God is Not an Elephant

There is this notion in the Political realm that the Republicans are the party of Christian Americans. To the point now that Christians tell each other that you can't be a Christian and vote Democratic. My original intent as a Democrat was to outline the corruption, scandals, and hypocrisy in the Republican Party to illustrate how this notion is a total misrepresentation, but the Sunday before election day my pastor gave a sermon on this topic. Keep in mind I go to a fairly large predominantly White Evangelical Church. Our congrgation is agressively Republican to the point where McCain bumper stickers are outnumbered only by "NOBama" bumper stickers. There were a few bumper stickers that just said "Sarah!" I even saw one that said something about "Palintology" (which I thought was ironic given that her thinking does seem to be from a different universe). But I digress....

I felt the message that my Pastor presented is much more pragmatic and appropriate than what I planned to present so I am going to share those thoughts. I will post a separate blog post to include my own relatively objective, but of course Obama leaning commentary (which I would argue leans because of the facts not my personal opinion). I have also included a video of the sermon so that you may hear for yourelf and not be solely subjected to my summary of the message.

Before I start I must say, one has to wonder what prompted my Pastor to even do a Sermon like this one. There is talk how this topic is splitting up churches all over the country. So why even discuss such an emotionally charged topic. I presume he felt compelled for 1 of 2 reasons. 1) He was being pressed by the Congregation to come out and take a side on this issue, as his counterparts across the country had put out a rallying cry for White Evangelicals to get out to the polls and vote Republican. 2) He was so deeply disturbed from the type of chatter he was hearing full of hatred and devoid of any Biblical principles he felt some response was required.

the believer, the Bible, and the ballot box

I. Participate in the Process - 39% of Evangelicals do not vote, 50% say the Church has no place in Politics. The Separation of Church and State was not intended to keep Christians away from Politics. The intent was to protect citizens from the State (a.k.a the Goverment) imposing religious values

II. Vote Biblical Values - The Sanctity of Human Life, Justice for All, Peace on Earth, Moral Conviction

A) The Sanctity of Human Life breaks out into the follwing categories: Protection of unbornchildren; dignity and compassion for unwanted pregnancies; compassion for the elderly; how we deal with the handicapped or disabled; children dying globally each day of preventable hunger and disease; genocide; war; the dealth penalty

B) Justice For All breaks into the following categories: Candidate that will pay attention to the poor, focus on overcoming the scandal of extreme global poverty and the shame of such unnecessary domestic poverty in the richest nation in the world; demonstrate compassionate treatment of Aliens promoting an immigration system with comprehensive reform in ways that are compassionate, fair, and just; no tolerance for crime; foreign policy that seeks to rid the world of injustice.

C) Peace on Earth breaks into the following categories: Peace is a God-centered quality, candidate that works across party lines, strives to establish equality, regards God's favor on those Nations who have blessed Israel.

D) Moral Conviction breaks into the following categories: Candidates character and background matter; accepts responsibility for mistakes; will best exemplify and articulate strong family values speaking of sexual restraint and integrity, marital fidelity, strong parenting, and putting family values over economic values

III. Choose the Better Right - At the end of the day most candidates have the same goal, the difference is how they intend to get there. Choose the view that has the fewest difficulties.

IV. Ask for Wisdom - Vote based on a Christian World view, not a Traditional view (Proverbs 29:2)

V. Pray for our Leaders - All requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone. For kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

VI. God continues to Sit on the Throne - Our hope must remain in God, our leaders are never apart from the soverign hands of God (Daniel 12:20-21)

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Beyond Expectations

I can boast that I never once doubted Obama's Victory, but I must admit to doubting the potential for a landslide. Even with empirical data to support it, I just didn't think it would it happen until it did. So much so I even neglected reliable sources that predicted a much wider margin.

So let's look at what I predicted and what actually happened.

I predicted an Obama victory of 276-262. The actual results are 365-173. This actually outperformed even the most pro-Obama polls. So what happened?

The poll buster like a 15 seed in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was Indiana. This was not shown as a win for Obama in any poll. Few polls even showed the race within the margin of error. This was a solid red state having voted that way since before I was born. 2 things happened in Indiana to help Obama win the state:

1) Voter Turnout: The Obama campaign having such a strong ground game in Indiana got word to the HQ that there was a chance in Indiana. Indiana being a neighboring state with a large part of the population basically considered Suburban Chicago. The Obama Campaign dispatched campaign workers and volunteers from states like Illinois and Wisconsin where victory was considered certain and flooded Indiana. Exit polls in Indiana showed that 37% of voters in Indiana were contacted by the Obama campaign, while only 22% were contacted by McCain. This happened in NV and CO also where Obama performed much better than shown in the polls. So it was more likely that voter turnout supported the victory than Republicans that decided to vote for Obama. The Democrats just got more people out to the polls than the uninspired Republican voters. The Democratic base was mobilized in this state becuase of the Primary Election where Clinton narrowly won, and the Democrats capitalized on this energy.

2) Reverse-Bradley Effect: There was a lot of talk about the Bradley Effect but it appears the reverse actually happened. I can appreciate this being in Texas (a Red State), where unfortunately Whites feel in the minority when claiming their intent to vote for a Democrat. I don't think these folks necessarily said they would vote for McCain, they more likely said they were undecided or not going to vote at all but in the end cast their vote for Obama.

So what else happened?

VA, OH, and FL. Ohio and Florida aren't total surprises as Democrats have won in these states fairly recently. More than anything Obama did "The Economy" and Sarah Palin basically handed these states to Obama. In these states people that had intended to vote for McCain changed their minds due to one or both of these issues and voted for Obama. Now in VA, I believe we have seen a shift in the electorate. Due to the margin of victory, and the fact that Democrats have prevailed overwhelmingly in political races here for the past 2 years this state may become a stronghold for Democrats. The Party must take note that the supporters in VA are Centrists (or Moderates) and maintain that position or the momentum may be lost.

North Carolina is somewhat of a cross between VA and IN. All of the factors I have mentioned came into play in this state.

The LANDSLIDE win is amazing. Obama won the Popular Vote by 8M votes and he won 28 states, DC, and even 1 Congressional District in Nebraska who distributes their electoral votes using the Congressional District Method. Equally as exiting as the states he turned BLUE NM, CO, OH, FL, IA, NV, VA, NC and IN are the states in which he collapsed the large margins the Republicans won in 2004. Looking at the map below it blends blue and red to make "purple" in many of the states that have been traditionally "red." Unlike the general electoral maps that show much of the South and Cenral US as "deep red" you will see Obama was competitive in essentially every state West of the Mississipi River and you see blue in purple in states like Montana............

A lot of gains were made across the board, maintaining the momentum that began in 2006. Obama and the majority Democratic Congress have been dealt a bad hand, but hopefully they will come together to make some real progress.

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Everything that could go wrong!

Sticking with my new theme of nailing my blogs down to 3 points, I am going to sum up my impression of the insurmountable task of winning this election for the Republicans:

1. BUSH: Or as the pundits would say BUSH BUSH BUSH as all 3 major reasons. Pretty much every human being in the W--O--R--L--D (and most animals too) are ready to see this Cowboy ride off into the sunset. Probably hoping that he would fall off the horse on his way out! I need not elaborate on his many failures. The problem for McCain is that he was campaigning against himself. He tried to appeal to the conservative base, he promoted many of the most unpopular Bush initiatives, he failed at any point to distinguish any meaningful issues in which he would turn us around from the failed policies of Dubya..
2. Caribou Barbie: At the end of the day, most would put the Economy ahead of this colossal flop, but there is not one person Obama can help more for his successful campaign than Sarah Palin. She appealed to NO ONE but the "extreme right" of the Republican Party. The Clinton supporters McCain had hoped to sway were essentially frightened at the thought of her being a "heartbeat" away from the Presidency. So much so, Obama raised $10M the night she spoke at the Republican National Convention. Most stating they were so inspired by her speech that they gave as much as they could to the Obama campaign to make sure to keep her away! What is funny is the move by Arizona Jones to pick a woman was a stroke of genius. When Obama was first asked about it, the look on his face was like, "Oh, this is a good one John, you got me with this one." Caribou Barbie was immediately labeled as unqualified, but that Katie Couric interview will go down in history as the catalyst to the unraveling of the McCain campaign. It was sooooooooo bad that even the SNL parody on the interview could not match how funny her poor performance was in the actual interview. She proved that she could make a good stand up comedian, but never outlined what makes her qualified to be the VP. She was unqualified, incompetent, and unknown? Lastly, the role of "sexism" in politics is strong, but Arizona Jones forgot that it exists strongest in his own party!!
3. Race and Class: At the end of the day the Republican Party has to realize that they need to focus a lot harder on voter turnout and voter registration than on voter suppression. The Republicans can no longer win elections completely disregarding minorities. Running around the country talking about Joe Six Pack, Hockey Moms, Joe the Plumber, Small Town America, and "Real" Americans to minorities pretty much sounds like, "C'mon White people let's stick together and let these Blacks, Mexicans, and all the other foreigners know that WE still control this country." If the Democrats get the full electorate out to vote every year they will crush this type of rhetoric every time. As for class, McCain never made the case for the Middle Class. He spent so much time talking about Obama he failed to articulate what HE would do. Obama spent so much time defending his plans because he a-c-t-u-a-l-l-y had some plans, McCain didn't have any and Obama is the one that was really saying the things that Joe Six Pack wanted to hear.......

