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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I promised myself I wouldn’t post about Sarah Palin anymore, but after this video from a new conservative documentary, it’s on like donkey kong. Watch this video…and then we’ll discuss. I am sorry to expose you to nine minutes of Sarah Palin, but it’s for a purpose:
Sarah Palin is blaming media’s bias for the fact that her ticket lost the election. I was going to let this video go by, considering it’s basically the same song and dance this woman likes to perform every time she is in front of a camera, but this time around she decided to spew her ignorance about bloggers, and well that just doesn’t fly with me. Just to refresh your memory, here is what she said:
“It’s a sad state of affairs in the world of the media today, mainstream media especially, if they are going to rely on anonymous bloggers for their hard news information. Very scary.”
See what Sarah Palin doesn’t understand is that the phenomenon that is blogging has taken us in to a sort of “Media 2.0″ situation. The blogging community has become so vital to mainstream media, because it gives the mainstream media something that it cannot achieve on it’s own, omnipresence. Currently with the help of bloggers, Twitter, Facebook, iReport, the media has an unbelievable reach, and it gives people like me, a common ground with mainstream media.
Sure, anyone can be a blogger, and anyone can spew misinformed ramblings on the internet for all to see. So I’ll give that to Palin, frankly I thought the rumors about her child not being hers were a bit much. But to say that it’s a “sad state of affairs” that bloggers are regarded and acknowledged by the mainstream media is just ignorant. Frankly, I as a blogger couldn’t let that slide.
The rest of the video speaks for itself. From the fact that she thinks people like Katie Couric and Tiny Fey exploited her (one mocked the ridiculousness that is her and the other just asked her questions…like a reporter should do) to her comparing a vice-presidential nomination to Caroline Kennedy’s Senate seat (come on…) just proves that Sarah Palin lives in her small, narrow world. Katie Couric might not be the center of the universe Sarah, but neither are you.
In the end, this documentary asks the question “How did Obama get elected?”. Where Sarah Palin is quick to cite the media’s “bias” towards Obama, she is ignoring the rather large gorilla in the room. Obama won this election partly on his own merit, his superbly run campaign, and his excellent election staff. But the major factors that secured the election for Obama were the Bush Administration’s gloriously awful track record for the past eight years, the GOP’s inability to provide an adequate candidate in this election, and Sarah Palin. If Palin is all the GOP has for 2012…then that is indeed a sad state of affairs.
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.
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.
Hey guys, just a quick post. I stumbled upon this site on Kanye West’s blog, thingsarefine.org.These are the guys who are pioneering that “Don’t Vote” campaign which I think is great. Their site is Pro-Obama, but even if you are not it’s definitely worth a click. It’s really creative and their posters are really cool. I have inserted one above to give you an idea. Anyway, check it out!
Just finished watching the 30 Minute Barack Obama ad. This one was indeed a doozey, a little too much Obama in one sitting I think. Sure the message was very nice, the production value was superb, and it seems as though that the McCain campaign is getting fired up about it, which should lead to some hilarious sound bytes and impromptu “Joe The Plumber” appreances. BTW you know they offered that moron a book deal? I am surprised he can put pen to paper. Anyway, let me save my anti-Joe comments for another blog (coming soon).
So in closing, let me make a bulleted list, cause, well I like bulleted lists and it’s my blog.
Was the 30-minute ad space worth it? Umm maybe? I mean he is doing very well, I personally would have gone with something brief. However the time did fly by and I always appreciate a nice field of wheat?
Was the 30-minute ad a bit larger than life? Absolutely. Barack Obama has raised way too much money and it’s obvious. Enough of that “broken promises” malarky. The man did what he had to do to make the cash he needs to be President. McCain didn’t take the “high road” and use public funds because he wanted to. He didn’t take it cause he likes being the underdog compared to Obama’s millions.
Will the 30-minute ad hurt Obama? Probably not. I don’t see this as more than another ad. It will fire up the Republicans thats for sure. I can imagine the asinine comments Sarah Palin has cooking in her wacko brain for tomorrow.
So in the end, all we can take from this ad is basically the same things Obama has been saying for the passed couple of months. Except with a nice, calm, field of wheat. Mmmmmm wheat.
