As I was flipping through the radio channels on my way into work this morning I came across an interview with author Brigitte Gabriel, author of They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It and president/founder of ActForAmerica.org. One of the things that she was ranting about was that there was an Islamic school, I think someone in Florida, that was receiving education funding from the federal government. She claimed to be outraged that there was an Islamic terrorist school operating right here in the US that was being funded by the federal government and that the American people didn't seem to care. She accused us of being ignorant and caring too much about Dancing With The Stars and American Idol and not enough on things that are important.
These comments were remarkably similar to those made by former war protester and U.S. Senate candidate Cindy Sheehan in 2007, when she announced that she was leaving the anti-Iraq war movement. She too was upset that Americans were paying more attention to reality TV shows then they were to her cause. She too felt that people would be outraged if only they were paying attention. Ultimately, she gave up on the anti-Iraq war movement when she realized that America wasn't listening to her anymore.
Are you as tired as I am of being continuously called ignorant because we pay more attention to reality TV shows than to their all-too-important causes? Maybe the reason we're not paying attention to these folks is because we don't care about what they have to say, or that we have more important things in our lives to worry about like the sudden reduction in my retirement fund, the bankruptcy of the bank that has my home mortgage, whether or not I'm making a big mistake by changing jobs in this economy, and how I'm going to travel to see my family at Christmas. I don't think I'm ignorant that I care about these things and others, including American Idol, more so than the "possible" threat of a Muslim school in Florida or why President Bush wouldn't talk to the mother of a Iraq war veteran.
The same holds true for groups like PETA and Code Pink, plus right-wing radio talk show hosts who claim Obama supporters are stupid for not knowing who Bill Ayers is. I know who Bill Ayers is and quite frankly I don't care. If he's named to Obama's Cabinet then I'll care, otherwise why should I? I hate to break the news to all you single-minded activists, but Americans are not stupid, they just have more important priorities to deal with.
Though, to be honest, I don't much care about Dancing With The Stars either. But American Idol, now that's an entirely different story...
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Congratulations?
One of the reasons why I took down the old blog was because my bosses at work discovered that I had one. One of the reasons why I have this new blog is because I just gave those same bosses my letter of resignation.
But not because of the blog.
I point this out because I find it interesting that my friends, colleagues, and even some of my co-workers have been congratulating me for changing jobs. Mind you, I'm not getting a promotion and my compensation at my new place of employment is about the same as what I'm getting now. Essentially all I am doing is changing jerseys from one team to another, and yet there are a lot of people who seem to be happy about it, many more than I would have expected. I don't remember getting this many pats on the back when I changed jobs before.
I'm thinking maybe some of it is because some of my colleagues regard the company that I am moving to to be more prestigious than the one that I am at now. I don't know if I share in this opinion but the firm that I am going to is one of the best in my profession. That's why I'm going there. Perhaps some of them are also assuming that I'm getting a promotion out of this deal. Perhaps one day soon I will, and indeed one of the reasons why I moving is because of the greater chances of getting promoted. Perhaps it's because that's all they can think of saying to me when they hear the news. When my resignation was announced to the staff I felt like I had just told people that I had a terminal disease. I noticed a lot of people tip-toeing around me or being hesitant in saying anything to me. So perhaps it's like asking "how ya doing?" to total strangers, just something to fill the air and relieve the stress that comes with the silence.
Or maybe I'm just imagining things.
But not because of the blog.
I point this out because I find it interesting that my friends, colleagues, and even some of my co-workers have been congratulating me for changing jobs. Mind you, I'm not getting a promotion and my compensation at my new place of employment is about the same as what I'm getting now. Essentially all I am doing is changing jerseys from one team to another, and yet there are a lot of people who seem to be happy about it, many more than I would have expected. I don't remember getting this many pats on the back when I changed jobs before.
