Tag Archives: election

General, Uncategorized

Facts Are Nice

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Sent this in an email to some, so sorry if it’s a repeat…

I haven’t made my voting intentions a secret during this election cycle.  I think there are a lot of unique, 21st-century sort of problems facing the United States right now, and I really don’t have any faith in a presidential candidate who’s been entrenched as a member of the GOP establishment for 25 years to have a useful perspective or any new ideas (let alone the political freedom from special interests to execute them).

The onslaught of negative advertising from the GOP has been, and will continue to be, relentless.  Here is a nice video summary that I was sent today, poking holes in the half-truths and sniffing out the BS in McCain’s ads to date:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0xzsogzAk

I’ve encouraged people from the start of the primary season to collect the facts, read up on the candidate’s actual positions, and make informed decisions based on the issues at stake.  With that in mind, bookmark this one for yourself, too:
http://www.factcheck.org/

Whatever you choose to do in the voting booth in November, I hope that you won’t just *think* you’re doing the right thing, but be knowledgeable enough to KNOW you are…

Climate, General, Uncategorized

Sifting Through the Static

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This is the time of an election year when it gets the hardest to sift through soundbites and 30-second ads and mudslinging in order to get at pertinent materials that deal with issues.  I was saying to Michelle last week that I would really like to get more policy specifics from Barack, because it seems like the only things I see on TV from him are defensive reactions to the McCain camp’s relentlessness.  I’ve watched some of those McCain ads, too.  Just ridiculous.  Regardless of who you want to support in this election, you have to agree that an ad whose thesis is “all of that candidate’s supporters are fickle dipshits that just like rock concerts” is pretty weak.

Instead of just repeating over and over that your opponent has no plan (which is patently false), let’s talk about some actual voting records positions on issues.

So with that in mind, here’s a little shortcut to Obama’s page on new energy and the plan for combating global warming and dependence on oil.  You’ll jjust see summarized info on that web page, if you want more details, you should download the PDF that’s linked from there.

Also remember that factcheck.org is a good resource for getting the stories of the candidates straight.  This is an important election cycle, and I hope we can all make informed decisions about these folks.

Oh and a little PS — sorry for dearth of new info, between working on school and working AT school, it’s a helluva month.  Stick with me, folks, there’ll always be more to tell…

General, Uncategorized

Call Off the Dogs

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I believe that I found a new place to live.

I can’t say that with 100% certainty, since I haven’t heard back yet about the application that I filed on Wednesday, but I think it looks pretty good.  All things considered, I will be trading a lot of space and the free & available washer/dryer that I have now for a significantly shorter commute and slightly lower overall per-month living expenses.  I’m glad that I’ll now be able to focus on thesis work and getting packed in the short term.

I was told when I saw the apartment that I would have the opportunity to move in early, paying a pro-rated portion of a month’s rent.  I’ll probably shoot for a week ahead; I took a few days at the end of the month off for that very purpose.  I’ll now be just under 2 miles from work; an easily bike-able distance.  Maybe I’ll even get a chance to shed some of this doughy flab with the balance of my summer, too…

Been very busy at work, which is my excuse for the gap of several days between posts.  In the meantime, what’s happened?  The Brew Crew is on a tear— here’s hoping they can carry that momentum through the road trip.  Even if the Cubs haven’t gotten around to losing just yet, you know they’re not going to win out for the rest of the season.  Brewers just have to keep it up, and put the lengthy losing streaks behind them.  It’s a well-documented point that a season is going to have ups and downs, but Milwaukee has pretty much used up their allotment of “downs” already.

Also very glad to see the Democratic presedential primary season finally coming to a conclusion.  I was glad to deliver the news to Petters last night that Hillary is going to officially leave the race at the end of this week.  In the short term, that means that focus will shift to Obama selecting a VP.  I am NOT at all in favor of the Obama/Clinton ticket for one major reason: I would be concerned that Hillary was trying to run the show from the backseat all too often.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Clintons are really, really, REALLY pushy when it comes to politics, and that’s probably putting it lightly.  Barack needs her to be a valued campaign resource, and he definitely needs her endorsement, but he also needs to make this potential presidency his own.  I’m pretty sure that’s what we (his supporters) got on board for.

