comments were coming from disgruntled people who were at fault themselves for becoming disenfranchised from the US.

Someone ran down our street, pulling up the Obama/Biden signs, wadding them up, then throwing them in the drainage ditch in my yard. I straightened them back out and set them back where they came. When my neighbors McCain/Palin sign fell over, I went over and set it up.

Folks, this is not the United White States of America. 

This is not the United Christian States of America. Nor is it the United Christian White States of America. This is not an autocracy (well, it is obviously) of old, white, rich men. The country was not supposed to be an autocracy of old, white, rich, men. Religion was not supposed to the basis of our government. Nor was gender. Nor was race. The only true stipulations were that a president has to be born in the USA, and has to be 40 years old.

The people voted, and Barack won. Therefore, let his victory stand and stand behind the President. 

After all, God wanted him to win. Right?

What if ... The Rotating Presidency of America

European Union to Be Led by Former Soviet Satellite - NYTimes.com

Here is an interesting idea: What if the United States had a rotating presidency?

Read the article above, then get back here and read this.

From the article we learn that the European Union has a rotating presidency. Right now, everyone's favorite European, and husband to model/singer Carla Bruni, Nikolas Sarkozy is running the show. Come January 1st, the reins will be passed to the Czech Republic. And, of course, we all know that the Czech Republic is a lapdog of Russia. Not really, just trying to be funny.

Can you imagine what this country would be like if we had a rotating presidency? Instead of campaigning for two years and spending millions of dollars, U.S. leadership would pass from one state to the next each six months. That means that Texas, Arkansas, and California would be disqualified for this year's election.

Obama, from Illinois, would definitely qualify, and McCain would qualify, too, being from Arizona.

Throw the 47 remaining states into a hat and then someone draws the next state the leads the nation. Say that Obama wins the election; in July, McCain would take over. In January, though, someone would need to remove Illinois and Arizona from the hat, and pick from the remaining 45 states.

The process would continue every six months until all states have had a chance to lead the country. Then, all states go back into the hat.

Sounds equitable to me.

Movie Review: Stop-Loss

In Tikrit, you lead your squad after some guys that attacked your checkpoint. Not because you want revenge, but because you are following orders. Three Humvees in pursuit of a little Datsun pickup with three perps inside with AKs. The squad chases them through town, down a narrow alley, where the perps flee their truck and run into a building.

You leave a man on the roof-mounted .50-cal to cover your six, and take the rest of the squad down the alley. The alley is tight, barely big enough to get a wide-ass Humvee down, and walls climb to three or four stories on either side. The sun can't be seen because the sky is so narrow above the street only a little indirect light comes through.

As you prepare to lead your guys into a building, the shooting starts. One guy goes down, then another. Fire from the rooftop. Your guys return fire. Bad guys fall. An RPG takes out your Humvee; the soldier manning the .50-cal is gone. Your second in command runs into the building after the original bad guys, but takes a hit. You hear him call your name. You rush in, and find yourself face-to-face with a guy holding a child... and a grenade. You shoot both. Moving up the stairs, you hear more shots. You dodge into a room - clear; in the kitchen, your buddy is on the floor, shot, and taking fire from around a corner. Tossing in a grenade, you cover your ears and shield your body. The concussion knocks you around. Checking the adjacent room, you find your grenade got the bad guy... plus his kids, wife, mother, father - the whole family tree just got clipped.

You manage to get your buddy out. In the meantime, the backup has arrived and is helping evac the wounded. You lost three guys, and a fourth probably lost his legs. Who knows how many baddies went down. Thank God your tour is over, thank God your enlistment is over and you can get back to the states. You've got your best girl to marry!

Enter Stop-Loss.

With volunteerism dropping, and re-enlistments dropping, the military is having a hard time meeting numbers. What to do? Why don't we activate a little known part of the contractual fine print and re-activate those that are scheduled for discharge? Excellent idea!

Stop-Loss, AKA Backdoor Draft, was instituted after the Vietnam War. When a person signs the military contract, whether for two years or four years or maybe even six years, the real obligation is EIGHT years. Now, in times of peace, eight years, smeight years, right? But with two wars on the stove, one of which is not particularly popular, and the other not going well, the military complex has found itself with a bit of a Public Relations (PR) problem. So, while we try to improve our image, we still need soldiers. And who makes a better soldier than someone who is already a soldier?

According to statistics at the end of the movie, about 10% of soldiers have been affected by Stop-Loss. Stop-Loss soldiers serve an additional 6 months, on average. But we all know the problem with averages ...

The movie covers many issues Iraq War soldiers encounter in their domestic/civilian lives. Ryan Phillipe, who I don't really care for as an actor, has such a good performance that my opinion of him has changed, a little. Many of the events in the movie are pulled right from the headlines. Well, not lately, as the media has moved onto another bright, shiny, object - Obama/McCain, and the Economy.

Watch this movie!