Here is an article that shows why Edwards is the best choice to beat the Republicans in the general election:
The conventional wisdom has it all backwards.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Democratic Nomination
Edwards has consistently rated best against the Republicans from the beginning. That's one of the reasons why I think when it comes down to it when the voters get into the booth they might pick Edwards despite what they said in polls. Hillary is too hated by too many people, unjustly, in my opinion but it's there never the less. And too many people are afraid a black man can't yet be elected president in this country. So at vote time they will choose the good looking, Southern, white guy.
Edwards has been my man since the beginning and was even back in 2004. I think he's grown a lot since then, too. He is the only candidate who has been honest on the campaign trail and the debates, is very anti-corporatist, and has managed to maintain a top-tier ranking.
While I agree with Kucinich more on the issues I think Edwards would make a better leader. Part of it is that Kucinich has been unable to build up much support even though many Democrat agree with him more than anyone else. Edwards is just as shunned by the media as Kucinich but has stayed at the top, no small feat. It's survival of the fittest, perhaps we have a terrible system but we are stuck with it for now and we need someone who can work it to their advantage. I think Edwards would get a lot more done than Kucinich would. It doesn't much matter how good someone's ideas are if they can't implement any of them. And I think he really is a powerful and honest advocate for the poor and middle class and not for corporate America, which is why the corporate media doesn't like him. By honest I mean he really does want to help the poor, he isn't just saying that to get elected.
Edwards has said a number of things that really impress me, one is the idea of asking the public to sacrifice to get some things done, like helping the environment. He said it's about time Americans were asked to be patriotic about something other than war. Conventional wisdom says don't ask the public to do anything difficult, but Edwards says people want to be asked to participate in something important. That's the kind of talk that stirs people up and gets them excited.
I like Obama but I do think he is too inexperienced and it really shows sometimes. I think the best case scenario is for Edwards to get the nomination then pick Obama as VP. He is young enough that he would definitely be ready for the number one position in 8 years. And I think after 8 years as VP a black man for president would be much more acceptable to the
American public. And having him grandfathered in by a Southern, white guy has a better chance of working.
Edwards has been my man since the beginning and was even back in 2004. I think he's grown a lot since then, too. He is the only candidate who has been honest on the campaign trail and the debates, is very anti-corporatist, and has managed to maintain a top-tier ranking.
While I agree with Kucinich more on the issues I think Edwards would make a better leader. Part of it is that Kucinich has been unable to build up much support even though many Democrat agree with him more than anyone else. Edwards is just as shunned by the media as Kucinich but has stayed at the top, no small feat. It's survival of the fittest, perhaps we have a terrible system but we are stuck with it for now and we need someone who can work it to their advantage. I think Edwards would get a lot more done than Kucinich would. It doesn't much matter how good someone's ideas are if they can't implement any of them. And I think he really is a powerful and honest advocate for the poor and middle class and not for corporate America, which is why the corporate media doesn't like him. By honest I mean he really does want to help the poor, he isn't just saying that to get elected.
Edwards has said a number of things that really impress me, one is the idea of asking the public to sacrifice to get some things done, like helping the environment. He said it's about time Americans were asked to be patriotic about something other than war. Conventional wisdom says don't ask the public to do anything difficult, but Edwards says people want to be asked to participate in something important. That's the kind of talk that stirs people up and gets them excited.
I like Obama but I do think he is too inexperienced and it really shows sometimes. I think the best case scenario is for Edwards to get the nomination then pick Obama as VP. He is young enough that he would definitely be ready for the number one position in 8 years. And I think after 8 years as VP a black man for president would be much more acceptable to the
American public. And having him grandfathered in by a Southern, white guy has a better chance of working.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Why Right-Wing Ideas Keep Failing
Here is an interesting article that says what I've been saying for years; the Republicans aren't stupid and incompetent, they are doing things EXACTLY the way they want to do them.
