7-time Tour De France winner, and proven cheater, Lance Armstrong offered what is being reported as a tepid apology today. It is being said he wasn't completely forthcoming, and made that same old excuses used by most in the athletic world; everybody was doing it.
I have heard those saying we can't forget the good done by Armstrong, that I will grant you. I venture a guess that no one outside of the scientific or medical communities has done more to advance the fight against cancer world wide. Certainly a lot of lives have been saved indirectly by his fierce advocacy for cancer research and the fundraising he provided.
I was a fan of Armstrong. I was much more into mountain biking than road cycling in the 90's and early 2000's but Armstrong was a great advocate and role model for the cycling world as a whole. I bought his book and read it more than once. I admired his will to live and fight for survival. I respected him. He clearly, despite any performance enhancing drugs, worked his skinny, white ass, off to reach the levels he did.
I'm not even that upset about the PED use. I don't condone it, but I think society as a whole demonizes any drug use as bad no matter what. The rule breaking bothers me a bit. This was more than just a stray elbow whilst in the peloton. That's gamesmanship, and while illegal I hope you can see the difference. It's like a catcher missing a tag but trying to convince the ump he got it. It's just part of the game.
But the thing that gives me the most trouble? The thing that makes me loathe the man I once revered; the lying. He is no different than all the little and big turds I have dealt with on the job over the years. He has postured and blustered and bullied those who would report the truth and try to hold him to the same standard as the rest of the world. He threatened Floyd Landis, he sued a news organization for slander (and won). He lied under oath, repeatedly. He has no credibility as a human being. He is a loathsome person, and he is not sorry for lying...He is sorry for being caught.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Dodge City High School
Judging from my pageviews and comments section; no one probably noticed my absence, but I am back. Why did I come back after such a long respite? So much has happened; the fiscal cliff "compromise", the premier of "Zero Dark Thirty", Hurricane Sandy, Newtown. A lot of stuff that has brought about unreasonable rhetoric on the left and the right.
Today a teenager walked into a first hour classroom in a California High School. He shot one,who at this writing is in critical condition, and at another. With the gun-control debate raging, if that's the right word, I couldn't stand mute. I have to give my point of view.
First of all; the NRA and the gun lobby are as anti-American as they come. They are completely off of their rockers! I will grant; the mentally ill need to be addressed. But, right wingers...you gotta make up your mind! Calling for Congress to "do whatever it takes put an armed police officer in every school" goes against the idea of limited government and low taxes. Who's going to pay for all that? The salary, the training, the equipment...as a police officer, I know how much that adds up. Not to mention insure; both medical and liability. The cost of such a plan, while I would LOVE to see it, would be staggering.
Another option I have heard a lot about is the idea of arming teachers. This idea, sadly, seems to have more momentum. This is a bad idea, for a lot of reasons, with the best of intentions. And I really do think this is an instance where the law of unintended consequence comes into full effect.
Let me tell you teachers; as an officer I have to sign all kinds of forms from my agency. Affirming I have been trained in low-light shooting, target discrimination, force de-escalation, any number of things. I sign these because I'm ordered to do so. I'm ordered to do so in case I use deadly force. When the lawsuit comes, and it always comes, my employer pulls out my form and says to a judge, "You can't hold us liable, we showed him how to do it, look right here your honor." And if you think a school district won't do the same to you....
Let's set aside the liability issues. This is an attempt to get around the expense of using actual police officers. The teachers who participate in such programs get all the responsibility, all the liability, of a sworn and certified, uniformed policeman without the cool uniform or crappy hours.
The real issue, as I see it, is one of public safety. You are reading the words of a person who has been involved in an actual gunfight. One where a police officer got shot and a bad guy checked out for good. I have been a police officer for very nearly 20 years. I have been through countless hours of training, both officially and unofficially. I have rehearsed scenarios in my head, and in real life. I've even had the chance on many occasions to to do a sort of "dry run"; by using real tactics in situations that turned out to be not as dangerous as originally thought. Stuff like that is critical, so when the real event comes you know what you are dealing with physically and psychologically.
