Information Blast: Chocolate Rain

As Chocolate Rain begins to catch on with the tragically unhip (read: those with real lives), I'm left with administrative notes. First, this is going to be the only post of the night. I plan on doing something non-digital with my day, so not posting will have to be a component of such a process. Additionally, there was a Democratic debate last night. You might be saying to yourself with exasperation that there was one on Monday. And, yes, there was one on Monday. But, there was also one last night. I'm going to do a more thorough analysis of it on Saturday because it was not a regular debate. The candidates were brought out one by one and asked questions about LGBT issues. Additionally, there were no time limits and inquisitors had full range to ask follow up questions when they thought an answer was particularly shady or unsatisfactory. Such candor is greatly appreciated from this observer, enough so to give the debate a full post of analysis instead of passing the buck. I think that's everything. Let's get this!

• Slate believes Al Pacino mocks Al Pacino. After thinking about it, they're right.
• If you have heard the term assclown or asshat and not known what it means, this should be a fairly concrete example.
• When I first read this, I was, like, awesome, parents are taking an interest in raising their kids right. Then I realized, the parents will beat them if they don't exercise.
• Totally dope stop-motion video done with Polaroids.
• Giuliani, like Charlie Murphy, suffers from delusions of grandeur.
• Bill Richardson needs to stop putting his foot in his mouth.
• I thought coke use at work stopped after the 1987 crash. Guess I was wrong.

In a rare moment of sympathy on this blog, Oh Stewardess tips a wing to Rick Ankiel. For those unfamiliar, Rick Ankiel used to be a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. A few years back, Ankiel lost all control of his pitches. Unfortunately for him, this loss was all over television and SportsCenter for days. It lead to Ankiel's departure from Baseball. After a few more attempts at pitching, Ankiel proceeded to switch to the outfield. After toiling away and becoming good at his craft, Ankiel got promoted to the major leagues. And, in his first game back after such haunting memories, he hits a three-run blast and helps to win the game for the Cardinals. Whether you are into sports or not, the success of anyone who has seen their life collapse is always impressive. This story is just as impressive as Judy Garland redeeming her rightful place in American history as one of its best performers and actresses. So, to this end, I give a salute to Ankiel and a friendly reminder to Jessica Biel to show her what can happen when you go to the lab instead of complain.

And, if this weren't all enough, here is a video from Black Moon for How Many Emcees from 1994.



Now, I'm out.

LNS: Cooking Is NOT a Bloodsport

So, before I cooked dinner, I had to move my car to a different spot. Anyway, this was a pretty routine affair. I started cooking and the next thing I know, my foot is covered in blood. And I do mean covered. It was a lot of blood. It might make someone faint. But, seeing as I laughed when I destroyed my front teeth (I have cosigners on this one), it didn't really faze me. It did put me behind in my cooking project by about ten minutes as I had to cook all of the vegetables separately for the primavera recipe. It was really good. If you need a pasta primavera recipe, email me. And, don't worry. I practice high standards of health safety in my kitchen. No one will get sick.

Anyway, I'm going to leave on a video because I need to take a shower and re-bandage. The video is for Close To You by Maxi Priest. It was going to be Set Adrift on Memory Bliss by PM Dawn, but, when I got close to posting it, I realized that I was essentially posting true by Spandau Ballet, which I did not want to do. So, Maxi Priest it is.



I have a rant for Fantasy Football Drafters who do it in person tomorrow, but that will have to wait. If you need a preview, it will include probably about 75% Derision. Maybe less. Anyway, that is the night. Peace.

News, You Disappoint Me: A Very Special Information Blast

Firstly, I have to apologize. I was busy buying groceries and trying to get my teapot to work as a sandwich press (which it did until the last sandwich), so blogging got put to the back burner for a while. This time was used effectively as I realized that basil mayonnaise is the best herb mayonnaise ever. Anyway, my love for basil aside, the news is disappointing because nothing really has raised my ire or required my attention. Bush talked, but I have an item talking about him. Nothing else is really going down. I also spent that spare time today that I wasn't blogging discovering the absurdity that is the food blogging culture. It's sort of strange and a bit intense. It's almost more intense than politics blogging. Go to Slashfood.com and you'll understand what I'm getting at. Anyway, let's do this nighttime wrap up. Bam!

