You are looking at posts that were written in the month of January in the year 2008.
Posted on January 31st, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Entertainment, News, Politics.
Seriously. Hulk Hogan aka The Hulkster, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’.Â
Personally, I think it would have been hilarious if Hogan had quipped, “I’m for the brother… uhrmmm… BROTHER!” For those not in the know, one of Hulk Hogans “things” is to call people… “BROTHER!”
In other Hulk news, his wife is trying to take him to the cleaners in their divorce. Ain’t love grand?
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Entertainment, Politics.
You know I had to have a listen. I needed to hear the spin. I needed to witness FOR myself the spectacle of a deflated Limbaugh. True to form he made it about himself, while saying that this election is not about him. You have to love that. If Romney had won in Florida I’m willing to bet Rush would have been the first to take credit for it. Thankfully, that didn’t happen… and so I was treated to Rush’s fake concession speech. Basically, the guy said, “Hey why is this about me, I wasn’t even on the ballot?” Come on Rush, it’s always about you… unless it reflects badly on you.Â
Yes, El Rushbo attempted to inject humor into the whole thing, but his need to imitate McCain just reiterated that there was nothing truly funny about what happened yesterday. Rush’s bully pulpit has amounted to a whole lot of nothing. McCain won a closed primary. There were no independents to the rescue (although Rush tried to intimate that there were voting irregularities). Republicans gave victory to McCain regardless of all of Rush’s bluster… and listening today, it seemed a bitter pill for the man to swallow (we finally found one he has a hard time with). “I’ll still be here,” he said at one point as if to say it didn’t matter what happened… and that was truly the most telling moment of Rush’s show. It was defeatist, yet spiteful… which is oh so Limbaugh!
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Editorials, News.
What is it with this guy? Why not ride off into the sunset and simply shut the hell up?Â
The former Fed chief put the chances of a US recession at 50 percent, but added: “We have few indications that would allow us to say we are already there.”
Some analysts have said that low interest rates under Greenspan’s watch were responsible in part for the US housing bubble that burst last year, and led to the current financial crisis.
Die Zeit quoted him as saying he found it hard to understand that “the Federal Reserve policy had somehow allowed housing and stock prices to rise.”
Fallout from the crisis, which began with a meltdown of the US market for high-risk, or subprime, mortgages, continues to rock international financial markets and now threatens the US economy with a recession.
For Greenspan however, the turmoil was “entirely the result of market forces at a global level.”
**NOTE EMPHASIS IN QUOTE IS MY OWN** MARK
Granted, I am no genius. I did not sit at the right hand of Ayn Rand. I am but a mortal, yet a mortal that sees. Mr. Greenspan cannot simply shrug off the housing bubble as “entirely the result of market forces on a global level”. The housing bubble is a creation to which he bears some responsibility. How can an economist not fathom that, ”…the Federal Reserve policy had somehow allowed housing and stock prices to rise.” Huh? This guy cannot see how cheaper money (less cost in borrowing), can inflate prices? Is he as (intellectually) bankrupt as the treasury? Surely the man is kidding? Or perhaps this is just the babbling of an old man that does not want his legacy to be marred by one of the worst financial disasters to ever threaten this nation.Â
In some sick way, I can respect a guy wanting to make sure that his place in history is unsullied. Unfortunately for Mr. Greenspan, this real estate bubble is a direct result of the dotcom bubble that caused the 2000 recession. In response to that recession he aggressively cut rates, and made money cheap. The more people can afford to borrow, the more they are willing to pay for items such as houses. In addition, because of the dotcom bubble, people withdrew from the stock market and entered REAL ESTATE, thereby also INFLATING PRICES. People that flipped these investment houses and made gains put that money into the stock market again… and guess what that did to stock prices. If you said, drove them up… go get a cookie.
The one thing that Alan did get right is the diminishing ability of the Federal Reserve to affect long term rates. I’ll give him that much… as far as everything else… forget about it. The man is either in a deep denial or he’s a liar. Take your pick on either of those two choices, your guess is as good as mine.Â
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Politics.
