Metropolitic Wonk

I watched people burn books

2009-07-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

I've been having trouble thinking of what to write lately, but now I know what to write about.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/wisconsin.book.row/index.html

These people want to burn books, because they talk about sex and homosexuality. I don't have a lot to say about that, there's not much to say. What honestly scares me is the book burning part. I used to laugh at that idea, a lot, but not any more. You see, book burning used to be a historic thing to me, something you read about in books and go 'ugh, why?' I never understood this, why people would be so scared of knowledge and expression. My mother taught me from a young age that books are great, I was taught to read and write early because of this, and book readings were a family activity. I always loved that, because those books opened so many doors for me. Because of this, the idea of burning those wonderful things was just alien to me, it was something we did when we thought that the sun orbited the earth and all, or it was a tool of dictators to keep populations ignorant. The idea of a modern, first world, nation doing it was just insane to me, so I laughed about it, thinking it was all one big joke.

Then my friend showed me a flier for a Harry Potter book burning while in Kerrville. We laughed about it, then decided to go see it. I honestly expected a joke, I expected to get there and there would be some guy going "haha gotcha! Come on where the hell are we, Afghanistan?" But we got there and there were people already there, some had just a few books and games and such, some had wagons full. These people bought the books, gave the writer money, just to burn them, some were still in plastic wrap unopened. A bit in there was a big pile of sticks, like bonfires me and my buddies made some times, it was surreal to see something I associate with relaxing with some illegally bought booze on a river or something about to be used for something so...insane. People kept showing up, it wasn't just a handful of people, it was a big group, it was, I dare say, a party.

As the sun was setting, an old man began calming the crowd, obviously the guy who organized this. He was a very stereotypical looking southern preacher man, old, fat, snow white hair, and a giant grin on his face. The worst part was that it wasn't a fake grin that you normally see, it wasn't a 'oh god another damn cake walk...' grin, he was happy, really happy. That made it feel almost personal, this man, this toad of a man, was getting real pleasure out of destroying things I loved. Mind you, on Harry Potter I'm rather neutral, it's pretty good, but it's far from a passion, but the very idea of burning books because you were scared of them made me suddenly care so much more.

Then they lit the fire, and started throwing on books, no reason even given, the preacher was shouting about how he was sending them back to hell and such, but no one was really giving a reason, no one said what page had the super secret Satan Spell, no one said anything that wasn't just affirming the preacher. I kinda hoped it'd be over, then, when the last book was on, I thought they'd just smirk and walk off self satisfied, but no, this was just the beginning. There was clapping and praying and dancing, there were shouts and calls to heaven, it was all so...primal. There was food, it just kinda appeared, cookies, brownies, sandwiches, and punch. People sat around eating it, enjoying themselves as books burned, the air stank, plastic and ink burning, the people were happy though. It was surreal, still, someone, and old goblin looking man asked what brought me here and my friend quickly answered that we were just there to celebrate with them. What scared me was how...happy they all were. I expected rage, I expected hateful accusations, but no, they were happy. I hated them, every one of them, they were partying while books burned, it was almost personal again, it was like they stole those books from me to burn. They were stealing these books from others, though, buying them in bulk to keep them from others, it was hateful, it was greedy, it was gluttonous, but none of that mattered to them.

I got to talk to the preacher there, no introductions, I didn't want to know his name. He welcomed us and told me he was so glad the turnout was good. We made awkward small talk, he asked me what my favorite book of the bible was, it felt like a trap, so I just said Genesis because it was the beginning. We kinda shuffled away after that, people were still eating and celebrating, but we were done. We got in the car and just went away after that. It felt unreal, like I was in a dream, I was abducted by aliens or something, that must have been it, aliens got me and I visited their backwards planet, and soon I'd wake up in my bed and it'd be a funny story.

I didn't wake up though, we got back, kinda laughed for a bit, then walked to our dorms. It was so strange to me to realize that was a real thing I saw, and it honestly took me a bit to really get it. I was seeing pure fear, unbridled fear from them. Fear has two ways of showing, one, the funny image of a crazy old man running away from a book screaming, the other is what I saw. It was primal, it was tribal, but it was all they could do. I don't hate them any more, I feel sorry for them. This is the last act of fear, they see what they don't get and then panic, and burn it, it's a cave man emotion. They can't do anything but this, and while it's sickening to see, it's also really sad at the core. I feel sorry for these people because they've reverted to this out of desperation, they can't change anything so they just try to tear it down, not understanding that all they're doing is giving more money to what they hate. It used to be strange, it used to be funny, it used to be enraging, but now, now it's just sad.

Windows into Madness.

2009-02-24T22:44:00.000-08:00

Before I get into the actual point of this blog, let me get one thing done with, Bobby Jindal. First off, you're not allowed to act like some champion of fighting the Stimulus Bill and then take nearly all the money. But hey, why be shocked, it's what Jindal is, it's what he does, he's a phony. He's an Indian boy playing Cajun and saying anything to appeal to who he thinks he needs. Also just as a note, it's kinda gouache to respond to such an average speech as if you're going to suddenly sweep in and take the job from Obama. Hey, if thinking castration is a good way to solve the sex offender problem (they literally splash your junk with acid by the way, there's no scientific thing there, it's just acid dumping) and if keeping an exorcist on your top Rolodex is crazy...oh yea it is...it's very crazy. I mean I wish I could go on about Jindal but there's just nothing left to say, he's a shill, a hack, a phony, and he's way out of his league. Oh yea and his Katrina anecdote was nearly a total and complete lie, but faster bloggers then I have gotten to it already, not much else to add other then...duh.

Anyway, that's not the point of my post, Jindal is a joke, and he'll be delivered like a joke, my real hope is in Sarah Palin, now THERE'S a nut job to lead the party. Honestly Jindal is just your average empty suit with some crazy habits, she's just batshit. Anyway, what's my point of this post? Madness is pretty freaking awesome.

See, the Internet is one of the best 'people watching' tools ever, I mean really it has it all. Best of all have been Republicans for the past few months. So today, let's go on a tour, a madness safari, a trek through crazy town. Let's start with a rather bland one at first, a cluster of fringes just wanking off basically:

http://www.resistnet.com/

It's basically what it sounds like. Typical "Obama gonna take your money and guns!" and reactions, cept this time they're hocking a book too. Pretty dull for a seasoned insanity hunter, but a nice starting point for a tour.

Next up a larger site, a discussion site set up in BBS format. This is one of the keystones of the conservative talker sites, chances are most people on the Right at least know someone who posts here. Free Republic.

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/*/index

Let's go in depth with this, because this is a vast tapestry of madness. First up, the home page.

What are the two major tags we see?

Call to action: Regional FReeper Conventions!

Call to action: Tea Party USA!

.....Welp there ya go. Ok, conventions are pretty run of the mill, let's see what this Tea Party stuff is, I mean, maybe they want some tea at their meet ups? How bad could this be?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2193393/posts

Upstate Young Republicans host Greenville Tea Party.
Upstate Young Republicans ^ | 02/24/2009 | Upstate Young Republicans

Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:27:06 PM by neal1960

Upstate Young Republicans host Greenville Tea Party.

Greenville, SC, 23 February 2009 – The Upstate Young Republicans will host the Greenville Tea Party on the banks of the Reedy River and on the walking bridge just west of Main Street. Parking is available at the River Place garage. The demonstration is scheduled for Friday, February 27th at 6:00 PM and will last approximately one hour. The event is coinciding with numerous other Tea Parties being held nationwide in response to CNBC reporter Rick Santelli’s call for a Chicago Tea Party to protest the Obama Administration’s mortgage bailout plan. The event is open to people of all ages and attendees are encouraged to bring non-offensive homemade signs.

For additional information on the UYR, please visit www.theuyr.org.

About the UYR – The Upstate Young Republicans are a non-profit group dedicated to encouraging participation in Republican Politics in young adults aged 18-40.

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Wow, ok they kinda have no idea what a 'Tea Party' in the political way is but alright these guys are just reactionary, they're gonna get shot down right? I mean no one REALLY thinks this is a good idea? Oh yea...they got this idea from someone...abit better known.

Rantin’ Rick Santelli viewed 2,500,000 times
IHateTheMedia.com ^ | 02/02/09`

Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:12:48 PM by slomark

[video]

If you think the rant by CNBC’s Rick Santelli hasn’t tapped into a reservoir of resentment across this nation, get this:

Since it went online last Thursday, the clip has been viewed more than 1,800,000 times on CNBC.com. It’s also been viewed more than 700,000 times on YouTube.com. (These numbers are growing so rapidly that they’ll be out of date by the time you read this.)

