Analyzing Political Parties and Candidates

We Americans are really dumb - the politicians exploit us during every election. Who do we elect to office time after time? We elect lawyers, war heroes, movie stars, and the archetypical CEOs from corporate America. And yes, it is mandatory that the candidates are good looking, too, unless of course they demonstrate that they appear to be old and wise. When was the last time that an ugly or fat candidate was elected? The news media is the main culprit in these matters. I would think that we should be putting these people under the microscope by asking the candidates very pointed questions about their positions on the current issues like war, terrorism, the economy, health insurance, and not whether they like mayonnaise or mustard on their sandwich or even their choice of underwear. Political bosses count on the tried and true technique of “name and face recognition” to capture your vote. The politicians assume that most of us are so stupid that if you only recognize their name, maybe this name recognition will guarantee that you’ll pull the lever for their candidate in the voting booth since you have no idea as to what the real issues are facing Americans. As proof of the pudding, 98% of incumbents in the House of Representatives are re-elected. This is indicative of how pathetic the average American’s knowledge is of the issues before entering the voting booth. In 2000, just prior to the election, only 15% of citizens knew who represented them in the House of Representatives and only 4% could name the incumbent’s opponent. It reminds me of the quote by Al Capone in the 1920’s, “Vote early and vote often,” wherein voters were paid for the number of times they voted by the political machine in Chicago.

Image Promotion

Image promotion is not new. During World War II, even though we were fighting a bloody battle for our very survival, the press was not permitted to photograph Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair because he had been afflicted with polio a few years earlier. The accepted theory was that admitting to the “flaws” in this man would likely cost too many votes.

Of course, these political shenanigans are directed to only actual voters. The press categorizes those people who want no part of the political process for whatever reason under the heading of “voter apathy.” However, a number of people I have spoken to insist that it is really a form of resistance or rebellion at what they consider the “one party” system, or as my associate calls the plutocracy (government by the wealthy) - the Republicrats - that controls the country because in reality there is actually very little difference between the two major parties. As I was researching material for this book, and interviewing hundreds of people about their attitudes and grievances, I was very surprised to find that many of the people who vote decide to cast their vote for the “lesser of two evils” or because they despise the other candidate. Rarely did I hear a firm commitment about many people’s allegiance to one candidate or the other unless that person was a dedicated Republican or Democrat.

Another political “vote-getter” that really annoys me is when a candidate visits my town and then he or she mingles in the crowd shaking hands with the local residents. Am I supposed to vote for this individual because he or she shook my hand or kissed my baby? Are we that infantile that we will believe that by touching skin we somehow become blood brothers? I have made it a policy that I never shake hands with politicians just to send them a message that their pathetic little ploy is meaningless to me.

During the presidential election of 2004, the two candidates were analyzed, scrutinized, forced to participate in three debates, and queried about their position on most issues. Their positions were essentially cookie cutter images of each other including the carefully avoided politically destructive problems such as immigration and illegal aliens. Regardless of what position they take on that specific issue, they potentially can anger a large segment of the population, so they carefully avoid immigration issues like the Black Plague.

As opposed to the childish mechanisms that politicians have practiced for centuries, I would love to listen to a candidate who states he or she would reduce government through efficiency by 10% per year or that his or her position on an issue is not relevant – that elected officials are only messengers of the people. The elected official would canvas the voters via the Internet and snail mail on all major issues and then act accordingly.

But let’s stop for a moment and examine why we send representatives to the state legislature and Congress and not vote directly. It is impractical to ask every citizen to go to the state capital or Washington, D.C. to vote. That’s why we elect representatives of the people to speak on our behalf.

