I didn’t vote yesterday. I have no idea who any of the candidates are, plus I didn’t know it was an election day.
I dropped my party membership during the budget fiasco a few weeks ago. Somehow I had ended up on e-mail lists for BOTH parties, equally stupid hate-mongering impeach-Obama-impeach-Ted Cruz-type stuff. It has taken a while to get unsubscribed.
Last night I realized that it had been at least a week since I’d had to look at Ted Cruz’s long sad face. I also have not had to see Miley Cyrus’s tongue in about the same time period. Both absences make me supremely grateful. (Would Ted Cruz’s filibuster have been more effective if he had twerked?) Now I have to look at Humpty Dumpty, the mayor of Toronto, every five minutes, but at least he doesn’t represent my government. Although it sometimes feels like Washington is full of crackheads.
Recently I saw where Arnold Schwartzenegger backers are considering a push to amend the Constitution so that he can run for president. I wonder how that will sit with the birthers. It’s interesting that I never saw anyone fuss about McCain being born in Panama.
What is it with Americans wanting to elect actors, anyway? And why do politicians seek celebrity endorsements? I wonder what the impact would be if Miley Cyrus endorsed Ted Cruz. If I were a politician looking for a celebrity endorsement, I’d choose someone like Mr. Rogers. Now there’s someone with credibility and integrity. Too bad he’s gone.
At my workplace, there is often a TV on all day, usually set to CNN. It’s amazing how many words newscasters spew out in the course of a day, regardless of whether they have anything to say. The most trivial and the most profound news get about the same amount of airtime. I wonder if Wolf Blitzer gets disgusted when he has to cover celebrity news.
Fortunately, the sound is kept off or low. And I have noise-canceling headphones.
I could never be a politician. I discovered long ago that if I talk too much, eventually I put my foot in my mouth. Besides, it takes me forever to form an opinion because I usually see both sides of everything. I have strong views on a few issues, but scratch my head over many more.
Were I to run, my wife would be my celebrity endorsement. She’s a well-known singer, has high-level politicians in her phone directory, and has performed at major political events… in Colombia. For that matter, I myself am better connected in Colombia than I am here. The former vice-president, Francisco Santos, was a classmate of mine at the University of Kansas. The current president, his cousin Juan Manuel Santos, was also at KU but I never met him. Another classmate and one-time roommate of mine ran for mayor of Bogotá and president of Colombia, but he’s an ass and it would be counterproductive to have his backing.
This is one of the rare times you’ll see me blog about politics. Proclaiming my political or social or religious convictions attracts trolls, highlights differences with my friends, and usually does little to change anyone’s mind.
Fine Roadkill Cuisine 
A guy much wisern’n myself once said that if voting could make a difference it would be outlawed. Myself, I figure that politics, like “the news”, is just a not always carefully orchestrated distraction. Though we might not always get the bread, the circus is very reliable.
this reminded of a person joking around during the rash of bacteria related deaths we had during the summer. “You know why there’s no brain eating amoebas in D.C.? They all starved to death!!”
Oh no, it’s worse that we thought: clicking on this post in the Reader now brings up the middle atrocity, but only the very top of it, and no scroll-down bar. Something is very wrong.
Of the two politicians I every stumped for, Gene McCarthy quit before the convention, I think, and a local woman in PA got one vote in my precinct, I know, because it was mine.
I’d say that the cherished feeling of making a difference personally, which inspired the institution of elections, exists nowadays mainly in truly small, town-hall communities. Or perhaps trial juries.
We just finished local elections here in my town. .My analysis is that since my family and the rest of the Yemenite bloc voted for ‘one of ours’, that cost the incumbent his predicted narrow margin, and he was ousted by a third candidate.
gotta go, but yes, CNN is the classic ‘babbling fireplace’. they ought to just change the name, and sell it in Home Decor
What does Yemenite mean in your context? It turned up in a Pogo cartoon once some 50-60 years ago (a babbling rat says “Did you ever promise a young Yemenite named Bubbles anything?”) and doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Yemen.
Great, I finally found your comment (to which i hadn’t responded) in the one out of four places they hide that has a ‘Reply ‘ link. How I loathe this crap-shoot site, let me count the ways. Oy, can’t count that high. (oh, and it’s now 4 clicks just to look at a post, anywhere, and get back to where you once belonged, Jo-Jo.)
In brief, The Yemenite bloc, is a family plus marriage group here in my home town, Some of the original refugees who walked through the desert penniless after the yemen arabs stole everything they owned back in the 50s are still with us, my mother-in-law being one. We’re held together by shared shabbat-breakfast choices and a distinct pronunciation of a few letters of the alphabet which have disappeared elsewhere. Or course I jest some. We can’t elect a mayor on our own, but we sure can put the word-of-mouth fear of G-d in the ears of any incumbent who crosses us.
Only down-side, they know hardly any Yiddish.
Fascinating story! Between your family and the Amish, you’ve got a good solid background of experience with exclusive groups.
Wow, you do have a lot of political connections. But what you said about the politicians in Washington is so very true.
I don’t know why, the Toronto Mayor’s crack addiction has made such a hoopla all over the world. Here too, that is all that is being said on the news. And it is annoying. No wonder you didn’t know about the elections.
Wow, so Alicia is a celebrity of her own.
Well, hey, cool. How does a place that has people working with words justify have a stream of words coming at them? So weird.
Sometimes the news has to do with our main clients.
Yeah, I don’t think that 24 hour news was a good idea. At least when it started, it employed real journalists who were relatively impartial and could actually speak proper English. Now, it seems they hire news readers who have the right look.
Weirdly, as soon as the shut down ended, I got three emails from my Repub senator, all in response to an email I sent; and they all said the same thing. So, technology failures are rife out there and none of them should be critical if one site doesn’t’ quite work. Just an observation in light of the health care website fiasco.
As I pointed out in one of the angry letters I sent during that time, I have been a beneficiary (as have many Congresspeople) of early features of the Affordable Health Care Act. My oldest daughter dropped off my insurance at age 22 and I had to get her an individual policy, but a few months later I was able to bring her back onto the family plan and she can stay on it to age 26. My son will have better insurance options under the new law (he has hemophilia so coverage is extremely important).
“I wonder if Wolf Blitzer gets disgusted when he has to cover celebrity news.” The sad part is that none of them are capable any more of disgust or shame.
Seems like every network hires a few sensationalists to sling out poorly reasoned critical opinions. Blitzer is a pretty reasonable guy himself but some of the ladies they have on there are as annoying as the dudes on TMZ.
The birthers will love that. hahahaha
Politics is entertaining. When I start taking it seriously I stop paying attention for a while.
Sorry about Humpty Dumpty. Heh.
It was entertaining to watch his rant yesterday. He looks like an old-time movie star, like Curley Howard or Fatty Arbuckle or Curly Joe.
Politics have become a circus: the wine who scream harder wins.
Better not to talk about it.