When one looks at the enormity of the extreme challenges that the next President of the United States will face one has to question the sanity of John McCain and Barack Obama. It is highly likely that during the next term severe consequences will take place as a result of the misdeeds, misjudgements, incompetence, fraud, and in some cases inaction on the part of the Bush administration.

Starting with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney a long list of destructive characters comes to mind. A far from complete short list includes Alan Greenspan, Alberto Gonzales, Don Rumsfield, Karl Rove, and L. Paul Bremer III. These few men have cost the United States its place in the world as the supreme superpower and may have pushed the US over the edge of the abyss towards a future of being a second rate cousin of the third world if not actually sinking into third world status. However, the purpose of this article is not to look back or to assign blame but to look ahead at some of the immense extreme challenges that the next president will confront.

John McCain and Barrack Obama take note. Once elected you will likely be faced with such difficult challenges that you will go down in the history books as the American president who presided over the downward spiral of America. To be fair, you will face probably the most complex and difficult issues ever confronted by any American president. But it will be your watch and you will reap the blame for failure should failure occur.

On the campaign trail John McCain and Barack Obama talk of the ways that they will restore prosperity and international respect to the run down USA that one of them will inherit from George W. Bush. No matter what they say during their presidential campaigns that they will try and accomplish during their term in office events already in motion will probably largely set the agenda for them.

The next president of the United States of America will require great courage, management skill, the judgement of a King Solomon, the wisdom of enlightened men, and a lot of luck to avoid complete disaster for America and for his presidential legacy. Managing to over come one disaster is one thing, trying to cope with a series of overlapping disasters is quite another.

I wish you good luck Mr. President, whoever the winner of the 2008 election turns out to be. And why exactly do you want this impossible job? Here is a brief look at some of the pressing issues that the next president will have on his plate from day one.

1. Global Warming. There is little disagreement in the scientific community that human activities contribute to global warming. However, few experts have stated publicly that it is already too late for mankind to avoid disastrous consequences over the next fifty years. The extreme challenge for the next US president will be to forge a worldwide alliance of nations that will begin to plan for a disastrous future for a large percentage of mankind. The president will have to move beyond the denial stage and convince a nation that it must follow his lead.

2. Meltdown of the US Financial System and Economy: The number one issue for most Americans will become one of survival in an economy that was constructed over many years on a shaky foundation of fraud, deceit, and lies. Yes, I know strong words, but in future articles I will back up what I say. My forecast is that the next president will be immediately immersed in so many financial disasters as the housing collapse continues and even large banks fail that he will have little opportunity to work on other important, even critical issues.

3. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: It is so much easier to get into wars than to get out of them. The next president will face increased conflict in both Iraq and Afghanistan. A substantial troop draw down in Iraq will likely be like taking the lid off a boiling hot pot. The centuries old conflict between Sunni and Shia will probably boil over again as they fight it our for control of Iraq and its oil. Keeping a high level of America troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for years and years is a strain on American resources that probably can not be tolerated for much longer. For America there is no good way out of either conflict.

4. Healthcare System: The present healthcare system is, as just about everyone knows, broken and not sustainable. Unless something is done the unfunded cost of Medicare and the new prescription drug bill alone will be enough to bankrupt America. With a huge wave of baby boomers reaching retirement age during the next term a healthcare crisis may be enough on its own to sweep the new president and his plans for his second term in office right out of office.

5. Nuclear Proliferation: While Iran remains at the top of the nuclear arms worry list there are probably up to ten additional nations who are at least thinking about developing nuclear weapons. One of them, North Korea, probably already has a few low grade nukes on hand and despite recent fanfare about dismantling their oldest nuclear facility it is difficult to fully trust the unpredictable North Koreans. Even our friends, Brazil, may be involved in nuclear weapons research. With the discovery of vast offshore oil fields the Brazilians must be thinking about how to best protect their nation’s changing good fortune.

6. Energy Concerns: The course that the US has been on for the past thirty to forty years has lead us to the edge of the high priced energy cliff. We have already had a taste as to how the economy starts to shut down as crude oil prices approach $150 a barrel. The next president must champion an intense energy conservation program if the US has any chance of an economic recovery. We will not be able to drill our way out of the energy shortfall. Energy conservation and alternative energy sources must lead the way. But, please Mr. President, no more blind foolish corn based ethanol programs.

The transfer of $700 billion a year to oil exporting nations is not sustainable. Transfers of that magnitude already represent the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. A few more years of such wealth transfers will reduce the US to third world status.

7. Food Shortages: The hand writing is on the wall here, loud and clear. America has never before had to deal with wide spread unmanageable food shortages. However, an unfortunate convergence of events like high energy prices, global warming and drought, ill conceived programs to convert food stocks into fuel for machines, changes in weather causing floods in some areas and drought in others, and over population along with the globalization of the demand for more meat and better food as developing nations increase living standards, are already raising danger signals. The next president may have to deal with food riots, a chilling task by any measure.

If we in the US make it though the next president’s term without a great deal of pain we will be lucky indeed. In fact the pain has started during the present President’s term. The legacy of George W.Bush appears to already be established as the man more than any other whose actions have set in motion events that will forever alter America’s standing in the world and her claim to be a super power.

Any one of the seven potential disasters listed could be enough to consume the planned agenda of a United States President. Probably being forced by events to deal with all seven, perhaps even more, all at once, well, good luck to the brave egomaniac who thinks that he is up to the task.

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