The premise: a long time POW that has been brainwashed by his captors, released, and then gets into politics. He makes a run for the presidency, while still under the control of his captors.
Sound like anyone we know?
2008-08-09
The Manchurian Candidate?
If you haven't seen the Manchurian Candidate before, you should. Its a relatively old movie but was recently remade.
Enthusiasm vs. Indifference
The second biggest problem John McCain has, after money (compare a Porsche to a Kia), is the enthusiasm of Republicans vs. Democrats in this election.
Nobody is excited about John McCain. It's not hard to figure out why.
- Despite being a POW, he has a horrible record on veterans issues.
- One of his closest advisors said that "Hitler was doing God's work."
- Old people are just not that excitable or exciting.
- He's not much of a family values candidate.
- Mitt Romney won't help either if he's VP, lest we forget that Romney lost to McCain, and he's a mormon.
So, now that we've outlined the reasons, let's look at the results. 13% of conservatives are happy with John McCain, compared to 50%+ of liberals being happy with Obama.
Even if McCain did have the money, he doesn't have the enthusiasm to get people to go out there knocking on doors. Today I knocked on 75 doors and got a bunch of people excited about voting for Obama. While I sit here with my aching feet, I know that we are that much closer to our 13 electoral votes going for the good guy.
2008-08-08
China Joins the World
The Olympics are officially underway.
In 2020, there is a good chance that Delhi, India will host the Olympics. That will be the moment that India officially joins the world, as far as Olympics are concerned. Definitely one that I would want to go to.
Russia vs. Georgia
Over the past several days, Russia and Georgia have steadily marched into battle over a breakaway region of Georgia, South Ossetia.
South Ossetia is an unrecognized country, whose citizens hold mostly Russian citizenship, but whose territory operates as an autonomous region of Georgia.
Just a few days ago, the Georgians took the capital, so the Russians evacuated most of their citizens and sent in the tanks. Russia, of course, has a lot of military in that area from the Chechen conflict. This will not be much of a war. Just ask the Chechens, whose country lies in ruin.
The thought is that Georgia planned this attack to coincide with the opening of the Olympics, when it would have a chance to make a move while most of the world is distracted. They probably aren't familiar with the internet...
Oil down to $115, dollar up
As it becomes less and less likely that a Republican will be in the White House, oil continues to fall. Gas prices may be at the $3.50 or lower range by Labor Day.
All without offshore drilling.
What is happening here? The biggest factor is demand. Americans have adjusted to high gas prices by driving less, or carpooling. When supply remains static and demand falls, the price must fall too.
Also, the Democratic congress passed a law to regulate commodities trading that had previously been exempt (known as the "Enron loophole"). Regulation of the speculation market may just have trigged a fall of $25.
For the record, oil has fallen by 21% over the past few weeks.
And today the dollar is up big time vs. the Euro.
Edwards the scoundrel
Today John Edwards admitted to having an affair. He had been a candidate for the Democratic Nomination.
It is a good thing he did not win. Americans who are against adultery have a clear choice in this election, Barack Obama.
As for McCain, when he returned from Viet Nam, he had multiple affairs on his disabled wife and divorced her for someone 20 years younger.
From the High Road to the Gutter
Maybe what they say is true, John McCain is not in control of the John McCain campaign. For someone who really wanted to take the high road, look at what he's become. America also used to take the high road. We did not torture, we respected international law, we were not the aggressor. This election is a pivotal point, in which we as a country can choose to take the high road, or we can follow the Bush-McCain-Cheney way.
It is our choice as a nation to take. Do we want to remain a respected, peaceful country? Or do we want to become the next Roman Empire?
Cheney, Bush, and his sequel to appear at convention
Like three peas in a pod, George W. Bush, John McCain, and Dick Cheney will all be at the GOP convention. Bush and Cheney will give speeches to acknowledge how McCain will continue their legacies over the next 4 years.
2008-08-07
Favre goes from winning to losing
Maybe he'll get the Jets into the playoffs, but my bet is they will be 7-9.
EPA rejects food cost relief
The EPA has rejected a request by the governor of Texas to stop adding ethanol to gasoline, which has the effect of raising food prices.
Ethanol is mostly made from corn. When 10% of our gasoline is ethanol, that's a whole lot of corn. Corn is also used to make a lot of food, including sugar (high fructose CORN syrup) and other staples.
There's your justice
Osama's driver was just sentenced to 5 and a half years in jail. Since he has been imprisoned in our illegal camp in GITMO, he is given credit for that. He will be out in about 6 months. This guy has a 4th grade education, and even our military tribunal did not think him to be especially dangerous. He was likely a simple driver/bodyguard, and nothing more. I doubt someone with a 4th grade education would be smart enough to come up with any type of insidious plan.
So we locked people up, threw away the key, and when they go in front of our kangaroo court, even that court doesn't think that there is much evidence against them. He was acquitted of many serious crimes by our military. Keep in mind that in a military court, the jurors do not have to be unanimous, hearsay is allowed, and many other protections that are given to civilians are not available.
All in all, I think that given the factors going into this, the result is not so bad. However, these guys should have been tried 5 years ago.
Update: Now the government is claiming that since Hamdan is an "enemy combatant" he can be held indefinitely.
So, the Supreme Court ruled we have to put these guys on a trial, so the government will put them on trial and then disregard the sentence imposed by a military jury? When are we going to call the canard at GITMO what it is, a concentration camp.
Kwame's in the big house
After embarrassing a city that none thought could go any lower, Detroit's current mayor is sitting in a jail cell as I type this.
2008-08-06
Quote of the day
"It's going to be interesting to watch this debate between John McCain and John McCain."
-- Barack Obama, on McCain's constant flip-flopping, this time on tire gauges.
2008-08-05
2008-08-04
McCain, Obama, and Tire Pressure
Already this week, McCain is bashing Obama for correctly stating that Americans need to check the pressure in their tires. Underinflated tires are not just a safety hazard. They lead to wasted gas; a large amount.
In fact, if everyone checked their tire pressure every other time they filled up with gas and topped it off accordingly, that would save more oil that would be found through off-shore drilling. By the numbers: we waste 61 million barrels of oil due to low pressure tires. Offshore drilling may bring us 18 million barrels. Even George W. Bush could understand this math, but then again, he's not 72 years old, and he's sent an email before.
McCain's ignorance, and his mocking of Obama underscores a deep division between those Americans who refuse to spend 2 minutes doing something that can help us all and save some money.
Here are some gas saving tips:
1. Make sure your tires are properly inflated.
2. Drive at 55 mph on the highway where possible, any faster than that will impact fuel economy.
3. Accelerate smoothly, do not "floor it".
4. Use cruise control as much as possible.
So, is Obama's argument for tire inflation a "left wing conspiracy"? Hardly. What other organizations agree that inflating your tires will lead to real savings?
Try these:
Who will benefit from this? Everyone.
Who will benefit from McCain's plan of offshore drilling? Click here.
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