As goes PA 13, so goes America.

The results 13th Congressional District of suburban Philadelphia will determine the outcome of the general election this November. If the district swings towards Obama, it will be a mandate away from the establishment, and John McCain will face a hopeless task this Fall. The district is a microcosm of America.

Within its bounds lie key attributes of modern America. Moving west from the banks on the Delaware River in Philadelphia to the rolling hills of rural Montgomery County, the district runs from deep blue Dem territory to bright GOP turf. The district transforms from scenes of post-industrial decline in the City with miles shuddered factories, old row-homed neighborhoods, into shiny new office parks, the most prosperous suburbs in Pennsylvania, in the west, green fields. Voters are split nearly dead even between Republicans (49) and Democrats (51), however the trend has been favoring the Democratic Party. Demographically as well, the picture is balanced; approximately 75% white, 10 % black and 10% Hispanic. More than a vignette of Pennsylvania, it is a picture of America. The race between Hillary and Barack in this district is a test of the mood of the nation. If the 13th goes strongly for Barack, it will be a mandate for change. John McCain will have no chance at all.

Keep your eyes on the results for this district. As it goes, so will America. I know the place pretty well. It’s home and where I ran for Congress.

 

Do You Believe in Miracles? Go America, GO!

As I was discussing the fundamentals of Go, America GO! with someone that moved here from Canada in the late 1970’s yesterday, I realized that that era was not dissimilar to the nation’s demeanor today. He explained the challenges of thirty years ago, which Raj and I are too young to remember clearly, and articulated how America really needed a quintessential moment of triumph, which came in the form of an gold medal for the men’s hockey team. Sports imitate life, and Americans need to translate the enthusiasm they have for their sports teams into productivity in their own lives.

The Reagan era came and went in the 1980s, followed by prosperity in the 1990s, and as what goes up must come down, all has come down.

Unlike the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, the United States today is not in an underdog position. We are the top superpower in the world, and to defend such status, we must return to the principles set forth by our founding fathers. In Colonial America, our founding fathers were the underdogs. They believed in miracles, and also in hard work. Then 204 years later so did Herb Brooks. His hardnosed style and penchant for hard work laid the fundamentals for success. If he was here today I believe he would embrace the ten principles set forth by Bhakta in “Go America, GO! Ten things you can do to save America.”

Today, who is going to be the Mark Johnson to tie up the score? Who is going to be the Mike Eruzione to secure the victory?  [Mark Johnson seen below right with the author]

The greatest sports moment of the 20th century - as titled by Sports Illustrated- is what Go America, GO! would be if it had skates.

What will be our medal for 2008? What will be today’s moment of triumph? That is up to you, America. Each person must exemplify personal responsibility so collectively all Americans can live a life like that hockey team once did, piled up on top of each other on the ice in sweet victory knowing that dreams do come true.

Only in America.

Go America, GO! We believe in miracles.

Go America, GO! Even the Pope says so!

It is a time of renewal for both the Catholic Church and Americans, as evidenced by the meeting today on the White House lawn between President Bush and Pope Benedict.

Plagued by the priest scandal, questioned by both society and some of its own members as to the role women play in the church, and various other issues, the Catholic Church in America, similar to America itself, has been on unsteady ground. In his speech, Pope Benedict stated:

“As I begin my visit, I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the Church in the United States, and strengthen the resolve of Catholics to contribute ever more responsibly to the life of this nation, of which they are proud to be citizens.

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience - almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24).”

All Americans, regardless of their faith, should look upon the Pope’s visit to America as a symbol of national renewal and an opportunity to appreciate the freedoms that this great country affords its citizens. Each American should evaluate his or her own situation in today’s era. Despite rising gas prices, a war that has no clear end, and a presidential election where negativity garners too much attention, each American should find the good in their lives and the good in our country and appreciate what we all have as Americans. May each American examine their own lives to evaluate whether he or she is truly achieving their full potential, in a nation that allows its citizens such freedom to attain their highest goals.

God Bless America!

Winners don’t boycott - they WIN

Hillary Clinton has called upon President Bush to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing. This controversial step, she states, would teach China a lesson about human rights, especially in view of the recent Chinese crackdown in Tibet and Chinese support of a genocidal regime, in exchange for natural resources, in the Sudan.

I hope this approach of boycotting and effectively sticking our head in the sand does indicate the approach Senator Clinton would take as President. America’s problem with China is not their treatment of their own people, but how we are allowing them to treat America.While human rights should and must always be a prime concern in US foreign policy, our problems with China are much more immediate and dangerous. China has been allowed, even encouraged, to achieve their calculated and spectacularly success program of hollowing out and consuming America’s industrial backbone. We all know that “Made in China” tags far outnumber those of “Made in the USA.” We have allowed China to make us so deeply dependent on their loans that Chinese that they could single-handedly sink our country into an economic depression if they demanded to be repaid.

Our problem is that we have allowed China to make Americans addicts, as once the Chinese were opium, of their cheap, subsidized goods bought on their easy credit. But there is no free lunch in this world, and with each passing day we sink further into dependancy on China for our goods and money. Indeed, our problems with China are not the well-known brutality of that totalitarian regime. Our problem is that the Chinese are building a mighty empire on the weakening back of America. Our politicians, all the while, are complaining about human rights. If we do not compete with China and WIN in global economics, we will not be in a position to fight for human rights abroad at all. We will, instead, be fighting to secure human rights from China right here at home. So, Senator Clinton, we can’t hide behind human rights, we need to win economically. Economic wars are not won by boycotts; they are won by establishing a level playing field for American companies, by forcing China to stop making their goods artificially cheap though playing games with their currency, and by investing in education and infrastructure.

Go America, Go!