Archive for April 12th, 2008
Teacher beaten by student in classroom, absolutely nothing happens as a result
No teacher should ever fear for their safety inside the classroom. That is the mark of a school in need of resources, opportunities and a hard line stance. Above all in our school system we must make a shift to respecting and protecting our teachers better. These types of situations truly make me fear for a society where those who try and educate our children are subject to threats and attack. The nature of a good teacher is such an impossible thing to fake, and we’re constantly forcing the absolute brightest from our public schools to the corporate world, where they can make more money consulting or developing curriculum.
I know of at least three teachers who are losing their homes because they dared to live in the neighborhood where they teach. The way banks were pushing it at the time, these people ended up with either adjustable rate mortgages or fixed mortgages they simply couldn’t afford with the cost of inflation, but they will now lose their houses (at least two, the third is most likely in the same boat). These aren’t dumb or irresponsible people, they are teachers in many communities across America who can’t afford to live in the area where they work. Even with some of the tax incentives for teachers, police officers and firefighters people have a lot of trouble owning a home in the area of their work, forget about having a family. People talk about labor workers all the time who want to be able to afford to buy a home, send their kids to college and retire with dignity. Why can’t teachers, police officers and firefighters have that?
Teachers, for the most part, are the only profession not catching up in our major metropolitan areas. It’s not just the pay, it’s the respect of these jobs. Parents aren’t teaching children to respect anyone, let alone teachers and police officers. They see the education system as something akin to an auto shop, where they drop it off in the morning, they fix it up and you pick it up at night. Education simply does not work this way. Parents are responsible for reinforcing cultural education and social respect. Without parents help children are prone to making these types of mistakes where they never quite realize they are mortal. Like the girls who beat the cheerleader in Polk County, FL and the girl who attacks her teacher in this video, and the instances just like it all over this country.
This is a parenting and societal problem, something government can’t directly fix. Funding all public schools, not just those in affluent neighborhoods would be a start. Opponents always say “you can’t just throw money at the problem”, and I argue we’ve never tried to throw money at anything. I’m not for much federal involvement in our schools, but we’re regulating the hell out of school districts at the federal level while not really funding the schools. We’re just stuck feeding the bureaucracy while each state has their own beefy Department of Education so the whole system is redundant. Get rid of the Department of Education, force states to compete with each other and they will rise to the occasion. You know, the American way.
Finances of the candidates
Barack Obama is worth $1.3 million. This compared to John McCain’s $40 million and Hillary Clinton’s $35 million, looks pretty meager. This was before Sen. Clinton released her tax records which reflected nearly $110 million in income, but still very interesting. It’s hard to call it elitism when you’ve never touched poor. It’s and interesting slice of each of the candidates, check it out:
The candidates who have dropped out also make for an interesting read. These kinds of stories give us a better idea of what kind of walk our candidates walk, as they are out on the trail talking their talk. If you had $30-40 million, what would you do with it? Would you give to charity? Would you invest it all? Maybe a combination? Especially for candidates know they will be in the public eye.
Military contracts funded the West Texas polygamist sect
In what feels like a twice-a-day occurrence, I have to say again this just proves why we need to have a more transparent government. Why people need to become aware and come to grips with the fact that our current administration has run amok with cronyism and selling privilege. This is why we need to utilize the greatest testament to human capability, the internet, to take power back from oligarchs. This is the reason for democracy, leaders like this. A byproduct of this leadership is this kind of moral atrocity perpetrated with US tax dollars.
Again, the freedom to practice religion as you see fit is a core American right. Anyone should be free to believe and worship as they choose, my concern The problem is when the “church” operates like this:
Under Jeffs’ direction, Wisan said, sect households are required to tithe at least 10 percent of their gross income to the church, plus an extra $1,000 a month.