Maybe There’s A Better Way

But maybe there’s a better way. Perhaps instead of wasting our tax money to display our imperialistic “bully boy” ambitions by fighting a number of very expensive and unnecessary wars all over the planet, the government could put a computer in every household. This would be a technological update to Herbert Hoover’s 1928 campaign slogan of “put a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” Installing a state-of-the-art computer system in about 100 million homes is especially beneficial when many of the poor people do not have access to the Internet. Just imagine the peripheral benefits that would provide. Poor people can gain an education without leaving their homes, senior citizens can order medications, and, best yet, we could explore the technology of direct voting online. Now I realize that removing the politicians main stock in trade – the ability to trade votes on critical issues - is extremely radical in nature, but what a boon it would be for the people. Maybe we don’t need the corrupt politicians after all? There are many significant problems inherent in implementing a solution of this magnitude, but since the government conceives many hair-brain ideas every day, let me throw in my two cents, too. As bizarre as paying for a computer in every household might sound, it’s an idea worth investigating to minimize the political influence, ineptitude and corruption. Ironically, at a cost of $2,000 per household in 100 million American households, the $200 billion total cost would be almost exactly the same as the cost of the war in Iraq through 2004.

Who Have We Elected?

The framers of the constitution intended that the representatives that we elected should come from the common man, much like as in “the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker,” from an old nursery rhyme.

Let’s take a moment and look at the last time one of our presidents came from truly humble origins:

· George W. Bush (2001-2004) came from oil money assisted by his father’s reputation as a previous president

· William Clinton (1993-2001) was raised in poverty and then became a Rhodes Scholar and the former Governor of Arkansas

· George Bush Sr. (1989-1993) was a decorated World War II hero and oil man

· Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) was a movie star and former governor of California

· Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) was a peanut farmer but served in the nuclear U.S. Navy and was former governor of Georgia

· Gerald Ford (1974-1977) was initially a lawyer but spent 25 years in Congress

· Richard Nixon (1969-1974) was also a lawyer and a congressman

· Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969) was a wheeler-dealer from Texas who spent most of his career in congress

· John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) was a war hero backed by his father’s tremendous wealth and influence

· Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) was a Kansas farm boy who had a momentous military career

· Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) ran a clothing store, was elected a county judge, and became Franklin D. Roosevelt’s running mate

· Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) was a member of an aristocratic New York family and a graduate of Harvard who held a seat in the New York Senate.

Over this period of about 70 years, only four of the presidents even hint of humble origins: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. It can easily be said that the remainder of the presidents were rubber stamp products of the aristocracy.

How bright were these presidents? The brilliant presidents include Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The “dumb” presidents included Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Although you would think that Franklin Delano Roosevelt should be included in the list of brilliant presidents, Oliver Wendell Holmes made the famous quote that FDR possessed “a second rate intellect, but a first-rate temperament.” When you evaluate the scores of these presidents by historians and politicos, the dumb presidents’ value to the nation get higher marks.

Female Voters

I recall when I was a young lad, even though I was not old enough to vote, I overheard two young women discussing the 1960 presidential election on a bus as I was traveling to high school. The one woman clearly let her friend know she would be voting for John F. Kennedy because he was much better looking than Richard Nixon. I remember at the time that I intrinsically knew there was something very wrong about their conversation, but since I was a political neophyte I did not put my finger on how asinine that conversation was until I became an adult. I fervently hoped that these two women were the exception rather than the rule. History suggests that I was probably wrong in my assessment to a degree. At the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in 2004, a female representative from New Jersey was shown on NBC TV stating that she found senatorial candidate Barak Obama so handsome, that if she lived in Illinois she would cast her vote for him. In line with this pathetic thinking, we may ask the question – “Why was John Edwards the vice-presidential candidate of the Democratic Party?” He has no qualifications other then the fact that he was a super-rich trial lawyer and a one-term senator from North Carolina. The major reason he appears on the ticket is because he’s good looking – hence, his ability to attract the female vote.

Of course, significant statistics are not available to chastise men at this point in history for their voting patterns as the only female candidate we’ve been offered as a choice has been vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, who appears to be quite competent in her own rite. Wouldn’t it be great if all of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates this year were women? Then, comparatively, we men could vote for the female candidate with the best body.

