Tent City, Ontario, California, USA

You head towards the Ontario International Airport. You turn on down on your luck Holt Blvd. and then south on Grove. You turn right, along the border of the airport, onto State Street. And then you see a few tents. Short, squat, igloo style tents. Perhaps three or four. One of them has an American flag flying above the center of the tent. Not an extremely large flag, but one that could be construed that the inhabitants who live below the flag and within the tent still have faith in their country.

You drive another dozen feet or so along the dusty street and then the enormity of Tent City hits you. There are tents erected around a field that is being smoothed over the city in its commitment to keep Tent City open. Most of the tents are similar to the first ones that came into one's vision. They are various colors. Some are clustered with another dozen or so, some are in small groups of perhaps four to six.

The field stretches to some warehouse style buildings that form a southern boundary. Just off State Street and just north of the tents is an area for trailers. You know the type - campers, beat up vans, even an old school bus or two. And as you sit and look out at this encampment you begin to see the inhabitants.

More than one tent has a flag. That flag is important because the people who live in Tent City are a composite of America. If you ever wanted to see a fully integrated place, than this is the one. There are African-American men strolling around; a group of Latinos sits under one of the few trees in the area. Men, women, people from their twenties to senior ages, parolees, drug addicts, victims of foreclosure, refugees of an uncaring medical system, the list goes on and on.

And this was Tent City before more than half of the 400 or so who had lived there, had been evicted for not having ties to the host city of Ontario, who is footing the bill to build a fence enclosure, dampen down the dusty areas, put in barbecue cooking pits, running water, and provide security.

There are many issues that one must confront when faced with the reality of a Tent City. These can be addressed another day. For now, the shock and awe of seeing so many dispossessed living in squalor brings a tear to the eye and brings to mind the eternal question - why?

Obama: The Unconventional Conventional

Change, Change, Change.
We hear it, we see it, we are supposed to feel it.
He is different: Obviously, he looks different than any other man who has been president.
He is the voice of a new generation: At age 46, he is on the younger side of those who get this far in the primary process.
He is a "once in a lifetime candidate": So says Governor Bill Richardson whose own once in a lifetime campaign died a month ago.

So what is so different, engaging, and unconventional about Barack Obama. Besides the obvious, not much.

He loves campaign money: Oh, he doesn't take cash from PACs. Maybe not, but he sure knows how to use the internet to fund his effort. Obama is not a fool. He knows money is the grease that runs a campaign.
He will take money from anyone: Yes, even a bum like Chicago money man, Tony Rezko.
He is not a Don Quixote: Obama has surrounded himself with veteran pollsters and politicos (many Clinton refugees). He is not out on a one man mission to nowhere.
He hedges on issues: He was against the war. He is against the war. Yet he always has voted to fund the war.
He hedges on more issues: He is from inner city Chicago and should know the danger of handguns; yet his campaign steers clear of this politically tough but essential issue.
He has a big ego: Anyone running for president must think extraordinarily high about him or herself. Just a little more than twenty years ago he was a humble organizer in Chicago. Since then he became president of the Harvard Law Review, a high profile state senator, lost an ill conceived run for Congress, and now barely a few years into his U.S. Senate career, he is the leading Democratic candidate for the most important position in the world.

Obama is a gifted person. He is intelligent, photogenic, an incredible orator, and a visionary. But he is also a politician. He has used his advantages and disadvantages to his personal gain this campaign season. He is poised to win. But do not expect the world to change when and if he becomes president. Based on his career and his candidacy, he will guide the country on a slight leftward tilt always looking to stay close to the middle as any president would do who wants to win a second term. Funny, the mixed race middle aged senator from Illinois, is really not that much different from that female candidate from New York.

November Madness

It is madness that Democrats continue to hide what they stand for. It is madness that Republicans can be mad, say what is on their hearts, and win election after election. It is madness for the Dems to continue to play the wimp and let the other party roll over them. So with March Madness sweeping the nation it is time to peer into the November playbook and see if there is anyway for the Democrats to win this year.

ISSUE: GUNS
GOP: Guns have been given to us from God. From pistols to tanks to nuclear devices, no one is going to take our weapons away from us.
DEMS: Well, guns do kill people, but it is in the Constitution. Maybe we can brand the bullets and maybe we can put better locks on them. Oh, we guess people can still keep their weapons.
NOVEMBER DEM PLAYBOOK (NDP): How many more innocent people are going to die from the easy access to these weapons. From the inner city to our college campuses this is an epidemic that needs to stop. Weapons for hunting are one thing but mass killing automatics will be banned forever.

