I’ve been participating in online political debate and discussion since the late nineties, along with my usual consumption of political news through newspapers, magazines, and radio.  One of the significant and oft-repeated questions that I see across the web forums and that I’ve been seeing and hearing from conservative-leaning pundits, is some form of “How can anyone support Obama knowing that; (insert declaration about terrorism, religion, inexperience, guilty associations, etc.)…?”

The answer to that question, is that those who occupy the political middle are tired of simplistic and jingoistic statements of patriotism and policy that are, in actuality, attempts to divide and rule by segmentation and simplification.   We will, as a group trend, no longer go along with simplistic fear-mongering, or accept the distortions created by simplifying every situation down to two options of action or two possibilities of perception in public issues.

Mr. Obama’s campaign, and that of those Democratic legislative candidates that won in states and districts that have recently been mostly Republican, and of those Republicans that saved their seats under adverse conditions, were mostly conducted with more nuance and attempts to deal with complex issues than has been the case too often in recent years.  The attempts by some Republican legislative candidates and McCain supporters –particularly by the Sarah Palin faction of the McCain campaign, to boil this election down to the sort of simplistic fearful warnings and dire declarations that have worked so well lately, failed.

Witness Elizabeth Dole’s desperate attempt to paint her opponent as “Godless,” and how it backfired and contributed to her opponent’s margin of victory.  Take a look at Senator Norm Coleman in Minnesota.  His negative attacks on Al Franken were, combined with Dean Barkley’s entry as the Independence Party candidate, effective only in dragging him down in the eyes of those that were uncommitted to either of the parties.  He has to be given credit for recognizing that his negative campaign had given Franken a small but significant lead in the final weeks’ polls, erasing the double-digit percentages lead that Coleman had in late summer.  When he announced that he would halt the part of the nastiness that he could control, and began releasing ads and statements aimed at promoting himself and talking about the bipartisan issues that he has worked on, rather than disparaging Franken, it helped him to squeeze out the narrowest of victories.  There will be a recount, but Minnesota’s history with recounts in the last two decades is that there is rarely a change of more than a tiny micro-fraction of a percentage point.

For the moment at least, America appears ready to move beyond its fondness for the simple and simplistic when considering its political future and policy needs.  I hope that Mr. Obama and our other political leaders are able to make good use of this brief willingness in the electorate to discuss things  in more complex terms than an “Us good, Them bad” dialogue, and to ponder things in terms of possibilities and responsibilities rather than in modes of fear and dogmatic repetitions, as has been the case in recent years.

Let’s enjoy it and be sure that we make it work for us, while it lasts.  The politics of the fearful and simplistic will return to us from either or both ends of the political spectrum soon enough, I fear.

Kevin R. Carr (November, 2008)

Those were John McCain's first words on hearing of the death of Barack Obama's beloved Grandmother.

"He's been helped by the media, his campaign supported by dangerous contributors of small dollar amounts, given a pass on having been the mastermind of terrorist plots since he was eight years old, and now this! His grandmother dies the day before the election, AND THEY ANNOUNCE IT PUBLICLY!! Where is the outrage at such scurrilous political dirty tricks? How can I possibly compete with such lowdown, unAmerican grandstanding when MY grandmother didn't have the damn consideration to stick around long enough to do such a thing for me?"

Mr. McCain's campaign legal team is drawing up the paperwork for a challenge to this entire election, based on the accusation that the announcement of Obama's grandmother's death should have been delayed by at least 48 hours in order not to interfere with this most important of elections. An unnamed insider told this reporter that the candidate would demand that the Supreme Court intervene, and order the current President to declare Martial Law until such time as the electorate is ready to make the "right decision."

From a remote and undisclosed location, Vice President Dick Cheney called this reporter to suggest we investigate whether this death was by natural causes, or if Mr. Obama may have actually contracted for this well-timed death.

"It's what I would have done in his position" the Vice President said.

No one wants to take responsibility any more for their mistakes. It always has to be someone else's fault. We all must recognize that a country divided against itself cannot stand, just like a house cannot stand.