New Jersey Voter Nightmares

Do independent candidates really have a chance at being elected? With the amount of money available to the elephant and the donkey, the answer is not much. Even in New Jersey, Senator Jon Corzine, who made millions as the head honcho of Goldman-Sachs, ran for the Senate using $63 million of his own money to secure a $158,000 seat in the Senate. Please note that I’m not trying to pick on New Jersey in particular, but since it’s my home state, I have more knowledge of the political maneuvering in my own backyard then anywhere else.

How about another New Jersey horror story? Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who has exhibited signs of senility at the age of 78, was re-elected to office in 2002 when the Democratic candidate, Robert Torricelli, dropped out of the race days before the election as he would have fought a losing campaign because of the press exposure he faced for taking bribes, a frequent occurrence in the corrupt state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Constitution clearly defines that candidates must be identified 60 days before the election so the election bureaucracy has ample time to prepare ballots and distribute literature to every household (explaining the ballot contents).

When the Democrats took the issue to the Supreme Court of New Jersey, the court upheld the replacement of Torricelli with Lautenberg based on the voter’s need for a fair and balanced ballot, although Torricelli’s name could have been retained without any problems. It should be noted that the Republicans pulled off the same high jinks in the state of Ohio about 20 years ago. These grossly incompetent and illegal interpretations of the Constitution are another clear indication of how the Federal and state constitutions are being usurped by the political machines apparently due to the allegiance of these appointed justices as opposed to the simple application of the judicial process.

Are There Alternatives to the Republican/Democratic Candidates?

Traditionally, we Americans think we only have two options, the Republican or the Democratic candidates for president/vice-president and for state and local offices. The Republican Party draws its core strength from big money, corporations, small business people, farmers and people with strong religious convictions. The Democratic Party draws its core strength from labor unions, minorities, intellectuals, gays, liberals and academia.

According to the New York Times, contributors to the two parties are drawn along the following lines. The vast majority of CEOs, accountants, and bankers contribute to the Republican Party, while professors, authors, journalists, librarians and lawyers donated heavily to the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party also draws very strong support from Hollywood. Most of the important personalities – movie stars, rock musicians and moguls – consider themselves leftist and liberal. Now, if you are heavily influenced by what the actors, directors and producers think, you will likely vote a straight Democratic ticket.

Personally, I have absolutely no interest in what the people who have lived most of their adult lives in Fantasyland think, although I must give the devil his due and admit that in very rare instances there are a few of these individuals who do possess superior knowledge. Regardless of whether Hollywood supports the Republicans or the Democrats, as a generalized group, I find it fascinating that anyone would listen to anything said by one of these rich, pampered and outright spoiled brats. According to rock legend Alice Cooper,

“If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we’re morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.”

Another indicator of the vast knowledge portrayed by the Hollywood visionaries occurred in October 2004, as Cher stumped for the Democratic Party. Cher informed the audience at a rally in Florida that if George Bush were re-elected, he would have the “Superior Court” (not the Supreme Court) ban “Gay Pride Day.” Her audience, which was supposed to number in the thousands consisted of 100 people, more likely fans than political diehards. Maybe people are finally getting wise to this ignorant lot. I am only aware of whom these people are because of their acting, singing or dancing abilities, and that’s my only interest.

Viable Alternative Political Parties

During the early years of the republic, there were many political parties including the Whigs and the Tories. Perhaps returning to our roots, since the rebellious period of the 1960’s, disgruntled Americans have created quite a few viable alternative political parties. It has to be assumed that ALL of these parties were created out of disgust with the prevailing policies (or lack thereof) of the Republicans and Democrats.

A partial list of the active political parties, including identification of the party’s web site where you may obtain more information, are listed below.

