Posts Tagged: Media


21
Jul 08

bored

That’s why I’m ignoring you.  Well, that and the fact that I couldn’t access a damn self-hosted of MU Wordpress blog for the past week or so.  Craptastic stupidity I tell you!

Anyway, I still don’t have much to blog about.  My sister and family have gone back to France.  I got a new phone. I’m crackdicted to plurk. And I still need to use my plane tickets in the next 3 weeks.

To make it worse, nothing of interest has happened politically in like 3 weeks. Not a damn thing.

I’m bored.

I want these fools to pick their running mates already so that I can start mocking the bad choice.  I think that McCain is going to go with Gov. Crist, just based on his most recent stupid shallow comments on
what his VP should look like.  And now that I’ve found that Gov. Crist has gotten engaged to his beard, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a quick wedding before the end of August.

Other than that it’s all McCain saying something stupid, the media ignoring it, McCain surrogate saying something stupid, media almost ignoring it…Media is obsession on how to cover Obama says a lot more about their inherent ignorance and racism than any of the stupid articles from the spring could have.

So, blah, blah, blah….I’ll probably post some of my silly 12seconds.tv clips out of boredom.


20
May 08

He’s not even dead

MSNBC is disgusting.  They just spent the last 3 hours eulogizing Sen. Ed Kennedy and he ain’t even dead yet.

Gross.


17
Apr 08

ABCNews Philadelphia debate revisited

This morning, I woke up still pissed at the farce that happened in Philadelphia last night. As I mentioned in my previous post, there was nothing of substance touched on in the two hour commercial laden gang up on Sen. Obama last night. I see Clinton supporters who whined when Obama and Edwards “ganged” up on Clinton in New Hampshire, actually say that last night’s debates were fair and refreshing. Yeah…for the GOP. The comments on ABCNews website has reached over 14000 and most of them were negative. The blogosphere is abuzz with the Disaster in Philadelphia and even the MSM is collectively shaking its head.

Over at Booman Tribune, StevenD did the hard work I was just starting; going through the transcripts to summarize last night’s quesions:

1. Will you offer loser the VP – Gibson (G)
2. Obama’s “bitter” comment – G
3. Can Obama beat McCain (to Clinton) – Stephanopoulus (S)
4. Can Clinton win (to Obama) – S
5. Wright question (to Obama) – G
6. Wright question (to Clinton) – G
7. Several Wright questions (to Obama) – S
8. Why don’t people trust you/ Tuzla question (to Clinton) – S
9. Has Clinton been truthful (to Obama) – S
10. Flag question/patriotism (to Obama) – G
11. Flag question/patriotism/Ayers (to Obama) – S
12. Questions on Plan to get out of Iraq (to both) – G
13. Iran questions re attack on Israel (to both) – S
14. Economy questions (Will you raise taxes?) (to both) – S
15. Raise Capital Gains Tax questions (to both) – G
16. Soc. Sec. Taxes (to Obama) – G
17. Guns/2nd Amend. Questions (to both) – G
18. Affirmative Action question (to both) –S
19. Gas Prices/Energy policy questions (to both) – G
20. How would you use Dubya as advisor/other role (to both) – G
21. Undecided Superdelegate question (to both) – G

Do you see anything of any importance to the average American there? It wasn’t until about maybe 90 minutes into the 2 hour debate that George Stephanopolous said:

Let me turn to the economy. That is the No. 1 issue on Americans’ minds right now.

Then it was about taxes and we got to learn that Charles Gibson who proved his cluelessness on income levels of professors back in January, told us that people making $200K a year were middle class. We were also subjected to Gibson’s elitism that the average American cares or will be affected by captial gains tax. Gibson acts as if these debates were his personal interview with the candidates and screw the rest of us, he spent an inordinate amount of time debated Obama, while letting Clinton’s answers slide. He failed, once again, as a moderator.
Charles Gibson, also decided that editorializing was fair game. In a question regarding guns directed toward Sen. Clinton he said:

GIBSON: Well, with all due respect, I’m not sure I got an answer from Senator Obama, but do you still favor licensing and registration of handguns?

