Is there a world in which that sentence would be true? Up until a few hours ago, i wouldn’t have even risked joking about it. Then, this morning, with the catalyst of an intelligent comment left on a blog post that has become known for its stupidity (There is intelligence on the Internet! Shock, i know.) my brain started mulling over the possibility…should i vote for John McCain?
About 27 months ago, when the candidates started campaigning, there wasn’t a chance i was voting for anyone but the democratic candidate. I’ve often felt that the only way to hold elected officials responsible for their actions is to boycott their party. If the Republicans fuck up for 8 years or so, then you have to put them as far out of business as you can…that is, until the Democrats screw up and then you do the same to them.
When it appeared that Obama would be that candidate, i was cautiously hopeful. I read (well, 100 pages) of Audacity of Hope, tried to believe in what he said and was absolutely MOVED when he gave his speech on race back in March. For about half a second, i actually thought that –regardless of experience or other issues — he was a leader and a person who actually had the best qualities of this country at heart. And then the last 8 months happened.
Both candidates have flip-flopped, back talked, shown ugly sides, pandered, coddled special interests, answered everything but the questions asked of them and acted, well, like politicians. Fine. Whatever. I’m not upset about this. I expected this. But at the heart of all his stirring oratory and thunderous rhetoric, i had been told by Senator Obama that he was different, that he was above that behavior. He wasn’t. He could not stay on that road (the road being the one less travelled, or even the high one). At the end of the day, he was a politician trying to interview for a job.
If you haven’t seen this clip of the two candidates at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner a few weeks ago, check it out. It’ll melt your skull. These two guys, in front of a wealthy, influential audience in tuxedos, actually act human…and you know what? It looks like they’re making fun of each other, but no. They’re making fun of us. THIS IS HOW THEY ACTUALLY ARE…WHAT WE SEE ON THE CAMPAIGN? IT’S ALL A FUCKING ACT! They’re not bad guys. They don’t hate each other. They’re actual people with a sense of humor. Why can’t we see this side of them? This proves to you how dumb they really think we are. Hands down.
One of my favorite quotes regarding presidents goes something like this: “Presidential candidates spend millions to get elected to a job that pays $400,000 a year. Must have one hell of a health plan.” I digress.
The aforementioned comment that started all this reads as follows:
For a different and perhaps more pragmatic point of view… I voted for McCain and against Obama, simply because neither party distinguishes itself when it has control of Congress and the Presidency. Seems they all come down with a fatal case of “Potomac Fever”, when given the opportunity to stick their hands in the cookie jar, without opposition. Since we can’t send them out of town on even more vacations, then gridlock is a fairly effective way to keep them out of mischief. Look, the first priority of politicians is to be elected, then re-elected, or to run for higher office. All of ‘em will take care of their main campaign contributors FIRST, whether it’s through obscure holes in the tax code, sweetheart govt contracts, or favorable legislation. Doesn’t matter which side they are on, or how pure they were when they first decided to seek public office. The reality of how the game is played, will mold most of them into relentless fund raisers and panderers to monied special interests. By the time they are elected, most have completely sold out. This last, dismally long campaign cost probably a billion dollars. Who gained? Media consultants, media outlets, sign makers, and caterers. Each could have had 24 hours, on one of the c-spans to tell interested voters exactly what their platforms are… probably 12 times over, and then re run it weekly until the election. They’ve squandered donated funds, with the same reckless, self serving, abandon with which they will spend taxpayer dollars.
The current Democrat Congress has been in power for two years and has accomplished nothing, aside from ignoring Fannie, Freddie, etc, as well as addressing domestic energy policy. They’re as worthless as the Republicans, when they controlled both House and Senate.
Bottom line, it’s not going to be good when Obama wins. Democrats will spend like there is no tomorrow, and you can be darned sure no obsolete, inefficient, or redundant programs will be cut. The Treasure is firing up the printing presses, and if you thought you lost your arse in the market crash, just wait until the dollar really plummets. We’re in for a prolonged and very deep recession. All the politicians will do is point fingers, fund raise, and hope for re-election, while our economy tanks.