ISSUE: ABORTION
GOP: It is murder. And it is not the woman who will go to jail but the evil abortion doctor. No matter what, abortion should be outlawed.
DEMS: Abortion is a poor choice. Especially in the third trimester. Women have the right to decide what to do but we all know it is only one of many solutions.
NDP: Men, keep your hands off the women. Abortion is a woman's issue. Whether raped or through mutual consent to have sex, let women choose their path in life.

ISSUE: OIL
GOP: Bring on the SUV's and Hummers. Put the gun rack up above. This is freedom. And heck, if the oil companies are cleaning up profits, well that is capitalism.
DEMS: Gas is too high. Maybe we can regulate this somehow. Shouldn't everyone squeeze into a subcompact that gets around thirty-five miles per gallon.
NDP: The oil companies are an unholy alliance with the Arabs. Why the HELL should our hard working money be swallowed up at the pump. A "to the moon" scientific effort must start immediately to get our vehicles off gas and into environmentally safe and Middle East free fuels.

ISSUE: GLOBAL WARMING
GOP: C'mon this is a myth. Drive your car and enjoy your life. Only pinko commies would reject the use of plastic shopping bags for 1960ish environmentally friendly bring your own bags to the market. What are we a third world nation?
DEMS: Could be that things are getting bad. Did you know that the world's temperature is going up by .0000001 degree every year? Did you?
NDP: Enough with cancer, asthma, and a host of other problems. For the love of our children lets get this right now! If we are indeed a Christian nation then it is time to follow the Lord's call to shed selfishness and rid ourselves of extraneous packaging and waste. If we love our nation lets clean things up.

BOTTOM LINE: The GOP will use wedge issues like gays, abortion, and patriotism to drive their message of doing nothing for the common man. The DEMS will be on the defensive to show that they are not our of the mainstream (witness Obama with all the flags at his "race" speech this week). The NDP calls for a robust campaign that points out the errors of our ways in Iraq, tax policies, health care, and the environment. The NDP rallies the people in a populist campaign for truth, fairness, and compassion. The NDP co-opts the religious right and preaches a true gospel that embraces all.

Trickle Down Disaster

It started with some subprime home foreclosures. Folks who never should have been in the position to buy homes valued at $250k to $300k and above defaulted on payments that were increasing because of exotic loans created to give them the illusion that they would be able to afford the American dream. Those unfortunate souls began to increase in number and in geographic terms and before you knew it large swath of homes in places like South Florida, California, and Cleveland lay empty.

Those of us who purchased conventionally felt sad for our fellow citizens but went to sleep pretty much content that we were not going to suffer in this creeping recession. But then investors began looking at oil and before we could take a deep breath, the price of home heating oil and gasoline for our automobiles began an incredibly steep increase. As the price went over $3 a gallon, those of us who thought we were in the comfortable middle class began to take stock and cut back.

The once infallible Starbucks began to offer smaller and lower priced coffees and even took an unprecedented four hour shutdown to plot the future. Not to be undone, one time "Super Three" auto manufacturer, Chrysler, announced that the entire company will be closed for two weeks this summer. The trendy upper middle class restaurant chains are beginning to look at their bottom line as well.

In our area of San Bernardino County, the chief rival to Olive Garden, Romano's Macaroni Grill, will close some of its restaurants in an effort to keep things in line. In moments of financial crisis it is usually the bottom feeders (i.e. Target, Wal-Mart, etc.) who come out looking good as shoppers put aside their pride and look for those bargains that just a few years ago they thought they no longer had to worry about.

Trickle Down economics is the concept that the rich should get a break and that they will invest in areas that will bring jobs and benefits to the rest us poor souls. But time after time, this concept never holds. What happens when the problems of the foreclosed class and those living by paycheck to paycheck become multiplied? People return to the basic necessities of life and abandon their former attempts to move up the economic ladder.

Only today, we have learned that Wall Street stalwart, Bears Stearns, will probably be gobbled up by JP Morgan Chase. If this goes through, then many higher priced workers will be out of jobs in the so called rescue of this investment giant. Cities like New York can scant afford to see big time companies become downsized. The real estate market, the entertainment business, the tourism dollars all will start to dry up in an economic spiral that can only result in disaster.

