I love this new Obama ad. It attacks McCain on an issue that he should NOT be leading on, and it includes the picture of McCain and Bush that should be run in EVERY commercial the rest of the election.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Somewhere in the vicinity of 4-7 houses
You may have heard something lately on the subject of McCain's houses. It turns out that McCain himself isn't quite sure how many houses he even has.
His campaign later told the press that McCain has "at least 4 houses." So apparantly they're not even really sure.
The topic has been brought to great attention lately thanks in no small part to this video from bravenewfilms.org, a progressive website that has been making many popular short progressive films.
Of course, all of this is in response to the attacks from the McCain campaign and conservatives against Barack Obama. They have been leveling charges that he and his wife are elitists.
McCain has leveled the charge himself: (at about 1:30)
And it's been hammered by right wing writers.
Now, I think this whole damn thing is frustratingly silly. Conservative bloggers try to accuse Obama of being "an arugula-eating elitist". (Arugula seems to get a bad rap just because the name sounds fancy, but in reality it tastes like crap and should never be part of a salad.) Obama is supposedly an elitist because of his Harvard education and because of his "Mansion" that he purchased near Chicago. To put the point to rest, of COURSE John McCain is more of an elitist than Obama. The man divorced his first wife in order to marry into money, came from a family of career navy admirals that paved the way for his entrance into Annapolis, owns somewhere in the vicinity of 4-7 houses, and flies around Arizona on his wife's private jet. Meanwhile But it doesn't MATTER who is more wealthy, or who came from the wealthier or more connected family. It doesn't matter how many houses they have or what their taste in disgusting weeds is. It doesn't even matter if they're a gold-digging adulterer.
What matters is how they will be for the country as president. (This is gonna be a theme so consistent in this blog over the next few months you'll grow to hate me for it.) The ONLY reason this issue is acceptable is as a proxy for evaluating traits about the candidates, and as such I have this to say. I'd much rather have a president that grew up in very modest circumstances, that continues to live on more modest circumstances, than one who doesn't. They're more likely to understand what the average American faces. But when it comes to the educational circumstances a candidate has been through, I want the absolute best and brightest, the average isn't good enough. I am not smart or hard-working enough to be president. The man who taught law at the University of Chicago and was the president of the Harvard Law Review is smart enough. (That's Obama by the way.) The man who finished 894th out of 899 students in his graduating class at his military academy is not smart enough in my opinion.
So as far as the elitism issue goes, it's a total loser for McCain. It emphasises that Obama is more in touch with the average American, and that he is a much smarter, well educated candidate. And that's all that should be taken away from this issue, it's by no means any more than a predictor of who would be a better president. But I do hope that McCain keeps shooting himself in the foot over this.
His campaign later told the press that McCain has "at least 4 houses." So apparantly they're not even really sure.
The topic has been brought to great attention lately thanks in no small part to this video from bravenewfilms.org, a progressive website that has been making many popular short progressive films.
Of course, all of this is in response to the attacks from the McCain campaign and conservatives against Barack Obama. They have been leveling charges that he and his wife are elitists.
McCain has leveled the charge himself: (at about 1:30)
And it's been hammered by right wing writers.
Now, I think this whole damn thing is frustratingly silly. Conservative bloggers try to accuse Obama of being "an arugula-eating elitist". (Arugula seems to get a bad rap just because the name sounds fancy, but in reality it tastes like crap and should never be part of a salad.) Obama is supposedly an elitist because of his Harvard education and because of his "Mansion" that he purchased near Chicago. To put the point to rest, of COURSE John McCain is more of an elitist than Obama. The man divorced his first wife in order to marry into money, came from a family of career navy admirals that paved the way for his entrance into Annapolis, owns somewhere in the vicinity of 4-7 houses, and flies around Arizona on his wife's private jet. Meanwhile But it doesn't MATTER who is more wealthy, or who came from the wealthier or more connected family. It doesn't matter how many houses they have or what their taste in disgusting weeds is. It doesn't even matter if they're a gold-digging adulterer.
