I read recently that Meles Zenawi won a leadership award from a US based newspaper called Africa Times. Most fittingly, the award ceremony was held in Los Angeles, at The Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood California, the make believe capital of the world. Is there anything more appropriate and at the same time ironic than giving a "leadership" award to an imposter like Meles in Hollywood California at a hotel named "Renaissance"? You think Meles and his gang saw the irony in this? Nah, that'd be asking too much of their minds.

Accepting the award on behalf of Meles Zenawi, Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie, Consul General of Ethiopia in Hollywood, correction, Los Angeles, said that he wished Mr. Zenawi himself was there to receive the award in person. But he told the audience that Mr Zenawi was location in the Moyale desert working as hard as ever to start another border war, this time with Kenya. OK I made this part up.

What is interesting about this story is it comes on the heels of the news that Meles finally admitted giving away some ‘disputed' land to the Sudanese government along the Ethio-Sudanese border from 100 years ago. Disputed for 100 years? I got news for you Mr. Zenawi, your whole presence in Ethiopia is disputed! And will be for 100 years. What is this man doing trying to ‘settle' a 100 year old land deal? How did a 100 year old border dispute get at the top of the agenda in Meles' Parliament over so many of the other urgent issues facing the country, like the current food shortage around the world, the Somali endless occupation or even the Ethio-Eritrea border issue which was the cause for the needless death of so many Ethiopians and Eritreans? I am almost positive that the Sudanese were probably shocked to find out that Meles was planning to resolve this issue now. I can just imagine how the conversation went.

Meles: Hello President Bashir, remember that border dispute between our countries which started about 50 years before we were born?

Bashir: Uuuhh...not really...I think so... yes? What about it?

Meles: Well, I came up with a solution for it. You can have it, it is all yours.

Bashir: Oh no no, Mr Bresident, it is really not necessary, we don't need it. We have blenty of oil now we are rich and growing. Really, we are OK.

Meles: No no no, take it take it. Just consider it a gift from my people, not Ethiopian of course, but my Tigrean people.

Bashir: Blease Mr Bresident ...my beoble are OK...

Meles: I said take it, OK? It is a goodwill gesture from my beoble, I mean people. Don't worry about it.

Bashir: OK, if you say so.

This is unbelievable! And now, what do we hear? Mr Zenawi's forces attacked a military base inside Sudan and killed 19 people? What the hell is going on here? What exactly is Meles plotting?

Reading the story, I could not help be amused at some of the comments. A Sudanese army spokesman said:

"This was an attack and we don't know the reason -- we have no problem with Ethiopia and there are no border disputes or tribal clashes in that area,"

Well Mr spokesman, I guess you don't know your neighbors that well do you? I suggest you have a little chat with the Somalis about Meles' border etiquette. You might learn a few things and save a few lives in the future.

Bereket Simon, the ever colorful former mis-information minister to the Meles regime and now ‘special adviser' offered this gem.

... the problem was that the long frontier was not properly demarcated. " Sometimes locals from both sides trespass and minor incidents do happen,"

Yep, he is special alright! The border was not demarcated properly, so as it is customary with the Meles regime, how do you demarcate a border? With innocent people's blood, just like Bademe. Mr Simon continued:

"If there was a minor incident involving local inhabitants ... Ethiopia is confident both governments will solve the problem in accordance with the prevailing peaceful norms we maintain."

Minor incident? Only someone from a regime like Meles' would consider the death of 19 people as a ‘minor incident'.

One Sudanese security source and another government official said the attack may have been because Sudan had given refuge a to local Ethiopian officials few weeks earlier and had refused to hand them over to Addis Ababa.

Get out! You're not accusing this Meles regime of retaliating for something as innocent and legal as sheltering some political refugees, are you? I am shocked! So unlike them.

It was not clear why the officials sought refuge in Sudan. Ethiopia is fighting rebels from the Oromo region which borders Sudan and who want greater autonomy for their areas.

Now that's funny. Not clear why the officials sought refuge in Sudan? Hmm, let me see...why do monkeys run back up to the tree when they see the alligator coming out of the water?

As if the meaningless war with Eritrea and the invasion of a sovereign country in Somalia was not enough, Meles is now looking for a new adventure. Is it me or does Mr Zenawi strikes you as a mad man going around the neighborhood lighting fires and watching it burn? What is his motive? What is he scheming? And how does any organization justify giving an award of any kind to such a man?

