It's all politics
Jun. 2nd, 2007 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatThere are several political issues related to the current crop of presidential candidates that I wanted to get off my chest, so I figured I might as well combine them all into one post. So here is my Big Political Post O' Fun.
One of the headlines on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone is something like, "Guiliani: Worse Than Bush?". I haven't read the article, but I'm starting to think this might be true. Maybe it's just his public persona, but it kind of seems like Bush is more misguided than anything else, while Giuliani continues to strike me more and more as an openly mean and power-hungry Cheney type. Not to mention that he, like McCain and Romney, has recently changed his position on several hot-button issues. There's nothing wrong with changing your mind on an issue, but when several people change their positions on abortion and gay marriage at the same time as they announce their candidacy...well, they couldn't be any more transparent if they were made out of glass. Not that the Democrats are free from political opportunism and the desire for power, but at least they seem somewhat interested in helping people, while the Republican candidates seem to think nasty and hateful is the only way to go. And it's so crazy that, when Ron Paul suggested that the American foreign policy was responsible for the September 11 attacks, and the American government should investigate why the terrorists hate the United States, Giuliani actually criticized him for it. [1] When you have a foreign policy that amounts to "we're right, you're wrong, and we're never going to listen to you," doesn't that pretty much put you straight on the road to war just for the sake of war?
I do think it's kind of weird when the polls are all apparently saying that Americans want their country out of Iraq, yet all of the Repbulican candidates except Paul and about half of the Democrats seem to be in favor of staying there. I can see some of the arguments for not leaving immediately, but it makes me wonder if it's a case of the polls being inaccurate, or the politicians not really giving a crap what the voters think. I'm guessing it's probably a combination of both.
Recently, the Republican talking heads have been going on about John Edwards' $400 haircut. Yeah, I'm sure none of the other candidates have spent way too much money on attempts to improve their appearances. But I don't think it matters whether the criticism makes any sense, just that they keep saying it over and over again. Bill O'Reilly was also talking about how Edwards is telling poor people that the system is against them, even though he managed to get rich. I know it's a central idea to Republicanism that anyone can become rich and successful with a little hard work and good old-fashioned gumption, because goshdarnit, this is the land of opportunity! But it seems to me that the corollary is that, if someone is still poor, then it must be their own fault. Never mind that some people work really hard and have nothing to show for it, while others make a few good stock picks and end up rolling in the dough. Subscribers to the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps concept don't want to acknowledge the major role that luck plays. While there have certainly been some success stories, I think the system really IS against poor people becoming rich. But then, O'Reilly is someone who always tries to paint himself as a rags-to-riches case, when a lot of critics contend that it was more of a case of Some Riches to A Lot More Riches.
O'Reilly was also discussing with Dennis Miller how Mitt Romney "looks presidential," while showing pictures of him where he looked like Frankenstein's monster. Too bad Boris Karloff is foreign and dead, or he'd be assured of Bill's vote. Anyway, these two guys were obsessed with Romney's looks, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje has told me that O'Reilly once said on his radio show that he's so straight that he doesn't think any men look more attractive than others. To Bill, apparently Brad Pitt and Carrot Top look exactly the same. I guess Romney must be the exception to the rule.
And leaving political mode for a moment, here's a survey that I got fromobsessical:
1. What's your full name? I think most of you already know it. Why do so many surveys start with questions like this, anyway?
2. Do you like it? Are there any bits you would change? My first name is fine. Nobody knows how to pronounce my middle name, though, and they don't believe that my last name can be pronounced more than one way. I don't think I'd change it legally, but I wouldn't rule out using a pseudonym.
3. If you had to pick another, which would be most you? I think I've used "VoVat" enough on the Internet that it's kind of BECOME me. Not sure I'd want to go by that in day-to-day life, though.
4. If you are arguing something inconsequential, would you rather be proven wrong beyond your own doubt or win the argument but remain ignorant of your mistake? In the long run, proven wrong. I wouldn't be too happy about it at the moment, though.
5. You are gifted a superpower! The superpower you get can be anything at all. However, the person who annoys you the most in the whole world also recieves the exact same power. What superpower do you choose? Like Ren, I'd probably choose flight, and I don't think someone annoying having that same power would be too bad.
