New Obama Campaign Ad
"That one..."
Have you ever been talking among friends and referred to another friend or even someone outside your group as "that one"? You know, stuff like, "Oh that one's got a future ahead of him," or, "That one's gonna get a rude awakening." No big deal, right?
Now imagine you're John McCain. You're talking about your opponent's Senate voting record in a town-hall debate. In reference to a particularly unfavorable bill you say, "Guess who voted for it? That one. Not me."
Still no big deal, right? Well, that's what I think, anyway. But apparently some people don't. As I was listening this evening to a local radio station, WLIB AM, a predominantly African-American-run station, I was shocked to hear the host say that John McCain was being a racist when he called Barack Obama "That one" because he was objectifying him and treating him as sub-human. He argued that African-Americans have a long history of being objectified and McCain was only the most recent high-profile white person to express his racist views. Does anyone else think this is ridiculous? Seriously. It's a figure of speech used by people in conversation literally every day. But as soon as it was used by John McCain against Barack "Socialist Propaganda Incarnate" Obama, the world goes into an uproar. Not surprisingly, the infamous Huffington Post has already jumped on this as an opportunity to rip McCain to shreds.
PLEASE PEOPLE. Get over yourselves and get over Barack Obama! You've taken an average Junior Senator (dare I even call him "less-than-average"? I'll let you decide what I think about that) and elevated him to an almost god-like level! Are you serious? Can you really all be this brainwashed by this inexperienced nobody from Chicago? He's got nothing going for him! I guarantee you that if this man was of any other party, Republican, Libertarian, Independence, Constitutional, Communist, Socialist, Green, Blue, Orange, Aquamarine or what have you, the media as a whole would have thrown him under the bus on day one for his total and utter lack of any relevant/executive experience whatsoever. Those who would compare him to John McCain (OR Sarah Palin, for that matter) would have been laughed out of their careers, and Hillary Clinton would have ascended her throne in all her pantsuit glory, dragging her lowlife husband (dont' even get me started on him) back into the White House as he scoped out the interns for fresh meat. But I digress.
Why would you consider that a racist comment unless you yourself would have thought of using it in a racist context? The thought never even ocurred to me as I watched the debate. Much like the so-called "leaders" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson (both of whom I believe Martin Luther King would have disowned, by the way), anyone who would use this comment to condemn McCain as a racist are only aiding the spread of racism by going out of their way to keep the concept alive and kicking in the public's mind. The answer isn't to label everything as racist so people will remember that racism exists. Rather, be a little more careful about how you throw around that R-word so that actions and words that are legitimately racist are condemned and, listen to this now, those actions that are not racist are appropriately not labeled as such. If you call even innocent actions and comments racist, you only serve to widen the shrinking racial gap. It's two steps forward, one step back.
So go ahead. Call me a racist. Tell me that I don't understand and that I never will. I don't care what you say, you will never convince me that "That one," when used in that context, was meant as a racial slur. Nor will I believe that it was a Freudian Slip. If you believe it, you have my sympathies. Leave a comment and I'll recommend a good psychiatrist.
What say you? Am I alone on this? There are comment links below. Use 'em.
Now imagine you're John McCain. You're talking about your opponent's Senate voting record in a town-hall debate. In reference to a particularly unfavorable bill you say, "Guess who voted for it? That one. Not me."
Still no big deal, right? Well, that's what I think, anyway. But apparently some people don't. As I was listening this evening to a local radio station, WLIB AM, a predominantly African-American-run station, I was shocked to hear the host say that John McCain was being a racist when he called Barack Obama "That one" because he was objectifying him and treating him as sub-human. He argued that African-Americans have a long history of being objectified and McCain was only the most recent high-profile white person to express his racist views. Does anyone else think this is ridiculous? Seriously. It's a figure of speech used by people in conversation literally every day. But as soon as it was used by John McCain against Barack "Socialist Propaganda Incarnate" Obama, the world goes into an uproar. Not surprisingly, the infamous Huffington Post has already jumped on this as an opportunity to rip McCain to shreds.