This includes the Church of $cientology and any other group which takes tax exemption on religious grounds or gets federal grants and military contracts should be stripped of that money. There are also plenty of ancillary accusations about sects and cults like this to investigate. Religion cannot be a guise for evil and predatory business in this country. It hinders our democracy and actually hurts legitimate religion in this country. By legitimate, I ask the simple question: can I seek assistance and advice here, even if I’m dirt poor? It seems when you must tithe 10% + $1,000 you will have a hard time if you’re already poor. It seems like the $200,000 modest estimates for how much it costs for Scientologists to learn about the Xenu story is going to be a problem for anyone but the wealthy. It seems like these kinds of things being called a religion by our government says that starting a cult for profit is a legitimate business venture in this country.
UPDATE: Anderson Cooper from CNN has been covering the perspective of the mothers in this community. Their pain is very real and actually evokes a bit of sympathy in some ways. As parents they truly do not believe their children are in any danger at the compound. The entire sect is incredibly modest in very many ways, and former members do not agree that the bed found in the temple could have been used to consummate marriages of under-aged girls to men as old as fifty. Given the evidence before me, I can’t say the bed was used for this, but then again I’m not the first officer into that room.
UPDATE: Last night (04/30/08) Verdict with Dan Abrams ran with this story in the “Why America Hates Washington” segment. It’s true, reckless and unchecked no-bid contracts and out-of-control spending are part of why America hates Washington and politics in general. Imagine your church using your tithing to pay for someone’s meth habit, it’s basically the same idea with our government’s wasteful spending.
Lou Dobbs is my hero for tonight
This man just said something so dead on and frankly, dangerous to say on a network owned by a corporation. Keep in mind there are two other pundits on the show, utterly silenced by this exchange. Lou told the truth about corporate America being the problem, which is really at the root of some of these debates in the economic realm. It’s the no-bid contracts fueling the war. It’s the bailouts for JP Morgan Chase and none for homeowners in real trouble of ceasing to be a family. Here is the transcript, from CNN’s This Week – 04/12/08.
Diana West: Yes, I think you’re exactly right. He put his finger in the air and decided you better have a housing bailout plan, too that doesn’t allow the market to correct and makes the president into a father figure rather than a president who leads and tries to help the country get back to…
Lou: I am supposed to be going to break but I’ve got to say something to…I’ve got to say something here. You start talking about conservatism, and we’ve got some other folks talking about liberalism and democratism and republicanism. Let’s be honest here, whether you are on the left or the right of this panel or in the United States, the reality is, if this government had carried out its responsibilities and actually regulated these financial markets, as is their absolute and unequivocal responsibility we wouldn’t be in this mess having to listen to conservative pandering, liberal pandering and all of the nonsense in between, would we?
Diana: That may be true, but I think…
Lou: No, that is true.
Diana: Well, I think there’s also a deeper problem there which speaks to the…
Lou: Deeper than that, deeper than?
Diana: Yes, in the American personality. It is expected that the government will bail you out when you have a problem, that doesn’t fix things and again we get farther and farther from self-reliance. [Lou trying to get in, she mumbles for a second.]
Lou: Please, you show me an American who is walking around here expecting this federal government, this disfunctional institution called the federal government to bail them out, expecting it? The only people expecting it are the same free trade, free market non-sensical blathering public officials and CEOs and business leaders in this country who talk big about Mr. Market and as soon as times get tough, they are the ones who start screaming for a bailout and forget about their ideological position, right?
Diana: Maybe, I…
Lou: No, what do you mean maybe? It is!
Diana: I’m no free trader, Lou, but I do believe that the government candidates who are now running for president are trying to outbid each other in trying to buy the votes. You have every kind of program: billions here for housing, billions for student loans, billions for heating oil.
At that point another pundit jumps in and talks about the direct links to each candidate in the campaign.
The base argument here is interesting to me. When you ask for anything that simply benefits people, and doesn’t really help corporations all that much, it’s called welfare. The same people who tell you that is welfare then receive $300 from every American to bail them out after giving bad loans. Then they talk about free trade and the free market when you tell them this is an issue where government is necessary. There are many issues where the special interests have forced so much propaganda down our throats that we believe anything they say, and they don’t have to be correct to be well-funded.
