It’s been flying around the media circuits in little snippets of video and audio intended, I believe, to make me feel a grass roots sort of connection with Governor Palin. But I just don’t get how that’s supposed to work. A Hockey Mom, I have decided, must be the Alaskan equivalent to the Soccer Mom. But if the comparison is supposed to make those of us in the low ends of the economic brackets feel some sort of bond with her, it is an effort that has already failed miserably with me.
Truth be told, even a Soccer Mom is a creature of a social class that hovers somewhere above my head, and those of my family. Soccer implies the ability to enjoy leisure time while simultaneously having the money to pay for your children to play a sport. With soccer, the costs are relatively low. You need cleats, a shirt and shorts, shin guards, and a ball. Though I couldn’t afford to put my children in a soccer league, I have a hard time harboring a disdain for such a family. It seems to me that such things ought to be commonplace.
But when you get into the world of hockey, it’s a whole different story. Blades, uniforms, pads, helmets, sticks, pucks, gloves, protective eye wear, practice time, and on and on and on. I have a pair of cousins who played hockey in grade school, their father was a lawyer then and is now a judge. They live on a lake in what I would call a mansion, certainly no fewer than four families could live there comfortably. They water ski in their spare time. Are you getting the picture?
Not only am I sick of hearing about this whole hockey mom thing, but I’m quite tired of impoverished, or barely successful Republicans telling me that Barack Obama is going to raise taxes on me. Clearly these people have never even taken the time to explore what the two candidates have planned in terms of taxes. Of course, McCain’s sometimes false and more often than not misleading television ads don’t exactly help people to see the truth.
Let’s look at a family member of mine who is a Republican voter for what appears to be no logical reason. He has served out a full career as an education administrator. He served as principal of a local primary school, taking home a very meager amount of money each year. He certainly never made $100,000 in one year, and now in retirement I doubt if he even sees a quarter of that. And yet he is so sure that Obama is going to tax him to death that he refuses to budge on his support of McCain.
What he doesn’t realize is that Obama’s tax plan is aimed directly at benefiting people in our social classes. The floor of his tax raises sits at, last time I checked, the $250k per year level. That means that unless you’re making over a quarter of a million dollars a year you stand to benefit from the Obama plan. I’m sorry if I sound, to folks who are lucky enough to make that kind of money, like I want to put all the burden of supporting government upon your shoulders. But honestly, how does the Republican party plan to get blood from a stone?
If we, meaning the poor and the middle class, haven’t got any money, how can you ever possibly expect to generate a revenue by taxing us? Hello? Trust me, we’d all love to be up there with you, complaining about how all the miserable and lazy poor folks just want to take our “hard earned” money. But seriously, what exactly do you do every day that’s harder than teaching a classroom of children, or strapping on Kevlar and arming up before going on watch in a job that requires you to search vehicles entering a U.S. military installation for IEDs just after 911?
Are you bent over a forge for twelve hours a day? Are you out there drilling for gas and oil? Are you out there swinging a pick deep down in the belly of a coal mine somewhere? Forgive me if I sound callous, but how exactly does watching the Wall Street ticker at the bottom of the screen count as hard work?
Why do young Republicans, with not a thing in the world to their name, honestly believe that McCain is going to help them financially when Barrack Obama has already included them as one of those in need of tax breaks? This might be a news flash to the McCain Economics crowd, that is to say those of you who make over $5 Million per year and are lucky enough to be in John McCain’s version of the Lower Middle Class, but if you make over $250,000 per year, you ARE rich! Just because you can’t go on a Gucci shopping spree doesn’t mean that you haven’t flown up through the social hierarchy like a Chinese firework.
I say, enough with the hockey already. And if you don’t make more than a quarter of a million dollars a year, don’t be stupid. McCain is member to the old, and clearly failed, trickle down economics club. Keep giving more and more to those who already have affluence, and then cross your fingers and wait for the money to start trickling down through the market. Except that they never mention the one hitch to this plan: the money only trickles down to those who own the means of production. Duh! Unless you own a factory or are already super rich, Republican economic strategies will NEVER work in your favor.
