The Political Gamer

Hi!

2008-08-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted here in a while...not really planning on posting here much anymore. So yeah, hi!

Obama and Hidden Racism - What's in a name?

2008-06-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

I was happy last week when Barack Obama won the Democratic primary. I think that he is the best thing for our country after 8 disastrous years under George W. Bush. My excitement has been dampened slightly, though, by stories like this one which show that while Obama's message resonates with younger voters like me, he's still got a long way to go with older voters.

I don't think our country is ready for a black president," Susick, who is white, said in an interview in the paint store where she works. "A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania."

Susick said her personal objection to Obama is his inexperience, not his color. "It has nothing to do with race," she said.

This seems to be a common theme in stories that explore the older generations' attitudes towards Obama. Few of them are willing to admit that racism plays a large part in their willingness to consider Obama as president. But although they claim to be colorblind, they say that their less enlightened neighbors might have a problem with his race:

In interviews with 40 Pennsylvanians across three counties that Clinton won by big margins, only one person indicated opposition to Obama simply because of his race. But several others said their neighbors might do so.

So if they don't have a problem with his race (according to them), what reasons do they give for not supporting him?

Obama "just hasn't impressed me," he said over midmorning coffee with a friend at Denny's. "His middle name bothers me a lot." That name is Hussein.

His. Middle. Fucking. Name. What the hell? And this middle name, which Obama didn't choose for himself, of course, bothers this potential voter a lot? Are people really that stupid? Other folks give muddled, nonspecific answers:

"He just doesn't appeal to me, and not because of race, definitely," she said in an interview in which race had not been mentioned.
Such comments are all too familiar to Richard Akers, who phoned dozens of prospective Pennsylvania voters as an Obama campaign volunteer in April. Democrats often explained their opposition to Obama with "excuses that were not rational or valid, as I saw it," said the retired bank director from Johnstown, another hotbed of Clinton support.
"To me, it was almost a code," Akers said. "'He doesn't wear a flag pin.' It seemed like code for 'He's not one of us.'"

I think Akers hit the nail on the head. People like this can't give any real reasons for disliking Obama, and they feel like they'll be judged for coming out and saying that they don't want to vote for a black man. So when put on the spot, they're "just not impressed" with him (despite his almost universally-praised oratorical skills and tact) or that he "just doesn't appeal to me."

Then, of course, there are the people who don't even bother to hide their bigotry:

Robert Miller, 72, who lives in a government subsidized room in Bedford, said the Constitution should be amended so it will "not let any colored people run for the White House." He seemed unsure about his voting record in recent elections, but vividly recalled voting for Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.
Dixie Pebley of Johnstown, 71, explained her distaste for Obama, saying, "black doesn't bother me, but Muslim does." When reminded that Obama is a Christian, she conceded the point, but added: "He was born Muslim and raised Muslim, that's enough for me. He just scares me to death."

These are the types of quotes that drive me nuts! I realize it may be elitist of me to think this way, but how is it that people who are so clueless about the candidates or so blinded by racism are able vote? My stomach churns at the thought of people like this flocking to McCain because he's white, like them.

There is a silver lining to this cloud, thankfully. The article notes that it's very likely that a lot of Clinton supporters who told pollsters that they'd vote for McCain if Clinton lost might be bluffing:

James Antoniono, a Greensburg lawyer and veteran Democratic activist who worked for Clinton, said many Clinton backers will support Obama this fall, including some who told exit pollsters they would not.
"It's one thing to come out of the voting booth and say that," Antoniono said. "It's another thing when you're faced with a choice in the general election."

A retired truck driver familiar with the Pennsylvania region echos that sentiment:

Obama's race "will hurt him" in many places, said Weimer, who follows the campaign intensely on cable TV. "But when push comes to shove, people around here want change."
That might include some white Democrats who publicly criticize Obama just to fit in with their neighbors, he said. "Once they go into the voting booth," he said, "who knows?"

