The Brilliant Power of Humor in a Campaign
October 20, 2008
Two weeks to go in one of the most bitterly contested Presidential elections in U.S. history. Robo-calls and accusations abound. And yet, in the middle of a storm, a night for humor arrived last Thursday at the Alfred Smith Memorial Dinner in New York. These 20 minutes of humor and roasting tell us much about these men. That we can have good-natured ribbing in the middle of the biggest election of our lifetimes is one of the many reasons I love this country. Here are the videos…
An Excerpt from Obama’s Roasting of McCain:
“Recently, one of John’s top advisers told the “Daily News” that if we keep talking about the economy, McCain’s going to lose. So, tonight I’d like to talk about the economy.
Given all that’s happened these past few weeks on Wall Street, it feels like an odd time to be dressed up in white tie, but I must say I got a great deal, rented the whole outfit from the treasury department at a very good price.
Looking around tonight at all the gourmet food and champagne, it’s clear that no expenses were spared. It’s like an executive sale meeting at AIG.
But I don’t need to tell any of you that it’s been a scary time on the stock market, with people losing their investments, their entire fortunes. It’s gotten so bad Bloomberg now has to take the subway. And while the collapse of the housing market’s been tough on every single home owner, I think we all need to recognize that this crisis has been eight times harder on John McCain.
You know, we’ve been debating a lot these economic issues over the course of the campaign, but lately things have been getting a bit tougher. In the last few weeks, John’s been out on the campaign trail and asked the question, who is Barack Obama? I have to admit I was a little surprised by this question. The answer is right there on my Facebook page.
But, look, I don’t want to be coy about this. We’re a couple weeks from an important election.
Americans have a big choice to make, and if anybody feels like they don’t know me by now, let me try to give you some answers. Who is Barack Obama?
Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger.
I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father Jorel to save the Planet Earth.”
An Excerpt from McCain’s Roasting of Obama:
“Events are moving fast in my campaign. And, yes, it’s true that this morning I dismissed my entire team of senior advisers. All of their positions will now be held by a man named “Joe the Plumber.”
Already — and already, my friends, my opponents have been subjecting Joe to their vicious attack machines. His veracity has been questioned by Barack Obama’s running mate Joe the six term senator.
He claims that this honest, hardworking small businessman could not possibly have enough income to face a tax increase under the Obama plan. What they don’t know — what they don’t know is “Joe the Plumber” recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of their houses.
This campaign needed the common touch of a working man. After all, it began so long ago with the heralded arrival of a man known to Oprah Winfrey as “The One.” Being a friend and colleague of Barack, I just called him that one.
And he — my friends, he doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he even has a pet name for me George Bush.”
Don’t Forget The Last 8 Years, America
September 8, 2008
Today for the first time since April 14th 2008, John McCain has taken the lead in the average of the past week of National Polls in the U.S. Presidential Election according to RealClearPolitics.
This fact concerns me greatly due to the many domestic and foreign policy similarities John McCain has with the current U.S. President George Bush. John McCain is in the same political party as the President and voted with the President’s position 95% of the time in 2007.
During George Bush’s eight year administration we saw:
- U.S. Debt Go Up: The U.S. National Debt increase from $5.7 trillion to $9.6 trillion (from 58% to 66% of the annual GDP).
- U.S. Annual Deficit Go Up: A change in the U.S. annual federal deficit from a $125 billion surplus in 1999 and a $236 billion surplus in 2000 to a $412 billion deficit in 2004, a $318 billion deficit in 2005, a $248 billion deficit in 2006, and a $162 billion deficit in 2007.
- Hurricane Katrina: 1,836 Americans die due to Hurricane Katrina, many of whom died to FEMA mismanagement before and after the storm under Mike Brown formerly the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Administration, from which he also was forced to resign.
- A War on False Pretense: The invasion of Iraq based on incorrect intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction including yellowcake uranium that was known to be suspect at the time and sought out and used by Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to sell the war to the media, American people, and global community, which Colin Powell indicated later was “deliberately misleading.”