OK, back to it.  These phone calls aren’t going to ignore themselves…

General, Uncategorized

Don't Be Fooled By the Fear-Mongering

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The Republican Party’s best hope for winning elections ever since we invaded Iraq in 2003 is to make a certain segment of malleable voters too afraid to pick a candidate OTHER than them. It is going to be a long, long, election season, and this will not even come close to being the last you hear about it:

McCain criticizes Obama over Iran comments

McCain’s camp is counting on people hearing buzz words like “reckless” and “inexperience” and “terrorism” as a means of planting doubt about any possible course other than guns-blazing and unconditional deference to the United States. There was another very successful international superpower in world history that operated the same way– The Roman Empire. They’re not around anymore, but…

When sifting through these stories, it’s important to get all the details and sift down to the facts of the respective arguments. When Obama says he’s willing to meet with the leaders of Iran, he’s not saying that Iran is awesome, or even that they’re no threat. He’s saying that the American President should have the courage to look the leader of an adversarial nation in the face and say, “let’s settle our differences peacefully.”

It’s not going to be easy to keep standing up in the face of the constant GOP beat-down on this issue. They will do everything they possibly can to make it seem crazy, illogical, and impossible to support Obama’s position on foreign affairs.  I feel like if you really think it through, it’s easy to see that Obama is looking to be more inclusive of all nations, while remaining vigilant as to the risks.  McCain, meanwhile, is more vested in the infallibility of the United States, and conducting diplomacy through the barrel of a gun.

General, Uncategorized

A Very Special "This American Life"

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I haven’t been able to listen to the show as regularly since I live in Milwaukee and don’t have a 90-minute drive a few times a week.  But I digress.

The episode from March 28 was called, “The Audacity of Government.”  What it dealt with most of all is the way that the Bush Administration has very shrewdly, very carefully, and very frighteningly reinterpreted the way that executive power can be used in the United States and how and when the Constitution applies to the president.  These are issues that are easy to overlook if you’re not directly affected by them, but they do cut to the core of what sort of democracy we want to have (and what sort President Bush has set the precedent for us to have).  In my mind, this is something that should be central to the current presidential campaign, because of some of the power seized by Bush isn’t returned immediately, it’s never going back, and the way that we govern ourselves will have been fundamentally changed.

Anyway, I get my TAL via podcast, but for now, you’ll need to stream this episode over the web.  I HIGHLY reccommend doing so.  This was one of the best ones I’ve ever heard.

General, Uncategorized

It Would Be So Groovy Now

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So Howard Dean is lamenting the state of affairs in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, while Mitt Romney is showing John McCain around Utah.

I think Dean’s concerns about the contest between Obama and Clinton are valid–no matter how much broad-based appeal a candidate may or may not have, the core of your party has to be behind you. I have to admit, I don’t classify myself a Democrat, even though I’m an Obama supporter. If Hillary wins the nomination, I don’t know if I’d vote for her. I might end up voting for a 3rd party candidate in that case, who knows?  Meanwhile, I’d say that Chris Dodd is freaking out a bit early.

Obama was right– this is a long, tough road.  I hope the best candidate emerges on the other side with a legitimate chance at victory in November.

General, Uncategorized

Tommy's Done Already??!??!

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But the primaries haven’t even started yet! I was really looking forward to the former governor making himself look like a jackass a few more times in public before this was all said and done. Apparently, TT was done back in mid-August, but, like every other moment in his campaign, I didn’t even notice.

Ah, well… it was a ridiculous, abysmal run.

General, Uncategorized

RU-DY! RU-DY! RU-DY!!

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Giuliani says, “I promise you, we can end illegal immigration.”

Yeah, I know I’m too young to be jaded (I’ve heard that a lot), but I’m reeeeeeeeeeal wary of candidates promising anything. At the very least, things that they obviously have no business promising.

It makes participation in the democratic process somewhat frustrating.