NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY and other random thoughts

Today I sit here typing a post on my sons brand new HP Pavilion dv9000, state of the art laptop.
What a beauty.
While it has more bells and whistles than I need, it sure is a beauty.
What a joy it is to have a computer that actually responds when you click on something.
Why is it that the kids always seem to have the things that we want, before we get around to getting them?
I spent a good portion of yesterday and this morning researching laptops, and have just about made my choice.

The same goes for voting in the upcoming New Hampshire primary.
I watched the debates from St. Anselms College last night and came away with a couple of impressions.
I reaffirmed my new found disdain for the Republican party.
And the Democrats earned a little more of my respect.
It isn't easy for me to side with the Dems.
New Hampshire is historically a GOP enclave. And being a business man, Rotarian, and soon to be member of the Board of Directors of our Chamber of Commerce, I have a lot of friends and associates who are steadfast supporters of the
Republican Party.

The Republicans embarrassed themselves yet again in front of a national television audience.
As has been the rule lately, they spent a majority of their on air time trying to explain why Barrack Obama wouldn't be a good President, and arguing amongst each other.
Polls had John McCain leading in the Republican primary, then Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee.
It's my opinion that Huckabee came away from the debate looking like the best choice from that party.
McCain and Giuliani spent most of their time sending barbs Romney's way, and he took to much of it to heart and became visibly shaken by it.
Fred Thomson was the joke that he is, and Ron Paul was left out in the cold, never getting to say much of anything.
When Huckabee spoke he was on point, articulate, and highly presentable, choosing to discus the issues at hand, and his ideas on how to deal with them.

The Democrats chose to be, for the most part, focused on the issues, and what they as President would do to correct things and lead us back to a position of respectability globally.
Hilary did her best to start trouble with Obama, but found out quickly that doing so pitted her against the team of Obama and Edwards.
Could they be aligning themselves to partner in a bid for President Vice President?
I think that Edwards won the debate followed by Obama, Richardson, and then Hilary.
more important, I think the Democrats won the overall debate because of their candor, message of standing for change, and willingness to stay on subject.
We can't afford another four years of smash mouth politics.
We need a President that understands diplomacy and cooperation, and yet has the backbone to make serious decisions regarding world issues.

Because of my life position I've been accused of being one dimensional.
Of being in favor only of the candidate that calls for an end to the war in Iraq.
That simply isn't true.
While I know that there is no military answer to the problems in Iraq, I understand the logistical problem of pulling out without a well vetted plan.
However, it becomes more apparent daily that the Iraqis just aren't appreciative of our support. (A subject for a future post).

We need a president that will deal with the problem of illegal immigrants living in our country.

We need affordable health care insurance for all Americans.

We must lower our dependence on foreign oil.

We need to take steps to lessen global warming.

We need our constitutional rites back.

We need a government "of the people, for the people, by the people".

We need all of these things sooner than later.



So regardless of what happens in the primaries, and caucuses, it will be important in this election to vote for the candidate most able to make the correct choices to lead us away from the the terrible state of affairs that eight years of George Bush has delivered us to.

If we want our children and grand children to realize the comforts and rewards of an America that is viewed by the world to be a model for democracy and return us to our stature in the world, we need to take action now.

Last we heard Matt is doing ok.
In his words, things aren't as calm as our media would have us believe.
They continue to get hit by ieds frequently, and there has been an escalation of sectarian violence in the neighborhoods of Mugdadiyah.

At my age it seems foolish to wish time away. However, July can't come fast enough.