Banner + Another Banner = Victory

I know most of the time my life feels like something out of Groundhog Day but this is a fucking ridiculous. The above photo is of President Bush delivering a speech regarding the war on terror (Surprise) in Wheeling, West Virginia, March 22, 2006. I brought up this whole idiotic banner issue back on 11/30/2005 (Banner = Victory) and you would think that since his approval ratings have dipped over 15% since then someone would have thought of a new fucking idea.

Is Rove just brain dead or is he phoning these last two years in? Does Bush even realize that this same concept and overall sales pitch is not working? Will he ever grasp that he needs a new pitch as the change-up is no longer good enough to fool us?

With 5% Of The Precincts Reporting….

On 3/15 I sent an email to a few select friends in order to gain a little data to compile a 2006 Presidential Straw Poll. For reference this was to be a small sample representing under 25 votes. My hope was to get a feeling for who everyone is pulling for in an ideal world regarding their candidates and presidential hopefuls. The two questions asked were as follows–

Question 1–Who would be your choice regarding a 2008 Presidential candidate? I am not asking you who you feel will win or who you feel has the best shot as I only want to get a sense of who you are pulling for in 2006. This person can be from any party, they can range from an obvious candidate to someone who is not planning on running but please make this a fairly legitimate choice and not Ross Perot (And no Admiral James Bond Stockdale’s either).

Question 2–I would like to get your second choice relating to the above question as well.

And here are the results with links to their (or related) websites in case you want to learn more about these options:

1st Choice
Barack Obama–47%
Hillary Clinton–18%
John Edwards–18%
Mark Warner–11%
John McCain–3%
Dennis Kucinich–3%

2nd Choice (Less votes received for reference)
Barack Obama–33%
John Edwards–26%
Hillary Clinton–20%
Bill Richardson–7%
Mark Warner–7%
Russ Feingold–7%

I do not want to get into this too much right now as I would rather sit back and hear what other people have to say and then participate in those conversations. However, I do have a few thoughts regarding the statistical results–

• Senator Obama is listed on 41% of all responses which is not too amazing considering his meteoric rise in the last two years but it is when you consider his current stance of not running in 08.
• Former Senator Edwards is listed on 21% of all responses although he is no longer in office and has for the most part disappeared the last two years.
• The current national front runner for the Democrats, Senator Clinton is listed on 17% of all responses.
• On the Democrat side Senator John Kerry and Howard Dean are not listed on any responses what so ever.
• On the Republican side Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Bill Frist & Governor Mitt Romney are not listed on any responses what so ever.

Let me know your thoughts on this and if you are surprised with any selections or at least encouraged/discouraged with these choices. My intent for your reference is to do this again in 6 months with a larger sample group (maybe around 50) so next time I send this out maybe you can pass it on and invite a few others to chime in. Thanks for your responses as this should be an interesting story line to watch over the next 19 months.

Look Up, New Header

Take a look at the above text aa a new header has reared it literary head. The text is taken from Jack London’s semi-autobiographical novel John Barleycorn which was written in 1913. This is a definitive look at alcoholism and has often been referred to as the bible of the Prohibition Movement. This quote is a favorite passage of mine along with his use of the term “White Logic” which covers a lot of territory in my mind.

This might not be his best but it is clearly one of his most honest books.

**Side Note**
While looking for a relavent and humorous picture to go with this note I ran across the above photo and a nice little song to go along with it. The lyrics are below so you can sign along–

Oh John Barleycorn we’ll have to let you go. You’ve made us many a merry time but also many a woe. You’ve populated many jails and grave yards owe you much. You’ve swiped the price of children’s bread and lied to beat the Dutch.

(CHORUS)No more will “Cholly” straggle home from two o’clock to four and fumble ’round an hour to find the key hole in the door. No more he’ll sit and nod and blink­­ stupidity profound and swear he’ll jump right in that bed the next time it comes ’round.

Oh John for bloody brawls you’re famous far and wide. You change good Doctor Jeckel to the villain Mister Hyde. You’ve separated man and wife, raised many a family storm. You’ve tacked a big bay window John on many a perfect form.

(CHORUS)
No more will “Cholly” straggle home from two o’clock to four and fumble ’round an hour to find the key hole in the door. No more he’ll sit and nod and blink­­ stupidity profound and swear he’ll jump right in that bed the next time it comes ’round.

Critic

I went to see V for Vendetta tonight and upon getting home I considered writing a long, fairly educated opinion regarding the movie itself and the sociological implications and messages it does or does not carry. I also considered sharing my opinion of how it compares to the graphic novel in detail (Having enjoyed it in my youth) and how it relates to the current political climate which we live in.

However, that would be quite hypocritical of me as I think critics are full of shit.

Instead I will tell you to go see the movie if you want; and if then you want to discuss it, let me know. It’s worth the $9.50 so take that for what it is worth.

People Should Not Be Afraid Of Their Governments

Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People

Pretty true words in this day and age you would think or hope. V for Vendetta is out today and I will be checking it out tonight with full comments to come over the weekend. It is scoring pretty decently on Rotten Tomatoes for those of you wondering but I think that means a little less than nothing truth be told. My hopes for this one are pretty simple though–

• Keep it true to Allan Moore’s vision which clearly has a terrorist as the hero. I know this might not be possible in today’s climate but hopefully it is as close to that as possible. As usual Moore has kept his name off the movie but he always does so nothing should be read into this.
• That it avoids the usual Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver traps. Hopefully these three realized that the books were enough and they have not added any additional plot lines or orgies (See Matrix II for clarification).