And that's my point. The police are required, just by virtue of their job, to constantly train. At work. In their own heads. Many times, my shift-mates and I would get together when it was slow and work as a team practicing scenarios. We have to be trained to perform in deadly force situations, because we are more likely to face them. And when we do this preparation and training helps us deal with the stress encountered both during and after such an incident.
I'll give you an example. I don't want to paint every single person with this brush, but I believe it is true for 90% or better of our society. As police trainers we spend a lot of time convincing new officers; being shot does not equal being dead. Just because you are shot, the fight is not over. You must persevere, you must push on, you must win! The 90% are conditioned to believe otherwise. TV and movies show us time and again; one shot, one kill. When John Wayne shot a guy, that guy was no longer a threat. So the inverse must be true. It takes a lot of training to teach this to new guys. But I digress.
There are dynamics at work within a body when encountering the kind of horror one would see in Newtown, CT. Dynamics that cause dangerous situations; inaccurate fire, indiscriminate fire, tunnel vision, vapor lock. These are all real things that happen. And they happen to highly trained police officers. So much more so to more marginally trained educator.
Mistakes are made by those who practice this stuff for a living. The chance for those mistakes are simply magnified by a well-intentioned person thinking to themselves, "if only I had been there with my gun, I would have saved them." Maybe, a big maybe. What if that well meaning teacher accidentally engages the police? A parent holding something that is mistaken for something for more sinister.
Now, as I said; I am not opposed to the police officer in schools. This is a good idea, but a pipe dream. Arming teachers is just a bit short sighted. There are other ways to address gun violence, and we must do it. We need to get away from the rhetoric; gun grabs, the new Hitler, United Nations takeovers. These are ALL figments of your imagination. There are common sense steps we can take to help prevent these things, and I really hope we can engage in a mature dialogue without all the talk of banning guns, national registries, spot inspections. There is a common ground if we can all just dial it back a little bit and try to see it from the other side.
And, BTW; kudos to my Texas A&M Aggies. They really showed something in that Cotton Bowl game. This may be my last chance for a while to enjoy some dominance. Johhny Football/Heisman will probably find success a bit harder in 2013.
Today a teenager walked into a first hour classroom in a California High School. He shot one,who at this writing is in critical condition, and at another. With the gun-control debate raging, if that's the right word, I couldn't stand mute. I have to give my point of view.
First of all; the NRA and the gun lobby are as anti-American as they come. They are completely off of their rockers! I will grant; the mentally ill need to be addressed. But, right wingers...you gotta make up your mind! Calling for Congress to "do whatever it takes put an armed police officer in every school" goes against the idea of limited government and low taxes. Who's going to pay for all that? The salary, the training, the equipment...as a police officer, I know how much that adds up. Not to mention insure; both medical and liability. The cost of such a plan, while I would LOVE to see it, would be staggering.
Another option I have heard a lot about is the idea of arming teachers. This idea, sadly, seems to have more momentum. This is a bad idea, for a lot of reasons, with the best of intentions. And I really do think this is an instance where the law of unintended consequence comes into full effect.
Let me tell you teachers; as an officer I have to sign all kinds of forms from my agency. Affirming I have been trained in low-light shooting, target discrimination, force de-escalation, any number of things. I sign these because I'm ordered to do so. I'm ordered to do so in case I use deadly force. When the lawsuit comes, and it always comes, my employer pulls out my form and says to a judge, "You can't hold us liable, we showed him how to do it, look right here your honor." And if you think a school district won't do the same to you....
Let's set aside the liability issues. This is an attempt to get around the expense of using actual police officers. The teachers who participate in such programs get all the responsibility, all the liability, of a sworn and certified, uniformed policeman without the cool uniform or crappy hours.
The real issue, as I see it, is one of public safety. You are reading the words of a person who has been involved in an actual gunfight. One where a police officer got shot and a bad guy checked out for good. I have been a police officer for very nearly 20 years. I have been through countless hours of training, both officially and unofficially. I have rehearsed scenarios in my head, and in real life. I've even had the chance on many occasions to to do a sort of "dry run"; by using real tactics in situations that turned out to be not as dangerous as originally thought. Stuff like that is critical, so when the real event comes you know what you are dealing with physically and psychologically.
