The Question, Ladies And Gentlemen, Is This: Is That A Naked Woman In Dick Cheney's Sunglasses?

To the right of this post, you'll see the picture that has all of the Internet abuzz. To prove my point, try googling "cheney sunglasses". As of this moment, I have over 137,000 hits, mostly from the last 24 hours. Lord knows how many hits there will be by the time that you read this.

The general question that people seem to want to have answered is the question referenced in the title of this post (see the Chicago Sun Times or several hundred locations if you don't believe me).

So, what is that image in Vice-President Cheney's sunglasses, anyway?
I submit these suggestions to what we are seeing in the image:

• Satan bowing down to Mr. Cheney.
• A human soul being sucked from an adult female in order to provide sustenance to the VP.
• The final emergence of Chulthu.
• The experiment has finally worked, and Cheney has finally bred a half-human, half-praying mantis beast. He calls it ManTis. Run!
• The aftereffects of gazing into the Ark of The Covenant (don't look, Marion!).

What this image in Mr. Cheney's sunglasses is NOT:

• A naked woman.

Now. Why were we supposed to care, again?

Larry Liston Is Shockingly Stupid

I have some bad news for you, unmarried teen parents.  One of your legislators has judged you, and found you... slutty.

Republican Representative Larry Liston of Colorado Springs complained yesterday that society condones premarital sex and there's no longer a sense of shame in unmarried teens having children.

"In my parents' day and age, they were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are. There was at least a sense of shame," Liston said of unmarried teen parents. "There's no sense of shame today. Society condones it. . . . I think it's wrong. They're sluts. And I don't mean just the women. I mean the men, too."

You can thank CW2 in Denver. 
Wait, though, it gets better.

Liston later told The Colorado Springs Gazette later he could have chosen his words better but believes many people feel the way he does.

You know, it's a relief to know that the belief that many people feel the way that he does somehow makes his word choice acceptable for the teenage audience.  "Lots of people think the way that I do.  Therefore, what I think must be right."

Perhaps Mr. Liston is a teenager himself? 

No?

How unfortunate.

An Entire African Nation, Covered In Post-Its

A growing number of hospitals are giving up Big Pharma schwag for good. Here's one that went the extra mile.

MINNEAPOLIS - When a Duluth-based operator of hospitals and clinics purged the pens, notepads, coffee mugs and other promotional trinkets drug companies had given its doctors over the years, it took 20 shopping carts to haul the loot away.

The operator, SMDC Health System, intends to ship the 18,718 items to the west African nation of Cameroon.

Thanks, Yahoo.

19718 items? Holy bought and sold, Batman! The medical profession is under constant assault.

Here, watch a movie (courtesy of You Tube).

The Consolidation Of Ultimate Power Has Begun

In what can only be bad news for the average consumer, Bank of America is about to grow, one subprime lender at a time.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Bank of America said Friday it will buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion in stock, a deal that rescues the country's biggest mortgage lender and expands the financial services empire of the nation's largest consumer bank.

The acquisition will make Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. the nation's biggest mortgage lender and loan servicer.

Via Yahoo News.  Egads.

Want more good news?  I suppose that if you have WaMu stock, you should keep it.

Washington Mutual, the U.S. savings and loan slammed by slumping mortgage markets, has held "very preliminary" merger talks with JPMorgan Chase, CNBC has learned.

No deal is imminent but the talks were held fairly recently.

Also on Yahoo.

There was a time, not too long ago, it seems, that a merger could be said to bring economies of scale to the larger company, and that those savings would inevitably come back to the consumer. 

I'm thinking that time is long since past, since the advent of the MegabankTM.  Both WaMu and Countrywide have huge shares of the mortgage market, so both purchases can be interpreted as "market saviour" type purchases.  You can also be certain that in the present regulatory environment, it would be a miracle for either of these mergers to be stopped.  So some might think that in the end, these mergers are good things.

No.
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.

Obama Wins In Iowa. In Other News, Hell Still Pretty Hot

Obama won the Iowa caucuses.

I don't know about you, but I think that change is pretty good.  But I refuse to handicap this in his favor yet.
But what a result.