The Republican's political and economic ideas are all based on ideology, which they believe with the fanaticism of any religious fundamentalist. What this means is they never look at what is ACTUALLY happening then make adjustments if things aren't working - you know, like a sane person does. Mostly they just look for people to blame, like Bill Clinton, and Bill is such an evil genius that even 7 years out of office and he is STILL making all their plans go awry. Damn, he's good, high five, Bill!
What this boils down to in practical terms is that Republicans should never, ever be elected to any public office of any kind for any reason, not even dog catcher.
And to those people who are Republicans, and I mean the average public, switch sides because conservatism as we know it today is wrong and will cause serious damage.
This doesn't mean the Democrats are always right, they are sometimes right and are more willing to change direction when actual evidence is shown to them. Republicans think evidence is a liberal bias.
But here’s the real problem for today’s conservatives: their movement’s intellectuals and experts are overwhelmingly the ones who have come up with the ideas that have largely proven to be just as bankrupt in practice as the gold standard that Paul wants to resurrect. The brains behind the enterprise don’t have any ideas left in the well to draw from that haven’t already been tried and failed. Frum says, “…politicians who want to deliver effective government and positive results have to care about more than values – and have to do more than check their guts. They need to study the problem, master the evidence, and face criticism.”The link above leads to a book all about the same thing , that right wing ideas keep failing because they are just flat out, objectively wrong. Everything they think is supposed to happen when they impliment their ideas goes wrong because all the basic ideas are wrong. They believe 1+1=3 and when it keeps adding up to 2 they just go crazy. Their solutions are always; do more of what wasn't working!!
Okay, based on the evidence, here’s a criticism: movement conservatism’s lavishly funded think tanks have produced ideas leading to nothing but ineffective government and negative results.
The Republican's political and economic ideas are all based on ideology, which they believe with the fanaticism of any religious fundamentalist. What this means is they never look at what is ACTUALLY happening then make adjustments if things aren't working - you know, like a sane person does. Mostly they just look for people to blame, like Bill Clinton, and Bill is such an evil genius that even 7 years out of office and he is STILL making all their plans go awry. Damn, he's good, high five, Bill!
What this boils down to in practical terms is that Republicans should never, ever be elected to any public office of any kind for any reason, not even dog catcher.
And to those people who are Republicans, and I mean the average public, switch sides because conservatism as we know it today is wrong and will cause serious damage.
This doesn't mean the Democrats are always right, they are sometimes right and are more willing to change direction when actual evidence is shown to them. Republicans think evidence is a liberal bias.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Ten Reasons Why I Broke Up With God
I rarely copy an entire article I found online but I've just been too tired and stressed to post here as often as I would like. For the record, Darcy is doing better. She is at home and is even strong enough to get out of bed and get dressed by herself.
Anyway, all the appropriate credits are on this thing as well as a web link:
________________________________________________
Ten Reasons Why I Broke Up With God
By Annabelle Gurwitch, TheNation.com
Posted on December 13, 2007, Printed on December 14, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/70460/
After his address on religion last week, I'm sure I'll never be invited to Mitt Romney's White House should he be elected President. It's not just because as a National Public Radio commentator, documentary filmmaker, single-payer universal healthcare proponent and driver's license for illegal immigration-supporting liberal, I don't travel in the same circles as he does. As an atheist, I now know that I'm not even included in Romney's America.
You see, I broke up with God years ago, but not really because of the big stuff that leading godless heathens like Christopher Hitchens write about. As with most relationships, it's the little things that drove me crazy. Here's my top-ten list of reasons I gave God the old heave-ho. In no particular order:
1. Shellfish. My God would never make mussels, clams and oysters taste so good and then prohibit me, a Jewish gal, from eating them.
2. The meek shall inherit the earth. In my family, like much of America's workforce, not only have the meek inherited nothing, they are barely holding on to their standard of living. So on this point alone, I reject the Bible.