The much awaited announcement of Senator Barack Obama’s choice for running mate and Vice President of the United States of America (hopefully) was supposed to come out this morning by way of text message, to be followed by an official announcement today, 23 August. But somebody somewhere let the cat out of the bag late last night.
My wife and I were watching ABC here in Clifton, Colorado last night, having decided to watch a rerun of David Letterman rather than doze off watching the Olympics. Why I have never been that interested in the age old athletic trials is fodder for another story (and no, I’m not communist). But lo and behold, right in the middle of watching Letterman last night, we were treated to a special surprise.
I had noticed before hand that the local ABC affiliate was having issues with their commercial reels because not a single one was playing through to completion. We were getting a string of commercials that would play roughly halfway through before they would be cut off by the following ad. But right there in the midst of all of that technical difficulty came an early announcement that Joe Biden would be Obama’s nominee!
Perhaps I should have published this last night so that people wouldn’t doubt me, or at least I should have called my friend in Denver to let him know that I already knew who the VP nominee would be. But, in the end the matter is neither here nor there. I do hope that nobody at our local ABC affiliate will lose their job over the incident though.
Thus far I’ve seen nothing mentioned of the faux pas in our local media, so I’m guessing that either my wife and I were the only ones in this little valley who were watching Letterman last night, or nobody else thought that the early slip was news worthy. Either way, nobody seems to be disappointed by the choice of Biden, though I have to admit that I was caught unawares. He wasn’t on any of the lists that I remember reading as potential VP candidates. Truth be told, I really don’t know enough about the man to make a comment. I think I’ll go do some research on the man now.
I bet, unless of course you’re one of my more loyal readers, that you’ve still never heard of the SoSan. Most Americans seem to have never heard of her, of this you can be certain. Had more of us been aware of the story of North Korean merchant vessel SoSan, we would never have allowed much of what has occurred in this nation since 9/11 to have happened.
Suffice it to say that the SoSan was secretly carrying WMD capable missiles from North Korea to Yemen (remember the USS Cole?). They were intercepted and boarded by the Spanish Navy, at the request of the U.S. Government, and then redirected to a U.S. controlled island known as Diego Garcia. Small victory, right? Wrong. A few days later the Bush Administration gave the missiles back to Yemen, even though they had signed the NPT prior to this, and despite the fact that we had been attacked by terrorists there before!
Anyway, the bottom line is that I can’t tell the entire story in a single paragraph. That’s why I’ve created the trifecta! I’ve written a song about the SoSan, called Merchant Vessel SoSan, and it seems to be doing fairly well on MySpace as well as other websites like SongVault. In the Alternative Audition charts for the latter site, the song recently moved into the top 40, making #33 after spending days at #52.
Made the top 40!
The song is entertaining and informative, but not as informative as the second piece of this triple threat. I wanted to shore up the song with a factual representation of the events that occurred with MV SoSan back in December of 2002. I also wanted a way to request accountability for the (typically) failed policies surrounding this incident. So, I produced an 11 minute video that explains who I am and then tells the story of the SoSan.
At the end I ask questions of both presidential candidates as well as of President Bush. I also admonish Mr. Bush for his tendency to lie to Americans and let him know how I feel about this nation’s Commander in Chief as a Veteran of his command. If you are a member of the Current.TV community, please help me to spread the word about MV SoSan by voting my video up!
The third piece of this trichromatic look at a historical travesty will be a theatrical (bear in mind that I have EXTREMELY limited resources) music video to go along with the song. The intention is to marry the music with the informational video in an entertaining yet still educational way. Hopefully by approaching this project in three parts I will expand my audience and broaden the base of knowledge with respect to North Korean merchant vessel SoSan.
Take a look at what I have so far and don’t hesitate to leave comments!
JMK
Good luck to all U.S. athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics!
Well, I’ve been absent from this blog for a few days and I apologize for any lives that may have been turned on end as a result. I am willing to refund up to one chicken per household for any damages done. Please file your claims with my Circular File Department.
Anyhow, I have been doing something with my time, and I have incontrovertible proof. I’ve been working on a 3-part project that relates to a specific topic in my book, Five Years in Hawaii. I’ve written a song—in the style of Reggae—about the North Korean merchant vessel SoSan. Chances are that you have never heard of her. This is precisely why I had to write this song.