What matters is how they will be for the country as president. (This is gonna be a theme so consistent in this blog over the next few months you'll grow to hate me for it.) The ONLY reason this issue is acceptable is as a proxy for evaluating traits about the candidates, and as such I have this to say. I'd much rather have a president that grew up in very modest circumstances, that continues to live on more modest circumstances, than one who doesn't. They're more likely to understand what the average American faces. But when it comes to the educational circumstances a candidate has been through, I want the absolute best and brightest, the average isn't good enough. I am not smart or hard-working enough to be president. The man who taught law at the University of Chicago and was the president of the Harvard Law Review is smart enough. (That's Obama by the way.) The man who finished 894th out of 899 students in his graduating class at his military academy is not smart enough in my opinion.
So as far as the elitism issue goes, it's a total loser for McCain. It emphasises that Obama is more in touch with the average American, and that he is a much smarter, well educated candidate. And that's all that should be taken away from this issue, it's by no means any more than a predictor of who would be a better president. But I do hope that McCain keeps shooting himself in the foot over this.
Friday, August 22, 2008
McCain attacks on the Economy
On the heels of a latest poll that has John McCain with a 5 point lead in national polling over Obama, there has been a genuine sense of panic among Obama supporters. Hidden in stories about the new poll though is information that is, in my mind, the most troubling.
"McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election."
After about a month of intense negative campaigning from John McCain, voters are seeming to be swayed to believe that the man in the following clips (save the one that is about him rather than includes him) is a better choice to be a steward of our struggling economy.
So how is it that voters trust this guys on the economy? Well it's because most of them haven't seen those clips. What they have seen is attack ads threatening that Barack Obama is going to raise their taxes. (Which is an ABSOLUTE lie I will get into soon.) Barack should be crushing John McCain on the issue of the economy, but he won't unless he goes on the offense. I love that Obama has built a hopeful campaign, and I love being part of the hope that we can get at least a little above the partisan vitriol to have honest debate about policy. But I would never allow that to cost us such an important election. I hope Obama wakes up soon and comes to the same realization.
"McCain now has a 9-point edge, 49 percent to 40 percent, over Obama on the critical question of who would be the best manager of the economy -- an issue nearly half of voters said was their top concern in the November 4 presidential election."
After about a month of intense negative campaigning from John McCain, voters are seeming to be swayed to believe that the man in the following clips (save the one that is about him rather than includes him) is a better choice to be a steward of our struggling economy.
So how is it that voters trust this guys on the economy? Well it's because most of them haven't seen those clips. What they have seen is attack ads threatening that Barack Obama is going to raise their taxes. (Which is an ABSOLUTE lie I will get into soon.) Barack should be crushing John McCain on the issue of the economy, but he won't unless he goes on the offense. I love that Obama has built a hopeful campaign, and I love being part of the hope that we can get at least a little above the partisan vitriol to have honest debate about policy. But I would never allow that to cost us such an important election. I hope Obama wakes up soon and comes to the same realization.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
T - minus ??? until Obama's VP is announced
Well, I was pretty sure that I would have something to say about who Obama picked for VP by now, but he still hasn't announced who it is so I'll have to wait. This is despite the rumors I heard that he would announce to his supporters via text message on Tuesday. And then the rumors that he would announce that way today. And now rumors that he'll announce via text tomorrow. So I'm going to stop holding my breath, at least until Saturday when he's announced that he will be speaking WITH his VP candidate, so that should be a little more definite than rumors.
Still, the pick has been pretty much set by now. First off, the short list is down to about three candidates, and two of those have been all but eliminated. First off, senator Evan Bayh from Indiana. Despite being a trendy pick for most of July, and coming from a state that is surprisingly this year an important battleground state, there has been a very dull reaction whenever the Bayh balloon has been floated. Progressives and anti-war groups dislike him for his participation in the Iraq War group that recommended that the senate approve the Iraq War resolution. (Which of course technically wasn't a war authorization, but I don't want to drift off track.) Then there's former governor of Virginia Tim Kaine. Again, someone who would give Obama a boost in a state that typically isn't in play for the democratic candidate, and another crafty pick. However, speculation is that since the VP pick will be speaking Wednesday night, and on Tuesday the current governor of Virginia will be speaking, they won't schedule two Virginians in a row. I know that makes ABSOLUTELY no common sense, but this is politics, and is as over-thought as events get. But the real reason that I believe that neither of these two will be the VP pick is that it's been leaked that both of their surrogate teams have received word from the Obama camp that they will NOT be the pick.
