You can’t deny that the way the mainstream media is handling the ACORN tape scandal [LINK to YouTube search] is a bit…odd.
Lets face it, it’s not secret that ACORN is a shady organization whose ties to the democratic party hurt, but didn’t hinder President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential bid. Evidence of the organization’s dealings has been known, again, since 2008 and these series of videos obviously prove that.
However, my post isn’t about the video itself, because in the end, I really don’t care what ACORN does. They didn’t invent voter/tax fraud and they aren’t the first to do it. My post is more about what the media didn’t see.
Last night, Jon Stewart made a very good point regarding this story. The media totally didn’t see this coming and ultimately got “scooped” by two students with $3,000 and a hidden camera. In their coverage of this, it’s apparent that they aren’t pleased.
Other than FOX News, who is flaunting this with their usual swagger, I have had to do more foraging than normal on the interwebs to find some stuff about this.
I really don’t think this has to do with bias, it is pretty well known that ACORN will show you various ways to declare your Ecuadorian sex slave as a dependent in your tax forms. But rather, I think the media realized that this whole “citizen journalism” is a pretty large gorilla in a very small room.
As a current student journalist and writer, I think that this is good for us, the little guys who put together a 12-page paper three times a week or update a blog. It evens the playing field a bit for us, and lets us know that just because we don’t have the vast resources of some of the bigger players doesn’t mean we can’t get things done. But this is also good for the media, the big dogs who we one day aspire to work for.
In the end though, people like us want to work for a big player one day. Entering the jobs of writers and editors with this mindset will put a fire under our asses to get the big stories and not get scooped by a bunch of kids. I think this is a great wake-up call for not only mainstream journalists but those who aspire to be mainstream journalists. We will have to comepete.
You know, I am all for the Second Amendment, but what the hell is this? According to basically every major news outlet, people are going to health care town hall meetings brandishing 9mm handguns and, as of late, AR-15 assault rifles.
I really don’t get the correlation between health care and second amendment rights, unless they are talking about how Obama’s Public Option plan will cover gun shot wounds.
I am not really surprised, however seeing how heated these rallies and town halls are getting, is this really a good idea? I find it hard not to imagine a worse case scenario where different groups of protestors clash in a hail of gunfire started by those in the crowd with high power assault rifles.
Oddly enough, the Secret Service seems cool with it? Here’s a interview with a Secret Service spokesman from CNN:
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan acknowledged the incidents in New Hampshire and Arizona, but said he was not aware of any other recent events where protesters attended with open weapons. He said there was no indication that anyone had organized the incidents.
Asked whether the individuals carrying weapons jeopardized the safety of the president, Donovan said, “Of course not.”
The individuals would never have gotten in close proximity to the president, regardless of any state laws on openly carrying weapons, he said. A venue is considered a federal site when the Secret Service is protecting the president and weapons are not allowed on a federal site, he added.
A lot of people are forgetting that the problem is not that he is open wielding and firearm near the president. The Secret Service obviously has Obama so locked down that they are cool as cucumbers.
Local police forces in the area are in a unique position here as well. These protestors are obviously protected by the law, and confiscating, detaining, or arresting these individuals would only add fuel to the fire. However they still have to consider the safety of the crowd.
The problem here is that people are walking around with these things in high traffic areas no doubt steeped in heated political debate. Frankly, I don’t trust people enough to be responsible and, most importantly, calm. This is trouble waiting to happen.
According to CNN.com, the Senate today voted to no longer fund the F-22 fighter program, effectively capping the amount of fighters to be built at 187 planes. Here is an excerpt:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate voted Tuesday to block expansion of one of the country’s most controversial and expensive defense programs, the F-22 fighter jet program.
The vote gave the White House and Pentagon a key victory over congressional supporters of the F-22, many of whom represent states and districts where jobs are tied to the production of the jet.
The vote, which stripped $1.75 billion for an additional seven F-22s from the fiscal year 2010 budget, was a reversal of an earlier Senate committee decision to include money for the program. The change came in a response to strong pressure from President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and several key senators who argued that the additional planes are not needed or wanted by the military.
The 58-40 vote, which did not break down along typical partisan lines, was the culmination of a classic confrontation between the president and Congress over who is the best judge of the country’s military needs.
The reason a lot of senators are a big fan of this aircraft are twofold. First, the aircraft keeps a lot of people employed as it relies on parts and labor from 44 states, which keeps constituency pockets filled, and senators and local reps happy.
The second reason they give is that the aircraft will serve as a defense not so much for our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but against more challenging enemies that could pose a threat in the future, such as China or Russia…or Britain. Seriously you never know.
Look, at this time spending cash on defense may look like, as President Obama said, “an inexcusable waste of money”. However, I think this specific program is vital not only for the reasons listed above but also because this aircraft contributes to this country’s image.
The F-22 keeps America safe and employed, and in the end isn’t that a good thing?
So I was playing Xbox Live’s “One vs. 100″ for the first time tonight. One of the questions was “Which state recently passed a bill that would allow people to carry weapons inside what?”. I can’t remember the choices exactly, but what I do know is that the answer is “a bar”.
According to Associated Press, the state of Arizona has indeed passed a bill allowing people to carry concealed weapons inside a drinking establishment.
The Arizona Senate has given final approval to a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun into a business that serves alcohol.
The 19-8 vote completes legislative action on the bill and sends it to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. She has not said whether she will sign it, but she has long been a supporter of gun rights.
You know, I got a weird look for sarcastically shouting “Yeeeah go red states!” on this one. What the hell is this? I mean seriously folks, it’s getting REALLY hard to defend this party. I know that most conservatives right now are going to “stick to their guns” on this one, but deep down I am sure they know how God damn ridiculous this is.
Drunk people are quite a handful…but in Arizona they’re armed.
So as I sat down finishing an article I got a “NYTIMES ALERT” on Twitter about Sarah Palin stepping down as governor of Alaska. I was a bit surprised at first, then the perplexity set in. Why would she do this? And then, she addresses her favorite group of people…the media. Please forgive the FOX News commentary throughout this YouTube video.
This speech really gave no answers. She went on about all the things she’s done, and how she doesn’t believe in “politics as usual”. I am sure resigning the governorship will be a hot topic for when she runs for president in 2012.
Pardon my lateness of this post, life has been a little hectic. Anyway, incase you haven’t been following this who Letterman vs. Palin fiasco I will bring you up to date. On “The Late Show w/ David Letterman” Letterman made a joke about A-Rod possibly impregnating Sarah Palin’s daughter while at a Yankee game. Here’s what he said…
“One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game: During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.”
Now most people that night I am sure heard that and thought that Letterman was refering to Palin’s 18-year-old daughter Bristol, who had a son out of wedlock. But Sarah Palin, realizing the amount of media coverage she could get by faking outrage quickly claimed otherwise, saying that her younger daughter…umm Billow? Willow? Whatever.
Letterman quickly apologized and made it clear that this was in reference to Bristol, however Sarah Palin will clamp on to the media spotlight for as long as possible, continued to press the issue. This led to Palinites leading a protest outside of Letterman’s studio. But as you can see in this video, the protests took a turn for the worst.
The protests were charged with hate. These people are shouting Letterman is a pedophile, and throwing rather brash insults to his wife and family. Never have I seen so many people so outraged over nothing in my life. The man made a joke that was misunderstood and now you are calling his son a bastard and his wife a slut.
Weigh in on this in the comment section, or drop me a tweet @jlv0628.
According to both the New York Times and Politico.com President Obama is set to announce new mileage standards tomorrow. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards are going to incorperate California’s strict standards for fuel mileage and emissions. The ultimate goal is to achieve 34 mpg by 2016.
Look, lets be realistic. This is a great thing for the Obama Administration to do. Automakers are fully capable of achieving these levels of fuel efficiency in most of their models. However, I think President Obama needs to be more aggressive when it comes to this, especially when it comes to the American auto makers. Demand hybrid vehicles in exchange for bail out cash, enact a “gas guzzler” tax accross the board on any vehicle that does not conform to the new standards (cause frankly, if you are buying a $230,000 Italian sports car, you can afford the gas guzzler tax), push for alternative fuels and cellulosic and sugar based ethanol, and much more. But none the less, this is a great step forward.
Up until a few days ago I was fairly against the idea of gun control. I held tightly to the mantra that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. I don’t really hunt or anything but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t see myself doing it. Hell, I myself even own a gun and so does my grandfather. I was raised knowing that a gun is not a toy, that it was something to respect and in many ways even fear. I fired my first gun at 15, and bought my first at 21. I know most people own a gun for personal protection, and I’m fine with that, it is after all a person’s right.
The other day I was talking to someone about a recent purchase they made. “Well I got me and AR-15 with a red-dot sight, vertical fore grip with laser/flashlight mount, collapsable stock and extended mags.” Sounds impressive, I know. But as with every person who owns something so elaborate is this, when you ask them what they will use it for they will always respond the same: home protection and hunting. First of all, what are you going to hunt with that thing? A rancor?
Hunting with something like that kind of takes the sport out of everything you know? The deer or what have you isn’t some wild beast who lives in Jabba’s palace, it’s a f***ing deer.
But hey, if you want to be ready for the zombie invasion and be able to take down Tatooine monsters with Luke Skywalker-like ease then by all means. All I’d hope for is that they are responsible with their new toy and that it never gets stolen by someone who would appreciate it’s ability to penetrate body armor. This guy I know, however, is a pretty trust worthy guy and is some one who I think is competent and cool headed enough to respect something like that. Let’s move on to some one that isn’t…
I have known a man for quite a while now that really concerns me, and it practically an argument for gun control himself. Full of his own bullshit self-importance, the man is so pro-gun, pro-second amendment, pro-killing shit that it scares me to death. One of these people that has a gun to fight terrorists and, most recently, to fend off Obama’s “Firearm Removal Squads” of the future. This is the type of guy who ultimate aspiration is to own a magnum firearm, so as to not only kill the intruder (or terrorist, criminal, etc.), but also the five people behind them.
It’s because of this person that I can’t be so against gun control anymore. People like this tool are what really put the fear in me that perhaps most some people are just too stupid to own a weapon. People like this guy see guns as something that they can use to gain respect, and therefore don’t have any respect for it. They gloat and they show it off when the fact is they are probably as insecure as ever and probably in some cases don’t even know what kind of gun they have (which is this case, is very true).
I think as of late I have changed my stance a bit on the “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” statement. I do think people will always kill people, with or without guns. But the fact is that when you empower someone who who embraces the second amendment not for what it stands for, i.e. to be armed for protection, but sees it as a sign of power then we have a concern. When a man walks around and sees his firearm as something powerful, something to impose will, and something that elevates him above everything else, THAT is a man I fear.
A large amount of people are outraged by the fact that President Obama shook the hand of Hugo Chavez. But really, partisan bullshit aside, what would one hve him do?
For those of you who may not live in Miami, or are not well versed in Latin American politics, Hugo Chavez is a big anti-American douche and communist dictator. The man is complete scum, but should that mean that formality and human decency should just fly out the window? They are both heads of state, imagine what would have happened if Obama had declined to shake his hand, or worse, slapped him in the face with a cold salmon.
Barack Obama is president of the United States, at a time where America’s standing with the global community is beginning to diminish due to our worsening economic situation and the fact that we are in debt up to our eyeballs. America has always wanted the world to conform to it rather than it to the world, and this situation is reflective of a new direction in American politics. We have lived eight years under the auspices of The Bush Doctrine and look what that has gotten us? We have lived eight long years without diplomacy that the sight of it gives people the creeps.
Yes, Hugo Chavez is an ingnoramus, a tyrant, a coward, and a feind, but should Obama’s perogative really be to give him more kindling for his fires of hatred towards America? No. He handled him professionally and as a head of state should treat another head of state regardless of their differences.
Looks like AIG is up to it’s usual tricks again. This time paying out large bonuses to executives with bailout money. Here is a quick excerpt from CNN Money:
Anger over $165 million in bonuses doled out to American International Group senior employees reached a fevered pitch on Monday, prompting the Obama administration to vow to recoup the money and a New York prosecutor to subpoena the firm for recipients’ names.
President Obama said Monday that he has asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to use the government’s role as a majority owner of the troubled insurance company and “every legal avenue” to stop the bonuses.
“It’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses,” Obama said.
So AIG doles out $165 million of OUR money and now what? AIG has been a black hole for tax dollars since the bailout began. Too much money in, not enough transparency, and not enough accountability. While these guys are paying out bonuses, the company itself is continuing to hemorrhage money and no one can seem to close the wound.
Barack Obama needs to come down hard on this. This is the type of corporate bullshit that cannot be tolerated during these times. AIG states that these are existing contracts that they must honor in order to stave off legal battles and maintain their reputation, however we all know that too is bullshit. GM union workers were forced to renegotiate their contracts during this time, and frankly AIG shouldn’t be any different.
Sadly, we are majority shareholders AIG and President Obama and Tim Geithner are our representatives on the board so to speak. Find these bonuses, stop them from happening again and make sure that this money is returned back to the company.
UPDATE: In between my moments of sleep this morning, CNN reported that most of the people who given the bonuses left the company shortly there after. People infuriate me sometimes.
I’m back guys, sorry for the long absense, FIU Student Media keeps me busy. Anyway let’s get to it:
According to FOX News, Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin have called off their engagement. As all of you no doubt heard, during the election it was revealed that Bristol Palin was pregnant with the child of fellow student (and douchebag) Levi Johnston. Here is a quick excerpt from the article:
The teenage daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her fiance have broken up just over two months after the birth of the couple’s child.
