Youth Politics

So I left at around 2:40 to make it to the Obama rally that was being held 12 miles from where I live. I went with a friend, and as we approached our destination, we noticed that there were a lot of cars. And I mean a LOT. People from Maryland and even as far as West Virginia were coming in DROVES to attend this rally. Traffic was awful. There’s really only one way to get into the park and well, we said screw it and went to a friend’s house instead.

This friend ended up not being home so we left back to see if we could still get somewhat in the ballpark of the rally as we were pretty close at that point. Then we noticed people parking in the plaza we passed by and walking in the general direction of the park where the rally was being held. That’s when we realized there must not have been anymore parking, and that people were willing to talk two plus miles to get there.

In any case, we did not attend. Traffic was insane. There was a HUGE backup of cars and it was a mess. I simply did not have enough patience to go (and my friend less, and he was the one driving). So, I wasn’t able to see how crazy Obama supporters are (besides the fact that they’re willing to park anywhere up to two miles away from the place), and I wasn’t able to hear Barack Obama in person. What a bummer.

You can read about the event here: Obama Rally at Ida Lee Park

To basically sum it up, he said exactly what he’s been saying the entire time except with some comeback remarks regarding Joe the Plumber and did so in roughly 30 minutes. Fair enough.

If anyone has a personal story about what an Obama rally is like let me know. I gave it my best shot, but traffic sucks.

I live in Virginia, and as such, both presidential candidates come to the state a LOT. Now, I have not been to any of the rallies, but I’ve finally been paying enough attention to attend an Obama rally being held relatively close to my house.

At this rally, I will be looking for two things:

1. I want to see what Obama has to say at a speech that will not be televised. Then I can come out of it with some sort of an impression.

2. I want to know what the supporters think and how they act. McCain rallies have been getting a lot of flak recently, so I want to get a sense for how it is on the other side.

I will of course comment on the rally, so stay tuned for that. For those who have never been to an Obama rally you’ll get to hear an account of what it’s like. Will I be cheering? Well, I’ll clap when appropriate. And I don’t normally hoot or holler anyway.

I’m going to be updating the blogroll by adding more significant links than the ones currently. I’ve got a few in mind already, but if you would like to be placed on the blogroll and your blog is actually relevant, leave a comment below or email me at crowtche@juniorpolitics.com and I’ll see to the possible inclusion of your blog. I’m shooting for about ten blogs.

I also notice that people are having a hard time commenting simply because they cannot figure out where to comment. This is due to me having the most recent post on the front page, which is NOT the blog itself. I’ll find a way of getting comments working on the main page, or at least putting a link that’s easy to follow.

Change, or some form of it, is one of the highlights of this campaign. Obama speaks of change. McCain speaks of reform. Both are vague because well, for one, what will Obama change? How much will he change it by? McCain will reform what exactly? And by how much?

Here’s what I’ve come to conclude about what each is trying to say by “change” and “reform”.

Barack Obama’s “Change”: The political system is absolutely broken and it needs to be completely redone. There needs to be a new way of thinking and a new direction for America. There will also be a change of policies that did not work in the past.

John McCain’s “Reform”: The political system has gone awry. We need to look at each part of government, remove the corruption, and fix up what’s left. The system can work if we remove what’s making it broken.

Both are essentially good things. Now I’ve heard that people don’t want change, or that change will be bad. To which I respond by staring blankly. I think what people really mean is that they want the America they’ve known in the past. It’s gone. Time moves only forward; you either fix what you’ve got or keep the mess. Right now, we’re moving deeper and deeper into a mess. We need reform and we need change. We can’t assume that just because America is great that America will continue to be great without some effort.

What do you all think? Am I missing something here? Which one do you prefer, reform or change? Feel free to leave comments below (If you’re on the front page, you’ll have to go to the blog to comment).

Before I begin this post, I’d like to thank Jolly Roger for having the most comments last week. Congratulations!

You should definitely check out his blog, as it contains some great information that’s way more likely to tick you off than this blog, and if it doesn’t then you’ve got another great read. If for some reason you do find his content pisses you off, then go ahead and leave some comments so that he may then prove you wrong.

I mostly kid, however here’s the blog from anyone who is interested: Reconstitution 2.0. If the name of the blog doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will.

Anyway…

Some people are stupid. These people think stupidly, about things. This is a no-brainer.

I recently read that Obama’s campaign had left out the national anthem in order to have another speaker. I found the responses to this outrageous.

Here’s the post for anyone interested.

I seriously cannot believe that just because the national anthem wasn’t sung, that it makes Obama unpatriotic. Should everyone be squeezing in the national anthem to everything they do nowadays? If I sing the Star Spangled Banner more often, does that make me more patriotic? How about everyone just sing the song 10 times a day, every day to make up for it not being sung at Obama’s rally. I’ll sing it 11 times myself to make sure I’m more patriotic than everyone else.