This state of affairs has got to stop, and only the American electorate can make that happen. Otherwise, we are headed for a serious fall.

The American electorate has foolishly given its power away to our politicians, some of whom are corrupt and many of whom are plain avaricious. We expect that they somehow know what is best for us. Why would anyone expect such wisdom from a bunch of self-serving people? They are there by our permission to serve our needs, but they too often behave as if they have some divine right to do as they please and ignore us.

We nervously pray that these same politicians are really looking out for us, or at the least, not harming us. With each election, we pray that the one we choose to send to Congress or to the White House will honestly work on our behalf. And you know what? Your elected officials by and large are praying, too … praying that you won't notice his or her outright betrayal of your best interests; that you will continue on remaining ignorant and inattentive.

We are the people, and the American government is charged with representing our interests, not anyone else's. The Constitution does not start out by stating, “[w]e the wealthy corporations of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, …”. Rather, it states: “[w]e the People of the United States, in order to …”. We have every right to expect that our interests are being served, not the interests of others that work to our detriment, or the interests of illegal people who should not be here.

But many of our elected representatives do harm us. Witness the recent economic debacle. First off, we are suffering because of deregulation, the worst idea ever dreamt up by negligent politicians. No one is watching the banking industry, the airline industry, or Wall Street. And for sure, under these circumstances, no one is watching out for you and me.

On top of that open wound, Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told us just two short months ago that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were financially sound. Nothing to worry about from that quarter. We all now know the truth.

What about Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate finance committee, who accepted a sweetheart deal from Countrywide Credit before that entity sunk into a black hole?

When executives at big investment houses such as Merrill Lynch and Lehman Bros. badly mismanage their companies and walk off with golden parachutes, leaving their stockholders and investors to suffer, and Congress votes to throw more billions of dollars at them, as if rewarding them for bad management, is that not misuse and abuse of our tax dollars, the dollars we work hard for to send to the government? And to add insult to injury, the President and the Congress want to give those same executives our tax dollars without any oversight, and without putting into place stricter rules and regulations as to the management of those companies. Does betrayal get any more egregious than that?

How about our government allowing the importation of foreigners in order to take our jobs away? Not only that, our government gives more rights and privileges to illegal persons in this country than to us. They can go and get free medical services at our hospitals, take our jobs away, and burden our school systems and social services. If you and I walk into any hospital and ask for free medical attention, guess what happens?

And we have to pay for all those services.

When the President of the United States has the gall to look right into the tv camera and say that there is nothing he can do about the people streaming illegally into this country, he is lying to you. And when he goes on to state that they are only working at jobs Americans refuse to do, he is pouring salt into your open wound.

If we do not demand our rights and exercise our power, as we have a right to do, then we have no one to blame but ourselves when we sink down into third-world status, or possibly even get taken over by some foreign government.

Democracy is dying in this country, and attention needs to be paid. One reason it is dying, although not the only one, is because of well-funded, very powerful lobbyists who have easy access to our elected officials. They ply these officials with money and gifts while you and I go unheard and unheeded. Such a situation amounts to bribery, and when legislation is enacted on that basis, democracy dies. And helping to shovel it into an early grave are corrupt politicians, dishonest politicians, avaricious politicians; along with too many children graduating from school who do not even know how to read and write properly, and who do not know our history or how our government operates; and very definitely too many of us who sit on our hands and grumble.

We are not paying attention as we should, but are too involved with our own lives and problems to be bothered. But we need to be bothered, to wake up and take notice, because otherwise, for sure, we are going to lose this wonderful country.

You may ask, "What am I suppose to do?" You could send faxes and e-mails, and better yet, call your Congressperson and Senator at least once a week and voice your opinions.

A better suggestion would be for groups of Americans to get together in their own neighborhoods and meet every couple of weeks. Each person would have spent the past two weeks watching the Congress and their local representatives, and how they propose or vote on issues, as well as watching what the President is doing. Then a vote would be taken at the meeting as to whether the President and representatives are acting in your best interests. If something is disliked, telephone, fax and call these people and let them know. If something is liked, let them know about that, too.