• Barry Bonds is the asterisked home-run king of America. But, he is not the world champion. The world champion is Sadaharu Oh. He has hit 868 home runs. Eat it, Bonds!
• Maybe you will stop getting emails about transferring money for Nigerians to Swiss bank accounts.
• Hurricane, WV has a goose problem. So, when most people have a goose problem, they do what is most sensible. For Hurricane, that is shooting them.
• This guy would have benefitted from a note saying this is a work of fiction.
• Women have decided that starvation is overrated. I would agree as a woman who eats red meat is really, inexplicably hot. I can't explain it. I only know it's true.
  
• I fully support this union.
• Good News: Baltimore declares today Frank Zappa Day. Bad News: Zappa Day is desecrated by Dweezil Zappa playing.
• Ellen Pompeo says that young celebs are setting a bad example. While this may be true, isn't she also setting a bad example by making us believe that she has talent?
• S. Carolina has switched its primary. Because of the early election cycle, people in Iowa probably will have to vote this year for their presidential candidate. THANKS FOR NOTHING, MAINSTREAM MEDIA. Assholes.
• American cars are no longer pieces of crap! Huzzah! Wait, didn't one of them just get recalled for a cruise control problem? Oh yeah...right. Scratch that first sentence.
  
• Why FISA is bad. No need to snark; this is purely informational.
• A friendly reminder that Bush doesn't exist in the real world.

I've got one more post in me, but I've got to put dinner on.

President Bush on Grammar

My view all along has been the more simple the code, the better.

- Presidential Press Conference, August 9, 2007

I guess Bush missed that English class on comparatives where you learn that more simple isn't real. And I'm supposed to respect him why?

LNS: A Few Words on T-Pain

So, I woke up hungover last Saturday morning. Hungry as I was, I took a Goody's (note: if you have hangovers or any real pain, buy a box of Goody's now. It works better than Advil, Tylenol, Bayer, all that shit. Goody's is the realness. You cats in the North might not be able to find it in stores, but it's readily available on the Internet. 5 for 50 powders. Bam!), put on a pair of pants, and did what anyone with a hangover would do: go to a pancake breakfast fundraiser for the high school soccer team in Charles Town. The pancakes left my mouth so dry a tall glass of water did not quench my thirst. But, this post is not about pancakes, it's about music.

So, while we were going to the fundraiser, I heard this song from this dude named T-Pain. If you don't know who T-Pain is, I'm going to try to explain him if you haven't heard of him before, which means that you don't watch TV or listen to the radio. I'm with you there, but I get unlucky from time to time. Anyway, T-Pain is like recent Cher (think Believe) but with snaps. The vocoder lead is done over a 3/4 snap beat. T-Pain also has a fixation on the club. His first song was about being in love with a stripper. His second song was about meeting a girl at the club and buying her a drink. If you thought his club fixation could not go on any longer, you'd be wrong.



This is the video for Bartender. Can you guess the premise of this video? Can you? Anyway, I only have one request for T-Pain. The snap thing's alright. That shit's kind of catchy. It's ruining hip-hop, but whatever. Anyway, T-Pain, I need to talk to you, mano e mano. T-Pain, I think you need to leave the club. I know you're trying to pick up girls and all that. But, you can meet girls at the swap meet, the movies, the diner, the late night spot, pretty much anywhere that's not a club. Can you work on that for me? Can you make a song about not picking up a girl in the club or about being fixated on a girl in the club? If you could, that would be great. Thanks a bunch, T-Pain!

LNS: Morsels of Information

As this day ends, I leave you with a couple gems of new that I found today. While the next piece is sad, it is also morbidly hilarious. Time wrote an article about a possible ban of psychedelic mushrooms in that bastion of Liberalism Amsterdam. The part that is sad yet strangely hilarious is this. I should note, this is the first sentence in the article:

When Amsterdam police found a disoriented French tourist in his van last month with his slain dog beside him, he told them he had wanted to free the animal's mind.

