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I don't know, maybe I have lived too long or maybe it is the fact that I have become so disillusioned with politics in this country but I feel very bad when I see what is happening to our country and for the state of affairs of the average working stiff. Could this be because I was an average working stiff for most of my life? I have watched with pride as our troops marched on Veteran's Days past and was even one of those troops for three years of my life. It made you feel really good to be an American and proud to wear the uniform of a country you loved. But all the while this was going on, politicians were cutting the legs out from under us. World War II, during which I was only a baby, was a time of extreme pride. Even those who had to stay at home did everything to help in the war effort. Some pushed themselves to the limit so our boys would have plenty of ammo, planes, tanks and trucks not to mention ships. Oh sure there were some industrialists that were making money from this effort, lots of money, but no one seemed to mind because they knew that if we didn't win this war we would be finished as a country.

Korea came next. There things were different. We were fighting with one arm tied behind our backs. This was a new trend that we would come to regret. We couldn't advance further than this line or that parallel, even if it it meant winning the war. This was one of the first wars that we fought where we were limited in our responses. This war was seen as a war of containment not a war to be won. I ask you, what could be more ridiculous than that? If we had won it, we would not have the problems we have today with North Korea. The UN troops had been pushed back to Pusan. General MacArthur took charge and broke the troops out and they blazed forward, up to the 38 Parallel which was the border between China and Korea. It was said that MacArthur frequently mentioned using atomic weapons on China. President Truman became furious and fired General MacArthur. Generals are not supposed to make statements on policy without clearing it with their superiors, in this case the Commander in Chief, the President. Here was a general who had accomplished a great maneuver and might have been in a position to end the war. I am not condoning the use of nuclear weapons, but I am saying that maybe a warning to him about not stating policy would have done the job. But here were two great egos, and the president was in charge. I have always said, if you are in a battle, you should be in it to win. This was a war where everyone was trying to make a buck. I remember hearing that we were paying the Korean railroads to put our troops on their trains and we also paid for a lot of the supplies used by other countries' soldiers. I never found out if this was true or not.

One sickening thing I did find out, was that the Commander of an American base in Japan, a full Bird Colonel, was making less than the Japanese security guard at the gate and many of the enlisted men who were living off base with their families, were having a hard time buying food. Its hard to be proud when you are hungry and no one seems to care.

The next war, I use the term war even though if may have been called a police action because it really is a war, was Vietnam. Being a service man during this time was tough. First of all, many rich kids got out of the draft which made the rest of the draftees very resentful. It was sort of like the American Civil War in this way. The only difference as far as going into the service in the Civil War was the way out for the rich was not hidden, if you had a few hundred dollars you merely bought your way out. In the Vietnam War, you stayed in school even if you had horrible grades because it was your ticket out of the war. Once you went over to "in country" you really had no way to know who the enemy was. It could be a woman holding a baby or a little boy, but the lethal results were the same no matter who pulled the trigger of that hidden weapon or threw that grenade. Things became very unfortunate for the poor Vietnamese people. Many of them were killed because we thought that they were the enemy even if they weren't. The communists had succeeded in getting our troops so nervous that they would shoot at anyone first and ask questions later, and the truth of the matter was, if you didn't do this, you were liable to land up on a slab yourself. The leaders in the South were very corrupt and we were protecting them. Many were making money from drugs. Why did our politicians insist that we protect these criminals, was it because we were scared of a communist takeover or was it because of money finding its way to the states and into the pockets of people with power who used our army and our boys to increase their fortunes?

Lets skip past the first Iraq war and go to the second. There is no doubt that we are worried about Iran. If we were so worried about Iran then why did we destroy Iraq? Did we want to give the Iraqis people better lives? If that were true than why haven't we done the same thing in many other places where there are brutal dictators? Why did we state there were weapons of mass destruction when we must have known there weren't? After all, our intelligence can't be that bad, if it were then we would have to revamp the entire CIA. Could it have been the fact that certain people wanted the oil in Iraq and also saw this as a way to eventually get into Iran? Did you know that Iran is OPEC's second largest oil producer and 10 percent of ALL the proven oil reserves in the world are in that country? Need natural gas? Iran also has the second largest reserve behind Russia. But there is a problem, Iran hates us. Because of this there can be no deals. Will Iran be the next Iraq? There sure has been a lot of saber rattling lately. Aside from the oil there are certain companies that are making a fortune providing services in the countries that we go into and it always seems to be the same ones. What is up with that? What ever happened to the system of bidding on contracts?

The were other smaller conflicts that seemed bizarre like Panama and Grenada but I will pass these up for now.

