Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sarah Palin & Katie Couric interview
Wow...how else can I even start to vocalize my reaction to this? Utter disbelief? Disgust? Horror? How is it that a woman who can not even string a coherent sentence together get nominated to be this country's vice president? How is it that she still apparently knows almost nothing about McCain? Does she not care enough? Is her life to busy to research the past of the person she presumes to run with in this election? It very much seemed that Palin was not at all prepared for this interview: (Questions and answers quoted and paraphrased from transcription of interview found at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/24/eveningnews/main4476173.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4476173)
Couric Question 1: What was her reaction to Sen. McCain's campaign manager recieving payments from Freddie Mac last month?
Palin Answer: "It is my understanding that he recused himself from the dealings of the firm" and I hope he's not doing that anymore.
Couric Question 2: "But he still has a stake in the company, so isn't that a conflict of interest?"
Palin Answer: "Again, it is my understanding that he (Davis) recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie..." Again, I hope not because John McCain and I are rallying against "the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made."
My translation of what Palin said: I really have no clue about what really happened, so I am just going to say the same thing twice and then change the subject by talking about what McCain and I are doing to "change" Washington.
When Katie Couric asked her if she supports the bail-out, again, she skirts around the issue saying that she is "ill" about it, and that the people won't support it, so John McCain and she won't support it. Then, once again, she changed the subject, this time to the country having its "eye" on what John McCain would do, but not what Sen. Obama would do. Couric asked her why she thought this and then countered with the fact that Obama's poll rating are increasing during this economic crisis. Palin's reaction - "I'm not looking at poll numbers." WHAT?!
Katie asked Palin about the pros and cons to declaring "a moratorium on foreclosures to help Americans keep their homes" after Palin stated that she was not decided on her position on the issue. Palin's "pros and cons" - "Oh, well, some decisions that have been made poorly should not be awarded, of course." (Huh?) And again she finds a way to change the subject to what she and McCain are doing to "change" Washington.
This was not the whole interview, and it was not all that I found objectional about the interview (I hate the use of "good guys" and "bad guys" when talking about foriegn countries and their leaders...I mean, what are we in, a cowboy movie?). If I were McCain watching this interview, I would have put my head in my hands and cried my eyes out. I hopes this makes women who are on the fringe (you know who you are...wanting to vote for McCain so you can see a woman in office, but not entirely alined with his ideals) see that this is not a woman we want to step a foot into the White House on a tour, let alone to help lead this country. And I don't even want to think about if they do get eleted and something (God forbid) happens to McCain!
On a lighter note, Saturday Night Live did an EXCELLENT spoof of the whole interview! Tina Fey and Amy Poehler ROCK!
Couric Question 1: What was her reaction to Sen. McCain's campaign manager recieving payments from Freddie Mac last month?
Palin Answer: "It is my understanding that he recused himself from the dealings of the firm" and I hope he's not doing that anymore.
Couric Question 2: "But he still has a stake in the company, so isn't that a conflict of interest?"
Palin Answer: "Again, it is my understanding that he (Davis) recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie..." Again, I hope not because John McCain and I are rallying against "the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made."
My translation of what Palin said: I really have no clue about what really happened, so I am just going to say the same thing twice and then change the subject by talking about what McCain and I are doing to "change" Washington.
When Katie Couric asked her if she supports the bail-out, again, she skirts around the issue saying that she is "ill" about it, and that the people won't support it, so John McCain and she won't support it. Then, once again, she changed the subject, this time to the country having its "eye" on what John McCain would do, but not what Sen. Obama would do. Couric asked her why she thought this and then countered with the fact that Obama's poll rating are increasing during this economic crisis. Palin's reaction - "I'm not looking at poll numbers." WHAT?!
Katie asked Palin about the pros and cons to declaring "a moratorium on foreclosures to help Americans keep their homes" after Palin stated that she was not decided on her position on the issue. Palin's "pros and cons" - "Oh, well, some decisions that have been made poorly should not be awarded, of course." (Huh?) And again she finds a way to change the subject to what she and McCain are doing to "change" Washington.
This was not the whole interview, and it was not all that I found objectional about the interview (I hate the use of "good guys" and "bad guys" when talking about foriegn countries and their leaders...I mean, what are we in, a cowboy movie?). If I were McCain watching this interview, I would have put my head in my hands and cried my eyes out. I hopes this makes women who are on the fringe (you know who you are...wanting to vote for McCain so you can see a woman in office, but not entirely alined with his ideals) see that this is not a woman we want to step a foot into the White House on a tour, let alone to help lead this country. And I don't even want to think about if they do get eleted and something (God forbid) happens to McCain!
