It's possible Eve was right when she asked me what I was going to rant about after Bush left office. My rate of posting has certainly declined, and most of the time it's been pretty "safe" stuff… I certainly haven't gotten involved in any long debates about "the Digital Macarena", "SyFy" or the "2010/010" question, for instance.
Admittedly, I've been stupid busy at work of late, and less inclined to distract myself with blogging in the middle of my lunch break (assuming, of course, that I'm actually breaking for lunch these days). And then there's Facebook and Twitter for those quick WTF kind of posts I've done in the past. But still… Excuses, excuses, right?
Which is not to say there haven't been a few things that have piqued my interest lately. To whit…
President Obama and the Cambridge Police
My first reaction on hearing Obama's "The Cambridge Police acted stupidly" comment was to think how refreshing it was to hear a politician, especially the President, really say what was on his mind. This, of course, was under the assumption that he was up to speed on what actually happened and that there was some justification for his calling the Cambridge Police stupid. The tempest in a teapot this all stirred up showed that a) he may NOT have had all the facts and b) even if he did, no matter how refreshing it is to hear a politician say what's really on his mind, it would appear that it's never a GOOD idea. Especially for the President.
Sarah Palin's an idiot
I don't necessarily mean that as a literal attack on her mental capabilities (though I would be rather nonplussed to find her breaking into triple digits on her IQ scores). But if you listened to her farewell speech, don't you have to wonder what the hell's going on there?
Perhaps she thinks she's waxing poetic… I know Shatner turned her speech into Beat poetry on Conan, (and once again a few nights later with her Tweets). Maybe he's onto something. At least that would make sense of the struggling for coherency aspect of her speech.
While we're discussing coherency, might I observe to Ms. Palin that (I'm fairly certain of this, BTW) MOST of the people in this country don't have to hunt to feed their families… I'm sure there are exceptions, but for the most part, I think I'm on safe ground here. So if you're going to defend your right to hunt against those damn liberals in Hollywood (with their goody-two-shoes political-correctness) at least have the balls to defend hunting for legitimate reasons. For all the PC negativity out there, there's a strong tradition of hunting in this country, and you can make the case for it as sport AND as a means of providing food for your family, without the ridiculous assertion that you're going to starve it you don't go out hunting. I'm sure that, even up there in the "wilds of Alaska" there are a few grocery stores willing to help you provide for your family without you having to stalk your own dinner.
And finally (acknowledging that this is less a Sarah Palin issue and more a "what's up with conservatives in this country" issue), I'm baffled by the notion that this first-time governor who can't be bothered to COMPLETE that first term in office can still be considered a viable candidate for President. The media's been too hard on her? All that fuss over ethics getting in the way of you doing your job, Sarah? if you think the media's being hard on you now, what do you expect to happen should you decide to run for office again?
I'll admit, when I heard she was resigning as governor, I was ecstatic, thinking that's the last we'll hear from this nut-job. But the day after her announcement, I saw headlines talking about how this could be a strategic move, prepping her for a run for office in 2012. Maybe that's just wishful thinking from her way-too-far-to-the-right-for-my-comfort base, but seriously… does it take nothing more than an anti-intellectual, anti-Liberal, anti-Hollywood stance, and the perception that the media 'hates' you, to make you a viable Republican candidate now? Is anyone outside of her scary base really taking this woman seriously? Has the Rush Limbaugh contingent so taken over the party that it's lost any touch with reality? Maybe it's all just a bad dream we're all, collectively, experiencing, and one of these days we'll all wake up from it, right? (Oh wait, I said that about the Bush Presidency too, didn't I?)
And finally, Birth Certificate Bullshit
Can someone please tell the assorted talking-heads ranting about Obama's birth certificate to STFU? Perhaps this will help…
FactCheck.org: The truth about Obama's birth certificate
Or maybe this?
Snopes.com: Birth Certificate forgery assertion is false
(Maybe both of Honolulu's major newspapers were part of the conspiracy, all the way back in 1961?)
So please, will you all just shut the fuck up and find something else to complain about… perhaps something with substance, eh? Or is that too much work for you (and too much of a mental stretch for your audience)?
Admittedly, I've been stupid busy at work of late, and less inclined to distract myself with blogging in the middle of my lunch break (assuming, of course, that I'm actually breaking for lunch these days). And then there's Facebook and Twitter for those quick WTF kind of posts I've done in the past. But still… Excuses, excuses, right?