Rantin’ Rick Santelli, one media guy we don’t hate.

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Ok I wish I could know how to embed vids but just Google it, you'll see it. Ah what the hell, I feel sweet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-Jw-5Kx8k

I like how he said we used to have mansions before Obama. Damn it Obama you took my mansion from me!

One more tea party for you guys.

Call to action:Tea Party USA-Cleveland, Ohio
TCO Report ^ | unknown

Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:10:56 PM by nomad

This thread is intended for the Cleveland chapter of the Call to action tea party effort.As is still our right, for now at least, lets gather peacefully together to petition our gorvernment for a redress of grievences, namely:Stop the Pork!Please keep this professional and courteous as we`ll be representing the movement to return fiscal sanity to our government, so lets behave like conservatives.

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The best thing? These people will exault anyone who can yell nice and loud how evil Obama is, I mean christ, look what they did for Rush, people still see him as the 'head of the party'! This guy already is getting a nice big head:

CNBC's Rick Santelli Ponders "Veiled Threat" Against Him After "Chicago Tea Party"
ButAsForMe.com ^ | 02/24/2009 | wrrock

Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:51:41 PM by wrrock

Santelli did not like the remarks by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and even pondered if it was a ‘Veiled Threat’ by making a bizarre reference to "not knowing where Mr. Santelli lives, or in what house he lives."

Ok the guy was taking about housing issues, pretty valid comment to say 'yea we can't speak for YOUR area man but...', these people will get that, right?

To: wrrock

This is just the latest example of Gibbs being in way over his head, even farther than his boss actually.

3 posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:53:05 PM by Badeye (There are no 'great moments' in Moderate Political History. Only losses.)

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To: wrrock

Veiled?

That’s not how I heard it.

4 posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:53:35 PM by subterfuge (BUILD MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS NOW!!!)

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To: wrrock

Tell Scott McClellan Jr and his boss to taking a flying f***** leap.

5 posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:53:37 PM by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)

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To: wrrock

I just want him to know he has at least one “safe house” available to him in Virgnia, should he find it necessary to “lay low” for a while. I’ll be happy to host him!

7 posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:54:03 PM by WayneS (Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th)

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To: Badeye

It was pretty obvious Gibbs intended to send some of the boys over to pull Santelli’s arms and legs off, but what the heck ~ that’s what you get when you put a Chicago pol’ in charge of the White House.

8 posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 2:54:15 PM by muawiyah

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Oh god I can't go on, no more please.

Also hey, 'Freep' took care of finding me quotes for another post I wanted to make.

The Rainbow Connection
Human Events ^ | 2/24/09 | D. R. Tucker

Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 7:21:12 PM by MartinaMisc

Michael Steele is, if nothing else, the smartest man in the GOP.

Steele’s getting heat from progressives such as Andrew Sullivan and the operators of the popular pro-Democrat blog Think Progress for remarks he made during his February 23 appearance on Mike Gallagher’s program. The Salem Radio Network star asked Steele if the time had come for Republicans to “…consider some sort of alternative to redefining marriage and maybe in the road, down the road to civil unions. Do you favor civil unions?”

In a shrewd response, Steele said: “No, no no. What would we do that for? What are you, crazy? No. Why would we backslide on a core, founding value of this country? I mean this isn’t something that you just kind of like, ‘Oh well, today I feel, you know, loosey-goosey on marriage.’”

Think Progress accused Steele of hypocrisy, noting that in recent weeks he has suggested the party needs to be open to those who might have differing views on issues such as same-sex marriage and civil unions. What Think Progress doesn’t realize is that Steele is not actually contradicting himself.

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Yea man, let's not go nuts saying who can marry, maybe those negroes will try to marry your daughter....oh yea...right....

Really Steele, how the hell do you sleep at night?

Stay tuned though, there's gonna be a SECOND post coming with some top notch Conservative Blogs, the journey's only just begun kids.

Steele: Down with the hoes.

2009-02-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

First, the link, because I swear to god I could not make this up if I tried: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/02/19/rnc-chair-plans-off-the-hook-campaign-tells-critics-to-%E2%80%98stuff-it%E2%80%99/#more-40591

If I could make this crap up I could get a writing deal with SNL or something. You know how in the latest Disney/Nick/Pixar whatever animated movie they have one 'hip hop' type character with a random gold chain clock and a backwards cap? Apparently Steele is that, but for Republicans instead of talking cars or cows. *Insert joke about Republicans producing noxious gas here*

Remember how all those crazy racists said Obama was gonna 'thug out' the White House or something? Remember how he was gonna go Kanye on the country even though he never once acted in that manner? They literally just got a leader who vowed to do a milder version of that crap. It's funny because his plan seems to assume he's The Fresh Prince but in reality he sounds like a tall Carlton. (Don't judge me, Nick At Night is like the only thing that comes on here late night). I mean really: "Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says his party is going to launch an "off the hook" public relations campaign that will update the GOP’s image by translating it to "urban-suburban hip-hop settings.""

He has no idea what those words in quotes mean, he just heard them at some point when he was flipping channels and decided that he's 'down'. It seems the Republicans literally think 'elect a black man' is like 'the' solution to things because of Obama. Remember how Obama reached out to urban communities by simply relating anecdotes and racial history? That's how you do it. You don't get up on a damn podium and go "We're gonna be off the hook!" and magically black people follow you. I really hope he thinks life is like a rap video where he can get up to a podium and pop the cork on some champagne and yell "WHOOOO" and suddenly black people will come charging into the room dancing, because if he keeps this shtick up he will be the most hilarious figurehead ever.

But alright, feeble attempt to appear 'with it' aside, why do I dislike this guy so much? Well, read this:"Steele described the new multi-platform PR offensive as “avant-garde, technically. It will come to [the] table with things that will surprise everyone — off the hook.” Asked whether that meant cutting-edge tactics, Steele demurred. “I don't do 'cutting-edge,’” he said. “That's what Democrats are doing. We're going beyond cutting-edge.”"

He's a damn phony, that's why I hate him. It's literally like he just opened a "PR for Dummies" book and highlighted buzzwords. In his whole plan the only tangible thing he said was the 'appeal to Urban-Suburb-Hiphopwhatever' thing, aside from that it was all just fluff like that. I have news for him 'reach out to minorities' isn't a 'beyond cutting-edge' thing, it's what every single RNC Head says, ever. That's like page one, paragraph one of the "Goals we will Never Reach" Pamphlet every RNC Head gets. What makes this best though is the sheer context of this.

Remember the "Barack the Magic Negro" stuff? Remember the guy who gave out CDs of that? That was Steele's biggest rival in the race, and that guy is still in good standing with the party. So yea, we have the guy who wants to reach out to urban communities, and also the guy who thinks "Barack the Magic Negro" is a great gift. They really don't grasp that you can't have both at the same time.

Cognitive Dissonance

2009-01-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Cognitive Dissonance is the feeling of pain caused by holding two contradicting ideas at once. In short it's what happens when you get a headache if someone goes 'yea this fire is cold' or get annoyed at someone saying 'dang this is some dry water'. Our brain will simply not allow such an insane combination in it, so it punches and bites and screams until you say "Ok ok, fire is hot" or "alright water is wet!" It's also what I get when I listen to the Republicans talk about Obama. To start with let me clear one thing up. Every single right winger who goes 'hey guys let's treat Obama just like they treated Bush, that'll teach em!' is scum and possibly also inbred. We treated Bush par for the course at first, especially considering that his first election was so heated. We treated him like shit only after he snorted some coke and started throwing darts at the Middle East to attack, and then started deciding anyone with a funny name was 'onea them'. That's when we all started going 'waaaait what the hell is wrong with this guy'.

To do that from day one is insane, because the man didn't do anything yet. That's like your boss walking into your 0ffice and saying "Look I know this is your first day but you're fired, see we got this guy LAST time and he was a real idiot and people were jerks to him, but he was my buddy so..." The best part about this is despite this, he's starting off well. For one, the FDA just today began allowing studies in the effects of embryonic stem cells on paralyses and cancer victims, putting us about on par with the rest of the scientific world! He also removed the Global Gag Rule, no longer is the government withholding funds for family planning services could be given to clinics or groups that offer abortion services or counseling in other countries even if the funds for those activities come from non-U.S. government sources. And finally he's closing Gitmo down.