I'm thinking maybe some of it is because some of my colleagues regard the company that I am moving to to be more prestigious than the one that I am at now. I don't know if I share in this opinion but the firm that I am going to is one of the best in my profession. That's why I'm going there. Perhaps some of them are also assuming that I'm getting a promotion out of this deal. Perhaps one day soon I will, and indeed one of the reasons why I moving is because of the greater chances of getting promoted. Perhaps it's because that's all they can think of saying to me when they hear the news. When my resignation was announced to the staff I felt like I had just told people that I had a terminal disease. I noticed a lot of people tip-toeing around me or being hesitant in saying anything to me. So perhaps it's like asking "how ya doing?" to total strangers, just something to fill the air and relieve the stress that comes with the silence.
Or maybe I'm just imagining things.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
As I Was Saying Before I Was So Rudely Interrupted
For a number of reasons that I may discuss in the next few months, I've been thinking about reviving the old Reality World blog. Fortunately my old URL is still available so my sister wouldn't need to change the link from her page. I haven't decided for sure yet if I'll be maintaining this blog over the long haul, but I've re-established this page as a placeholder just in case.
Now let's see how long it takes before my sister finds out about this.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say in my old blog that I did in fact set up a blog for American Idol, even after telling my Mom twice that I hadn't (so in a way this post is sort of a confession). It's the reason for the change in my nom de plume and profile in case you were wondering, or at least paying attention. The Idol blog actually got some attention from blogged.com, which rated it the 13th best American Idol blog on the Net. Pretty sweet, huh. Regardless of whether or not I post anything here The Armchair Idol Judge will be the home of my Idol recap posts again next season.
I also want to take this opportunity to replay a post from the old blog, published on February 7, 2007:
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the man that the vast yet wacky Right Wing Conspiracy fears more than anyone else, the junior senator from the state of Illinois, Barack Obama.
OK, I was mostly looking for a reason to post another You Tube video (I sooo love DSL), but I've noticed that there have been a lot of outrageous and untruthful claims made against Barack Obama by the likes of Fox News and right wing talk show hosts. There was the claim by Fox News and the Washington Times that Obama went to a Muslim extremist school in Indonesia, which turned out to be a public school. It's only a Muslim school because, well, most of the people in Indonesia are Muslim (I've been there, so I know). Then there are those like Rush Limbaugh who claim that Obama is hiding his "Muslim heritage" and have taken to calling him "Barack Osama", even though Obama admits in his book (which I've read and I'm assuming they haven't) that his stepfather was in fact Muslim. I even heard someone claim on another right-wing radio show that Obama led a anti-Vietnam student protest at the University of Hawaii in 1969. Only problem is, Obama was 8 years old in 1969 (a small fact that the host didn't bother to mention, or maybe they think he's really, really smart). You don't hear these type of claims about any of the other Democrat candidates, even Hillary, and I think it's because they are afraid of him and his candidacy for President more than any of the others.
Why do they fear him so much? For one, they have nothing on him. The conservatives have so much baggage on Hillary that they can tie her up at airport security for hours. John Edwards? A trial lawyer, a loser to Kerry, an empty suit, plenty of ammo for the gun loving right wingers. And the rest of the Democrat candidates are either unknown or have no chance to win (though I wouldn't be surprised to see Gov. Bill Richardson become a factor before all is said and done. He's my dark horse, long shot, "what the hell" bet right now). Obama is entering the campaign plane with just a carry-on, hardly enough to do a "Monkey Business/Willie Horton/Swift Boat Veteran" style attack on him with any degree of credibility.
Second, Barack Obama doesn't have to try and explain away that ball and chain known as Iraq that is tied to the legs of Clinton, Edwards, and most of the other candidates (including the GOP ones). Obama doesn't have to claim that he was "for it before he was against it" and other such nonsense that made John Kerry look so wishy-washy. Look at the other candidates, especially Edwards, try and use Iraq as the prime message of their campaign, probably because that's what their handlers are telling them to do. It's pathetic in a way. It's also so 2004. Howard Dean tried that and look where it got him. YEEEEHAWW! Obama just says that we need to pull out of Iraq and that's that. No screaming. No yelling. Just simple matter of fact statements. Even if you disagree with his position the way he presents it almost demands some degree of respect.