On a lighter note, Saturday Night Live did an EXCELLENT spoof of the whole interview! Tina Fey and Amy Poehler ROCK!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tonight's Debate and why I'm Horrified
After watching tonight's debate I am horrified at the possibility that McCain might be our next president. I have to admit that before tonight I was a little optimistic about the fact that no matter what we were getting it would be better than Bush, but I have lost that optimism tonight.
There were two things that were particulary scary to me about what McCain said during the debate:
1. That we can "win" the war in Iraq, and that if we do not win, soldiers will have died in vain. It seemed to me that "winning" to McCain is his primary objective and that he would "win" this war no matter what the costs. He continually ignored Obama's assertions that we needed to turn our efforts to Afghanistan and the Taliban, and he kept repeating his false presumptions about Obama's opinions. To me, McCain is still the soldier who can not or will not question the decisions of the chief. Sure, he questions it when it has to do with other things, but not the military or war.
2. McCain wants to start a League of Democracy...to take over the world? At least that was how I understood it. Let's get together all of the democratic nations and make everyone else do things the way we want them done! This was the scariest idea he brought to the debate tonight and (not to be redundent) it scares the bejeebers out of me.
For both of these points, I thought that Obama held himself very well. I especially liked his assertion that we need to get non-democratic countries involved. I am not saying that I have no questions about Obama (for instance, why hasn't he been to Afghanistan?), but if McCain is elected, I see another 4 years of war with no end in sight. I see rich continuing to get richer at the expense of the poor. I see our children continuing to get sub-par education and expected to compete in the global economy. I see the United States dropping further in the world view. I ask McCain, if you "know" all of these foreign leaders and have been to all of these places, why is it that foreign polls show that Obama is favored over you?
And I just want to leave off with this. Why is it that Obama could directly address, look at, and talk to McCain, while McCain could not even make eye contact with Obama, let alone address him by name? Obama spoke directly to McCain on numerous occasion and McCain not once even used Obama's name in a direct address. McCain constantly put down Obama with "I don't think Senator Obama understands" this, or "his naivete" about that. You go Barack Obama for not stooping to McCain's level and slinging mud at him! This was why I liked you in the primary debates. Hilary would sling and you would not give it back. You hold yourself to higher standards and I admire that!
There were two things that were particulary scary to me about what McCain said during the debate:
1. That we can "win" the war in Iraq, and that if we do not win, soldiers will have died in vain. It seemed to me that "winning" to McCain is his primary objective and that he would "win" this war no matter what the costs. He continually ignored Obama's assertions that we needed to turn our efforts to Afghanistan and the Taliban, and he kept repeating his false presumptions about Obama's opinions. To me, McCain is still the soldier who can not or will not question the decisions of the chief. Sure, he questions it when it has to do with other things, but not the military or war.
2. McCain wants to start a League of Democracy...to take over the world? At least that was how I understood it. Let's get together all of the democratic nations and make everyone else do things the way we want them done! This was the scariest idea he brought to the debate tonight and (not to be redundent) it scares the bejeebers out of me.
For both of these points, I thought that Obama held himself very well. I especially liked his assertion that we need to get non-democratic countries involved. I am not saying that I have no questions about Obama (for instance, why hasn't he been to Afghanistan?), but if McCain is elected, I see another 4 years of war with no end in sight. I see rich continuing to get richer at the expense of the poor. I see our children continuing to get sub-par education and expected to compete in the global economy. I see the United States dropping further in the world view. I ask McCain, if you "know" all of these foreign leaders and have been to all of these places, why is it that foreign polls show that Obama is favored over you?
And I just want to leave off with this. Why is it that Obama could directly address, look at, and talk to McCain, while McCain could not even make eye contact with Obama, let alone address him by name? Obama spoke directly to McCain on numerous occasion and McCain not once even used Obama's name in a direct address. McCain constantly put down Obama with "I don't think Senator Obama understands" this, or "his naivete" about that. You go Barack Obama for not stooping to McCain's level and slinging mud at him! This was why I liked you in the primary debates. Hilary would sling and you would not give it back. You hold yourself to higher standards and I admire that!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sarah Palin
I am very sorry if you disagree with me, but I personally think that McCain metaphorically slapped every woman in this country in the face when he picked Palin as his VP running mate. He wanted to choose a woman so he could get former Hilary supporters. I get that...I understand that completely...but a former beauty queen with only a year and a half experience as the governer of Alaska and four years as mayor of a town with less than 5,500 people?!?! (My home town of Clarence has over 26,000 people, to give some of my readers a proper scale.) This so-called feminist opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest?!!! She thinks that creationism should be taught in school (so much for the separation of church and state!). She does not believe that global warming is man-made (what?!), and opposed the listing of polar bears as an endangered species because it would interfere with oil drilling in Alaska!