People.com reported Wednesday that sources said the split between Bristol Palin, 18, and Levi Johnston, 19 occurred a few weeks ago, and Johnston confirmed to the Associated Press that he and Bristol mutually decided to end their relationship ”a while ago.” He did not elaborate.
Palin said in a statement to the Associated Press that she is “devastated.”
First of all I would like to be the first to reply to this by saying I told you so. And contrary to what people say (“I didn’t want to say I told you so…”) I did.
Does this run contrary to my personal beliefs? Yes. Is this, in my opinion, the wrong thing to do on his part? Absolutely. I don’t know about him, but true gentlemen don’t pull that shit. Then again, one can’t expect a 19 year old to act like one. However, if you honestly thought that was going to last, you are crazy.
This kid went from banging the governor’s daughter to being thrust in to a full on political shit storm. The GOP’s PR team turned him from a long-haired, whiskey drinking, 18 year old kid and tried to mold him in to a model citizen, father, and apparently model from a Brooks Brothers catalog, and they failed as I knew they would.
In the end, Levi Johnston isn’t just “the queer that knocked up Palin’s daughter” as my friend Joel (who was the one who emailed me the story) put it. In fact she is kind of hot and most importantly a woman, so he is far from a queer. He is a guy who had a night of passion with a girl and paid a WAY bigger price for it. You can’t put this amount of pressure on an 18 year old and expect him to cope. And with the intense scrutiny from Palin, the GOP, and the media, well that just makes it even worse. I would gladly argue that if his ex-mother in law weren’t pursuing a massive political career, he wouldn’t feel so pressured.
And now, that the sensation that is Sarah Palin is slowly fading, does it really come as a shock that this child wants out of a situation he was no doubt forced in to for the sake of a, now failed, political campaign? The answer is invariably no.
Is this the end of the world for either of them? No. There are plenty of kids being raised by single moms, and the turn out okay (At least, I hope I turned out ok).
Bristol Palin has the benefit most single moms out there (my mom included) don’t have. She has money, fame and a stable family to give her support. Levi will be okay too, I am sure he will get to see the kid and play a role in his life. Sadly, seperated families are a reality we see in society today. Though I don’t think it is great, I by no means a hopeless situation for anyone. A marriage where one person feels forced, will only mess up that kid even more than Sarah Palin will. Leave a comment, let me know what you think.
The GOP had their response ready to go last night after Barack Obama’s address to congress. Sarah Palin had a great speech…wait what? Bobby Jindal? GOP has had a fit of genius and decided to go with a viable, credible candidate to be the face of their party. Good job GOP…good job.
Hey guys, every now and then I like to give a shout out to a cool NFP. And this one is the coolest of the cool. The fact that I graduated high school with Ryan Alexander, the guy who created it, has nothing to do with that assesment haha.
The NFP is called NotFashionable.com, and it’s addressing child starvation around the world. Here is their message, straigh from their site:
“The UN estimates that between 26,500 and 30,000 children die of hunger and preventable dieases everyday. Hunger. Not war, not natural disaster. Hunger. Totally treatable, clearly curable and absolutely preventable. When the UN says that up to 30,000 children die of hunger everyday, they are only talking about kids five and younger. But we let it happen. They don’t get a mention in the obituaries or make headline news. They die silent, painful, lonely deaths. They die off camera and in the poorest places on earth.
We can change this. You can bring change. We don’t have to let this sort of thing happen. The point is not to guilt people into pinching a couple pennies so that we can let ourselves off the hook. The point is to restore humanity to these children. To let them die like this, night after night, is saying something about the way we view life and people. We aren’t talking about making everyone rich or inventing a new concept. We are talking about equality and compassion. We wouldn’t let our own brothers and sisters starve to death if it was within our power to save them. Know that it is.
And they say that apathy never killed anyone.
So think. Think about how blessed you are. Don’t forget that justice and mercy are at the very center of why you are the way you are. Remember that anytime you have a conversation about these kinds of things that you are actively making someone aware of something that they cannot ignore. Always remember that you are fighting for the people who aren’t going to make you famous or rich, but people whose hope you are restoring.
God is on the move.”
You can help them by buying one of their extremely cool and poignant t-shirts…for a small $15 donation. Check out his site and make a difference!
Folks, I find myself usually disagreeing with Al Sharpton. That guys plays the race card better than anyone else. But this time…I am on his side. How is this NOT racist? Please somebody explain this to me. The New York Post has lost it’s motherf***in’ mind. Eh, then again this is the Post…
Today the market reacted to Tim Geithner’s New Bank Rescue plan…by dropping 382 points (or 4.6%).
Geithner outlined the plan today. CNN Money did a great job summing it all up so I’ll post an excerpt:
Testing the health of big banks to weather an even deeper economic downturn. Geithner said the Treasury will “stress-test” the biggest banks and provide capital to those that need it, as the nation sinks deeper into its worst recession in decades.
He said the stress test will apply to institutions with more than $100 billion in assets – a list that comprises 13 banks, from giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) to Cleveland’s KeyCorp (KEY, Fortune 500), according to a report from analysts at the Stanford Group in Washington.
Analysts say big U.S. banks could use at least $1 trillion in new capital as job losses mount and more borrowers default on mortgage, auto and credit card loans. But Geithner said the administration won’t ask Congress now for more money – raising the question of how much capital it actually expects to provide.
Making credit more available to consumers and businesses. The Treasury will provide $100 billion in seed money to expand the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, in which investors in bonds backed by credit card and other loans can swap those bonds for Treasury securities, enabling them to get additional financing.
The move – which could create as much as $1 trillion in financing for consumers and businesses – shows the government is eager to bolster the capital markets, which provided a large percentage of funding for consumer loans before the bond markets seized up in late 2007.
Creating a private-public partnership to take toxic assets off banks’ balance sheets. Policymakers believe clearing bank balance sheets of badly deteriorated loans and securities is a prerequisite for restoring the normal flow of credit into the economy. Geithner said the plan will aim initially to use public financing to create as much as $500 billion in private sector buying capacity, with the prospect of an expansion to $1 trillion down the road.
Observers say drawing private capital back into the market is a key objective of any workable plan.
“Because the new program is designed to bring private sector equity contributions to make large-scale asset purchases, it not only minimizes public capital and maximizes private capital,” the Treasury Department said in a fact sheet about the plan. “It allows private sector buyers to determine the price for current troubled and previously illiquid assets.”
It remains to be seen, however, how the administration can break the stalemate between banks that are holding troubled assets at one price and investors who would buy only at a lower one.
Addressing the housing crisis. The Fed and Treasury will commit $50 billion to reduce mortgage payments and establish loan modification guidelines. Firms that receive federal aid will have to commit to participate in foreclosure mitigation plans, the Treasury Department said.
Am I optimistic? Not really. These banks are basically walking zombies. They are poorly capitalized and illiquid. Further more, the amount of money in this plan seems to be bit inadequate, given the fact that yes, we are talking about a large group of banks, not just one or two. However [which I will detail in another post] it does have a few strengths, but I think Geithner really didn’t go in to very much detail, so I am not going to outwardly condemn this plan either.
Let me know what you guys think. Will it work? Will it not? Leave a comment.
You know, I think Joe Biden is a cool dude. And if you don’t like Joe Biden well you can go sit on a tack. But like most people, Joe Biden has his faults. One of Joe Biden’s major fault is the fact that he has more friends in the RIAA and the BSA than a pro net neutrality guy like myself would want. Sadly, his scumbag friends are now full fledged scumbag government employees.
According to CNET, President Obama, Mr. Net Neutrality himself, is filling the Department of Justice with the RIAA’s best and brightest. The DOJ’s latest acquisition is Associate Deputy Attorney General Donald Verilli. His list of legal douchebagery includes shutting down Grokster, filing a lawsuit against Google and YouTube on behalf of Viacom, and suing a woman by the name of Jammie Thomas, who was accused of sharing 24 songs on KaZaA to the tune of $220,000. Yep that’s right, for 24 songs. Fortunately the judge threw out the verdict based on misleading jury instructions given by the RIAA. The RIAA I believe is still in the process of appealing the decision.
Gizmodo(one of my favorite tech blogs, props to you guys) sums up the rest of the new appointments quite nicely:
This follows up the naming of Tom Perrelli, from the Perrelli Family, as associate attorney general, the third-in-command post at the DoJ. Perrelli was and probably still is the favorite lawyer of the RIAA, suing people and companies left, right, and center in the name of the recording gang. He will be in charge of the DoJ’s civil, antitrust, and civil rights division.
But don’t go away, because there’s more. Who is the deputy attorney general, the second in command at the DoJ, do you ask? Mr. David Ogden, who-according to his previous job’s biography-represents “media and Internet industries, as well as major trade and professional associations.” He also as “part of the department who successfully defended the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act before the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Not enough? Don’t worry, because the VP has otherfriends in other places. Take Neil MacBride, another associate deputy attorney general, who previously was an aide to Biden himself. MacBride was the king of the legal hill at the Business Software Association. As the BSA’s antipiracy enforcer and general counsel, MacBride oversaw the creation of the program that rewarded people for phoning tips about suspected software piracy.
Honestly, all that net neutrality, “I love the Internet”, “come check out my Facebook” bullshit Barack Obama fed us during the election is very much going out the window with these sharks on the government payroll. Obama was notorious for proposing less restrictions for Internet and less power for the RIAA during the election. As soon as he mentioned that the joyfest in the tech community was heard far and wide. But with Joe Biden came a strong foothold for the likes of the RIAA to use to propagate their bogus agenda.
Take the RIAA’s case against Jaimme Thomas. Is $220,000 fair for sharing 24 songs on a P2P network? Do you think in times of economic strife it’s important for an organization such as the RIAA to start coming after individual citizens for large sums of money on the basis that quite possibly, MAYBE, someone could have downloaded one of those 24 songs? Her case for appeal was central on jury instruction No. 15, “which told jurors that she could be found guilty even if it couldn’t be proven that anyone actually downloaded the tracks she was sharing.”
Am I surprised? Hardly. I know how politics works, and regardless of the administration, the political party, or the person in charge, the RIAA will lobby, and make campaign contributions and buy politicians left and right. Barack Obama, sadly, is no different.
My worst fears have come to fruition. According to a Politico.com article yesterday, Samuel Joe “The DouchebagPlumber” Wurzelbacher was invited to give his “input” at the Conservative Working Group meeting on capitol hill. This is usually organized and attended by congressional aides…who are dumb enough to apparently like Joe The Plumber.
My God people…
Is this it? Is this what the GOP considers an valuable opinion? Is this who they want the face of their party to be? Joe The Plumber is like Sarah Palin except he’s not a governor. Republicans of the world, if you enjoy being the minority in the government, if you enjoy having a democrat in office, keep listening to pompous, self-important like Joe the Plumber, who lack understanding and ability to progress.
The Republican Party is a sinking ship, and they look to a [unlicensed] plumber for input on a stimulus package. That speaks volumes on the mental state of the GOP.
So after doing some soul searching, the GOP decided to revamp it’s website. Look familiar? Yeah…this is the new changified GOP website, GOP.gov. We got a couple of RSS feeds, some lame YouTube videos, and a bunch of other crap in what I like to call ‘”Barack New Roman”. New look, same crappy taste? Is this a move in the right direction for the GOP in terms of reaching out? Or is this just a shiny new wrapper on the same crap. What do you guys think? Drop me a comment. Also check out the original story over at Ars Technica for details and specifics on how they designed it.
The other day I was speaking to someone about politics. It wasn’t my choice, but this person is particularly submerged in their own [short] list of “political accomplishments”. Any conversation with them eventually leads to, of course, politics. Particularly their politics.
All throughout the discussion were various attacks on the opposite party. “Oh, so and so is such a dirty liberal, I could just kill her!”. I am sorry, I promise for the sake of non-partsianship I will find a douche bag democrat for my next anti-partisanship post. It’s not hard.
After a momentous election, and the inauguration of an African-American president, the world declared racism dead as a door nail. But assuming that is true (which it isn’t) then I think the next thing to replace it will be good ol’ fashion partisanship. Partisanship that extends beyond Washington and resides inside everyone.
Right now, all these political parties do is divide us as a nation, and empower close minded, ignorant people to form opinions based on party loyalty and not on logic, reason, sense of goodness, or self learning. They build walls between people, close them off from others. I ask you, is that any different from racism? When one person is insulted (or in this case threatened) based upon what they believe, how is that any different than insulting a person based on their race, gender, or religion?
These divisions form this sort of vernacular of…let’s face it, hatred amongst people. “Oh so and so is such a liberal I f**king hate them.” or “Oh so and so is a major conservative asshole.” How is this different from calling someone a spick, a cracker, or a nigger?
There are two types of people. People who like politics, who seek to understand it from both sides. Who read everything to stay educated, and who seek the opinions of others rather than push them away. Then there are those that gorge themselves on one side of everything. Who shun opinions and relaxed discourse for brash outbursts and personal attacks. Those who use their party loyalty as justification for not hearing another person out. For saying “No, I’m right. You’re wrong. Deal with it.”
People who are fiercely loyal to their party aren’t really helping anyone, least of all themselves. When one follows blindly, there is no one to call foul. No one to say “Hey guys, we’re doing this wrong why don’t we rethink this.” People will just continue to vote, learn, discuss, speak with party loyalty in mind.
In the 2008 elections, experts constantly reminded us that this election is going to come down to the swing voters, voters who don’t neccesarily ride on the party bandwagon. In a perfect world, we would all be swing voters.
“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.” – George Washington
Seriously, who gave George Washington a crystal ball that let him see in to the future? Even Washington noticed the potential walls political parties can build between people. Though not as high or as thick are they as the walls of Racism now, they can be.
