Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio ?

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio,
Our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson.
Jolting Joe has left and gone away,
Hey hey hey.

Simon and Garfunkel provided the song "Mrs. Robinson" for the 1967 movie The Graduate. Both the movie and the song were immediate hits then and remain popular today. Supposedly Joe DiMaggio was somewhat displeased by his name being included in the lyrics ;but after it was explained that it was not an insult but a compliment, he was satisfied. I think of the song's lyrics today because as I view our current cast of presidential hopefuls, elected congress men and women, senators and various Obama staffers and appointees I too wonder where have all the Joe DiMaggio's gone?

When one considers that the office of President was once held by men like Franklin D. Roosevelt for four terms as he kept this county together during World War II, it is unbelievable to realize that Gov. Rick Perry is a serious candidate. Harry Truman followed Roosevelt and then came Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the supreme allied commander of WWII, and now we have the likes of Newt the grump & Mitt the flip flopper. John Kennedy may have had his personal flaws but at least he surrounded himself with the best and the brightest this country had to offer. Barrack Obama having promised  and offered so much hope has surrounded himself with far too many that caused our current problems or have done little to solve the problems. What has Atty. General Eric Holder done since becoming Atty. General? Why do we have the likes of Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury? One of the best and the brightest in the Obama camp was Elizabeth Warren and she was given walking papers at the behest of Geithner.

We have a year to go and our national government is in a state of grid lock. We are still wasting lives and money in the Bush/Cheney/ Rumsfeld mid-east wars. The GOP is protecting their elite job creators who have created jobs overseas at the expense of American workers. Main Street has been ignored because Wall Street and the Big Banks were too big to fail. Unemployment is still too high, foreclosures continue and our national debt is on auto pilot. With so many Republicans having pledged allegiance to Grover Norquist and having turned their backs on doing what is good for the country it is going to be a difficult 2012.  

  

It seems at this time that Joltin' Joe has truly left and gone away. Joe DiMaggio was described by many as a man of grace, pride, dignity and having class. A classy person would probably be discreet, honest and reliable. We would also expect a classy person to be sincere, respectful and trustworthy. No doubt President Obama is a person of class as he displays many of these qualities. Unfortunately for many Republicans it is difficult for them to accept a multi-racial, intelligent Democrat as President even if he displays these qualities. Their stated goal since Obama took office is to see that Obama is a one term president regardless of the collateral damage done to this country and its citizens.

If you happen to watch any of the remaining Republican debates think of Joe DiMaggio as you watch and listen to these Republican hopefuls. Like Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy who were all men of grace, pride, dignity and class try to fit the GOP candidates into this mold. Collectively they are a losing team and individually most lack the qualities one would hope to see in a president. It is remarkable that Michele Bachman sits on the Congressional Intelligence Committee. Yes, you read that correctly. She is a member of the Intelligence Committee. The long serving Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, doesn't know the voting age is eighteen.

If Obama wasn't seeking a second term I don't know who the Democrats would put forth. It seems that rather than raising the  qualifications bar for presidential candidates we have lowered it. We deserve better, we should expect better and we most definitely are in need of better candidates.

THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT

It has been a most interesting month watching and listening to the Republican hopefuls. One has to wonder whom these candidates actually represent and whom they attract. There was Michele Bachmann at Graceland exhorting the crowd to wish Elvis a Happy Birthday. Apparently her staff failed to tell her it was not his birthday but the anniversary of his death. What the hell ... just a small detail. Then there was Mitt Romney telling the crowd that "corporations are people too". Wow, were they ever impressed. To this dysfunctional duo we add Texas Governor Rick Perry who in quick order wants to lynch the Federal Reserve Chairman, questioned our military's level of respect for President Obama, doesn't believe in climate change, is proud of the fact that Texas teaches both evolution and creationism and has previously suggested that Texas secede from the union.  Now that is quite a campaign platform! Apparently Republican movers and shakers are concerned and alarmed at Perry's cowboy approach to campaigning.

While the Republicans talk and debate the Democrats are resting after rolling over and giving into Tea Party inspired demands to raise the debt ceiling with spending cuts but no increase or adjustment in revenue. The job creators (wealthiest Americans) must be protected.  Leading Democrats have been conspicuously silent with the exception of the President who continues speaking to Americans as if he were in a Harvard lecture hall.  In my opinion the most politically forceful thing he has done of late was putting Donald Trump in his place at a press club dinner. President Obama was on the attack then and "The Donald" was visibly annoyed. If Obama soon doesn't begin to act like Truman, lead like FDR and put more Republicans in their place he may not have a second term.

