06.02.08
Posted in Politics, Race, men & women, sex tagged 2008 Election, Appalachia mountains voters, Bill Clinton, Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, Republican Party, Voters at 5:15 pm by soulful07
Yes you can stop rubbing your eyes that’s right I went there. She also has a young people problem, a grass roots organization problem, a college educated problem, a math problem, etc… You know it’s funny we are well into the silly season (to quote a phrase), but grouping clusters and splitting hairs to form a willing coalition of voters is beyond silly isn’t it? In the real world people don’t vote in blocks or do they…
The democratic/republican party has without fail every year taken a crap on the swing voters who every election do the heavy lifting to push their respective parties over the hump. In 2008 it will be the conservatives/religious right who sit on their hands. In 2004 it was the youth vote who was the scapegoat for the democrats, party insiders complained openly that youth didn’t “show up”… Why should youth voters show up and continue to support a party that has get out the vote parties and cool people making commercials telling the kids to vote or die then come January, says thanks now get outta here? African Americans also share a common feeling of complete and utter abandonment after every election. And judging by what happens in Denver we shall see what these various groups who are completely ignored by the media will do.
People with short memories don’t recall that Hillary up until Iowa was winning the black vote. And up until South Carolina was competitive with black voters, Barack Obama didn’t take the vote from her, he didn’t steal the vote, they jumped ship to the winning candidate and frankly I can’t blame them. But there was also something else at play here. Black voters saw the writing on the wall, and noticed a certain condescending tone and that hasn’t sat well with these voters for some time now. How bad does it not sit well with them you ask? 90% vs. 10% is not a good average to have for somebody (Hillary Clinton) who would NEED them desperately in the fall. What is even more hilarious is the callous disregard for them as a whole which shows the all around general disrespect from various people in the media and political parties. There is no other voting block out there with such a huge contrast of support or lack thereof. Even with Hillary’s commanding lead among women voters and women over 50 she isn’t winning it 90 to 10. The fact that this isn’t news is what it is, people have brushed it off as just being excited because he is black blah blah blah I’m not a historian but nobody loses that kind of support over night and have it not be a problem in the future. And I don’t have to be a talking blow hard on CNN to realize that, had this been any other voter block like for instance Whites, Hispanics, Catholics, Jews, “hard working Americans” and now apparently Puerto Ricans etc… The media would be going crazy over this right now ohhhh wait… Yet a candidate has lost a commanding lead well over 50% of support overnight from a particular voting group and nothing not a blip not a peep not a sound. Shocking I tell you.
I have a little bit of news for the media, black people weren’t sold on Obama from the beginning; black people aren’t mindless Kool-Aid drinking sheeple. Black people saw what was going on and made a decision. There was no group meeting and somebody got up and said hey the black guy won Iowa we gotta support him now. There was no black memo, voters were split evenly for months on this issue and finally the color coded disrespect/neglect had reached the level of “Enough”. So what does this mean you ask? I don’t know, but what I do know from talking to people is that silently many black people feel they are already living bush’s “3rd term” and have been living it for years McCain, Bush, Bush2, Gore, Clinton, Clinton 2, Reagan, Obama, is no different to them. People assume very poorly I might add, that block voters don’t care or just can’t be bothered with politics. It isn’t because these things aren’t interesting quite to the contrary; it is because many black people do not feel the difference between political parties. They feel that many if not all politicians say things then get into office and ignore them. They feel that this is a game and nothing ever changes on their side of town so to speak. And over the last couple hundred years give or take can you blame them. It is from this “eyes wide open” stance that they view their life and this view is shaped. Their struggle is no different for the hard working white people Hillary Clinton covets today from the Appalachia mountains, but said screw em when her husband first ran for the presidency, their beefs are no less grounded on recurring cycles of thanks for your vote now beat it until we need it again in 4 years.
As we step further into this century if the feeling of neglect continues so will the shifting support that democrats once counted on and bragged about, and to me that sounds like a bigger problem.
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05.30.08
Posted in Politics, Race, men & women, sex tagged Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Racism, Sexism at 7:53 pm by soulful07
To hear Hillary Clinton tell it one of these is a magical wonderland full of choirs singing and everything is rosy because of it, while the other is a burden holding her back… or something to that effect. How does one quantify sexism vs. racism is there a woe is me off like You Got Served or American Idol? How do these things affect somebody who perchance deals with both issues? Hmmm I wondered so I asked an African American woman her thoughts and she summed it up lovely, “one is like getting hit by a train and the other is like having a bolder fall on top of you.” It would appear they both suck, yet it seems a bit ridiculous to say that one is a hindrance while the other has helped you get over because they each hold their own cross to bear so to speak.