I can only hope that Weimer and Antoniono are right, and that those folks who just can't get over Obama's name or can't overcome their hidden racism don't end up giving this crucial election to John McCain.

Is it over yet?

2008-06-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, could this Democratic primary season go on any longer?

Well, it looks like the madness might be over soon. Although it might not be the nice, tidy, unifying ending that most (reasonable) Democrats are hoping for. The beginning of the end started yesterday when there were reports that Hillary Clinton planned to suspend her campaign today and effectively concede victory to Barack Obama. Those reports were quickly followed by denials from the Clinton camp:

Terry McAuliffe rejected as "100 percent" incorrect an Associated Press report that Clinton is preparing to acknowledge Obama has the delegates to win the nomination Tuesday night as the five-month Democratic primary process comes to a close.
Obama "doesn't have the numbers today, and until someone has the numbers the race goes on," McAuliffe told CNN.

However, the AP is reporting now that Obama does, in fact, have the numbers.

I've been fairly silent during this whole thing (my most recent politics-related post was March 18) but now that it's drawing to a close I have a few things to say...

FINALLY! Holy crap, could this thing have been more drawn out (the answer is yes, Clinton could've - and still can - made this thing last until the convention in late August. But even still...man, it seems like this went on forever)
The rabid Clinton's supporters (note that I'm not talking about reasonable Clinton supporters who wanted her to win but can still see the big picture) need to pull their heads out of their asses and realize that the most important fight is in November, and that if they truly believe in what Hillary stood for, they need to support their party's nominee even if it's not Hillary. Either that, or they need to admit that they're racist dumbshits.
I'm glad Obama won. His campaign seemed by far the more genuine, positive, and hopeful one and I think he's got a great mind and temperament to be a very good president.
Hillary Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP. Personally, I think this would be a pretty incredible ticket. But I believe in the past that Obama has said he would be looking elsewhere for a VP candidate. I can see the pros and cons of having Hillary as his running mate, and I think that whatever decision he makes here will work out fine.

Anyway, I've been kinda out of it in terms of blogging for a bit, but I felt that this was worth posting about because it (hopefully) finally clears the road for the Democratic nominees to start concentrating their efforts on beating McCain in November rather than bashing one another.

Best news evar!

2008-03-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

That's right, folks! This week's downloadable song for Rock Band is "Still Alive", the song sung by your homicidal computer guide GlaD0s during the credits after you beat the video game Portal (which is a very creative, mind-bending puzzle game). And to make the news even cooler, the song is going to be free! Rock Band is already the best party game I've ever owned, and this makes the game that much more fun!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the song (and don't mind hearing it before you get a chance to play or beat Portal - an experience I'd really suggest you have), here's a video of the ending to Portal (the song starts about 57 seconds in):

And yeah, if you've never played Portal then chances are this won't be very thrilling news.

Obama finally speaks about race.

2008-03-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

Throughout his presidential campaign, Barack Obama has made it a point to avoid making his race an issue. He hasn't tried to capitalize on it or exploit it to get a few cheap votes (although, as countless political commentary providers have noted, black people do vote for him overwhelmingly regardless of his refusal to play the race card). However, after enduring subtle and not-so-subtle attacks about his race, Obama has decided to speak out about the issues of race of racism both in this campaign and in America in general. If you have a free 40 minutes (37 minutes, 39 seconds to be exact), I'd suggest checking it out:

Obama supporters are...

2008-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

...latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing trust fund babies. At least according to International Association of Machinists union boss and Hillary Clinton supporter Tom Buffenbarger (note: the linked story misquotes him and says he used the term "Lactaid-drinking", but it was actually "latte-drinking"). Not only that, but he claims that Obama is a "Silver-tongued orator", a "Man in love with the microphone" (ironic, once you see the video - which I've been so far unsuccessful in finding online), a "Trained thespian", a "Janus, the two-faced Roman god", a "Harvard Law Review editor", a "Shadow boxer", a "Poet", and has "Great footwork". Can you smell the desperation from this guy?