The 50 Most Loathsome People In America

Every year, the venerable Buffalo Beast releases a ranked list of the most loathsome people in America .  Yearly I wait with bated breath to find out which of my favorites have made the list; this year, being the beginning of election season, was a shoo-in to be a fun read.   Some of the highlights this year include Larry Craig (he of the Wide Stance fame), Brittney Spears (famous for being... what?  Previously attractive?), Hillary Clinton (famous for failed heath care plan, being married to Bill) and Fred Phelps (infamous gay basher, all around pathetic scumbag). 

Take a look at the article and laugh.  Bonus:  you don't have to click on ten different pages to get the whole list.  50 cretinous individuals, one handy page.  America.  What a country.

Compare And Contrast, For Your Amusement

Two famous people.  Two audiences whose popularity are worldwide.  Two equally powerful American political parties.

 

Today, for your consideration, from NobelPrize.org:

"for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"

 

Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr.

 

1/2 of the prize

USA

b. 1948

Now, from Editor and Publisher: Ann Coulter on "perfecting" the Jews:

 

DEUTSCH: "Let's wipe Israel off the earth." I mean, what, no Jews?

COULTER: No, we think -- we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.

DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn't really say that, did you?

COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we're all sinners --

DEUTSCH: In my old days, I would have argued -- when you say something absurd like that, there's no --

COULTER: What's absurd?

DEUTSCH: Jews are going to be perfected. I'm going to go off and try to perfect myself --

COULTER: Well, that's what the New Testament says.

DEUTSCH: Ann Coulter, author of If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans, and if Ann Coulter had any brains, she would not say Jews need to be perfected. I'm offended by that personally. And we'll have more Big Idea when we come back.

[...]

DEUTSCH: Welcome back to The Big Idea. During the break, Ann said she wanted to explain her last comment. So I'm going to give her a chance. So you don't think that was offensive?

COULTER: No. I'm sorry. It is not intended to be. I don't think you should take it that way, but that is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament. As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe -- this is just a statement of what the New Testament is -- is that that's why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don't believe our testament.

DEUTSCH: You said -- your exact words were, "Jews need to be perfected." Those are the words out of your mouth.

COULTER: No, I'm saying that's what a Christian is.

DEUTSCH: But that's what you said -- don't you see how hateful, how anti-Semitic --

COULTER: No!

DEUTSCH: How do you not see? You're an educated woman. How do you not see that?

COULTER: That isn't hateful at all.

Sigh. 

I suppose you should read the whole transcript.

Ann Coulter.

 

 

 

...and that is probably the last time I will ever write your name, Ann.  May you soon be regulated to the political discourse dustbin that you so obviously deserve. 

9-11 - Six Years Later, The Wrong And The Right

Today is the anniversary of 9-11, which some Americans consider to be the most significant event in their lives .

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Six years after the September 11 attacks on the United States, most Americans view the plane hijackings that killed around 3,000 people as the most significant historical event of their lives, according to a poll released Monday.

Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said they see the attacks as the most significant historical even of their lifetimes, with more people on the east coast -- 90 percent -- choosing this view compared to 75 percent on the west coast.

The Zogby International telephone poll surveyed 938 people between September 6 and 9 and has a three-percentage point margin of error.

Thank Yahoo.

First, I'd like to say that 9-11 is most certainly NOT the most significant event of my life.  Number 1: Birth of my daughter.  Number 2:  Meeting my significant other.  3.  Birth of my nieces.  So.  To me, 9-11 is significant, it just pales in comparison to those events.

What I find notable about 9-11, however, is what events have happened since.  Here's my list.
- One completely justifiable war (against the Taliban)
- One completely un-justifiable war (against Iraq)
- The wasting of an enormous amount of pro-American sentiment
- The pillaging of Bill of Rights and the Constitution
- The utter decimation of the health care system
- Virtual destruction of the public school system nationwide
- The creation of the Homeland Security Agency

When I think about how much money has been spent on the war on Iraq, I think of how the Taliban could have been completely wiped off the face of the planet, or how Osama could have been found, or how schools could have been improved, or how a national health care system could have been created.

