Does the Saturday, September 24, 2005 antiwar protest demonstrate that a majority of Americans now recognize the Iraq war as a mistake?

While polls show that a majority of us do believe that Mr. Bush has mishandled the war in Iraq, it would be foolish to believe that most of us are also able to admit that the invasion of Iraq was a blunder. It was encouraging to see that perhaps as many as 300,000 people marched past the White House while Mr. Bush was away trying to demonstrate that he is able to be physically and mentally present when natural disasters threaten American cities. However, I fear that most of us have little idea of what alternate course the ship of state should be taking instead of war in Iraq motivated solely (as it turns out) by oil dependence and personal vendetta on the part of Mr. Bush and the oil oligarchy.

It is my humble opinion that the Democratic Party must find a new dynamic leader. One who is already present on the national stage, or who is about to step onto that stage, a leader who is capable of clearly and powerfully articulating such an alternate course. It is also my humble opinion that such an alternate course must include the following.

*

1. An actual plan for removing our troops from Iraq.
2. A program that prioritizes the rapid development and deployment of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power with the ultimate goal to free us from oil dependency.
3. A program to reconstruct outmoded transportation infrastructure both air and high speed rail in the USA.
4. Once the high speed rail and air transport (that is not begging the government to rescue it) are in place, Americans need to be given incentives to use these modes of transportation instead of their gas guzzling automobiles.
5. Incentives must be applied to the automobile industry to make fuel-efficient highbred cars that can take advantage of stored electric power obtained from wind and solar installations.
6. Incentives that will encourage Americans to save more of their money.
7. Incentives for commercial enterprise to employ within the nation instead of outsourcing employment to other nations.
8. Moral leadership based on a concern for all members of our society, as opposed to divisive political and religious posturing that scapegoats and/ or ignores particular segments of our population according to socio/economic class, religion, race, ethnicity, sex, or sexuality.

Such a leader must also posses the rare quality of being an honest, straight shooter. He / she must be able to “tell it like it is.” At the same time he / she must be diplomatic. These two qualities can and often do coexist in the very best people. There are those of us who are able to speak honestly without hurting other’s feelings. (Unfortunately, I am not one of those people.) Such a person might be our next president.

*”edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/cardboard/boa…” Google Images. Friday, September 30, 2005 at 7:08 AM. EDT.

Jim's Health

I am pleased to report that my friend seems to be getting stronger by the day. Even he acknowledges that he is able to do more with his left arm. He is raising it almost to sholder height, and he can move the fingers in his left hand. He even held an empty coffee dup yesterday. He didn't use the handle - still -it was a first, and he almost did a dance.

Katrina Relief

Don’t forget to donate money to the American Friends Service Committee for relief along the Gulf Coast. The Friends are much more likely to do good things for the unfortunate people of the region than anyone I can think of, and they will not proselytize while doing so.

Please E-mail me at

ZacSfuts@aol.com

with comments. I do so like to have the opportunity to communicate with readers.

Visit my homepage at AOL Hometown.