As a new voter I’m challenged to make sense of the American system and to effectively evaluate my choices of ”Democrat,” ”Republican,” ”Libertarian,” ”Green,” and ”Independent.”

I’m wary of the Democratic Party for it’s characterization as the ”Tax and Spend” party. I’m especially wary of the Republicans because of the sad legacy of Reagenomics and the fallout of their platform plank of de-regulation. Sadly, tax cutting and de-regulation are still at the top of the Arizona Republican platform.

Much of the Libertarian approach makes sense yet strikes me as unrealistic and impractical. In a sense, Libertarians, Greens, and Independents may amount to little more than ”ticket splitting.” Studies of Independents have variously characterized them as either a party realignment in process or as a values and beliefs voting block who are strongly anchored on one issue and who choose candidates according to that issue.

My preliminary considerations clearly suggest that I am most strongly aligned with Democratic policies at this point. The current economic detritus brings the imperative of appropriate financial regulation to the political forefront. It is also clear that budgets cannot be balanced by forever rolling back taxes. Nobody likes taxes but current levels of services cannot be funded without anteing up increased rates of contributions to the public purse at all levels of individual and corporate income.

Demonstrating an amazing facility for doublespeak, Sarah Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska late Friday afternoon.  Citing the mounting expenses and divided focus that has come from constantly defending her honor and family, she did not want to finish her term as a lame duck, she said.   Her rambling speech offered little more in the way of explanation but since that announcement several speculative articles have been published in small time blogs and in establishment media alleging that an investigation may soon be under way concerning diversion of building materials and labor in the construction of the Palins’s 3500 square foot home that was constructed at the same time and of the same materials as the Wasilla arena.  On the 4th of July Palin struck back with threats of legal action and since then the FBI has announced that Palin is not under investigation.

Margaret Carlson at Bloomberg.com commented, ”There comes a point when not practicing politics as usual becomes so unusual it borders on the bizarre.”

Still, political notoriety has its perks. It seems that in leaving office she will be walking into both a book contract with Harper Collins, and possibly a hosting deal for a television program.

Former Finnish president (1994) Martti Ahtisaari was recognized by the Nobel Committee for his success in brokering deals as a United Nations envoy.  He was cited for his work in helping Namibia achieve independence from South Africa, for ending the 3 decade long conflict between the Aceh movement and Indonesia, and for negotiating the end of the 1999 Nato air campaign in Kosovo.  His work in Kosovo became the blueprint for the new Kosovo constitution.  He has also been involved in mediation in Iraq, Northern Ireland, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa.

Over 1400 people attended the first ”Alaska Women Reject Palin,” rally outside the Anchorage library making it the largest political rally in Alaskan history according to the ”mudflats” blogger.

So, with so many of the Palin/McCain statements proving flagrantly untrue, can you really see Russia from Alaska?

1) No: The Bering Strait is 53 miles across, which means you can’t see Russia across it because of the curvature of the earth. freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080507/posts

2) Yes: ”and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” — Sarah Palin

3) Maybe (on a technicality): A Yahoo Answer Poster said, ”Actually, the answer is yes and no. From the mainland, there is no way to see Russia from Alaska. The distance is too great.

However, there are two islands in the Bering Staight – Big Diomede and Little Diomede. The big island is Russian and the small one American. They are 1.5 miles from each other. Interestingly, the International Date Line separates the two, so there is a time difference of 23 hours between the two.”

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080105000254AAQYxI1

And finally, for fun, catch Tina Fey’s SNL impression of Sarah Palin here…

By his own admission, John McCain ”don’t know much ’bout the economy,”

By her record, Sarah Palin ”don’t know much foreign policy,”

… What a terrible presidency!

Denver would be a terrific place to be, especially with a floor pass at the Pepsi center.  On Monday night Ted Kennedy addressed the convention with a rousing challenge to believe in positive change and on Tuesday night Hillary Clinton stole the show with her endorsement of Barack Obama and her plea for party unity. Check out Youtube for the videos.

Ted Kennedy

Hillary Clinton

Last Friday the Canadian Federal Court ruled that US war deserter, Joshua Key, could qualify for refugee status in Canada. Federal Court Justice, Robert Barnes said that the refugee court had erred previously in denying Key’s bid for asylum and ordered the board to reconsider Key’s application. Citing a case from the US Federal court of appeal, Barnes ruled that supporting evidence for asylum status did not have to meet the threshold of a ”war crime,” as sufficient reason for Key’s refusal to serve.  Barnes said that ”it cannot be seriously challenged,” that some of the conduct that Keys witnessed had violated the Geneva Convention.  The decision was released on July 4th and could affect as many as 100 other deserters in Canada presently according to the Windsor Star.

Key’s had been sent to Iraq for an eight month tour and testified that during that time he witnessed instances of abuse, humiliation, and looting by US military personel. Key’s then experienced debilitating nightmares upon return for a two week leave and said that he could not return.  Seeing no other option, he moved his family to Canada and applied for asylum.

So how are we doing as a nation at the close of the Bush presidency.  Take a look at these statistics reflecting the USA’s place in the world according to a number of vital parameters for an established and developed nation.  All of these scores were culled from another site that had compiled them throughout the Bush years, some of them have worsened over the past few years.

What will it take to make America truthfully, ”the greatest nation on the earth?”

1) Adult Literacy:
USA #9, Sweden #1, Norway #2

2) Healthcare Quality Index:
USA #37, #1 France, #2 Italy

3) Student Reading Ability:
USA #12, Finland #1, South Korea #2

4) Student Problem Solving Ability:
USA #26, South Korea #1, Finland #2

5) Student Ranking on Mathematics Ability:
USA #24, Hong Kong #1, Finland #2

6) Student Ranking on Science Ability:
USA #19, Finland #1, Japan #2

7) USA Ranking on Life Expectancy:
USA #29, Japan #1, Hong Kong #2

USA Ranking on Political Corruption Index:
USA #17, Iceland #1, Finland #2

9) USA Ranking on Environmental Sustainability Index:
USA #45, Finland #1, Norway #2

10) USA Ranking on Infant Mortality:
USA #32, Sweden #1, Finland #2