Political Party	Party Web Site
American First Party	http://www.americafirstparty.org/
American Party	http://www.theamericanparty.org/
American Heritage Party	http://www.americanheritageparty.org/
American Independent Party	http://www.aipca.org/index.shtml
American Reform Party	http://www.americanreform.org/
Communist Party USA	http://www.cpusa.org/
Constitutional Action Party	http://www2.ari.net/home/CAP/
Constitution	http://www.constitution-party.net/
Democratic	http://www.democrats.org/
Family Values Party	http://members.aol.com/fvparty/fvparty1/
Freedom Socialist Party	http://www.socialism.com/
Libertarian	http://www.lp.org/
Green Party of the United States	http://www.gp.org/
Independence Party	http://www.mnip.org/
Labor Party	http://www.thelaborparty.org/
Light Party	http://www.lightparty.com/
New Party	http://www.newparty.org/
New Union Party	http://www1.minn.net/~nup/
Peace and Freedom Party	http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/
Prohibition Party	http://www.prohibition.org/
Republican	http://www.gop.org/
Natural Law	http://www.natural-law.org/
Reform Party	http://www.reformparty.org/
Socialist	http://sp-usa.org/
Socialist Labor Party of America	http://www.slp.org/
United States Pacifist Party	http://www.uspacifistparty.org/
Vermont Grass Roots Party	http://www.vtgrassrootsparty.org/
We the People Party	http://www.wethepeople-wtp.org/
Workers World Party	http://www.workers.org/

I suggest you browse the web sites of any of these parties, although I should warn you that, in a number of cases, the party platforms range from the ridiculous to the laughable.

Many people feel that by offering the reader the above list of alternative political parties, this will only enhance the divisive nature of the electorate, where there seems to be no middle ground wherein the conservative and liberal elements can compromise for the benefit of the country. I believe we are already past the point of convergence and we therefore need to support new political parties to invigorate the country with uncorrupted blood.

And don’t buy into that “wasted vote” argument, either. Yours is not a wasted vote if you are voting for a third party candidate out of your convictions. Often people don’t vote for the party of their choice because they buy into the fear tactics and vote for the elephant or the donkey because they are terrified that one candidate whom they despise will win the day. And the cycle begins anew before the next election. They espouse how much they hate the two machines and even donate money to the third party, and then vote for the one of the mainline candidates in the next election. We must be a people of conviction because, in reality, doing this “flip-flop” just wasted your vote on a meaningless gesture.

Major Political Party Platforms

Let’s examine the platforms or statement of principles of a few of the major parties.

Republican and Democratic Party Platforms	When I researched the web sites of these two mammoth organizations, I could not find a clear and concise statement of principles. Instead the reader is deluged by positions on specific issues and voluminous propaganda. Now what does that tell you about the wishy-washy status of their respective platforms, bending to the latest whims of their rich contributors, whether they be large corporations or labor unions?
American Independent Party	“The American Independent Party, California Affiliate of the Constitution Party, believes in redeeming our country, by restoring the tenets of our U.S. Constitution and supports: · The sanctity of innocent human life, including the lives of the unborn; · Protection of American jobs from unfair foreign competition; repeal of NAFTA, GATT/WTO; · Limits on legal immigration, and an end to illegal immigration; no tax funded benefits to illegals; · Excellence in education, and right of parents to choose public schools, private schools, or home schooling; · Control of crime; capital punishment for the most aggravated offenses; · Right of Citizens to keep and bear arms as provided by the Bill of Rights; · Ending the personal income tax, and abolition of the IRS; · A debt free money system; · A non-interventionist foreign policy, and a strong national defense free of waste; · Protection of consumers’ rights in utility rates, insurance, health care, and housing; · Consideration of human needs in environmental concerns; · We oppose any revision of the California Constitution to limit the right to vote, impair the people’s right of initiative, overturn voter approved term limits, make it easier for government to tax and spend, or create bureaucratic regional governments. · We oppose both government speculation with Social Security funds, and affirmative action programs which substitute racial favoritism for individual ability.”
Constitution Party Platform	“The mission of the Constitution Party is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity through the election, at all levels of government, of Constitution Party candidates who will uphold the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It is our goal to limit the Federal government to its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions and to restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical common-law foundations.”
Green Party Platform	“The Green Party Platform is an evolving document, a living work-in-progress that expresses our commitment to creating meaningful and enduring change in the political process. Our Party’s first priority is to value-based politics, in contrast to a system extolling exploitation, consumption, and non-sustainable competition. We believe in an alternative, independent politics and active, responsible government.  We believe in empowering citizens and communities. We offer hope and a call to action. In this platform we make our case to change the way our government operates - to change the quality of our everyday lives - to build a vision that brings new and lasting opportunities.”
Libertarian Party Platform	“Libertarians believe the answer to America’s political problems is the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness: a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings; a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom that marks this country above all others; and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade as prescribed by America’s founders.”
Reform Party Platform	“Set the highest ethical standards for the White House and Congress · Balance the Budget · Campaign Reform · Term Limits · Create a new tax system · Carefully putting together plans to deal with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security · Promote jobs in the USA · Lobbying Reform.”