Yes, he thought the dog was being too square and needed to expand its mind. I can't help but laugh at this. But, I think that's because I found myself while listening to Three 6 Mafia on psychedelic mushrooms. So, I understand where he is coming from in a way although I don't think I would have killed my dog on the other hand.

Also, there has been a lot of discussion of President Bush today doing generally dumb things. For example, the economy is pretty much in the crapper. I don't really care what he says about the economy. The current economy has devalued real wages an left our future in the hands of those communists in China. No seriously. As I posted in the Information Blast, China actually does own us and our future. But, anyway, Bush is now saying that he hates children. The issue is S-Chip, a system which provides health insurance for children whose parents make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance, the bastard system that leaves us all in the cold. This is one of the most popular health insurance plans right now in the country, which has been very effective.

But, Bush is going to veto this program because the Dems want to expand it to actually cover all of the kids in America. I know that he doesn't like government, but Bush is not a good conservative. He does not run a small government. He spends excessively. And he has an economic policy that Ronald Reagan wouldn't even approve of. With his bad history, he might as well do something that will make him marginally popular in America like passing this spending increase on a totally useful program like this one. Now, I'm not one to say what Bush can and cannot do. But, I am saying that Bush is an idiot who will be only be adding to his legacy of being a president worse than Buchanan if he doesn't sign this bill into law.

My Cat Is Creepy

Quickest cat blog ever because I refuse to become a creepy blogger who blogs about their cats all of the time. My cat sits to my left and stares at me for hours. It creeps me out. Done.

Self-Loathing or So Genius It Hurts?

A day or two ago, I thought about women's programming. Strange, I know. But, I've been thinking about typecasting in programming. I know all about this from watching way too much ESPN Classic, which is a channel that is dedicated to all things male. This maleness is personified in such programming as Rodeos, continual boxing (I love boxing, but I'm also a man), and old sports programming such as vintage Basketball and American Gladiators. There is also Spike, but I don't really watch it. But, it's another men's channel. But, I'm not explaining my project.

Women's programming, as I have seen it, revolves around esteem-destroying programming and denigration of fellow women. That seems wrong. I don't know what it is, but I feel like that is counterproductive. Also, the programming on these channels is really questionable. Some of it is good like A Different World, Living Single, and Xena: Warrior Princess on Oxygen and The Golden Girls and Frazier on Lifetime. But, the bulk of this is terrible.

Now, before any haters say, of course you wouldn't like the programming, it's meant for women. That's where you would be wrong. I've watched a ton of women's programming and actually like a good bit of it. A good television show is a good television show. I'm convinced that there is something more insidious in this whole project of women's programming. I know that women control it, but it has this feeling that men are setting it up and feeding women what they think they would like as they did in the 1950s.

I'm going to undergo a social experiment. I'm going to subject myself to full days of the women oriented channels. This includes: E!, Style Channel, Oxygen, Women's Entertainment, and Lifetime. I'll skip over SoapNet because I can explain their demographic right now: 30-50 yo middle-class housewife. She loves her 2 kids and husband. She also probably lives in the suburbs and drives a station wagon or a SUV. She's also involved in the community and likes a good deal. She probably also reads romance novels from time to time as well. There's a good chance that she's also white, but I don't want to assume on that front. The other channels are a little cloudier. I'm going to spend some time looking at them and studying. I'll do each one by channel instead of together. This is an ongoing special project unlike 5 a day was. They won't be everyday. They will hopefully come soon, one after another. But, I wouldn't expect it. Watch out for it to start.

Information Blast: Back and Better than Ever

After a day off, it's time to hit the bricks once again!!!!

