It's becoming very clear that Republicans are going to have to fight an uphill battle in 2008 to win. The war.. the complete and total feeling that America is tired with Bush.. Hillary seems to be on fire, and now, today, the final hope that the GOP had to create excitement said it won't happen: Newt Gingrich said he will not run since he can't run his own orgnization at the same time running for president.
But the other night, the Republican party did a lot to solidify its chance to lose in 2008. The top "teir" candidates refused to show up at a televised debate on African American issues.
Not only complete stupidity, but also something that may become detrimental to closing off a huge segment of voters before they even get to talk to them.
Nice work, McCain.. Good job, Guiliani.. Go back to sleep, Thompson..
The most aggravating part of this is the fact that the media refuses to pay attention to Huckabee, Paul, and Hunter. Also, too, the media has hardly even reported that Alan Keyes is also in the running..
While the top tier debates the bottom tier actually speaks their mind and what they feel is the truth..
American campaigns just ain't what they used to be, I suppose.
A few snapshots of the debate the other night (since the media won't report what the candidates that showed said, instead focusing on who was not there): Ron Paul on race issues..
I didn't get to see the debate that night, but searched online for clips or stories about it for days. The only thing I could find--until having some extra time today to You Tube it--were stories about Rudy and company not showing.
The media really needs to do a better job.
You know what.. nah. They don't. We can do it ourselves.
Her column this week was perfect.. Her point, be a real person and listen to people that don't agree with you..
My favorite section:
"Domestically, the Democratic presidential candidates appear only before supportive groups. They don't speak to antitax groups and talk about their own assumptions regarding tax policy. They don't go to traditional values groups. It's all very controlled. And it's unworthy of a great nation. When people say the campaign feels artificial, that's what they mean. It's not John Edwards's hairspray or Hillary Clinton's makeup. It's that they give every sign of being afraid to speak and listen to those who haven't been patted down by thought-cops for unacceptable views.
The Republicans are the same. An invitation to debate on Univision, the Spanish-language network? They have scheduling conflicts. What about the Log Cabin Republicans? No time right now.
How unserious.
If you, candidate A, have clear and serious reasons for desiring the wave of millions a year illegally over the border to stop, you should be able to talk to Hispanic groups and audiences about it. You go straight to them and appeal to their patriotism, fairness and common sense. Why? Because they're patriotic and fair and have common sense. It is a compliment to show you know this. "
I was in New York City this past week.. went to see Ground Zero again. Each time there it looks different.
Last that I went with a group of people there was more that made it look disastrous.. It looked like a terror strike happened there. It looked like thousands of people had died there. There were memorial paintings done by children positioned on the walls around.
Those paintings are gone now..
Also gone is the silence that people have when they walk there. The grand real estate venture has begun..
It's not wrong to rebuild. I never thought it was wrong to rebuild. I actually liked one of the original ideas of making the building look like the middle finger--liked it until I thought only that it would be an immature response to 9/11 and the wrong design for the building.
While I don't attack any plans to rebuild and move forward, it's beginning to get troubling that the attack on America seems to be ancient history.. and fact that bulldozers and backhoes move dirt from here to there at Ground Zero also help no one remember what did happen there and why it was meaningful.
It's noisy there. No time to contemplate. Ground Zero has become another example of the fast-pased life of New York. The construction zone looks no different than any other real estate site venture project within the city boundaries..
But thousands still died there. The course of history was forever changed because of what happened there.
I just hope that somehow in this whole rebuilding project, something is done to truly remind people of what happened there... something that doesn't include just a lousy placard or bronzed wall hanging, but something meaningful and real.
All the news unfit to print for Monday, September 24, 2007
Mahmoud in America
It was more like a bad comedy act than a fearful Iranian dictator addressing Columbia University.. the part of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech about how there are no gay people in Iran was more like a scene from BORAT..
Jena is in crisis and chaos. Six black teens charged with murder after a fight ...
The charges later considered too harsh--and racist--as white kids didn't get the same treatment.
And so it goes, and so it went. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson even showed up and put Jena on the map of the mainstream media--though the story has been boiling over online for a little longer of a time before CNN showed up on scene.
This week, a large protest in Jena, Louisiana, to show they support the "Jena 6"..
So what happened?
For those that don't know, it all began under a tree. A tree was a "whites only" sitting ground. Black kids sat there. Fights unfolded, and finally, nooses showed up on the tree as a message to blacks to stay away. After 6 black teens beat 1 white teen up, those Jena 6, as they are now known, were charged with attempted murder.
After the protest last week, a bus station of leaving protesters had one more brush with racism. A white teen was driving his pick up truck around the black protesters .. the truck with a noose dragging behind it.
And so it goes.
Decades after black Americans gained civil liberties .. the right to vote .. the right to live their lives, we are faced with the prospect that a whole new generation not only forgets the tragic history of certain races in this country, but also doesn't realize how vastly idiotic and moronic their racist positions are viewed. Maybe it doesn't matter. They'll keep pasting their Confederate flag banners to their pickup trucks not even realizing what the flag means.
The issue of race is America is alive and well, no matter how many people wish to ignore it.
Race. Poverty. Inequality.
There are certain states, certain areas, and certain towns like Jena that seemingly have become embroiled in fight that should have taken place thirty years ago, but instead intensifies now. In the 21st century.
Weren't we supposed to be over this by now?
Take the Jena 6 out of the equation for a bit. The argument over race is still there. Whites still have their KKK, blacks still have their Nation of Islam. It's not pretty..
And the saddest of all is that the vast minority of America are still stuck in their golden age of racism.. while the rest of us have moved on. Not that it matters. The vocal minority of America will still fight this out and bring us all down.
