Monday, June 27, 2011

Part II, Palin Derangement Syndrome

Here's an article, or two, I read this morning, emphasizing the point of my last post. And this one is just funny. Read at your own leisure. (Note: The articles are from The Blaze, which is extremely right-wing, enough so to make even me shake my head in shame at the overt bias from time to time. But it helps me remember that extreme Repub Conserves are whacked out too, so I consider it my way of staying balanced when I see what I don't want to become.)

So, I wrote this blog post at the same time as the last one, and it was quite a bit shorter, which I thought would be exciting for you. But now, I will make it longer, and add pictures!

Ironically, one week after posting some offending words directed toward Hollywood, I found myself in Hollywood, with time to kill even. It's just as dirty, maybe dirtier, as I remember. I took pictures. Here is me showing my distaste for Hollywood by eating the sign:



I can sense the oxymoronic concern that is humming in your mind right now. If I have a distaste for Hollywood, why would I eat it? Well, I spit it out later. Then I squished it:



I ran into Albert Einstein at the planetarium! We were immediate friends. I tried to show him all the things he's missed in the decades that he's been gone. He was particularly intrigued by the touch technology of my iPhone:



Then he tried to show me something:



When I couldn't figure out what he was trying to show me, he poked my in the eye:



He's a nice guy, but has quite a temper.

I took a picture of Uranus on my phone, but can't figure out how to get the picture here. It was going to be a great joke, but it's not worth the effort now.

I even had a picture of the show (Les Miserables) that I caught while I was there. My ridiculously expensive balcony seats were in a prime location to see everything that was going on. Obviously I couldn't take pictures during the performance, not that I would want to anyway, because that would mean I would have to take my eyes off the stage for a second, and it was way too good for that.

That's enough of actual blogging, here's part II (if you missed part one, scroll down and read it. But it's not necessary because these read pretty well independently from each other):

As I've said before, I don't have anything against Sarah Palin, but I don't really endorse her either. I don't know why, but I think it's mostly because I'm afraid that people aren't ready to vote for her yet, and I want someone besides Obama to be in office so badly. She also is not my first choice, but if it came between her and another term for Obama, she would have my vote! But that's not really saying much because at this point there aren't many people I wouldn't vote for over Obama. She has said she isn't going to run anyway, so unless anything changes, I'm not going to put too much effort into researching her more.

Besides, the Washington Post is doing a fine job promoting her for us.

About 24,000 pages of Palin's emails have been thoroughly looked over by The Washington Post, some of their recruited readers (yes, WP readers exist), and even the New York Times jumped in on the action. I think I disagree with this ethically, but at the same time it's been refreshing to see a person who has nothing to hide, and has, in fact, come out shining brighter than ever. It makes me wonder, as this article suggests, what would happen if we treated all politicians this way.

What if we rummaged through all of Obama's emails from 2007 to now? What would we find? I'm not sure that we would find anything more incriminating than his destructive political track record already shows. But, geez, it was a 3 year fiasco just to get him to show a long form birth certificate (I'm not a birther either), we still haven't seen his college transcripts, or records from the Illinois State Senate, fer cryin' (to name a few), and what about the anti Israel rally tape that is allegedly withheld since before the election? It may not actually exist, but don't we have a right to know for sure? It would definitely put his current ultimatum to Israel into the light. You can imagine that there might be something in his e-mails. I don't really care that much, except for the principle behind it. If we're going to put such scrutiny on Sarah Palin, a non candidate at this point, why not do the same for real candidates? Why the double standard, AGAIN? I mean, seriously, wouldn't it be more fun to rummage through, say, randomly off the top of my head, Anthony Weiner's emails?

What is refreshing about this whole e-mail search is how spectacularly it has backfired on those who were only trying to find incrimination against her. At start, I was instantly intrigued by the fact that, as far as I could determine, there were no efforts on Palin's part to stop the examination, and she didn't seem flustered at all by it. That should have been the first indication that she had nothing to hide. And when "incriminating" e-mails started to emerge (e.g. her excessive use of the word "flippin,'" her sadness for her daughter, Bristol's exposure to hateful media, and a discussion about dinosaurs), she came out on top as a genuine, honest, God-fearing, sincere, level-headed, intelligent person with a skeleton-less closet. So the question that begs to be asked is: since this group of liberals did not find any dirt on her, doesn't that merit their support for her? You don't have to agree with her views, but for her values? Unfortunately, the media doesn't work that way. Instead the whole operation has been kept quiet while they wait for it to be forgotten: "Move on, nothing to see here." This is a good article about the money, time and effort that was invested into this miserably failed tactic. What's sad to me is that they put so much investment into reading 24,000 pages of personal e-mails at no benefit to them, yet no one could seem to put half as much effort into reading the 2,500 page healthcare bill. Hmm, where are our priorities? Are we so concerned about partisan "wins" that we forget to examine what is actually good for us? Meanwhile, our economy is going to collapse because it’s not sustainable. As a side note, Healthcare reform is named the biggest “victory” for the Democratic party in the last 100 years. We may not be able to afford it, but they won! Good job? Why are we more concerned about winning the battle than what the battle is about?

