Channeling Nostradamus

Mark it down, I'm putting it here in writing. By October 15th there will be a "surprise" that rocks the international community and shifts the views of the American public. John McCain wins the presidency in a landslide vote, the sounds of danger and evils of the world will fall silent as we fall into the comforting arms of John McCain.

I only hope that this "surprise" doesn't claim the lives of many people and that our government and armed forces do everything they can to deter any sort of action against our worldwide interests despite the political boost their party may see from such an action.

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Time to Call a Spade a Spade

Let's be honest people, unless Hillary rolls out another 40-60 superdelegates in the next week or two, her mathematical chances at taking the nomination are all but over. So what the hell is she still doing giving stump speeches and campaigning around the nation? Why can't she just give it up? Because she is too smart and keen on the political workings to be defused by one defeat. I'm sure she has studied the history books and you don't have to look very far (Reagan '76 and Hart '84) to find examples of those who were strong losers in an election and then became strong front-runners in future races.

She will be one of the strongest losing candidates that our political playing field has seen for a long while. And I fully believe she knows that this race is over, "I will work my heart out for the nominee of the Democratic Party to make sure we have a Democratic president" were the exact words out of her mouth last night after winning in a landslide victory in West Virginia. As a quick aside, the primary in WVa wasn't even a battleground until Hillary declared it so last week and the results of that election were known months in advance, so those results shouldn't scare anyone in the Obama camp.

What Hillary is doing is setting herself up nice for the 2012 or 2016 run to the White House. She is getting experience in organizing a nationwide campaign and setting the seeds in local communities, recruiting volunteers and organizers that will no doubt benefit her next run for the office. These are all lofty and altruistic goals but hopefully the tone of her current campaign will not divide the Democrats and Independents enough to see John McCain into the White House. That could be her biggest mistake in continuing this campaign. If the Democratic voters feel she betrayed the party to further her own goals (by dividing the vote and wasting precious general election campaign time) she may negate her chances for the future.

So while I won't say Hillary should step down, it is time to regear your statements and views towards the other candidate, it is time to uplift and fulfill the Democratic party. Divisiveness should not be tolerated, no matter how valuable the personal goal is, this election is too important for American's around the world to have mudslinging and stereotypes sway the voters minds.

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Freedom of the Press, Voices of the People Stifled

Events is recent weeks have highlighted a problem in growing nations as well as long established powers, the dissolution of a free press, or the access of foreign press. Tibet, Zimbabwe, and now Myanmar are all refusing access to journalists who want to report on the hardships of their people.

In Tibet, the Chinese are stamping out all means of unrest that could spoil the summer Olympics in Bejing; Tibetans complain of beatings and brutal killings. In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe is hanging on grimly, trying to overthrow an apparent election loss by subterfuge and violence, after running his country into the ground for twenty years. And in Myanmar, after 46 years of iron rule by a military junta, the generals want to stop outsiders from witnessing the devastation of Cyclone Nargis. They're afraid of a threat to their power.

Unfortunately for their people, major disasters and human rights violations have caused a series of devastating events in the past weeks. In China, a severe earthquake has buries hundreds of schoolchildren and killed upwards of 10,000 people. The Chinese, for all of the consternation shown from Humanitarian agencies, is actually doing their part to help their citizens through disaster.

But Myanmar is a world removed from that reality. The government, just a day after a devastating cyclone claimed 32,000 lives (with another 33,000 still missing), decided to hold a constitutional referendum rather than delay it in order to help the victims. Girls danced and balloons were released into the air to celebrate the vote.

And the Myanmar government continues to block aid from foreign countries (and no doubt is redistributing and profiting off of the given supplies and aid) and allow their citizens to suffer. An undercover British correspondent said that as many as 100,000 may now be dead with as many as a million at risk due to disease and improper nutrition or water supply. As of now, over 2 million residents are without clean water or government assisted intervention.

It is a far cry away from the US, but instead of pressuring Myanmar to recognize its citizens (kinda like we did in Iraq) we have sent billions and will not ask where or how that money is being spent. I'm sure in 5 years there will be a beautiful new palace and government buildings, and maybe they'll even send a thank you note so the elite could live in luxury.

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