TallPocket's PLATFORM Issues For '08 - (Vol.1)



“TallPockets Platform For Prez”

A short time back, a fellow blogger (SINANN) mentioned on their blog site some prospective possibilities they might consider as president for the 2008 election. They included my name, TallPockets, as one of such possibilities but went on to say that they did not know my PLATFORM, as it were. So, I have done some thinking and reviewing of their statement and here is what I can best come up with:

First, I am an INDEPENDENT. Thinker and voter. I have voted all my life for what “I” deemed the BEST of the candidates I had the opportunities to choose from that were given to myself and all other voters. Simply put, that means I have voted for Democrats, Republicans and Independents with no ONE affiliation getting the lion’s share of my vote(s).

If someone will honestly take the time to read most of my blog pieces at my site, I think many folks would be able to tell what my PLATFORM is for the most part.

I do NOT like the word PLATFORM. To me, that only conjures up and reinforces the typical ‘’Political Party” speak that we in America have become mired in, SADLY, for the past DECADES. With, I SADLY add, not much to SHOW for it all on behalf of WE, THE PEOPLE.

So, let me attack the PLATFORM issue about me this way:

I was raised that a man’s WORD was EVERYTHING. That a HANDSHAKE was as LEGAL (even though it’s NOT LEGAL these days, of course) as ANY contract.

I was taught and STILL firmly believe, that LONG after this old man is DEAD, they will remember him/me by my HONESTY, by my INTEGRITY, by my FAIRNESS, by my COMMON SENSE, by my EMPATHY for OTHERS and by WHAT I was fortunate enough to get ACCOMPLISHED in my personal life and business life for the benefits of ALL concerned.

I also played and later coached many sports teams. The old, corny saying, “There is NO “I” in T-E-A-M did and STILL does mean that to me. I SAW it on the sports fields and gyms in person and I saw it in my personal life and I saw it in my business world.

I also believe in the old, corny saying, “A chain is only as STRONG as it’s WEAKEST link”. Again, I also saw this in ALL the above instances so mentioned.

I am a LIBERTARIAN in many thought processes. To me and in MY readings and interpretations of the founding of America, those who risked their very LIVES to begin this great country of ours, wanted their FREEDOMS and their RIGHTS. So much, in fact, that a Declaration Of Indpendence, a Constitution and a Bill Of Rights was each written and adopted as the very symbols and conscience of HOW this NEW America would start and continue over time.

*** I consider my self 'liberal' in SOME areas and 'conservative' in SOME areas. I affix NO LABEL to myself. They ALL make up WHO and WHAT "I" am. First off, a HUMAN being inhabiting this orbiting planet of OURS that we ALL must LEARN to SHARE or we will DESTROY.

The above three documents, the elimination of SLAVERY, EQUAL RIGHTS for WOMEN, the idea one could WORK and LIVE ANYWHERE in America. You could READ and WATCH and LISTEN to what YOU wanted to. To ME, that is the MOST "LIBERAL" ideas ever invented. FEW would or do disagree with that contention.

However, to ME, those above LIBERAL ideas are SO worth CONSERVING. PERIOD.

That's about as SIMPLE as "I" can state MY characterization of ME, dear citizens.***

I believe strongly in free speech. That means, to me, unless someone is breaking societal, legal law statutes in place at any given time, that ALL are FREE to speak THEIR thoughts, opinions and views. That ALL are so FREE to ‘suggest’ to others what to do or learn or watch or read or think about.

However, PLEASE make this distinction about MY views on this -- It is MY strong belief that NO ONE should EVER be able to MAKE others do something, in particular, simply because THEY think so. Again, exceptions would be SOCIETAL legal statues for the masses in place at any given times.

It is also my STRONG belief that if “I” want such FREEDOMS to be afforded to ME, that “I” and ALL OTHERS must FULLY RECIPROCATE such like FREEDOMS to ALL OTHERS and vice versa. ESPECIALLY to those whom any one individual might or did STRONGLY disagree with on any given issue(s).

My life ‘philosophy’ and my ‘business’ philosophy has been to be one of taking the advice of ALL that I can from ALL points of view, digesting such total informations and then making a DECISION to then DO what “I” feel BEST given ALL the earlier information, considering of course, what SPECIFIC circumstances such information was being interpreted into at any given point in time.

As your president, I would NOT have a SPEECH WRITER. To my simpleton way of thinking, if a person is deemed good enough to BE president, they should be able to write and speak their OWN thoughts and views.

I will NOT have any ‘handlers’. That is the most ridiculous idea the world has EVER come up with from my viewpoint. The PRESIDENT should be the HANDLER in CHARGE. Of AMERICA and ALL that works to make it the BEST it can be. The PRESIDENT, whomever he or she is once ELECTED by the PEOPLE, should be the HANDLER in CHARGE.

The only ‘handler’ ANY president should have to MY thinking, is that of the AMERICAN CITIZENS. What are THEY wanting ME to get done FOR THEM? What do they SEE are THEIR MOST important, current needs? THEY elect a president to serve THEM. NOT the other way around!

I would hold WEEKLY press conferences. There would only be MY HONEST answers. GOOD, BAD and ALL in between for ALL to see and hear. NO SPIN would MEAN NO SPIN. Whatever I thought I would SAY to the AMERICAN PUBLIC. THAT is what I would have been ELECTED and so HIRED to do. SERVE THE PEOPLE.

I would tell folks what “I” thought, of course. THAT also is the president’s JOB. That might and surely would mean, that I might and would certainly say things to OUR citizens that they might not LIKE to hear or even AGREE with all the time.

I would SIGN a document upon my entering the office as YOUR president that would state that IF the voters ever found me to be LYING to THEM, that I would HAVE to IMMEDIATELY resign.

I would also SIGN same said document PRIOR to my entering the office, that I would be willing to be hooked up to a POLYGRAPH machine whenever I was speaking to the PUBLIC or to CONGRESS of ALL parties and elected representatives. And, to that end, that IF such polygraph found me to be LYING to THE PEOPLE, that I would HAVE to immediately RESIGN from office.

THAT, dear citizens, would be MY ‘’CONTRACT with AMERICA‘’.

I would similarly, also INVITE ALL other ELECTED representatives to JOIN in on MY above OFFERS. Those who so REFUSED such, no matter whichever political party affiliations, would then be OPENLY SEEN by the American Public as to WHO and WHICH of them would NOT do likewise as YOUR president.

All the FAKES would be shown in BRIGHT LIGHTS.

I would also sign a document stating I would ONLY serve ONE, FOUR year term. If I can’t HELP the American Citizens in FOUR years, than I am NOT the person for the JOB facing America.

And if I did do well after my four years are up, I would be exhausted, given the MESS I would first inherit left to ALL Americans at that time.

But, hopefully, I would have SHOWN others HOW to affect REAL change and REAL solutions to SOME problems and give a template to the NEXT incoming president. But, even more, to the AMERICAN PEOPLE, no matter WHO their NEXT president might be. To show THE PEOPLE not only that it CAN be done but HOW it WAS done.

Now, for some other issues more specific:

(1) I believe in our CONSTITUTION, BILL OF RIGHTS and DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. I believe NO president should EVER break ANYTHING said in those three documents as originally written and IF they DID break any, they should be IMMEDIATELY IMPEACHED and REMOVED from office.

