Sunday Fun-day
There are a few things that I want to get off my chest. Most involve politics, so if you are not interested this won't be fun for you.
1. As part of my complete technological overhaul I got a new cell phone. Its one of those giant Palm Treo deals. I got it because I wanted something that would also keep me organized. Since it has a scheduler function that beeps at me when I need to do things. However, it most impressed me when I discovered that I could sync it with my computer wirelessly through bluetooth. Shit is crazy man. I swear to god the robots are going to take over.
2. There have been a number of people that have asked me for recommendations on cheap wine. OK, it was one person, but I feel like I could provide this service for many readers. Here you go: Goats do Roam. $6-8 at Vons. Tons of flavor, good mouthfeel (not watery), and not too sweet. Big House Red: actually made by the Bonny Doon people who put out really good zinfandel. I know Pete has had this and I've seen others too. Good flavor, a little more on the sweet side, but not too much. Unknown wine: Trader Joe's is currently carrying this Spanish style blend that is really good. Its a mix of syrah, bobal, and tempranillo. $10 and they had a ton when I checked last. Trader Joe's also carries the Prosperity Red that I like a lot. None of these are "holy crap that is so fucking good", but they are good "bang for the buck" wines. There is one, Four Vines Zinfandel that I think is a pretty damn good bottle for $11-12. On the higher end, the Ravenswood Tedeschi Zinfandel has been getting rave reviews and is actually a value at $25-30 since its been scoring at the 94-95 range. Drop me an e-mail if you want more specific recommendations.
OK, that's it for the non-politics stuff.
3. John McCain is crazy. I could just refer to his singing "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" or him saying publicly that he hopes Fidel Castro gets to meet Marx really soon, but there is more to it than that. In the comments section of a previous post, I said that I was surprised to see my Texan friend Peter (as opposed to California Pete) say that he would consider voting for Hillary in the primaries because she would be "a slightly less worse president then Obama". He also said that McCain has not changed his mind on issues. First, the one thing that McCain has not changed his mind on is Iraq. I will 100% agree on that. Now, supporting Bush on Iraq is clearly not popular, but is also (in my view) not something that many people will want to vote for. However, here is a list of things that McCain has indeed changed his mind on:
A. In his 2000 campaign McCain called the confederate flag a "symbol of heritage". Why? He was afraid that he could not win the nomination without winning South Carolina. One person even said that this was an "act of political cowardice". Who was that person? John McCain himself.
B. In 2000 McCain called Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance" but he gave the 2006 commencement address at Falwell's Liberty University. Yes, the same Jerry Falwell who said that blame for the 9-11 attacks should be placed on Americans because we took God out of schools and allow abortions among other things.
C. In 2003, McCain said that ethanol wouldn't exist if it weren't for Congress. Once he was considering his run for 2008 he changed his mind. Amazingly, Tim Russert called him on it.
D. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which allows the children of illegal immigrants to gain legal status once they graduate high school. Now? He opposes it. Weird, could it possibly be because he needs to win over conservative voters?
E. Bush's Tax Cuts. McCain in 2001: "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief". Today? In favor of Bush's tax cuts.
F. McCain on abortion in 1999: "in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade." McCain on abortion after being called on it by conservatives: "I share our common goal of reducing the staggering number of abortions currently performed in this country and overturning the Roe vs. Wade decision." Looks like he changed his mind.
So, as it turns out, McCain changes his mind on important issues quite a bit.
4. Hillary Clinton. I've already called the race for Obama and I think it will be more or less official come March 5th (day after Texas and Ohio primaries) However, I really want to say something about her campaign: it stinks. First, she pulls out the attack ads in South Carolina. Then she calls Obama a plagiarist for using, with permission and encouragement, two sentences from his friend and endorsers speech. However, her campaign would not say that they had never done the same thing. Finally, yesterday, she busted out the "shame on you Barack Obama" because he was sending out fliers that she said were not true. #1: They were pretty much true although they are designed a little bit deceptively. #2: These things have been out for 2 weeks now. Where was the "shame on you" then? Well, it was in a conference call where one of here supporters compared it to "having Nazis march through Skokie, Ill". A little overboard? Yes, especially since she sent out mailers in New Hampshire, Nevada, and Wisconsin that were not arguably false, but completely false. So I guess it should be "shame on you Hillary Clinton".
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5 comments:
California Pete would be a good name if I were a gold Prospector in the 1850's.
As crazy as McCain my be, I can't bring myself to hate him. He pissed me off today by siding with the Bush Machine on the FISA stuff at a conservatives dinner of some sort. But, I don't know, he reminds me of what I imagine Truman to have been like. Just a fiesty little old fucker who you wouldn't want pissed at you. To a certain extent I thin thats a valuable quality in a leader. Don't get me wrong I would never vote republican. But I think if McCain was 10 years younger and we hadn't just gone through 8 years of neo conservative hell, the Dems would not have a chance against a guy like McCain. And as for the Castro comment. Fuck Castro, whether you support our embargo or not, Castro is a douchebag that represses and starves his people to serve his own ego.