Wait, there's more. From the ‘Now What?' file, the Djibouti government announced that it would introduce a new tariff on port services. And guess who is whining about it? Yep, the same man who decided that Ethiopia was better off without the services of the port of Assab when he decided to give away Eritrea to Issays as the first step in his long term plan to dismantle and dissolve the country known as Ethiopia. Meles apparently has dispatched his Trade and Industry Minister Girma Birru, (don't you love the name, a trade and industry minister named Birru!) to Djibouti to talk some sense into them. An Ethiopian government source or a buffer to Meles said:

"The imposition of a new tariff without prior consultation would be unfair and difficult to accept,"

Translation: just because Mr Zenawi has been busy ‘resolving' his other border issues with his other neighbors, it doesn't mean that he does not have time for Djibouti. Mr Zenawi can walk and chew on starting another conflict at the same time. Someone better warn these Djiboutians that Meles would not hesitate to free them from a tyrant and a dictator any time just like he did in Somalia.

The source/buffer also said:

"The impact would hurt Ethiopia, which is suffering from inflation and rising global food and oil prices."

Hmm, didn't Mr Zenawi say that Ethiopia's economy has ‘grew well' despite soaring food and energy cost? So, which is it Their Excellency?

According to the article Djiboutian officials "could not immediately be contacted".  

Oh God, I hope they are not where I think they are. Can someone check the basement of Djibouti to see if there's anyone there?

 Barack Hussein Obama - The Presumptive Democratic Nominee

Barack Obama finally stood alone as the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for the presidency of the United States.  There is nothing more I can add to what has already been said by many about the historical significance of this moment, except that the US is one more step closer to maybe saving itself.

Although the final collective sigh of relief by people around the world may have to wait until Nov 4th, here is a sample of the reaction from around the world regarding Obama's victory.

"I've just watched him on television, and as a family we are very happy. Really, it is something that is a trendsetter," the politician's uncle, Said Obama, told The Associated Press from the port city of Kisumu in western Kenya.

In Mexico City, hairdresser Susan Mendoza's eyes lit up when she learned Obama had clinched the nomination. "Bush was for the elite. Obama is of the people," she said.

Michael Cox, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, said Obama's win "has sent out a lot of positive signals around the world." "He has a very appealing persona — elegant, fluent, strings lots of sentences together into paragraphs," Cox said. "But in terms of (his) actual policies towards the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, China, Europe — actually, we don't know."

The German government's coordinator on U.S. relations, Karsten Voigt, said many Germans "find (Obama's) mixture of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy very attractive."

Jean-Marc Damier a 39-year-old man from the Paris suburbs who works in marketing, said Obama's relative lack of experience could be an asset. "The candidate's freshness can only do good, because the way things have been done before created a mess," he said.

The Times of London, which proclaimed in a headline that "Obama waits on the threshold of history," said in an editorial that Obama's campaign "has rekindled America's faith in its prodigious powers of reinvention — and the world's admiration for America."

Ngo Van Hung, a Vietnamese real-estate salesman, said Obama "seems to be a peace lover. He would have a better understanding of how to treat people of different nationalities and different countries."

Jorge Serguera, a 70-year-old retiree in Havana, said he thought that, if elected, Obama would work to loosen Washington's nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. Obama is "a thinking man of ethics and ideals," he said. "Bush's leaving will let Cuba rest a bit after eight years."

Of course, understandably, there were some skeptics as well.  

"The upcoming president, whether he is black or white, would have the same policy," said Tarek Abdullah, an Egyptian store vendor. "Their Middle East policy and their policies towards Muslims in general will always be the same." 

Read the full story here.

In the mean time, what has Obama been up to since he clinched the nomination?  Well, a couple of things that stand out are:

First - he has pledged not to accept any donations from lobbyists and PAC's (Political Action Committees).  This is one step forward in taking money out of politics.   

Second - in what some reporters described as a very dramatic moment, Barack Obama apparently '' talked " to Joe Lieberman in private, the former Democrat now Independent Senator, about his criticism of Obama's Israel policy. 