John Edwards is ending his bid for the Democratic nomination today. Although it’s been quite evident for a while that he had no chance, I am kind of sorry to see him go. When you consider the contemptuous struggle of the two children he is running against, he seems like the most sensible of the Democratic choices. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I expect Edwards will likely toss his support to Obama… but I could be wrong. Maybe Hillary makes him an offer he can’t refuse… or perhaps his continued anger towards John Kerry steers him to the Clinton camp. Nah… who the hell am I kidding? All of these Democrats think that Obama has this won and are all riding the gravy train… but I think they’re wrong… and like McCain, Hillary will have scores to settle if she gets elected. No more split white vote spells trouble for Obama regardless of Edwards’ endorsement… and if you thought it was nasty BEFORE… just you wait.
Obama and Clinton have surely brought the drama of a soap-opera to politics, but in the end they’re devouring one another. People will opt for the stayed and true in their leader (especially after the last eight years) and this angsty bickering is only going to turn people away from the Democrats. Can they even be taken seriously? The Republican leadership all but handed the Democrats the presidency… and these two morons are going to end up blowing it for themselves and for their party. Take no prisoners has become, leave no man standing… what’s left of one of these candidates to hold the Democratic mantle will be no match against an above it all McCain, and his band of independents.
Posted on January 29th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Politics.
Good Lord, it’s enough already! At this point, I am so sick of hearing the name “Barack Obama” being garbled in the gullet of Ted Kennedy, that I have to mute the television when I see those two together. “Beeraq Obaaahrma!, Beeraq Obaaahrma!, Beeraq Obaaahrma!” Over and over again, you hear that mantra… as if somehow we haven’t yet become familiar with the man’s name.
After hearing this tool on “Today” say the name ten or twelve times, I turned to my wife and said, “Are we really going to vote for a President named, Beeraq Obaaahrma?”  It’s overkill already. I’m to the point of being pissed off every time I hear that pumpkinheaded degenerate utter the name!
Oh, and that reminds me? Why does Ted Kennedy deserve my respect? I see Democrats acting like this guy is some kind of legend… and I have to wonder what they see that I don’t. Here is an opportunist that has used his family name to entrench himself in government. Is there more to the story than that? What am I missing here beyond his being a “super delegate”. The Democrats should really set the bar higher… not that Republicans can really talk considering the last eight years and folks like DeLay and Frist.  Â
Posted on January 29th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: My Life, Politics.
Welp, I’m back from the polls. It took me two minutes to walk to where it is that I needed to be… the church down the street. It was a subdued atmosphere. We’re a bit off the beaten path. No morons with signs or honking horns… just the sunny peace and quiet. There were lots of old people voting. I was the only person under sixty in the joint. Being ginormous I got all of the old broads coo’ing… “My aren’t you tall. How do you like everybody having to look up to you?” Just put the sticker on my chest babe and let me out the door!
The ballot was short. Being a Republican, I got to look at the names of the cornucopia of losers jockeying for the highest office in the land. My choice was left to but one, Sen. John McCain. I’m not keen on his immigration stance, and until I saw that we seemed to be turning a corner in Iraq, I wasn’t too happy about his position on the war. There was also the matter of him letting Bush’s machine smear his family in 2000 and his forgiving and forgetting to the point of tossing the imbecile support in 2004. Somehow he’s managed to overcome all of those things in my mind. Perhaps it’s his tenacious nature that won the day… or maybe it was as I have said, the level of his competition.
Also on the ballot was Amendment 1, the “Save Our Homes” initiative down here in Florida which is supposed to cut property taxes. I voted “yes” or in favor of the amendment. I don’t know that it’s the best idea, but I do know that something has to change. If people have better ideas out there they need to press them upon the legislature. Until they do, I’ll have to take what they give me… even if it is just more of the usual “feel good” legislation that politicians are so fond of.
The whole process of voting today took me ten minutes total. What did I get for that ten minutes? I got to be a part of the process and I also maintained my right to bitch about the system. If you don’t participate… and have an issue with the way things are handled in this country, you’re an idiot. I might have a small pulpit here, and but one vote… but I do what I can with what I’ve got!