The response to Hurricane Katrina tearing the scab off the issues of race and socio-economic disparity. Welfare recipients aren’t part of a problem that true community activism cannot fix. When police departments see large reductions in crime by working with area mothers and grandmothers to talk to children and grandchildren about gangs and drugs, you must see that some spending is worthwhile.
Again, this makes my argument for transparent government. We need to know where every tax dollar goes. We need to know what loans the government takes out in our name, and have a say when the Fed decides to flood the market with more money, making everyone’s dollar worth less.
Stop a welfare and food stamp program that is beatable to a degree of having many cashiers and checkers complaining about welfare recipients buying booze and alcohol through loopholes in the system, or simply with the extra money they should be using to work themselves off the welfare program. We need to model more programs off those that are effective, and cut anything in our government at all that does not pass a basic criteria of having a positive cost-benefit analysis. This means cutting the Department of Education. There already exist fifty state education departments, we don’t need government bloat and more money going to Washington, we need it in the local schools.
Get rid of the IRS and create a Fair Tax system, where everyone pays based on what they consume, not what they make. This doesn’t spur work and growth and takes into account problems created for the government as negative externalities; driving creates smog (which is hard to deny from a hill overlooking a city). This smog and pollution, not to mention related breathing-related health issues are then a burden on the government in many ways. With a Fair Tax, if you consume a ton you will pay more. If you make a lot of money but don’t consume a gaudy amount, you won’t necessarily pay as much.
End the tax credits for people just looking for sly ways to fund propaganda. End tax credits for shipping jobs overseas. As Lou points out, they created this mess by their inactivity and deregulation, in some cases. Now we line up on two sides and argue whodunit, we know who the culprits are, we need a change of direction for Washington. We need someone who will at least say they will try and kick the special interests out, and so on that mark all three have said that in some form or another.
Reschedule drugs based on actual, scientific evidence. Drugs proven to be dangerous and of no use should truly be actively prosecuted and rehabilitated, wherever appropriate. So-called drugs which are more efficient and less harmful should be scheduled, tested and available as such. Stop wasting billions of dollars a year paying for incarceration of non-violent drug offenders, and decriminalize marijuana for medical use. The value of hemp as a crop option to farmers is also great, you would be surprised at how many farmers in the Kansas and Oklahoma know they could make more money planting hemp. Hemp has no real potential to get people high as well, so there would be no risk of raids of crops.
Lou Dobbs hits a lot of nails on the head and basically pulls back the curtain on people who are his bosses in reality. I’m sure it will have little splash anywhere else, but it’s nice to know he’s with many Americans on the economy.
Iraq is overpaying the government and bureaucracy on our dime
I’m the last guy to give you the generic “gas prices are so high” gripe. There is much more to that story than simply corporations gouging prices on a necessary commodity. Supply and demand explain nearly all of the price increase in oil and gas prices. Simply put, a large population is now getting more modernized, they are driving cars at higher rates. More people want gas, so prices go up. Supply won’t fluctuate much, unless we drill more in ANWR.
Having said that, the Iraq War and the no-bid contracts mixed with this profiteering both by Dick Cheney’s former company in Halliburton and by the new bureaucracy created by the US in Iraq. This story makes me sick. I don’t understand how the future generations of Americans are going to foot the bill for reconstruction in Iraq when they are making huge revenues from oil. The problem is the puppet-state we’ve created, and the government we barely elected twice against weak Democratic candidates. Now maybe if we had the Iraq War go on The Colbert Report maybe it would pay for itself through donations.
Since we continually have to bring up associates, let’s be fair
Rod Parsley and here’s a little story about one of his spiritual pupils.
Hagee calls the Catholic Church a “great whore” and a “false cult system” and compares Catholics to Nazis. This is absurd. McCain continues to embrace him, no media coverage for Teflon John.
This is a good showing, a condemnation of religious leaders who are on the fringe and represent extreme and radical views. But…
A more recent video tells a more complete story. He realized the answer to that question was no, he cannot win even the primary by angering those people. Falwell also apologized for blaming 9/11 on gays and the ACLU among others. I give it to Sen. McCain for standing up to some of the religious right in the past, but now would be a far better time to be cutting ties and standing against that radical anti-Catholic voice, anti-human rights voice. The problem this time is the comments of Hagee and Parsley are far more damning thank anything Reverend Wright said.
