This has been a bad week for Mavericks:
First, McCain and Palin lost the presidential election. Then, Mark Cuban gets effectively blackballed by MLB, who will "never" approve his purchase of the Chicago Cubs. Can someone say conspiracy? Someone should quickly run to their local movie store and make sure that the Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner flick has not been removed from the shelves.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
(Unexpected) Closing thoughts on the 2008 Presidential Election
It should be wildly apparent that I, and we, did not agree with the way that McCain and Palin ran their campaign. Mostly, I took issue with how McCain and Palin drew on the rhetoric of terrorism in order to cast doubt on Obama's character. I also took issue with the dumbing down of issues that are, as we are finding, quite complex. Finally, as I mentioned in the last post, I generally take issue with policies that are tailored to benefit the economic elite.
I had mixed emotions last night when McCain gave his resignation speech, however, because the man that gave that speech was not the man who ran against Obama this past year. McCain was humble, thoughtful, gracious, and hopeful, and his ethos as a speaker gave credence to the argument that the Republican party transformed him in a negative way during this election. It was with a tinge of remorse, then, that I watched this speech because, although I wanted Obama to win, more than anything I wanted to see a competitive race where both candidates presented a coherent and compelling argument for why they should assume the presidential seat. In other words, I wanted to be motivated to cast a vote not because I was afraid of what the other candidate would do in office, but because one argument was slightly better than the other.
The McCain who gave that final speech last night could have accomplished that task, and could have rallied the country in a more productive manner. Unfortunately, his rhetorical tactics polarized too many people and resulted in a landslide victory that was, in the final tally, embarrassing to the Republican party. I wonder if, when historians look back on this moment, Obama's speeches will be read as more hopeful and intelligent because McCain's were not. Either way I think we should celebrate, as many have said, that we have an African-American man in the president office who seems to promote the intellectual, political, and social values that will reduce violence and thereby increase hope.
I feel substantially more excited about our country than I have in the last eight years of my adult life.
I had mixed emotions last night when McCain gave his resignation speech, however, because the man that gave that speech was not the man who ran against Obama this past year. McCain was humble, thoughtful, gracious, and hopeful, and his ethos as a speaker gave credence to the argument that the Republican party transformed him in a negative way during this election. It was with a tinge of remorse, then, that I watched this speech because, although I wanted Obama to win, more than anything I wanted to see a competitive race where both candidates presented a coherent and compelling argument for why they should assume the presidential seat. In other words, I wanted to be motivated to cast a vote not because I was afraid of what the other candidate would do in office, but because one argument was slightly better than the other.
The McCain who gave that final speech last night could have accomplished that task, and could have rallied the country in a more productive manner. Unfortunately, his rhetorical tactics polarized too many people and resulted in a landslide victory that was, in the final tally, embarrassing to the Republican party. I wonder if, when historians look back on this moment, Obama's speeches will be read as more hopeful and intelligent because McCain's were not. Either way I think we should celebrate, as many have said, that we have an African-American man in the president office who seems to promote the intellectual, political, and social values that will reduce violence and thereby increase hope.
I feel substantially more excited about our country than I have in the last eight years of my adult life.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Ten Reasons Why I Voted for the McCain/Palin Ticket at the Last Minute
Like the sticker? Go get one! And as you mull over your voting decision, here are ten reasons why I voted for the McCain/Palin ticket at the last minute.
10. With gas prices the way they are, we can no longer afford to ignore the option of off-shore drilling. DRILL BABY DRILL!
9. Because I gross approximately 5,000 dollars a year, I need a president who will NOT raise taxes. Yes, I know that Obama says that he only plans to tax the wealthy, but I can't take any chances. My supersecret plan is to evade taxes, save my hard earned teaching money, and buy the next university I am at. Just think, "K the Professor" could help the Republicans win the next election! I could be famous!
8. Because Sarah Palin is much more qualified to be a Vice President than a talk show host. Besides, I like Oprah way too much to initiate that kind of competition for daytime viewers. The unfortunate byproduct is that we may not get a Sarah Palin book of "favorite things." Of course, we do know some of the things that would be in that book: industrial strength bear traps, snow-mobiles, nifty glasses, hip-hop dance lesson tapes (for the next SNL, you go girl!), a 20% off coupon at JC Penny, a super secret earbud so people can tell you how to say the right things without anyone catching on, a shotgun, political cliffs notes, Rosetta Stone (Russian edition) so that you too can brush up on your international relations if you find yourself away from the cosmopolitan state of Alaska for too long, an unused library card (they're free dontcha know!). . .
7. Because I have a car, and can therefore afford to drive over to my neighboring states to compete for high quality health care.
