2010 Phillies

What was your New Year resolution? We all know the drill. I'm gonna lose 40 pounds. I'm gonna make it rich. I'm gonna ask that girl out in the office. Whatever the goal was, few of us have pulled through on the big plans. We have hope.

The Philadelphia Phillies begin their new season this year with a new batch of members that they hope can get us over the hump this year. The Sound of Philly is here now to give you a rundown of the newest members of the team. Please hold your applause until the end of the lineup...


Roy Halladay - If you don't know who this man is, then you must have been out of the country for a while (and Canada), but we’d be glad to fill you in. Halladay has been the ace of the Toronto staff since about 2002. His record since 2002 has been 130-59 with an overall career E.R.A. of 3.43. Impressive stuff considering that he has been pitching in the more offensive American League. The Phillies may have had to give up a bunch of prospects, including pitching stud Kyle Drabek, and they had to depart with ace Cliff Lee in the blockbuster three team trade done this offseason, but the Phillies have stated that they are committed to winning during this golden window of opportunity that they have. The front office made a move that will ultimately save money (Cliff Lee is looking for Sabbathia money next year) and in return for making the move, they are getting arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the peak of his career who has not been injury plagued. Knock on wood.

Danys Baez - Welcome to a below .500 pitcher lifetime with a journeyman status. A defector from Cuba, Baez hopes to resurrect his career with the Phillies and give a much needed boost to the setup position now that Scott Eyre is gone.

Juan Castro - This 37 year old is out trying to prove that he has something left in the tank. Castro is a journeyman that we hope can give help to the bullpen in case one of our beloved starters has a bad game.


Placido Polanco - Polanco is a new third baseman for the Phils that will give a little umph to the bottom of the lineup. Last year, I know that some of us were a little frustrated with the way that the old third baseman showed up to the plate in the postseason. Fingers crossed again.

Jose Contreras - The 38 year old is ready to help out in anyway he can. Born in Cuba, like Baez, Contreras is going to play any role that the Phillies give him at pitcher. He can start, although he will most likely relieve, the team needs a healthy Contreras to make it through the season if the team looks to improve.

The Phillies have decided to make moves this postseason. All last year, we were screaming for a bullpen that we didn't have to worry about. Ultimately though when Lidge came into the game, we held our breath, which was uncharacteristic due to his performance in 2008. The Phillies lost over 10 games that they had the lead in going into the ninth inning last year.

The Phillies new additions this year included three bullpen pitchers. We gained a phenomenal starter in Halladay, and we picked up a good position player. The other three are pitchers that are hiding an inconvenient truth.

The truth is, is that the bullpen will be considered great if Brad Lidge gives us a great year. In the end, we are going to be giving the ball to the guy that our skipper has the most trust in. It reminds me of how we gut out every game with McNabb at quarterback because he is all that we have at that position right now for who can give us the best shot at winning.

Is Lidge the Phillies equivalent to McNabb? I wouldn’t say so. Lidge has a ring, but when meeting our new Phillies, I think that we can see the management trying to build a more solid support group around “The Weakness” in the hopes that a strong offense will carry him.

Nothing was done to fix the closer position, except a hope that Lidge will be better. In the end, we have what we had. Solutions to the problem may be that we need to make a deal for a new reliever at some point during the season. They say that once a closer loses it, it’s gone, but can the men in the front office make the business decision when the time is necessary for Mr. Lidge to have a seat or find another place to go? We shall see, but we may have to play the first few games before making any brash decisions.

And we have to hope that he pitches lights out.

Play Ball.

start your engines

today, i turned on the computer to begin my journey. if i am to run for office here in sarasota, i need to start making some serious moves. as google came up on my screen, i sat wondering what to put as my search. i decided that i needed to speak to someone, but i didn't know who. so i did a search for the state of florida and obviously i was brought to stateofflorida.com. i clicked on contact us and came to a page with a bunch of links offering me different groups of phone lists that i could click and see. unfortunately, everything that i clicked on did not load, so i was back to the drawing board. in the back of my head i made a mental note that when i had the power to do so, i would fix that webpage.

after a moment of perplexion, i decided that if i was going to do this, i would start with the most basic question. i typed into the computer: how to run for office. i pressed enter.

the first link that i saw was for a website that was called runforoffice.org. jackpot! i went to the page and filled out some basic information and was able to see what was available for me to run for this november. they included: governor, state senator, state representative, lieutenant governor, attorney general, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, state attorney, justice of the supreme court, circuit court judge, and school board member.

