The Greatest Story Ever Sold.

Up until now, " The Greatest Story Ever Told" (or sold) was the title of a movie made in the 50's, depicting the greatest stories from the Bible. Whether you believed it or not was up to the individual, but no matter what, it was entertaining. Now, in the year 2008, I have to tell you people, the greatest story ever told is the story being sold to the American public today, and what I believe is the greatest scam, (and may I add, ingenuous,) ever conceived. Here's my theory.



It has been my position for the past eight years, that on September 12th, 2001, the United States should have began it's journey toward energy independence. There was no greater threat to this country than our dependence on foreign oil. But while everyone was waving their flags, and singing God Bless the USA, and torturing the Dixie Chicks, Washington sat back and did nothing. But then again, why would they? The top two in power, George Bush & Dick Cheney were oil men, and their loyalties were with the oil companies and not with the American people.



Even after 3,000 Americans lost their lives on 9/11, they did nothing to solve the problem. They did not ask us to conserve, they did not ask American companies to step up to the plate and do what they do best, come up with new technologies and more efficient methods of energy. They did not ask congress to come together for the good of all Americans. Instead, they made sure the Bin Ladin family was safely out of the US on 9/11, then they pulled our armed forces out of Afghanistan to invade Iraq, (which had nothing to do with the attack on 9/11,) costing over 4000 American soldiers their lives, and taxpayers billions of dollars. In the past 5 years since the war in Iraq began, the price of a gallon of gas has been creeping up, slowly, but surely. Just enough so as not to cause too much of a stir, but enough to bring record profits to the oil companies. I believe it has been the goal of this administration for the past 8 years to do nothing but help their big business buddies ranging from Haliburton, to Wall Street, to big oil. It has also been big oil's goal for over 30 years, to get congress to approve additional drilling off the coast of the US and in Alaska, and with Bush & Cheney leaving in 6 months, it was do or die!



So here's the plan as I see it:

1. Have Wall St. speculators jack the cost of a barrel of oil to record highs, causing the cost at the pumps to hit almost $5.00 a gallon. The outcry from the average American who lives from paycheck to paycheck would be deafening. Then the Bush administration and the talking heads on Fox, would call for the domestic drilling to begin, so as to drive oil prices down, supposedly, immediately. It's a win win situation for everyone but the American taxpayers:



2. The Republicans have a platform to run on in this election, because without the economy, they don't have a chance in hell of winning, unless God forbid, there's another terrorist attack on the U.S.



3. The oil companies get to drill and increase their profits. No new refineries are built, or alternative energies developed. The cost of a gallon of gas will probably drop to about $3.00 a gallon, but I believe never lower. Most will be so grateful, they'll never complain again. The day of the $2.00 a gallon gas will be gone forever and thoughts of alternative energy research will be put on the back burner for another 20 years. Unfortunately, the environment will have been compromised beyond repair and there will be no turning back, but what do we care? Let the future generations deal with the problem. I need my gasoline for my Hummer!



So please people, I beg you, be patient. As soon as the election is over in November and Bush and Cheney are finally gone, I would bet the farm that the price of oil will come down drastically. This crisis is a man made one created for one reason only. This president and administration, has screwed the American people in so many ways over the past 8 years, please don't let him get away with this last great deception against the American people. If we fold, the consequences will be felt for many years to come.

Madonna's Judas

This week, Madonna's brother, Christopher Ciccone, released his new book, "Life with My Sister Madonna." In typical "Queen" style, the openly gay Ciccone has sold out his sister for the almighty dollar, claiming he was tired of living in her shadow. Hello Christopher, that's because your sister is a multi-talented icon and your only talent is selling out your family and your soul for a buck. I must admit, a small part of me wonders if Madonna herself didn't have a hand in this whole situation, after all, she is a genius when it comes to creating a media frenzy. First her alleged affair with New York Yankee Alex Rodriguz, now this tell all book. She always gives us just enough to peek our curiosity, then she reels us in, just in time for her upcoming tour. No matter what the situation, my thoughts are these. It's not cool for friends or family to write books or sell each other out for money or a cheap shot at fame, period . I'm tired of these no talent hacks like Ciccone getting famous on the mare fact they happen to come from the same womb. Having recently made appearances on such shows as Hannity & Combs and Chelsea Lately, I'm a little disappointed that these otherwise opinionated hosts did nothing to tear this creep a new one (although he'd probably like that). Think what you want of Madonna, but no one can deny the facts, she is a national treasure. I don't care about her personality or whether she's a bitch or not, all I know is she has been a staple in the gay community for 3 decades now and she is a genuine talent. No visit to any gay club in the country would have been complete without a Madonna tune playing in the background. She has provided the sound track to a generation of gays & lesbians and I for one will not buy the book and plead that others in the community do the same. Madonna, you're 50 & still fabulous....thanks for the memories!

