Posts Tagged ‘obama’

I’ve had a semi busy weekend enjoying myself at graduation parties, staining the porch and doing various errands to prepare the place for my oldest’s graduation party. Yesterday I managed to injure my left leg a bit while running to make a play. I guess I haven’t learned that my body isn’t as young as it used to be or as fit as it should be.

I have been involved in a lengthy comment exchange concerning Mancow and waterboarding with a gentleman named Murph. It’s ironic since I really wasn’t interested in the topic thus the short post but the exchanges on it were very long. I’ve pretty much given him the last word with a reply to that effect. Feel free to check them here. If anyone else is interested enough to respond instead I’ll certainly allow any back and forth on that thread that continues.

I think the blog outing is bad form and discourteous but my comment is actually along a different line. Anyone who chooses to do this kind of thing on the internet really can’t expect to maintain any anonymity. There are too many ways to trace people using technology. Considering the decline in courtesy these days I think it is wishful thinking to expect to receive it when passions get heated in a discussion.

Had a very positive interview this week combined with my extension of unemployment things a looking a tad better in the short run.

We are renting a dunk tank for my son’s graduation party. It should prove an interesting draw.

I picked up a large amount of Dr. Who audios last month for my birthday. I still have several hours of them to listen to. I need a new CD rack as the quantity I have has outgrown the rack I have, but i can’t seem to find a rack that matches the vertical wood base one I have. I spotted it at of all places a Salvation Army store or $8 and it was absolutely perfect. Unfortunately the closest thing I can find is this one at Amazon. I can’t seem to find a straight one with the same base.

Oh and speaking of the CD’s the Companion chronicles backfeature on the new Dr. Who CD’s is simply wonderful.

I really don’t think simple misspeaking is newsworthy, Omaha, Obama, Osama all are close enough that a person can easily misspeak. I didn’t care much when people made too much of President Bush’s misspeaking so I don’t see why I should pile on others.

And whatever his name is he seems determined not to lose the war on terror on his watch even if he has to do his best president Bush imitation to do it.

Have you noticed that simple faux pas in courtesy tend to make a lot more trouble than actual things that countries do against each other?

Is it just me or is the Morning Joe sponsored by Starbucks business tacky? It’s a good business move but It doesn’t taste right.

I’ve never cared for the taste of coffee or most beers come to think of it. That makes me kinda odd.

Oh BTW I just haven’t been in the mood to liveblog Morning Joe lately but I will as the mood strikes me.

It is a wonderful social skill to learn how to nurse a shot of good scotch so it lasts a very long time. Not only is it economical but I’ve never seen the attraction of being drunk or high for that matter.

On the subject I very much dislike Jim Braude’s promo for his show on WTKK stating that a person who says they’ve never used pot is either a liar or unfit for public office. Great example Jim. By your definition I’ve done my best to raise my kids to be unfit for office.

Then again that WOULD explain a whole lot concerning Massachusetts politics.

Considering the way George Tiller’s murder is being reported by the MSN the only way to prevent demonetization of Abortion Clinics protesters is to declare Clinics unofficial military recruitment locations.

You know the sound of the Ice Cream truck still makes me smile. That would explain my waistline however it rarely has root beer Popsicles.

Then again i like Music Box Dancer so that might be the reason.

Back in the days when I blogged for HiWired I was obliged to post daily, blogging can sometimes be a trap because once you start to get hits you feel obliged to post. That takes all the fun out of blogging for me.

Sort of like professional Magic, I started playing the game because i twas a good game that didn’t involve heavy thought as opposed to most games I play. I refuse to build complicated decks. When I want a thinking game there is always Republic of Rome.

You know it’s amazing how well the original Star Trek holds up over time. It’s even more amazing how funny William Shatner is. His work in Boston Legal is just classic and his priceline stuff is priceless, but they pay him for it anyway.

Of course he’s not Groucho, or the Three Stooges, and a good thing for him too because then he’d be dead and not working.

Then again the stooges and the Marx brothers are still making good money, better money than me and they all stopped working years ago.

They make an awful lot of people happy even though they aren’t working, I bet for the right money we can get the ladies of The View to stop working too. That would make even more people happy and nobody would have to be dead.

I know you might not think that is very funny but being in the majority is no guarantee of being right; then again if you want good humor you can always hit the Ice Cream Truck, of course it is 11 p.m. EST so you’d have to wait till tomorrow unless you are on the west coast.

Come to think of it I don’t see good humor bars anywhere these days, no wonder comedy is in such a decline. I’d better end this post now before it declines further. So in this case it would be further adieu.

