The Reagan era with his 'trickle down' theory and the GW Bush era of waging a war on the financial backs of our children and grandchildren certainly do not induce any pride or security for this old frog. Those two administrations have amassed a national debt that is nearly insurmountable! And in the meantime, the welfare of society has deteriorated. The rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. The middle class has diminished in the direction of the poor.

In analyzing the general citizens participation in the sacrifices it took to win WW2 and to a lesser degree the Korean conflict (we didn't actually win that one) and the complete lack of citizen support for the Vietnam escapade, it is hard to try mustering popular support for the present administration's interference in the middle east. It appears to have less chance of success than the Vietnam effort.

We forgot or, at the least, abandoned the pursuit of those responsible for 9-11 and invaded a sovereign nation with the sole intent of overthrowing its government. The administration used faulty intelligence or revised the reports to support their intention of interfering in that nation's political situation. The demagogic cry for the protection of our freedom coerced the congress, both Dems and Repubs into submission. We overwhelmed a toothless tiger led military that had no means of launching an attack that would threaten, very seriously, even their close neighbors. We then failed to establish law and order to protect the citizens of that country. The mismanagement of this war has filled the financial pockets of a few and taken the lives of over 4,000 of our young men and women and seriously maimed tens of thousands, who now must face life with various degrees of disabilities.

And us "old frogs" have rested contentedly in our little ponds while, one by one, our freedoms and rights to privacy have been confiscated. We have not been required or even asked to give up any material pleasures. However, we have willingly allowed our leaders to lower the standards and morals of our military machine and our intelligence gathering agencies to the lowest levels of human decency. We have sit idly by while Congress (again, both Dems and Repubs) have allowed this administration to ignore parts of our National Constitution and refused to honor the rules and regulations of our legislative body. (ie. signing statements).

Yes indeed! We have serious problems with the sexual morals in our society! We have, almost, insurmountable racial and ethnic problems. Has this administration, Congress or the courts devoted any serious resources to overcome these problems? We have a 'religious right' 'moral majority' (who actually are not a majority) who are attempting to make a theocratic government that will only exacerbate the problems. Theocratic (Muslim) government and a 'chosen people' of Israel are the major obstacles to peaceful settlement of disputes in the middle east. Greed and lust for power threaten the security of the general society around the world.

WE NEED CHANGE!! I doubt that Obama can deliver all the changes we need. I don't see much change even being attempted by McCain. Who then can bring about the changes we need?

It is in the hearts of us 'old frogs', the 'young frogs' and even the 'tadpoles' who haven't reached maturity! Complacency and greed have allowed society to ignore the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy. When we begin to live the tenets of our faith, whether Christian or otherwise, then we will begin seeing positive changes around the world.

I am a member of the Christian faith. We differ greatly with other world religions as concerns the hereafter and access to an eternal existence. However, we (all religions) should have common goals for peaceful existence with all people here on earth. Our solutions and goals for that existence are not always compatible. Some advocate the extermination of all others. Some advocate coercion by force of all others to convert. Everyone confessing religious affiliation, even Christians, must honor the sanctity of all human life, before changes will come about that will allow peaceful co-existence and equitable distribution of life's essentials.