I was watching Anderson Cooper last night and they got to talking about Proposition 8 and he had on one fella for it and a woman who was against it. Unfortunately the video is not online so I don't remember either of their names or what exactly the conversation entailed, but I can tell you it is so weird for me to be so frustrated and annoyed by the prejudice on display by passing a law that takes rights away from people and not even be one of the people being discriminated against.
You don't have to be gay to realize Proposition 8 is horseshit. It is just one more way of segregating and calling someone different and telling them what they can't do as a result of that difference. Racism may be a larger issue simply due to the fact that it effects more people in any given example, but just because the majority of the people in the world aren't gay doesn't mean they don't have the right to get married. I mean, what a stupid thing to worry about.
The guy Cooper had on kept hammering home how allowing gay marriage is simply a problem because it "redefines the meaning of the word marriage as it is written in the Constitution". Ha, you mean to tell me these folks are fighting because Websters would be upset they would have to redefine marriage? What a stupid argument and an unforgiveable way of spinning the real reason, which is you hate gays. I wonder what we would be arguing if the Constitution didn't read like this:
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the Constitution of any State, nor State or Federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
... but instead read like this ...
Marriage in the United States consists of the union of two consenting people. Neither this Constitution, nor the Constitution of any State, nor State or Federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
My guess is people would be arguing wildly to try and have the wording changed. Dummies.
I have saved one newspaper in my life, and that, of course, is the September 12, 2001 edition of the Seattle Times. As I watched Barack Obama become the first black man elected President of the United States I told Laremy, "Well, it looks like I need to buy another newspaper." Then... I just plain forgot to do it. You can't blame me too much though can you? I mean, who buys newspapers anymore?
Luckily, all is not lost. The New York Times has it set up where you can buy the November 5, 2008 issue for $14.95 and it comes in its entirety (not just the front page) and in a resealable plastic envelope. It may seem like a lot of money but you have to remember they have to fire up the printing presses special just to put this issue out again.
What's rather impressive is the fact that the online order form for the issue actually shut down yesterday due to too much traffic! This is the NY Times we're talking about and it shut down. Craziness.
Well, Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election with what currently sits at 52% of the popular vote and 338 electoral votes. It's an impressive win to say the least. Many people cried and it is a major moment in history as the first African American has elected President of the United States. However, nothing has happened yet.
Last night after Obama won my sister called me and asked if I was excited. I wasn't necessarily excited as much as I was happy Obama won. He was my choice and I was glad he won. Now he has to do what he said he would do. Change things.
I am not going to go into particulars about what Obama needs to do and said he will do, blah, blah, blah. But I do want to address what it seems people "THINK" he is going to do. I am worried a lot of people voted for Obama based on his eloquence and not the words he was saying. There is a difference here.
To listen to what Obama is saying and not just his catchphrases would lead people to understand his platform and not just the emotion he inspires. Do people think that now Obama is going to be sworn into the Presidency that everything is going to instantly get better?
Do people think he is going to just walk in and say, "Okay, let's fix those bad mortgages, end that war in Iraq, set up universal healthcare and get this party started!" Sorry folks, ain't gonna happen.
Obama has said his plan is to once again unite this country, something I think the Republican party will welcome with open arms and something Obama's four years as president would actually be considered a major accomplishment. Bush divided the country and did nothing to bring it together for eight years. Bush never realized more than half the country didn't actually vote for him. Bush basically said those people's opinions don't matter. One thing Obama cannot do is forget that 47% of the country voted for John McCain. He needs to embrace McCain and bring him into the fold.
Sure, Obama can work on plans to shuffle things up in Iraq and begin the search for Osama bin Laden, but I will tell you right now asking for McCain's advice on how best to do that wouldn't be a bad idea. McCain will just need to realize the strategy won't necessarily be the one he wanted, but I am sure he can embrace the best way to go a different direction.
Things aren't going to improve immediately and no matter who won the election this would be true. I just hope the people out there realize that and don't expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter.
Based on projections it appears Obama is going to win the election by a rather large number. I am not saying it's a fact, but that's what many pundits are predicting. Taking that into consideration, the fact Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, dies one day before he would become the first black president is some of the worst news possible.
