Only 366 more days until George Walker Bush leaves the Whitehouse. This is a leap year so we have that extra day of his bullshit but it is an exciting year anyway. January 20, 2009 can’t come soon enough.

We will have another president at that time and hopefully the American people will have a real chance to have their voices heard. Maybe the voting machines will be fixed and not miscount the votes like they did in New Hampshire last week. Maybe “undesirable” voters wont be banned from the polls. Maybe Bushco wont steal the election this time. Maybe this time we will actually get the lesser of two evils and a thinking person will be the puppeteer.

Since W has been the president with record setting vacation days I’m sure a few more of them are in his plans for this year. Probably the longest will be in November and December. Sure those days will be filled with the duties of every lame duck. Pardons, commutations and favors to cronies but thats par for the offices course. They all do it.

I am still apprehensive about who the electoral college will place in there. I am not convinced that any of the frontrunners aren’t already in the war machine’s pockets. Barring the religio-nuts and 9/11 Gulliani I think we will be better off in the long run. Maybe we will have a minority for the first time. Maybe just another white man who fits the rich politician norm. Whoever, it’s time for a real change.

Almost anyone would be better than The Evil Bushman and his cronies.

Today Bill Richardson is supposed to announce he will drop from the race. His bid for the presidency has not gone well and although he came in fourth in both Iowas caucus and New Hampshires primary it was a distant fourth. I am really bummed from this news.

As a resident of the state he governs as well as an admirer of his past service to our country I hoped his ideas and ideals would take a front seat. He is the first political candidate I have ever felt strongly enough about to contribute money to the campaign. The first big name politician I have really admired. Even when his ideas weren’t popular he stuck with them.

He stuck with the conviction that compassionate medical marijuana should be available even when the state legislators shot down the idea 6 times. Finally he compromised a bit and got the bill passed. The compromise consisted of not allowing farmers grow weed for profit and the state would grow the crops. Or the patient could grow their own. Not a bad compromise considering that MMJ patients would be facing criminal charges under the old law. When asked how he felt his stance on medicine for very sick people would affect his bid for president he answered that he really didn’t care. It was the right thing to do. I like that attitude.

Looking around the state of New Mexico you can see windmills and solar panels every where. With tax breaks and other benefits the state has cleaner sources of power than before and more on the way. This came under his leadership.

His call to bring the troops home from Iraq within a year didn’t fit into the war machines plan to leave them there until at least 2013. All of the front runners on both sides of this two party system are going with the machines plan so they wont really be battled by Bushco as badly.

With his record in foreign policy and the hands on way he approached problematic leaders of the world he would have been the most qualified person for the job. He got stuff done in Korea, Iraq, Iran and many other places. He fought with words and won. Unlike the current policy of shoot, bomb and have no chance of winning.

I am really saddened by the way the frontrunners have been portrayed by the teevee media. Calling some rock stars and others comeback kids they completely ignored the reality based campaign of Richardson. I wish he had gotten the recognition he deserved.

Who knows? Maybe Barack or Hillary will ask him to be their running mate. V.P. would set him up to really help change the direction of our country.  Set him up to be the president after next.
I can only hope.

While they rushed ballots to the polling places that were running out. While every news channel was predicting a double digit lead for Obama over everyone. While the pundits babbled insipidly about who would win if Bill Clinton were running. While everyone in the media were predicting a neck and neck between McCain and Romney, I slept.

Crying myself into a nap I knew how my life is going to be spent the next few months. Watching the chances of a positive campaign crumble while the sniping and backstabbing grows. Through the rain of mudballs being hurled by the candidates, and some of their spouses, we will have the problem of trying to see which one of them will really bring change and who would lead us down the road to hell we are speeding down so quickly already. Although the mud doesn’t seem to be sticking yet I am sure it will get thicker and nastier as the year runs on.