The ugliness of this Democratic Primary has become “uglier” and “ugliest” at the same time. While I would like to say all parties aren’t guilty of it, some seem to have their hands in the pig pen a little more than others. The theme for the last few weeks have been that Hillary has had to endure greater hardships based upon her ovaries, as opposed to the black guy who seems to catch all the breaks. Feminist everywhere around the world should have recoiled at that statement or ideal of thought. Well that’s a bit of a generalization but you get my point. To say one is worse than the other goes against the equality concept doesn’t it, or am I simplifying things too much.
I don’t want to ever diminish the hardships facing women, or a female candidate for president for that matter, but I would like to be clear on a few things. The person with 35 years of experience, name recognition, a former BELOVED president (or BELOVED former president depending on how you look at it) on the stump, 150 super delegates in the bag before a single vote was cast, the largest group of influential fundraisers, party leaders, and insiders as friends and supporters, against an unknown black guy with an ARAB sounding name who just got elected to the senate a few years ago. Sure on paper way back in 2007 this Barack guy seemed like a sure bet. Seriously who are we kidding Hillary was crowned the Democratic nominee way back before this thing got started all she had to do was play out series. And to me there lies the problem with questions like who had a rougher time because it is subjective. While sexism is rampant in American society so is racism. For instance people with Arab sounding names are questioned about patriotism, people ask (and this is true) if he (Barack) would change his name so they could “feel” better about voting for him. Likewise I’m sure there are men and even women out there who wouldn’t vote for a woman because of equally ridiculous reasons. The difference here is racism is subtle like “where is your flag pin black guy” while nobody else is wearing one, and sexism is more visible like using terms like bitchy. Racism is subtle like scary black pastor is bad, scary white pastor with actual real washington influence is ok, meanwhile iron my shirt posters are viewed as a “joke” yet the dog whistle properties are both the same.
Frankly I can’t ever recall Barack Obama telling Hillary Clinton that her supporters are fools and wasting their time on her fairy tale presidential run, or that her win isn’t that big a deal in that state because a woman has won there before, or that you can’t reach certain voters because of your background, or as far as I know you aren’t a Manchurian Muslim sleeper cell presidential candidate, or calling her a drug dealer, or saying she isn’t good enough to pass a threshold of commander and chief while your hated rival is, or telling her even though you’re winning how about being my VP, or saying your only here because you’re a white woman, or you are lucky to be here because you’re a white woman, or all your wins are no big deal because white women are happy to see you but it has no baring in the “real” world, or all your caucus wins aren’t legitimate because they don’t count, or telling her all her hard work is a fluke because the press is giving you a free ride because of your sex and race, or I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.
Talking point number #3001 being tossed up the old flag pole today is that Hillary is the best candidate and therefore you must elect her. And it sounds reasonable at first then instantly I remember this is the same person with all the luxuries that most presidential candidates aren’t afforded such as, a former president on the stump, name recognition, and money… who lost to a empty suit (as many Hillary supporters like to jokingly call Senator Obama) and this line of reasoning falls apart. If she is the best why is she losing, luck, magic, fairies, pixie dust, or and I’m going to go out on a limb here, Hillary lost because of overconfidence, under planning, no clear message, poor money management, terrible inner circle, in fighting, sure sure lets elect the person who ran the most unorganized campaign in history with every ACE in the deck awarded to her before any of the other players were even dealt cards, that makes perfect sense. Then again by your logic if you today are losing because of sexism then wouldn’t it also be logical to deduce you will lose in November due to this same sexism or does it turn on and off like a light switch? Either way I’m tired of the bull, Hillary has lost every ounce of respect I once held for her, not because she is a woman, but because of all the crap she pulled out of a magic hat like this. Responsibility!!!! First and foremost, I would have a shred of respect to give back to her if she took RESPONSIBILITY. As leader of the free world this is what I want to see out of a LEADER, blaming everybody and everything for your misstates is exactly what a certain little shrub did when he was elected president in 2000 as I recall that didn’t turn out so well.
