An Eerie Similarity...

Coincidence?...

R.I.P. Benazir Bhutto

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, dead at the age of 54. Despite her problems in the past, she was probably the best hope for democracy in Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif seems rather crooked, but Mrs. Bhutto seemed genuine. She seemed like a person who could have genuinely brought democracy to Pakistan. Her loss will be sorely felt.

Semi-Frequent Absurdity, 12/22 Edition

Time for another installment of "Semi-Frequent Absurdity"! On this episode, take a look at this attack ad!



"Immanuel Kant: Wrong on metaphysics. Wrong on ethics. Wrong on aesthetics. Wrong for America." Please, make at least a few jokes about the election season like this one!

Yay! It's a twofer! More Onion News!


Al Qaeda Also Fed Up With Ground Zero Construction Delays

Quickly!

I was just browsing through a few items before heading off to bed (finals tomorrow...), when I saw this post.
I would say that Ron Paul made a bit of an error, accepting that donation from Mr. Black. Why take money from a neo-Nazi? I can't say much more. Too tired. Sorry.



Maybe you noticed how Mr. Paul reacted badly to the question, at one point sounding as if he claims Don Black, the neo-Nazi, shares his views. His views on what? Jews? Bad, bad, bad.

More Democratic Debate Stuff

Sorry that I'm doing this in a rush and piecemeal, but I don't have much time until my next class, and I can't find a plain typed transcript, so I have to listen to an audio file, but here are some impressions:

 

9 minutes, 28 seconds: Billary!  If Bill did it, so can Hillary!

 

13:36: Biden sez: I can get the troops out faster than anyone else!  I'm...SuperBiden!  Duh duh duh duh DUH!  Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!

 

14:02: Biden sez, part II: The budget deficit is a vast right-wing conspiracy!  Please.  Don't try to be Ron Paul, Senator Biden.

 

14:09: Biden sez, part III: I'll cut $20 billion in unspecified "weapons systems."  My question: Which ones?  Ones in R&D, or actually deployed systems?

 

16:03: Richardson wants to increase the size of the military and keep the volunteer military!  An interesting position for a Democratic candidate in a primary debate, not that I disagree with it.

 

Senator Biden, You Should Know Better!

I'm listening to the Democrats on my computer since I can't find a transcript, and I just heard Senator Biden refer to the Nimitz-class as "destroyers." What the fuck?! He is a long-serving Senator, and he ought to know better. Click here to see what the Nimitz-class actually is.

The Republican Debate: A Little Late to Comment, Maybe?

School intervened to keep me from commenting as much as I would have liked on the Republican debate (as well as from watching the Democratic debate - ARRGGH!), but here are some observations and questions for the Republicans.

1. Alan Keyes: What the hell was he doing there? I took a look at the transcript, and he was an even bigger idiot than I had realized just reading the commentary. His solution to our bad schools: God. I am religious, but I realize that we don't need to bring religion into the schools, we just need to give them adequate funding and pay the teachers in such a way that it isn't such a "public service" to teach, and young college graduates have an actual incentive to go into teaching. Additionally, he seemed to use his time as an excuse to rail against the "ruling elites" and their "political cliques." Dr. Paul may be a maverick, but at least he isn't contradictory. Keyes wants to "restore the Constitution," but he also wants to bring religion into schools, which is unconstitutional.

2. Rudy Giuliani vs. the Law of Demand: Now, I haven't even finished my Econ class yet, but one thing that we have covered is the Law of Demand, and so one thing that did not make sense is when Mayor Giuliani said that if millions more Americans bought their own health insurance, that we'd "see the price come all the way down." Correct me if I'm wrong, but my general impression is that when demand rises, so does price. Maybe the insurance market operates in some perverse Opposite-World, but that seems slightly unlikely. Check your facts, Mayor.

3. Fred Thompson and Tax Cuts: This seems to be an attempt to make sure that people associate him with "conservatism," but Fred Thompson sees absolutely nothing wrong with the '01 and '03 tax cuts. He wants to save those poor rich people (what an oxymoron!) from the ravishing grasp of the greedy poor people who pay no taxes. To me, it makes sense to have the people who can afford to pay high taxes, pay high taxes.

4. No Sacrifice At All? Really?: Apparently, most of the Republicans think that we don't need to sacrifice anything in order to reduce our national debt. Interesting. So they'll just wave their magic wands, and the debt will vanish, just like that? But I thought that magic came from the devil...

5. Who Knows What Alan Keyes's Position is on Global Warming?: Most of all, who cares? It isn't as if he is an actual candidate. But it is irritating that he just blathered about elites taking "the people's sovereignty" without saying anything about the question that the moderator asked him. It even sounded like he was accusing the moderator of being an "elite" herself.