CNN and the truth about Chicken Little in the media
A great panel on CNN points out the fact that Barack Obama came from an extremely modest home and somehow becomes an elitist the moment he achieves some semblance of the American dream. This truly is about O’Reilly’s “Christian male power structure” and the added element of race, where comments and actions done almost exclusively by crusty old white men for over 150 years are now offensive coming from a Congressional minority. The problem is that the so-called minorities and multi-racial families are approaching the majority in this country. Our Congress simply does not represent us as a people. It’s not representative democracy, it’s representation by oligarchs. Incumbent re-election rate is around 98% and yet we’re supposed to believe they actually represent us? As this country changes, the political landscape has not. To call a child raised by a single parent and his grandparents an elitist is like calling George Bush’s speeches “eloquent and visionary”.
The anti-Obama people will have to make this the biggest issue for 3 weeks the same way they did with Reverend Wright, but informed and astute voters will ignore this kind of pissing contest. That isn’t to say “they’ll wise up and vote for Obama”, I just don’t believe this is a voting issue. When it comes down to it; the war, the economy and health care are the key voting issues. More people are annoyed that crap like this makes news and we still wonder exactly why and how our economy is going into recession. We wonder how exactly the media covers speech and words when we’ve paid $500 billion to a war and rebuilding effort in Iraq. That money would be useful in a rebuilding effort in the inner cities or middle America. New Orleans could still use some rebuilding efforts. Those are issues, these words people mince are just distractions.
The Obama Campaign has issued a semi-apology in that he regrets his wording and if it possibly offended anyone. Now, I acknowledge the fact that he’s simply saying his wording offended people, but again I point back to what you see in the CNN clip, or on the blogs. Many people acknowledge that what he said was a harshly-worded truth but many Republicans as Chris Cillizza rightly points out are fixated on this as the “new Jeremiah Wright”.
Hillary is responding to this as well, and sounding oddly just like John McCain on the subject. She quotes a phrase and delivers a talking point on this relating directly to the crowd in Valparaiso, Indiana. She is the embodiment of what Republicans are talking about with big spending and big government. She said to bridge the socio-economic divide we must “roll up our sleeves” and get things done. By getting things done she means more regulation, more bureaucracy and more taxes. At least John McCain doesn’t want to spend more money. Hillary Clinton would be better for our country than John McCain in my opinion, but Barack Obama is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a leader who truly does try to listen to the people. To work toward a more perfect Union. His background in community organizing will be valuable in the White House, especially after 8 years of the deaf Bush administration.
Hillary Clinton just had the audacity to directly plagiarize Obama’s unity lines: we’re not on labor teams, and management teams, and Democrat teams and Republican teams, we’re all on the American team. It’s not a big deal, but the same people who blow up little things Barack Obama says are going to directly ignore this example of her hypocrisy. She’s stuck in the old politics that will be forced out by a more free media, saying “America needs a President who doesn’t look down at them”. A person who has worked on the street to organize and repair communities affected by the mass-layoffs.
She’s the ad-hominem candidate. If you want to hate back at the Bush administration, get a chance to try them for war crimes, lash out at idealists who are now swelling to the polls and donating in record numbers or simply want to criticize syntax and semantics that’s fine, vote for Hillary Clinton in the remaining states. I simply believe in Barack Obama if you want a president who won’t divide the country the way the last name Clinton does, or McCain now that it’s nearly synonymous with Bush on some major voting issues.
I have made a decision on this election. That isn’t to say I’ve stopped paying attention or that I will apologize. I’ve called everything like I saw it, I just saw more of the attacks against Obama as petty. Polls show 13% of the population still thinks he’s Muslim. This is absurd, after he’s been barraged with press over a 20-second sound bite of his Christian pastor that Fox News (and the rest, for a shorter time) repeated for 3 weeks straight . Misinformation is truly everywhere. For once I have a chance to not vote for the “lesser of two evils”, but someone I think has potential to be a great president.