- U.S. Deaths from War: 4,155 Americans die in combat in Iraq.
- U.S. Wounded from War: Over 30,000 Americans wounded in combat in Iraq
- Iraqi Deaths from War: At least 600,000 and as many as 1,200,000 excess deaths of Iraqi civilians since the July 2003 invasion (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3)
- Revealing a CIA Agent’s Identity: The purposelful revealing of CIA Agent Valerie Plame’s indentity to the press by Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, and the subsequent Presidential commuting of Libby’s prison sentence to a fine.
- Suspension of Habeas Corpus: The unconstitutional suspension of the rights of Habeas Corpus including prisoners seeking relief from detention without trial.
- Breaking of the Geneva Convention: The breaking of the laws of the the Geneva Convention, which was ratified as U.S. law, and the U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996 regarding torture in Iraqi prisons and the detainment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo.
- Greenhouse Emissions Increase: The Kyoto Protocol, to which the U.S. is a signatory, never submitted for ratification, in part leading to higher carbon dioxide PPM to continue to increase, leading to faster increase in global temperatures, which is leading to sea levels rising and more frequent droughts and hurricanes
- Osama Never Found: Osama Bin Laden never to be found, who is the founder and leader of Al Qaeda and the major architect of the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania which caused the deaths of 2,974 people, 2,646 of whom were Americans.
- Energy Prices Increasing: Gas prices increasing from a low of $1.04 in December 2002 to a high of $4.05 in June 2008 (from $1.45 at the beginning of the term in January 2001 to $3.66 as of September 1, 2008).
- Rumsfeld’s Resignation: The hiring Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in the first Bush Administration, who responded to a question from a soldier about not having the right equipment and armor by saying, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.”
- Torture by U.S. Soldiers: The torture at Abu Ghraib prison, which included sodomy with a baton, urinating on a detainee’s leg, smearing feces on a detainee, forced masturbation, applying electric shocks to detainees, and jumping on a gunshot wounded leg.
- The Decline of Veteran Care: The decline of Veteran Care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
- Withdrawal of Miers Nomination: The nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, who had never before been a judge and had very little experience with Constitutional Law at the time of nomination.
- Resignation of Gonzalez: The appointment of Alberto Gonzalez as U.S. Attorney-General, forced to resign in 2007 after politically motivated firings of U.S. Attorneys, who in 2002 wrote an opinion that the Geneva Conventions prescriptions on torture did not apply to Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners and in 2005 lobbied for the continuation of an illegal NSA wiretapping program targeting U.S. citizens without proper warrants.
- U.S. Inflation Increase: The annual U.S. Inflation Rate go from 3.37% in January 2001 to 4.43% so far in 2008.
- Unemployment Increase: The U.S. Unemployment Rate go from 4.2% in January 2001 to 6.1% today.
I’ll be posting more about my current views on the policies and the candidates leading up to the election.
Where I Am Coming From
For the sake of sharing where I am coming from, I am registered as an Independent and am a businessperson and entrepreneur from North Carolina. My father was an Episcopalian priest and my mother was a social worker. I am a fiscal conservative who believes in efficient government and cares about equality of opportunity and helping others. Please feel free to comment. Facts and discussion of policy and issues is very welcomed.
Barack Obama 2008 Chapel Hill Fundraiser
April 20, 2008
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On Thursday May 1 from 7:30pm to 10:30pm, we will be hosting a Barack Obama for President 2008 Chapel Hill Fundraiser at our house in Chapel Hill. All are welcome. Please feel free forward this invite to your friends and colleagues who may be interested. Additional details can be found at the event page on Facebook Additional Information We will have heavy hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, and band entertainment. Representatives and a surrogate (TBA) from the Obama campaign will be attendance. Attire is formal. The event will be in the Meadowmont subdivision at: 102 Millingport Court Directions DIRECTIONS FROM DOWNTOWN CHAPEL HILL FROM DURHAM/RALEIGH PARKING Ten Reasons I Support Barack 1. An Enlightened Foreign Policy: An End to the Us Vs. Them Mentality |
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