You stay classy, Tom Buffenbarger!

PS - My wife and I both drive a Prius. Guess who we voted for, Tommy-boy!

The Democratic primary race is far from over.

2008-02-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Whereas Super Tuesday helped John McCain all but wrap up the Republican nomination (much to the chagrin of neo-conservative talking heads), it did no such favor to either of the remaining Democratic candidates. In fact, CNN reports that following yesterday's voting the two Democratic candidates are separated by only 0.4% in terms of overall votes:

Just how sharply are Democrats divided between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?

Of all the votes cast on Super Tuesday for the two candidates nationwide, they are only separated by 0.4 of a percentage point.

By midday Wednesday, 14,645,638 votes were reported cast for either Obama or Clinton on Tuesday. Clinton had won 7,350,238 of those votes (50.2 percent) while Obama captured 7,295,400 votes (49.8 percent).

Most precincts had reported 100 percent of their votes by Wednesday, though some districts had yet to complete their count. Many of those votes are in in New Mexico, where CNN has yet to declare a winner, and in California, where a sizeable number of absentee votes have yet to be tallied.

Despite her lead in the popular vote, some news organizations actually show Barack Obama as having the edge in delegates at the moment (but again, by a very slight margin). In addition, Obama appears to have a big financial advantage (the Obama campaign has a large reserve of funds to continue campaigning, whereas the Clinton campaign's staffers are actually going without pay to keep the campaign afloat). Then again, wasn't John McCain's campaign bankrupt and in disarray just a few months ago?

Yup, it looks like the Democratic nomination is shaping up to be quite a fight, and one that doesn't look like it'll be settled for another month at least (and possibly even into the DNC in late August).

I voted!

2008-02-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

I've been interested in politics for a while now, but I don't think I've ever been this excited for a primary as I am today. This is for a few reasons:

This is the first time in a long time that California's primary actually meant anything in terms of determining the candidates.
I think that the country is in need of a major change more than it has been in a loooooong time.
I have strong feelings about which candidate is most likely to bring about said change.

So it should come as no surprise that I voted in today's California primary. If you look back at some of my older posts, it should also not be too surprising who I voted for (hint: Hillary "I'll Say Whatever Is Popular With Whomever I'm Speaking To" Clinton is not a compliment). Although I will say that my first choice was Dennis Kucinich and I also thought John Edwards was a pretty great candidate.

That said, my enthusiasm has been somewhat quashed by the fact that ~~Bill~~ Hillary Clinton, at the time of this writing, is leading Barack Obama in California 55% to 33% (with 17% of the precints reporting). Then again, all of the political analysts have been saying that even after today's "Super Tuesday" primaries, the race for the Democratic nominee is still far from over.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, John McCain is looking more and more like a sure thing (thanks to Mike Huckabee's surprising wins in a few southern states - states that likely would've gone to Mitt Romney had Huckabee dropped out). Which, although I doubt I'll be voting for any Republican candidates for quite some time (thanks, Dubya!), I take as somewhat good news. If I had to choose between McCain, Romney, and Huckabee as the guy I'd most like to see as President, I'd probably have to give the edge to McCain despite his recent shift to the right - a shift I'm hoping has more to do with trying to win the Republican primaries and less to do with an actual change in his ideals.

BTW, I think that McCain's emergence as the GOP front runner is actually pretty amazing. Mere months ago analysts left his campaign for dead. He had no money and a bunch of people on his staff had quit. Talk about a comeback!

The Country He Inherited, The Country He Leaves Behind.

2008-01-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, I haven't posted for months. No, I'm not dead. Just kinda discouraged about the whole "blogging" thing 'cause I don't think anybody ever reads this blog (so what's the point?). Anyway, I'm taking a break from my "poor me nobody reads my blog" attitude to post this, because I thought it was pretty darn jolting.

Ouch.

The perfect gift for everybody on your Christmas list!

