Our Nation's Dumber...Thanks for Participating!

Thursday night (8/28/2008) Barack Obama delivered an effective speech to the nation calling for national unity.  In his speech, he spoke about his personal history and his reasons for wanting to be president.  Obama painted his vision of America publicly for anyone to ridicule as they see fit.  Obama's speech drew 80,000 people to fill an arena in Denver, Colorado.

Obama did not disappoint.  Barack spoke about concrete problems in our society.

"We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes."

Barack Obama clearly distinguished himself from his opposition.


"The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."


Barack Obama's acceptance speech met his opposition's plea that he only spoke in rhetoric (whatever that means) and high ideals.  Barack Obama detailed what he wants to do for this country.


"We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work."

Dignity of work!  That's f'ing brilliant and yet somehow many in the major media outlets are missing it.  Fox News is seemingly in a state of refusing to discuss Barack Obama's acceptance speech at all.  That channel speaks of "Senator Obama and Joe Biden."  On television, Fox News devotes very little time to the particulars of Obama's speech, apparently preferring to take 30 to 60 second snippets of the 40-minute speech and deriding Obama for not making every single possible snippet profound.  Fox News' reaction toward Barack Obama's acceptance speech seems quite extreme. 

If you doubt me, Google "Fox News + Obama."

Nothing positive, or current, jumps out at you quickly.  It seems that if Fox News could use the word nigger, they might actually smile a little more.  Not personally expecting too much from E! Online, I wasn't terribly disappointed by their reporting.  They report Barack Obama's acceptance speech generated more than 38 million viewers.

The New York Times reports the number of viewers closer to 41 million.  The discrepancy seems to be either E!Online didn't follow up with PBS; or the New York Times is making stuff up.  Eitherway, it appears that Barack Obama drew a record number of people to watch his speech.  The New York Times states it while E!Online titilates; however, Obama's speech was significant.

Both the New York Times and E!Online will teach you that Michael Jackson currently holds the record for drawing black people in America to their television sets.  Barack Obama is apparently in second place.  The New York Times also reported:

"After an initial burst of coverage on the network morning programs, the images from Thursday night were quickly overwhelmed by conflicting reports about Senator John McCain’s likely running mate that completely took over news coverage on cable."

I looked to Fox News for their analysis of the situation, but there's no comment.  A news organization with no f'ing comment!!!  How is that possible?  They're supposed to report the news but they appear to be trying to write Barack Obama off the map.

Fox News is perpetrating a fraud as they demonstrate the biggest problem Barack Obama has right now.  America contains some hardcore racists.  Lest we forget, it was only in the 1960's Civil Rights were insured for all people in the United States.  Some people from that era are still alive.  Many of those people's children are alive.  They just don't say nigger in public anymore.

Crish reported 8/29/2008 an example of what I'm talking about.

"FOX and Friends broadcast this morning from St. Paul, the site of the Republican National Convention, with teasers of John McCain's VP pick and news of Gustav headed for the Gulf Coast. When they got to the segment allocated for talking about Obama's speech, Brian Kilmeade mumbled that "regardless of how the speech turned out, John McCain was on the money."

Barack Obama discussed principles in his speech.

"Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work."

Where is the serious commentary from Fox News on money and influence?

"That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper."

Barack Obama is a leading contender to become the first black President of the United States of America.  Fox News isn't interested.  Would they have done this to Hillary?  Barack Obama gave specifics which was a primary attack against him from the right.  Barack Obama responded to their argument Thursday night.

"...let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.   Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.  Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.  I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class. And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East."

I've seen his numbers debated, and maybe they're not 100% accurate, but he put himself out there and answered the calls for him to be more specific.  Now you can judge him on what he said, but what is Fox News focused on? 

John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential candidate.  Sarah Palin now has a pretty good opportunity to be president of the United States of America.  McCain just turned 72 years old and I believe that's pretty close to the average life span for a man who didn't get locked in a cage for 8 years.

Some Fox commentators have said Sarah Palin's nomination made people ecstatic and euphoric.  I'm thinking they're trying to find an answer to Obama's messages of hope and inspiration.  The adjectives themselves I think say a lot about the people using them.  Ecstasy is a pretty heavy drug man.

The fact of the matter is, right now, that John McCain is going to need to deliver a speech.  Sarah Palin is going to have to speak.  Joe Biden and Barack Obama have already spoke.  McCain and Palin have to speak to the American people.  Can they match the Democratic National Convention with their Republican National Convention?  Even if they don't, will America have the intellectual honesty to judge both conventions on an equal footing?

I'm not holding out a lot of hope for Fox News.

