Rush Limbaugh wants MSNBC to stop talking about him, because he thinks they are using him for ratings. Wouldn't that mean people were watching to see Rush called-out for his craziness? I mean, yeah, everything TV news puts on air is for ratings, but I know if I had a radio show were I get to speak my mind, I would LOVE it have it talked about on MSNBC, FOX News or even Univision! Personally, I find Rush relaxing because I don't have to think when he's talking. :-)
First off, I want to remind everyone I believe Alan Keyes has every right to say everything he did. Free speech. It is your right to sound totally bat-shit crazy.
Now turning to the larger theme, I think everyone needs to start listening to what people say and do. We all have the right (dare I say duty) to say what we think, but we all need to start understanding what ideas & beliefs are mainstream, and what ideas should be considered fringe and be marginalized.
I would hope we can all agree that Alan Keyes and his ideas are not mainstream, and he lives on the extreme right fringe of the political spectrum. And really, when people hear him talk, they tune him out. Or laugh at him. Either way, that is how we treat people with views that aren't mainstream, but they have their voice and every right to use it.
But when do we start legitimizing these fringe ideas by supporting them with equal weight and balance? 55% of people support traditional marriage, but 81% support gays being able to serve openly in the military. 52% of Americans want to keep weed illegal and 60% approve of labor unions, but only 39% believe in evolution and 46% think we shouldn't close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. 58% of people think we should actually teach creationism in school as science! Do 58% of Americans want to start ignoring parts of the Constitution and Bill of Rights?
Honesty. It hurts. Weed is illegal because the government tied it to violent crimes and non-white cultures. Evolution is science. Creationism is religion. Public school (government funded) can't teach creationism because it establishes one religion as better or right, and that is unconstitutional, so all long as we are still working under the United States Constitution, that is kinda a big no-no. And people aren't for closing Gitmo because they want to feel safe. I want to be safe. You want to be safe. And you think you are until your best friend, who happens to be of middle eastern descent, gets taken and locked up for no reason. But is Gitmo working?
If we let people lie, mislead and get away with it, we are doing even more damage to our nation than we thought. We need an informed electorate, which comes from great news. But, news and the businesses it created are fare from perfect. But if we can keep the dialog honest, open, and productive it will make everything just that much easier.
It's what we do; strive to form a more perfect union.
After thinking it through, after giving everyone a chance to speak, I am still pissed. I will not forgive, I will not forget, but we will move on because we must. I am not going to pull my support for Obama, yet.
Now it is time for Obama to prove me wrong. Come on Obama, be smarter than me and pull of this crazy hat trick.
Please just watch, no matter what you think about the LGBT community or gay marriage, take a few minutes and listen.
Not really much to say that Olbermann didn't, except maybe this: You all know me. Are you ready to tell me I am something less than you? That you should be able to get married but I can't? Are you really telling me you are better than me?
Because, no matter what you say, that is what it feels like to me, to the millions in the LGBT community, and to the many more millions who think equal rights means equal rights, no matter the person's sex, skin color, religion or sexual orientation.
So Mrs. Sarah "never a dull moment" Palin actually did an interview. I'm starting to see why she was better off not talking.
Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”
PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.
Really?! Are you telling me that I got it wrong for the last 25 years I have been learning about government? My senior year of American Government in high school was wrong? My poly sci classes I took in college (including one on the Presidency) was wrong? Damn!
Article One, section three: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided."
Once again, I bow to the greatness of Keith Olbermann:
And Rachel Maddow:
I'm sorry to burst your bubble Governor, but I would like someone running for vice president that has an idea, based in reality and fact, of what their job might just be. Not to mention some depth and a real relationship with their running mate. Normally I would just post a passing hyperlink to this story, but I think it is TOO good not to really point out.
Go and read Jonathan Alter's piece where he talked to Biden. Biden’s Unified Theory of Biden. And not only does it touch on how Obama and Biden talked through what their professional relationship would be like, it was this that really caught my eye:
Biden says Obama reminds him of Bill Clinton in his "confidence, cognitive ability, judgment" and intellectual security—that he can listen and absorb advice without having to prove he's the smartest person in the room, a critical leadership skill. He says he experienced an "epiphany" during a recent conference call on the bailout bill with Bob Rubin, Paul Volcker, Warren Buffett, Paul O'Neill, Joseph Stiglitz, Larry Summers and Laura Tyson. "He [Obama] comes on the call and says, 'Well, folks, sorry I'm late. I've got four questions.' He was in total frigging command! Here's a 47-year-old guy in one of the most complicated economic dilemmas anyone has had to face since 1929 to '33. And it was like, 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' I called him afterward and said, 'You sold me, sucker!' "
I long for smart people to lead, but for those people also not to need to show off just how smart they are. I'm looking at you Al Gore.
So, Biden or Palin. Barack Obama or John McCain.
Lord, it's like asking a kid if he wants ice cream or liver and onions. You tell me what he's going to pick.
Rush Limbaugh wants MSNBC to stop talking about him, because he thinks they are using him for ratings. Wouldn't that mean people were watching to see Rush called-out for his craziness? I mean, yeah, everything TV news puts on air is for ratings, but I know if I had a radio show were I get to speak my mind, I would LOVE it have it talked about on MSNBC, FOX News or even Univision! Personally, I find Rush relaxing because I don't have to think when he's talking. :-)