The point is to inundate your elected representatives with e-mails, faxes and telephone calls. Let them know they are being watched by an observant electorate who will no longer tolerate inefficiency and insensitivity. Believe me, I think it will have a powerful effect. When they know that their re-election is in jeopardy, they may well straighten up and start acting like the servants they really are.

Further, I maintain it would not hurt if large numbers of us marched on Washington from time to time, voicing our demands. Also, for sure, any representative who you feel has failed you should be voted out of office.

We need to pay much more attention to what is going on in government, and to seek redress when we are being harmed. Democracy only works when the people remain involved. You've heard it said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. It's a mistake to believe that your representatives are sitting in Washington, doing the right thing on your behalf, while you are looking the other way. Too many of them are so obviously not doing the right thing, and have to be held accountable.

But as things stand now, they are counting on you to remain apathetic and ignorant, and so far, they are right.

Forget about politicians looking out for you, as they should. Forget about them coming to your town to tell you what they promise to do, which promises are too often quickly forgotten once they get into office. They instead need to hear what we expect them to do. Remember, they represent us, not the other way around.

Stop giving your power away to them. Politicians are not royalty. They do not automatically have any kind of divine right to anything. I believe that if enough Americans stood up to them, they would back down in a hurry.

It is true that one person alone cannot accomplish much, if anything at all. Power is in the numbers. Enough people have to stand up and make their voices heard. I know there are many angry people out there, angry about the loss of jobs in this country, angry about the debacle on Wall Street, angry about the price of oil, angry about the onward march of illegals into our country, angry about the bailout, angry about the war in Iraq, and angry about a host of other issues as well. We all need to get together and communicate our feelings to a president and Congress that right now is so out of touch.

So here we go again! Another election over a bunch of politicians telling you whatever you want to hear, and ignoring issues that really need open discussion, such as the loss of jobs and the downfall of the middle class, not to mention a few other pressing issues. They're at it again, promising way too much and unlikely to deliver even a modicum. And you are listening and getting sucked in just as they want, when, in truth, you have the power at any time to turn the tables and make them listen to you.

When are you going to raise your voice?

In Germany at the time, the lies of Hitler helped bring him to power and eventually brought about WW II.  But American politicians that lied that there was hope, thanks to FDR, should have said there was hope thanks to wealth redistribution.  The rich were taxed more and expected to make the New Deal successful. Pressures from so many areas convinced the wealthy to do their part in helping FDR succeed.  If they had sheltered all their wealth and the IRS had not been able to pry any of it out of them there might not have been a recovery.  It also didn't hurt to have the lies of Hitler frighten nations into wanting industrial products from America for the upcoming war. 

When a politician lies about the economy he often relies on statistics to support his lies.  Hyperbole also helps.  When a person says the economic policies of the last eight years have been the worst, he hopes that people forget about the Great Depression and the Carter administration which had double-digit inflation, unemployment, and interest rates.  Even FDR had double-digit unemployment and he is still considered one of our greatest Presidents. 

When a lie is said just right, it can be better than the truth.  When someone lies to you and says you have the chance to be practically anything you want to be if you work hard, that may be a lie.  But it gives you hope and may convince you that you can improve your lot in life.  You may not be a total success.  But you may be better off than if someone had told you you'll amount to nothing.  More than likely you'd prove them right.  When someone says great days lie ahead, you may think he means immediately.  He means eventually since we have always experienced good times and bad.  The stock market going up is sometimes credited to a President and his policies.  Often the reason is business cycles and unforeseen events.  The stock market in the long run generally goes up.  If a President is lucky enough to become President in a down cycle, the stock market naturally goes up unless he really ruins the economy.  Lower tax rates can extend a period of economic strength.  But if a President has eight good economic years, he is living on borrowed time financially. 

Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth.  It is too depressing.  They want to hear lies that are happy.  Sometimes if enough people believe a lie, it becomes the truth.  Take for instance California.  In 1849, the popular lie was that you can strike it rich in the gold fields.  That sometimes happened.  There were some that believed the lie, didn't find any gold, but they stayed and made their fortune in other ways.  For them, the lie about striking it rich in the gold fields forced them to strike it rich in other areas. 

So when you hear politicians lie, don't complain too much.  Just as long as the lying politician you support tells lies that aren't too damaging, they are a better choice than the lying politician whose lies would have resulted in worst conditions. 

Politics bore me. Hours of men in suits on a stage rambling about the state of the nation and whatnot. What interests me is the reaction of the people to current political issues.

Thankfully, as we near the end of the first decade of the new millennium; people have learned to view politicians and their ramblings with a certain amount of humor.

One politician in particular has been ridiculed by the public, not only in his home country, America, but across the world.

George W. Bush was sworn in as the American president on January 20, 2001. At noon of the 21 January 2009, Bush will be stepping down as president of the USA. His replacement has yet to be determined.

How will the world remember George W. Bush? Did his time in office result in a positive impact on the American economy, on the lives of the American people?

Let's take a look at some photos from protest marches, in the US and around the world, to determine the public opinion of Bush.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…” And Bush will leave them hungry and dying in the gulf coast states.

The famous phrase, engraved on the Statue of Liberty, is from Emma Lazarus's poem "The Colossus", written in 1883. These words greeted early immigrants, welcoming them to the Americas, promising hope, freedom and comfort. The wearer of this shirt obviously feels that George Bush does not live by these words.

The only Bush I trust is my own

“It'll be like "Blam Blam! Pow pow! Blam blam! YaBoooosh! AAAARRRGGHHH! You got me!" ”

This poster depicts Bush playing with children's soldier figurines; expressing that the president didn't fully think through the current war in the East, and that his decisions regarding the war may have been childish, immature and rash.

Empty warhead found in White House

Will somebody please give Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him!

This protest poster uses a former president's infidelity to create a tongue-in-cheek opinion of the current president. Bill Clinton was impeached after having sexual relations with his secretary. Perhaps this woman feels the only way she'd see the back of Bush is if he were to follow suit.

Weapons of mass dysfunction

End Bush

Possibly a statement that many politicians will not understand, this sign cleverly uses HTML code to express the opinion that Bush's term in office must end.

I pee on bushes

Even dogs have a political opinion.

The result of the failure was felt pretty quickly, the DOW dropped 600 points. I have the sneaking suspicion that the results might not have been as bad if an agreement had not been reached over the weekend and negotiations continued into Monday. Instead, Wall Street reacted to Congress wasting time and money hammering out a deal that they felt could pass muster in Congress and easily get approved only to have it defeated with little explanation beyond the misgivings that had been made public during negotiations. I will say again, this was done with no viable alternative being offered. Although both sides of the aisle had members balk, I would place blame for this debacle on House Republicans since the leadership had agreed to it after negotiations.

It kind of pains me to blame Republicans since I consider myself one in principle, but the failure clearly shows a breakdown in the GOP's leadership. However, Democrats cannot be blameless because they should have done their best to make it foolproof on their side of the aisle in anticipation of the House GOP being untrustworthy. On that note, it is apparent that they were not that serious about it either. What is the point of having a majority if you can't instill the discipline to flex the voting power that comes with it. At the worst, passage of the bill would have created a perception that Congress was in agreement that the government needed to get involved to help bring the markets around and that they had come up with a plan to help bring it about. That perception might have prevented the DOW from shedding about 600 points and thus install a little more confidence back into the market. What has been created is the perception that Congress only pays lip service to the needs of Americans. Just goes to show you, you can't trust politicians.

So why waste my time looking it all up, scouring the net for facts, and being a loyal, educated voter if in the end, a bunch of no it all politic geniuses are going sit around and decide I'm to stupid to make my own decision.