Yes, despite the "ARE YOUR CHILDREN IN DANGER?" and "TERRORISTS IN YOUR BACK YARD?" headlines in Fox News (you see, it's not lies if they put a ? on it) this is a good thing. We can finally claim the moral high ground in this war on terror. You see, when we bomb people for capturing and torturing people for no reason, we shouldn't be doing that. Many Gitmo arrests were made by simple word of mouth, famous cases including a warlord who bombed buildings then 'turned in' rivals or innocent people, and the opium lord who had a rival lord's family brought in for no real reason other then cartoonish evil. You see, the codes for arrests in the 'war on terror' cases are very loose, meaning the main qualifications are: Does the person have a funny name? Does he look Muslim? ARREST, we'll find out later. You see, these people actually deserve a fair court case, that is part of the basic rights our soldiers fight for. You can't deny them rights out of fear, or else the terrorists really do win. That's why they're called terrorists, they strive to make us so insane with fear we crumble, and you know what? Thanks to the right in this country, they have. All these smug little men and women going 'heh see these people in Gitmo are being treated great, who cares?', or 'if you have nothing to hide why does it matter?' to every 'security measure' we get, they're just feeding the terrorists wins. I also enjoy this idea the right seems to have that we have no jails in America, and all these people will just get let go. You see, we're still gonna illegally hold them captive, don't worry guys, but we just can't torture them too. We still will isolate people who have been arrested solely by word of mouth and guesses, we will still threaten their families and such, and we will still be shocked when we let them go they're pretty mad at us, we just won't also torture them. It's a start.

Speaking of military, another feather in Obama's cap is his promise to remove Don't Ask Don't Tell. Yea it's just a promise for now, but still, way better then most gave. For those that don't know, DADT basically says "Hey faggots, feel free to come die for your country, but stay in the closet ok?" Of course, this is being seen as a horrible thing to the right, since you know this was supposed to be a compromise! Yea, see, they no longer could BAN gays from serving since it was kept secret, and all they had to do was stay firmly in the closet and worry about losing their jobs if they're ever found out. You see, it's alot like high school, you're free to BE there all you want, just don't let it out that you're gay or else you're screwed, and you know how healthy and great highschool is for gay students! Yea, I mean most of these guys are either only recently out of the closet or still in it, so it's not that big of a shift right? You know those suicide rates and such are mostly fudged you know. What really gets me, though, is that for most of the opposition to it they're scared because knowing someone is gay may mean you may get your life saved by a gay man! Can you just imagine? Knowing a lisping sissy saved your life? Oh, he doesn't have a lisp and looks just like the rest of the squad? Oh, you mean he's a person just like you and before this you didn't even know he was gay? Well you see, it's still very important I'm sure. No no, I'm sure you're not homophobic, you just feel that your perception of someone will totally be warped if you find that they're gay. Nooo that's not bad.

This morning Rush Limbaugh was talking about the Pakistan missile hit, and he was enraged. I was listening to him because coffee just doesn't wake a man up quite like boiling rage does. He was really upset that under Obama we killed ten Pakistanis, and he was honestly concerned that this would anger Muslims. He at no time mentioned Iraq, Afghanistan, or Israel, you see, none of that happened under Obama. No, the Muslim world was happy with Iraq, and had no problem with us sending boats and planes loaded with weapons to Israel to help them make sure that a people who were already in the stone age were kept there.

Speaking of Israel, I really do think I need to put my stance on it down on paper, just for ease in my own head. I support it's right to exist, but at the same time, I feel that it is in no way exempt from blame. Israel has done alot of things that would appal the original founders, and yes they have been the victims of horrors as well, and neither of these counter each other. Israel and Palestine aren't even in the same scale, the Palestinian 'rockets' they launch daily are just that, rockets you could buy at a hobby store with some explosives. Does that make it ok? Of course not, but nor does that mean you should retaliate with F-16 bombers and call it equal. We have been told by the right that this is all proportional, so let's look at proportions. Before Obama was sworn in and Gaza was the center of the world spot light most numbers said 5 Israeli people died, counting soldiers, and around 490 Palestinians died. This is nearly a 100:1 scale, if these are proportional, every 1 Israeli is worth 1000 Palestinians. Of course, this means Israelis are a superior race, which would make it alright to do such a thing. In fact, an Israeli minster publicly said Gaza was bringing upon itself a 'holocaust unlike any other'. No, I'm sure the founders are very proud of all of these men. You see, Israel is smart, they know how to work the laws (*insert Jew lawyer joke here*), under a cease fire it is strictly a military thing, meaning no weapons may be fired. This doesn't ban, however, the stopping of humanitarian aid, water, power, medicine, or any other thing Israel often does when "Checkpoint Security is heightened" during cease fires. This of course leads terrorists to respond the only way they can, with force, and gives Israel a chance to retaliate freely. I'm not saying Israel deserves all the blame, but I am saying we need to be fair in this, and if we now suddenly are worried about Muslim relations, we should stop turning a blind eye to Israel's faults in these issues. Both sides have blood on their hands, both must be held accountable. The Talmud teaches that sin is always sin, there is no justification for sin, and the leaders of a 'Jewish State' should know this. Speaking of which, random trivia, calling Israel a Jewish State is actually fairly wrong, because we are not to establish any Jewish States until the Messiah comes. You see, if we do wish to jump the gun and make Israel a Jewish State, we need to make it one the Messiah would be proud of, we need to adhere to the laws we are taught. Defense is one thing, defense is fine, but kicking an already broken people while they are down until the extremists respond violently is not defense, and it is not how a Jewish State treats their brothers and sisters. We hear endless pages and biographies of every Israeli killed, but Palestinian deaths are cold numbers, a rocket in a market in Israel is an atrocity, but an F-16 blowing a school up is simply retaliation. Jew or Muslim, we are all Human, we are all someone's child, someone's sibling, someone's lover, someone's spouse. To make sure every Israeli death is personalized but keeping Palestinian deaths as cold numbers should not be done. A common Hebrew saying rings true in many cases in this conflict for both sides. "Whoever teaches his son teaches not only his son but also his son's son, and so on to the end of generations. "

Canada Sucks

2008-12-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, not Canada itself, in fact I rather like the country and hope to live there some day. What sucks is the Prime Minister of the country, Stephen Harper. This man is like if Darth Sideous was reborn, but instead of wanting power to kill and crush as he pleases, he just wants it to rub himself furiously on the Canadian flag and no one can say it's gross.

As of today, parliament is suspended, propaganda ads are blasting all over demonizing the now crippled opposition to his minority rule. If I said this about some third world country you'd think the Taliban held power there or something, but no, this is freedom. Let me break the events down, because it seems no one else in America gives a crap.

Stephen Harper's Conservative party held power in the Oct. 14 election with 127 seats in Parliament and increased their total to 143, still short of the 155 needed to control the legislative agenda. The government needs support of at least one other party to pass legislation. For a while he just grumbled and whined like any politician would. Then apparently he got bored and watched the Star Wars prequels because one day he just went nuts with power. He started by giving his rival party, the Liberal Party, a giant 'screw you' to show how big his political genitals are. He introduced repealing legislation which gave money to political parties based on the number of seats they owned. So on the surface, it looked like he was hurting his own party more, but the difference is the Conservatives are wealthy and the Liberals are 300 million in debt and would have been crippled.

Of course, the Liberals were not, as he thought, run by mentally handicapped children and when they heard of this they fought tooth and nail to block it, they even talked to Quebecois' leadership, which is a pretty big sacrifice to make. Why? Because the Bloc party's platform revolves around 'hey, let us break off. Come on. Please?' and that's it. Alright, to normal people this means the Liberals are just uniting ALL other parties no matter how stupid to fight against oppressive measures. Not to Harper though, Harper is not a normal man you see. He may have been once, but he has become twisted by the dark side now, and inside sources say he's getting a nice black robe custom tailored for his next phase. To him this was a goldmine, he and his Conservatives did what you'd expect a cartoon villain to do, they screamed "SEPARATISTS" as loud as they can for as long as they can. They are still screaming that. You see, to them this means that the Liberals and all other parties want to fracture Canada and ruin it, they are enemies of freedom. This would be a stupid, but somewhat valid, point to make if Harper's party hadn't also worked with the Blocs when they needed their votes. As Nixon said, it's not illegal when the President (or Prime Minister) does it.

And I will tell you, this display of jingoism and nationalistic zealotry would make any good old American Republican tear up with pride. Harper and his goons locked up in their office and loudly sang 'Oh Canada' all night, only stopping to send someone out to spew more garbage about how the opposition are in a coup or some trash. Now, normally this would just be a bafflingly silly thing to do that I would go 'haha' over and ignore. That changed when today Harper came into Parliament and simply said 'ok this is done, go home'. Ok fine he technically enacted a normally figurehead position to call Parliament into suspension, even though legally this can only be done under dire times, dire as in 'holy crap we elected a bunch of people who shoot at me every day and try to take my power by force' not dire as in "But IIIIIIIIIIIIIII want the power mommy!" So that's what happened, he invented a false coup to justify a coup of his own.