(2) I believe that a president’s FIRST job is the PROTECTION of ALL AMERICA and it’s CITIZENS. However, while doing such, ANY president MUST, in MY humble opinion, abide and serve the INSTRUCTIONS of ALL the above founding father’s documents at ALL times in OUR history. PERIOD. NO GRAY AREA here, folks.

To me, it’s a FALSE choice to EVER think that WE can NOT do JUSTICE to BOTH the SAFETY and SECURITY of America AND to the above three DOCUMENTS which MAKE US ALL what AMERICA was FOUNDED on and should ALWAYS be. PERIOD. NO GRAY AREA here, either, folks.

(3) I believe in a HUMBLE FOREIGN policy. NO invading other countries as a ‘policy’. ONLY either a CONGRESS declared act of WAR OR a NATIONAL EMERGENCY with NO time to deal with such above, should EVER launch America and it’s citizens into ARMED CONFLICT anywhere in the WORLD.

IF and WHEN we DO go to WAR -- We will PLAN our GOING, our BEING there, and our EXIT strategies BEFORE we do such WARS. Again, UNLESS we did NOT have TIME do such in EMERGENCY situations.

And we would go with OVERWHELMING force and troop numbers required to get the job done the MOST QUICKLY, the MOST safely for OUR TROOPS and others involved in such areas of conflict. And as soon as possible, we would return HOME to America after a job well done.

*** OUR TROOPS: They ALL would be given the BEST training and equipment to keep them the SAFEST possible and to get the job DONE. When RETURNING HOME, they would have FULL ACCESS to ANY/ALL medical needs for the rest of their life. SALUTE! ***

(4) Some folks say, “TallPockets, you’re ANTI-WAR”. I tell them, “YES, I am. WHO in their RIGHT mind is NOT such?” I tell them, ESPECIALLY my fellow BRETHREN, that OUR JESUS was the MOST ANTI-WAR person who ever walked this earth from MY viewpoint. That almost always brings me NO argument from my fellow BRETHREN.

(5) For those who MAY think TallPockets may NOT go to WAR. WRONG! IF and WHEN needed, I will not hesitate to do such as needed! PERIOD.

The comedian, Dennis Miller, once said, “Sometimes ya’ just gotta’ thin THE HERD”. Meaning, the Adolph Hitlers of the world. The Osama Bin Laden’s of the world. I AGREE with Mr. Miller above. WHO does not?

It’s HOW we go to war. HOW we PLAN and OPERATE ANY war. The MOST effective way to run any such war. To bring the MOST HELP from around the WORLD to OUR assistance in ANY war.

Again, let me be clear, IF NO ONE else in the world will HELP America, I would GO to WAR ALONE if that is what I saw was needed. But, unless in EMERGENCY circumstances, I would TALK to the American People and have CONGRESS issue a VOTED ON, DECLARATION OF WAR.

(6) I am tired of trying to fix PROBLEMS with BAND aids. To me, taking ‘aspirin’ for a ‘hangover’ is fruitless. MOST all KNOW that. We need to get to the REAL problem(s). As in ALCOHOL in the above example.

"An OUNCE of PREVENTION is worth a POUND of CURE" (Benjamin Franklin).

We need to get SMART, dear folks. Like BUSINESSES do and YOU do at YOUR HOME. We build a strong ROOF to PROTECT our ENTIRE HOME. Only a FOOL would SKIMP on the ROOF which is a MERE PORTION of the ENTIRE COST of the HOUSE! Businesses do likewise. So why DON'T WE in America, EN MASSE?

We PAY TENS of times MORE for AFTER CARE than BEFORE care. In ALL types of LIFE situations and expenses. WHY do we continuing be SO DUMB with OUR money and OUR citizens, dear folks? WHY, I honestly ask?

Instead of sending folks wheat and corn (SHORT term HELP is OK!) how about we EXPORT them TRACTORS and FARMING KNOWLEDGE so THEY can GROW their OWN food supplies? We cannot continue to keep throwing GOOD money after BAD and expecting different results. Even Forrest Gump would understand that and I LOVE Forrest Gump.

(7) I would NOT prop up other ‘leaders’(?) in other countries as we have done for DECADES that were not WORTHY of such. America helped the Shah Of Iran into power in Iran years back. Later, Iran and their Ayatollahs held our folks HOSTAGE. Today, we have similar if not worse problems with Iran.

We helped Osamma Bin Laden fight the Soviet Empire in Afghanistan for years. We gave him OUR technologies and weapons. Which, as we all KNOW, he later used to bite us in the butt. BIG TIME.

We supported Saddam Hussein in the eight year war between his Iraq and Iran. You guessed it dear citizens, Mr. Hussein later decided to take a few ‘trips’ outside his own country to invade Kuwait and we had to do a FIRST GULF WAR trip. Obviously, we all know what later occurred and is STILL the result of Mr. Hussein’s RULE in Iraq.

(8) It is MY opinion that WE, AMERICA, STOP arming TWO sides of each conflict over time. All that eventually does it bring TWO well trained IDIOTS to WAR which WE eventually get sucked into and LOSE a lot of GOOD folks in uniform and costs AMERICA BILLIONS of MUCH needed monies that SHOULD be spent at HOME and elsewhere for MUCH better results as needed!

(9) I am for CHANGING the TAX system in America. EITHER go to a TWO TIERED “FLAT” tax system or to a “FAIR TAX” system that current candidate Mike Huckabee is proposing.

For the LIFE of me, dear citizens, can YOU help ME figure out WHY that ANYONE who was IN the HIGHEST % tax bracket of well over 30% would NOT want a FLAT tax that would be LESS than what they are ALREADY SUPPOSED to be IN and PAYING???

Of course, it COULD be that JUST MAYBE those is such ‘highest brackets’ are NOT paying THAT % of taxes after all and are even paying NET taxes of LESS than even a FLAT tax proposed rate would be?

To once again mention the honorable, Forrest Gump: Even HE would be SMART enough that IF he was PAYING 38% of HIS income in TAXES and he COULD pay, instead, a rate of say, 25 or 30%, HE would JUMP (or RUN -WINK) on it!

I would set a LOWER FLAT tax rate on LOWER incomes and a SECOND, higher FLAT tax rate on HIGHER incomes. Those two rates would have to be determined by TAX experts of NO political party AFFILIATIONS.

If/When a FLAT tax rate was instituted into law, there would be a ONE PAGE form. NO deductions. SIMPLE as could be.

The “FAIR TAX” plan is more INVENTIVE but worthy, to me, of serious consideration.

This would ELIMINATE the IRS entirely! This would also eliminate TAXES on ALL INCOMES of ANY kind. Whatever monies citizens made, they would TAKE HOME. PERIOD.

The FAIR TAX system would be a CONSUMPTION or USE system. Citizens would PAY taxes on what they BUY.

Now, some would argue that would affect POORER folks more than WEALTHIER folks. I AGREE. However, LIKE the FLAT TAX above, “I” would suggest using, again, a TWO TIERED approach to consumption taxes on goods purchased based on REPORTED INCOME year end statements.

