Jas - allow me to ask a question more as food for thought. Has it really? Has America really advanced that far? A disclaimer first: In my argument you will find Western Europe as a comparison not out of neglect to many other equally valuable cultures but because the base ideology is similar and broadening the argument to global perspective would go far beyond this topic.
America is one of the last countries proudly insisting on its right to kill its own people. In all its economic advancement, social progression falls frightfully short. The chasm between rich and poor is wide enough to seem insurmountable. America is still wrapped in the mindset of its first settlers to grab as much land, money whatever as fast as possible with little care for its fellow members of society.
Democracy is equally underdeveloped and at times non-existent. The base definition of democracy is as a power system regulated and voted on by an informed people. Information has eroded and made room for widespread propaganda. News on certain channels is treated as a bullhorn for unreflected ideology rather than presenting information with as much objectivity as possible.
Social integration, while advancing over the past few decades, still falls far short of equality in access to economic and non economic goods, especially education [yes we can argue if education is or should be an economic good but maybe later? ]. In many ways America can be seen as a child, extraordinarily gifted with vast potential but the child is still acting like a bully in recess at school completely ignorant of its boundaries and potential, unable to accept responsibility or to deal with others as equals.

Ok enough ranting. Please do not misunderstand me. I live in this country. It has brought me personally much to be thankful for and my criticism is not out of hate but out of love for something that could be so great yet falls so woefully short at times…

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timendi causa est nescire

I've always been confronted with the question: What has my country ever done for ME? I have paid taxes, even enlisted in the Marine Corps (but didn't serve) - I wanted to do so much once upon a time. I have been a functioning and contributing member of this society since I was old enough to work - and yet here I am, ill and disabled - and with not the lifting of a finger from the government to help me in any way because I don't meet certain criteria. Or rather - because I don't have enough money to buy health insurance or anything else that is usually ensured to every citizen in most other Western nations...

Survival of the richest.

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You raise a lot of good points Torey. Our country does much less for us than we do for them throughout our lives. One example of a system gone horribly wrong is Child Protective Services and Social Services. I was abused for year as a child, sixteen years to be exact. My birth mother (aka the abuser) was also a foster parent, and the foster kids experienced as much abuse as I did. The foster kids, and myself, turned in my mother countless times, doing our best to get the attention of our social workers, teachers, counsolers, and other adults. We even caled the police a comple of times that things got really bad. My birth mother had been a foster parent for seventeen years, longer than any of the other parents in the program, so she was treated like a Queen at CPS and SS. They continued to brush the allegations under the rug, even though several were made. Then my birth mother took me to court and pressed charges on me. In Ohio the charge is "Unruly" and a parent can file the charge with the court, without the child even having a chance to defend themselves and tell their side of the story.

I was ordered to do community service, all because I turned my parents in for the horrible abuse that they were dealing out to not only me but the foster children in the home. I ran away countless times, just to get away from the nightemare, but they always found me and brought me back, and then my mother would press more "Unruly" charges on me.

Skipping ahead several years and a whole lot of painful situations, I finally got out of the home and live with my new adoptive family.

Without going on a complete rant, I experienced more horrors pf the system after beind adopted. I watch Social Services remove my nine year old foster sister from our home (she was dearly loved and cared for like family) and placed her with her real father. An exconvict, pill addict, alcoholic, and woman beater. They did it simply because they believed it was "time" for her to be reunited with her "real" father.

It sickens me that these borderline criminal actions continue to take place without any notice or attempt at reform.

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Jas, I am deeply saddened to hear of your experiences - but you seem to have come out quite an intelligent and determined individual. Your story is very inspirational, albeit very infuriating that such a flawed system can be allowed to carry on its diabolical behavior.

It's rather ironic that the very people this system is said to 'protect' get the short end of the stick. Funny, too, how no one ever seems to do a thing about it, either...

It's all about who you know in this country and what strings they can pull. If you don't know someone in a position of power or don't have money - then you're worth about as much as a dog on the street here.

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Thank you for your suuport TBone. and I completely agree with you.


As this relates to the issue of "Obama =/= Hitler or Stalin" These problems, and horrible flaws in our system that I was discussing, long preceeded Obama's presidency.