And that's my point. The police are required, just by virtue of their job, to constantly train. At work. In their own heads. Many times, my shift-mates and I would get together when it was slow and work as a team practicing scenarios. We have to be trained to perform in deadly force situations, because we are more likely to face them. And when we do this preparation and training helps us deal with the stress encountered both during and after such an incident.
I'll give you an example. I don't want to paint every single person with this brush, but I believe it is true for 90% or better of our society. As police trainers we spend a lot of time convincing new officers; being shot does not equal being dead. Just because you are shot, the fight is not over. You must persevere, you must push on, you must win! The 90% are conditioned to believe otherwise. TV and movies show us time and again; one shot, one kill. When John Wayne shot a guy, that guy was no longer a threat. So the inverse must be true. It takes a lot of training to teach this to new guys. But I digress.
There are dynamics at work within a body when encountering the kind of horror one would see in Newtown, CT. Dynamics that cause dangerous situations; inaccurate fire, indiscriminate fire, tunnel vision, vapor lock. These are all real things that happen. And they happen to highly trained police officers. So much more so to more marginally trained educator.
Mistakes are made by those who practice this stuff for a living. The chance for those mistakes are simply magnified by a well-intentioned person thinking to themselves, "if only I had been there with my gun, I would have saved them." Maybe, a big maybe. What if that well meaning teacher accidentally engages the police? A parent holding something that is mistaken for something for more sinister.
Now, as I said; I am not opposed to the police officer in schools. This is a good idea, but a pipe dream. Arming teachers is just a bit short sighted. There are other ways to address gun violence, and we must do it. We need to get away from the rhetoric; gun grabs, the new Hitler, United Nations takeovers. These are ALL figments of your imagination. There are common sense steps we can take to help prevent these things, and I really hope we can engage in a mature dialogue without all the talk of banning guns, national registries, spot inspections. There is a common ground if we can all just dial it back a little bit and try to see it from the other side.
And, BTW; kudos to my Texas A&M Aggies. They really showed something in that Cotton Bowl game. This may be my last chance for a while to enjoy some dominance. Johhny Football/Heisman will probably find success a bit harder in 2013.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Welcome back
Well, the holidays are over and I'm back to work, as I'm sure the rest of you are. I enjoyed my holiday in Kentucky, where my wife lives (don't ask, it's a long story. This time next year we will be living in the same state). It is a really beautiful place with so much history and I LOVE history.
It's about a twelve hour drive across Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and finally the Louisville metro area, so I drove and listened to podcasts. Specifically the humanist hour, the American atheist, and the Joe Rogan experience (side note; listen to this dude. He's very intelligent and well-reasoned). I also spent a lot of time thinking.
My path all the way to St. Louis was pretty much paralleling, and occasionally intersecting with, U.S. Route 66. It made me think about those times past when Rt. 66 was the mother road of lore. How things have changed. It made me ponder just how different the world will be for my kids than it was for me. I came up with this list:
It's about a twelve hour drive across Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and finally the Louisville metro area, so I drove and listened to podcasts. Specifically the humanist hour, the American atheist, and the Joe Rogan experience (side note; listen to this dude. He's very intelligent and well-reasoned). I also spent a lot of time thinking.
My path all the way to St. Louis was pretty much paralleling, and occasionally intersecting with, U.S. Route 66. It made me think about those times past when Rt. 66 was the mother road of lore. How things have changed. It made me ponder just how different the world will be for my kids than it was for me. I came up with this list:
- Technology- Big shocker here. "He mentioned technology..what a fresh take." Yeah, yeah, I get it but it's so true. The big technological advances of my days put video games in our hands, but it was the "Coleco Bowl". Just a bunch of red dashes that moved. AND I WAS THRILLED BY IT!! My kids have Ipod's, and Nintendo DS's. Sometimes I bring my Nook and they can play games on that or (heaven forbid) read. Failing that I have an in-car DVD and they can watch what they want all the way to wherever we go. And to think; I remember it being so cool to have a freaking Walkman so I didn't have to listen to dear old dads' favorite radio station; K-OLD!