In fact, Obama hardly ever screams and yells at all, which is another reason why the right wingers fear him. His speeches are not filled with the hatred for Bush, Chaney, Iraq, and the GOP that dominates the thinking of most of the other so-called "progressives". Even though Obama is very much an old-school liberal his primary message is that the Democrats need to work together with the Republicans rather than throw them into a fiery grave like Cindy Sheehan and her friends want to do. The neo-cons have been able to use all this bile and hatred for their own gain by making the liberals look like angry, babbling fools. They can't do that with Barack though.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, Obama is the first Democrat who has some credibility when he talks about morality. For years the Democrats have watched with envy in their eyes the way that the Republicans have been able to appeal to Christian voters. The Dems have tried to do the same, mostly by claiming that poverty is immoral, but it's been coming across as fake, phony, and pandering for votes. Obama, however, has been able to talk the talk and sound genuine in the process, perhaps because he was talking like this before he became the junior senator from Illinois. He may be the first Democrat that can walk into a conservative Christian church, the heart of the Republican base, and walk out with at least a few vote pledges. Not even John McCain has been able to pull that off.
Mind you, unlike my sister who appears ready to marry the guy, I'm not ready to cast my vote for him. I need to know where he stands on the issues and whether or not he'll help make me richer and happier (because let's face it, isn't that all we really care about?). I will say this, though, the fact that the whackos on the right seem to fear him so much leads me to think that there may be something to this fellow.
So now the Democratic Party has a decision to make. Do they back the one that they've lusted after for years (the junior senator from New York), or do they back the "safe" choice (such as the former senator from North Carolina), or do they back the guy that their opponents fear the most? Some conservatives, like Dennis Miller, are already claiming that Obama should give up his aspirations for President before he gets eaten by the Clinton machine. I wonder, though, how much of this is wishful thinking?
Just call me the Reality Prophet, well except perhaps for the part about Bill Richardson and the part about my sister marrying the guy, though I know that she did vote for him. And yes, before you ask, I did too.
Finally, I heard these words from former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz on Saturday that I thought were extremely profound and worthy of sharing:
"Even if you manage to win the rat race, remember that you are still a rat."
To be continued?
Now let's see how long it takes before my sister finds out about this.
Oh yeah, I forgot to say in my old blog that I did in fact set up a blog for American Idol, even after telling my Mom twice that I hadn't (so in a way this post is sort of a confession). It's the reason for the change in my nom de plume and profile in case you were wondering, or at least paying attention. The Idol blog actually got some attention from blogged.com, which rated it the 13th best American Idol blog on the Net. Pretty sweet, huh. Regardless of whether or not I post anything here The Armchair Idol Judge will be the home of my Idol recap posts again next season.
I also want to take this opportunity to replay a post from the old blog, published on February 7, 2007:
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the man that the vast yet wacky Right Wing Conspiracy fears more than anyone else, the junior senator from the state of Illinois, Barack Obama.
OK, I was mostly looking for a reason to post another You Tube video (I sooo love DSL), but I've noticed that there have been a lot of outrageous and untruthful claims made against Barack Obama by the likes of Fox News and right wing talk show hosts. There was the claim by Fox News and the Washington Times that Obama went to a Muslim extremist school in Indonesia, which turned out to be a public school. It's only a Muslim school because, well, most of the people in Indonesia are Muslim (I've been there, so I know). Then there are those like Rush Limbaugh who claim that Obama is hiding his "Muslim heritage" and have taken to calling him "Barack Osama", even though Obama admits in his book (which I've read and I'm assuming they haven't) that his stepfather was in fact Muslim. I even heard someone claim on another right-wing radio show that Obama led a anti-Vietnam student protest at the University of Hawaii in 1969. Only problem is, Obama was 8 years old in 1969 (a small fact that the host didn't bother to mention, or maybe they think he's really, really smart). You don't hear these type of claims about any of the other Democrat candidates, even Hillary, and I think it's because they are afraid of him and his candidacy for President more than any of the others.