After being bullied and pushed around for 8 years by the neo-cons, an extreme right-wing portion of the Republican party, many will be eager to work with a uniting force in the White House. There are so many issues, and those who don’t lose their seats in November will be well on their way in 2010 if they don’t show some distance between their service and the tactics of the Bush administration. There are countless examples of cronies getting jobs above their abilities, dissenters being fired, reports being pre-screened by the White House and the suspension of habeas corpus where everyday Republicans do have a better conscience and would take the opportunity to work with Barack Obama. Arguments he is not willing to work across the aisle are false.
Moderate isn’t just a word to attach to your dumb ideas
So I just received my harsh backlash from docweasel, an incredibly insightful and thoughtful group of anonymous bloggers covering current events with a real world view. Basically they take current events and dumb them down with ignorance. It’s the redneck, gun-toting, bible-thumping, others-hating viewpoint they’re bending over backward to defend. Their pen streams forth with a ray of light. Or with a collection of mindless comics.
Detect this: do I come over to [his] blog and slap the dick out of your Mom’s mouth and tell her how to do her job? Well, yeah, I do, and wipe it off on your little sister’s teddy bear when I’m done, but that’s beside the point.
The entire post is essentially a diatribe of anger and the bitterness a politician recently scratched the surface on. The poster tries to make a few points, like Maguire’s assumption that this ices the Wright cake. This doesn’t ice anything. Reverend Wright is more of a patriot than George W. Bush or Dick Cheney and their multiple deferments by any measure. The post implies the original article, which I responded to, was moderate. What nonsense! This pathetic little cartoonist kid has no view of anything on a political spectrum yet claims to be moderate? You should grab a real book, one without pictures and learn something.
And my original point is made more clear- “Is this typical of the anti-Obama crowd?”
Well, looking at the tags, what level of education was revealed to you, sporty? Since you are about as condescending and fatuous as your boyfriend Obama, I take it you think I flunked out of 4th grade as evidenced by the high negatives I accrued carving “I’m convinced your mom has the same economic bearing as my 10 inch uncircumsized cock” into my teacher’s forehead with a switchblade before stuffing the aforementioned cock down her throat and nearly choking her with the pint of chunky spooge I customarily ejaculate on a slow day.
It’s funny how the education question really is never answered, unless you count the revelation that it was a pre-pubescent teenage based on the word choice. I’m not offended by a 14-year-old’s temper tantrum, it only makes my case. The faux history lesson at the end was priceless as well. First they repeat the agreeably stupid statement by Senator Obama, then he essentially proves it correct. At least the part about clinging to “antipathy for others” rings true in every moronic sentence of both of these posts. They apparently know all about Lincoln and Kennedy, of course because that’s standard cartoonist reading. I’m sure they have intensive studies of history and politics in art school, or middle school.
It’s interesting how they comment on ‘cocked, locked and ready to rock’ in an assumed effort to talk crap on my tag line. They didn’t indicate any understanding at all for where that phrase comes from, which kind of makes me wonder what this loser would define as service to his country. Oh yeah, and being able to read and having open comments from anyone on WordPress are two different things. Your comments are closed without signup. I’m not signing up on your stupid forum just to tell you’re a moron. I do think the comic book cover they made was kind of clever, as a substitute for intelligence I suppose.
I don’t know why I’m even surprised by Fox News anymore
The weekend edition of Fox & Friends bills Obama’s statements in San Francisco about rural America as “Barack Obama attacks some voters and how John McCain and Hillary Clinton tell him to ‘back off!’” It’s repulsive to think these people have credibility with anyone in this country. I am sure a large portion of their viewers are aware of their extreme and unabashed bias. The individuals seem to care about reporting news, but the management and editorial discretion is atrocious. From the top down, this organization is a political one. It is not a reputable news organization.
