If I were an AMERICAN, I would be very, very angry with my country !

I don't want to exit the US on a critical note, but I have traveled over 3000 miles, likely closer to 5000 and I am beginning to have heartaches for this country. It is a wonderful country, with wonderful people but it is a country that is broken. Economically, socially, maybe even psychologically, it is broken every where.

How sad to see such a glorious country decaying, falling apart at the edges. I want to be an optimist but I don't know enough about the country to be optimistic. Were someone to ask how I can criticize when I know so little. Fair question...but here are my observations. They aren't conclusions; they aren't definitive statements. They are merely what I am being told BY AMERICANS, and what I see wherever I go.

   Somebody is lying to these people, maybe. I arrived in Springfield, IL, the state capital and what do I see right next to my hotel, a utility plant burning coal and spewing out white smoke out of THREE STACKS, 24/7. Sure, the plant may claim it is scrubbed smoke, sure, sure...scrubbed or not, something is being spewed out, all the time.

   This is Obama country, where I am. But when I said that to a waiter he said, "Sure and we also had Blagojevich." I thought there wasn't much one could say to that.

   I got into a cab to go to a restaurant tonight in Springfield; I wanted my wine, so better to cab it back and forth. Springfield is a relatively small town, likely less than 300,000 people. The cab was one of those mini-vans...but as I slid the side door open, I noticed there was a steel mesh completely shielding the driver from any fare. Paying the fare was a challenge as the money had to be slipped between the roof and the metal mesh protective barrier. When I asked my returning driver questions about money he carried, and why such barriers (We have plexiglass in Canada), the driver told me his uncle was a cab driver in Springfield and was KILLED for the $37 which he was carrying. Asking my driver how much he usually carried, he replied, "About $200."

   The police squad car driver in Jackson, when told that New Orleans had the highest crime rate in USA, quickly defended the reputation of Jackson, saying "Ours is worse !"
   Talk at any gathering inevitably turns to illegal immigrants, the wall being built to stop ILLEGAL Mexican worker influx into the USA. Placing blame is not the point of discussion, the point is what can be done about it, what should be done and who should initiate actions. What is worse, maybe, is that everyone is so politically correct and so full of bologna. I was watching the morning news in the dining area of a chain hotel, the news was broadcasting about an ATF issue, American Tobacco and Firearms...seems some executive was having problems with being a member of a "white supremacist" group. The black hotel staff person attending to the dining room, harumphed and blurted out, "Just the new name of the KKK!" Wow, what a comment...and worse still, it is reality in America today.
   State that their new president is black, and prepare yourself for the response, "He isn't even an American!" Wow, how sad to hear! I like Obama but I have yet to find anyone here who supports him. I wonder who voted for him, for no one is owning up to having done so.
   When the gulf oil spill hit, Obama got blamed for incompetence. I don't know what to say to that. Damn BP can't solve it, so how are some politicians going to do it.
   Americans seem to be criticizing OBAMA for everything: the economy, jobs, lack of jobs, healthcare, over govt, not enough govt, immigration, not handling immigrants well...he cant win. And asked if he will win the next election...not a snowball's chance in hell, no matter who the Republicans put up against him.

   Real estate is tanking all over the country. Banks are now foreclosing and sell the foreclosures at a loss, something called 'shorting.' House prices are dropping like stones in water, almost in every state. Foreclosures are being snapped up like hot cakes.
   People are complaining...no jobs, govt spends to much, not enough, no job creation, too much spending in wrong areas. How does Obama sleep at night.  
   Yet watch American TV and ... it is all smiling time, every commercial shows the good life and many show how it is within the grasp of every American, an easy grasp. Lies, lies, lies. Capitalism is roaring its ugly head but fewer and fewer Americans can buy into it. Life on TV is good, in reality, it doesn't look nearly as good. City centers are boarded up, or plastered with "for rent, for lease" signs. Factories have no cars in their parking lots. The ones that do, are foreign own, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda...I drove past their plants in KENTUCKY and TENNESSEE, and their lots were full.
   Finally, the US is plain dumb in not trying to think outside the box on some issues. They are spending billions and billions on drug enforcement forcing drug buyers, users to buy through an underworld of criminals. Could anyone think about the drug problem being a health issue and spend money on it that way, thus decriminalizing it. Oh, Oh...I may be setting myself up as a target, and easy one from the weight gain of this tour. But gaining weight in the US is so easy...that will be another blog.
   For now, let me end by saying, this country is falling apart, one brick at a time, but faster than one might think when watching American TV.
   Visit back again !