- Safety- this is a big one. Just think of all the advances in safety there are today; 3-D surround sound airbags, crumple zones in cars, and such highly advanced child safety seats (my youngest daughter's has reading lights)! My kids will never know what it was like to ride in the comfort that was my dad's 78 Chevy conversion van. Powder blue with a dark blue stripe on it. It had two swiveling chairs in the middle and a big ol' fold down bed in back. There was even a table with drink holders in it. We drove across the country in that thing, and I don't think anything behind the "captain's" chair had anything resembling a restraint device. My brother and I logged many a mile racked out on that fold down bed. Sure, the occasional bump in the road made us lose contact with the mattress, but I don't think we ever hit our heads on that roof.
- Speed- I'm still old enough to remember when the nation wide speed limit was 55 MPH. I believe that was imposed at the behest of Jimmy Carter. Sure, state's didn't have to adopt it, but it sure made it easier to get any kind of federal highway funding. I'm a believer in climate change, and conservation, which I'm sure was the intention of this law. I happen to like President Carter and the things he has done in his retirement. This was a bad one and rightfully changed. As far as the safety argument goes, I get it and it's a valid point. But we can't out-legislate stupidity. Cars and roads are so much safer than they were in the 70's and 80's. During my trip I found the most frustration driving through Illinois with it's 65MPH speed. This one may come back, but I hope my kids never get to see it.
- Cell Phones- yeah, I know...could have covered this under "technology" but I think it deserves a mention all it's own. My daughter's will never remember a world in which texting did not exist. They will barely remember a world in which the Internet was not reachable via your phone. It is truly amazing to think about. You are able to stay in touch with loved ones while you are barrelling down the road, no need to stop and find a pay phone. You can find out about an historical landmark you just passed, or who a section of highway was named after. I used mine to find an obscure street in Mt. Vernon, KY and it took me right to it!
I don't want to be to coy or trite about it all, but we truly do live in amazing times. I know more about Canada now because I watch the Rick Mercer Report from the CBC on YouTube. I found out about some really cool Australian bands, that get no radio play here, from chatting with people from Oz on the Internet. Everyone's on it and you can find almost anything or anyone all from the comfort of wherever your mobile phone happens to be.
And BTW: Just found out today about the death of my former uncle "Rapid" Robert Seifert. He was married to my mom's sister and lived in Joppa, MD. I hadn't heard anything from Bob, except through the grapevine, in probably 30 years. He and my aunt divorced some 20 plus years ago. Still I always had a fondness for him. He raced funny cars and to 10-year old me, that was the coolest thing in the world. I still remember him giving me several 8X10 publicity photos for him and other racers in Maryland. I'm sure he's not in any record books, he was no John Force by any stretch, but I was still a little sad to hear of his passing. RIP Rapid Robert.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Great moments in Christian Persecution (he said sarcastically)
Well, it's happened again. Yet another monument to the christian god was raised at the Oklahoma State Capitol. I searched and couldn't find a listing for the number of states which have such an endorsement of religion on property owned by all of the people.
Here's the thing...I believe man can and does find morality absent religion. It's called humanity. Its equity, fairness, and it's present within all of us. I don't require a set of rules based on the writings of some men from centuries ago. This country was founded on the basis of religious freedom, that includes freedom from that religion. I don't like to be in anyone's face about this, but it's silly to argue this doesn't endorse christianity over other faiths....and quite frankly a thinly disguised non-truth (AKA; a LIE).
The secret hope of fundamentalists is that the words of god written on that tablet will in some way open the heart of at least one non-believer and bring them into a life with christ. That's pure and simple and the truth. It is a method to proselytize and not a means of "honoring our heritage" or some such drivel.