So who does this leave us with? Well, surprisingly, we're lead back to Sen. Joe Biden. I have a lot to say about picking Joe Biden for VP, but I think I'll save it until he's actually the pick, and not just who I speculate will be picked.
Still, the pick has been pretty much set by now. First off, the short list is down to about three candidates, and two of those have been all but eliminated. First off, senator Evan Bayh from Indiana. Despite being a trendy pick for most of July, and coming from a state that is surprisingly this year an important battleground state, there has been a very dull reaction whenever the Bayh balloon has been floated. Progressives and anti-war groups dislike him for his participation in the Iraq War group that recommended that the senate approve the Iraq War resolution. (Which of course technically wasn't a war authorization, but I don't want to drift off track.) Then there's former governor of Virginia Tim Kaine. Again, someone who would give Obama a boost in a state that typically isn't in play for the democratic candidate, and another crafty pick. However, speculation is that since the VP pick will be speaking Wednesday night, and on Tuesday the current governor of Virginia will be speaking, they won't schedule two Virginians in a row. I know that makes ABSOLUTELY no common sense, but this is politics, and is as over-thought as events get. But the real reason that I believe that neither of these two will be the VP pick is that it's been leaked that both of their surrogate teams have received word from the Obama camp that they will NOT be the pick.
So who does this leave us with? Well, surprisingly, we're lead back to Sen. Joe Biden. I have a lot to say about picking Joe Biden for VP, but I think I'll save it until he's actually the pick, and not just who I speculate will be picked.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Recognizing the Exhibitionists
When I was younger I was something of a big reader, but ever since TV and the internet atrophied my attention span to near-goldfish status I haven't been going through as many. Lately though the monotony of my job has afforded me plenty of down time to get a lot more reading in. I never used to have to pause at the end of every page to investigate every shiny object stuck in the corner of the room, but I get by. If I ever sit down with a serious literary work though I'll have to order some adderall from Mexico.
Ok, so let me wrest the tangent from my mercurial focus. (SYNONYMS!) I've been reading the book Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, and I came across a passage that I really enjoyed, and that got me thinking. In this passage the main character of the book is talking about his artistic talents and the sense that he was born to paint. He imagines the feeling of being born to do something is a leftover from a time when people lived in much smaller groups.
"That's what I think. And of course a scheme like that doesn't make sense anymore, because simply moderate giftedness has been made worthless by the printing press and radio and television and satellites and all that. A moderately gifted person who would have been a community treasure a thousand years ago has to give up, has to go into some other line of work, since modern communications put him or her into daily competition with nothing but world's champions.
"The entire planet can get along nicely now with maybe a dozen champion performers in each area of human giftedness. A moderately gifted person has to keep his or her gifts all bottled up until, in a manner of speaking, he or she gets drunk at a wedding and tap-dances on the coffee table like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers. We have a name for him or her. We call him or her an 'exhibitionist.'"
"How do we reward such an exhibitionist? We say to him or her the next morning, 'Wow! Were you ever drunk last night!'"
And there are millions of amateur singers, writers, and athletes out there that feel that same way. It's pretty coincidental that I happened to read this at the time when the Olympics are going on. There are probably a dozen swimmers that are right now thinking "I could sure be something special if it wasn't for that damned Michael Phelps." In a way, I think that the apparent desperation for a glimmer of fame or recognition shown in stories like these is another extension of the exhibitionism Vonnegut writes about in this passage. Of course he (or his character), couldn't have anticipated how much the internet would open up an avenue for these forms of "self-expression".
Although that's not what is happening in this particular case. There's a huge difference between a person who has a talent so unrecognized and pent up that they post themselves on youtube, and a jackass just seeking his 15 seconds of fame. (thanks again to the internet, we can only expect 15 seconds of fame now) Unfortunately the media these days chooses rather to recognize the jackasses. Not that it's their fault, we're the ones that keep clicking on jackass content. But we shouldn't. We should reward people with our attention that deserve it, not people who are willing to prostitute themselves. And so just because I feel like making things a little more right in the world, and since I think we can agree that all of us exhibitionists deserved a little recognition once in a while, and a little recognition should be paid to the fact that we can all do SOMETHING well.... here is a clip of a random guy's talent from you-tube. He may or may not be drunk, we can never be sure.
OK, I admit some selfishness here, this is one of my favorite internet clips of all time. If I wanted to stay true to my point I probably should have posted someone juggling or playing guitar. You know, something marginally more useful.
