a Fair Deal

Americans have been been betrayed by its so-called leaders in the past decade. Whether it be Barry Bonds' sham HR record, corporate officers using their companies as personal piggy banks, an NBA ref betting on his own games, the President lying his way into an unnecessary and disastrous war, cowardly Democrats and Republicans in Congress voting against oversight and the Fourth Amendment so they can go on vacation and raise money, a Congressman taking $45,000 in contributions one night and the next day sneaking in a $10M earmark after the bill had passed both chambers for that contributor, another caught with $90,000 worth of bribes in his freezer, it seems people in power have decided they can use the system to their advantage and not worry about the little people they illegally harm along the way.

It is time Americans stand up and say "NO" to such behavior from our athletes, politicians, and businessmen. It is time we take back the idea of America from those who seek to corrupt it.

Before our leaders stole, cheated, lied, and took bribes, America was a place where anyone with enough guts and good enough ideas could succeed. It wasn't supposed to matter who your parents were, what color your skin was, or how much money you had. America was about progress. Sure, it took us far too long to realize the words of the Declaration of Independence and we still have not achieved full equality for blacks, women, immigrants, and homosexuals to name a few. But we kept moving forward, even if the pace was too slow.

Right now, America has been moving backwards and changing beyond recognition. We must stop these "leaders" before they make it worse. America had become the beacon of international law and human rights. We fought wars to prevent ethnic cleansing, to uphold international law and yet now we flaunt international law openly and torture people because we are afraid.

No enemy is too great for America to beat, we need not be afraid. When we 13 disparate colonies, we beat the largest imperial army on the planet. Then we beat them again a few decades later. We beat Germany twice when they had control of a large part of Europe. We were victorious the Japanese when they had taken over most of the Pacific, although we used nuclear weapons to finish it. We took on the Soviet Union and the thousands of nuclear weapons they pointed at our heads.

And now we are afraid of a rag-tag group of extremists? So scared we have to toss out not only our constitution, but 500 years worth the rule of law?

Are we also so unable to pay attention that our athletes need to inject themselves full of drugs to entertain us? Are we so entranced with the latest car or electronic gadget that we look the other way when others lie and cheat and steal to get them?

This is not the America we all know and love. And we need to get back to that idea of America, and make it real again. During the Great Depression, Americans got a New Deal: the government would become more involved in our lives so that extreme poverty of our seniors would be eliminated.

Today, all Americans want is a Fair Deal, one where the playing field won't be tilted in favor of the elites who have the right family name, or the right bank account, or the right connections.

It is time our government and our society looked out for those who work hard and do everything right. We can't let the Big Insurance companies and Big Pharmaceuticals and the Big Oil companies cheat us out of good health care for everyone, lower carbon emissions and clean air and water. We can't let CEOs cheat their employees and stockholders out of millions, nor can we let jocks juice their way to the podium.

It is time for all of us to look each other in the eye and say "Enough is enough, I want America back!"