Image of 2009

Posted by Chris Campbell at Monday, December 28, 2009 0

Michael Appleton for The New York Times

This image seems to sum up the year of 2009. With two wars burning, an economy near collapse, corruption and lies burying the executive branch of our government, Barack Obama, a 47-year-old African-American man took over as the 44th president of the United States. On the day that he took the helm, it was as if not only all Americans, but people the world over looked to Obama to help get us all back on track. From world peace to the environment and corporate greed to health care at home, a deflated country turned to this young man to lead the way.

The results are still uncertain, but the spirit of what his election brought to many of us won't soon be forgotten.

London Protests at G20

Posted by Chris Campbell at Wednesday, April 01, 2009 0

Boehner, McConnell and that Grand Old Party

Posted by Chris Campbell at Tuesday, February 24, 2009 0

Sitting with those childlike scowls is just hilarious. My allegiances are obvious, but I have never seen the republican party so laughable. Oh, they'll rebound, and if Obama can't get us moving in the right direction in a few years, he will likely only see one term, but watching the republicans right now is bitter sweet. And their most promising star is Bobby Jindal? It's like buying a classic comedy on DVD and finding those oh-so-nice bonus features.

The End of the Bush Presidency

Posted by Chris Campbell at Friday, January 16, 2009 0

As hard as I try, I still can't believe that it's over in four days.

There are moments when our passion for something is truly born. I've often cited those few minutes on South Street in Boston as the time that music took over. I heard the notes to Uncle Tupelo's "New Madrid" while lounging around on a lazy weekend afternoon and things have honestly never been the same.

When it comes to my now near-obsessive interest in politics and policy, I think it was a combination of events. First off, near the end of the 1990s there were a series of health issues within my family that brought on an interest in public policy. And then there was a profile of Al Gore in the New York Times. Within this piece, the writer highlighted not only Gore's lifelong interest in the environment, but his vast curiosity about about space, the stars and the unknown. The author went on to write about a fundraiser on Long Island. As the bigwigs awaited Gore's presence and words, Tipper Gore, unable to track down her husband, finally found him about a mile from the gathering, lying on a hill looking up at the stars. The importance of the event inside and the race seemed lost in his almost childlike interest in the mysteries and possibilities of the undiscovered. This brought me back to my childhood. I spent many a night with the blinds to my bedroom window slightly open at the top. For some reason, I couldn't keep my eyes away from the sky and stars. This article, combined with Al and Tipper's interest in health care, made me believe.

The rest is history relative to the outcome. I remember sitting in the MTV offices on the day that the Supreme Court delivered its 5-4 decision. A good friend and I were saddened, disgusted, angered. We felt cheated. Something just didn't feel just. We disliked Bush from the outset. We found him to be a pompous, arrogant frat boy who'd failed in almost every endeavor, yet his name and his family's power brought him to the most important role in the World.

The unraveling that followed has been far beyond our wildest fears. Over the past eight years, my belief in this country has been tested time and again. But every single time I witnessed Bush's unforgiveable mistakes, I tried to think of the possibilities of what could come. But his acts just kept adding up. There was Richard Clarke's warning about an Al Qaeda attack, a fact that his been grossly ignored by the mass media. There were the tax cuts for the most financially comfortable. There was lack of oversight with respect to our entire economy. There was Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. There was the illegal wiretapping. And the waterboarding. The job losses. The egregious and blatant efforts to help pollute the environment. Six million more without health care. Iraq. WMDs. Church and State.



All that said, I think the images from his eight years that define him in my eyes are the pictures and videos from the streets of New Orleans in 2005. I remember watching the news round-the-clock, and on the second day, sitting alone in my apartment, standing up and wailing, "Where is our president!?!?!!" I mean, I didn't vote for the guy, but I had to at least expect some sort of response to the horror that was drowning an entire American city. As the days played out and the bodies floated and the city's citizens howled for help, my anger towards this man deepened. Over time, I somehow managed to shift a lot of this anger to clock-watching.