PLEASE PEOPLE. Get over yourselves and get over Barack Obama! You've taken an average Junior Senator (dare I even call him "less-than-average"? I'll let you decide what I think about that) and elevated him to an almost god-like level! Are you serious? Can you really all be this brainwashed by this inexperienced nobody from Chicago? He's got nothing going for him! I guarantee you that if this man was of any other party, Republican, Libertarian, Independence, Constitutional, Communist, Socialist, Green, Blue, Orange, Aquamarine or what have you, the media as a whole would have thrown him under the bus on day one for his total and utter lack of any relevant/executive experience whatsoever. Those who would compare him to John McCain (OR Sarah Palin, for that matter) would have been laughed out of their careers, and Hillary Clinton would have ascended her throne in all her pantsuit glory, dragging her lowlife husband (dont' even get me started on him) back into the White House as he scoped out the interns for fresh meat. But I digress.
Why would you consider that a racist comment unless you yourself would have thought of using it in a racist context? The thought never even ocurred to me as I watched the debate. Much like the so-called "leaders" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson (both of whom I believe Martin Luther King would have disowned, by the way), anyone who would use this comment to condemn McCain as a racist are only aiding the spread of racism by going out of their way to keep the concept alive and kicking in the public's mind. The answer isn't to label everything as racist so people will remember that racism exists. Rather, be a little more careful about how you throw around that R-word so that actions and words that are legitimately racist are condemned and, listen to this now, those actions that are not racist are appropriately not labeled as such. If you call even innocent actions and comments racist, you only serve to widen the shrinking racial gap. It's two steps forward, one step back.
So go ahead. Call me a racist. Tell me that I don't understand and that I never will. I don't care what you say, you will never convince me that "That one," when used in that context, was meant as a racial slur. Nor will I believe that it was a Freudian Slip. If you believe it, you have my sympathies. Leave a comment and I'll recommend a good psychiatrist.
What say you? Am I alone on this? There are comment links below. Use 'em.
Celebrations Abound
This isn't really a big deal, to most people, but I felt like putting it here anyway. I just posted my 500th message on the Kryptonsite Forums. Which I think is pretty cool. It's a great place for Smallville and Superman fans to check out. It's a (generally) friendly atmosphere where everyone loves Smallville, Superman, or both. Lots of dedicated fans (some a little too dedicated) with lots of insights into the show and the mythos in general. I'm glad that I joined, exactly a year ago today. Yup. 500 posts in exactly a year. Pretty cool. This earns me the title of "Forum Whiz". Bully for me!
Today was a pretty nice day. Went to noon Mass with the family. It was a farewell for the Sisters of Charity, who taught at the parish school for over 50 years. In the last several years there were only 3, then 2, and finally 1 of the sisters left teaching. The last one, Sister Rose, retired a year or two ago. This past summer, the seven sisters remaining in the convent split up and moved to two different communities on the island. Today was a Mass of Thanksgiving for their decades of dedicated service. It was by no means packed, but there were a lot of people. There was a reception afterward, which under normal circumstances I would have attended, but we already had plans to go to lunch/dinner with the whole family to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday (which actually fell on this past Wednesday).
We went to a Chinese buffet restaurant where we often eat on special occasions. Beautiful place, great service, excellent food. LOVE that place. You can be full and still not have tried everything. So much great food to choose from.
Then I finally came home, buckled down, and typed up a study sheet for Part 1 of my Ethics midterm tomorrow. There are only 15 terms on it. I was done studying rather quickly. Or at least quicker than I expected. I'm gonna go over it again tomorrow morning and then I should be good to go.
I guess that's all I really have to say for now. Not exactly exciting, I know. I don't plan on going to sleep too soon. At the moment I'm talking on AIM, downloading the Star Trek movies (currently working on ST IV: The Voyage Home), and listening to a podcast. I feel like there was more I wanted to say, but I can't think of anything, so I'll end this post here. If I think of something, I'll add it in a new post later.
Bye for now
Today was a pretty nice day. Went to noon Mass with the family. It was a farewell for the Sisters of Charity, who taught at the parish school for over 50 years. In the last several years there were only 3, then 2, and finally 1 of the sisters left teaching. The last one, Sister Rose, retired a year or two ago. This past summer, the seven sisters remaining in the convent split up and moved to two different communities on the island. Today was a Mass of Thanksgiving for their decades of dedicated service. It was by no means packed, but there were a lot of people. There was a reception afterward, which under normal circumstances I would have attended, but we already had plans to go to lunch/dinner with the whole family to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday (which actually fell on this past Wednesday).