a couple of these i threw out right away since i haven't passed the bar exam. i was left with governor, state senator, state representative, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, and school board member. i then realized that i am going to be doing this locally so i could throw out governor and state senator since i wouldn't be able to campaign all over the state.

even though originally i am from the garden state of new jersey, i know absolutely nothing about agriculture except what old macdonald had on his farm, so i dropped that effort and seeing how i am not skilled in the art of bookkeeping, i stopped considering chief financial officer. i was left with two choices: state representative and school board member.

i had a decision to make. i had to figure out if i was going to go for it really, or was i just going to keep it extremely local. a school board member is admirable because you can shift the lives of tomorrow's leaders by making good decisions, but i just don't see myself being taken seriously by parents since i don't have children myself, or ever even attended the schools in florida as a youth. i think i can do better with getting a younger vote by just going for the gusto and trying to become a state representative. so that is what i chose.

what are the requirements was my next question. well, i saw that right off the bat i had to be 21. check. then it said that i have to have been a resident of the state for 2 years prior to the election. check.

the next two were tricky. i have to pay as a filing fee 6% of my annual salary to the state to declare that i am running and i have to receive the certified signatures of 1% of the registered votes in the state. now, i am not sure if that means in my district that i am running, so i have to find that out. the filing fee is going to be a tough task. i might need to see when the deadline is to pay that fee, but seeing how i don't have a high paying job at the moment, that fee could be minimal. also, it says that if i don't get all those signatures i might be able to pay a qualifying fee. i need to see how many people exactly would have to sign and how i certify them.

hey, i am on my way!

while perusing the internet, i went to craigslist to check out some part-time jobs because my dad was saying that he would help with some classes in september if i got one on the weekends or something. i stumbled across the u.s. census bureau and decided to click on what they were hiring for.

i called up the number and a woman named nancy answered and told me that they were looking for help going door to door this year to help calculate the actual census. cool, i thought. she asked if i was interested and i said that i definitely was, so she told me that tomorrow morning there was going to be a test administered at an office building near where i live. it is a two hour test on who knows what, but she gave me the link to a practice exam that i am about to tackle. she said that if i do well on that then in late february i could be hired to do the job!

i thanked nancy and closed the laptop. it was a productive morning. i bundled up my things, i grabbed my lunch from the refridgerator, and i drove myself to work. let's see what tomorrow brings.

my new year's project

well, it's the new year. last year wasn't the greatest year for many reasons, but i don't want to delve too much into that, and by not too much i mean at all. so, with that being said, i would like to jump straight into this fresh new year feet first. i'm not holding my nose first either because it's not cool.

i haven't posted much recently because i had been on a rollercoaster of a vacation. i went back home to visit family in new jersey. it was a blast, but it was a lot of late nights and a lot of driving around. that was cool and all, but it definitely was not like a corona commercial. living in florida is kind of funny. most people in new jersey would take a vacation in florida to get away. i got away from florida by going to new jersey. it was perfect.

before my trip, i thought of something that may be fun and interesting for me to do this year. fun for the reader and fun for me to try. something that will keep my attention and, hopefully, help the community. i'm going to run for a public office position.

yup. this year is a voting year and the elections come up in november. i better get a move on it. i need to do a bunch of things here in these first couple of weeks. i need to see what kind of seats are up for election and what my eligibility would have to be to secure a place in the debate. i need to find out where to debate!

i know what you may be thinking now and that's, "oh, that's just mike being mike." nope. i am serious. i talk all the time about what i would do or what i think is wrong with the world. well, i'm here now to do something about it. it is as grassroots as it can get. i have to do this with as little personal money as possible and i have to get the word out to start with just my sole voice. i think i can win. win what? i don't know yet, but i will, and you can follow my adventure here with me, on twitter, or on facebook as i make my way through the trials and tribulations of what it takes for the average everyday american with little social standing to become a voice for the people.

also, i think at some point, i may need to get married because from what i have seen there aren't too many single politicians and i'm going to need to get the senior vote by showing everyday family values. i am in florida, you know. i will have to deal with later down the line if my campaign gains momentum, which it will.

