My Dear America:
First of all let me apologize for not communicating with you since October of 2009.
I have been busy finishing what I anticipate will be my first published book.
The book will be titled the following:
LETTERS TO A LOST NATION - A Watergate Chronicle
I plan to publish it shortly after a thorough review to make sure it is publishing ready.
It will certainly be available through this Blog.
But enough about that, for now.
It was during the last weeks of 2009 that I began realizing in talking with my wife and with friends that we were not just looking at a Happy New Year in 2010 but also the start of what we hope will be a Happy New Decade. Certainly it is anybody's guess how happy we will be in this next Decade but then we haven't been too happy with this last Decade either.
Those of us who are old enough can certainly remember the start of the First Decade of the Twenty First Century.
Y2K.
Oh My God, The Computers were going to crash. That's what we were worried about as the Decade started. As I sit here writing about it the start of the year 2000 does not seem like it was 10 years ago. It seems more like it was one or two years ago. Man, this Decade went fast.
Certainly The Worst Thing that happened during the past Decade was September 11th, 2001, when we were attacked by terrorists of our own creation on our own soil in our own major American City. We watched in Amazement at the Televised Madness as the two Major High Rise Signature Buildings on the New York City Skyline became rubble in a matter of minutes, while still filled with American Citizens as they crashed to the ground
Remember the Mujahadin, who kicked the Soviets out of Afghanistan during the Reagan years. Well now one of them, Osama bin laden, along with the Taliban, who we kicked out of Afghanistan are trying to return the favor to the United States 8 years after we invaded Afghanistan to get bin laden for what he had done to the United States in New York, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The Second Worst Thing that happened during the last Decade was the 8 Year Reckless Reign of President George Bush and his despicable sidekick, Vice President, Dick Cheney. Bush and his inner circle ignored the warnings of their National Security Advisor, Richard Clarke, a leftover from the Clinton Administration, about bin laden and his Terrorist Boot Camps in Afghanistan and the result was the disaster of 9/11.
Following 9/11 Bush had the entire United States on his side as he proceeded to follow the Terrorists to their Host Country, Afghanistan, and invade that Dangerous and Massive Country, when the Taliban Rulers of Afghanistan refused to turn over bin laden to US. It was a popular move on Bush's part, which was approved of by nearly everyone in the country. Bush promised that he would get bin laden and certainly he tried. There is no doubt of that. The elusive bin laden evaded capture, however, and released taped threats toward you and US for years afterward as he seemed to travel freely across the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At some point Bush tired of the Cat and Mouse Game with bin laden and proceeded to invade the Country he had wanted to invade since his election.
Iraq
Early on in his presidency George W. Bush passed the word to his National Security Inner Circle to come up with a plan for an invasion of Iraq.
It was Iraq, after all, where George W.s Dad, George Herbert Walker Bush, refused to follow Saddam Hussein into his Baghdad Refuge following the thwarted invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Dick Cheney had been a leader in that U.S. struggle and had been frustrated by H.W.'s failure to finish the job in Iraq. Now that Cheney was second in command, at least in White House structure, he sowed the seeds of Iraqi Invasion in the mind of the new Commander and Chief.
Thanks to Cheney and Bush we are still in Iraq stuggling to get out but with the election of Barack Obama we are finally on the way out of a stuggle that we should never have gotten into in the first place.
In my opinion the Best Thing that happened in this past Decade was the Election of Barack Obama.
Certainly Republicans would dispute this selection. To Republicans Barack Obama is the worst leader we have ever had. To Right Wing Republicans like Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and others Obama is leading us to ruin.
The truth is that without Obama's Emergency Political Surgery all of the bad decisions made by Bush and Company over the 8 years he was in office could have continued to lead to National Security, Economic and Political Ruin. The hard truth is that it still could. The damage is so extensive that it may possibly be beyond the reach of even a brilliant leader like Barack Obama.
Even though they know it is not the truth, Republicans continue to dump every problem created by the disastrous Bush Administrations on the doorstep of Barack Obama.
The truth is that Barack Obama, a Dark Horse Candidate for President if there ever was one in 2008, realizes his imitations but he also realizes that unlike Bush, who alienated many countries in the world, Barack Obama is respected in much of the world. Oddly enough, after continuous refusal by Republicans in Congress to work with him in any manner, except in providing troops in foreign countries, Republicans deride Obama for not being bipartisan. It's bizarre.
And then there is that one more Worst Thing in the Last Decade, Fox News.
There are certainly worse things than Fox news in the American media. There is Rush Limbaugh, of course. He is by far the worst that the American media has to offer. But his importance and his influence is liimited to those who are willing to commit to listening to his vicious tirades on the radio for limited periods.
Fox news, however, is a non stop Television News source that pretends to be unbiased but is, in fact, a shameless mouthpiece for the Republican Party. It is Right Wing Extremist Mind Control Madness in the Big Brother 1984 tradition. But it is, unlike George Orwell's Science Fiction, a very real threat to America.
In response to Fox News, Rush and other Republican Propagandists, we have, thank God, had MSNBC and Air America Radio help to fill the sanity gap by exposing the Right Wing lies and propaganda with some truth and left wing propaganda. Thank God For Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, two of the Best People in the World, to use an oft used Olbermann expression.
Some of the other Best People in the world, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Al Franken and Al Gore.
In addition to Bush and Cheney Some of the other Worst People in the World (The list is longer) are: Joe Lieberman and every other gutless Republican Congressman and Senator who refuse to vote for anything that Obama is for. That list is long but certainly includes Mitch McConnell, Eric Kantor, and John Boehner. Other Worst people in the world include the following Hypocrites: John McCain, Elliott Spitzer, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Carrie Prejean, John Edwards, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Donald Trump.
But lets for now at least not concentrate on what is wrong with America but what is good about our country. I love living here and realize that even with its faults America is still the land of the free and the home of the brave.
In the coming months and years it is up to us who voted for Obama to recognize his faults but still respect, admire and follow him. We must let him know our thoughts regarding his policies and unlike President Bush, I do believe that President Obama truly does care about the common person and not just the well heeled contributor to his campaign.
I will support his efforts to pass Health Care Legislation even though I know that what he will sign into law will be a watered down version of what real Health Care Reform could be or should be. It is at least a start down the road toward Health Care Reform. President Obama has worked hard to bring something resembling Health Care to us and although it should be better it could be worse. it could, indeed, be the same resounding failure to do anything that we have had in the past.
Has Obama made mistakes. Of course he has. But he at least has the interest of the average American in mind as he goes about his Government business.
I wish him and us a very Happy New Year, as well as a very Happy New Decade.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
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