Racism has held us back, and divided us. It has hurt us, and it’s scars are visible on the face of American history. Though my argument is that this hard line party loyalty that resides in most people has that same potential, now more than ever. We have a president who seeks to end this partisanship and unite where there was once division. But is it too late? Can our nation deal a blow to partisanship, much like the swearing in of Barack Obama dealt a blow to racism? Who knows.
“I adore political parties. They are the only place left to us where people don’t talk politics.” – Oscar Wilde
It was today that Denny’s made good on their Super Bowl promise, to give out free Grand Slam breakfasts from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lines headed all the way out to the parking lot at over 1500 Denny’s locations showed just how poor America truly is. According to CNN:
“Some patrons were still wearing their pajamas and slippers, and strangers were crowding together into booths, CNN affiliate KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah, reported.”
You see that? You see what a free meal can do? It can bring strangers together, and for one moment ignore the fact that the entire country is going to shit around them. Just sit down, eat some pancakes that are remarkable uniform in both look and taste and ignore all the politics, all the depressing news and strife and just be people.
I for one think that this is something Denny’s should be proud of. Let’s face it, no one is giving anything away like this for a while. And no doubt, this type of thing helps people out. Today a friend of mine was sitting in a booth at Denny’s enjoying a free grand slam with a single dad and his son and a philosophy professor.
“You couldn’t beat it. I mean it was a beautiful, beautiful breakfast. It was fit for a queen or a king,” diner Annah Shoffner told CNN affiliate WNCN-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I definitely think that we will see more example like this as time passes, and as things continue to get worse. Much like the stories of hope during the depression, I think this is a story of hope fitting to our time. My hats off to Denny’s and their CEO Nelson Marchioli. Today Denny’s has set it self apart from all the IHOPs, Waffle Houses, and Perkins, my hats off to them for doing something great at a time where people need it the most.
Tom Daschle asked President Obama to withdraw his name for consideration as health and human services secretary. And today he has accepted it. Here is an excerpt from the CNN report:
(CNN) — Former Sen. Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a statement Tuesday from the White House.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle apologized for making mistakes on his tax records.
Daschle had been fighting to save his nomination as HHS secretary following controversy over his tax records and questions over his work in a field that some consider lobbying.
In a statement announcing his withdrawal, Daschle said it was an honor to be chosen to lead the reform of America’s health care system.
I am starting to question President Obama’s vetting process. However, Daschle is the classier of the two tax cheats and decided to withdraw his name. If only Tim Geithner would have done the same. Perhaps we would have had Treasury Secretary Larry Summers after all.
Point is, that all these cabinet choices are starting to shine some light on politicians and their neglegent tax choices. I could only imagine who else probably doesn’t pay their taxes.
Joe Biden apologized today for the first absolutely hilarious, yet mildy inappropriate comment he made about John Roberts. Here’s a excerpt from CNN:
An aide to Vice President Joe Biden tells CNN he called Chief Justice John Roberts last week to apologize for a light-hearted remark he made over the flubbed Inauguration Day oath of office.
“My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts, Chief Justice Roberts,” Biden said last Wednesday, as he asked for a copy of the oath he was using to swear in senior members of the White House staff.
Several staffers reacted to the comment with groans and laughter, though President Obama, standing next to Biden, did not crack a smile.
Another great thing is that this not only gave us a view in to the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory that is Joe Biden’s mind, but we did get to see Barack Obama’s STFU face. And it is priceless.
Come on guys, this is Joe Biden at his best. Where most people think that this is Joe Biden’s flaw, I disagree. Joe Biden is one of my favorite democrats because he lives off the cuff and basically says what other people are thinking. Frankly in the dull world of politics, soaked in formalities and “ho hum” pleasantries, Joe Biden is REAL.
Barack Obama has potentially eight years in office, can you imagine what Joe Biden could say (or do) in those eight years. I personally can’t wait. Keep up the good work Joe.
Well, the end of the world being 12/12/2012 is starting to sound quite reasonable now.
Sarah Palin decided she’d up and form a political action committee to fund and support political candidates who share her views on politics. Here is an excerpt from CNN’s Political Ticker:
WASHINGTON (CNN) –Sarah Palin has launched a new political action committee called SarahPac, signaling that the Alaska Governor intends to remain a player in national politics even after her failed bid to become the country’s first female vice president.
“SarahPac will support local and national candidates who share Gov. Palin’s ideas and goals for our country,” says the PAC’s Web site, which promises that Palin will be “a strong voice for energy independence and reform.”
So basically, if you are a self absorbed individual who doesn’t read anything, doesn’t know how to answer questions, suffer from delusions of grandeur and want to run for a political office, Sarah Palin will give you other people’s money to do it.
I think she is starting to amass her clone army. Someone notify the Jedi Council.
So now that the inauguration is over, and the only thing George W. Bush is running is a tractor on his ranch we, collectively as a nation need to take a deep breath and a couple of steps back. Sure Barack Obama is a cool guy. I mean come on he is a president who has a cool website, he uses a blackberry, and he is determined to change government and fix everything the Bush Administration has messed up in the past eight years.
But I think right now we as a nation (and by that I mean the people, the media, etc.) have lost a lot of objectivity and perspective. You’re probably saying “Oh Jorge probably lost his remote and his TV is stuck on FOX News again…” but I promise you if that ever happened I’d just unplug my TV. But lets face it, we are all SO jazzed that tomorrow Obama can light a kitten on fire and we wouldn’t think much of it.
But he is a politician. And all I know is that usually when someone new comes in to power, I tend to aim my expectations very low. So that way, when they do f**k up, I won’t be so disappointed. I am sorry, but the past couple of years have only fueled my distrust in politicians. So aim low America! If Barack Obama saves this nation it will rock extra hard, and if he turns out to be like all the others, well at least you didn’t have your hopes up.
Today we have shown to the world that America is about something more than war and money. We have peacefully transferred power to our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. And while mindful of the past, I am optimistic about our future. Today is a great day in our nation’s history, and it’s been a long time since we had one of these. Happy America Day.
According to the Associated Press, Joe The DouchebagPlumber is headed to Israel to cover the war as a correspondent for pjtv.com. Here is the article…
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter’s notebook.
The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (WUR’-zuhl-bah-kur) says he’ll spend 10 days covering the fighting.
He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel’s “‘Average Joes’ share their story.”
Wurzelbacher gained attention during the final weeks of the campaign when he asked Barack Obama about his tax plan.
He later joined Republican John McCain on the campaign trail. At one stop, he agreed with a McCain supporter who asked if he believed a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel.
Yeah Sam Joe that’s exactly what the general population needs, your perspective on a conflict you learned about three days ago on Wikipedia. I am soglad that you “want to let Israel’s “‘Average Joes’ share their story.” Do us all a favor Joe, head down to the Gaza strip, hand out a couple of copies of your book and see if you can find some Average Joes there, and ask them to share their story.
I wish I can go back in time, and stop John McCain from mentioning this guy’s um…self given title? Joe The Plumber is not a plumber. He is not a politcal expert, a journalist, a country singer, and I would venture to say he didn’t write his own book so he is not even an author. Joe the Plumber is a man who was a poor choice to be an example of the working class. Sadly, he continues to cling to his already finished 15 minutes like a sinking ship. Now he thinks he is a journalist? I guess the whole plumber thing isn’t working out.
I can’t stop watching this video. Whether you like George Bush or not, you have to give it to him…the man is quick. In fact I am fairly positive that if he had just dodged shoes his entire presidency, his approval rating would be higher.
My thoughts and prayers are with the lovely Dana Perino right now, who is recovering from a black eye after a reporter shoved a microphone in it. And also with the Secret Service agent who was no doubt fired for allowing not one, but TWO shoes to be thrown at the President. If I were Barack Obama now, I’d be slightly worried about my Secret Service detail.
Congress has basically abandoned any chance of bailing out rescuing GM and Chrysler, who are both teetering on the brink of full on bankruptcy. This after Republican party members have, yet again, decided to vote down a plan to ensure that 1.2 million people don’t lose their jobs, and that our economy will continue to spiral downward towards it’s ultimate end. I can’t help but feel a little deja vous, like if some how we have gone through this before.
Republicans axed this proposition because they feel that the plan agreed upon by the Democrats and The White House won’t work.
The Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said: “We have had before us this whole question of the viability of the American automobile manufacturers. None of us want to see them go down, but very few of us had anything to do with the dilemma that they have created for themselves.”
Mr. McConnell added: “The administration negotiated in good faith with the Democratic majority a proposal that was simply unacceptable to the vast majority of our side because we thought it frankly wouldn’t work.” [NY Times]
Overall the Republicans feel that GM and Chrysler (Ford can stand on it’s own…for now) are victims to the high wages and benefits of the UAW, and feel like they should be paid according to what the japanese automakers pay their workers in their U.S. factories. I read somewhere that it would be something like a $3 dollar difference, where UAW works make on average about $29 per hour as opposed to $26. This would save about $800 million dollars a year on top of eliminating lucrative benefits, pensions, and severance packages.
Where I would agree, that yes, UAW do make a bit more than others, we can’t deny the fact that these people are still employees. They still have families they need to support, mortgages they need to pay, and kids they need to put through college. I cannot stress enough of what a bankrupt Chrysler or GM would do to our economy on life support. A sudden loss of 1.2 million jobs would hit this economy very hard. Not to mention businesses that provide these companies with capital goods would also suffer greatly and in some cases even go bankrupt themselves.
So far this bailout has been one big, toxic mess. Companies like AIG, who is about as transparent as a brick wall when it comes to how it’s using it’s bailout funds, are perfect examples. But this time around, we are not bailing out banks, we are bailing out institutions that form part of the backbone of this economy. Managerial irresponsibility is not a good enough reason to let these companies go bankrupt. The cost of bankrupt GM or Chrysler (or both) would far exceed whatever amount Congress was considering. Do they need to restructure and make products that are innovative and meet demand? Yes. Do they need to renegotiate lower contracts, or eliminate unionization all together and structure themselves similar to Japanese automakers in the US? Sure. But they need the money NOW so that next year there will be a company left to restructure.
Barack Obama’s diverse cabinet at first seemed like a wacky idea. But it’s situations like these that prove Democrats wrong. An outgoing Bush Administration plan to engineer the first new nuclear warheads since the Cold War is currently being shelved until late next year pending review, which would put this well in the jurisdiction of President-Elect Obama. “During the campaign, Obama said that he seeks ‘a world without nuclear weapons,’ but he also said that the nation must ‘always maintain a strong (nuclear) deterrent as long as nuclear weapons exist.’” [USA Today]
Mean while Obama has not taken a stance on whether or not he supports a full renovation of our nuclear stockpile. This would involve decommissioning Cold War warheads and replacing them with newer warheads, Reliable Replacement Warheads or RRW, that employ various safety measures that prevent detonation in the event of theft.
I definitely would love to see a world without nukes some day, but this isn’t the day. Right now with threats like Iran, Syria, and North Korea, each pursuing illegal nuclear programs, and countries like Russia and China strengthening theirs daily, we can’t afford not to have the most up to date defenses. This is how current and future Secretary of Defense Robert Gates feels about the issue and insists that nuclear weapons are a “genie that can’t be put back in to the bottle just yet.”
I have always said that nuclear weapons are just as relevant now as they were during the Cold War. The only difference is that in terms of current day foreign affairs, showing the world you have them is much more powerful than actually using it. We need to keep in mind that, terrorist groups aside, the idea of mutually assured destruction would prevent any massive discharge of nuclear weapons from one political state to another. In the end, nuclear weapons carry more power quietly resting in their silos, then detonating over some unfortunate city.
However, I think Barack Obama is trying to find that common ground between nuclear development and non-proliferation and disarmament. It won’t be easy but I feel that in the end, pursuing some sort of disarmament talks with Russia and reinforcing non-proliferation programs, while strengthening our own deterrents will be the best possible thing in order to maintain a calm in the international community. Increasing sanctions on countries pursuing illegal nuclear research and uranium enrichment programs is also a great step not only in terms of non-proliferation, but in making sure that these weapons don’t end up in the wrong hands.
In News, Politics on December 10, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Governor Rod Blagojevich is the king douche nozzle. Solidly the most corrupt politician I have ever experienced in my twenty two years of life (sorry I wasn’t alive during Nixon). Blago’s list of douchery contains various entries, such as trying to pull $8 million dollars worth of funding from a children’s hospital after a CEO refused to make a $50,000 campaign contribution. Hitler is keeping your seat in hell warm you son of a bitch.
But along with that and some other things, Governor Blagojevich was literally trying to sell a Senate appointment nomination. In other words, you pay money, or get him or his wife a cushy job with a nice salary, and he’ll appoint you or anyone you’d like to the U.S. Senate as Barack Obama’s replacement. My GOD does this scare me to the core. Imagine if this had been successful, we would have had a corrupt appointment of a U.S. Senator. I am sure that has never happened before. (I have decided that the official TJZ sarcasm font is italics).
In the end, Ron Blagojevich is just one of many. The only difference is that Blago is a moron, while the others are crafty and much more cunning. We will never know what these Governors are up to, and the level of transparency I wish politics and government would have is insanely unattainable. But hey, what can you do? Prosecute the hell out of them.
In the closing days of the Bush Administration, George Bush now being the lamest and the most duck-like he could be, one begins to reminisce on his time spent in the White House. There is no doubt in my mind, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how many writers he commissions to write a book, he will go down in history as one of the worst, most ineffective presidents in US history. He will not be forgotten. In the eight years as president, George W. Bush’s administration has been littered with scandals, deregulation, grammatical mishaps, and war.