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It's A New Day (The ClintonSlayer Strikes Again)

So I could have wrote this blog entry in June. As I said then was proven on the 4th. John McCain was not a formidable opponent in this battle. He breezed through little competition only to get in the ring with a World Class heavyweight fighter that fights regularly on HBO PPV. Clinton knew this, and that is why she so desperately fought during the Primaries; because she knew to the winner goes all of the spoils. So to keep this one short I want to discuss my thoughts in 3 simple points:

1. Obama wasted no time, energy, and resources trying to convert the minds of idiots. He realizes early on that his best asset was voter turnout; because there are more registered Democrats than their are Republicans so the goal is to get them out to vote. He sought after new voters, an energized electorate that stayed motivated because he kept them focused on tuning out friendlies! They remained motivated because they were not getting beat over the head daily trying to persuade idiots like "Joe the Plumber."


2. Obama played the game like no one has ever played the game before. This was like watching Jordan totally revolutionize the game of basketball, while at the same time bringing up the level of all players in all sports. They all benefited in endorsements, contracts, TV deals all because Jordan made sports exciting again. Obama has done this for politics. He out hustled everyone, he out worked them, he raised more money, he was more organized, he inspired a whole new generation to participate in the electoral process. When he looks over his shoulder it is like the Verizon commercial, "who are all of those people behind you?" "That's my NETWORK!"


3. Obama kept his head above the fray. He did not go negative, not to say his campaign did not at times, but you never heard it out of the mouth of Obama. In the 3rd debate when given the opportunity to "roast" Caribou Barbie he said he was proud of the fact that for the first time a woman was on the presidential ticket for the Republicans and he would let the American public decide if she was qualified. This after she had been on a Nationwide Comedy Tour in which the punch line was Barack Obama. To the point she was inciting passion filled chants of hate at her rallies like "kill him!" Caribou Barbie and Arizona Jones talked a lot of Barack Obama, while Barack Obama talked alot about rebuilding the Economy, putting Americans back to work, ending the War in Iraq, and overall making life better for the Average America.

The American people decided that they liked what they heard from Obama, and that at a time when a new generation of Politics and Leadership was required there was only one man to bring it!

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A Bluer America, but not for me..

This Electoral map was posted in the New York Times showing a county by county voting shifts. The redder the area the more people shifted towards Republicans, the bluer the area the more people shifted toward the Democrats. Looking at this map if you are in a red area you need to move; because the dark red is where they are hanging nooses...... Notice Destin is red, we may have to find a new vacation spot!!

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Better Left Unsaid

So I am hanging out with some friends a few nights ago, and one of my friends brought a new fish to our hangout spot. She was really nice and fit right in with the group. So after we had been there a couple of hours, they are both like we have to go. Mind you this is a guy we generally have to drag home when it is time to go.

We were not even certain that they had come together, but they definitely left together. We were like OK, he got a new girl and they had some business they needed to go and take care of…..


Well it turns out, this was really like a first “not so much a” date for them. They had just recently met. So just being messy (and a hater) I sent him a text to see what he was doing…

His text back to me said that he had just dropped her off, and she was already sending him a text telling him what a great time she had. Which sounds pretty cool, but he did not actually think so. He was tripping on the fact that she really did not let on that she had a good time until that point. He could not understand why she seemed to have a problem expressing herself when they were face to face. I asked if he had expressed himself? Of course he had not…. I reminded him that it was his first “not really a” date, and that his impression really is unwarranted. I told him they will be a little more comfortable next time.

He just could not seem to get over why they could not have expressed themselves then, why did they need to wait? I was like it depends on what you mean by express yourselves!!! To be honest that is kinda what we all thought you were doing when ya’ll left so abruptly. I told him he was being e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y impatient.. But he explained to me it was not about being impatient, what bothered him is that she wanted to express herself with him, but did not feel comfortable doing it in person; she waited until they were apart.

Well I said maybe she was not quite as comfortable as you think. I think she intended to communicate precisely the way she did. Her communication was more appropriate at a distance based on her intentions. I told him things went really well, and he was tripping over nothing. It would almost have been better if what she had to say would have been unsaid!! Read more!

A little misleading……

I just wanted to bring something to your attention as you may have read articles or heard news reports about the ratings audience for McCain’s acceptance speech and the overall ratings for the RNC being equal to or greater than Obama’s acceptance speech and the DNC.

There are a few facts here that can’t be addressed from a ratings report:

1) The Obama Campaign pushed supporters to host watching parties. So in many cases the average viewer per household would have been much greater for the DNC as I had 12 people at my house to watch his speech. The Precinct Chair in my area attended a watch party at a local restaurant which he reports had 50 people in attendance. This took place all over the country!

2) Take a straw poll of the people around you of conservatives, liberals, moderates or whatever they may call themselves. As I spoke with my friends that are Obama supporters about 80% say they watched the speeches of McCain and Palin. When I talked to people that generally support McCain barely 10% state that they have watched Obama or any parts of the DNC.

3) Lastly, pretty much everybody remotely interested in politics tuned into see Palin’s speech. Everybody is trying to figure out who in the world she is? Unfortunately she spent her speech offering very little personal insight and chose to launch into personal attacks against Obama, and establishing herself as a Pit Bull with lipstick. So most people woke up Thursday with the same questions…..

Call me a biased Obama supporter, but don’t take my word for it ask around for yourself!!!

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The Case for Obama Pt. XIII

The Truth is in the Numbers

There is a reason that I feel relatively confident about our chances for Obama to win this election. Although the landslide potential that once existed is all but gone, there are some pretty good reasons to feel optimistic. It’s called the Electoral College. Obama will undoubtedly win the popular vote; because without question he is MORE popular. The question is will this be enough votes in enough key states to get the 270 Electoral votes to be sworn in as President of the United States.

So let’s take a look at the numbers…….

The following table shows the number of electoral votes to which each state is entitled:




Let’s start with the states that are traditionally Democratic and tally up those Electoral votes: California, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington. These states equal 190 votes.

States that vote traditionally Republican are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming. These states equal 178 votes.

For the most part when I use the phrase “traditionally” it represents how the voters of these states voted in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections. For many of these states this represents their voting pattern for the last 30 years, for other states it may represent a shift. Nevertheless you won’t get much argument from anyone that these states for 2008 will pretty much remain in line with the parties that won in the 2 previous elections. So we are left with 14 states: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin which make up the remaining 170 Electoral votes.

So here is where the discussion begins. These states are what we call “close” states, which means in most elections the outcome is by less than 10% points and in most cases less than 5%. Some of these are truly swing states (meaning the party that wins elections often shift); the others typically go for the same party with a margin of victory that just happens to be close in every election. So let’s start with the latter.

Close states that are “traditionally” Democratic (the year in parentheses is how long state has voted Democratic): Michigan (1992), Minnesota (1976), New Hampshire (1992), Wisconsin (1998), and Pennsylvania (1992). To keep the explanation of my analysis simple; the conventional wisdom is that Obama is not going to lose any states that John Kerry won in 2004. This would take all of these states out of play for the Republicans. There is a lot of talk about Pennsylvania, and although the margins have become increasingly close with the Democrats winning by as little as 2.5% in 2004. This state has voted Democratic pretty consistently. The Governor, both U.S. Senators, and the Mayors of the 2 largest cities are all Democrats. If Obama does not win in Pennsylvania he will lose this election, there is no further debate needed! Obama would pick up 62 Electoral votes by winning these states.