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05.18.08
Posted in Politics, Race, men & women, sex tagged 2008 Election, African Americans, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Nancy Keenan, Naral, Pro Choice, Pro Life, Racism, Sexism, white women at 2:55 am by soulful07
Wow… I wasn’t going to even broach this topic because of how delicate one must tread to not offend women, men, African Americans, white women etc… etc… etc… I really tried to stay away but this blog keeps calling me and quite frankly I’m freaking outraged at the outrage. It boggles the mind, to put this in prospective imagine that you were in a race but you can’t use the tires you wanted to finish the race, in the garage is another pair which fits your car perfectly, and not only that, chances are these same new tires will help you get to the finish line faster. Imagine that the driver was so upset about using the “other” tires that they would be willing to poke holes in all four PERFECTLY good tires and demand to drive of the original flat ones or nothing, thus allowing your competitor to finish the race take the trophy and basically ruin everything you worked your entire life for. This is exactly the position that many pro choice supporters are choosing to be in. I used to think ohh it is just the heat of the moment and everything will subside. Ummmmmm… no.
For those of ya’ll not in the know, women who support the right to chose are breaking out the pitch forks and bonfires and are set to march against Naral the pro choice organization because they have decided to break ranks and announce support for (pro choice) Barack Obama two weeks before the last vote. I actually put on my investigative journalist hat and did some research and wow is all I can say. Damn is another word that comes to mind. Women are pissed to say the least, I tried to sit through and read the vile offensive remarks left by pro choice supporters over this flap by the organization’s leaders. The repercussions are serous in nature, but outlandish on basis. Women from all around have threatened to quit their membership, vote for the republicans who hate their rights, create their own group, campaign with pro life people, and the list gets stupider and stupider as you read. Why you ask? Because they didn’t give their endorsement to the woman in the race. On first take it sounds reasonable pro choice members giving the endorsement to a woman makes perfect sense, because she personally and physically connects with the issues at hand in a way no man could ever do. However and this is the BIG however pro choice members as a organization giving their endorsement to the only woman in the race who is in no position to win is a head scratcher.
The situation becomes even more bizarre when you add to the fact that these same women who are fighting for these same important rights are willing to possibly give up Supreme Court nominations which could/will overturn everything they have fought for, and back, support, campaign for John McCain a nominee who is against everything they stand for. Ohh but it gets better they have thrown all their support behind the nominee (Hillary) who has a shaky at best record with regards to women’s issues and mostly jumped behind them when it was politically convenient. So if you are keeping score the guy (Barack) with an 100% pro choice senate rating is no good. But that’s not all the great fighters of the people have put the needs of one over the needs of the many on the line for a symbolic fight which will do nothing but harm to themselves and their credibility. That’s not just a head scratcher I think you have just reached the twilight zone. I’ve said it time and time again I looooove this Barack Obama presidential run, not because he is such a great guy or I agree with everything he says or does (because I don’t) nope I LOVE this thing because some how some way everybody’s true intentions are bubbling to the surface and you get to see what they are really really about.
The worst thing about all of this is the fact these people with the pitch forks know the stakes, but their feelings are more important than the actual freaking issues, and that’s where I hop off the sympathy bus. This is no longer a fight for women’s rights or politics this is about ovaries and who doesn’t have any, and I can’t respect that, just as I wouldn’t support a vote based on skin color. While Obama has recently gained a majority in the black minority vote, ninety something percent I think it is, believe it or not it wasn’t always like that Hillary once owned that vote. Hillary has also always owned the white woman and seniors vote. It wasn’t really “news” per say just an understanding, and today a section of the women voting bloc has decided to take their toys and leave the sandbox because their candidate is losing (fair and square). This tit for tat my way or else nonsense is everything that is wrong with American politics. Personally I don’t think you can complain about sexism then actually base your votes on sexism it kind of defeats and demeans the whole argument but I digress.
The thing that really grinds my gears and makes me blow my top is the fact that Hillary was given head start so to speak with everything possible going in her favor, money, name recognition, strategy, the former most beloved president as a surrogate, she was even spotted 150 super delegates before a single vote was cast (these people weren’t even interested in hearing the other candidates arguments) and yet here she is today losing. Much has been made about the reasons for why she is losing but frankly none of them have anything to do with things being “unfair”. No other nominee in presidential history was given such a head start and to complain about fairness when your opponent is a tall skinny black guy in America, with an Arab sounding name, who is has to fight off allegations about his patriotism based simply on a flag pin is ludicrous and outrageous to say the least. I could go on but you get my point this is a joke a rather selfish self centered joke, but none the less come November when nobody hears the punch line there will be no laughter just tears, but at least you would have showed them who was boss right?