Hillary’s slim victory over Obama today in New Hampshire is being touted as a major victory. On the Democratic side both Edwards and Richardson have vowed to continue fighting. McCain and Romney have clinched the top 2 while Huckabee, the strong leader in Iowa was pushed down to the Ron Paul level. I was really refreshed to wake and see how lousy the numbers were for 9/11 Gulianni and Thompson. Paul fanatics will actually cause more damage to his cause than the good their money did so I’m not worrying much about his ultra right wing libertarian ass winning anything any more. Dodds poor showing will probably result in him withdrawing from the race along with the other candidates who polled less than 2% in todays primary.

My states governor has decided to concentrate on the western states where he is better known. While others are campaigning in S. Carolina Richardson will be wooing Nevadans and Californians. He still has strong support here in New Mexico because the people have benefitted  from his leadership. There are those he needs to court still but I think he will do better out west than he has in Iowa or N.H.. I’m really excited to see how people all over the nation whose states are being invaded by the big news agencies and herds of supporters will react to this circus tour.

It was good to see that no one got the “coronation” the media had been trying to put on Barack all week. I really think that those other Demo candidates need to get a lot more airtime in before the people are forced to go with the top runner. There are more choices than Obama and Clinton so they need to be heard.

I’m glad to see New Hampshire over with. I’m also glad it wasn’t the decider and we still have until November to choose who will be our next president.

If they actually let the people decide this time.

While Hillary Clinton was attacking Barack Obama she asked that old question “Where’s the beef”. In 1984 Wendy’s had a commercial campaign starring 3 aging women looking at a big “fluffy” bun with a burger patty almost completely covered with a pickle slice.  One of the elderly ladies asked the question. The ad campaign was a success and “Where’s the beef” became a catchphrase across America. T shirts and bumper stickers pondered. I saw posters with buff guys as well as  very out of shape fellas blaring that question. Then the ads quit running and the catchphrase died out. In fact Ms. Clinton asking it about Obama was the first time I have heard it in years.

I have been watching the news channels covering the N H Primaries today. The  exit polls and those places whose polls are closed already have shown a strong lead for Obama. With such a huge turnout in Iowa and now New Hampshire it seems that the American people are ready for change. And some beef.

With the force Barack supporters have shown up at the polls maybe they will help us see where the beef really is  Those who haven’t had their primaries yet will be asking the hard questions.  The  peoples opinion  will  show us where the beef really lies.

After the 2000 election fiasco people I have talked to have lost faith in the whole system. The powers that be keep repeating that the system really does work so it seems that Americans are going to try it once again. With surges in registered voters showing up so far as well as reported new registrant rolls growing  on both of the major parties sides as well as independent, I think we may really be getting a major change in federal government this time.  Everyone seems to be demanding change. Everywhere.

So Hillary I think I know the answer to your question.. The American voters are the beef.

In New Hampshire today Hillary Clinton’s voice kinda cracked and a little tear came to her eye as she spoke to reporters. The good ol’ boy media jumped on this as a sign of weakness. They are playing up the emotion as a symbol of the tried and false assumption that a woman can’t be a good leader. That she would break down in times of crisis and couldn’t make decisions under pressure. I say this coverage is bullshit.

First off I want everyone to realize that I am not a Clinton supporter. I have my personal reasons and they aren’t important for this post. I do believe that she, like most of America, sees the need for change in our country. Change from the war machine pulling Bush’s strings to make the dance of death even more grotesque. Change to include more help for Americans and less spending on an illegal war based on lies. Change from the business as usual politics on the hill and most importantly change for those too poor to have any influence in their own lives.

A lot of what Hillary says is truth. She is a politician and like all of them should never be taken at face value. However she has some ideas that because of her strong voice and political clout the other presidential candidates have to talk about. Her issues should be kept in the forefront. Issues like health care for everyone. Civil rights for everyone regardless of sex, age or orientation. If these issues are kept alive others will have to answer questions and will be forced to deal with them.

I don’t see her tear or two as weakness. I think the campaign trail is tough. I think she needs a good night sleep. But most of all I see the emotion as a grief for the way our country has been treated under the Cheney/Bush administration. She is crying for change.