Close states that are traditionally Republican (the year in parentheses is how long state has voted Republican): Indiana (1968) and Virginia (1968). You hear the Obama campaign taking a lot about these states, but to be honest these are Republican strongholds. Indiana is almost ridiculous to discuss as the Republicans have experienced double digit margins of victory in this state for decades even when the other MW states voted Democratic. Virginia is an interesting discussion as it was a little closer in the last election with a margin of victory of 8.2% for the Republicans. There is a lot of talk of the large population of Black voters and high potential to enroll many unregistered voters likely to vote Democratic. As well as having recently elected a Democratic Governor and US Senator, and with a new Senate seat coming open that is likely going to be won by a Democrat. It all sounds good, but personally I just think 8% points is an unrealistic gain to make up. If Obama can make gains this huge in some of these states being discussed we are talking about a landslide victory, but I would say this is unlikely. Just to give you a sense of how great of a margin 8.2% is; consider that a Democratic stronghold like CA was only won by 10%. McCain would pick up 24 Electoral votes by winning in these states.

I think in the states where a party loses by a margin of greater than 5% points I would take that state out of play for the losing party. Meaning it is unlikely they would be able to gain enough support to win that state for the 2008 election This logic is consistent in my overall analysis. I even considered some states less than 5% of out of play simply because although the results are close they consistently support the same party.

So this leaves the following as the “true” swing states: Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Obama will win: Colorado, Iowa, and New Mexico. Obama would pick up 21 more Electoral votes by winning these states. Most would not argue Iowa and New Mexico as they typically vote Democratic and Obama seems to carry the same themes that have rallied these states in the past. The stretch here is Colorado which although very close in the last few elections at 4.6% wins for the Republicans. This state has only voted for a Democrat for President once since 1964. So I have to admit Colorado is based on more of a gut feeling than anything else. I just so happened to have a gentleman from the Denver area stay at my house as he worked for the Obama campaign during the Primary Elections in Texas. We discussed the energy for the campaign in Colorado. Large numbers of volunteers, a lot of fundraising and an extreme hatred for the Bush administration that seems to have successfully carried over to McCain makes winning in Colorado a strong possibility. In addition, Colorado has a fairly well balanced roster of elected officials considering it has leaned Republican for President. In Colorado, the Governor, 1 US Senator, and 4 of the 7 US Congressional Representatives are Democrats. Over 70% of the State Legislators are Democrats, as well as the Mayor of Denver and many other cities across the state. Many of which have been voted into office since the 2004 election. So I do have a little empirical data to support my gut feeling!!

McCain will win: Florida, Ohio, Missouri, and Nevada. McCain would pick up 63 Electoral Votes by winning these states. All of these states typically vote Republican, but have shown the tendency to vote for the other party if they like the candidate. For the voters in these states for whatever reason Obama does not appear to be that guy! These states will be close again, as in the urban areas in these states Obama will do well, but these states all have a lot of rural voters that I just don’t think are going to be persuaded to change their typical voting pattern. In addition unlike Colorado theses states do not have a Democratic stronghold of Elected Officials. In fact most of these states have about as a significant Republican stronghold as the case I made about the Democrats in Colorado.


So pull out your calculator and do the math, based on my analysis this would score Obama 273 - McCain 265. Wow that is close!! If I am wrong about a state here or there the outcome could definitely be different, but I think I did a fairly conservative analysis…
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The Case for Obama Pt. XII

There has been a lot of talk, but with the Democratic National Convention (DNC) starting today, the Campaign season officially begins. If the Clintons and their following fall in line this thing could be over by the end of the DNC. If they show U-N-I-T-Y they will galvanize this nation to what I am prediciting will be a 273-265 win for Obama in the Electoral College. This blog entry is not about that though, I will give the details on that prediction another day, today the topic is on nothing else than talk of the VP. We will call this one:

"Obama Bites Back with Biden"

I am of the opinion that VP selections do not necessarily help a candidate win an election, but they can certainly hurt your chances to win! This is precisely why Biden is the safe pick. Biden brings 3 things to this fight that will prove to have some value:

1) He has a wealth of experience and conficence that will allow him to mop the floor with anyone on the list of Republican VP candidates

2) His story is great, he raised his childern after his Spouse died, drives back to Delaware from DC every night to be with us family, he has a son being deployed to Iraq, the list goes on almost as if it was scripted (which it probably is)

3) He will flourish in the role of attack dog and may make the campaign more appealing to the "White People won't vote for a Black Man" demographic that Clinton referenced so often in her campaign.

What has been presented as negatives for Biden is what I a going to spin as strenghts for the Obama campaign. The Republicans are attacking this choice on 3 fronts, each of which I think can play right into Obama's hand:



1) Biden is quoted saying that Obama is not ready to be Presidnet during his own campaign for President. This is an interesting argument to present, cosidering it did not work for Clinton or Biden since they both lost to Obama being more prepared under whatever definition one chooses to make this argument. In addition, Obama picked him anyway! What better argument that this man is a uniter? He selected as his VP a man that said he was not ready to be President, and was able to convince this man to join him on the campaign trail.

2)Biden is quoted giving praise to McCain, which from the Republicans viewpoint means that he is endorsing McCain. Interesting... The man that endorses you has decided to run against your campaign for the Presidency? When Biden made those comments he was making a contrast to Bush and other Republicans that remained uncomprosing in their views even when they have been proven to be wrong by all accounts. McCain has basically spent the last 18 months disassociating himself from the positions that garnered these praises from Biden. Lastly, this is what reinforces the central message of the Obama campaign to unite and come to a common ground on the issues. Who better to do so than one who isn't afraid to praise the other party and recognize their value in the process. For all this talk of changing Washington, unfortunately Obama does not have the power to go in on Day 1 and fire every member of Congress. Most of the 535 members Congress that are there today will still be there. So all of the progress he wants to make will be through the same bunch of guys and girls that are in there today. In most cases it's the system or the process that needs a change not the personnel.

3) The McCain Campaign is using this opportunity to go after supporters of Hillary Clinton. Wow! This is pretty good, actually all of the attacks are good. At the same time they all have major flaws. Is McCain really going to rally Democratic voters running a campaign in which he has opposing viewpoint on almost every issue, and rally Women voters by proposing his wife compete in the Miss Buffalo Chip Contest??? If you are a lifelong Democrat and you are tempted to vote for McCain because you are angry at the Democratic Party what do you accomplish in voting for McCain? We'll show those Democrats! Oh, wait a minute I am a Democrat, duh... This would be the equivalent of punishing your child for making an A-, and the punishment would be not allowing him to go to school anymore.

Obama made a good choice, we now have 2 men on the ticket whose political ambition is centered around making life better for every day people. Unlike the Bush-McCain politicians interested in making life better for those that are already better off...

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How Much Longer???

President Bush holding the flag backwards. I think this picture summarizes the entire term of the Bush Presidency. Maybe if he had been wearing his lapel pin, he would have been able to firgure out the right way to hold the flag. I think Keith Olberman from MSNBC stated it best,

"From his viewpoint everyhting appears to be OK!" Read more!

Love is...

When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then it subsides. When it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is!

Love is not breathless. Love is not excitement. Love is not the desire to mate every second of the day. Love is not lying awake at night imagining that your lover is kissing every part of your body.

That is just being in love--which any of us can convince ourselves that we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away.

Doesn't sound very exciting does it? But it is! Read more!

The Case for Obama Pt. XI

When I first saw the McCain funded "The One" attack ad against Barack Obama it had to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Not the actual ad being humorous, but the thought that this is what the McCain campaign considered a relevant attack ad. An attack ad to say don't vote for the popular guy, that every one loves, and speaks well, vote for the stumbling bumbling idiot like you did in the last 2 elections. Isn't that the guy that is more like you? Why vote for greatness when you can vote for mediocrity?

I am not sure either of them (Paris or Brittney) would have crowds of over 70,000 in Oregon and Denver, and over 200,000 in Berlin, but he is ignoring a very simple fact. People come to see Britney Spears to see a concert and be entertained, they would come to see Paris Hilton because?? I guess because she is hot?