- Also, I have no understanding at all of copyright law, but just to reiterate, the above quote was from the book Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, and definitely not something I'm capable of writing myself.
Ok, so let me wrest the tangent from my mercurial focus. (SYNONYMS!) I've been reading the book Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, and I came across a passage that I really enjoyed, and that got me thinking. In this passage the main character of the book is talking about his artistic talents and the sense that he was born to paint. He imagines the feeling of being born to do something is a leftover from a time when people lived in much smaller groups.
"That's what I think. And of course a scheme like that doesn't make sense anymore, because simply moderate giftedness has been made worthless by the printing press and radio and television and satellites and all that. A moderately gifted person who would have been a community treasure a thousand years ago has to give up, has to go into some other line of work, since modern communications put him or her into daily competition with nothing but world's champions.
"The entire planet can get along nicely now with maybe a dozen champion performers in each area of human giftedness. A moderately gifted person has to keep his or her gifts all bottled up until, in a manner of speaking, he or she gets drunk at a wedding and tap-dances on the coffee table like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers. We have a name for him or her. We call him or her an 'exhibitionist.'"
"How do we reward such an exhibitionist? We say to him or her the next morning, 'Wow! Were you ever drunk last night!'"
And there are millions of amateur singers, writers, and athletes out there that feel that same way. It's pretty coincidental that I happened to read this at the time when the Olympics are going on. There are probably a dozen swimmers that are right now thinking "I could sure be something special if it wasn't for that damned Michael Phelps." In a way, I think that the apparent desperation for a glimmer of fame or recognition shown in stories like these is another extension of the exhibitionism Vonnegut writes about in this passage. Of course he (or his character), couldn't have anticipated how much the internet would open up an avenue for these forms of "self-expression".
Although that's not what is happening in this particular case. There's a huge difference between a person who has a talent so unrecognized and pent up that they post themselves on youtube, and a jackass just seeking his 15 seconds of fame. (thanks again to the internet, we can only expect 15 seconds of fame now) Unfortunately the media these days chooses rather to recognize the jackasses. Not that it's their fault, we're the ones that keep clicking on jackass content. But we shouldn't. We should reward people with our attention that deserve it, not people who are willing to prostitute themselves. And so just because I feel like making things a little more right in the world, and since I think we can agree that all of us exhibitionists deserved a little recognition once in a while, and a little recognition should be paid to the fact that we can all do SOMETHING well.... here is a clip of a random guy's talent from you-tube. He may or may not be drunk, we can never be sure.
OK, I admit some selfishness here, this is one of my favorite internet clips of all time. If I wanted to stay true to my point I probably should have posted someone juggling or playing guitar. You know, something marginally more useful.
- Also, I have no understanding at all of copyright law, but just to reiterate, the above quote was from the book Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut, and definitely not something I'm capable of writing myself.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The beginning of the end of the race
This video may be a bit over the top, but that doesn't make the warnings it presents untrue.
The general election is now only about 11 weeks away. (yes, I had to look that up.) That means no more procrastinating. I'm going to have to use this space to tell anyone who reads this why they should vote for Barack Obama instead of John McCain. The problem is that most people I know are already going to vote for Barack, so hopefully my "reporting" will convince you to be more active in influencing the people that YOU know to vote for Obama. There's much to come, and first I'm going to address the offshore drilling issue since it's just starting to die out of the news cycle. But for now, enjoy the horrific video, it's gonna be a contentious and vitriolic fall, people.
Also, btw, the estimate of iraqi civilians killed in the video is ABSURDLY low. Some estimates have it in the hundreds of thousands, not to mention the several million injured and/or displaced from their homes.
