Some X-Mas 2009 Highlights

30 Ways of Looking at Hillary

Yes, I've already started reading it. Review to come.

St. Louis Weekend

Little did I know I'd run into more than one old friend in the good old STL.

I Voted!

I won't say for whom (really, there were a lot of positions to vote on...).

However, I will say this - there WAS a spot for a write-in candidate for president.

Getting Out All of the Political Posts Before Election Day

So, if, on Tuesday, I vote for one of the two major party candidates (it's not looking very promising right now), I would choose, of those two utterly awful tickets, Obama/Biden. And I wouldn't be voting FOR Obama, I'd be voting AGAINST McCain/Palin. A vote is a vote is a vote - no mater how enthusiastic or unenthusiastic - it counts for the same amount.

I don't really know why Obama bothers me so much. In the entire past two years of this campaign, I have not been able to figure this out. (Sorry to 90% of my blog readers/Obama fanatics.) I think it's the fact that so many people keep trying to tell me that "just you wait Jaime - he's going to CHANGE THE WORLD!!!!"

Not everyone who has the ability to inspire have actually been able to effect a positive change. Obama's been inspiring, etc., for the past year and a half - and has this movement he's evoked actually accomplished something? (Don't tell me 'it got young people interested in politics' - he's mainly gotten them to CAMPAIGN FOR HIM, as opposed to improving anything - I suppose it's the rallying of the lemmings, not where they're actually lead, that matters to some.)

The other day I read a letter to the editor in my favorite newspaper. I don't remember the exact words, but it was something to the extent to 'Illinois is so messed up - our corrupt politicians, broken economy, etc. We need Obama! Oh wait, we already have him....' I couldn't have summed up my feelings better myself.

Again, to my loyal readers/Obamaists - I'm sorry. But man, I had to say it!

Today, On the Homepage of Amazon.com

I am not alone in my feelings.  Time for a write-in.

George W. Bush, is that you? With Lipstick?

And I thought Dick Cheney abused power....

Clarification: The VP is 'President of the Senate' per the constitution, but it's really just in the situation of a tied vote (the VP breaks the tie). So to be lenient, we should excuse her 'in charge of the senate line' - however, the line she goes on to clarify ('really get in there and affect policy') is, well, what's that word....wrong?

Decision '08

I believe I have FINALLY officially made a decision about how I will vote this Nov. 4.

I am going with the 'write-in' option.  If this is not possible (I do not have all that much presidential voting experience; I have only done it once before in my life), I am going with Ralph Nader (yes, he's running AGAIN).  

Political Cartoons

Some of my readers will love these; some will hate these.  

(underneath it says "such as....the Iraq")

I Can See Russia From My House!!

LOL. LOVE IT!!

Could Tina Fey have been any better!?!?! I think Tina Fey is in my top five favorite celebrities. Maybe it's in the bangs.

Hillary!

How I've missed her!  She's been away for far too long!  

I have a memo for Obama's camp:  there's an old saying that goes "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar".   I have heard multiple statements about 'crazy Hillary Clinton supporters acting stupid and not voting for Obama' from Obama supporters.  

I can only speak for myself, but I know that calling me 'stupid' or 'crazy' does NOT make me want to vote for your guy, Obama.  I am not blind to John McCain - I see him for what he is; his main appeal at the moment is merely that his camp is not directly insulting me personally, which, perhaps, is counting for something.

That, and, also, again, speaking for myself - I am kind of stubborn.  And I think, looking at the Hillary Clinton camp, I might not be ALONE in possessing that quality.  So biting back in the form of a vote for John McCain might be an option, if the Obama camp can't stop taunting us Clinton supporters, sixth grade style.  

Just food for thought for all my Obama-loving friends, and anyone else who reads - seeing that I'm not alone; there are 18 million of me.  :)  

Sidenote:  Yes, I wrote this post before Hill's speech.  However, everything I said still stands as accurate.

Advance Warning - Mostly For Emily

With the Olympics being over and the Democratic National Convention this week, followed by the Republican National Convention next week - I will be drawing a lot of my blogging inspiration and material from the political scene.  I know some are not that excited by this, but I am.  So, you've been warned.  

Looking for Some Reading Material?

So, in case I don't update this blog often enough for your liking and you need some reading material (or perhaps a politics fix), try googling either of the following (with quotations):  "McCain denies" or "Obama denies".   Both promise hours of reading material and hundreds of thousands of entries.

In the spirit of the political campaign, I did some google wars....

McCain denies vs. Obama denies

Advantage (or really, shouldn't it be disadvantage) Obama

McCain lies vs. Obama lies

Advantage Obama (by over double...)

McCain flip-flops vs. Obama flip-flops

Advantage McCain

McCain is a rockstar vs. Obama is a rockstar

Advantage Obama (duhhhh)

No results found for "mccain is a rockstar". There you have it!!