When they come to see Barack Obama they come to stand in line for several hours, sit in a stadium for another hour, and listen to him give a speech for an hour describing economic policies, strategies for energy independence, improving our educational system, rescuing our health care system, among a dozen other topics. If this is the same audience that goes to see Britney and Hilton than the world is in for a CHANGE because you have just mobilized a NEW GENERATION of voters.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

I would have never expected the best response to this attack ad would come from Paris Hilton herself. Paris nailed it in her video, not just for McCain but for Obama and all other politicians as well. The answer to the issues that affect the American people are not based on what political party you belong to. The best answer is the best answer no matter where it comes from, and there is usually multiple solutions that are necessary to make any significant progress. Read more!

Daily Observations: "Overexposed"

This one follows my usual trend of very silly daily observations, but this has to be one of the most disturbing. At this event a few days ago I had to make a pit stop in the men's restroom. As I walked in and walked towards the urinal I saw something I can honestly say I have never seen in over 30 years of living on this place we call Earth.

As I walked in there was a man standing in front of the urinal with his pants down all the way to his ankles, and yes accompanying those pants were his underwear. So I walked in on bare buns. I have never seen that before when walking into a men's restroom. I am not certain what he may have been doing.

After about 2 seconds of shock I quickly exited the restroom, not even acknowledging what I had just seen. I left too quickly to understand what it is he may have been doing and why he chose the urinal for this and not one of the stalls. Very Disturbing.... Read more!

Silly, Tricks are for Kids

I am almost ashamed to tell this story, but at the Texas Democratic Convention the best story that you will hear from anyone that attended has to be about the resolution for Precinct Conventions that was up for vote on the floor of the convention.

In a nutshell to get a resolution to be considered on the floor, a petition has to be signed by 1/3 of the delegates in attendance. Which would be roughly 3000 people. Well, a team of people work feverishly to get a petition signed to remove the apportionment of delegates that are sent to the Democratic National Convention based on the outcome of the Precinct Conventions. Now, I can make as many arguments as anyone as to why the the Precinct Convention process needs to be significantly improved, but we have to keep in mind a few things:

1. It is very rare that the person that wins the popular vote does no win the caucus vote. This can only happen in a very close contest.
2. The turnout was unprecedented, so for most election years all of the improvements being proposed would not even be relevant.
3. Is the best place to challenge the Precinct Convention, in a room full of people that were attending because they were selected during the Precinct Convention??

So my actual opinion is although the process needs improvement, stripping the delegates from the process would destroy it altogether. You must consider the reason they were so well attended is because the candidates campaigned for people to attend and participate because they needed those delegates. Not a single communication that I received came from the state or local party. In addition, this new found interest will serve as the catalyst for future generations for the party. Now that I have witnessed the role the Conventions play in the organization of the party, a vote to abolish the Precinct Convention is a vote to once again isolate the party from a large segment of the electorate, and essentially allow the party to fade back to the nonexistent state we witnessed at the turn of the century.

Nevertheless, a lot of hard work earned this resolution for consideration on the floor. The original resolution was up for a straight up or down vote, but the Convention Chair decided to amend the resolution to table this resolution until a Task Force assigned to make recommendations can complete their work and give a report. This amendment to the resolution was argued for 20 minutes. Largely due to the fact that tabling the resolution essentially meant it would not be voted on at the convention and be dismissed. (You have to wonder why the target date for the Task Force to complete their report was NOT in time for the convention).

So finally after much discussion the amended resolution was put to a voice vote on the floor. The convention overwhelmingly supported the amendment, but the naysayers argued it was too close to call (which it wasn't) so we had to take a floor vote and caucus within our districts. So let me clarify at this point, they way it breaks down is the Clinton supporters wanted the resolution to pass, and wanted the amended resolution to fail. The Obama supporters obviously favored the opposite.

As we were taking a floor vote, I got into a discussion (OK more like an argument) with a Clinton supporter who was calling this process unfair. To which I said, you can't call it unfair just because your preference doesn't prevail. If majority of the people agreed with you they would be voting your preference, but in fact they are voting against it overwhelmingly. The vote was almost a 70-30 split.

As the floor vote was in process, the fire alarm in the building was pulled and all of the delegates were told to evacuate the building.... UNBELIEVABLE, the sore losers realizing that there resolution would not prevail pulled the fire alarm before the vote could be reported. I presume the hope was that many people would be disgusted and not return, giving them better odds. It actually backfired; because it pissed us all off so much that we all made it a point to return and cast our votes. For many people this was their last action for the day.

This entire ordeal took about 90 minutes.... As I stated earlier the amended resolution carried about 70/30. Which for all rational people was obvious from the voice vote. What makes it even more sickening is that if the Convention Chair would have would have just allowed the vote on the original amendment it would have been voted down overwhelmingly and saved us about 85 minutes!

Read more!

Can't we all just get PAID?

If you have not noticed, almost half of the topics I discuss on the blog come from Time Magazine. I found this article very interesting, I have summarized below:

I have no clue what my colleagues make. I suspect some earn more than I do and others take home less.

Lilly Ledbetter began working at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in 1979, In 1998 someone placed a memo in her mailbox that listed her base salary—about $44,000 a year—and that of three male colleagues of equal if not lesser tenure and title. They earned from $53,000 to $62,000.

Ledbetter sued her employer, and a federal jury awarded her $3.8 million in damages in 2003, later reduced to $300,000 by a judge, but Goodyear appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. The employer's case:

“While the Civil Rights Act forbade pay discrimination on the basis of race, gender or religion, the act held that employees must lodge a formal complaint within 180 days of the initial discriminatory paycheck. According to the law, Ledbetter needed to have sued within six months of her being hired—never mind that it took her, nearly 20 years to learn she earned less. "


What in the world is wrong with the Supreme Court? This may be one of the most illogical opinions since Plessy v. Ferguson.

Ledbetter's life since then has been a long campaign to change the law. The U.S. House approved a bill in 2007 that would hold employers accountable for the most recent discriminatory paycheck, not just the first one. But the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act failed to gain a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. (Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama support the bill; John McCain is against it.)

I've got another idea. What if employers made all employee salaries known? If you think about it, who is served by all the secrecy? Not you. Transparency even benefits management, workers liked knowing where they stand. It takes away the mystery so they can focus on their work.

So show me your pay stub, and I'll show you mine.

Read more!

The Case for Obama Pt. X

I decided to do a continuation of my previous discussion on Iraq. We will call this one:

"Thought from a distance, may be less tainted than getting up close and peronal"

Colleague after another set off on fact-finding missions to Vietnam, and each returned convinced that America could win the war. It is dangerous when travel is substituted for thought. Senator Jim Webb, a former Marine and Secretary of the Navy, called congressional Iraq visits a "dog and pony" show.

When you take a guided tour, your tour guide decides what you see. In Iraq today, as in Vietnam, they have an incentive to show good news; which isn't always the same as the truth. They (General Davis Patreaus and Ryan Crocker) report to the President, and unfortunately this war has been politicized along partisan lines so it's much easier for them to reinforce the Administration's view than to contradict it. By making Patreaus and Crocker the spokesmen for Iraq policy, the Bush Administration has encouraged Americans to believe they are independent analysts who just happen to agree.

The first priority of McCain and Obama's hosts are to ensure that the candidates leave Iraq alive, they would by necessity take them to places the U.S. and Iraq have made safe and avoid places they have not. Meetings would tilt heavily toward those Iraqis who want the U.S. to stay, and away from those who are trying to force America to leave.

This is not to say the security improvements in Iraq are an illusion. It's just that the realities of war are too elusive to grasp on a brief trip led by people with a vested interest in what you see. The wisest U.S. officials seek out journalists who have spent years traveling the country, and former diplomats and military officers who had the freedom to say what they really believed.

McCain thinks winning in Iraq is the single most important foreign policy challenge facing the next President. As a result, he's willing to spend billions more dollars, impose a far greater strain on the military and divert attention from other problems. Obama thinks Afghanistan and Pakistan are more central to the war on terrorism and that our resources in those countries would bring a higher rate of return.

If anyone knows that clarity often comes with distance, it's Obama, who spent 2002 and 2003 in Chicago, far from the secret briefings that persuaded many Democrats to back the war. Read more!