This is a scene right out of 48 Hours.  The only thing missing was the cowboy hat and the toothpick. Look out Washington, there's a new Sheriff in town, and his name is not Reggie Hammond; it's Barack Obama!  I love it!

 

 

Obama's ascendance to the status of presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party and a favorite to win it all in November, according to several polls, is as improbable as his own biography.  A 'black' man born on the island of Hawaii to a Kenyan Muslim man and a white woman from Kansas... Kansas! (As a personal note of clarification, I am using the word black in quotes in this article when referecncing Barack Obama, with keen awareness of the "one-drop rule" regarding race in America. As a young man, he traveled overseas to Indonesia and lived with his Indonesian stepfather. After returning to the US, he studied at Occidental College in California before transferring to New York's Columbia University where he received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science specializing in international relations in 1983.  After graduating from college, he moved to Chicago where he became a community organizer before enrolling at Harvard University's Law School.  At Harvard, he became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, which is a journal of legal scholarship. In 1996, he became a State Senator in Illinois, which served as his launching pad for his political career. In a somewhat of a surprise, in 2004 he became a United States Senator from the state of Illinois beating the Republican Alan Keyes.  Even Hemmingway himself couldn't have come up with a character as fascinating as this one.  Move over Tiger Woods, there is a new 'black' star with a more colorful past ready to fill more meaningful holes in the lives of millions of Americans.
 
Martin Luther King, referencing John Donne, once said, "No man is an island entire of himself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."  But perhaps it is a man born on an island, with almost every piece of the continents in him, as a part of the whole, who just might be able to get us closer to Dr King's dream, if not fulfill it.  A man representing the two extremes of America's "stained original sin of slavery", as Obama himself put it, a Kansas white and an Africa black with all the colors in between. 

Obama's message is a simple one, "Yes We Can". Three simple words made of only eight letters, yet very potent filled with hope, optimism and a belief in the original promise of America.  In his speeches, he has repeatedly reminded people that they themselves are the ones who are in charge of their own government. By doing this, he has given voice to the people who, for a long time, felt like their voices were not being heard by the powers in Washington.  He has been able to tap into that part of the people's desire to get involved in their government by promising to bring them on board; a concept as old and as original as the Republic, but forgotten throughout the years because of the failure of leadership.  In the process, he has managed to galvanize people from all walks of life - black, white, brown, young, old, rich, poor, Democrat, Republican, and Independent.  
 
He has run a masterful campaign shattering several conventional wisdom theories about political elections in the US.  First, he has refused to resort to the old style of attack and destroy politics refusing to be dragged into the slimy and nasty side of presidential campaigning despite his opponents' attempt to do so.  He has proven to the so called experts that focusing on the issues can actually bring positive results.  Second, he has proven that big money contribution and big money influence from lobbyists and corporations is no longer the way to getting elected to any office.  With an average contribution of just over $100, Obama's campaign has used the internet as an incredible cash machine to finance his campaign by millions of Americans who are hungry for change. And finally, his campaign has shattered record after record for a primary, whether it is registering new voters or attending his rallies and speeches. What is even more astonishing about Obama's campaign is that he is on the verge of derailing the mighty Clintons' political machine in a relatively short period of time which is a rather stunning achievement.  He has all but clinched the nomination by beating Hillary Clinton in almost every meaningful category and often by stunningly large margins.  His campaign is already being recommended as a case study by CEO's of leading US companies as a model on leadership. 
 
Ed Charles, a former baseball player in the 1950's and 60's, once said that a black baseball player had to be twice as good as his white counter part in order to be recognized as star and earn the same amount of money as the white player.  In that context, what Obama has done in the much more difficult field of politics is hard to believe.  His ability to remain calm under pressure, be it from the dirty tactics of the Clintons, who by the way, as of late, have shown their true color, (pun intended), or from the corporate media that is determined to derail his campaign, is a testament to his qualification to hold any office including the presidency. As a ‘black' presidential candidate in the US, Barack Obama is well aware of the monumental risk he is putting himself and his family in by running for president.  And to have the courage to still proceed with his mission is a testament to his desire to bring true change to the country.  Someone once said that the true definition of courage is to know that you are scared but to go anyway. Barack Obama has shown his courage by running for president anyway. 
 
