My holiday wish is coming true. Newt is falling in the polls. True, we've still got Mitt out there, but I'm not really worried about him. He's just not that awesome. He's uninspiring. It doesn't really matter how much people hate Obama. If they can't be inspired by their own candidate, they're not going to vote for him. Democrats have had similar problems in the past. Think about how much we hated George W. Bush. He was, in my opinion, the worst president ever, but could we get behind anyone who ran against him? No. The problem was that Gore and Kerry, wonderful politicians and terrific people though they are, were not inspired.
Romney is even less inspiring than either of those examples. He stands for nothing.
Plus, Obama is pretty awesome.
In a race with one pretty awesome candidate and one that is less inspiring than watching paint dry, it's clear who wins. So happy holidays indeed.
Now, if only congress could get over this idiotic show of trying desperately to make the president look bad, we'd really have something to celebrate.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Forces of Nature
My wife and I had a baby in April and since that time, I haven't been camping or hiking or fishing or anything remotely close to participating in an outdoor activity. It's hard to get out when you have an infant hanging around who needs to eat and be changed and fed and bathed every hour or so.
It takes effort, and equipment to make an expedition, even to the relatively close Wasatch front, successful. In part, this means that my bona fides as an outdoor enthusiasts have suffered, and there is a certain amount of shame and embarrassment in that idea.
I used to be the guy that headed to the mountains every weekend. Even in the last couple of years, I got out fairly often. My wife, Raven, and I hiked the Appalachian trail for three consecutive summers from '08 to '10 spending weeks at a time in the outdoors, and this year, diddly squat.
Soon enough, Ezra will be old enough to make going out for a couple of hours at a time worth it. We might even be able to mount a camping expedition in 2012 and have it be relatively enjoyable, but for now, the prospect of hiking or camping with my son chills my blood.
It's not a safety issue. I'm plenty safe for both of us in the outdoors. I always pack extra food and clothes and I never go too far into unknown areas. I know how to avoid dangerous animals and plants, and I have a strong set of survival skills.
What makes a trip into the wilderness unthinkable right now is that my son, Ezra, is like a wild animal. He has abrupt mood swings. He eats, sleeps, and poops when and where he wants. He cries when he doesn't get his way. He grabs things and puts them in his mouth, and then spits them out again covered in slime. Going on a hike with him would be like dragging along an honry bobcat. Worse, because at least a bobcat can take care of itself most of the time.
There will come a time when Ezra will be very fun to hike and camp with, I have no doubt. Right now, however, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with having a force of nature tear around my living room.
It takes effort, and equipment to make an expedition, even to the relatively close Wasatch front, successful. In part, this means that my bona fides as an outdoor enthusiasts have suffered, and there is a certain amount of shame and embarrassment in that idea.
I used to be the guy that headed to the mountains every weekend. Even in the last couple of years, I got out fairly often. My wife, Raven, and I hiked the Appalachian trail for three consecutive summers from '08 to '10 spending weeks at a time in the outdoors, and this year, diddly squat.
Soon enough, Ezra will be old enough to make going out for a couple of hours at a time worth it. We might even be able to mount a camping expedition in 2012 and have it be relatively enjoyable, but for now, the prospect of hiking or camping with my son chills my blood.
It's not a safety issue. I'm plenty safe for both of us in the outdoors. I always pack extra food and clothes and I never go too far into unknown areas. I know how to avoid dangerous animals and plants, and I have a strong set of survival skills.
What makes a trip into the wilderness unthinkable right now is that my son, Ezra, is like a wild animal. He has abrupt mood swings. He eats, sleeps, and poops when and where he wants. He cries when he doesn't get his way. He grabs things and puts them in his mouth, and then spits them out again covered in slime. Going on a hike with him would be like dragging along an honry bobcat. Worse, because at least a bobcat can take care of itself most of the time.
There will come a time when Ezra will be very fun to hike and camp with, I have no doubt. Right now, however, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with having a force of nature tear around my living room.
Friday, December 9, 2011
The Donald
I just read that Trump may enter back into the republican race after his reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice" wraps up. WTF? I was pretty sure that starring in a reality TV show automatically disqualified one from holding any significant political office. I think it's in the constitution somewhere.