Friday, August 8, 2008
The season
It's really too late into the political season for me to not be updating this blog. I really want to help people stay informed, so now my commitment is to update this thing at least twice a week. I apologize in advance for the fact that I won't be able to provide as much research and as many references, but hopefully you all trust me enough not to make shit up. And hopefully you know better than to take someone at their word when they say something like that, and will do the research on your own :)
That said, since I have no time to write anything now (I have to be at work in 6.5 hours, on a saturday) I've decided to post up a few things I've written while drunk. For drunk ramblings, I actually kinda like them. I can see where Hemingway was coming from. (spelling has not been corrected, for authenticities sake)
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It's been theorized that religion arises from our attempts to interpret the intentions behind acts that had no councious actor. A key step in the evolutionary processes that led to our building bi-planes was the ability to understand the intentions of another conciousness. If you put a two year old in a room with a man who is unable to reach an object, but who looks at the object incessintly, the two year old will recognize that the man wants the object, and offer the object to the man. If you show a two year old a man turning on a light switch with his nose, the child will repeat what they see and turn the light switch on with their nose. If the man turns on the light switch with his nose while his hands are full, the two year old will recognize that the mans intention is to turn on the light switch, not necesarilly with his nose, but since his hands are full he is using his nose, and they will turn on the switch with their hand. Our ancestors saw great actions occuring around them all the time, and because their brains were hard-wired through natural selection to attribute occurances to the intentions of concious actors, they felt that the sun rose and set because someone meant it to rise and set.
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sometimes it's better to just let things go. like when you have to fart but then hold on just long enough to get somewhere you can let one rip without people hearing, but when you get there it's gone. you could get it out if you squeezed hard enough, but nothings worth ruining your new underwear.
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Introspection comes from sources of great inspiration, great jealousy, and great sorrow alike. They awaken yearnings, needs, and convictions that we often ignore for lack of our own ability to satisfy them. Those are not the times that define your life. You can't live your life in those moments. You can't live a life composed of those moments. It's in those moments that you define the laws/ that you live by. The conclusions reached in those moments guide the infinitude of decisions contemplated day by day. The goals, the dreams, the values, the that you live by are decided in those moments. Each new moment is an opportunity for creation, for revision, for new life. These moments, ruined by pragmatism, are nothing less ephereal than inspiration, and can be as inconsequential if not captured. Our lives are not decided in the decisions that we agonize over, but rather in the minutiae that fills our lives, that reveals our character. The momentum we create through habit and through blind chance becomes us, and can only be changed in these self-reflective moments.
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So enjoy these while they're up, there's a 90% chance they'll be taken down due to embarrassment within the week.
That said, since I have no time to write anything now (I have to be at work in 6.5 hours, on a saturday) I've decided to post up a few things I've written while drunk. For drunk ramblings, I actually kinda like them. I can see where Hemingway was coming from. (spelling has not been corrected, for authenticities sake)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
It's been theorized that religion arises from our attempts to interpret the intentions behind acts that had no councious actor. A key step in the evolutionary processes that led to our building bi-planes was the ability to understand the intentions of another conciousness. If you put a two year old in a room with a man who is unable to reach an object, but who looks at the object incessintly, the two year old will recognize that the man wants the object, and offer the object to the man. If you show a two year old a man turning on a light switch with his nose, the child will repeat what they see and turn the light switch on with their nose. If the man turns on the light switch with his nose while his hands are full, the two year old will recognize that the mans intention is to turn on the light switch, not necesarilly with his nose, but since his hands are full he is using his nose, and they will turn on the switch with their hand. Our ancestors saw great actions occuring around them all the time, and because their brains were hard-wired through natural selection to attribute occurances to the intentions of concious actors, they felt that the sun rose and set because someone meant it to rise and set.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
sometimes it's better to just let things go. like when you have to fart but then hold on just long enough to get somewhere you can let one rip without people hearing, but when you get there it's gone. you could get it out if you squeezed hard enough, but nothings worth ruining your new underwear.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Introspection comes from sources of great inspiration, great jealousy, and great sorrow alike. They awaken yearnings, needs, and convictions that we often ignore for lack of our own ability to satisfy them. Those are not the times that define your life. You can't live your life in those moments. You can't live a life composed of those moments. It's in those moments that you define the laws/ that you live by. The conclusions reached in those moments guide the infinitude of decisions contemplated day by day. The goals, the dreams, the values, the that you live by are decided in those moments. Each new moment is an opportunity for creation, for revision, for new life. These moments, ruined by pragmatism, are nothing less ephereal than inspiration, and can be as inconsequential if not captured. Our lives are not decided in the decisions that we agonize over, but rather in the minutiae that fills our lives, that reveals our character. The momentum we create through habit and through blind chance becomes us, and can only be changed in these self-reflective moments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
So enjoy these while they're up, there's a 90% chance they'll be taken down due to embarrassment within the week.
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