Why did he do this? Because of what happened on Monday. This is how it began, this band of 'separatists' formed on Monday to oust Harper out of his minority rule. They were upset by Harper's brand of politics, so they formed a coalition party that would have had more seats than the Conservatives. On Monday, they were going to hold what's called a confidence motion, if defeated, the government has lost the confidence of the majority of the house and a new government must be formed. Which they had the coalition set up to take power. Now, this is all totally legal, it's politics in Canada, and a mature leader would have grumbled and groused but let democracy take it's course. Not Harper though, Harper seems above the law, above the process, and above Canada.

Why do no Americans care about this? Is this how willfully ignorant we are? We focus more on celebrities and watching blank screens waiting to hear about a bailout then we do on our neighbors' struggle to keep the very tenets of their democracy alive? Well, apparently we'll liberate the hell out of middle easterners to get them our democracy, but when democracy is dieing above us we ignore it. We let ourselves make it to be nothing because we don't take Canada seriously, and because of that their politics must be jokes too. Or maybe it's something else. Maybe we don't want to admit that Democracy can fail. Maybe we see this, but refuse to register it, simply because it calls our ideals into question. A man like Harper is destroying Democracy by turning it in on itself and we ignore it, because then we'd have to admit 'yes, maybe it isn't perfect'. So on behalf of all my silent American friends, who care more about Ron Howard's views on politics, on on who Brittany is dating now, or any other pathetic thing we can focus on rather then the real world, let me greet any Canadians reading this blog, Hail Emperor Harper.

Torn

2008-11-08T13:18:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure how to feel right now. I feel this election has really summed America up perfectly. On one hand, euphoria over Obama being elected and a new era of progress beginning in America, on the other hand we have Prop 8 in California being passed with a downright puny margin, and Arkansas went so far to keep evil gays from having any semblance to humanity in their state they even made sure single parents couldn't adopt. As always, America proves to be a country of beauty and embarrassment constantly fighting. We have a mixed race man with new ideas coming into the office, we have people posting how funny it is to say you're going to kill him, we have states deciding gays are still subhuman, and we have people of all sexualities, races, and backgrounds saying 'no that's wrong' and fighting it.

It's amazing how beautifully horrible Democracy is at times. Prop 8 is back in courts, the Arkansas issues are being brought back into debate, the dance continues. This is political life, for six months you can get married and be recognized, then some Mormons of all people call you perverts (You better damn make sure you're marrying five WOMEN and not a MAN, that's just GROSS) and it doesn't matter. Here's what those California Mormons are, they're terrorists. They won by terror tactics, lies, and exploitation of fear. There was nothing at all about the court ruling other then 'Same Sex marriages have the same rights as others'. That was it, no 'force teachers to teach it (as if straight marriage is the keystone of education now?)' no 'punish churches who don't do as we say (as a tip, no one cared about churches, the license was what mattered)' and no mandatory gay marriage. I want to know why these Mormons hated the idea so much, and why the church that until a few decades ago didn't call blacks human is our moral compass now? Did they think a gay gestapo was going to march into their churches in pink jackboots and demand all the males marry males and ladies marry ladies? Maybe they were scared all their 14 year old brides would get corrupted, we can't have that ya know.

Here's the thing, this isn't a faith issue. Shockingly enough we have a separation of church and state, and these bigots can't give any reason other then 'morals' why gay marriage is bad. If this was a real country with separation of church and state these people would be laughed down and told to shut up and stick to their funeral protests.The last number I heard was 51%. 51% decided the lives of 49%. Welcome to America. Arkansas is the great benchmark of what these people want, they want to make sure the church has a grasp on your life, on your morals, and on your way of living. These people are honestly happy to let a kid rot away in an orphanage rather then give him to a gay couple or a single mother. These people think Christ's words were "Love thy neighbor...cept for the fags". These people are why people of real faith can't have nice things, they would see the world burn if it meant the 'ways of good' are enforced. This isn't an issue of Red or Blue, of White or Black, this is a moral issue, are gays human? Do gays deserve the same rights as other humans? THAT is what we should be asking these people, have them outright admit 'no they aren't to me' get these people on camera admitting to them gays are not humans, or, at best, not humans of the same worth. This is what these people feel, make them admit it. And honestly, I can live with anyone else doing this crap, that's the way of life, but Mormons? Really? They're calling us perverts? This is a new low.

An interesting tangent, Gabriel Malor, of the Ace of Spades blog site, a heavy Conservative/Republican site, came out of the closet recently. I don't know much about him, or Ace of Spades, but it seems he was a man of decent respect on the site, I don't know if he had any real 'power' but defiantly a strong fan base. He quietly came out in this simple paragraph on a blog about ALL the California Propositions:

"On Prop 8: I know most of you disagree with me about it. But could we have a moment of silence for those poor fools who were happily married or engaged yesterday and today are finding out that they don't have squat? Prop 8 was much more personal than some silly high-speed train or hospital funding. People are hurting today. And I'm one of them."

This wasn't a dramatic "I'M QUEER AND PROOOOUD HONEY" post, it was a simple Revelation. Now, it seems he has a good amount of die hard fans who simply said 'our sympathies' and such, but...well here's the blog itself there are some real vile things thrown at him for no reason. This man was simply expressing the disgust most of us feel about the fact that CHICKENS are worth more in California then gays are, that a high speed train is more worthy, that EVERYONE but us is worth respect, and he was insulted very cruelly for it. This is 'Compassionate Conservatives' for you.

Now, while that alone is enough for me to want to see some riots, there is plenty to appease my blood lust already. For example, the delicious screams as the Republicans eat themselves alive. This was a shock to them it seemed, this is shaking the very core of them, and this is making them turn on each other. It really shocks me how many people are truly enraged over this. Of course, party disappointment is expected, no Republican would be going "WOO YA WE LOST! IN OUR FACE!" But I have a good friend on a military base telling me how the wife of a soldier was proudly saying how he tore all the family flags up in protest, about people making jokes about taking a shot at Obama after hearing they're on Honor Guard duty for the inauguration. I'm reading news stories about people hanging flags upside down and saying shamelessly to the news 'it's because that nigger got elected'. I wish I could say that racism is over now but there are still plenty of people who just know Obama as 'that nigger' it seems. It's so fascinating, when Bush won in massive controversy in 2000, telling a Republican 'he's not my president' met you with screams of treason and hate. Now most comments on their sites insist that Obama is 'not our president'. Best of all, many business owners and such are PROUD to say how they're screwing over their employees who dared vote Obama, firing, cutting pay, all that. Discrimination is ok when it's by political party, unless someone makes fun of Republicans, then it's a Left wing plot. It's funny how double standards work.

Redstate.com officially began "Operation Leper" on the party, and it's been spreading well among the party. What is this operation? Why it's, as I call it "Operation Cut Off the Nose to Spite the Face". They simply feel everyone who does anything to aid the Democrat majority, said anything bad about Palin and other evil thought crimes, will be simply cut away from the party. No redeeming, no mercy, if you step out of their ideas just once, bam. Sarah Palin is the single best asset Democrats have.This woman flew her plane over the Republican party and shot it like a helpless wolf, and I love it. See, these people CAN'T let go. These people can't accept that 'ok, we picked a dud, let's move on and rebuild the party line' no, they're clinging to Palin like she's the last hope of the party, rather then the last nail in its coffin. So bitter are they they even turn on Fox News, their mouthpiece, and claim THEY were mean to Palin, and should be boycotted. If this was just the bigots and fools on Freerepublic.com I could ignore this, those trolls always feel the GOP is doomed if Democrats do anything. No, this is a big movement under the surface, these people are a rotten wound hidden under rusting armor of the party. These people will kill off the GOP from the inside, they will insure we have a lovely Democrat Dynasty in this country, and I support them fully. Go Palin 2012, maybe get Joe the Plumber as your VP, make sure the party doesn't just go through the natural rise and fall cycle, make sure it implodes in a festering wound, make sure they're good and crippled for a long time with all this infighting and backbiting. I love it, this is almost enough to make me forget most of this country still doesn't think gays are worthy of human rights. You go Redstate, you go Free Republic, you go keep supporting all the people who deface their American flags because that damn darkie won, you keep insisting that anyone who even says a nice thing about Democrats, or a minor bad thing about Palin is a traitor to the party. You go, I'll just sit here with a nice cigar and watch the carnage. This is better then porn.

