Every single American in this country deserves the right to be married to the person that they love. It should matter to the government what sexuality you are as long as you do not break the law. I mean shouldn't we all have the right to marry the person we want? Marriage is special and everyone should be able to be free to have that kind of committment in their lives. We need to end discrimination based on sexual orientation so that we can all have the freedom that our country is known for.

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.

That is right I am not going to vote. I know that at this point most people are quite angry at me right now. You assume apathy or ignorance. Maybe you just think that I just want to rebel or that I am just plain stupid. But before you jump to conclusions let me state my case. 

The reasons I am not voting:

1. I will not compromise my belief system in order to choose one candidate over the other. For example I am pro-life, now don't assume that I am an ignorant bible thumping fool. I by this I mean I am an anti-war, anti-death penalty, pacifist who also feels that abortion is wrong. I am also an anti- capitalist, and an anti-individualist, of which both candidates are. I am for the reduction of poverty and the elimination of the enormous gap between the rich and the poor. I against the removal of our civil rights and believe that gay marriage is not an issue that the government should be involved in. Overall I am very democratic so you might wonder why I don't just ignore abortion and vote Obama. Let me tell you.
   
2. As I predicted last spring,(you can ask my girlfriend) Obama will, as is happening now, morph into a politically correct version of his former self. The Obama we knew last spring is no longer as evidenced by his support of this "Bush- brainchild" bailout. The Obama we once heralded as one who will bring about change is being swallowed by Washington and its aversion for real change. You will see as I saw last spring that Obama will not be any different than any other President. Sure he will do this or that and will look different or sound different than other Presidents but the change that is really needed, the change he spoke of early in his campaign will not be able to be accomplished. While some of this is Obama's fault some of it is also Congress' fault. Which brings me to point number three.
   
3. Congress. I don't think people in this country realize how much Congress does, or doesn't do I should say. I believe that too much evidence is put on electing the President and not enough on Congress. Congress is filled with partisanship, greed, and the only concern being reelection. Congress has been bought out by lobbyists and focus groups, by what is best for them and the state they represent. Gone are the days when Congress cared about the nation, we are in a time of individualism and it is destroying our nation. 

While these are three legitimate reasons for why I am not voting, it really comes down to the fact that I am just sick of it all. All the politics, the greed, the self-aggrandizement, the smear campaigns, the lies, everything. I no longer want to be a part of this sick and depraved machine that we once called Presidential elections. I have had enough. Have you? 

Of the 50 high school students I interviewed here are the results:

• 19 of them knew the difference between a Republican and a Democrat. Even worse 15 knew who their own state representatives were.

Of the 50 college students I interviewed here are the results:

• 24 knew the difference between a Republican and a Democrat. 24 also knew who their state representatives were.

Of the 50 adults I interviewed here are the results:

• 30 knew the difference between a Republican and a Democrat. 37 knew who their state representatives were.

These numbers tell a scary story. From the numbers above, one can surmise that the younger generation doesn't know much about politics or the state of political flux that we are in. Is it any indication of our education system as to the reason why younger citizens don't even know something of a basic fact of knowing the difference between a Republican and a Democrat? The blame doesn't stop there. One also has to consider our own parents as a source of knowledge, the TV that we watch, or the laziness society gets into, but the one person we have to blame is our self.

If high school students (ages 13-18) aren't getting a clear picture of politics be it a Republican or Democrat, then we can count that as a loss for us. We have failed in educating our children, our public, or even ourselves. A recent poll by the AP told a scary story. Of 500 citizens, only 320 of them knew that a third party could run in the presidential elections. This is a pretty sad state of affairs if slightly over half of that group knew that basic piece of information.

How do we change this in our society? That question has been posed for a long time, but to no avail. How about these suggestions: 1) Get teachers who care about the subject (not coaches) into the classrooms and teach them, subjectively, about politics. 2) Cut back on MTV News, if there is such a thing. 3) This one is for parents: educate your own children about the subject of politics instead of letting that opportunity slip away. If you're a parent and you don't understand the subject, then research the subject yourself as a responsible adult and relay that information to your children. 4) Politics involve everyone from the homeless people to the fetus inside a mother's womb. Read the newspaper more often, not just the entertainment page or sports page. Also read about a particular candidate's views. 5) Study history. You will often find history goes hand-in-hand with politics. 6) Start small by knowing who your state representative is, and the party they belong to. The bigger picture starts off at a smaller level.

These things aren't too hard to ask for, are they? We, as a society, have gotten away from these things. We're too busy with our new video game systems, or watching the latest TV show. We've become mindless and care less about what's happening around us and more about our own indulgences.

Truly we do live in the best country in the world. We are truly blessed to live in a country where we aren't under the rule of a tyrant, or rules and curfews aren't set out for us. Our founding fathers had differences in their opinions, but at least they knew what was going on around them. Let's not dishonor that. It's our right to understand…it's our duty to understand.

We are all at fault here not just the political leaders. The greedy CEO's all the way down to gas guzzling car and the person driving it. America has become a country of instant gratification, over indulgence and greed. We are all guilty and now we blame politicians for not regulating or over regulating the fact is the only way out of this is if we regulate ourselves.