Back in 2000, George W. Bush “beat” Al Gore in an arguably close, controversial election which came down to the wire (and the Supreme Court). Seeing that most of the nation considered that a “stolen election”, Bush already started off a little badly. Frankly if Al Gore was half as cool then as he is now (I chose to overlook the fact his ranch uses more electricity than Kennedy Space Center), history would have been different but hey, that’s just me. Between 2000 and 2001, Bush was known for his obvious and often comical grammatical gaffes, which really didn’t help the rumor going around that he was, well…a moron. People didn’t know the “guy they’d want to have a beer with” and more over didn’t really know what to expect. Then came September 11, 2001, the darkest day this nation has ever seen.
Al Qaeda strikes the US in a jaw dropping attack to the mainland that cost thousands of lives, billions in damage, two iconic buildings and an outer wing of every ones favorite geometric shape. Bush was now in a position to rise above and become a great leader…and that’s what he did for a bit. President Bush saw the highest approval numbers in his career. Soon after he was so bold as to declare war on the idea of terrorism and create a new chapter in US foreign policy book, the Bush Doctrine (if you don’t know what that is, ask Sarah Palin, she’ll tell you). First target, Afghanistan, the home base of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The administration’s failure to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden seem to find it’s way out of the spotlight. Soon however, Bush switched focus to…Iraq?
Arguably the most controversial occupation of a sovereign nation the Bush Administration sponsored, the Iraq War proved to be a bit more than America wanted to chew. I am sure everyone would have been for the Iraq War if we were pulling nukes and chemical warheads in droves from Saddam Huessein’s posh Bagdhad palace (even more so if they were golden warheads to match his toilet) but alas, that wasn’t the case. The Iraq War will go down as the biggest lie the Bush Administration dropped on the American people. Primarily because the war was founded on intelligence Dick Cheney scribbled on a cocktail napkin one night when he was bored. Soon after he prematurely declared “mission accomplished” by pompously landing on an aircraft carrier in full flight gear, Iraq turned from an occupation to a policing action. One that cost the lives of our troops (4,209 to be exact) and billions upon billions of dollars to fund.
While the government continued to spend, spend, spend in Iraq, not only by increasing troops but by handing out contracts to Bush Administration BFF Haliburton, Afghanistan became the forgotten war. Troop reallocations crippled forces in Afghanistan. Recent studies show that the Taliban now control 72 percent of Afghanistan, up from 54 percent last year. Our entrance in to Iraq also gave Al-Qaeda another front in the jihad against the United States, where it lurks in the shadows, attacking U.S. troops and interests with IED’s and ambush attacks. Now keep in mind, Iraq’s link to Al-Qaeda came only after coalition forces occupied Iraq. Intelligence reports of Al-Qaeda links to Saddam Hussein were also exaggerated, as Bin Laden had branded Hussein an “infidel” and asked his followers to support the Iraqi people and NOT their government.
But the most notable Bush Administration blunder didn’t happen on some foreign battlefield, but here at home. The catastrophic failure of the U.S. Government to act in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was, in my opinion, the final nail in the Bush Administration’s coffin. Leaving people for three days in a giant stadium with no food, no water, no support what-so-ever is frankly…unacceptable. Our National Guard was streched thin due to deployments in Iraq, and FEMA was caught with it’s pants down. Warnings of the possible disaster a category five hurricane could create in New Orleans fell on deaf ears, and the governments lack of preparedness caused U.S. citizens to suffer. The thing I noticed at the time is that whenever people debate issues, whether its the Iraq War, or the Bush Doctrine, there are always two sides, two parties one for one against. During the aftermath of the Katrina, there was one side, a thoroughly saddened and disappointed one.
Of course, our current economic crisis can’t help but have Bush Administration fingerprints either. Inheriting a budget surplus from the Clinton years, George W. Bush quickly turned it in to a budget deficit. Shortly after 9/11, Bush urged the American people to “spend, spend, spend” their way out of the recession. It was this moment in our nation’s history that began the downward spiral of our economy and the beginning of the credit crunch. Also the ever increasing cost of the two wars weighed heavily on the budget, to the point where shortly after the bailout passed, an extra space had to be added to the debt clock. Also the administrations over all disdain for regulation led to these massive amounts of bad mortgages, and over all irresponsibility in the economy.
Sadly these aren’t the only follies of the Bush Administration. There’s that whole CIA leak thing, all the secret contracts with Halliburton and various other oil companies, and…you know, Dick Cheney shot a dude. But I don’t want this to get too long. Point is George W. Bush was a president. He we elected to the highest seat of power this nation has, and served in it for 8 years, TWO terms, so give that man the credit that is due. Watch Oliver Stone’s “W” and even the most militant Bush hating, Prius driving, tree hugging pacifist will at the very least understand the guy. His rise from a coke snorting Yale frat boy to President of the United States of America is mind blowing. But along with that credit, tack on some criticism & blame.
As always a great commentary by Jon Stewart. This time around it’s about the Auto Industry bailout and how congress is dragging it’s feet when, and turning a blind eye to the massive repercussions of a bankrupt auto industry.
“Now Congress, I think I know what this whole thing is about. You gave the financial industry $700 billion but you may not give the car industry $35 billion because you don’t really know what the finance industry does, do you?…See here’s the problem. The auto industry has a product that is tangible and easy to complain about. I should know, my first car – this is true – was an AMC Gremlin…It’s a car that existed so that Pinto drivers would have something to **** on…but it got me from here to there and while I was doing it, it preserved my virginity along the way. That’s the thing about cars. Even the crappy ones are useful. But you won’t bail out the people who make cars. You’ll only bail out the people who make car loans. Not even car loans! The people you bailed out make derivitive paper transfers speculating on the future value of enormous groupings of said loans to China. Fine! Detroit’s business model is bad. We know they lose $2,000 for every car they sell. Wall Street lost $7 trillion without selling anything! At least when Detroit loses money we get cars. So give them the money! And by the way, if you see my Gremlin, tell her I ended up getting laid when I got a Mustang.” – Jon Stewart
He is absolutely spot on. These companies, as poorly managed as they are, are VITAL to this nations economy. We may grill the CEOs for flying private jets and gas guzzlers all we want. In the end, we need swift action, we need regulation, and we need to stop this showboating and demand restructuring and give them this money.
You know, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republican National Committee’s office looked something like this…
One side battling against all odds for new, fresh leadership within its ranks, like GOP bad ass and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and the others, for umm….Sarah Palin. The GOP right now is in quite a tough spot, considering that they just got owned by what appears to be the biggest party take over since FDR.
If the GOP wants to win in 2012 it would need to accomplish a few things, some easy and some hard. First the party needs to come together. The division of this party was apparent even during the primaries, where you needed an extra hand to count up all the republicans, of whom a few were actually viable candidates. This time around, the GOP needs to battle the campaign machine that is Barack Obama. The man runs a tight ship, a ship Obama then used to plow through the established foundations of the GOP.
The GOP needs someone fresh and new. A “Bizzaro Obama”, someone who will bring this party together and freshen up and energize the base of the Republican Party. Some of you are probably thinking this person is Sarah Palin, but I don’t agree, at all. You all know how I feel about Sarah Palin so I will spare you, but if by 2012, Sarah Palin is the angel on top of the RNC Christmas Tree, then it will no doubt be a clear sign that this party is still not ready. I can name atleast FIVE great Republican candidates who would definitely energize the base, but most importantly revitalize the party after the massacre of the 2008 Election. I’ll gladly take Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, Mitt Romney (a.k.a Captain America), John Thune, and John Hunstman, Jr. These guys not only great men and exceptional Republicans, but also they are leagues better than Sarah Palin.
Election 2012 is going to be an interesting one. One that will definitely be do or die for the GOP. Sarah Palin to me, is not a great choice to spearhead the party against Barack Obama in 2012. I am tired of seeing Sarah Palin traveling all over the country (instead of, you know, governing her state). The GOP has some soul searching to do. Maybe take a day off, sit on the beach, think about life…who knows.
Here is the newest Sarah Palin blunder making it’s way around the YouTube.
Viewer Disrection is Advised
Sarah Palin seems to be rambling on about something, as she frequently does. The reason I don’t know what she is talking about is because I was too busy watching the what appears to be a turkey genocide going on behind her. You know, I tried not to be to rough on her during the election. I always gave her credit when it was due (that one time), but this? Come on…
Who thought this location was a great place for an interview? Someone told me that she was ok with doing the interview on that spot, but I REFUSE to believe that. Because honestly, no one is that dense. Was there no one that told her “Um, Govenor Palin, maybe we should pardon the turkey elsewhere, so as to not interrupt the turkey massacre that is happening behind you?” Olbermann put it best last night. What has to happen behind this woman for her to consider relocating to another spot?
The best thing about this entire video was not Sarah Palin, but the dude behind her, constantly looking back, with the greatest “WTF?” look on his face, dripping in turkey blood. Even the turkey executioner was wondering what the hell this woman was doing standing here? I would list all the places where this interview would have gone better, but I don’t have enough room on the Internet. Peace Out.
My friend Alan mailed this to me today and I decided that it deserved a quick glance.
After I gave it a “quick glance” I decided that it deserved a not so quick post.
First of all, let me go on and say that I do support Barack Obama as president-elect of the United States of America. And right now, I am trying to dig around and see if I get both sides, because Googling “Obama Civil Defense Force” takes me to a bunch of posts on Sean Hannity’s online forum, and frankly I’d rather smash my MacBook Air in to pieces than give that pompous blowhard a single hit from my IP Address. I also put out a very nice email to a few organizations that hopefully will send me a statement back. If they do I will add them below.
After reading a few websites and checking out excerpts from Congressman Emmanuel’s 2006 book The Plan: Big Ideas For America, I really don’t think I am going to particularly enjoy the other side of the argument either. It seems as though what Rahm Emmanuel is suggesting is a form of military training, not something along the lines of a first aid course or anything like that. A three month, intensive military training written off as a “civil duty”. Now the question is, should we start worrying now or later?
Worrying right now I don’t think is productive. Remember, Rahm Emmanuel will be White House Chief of Staff, and in this position will have no authority to change, create, or eliminate any policy. Barack Obama’s transition website change.gov, has no such goal or idea listed anywhere. If you want to stretch a bit the only thing even vaguely similar is the creation of the Civilian Assistance Corps (CAC) outlined here:
Create a Civilian Assistance Corps (CAC): Obama and Biden will create a national CAC of 25,000 personnel. This corps of civilian volunteers with special skill sets (doctors, lawyers, engineers, city planners, agriculture specialists, police, etc.) would be organized to provide each federal agency with a pool of volunteer experts willing to deploy in times of need at home and abroad.
But this is not only a volunteer driven initiative, it also was something that President Bush has implemented as outlined by this July 2008 State Department memo, under the name Civil Response Corps. Also one could stretch this out as part of the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides a $4,000 tax break in exchange for 100 hours of community service, though 100 hours does not equal three months.
How about worrying later? Eh, maybe. This is a particularly extreme view, one that definitely runs counter to the democratic party and the American way of life as a whole. Anything resembling the word “draft” coming out of a politician’s mouth has people running for the Canadian border. And after what Emmanuel said, I’d be lying if I said wasn’t checking rates on Travelocity as I type this. This seems to be more of a diet draft, same draft taste but with no calories.
This so called plan has no official reference as of yet. So until President-Elect Obama posts up another YouTube fireside chat to tell me all about it, I am going to go with what I know. I am all for serving my country. If America ever came under direct attack from a foreign country I would fight for this nation. However, what most important is not that we fight for this nation, but that we have the OPTION to fight for this nation.
I think that this is definitely in line with the rumors that President Bush was going to start conscripting people for the Iraq War. Even if he thought about it, the idea would be so insane that it just wouldn’t fly. This seems even more far fetched because again, this is definitely not in standing with any sort of ideal the democratic party would have. But hey, crazier things have happened before.
Look, I supported Barack Obama over John McCain because of many reasons I have cited ad nauseam. And regardless if I voted for him or not, I support him as president-elect of this nation as anyone should. However, I do recognize the fact that leaders, no matter how cool they are or how nice their website is are not perfect, and most of the time sometimes say one thing and do another. I don’t think this would fly with the American people. I am pretty sure Barack Obama doesn’t want to start a second American Revolution.
I am sitting here today, browsing the NY Times, reading article after article about the auto industry each with it’s own opinion. Some are for saving it, some for allowing it to fall. But I just can’t seem to pick a side on this. It’s rough…
On one hand we have three massive companies, Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. These companies have been poorly operated for a VERY long time now. They have been in bed with the oil companies for so long, producing products that don’t meet demand, that are harmful for the environment, and extremely dependant on foreign oil. Look, I go blue in the face saying how awesome that new Dodge Challenger is, but I sure as hell wouldn’t buy one. Especially not at a time when gas prices can go from $2.20 to $4.60 on a whim. The big three have always regarded green vehicles as something of an afterthought. Sure the Chevy Volt is very nice, but at this point, it’s too little too late.
The government has already bailed out these companies over and over again. Providing that very low interest loans and orders for government vehicles. Even this this cash flow, these companies have not restructured, have not focused on research for new technologies, and have not analyzed their manufacturing habits. All this while the workers continue to take wage cuts while CEOs continue to make their lucrative salaries. At what point can we say “enough is enough, you are on your own.”
On the other hand, the collapse of any (or all) of the big three would hit the economy harder, or as hard as the collapse of “too big to fall” Lehman Brothers. Experts believe that if the government had bailed out Lehman Brothers that DOW would be above 10,000. But that’s neither here not there. A collapse of any of these companies would result in a catastrophic economic situation. Close to 1.2 million hard working employees would lose their jobs, in towns where those are the only types of jobs available. Local economies revolving around factories would suffer as well. The government would have to pay out anyway, guaranteeing pension plans and such.
