Song, Music, & Mayhem

Only the more totally alienated those who are brain dead, living in a gold fish bowl, hiding under a rock or, more sadly, under a bridge have failed to sense the change in dynamics taking place in our political system. With the promising visions of a renewed Camelot taking form on the horizon, folks everywhere are being allowed to look forward to the taste of a better wine and the sounds of a sweeter music. The image of new leaders provided with more vigor, honesty, intelligence and courage capable of more good, and greater promise have stepped forward to replaced the old. .

The last hurrah of an older, selfish and discredited political system is fading along with the examples of the need for power and the greed that characterized it. The voter is now been allowed a taste of the enthusiasm, energy and promise offered by more capable leaders and there is now no longer the possibility of turning back. Soon, a new and more welcome president of the United States will arrive at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. He will bring his suitcases and his family and a nation once divided and close to moral collapse will emerge. Under this new leadership, the confusion and bitterness of past years will be set aside; it is this man and the very capable individuals he will bring with him who will return our nation to us. Wine barrels will be taped, cold beers will be inhaled, and the seals on bottles of properly bottled and bonded booze will be broken. The music will begin; people through out the nation will once again find cause to sing and dance in the street;

The evidence, and yes the statistics that so many depend on suggest that the final contest will be between the honorable gentleman from the great state of Arizona and the equally honorable gentleman from the great state of Illinois. Each will be properly prepared to step forward to engage in an open and honest debate that centers on differing ideologies and perspectives. No matter who wins, and who looses, the process will come to a close with the American people the ultimate victors.

If Barack Obama is the victor, we will have a young man of high academic achievements and capable of much good. If Johnny McCain wins we will have a president who emerged from the Naval Academy at Annapolis with a grade point average of "C" but went on to compensate by acts of determination energy and a newly discovered self-discipline and equally capable of good. It can be argued that the undeniable strengths and weaknesses of each candidate compensates for the strengths and weaknesses of the other.

A single exception worthy of dwelling on is the advantage of experience. Mr Obama may reach for the mantel of a young John F. Kennedy and perhaps rightly so; make no mistake, the man has captured the imagery of another Camelot, and all of this is a beautiful thing. But those who have forgotten should be reminded that the Camelot promised by the young and inexperienced Kennedy had a "darker side". Mistakes bordering on the tragic were allowed to take place. The withdrawal of a promise of air support at the last moment for the men landing on the beaches at The Bay of Pigs resulted in the collapse and imprisonment of good soldiers on the ground. His willingness to wade deeper into a politically corrupt Viet nam that led to the brutal assassination of the country's leaders, the more complete breakdown of social order in a war torn country, and the images of the helicopters taking off and landing on the roof top of an American embassy surrounded by enemies and caught in a final throes of agony are undeniable; The respected news journalist Walter Lippmann has described the figure of a "white faced and shaken Kennedy" that emerged from Geneva after a brutal confrontation with the saber rattling Nikita Kruschchev. Kennedy had been advised to" approach Khrushchev with "self-confidence and patience", but our country's young president saw the meeting as a "test of will" The result was the costly arms race that followed immediately, but might have been avoided.

Would a more experienced and wiser Johnny McCain make the same mistakes under the same circumstances? Go figure. But almost certainty, with the advantages of McCain's history of recognized leadership, war experience, and time spent in the examination of foreign affairs, the tragedy of the Bay of Pigs Fiasco would not have been allowed to take place. The logic that led to the horrible miscalculations of Viet nam would not have been allowed to take form. At the conference table in Vienna, there is little doubt that the Maverick known as McCain would probably have flipped the peckerwood from the USSR the proverbial American bird, provided the man a shot of good American made vodka, and a less belligerent exchange of ideas. A firm handshake may have followed allowing the leaders of two powerful countries located on separate continents to return to their homeland with their honor intact.

The probability of Mr Obama's future selection as a president of our country at some time in the future is almost certain. But let me suggest that the gentleman from Chicago would do well to wait and mature under the care and feeding of older, more experience and wiser heads. Like a young and talented prize fighter who is trained and managed by wise coaches with white hair and battle scares, the senator from Illinois would be held back, urged to make haste slowly, to train and watch and learn more before entering a prize ring against a far superior adversary too soon and too poorly prepared. A man with the speed, skill and moves of a well trained Mohamed Ali would stretch the senator from Chicago out on the floor in four; the strength and force of a George Foreman would pound the young man into the ground. Being confronted by the perseverance, fiercenes, and determination of a Joe Frazier is not a pleasant thing. My favorite, a Rocky Marciano who when entering the ring at 187 pounds was said to be capable of putting either hand threw anything less than eight inches of reinforced concrete would destroy Mr. Obama. The almost certain annihilation of this candidate's future growth and maturity that would make the gentleman from Illinois an even better leader would be a tragic loss. It would be a far better thing to provide the man with lesser challenges and the opportunity to watch and learn along the way rather than risk the complete destruction of this man along with the skills and accomplishments he has demonstrated.in a search for justice