The importance of unity in the 2008 election

George W. Bush is, objectively, one of the worst presidents of all time, and possibly pound for pound the worst president in the history of our great democracy. In terms of sheer volume and magnitude, no president will ever eclipse the failure of James Buchanan to effectively end the threat of Southern recession and prevent the Civil War. But when each individual category is addressed, from the economy, to education, to foreign policy, to environmental issues, no president even approaches the catastrophic collapse of “Dubya.”

And the effect these failures are having on the citizens of the United States is equally calamitous. Ever since Bush’s unspeakable reelection, there has been a growing air of discontent among American voters, manifesting itself in the most perturbing of circumstances. Matt Taibbi, a brilliant journalist for Rolling Stone magazine, surveyed a couple of these disillusionments in his 2008 book 'The Great Derangement,' where he went undercover (among other things) to Pastor John Hagee’s Christian Zionist church in Texas and infiltrated the 9/11 Truth movement.

Hagee’s church preaches, among other things, that the U.S. government is involved in a conspiracy to promote abortions and systematically lower the U.S. population total, extreme exorcisms, and, most horrifying, the apocalyptic vision that upon invading Jerusalem, Russian and Arab forces will be destroyed by God, which will then lead to a battle between China and the West, with leadership of this conflict being the Antichrist as head of the European Union. Jesus will then return, and, of course, win (Hagee also preaches Catholicism as "the great whore" in modern religion, and firmly believes that the Catholic Church united with Nazism to destroy the Jews during WWII*).

Yet, Hagee preaches to a massive congregation of over 17,000, and Taibbi witnessed himself the fanatical following that many members of the church had for Hagee and his "preaching."

The 9/11 Truth movement believes, among other things, that the attacks on the Twin Towers were masterminded by Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and others to start a war with Iraq, in which crude oil was the main goal. Planes were not flown into the Twin Towers, however. Controlled explosions destroyed the buildings, and holograms were used to convince the public that it was indeed planes that caused the destruction. Also, a plane did not hit the Pentagon. A missile, fired by Cheney & co., caused that explosion, and airplane parts were then scattered to give the impression that a plane caused that destruction. Also, the plane that was hijacked and caused that explosion? It was re-directed to a remote airstrip, where the passengers were killed and distressing phone calls to family members and spouses were faked.

Again, ridiculous, yet a 2006 poll conducted by Scripps Howard/Ohio University found that over a THIRD of American believe that federal agents participated in and/or lacked action with the atrocities of 9/11.

These seem to be fringe groups, yet the criminal actions of our current administration have driven these small minorities to dangerous levels of population. That is why it is so important to elect Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States and address these disillusionments.

Obama represents “change” in the truest sense of the word, beyond the cliché mantras heard from Mitt Romney or Hillary Clinton. Multi-racial and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii, Obama’s past of rags to Harvard riches is the kind of story that keeps the American Dream alive. His face, dark and handsome as it is, gives a new presentation to the United States, as a country finally able to rid itself of the horrible legacy of slavery. His policies, while moderate-liberal on paper, offer a clear divergence from the horrid movement conservative policies of George W. Bush. And his very own sense of unity, his ability to bridge gaps across races, genders, and party lines, make him the real candidate of our 21st century and a once in generation leader. So elect Barack Obama!

*Ok, he may have a point there.