I hope someone can come up with an argument that refutes this…but honestly, it floored me. I’ve never considered voting like this. Voting to retard the system. Maybe it’s all the Anti-Obama emails my dad has been sending me, but i’m starting to believe that in the current state of our economy, Obama isn’t the one who will make it better. As liberal as i have always leaned, i despise big government. I don’t want it to be a free-for-all for democrats who seemingly are going to spend on their own states just to get re-elected again. This comment shook me because i’m that cynical. I don’t believe they have our best interests at heart and i don’t believe that any of these candidates are willing to make the tough choices needed to get this country back on track and at least begin to clean up the clusterfuck that was Bush Part Deux. So is gridlock the only answer? Is voting so that the parties oppose each other at every turn and have to work together to get anything done the only solution? Will they really take full advantage of having a more streamlined process of completely fucking the American people? It’s hard to believe they won’t.
At the end of the day, i’m voting for Obama. I want history. I want to tell my children of the first black president (hey kids, it only took 230 years!). I think that the President of the Unites States should be mostly a figurehead. A person who can stand up and make amazing speeches and fill the country and the rest of the world with awe and faith and trust in the U.S. Even if it is all smoke and mirrors…i don’t care. JFK, LBJ, FDR, even Clinton recently…these were men who didn’t always have the answers or make all the right decisions but they let us think that everything would be ok so we could go about our daily business of going to work and paying our taxes and making this economy roll the way it should without fear that it was all going to end in chaos and anarchy (or totalitarianism.)
If gridlock is the only answer, then doesn’t that prove just how fucked the system is? (and maybe it is busted beyond repair at this point.) I’m not willing to believe that just yet.
McCain is an angry, curmeodgenly old-fuck professional politician. Sarah Palin was barely qualified to be the principal of my high school (3,000 students, just 6,000 less than Wasilla AK). These people do not signify anything better for our country. They signify the status quo. And maybe at the bottom of this, i am scared of Obama. I am scared of change. I am the status quo. I am going to be a middle-aged, middle upper class white man here pretty soon. Fine, i admit it. I don’t want to be taxed because i’m succesful. I don’t want to hand over half my paycheck to people who are abusing the system (i’ll most likely give it to them myself out of my own charity work and my own goodwill towards people, but that’s different then being fucked out of it by a large federal government, isn’t it?) Happy now Dad?
At the end of the day this upcoming Tuesday, we need a change. No matter how bad the democrats are, or how bad they will act over the next 4 years, we have to give it a shot. If George W. Bush has taught us anything, it’s that no matter how shitty a president is, the world won’t end. It’ll get ugly. It’ll get embarrassing. But it won’t collapse. I hope that President Obama will do what he said he would. I hope the democratic majority House and Senate won’t go apeshit and plunge us further down this toilet of debt and stupidity and corruption we’re currently sitting in. I hope the world starts to hate us a little less now. Maybe that is an audacious hope.
Here’s your chance Junior Senator from Illinois. Don’t fuck it up. Or else i’ll see you in the voting booth in 2012, where i’ll absolutely hold you accountable for your actions…by voting Republican.
Filed under: Lindsay Lohan, McCain, Obama, Olympics, On The Road, alaska, links
The hiatus was unannounced and mostly unplanned. My apologies. I blogged a lot over the last few months…mainly because i was sitting at a computer in a cubicle doing nothing all day. It provided a lot of time to find things that are inevitable signs of the arrival of the Four Horsemen, etc. Since i quit, my home laptop decided that it didn’t want to have wireless anymore and it crashed. Because of this, my computer is now hooked into a landline (how 2004…) and cannot be taken with me wherever i go. I’m finding that making myself sit down to blog (or go on myspace, facebook, twitter, etc.) is out of my way and mostly unimportant. I’m comfortable with this…i’m reading more, cooking for my friends (if kelli will allow me, i’d like to host a community dinner soon.), planning for my new job that starts in mid-September and enjoying my time and my thoughts away from the internet. Being in Wyoming for two weeks without much of a computer was kind of liberating, i’m not going to lie. I’m not saying that i’m not going to blog anymore. I’m just probably going to only do it when i have something quality to say. We’ll see how that works out. Moving on.
Apparently Michael Phelps is making out with chicks in the Olympic village. Duh. If i were him i would have arranged an “all-around” with as many gymnasts as i could find before the pool water was even out of my ears (as long as they meet the age requirement…drum kick!). Oh, and i hope those fancy new suits are STD proof, because Lindsay Lohan has been a lesbian for like 5 months and is hungry for a big c… OK FINE…. “piece” of the winningest swimmer of all time. Better get some extra chlorine tablets in that pool.
And speaking of underage girls, Gary Hall Jr. blogs about why being a 14-year old Olympic gymnast can’t possibly be an advantage. Can’t say i disagree, nor can i say how much i can’t wait for the controversy to go away.
