it’s scary watching some of these mccain/palin rallies and so much of the republican base is a scary set of folks. all the time people yell out “kill him” and call him a terrorist. thankfully the secret service actually looks into people that scream out threats, but its appalling how ignorant some of these people are.

here’s a few clips of a mccain rally yesterday, where he has some decent remarks to keep his insane audience at bay. while i’m voting for obama, it’s refreshing to see this side of mccain.

With all of the blogging I do on this site and others, I occasionally fancy myself a writer. I then read an article like this one from the New Yorker and get put the F back in my place.

It was no big surprise that the New Yorker endorsed Obama for President, being a publication that usually leans to the left, but the writeup of why they are endorsing Obama over McCain is an excellent analysis of the important issues of this election. It’s a pretty long read, but very well written and I recommend it to everyone who plans on voting for the next US President, 29 days from today.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/13/081013taco_talk_editors

i’m not exactly sure why i’m conservative on many of the issues that i am, seeing that my parents were hippies and most of my friends are liberals. i think a lot of it was just to argue with them, to stand out by having a different view than most of my peers, i always thought alex p. keaton was cool. i voted for george bush in 2000 and 2004. for the most part, i thought invading iraq looking for wmds was a good idea. i listened to and believed the rhetoric of the republicans and even though my own values differed with many of their core values, for some reason i went along with them, for too long.

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hillary clinton finally “suspended” her bid for the presidency this morning, in a rather eloquent speech where she unambiguously threw her full support behind the democratic nominee, barack obama. i was surprised at how her concession speech made me dislike her quite a bit less, and not out of pity but more from respect for what she accomplished, particularly in “cracking” the glass ceiling for women politicians. this democratic primary was going to be historical either way and while i am pleased with obama having becoming the democratic nominee, my hat’s off to her for a hard-run race, and now trying to bring unity to the democratic party.

i’m somewhat indifferent on whether or not she becomes obama’s running mate. i think it could bring over lots of hillary supporters, but i think it could also make the democrats seem hypocritical since the race was so heated at times, i imagine that many would find it unbelievable that they could work well together. obama/? ‘08!

it’s funny and all, but what if she doesn’t become president and is gone and forgotten in 6 months?

man, i’m so sick of this democratic primary. at this point i really have no idea what’s going to happen, or what the fallout of any result might be. most people are tired of the current bush administration, and john mccain seems to be just an extension of that, but by the time hillary and obama are done beating each other up, it seems likely he will win this presidency.

personally, i can’t stand hillary. i think she is a monster and washington politics as usual. she wants to win so badly that she’s willing to put her own glory before the good of the democratic party by running a negative campaign, and likely fighting this primary to the bitter end. i, like most people, am also just ready for a change. there’s been either a bush or a clinton in the white house for the last 19 years, and with bill as ‘first husband’, i don’t expect any fewer scandals or unethical shenanigans.

the speaches i’ve heard from barrack obama have been inspirational. while now quite cliche, i really do feel that he could bring about a good deal of change that this country needs. his plans and policies make sense, and are all quite similar as his rival. while having slightly less experience than hillary, he’s also that much less poisoned by the corruption and questionable ethics that are the clintons. obama has brought out hundreds of thousands of new (primarily black and young (not necessarily both black and young)) voters. but if barrack loses, it seems unlikely that all of those votes would necessarily go directly to hillary. from different political blogs i’ve read and random water cooler talk, the two camps seem to despise each other, and short of being on the same ticket (which hillary has hinted at but with obama as the #2) which isn’t likely to happen, i’m guessing mccain is going to win.

i don’t particularly like mccain. he’s a racist, a war monger and republican politics as usual. he’ll keep us in iraq, he’ll bomb iran and god knows what else. however for me, and i imagine quite a few others, i’d vote for him over hillary. mccain, while being an old nut, that probably wakes up in cold sweats every night imagining he’s still in ‘nam, is the ultimate patriot, and isn’t as likely to sell-out the country or its interests for profit or fame. i don’t agree with him on many issues, but i’d prefer him over hillary if she was the alternative.

so i have no idea what the democrats do from here. mccain is just hanging out, reading the paper every day, while hillary supporters and obama supporters become more affiliated with their candidate than with their party. and when a nominee is finally figured out, however that happens, i really don’t think that it will be too amicable and the democratic party is going to have a hell of a time bringing the previously-opposing camps back together again.

the digg community and other popular online forums seem to really be behind barack obama and despise the hillary. it’s interesting that in this day and age the online community actually has a bit of influence over elections, by being able to disseminate information and debunk misinformation very quickly.

today, in honor of president lincoln’s birthday (wasn’t lincoln a republican? although he did free the slaves, is that the reference??), digg and other’s are promoting a “money bomb” of $5.01 (lincoln is on the five dollar bill and the one cent coin) to the obama campaign today.

i donated :)

here’s the digg site:
http://www.digg.com/2008_us_elections/Contribute_5_01_to_Obama_TODAY_Feb_12

and a link directly to the official donation site:
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/yeswecan?source=grassroots

hilary clinton is not electable. i understand that obama is a stretch too, but if you elect hilary as the party nominee, she’s a shoe-out. the republicans will tear her apart, and the country as a whole does not want to continue this clinton/bush legacy. after 19 years of either a clinton or a bush in the white house, everybody is ready for a change. times were good in the clinton era, but times have changed, and people don’t want to go backwards. hilary is a bitch and a ball-buster. i understand that there’s a double standard there, but democrats should be electing for the good of the party, although if that was their goal they would’ve paid more attention to edwards.

and i digress… that crazy old racist mccain is going to be the next president, and just pick up exactly where bushy left of. at least my 401k is heavily invested in my company’s stock.

i think this may be the first time i voted in a primary election. but yes, the evil that is hilary must be stopped, and with the latest polls showing that obama and hilary are in a dead heat in california, my vote actually counts.

notice my rockin’ express shirt? thanks mike!

i know that hillary is already favored in california, but i felt i wouldn’t have room to complain if i didn’t vote, so i changed my party affiliation from republican to democrat to be able to vote in the february primary.

i’d like to think that my disdain for hillary isn’t just based on male chauvinism, and while i’m sure it plays a role, i have lots of real reasons why i don’t like her. i’m sick of hearing how much “experience” she has. sure, she was the wife of a two-term president and obviously saw the detailed, inner-workings of the white house. i’m sure bill even asked for her advice from time to time, but that hardly qualifies her for the job. she has been a senator for about 8 years, and that does speak for experience, but not all that much more than the 4 years obama or the 6 years edwards has been a senator.

back to the woman thing for a moment though. according to exit polls, hillary was apparently able to pull in a large vote from the women after showing emotion and having hurt feelings at comments about her being disliked during the debates. this seems to be the exact wrong reason to vote for a person to be the leader of the free world and commanding the largest army with the biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons. hurt feelings = emotional decisions. i could care less if my president is a friendly person who starts to cry when she talks about her fears of the future of the country. anyway, i could complain and complain, but instead, i’ll just vote for her opponent and hope enough of the nation’s democrats are thinking the same way i am.

so yeh, get out an vote on tuesday, the 5th. my voting place this year is in the toyota showroom near the traffic circle (fishy?) if you wanna vote by mail, you need to send in your request by january 29th.