This was minutes after Obama had, in fact, answered the question and Clinton and Stephanopolous had a back and forth. It could be that Gibson’s inherent and obvious dislike of Obama denied him the ability to hear anything the Senator said. Maybe it’s the simple fact that when you keep interrupting a person when they’re trying to answer you, it proves that you’re not really listening.

I mentioned in my previous post that this debate was such a joke that it had me agreeing with Jonah Goldberg. No one makes me agree with Goldberg without reprecussions. Last night, Tom Shales posted on Washington Post an article titled: In Pa. Debate, The Clear Loser Is ABC. I recommend you read the entire article, but let me share you some snippets:

For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.

snip

Obama was right on the money when he complained about the campaign being bogged down in media-driven inanities and obsessiveness over any misstatement a candidate might make along the way, whether in a speech or while being eavesdropped upon by the opposition. The tactic has been to “take one statement and beat it to death,” he said.

No sooner was that said than Gibson brought up, yet again, the controversial ravings of the pastor at a church attended by Obama. “Charlie, I’ve discussed this,” he said, and indeed he has, ad infinitum. If he tried to avoid repeating himself when clarifying his position, the networks would accuse him of changing his story, or changing his tune, or some other baloney.

snip

To this observer, ABC’s coverage seemed slanted against Obama. The director cut several times to reaction shots of such Clinton supporters as her daughter, Chelsea, who sat in the audience at the Kimmel Theater in Philly’s National Constitution Center. Obama supporters did not get equal screen time, giving the impression that there weren’t any in the hall. The director also clumsily chose to pan the audience at the very start of the debate, when the candidates made their opening statements, so Obama and Clinton were barely seen before the first commercial break.

Newsday writes:

The morning after the latest Democratic debate, the talk doesn’t seem to be about which candidate — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Illinois Sen. Barack Obama — would make a more-formidable foe to run against Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.

The talk seems to be about which of the two ABC News moderators — Charles Gibson or George Stephanopoulos — did the worst job, which one was sillier in Philadelphia.

Will Bunch wrote an open letter to the two hosts of last night’s debacle:

With your performance tonight — your focus on issues that were at best trivial wastes of valuable airtime and at worst restatements of right-wing falsehoods, punctuated by inane “issue” questions that in no way resembled the real world concerns of American voters — you disgraced my profession of journalism, and, by association, me and a lot of hard-working colleagues who do still try to ferret out the truth, rather than worry about who can give us the best deal on our capital gains taxes. But it’s even worse than that. By so badly botching arguably the most critical debate of such an important election, in a time of both war and economic misery, you disgraced the American voters, and in fact even disgraced democracy itself. Indeed, if I were a citizen of one of those nations where America is seeking to “export democracy,” and I had watched the debate, I probably would have said, “no thank you.” Because that was no way to promote democracy.

And that’s just a small sampling. You know it’s bad when USAToday, the tabloid that seems to focus of the news of 8 months ago, has a current roundup of criticisms on their pages.

You’ll note the recurrent themes. The candidates themselves were mere props on the stage. To ask who won or lost last night’s “debates” is to ask the wrong question. Neither candidate shined, though the focus group said that Clinton one. Odd one that, since the only time they responded really postively toward her was when she told a joke that didn’t sound scripted. Naturally, the Clinton’s are using that clip as a promo piece. Otherwise, a simple scanning of the transcripts show that Obama’s answers to the most inane questions were intelligent and clear. The focus group responded overwhelming positive to his answers, so it was curious that only 5 of the 22 people thought he won the debate.

It has been estimated that over 10M watched last night’s debates, making it the most watched debate this season. 10 million Americans who care what the next President of the United States has to say and as StevenD mentioned, they didn’t touch on any of the important questions:

Global Warming, New Orleans Reconstruction, Health Care, Veterans Benefits (New GI Bill or Health Benefits), Defense Spending, National Debt, Trade Issues, Environmental issues (not about global warming), Regulatory Agency scandals and problems, Financial markets, Worldwide Food Crisis, Darfur, Pakistan, Somalia, North Korea, NATO, Russia, China, Nigeria, Venezuela, Drugs, Unemployment, Mortgage crisis, Bush administration Crimes and Scandals, Torture, Guantanamo Bay and other detention facilities, Loss of Civil Rights (Electronic surveillance, FISA, Habeas Corpus), Infrastructure issues, Gay Rights, Race (except as it came up re: Reverend Wright), Immigration

Last night’s debate forces us the understand how vested the powers that be are in keeping us uninformed. They say that Americans are turned off of politics, it was the disgusting behaviors of the two “moderators” that turn us off, not necessarily the candidates themselves. ABC, once again, put on a show for the corporate masters and the rest of us could only watch from the cheap seats.