2007-11-20T13:20:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine told me today about something called the neti pot. Essentially it's a pot that you fill up with saltwater and then stick into your nose so that the saltwater can rush through your nasal passage and cleanse it. Sound awesome? Just watch this video to see how awesome it really is!

So now you're thinking to yourself "Okay, so I can run saltwater through my nose. But what else can I run through it?" Luckily, this guy is way ahead of you:

So yeah, if you're on my Christmas list you can rest assured you'll be getting a neti pot and a can of Red Bull (because since this guy didn't try Red Bull, I can only imagine how wonderful it must make your nasal passage feel!) when gift giving time rolls around!

You can thank me later for helping you figure out what to get for those people on your list who seem to already have everything.

If this doesn't piss you off...

2007-10-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know what will.

We know, with a 70 percent level of certainty — which is huge in the world of intelligence — that in August of 2007, bin Laden was in a convoy headed south from Tora Bora. We had his butt, on camera, on satellite. We were listening to his conversations. We had the world’s best hunters/killers — Seal Team 6 — nearby. We had the world class Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating with the CIA and other agencies. We had unmanned drones overhead with missiles on their wings; we had the best Air Force on the planet, begging to drop one on the terrorist. We had him in our sights; we had done it. Nice job again guys — now, pull the damn trigger.

Unbelievably, and in my opinion, criminally, we did not kill Usama bin Laden.

You cannot make this crap up; truth is always stranger and more telling than fiction. Our government, the current administration and yes, our military leaders included, failed to kill bin Laden for no other reason than incompetence.

This didn't come from some left-wing blogger, either. In fact, it was written by Colonel David Hunt, who is a military correspondent for the decidedly right-wing FOX News.

Although I'll throw in my left-wing, anti-war comments in (I'd hate for you to come here and not get your fill): at this point, I don't buy the "incompetence" argument anymore. There's no way that something like this could happen and bin Laden could still be alive today except for the fact that the Bush administration wants him alive so that they have a boogeyman to scare the American people with during elections.

How John F. Kennedy responded to a nuclear Russia.

2007-10-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

I came across this speech by John F. Kennedy at a 1963 American University commencement and was saddened that some of it is no longer true. Here is how he ended the speech:

The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough - - more than enough - - of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on - - not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.

Unfortunately the world no longer knows that we will never start a war, because we HAVE started this war in Iraq. Hopefully the rest of Kennedy's words still have some truth to them.

I couldn't resist...

2007-10-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Let me get this out of the way: my USC Trojans were overrated all season when they were ranked #1. I knew it, and I think most other reasonable USC fans knew it. Heck, I think they're probably even a little overrated as it stands right now (losing to Stanford and barely beating Washington and Arizona?). That said, I saw this spoof on the Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" ads that makes fun of Notre Dame football fans and I couldn't resist posting it here.

Halo 3 breaks Ben Stiller's heart.

2007-10-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

I just saw a story today that blames poor movie box office sales recently on the fact that Halo 3 was released at the end of September. According to the story:

Halo 3, released on September 25, grossed a whopping $170 million in first day sales, a figure that had swelled to over $300 million by early October. In contrast, North American movie box office takings have been dwindling...Total industry film ticket sales were only $80 million for the Oct. 5 weekend, down a massive 27 percent year-over-year.

The story specifically mentions the poor performance of Ben Stiller's new movie, The Heartbreak Kid, which "was expected to gross up to $25 million in its opening weekend but fell flat, taking just $14 million in the US and Canada." The movie's poor showing means that "many film executives are reportedly convinced audiences stayed at home to play the Bungie-developed shooter."

Having actually seen The Heartbreak Kid, I have a different theory. The movie was crap. Sure, it had its funny parts but if I had to choose which Ben Stiller movie it's more similar to, I'd say THK is a lot closer to Meet The Parents than it was to There's Something About Mary in the sense that by the end of the movie it's just not funny anymore and you just want somebody to put Ben Stiller's character out of his misery. But really, THK is even worse than Meet The Parents in that regard because at least at the end of MTP there was a somewhat happy ending. Whereas at the end of THK you're left wondering why you should even give a crap about Ben Stiller's character at all. Crap, I got to see the movie for free and I still wanted my money back.