We went to a Chinese buffet restaurant where we often eat on special occasions. Beautiful place, great service, excellent food. LOVE that place. You can be full and still not have tried everything. So much great food to choose from.
Then I finally came home, buckled down, and typed up a study sheet for Part 1 of my Ethics midterm tomorrow. There are only 15 terms on it. I was done studying rather quickly. Or at least quicker than I expected. I'm gonna go over it again tomorrow morning and then I should be good to go.
I guess that's all I really have to say for now. Not exactly exciting, I know. I don't plan on going to sleep too soon. At the moment I'm talking on AIM, downloading the Star Trek movies (currently working on ST IV: The Voyage Home), and listening to a podcast. I feel like there was more I wanted to say, but I can't think of anything, so I'll end this post here. If I think of something, I'll add it in a new post later.
Bye for now
A couple of things
At this moment I will do anything to avoid studying for this ethics
midterm. Part one is on Monday. It's on terms and definitions. The
prof refused to specify whether it would be written, multiple choice,
or something else. He's kind of annoying like that. So I think I'll
make a list of the definitions be gave us and try to learn them as
best I can.
midterm. Part one is on Monday. It's on terms and definitions. The
prof refused to specify whether it would be written, multiple choice,
or something else. He's kind of annoying like that. So I think I'll
make a list of the definitions be gave us and try to learn them as
best I can.
In other news, I got paid yesterday! It was my first check from this
new writing center tutoring job. I am happy. Now I don't have to
worry quite so much about cash all the time. That'll make my weekly
trips to the comics shop a little easier on the wallet. I don't spend
much on comics anyway, but it's nice to know that I have something of
an income.
As I mentioned yesterday, the new Star Wars: Clone Wars series
premiered last night. Luckily I was able to see it just about an hour
after it aired. Wow. A LOT better than the movie. The movie felt
childish and silly, and while last night's episodes were suitable for
young fans, they were still somehow better than the film. It felt more
like the creators were taking themselves and the material seriously. I
really enjoyed it. It was especially great to see Yoda act like the
mischievous sage everyone loved in Empire Strikes Back. Just great. It
was also interesting to finally see in action a Jedi that fans have
heard so much about ever since the prequels were launched: Master Plo
Koon. He was awesome. A no-nonsense, confident guy who never loses his
cool and solves even the most lethal conundrums with simple logic and,
of course, the use of the Force. He reminds me of Mace Windu (Samuel
L. Jackson's character, for anyone who's not all that big on SW).
Overall, I look forward to the 5 planned seasons of this exciting new
series based on one of my all-time favorite sci-fi sagas.
As for Making Fiends, which premiered this morning, I still haven't
been able to find it anywhere on the web. I'm not really surprised by
this, as it probably doesn't have a big enough following to warrant
recording and uploading, plus it's on a channel watched mostly by
kids. Still, I had hoped someone would have uploaded it somewhere,
since it does have a decent-sized Internet fan base. Oh well I'll keep
looking. If anyone knows where I can find it, lemme no.
Well I guess I should get to work. Just saying it doesn't mean I won't
find some other distraction first, but at least it's a step in the
right direction.
Peace.
--
Sent from my iPod Touch
And now for something completely irrelevant
So as I sit here with my friend Tom, we discover just how bored we are. I'm blogging for the first time in almost two years, and he's taking a survey on Myspace. That's right. Myspace. These truly are troubled times. Now Steve has joined us. He's eating pizza. We're helping Tom make this most ridiculous Myspace survey ever. Sounds fun, right?
Yeah. College is just that good. Especially when you're a commuter with a couple of free hours on your hands. Next up, at 2:00 I'm going to the writing center. I've started working there. Well..."working" is a little misleading. I've been training to be a writing tutor. This entails observing tutoring sessions 5 hours a week. This is the end of my second week. I think I'm ready to actually take on some sessions of my own. I think I'm going to talk to my boss about that today. Observation is becoming a little tedious. I feel like I'm ready to step up.