15
Apr 08

The US tortures

And apparently, that’s a-okay for a lot of people. I mean, clearly it’s a non-issue what with (yet another) religious sect in Texas and Clinton’s campaign drama taking up the news. It seems very few almost no news outlets are interested in getting into the hard work of investigating war crimes by the executive branch.

In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.

The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of “combined” interrogation techniques — using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time — on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects — whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding. (ABCNews)

This is after the protestations of these same US officials that “the United States does not torture”. Granted those of us with brains and not living like ostriches were well aware that these people were lying and committing crimes and for our troubles we were called unpatriotic or treasonous by the flat-earth types who refused to allow logic to dwell in their heads.

Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post seems to be another reporter who is paying attention:

If you consider what the government did to be torture, which is a crime according to U.S. and international law, Bush’s statement shifts his role from being an accessory after the fact to being part of a conspiracy to commit.

He even points out the media’s lack of interest in this “old news”:

The mainstream media by and large seem to agree with Bush that the ABC News Report wasn’t so startling, and they have given Bush’s remarks almost no coverage. There was no mention of Bush’s admission in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or the Los Angeles Times. There was nothing on the major wire services. And nothing on CNN, CBS or NBC.

What kind of world do we live in when the President can get on TV, admit to high crimes and no one in the media bats an eye and Americans, by and large, are more consumed over their reality shows and campaign silliness? Still don’t care? Let’s look at it another way: I have two children who have never lived in a United States where torture was not allowed.

Sucks, don’t it?

The ACLU has called on Congress to investigate, though I’m still unclear as to why Congress feels they can’t. I understand that Nancy Pelosi must have made some strange backroom deal with Bush to remove impeachment “off the table“, but surely there are other Congressmen and women who have backbones, who believe in the ideals and moral authority of America to move this forward.

“Long after the Bush administration is history, our nation will continue to be tarnished by its record of disregard for the rule of law and human rights.

“If there is a redeeming factor, it is the exposure of these illegalities and the determined effort to prevent a recurrence.

“To that end, the American Civil Liberties Union has called on Congress to investigate.

“Given the record of the Bush administration, including the political manipulation of the Justice Department under disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the request is entirely reasonable. We urge our elected officials to embrace it – and to restore our country’s dedication to moral leadership.” (Tuscaloosa News)

I heartily agree and urge you to write your Representative and ask them to push for investigation into these heinous crimes. Do it so that I can tell me kids that the US doesn’t condone torture.  For reals.


25
Mar 08

Pennsylvania, remember NAFTA

Senator Clinton does this really neat trick where she says something today, that was totally not the same thing she said yesterday or 16 years ago.  At a January debate, she had said that she was always against NAFTA.  I screamed out ‘LIAR’ (in all caps just like that!) at my TV.  Ugh.  Then she did the W thing–constantly repeating a lie like it’s the truth.  Who knows, maybe some people like that in their elected officials.   This went on for awhile until Sen. Obama called her out on it in the first of the Free Press for Hillary Debates.  Remember the next day she got all fake huffy and schoolmarmish over 3 week old mailers that were 100% factual?  Ah…the gold old days…Well, now that her WH schedule has been released, I’ve been pouring over it looking at all this stuff that makes her out to be an even bigger liar than she’s proven without them.

Why don’t you learn a little about NAFTA and Sen. Clinton:


22
Mar 08

A “betrayal”?

I think it’s a official, the “Ragin’ Cajun” has lost his damn mind. In a NYT story this morning regarding Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Sen. Obama, Carville said:

But Mr. Richardson stopped returning Mr. Clinton’s calls days ago, Mr. Clinton’s aides said. And as of Friday, Mr. Richardson said, he had yet to pick up the phone to tell Mr. Clinton of his decision.

The reaction of some of Mr. Clinton’s allies suggests that might have been a wise decision. “An act of betrayal,” said James Carville, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton and a friend of Mr. Clinton.

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.