This is sad and wrong on so many levels. Guess i’ll let the cornacopeia of available jokes slide.
Bush Told to Sign Birthday Card for Someone Named ‘Kyoto’ (from the Onion, of course.)
It’s about time we had a real Shmuck in office. Thanks to Frank Shmuck in Chandler, we’ll have that opportunity. Man i wish i could vote for this guy. Sam, forget Dan Saban…Shmuck needs our help more!
Here are a bunch of videos from “hypermilers” that are getting 70-80 mpg in their hybrids. Interesting stuff. On my recent road trip, i had the cruise control set at 65 and drove 480 miles on one tank…that’s 34 mpg and i could have made it to 500 if i wasn’t so worried about running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. On my trip, i drove almost 3,000 miles and i definitely noticed how different my consumption was at different speeds. At 65, i could drive forever…at 80, i could almost see the needle moving. Big difference.
Tiki Barber and Jenna Wolfe have been hosting an Olympic Wrap-Up show on NBC and they haven’t really been getting along. But did Tiki call her the c-word on air? You make the call…
Republicans and Democrats alike are gearing up for their respective conventions…you know who else is getting ready? The hookers! Politicans can’t agree on national healthcare, but both parties can agree on whores. Love this country.
I really wanted a Palm Treo Pro…but since it’ll be $550, i guess i’ll pass.
You all enjoyed this post about a certain ridiculous anti-Obama email i received a while back…check it out again. Read the comments that have trickled in. You won’t be disappointed.
Alright, that’s all for today/a while. Enjoy your weekends people. I’m off to Alaska.
So far in this election, the talking heads have taken Michelle Obama’s completely understandable line about being proud of her country, taken it out of context and used it against her. But nobody has mentioned Cindy McCain’s prescription drug addiction.
So far in this election, Hilary Clinton’s campaign released a picture of Obama in traditional African dress as a way to discredit him and tie him to Muslim extremists. But nobody has mentioned John McCain’s ties to Fife Symington’s fraud and corruption scandals. (Also here)
So far in this election, Obama has been the subject of some of the deepest background digging we’ve ever witnessed, and yet nobody has mention how McCain, after returning from war, found that his wife had been injured in a car accident, was handicapped and had gained weight…and then conveniently found himself a new wife.
Update: In case i haven’t made this entirely clear…McCain is also a pandering liar, even when it comes to Football.
Hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend. Did you know that the 4th of July is a day where we celebrate America’s independence from British rule? Because a guy in front of me at the post office last week didn’t. This guy is talking to a teller at the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (!!!) and asks if they’re working on Friday. The lady says, “Haha…no, it’s Independence Day.” And the guy — i shit you not — says, “I don’t understand why we get the day off…we shouldn’t have been over there in the first place.” Really guy?!? Over where? I’m not sure if he was being sarcastic and trying to get a rise out of a postal service worker (not advisable) but the look on my face must have been amazing. I couldn’t make this up if i wanted to… moving on.
Last week, i almost made it 400 miles on a tank of gas. Seriously. I went 383 miles on exactly 14 gallons of gas. I have a 14.5 gallon tank, so i could have made it, but in the end it wasn’t worth the risk of running out of gas just to see the dial click over. I drove to Vegas and back which gobbled up 2 tanks of gas over the weekend (but hey! still cheaper than flying!) but made it between 370-390 miles on those tanks as well thanks to freeway driving. This next tank, i’m making it 400. For those of you wondering how this is possible, there is some serious credence to these anecdotes of filling your tires up (less friction, more roll) and coasting everywhere. I’m amazed at how far my car will coast at a decent speed with zero acceleration. When i get off the freeway on the way to work, i can coast almost a mile to the next light and nobody around me is any the wiser. Seriously, try it. Even if you don’t drive stick, just click your transmission up to neutral and roll for a while. The more time you spend at low RPMs, the better gas mileage you get. Genius right? Oh and also, don’t go over 70. Ever. At all. I’ve noticed that my mileage gets completely shot to hell at speeds above 65. Weird, but true.
This is kind of me these days as my team has lost 2 in a row and fallen out of first place: Fantasy Baseball Owner Rips Team in Media
Fun with presidential candidate word association. I wonder how far down “asshole” was for McCain.
Obama will receive the democratic nomination at Mile High Stadium, which reminds me how much i miss football.
Google apparently has issues with its daycare. So that’s 2,797 good things and 1 bad. Ah, how we love to see the mighty fall.
