YouBama

Thanks to my boy Z, I got to see that Obama beat me to the punch on snagging this domain name.

I'm going to post the link to the site, check it out in depth, and get back to you with my comments. Tell me what you think of this site. (So far, I think it's a novel idea. Obama's peeps are really ahead of the pack with all of their usage of the internet i.e. his Facebook page. Oh, I also think that Clooney's video is a bit cheesy.)

http://www.youbama.com/

Electile Dysfunction

Urban Dictionary may be the best dictionary on the web. I snagged this definition from the website as one of the word's of the day:

Electile Dysfunction

The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either party during an election year.

"Is anyone appealing to you in this years presidential race?"
"Naa... No one excites me. I think I'm suffering from Electile Dysfunction."

Presidential Primaries

So today's blog is not going to be as sarcastic as usual. After watching the results of the Florida primaries on CNN late last night, I've decided that I need to know more about the primaries. Why do things have to be so complicated?? It's all very strange to me. I mean, when we did class elections back in the day, the person with the most vote won- no one person's vote carried more weight than another. But no. Did the Founding Fathers think of the ease in which elections could be held? Doubtful.

Nevertheless, I ventured over to the BBC News website, and they had a very informative Q&A about US presidential elections. Check it out!

Conservatives vs Liberals

I saw a bumper sticker today that said "What exactly are conservatives conserving?" Thought it was interesting. Plus it was green...

I've been irritated by all of this negative liberal backlash. I was just a tot during the Reagan era, so maybe I'm just unfamiliar, or just noticing it more now. Walking through the politics section of Barnes & Nobles doesn't help, what with the slew of Ann Coulter and other conservative bull on the shelves.


I went on Merriam-Webster online to look up the word liberal, and I couldn't find anything negative in the definition. What's funner is that, next to the definition of liberal was a picture of the polar opposite of a liberal. In fact, his picture should have had a red circle with a slash through it to represent "No Liberalism."


This is the snapshot I took of the definition of liberal. (I know that this is not the same as the political term exactly, but I will go into that later on.


Is it a bad thing to be "marked by generosity" or "openhanded"?


It's funny that "lacking moral restraint" is an antiquated definition for "liberal."


Still having trouble finding something negative...




I absolutely have to put this other screen shot I got from the same dicitionary entry. It's almost like M-W is sending subliminal messages:






I think that the simple answer to this question in "NO."






So I pulled up M-W's definition of liberalISM, and here is what I came up with:






















Once again, I'm having trouble coming up with something negative here. So why is there so much hatred towards liberals?
Because we believe in "progress, the essential goodness of the
human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing
for the protection of political and civil liberties?" Seems absurd
to me. I'm going to challenge my fellow liberals to send me
definitions by conservatives or "moderates" so that we can
compare the difference in opinion.

Bill Gates, Capitalism

Check out this article on Bill Gates and his analysis of capitalism. It's worth a read.

Hillary Clinton + Take Your Bras Off = Phrases that Should Never Be Used on the Same Website

While on the topic of Michael Baisden, I think it's fair to say that some phrases should never be used in the same text box. (Please see photo below)

from Michael Baisden website

All I can say is "Ew."

On another note, I was upset this morning, though I think that the candidates picked up on it. I went to the John Edwards website and there was a lovely b/w photo of his family. Then, I went on the Barack Obama site, and there was a b/w picture of his family (with Michelle's hair looking bigger than ever; more on big hair in politics some other time). Then I went to Hillary's site (yes, we're on a first-name basis). What is the first thing I see? Her mug. Granted, I think we're all pretty familiar with what her small family looks like (in b/w and in color), but come on now. Shouldn't Billary be on the main page? (Especially since the Clinton idea of "change" is stealing other candidates' slogans. Why not steal their idea of a good main page?)Needless to say, Obama's peeps changed his main page, so maybe BHillary's should do the same... I don't know about you, but that mug is the last thing I want to see in the morning. Maybe they should just put Chelsea on the main page. She looks like a perfect combination of her parents. Maybe she should just change her name to Billary.

Radio Idiots

People on the radio can be real idiots sometimes...

On the way home from work yesterday evening, I heard ridiculousness on the radio (surprise, surprise). This time it wasn't coming from the actual music or the commercials, but the callers (another surprise).