I have to tell you, I'm slowly falling off the Obama train. I need to do some more homework, but he's starting to worry me a bit. In my mind Clinton trounces him at every debate, and as much as he is being accused of being all talk, you'd think he would start publicly outlining some of his plans. Of course, I already voted for him in the primary and of course I'll vote for him if he's the nominee, but I'm getting just a twinge in my gut telling me he may not be the guy.
1. McCain couldn't even beat out Bush in 2000. Why would he be better now after 8 months of neo-conservative hell?
2. I think Castro is awesome as one of those characters in history...not so much as a real leader. Having said that, I don't particularly want our leaders making jokes about people dying, whoever they are.
3. Obama has outlined his plans. During the last debate he went into a good bit of detail about his health plan and he has talked on many occasions about how he would change Iraq. He also talked specific policies in his victory speech after Iowa. Go to his website - it outlines a lot. Then go to Hillary's website. It honestly says very little about how she actually plans to carry out her so-called specific plans. I didn't go with Obama only because of the whole "hope" thing. I jumped on board after reading his book. Many of the ideas in his book made a ton of sense to me.
Jeff, first things first. Get ahold of Steve, get a copy of "The Core Pocket Media Player" from him. It's amazing. I watch shows on my Palm Treo that I download and then use TCPMP to watch them on down time.
Second, go to mytreo.net and load that thing up with freeware programs and apps and games and everything else. There are programs to boost the volume of the ringer, to extend battery life, and then there is good old tetris and others.
Third, I am against Mcain simply due to the fact that he has a lot of pent up rage in him. And his "The war could go on for a 1000 years" speech?? WTH? Plus I really think Obama is really motivating the young people, more than Bill Clinton did, and I think it's time for a change.
I totally dig reading your blog. It's in my favorites along with thesneeze.com and cockeyed.com
Of those I will agree that the Bush Tax cut is a major issue on which he has (correctly)changed his mind probably partly to get votes. There is nothing wrong with a politician changing his mind because circustnaces change or he is convinced otherwise. That is a sign of maturity. But it is wrong, especially for an executive or potential executive, to refuse to stand up for a controversial issue solely to get elected.
In all your criticisms of McCain you still have not pointed out a single instance of Obama taking a courageous public stand on an issue, much less a stand that might cost him an election, because he thought it was the right thing to do. NAFTA is a good exmple of this. In debates and speeches he is opposed to it and threatens to unilaterally withdraw from the treaty, but then he sends his advisors to meet with Canadian officials in secret to tell them this is all BS scare tactics so he can win votes and that when elected he won't actually withdraw.
Obama offers lots of spin and fancy talk, but most of the time he is an intentionally blank slate that lets voters project their views onto him. I have noticed that with a lot of his supporters they talk about how "he will bring change", but can never point out how he has actually done that in the past. What is the most impressive accomplishment of his carreer so far? That will be a real liability when going against McCain who has a 20 year record of actually doing what Obama claims he can do, rather than running agaisnt a Clinton or Edwards, both of whom had about the same amount of experience as Obama.
"And as for the Castro comment. Fuck Castro, whether you support our embargo or not, Castro is a douchebag that represses and starves his people to serve his own ego."
Amen. According to KGB documents released after the fall of the Soviet Union, Castro tried to convince the Soviet Union to nuke the eastern half of the US on multiple occasions. That alone is reason for any american to publically hope he dies.
Foreign policy is reason enough to vote for Clinton or McCain over Obama. Obama has said he will meet with dictators dedicated to the destruction of the US without any prerequisite concessions, which even Hillary Clinton thinks is a bad idea. He has announced he would unilaterally invade Pakistan, despite the fact that that would mean our troops in Afiginstan would lose their main supply line and would be an act of war.
"I've already called the race for Obama and I think it will be more or less official come March 5th"
You forget how much Clinton wants this and knows it is her only chance. She will do all she can to get Michigan's and Florida's delegates seated and the Democratic party is set up to encourage back room deals for the nomination.
1. I still don't like the tone of McCain's comment about Castro. He may be a prick, but his revolution sparked populist movements all over Latin America that brought the end of some even worse rulers like the Samozas in Nicaraugua (should I mention Iran-Contra at this point?)
2. The Canadian prime minister reported today that the whole NAFTA/Obama thing was blown way out of proportion and that what happened to Obama's campaign was not fair. Convenient that they leaked that 2 days before a big primary and then changed their mind the day after.
3. What is Hillary Clinton's foreign policy experience? She didn't have clearance as first lady.
4. I completely agree with Obama's policy to meet no-strings-attached with any leader. Diplomacy should always be policy #1 and meeting with someone gives credibility to any later action.
5. Obama does not support a unilateral attack on Pakistan. He supports the possibility of unilateral attacks on specific terrorist targets in Pakistan. An idea that I think is 1000 times better than a $500 billion war in a country with no connections to Al Qaeda until we went there.
6. Hillary can want all she wants. The numbers no longer add up for her and I don't think that the Democrats will allow their candidate to be picked outside of the rules that they set - especially since Obama is polling better against McCain. There are more Republicans that would vote for Obama than Hillary.
7. Peter needs to post more pics of his kid since he never comes out to CA when I'm available.
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