With all of the more experienced Republican women out there, McCain chose Sarah Palin. Why do I think he did this? Because (I am convinced) he thinks women are stupid. He thinks we will vote for him just because he is running with a woman and he knows we want to see a woman in the White House (which we by all means do!). He chose Sarah Palin because he wants her to get all of our votes and then sit back and shut up.
Again, I am sorry is you supported Hilary and have decided to put your faith in Sarah Palin...I am sorry you are a complete RETARD who has given up all of your beliefs just so we can have a woman in the White House! There are very few people who want a woman in the White House more than I do, but it must be the right woman! Sarah Palin is against everything (okay, maybe not everything, but a lot of) what Hilary stands for! If you were a Hilary supporter, you should vehemently OPPOSE Sarah Palin! McCain chose her to win your votes, and she will just be a puppet for the next four years if they win. She will not be a strong presence in the White House...she will get the votes McCain is fishing for and that will be the end of her job!
Let's do the right thing and vote for Obama...it's what Hilary would want you to do! And let's hope that there is a good strong WOMAN running on the democratic ballot next time! A woman who deserves to be there, not someone who is there only to win women voters! A woman who will represent and serve us not the money-grubbing oil companies! I sincerely hope that this country will make the RIGHT decision this November, and vote for a president who will actually make a difference in this country and get it back to being the most respected and looked-up to country in the world!
With all of the more experienced Republican women out there, McCain chose Sarah Palin. Why do I think he did this? Because (I am convinced) he thinks women are stupid. He thinks we will vote for him just because he is running with a woman and he knows we want to see a woman in the White House (which we by all means do!). He chose Sarah Palin because he wants her to get all of our votes and then sit back and shut up.
Again, I am sorry is you supported Hilary and have decided to put your faith in Sarah Palin...I am sorry you are a complete RETARD who has given up all of your beliefs just so we can have a woman in the White House! There are very few people who want a woman in the White House more than I do, but it must be the right woman! Sarah Palin is against everything (okay, maybe not everything, but a lot of) what Hilary stands for! If you were a Hilary supporter, you should vehemently OPPOSE Sarah Palin! McCain chose her to win your votes, and she will just be a puppet for the next four years if they win. She will not be a strong presence in the White House...she will get the votes McCain is fishing for and that will be the end of her job!
Let's do the right thing and vote for Obama...it's what Hilary would want you to do! And let's hope that there is a good strong WOMAN running on the democratic ballot next time! A woman who deserves to be there, not someone who is there only to win women voters! A woman who will represent and serve us not the money-grubbing oil companies! I sincerely hope that this country will make the RIGHT decision this November, and vote for a president who will actually make a difference in this country and get it back to being the most respected and looked-up to country in the world!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Obama's VP choice - Biden
I'm not really sure how to feel about Obama choosing Biden to be his VP on the Democratic ticket in the upcoming election. I've done a little digging over the past few days, looking at his website and what people are saying about him. Pretty much the biggest negative that people are bringing up is that he sometimes says things he shouldn't. (Okay, maybe that's a nice way to put it...is 'he says things that make him look like an asshole' any better?) Honestly, if that's people's biggest problem with him, I'll take it! I'd rather have a VP who knows what he thinks and doesn't hide his viewpoints on things! Better to have someone who comes out and says what he wants than someone who can't even string a sentence together grammatically!
I think he is a pretty good match for Obama. I think they will complement each other nicely. Here are few things that I like about Biden: 1) He is strong for education. No Child Left Behind is awful! We have had eight years of Bush messing up the country's education system, and doing nothing to remedy it! I strongly feel that Bush's intentions were good when he passed the NCLB Act, but almost immediately, it proved not to serve the purpose it was meant to. I'm putting my faith in Obama and Biden to change this for the good of our children!
2) Biden is religious AND pro-gay-rights! Finally, someone who has learned to think for himself! I know the Bible...I know the passages that say that homosexuality is a sin...but there are so many more passages that preach acceptance and tell us that it is not our job to judge others! Go Biden for being your own man!