For more information on American political parties use your browser to access the following web site:

http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm

Third Party Candidates Are Throttled At Every Turn

Both the Democrats and Republicans take every opportunity to squash the people’s true sentiments. On the west coast, I witnessed true participation by the California voters who struck back at the politicians by passing Proposition 13 in June, 1978, which significantly lowered the obscene property taxes homeowners were paying. Many people screamed that California’s education system would become the laughing stock of the nation, producing a circus of idiots. Somehow California in 2002-2003 paid their teachers a salary of $56,283, the highest in the nation, without increasing the property tax.

I find it difficult to believe that an uprising of the voters will ever occur on the east coast of the U.S. for a number of reasons. 1) The populace is so controlled by the corrupt political machines that any effort to challenge “the Establishment” will be thwarted at every turn, and 2) the voters are either mesmerized by the political machines or just plain stupid.

When I lived in Edison, New Jersey, I closely followed a voter drive to change the number of aldermen representing the people. Not only did the city clerk reject the petition on three occasions for insipid and implausible reasons, once the people finally overcame these bottlenecks the Edison political machine spent huge sums of money to defeat the proposal. In Hillsborough, New Jersey, in 2004, a citizen’s group (Citizens for a Change in Government) petitioned to change the municipalities’ form of government through a referendum. The township clerk initially rejected the petition because 917 of the approximately 4,100 signatures were illegible or lacked valid addresses. When the Citizens resubmitted 1,100 additional signatures, the clerk again rejected these signatures citing that the paper was not uniform in size and style. Glenn van Lier, a member of the Citizens group, stated that, “we are going to sue them.” We all know what the outcome of that lawsuit will be.

Examining the 2004 Presidential/Vice-Presidential Candidates

Since the presidential election in 2004 was the most recent election, let’s briefly examine the qualifications of the candidates for president and vice-president of the two dominant parties, represented by the elephant and the donkey.

Republican Party Candidates

George Walker Bush - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: George W. Bush was born in Texas in 1946 and received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is most famous for being the son of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41^st president of the United States. He was a member of Yale’s Order of Skull and Bones. Over the years, this organization has included some of the most powerful men in industry and politics including presidents, cabinet officers, spies, Supreme Court justices, captains of industry, followed on by their children.

In 1968, George W. enlisted in the 147^th Fighter Group with the Texas Air National Guard two weeks before his student deferment was to be eliminated because he was graduating from Yale. Although everyone who was trying to avoid the draft (and there were millions of other men doing the same thing) attempted to get into any Army Reserve or National Guard unit, George W. was accepted the same day he applied even though his score on the “pilot aptitude” test was barely marginal. Now of course, it didn’t hurt him in the slightest that his father was a congressman from Houston.

As a point of interest, when I took basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, at almost exactly the same time frame, my company was composed of draftees from New York City and members of the Texas National Guard. Texas’ population was divided between Caucasians, Hispanics and blacks. I can assure you that there were no Hispanics or blacks in that unit – just rich white kids (“snobs” to be exact) – so the treatment afforded George W. was in line with the treatment afforded the rest of the draft dodgers in Texas.

George W. claimed that he was not trying to avoid service in Vietnam but that he wanted to be a fighter pilot like his father. There has been much controversy floating around in the press regarding his lack of attendance at mandatory meetings and his failure to obtain a necessary physical; however, he must have completed pilot’s training, which is a difficult period.