I think that's why all the republican candidates (minus Gingrich and Santorum) have opted out of Trump's debate, too. It counts as reality TV, and they're worried they might get voted off the island if they attend.
This election season has been called a carnival, a circus, a joke... but the fact that most of the candidates are skipping out on Trump shows that they do have standards. Those standards are incredibly low, but they exist, and that's good news for us voters. It means we've finally bottomed out. After this, we have nowhere to go but up. Practically speaking, I hope that means the ridiculous field will start being whittled down a bit.
We've already seen the departure of Cain. Perhaps more will leave the field before too long. Santorum should've been out a long time ago. Perry and Bachman haven't contributed anything for months now, and Ron Paul seems to be in the race only to say crazy things in a high pitched voice every once in a while just to liven things up.
The one candidate I still know little about is Jon Huntsman, which is a shame because he seems like a reasonable candidate. He believes in climate change and has foreign policy experience from what I gather, which is definitely a cut above the mental prowess we've seen from most of these idiots. Still, it doesn't look like he's going anywhere this election cycle.
The last two men standing seem to be Gingrich and a beleaguered Romney... and possibly Trump.
Maybe we're not quite out of the woods.
I think that's why all the republican candidates (minus Gingrich and Santorum) have opted out of Trump's debate, too. It counts as reality TV, and they're worried they might get voted off the island if they attend.
This election season has been called a carnival, a circus, a joke... but the fact that most of the candidates are skipping out on Trump shows that they do have standards. Those standards are incredibly low, but they exist, and that's good news for us voters. It means we've finally bottomed out. After this, we have nowhere to go but up. Practically speaking, I hope that means the ridiculous field will start being whittled down a bit.
We've already seen the departure of Cain. Perhaps more will leave the field before too long. Santorum should've been out a long time ago. Perry and Bachman haven't contributed anything for months now, and Ron Paul seems to be in the race only to say crazy things in a high pitched voice every once in a while just to liven things up.
The one candidate I still know little about is Jon Huntsman, which is a shame because he seems like a reasonable candidate. He believes in climate change and has foreign policy experience from what I gather, which is definitely a cut above the mental prowess we've seen from most of these idiots. Still, it doesn't look like he's going anywhere this election cycle.
The last two men standing seem to be Gingrich and a beleaguered Romney... and possibly Trump.
Maybe we're not quite out of the woods.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Choices
If there were justice in the world, Newt Gingrich would would have been mated up with Herman Cain to create Rick Perry's ideal running mate, and the Texan would be leading in the polls right now. That, I think, would have made the ideal Saturday Night Live season possible. But there is no justice. Gingrich and Cain remain unspliced and Perry is pretty much out of the race.
It's down to Romney and the Newt for all intents and purposes, and the fun is slowly leaving this race, to be replaced by the scary. Gingrich may be the most scandalous man alive. He's steeped in ethics violations, marital infidelity, lies, and scams. I still can't really believe he's a contender here, but I'm hoping he can stay alive through a long primary season and become the republican nominee if only because it's what the Republican base deserves. People who cheer speeches about the death penalty and child labor are getting, in Gingrich, exactly what they asked for. He is as slimy as they come.
Romney is somewhat less exciting than toast. He is a politician of convenience with, it seems, no vision for the future of America, and no hope of rousing anyone into paroxysms of pride. He is a business man, and perhaps America has become a nation of business men, of risk averse, cautious, middle aged white men who wear sweaters. If that's so, we deserve Romney too. He will, I'm quite sure, lead us steadfastly into irrelevance.
I've had a lot of conversations with people recently about President Obama. Personally, I'm a fan. No, he hasn't done crap on the environment, but other than that, I think he's been pretty effective at bringing about the kind of change he promised in his campaign. He got a health care bill passed, and it has some pretty good stuff in it. He's done pretty well on the economy so far. He hasn't solved all our problems, but he's certainly prevented the kind of wholesale societal breakdown that some of us were predicting when the housing market collapsed. He's even managed to get rid of don't ask don't tell, which is huge. He's been steadily working towards tolerance, acceptance, and increased rights and freedoms for Americans, and all in the face of an incredibly hostile congress. All things considered, he's certainly earned my vote, but many of the people I've talked to remain unconvinced.