REMEMBER THE 5th

F*** St. Patrick’s Day

As someone who could care less about St. Patrick’s Day (Minus those Wicked-Ass Shamrock Shakes at McDonald’s) might I offer this alternative–

St. Joseph’s Day

Being Italian, Catholic and named Joseph this day and the Feast of St. Joseph have always had a special interest for me. This is a powerful day if you are Catholic but the day also can have a special meaning for any spiritual person. For those of you not aware of what this day is about let me give you a little history.

The celebration of St. Joseph’s day essentially began in smaller towns in Italy where they would prepare a feast with several (Minimum of 13 ) courses of meatless dishes (Lent). Three random people were chosen to represent Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and often a parade/symbolic march through the center of town began the feast. Before starting the meal they would recite prayers to St. Joseph seeking for his help and guidance in caring for all families, as he is the patron saint of family. The dishes were served one at a time to the each of the three who would in turn taste each one, but would not finish them as the point of the feast was to give the leftovers to the poor of the village (Obviously this worked better in smaller population centers).

For those of you wanting to know more about St. Joseph and how he relates to the Catholic faith I have put together a little information courtesy of Catholic Online. St. Joseph is descended from the family of David (King of Israel) and therefore royalty, however, it was a a title with no real social rank or fortune attached to it. All information regarding his early years and his family belonging to Bethlehem of Judea indicates he was essentially poor. At a young age he moved to Nazareth in Galilee to take up the occupation of a carpenter.

There he betrothed Mary and when discovering her pregnancy (Not of his own) and not knowing that she was caring the Son of God he quietly left in order to protect her from public scorn or even death as he wished no harm to come to her. A while later Joseph was visited by an Angel who instructed him as to who Mary and the unborn child were and that his family was in danger. Obedient to God’s wish he immediately married Mary and at that point regardless of public scorn or danger (Keep in mind that this was not 1980) he took on the role of husband, father, protector and provider without question for the rest of his life. Joseph remained a dedicated father protecting Jesus in his early years but essentially disappears (Assumed death) around the 11th year after the birth of Christ. Nothing of great detail is really known or told regarding the beginning or final years of his life as the main focus is given to his dedication and loyalty towards God and family.

The Catholic Church celebrates two feast days for Joseph; March 19th for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1st for Joseph the Worker. The item I like to dwell on is that we do not celebrate St. Joseph for performing “Miracles” but for being eternally loyal to God, his wife and family by loving and providing for them. Regardless of your religion or faith I think we can appreciate St. Joseph and all people who recognize that their wives (spouses) and children deserve the highest respect, devotion and love and that not doing so is the greatest sin we can commit. Happy St. Joseph’s Day.

The Soprano’s

In honor of the best show (maybe ties with Lost or Deadwood at worst) coming back on tonight for its 6th season may I direct you to HBO’s website so you can play Whack-A-Soprano. Who cares about the prizes as it is simply enough for me to be able to hit Paulie upside the head with a bat.

Quote of the Day

At the Southern Republican Leadership Conference this weekend several interesting points were made by the usual notables like McCain (Not crazy) and Brownback (Really crazy). My favorite quote though came from Jim Frazier, a delegate from Memphis, TN. Mr. Frazier said–

“The president is a good man, but you’ve got to wonder how well served he is.”

This is a common statement I hear from Republicans especially now that President Bush is dipping below 35% and it is not without merit. A change of cabinet and/or the voices around him could help Bush and the country tremendously.

However, what if the opposite is true? What if your (Republicans) guy is not a good man? What if your guy is a liar? What if your guy is a pretender and has been from the start? What if he never was a conservative in the first place? What if the guys around your guy have known this all along? I know you must be considering this possibility as it is looking to be more and more likely each day.

New Game Show

KISS THE TYRANT

I am hoping this new game show will catch on all over the world as the options are truly limitless. Imagine, with every tyrant you choose to kiss your prize money will be revealed. Your choice of a tyrant such as Tito, Pol Pot, Stalin or Hitler (I would love to just keep listing names like this and come to think of it I might just make a list my next posting) could be worth as much as $1,000,000 or they could be as low as a simple parting prize and you only get 3 guesses. The parting prize could be quite brutal though as you can imagine.

On a serious note thank good this S.O.B. died in his cell instead of having him sit on trial for 66 charges including crimes against humanity, war crimes and the big daddy–genocide, all while he urged on a bloody disintegration of Yugoslavia for his own personal gain. I know you fans of due process would disagree on moral grounds but Slobodan Milosevic deserved a hell of a lot more than this easy death in my opinion. Feel free to oppose this but I do believe history will judge this one pretty clear.

Great Guinness Experiment (Stage 1 of 6)

As I noted in a previous post (Great Guinness Experiment) I have never tried Guinness. On Monday, March 6th this issue was rectified accordingly. At 11pm I opened an extremely chilled can and poured myself a draught while the family was in bed so I could judge and appreciate this in full. Not only did I wait until the family was asleep but this enabled me to enjoy it along side the Sopranos (Season 5 reruns). I have to say that I was a little nervous as I was not in the mood for a beer (Never am) but the theory of Guinness not being “just” a beer proved correct.

First off, it is not like Guinness is now my new favorite drink but this is several notches above any type of beer that I have tasted. The flavor was quite a bit deeper and darker throughout any given pull than what I expected and almost had a molasses hint in the back end. The front end was quite a bit creamier and flatter than what I expected as well. I can tell that my enjoyment would not have nearly as great had it been any warmer what so ever but this is not too surprising. All in all I was impressed and intend to enjoy straight Guinness again at my leisure.

My next test will be this weekend and it should be the Black & Tan.