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You've got to love a good election campaign for its ability to spit out idiocy on an almost constant basis. Yes, I fervently believe in thr democratic process and certainly I appreciate the freedoms that this process allows us (like, um, I don't know, free speech, among others.) But sometimes along the campaign trail, people say boneheaded things.
Take this report, for instance, where an aide to John McClaim claims the Republican presidential candidate invented the BlackBerry.
I'm having a sense of deja vu. First Al Gore invents the Internet. And now this! Perhaps there's something in the presidential candidates' water fountain that gives them technological super powers. Or makes them and their team members very adept at lying with a straight face.
Fact: The BlackBerry is the product of a CANADIAN company called Research In Motion. I doubt McCain would even know where its HQ is, let alone be able to find the logo on the back of the thing. (It's in Waterloo, Ontario, btw. Yes, we're very proud.)
Next up: Sarah Palin cures AIDS just before killing a bear with her bare hands. Remember, you read it here first.
Your turn: Are politicians in your neck of the woods similarly fast and loose with the truth? What gives?
My neck of the woods? Yes....
ReplyDeleteOf course, McCain is unfortunately scheduled to romp to a big victory in my neck of the woods.
N.
The most dumbfounding campaign ad I've seen recently is the one calling McCain and Palin "mavericks". The schtick goes "He battled Republicans and changed Washington, she battled Republicans and changed Alaska".
ReplyDeleteClearly this is another case of McBush trying to backpedal away from the current administration as fast as he can. It's also an example of just how monumentally dumb he thinks the average American voter is. Because a "maverick" who "battles Republicans" and "changes Washington" is a tough sell when that "maverick" has backed Bush's play in over 90% of the votes he's bothered to show up for. I don't know enough about the politics in Alaska to speak to Palin's "maverick-ness", but from where I'm sitting McBush hasn't done a damn thing to "change Washington" -- because Washington hasn't changed. Somewhere along the way, the Republican dictionary has used the word "maverick" to replace the word "sycophant".
Speaking of sycophants, we here in the Old North State have a chance to remove one of them from the Senate this November by unseating Liz Dole. But as bad as Dole is, I'm pining for the day when we can be rid of that Bushist mouth breather Richard Burr. I have nothing nice to say about either of our Senators, so I'll just say that the guy I hope will run for Burr's seat in 2010 is one of the brighter lights in the political hallway from my state: Representative Brad Miller.
Miller is a guy I can actually vote for with a clean conscience. He's only in his second term in Congress, but he's already made a positive noise in the Lower House. He's one of maybe two politicians in Washington that I actually trust, and that I believe will represent me. and on the rare occasions when we disagree on an issue, I can tell from the correspondence I get from his office that he's given the issue due consideration, and probably knows things I don't know.
So McCain inventing the Blackberry? That's Bush League stuff. (get it? "Bush" league?)
Okay... sorry... rant over now. (Oops... Didn't mean to filibuster your comment section.)
They said that? I have been out celebrating and not being a good citizen following the election news;( Opps!
ReplyDeleteI read the CNN article. Funny that Obama's campaign aide said that he frequently uses his laptop to check important information...such as sports scors. Whew! I feel better. (Was that bit of info supposed to impress me, Mr. Obama aide? Ummm, because it DIDN'T!)
ReplyDeleteI can't fathom why anyone would claim something so dumb. However, Gore himself claimed to have invented the internet, whereas it was an aide to McCain who made the preposterous blackberry claim. It's a little piont, but a point, nonetheless.
You're funny!
ReplyDeletePinky:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp
Um, I thought the very definition of "politician" was "one who is fast and loose with the truth." This election (and the past eight years here for that matter) is very scary. I hope people are educating themselves about any truths they can find under the BS and thinking very hard. It's crucial.
ReplyDeleteKinda reminds me of the skit on SNL where the girl while twirling a lock of hair has to top anything anyone else has ever done. "Invented the Blackberry? Well, I invented the computer."
ReplyDeleteO geez... It is scary...
ReplyDeleteHAHA! "Bush league...."
ReplyDeleteI love it.
Since McCain can't use a computer, I had to doubt that he invented anything technological when I first heard it. It's too funny.
It's because no one DOES anything anymore. I'd rather hear that they wash their own dog or load the dishwasher everyday. Just show me they know how to DO SOMETHING.
ReplyDeleteOf course, he didn't say he invented it (but neither did Al Gore)... I knew it was a Canadian product (we get to blame you now for having our work with us 24/7)!
ReplyDeleteI wish we had a short campaign cycle, you all up there don't have to go through years of campaigning for an election--with our election process, we've truly created hell on earth!
I daren't actually answer this. Let's just say, "I live in TEXAS" and leave it at that.
ReplyDeleteKnow what's funny? Trying to play off a false binary. Like north/south, in the US. Or outdoorsman/professorial in Canada. Or maverick/outsider. Or Republican/Democrat, or Conservative/Green/NDP/Liberal.
ReplyDeleteMuch has been made of Barack Obama's lack of experience. Well, judging from how his predecessors have screwed the US into the ground, maybe some fresh ideas are a good thing. See that? It's called spin.
McCain's a "maverick". Well, he's not really, that's his spin. He has experience, which means two things: he's been around long enough that any corruption has probably overtaken him by now, if it exists, and he has had more opportunity to gain "wisdom" than Obama.
Wisdom is usually the end of a cycle. It goes: Data -> Information -> Knowledge -> Wisdom. The problem is that the passage between each phase allows you to crystalize wrong information or carry on bad assumptions between each section. Wisdom is something to aspire to, but not to be taken on face value just because someone's been around.
Want an example? Here's a pretzel. That's data. A pretzel once attacked my president; that's information. Therefore: pretzels are capable of aggression. That's knowledge. Wisdom dictates that I should avoid pretzels. Except that they're a benign and delicious snack treat. Like stem cells!
If your war experience consists of being shot out of the sky and then stabbed in the balls with a bayonet, your wisdom is probably going to tell you to look on any potential enemy with far more aggression than you would otherwise, like if you'd skipped out on service in the Air National Guard.
I'm being unfair, let's talk Obama for a minute: He's not John "votes-with-Bush-over-90%-of-the-time" McCain.
Partisan? Yes. But not my party. Not my country. Think I shouldn't have an opinion? Name one time in the last 60 years when the US hasn't affected other countries in the world.
Mamie,
ReplyDeleteThe best quote I have ever heard about that is:
"The truly skillful politician is one who, when he comes to a fork in the road, goes both ways."
- Marco A. Almazan
This is great info to know.
ReplyDelete