The presidential campaign terrain is no place for the faint of heart - especially for a man of color. But, with the grace and agility of a Michael Jordan, the intelligence and oratory skills of a Martin Luther King, the smoothness and charisma of a Mohammed Ali, the strength and  resiliency of a Jim Brown, and the courage and passion of a Malcolm X, Barack Obama has emerged as the leader for the new generation of Americans.
 
But aside from all the glamour and the excitement, the hope and dream, what does a Barack Obama presidency mean to America and the rest of the world?   To start with, it would be like a breath of fresh air to have a family of color in the White House after all these years of white Anglo-Saxon male dominated presidency.  It would send several messages to the rest of the word. First, it is still possible for anyone to achieve the highest of ambitions, as long as the person stays true to his/her belief and does not give up on the dream. It would mean that there is still a chance for anyone to achieve America's original promise even against the smallest of odds.  Second, it would send a signal to the rest of the world especially in regions where ethnic and religious conflicts are rampant like the Middle East, Africa and Asia - places where the US needs to improve its image.
 
Domestically, it would mean a fresh new start in mending the race relation that has plagued this country for centuries. Of course it does not mean that Barack Obama will solve race issues in America over night, but it would at least start the conversation about race and in addition, prove that a man or woman of color is just as qualified to hold the highest office in the country. Imagine, a ‘black' president of the United States in the White House! I can just hear the outrage and the smear from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and ‘FIX News', such as "Barack Obama has a secret plan to paint The White House black and call it "The Black House".
 
How about Obama's policies? Although he is predictably being labeled an extreme left wing liberal by the Republicans, Barack Obama is no flaming liberal. He has a long way from earning that label.  He is a moderate with a voting record slightly to the left of many Democrats in the Senate.  However, at times during his campaign, he has shown that he has the propensity to be lean far to the left on many issues. Yes, he will disappoint his supporters at times and we should be prepared for that reality. But his ability to bring different people together for a common goal, should allow him to move the country forward in the right direction. When a leader is able to bring people together in such record numbers and have them believe in his or her ideology, that leader can accomplish a great deal of his agenda.
 
So, here we are in the year two thousand and eight, early in the new millennium, at the doorsteps of history, with a young 'black' man leading the way to a new march on Washington. A march, which perhaps can be viewed as a redemption, if only partial - a fulfillment to the original one;  partial in that the possibility of a bi-racial ‘black' man to a position of presidency of the United States can hardly be proof that racism has been eradicated from the country, but it is a big step forward in fulfilling that original promise. 

"A SONG FOR YOU"

Commentary by Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann, the only real journalist left on TV today is at it again.  Here is another one of his brilliant commentaries about Bush's recent comment on why he gave up golfing.  Yes, the shrub actually said that.  Just when you thought he had run out of stupid things to say, he reaches deep and pulls out a new one. 

Please note it has 2 parts.

Enjoy!!



PART I

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!!

To all you moms who have, at some point in your life, screamed some version of these words.

Happy Mothers' Day Weekend!

... and a "prophet"

Gil Scott-Heron is one of those musicians who is serious about his craft.  His music is mostly about the human condition - racism, American Imperialism and similar topics that leave most Americans running for cover in shame.  His lyrics are poetic and prophetic. In this song he called "B Movie", which was released in 1981, right after the election of Ronald Reagan, he describes the political situation in the US in a poetic and prophetic way.  He lays out what the "Reagan Revolution" was about and what a mess it got the US in.  Here is the lyric.

Well, the first thing I want to say is…”Mandate my ass!”

Because it seems as though we’ve been convinced that 26% of the registered voters, not even 26% of the American people, but 26% of the registered voters form a mandate – or a landslide. 21% voted for Skippy and 3, 4% voted for somebody else who might have been running.

But, oh yeah, I remember. In this year that we have now declared the year from Shogun to Reagan, I remember what I said about Reagan…meant it. Acted like an actor…Hollyweird. Acted like a liberal. Acted like General Franco when he acted like governor of California , then he acted like a republican. Then he acted like somebody was going to vote for him for president. And now we act like 26% of the registered voters is actually a mandate. We’re all actors in this I suppose.