*Before telling you what I heard, I think it's important to note that I commute to/from work with my mother because she tends to listen to things that I would never want to listen to- which leads me to this morning's blog.

Unfortunately, my mother chose to listen to Michael Baisden, whom she describes as a "pompous ass." He had John Edwards on the show, and listeners were calling in to give their two cents (more like 1/2 cent, at best).

One man called in talking some serious nonsense. He went on and on about how he wasn't sure about Obama, being that his dad is African and that he is a Muslim. "How do I know he has allegiance to the United States? His dad is African."

Umm... Riiiight... Why didn't I think of that?

People like this scare me because I often think there are more of "them" than there are of "us" (us being level-headed, informed individuals). Nonetheless, what worries me more about this man's statements is that Baisden did not say "sir, Barack Obama has already refuted statements that he's a Muslim" or "sir, what the hell are you talking about?" Instead, this man went on and on about Obama's dad being African, and how Africans don't care about black people in America (whoa... dejavu, anybody? Can you say "Kanye West on NBC?"). He basically said that all Africans and Caribbeans were snobs and that, how do we know Obama isn't one of them? "Just look at how he speaks!" I'm sorry. How are you supposed to speak after you graduate from Harvard Law and serve over a decade in politics? And what's up with this anti-African sentiment?

Another ridiculous caller decided to become Hillary Clinton's press secretary. This lady went on and on about how the Clinton's said they were down with the black community, and knew what was best- and a black president was not it. Now, I'm not going to call myself a Clintonista, but I'm pretty sure that Mrs. Clinton never actually said "Did you forget he [Obama] was black?" Fortunately, after this lady went on a tirade saying that Hillary said this, and Hillary said that, Baisden actually asked the question, "did she really say that?" The nut job caller said "well... no, but..." Good one.

Someone else called in posing a valid point: Why aren't we talking about education? I had hope in this caller. Until she said, "and what's up with this No Child Left Behind? Somebody needs to tell me what that is." Come on, people! We're living in the information age! How can it be possible that you know that the candidates are shirking discussion of education, yet you have no idea what NCLB is?

Finally, this last caller I had a gripe with was getting all upset about Universal Health Care. "I pay $127 dollars a month for health insurance, and they're want to make me pay for it? That makes no sense." Blah. You make no sense.
(Can you tell I'm starting to have to do real work in the office now?)


Anyway, I just want to know how everyone feels about the responsibility of the host to point out factual errors made by the callers. It would be lovely if we could assume that listeners would take everything said by average Joe's with a grain of salt, but come on, now. We know this just ain't so. Should Baisden have pointed out factual errors (such as Africans hating Black Americans), or was it okay that he just ignored these statements altogether?

Sometimes, It's Best to be Racist Among Friends, Mr. Farr

I always find it funny when people make racist comments and think that others will laugh. The best part is when the people not only forget to laugh, but they gasp in horror instead. Never will I advocate racism, because I feel it is disgusting and odious; however, sometimes it's fun to joke with friends about taboo topics such as race, as long as it's not in a hurtful way.

What William R. Farr decided to do might have worked if he was just chilling with his racist buddies, but unfortunately, as the Rocky Mountain News reports, that was not the case:

William R. Farr was pretending to read telegrams congratulating this year's award recipient, University of Colorado President Hank Brown, when he pulled out a piece of paper and said, "I have a telegram from the White House."

Then he added, "They're going to have to change the name of that building if Obama's elected."

Now, admit it: If it had been under different circumstances, the audience members might have laughed instead of "gasping." They might have even gone home and repeated the joke to their friends. Maybe we're the problem. Couldn't Farr have been poking fun at the Bush Administration saying that they were racist? (I doubt it, but anything is possible.)

In a presidential race where gender, race, and even religion seem to be the focus more so than the candidates' platforms sometimes, are we being too sensitive, too politically correct, or have we simply lost our sense of humor?

Read the Article for Yourself: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/17/joke-leaves-em-gasping/

My First Big, Yellow Entry

With a B.A. in poli sci, and a lot of time spent doing much of nothing but reading frivolous materials at work all day, what better way for me to spend my time than blogging about contemporary political issues?