The Case for Obama Pt. IX

Finally, I am kicking off the part of the series that begins to evaluate the candidates, their parties, and the electorate that support each. My main goal is to point out the major policy difference that exist on the issues that matter most to the American people, and to shed some light on some common misconceptions that Republicans get credit for without actually achieving any legislation to support their position on the issue. I will start the series off with this one:

"Closing the gap between the world as it is, and the world as it should be."

This year's general-election race features vastly different approaches on so many political issues. There will be a clearer choice this year than there has been in a generation.

The contrasts between McCain, 71, a white former Navy pilot and Vietnam POW, and Obama, 46, a black Harvard Law School graduate and former community organizer, go far beyond the personal.

Most evident on the issue I will cover today: the Iraq War

McCain was a prominent and ardent supporter of the decision to invade Iraq and vows to keep U.S. troops there until the war is won. In recanting his highly publicized comment of "A hundred year war," he offered 2013 as a reasonable date for achieving that goal and ending U.S. involvement. Obama, was an early opponent of the war who has promised to remove U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.

McCain as well as most Republicans are ignoring the obvious. The goal of this war is not to win? This is not a football game. The initial mission was supposedly to rid Iraq of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), then to remove an evil dictator. Both far contrasts from the mission everyone initially supported which I can scarcely remember but I believe it was "actively seeking out and destroying terrorist regimes every where they exist in the world.

As Obama said we took our eye off the ball, and now we have to pull the bus out of the ditch before we can get on the road again. While we were searching for WMD in underground and in caves in Iraq; Iran and North Korea had WMD in broad daylight. Each more capable and likely to use them than Iraq would have ever been. The presence of terrorist groups in the Middle East alone has actually increased during the time we have spent in Iraq.

The entire discussion of whether the surge is working has became a partisan outcry. Taking the lives of young American men and women and putting them in extreme danger, poor living conditions, and away from their family for multiple tours of duty is a non-partisan decision to the people that are affected.

Of course the surge is working, it's not because the Republicans supported it, it's because it is a logical idea that was crafted by the Commanders on the ground in Iraq who Bush chose not to listen to until his approval ratings plummeted to the point it has put in jeopardy almost every elected office currently held by a Republican. I believe the fundamental principles of Counterinsurgency are extraordinary, “Be professional, be polite, be prepared to kill.” The problem with this rhetoric is when we say the surge is working, what exactly does that mean? Do we even know the purpose of the surge? How could we when we are uncertain about the purpose of the war. Is the purpose to bring stability to the very society that we de-stabilized with this war? What political gains have been achieved?

The central reality in Iraq is this: The Iraqi government is failing to serve the needs of the people or to provide security. Real military progress won't matter very much if political progress is lagging. At this point even the Iraqi government has called for a timetable for withdrawal. So now what? Are we going to refuse to allow the very government we put into power to establish itself? How dare they attempt to set forth conditions to re-establish their "own" country, they can't do that on their terms, they have to do it on our terms... Makes you say were they ever really concerned at all about the people of Iraq? Read more!

Greatest Games in Cowboys History

Saw this post on Dallas Cowboys.com. I thought this was some good stuff for the Cowboys fans.

Warner Home Video is producing the latest in the NFL Greatest Games Series. The DVD will feature the complete television broadcast, without commercials, of the top 10 games. It will include all five Super Bowl games and five games from the list of 9 below:

1975 Hail Mary Game Cowboys vs. Vikings - 12/28/75 - One of the greatest comebacks in NFL history. With seconds remaining in the 1975 NFC Divisional Playoffs, Roger Staubach threw a desperation touchdown pass to Drew Pearson to upset the heavily-favored Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium, 17-14. Dallas would go on to a berth in Super Bowl X.

1977 NFC Championship Game - Dallas vs. Minnesota 1/1/78 - The Dallas Cowboys rolled over the Vikings, 23-6, to advance to their fourth Super Bowl. The Cowboys defense held the Vikings to 66 rushing yards and 6 points. Turnovers set up each of Dallas' three touchdowns as they burst to a 16-6 halftime lead and never looked back.

1980 NFC Divisional Playoffs - Cowboys vs. Falcons 1/4/81 - Danny White led a furious comeback with 20 fourth-quarter points as the Cowboys bested the host Falcons, 30-27. Drew Pearson scored two touchdowns in the final 3:04 as the Cowboys moved on to the 1980 NFC Championship Game.

1/3/83 - Cowboys at Vikings (Dorsett 100-yard run) - On Monday Night Football, Tony Dorsett electrified a national-television audience with his record 99 -yard touchdown run. Arguably the greatest run in NFL History, Dorsett's dash overshadowed a 31-27 loss to the Vikings in the regular-season finale of the 1982 season.

1992 NFC Championship Game - Dallas vs. San Francisco 1/17/93 - Dallas advanced to its first Super Bowl in 14 years as they defeated the 49ers, 30-20 in an epic clash of two NFL powerhouses. Dallas forced four turnovers and, led by two Emmitt Smith touchdowns, overwhelmed the 49ers.

1993 NFC Championship Game - Dallas vs. San Francisco 1/23/94 - In a much-anticipated re-match of the 1992 NFC Title Game, the Cowboys again collided with San Francisco. In a victory personally guaranteed by head coach Jimmy Johnson, Dallas rolled to a 28-7 halftime lead and held off a furious 49er rally to win, 38-21 securing their second straight Super Bowl berth.

1995 NFC Championship Game - Dallas vs. Green Bay 1/16/96 - Dallas earned a trip to their third Super Bowl in four years by beating Brett Favre and the Packers, 38-27. Trailing by three in the fourth quarter, Dallas erupted for two Emmitt Smith touchdown runs to finish off the Pack.

10/27/02 - Cowboys vs. Seahawks - Emmitt breaks rushing record. Dallas legend Emmitt Smith surpassed Walter Payton to become the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Smith broke the record on an 11-yard run in the fourth quarter to secure his rightful place as one of the game's greatest running backs.

2006 Thanksgiving Day - Cowboys vs. Buccaneers 11/23/06 - In just his sixth NFL start, Tony Romo erupted for five touchdown passes as Dallas rolled over the Bucs, 38-10, in front of a national-television audience. Romo completed 22 of 29 passes for 308 yards in a game that marked his ascent from obscure back-up to sure-handed leader of America's team.

You can vote for your favorite until July 11. The "Dallas Cowboys 10 Greatest Games" DVD will be available in retail stores on October 28, 2008.

I voted for 1992 NFC Championship Game - Dallas vs. San Francisco 1/17/93. Read more!

Save Your Breath

This weekend I was hipped to this video:



You may need to listen to it twice to actually figure out what is happening. I have to admit over all of the talk about it 3 thoughts come to mind:

1) This woman is crazy, I should have known that before she even started singing based on the hairstyle

2) It is actually more funny than offensive, considering thought #1

3) This is quite an impressive feat, to arrange the song, and then remain focused enough to keep the tune of one song while inserting the lyrics word for word from another song.

It's amazing, I mean I would have been able to grasp it better had she intermingled the words of the 2 songs. Just try it! Try to play the music from one song, and sing another song while that music is playing, then take it a step further try singing the other song word for word to the tune of the song that is playing.

It is almost impossible, further proof that this woman is c-r-a-z-y.....

That being said what she did was in her own words "an artistic statement." It should be nothing more than that, I liken this to someone singing the National anthem in a drunken rage at a Baseball game, forgetting the words altogether, or not actually knowing all the actual words to the song. Although this seems more intentional and calculated belive me it is all the same, "an artisitic staement."

To read all of the back and forth on this topic equating it to race and politics are unbelievable. I will give the mainstream media credit for NOT running with this story, appreciating its insignificance. One of the City Council members even stated that this was inappropriate, she must of thought she was at an NAACP Convention or something! Wow! Buddy we sing the National Anthem at ALL Black events. There is not a Black person on Earth that had ever heard Lift Every Voice and Sing sang to the tune of the Star Spangled banner. Let's not forget America's favorite version of the Star Spangled Banner was sung by a Black person.

Plus, being that I have never heard of Ms. Rene Marie I have to wonder has she ever been invited to sing at a NAACP meeting.

Ms. Marie is not the voice of Black people. She is a woman capturing her opportunity for some free publicity. As you see she has a recorded version of this song on her website. Being that she was virtually an unknown to most of us, this whole charade has given her more than the 15 minutes she could have hoped for.