There would be a line of DEMARCATION, as it were, at a specified level of INCOME/WAGES where monies would be later REBATED to those with LESS incomes or incomes BELOW said lines of demarcation above so stipulated. In effect, this would be very similar to that of how we get ‘back’ tax monies if having paid IN too much for one’s INCOME thresholds now.

NOTE: I am of the belief that, “To WHOM MUCH is given, MUCH is EXPECTED”. I am troubled by those who do not share that belief. Especially by many of MY fellow BRETHREN. However, to me, this should NOT ONLY be a RELIGIOUS connotation. It should be a SOCIETAL one. Be one religious or NOT.

*** As to BUDGETS: The PRESIDENT & THE CONGRESS MUST live within the taxpayer's means just as ALL citizens MUST! PERIOD.***

(10) SUBJECT: RELIGION AND POLITICS --

It is MY viewpoint that NEITHER -- should a religious person be given PREFERENCE or LESS preference for the office of president based on such views or LACK of such views.

I am a SPIRITUAL person for the record. MY PREFERENCE would be for ALL to be such. However, this is a FREE country and ALL who live in America have the RIGHT to THEIR beliefs or lack of them. PERIOD.

In MY estimation, we are electing a PRESIDENT and not a PREACHER. We are hopefully electing the BEST man or woman for the OFFICE/JOB.

While I would LIKE OUR president to have MY similar beliefs, my FIRST and MAJOR concern would be, “Is this person, man or woman, ABLE to DO the job of President and be the BEST FOR US ALL while doing so?”

Whenever I have new BRAKES put on my vehicle, I am MOST concerned whether that MECHANIC is QUALIFIED to be a mechanic and that when I DO hit my BRAKES on the way home that they WORK WELL and DO the job they’re SUPPOSED to do in GREAT working order!

This viewpoint of mine above, has often drawn considerable IRE from some of MY fellow BRETHREN.

To those, I simply say: “Render Unto CAESAR that which is CAESAR’s and to GOD that which is GOD’s”.

To ME, that quotation is quite clear. Forrest Gump like clear. It also rarely elicits much, if any, real argument afterwards from my fellow brethren who I LOVE and are GREAT folks and who OFTEN get a BAD NAME assigned their way because of a FEW, EXTREME types who do the INAPPROPRIATE.

To be CLEAR to ALL: It is MY view, that BOTH sides of the debate have their OWN EXTREME WINGS of their parties that DETRACT from the GOOD of the MASSES of BOTH sides. It HAS to STOP.

“A Nation Divided Will NOT Stand”. (Abraham Lincoln - 16th U.S. President).

IN SUMMATION:

These are but a few points of view I have on SOME of the issues of the day. If anyone wants more SPECIFIC replies about OTHER issues, feel free to ask.

I will HOPE to be ADDING other ISSUES, myself, over time, to THIS post/thread/subject for ALL to read and CONSIDER.

FINAL LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
(From the law firm of DEWEY, CHEATEM and HOWE) -------

NO “handlers’’ were used or HARMED in the writing of this piece.

Nor, were any SPEECH WRITERS used for this piece (as ALL can probably tell ).

Since TallPockets could not be SEEN hooked up to a POLYGRAPGH machine as he wrote/typed this piece, he will give ya’ this, instead:

He GUARANTEES ALL views of HIS above are TRUE as he knows them to be. And, IF ANY of the above statements of his were EVER found to NOT be TRUE, he would GIVE UP his LIFELONG dream, desire and OBSESSION of dating the LOVELY, MISS HALLE BERRY and having her become HIS FIRST LADY and give him his FIRST born SON!

Now, dear citizens of America, THAT IS something to GIVE UP!!!!

"C'mon my fellow Americans! We are SO much MORE ALIKE than anywhere CLOSE to DIFFERENT. WE all BLEED the SAME COLOR BLOOD. Those who attend my area churches together are NOT RED or BLUE folks. They are AMERICANS. Those who wear the UNIFORM and SERVE US are NOT RED or BLUE folks. They are AMERICANS. Those who DIE in OUR behalf and are BURIED in my local cemeteries are NOT RED or BLUE. They are SOLDIERS and they are ALL ''AMERICANS''.

C'mon, Americans. WE not only CAN do better -- WE MUST!

I leave ALL with this simple sentiment of MINE:

“What GOOD is it if a man has TEN times HIS needs, whilst his neighbor has ONE TENTH of their needs?”

My BEST to one and ALL and THANKS MUCH for your MOST valuable time and consideration.

(If ANYONE out there THINKS that THEY might make a GOOD president in 2008, have a GO at it like my above feeble attempt!).

GRIN.

Constitutionally yours,

TallPockets.

TallPockets PLATFORM For Prez’ In ’08 - (Vol. 2)

(11) POLITICAL “COURAGE” ….

I’m always amazed, folks, when I see ALL the DEMS or ALL the REPUBS vote in unison and SO OFTEN on a VARIETY of proposals.
I watch ALL the NEWS and CABLE NEWS channels to get ALL views and perspectives.

Heck folks, on BOTH sides of the debate, I see LIKE minded politicos on the SAME show and SAME network shouting and arguing with THEMSELVES as to the ANSWER(S) to different points. Which, in ANY normal population sample of America of even LIKE MINDED folks, SHOULD be expected.

I see the EXPERTS on the FOX channel arguing and shouting over one another, EACH decrying to the other, which stock to buy or sell. I also see the EXPERTS on MSNBC channel arguing and shouting over one another while decrying which government program they favor over another.

Yet, when these SAME minded folks from EITHER side of the aisle get into the halls of CONGRESS, these ‘disparities’ from WITHIN that I just previously witnessed are suddenly NOT there any longer?

I call that a LACK of political “COURAGE”. To take a stand against YOUR own party affiliation and members on specific issues instead of marching in LOCK STEP with ALL of them. That is pure and simple dishonesty as I see it. From BOTH sides.

I was taught that TRUE COURAGE was doing what you thought to be RIGHT not only when you were WITH LIKE minded folks but also when you were ALONE and only YOU would know or see what you did or did not do in such circumstances.

It is MY humble opinion, that there is NOT much, if ANY, political ‘courage’ these days from EITHER side of the spectrum.

During my FIRST State Of The Union address to the nation, I would show CONGRESS and the American People MY favorite ten minute ‘clip’ of the old Jimmy Stewart movie, “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington”.

Maybe, just maybe, it MIGHT give a FEW from EACH side of the aisle the LONG forgotten idea of what TRUE, political COURAGE is.

(12) PATRIOTISM:

Ah yes, THAT word. My mind wanders back to the HOT, sultry, summer days when the founding fathers met to hammer out the written details of our nation and what it was to be.

After MUCH heated debate, which MANY feared would break down and NOT succeed, ALL those involved finally COMPROMISED and came up with a written document for ALL America.

Methinks that ALL who were DEBATING ‘’differing’’ viewpoints during these HEATED and OFTEN PASSIONATE debates/discussions were ALL as ‘’PATRIOTIC’’ as the NEXT guy. EACH was willing to SIGN a document to start a NEW country and risk DEATH while doing such.

While TODAY’s politicos are worried about not getting ELECTED to their seat next election cycle. SOME comparison, isn’t it folks?