In 1973, George W. was discharged from the Air National Guard to attend Harvard Business School. After graduation in 1975, George W. worked in the oil business. In 1976, he was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine for driving under the influence, fined $150, and had his driving privileges suspended.

He formed Arbusto Oil, which was not a roaring success. The company was later renamed Bush Exploration Company and merged with Spectrum 7. He was named the Chairman and CEO. The company was eventually sold to Harken Oil.

George W. sold 2/3 of his interest in Harken Oil for over $800,000 two weeks prior to the company announcing a disastrous 4^th quarter, which was later investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but no criminal charges were ever filed.

The Texas Rangers baseball team was purchased by a close family friend with George W. hired as the Managing General Partner. The residents of Arlington, Texas approved a ½ penny increase in the sales tax to finance a $135 million ballpark for the Texas Rangers. George W. was the chief spokesman ramming through the deal that government had no business being involved in the first place.

George W. defeated the popular governor, Ann Richards, in 1994 with 53% of the vote. As governor he concentrated on his campaign platform, leading to welfare cuts, stricter penalties for juvenile crimes, and reduced damages in personal injury lawsuits. In 1998, he was re-elected with 69% of the vote.

In 2000, George W. was elected the 43^rd president of the United States. During his term, he waged war against Afghanistan in order to capture/kill Osama Bin Laden, the archenemy of the United States and the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. He also waged war against the butcher Saddam Hussein in Iraq based on botched intelligence that supported ties between Hussein and Al-Qaeda and his possession of weapons of mass destruction, which have not been corroborated to-date. Over 10,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed and maimed in this invasion of an Arab country, causing many voters to view the war with disdain. This is not his finest hour. In my personal opinion, all this administration has done is amplify the hatred of the United States within the Arab/Muslim world, and likely created one million potential suicide bombers (read martyrs) out of a total of over one billion Muslims worldwide.

He was the incumbent Republican Party President.

Richard (Dick) Cheney - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Richard B. Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1941, and grew up in Casper, Wyoming. He received both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Wyoming. Through student and parental deferments, he avoided serving in the Vietnam War. At least we can say that George W. and John Kerry served their country during this time.

In 1969, Illinois Representative Donald Rumsfield, who was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon to head the Office of Economic Opportunity, hired Cheney as his special assistant. He later became assistant director of the Cost of Living Council. He also took a position as vice president of Bradley, Woods & Company, an investment advisory group in Washington, D.C., to add to his personal financial security.

In 1974, President Gerald Ford selected Cheney at the age of 34 as his Chief of Staff replacing Donald Rumsfeld who was named Secretary of Defense. In 1977, he returned to Wyoming and was elected to the House of Representatives wining the seat despite suffering a heart attack. He served in the House from 1979 to 1989 and was elected as the chairman of the powerful Republican House Policy Committee in only his second term. He vehemently supported aid to the anti-Marxist rebels in Nicaragua (contras), and the “Star Wars” anti-missile initiative.

Although he lacked military experience or knowledge, President George Bush Sr. selected him as the Secretary of Defense, with unanimous approval of the Senate. Under his tutelage, the very successful operation against Iraq, “Desert Storm,” was waged in 1991.

In 1993, he assumed the role of chief executive of Halliburton Company, an oil drilling, engineering, and construction services provider in Dallas, Texas. During this period, he managed to double the company’s revenues and create the largest company of its kind, no doubt through his contacts with the military and Congress. Dick Cheney can be characterized as the executive “poster boy” epitomizing all of the evils many Americans associate with corporate America. As Dwight D. Eisenhower often stated, “Beware the military-industrial complex.”

In 2000, he was made George W. Bush’s vice-presidential candidate. Democrats have constantly nagged at him regarding his strong stance on issues such as abortion, and his opposition to gays serving in the military.