When George W. Bush was the governor of Texas, he presided over more executions than any governor in modern history. He was so at ease with the chair, that he picked up the nickname the "Texecutioner". 152 put to death in his six years. Since "winning" the presidency, it would be impossible to count the number of human beings to either die, lose limbs and/or suffer irreparable mental and physical torture under his watch. I am just 35 years old, and if I live to be 100, I can't imagine us ever having to endure a president as cold, unfair and deceitful as George W. Bush.

In just four days, it's finally over. This has been a presidency for the ages, one that will ultimately be judged by the passing of time, but as he steps aside, it's impossible to reflect and not feel overwhelmed by his disgraceful "leadership" both here and abroad. As I sit here with my eyes on the clock, I realize that we're just a few days away.

Science Returns to Washington

Posted by Chris Campbell at Saturday, December 20, 2008 0

Unlike the dolt who mans the Oval Office for another 30 or so days, Barack Obama will work with the nation's leading scientists to confront some of the world's biggest threats and possibilities, including climate change and stem-cell research, respectively. When considering George Bush's legacy decades from now, despite his massive failings in nearly every area of his presidency, his inability to embrace and even lend an ear to science, may prove to be his most egregious crime. If the next few generations face a worldwide crisis around climate change, resulting in millions (billions?) of deaths, famine and displacement, George Bush's eight years as president will mark the most miserable worldwide failure on this front. With the scientific community unanimously calling for immediate action to avoid grave peril, Bush not only disregarded the warnings but instituted policies to make matters worse, much worse.

It appears as if Obama and Biden will do exactly the opposite. And if this becomes a reality, the results could create millions of jobs, help stabilize our economy, strengthen our standing as a world leader and in due time, create a cleaner, safer and more prosperous planet.

What If...

Posted by Chris Campbell at Friday, October 31, 2008 1 comments

On Tuesday night we hear the following, "President Elect, John McCain"?

For the past few weeks, Obama supporters have begun to feel as if Barack really does have a chance. That said, despite some polls having him with 320+ electoral votes, most Obama supporters have remained cautiously optimistic. I mean, we all remember 2000 and 2004, when victory was decided by a right-leaning Supreme Court (2000) and voter fraud in Ohio likely cost Kerry the election.

But after all the enthusiasm, passion and spirit brought on by Obama, what if he loses? After eight years of arguably the worst administration in the history of this country, and McCain's absolutely abhorrent campaign tactics, what if the democrats once again lose their bid for the presidency? I recall an older friend of mine saying a few months ago, "What Obama's doing in this country right now is bigger than Kennedy in the 60s. I've never seen anything like it." But what if hate, lies and corruption once again win over truth, integrity and hope? Will the democrats, independents and even republicans who found a glimmer of hope in Barack Obama just throw in the towel? Can we handle this again? To be honest, I really don't know.

A few months ago, my girlfriend said to me, without a slice of hyperbole, "If McCain wins, I truly fear that you'll be inconsolable." That line has sat with me since that night. Because I still don't know how I'll react and how I'll feel. You see, up until about a month ago, I was fairly certain that John McCain would win. Just like in 2000, I figured his hate-filled lies and deception would once again dupe a good portion of the American public, and we'd once again see evil prevail (I was going to use a lighter description, but given his tactics the past few months, screw it, this once good and honorable man has turned evil in my eyes).

But then the polls started to rise in Obama's favor. And despite a major, major reluctance to truly believe, I have to admit that I was starting to. The clouds shifted a bit and I began envisioning an Obama victory. I still get chills at the mere thought. Despite being perhaps the best democratic candidate ever, I figured that the color of his skin, combined with a gullible and largely uneducated public, that it just couldn't happen. But again, I was starting to believe.

Over the past week or two, many pundits and political "scholars" have deemed this race over. They've handed it to Obama. We'd hear that he's going to start campaigning in McCain's home state. We heard that Georgia is in play! And North Dakota!

But then we hear another shift. McCain is gaining ground in Pennsylvania. The "Joe the Plumber" bs is working as is the absurd "socialist" tag. Educated Americans are fully aware that if McCain wins, this "Joe the Plumber" fella will not benefit one bit. If Obama is elected, he will. But this fool doesn't appear to be a real person, so let's just say plumbers in general.