First of all, the debate tonight was a very interesting one. I do believe Barack Obama won this debate, however I give him this victory with a few caveats. Barack Obama was almost, a bit TOO mellow tonight. He had a few opportunities to come after John McCain on a few subjects. That being said, John McCain was on a major offensive tonight, especially at the beginning. However, I think John McCain did not succeed in staging his much needed and much anticipated “last stand”. In the first thirty minutes of the debate, John McCain did take the debate and was on the right track. As the debate went on, Obama maintained his cool while McCain lost his. McCain’s temprament and body language spoke volumes for him. it definitely showed McCain was angry and annoyed. With all the sighing and the expressions it was obvious. Despite that, it was definitely McCain’s best debate, definitely Obama’s worst debate. But in the end, on his worst debate, I think Barack Obama came out with a win based on the issues, based on his temperament, and based on staying germane to what’s important. But it was a close win none the less.
Like I have done before I want to touch on a few topics and discuss key moments in the overall debate. So lets jump in.
First of all I want to address what I thought was a very important part of the debate. John McCain, up until the point where he was discussing campaigning and the personal attacks in the campaigns. At this point is where, in my opinion, John McCain started to slip. I think he dragged this John Lewis incident on and on, almost as if he wanted Barack Obama to apologize on his behalf. People don’t want to hear about hurt feelings and partisan rambling. That being said, John McCain did go there as he promised he would. What Lewis said was not the issue. The issue is with what McCain said to Obama in regards to that.
Every time there’s been an out-of-bounds remark made by a Republican, no matter where they are, I have repudiated them. I hope that Sen. Obama will repudiate those remarks that were made by Congressman John Lewis, very unfair and totally inappropriate.
I was a bit appauled by this. John McCain’s supporters are shouting for Obama’s death, accusing the man of being a terrorist, and he wants Barack Obama to repudiate a negative statement against him and Sarah Palin? Barack Obama definitely kept his cool in this situation, something I can’t really say about myself. I’ve addressed this issue already, however I do want to emphasis one more point John McCain said in response to Barack Obama bringing these death threat remarks. John McCain treats this as an isolated incident and I whole heartedly disagree. It is obvious that this a larger problem that John McCain, but mainly Sarah Palin, refuse to address. If McCain wants repudiation for a single man’s comments, then he must give Obama the same in return. Either way this was a positive and negative aspect of the debate. Positive because it needed to be addressed face to face by both candidates, and negative because, frankly we are all sick of it.
In regards to the Economy, I definitely think it was a very “John McCain” dominated area. Coming right off the block, Sen. McCain had Obama on the defensive. John McCain definitely over shadowed Obama on this part of the debate. Obama did make the usual points he makes, but here I think is where John McCain’s offense paid off. This part here resounded with me the most:
The fact is that businesses in America today are paying the second highest tax rate of anywhere in the world. Our tax rate for business in America is 35 percent. Ireland, it’s 11 percent.
Where are companies going to go where they can create jobs and where they can do best in business?
We need to cut the business tax rate in America. We need to encourage business.
I do agree with this. I do think this would create some jobs now. But again, it’s times like these where tax cuts aren’t going to work. If the government is not taking in, we cannot pay out. My economics professor spoke about how during times of recession, the government has to observe a “contractionary” (He may have made that word up, bare with me) policy so to speak. This is where the government takes in more, and spends less. Cutting taxes is great, but they need to be precision cuts to the right people. I do think that Barack Obama keeps avoiding specifically what he plans to cut.
On health care, it’s a different story. I think Barack Obama was spot on when it came to his plan to alleviate the health care woes in this country. Not only did he reinforce his own policy changes, but I think he countered John McCain very well.
He says he’s going to give you all a $5,000 tax credit. That sounds pretty good. And you can go out and buy your own insurance.
Here’s the problem — that for about 20 million people, you may find yourselves no longer having employer-based health insurance. This is because younger people might be able to get health insurance for $5,000, young and healthy folks.
Older folks, let’s healthy folks, what’s going to end up happening is that you’re going to be the only ones left in your employer-based system, your employers won’t be able to afford it.
I wish I could fit a little more but I don’t want this blog to get too long.
This debate was a very close one. I think John McCain did bring his A game but at the same time, a mellowed out Barack held his on the the issues. To call a winner in this debate is going to come down to a personal preference. That’s how close it is. Some will call it for Obama, others will call it for McCain based soley on their alleigiance to the candidate. I, again gave it Obama for the simple reason that I agree with him the most. Most people will assign the winner in the same way I think. Either way, it was the better of the three debates no doubt, and definitely a valiant effort by John McCain. Will it be enough to get him a lead in the polls? I doubt it. But with 3 weeks left, anything can still happen. Peace Out!