so, first things first will be to see what kind of seats are going to be open this fall when the public casts its' vote for who they want and think is right for the job. let me be the first to tell you florida that i am here to do your work and i will not stop campaigning to win your trust! except at first i can't really campaign monday through friday from 12-7pm because i have to work. you see, i truly am the everyday man looking to make a difference. i will have to take on this task at first by working hard in the mornings and getting the word out on the weekends to take down my opponent, whoever he or she may be.

i'm ready to make that splash. join me in the pool. the pool of democracy. where everyone is invited in and it's only an adult swim! splash!!!

www.facebook.com/hendrimike
www.twitter.com/judenewcomb

my vision

the health care reform bill is set to be voted on by the senate on christmas eve. this bill has been on a wild ride since the wheels of reform started to move back in march. the plan was simple. americans needed more affordable health care. they needed a better preventative program of screening for illnesses and they needed to have better access to being insured.

a couple of plans were on the table to try and reach these goals. one way was to create a single payer system where everyone's money was to be pooled into one government program allowing access for everyone to have any procedure done for no cost except for the money taken out initially from taxes. the second plan was a more toned down approach of a single payer option which basically would be having a government plan available, but as a competitor to insurance companies in an effort to keep the rates of these businesses fair. the idea was that if the government offered a lower rate, then big business would have to lower their rates for fear of a majority of americans jumping ship to the government plan. a plan that was introduced later on in the debate was a plan to lower the age a person could buy into medicare from 65 to 55 and doing away with the public option.

three ideas that could signal change for millions. right?

as the summer drove on and the debate for health care grew some interesting things started to happen. in town halls across america, "grassroot" efforts were being grown by the republican party and funded by insurance companies to engage politicians who were speaking to disrupt any serious debate being held on the issue. the president was being compared to hitler and the death of ted kennedy was being mocked by the far right. the president and democrats still wanted to try and negotiate a bipartisan outcome with the republicans in an effort of solidarity of getting things done.

the single payer system was almost thrown out immediately as it was lauded as being too much government control over an industry. the public option, at one point looked as though it would have the votes to pass, was then suddenly rejected by joseph lieberman and a couple other senators after it passed the house version of the bill. while still looking for a way to include republican ideas, the senate democrats tried the third option, which was initially sen. lieberman's plan when he ran as vice president in 2004 with al gore, and lower the age of medicare. guess who decided he was adamently opposed to it? you guessed it right. joe lieberman. how can one man who proposed a change in the system with a plan one day adamantly oppose the same thing a few years later?

if you aren't too involved in the process you may say, "well, why is that important? he's just one guy." you see, the democrats hold a 60 - 40 vote majority in the senate. when you pass something with 60 votes, the minority has no way of filibustering a vote, which is to talk and talk and talk and talk about a bill for infinite until the bill dies. joe lieberman was the 60th vote along with bob nelson of nebraska.

what is left is a bill with no public option, no single payer, and no age cut for medicare. it does cut out being denied for pre-existing conditions and a couple other things, but it demands that if you do not have health insurance, you must get it now, like auto insurance, or be fined. i would have no problem with this mandate if a public option was their as competition to the big business insurance companies.

my problem is that politicians have been bought. which leads me to a point.

back when the country was being formed, americans lived in a very different time. their were no televisions, radio wouldn't be used for over a century later, telephones didn't exist. in fact, electricity was just discovered a few decades earlier. america is an enormous piece of real estate and in the non-technological age of the late 18th century, it was even bigger with a tremendous challenge for people to communicate.

this was one of the reasons for america to create congress. people were chosen by americans in certain sections of all the states to pack their bags and go to washington, d.c. and represent the people that voted to elect them. the politicians were the voice of those that had no other way of getting their voice heard. the people needed to have the liaison of this representative with the president because word could be spread easier this way of what the people wanted. it still was a system with flaws, but it was the best that we could do.

during the health care debate, polls routinely had shown that over 60% of all americans were in favor of having a health care reform bill that included a public option and yet it was taken out of the bill. thus, the health care reform bill is now disapproved upon by the majority. the new bill that is being offered is not what the people see as a good enough change in the way that people see fit. it is because campaign contributions to the representatives of the people are more important to the representatives and reelection than what the people actually want.

and that is why i say that there is no more need for congress. it is obsolete. big business cannot control america if it has to buyout all of america. it can deal with a bunch of men and women in a room that pass the laws, but it cannot afford to buy 300 million voices.

