Posts Tagged with "politics"

Voting Shouldn’t Be Rewarded

November 7th, 2006 at 2:35 pm by Mark
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     From several sources, I heard about some educators giving extra credit for students who went out and voted.  I cannot understand why anyone would be so shallow, especially given their position as educators.  To me, it makes a farce of the entire process.
     The fact that we can vote, that we can have our say in electing our government, is one of our core Freedoms in this country.
     Regardless of the outcome of an election, voting is the reward!

 

     Another thing that’s getting on my nerves are these people who can go on and on about how things are being done, how things are running, how they could do better.
     “And did you vote?” I’d ask.
     “No…”
     “Then shut the Hell up.  Voting is what ensures our right to representation, so you gave up your right to complain when you didn’t take five minutes to go cast your ballot.”

 

     I’ve never been one for party politics, always voting for individual candidates and their stances on issues rather than taking a party-stance and voting down one side or the other.  But this go-round, the choice was clear.  One side had issues and resolutions, and the other side had nothing to do but bitch and complain.
     It was too fitting, as I left the polling area, to hear the “Emperor’s March” theme from Star Wars, and the voice of Vader saying, “Your journey to the Dark Side is now complete!”

     I was definitely relieved when I finally saw that the guy next to me was carrying a portable DVD player…

Wannabe-King Kerry’s Komments

November 1st, 2006 at 1:41 pm by Mark
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     It’s been an interesting few days, and Halloween seemed just the sort of time to make fun of it.

     The infamous Kerry comments were as follows:

Your education, If you make the most of it, you study hard, and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

     Ummm… If a=b and b=c, then a=c (purty damn gud algebry for a public skool boy frum Tennessee, ain’t it?)… Then…

     John Kerry said Iraq was another Vietnam.

     John Kerry went on relentlessly about his service in Vietnam.

     Therefore…

     John Kerry didn’t make the most of it, study hard, do his homework or make an effort.

     Thus we know the absolute truth: It wasn’t a NeoCon, Right Wing Conspiracy that caused Kerry to lose the election — it’s because he was a dumbass!

     Unlike our troops, who know the value of good humor:

Stuck In Irak

     I just love ScrappleFace.com’s video

UPDATE 1:51PM EST:
     Ack! Michelle Malkin and I must’ve been writing at the same time…  Of course, I was browsing for funny stuff on YouTube before hitting the “Publish” button…
     As for all the K’s in the title … it’s just an ode to Ben Cardin’s Maryland campaign against Black Republican Michael Steele. It’s amazing the depths the DNC will sink to and still try and pawn off allegations of Racism against their opponents.

Stock Photos

Eat the Press: The Colbert-Coulter Challenge

October 13th, 2006 at 12:32 pm by Mark
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     In the amazing race to hold onto a fleeting fifteen minutes of fame, many celebrities realize one simple truth: Publicity is Publicity, even if it’s bad. 

     It’s always been my contention that Rush Limbaugh was an entertainer, a bad comedian.  I’ve seen Ann Coulter the same way.  And to be fair, Al Franken, too.
     They stand up, tell a bunch of jokes, get people pissed off, and an angry mob of people who hate them go out and buy their books.  It’s freakin’ brilliant, really!
     However, being balanced, there are just as many people who hang on their every word, treating each outrageous statement as the Gospel Truth (of course, I think there are more people following Al Franken, but that’s beside the point).

     I can’t help but wonder — how would people have reacted if Ann Coulter had first been presented on Saturday Night Live, and Al Franken had been a speaker and author?  Or if Rush Limbaugh had been a character in many popular comedies (including the Simpsons) and Harry Shearer had been a radio talk show host?

     In checking out one of Sam’s finds from a while back (last December’s “Ned Flanders Roasts Ann Coulter“), I ran across yet another great article on Eat the Press (thus the Harry Shearer reference).
     Entitled “The Stephen Colbert-Ann Coulter Challenge,” the article (excerpted from New York magazine) draws some interesting parallels between the two entertainers.  It also brings up the question of why Liberals will bash Coulter so fervently, when the fact is that she and Colbert may be very much the same sort “character.”
     Of course I completely agree with that, having held the opinion that she’s nothing more than a bad comedian for several years.  And the same goes for Rish Limbaugh.  And Al Franken.

     But those Dixie Chicks — they’re just damn Communists!

