By Linnie Frank Bailey

Linnie Frank Bailey

In the meantime.....

Our young men and women are being injured and killed daily in Iraq-this week the total hit 4000-and our national treasure (billions and billions) is being spent on a war that never should have been waged.  It is estimated that the war is costing America $275 million a day! Money that could be spent on education, infrastructure, and health care.

In the meantime.....

Gas prices are spiraling and no one will tell us the truth about the global competition for oil (and food), and that even if fuel costs go down a bit soon, high prices will continue in the years ahead.

In the meantime.....

Food prices are soaring! Anyone who goes to the grocery store on a regular basis, and by that I mean at least once a week, will tell you that in some stores prices are changing daily! Watch the faces of the elderly in the grocery store....they spend a long time in the staples sections deciding what they can purchase-bread or milk?

In the meantime.....

Home prices are dropping like a lead balloon, (for those who still have a home).  Moreover, that back up plan we had to use our equity to help with college tuition, or to take care of our parents, or for our retirement, looks less and less likely.

Yes, there is a lot going on in our country.

It is imperative, at this point in our history, that we elect a President who 'gets it' and will change how business is done in Washington.  In his well-received Philadelphia speech, A More Perfect Union, Senator Obama warns us "We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism... But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.....Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time.""

The choice is a clear one for those with America's best interests.  We will not be distracted...not this time....we've got too much to lose.

Linnie Frank Bailey is a Corona-based writer, and leader of the Obama Riverside grassroots group. Currently, she is running to be a delegate to the DNC convention, along with RCC District Trustee, and fellow Obama organizer, Jose Medina.