The other day, Nathan read me a yahoo news report about Barack Obama and his deathstick addiction and his supposedly quitting smoking. Here's what stood out to me:
"Appearing on NBC's 'Meet the Press' program, interviewer Tom Brokaw told Obama he had ducked answering the question during an interview last month with ABC's Barbara Walters.
Noting that the White House was a no-smoking zone, Brokaw asked Obama, 'Have you Stopped smoking?'
'I have,' Obama replied, smiling broadly. 'What I said was that there are times where I have fallen off the wagon.'
'Wait a minute,' Brokaw interjected, 'that means you haven't stopped.'
'Fair enough,' Obama said."
Heh heh. This exchange really tickles me for some reason. Obama first answers with, what I can only imagine to be, a shit-eating grin (= "smiling broadly") and then immediately flips his answer from a flat out statement of having quit smoking to basically saying, "Nah, I was just joshin' ya, I smoke all day everyday."
I don't give two flying squirrels if Obama smokes. But the fast-paced (and to me, quite humorous) exchange reminded me of an hysterical video clip of an Australian "politician" talking about the front end falling off of a big boat and causing an even bigger oil spill. I honestly don't know if this guy is a real politician and this interview is legit, or if this is a genius parody. (Oh, please, be a parody. I fear for our world.)
I could watch this a dozen times in a row and still laugh out loud.
Today is the presidential election. I've got butterflies in my stomach because I do not want this country to continue down the same path that it's on. I've cast my vote via mail ballot already. Let's just hope that the people's voice is properly heard this time and that there's no funny business with hanging chads, too few voting sites in Democrat areas, or whatever evil nonsense the Republicans can cook up. Go out and vote!!!
I came across this video weirdly enough when doing a google search for "magic eye," but it's John McCain clips spliced together. He basically goes back and forth in what he claims in order to suit the current atmosphere.
John McCain seemingly believes that everyone is his friend. He's constantly referring to...well, anyone, as "my friend." Frankly I feel nauseated when I hear him say that. I'm not your friend, buddy; I'm not your buddy, guy...Here's a humorous take on McCain's near Tourette's-like compulsive usage of "my friends."
You just have to laugh sometimes (corny cobby pal, come on!).
You can find almost anything on youtube these days. Here's a compilation of "my friend" from last week's presidential debate (I still can't sit through it).
It would appear that my OCD has latched onto politics. Must. Stop. Posting. About. Politics!
I received my ballot in the mail yesterday. I didn't request this ballot. I was sent it because apparently the precinct of which I'm a member "contains less than 250 voters" and "has been designated a mail ballot precinct."
I thought this sounded a little odd, since I live in a highly populated area. Surprisingly, when I told Nathan what the letter said, he immediately jumped to the conclusion that it's a right wing conspiracy. It does feel fishy. I live in BERKELEY, CA, perhaps the most liberal city in the country, located in the bay area's Alameda county, population ~1.5 million. And I'm being told there are too few voters in my precinct? Admittedly, I don't know how "precinct" is defined, but I can't think of one definition that would equal fewer than 250 registered Berkeley residents.
For the past two presidential elections, there have been odd occurrences with regard to historically blue or swing-likely-to-go-blue voting areas. And it looks like politics as usual this election. Theoretically, whether I cast a mail-in ballot or physically mark my ballot at a polling site should make no difference. But if my ballot gets "lost" in the mail, maybe because it's coming from a liberal locale, then my vote doesn't get counted. Period. If that were to mysteriously happen, I don't suppose it would make a huge difference for CA, because it's nearly guaranteed that CA will go blue. But if a bunch of Berkeley, San Francisco, etc mail ballots get "lost" then what? I dunno.
On an even more disgusting note, attendees of McCain/Palin rallies are turning into future lynch mobs. I use this term literally. They have been heard to chant "Kill him" at the mention of Barack Obama's name. Does this scare anyone else? Palin's response to this, "Boy, you guys just get it!"
Full "The Daily Voice" article: "Senator John McCain and his running mate Governor Sarah Palin have been accusing Senator Barack Obama of associating with terrorists in recent days, and as a result, audience members at McCain and Palin rallies have called Obama a "terrorist" and threatened to kill him.
