Disaster. Peril. Crisis. Shit. Fuck.
Are words being thrown at us from our television sets, our radios tuned into talk, and from our computer screens. Well people of the world, in case you haven’t noticed or don’t really care because you’re too busy watching the girls on the hills or because you can’t keep your eyes off your phone screen (the light turned green btw), we’re fucked. Royally fucked. Yeah, sometime during the two-hour season premiere of grey’s anatomy, (it sucked…i liked christina’s new storyline though) WaMu…or what was left of it was scooped up by the FDIC and sold off to JPMorgan Chase. And on top of that, those promising negotiations going on in congress have failed…even after mccain rushed in to rescue was wasn’t in need of rescuing. I mean, I thought our country was in the shitter already, but according to Secertary Paulson…we haven’t seen nothin yet. For a moment, a small moment, I thought things were going to get better. If you watched the Ugly Betty premiere last night then you saw the moment where the happy music winded down and she got off the elevator, with every expectation of change and progress in her life, only to walk into a freezing, cold, grey room. We thought things might get better then…well: Oh, shit.
This is the news.
A quick note before I begin. A lot of what I’m about to rant about applies to FOX News, but it is evident across all current media outlets. So I’m on YouTube this morning and I see a link to one of Keith Olbermann’s Worst Person segments and that night, the honor of Worst Person in the World went to Mr. John Gibson. He is the host of one of FOX News’ programs and also has a show on FOX News Radio. So what garnered him that top spot? The fact that he said that America needs another 9/11 in order to form unity. Now mind you, he didn’t think that up all on his own, he was simply concurring with a columnist that said it. He then went on to play a clip of John Stewart interviewed days after the attack. This is what Stewart said:
“The view from my apartment was the World Trade Center. And now it’s gone. And they attacked it. This symbol of American ingenuity and strength and labor and imagination and commerce, and it is gone. But you know what the view is now? The Statue of Liberty. The view from the south of Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty. You can’t beat that.”
Yes. Gibson mocked it. And while the clip was playing to boot. I go on to google Gibson and right there I see that his Wikipedia link does not say journalist, it does not say news anchor, it doesn’t even say reporter. What his label is, according to Wikipedia, is media host. That is what we have now. We have a bunch of tv personalities or what the Wiki refers to them as “media hosts,” talking a bunch of BS and taking themselves way too seriously. Again, it isn’t just FOX News, it’s everyone. CNN, MSNBC, and even the the network news outlets. A prime example of my point is CBS’ decision to place Katie Couric on the top spot at CBS News. Those types of decisions are fueled by a quest for ratings. The quest for ratings are fueled by the American public who God forbid, have to sit through an informative, un-biased, and completely detailed news broadcast. What we are left with are these news commentators, these pundits who don’t report the news, who comment on what others (others who are never seen, just heard) have reported. That’s what we are left with. And while those who made up what broadcast journalism once was are dying off, we are left in the company of people like Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann, and John GIbson, who are fun to watch and leave us feeling like they know exactly how we feel, but they aren’t really reporting anything, just commenting on it.
That is the news.
I’m voting Republican.
The video says it all.
Enjoy.
It’s done.
As of right now, homosexual citizens of the state of California can marry. It’s a big step forward, but those against the act itself, and more specifically the overturning of the amendment passed by the voters a few years ago courtesy of the California Supreme Court, are not going down without a big over-extended fight. The opposing side, which argues that marriage has been and should continue to be between a man and a woman, are having their voices heard, collecting enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot again this November. Those toward the center of the argument state that the Courts were too hasty in overturning the ban, saying that they could have waited for it to go on the ballot this November. If you read this blog, you should know what my two cents are on the subject. Just one thing to add on my part: if you wake up in the morning, and you notice that the world hasn’t ended, that in fact it’s another beautiful day here in sunny California, ask yourself this: Is it really that big of a deal?
A Great Loss
Yesterday afternoon, an incredible figure in broadcast journalism and more specifically, political journalism, passed away suddenly. Tim Russert, long-running host of Meet the Press on NBC, suffered a heart-attack Friday afternoon while recording voiceovers for his Sunday broadcast. Tom Brokaw, retired anchor of NBC’s Nightly News broadcast broke the news that afternoon. He called Russert “one of the premire political journalists and analysts of his time.” Russert was known by everyone by his genuine passion for politics and sports. He is survived by his son, wife, three sisters, and his father. While the political field tries to cope with this news, one can’t help but notice that our Sunday mornings will never be the same again.
Let the games begin!!!