So where as most articles out there are screaming for a bailout, or screaming for a downfall, mine is different. I am screaming for a sound, informed, decision. If it is best for this country to let these fixtures of our nation, these historical companies that have been the backbone of our economy for so long fall then so be it. If it is better to rescue them, despite their errors, and despite their problems, then sign the check and mail it out Monday morning.
No. Should we give it to them despite that? Sure, why the hell not. This bailout, as slippery of a slope as it is, is very much a necessary evil at this point. Where the housing and banking crisis had guilty parties on both sides, the auto industry has only itself to blame.
GM, Chrysler, and Ford have been plagued by many problems. These companies have been managed extremely poorly. They have held to this notion of the “invincibility” of the American auto industry for so long, completely ignoring the writing on the wall. This wasn’t a sudden event, there was nothing catching them by surprise here. This was poor planning, poor management, and poor spending at it’s most apparent.
Another problem is the American auto industry’s failure to realize the fairly obvious environmental movement, and the sudden rise in oil prices. The “Big Three” rode the profitable wave of demand for large, gas guzzling SUV’s for way too long. I think some one did see this coming, but was hog tied and gagged so as to not spoil the fun. When you dedicate your production to a product that runs counter to demand, and is dependent on the price of oil, then you are eventually going to have a problem.
Finally I think the American auto industry has been a bit half assed in the design and development department. Having recently been car shopping (and settling on a 2009 Honda Accord Coupe), I think American cars have this very simplistic design that doesn’t appeal to too many people. I do think they are trying to change that, especially with new, eco-friendly vehicles like the Chevy Volt, and the sheer bad asses of the Cadillac CTS-V and the Dodge Challenger. But it might be too little, too late.
In the end, the “Big Three” car makers are guilty of supreme negligence and poor business sense. However, letting these companies fall would be even more negligent on the part of the U.S. Government. These companies are the manufacturing back bone of this nation. A collapse of any of these could deal a major blow to the economy. Give them their $25 Billion, but make sure it comes with a swift kick in the ass and a couple of new CEOs.
At first I thought a president that would constantly update his Twitter was a bit ridiculous. I’d be a bit perturbed if every time I checked my Twitter it would say something like “barackobama is having a sandwich and reading his autobiography” or “barackobama is in a cabinet meeting”. But it seems that Barack Obama is planning to do so much more than that.
Obama’s campaign has redefined the election process. Using the internet, he has raised more money than any presidential campaign in U.S. History, and single-handedly redefined the way presidential candidates will campaign for years to come. Amassing huge followings on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, Barack Obama has united a nation and secured an overwhelming vote. Using YouTube to publish speeches and rally footage, Barack Obama broadened the scope of his message from a few thousand rally goers to an entire nation.
President-Elect Obama is now preparing to integrate the Internet in to his administration, and in to the government as a whole. Following the Web 2.0 revolution, the Internet has become something much more profound. This is the Internet where someone like me can post something that can be seen by thousands of people. The power of the Internet is apparent in the recent social networking movement. News organizations are slowly moving away from print, making themselves 100% accessible on the Internet. Now imagine how the Internet has changed our lives, and now imagine how it would change our government as well.
Barack Obama’s Internet centered government stands on one basic principle. Internet for all. One cannot benefit from this “Government 2.0″ if they don’t have Internet. Barack Obama plans to use some of the money collected by the Universal Service Fund, a $7 Billion fund that is collected by the government to subsidize phone service in rural areas, to instead build high speed Internet lines that carry phone capabilities as well. This is a great idea, because not only is the money already there, but the technology is basic and not a dramatic change or step up from anything pre-existing.
Another thing I definitely like about this is that the Obama Administration (with the exception of Joe Biden) stands firmly on the idea of net neutrality. The Internet can’t grow if Internet providers pick and choose which types of data to accept, and which types of data to reject. Things like that, and like DRM would hinder the growth of this powerful tool, and hinder the goal Barack Obama wants to achieve. Passing a net neutrality act would go a long way in ending the the debate between supporters of net neutrality and companies like Comcast who want to regulate their bandwidth.
The Obama Administration has set some major goals in terms of technology. I was reading a great article in the Boston Globe that details them.
Obama wants to put YouTube-like videos of government meetings online, so citizens can see their federal agencies at work, and has proposed a Google-like database of federal grants and contracts, so people can see where their money is going. And he’ll require his Cabinet members to hold regular online town hall meetings, where they’ll field questions from the Internet audience.
I think this has a potential of being a revolutionary tool for the American people, in terms of government accountability. Some political scientists even go a step further, citing that this may be something much more, a whole new branch of the government. Technology and innovation is the next frontier for us. It’s something that will unite us, and impact out lives in many ways. Whether you agree with Barack Obama or not, it’s nice to see a President who feels the same way.
The Anchorage Daily News sat down with Sarah Palin to discuss the campaign and her return to Alaska. It was a very good interview, they covered a lot of things, but one thing really caught my eye. This question…
Q. Why do you think your campaign lost?
A. I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a 10 trillion dollar debt in a Republican administration? How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration? If we’re talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented and that is to a great degree what the Republican Party at the time had been representing. So people desiring change I think went as far from the administration that is presently seated as they could. It’s amazing that we did as well as we did.
Sarah Palin is absolutely, 100% spot on. But what this points to is not so much a glorious revelation that Sarah Palin just had. This is showing the complete madness going on in the GOP. And this is Sarah Palin distancing herself from the GOP a bit, maybe for a 2012 presidential race? I don’t know how thats going to work out. But in the end, she has to be careful, cause she is biting the hand she will need to be fed from in 2012. Can anyone say Bobby Jindal?
Being a technologically adept person, I believe that technology, no matter the field, is what drives us. It constantly pushes the envelope, and it allows us to evolve. Nothing makes me happier than to see a President who feels the same way. Junauzu.com gathered a bunch of Obama quotes on technology and how he will use it to drive this nation forward.
The historic U.S. Presidential election has come to an end with Barack Obama emerging victorious against John McCain. Obama will become the forty-fourth President of the United States and the first African-American to be elected for the highest office.
Some of my tech savvy readers are probably wondering how will Obama utilize technology to help improve the U.S. and world economy. That is why I’m going to share to you some of Barack Obama’s tech related quotes to learn more about his plans. I also included links to the quotes’ sources. Enjoy!
“To restore America’s competitiveness, we must recruit a new generation of science and technology leaders by investing in diversity.” SOURCE
“Together, we could open up government and invite citizens in, while connecting all of America to 21st century broadband. We could use technology to help achieve universal health care, to reach for a clean energy future, and to ensure that young Americans can compete — and win — in the global economy…” SOURCE
“I will recruit new teachers and make new investments in rural schools, we’ll connect all of America to 21st century technology and telecommunications.” SOURCE
“We are a land of moon shots and miracles of science and technology that have touched the lives of millions across the planet.” SOURCE
“As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power.” SOURCE
“Ensuring that the US continues to lead the world in science and technology will be a central priority for my administration.” SOURCE
“I’ll change the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology.” SOURCE
“We will fire government managers who aren’t getting results, we will cut funding for programs that are wasting your money, we will use technology and lessons from the private sector to improve efficiency across every level of government.” SOURCE
Obama said the nation needs to invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and clean coal technology “so the use of coal does not degrade our environment. We can do that if we are investing in the technology, the research and the development.” SOURCE
“We must adapt and make tradeoffs among systems originally designed for the Cold War and those required for current and future challenges. We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, to systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft–which may not be glamorous to politicians, but are the backbone of our future ability to extend global power.” SOURCE
Obama said if elected his government would “harness technology to confront the biggest challenges that America faces”. SOURCE
Pointing to President Kennedy’s challenge to put a man on the moon, Mr. Obama said: “I will set big goals for this country as president – some so large that the technology to reach them does not yet exist.” SOURCE
Kick ass. He is doing what I did with my mom when I bought her a Mac, dragging this nation kicking and screaming in to the 21st century.
I could go on and on about what a waste of genetic material Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher truly is. But if I did, this blog would turn in to an 8 page dicertatcion with a bibliography and a table of contents with fancy roman numerals. Joe Wurzelbacher is a liar and a fraud. Yet John McCain has thrust this man in to the public spotlight, thinking he is an accurate representation of the middle class.
First of all, “Joe The Plumber” is not even a Joe. He is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. He is NOT a certified plumber. He does not have enough money to buy a pack of tropical Mentos much less a plumbing business that makes $250,000 a year (actually it makes less than $250,000 a year). And If he were telling the truth (which he obviously wasn’t), he might actually BENEFIT from Obama’s tax plan. But it seems as though he chose not to hear that part.
He has recently gone rogue by agreeing with another lunatic that “a vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel.” Are these people asking this moron POLICY QUESTIONS? And is he agreeing to this outright, obvious lie? Hell even FOX News had to back pedal from Wurzelbacher, that was too rich for them. Does his last name sound familiar? Yep it’s the same as the son-in-law of Charles Keating…from the Keating Five. You would think John McCain wouldn’t want people googling this guy and finding this instead.
So now, Joe Wurzelbacher has become a beast that cannot be fed. He is at every campaign rally, he is being asked policy questions, and is being paraded as the “symbol for the working man”. Yep, the symbol for the working man just hired a publicist, is working out the details for a country music album, and is considering a run for congressman. Oh, and they offered him a book deal. I honestly don’t know how he is going to fill up one chapter, much less ten. I bet it’ll have a lot of pictures.
It almost amazes me as to how dumb John McCain thinks we are by making an example this moron. Like we need an example of what a working class person looks like. Trust me Senator, I know what a working class person is like. If I need an example I’ll just walk outside and look at the woman who raised me, who supported a family of four by herself through thick and thin. A woman who worked her ass off to make sure I had a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and a school to go to every day.
Joe Wurzelbacher is not a great man. He is not a great example of a working class citizen. In the end, say what you will about Wurzelbacher, he is a pawn of the McCain campaign. From the second he approached Barack Obama in that crowd, thats what he became. He was a target of opportunity for the McCain campaign to capitalize on. But the magnifying glass of the media always digs up the truth, and this is no exception. “Joe The Plumber” is more evidence of the McCain campaign clinging to straws in current. Peace Out.
- Jorge “The Blogger Who’s Sick Of Joe The Plumber”
Brand new McCain ad...try not to stare it makes my brain hurt.
Being raised by my very Cuban family, and living in Miami, FL, has made me very knowledgable about Cuban history and life before la Revolución. It seems as though I always hear about how Cuba, pre-Castro was a utopia, where everything was better than America, and life was good. And trust me, I can believe it. You can see it in the faces of the people, family members, who lived there.
Seeing that Miami, FL is so saturated in Cuban culture, our poltics always have that “Cuban additive” in them. Candidates down here find themselves facing a slew of questions about their policy on the Cuban embargo, and what they plan to do about the regime. Try going north of Orlando and see if anyone cares.
Lately, one major comparison down here is that “People in Cuba wanted ‘Change’ and look what happened.” Castro led a military revolution to over throw Fulgencio Batista. He promised to hold elections and never did. He proclaimed to his people that if they even looked upon him poorly, he would relinquish power and leave peacefully. Fidel Castro was never an elected official. He is a MURDERER, a TYRANT, and a COMMUNIST.
Hmm, doesn’t seem like what’s going on here at all. I don’t see Barack Obama charging his forces through the streets. This is still a nation, with checks and balances and a constitution. Refer to my past post on Barack Obama and Socialism for more differences. And lets try to keep these asinine comparisons to dictators and tyrants to a minimum. Peace Out.
Last night on Meet the Press (R.I.P Tim Russert) Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. If you sit quietly, you can still hear McCain cursing. Colin Powell is without a doubt one of my favorite, if not my most favorite Republicans. The man is one of the most effective and intelligent generals that has ever served this nation, he is a statesman, and in my opinion a true patriot, and someday even a great president. I even did my first book report in the sixth grade on his biography. However, what struck me the most is why he endorsed Barack Obama.
Powell sees Obama as a “transformational figure” and a “new generation coming onto the world stage…”. I couldn’t agree more. But most importantly of all, he addressed my major concern (and one of my major reasons) for not voting for John McCain. Here is a quick excerpt from the CNN article I found.
Powell said he was concerned about what he characterized as a recent negative turn of Republican candidate Sen. John McCain’s campaign, such as the campaign’s attempts to tie Obama to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.
“I think that’s inappropriate. I understand what politics is about — I know how you can go after one another, and that’s good. But I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It’s not what the American people are looking for,” he said.
100% spot on.
Could this be the final nail in the coffin for the McCain/Palin campaign? Who knows? There is still plenty of time left, and frankly anything can happen. All I know is that the amount of respect I have for Colin Powell, and the fact that he has endorsed Barack Obama for the correct reasons will serve to reinforce the decision some have made to support him, and will cause others to re-think their decisions to support John McCain.
Check out my friend Raul’s new video about about what goes on behind the scenes in the Oval Office. It’s quite long, but it’s excellent. Commit to it I promise. Anyway, I am taking a day off today, I am all blogged out. Enjoy the vid and have a great Thursday!
I could say everything that is wrong with Sarah Plain’s comments today about Bill Ayer’s relationship with Obama. Or I can let Keith Olbermann dispense his awesomeness. Click here to check it out.
Recently, the bitter partisanship in Washington, among other factors, caused me to lose the little faith I had in our government and the people that we have appointed to run it, on both sides. However, I did however, keep the faith that this bitter partisanship had not trickled down to the common man.
Sadly, I was wrong.
