The Value of America

The DNC is over, and the RNC is about to start (about the time Hurricane Gustav hits New Orleans, if it doesn't expend itself over Cuba), and Sarah Palin has been selected for McCain's VP.

Wow! What a race! A black man up for president, a woman up as vp. And a woman as a serious contender for the Dem prez slot. How times have changed! Wow!

But the issues haven't changed. Jobs, cost of necessities, the environment, war in the Middle East. Some things seem more pressing -- maybe it's just that they've been on the table so long, we feel it's time, and past, to solve them.

Or can they ever be solved? Were people fussing about the cost of, say, arrowheads back when they were chipping flint? Arguing about the smoke from the blacksmith's in the Bronze Age? Or the odor from the Healer's hut as s/he made up this year's batch of potions?

Since it seems so ingrained in us, we can assume they were fighting wars over the One, Real & True Faith before recorded history. We know that 5000+ years ago, religious wars were going on -- The Bible tells us so. Whether you believe in the religion it espouses or not, there is little doubt of it's historical accuracy. Anyway, I'd say it's safe to bet that the same thing was going on when we lived in caves.

Somehow, it seems pointless to me. Politicians are NOT Saviors. They are human beings, all too flawed, just like the rest of us. Sometimes, in their quest for power, perhaps a tad more flawed, more jaded, less caring. At best, I imagine someone beginning a political career desiring to actually gain enough power to actually, really change things, make a difference. Over time, the reality of the political arena infiltrates -- compromise, do business, trade this for that, and eventually they become principle-less, all in the name of Power. That's my "benefit of the doubt." More often, I think people who aim for that career are those for whom power is the paycheck.

Here's what I want from the next administration:
A. Rid this country of it's dependence on oil.
1) This will give Americans control. We will not be at the mercy of unstable, juvenile governments, who do not have our best interests at heart, nor even the same set of moral values.
2) It's dirty -- for the environment, our health, and who knows what else.
B. Encourage the development of jobs that pay adequate wages.
C. Make health care affordable for everybody.
D. A Code of Conduct. I don't even know how to phrase this succinctly. But the lack of responsibility for one's actions, from the top down, has gone wa-a-a-y too far. People are people & will err, but when our government, our businesses, our universities, as a body, operate only by expediency and not by values -- we have lost. If we do not conduct ALL the business of America by the values Americans hold dear -- then America has no value.