Today, whenever any ONE person has questions or differing views than others have, they are frequently questioned as to THEIR true ‘’Patriotism’’.

Just because someone does NOT AGREE surely does not make them ANY LESS of a PATRIOT. To MY simpleton way of thinking, a TRUE PATRIOT is the one who DOES speak up from THEIR viewpoint for what THEY consider the BETTERMENT of America.

I grew up in the Vietnam Era of debate and rancor within America. The often repeated ‘slogan’ of the day was, “America, love it or leave it”.

I prefer, however, to operate on the principle of, “America, LOVE it AND make it even BETTER”.

Just because someone points out what THEY see or think could be better addressed within our country, no matter WHICH side of the debate they come from, does not mean they love America any LESS than ANY OTHER person of ANY OTHER viewpoint.

That silliness MUST stop, from my simple perspective. GOOD folks CAN and SHOULD agree to disagree at times. GOOD folks who DISAGREE are NOT ‘’AMERICAN HATERS‘’.

This ‘labeling’ of an entire BUNCH or SIDE of any debate on any issue or issues just because they DISAGREE on something is NOT to the greater good of America from this old man’s viewpoint. WE are better than that dear citizens and we SHOULD be.

Speaking of PATRIOTS:

I just saw on the news tonight that they recently completed a study/survey of our beloved, MILITARY men and women to see WHO THEY gave the most MONEY to for CAMPAIGN contributions.

(BTW: It was, by FAR, RON PAUL, the Republican candidate for President who was MOST AGAINST the WAR in IRAQ during all the Republican television debates).

(13) ABORTION:

This is such a PERSONAL issue that it causes rancor of epic proportions. Whoever enters the discussion does so at their own peril.

MY personal view on this is that there should be NO abortions. LIFE is precious and should be considered as such. At one point within America, it was ILLEGAL. Yet, it still occurred. SADLY, and OFTEN, with tragic results to the fetus and the would-be mother.

America also attempted in it’s past, to have PROHIBITION. That also failed because the PUBLIC did not comply in large masses.

I am certain similar would occur if CIGARETTES or GUNS or PORN were to be banned or made illegal.

We can pass all the LAWS we want, dear folks, but they will fail if the masses will not follow or obey them. As often as someone breaks the speed limits set by law.

Even the TEN COMMANDMENTS have been and will continue to be broken.

Simply put, I honestly believe you cannot LEGISLATE ‘morality’.

In a utopian society, there would be NO need for ANY laws from my vantage point of thought. Please, do not twist my words to infer that I think it to be OK to break laws or to NOT have ‘’societal laws‘’. YES, society NEEDS laws to operate and to exist.

Since I value life BEFORE it ENTERS the world, I must then value LIFE AFTER it enters the world as MUCH, if not even MORE. For, to ME, what good is it to bring LIFE into OUR world if we do not nurture it and then ALL help it along as best WE can, to allow it to grow and mature?

Much like a farmer would take care of a seed from it’s planted inception into the soil to weeding and watering and cultivating it to it’s ultimate capacity, WE must do such for HUMANS. Yet, it seems to ME, we OFTEN take BETTER care of our CROPS?

WE spend more TIME washing, waxing and polishing our CARS. Or getting our HAIR done to perfection. Or grooming our lawn to a lush green color that we mow consistently.

SADLY, I see FAR too much of LIFE greatly overlooked and anything but nurtured to maturity in our culture. I see the couple who attend MY church each Sunday morning driving their brand new LEXUS car to the best restaurant in town driving by and walking around HOMELESS folks. Many EX VETERANS.

I see children abused, mistreated and horribly affected for their ENTIRE life. I see women abused, similarly, by so-called ‘’men‘’? All the while, WE in SOCIETY keep repeating that ‘mantra’, “WE VALUE LIFE”. Do we, my friends? DO we? Or does it SOUND nice?

Society pays around $40,000 a YEAR for MANY years to JAIL citizens. While SOME obviously deserve such and would have ended up there anyways, I truly wonder and ask how many would NOT have ended up in such circumstances IF given the NURTURING by society as a WHOLE instead?

From purely an ECONOMIC cost, we should address this huge problem. ADD to that, of course, the HUMAN costs of it all.

I’ll just leave this topic with this paraphrase:

“Ye shall be judged by how ye treat the LEAST among ye”

(14) IRAQ WAR:

It is MY view that we should NEVER have gone to Iraq at the time we did such. It is MY view that it was a brilliant, initial invasion. However, it is also MY view that AFTER such initial incursion, the PLANNING and operation of the AFTER invasion of this war was, to QUOTE Senator John McCain, “Mismanaged …. BADLY mismanaged”.

All the while, I want it completely understood, OUR beloved soldiers have done ALL they have been ASKED to do. REPEATEDLY. Tour after extended tour. SALUTE!

We’ve cost THOUSANDS of OUR BELOVED soldiers in uniform their LIVE to this point in time and far more THOUSANDS of such soldiers to a LIFETIME of permanent or disabling physical and mental injuries. WE have a DUTY to see to it upon their RETURN that ALL they need is taken care of, regardless of the expenses.

To do any LESS, would give NO credence to the, “WE LOVE THE TROOPS” sentiments within America. SADLY, WE have FAILED in far too many areas of this topic to this point in time from MY perspective.

It is also MY view that THIS PARTICULAR war has resulted in an INCREASE in those around the world who now HATE America and seem more than willing to strap a bomb ladened vest underneath their shirt and blow themselves up in a crowded venue with the resulting carnage and aftermath.

We began this invasion in early 2003. It is now early 2008. HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of dollars have been spent while doing such. Meanwhile, we have sent troops on MULTI - deployments. Some on their THIRD tour or more. We also brought the NATIONAL GUARD into the mix and at ONE TIME it was about ONE HALF of the entire troop totals in Iraq.

It took our administration from 2003 to 2007 to finally either figure out or to ADMIT that things weren’t going well in Iraq and attempt to CHANGE strategy and tactics. WHY?

I understand that things go NOT as PLANNED at times in war. I do NOT, however, ever fathom how it takes ANYONE FOUR YEARS to finally RECOGNIZE that PLAN A is NOT working? How MANY beloved troops perished or were permanently wounded during these FOUR YEARS?

Enter, General Petraeus. He IMBEDDED our troops with IRAQI troops where they LIVED. Instead of returning to HOME BASES like they were ordered to do for the first FOUR YEARS.

This NEW strategy did TWO things. It kept OUR troops WITH IRAQI troops 24/7 so they could NOT go back out at NIGHT and attack OUR troops on patrols with I.E.D.s, etc. It also showed the Iraqi PEOPLE that our troops were there 24/7 so THEY felt SAFE to TALK about some of the BAD guys.

Then we wipe out the SUNNI leadership within Iraq and cede control to the SHIITE folks. The very SAME Shiite folks who CLOSELY align themselves with similar SHIITE folks next door in IRAN. HOW can THAT be called SMART management?

It’s akin to when DEMOCRACY was the hue and cry and the end result was that the extremist group, HAMAS, won ELECTIONS in the Palestine areas. NOT good planning or knowledge of WHAT and/or WHO would be the LIKELY winners in such votes!