• So, it seems that the whole tragedy in Minneapolis could have been averted if the government had come up off that money.
• They only call DaMarcus Beasley a monkey because he is the hardcore, unadulterated shit. On the realness though, this racism shit needs to stop in soccer; it's unacceptable. Also, look, it's an American playing legitimate soccer. Take that, MLS!
• Young Republican is caught up in a sex scandal. A gay sex scandal. I guess snoring doesn't give consent for a blowjob.
• I guess getting your boobs to obstruct your feet really doesn't increase your self-confidence.
• Dying Guy: Let me test drugs that could save my life. I'm already dying anyway. If they kill me, it's whatever. FDA and Appeals Court: No, fuck that shit.
  
• I watched the old guy cry about not being able to care for his wife after working for 34 years, but I also saw that online. I didn't have the intestinal fortitude or requisite boredom to watch the debate myself. Steve Benen watched it, so I didn't have to.
• A check-in on the CIA and those "enhanced interrogation methods". By the way, that's the best euphemism for torture ever.
• In case you forgot, China owns America. And, I wish I was being facetious.
• MTV announced its Video Music Awards nominees. MTV assumes that people still watch MTV.
• Team America: FUCK YEAH!!!
• This video and this video are hot in America right now. For all y'all that didn't watch Bamboozled, The Jazz Singer, or don't read books, these guys are what minstrels look like now. Too many crackheads tried to freebase the cork.
  
• Mitt Romney can't keep his foot out of his mouth.
• JT LeRoy is broke. Oh wait, not JT LeRoy. He's not real; let's correct that statement. The woman whose nom de plume was JT LeRoy is broke. Wait, what's that? That's me still not caring.
• More doping scandal news involving the winner of the Tour de France Alberto Contador. At least he didn't pull a Landis.
• E! gives out television shows like weed at a Wu-Tang concert. Even Kim Kardashian can get one. I didn't know that get nailed on camera by Ray J counted as acting and showing off your ass implants to the paps as modeling.
• The following two are for the true sadists out there amongst my readers. First, a series of stories on America's Train Wreck Britney Spears. The second is a 50 Cent video with Justin Timberlake.

I'm out the funk now. Let's get it!

Barry Bonds

So, in case you live under a rock, Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run of his career. With this homer, Bonds broke the record previously held by one of the all-time greats: Henry "Hank" Aaron. A lot of people are happy about Bonds breaking the record because he is a fantastic baseball player. And, to a degree, I wouldn't disagree. Bonds in his first decade as a pro was a 30-30 guy. You could count on him to hit around .300, steal thirty bases, and hit thirty dingers. But, then he started juicing (allegedly) and his production amplified in an unnatural way.

This (alleged) juicing carried on for about 6-7 years. Anyway, all of it culminated in him hitting this home run yesterday. To sort of cap this all up because I don't really care about this issue but felt I should comment, Bonds is not at fault for this being a tainted record. He did what was within his rights as an athlete to be the best athlete in his game. That meant that Bonds went on the juice, which has been admitted in a book on this issue called Game of Shadows.

While the evidence overwhelmingly points towards cheating, Bonds shouldn't be faulted for this; Bud Selig, commissioner of the game, should be. He knew it was happening, but Selig allowed it to happen anyway. Anyone with half a mind could look at Mark McGuire from his Bash Bros. days out in Oakland to the end of his career in St. Louis and clearly tell that the dude was on the juice. Same for Canseco. It's not like it was subtle; they grew in nasty large ways. This was all under Selig's watch.

But, these men were not stopped. Bonds only took advantage of a system. But, am I happy for Bonds? Not at all. This chase has been going on for over two months. Everyday I try to watch SportsCenter, they are talking about Bonds and the record. Then when he broke the record, I just didn't care. I think that Bonds cheated, and I don't applaud cheaters. Cutting corners? Fine. Flat-out cheating? No dice.

Regardless of what I feel, he is now the full-fledged king of the dinger. But, I know that this is only temporary as Griffey's only about 4 or 5 seasons away from catching up, 4 or 5 seasons that he can play all the way through. A-Rod is less than 10 years away depending upon when Bonds retires, which will be soon. And, I'd much rather have either of them hold the record than Bonds. Personally, I want Griffey to become the home run king, but that's because I grew up watching Griffey make circus catches out in the deep Kingdome center field. But, A-Rod is much more likely as he is only 32 and has at least 10 more years to play.

