Educated Fool's Foolishness

I will work for all Americans, to do what is best for the nation as a whole, catering to no one group over others. Beholden to no lobby but the American people; to no special interest aside from the best interest of this great nation.

And it is true, I may ask something of you. But only so that I may return that investment 10 fold. Providing better, affordable healthcare; a return to world leading public education; training programs to help workers cope with an ever evolving economy; real, proper security at ports and other points of vulnerability; an upgrade of our infrastructure, so that we may continue to increase our efficiency and push forward with technological advances. And, just as importantly, investing in alternative, clean, and most of all sustainable, energy sources and effective mass transit.

This is what I will fight for, as I love this nation and I will not allow it to crumble as the Roman Empire did. No, it shall rise as the Phoenix and ever shine forth as a beacon of what is right and just. Leading by example, not merely in rhetoric and propaganda. This is my pledge to you.

Good Night and May You Go In Peace.

"A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. And it would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time."
- President G.W. Bush, State of the Union 2007

I've been meaning to write about this for a while now (since the state of the union), just haven't got around to it. Better late than never, right? maybe not but here goes anyway: It seems to me that in making this statement our President called for the creation of a MERCENARY Corps. Does this bother anyone else? And I haven't heard anyone talking about this at all. This could be because the line before it called for an increase in the troop levels in Iraq. If so, it was great placement to hide it from scrutiny. On the other hand this could merely be a more technical corps providing expertise in areas outside of the purview of the military, but I wouldn't bet on it. Even if it is, that's what the army corps of engineers is for and the State Department for more diplomatic issues. Of particular note is its being modeled after the military reserves, as we've seen how the Bush administration has utilized those with backdoor drafts on reservists who signed up with the expectation that they would never be deployed. And the fact that this Civilian corps would be going on missions is disturbing. I just have trouble reading this as anything other than a formal declaration of intent to use mercenaries to carry out US foreign policy, inserting yet another level of deniability for the use of illegal tactics and practices by the US government. Anyway, let me know what y'all think.

So I think a good video to draw attention to race/class relations that exist in America and is now being laid bare by the Bush administration's response to the recent tragedy would be shots of New Orleans (ALL of New Orleans, not just the French Quarter like you always see during broadcasts) and Coastal Mississippi & Alabama before Katrina, montaged along with shots of the devastation and the chaos that ensued, with the captions of the different shots, such as the one with white people having "found" food and other necessities, and the young black male who "looted" food and other necessities. With Akon's Ghetto as the background music...

Thought I'd update with some stuff I put on my myspace blog but never quite made it here. Also, the end of my stump speech, now if I only had a beginning.