Why do they fear him so much? For one, they have nothing on him. The conservatives have so much baggage on Hillary that they can tie her up at airport security for hours. John Edwards? A trial lawyer, a loser to Kerry, an empty suit, plenty of ammo for the gun loving right wingers. And the rest of the Democrat candidates are either unknown or have no chance to win (though I wouldn't be surprised to see Gov. Bill Richardson become a factor before all is said and done. He's my dark horse, long shot, "what the hell" bet right now). Obama is entering the campaign plane with just a carry-on, hardly enough to do a "Monkey Business/Willie Horton/Swift Boat Veteran" style attack on him with any degree of credibility.
Second, Barack Obama doesn't have to try and explain away that ball and chain known as Iraq that is tied to the legs of Clinton, Edwards, and most of the other candidates (including the GOP ones). Obama doesn't have to claim that he was "for it before he was against it" and other such nonsense that made John Kerry look so wishy-washy. Look at the other candidates, especially Edwards, try and use Iraq as the prime message of their campaign, probably because that's what their handlers are telling them to do. It's pathetic in a way. It's also so 2004. Howard Dean tried that and look where it got him. YEEEEHAWW! Obama just says that we need to pull out of Iraq and that's that. No screaming. No yelling. Just simple matter of fact statements. Even if you disagree with his position the way he presents it almost demands some degree of respect.
In fact, Obama hardly ever screams and yells at all, which is another reason why the right wingers fear him. His speeches are not filled with the hatred for Bush, Chaney, Iraq, and the GOP that dominates the thinking of most of the other so-called "progressives". Even though Obama is very much an old-school liberal his primary message is that the Democrats need to work together with the Republicans rather than throw them into a fiery grave like Cindy Sheehan and her friends want to do. The neo-cons have been able to use all this bile and hatred for their own gain by making the liberals look like angry, babbling fools. They can't do that with Barack though.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, Obama is the first Democrat who has some credibility when he talks about morality. For years the Democrats have watched with envy in their eyes the way that the Republicans have been able to appeal to Christian voters. The Dems have tried to do the same, mostly by claiming that poverty is immoral, but it's been coming across as fake, phony, and pandering for votes. Obama, however, has been able to talk the talk and sound genuine in the process, perhaps because he was talking like this before he became the junior senator from Illinois. He may be the first Democrat that can walk into a conservative Christian church, the heart of the Republican base, and walk out with at least a few vote pledges. Not even John McCain has been able to pull that off.
Mind you, unlike my sister who appears ready to marry the guy, I'm not ready to cast my vote for him. I need to know where he stands on the issues and whether or not he'll help make me richer and happier (because let's face it, isn't that all we really care about?). I will say this, though, the fact that the whackos on the right seem to fear him so much leads me to think that there may be something to this fellow.
So now the Democratic Party has a decision to make. Do they back the one that they've lusted after for years (the junior senator from New York), or do they back the "safe" choice (such as the former senator from North Carolina), or do they back the guy that their opponents fear the most? Some conservatives, like Dennis Miller, are already claiming that Obama should give up his aspirations for President before he gets eaten by the Clinton machine. I wonder, though, how much of this is wishful thinking?
Just call me the Reality Prophet, well except perhaps for the part about Bill Richardson and the part about my sister marrying the guy, though I know that she did vote for him. And yes, before you ask, I did too.
Finally, I heard these words from former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz on Saturday that I thought were extremely profound and worthy of sharing:
"Even if you manage to win the rat race, remember that you are still a rat."
To be continued?
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