Which is not to say there haven't been a few things that have piqued my interest lately. To whit…
President Obama and the Cambridge Police
My first reaction on hearing Obama's "The Cambridge Police acted stupidly" comment was to think how refreshing it was to hear a politician, especially the President, really say what was on his mind. This, of course, was under the assumption that he was up to speed on what actually happened and that there was some justification for his calling the Cambridge Police stupid. The tempest in a teapot this all stirred up showed that a) he may NOT have had all the facts and b) even if he did, no matter how refreshing it is to hear a politician say what's really on his mind, it would appear that it's never a GOOD idea. Especially for the President.
Sarah Palin's an idiot
I don't necessarily mean that as a literal attack on her mental capabilities (though I would be rather nonplussed to find her breaking into triple digits on her IQ scores). But if you listened to her farewell speech, don't you have to wonder what the hell's going on there?
Perhaps she thinks she's waxing poetic… I know Shatner turned her speech into Beat poetry on Conan, (and once again a few nights later with her Tweets). Maybe he's onto something. At least that would make sense of the struggling for coherency aspect of her speech.
While we're discussing coherency, might I observe to Ms. Palin that (I'm fairly certain of this, BTW) MOST of the people in this country don't have to hunt to feed their families… I'm sure there are exceptions, but for the most part, I think I'm on safe ground here. So if you're going to defend your right to hunt against those damn liberals in Hollywood (with their goody-two-shoes political-correctness) at least have the balls to defend hunting for legitimate reasons. For all the PC negativity out there, there's a strong tradition of hunting in this country, and you can make the case for it as sport AND as a means of providing food for your family, without the ridiculous assertion that you're going to starve it you don't go out hunting. I'm sure that, even up there in the "wilds of Alaska" there are a few grocery stores willing to help you provide for your family without you having to stalk your own dinner.
And finally (acknowledging that this is less a Sarah Palin issue and more a "what's up with conservatives in this country" issue), I'm baffled by the notion that this first-time governor who can't be bothered to COMPLETE that first term in office can still be considered a viable candidate for President. The media's been too hard on her? All that fuss over ethics getting in the way of you doing your job, Sarah? if you think the media's being hard on you now, what do you expect to happen should you decide to run for office again?
I'll admit, when I heard she was resigning as governor, I was ecstatic, thinking that's the last we'll hear from this nut-job. But the day after her announcement, I saw headlines talking about how this could be a strategic move, prepping her for a run for office in 2012. Maybe that's just wishful thinking from her way-too-far-to-the-right-for-my-comfort base, but seriously… does it take nothing more than an anti-intellectual, anti-Liberal, anti-Hollywood stance, and the perception that the media 'hates' you, to make you a viable Republican candidate now? Is anyone outside of her scary base really taking this woman seriously? Has the Rush Limbaugh contingent so taken over the party that it's lost any touch with reality? Maybe it's all just a bad dream we're all, collectively, experiencing, and one of these days we'll all wake up from it, right? (Oh wait, I said that about the Bush Presidency too, didn't I?)
And finally, Birth Certificate Bullshit
Can someone please tell the assorted talking-heads ranting about Obama's birth certificate to STFU? Perhaps this will help…
FactCheck.org: The truth about Obama's birth certificate
Or maybe this?
Snopes.com: Birth Certificate forgery assertion is false
(Maybe both of Honolulu's major newspapers were part of the conspiracy, all the way back in 1961?)
So please, will you all just shut the fuck up and find something else to complain about… perhaps something with substance, eh? Or is that too much work for you (and too much of a mental stretch for your audience)?
Comments
Good to see something to discuss!
Anytime I see 'stories' nowadays on any mainstream media news outlet or even on major websites my first question is always "why is this a story? What's the real angle?"
With the stupid Obama comment (and it was stupid because in the sentence BEFORE he says the police acted stupidly he says "I don't know all the details."), I think it was MSM at its best/worst. Race is a headline grabber. This was a slamdunk racial divide headliner and they ran with it. Let the heads roll where they may. The biggest political hit Obama took from it was that no one gave a shit about his prime-time sales pitch on his health bill! Instead, they all talked about his one comment and he had to schedule a beer break with the parties. Nice.
With the Palin stuff...clearly the media loves to hate her and, frankly, I think the talk about her being a Presidential candidate is purely the left-leaning media types hoping they don't lose her. She gets good ratings. But, most politicos agree that she is effectively done. And, Bill on her speech was ok...but the Twitter stuff was perfect!