This weekend I ran in to a Republican who fit the idea the people have about the Republican party so well. This person is one of those people who love to impose their beliefs on you, constantly. I would describe it more as a fanatical, militant loyalty rather than a political party affiliation. If you don’t believe what they believe then, well you’re stupid, you’re wrong and you’re “lost”. For all the partisan bitterness, there was little substance. Fortunately I kept my cool and I refrained from laying my political smack down. Because whenever you encounter one of these “blind followers” of any political party you have to keep in mind that you can never argue with ignorance and expect to win.
But I wanted to let you know that just because there are some complete morons like the one described above, there are others that are quite the opposite. I also spoke to an couple of intelligent Republican this weekend, who are respectful, well spoken, and make great points that as an independent make me think. At the same time they are receptive and open minded, not confrontational at all. I just wanted to share a few thoughts and make a point. There will be some people who follow blindly, for whatever reason, and close their minds to everyone and everything else. Those people are called SHEEP.
Whoever you follow, Democrats, Republicans, Independents… be open minded, and be educated on all the issues, and all the sides. But most importantly, I find that I learn the most from those who disagree with me, more than those who do. I think if we all kept that in mind political discourse in this country would be much more productive.
Oh, and don’t be a douche bag. That too. Peace Out!
I was watching the news and caught John McCain’s address at a rally in Missouri today. Aside from the usual comments about the dire situation of our economy and what he is going to do, he started making points about unity and bipartisanship. I was a bit surprised considering that this part of his speech was normally used to blame Obama for the failing economy, the bickering congress, and his back pain. But not today apparently. He actually…didn’t sound like the partisan d-bag he normally comes off as. I definitely think that parachuting in the Bailout situation and then seeing it not get passed, by his own party, has sort of humbled his approach a bit. I guess we will see if this lasts or not.
I want to make somethings clear, especially now that I have gotten a chance to cool down from my patriotic, panic driven, stock tumbling meltdown I had this afternoon. When I said that I would not vote Republican, I sincerely meant it. Do the Democrats have some blame in this? Absolutely. I think both sides are to blame in the big picture of this economic crisis. But in regards to today, the Republicans have dropped the ball for no good reason what-so-ever. At a time when President Bush, Democrat, and Republican leadership were UNITED under the idea that this plan is nasty and dirty but EXTREMELY necessary to ensure that people keep their money and stay in there homes. I mean thats the point of this. This Bailout Bill is more of a rescue bill. Rescuing us from a second Great Depression.
I promise you, what has happened today is inexcusable. Politicians in this country have given in to this partisanship hatred. Because thats what it is, it’s hatred. You can see it too, you can see it in their faces, in their eyes. You can see it in John McCain’s face when he was debating Barack Obama the other night. This hatred only causes problems, not solutions. The reason the DOW fell 777 points today is because Republican Party voted with partisanship in mind. Check this video out for a second, and see what I mean:
I think this speaks for itself. So I will move on…
I was writing a blog this morning, preparing to endorse a candidate for President, somthing that I have been putting off for a while, because I think it’s around times like these where politicians show their true colors a bit. Usually closer to election time, candidates have debated a few times, and I can more or less feel them out. Well I am done deciding. I am an Independent voter supporting Barack Obama for President. By no means am I endorsing or registering as a Democrat, I like being an Independent, it gives me leeway to slam both parties. But I strongly believe Barack Obama is the lesser of two evils. I believe that the partisan hate is weak in him, I believe in the man, and I agree with most of his positions on the issues (minus of course his stance on Abortion for reasons of my faith). In a time like this we need to raise taxes to the rich and corporations, we need to enter a “take in more, spend less” mind set when it comes to government funding and spending. So there you have it. Peace Out.
Interesting article on CNN Money yesterday. At a time when the government is using tax payer money to bailout large institutions, it’s strange we haven’t been hearing from the angry tax payer more. I mean should we just let AIG, and companies like Bear Sterns and Fannie & Freddie fall? I don’t know. As it seems, they did sort of get themselves into this. But at the same time the massive impact of these companies falling on our economy would be…well catastrophic. Love him or hate him, Jim Cramer made a very good point on his show Friday. We don’t know how close we came to a very terrible situation.
Yes, using our tax dollars to bailout companies for bad, risky decisions they chose to make sucks. But in the end, we need to weigh the need. These companies made very poor choices at a time where the market was doing great, and now it has chomped down on their ass. But the impact would be so much greater if they let them fall. It’s definitely a rock and a hard place situation. The $700 Billion bailout plan being pushed through congress seems like a step in the right direction (be it a step in the right direction with tax payer money). However, I agree with Sen. John McCain, this situation requires independent, bipartisan oversight. Secretary Paulson is doing a good job trying to stabilize the market, but thats a lot of money, and the more experts involved the better.
It seems to me that Barack Obama is loosing the boost he had. Ever since his fiery, historic Denver DNC speech, Barack Obama has seemed a bit boring. He used to have these really swift, well delivered responses to everything. But now, when he isn’t going on and on about something, he gets that look on his face like the Republicans are getting to him. The Democrats are epically well known for loosing elections. Barack Obama needs to do what Bill Clinton did and start going to the mattresses. Go out there and win it, the stage for a Democratic victory in this election is set. The country is reeling from the disaster of the Bush Administration and the “Bush Congress”.
I am not saying that McCain is getting a boost where Barack is faltering. John McCain is seemingly doing well because most of the Republican party drank the Sarah Palin Kool-Aid and are now making her look like the next best thing since The Beatles. There is a perfect reason why John McCain is not campaigning without her for very long. She brings crowds, she riles up the base. Something that he can’t do by himself. Let me not talk about Sarah Palin anymore, I don’t want to be accused of sexism and then forced to apologize by John McCain.
Barack Obama needs to seize this election once more. Hopefully he will find his second wind quickly, other wise, this will be a red election once again.
As I was doing my morning blog sweep, I noticed a few stories where it seems all the McCain campaign is doing is just, as Stephen Colbert puts it, wagging the finger at the Democrats. First off, here is Barack Obama addressing the Republicans new “campaign for change” from the CNN article:
Obama made the remarks at a Virginia campaign stop late Tuesday afternoon. “John McCain says he’s about change too, and so I guess his whole angle is, ‘Watch out George Bush – except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics – we’re really gonna shake things up in Washington,’” Obama said.
“That’s not change. That’s just calling something the same thing something different. You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You know you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it’s still going to stink after eight years. We’ve had enough of the same old thing.”
Apparently John McCain didn’t like this, saying it was an attack against Sarah Palin, who said in her acceptance speech that:
“You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”
Oh boo friggin’ hoo. If you want to strech Obama’s remarks completely out of context and say that it was an attack against Sarah Palin, then she deserved it. Cause that’s a stupid Sarah Palin quote and I am sick of hearing it. It’s up there with the Bridge to Nowhere quote and her dumb crack at community organizers. But alas, his comment is merely referring to the fact that the Republicans can call their policies whatever they want, but in the end it’s the same. It’s a pretty popular phrase… you know put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. It’s pretty obvious that when the Republicans dish out the attacks, that’s fine. But if you retaliate…you better watch out, cause they’ll run crying to the media calling foul.
Now, here comes Joe Biden, his argument is that if you support helping children with disabilities then, logically, you should support Stem Cell research. I mean, it’s a fair argument, seeing as not only do the Democrats support Stem Cell research, so does John McCain. Joe Biden said:
”I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy … and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect.” He went on to say: ”Well, guess what, folks? If you care about it, why don’t you support stem cell research?”
Uh Oh. He is just arguing the issues right? Apparently McCain/Palin doesn’t agree. His campaign said Joe Biden “sunk to a new low”. David Wade, a spokesman for Joe Biden put it this way…
“This is a clash of policies, not a clash of personalities,” Wade said. “We’ve heard not a dime’s worth of difference between the McCain-Palin ticket and the Bush administration on medical breakthroughs that millions of parents and doctors believe could save lives and transform the quality of life for countless Americans.”
The McCain/Palin ticket is being the whiny kid on the playground who punches you in the face when the teacher is not looking. You are fighting the political battle for the highest position in the United States government. Strap on a helmet, and grow a shell. Speak about the issues, and stop making up controversy.
So according to the CERN August 7, 2008 press release, LHC’s launch date is this Wednesday, September 10th. I think if this go dangerously south, and the very thinkable happens, it’ll feel much like the series finale of the Sopranos felt. Journey will stop suddenly and it’ll all go black…because usually thats the color of black holes. So, with the possible destruction of everything we know possibly hanging in the balance, I want to get a few things off my chest:
First of all, Mom, thanks for being an awesome mom, and for always being there, standing up for me when Dad didn’t want to help paying for anything, and molding me in to the productive young professional I recently became. I really don’t hate your dog leelou. I find her stupidity and random behavior sort of entertaining. If she were gone I’d be slightly sad.
Dad, when I told you some guy rear-ended me at Taco Bell and sped off, that wasn’t true. I rear-ended a brick mailbox trying to do a three-point turn to get around a family of ducks crossing the street.
To the girl who sings at church, I don’t know your name. But you are very pretty and every once in a while I see you on the way out and have wanted to say hi (or anything similar to that) but your beauty coupled with my complete nature to be a spaz has led me otherwise. My friends yell at me every single time I don’t say anything. Maybe after Wednesday, if the world doesn’t ignite into a large fireball I might just say hello.
To my cat Pierre, I am sorry I didn’t name you something cooler. You know how mom is with naming animals. Your smug, arrogant demeanor is entertaining and you are a very nice pet. Though I was the one who…wait why am I typing this to my cat, he can’t read much less log on to the Internet.
I think America Ferrara is hot. Some people have criticized me for this however I am sticking to my guns. So is Laura Bush…
I’ve told a few people that I love the Will Arnett movie “Let’s Go To Prison”. That was a lie. I think Will Arnett is the man, thought that movie wasn’t so great. I just tell people that so they buy it like I did to support the awesomeness that is Will Arnett.
I’ve watched Bad Boys II maybe 50 or 60 times. Each time is better than the last.
In my opinion, the best videogame ever made is NOT GTAIV or Halo but True Lies for the SNES.
And lastly, when I switched over to my iPhone, it made me miss my blackberry…a little bit.
We are now about to begin the final day of the Republican National Convention. Last night, Sarah Palin delivered a very well received speech, heavy with attacks against Obama. Post-speech, The GOP is singing this woman’s praises. This falls in line with that shiny new Republican message of bipartisanship and hugs & kisses. “We are the Republican Party, we care…want a hug?” The RNC has done a pretty good job so far at uniting the base, and the Palin speech was by far the most poignant. Here is a sort of highlight reel, I can’t find the full version in one video. If anyone else has it, post it as a comment below and I’ll update it.
I have been taking a few shots at Governor Palin lately so I am going to go ahead and say some nice things, take notice it may not happen again. I think she speaks very well and did a fantastic job getting a large group of her voters in the mood for some votin’. Her speech, though heavy on the attacks against Obama and Biden, was still nicely delivered. Though I do think it lacked on key issues and focused more on her being a “hockey mom”, trying to relate to the people on their level. I think Joe Biden made a great point in his response.
“…I was also impressed by what I didn’t hear in the speech. I didn’t hear the word-the phrase-”middle class” mentioned. I didn’t hear about health care. I didn’t hear a single word about what we’re going to do about the housing crisis-college education-all the things that the middle class is being burdened with right now.”
Another thing I am not hearing from the RNC speeches as a whole is “Bush”. The RNC is doing the right thing in setting Bush out as an island unto himself. There is no doubt that George Bush will go down in history as a very disliked president. And if John McCain, who has a 90% voting record in favor of Bush policies, wants to win this election, he is going to need to make clear that what he wants to do, and what he stands for is contrary to the last 8 years. Who knows, it may be too little too late. The damage the Bush Administration caused to the GOP’s favor and reputation may be irreparable. McCain maybe swimming up stream in a hurricane on this one and with Sarah Palin, a woman who some think is unfit for the position, who is surrounded in controversy, is just an additional weight holding him down. The Republican party I think was a bit blind sided by this choice. The Republicans are uniting together under this woman, as if they keep telling themselves that she is qualified over and over again, it might actually come true. ”What she advocates abstinence an no sex education and her daughter got pregnant at 17? No, No, No, she’s qualified!” Sarah Palin can do no wrong. No matter what she does or says the Republicans will spin it as a plus. All I know is if Obama or Biden had a 17 year old daughter who was pregnant out of wedlock, the GOP would have skewered them. Obama showed class for not coming down on Sarah Palin for all of this, knowing full well he would have never been extended the same courtesy. The new Republican message is more a double standard than everything else. So far the message at RNC has been littered with partisan bickering and insults. The Dems are holding back, but I don’t know how much longer Biden can go without fighting back in his own way. It will be an interesting election, lets see how this goes.
This recent announcement of Sarah Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy will be some more fuel against Sarah Palin and the McCain Campaign. A McCain aid announced that the Senator knew about this before he chose her, and honestly I think he did the right thing in not letting this be a disqualifying factor. The Palins’ statement was a great one, communicating love and support for their daughter.
“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support. Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”
I hope the Democrats don’t use this as fodder for their attacks. I respect Barack Obama for making a statement about how this shouldn’t be an issue in this election. Much like the mob, in politics I think the family is off limits. This is definitely a private matter for her and her family to deal with themselves, however this brings up some logical points that the democrats will argue.
First of all, if she cannot effectively run her house hold, how can she run a nation? I am sure the Dems are going to come after her with that. A vice presidential candidate chosen largely on her social conservatism, her family values, now has to deal with something that is contrary to that. Now most Democrats won’t dare go there. But as we know, being an asshole is something that transcends party lines. A few people will go there, and WHEN they get there, it will become a valid point.