Hopefully when everyone returns to Washington the President and the Democrats will understand and accept the fact that the new radicalized Republicans are not interested in negotiating or compromising. Bipartisanship and balance is not part of their current philosophy. Their main goal is to destroy Obama  at all costs and if that means taking the country down to accomplish this goal then so be it. To the Republicans and their Tea Party radicals the end justifies the means. Understanding that the Republican Party of today is not the GOP of the past may clear the air for those Democrats who still think that the two sides can work together. Remember most Republicans, in spite of their oath of office, have signed Grover Norquist's pledge not to raise taxes. Their minds cannot be confused with facts as they have already made up their minds.

The other night I caught the tail end of the movie The American President  with Michael Douglas. You can see a clip of the speech he gave towards the end of the movie or read the script at this site: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechtheamericanpresident.html . Anyway, it is the kind of speech I wish President Obama would give. I have taken the liberty to edit and rewrite the movie speech to reflect how I would like our President to deliver it. 

MY REWRITE

Since I took office the Republicans have suggested that it would be best if I were a one term President. And although I've not been willing to engage in their attacks on me, I have been here three years, and I can tell you without hesitation that I intend to be President for a second term.
I've known Republicans for years. And I've been operating under the assumption that the reason the GOP devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that they simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. the GOP's problem isn't that they don't get it. The Republican's problem is that they can't sell it! The GOP has been radicalized by the simplistic ideology of the so called Tea Party and they now view debate, negotiation and compromise as counterproductive. It is their way or the highway.
We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you the Tea Party is not the least bit interested in solving it. They are interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it ... and that would be me. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family, and American values and character, and you scream about taxes, spending, the Federal debt and jobs. You tell them the government is to blame for their lot in life. And you go on television and you point the finger of blame at federal and state workers, social security recipients and those on Medicare.
The Middle Class is not the problem. They have done nothing but put their children through school, work hard and pay their taxes, and expected more from their government and elected representatives than they now receive. For years they have endured the burden of an unfair tax system. Many have lost their jobs and many more have lost their homes. It is no longer the America of their parents and they do not want this America for their children.
Next month the White House is sending a bill to Congress for its consideration. It's a Jobs and Employment bill structured to reduce unemployment by 50%  over the next four years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of our current economic situation. The other piece of legislation is a budget proposal that would restructure the tax code to eliminate credits and loop holes for companies who earn billions and currently pay no federal taxes at all. It would also create tax levels more in line with the times and more balanced in their application. The wealthy will begin to pay their fair share.
We've got serious problems, and we need serious people. And if you want to talk about solutions, then the Republicans  better come at me with more than Tea Party slogans and empty promises and false statements. If you want to talk about taxes, spending, the Federal debt and jobs, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This a time for serious people,  and the Tea Party's time is up. My name is Barack Obama and I am the President !

It Ain't Over Till It's Over --- But Is It Over?

Barack Obama and a majority of Democrats were elected to office because many Americans were dissatisfied with what was done and not done during the Bush/Cheney years. The level of dissatisfaction was so great that the Democrats not only won the White House; but took control of both Houses of Congress. Unfortunately, having been given this opportunity to affect change the Democrats seem to have fumbled the ball on far too many occasions. We will soon have mid-term November elections and the Democrats are on the ropes facing the possibility of losing control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. What went wrong?

Well, no doubt Mr. Obama assumed the Presidency just after this country hit a financial and economic iceberg of gigantic proportions. We were still engaged in unpopular and seemingly pointless wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan and there was an overall optimistic attitude that positive changes were soon to take place. Unfortunately as time passed it became apparent that we were dealing with the same crap but different flies. The economy got worse as Americans lost their jobs, homes were foreclosed and major financial institutions collapsed. We did get health care reform; but to the many without jobs and those about to lose their homes health care reform was a poor consolation prize.

Believing that we would soon extract ourselves from the unfortunate and costly mess in Iraq and Afghanistan it became apparent that not only were we not getting out of these wars; but we would be increasing our level of involvement. To add salt to Americans' wounds we saw the same financial institutions that were the catalyst for our economic catastrophe receive billions of dollars in tax payer bailout money because they were "too big to fail". On the other hand the hundreds of thousands of Americans who lost their jobs and their homes in foreclosure were apparently too small to save.

The cast of characters in this gut wrenching tragic comedy was even more annoying. We were treated to the arrogance and contempt of Attorney General Eric Holder and former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, the confusing rationale of alleged economic genius and the new Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, the obvious incompetence of patently unqualified Janet Napolitano and the verbal gaffes of Vice President and occasional buffoon Joe Biden. As usual the Democrats displayed their uncanny ability to grab failure and defeat from hands of success.