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05.12.08
Posted in Politics, Race, Republicans, men & women, sex tagged African Americans, Bill Clinton, Hard working americans, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Meet the Press, Pennsylvania Election, Tim Russert, West Virginia and Kentucky at 8:22 am by soulful07
Breaking Kneecaps… Today on Meet the Press with Tim Russert it became obvious that this was the “strategy” they have reached too or should i say fallen too. I put strategy in quotation marks because honestly, hoping and praying your opponent trips up while you denigrate him isn’t really something people train, plan, and organize their whole political life for. If that is all that rests in the balance of you winning (somebody else screwing up) you don’t deserve to win. I’ve thought long and hard about this and every thing leads me to disgust, and it’s a shame too because I expected more. The Clintons aren’t trying to win student body council President here. This isn’t some two bit vote for me because he has coodies type election so acting THIS childish is amazing. Their actions when they were flying high and down in the dumps worry me immensely, in the movies they call it foreshadowing.
While I was talking to a good friend of mine she brought up a interesting point and I quote “Is it me or does Hillary not se the elephant dung all around her campaign, nobody wants to talk about it or smell it but the piles are so high she will step in it eventually” What is the dung you ask? Hillary has once again defied the laws of physics, reason, and mathematics. The thing that is most astounding about this new line of reasoning is that it expects you to totally ignore everything that was said previously. I’ve always said from the beginning of this election cycle the Clintons, and even John McCain to some extent, have been running an old school election campaign. Waaaaaay back in yesteryear you could say something then tomorrow say something different and it would take weeks maybe even months for these words to come back if at all. Today our society is based around the internet(s) a series of tubes ala Ted Stevens connected to the google.<– that joke never gets old and this goof is in charge of it.
Double speak is to be expected in such a long drawn out nomination process but I never expected anything like this. In the time it took John McCain to switched sides on abortion, Hillary has switched her opinion from delegates, to super delegates, to popular vote, back to super delegates, and finally in the laps of “hardworking” Americans which is dog whistle for poor white people. There is however a method to this madness, Hillary isn’t racist, she is simply playing the crowd in a micro manor. Every time she hops off the plane she transforms into what ever she believes the people want to hear. Take Pennsylvania for instance, she thought they like guns and whiskey so she pandered to the bar crowd taking shots and bragging bout her guns. In Indiana she thought they drive a lot so she decided it was high time to roll back her husband’s gas tax (yes I kid you not Bill Clinton raised the gas tax that she was fighting against last week) and thus kicked up a fuss for the hard working Americans. And finally in West Virginia and Kentucky she is working the room with I usually win YOUR votes and those matter the most.
There is nothing wrong with reaching out to certain pockets of society, but I think she reached just a little too far with this latest AP poll talk for a number of reasons. For starters there are republicans actively working to inflate her numbers for malicious reasons. However small they are, there is no denying their little voice may have tipped Indiana in her favor. The other problem with this line of reasoning is, many of her supporters (women) are angry she is losing and will say anything to pollsters for shits and giggles, but come November when the choice on the ballet is vote for somebody who agrees with you politically or vote for the guy who will roll back things even worse I think we all know the answer to that. The other problem and this is pretty much the most insane thing about this line of thinking, reasoning, and strategy. Hillary Clinton has completely written off the black vote. (Ok I would like to pause here and just interject my personal opinion here.) As much as she is bragging about getting the hard working White American vote (like all other races aren’t hardworking), neglecting African Americans will have dire straits for her come November. Insulting African Americans has already lead to a unprecedented 90% for Barack Obama. Many clueless supporters and even analysts attribute it simply to them being happy a “black” guy is running. Utter complete and total nonsense these same analysts seem to forget Hillary was winning the African American vote by almost 58% during the onset of this election, it wasn’t until they started to feel taken for granted and insulted that they jumped ship.