Five Years After

September 11th, 2006 at 3:35 pm by Mark
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     Sometimes a picture’s worth a thousand words.
     Other times, they’re worth ten thousand.  I’ll try not to write them all down.

     Throughout my travels, I actually have very few pictures, let alone pictures of me.  That’s why this one is so special to me.  It was taken 28-Dec-2000.

 Mark Steel in front of the WTC

     Nine months later, those beautiful landmarks were gone.  I was in a foreign country having abuse and saliva hurled at me by random morons with their, “Fucking yanks got what you deserved!” and other such slanders.
     Mind you, “screaming” is considered a violent act there, and they had a tendency to make examples of non-citizens, so I had to either take the abuse or take my chances beating on some of them.
     Door number two was easier, knowing that I could go home and shave my hair and beard, and they’d be too stupid to know it was me if they saw me again.

     Contrary to popular belief, the 9/11 attacks took little to pull off.  That’s the one thing the public doesn’t like to hear.
     It wasn’t the work of a brilliant, criminal mastermind with an endless supply of money.  All it took was a few idiots with the nerve and will to actually do it.
     I was out there, and I know first hand that there are a lot of idiots in the world, with the will to do it.  Fortunately, few of them have the nerve, but the possibility has always been there, and continues to be there.

     “There was no problem before this stupid President!  We could travel anywhere under the last one!”
     Even through the 90’s, foreign travel was discouraged to “ALL COUNTRIES, DUE TO HIGH POSSIBILITY OF ANTI-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES.”  These notices were in every Post Office and Airport in the country.  Surely I’m not the only one who noticed them.
     But certainly, after 9/11, it got worse.  Half the world saw America as weak, saw that retribution could be had for whatever made-up reasons we needed it, and apparently, all it took was a few plane tickets and some box cutters.

     “We shouldn’t be in Iraq since it had nothing to do with 9/11!”
     We unhinged Afghanistan because there were camps training armies of Jihaadists.  These things are all over the Middle East, as well.
     Regardless of whether or not Iraq had anything to do with it, two facts remain.  First, it was an unsecure country with  tons of munitions.  Second, a stabilized Iraq dead in the middle of a Jihaadist region is a perfectly good thing.
     For Iraqis who are fed up with Totalitarian control, isn’t it nice to see them on television now wearing Levis and playing soccer instead of being terrorized by a leader who has had no qualms about killing them by the hundreds of thousands?
     And for Jihaadists … Iraq is a poison pill where the majority of them will face the front, and die for their cause, without killing as many innocent civillians as they have for last thirty years.

     “You’re more likely get killed by lightning than killed by a terrorist!”
     Maybe that’s true.  But maybe it’s only true of now, post-9/11, because we certainly didn’t think it would happen on 10-Sep-2001, now did we?
     Realistically, the NOAA & NWS agree that there were 3684 reported deaths by lightning between 1959 and 2004.  2997 people died (not including the hijackers) on that single day, 11-Sep-2001.
     Given those statistics, is it really fair, comparing nearly fifty years to a single day?
     Regardless of how we may dislike the new “security” measures at airports, they usually don’t inconvenience us terribly.  Sure, we’ve hit a few bumps lately, but we’ll get through it.

     Without the politics to add fuel to these arguments, they all fall apart.  We can sit here, as citizens, getting a tenth of the story at best, and try to second guess, analyze, and make all these stupid connections to find a single person responsible for the mess.
     Thoughts like that will almost never represent the truth.

     We should remember what life was like, realisticly, before 9/11.  We should remember the day.  We should remember those who died for no reason.  And we should never forget.
     Maybe when we all start doing that, we’ll begin to see some improvement.

9/11 Memorial

Firefighter Memorial

Thanks, Mia, for the last two pictures

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Pandemic Paranoia

August 26th, 2006 at 10:22 pm by Mark
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     Swanky did another article about Terrorism paranoia yesterday, but this time it’s one that I agree with.

Terrorists want to cause terror. We go nuts over every little thing and thus, they succeed, even when they fail i.e. the London liquid plane bombers. They were stopped and we still have to bring air traffic to a grinding halt and raise the panic level. The list of panicy non-threats is seemingly endless…
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  .
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I don’t mean to get all conspiritorial on ya, but, who benefits from this hightened sense of panic?

     And the unfortunate part is, I have an answer for that. 

     Media benefits.

     I didn’t intend for this Blog to be about Politics.  Quite honestly, I can’t stand Washington Politicians — they’ll sell us all out before it’s over with.  But one side is a little more responsible that the other when it comes to Media.

