Lack of pizzaz with debates…

I thought this since 2004, and I’m sure you have too: the presidential debates are getting more and more pointless. At this stage in the election, everyone has made up their minds. And if they haven’t, then those independents won’t change if the candidates continue to say and act the way they have explained for the last few months.

What really confuses me is how someone can justify who “wins” or “loses” these things. Both of them remained reserved and never pushed the boundaries. They said or didn’t say the same things they have been saying or not saying. I could have written a script for both of the candidates… I seem to think McCain has performed pretty well in these things (much the same way that if Dubua can deliver a speech without making up a word or two we would say he “won”) but the public continues to think Obama won. I mean, I love that, but I hope that translates into votes in November. I would argue that it didn’t really in 2004 where I thought Kerry seemed to “win” those debates but no one seemed to be affected on election day.

What KILLED me about this debate in particular was Tom Brokaw! He acted more like an angry parent than the moderator of a presidential debate. He tried to control the time but obviously it is not going to work with two gentlemen concerned with getting their ideas across directly to the American public. Just assume they are going to go over time and work with it. He didn’t need need to get cute and call them out for not noticing the warning lights. We’re not watching you Tom, just let them talk.

I hope the final debate is more exciting. Maybe get the candidates to talk about social issues like gay rights and abortion so no matter which side they take it would be fun to watch them try and wiggle around it with political savvy. One of these two men (or their vice presidential candidates) will be the next president of the United States. These are the men that their parties chose. Pay attention in the coming weeks, make an informed decision, and exercise the greatest right afforded to Americans. They might not be the best candidates, but they are the ones running. It’s up to us to choose the best for America right now.

Bill Maher on Larry King

Not having free HBO has been hard if only because I miss Bill Maher’s weekly political and comedy show Real Time. I agree with most (but not all) of his views and think he is actually quite funny as well. Here are a few things I noticed about tonights show:

1.) King mentioned Maher’s new movie, Religulous, opening October 3rd. It is not exactly a documentary but a comedic film about religion in America. Maher mentioned Atheists and Agnostics, or what he calls “rationalists,” account for 16% of Americans. Which is more, according to him, than Blacks, Gays, and many other minorities. We don’t have a knack for uniting and that hurts us as a notable voting block. He also claims religion should not play any role in American politics. Interesting.

2.) I used to watch CNN Headline news habitually. Once they switched to entertainment shows and Nancy Grace (a woman I can’t even listen to for 30 seconds) I left forever. I still valued CNN for their unbiased and serious news coverage. I have been away from them for a while so the changes I noticed tonight are probably more gradual than I saw but the Central News Network is becoming more and more flashy. It started when everyone fell in love with former “Mole” host and old money heir Anderson Cooper. I think he is the personification of news today: an incredibly attractive person delivering news until we want to throw up.

Obviously, I’m not the first person to notice how flashy the news has become but tonights Larry King is just ridiculous. On the screen at the same time was the ticker line at the bottom (nothing new there), the “live” sign in the upper corner, the famous Larry King microphone symbol in the bottom corner that burst with stars every 30 seconds or so, taking over 20% of the screen, and then they would have quotations that Maher had just delivered recited on the screen in print, as if I didn’t just hear him say that! It’s bad enough when they think I can’t pay attention between commercials but now they think I can’t focus for 20 seconds! During the show they also asked me to go online and participate in a poll asking what I liked the most about the show I was currently watching…… I was reminded of the SNL skit showing a news screen suffocated by logos, stock tickers, the bat signal, and godzilla, I thought it was simply satire but tonight I saw the real thing.

Please just present the news CNN. Charlie Rose has no back drop, no interruptions, and simply asks questions (what I would wager is exactly what Larry King wants to do) and has become an incredibly respected and popular journalist. I don’t mind advertisements and plugs but let’s leave them to the commercial breaks.

As if The Dark Knight Couldn’t Get Any Better…

I recently came across this clip. It is the Dark Knight trailer done by kids. I think they have captured the essence of Nolan’s vision and concepts. Their execution is flawless and they definitely want to make me see the movie. The next clip is a kid reciting the famous milkshake line from There Will Be Blood, one of my favorites to quote as well. Enjoy.

Olympics Medal Tracker

Stay up-to-date on USA’s progress

Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!

Time For the Olympics

I’m heading back down south today so I might be out of good post ideas for a while… but I can say that I actually took the time to watch the opening ceremonies last night and I wasn’t disappointed. I love the Olympics as much as any other crazy American but I usually skip the ceremonies simply because I don’t see the appeal. Last night I changed my mind… and what I saw I would probably put in my top ten best things ever witnessed on television.

