Again, I’m as American as the next guy in this country and I love the fact that an American won the award. Yet, I can’t help to wonder the basis of President Obama’s nomination or his award. What…exactly…has he done to warrant such a prestigious award?

Could President Obama be the spark that creates great forms of positive change in the world? Well, yeah, I guess. But then again – you or I could be that same spark. Some would argue (successfully, too) that President George W. Bush was such a figure. Others might say that the work that President Bill Clinton has performed since he left office make him a clear choice for the Nobel Peace Prize. But President Obama?

Hmmm…

I think the folks behind this award are suffering from a form of premature exasperation. That’s right. I think that they hear President Obama speak about good will and their hearts flutter. I used to work for a guy who was absolutely euphoric over President Obama winning the White House (he was later fired from the office due to incompetency). It appears that the folks behind this award are absolutely euphoric, too.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to let President Obama actually become the force for good that everyone thinks he can be and THEN reward him for it? Oh wait, I forgot that he’s a liberal minded politician leading a world power during the localization of the globe. In other words – he can do no wrong in some people’s eyes… which is a damn shame.

Congratulations, President Obama. I hope that you live up to this award.

Some quick thoughts…

Frank Esposito. Dr. Esposito had the biggest opportunity to make a strong case for his and Chris Daggett’s candidacy and I don’t think he made as much of that opportunity as possible. That’s not a knock on Dr. Esposito, though, but rather an observation that New Jersey’s (and America’s) two party system is ruining our political debate. Dr. Esposito had to spend more time reminding everyone that there were bigger issues to worry about than political attacks than actually talking about his and Daggett’s platform! Sad…

Kim Guadagno. In the event that anyone wants to declare an official “winner” in the debate tonight, I think that Sheriff Guadagno is the clear choice. Between Dr. Esposito constantly having to speaking in generalities and Senator Weinberg speaking in politician speak, the Sheriff was the one who came out on top. Also, she also gave some pretty clear answers and was forceful in her responses – which New Jerseyans want to see in this election year.

Loretta Weinberg. If there was any candidate who didn’t have a “good” night tonight, I think that it was State Senator Weinberg. However, that doesn’t mean that she came off horribly. In fact, I think that Senator Weinberg did a good job doing what she knows how to do best, which is act and respond to questions like a seasoned politician. Again, there is some value in that, but I think that New Jersey voters want something different.

The Venue. I’m not sure why Leadership New Jersey and Monmouth University didn’t let more people into the Pollack Theater – there were certainly enough empty seats that could have been filled if more people were let in. The audience was out of control and while that makes for good radio listening and television viewing, it doesn’t quite help in a forum format.

The Moderators. While strong, the moderators (at times) seemed to steal the spotlight from the candidates. That’s never a good thing, but it is certainly understandable when you are dealing with a Lieutenant Governor debate.

Overall, I wasn’t jumping up and down at the end of the debate. Hearing Dr. Esposito say that he supported in-state tuition for illegals stopped any chance that he and Daggett had of getting my vote. Student loans and the cost of going to college is my issue and that’s not what I want to hear.

More on all of this tomorrow…

As I looked at some reviews of this documentary on the web, I was shocked by the amount of detractors who suggested that Ziegler was your typical, aggravated conservative who was frustrated with his party’s candidate and is now lashing out. Well, that’s a ton of a bullshit if there ever was some! Ziegler is a committed libertarian and has only ever donated money to democratic politicians. Sounds like a regular Rush Limbaugh, right?

Thought not.

From my view, the documentary really dives into two major issues in the 2008 campaign. First, it looks at how the media deliberately paid no serious attention to the various three alarm fires associated with Senator Obama. For example, the audiotape that came out a few days before the election where Obama specifically cited that previous supposedly-liberal Supreme Courts had not gone far enough into redistributing wealth and addressing issues of economic justice. Second, the documentary looks at how the media absolutely destroyed Alaska Governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. When you watch the various attacks played in succession, it’s enough to turn your stomach.