     The reason it’s called “Liberal Media” is because, well, they like to cozy up to the Party that’ll tell them what to print, which gives them less workload, and a cash kickback.  The opposing party doesn’t tell them what to print, and doesn’t give them a kickback, so Media will bitch and moan about the increased workload without increased cash.
     So, of course, they’re gonna cozy up to Washington Democrats, and claim, “Oh, Freedom of the Press is great!  And that other party?  They’ll don’t tell us anything, so they must be conspiring against us!”
     Nevermind that the actual problem is that they’re lazy and don’t know how to do good-ol’-fashioned journalism and dig for stories anymore.
     Bear with me, because this is coming from first-hand experience, having been a Media staff writer.  Oh, the number of times I’ve had articles hacked to death and all-but-rewritten by an editor with a Political agenda…
     It really is that sordid.

     Media benefits.

     Some people might say, “Oh, that’s all fine and good, but what about Foreign Media?  They have nothing to gain from sordid American politics!”
     Having worked for a foreign Media entity, I can explain that from first hand experience, as well.  In fact, they have even more to gain.

     Most other countries don’t have “free press.”  Instead, they have a Ministry-operated (i.e. Government) entities which distribute news that Government wants its people to hear.
     That said, Foreign Press tends to be extremely jealous of US Media, who rarely print anything without fear of retribution (cutting jobs, cutting budgets, etc.).  It’s because of that the US was called “Paper Tiger” in so many articles prior to its infamous use by Osama bin Laden.
     Associated Press and Reuters will pick up news from any associate in the world.  With most associates, nine times out of ten, if there’s a juicy story in a given country and a non-story which bashes America, they’ll pick door number two.  
     Even some of the of the British Commonwealths, who regularly sell their best products as export-only, do this sort of thing.  It’s the “underdog mentality,” where a Government can say, “Know why things are so piss poor here?  It’s because of those damn Americans!  Know why you’re paying three pounds a litre for gallon?  Those damn Americans!  And they’re no better than you — check out this headline!”
     It gives their citizens something to feel in common, gives them a common enemy — “Those damn Americans!”
     Four pounds a litre, yes.  3.79 litres per gallon.  Round-about $1.90 per British Pound.  Twenty-one dollars a gallon.  Sucks for them, eh?  But instead of greedy oil companies, they get to blame America for invading Iraq.

     So … Foreign Media (and foreign governments) sow the seeds of Paranoia, reporting everything that happens, with a spin of “America isn’t doing anything about it!” or “Look how America’s screwing up now!”
     AP and Reuters pick up on, and Washington Policians get on TV about it, and our lazy media doesn’t have to write its own stories — they get to embellish every bit of crap and garbage that the Foreign Media gave them.  And if they do a good job, they get a kickback.
     Sordid.  Pathetic.

     Free Press is Free Press.  In this country, have a choice, but they lack the ethics to handle themselves on their own.
     So next time you hear how “The Republicans are limiting our Civil Liberties!” take it with a grain of salt.  Media complains about that specific thing for one reason, and one reason only: there have been numerous bits of Legislation to try and curb their sordid behavior, and make them more responsible in their journalism.
     Go take a look at http://thomas.loc.gov/ and look at the Bills and Voting Records.  You might even find that those things are getting voted for on both sides of the fence.

     The paranoia is pandemic.  It’s politically motivated.

     On that note … I read that terrorist’s favorite Moonbat, Cindy Sheehan, organized another Anti-War Protest today.  What a sad, sad, non-story she is.
     Casey Austin Sheehan (29-May-1979 – 4-Apr-2004) died in Iraq.  He put on a uniform to serve and protect his country.  And when the War in Iraq broke out, he re-enlisted in order to promote Freedom around the globe.  He died doing what he wanted to do.  He is to be commended, and remembered, as both an honorable man and a patriot.

     When’s the last time she even mentioned his name during one of her protests?  When’s the last time that she told anyone that he re-enlisted to go to that war?  When’s the last time she said, “My son was a hero!  He died doing what he believed in!”
     She doesn’t give a damn about her son.  She’s a selfish, self-promoting moonbat who slanders his memory every time she starts one of her tirades.  She writes letters to Barbara Bush claiming, “Your son killed my son!”

     Your son is rolling in his grave, Ms. Sheehan.  Please stop disgracing his good name and crawl back under your rock.  Or your soccer-mom minivan.