What has happened is that in the last 20 years, America has changed from a producer to a consumer. And all consumers know that when the producer names the tune…the consumer has got to dance. That’s the way it is. We used to be a producer – very inflexible at that, and now we are consumers and, finding it difficult to understand. Natural resources and minerals will change your world. The Arabs used to be in the 3rd World. They have bought the 2nd World and put a firm down payment on the 1st one. Controlling your resources we’ll control your world. This country has been surprised by the way the world looks now. They don’t know if they want to be Matt Dillon or Bob Dylan. They don’t know if they want to be diplomats or continue the same policy - of nuclear nightmare diplomacy. John Foster Dulles ain’t nothing but the name of an airport now.

The idea concerns the fact that this country wants nostalgia. They want to go back as far as they can – even if it’s only as far as last week. Not to face now or tomorrow, but to face backwards. And yesterday was the day of our cinema heroes riding to the rescue at the last possible moment. The day of the man in the white hat or the man on the white horse - or the man who always came to save America at the last moment – someone always came to save America at the last moment – especially in “B” movies. And when America found itself having a hard time facing the future, they looked for people like John Wayne. But since John Wayne was no longer available, they settled for Ronald Reagan – and it has placed us in a situation that we can only look at – like a “B” movie.

Come with us back to those inglorious days when heroes weren’t zeros. Before fair was square. When the cavalry came straight away and all-American men were like Hemingway to the days of the wondrous “B” movie. The producer underwritten by all the millionaires necessary will be Casper “The Defensive” Weinberger – no more animated choice is available. The director will be Attila the Haig, running around frantically declaring himself in control and in charge. The ultimate realization of the inmates taking over at the asylum. The screenplay will be adapted from the book called “Voodoo Economics” by George “Papa Doc” Bush. Music by the “Village People” the very military "Macho Man."

“Company!!!”
“Macho, macho man!”
“ Two-three-four.”
“ He likes to be – well, you get the point.”
“Huuut! Your left! Your left! Your left…right, left, right, left, right…!”

A theme song for saber-rattling and selling wars door-to-door. Remember, we’re looking for the closest thing we can find to John Wayne. Clichés abound like kangaroos – courtesy of some spaced out Marlin Perkins, a Reagan contemporary. Clichés like, “itchy trigger finger” and “tall in the saddle” and “riding off or on into the sunset.” Clichés like, “Get off of my planet by sundown!” More so than clichés like, “he died with his boots on.” Marine tough the man is. Bogart tough the man is. Cagney tough the man is. Hollywood tough the man is. Cheap stick tough. And Bonzo’s substantial. The ultimate in synthetic selling: A Madison Avenue masterpiece – a miracle – a cotton-candy politician…Presto! Macho!

“Macho, macho man!”

Put your orders in America . And quick as Kodak your leaders duplicate with the accent being on the nukes - cause all of a sudden we have fallen prey to selective amnesia - remembering what we want to remember and forgetting what we choose to forget. All of a sudden, the man who called for a blood bath on our college campuses is supposed to be Dudley “God-damn” Do-Right?

“You go give them liberals hell Ronnie.” That was the mandate. To the new “Captain Bly” on the new ship of fools. It was doubtlessly based on his chameleon performance of the past - as a liberal democrat – as the head of the Studio Actor’s Guild. When other celluloid saviors were cringing in terror from McCarthy – Ron stood tall. It goes all the way back from Hollywood to hillbilly. From liberal to libelous, from “Bonzo” to Birch idol…born again. Civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights…it’s all wrong. Call in the cavalry to disrupt this perception of freedom gone wild. God damn it…first one wants freedom, then the whole damn world wants freedom.

Nostalgia, that’s what we want…the good ol’ days…when we gave’em hell. When the buck stopped somewhere and you could still buy something with it. To a time when movies were in black and white – and so was everything else. Even if we go back to the campaign trail, before six-gun Ron shot off his face and developed hoof-in-mouth. Before the free press went down before full-court press. And were reluctant to review the menu because they knew the only thing available was – Crow.

Lon Chaney, our man of a thousand faces - no match for Ron. Doug Henning does the make-up - special effects from Grecian Formula 16 and Crazy Glue. Transportation furnished by the David Rockefeller of Remote Control Company. Their slogan is, “Why wait for 1984? You can panic now...and avoid the rush.”