Why do we hate her? Oh yeah, because of Hollywood. So many people mocked Palin for saying "I can see Russia from my house." That's great, but Tina Fey said that on SNL, not Palin. I guess people believe that if Palin is being mocked on a popular show, everything Fey is saying MUST have been said by Palin. Either that or SNL's Weekend Update is considered legitimate news by some (no surprise here). Bristol Palin appeared on Dancing with the Stars, to add a little "political drama." Goodness, is this what is considered political drama these days? Oooh, look at that spawn of Sarah dance, I just hate her and those flippin' foreign policies! I actually do know people personally who wanted Bristol Palin to be eliminated SOOO badly from the show just because she was a Palin. I never watched the show, so I can't weigh in. If I were to weigh in: Is she a good dancer? If yes, keep her. If no, eliminate her. The merits of a person are not applicable anymore, obviously.

Michelle Malkin aptly calls the media's obsession with Sarah Palin, Palin Derangement Syndrome. Some are suggesting that the reason for such irrational e-mail investigation is because the left believes that she is powerful enough to sway the 2012 election. They want to find dirt against her, because they're afraid of what she's going to do to them. Even if she's not running, an endorsement for another candidate might be enough. If she wasn't a threat, then why not just leave her alone? If she is the idiot that you think she is, then ultimately she will just help your cause anyway. Similar to the way that the Washington Post helped Sarah Palin's image. Understand, libs? Stupid hurts.

I've thought about how unfairly she has been treated ever since she was illogically blamed for the Gabrielle Giffords shooting last year (similar to this instance, that was inexplicably kept silent; nothing to do with media bias, I'm sure.). It intrigues me how much she was hated for an event that she had no relation to for virtually no good reason. Well, the "good" reason is because Palin used the word "crosshairs" when talking about politicians we want to kick out. Anyway, the double standard displayed by the liberal blame game is astounding. "The right's hateful rhetoric is out of hand! Why can't we just hold hands with rainbows and love everyone like the left does?" Oh wait, I was talking about a double standard: Here are some things that the left has said and done (Language and Graphic Content Warning). Yeah, WE'RE the hatemongers. . .

Now, I'm not stupid enough to say that no Republican has ever done anything stupid or hateful. Unfortunately, white supremacists and anarchists align themselves to the (far) right because it is most conducive to their idealogy, and they will resort to violence to make the country even more conducive for them. But let's examine this: Radical Liberals are anti Capitalism, and anti free market (among other "antis" and "pros"), both principles that made this country great to begin with. It's not a secret anymore that they want a revolution. For a revolution, as history will show, you have to use force against your opposer to get them to conform. I haven't heard of any Conservative that wants a revolution. In fact, it's the opposite. It's not that we're scared of change, but we know that upholding the inspired Constitution is the best way to promote the most freedom, and more freedom is how you are able to embrace more change.

K, i ned to brb cuz jursey shor iz on.

(this is an interesting video; not sure if I agree with all of it, but some of it seems pretty logical. It's kind of annoying. Watch at your own risk. May cause death.)

Friday, June 17, 2011

Tokkin bout my Jenerashun

An issue that has been on my mind since I was a teenager is finally taking shape into cohesive thoughts. I figure I’ll take a stab at it now, although I’m not sure if they’re cohesive enough yet. This idea was intensified with the election of Barack Obama, and more recent news stories have pushed away the fog even more (after you read this you're going to wonder why it took so long to shape these thoughts. I have a special brain, ok!?). When first becoming interested in politics, I promised myself that I would never take anything at face value. If you're not questioning something, you're following blindly. I have become particularly interested in sociological factors that play a role in shaping political, secular, and religious landscapes.


Some of you know that I’m not a fan o
f my own generation, “Generation Y,” as we’re called. We are marked as the “give-it-to-me-now” generation. We hold an undeserved attitude of entitlement. Our once valuable hours are now saturated with substandard television and Internet entertainment. We have short attention spans, lack the ability to effectively manage ourselves, are politically docile, historically starved, and selfish. Even more pathetic is the culture of my generation. Statistics have indicated that of the top 10 shows that are listed among 18-49 year-olds, reality television is only on the list thanks to the 18-29 year-old bracket. A reality show with substance is good for all ages, but among the top rated reality shows are Jersey Shore, The Kardashians, and Real Housewives. Jersey Shore is in no way a good show. It's crass and crude and serves no societal function whatsoever. In Real Housewives, overly rich, high maintenance women show how much they don’t grasp reality, and are kind of useless. Catfights, Botox and egotism has never been so amusing. These shows are the definition of narcissism, entitlement, and provide a horrible display of civility and lack of intelligence among the “stars” of the shows. Take other reality television “stars” like the Kardashians and Paris Hilton. Why are they famous again? I mean, besides having a super wealthy, well-known father and a sex tape. Why should we aspire to their level of . . . success? One favorite reality show from the past year or so was The Hills on MTV. It was scripted. Yes, a SCRIPTED reality show. Brilliant. As a member of this generation, I do believe this is an accurate representation of the majority. Obviously, there are exceptions.