People like Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric twisted and bent Palin’s previous statements and then asked her to respond. And when Palin questioned their phrasing of the questions, they lashed out at her like she was a dummy! The thing that always got me about Palin is that she’s just a regular Mom who rose up the political ranks. When she suggested that she was your typical “hockey Mom,” I can see that being true! And it shows you the vast disconnect between the media and regular Americans that they didn’t “get it.”

Understanding Palin boils down to one of the major issues that Bill O’Reilly has been going on about for years now – class warfare; the “elites” versus regular citizens. I put “elite” in quotations because most of the people who fall into this category may not even realize it. For example, I have friends (conservative, liberal, and independent) who have no idea that think in terms of class warfare and their “class” being better than those “below” them. It’s frustrating and a topic for another entry at another time.

There were some portions of Ziegler’s that will stick with me. Maybe the most glaring is how completely biased Katie Couric was in her interview with Palin. And, specifically, how Katie took Senator John McCain’s two major regulatory battles in the realm of the housing meltdown (his relentless pursuit of tighter oversight over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) off of the table when she asked Palin to explain what McCain had done to help stave off the mortgage meltdown. That’s the equivalent of asking someone, “Other than red, white, and blue, what other colors are there on the flag of the United States of America?”

What?

And the documentary also does a good job of talking about how certain issues were blown up to mean much more than they actually did (i.e. race). If you look at the exit polls, race meant nothing to the voters. By and large, the voters went for Obama because they found what the media suggested that he stood for as a good thing (the nebulous concept of “change”). I have no issues with the voters voting anyway they choose, but to constantly use race as a battering ram against anyone who would even think to mention it (such as former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro) is absurd. Sure, if a pundit tried to use it as a negative, then they should have been criticized, but over and again that was not the case.

Watching Media Malpractice gives you a plethora of such aggravating and disgusting examples of the media’s bias. But, as has been reported on this blog by both my entries and my readers via their comments – the American mass media is a complete joke. It is an empire that has forgotten what unbiased reporting is supposed to be about and is, instead, dominated by profits and ratings. Just like now is the perfect time for a third party to rise at the national level, now is the perfect time for us as a nation to turn our backs on the biased media and support independent sources of news and citizen-led media.

In any event, if you have an interest in this stuff, then I suggest that you check out Media Malpractice. You’ll be as disgusted with the mainstream media as I am.

I supported the Obama administration from Day 1, but stupid acts like this make me rethink whether or not there is any common sense left in the White House. Unbelievable…

With such an historic campaign there are a few things that we do NOT need this time around. First and foremost, I get physically ill every time I hear Barack Obama say that John McCain is running for George Bush’s third term. What a disgusting catchphase to use in this “historic” election! John McCain is John McCain. George Bush is George Bush. John McCain is running for his first term. Obama’s comparison of John McCain to George Bush is obviously rooted in politics and polls since most of the nation is sick of Bush at this point and the Obama team is trying to capitalize on that disgust. THIS is the new politics that Obama promised? Count me out, thank you. As soon as I heard these words come out of Obama’s mouth, I immediately shut off my brain from listening to any other drivel come out of this man.

But lo and behold the brain trust running McCain’s campaign goes out and tells McCain to say that Obama is running for Jimmy Carter’s second term! Good grief! Is this the John McCain that ran as a maverick politician in 2000 and has based his entire political career off of doing what he believed was right over what his political party believed was right? THIS is what I can expect from John McCain going forward? No thanks. At this point, you can count me out. This is NOT the new politics that these men promised America and I urge everyone else who wants true change to withdraw support from either candidate until they stop throwing this type of mud.

The disguised shots at McCain’s age and the pathetic shots at Obama’s personal advisors are all too much to bear. I encourage everyone to start exploring third party candidates if they are really looking for change this year. For starters, go and take a look at Bob Barr – the Libertarian Party candidate.

Change doesn’t mean voting for the same party or a candidate with flowery speeches, folks. Change means using YOUR vote to make a REAL change in America.