So don't find yourself in any discussion attempting to explain any of this, just save your breath....... Read more!

The Case for Obama Pt. VIII

The Party does not stop. My 8th installment, and I have not even begin to highlight the policy differences between the parties that significantly favor the Democrats and are often misrepresented by republican party officials, and misunderstood by republican voters. I promise my next blog in the series will begin to crack that up. Today I want to drop a little VP talk, we will call this one:

"Obama/Webb 2008"

I mentioned in an earlier blog that Obama would have a tough sell not selecting Clinton as his VP. Because of that comment I was asked if I felt he should pick Clinton? My response, "No way, no how, no chance, it may help in winning the Office, but it would completely undermine his ability to run the Office." Aside from the disdain shelled out towards Obama from "Billary" that has been the centerpiece of the RNC campaign Democrats vs. Obama. Billary has even discussed the possibility of an assassination on at least 3 different occasions. Really??? Can you pick someone that regularly references your death, in hopes that it happens within the not so distant future.

So then the question is who would I prefer Obama select as his VP? Without going through reasons why I think one candidate is good, and another is bad, and another is better, and another would be OK. I am going to just flat out tell you why I support Senator Jim Webb form Virginia.

-He is a former republican who worked under the Reagan administration as Secretary of the Navy, which makes him a moderate Democrat who will balance the ticket with Obama
-He serves on the the committees for Foreign Relations, Veterans' Affairs, and Armed Services.
-He is a Southerner with strong Appalachian, Scots-Irish roots (the very same group Obama has trouble reaching)
-He is a decorated war veteran, having served in Vietnam and being awarded the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart
-He is not just the "working class" hero he is also an intellect who has penned several books...the latest "A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America" is a best seller. He also wrote the story and was the executive producer for the 2000 movie Rules of Engagement, which starred Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson.
-He is a fighter (he co-sponsored a bipartisan GI bill & pushed it through the senate & put McCain in the hot seat for voting against it)
-He won VA from a Republican incumbent and although it was a narrow victory, by teaming up with fellow Democrat Virginia Governor Tim Kaine may bring the 13 electoral votes with him.
-He is and was against the war, his sons served in Iraq,the following exchange with President Bush is reason enough by itself to support this guy:

On November 28, 2006, at a White House reception for those newly elected to Congress, Webb declined to stand in the line to have his picture taken with the President, whom Webb often criticized during the campaign. The president approached Webb later and asked him, "How's your boy?", referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq. According to Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia, aides warned the President to be "extra sensitive about talking to Webb about his son, since Webb's son had had a recent brush with death in Iraq." Webb replied "I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President." Bush responded, "That's not what I asked you. How's your boy?" Webb responded, "That's between me and my boy, Mr. President." The Hill cited an anonymous source who claimed that Webb was so angered by the exchange that he confessed he was tempted to "slug" the president, but of course did not. Webb later remarked in an interview, "I'm not particularly interested in having a picture of me and George W. Bush on my wall."

Webb and Obama naturally complement one another Obama himself referred to Jim Webb saying, "Let me tell you something, if you're in a fight -- and we're gonna be in a fight -- you want Jim Webb to have your back."

As with any politician he has his "cons," being labeled somewhat as a misogynist for his position against Women in the Military and being on his 3rd wife doesn't help much. As well as some of Webb's novels reported to have sexual content, including graphic references to female anatomy and purported pedophilia, homosexuality and incest, but most of this was addressed during his race against George Allen so he would know the attacks would be coming and how to address it. He would clobber any candidate the republicans send out as a VP. The main thing I like is that Webb speaks his mind and would not be afraid to tell you what he thinks even if its something you don't want to hear.

You need people like that when you are President. All this being said Jim Webb announced today that he intends to serve his term in the Senate, stating, "under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President." I can only hope he will re-consider, as his response comes in regards to the Obama campaign informing him about the specifics of their apparently fairly rigorous vetting process. Read more!

The Case for Obama Pt. VII

Contrary to the "Kill the Witch" campaign launched by the Republicans. One of the strongest cases for Obama is Michelle Obama. We will call this one:

"What Makes a Strong Woman"

I have officially become an Obama groupee when I find myself setting the DVR to record "The View" because Michelle Obama is going to be a guest on the show. My wife even hates The View so there is no reason it should ever be on in my house.

So the next day I sat down late in the night and watched the episode. Beyond how much the hosts of the show annoyed me, there was something that really began to resonate with me. Michelle Obama is going to be a dynamite First Lady and is more than apparent that having her by his side is what makes Barack such a great candidate.

Hillary has given this impression that to be a strong woman you have to be like a man, act like a real B, and walk around in pant suits. Michelle's strong personality put substance behind the facade. In Michelle you could see the characteristics of what make a strong woman. She was intelligent, confident, well-spoken, thoughtful, pragmatic,compassionate, the list goes on and on.

If people want to vote for a woman that acts like a man they may as well vote for a man. Michelle showed us to get beyond how you look and act, by exemplifying the true characteristics of a strong woman.

Watching Michelle, an educated woman, professional, mother I am at a loss at how someone could say the Obama's don't represent the values of the average American family. You have a choice between the perfect nuclear family a life long public servant, a mother that is a professional that gave up her career to raise her beautiful children and allow her husband to pursue his ambition. The other choice is a 72 year old man on his 2nd trophy wife.

So is the issue really values? Be honest with yourself....

Michelle has solidified herself as the feminist champion as she denounced the wearing of panty hose. Women across America have been liberated! So I can understand if the folks that work for Leggs, Hanes, and Bali don't vote for the Obamas.

Read more!

They Need to Quit

As I read the Dallas Morning News I see this image with the following story. I laugh in my mind about all of the Black people that want to call themselves Republicans, and I then look up the website for this company Republican Market.com and saw these:





At this point I become a bit enraged. Hopefully by now you know me well enough to know that my rage is not directed at a bunch of ignorant rednecks. My rage is with the Dallas Morning News. I am disappointed that a newspaper that calls themselves an endorser of Senator Obama desires to fan the flame of Black-White hatred. I have absolutely no problem with them covering the "black house" button, but is there a reason they did not cover the button that is misogynistic, or the one that would offend Hispanics, or the one that makes fun of fat people, or the one that basically says anyone that does not vote Republican is not a true American?????

Instead of trying to continue this unrelenting banter about racism towards Blacks, lets take a look at all of the issues that illustrate the type of attitudes in the Republican party that show lack of respect for Women, Blacks, Hispanics, and basically anyone that has a differing opinion.

As we have heard over an over again about the 18 million people that voted for Senator Clinton I would think they would take issue with the dozens of buttons slamming her, or maybe this large group of women voters would have issue seeing a woman with a strong personality being labeled as a "B". Or maybe the 51% of Americans that did not vote Republican may take issue with being told they are not REAL Americans.

I am just disappointed with the Dallas Morning News, Obama's message has been to actually dig into the root of the issue, not just to try to find the best sound bite to incite some emotion. Read more!

Daily Observations, Pt III

Third edition of this series. This one is simply called:

"Where did they come from?"

So I went to the local theatre in my neighborhood to see "The Happening" the latest movie by M Night Shyamalan. I try to refrain from doing movie reviews on the blog so I will simply say I thought it was pretty good. I like it, if you like his other movies you would like this one, if not you will probably not like it. It is an anti-Hollywood movie, not conforming to any of the typical cliches and plot lines of your typical movies.

When we entered the theatre there were almost no seats left. So we went back out to get tickets to another show. My wife was set on going to see Sex and the City, and as we walked to the customer service desk to exchange the tickets I must have had quite the look of despair; because the manager says to us, "You may just as well wait for the later show because Sex and the City is so long that it will end about the same time anyway." This guy is my HERO, this guy gets my nomination for the "Band of Brothers" award for 2008.

So we get our tickets to the later show and this is where I get my 2 observations for this blog:

The 1st, since we have an hour wait before the next movie begins we hop across the street to a restaurant and hit the bar, so we can grab a drink and I can catch the highlights from the US OPEN! As we are sitting at the bar a girl walks in and asks me, "Is she (the bartender) taking a long time to get orders?" I tell her not too long, and why do you ask. She says, "Well I was watching a movie and I went out to get popcorn and I thought why not just go grab a couple of shots before I go back in." As you can imagine that was a little tough to absorb so I had her repeat it to me again. She did, and then she placed the order. The bartender asked her if she wanted the same thing she got earlier? She nodded, got the drinks, paid for them,,downed them back to back almost all in one motion and she was out!!! Everybody at the bar was in a buzz, laughing and discussing what we all just saw. The bartender hears all of the discussion and says, "Yep, she came in right before the movie and ordered the same thing." Something tells me she was not done drinking that night. If alcoholics go to AA this girl needs to go to AAAAAA.

