I love Barack Obama

Aloha from Sidney,

So I just saw on the news that some fucking retarded skinheads were hatching some plan to kill a bunch of school kids then assassinate Obama. I can't imagine how they could have failed - I mean, they sound like some brainy individuals.

What the hell were they thinking?? "If we shoot us a bunch of black kids, Obama will come to the school to see what's goin' on, then we can shoot him!" His friend probably said, "That's a great idea, Cletus!"

People never fail to disappoint me. Now, I'm going to have to listen to a bunch of my redneck co-workers tell me that this is why we shouldn't elect a black man. When I counter with "This is EXACTLY why we should elect a black man!", they'll look at me as if I lost my damn mind.

I want Barack to win as much because he's black as because he's intelligent, articulate, and gives a damn about somebody other than well-fed, rich, white people (sorry, Fred). "Doesn't that make you a racist, Anthony?" you're surely asking yourself... The short answer is "no", it would make me biased, but that's beside the point.

The point is this: When we finally elect a minority of any sort to the presidency, it will show the rest of the world that we're not just a bunch of closed-minded, redneck cowboys stuck in the 1950's. Perhaps we, as a country, have finally matured to the point that we can look past somebody's race or gender and elect someone based on his/her merits instead.

Maybe it's idealistic, but what the hell else have we got going for us? We're trillions of dollars in debt and looking at a recession (possibly a depression) in the near future. We've pissed off pretty much every other country on the planet and even re-elected one of the least intelligent presidents in history. Maybe it's time we take a good hard look at ourselves and consider that electing the same politicians who brought us here in the first place isn't the wisest course of action for once.

Alas, always the optimist am I.

I hear this all the time: "It's just a choice of the lesser of two evils." That's just stupid. The only reason anyone says that is because they hear other people saying it and they think it's clever. This election is much more than just the same old tired exercise. It's an historic opportunity.

Another thing I hear is "Aren't you afraid if Obama gets elected, that he'll ..." fill in your own ending. Some people think he'll take their guns, others that he'll legalize gay marriage across the country, or that he'll offer abortions to school children. I've honestly heard it all.

I've predicted it and I'll repeat it here: Barack Obama will go down as one of, if not THE, greatest president in history. I think he will be the catalyst behind pretty much every good thing that's about to happen in the next 8 years. People will stop comparing presidents to Kennedy and Lincoln and start comparing them to Obama. Sound outlandish? Maybe... who knows. All I know is this: One day I will post a blog that says something like "I told you so." and I'll reference this (and other) posts I've made in the recent past.

I won't even rub anyone's nose in it because I'll just be glad that I was there to witness it. Besides, I'm used to always being right, so this will just be one more thing to add to the pile. ;-)

I have to say that I'm more excited about this election than any other I've ever experienced. By the same token, however, I'm filled with dread that we might miss this most golden opportunity. This is how I felt when Colin Powell considered making a bid back in '92 or '96 (I can't remember which). In my opinion, he owed it to the country - not just for black people, but for all Americans. He would have been the Jackie Robinson of politics: Black, but not too dark-skinned; Eloquent, but not elitist; Smart, but not eggheaded. AND he was a goddam republican! Even jerk-offs would have voted for him!

But, no, he couldn't be bothered. "I don't want to put my family through that", he claimed. But, that's exactly what being a patriot is all about - sacrificing for the good of the country. A true patriot isn't somebody who loves his country, it's somebody who's not just willing but eager to die, or send his sons and daughters to die, for love of country.

(Also, and I hate to point this out, but a true patriot is HAPPY to pay his taxes! That's true sacrifice...)

I didn't mean to go off on a rant here, but that news story just pissed me off. What is fucking wrong with people that they want to shoot a man because of the pigment in his skin??? How can you hate somebody that you've never met, that you'll likely never meet, so much so that you not only want him to die, but you want his family and all of his friends and supporters to suffer. That's just sick and it makes me sad, frustrated and disgusted.

Although, I have to admit I did get a chuckle when it occurred to me that these guys are likely going to big boy prison. A prison likely filled with large, angry black men who will not be too pleased that a couple of white boys wanted to shoot up a school fool of black kids, and possibly the first black president.

I'm likely going to host an election night party at my house - I'll invite all the democrats in Sidney! All 7, you ask? Yep, all of em! It will be the only house with smiling people in the whole town, I'll betcha!

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, has predicted riots. Not if Obama wins, but if he loses. He thinks that people will puss out at the last minute (because we're all racists down deep) and vote McCain after all. He reasons that minorities will misinterpret a loss as white republicans rigging the election (which isn't out of the question), and react violently.

I disagree with Scott - which is unusual because I agree with pretty much everything else he's ever written. I think that if that were the case, Barack wouldn't have won the nomination in the first place. Also, again being the optimist that I am, I think we're better than that - in general, of course. I think that McCain, Palin and Bush have done at least as much as Barack to help the democratic ticket. I think their over-the-top negative campaigning is really their undoing. I think that Palin, especially, went too far. America REALLY wanted to love her, but she just seemed kind of ugly on the inside, and for me it really came out whenever she spoke about Barack.

She really could have written her own ticket, but she was given bad advice, in my opinion. She could have been sassy and sarcastic, but in a fun-loving way. Instead, she was just nasty and mean-spirited. That works a lot of the time in politics, but in this case it was spread just a little too generously and it backfired.

I'm really curious to see what the future has in store for her. I think she'll claim that she was just toeing the party line and trying to help the campaign. She's pretty adorable, so she might be able to pull it out - she's just got to learn to take the high road once in a while.

Whew. Ok, no more posts until election night. Remember, vote early - vote often - vote Obama!!

Back by popular demand!

How the hell are ya? from Sidney

Ok, enough people have harassed me about not keeping the old blog up to date (I'm looking at you Fred and Stephanie), so I thought I'd jot down a quick note or two.

First of all, I'm dying to see how the democrats are going to fuck up this election in the last 3 weeks. It's nearly in the bag, but I know that our boys are the most effective group of people ever at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It's just a matter of time... that train's never late!

Second, football season's over. As you probably know, both of my strapping young lads quit football about 2 weeks into the season, so I was a coach without a kid. Even so, I had a great time, and the team did really well. The last game of the season was a nail-biter with us down 2-0 with about 1 minute left to play.

We brought in Crazy-Legs Linneman who ran the ball about 30 yards, and broke about 5 tackles, for the game winning touchdown. It was a beautiful sight!

Our defense was spectacular allowing (I believe) only one first-down the whole game. The only time the other team scored was on a safety because our QB wasn't aware that he had to stay on the other side of the goal line.

It ended up being a blessing in disguise because had they taken over on downs, they probably would have gotten the touchdown being just yards away to begin with.

In other news, I've let my manager know that I'm actively seeking employment outside the company, so there's a good chance that we'll be leaving Sidney sometime in the near future.

(Naturally, Suzanne is stoked since she never really warmed up to the place... More like "hates it with a burning passion"...)

I don't want to jinx anything, but I've got some good leads and some good friends back in Omaha helping out. If I were a betting man, I'd like our odds.

That's about all I have for now... I'm currently watching this most recent presidential "debate". Poor McCain looks like he's sitting on something really uncomfortable and whenever he talks there's an edge of desperation to his tone - much to my delight.

I have nothing against the guy, I'm just a true believer of Barack. I honestly believe that he's our only hope - not unlike Obi Wan Kenobe in that regard.

P.S. Buy my house!