I was watching something the other night on TV, my guess it was Peter Griffin on Family Guy, and he used a line in that wonderfully nasally voice "Eh I see, giving me the old rope a dope. " Then there was probably something completely inappropriate said afterward, but I was busy rolling rope a dope around my brain.

In boxing the term was coined by Ali and his penchant for laying on the ropes, and letting the competition- most notably Foreman, swing away until he was exhausted and then Ali punched his lights out.

McCain is having a great time laying back on the ropes.

Hillary was landing some punches against the Republicans when she wasn't taking shots at The Bama. Just for the record I will state I can't stand Democrats as a principle. But I loathe Obama even more, and quite frankly have enjoyed watching him take a few blows back from the American Public. Oh his numbers are down. However, the Democratic Super Delegates, wanting to put an end to the primary race, shock blocked Clinton yesterday, by making their own factions public in hopes of stopping the McCain train.

Now if Hillary were smart, she'd ticket up with Ron Paul, and garner back everyone who hates the choices presented so far, and that is no small number. It's no secret why Obama won't debate Hillary in a free forum, he has nothing new to say, when he isn't defending himself against bias, playing a race card, or dangling campaign promises that in this day and age have a lot more meaning than "A Chicken In Every Pot" but thank god he isn't using "Obama For Every Mama" Whoot! Whoot !

I'm just getting tired of the American Public being dopes. No matter what, the Electoral College and the Super Delegates, who in my mind are brandishing a huge SD logo underneath their starched white collars, control this process.

If this country truly wants change, then we need the delegates who aren't afraid to support and reinstate the Bayh-Celler Amendment. In short, this was proposed to the 91st Congress, and did away with the Electoral College and stated that any candidates that garnered at least 40% of the popular vote won. If no pair received 40% of the popular vote, a runoff election would be held in which the choice of President and Vice President would be made from the two pairs of persons who had received the highest number of votes in the first election. The word "pair" was defined as "two persons who shall have consented to the joining of their names as candidates for the offices of President and Vice President"

THAT my friends, is political change and makes your voice count. But our constituents don't listen to what we have to say, and back in my world (the one where the sky is purple) politicians are Patriots, and actually run for office because they care about this country, and oh yeah...they aren't paid. Of course is my little world, Lobbyists are outlawed, the Futures Market is taken off of Wall Street, Insurance companies disappear altogether and I could do a whole 'nother blog on why sports figures shouldn't be paid either. Let's just say parents should be role models, not who can hit a ball hard, or dunk a basket. But that would mean people would have to be responsible and stop playing victims and looking for a free ride. Pink clouds in that purple sky if you are asking.

I'm getting a little off topic, so let me jump back on track. DING DING DING- that's the sound of the Republican's getting off the ropes and back in the ring. That crazy old white man McCain who has been extremely quiet the last few weeks, is making inroads again, and tossing out a few hooks that make the public listen.

Suspend the gas tax over the summer? That's 40 less cents a gallon you are paying. Hillary agrees with McCain, and anytime you stop taking money out of our wallets, you are going to get a resounding roar of approval. Now where the huge difference comes in with health care, the Republicans want to give tax breaks to individuals and take away tax breaks from corporations (which is new thinking when it comes to Big Business backing Republicans) and let Americans manage their own health care.

If you have ever run into a situation, and I watched it happen multiple times when I worked in a doctor's office, and most recently standing in line at the hospital, waiting to check in to have blood work. A young couple, holding a bassinet, the baby's fever spiking, could not get the help they needed, because they didn't have the approvals from the insurance company. They had to step away from the window, and cell phone in hand started making calls, to get their child help. Now multiply that frustration a hundred fold, when you have the government instead of an insurance company managing your healthcare.

Do you think its coincidence that the young girl from the Philippines is over here to get American doctors to operate on her? No, its just that it would never happen in her country. But let's go to America, where it can be done, quickly, and oh yeah-for free, though I'm sure the trade off is publicity and kudo's all the way around. If the government passed this Universal Health care debacle, we'd be waiting inline in other countries as well, to get the basic care we need or die trying.

Think about this. The Veterens Administration (i.e. Government) is responsible for the medical care for our military, whether active or retired. For the last couple of years, my friend has been trying to get the VA to approve a procedure he needs. Three times he has met with and been interviewed by the VA to get the approvals and filled out mountains of paperwork. Three months ago, he filled out another packet of information for the third time, was guaranteed that he had everything necessary to go forward. Yesterday he received the same packet in the mail for a fourth time, stating they have no record of his service the first four years he was in the Navy and they can't see where he may have a claim - Can he provide some proof ? To say he was disheartened is an understatement.