Plus, after we drill the #&@*5 out of Alaska, gas will be like, what, a nickel?
6. Because research shows that famous people's baby names catch on and we don't have enough Triggers, Trappers, GrenadeLaunchers, SoupLadels, and BearKillers in the world. If you read some of the earlier posts, a successful campaign would also mean that I have a better chance at getting B to name his unborn child Boomer!
5. Because I feel that Barack Obama played the political game unfairly. McCain and he agreed to use public funding only, and when Obama got wicked popular and received more donations, he used that money to talk about his plans for the future. Dang it! We need to stick to the plan here, and for heaven's sake no more talk about actual issues. McCain shouldn't have to sell one of his ten houses in order to buy primetime television airtime. Moreover, Cindy shouldn't have to sacrifice her next face stretch surgery in order for her husband to succeed. This is bogus, we need to stick to the possibility of Obama being and fraternizing with terrorists. THAT IS THE REAL ISSUE!!!
4. Because the dang voting booth is made for little people and I couldn't bend over far enough to reach the Obama/Biden circle. Seriously, they can have a sitdown chair for the elderly, but they can't raise a booth high enough for me to reach the ballot? I may have long arms, but I am rigid as hell.
3. Because we don't need hope in this country, nor do we need bi-partisan thinking, and we sure as shooter don't need anymore talking. We need people who recognize threats, challenge those threats to a shootout near the OK corral at high noon, whip out their bazookas faster than you can say "Wasilla," blow #&*^@! up (and anything that surrounds it), and steal the oil those terrorists have been hiding in their pockets. No more talking people, we have weapons, we are angry, and we need to use them.
2. Because, in my dream last night, Joe the plumber's @$$-crack told me to...I had to listen, he fixed my imaginary leaky faucet, which seemed to drip as though it were actually real.
1. Because I woke up this morning, went to the voting station and felt like a maverick!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Bru took a sick day...
Thought I would share this picture with you. Bru took a sick day Friday. He woke up feeling a little green, and spent the rest of the day wanting to sleep on my lap. Pretty cute, even though we would obviously prefer he was chipper-as-usual.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
My Wife, Former Valedictorian, Current Scholar and Educator, Future School Administrator and Ph.D.
B, you are going to love this one!
Scene: Walking into church discussing names for our unborn children. Nearing the front doors, P looks over at me and says
P: I still really like the name Emory, but how do you want to spell that?"
K: Well, I like the more traditional spelling E-M-O-R-Y, but if you don't like that I suppose you could always spell it E-M-E-R-I-E.
P: (thinking hard for a moment) "Well, how do they spell it in the song?"
K: What song?
P: You know, (singing) "Emory and Ivory live together in perfect harmony."
K: You're joking right? You are seriously joking?
P: That's how it goes, Boz.
K: You're an idiot!
(20 minutes into the church service)
P: (taps me on the shoulder and whispers) Seriously Boz, what is wrong with the song? Emory and Ivory, right?
K: Shush, I am praying for your mental health right now.
(On the way home from church)
P: So are you going to tell me what's wrong with the song?
K: Only if I can blog about it when you realize how dumb you are.
P: No, Bozzy don't blog about it! Just tell me.
K: Ok fine, what color is ivory?
P: OHHHH, EB-ony and Ivory. Whoops (sheepish giggle).
Scene: Walking into church discussing names for our unborn children. Nearing the front doors, P looks over at me and says
P: I still really like the name Emory, but how do you want to spell that?"
K: Well, I like the more traditional spelling E-M-O-R-Y, but if you don't like that I suppose you could always spell it E-M-E-R-I-E.
P: (thinking hard for a moment) "Well, how do they spell it in the song?"
K: What song?
P: You know, (singing) "Emory and Ivory live together in perfect harmony."
K: You're joking right? You are seriously joking?
P: That's how it goes, Boz.
K: You're an idiot!
(20 minutes into the church service)
P: (taps me on the shoulder and whispers) Seriously Boz, what is wrong with the song? Emory and Ivory, right?
K: Shush, I am praying for your mental health right now.
(On the way home from church)
P: So are you going to tell me what's wrong with the song?
K: Only if I can blog about it when you realize how dumb you are.
P: No, Bozzy don't blog about it! Just tell me.
K: Ok fine, what color is ivory?
P: OHHHH, EB-ony and Ivory. Whoops (sheepish giggle).
Monday, October 6, 2008
Happy 27th Birthday, K!
Today is K's 27th birthday. We celebrated last night with our contingency of fabulous friends here in the 'Nois. This was the first year that we really had enough close friends to constitute a birthday party, so we not only celebrated K, but great friendships as well. The party was complete with appetizers and M's infamous chocolate raspberry and chocolate peanut butter cakes.
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