The Inkbottle

Ten Things I learned in 2008

1. That I can support a winning candidate for President. With one exception, before this year, the person I supported and voted for in the primary either wasn't nominated or lost in the general election [the one exception? 1996 when Clinton was the only choice.] I decided to support Obama back in 2007, and I stuck with him all the way, and somehow he won. It was a great year, but it was an election grounded in my support of sports teams that always go to the brink before crashing and burning (Angels, Seahawks). Hence, I never took anything for granted--up to 7:59 (my time) on election night, just before the results of California and Washington put Obama over the top. The elation that I felt at that moment, when the victory was confirmed, equaled anything that has ever happened in my life. Right now, it can't be January 20th fast enough.
2. That Sigur Ros is an awesome live act. Well, I knew that, but I'd never seen them live before. I went to their show in San Diego this year, and was blown away. Amiina wasn't even with them to provide all their beautiful ambience, but the band still rocked. I rarely go to concerts any more, but that was an exception I'd be happy to make over and over again.
3. That I really, really want to finish writing the book I've been writing for the last four or so years (on and off). I'm getting there. I have a few chapters done, and I like where I'm headed.
4. That Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is actually one of the best albums of all time. Seriously. Check it out, please, and read my post here at the Inkbottle.
5. That most people liked The Dark Knight more than I did. I still liked it, but I preferred Batman Begins because the creation of the myth is (to me) more interesting than its execution.
6. That I'm pegged by my friends and family. When a birthday or Xmas comes around, what do I get? Books and DVDs and that's it. No one ever gets me music because my taste is too weird for them to fathom. But that's cool--I can buy THEM CDs.
7. That the smartest purchase I have made in the past five years is my Prius. When gas was $4 a gallon in California, I barely blinked when going to fill up. I rarely paid over $20 per visit, and those visits were very infrequent. Even when my wife and I drove up to San Francisco, we didn't pay more than $120 or so for gas the entire way.
8. That Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are two of the smartest people in television (okay, I knew this before 2008, but 2008 reaffirmed it).
9. That I really, really like 30 Rock--more than The Office, even. Tina Fey, yay!
10. That I am happy and fortunate to have a job at a time when so many people are struggling. Unemployment in my area is over 25%, so there are a lot of people struggling around here. I'm glad to not be one of them, and I hope my job as a teacher at a community college can help others dig out of their own dire predicaments and make their lives better.

Happy 2009, everyone! Just a few more days and we'll finally have a REAL president!!!!!

President-Elect Obama

Other than the day I got married and the day that the (then) Anaheim Angels won the World Series, this is the greatest day of my life.

I am 40 years old. I was born a few months before Nixon took office, so I have seen my share of horrible, horrible Presidents, from Nixon and Carter to Reagan and Bush and worse Bush. Clinton was all right, but he was always too interested in himself than anything else, and his infidelities and the problems that ensued led directly to the last eight horrible fucking years.

Obama, however, is different. He is a President to be proud of. I'm already proud of him, and he just finished his victory speech! He is a symbol, yes, but he is a humble symbol, capable of leading the world through a difficult time and capable of transforming the way Americans look at each other and the way the world looks at America. He was the only choice for President this year, and he has the opportunity to change the world in a real and fundamental way. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

But today, I just want shed a tear and thank Jeebus for the opportunity to live to see this wonderful, amazing moment arrive. Finally, I am going to have a President I will be proud of.

To DFW with Love

David Foster Wallace died over a week ago, and finally someone has written a tribute worthy of the man.

I can say no more.

Obama's Future...by The Onion

You have to check this out--proof that Obama knows more than he's letting on about the future.

It's My Birthday, so Indulge Me

• Obama acts like a president with every move he makes.  He makes decisions like a real president (not the fake president we have now).  His VP pick was a smart choice, someone with tons of experience and (from all appearances) a level head.  Why isn't he President yet?
• McCain, by contrast, acts like the deranged character that Stephen Colbert plays on his show--ignoring facts and "feeling" truth.  Look at his VP pick if you want proof. 
• Despite all this, it's still a close race, and McCain could win.  But if he does, it'll be because the American public is stupid enough to buy all the bullshit that the Republicans roll out about every single thing.  Here's hoping at least 51% of voters choose to think in November.
• If a computer product comes out and it is Windows-only, it doesn't exist--at least, to me.  Google's coming out with a new web browser as a Windows-only release initially with a Mac release to follow.  What's stupid about that is that Google is using the same architecture underneath the browser that Apple uses for Safari.  So why the delay?  Again, get me a Mac version and I'll pay attention.  [Oh, and I actually HAVE a PC at work and my Mac is equipped with Parallels.  I still don't care about non-Mac products.]
• Where was Cheney today during all the hurricane stuff?  He could have just shot Gustav in the eye.
• The Angels' magic number to clinch the division is 9.  It's Sept. 1.  That's insane.  They are killing their division.  As things stand, they will clinch their division a full two or three weeks before anyone else.  What a season!  Here's hoping the good times will continue through October.

If I Ran for Office...

