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« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Barack Obama Interviews President Bill O’Reilly
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on February 7, 2011 by admin in Politics
Monday, February 7th, 2011Just who WAS that black man, and why did he keep interrupting Bill O’Reilly, anyway? A look at Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, and Bill O’Reilly’s pre-Super Bowl interviews with President Obama
We do a fair amount of Obama bashing around here; it’s probably safe to say that many of us who voted for him feel a bit short-changed-and-hoped on occasion. But in spite of whatever you or I think about Barack Obama, I would hope that given the chance to actually speak to the man, we would maintain a little class and basic manners and remember that we’re talking to the president of the world’s most powerful democracy. I’d like to be able to say I was appalled at Bill O’Reilly’s demeanor while interviewing the president before the Super Bowl yesterday, with his constant interruptions and muttered asides, but I’m not. Although I’m rather fond of old-school manners and the concept of dignified statesmanship, I was just sort of detachedly disappointed by it all. For one thing, I’ve shared my thoughts before about how I find it ironic that Fox – an entertainment company owned by a foreigner – has become the main source of news for the most xenophobic of Americans. So the fact that Fox sent a ranting loon like O’Reilly try to stir up some paranoia about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt rather than asking some insightful questions was no surprise. And it’s just some darn pre-Super Bowl filler, right? I mean, while millions of people actually care about the game, it’s safe to say that many, many more people are interested in the commercial spots. So at the end of the day, a short chat with the president is just a minor distraction. Which is why it’s a little disappointing that O’Reilly couldn’t just leave it at that, and instead tried to turn it into a Fox opinion piece. Although I have to add – as someone who enjoys observing people’s body language and vocal expression – it was kind of entertaining to see O’Reilly look so awkward and hear his voice tweaked up nearly a half-octave with discomfort. But I think my biggest disappointment was that Obama didn’t get a bit tougher and just tell his heckler to shut up like Reagan might have. Unfortunately, this is where – in a weird turnabout – the white man was carrying the race card. The difference in America between Barack Obama telling someone to shut up and Ronald Reagan telling someone to shut up is, sorry to say, like night and day. Below is O’Reilly’s interview yesterday, and the last two pre-Super Bowl interviews with Katie Couric on CBS, and Matt Lauer on NBC, respectively. Read the rest of this entry »
Bold Ideas For Re-Branding Michigan
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on January 29, 2011 by admin in Politics
Saturday, January 29th, 2011Detroit is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, and Michigan has vast unexplored potential as a tourist destination, among other things, so we’ve come up with some bold new ideas for Michigan’s new governor.
 Detroit is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It just needs a rethink. |
In the corporatocracy that America has become, I’m much less concerned with a politician’s party affiliation; I’m well aware that it will only affect how pundits like Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann will talk about them, not what kind of values they actually have. I know that if they’re a politician that plans to be around for a while, they’ll lie and pander to the public, and then turn around and suck up to corporate interests the first chance they get. Which is why I was a little enthused about the possibilities of Michigan’s new Republican governor, Rick Snyder. It may be just a coincidence that Michigan’s economy is in tatters after Democrat Jennifer Granholm’s eight years in office, but if I gave that idea credence, I’d have to entertain the notion that America’s economy being in tatters had nothing to do with the Bush administration, and that would just be too much logical fallacy for my feeble brain to handle. So as I said, I was at first a little enthused about Governor Snyder. But then I watched his State of the State presentation. I’m calling it a “presentation”, because I’m certainly not the first to take note of its corporate-speak, PowerPoint-like style. So Mr. Snyder, the first of my suggestions will pertain to your delivery, and on the top of the list is that accent of yours. If you’re going to be trying to lure out-of-state business, those nasal, ear-piercing vowels have gotta go. Hire a dialect coach if you need to, or appoint someone to do all the talking for you. Those speech patterns could have easily landed you a part in Fargo
Hope & Change You Can Be Bereaving
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on January 21, 2011 by admin in Politics
Friday, January 21st, 2011I’ll be watching the State of the Union address next week, but I’m bereaving hope more than I believe in it.