The people in support of this are some of the same people who couldn't back Mitt Romney early on because he was Mormon. The deem Mormonism a cult, and rightly so, but so is your faith. Joseph Smith finding some rocks that he could read with some magic glasses is no more ridiculous than a burning bush talking to a man in the desert.
The people in support of this are the same people who passed the law specifically forbidding Oklahoma judges from considering sharia law in any of their rulings (which by the way had never happened before). The same who would give much hew and cry would an Islamic group want a monument to Mohamed or a Buddhist group a statue of a big fat guy. In other words; intolerant, religious bigots!!
Why is it only intolerance and persecution when someone opposes a christian idea? Why is anything to do with ANY other religion an attack on "traditional judeo christian values? Hypocrites, one and all.
In reason,
Sugarpooh.
And BTW:
A funny side note to this story. Possibly showing yet another christian prejudice; that towards traditional learning in evil public schools who teach, among other things; spelling, grammar, and (gasp) science
Here's the thing...I believe man can and does find morality absent religion. It's called humanity. Its equity, fairness, and it's present within all of us. I don't require a set of rules based on the writings of some men from centuries ago. This country was founded on the basis of religious freedom, that includes freedom from that religion. I don't like to be in anyone's face about this, but it's silly to argue this doesn't endorse christianity over other faiths....and quite frankly a thinly disguised non-truth (AKA; a LIE).
The secret hope of fundamentalists is that the words of god written on that tablet will in some way open the heart of at least one non-believer and bring them into a life with christ. That's pure and simple and the truth. It is a method to proselytize and not a means of "honoring our heritage" or some such drivel.
The people in support of this are some of the same people who couldn't back Mitt Romney early on because he was Mormon. The deem Mormonism a cult, and rightly so, but so is your faith. Joseph Smith finding some rocks that he could read with some magic glasses is no more ridiculous than a burning bush talking to a man in the desert.
The people in support of this are the same people who passed the law specifically forbidding Oklahoma judges from considering sharia law in any of their rulings (which by the way had never happened before). The same who would give much hew and cry would an Islamic group want a monument to Mohamed or a Buddhist group a statue of a big fat guy. In other words; intolerant, religious bigots!!
Why is it only intolerance and persecution when someone opposes a christian idea? Why is anything to do with ANY other religion an attack on "traditional judeo christian values? Hypocrites, one and all.
In reason,
Sugarpooh.
And BTW:
A funny side note to this story. Possibly showing yet another christian prejudice; that towards traditional learning in evil public schools who teach, among other things; spelling, grammar, and (gasp) science
Saturday, November 17, 2012
A-hole of the week November 11-17, 2012
Welcome, faithful readers to the semi-non-regular post naming the biggest a-hole of the week. We will be scouring the world to find the man or woman who most closely resembles the behavior of a walking sphincter with ears.
In our inaugural edition we head to our country's most northeastern state. The home of the lobster roll and Hawkeye Pierce; it's the pine tree state, beautiful Maine and the deluded mind of GOP chairman Charlie Webster. From the Bangor Daily News:
Do what??? Wowza! later in the interview he went on to say "None of these locations in Maine are known for their fried chicken or watermelon. Well, maybe watermelon but that is totally out of season right now! What would all those people eat?" I may or may not have made that last part up. Who can be sure? I wasn't there and neither were you. And would it be that shocking if he did?
I'm from Oklahoma...I don't really know where we stand as far as locale designation. We can't be called the south, certainly not the midwest..but can anything east of the rockies qualify as the west? I don't know but I do know this; this is one bigoted and racist place. We still see the appearance of the confederate flag now and then by those showing "pride in their heritage". But seeing something like this from the liberal (i.e. communist) New England area kinda made me do a double take.
He actually DID go on to invoke the white guilt tri-fecta; "I'm not a racist, I know a lot of black people. I even play basketball with a black guy." Now that's not a direct quote, but it was some variant of that. Really. I am not making that up. And in this day and age. And from a man in such a position as his. Any wonder the republicans are losing ground with any group with skin-tone?