Add to that insult, these countries were NO way ready for a DEMOCRACY. NO foundations had been even PARTIALLY set or planned out in advance.

To top it all off, we have now trained and armed BOTH the SUNNIS and SHIITES within Iraq. Their LONG ‘history’ bodes ominously after we do leave, whenever that may be. A ‘history’, once again, we would have been MUCH better off having understood it PRIOR to our beginning to invasion.

Finally, after being elected, I would instruct the current Iraqi leadership that America would be withdrawing our troops as quickly but SAFELY as the commanding generals suggested feasible. I would instruct the current Iraqi leadership that AMERICA had given them a HUGE FIVE YEAR headstart and NOW it was up to THEM to either decide to have a country or not have one.

I would instruct the current Iraqi and WORLD leaders that AMERICA would ASSIST after leaving, in ALL other ways with ALL other world countries to HELP their new country grow and prosper but that THEY, within their own Iraq, would be now doing the HEAVY LIFTING and SECURITY from here on out.

(15) OIL DEPENDENCY:

America MUST get off our IMPORTATION/DEPENDENCE on FOREIGN oil as fast as possible. This should be a TOP priority of our ENTIRE nation and it’s peoples. Second ONLY to NATIONAL DEFENSE of AMERICA, itself.

I would ask Americans to SHARE this objective by VOLUNTARILY cutting back their use of oil products, etc., by 20% a year in their PERSONAL useages.

I would enlist the best and brightest academics and energy experts within America as to the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE types of alternative energies that COULD replace part of all of our IMPORTED OIL dependencies from foreign countries that were NOT our FRIENDS.

It is far past time, in the BIGGER cities, that America invest in MASS, urban transit systems. It is MY fervent HOPE and best ASSUMPTION that IF a president would ASK the PEOPLE to do such in order to take away any possible threats to our ECONOMIC welfare AND to STOP paying BILLIONS of dollars to those who want to do us HARM, that MOST of Americans that I know would be MORE than WILLING to do so.

This would also tie in nicely with my NEXT topic ….

(16) “GLOBAL WARMING”:

It is the current opinion by the vast majority of WORLD scientists that this is an issue that needs addressed. Some may and do disagree. Until I either get a science degree or hear said scientists recant this assertion, I will err on the side of said scientists at this time.

From MY simpleton perspective, I see it as this: To ME, whatever WE can do within AMERICA to ENSURE that our AIR, WATER and SOIL is as CLEAN and PURE as it CAN be is what I term a ‘’NO brainer‘’.

I am a 56 year old, wrinkly, grumpy man. I remember going fishing in my youth and taking along a tin cup in the boat. Whenever I got thirsty, I simply dipped the cup into the lake or river water and drank from it. You could see ten to fifteen feet DEEP into the water back then as it was so CLEAR and CLEAN. SADLY, I cannot say I would even ATTEMPT such a ‘cup’ drinking exercise these days.

Also, with our Economic MANUFACTURING base quickly fading away, we MUST find a way to generate NEW, WELL PAYING jobs that have a decent future LENGTH for economic stability of families and communities and country and to maintain a decent standard of living and to maintain our military strength.

(17) HEALTH INSURANCE:

I think the MAJORITY of America has finally reached the conclusion that SOMETHING has to be done to deal with our soaring health care costs. It is KILLING our MANUFACTURING and business economic foundations while KILLING the FAMILY in both economic and health terms.

There are a number of OPTIONS presently being discussed. Having worked in both UNION and FACTORY MANAGEMENT positions in my lifetime and acted as an ARBITRATOR in DISPUTED cases between the two, I would approach such discussions between ALL parties involved in a similar fashion.

If a COMPANY and a UNION can work TOGETHER to come to some compromise in their area, I feel it can be done on a LARGER scale. As president, I would be open to varying views from all perspectives. However, once those were given by each, I would ask for a representative from EACH area to sit down together along with MYSELF and come up with a compromised plan that would cover the American citizens.

When it got to the point that ‘’I’’ heard EACH involved COMPLAIN that THEY were being asked to give TOO MUCH, I would most probably approve it as a GOOD plan for the American Peoples. At least to begin with with a not too in the distant look back and review to see HOW well it worked or did NOT work and what could be done to IMPROVE it.

As an INCENTIVE for BUSINESSES, I would tell them that I, as president, would give them a tax deduction for the first FIVE YEARS of such a plan IF they would maintain their businesses and FACTORIES WITHIN the United States and NOT in foreign countries.

Furthermore, if such a Private Plan based ‘’Compromise’ plan was agreed upon by all participating parties, so that EACH citizen was covered for health insurance, all the monies presently going into the MEDICAID and MEDICARE systems could MOVE that direction.

Of course, if a PRIVATE type health insurance plan could not be agreed on then the other alternative would be to have a UNIVERSAL, government type plan/system of health care.

(18) IMMIGRATION: The most HOT button issue of the day?

I am against ILLEGAL immigration. To ME, ILLEGAL means just that. ILLEGAL. In ANYTHING.

I would work with CONGRESS to authorize and secure both our SOUTHERN and our NORTHERN borders.

I would propose starting a new, NATIONAL BORDER GUARD program for just this purpose. I would ask Americans to join this group to secure America’s borders. I would tell those who joined up that THEY would NOT be placed in the REGULAR ARMY/MILITARY for COMBAT missions.

I would leave those soldiers currently in the military branches of service for COMBAT TRAINED forces as such. I would NOT mix the National Guard with the COMBAT regular MILITARY unless in a DECLARED WAR by CONGRESS. The NATIONAL GUARD enlistees would STAY within America for use in ALL natural or man-made emergencies or situations, as required.

I would have businesses and other hiring institutions within America give a total number of LABOR persons requested to fulfill their personnel needs to the LABOR DEPARTMENT after American Citizens had first filled all prospective job openings.

I would then ANNOUNCE to ALL countries the NUMBERS of LABOR employees still required by American businesses and set up SPECIFIC TIMES, CITIES and LOCATIONS as to WHERE and WHEN such APPLICANTS for WORK VISAS would HAVE to show up at to get such Visas. Those locations would be the ONLY places so designated where people applying for such Work Visas would be given such Visas.

I would set up ENTRY POINTS in EACH border state, both NORTH and SOUTH, as to the ONLY place in THAT state where peoples could LEGALLY come into AMERICA to sign up for WORK VISAS. ANY peoples coming across the U.S. Borders OTHER than such DESIGNATED places would be caught and deported after reviewed for criminal history, etc.

ANYONE found to be in America, after the START date of my new immigration program without a PROPER Work Visa, would be subject to immediate deportation and would not be allowed to ever apply for a WORK VISA in the future. This should give INCENTIVES ALL to come out in the OPEN right away or they would RISK losing an opportunity at a WORK VISA for LIFE.

ANY employer who KNOWINGLY was found to have hired someone WITHOUT an approved WORK VISA would not only be FINED but could also be given PRISON sentences from ONE YEAR to FIVE years.

Such visas would be granted for a SIX or TWELVE month period, depending on the businesses need in particular areas. At the end of either visa work plan, said person may APPLY again for the next year’s process. This would insure an UPDATED, YEARLY worker visa list.

NO ONE would be given EARNED ‘’citizenship’’ simply because they were previously, ILLEGALLY HERE or had a WORK VISA.