Fox regularly attacks reputable news sources like the New York Times, Washington Post and even credible blogosphere buzz sites like ThinkProgress and DailyKos but their own reporting lacks any real news, merely analysis lasting weeks centering on a single 20-second clip. At least I’ve never seen the same story absolutely beaten into the ground without any new facts surfacing on the DailyKos, when a story keeps going there, that means more is breaking with the story. Watching the blogs and waiting a few days for a story to be dispelled or validated is a more effective news source than watching Fox News 24/7, unless you just want someone to pander to Sen. McCain and be apologists for the Bush administration.
Of course they are saying this could jeopardize his campaign, but media outlets and pollsters don’t know what the American voter does. The truth hurts sometimes. As Juan Williams recently pointed out, these comments are true and actually go to the fear preyed upon by Republicans. I don’t understand how telling the truth about people could ever be such a devastating thing to a campaign. Americans are bitter, we loathe the powerful elites who ask us one-two questions a year: How much are you paying us in taxes? What rights could you live without?
One of the weekend anchors did point out that this is the first time we’ve heard anything actually controversial come out of Barack Obama’s mouth, everything prior was made through a surrogate. it’s nice to know they report some of the truth. Just enough to let you think they are “Fair and Balanced”? Yeah right!
I guess I should temper my expectations with a network that just called Miley Cyrus a singer/songwriter. She did make $18.2 million last year on concerts, merchandising and her TV show, but songwriter? Like that singer/songwriter Britney Spears, what ever happened to her?
Juan Williams analysis of Obama’s ‘guns and religion’ statement was the most fair on Fox
Last night’s O’Reilly Factor (04/11/08) was hosted by Laura Ingraham since Bill had the night off, but the show still had some interesting pieces. Just keep in mind interesting isn’t a moral distinction. When it looks like a train wreck, no doubt they will be all over it. However, the latest train wreck is the polygamist compound raided and hundreds of children freed from virtual sexual slavery. It’s not interesting in a warm and fuzzy way, but ever since I heard what was going on in Colorado City, I perk up when I hear about a cult or polygamist sect. Sometimes Fox News can inform, you’d think they would be the ones covering the business masquerading as a religion in the Church of Scientology. I wonder if Greta van Susteren’s membership in the church has anything to do with their portion of that media shortcoming?
Tonight again, Fox had to run their “what’s wrong with the Democrats, what’s good about McCain” segments, tonight Obama’s “guns and religion” comment was the subject of discussion. Juan Williams was spot on even in the midst of Ingraham’s list of reasons to bury your head in the sand. In this case, I agree with Juan Williams that there is truth to Obama’s remarks(here). He even said the Republicans play on that fear people in the bible belt and rural areas have of others, and their love of their religion. It’s called the religious Right, which is increasingly becoming more mixed and less conservative. They still work to protect the family and build community, but many are not buying into the Focus on the Family garbage of old.
They also had an interesting segment with Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, an anti-war mother’s group and Lt. Pete Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom. As much as I admire and respect the sacrifices of ALL of our men in uniform, no matter what where or when they served or are currently serving, this Lieutenant’s brushing-off of a legitimate concern, that the majority of American people do not support continued presence in Iraq. This opposition to the war is not a new thing, as nearly that much wanted all combat troops out by the end of 2008 according to a February 2007 USA Today poll.
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This is the way our administration feels about the opinion of the majority, so long as the minority we’re talking about is the “Christian male power structure”. And this representative of Vets for Freedom seems to offer the same brush-off. I know the soldiers should keep their eyes on the ball, but the people are watching this all unfold, and much like John Ashcroft on the conversations leading to some absolutely inhumane and immoral treatment during this war, we’re saying “history will not judge this kindly“.
My favorite analysis of this issue has come from the DailyKos and wmtriallawyer who dared to look up elitist in a dictionary. Check it out here.
Why is the Constitution considered a radical thing to talk about?
I first heard someone talking about it on über-conservative talk radio, and then felt that sense all throughout the Ron Paul Revolution, and I just can’t stop thinking about why this occurs. It’s the same sense of creepy feeling you get when Dennis Kucinich enters the room. The problem is, when they start talking, it makes sense. Think about this: our entire government was formed on a document that is about 6 pages long. The entire government’s foundation is only 6 pages (front and back).