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off topic.... Jas, each time i here another piece of your story i am inspired to be a better mother,community member and advocate for those who cannot speak out on their own,or like in your case, did speak out but were never heard...... its sad how sometimes people blame their pasts,like childhoods, on their current mistakes. its what you do with your situation,which eyes you use to "see" your lifes path that makes all the difference in what kind of person you truly are and i feel like i should say, as a mother,lol even tho im not near old enough to be yours,that im proud of how you've chosen to live your life now,especially considering all the things that stood in your way on the path to a good,productive adult life. lol,i feel a smidge silly now,but i thought someone should say that to you,that they are proud,every child needs to hear that (even if they did just turn 18 and got inked and metaled )


on topic....
i think Obama's personality,how his speeches capture you, i think people are afraid of that. afraid to trust someone that truly sounds like they want to fix our country, afraid that its too good to be true. but sometimes,life does give us lemonade,not just plain sour lemons
i like Obama, i sense a genuine concern for others that i never saw in Bush. ya know,i think if i had had the chance to meet Bush, i would have turned it down, or been arrested for spitting in the presidnets face,rotflmao...... (no offense to any Bush supporters,but we each have our opinions, and mine is i hate the man )

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"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us."
~~Nelson Mandela~~

I think you're onto something there, Ruby, but I'm not sure that the skeptics see it the same way that you've described.

I think he's so 'polished' and rehearsed that it makes people suspicious, and I think Bush's antics set him up for more suspicion starting out than he would have had if he'd followed someone else into office.

I do enjoy the fact that he doesn't make up words, though!

I have forced myself to give Obama the benefit of a doubt, but the jury is still out on how I really feel about what he's doing. He's got a mess on his hands, that's for sure...And even with the best of intentions, I'm not sure how much can be done to fix it.

The avid 'Obama-haters' seem to forget how we got in this position to start with. And there seem to be alot of them out there - and some of them have really surprised me - they are people that I would expect to support him 100%...

I will say that I've never received so many derogatory emails regarding a president as I have since Obama came into office...Initially, I forwarded the ones that at least had a bit of humour to them, but now I just hit delete.

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"Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey" ~ Drops of Jupiter by Train

yeah, I delete them too. I had one that talked of starting a resistance group that I actually forwarded to the Obamas office for investigation!! Crazy!!!

But, yes, we always hear of people who are lost in the system. But more and more we are finding people who can perservere. Anyone read The Lost Boy??? It's a really inspiring story of a boy's survival and success after terrible physical and emotional abuse. There are two or three sequels; as a mother of a boy I cry as more of his story is revealed with each book.

My sister just took in a Foster girl age 16. She has never had a daughter only two boys. This girl is a straight A student and has been a blessing since the day she arrived. My sister met her at church and worked towards getting custody of her for a year. The group home she was in didn't want to give her up (or the state money they were recieving) and it looked for a while like she wouldn't get her. I'm so excited to meet my new 'niece' next month!

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I think it deffinatly is hard for people to believe Obama when he says things will get better, since not much has been done in the year he's been in office. I personally do believe he wants to help people, but our system is a system of checks and balances. I think some people forget that. It seems when nothing is getting better people automatically blame the president, when in reality the president can't do much when congress and the senate can't get anything done. I still like to believe Obama will deliver as well, but I must say I am a bit disapointed because I worked on his campaign passionatly. I put my blood sweat and tears into it. I sometimes wonder if that may have been time wasted. Not because I don't like Obama, but because I thought things would at least begin to look up and I haven't seen it yet.

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That's such great news Katherined. I'm very happy for your family. I love it when a child in needs is taken into a home filled with love.



One year still isn't long enough for much to happen Lindsey, so don't let your spirit be disappointed just yet. Let's keep the faith, although it is easier said than done.

I think Rev. Lang is a raving radical lunatic and doesn't have the slightest idea of what he is talking about.
George W. Bush is not the sharpest knife in the drawer but he is not the demon that people like Lang make him out to be. Bush's biggest mistake was picking the wrong advisors.

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It's better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.

So it's all George Bush's fault??

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It's better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.

No, I wasn't even implying that, at all. I dont blame bush, I dont blame obama, I dont blame anyone. that is just how the system is, and how it has been since it was constructed.

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It seems that a lot of the problems we face today are the result of too much government intervention and too many people thinking that the government owes them a living.

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It's better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.