"...is there not some reason to fear I may be wrong?" (Austen)

(Actually, Sat. August 28, 2010)

.....There's a zillionaire politician here in Florida who spent $50 million dollars on his campaign to get elected. This fact made me want to throw up just thinking about how many people could be fed with that money instead of feeding his ego. How many homes could be built in Haiti; how much good that much money could do in New Orleans. So, he wanted power and celebrity and he decided he could buy it as though it were on sale in WalMart. With this kind of money being invested for the purpose of having a seat in government, then we now have to be realistic and consider whether or not we have a democracy here in America or a "plutocracy"--a system of government where people of wealth have undue influence over the political process.

.....In the past and recently there have been many examples of wealthy people, organizations, and corporations exerting financial pressure on our governments--local, state, and national--to pass favorable legislation. Of course, realistically and lawfully, campaign donations or gifts of any kind should have no effect on the legislative decisions of our elected representatives. Yeah, right.

.....This morning's newspaper featured a column by Bill Reilly, a Fox news pride and joy, and an arrogant, right wing prig if I ever read or heard one. All he ever can think of to write about is something with which he can bash "liberals" or especially Obama because they don't think as rightly as he does about political issues in this country. He writes about liberals and democrats as though they were aliens from another planet who have no right to an idea unless they adopt his. For example, today's column involves the issue of the mosque being built near ground zero.

Reilly claims that "Americans are not stupid. They understand that New York City has more than a 100 mosques. One more near the site where fanatical Muslims murdered thousands of innocent people is certainly not necessary."

.....In other words, those liberals, like Obama, who believe the mosque should be built are not only stupid, but obviously they are not Americans because "Americans are not stupid." Also, one wonders how his Americans understand how many mosques exist in New York City? And lastly, when was Reilly named a judge to decide what is or is not "necessary"?

.....Meanwhile, in the midst of Reilly's column, he exults gleefully in stating that the "far-left" media--like CNN, MSNBC, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, and the Washington Post "...face economic disaster." Meanwhile he claims that "...the anti-liberal Fox News Channel and The Wall Street Journal are doing very well." The Wall Street Journal?? Who would've guessed? $50 million bought an election here.

... The irony in all this is that I believe that the proposed mosque ought not to be built where so many died and where so many are still grieving and who, no doubt, still garner hatred of Islam. And I can understand and empathize with that feeling as it was Muslim extremists who were responsible for murdering my son-in-law in Lebanon in 1990, and who changed my family's life. But for Mr. Reilly's information, I'm an American, I'm a liberal, and a Democrat and I am not stupid. I'll stack my education up to his anytime.