I would like to toast the greatest nation on Earth, America!
America came into this world and showed monarchies and dictatorships and everyone, that we, as individuals can be united in creating the greatest, most prosperous nation in the whole world, where citizens can enjoy the healthiest best lifestyle in the world; and we don't need a 'ruler' to do it. In fact, as a nation, we have proven that monarchies, dictatorships, military juntas, etc., can't compete with freedom and democratic principles.
But, somewhere, not that long ago, during the lifetime of a lot of us, here, something went terribly wrong! Somehow, we lost our way. We stopped being Americans, and we divided up into warring camps, with often eroneous lables, like 'liberal', 'conservative', 'republican', 'democrat', 'independent', 'green', etc., and while we were bickering, we let our government get hyjacked by a bunch of greedy corporate criminals, who have bought off probably 90% of our key elected and appointed officials. The scandal at Abu Ghraib is now falling on the shoulders of private contractors, Cheney's Halliburton overcharging and not deliverring paid for services to the American government, environmental problems, the Ken Lays, social security raided, an imperialistic war, torture, pollution in everyone's backyard. And, i'm not trying to blame this on the current administration. The Bush administration is just the most recent in a string of corrupt administrations. All of these problems have been coming on for a long time, and a lot of us here can remember when it started to really deteriorate.
And, almost everyone of our current major problems can be laid squarely on the shoulders of corporate America and their revolving-door lackies in government. The people that run America are headquartered or located in Washington allright, but they're not at 16 Pennsylvania Avenue. Their corporate headquarters are located all around our kidnapped gov't. They're like an encircling camp of wolves, devouring our gov't. and our way of life, and right now, they are very close to the core of our freedom and democratic principles.
At some point, during my lifetime, the scales were tipped very heavily in favor of 'corporate America' over the true American gov't., WE, THE PEOPLE!
We must stop bickering as Republicans and Democrats, as Liberals and Conservatives, because these lables have become all screwed up, thanks to corporate media. And, that's a prime example. A lot of people refer to the media as 'liberal'. Our founding Fathers were All Liberals!!, and there's not a history professor who will dispute that. The media is not 'liberal', it is decadent, it is violence, it is mis and dis information, it is CORPORATE!
In my lifetime i have seen an epidemic of deseases that weren't around when i was young. Diabetes was fairly rare. Now, its fairly common. How many people suffer from asthma or allergies, and look how many of the younger generation suffers these ailments now. Heart attacks, strokes, cancers, cholesterol problems, etc. Pollution, poor and crowded food production facilities, anti-biotic and hormone injections, crippled cows, laboratory-created 6-legged chickns sold at KFC, etc., food-processing practices, corruption, etc. That's why we see such an increase in all these sicknesses. Climate change is causing certain deseases to spread to formerly cooler locations. And, all of these things have one explanation in common---CORPORATE AMERICA'S GREED! And, the politicians are aiding and abbetting them, with legislation catered to corporate desires, and why? Because, most politicians come from 'corporate ranks' or, or and are headed into 'corporate ranks', after their 'alleged public service'. There was a time when we could follow a politicians vision and trust that what he said, was actually what he did, or at least tried to do. Those days are gone. And, if we want to keep and restore our great nation, we must be ever vigilant, as much for the politician, as for the terrorist! Believe me, the politician is far more dangerous to our democratic principles and Constitutional protections, than any terrorists ever could be! We must check their records and see how they voted and for what. We can't take them at their word. Their actions are recorded for All to see. it is on the internet and in gov't. repository libraries on college campuses, like SUCO, in Oneonta.
We've got to become Americans again and find our loyalty to our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, and not blindly to a single party, because the party apperatus has become polluted with corporate greed. And America can't find its cure in the party system. It just won't work. The solution is in us. We have to take our government back from 'corporate America' before corporate greed destroys our children's futures!