It’s time for the Running of the Bulls again. And as you know, i always root for the bulls.
Jim Carrey found one way to outsmart the paparazzi.
This is a pretty awful story… Did she have health insurance? Could that have played a part?
I suppose it’s better than nothing…but this still feels like a bone thrown the way of large corporate donors and the ethanol lobby.
It would be hypocritical of me to rake this completely across the coals, since i just suggested that the government should be encouraging this type of research in this post.
Filed under: Bush, McCain, Oil, Pebble Mine, alaska, apocalypse, greed, more fucking stupidity
It’s hard to stay optimistic sometimes…especially when “they’re” about to ruin one of my favorite places in the universe:
You know the alien movies when they talk about how the evil aliens move from planet to planet staying only long enough to suck the place dry of every life-sustaining resource until they’re forced to move to the next hospitable place? I don’t know if you know this or not, but that’s us.
Filed under: Ayn Rand, Golf, McCain, Spencer Pratt, U.S. Airways, baseball, dbacks, economics, elections, male sexism, myspace
Sorry for another link dump, but there’s a lot going on today that deserves commentary…
Would McCain drop out of the race as a bait and switch?
Apparently Myspace is launching it’s “2.0″ version this Wednesday. They’re getting killed by Facebook and Bebo, but –as i’ve been saying forever — nobody is making any money.
My DBacks are playing terribly. I’m not sure why, but they need to get it together.
The U.S. Open was amazing yesterday — and this is coming from a guy who pretty much despises golf (and played 36 terrible obligatory Father’s Day holes this weekend. For those of you who don’t have to — or don’t want to work today…the playoff is streaming here.
U.S. Airways has announced that it will join the insanity and start charging for checked luggage, and non-alcoholic beverages. Why not just raise ticket prices across the board? Oh, because fewer people can afford to fly and then you couldn’t screw them after they’ve already booked the ticket? Got it.
I always thought this commercial was a funny exaggeration…now? Not so much.
What really chafes me about this airline deal is that they’re openly bending us over, but when they declare bankruptcy in a few months, it’ll be our taxpayer dollars that bail them out again. It’s times like this that i wish Ayn Rand was in charge of the Fed. (If you haven’t read her, her main point is that businesses that don’t adapt deserve to go out of business and will naturally be replaced by businesses that do it better, smarter, more efficiently…even if it causes some mass unemployment/hardship/etc.) This country is definitely having it’s “Who is John Galt” moment right about now…
When i was in college, i took part in a lot of discussions relating to race and gender portrayals in the media. Many of these discussed the role of women in commercials, whether it be the stay-at-home mom making bagel bites or experiencing the joys of a new mop or the beer commercials that make attractive women love you as soon as you open a Bud Light. But lately, i’ve noticed a new breed of commercial, one that portrays the man as absolutely retarded in any social or purchasing situation. The dad is the doofy idiot who is uncool to his children unless he’s buying them something or he’s in constant need of correction from his wife or he’s the beer swilling moron who has to buy his wife something expensive to make up for his obvious shortcomings. How is this acceptable? Or is it just that the men have been so bad to the ladies for so long that we have to sit idly by and take this retribution for a while? (i can’t find these commercials online but the one’s that come to mind are the Toyota Truck commercials, the Verizon mosquito commercial, etc. You know them when you see them.)
And just so we end on a happy note, i just found out what a “Spencer Pratt” is, but apparently he is another semi-famous person who is an absolute waste of oxygen and David Letterman pretty much tells him as much on his show. Enjoy.
Filed under: Bush, China, Death Cab For Cutie, Hitler, Jamie Lynn Spears, McCain, Nazi, Obama, more fucking stupidity
I LOVE the new Death Cab. Ignore the critics and just enjoy this album. Seriously, for as much as i want to be a music critic, i just couldn’t handle what it would turn me into (This review sums it up nicely). Yes, it is true that this album is not as happy and optimistic as Plans (Plans actually seems sugary by comparison). Yes, it is true that the song “I Will Possess Your Heart” has a long instrumental intro (about 4 minutes). But come on people, if you appreciate Ben Gibbard’s lyrics and songwriting ability at all, you shouldn’t really give a shit if he’s happy or sad. It’s a great album; passionate, clever, dark, moving and when it’s done, you’ll be sad that it’s over and want to start it right over. Just listen and appreciate. Kudos to the following songs: “I Will Possess Your Heart”, “Long Division” and “Pity and Fear.”