Secondly, knowing what she knew. Knowing the large amount of public scrutiny that would befall not only her 17 year old daughter, but her family as a whole, why would Gov. Palin agree to this? We all know the media, in their need to report the facts, can more or less tear anyone to shreds. Accepting this type of nomination puts you in a position where every single thing you do and say will be scrutinized and examined. Do I think Sarah Palin and her family can weather the media storm for the duration of this election? I definitely think she can. If her statement is a reflection of her and her husband then yes.
The bad thing about being touted as “socially conservative” is that if even the slightest thing happens contrary to that, well the world ends. But I don’t think it would be fair of any democrat to come after her too harshly for this. People make mistakes, no matter how great your parents may be. Bristol Palin had a lapse in judgement that led to this. If Sarah and Todd Palin treated this in a negative, harsh way it would be far worse. This whole situation, just as it can be spun negatively, can also be spun positively. She and her husband are treating this as two parents who love their kid no matter what, and that I think is highly commendable. I definitely think choosing Sarah Palin was a bad choice. But it was a bad choice for political reasons…not personal. If we are going to criticize John McCain’s choice, do so using her political record, not her personal one.
As you no doubt have heard, John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Where some believe this is a bad choice, an inexperienced first term Governor next in line to an old, cancer prone preside, others think John McCain is “thinking out of the box”. I think that if John McCain wanted to be considered an exterior box thinker, he’d have picked one of these people…
Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime, promoting his movie Transformers
Optimus Prime would have been an excellent choice as Vice President. Not only would he single-handedly clinch the niche group of comic book reading voters, but he would bring a strong presence to his campaign. Optimus Prime has great foreign policy and military experience from battling the Decepticons for the all-spark for so long. Now that Shia LeBouf is safe and the all-spark is destroyed he can focus on a political career.
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Another person John McCain should have considered is Christopher Walken. If one were to speculate why McCain would pick Christopher Walken, the main reason would be “because he is Christopher Walken, that’s why”. Does he have any foreign policy experience? Yes. He is Christopher Walken. Would he be fit to run this nation in a time of crisis? Again, yes. And we all know why.
Walter Sobchak
Walter Sobchak not standing for aggression
A great candidate for the GOP’s VP spot is Walter Sobchak. Walter is not only a party loyal, but also appeals to Jewish voters because among other things, he doesn’t roll on Shabbas. Walter would bring a plethora of military experience to a ticket with plenty of it. However, his no nonsense approach to…more or less everything would have made him a valuable addition to the McCain campaign.
Willford Brimley
Wilford Brimley, staring in to what he calls "the picture taker"
Wilford Brimely would have been a far better choice for VP than perhaps anyone else on this list. Mr. Brimley is not only a well-known Republican and a famed actor but he is a major health care advocate. As you may have noticed, Mr. Brimely has been speaking publically about a new disease called “diabeetus”. Though little is know about this mysterious illness, Mr. Brimley has worked hard to let people know that “If you call Liberty Medical, you can live a normal life.” His nomination would bring much relief to those who think that the GOP ticket needs more of a boost in the health care department.
Sarah Connor
Sarah Connor
Personally if I were John McCain, and I wanted to appeal to female voters, I would have definitely chosen Sarah Connor over Sarah Palin. This Sarah is not only a good mother, but she brings a lot of sound judgement and military experience to the ticket. In the event that highly advanced cybernetic robots travel back in time to attack this nation, Sarah Connor will be ready. Having her as Vice President would definitely raise the American people’s awareness of robotic soldiers from the future, something that in an age of ever evolving technology is VERY important.
As you can see, these are just a few people who would bring more support to an unstable GOP ticket. Where Sarah Palin makes up for in personality and presence, she lacks more or less in everything else. I am sure there are many more candidates who would bring more to the table. Until next time…
John McCain shook the ground by announcing Governor Sarah Pailin as his VP choice. On the surface, Gov. Palin seems like a great choice. She is a hard working person, a great mother and wife to a great family. She is very attractive, confident, and well spoken. But as one delves deeper in to her record and experience, you find that her experience is greatly lacking. And serving under a president who not only is old but has had a long track record with cancer, I can’t possibly believe that she would be qualified to be President of the United States should the unthinkable happen.
Governor Palin is a first-term governor of the state of Alaska. Before that she was the mayor of a town of about 7,000 people. Alaska itself isn’t the most populated of states. And though her track record as governor is I guess acceptable (if I hear “The Bridge To Nowhere” nonsense one more time I might snap) but is it enough? Remember, should John McCain not be able to serve his term, Palin would be responsible for something MUCH bigger than just the state of Alaska. Honestly, I think after her appointment, the GOP shouldn’t be allowed to bring up Obama’s lack of experience anymore. Obama may lack experience as well, however he has not only earned his party’s nomination despite that, he also appointed Sen. Joe Biden, someone who brings a lot of experience in many different areas to the Democratic ticket.
However, Sarah Palin isn’t the problem here at all. The problem is John McCain himself. What does this say about John McCain’s judgement. All of his banners read “Country Comes First” however, this isn’t putting the country first at all. John McCain is 72 years old, and he has had to battle cancer four times. In our histroy 8 presidents have died in office, 4 from assassination, and 4 from illness, making this an unfortunate possibility for any president. John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin after one or two meetings. She is obviously quite in experienced to be so close to the presidency. If the VP were elected by the party I wouldn’t be saying this because, you know, the people have spoken. But this is McCain’s choice, and his choice alone. I am surprised more members of his party are not concerned. He passed over great choices like Tom Ridge, Mitt Romney, Joe Lieberman (a Democratic defector), and Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Senator and most importantly a woman. If John McCain thought that he was going to steal some Hillary supporters with Sarah Pailin, he is wrong. Palin is too socially conservative for Hillary supporters to even consider becoming “McCainocrats”. In the end, Sarah Palin is a first term governor who lacks experience, more so than Barack Obama. I think this decision reflects poorly on not only John McCain, but on the GOP as well. A political party who has had a rough couple of years. I guess time will tell, but speaking as an American voter, I can’t see myself voting for John McCain.
Yeah, he kicked ass. He started off a bit weak but ended very strong. You gotta hand it to the guy, he knows how to draw a crowd. Barack Obama has successfully out campaigned McCain and the GOP over and over again. A, 70,000+ crowd is proof that the GOP is failing badly in communicating a message. The new Democratic catch phrase is that “John McCain is more the same.” If I were John McCain I would go all out argueing the opposite. The GOP is in a delicate position right now that I am not sure they can get out of. George W. Bush has single handedly run the GOP straight in to the ground. There is a great article in most recent issue of Rolling Stone that details the “downfall”. I found the article online here. Whether you’re a democrat, republican or neither, those are facts that at this point and time, you can’t refute. Either way, Obama is taking advantage of the MASSIVE public disappointment in the GOP, and if he keeps going the way he is going, he’ll be sleeping in the White House in no time. Anyway here is the speech…
I was at Jiu-Jitsu for most of the night, but I made it home just in time to catch the rear end of Bill’s speech, and of course all of Joe’s. I did catch the highlights of Bill’s speech though. It was nice to see Bill finally bury the hatchet and try to unite the party. He had to eat some words sure, but in the end I think he learned a valuable lesson. Bill needs to deal with the fact Hillary lost, deal with the fact that Obama didn’t ask him for advice, and try to unite a party he effectively divided. Of course, he did an excellent job.
But I think the star of the night was Joe Biden. He delivered a poigniant speech, and went after John McCain like a hungry dog haha. But all in all, it shows that Joe Biden is damn good guy. Here is his speech in it’s entirety I believe. I can’t verify it now, I am in the FIU Library. If I play this I will get dirty looks. Here is Joe’s Speech…
And here is Bill’s
All in all I think it was an important night for the Dems. The GOP is still reeling from the mess George Bush has created, and they are absolutely, 100% at their most vulnerable.
You know Hillary Clinton has always bothered me. She always came off as snobby and self righteous. “Oh look at me I am a woman running for president.”But I have to admit she rocked it last night. Maybe it was her finally coming to terms with defeat, or maybe it was the DNC telling her to “shut up and be nice” but I think she finally calmed her constituency and got them all behind Obama. I think one of two things is happening as we speak. Either the Dems are realizing that they need to cut this drama out and unite because the GOP is weak and the time is right, OR, the GOP is SO weak that it doesn’t matter what the Dems do, they’ll win anyway. I guess we’ll see. Anyway good for you Hill! I am glad to see you are using your attitude and sass for good instead of evil.
So, in case you have been living under a rock for the past 3 days, Obama chose Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. Well as I was still indecisive in making a choice, so I was looking in to Senator Biden and I found this article. The articles shows Biden’s voting record on issues such as peer-to-peer networks and is very anti-encryption. Gizmodo sums his record up nicely…
“He asked Congress to spend $1 billion to monitor peer-to-peer activity. (In fairness, much of this is to prevent child pornography, but the tactic is apparently a little blunt.)
Two Biden bills have been explicitly anti-encryption, because you know, encryption makes it hard for the FBI to read people’s e-mails.
He has expressed support for internet taxes and internet filtering in schools and libraries.
The RIAA seems to be one of his best buddies: Biden sponsored a bill that would restrict recording of songs from satellite and net radio, and another one that would make it a felony to “trick” a computer into playing back unauthorized songs or running bootlegged videogames. That latter one died when Verizon, Microsoft, Apple, eBay and Yahoo all argued against it.
Biden was one of just four senators invited to attend a celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA’s Jack Valenti and the RIAA’s Hillary Rosen, two of American file-sharer’s most wanted.
When he was asked in 2006 about proposing net-neutrality laws, he said there was no need, since any bit-filtering violations would provoke such a huge public ruckus they’d have to hold congressional hearings anyway–and they’d be standing-room only. (Wonder if Biden reads Gizmodo.) [CNet]“
So as of right now, as a staunch supporter of net neutrality and the such, I don’t think I can give Barack Obama my full support. Though I believe the man wants to change things, and though he is a supporter of net neutrality, I think his choice of Joe Biden as Vice-President is not a sound one. I think in an age where the internet plays such a big part in our lives, Senator Biden would do nothing but hinder it.
Here is John McCain’s new ad on YouTube. It’s an Internet only add and it’s been pretty popular because it sort of, almost, in a way, kind of, implies that Obama may be the Anti-Christ. I’ll give you a moment to process.
Now, some think that this is John McCain putting fear in to the right wing Christians who he has lost touch with. So he ripped a couple of pages out of “Left Behind” and went to work. Frankly, I think most educated Christians know that Obama is obviously not the anti-Christ. Biblically speaking there is just a lot of prophecy and interpretation behind this. Actually, the very fact that they are implying he is the anti-Christ kind of negates the possibility. John McCain needs to focus on attacking the issues and not the character. This anti-Christ business is just, I think, McCain trying his hardest to get the Republican Christian constituency, a group of people who are sort of at odds with him, in his corner. Either way, I believe the best think Obama can do is play this off as a joke. It wouldn’t be too hard.
It should come as no surprise that yet another [Democratic] politician has been found swimming in the pool of infidelity. Sure, we weren’t surprised when they found evidence linking Eliot Spitzer to a hooker (a $6,000 an hour hooker at that). But the nations jaws dropped to the floor the other day when John Edwards publicly admitted to cheating on his wife after the Enquirer left him no other option. Everyone was singing this guys praises. “Oh John Edwards is great!” “Oh John Edwards will lead this country in the right direction!” “John Edwards is a good man who stood by his wife when she was sick!” Even my mother drank the John Edwards Kool Aid, but not I. I seem to think that most politicians have this ability to be a scum bag, and John Edwards was no exception. Something just didn’t seem right with him. He looked like a guilty guy trying to not be guilty you know? So the story broke finally after CNN, NBC, and the Times had no choice but to stop ignoring the obvious and run the story. FOX News woke Bill O’Reilly up from his coffin to do a special edition of “The Factor” and it all went from there.
See John Edwards’ situation is no where near what Bill Clinton’s was. Clinton had an affair yes, but he had it (and lied about it) while he was in the White House. The American people surprisingly are cool with that sort of thing going on in the Oval Office. And Bill Clinton did have plenty of time to make up for it, you know by actually doing presidential stuff. But John Edwards royally screwed up. He cheated on his wife, who has cancer. At the time of the incident I believe she was still healthy but the American people won’t listen to that. He cheated on his sick wife, with a woman he met at a bar and later hired for his campaign. He paid her $112,000 per year regardless of the fact the woman wasn’t capable of any skill worth that salary. And he then ran for President, knowing full well what he had done, and the fact that if word got out of what he had done it would have sent the Democratic party in to complete, Mad Max type chaos. I you know, I am not really that upset over the whole cheating on his sick wife thing. That’s between him, his wife, and God. What I am upset about is that he paid her that much money for well sex basically. Those are campaign funds given to you by your constituency, a sort of symbol of trust. He betrayed his people by doing this. Not only that but Obama dodged a HUGE bullet in this situation, seeing as rumblings about John Edwards being named VP or Secretary of Justice in his administration. Either way the man’s political career (if only that) is over.
