redstate update… hilarious/sad but true… “fuck it, McCain”
I recently stumbled upon a great website…www.redstateupdate.com. You’ll thank me after you see some of the vidoes.
*If you are easily offended, you shouldn’t watch these videos.
4/16/08 democratic debate from philly
I’m watching the debate as I write this…I think the candidates are kinda funny…
Hillary said she was ducking shots in Bosnia (Sinbad and Cheryl Crow were on the trip), then a video surfaces of her walking off the tarmac and waving to people….here is one of many videos on youtube:
I don’t really trust Hillary too much, and it bothers me that she lied, but I guess I know she was politicking.
I later saw a video of Hillary downing a beer and taking a shot at a bar in nw IN, and on another blog I saw something like “Hillary takes more shots than in Bosnia”, it was kinda funny….here is one of those videos:
(doesn’t Hillary know…beer before liquor = never sicker)
Obama says people are “bitter” about losing their jobs and not getting help from govt. He also said people “cling” to guns and religion. I certainly think to some extent people are bitter and that I am sure some people do cling to their guns, but it just bothers me a little that he actually said something like people “cling to guns or religion”. I am sure when times get tough people take refuge in these things, but the way he phrased it made it sounds like the only reason people have guns or practice whatever religion is that they are bitter, and not because it is who they are/part of their background. So, I think his comment does make him sound kind of “elitist” as some people have said, but at least it was an honest/accurate comment.
Hillary’s response to Obama’s comments (about people clinging to guns/religion): basically Obama is out of touch, an elitist and then she talks about shooting guns…this is Obama’s response to Hillary’s gun comments:
I don’t think I will let these recent campaign slip-ups greatly affect my decision. When people are recorded 24/7 I’m not surprised that (even if they actually meant it) a candidate would actually say something they shouldn’t.
There are so many funny videos online about stuff the candidates have said..you should check it out.
the gun control issue
So, recently I was having a debate/argument with a friend (atleast it seemed that way to me b/c I avoid confrontation like the plague) about the issue of gun control. He seemed to be in favor of a complete ban on the ownership of guns. I do not favor this stance.
I guess I should also say I am a little biased, I have grown up around guns all my life, but here goes…
Why would we give up the right to bear arms when we have for so long lived with this freedom? I know, you think of the violence, the shootings, the homicides, and the suicides that are all accomplished with guns…but because a small minority of gun owners (whether legally or illegally) are irresponsible and crazy with guns, does that mean we should keep them from the hands of all citizens? I don’t really think so.
You may be thinking that gun ownership is not a necessity like it was in colonial times, that we don’t need the guns because we have a stable nation, that we don’t need to put down any organized threats from the government or from mobs or militias…and this is definitely the case. The main problem is that if we give up guns, I don’t think we will likely ever get them back.
Don”t get me wrong; something must be done about all murdering and death. I hate that people are dying, needlessly. I just don’t think the solution is to take away our guns. Perhaps laws need changed, maybe something more needs to be done. And understand that I am not advocating no change at all. And I don’t think we need to be stagnant and think, “things will work themselves out.” I am not saying that we just sit here and watch everyone kill each other, but…
I think we need to work on fixing the root issue, not only the symptom. We need to fix what makes us want to kill each other, not only the means of how we are killing each other. The means of how we are killing each other (guns) is an issue of course, but the main issue is why are we doing it, why do we view murder as a solution.
We, as a nation, have issues; we are more depressed and stressed than ever it seems. In economically depressed areas, people are trapped in cycles of poverty, where the only viable economic solution is a life of crime and violence. These are some of our problems, our root issues. Yet when we see these issues (and many others of course) lead to gun violence, our first response is to take guns away? It just seems silly to me…why aren’t we fixing our real issues that lead to gun crime in the first place?
If you argue that guns should be banned because people die each year using them irresponsibly, do you also think that alcohol should be banned? Thousands of people die each year from alcohol related deaths, whether it be overdose or drunk-driving (thousands of innocent people die too), so does this mean we should revert back to prohibition? I don’t see how the logic used in one argument (say the gun control issue) is mutually exclusive to that argument alone, so feel free to explain.
Again, I am not saying that gun control laws don’t need to be reformed. Something must be done. It just seems too drastic to me to just say we are gonna take everyone’s guns away.
When I start examining my own self-destructive patterns closely, I can see that the patterns are bad, but they are not the real issue. The real issue is what is making want to do these things, what is causing it. Its not always, “how can I stop doing XYZ as soon as possible?” The real question is “why do I feel like this, what makes me want to do these things?”
If someone could show me that taking all the guns away would make us not kill each other, and virtually eliminate violent crimes and homicide and suicide; then I would certainly consider this. I am just not convinced this is the case. If people want to kill each other or themselves, they will find ways to do it (with or without guns).
This is just a snippet of my thinking…there are too many intricacies on the topic to put them all here. For more information, you may check out:
http://www.guncite.com/
http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvmurd.html
http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvintl.html
Voter Registration
So, I submitted my voter registration for Lafayette today. I guess I thought in IN you had to declare a party when you registered, but I was wrong. Apparently, I just request the ballot (either rep or dem) on primary day. I will definitely request a democratic ballot. How could I not? The republican race is pretty much a done deal at this point. And maybe by the time the primary rolls around, the Indiana democratic race may actually matter, which would be weird for a red state.
where are all the demlicans/republicrats?
Why aren’t there more candidates that are hybrids of the democratic/republican parties? I really want a candidate that has the conservative values of the republican party and the same eye for social justice of the democratic party. It seems that if this kind of hybrid party started forming (whoever knows how, I am not that well informed apparently), the repubs and dems would crush this new party faster than a Wal-mart store closes at the whisper of a union forming.
I think that of the remaining candidates, I’m leaning toward Obama (I think thats the correct spelling, even though firefox doesn’t recognize it as a word). I think he and Hillary are basically the same candidate, with nuances in foreign policy/health care/Iraq war. The biggest difference for me is how these two would run the ship. I think Obama would gather everyone around a camp fire (even republicans), speak of hope, then start singing Kumbaya. Hillary, on the other hand, would stroll into Washington (ready from day one as she is always saying) with a whip and lasso in hand and start busting skulls. It seems Obama’s way would be slightly more effective. I don’t have too much of an opinion on McCain because I don’t know much about him. It seems he just came from no where during primary season. I mean, he is in his 70′s and a war hero, so he has been around, but that doesn’t mean I know a lot about him.
I think the only way the dems could blow the election is if they drag out the primary until the very end and split the party. It seems like a lot of people are ready for a changing of the republican guard in Washington, but that would be the only way I see the democrats screwing up.