We all need to do our part. If President Bush is to do anything right in his term in office I feel he should at least consider the following steps. First he should call a halt to all trading on Wall St for one day. Give everyone a chance to stop look and re-evaluate their positions and see where we need to go instead of where we are afraid the economy is going to go. Banks should also close that day to keep money stable while the government on that day put party affiliation aside to see what needs to change and I am not talking they do the usual double talk but really work our something that will help and not put us further into debt. There has to be other solution that will benefit in the long term that can get investors back into the market without costing tax payers another 700 billion dollars.

Then as during the depression of the 1930's and WWII the president called for Americans to conserve on everything. I am not in any means suggesting we go to a system of rationing anything. I think President Bush needs to come out and ask Americans to give and conserve and be very specific in what this country needs its people to do. President Roosevelt as far as I know was the last President to actually ask the American public to make such sacrifices for the good of the country. Well maybe we need to be Americans and do again what we were once expected to do for the good of our country and stop being selfish and only worry about what makes us comfortable.

We have seen many times since the great depression of the 30's that Americans can come together when called in times of crisis and tragedy to support each other. Well since we know we can do this then my next question is since I know the president is not going to listen to me alone, why can't we do it without him asking.

We all know we need to conserve energy, save fuel, and work together for the greater good and not just for the good of ourselves.

I know there are those who will disagree with me and others may agree with me I don't really know here. I am sure some will find flaws in my plan and will gladly point them out that is okay to. The fact is this is only my opinion and I am only putting it out in an effort to spark discussion among Americans to see what we can do to help ourselves out of this crisis before congress puts us in the poor house.

Thanks for listening.

If you think that Congress is doing any better think again. With the Democratic and Republican congressional leaders disapproval rating at 64% and 71% respectively they aren't faring any better. No wonder they were more concerned about campaigning to save their jobs than solving the economic crisis. Here's a thought, maybe you guys should have been doing your jobs in the first place rather than staying in session just long enough to give yourselves a pay raise and then adjourning so you could go get in those rounds of golf with the your defense contractor buddies who are making a bundle off the war in Iraq.

It's no secret that the economy is the number one thing on American's minds right now. Of course the big news is the $700 billion dollar bailout plan and this is what some polls have to say about that brilliant piece of legislation. A CBS news poll on Oct 3-5, 2008 says that 51% disapprove the bill passed by congress. In the same poll, 52% disapprove of the government giving money to financial institutions. In a CNN poll, 76% oppose the government providing more money to financial institutions beyond the $700 billion should that measure fail.

As final food for thought I think it is high time we revive the Bayh-Celler Amendment. This amendment called for an end to the electoral college process for electing the president and a shift to a direct popular vote system (you know, the way a democracy is suppose to be). This amendment passed the Full House of representatives in 1969 with bi-partisan support with a vote of 339-70. Of course it died in a filibuster by some southern senators and some conservatives form small states whining about how they would lose their political power. I don't know about you, but if less people live in a certain state shouldn't they have less influence on politics? After all, isn't democracy about what the majority wants?

Sometimes, I have these flights of fancy as to what I would do if I was the leader of this country and could override that pesky congress!

More or less calling Barack a terrorist because he served on the same board with a guy, that back in the sixties was so angry about the vietnam war,(A war that was wrong from the start, that was responsible for so many good americans losing their lives and so many more being screwed up physically and mentally), that targeted some federal buildings when Barack was eight years old. Oh yea, he had a coffe fund raiser at his house for Barack once, WOO HOO. Also serving on this board was the president of North Western University who was also in the Nixon administration. Does that make him a terrorist too?

Sarah Palin who's husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, where Governor Palin made a speach earlier this year. The leader of this organization has said that they will not follow the rules of america. They want to sucede from the United States. This guy has made all kinds of terrible remarks about the united States, and heres the kicker, the Palin's voluntarily joined this group.

The Supreme court of Alaska announced today that the investigation of Governor Palin's firing of the commisioner of the state police must not be stopped. As hard as they tried to interfere John McCain's lawyers could not bury this story. This is a typical example of abuse of power, in a nut shell Governor Palin told this guy to fire a trooper that was her sisters ex-husband, and the commitioner told her no. So Sarah and her husband kept trying to put more and more pressure on him. When she came to the conclusion that he wouldn't do it she fired the commisioner.

John McCain 1 of the Keating 5 a group of congressman and senators that were bought to introduce legislation that would change rules in the savings and loan industry so that a few very bad men could basicaly rip-off the public. So John McCain is not all that clean either.

In closing I would like to say that this reminds me of George W. Bush pretty much calling Al Gore's call for arms about global warming a farce. We now know how serious the problem really is. The republicans will do anything to win. I just don't understand how anybody with a job, that has to work for a living, could possibly vote for a republican. We have now seen what a republican congress, senate and president can do for America. Lets not let that ever happen again!

Obama just kept laughing and laughing and laughing because he thought that John McCain was just raising him up to the election. Now everyone wants to see what they are going to do in the third and final election. Obama is almost to the magic number and he needs more states to get to the magic number. In the vice presidential debates Joe Biden did excelent. He didn't talk without thinking and was precise with what he was saying. Sarah Palin did better than what everyone expected so basically Joe Biden won. Now we will have to see what will happen in the next  and Final presidential Debate!