The saddest thing about 9-11 is what has occurred since then.  We have wasted a lot of time, money, and lives.  9-11 is one of America's greatest catastrophes... and the aftermath is one of our greatest disasters.  We should be ashamed.

No Relationship At All. Nope. None.

It's been a long time.  My home connection is still on the fritz.  I hope to have it fixed today, as it's now costing me money.

 

I will, however, make my return with this nugget of information on the looming terrorist threat:

 

WASHINGTON - A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.

 

Via Yahoo News.

 

Aaaack!  Everybody panic!

 

Hey, what's this all about?

 

June 22, 2007

Two-thirds of Americans Disapprove of the Way
George W. Bush is Handling His Job as President

Over two out-of-three Americans say they disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 27% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 67% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 29% approve and 64% disapprove.

 

Oh.

 

 

Terrorism: A Tale of Two Mayors

Compare:

Michael Bloomberg, present mayor of New York, after the thwarted attempt to blow up John F. Kennedy Airport on Monday on how ordinary citizens can relate to possibility of terrorist post 9-11 (from the New York Times via WCBS tv:

There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life.

Contrast (and yes, this is in part a opinion piece, so tread wisely) with this story on yesterday's incident at a Giuliani gathering in Prison Planet.com:

Matt Lepacek, the reporter who was kicked out of the CNN press room and arrested after asking Rudy Giuliani's staff a question, has now been released on bail. Criminal indictments are now being pursued against the police involved as well as Giuliani's staffers for their flagrant abuse of the First Amendment, assault and wrongful arrest.

<snip>

The female staffer was witnessed to be instrumental in alerting the police to the "crime" of Lepacek asking a question that the Giuliani camp weren't comfortable with.

Rudkowski was assaulted and questioned on who he was working for despite the fact that he hadn't even asked a question and was standing separately from Lepacek.

Lepacek was told that other eyewitnesses saw police stamp on one of the cameras as it lay on the floor.

Another eyewitness said that the entire arrest was clearly being directed by Secret Service, who were ordering the police to threaten anyone who asked questions about the incident with arrest.

I find the dichotomy interesting.

The Credit CARD Act

Usually, I have a natural suspicion of obviously-named bills (see: Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, etc.).  Not in this case.  I bring you... The Credit CARD Act if 2007 .

 

 

A BILL

To amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act to ban abusive credit practices, enhance consumer disclosures, protect underage consumers, and for other purposes.

 

Where discovered?  Why, The Consumerist, of course.  It's easier to buy into a bill when they are into it.

 

The Credit CARD Act Of 2007 is a bill currently before Congress aiming to end some of the credit card industry's anti-consumer practices. Among H. R. 1461's proposals:

• Advance notice of interest rate increases
• End universal default clauses, the premise that they can raise your credit card interest rate if your credit score changes
• Prohibit credit cards being issued to minors without a parental signature

Here's your chance to stem unadulterated evil, people.  Don't blow this.  Support positive changes in the things that drive you crazy in your everyday life, then marvel at the improvements in your daily existence.

Abstinence Only Education Is Wildly Ineffective

To the great surprise of a shockingly small number of people, the most recent U.S. government study has shown that abstinence only education has a negligible impact on actual abstinence among kids.  The rub?  We spent a fortune on this tidbit of common sense.

 

Other than the fact that $87 million a year has disappeared from our collective pockets just as surely as if the money had been thrown into a furnace, the abstinence-only classes might as well have not existed at all.

 

Who?  Alas, A Blog.

 

Youth, hormones and sex go together like toddlers and sugar.  Burying your head in the sand certainly doesn't help the situation.  My idea?  Educate your kids as much as you can, teach them the values that you have, give them the benefit of your experiences, and watch like a hawk.  The world is full of information; let your kids get theirs from you, and maybe, just maybe, you can have a say in the outcome.

 

 

 

 

 

Obama Smokes. Won't Someone Think Of The Children?!

Can political discourse in the media possibly get worse?

 

On the January 17 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, host John Gibson, during a discussion with Manhattan Institute senior fellow John H. McWhorter and Young Democrats of America's Malia Lazu about Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) -- who on January 16 announced his decision to form a presidential exploratory committee -- said: "And [Obama's] team works overtime trying to hide Obama's dirty little secret. He is -- get this -- a cigarette smoker. The point is: What else do we not know about Barack Obama?"