A war in Irag that costs billions, an energy policy that has failed to find solutions to our dependence on foreign oil, and a tax system that favors the fabulously rich, is at the root of an unfair system that is about to suck in the majority of us.

Raising Geraldine Lazarus

Wasn't she dead already? (figuratively speaking!)I mean, who has heard anything from Geraldine Ferraro? Sometime in the summer of 1984 Geraldine was picked by Walter Mondale to jump start his ill fated campaign. But just as we were getting used to the woman from Forest Hills, New York word leaked out about financial improprieties involving her husband and well, as will all remember, everything went downhill from there. By the time November turned around most of us had had our fill of Ferraro. And now out of nowhere, she has returned.

How sad that Ferraro's second turn on stage has turned out to be as poor as her first one. Ferraro gave an interview to the tiny Torrance, California Daily Breeze newspaper in which she compared her selection as Mondale's veep to Barack Obama's sudden rise in the presidential sweepstakes. She knew then and revealed the truth again, that the only reason she was on the Democratic ticket was because of her gender. Taking things a step further, Ferraro insinuated that the only plausible reason that Obama was doing so good was the color of his skin. Thus Obama, according to Ferraro, was in now way suitable at this time to become president.

There might be truths to some of Ferraro's argument, but a deeper thinking career politician would realize that comments about race would distract from the message of the candidate who one supported; in this case, Hillary Clinton. Clinton has now spent two entire days dealing with the fallout of the woman who has not been on the public radar for over twenty-three years. With every second precious in a campaign that is nip and tuck, Clinton and her handlers must wish that the coffin had not been opened and that this figure from the days of Democratic doom had not reemerged.

Forget The Fiction

Could any novelist in his or her wildest imaginations surpass or even come close to the strange realities that have hit all of us these past few months? The stories, straight out of the world of living real beings, were once the staples of fictionalized conceptions thought up by writers great and small. But now, almost on a daily basis, we are being bombarded with truths that hit us right where we live. Any writer would give his right arm to hit such powerful connections to his readers. Just a review of some of the more recent revelations:

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is found to have had a rendezvous with a high priced call girl. This story takes on added significance as Spitzer has been seen as the cleanest of all politicos, is the governor of the mighty Empire State, and is a close confidant of presidential candidate Hilary Clinton.

Super pitcher and good old boy Roger Clemens is under increasing suspicion of using steroids and lying under oath about it. Beyond his fame and greatness, Clemens is done in by his Yankee teammate and fellow Texan Andy Pettitte. Pettitte, another super clean guy, admits to using illegal substances himself.

After waiting hundreds of years, a major political party is poised to nominate a minority candidate - an African-American or a woman. But the celebration turns into a slow death march as party voters can't make up their minds on who to support, literally splitting their votes in half and prolonging the race seemingly forever.

Florida, the state that allowed George W. Bush to begin his ill-fated presidency, has become a major stumbling block in resolving the Obama-Clinton stalemate. No matter how the leading Dems cut a deal with Florida on its delegates, the primary process will always be considered tainted by the candidate who falls by the wayside.

Day after day we have been going on with these stories. What will tomorrow bring?

Florida Democratic Redo & The Snow Bird Problem

Oy vey, do the Democrats have a problem! And it will all center on some alta cockers from New York and its environs.

Isn't there enough trouble over who will win the nomination? Neither Obama or Clinton can win enough delegates on their own to claim the party's mantle. So, the call has gone out for a redo vote in those two rule breaking states - Michigan & Florida. Sooo, what's the big deal? Plenty!

First, will we go with a caucus (advantage Obama) or a second primary (advantage Clinton). Second, when will these states do the redo? If they get scheduled between May's Pennsylvania vote and the last June primary featuring Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico!!), they will steal all the thunder from the states that have legally placed their dates on the election calendar. If the votes come in late June or into July, well that is where we will have a problem

Enough voters will be on summer vacation that the remaining folks will get to make what could be the ultimate decision. If you had gone in January to your local polling booth and now you were not around in July, have you become disenfranchised?