So yeah, this whole "blame Halo 3 for our shitty movie's poor performance" thing is crap. If a movie (and especially a comedy) is going to do well at the box office, it's going to need positive word of mouth. And I can pretty much guarantee you that Ben Stiller's latest movie isn't getting any of that.

Playing video games for a living?

2007-10-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a dream job to me, and chances are if you are into video games it sounds pretty awesome to you, too. How cool would it be to get paid to play video games? At least that's what I thought until I read this article on ESPN.com (yes, ESPN actually writes about video games sometimes like they're an actual sport). Now that I know professional gaming is a lot more about sleepless nights practicing and being beaten by pre-pubescent boys, I'm not quite so enamored with the idea. Check out some quotes from the article:

Taylor recently broke up with his girlfriend of more than two years, in part because of his lifestyle. Most days, he makes like a vampire, rising in the late afternoon, going to bed at sunup (online gaming largely takes place at night). The week before an event, he'll practice up to 14 hours a day; the week after an event, he'll sleep up to 18 hours a day, fending off the nagging cough, blurry vision and overall malaise that pros call "tournament death."

"These kids eat out all the time," laments Andrew Poor, a 22-year-old Ohio State senior. "Eat sugar and junk, then drink Red Bull. They have extremely high metabolisms. It pisses me off, because my heart can't take it and I have to eat it, anyway."

Poor coaches Final Boss, which brings us to our next point: Pro gamers have coaches. And game plans. They scout opponents by watching film. They even hold NFL preseason-style scrimmages -- hence the two kids, Justin and Lester, playing "Halo 2" on two of the half-dozen flickering televisions lining each side of the room. They're members of 5K, one of MLG's up-and-coming squads, here to give Final Boss some quality practice. And also crash on the couch.

Walsh yawns, tugs at the sleeves of a T-shirt reading STRICTLY FOR MY NINJAS. He was up until 6:30 this morning, playing Nintendo Wii. To relax. Halo 2 is business, and Final Boss has been putting in double shifts: battling 5K, eight hours a night, tweaking tactics and execution. Over and over. Walsh tallies the results on a clipboard, makes notes, leaves nothing to chance.

As the firefight rages, players on both teams bark coded commands, like offensive linemen calling out blitzers: One shot! Topside! Two top blue! Under glass! Under glass! Turns out shooting is the easy part of the game; the hard part is making instant decisions, outthinking opponents in what amounts to three-dimensional speed chess, a game of capturing and holding territory. Which is where Poor comes in. Top teams like Final Boss win through coordination and execution of prerehearsed battle plans, called "strats." Because Poor can watch all four of his team's screens at once, he can act like an offensive coordinator in football, offering God's-eye-view commands and suggestions.

Nothing left to chance. Not even chance. Dan Ryan slaps himself in the face. He crouches over one of the colored lights, warming his hands. Prolonged gaming, he says, makes his fingers go cold, ruins his aim, saps his reflexes. Cavanaugh joins him. Tom Ryan yawns, looks half-asleep. Walsh and Poor huddle, talk strategy. Keep calling things out. Don't sit back. Go take it.

A fascinating story to me but yeah ... maybe I'll stick with my "adult" job and play video games in my free time for fun.

Bush's veto pen...mightier than the sword at taking life.

2007-10-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

George Bush has vetoed only four things during his entire presidency (and none until control of Congress went to the Democratic party in 2006):

First was a bill to extend federal support of stem cell research.

Second was a bill that was part of a defense spending bill that would've set a timetable for partial troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Third was another bill to extend federal support of stem cell research.

And lastly, on October 3, Bush vetoed a bill that would've extended and expanded a national program that provides healthcare to poor kids.

