Who Wants to be a Monarch?

I just awoke from a horrifying dream that John McCain won this election. This was bad enough, but then Sen. Obama ran off to Europe with my wife, dog, and mp3 player. The entire experience was obviously depressing, revealing and strange. I have read Freud's Interpretation of Dreams and been thinking about what he might say about all of this for the last hour. Nightmares are generally born, he would probably say, out of the insecurities found in our subconscious. I thought about what I am most insecure about, and made a check list in my head. I am not insecure about my marriage, my puppy, or my mp3 player (though I did just have to look around for it). Then I deduced that I must be more frightened about this election than I let on--even to myself.

This Palin thing has gotten inside my head. She has exposed--once again--the total failure of the American political system. Our media is broken. Our electorate is uneducated and thus easily mislead, much like a hungry puppy fixated on a table scrap. We like to vote for the person "most like us" than we do on the basis of "who will best lead us" and, as Bobby Bowden said at half time of the FSU- Kentuky game regarding a player being penalized for excessive celebration,"that's just crap."

Joe Biden was right--Hillary Clinton would have been a better choice then he for the VP nod. Politically, that is very true. However, Obama's calculus placed a higher value on who he would best govern with as opposed to who would best give him the opportunity to govern, ie, who would best help him win. Clinton is painfully qualified for the position, however their personalities and her husband might have made for a chaotic and ineffective White House. So he did what he thought was best, he picked an older white dude with foreign policy experience and Pennsylvania roots.

McCain on the other hand picked a bright shinny object without distinction, substance or tangible intelligence that makes many Americans comfortable because they see those qualities in themselves. This is what these Americans want, someone like Bush, or Bush with lipstick. Someone common, someone like them.

The representative democratic model is brilliant, but in order for it to work the electorate has to be brilliant. When you put common people in leadership roles, you end up with a broken system. And make no mistake, our system is not broken, we are. We, as a whole, hate to read, think in the abstract, and are incapable of caring about anything beyond our noses. This is why for so many, voting is either an afterthought (if ever a thought at all) or a chore. We want people to pander to us, as opposed to leading us, and that is a recipe for a crude and ineffective governance.

So I propose we return to a hereditary monarchy for 5 generations and then reinstall our current system. We could select our new king through a reality show and call it "Who Wants to be a Monarch?!?" Oh wait, so many don't know what a Monarch is.....Then we should call it "Who Wants to be a King?!?" But that's sexist, so "Who Wants to be a King/Queen?!?" Ya, that's fair!

We can get 20 contestants and have them live in a house and vote one off each week. The winner, selected during Sweeps Week, will get to rule us. Good luck!

Its a complete embarrassment that it takes us 2 excruciating years to elect a president. Our election process has become an industry - supporting politicians, the media, and all the demented backroom scum who's faces are too scarred to show on a television screen. The electorate really is in charge here. Democracy isn't just a political trap door that points a finger at the citizenry when it fails. We have the philosophy to fix an election process severely damaged by corruption for the good of the world instead of for the good of the system. We are able to do this. We shouldn't be tripping over ourselves, using last nights headlines to shape opinions and filling our heads with gossip in place of policy.

Brilliant Olbermann Comment:

In case you missed it:

Will Hunting Speaks!

Finally, someone mentions the damn actuarial tables!

Great Photo:

Quick Thoughts:

If the media is run by liberals, why are the Republicans--time and time again, so much better at manipulating it?

I think there are two clear answers:

A) The media is not run by liberal--and the corporations that own most media outlets are certainly not liberal (see G.E./N.B.C., Murdoch, ect...).

B) Conservatives take the time to understand how liberals think, and thus are much better at pushing our buttons. Too many liberals get on their high horses and say they are too good to listen too (or read), let alone try to understand, conservative thought. Most things that are good for you cause some pain, and this mistake is biting us in the ass right now.