I'd like to point out our options here. We have choices when it comes to our leaders. We can't change the fact that virtually all of our politicians are taking money from big corporations in exchange for influence. We cannot change the fact that there are a lot of voters who are too far gone to make any kind of rational decision about our government (I'm talking about Fox newsers, birthers, and people voting against abortion). We can, however, vote for people who are working to make the country a better place to live when they come up for reelection. Your frustration with the current state of our government doesn't change the fact that if you vote for someone besides Obama, we can do no better than an uninspiring, non-threatening, pandering politician. And, should you choose to vote against Obama, or even not vote, we might end up with a scandal ridden laughing stock of a president whose policies are as scary as anything that comes out of the middle east.
We have a good man as our president right now. He is perhaps not the greatest man there is, nor even the greatest president we've ever had, but he is a good man and a good president. There is no excuse for us not to support him, and no hero who will step out of the shadows at the last moment to provide the answers and leadership that will magically and immediately deliver us from our present darkness.
It's time to throw our weight behind Barack Obama.
It's down to Romney and the Newt for all intents and purposes, and the fun is slowly leaving this race, to be replaced by the scary. Gingrich may be the most scandalous man alive. He's steeped in ethics violations, marital infidelity, lies, and scams. I still can't really believe he's a contender here, but I'm hoping he can stay alive through a long primary season and become the republican nominee if only because it's what the Republican base deserves. People who cheer speeches about the death penalty and child labor are getting, in Gingrich, exactly what they asked for. He is as slimy as they come.
Romney is somewhat less exciting than toast. He is a politician of convenience with, it seems, no vision for the future of America, and no hope of rousing anyone into paroxysms of pride. He is a business man, and perhaps America has become a nation of business men, of risk averse, cautious, middle aged white men who wear sweaters. If that's so, we deserve Romney too. He will, I'm quite sure, lead us steadfastly into irrelevance.
I've had a lot of conversations with people recently about President Obama. Personally, I'm a fan. No, he hasn't done crap on the environment, but other than that, I think he's been pretty effective at bringing about the kind of change he promised in his campaign. He got a health care bill passed, and it has some pretty good stuff in it. He's done pretty well on the economy so far. He hasn't solved all our problems, but he's certainly prevented the kind of wholesale societal breakdown that some of us were predicting when the housing market collapsed. He's even managed to get rid of don't ask don't tell, which is huge. He's been steadily working towards tolerance, acceptance, and increased rights and freedoms for Americans, and all in the face of an incredibly hostile congress. All things considered, he's certainly earned my vote, but many of the people I've talked to remain unconvinced.
I'd like to point out our options here. We have choices when it comes to our leaders. We can't change the fact that virtually all of our politicians are taking money from big corporations in exchange for influence. We cannot change the fact that there are a lot of voters who are too far gone to make any kind of rational decision about our government (I'm talking about Fox newsers, birthers, and people voting against abortion). We can, however, vote for people who are working to make the country a better place to live when they come up for reelection. Your frustration with the current state of our government doesn't change the fact that if you vote for someone besides Obama, we can do no better than an uninspiring, non-threatening, pandering politician. And, should you choose to vote against Obama, or even not vote, we might end up with a scandal ridden laughing stock of a president whose policies are as scary as anything that comes out of the middle east.
We have a good man as our president right now. He is perhaps not the greatest man there is, nor even the greatest president we've ever had, but he is a good man and a good president. There is no excuse for us not to support him, and no hero who will step out of the shadows at the last moment to provide the answers and leadership that will magically and immediately deliver us from our present darkness.
It's time to throw our weight behind Barack Obama.
Monday, December 5, 2011
An Antidote for Outrage
Screw Newt Gingrich is my first response to a plan that seems to be specifically designed to piss me off. Newt says that the poorest kids from the poorest school districts in America should get a job, specifically that they should get jobs cleaning their schools. This plan is supposed to teach kids the value of an honest day's work. I am torn between wanting to cry and punch Mr. Gingrich in the face.
