Iraq – You think the bailout is expensive?

Here’s a depressing book. What We Could Have Done with the Money. But the website is a load of dark fun! Go shopping for stuff with the Trillion we spent on Iraq.

I remember in ‘92, we spent a shocking amount on Iraq Part 1. Do I remember correctly, 1milion a day? Losing one -I mean Mission Accomplished/Iraq Part 2- is quite a bit more. I spent a few minutes on the website while America spent a million on the war.

Hey look, I like war as much as the next guy. But how does McCain suggest continuing an occupation there with his spending freeze?

YOUNG PEOPLE! VOTE!

Our young voters are going to decide our president.

Polls are nothing more than the country’s wishful thinking. They are what everyone wants if voting could be done online through facebook. Somehow, many of us just don’t get around to the actual vote. We’re working. Going to school. Our car broke down. Our girlfriend got mad and pouted all day (and you can’t leave a pouting girlfriend to vote). We were getting laid. We were trying to get laid. We weren’t getting laid. There’s a lot of reasons to not get off one’s ass and into a line with some crazy person and then stand in a cardboard box and then go home with a sticker on our t-shirt.

And with that said, if we coud vote without having to go through the motions, Obama would win. By a few votes or by a landslide, he’s a winner across the map. But on the youth polls, this man is off the charts. 60% for Obama. 33% for McCain. With the older groups, it gets much tighter, sometimes by only 2%. If McCain plays his cards right, and this is where is campaign is making incredibly smart moves going for electoral votes, McCain has a great chance of winning.

Unless young people really vote.

In 2004, the most youth came out to vote in history, and it was still under half. This year, it’s all about the under 30 crowd, 19-24 especially.

So here’s what I want to say to all of the bright young kids out there. I didn’t vote a few elections. The last two I did. And much like putting money on the World Series, it makes game night all the more thrilling.

Put money on your team. Vote. And if you find me, I’ll buy you a drink as we watch the votes at the local bar.

Why it sucks to be a writer

I had a great chat with a few friends about what it’s like to be a writer. Writers and relationships. Writers and time. Writers and money. Writers and…their lonely pathetic little lives.

Here’s what I want to say. Writers deserve a medal. They let such a huge part of their lives go to write. They let a huge part of their lives go to not writing. It’s eternal procrastination. A writer is either procrastinating their writing or procrastinating their life to write.

I’m a writer. I am often writing. I am more often not writing. I am also sometimes “writing” but really spending time “not writing” as I try to write. Which means, we don’t enjoy our time. If we’re writing, we’re in agony. If we’re not writing, we feel guilt. Oh! It’s like shitting. You can spend your day eating and exercising and drinking water so you do poo. Sometimes you go straight to the toilet and plop there it is. Other times, you must work so hard, your doctor prescribes hydrocortisone. And you know what? That chain smoker with the venti starbucks latte is shitting like a leaf blower every morning like clockwork.

When I’m not writing, people ask me if I’m getting laid. That’s how much I glow. But if I get laid, then I’m likely not writing. So I’m getting laid, but cranky, mean, listless, distracted….not sleeping well….not eating right…YOu know??? When I’m getting action on a daily basis, then I’m seen as a frigid bitch!

All this to say, I’ve been terribly remiss in my writing.

Bill Ayers: Terrorist and Teacher

I was once told that when you are at a crossroads and wondering where to go, you ask yourself, “What is the worst case scenario?” And then you seriously consider if you can live with those consequences. So what is the worst case scenario in this Bill Ayers situation. That Obama was friends with this man. I’m going to go out on a limb and say EVERY politician will lie about their “friends.” It’s not an aspect I like about politics. Sadly, I believe both McCain and Obama have denied relationships with some ugly people (I mean corrupt financiers more than “terrorists/activists”). So let’s say Obama has lied about this relationships with Bill Ayers. The worst case scenario is that Obama has conversations with Bill Ayers where they look at the way the country works and shake their heads and consider “out of the box” solutions. Worst case scenario, Ayers believes in violence as a justifiable means to his definition of justice. That’s pretty bad.

So let’s follow this scenario. IS IT the worst case scenario? Could Obama have been friends with Ayers? Could he still be friends with Ayers? Sure. Only Obama and Ayers know the extent of their relationship as well as how Ayers has influenced Obama over the years. Is Bill Ayers a violent Anti-American who is only limited by age and lack of support in a desire to bomb the White House? Well, strangely, there’s the rub.

Huh…that’s our unrepentant terrorist.

So let’s dig a little deeper…That quote FOX plays over and over is from a speech Ayers did at Univ or North Dakota…and here’s an interesting reaction from someone who was there. If I understand this right, he wasn’t telling those students he didn’t regret his actions. It looks like the quote was “found” by Young Americans for Freedom who were protesting at this event. Was he reading off of this YAF print out? Seems like it. I’m still trying to find a fuller video of the event. And when I read this article from Dakota Student, he actually does have regrets. “you can’t be 63 and not have regrets.”

