POLITICS; WHAT A GAME.

If politics is a game, then it is a real dirty game indeed; for all you have to do, for the most part, is to engineer a whole amount of mud and sling it into your opponent's camp; and the purpose of that is to do as much damage as possible to his or her image.

If you cannot participate in the mud slinging strategy, then stay out; because the more mud you catapult over the wall, the more recognition you tend to get from those that are supposed to be fair and honest in making sure that a contest is equally balanced for its players.

Do what you can to smear more dirt on any one attempting to challenge your position, and gaining ground in a fight is what you must aspire for, and that is what matters most in the arena. What people are watching or waiting to see is who is being pulverized, and who is getting hurt.

No; there is no fairness anywhere; and the only characters you dare to trust are the paid help that is loading the mechanism to inflict disdain on others.

This may look like an old story, but it is happening now for those who are canvassing the voter for prominence, in light of the forth coming general election, so that he or she will become the choice of his or her party, and wing himself or herself to the top of the heap.

The 2012 general election campaign has already started; and the speeches by candidates, and even potential ones, are becoming more scathing than ever. That will be the trend from now on, until November of this year, when a choice will be made for one party's candidate to win the election or re-election, as the case may be.

It may be that President Barack Obama has no visible challenger in his own party, but the other party is working on it to bring commotion in his territory. Names are being bandied around in the media; and although, he himself has not made any personal attacks, he has received truckloads of criticism from all sides; and especially, from his opponents.

That is where the mud slinging always starts; from the other side, depending on where you yourself want to stand on the issues.

Whether you are a liberal, a Conservative or an independent, you must choose at least one issue that will interest you, to be able to make a final decision. There must be a preference between the two factions, or you will not be performing your civic duty as a citizen.

Now, there are those persons, who have made themselves into king makers, and they are the pundits, pollsters, analysts and news contributors, who are purported to be neutral, due to the journalistic obligations of some of them. They have to be that way, because a journalist has to be objective; and that must go for the rest of them as well, but are they?

On the one hand, they are pitting the two front runners of the Republican Party, Romney and Perry, against each other, and managing to get Paul and Bachmann to be rowdy in their statements; while on the other hand, they are pushing Obama in front of voters and showing his failures.

Also, they will make comments, such as, this person is a veteran, and the other one is not, and therefore he is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief. Or that person has been a businessman all his life, and so, he is the one who can create jobs; but the others a all politicians. Or one has migraine headaches and he or she is very forgetful, and so that will affect his or her performance as president. One is even dumb, they tell their viewers and listeners; and so on and on it goes.

In a sense, they are providing material for the mud slinging in both parties to intensify; and if that continues, the campaign will be so fierce and unimaginable that, whoever wins the election will regret it.

All the candidates have their individual plans that will place them in good stead; or so they think; however, if the tirade and mud slinging will not cease, then this campaign season will not fare well for anyone. It will really be dirty; after all said and done.

Speeches "marked by intemperate, vituperative, or harshly censorious language" are becoming too common.

So far, Obama has not indulged in any of that, or has he started any kind of smear tactics of his own. Yet, everybody seems to be doing it, so why not he? Will he therefore emulate the others in the coming days ahead?.

LABOR UNIONS & THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

The Democratic Party and labor unions have coexisted side by side, and in harmony, over the years; and any political issue that separated them was quickly sorted out and settled.

Theirs has been a traditional relationship until now, when the AFL-CIO was having problems with the Democrats.

It is threatening to scale down its contributions to the party for lack of support, with respect to labor issues; and that will be intolerable, in terms of financing political elections in many key states. Therefore it must be a problem the Democratic National Committee have to seriously look into before the campaign for the 2012 general election begins. Otherwise, the party will be at a great disadvantage, if not at a complete loss.

Labor's support cannot be underestimated, with respect to the Democratic Party winning elections; and if that is to diminish, then President Barack Obama will have a difficult fight ahead of him, since the Republican Party is preparing to spend huge amounts of money to promote whoever becomes the party's candidate for next year's contest for the White House. The Grand Old Party will spare nothing to gain the upper hand in bringing his administration down.

With that said, the Obama camp must not try to rely on die-hard and grass-root backing of the Democratic Party alone; or considered that as being enough to face the grand challenge that was being prepared by the opposition.

The frustration of labor was not conducive to the general well being of the country, if it was allowed to interfere with today's political environment. Labor Unions removing the voting power of their membership from the Democratic Party, would create an open season for those who hated the unionization of workers.

Their financial contributions would go to fill the war chests of independent candidates and/or the Republican Party, and cause them to win any and every election that could be termed as "close".

In other words, if labor unions withdrew their previously unflinching support for the Democrats, all political battles would be won by those who have policies to restrain collective bargaining, for example; and also have no inclination whatsoever to permit any laws that would strengthen unionized or labor organizations.

At the moment, what is required of the Obama administration is making the rate of unemployment to reduce to the minimal. Job creation is the most urgent problem for the government to deal with; a priority that will need the fullest attention the situation deserves, to please all sections of society.

Anything else, must be shoved aside; including even the deficit reduction crisis that the U.S. Congress and, particularly, the Super Committee will be focusing on to put the country's economy back on track.

The Democratic Party dare not offend the AFL-CIO and other unions at this point; and whatever their grievances are, they must be redressed before too late. Or else, there will be changes that will not be suitable to the party, or suit the tastes of the unions.

WHO WOULD BE THE ONE?

Americans like to hear politicians talk; they like to listen to speeches on issues that interest them most, and they like to show their appreciation, when someone gives a really good speech.

However, what politicians should always guard against should be what they chose to speak about, and how much knowledge they had on that topic. They have to be conversant with a topic by having a whole amount of information to give to support the facts that they thought were related to it.

Otherwise, they would sound boring and monotonous, by circling around a subject with the same language or statements. They would only be going round in circles, by changing their words to explain a subject on which they had a limited amount of knowledge; and that would not suffice.

A lot of that has been happening lately in the campaign for the 2012 presidential election, even though, the actual campaign season has not really started yet; and that seemed to have put some politicians, who already were candidates, in the failing grade.

There should not be any finger pointing here, but some persons should be more careful about what they said on everything that they attempted to deal with, in terms of how they approached whatever that was, or they were likely to put their "foot in their mouths".

That would not fare well for any candidate on the Republican Party side. For they, being the challengers, should be wary of what they said, particularly on specialized topics, such as the national economy, and how to get it to improve. They must sound impressive on such topics beyond everyone's expectation, to indicate that they were in the know.

Several versions of plans have been proposed, including the newest one that President Barack Obama intended to reveal in September (He is still a candidate on the Democratic Party side, until his reelection bid succeeds).

There was the Bachmann one, which would make a $2 dollar price per a gallon of gas a real possibility. (Be mindful of the fact that campaign promises have not started as yet; but don't hold your breath).

There were the Romney and Perry types, which were similar, because they were geared to job creation. They would involve programs favoring the business world and the financial industry, respectively. The only obvious aspect missing in those plans was that, they had nothing in them, in the form of peace offering, for the middle or working class people.

Whether wages would go up at a rate comparable to corporate profits; or if workers and labor unions would have better conditions in the workplace, were factors which were simply overlooked. Those and other items favorable to unions and workers, even if they were mentioned in speeches, have not been fully specified in sober terms for the ordinary folk to grasp or comprehend.

Some even thought, without any doubt, that the unions and working people have been practically left out of the two and almost identical plans; and such sentiment has stemmed from the speeches of the two men.

Businessman Herman Cain has a proposal that was aiming at an economy that would seemingly interest the business world only, because it was completely soaked in capitalism. It was fraught with uncompromising and silly ideas that would make the most ardent business person blush; by insisting that the business world was "the engine" that carried the caboose (economy). The engine must therefore be fueled with capital investments, and that would get the economy moving again.

People knew what he was talking about; namely, the internal and international business transactions that the U.S. was involved in, and which drove the economy. Yet, his description of the country's economic picture was so simplistic in such a way that, it brought out so much laughter from his audience, each time he repeated it. They even made a joke of it, by saying that what was in the caboose, nobody could tell.

In fact, each of the candidates has formulated a plan of some sorts to fix what they all described as an economy on the blink. Their policies would be totally different from that of the president; they have all systematically maintained. However, there was no actual specificity in any of those plans; except for the $2 dollar gas price, of course.

Only if they would come out with policies that people would understand and be able to choose from, because they were viable propositions, instead of leaving them (people) guessing of what their intentions were. Until then, they would have a hard time in convincing potential voters that they were serious about tackling the issues they would face in the future.

Right now, it was very difficult to make anything substantial out of their speeches, because they were virtually empty and void of specifics; notwithstanding the fact that the campaign season was not here yet. It would be worth their while, if they made people (to) become aware that they have the wherewithal, as well as the right credentials, to occupy the lofty position that they were clamoring for; the presidency of the United States.