The WORK VISA would ONLY EVER be just that, a VISA allowing them to WORK within the American borders, legally. As a SUB CONTRACTOR, as it were. To be RENEWED, ANNUALLY, if so accepted by American Officials.

IF ANYONE who held a WORK VISA, later wanted to become an American CITIZEN, they would have to APPLY for American “citizenship” just like ALL OTHER peoples had to do and go through the same process everyone LEGALLY must go through.

I would have NO ‘’earned citizenship’’ or what SOME might call “AMNESTY” for those who were here ILLEGALLY in the first place. That flies in the face of logic to ME. It also insults ALL those wonderful immigrants to America from all over the world who ENTERED America the LEGAL way and became U.S. CITIZENS.

I would also ask Congress to pass a law that if someone who was NOT a CITIZEN of America had a child born on AMERICAN soil, that child would NOT be an AMERICAN citizen by BIRTH only. That child would also have to be APPLIED FOR or they, themselves, could in LATER years, APPLY for their own citizenship.

WELCOME to America, dear CITIZENS!

(19) NATIONAL SECURITY:

As I said earlier, we MUST get OFF the DEPENDENCY on OIL from IMPORTED countries. We MUST become a MORE self-sufficient country in this area.

I would ask CONGRESS to pass laws that would allow ALL MILITARY and COMPONENTS of MILITARY equipment and parts to ONLY be MANUFACTURED/MADE within AMERICAN borders. I would NOT allow OUTSOURCING for MILITARY requirements to ANY outside country for NATIONAL SECURITY reasons.

ANYONE or ANY COMPANY caught doing such UNLAWFUL, military manufacturing would be subject to charges of TREASON and to ANY/ALL the subsequent penalties that entails.

I would contact the national colleges and businesses in the COMPUTER FIELDS and start up a NATIONAL COMPUTER DEPARTMENT of our country’s best and brightest in the field. I would fund it within the PENTAGON budget and put it under and within the Pentagon’s oversight and management.

It is MY opinion that given ALL that COMPUTERS do and RUN in America, from the MILITARY to ELECTRICAL POWER GRIDS, to city water and services, to all types of COMMUNICATIONS and televisions, etc., that the ONE thing that could SHUT DOWN America INSTANTLY would be a HACKING of OUR computer systems.

On a WORSE case scenario, such a HACKING could be MUCH more than a mere NUISANCE.

China just last year, shot down one of it’s OWN ‘satellites’ if you remember? I find THAT very troublesome, to say the LEAST. At the same time, Mr. Putin no longer has that NICE GUY look in his EYES he once had?

(20) TRADE POLICY:

I would send our TRADE REPRESENTATIVES to ALL countries we do business with. Particularly, the LARGEST traders, like CHINA. I would insist that they have FAIR tariffs/taxes applied to INCOMING and OUTGOING trade between them and America. I would also insist that they accept OUR goods for SALE within THEIR country and that THEIR GOVERNMENT not ‘artificially’ prop up their own currency to deliberately DE-VALUE OURS.

*** (Right now, the American Dollar is already LOW. It is about ONE HALF the worth of the EURO. In other words, it takes EUROPE about $60 dollars to buy ONE BARREL of OIL while, due to OUR devalued dollar, it costs US about $90 dollars to buy ONE BARREL of OIL in comparison. NOT a good thing, folks! That is a HUGE, HIDDEN TAX!

All this LOW taxes talk as WE PAY ONE HALF as MUCH for the SAME thing?

To put it in simple terms, dear folks, YOU and I/WE pay $1.50 for what MOST others only pay $1.00 for. YOU do the MATH for EACH DOLLAR YOU SPEND!!). ***

If they did not do such, I would tell them that America has the option of NOT trading with them. Either for IMPORTING OR EXPORTING of goods.

Since CHINA EXPORTS the vast MAJORITY of it‘s products to AMERICA by the HUNDREDS of BILLIONS of dollars, the mere threat of such cut off should get their attention.

With regards to trade with SAUDI ARABIA -- Instead of SELLING them the proposed $20 BILLION dollars worth of JET AIRPLANES and other MILITARY equipment suggested by our current administration, I would BARTER with Saudi Arabia:

A TRADE …. NOT a MONETARY SALE …. No MONIES would exchange hands between America and Saudi Arabia ….

For every ONE BILLION dollars worth of OIL Saudi Arabia sends TO AMERICA, America would in turn, send Saudi Arabia ONE BILLION dollars worth of MILITARY goods.

Since the Saudis (who CLAIM to be our FRIENDS all these years but yet who have GOUGED America with OPEC Cartel HIGH OIL prices even after OUR troops PROTECT the SAUDI RULING family from oblivion within their OWN borders) have ARTIFICIALLY maintained OPEC CARTEL prices at AMERICAN expense, AMERICA, too, will return said “FAVOR”.

America would reciprocate by sending TO SAUDI ARABIA (at EQUALLY HIGH, American ARTIFICIALLY maintained MILITARY equipment prices) the corresponding COST of said requested Saudi Arabian military items from America.

After all, “What’s good for the GOOSE is GOOD for the GANDER”.

(21) SOCIAL SECURITY:

This is the ‘easiest’ fix in ‘numbers’. Simply put, it is a MATHEMTATICAL choice of possible ‘solutions’. There are a varying array of individual or combinations of ideas that COULD be done to make this area SOLVENT for some time.

The FIRST thing I would do as president, would be to put ALL SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES withheld from working people into its OWN, SEPARATE government budget account.

Such monies collected for THIS purpose would NOT be available, under penalty of LAW, to be used for ANYTHING but SOCIAL SECURITY outgoing expenses. (These withholding monies could NOT be used for GENERAL or ANY OTHER budget accounts of the Federal Government!)

For DECADES, BOTH sides of the AISLE have USED SOCIAL SECURITY withholding tax SURPLUSES by the BILLIONS of dollars PAID by workers for YEARS into their SOCIAL SECURITY fund, to use these funds for ALL OTHER GENERAL budget areas!

IF they BOTH would have LEFT their MONEY grubbing hands OFF such withholding taxes, there would be NO problem with Social Security today!

(To put this into some PERSPECTIVE, dear citizens: It would be like someone raiding YOUR 15 year COLLEGE savings account for YOUR son or daughter when they turned ‘18’ and were about to ENTER college and your bank account was GONE!).

AND, the MISSING money has NO GUARANTEE of EVER being REPLACED to YOU!

I would also next instruct my Treasury Department Cabinet Secretary to move said withholding Social Security monies to ‘’GUARANTEED’’ FEDERAL BONDS or NOTES that would generate MUCH more than the PALTRY, 2% average of PAST years.

Dear Citizens: IF YOU or ANYONE only got a MEASLY 2% interest return on YOUR investments each year or LESS, how LONG would YOU continue in THAT savings plan or with YOUR PLAN manager or BANKER? …. ANSWER: NOT LONG!

Yet, dear folks, the SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY is appointed by the PRESIDENT to MANAGE the nation’s MONEY. These Treasury Secretaries most ALL come from HIGH priced, well known WALL STREET firms and or brokerage houses, etc. They ALL made MONEY for THEMSELVES and OTHERS and YET BOTH sides couldn’t seem to figure out HOW to make MONEY for US in the SOCIAL SECURITY money pool at MORE than a LOUSY TWO PERCENT rate?

