The Echo Chamber

Last night I tried to have a civil party only to find that the subject of politics reared its ugly head.

"I take offense, that you are trying to damage the older generation of our country!" Cried one of my party-goers to the other.

"The only thing conservatives care about is keeping themselves rich!" replied the other.

In this case I was witness to what everyone has seen at one point or another, the breakdown of our dialogue from one side to the other. I would like to blame two things, Fox News and MSNBC. Granted as a liberal I was so excited to see MSNBC begin to lean left in its views; I thought it would balance out Fox News coverage. Sadly, they both have led their viewers to such extremes when comparing against the other 'side' that I can't even have a civil party anymore. Fox viewers hear that Obama is transforming the country into Eastern Europe and MSNBC viewers hear that conservatives want to rob America blind. The truth lies much farther from both narratives. While there are bad people on both sides, most of the opposition is genuine at least in the form that it contains sincere beliefs. We would all do well to remember that.

Give the Arabs Credit

Many of us here in the U.S. have been scrambling to figure out who was the real reason behind the Egyptian cries for independence. Was it a speech that Ms Rice gave in 2005? Was it Somehow Barack Obama's charm? I think the answer here might be the most obvious one, the Egyptians themselves. While we in the west would like nothing more than to assume the world moves to our tune, it's a safe bet that the people braving teargas get the credit. While social networks and twitter have made assembly easier for the protestors who triumphed, it has been Egyptian professors who have organized their students and taught political philosophy. The unemployed of Egypt, who have been the backbone of the protest also deserve credit for demanding that there be a state that is better economically than the nepotism status quo. So the next time you hear a friend talk about who changed Egypt, don't forget to make them include the Egyptians!

Palin and McCains's Lies

So this is coming late but better to be late than sorry.

Sarah Palin claimed that she told Washington "thanks but no thanks" on the bridge to nowhere. A video on youtube shows the point.

Sarah Palin said in her nomination that she sold the plane belonging to the previous governor on ebay but in reality it didn't sell on ebay and had to be sold at a loss to a private individual.

Why is this important? because these lies are so baldfaced that they insult the American peoples intelligence.

The Beef on Palin

Early today McCain picked for his Vice-Presidential nominee a 44 year old woman named Sarah Palin, the current governor of Alaska and a strong social conservative. In her opening speech to the crowd of McCain supporters she praised Hillary Clinton's brave fight in the Democratic primary and mentioned that she would continue what Hillary began. This coming from the woman that called Hillary a 'whiner' earlier in the primary is a very interesting claim. McCain is trying to woo the women who were so behind Hillary and angry about her supposed treatment by the DNC. So let's get into the negatives of this woman because she was not a common sense pick, atleast on the surface.

#1 McCain has made this issue about experience from day one (video proof) Palin has served as a mayor for six years and as a governor for twenty months. This makes the McCain camp look more than a little hypocritical for his pick of a position that would take his place if he died.

#2 Palin was seen stating earlier this month that she didn't know what the VP position entailed (interview here) P.S. this interview also discusses another liability - an investigation into an alleged firing of her brother-in-law from the police force

#3 Obama has called McCain a candidate of and for oil and Sarah Palin's husband happens to work for BP. This would be the 4th term in the last 30 years that big oil has a direct connection to someone in the Whitehouse. Jr & Sr. Bush + Cheney are the other established connections.


Interesting pick though, we'll see how it pans out in the coming months.

Barack's Night

Tonight Barack Obama gave a speech that battled the criticisms that he faces and better defines his policies for those may be skeptics. This was the defining moment of the election, and if the youth vote can hold, I believe that the white house for the democrats is in reach.

Day 2 at the Dem convention

We heard many more speeches tonight at the Democratic convention center, most of them mediocre rhetoric that glazed the same talking points over and over again. One speech that stood out among the others for its use of factual evidence and persuasiveness was Montana governor's Brian Schweitzer's speech viewable here. Hillary supported Barack Obama with kinder words than many, many convention losers before her. Ted Kennedy mentioned Carter's name once in his convention speech as a loser and Reagan didn't even mention Ford's name in his convention speech. The mainstream media, despite this difference in historical precedent, was keen to point out that Clinton could have done more for Barack Obama. This kind of coverage diminishes the power that candidates have because it is essentially an opposing last word. At best it makes the candidates seem contrived and planned and at its worst it puts words and intentions in their mouths and minds that don't necessarily exist. It is this coverage from the media that is dumbing down the process of the convention. I would recommend that anyone who is interested in politics watch the convention from C-Span and let the mainstream media pretend to know what is happening behind the scenes towards other viewers.

First Night at the Dems Convention

Tonight was the first night of the democratic convention with key speeches by Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, Michelle Obama, Jesse Jackson (Jr.) and Caroline Kennedy, among many more. Nancy Pelosi had the only speech of the night that dealt in depth with the issue of McCain's poor policy choices. The video can be viewed here. Michelle Obama gave a speech about Barack's character and Ted Kennedy gave a fire-up speech. The speeches were ok, but save Nancy's speech they lacked the bite that they will need in the coming days to shoot a hole in McCain's boat. More coverage from the convention as it unfolds.