Puh-lease.

Or rather as I read on some blog yesterday: Stop the Drama, Vote Obama.

Now, remember that I said the longer John Edwards waits to endorse, the less influential it becomes? Well, I didn’t expect Mark “everything is insignficant” Penn to actually say that out loud:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson finally made up his mind and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama today, but a senior adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign — which likewise spent months courting the former Democratic presidential candidate’s nod — dismissed its significance.

“Look, I think that everyone has their endorsers,” said senior Clinton strategist Mark Penn, adding — with a little huff — “I think New Mexico is a state that, actually, we won.”

“The time that he could have been effective has long since passed,” he continued. “I don’t think it is a significant endorsement in this environment.”

Now…keep in mind that these are people are not only barely keeping other superdelegates from endorsing Sen. Obama, but are also courting super-delegates. I may not be the most politically savvy person around, but I can see that Penn’s statement was probably not the best thing to be said at this time. If I was a superdelegate, being begged not to endorse Obama and read that, I’d be on every news channel on Sunday pushing my endorsement for Obama.

When historians look back on this race and wonder how or why Sen. Clinton didn’t win, Mark Penn will be the reason.

Bill Richardson, had something to say about Penn’s statements:

“I resent the fact that the Clinton people are now saying that my endorsement is too late because I only can help with Texans — with Texas and Hispanics, implying that that’s my only value,” the New Mexico governor told CNN’s John King.

“That’s typical of some of his advisers that kind of turned me off.”Earlier Friday, Clinton campaign senior strategist Mark Penn said he thought Richardson’s endorsement came too late to make an impact.

I don’t know…Richardson had some interesting words to say:

“We are blessed to have two great American leaders and great Democrats running for President. My affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver. It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain in the fall.”

Now, if only someone in the Clinton’s campaign listened.


21
Mar 08

I leave for a few hours….

I took a day to rearrange some things on my blog (did ya notice?) and all kinds of political stuff happens; passports, McCain says something wrong about Iraq, Sen. Clinton only has $3m cash-on-hand vs. Obama’s $30m…Bill-flippin’-Richardson endorsed Obama, the Clinton’s campaign immediately calls him ‘insignificant’…

Man…I don’t even know where to start.  To make it even worse, Chris-freakin’-Wallace of all people take his Fox buddies to take for bashing Obama  AND Mark-friggin’-Halperin actually listed facts about the Clinton campaign in post today.  What’s up with that?  I’m scared to poke around more in case Bill O’Reilly actually said something today that made sense.


12
Mar 08

Keith Olbmerann’s Special Comment.

I just read Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on Ferraro’s remarks. Some highlights:

And when this despicable statement — ugly in its overtones, laughable in its weak grip of facts, and moronic in the historical context — when it floats outward from the Clinton Campaign like a poison cloud, what do the advisors have their candidate do?

Do they have Senator Clinton herself compare the remark to Al Campanis talking on Nightline… on Jackie Robinson day… about how blacks lacked the necessities to become baseball executives, while she points out that Barock Obama has not gotten his 1600 delegates as part of some kind of Affirmative Action plan?
[snip]

No.
Somebody tells her that simply disagreeing with and rejecting the remarks is sufficient.
And she should then call, “regrettable”, words that should make any Democrat retch.
And that she should then try to twist them, first into some pox-on-both-your-houses plea to ’stick to the issues,’ and then to let her campaign manager try to bend them beyond all recognition, into Senator Obama’s fault.
And thus these advisers give Congresswoman Ferraro nearly a week in which to send Senator Clinton’s campaign back into the vocabulary… of David Duke.

“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up.
“Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white.
“How’s that?”

And…

This, Senator Clinton, is your campaign, and it is your name.
Grab the reins back from whoever has led you to this precipice, before it is too late.
Voluntarily or inadvertently, you are still awash in this filth.
Your only reaction has been to disagree, reject, and to call it regrettable.
Her only reaction has been to brand herself as the victim, resign from your committee, and insist she will continue to speak.
Unless you say something definitive, Senator, the former Congresswoman is speaking with your approval.
You must remedy this.
And you must… reject… and denounce… Geraldine Ferraro.

Yay. Keith spoke up. Rockin’!