The 'birthers' controversy is, IMNSHO (heh), a ploy by the MSM to cast aspersions on the right and distract from the health debate. Just like the new talking points to try and claim the town hall distractors are Republican plants. Have you seen or heard any of these 'birthers' interviewed? They are serious fringe wackos. They are not a mainstream movement in any sense of the word. When have you ever seen so much time given on air to such an extreme fringe? There's clearly something else going on. Speaking of which, why doesn't Obama just give up his birth certificate? He knows he's fueling the story by withholding it. He could shut it down in a quick minute. Again, I think he's well aware of the distraction it makes in the MSM and he's more than happy to fuel it. His numbers are taking a hit and his health 'plan' is (thanfully) going down in flames.
I agree, the media loves to hate Palin, but she makes it really easy for them. She's delusionally self-important (imho) and continually over-sharing — I'm pretty sure no one's really interested in her Poetry 101 exercises in free verse. (However, if they provide fodder for more Shatner Beat Tweets, who can argue?) The notion of her 2012 candidacy may be a collusion of wishful thinking from those on the extreme right (presumably her base) and those on the left looking for some laughs now that GW is no longer around to provide the unintentional comedy, but I don't think she's in on the joke. Rumor has it she's put it out that she's interested in doing a syndicated commentary show… anyone for the wit and wisdom of Sarah Palin?
As for the birthers and the rest of the lunatic fringe, the guys I've been seeing ranting include Fox's Sean Hannity, Lew Dobbs from CNN and that Glen Beck guy that just had his syndicated Fathom Events show. They may be falling off the right edge of the politcial map, but they've got an audience that listens to 'em. Town hall distractors may NOT be Republican plants, but in our current political climate, where shouting down your opponent passes for rhetoric, can you be surprised that people assume the worst? And I'm not entirely sure that it's not the truth.
I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Obama's decided to just let the birthers run with it. He's done what he needs to comply with the law, providing evidence of his birth that's been accepted, so he's got nothing to prove. Releasing whatever proof the birthers need to shut them up would simply force them to find something else to bitch about, so why make things more difficult for himself? Let them rant and rave about a meaningless argument over birth certificates while he concentrates on trying to run the country.
And can I just ask why it is that conservatives seem to be universally opposed to universal health care? It's not like you complain about the Democrats plans for healthcare reform and present an alternative… it's just a bad that must be stopped at all costs! We waste millions on critical care every year because people without insurance end up waiting till they HAVE to go to the emergency room, but suggest that there's got to be a better way to do things and you're a socialist. And while I consider myself a pretty decent capitalist (god knows I spend like one), I do have to wonder if letting market forces decide our health care policy is necessarily a wise choice. So how about stepping up and coming up with a better solution, since you all seem to be of the opinion that Democrats can't get it right, instead of just saying no. (I understand that's a tried and true Republican mindset since the days of Nancy Reagan, but can't we move on from that?)
But, yes, the network media as well as CNN, and MSNBC are unabashedly liberal/left and unashamedly Obama supporters.
And, yes, FOX is unabashedly right of center. It's not 'fair and balanced' on a neutral field, but it tends to even out the liberal bias of the rest of them.
Personally, I don't believe any of them because, as we agree, they are ALL spectacl/ratings chasers.
Yes, I can imagine the outrcy of treason from rightie pundits. Because the left DID say they wanted Bush to fail and the righties DID cry treason. No imagination necessary, which is why it's an easy point to make! So, other than "hey, this shit happened" what point are you making? I don't get it.
...Because NONE of them are the MSM. They are PUNDITS. They are paid to rant and give opinions. They are INTENTIONALLY AND PUBLICALLY BIASED. The MSM is SUPPOSED to be objective! It hasn't been in my adult lifetime. This is not the Op-Ed page I'm talking about. These are front page, headline, mainstream NEWS stories that haven't been straight news since the 1970's.
I'm not trying to defend pundits - they have opinions and they get rich airing them. I'm not trying to defend FOX news - their business plan was to counter the liberal bias of the MSM and get rich off it. It worked. I AM complaining that the MSM is in the tank for the left and they suck up to Obama like I've never seen in my lifetime. It's disgusting.