I was browsing the CNN home page today in between projects at work and I noticed this rather unsettling, yet understandable story. Turns out rich people are investing and spending much more conservatively than before out economy tanked. Despite a 1.9% growth [Source: About.com] in GDP from last quarter’s .9%. This technically means we are NOT in a recession. Though if you ask my mom we are…cause well, she is not a big fan of the truth. People are still feeling the slowing economy. And by people…I mean all people, the rich included. And though one may not feel bad for them, seeing as us regular folk are living paycheck to paycheck while they live the high life, that shouldn’t be the case. Most of their investments are riding on a shaky and unpredictable market, while the luxuries they have indulged in, such as exotic cars and boats are becoming unsellable due to the fact that gas prices are high. This coupled with a depressing housing market leaves a lot of people with little to no liquidity. The rich are adapting to the changing economy much like we are, by conserving energy, reducing spending and investing, buying and driving hybrid vehicles. Seriously, it’s actually cooler to have a Toyota Prius than a Lamborghini Gallardo (I still think they’re cool). I definitely think that after the elections in November, we will have a little relief. The uncertainty of who will be President usually brings a bit of turmoil to the markets. Gas is also adjusting a bit to demand fears, dropping $4.22 today [Source CNNMoney.com]. So in the end it seems that we are all in this together. Who knows, it may get better or it may get worse before it’s over.
A former high school history teacher of mine started posting some stuff on Facebook about how Obama was sounding a lot like Hitler. For a woman who took “History of the Holocaust” so seriously, she is pretty quick to compare a tyrant who wiped six million people off the planet to a guy running for president of the United States. I didn’t post a reply, though I must admit I had to fight the urge. Yes, Obama is a bit sure of himself, and his trip to Europe and the Middle East was more for the campaign and the headlines than anything else but any comparison to Hitler’s rise to power is a bit far out there. We aren’t in post WWI Germany where Hitler wooed the German people who were starving because their country was destroyed after the war. I don’t know, I just fail to see the link between the two. That’s the same thing about Obama being a terrorist. Come on, really? A terrorist?
Look, I am not solely defending this guy, if this were John McCain or any other candidate, I would be saying the same thing. I have made my feelings on partisanship very clear. I am sure neither of these guys are planning some scheme for world domination or a mass genocide. Personally I think you have to be a profoundly evil guy to be compared to Hitler, and comparing a presidential candidate to a ruthless tyrant sounds like partisan hatred to me. So just because he doesn’t share your ideas means their Hitler? Wow…come to think of it that whole idea reminds me of someone…hmmmm.
This one is a bit late. I had a pretty busy weekend and neglected my laptop for a few days. Anyway, I woke up on Saturday with a CNN Breaking News text in my inbox regarding this. Tony Snow’s passing is definitely a rough one. In times where harsh media reporting took part against both sides, Tony Snow always maintained a level headed appraoch to the issue at hand. He was honest, objective and the embodiment of a true journalist.
I read this story this morning when I got to work. Turns out TSA agents are now using this new body scanner at some airports in the United States. It uses a technology that makes a 3D scan of your body. Along with detecting guns, knives, and the usual bomb, it can more or less see you naked.That’s just great. Lets go ahead and sacrifice the only shred of privacy that we have left when we travel. I think Ben Franklin put it best when he said that a person who sacrfices privacy for security, deserves neither. Plus I mean, my heart has to go out to Scarlett Johanson and Jessica Alba. They must travel frequently, and can now be oggled by 4 or 5 TSAs in a private room. Sure, they say that the machine doesn’t store images, and each person is processed right then and there but come on. You don’t think if a celebrity walks through his or her scan won’t end up somewhere on the Internet by the end of the day? What’s next, will we have to strip down to our boxers to walk through the metal detectors. I mean honestly, I understand what they are trying to do, and I try to comply with whatever they say (even when I have to explain to them that my Macbook Air is actually a laptop) because being a TSA is not easy. They are the first and sometimes only line of defense thats stand between us and some guy trying to light a fuse sticking out of his Nikes. In this day and age the Patriot Act rides on a thin line that seperates security for the sake of safety, and invaison of privacy. Whether you agree with the Patriot Act or you don’t, the line is clear. The day we Americans start giving away rights, such as the right to make sure that only people we allow can see us naked, for the sake of security we are done, becuase what else would we give up to feel secure?
So here are the random thoughts, ideas, and emotions running through my head.
I think Hillary needs to come to the fact that she lost. Right now she is just making herself look bad by not conceding defeat. I think it’s great that Barack Obama got the nomination. I think it’s a HUGE step in the right direction for this country and for the way we are perceived around the world. Hillary needs to realize what’s best for the country and not draw this out any further and maybe he’ll be less annoyed and consider her for VP.
In a couple of hours it’s going to be 5 days till the 3G iPhone comes out. On the outside, I am calm and collected. On the inside, I can barely contain myself. This is going to be a great product. I admire Steve Jobs. The guy is a business and marketing genius. Apple loves to ride the wave of massive hype all the way to a single moment. And what sets Apple apart from Microsoft, from Dell, from HP, is at the end of it all, whatever they release surpasses the hype that they create. It becomes such a revolutionary product, that it forces the industry to evolve.
My biggest fear in life is not being able to hear God. But I think sometimes, it’s not that God has stopped talking, it’s that I have stopped listening. I have tackled this issue here before, but I think it’s definitely more about being silent. Sometimes, we fill our lives with some many things, we take on so many decisions on our own, thinking we’ll be ok, then one day, when we do need God, we can’t hear Him over all the noise. Trusting God with every facet of your life is SO important. Making a little time to be silent today, will make things clearer for you tomorrow. That being said, trusting God with everything also includes your finances. Since I started working again, I have decided that it’s time my tithe reflected it. So come payday, I will be getting my tithe on.
I think I am over MySpace. I keep it, just basically to say I have it. I don’t get comments on it, I don’t feel like changing the way it looks, and I like to swap the song out once a month. Everyone I know is on Facebook. I like it better actually, it’s more mature. I can see myself being on Facebook forever, I might delete my MySpace after I am 35 or something.
Sorry, but I think I had to eventually. Plus it’s slow around the office so I have time to do write it all out. Before I go on, I want to make a couple of things clear about how I feel, that way you can get a better idea from where I am coming from. I am not affiliated with any party. I believe that political parties skew the fact that one should be voting for a candidate and for the good of the nation and not for the good of the Party. George Washington made a great point in his 1796 Farewell Address. Among other things, he warned against bitter partisanship, and urged men to turn away from division and serve the common good together. That being said, seeing as political parties have become a integral engine in our politcal system, and the fact the politcal candidates align themsleves to these parties based on what they believe, it can be hard to overlook them. Also, my personal and political beliefs are influenced by my faith in God. So when I choose a candidate, I keep my faith in the front of my mind. I completely ignore party affiliations. I look instead at each of the candidates themselves. Issue by issue, what do I agree with, what do I disagree with. Making that informed decision in line with what I feel and believe is important to me. Doing this helps me not only to know the beliefs of the candidate I decide to support, but also on those I don’t support. It all comes back to that informed decision. Cause instead of knowing where one candidate stands, I know where they all stand. And like I learned watching G.I. Joe, knowing is half the battle.
I think in this country, it’s particularly difficult to be a political candidate. Poltics have evolved in so many ways. The way it was done in the 1980’s and the 1990’s is so different than it is today. The Internet 2.0 revolution put a lot of power in everyones hands, not just prospective candidates for office. Look at this very blog for example. I, a lowley business major from Miami can reach anyone around the world basically when ever I want. I joke sometimes and say this is my little corner on the Internet but it’s true! So many YouTube videos and news stories go viral everyday and are seen by millions of people. With things like YouTube ushering in a “Video On Demand” era, everything is front of us for the taking. We have no excuse not to be informed. I can literally go from watching CNN on my TV, then get the streaming news feed on my laptop, and text and video updates on my iPhone. This carries over to campaigns as well, allowing candidates to reach people with the same effect the media can. The YouTube and MySpace debates were the first of their kind, full internet debates. This jump in technology has broadened the media’s reach.
However, the media particularly mainstream outlets, like CNN, MSNBC, etc., are not judging each candidate for their policies or beliefs. Instead these candidates are literally placed under a magnifying glass for their actions and past. Every thing that can be spun in a negative light is, and everything that can be taken out of context will be. A perfect example of this is the situation in which Barack Obama was criticized for not wearing the signature American Flag lapel pin. It seems as though this pin comes in the politician orientation kit (along with a coaster, a free t-shirt and a coupon for a medium, one topping pizza from Pizza Hut). The media billed him as unpatriotic for not clipping on the infamous pin that has adorned the lapel of every political figure since the invention of the camera. I, as a voter, and a person who loves this country, really couldn’t care less. I don’t think a man has to wear a pin to be considered a patriot or a good candidate. But the media, in its need to make nothing in to something, really leaned on the issue. So what happened? Next time we see the Senator, he is proudly wearing his lapel pin. I am sure he sleeps with it now too. Or how about when he called that reporter sweetheart? Come on really? In the context that he used it how is that sexual harassment? The nice elderly lady who I see on cash register #6 at Publix every week calls me sweetheart. Should I be offended? That’s the media again, taking nothing, and turning it into something to throw out there. What a great story it would be if a presidential candidate made a sexist comment? (I wish there was a font for sarcasm…)
Another thing is that I feel pretty bad for John McCain. He is without a doubt my favorite Republican. The man was a Navy pilot, who was shot down in combat, survived as a P.O.W., fought cancer and won 3 times, and is an accomplished Senator and family man. But I think McCain is being over shadowed and under appreciated for a few reasons. First, being more or less the official nominee for the Republican party, John McCain can now start campaigning against his Democratic competition. But sadly, he doesn’t know who that competition might be. And again, back to the media coverage. The battle between Obama and Clinton is taking up the media’s attention span. Even FOX News, a news channel that I would venture to say leans to the conservative end, put Obama and Hillary battles before anything McCain has to say. Secondly, when they do talk about McCain, it’s usually about how old he is. Ok, he is old. Big deal, obviously the man takes care of himself. He is in perfect health and willing and able to lead this nation. Get off it. There have been other old presidents too. Finally, I think that John McCain is campaigning for a party who has been the recipient of its fair share of controversy. Having voted Republican since I was able to vote, I am willing to admit, that the Bush Administration has made its fair share of mistakes, some larger than others. John McCain has to work hard to win over those people within his own party who have lost faith in the leadership. Which will be difficult.
Hillary Clinton scares me. Now, let me make something clear. The reason I don’t like Hillary Clinton is not because she is a woman. I am all for a woman president or an African American president. Either would definitely be a major step forward in our growth as a nation, it really would. But she comes off as calculated, it’s pretty obvious. Every time another candidate says or does something that makes the media go ballistic, there’s Hillary, five minutes later with her response, that is just dripping with this holier than thou smugness. I feel like she lacks sincerity, come on, at least fake it or something. Actually, she does fake it, and you can tell which is the worst part. Of course I know she is just playing the political game like everyone else, but she does it with this sick enjoyment. Great example of that here. Besides, if I were her, I would have stepped down with dignity a long time ago. Give it your all sure, but now what she is doing is diverting the country’s attention from the main event, a politcal debate from both sides of the aisle. She went from the determined candidate to the last person who just won’t leave after a party.
Anyway, I have been working on this for way to long, so I am going to wrap it up. Vote. Vote for someone YOU want. Don’t vote because you are loyal to any particular party, or because your mom told you who to vote for. Make that informed decision and I promise you, you will feel great about it. Your vote is the greatest right you have as an American, don’t just give it to anybody. Peace out.
Welcome to The Jorge Zone! This is my blog, my mental exhaust pipe, slowly filling the atmosphere with my opinions, favorite links, news and the like. This blog is all about the political and social issues we face today. Current events, political & economical happenings, religion & faith, global warming, stuff like ... Continue reading »
You know, I am all for the Second Amendment, but what the hell is this? According to basically every major news outlet, people are going to health care town hall meetings brandishing 9mm handguns and, as of late, 
According to both the 
I’m back guys, sorry for the long absense, 
Last night on Meet the Press (R.I.P Tim Russert) Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. If you sit quietly, you can still hear McCain cursing. Colin Powell is without a doubt one of my favorite, if not my most favorite Republicans. The man is one of the most effective and intelligent generals that has ever served this nation, he is a statesman, and in my opinion a true patriot, and someday even a great president. I even did my first book report in the sixth grade on his biography. However, what struck me the most is why he endorsed Barack Obama. 
Recently, the bitter partisanship in Washington, among other factors, caused me to lose the little faith I had in our government and the people that we have appointed to run it, on both sides. However, I did however, keep the faith that this bitter partisanship had not trickled down to the common man. 
It seems to me that Barack Obama is loosing the boost he had. Ever since his fiery, historic Denver DNC speech, Barack Obama has seemed a bit boring. He used to have these really swift, well delivered responses to everything. But now, when he isn’t going on and on about something, he gets that look on his face like the Republicans are getting to him. The Democrats are epically well known for loosing elections. Barack Obama needs to do what Bill Clinton did and start going to the mattresses. Go out there and win it, the stage for a Democratic victory in this election is set. The country is reeling from the disaster of the Bush Administration and the “Bush Congress”.
So according to the CERN August 7, 2008 press release
We are now about to begin the final day of the Republican National Convention. Last night, Sarah Palin delivered a very well received speech, heavy with attacks against Obama. Post-speech, The GOP is singing this woman’s praises. This falls in line with that shiny new Republican message of bipartisanship and hugs & kisses. “We are the Republican Party, we care…want a hug?” The RNC has done a pretty good job so far at uniting the base, and the Palin speech was by far the most poignant. Here is a sort of highlight reel, I can’t find the full version in one video. If anyone else has it, post it as a comment below and I’ll update it. 
This recent announcement of Sarah Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy will be some more fuel against Sarah Palin and the McCain Campaign. A McCain aid announced that the Senator knew about this before he chose her, and honestly I think he did the right thing in not letting this be a disqualifying factor. The Palins’ statement was a great one, communicating love and support for their daughter. 