See a common link? Bush and his supporters may claim that they're the party that cares about life, but it's fairly obvious from these vetoes that his concern for life doesn't extend to troops, innocent Iraqis, poor sick kids, or people who suffer from diseases that stem cell research has the potential to cure.

What was Bush's main reason for his latest veto? It would cost too much. Funny, because the amount that Congress wanted to extend the program by is a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on our so-called neverending "War on Terror".

The Daily Show, as always, did a better job than I could of ridiculing Bush for being such a heartless bastard.

Larry Craig loves the Super Tuber!

2007-10-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Virtualcities.com has a section on their site that lists favorite recipes of various Congresspeople. These recipes were submitted to Virtualcities by the actual Congresspeople. If you read through them, you might notice that there are a couple recipes submitted by everybody's favorite (completely un-) gay Senator from Idaho, Larry Craig. That in and of itself is not all that interesting until you read Senator Craig's (who just had his petition to withdraw his guilty plea for solicitation of gay sex in a public men's bathroom smacked down by Judge Charles Porter) recipe for the "Super Tuber":

Ingredients
1 hot dog, cook's choice
1 Idaho baking potato, 7 to 10 ounces
Mustard for dipping, any style
Other condiments as desired such as cheese sauce, sour cream, chili, chives, bacon pieces or black olives.

Wash and dry potato. Rub with shortening or butter. With an apple corer or small knife, core out the potato center (end to end). Push hot dog through the center. Bake until potato is cooked through.

So basically, one of Senator Craig's favorite snacks is a potato rubbed in butter with a weiner shoved into it. Is it me or does Senator Craig have all sorts of ideas where you should shove a weiner?

Disclaimer - I personally don't think there's anything wrong with being gay. What I do take exception to, and the reason I'm mocking the Senator, is when people use their political power to limit the rights, freedoms, and equality of homosexuals while living as closeted homosexuals themselves. In other words, I wouldn't give a crap about whether this guy was gay or not if he was open and honest about it, and didn't live his life as a hypocrite.

No gays in Iran? 300 says otherwise!

2007-09-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, just wrapped up a controversial visit to the United States, which included a speaking engagement at Columbia University. During his speech (which was generally pooh-poohed by both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates), Ahmadinejad wavered back and forth between sounding thoughtful and sounding just plain stupid (kind of like our own president, but with slightly less stupid). However, any insightful comments Ahmadinejad may have made during his speech were surely overshadowed by his suggestions that the Holocaust needed to have its historical accuracy reexamined, that women in Iran enjoyed more freedom than women in almost any other country, and, most amusingly, that there are actually no gay people in Iran.

No gay people? Apparently Mr. Ahmadinejad hasn't ever seen the movie 300. I don't think they could've made Xerxes any gayer.

Happy Haloday!

2007-09-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Or should I say have a Master Chiefmas?

That's right, folks, Halo 3 has arrived for the Xbox 360! The third and (supposedly) final installation of Microsoft and Bungie's wildly popular first-person shooter is on store shelves today after years of anticipation. Personally, I preordered it and am going to pick it up on my lunch break. Unfortunately, my stupid sense of responsibility is keeping me from taking today (or the rest of the week) off to play the game. But according to USA Today, lots of gamers don't feel that same responsibility to put work and other adulthood commitments above playing Halo 3. Although really, I can understand that decision. As one person on digg said, "Of course I took a vacation day. This is like a gamers super bowl that only happens once every 3 to five years." Although wouldn't that be more like the World Cup?

Other funny posts from digg users about taking today off to play Halo 3:

Hehe, Half my school is gonna be absent tomorrow. Of course I go to an IT high school....and everyone is a total geek......and even the teachers are gonna be absent...

Hell just make it a National Holiday and get it over with >_>

Let's see... 1) Save earth from the Covenant, or 2) making sure my TPS report has a cover sheet...