That one? Are you serious? I doubt John McCain could look any less like an a-hole by referring to his senate colleague as “that one”. I, frankly am suprised that the media hasn’t slammed him even more for this. Honestly, I believe Senator McCain sincerely doesn’t like Senator Obama, but he should at least dial it down a bit.
Despite that, Barack Obama commanded this debate in my opinion. He was on the offensive, always throwing McCain off his game. He definitely said things people wanted to hear, and the town hall format gave him the opportunity to defend against John McCain’s attacks on the fly. He reinforced his health care plan big time and it seemed as the people connected with his more than McCain’s. On Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama again reinforced the flaws and shortfalls of the war, and John McCain’s involvement with it. Here is a great line:
“Well, you know, Sen. McCain, in the last debate and today, again, suggested that I don’t understand. It’s true. There are some things I don’t understand.
I don’t understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, while Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are setting up base camps and safe havens to train terrorists to attack us.” — Sen. Barack Obama
In my opinion this stopped John McCain cold. This was in response to McCain saying that Obama “does not understand our national security challenges.” Obama went on to say:
“We’ve spent, so far, close to $700 billion and if we continue on the path that we’re on, as Sen. McCain is suggesting, it’s going to go well over $1 trillion. We’re spending $10 billion a month in Iraq at a time when the Iraqis have a $79 billion surplus, $79 billion. And we need that $10 billion a month here in the United States to put people back to work, to do all these wonderful things that Sen. McCain suggested we should be doing, but has not yet explained how he would pay for.” — Sen. Barack Obama
Boom. Barack Obama did a great job linking the Iraq and OUR economy monetarily. It really puts in to perspective just how the Iraq War has affected our economy. Obama was also strong on the environment. Though I agree, we should explore more nuclear power options, that should only play a small roll in a larger plan. A plan involving solar, wind, hydro-electric to name a few. This was by far my favorite line with regards to alternative fuels and the environment.
“Sen. McCain and I actually agree on something. He said a while back that the big problem with energy is that for 30 years, politicians in Washington haven’t done anything.
What Sen. McCain doesn’t mention is he’s been there 26 of them. And during that time, he voted 23 times against alternative fuels, 23 times.” — Sen. Barack Obama
Definitely a win for Obama. It was an undisputed win at that. I have no doubt that come tomorrow, boost Barack Obama even more in the polls.
P.S.
I used the CNN Political Ticker’s Transcript of the Debate for this post, visit it here!
I can’t watch this woman on TV anymore, she irritates me so much. Her voice, her empty baseless attacks that I am almost positive someone told her to say cause she doesn’t know a DAMN thing. I can’t take this hockey mom, joe six pack, “you betcha!” nonsense anymore. If she winks at the camera one more time I am going to lose my mind. I can’t imagine a world where this woman can be so close to the presidency of this nation. This isn’t a sexist thing. If I get one more woman ask me what my problem is with a woman vice president, I am going to spazz out. I have already gone down the list of women who he could have chosen that would have contributed positively to not only John McCain’s ticket, but also this nation should he be elected. Sarah Palin is outraged at the “evil leftist media” for asking her all these tough questions like “What newspaper do you read?”
This entire thing with Bill Ayers and Barack Obama is such a stretch of the truth. When Ayers was bombing empty offices Obama was 8 years old. As much as Sarah Palin wants to picture an 8 year old Obama lighting the fuses with Ayers thats not so. And the fact that he “palls around with him” is also not so. Considering that they served together on an anti-poverty group, Woods Fund Of Chicago, from 1999-2002. This hardly makes Obama guilty by association, and only further proves the McCain/Palin campaign is desperate, and slowly realizing that their lack of attention to the economy is causing them to slip in the polls.
I think I know what’s going on here. The Republican party and the Republican constituency are openly supportive of Palin. They cheer, they chant her name, they dig all this hockey mom nonsense. But deep down, they are freaking out. Sarah Palin may be a great lady, but the woman cannot lead this nation. The GOP is trying so hard to mold her, but frankly it’s too little too late. All the coaching and all the advisers in all the world cannot mold Sarah Palin in to an acceptable Vice President.
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 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.
Well, there we go. The House has turned down the Bailout Bill, and the partisan blame game has just begun. I am officially scared, and frankly, I am rarely scared about things like this. We are in for some seriously rough times. Ok, my calm tone will now end, and my angry tone will now take over.
God Damn It. I cannot believe that this did not pass. I CANNOT fathom that these people, these “adults” are in charge of our government. You guys shoot this plan down and then start bickering and pointing fingers. I cannot stress enough how badly we need this bill to pass. This is not even close to the perfect solution but this is a step in the right direction. Our economy is slowly falling, banks, financial institutions that have been around for close to 100 years are crashing all around our feet and all you can do is sit around and bicker.