"Sarah Palin was on the verge of inciting a race riot in northern Florida" this week, the Nation reported. The paper said Republican audience members "hurled a racial epitaph" at an African American member of the media while other audience members yelled "kill him" and "treason!" when Barack Obama's name was mentioned. Palin did nothing to stop the attacks and reportedly responded: "Boy, you guys just get it!"
Palin began the attack on Monday when she told 8,000 fans at a rally in Florida that Obama "launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist," according to the Washington Post. "This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America," she said.
The McCain-Palin ticket has become increasingly negative in recent days and some have called their attacks "dangerous" and "racist." But it's not just Obama who has come under attack.
Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank describes the scene at a rally in Clearwater, Florida this week, where he said "arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin blamed CBS News anchor Katie Couric for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." Palin supporters then "turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse," Milbank reported. "Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, 'Sit down, boy.'""
Ok, this is completely gratuitous, but here's Sarah Palin talkin' to Katie Couric about her gosh darn experience in foreign policies 'cause she been golly livin' right next to Russia and doggonit Canada.
I'm not going to watch the debate tonight. I just can't take any more b.s., and it's not like I'm an undecided. If you're watching, feel free to post some highlights in the comments.
In case you missed it, here's SNL's summary of the VP debate last week.
First off, thank you to PBS for broadcasting the debate so people like myself who don't have cable could watch it. There are two more Presidential debates coming up, October 7th and 15th, don't miss them.
Second off, I needed a beer to get through listening to Palin talking period, but especially her talking through that plastered on smile.
Third off, Ugh! I pray that the Republicans don't take the White House!! If you didn't catch the debate, here are some of the things I pulled out of it.
First, it was nice to have the split screen view of the candidates. It was nice to see them react to each other's claims, something I would have liked to see in the Presidential debate last week and will hopefully be changed for the two upcoming.
Palin rarely addressed the questions asked by the moderator at the beginning (got better at this as the debate continued), even went so far as saying [paraphrase]: I may not answer the questions the way the moderator or you (Biden) want... NO CRAP!! First, because you aren't answering the questions, and second because you've got some outrageously poor/dangerous views.
Palin constantly pulled her responses back to energy. I can't blame her much for it, because it's one of the few, or only, topics she can speak intelligently on, but enough is enough. I was glad to see that one of the analysts speaking after the debate was just as sick of that as I was (former female VP candidate, I think).
Palin spoke at the beginning in such broad generalities and sound bytes without any substance. She got more focused through out, but still offered few concrete plans and facts.
I am soooo sick of hearing her, and everyone, call McCain a "Maverick"!!! I started keeping count of the times she used the word, it was between 6 and 7. Thankfully, nearing the end, Biden finally called her out on the "maverick" claim pointing out numerous and specific instances when McCain was lock-step with the Bush administration. And as was pointed out by an analyst post debate, calling McCain a maverick is looking back; something that Palin consistently criticized Biden for doing with the Bush admin.
I'll show you a Maverick...
...complete with Iceman (though admittedly, you need to subtract current Scientology insanity).
Also, I hate hearing Palin say "hockeymoms" and "Joe six-pack" reminding everyone that she's a hockeymom. THAT DOES NOT QUALIFY YOU TO BE THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!! I was listening to NPR a couple of weeks ago when the Republican National Convention was going on, and the reporter asked one of the attendees what they thought of Palin. The woman responded that she loves that Palin was a woman with a family, that she was a hockeymom. Thankfully, the interviewer (gently) followed up by asking the person which of Palin's policies and political beliefs the attendee agreed with, and again the response was something along the lines of "Palin's a mom." It is so frightening that this woman could become President of the United States if McCain is elected and passes away during his term.
Is the woman who likes hockeymom Palin actually the kid who likes turtles in disguise?
I like how Biden's style was in stark contrast to Palin's in that he spoke in facts and solid numbers. I don't know enough of the facts myself to know whether everything he was was true, but the fact checkers will be looking into that tonight and tomorrow. Post debate, I did hear that some of the "facts" that Palin stated where FALSE, while some of the facts that Biden stated were just less strong (e.g., Biden said McCain was reported in a large magazine to be against regulating Wall Street. One of the fact checkers on PBS said that it wasn't really a large magazine. Eh, not too bad).
In the beginning, Palin frequently and vehemently bad mouthed our government. I bad mouth our government too, but I'm not working within that government and campaigning to be even more deeply entrenched in that government. It's scary because, HELLO, you're trying to become government, lady.