3. American Gladiators. If there were a God, American Gladiators would not be returning to TV this winter.
4. Iran. If there were a God one part of our government wouldn't be opening doors to negotiate with Ahmadinejad, while another fans the flames for military action.
5. There's not enough good Szechwan in Los Angeles. If there were a God, he would make better Chinese food more readily available in Los Angeles. LA is mostly made up of transplanted New Yorkers, so why can't we get good old chicken and broccoli in garlic source out West?
6. Britney Spears. If there were a God, Britney Spears wouldn't be one of the most Googled topics on the Internet. Although perhaps there is a God and this is one of the signs of the apocalypse. Example: Spears gave us views of her vajayjay: 3,450,000 Google hits. Jonas Salk gave us the polio vaccine: 212,000 Google hits.
7. Multitasking is of dubious effectiveness. Recent studies have shown that multitasking isn't that productive. If there were a God, he wouldn't allow my illusion of being able to accomplish more on a daily basis to be taken away from me.
8. God doesn't give you anything you can't handle. My God wouldn't allow people to make up inane aphorisms about him. I'm disorganized, easily distracted, have a fear of anything medical and have a kid with health issues. My God would know that I was a poor choice for this assignment, that this saying is just moronic and only serves to make people like me feel worse when we inevitably fail.
9. Trannies. Most all of the little beauty tips I've employed in my career as an actress I learned from the transvestites and transsexuals I used go-go dance with on the bar at the Pyramid Club in NYC. Especially tricks with crazy glue. My God simply would not stand for unequal treatment of gay people.
10. Darfur, AIDS, my awe and respect for the mysteries of science, that lead paint is in kids' toys, that we allow people to live on the streets, that we haven't passed stricter gun legislation... OK, I lied. I have a million top ten reasons why I reject the notion of the kind of God invoked in particular by the Republican candidates, though most of the Democrats have also enrolled in the campaign God-a-thon.
That said, I am willing to admit that I might be completely wrong about God. After all, round-toed Mary Janes are back, which is something I've prayed for, because it's just against nature to squeeze into pointy-toed high heels. Furthermore, Donny and Marie are reuniting. It seems so improbable that there is interest in them that even immaculate conception seems plausible to me now. Not to mention that the chance of a presidential run by former pastor Mike Huckabee -- not long after a movie about existentialism titled I (Heart) Huckabee was released -- seems to be the same as the notion that dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time as man.
But if Mitt and I ever did break bread, he would get no flak from me on the Mormon faith. Compared to burning bushes, people turning into piles of salt, plagues and general mayhem of the Bible, I find Joseph Smith's buried tablets written in the secret language that no one has ever heard of a perfectly reasonable story that was turned into a three-part series on South Park -- such consistently brilliant satire that its existence alone might just prove there is a God.
Writer and actress Annabelle Gurwitch is the creator and producer of the Fired! project. The documentary Fired! which was featured on The Sundance Channel in November 2007. Her column Fired Up appears regularly in The Nation, and her essays have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Child, Premiere, and Penthouse.
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/70460/
Anyway, all the appropriate credits are on this thing as well as a web link:
________________________________________________
Ten Reasons Why I Broke Up With God
By Annabelle Gurwitch, TheNation.com
Posted on December 13, 2007, Printed on December 14, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/70460/
After his address on religion last week, I'm sure I'll never be invited to Mitt Romney's White House should he be elected President. It's not just because as a National Public Radio commentator, documentary filmmaker, single-payer universal healthcare proponent and driver's license for illegal immigration-supporting liberal, I don't travel in the same circles as he does. As an atheist, I now know that I'm not even included in Romney's America.
You see, I broke up with God years ago, but not really because of the big stuff that leading godless heathens like Christopher Hitchens write about. As with most relationships, it's the little things that drove me crazy. Here's my top-ten list of reasons I gave God the old heave-ho. In no particular order:
1. Shellfish. My God would never make mussels, clams and oysters taste so good and then prohibit me, a Jewish gal, from eating them.