I don't know who Lew Dobbs is, and I don't listen to Hannity or Beck. I would agree they do have audiences. The only birthers I've seen interviewed were REALLY off the deep end. Which is why the story really isn't gaining national traction. Most people dismiss it as fringe as much as the 'truthers' were fringe. BTW, I could also name liberal 'personalities' who were truthers...but, it wouldn't matter.
I won't claim to speak for all conservatives. But, I will say this: it's not just conservatives who are opposed to universal health care or Obama's plan. The polling proves it, and I've seen many, many, MANY Democrats and original Obama supporters who are not on board with this crap.
Obama has not 'suggested there's got to be a better way to do things' (your words). The administration has unleashed a 1200 page bill that smacks of bureaucratic hell, out of control costs, inefficiency, and central government control the likes of which we have never seen in this country. If you listen closely, there are Republicans and citizens FULL of ideas on a 'better way to do things'. Most of them start with tort reform. But, you and I both know we'll NEVER see that suggested, let alone drafted, by the Democratic party. But, talk about wasting BILLIONS of dollars! How novel to actually look at the waste and start attacking there.
And, myself and other conservatives are also not all about purely market driven health care! Surprise! It has been suggested by Republicans that after tort reform we begin with smart and efficient government run safety nets and even revised governmental regulation of insurance companies in order to allow consumers to buy insurance in pieces like car or home insurance works. And, lastly, a favorite conservative solution is to ABOLISH corporate tax loopholes for employee insurance. The government gives corporations about 300 BILLION a year for employee insurance. If we changed regulation of health insurance so that the consumer could buy only the insurance he wanted and opened up the market, individuals could buy their own. This would decrease health insurance cost, increase governmental income, and keep corporate corruption OUT of the insurance industry.
But, hey...I'm just me. I'm not speaking for all conservatives.
I just hope that crap Obama has handed us goes down in flames. It is no solution. It's a nightmare waiting to happen.
You just never hear them because the MSM and liberal and leftist pundits do not communicate our ideas. They pooh-pooh anyone who doesn't agree with them and tell us we're stupid. And, then they demonize individuals (Rush) or groups (Christians) so everyone forgets there was once an intelligent debate happening.
As vile as the Democrats are at all that, I'm not excusing the right. Because once all that crap starts hitting the airwaves the right decides to dive in with outrageous claims of death panels and the like.
Maybe so. But if that's the case, where the hell is the Republican leadership on these better ideas? What was Bush's plan to fix health care? Or his father's before him? Did McCain have a plan, or simply a response to the fact that Obama had one? In 6 years of Republican leadership in the House and Senate, where were the plans to fix healthcare? And don't simply tell me the Democrats opposed tort reform. If Republicans took the lead on it, then even if the Dems opposed them, it would still have had to make some kind of ripple in the news, even if it was Fox News leading the charge, claiming the damn liberal media was burying the story.
All I see is Republicans shouting no way and the extreme Right lining up to make ridiculous allegations of death panels and drawing Hitler mustaches on Obama's picture.
(And trust me, the godawful irony of listening to people likening Obama to Hitler when I've spent the last 8 years wondering if Bush/Cheney were cribbing more from 1984 or the Nazi party is not lost on me. And while I'm going off on a rant here. how about this news flash regarding "death panels"… they already exist — insurance companies regularly employ them to determine who gets coverage and who doesn't based on how it affects their bottom line. You just don't get to see them or hear about them)
Enough lunacy from my end of the argument. Maybe it's all bullshit, spread by the MSM to obscure the fact that Obama's plan is losing. Maybe it's all a big Republican plan to sabotage the debate by miring it in stupidity. Maybe we have collectively lost our minds in this country as well as the ability to think analytically and understand the ramifications of the issues we're discussing. (The cynic in me says that last one isn't a maybe, it's really been the overwhelming mental state of this country for decades and we're simply a nation of morons now.)
Whatever the case, the whole 'debate' disgusts me. We need to find a better answer than shouting.
Did you just ask about Rebublican leadership AND courage in the same paragraph?? HA!
Come on - asking either thing from ANY political group is the heighth of irony as well as futility.
And, what is up with Hitler comparisons? Isn't there a rule about that? Doesn't it instantly mark the end of the debate? Why does everyone on both sides instantly jump there??
Um... yeah, I guess I did. I don't know what I was thinking. My bad.
"And, what is up with Hitler comparisons? Isn't there a rule about that?"
That's what I thought! Sorry I went there... the idiot Hitler mustache pictures must've set me off.