Politics
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Who Needs A Decider When You Can Have A Divider?
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on August 24, 2008 by admin in Politics
Sunday, August 24th, 2008I am not not now, nor have I ever been a Nader supporter. Although I am kind of a commie.
So, you’re informed on the issues, and you’ve made your decision. It’s either Mr. Hopey-Changey Guy or Mr. Vietnamikaze. So why not prove to yourself with a blind taste test that you’re picking the right candidate for your needs? Take the quiz at GlassBooth.org, and you may be surprised at the results. Using a simple series of questions to define your core values, the site will tell you which candidate is the best match. You can even compare candidates that have dropped out, and rank by pecentage matches. Much to my horror, my best match out of the remaining field was Ralph Nader. Yes, that egomaniacal man of the people is running again, and no, I didn’t know either, until today. On my behalf I have to point out that the site doesn’t factor in whether or not you think a candidate is a blithering idiot or not. My best match out of all candidates was actually Bill Richardson.
The Pepsi Candidate
[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 22, 2008 by admin in Politics
Friday, August 22nd, 2008In a blind taste test, which candidate would you choose?
Today Slate had an amusing piece pointing out the similarities between the presumptive Democratic candidate and Pepsi. For the record, someone else pointed this out way back in February. The logo similarity had never occurred to me, even though I had parodied it for the (ahem) donate button (yes people, that thing works, try it some time!) on the upper right of these pages. The design blog Under Consideration/Speak Up digs deeper into the genius of the Pepsi candidate’s marketing materials here. So what would McCain’s beverage brand be? Pepto-Bismol? If you consider the fact that most of his wealth is derived from the wife’s Anheuser-Busch ties, you could pick from the product list. Busch Light? Bare Knuckle Stout? Hurricane Ice? Lost Energy (yes, that’s an actual product name)? Feel free to post your suggestions.
The Condoloveable Neo-Condoleezza
[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 21, 2008 by admin in Politics
Thursday, August 21st, 2008Show a little love for the Con, won’t you?
Ms. Rice demonstrates
how she’s going to crush Putin’s head. |
Why does the world love to hate Condoleezza Rice So much? Okay, stupid question. But jeezy-condoleezzy people, lighten up a bit. Starting with this Pravda.ru piece (okay, it’s Pravda.ru…) which resorts to phrases like “scar for a mouth”, “piggy eyes” and “butch, defensive posture” the writer goes on to describe her as “…about as diplomatic as a raspberry and a fit of giggling at a funeral ceremony…” and calls her a “…bullshit-mongering bimbo…” (okay, I’ll give him that one). In the interest of maintaining something like perspective here, let’s point out that Pravda.ru’s News Partners page lists Fark.com as a “partner”, and they misspell her name about 37 times. A little more rational in tone is this Slate.com piece, which still resorts to the peculiar headline “Loud Voice, Tiny Stick” as it focuses on her recent ineptness in responding to Russia’s incursion into Georgia. In spite of having little respect for Rice myself, I can’t help wondering if the tone of articles like these would be different if she were a man. I mean, she’s not a man, right? In any case, Ms. NeoCondi can take solace in the fact that somebody out there has confidence in her…
Hillary The Undead Rises Again
[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 15, 2008 by admin in Politics
Friday, August 15th, 2008…and again, and again, and again…
Although pitched as a device to promote unity within the Democratic party, Hillary Clinton’s push for a roll call at the convention and Barack Obama’s concession both strike me as more divisive than unifying. At a time when Obama is running literally neck-and-neck (although McCain doesn’t have much neck left) with McCain, it seems to me to be a purely political, brand-building move for the Clintons. The popular news media that so gleefully shapes the election process these days will have a field day ranting about the Clintons at a time when the party’s presumptive candidate could obviously use a boost. It’s precisely this kind of politicking that drives people like me to launch their own campaign. In any case, ABC News’ Jake Tapper had an interesting piece last week – Deconstructing Hillary – that covers the topic in an historical context and also offers the interesting insight that Hillary still (as of August 1) refers to Obama as “my opponent”.
To BTC Or Not To BTC?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 12, 2008 by admin in Politics
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008Oil wells that end well..
I’m no political scientist, but it seemed kind of obvious to me that Russia’s sudden interest in Georgia might have just a little bit to do with oil and the BTC pipeline. The press seems to be finally getting this into the message, presumably after keeping the topic a little low-key so Putin and Bush could share the love at the Olympics. It’s amusing to read the story spun with a different tone, depending on the source. In this Independent UK piece they address the topic, but temper the idea that Russia’s after the BTC Pipeline with quotes like this from analyst Natalia Leshchenko of Global Insight: “The whole conflict is not being waged over the pipeline. The reasons are definitely geopolitical”. In this SMH piece, they jump right in with an almost alarmist tone, quoting Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as saying ‘”If Georgia falls, this will also mean the fall of the West in the entire former Soviet Union and beyond”. The Mail jumps in with both feet and a chomp on the neck, screaming Russian bear goes for West’s jugular. Meanwhile, at 6:30am Eastern, the top Google news item was from Bloomberg, with the headline Russian Stocks Climb After Medvedev Ends Operation in Georgia. Wait. The war’s over already (BBC, 4:44am)? Oh wait. Never mind (CNN, 9:15am)…this is when the web really sucks for news. Somebody just give me a call when WWIII breaks out, ‘kay?