Yet, as I read this I got pissed. Not only does it echo my previous post, but this little rant is bullshit, in that the media is complicit. As I posted to the New Hole “blog”:

Now, if only the other chatterboxes at MSNBC could see this point. I get that you all are about ratings and this drama only bumps them, but there should be repercussions. Schuster says something stupid and he’s suspended for two weeks. Buchanan says something stupid/racist almost every other time he’s on the air and he hasn’t beensuspended.

I get indignation. I get this. Heck, I posted something similar on my own blog earlier today…but it’s a little hard to take when you watch the same channel and see that MSNBC/NBC/GE as a whole is involved in this charade. That the people who are supposed to be bringing us unfiltered facts are spinning for their own benefit.

I don’t expect this comment, like so many of my others, to be approved, while the racist/sexist/xenophobic comments of the smaller brained users are approved. Still, I want you all to see that there are people watching and listening. You’re not absolved from this disgusting political climate we dwell in. You, yourselves are also “awash in this filth”.

Then I moseyed on over to Booman Tribune where there’s a post on the comment. Still upset, I posted:

I just read the Special Comment. Yeah, it was good, blah, blah, blah…didn’t say anything I didn’t post on my own blog earlier to day. Still, I’m mad. At MSNBC. At the media in general. This is their doing.

I know there are bigots. Bigots know that with a 24 hr. new cycle and so many 24 hr. news stations, that their bullshit will get amplified, spun, dissected and misdirected. They know that in a month, these pundits will act as if the whole thing was just a misunderstanding and that attacking that person (especially if they’re white) will become out of bounds. That’s why someone like Ferraro feels she can speak that way. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear,some time in late April, their pundits picking up the ball and running away with it, while chastising anyone (especially if they’re black) who dares insults Ferraro.

This is such a steaming load, ya know…When the people of Pennsylvania vote…we’re going to hear about this again. But the facts will be so twisted, it will be back to CrazyLand on TV. If Obama loses whites by anything more than 30%, those same pundits will ask, “Are white voters tired of the Obama campaign injecting race into these contests? Is this a reaction to Ferraro being drummed off the Clinton campaign.” No one’s going to remember Olbermann’s fucking Special Comment. No one’s going respond with the facts. They’ll pretend that the Obama campaign called for Obama’s head and that Clinton graciously responded.

Bleeech.

Liza responded clearly with the reason why I was mad:

It pisses me off that it take a white guy on a cable news show for people like us to be vindicated, but if it is a black woman pointing the obvious, she is just being a divisive and ‘reverse racist’ bitch.

OMG…someone in the liberal blogosphere who gets it! My reply:

I’ve been called that…I’ve gotten the doe eyes, “What racism?”…it’s enough to make me puke. And yes:

It pisses me off that it take a white guy on a cable news show for people like us to be vindicated

That is precisely why I’m steamed. I’ve sat here looking at accepted racism in the liberal blogosphere, had these morons tell me that I’m “being overly-sensitive” or that “maybe the person is having a bad day” or any other such bullshit, but let some white guy on TV tell them that something has crossed a line and it’s like blinders falling off.

And now, all those racists Democrats, and there’s no pretending that they don’t exist, have cover thanks to Ferraro and Clinton. I don’t ever want to hear another Clinton supporter who defended Ferraro’s remarks whine about sexism, real or perceived.

But I’m even more disgusted by people like Tubbs-Jones, Rangel, and Jackson Lee who just sat there and did nothing, said nothing. They could have stood up publicly and said, “This is not right, nor acceptable.”

They said nothing.

I’m an utterly disgusted with Democrats today.

I am done. I wrote a letter to the DNC today about this.

I would like to register my disappointment in the ugly turn the Democratic party has taken these past few weeks. I dmit freely to being an Obama supporter, though Dodd was my first choice.

The only reason I turned to Obama after Iowa was because of the race-baiting tactics from the Clinton’s campaign between July 2007 and Jan. 4, 2008.

That entire time, the party leaders were silent. They stood by why a fellow Senator and Democrat used right-wing talking points, to denigrate a candidate. As a black female, as a Muslim woman, Sen. Clinton’s antics were something I expect from someone like George Allen or Trent Lott.

I had hoped that after news reports mentioned that Bill Clinton has been “talked to” about his Southern Strategy, that we had seen the last of the race-baiting from the Clinton’s. I was wrong.