BTW

The girl in the front page photo is the new Miss Berkeley County Youth Fair. Below the fold is a dude grinding on his tractor. TRACTOR PULLING, PUNKS! What you know about that? Actually, I know nothing about that at all as I haven't gone to this fair at all. Also, if you are in the area (within an hour and a half driving, which is all of you in D.C.), you should contact me and come out for the two days of demolition derbies involved with this fair.

Straight From the Journal Junction

The pictures are only to prove that I'm not making this shit up. But, I wouldn't make up something this patently absurd. For the record, I live in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia where there seem to be a lot of meth labs. I think this is the last place a terrorist would be, but my personal feelings aside. I ripped this one straight from the newspaper's (The Martinsburg Journal) call-in section called the Journal Junction.

I'm going to skip over the article about making bike riders get a license and the request for aid in eradicating a bat. The real gem is this one from a caller in Berkeley County:

Has any thought been given to the possibility that sleeper cells of al-Qaeda could use the features, such as Journal Junction, to communicate with each other through coded messages?

Aside from being a grammatical nightmare, the sheer point is ludicrous. Unless this sleeper cell is primarily white, I don't think that they will be using the Journal Junction to get things done. Also, seeing as they can't even bust up all the meth labs, I'm fairly confident that the cops won't find a sleeper cell for al-Qaeda even if they hung out at the Waffle House on Foxcroft Ave.

If the submitter is trying to suggest that there are Muslim extremists in the area, I would ask, um, where? I don't think that I've seen an Arabic person in the whole time that I've lived here. I live across the street from some Indian cats, but I doubt that they are a terrorist cell. If they are, they've clearly put their priorities in the wrong place. Also, don't these guys normally plan stuff in places where they can gain a lot of information and have those things that are important. Oh right, targets. Yea, that's it. I mean, they can hit the house of Confederate Generals and a Confederate spy in Martinsburg, but that's no skin off my back. Hell, blast away. Fuckers tried to keep me enslaved and fought a war to do it.

Another Sign To Stop

Aside from the gaps in logic and poor grammar I have exhibited on pretty much every comment I've left elsewhere today, I forgot to tell you that there is some interesting stuff in my del.icio.us feed for today.

Additionally, there is a Democratic presidential debate tonight. The angry Black man Mike Gravel was not invited because he apparently filed his paperwork too late. Yea, surprising, right? A labor bureaucracy complaining because a candidate filed his paperwork too late. Sounds like a regular union.

Anyway, this debate is on MSNBC and being moderated by Keith Olbermann. If all of this weren't enough, the debate is happening at SOLDIER FIELD! Soldier mothafuckin' Field. Ridiculous. Someone will have to tell me how it goes because I won't be home.

I Can't Do It

When it takes me fifteen minutes to come up with quips and I'm sidetracked easily (today, I'm reading about funk carioca, which sounds like slowed down Miami Bass with more ridiculous production and a hip-hop sensibility that Miami Bass lacks), that means things aren't going well for me. Luckily for me, nothing is really going on in the world today, so I can take some time off. Anyway, read this article from New York about how your favorites from Project Runway and Top Chef (read: Harold and Ilan) are doing. Short, and totally misleading, summary: everyone but Jay McConnell is doing pretty well. Actually, a clear sign that things aren't going well for me today, it's taken me half an hour to write this post. My point exactly.

Evening Out

I feel like my writing was kind of weak today. I felt unfocused and slightly distracted. Anyway, I'm going to even this situation out in the only way that I can: with Monty Python clips. If you aren't aware, Monty Python is the foundational sketch comedy show. If it hadn't have been for these kids, the sketch comedy shows we know and love now like The State, Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show with Bob and David, and Saturday Night Live would never have existed. Without the six python boys, generation of comedy writers would have never realized that they could write comedy jokes without punchlines or even reasonable set-ups. While the movies are good, Monty Python, for me at least, is best memorialized in the Flying Circus. I'm going to post a few of my favorite sketches from the Flying Circus.