Another major issue that is of concern to all Americans is Dick Cheney’s health. He suffered three mild attacks before the age of 50 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 1988. However, he has been given a clean bill of health since then. The other major issue is his continued association with Halliburton, the major defense-contracting firm, which of course he denies. This company is constantly in the news fighting numerous fraud charges. As I write this book, the government is withholding partial payments on their bills for the work they are accomplishing in Iraq. When the government withholds payment, the problems must be severe indeed.

His association with Halliburton has haunted him. He claims he has severed his relationship with the company, but he receives deferred compensation as a part of his severance contract, amounting to $147,579 in 2001, $162,392 in 2002 and $178,437 in 2003. In addition, he had options to buy more than 400,000 shares of stock, but that he claims he is committed to donate any proceeds from the sale of the stock to charity.

He was the incumbent Republican Party Vice-President. .

DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATES

John Forbes Kerry - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: John Forbes Kerry was born in Colorado in 1943 and spent part of his childhood in Europe with his father who worked in the Foreign Service. His great-aunt paid for his prep school education as his father could not afford this privilege on his government salary. He then attended Yale University and belonged to the Skull and Bones Society much like George W. Bush and other political power brokers. He was lampooned by the Yale Daily News referring to him as John Fitzgerald Kerry as a reflection of his political views. During summers, he loaded trucks in a grocery warehouse and sold encyclopedias door-to-door (praise be to the saints – an inkling of a common man). He enlisted in the U. S. Navy in his senior year and then commanded a Swift patrol boat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. His service brought him acclaim and three purple hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star. There has been much discourse on the pros and cons of his service. In accordance with recognized military policy, he requested a transfer out of Vietnam after his third Purple Heart after serving only 4 months “in country.” A number of veterans, however, turned down Purple Hearts for more serious wounds as they felt that “nicks and scratches” of this nature did not warrant an award, especially when they witnessed comrades fall with amputated limbs and even death. It appears on the surface that he was simply trying to accrue sufficient Purple Hearts to get out of that horrible war – a desire that was quite commonplace among many GIs.

Now on to the bad and the very ugly - John Kerry came into the spotlight after he returned from Vietnam. He publicly accused those same soldiers with whom he shared the burden of war as being “war criminals.” John Kerry told a joint session of Congress in 1971 that U.S. troops in Vietnam “personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blew up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Kahn, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war…” Kerry pointed out that these were not “isolated incidents, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of soldiers at all levels of command.” The “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth”, comprised of over 200 veterans from the naval units in which Kerry served, stated in bitter terms that “John Kerry betrayed the men and women he served with in Vietnam.”

Let’s look at these statements in perspective. First of all, John Kerry served “in country” for 4 months so his personal observations must have been very limited. Therefore, the source of his information must have been garnered from other sources, such as the “Winter Soldier Investigation” by deranged writer Mark Lane, in which he claimed he interviewed 150 veterans for the material in his book. Two senior and respected anti-war journalists later exposed much of the material in this book as fabrications and outright lies. John Kerry later admitted to Tim Russert of MSNBC that some of his facts “may have been discredited.” He was only willing to admit that some of his words he used may have been “a little bit over the top,” and that may be excusable considering his youth and inexperience. During 2003 on “Meet the Press,” John Kerry acknowledged that he was proud of his anti-war activities, and that he and Jane Fonda “saved lives,” although many, many Americans, especially veterans, feel that Jane Fonda was the worst traitor born in this country since Benedict Arnold. One thing can be said for John Kerry, however. He served in wartime as opposed to other individuals and politicians who used nefarious means to escape the draft, but I suspect that he lost 90% of the Vietnam Veteran’s votes due to his earlier accusations.

Let’s be realistic. In all wars, virtually every side has committed crimes against humanity. In World War II, American Marines rarely captured many of the Japanese who attempted to surrender and for good reason. The Japanese often hid hand grenades or explosives on their body so they could kill Marines as they committed hara-kiri (suicide). In Vietnam, the Viet Cong handed 5 year old children a paper bag containing a live hand grenade and told them to hand the bag to an unsuspecting GI, killing one or more GIs and the child. But have you ever heard about these and many other atrocities committed by the Viet Cong? No, you just hear about the American atrocities – especially the massacre at My Lai village. Let us not forget that soldiers in any army are young and very impressionable. When they witness their friends being blown to bits they become irrational – regardless of the rules of the Geneva Convention (which we are taught) - and orders from above. Horrors will always occur on both sides in any war.