Besides, have you seen our candidates these past few years:

Bush: Wages war without clear expedition. Frankly, "Go get revenge." Isn't quite good enough for me. Sure there was the whole 9/11 scene but don't we need a plan of action before we go send our beloveds into a blood bath? We have one now ... Four years later.

Meanwhile back in the old U.S of A our economic community crumbles and the middle class begins to wither away. Oil prices rise and so therefore does everything else.

John McCain: Smart one that he is, can't remember how many houses he owns. Can you spell waste of nature? Or pushing global warming? Anyway fat cat has 7.

He thinks middle class is anyone earning under 5 MILLION dollars a year. Shows what he knows about today's economic world. How many of you make 4 million?

He supports Bush: Ha-ha enough said.

He plays way too many dirty angles, more than usual in campaigns. For instance he slangs this whole time about Obama's inexperience, and what kind of a VP does he elect? One no one knows and his most inexperienced choice possible.

Also the fact that she's a woman is very sneaky on his part. Hey I don't have nothing against her personally. I'm a woman. Anyway I figure He's only doing it because Obama's getting publicity for being African American so good old McCain goes and says, we'll look my VP, she's a woman. How's that for publicity. As a woman, I find t insulting because of why he is doing it.

Another thing: all those speeches of his and his followers'? Do they say ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING about what the hell he's going to do about America? No. Just, "I'm a war hero this, I'm a war hero that, I'm an experienced geezer who can't count to seven, did I mention I'm a war hero?"

Obama: We'll now he's just plain sketchy. Something was said about him wanting to finish something in Iraq yet he apparently is getting our troops home ASAP.

He used to do drugs. Has he been like urine tested or something so we know we're not hiring a drug addict?

He made a big fuss over a lapel. IT'S JUST A PIN! GET OVER IT! He has but, jesus, he made a scene.

Hilary: Yeah, yeah no one cares anymore but still.

She was for abortion, no restrictions, just for it. That highly disturbs me, I mean according to her if two people get in a bed and go at it for mere pleasure and woops make a baby, they have no obligation to its life what so ever. Yeah I get that if they are really against the idea the kid and they won't get along so hot. But people there is life beyond age 18! Also, there is this wonderful elastic little creation, it makes you less likely to knock up your partner or get knocked up, it's called a C-O-N-D-O-M-N! Buy it. Wear it. Love it.

Yeah we'll she's gone anyway. HALILUEJEAH

So seriously, I wouldn't waste my time even if I was old enough. You want to go stand in a line for hours and choose between different idiots only to have your vote changed in an instance by our very own Electoral College, have it messed up in the machine, or have some dude pay his way in, you go ahead. I'll live MY life and make sure what I can effect, is affected.

PML (N) nominate the "Atiq-ul-zaman siddique" for the as a candidate for the president of pakistanThis will be president if PML(Q) will support the PML(N) butPML(Q) also nominate the " Mushid Hussian " for the post of Pakistan president of PakistanIn PUNJAB ASSEMBLY both the parties give options to PML(Q) to form government with themif PML(Q) go with PPP then PML(N) government in punjab will end.

History has now been made as Barack Obama becomes the first African American to lead as the Democratic candidate. Mr. Obama humbly acknowledged that this path could not have become possible without people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson who have helped pave the way.

However a question is still present about Barack Obama possibly being Islamic although the media seems to have toned down that subject. Mr. Obama contends that he was brought up as black Christian and yet in a music video of “Yes We Can” appears basket ball great “Karem Abdul Jabar” who happens to be a practicing Islamic, it makes me question, am I the only one noticing this? Was he asked to be in the video or did he volunteer? What was his motivation? Is it because Mr. Obama is black or possibly Islamic? I wont deny it, I felt empowered and embraced by its message for change.

Now don't get me wrong I am not a racist. I am deeply moved by how Mr. Obama speaks to the general public but I have a great distrust for politicians as well as the general media.

I find it very interesting how the media has turned running for president into a Hollywood Gala. All the questions and rhetoric answers of Candidates telling the public what they want to hear. And the projected poll by the media of which candidate has the most percentage of votes, and the public watches and roots for their candidate like it was some kind of game.