The world is watching us right now.. America is fighting wars abroad, but the war is raging at home. The silent war. What do races really think of each other? Are we heading for a racial meltdown? Or is this just a small asterisk in the history of race relations? Even those small astericks get larger over time.
And if there is still racism, what is causing it. Why do so many people live in their deep South past ? Pride of their heritage maybe. But 100 years after a Civil War that divided a nation in half over issues of trade, the economy, and slavery, perhaps it's time to, well, maybe, move on?
Prayers for Jena, today. Prayers for us all. It's time to move on .. live as a nation .. for once and for all.
All the news unfit to print for Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Fall is upon us
...my favorite season begins Sunday. But it feels more like my least favorite.. Summer heat is hanging on..
For those who say "it's bound to get cold" and snow soon---you're probably wrong this year. Each and every forecast I see and trust has warmth begin with the Eastern United States for a long time.. definitely through October.. November. Into the winter. Expect little snow/little chill.
Those Cherry Blossoms bloomed in New York in January last year. Maybe this year, too.
All the news unfit to print for Sunday, September 16, 2007
Greenspan rocks White House: Iraq was about oil!
The "elder statesman" Alan Greenspan: "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
All the news unfit to print for Saturday, September 15, 2007
Old time will soon by dyin'
Time is quickly vanishing..
The fall is racing in. Expect more days of heat in the upcoming weeks, but in the end, as daylight quick fades and
the old time that still is a-flying tomorrow will be dying..
This is the final weekend of summer 2007.. It's done. Over. Kaput. Enjoy it. Get outside
and stop reading this blog. Stop downloading music. Turn off the iPod and iPhone and iLife. Enjoy YourLife. 2007 almost 08. And those candidates are warming
their mouths up. So enjoy the sun and breeze while you're able to. That old time will soon by dying.
The suggestion from Johnson has not gone unnoticed by national media.. He has created a bit of controversy with his suggestion that each "volunteer" give 3 hours of a day for at least 90 days..
The dark grimy city that could be is not plagued with prostitution and drug use, gun crime and a generation of youths that are joining gangs ..
Wealthy geeks in liberal land turn out for Ron Paul.. The Doctor was in the house to present his vision for America--an America with little to no government departments, no war, no universal health care, school loans, and again, no war..
The presentation that Paul gives to campaign audiences is amazing.. He has so far been able to draw in one of the most unique varieties of people that any candidate may have ever.. Conspiracy theorists, anti war Democrats and Republicans, pro labor candidates, anti trade Republicans, pro gun conservatives.. anti government moderates.
Why can't these geeks and freaks, the media asserts, support the real candidates like Hillary and Rudy?
The media should also wonder why the geeks and freaks of America don't pay much attention to them anymore, too. The Net life has rocked the world... but maybe not yet enough to give credence to a Doctor Paul candidacy. In time....
PHOTO: AP Photo/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Andy Rogers
All the news unfit to print for Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The lights are back.. making us remember.. But can we remember so much that we forgot..? Do we know how we felt anymore? Did our convictions like living life to the fullest go astray? Did we fight the wrong war? ...Will the construction of a new building forever conceal and cover our memories of that horrible day...? Is the flag still proudly flying? Are we all still proud? The thought post-911--back in those sad dark and grim days in the post event--was that life was short and America would wake up to a new set of pride and bravery.. It was short lived. Six years ago...six years ago right now.. we were all six years younger and six years less wise. But also six years without the feeling of hopelessness in government. America, still the beauiful. But just a little but forgetful.
September 11, 2007. Another Tuesday in September. ... six years later.
All the news unfit to print for Sunday, September 9, 2007
Lights... camera.. Britney.. Turn off the TV
The cameras went crazy.. the viewers looked on. Will she be fat/ Will she fall/ will she really, REALLY, sing?
She kept her stance grounded. She appeared shaky, but she didn't fall. She looked good again--though various news outlets tonight are still calling her "Fat".. And no, those lips (on her face) just didn't match up to the words..
Gimme Gimme..
How about you don't!
If this is the state of American music in the 21st century, lets go back to the 20th!
Britney Spears made her dramatic re-appearance on MTV tonight during the MTV music awards.. It may have been the only best way to open the show, because as the show continued, viewers most likely became confused and weary of the computer voiced and plain uncomfortably bad awards show..
It feels like 1999 again.. the more things change the more they stay exactly like they were.. Britney... you're looking ok again. No matter what Sarah Silverman had to say.. But sing. Please. Maybe we can finally hear how your voice sounds live..
The state of music--and quite possibly pop culture--in 2007...
The new rambling video released of Osama bin Laden features a lecture about taxes, Islam, global warming, and even the mortgage meltdown in the United States..
While there was no outward threat of a new terror attack in the United States, the video boogeyman that makes his appearance every now and then is coming at us with a whole new, young look..
As though the whole past 6 years never happened.. Goodbye old gray mare, you AREwhat you used to be!
All the news unfit to print for Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The bride's best friend makes its winter prediction
It seems to be the most popular thing to do once fall begins: Look forward to how much snow is coming this winter. Everyone does it. Those who like the snow relish in it.. those who dislike it have some weird obsession with snow, too.. They relish in the misery that winter can bring..
Hurricane season heating up.. so far the United States has escaped the dangerous path of these storms.. the latest now is Felix, which is expcted to track to the Yucatan..
offensive .. IGN goes on to say, ""bitch" seems to be the pseudonym du jour for almost all of the film's female characters".. More than a few reviews
paying attention to the quick deaths of male characters while Zombie brutally has female actresses slashed in his re-imagining.. One scene involves a full
frontal nude scene of blood and gore... BOX OFFICE BUTCHERED: ZOMBIE'S 'HALLOWEEN' WITH BETTER THAN EXPECTED OPENING
Random rakings
Jena is in crisis and chaos. Six black teens charged with murder after a fight ... 