The 2nd, when we got to the theatre still laughing at the story above (but only slightly as technically we had just done the same thing, only more tastefully). There was a theatre filled with Black people. Keep in mind the demographics of Blacks in my neighborhood is so small that on a bar chart you would not be able to even read what percent we make up because it is so small. So seeing Black folks at the movies is pretty rare. Seeing a lot of Black people at the movies is very rare, and seeing them in a M Night Shyamalan movie is even more confusing. Down right shocking! I couldn't figure out if there was some attraction or rapport that he (Shyamalan) has built up among Blacks with his movies? I mean I can't say I have ever discussed one of his movies with another Black person.

I asked a friend about it, and he says he would not have called that one? Maybe it was just because there was just nothing else out that WE wanted to see at the theatre??? Read more!

Daily Observations, Pt II

This is the second edition of this series we will call this one:

"Just Trying to Eat"

I stopped by a local fast food chain early Saturday morning to pick up some breakfast after coming from the barber shop. When I pulled up the drive-thru the line was wrapped around the building so I parked and went in.

As I am walking up to the door past all of the big, nice, new Pickups and SUV's (one of which was my own so I am jabbing myself too) you could not help but notice a hoop-d parked right at the entrance. This car was in dire need of paint, it had no front bumper, major damage on the left front passenger side, and the back bumper was hanging. Inside the car was a middle-aged White woman that appeared to be styling her hair as if she was coming in for an interview.

So I went in and placed my order, and shortly after she entered, she had a noticeable limp, and the little bit of styling she was tyring to do in the car appeared not to have helped much at all. She walked up to the counter and asked to speak to the manager. I was assuming she was inquiring about a job, but she started in with this crazy story about what had happened to her the night before, and how she did not get all of the food that she had ordered, and she had called numerous times to talk to someone about it. It was more than obvious a fabrication, and the manager asked if she had her receipt. Of course she was unable to find it.

At this point between the fact that they were very busy, and he probably really didn't care he went ahead and gave her what she asked for without argument.

The woman looked relieved.... The 2 things I found interesting in this observation:

1) The fact that I am in a neighborhood where the average household income is above average, a parking lot full of expensive cars, and this woman would rather come in here and tell this crazy story rather than ask for money so that she can get some food to eat. This is our society, your odds are better making up a lie to the restaurant manager than asking your fellow neighbors for money to buy some food.

2) The fact that her order was filled was a testament to the difference in service that you get in more affluent areas. Just in an effort not to cause a scene he gave her what she wanted and sent her on her way. In the neighborhood I grew up in, or the one I moved from a couple of years ago, there is no chance they would have gave her that food. They would have made a point to cause a scene and publicly embarrass this woman over $3 worth of food........ Read more!

What is a MAN 2 do?

One of my good running buddies is having some deep marital problems. To the point that they have now separated and he has moved out and got his own place.

It was to the point where even I (Mr. pro-marriage) had to say you 2 are so fixated on how great life would be apart it is virtually inevitable at this point that you separate for a while. Of course the look my boy had in his eyes could tell you, if she wanted to keep him at all she best not to let him move out.

So now he is OUT. I stopped by his house last week, he already has it set up, 2 bedroom townhome on the side of town where all of the beautiful people live, 5 minutes form work. He has both bedrooms furnished, got his wi-fi and cable hooked up, got a plasma screen hanging on the wall. I mean the house is fully furnished and he even has it setup nice for the weekends when he has his 2 girls. This by no means appeared to be a temporary arrangement.

So when I asked how things were going between him and the wife (since there was obviously no need to ask how he was doing), he said everything was great!! He said they talk to work out the bills, he gets to pick up the girls and keeps them regularly everything was all good, but not in a getting back together way.

So later that week after sitting through his wife and her friends (of which my wife is one) having yet another "he aint sh*t rap session." My wife is like, what you described doesn't fit my expectation. Well, she was right! The bottom fell out real fast on the Bachelor. The next time I talked to him he tells me that his wife will not let him see the girls and is not responding to his calls....

I say to him that she must have asked him for some money and he refused to pay. Man, the dude blew up on me! He was like, Oh she told you that! Well did she tell you she forged one of my checks that came to the house too.....

OK, always cool I look at him and say you know damn well I have not talked to your wife. Ya'll are predictable dude, ya'll don't have a patent on dysfunction. It always comes down to the dollar. I tell him wives sign checks for husbands all the time, it's no big deal when you are together.

Then I went Dr. Laura, all that aside here is what you need to do. First get a PO BOX and get your business straight. Next, you guys need to settle on what you are going to pay her to support the children and the household. None of that I'll buy them what they need when I come get them. You need to set an agreed upon amount and you need to get that money together immediately and regularly. You need to record every penny you give her and ever dollar you spend on the children and to support the household, and I mean tangible records not quoting amounts from the top of your head.

Lastly, if you are not going to make any attempt whatsoever to mend your relationship then you need to file for divorce. Not just be out here running around having a good old time. As of now you still have a wife and 2 kids, and 2 households to support since you moved out..

He argued a bit, but I was not up for much debate, as I am not trying to be a marriage counselor. I don't need to be convinced. Then of course we went back to my favorite subject, S-P-O-R-T-S!I left feeling blessed that I was on the outside looking in at this situation.

I haven't heard from him since? Read more!

We have been Enlightened!

As a Delegate representing my Senate District and Precinct in Tarrant County I traveled to Austin to vote my support for Barack Obama for President for the 4th of what will ultimately be 5 times (Primary election, Precinct Convention, District Convention, State Convention, and of course the General Election in November).

When asked what made this one of my most memorable experiences I can name more than a few. To see thousands of people excited about our candidates not only for President, but for Congress and other state and local elections as well. To meet and hear speeches from well known Democrats mayors, state representatives and senators, and even nationally recognized figures like Chelsea Clinton and Tim Kaine Governor of Virginia who may very well be our next Vice President. To see friends and family most of which I had no idea would be attending. To see almost 30-40% of the attendees were Black people excited about Obama and getting involved in the political process.

Let it be said Black people in Texas and across this country have been ENLIGHTENED. Even deeper than what Obama has accomplished. You could feel the impact of Blacks in every aspect of the convention. When I watched Texas become a laughing stock because of the kaos and dysfunction of the Precinct Conventions I thought this process needed to be abolished immediately, but after going all the way to the State Convention I now understand this is the way we get people involved in the process.

The convention is where candidates are selected, it is where the party rules are written. If you ever wondered how it is that the Democratic Platform has seemed to go astray from the fundamental beliefs of Black people. It is easy to understand, we have not been participants in the development of the platform. Black people united at the Convention and we now have a number of Black people on every Committee that sets policies and makes decisions on behalf of the Democratic Party in Texas. We voted out people that have been doing the jobs forever that have ignored our issues, and have watched the party reach an almost dismal state to the point we barely had a gubernatorial candidate in 2006.

It really makes you sick to the stomach to think that we have not had a voice in this process for many years now. Many say this is all about Obama and we'll be lucky to see 1/2 as many people as we did this year at future conventions. That is undeniably true, but that is still twice as many than we have ever had in past years! This year we set forth a new generation of leaders for the Democratic Party in Texas!!! Read more!

Monica Lewinsky's Ex-Boyfriend's Wife for President

After attending the Texas Democratic Party Convention there was definitely a lot of discussion around Hillary Clinton. I actually witnessed firsthand what the media has presented as a deep division in the Democratic Party. After a long weekend, in which Chelsea Clinton gave a speech to all of the attendees on the importance of unity, a live web stream of the Clinton "so-called concession speech," and just a lot of time spent talking amongst each other. You could definitely see things falling back into place as we were reminded that fundamentally we all agree on how our candidate should address the issues of greatest concern.