I like Obama's comments:

Speaking at a high school in Norfolk, Obama took a few moments to address
what he calls "the made-up controversy" of the day, Amie Parnes reports.Obama
said the McCain campaign moved to "seize an innocent remark and take it out of
context because they knew it's catnip for the news media.""See, it would be
funny, but the news media decided that would be the lead story yesterday. This
happens every election cycle. Every four years, this is what we do. This is what
they want to spend two of the last 55 days talking about...Enough!" he
said.Obama called the attacks "lies, outrage and swift boat politics.""These are
serious times and they call for a serious debate...spare me all the phony
outrage. Spare me all the phony talk about change."

Here is the video of Obama:

- Please see the new link on the right. Give what you can today--if Obama raises a bunch of cash today that will become, in of itself, a huge story.

NOTE: I will be drive-by blogging all day and updating this thread as needed.

John McCain "Lipstick on a Pig" Video

Here is the Youtube url. Everyone has to see their hypocrisies exposed. Send this out!

If Palin can't take the heat she should get out of one of McCain's seven kitchens.

Two Quick Thoughts

1) When Obama mentioned the smelly fish thing, thats what made me think about Palin--not the pig comment.

2) Biden should challenge Palin to weekly town hall debates between now and Nov.

Please support Iraq Veterans Against the War (ivaw.org)

I have not always been moved to contribute to this blog. My only contributions (other than a short diatribe entitled "why I hate republicans") are usually relegated to the "that sounds great honey" or to provide spell checking consultation to Sal Kilmeister (not known for being a great speller). However, today I came across something that needs to be shared with you.

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is an organization that besides working to end the War and advocating for veteran's rights, has helped to give voice to former active duty service members (who are ironically the first people usually left out of the national debate). Please check out their member profiles. Here are the words of one former National Guard servicewoman:

"The intentions of so many were to give of themselves to their nation. Being willing to give our lives for this country does not mean our government should be willing to give us up so freely.
Yes, this war is NOT what I THOUGHT I was signing up for.
However it is EXACTLY what I did sign up for.
Our government saw it, wanted it, went in and took it, people who live there be damned. This could describe the current situation or the one natives of this land faced. This is our history. Until we confront it we are bound to repeat it. War is not the disease, it is a
symptom. Freedom has not been gained by fighting another country since the
revolutionary war, since then it has only been gained by standing up to our government."

I think this quote pretty much speaks for itself...

McCain's New Coke

In 1985, the Coca Cola company came up with a new formula for its cornerstone product. It was a disgusting drink that sensible historians and those that survived the Reagan years now see as a silly and failed marketing gimmick. I predict, on Sept. 9, 2008, that Sarah Palin will be seen as the "New Coke" of politics in the years to come.

It should be noted that New Coke was widely popular at first. According to Wikipedia:

While it is widely believed today that the new drink failed almost instantly, this was not the case. The company, as it had planned, introduced the new formula with big marketing pushes in New York (workers renovating the Statue of Liberty were symbolically the first Americans given cans to take home^[18]) and Washington, D.C. (where thousands of free cans were given away in Lafayette Park). Sales figures from those cities, and other regions where it had been introduced, showed a reaction that went as the market research had predicted. In fact, Coke's sales were up 8% over the same period the year before.^[19]

Most Coke drinkers resumed buying the new drink at much the same level as they had the old one. Surveys indicated, in fact, that a majority liked the new flavoring.^[20] Three-quarters of the respondents said they would buy New Coke again.^[19] The big test, however, remained in the Southeast, where Coke was first bottled and tasted and has always been such a market leader and cultural institution that "coke" is a colloquialism for all colas, or even, in some areas of the South, for all soft drinks, regardless of flavor.

There is a scene in the Woody Allen classic Take the Money and Run where Virgil Starkwell holds up a prison guard with a fake gun carved out of soap that turns to suds once it is exposed to the unforgiving moisture of rain. Virgil was promptly returned to his cell. His plan- a failure.

This is the prism through which we must view the fad known as Sarah Palin.

Yes, the early polls show a clear bounce, but there are still 56 days to go and most Americans can't remember whether or not they can even count that high, let alone recall anything for that long.