There are people who will not vote for Obama SOLELY because his campaign left out the anthem. These comments are usually proceeded by random nonsense. I know these people are not using any sort of logical thinking at all. These people tend to be much older than me too…. coincidence?

Nope, issues don’t matter. If the national anthem isn’t sung, then the candidate is bad. Somehow not singing the national anthem ONCE is a shame… yet I bet these people go day after day without singing it, even though they have every opportunity to do so. In fact, why listen to any other songs at all?

Not surprisingly enough, these same types of people are the ones going around calling Obama a terrorist and a socialist. Let me make a list here:

1. Obama is NOT a terrorist.
2. Obama is NOT a socialist.
3. Obama is NOT a Muslim.
4. If Obama were Muslim, it DOESN’T MEAN HE WOULDN’T MAKE A GOOD PRESIDENT.
5. If Obama were Muslim, it DOESN’T MEAN HE WOULDN’T MAKE A GOOD PRESIDENT.

Yes, I stated number 4 twice.

Calling Obama a terrorist is one of the most blindly ignorant things I’ve ever heard. What act of terrorism is Obama even accused of? He’s a guy from Hawaii who went to law school and is running for president. What the hell are people talking about when they’re calling him out as a terrorist? I’d hate to think who else these people think are terrorists.

I don’t even think these people know what socialism is, either. Even my friend who IS a socialist doesn’t think anyone on the Democratic party is socialist. Barack Obama is far, far from being a socialist. In fact, both the Republican and Democratic parties are pretty near the center as far as the political spectrum is concerned.

Obama is a Christian, but who cares? In America everyone is free to practice their own religion, and if Obama had been a Muslim, it doesn’t change his policies or his stance. People who would not elect someone into office based solely upon their religion are BIGOTS, blinded by hate and ignorance. I’d bet a lot of money that these people don’t know that Muslims worship the same God as Christians.

So there’s my rant. The whole anthem thing is a non-issue. It’s just another stupid, unimportant angle from which to make a nonsensical attack on Obama. The “terrorist” and “socialist” remarks are dumbing at best. America is a great country, but not necessarily because of everyone living in it.

I’d add rants concerning ridiculous statements towards McCain, but I haven’t found an article that’s particularly maddening, although I am on the lookout for one. If anyone has one for me, please email me at Crowtche@juniorpolitics.com or drop a comment.

If you too are sickened by all this, by all means let me know. I appreciate all comments however, so even if you’re angered by my statements, at least tell me. Sheesh, I’ll take it like a man I promise.

Wednesday’s debate was the most entertaining on the part of Senator McCain. He finally has started to attack Obama on a variety of issues, from Ayers to ACORN to his policies themselves. He has also finally stated that he is NOT president Bush. I get to finally commend McCain for his efforts because for once he has fought back at the debate and he fought back hard.

That’s not to say that Obama did not stand his ground. Not once did Obama falter. McCain however was blinking like a madman! I didn’t even notice until my friend told me, but once he did I got to counting and wow… that distracted me for the longest time. Obama tried to distance himself from all the attacks and stay focused on the issues, but McCain just kept delivering the punches. Honestly I think it worked. McCain really hit the nail hard and pushed for the character issues that he so desperately needed earlier in the election season.

Will this final debate turn the tides of the election? Has McCain finally done what he needs to put himself back over the top of Obama? I honestly don’t think so. The thing is, it’s already too late. The economy is tanking, and usually Americans punish the party in power (the Republicans, for those who REALLY didn’t know). If McCain had come out this strong on the first debate, he probably would have crushed Obama. I mean, the debate was on foreign policy, something McCain should have crushed Obama on anyhow.

McCain really needed to go on the offensive here, and it became necessary for not just the obvious reason of striking hard at Obama and his character, but to also cover up his inherent weakness when it comes to the economy. I’m sorry, but McCain himself said he did not know much about the economy. I don’t expect any president to be an absolute expert, that’s what a cabinet is for, and that’s what advisers are for. However, the president needs to have a fundamental grasp of the economy, and I don’t personally think McCain has that, and well, if these are going to be Republican advisers….

In any case, I’m finally glad that Obama has clearly given his connections to Ayers and ACORN. I thought it was about time that all of the ridiculousness surrounding those claims came to an end, because it’s common sense people. Put yourselves in Obama’s shoes. You get a non-profit organization to register voters, and then THEY commit fraud. Guilty by association? I think not. They were legitimate up to that point, so the finger pointing at Obama really needs to be stopped. I always thought the Ayers thing was ridiculous, and I still do. It’s like saying McCain supports killing Obama because one of his supporters wants to. Just plain dumb.

In the end, if you missed the debate, you didn’t miss much. Every debate has practically been about the economy, and obviously this one was no different. If you didn’t already know where the candidates stood, then this was obviously an important debate to watch. Otherwise, well, your mind should pretty much already be made up.