So, the Olympics have started, and I'm super excited. It's a great opportunity, even with all of the serious issues in our world, to set those differences aside--religious differences, political ideological differences, racial differences, all of them--and celebrate the miracle of the human body and mind and what they can achieve. I'm such a fan of the Olympics that I have dragged my computers HD antenna out of my little window and stuck it to my living room's window so I get good reception, even with bad weather. I record in three hour segments and have all of the plug-ins available to watch the most I can out of NBC's 3600 hours of Olympic programming.
Yeah, I guess you can say I like the Olympics.
I was re-watching the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, and I absolutely congratulate that team of Phelps, Weber-Gale, Jones and Lezak on their gold-medal, world-record-setting, come-from-behind performance. For all of the people who think I'm always an anti-U.S. cynic, I must say that I was very proud of that team. Not just for winning, but for showing the French team who claimed they would 'smash' the Americans that they were more mature, and showed them up in the pool. They came from behind, they smashed the world-record, and they worked very, very well together. Sounds American to me.
At least, what America used to stand for.
Now, we have a president who, in his interview with Bob Costas in Beijing, denied that America has problems. Wha-??? Excuse me, George? Let me write a short part of the transcript:
Bob Costas: "But, given China's growing strength, and America's own problems, realistically how much leverage and influence does the U.S. have here?"
Mr. President G.W. Bush: "First of all, I don't see America having problems. I see America as a nation that is a world leader that has got great values."
Now, I'm happy that W. is spending a lot of time in Beijing, and trying to 'constructively engage,' rather than 'leverage' with China. Smart thing to do, we all need to show the world that we respect them. But...no problems? How about a credit crisis? Slow market? Dependence on oil? A president who has not only lied, but admitted to lying to the American people about the threat of a country in which we've spent over a trillion dollars in war? No problems?
Well, let's bring back what America stood for: recognize our weaknesses and show the world that we have brilliance enough to solve these problems. Not only for us, but for them too. Let's be a people that truly lead the world because we are ahead of them, not because we can bully them.
Now, I hate to make this long, but I received an e-mail from a good friend and instead of forwarding it to many, I wanted to post it here (don't worry, the e-mail's short):
Some surprisingly good, solid policy proposals from Obama in a speech given in Michigan with a minimum of pandering to the audience.
Video
Here is a good critique of the unfortunate nonsense that has become the flagship talking points of much of the Republican party.
Article
So...if you have time, watch Barack's speech. It's about a half-hour long, but listen to it in the background if necessary. At least watch the first ten minutes. See if his energy plan, for which Mr. White-haired man (McCain's new nicknamed given in a hillarious counter ad by...Paris Hilton. It's funny.) criticizes Barack consistently. Yet all he wants to do is drill drill drill. Hmm. Right. Great American problem-solving...at its worst.
Share this post with anyone you'd like. If the people realize they have the power, we can win back the government from the current rogue administration and look forward to better years.
Paris obviously has some marketing savvy; she can turn anything into a PR boost for herself... thx to McCain’s miscalculation, she’ll be selling more cans of wine than ever
ReplyDeleteIf we are going to argue for a candidate that promotes progressive reform, I think its the least that can be done to really discuss the details of their stance. Not too long ago, McCain was unsure of offshore drilling, and rarely promoted it while at the same time Obama was adamantly opposing it. Recent events, specifically gas prices and people's dislike of them, have shifted the stances of both candidates to McCain's "drill here, drill now" policy and Obama's acceptance of offshore drilling as part of a "comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices". The point being here is that Obama's energy policy isn't as transparent as first thought. In the Michigan speech, Obama states that "in the face of public frustration over rising gas prices, the only position [McCain] has adopted is to increase offshore drilling, a position that will not make a dent in current gas prices or meet the long term challenge of energy independence...this is one emergency we cant drill our way out of." Yet, shortly after describes his policy which consists of "increasing our domestic production of oil" by extracting oil from shale formations coast to coast, selling oil from our national oil reserves to lower gas prices, release more petroleum from the Alaskan petroleum reserves, build an Alaska natural gas pipeline through Canada, and yes, allow for limited off shore drilling. None of these, he earlier admits, will provide any sort of long term answers to our "oil addiction". So why do them when they are devastating for the environment, further our usage and expansion of oil, and continue to put renewable energy sources as a secondary "nice if we had 'em" policy? Obama knows what can be done to help the energy and environmental crisis, but because he is more willing to sway to the polls to secure votes he shows his true colors as a politician. So are his policies a step in the right direction? Well, probably. We still need to educate ourselves and push for drastic change, rather than a decision between immediate destruction or delayed destruction, change that is not being offered by the powers that be...or who will be. sorry for the long post.
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