Besides, there was very little doubt that any of them could challenge Obama, despite the present lousy economy. Liberal and independent voters were hoping that his newly proposed plan would work to reduce the rate of unemployment, and that would get the economy up and running again; they would then vote for him, as they did in 2008. He was, undoubtedly, going to need them.

The most formidable responsibility would be for the Republican National Committee to select the one person that its members thought was more vocal, perceptive and well informed, to face off with Obama in the 2012 general election. Who would that person be?

No one would dare to answer that now; for when that critical moment should come, the repetitive, frivolous and empty speeches would have ended a long time ago. They would have been thrown out of the window; and the Republicans would have made a better choice. Let us hope so.

For now, Americans like to hear facts from politicians, because there are more problems ahead that will need real solutions.

PHENOMENAL INDIFFERENCE.

There must be some truths in politics, some of which are on the surface and therefore plain to see. Others tend to be emotional and therefore covert or concealed; and they are the ones that can be dangerous and detrimental to the well being of the people in a country. The latter part of this statement goes for any and all countries.

Whether the second part of the statement above is right or wrong, remains in the mind of each individual person. People have to extend how they think and feel into the affairs of society; and depending on the political goals they have for themselves, they choose to decide on what sort of actions to use to achieve them.

Partisanship, psychologically, stems from the fact that people join heads with those they think they have the same or similar ideological thoughts, be it a social club, an organization or even a political party; through which they can influence others, especially on the outside of their rank.

It is, somehow, a human trait, and it is overlooked by ordinary folks, but not those that are intellectually smart, and who know how to utilize the power derived from what can be termed as ordinary thinking, and cause events to change direction.

That is where leadership comes from; but that is also where many insufferable things are born. That power can build or can tear down; it can create support for an idea or dismantle any interest shown by the public for even a noble cause.

Demographics have indicated how people behave through the strength of thought; and social change of any kind has found its source or roots to be connected to groups, usually of a few individuals, that have been able to master the art of converting imagery to reality.

If that is not true about American politics today, then nobody knows what is. For the fact remains that, a person of a different ancestry has been given the finest opportunity to lead the greatest nation the world has ever known, and through sheer human trait, as mentioned before, his efforts are being undermined.

He cannot solve problems, due to the many impediments that are being placed in his way. Impediments that are being orchestrated by those, who are willing to use his image to convince others that there must be a better person to take his place.

No one is accusing any political organization of doing such a thing, but that seems to be the picture of President Barack Obama attempting to steer the country out of an appalling economic situation; but he is meeting with such strange and stiff opposition from all sides.

It has been that way, from the very moment of the start of his administration to the present.

One can hear statements as, "His policies are killing jobs," and "Obamacare must be repealed, for it promotes social medicine,". Or, "Inventors have chunks of money sitting on the side, but they will not invest, owing to the many regulations that he has imposed on the business world," and "Spending by his government is increasing the national debt," Or "He must be blamed for the slow growth of the economy,".

The United States Congress will not permit him to raise the debt ceiling, until it becomes too late for the country to lose its high credit rating status. In fact, the indifference toward his administration by the august body (Congress) has been phenomenal.

The country is hemorrhaging with an acute unemployment in double digits, and must corporations and businesses stand by and refuse to help? If so, why is that so?

The general attitude must derive from something that only human trait is responsible for; and the only explanation will be that he is not getting his way, because he is a minority.

That, at least, is one of the truths in politics, even in the American kind.

MOVING THE ECONOMY FORWARD.

President Barack Obama's new job creation policy should be straight forward in dealing with the main problem; namely, unemployment.

He must have the advice of both labor and industry, and then combine that with what his experts on employment would suggest, in order to make the policy to be generally acceptable. Pleasing one side alone, be it labor or industry, would not "cut the mustard".

The economy must start to grow more faster, and the issue of unemployment should be the ultimate factor, which should get his attention, instead of any other related problem, such as the mortgage and foreclosure epidemic.

It could be tackled too, but with people having the chance to work and earning sufficient income, they would tend to pay their mortgages and the rent. Foreclosures would then, directly or indirectly, slow down.

Finding jobs for the out of work population would be the driving force behind the coming presidential election, as every candidate on the Republican side claimed to have a more specialized handle on job creation.

One of them even has the "corner on the market", when it came to job creation; and he has vowed on so many occasions that he has the numbers to prove it, and that he could do it again. That, incidentally, was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.

However, making assertions alone was not significant; for actions must speak louder than words. That would be the only way out for the present crippled U.S. economy; and every candidate has equal right to undertake that responsibility, if he or she was given the privilege.

What was going on with the stock market going up and down should not be a gauge for straightening out the economy, although the market's activities played an important role in offering an assurance of a healthy financial state of affairs.

However, the idea that everything that was happening on Wall Street affected the direction of the economy was not always correct. Corporations and big companies had all kinds and different sets of rules to adhere to, and that made them to be independent entities to a large extent.

The economy would always connect with people having money and spending it on essential consumer goods; building up confidence in the market place, and thus creating an atmosphere of supply and demand, for manufacturers and other investors to gain profits on their investments.

AFL/CIO President Richard Trumka was urging President Obama to "put forth 'bold solutions' to the nation's unemployment crisis,"; when the president announced his new approach to the problem in his September proposals.

He (Trumka) could have his say; yet, it must not be that he should influence the president to favor the labor sector and the middle class working people over the business and private sectors.

The proposals must be balanced to suit the needs of all sections of society, so that there would not be gridlocks in getting the economy back on track in Washington D.C. Something that has caused several CEOs to sign a document to withhold political contributions, until such time that the attitudes of politicians changed and made Congress a place for the "meeting of the minds", as it should be.

It (Congress) has been a cockpit of some sorts lately, during the debt ceiling and deficit reduction debates; as its members have forced the nation to deal with so much aggravation, and thus causing the performance approval rating of both Chambers to deteriorate to a mere 14%, respectively.

If the president was going to achieve any amount of success in improving the state of the economy, he should not only listen to his base, but to both sides of the isle. His own approval rating, which was 39%, the lowest he has ever had, would surely go up, to give him the opportunity to win his reelection bid.

He must be aware that the others were not far behind with their own comparable plans; and therefore he must produce a working one that could speedily move the country forward economically, of course.

LIBYA'S FUTURE.

Would unity ever come to Libya after Gadhafi? That is the question that a great deal of people are asking.

The rebels who are now fighting to oust their nation's despotic leader have the support of the United States and it allies; notably NATO being the logistical machinery and military force behind the rebels' objective; and that is to uproot Gadhafi.

However, after the gunfight has seized, would there be conditions that would enable the rebels to form a legitimate government and be able to run Libya without internal friction? Would there be a peaceful Libya?

That is what most people are hoping for; but it must be borne in mind that Libya is a fragment of tribes and cultures; and its people have come under several ancient powers, like the Carthaginians and the Romans. Its history is a pattern of convulsive influences; the last being the invasion of Arab forces in the 16th century and making it part of the Ottoman Empire.

It then became the United Kingdom of Libya, after the Second World War, until Moammar Gadhafi came to power and militarized it.

However, that is history, and the present rebellion is bound to come to an end. Yet, no one can tell what type of a country it will be, after it is all over and the Libyans have reclaimed their freedom from the autocratic Gadhafi regime.

The Traditional National Council, which has now assumed responsibility of governing Libya, has many challenges to face, in terms of bringing all the various tribes together and forming a unified government; asserting its force and control on the myriad of weapons that the regime has stashed away; and keeping extremist factions, who were likely to take that country into becoming a "Jihad state", out of the picture.

At the most, the rebellion had gained world attention and support, because the common outcry was for freedom and democracy to replace the outlandish military style of government that had existed, since Gadhafi took over.

The United States and its European allies, through the United Nations, have gone to the aid of the rebels to usher in victory for their cause. Yet, would the Council be able to hold on to the enormous task of rebuilding Libya?

How the TNC or NTC was formed should be out the question, as it would be after the fact; but would its members be able share Libya's vast oil resources equally, by putting tribal and even racial wranglings aside? (There are racial differences and problems in Libya).

How about the Gadhafi loyalists? How are they going to be handled by the new government? Would there even be a one and independent Libya as we know it, in the next few months?

These are some of the questions the rest of the world is pondering; with the hope that the Council has plans that can unify the "new Libya".

Gadhafi was an obnoxious individual; however, what would come next? That would be the biggest question of them all.

If the Council could hold Libya in tact, and played its cards right, in terms of its advocacy for peace, freedom and democracy, the whole world, with the U.S. leading the way, would rally behind it to make Libya an important member of the comity of nations; The UNO. Libya's future would be bright.

That is the hope of many Americans for Libya.