6. Out of all the daydreams you've ever had in some boring academic situation (highschool etc), which would you most like to come true? One of the ones about going to Oz
7. So, you have a cosplay (fancy dress of characters from series, animes books etc) party to attend. You have to go in role play, ie, act the part. Who would you go as? Do Oz characters count? I think I still have my Kabumpo costume somewhere.
8. Who would you like to be the voice in your head, accent wise? Uh, Mr. Survey, do you mean a specific person or just an accent? If the latter, I'd probably go with someone British and wise-sounding.
9. If you could go down in history as anything, what would you want to be known for? Using my shiny red nose to guide Santa's sleigh.
10. Conversely, what thing that you commonly do would you least like to be caught on live tv? Yelling. (It wouldn't be THE worst, but a bathroom-related answer would be too obvious.)
11. Who would be the worst person possible to wake up surgically grafted to? Osama bin Laden would be pretty bad, I would think.
12. Would a dramatic life of bad things happening be worse than a life empty of incident? I think the dramatic life would be worse. I might get bored of the latter after a while, but really, I tend to desire comfort and contentment more than anything else. A life without incident would be compatible with these things, right?
13. Where would you most like to be right now, and with who? In Tijuana, eating barbecued iguana. No, seriously, I'm not in a very sociable mood right now. I'd rather be here at the computer. I'm going to have to leave and get my oil changed soon, though.
14. Whats your current favorite item of clothing? My They Might Be Giants Indestructible Object T-shirt is pretty cool.
15. And what things offend you in a manner particular to you? I.e. what offends you way more than most people. Most things involving fecal matter.
[1] I watched the actual clip here, and noticed that the audience actually applauds Giuliani for his assanine reply. Okay, it IS a Fox News audience, so I guess that's only to be expected. Also, Giuliani says, "As someone who lived through through the attack of September 11th." What, as opposed to all the five-year-olds running for President?
One of the headlines on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone is something like, "Guiliani: Worse Than Bush?". I haven't read the article, but I'm starting to think this might be true. Maybe it's just his public persona, but it kind of seems like Bush is more misguided than anything else, while Giuliani continues to strike me more and more as an openly mean and power-hungry Cheney type. Not to mention that he, like McCain and Romney, has recently changed his position on several hot-button issues. There's nothing wrong with changing your mind on an issue, but when several people change their positions on abortion and gay marriage at the same time as they announce their candidacy...well, they couldn't be any more transparent if they were made out of glass. Not that the Democrats are free from political opportunism and the desire for power, but at least they seem somewhat interested in helping people, while the Republican candidates seem to think nasty and hateful is the only way to go. And it's so crazy that, when Ron Paul suggested that the American foreign policy was responsible for the September 11 attacks, and the American government should investigate why the terrorists hate the United States, Giuliani actually criticized him for it. [1] When you have a foreign policy that amounts to "we're right, you're wrong, and we're never going to listen to you," doesn't that pretty much put you straight on the road to war just for the sake of war?
I do think it's kind of weird when the polls are all apparently saying that Americans want their country out of Iraq, yet all of the Repbulican candidates except Paul and about half of the Democrats seem to be in favor of staying there. I can see some of the arguments for not leaving immediately, but it makes me wonder if it's a case of the polls being inaccurate, or the politicians not really giving a crap what the voters think. I'm guessing it's probably a combination of both.
Recently, the Republican talking heads have been going on about John Edwards' $400 haircut. Yeah, I'm sure none of the other candidates have spent way too much money on attempts to improve their appearances. But I don't think it matters whether the criticism makes any sense, just that they keep saying it over and over again. Bill O'Reilly was also talking about how Edwards is telling poor people that the system is against them, even though he managed to get rich. I know it's a central idea to Republicanism that anyone can become rich and successful with a little hard work and good old-fashioned gumption, because goshdarnit, this is the land of opportunity! But it seems to me that the corollary is that, if someone is still poor, then it must be their own fault. Never mind that some people work really hard and have nothing to show for it, while others make a few good stock picks and end up rolling in the dough. Subscribers to the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps concept don't want to acknowledge the major role that luck plays. While there have certainly been some success stories, I think the system really IS against poor people becoming rich. But then, O'Reilly is someone who always tries to paint himself as a rags-to-riches case, when a lot of critics contend that it was more of a case of Some Riches to A Lot More Riches.