New Gingrich is a racist. He is corrupt. He is a chauvinist. He is a homophobe, He is derisive of poor people. He is dismissive of ethical standards. He is a bastard, and he is currently winning the race for the republican presidential nomination.
Aside from the man himself, I think the thing I'm most upset about is that other people agree with him. And these aren't just any people. They are Americans, my cultural kin, my people. It makes me feel dirty to hear my brothers and sisters laugh at jokes made at the expense of the poor, to hear them clap and cheer for a speech in favor of stripping gays of their already limited rights, to hear reasonable people seriously consider supporting this man who represents hate.
Newt doesn't care about my outrage, or my disapproval. He wears it like a badge. He is pleased that some of us want to hit him. It means his rhetoric is working.
There is pleasure in the idea of hating something or someone. If Newt is the enemy, I do not have to feel compassion for him. He becomes one dimensional, evil, inhuman, but I know better than this. I know it's an act, a game. As inhuman as I find him, republicans see Obama in the same light, as a monster bent on undermining their deeply held beliefs about justice, morality, and decency. They are probably just as confused and angry about my support of The President as I am about their support of Newt. We are on opposite sides of a battlefield. This is how we've been set up. As though there is a right side and a wrong one, as though we share nothing, but our enmity for one another.
The truth is that we have much in common. We want our children to be happy. We want to be safe. We want to be prosperous and successful. We want to protect the people we care about. More than that, we are concerned with our fellow Americans, and, in particular, those less fortunate than us. We want to help each other.
The Republican primary is filled with divisive politicians, this season, who are bent on taking advantage of our dissatisfaction with the current state of the economy, and our animosity towards the current administration.
I don't know how to opt out. There's no candidate in the race at the moment who I think can unify us. There is no genuine moderate behind whom we can rally, but I wish there was. I wish there was someone real and intelligent, and compassionate, and willing to bridge the gap between republicans and democrats. I wish my political options amounted to more than hate and anger, but there's too much money in politics, too much corruption, to much to be gained from pitting us against each other.
We are in violent agreement. Right now, politics sucks!
New Gingrich is a racist. He is corrupt. He is a chauvinist. He is a homophobe, He is derisive of poor people. He is dismissive of ethical standards. He is a bastard, and he is currently winning the race for the republican presidential nomination.
Aside from the man himself, I think the thing I'm most upset about is that other people agree with him. And these aren't just any people. They are Americans, my cultural kin, my people. It makes me feel dirty to hear my brothers and sisters laugh at jokes made at the expense of the poor, to hear them clap and cheer for a speech in favor of stripping gays of their already limited rights, to hear reasonable people seriously consider supporting this man who represents hate.
Newt doesn't care about my outrage, or my disapproval. He wears it like a badge. He is pleased that some of us want to hit him. It means his rhetoric is working.
There is pleasure in the idea of hating something or someone. If Newt is the enemy, I do not have to feel compassion for him. He becomes one dimensional, evil, inhuman, but I know better than this. I know it's an act, a game. As inhuman as I find him, republicans see Obama in the same light, as a monster bent on undermining their deeply held beliefs about justice, morality, and decency. They are probably just as confused and angry about my support of The President as I am about their support of Newt. We are on opposite sides of a battlefield. This is how we've been set up. As though there is a right side and a wrong one, as though we share nothing, but our enmity for one another.
The truth is that we have much in common. We want our children to be happy. We want to be safe. We want to be prosperous and successful. We want to protect the people we care about. More than that, we are concerned with our fellow Americans, and, in particular, those less fortunate than us. We want to help each other.
The Republican primary is filled with divisive politicians, this season, who are bent on taking advantage of our dissatisfaction with the current state of the economy, and our animosity towards the current administration.
I don't know how to opt out. There's no candidate in the race at the moment who I think can unify us. There is no genuine moderate behind whom we can rally, but I wish there was. I wish there was someone real and intelligent, and compassionate, and willing to bridge the gap between republicans and democrats. I wish my political options amounted to more than hate and anger, but there's too much money in politics, too much corruption, to much to be gained from pitting us against each other.
We are in violent agreement. Right now, politics sucks!
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