Apathy of the American voter: Will this time be different?

Only 55% of the eligible voters in the U.S, actually vote. Can you believe that something as important as who will be our next President and the person who decides whether we are allowed to exercise our Constitutional freedoms (or not, as in the case of Bush/Cheney) and only 55% go vote. You see the problem my friends isn't just the Republicans or the Democrats. It's the people who could care less to vote and it turns out they represent almost half of us. This means that about 26-27% of the entire voting age public (52% of actual voters for one Party to win vs 48% of the other Party) will be the "deciders". We promote democracy everywhere around the world, except here at home. Some countries make it mandatory to vote. I'm not sure that is any better than not voting. Must things get far worse to wake these people up? How could they get any worse? Oh, I forgot, Bush and Cheney still have almost 5 months to do more damage, if that's possible. God help us all.

You think I am kidding? The Bush/Cheney duo almost decided the Pakistani Presidency today in favor of our enemies, by sending U.S. forces by using helicopters into the rugged region of Pakistan adjoining Afghanistan. It seems Bush wants to capture Osama Bin Laden in his final months and most likely knows where he has been hiding all along. It almost worked, but while the Pakistani people were very angry at our intrusion to their sovereign country they also seem pretty smart and still voted for Bhutto's husband, a friend of the U.S. But Bush almost turned the whole country against us by this latest unannounced move into the rugged mountains of Pakistan. Why would he do that? Bush wants to have an October surprise so that the Republicans, under John McCain can get re-elected in November. If that is true, think about how many waisted lives he has lost in Iraq and the cost to our treasury of Trillions of dollars. Then ask yourself should the Republican Party be rewarded this November. I think not! If he knew where Osama was and didn't even pursue him these last 7 years, shame on him for using him as a political trophy to capture at the most convenient time, while many of our soldiers are fighting an elective war of choice that should be stopped.

So this election period, let's have "New Rules" as Bill Maher would say. If you don't vote, you can't complain after the election or you will be thrown into jail and the key thrown away, with the only possibility of parole if more than 75% of the public votes in any election.

Will Americans take that next step- maturity?

We are about to be bombarded with news from the Democratic Party Convention this week and the following week by the Republican Party Convention. But will we mature and listen for ourselves what the messages are from these conventions, our Presidential Candidates and their VP choices, or will we just listen to the media synopsis and the sound bites televised to make up our minds about the issues and the proposed solutions? It is time, my fellow Americans, for us to do our own due diligence and hear for ourselves, firsthand, what the candidates are saying and draw our own conclusions. It is time to make the election of our President a priority in our lives and put other matters on the back burner.

If you want to stop complaining about our President, Vice President and their policies, it is time YOU and YOUR FAMILY took the matter of deciding who will best restore America's greatness and put our fiscal house back in order. I know it's easy to complain and to blame someone else for the state of this country, but now its future is in your hands. It's time to grow up, take responsibility for learning about the real issues our country faces, not the ones the media likes to hype (like whether John McCain knows how many houses he has or whether Barack really believes what Rev. Wright, his former pastor was preaching). It is time to demand more concreteness in defining the issues and what remedies each candidate proposes to solve them.

You must make the time to educate yourself. The reasoning that you're too busy is a lame excuse. Any President can make one decision that will dramatically affect your life and that of your family members in an instant. God only knows the one we have now has made decisions which have affected the entire world.

And finally, you must make sure you are registered to vote! All the time spent educating yourself about the issues is meaningless, unless you vote. So, as we approach these 2 full weeks of politics, pay attention, get the news direct for yourself by listening to as much as you can to the Conventions and especially the VP and Presidential Candidates speeches and come away ready to ask tough questions of each of them, in preparation of your vote in only a little more than 2 months from now.