2. The meek shall inherit the earth. In my family, like much of America's workforce, not only have the meek inherited nothing, they are barely holding on to their standard of living. So on this point alone, I reject the Bible.
3. American Gladiators. If there were a God, American Gladiators would not be returning to TV this winter.
4. Iran. If there were a God one part of our government wouldn't be opening doors to negotiate with Ahmadinejad, while another fans the flames for military action.
5. There's not enough good Szechwan in Los Angeles. If there were a God, he would make better Chinese food more readily available in Los Angeles. LA is mostly made up of transplanted New Yorkers, so why can't we get good old chicken and broccoli in garlic source out West?
6. Britney Spears. If there were a God, Britney Spears wouldn't be one of the most Googled topics on the Internet. Although perhaps there is a God and this is one of the signs of the apocalypse. Example: Spears gave us views of her vajayjay: 3,450,000 Google hits. Jonas Salk gave us the polio vaccine: 212,000 Google hits.
7. Multitasking is of dubious effectiveness. Recent studies have shown that multitasking isn't that productive. If there were a God, he wouldn't allow my illusion of being able to accomplish more on a daily basis to be taken away from me.
8. God doesn't give you anything you can't handle. My God wouldn't allow people to make up inane aphorisms about him. I'm disorganized, easily distracted, have a fear of anything medical and have a kid with health issues. My God would know that I was a poor choice for this assignment, that this saying is just moronic and only serves to make people like me feel worse when we inevitably fail.
9. Trannies. Most all of the little beauty tips I've employed in my career as an actress I learned from the transvestites and transsexuals I used go-go dance with on the bar at the Pyramid Club in NYC. Especially tricks with crazy glue. My God simply would not stand for unequal treatment of gay people.
10. Darfur, AIDS, my awe and respect for the mysteries of science, that lead paint is in kids' toys, that we allow people to live on the streets, that we haven't passed stricter gun legislation... OK, I lied. I have a million top ten reasons why I reject the notion of the kind of God invoked in particular by the Republican candidates, though most of the Democrats have also enrolled in the campaign God-a-thon.
That said, I am willing to admit that I might be completely wrong about God. After all, round-toed Mary Janes are back, which is something I've prayed for, because it's just against nature to squeeze into pointy-toed high heels. Furthermore, Donny and Marie are reuniting. It seems so improbable that there is interest in them that even immaculate conception seems plausible to me now. Not to mention that the chance of a presidential run by former pastor Mike Huckabee -- not long after a movie about existentialism titled I (Heart) Huckabee was released -- seems to be the same as the notion that dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time as man.
But if Mitt and I ever did break bread, he would get no flak from me on the Mormon faith. Compared to burning bushes, people turning into piles of salt, plagues and general mayhem of the Bible, I find Joseph Smith's buried tablets written in the secret language that no one has ever heard of a perfectly reasonable story that was turned into a three-part series on South Park -- such consistently brilliant satire that its existence alone might just prove there is a God.
Writer and actress Annabelle Gurwitch is the creator and producer of the Fired! project. The documentary Fired! which was featured on The Sundance Channel in November 2007. Her column Fired Up appears regularly in The Nation, and her essays have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Child, Premiere, and Penthouse.
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/70460/
Monday, December 10, 2007
Impeachment
This survey is from American Research Group, inc.
Essentially what it says is that 53% of the American public want Bush impeached, which makes the dems inaction so damn frustrating.
All I can think of is they have been so intimidated by the pubs for so long when they say boo the dems hit the ceiling, like Sylvester in an old Tweety cartoon. And one time Sylvester hit the chandelier.
That's why I call them spineless, they don't even have the guts to do something the majority of their constituents want them to do and is something that serves not only their own self interests but the country's interest as well. It's really a no brainer unless you are
spineless. Hell, even the spineless would go ahead under these circumstances, they are lower than being spineless.
