I love it when people make statements trying to make a big point or say something profound and they end up coming across as idiots. I don't know why I find humor in this, but I do. At the Live 8 show this past weekend some dude from Coldplay said "This is the greatest thing that's ever been organized in the history of the world". HAHAHAHA...what an idiot! So a stupid concert to "raise awareness" about people starving in Africa had more of an impact than the following organized events -
1) Moses leading the slaves out of Egypt
2) The D-Day invasion which began the
liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany
3) The founding fathers of America creating
a Declaration of Independence to establish a new country
Ummmm...yeah....I can see how a concert would overshadow those events. It drives me nuts when rich rock stars and actors or whoever tell me that I need to send money to something. Why don't they? And I don't mean a few bucks...I mean millions...they have it to spare right? Anyway....
Oh the big news out of Hollywood...they're still in a financial slump because of crappy ticket sales...and they can't figure out why. Now these are people who are paid millions of dollars every year to do market research, fund projects, etc., and the answer escapes them??? How about you stop putting out movies that no one really gives a crap about? Could that solve the little problem? See for every blockbuster, there's probably 5 or 6 that cost a TON of money to make and flopped. For every "War of the Worlds" there's a ton of "Kingdom of Heaven" types. Are they just that stupid? Now I gotta say, I have gone to the movies more this summer then the last probably 3 combined, and there's still one more about to come out I will be at opening weekend - "The Devil's Rejects". In fact, I went this past weekend to see "Batman Begins" AGAIN...and I NEVER do that. Oh the IMAX experience...if you have the means please discover the experience of seeing this film on IMAX. I can't get enough of that movie. I actually want to see it one more time before it leaves the theater but will wait for it to come out on DVD. But instead of taking the time to develop more quality films like this, Hollywood wants to throw "Dukes of Hazzard" out there for us and expect us to care. What idiots they are. And this week is "The Fantastic Four". My most beloved superhero group ever...let's see how Hollywood can ruin them.
And now for politics and stuff like that. Oh come one, you knew it was coming seeing how it's July 4th. First off, it amazes me how President Bush gives a speech last week on the state of things in Iraq and the war on terror...and yet he's STILL eaten alive by the press. First off I thought it was horrible and sad that he had to even give that speech to remind people what's going on. And you know what? To hear people say the crap they did after his speech just pisses me off and also fuels me to keep my Senate campaign going. I've had it. I have had it with the Supreme Court acting like they're untouchable, I have had it with politicians lining themselves up for the Presidential run in 2008, I have had it with the media not shutting up on Guantanamo Bay...I have had it. Here's a little anecdote that happened to me this past Friday. During my lunch break I went to Media Play to pick up the latest "Medal of Honor" game on the Playstation 2, and while I was there I was looking at the books. I found Michael Savage's "The Enemy Within" and Anne Coulter's "Slander" book pretty cheap, so I picked them up. It was weird, I had a gut feeling (and my gut never lies to me as long as I keep it happy with the occasional pizza) that I was going to receive some flak for buying these books. I can't explain it, but I knew someone was going to say something. I get up to the counter and this dude picks up the Anne Coulter book and goes "please tell me this is for a political science class" all condescending because I must be a complete idiot. Now, I have to say it was my lunch hour and I was pressed for time otherwise I would have let this guy have it...but due to time constraints I did what I could. I smiled and said "no way man, it's for ENTERTAINMENT". He rolls his eyes and starts going on about how he can't stand her and everything. Now I like Anne Coulter's opinions and the way she can be a real smartass, but her voice annoys me to no end, so I had to agree with him on that. But the dude was ringing me up and kept going on and on about her and whatever...then he starts on Michael Savage. Now I will take personal offense when someone starts to rag on Dr. Savage...I love his radio show and his books are awesome. This guy says whatever he wants and absolutely does not care who he pisses off. You combine that with the fact that he's a hardcore conservative and one could see why I'd dig the dude. Anyway, Johnny register jockey starts going off on Michael Savage and mentions about the last show he did on MSNBC where Savage said to some dude who has AIDS "I hope you die and burn in hell". Now I really don't know if that's what he said or not...but the register dude was pissing me off. So when he tells me this I said "Well, I don't know the context of why he would say that but I'm sure he had his reasons". Yeah, that didn't go over very well. And then the guy starts on the whole "I support the troops but not the war". Jeez...how many friggin times do I gotta hear this??? If you support the troops then you HAVE TO support what they are doing!!! Serious, if you don't support what someone is doing how in the hell can you support them? For example...I'm a die-hard Atlanta Falcons fan...that's no secret. So let's say I tell someone "I support the players but not the game they're playing in". Do you see how STUPID that is??? I want the players to do well but not win the game??? It makes ZERO sense. You can't have it both ways...either you support the troops AND what they are trying to accomplish or you don't...it's pretty simple. So I tell this guy "Look man, I'm about as right-wing as someone can get so I disagree with every single thing you're saying". He keeps going on about stuff and I just keep saying "well, that's just your opinion" and I started to get REAL condescending about it. Like I said, I was running out of time because I'm on a lunch break because I REALLY wanted to go off but I didn't have the time. Now on the drive back to work I started thinking about what if I was working the register and someone was buying Bill Clinton's book and I said "oh, you're gonna give money to this scumbag?". What probably would have happened was that they would have asked for the manager...wanted me fired...and may have even staged a protest of Media Play. It's funny because conservatives are supposed to be the ones who are so uptight and everything, but the term "liberal" is such a contradiction because those people get offended by every stupid little thing...and I love it...I really do.