3) Biden realizes that merely pulling all of our troops out of Iraq is WRONG! I want to end this war as much as anyone, but to simply pull out all of our troops would be murder. This is the one issue that really drew me to Obama during the caucuses at the beginning of the year. They both seem to have a plan for withdrawing from Iraq; they don't merely want "to have all troops out of Iraq in 6 weeks" (approximate words I heard coming out of Hilary and Bill Richardson's lips). Let's face facts people, we still have thousands of soldiers in South Korea, and that war ended forty years ago! Do you think we could just pull out of Iraq and everything will be hunky-dory?
All in all, I am pretty happy with Obama's choice for VP. Is there a better candidate out there? Probably! But there are probably better candidates for president out there, too! The people who are best suited to run this country never will because they are too good of people to be politicians. At least with Obama and Biden I feel like I will be voting for people and not politicians!
Now, I just hope that McCain doesn't go and do something smart like picking Lieberman or Powell for his VP and really screwing our chances for victory!
I think he is a pretty good match for Obama. I think they will complement each other nicely. Here are few things that I like about Biden: 1) He is strong for education. No Child Left Behind is awful! We have had eight years of Bush messing up the country's education system, and doing nothing to remedy it! I strongly feel that Bush's intentions were good when he passed the NCLB Act, but almost immediately, it proved not to serve the purpose it was meant to. I'm putting my faith in Obama and Biden to change this for the good of our children!
2) Biden is religious AND pro-gay-rights! Finally, someone who has learned to think for himself! I know the Bible...I know the passages that say that homosexuality is a sin...but there are so many more passages that preach acceptance and tell us that it is not our job to judge others! Go Biden for being your own man!
3) Biden realizes that merely pulling all of our troops out of Iraq is WRONG! I want to end this war as much as anyone, but to simply pull out all of our troops would be murder. This is the one issue that really drew me to Obama during the caucuses at the beginning of the year. They both seem to have a plan for withdrawing from Iraq; they don't merely want "to have all troops out of Iraq in 6 weeks" (approximate words I heard coming out of Hilary and Bill Richardson's lips). Let's face facts people, we still have thousands of soldiers in South Korea, and that war ended forty years ago! Do you think we could just pull out of Iraq and everything will be hunky-dory?
All in all, I am pretty happy with Obama's choice for VP. Is there a better candidate out there? Probably! But there are probably better candidates for president out there, too! The people who are best suited to run this country never will because they are too good of people to be politicians. At least with Obama and Biden I feel like I will be voting for people and not politicians!
Now, I just hope that McCain doesn't go and do something smart like picking Lieberman or Powell for his VP and really screwing our chances for victory!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gas Prices
I am really sick of hearing people complain about the gas prices! Yes, they are they highest they have ever been! Yes, it stinks! But we have been so spoiled for so long! I was in Australia in 2001 and the gas was like $1.40/liter! That's over $5.00/gallon! Hell, for at least the last six years, the average gas price in Canada has been double that of ours! Right now, in Australia, gas is over $6.00/gallon and in the UK it's over $9.00/gallon! So what the hell are we bitching about!
I'll tell you what: we're bitching because it costs over $100 to fill up our Hummers, which we have to fill up at least once a week because they get such poor gas mileage! Why don't we think about getting smaller vehicles? Because we are spoiled! We think that we can do what ever the hell we want, live our lives without a thought to anyone else, raise our children to be just a spoiled and selfish as we are!
We say "Vote for McCain and our gas prices will go down!" Yeah...maybe... He'll go drill the Alaskan wilderness and go to war with Iran! If you ask me, those two things will balance out and we'll still be stuck at $4.00/gallon, if not more! Will he give back the money to the sciences that Bush took away? You know, the money that should be funding projects such as finding alternative fuel sources, but instead is going to kill innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. I doubt the sciences will be seeing much more money from the Republicans. But what do I know?
The only thing I know is that I'm going to chew out the next SUV driver I hear complaining about gas prices! Should be fun!
I'll tell you what: we're bitching because it costs over $100 to fill up our Hummers, which we have to fill up at least once a week because they get such poor gas mileage! Why don't we think about getting smaller vehicles? Because we are spoiled! We think that we can do what ever the hell we want, live our lives without a thought to anyone else, raise our children to be just a spoiled and selfish as we are!
We say "Vote for McCain and our gas prices will go down!" Yeah...maybe... He'll go drill the Alaskan wilderness and go to war with Iran! If you ask me, those two things will balance out and we'll still be stuck at $4.00/gallon, if not more! Will he give back the money to the sciences that Bush took away? You know, the money that should be funding projects such as finding alternative fuel sources, but instead is going to kill innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. I doubt the sciences will be seeing much more money from the Republicans. But what do I know?