Now we are dealing with the semi-intelligent ramblings of John McCain's gift to political theatre, Sarah Palin, and a cast of characters that include off the wall Glen Beck, the well tanned John Boehner, the sometimes out to lunch Nancy Pelosi and of course the intellectual lectures of President Obama himself. All that is missing are delusional comments of a court jester like Rod Blagojevich. Is it any wonder that Americans are turning their backs on the incompetent antics of both the Democrats and the Republicans? Is anyone surprised that the simplicity of the Tea Party is so appealing to so many?

Many elected Democrats and Republicans are more loyal to the color blue or red of their respective party than to the colors red, white and blue of all Americans. These elected politicians ignore the concepts of compromise, mediation and moderation. Their working attitude has been and continues to be their way or the highway. As a result we are in a state of gridlock with little getting done. Consequently many Americans will opt to clean house and throw the bums out. Unfortunately neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have many alternative candidates of substance, experience and intelligence to offer to the voting public. Americans are caught between a rock and a hard spot.

No doubt when Americans vote in November many Democrats and Republicans will experience the disapproval of Americans as they are voted out of office. It is unclear as to whether the Republicans will actually take control of both Houses; but it is clear that the Democrats will no longer be in control, if they ever indeed were in charge. After November the only question that remains will be whether or not Barack Obama will be elected to a second term.

The Great Races !

Which schools won the recent big education races? Yes, there were two races: the Obama Race To The Top and California's Race To The Bottom. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia are semi finalists in the Obama race and one hundred eighty-one schools in California earned the distinction of being the state's worst performing schools. And much like existing education practices both extremes of the performance spectrum will be rewarded.

The semi finalists in the Obama race apparently jumped through the hoops and drank the Federal Department of Education's Kool Aide by revising their curricula, staff evaluations and testing to appease the Feds. Looking at the list of 16 semi finalists it is apparent that this lemming like rush for Federal bucks was most successful east of the Mississippi. Only the western state of Colorado is in the winner's circle. How the District of Columbia got included with the final fifteen states is remarkable. Obama's daughters do not attend DC's public schools as well as many of the school age children of members of congress who reside in DC. The public schools of Prince George's and Montgomery counties are the schools of refuge for these politicians.

In California the 181 worst performing schools will be required to make some staff and/or administrative changes or face closure; but these schools are also eligible for between $50K and $2 million dollars for the next three years to foster improvement. Kind of like the NFL draft in that the team with the worst record gets the first draft choice; but in this case the big bucks. Of course forgotten in all this racing about are the vast majority of schools in the country where students, teachers and parents work hard to see that kids learn and succeed; but rarely win any races or get additional funding.

Equally never mentioned and probably ignored is that fact that California's classrooms have far too many feral children in all grades who would be served better through additional remedial and compensatory parental attention or through the courts and the California Youth Authority. California's classrooms are not only the day care option for too many parents; but have become a placement option for delinquents and a vast array of children with serious social, behavioral, educational and psychological disorders.

The business of education is supposed to be education. Too much time and financial resources are now spent on non educational services like transportation, food services, health , and a vast array of social programs that the schools are ill equipped to provide. Having spent considerable time discussing what is wrong with our schools I will soon offer some concrete, posssibly socially acceptable and even practical solutions and suggestions to the mess in which we now find ourselves. Are we there yet?

Y2K+10=2010

Well, here it is February and we are well into the year 2010. President Obama has been in office for one year and it seems that the year was consumed by Health Care reform and to no avail. Somewhere along the way Obama and his team seemed to forget about the economy: unemployment, the mortgage mess and the national debt. They did however make sure that the big banks and of course AIG were saved. And all the executives who screwed up have been rewarded for their efforts; but we don't call these payments bonuses we now refer to them as retention rewards. It seems that it is important to retain the buffoons who created the problems.

Throughout his first year in office the President has been advised by a team of experts that at times look like stand-ins for the Three Stooges and at other times rival the Keystone Cops. The cast of characters includes (but is not limited to) the arrogant tax cheat, Tim Geithner, who got his start running the Federal Bank of New York and is now Secretary of the Treasury. Next, we have VP Joe Biden who doesn't understand the old saying "that loose lips sink ships". Then there is Nancy Pelosi who has perfected the art of speaking out of both sides of her mouth. And let's not forget US Attorney General Eric Holder. Here is a man who has called his fellow Americans cowards and seems to despise both the country and people he serves. Finally, there is Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano who has proven herself to be totally unqualified for this position. Remember after the Arab-Islamic Terrorist almost blew up the Detroit bound jet, her response was "the system worked".