How is it difficult to adhere to the basic tenets that built a nation able to last 221 years without breaking at the seams. Held together by free speech, a free press, the election cycle and ultimately the individual’s right to vote and choose. The strongest democracy on earth, we owe it to lead by example and not undercut our own strengths as we ravage and trample on the Constitution. I disagree regularly with those in power, but the United States is still the best place on earth to live. It’s because of our foundation, our Constitution and not any one president in our history.
I believe we should have a stronger emphasis on citizenship, community involvement and service in our public schools. I believe that the truth should be held over our pristine picture of ourselves as a nation in our classrooms. Students know that problems exist, they may live in a neighborhood that government forgot, but they still have hopes and dreams. We must educate all citizens to pay attention and remain an active voice in our government, or we lose it to the cronies and elites.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Preamble to the Constitution was written last, and outlines the goals of the Constitution and the purposes of government. It’s memorize-able, it’s basic, and yet for so many people it’s like speaking in tongues. The Constitution is somehow off-putting. How can this be? We are certainly not serving our Posterity when we rack up debt to China to pay for an unjust war that our children will either die in, become permanently damaged in or pay for, for the rest of their lives.
Is this the anti-Obama crowd? Fueled by politics or emotions?
I just read the most angry and bitter blog today, apparently a response to some of the comments Senator Obama made in Pennsylvania. Like I said, they were dumb statements, but I can’t imagine Barack Obama is anywhere near the season’s lead for dumb statements, next to Hillary Clinton or John McCain. I would concur that Hillary Clinton would be a good president, possibly even great. I am not convinced she actually has the same economic bearing as her husband, but I’m not convinced he won’t be valuable in the White House. I just know that half of this country basically hates her, as evidenced by her high negatives.
This poster simply makes him or herself sound ignorant in the process. They’ve somehow extrapolated a novel out of a few lines of a conversation from earlier on the campaign trail. Taking a glimpse at the tags reveals the level of education and judgment the poster exercises.
Obama may have finally killed his campaign. I hope so. I genuinely think Hillary would be better for the country than Obama, who is starting to really sound like a fucking asshole. All this Messiah shit has gone to his head in a big way.
1) I’m going out on a limb to say you haven’t seen Senator Obama speak in person? If you have, did he give you this condescending attitude? Anyone have this experience?
2) Nobody has dubbed Senator Obama a Messiah in any way. Maybe some biased elements of the media have tried to paint the picture as though he and his supporters were some sort of group of jaded followers as if he were a rock star, or that they were the educated elitist far-left… Which is it? They are two distinct groups. You are talking about your teachers, your medical community, many journalists, researchers and university personnel; also your labor workers and service industry workers. This isn’t some group of stupid people following a herd, they are awake, and not responding to spin and propaganda.
I have a problem not seeing his base as an extremely broad swath of the American people. He has mobilized the youth vote and brought it into the mainstream election efforts, something we haven’t seen to this degree in the history of American politics. Past efforts to rally the youth vote have not been near as effective as giving everyone, youth or life-long worker an equal opportunity to participate, donate, campaign, make phone calls and spread the word. He’s also collected money from smaller donors, which not only tells me he’s collecting from people like me, but that A LOT of people like me have contributed to his campaign. That gives me hope for a government more “of the people, for the people and by the people.”
To act like people who get bitter and ignorant don’t cling tightly to traditions unknown and misunderstood is not an acceptable observation is in itself stunning to me. Tradition is not always a good thing, and though religion has brought many people inner peace and happiness, its mark on the world has been far different. Guns are a great part of American tradition and the 2nd Amendment should be protected at all costs, but it comes with a bill of 9 other rights, equally as important. Antipathy for others? Seriously, I hear a lot of people tell jokes about trailer parks who have never actually lived in one. I hear more racist jokes in the more vanilla neighborhoods I visit than in the diverse communities. I’m not sure how exactly the poster was trying to spin that one, but yes…bitterness over jobs being shipped overseas can create anti-other sentiments. It’s absolutely foolish to think otherwise.