People aren’t stupid we can clearly see what is happening and when the mainstream media (which is dumber than a bag of rocks) notices it is no longer subtle, you have reached rock star lemon and lime light levels of obviousness. Earlier during this election watching Hillary self destruct was mildly entertaining, hell I even enjoyed it after the South Carolina primary. It kind of reminded me of a song by Lily Allen, the lyrics go “At first when I see you cry, Yea it makes me smile, Yea it makes me smile, At worst I feel bad for awhile, But then I just smile, I go ahead and smile”. It was a guilty pleasure but something happened last week that changed everything, now that Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee watching this train wreck isn’t as entertaining. It’s a weird thing, when you have a common foe beating up on them is fun but once the battle is over the whole joy is gone and so here we are.
Hope isn’t a strategy.
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04.22.08
Posted in Politics, Race, sex tagged ABC, ABC Debate, Arabs, Barack Obama, Bullshit, CNN, Democrats, Dick Cheney, Fox News, George Stephanopoulos, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mainstream media, Martin Luther King Jr, MSNBC, Patriot, Patriotism, Racism, Republicans, Sexism, Voters at 3:57 am by soulful07
After watching that last ABC debate err… talk err… mud wrestling extravaganza “about” politics, I wanted to cling to my gun, but since I don’t have one and the bible was out of reach I’ll just use this computer to show how “bitter” I am. I’ve been sitting on these thoughts for a minute now, I didn’t think it needed to be stated because it was so obvious but apparently I was wrooooong so here goes. The theme building up lately has been to paint Barack as unpatriotic, the republicans have been working this angle for literally years now. I saw it coming a mile away but I didn’t really expect democrats to hop on board this idea. I could go on and on about how blatantly racist it is that the black guy with the Arab sounding name is the only person who is getting beat over the head with a flag, even though the other two people probably have alot more to answer for. And I could go on and on about how ridiculous it is that Barack Obama is the only person who (it seems) has to answer for what every black guy with a microphone thinks or says like he is their publicist. Or I could go on and on about how stupid it is that he is the only person who (it seems) has to answer for everybody he ever worked with, met on the subway, sat down next to at a diner, opened a door for, you catch my drift. The fact that these superb scientific benchmarks are only “applicable” to him has restored all my faith if in 4th estate better known as main stream media. And I appreciate every waking hour they have devoted to this in depth investigative research that has been used for years to determine who the next commander in chief will be. If you detected the slightest bit of sarcasm please continue reading on, if you didn’t I would suggest you go back to your elementary school and punch every teacher in the face for failing you.
I’ve been hearing this dog whistle for a while now and it’s starting to hurt my ears. What is a patriot? Does anybody even know anymore? It seems everybody and their gun toting grandmother wants their president to be one, but could anybody spot one if it fell out of the sky and landed on your head? It’s a catch phrase that has won and lost many an election, but it reminds me of a funny line from this movie called The Princess Bride. In the movie Vizzini kept uttering the word “inconceivable” and finally Inigo blurted out “you keep saying that word, but I don’t think it means what you think it does”. Mainstream Media, Republicans, Voters, Politicians, you keep saying “patriot” but I do not think it means what you think it does.
Is Dick Cheney a patriot, he thought it was so important to protect America that he fought tooth and nail to remain home from the Vietnam war 5 times. Is George Bush Jr a patriot, he stood up for telecommunication companies to spy on Americans without oversight and retroactive immunity. Is John McCain a patriot, he believed that Americans have had too many vacations Martin Luther King Day was just another excuse for liberals to have another long weekend, he has also stood out against for torture of everybody not American. Is Bill O’Reilly a patriot he fights everyday (on tv) for the rich white man minority, and has even served tours of duty in the war on Christmas. Is Sean Hanity, Ann Coulter, and the rest of the talking heads patriots for working overtime without regard for their sanity to insert republican talking points in the Democratic discourse.
It’s sad that in 2008 patriotism isn’t so much standing up for the principles of your country (like the constitution) on which it was founded that takes too much work. Patriotism in 2008 means wearing a flag made in China dripping with lead paint made by child factory workers. Nothing says I’m a patriot like waving a flag made in a different country which violates human rights. Obama’s problem isn’t that he is “not patriotic” enough, his problem is that he hasn’t exploited his patriotism into fancy photo ops during tours of flag factories. Obama’s bus isn’t named the Gettysburg straight talk eagle patriot flag Express, he doesn’t have a flag tattoo, his wife had the audacity (to coin a phrase) of being disappointed in anything about America, how dare she in this free country. The Obama name isn’t patriotic enough, he doesn’t have a dog, and a point 5 kid. Obama’s problem doesn’t stop there, he also had the nerve to assume that working with community organizers instead of working with a company shipping jobs overseas, crushing unions and destroying communities was the way to go.