Geraldine Ferraro’s comments from last month and these past few days were not only out of bounds as Democrats,
but also as a functioning member of society. It pains me that the party I was raised in accepts these sorts of remarks.

I’ve sat here for the past 3 days, wondering when a party leader would step in an speak up on behalf of the most loyal bloc of the Democratic party. There was nothing. I sat here the last day searching elected officials websites and local papers throughout this country, looking for something from some elected offical denouncing Ferraro’s remarks, chastising the Clinton’s for not taking a harder stance on her outdated and factually incorrect statements. The silence is deafening.

I receive a lot of requests for money from you guys. When I had money, I gave freely. I volunteer my time and energy to get Democrats elected. I make phone calls, I blog, I email. This is all going to stop as of today. Because today, I am not proud to call myself a Democrat. Today, I am ashamed, as a black person in the United States, to associate with a party where racist statements are simply “disagreed” with.

There’ll probably no more energy expended by me on behalf of the Democratic Party. I will continue to do what I can to get Sen. Obama in the White House. If the party decides to give the nomination to Clinton, then I will sit this year out. We Democrats are faced with the historic option of voting for a woman or a non-white male, come November. I’m unwilling to step into the gutter to vote for the former.


26
Feb 08

Wanna know what happens in tonight’s debate?

I know…they’re just introducing it, but here’s the wrap up:

WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton suggested Barack Obama was not prepared to handle a global crisis in a debate last night that offered one of her last chances before next week’s must-win primaries.They faced off in a debate at Cleveland State University.

She portrayed Obama as a national security novice and said Americans can be assured she would not need a “foreign policy instruction manual” to keep the country safe.

She also compared him to President George W Bush.

Obama, meanwhile, put in something of a good word for Clinton at an Ohio campaign stop, saying voters should support Democrats, because “myself or Senator Clinton, we’re all concerned about creating a better social safety net”.

Former Democratic presidential candidate and superdelegate Chris Dodd yesterday endorsed Barack Obama.

Ha!


12
Feb 08

Oh. My lord.

You know what an overly long campaign season gets you? Not more info from the candidates? Nah, they just say the same thing over and over again, and in Clinton’s case she just says what her opponents say. Not more detail and information from our news organizations. Nah, that’s why, out of all the things that could have been written about any of the candidates, Boy Wonder at Newsweek has dedicated an article to supposition on a smear (more on that later–my dreadlocks are steaming on this one ya’ll.).

Instead we get this from the LA Times. Yes a story about a young child who’s name just happens to be Jamile O. Bama. The only real heartening thing about the story is that the kid is doing more politically than a lot of crybabies I know. He’s doing something that I’m unable to do; door knock and talk to strangers. Eek!

Bama will vote for the first time in the primary, and Obama will get that vote. Bama said he agrees with the Illinois senator’s policies on affordable higher education, health care and the recent mortgage crisis.

“I’ve been waiting to be able to vote for a long time. . . . I’m of age. I work. I get taxes taken out. I know what it feels like to put money in the government’s pockets,” he said. “Young people should be getting into politics and things of this sort because whether or not [they realize it], it will affect them in the future.”

I know some 24 – 55 year olds who need to wake up and look at the political landscape too.

We also got this wonderful AFP story. Isn’t it just grand to the city of Obama in Japan really take to the Senator? I mean, they love the guy. One person gave him and 80% chance of becoming president. We even got to learn some cool trivia that will probably be a question on Jeopardy! next year:

Murakami sent a letter last year to Obama, enclosing a set of lacquer chopsticks, a famous product of this town on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in Fukui prefecture’s Wakasa region.

“I will present you the chopsticks of Wakasa paint and I am glad if you use it habitually,” Murakami said in the English-language letter. “I wish you the best of health and success.”

Murakami noted that Barack Obama’s birthday, August 4, happens to be “Chopsticks Day” in the city.

Ooh.  What a coinky-dink!

So take heart America! We only have 9 more months of this and as anyone who has ever been pregnant can tell you, those 9 mos. just fly by. Sure, they’ll full of heartburn, constipation, gassiness, mood swings and the utter terror than that decision can haunt you for years, still in the end, it’s worth it.

Or something like that.