What I see...

I know our efforts here are directed toward the tactical. Any strategy we have vaguely has Bush out of the White House and Dem (or progressive) control of Congress. So this morning I'd like to share a bit of what I see for America and the world once we get this nation back on track.

First, domestically, universal health care. Fortunately, the Mrs. recent hospitalization and subsequent treatment didn't wipe us out (thanks to decent insurance and financial stabilty). A good portion of Americans aren't as lucky as we are and are one hospitalization away from financial ruin. This has to be made part of the Democratic platform before '08.

Second, I foresee Peace. I want to live in a world where peace is the norm and wars are only fought in self-defense. I want to see peace and prosperity develop throughout the world, not at the point of a gun but as a result of socio-economics packages that actually do work.

I want the guy on the street, anywhere in the world, to have what we have. I've lived on four continents and hung out with the locals at every occasion. Know what I found? The average guy in Korea, or France, or Turkey, or in Iraq wants the same things Joe Six-pack in the U.S. wants. He wants to work for a living, he wants his family to be safe in their homes and on the street, and he wants his kids to have better lives than he had. If we could do that throughout the world, there would be no need to fight a 'War on Terror'. We could accomplish this, we are in the best position to do that.

I want to see cheap energy. Not cheap oil, a new power source. If the demand for oil evaporated, most of our terror problems would be solved, or the people in the oil producing states would solve them or be cut loose from the international community.

Cheap energy will also bring the Third World into the First World, and that must be done before we can move forward. The gap between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' is getting bigger by the day and that can only lead to more war, death, and destruction. We've seen what people who have no hope for a future are capable of doing. Unless we want an endless war against terror, we have to give the people of the world a better future than the 'martyr's death' promised by the radical Imams. When the promise of Paradise becomes more appealing than life itself, there will always be someone ready to kill themselves, and others, for the cause.

And eventually, probably not in my lifetime, I would like to see global governance. The Earth united under one flag (not the Stars and Stripes) together as one diverse People, looking outward as Columbus looked westward from the Spanish shores. It's time to move on, become explorers once again and conquer the next place where there 'be dragons and dangerous beasts'.

We have the beginnings of it with the U.N. and we have to build on that foundation. We have to realize we are all part of the human family and the sooner we understand that, the better off we'll be. That is the reason for America. God's Plan if you will for all you religious folks. America is the modern Ark, a vessel to a better place, not a place in itself. God has given us an obligation, not to marginalize people who are different but to bring all who are more alike than different into a global family. America is merely the embryo of what could develop throughout the world, not the end of an evolutionary process. It's time to get on with the job God gave us instead of stagnating in the past for that will surely be our downfall.