I guess since these are Canadian jokers this isn't so bad, but I bet if this had been an American comedy duo there would be some serious hell to pay since Sarah Palin ends up staying on the line for seven minutes with Canadian prankers known as The "Masked Avengers", Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel, posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
She finally figures out it is a prank when the conversation ends with them saying, "If one voice can change the world for Obama, one Viagra can change the world for McCain."
There is a little behind the scenes feud going on and I would like to bring it out into the open, but in a more mature way.
First off, in an earlier post I made a comment about a gentleman that found this blog after a Google search in my Schwarzenegger article and it was an out of bounds comment and I have since deleted it. The gentleman I made it about then said some derogatory things about me in the comments and I didn't approve them and he also wrote an article on his blog that is equally defamatory. Sort of a tit for tat kind of thing and it makes sense since rudeness is typically met with rudeness and I was rude and therefore apologize. I won't link to his site just yet because I am not sure if he would like to reciprocate or not, that is up to him.
However, I would like to invite him to the table and get him back into the discussion because I think it is the best way to clear the air and perhaps figure out our differences. The man in question is as passionate about McCain as I am for Obama and so I would like to put some items on the table and see if he would be interested in discussing them without name-calling or assumptions.
The arguments against Obama include socialism, raising taxes and inexperience.
Here are a couple of counter arguments of my own to get things started:
McCain has gone on record with Larry King saying he doesn't think Obama is a socialist. When it comes to taxes Obama's plan involves plenty of things we can discuss but I would say his hopes to end the war and begin a more targeted search for Osama bin Laden as well as tax cuts for those making less than $250k explain taxes as well as begin the discussion on foreign policy.
As for inexperience, I really think that is a shaky argument considering neither Obama or McCain is technically experienced when it comes to being president and both are going to be learning on the job.
I will say this, if someone asked me for one quick reason why they shouldn't vote for McCain and should vote for Obama I would say the reason is simple, "Sarah Palin." I think the choice of Sarah Palin showed extremely poor judgment on McCain's part as well as his desire to win via politics rather than message.
I think that should be enough to get us started and I hope he will join the discussion and hopefully we can keep it mature. And again, I apologize for my earlier comments.
One thing I will say for Arnold Schwarzenegger, he really pumped this crowd of John McCain supporters in Columbus, Ohio up, but he did it almost like a WWF wrestler pumps up the crowd. He talked about winning the Mr. World competition, the Arnold Classic and how skinny Barack Obama is, but he did manage to hit a few political points that really resonated. It was definitely impressive.
However, his final send-off when introducing McCain was a bit odd as he asked the crowd:
In closing, ladies and gentlemen, being president is all about leadership, we all know that. So when Americans go into that voting booth on Tuesday I hope you will think about this, if you were in a POW cell with threat, danger and torture as part of your daily life who would you want in that cell with you? You want a man of eloquence or a man of proven courage?
Where the hell did that come from? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't prefer to be a POW regardless of who was next to me. I know if I am there with Obama I won't be like, "Damn, I wish you were John McCain," or vice versa. I would be more like, "Shit! Now what do we do?"
Good night for Republican and certainly a bad night for Democrats as Zogby now ran a one day poll showing McCain with a one point lead (48% to 47%). Get out and vote people and get your friends out there with you!
Fortunately the Gallup Polls still have Obama up 8 points with likely voters. Whew... quick breath and then back to work...
Did I forget to say "VOTE FOR OBAMA"!?!?! Well it has now been said.
The problem with so many Republican arguments is continually beginning to come to light and that is that they can't explain what they mean and not sound hateful. So the decision is to either say nothing or try and spin it a different direction.
I think we have just found the look that defines dumbfounded as my boy from Iowa, David Frank, just alerted me to the most amazing case of McCain camp stupidity once again. Rick Sanchez in a conversation with McCain campaign spokesman Mike Goldfarb approaches the McCain camp's assertion that Obama is hanging around a bunch of anti-semitic people that apparently "we all know".
The inability to answer the question reminds me of Tucker Bounds' interview with Campbell Brown a long while back. On the left is the Goldfarb interview from today and on the right the Bounds interview from almost two months ago.
Notice any similarities outside of the fact that Goldfarb doesn't even try to change the subject and just sits there? Amazing.
Zack Braff's 1 second moment in this latest celebrity "Don't Vote" vid is probably the best thing about it, but you have to appreciate these celebs' attempt to act like they don't understand the concept.