6. Speaking of the Moderator: I have some small criticism of Ms. Washburn. I think that she didn't control the debate quite well enough. She wasn't assertive enough in the crowd of prima donnas that is the Republican field of candidates. Maybe then we could have gotten some more stuff in the time allowed.

That's all I have for the Republican debate, and I will be back when I can get the transcript for the Democratic debate.

The Republican Debate...Snore...

Unfortunately, I couldn't watch the Republican debate, since I was in school (curse you, Economics!), but I have taken a look at some of the reports from people he did, and the fairly universal reaction seems to have been: BORING! No big hissy fits, no big gaffes, no big new positions, just a canned rehash of prior issues.

One thing really coming under criticism is the decision to allow Alan Keyes to participate in the debate, while Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich will not be in the Democratic debate tomorrow. By all accounts, Keyes is a divisive, rude jerk. Perhaps his reputation for making controversial remarks led the organizers to include him in order to maybe spark some controversy, but from what I've heard, if that were their strategy, it failed. Miserably.

One person who did seem to shine was Mike Huckabee, and his status as the new man-to-beat seems just as secure as before, coming off as a better candidate, in some ways. He said that he would be careful about what he says in the future, which is generally a good idea for politicians in general. His "first year goal" was much more realistic than Giuliani's or Romney's, as well as being more constitutional than Fred Thompson's proclamation that if Congress didn't cooperate with him, then he would just "go over [their] head[s] to the American people." If by this Mr. Thompson means that he would bypass Congress to get laws made, well, there is a reason that Congress is part of the legislative branch, from the Latin word for law, Mr Thompson. Congress makes the laws. Not the president. And there are no ballot initiatives for the whole nation.

In a word, stultifying.

Semi-Frequent Absurdity, 12/11 Edition

I plan to, every so often, go off on tangents to highlight something absurd. It's a nice little diversion. Today's edition of Semi-Frequent Absurdity showcases this video from the "Onion News Network."

DANGER! Don't take this too seriously! If you have no sense of humor, you would be best served to just skip this post, and wallow in your hopeless lack of humor.


Poll: Mitt Romney Is Candidate Most Voters Want To Get Into Bar Fight With

Speaking of Gravel...

Since no one else is, I will, if only enough to show you what is apparently his latest ad. Maybe you can make some sense of it, because I certainly couldn't. If you find some hidden meaning, please let me know.



And here's another ad that doesn't make sense, either. I thought the purpose of a political ad was to convince someone to vote for you (or else to not vote for an opponent). This...something like half of it is Mr. Gravel staring at the camera, and most of the rest is him walking away. Huh? The only thing these two ads have accomplished is to convince me that Mikey needs a new ad director.

U.S. Hearts Huckabee

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister, has come from behind in a big surprise to take the lead in Iowa and South Carolina from Romney. In the national polls, he is breathing down Giuliani's neck.

I watched him at the Republican YouTube debate, and he came across as a very nice person. His answer to the question about the Log Cabin Republicans was particularly good; when it would have been easy to rant about homosexuals, he said, "Well, I might not agree with them on everything, but I would accept their support." It is nice to see someone on the Republican side at least giving a semblance of tolerance. And this is the ordained Baptist minister that is saying this, while Romney and Giuliani distance themselves from their prior comments on homosexuals!

Also, his ad with Chuck Norris...I love it! If you haven't seen it, take a look below. A nice refreshing break from negative ads, and way better than Gravel's nonsensical ads. Take a look:



I think that of all the Republicans in the field, I would object the least to Mike Huckabee, since he seems to have the best sense of humor.

When Paulians Attack!

Just to get the ball rolling:
One thing about Ron Paul that troubles me:

His supporters: Most of all, these people trouble me about Ron Paul. They are ill-tempered, rude, disdainful of other views, and far too smug and self-righteous. Don't get me wrong, I think the man himself has the guts to stick to his position. But I worry about the people who are gravitating towards him. A great many of them seem to view Mr. Paul as nothing less than God made flesh, and he can't possibly be wrong. This loses sight of the fact that he is only human, not immune to human mistakes and troubles, and that criticism of him may be valid. I am deeply afraid that if Ron Paul came from behind to win the Republican nomination, and then the presidency, that we would end up a country less able to compromise, and eight years of that has been quite enough for me, at least.

To see an example of his supporters' handiwork, you could click here. Or here. Or here. Heck, you don't even have to click these links. Just search for "Ron Paul" on any blog that allows comments (or pretty much any newspaper), and I can pretty much guarantee that unless it says only nice things about Ron Paul, there will be some nasty comments.

Feet First

I will be the first to admit that I have never blogged before. Who cares? There has to be a first time for everything.
I don't like how many blogs and bloggers tend to the extremes, whether left (more frequently) or right. I honestly feel that moderates, who make up the bulk of the population of the United States, are underrepresented in the blogosphere. That is why I'm blogging. Because I feel that I have to.