On the campaign front - I did a little spy work today. I called the office of Ed Bryant who is supposed to be the front-runner for the Republican side here for the Senate race. Harold Ford Jr. is the main Democrat, but he doesn't have a prayer so he concerns me not...especially seeing how his uncle, a state representative was arrested last month on a number of charges in an FBI sting. So I called Bryant's office and asked to speak to someone on certain issues to find out where Mr. Bryant stood on things and what he planned to do about them. I asked about illegal immigration which is quite a hot topic around here, and was told that he was against it...of course. So I asked what he planned to do about it. Oh jeez...now if someone asked me I could answer that question in about two minutes...but this guy goes on for like ten minutes and hardly tells me anything concrete. This dude tells me that Bryant was on the House Judiciary Committee in the 1990's which is very responsible for border security and is planning on being on the Senate Judiciary Committee as well. Well there's two problems here. Number one, he did a real bang-up job in the 1990's with border security didn't he? Yeah, I'd be bragging about that all the time. Number two, he can plan all he wants on being on the Senate Judiciary Committee...but I don't plan on losing this election either. My favorite though was when this dude was telling me about how even if the borders were 100% secure, that only eliminates half the problem...the other half comes from work visas expiring. See, I took this as a way to deflect my focus off the real issue of the border between us and Mexico which, for whatever reason, seems to be a controversial subject. See with work visas there is some kind of trail...we know they came into the country...and if people do their jobs then you know where they're at and if it's expired. That's easy. He tried to tell me that when Bryant has talked to police officers, judges, etc., that even when they arrest an illegal immigrant, INS won't do anything to deport them...almost trying to make it sound like there's just nothing anyone can do. You know what my answer is? Fire the whole damn department and get people in there who will do the job...another easy solution. Politicians try to make every single thing seem so difficult...as if us serfs who till the land all day couldn't possibly fathom the intricacies of what they have to go through. That's a load of crap. If someone doesn't want to do their job you get rid of them and get someone that can. Even if the whole INS has to shut down for a month to bring new people on, that would be a better solution then having a bunch of losers sitting around collecting a paycheck who aren't willing to do what they are supposed to do. I swear, I can't wait to get my shot in a public forum...be it TV, radio, whatever. Oh, and now we have a Supreme Court vacancy. You want to see how spineless the Republican party has become? We'll see what kind of guts they have as this nomination is going to be hotly contested. I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but for the majority power in the Senate to act like such wimps is ridiculous. Again, it's all "politics". Instead of just telling someone "that's the way it is...tough" they will try to appease everyone. Screw that...grow a pair. It's sad, the more I get involved in the political process in this campaign, the more I'm realizing that the entire thing is one big game. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm a direct descendent of Thomas Heyward, one of the founding fathers of this country who signed the Declaration of Independence. Here's what an article I found said about him -
"Although young Heyward was due to inherit a large fortune, he devoted himself to the study of law with the ardor of someone who expected to earn their living from the practice of the profession. After finishing with his education in England, he commenced on a tour of Europe that took him several years. His father's fortune gave him the opportunity to gain a knowledge of the different countries of Europe and to contrast the industry and simplicity of his countrymen with the laziness, luxury and corruption and pride that was so prevalent on the continent.
Heyward returned to South Carolina in 1771 and quickly joined his fellow patriots in their fight for independence. He had become embittered in England by the contemptuous attitude of the British toward the "backwoods colonials". He was elected to the provincial assembly in 1772 and a year later, when he was twenty-seven, he married Elizabeth Matthews, the daughter of a prosperous planter.
In 1775, Heyward became a member of the South Carolina Committee of Safety and he was elected to fill a vacancy in the continental congress that was created by the recall of John Rutledge who was called back to assist in defending the state against a threatened invasion. Heyward, being a modest man at first declined. However, he was convinced to fulfill the duties of his appointment and he arrived in Philadelphia in time to enter the discussion of the great question of American independence. Heyward signed the Declaration of Independence five days after his thirtieth birthday.
In 1778, Heyward left Congress to become judge of criminal courts of the new South Carolina government. Soon after his rise to the bench, he was called upon to preside over the trial and accusation of several persons charged with treasonable correspondence with the British army in Charleston. The condemnation of these colonists was followed by their execution, which took place within view of the enemy soldiers, and which served to render the judge most objectionable to the British.
Despite the danger of an advancing British army near his court, Heyward held at the same time a military commission, and in the battle of Beauford, he received a wound that left a scar that marked him for the remainder of his life. In the spring of 1780, the city of Charleston was besieged by General Clinton and upon the surrender of the city, Heyward was taken prisoner and sent with Edward Rutledge, Richard Hutson and other patriots to St. Augustine, Florida, where he was imprisoned for a year. Here he amused himself by composing patriotic words to such British national songs as "God save the King,", that the prisoners might indulge their patriotic sentiments under the cover of loyal British tunes."
I love that last bit about him writing pro-America songs sung to the tune of British patriotic songs. I guess I know where my "smartass" gene comes from...hahahaha. Seriously though, I look at what he gave up along with the rest of the founding fathers. These guys were all pretty well-to-do, yet put everything including their lives on the line to stand up for what was right. Today we have people in the House and Senate who make more money every year then a lot of people will see, are in no way threatened with being killed by an occupying force, and yet don't have the guts to take a stand because they're too worried they might offend someone and lose a few votes. It sickens me. Hell, everyone should be sickened by this. In fact, I did some research and found that in every Tennessee State election going back to 2000 (that's as far back as the data went) that whoever spent the most money in their campaign won. The guy Ed Bryant who ran for Senate in 2002 before losing to Lamar Alexander spent almost $4,000,000...can you believe that? Alexander spent about $200,000 more than him. Does that bother anyone? It sure as hell bothers me...and not because there's no way I'll raise that kind of cash, but it's almost like people just buy their way into office. It disgusts me and I can't wait for the day I get ot either debate these guys or get interviewed in a major public forum...I can't wait.