Posted on January 29th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Politics.
It’s bad enough having to actually sit through a State of the Union. Talk about meaningless. Just because a politician says it, doesn’t make it so and when it comes to State of the Union speeches it seems to be the norm. I listened to President Bush for a little while. I thought, isn’t it strange the way he reacts to applause, jerking around and smiling like some kind of imbecile. Then I looked behind him to Cheney, if Bush says one more thing with which he approves and he is forced to his feet again, they may need the defibrillator. Beside Dick, there sat Nancy Pelosi, dear God, this is the state of the opposition, a disinterested pitbull. Honestly, having to look at those three and to consider that they represent the bulk of the political power in this nation was cause for pause. That pause was brief however, as I became hypnotized by the actions of the audience, which is supposedly filled by “statesmen”.
Bush droned on and on, and his voice became something of a warbled soundtrack to what was going on. I was fast becoming entranced by the high stakes game of Whac-a-Mole that was going on in the audience. When Bush would say something that Republicans agreed with… a standing ovation on one side of the room. When Bush would say something that Democrats agreed with… a standing ovation on the other side of the room. When Bush said something especially trite that they could ALL agree on, a full on ovation, everybody out of their seats. I had flashbacks to youth and to trips with the nieces to Chuck E. Cheese. Behind Bush, Cheney and Pelosi acted as callers to some high stakes, “Simon Says” commanding the rodent minions to rise and to fall on a fitting buzzword. As bored with the whole thing as I was, it seemed to me that Cheney and Pelosi were more bored. They seemed to hear nothing but the final word that would be uttered from Bush’s mouth and then they would take a nanosecond to determine if what it was that he had said, was worthy of movement.Â
It’s really horrendous. As lightly as the politicians themselves take the proceedings of government, so too is it expected of the people. Yet some of us out here continue to think and continue to reason. We observe and bear witness to the lack of passion that is brought to the table. Why are these people wanting to be a part of the machine? Is it any wonder that the Congress is so universally loathed when they as the opposition, as the check and the balance, are represented by a woman that seems so utterly detached?
State of the Whac-a-Mole 2008… another colossal disappointment.
Posted on January 28th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Politics.
Ted Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama in his bid to become the Democratic nominee. Whoopee! The endorsement of a washed up, over the hill, remnant of a political dynasty… it makes me all tingly. I think Ted’s endorsement should have went something like this:
“Errrrrr Ahhhhhhhh….. Barack Obama never drowned a white woman, but I bet there’s one he’d like to! Another round of Chivas Regal!”
Posted on January 28th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Politics.
There is something laughable about Rev. Al Sharpton screaming about somebody race baiting. This is a guy that has made a living off of doing the exact thing he is condemning. Shocking, isn’t it? Of course it isn’t, the man is a shameless piece of trash and we all know.
On ABC’s “The View,” Sharpton said voters are hearing “race charges, race-tinged rhetoric” in the Democratic primary campaign, and called on the former president to cease.
Not that Al has ever listened to a request from the police to cease when people’s lives were at stake as his “followers” commenced to rioting.
“I think it’s time for him to just be quiet,” said Sharpton, who was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2004. “I think it’s time for him to stop. As one of the most outspoken people in America, there’s a time to shut up, and I think that time has come.”
I couldn’t agree with you more Al, now if you’d only take some of your own advice to heart.Â
One must marvel that the party of so-called progressives finds itself in a knock down drag out fight over issues that they supposedly put to bed (at least to hear them talk about their own beliefs) in the 60s. My, how progressive of all of you! I think that what this fight for the nomination is doing is clueing blacks in on just how “for granted” their votes are taken, within the Democratic Party. You can almost hear Bill Clinton saying, “YOU OWE US!” He hasn’t quite lost his marbles to the point of actually spitting it out, but if things get really bad… he just might!
Posted on January 28th, 2008 by Mark.
Categories: Uncategorized.
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Got this in my email today, along with the caption, “Ask the American Indian what happens when you don’t control immigration.” Maybe a little hysterical… but still, it’s clever and surely makes for a little food for thought.