Ministry of Silly Walks:



The Lumberjack Song:



Spam:



Dead Parrot:



There are a few more, but this will do. I think this will put me on even for the day.

How To Follow Politics

As I usually do, I was having a discussion with a friend. After discussing literature (also, par for the course), we got into a discussion about politics. As I'm an active follower of politics and my friend is not, I was trying to think about ways in which a person uninterested in politics can become interested in politics. Trying to answer this problem is a hard one because of the nature of politics at its core. Politics is an abstract field of study. In my opinion, it would be next to possible to write a book about the field and explain why people should spend their time following it and attempting to give a damn about it.

I know that there are politics people reading this who have just turned bright red and are seething with anger, so let me explain. Being interested in politics comes with the realization that one has an interest in the public welfare and issues relating to it, in particular the functioning of the government. But, this interest does not disregard those people who aren't interested in the political machinations on Capitol Hill. So, with this vagueness in play, there are not a lot of options to get people interested in politics.

The loss of Civics classes in high school can probably be seen as a way in which political disinterest can be bred within a new generation of American youth. I believe that these youth are failing to understand the nature of the American project and their role within this great experiment we call democracy. The easiest way to understand this project is to learn the documents that make up its base. Yes, that's right. Taking all of about fifteen minutes and reading the documents which make up the fine core of this nation: The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If you didn't know that these were two separate documents, you're already learning.

The reason that the basic documents of America that explain the whole of the American experience and the American political system. The only way that this knowledge can be added to is by reading the newspaper day to day. It's written simply, effectively, and neutrally. Well, it should be on that last front. But still, the newspaper is the only way in which a person can challenge society and understand the ways in which the morals of the country are being upheld or violated. It is our responsibility to stay focused on how our government is representing our interests as citizens. Following politics and the ways in which our government operates are the only ways that we can truly do this. Knowing the basics of government and reading the paper are the two ways which we, as citizens, can fulfill our duties.

Information Blast: I Hear Crickets

No, seriously. I think there are crickets outside of my window or in my house. I can hear them chirping. But, it's not too fast, so it's not too hot outside.

• Hugo Chavez is trying to be the first velvet Communist dictator. Yea, we didn't see this one coming.
• Nicolas Sarkozy is unaware of the risks that face him every time a person steps onto American soil.
• Congress proves that it is run by idiots in poorly to nicely tailored suits. So? What else is new. Oh right, how could I forget? Americans have no privacy anymore.
• 4 Black people were gunned down in Newark. It really must be a slow news day for the Mainstream Media. Must not be any white girls missing.
  
• Amanda Marcotte has a slight problem with the pick-up artist goon whose name is synonymous with Angela Lansbury: Mystery. You should have read that name with Europe playing in the background.
• Hillary Clinton went to YearlyKos. While she didn't get taken behind the tool shed, she definitely got jumped on the street corner.
• Chuck Schumer: Seeing as a bridge just fell apart in MN, let's give our renovation budget another billion to make sure this doesn't happen again. GW Bush: No dice.
• Another piece of fine asshattery from Bill Kristol.
  
• I thought Hello Kitty was supposed to be a symbol of unity, not a symbol of shame.
• When you should probably decide not to run: Rudy Giuliani's kids won't even vote for him. I won't vote for him, but I'm Black.
• Slate compares George Bush to the dialectical search for history and liberty as constructed in the political philosophy of Hegel. I think this article might be a little over Bush's head.
• Worst advertising campaign for your game show: Death.
• Just because you have a badge and a gun doesn't mean that you can't be a complete ass.
• I couldn't not take the blowjob, officer. I was surrounded by Black guys. If I didn't get this blowjob, I thought I was going to die. 110th Congress, everybody!
  
