Weekend Roundup...

Well, I didn't get much accomplished this weekend, on account of Olympic Fever. There's only so many qualifiers / prelims / quarterfinals of any one Track event that I can watch before I'm sick of it, though. Why are they showing so much running anyway? Whatever happened to the Field? Let's see some of the interesting stuff already: Hammer Throw, Pole Vault, Discus, etc.

Also in Olympic News:
- Sacramone got robbed.
- If you are an older female olympian, and mother, this is your year!
- The super-hot Polish Women's Volleyball team's dreams were cut short by the super-beastly USA team.
- The official Chinese Olympic website is horrible... Less censoring, more troubleshooting please.
- Phelps is loaded! The $25,000 he gets for each medal must seem like chump change next to his endorsement paychecks.

In political news, McCain's threshold to define rich is 20 times higher than that of Obama. When asked this past week to define rich in terms of annual income, Obama's response was $250,000, while McCain's answer was $5,000,000. That's quite a difference! Don't worry Phelpsie, you're rich in either one's eyes!

Also, the NYT buried an article about McCain's "response" to 9/11. Apparently he flew off the handle, jumping on the "Invade Iraq" bandwagon before it even got out the garage. Quick to link Saddam Hussein to both Al Quaida and the anthrax "attacks", he sang praises for Rumsfeld & Co. Wrong on all counts, old man! Anyone who thinks McCain has got the chops for military "strateegery' or foreign policy needs to read this.

Of course, hidden behind all the Olympic and election hoopla is the highly provacative Russian invasion of Georgia. While the news seems to be that Georgia pushed for a fight despite NATO warnings to back off, the Russian response was mostly likely (and I hate to repeat a Bushism) "highly disproportionate". If this news doesn't concern you, know that quite a few Ukrainians think that they're next, and many Poles (my wife included) fear that Russian military commanders may make good on their belligerent promises.

I'll willing to guess there's still quite a few old assholes in Washington that welcome the idea of a return to the Cold War. Such wishful thinking will prove foolish when they realize that the US doesn't really look like the good guys to a lot of the world anymore.

I'll leave you with a gem of a quote from an article in the The Times Online:

"In the old days under Soviet rule we didn't believe a word of our own propaganda but we thought that information was free in the West and we longed for it," said Katya, a middle-aged Muscovite. "But we have learnt since that the West has its own propaganda and in some ways it is more powerful because people believe it."

Congratulations media and leadership of America! You have succeeded in fucking up anything good that the U.S. accomplished in the past 60 years. Hope you're rich because of it! And I mean like quadruple McCain rich!

Now you understand the genius of the terrorist fist-jab...

Cindy: sacrificing her health for the campaign. What a hero!

For the curious...

In an effort to boost the content of my blog, I offer you my thoughts:

- I'm going to take a stab at this, and guess that this is not going to result in achieving real, useful fusion that will ensure the energy needs of the future. If anything it's safe to assume that anything that is possible in a Keeanu Reeves movie is IMPOSSIBLE in real life. The Matrix will never happen, time travel will never happen and I'm pretty sure a bus will never wheelie an overpass.

- "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." I just can't believe this is true. It's like Karl Rove dared him to say it, and he waited until the very last minute of the meeting, slipped it in and went home snickering... "C'mon man, I said it, you owe me 20 bucks!" Other highlights of King Bush's last trip to the G8 include: Greeting every world leader with "Yo!" and showing off his Italian language skills to president Silvio Berlusconi (Amigo! Amigo!).

- Speaking of our fearless leader... Remember the hullabaloo that was raised over Obama's willingness to negotiate with Iran? Looks like the administration has decided to quit pouting like a 5-year old and step to the table for some talks. The preconditions look... weak. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

- This week's Economist has an interesting look into the future of the Mediterranean economy, specifically how the European Union should take advantage of the growth happening there right now. That seems fine with me, but I think they should keep their hands off the Baltic region for the moment. I've got a trip planned there for next summer, and I don't want them to mess it up. EU membership already ruined Prague for me... 10 cent beers, my ass!

I Cannot Stress This Enough...

As a democrat living in one of 22 Super Tuesday states, I was faced today (actually, more like 3 weeks ago since I vote by mail) with a choice between two very different candidates. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Who will you choose?

Do not vote for Hillary Clinton today.

The arguements for Barack Obama are many, and they have been touted on newspapers, blogs and other media incessantly for weeks, so I won't rehash them. Obama is running a positive campaign, and unfortunately this means we do not get to review the negative aspects of a Hillary Clinton candidacy enough. Let me give you a few points on which to mull.

1. She voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq.

I'm sorry, but this should be a deal breaker for any serious progressive Democrat. After 5+ years, haven't we had enough of this mess? Regarless of whether we are accomplishing anything in that country, the waste of money, goodwill, reputation, and above all life, should make one pause to think. Honestly, consider whether we want someone running for our half of the country that helped put us in the current international morass. Vote for McCain if that's what you want. Enough war...

