What I Think

I like to stay away from political punditry, because God knows, neither the boob tube nor the web tubes need another.

But I want to make sure that I've done my tiny part to Wise UP America.

So with an apology for the few friends and family who can stand my politics enough to keep reading, here are some quick 'n speedy bullet points for your face.

My Bush Top Five Eff-Ups (Does not include failing to eff up Social Security)

1. Let's all say it one more time: Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with Iraq. Saddam Hussein didn't even like his brand of Islam. Not that it wasn't crazy enough. It just wasn't his brand. Neither did Saddam Hussein have WMDs. But Bush/Cheney kept trying to get us to believe it, 'cause they wanted into Iraq. Reeeal bad.
   
2. Once Bush got into Iraq, he and Dick Cheney (1) immediately allowed chaos to reign, (2) dismantled the army and government and forgot to put it back together, (3) sent young conservative idealists to run the reconstruction effort even though they had no experience at anything, and (4) turned what was left of the country into a money machine for Haliburton to the detriment of our troops and our country. (Yes, I get to count all those as one because it's my list.) Hey, remember when Paul Wolfowitz said, pre-invasion, that Iraqi oil would pay for reconstruction? Wasn't that hilarious?
   
3. Bush ignored and then spectacularly effed up each facet of Katrina relief: evacuation; emergency food and water distribution; emergency housing; reconstruction; and dike rebuilding.
4. Bush's Iraq policies are now bogging us down and dooming us to a long-term war in Afghanistan, due to the fact that we have been trying to do too much with a very thin film of troops who are not currently deployed to Iraq. But probably will be next week.
   
5. Bullied government departments such as the EPA, NASA, and national weather service employees to keep any mention or evidence of global warming out of their reports and their recommendations for action, so that such warnings would not affect their buddies in Big Oil.

My Top Five McCain Warnings

1. His published medical insurance plan would tax the medical insurance you now earn as an employee of a responsible employer.
2. He wants to use this new revenue from your newly taxed benefits to give to the uninsured as a tax credit to buy private insurance with. These credits (estimated at $2,500) will be given at about half the current cost of private health insurance (estimated at $5,000 and up), and will grow yearly at the cost of living, not the much, much higher rising cost of health care.
3. He wants to extend the Bush tax cuts to the extremely wealthy. (Reality check: this money does not trickle down. Wealthy people aren't known for their generosity. That's why they are Republicans. Then again, maybe that's why they're wealthy.)
4. He wants to privatize Social Security. Sound Bushy enough for you?
   
5. McCain's energy plan calls for 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030 (when he will be celebrating his 94th birthday). Meanwhile, we still have nowhere to put the nuclear waste we have right now.

Five Reasons to Vote for Obama

1. He makes us all want to join together and work, hand in hand, at building a barn, while whistling Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in unison. No, really. This is what we need right now: a president who can LEAD.
2. He has a reasonable, do-able, revenue-able medical insurance plan. Look it up. And you won't even have to pay taxes on your current health insurance benefits.
3. A responsible, phased removal of our troops from Iraq.
4. A multi-faceted plan to attain energy independence within 10 years and create 5 million new jobs in the new green and alternative-fuel economy.
5. He gives us great street cred with the rest of the world. We can show the world that we're not all drugstore cowboys with a chip on our shoulder and a nervous snicker. Some of us can talk words. There's more, but I'm boring myself.
   

Tomorrow I promise to go back to posting cute pictures of my dogs.