The purpose of this blog is to allow me to talk about whatever grabs my attention on any given day. Anybody that wants to jump in and express their views are welcome, but please try to maintain a respectful tone. Thanks.
The GOP is now left to consider why they have fared so badly in the most recent elections. Some say it is because they moved to far to the center and gotten out of touch with their conservative values. Others (like me) think that they are just out of touch with the American people.
As it turns out, we may both be wrong. It could be that our election was influenced by Peruvian Shamans. I guess that is as good a theory as any.
I caught this video on The Daily Show or Colbert Report last night, can't quite remember which one. I just remembered that it made me laugh. I am not the smoothest speaker in the world, so it makes me feel a little bit better about myself when I hear this kind of stuff.
McCain says something stupid:
In the interest of fairness, I dug up an older video of Obama saying something stupid.
Obama says something stupid:
Politicians, gotta love 'em. They only lie when their mouths are open.
Apparently, John McCain is getting pretty desperate for funding. He sent a letter to the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations asking for a donation to help him defeat Obama in the upcoming election.
This might indicate a softening of McCain's feelings towards Russia. It seems he considers the Russian Ambassador to be a friend, as stated in the letter:
"Dear Friend," begins the 6-page letter to Churkin, asking for up to $5,000 to defeat Sen. Barack Obama and help McCain "promote freedom and democracy throughout the world,"
Even an appeal to always put America first failed to win over the good ambassador.
"If I have the honor of continuing to serve you, I make you this promise: We will always put America — her strength, her ideals, her future — before every other consideration,” McCain assured Churkin. "
Since the failure of the bailout plan to pass a House vote yesterday, our brave politcal leaders have developed a bold new strategy.
"Now it's not about financial institutions. The focus has switched to everyday Americans. And it's not an expenditure of taxpayer money, it's an "investment."
"Let's not call it a bailout. Let's call it a rescue," said Republican John McCain.
Democratic rival Barack Obama said, "This is no longer just a Wall Street crisis — it's an American crisis, and it's the American economy that needs this rescue plan."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's take: Its not a bailout but "a buy in, so that we can turn our economy around."
Perhaps the most important change to the bailout plan is that it is no longer a bailout plan. Now it is a Rescue Plan or a Buy In!!! Although it is not clear what other changes are pending, we have changed the NAME of the plan. This is truly a decisive step that makes the plan much more palatable. Thank goodness for the leadership in Washington D.C.
I think I can smell the leadership from way over here in Pullman. On second thought, maybe it's just the smell of farmers fertilizing their fields.
I just finished watching the debate between Obama and McCain. Admittedly, my mind is already made up as to which candidate I will vote for in November. I thought that both candidates did a pretty good job of presenting their positions and can't say that I was surprised by anything that either one of them said tonight.
McCain kind of hammered away at the inexperience issue by repeatedly saying "You don't understand" to Obama. This kind of puts me off a little bit, because it sounds a bit condescending and shows a lack of respect. I think if I were undecided, this might sway me towards Obama. I also like the fact that Obama agreed with McCain on several issues. I am happy to see that he will not dismiss ideas out of hand just because they came from the opposite party.
From watching some of the post-debate shows on various news channel, it doesn't sound like there was a clear "winner" from this debate. I think that helps Obama, since the topic of the debate was foreign policy, and this is one area where McCain is favored by the voting public, and I think he needed to score more points here.
I would guess that this was a pretty good debate for undecided voters, but I realize that I am not looking at this with an unbiased opinion. Did this debate help any undecided voters with their decision, and if so, what impact did it have?
In John McCain's rush to Washington D.C. to provide leadership in this time of economic crisis, he has suspended political campaigning, stated that he will withdraw from this Friday's debate with Obama if a plan to save the economy is not approved, and withdrew from an interview with David Letterman on tonight's "Late Night With David Letterman" show.
I am sure we will be hearing the talking points from both sides of this action. The McCain campaign will be showing how this demonstrates McCain's "Country First" platform and the Obama campaign is already talking about being able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
In the meantime, David Letterman was told by John McCain that he would be unable to make it to the shooting of his interview for Letterman's show because he was rushing back to Washington D.C. immediately. Letterman's show then set up an interview with the anti-McCain, Keith Olbermann. It turns out that, rather than rushing to the airport to get back to D.C., McCain was, at that very moment, being prepared for an interview with Katie Couric only three blocks away. Letterman decided not to take this lying down.
I love it when politicians open themselves up to this kind of stuff.
Hello, everyone. My name is Steve. I am a retired submarine sailor, somewhere north of 40 years old and unmarried. After leaving the service, I decided to further my education and recently graduated from Washington State University. I have started working at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