I work in a senior technical department with about 25 other people. At least 8 of those people have had their vacation planned for this specific reason. Yesterday was a cesspool of standing up, leaning over the cube and yelling: "HEY, YOU GONNA BE ON XBOX LIVE TOMORROW?!?!"

we had about 5 guys in my department put in vacation day requests as soon as the release date came out. They got approved, and it wasn't untill about a week ago that the boss man put 2 and 2 together and figured out what was going on. He wasn't happy, but theres nothing that says they can't take a vacation day or 2 (or however many they want) for something like this.

And lastly:

Women get maternity leave. Men should get gaming leave.

It's only fair.

To which a female digg user replied:

I'm a woman, screw maternity leave, I want gaming leave...

Oh, the irony...

2007-09-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

This morning my wife had the news on and President Bush was on the television giving a press briefing. My wife heard Bush say this and through the magic of Tivo paused it and rewound it so that I could hear this:

I also -- it's very important for the Iranian people to know that our -- the United States recognizes the grand tradition and history of Iran, and that we respect the people of Iran. We just believe that their government has made choices that make it difficult for them to realize their dreams, realize their full potential. The Iranian economy is suffering -- some of it through mismanagement, some of it as a result of international pressures. And the people of Iran have got to know that some of the suffering that they're having inside their country is caused by their government, its inability to work with the world in a responsible way regarding their desire to enrich uranium.

Are you serious? Does Bush have any idea how many people outside of the United States (and many inside) would say almost the exact same thing about our country? The only way this speech could've been more ironic is if Bush would have followed up with:

I mean, listen, the Iranian people aren't crazy but Iran is run by a small group of zealots who are!
Oh, and have you guys heard how much the Iranian government wants to limit peoples' freedoms?
Womens' rights wouldn't even exist if they had their way!
Nations whose leaders might be willing to ignore the authority of the UN and initiate aggression against other nations should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.
And have you guys seen pictures of this Ahmadinejad guy? He looks like a monkey!

Gearing up for a war with Iran.

2007-09-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

The British newspaper The Telegraph had an article yesterday with a title that's pretty hard to misinterpret: Bush setting America up for war with Iran. The article claims that Washington insiders believe that "US action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and even its armed forces." In other words, they think that Bush is going to try and provoke Iran into cutting off its oil supplies to us, thus giving him the excuse that Iran is a threat to our nation's security and (in his mind) giving him the green light for military action against Iran.

Rumors that Bush is planning on attacking Iran have been around for quite a while, but this story is significant for a few reasons. First, previous rumors have been largely spread and believed by anti-war people on the left. This is the first time I've seen the theory believed and perpetuated by people across the political spectrum. Second, it's significant because one of the few voices in the White House in favor of a political solution to a nuclear Iran, Condoleezza Rice, has decided "to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action." The article goes on to say that "When you go down there and see the body language, you can see that Cheney is still The Man. Condi pushed for diplomacy but she is no dove. If it becomes necessary she will be on board."

Of course, there are folks who argue that even if Iran does get nuclear weaponry it's not necessarily reason to start a war. Hippy peaceniks? Not exactly. Actually, retired Army General John Abizaid, who headed Central Command for nearly four years, is now saying that although the US should do what it can to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, the United States could deter it from using them.

While not completely ruling out the option of war with Iran, Abizaid said "War, in the state-to-state sense, in that part of the region would be devastating for everybody, and we should avoid it — in my mind — to every extent that we can." He added "There are ways to live with a nuclear Iran. Let's face it, we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union, we've lived with a nuclear China, and we're living with (other) nuclear powers as well."

Said Abizaid: "Iran is not a suicide nation. I mean, they may have some people in charge that don't appear to be rational, but I doubt that the Iranians intend to attack us with a nuclear weapon."

Remember those doubts in the coming months as the Bush administration tries to convince us and the rest of the world that Iran is a threat to our security and should be subject to military attacks.

And don't forget:

MMOVIE

2007-08-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't noticed from my post history or links on the side of my blog, I play World of Warcraft (along with like 8 bazillion other people). So when a fellow WoW player and friend sent me this trailer for a fake movie called MMOVIE I found it to be really funny. Basically it just uses the World of Warcraft game engine to copy some real movies. A simple idea, yes. But very well executed, so I thought I'd share.