If our representatives are so concerned about getting us to vote for them, then why are the politicians some much more concerned about whom receives the 2118 super delegate votes.

What I find more interesting is how the media is and has been suppressing Ron Paul by not giving him media coverage. Jerry Day a TV producer out in Los Angeles has put together a chart of information which he acquired from doing a search on google trend Mr. Day shows proof that some one in media is suppressing what Ron Paul has to say. The chart shows how Ron Paul has over 117,000 U-tube videos compared to Obama at 85,000, Clinton at 72,000 and McCain at 19,000. So on the U-tube internet Ron Paul is clearly the winner and yet the main stream media is not covering him because someone's personal agenda doesn't agree with the politics of TRUTH. Here is a man who's own political party is afraid of him and it's not because they think he is crazy its because he is telling the general public exactly what is going on within our government. From the North American Union to how the Constitution is being destroyed along with our civil liberties.

There is a link that everyone should listen to regarding the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Michael Badnarik explains the importance of knowing what your rights are within these documents.

In another article written by Doug Thomas in Dec 2005 titled “Bush on the Constitution: a goddamned piece of paper”. It is a very interesting how some of these articles never make the mainstream. For those that don't know the President is supposed to be defending our Constitution.

Over the past ten years there have been many people that have been trying to make the general population aware of the manipulation occurring within our government towards its own people. People like John Perkins author of the economic hit man are coming forward and telling their story about what is really going on within our government contrary to what the media is not saying. DemocracyNow.org interviewed Mr. Perkins he states how the US has tried to remove Hugo Chavez President of Venezuela. In fact he was removed for 48 hours but due to his popularity regained control. However US officials denied any such attempt. And yet in an interview with Mr. Chavez claims the US is trying to kill him.

While there is a great deal of information and propaganda being presented discernment through common sense tells me we are seeing the most corrupt administration in US history and that the present administration will do anything that it can to debunk anyone who doesn't have their same ideology. Many groups and people are crying about a conspiracy within our government which the administration fluffs off as nonsense, however one has to wonder. If there is no conspiracy then why suppress freedom of speech in the media. If there is no conspiracy? Then why does our government continually destroy the constitution of the United States. If there is no conspiracy then why did George Bush at the beginning of his first term sign a bill into law that would even prevent him from being accountable for war crimes. It really is time for the American public to open their minds and ears and listen to what is really happening. The information being presented is coming from some very established names. If it were not for Al Gore's 2000 presidential run the term “count every vote” would not have made head line news.

Another person speaking out is Stanley Hilton who was a senior advisor to Senator Bob Dole whom states that George Bush authorized 9/11.

David Icke has written many books on the global elite. His research has tracked and connected names like Kissinger, Rockefeller and Rothschild to Organizations such as The Trilateral Commission and the Builderberg Group. And there is documented proof that these groups where also directly responsible for financing Adolph Hilter and his rise to power. In fact George W Bush's Grandfather Prescott Bush was a member of these groups.

Anyone that achieves some kind of icon status weather in economics, politics, food markets, technology, energy, science and media will usually gets the attention of those groups. And these groups seek only one thing to control, dictate and rule through their own ideology.

Cindy Sheehan whom lost her son to the Iraqi war has also become a voice against this illegal war.

While many people shrug and turn their head at any mention of the word conspiracy and my response would be wake up and take a look around you.

Unfortunately history seems to be repeating itself. Is it possible that we will see Marshall law followed by a microchip under everyone's skin which has been in the plans for the past ten years. It is up to all of us to prevent this from happening. And to embrace and retrieve our constitutional freedoms.