Its a funny thing, but there are certain people going around telling us that we are lucky because our gasoline is so much cheaper than in Europe and its about time we paid our share. I guess they own a lot of oil stocks. Oil producing countries like Iran only pay 40 cents a gallon. Last year gas was 14 cents per gallon in Venezuela. Cairo sells gas for 65 cents per gallon, Lagos Nigeria for 38 cents per gallon while the Netherlands sell it for $6.48 per gallon. Venezuela subsidizes it gas as a benefit to its citizens but you don't see the US government subsidizing home heating oil prices which are even higher than gas yet the product is not even as refined and is cheaper to produce. I have said this before, right now I know people that paid over $500 per month to heat small houses with oil on the East Coast of the US. Some areas that use oil to produce electricity have extremely high energy costs but you don't see the government helping out anyone. I am not talking about welfare, I am talking about a subsidiary for all. We also produce oil but people never see any benefit from this price wise.

The newest ploy is disinformation. We have a couple of hundred years of coal reserves. Gasoline is at such a high price that it would be economical to make gas from coal, the Germans did this as far back as World War II. Now there are certain people in our government going around and saying that our coal reserves are almost exhausted. It funny how everyone knew we had all this coal last year but this year it is supposedly gone. The greedy seem to be getting even more greedy.

I have been a registered Democrat, Republican and Independent during my life. I tried to get into the party that I though would be best for this country and help its citizens. As you can see, I never really found it. I think that there is one thing that I can say for sure though, things are worse now for the ordinary citizen then they have every been during my lifetime. Many people have seen the quality of their lives go down as they were forced to take jobs that paid less and less. Some now have to work several jobs to make ends meet. Their pensions have been eroded or lost when many of them were near retirement age. They elderly have watched while their drug benefits, in a country where the price of drugs is the highest in the world, have almost disappeared while putting an additional 45 Billion dollars into the hands of the drug companies. There are over 27 million people with no hospital coverage in one of the greatest countries in the world and the government doesn't care as the numbers increase. Soldiers are sent to places like Iraq and then their tours of duty are extended to hide the fact that we are undermanned. The mentally ill are pushed out of the hospitals and land up in our jails. Houses have become so expensive in some parts of our country that young people see no possibility of ever owning one. Even NASA has ignored over 20% of suggested safety improvements for the Space Shuttle and is said to be getting it ready to launch again. Doesn't anyone care anymore? Must everything be about money and ego?

How can the average person compete to get something from the government when the whole system is run by lobbyists who have unlimited funds given to them by the biggest companies, richest individuals and countries to wine, dine and who knows what with our Senators, Representatives and others. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a law against giving gifts, including dinners and anything else to members of the government? The world is certainly not a perfect place and I wasn't born with blinders over my eyes. But I have to say that the lobbying system we have today is anti citizen. Some may argue and say it is there for all to use and many unions and institutions take advantage of it. But aren't they forced to? How can they allow the other side to use this system without using it themselves? I didn't see anything about lobbyists in the constitution. I don't see where the founding fathers suggested lobbying. Even in the time of Andrew Johnson many complained of illegal acts taking place with lobbyists and some even stated that no one cared.

I see now where there are more rich people in this country than ever. Good for them I certainly have nothing against money. But shouldn't there be basic guarantees for everyone like hospitalization?

I think that it is time for a new deal for the American Public. Why should we send so much of our business to foreign countries. For example look at the auto industry. The Japanese have proven that great cars can be built in this country and profits made. Just look at Honda and Toyota and soon to be built here, Hyundai. The monopolies should be broken up as they were in the time of Teddy Roosevelt. Why is it that gasoline is almost the exact same price at every station in a given area? Why does diesel fuel cost more than gasoline when it used to be only about 1/3 of the price? Is it because the truckers need it, so they are being gouged? This increases the prices of everything shipped by truck and the cost is passed along to all of us. Why are medical costs rising faster than anything else except maybe the price of oil? Cap them. Why are our drugs so expensive and why are we being stopped from getting them in Canada? Break that monopoly. Why have certain food items risen so much, such as butter and milk? Launch an investigation. Why is the government is first releasing the fact that nine months ago a cow in Texas had mad cow disease. Get to the bottom of this, our health is at stake. Why was the cover of a spy blown and nothing done? Find those responsible and send them to jail. Why are 4 pr firms being hired by the president to improve his image? Lets guarantee the same amount of tv time to the top 4 candidates for president and not allow any more, so everyone has a chance not just the rich guy. This method could be used for Senate and House races in a small local version as well. Lets do something very unusual, lets make THINGS FAIR.