Like almost everyone else, I've been following the 2008 Presidential election very closely.  And the whole race and all the hell that those candidates are put through every single day got me thinking: if I ran for office, would anyone vote for me? 

I'm guessing not.  Here's why:

1. I'm pro taxes.  I think we should be paying way more taxes than we are today.  We should tax the hell out of the rich and put all that money into our schools, our health care system, our social welfare system, and our public transportation system.  Would it be worth it to pay more in taxes if health care was completely free and universal, if public transportation (including trains) was cheap and plentiful, if pensions and holidays were mandated by the government (including a month-long vacation for all employees), if our schools (including higher ed) were completely free and fully funded?  Wouldn't it be worth it to pay more in taxes if you knew that, upon losing your job, you would have government assistance until you found a new job and the government would pay for any training you might need to get that new job?
2. I'm pro gay rights and pro gay marriage.  That's not too controversial--but what if I said that I'm also in favor of everyone trying homosexuality at least once?  That's government policy in the UK, after all! 
3. I'm pro choice, pro euthanasia, and pro suicide.  Individual rights should extend to our ability to create (or not create) life and take our own.  There are too many people in the world anyways, so getting rid of a few isn't a problem to me.
4. Gasoline should cost, at minimum, $25 a gallon, with 85% of that being tax money that goes to developing renewable energy.  You make gas $25 a gallon and we'll have renewable energy in 2 months.
5. I'm not just pro gun control; I'm anti guns.  Get rid of all guns--pry them out of cold, dead hands if necessary.
6. The word "soccer" should be outlawed.  It's football, Americans.  Accept it.  American football should be called "American football" or "American rules football."  I'm being lenient here--after all, American football has very little to do with feet, doesn't it?
7. Nudity and cursing should be allowed on television, period--especially during children's programming.  Kids need to learn that stuff sooner or later, so why not start early?
8. All drugs should be legalized, including tobacco.
9. People who are cruel to animals should be fed to lions.
10. Fully fund the space program.  We need get the hell off this planet as soon as possible.

A New Version of Pot Calling Kettle Black

Here's James Dobson, founder of the ultraconservative religious group Focus on the Family, talking about Barak Obama: "I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said.  "... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

Obama Supporter's Thoughts on Clinton

I was going to write a rant here about how Obama was the exemplary first African American candidate for President while Clinton was never the ideal choice for women, but I think Meghan O'Rourke has already done it in her latest post on Slate, "How Hillary Clinton Went Wrong."  Check it out in full yourself, but here's an excerpt:

In this regard, Clinton never really was the first American matriarch. Instead, she may be best remembered as our last patriarch. The more her campaign floundered as Obama offered ecstasy and she didn't, the more masculine and hard-nosed she made herself out to be. Cannily reversing gender roles, she told Obama supporters that if he couldn't "take the heat" he should "get out of the kitchen"—a subtle put-down of her own gender aimed at working-class male voters who wanted reassurance that Clinton was manlier than the girlie men the Democrats had of late been nominating. Her supporters (among them, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana) invoked stories of steelworkers waxing enthusiastic about her "testicular fortitude." While Obama went on rhetorical flights about hope, she compared herself to the hyper-masculine Rocky Balboa—an underdog, to be sure, but a stoic one who keeps getting up. None of this was accidental, even if the source wasn't always Hillary herself. She was "manning up." Over the years, her hair had grown shorter, and her make-up thicker, like a mask. She played the men's game so well that James Carville eventually quipped, "If she gave [Obama] one of her cojones, they'd both have two."

 

I'll just add that Obama's true strength is that he never stopped being himself.  Despite all the attacks, despite all the adversity, he never lost his cool and he was always cordial and composed.  That's a president, and that's why he'll win in November in a landslide. 

Obama

Sorry for not posting lately--just tons of stuff going on at work (I teach and run a distance ed program) and I haven't found time to actually write up the things I want to write up here.  I am still working on my personal musical history--just haven't posted them yet.  I will.

I have to write something right now, however.  I am disgusted by the turn the election campaign has taken lately.  Obama, my guy, has stayed above the fray for the most part--but Clinton has done nothing but throw muck at Obama and then spend time dancing on top of that muck.  I'm sick to death of Clinton's tactics--so much so that if she wins the nomination, I'm tempted not to vote for her.  I can't possibly vote for McCain, either, and no I won't vote for Nader (though my wife has--twice).  I'll just leave it blank.  So, for me, it's Obama or no one at this point.  And for all those women out there who feel that it's Clinton's turn and she deserves it and I'm being too hard on her because she's a woman and if a man was attacking another man in this way I wouldn't be feeling the same outrage--well, all I have to say is: bullshit.  I was disgusted by the Republican attacks in the last few elections, and it's the same disgust I feel this time around, only with a Democrat attacking a Democrat.  I could care less that Clinton is female, just as I care less that Obama is half-African.  Who cares about that stuff?  Politics uses those things to separate people and galvanize their supporters.  I choose not to use those things when deciding on a candidate.  I'm for Obama because he argues the same thing.  Clinton doesn't.