THE ECONOMY; AFTER LIBYA.

Now that Libya is almost behind the United States and its allies, let the government turn to the economy and ease the tension between businesses and the administrations's reforms, full of regulations, some of which happen to be too stiff.

It would be wise for President Barack Obama to deal with the "red tape" that the financial and business sectors are feeling strongly about. He has to do that now, while there is still more time to plan his campaign, in order not to rein in the victory he expects for his re-election to become a possibility.

In fact, if he takes his re-election seriously, he will get the economy on terra firma (firm ground) first, with the myriad of unnecessary regulations simmering down, (which rhymes with unemployment levels going down), for the hiring of workers to start now and not later.

For it must be emphasized that, if UNNECESSARY regulations are what are preventing the economy from growing as fast as he wants, then he must find a way to decipher the ones that are hampering his economic progress and throw them out.

Business owners and corporate executives are people too, and they have their political affiliations as well. So, they are not going do any hiring, even if they can, just to hurt a candidate, with whom they are at loggerheads.

Therefore, in his "NEW" plan to put people back to work, there have to be ideas coming from farmers, small business owners, importers and exporters, CEOs and all other entities that are involved in the state of employment; and of bringing about a strong economy as well. Their input will determine the outcome of any plan that he proposes.

It will be in their best interest for revitalizing the economy, by the president relaxing or even removing unessential rules, to make it worthwhile for their businesses, just as it will be in best interest of ordinary folks, who normally depend on the business world for their livelihood.

They (businesses) will have the freedom to operate, and that is when they will need more employees. They will then begin to hire, and unemployment will become a thing of the past. The economy will be moving in full steam ahead.

Government, however much it tries, cannot absorb all the unemployed with subsidized programs. It will end up becoming cumbersome (big government), and costly. Something the Conservative Party detests. So, let the Obama administration learn to be a little bit cooperative.

Stimulus spending must therefore be secondary in the president's new plan, as his critics are ready to hold his feet to the fire, if anything goes wrong. They have done it before, and they will do it again.

The first one did not work out. It rather culminated into the slow growth that was being experienced presently. Therefore, if there should be another one to please the left wing of the Democratic Party, it should be done moderately.

It must also be designed to suit the economic trend, like bailing out Wall Street and leaving out main street; with T.A.R.P. (Troubled Asset Relief Program) being a relevant example. It must be matched with small businesses getting a similar kind of help.

Cass Sunstein of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has come out on Tuesday (yesterday) with a statement, that the administration was hoping "to scale back hundreds of government regulations.".

That is a step in the right direction; however, the president must not try to appease the financial and business worlds by tossing out important directives, to the chagrin of his own party. He must just discard the fluff of regulatory laws that are not helping the already strained economy, any.

His re-election will then be assured. It is very important for him to realize that, or he will let his supporters down.

As far as Gadhafi is concerned, he must rest assured. He (Obama) will catch him no matter where he (Gadhafi) roams.

SURPRISES IN THE LIBYAN CIVIL WAR.

The sudden appearance of Gadhafi's son, Seif al Islam, is one of the surprising events in the Libyan civil war. Others, like not being able to find Gadhafi anywhere, or to track him down and arrest him, are even more so.

At first, we were made to understand that Seif has been captured alongside two other brothers, and that they were firmly in the custody of the rebels. Then, from nowhere, he was found to be riding high on the shoulders of government soldiers and on a tank near Rixos Hotel.

What happened? Was he caught or not? Who had him and where were the prisoners kept? Were the rebels so incompetent in handling normal things that occurred in a civil war? Should not Seif and his brothers have been isolated and taken from Tripoli to Benghazi the moment they were arrested, if they were really arrested? Should not security be the top priority in the minds of the members of the Transitional National Council?

Those were some of the questions that were going through everybody's mind. They seemed simple for even a twelve year old to surmise and come up with the right answers; yet, the fact that the rebels had botched such a delicate operation, as holding important prisoners, and not being able to secure them, cast so much doubt about their plans to win the war.

They knew that Tripoli was "Gadhafi territory", and that he had much support there than anywhere else; yet, they started celebrating, when they entered the city, instead of mobilizing their forces, which was in ragtag shape, into two or three tight units.

They would then engage the Libyan military forces in the vicinity of the compound, where they would find Gadhafi, or at least got to know his whereabouts. The compound was completely fortified, but that should not have deterred the rebels; it should have been their main target.

The type of bits and pieces formation of fighters here and there was not going to be effective in a city as big and as cosmopolitan as Tripoli; and relying on separated groups, fighting away from each other would not work in a metropolis, as the city was.

Seif's incident called the NATO and other intelligence operations working in Libya into question. Why should not they have managed to locate where Gadhafi exactly was; or should not they have some idea that it might take more than a single day to exert dominance over Tripoli?

They had all the relevant information they needed to even capture Gadhafi and all the members of his government, and somehow, due to lack of communications with the rebels, their strategies were not put into full force. They were to take a few more days, after their entry into Tripoli on Sunday, August 21st, 2011, to claim everything that was to be claimed, to make their attack to be as successful as expected.

Now, as President Barack Obama said in his speech yesterday, the war would be long lasting, and therefore, Americans should brace themselves for any amount of bad news, until such time that victory would be won by the rebels over Gadhafi.

He, Gadhafi, was a threat to United States interests; a criminal, who harbored terrorists. He must be caught and tried in a court of law, as the ICC (International Criminal Court) had planned, and then be sentenced for his crimes against all humanity. He must never be allowed to get away.

THE LIBYAN UPRISING.

The Libyan uprising has taken a new turn, or was it a final phase "in front of the curve" for its leader of the past forty-two years, Moammar Gadhafi, to realize that he has lost the support of his people and therefore he must call it quits. It has gone to become a civil war, with him attacking the majority of the Libyan people, by using mercenaries and foreigners, for the most part.

The Free Libya liberation army has reached the capital, Tripoli, and has captured much of it, except perhaps the compound, which has been the last post of Gadhafi's crumbling government; a small enclave and power base, which was not much for a person with a huge ego as he.

According to news reports, his two sons have been placed under arrest by the rebels, and a part of the 60 thousand troops of Gadhafi's military forces has defected and joined the rebellion.

By all standards of military stratagems that he could use to remain the despot that he has always been, he has lost the war; his end has come, and it was about time for him to admit it, and to stop the bloodshed. The loss of lives in that country, which has gone on for the last six months would have been unnecessary, if he would have stepped down earlier than now.

Gadhafi should have taken a hint, when President Barack Obama made it clear that he must go; for the uprising in Libya was one that would end his dictatorship and place his country on a new political path and direction.

Whatever the direction was, nobody knew; but like Tunisia and Egypt, where similar civil upheavals have taken place, the people had spoken, and had demanded freedom and democracy.

That was a sure sign for Gadhafi to find a safe haven or a political asylum somewhere, but he and his family decided to stay and to resist the outcry of his people, by emphasizing that the uprising would be a "flash in the pan"; a sort of an insignificant episode that would pass by. He would also show no mercy to anyone, who would object to his tyrannical rule; he promised.

However, with the help of NATO, of which the United States was a prominent and vital part, a no fly zone was declared over Libya, to stop Gadhafi's militia from gaining the upper hand in the war. Libya's power was curtailed by the seizure of all its foreign assets; thus cutting off the government there from almost all the resources that it needed to conduct a war against its own people.

The insurgency became more resilient, by arming its untrained band of men and forming the Transitional National Council to replace the Gadhafi regime. It made Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, its head-quarters, and begun to seek more outside assistance and diplomatic recognition.

It has fought its way to the doorstep of Gadhafi, and in the process has gained momentum in taking control of the country, and therefore, it would be assumed by its sympathizers that it would be able to run it the way the insurgents had purported; but it was still a dream, as the siege of Tripoli was just the beginning.

The harder, if not the hardest, accomplishment was still ahead, for peace to come to the people, and security to be established throughout the length and breath of Libya.

They were a people, who had engaged themselves in a fight that no one had believed they would ever win. They had also said that Libya deserved better; and now, they have been given the opportunity to prove it.

As far as Gadhafi himself was concerned, the situation demanded that it would be wise for him to relinquish power to the people of Libya, as there was no more options left for him to be able to turn it (situation) around in his favor. It was too late for anything like that to happen.

The only alternative for the whole country was that the carnage must seize to save the lives of men, women and children in Libya; and so, to bring some amount of tranquility to themselves and to the rest of the world.

One benefit, for example, would be that, in the event of he (Gadhafi) deciding to leave, the price of crude oil would go down. That would be welcome news for most Americans.

OBAMA'S VACATION.

Vacation is for rest and relaxation, and everybody needs one, once in a while, not only for himself or herself, but for the whole family in many cases.

