President Obama wants the authority to attack Syria. The Senate Foreign Relations committee has voted to give him that authority.

The gassing of the Syrian people is a despicable act. Still, more war is not the answer. All of this saber rattling is the act of cowards. It takes a strong and brave person to stand firm for peace in the face of aggression and violence.

Two weeks ago, Ladar Levison, the owner of Lavabit, shut the email site down rather than compromise the privacy of his users. He couldn't say why, presumably because the FISA court told him that he couldn't talk about it. He said that he was going to stop using email, and advised others to do the same.

Then last Tuesday, Pamela Jones, the owner of the highly acclaimed Groklaw posted a notice that she was shutting down her blog. PJ's final post announcing the end told of how she feels violated by a government that feels that it has a right to snoop on everyone, while at the same time preventing its citizens from knowing hat it is doing.

Is this a free country? No. Not even close.

The United States government has been portraying Edward Snowden as a villain. Far from it. His act of exposing the unconstitutional spying activities by the United States government was an act of incredible bravery and patriotism. He recognized illegal, immoral and unconstitutional activities and called attention to them. For this, some have gone so far as to call him a traitor. I believe that there is a high probability that he will be assassinated.

Today it comes out that the IRS has been targeting progressive groups as well as tea party groups. This whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. Doesn't anyone remember the reports during the presidential campaign about some of the big money PACs that were designed as tax-exempt so that they wouldn't have to disclose their contributors? These were primarily radical right-wing PACs.

Now the radical right is whining about how unfairly they have been treated. And today's spin from the radical right is that it doesn't matter that progressive groups were also scrutinized.

The republican controlled state legislature in Michigan has gotten busy. They have been passing laws designed to reduce people's freedom. The Republicans who are in charge want us all to live according to their beliefs. They want to impose their religion on the rest of us. And they have attached an appropriation to most of these, because the Michigan constitution does not allow the people to hold a referendum on legislation that contains appropriations.

John Boehner and Mitch McConnell continue their rhetoric about President Obama's proposal to bring the federal deficit under control. They said that it wasn't serious. Yesterday, the Republicans finally made a proposal. It was the same old Republican ideas, but no specifics. They are going to raise $800 million in additional revenue by closing loopholes, but they won't specify what loopholes they will close.

They will reduce spending by $1.6 billion, but the details are sketchy at best. They will reduce the cost of living adjustments for Social Security recipients. They suggest that the spending cuts will include raising the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67. Other analysis says that the overall costs will go up as a result. Some of those costs will shift to the states. Others will shift to our older citizens.

If people aged 65 and 66 are excluded from Medicare, the cost per person of medicare will go up. Why? Because the 65 and 66 year old people are statistically the healthiest of the people over 65. At the same time, insurance rates for everyone else will go up. Why? Because the 65 and 66 year old people who will now have to buy health insurance are statistically the least healthy people among those under 67 years of age.

Many of them will not be able to afford health insurance and will end up in emergency rooms, unable to pay for the services that they receive. Their care will be more expensive than preventative care would have been.

The plan to save money is based upon taking from the poor so that they can give to the rich.

Now that the elections are well behind us, we continue to see how dishonest Mitt Romney is. His claim last week that Obama bought the election with his "gifts" to minorities is quite absurd. It was in fact Romney who tried to buy the presidency with his wealth.

The "gifts" that Obama was alleged by Romney to have given to his constituents were things like health care reform. Politicians always push for what they believe is right. To suggest that doing that is tantamount to buying votes is absurd.

This childish behavior is a good lesson as to why it is a good thing that Romney will not be our next president.

A long campaign season ends with the election tomorrow. Huge amounts of money were spent trying to convince the people what is best for us. My mailbox has been littered with more campaign advertising than I have ever seen before. Since the Citizens United decision, unlimited spending has been allowed in campaigns, much of it can be kept secret. The result has been that the wealthy have been given a much greater voice in trying to convince the people to vote for their candidates or causes.

Big money interests are trying to steal control of our country from the people. Likewise, big religion is trying to force everyone to adhere to their religious beliefs in the name of religious freedom. And through it all, campaigns are filled with lies, dishonesty and deceit. Names are selected for organizations to suggest that they are for something different than the true intent.

In less than two weeks, Americans will go to the polls. Mitt Romney seems to think that he can buy the presidency. Do people think that it is okay for him to do that? Religious fanatics want to control everyone. Millions of people are out of work. Corporations like it that way because it means that there are always people willing to take any job that is offered at the lowest possible wages.

President Obama's performance over the past four years has been disappointing. He squandered a perfect opportunity to be a progressive leader. Instead, he has been all to eager to compromise with conservatives who are themselves unwilling to compromise. As a result, the conversation has moved further to the right.

Romney wants to return us to the days of trickle-down economics. Give money to the wealthy and they will create jobs so that the middle class will be better off. It is the incessant cry of the radical right. Elect Romney because he claims to know how to create jobs. After all, he is a successful businessman. His success has always been at the expense of someone else. Romney is a vulture capitalist. He earned his money by sucking the life out of corporations. If he is elected, will he do the same to the entire country?

In this blog, I will be writing about all of this and more. Perhaps others will join in.