america votes once a year in november. in today's times, that doesn't have to be anymore. with the internet, tv, and the telephone we all can have immediate impacts on the way that america can be shaped and it is not being utilized to it's full potential. the capacity of congress can be greatly diminished if we just allow the representatives to introduce bills and legislation, but ultimately give the vote of approval to americans. through computer votes, phone votes, and telephone votes the popular vote can finally win what we want and not be forced to take something that a group of a few deem is good enough for us.

i envision a family coming home from work one day and going to the computer and reading over some bills that are being offered for the day. they can have town meetings to discuss it, hear debates about it from the media, or just talk with the family about it. they can decide for themselves what they feel would be good for them and vote on it one way or the other. people have lost their faith in congress because it doesn't do what they want. when 60% of americans want something and they don't get it, it's easy to see why people don't feel that their vote counts. it's esay to see how they lose faith in washington.

their are many different ways that this plan could be implemented, and i know that the likelihood of it occurring are slim, but it should happen. our lives should not be controlled by corporations and lobbyists. people that we never see shouldn't be deciding what we want. allowing everyone to vote on important legislation all the time would be a true democracy by the people, for the people. having one man in connecticut, or one man in nebraska take away what the majority of america wants because their pockets are being stuffed with money is not.

democracy is the vote of every american counting towards everything, and not who gets rich and powerful.

remember the green

in july, i had already known about the twitter website. it was a site where you could post what you were up to for all the world to see in little blurbs of 140 characters or less. along with chatting with friends, you could post links to youtube clips, other twitter pages, and to various news articles from around the world. i did not use twitter really. i had an account, but it did not grasp my attention at the time since i was using facebook and felt that i could do all i could do on twitter there plus so much more.

i was wrong.

during the run up to the iranian elections in may, a movement was taking place. you've most likely heard about grassroots efforts here in america during the health care reform debates and tea party demonstrations. most of these "movements" have had the backing from large corporations and political parties trying to push agendas. in iran, we witnessed a true step toward revolution.

iran holds it's elections in june. i'm sure you remember it. in the weeks leading up to the election a sense of change seemed to be in the air. former prime minister of iran mir-hossain mousavi was, along with others, challenging the incumbent president mahmoud ahmadinejad on a more liberal platform. the set of values that mousavi brought to the table was one that would bring more liberties to women and the public in general. to be honest, the country wasn't about to be turned into las vegas, but a shakeup in everyday life restrictions was being tested. the status quo was being questioned, and the youth, the women in particular, began to take notice at the possibilities.

a lot of iran had become fed up with the oppressiveness. being told what to wear, what to read, what to say, and where you could be at a certain time. they lived in a country with high inflation, 12 percent inflation rates, and 1 in 5 iranians lived below the poverty line. they were also tired of knowing the fact that if they were to speak out about the conditions and blame it on the government they could be jailed for crimes against god. you see, iran is an islamic country. the leader, even above the president, is a man whose title is the supreme leader. the supreme leader is said to have the final word because his word is the word of god. you don't want to speak out against the word of god, do you?

mousavi was seen as a man that could bring about change. any change would be significant as a means toward a better way of living. not as much fear. the ability for all to vote freely in fair elections and lifting a ban on only government run television and media. the public started to see a light. they waited for the day to vote.

needless to say, we know what happened. the iranian media declared that ahmadinejad the winner by a larger than life margin. the ruling was questioned by many foreign governments and transparency was demanded to be made. it was not. the supreme leader commended the democratic system while the people of iran exploded into the streets in a show of protest not seen since their revolution in 1979. men and women took the street wearing the colors of the mousavi campaign of bright green as they raised their hands in the victory sign. in america, we now recognize it as the peace sign. the citizens of iran got anything but that.

the basij, the governments militia that patrols the streets in search of those that speak out against the country, took action on the protesters. they rode on motorcycles with bats and beat men and women into bloody pulps to make examples on what could happen to you if you were to speak out. other basij members shot in cold blood those that tested the government. the foreign media was deported from the country to handle the problems in-house with no one to witness.

one woman, Neda, became a face for the movement as she was shot in a crowd of protesters and her death was caught on cell phone and posted on youtube for the world to see. this is when i was brought to the attention of the power of a people united in a goal and the power of certain technological advances like twitter and youtube. i read that many protesters were using twitter to get out the stories of the day. the fallen, the violent reactions to their peaceful demonstrations and the sights and sounds that could be heard on the streets were all being posted on twitter. i became intrigued and began to follow some iranians. here are some of what a few of them had to say. all of these posted have been confirmed from inside iran.


