Thursday, November 02, 2006

My one-time obligatory election season post...

First and foremost-
Get off your ass and vote.

I really don't care WHO you vote for, but for cryin' out loud, get out there and do it.

If you don't, you have no right to bitch and moan about how poorly the country is being run, or what a jerk this-or-that politician is... Do something about it.

One of my favorite authors, Robert A. Heinlein, had this comment about voting:
"If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for...but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong. If this is too blind for your taste, consult some well-meaning fool (there is always one around) and ask his advice. Then vote the other way. This enables you to be a good citizen (if such is your wish) without spending the enormous amount of time on it that truly intelligent exercise of franchise requires."
"Time Enough for Love" 1973, R.A. Heinlein

So... Get out there and vote.

Second-

“I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform.” — Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.)
apologizing for his "poorly stated joke" in a written statement

What is he saying?
(Not that what Kerry says matters so much, but it is typical of (all) politicians to twist and spin when they screw up)

  • I'm sorry you can't take a joke.
  • I'm sorry that uneducated soldiers can't take a joke.
  • I'm relieved that a carefully crafted denial will diffuse any lingering stigma of my poorly-worded attempt at humor at the cost of the current administration.
  • I'm sorry I had to resort to poor attempts at humor to get people to listen to me.

---------------

If you've been living under a rock the last few days,Kerry stuck his foot in his mouth when he told a group of California students that individuals who don't study hard and do their homework would likely "get stuck in Iraq."

What was the 2004-election-losing senator (yes, he lost...) from Massachusetts doing talking to California students anyway? It seems like California, the quintessential-leftist Democratic state is about to re-elect their Republican governor. I guess the Democrats need to pull out all the botox-injected stops to woo voters.
I guess they don't believe the ha-ha-ha "Unbiased" media who are all predicting a wholesale slide to the left come Tuesday.

News from the Left:
"Democrats have privately told outsiders they have locked up 10 of the 15 GOP-held seats they need. Polls indicate several dozen additional races are competitive, far more than appeared possible at the outset of the campaign, and too many for Republican comfort at a time of opposition to the war and low presidential approval ratings at home.

In the Senate, Democrats claim they are on track to defeat four Republican incumbents, including Sens. Mike DeWine in Ohio, Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island and Conrad Burns in Montana. Republicans tacitly concede DeWine and Santorum appear headed for defeat, but the party's senatorial committee has launched television commercials in the campaign's final week in an attempt to save Chafee and Burns.

Barring a dramatic shift in opinion in the campaign's final days, that leaves only a handful of races in significant doubt, principally three Republican-held seats in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia."

Now, I might be wrong, but this is OPINION and CONJECTURE...not NEWS.

It ain't over until it's over... Get your asses out there and vote, otherwise a much-too-small sampling of special interest groups will be deciding for you.

As for John Kerry and his "joke"...
Aides said the senator had mistakenly dropped one word from his prepared remarks, which was originally written to say "you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq." In that context, they said, it was clear Kerry was referring to Bush, not to the troops.
Took them 2 days to spin it... But again, what are they saying?

"If you don't study hard and do your home work, you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq."
So, poor students will become Republican presidents?
Californian students have poor study habits but will still do well politically?
Good students will never become president?

I give up.

GO VOTE.

TBG out-

1 comment:

March Hare said...

I also wondered what Kerry was doing stumping for Angelides, the Dems answer to Arnie. Both men kind of remind me of the Alan Alda "New Age" kind of "sensitive" male.

Interestingly, my local paper endorsed Boxer and Miller (for Senate and House) ~but~ Arnie for Governor. Reverse psychology? Or recognition that the Dems can't seem to find a "man's man" among the pack?

BTW, nice use of Heinlein. I think he would have voted for Arnie. Or against Angelides, anyway! :)