Rove, Snow, and Gonzo going, going...

2007-08-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

And within the next month, gone. Rove announced a few weeks ago that he'd be stepping down as President Bush's senior political adviser to spend more time with his family. His announcement was soon followed by White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's comments on a conservative radio program that he would be stepping down shortly and that he expected "probably a couple [more resignations] coming up in the next month or so." Surprisingly, something Tony Snow said has turned out to be true as yesterday Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that he will be resigning as well.

All of this is well and good because I didn't trust or like any of these guys. They are devious liars who broke the law and defiled the Constitution (or in Snow's case tried to throw a blanket over the public's eyes while others did). Unfortunately their resignations don't really change anything. All of the bad policies they engineered, enacted, enforced, and defended remain in place and need to be dismantled. And, despite Democrats' vows to continue their investigations into possible lawbreaking by Gonzales and Rove regardless of their resignations, I have a feeling that with Rove and Gonzo at home with their families, the Democratic leadership isn't going to see much value politically in pursuing those investigations. I hope I'm wrong.

Even more, I hope that the rumors that President Bush might nominate Joe Lieberman to replace Gonzales are wrong. Nominating Lieberman would mean a few things:

Connecticut's governor (a Republican) would be able to appoint Lieberman's replacement in Senate, which would erase the Democratic majority and hand it to the Republican party.
Nothing in the Department of Justice would change because Lieberman is one of the few people to defend pretty much everything Gonzales has done. In fact, when Gonzales called parts of the Geneva convention "quaint", Lieberman defended him, saying "I think Judge Gonzales was being restrained and diplomatic in using the word 'quaint'" (I wonder if Joe knows that the Nazi lawyers at Nuremberg also advised their clients that the Geneva Conventions were "quaint" and "obsolete").

I really think that if Lieberman were to be nominated and confirmed (and Congress is unlikely to resist confirming one of their own), it would be bad for the Democratic party and the American people in general.

I really don't care much who Bush replaces Rove or Snow with. Whoever it is, you can bet they'll be a loyal Bush appointee who continues the lying and cheating traditions of their predecessors. But the office of Attorney General matters. It should be held by somebody who cares about Constitutional rights and upholding the law, not by somebody who wants to use the position to shelter Bush and the rest of his administration from legal recourse for their illegal policies and programs.

Who could've known?

2007-08-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Remember back in 2003 before the war had begun in Iraq? Remember how all of the Bush administration folks were assuring the American public that the war would be short, decisive, and inexpensive? Remember Donald Rumsfeld saying that he figured the war would last six weeks, and that he really doubted it would go for six months? Remember conservatives like Kenneth Adelman, a Reagan administration official who served on a Pentagon advisory board, saying in a Washington Post column in February 2002 that the war would be "a cakewalk"?

Remember when Dick Cheney went on Meet the Press and said "I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators"? Tim Russert responded, asking Cheney "If your analysis is not correct and we’re not treated as liberators but as conquerors and the Iraqis begin to resist particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly and bloody battle with significant American casualties?" Cheney replied "Well, I don’t think it’s unlikely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe we will be greeted as liberators."

Oh really? That's funny, because in 1994 Cheney went on record as saying that the US shouldn't depose Saddam Hussein because doing so would create chaos and probably would lead to Iraq being divided and fought over by various factions vying for power in the region:

Funny how Cheney and friends have defended their failure to plan for today's chaos in Iraq by claiming that nobody could have predicted such an outcome, eh? I wonder if it's possible that Bush and Cheney knew that the war in Iraq would be long and costly, but didn't want to tell that to the American people because it would've been a much harder war to sell...

Bibleman versus the evil Wacky Protester!

2007-08-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

Saw this video trailer for a game called Bibleman: A Fight For Faith today and just had to share.

That's right. The main villain in the game is named "Wacky Protester". Because obviously all protesters are inspired by Satan himself.