Obama was the better candidate than McCain who was overtly pro-war. McCain and Palin would have been a disaster for the country because they are militarists and beholden to the Industrial Military Complex. Obama may be ambivalent in his Iraq and Afghanistan crusades which are not well thought-out. There is a certain naivete about Obama that is reflected in his opinion of lobbyists for Wall Street and the Pentagon. He is also naive about Blackwater and the so-called "private-pubic" alliances.

Unlike McCain, Obama has addressed the issue of care for returning vets. Bush was totally in denial that there was a problem, here. He has publicly addressed other issues of social importance such as education and healthcare which Bush totally ignored.

The problem is that there is a built-in assumption by those in government that war solves problems. It only creates them. Iraq is still a disaster in spite of what the propagandists on the public media say. The pursuit of "Al Quada" is tilting at windmills. There are not that many in Afghanistan proportionally. The Taleban can be contained through other means than bombing and annihilation.

The real terrorists are the fanatical Right-wing zealots in this country who have threatened violence to solve political problems. The American gun lobby is totally irresponsible in its views about ownership and paranoia about weapons being confiscated.
The incidence of gun violence remains higher in this country than any other in the world.
We also incarcerate more people than any other country as well.