Current Affairs

Last week, Russia recognized Georgian break away regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.  American and European representatives are condemning the move.  Vice President Cheney was recently quoted as characterizing Russian actions as an "unjustifiable assault."

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Euroasian Affairs threatens 'isolation as a bully' as punishment for Russian actions.  John McCain wants to prohibit Russia from joining the G-8 (who really knows what they do?)  This is all for an area along Russia's borders that has been suggested as being contested since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.



Americans should be learning geography and history at an alarming rate right now; however, it seems that we are already bored.  Let me put this in familiar terms.  When you're playing Risk and you see another player moving around one of your countries, you get nervous. 

You start piling battalion after battalion into the game.

The United States of America signed a deal with Poland to place defense missile systems into their borders.  From a historical perspective, that moves the German line up quite a ways.  Remember that in World War II, the German trek through Poland onto Moscow slowed them down immensely and may have proved the better of Nazi Germany in the end.

I'm not saying let's cheer for the Russians, but let's not be so blind in our own ambitions that we fail to consider the perspective of another.

As early as August 14th, some sources claim Georgia provoked the conflict with Russia.



Under the current way of thinking, we now have Georgia to take care of as well as Germany, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel.  Conservatives complain about taking care of their own citizens for fear that someone may get a free ride, but we sent $13 million dollars worth of food to Georgia recently and there's been very little public debate about this money leaving our borders.

The lack of public outcry over $13 million going to the Georgians can be compared with John McCain's remarks at the Saddleback Forum when he decried the woes of spending even $3 million on bear research in the United States of America. 

President Bush is ratcheting up the tough talk with French President- and current European Union leader- Nicolas Sarkozy against Russia, so we may be looking forward to adding recurring payments to Georgia into our federal budget for the unforeseeable future.  $13 million in days goes to Georgia while Time magazine estimates that American taxpayers would pay more than $1 trillion total if the Iraq War ended tomorrow.

That doesn't even begin to mention the amount of money going into Afghanistan, Korea or Germany.  It is good to keep in mind that there are U.S. companies profiting behind these operations.  Many sources say that the U.S. military only accounts for half of the American "troops" on the ground in Iraq.  The Christian Science Monitor reported,

"As of early 2008, at least 190,000 private personnel were working on US-funded projects in the Iraq  Congressional Budget Office (CBO) survey found. That means that for each uniformed member of the US military in the region, there was also a contract employee – a ratio of 1 to 1."

Sean Thomas-Breitfeld brings us back to the United States of America.  On August 25th Breitfeld wrote, "The richest 1 percent of U.S. households now owns 34 percent of the nation's private wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent of the population."  The plea goes from there that Americans should stop focusing on race and instead focus on class.

That's sound strategy; however, the U.S. Presidential election is still in full gear.

Money is the major issue right now for a majority of Americans.  In the midst of all this, we may take comfort in the thought that the Iraqi government has a $79 billion surplus that they haven't spent on anything.  In fact, the money is sitting in a bank in New York City collecting interest. 

Where Are My Followers of Christ on this One?

A lot of people in this world use religion to run their everyday lives.  Many of those same people either do- or would like to- use religion in the running of their government.  On the face of this issue, I really have no problem.

Religion addresses hope.

My problem is the practice of preferring one writer over another.  I like John Steinbeck while someone else may prefer Ernest Hemmingway.  We give preference, primarily, because of where we were born on this planet.  It is almost a law (in the scientific sense) that the writers one prefers is determined by where they are born.  It isn't a law though, because high percentages can only support a theory.  As soon as one dissent is found, your theory must be scrapped and it is back to the drawing board for a new theory (speaking scientifically.)

Preferring the teachings of Jesus over the writings of Buddha seems short-sighted and problematic.  Besides the fact that any good advice is good, this artificial preference may one day lead to the idea that Jesus is as great as God.  This is an artificial preference in most cases because most people don't read the works of both men.  In the grand scheme of worldviews, the Muslims purportedly accept the teachings of Mohammed, Moses, Abraham and Jesus. 

What does this say about Muslims that it doesn't say about Christians?

I'm not sure how Muslims feel about the teachings of Sidhartha Guatama or Lao Tsu, but Muslims seem to get the problem of revering man rather than God.  Christians in America talk as much about Jesus as they do about God.  In the original sense of the Christian religion that talk may be called idolatry.

In fact, Jesus- for some- may be a sacred cow.

Thou shalt not claim to understand God.  It's not a commandment but maybe it ought to be.  When you worship, who is it that you worship?  Do you worship Jesus?  Do you worship God?  Can you worship both? 

I don't think so.

