With the midterm elections just around the corner, wars and corporate excess ruining the economy and environmental calamity all around us, I’ve been doing quite a bit of wishful thinking of late.

I wish Obama was a socialist.

I wish journalists would get out of show business and do some honest reporting for a change.

I wish combat operations in Iraq really were over. Ditto Afghanistan.

I wish the Tea Party did represent the interests of hard-working Americans.

I wish Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and company were brought up on war crimes charges.

I wish government surveillance agencies and media conglomerates would keep their hands off the Internet.

I wish we paid more than lip service to honoring our veterans.

I wish Obama would stop rebranding failed Bush-era policies.

I wish there was such a thing as clean coal.

I wish we’d put an end to corporate welfare as we know it.

Editor’s Note: Kevin Howley regular column, MediAlternative returns next week.