 

I got this from Media Matters..via Digg.

 

I hate smoking, even though I've been known to do it.

 

Yet, somehow, I don't see how Senator Obama smoking has anything to do with anything.  Why should I, or anyone else, care?  Do political opinion pieces really have to grasp at straws so badly?

 

Oh, and check out this graphic:

 

 

Dear LORD.  You have GOT to be kidding.  Obviously, that must be a joke.

 

Josh Gibson:

Obviously, your team does not work overtime to conceal your dirty little secret - that you are a political hack of the worst possible kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surge and Accelerate?!

Well, according to The Today Show this morning (link does not go to the story), our President George W. Bush is about to unveil his new plan for Iraq.  And it is:

"Surge and Accelerate".

 

Surge and Accelerate?

Are you kidding?

 

Has anyone noticed that major plans that emerge from this Administration for the Iraq War tend to come in little sound bites?  Shock and Awe.  Surge and Accelerate.  Who's writing these soundbites?  A business graduate of NJ Jesuit High School?  President Bush needs to fire his marketing people and start again with someone that wants to do a bunch of proposals with puppies.  Everyone likes puppies.

 

Seriously, though, the idea of Surge and Accelerate is to actually send more troops and equipment to the area under the theory - and I do say theory - that presumably the U.S. can achieve a final victory in Iraq.  My bet is that the American people will not want a surge of more troops; in fact, it seems to me that the results on Election Day 2006 probably show that the American people are not interested in putting MORE bodies into Iraq; they are probably more interested in putting LESS bodies there.  No one wants to see more U.S. casualties.  Americans as a whole don't like to see body bags or Humvees blowing up on a daily basis in our supercharged national, cable, local, and Internet media. 

 

I wonder if Surge and Accelerate will actually happen.

Although I'm not sure that it can be stopped.

 

Candidate Handicapping

Mrs. Clinton is looking to run for President.

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding discussions about and interviewing potential campaign staff for a White House bid in 2008, sources say.

 

That's on CNN.

On that note, perhaps now is a good time to start handicapping the possible Democratic candidates.

 

1.  Hillary Clinton.

Pro - She's smart, rational, and has some measure of experience with the rigors of the White House.

Con - See above.  Also, she's female, which, unfortunately, might be the kiss of death for her presidental bid in this country, much to our shame.  Also will nobilize Republicans like no other human being on the face of the planet.

 

2.  Barack Obama.

Pro - He's eloquent.  He's a fresh face.  He's the closest thing to a rock star that Democrats have.  Shockingly, he's also religious and pretty honest.

Con - He's black.  That's a big problem, unfortunately, for the American people.

 

3.  Tom Vilsack.

Pro - He's a governor, which is usually a springboard to the White House.

Con - He's an Iowa governor.  Very few people know who he is.

 

4.  Evan Bayh.

Pro - He's a Washington insider, and knows how the system works. 

Con - See above.

 

5.  Al Gore.

Pro - Very intelligent.  Very qualified.

Con - Ran once and lost.  That might be enough to kill any additional bid.

 

Conclusion:

All choices come with natural flaws.  Other people that should run but won't include:

 

John Edwards

Wesley Clark

Brian Schweitzer

My Dad

 

So it goes.

 

 

Gay Marriage

Top ten reasons why gay marriage should be illegal.  Tongue firmly in cheek, of course.  Here were three of my favorites.

 

02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all like many of the principles on which this great country was founded; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

Via Stopgeek.com.  Ha!

 

I had an interesting discussion with someone this week about gay marriage; we debated the theory from opposing points of view.  However, I went away feeling disoriented and disillusioned, simply because I can't for the life of me figure out why gay marriage should be illegal.  It simply doesn't resonate with my worldview.  In my opinion, it seems that gay people should have the same right to get married and die as happy (or unhappy) as your average, everyday straight person.  Maybe I'm nuts, but marriage would seem to be a basic human right.