You might suggest how best we can realize God's perfect state, but each person must own up to their own ideas.  Each person must be accountable for the words that come out of their mouth.  God did not speak through you in any fashion more than God speaks through all of us.  It is not playing favorites in this game.

I'd like to see my government run a bit like a book club at times.  Everyone reads the Torah and then discusses its implications on how our lives feel today.  That's the first year in Congress.  The second year in Congress everyone reads the teachings of the Buddha and applies those ideas to our lives now.  The third year it is the Koran and we wrap up the fourth year in Congress by reading the New Testament.

I suggest we finish with the teachings of Jesus in America because his teachings would already influence the readings of the other three books in this country.  Once again, it goes back to where you were born.  In America, Jesus is king as well as Elvis.  This is no attack on Jesus.  I recognize that Jesus was a powerful man among many with a beautiful message.  He did things similar to Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.  Jesus stood out there and took his hits.  People like Jesus are rare in our lifetimes; however, they are all the product of God.

If you believe.

This is not an attack.  It is an acceptance that every culture has created something wonderful.  Every culture has produced something worthy of contemplation.  This is not an attack.  This is a recognition that Jesus is not God.

Down On Rage Street

I won't dwell much on the following story other than to point out, it probably is healthy to pay some heed to stories like this.  It's people like China Arnold who allow us to remember that life sucks.  Keep your head out of the clouds, because there is a grim reality going on around us everyday on the ground.

China Arnold has been convicted by jury of putting her month old baby into a microwave oven in August 2005 and possibly cooking it for about two minutes in Dayton, Ohio.  Needless to say, the baby died.  The motive that has been expressed to the courtroom hearing the case is- China's baby, Paris, wasn't from China's boyfriend at the time.  Apparently, China may have been trying to remove the evidence of her infidelity.

The defense tried to introduce doubt into the case.  Maybe somebody else put the child in the microwave.  Cellmates say China confessed it to them though.  Apparently, only an eight year old boy could provide any testimony trying to offer a different story than what prosecutors suggest.  Their story is China Arnold put her month old baby into a microwave and cooked her.

The UK Telegraph reported China's defense "told the jury that Arnold couldn't remember what happened and was probably too drunk that night to have committed the crime."

It's cases like this that make me feel equal punishment should fit the crime.  You guessed it.  Were I in charge, I'd be hard pressed to be talked out of microwaving China Arnold.  This is a horrible thing to do to another person, especially your own child.

This child would've been better off having been aborted.  We should make it easier for people like China Arnold to have abortions.  I'm not saying we should force an abortion on her, but she should've been able to have one for free if she wanted it.  I would've paid for it myself if noone else was willing.

The moral of a story like this is: don't live with your mind in this grim reality everyday, but be aware that it is there.  The most remarkable thing about China Arnold's story is that it doesn't happen very often. 

These kinds of cases stand out because they are so unusual!

Most people have a pretty good sense of what's right in the world and putting any living creature into a microwave is a line we should never cross.  Thank you China Arnold for reminding us just how civil the rest of us are, now it's time for you to suffer the punishment that awaits you.

Something to Ponder

Is it possible, we're all so alike that we've long forgotten what it is that makes us common?  At the root of it, we exist in a similar fashion.  We are not like rocks or cows and that statement is obvious.  That statement is laughable, but it isn't made very often.

We write the songs of our destiny.

At the essence of our world, we group around each other.  We are revolving around each other.  We buy into each others games.  We allow some of us to write the game for most of us. 

We write.

The facts don't really matter too much in reality.  A majority of us will devotedly chase a fallacy until it dies a cold, hard death.  The majority of us will eventually clutch it around its neck and squeeze a final breath from our cherished fallacies as they lay dying, exposed as false.

It is the unusual that stands out to then become remarkable.

We share this nature to be revolving around others.  We never let it go.  Even if I choose to be absolutely alone, I've made this choice to be away from others.  I am still in a relationship by excluding the others.  My world revolves around others and we will tell each other stories.  We share the need to tell one another stories.  We've gone as far as to develop different stories for different people on the same day.  We share that.  So someone must write the stories. 

Anyone can write the stories.

Facts be damned.  We all like a good story, so tell your story and judge the reaction.  If you're not satisfied, start again.  Only be ethical when writing songs of our destiny, but write our songs nonetheless. 

Write our destiny and make it wonderful.

Belly Laugh

Searching for a laugh this You Tube video of a roast came up in the search results.  This is an era of roasts that weren't just foul and mean-spirited.  This is an era of roasts when the focus remained on the person being roasted and not everyone in the audience.

Along the way Foster Brookes' name came up.  It isn't often anymore you see someone play a drunk for a laugh.  It is funny though.