The SoSan was a ship that set sail from North Korea carrying a secret shipment of missiles to customers in Yemen. Bear in mind that Yemen had already signed the NPT by this point. As part of my job, working at the Joint Intelligence Center Pacific at the time, I helped to track this vessel on her journey. In the end the Spanish Navy intercepted the shipment, and the vessel was diverted to Diego Garcia.
Because the attack on the USS Cole in Yemeni waters was still fairly fresh in the American psyche at the time, it seemed very odd to me when President Bush decided to give the missiles back to Yemen. Their claim was that the order for said missiles had been placed with the DPRK long before they had signed the NPT, but as usual the North Koreans had been late in delivering their shipment. It was this loophole that Bush exploited to return the missiles.
Never mind the implications of boarding a foreign vessel in international waters (read: piracy); never mind the risk that the brave warriors from Armada Espanõla took in boarding a vessel manned by a crew that was very likely to be completely hostile. Bush sidestepped all of that by sending another nation in to take the risk, and then giving the missiles back to avoid offending a state in which we had previously been attacked by terrorists!
But, the worst part of all is the fact that almost concurrently with the SoSan debacle President Bush and his cronies in Washington used the false threat of WMD in Iraq to stage an invasion which would place America in direct control of a nation that sat right on the border with one of his three declared enemies, Iran. On the one had we had a President that was justifying his invasion of Iraq with the need to eliminate WMD in the region, and on the other hand allowing an intercepted shipment of WMD capable missiles to go straight to a country where terrorists had already attacked us. To me, this was the epitome of hypocrisy.
So, without further adieu, here is the song that I have been working to record. It’s still not perfect, but it’s much better than it was a few days ago, trust me. The associated video is an interim accompaniment. I intend to make both a theatrical music video for this song, as well as an informative video about the SoSan incident in general. The second project will likely wind upon Current.tv.
Last night was my stepfather’s birthday. Out of respect for him I won’t mention exactly how young he has grown, but regardless of the number attached to his days we gathered as a family for a meal to celebrate him. The evening turned out to be one of those rare events when my stepfather and I have “discussed” politics. I’ve used quotation marks around the word discussed because it was really more like two statements followed by two grown men trying very hard to hold their tongues.
If you haven’t guessed, he and I are pretty much diametrically opposed when it comes to politics. He’s a retired elementary school principal with conservative leanings, and I am a former Navy man with liberal leanings. I developed my political opinions as I traveled the world with the U.S. Navy and discovered what life was like for people living in other countries. He developed his political opinions tucked safely away at a Boy Scout camp in Minnesota and then inside his classroom as a teacher and then finally in his office as a principal. Do I think I have a larger picture of the world? Absolutely.
I do respect the man’s opinion, after all he is a well educated and very intelligent man. But, unless he’s secretly been working for the CIA all these years, he simply hasn’t seen as much of the world as I have and, as a result, I feel he has the same condition that many millions of other Americans have: apathy for any reality that exists outside of our own borders. To me and my political peers this is a sad state of affairs, but to him and the political peers that he maintains, it is the only way to live life. Many people in his position aren’t even interested in the goings on outside of our nation unless they directly affect Americans. It’s a bit like being an egg and believing that you are the only egg that exists inside the carton, even though you can actually see the other eleven eggs that are in there with you!
Anyway, moving on to our “discussion.” My stepfather offered up that he felt the Obama decision to cancel a visit to an American military hospital in Germany was a very bad move. I held my tongue. I happen to be a former member of the military and I can tell you that this is a ridiculous, last-ditch attempt by the McCain campaign—of which we’ve been seeing a lot lately—to disparage Obama. Indeed, McCain seems to be unfaded by conventional decency with respect to his slew of recent attack ads.
First of all, the very notion that Obama intended to snub the soldiers in that hospital is insanity. I doubt very much that there is a single patient in the facility who would blame Obama for adhering to a Pentagon issued policy regarding political candidates and their limitations with respect to visiting military installations while campaigning. The simple fact of the matter is that Obama’s trip was funded by his campaign.