Yes, SOME will say we should invest said monies in the STOCK MARKET or make it PRIVATE accounts. MOST do NOT want that RISK. It’s called SOCIAL SECURITY as a SAFETY NET.

There were and are MANY other GUARANTEED rates/bonds/bills, etc. that pay MORE than 2% the past DECADES.

Even a normal 4% R.O.I. (return on investment) in such bonds or notes would DOUBLE the total amount of monies in the Social Security Withholding POOL account. This, of course, would EXTEND the current, projected date of in-solvency.

Lastly, Social Security tax is a DIFFERENT animal, so to speak, than most all other taxes.

With them, the MORE withholding taxes YOU pay INTO YOUR social security retirement account, the MORE you GET in RETURN when you DO retire!

So, if you happen to make DOUBLE what your neighbor makes in earned wages and you pay DOUBLE in Social Security taxes they pay, you WILL get MUCH MORE in your MONTLY retirement than said neighbor.

For this reasoning, it would be MY first ‘’inclination‘’, at this point in time, to RAISE the current, $95,000 CAP level of Social Security Taxes available from wage earners, based on what the TAX revenue EXPERTS I would inquire to, would inform me that it would necessary to generate the amounts of anticipated revenues needed to fulfill Social Security’s obligations.

NOTE:

Mr. Warren Buffett, the MULTI-BILLIONAIRE, one of the WORLD’s RICHEST men, has stated this type solution is the type HE thought MOST fairest.

One PENNY short of having TWO Pennies in his TWO loafers yours,

TallPockets

(Pick ANY three politicians -- Calling ONE of them the BEST is like calling MOE the SMARTEST of The Three Stooges).

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(* I repost this every so often for NEW folks who just now visit my feeble attempt at a blogging site for the FIRST time). TallPockets.*

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ALL:

HELLO. My BEST to EACH.

I've gotten a few emails, replies, etc., stating they feel my use of CAPS/CAPITAL LETTERS is a RUDE thing to do ONLINE.

For the record:

I do NOT speak in MONOTONES in my REAL life, in person. If you and I sat down with a cup of coffee and chatted about what I post at my blog site, you would see that I was RESPECTFUL, always, to you and ANYONE I speak to and with. You would also see that I was NOT yelling and pointing a finger in your face.

You WOULD see and hear that I am PASSIONATE about what I speak about, especially HERE at my blog site. That is the MAIN reason I set this feeble attempt at a blog site up. BECAUSE I AM passionate in what ''I'' see and hear going around these days.

I did not start my site here to discuss, like a bunch of college professors, the merits of ''nuclear physics'' with another bunch of similar folks. I had DRY professors in MY college days that put me to SLEEP. (Which, come to think of it, SOME say old, grumpy TallPockets SHOULD have done TO him these days!). WINK.

These are simply MY thoughts, views and opinions. Take them for whatever you want. GOOD, BAD and anything in between. I RESPECT any/all other's viewpoints as long as they are done with the EMPHASIS on ISSUES and NOT on ''PERSONALITIES''.

SADLY, as I peruse varies types of ALL blogs, here and elsewhere, I can't even begin to count the numbers of fellow bloggers who get PERSONAL times TEN with others.

I HOPE that I always attempt to NEVER get PERSONAL online or in real life with anyone but discuss ISSUES, however HEATED those discussions may get.

I asked one person who contacted me who was VERY upset with my CAPS online, "Are you OFFENDED when I say HELLO in CAPS? Or THANK YOU in CAPS? Or my BEST to you and yours in CAPS? Or say MUCH APPRECIATED in CAPS?

Which, just proves my point, I hope. That simply is HOW I 'talk' online.

If you notice my 'favorite' blogs sites I've bookmarked here that I visit, you'll NOTICE that they run the GAMBIT, so to speak. LEFT to RIGHT, politically, etc.

You will also NOTICE that in ALL my uploads/writings, etc., whether they be HUMOROUS ditties or SOCIAL response pieces I write about, that I use CAPS.

You will also NOTICE that in ALL the blogs I VISIT and COMMENT within, I use CAPS, at times. For BOTH agreement, critique and/or HUMOROUS replies.

I am an ''INDEPENDENT'' for the record. VOTER and CITIZEN.

I believe it is a FREE Country and EVERYONE has the right to SPEAK THEIR views and thoughts. SMART thoughts from folks and even DUMB thoughts, like mine. GRIN. In fact, I HOPE they ALL do speak such.

''I'' have LEARNED over my brief lifetime from ALL types of folks with views which range over the entire life spectrum.

But, I also have a WIDE streak of LIBERTARIANISM. This part of me says while it's OK to speak and try to CONVINCE others or SHOW others differing views, NO ONE should EVER be able to tell ME, YOU, or ANYONE what they MUST do in their lives as long as it breaks no LEGAL SOCIETAL laws in place.

I believe in COMMON SENSE, as ''I'' think it to be.

ALL are free to AGREE or DISAGREE with my simpleton views. I RESPECT such and only ask it be reciprocated in full.

I also notice on all my blog visits, how FEW apologies are ever issued by bloggers? I try to do so when I may cross over someone's paths or their system of values. I RARELY see many others do likewise.

PLEASE, accept my MOST humble APOLOGY IF I have offended YOU with MY use of CAPS while ONLINE.

I HOPE that clears that ISSUE up. Now, folks can get back to being all ANGRY with me for MY STANCES on ISSUES. WINK.

GOOD HEALTH & PEACE to ALL.

My BEST to you and yours.

TallPockets.

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Being an INDEPENDENT, I get a TON of CHAIN EMAILS forwarded my way which fill my INBOX. From BOTH sides of the debate. Although, I have to honestly say that MOST by FAR, come from the RIGHT leaning folks.

The most recent was the Obama Muslim chain email citing all kinds of allegations which even Shephard Smith of Fox News Channel said his network had investigated and found to be false to the point that they would not even read the email contents on air.

(Btw: A MOST DEAR friend of mine was the ONLY person to email me back when they found out the Obama story was not all accurate. That person had my respect PRIOR and earned even more, if possible, after doing so).

I have to ask ALL from BOTH sides who FORWARD such emails without looking into the veracity of them, WHY they do such and just believe ALL they read from EITHER side of the debate?

So, I thought I'd post a topic/subject that we ALL SHOULD AGREE on: Getting OUR VETS ALL the care they need. Especially, AFTER returning home on OUR behalf. Many who have served MULTIPLE tours of duties all over the world for US.

The reporter in this story also first wrote an article regarding the AFTER care at WALTER REED hospital that OUR beloved VETS did NOT receive.

SHAME on US, America. SHAME on US.

SALUTE to those who have, do and will serve and to their loved ones and family and friends!