What was very noticeable is some of the misconceptions of Hillary Clinton's base. You always knew with Blacks making up only 12% of the population that Obama had to carry a lot of White voters to win the nomination. The interesting fact was how even the spread of support for each candidate is among women. The media would have you believe Hillary controlled the woman vote like Obama carried the Black vote, but on the floor of the convention you could see this was not actually the case.

Why didn't more women vote for her? Clinton overwhelmingly won with older women, Obama resonated strongly with younger women. What happened to the professional, well-educated women who came of age during the modern women's movement? Why were they not moved overwhelmingly by the opportunity to put one of their own in the White House? It maybe unreasonable to expect for her to sweep 90% of this demographic, but 60% would have been enough to claim the nomination.

Unfortunately, Obama was the "girl" in this race with messages of bringing people together and offering hope and reconciliation. Clinton came out as the tough guy! Clinton failed to demonstrate many of the resounding qualities that resonate with many women voters. Clinton has come to believe she and only she can adequately represent them. Clinton and her supporters have charged that sexism is responsible for her loss of the nomination, but it seems more likely that women themselves cost her the nod......... Read more!

Soaking it all in!

I have not done a blog on my Cowboys since they loss to the Giants in the Playoffs. That game really hurt, I knew the odds were slim to beat a team 3 times in one season, but I was hurt that hosting our first playoff game in years we were still unable to get out of our drought of winning in the playoffs. To make matters worse the Giants won the Super Bowl! Ugh!

So as the summer settles in, the Stars and Mavs are at home watching the finals in their respective leagues, and the Rangers are peddling false hope again. So my attention has once again focused in on the Cowboys. OK, maybe I have been following all along!

So I start getting excitement when I realize this team was arguably the best in the NFC for most of the season last year. A record of 13-3 brought a lot of joy, and gives me a lot of excitement about the year to come.

To begin, I am overjoyed we were able to retain our Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett. This is a guy that was basically offered 2 head coaching jobs on the spot, so his football IQ is certainly impressive. I am assuming he is the Coach in waiting here in Dallas, I hope by that time we still want him to be the head coach!

After "The Coach" made a run on our coaching staff, front office, and some of his old players. We were able to fill in with a number of top notch coaches. Many who have been head coaches and coordinators at previous stops.

Then came the draft. I must say this was the first time in years where I left the first day of the draft excited. We added Felix Jones at RB to replace Julius (coach made me run like a robot) Jones, Mike Jenkins, and Martellus Bennet. Then on the 2nd day we picked up Tashard Choice form GT who at one point was rated one of the Top 5 backs. As an Aggie fan I have a question mark in my mind about Bennett, as he seemed to disappear in games last season. I'll credit that to Coach Fran's poor use of his talent and just hope to see him reach the potential of all of the hype he has received.

I also was terribly disappointed in our lack of drafting a WR. I see that as a huge concern, considering the 3 top receivers have all missed a fair amount of playing time over the past few seasons. Heck we are still not certain Terry Glenn is even coming back. Patrick Crayton who predicted we would make the Super Bowl dropped the pass that may have got us there. The back-ups are all unproven to say it nicely. I actually have no issue with not drafting a WR in the first few rounds as they made a run on receivers in Round 2 of the draft and to select one would have been a reach, but somewhere in the 2nd day I thought they would take a shot on someone. You still had Mario Manningham from Michigan (who went to the Giants of all teams) Marcus Henry from Kansas, and Adarius Bowman from OSU who were all big time college players, playing for big time schools, in big time games. They say few receivers make an impact in their first season, which is precisely why we needed to draft one so we didn't have to spend next season still trying to find and groom a young receiver.

What I will say is I am feeling overwhelmingly confident about our running game. Marion the Barbarian is a Pro Bowler and relentless runner. I am a little nervous about him moving up as the feature back, but adding Felix Jones who is a Home Run Hitter and brings that "wow" factor, and Tashard Choice who will make an excellent back-up as he as projected as an every down back. Playing at GT he is already familiar with Pro Sets and blocking schemes and responsibilities as he played under former Cowboys coach Chan Gailey.

The Secondary is going to be smothering. You already have 4 guys that have the ability to play at a Pro Bowl level. There are times when they were inconsistent though, as well as battling injuries, so we added 2 rookies Mike Jenkins who was rated the one of the Top 3 DB's in the draft, and Orlando Scandrick who may turn out to be the best flat out athlete on the team. Lastly, they brought in Adam Jones (he is a Cowboy now so I refuse to refer to him as Pac-Man). I recall as he spent the last 2 years embarrassing himself and the league being thankful he was not on my team. Ouch, now I have to deal with him. On the field this kid is a playmaker, I recall watching a few Titans game where he basically single-handedly lead them to victory. As a DB!! There aren't many players on defense that can take over a game like he did. So you add him to the secondary and you have All-Americans as starters and back-ups at every position.

My excitement was somewhat tempered as I realized that the Giants, Redskins, and Eagles all made significant gains in the off-season. Plus, we play the rough schedule of a Top Tier team this year. So no one is laying out the Red carpet for us, we are going to have to play every bit as well as we did last year, and get a boost from our new additions.

Lastly, we re-signed pretty much all of our desired free agents, and signed several of the guys on the last year of their contract to long-term deals. Jerry Jones is handing out so much money they need to change his name to Texas Lottery. Something will have to give, he is looking for this to pay out big over the next 2 seasons before the bottom falls out. Read more!

The Case for Obama Pt. VI

Shifting directions to get my focus on McCain. I really had intended to do so several weeks ago after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, but anyhow... Let's call this one!

Time for Some Action?

There is an interesting problem for the democrats as they campaign against McCain. I am uncertain how much success they will continue to achieve from the McCain is Bush position that is being pushed now. Although his approval rating is low, the fundamentals of what he represents are still supported by most conservatives, Bush just failed to actually preserve, implement, or accomplish any of them. So this is actually helping McCain do what he has struggling to do himself is appeal to the conservative base.

McCain is facing the same problem that haunted John Kerry in 2004, by attempting to pander to the party base it goes against his track record and against his true beliefs. So it comes across as flip-flopping because he is trying to sell something that he doesn't even believe. The problem this presents for the Democrats is they really don't want to embrace the side of McCain that has consistently went against conservatism; because that may appeal to all of those independents that are more moderate.

So is there a strategy to present the worst of McCain from both angles, to expose him as pandering to the conservatives, but with a long track record that shows he really isn't. Yet at the same time put a question in the minds of the independents that the free-thinking John McCain that they like will have a presidency that is directed by conservatives.

I think they can, but they need to do a much better job at it. I think the primary focus should be highlighting our own candidate who is changing the entire political climate, really publicize the fundamental policy differences on key issues (a few of which I will point out in my next blog on this topic) , and lastly remind voters of the reasons when given the choice they felt Bush was a better candidate than McCain. So just imagine that McCain could actually be worse...................... Read more!

The Case for Obama, Part V

This is the last of these installments that will reference Clinton, unless she becomes the VP, which I am not in favor, but not selecting her will probably be one of the toughest sells Obama has ever made. We will call this one.

What would you say then?

As an Obama Supporter I am often asked would you be pushing for Obama to drop out of the race if the shoe was on the other foot? I laugh because I have never said that, I am being asked this purely because they see me wearing an Obama button or the one on my bag.

My response, I don't have to ponder that question because he is W-I-N-N-I-N-G!!

Since I realize that we are overall part of the same team, I add I think Hillary is entitled to continue her pursuit of the nomination. She has been a more than formidable opponent. I am still shocked that she is losing, as she was the front runner not just for the Democratic nomination but as President just a few months ago. Everybody else seems to get the blame, but to lose that much support you had to play a big part in your own demise. I believe the Democratic Primary is the Heavyweight battle, either of these candidates should be able to beat McCain. I believe that is why she is fighting so hard, if she could somehow get this nomination in hand she would almost assuredly be President.

The interesting answer to your question is.... that Clinoton is the only candidate that would be able to do what she has done. For most candidates once they got behind and started seeing significant decline in campaign donations they would have been forced to drop out of the race. Except for maybe Ross Perot there is no one else arrogant enough or that has enough discretionary cash to drop $11M into their campaign that is already $23M in debt, while their opponent has raised almost twice as much cash.

In other words, no other candidate would need to be asked to drop out!!!

I am getting reports that Obama and Clinton will speak tonight. Setting the path forward for the campaigns, so I may do one more installment that references Clinton. Barack Obama the ClintonSlayer....... Read more!