I am old enough to remember the Presidency of John Kennedy. What was truly remarkable about President Kennedy was that he surrounded himself and appointed really brilliant, intelligent and honorable people. Looking at the cast of characters surrounding President Obama this no longer seems to be the case. We are stuck with Biden and Pelosi because they were elected; but we deserve better that the likes of Geithner, Napolitano and Holder. In the next three years President Obama will more than likely be called upon to make appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. One can only hope that the individuals he selects are not in the same league as the individuals that now surround him. Supreme Court justices are appointed for life. Let the good times roll...

Janet Napolitano: "the system worked" ... really?

In a recent CNN interview after the failed terrorist bomb attempt to bring down a Northwest jet, Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano stated:

“One thing I want to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action.”

Knowing what we now know, if Napolitano really believes that the system worked then she needs to be replaced immediately. The system failed and it failed big time. The only thing that saved that jet was the inability of the terrorist to bring about an explosion. His efforts resulted in a fire; but not the explosion he had hoped to achieve.

It seems that the entire process of air travel needs to be re-examined. Working the lines of travelers the TSA security personnel are diligently finding and confiscating sharp objects, checking our shoes and laptops and seizing over sized tubes of toothpaste, while the highly paid experts at CIA and Homeland Security cannot recognize a possible terrorist even when that individual is called to their attention by a relative. To the average American with no more than a high school education a Nigerian flying on a one way ticket paid for with cash and having no checked baggage would probably raise suspicion. Those having this info and even more did not see this individual as suspicious. Janet Napolitano should immediately resign (or be fired) and all those in every agency who dropped the ball in this case should be reassigned to less intellectually demanding positions.

The current practice of allowing passengers to carry on all their baggage and then jamming it in the overhead compartments must stop. TSA personnel are spending too much time screening this stuff and too little time on screening passengers and the smaller items they carry on board. Airlines created this baggage problem when they began charging for checked baggage and it must stop.

Like many Americans I am losing confidence in the ability of our protective agencies to do their job. The Secret Service could not identify and stop a couple from crashing a formal White House state dinner. At the risk of being politically incorrect and viewed as profiling the U.S Army could not protect its own soldiers from an Islamic extremist on the grounds of Ft. Hood Texas and now we have the debacle of Northwest flight.

Today former vice-president Dick Cheney accused the President of "trying to pretend we are not at war". I am no fan of the former VP; but his accusatory comment speaks for the millions of Americans who dutifully go through the TSA airport security lines shedding their shoes and coats, having bags checked over and scrutinized and on occasion being subjected to a pat down body search while a wanabe Islamic terrorist with numerous indicators of suspicious behavior is allowed to board a U.S bound jet with bomb making chemicals in his boxers.

President Obama may say that we are at war with terrorists; but the carelessness of the CIA and the absurd comment that "the system worked" by Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano along with the failings of other agencies seems to support Cheney's comment that the administration's efforts are not as serious as President Obama states and the American public expect.

The RACE to the TOP

After enduring years of frenzy and frustration over the Bush inspired educational reform plan, No Child Left Behind, President Obama, a more athletic President, has given us yet another reform plan called The RACE to the TOP. Now students, whether they were left behind or not, must don their educational running shoes and join the educational version of the Great Race. Of course, as any American with a pulse knows the playing field for this race is not level. One only has to look at the states were money is spent on education and see that students in these states are equipped not only to participate in the race; but to win. On the other hand, states where education has been and remains a financial burden rather than a priority, their students will be out-distanced. Sometimes this disparity even occurs among schools in the same school district because of factors like: parental support, foundations, ethnicity, attendance, student behavior and an array of other socio-economic factors. Is it any surprise that the barefoot runners will face a much more difficult challenge than the well trained and well equipped runners?

No doubt there are many students who know how to "play school" in that they attend school on a regular basis, do their class and homework, have supportive parents, are not behavior problems and understand their duties and responsibilities. On the other hand there are far too many students who, when they do come to school, come to school to play. They are chronically late and/or absent. They do not do their class work nor their homework. Their parents have no control over their behavior in or out of school. Many of these students actively try and usually succeed in disrupting the educational process. By their negative and disruptive behavior they make it difficult for even veteran teachers and almost impossible for new teachers to teach and for the other students to learn. School administrators, instead of removing these disruptive students from the classrooms, expect and demand that teachers accommodate these malcontents in addition to teaching those who really want to learn. Yes, everyone has the right to an education and the rights of the majority should not be compromised by the disruptive behavior of a few.