Democrats are starting to seize up with anxiety. We can't forget 2000 and 2004. And we see some signs of this happening again. It's almost unbearable to imagine, but what if?

One Week

Posted by Chris Campbell at Tuesday, October 28, 2008 0

I can remember the moment Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president. I can remember the same for John Edwards, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton and even Bill Richardson. If you read this blog on occasion, you're well aware that I was an Edwards supporter until his run fizzled out. Once it did, I moved over to Obama. But I still had questions. I didn't know much about this young Senator from Illinois. Although it's now become a silly campaign attack, I admit that I saw a lot of promise but wasn't certain about the substance behind it all.

The last 21 months or so have proven Senator Obama to be ready. There's now no question in my mind.

But I reflect on the Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and George Bush years. All of the folks who stood beside these criminals as they condoned torture, left Americans to die in the streets of New Orleans, lied to the entire planet leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, stripped us of our civil liberties, drove the economy into ultimate despair and divided this country and the world. Oh, they all want to wash their hands now. I mean, look at Matthew Dowd, Colin Powell, and the hundreds who have simply gone quiet. They were complicit yet they now see that the mask has been stripped away and the truth is finally naked to the public. They never thought this day would come. But it has. And history will document who they were during these years, and how closely they were involved in one of the most grave and egregious administrations in world history.

We now look to one week from today. And the American voting block has the opportunity to make an almost radical shift. It's like listening to Jack Johnson for eight years and then discovering Bob Dylan. It's like reading Dean Koontz and then grabbing a Hemingway novel for the first time. Ok, I admit that my analogies are quite weak. But we're on the cusp of major, major change. This is not to say that Barack Obama, if he wins, will be an outstanding president; that clearly remains to be seen. For one, he will be handed a country in peril. Secondly, despite the clear and thoughtful decisions he's made thus far, the presidency is an entire new game.

All that said, we're very close to electing Senator Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States. Given the still sensitive nature of race in this country, Obama and the democrats have not highlighted this fact, but this is an absolutely monumental moment in our history, and the history of the world. This stands with Martin Luther King Jr.

And in addition, we're about to finally address the ills that face our country, including education, health care, the economy, the huge disparity between the rich and poor, and perhaps most importantly, our atrocious standing with the rest of the world. The republicans have always made a mockery of the people and countries that support democratic candidates. And they do this, because unlike here in America, the rest of the world hasn't been fooled into thinking that republicans actually care about the average worker, and that religion, guns and abortion truly matter to them. As a party, they do not, aside from using them to court vulnerable voters. After eight years of Bush and company, to see Barack Obama stand before 100,000 people in Berlin should be applauded, not mocked. Regardless of what the right-wing dolts stay, we are in this with the rest of the world, and they know it. But they don't want you to realize that.

We are one week away. In a time like this, Barack Obama is exactly what we need. He's intellectually curious; he listens to others; he sees the world and not just us; he came from nothing and built an amazing life; he wants to unite this country and the world.

He is the hope of each and every one of us. Now let's give him the opportunity to fulfill that promise. This is truly the audacity of hope.

The Silent Criminal

Posted by Campbell at Saturday, August 02, 2008 0

Who is this man? My guess is that nine out of ten people reading this entry have no idea. Aside from the presidency, he may hold the most critical leadership role in the United States.

If you've opened a newspaper in the past eight years, you're well aware of the world crisis that is climate change. Most, if not all, scientists now conclude that we have passed the breaking point. In other words, the United States along with China, India, and well, most of the world, have caused irreparable harm to this planet; harm that will soon throw us into an unimaginable world crisis. Although we can't reverse the damage done, we can begin to minimize further damage, and ultimate slow the forthcoming rise in sea levels, spread of disease and massive food shortage. If our leaders show us the way, we can perhaps add a few generations to our time here on Earth.

I realize that this may sound extremely grim and fatalistic, but there are few scientists who disagree with such an assessment. There is little argument that within a century, millions, if not billions, of people will be wiped off this planet, and wiped off too soon.