Other albums on my playlist these days are The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America, Okkervil River – Stage Names and Spoon – GaGaGaGa…not new, but certainly good.
Bush compared Obama’s idea of sitting down and talking with Iran and other “enemy” countries to the appeasement of Hitler: “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Bush told the Israeli lawmakers. “We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
And for once, the guy kinda, sorta, almost makes a logical argument. Some of these people can’t be negotiated with, but as always, here’s where i disagree. Obama will be a new president with semi-new ideas…i don’t see anything wrong with him at least entertaining the idea of beginning a dialogue on a clean slate…who knows, it just may work, it certainly hasn’t been tried recently. Update: Obama, as you’d expect, is not pleased with Bush’s comments.
And while we’re using the words Bush and Hitler in the same sentence, let’s read about how Bush’s grandfather had financial ties to Nazi germany. Way to go, prick.
Obama called a reporter “sweety” and it seems the reporter was less than pleased. Obama did call to apologize afterwards, but what do you think? Was that a sexist or chauvinist comment? (Try and listen to the audio if you can…i think it’s an innocuous word in the context of the situation. He was actually being polite and maybe misspoke. It didn’t sound demeaning or derogatory and certainly doesn’t hint at anything larger. But i can see how the reporter — who is in an industry where it is crucial that she be seen as equal to the men who run it — would be upset.) I do this all the time (and maybe i shouldn’t) but i picked it up from some Southern friends of mine who when talking to a female waitress, bartender, etc. always say some variation of “darlin” or “sweety” or “sugar” when asking them for something. They do it in a southern accent so it comes off as cute and the female subject usually smiles and blushes and ends up getting them a better seat or refilling their coffee or something nice just a little more often than not. So, female readers, what do you think? Sexist and demeaning? Or slightly antiquated but acceptable chivalry?
John McCain is an asshole and cannot be the next President, in case any of you were still on the fence.
On a ligher note, a Golf Pro in Colorado hit a hole-in-one on a par 4 with news cameras rolling…pretty awesome. Video here.
And continuing with Colorado’s awesomeness, the Governor’s son really knows how to party (and is my new hero).
Jamie Lynn Spears is a 16-year-old who is 7 months pregnant, so what does she do for fun? If you guessed drive an ATV without a helmet, you’d be right!
It’s kind of hard to believe just how fucked China and Myanmar are right now.
And to end on a better note, a precedent has been set in flatulence-based lawsuits. Sign up for the class-action lawsuit today!
Filed under: McCain
Remember the clever Bomb Iran song?
Filed under: China, History Channel, Logging, McCain, Monday Morning, Obama, Olympics, baseball, dbacks
How’s that for a name? Best i’ve come up with yet.)
A few thoughts for the day:
(Ed Note. Video is graphic and pretty disturbing, if not completely inappropriate for work or school, fyi)
Apparently this is ok at U of A, but at ASU, we call this sexual assault.
John McCain is a warmonger? Hmmm… As much as i’m terrified of his saber rattling with Iran, i do agree that we cannot just abandon Iraq. Yes, we should have never gone, yes, it was completely unjustified, but now we’re there and we need to stay there until things get better or at least until we can assure that we’re leaving it better than when we got there. I would love to hear Obama use his unity rhetoric to convince the multi-national force that should have been there in the first place to come back…then he would be my perfect candidate. He isn’t, yet. Either way, this will be an important week for McCain.
Have you seen Axe Men yet? Much like Deadliest Catch (back next week!), Dirty Jobs and Ice Road Truckers, i love this type of show. I am finding this one interesting because of the history and the way these guys care about the natural resource even more than so-called environmentalists. Trees — at least in this country — are a renewable resource and because of huge advances in technology, ever tree felled is being used in its most effective way. I am curious to see what my friends in the Pacific Northwest think of this show and logging in general. It isn’t the destructive force it use to be, they’re more worried about conservation and protecting their industry than ever before. Definitely changed a lot of my perceptions.
I saw a Prius with a John McCain 08 sticker on it this morning…caught me by surprise.
Dbacks home opener is tonight and yes, i’ll be in attendance sporting my Sedona Red. I love baseball…so expect more posts on the subject soon. Oh, and apologies to Samuel for the absolute ass-whipping i handed to him in Fantasy Baseball last week.
The protests for the Beijing Olympics are really ramping up…i think America has been surprisingly quiet about this whole thing…what do you think? Should we boycott or at least make a statement?
