It's been a couple months since I've last posted.  I feel inspired again I guess. 

I don't think there has ever been a more important presidential election than the one that is coming this year.  After almost 8 years of probably the most outrageously unamerican president and vice president in history, the end is finally in sight.  I could go on about Bush and how he is absolute proof that we do not choose our leaders, but I'm not going to.  I'm going to use this time to talk about the potential next presidents of this country.

If you've been following the campaigns on the news or in the newspapers, you'd probably think John McCain is a lock to become the next president.  I highly doubt this.  Granted, he's done SOME good things (like refusing earmarks) the bad things he's done far outweigh the good in my opinion.  First of all, he's directly responsible for making this country less free.  He co-authored the Military Commissions Act.  For those of you not familiar with this LAW that Bush signed back in November of 2006, I'll briefly summarize.  Some of the provisions include:

-Suspension of legal rights (habeas corpus) for ANYONE classified as an "unlawful enemy combatant". 

-Only the President or Secretary of Defense have the authority to name an individual an "unlawful enemy combatant"

-Once classified, the accused can be detained indefinitely and without access to counsel, and does not have the right to either face his/her accusers OR review any evidence the government may have if such evidence is classified as sensitive by the United States government.

-After being labeled unlawful, a MILITARY tribunal is formed to determine if enough "evidence" is present to proceed with a trial.

-All trials (if any are held) are conducted entirely within the Executive Branch's authority with no oversight by the Judicial or Legislative Branches (both are denied any jurisdiction in such cases as stated by the law)

-Unlawful enemy combatants may not invoke protection under Article IV of the Geneva Conventions, or the fifth amendment which guarantees protection from self-incrimination

-Unlawful enemy combatants may be subjected to "aggressive interrogation techniques" for the purpose of extracting information necessary to "protect" the American people from terrorism.

-Anyone, including American citizens, may be labeled as an unlawful enemy combatant at any time in the interest of national security.

Apart from this outrageous law, he supports the war...still.  He criticizes the leadership, but thinks it is a necessary endeavor despite the fact that BOTH the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were unconstitutional and illegal.  He advocates a strong military and border security, which is good, but apart from that he really has no plan to fix the serious problems facing our nation.  He hasn't even suggested anything, which is even more amazing considering that he is now the Republican front-runner by a long way.  Oh, and he's like 74...if he wins I'll be surprise if he lives to see the end of his term he's so old.

A vote for McCain is a vote for the continued dismantling of our civil liberties and a vote for more illegal wars.  It's really as simple as that.  He's the wrong choice, so don't make the mistake of believing that because he was a Vietnam war hero that he cares about our country.  Don't vote for him, even though it probably won't matter anyway.

Now for the Democrats.  Hillary Clinton has no chance, thankfully.  She's a socialist and would like nothing more than to turn the United States into a welfare state like the European Union.  Europe's economy is in ruins, partly from the high taxes and government control/regulation of many social services.  But it's too late for them...unless Europeans just decided to hold a revolution and overthrow the current system (which probably won't happen).  Can you imagine the chaos of Hillary trying to make health care in the U.S. universal?  It would be a disaster and our country would be dramatically weaker.  The American consumer's buying power would drop sharply from all the taxes they are paying to help those less fortunate than they are, the dollar would continue it's devaluation into oblivion and companies would likely relocate out of the United States under the huge tax burden that would be imposed.

Hillary also voted to allow the president to launch two UNDECLARED wars on two separate countries, and voted to open the door for a third (she voted "yes" to label the Iranian Kudz Force-their special forces-as a terrorist group because they are killing American troops in Iraq).  This is a bad idea.  If she (or anyone else) supports this way of thinking then you better be willing to call the U.S. Air Force or Navy SEALs terrorists too.  It's the same difference.  They are a legitimate subdivision of another nation's military forces.  Calling them terrorists is inviting a conflict.

Barak Obama, is a smart guy.  I think he's probably my second choice.  I think he's got SOME good ideas, but his lack of understanding of the big picture is troubling.  His comments that he would be willing to use military action against Pakistan for refusing to help us hunt down bin Laden is not promising either.

So who is my first choice?  RON PAUL of course.  He is the only candidate running for President who believes that there are certain things that are not open to interpretation when it comes to the Constitution.  First, three independent branches of government are absolutely essential to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.  Second, that our foreign policy is the cause of the 9/11 attacks and the deep hatred for us in the middle east and elsewhere (this position is supported by all 16 of our country's intelligence gathering agencies, including the CIA and NSA).  Third, we need to stay out of entangling alliances (such as with Pakistan) because they tie our hands and make us less safe in the long term.  Fourth, reduce the size of the government.  Eliminate the IRS and abolish the income tax (it's unconstitutional), discard the Dept. of Education, Dept. of Homeland Security, FEMA, and the EPA...to name a few.  He believes we should get back to what the founders of this country intended and give the people back the power to govern themselves...which is likely why all the American media outlets have all but shut him down and don't present his ideas or allow him to share them.

I sincerely hope America pulls their heads out of their ass this time around and make some intelligent, informed choices at the polls in November.  The fate of our country, and possibly the world, could literally be depending on the outcome of this election.