I love this country so damn much that to see this scares me to the core. It scares me that Congress cannot sit down and say to themselves “Lets cut the crap and do what is best for this nation.” People are losing their money. Companies are cutting jobs and banks are closing doors. The DOW dropped 777.68 points. Congress has let us down. The Democrats yielded 140 Yea, 95 Nay, successfully rallying the majority of their party behind this bill. The Republicans voted 65 Yea, 133 Nay. The Republicans have voted against this because Nancy Pelosi made comments about how Bush destroyed Clinton’s established surplus. See the full article here.
Pelosi said “$700 billion [is a] a staggering number, but only a part of the cost of the failed Bush economic policies – policies that were built on budget recklessness … combined with an anything goes economic policy, [that] have taken us to where we are today.”
I want to make this clear. You can’t argue this, there is no doubt, the Republicans have said this themselves. There is no conjecture, there is no speculation or anything to take out of context. The REPUBLICAN PARTY has taken comments made by Nancy Pelosi personally and is punishing this nation for it. They have voted against their own President, their own presidential candidate, and their own party leaders. The reason this bill failed because of Republican House Members.
I am SO OUTRAGED that I am almost to tears frankly, something that is very unlike me. The Republican Party has shafted this nation out of stupidity. A REPUBLICAN WILL NEVER GET MY VOTE AGAIN. I am forced to do this because of the ineptitude and unprofessionalism of this party, it is irrefutable! The DOW is down 777 points because of them. If tomorrow morning there are bank runs and economic panics it will be BECAUSE OF THEM. If more banks fall tomorrow, it will be because of the handful of Republicans that let this happen. This is beyond presidential elections, beyond Sarah Palin, and beyond anything else. This is the Republican Party acting contrary to the best interests of this nation because they are offended. Country First? No. Country Last.
I’ve taken a bit of a break from politics lately. The constant media coverage, the back and forth gets a bit tiring. But after the 500 point drop in our stock market, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and the bailout of AIG, Inc. makes me remember an article I read not too long ago about John McCain’s economic advisor, Former Senator Phil Gramm, who is not vice chairman of UBS. He said some pretty interesting stuff back in a July interview with the Washington Post. He described the job loss and economic problems then, which we can assume were the precursor to this and things to come, as “being a mental recession”, and we had become a “nation of whiners”.
Is that still the case Phil? Is it still all in our heads? The nationalization of Freddie and Fanny, the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the $85 Billion Bailout of AIG, that is all mental. It’s comments like these that show how out of touch Republicans are with the economy. Take Phil Gramm for example. He is a former Senator, Vice Chairman of UBS, one of a larger Swiss Banks. You think he is in a position to tell us why we shouldn’t be whining? Unemployment is SHOCKINGlY high, the Stock Market rides like The Hulk Roller-coaster at Islands of Adventure, and if that weren’t enough mortgage lenders are crashing down around us and the housing market is flattening out. Phil Gramm doesn’t know what the American people are going through. And when he says things like this, it makes John McCain look like he doesn’t know either. If John McCain wants to win this election, he needs to relate to the average person. Right now, people see him as elitist and out of touch with the common man. And I honestly can’t say thats not true. I think in an economic climate such as this, where the average, middle class consumer is feeling the brunt of the s*** storm that is our economy, the Republicans are already at a handicap. That coupled with the fact that, like a new toy four days after christmas, the intrigue people had for potential vice-president (*gulp*) Sarah Palin has worn out, which is giving the Dems a bit of surge. We are only a month and a half or so away from “The Day” so lets see how this turns out.
Personally, I can’t wait till it’s over. Peace Out.
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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, 
I’m back guys, sorry for the long absense, 
I can’t watch this woman on TV anymore, she irritates me so much. Her voice, her empty baseless attacks that I am almost positive someone told her to say cause she doesn’t know a DAMN thing. I can’t take this hockey mom, joe six pack, “you betcha!” nonsense anymore. If she winks at the camera one more time I am going to lose my mind. I can’t imagine a world where this woman can be so close to the presidency of this nation. This isn’t a sexist thing. If I get one more woman ask me what my problem is with a woman vice president, I am going to spazz out. I have already gone down the list of women who he could have chosen that would have contributed positively to not only John McCain’s ticket, but also this nation should he be elected. Sarah Palin is outraged at the “evil leftist media” for asking her all these tough questions like “What newspaper do you read?” 
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. 
