Good Riddance 2008, Happy New Year

Thank God 2008 is finally over, however it is not going out with a whimper. Problems with the economy, war in the Middle East and political strife in the US Senate. Even though the market has been up the last several days, it is still going to close about 4000 or 5000 points lower than its highest point of the year. The Detroit 3 automakers are still in trouble and the help they have received is little more than a band aid. The banks are still being very tight with money, and the housing market is still upside down. More and more Americans owe more than their homes are assessed for. Until the housing issue is resolved the economy will continue to be bad.

The fighting in Gaza is troubling to watch and the lack of compassion on either side is terrible. The only winners are the arms merchants and the US is a major supplier to the Israeli's. I for one am getting sick and tired of watching the news and seeing American built AH-64 Apache helicopters and and F-16 fighters making bombing and rocket runs on Palestinian homes. I agree with my government that Israel has a right to exist but Israel needs to agree that so does a Palestinian State. I know that Hamas has been shooting rockets into Israel but the comparative levels of damage aren't even on the same page. The concept of an eye for an eye doesn't work, has never worked and will not work in the future. I believe that there needs to be an arms embargo on both Hamas and Israel. No American arms for Israel until they sit down and have meaningful talks to form a Palestinian State. The US needs to work with a multinational force to stop the random rocketing of Israel by Hamas.

The comic soap opera that is Obama's Senate seat is just too much. The appointment of Roland Burris is only the latest piece in a drama that shows American politics at its worst. The Senate Majority leader said that they would not seat Burris as is their right per the US Constitution. This right has been used in the past to keep out unqualified persons ,however that was in the 1870's during re-construction and was used by white democrats to keep out blacks that had been elected to the Senate from the South. So a white democrat is going to keep out a black democrat, sounds like we haven't changed all that much in the last 130 years.

Yes, good riddance to 2008 and all the controversy and hello 2009. I hope that "no drama Obama" is up to the task.