So the overall speech was inspiring to many students that day. Ayers usually is. Many of the videos I found of Ayers shows him an articulate, peaceful man. If he’s hell-bent on anything, he’s hell-bent on getting teachers to teach responsibly. On showing them the responsibility they have with impressionable minds. Clarification: he does NOT tell teachers to show kids how to make bombs and “do enough.”

So…the nitty gritty. Did Bill Ayers say bombing was not enough? Yes and no. A reviewer in the New York Times said he said it. She also says he realized his youthful arrogance. And was “embarassed” when seeing a documentary on the Weathermen. Is there remorse? Seems like it. Is there enough remorse? That is a clincher. He says the Weathermen were arrogant. Solipsistic. He left the group of his own accord. He surrendered. But when pressed, he begs for perspective. So is Ayers the unapologetic terrorist? Not really. He is an older man with many regrets and a lot of growth.

He is radical. It cannot be denied. He is liberal for sure. He has a violent past. He has very unique views on the 60’s and the icons of that time. I don’t agree with everything he says. However, the hour or so of video I just unearthed thanks to YouTube and Google and my uncanny ability to search the net, has been quite inspiring. Beautiful, in fact.

What little I have learned is this. Ayers, is not the demon he has been painted to be. He is a man with aspirations to sit with angels. He is a teacher. And an inspiration.

So worst case scenario, Obama has listened to an eloquent speaker who denounces war. Who wants peace. Who believes in justice. Who believes teachers are gatekeepers to our futures. Who believes every person should see who they are in history, their place in the world….and then change the world from where they stand.

I have drawn my conclusion. I would completely understand fear of a man who can listen to Ayers with objectivity. But I do not fear that. I do not fear the challenge of mind a man like Ayers gives us. I welcome it. Ayers is honest. Because of that honesty. I can take his words and sift it through my own morality and feel richer for it. The real Ayers. Not the Ayers created in a political tug-of-war. I can live with a President who was in this man’s home. I actually find it refreshing.

The sexualized politics

We have historically sexualized our politicians with crass merchandise, perverse comedy, and commentary caricatures. Many of our presidents have a dildo with their heads on the..er..head. Pornos “dramatize” oval office oral fun. And now, with a beauty queen on a ticket, it’s gotten too easy. A porno is now in the editing bay where Hillary is played by adult film legend Nina Hartley. And the headliner, is hot Alaskan MILF Palin. Why is it that NOW, people are getting up in arms about the Sarah Palin sex doll/porno/etc? Republicans react even to a photo of her ankles.

I would try to figure out why Sarah Palin is such a “victim” of media’s perverse sexism, but I can’t. She’s not alone. The Obama dildo is already on shelves..before the sex doll. And Obama and Palin are simply not the first.

Why do we sexualize politicians? The same reason we sexualize any celebrity. We want to make them one of us. Not drag them to our level…not demean them to feel better or smarter or more respectable than them. We poke fun and sexualize our leaders (and potential leaders) to hold them on the level at which they actually are -sexual beings, human beings. Politicians are not gods. They are one of us. And we treat them as such to remind ourselves and remind them that no one is above a good fuck joke.

crazy mccain people

I would talk more politics, but I was actually horrified yesterday. And fearful. For our country and both candidates. I think we’ve raised the ire of some crazy people. I can’t fathom anyone intended it. I pray to God the rage that has bubbled up was never intended to be conjured like a demon in a bad horror movie. But these people at McCain’s rallies are completely out of their minds. McCain isn’t the crazy one. It’s the people lifting him up.

I have complete respect for many many Republican voters. I’m not saying voting McCain means you’re crazy. But I am saying if you go to a McCain rally and like the people you’re standing next to…you may be crazy.

On a lighter note. Did you see Rachel Maddow on Jay Leno? Sigh. Dreamy bespectacled Rachel Maddow.

I have a huge crush on Rachel Maddow

let me get that button for you

Over the last few weeks, you all have fallen for the winks and “you betchas” of Sarah Palin. I get it. It’s cute. She’s a hot soccer mom-pitbull-with lipstick…on a pig…or something. And her Joe 6-Pack is pretty hot, too.

But there is a woman who got her own tv show in the last few weeks. She’s been on radio and tv for quite some time, but I found her when she started talking after Olbermann on MSNBC. I found her. And I can’t let go. When someone does something or says something that is just plain insipid…she gives this look…This “finding humor in the downward spiral of our country” look. It’s so sexy.

“What he said…”

Wow. That gay marriage question sent chills down my spine. I don’t agree with Biden, but I appreciate his succinct response…I guess Palin did, too.