And BTW:
This was a tight race this week with misogynist Pat Robertson weighing in on that innocent CIA director being tempted by that harlot of a biographer of his and Mitt Romney still making excuses for why those stupidhead unwashed masses didn't pick him. Both gave commendable efforts and I will name them both runners-up.
In reason,
Sugarpooh
In our inaugural edition we head to our country's most northeastern state. The home of the lobster roll and Hawkeye Pierce; it's the pine tree state, beautiful Maine and the deluded mind of GOP chairman Charlie Webster. From the Bangor Daily News:
Do what??? Wowza! later in the interview he went on to say "None of these locations in Maine are known for their fried chicken or watermelon. Well, maybe watermelon but that is totally out of season right now! What would all those people eat?" I may or may not have made that last part up. Who can be sure? I wasn't there and neither were you. And would it be that shocking if he did?
I'm from Oklahoma...I don't really know where we stand as far as locale designation. We can't be called the south, certainly not the midwest..but can anything east of the rockies qualify as the west? I don't know but I do know this; this is one bigoted and racist place. We still see the appearance of the confederate flag now and then by those showing "pride in their heritage". But seeing something like this from the liberal (i.e. communist) New England area kinda made me do a double take.
He actually DID go on to invoke the white guilt tri-fecta; "I'm not a racist, I know a lot of black people. I even play basketball with a black guy." Now that's not a direct quote, but it was some variant of that. Really. I am not making that up. And in this day and age. And from a man in such a position as his. Any wonder the republicans are losing ground with any group with skin-tone?
And BTW:
This was a tight race this week with misogynist Pat Robertson weighing in on that innocent CIA director being tempted by that harlot of a biographer of his and Mitt Romney still making excuses for why those stupidhead unwashed masses didn't pick him. Both gave commendable efforts and I will name them both runners-up.
In reason,
Sugarpooh
Friday, November 16, 2012
Who knew?
I'm pretty new at this blogging stuff and don't quite get how it works. So the other day I was at work and decided to enter "bible dumper" in my Bing search. Now obviously this brand new blog didn't show up but this definition from the urban dictionary did. Someone who uses the bible or god as an excuse for ending a relationship. "I didn't break up with Julie because I found someone prettier, I prayed about it and god spoke to me and told me I should date Jane."
I chuckled upon reading that. Here I was trying to describe myself as being someone who has dumped the bible as a blueprint for my life, and there was already a description of this phrase that involved christians doing mean things. It made me think about how christians use that excuse that can neither be proven nor disproven; "It's god's will."
Christians LOVE this caveat. It makes every thing they do okay and everything that happens (good or bad) not their fault. Why did that woman get raped? Why do all these children starve? Why does Adrian Peterson have the ability to run so fast? Why do good things happen to bad people? We can never know, but god has a plan. What a bullshit, cop out! It leaves no one accountable for anything!
An embarrassing confession; I sometimes watch the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. It makes my wife happy and gives us something to talk about. The people on that show are truly ridiculous! My favorite of all the Housewives is probably the Orange County variant. One of the couples, Jim and Alexis, are truly ridiculous and phony christians. He's a misogynist (like any good fundamentalist), she's a bimbo with ambitions to work as TV news personality.
There was one episode where he wanted her to stay at home with the kids. She wanted to go forward with her "career" and take lessons. They had both prayed about it, and lo and behold; god told Alexis what she wanted to hear and Jim what he wanted! What does that tell you about that "still, small voice"? It's in your head! Not your heart. Who was god lying to? Oh, well...it must be god's will to leave that issue unresolved.
And BTW: All the uproar over this shirtless FBI agent is just a bit ridiculous. It's just another example of how BOTH sides just look for ways to foment outrage against the other. Who doesn't look at this and see the obvious joke?
Ahhh...American politics...gotta love it!
I chuckled upon reading that. Here I was trying to describe myself as being someone who has dumped the bible as a blueprint for my life, and there was already a description of this phrase that involved christians doing mean things. It made me think about how christians use that excuse that can neither be proven nor disproven; "It's god's will."