Let's take this just a bit further and focus on Florida. The most consistent and largest bloc of voters in the Sunshine State are the millions of retired seniors. Primary after primary has shown that this group is the backbone of Clinton's support. Now imagine anywhere from a third to a half of the retirees not being around for the redo. Why? Because these folks will be back in New York, New Jersey, and other points north. The term used in Florida is "Snow Birds". Millions of retirees live in Florida from October through April. The rest of the year they move back to their original homes and neighborhoods to live with their children and grandchildren.

There is no doubt that the vast majority of these Snow Birds voted in the original Florida primary and gave Clinton the large lead she enjoyed. The Clinton campaign would be meshuggener if they don't look into this issue. Why hold a redo when so many of your supporters will not be around? Will Florida pay for millions of absentee ballots to be sent to their summer home? Will the Florida election board even have these addresses on file?

This might be the first posting anyone has written on this key Florida demographic. If it is the last and Florida holds a redo, then the Clinton people will have fallen back to sleep just like they did during this past February, when they allowed Obama to rack up eleven straight election victories.

Mr. Dean and the Democratic Party have created a fine mess with their insane proportional caucus/primary elections. As they look to Florida, all parties better take into account the seriousness of who will and who will not get to participate in the redo.

A Stumble

Perhaps we were a bit premature in writing Hillary Clinton's obituary. If you stick around long enough, your opponent just might stumble, hurt himself, and open the door to new possibilities.

On Little Super Tuesday (which still has Texas outstanding as we write), Hillary Clinton has found a way to continue her now long shot campaign for the presidency. Besides finding a more strident voice and aggressive posture on her way to big wins in Ohio and Rhode Island, Clinton has benefited from the first missteps incurred by Barack Obama.

Between a half hearted denunciation of Louis Farrakhan, increased scrutiny of one time Obama finacial backer, Tony Rezko, and a weird bit of communication between a top ranking Obama official with the Canadian consul in Chicago, the angelic glow that has been atop Obama has begun to lose just a bit of its luster.

Obama is still in the driver's seat what with his number of delegates and the desire of many top Democratic officials to wish Hillary away. But at least on this day, his well won momentum during the month of February has been stopped.

Those wishing for a quick end to the primary process and the opportunity to have the Democratic nominee take on John McCain as soon as possible, should take a deep breath and allow the process to go on. Hillary is a known quantity and will not be hurt by the length of the campaign. Contrarily, Obama will only get stronger by the pressure he will now start to feel. Anything Clinton has or will throw his way pales in comparison to what awaits him if and when he is the official Democratic candidate. If he can not take the heat from the Clintons, then he is not prepared for the upcoming run and will lead the Dems to another disappointing fall. However, if he survives, he will have been baptized into the fire of a modern presidential campaign, and will be more than ready to take on the Republicans, the right wing machine, and the venerable McCain.

A Tear

When pundits, voters, and the general public look back to what has been one of the most exciting presidential primary seasons in memory, one moment will stick out from all the photos, essays, and videos that captured the campaign for posterity. It will feature the preseason favorite, the former first lady, the senator from New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

On the eve of the first primary in New Hampshire, Clinton was in a precarious position. Having put all her efforts in a tough Iowa Caucus, Clinton had finished a surprising third, and was facing a rising newcomer in Senator Barack Obama. Another loss, and her campaign would all but be declared dead.

With a few days left before the Tuesday polling, Clinton was meeting with undecided women voters on a cold New Hampshire winter day. One of the questioners asked Clinton how she stood up to all the pressure of the campaign. As she began to answer, Clinton repeated that "...it was not easy..." and with her voice choking a tiny sliver of moisture found its way out of her eye.

A tear. For a moment, Americans got a revelation of the real breathing person who lives in the skin of the career public person that Hillary Clinton has become. For a moment, and just for that moment, the campaign stopped. Women, captivated by the passion, strength, and yes, tenderness of Clinton, flocked to her side and helped her pull out a small miracle and win the New Hampshire primary.

Unfortunately, for the rest of the campaign, the ability to come across with human feeling has escaped Clinton. Over programmed by her political handlers, she has vacillated between an attack dog and a policy wonk. One time in New Hampshire, Clinton forgot the consequences of her words and spoke and acted from the heart. If only she had the courage to have gone on from there, the outcome of the Democratic primaries would have had a different conclusion. Instead of facing almost certain elimination this Tuesday, Clinton would be looking to put away the newcomer Obama, and preparing to battle John McCain in the general election.

A tear. A moment in time. Frozen for all of us to remember. Frozen within the soul of Hillary Clinton.