The only thing I know is that I'm going to chew out the next SUV driver I hear complaining about gas prices! Should be fun!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Immigration and my grandfather
I'm not entirely sure where my grandfather stand politically. He used to send me all of these email basically saying "Look at how bad immigrants are! Close our borders! Kick them out!" Being a teacher of immigrants and having many immigrant friends, I asked my grandfather politely to please stop sending me such emails. For the most part, he has complied with my wishes. He still forwards me many things, most of which I enjoy. He sent me a very powerful email this morning about being grateful for everything that we have, showing pictures of those less fortunate. It showed pictures of people from third world countries starving, working at extremely young and old ages, parentless children and many more. It was a fantastic email, so why do I bring it up here? Because of who sent it!
I severely want to write an email back to my grandfather saying: Don't you see? If you lived in these conditions, wouldn't you do everything in your power to get out of them? Even if that meant travelling to another country illegally? Wouldn't you do anything to give your children a chance to have a better childhood than you had? Wouldn't you do that for them?
I know the purpose of the email had nothing to do with immigration, but that was all I could see in it. Now that I think about it, it is a rather selfish email for someone who wants to close our borders to immigrants. It says: "We should be thankful that we're not like them, but let's not help them!"
I agree that our immigration system is broken in this country. Hundreds of women a year cross the border from Mexico into southern California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas just to give birth so their children can be United States citizens. We are one of the only countries that allows every baby born here to become citizens, regardless of citizenship of parents. This would be a good starting point for immigration reform!
Why shouldn't we just send them all back to their country of origin? Well, it would cost a lot of money and we'd be losing a lot of low paid physical workers. Yes, there are certain areas that would be affected by this more than others. But in some areas, many businesses would go belly-up if they lost their immigrant workers.
Plus, it's not like our government just finds illegal immigrants and ships them home. I had a close friend who came here legally, but over-stayed his visa. He was working illegally and got caught. He spent months in prison before they sent him home! We already have over-crowded prisons, I imagine they would overflow if we started putting more and more illegal immigrants in them for months before they got deported!
I know we are a selfish nation! Why else would we think it is perfectly fine to go to war for oil? (I know that wasn't the main public reason, but that's what it boils down to, right?) Why else would everyone be bitching about gas prices, when they are still lower than most of the world's gas prices have been for years? Why else would we still see thousands of SUVs on the road, despite the high gas prices?
I know, I'm a little off topic...back to immigration. All I wish is that people would think through every facet of this issue in a non-selfish way. Think about what it means for the immigrants. If they have to go back to their country will they be persecuted? murdered? or merely not be able provide as good a life as in the U.S.?
I severely want to write an email back to my grandfather saying: Don't you see? If you lived in these conditions, wouldn't you do everything in your power to get out of them? Even if that meant travelling to another country illegally? Wouldn't you do anything to give your children a chance to have a better childhood than you had? Wouldn't you do that for them?
I know the purpose of the email had nothing to do with immigration, but that was all I could see in it. Now that I think about it, it is a rather selfish email for someone who wants to close our borders to immigrants. It says: "We should be thankful that we're not like them, but let's not help them!"
I agree that our immigration system is broken in this country. Hundreds of women a year cross the border from Mexico into southern California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas just to give birth so their children can be United States citizens. We are one of the only countries that allows every baby born here to become citizens, regardless of citizenship of parents. This would be a good starting point for immigration reform!
Why shouldn't we just send them all back to their country of origin? Well, it would cost a lot of money and we'd be losing a lot of low paid physical workers. Yes, there are certain areas that would be affected by this more than others. But in some areas, many businesses would go belly-up if they lost their immigrant workers.
Plus, it's not like our government just finds illegal immigrants and ships them home. I had a close friend who came here legally, but over-stayed his visa. He was working illegally and got caught. He spent months in prison before they sent him home! We already have over-crowded prisons, I imagine they would overflow if we started putting more and more illegal immigrants in them for months before they got deported!
I know we are a selfish nation! Why else would we think it is perfectly fine to go to war for oil? (I know that wasn't the main public reason, but that's what it boils down to, right?) Why else would everyone be bitching about gas prices, when they are still lower than most of the world's gas prices have been for years? Why else would we still see thousands of SUVs on the road, despite the high gas prices?
I know, I'm a little off topic...back to immigration. All I wish is that people would think through every facet of this issue in a non-selfish way. Think about what it means for the immigrants. If they have to go back to their country will they be persecuted? murdered? or merely not be able provide as good a life as in the U.S.?
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