Christians LOVE this caveat. It makes every thing they do okay and everything that happens (good or bad) not their fault. Why did that woman get raped? Why do all these children starve? Why does Adrian Peterson have the ability to run so fast? Why do good things happen to bad people? We can never know, but god has a plan. What a bullshit, cop out! It leaves no one accountable for anything!
An embarrassing confession; I sometimes watch the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. It makes my wife happy and gives us something to talk about. The people on that show are truly ridiculous! My favorite of all the Housewives is probably the Orange County variant. One of the couples, Jim and Alexis, are truly ridiculous and phony christians. He's a misogynist (like any good fundamentalist), she's a bimbo with ambitions to work as TV news personality.
There was one episode where he wanted her to stay at home with the kids. She wanted to go forward with her "career" and take lessons. They had both prayed about it, and lo and behold; god told Alexis what she wanted to hear and Jim what he wanted! What does that tell you about that "still, small voice"? It's in your head! Not your heart. Who was god lying to? Oh, well...it must be god's will to leave that issue unresolved.
And BTW: All the uproar over this shirtless FBI agent is just a bit ridiculous. It's just another example of how BOTH sides just look for ways to foment outrage against the other. Who doesn't look at this and see the obvious joke?
Ahhh...American politics...gotta love it!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Huckabee on the Daily Show
Former Arkansas governor, and 2008 GOP hopeful, Mike Huckabee was on The Daily Show on Monday the 12th. Now before I made this transformation into a bible denying, "vote Obama", I heart socialism, loser that I am today; I thought I could vote for Mike.
The year was 2008. I had just voted for whatever Libertarian candidate that party had fielded (I vote in Oklahoma...vote Republican or your vote doesn't really matter). I was a republican but I couldn't get behind McCain/Palin (Sarah Palin? Really?), and didn't feel the GOP ticket really spoke for me, so in a fit of moral activism I voted Libertarian, knowing full well the futility of that act. Then I heard Huckabee speaking post election. I hadn't really paid attention to him up until then.
He sounded like a reasonable candidate. Someone I disagreed with in some respects, but not enough to make me vote Libertarian or god forbid Democrat. He seemed to endorse government for all, not just those who believed the way he did. Election 2012, and super PACs, changed that.
During The Daily Show they played a commercial Huckabee did during the campaign. He makes some semi-vague religious references, the point being "You know who God would vote for...and it ain't the colored fella." At the end he has the balls to say something like, "cast a vote that will stand the test of fire."
Now; I'm no conspiracy theorist (which is what most conspiracy theorists say right before they tell you their conspiracy), but am the only one who agrees with Jon Stewart? The implication is; vote Romney/Ryan, or face hell. Now to his credit Huckabee tries to explain he was referring to a bible verse about "purifying with fire" or some such bull shit. I think that ad was a clearly targeted campaign to subtly, or not so subtly, imply god is on the GOP side and/or "a vote for Obama equals a vote for satan."
Sure, you can say..."unh uh sugarpooh...thats a well known bible verse and you're just persecuting us because of our faith," (news flash, you're white, you're christian, and you live in America...you have not tasted persecution for your faith). But I'll submit this: Americans as a majority are pretty uninformed. About world events, about science, and yes..about the bible.
I know I was. You went to church and for the most part you are told, "this is what the bible says about that." And that becomes your answer..no one really bothers to check the context, the authors, the history of the time in which some of these words were written. They just take at face value what their pastor has told them the bible says and what it means.
Now I say all of that to say this; they had to have known that VERY FEW people watching a nation-wide commercial like that would say to themselves, "Ohhhh...like that bible verse. I get it." No. I believe that was PURELY intended to say what I mentioned above, Obama = Satan. Of course they have that plausible deniability based on that verse, "what? Oh no no no....you silly little liberal man. You obviously don't read your bible that much if that's what you thought we meant."
Let's face it....both sides are guilty of that kind of game. That's why our system sucks sooooo badly. Shit like that works! And if you call them out on it, they have a convenient excuse as to what the ad should have been taken as, if only you weren't so close-minded to understand. Then somebody like Jon Stewart calls bullshit on that, and he's a liberal who doesn't believe in their right to religious freedom or speech...And the vicious cycle continues.