News sources report that current Quebec politicians don't feel that such a ruling should be much of a shock to people. According to CTV news, Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois was quoted saying:

“We think that people who don't know French before they arrive in Quebec have the responsibility to learn. On the other hand, the Quebec government has the responsibility to offer courses.''
(CP Quebec, 2007)

Seems pretty simple right? Come to Quebec, learn French and be given the opportunity to help run a province where French reigns over English in a majority of regions. But, like with any other issue or controversy, there is an opposing side. By some, this bill is being looked at as a violation of a citizen's rights and as being anti-immigrant. In an interview, Tory leader Peter Van Loan stated:

“It's heartening to see this bill's not going to go anywhere. Every Canadian has democratic rights. And those rights -- to vote, to run for office -- are fundamental. I don't think those rights can be taken away.'' (CP Ottawa, 2007)

Quebec politicians of the Liberal and NDP parties also disagree with this bill hoping it never becomes part of the province's legislature.

I agree with the idea of having potential politicians learn and speak sufficient French. If a French or English person were to go to another country, Sweden for example, I'm sure they would have to know Swedish in order to be part of the country's political system. They don't have to forget their original language; they just need to be able to smoothly communicate with the people they will be working with. You couldn't go into Germany or Russia and start bossing people around in French or Spanish, a majority wouldn't understand what you're saying.

On another note, these days, it is getting more and simpler for immigrants to learn the main language or languages of the region they have immigrated to. In Canada, immigrants are granted a stay with the duration of at least three years which is plenty of time to take on language training and apprenticeships. (Bloemraad, 2007). Plus, in order to gain your permanent citizenship in Canada, you have to do an oral and written test to prove you have learned some French or English, depending on where you are living. Also, the Canadian government often keeps immigration on their list of priorities and tends to create and improve programs to help immigrants become naturalized in the receiving country.

Citizen and Immigration Canada, also known as CIC, has a program called Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, or LINC, which provides training in the English or French language during the duration of the immigrant's pre-citizenship stay in the country. If the immigrant so wishes, they can be affiliated with Canada's Host Program which will pair the immigrant with one or more volunteers who are willing to enhance the learning experience. (Bloemraad, 2007). With school boards, municipal, provincial and the federal government and other resources funding these programs, most of the immigrants involved with the LINC are offered the training without charge. (Schmidt, 2007). Therefore, in my opinion, there is not much of an inconvenience to the immigrant there. We pay taxes, the programs get funded and they get free training.

Also, like I mentioned before, going through this process does not mean they have to give up their language and culture among other things. Canada supports multiculturalism and is known for its overall diversity worldwide. The culture of these immigrants is well supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage. The DCH has many programs in cities across the country to help preserve the cultures, their languages, their traditions, activities, etc. (Schmidt, 2007). Nationally, events and festivals take place every month promoting these things. Annually, there is a festival right here in Trenton which promotes the Scottish-Irish culture and involves drum and pipe bands, a parade and highland dancing.

So where is the problem? Free training, keep your culture but become able to function in your new society more smoothly than if you did not participate in these government-supported programs. This bill is not anti-immigrant as it allows immigrants to live and function somewhere new. The only inconvenience of immigration I can see is the mere transportation to the receiving country. After that, the government provides assistance.

A functionalism theorist would likely agree with me when I say immigrants who are potential Quebec politicians should speak satisfactory, if not fluent, French. Functionalists believe in well regulated societies where people have things, like beliefs and values, in common. (Kendall, Murray & Linden, 2007, p. 20) They sense that in a culture, being able to communicate effectively with one another is very important. It is through learning the region's language that immigrants, especially children and youth, learn to fit in with their setting and the people around them. (Kendall, 2007, p. 76) Therefore, in the functionalist's opinion, being able to speak the same language or languages should be compulsory.

A lack of consensus concerning the tongued languages of Quebec's candidates and politicians could cause more dispute than it is right now. (Kendall, 2007, p. 89). There is already no lack of conflict in Quebec with separatists attempting to push for making Quebec separate from Canada altogether.

With there being no fixed duration or deadline attached to the voting of accepting or rejecting the bill (CP Quebec, 2007), anything can happen. Let's just hope the government does not only what is right for the province of Quebec and the people in it but the entire country as well. How Quebec handles immigrants effects society nationally. Hopefully they'll remember that.