As of the 2000 census there is an estimated 303,986,519 people and counting in the US. About 2.8 million are in the military half in active duty the other half in active reserve and forgive me for not getting the numbers for retired. The point is, with first hand knowledge of how veterans are treated who defended our country, try imagining the care you are going to get by the government only for the mere fact you are a taxpayer. HAH! We have a medical crisis in PA as it is with doctors leaving the state because of high priced premiums in case of lawsuits for malpractice. What the hell do you think is going to happen if the government takes over managing health care ? Think you have high taxes now? Whose going to pay when a doctor is sued for malpractice ? The government or insurance company ? Or do you lose your rights to sue ?

The system may not be perfect, but concentrate on reforming insurance companies or eliminating them altogether. Universal health care is just a political carrot dangled in front of needy Americans, but I can assure you there isn't a Moral Right to health care as it is supposed and proposed.

Really think about what our governments role should be. If you think adding regulation to everyday things, place a big equals sign after the word and insert the word Taxes. The only way a government can regulate is to form a comittee to figure out people need to be hired and paid, and that means an increase in taxes and that comes out of your paycheck or additional taxes added to services.

I don't know about you, but I'm tapped out. I'm sure as hell not going to agree to anything, that makes me responsible for somebody else's issues. Socialism is a great concept on paper, so was communism and we all see where that went.

It's easy to listen to a great commentator, who can motivate people to get to the voting booth. But really listen to what you are voting for. Obama is just another politician who sways in the wind just like every other person who has run for public office. He may distance himself from Reverend Wright today, but the title of Obama's book 'The Audacity of Hope' was inspired by a sermon given by Pastor Wright.

I'd have more respect for Obama if he didn't decide to listen to the media, and under the slightest amount of pressure, distance himself from his church. Listen to the sermon yourself. The Message, The Messiah The Manger.

In short and I sourced this from http://christian-universalism.blogs.com the recap is this;

The video is just over an hour long. The sermon itself begins 26 minutes in. I took a little time to listen to the choir (great choir, BTW) before getting down to the sermon. After listening to several minutes of the sermon, I thought I must have had the wrong one because the Reverend wasn't nearly as fired up as he was in the clip. I went back to the clip and checked his attire to be sure. Yep. This was it. Same, robe, same tie. But 50 minutes into the video and 25 minutes into his 35 minute talk and there were no fireworks. At 13 minutes in (39 minutes elapsed time) he made a reference to being bi-cultural. I thought, here we go. But, he talked about the bi-culture of celebrating Christmas with gifts and the "White" Christmas songs and celebrating a Christ-centered Christmas. He corrects people who have said that we should not celebrate Christmas because it's "pagan". At 45 minutes into the tape (19 minutes into the sermon), he talks about Saint Nicholas and makes a reference to Europe. Another opportunity for hate, I'm thinking. Nope. He goes on to talk about how great the tradition of giving gifts is and how it originated with taking care of the poor. At 51 minutes into the tape (26 minutes into the talk) he talks about how God gave his gift for all people and makes a specific reference to how this includes homosexuals. Now, finally at 55 minutes into the tape and almost 30 minutes into his 35 minute talk, he references the "explosive" part of the sermon. The whole point of his talk is this. God sent Jesus in a manger. Why? Because God wanted to show the world that God cares about the poor, that God knows the plight of the poor and that God is on the side of the poor. The energy level ratchets up a notch and the Reverend finally, 57 minutes into the talk and just a few minutes short of the end of the talk makes reference to Barack Obama and how he was rejected by his own people for not being Black enough, about how he knows the sufferings of being a Black man in a White dominated society, about how Hillary does not know those sufferings and about how Jesus does. He also mentions Giuliani and others. Then, he continues to say that Jesus taught us to love our enemies. In fact, Jesus taught us to love the hell out of our enemies (his words) and that we should never let their hatred dampen our hope or reduce us to their level. He wraps up at the very end around 1 hour and 3 minutes in with asking everyone to go in "love, hope and peace".

I saw nothing in the video telling people to hate White people, to blame White people for all their troubles or to do any harm to White people. I saw nothing saying anything about separating from White people. I heard reference to what he feels has been and continues to be a society dominated by White people with money. But, do you really want to deny that it's true that America is run by White people with money?

This comes from a black man, and he was an Obama supporter as of March. I don't know where his position is today as even the church is divided on their stance.

But character is everything. Are we judged more on our words or deeds? Obama runs his mouth plenty, but at the end of the day, he made the choice to back away from a man whose church he grew up in, married his wife, and baptized his children because of a little political rhetoric. But that shows his character, and based on that alone, he doesn't have what it takes to handle the pressure of this highest office in the United States.

Is it any wonder the Republicans are going to TKO the Democrats in November?