Anyway, I respect Mike Huckabee for having the courage to go on a show like the Daily Show and face a guy as sharp as Stewart. But I just can't believe I thought only four short years ago, "I could vote for that guy!"
And BTW: if you are from Oklahoma and looking for a good read about politics and whatnot in the Sooner State check out The Lost Ogle. It's kinda like the Daily Show. Only in a blog. And almost exclusively about Oklahoma. If you are a TOSH.0 fan The Lost Ogle is who first brought us Oklahoma City's own Sweet Brown. It can be entertaining even for those not from Oklahoma.
In Reason,
Sugarpooh
The year was 2008. I had just voted for whatever Libertarian candidate that party had fielded (I vote in Oklahoma...vote Republican or your vote doesn't really matter). I was a republican but I couldn't get behind McCain/Palin (Sarah Palin? Really?), and didn't feel the GOP ticket really spoke for me, so in a fit of moral activism I voted Libertarian, knowing full well the futility of that act. Then I heard Huckabee speaking post election. I hadn't really paid attention to him up until then.
He sounded like a reasonable candidate. Someone I disagreed with in some respects, but not enough to make me vote Libertarian or god forbid Democrat. He seemed to endorse government for all, not just those who believed the way he did. Election 2012, and super PACs, changed that.
During The Daily Show they played a commercial Huckabee did during the campaign. He makes some semi-vague religious references, the point being "You know who God would vote for...and it ain't the colored fella." At the end he has the balls to say something like, "cast a vote that will stand the test of fire."
Now; I'm no conspiracy theorist (which is what most conspiracy theorists say right before they tell you their conspiracy), but am the only one who agrees with Jon Stewart? The implication is; vote Romney/Ryan, or face hell. Now to his credit Huckabee tries to explain he was referring to a bible verse about "purifying with fire" or some such bull shit. I think that ad was a clearly targeted campaign to subtly, or not so subtly, imply god is on the GOP side and/or "a vote for Obama equals a vote for satan."
Sure, you can say..."unh uh sugarpooh...thats a well known bible verse and you're just persecuting us because of our faith," (news flash, you're white, you're christian, and you live in America...you have not tasted persecution for your faith). But I'll submit this: Americans as a majority are pretty uninformed. About world events, about science, and yes..about the bible.
I know I was. You went to church and for the most part you are told, "this is what the bible says about that." And that becomes your answer..no one really bothers to check the context, the authors, the history of the time in which some of these words were written. They just take at face value what their pastor has told them the bible says and what it means.
Now I say all of that to say this; they had to have known that VERY FEW people watching a nation-wide commercial like that would say to themselves, "Ohhhh...like that bible verse. I get it." No. I believe that was PURELY intended to say what I mentioned above, Obama = Satan. Of course they have that plausible deniability based on that verse, "what? Oh no no no....you silly little liberal man. You obviously don't read your bible that much if that's what you thought we meant."
Let's face it....both sides are guilty of that kind of game. That's why our system sucks sooooo badly. Shit like that works! And if you call them out on it, they have a convenient excuse as to what the ad should have been taken as, if only you weren't so close-minded to understand. Then somebody like Jon Stewart calls bullshit on that, and he's a liberal who doesn't believe in their right to religious freedom or speech...And the vicious cycle continues.
Anyway, I respect Mike Huckabee for having the courage to go on a show like the Daily Show and face a guy as sharp as Stewart. But I just can't believe I thought only four short years ago, "I could vote for that guy!"
And BTW: if you are from Oklahoma and looking for a good read about politics and whatnot in the Sooner State check out The Lost Ogle. It's kinda like the Daily Show. Only in a blog. And almost exclusively about Oklahoma. If you are a TOSH.0 fan The Lost Ogle is who first brought us Oklahoma City's own Sweet Brown. It can be entertaining even for those not from Oklahoma.
In Reason,
Sugarpooh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)