It's scary, it's funny.

2008-10-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

It's funny to watch this election, it's scary to think there are such zealots on the Right. People still say 'we can win it' for McCain, people still insist 'they're close on polls!' it's scary how diluted people are. They don't get that for McCain to win the electoral college he has to not only win every last battleground state, but also turn some states from blue to red, in four days. Yea, don't worry, he can still win. It's funny, people on the Right were just fine when Gore lost the election after winning the popular vote, claiming 'that's the system of America!' Now. when McCain loses because he hardly has any Electoral Votes how many of these 'that's the system' people will be screaming fraud? Remember kids, it's ok when we do it, but if those Dems do it it's WRONG. Fanny/Freddy bailout was ok, but any OTHER kind of Socialism is evil.

So, Joe the Fake Plumber who Owes Back Taxes and Sarah seem to be working hard to kill the McCain campaign, I'm thinking of sending them a cookie bouquet. First Joe makes his comment that Obama will mean the end of Israel, cause you know, them thar A-rabs is all tha same. Even Shepard Smith of Fox News had the moral integrity to say 'ok....no he's said over and over Israel will always be a friend of America', Shepard is one of the few Fox anchors I can watch without wanting to scream, and continues to be one of the few truly balanced anchors there. Then, Joe decides he doesn't want to appear at a McCain event, which is fine, the man isn't a politician and really it was McCain who dragged him into all this, he has every right to say 'nah, I don't want to do that' when asked to be paraded around as a mascot. The problem is he didn't feel like even texting McCain about this decision, leaving McCain introducing a man who wouldn't be showing up. What really gets me and so many other people upset is that he's got this attitude of 'Welp I'm just a normal guy and no expert so don't take me as some educated source....but let me run my mouth off anyway, make sure that camera's on me'. Think Joe likes Chocolate Chip?

McCain likes to get offended when people question Joe on anything, becoming outraged that they dare to drag him into all this. Yet, he's the one who constantly invokes him, he's the one who puts out 'I am X the Y' ads, and he's the one with no true respect for the common man. McCain switched to this plumber crap because Palin's constant invocation of 'Joe Six Pack' finally got offencive. Seeing as that name directly references the idea that your average working man drinks a six pack nightly, I'd understand most people don't like being associated with that. So now McCain is trying to identify with the common man by resorting them to a one word description. What happened to "I'm Joe the plumber who enjoys classical music and has an expensive doctor bill to pay?", what happened to "I'm Mike the builder who collects vintage advertisement products but also has kids in public school and want the best for them?". No, these new mastheads of the Republicans are a cold, bureaucratic form of a person. "Joe the Plumber" "Mike the Builder" "Ron the Rancher" "Dora the Explorer" What's funny though is there's no "Ryan the Professor" "James the Doctor" "Bill the Lawyer", why? It's the same thing the McCain campaign says Obama does, class hatred. Except they hate the upper class, so it's ok. If Obama came out with an ad saying 'look forget what Joe the Plumber has to say here's James the Doctor his opinion is all that matters' he'd be burned at the stake, but McCain saying 'don't pay attention to those people with fancy degrees and jobs, here's Joe the Plumber, only he matters' is ok. Remember, it's cool to support class warfare, but only as long as it's to the upper class, screw them and their positions of respect...they vote Democrat.

What is scary is the raw hate and vitriol being thrown by McCain supporters. I mean real hate, I don't mean normal partisan anger, I have no problem with 'yea well screw Democrats, buncha jerks' or whatever in election years, that's how it's always been. What scares me is cries of "KILL HIM" about Obama at Palin rallies, McCain being booed harshly just for saying Obama has good qualities, people who scream "SOCIALIST" at Obama and refuse to shake his hand on the trail, and of course the classic cries of 'He's a Muslim' or 'he's a Commie!' What makes me laugh though is the cries of evil for not keeping the theoretical agreement he made to accept only the federal money, this agreement made during the time he was 'that black dude' and nothing more in the race, when he had near no support. Yes, how dare he not hobble himself by keeping a purely theoretical idea he made in the days when the federal money was the biggest 'donation' he could expect. Remember though, these are the people who scream 'WE DESERVE TO KEEP OUR MONEY' at any ideas of taxing the wealthy, but Obama doesn't deserve the money he made, he's a Democrat.

Do you know the difference between Obama and McCain? Obama's 'profiles' of working people in his thirty minute ad were actually a look into the person's life and ideals and problems. McCain just sticks with 'this is Joe, he's the plumber', that's all he needs. Who do YOU want in this comparison?

Foxitize Me

2008-10-24T02:59:00.000-07:00

Out of raw dullness and insomnia, I'm going to try an experiment, only watch Fox News whenever I'm in my dorm, I have one class from 9 to 10 AM other then that, just homework. Let's see what this does to me, I'll update the post as I go.

Fox and Friends just started (I feel obliged to say I should go easy on them for being a 'morning show' type show but I really dislike their personalities out of pure annoyance, so I won't take that seriously.) So far we're talking wardrobe and ACORN jokes. Now they're talking about an 'alleged attack' from an Obama supporter on a McCain one, and 'casually' mentioning they worry about riots if Obama loses. Gotta remind people them black folks like to riot I guess. Good work.

More ACORN comments, nothing new, decent start to the morning I guess. At least they're only blaming the organization and not Obama for it. I think the brown haired dude is hitting on the blond one though, he just winked at him and said 'punk is hot now' in regards to a joke the blond one made about his roomie in college. Nevermind, it just got crazy again, the blond dude claimed that four college students being dumb about state voting registration laws is an organized plot and they should be brought up on 'at least felonies'.

Karl Rove is on now, explaining how McCain can win, apparently he has to win 6 already firm blue states, 2 'battle ground' ones that are 'leaning blue' and 1 totally neutral one. Math, the greatest weapon of any election. Just saw a teaser for Ted Nugent appearing on an afternoon show, he's 'sick of slams on Sarah' and we'll be 'finding out who's in his sights' today. I hope it's a reporter dressed as a White Tail Deer!

Rove talked some more, gave donuts to the staff. The three are ranting over SNL not being fair and just called NBC 'National Barrack Channel'. Awesome.

I'm eating horrible chicken noodle soup and watching Judge Napolitano talk about ACORN, again managing to not blame Obama, pleasantly surprised. The brown haired guy (turns out his name is Brian) kept pressing the idea they should be convicted under felonies, the Judge himself said 'no, that can't happen unless it can be shown it directly did something', Brian thinks he's smarter then the Judge in matters of law. Awesome.

They play a clip of Palin saying 'a 'trifecta' of Democrats (House, Senate, Pres) is bad because checks and balances are being skewed' of course, checks and balances were never meant to be bipartisan, but rather simply 'extra sets of eyes' for the government. She is of course, not corrected. Seventh time the blond one makes fun of New York Times endorsing Obama, because as you know they're the first ones to do that and this was never done before, then he makes an NBC joke, then he mocks our intelligence by saying 'except for that pesky Electoral College' as if we don't know a Times endorsement doesn't mean a victory... Fox News keeps it classy.

More coverage of the Obama supporter 'attack' on the McCain supporter that happened 'luckily' just outside of the ATM's camera's range, and no mention of the fact that the 'knife carving' looks like a doctor did it with a scalpel rather then some psycho slashed her face. And of course, it was a male attacking a woman. This is way too lucky to be real. Also if they start treating this as a real 'statement' I'm gonna start mailing them links to all the McCain supporters yelling 'kill him' about Obama, calling him 'the Muslim' and generally being amazing stereotypes for their party. Because that means to them the psychos are valid topics.

Steven Baldwin looks retarded. Not in the demeaning 'hur hur retard' I mean he honestly looks brain damaged. Brian is being aggressive in trying to scream "BIAS BIAS BIAS" about the evil left, he asked the one Panelist that disagrees with him "DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT?" atleast three times already. Baldwin is talking about 'truth', Brian is ignoring the people who fight his opinions to give Baldwin and some random woman who's some pollster (insert crude joke here) more speaking time. It's funny to see three nobodies and Steven Baldwin making up their panel and Brian not thinking that would matter. You know, it's wrong for LEFT WING celebs to be political, and infact, Alec Baldwin is evil for taking a side, but Steven is cool for taking the other side. These people aren't even trying any more to pretend to be fair. Brian is disgusting, the woman host is your typical 'cute blond', nothing added, nothing detracted, the blond guy Brian kept flirting with (Steve) seems to be a pretty decent person. Ironically, despite the stunning bias in Brian's alone time with the 'Pundit Pitt' the actual composition of the three regular hosts evens out. I'm not going to blog any more untill the next show after my morning class. I'll leave with this for now, Brian is still playing the 'there will be riots!' card, he got outright called racist for saying that after the famous Gore/Bush race ended peacefully aside from words being thrown out, and yea, it was way worse then this. Baldwin thinks he's clever by implying the rioting will come if Obama WINS, them blacks, they love their riots. Also, it's apparently sexisim to make fun of Palin in any way, but again, riots over the black man, totally in bounds.

