However, capitalism is destructive, is it not?

No. Pseudocapitalism is destructive. That’s what we have in America now, not capitalism. It is not capitalism when corporations can go to the government for handouts for mismanaging their companies. Capitalism means businesses fail, not get propped up by the government at taxpayers’ expense.

This is not a Republican or Democrat thing. It happens all the time because we, the people, keep voting in people who don’t believe in government doing the job it’s paid to do instead of what they are doing, which is catering to special interests across the board.

Your guy got more money from Fannie and Freddie than anyone when you break it down by time in office. The only one who got more was Dodd and it took him years to get that amount over time and he didn’t get that much more than Obama as to make a great deal of difference. 600 mil in campaign donations with unsafe, unverified donations over the internet. Nobody knows where they’re coming from. Yet, you’re all set to vote this person into office. That’s your choice but it’s not mine.

McCain, on the other hand, has done the best he can to take special interest groups out of it. Yeah, yeah, bring up the Keating 5 if you want but one thing that he was exonerated for versus all of Obama’s questionable associations over time?

You look around and you see things like t-shirts with sayings such as “In Obama We Trust” yet I see no reason to trust him for anything. All he can do is talk. We have a whole bunch of people in Hollywood who can talk just as well but I wouldn’t trust them to lead the nation, either. They’re entertainers not leaders.

Drilling for shale gas is expanding but it’s not there yet. Your guy will bankrupt everything before it’s there and it won’t matter. He doesn’t care. I know you don’t understand that but he really doesn’t. You won’t find that out until later but by then it will be too late unless McCain pulls out an upset… which I’m praying for.

I know how to live without electricity. I grew up that way for the early years of my life. I will, however, feel sorry for all the people who won’t have the foggiest how to do anything for themselves without these things. Your guy will cause undue hardship to do what he says is right no matter how much damage it causes.

You talk about nuclear power. Obama said he won’t support nuclear power. He said he’ll “look at” offshore drilling but considering the powerful enviromental groups backing him, he’ll make it impossible, too.

Finally, I have faith in the American people. I have faith that they have enough brains and common sense to make their own decisions rather than be dictated to because we’re too dumb to decide for ourselves.

Anybody with half a brain knows you foul up your living space, you die. The places that are dying are the very places where the government interferes the most, the slums, the ghettos, and yes, the hollers in WV, KY, TN, NC, VA, OH, and PA. They also interfere with industries which are dying, the very engines that drive our economy such as the steel industry, the oil industry, and the coal industry. We import more steel than make our own. We import more oil than we pump on our own. And now, the new target is the coal industry.

Maybe, in pure mind, the coal industry should die because it kills people but have you ever thought that those coal miners would rather die knowing they did their best to provide for their families rather than sat around living off the government dole? Why should you, or Obama, have the right to decide that for them? You don’t lift people up by making them dependent.

Just something you might want to think about while you sign your life away to the government gods.

I know none of this is going to change your mind and I’m not trying to. I’m simply stating where I stand.

You got on here and posted on this entry and started out with some crap that wasn’t even part of the original entry or any of the few comments that were posted. You came here just to slam me and anybody who agrees with me.

There was nothing in that blog entry that said anything about him being elite, although he is, and I’ve never said he’s a terrorist in any entry on here, yet, you saw fit to slap that in your comment. So, don’t expect me to back down when you start out swinging.

As for wind and solar replacing coal, I’m not quite sure Obama nor anyone else advocates a total move to renewables, at least not initially. Not sure you’ve noticed (or even care), but the folks advising both campaigns are from all walks of life and are fairly reasonable. To even attempt a move in that direction is economic and political suicide. What we do need to do is move in that direction. Modern life requires modern energy sources. Drilling for shale gas is expanding at an amazing clip (ask my wife’s family, who have two gas trees on their property in East Tx.) Nuclear is clearly an option for baseload power, but we must address long-term storage and proliferation issues. It’s all about diversity of resource.

As for lost coal jobs, that’s a longer question that I will return to. But it is one that can’t be dismissed, and I share your concern. However, capitalism is destructive, is it not? New jobs are created as old ones are destroyed.

I’m all for nuclear plants but Obama won’t allow those either. I can see replacing some of the coal plants with nuclear etc. but that’s not on the agenda from all reports. The way thigs stand right now, it seems everything on Obama’s agenda is going to do nothing but make it harder and harder for us average Americans to make ends meet.

Even if I were a Democrat before this election, I don’t think I could vote for Obama. I still remember the party of JFK and this party ain’t it, even if it does have the same name. One of my friends whom I talk with everyday laments every day that she wants her party back. She’s been voting Republican too long.

I have to ask you though… How are we going to switch to natural gas when Congress won’t allow us to access it via drilling? The drilling conundrum isn’t just about oil but natural gas, too. You have to drill for it, too.

Wind and solar won’t replace coal fired plants. Nor will the Democrats allow nuclear power. Obama said that energy prices will skyrocket and he’s okay with that.

Another thing you haven’t thought about is: What are those coal miners supposed to do for jobs? They’re coal miners who won’t be able to ply their trade. Welfare? WV has been there before which is where I grew up. If you think it’s bad now, you should have seen it then. It’s the consummate welfare state, or was. Apparently it’s okay to keep a whole state down for everyone else’s ideals. That’s not American.

Coal is cheap sure, but it’s also destructive to folks living in those hollows of Appalachia. There’s bitter fights over what to do next, what with all the mountaintop removals and leachate in groundwater. It’s not as simple as talking heads make it out to be. The coal industry is dying, and needs to die. For what it’s worth, we can switch to natural gas plants as we’ve been doing and use all this new shale gas we’re discovering in KY, MO, etc. Solar, wind, I’m all for it. Give good jobs to people doing what we know how to do…weld, build, plumb. Remake our nation so we don’t need anybody else. That’s true patriotism. Anyone that wants to keep us on oil and kill kids with coal is a traitor in my book.

As for agriculture, Pollan knows more about agriculture than probably most folks at ADM or Cargill. The quotes were spot on, we need to take back our farms from agribusiness and yes, redefine agriculture. I wish people would use their sense instead of relying on soundbytes and dramatics. Obama is my guy, we need a new direction and I like the way he’s going.

No, she wouldn’t.