We on the left like to point out that McCain is the same as Bush, but lets be honest amongst ourselves, most of us know that is not true. He is deeply problematic, but his military and Congressional biography show us that he would probably be a slight improvement on Bush. In my opinion, the 43 president of the United States is like Lung Cancer, while McCain is merely a bad case of Dengue Fever and Athletes Foot. Yes, there are clearly many more policy similarities than differences, but there are a few definite differences, like a belief in Global Warming for starters.

Palin however, really does remind me (and my wife) of the current President. She, like he, is very average. She seems to have no great intelligence or wit, no outstanding qualities, and thus, reaps the benefit of low expectations. What she does have is a genuine everyday-folk quality that reminds most Americans of themselves.

Presumably, most Americans do not see themselves as qualified or able to lead the largest economy and military machine on the planet. So why would they want someone like themselves to lead? Probably because we don't like to feel inferior. But we don't mind that our track stars are faster than most of us, our basketball players are taller than most of us, and our linebackers are stronger than most of us. So why do we accept mediocrity from our most important leader just because we see ourselves in them?

I may be wrong, but I think things are so bad that most people will go with the person most qualified, for you can't hide from the turds when you live in the toilet--even if Obama is more Lisa Simpson than Bart.

Anyway, enough of the chit-chat, lets boogie:

NOBODY has ever been in any military but the McCains!

If you think you are a vet...guess again.

Wounded in combat? Nope-probably just another loser trying to live off of welfare.

You know those movies about Greek and Roman warriors? PURE FICTION!

Why?

Because if you are not a part of the McCain family you know nothing about war.

Here is the proof:

*UPDATE* Click here for a great read on how Republicans are being over sampled in the newest polls.

Gordon Brown Backs Obama

This is a great story about the P.M. of our most important ally in the world clearly showing preference to Obama. If it were a leader of any other country, save for Israel, I don't think it would help Obama very much, but this is the one reasonable and unconditional friend that we have, well, except for France, but only thinking people see that. Anyone that can find the U.K. (or U.S.A. for that matter) on a map knows of the importance of this relationship.

I am sorry for the drive by postings. New job, back from Denver, ect. I am working on a piece about New Coke and the McHype of these new polls. Stay tuned...

PS- If you are trying to impersonate me, please do so here...leave Helen out of this.

Great new Obama Ad

By the way, please remain calm about these new polls. Things will shake out.

Religion in Politics

Since I have already missed my deadline to finish my football primer (which really would've been nice timing) I am taking a break from working on the NFC East (the math truly makes my skull throb) to take a moment (or many moments) to express some of my views on religion. As great as it is to live in a place where you have freedom of religion (for the most part) without fear of being beheaded (not that ANY persecution is good), religion has become such a carny show in so many churches that it is hard to discern which ones are truly devout and which ones are crooked. They all spout a similar truth (the text is remarkably similar), but how well these people actually abide to the parameters they have set is, all too commonly another story. I get that faith is blind, but people often do crazy things in the name of religion (see the Crusades, the Halle-Bops, or Yahweh ben Yahweh who is still reeling 'em in). They may even vote Republican (since McFossil says we're finally gonna win the war on Islamic radicalism in Iraq). I'm not saying that there are not many sane and reasonable people who also have a rich religious faith, but there are also plenty of wingnuts who will believe anything and are used to doing what they're told (man, I am using a lot of parentheses in this post). In the end, I think people should base their votes on reason and fact as opposed to faith and fear. Since some have trouble wedging their brains and balls from their hearts due to their ties to cult worship, I offer my political stance on religion to ANYONE with some time to kill (it'd really hafta be a long bathroom visit~ for readers who like to multitask) that believes in God, or a god, goddess or other higher being, and also to people who liked the musical Hair, and especially for people with Jesus fish on their cars

Why the Left loves to lose

Time and time again we play into the Rights hands about being wimps. Click here for yet another depressing example.