Too be fair... really. No shit.

Sarah Palin is being panned for not knowing the member countries of NAFTA by the snide "gotcha" assholes in the media. The thing is, Canada, the US, and Mexico aren't the only signatories. And I'll bet my life's savings that, unaided (of course, no Googling!) none of you reading this could, actually, name all of the countries in "North America."

I'm not defending Sarah Palin, the Moose-Murdering, religious-nutbag, and God knows what else crazy woman who'll be with us for some time to come... I am just pointing out, as many progressives and conservatives alike often do, laziness in the media, and the accompanying snarky condescension that turn most people who would otherwise perhaps choose public service to think twice about running for office. But honestly, if you do want to be a public servant, you should be warned that an education and intellect along with civic knowledge is pretty much a basic requirement. But, with an electorate like the one in Alaska, that seems to be poised to reelect a convicted felon as it's senator, perhaps my crazy high standard for those who would seek public office to serve their fellow citizens is perhaps a wee bit naive. That is, if the vote totals really do reflect the actual votes of Alaska's citizens... more to come apparently.

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Happy Days! Opie, Richie, Fonzie, and Andy for Obama

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die This video is simple sweet nostalgia for me! I grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show , an innocent and sweet black and white (double meaning I was of course unaware of at the time) show about simple times, and apparently devoid of the undercurrent of racism and the raging debate of Vietnam occurring in our country at the time ... or so it seemed. The morality plays within most of the episodes often, at least, subtly touched on the issues of the day and all the while simultaneously and deftly, taught tolerance, and held up to, albeit good natured, ridicule the intolerance and destructive division occurring in our country at the time. In a way that only sweet southern gentility could have pulled off. Floyd the Barber would approve this message. For me personally, The Andy Griffith Show was a serendipitous coincidence and weird connection to Hollywood because it's make-believe town of Mayberry , North Carolina was modeled after my father...

"Some concern the direction the party has taken..."

Yeah, right off the edge into McCarthy-esque quasi-fascist land. Colin, like myself and millions of other Americans, are tired, tired, fucking tired, of using citizen's fear and yes, loathing (racism), to divide and conquer the electorate to simply maintain power. That way lies madness. And I'm afraid the fear and loathing cannot be put back in the bottle. The Right intends to poison the discourse to de-legitimize a possible Obama presidency -- but this will not be the 90's and anti-Clinton mania on the right, it will be outright xenophobia and pure animus. The crazy right-wingers who value their perceived status above their nation are the real traitors, but that fact will be lost on those who have consistently played victim while simultaneously attacking everyone and anyone who isn't in lock-step with them. Even conservative pundits (Parker, Will, Buckley, et al), and former political darlings of the Right (Powell and Rice) are being called traitorous scum at this very...

The Political Race and Friendships

For the last couple of weeks I've had a bit of a running conversation via e-mail with an old Air Force buddy about racism, especially concerning politics, and the Obama presidential campaign specifically. It has been exasperating to an extent because I allow him to get my goat, which puts me on the defensive, and that isn't, to say the least, the strategy that leads to positive persuasion. I'll be honest, I enjoy debate, but I'm lousy at persuasive argument. I make a lousy sales person because I often forget the dictum, " always be closing ," and meander around the showroom of ideas picking up shiny things and get momentarily and thus, fatally distracted. Just because I enjoy something doesn't translate automatically into being very good at something, if it did, I'd be a great golfer and a world renowned movie critic. Enjoying the passion of defending a set of beliefs based on evidence and reason, doesn't mean you will become particularly good at i...

Furious Indifference.

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