Just one week after the fallout over a NY Post cartoon depicting a police officer shooting and killing a chimpanzee while the other cop wondered who would write the next stimulus bill, the Washington Post released an apology for an upcoming article to appear in the Washington Post Magazine.  That’s right, while the county debated over whether or not Rupert Murdock’s Post was spewing racist monkey business, the WaPost nibbled their nails down until finally cracking with this outburst of remorse. 

“The headline, illustration, and text of 'Below the Beltway,' a column in The Washington Post Magazine today, may cause offense to readers. The magazine was printed before a widely publicized incident last week in which a chimpanzee attacked and badly mauled a woman in Stamford, Conn. In addition, the image and text inadvertently may conjure racial stereotypes that The Post does not countenance. We regret the lapse.” 


READ THE REST!!!

             I had hope.  Although I never completely believed that the pundits, commentators, talking heads, idiots, and flat out haters from the dividing portion of the Republican Party would set aside their partisan biases, I had hope that they would choose their country’s prosperity over baseless political shots. 

            Armed with a hammer and a wedge, Fox News Channel continuously scours the earth in search of things they can blame on President Obama since 5 days in office is too soon to blame him for the Iraq War and the economy.  Those two things will be blamed on him next week.  With the Inauguration just a week old, Megyn Kelly invited Michelle Malkin on to blame Obama for the way rappers Young Jeezy and Jay-Z celebrated the departure of Bush and the entrance of Obama. 


READ THE REST!!

After nearly 8 years of disappointing and frustrating domestic and foreign policy, George W. Bush has finally found a way to offend even his most strident supporters.  His interview on Nightline focused on his religious beliefs and interpretation of the Bible.  Collective gasps and groans could be heard across the country when our President shot down the perceived beliefs that he took the Bible’s words literally, that evolution and Christianity can co-exist, and that people of other religions probably pray to the same Supreme Being he claims to pray to. 


READ THE REST!!

Battle lines were drawn and vigorously fought over when the federal bailout of failing U.S. banks was proposed just over a month ago.  Most people simply sided with their political leanings, trusting that their elected representatives’ thoughts and actions on the controversial move benefited their beliefs the most.  We argued over whether or not these companies were given free reign to carelessly conduct their business with loose, maybe nonexistent regulations.  The country was engulfed in an intensely engaging and very important national election that divided us among Party lines making these types of decisions a Democratic vs. Republican one for most people.  Now that the companies “we couldn’t allow to fail” have been rescued, it’s time for round two. 

READ THE REST

            Tuesday night was a historic night in America and around the globe.  After Barack Obama convincingly won the right to be called the 44th President of the United States, supporters here in America and around the world celebrated the actual opportunity for a new direction.  It’s obvious that the actions and policies of the U.S. affect the rest of the world, and the past several years of leadership have badly damaged people here and abroad. 

            As John McCain graciously gave his concession speech to his supporters in Arizona, their disappointment was very apparent.  Now that their hopes for a President McCain are not going to become a reality, what’s next for these Americans that had their emotions and minds set on it?  Will we continue to have division and hate drawn down the lines of Republican and Democrat?  Are all those campaign slogans of “Country First” and “Change We Can Believe In” going to simply be thrown away with lawn signs donning their favorite candidate?  I definitely hope not. 

READ THE REST!!

Ted Stevens, the Republican Senator from Alaska for the last 40 years has been convicted on seven counts of corruption for accepting a string of home renovations from an oil executive and lying about it.  Each count carries a maximum of 5 years in jail, tallying his possible time in the slammer at 35 years, which will never happen.  The 84 year old politician has stubbornly and defiantly declared his innocence as he still vows to win reelection next Tuesday against Mark Begich.  If he does pull off the victory despite this nagging little PR hit, he will be able to serve, as there is no rule keeping felons from serving in the Senate. 


READ THE REST!!

After the first and last Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin wrapped up late Thursday night, the country looked to find out who won the debate.  The answer to that question can never be given to anyone, as analysts determine the victor based on anything from the facts to their looks.  Debates are sometimes determined by which candidate exhibits knowledge and a firm grasp on ways to solve the country’s problems.  Conversely, debates are also sometimes judged based on who wore the sharper outfit, the shape of their faces and how attractive their smiles were, and which candidate more seamlessly pulled of being a politician to seem more connected to the people watching at home. 

Thursday night was a tale of two extremely different running mates.  One illustrated an airtight handle on the facts and issues that face our nation by reactively answering the moderator’s questions.  The other read her essay, simply hitting the points that were prepared for her, and ignored the entire debating process of answering the questions! 

While Biden spoke of details behind the Iraq War and why it has been a disastrous expedition from the beginning, Palin stumbled into the slogan, “You just want to wave the white flag of surrender.”  While Palin tried to skirt the causes of global warming and simply say we need to fix it, Biden pointed out the elementary mindset that “we need to know the causes in order to fix it.”  If Palin were a car mechanic faced with a grounded car, leaking fluids and not running, she’d rather tell her customer she’ll fix it without looking under the hood for the source of the problem. She doesn’t want to point fingers at that old radiator or that oil leak, she just wants to start with the trunk.  As Senator Biden backed up every single point he made with hard facts and numbers, Governor Palin winked to the camera, piled on folksy rhetoric, delivered empty and false charges of tax hikes, and proposed nonsensical solutions void of any facts. 

In the end, since Palin disappointed many Democrats that were hoping for a “moose in headlights” moment from her on live television, this was immediately seen as a win for her.  After her disastrous interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric where she showed she has no idea what the Bush Doctrine is and that she can’t name Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with, the bar for Palin was set at world record lows.  For those that paid close attention to her vacant answers, she only managed to not obviously show that she has no idea what she’s talking about. 

If we have gotten to the point in this country that a winning moment for a candidate for Vice President is simply participating in a debate where she doesn’t make a fool of herself, then we’ve turned into a country of losers.  This is like saying “sure Usain Bolt won the 100m and 200m at the Olympics in record times, but dammit I really like the way Darvis Patton didn’t fall on his face in the middle, he’s the true Olympic champion in my book!” 

--JJJ