It is a break from the tedium of doing a series of the same things repeatedly, almost everyday; and the respite, from the monotony of those activities, becomes a necessity, otherwise it will affect your health in many adverse ways.

Even presidents need rest from time to time, away from the massive responsibility they carry. They have to refresh themselves, soul, body and spirit, to be able to have a "work to life" balancing existence.

The controversy surrounding President Barack Obama's vacation in Martha's Vineyard is therefore ridiculous.

At the present moment the country is in dire straits, as far as the economy is concerned, and that has to be what Americans and their politicians must mostly worry or care about; to get a whole lot of people, over 15 million of them, working again and paying their taxes to replenish the revenue that the government hurriedly needs.

The main stream media, and particularly Fox News, must stop the nitpicking that goes on in several of their news broadcasts. Their analysts and news contributors, must refrain from using the slightest excuse to criticize Obama; the latest being "Obama's vacation, and the moral it is having on the nation's fiscal status as a whole,".

At first, they were suggesting that he should cut short his vacation to deal with the economic crisis; and to recall Congress, which was in recess, and urge it to tackle the situation with the determination it deserved.

However, they knew very well that members have just gone away from a really hectic session, in the handling of the debt ceiling and deficit reduction problems, and that their vacation days would be rudely interrupted.

The same pundits in the media would then turn around and say that it was a mistake for a recall, and that Congressmen and women were entitled to a well honored break.

They are now attacking the president's own time out of the White House, and comparing his number of vacations with other presidents; by saying that his were more excessive. They also are using his approval ratings, which they assert are pretty low, to get him back to work.

Yet, the president cannot be underestimated, in regard to the seriousness of the economy; and its reparation must be uppermost on his mind. He has set out to have a new plan that will reverse the downward trend of job creation. Unemployment must be reduced with a far reaching proposition; one that will put more people to work and rejuvenate the economy.

Many Americans are thinking that he must be given the opportunity to redress some of his past policies; correct his mistakes, (if he has made any), and brush up on the type of advice he has been having from his financial experts and follow up on them, in terms of getting the economy back on track.

He can do just that, if he is allowed; but his vacation must not be a pretext for his opponents to use to condemn his efforts.

We are not all supporters of Obama, but we must sometimes prepare to give him the benefit of the doubt, even when it comes to his vacation; for he is not out to cheat the country in any way.

He and his family must therefore have the chance to enjoy their short stay in rustic and quiet Martha's Vineyard, from the hubbub of Washington D.C.

ONLY AMERICA CAN.

The weak economy in the United States is being exacerbated by outside events, such as the financial upheavals in Europe and other related circumstances that are making the world monetary markets to respond negatively.

The Dow Jones Averages fell by more than 400 points yesterday, which made the fears for a double recession to become more surreal. With that in mind, the only place left for investors to show interest would be in the gold market, as the price of it (gold) kept rising. It was about $1800 dollars an ounce, and it could go up even more, and that could render the field for capital investments almost desolate.

That would surely affect the unemployment situation and make it unmanageable to a greater extent, as the private sector and other businesses would be struggling to maintain smaller numbers of personnel, and be able to avoid losses in profits from hiring excess workers they did not need.

They would just use the number of employees that would be enough to keep them afloat. Instead of employing more people, they would be laying off workers by cutting down on the overall expenditures of a whole lot of companies. The realities of economic hardships would be prevalent, and they would be felt all across the nation, leaving nobody out.

As President Barack Obama is getting ready to unveil his new plan to create employment, let us be hopeful that it will not end up in short-term programs that will keep people working only temporarily; for example, in construction, where contractors will enter into short-lived government contracts, and then wait for more (contracts) later.

That will bring lapses between contracts, which will not be convenient for workers. Also, that kind of circumstance can cause workers to be laid off periodically on short notice, or their work can be considered as dead-end jobs in many cases, if no more contracts are won by their companies.

Although, the infrastructure of the country, which would require the administration's full attention, could absorb large numbers of workers, who would be employed by many construction companies that would have extensive contracts over longer periods, for their workers to expect or anticipate full-time employment.

With short contracts, people were not sure of what could happen next. Workers could be in a circle, and be able to work; and then they could be back to "square one" of no work. They have suddenly been cut from their livelihood in the next instance, when that should occur.

It will be a good idea for the president to involve the National Association of the Chamber of Commerce and all its branches, in his effort to come up with a new plan that will embrace the whole nation.

In fact, it must be one with big corporations and small businesses cooperating with the government to attain a stronger economy; an all inclusive economic package that will bring employers, unions and private people together; with each and everyone working in unison for the common good.

At the moment America is hurting; and therefore, something drastic is needed for it to reclaim its economic strength of the past. It will relieve itself from the throes of a severe recession.

It will also bring stability in, and certainty to, the financial markets around the globe, because they seem to have lost the leadership only America can provide.

OBAMA AND AFRICAN AMERICANS.

The Black community's reaction on President Barack Obama seems unpleasant, for the high unemployment rate among African Americans. The fact is that, when it comes to job creation, the government is limited. It cannot hire beyond what is needed to serve a particular purpose, often referred to as a "program".

The private sector is where the jobs are, as governments are not able to extend the number of work provisions or command positions to be brought into being, unless more programs are formulated to meet with public requirements. Yet, how many of these programs can be formed to absorb the unemployed?

Big companies and corporations, as well as small businesses create opportunities for people to get employed in large quantities; however, if they are not hiring, then who is to blame?

African Americans, of all people, are liable to know that the president cannot go out of his way to make programs of all sorts available to them. He is unable to conjure them up out of the blue. His position is not to cater to just one portion of the population, as he has to think about other ethnic groups too, just the same.

America, as we all know, is a melting pot, and no individual, however powerful, can even make the attempt to change that. So, if that is what U.S. House Rep. Maxine Waters has in mind, then she has another thing coming.

At a noisy town hall meeting in Detroit, she was urging the crowd to give the Congressional Black Caucus permission to "unleash" its anger on the president for the vast unemployment level among African Americans. The rate was almost two to one against them, at 15.9% to 9.2% nationwide.

Rep. Waters knows that the president is "handicapped" in many circumstances, and that job creation is one of them. It is for Congress to approve government programs, and then he will sign them into law, after the fact. Any other way is impossible.

He, Obama, has been calling out about several pieces of legislation that must be implemented by Congress to make work available for the unemployment rate to go down throughout his recent bus tour in the Mid-West region of the country. His efforts must not be underestimated by the same people he is counting on as his base for support to enable his economic policies to work.

He has named names of those that are holding things back on the floor of Congress; the rigid Republican Party's opposition to these legislations. Therefore, that must be where the pressure from the CBC must be directed and not on the White House.

The poverty tour of PBS host Tavis Smiley and Princeton University Cornel West, to many, was a "photo op", and for what, nobody could tell. They knew perfectly well that government did not create jobs, and that individuals and companies were the sources for employment.

However, the question still remained that, out of the myriad number of black sports figures, who have become millionaires from their skills as basketball and baseball players, the two men should tell us what those people have done to create employment within their own communities?

They might be investing in companies at large, but could not they form their own companies to help their own kind? They should tell black communities around the country, why Retail stores and Supermarket chains were owned by others from outside those communities.

It was therefore inconceivable for Rep. Waters, Tavis Smiley and Cornel West to accuse President Obama for not doing enough for African Americans in terms of employment. The fact was that, for ages, they have done nothing for themselves, until he came on the scene.

Have they ever attacked or criticized rich African Americans, who were supposed to be "paying back" into improving the black communities around the country, but were not doing so? What people, like Tavis and West, said should be taken with a grain of salt.

If they were as smart as they wanted us to believe, they would support Obama to win a second term, because that was when all presidents who won their re-election put their policies into practice without much hindrance. They should give him the same chance to do exactly as those before him.

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP.

The Republican Party's presidential candidates focusing on President Barack Obama right now is wrong.

It is a strategy that will extend the bickering in Washington D.C. into the normal public life of ordinary citizens and bring about more political polarization or division in the country. It is bound to backfire, as their political campaigns continue to unfold.

The candidates are causing a distinct distraction from the economy, which needs to put more people to work to reduce the strain that unemployment is putting on everything that is required to push a clear agenda forward by the government, in order to make America's financial woes (to) subside.

At least, we have been made to believe that work availability, or a "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" plan is what the Obama bus tour is mainly about; to find ways to increase employment in administrative, agricultural and food services, as well as in manufacturing and other industrial areas, to boost the flagging economy.

In fact, it is to encourage all kinds of industries and businesses to adhere to making for a better advancement in the work force environment; to promote high employment and stabilize the present economic situation, and so quieten the financial markets at home and abroad.

It has been also accepted that America has the best workers, and it possessed more advanced and innovative ideas for home use and exports that could bring in more revenue to offset its debts to its main creditors, China and Japan, ten times over. Therefore, any delay to achieve financial success would be its own fault and nobody else's.