Next week is the start of midterms. My Ethics midterm is spread out over Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm not really looking forward to that. Luckily, the professor gave us a list of topics we should study. So that means that I'll probably spend most of Saturday and a couple of weeknights writing up model essay outlines for each topic. What fun.
As for other midterms, I think they're the week after next. I haven't really heard anything from any professors about dates, times or rooms yet. And they aren't listed on the St. John's website yet, so I guess I'm still safe.
Tonight the new Clone Wars series premieres on Cartoon Network. Also, the popular web cartoon Making Fiends is making the jump to NickToon this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing both of those show, but due to extenuating circumstances, I won't be able to view them as they air. This is a bit disappointing as a long-time fan of both Star Wars and Making Fiends, but hopefully the magic of the internet will avail me the opportunity to download them (through nefarious means) and watch them shortly after they air. Here's hoping.
Yeah. College is just that good. Especially when you're a commuter with a couple of free hours on your hands. Next up, at 2:00 I'm going to the writing center. I've started working there. Well..."working" is a little misleading. I've been training to be a writing tutor. This entails observing tutoring sessions 5 hours a week. This is the end of my second week. I think I'm ready to actually take on some sessions of my own. I think I'm going to talk to my boss about that today. Observation is becoming a little tedious. I feel like I'm ready to step up.
Next week is the start of midterms. My Ethics midterm is spread out over Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm not really looking forward to that. Luckily, the professor gave us a list of topics we should study. So that means that I'll probably spend most of Saturday and a couple of weeknights writing up model essay outlines for each topic. What fun.
As for other midterms, I think they're the week after next. I haven't really heard anything from any professors about dates, times or rooms yet. And they aren't listed on the St. John's website yet, so I guess I'm still safe.
Tonight the new Clone Wars series premieres on Cartoon Network. Also, the popular web cartoon Making Fiends is making the jump to NickToon this weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing both of those show, but due to extenuating circumstances, I won't be able to view them as they air. This is a bit disappointing as a long-time fan of both Star Wars and Making Fiends, but hopefully the magic of the internet will avail me the opportunity to download them (through nefarious means) and watch them shortly after they air. Here's hoping.
Reboot
So this is either my third or fourth attempt at regularly maintaining a blog. It depends how you look at it. I tried twice in high school. Once in 2004 for a couple of days, and then again in 2006 for a few weeks. Then in 2006 I started a podcast and made a blog to serve as a website for that. I still maintain it at frankpodcast.tk, but I don't feel that it's appropriate to use it for my personal thoughts. A friend told me today that he was starting his own blog, and I was inspired to go back to my own blogging ways.
Originally, I meant to continue where I left off with the old blog I started in '04, but for some reason I couldn't log in to it. I read through it, though. It's amazing how much things have changed in just a couple of years. If you want to check that out, head on over to mistaguitarmasta.blogspot.com and take a walk down Memory Lane. My memories, that is.
So where do I go from here? Well, I don't really know. I'll be upfront and admit that the only reason I'm starting this up again is to keep myself entertained and to keep sort of a journal of the things that interest me, as well as the things that go on in my life. If I find an interesting news story, I'll post it here. If I had a good sandwich, I'll talk about it here. This is for me to write about whatever I feel like. I would greatly appreciate any comments you might have. So make use of the comment boxes. Even send an email to frankramblings@gmail.com if you like. Feedback is always appreciated. Let's see how long I keep it up this time. A long time, hopefully.
Originally, I meant to continue where I left off with the old blog I started in '04, but for some reason I couldn't log in to it. I read through it, though. It's amazing how much things have changed in just a couple of years. If you want to check that out, head on over to mistaguitarmasta.blogspot.com and take a walk down Memory Lane. My memories, that is.
So where do I go from here? Well, I don't really know. I'll be upfront and admit that the only reason I'm starting this up again is to keep myself entertained and to keep sort of a journal of the things that interest me, as well as the things that go on in my life. If I find an interesting news story, I'll post it here. If I had a good sandwich, I'll talk about it here. This is for me to write about whatever I feel like. I would greatly appreciate any comments you might have. So make use of the comment boxes. Even send an email to frankramblings@gmail.com if you like. Feedback is always appreciated. Let's see how long I keep it up this time. A long time, hopefully.