My guess is there is some kind of back room deal going on, the dems are playing ball with the pubs when they should be crushing them.
Essentially what it says is that 53% of the American public want Bush impeached, which makes the dems inaction so damn frustrating.
All I can think of is they have been so intimidated by the pubs for so long when they say boo the dems hit the ceiling, like Sylvester in an old Tweety cartoon. And one time Sylvester hit the chandelier.
That's why I call them spineless, they don't even have the guts to do something the majority of their constituents want them to do and is something that serves not only their own self interests but the country's interest as well. It's really a no brainer unless you are
spineless. Hell, even the spineless would go ahead under these circumstances, they are lower than being spineless.
My guess is there is some kind of back room deal going on, the dems are playing ball with the pubs when they should be crushing them.
November 13, 2007 - Impeachment
A total of 64% of American voters say that President
George W. Bush has abused his powers as president. Of the 64%,
14% (9% of all voters) say the
abuses are not serious enough to warrant impeachment, 33% (21%
of all voters) say the abuses
rise to the level of impeachable offenses, but he should not
be impeached, and 53% (34% of
all voters) say the abuses rise to the level of impeachable
offenses and Mr. Bush should be
impeached and removed from office.
| Question: | ||||
| Which one of these four statements do you agree with about President Bush: 1. President Bush has not abused 2. President Bush has abused 3. President Bush has abused 4. President Bush has abused | ||||
| 11/12/07 | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |
| All voters | 36% | 9% | 21% | 34% |
| Democrats (39%) | 16% | 9% | 25% | 50% |
| Republicans (35%) | 64% | 6% | 12% | 18% |
| Independents (26%) | 29% | 11% | 26% | 34% |
| Based on 1,100 completed telephone interviews among a random sample of registered voters nationwide November 9-12, 2007. The theoretical margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, 95% of the time. | ||||
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Patriots
I'm a big NFL fan, which is odd because I'm much more the bookworm type than a jock. In fact, there isn't any other sport I will watch 5 minutes of. So how did I get hooked on football? Simple, back in the early 80's I lived in Seattle. I soon discovered that on Monday morning at work the only thing everyone talked about was the Seahawks game the day before. So I started watching just so I would have something to talk to people about on Monday. Wasn't long before I was hooked and I've been watching ever since.Once I left Seattle it was hard to find a team to root for, especially in the LA/Orange County area. I hated the Raiders and the Rams were just too pitiful. So I started getting hooked on the good teams because they were so much fun to watch. First it was the the 49ers with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, who didn't like them? And they were even in one of my favorite cities in California. The combo of Joe and Jerry hooked me in even farther and Darcy got us tickets to one Monday night game at Anaheim Stadium (just up the street from us) so I got to see Joe and Jerry and the rest of the 49ers play the rams. My one and only pro game, I'd rather watch at home, much more comfortable.
There have been other teams over the years, especially with the Raiders and Rams eventually moving away so I didn't have a local team to cheer for even if they were good. The Bears when McMahon was QB, the Packers when Farve took them to the Superbowl, and of course, the 49ers under Steve Young who was almost as good as Montana. And, naturally, the St. Loius Rams, figires those guys would only become good after leaving OC. I thought Joe the best quarterback I had ever seen (but I'd never seen one before 1983). Until today when I think Tom Brady has now donned the mantle of best QB ever. And this year is his best year. So what fun to find a video of highlights of yesterday's game (which I missed because Darcy came home from the hospital) on the NFL site with links to it just like YouTube. It is so much fun living here in the future.
******************
Hrrumph. After several minutes of trying it is clear the link for the NFL video does NOT operate like YouTube so I can't embed the video itself on the blog. Sometimes living here in the future is very annoying. I will have to give the link to the website and have people go there to watch if they want. It's less than seven minutes but really gives you the feel of the game and the quality is FAR better than YouTube.
Monday Night Football: Patriots and Ravens Highlights
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