from persiankiwi

they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us - #Iranelection 10:23 AM Jun 24th from web

phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net - #Iranelection 10:05 AM Jun 24th from web

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is dead 8:55 AM Jun 24th from web

from iranianstudent

I'm only posting this to say I'm still alive & not in Tehran, I had a bad incident with Basij and couldn't use computer 4:42 AM Jun 25th from web


both of these bloggers went inactive on the site shortly after this and are either presumed dead or in prison for acting out against the government. many attempts have been made to find out from the iranian government, to no avail.

one of the final tweets that iranianstudent left was this: why BBC & CNN reporting things like it's all over now? how can it be over after what gov done to us? 6:24 PM Jun 28th. and i couldn't agree more. you may have thought that the crisis has been over. that the country has subsided back into it's old ways. the farthest thing from that has happened. the country is still in chaos. protests have begun to break out again with demonstrators chanting, "death to the dictator!" in the streets. they are still fighting with the basij and people are still being arrested, beaten, and killed, and the foreign media has gone mostly silent.

a few hours ago, it was reported that mousavi may be arrested by the basij for crimes against the government and was almost arrested going to his office, but managed not to be. the media and the citizens outside iran must not let this story rest. the people of iran need us to pressure the government of iran to let the true outcome of the election be known. you can do so, just by being cognizant of the actions of the people. not all the people of the middle east want to destroy america. many want the freedoms we enjoy and are struggling to have them.

i am tired of the media in this country and it's 24 hours news cycle. when people are dying should we really give a shit about tiger woods? this is a country that we are at ends with and we have abandoned the people that are trying to possibly change how those relationships are. the media must stick with stories until they are complete. not doing so will just glorify the effort and deny the tragedy of the fallen who are asking for help.

the people of iran just want the story to remain a focus. i pray for them and i won't forget their struggle. we are a very lucky people to see such bravery.

Barbara's Bloody Footprints from It's From the Sky

the story begins in 1950's or maybe 1960's america. a traveling salesman on his way to the next opportunity to earning that steak dinner. banging on a door, nobody comes to answer, but he hears the sounds of a woman singing. concerned, he opens the door and walks inside. turning the corner, he sees Barbara on the floor bleeding thru her dress and singing her prom night song. the salesman takes off his shirt and tries to contain the blood, but can tell that this girl is gonna die. he jumps in his car and takes off down the road. and thus, we are given the story of Barbara's Bloody Footprints, the new album from the Boston based band It's From the Sky. this 50's comic noir concept album hits all the right spots on it's way through a journey of ghosts, police, high school and a man on the run for a crime he didn't commit.

playing around with the idea of a poltergeist haunting the lives of people in a rollerskating rink, the band decided to take the idea a step further and create a full length album based on a girl who was murdered in a small town and the reaction her classmates have and the detective who is determined to find the man who did this horrible thing. talking over the album with bandmate Christopher O'Keeffe, i was intrigued to learn that the songs all were made as more of an "excavation of a story" and that they weren't merely creating a story, but telling the true story of a forgotten girl and her life.

It's From the Sky came out with their first EP in 2008. calling in favors and recording really wherever they could find the time and space to do so, they created that first effort with mostly some guitars and drums. the new album is such a dedication to a process of fulfilling the truthful telling of the story that the group devised a plan of using one large piece of parchment to notate the path of Barbara. they spent careful time, and it shows, interweaving various lines of various songs and allowing each word to have careful meaning to the story, whether it be straightforward, or thought-provoking.

and the work is evident. what the boys have accomplished is an archaeological dig on some great influences from indie kings such as lou barlow, pavement and the pixies while incorporating some pieces of rock superstars like r.e.m. and the smashing pumpkins. taking these influences into account you really are taken on a ride that is all their own. while listening to the album you get some tracks that run together seamless from one to another as witnessed on Class President and Bloody Footprints. quality songwriting and harmonies prevail as the aforementioned O'Keefe and David Lee provide fast paced vocals that keep the listener involved in what will happen next. a standout for me as well is the drumwork displayed by Chad Dravk especially on the first track Stranger's Blood which grabs you and makes you notice.

listening to this album, i thought of something that i hadn't thought of in awhile. that was that i hadn't listened to a full album straight through in a long time until i let this one go in my player. in the age of the ipod and one hit wonders, it felt real nice to give myself to an album from beginning to end and not wanting to skip ahead, or to start my playlists with a mixture of bands on them. if anything, i wanted to press repeat. i pressed play and i was in. from beginning to end. great songs with great hooks. smooth guitar playing with dynamite lyrics. i urge you to listen to this album and discover the tale of a girl with an untimely end.