Obama’s naivety is going to be a problem in November when is he going to learn, if you can’t bowl you won’t be able to solve the housing crisis. No war has ever been fought or won by anybody not wearing a flag pin (everybody knows it provides magic powers). Saying you are praying for me in this economic crisis is more important that actually making a plan and doing anything about it.
REAL Patriots jerks, clowns, jackasses for years have used flags, symbols, and catch praises to let us people know that words are more important than actions.
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04.07.08
Posted in 2008 Election, Barack Obama, CNN, Democrats, Ed Rendell, Hillary Clinton, Politics, Race, Republicans, crybaby, sex tagged 2008 Election, Air America, Barack Obama, Ed Rendell, Hillary Clinton, Liberals, Lose the election, Randi Rhodes at 4:45 am by soulful07
I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to write this particular blog. I have had many reservations about this race, and how things are beginning to play out. Adding more fuel to the fire doesn’t change things, but I think it does provide a little prospective on what has happened and is happening.
I’ve been paying attention to presidential elections for quite some time now. This particular race is special not from an first (African America or woman) prospective, no it’s something bigger. Don’t worry this isn’t one of those red light specials heaping magic praise on Obama. While I admire the guy I am more impressed with his campaign and the residual effects of this 2008 presidential race. True colors, you can’t make this stuff up, you can’t script it, you can’t even prepare for it but when you least expect it, these things show through.
Backs against the wall
When Hilary Clinton was perceived to be the front runner, she was friendly, laughing, and enjoying every minute of it. When Hilary Clinton was perceived to be losing in every perceivable fashion a very different person showed up to the plate. Over the last few days it was revealed that one of Hilary’s staunchest supporters for well over 16 years (Randi Rhodes) called her an f#@king whore. I can attest to the staunchest part because I used to listen to Air America and I heard her defend Hilary tooth and nail for years. I actually did some research and found the day the camel’s back broke so to speak for Randi. It was very what’s the word… Shocking… no, Revealing… no, interesting? Most definitely “interesting”, Randi laid it all out there, the brushing things (facts) aside, how outraged she was about her actions towards the party, again relating to the backs against the wall. Many many people have been thoroughly disgusted with the type of campaign Mrs. Clinton has run so far (myself included). For years I was told the Clintons ran the tightest ship in the business and quite frankly I believed it. They withstood attacks for many years, and the objective side of me ignored the fact that THESE ATTACKS WERE ALWAYS SELF INFLICTED, but people always rushed to bail them out every time. This tightest ship has run out of money two times already, failed to pay healthcare for its workers (ohh the irony), failed to pay bills (3 million still outstanding), it was also the very least prepared, and organized. One of my favourite games to play now is guessing which campaign banner Hilary was going to stand behind each speech. There was no theme just the wish to win when your back is against the wall.
Racism/ Sexism
One of the magical most interesting aspects of this campaign is the over use of racism/sexism. I’ve noticed the two candidates use these issues to their advantage on various occasions. Racism has worked to Senator Obama’s advantage a many times mainly because the republicans are scared shitless to use it against him. Hilary on the other hand has used sexism to her advantage so often I can’t keep track of it any more.
A new term has been created in the vernacular “Reverse Racism” and from my understanding it is when racist bastards like Sean Hanity cry about people being racist to a racist. In this world of being super politically correct everybody is jumping in front of words like they are bullets to protect my sensitive ears. It’s funny every election so far this primary season CNN… well pretty much every news source has reminded us, black people are supporting Barack Obama. Normally I just let these things go but when they were going over the stats in Wyoming and they tried but couldn’t spin it to match the only black people supporting him theme, I knew cable news was lost to us forever. The day they report Hilary has won the feminist vote I think I’m going to just turn my TV in and go back to cave drawings to figure out my news.