Presently, Romney and Perry are behaving like they have already won the nomination of their party; and they are reinforcing their rhetoric with attacks on high civil servants, such as the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose attention is to concentrate on official fiscal policies, in regard to stabilizing the dollar for future economic growth. However, his actions are being translated as being "almost treasonous" by Gov. Perry of Texas.

Or former Gov. Mitt Romney making his case on the lines of having more managerial experience than Obama. He can create jobs, just like that; which can be to his credit for his capacity of reviving the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and bringing them to a successful conclusion.

"As a businessman, Romney knows how and when to capitalize his assets,"; as claimed by an NNDB article (http://www.nndb.com/people/373/000044241/).

Surely, the whole thing happens to be true; but it sounds like boasting or showing off on his part, when he uses that to drum up support for his political goals. The idea is presentable; yet, the timing is not now.

The 2012 general election is more than a year away, and so, they have plenty of time to engage Obama, when the main campaign season heats up in the early part of 2012.

At the moment, they have the chance to analyze themselves, and be able to demonstrate their differences on why any of them is good enough and capable of getting the Republican Party's nomination, and as a prospective national leader.

They have both been governors before; but they cannot compare a governorship to being the president of The United States. The two positions are as different as night and day; and therefore, it will be naive on anybody's part to know what either Romney or Perry can do, if any of them is elected president.

The reality now is that they are asking the public to take them on their word; that they are successful in some areas in life, and as such they deserve to be given the opportunity to lead the country out of the economic morass that it (country) is in.

In other words, all they are really capable of doing is to present themselves in the political arena as men of vision and character, who are capable of preserving American values; and also their party's policies, aims, objectives and ambitions, which are directed to lead the whole country to a prosperous future.

That will be the right way to "sell" themselves from the start. Just attacking the present occupant of the White House and his trusted colleagues would rather be preposterous, to say the least.

The two, with the other contenders, are showing that the country needs leadership; so, let them be good examples of that in all its aspects.

Some of us already have Obama for a second term in 2012, and there is nothing anyone else can do about that.

P.S. Gov. Rick Perry is still the governor of Texas.

OBAMA'S OPPOSITION.

President Barack Obama has been pin pointing what was wrong in Washington D.C., that politics, as being practiced by a majority of lawmakers, has rendered the efforts of Democrats unproductive. It has to be blamed for the nations fiscal illness, so long as the present make-up of the United States Congress remained aloof to sound ideas to enable the creation of jobs to become practical.

That there was no cooperation of any kind from the opposition in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. All that his opponents were interested in was to polarize the nation.

It is appalling that most of the media analysts and news contributors are not ready to hear it.

He has been referring to to the attitude of some Republican Party members in the U.S. Congress, who have been blocking several pieces of legislation that could pass to create jobs.

"There are a whole host of ideas that we could be implementing right now that traditionally have had bipartisan support. The only thing that is preventing us from passing them is that there are some folks in Congress who think that doing something in cooperation with me, or this White House, that that somehow is bad politics." , was the president's chant throughout his stops during his bus tour. (CNN Report).

An opposition, which was not constructive, was not a pleasant thing to see. It would do anything to obstruct a government, for the sake of scoring political points, instead of supporting plans that would be beneficial to the citizens of a nation. It would put party ideology before national preference.

That was what the scene on Capitol Hill was, as members of Congress would prefer to be ambivalent to the needs of the country, because their sole aim was to topple the Obama administration.

The Republican National Committee has even been joining in to deride the president's bus tour, which started yesterday, "as nothing more than a campaign event disguised as a public one.", its Chairman said.

However, the whole world knew that the president was out there to tell the truth as he knew it, that the games that the Republicans were playing must come to an end. The country was in serious trouble, as far as the economy went; and that was something, which was handed down to him by a Republican government led by another swaggered Texan, namely, the former President W. Bush.

Not all Americans were against the Republican stand; and not all of them voted for Obama, but the recalcitrant nature of the GOP was not helping the nation one little bit; and its leaders must consider, whether the path they had the country on was good or bad?

That should be the question they should be answering. Its opposition was lopsided and it could damage America's image worldwide, if its members decided to go on a wild goose chase, searching for what would hurt Obama, rather than finding ways and means to be fruitful, in terms of sharing what they knew that would help the country's economy to grow again, so that America would be a better place for all of us.

Should not an opposition be constructive? You be the judge.

IOWA STRAW POLL.

Ames, Iowa, was made to represent the whole of the United States all week last week by the Republican Party, with the straw poll organized to select someone from the field of contestants, who would likely be the one to run for president on the party's ticket in 2012.

The straw poll was actually a local event, put up by the Iowa branch of the Republican Party, and therefore it would involve party grassroots and the hopefuls for the presidency, who were having dreams of being nominated dancing in their heads.

However, it was obvious, most of those present have also been chosen from other party branches, prior to be there, not just to attend, but to vote in the straw poll in order to boost the party's ego. They would not have normally planned to be there at their own expense as enthusiasts. Some would say that they were purely party hirelings.

In a sense, the Ames assemblage was nothing more than a political showcase for the hopefuls, who were seeking the party's nod; namely, Bachmann, Pawlenty, Paul, Gingrich, Cain, Santorum, Huntsman and McCotter.

Romney, the present front runner of the contenders, and Perry, who just announced his presidential bid, would not participate in the straw poll. They were not even there, except for (Sarah) Palin, who was also contemplating running in the 2012 election. In a peculiar way, she showed up acting like an Interloper-in-Chief, and connecting with the people at the event; but never with any of her likely contenders, or at least not on camera.

She was just there for reasons of name recognition; and perhaps to savor her chances, should she in case join the race at a later date. Actually, what she got was a lot of free time and attention from the media, which were clamoring for fresh political news after the debt crisis, anyway. It turned out to be something that she thought would be helpful to her campaign; for she has nothing to lose, but to be able to accumulate more publicity.

They wanted to know if she has made up her mind as yet, but her answer was still inconclusive. So far she has not declared her candidacy, but she was granting interviews all over the place, like they (interviews) were going out of style.

The winner of the straw poll was Michele Bachmann, scoring about 28% of the 16000 votes that were cast. Most people thought she won, for the fact that she was born in Iowa, Waterloo; and that the people there would vote for her out of sheer pride for their state.

Ron Paul came in second, and very close to winning, with 27.65% of the total votes. The rest of the pack trailed behind with smaller numbers, like McCottor getting just a measly 35 votes.

The most noticeable aspect of the occasion was the humdrum of the contestants repeating what they thought the expectation of the country was. It was the economy that was in a deplorable state, and they were the ones that could fix it, and in the process create jobs.

That the people should be voting for them in the next presidential election, because of President Barack Obama's poor performance, in regard to the dismal economy.

That the country was not going to navigate through so much difficulty in raising the debt ceiling, because, according to Bachmann, there would not be one, but just the debt reduction to get the economy back on track. With a new person at the helm of the government; and that could be any one of them in the White House managing the country's affairs, things would be different.

In other words, what the country was currently experiencing was solely due to Obama's inept fiscal policies. They on the other hand could do better.

Bachmann thought she could continue to harp on her favorite mantra of "Obama will be a one term president"; but that was not catching fire with her audience. She realized from the idea of only a few people clapping; however, she went on using it wherever she went without stopping.

Ron Paul's libertarian views have already gained ground from the many years that he has been expressing them, and so, there was nothing unexpected coming from him. The crowd was not even surprised about his attacks on the Obama administration for being hostile toward Iran. He maintained that the U.S. should stay out of other countries' affairs.

Neutrality in a turbulent world by the United States? Not on your life. That was not possible.

The event had a "country fair" or theme park atmosphere; a look which it usually or customarily had every year, with many family entertainment and activities going on; plus a whole number of commercial stands of several companies hawking their products, from soda fountain drinks to cars and trucks.

The townspeople of Ames might have enjoyed the festive nature of the straw poll. To any outsider, like someone from New York City, the whole thing was somewhat jovial; a big social gathering with a political flair. The Democrats should not worry too much about its outcome, as the winner did not seem to getting to sit in the Oval Office anytime soon. Besides, she has to win the nomination first.

There has already been a victim of the straw poll. Pawlenty dropped out of the Republican Party nomination contest. He was claimed by its (straw poll's) results, as he came in third out of the nine candidates contesting for the party's choice in the 2012 general election.

GOV. RICK PERRY'S ENTRY.

Gov. Rick Perry is supposed to make his entrance today, into the Republican Party's field of candidates for the presidency of the United States, and he seems to have a great deal of momentum behind him, even before his entry.

Not almost, but all the poll numbers show that he is close to former Gov. Mitt Romney, the front runner in the Republican race at this time. However, the question happens to be whether Perry is able to topple Romney for the nomination; and if so, why?