O'Reilly was also discussing with Dennis Miller how Mitt Romney "looks presidential," while showing pictures of him where he looked like Frankenstein's monster. Too bad Boris Karloff is foreign and dead, or he'd be assured of Bill's vote. Anyway, these two guys were obsessed with Romney's looks, but
bethje has told me that O'Reilly once said on his radio show that he's so straight that he doesn't think any men look more attractive than others. To Bill, apparently Brad Pitt and Carrot Top look exactly the same. I guess Romney must be the exception to the rule.And leaving political mode for a moment, here's a survey that I got from
obsessical:1. What's your full name? I think most of you already know it. Why do so many surveys start with questions like this, anyway?
2. Do you like it? Are there any bits you would change? My first name is fine. Nobody knows how to pronounce my middle name, though, and they don't believe that my last name can be pronounced more than one way. I don't think I'd change it legally, but I wouldn't rule out using a pseudonym.
3. If you had to pick another, which would be most you? I think I've used "VoVat" enough on the Internet that it's kind of BECOME me. Not sure I'd want to go by that in day-to-day life, though.
4. If you are arguing something inconsequential, would you rather be proven wrong beyond your own doubt or win the argument but remain ignorant of your mistake? In the long run, proven wrong. I wouldn't be too happy about it at the moment, though.
5. You are gifted a superpower! The superpower you get can be anything at all. However, the person who annoys you the most in the whole world also recieves the exact same power. What superpower do you choose? Like Ren, I'd probably choose flight, and I don't think someone annoying having that same power would be too bad.
6. Out of all the daydreams you've ever had in some boring academic situation (highschool etc), which would you most like to come true? One of the ones about going to Oz
7. So, you have a cosplay (fancy dress of characters from series, animes books etc) party to attend. You have to go in role play, ie, act the part. Who would you go as? Do Oz characters count? I think I still have my Kabumpo costume somewhere.
8. Who would you like to be the voice in your head, accent wise? Uh, Mr. Survey, do you mean a specific person or just an accent? If the latter, I'd probably go with someone British and wise-sounding.
9. If you could go down in history as anything, what would you want to be known for? Using my shiny red nose to guide Santa's sleigh.
10. Conversely, what thing that you commonly do would you least like to be caught on live tv? Yelling. (It wouldn't be THE worst, but a bathroom-related answer would be too obvious.)
11. Who would be the worst person possible to wake up surgically grafted to? Osama bin Laden would be pretty bad, I would think.
12. Would a dramatic life of bad things happening be worse than a life empty of incident? I think the dramatic life would be worse. I might get bored of the latter after a while, but really, I tend to desire comfort and contentment more than anything else. A life without incident would be compatible with these things, right?
13. Where would you most like to be right now, and with who? In Tijuana, eating barbecued iguana. No, seriously, I'm not in a very sociable mood right now. I'd rather be here at the computer. I'm going to have to leave and get my oil changed soon, though.
14. Whats your current favorite item of clothing? My They Might Be Giants Indestructible Object T-shirt is pretty cool.
15. And what things offend you in a manner particular to you? I.e. what offends you way more than most people. Most things involving fecal matter.
[1] I watched the actual clip here, and noticed that the audience actually applauds Giuliani for his assanine reply. Okay, it IS a Fox News audience, so I guess that's only to be expected. Also, Giuliani says, "As someone who lived through through the attack of September 11th." What, as opposed to all the five-year-olds running for President?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 10:25 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think there's definitely a similarity there. Perhaps it's no coincidence that the most ardent supporters of the "bootstraps" myth often seem to be the same ones who milk religion for their own ends.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-06 01:12 am (UTC)So stalkers can steal your identity, of course.
I've heard your last name pronounced two ways. I always accented the second syllable, but I never knew for sure-- are both ways right?
no subject
Date: 2007-06-06 01:39 am (UTC)Based only on my name? They must be really skilled identity thieves!
I've heard your last name pronounced two ways. I always accented the second syllable, but I never knew for sure-- are both ways right?
I guess so. I know my dad has pronounced it both ways. I think my grandparents usually pronounce it with the accent on the first syllable, but I could be misremembering.