Finally, there continues to be an absolutely misguided effort to set up school curricula that caters exclusively to the college bound and intentionally ignores the fact that a significant number of our students are not going to college and may not even graduate from high school. There is a significant work force in this country made up of the trades. True, there numbers have declined over the years as a result of out-sourcing; but the fact remains that this country still needs a work force skilled in the trades or the industrial arts. Students who have an interest in these trades have seen their educational opportunities diminish. In a sense, they are being discriminated against in that curricula is now being offered in a one size fits all manner. Unfortunately that size fits only the college bound. Maybe, just maybe the disruptive behavior that is escalating in our schools would begin to subside if programs, classes and curricula were offered for all students, not just the college bound. Do plumbers, mechanics, bakers, carpenters and electricians really need a four year college program to succeed ? On your mark ... get set ... Run !!!

Obama The New War President

President Obama addressed the American people this evening from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Obviously this was the appropriate audience before whom to speak as many of the cadets will wind up in Iraq, Afghanistan or possibly Pakistan, where some believe Osama Bin Laden is hiding out. Thankfully there were few civilians around so the Secret Service did not have to fear gate crashers.

The President began with a Cliff Notes like summary of our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan since the attack of September 11th. He reminded us that not only did our own House of Representatives and Senate overwhelmingly approve and support military action but the even the UN gave its blessing. Of course he omitted the fact that our response was based on the misinformation and lies of the Bush administration.

President Obama worked hard to convince us that we had moral, ethical, economic, military and security reasons to not only continue our presence in Afghanistan; but to increase the number of ground forces by 30,000. It was an excellent speech almost in the style of a pep rally talk before a big game. He told the American people that NATO is with us in this expanding ground war. One would think that there is a multi-national ground force in Afghanistan; but this is far from the truth. This is a United States War with only token NATO and UN support. The continuation of this big game is going to be very costly for this country. The former Soviet Union had its years in Afghanistan and got its ass kicked.

It is unfortunate to see President Obama become another U.S. President mired in a hopeless foreign war when his attention should be focused on the multitude of problems facing this country within our own borders. Consider the following article by columnist Bob Woodward from December 28, 2006:

"Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don't think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration.

In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney -- Ford's White House chief of staff -- and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.

"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."
In a conversation that veered between the current realities of a war in the Middle East and the old complexities of the war in Vietnam whose bitter end he presided over as president, Ford took issue with the notion of the United States entering a conflict in service of the idea of spreading democracy.

"Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people," Ford said, referring to Bush's assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people." But the former president said he was skeptical "whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's in our national interest." He added: "And I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

Iraq & Afghanistan -- Vietnam II & III

In the preface of former Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara's, apologia on Vietnam, In Retrospect - The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, one will read:

"We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why."

Tens of thousands of American service men and women died in Vietnam and billions of tax payer dollars were wasted and in 1995 Mr. McNamara writes that it was a terrible mistake. That mistake is part of our history. As this country continues to stumble haphazardly through Iraq and Afghanistan one can only wonder if our current elected and appointed leaders remember the debacle of the United States policy in Vietnam. Did our current political and military decision makers study world history and political science? Have they forgotten the cost to the USSR after its 10 years of war in Afghanistan? Consider the warning of philosopher George Santayana "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it". It appears as though we are repeating the mistakes of our past.

It is becoming more obvious every day that the lessons of Vietnam have been lost and forgotten. As a result of the Bush administration's lies and deviousness we now find ourselves militarily involved on two fronts: Afghanistan and Iraq. We seem to have no clear military object nor do we have a rational political objective. I seem to recall Obama's campaign pledge to get the US out of both Afghanistan and Iraq. How does the plan for sending tens of thousands more troops into Afghanistan bring about this promised withdrawal?

The President continues to meet with his war council trying to decide how many more U.S. troops he will send to Afghanistan. I tend to agree with the skeptics that the decision has already been made to send tens of thousands of additional ground forces. The delay in announcing this troop build-up is due to the fact that the right language has not been formulated by which to make the announcement and convince the American people that this unpopular war will continue ... indefinitely.

In the mean time we have seen Secretary of State Clinton standing with that fraud of a President Hamid Karzai promising all who will listen that he will try to do a better job. American soldiers now have to conduct themselves as if they were a civilian police force in dealing with suspected enemy detainees, complete with evidence gathering and paperwork. All the while the money keeps flowing out of the USA and into the black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan. To date these two wars have cost the American taxpayers almost $935,000,000,000 ... read that as 935 billion dollars and it will more than likely exceed one trillion dollars by year's end. To see the counter go to ---- http://www.costofwar.com/. Imagine what this amount of money could have done for the U.S. economy had it not been wasted in and on Iraq and Afghanistan?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.