President-Elect Obama's campaign was cautiously crafted to the need for "change," a compelling however vague proposition. The electorate now deserves more details.

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     The electorate has endorsed the "change" mantra, has delivered the political baton to the Democrat masters, and now eagerly awaits the specifics to be pursued by the President-Elect upon his elevation in January as Most Powerful Person in the World. 

    One can suppose that the lack of specifics during the recent campaign was precautionary, that such could perhaps provide fodder for counterattack by the opposition (which had precious little to offer beyond variations on Bushco themes) and perhaps even encourage more insane and vicious derogations such as Radical, Socialist/Communist, Islamo-fascist and Terrorist-Sympathizer epithets.  But now the specifics may be pronounced safely, immune for all practical purposes from whatever partisan calumny may be directed against them. 

     And so, Mr. President-Elect Obama, may we have your prompt, direct and clear response to the following issues with as much specificity possible at this time --                                                                        

.. Upon what date will the last American soldier leave Iraq? 

..Upon what date will the last American soldier leave Afghanistan? 

..When will mercenary forces such as Blackwater be disenfranchised? 

..When will Guantanamo be closed? Razed? 

..When will torture be outlawed by any function of American government or its proxies? 

..When will "extreme rendition" be outlawed? 

..How will you clean up the politically and morally corrupted CIA? 

..How can we re-align our military and intelligence efforts to eliminate the Department of Homeland Security, its much inherent negativity, overlapping waste, extensive nonsense, and even its distasteful title which smacks of something of Nazi origin?

..When and how will the power of the military-industrial complex be mitigated, military contracting be subject to competitive-bidding discipline, and a reasonable balance be struck among military, infrastructure and social programs? 

..When will the citizens get a clear and understandable justification for the banking and investment-house bailout, along with a description of how the funds are awarded, what audits ensure accountability for their effective and honest use, and when we can expect a return of these outlays to our treasury? 

..What are the specific plans to re-regulate banks and investment houses to ward off a repeat of the abuses that led to the current economic crisis? 

..What is your plan -- after years and years of abusing our economy to their unconscionable enrichment -- to free us from hostage by the OPEC cartel, a combination in restraint of trade which would be illegal in the U.S.?  It is noted that gas prices at the pump have gone down 40% immediately before the election, thereby surfacing another question if this was an endeavor on OPEC's part to influence the vote in favor of their American (predominantly Republican) investors' interest? 

..What is your plan to evaluate government incentives for or disapproval of the production of corn-based ethanol for petrol? 

..What is your plan to address the need for higher fuel efficiency standards and lower pollution emissions for American manufactured automobiles?  And for foreign-made automobiles? 

..How and when will domestic manufacturing be incentivized and off-shore tax havens illegalized? 

..When and by how much will your progressive income tax reform be implemented? 

..What is your program to address the disrespect for and the damage done by our government to the United Nations, and to actively reinforce its role as the best promise for world peace? 

..What is your plan to reconstruct a more promising relationship with Russia? 

..What is your plan to reduce the world's nuclear weapon stockpiles and to disincentivize further weapons development? 

..What is your plan to balance the American diplomatic equation between Palestine and Israel, with equal resources and respect for human life for each of the parties? 

..What is your plan for rapprochement with our island neighbor Cuba, and with our once friend Venezuela?  

..Will you move to actually enforce the current law in regulation of our border with Mexico, disregard the current law, or how specifically do you intend to change the regulation of the border and its enforcement? 

..When will America's medical system (now rated 37th in the world) evict insurance companies (and their 30 percent cut) as the agents of our care, and institute a single-payer system for better care at lower cost as in the nations of Western Europe? 

..When will dental care be included in Medicare? 

..When will the voting system for national offices, including the problems of eligibility, registration, long-waits, proprietary computer programs and hacking, and fraud be FIXED? 

..When will presidential signing-statements be illegalized and the constitutional process of enacting and enforcing our laws be reinstituted? 

..When will our Bill of Rights be fully restored? 

..When will there be a full and truthful federal investigation of the events of 9-11? 

..How will you respond to the demands in our country and from all decent peoples for an assessment of the responsibility for and the judgment of those individuals who intrigued to falsely justify the war in the Middle East, then planned and directed American military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan which have laid those countries to waste while costing the lives of 5000 American soldiers and a million lives of the indigenous people?            

     There, Mr. President-Elect, are some of the issues the citizens would appreciate your response to.  We have given you our votes and our trust as the better choice to make the change to correct the current treacherous and perilous course in America's history.    Having agreed with and endorsed the dominant proposition of your campaign, we now await the vital specifics, as does the world whose future peace and progress lie to a great extent in your hands.

Authors Bio:
Rafe Pilgrim, after "a life largely wasted on hard honest work," found himself a jungle of turkey oak, scrub pine and giant palmettos up a dirt road running east of Crystal River, Florida, which neither school busses nor the U.S. Postal Service dare to assay. Sharing a house of his own design with Spanky the cat, Darla a pit bull, and a foundling of mysterious breed named Alfalfa -- all collectively known as Our Gang -- he spends his time "productively: writing poetry, working for peace, and gazing at the sky."


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Central High School of Philadelphia, University of Maryland, Syracuse University, University of Maine, Ursinus College, Air Force Intelligence (Washington D.C., Germany), Ford Motor Company, Philco-Ford Corporation, Eighth Day Gallery, Phi Kappa Phi, Romey Everdell Award for Journalism,(1988), Hole in one (1998), and struggling to find America ever since 2000.