 

It would seem, anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cosmic Irony of the MLK Memorial

I find this interesting.

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Presidents, civil rights icons, celebrities and ordinary citizens gathered Monday on the National Mall, where construction is getting under way for a monument honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Via CNN.

 

Why do I find this interesting?

 

Construction of the $100 million monument is scheduled to be completed in 2008, 40 years after King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

Backers have raised more than $65 million, according to The Associated Press. Most of the funding has come from corporate donors including Tommy Hilfiger and General Motors.

While I support the monument, I find it interesting that $100 million dollars is being spent on a monument for a man that probably would have wanted that $100 million dollars to help the poor instead on being spent on a monument for him.

 

Ponder that.

 

Election Night In Denver

Oh my God.

 

I arrived at the voting center in Denver last night at 5:20pm.  The line to vote, by that time, had already stretched down the block, around the corner, and up the NEXT block.

 

I despaired.

 

People (I assume volunteers) were walking around the line, telling people that the line was very, very long (duh), but to NOT GET OUT OF LINE.  Everyone that was in line by 7:00pm would be able to vote.

 

I said to one of that there was no way in Hell I was getting out of line.

 

That was 5:30.

 

At about 5:45pm, people started walking around the line, handing out water, cookies, and donuts.  Bless those that brought the pizzas.  They kept us fed.

 

At about 6:15 or so, someone gave me a peanut butter sandwich.  I noticed, to my great shock, that this guy was making the sandwiches IN HIS HOUSE and bringing them out to voters.  Stunning.  Others were running down to the grocery store down the street to buy food to bring to us.  These people I cannot thank enough.

 

Voters were starting to mill about aimlessly.  People were angry.  Others were saying, quite vocally, "Stay in line!  Don't leave!"  It was, quite honestly, a remarkable show of unity on behalf of my neighborhood.  I was so proud, I almost cried.

 

However, at about 7, at the time that the polls were supposed to be closing, I started to lose hope.  One young woman in front of me was wearing heels.  She kept kneeling on the ground, trying to get some circulation back into her legs.  Her feet were starting to get tired.  She was losing steam, and I knew it.

 

She looked at me.

 

"Don't leave." I said.

 

"I won't.  I'm already invested." she remarked, with some thinly veiled frustration.

 

I left it at that.  We talked quite a bit more that night, but that really isn't pertinent to the story.

 

Right around that same time, a volunteer came around telling us that the Election Commission was giving out tickets at the end of the line, to make sure that they knew who the last person in line should be - who could be the last voter.

 

I remarked, "So.  Then, what you are saying, is that if anyone walks up to this line, and says that they want to vote, then I should close my eyes and kind of trip or something, and then open my eyes again, with them ahead of me."

 

"Yes." she said.

 

"Damn right I will."

 

At about 7:30, one man remarked to me that he thought this vote was rigged, anyway.  We were in the process of being disenfranchised, and we all knew it.  He said that this kind of line to vote for something was a violation of our civil rights, and that this bordered on criminal.

 

I know, I said, but nothing, even if someone called in a bomb threat, could get me out of this line.

 

At 8:00pm came my first thoughts of filing a class action lawsuit.

 

At about 8:20pm, in the middle of the Corona Presbyterian Church, I finally got my opportunity to vote.  I had already researched my votes.  I knew what I was voting for.  Voting took about five minutes.

 

I walked out of the voting booth, and an election official asked me if I wanted one of those "I Voted" stickers that they hand out every election.  Hell yes, I said, but I was too tired to snatch it from her with disdain like I had planned on, for many of those minutes in that insane, god-awful, 4000 person-plus line that was still three or so city blocks long.  At the back door, where I exited, a woman saw my sticker.

 

"Good for you!" she said.

"Yeah.  Good for me." I replied.

It was past 8:30pm.  I had voted.

 

But I had to fight like Hell to do it.

 

The system in Denver is broken.

 

That breaks democracy everywhere.

 

Tell your friends.  Tell your relatives.  Tell the world.  I know that I want the system fixed, and I'm going to do it - by complaining right here.  I live in the most population concentrated area of Colorado.  Yet, we had the LEAST amount of voting centers.  I don't want to say that it's a conspiracy.  But what else would you call it, really?

