Can you spell INDOCTRINATION?

Holy Word! This is creepy. A whole new level of creepy I didn't even think existed in 21st century America.

Sing for Change A bunch of children singing hymns for Obama. The angelic little voices. Matching t-shirts. Excited parents and overzealous music teacher.

If this isn't bad for democracy, I don't know would be. Am I the only one who thinks cult-like children groups are a bad sign for our future? No matter the candidate being endorsed, this is political propaganda and indoctrination at its worst.

The One

How did I completely miss John McCain's "The One" campaign ad fraught with Judeo-Christian religious allegories? I wanted to burst out laughing when I saw it. At first I thought it was produced by the Obama campaign, but something didn't seem right. It was over the top, too inflated, too laudatory.

Then, in the last few seconds, it all came together. It is making fun of Obama's religious following. It is so well done and poking fun at just the right spot that it becomes ridiculously funny. Obama as our saviour? As the deliverer to the Promised Land/Moses/Charlton Heston?

Here's the ad. You'll love it, no matter who you plan on voting for in November.



I feel like some young right wing conservative is sitting is his/her office chuckling about his/her cleverness for creating this concept. And he/she should be; because this is brilliance.

Raisin' McCain

McCain's speech at the RNC tonight was as expected, meh. The guy is a "maverick" (which is great verbal branding by the way). A war hero. A great man. I liked when he spelled out his policies and distanced himself from both his opponent and his own party. He did what he needed to do.

He did a decent job with his oration, but basically reinforced the same ideas I already had about him. He'll never be the public speaker that Obama is (or for that matter his candidate for VP is), but all the same, he gave a respectable presentation of who he is and where he came from. He spelled out his policies and plans and that seemed honest and straightforward.


Let me tell you, if I heard one more commentary about the balloon dropping, I was going to blow a gasket. We had the TV on ABC, and the newscasters started commenting for an extended period of time about the balloons and confetti falling from the ceiling rather than about the speech that just took place. It was disgraceful. And then we switched channels to CNN and lo and behold, they were marvelling at the balloon drop too. Apparently if you want to impress the media, just drop a few patriotic-colored helium-filled rubber things from the sky.

Gee guys; don't comment on the speech, please. We want to hear about how cool the convention decorations are.

Palin for VP

Ohhh, goody. I am quite excited at McCain's Vice Presidential choice. His campaign managers must be geniouses. Sarah Palin very well could win McCain the election.

Right on the shirt tails of the DNC that had the press buzzing about Obama's acceptance of the democratic nomination, McCain's announcement made everyone forget. Palin has the unique ability to stir up the mix, woo disgruntled Hillary supporters, soften McCain's image, and roundup conservative republicans. The McCain/Palin duo just made this election more of a competition.


I love what Marginal Revolution has to say about her:

Around the blogosphere you will see many left-wing writers criticizing Palin for lack of experience. Maybe this criticism is correct, but these commentators are falling into The Trap. Most American voters do not themselves know much detail about foreign affairs and their vision of an experienced leader does not require such knowledge...

The more the word "experience" is repeated, no matter what the context, the more it will hurt Obama. Palin needs to appear confident and capable on TV and in the debates, but her ticket is not going to lose votes if she cannot properly spell Kyrgyzstan or for that matter place it on a map.

Ha. Yeah. Somebody else I know doesn't have "experience" either. And he isn't just the candidate for VP. Talk about a complaint that shoots you in the foot.

Ironic. Obama doesn't pick Clinton and here McCain pick a female running mate instead. Hahhahaa. One thing is for sure, no matter which party claims the white house, a historic presidential election this will be!

CHANGE how?

I watched Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight. I loved how some people were there with their change signs and tears streaming down their face. Did they have auditions to make it into the Denver stadium?

As a rhetorician, I'll be the first to admit that Obama has smooth and collected public appearance. He is a good orator and resonates well with a younger crowd. He said all the right things and told all the right personal anecdotes. Poor little Barack, from a single-parent family, pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Yeah, Columbia. And Harvard. But he's just your average guy. McCain; however, he's a neo-conservative elitist, with money in his back pocket since the day he was born.

I like what blogger, Megan McArdle had to say:

Obama makes you want to believe in him. That's why the conservatives hate him really hate him--the way that many liberals still say the name "Reagan" the way my grandmother said "Satan". Obama will not change the world. But he makes his ideas appealing by sheer force of personality.

So True. Obama can rally the crowds. And this scares me.


Within Obama's flowing words tonight, he made some big promises. End dependence on foreign oil? Stop the war in Iraq? Fix the health care system? Tax breaks for 95% of the American population? Get big business to create job in the US instead of overseas? Great Obama. BUT HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THIS? Change. Yeah yeah. We all want that. We all look forward to better days ahead, but let's be realistic, our friend gave us a bunch fancy words and with no manpower behind them. He can't do those things; and especially not with the policy that he promotes.

Sometimes hearing what I want to hear, (i.e. change for a better America), only makes me more skeptical that I will never get it from the source of those words. Show me how the government is going to be more responsible based on sound theory and practical implementation and you can have my vote. Republican Convention next week--hopefully empty promises with be followed by solid substance. Can't somebody have good intentions and the means for following through?