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Soldier suicides reach record level

Vet's battle with depression reveals effects of long tours, lack of resources

By Dana Priest
The Washington Post

updated 10:38 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 30, 2008

Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who was waiting for the Army to decide whether to court-martial her for endangering another soldier and turning a gun on herself last year in Iraq, attempted to kill herself Monday evening. In so doing, the 25-year-old Army reservist joined a record number of soldiers who have committed or tried to commit suicide after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"I'm very disappointed with the Army," Whiteside wrote in a note before swallowing dozens of antidepressants and other pills. "Hopefully this will help other soldiers." She was taken to the emergency room early Tuesday. Whiteside, who is now in stable physical condition, learned yesterday that the charges against her had been dismissed.

Whiteside's personal tragedy is part of an alarming phenomenon in the Army's ranks: Suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980, according to a draft internal study obtained by The Washington Post. Last year, 121 soldiers took their own lives, nearly 20 percent more than in 2006.

At the same time, the number of attempted suicides or self-inflicted injuries in the Army has jumped sixfold since the Iraq war began. Last year, about 2,100 soldiers injured themselves or attempted suicide, compared with about 350 in 2002, according to the U.S. Army Medical Command Suicide Prevention Action Plan.

Wars lasting longer than planned
The Army was unprepared for the high number of suicides and cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among its troops, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have continued far longer than anticipated. Many Army posts still do not offer enough individual counseling and some soldiers suffering psychological problems complain that they are stigmatized by commanders. Over the past year, four high-level commissions have recommended reforms and Congress has given the military hundreds of millions of dollars to improve its mental health care, but critics charge that significant progress has not been made.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have placed severe stress on the Army, caused in part by repeated and lengthened deployments. Historically, suicide rates tend to decrease when soldiers are in conflicts overseas, but that trend has reversed in recent years. From a suicide rate of 9.8 per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2001 -- the lowest rate on record -- the Army reached an all-time high of 17.5 suicides per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2006.

Last year, twice as many soldier suicides occurred in the United States than in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Common factors emerge
Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, the Army's top psychiatrist and author of the study, said that suicides and attempted suicides "are continuing to rise despite a lot of things we're doing now and have been doing." Ritchie added: "We need to improve training and education. We need to improve our capacity to provide behavioral health care."

Ritchie's team conducted more than 200 interviews in the United States and overseas and found that the common factors in suicides and attempted suicides include failed personal relationships; legal, financial or occupational problems; and the frequency and length of overseas deployments. She said the Army must do a better job of making sure that soldiers in distress receive mental health services. "We need to know what to do when we're concerned about one of our fellows."

The study, which the Army's top personnel chief ordered six months ago, acknowledges that the Army still does not know how to adequately assess, monitor and treat soldiers with psychological problems. In fact, it says that "the current Army Suicide Prevention Program was not originally designed for a combat/deployment environment."

Staff Sgt. Gladys Santos, an Army medic who attempted suicide after three tours in Iraq, said the Army urgently needs to hire more psychiatrists and psychologists who have an understanding of war. "They gave me an 800 number to call if I needed help," she said. "When I come to feeling overwhelmed, I don't care about the 800 number. I want a one-on-one talk with a trained psychiatrist who's either been to war or understands war."

Santos, who is being treated at Walter Reed, said the only effective therapy she has received there in the past year have been the one-on-one sessions with her psychiatrist, not the group sessions in which soldiers are told "Don't hit your wife, don't hit your kids" or the other groups where they play bingo or learn how to properly set a table.

Army moves to address problem
Over the past year, the Army has reinvigorated its efforts to understand mental health issues and has instituted new assessment surveys and new online videos and questionnaires to help soldiers recognize problems and become more resilient, Ritchie said. It has also hired more mental health providers. The plan calls for attaching more chaplains to deployed units and assigning "battle buddies" to improve peer support and monitoring.

Increasing suicides raise "real questions about whether you can have an Army this size with multiple deployments," said David Rudd, a former Army psychologist and chairman of the psychology department at Texas Tech University.

On Monday night, as President Bush delivered his State of the Union address and asked Congress to "improve the system of care for our wounded warriors and help them build lives of hope and promise and dignity," Whiteside was dozing off from the effects of her drug overdose. Her case highlights the Army's continuing struggles to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness and to make it easier for soldiers and officers to seek psychological help.

Whiteside, who was the subject of a Washington Post article in December, was a high-achieving University of Virginia graduate, and she earned top scores from her Army raters. But as a medic in charge of a small prison team in Iraq, she was repeatedly harassed by one of her commanders, which disturbed her greatly, according to an Army investigation.

On Jan. 1, 2007, weary from helping to quell riots in the prison after the execution of Saddam Hussein, Whiteside had a mental breakdown, according to an Army sanity board investigation. She pointed a gun at a superior, fired two shots into the ceiling and then turned the weapon on herself, piercing several organs. She has been at Walter Reed ever since.

‘Demonstrably severe depression’
Whiteside's two immediate commanders brought charges against her, but Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the only physician in her chain of command and then the commander of Walter Reed, recommended that the charges be dropped, citing her "demonstrably severe depression" and "7 years of credible and honorable service."

Her case hinged in part on whether her mental illness prompted her actions, as Walter Reed psychiatrists testified last month, or whether it was "an excuse" for her actions, as her company commander wrote when he proffered the original charges against her in April. Those charges included assault on a superior commissioned officer, aggravated assault, kidnapping, reckless endangerment, wrongful discharge of a firearm, communication of a threat and two attempts of intentional self-injury without intent to avoid service.

An Army hearing officer cited "Army values" and the need to do "what is right, legally and morally" when he recommended last month that Whiteside not face court-martial or other administration punishment, but that she be discharged and receive the medical benefits "she will desperately need for the remainder of her life." Whiteside decided to speak publicly about her case only after a soldier she had befriended at the hospital's psychiatric ward hanged herself after she was discharged without benefits.

But the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, which has ultimate legal jurisdiction over the case, declined for weeks to tell Whiteside whether others in her chain of command have concurred or differed with the hearing officer, said Matthew MacLean, Whiteside's civilian attorney and a former military lawyer.

MacLean and Whiteside's father, Thomas Whiteside, said the uncertainty took its toll on the young officer's mental state. "I've never seen anything like this. It's just so far off the page," said Thomas Whiteside, his voice cracking with emotion. "I told her, 'If you check out of here, you're not going to be able to help other soldiers.' "

Trying to move forward, stumbling back
Whiteside recently had begun to take prerequisite classes for a nursing degree, and her mental stability seemed to be improving, her father said. Then late last week she told him she was having trouble sleeping, with a possible court-martial weighing on her. On Monday night she asked her father to take her back to her room at Walter Reed so she could study.

She swallowed her pills there. A soldier and his wife, who live next door, came to her room and, after a while, noticed that she was becoming groggy, Thomas Whiteside said. When they returned later and she would not open the door, they called hospital authorities.

Yesterday, after having spent two nights in the intensive care unit, he said, his daughter was transferred to the psychiatric ward.

Whiteside left two notes, one titled "Business," in which her top concern was the fate of her dog. "Appointment for the Vetenarian is in my blue book. Additional paperwork on Chewy is in the closet at the apartment in a folder." On her second note, she penned a postscript: "Sorry to do this to my family + friends. I love you."

Staff writer Anne Hull contributed to this report.

© 2008 The Washington Post Company
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22923548/

"What GOOD is it if a man has TEN times HIS needs whilst his neighbor has ONE TENTH of theirs?"

TallPockets - 2008