Will religion connections be part of the factors that will lead the Conservative Party to choose the person, who will run against President Barack Obama in the fall of the 2012 general election?

Romney is a Mormon, and Perry "has been referred to as an Evangelical Christian and a Methodist", and therefore religion cannot be ruled out as playing a part in the party's processing in selecting its candidate. Yet, Americans seldom vote for a Mormon, making Romney's present position rather precarious, to say the least.

The rest of the pack is now being psychologically separated from those two men; namely, Pawlenty, Bachmann, Gingrich, Paul, Cain, Huntsman and Santorum.

Although, they all have equal chance of grabbing the nomination, the scene has become one of "more equal than others" for them. As such, nobody really knows what they are going to do to boost their individual chances for the consideration of their party.

Many people think that Perry will come from behind, even though, he is outside the field as it is presently made up, to clinch the nomination.

If that happens, then Obama will face a candidate, who comes up with a double pronged support in his background, in terms of race and religion.

Obama is a converted Christian, and there is no doubt that the Christian vote will be split. Yet, he will have to internalize the fact that he is in the minority, when it come to his race. Perry will have an advantage in that respect.

However, if Americans will be sincere and vote on the basis of their conscience, instead of doing so with what they deem as being more important in their hearts than any other factor, that the race of a person naturally comes first, when he or she considers his or her origins. It is only then that Obama will gain an equal opportunity in the contest.

Conscience will be the only thing that can bring voters to realize that the two people are patriots, and so they will do what is best for the country. Therefore the idea of race must be counted out in choosing any of them as leader.

Obama is doing all he can to retrieve the nation from the abyss of a strong recession, and the fact remains that he is going to rely on the support of all citizens in the coming years to accomplish his objective, if he is re-elected.

Any other person that comes in to challenge him will use the economy to draw attention to himself of herself and say that he (Obama) is failing, and that he or she, who that person will be, can do better. How can he or she be so sure?

That is what voters must consider first and foremost, rather than banking their hopes on the race or religion of that person, when casting their vote in the next general election.

THE PRESIDENT'S LEADERSHIP.

The discussion about the turmoil in Wall Street and the economy in general lately, has brought out a slew of so called analysts to promulgate lengthy and almost daily advice to President Barack Obama to absorb and follow.

They would start from quoting history of fireside chats of Franklin D. Roosevelt "during the Depression and World War II" to "Rudy Giuliani on 9/11", and on and on they would go.

However, eventually, they were only driving at Obama's performance as being unacceptable in the course of the debt crisis. In fact, they were giving the impression that there was a lack of leadership in the country, and that they wanted to see the president reacting to each and every turn of events to show strong leadership.

Yet, the truth was that presidents did not show up on television every time that something went wrong and spoke about how they were handling the situation. The White House had personnel to handle most cases, and until there was a very high profile episode of a political disturbance, such as a major downturn in the economy or a war front disaster, there would be no need to call for the president's appearance in a public venue, like, mostly on television and seldom on the radio.

To go back and advise the president to act like in days past or gone by was stupid, because not all emergencies were the same, as each one must have a different approach to be handled. Reassurance to calm people's emotions could come in many forms, through news conferences and special broadcasts to let the general public know that what was happening at any particular time was being scrutinized to find a solution.

The analysts go on to say that the president needed more special advisers for consultations of all kinds. Yet, it was common knowledge that he already had such people giving him detailed advice on every subject; and the organization in the White House was in such a way that he was presented with daily classified reports for his review.

Therefore, to surround himself with the people as the analysts have mentioned in their articles would be completely superfluous, as in "too many cooks spoil the broth" analogy, when the Oval Office would have visitors going in and out on all kinds of specialties all day long.

The president's opponents have been harping on his leadership lately, as being weak; and that was what these analysts and news contributors have been picking on to make their comments or write their columns.

However, there was no question that President Obama has shown a marvelous sort of leadership during the debt talks, by calling meetings of Congressmen and women on both sides of the isle, besides his telephone calls to the leaderships in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, for a compromise to be reached.

That could have averted the ultimate crisis, which has affected the financial markets around the world.

It was Congress that failed the nation, and in fact, the whole world, in failing to come together on raising the debt ceiling on time, and as a result causing all the commotion that came after.

So, when analysts were being critical of President Obama's leadership for the handling of the current economic debacle, they should also talk about what lawmakers did; particularly, the part the Republican Party members in the House played to drag the debt limit talks on for days on end, to permit the U.S. to lose its high credit rating for no good reason.

Under the circumstances, they were to blame for the present state of affairs, as far as the public was concerned. Very little blame has been attributed to President Obama; and if he continued to talk to the American people through his campaign for re-election, they would hear him. He would be working for those of us, who had no voice in the public arena; the poor, the old and the indigent.

It was obvious that the other side was working for the rich and the affluent; and therefore they must be exposed by the analysts, instead of pointing fingers at the leadership of the presidency.

THE WORLD AS IT IS.

The country is in political disarray, due to the 2012 presidential elections; as the Republican Party scrambles to find a candidate in a face off contest for the White House. The Democratic Party is propping up in readiness to resist any attempt of the opposition to topple it from power; and there is no denying about that.

President Barack Obama has to dig in his heels to prevent his goals of bringing America's economy out of the pits, and be able to cut back on the salient problem of unemployment, to be shelved.

He knows that if the Middle class will flourish again, as in the 70s, 80s and 90s (Those were the days, my friend), then poverty must be stopped from spreading, and work must be available to anyone who is employable.

All racial ethnicities must have their share of the economic pie to feel satisfied that their people have become accustomed to living just as well as the others. Their demographics must be equal to that of those who are making progress socially and financially.

Yet, there is an enormous deficit that has to be dealt with, to remove the ominous cloud of uncertainty for investment capital to flow back into a sluggish economy and revive it.

Wall Street has become anemic, and stocks are just floating around with nobody to purchase them. The days of paper tickers are gone, or else there will be no more room on the trading floor for them, and a parade will be needed to throw them out of the window to get rid of them.

Business is bad for the financial markets both at home and abroad, as currencies are being shipped in loads across International borders. The Dollar, the Euro, the Yen; all are perplexed, and are undependable.

Good old gold is the most popular investment product, and its price is soaring through the roof; but its effects are at the same time draining the pools of money that can go into ordinary investments, like manufacturing, research and education, for the government and industries to battle the high unemployment levels. So, it (gold) is not beneficial as far as the average person is concerned.

The Congress of The United States must prepare plans that will slash the debt that is being carried by the nation in half, in a short period of time. It is not just the president, who must do his part to calm the adverse financial scenes. It (Congress) has a vital role too in that respect, to invite investor confidence back into the economy for it to get the bounce it requires . Its other responsibility is to see that the debt crisis is not carried forward for posterity to shoulder.

However, all that is on the home front. The other front or the reverse of what is been seen on the outside of the American economy is also crucial to the well being of all of us.

The whole world too is in serious trouble, with the finances of many major countries in tatters. Countries like Italy, Spain and Ireland are reduced to cup-in-hand entities in economic terms. Who will have thought of the reality of that happening to them only a few years ago?

Wars, famine and pestilence are manifesting themselves in Africa, with literally millions of people on the verge of dying from hunger and thirst. The British Isles, of all places, have riots in almost every major city. Asia is restless with the recruit of suicide bombers streaming from among even young women, children and the old; and the horrible death of many innocent people is a daily occurrence.

Islamic fundamentalists want Sharia Law to be accepted in all nations; however, some see it as a strange religious intrusion; an infiltration that must not be allowed anywhere. There will be too much confusion in many areas in the world, and the travesty of justice will be common almost everywhere, as legal experts will be tripping over each other, trying to interpret unfamiliar rules and regulations. Therefore, every nation must have its own laws

Those are just some of the problems that are affecting every single person living on Planet Earth today, as the world has revolutionized to be a "global village" twice over. What happens in China has an effect on what takes place in Portugal.

Communications technologies have made it easy to relay important as well as trivial messages in nano-seconds across from one end of the earth to the other. News of events and all types of information are disseminated around the globe within minutes of their happening, instead of several hours or days as before. Calamitous situations are all around us, and they are overwhelming.

The only super-power in the world now is the United States, and therefore it cannot sit back, look and listen. Most people are saying that it must solicit the support of the United Nations to find solutions that will usher peace, in all its aspects, into the world for the sake of all mankind.

In order for America to impose upon itself such an awesome task, it must be at peace within itself. That is what Americans must be striving for at this present moment, rather than be selfish and start bickering among themselves along party lines.

All parties must come together to resolve world problems, and the ones at home will also be resolved. Or the world will still remain a troubled place.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER.

