Name dropping without naming names

ok, i know how this sounds, but give me a second.

for the last four days i have been in DC and during that time we met with and talked to ______, _______, ________, and (believe it or not) got an hour with _____________. i must tell you it was quite enlightening and sometimes encouraging. hearing ____________ describe the lay of the land was fascinating.

those names, as impressive as they are, were not the only people we met with. the entire list of blanks would make your head spin.

all that to say (or not say) that the '06 midterm election is going to be very interesting...and '08 could just be WILD.

will dems investigate and ultimately pursue impeachment against W if they gain control of the House, Senate, and committees in '06? will hillary run in '08? can she win? who will be the '08 GOP candidate? who should it be? what is the president giong to do ultimately with the immgration issue? will Karl Rove be indicted? what impact will that have, if any, on the president's ability to get anything done in the last two years of this administration?

a weekend of listening and taking notes...sometimes standing at attention and sometimes standing in awe...reminded also of the greatness of our country and how it isn't tied to politics or party...it is the obligation for the party (any of them) to identify with the greatness of the country. the party that best does that has the chance to earn the power (responsibility) to govern. i was also reminded how important it is to participate...to vote...to write...to call...

the party shouldn't make the country, the country should make the party.

Immigration Reform?

This week something is likely to be done about immigration reform...perhaps not.

But the President last week in Mexico declaring once again that 'there are jobs that Americans are unwilling to do' just makes my head explode. It simply isn't true. Yes, at certain pay there are always going to be jobs that some people are unwilling to do. That's even true for illegals. Price a job low enough and even illegals would refuse to do it.

At the heart of this is money...and cheap labor for business.

If sending jobs overseas for businesses to benefit from cheap labor (exporting jobs) is wrong and harmful then why is it not wrong and harmful to bring the cheap labor here (importing cheap labor).

Actually the latter is more harmful that is the former. When we have the workers here, our society is responsible for benefits and healthcare in a way we are not when Dell has computer order-takers in India.

Whether you agree with the President or not, let's stop using the phrase (especially when it's on foreign soil) that these are jobs Americans are not willing to do. It's not true.

Why do we go to war?

we're in it...so we have to win in...i believe that.

but...

with all the defending of the war in iraq, it seems like a good time to ask this question: why should we ever go to war?

i believe it is not to be used to feed starving people...not for freeing slaves...not for assisting in civil wars within other countries. i believe we can work to solve those problems in other ways...but not with war.

i believe war should be reserved for imminent threat to the US and/or our allies...that's it.