2. We want a president, not a politician.

Yes, I'll be the first to admit that the Clinton machine is a magnificent political machine. It is backed almost entirely by large special interests that have a lot riding on this election. When the tide started to turn to the Democrats favor back in 2006, lobbyists began jumping ship from the Republican camp, with hopes of garnering favor with the future Democratic president. At the time the most "electable" candidate was Hillary Clinton, and they have been showering her with money since.

With Obama's campaign rising to prominence only recently, his backing is primarily from the bottom up, and he is less beholden to these corporate lobbyists. Sure, he has some big name backers as well, but I can guarantee you many of them are behind him purely with the intent of upsetting Hillary, and he owes them no favors. Speaking of favors, how many do you think were left un-repayed from Bill's time in office? I'll bet it's a few.

3. Let's surprise the rest of the world.

Yes, yes, America's first female president would be amazing. However, it is much less impressive when this woman has the same last name as a president from 8 years before? Do we really want to go Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton? Who's next, Jeb? The world expects us to elect Hillary. They believe we are predictable and averse to chage. Let's be honest... electing Hillary would not be change. It's a vote for politics as usual. The only thing that changes is the party identification of the person in the White House. That means nothing if that person is just like every other career politician out there.

Also, it's going to blow everyone in the Middle East's, and the rest of the world for that matter, mind if we elect Obama... I'll let another blogger state it more eloquently.

4. McCain would beat Clinton.

Okay, so pollsters have been wrong a lot this year, but I truly do believe this one... McCain has crossover appeal, Clinton does not. Something like 35% of the voting public wouldn't vote for Clinton unless she was running against Osama Bin Laden. I firmly believe Barack Obama can bring independants, and even some Republicans, over to his side.

I hardly believe my opinion matters to my few readers halfway through Super Tuesday, but this is how I feel. Flame on?

Hellooooo 2008!

Let me wax politic here for a bit...

Like many people (read: democrats) I was very emotionally vested in the 2004 elections. I was tired of watching the current administration make every single effort that it could to pass laws contradictory to my opinions. I was tired of hearing about every coverup, every scandal, every violation of constitutional rights. I imagine I'm not the only one that gets the tight throat and barely-concealed scowl every time I see or hear our president on TV or radio. I could be sitting in a quiet coffee shop, listening to some soothing music in the background, but if Bush's (or Cheney's, Ashcroft's, Rumsfeld, etc. etc.) face showed up on a muted TV, I'd be ready to stand up and shout, or walk out, as offended and disgusted as if they had decided to play beastiality porn instead. Obviously, the feeling was very visceral.

Well, election day rolled around. I was excited. I walked over to my local polling place, two blocks away, to cast my vote at 7:30 in the morning. I then proceeded to go to work and stare at electoral-vote.com all day long. Arriving home that night I was starting to get worried. As Ike and I watched the results pour in on the 65-inch jumbotron, dissapointment set in. Four more years of the same crap: Torture, War, Wiretapping, Anti-scientific rhetoric, Polluting, etc. ad nauseum. It was devestating.

While I should blame it on "youthful indiscretion" and booze, I blame the
birthday debacle of 2005 on G.W. Bush instead.

Slowly, I came to terms with the state of the country. My interest in politics waned and I moved across the country, away from D.C. It was a relief. For a while I felt like I could relax and ignore the news as the country headed down whatever path it liked.

Things have changed since then. The country has gotten tired of the same old bullshit and started to move on. People are are fed up with Bush and the Rupublicans. Democrats control both houses, and it seems like it's going to stay that way, at least for the forseeable future.

I'd be pissed if I was a republican right now. Their presidential "hopefuls" are laughable. Huckabee is an ignorant fool, Romney is a fawning sycophant, Thompson is old and lazy, Giuliani is an immoral bully. McCain is the only one with a chance, and his own people are trying to tank him for stepping out of line a couple times... and being too old. Good luck with that.

This coming Sunday is a very important milestone for America. That day, January 20th, 2008, will mark the beginning of George Bush's last year in office. After those 12 months, there will be no more bungling speeches, no more stupid nicknames... Never again will we ever have to hear that dumb snickering laugh when he jokes about the "haves" and "have-nots". It makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

I don't know what your Sunday plans are this weekend, but if you've got the time for it, celebrate. Go out for a drink, toast with your like-minded friends. If you're feeling brave, hit up the closest nascar/redneck/cowboy joint, saddle on up to the bar, and order yourself a nice, liberal-pinko-hippie drink. House red? Cosmopolitan? Mojito? Then offer a toast to the worst president this country has ever seen... May he spend the next 366 (wohoo, leap year!) enjoying his lame duck-ness until he moseys on down into the sunset, never to leave Crawford, TX again.

Did I mention Sunday is also my (and Ike's) birthday(s)?!? Double fun!