Palin joked about how short a time she's been on the campaign. It's not funny, it's scary. Get some experience!!! In fact, here's a video of her asking just what it is a VP does (during the debate she claims it was "a lame attempt at a joke," but jokes have a grain of truth).
I was glad to see that Biden/Obama were for same-sex rights. All people are created equal, remember??? I'm more than for gay rights, I'm for gay marriage too. What is it with this archaic notion that marriage is between a man and a woman? People are people. People can love other people. People itself is a noun without sex or gender. I've been cold called twice about California's Proposition 8 which is seeking to eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry. Once by a group for it, and once for a group against it. I was very glad to tell them I'll be voting against Prop 8 and therefore maintaining the right of all peoples to marry whom they choose. While Obama/Biden aren't for gay marriage, they do at least respect the rights of those couples in terms of everyday rights like hospital visitation.
Palin criticizes Biden/Obama for looking back at the Bush administration and laying blame. Ummm...yeah, they're looking back. You know why? Because Bush and his administration are EVIL! Hello accountability and respecting history so that we can learn from it.
I liked how Biden really drove home his points. For instance, when speaking about how the McCain administration would be different (or NOT different) from the Bush admin. He ennumerated example after example of how McCain's policies are no different from Bush's.
I loved to hear Palin state [verbatim] "I am a Washington outsider." No shit! And that's where you belong.
When talking about Vice Presidential powers and being VP, Biden said that he is an "independent judgment, not afraid to disagree" with Obama when he's asked his opinion. It was great to hear that, because he's an experienced politian who can add some valuable perspective to Obama, but it was also nice to hear him describe himself that way without saying the exceedingly overused term "maverick"! Biden also added that Cheney is the "most dangerous vice president we've had, probably in the American history." Yes! There are Constitutional limits on Vice Presidential power. Cheney doesn't give a flying squirrel about these limits, and it's terrifying (here's the terrorism we should be fighting).
Palin explicitly stated that she believes America is a nation about tolerance and equal rights...apparently that is heterosexual America. Where do gay right fit within that ideal, Palin?
It was touching to see Biden get emotional when talking about the death of his wife and daughter and having to raise two sons on his own. It felt honest.
Ironic, or not, Exxon bought up the first commercial spot following the debate. Exxon was brought up many times through out the night, specifically by Biden pointing out that the McCain/Palin ticket are wanting to give them (Exxon) another $4 billion tax cut (I think that was the amount).
One of Palin's factual errors that was immediately pointed out post debate was her calling the commander of the Afghanistan campaign "McClelland," when it's actually McKiernan. Ooops. I am quite sure there will be many more where this came from.
McCain had bitched out over tonight's debate, but he must have gotten enough slack about it, because he's back in. Nathan and I are going over to my advisor's house tonight to watch the Presidential Debate. I am so sick of America and our politics! But I'm hoping that tonight can help rebound Obama's campaign to it's previous high. If McCain gets elected, I may just move out of the country...after I finish my PhD, of course.
John McCain recently skipped out at the last minute from his appearance on David Letterman. And Letterman was pissed. Supposedly, McCain was halting his campaign because of the country's financial crisis. What, he's never heard of multi-tasking? So, what, if he's elected and there's another "crisis" he'll just drop everything, like healthcare reform, education issues, etc to handle the crisis??? Come on! If you haven't seen Letterman's rant, I've added it below. It's a little over 9 minutes, if you don't want to watch the full clip, skip to the 6 minute mark. It's certainly worth a view.
It took me a long time to track down the clip of McCain on Couric (fishy), but here it is. The portion with McCain ends at about the 2 minute mark. . . . Update: This video clip is no longer available, and I can't find it on the web again. Fishier and fishier. But here's a picture of McCain on Couric's show, post make-up application.
Let's hope this nonsense hurts their campaign. Save us, Barack!!!
I don't give two flying squirrels if Obama smokes. But the fast-paced (and to me, quite humorous) exchange reminded me of an hysterical video clip of an Australian "politician" talking about the front end falling off of a big boat and causing an even bigger oil spill. I honestly don't know if this guy is a real politician and this interview is legit, or if this is a genius parody. (Oh, please, be a parody. I fear for our world.)