Hillary Detox

It's been over a month now since democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign, and I have to say, I'm still in denial. I still wear my Hillary Clinton 2008 bracelet and still get excited when I see a Hillary for President bumper sticker on the car in front of me, then slowly reality sets in and I just can't believe it. What happened, what went wrong? This was the year, it was in the bag...a democrat would take the White House and that democrat would be Hillary Clinton, but most importantly, the first woman president. Well, the more I think about it, it wasn't just one thing that went wrong and quite frankly, I am pissed off. So I thought making a list of what I thought the problems were might make me feel better so let's give it a try.

Problem No. 1- Barack Obama

A junior senator from Illinois who thought that after 2 years in the US Senate, he was qualified to be president of the United States. Who's claim to fame was that he didn't vote for the war, which, didn't matter because he was not in the US Senate at the time and it was irrelevant. For that matter, I didn't vote for it either. His other claim to fame was "change". He was the candidate of change, and not politics as usual. I've got news for you, when you go into politics, you are a politician. When you join a band you're a musician, when you join a baseball team you're a baseball player, etc. there's no getting around it, and based on his record lately, he is proving that he is, indeed, a politician. He just waited to show us his true self and basically, sold the American people, who were hungry for some good news, a bag of goods.

Problem No. 2- The American People

Shame on them for falling for it, hook, line and sinker. Did we not learn anything from the past 8 years? Do your homework people, ask questions ....don't be afraid to say, "the Emperor has no clothes"!

Problem No. 3 - College students

Barack Obama probably won the nomination based on 2 facts, his Internet campaign and his voter registration drives on college campuses. Let's hear it for generation "me" for suddenly finding their voice and finally developing a social conscience after 5 years of war and not one protest, or uprising . They were too busy with their Ipods and MySpace pages to deal with such things. But thank God that herd mentality kicked in and they knew they had to vote for Barack Obama, oh that and a free Dave Mathews Band ticket. He was, after all, the young, hip candidate and Hillary Clinton was so 90's....I've got news for you kids, the 90's weren't that long ago and although most of you were just being born, It was a pretty cool and prosperous decade and we were proud to have President Bill Clinton lead us into the 21st century, Monica or no Monica! Oh, and just to let you know, 46 isn't that young and Obama is certainly old enough to be your father!

Problem No. 4 - The DNC

The Democratic National Committee and it's top players, pretty much abandoned Hillary Clinton early on in this race and no one knows why. From Howard Dean to Ted Kennedy and John Kerry to Bill Richardson . Once it was known that Barack Obama was going to run for president, the conversation should of went something like this..."Look Barack, we think you'd be a great candidate but here's the plan...you're a young man and need to get a few more years under your belt so you let Hillary run and get the nomination, you're her choice for vice president, she serves 2 terms, you run in 2012 and serve for 2 more terms...Democrats occupy the White House for 16 years with the first woman president and the first black president!" Who knows, maybe that conversation did take place, but Obama being the super star he thinks he is just would not accept it. So I'm afraid, this is a decision that will come back to bite them in the ass the way of Mondale, McGovern and Dukakis, and if it does, they deserve it!

Problem No. 5 - The media

This one is pretty self explanatory. Anyone who owned a computer, television or radio or read a newspaper could judge for themselves the blatant sexism and bias against Senator Clinton. It took a sketch on SNL to finally state the obvious and put it on the table. However, it changed nothing. The media's love affair still continued to the point where it was almost "uncomfortable" to watch, like when Chris Matthews of Hardball almost got a woody every time he was near him. The love affair continues, only now it's John McCain taking the heat.

Problem No. 6 - Women

If the women in this country had rallied behind Senator Clinton from day one, the way they did at the end, the outcome would definitely have been different. I think there was a genuine dis-belief that a woman could win the presidency, but once we realized "yes she can," it was too little too late. Lesson learned, hopefully!

Problem No. 7 - Hillary & Bill Clinton

Maybe they were a little too cocky in the beginning, but rightfully so. Once it became apparent they had a fight on their hands they should have gone into over drive. Shake up the campaign, beat Obama at his own game. Bill should have kept his comments to himself instead of playing right into their hands. He's a smart guy, he knows how this works. And last of all...Hillary. Why couldn't you have shown the charm and charisma we knew you had all along? You became the candidate at the end, we all knew you were capable of being.

Well, I feel a little better, but a little part of me still fantasizes about the convention on August 28th, in Colorado. I hope by then they finally see Senator Obama for what he really is, all fluff, no stuff, and the delegates cast their votes for Hillary Clinton for president in 2008!