So much for the good news…

As Wall Street goes, so goes the nation. And here’s a look at the closing numbers – racism’s up, human rights are down, peace is shaky, war items are hot - the House claims all ties. Jobs are down, money is scarce – and common sense is at an all-time low on heavy trading. Movies were looking better than ever and now no one is looking because, we’re starring in a “B” movie. And we would rather had John Wayne…we would rather had John Wayne.

"You don’t need to be in no hurry.
You ain’t never really got to worry.
And you don’t need to check on how you feel.
Just keep repeating that none of this is real.
And if you’re sensing, that something’s wrong,
Well just remember, that it won’t be too long
Before the director cuts the scene…yea."

“This ain’t really your life,
Ain’t really your life,
Ain’t really ain’t nothing but a movie.”

The Circus

OK, it’s about time I started a discussion on the 2008 US presidential race. Actually, I am overdue. So, this is the first installment of a series of articles on this topic. So hang on and enjoy the ride. It is going to be a rough ride between now and November.
 

After watching last night’s “debate” in Philadelphia , which can actually be called “The Ambush at Philly”, I couldn’t help wonder if there wasn’t some kind of conspiracy to keep Obama from becoming president.  I tell ya, there was no brotherly love coming from the city of “The Brotherly Love” - Philadelphia .  There was a lotta hatin’ coming from George ‘Judas’ Stephanopoulos, Charles ‘I am Walter Cronkite damn it’ Gibson and ABC against Sen. Obama.  It was 4 against 1, and one of them (John McCain) wasn’t even there and had a fabulous night by his proxies.  Oh, and by the way Georgie boy, how does it feel to be a water carrier for the right wing tool like Sean Hannity? Hell of a reporter you are, Georgie boy! 
   

It is obvious Mrs Clinton is using the ‘scorched earth’ tactic or in Amharic, ‘ene kemotku serdo ayibkel’ tactics.  She knows she has no chance of winning the nomination, so what she is doing is making sure that Obama doesn’t win the presidency by practically siding with the Republicans and destroying his chances.  So, how does that benefit her? Well, that sets up the stage for 2012 since McCain has already made it clear that he is going to be a one term president.  Yes, that’s how the Clintons play politics.  They can be even dirtier than the Republicans.  They have shown that to the world throughout this campaign.

So, the question is, where is the Democratic Party? Why aren’t they stopping this assault on a brutha?  What are they waiting for?  Why aren’t the so called ‘Super Delegates’ coming out and saying ‘enough is enough’ and cast their votes for Obama, who has proven to be the much better candidate than Republican-lite Hillary Clinton?  What are they waiting for - a signal from Super Man himself?  Seriously, this is getting ugly. They know the math does not add up for Hillary and poll after poll shows that Democrats prefer Obama over her.  Is there some kind of conspiracy here against brother Obama?  It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I will have more to say about this whole mess soon. 

Chereka

...WAKE UP AMERICA!!!

About 10 years ago, a group of us at work were having a discussion about US politics which was spurred by something the US government did, (I think it was Bill Clinton's ‘wag the dog' attack on Sudan looking for Bin Laden or something) and the topic moved towards US's behavior around the world. During the discussion, I made a comment about how the US has turned into an empire and that it would eventually fall just like all the other world empires in the past, only that in this case, given the advancement in technology and the nature of conflicts in the world, the US will make sure that the rest of the world will go down with it. Of course, the Americans in the group, except for one elderly gentleman, reacted to my comment with righteous indignation like any ‘true blue blooded American' would. Thank God, it was only 1998! Comments like that can get you a one way ticket to Guantanamo these days. But, I still hold that belief.

It is looking more and more like the US is inching towards that possibility, whether we accept it or not. Militarily, the US is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan in an occupation that is costing it precious lives and treasure and at the same time is saber rattling against Iran threatening to attack with nuclear weapons. The resignation of Admiral William Fallon, the top commander for Iraq and Afghanistan, who has threatened to resign if US bombed Iran, has moved the possibility of an attack closer to reality. Economically, the new ruthless capitalism that is driven by globalization and privatization, is destroying the middle class in the US and moving the country towards a third world status in terms of its economy. Politically, the US is seen as one of the most dangerous and feared countries by the rest of the world and its politicians are getting caught with their pants down more often than a tourist with diarrhea. Socially, Americans would rather watch American Idol and Dancing With the Stars than watch what is being done in their name around the world and in front of their noses. And the president? Well, it seems like he has never been in a better mood. In the middle of all these crises, with oil prices at an all time high, the economy in recession, mortgage foreclosures at record pace, jobs being lost at record level, just to name a few, Mr Bush is tap dancing on the White House porch, singing about his screw-ups at a dinner with the wonderful 'liberal media elite', going around the world and dancing with the locals in Africa, and ‘ cracking jokes about his presidency at a press conference. Yes, Nero is fiddling while Rome is burning.