Donors
It’s a funny thing, the other day a group of 20 super rich donors to the Democratic Party wrote a letter threatening Speaker Polesi demanding she be even vaguer about her vague support! And I thought to myself it’s about time people stand up and make things even more confusing. At first I said to myself what gall, but in retrospect these people had made back room deals to get favors in return, and damnit this is America they should get their money’s worth. 2008 has taught us that in this space time continuum the poor guy with a 20 dollar donation is magically equal to the rich guy’s 1 million dollar donation (for now). And you know what, suprise suprise the rich guy is freaking pissed about it. While I’m not naive Obama has taken money from lots of rich people hell he even took money from the nuclear industry but, and this is a big but, the little people somehow have a say in things too for a change. I know, it blew my mind. Besides breaking ever record imaginable this thing is turning everything on its head every which way from Sunday. Personally I think it’s a good thing, for politics and the country.
“Liberals”
Some Democrats are racist, sexist, two way talking bastards. There I said it. Deal with it. It’s true. The dirty little secret is finally out, I admire the republicans for their forward stance on segregation and open oppression of the little man. It’s not about the shit they believe in, no no this is strictly about making people some money. And you know what, sure it’s an ass backwards and probably vile way of thinking, but I can respect somebody who isn’t a fraud. If and I’m talking the mother load here, if there is one thing I am glad is finally coming to the fore front, it is this under the table resentment from people who call themselves liberals. It only took a black guy and a woman at the same time to create the perfect storm but here it is. I don’t condone all the bitch talk on message boards and just in general conversation. But on the flip side many Hilary supporters are so hung up on having a woman in office they don’t or can’t even believe the racist shit coming out of their mouths and neither can I.
Entitlement
While I think Hilary is a smart woman and she is very qualified to be commander in chief as she puts it, I laughed my ass off when I saw her enter this race like it was supposed to be handed to her. She and Rudy rode in on the same horses and sadly those two will leave on this horse one way or another. Listening to talk radio is depressing, but listening to these uninformed callers makes you want to jump out of a window. The thing that is most sad are the people who feel Barack should wait his turn like everybody is waiting to go down a slide in the school yard playground. Wait your turn? What kind of nonsensical argument is that to make? It isn’t even grounded on anything but day in and day out I hear house wives and various other intelligent women demand Barack sit his butt down and wait in line. I’m sorry but if wait your turn is the only argument you have for Hilary to be president it speaks volumes about why she shouldn’t be president.
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03.24.08
Posted in 2008 Election, Barack Obama, CNN, Democrats, Fox News, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Politics, Race, Republicans, Technology, Wolf Blitzer tagged Barack Obama, CNBC, CNN, Dan Rather, FOX, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mainstream media, MSNBC, New York Times, Rev Wright, Ted Koppel, The Washington Post, The Wire at 5:13 pm by soulful07
I guess the best thing to do is ask the question… what happened to journalist? Deep inside this paradox lies the trillion dollar Iraq war, Lacy Peterson question. What happened to journalistic integrity? And i guess a even bigger question is when did these institutions of “facts” become institutions of “opinion”? I guess what I am asking is, when did we replace these guys
With these guys?
I, like a small minority of free thinkers (I guess you can call it that) have long since unplugged from the matrix if you will. No not because of some vast grand conspiracy, no not at all, I got out while the getting was good, because I simply couldn’t take it anymore. It’s hard to notice the drivel passed around as news until you take a step back and watch all the news channels at once. The current state of the mainstream media could be equated down to a group of people in a crowded room yelling FIRE!!! After the panic these same people walk around and interview people about how they feel about being scared and/or confused.
My favourite thing about the news is how news anchors and reporters protray themselves as being shocked at the reactions of people they have spent a whole week stirring up. Actually I have another analogy try this on for size, today’s mainstream media is like a child with a large magnifying glass focusing the suns ray onto an ant hill. If done effectively it could provide light to the busy ants working below but instead it is used to burn a few ants in hopes of starting a frenzy. Too harsh you say… possibly, or maybe it’s not harsh enough. I think the most discouraging thing about watching 24 hour news media outlets is the narrative. It is hard to grasp at first, but when you flip through all the news shows at the same time, you begin to see news isn’t simply reported as just the facts, news has become mere sound bites and ideas tossed through your TV screen. The “narrative leads” is another way of looking at it. As you change channels it is fairly easy to see the catch phrase of the day. How is it that four 24 hour news channels with its hundreds of reporters, news anchors, and editors all decided on one phrase for the whole day. The odds of that are astounding… or not, the cynic in me thinks that somebody is copying off of somebody else’s work. And as such, are no longer “reporting” but “repeating”. Whatever happened to the crack team of investigators, whatever happened having different ideas, and interpretations of events?