Go Fox!

========================

Checking back in, same stories as before, I'm going to put this marathon on hold until mid afternoon and evening I think, but I do love McCain saying 'Obama says his VP engages in 'creative flourishes' at times' as if the very two words are so insane to say, damn elitists, using real words and all. Also, since when does Military Service/POW time mean 'testing' for a president?

Bill O'Reilly is a Bad Person

2008-10-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

It's 4 AM here, I'm watching Bill O'Reilly, I'm sick.

He's honestly complaining about his appearance on The View not doing well because he came in mocking the show, mocking the hosts, and then insisting that it was all because he's a Republican. Of course, his 'fair and balanced' experts are a Republican woman who claims it's 'impossible to be a Republican in New York' and someone who's simply called a 'Fox News Contributor'. Both of course, agree fully with him that it's a vast conspiracy.

This was after he said 'oh all the criminals watch MSNBC', said Powel's endorsement was all a personal vendetta, and mocked a guest openly for daring to say something other then him. Oh yea, and he literally just now declared 'war' on the New York Times, as if they weren't already 'at war' with them with their altered photos of journalists and cries of bias.

I wouldn't care so much if he didn't make up the 'center stage' of Fox, I mean everyone knows Hannity (the show that follows him) is a shill, everyone admits it and thinks it's ok because they hired a simpering wimp to be his 'sidekick' Liberal. But Bill is honestly seen as a fair journalist in his circle. This is the man who despite getting 'awards' such as the Pink Brick for promoting GBLT intolerance, 'most devolved reporter', and 'best use of unintentional satire' thinks it must be EVERYONE ELSE! He's right because he's a 'Culture Warrior' and only his 'culture' is right, and that anyone who supports other 'culture' is a traitor.

Let's see, using his show to attack rivals for fun, insisting his culture is 'right' and we're all the problem, and declaring 'war' and demanding his 'warriors' support him unwaveringly. Wow...that sounds...JUST like what the terrorists say.

Irony rocks.

edit:

He has the gal to call out people who give money to what party as a way of demonizing. He basically just yelled "THEY THINK DIFFERENT! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM". Oh and he's editing the Ron Howard ad to work for his message, and not mentioning how McCain and Palin made speeches claiming three different baseball teams know how to 'turn it around' based on what city they were in, while mocking Obama for 'rooting for Phillies but showing some love to Marlins'. Because as you know, sports TOTALLY matters in picking a candidate. I was SO going to vote McCain till I read Obama was from Chicago, I LOVE the Cubs! Oh, and he's mocking Richard Drifas right now for wanting to not be interrupted in his interview after being invited on Bill's show. Well played Bill, you've showed us only you are right.

Now call a Jihad on New York Times, come on, you'd love the irony.

I Hate it Here

2008-10-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

The title of my post is shamelessly ripped from the comic book, Transmetropolitan, it was the name of the book Spider Jerusalem (the main character, a journalist) wrote where he basically expressed his disdain for everything in his city and country. I have never had a more fitting title for a blog post. As a Poli-Sci major I'm allowed to say this, I hate politics now. I hate them with a word that can only be called 'raging passion'. These aren't politics we see, these are party loyalty festivals. No matter what side you're on, that's what it is. I proudly voted 'Straight Democrat Ticket' in my early voting rather then look into every single position being elected and making a choice based on how I felt about the candidates. I made a choice based on party loyalty, I was sick of Republicans, I didn't want them anywhere near power, I voted all Democrat. My mother is the same way, on her blog she refuses to say a good thing about Obama, to say anything about how this 'birth certificate controversy' was brought up by a lawyer who wanted Bush brought up on murder charges because he thought 9/11 was an inside job and is generally a way to attack Obama for some stupid reason (It is basically trying to insinuate he's not a citizen), and generally refuses to see any decent people in the Democratic party. Of course, I have no moral high ground here, I don't say much good about McCain and all I'll say good about his VP choice is 'she seems like a nice woman' and I'm in no way sorry for that.

Why do I complain then? Because there are two things you can do when you realize that what we have is no longer politics. You can either whine and cry and stamp your foot and refuse to vote or do anything because as you know, you matter so much in the modern environment; or you an whine and cry and stamp your foot, but accept the new regime of politics and try to change it while still holding on to the core ideals of the country. I choose the second one, I choose to believe my vote still counts, I choose to believe it is my civic duty to vote and do all I can to support the people I feel are right, and I choose to believe that one voice can snowball into millions, and get real change. These are stupid beliefs, elections are bought by the media, your average voter who's still undecided at this point has the IQ of a smoked salmon, and when you're pissed off about something all you can do is make sure your message gets out and hope people will stop caring about the new fast food burger or movie star couple long enough to actually read it. People are more worried about High Fructose Corn Syrup then they are about the energy crisis, people are more panicked about the latest celeb caught snorting coke or saying something someone doesn't like then they are about the presidential race, and what pisses me off more, and what makes me write this post, people are more concerned about being SEEN caring then really DOING something.

I don't hate it here, I take it back, here is a pretty damn nice life, I could be in a country where I get shot for calling our leader an incompetent buffoon, I could be a country where I'm told who to vote for and checked on to make sure I voted right, I could be in a country where I have to pick between fresh water or fresh food for the day. Here is pretty cushy. I hate the people here. I hate people who think they're soooo rebellious for wearing a Che shirt but don't even know who he is, I hate people who are more concerned if their protest gets on the news then if it gets their damn message out there, I hate people who scream slogans and buzzwords, be they 'NO BLOOD FOR OIL' or 'SUPPORT OUR TROOPS', and don't know anything about the damn issue, and worst of all I hate people who think anything is an unbiased source. To the few random people that click on my blog, I have an agenda, so does CNN, so does FOX, so does MSNBC, so does New York Times, and so does every other human being. It is impossible to simply state facts now, people don't like saying bad things about things they like. I will always try to justify every flaw Obama has, my mother will always try to justify Palin, the man writing an op-ed will always want to make sure his side is 'right', and the guy who writes the news story about a candidate they support will always try to downplay the problems. The media of any kind will always try to put their spin on it, it's YOUR job as the reader to make your own choice, read the news, hear the news, and take it to form your OWN ideas. Though, I have to say, there is one more thing I hate more then the people here.

I hate the mindsets here. I hate that facts are seen as just extra touches to statements, I hate that we want to elect average people, and I hate that we're all a bunch of freaking hypocrites. We're all guilty of it, I mock Palin's lack of experience while defending Obama's, McCain calls Obama a Socialist like it's a bad thing and then defends the massive banking bailout as just fine, and my mother insists that Palin is a fresh outlook and great for the country while Obama is dangerous for being different. My problem is that people aren't questioned for their hypocrisy any more, because they know their own insanity will be called to question. We're taught since birth that we can do what we want because of a silly title we hold of 'super power', we are taught to give faith in Roosevelt's 'Big Stick Diplomacy' even to this day. We can invade another country basically whenever we feel like it, but not those damn Russians! We can have nukes, we looooooooove our nukes, they make us feel cool, but we don't want anyone else to have them...what if they get MORE then us? We can use 'enhanced interrogation' and constantly just skate the Geneva Convention's rules, but we better not hear about any other people doing it! But wait, it goes down to an even better level, not just nationally, but politically! Republicans can support a bailout of major banks and not be Socialist, but someone says 'redistribute wealth' and he's a filthy Socialist scum. A Republican can change his views on the war, as long as they go from 'we're doing great' to 'we could do better...', but if a Democrat ever says bad he hates the troops. A candidate can be a 'maverick' while selling all his independent ideals out to get the nomination, but if the other guy says one word that's a common platform of his party he's just another mindless drone.