Update: Mudville says Bad Form too but I maintain there is no such thing as anonymity of the web as I pointed out in my porn post (which really should have gotten more rule 5 hits than it did but I didn’t know what rule 5 was when I posted it).

In addition to the heart attack that Rosie O’Donnell and other 9/11 truthers might be having today over the president’s excellent Cairo speech, I noticed several oddities in the President’s speech that are worth addressing.

Oddity #1 the War coalition.

The president mentioned that 46 states are fighting with us. For years we have been hearing from the media about unilataral action of the Bush administration, suddenly we have 46 states. It’s amazing that so many countries have started to fight in the last 5 months. I don’t remember the White House announcing this.

Oddity #2 The call to prayer:

“I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan [the Muslim call to prayer] at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk.”

and

Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected president.

This was considered so hot that it was downplayed and almost denied during the campaign. In the reviews of this speech it is touted as is his name. How is it the media never noted it during 2008?

Oddity #3 They have killed Muslims? That’s news to us!

Indeed, none of us should tolerate these extremists. They have killed in many countries. They have killed people of different faiths – more than any other, they have killed Muslims. Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam.

In terms of the speech saying aloud to a Muslim audience that more than any others Al Qaeda has killed Muslims is vital and important. It is a high point, but it will come as a surprise to many in our mainstream media. From what he have heard reported you would think that the “Iraqi Resistance” are just fighting occupation and it is the US that is slaughtering Muslim’s indiscriminately. Of course that mimiced the words of the president himself in the days before he held office. What a revelation this will be to the US media.

Oddity #4 Palestinian homeland

After going over the history of Jewish suffering; a vital thing to state; and meeting stone silence he says something interesting…

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighbouring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation.

The president seems to have forgotten that Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza and pulled out on their own years ago. He also forgets that 60 years ago Egypt controlled Gaza and Jordan controlled the West Bank and nobody was calling for a Palestinian state at that time.

Oddity #5 Not from the heart of Texas

In endorsing Democracy the president said this:

Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.

Maybe it’s just me but this sounded a whole lot a certain fellow from Texas who the media made fun of for speaking these kinds of principles. For reasons I can’t understand when these come from an inexperienced Chicago Poll they become words of power an inspiration but if we judge by our media they are just mindless platitudes when they come from a President from deep in the Heart of Texas.

It is worth noting that other than a bit of Palestinian fiction most of these oddities stem from media idolatry than anything else. Oh and you should read Israellycool for an excellent round up from various parties in the middle east.

(Actually you should read Israellycool anyways, it’s very good.)

UPDATE: And don’t forget some interesting tweets here from the Atlantic.

Update 2 Another blogger used this example in a different context but this video fits the media reaction to this speech to a t:

Much of what the president said today President Bush has said in the past. Like the guys around the table the media didn’t react positively until the right person said it.

This speech is clearly the most important act so far of the Obama presidency. (My accidental live blog of it is here)

The Jim Geraghty rule not withstanding. He publicly said many things that needed to be publicly said to an Islamic audience in the Arab world. The idea that he is defending the education of woman and girls is incredible. The public statement that Al Qaeda killed thousands of innocent Americans. Many Islamists (and truthers) still think this is not the case.

This is comparable to the Reagan speeches on the Soviet Union. Saying things that need to be said. This is very important because his name IS Barack Hussian Obama these words give legitimacy to his words in the Arab world. That shouldn’t be the case but culturally it is. Obama is the only American president that could make this speech in the Islamic world and be heard.

This has the potential to be an earthquake in the Islamic world. If he does nothing else during his presidency this is going to be the moment he should be remembered for.

*****

None of this changes the type of pol he is. I still think he is an empty suit and a Corrupt Chicago pol but those limitations don’t hurt the effect or the importance of this speech. Remember Lincoln’s famous line concerning John Pope and his family. May he in this case have more success than Pope did.

Update: Captain Ed seems to be with me on this one. Michelle and YID with LID is not. One of Yid’s points echos one I made in my speech oddities post.

I think that you have to walk before you run. Just getting some of the ideas out there in public in the Arab world by a source that isn’t repressed will make a crack in the dike that can break the Dam. I think this speech and the defense of Israel’s right to exist and historic suffering is incredible for that reason.

First President in US History to Have Voted to Filibuster a Supreme Court Nominee Now Hopes for Clean Process

If Jake Tapper didn’t exist what would ABC do for an honest media voice?