Greg Hollingsworth

With the revelation (or perhaps accusation is more appropriate) today that Senator Clinton has begun push-polling in North Carolina as the straw that broke the camels back, I'm begging. Could everyone please stop talking about how horrible any specific politician is? Seriously, they are all using the same dirty tricks, to win the same dirty job in the same dirty government. So what if Clinton is using push polling? Would you expect anything less from a consummate politician surrounded by and married to consummate politicians/political strategists? If they are using push polling techniques and they are effective, what does that say about voters in our country? What it says is that they are easily swayed and will believe just about anything that someone tells them over the phone. That is a truly sad statement. Here's what I'm really afraid of though, and it has nothing at all to do with who the next occupant of 1600 Pensylvania Avenue happens to be. What I'm afraid of is the Republican party regaining control of congress, that is scary. You know what else, it's probably going to happen. 18 months ago the Democrats managed to gain a slim majority in the House and an even slimmer majority in the Senate (thanks to Joe Lieberman, who is now permanently attached to John McCain's hip). This Democratic led congress claimed a mandate from the people of America. They claimed that the people of this country were tired of politics as usual. So what have we gotten out of this congress, well, one significant bill (raising the minimum wage), a bunch of non-binding resolutions and a slew of watered down legislation that basically gave in to every republican demand so that the bill wouldn't be vetoed. With an approval rating lower than that of President Bush, why would voters send those people back for another term? The Democrats made a lot of promises during the 2006 campaign, and those promises allowed them to swing conrtol of Congress completely for only the fourth time since we began directly electing Senators. How many of those promises have they come through on? Well, how many? They weren't promises made to me (because I didn't vote for them, ok, well, I voted for one of them, but mainly because I was tired of his opponent). With an approval rating hovering in the low 20's, I have to assume that they haven't delivered. The last time that happened was in 1952. Eisenhower and the Republicans swept into power in 1952, and all the congressman that followed him to Washington got sent home in 1954 because they didn't deliver on their promises. The Democrats held congress for the next 40 years. The similarities between the two elections (1952 and 2006) are sort of scary. We were in the middle of an unpopular armed conflict (Korean War - Iraq War), the President's approval ratings were at near historic levels (Truman as low as 22% - Bush as low as 26%), and there was a looming threat to the security of our way of life (USSR - Al qaeda). So will we see history repeat itself? I hope not, and not because I'm a democrat (I am not a member of any political party and I am libertarian in most of my political views). I hope that the Democrats can maintain control of congress because I don't want a government that can't agree to do anything. For once, even if it's only for two years, I would like to see Washington accomplish something. However, my prediction is that it will happen. On the morning of November 5th I think that we will have our first ever black President. Unfortunately for him, he'll be greeted in Washington by a brand spanking new Republican controlled Congress. I hope that i'm wrong, I really do.

To begin with, this is the link to a fairly well translated copy of the letter: http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_documents/ahmadinejad0509.pdf So what are we to make of this long, and sometimes rambling letter from Iran's newly elected "president"? Well, to begin with, let me take a moment to make a couple of points before I speak directly about the letter. First, President Ahmadinejad does not believe that the Holocaust occurred. Now I've heard just about every revisionist theory on the Holocaust that I can stomach, and to tell you the absolute truth, it happened. There is just no question about it. Whether the Iranian President wants to believe it or not, it happened. Second, President Ahmadinejad does not believe that Israel has a right to exist. This one's a bit trickier. While he is correct that 75 years ago, Israel did not exist, he is incorrect in stating that it has never existed. I think that most Biblical historians, not to mention Q'uranic historians, would have to at least acknowledge the Jewish kingdoms that existed in Judah and Palestine prior to the existence of the Islamic faith, and certainly prior to Islamic control over Jerusalem and Palestine. Now, the letter. First, I would like to applaud President Ahmadinejad for challenging President Bush to do something he doesn't do very often, read something written at above a 6th grade reading level. I would also like to applaud him for actually making a gesture towards diplomacy, whether or not it is genuine is yet to be seen. Given that President Ahmadinejad is the head of a "democratic" government that is not run by the people, it is hard for me to take anything he says too seriously. When he gets rid of the Mullahs, and puts an end to the theocratic rule of the Shar'ia laws within Iran and allows the people of his country to participate in their own government, I'll think about taking him seriously. I have read many comments on this one, ranging from the letter being complete and utter bullshit, to being a thoughtful, well argued letter with very humanistic overtones. Personally, I think it's somewhere in the middle. I don't believe for one second that if Ahmadinejad had the capability and wasn't somewhat concerned with the possiblity of American retaliation that he would wipe Israel and all the "Zionist" governments of the world right the fuck off the map. But at the same time, he does have some good points, however, they are far from original. What the letter tells me is that the President is breaking his own laws, and watching American satellite TV. The biggest problem I had with the letter is the major religious overtones. I understand that President Ahmadinejad is a "teacher", but he's obviously not much of a student of American government. Hold on a second, calm down, put away the "this country was founded on Christian principles for Christian citizens" stuff and just listen for a second. Many of our countries laws are based not on Christian principles, but on Jewish principles, lest one forget that it was Moses, and not Christ, who brought the commandments down from the mountain. I've read the bible, and I am pretty sure I never read a quote in which Jesus said anything as succinct as "Thou Shalt not Kill". Our laws have as much in common with the the Shar'ia as they do with "the meek shall inherit the earth" or "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Now, while there are many in this country who will continually state that this is a Christian country with laws based on Christian morals and a Christian sense of ethics, I say simply this, you're wrong. The United States was not founded, and is most certainly not run, based on the principles set forth by Jesus Christ, who (whether or not you believe was the son of God, a prophet of Allah, or simply a man) had a lot of really good shit to say. I am not a Christian, don't pretend to be, don't believe in God (or do I?) and certainly don't appreciate anyone telling me what to think. President Ahmadinejad makes a clear mistake here, or perhaps a gross misunderestimation, of President Bush. He actually seems to believe that our politicians, and President Bush in particular, actually give a rats ass about the teachings of Christ (PBUH). I don't know if President Ahmadinejad is sincere, it is hard for me to disagree with many of his points. In point of fact, really think about this one, Who Would Jesus Bomb? But at the same time, it is hard for me to take the word of a democratically elected leader who has neither the courage nor the power to change his country for the betterment of their society. And you can just take a hike with all the cultural relativism crap right now, last I checked, it's simply flat out wrong to stone someone in a soccer stadium for exposing their ankle to a man outside of their family. I think the real question that this should be posing is this, given all the questions that President Ahmadinejad raises about the teachings of Jesus Christ, how in the name of all that's holy can the Republican party claim to be the party of moral and religious authority in this country? How can a party full of corrupt officials, liars, traitors and warmongers truly represent the moral backbone of this country? Oh wait, I forgot, the answers really easy. More conservatives vote than liberals, because quite often, the liberals can't stop bickering long enough to support one another. Oh, that and the fact that between 50%-60% of the voters in this country aren't represented by either party. Well, that's it, I'm done with this one, my cup runneth over, and yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Bush, I shall fear no legislation, for thine is the kingdom, the glory, and the power to tap my phones and read my emails.