What, you think it ends there? Your country is the best, your party is the best, your state is the best, your city is the best, your sports team is the best, your school is the best, and your SCHOOL'S sports team is the best! These are all drilled into your head at a young age, and what gets me mad, what inspires this post, and what kills me faster then the smokes and fatty foods, is that less and less people question it. Less and less people think for themselves, and more and more people mindlessly parrot information they heard once as infallible fact, and then demand a candidate that's 'just like us'. This is a vicious circle of ignorance, and every four years it gets stronger. I beg you people...just once...let the 'elitist' win, let the 'ivy league snob' win, let the one with 'intellectual smugness' win. Why? Because once in a while they have a damn good reason to be 'smug', they are smarter then you, and me, and the other guy sometimes, and sometimes, we should let the smart guy lead the country, just for a change of pace.

The Watchmen

2008-10-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

I'm more then a political nerd, in fact I'm a fairly well rounded nerd as most all of my friends can attest. One of my interests, however, is comics. I love comic books, I really do. I'm normally a Marvel man but I have plenty of DC 'exceptions'. There's the normal mainstream heroes, the Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern are the tops there. Then, there are the 'indie' things DC will do, making things that really make you go 'whoa, the people who made Superman published this?' One of those things is a comic called The Watchmen, by Allan Moore.

This is a rather dark comic, it treats super heroes as if they were real, the cops resented a bunch of freaks in masks doing their jobs, so they were outlawed. The heroes had flaws, and no, not weaknesses, honest flaws. Half the time you find yourself thinking 'why do I like this guy again...'. The stereotypical 'atomic super man' simply can't relate to normal humans, he caused cancer in a former lover, and finds himself in a self imposed exile to Mars to escape the disdain that grows regarding him. Our 'Batman' type grizzled investigator with no powers is a real bastard, horrible childhood, contempt for the world, even his one friend is constantly pushed to the limits of being around him. Most of all though, under the masks, the heroes are human. That's why I love that comic, because the 'human' side isn't Clark Kent, the nerdy reporter no one likes so we only see him for a minute or two, it's not Peter Parker the social outcast, and it's not Bruce Wayne the millionaire playboy. The 'Humans' run the gambit from a homeless 'doomsayer' who's hinted to be retarded many times, to the average woman, to the introverted brilliant man.

With this humanity being the a key side of the characters, comes human reactions. The story focuses around the death of a former hero 'The Comedian', who's seen with a mix of pure scorn and hero worship. On one hand, he was a 'golden age' hero who went on to serve his country in Vietnam on his own free will. On the other, he's a rapist who saw humor in the burning of villages. Neither of these sides are fictional, there's no dramatic moment where our hero goes "NO! You were wrong all along about him!" He's laid out on the table for the reader very early, never disproved, only expanded on. Why? Because he was human. Have you ever wondered 'ok, The Flash is being funny with his little quip but...how does he stay joking after all the insane things he's seen?' It's really simple, The Flash isn't human. Sure, 'canonically' he is, but from a mental state he's not. Why? Because, watching a hero sob and mourn for ten issues after every disaster isn't fun. The Comedian, however, is human. He goes from the light hearted 'tee hee I used a spring powered boxing glove to knock out the robber' to a Punisher like hero who has no problem killing. Why? Because he saw things that 'killed the joke'.

Why am I writing all this? Well, for one, to say 'go buy The Watchmen, it's cheap and most bookstores carry an anthology of all the comics,' but also because there is a movie being made of them. I have no idea how to feel about this movie. On one hand, my fanboy side is going 'whoooooo Watchmen movie! This is gonna rock!' but on the other, my film nerd side is going 'wait, how will this work?' One of the amazing things about the comic is that it's a heavily 'internal' story, inner monologues, journals, and deep personal thoughts are all used to turn the characters to more then ink on a page. For a comic, this is amazing, books of all kind were made for 'internal development' because we readers have the luxury of being able to 'read the mind' of the hero. A film, however, is very external, the actors can't project their thoughts. Of course, voice overs and such are very good workarounds, but for this film to capture the comic's 'soul' it would need to be ALL voice over as the heroes talk in between, a very clunky thing to do.

Another issue comes in the main character Rorschach. This is a very hard role, let me break down the major character points of him. He's antisocial, speaks in perfect monotone until his very final line, wheezes, spends more time writing in his journal then speaking, has many flash backs to his abusive childhood, is a general sociopath in regards to views on human life/respect, and as said before, is hinted to be brain damaged in some pretty major ways. Let's see, this is a major movie chance, they're gonna stick to big names...who could do all that in a way that won't make you cringe...

Here's my worst fear, this movie is an atrocity to the comic, it focuses more on demonizing The Comedian then getting the message of his story across, it focuses more on showing 'check out how awesome we made Dr Manhattan look' then showing his struggle to live a normal life, it focuses on making Rorschach a 'lovable antihero' instead of how he really should be, a giant bastard with massive mommy issues, and after all that, it's a giant success. I've seen film companies ruin some great things, I'm getting tired of it. I want this movie to do great, I want to see people rushing to buy the comics, I want to see it be more then some obscure name, but at the same time, if it succeeds by destroying the source, what's the point? I know it sounds horribly spiteful but, if this movie winds up being a total bastardization of the source, I hope it fails, just so Watchmen can live on.

I'm Not Smart

2008-10-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

I am not a smart man. I'm a person of average intellect, maybe a bit above but nothing to go around flaunting like it's a trophy. I understand this, I know there's no shame in this, why can't others?

There are two things in this world that honestly make me queasy to see growing strong. One is the loss of respect for intellectuals, but that can wait for another time, lord knows plenty have talked about this before me. The second, and the thing I wish to subject you to my rantings about, is the rise of pseudo-intellectuals who are treated as true intellectuals. There, I just used a rather 'fancy' word 'pseudo' yet, magically, my first statement still stands, I'm a man of average intellect. I comprehend that my ability to pull a word out and use it correctly does not make me a brilliant man. Yet, it seems many don't understand this, and are supported by legions of followers that help stroke their ego.

You see, the loss of respect for intellectuals can be fought, pretty easily too; but the rise of false intellectuals commanding respect they don't deserve is harder to fight. I'm going to pull an old classic out here, I blame the times. Why? Because now everyone gets their 'fifteen minutes', and no one wants to be that clod who said 'yup, I'm just a normal dude doing normal things I guess, thanks for the attention though'. No, that's too humble, that's too honest. Now we all want to be seen as a great visionary, a brilliant thinker, a sage among apes. Why? Because it feels good to be respected, and earning it honestly is hard. So, here's what we get, two different schools of 'false intellectuals'. One school is the 'shock school' the other, the 'pompous school'. Really, you can assume the meaning behind the names by using basic context, but just for the sake of indulging my own rant I'll explain them in a handy guide for any future false intellectuals. If you need an ego boost and don't want to actually work, get out the pad and pencil, it's time for note taking. Better yet, just copy and paste into Word, note taking is hard.

The shock school is most common, you can see these people in any walk of life. It's rather funny though, that in many of these cases these people can be found in positions that already should be respected, scholars, teachers, creators, that stuff that's 'nerd work' I guess. The shock school is guerrilla intellect, to be a member all you need is a love to hear the phrase "HOW DARE YOU". I mean really love, I'm talking perversion here. To use this school, all that must be done is for you to take a controversial view. Don't worry about thinking them up though, there's a wide buffet of garbage to dine on, all brought to you by your local media who just LOVE to do stories on how wicked and mean your predecessors are. It's easy, really, just get in a public discussion (remember, if there's not a crowd you're not doing it right) and say something like 'we deserved 9/11' or 'I think the holocaust was overblown', or anything else you can find on any message board full of teenagers crying about how their parents are Nazis. Oh yes, bonus points if you can compare someone to a Nazi, because remember, killing millions of people and oppressing many more is the exact same as holding a different ideal then you. Now, here's the fun part, when you're soon called to the carpet on your outrageous statement, don't use real facts to back it up, in fact, don't treat the discussion as anything more then you being victimized. Remember, YOU'RE the victim here, how dare these philistines not accept your idea unquestioningly. Don't debate the topic like a mature adult, that's for those nerds who earned their position in the academic circles, all you need to do is remind the crowd that you're the only smart one. Point out any grammar or spelling mistakes your opponent makes, mention that he most likely voted for someone you don't like, and claim every fact and figure he uses is misleading, biased, or just outright false, even if sources are given. Remember, this isn't about supporting your claim or proving you're right, you're right because you said so already, this about making sure everyone knows anyone on the other side is stupid. It's not a different opinion, it's ignorance. Beware though, they may have the nerve to call YOU the ignorant one, use this as a chance to flaunt all your academic achievements you've ever made in any field, that second prize you got in the spelling bee in grade school? Heck yes it has merit to prove how much you know about the conflict in the middle east. The prize you won for great skill in Chemistry? Of course it helps your claim that minorities are inherently stupid, how dare they disagree, it's all the same science! Just remember, always attack, never defend, you don't need to defend yourself, you've already said you were right.