Barbara's Bloody Footprints
by It's From the Sky
www.itsfromthesky.com

get snippets of the album here:
http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx?albumID=ALB000037537

a pimple on the bum

recently, and by that i mean a couple hours ago, i found myself in the throws of a debate. and i couldn't believe my ears at some of the things that i heard being said. it all basically boiled down to two things. one, i was given the statement that president obama could not even be a pimple on the behind of president george w. bush and what he accomplished. two, i was given the opportunity to explain what things president obama has done so far in office.

let me address the first statement. president george w. bush was a complete train wreck. here's why with nothing but fact for you to digest. bush allowed the largest attack on american soil since pearl harbor to happen on september 11th, 2001. during the time the planes were being used as missiles in various parts of the country, our president was in a school reading a book to children. when he was told that in fact a second plane had hit the other trade center building and that the country was under attack this great, fearless leader waited another 8 to 9 minutes as he continued to read some damn children's book. real strong.

after the attacks, the president proceeded to invade afghanistan pledging to smoke out osama bin laden and other terrorists even calling upon the capture of bin laden 'dead or alive'. this was all what was done in public. behind the scenes the president, the vice president dick cheney, and the secretary of defense donald rumsfeld were already making the unimaginable acts of september 11th as an opportunity to complete the job of ousting saddam hussein in iraq that was started in 1991 during the first gulf war. this is not hearsay.

George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld speak in private. Bush asks the Defense Secretary what kind of plan the Pentagon has for invading Iraq. “What have you got in terms of plans for Iraq? What is the status of the war plan? I want you to get on it. I want you to keep it secret,” Bush says. When Rumsfeld says its current plan is outdated, Bush instructs him to devise a new one. “Let’s get started on this,” Bush says. “And get Tommy Franks looking at what it would take to protect America by removing Saddam Hussein if we have to.” Bush requests that discussion about Iraq remain low-key. “I knew what would happen if people thought we were developing a potential war plan for Iraq,” Bush later explains to journalist Bob Woodward. Bush does not share the details of his conversation with Condoleezza Rice, only telling her that Rumsfeld will be working on Iraq. [Associated Press, 4/16/2004; New York Times, 4/17/2004; Washington Post, 4/17/2004; CBS News, 4/18/2004 Sources: George Bush and other top officials interviewed by Washington Post editor Bob Woodward] When General Tommy Franks—who already has his hands full with the operation in Afghanistan—learns that the administration is considering plans to invade Iraq, he utters “a string of obscenities.” [Associated Press, 4/16/2004 Sources: Top officials interviewed by Washington Post editor Bob Woodward] General Franks will meet with Bush and brief him on the plan’s progress on December 28 (see December 28, 2001).

this war in iraq though was never about protecting americans. it was about claiming land that was rich in oil. it was about being involved in the war profiteering that comes with the dismantling and rebuilding of a country. it was about profiteering from the use of private mercenary groups like blackwater. scores of bush administration officials have absolutely made fortunes from their war to 'protect americans'. this war was about president bush completing the job his father never got the chance to do because they left the country in shambles back in the early 90's. then, they left a country that was ready to revolt against the tyrannical leader, but were left to fend for themselves and deal with the response from saddam as we abandoned them.

president bush and his administration used faulty accusations as the reasonings behind why we should invade a country like iraq. he stated that the country was planning on attacking the united states at that they were an immediate threat to our security because they had 'weapons of mass destruction' and had indisputable ties to al-qaeda. we know now that both of these points were false. to this day we have not found one WMD in iraq. not one. also, since then, it has even been admitted by bush administration officials that their was no link between the attacks of semptember 11th and al-qaeda to the government of iraq.

so why did we go? you may say to rid a country of an evil dictator. come on. if that was the case wouldn't president bush make that one of his campaign promises for his platform of what he believed in when he was running for president? if the president was so worried about another country's well-being, then why did he ignore the genocide that occurred in Darfur? why did he not step in with military force and stop mass murder in this country or in others that have powerful dictatorships? no, no, he picked the exact same country that his dad went to war against with in 1991. to protect americans.