• It was true: Keith Richards did snort his dad. The memoir's still going to be worthless.
• La Vida Lohan is at Rehab Summer Camp. This way, she can't read about how everyone hates I Know Who Killed Me.

That's the blast. In case of cabin de-pressurization, air bags will not pop out of the overhead compartment.

A Final Pound

This past weekend, the 4th to be exact, Lee Hazlewood succumbed to cancer at the age of 78. Lee Hazlewood is best known for being huge in Sweden and writing one of the most popular songs of the sixties, Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Were Made For Walking". Hazlewood was also huge amongst the alternative community. I can't tell you how many versions I've heard of Some Velvet Morning, his duet with Nancy Sinatra. But, with due reason of course as it is an amazing song. As he rides out on his horse into the sunset, I say peace to Lee Hazlewood.

Gullets and Gasbags: This Week in Political Debate

So, ABC and George Stephanopolous decided to have a great idea of having a debate on a Sunday morning. But, not a regular debate. This isn't the polite pussyfooting (like that alliteration there?) of the Democrats. No false searches for Hillary's cleavage or depth in Barack's statements. Why? Because this is a Republican debate. Now, my loathing for the Republicans is probably as high as the Democrats, but, as I do with the Democrats, I will give the Republicans a chance.

So, after leaving from a captivating episode of Sunday Morning where they talked about Ferraris, New Urbanism, Origami by Robert Lang (Picture from his site), and hotel & airplane design,

I turn on this debate. Within the first minute or two, Rudy Giuliani makes a statement that doesn't make any sense about the war. I know he's all gung-ho for it. But, he should work on explaining it in a way that makes sense to the public. The only person who logically explained their rationale on the war was the man Ron Paul. Honestly, this debate sounds like a bunch of noise. A bunch of dudes talking about how they don't want to socialize healthcare, even though socialized health care has proven to be an effective means of providing health care to the public at less cost to the public.

Also, I give props to George because he totally just pinned Rudy on a statement that he made on Charlie Rose about agreeing with Barack Obama. Rudy didn't get out of it. But, Mitt Romney has to be the dumbest person ever. If the dog and the faux family meeting weren't enough, Romney fails to realize that Barack's statement about Pakistan said that attack was contingent upon the movement of Musharraf to make positive movements towards eliminating the extremist threat. Actually, I take that back, Duncan Hunter (I know, I know. I don't know who he is either) also cannot understand one of the clearest statements ever made by anyone EVER. Barack Obama is only a fancy talker when he's trying to obfuscate the point.

But, on the real, I'm kind of getting into Ron Paul from this debate. But, Rudy Giuliani is an absolute idiot. He has no foreign policy experience and his current answer is clear proof of that. Giuliani is trying to compare the Middle East to NYC while trying to make the point that law has to be exercised before elections can happen. That sounds like material for a coup. Also, John McCain just said that he would start a nuclear war if necessary. I can only hope this doesn't happen. If you would like to know why, look into the work of photographer Shomei Tomatsu, who did a haunting collection of photos following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki following WWII. It was also one of the most terrifying things that I've ever seen. It still gives me shivers to see the damage done to survivors from those events. Also, Tom Tancredo is also a complete idiot for wanting to bomb Mecca.

I'm going to go back to watching this more fully, but the rhetoric in this debate is frightening. Seriously, it scares the shit out of me. They keep making the war against Islamic extremism into a battle of civilizations instead of a battle of ideas, which this is. This conflict is a battle between democracy and Islamic extremism, ideologies not civilizations. Anyone with half a brain could tell you that. Also, they keep preaching ideas of supply-side economics, which have proven over time that they do not help everyone and usually cause more harm than good. You can look at the out-of-control spending and high deficits being run by this country currently under Bush, a supply-sider. Spend your Sunday doing something more constructive than listening to Mitt Romney talk about how Bush and Cheney are keeping us safer, even though their protection has led to the slaughter of 3000+ American troops and the elevated threat of a revitalized al-Qaida and an elevated Islamist extremist threat. Yep, that's keeping us safe. Very, very safe.