Who gives Charles Krauthammer the audacity to speak like that? He sounds as if he is speaking on Heaven's authority (as if he believes in Heaven), and yet, what comes out is just downright hogwash.

Whatever he thinks he is, we know that he is just an opinion writer for the Washington Post, and that he is a syndicated columnist; but he tends to assume airs of importance, which do not fit his position or personality.

Not everyone voted for President Barack Obama in the last 2008 election, or supported him in anyway; however, he has been given the right by the United States Constitution to lead the country and conduct its affairs as president.

For that reason alone, he must be offered the respect his office demanded; and therefore, one could not just open one's mouth and spout stupid remarks at him.

Charles Krauthammer does not realize the fact that everybody knows that he is doing what he does for money. That he is being paid by somebody to say or write any type of foolishness about his topics, and that he is a hired hand and under the control of those, who have hired him to do their bid. He can influence some of us some of the time; some of us all the time, but not all of us all the time.

However, as much as he will lambaste another person, he must not lie about him or her.

The case in point is the president's speech after the Standard and Poor's downgrade of America's credit rating. He, Obama, did not mention the Tea Party even once, when he was commenting on the reasons that have led the company to do what it did. He was not assigning blame to any entity, except to name a few incidents that have contributed to the present economic state of the country.

In every sense, he was not "passing the buck", and expecting people to believe that natural causes and other uncontrollable events had made the economy to become dysfunctional.

He, Krauthammer, said that was the president's aim; and that Obama was trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people. What?

He made that allegation among others on several televisions programs; on Fox News Special Report and in Bill O'Reilly's segment on Fox TV.

He has joined people like Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly and Donald Trump to vilify the president; and said that, "The president's performance on the economy is central to his re-election,".

Those people just wanted to savage him out of hatred; and for racial discrimination, which they have made as collateral in the ongoing political campaign for the 2012 general election.

They were doing so, or they have been hired to accomplish the obnoxious desires of those who want Obama to fail, by lying through their teeth; and maligning him before the American people.

They even called him a "weak" leader; and that the Democratic Party was looking for an alternate candidate to challenge him. That was complete balderdash, and they knew it.

Of course, Obama must do all he can to win his re-election, not because he just wants to be president, but that he has the ability to make America great once again, in spite of his race.

Again, not all of us voted for him in the last presidential election, and not everyone would want him to win a second term; but people, such as Krauthammer, must try and be fair in their political commentary, when their core reference was directed toward the office of the Presidency of the United States; and also toward a particular person, who happened to occupy that office. They should do so out of common decency.

OBAMA'S INHERITANCE.

Americans are watching history in the making at first hand, when a plot to denigrate the efforts of a young government to push its faulting economy out of the doldrums of the past few years, is being unleashed by its opponents.

Those efforts are being trampled under foot right before our eyes, and they are being thwarted with political intrigue from the government's opponents and detractors, who are managing to woo support of the average person to condemn what has started with so much promise for America, through the election of the first African American as president of the United States.

He has been given the reins of government in a decade within which have been tragedies, like Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath that has drained the coffers of the federal government; as well as the cost of two wars against terrorism, which must be paid for with the blood, sweat and tears of ordinary men and women in the military forces, has been laid on his shoulders.

His inheritance has been tremendous, and so his government must find ways to grapple with each issue and bring life to normalcy again for all citizens, by opting for a strong economy and to offer employment to anyone that can work.

Al Qaeda, the organization, which has claimed responsibility for the September 11th, 2001 attacks on mainland United States, is still a threat to U.S. national security; and now the Taliban, another group of Islamic fundamentalists, has joined in to make the world a more dangerous place.

With those wars and the normal financial constraints of America around the globe, in the form of military bases and diplomatic commitments, which have skyrocketed to put the nation's fiscal spending beyond its means, for it to borrow from debtor countries and cause the government to be in the throes a huge debt, have therefore not been accidental.

Spending, spending, spending; that is the outcry of the the government's adversaries, but they do not tell you where the money goes. It goes to pay for your security and peace of mind; and for you to be free to live as an American.

The circumstances have been real and they have been passed to him. He has inherited a heavy burden.

If the above statements do not describe President Barack Obama's administration, then nobody knows what they are. However, many will think that they do point to it.

Yet, he is not receiving any help from politicians in the Congress of the United States, who are creating difficulties for him to fail.

The case in point is the recent crisis that has come from nowhere in regard to the raising of the debt ceiling for the government to meet its financial obligations. The process has ordinarily been simple in the past, and the government has proceeded without a deadlock.

Politicians have been able to turn it into a circus, and they have almost caused the government to default for the first time in history.

That has given way for investors to panic, and to promulgate fear all over the world; thus creating an atmosphere to warrant Standard and Poor's Investments, a credit rating company, to downgrade America's high status of AAA to AA+.

They have been warned of the consequences of their actions; but members of the Republican Party have delayed the debt limit process to make the world financial markets to become despondent. Hence the monetary tumult we are witnessing today.

Wall Street has been seen as a dumping ground for traders, who will make the Dow Jones Averages to fall to abysmal figures. The economy is in shambles, and nobody seems to know what to do.

The most fearful thing about it all is that, they are turning around and pointing fingers at the president as the one who has manifested the crisis with his economic policies.

However, many Americans will know better, when the time comes. They will express their views in no uncertain terms to instill in the minds of politicians that they (Americans) are no fools; for they are certain of who the real perpetrators of the economic troubles are.

DOWNGRADE OF CREDIT RATING.

Psychologically, the credit rating agencies, of Standard and Poor's, with Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service in the background, have discovered that there was a "chink in the armor" of the United States Congressional system of government, when a small, minority of members could hold the administration hostage, by causing it to almost default in paying its mandatory and appropriations bills.

The agencies happened to be the sources of regulations in setting standards for individual countries, for example , to adhere to. In other words, those countries were held to stringent fiscal policies, and they were rated in accordance with the feasibility of those policies being followed to the letter by them.

The fiscal performance of all countries, governments, organizations or issuers, as they were normally called, were monitored, as it (performance) must fall in line and within the jurisdiction of the policies agreed to by these agencies with them (individual countries, governments or issuers).

The agencies, though not collectively acting as coordinators, served as conduits between their client entities or issuers, be they countries, governments or organizations, and the financial sector. Their oversight was essential for the smooth running of all financial transactions appertaining to those client entities or issuers, which also included monetary markets, as well as the overall global economies.

The objective of these agencies was to see that all financial systems worked in simpatico, or in synchronization, like clockwork, to ensure safety and stability in a worldwide fiscal environment.

In the financial world, those regulations were held strictly to a set of grades that ranged from AAA, AA+ through to D, to communicate any single agency's "opinion about the ability and willingness of an issuer, such as a corporation or state or city government, to meet its financial obligations in full and on time." (Unknown source).

Thus the refusal of following any part of the regulations would affect the level of credit and render the issuer almost hapless in raising funds to undertake vital obligations, such as, in the case of the U.S., to cover the cost of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also to require funding for internal civil and infrastructural projects. Their influence was binding in the world of financing.

What went on in Washington D.C. in recent months, in connection with the raising of the debt ceiling, was phenomenal; in that no U.S. government must be obstructed by any entity in honoring its debt obligations; but for the first time, it was held back by entrenchment on the part of Congressional Republicans in a debate that took place over several weeks; and so, it did weaken the government's ability to perform its assigned responsibilities, as it was constitutionally expected to do.

Eventually, it was able to come out of a deadlock stemming from the debate, and only short of a default to its principal debtors, by the raising of the debt limit in the nick of time.

By then, the government was already in trouble, due to the amount of precious time the protracted talks and meetings had taken. The process of reaching a compromise with Congressional Republicans had consumed so much time and energy, as efforts have been wasted on less imminent matters; and so, the long delay would send jitters through the financial world.

It (government) went over the hurdle of default; otherwise the consequences would have been more catastrophic than it was presently.

However, those were the prevailing circumstances that were prompting the U.S. government to shut down; and they could also have caused the stock market to crash. For there was so much confusion coming out of Washington, and the world markets were in an askance situation.

Hence, in many minds, the rating agency of Standard and Poor's decision to step in and downgrade the credit rating of the U.S. for the first time in history (since 1917), as "a warning shot across the bow" of Congress.

It might have assumed that would help both sides of the issue, the Democratic Party government and the Republican Party opposition, to simmer down and reconsider the consequences and the outcome of the destructive path the country was following to deal with its economic problems.

Most Americans were saying that the company was, somehow, indicating that the bickering between the two parties would not be a panacea to resolve their grievances. That could be true or false, but who could tell, It happened anyway.

However, the wonder of it all was the Fourth Estate, or the media, as it was now known, being mum in finding the analytical cause of the economic crisis that the nation was embroiled in.