John Kerry subsequently graduated from Boston College Law School and worked for the District Attorney’s office in Massachusetts and also in private practice. He was the Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor and was elected to the Senate in 1990, 1996 and 2002.

While serving in the Senate, he initially supported the war in Iraq but subsequently voted against the additional $87 billion aid package for that country, as many people have questioned our commitment to that conflict. He promotes legislation to strengthen our economy, improve public education, make health care more affordable, and protect our environment. Depending on your view of the defense budget, you may find the following news enlightening or depressing, depending on your viewpoint. John Kerry voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the M-1 Abrams Tank, every Aircraft carrier laid down since 1988, the Aegis anti-aircraft system, the F-15 strike eagle, the F-16, the P-3 Orion upgrade, the B-1 and B-2 bombers, the Patriot Anti-Missile system, the FA-18 and the F 117.

He was the Democratic Party candidate for president.

John Edwards - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: John Edwards was born in 1953 in South Carolina and raised in North Carolina. I guess we can classify him as a “good ol’ boy.” His father was a blue collar American who worked in the textile mills for almost 40 years. His mother ran a small antique shop and worked in the post office.

John Edwards went to public schools and then graduated from North Carolina State University and then the University of North Carolina in 1977 with a law degree (how refreshing – a common man).

He initially found work in the legal profession defending large corporations. He changed direction and made his money as a trial lawyer by representing families and children against large corporations and the insurance industry. In the fall of 2004, a flu vaccine shortage consumed the news because an enormous batch of the vaccine made by a British company was contaminated, leaving a major shortage around the U.S. The Democrats screamed that it was the government’s (ala George Bush’s) responsibility to ensure a safe supply. Twenty years ago, there were over 20 suppliers but a man sued because he got sick from the vaccine and won $5 million, leaving only three companies worldwide who risked potential litigation to manufacture the vaccine. The lawyer who won the $5 million was John Edwards. Although he is portrayed as a defender of the people, he won awards of over $150 million (of which his law firm keeps a third) in 20 years as a lawyer. According to Senate financial disclosures his personal fortune is valued at between $12 and $60 million.

In 1997, he decided to run for the Senate although he had no political background. He hired a 26-person staff of top-notch democrat strategists, media consultants and pollsters, using his own “bottomless pit” checkbook and money from other trial lawyers (Inner Circle of Advocates). When his war chest exceeded $3 million, the other Democratic candidates could not compete and soon scrambled for cover.

In Congress, he has championed quality health care, better schools, protecting civil liberties, reforming campaign finances, and the ability to keep Social Security and Medicare alive and well.

The big knock on John Edwards is he has lacks experience and foreign affairs credentials, but wasn’t that the intent of the Founding Fathers to have an everyday citizen represent the people, as opposed to a polished politician who has spent his or her entire life feeding at the public trough?

He was the Democratic Party candidate for vice-president.

Who Will You Vote For?

Are these the people we want running this country? There must be superior candidates available from the masses who truly represent the common people that we concerned citizens can elect. What ever happened to the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker? Every one of the slate of candidates for the 2004 election is either semi-rich or filthy rich. You can be assured that the candidate uses that money to further his own egotistical need to get elected to office.

During the 2004 election, George W. Bush and John Kerry’s war chest exceeded $2 billion, about equally divided between the two. In total, the two parties spent over $4 billion on all of the elections throughout the nation. Can we honestly believe that somewhere along the line the contributors will not expect or even demand favors from the winning candidate? Are we supposed to believe that these corporations, organizations, labor unions and individuals have contributed large sums of money out of the goodness of their hearts? Yeah, sure! And I believe in the Tooth Fairy, too.

We need to change the entire political landscape of the country by minimizing the control exercised by both of these parties, including their inherent corrupt practices from the political power base that they enjoy.