The 2008 Presidential campaign has begun. Both sides have kept fairly quiet the past few days, but both have been giving interviews and small-scale speeches. Here’s the jist of it: Obama argues that he can steer the country away from the mistakes the Bush administration has made during the last agonizing eight years. He says that by electing McCain, we will be allowing the same type of policy making in Washington and essentially giving way for another “Bush term.” McCain has simply argued that there is a good kind of change and a bad kind. By electing Obama to office, he says, we would enact a type of change that could hurt this country. Okay, enough of that…my advice to you is that you not listen to the attacks of either party and read up on where they stand as far as issues. The best way to do that is to go to their websites. The best kind of voter is always an informed one; you should never vote anyone into that high an office by just observing their looks and what’s on the surface. And even if they have “experience,” it doesn’t mean they’re fit to run this country. Obama has recently announced that he will have a team placed in every state in the country for the November elections. What he is doing isn’t unheard of, but it sure is outstanding…further showing that he is appealing not only to Democrats, but Republicans and Independents as well. McCain is going to fight hard for those Clinton voters, especially those who lean to the right. This should be real fun.
He did it!
Congratulations to Senator Obama for doing something that no other man of his race has ever done before! He is as of now, the very first African-American man to be the presidential nominee of a major American political party. Stop and think for a moment how undeniably historic and monumental this is: never before in history (in America anyway) has a race been between a woman and an African-American man. Can you believe there once was a time that these two groups of people weren’t even allowed to vote?! We can now finally begin the general election process…how grueling that process is. Only moments after clinching the Democratic nomination, Senator and Republican nominee John McCain had a few choice words for the Illinois senator. He blasted Obama with saying that he “voted to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job,” in Iraq. “Americans ought to be concerned about the judgment of a presidential candidate who says he’s ready to talk, in person and without conditions, with tyrants from Havana to Pyongyang, but hasn’t traveled to Iraq to meet with General (David) Petraeus, and see for himself the progress he threatens to reverse,” McCain said as his rival wrapped up the Democratic nomination. We can see that this race, as historic as it is, will also be one of the most divided in history. Obama and McCain are virtually polar opposites in every issue that we face today. McCain said that he can provide real change in Washington, further distancing himself from President Bush in a speech delivered tonight from New Orleans. Hopeful nominee Senator Hillary Clinton tonight congratulated Obama, but came short of calling it quits. She told a large crowd in New York that she “will be making no decisions tonight.” She told a group of legislators earlier today that she was open to the possibility of a “dream ticket” with Senator Obama, something many democratic supporters hoped would happen in November. Obama has not responded to calls of a “dream ticket,” but earlier in the race, when Clinton said she would consider him as her VP running mate in November, he shrugged it off and called it “trickery.” This is obviously going to develop in the coming days and weeks so stay tuned. This ride has only just begun.
It’s cause she’s scrappy
Hillary is not going down without a fight. The only problem is; she’s the only one in the ring. According to the Wall Street Journal, Clinton’s camp is saying that despite Obama’s almost-for-certain win of the primaries this Tuesday, they will continue to press on. The DNC as of now is only willing to seat half of Michigan’s and Florida’s delegates…seeing as they violated party rules by holding their primaries earlier than they should have. Neither Obama or Clinton campaigned in those states, and Obama wasn’t even on Michigan’s ballot. Clinton ended up winning both states. Now she wants ALL of the delegates to be seated in August. With just about 100% of the media behind Obama, and he being about 44 delegates away from the 2,026 finish line, it’s looking pretty grim for Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, of course somebody should tell her that. Her camp will be quick to note that in previous elections, the fight has continued until convention night. Two notable examples are Jesse Jackson in 1988 against Michael Dukakis and Jerry Brown in 1992 against Bill Clinton. The difference between those two losers and Hillary is a significant one (something I’m sure will be the basis of her appeal argument for the DNC), they never came close to the amount of votes she has. She’s won 20 contests and amassed about 16 million votes. With Obama now unofficialy campaigning against McCain, and many of the superdelegates quietly moving to his end of the ring, all of that support won’t mean much to Hillary. Gotta give her props for effort though.
Dontcha mess with a scorned woman.
Scotty Mac has released his tell-all book! Thank God! You may recall that Scott McClellan was probably the most loyal puppy in Bush’s litter, but resigned in 2006 to be replaced by Tony Snow. Well, according to the book he wrote, which comes out on Sunday, bitch was done wrong! The book is appropriately titled What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception and accuses the Bush administration of “self-deception,” and of maintaining a “permanent campaign approach” to governing rather than making the best choices. Of course, McClellan does stop short of saying that Bush purposely lied to the public about his reasons to invade Iraq. The book is also critical of the press corp., whose questions he dodged and answered, for being too accepting of the administration’s propaganda on the invasion of Iraq, and of Condoleeza Rice for being “too accomodating” and being very careful about protecting her own reputaiton. The White House has already struck back with a statement released today. Press Secretary Dana Perino said of the book and of McClellan, “Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. We are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew.” Sounds like a spin-off of The Hills!