The Chinese used this chance to share their culture with the world and they completely delivered. The show was about an hour and a half of perfectly choreographed ballets, dances, light shows, interpretive movement, and displays of creativity. It was beautiful, political, moving, challenging, colorful, and perfect. i highly recommend watching the entire show on YouTube if not only to get into the Olympic feel (the greatest feel) and appreciate a foreign culture, but to simply be awed at the talents of 15,000 people working together. You won’t be disappointed. Now off to Florida, and let the Olympics begin!

I’ll See You at the Debates Bitches

See Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad

Paris Hilton has now entered into the Presidential campaign. After “that wrinkly, white haired guy” used both Paris and Britney Spears in an attack ad to portray Barack Obama has nothing but a celebrity [which you can see below] Hilton has punched back with this video. She supports an energy plan that is a combination of both of the current candidate’s positions and supports the message because “it’s hot.” But if McCain is serious enough to put Hilton and Spears in a “real” political ad than Hilton’s response deserves the same about of “real” attention. Of course, at the Sturgis Biker rally, McCain offered to sign his wife up for their Buffalo Chip beauty contest “which makes a wet tee-shirt contest look like a spelling bee;” maybe he should just bow out to Hilton in the beauty contest and the presidential debate.

On other news, I understand that Keith Olbermann’s nightly news show, Countdown, might be biased but the events they cover are not only factual but not covered by other (more conservative) outlets and must have a voice as well. I almost want others to play devil’s advocate to the stories Countdown presents because if they were given the coverage they deserve I believe our country would be much more fed up with current policies than it already is. The following is a list of what we learned from the show last night:

• Former CIA officials explain that the Bush Administration actually forged a document to defy the country into believing we need to go to war with Iraq. I hope by now we know all know Iraq was not involved with 9/11 and our president lied to us but now THEY WROTE A FAKE LETTER… Seriously?!
• Jealous of Obama’s ability to attract crowds of over 200,000 McCain crashed a Biker Rally where he prostituted his wife in a beauty contest and introduced performer Kid Rock. [My sister just got back from a concert in Chicago where she told me Obama was supposed to open for Kayne but feared he might get attacked for being too much of a celebrity... but it's alright for McCain?]
• The Bush Administration is offering 150,000 cash incentive for Arabic translators to join the military while still kicking out current translators simply because they’re gay… Seriously?!

We need to hold these administrations and people accountable for lying to us and remaining racist and homophobic. We need to move on. (Oh yeah, Countdown in funny as well. I highly recommend the show.)

Is McCain Making it Hard for Conservatives to Even be Taken Seriously Anymore?

When I saw John McCain’s latest television attack ad today I had thought CNN was playing an April Fools joke or the more frightening (and true!) justification: the McCain campaign has lost all semblance of sanity. After having to apologize and retract the ad accusing Obama of “going to a gym” instead of visiting troops (the gym in question was a military exercise facility,) John McCain has now compared presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, of being too much like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. You really can’t make this stuff up!

I’m not sure which side wins with this ad. Obama looks like an exciting candidate, they concede he is an amazing celebrity, hundreds of thousands of people are cheering his name, and they actually found attractive pictures of Britney and Paris. A few questions come to mind: what’s wrong with a present who is a celebrity as well? Who talks about Britney and Paris anymore? Wasn’t that 2005? Can the campaign even be taken seriously any more? This was the “maverick” that demanded they candidates run a clean campaign and has actually received little to no personal attacks from Obama. Is he already starting to run on fumes? Will he even make it to the November election without conservatives pulling him out of the race?

Also today, Fox news committed their second “editing mistake” on air regarding the swap of Barack Obama’s and Osama Bin Laden’s names. While showing a recorded Bin Laden tape on air, the Fox News caption read ‘Obama’ instead of ‘Osama.’ This is the second time the “news organization” mistakenly (subliminally?) switched the two names. Are cable news companies held to any standards? Do the have to be accredited?

I’m sure most conservatives have good points and ideas worth at least listening to. But if they’re represented by nothing more than McCain’s way of playing “politics” and Fox News’s “journalism” they will be laughed out of the room before someone has the opportunity to speak…

San Francisco’s Computers Held Hostage! (real life, not Die Hard 7)

Terry Childs was arrested Sunday, and has been in jail on a 5 million dollar bond since, because he has taken control of the City of San Francisco’s computer network. Just like a John McClain action movie, an employee (the head computer tech for the city) changed the passwords to the servers controlling 70 percent of the city’s government online traffic. He was the only man with the codes! The apocalypse is approaching!

From prison, he asked to speak with the mayor of San Francisco himself. Once the mayor arrived Childs wrote the passwords down and slid them over to the him. The mayor took them back to Cisco Systems who were employed to break the codes to no avail and peace was restored to the city. Childs claims a fellow coworker had planted a virus into the system and he was merely trying to protect it. Either way, don’t tell Bruce Willis or they’ll try and have to top a cop car exploding into a moving helicopter (yes that happened in Die Hard With a Vengeance).