The second school is more rare, mainly because it requires real work to get into. This is the pompous school. Just say the name, doesn't that sound so much classier then the other school? Better, say it in a European accent, they're all the same, just pick one. So, how does one get into this prestigious school? Well, the vulgar side of me wants to simply say 'take your head, shove it firmly into your rear, and leave there' but that wouldn't be as fun. For one, call yourself a 'citizen of the world', trust me, you need this for your future debates. Mainly, it makes you sound cultured, even if you've never left your own state, but aside from that it will grant you immunity to later claims you make. Secondly, attach an accent to your name, anywhere you want. Of course, this rule only works if your parents didn't already put an accent there. For example, Chad can be pronounced 'shad' or 'chad-aye' with proper accent use. Better then accents, add a second vowel to any ones already in your name. This gives the illusion of exotic history while not needing you to remember a new name to use, just remember to very firmly remind people 'no no, it's 'Lisa' with an 'e' at the end', you're so much better then those common Lisas. Third, get a degree from a college. Any degree, any college, but you get bonus points if it's something like Philosophy or Ethics or something. No don't worry, you don't need to know Plato's cave allegory's meaning or anything by the end of your college life. You just need to decide what you think it means, then insist it's the ONLY way it can be interpreted. Now you're done! You're free now to apply for any position of power over people you can think of, after all, teaching people is so much easier if you can MAKE them agree, isn't it?

How do you go about teaching you ask? Why, it's simple, simply make a claim, any claim. Unlike those fools in the shock school you don't need to stick to inflammatory comments, the world is your oyster, and you have the drill. Who cares if a hammer is a bad tool to use for oysters, you have it, that makes it good. Now, here's where you divert from your so called 'peers' in the academic world, rather then encouraging frank, open, and safe discussion of your claim and its opposing views, simply claim that you're right, everyone else is wrong, and you will make their lives miserable until they agree. Unlike the shock school, your goal is to prove how smart you are, and let everyone just assume that means the other person is stupid. How is this done? Simple, Google 'trivia'. Find a page nice and full of random facts about things, hopefully a wide array of things. Now, memorize those facts. No! Don't study why those facts are true! Don't take the time to learn just why an ant can lift ten times its body weight! Just memorize the fact, that's all you need. Now, wait for a debate, if one doesn't come to you, start one. Once the debate is in full force, start whipping these facts out, one after another, machine gun style. No no, it doesn't matter that none of these facts are relevant, the point is you know them. Now, how could a person who knows so many facts not be smart? Did the other guy remind everyone that bats are not really blind, they simply have amazing hearing? No, that fool was still discussing the topic, what a boob. Ok, the crowd is on your side, they see how smart you are, now drop the other boot, show them how cultured you are too! See, this is where that 'citizen of the world' stuff helps. That way once you say "I wouldn't expect an /American/ to understand the finer points of German politics" (Remember, say American like it's a curse), and your opponent points out that you have lived in the same state as him all your life, you can say 'yes yes but I'm a citizen of the WORLD thank you." Pick a country, any country at all, wikipedia it, learn some phrases in its most common language, and bam, you're an expert! The same works for food and drink, remind everyone that the champagne your host bought for the party isn't REALLY champagne since it came from...ugh...Normandy and not Champagne like it should. No it doesn't matter that the host is an old friend and the party is actually a surprise for you he worked hard on, this fool had the nerve to call sparkling white wine from Normandy 'champagne', and it wouldn't be a party without people fawning over your great culture, would it? One last note, remember to flaunt that degree, even if it's not relevant to the topic, remember, that degree makes you a better human being.

Now, after reading all that, do you see why this makes me ill? I was raised believing education and knowledge are the keys to life, that nothing is more important then learning. Most of all, though, I was taught that the truth matters. We've forgotten those two things, learning and the truth, we've allowed ourselves to think anyone who uses a big word or makes a radical claim is a great mind. We've turned being a true intellectual into something to be reviled and mocked. We've turned people who are honestly cultured into elitists and snobs, while 'citizens of the world' are to be honored and respected no matter how honest that claim is. Worst of all though, we've been taught to not disrupt these people, these same people who wear their Che Guevara shirts without knowing anything about the man, these same people who always say 'fight the power', these people are never to be questioned, never to be demanded to back up their claims with real facts. Worst of all, they're never expected to earn the respect they get. I'm allergic to these people, my mind retches in their presence, they make me sick. More then that though, their fans make me sick, their sycophantic followers who defend every word as gospel, who never demand reason for their admiration. They make me more then sick, they make me ashamed.

Starting off with a Bang

2008-10-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all, this is my first blog, but I figured since it seems to be becoming more then a pointless hobby, and since my own mom has been blogging successfully for a while, I might as well jump in and try my hand. For some background, I'm a college student, Political Science major with a pre-law bend to it (I'm lucky enough to go to a school that honestly has two different Poli Sci programs, one for just normal and one for pre-law). My parents raised me to be interested in politics, and from a young age I was always 'that kid' who actually watched the news for fun, enjoyed debating, and actually wanted to learn more about things that interested him. So, to get back at them for making me into a political nerd at a young age...I became the only Democrat in my Conservative immediate family. As you can imagine, it's fun at home.

Anyway, I figured I'd make my first blog about a rather common topic, Sarah Palin. I like McCain, I respected him in 2000 for being a real 'rebel' in his party, and I was honestly mad that he was vilified for daring to say 'hey, maybe the other side has good ideas too'. Now in 2008, he's learned his lesson, stay down, don't rock the boat, and play ball to get elected. I wish I could say 'how DARE he, he's a horrible politician' over this but, well, he's just a typical politician now. What really got me upset was he went from typical politician to shameless pandering politician in one move, that move's name is Sarah Palin.

I get what he was going for, he wanted a typical American, he wanted someone 'you can have a beer with', it worked before for both parties, it works now, people like people like them. There's a problem though, people like you and me, an average American, shouldn't be in such a high rank of politics. It's nothing bad, there's nothing wrong with us, but the Vice President of this country needs to be better then us. We don't like intellectuals anymore, something happened to us to make us see anyone who uses big words as an elitist. It's how Bush beat Kerry last time, and Kerry fell for his trick by trying to show how average and normal he was, and looked like a giant tool. Why does all this matter? Because this is the kind of political atmosphere that bred Sara Palin.

McCain knew this well, he's not a stupid man, he knew Obama and Biden would look bad compared to Palin in the mind of a person who votes solely based on who they want to drink and watch football with. I don't mind her in Alaska, the people there voted for her, good for her, I respect her for being a mother, a wife, and managing to be a political figure in her state. That said, she needs to keep as far away from the national scene as possible. Why? Because this woman feels living near Russia makes her good for foreign relations. She sees brokering a Canadian/American pipeline deal that did further damage to the Canadian native people as a great gold star on her record. She thinks asking for topic changes midway through a debate is acceptable. She thinks she wins a debate when she winks and makes a joke. Worst of all, she thinks she can win by being 'cute'. This is something I find hilarious considering she took offence to Obama calling the McCain campaign 'a pig in lipstick' (A reference for the fact that Palin comes from the state with HUGE amounts of Pork Barrel spending, or insinuating that McCain is just Bush for a third term depending who you ask) as a personal attack on her for some reason. Remember though, it's ok to call yourself a pit bull in lipstick, because pit bulls are so cuddly and sweet normally.

The final point she brings up to me is the massive double standard that still is thriving in society. That standard is that a woman should never be insulted, even if her party has launched the same insults on her male opponent. Ironically, people wanted Hillary because she broke that stereotype in their minds, these are the same people McCain expects to win over with Palin. Here's a little list of things it's ok to insult Obama for, but not ok to point out on Sarah.

Obama's crazy pastor: Fair game.

Palin's husband's connection to the Alaskan Succession Interest Group: Not fair game.

Obama has no experience in the national scene: Fair game

Palin has even less experience: Not fair game.

Anything Obama does to try to connect with the average American: Pandering and insulting.

Palin saying she should get votes because she's a Soccer Mom: Acceptable.

Obama voted for things that cost money: Booooo, hiss.

Palin's state is constantly the single highest pork barrel spending requests: Nothing wrong there.

Obama plays the 'race card' to get support: How dare he!

Palin is a living embodiment of the 'gender card': You go girl!

All in all this election is fascinating, this is the first time in a while we don't have an incumbent or a Vice President running, we have four politicians going for their own place in the highest job in the country. This is a great election to use my first vote for, and the 'Palin Factor' only makes it more interesting to watch.