Never has it become more obvious then this last week’s shit storm called the “Rev Wright controversy”. While I don’t agree with some of his views it took me 2 minutes of top notch investigating to discover that his most controversial of statements weren’t actually his words, but a quotation from a US ambassador. It was like celestial choirs were singing and the sky opened up and I believe my quote at the time was “wtf”. The sad realization sank in, news isn’t reported it is created. I refuse to believe that there is a team of monkeys wearing hats with the words press on it doing research for all 500 newspapers, magazines, and television shows. Somebody somewhere must have been said to someone hey buddy go research Obama’s crazy pastor, and this smart investigative fellow/lady must have, after doing the long strenuous 2 minutes of leg work I did, discovered this gaffe and told their supervising editors. Surely somewhere between all these thousands of people thrust with the most important task of reporting the news would have a said maybe we should provide some context or maybe even investigate the other candidates? No? Yeah I know but then THAT would have been news.
After the slight air of frustration had subsided I thought about doing a special comment like Keith Olbermann one of the few people in the media who is even bothering to do any research (or their job). I was and still am stuck by an article written by one of the creators of the TV show The Wire. He spoke about the newspaper in the show and one of the most shocking things about its portrayal. He goes on to say that the newspaper had missed or overlooked every important story of the day. My biggest fear isn’t so much that today’s media has missed, or done a poor job reporting every important news story of the day, no my biggest fear is that it was done on purpose for ratings.
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03.14.08
Posted in 2008 Election, Barack Obama, CNN, Democrats, Fox News, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Politics, Republicans, Wolf Blitzer tagged Barack Obama, CNN, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, News, Republicans at 7:54 am by soulful07
Like most of the country I’ve been glued to CNN’s coverage of the 2008 presidential election. My political views have always been moderate to some degree, but it’s kind of hard not to get caught up in this whole democrat primary race. Anybody who knows me well expects the cynical side of me to jump up and defend or bash Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton. And while it’s easy to do I’m more drawn to the two differences between how both of them have run their respective campaigns.
If you have half a pulse and have drunk Googled recently I’m sure you would have run into the trillion debates on the internet for or against either candidate. The insta-pundits have weighed the options, put forth the facts, and broken down the stats. If I had to chose one solely on how they RAN things so far I would have to go with Barack Obama. But this isn’t a love fest, there are things that he is doing, or has done that pisses me off. Hillary on the other hand will go down in history as the (18-1*) 2007 New England Patriots of politics .
How on Gods green lovely earth do you squander all that money, your HUGE I’m talking substantial lead in super delegates, and public support?!?!!? I remember listening to talk radio back in 2004 and they were hyping her up like she was the Babe Ruth of politics. It’s like watching an Olympic athlete run a 100 yard dash and trip on their shoe lace inches from the finish line, it is the wailing of the arms and rolling on the ground that I can’t get over. Everything was graceful until she realized she was f$#king losing to somebody named Obama. Make no mistake she will lose, and when she does I think she pretty much owes everybody an explanation starting with feminist and the lobbyist and just work her way down the line till she finally gets to little kittens.
This race has gotten ugly, no pun intended (well maybe a little pun) I know the news is loving this, “Sen. Obama is lucky to be here because of his race”. That is one of those statements that when it came out of Mrs. Ferraro mouth (multiple times) and went into my ear all I could think of is, are you out of your cotton picking mind?!?! Not only does it not make sense, but the irony is so delicious, but I’m not even going to go there. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole primary. You know what I’m talking about, Wolf Blitzer opening his eyes wide and saying “OH MY GOD a black guy has black people voting for him… and and and wait, I’ve gone over the numbers again and this can’t be right, women are voting for Hillary… and it gets more spooky republicans are voting for McCain… my head is going to explode news at 11”.
While anybody with eyeballs and their very own CNN analyst can tell you Sen. Obama has benefited greatly from black voters. Just as Sen. Clinton has benefited from women, and Sen. McCain has benefited from Moses and half of the Old Testament voters. I understand all the hoopla, but the amount of time spent trying to explain this phenomenon has made me wonder why I pay my cable bill.
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