A couple of years ago, I asked When Did Americans Become Such Chickenshit Crybabies?, so it was kind of a relief when Patrick Smith, the “Ask the Pilot” guy, went public with a more serious and calmly reasoned treatment of the idea. Because if you look at the entire history of airline terrorism, things haven’t changed much over the years, only our reactions have. Which is at the core of just one of many reasons I take issue with the treatment of privacy rights since the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. All along, I’ve been of the opinion – which I consider to be informed rather than paranoid – that various parties both inside and outside of government have capitalized on public fear, whether in the interest of invasive data collection or manipulating national sentiment. With President Obama’s State of the Union address coming up next week, I’m reminded of how profoundly disappointed I am with myself for falling for his campaign rhetoric and tone in 2008. One of the only reasons I voted for the man was that I foolishly believed he was sincere about troop drawdowns, lowering America’s hostile presence abroad, doing away with some of the Bush administration’s executive secrecy, and easing up on the incessant erosion of citizen’s privacy and freedom to move about. I was disappointed when Obama supported the FISA bill before he was even elected, but blew it off to a campaign-time necessity, and believed him when he said his administration would pursue a sincere review of wiretapping policies. Well, not only have none of these things come to pass in two years, he has completely contradicted himself repeatedly on almost all of them. Last year was the deadliest year so far in the Afghan conflict, with troop increases of 3,000, and a 134% increase in drone attacks and 54% increase in related deaths. The Obama White House has endorsed Bush era secrecy on torture and rendition, been worse about wiretapping issues than Bush, and made virtually no changes regarding the inept, out of control, and revenge-driven TSA, which many travelers have described as providing an experience they haven’t encountered since the Berlin Wall days. I could go on about how the Obama health care plan was a back door corporate sellout, but I won’t. The Republicans will be spending enough time deriding the plan as a dog and pony show in the coming months. No need to throw more sand in the gears of government; American politicians seem to have things pretty well ground to a halt on their own. I honestly hope to see something inspiring from next week’s SOTU address, but only because I’m idiotically optimistic about life in general. Not because I have any rational reason to do so.
How I Ended Up Living In Brazil
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on January 14, 2011 by admin in Politics
Friday, January 14th, 2011The thing I love most about America’s slow slide into a totalitarian police state is that it means I get to live in one of my favorite 80′s movies.
It’s Amazing How Much I Have In Common With John Boehner
[ Add A Comment ]Posted on January 7, 2011 by admin in Politics
Friday, January 7th, 2011I’ve also decided that my ignorance of congressional procedure makes my destiny clear: a career in congress.
 Much like Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick, I also enjoy swearing at the TV. |
It’s amazing how much I have in common with Republicans, and John Boehner in particular. Regarding both, I’m happy to see Nancy Pelosi leave her position as Speaker of the House. I might be happier if she weren’t still hanging around as Minority Leader, but baby steps, right? Baby steps. Some other things I have in common with Republicans are that I don’t understand the Constitution well enough to read it properly in congress, I love it when people give me money, and I sometimes miss important appointments. Although I feel confident that if I’d just been elected to the house of representatives, I’d at least make it to my swearing in. Unless of course, I was busy raking in cash from supporters, and there was something great on TV. Like my swearing in ceremony, for instance (starring John Boehner), or some drunk, fellow politician crying on TV (also starring John Boehner). Speaking of ol’ John, aside from the fact that spell-check doesn’t suggest “boner” and “bonehead” to replace my last name, I have even more things in common with him in particular, as I mentioned at the outset. Historically I’ve been known to drink quite a bit, although not so much that people set up blogs about it, as in John’s case. This would lead to the occasional public tear in the eye, but again, not so often that people set up blogs about it. I’m also a little ashamed to admit that I still smoke. But at least I don’t smoke crappy brands like his, and promise sick friends I’ll quit if they will. But enough picking on John. Someday I may find myself sitting on the “Boehner Bench”. Another thing I recently discovered that I have in common with politicians is that I like getting paid to talk, even if nothing of benefit to the human race comes of it. After watching an hour of a house session the other day, I was reminded that politicians long ago made this a high art. Once I finally woke up, with drool on my face and a perfect imprint of my computer keyboard on my face, I went on Facebook and shared “I just listened to an hour of live house proceedings and can’t help wondering what makes anybody think the clowns in DC who’ve run our economy into the ground have any idea how to run a vacuum cleaner let alone an entity governing 300 million people”, adding that we’d all take a lot more interest in lawmaking if all legislation was decided by cagefighting matches. There was a lot of agreement on this topic amongst my fellow citizens. A friend chimed in, suggesting “it would have been cool if Nancy Pelosi ran over to Joe Wilson during the State of the Union address and tried to choke slam him”. Unfortunately, politics in America will never be this much fun, as we’ve pointed out before (except maybe when Pelosi hands over the gavel, see below) But in spite of the boring future that may await me, I’ve made a big decision. Given my ignorance of the Constitution and legislative procedure, my dual passions for blowing smoke, and the fact that I like free lunches where people give me money, my destiny is clear. I’m running for the US Senate.
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