Hillary is in...

I've heard Hillary speak in the past and she gives me hope. I believe that she is sincere and dedicated toward fighting for prosperity through fairness. I am ready to work with her in trying to figure out the right end to the war in Iraq. That concept, "the right end" is exactly where we need to place ourselves today. The first question we have to ask ourselves is what should our relationship be to dependence on foreign oil? Do we need to control those resources at any cost? Can we exist independent of those resources?

The next question we need to ask ourselves is what role should our military play in the world? Should it only defend our country in times of imminent attack? Should it go to the rescue of societies that have broken down into chaos and genocide? Our military has within it an incredible reservoir of motivated, brilliant, talented leaders. It is a crime in my mind to see these individuals die in a conflict whose reasons for existence has become more and more morally questionable. Yes there is evil in the world, but is it really an "us vs. them" scenario? We can't shy away from conflict but we need to take a hard look at their causes and create international peace coalitions that can reccomend military action only when it is unavoidable. We need to take an active role in helping to control weapons proliferation and distribution throughout the world. I believe that this weapons economy can feed and foster conflict on its own.

This brings me back full circle; jobs at home. How can we build economies that are fair and prosperous, that do not depend on or require pre-emptive military enterprises? That "basic bargain" that Hillary speaks of; jobs, healthcare and environmental responsibility is something that I believe is surely attainable. I'm encouraged that she has begun her exploratory committee for the presidency with this idea of beginning a conversation. Her detractors will voraciously try to ridicule and put us on the defensive. We need to keep focused on what we need to do from this point forward. George Bush's strongest point was that he took action, rather than taking no action at all. It was the wrong action, and the time is ripe for our better plans to be heard, loud, clear and succinctly.