the number of fatalities from the iraq war is staggering. 4,367 american soldiers alone have been fatally wounded. that is approaching twice that of those who perished during the attacks on america on 9/11. this war that blossomed out of what turned out to be falsities is responsible for 4,367 deaths. meanwhile, the war in afghanistan was largely overlooked and always looked at as the other war. the other war holds the people responsible for our war on terror. the other war has cost americans 929 dead sons and daughters. would the number had been less if we did not lose our focus from the get-go? would american have less than 5,000 dead now if our president had not started planning for a war in iraq two months after al-qaeda attacked american targets from nowhere near iraq?

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the president and vice president have allowed for easier restrictions that allowed interrogators to torture prisoners. it has been shown in endless studies that torture is not an effective means to get answers from the enemy. the bush administration had also set up the prison system where nobody is granted a trial for their accusations of being a terrorist. for years and years these humans have been wasting away inside the prison at guantanamo bay in cuba. they have been denied a basic right that is bestowed upon people in the united states and that is a fair trial with representation with a judgment made by fellow citizens.

the second question posed to me was what has president obama done so far that has been good. the way this question was asked of me made me think long and hard. a talking point that i was given tonight was that the bush administration was over now and what has president obama done? it almost sounded to me like sweeping a little bit of dirt under the rug and move on to the next task. no, we don't have a rug that is that big to sweep the dirt under. the past administration is still with us and we have a current administration that is in the throws of fixing a lot of wrong. and it's only been 10 months. i have come to the following question: what did you expect from our president 10 months later? although we live in a grand technological age, the world does not rotate any faster because of it. it takes time to build a nation that has fallen from grace. rebuilding the way we appear to the world and to ourselves takes time. shedding our skin of this holier than thou approach is necessary. now is not the time for america to remain arrogant. their is a reason other countries hated our last regime. wake up.

i was given the argument over the large deficits incorporated over the bank bailouts and how poor of a thing this was by president obama. this is an excerpt from nbc.com dated october, 1 2008, 4 months before the president took office:

The Senate passed its version of a mammoth plan to rescue the financial services industry Wednesday night, saying changes designed to protect individual investors and small business owners could be enough to persuade reluctant House members to go along with the plan.

Senators agreed to the plan 74-25 as an amendment to an unrelated bill, which was passed shortly thereafter.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who put together the original scheme to bail out the banks after Lehman Bros. and other financial institutions collapsed on Wall Street last month, welcomed the “strong bipartisan vote.”

this bailout was signed into effect later by president george w. bush.

president obama has order the closing of guantanamo bay and moving towards the trials of suspected terrorists giving potentially the most evil men in the world their day in court and allowing us the stance of not dipping to the levels of others. president obama has started the withdrawal effort in iraq and is now focusing the attention of our eyes back to where it should have been from the start, but a terrible tragedy was seen as an opportunity to take action in other arenas. the president has allowed the research to finally start with stem cell research. i am sure that michael j. fox and muhammed ali have really enjoyed the last 8 years of wasted time when it has shown that all of these embryos never would have been used in a reproductive manner anyway. again, do some research people.

and this leads me to my final point. i was told that i am one-sided and that i was not rounded. i find this to be so far from the truth it is laughable. i spend my late nights reading up on the world. on the way to work, i listen to national public radio. on the way home, i listen to conservative talk format. i read the newspapers online, probably more so than my boss would like me to, and i watch as much news on the internet and tv as i can. what i can't watch is fox news because it has been proven that the entire network has talking points e-mailed everday from the executives with what points they would like to hammer down the throats of their listeners and watchers everyday. that is not news. it is a view. again, this has been proven.

i do research. i am rounded. when my beliefs are related to not even being as that of a pimple on the ass of a president that i despise, that offends me. it offends me that my idea of what is right is not even seen to be in the same region of a man responsible for the murder of thousands ON september 11th (remember when he disregarded the report about osama bin laden intent on using planes to attack america?), and the thousands that have been killed in two long, and costly wars. one, that never should have happened, and another that has gone on for too long. when i spend most of my time trying to be well-informed, i don't need that kind of throw away indecency. sometimes, i think that i read too much and maybe i should be like most that just don't even care, but then, i wouldn't know when i hear bullshit.