Their analysts and news contributors had mentioned everything that could cause the problem, except the intimidation perpetrated on the Obama government by the Republican Party, which permitted its members of the so called Tea Party to gain the upper hand in the debate.

They were against the raising of the debt ceiling; and though, the choice was for raising it, but they came up with plans to delay the process, like the "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill that failed to pass through Congress.

The obvious answer was to choose "for" and not "against"; but they had always chosen the latter in every aspect of the talks to reach an agreement.

They would continue to pursue a unilateral political posture, and to rail against the idea of the debt ceiling being raised, by making the cuts in social services as part of the huge deficit reduction they were demanding the government to make. That, unfortunately, became the sticking point in the ensuing argument. They would have "their way or the highway".

The country was firmly in the throes of political war, and the media would not try to investigate its origins as they usually did, and as their profession required. They were fishing for friendship in all kinds of places, except on Capitol Hill, where it mattered most, to find the culprit of such an atrocious happenstance that has placed the country under so much pressure. What a shame!

Finally, President Barack Obama was able to sign what many regarded as a tentative bill passed by Congress into law, to bring things under control; a committee system of six members of each party has been structured into the legislation to deal in detail with the deficit reduction requirements of it (bill) in the future.

Yet, the stock market and other financial establishments had become skeptical even after that, as the Dow Jones Averages fell by 500+ points in just one day. That was Thursday of last week, and the news of the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating had not broken as yet.

However, let us hope that the markets would not go giddy up on Monday, August 8th, and force traders to react negatively. For if the markets went haywire, so would the fragile economy.

We pray they wouldn't.

DOWNGRADE OF AMERICA'S CREDIT RATING.

The downgrade of the United States credit rating by Standard and Poor's is not surprising; but it is a hurting experience for it to happen at this present time, when the economy is still struggling in a slow growth recession.

It should not have happened, but for the foolhardiness of politicians, who were told of the consequences of the U.S. Congress not raising the debt ceiling on time and without any fuss in doing so.

The process of raising the debt ceiling has taken place on several occasions, with very little opposition for the government to pay its debts to cover its military expenditure and other appropriations by Congress.

Yet, the processing took an unprecedented beating, with an unnecessary debate, led by members of the Republican Party, who tangled it with proposals designed to inflict huge cuts on social and entitlement programs to deal with the nation's deficit reduction. They had made that a condition to allow any debt limit increase.

The Obama government disagreed by saying that revenues from businesses and private individuals must also be forthcoming, as cutting down on social and entitlement programs that the Democratic Party felt so strongly about alone would not produce a balanced approach toward any deficit reduction.

The behavior of Congress placed the whole world on edge, including the overall global financial and business sector. Big corporations and financial institutions were not able to determine where the American economy would eventually end up.

The government would be hard pressed for money and it would default for the first time in history, if its fiscal obligations were not met.

However, the argument finally subsided, and President Barack Obama signed a bill by Congress into law to relieve the country from a political choke hold by the Republican Party, through the influence of its Tea Party members.

The downgrading of the country's credit rating would affect the economy in many unfavorable ways. Interest rates would soar and loans of all kinds would be hard to come by; but most of all, the price of consumer goods would plummet, causing the cost of living to go up for the average person and his or her family.

The situation has come about, solely because some politicians would do what they felt was in their own best interest and not that of the people who voted for them; and that should be a lesson for all Americans.

The budget crisis would not have happened any other way; but for the stubbornness of some members in Congress, who thought that party ideology was more important than the country's needs. They deliberately failed to pay any attention to what many economists were saying, that taking the country down the unenviable path of default was not the right thing to do. It would only create economic difficulties all around.

However, they went ahead and did that anyway; hence, the downgrade of America's credit worthiness. Therefore, independent voters, particularly, should know where or for whom to cast their votes from now on.

"A word to the wise is enough.".

DEBT CEILING DEBATE.

The spate of catastrophes leading to the nosedive of the markets on Wall Street on Thursday, were plain to visualize; yet market gurus mentioned everything on earth that could cause them, including a slow economy in the United States, the job market and the subsequent report on the unemployment level that was expected on Friday (today), the economic setbacks in Spain and Italy that have suddenly railed against the activities in world markets, and so on; but the Debt Ceiling crisis that has just gone by was completely left out.

The Dow Jones average fell in eight straight days until Wednesday, August 3th, 2011, after the debt limit bill had passed through both chambers of the U.S. Congress. It recovered on the ninth day, which would have been a new record in its trend of going down, whenever the markets were upset by an external event of some sorts; however, that was somehow avoided.

Then, on Thursday, August 4th, as if from out of the blue, the Dow started a free fall that would make it to lose over 500 points in one single day. Traders have panicked and have begun to dump all kinds of stocks to relieve the heavy burden the uncertainty of the debt ceiling debate has placed on them in recent months.

They (traders) would have handled that risk in a discreet way, as they have done in previous years, but for the additional economic bad news that sprung out of no where from Europe to cause trading to get out of hand.

However, would it not be a wonder that none of the experts that crowded the media to analyze the kinds of things, that have usually generated an upheaval of the type that was seen yesterday, to make the markets to become so volatile, never imagined that the strenuous debt ceiling debacle, brought about by the Republican Party entourage in Congress, had contributed to what had happened in the marketplace?

Although, they knew perfectly well that both consumer and investor confidence have waned considerably, during the time that the whole world was waiting to see if the U.S. would default in making its bill payments. Such being the case, there was a standstill atmosphere around globe

In that, some members of Congress have wasted so much energy in turning what a normal process of raising the so called debt ceiling into a national argument, which was rather unnecessary; and the rest of the world was caught in holding its breath and to wait. It finally concluded as a non-event, with respect to its outcome.

A bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama to lift the debt ceiling and bring the crisis to an end.

Yet, the damage has already been done to undermine the American economy by those who professed to formulate policies that would stop the government from overspending, for they have been mandated to do so by the electorate in the fall of 2010; but their ulterior motive was promoted, and certainly promulgated by sheer jealousy for the Obama administration.

Their actions have triggered off the instability that would follow and send jitters through the markets; however, investor confidence would return to make up for the loss on Thursday; thus the markets have to bounce back for the sake of the nation.

Its (nation's) determination for a stronger economy would prevail in the long run, despite what some politicians have deliberately done to disrupt the pace of progress it (economy) should be making. Its present fragile condition would surely improve. What they did was to prevent it from moving forward faster than it was expected. Gauche.

DONALD TRUMP.

Donald Trump has been attacking his political opponents for reasons nobody else knows about, but just himself.

His favorite target is President Barack Obama, because he thinks that the Conservative Republican Party will adopt a "write-in" strategy to have his name to be written among the list of the party's candidates for president in the 2012 general election. However, many believe that he is just being naive to be thinking that he will ever be given that privilege.

His latest rhetoric is one that "takes the cake", that America has "become the laughingstock of the world", because of the leadership of the president. Yet, he does not give ample reason why that is so, except that the Chinese political leaders are always gaining the upper hand in their dealings with the United States. That is a complete fallacy.

In fact, there is not a shred of evidence in that statement; and Trump is using the Chinese authorities, who are extremely protective of their currency, and therefore refuse any other currency, be it the United States Dollar, the European Euro or the Russian Ruble, to become predominant.

The economy of China is growing at the rate of 11% a year, but its consumption of goods and services, in the form of imports, is far below other industrial countries; and so, there has always been a tipping balance in its (China's) favor. The country's economic policy is one that does not permit open market. It is willing to sell to others, but it is not willing to accept comparable inflow of products.

In the financial world, the consensus is that the Chinese Yuan must be devalued so that its real value can be determined in an atmosphere of free competition with other currencies in the marketplace. The leadership has always turned a deaf ear to world opinion in regard to that suggestion.

Yet Trump, who claims that he has been doing business in China does not seem to be aware of that fact. His vitriolic assertions that the Obama administration is not doing well in world affairs have no bases (if one must use the plural of the word "basis").

He has joined a group of people, who are incensed, because Obama happens to be an African American. First of all, he wants him to supply his long form birth certificate to prove his citizenship; and he has done so. He (Trump) supports the Tea Party people for putting the country through an unnecessary ordeal by bringing up a debate on the raising of the debt ceiling, just to embarrass the Obama administration.

The debt limit to allow any U.S. government to pay its bills has never been met with any opposition as stiff as the one that has just gone by. He thinks that the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party must be commended for making the U.S. Congress to be tied up in a senseless argument.

Well, as everybody knows, it has ended up in a resounding defeat for them. They have wanted America to default for the first time in history; but it (America) has not defaulted.

Donald Trump has hopped out as candidate for the 2012 presidential election; but nobody is stopping him from hopping in again to challenge Obama, instead of sitting on the sidelines and indulging in ignominious remarks about the present leadership of the country.

He will be chewed up and spat out by American voters; and he knows that for a fact.