Daydreaming

I was daydreaming today of what I would want in our next President:

A Democrat (or even an Independent)

He/she would immediately bring our troops home from Iraq. All of them.

When Iraq managed to seat a stable government (of any kind) He/she would insist on reparations for the horrors Bush/Cheney inflicted on their country.

He/she would abandon the dream of empire and bring home many if not most of our troops in the 170 bases we maintain all over the earth.

There would be no torture, no Guantanamo, and no renditions.

He/she would immediately reduce the military budget by at least 50%.

There would be no pre-emptive strikes against anyone without clear evidence of threat, real evidence, not make believe evidence in the Bush/Cheney mode.

There would be no private military like Blackwater.

He/she would insist on universal single-payer health care.

There would be an all out campaign to halt global warming with strong and enforceable sanctions against transgressors.

There would be no nuclear energy plants and the promotion of all forms of clean energy - wind, solar, waves, and whatever else that might be discovered.

Israeli colonialism and near genocide against the Palestinians would cease immediately and a viable solution for a two nation outcome would be seriously promoted.

Tax cuts for the wealthy would be abandoned and we would see a return to our previous system of progressive taxation.

Money taken from the military/industrial/political combine and the filthy rich would be used not only for universal health care but also for rebuilding infrastructre, providing free education for all, and strengthening the endangered species act.

Measures would be taken to break up the enormous corporations who now hold a stranglehold on our lives. CEO's would have to accept a more livable wage.

He/she would also insure that Bush/Cheney/Rice/Rumsfeld, et al, would be held accountable for their multiple war crimes.

No doubt I have overlooked something. Will I ever find a candidate that would live up to my expectations? Of course not. At the moment I would happily settle for Al Gore (or even Kucinich). I do not want to settle for Hillary, Obama, Edwards, or anyone who will simply maintain the status quo.