That is a fact that would have made a stop at the hospital forbidden by the Pentagon, and for very sound reasons relating to checks and balances in our system of government. His visits to Iraq and Afghanistan were not made on his own, but as part of an official Congressional Delegation. This meant that the rules were different during his stops in those countries—he was legally permitted to do so in those cases. But, rather than letting loose on my stepfather for buying into the bullshit propaganda being pumped out by McCain, being that it was I who served in the military and not him, I began to actively scan my memory for a more mild response.
Now, I knew right out of the gate that I wasn’t going to change his mind, but I suppose I felt compelled to at least point out the nonsensical nature by which McCain has been seeking office. I settled on the first McCain attack ad that I had seen thus far in the election, the McCain ad that directly blames Obama—and only Obama—for the high gas prices that we have all been experiencing in this country. It was a little odd in the logic department, you have to admit.
I mean, McCain was pointing the finger of blame at Obama based on the misconception that Obama’s congressional vote could ever, under any circumstances, be solely to blame for any decision or resolution put forth by the Senate. Never mind the fact that neither the Senate nor the House of Representatives exists in a vacuum. Both are required to act when passing laws. Never mind the fact that McCain himself, by his own logic, would be equally to blame for the prices of gas! After all, he too is a Senator with an equal vote to Obama’s in such matters.
I asked my stepfather what he thought of the McCain ad that blamed Obama for the price of gas. His response was, “They didn’t blame Obama for the prices, they were just saying that…” Yada, yada, yada. I waited until he finished and then I pointed out that, “No, actually they say straight out that Obama is directly responsible.” I quoted the ad to him from memory.
“Who’s to blame for the high prices at the pump? Obama. Obama. Obama. [Insert picture of Barack Obama]“
It doesn’t get any more direct than that. I said as much to my stepfather who, I suppose, probably held his own tongue just as I had moments earlier. The simple fact of the matter is that he will never support a Democrat under any circumstances. I suppose that I am just as guilty of this mentality in reverse, but still I can’t deny the sad nature of such a condition. What we have here is a great example of knee-jerk politics, where facts don’t matter anywhere near much as our own prejudices.
Let’s look at yet another McCain attack ad, accusing Barack Obama of being the “…biggest celebrity in the world.” What a strange accusation, particularly when you consider who has lodged it. Am I the only one who has noticed the sheer number of non-campaign specific cameo appearances that John McCain has made on television? He has literally been all over the air waves since his campaign began. Below are some screen shots of all the examples I could find on Google before I had to give up the search for a fourth cup of coffee.
McCain appears on Conan Obrien's show.(18 July 2008)
McCain appears on Ellen Degeners's show.(22 May 2008)
McCain appears on Jimmy Kimmel's show.(17 June 2008)
McCain appears on Letterman's show.(01 April 2008)
McCain appears on The View.(10 April 2008)
McCain appears on WWE.(21 April 2008)
McCain appears on Saturday Night Live.(17 May 2008)
McCain appears on The Today Show.(21 July 2008)
The list goes on but frankly, I’ve tired of looking at the Senator from Arizona. Already I’ve been Googling him for hours and I just don’t know if I could handle any more of it at this time. There is likely an equally impressive number of radio appearances by the Senator, but because radio shows don’t offer flashy images to post, I decided to save some time and leave them out. Apply the same excuse the lack of any semblance of chronology amongst those screen shots that I have posted. The sad thing is that Senator McCain has really screwed up what had been a good thing with respect to his public image.
Contrary to my usual rhetoric, I have previously written about Senator McCain on this blog in a positive light—based exactly on his apparent sense of humor as portrayed in his cameo appearances of late, his appearance on SNL in particular. John McCain Is a Funny Man, which I posted on 19 May 2008 is a uniquely positive look at a Republican candidate by this author. But Senator McCain made a critical mistake when he allowed his campaign to then turn around and point the finger at Obama for exactly the same kind of behavior that he had been exhibiting all along. How childish is that? It cost him all the ground he had made with this Veteran’s vote, and then some. Perhaps McCain’s age is more than a joke. Like an elephant entering musth, so too could McCain be a risk to our health and safety based solely on his seemingly irrational emotional state.
Thanks for sticking with this post to the end, readers. I know the long ones can be a chore to read, but when I feel a message is important I just can’t stop myself. Take care! Never, ever, ever waste your time buying into an attack ad.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. — Mark Twain