Swoon

Despite his wandering, umm, eye....I love this man.  Perhaps even more than I love the Hill-meister.  I'm sure this is no surprise to my loyal blog readers.  In fact, it's probably a good thing he and I don't know each other on a personal level - it could lead to bad blood between Hillary and I....

A Link Presented Without Comment

Ad

All I will say at this point (and believe me, I have a lot of thoughts on this matter, obviously) is that no, I am not part of the group referenced in the ad.  There have been times I have wanted to support John McCain for president, however, every time he opens his mouth he makes it more and more difficult for me to do so.  

Why I Don't Like Obama

So I supported Hillary Clinton. Obviously.

Throughout my backing of her, I knew I was supporting a flawed individual with skeletons in the closet. I would imagine all of Hillary's supporters would say the same. I believe McCain's supporters might make a similar statement about him.

I'd like to wager a guess that there are good amount of Obama supporters (at least those I met) think they are supporting a pure and wondrous being. He's a CHICAGO POLITICIAN. The chances of this being true are about the same as ME getting elected president this November. Call me a cynic (I wear the title with pride) - I don't f*#&ing buy it, Obama.

Here's my problem with him: he ran a campaign based purely on hypocrisy. AND SO MANY PEOPLE DIDN'T NOTICE. He made some statements about how 'he's about a different kind of politics". ok. He's not into the mudslinging; those kind of things distract from the real issues. fine. He comes out and says he's different, he's about change, blah blah blah. But in saying this, he pretty much insinuates (and at times outright says) that all of his competition is about old school politics, distractions, etc. In doing so, HE SLINGS MUD ON HIS COMPETITION. That's the whole platform of his campaign - vote for me because I'm not like these other guys who really really suck!! Hypocrisy in its purest form!! He is a brilliant manipulator (which is really a quality I personally could live without in a president).

His supporters, who all think he's 'not like the rest' will all argue that one should vote for him because Hillary Clinton, John McCain, or whomever else there is, is worse for reasons x, y and z. It's a big giant mud bath, which last time I checked, was the politics we're trying to get away from!!

One thing I will give Barack is that he's very smart - he's not unaware of what's taken place. He's just basking in the fact that everyone else seems to be.

I'll end it with this - I'm not saying I won't vote for Obama. But I'm still looking for a good reason to that doesn't involve "because the alternative sucks". That platform backfired on John Kerry - let's learn from recent history, Democrats!

Before I Have to Start Supporting Him (Solely Because of the Supreme Court)

RIP

It's going to take me a little while to cope with this one....

This Upcoming Tuesday is Very Important

So this upcoming Tuesday is the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. It's tight.

Now, we have a super delegate system. It's kind of like the electoral college - it sees that the popular vote isn't the first and last word. Supposedly, Americans can overall make a bad decision in the popular vote (see November 2004). These supers supposedly know more about the political system and the best interest of the party than the average American voter, so if they need to step in and intervene, they can.

Agree or disagree with the system, it's in play for the above reason. There has been a lot of chatter that the super delegates can't/shouldn't go against the popular vote. However, that's the point of them - that they can do so if they feel it's what's best. Otherwise, they'd just be ordinary old regular average run of the mill boring plain and simple mediocre delegates. So, it's their job to piss people off and tell them they'll thank them for it later, if need be.

What do I have to say about this?

Come on now super delegates!! Do what you've been hired to do!!

Silver Lining

So, as I'm sure everyone knows, it is taking an atypically long period of time for there to be a clear democratic nominee in this upcoming presidential election. Who benefits from this? Many say John McCain and the republican party. I would like to offer up an alternative theory.

Who benefits, you ask? We, the tv watchers of America.

Granted, let me preface this with the fact that I live in Illinois, who had its primary back in early February (when I woke up early to vote for Clinton in the midst of Obama country), so people in many other states may be suffering through ads involving a red telephone, etc.

John Kerry became the presumptive nominee back in 2004 after "Super Tuesday" in late March (I wish I would have gone out and canceled one of those votes). I do not know it for a fact, however, I can swear we were seeing swift boat, etc., ads at this point. To this day, I have only seen a handful of attack against John McCain put out by the democratic party. Back in May 2004, I swear, every other ad ended with "and I approve this message".

Who is most hurt by this dragging on? Probably the tv networks. The ad sales reps. As the two senators battle on about how they plan to improve the economy - they are inadvertently keeping second quarter media sales numbers down. We tv watchers must enjoy this while it lasts.

Lesser Known Biases....

In this very exciting presidential campaign (at least I am very excited about it - in case my readers can't tell) - several questions have been raised: Can we elect a black president? Can we elect a female president?

I find this issue to be particularly interesting because I think people carry some biases that we are not even conscious they have. That being said - I think, race and gender aside, we have certain lifestyle expectations (which, in theory, should be irrelevant) on the person coming into the position - and the "can we elect a...." question has many more endings than one might expect.

Can we elect an atheist president? Can we elect an unmarried president?

I wish I could think of more at this moment - but I know they're out there.

Discuss!