War

Iraq.

 

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (Reuters) - President George W. Bush challenged Democrats on Friday to offer their plan for winning in Iraq as he swept across Republican strongholds in the U.S. heartland to try to help his party's candidates survive on Election Day.

Encouraging audience participation from thousands of Republican loyalists at a rally, Bush said Democrats should be asked, "What's your plan?" for winning in Iraq and a host of other national security issues separating the parties.

"What's your plan?" the audience yelled back

Reuters.

 

What's your plan, indeed?

 

Alright.  Let's put events to a time line.

 

1.  9-11 happens.

2.  We identify al-Queda as the culprits.

3.  Every politician in Washington decides to collectively lose their minds.

4.  We invade Afghanistan, which makes perfect sense.

5.  Despite having little or no proof that Iraq is involved, despite the fact that there were and are worse despots on the planet, despite Iraq having no WMDs (a word that somebody just made up out of nowhere), we invade Iraq with far, far too little people to actually do the job of stabilizing the area after our invasion.

6.  In a surprise to only the most rigidly optimist or naive or our citizenry, lots of people die.  Lots.

7.  Widespread Panic ensues.

 

I'm all about supporting the troops, because, my God, they've been shot at and bombed to smithereens.  Equally, I can tell without hesitation that I am not brilliant.  I'm a very simple man.  It says so right at the top of the page.  But.

 

How could anyone really have thought that invading Iraq was really a good idea?  Really?!

 

How ridiculous.

 

Even worse, now we are STUCK there.  Stuck.  As in quicksand.  Or quagmire.

 

Washington DC, as a whole, has much to answer for.  Too much.  We have succeeded in kicking out a dictator and destabilizing an entire region of the planet.  We don't have more oil.  Terrorists are being spawned in alarming numbers in Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern and African countries as we speak. 

 

Time to face facts, people.

 

We blew it.

 

Every politician that participated in this garbage should be tossed, really.  But they won't be.  Worse, no matter whether you intend to vote for a Democrat or a Republican next week, nothing, nothing good will come of it.  Our soldiers will still be in Iraq, and unfortunately, they aren't going anywhere for quite a while.  Mark that as a promise.  Deep in your heart, you know that I'm not wrong. 

 

Don't you?

Political Ads

Dear Politicians of All Persuasions:

 

Today, once again, I turned on the television in the morning to look at the news and get the weather.  Unfortunately, today, more so than every other day, every political ad that I saw was a negative attack ad. 

 

You see, as a past political science major, politics does hold some interest for me.  Election season, however, brings out the absolute worst part of the process: negative marketing.  I can't stand it.  No one can.

 

I don't care who paid their student loans and when they paid them.

They had a bankruptcy ten years ago?  So?

Weak on crime?  What is that, actually?  Does actually mean that someone is pro-crime?

Gay marriage is bad?  Evil, even?  Why?

 

Mythical Television Campaign That I Expect To See Any Day Now:

 

Candidate #1:  My opponent is soft on crime.

 

Candidate #2:  I am not soft on crime.  But my opponent will raise your taxes.

 

Candidate #1:  I never said that I will raise your taxes.  My opponent, however, supports illegal immigration.

 

Candidate #2:  I do NOT support an invading illegal immigrant horde.  But I have heard from several good sources that my opponent kicks puppies when his team loses in football.

 

Candidate #1:  I love puppies, and have several well-adjusted puppies of my own, but there are whispers in Washington that Candidate #2 eats babies.

 

Candidate #2:  Those babies were going to grow up to be terrorists, and Candidate #1 knows it.  Therefore, Candidate #1 supports terrorism!

 

Is this the state of political discourse today?

 

Negative political campaign ads are a symptom of a much larger disease.  Democracy in the United States is sick, and getting sicker by the cycle.  Political candidates, be a part of the cure, and not part of the problem.  Tell people what you intend to actually intend to do for them while in office.  That's really what every voter wants to know, anyway.

 

It's only for the good of your country.

 

Isn't that why you're running for office in the first place?

Shouldn't it be?

 

Best regards, and good luck,

Clark