Back to the man above. His name is Stephen L. Johnson. On January 26 of 2005, he was named Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. It has been almost four years and he is universally unknown to the American population as well as the rest of the World. As this crisis becomes more and more dire, the lead environmental spokesman for the premiere world power is absolutely invisible. Given George Bush's alignment with big oil and big business, this man was appointed to do, well, nothing. How on Earth he is able to sleep at night is a mystery to me.

When climate change truly begins to level parts of this world, this man, Stephen L. Johnson, will be remembered. He will be remembered as a man who could have helped. Yet he did nothing. Absolutely nothing. This man should not hold one of this country's more important leadership roles. He should be answering to the World in the Hague.

America Today

Posted by Campbell at Saturday, July 19, 2008 0

Generally speaking, present-day Americans are lazy. And I don't just mean physically (which we clearly are), but more importantly, we are mentally idle when it comes to the tantamount issues that face this country and world. Oh, we can get nearly 100,000 people out in Portland to see Obama speak, but when it comes to truly stepping up to the plate, we're more comfortable adding applications to our iPhone or buying advance tickets to the new Batman movie.

What did it take for Americans to ease up on the SUV purchases? $4.00+ gas prices. We barely blinked when there was a near unanimous call from the science community to immediately curb our unnecessary addiction to oil. But boy, once it hit our pockets, well then we understood. Iraq War? Eh, those with the most powerful voices in this country (ie, those with $$), well, their kids aren't serving so we'll just let that one happen. Torture? Well, no one's putting me on the brink of drowning, so no big deal. Katrina? I don't know anyone in New Orleans.

This is the general mindset of the majority of Americans. If it doesn't impact their lives directly, then they'll gobble up their time at the mall or firing up wifi at the local Starbucks. And no one is more responsible for this utter disregard for the common good than George W. Bush. With our country mired in two wars, the economy slipping by the day, the environment creeping towards disaster and our reputation worldwide in the absolute tank, President Bush has asked virtually nothing of Americans at home. Not a thing. And this is absolutely despicable. Given his repeated massive blunders and his pathetic "leadership", there's little doubt that he will go down as one of the worst world leaders this planet has ever been forced to endure.

The New York Times' Bob Herbert's editorial Yes We Can should remind us all of what we can accomplish together. As Herbert reflects on some our greatest accomplishments, all Americans should realize that, once again, it's time that we all look to greater causes beyond our Sunday trip to the car wash.

Sunday on Meet The Press

Posted by Campbell at Friday, July 18, 2008 0

Burma: The Days Pass

Posted by Campbell at Saturday, May 17, 2008 0

It's now been over two weeks since a cyclone ravaged the country of Burma. Given the junta's firm grip on power, there has been very little footage of the catastrophe. However, the BBC has provided the following video.

US Aid To Burma

Posted by Campbell at Wednesday, May 07, 2008 0

It disgusts me that this tragedy has brought out so much anger in me. But when I read this morning that Bush had offered up $3.25 million in aid (after an initial proposal of $250,000), I simply wanted to vomit. The people of Burma have suffered through nearly a half-century of hell, and they've just been flattened by one of the worst national disasters in world history, and Bush offers $3.25 million in aid? Folks, I hate to pull Iraq into this, but most estimates suggest that we're spending about $300 million per DAY in Iraq. And we can only muster up a few million for a helpless nation that may be looking at upwards of 100,000 deaths.

Sure there's a concern about how to get the money to the right people and aid groups, but our prick of a president should've hopped out of his cozy bed this morning and immediately offered up unconditional assistance to this country. But no. There's no financial reward for him and his scumbag cronies, so let's just shut everyone up by offering up a few bucks.

To anyone who reads this, the Burmese folks could really use your help. Since our shithead president is unwilling to lend a hand, maybe you can. I've been told that the following organizations are credible and will do everything imaginable to get the Burmese people the help they so desperately need:

Burmese American Democratic Alliance

Burmese American Women's Alliance

Foundation for the People of Burma

U.S. Campaign for Burma

Stuff

Posted by Campbell at Monday, February 25, 2008 0

Turn off your ipod, press the off button on your flat-screen TV, hit sleep on your computer and watch this: We Love Stuff