I was listening to a radio program recently and the host read an e-mail sent from Norway by a Norwegian listner, which described exactly the way I feel about America and Americans these days. Here is that what he wrote.

Elliot Spitzer another seemingly decent Democrat, what a joke! You f'n Americans! The Romans, British, French, Germans were bad, but they didn't have nukes during their empire days. The USA has the potential to be the worst and the most lethal empire ever. Yeah yeah, I know, the Spitzer thing is ridiculously tiny compared to the war crimes and evil of the Republicans and most Democrats, but the Spitzer thing says so much. Who did he appear to be? Maybe not as principled and decent as Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich, but I perceived his as pretty darn close, and a potential, with real chance to becoming president - and a good one. And even if this really is mostly a personal matter, it still speaks volumes. How much does he really care about his work for the people, this Spitzer? I don't care whether it's legal or not, immoral in itself or not, I care about what this tells us about the man. Buying expensive sex from luxury prostitutes, just keep those words in mind, if this guy ever tries telling you, what he's really about. Money is what he is about; prosecuting crimes he himself is guilty of is what he is about. And by the way, I am withholding judgment of Hillary Clinton no more. She IS a monster - truly a monster. Why? It's become so damn apparent to me what she's doing. She knows she can't get the nomination; this is a fact only idiots would debate this now, so why does she continue? She continues so that she can make sure she hurts Obama so much that, evil insane old man McCain wins in November setting the scene for her to run again in 2012. So, you well-meaning idiots who call in and complain that Malloy and Hartmann (the hosts) knock Hillary too much, you better wake up. She's as bad as McCain. They will both say and do anything to become president. She and McCain do not care about the USA; they care about becoming president. There is still hope that the impressive Senator Obama is a pragmatic idealist, one who knows to tone the Liberalism down in order to win the presidency, but Hillary? No, not an idealist.

My tiny spec of optimism about the USA is now history. I'm back to expecting the worse from the USA. Show the world this November, again, that you have the most ignorant and stupid voting populous on the planet. Hear the call - important impoverished Christian peasants in Kansas and all over America, please bend over so that your rich Republican owners, mostly corporatist politicians and pedophile preachers can pick your pockets while they enjoy your posteriors. Bring your Bibles! Democrat voting common heads, who think you're liberals, you're nothing but Oprah Winfrey's audience. Naive, middle class, well-meaning idiots. Democrats, you are so much worse than you think you are. The good, decent and informed Democratic voters are as rare as good, decent and principled Democratic politicians, maybe 1 in 30. Has it occurred to you that the reason Al Gore doesn't run again is that he sees most of you Democrats as inferior and not worth his time? And all you militarists, you have any idea how pathetic you look to Europe and the world? Your pretense that any moron who has worn a uniform is by default a hero, your constant mindless whining about enemies abroad and at home - you don't look brave, like you're willing to fight any danger. What a joke! We see you for what you are. No people in the world are more scared of the world and its own shadow than the USA. You can catch Michael Moore in minor or even major factual errors easily, but his main point in "Bowling for Columbine" is spot on. The USA collectively is an illiterate scared of everything 8-year-old boy with an arsenal of weapons. You're easily scared, poop in your pants about everything, and you're dangerous and scary. That's what you are military America. But like any 8-year-old boy, you think having guns and scaring people is cool, don't you?

I'm just gonna sit here and shake my head as you all ‘f' up again in November. To the remaining few good Americans who haven't moved to Canada, Europe or New Zealand yet, I mourn with you.

Can't add anything to that! Oh and we are looking up to the US to save our problems back home, right?

Incidentally, did I mention the writer lives in the most peaceful nation in the world? Way to rub it in! And where does US rank? 96th out of 121 countries, just before Iran.