Among entertainment time-wasters for my generation is Youtube. I decided that I will make a separate post about Youtube, because there’s just so much to say about it! Consider this a “two-part” blog. Let it suffice, for now, to say that there is an over representation of idiots and an under representation of quality entertainment on Youtube.

In that part-two, I will also tell you about an author who wrote a book about my generation calling us the dumbest generation so far, his presence on Youtube, and the counter-productive fight against him from some of the dumb ones he’s talking about. For now I’m moving on.

Author Ben Shapiro recently wrote a book called The True Hollywood Story of How The Left Took Over Your T.V. He has interviews from top Hollywood executives, producers, directors, and actors who openly admit to using their “craft” as a propaganda tool to push liberal progressive undertones in popular media. I know you’re not surprised. I’m not either. What is surprising though is how proudly they admit to it. They are thrilled about it. They even use words like “discrimination (against conservatives)”, and “blacklisting” openly conservative people who are looking for work in Hollywood. The Liberal undertones in entertainment even go as far as Sesame Street.

I have always hated Friends. Now I know why (starting in paragraph 4 of this article).

The people in Hollywood have egos that are bigger than the greater Los Angeles area; they believe that “normal” people idolize them and aspire to be just like them. Sadly, they are right when it comes to my generation. Many view television shows as an ideal lifestyle that they should try to emulate. I use the term “Hollywood” loosely to include most popular media.

The other day I was watching the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Even though that show frequently makes fun of Republicans and Conservatives, I think it is hilarious! When I was watching, they were playing pieces of a Bill O’Reilly clip out of context. I knew it was out of context because I had seen the original clip. They made it appear like he held the exact opposite opinion about a subject than he actually did. I didn’t care, it worked for the joke, and I can laugh at something funny. But I started to wonder how many people consider the Colbert Report to be an actual source for news?

Turns out, about 30% of 18-30 year-olds list Jon Stewart, and the Colbert Report as their news resources. Isn’t it a good feeling to know that so many people are voting based on what they heard from a comedy show that will do anything for a laugh? It literally scares me to think about people watching the Colbert Report, and then regurgitating the jokes as political facts. So much for my dream of a world where people actually use common sense.

There is an inexplicable hatred for Sarah Palin among people my age (maybe a Sarah Palin commentary will be part 3 of this post?). I’m not necessarily standing up for her, but why is there such hatred? I hear it all the time from people my age. They just despise her! No one can tell me why, but I've noticed that it’s a wildly popular thing to make fun of her on SNL, Comedy Central, late night programming and other top rated shows that are targeted toward the Gen Y demographic. The hatred has nothing to do with her policies as far as I can tell, but rather the fact that Hollywood has made it popular to hate her. As someone who doesn’t hate her (but I don’t exactly endorse her either), I can tell you that people my age who find out that I don’t hate her have begun to treat me differently. But, alas, there is no substance to their reasoning. I think it’s because she’s a threat. Look for part 3.

Here’s my conclusion: Liberalism is a test of popularity. The Hollywood entertainers who captivate and, frankly, control millions of my generation are telling us that Liberalism is the most modern and trendy way to think. Conservatism is outdated and old-fashioned, they'll say. By golly, we're just a bunch of back-woodsy, uneducated rednecks who hate blacks, marry our cousins, and love war! Conservatism is belittled and mocked at every opportunity, letting insecure youngsters know that if you don’t want to be “blacklisted” you should be a Liberal. I bet if you ask the average person in the 18-30 year-old bracket to name a Supreme Court Justice, they couldn’t. Ask them to name a cast member from Jersey Shore now. How does this really tie into today’s political scene? Obama holds a record for the highest turnout of first time voters between the age of 18-25. Using mass media and a bit of peer pressure, entertainment “puppeteers” made Obama look like a rock star candidate without annoying us with pesky details concerning his policies, track record, etc; because we don’t care about those things. Instead, look how young he is, and how eloquent and smart; and look, he plays basketball, he’s thin, he’s black and that is a big deal because we’re making history. Most Gen Y-ers were probably more concerned about their next Facebook update than about Obama's policies. Barack was voted into office by the attention grabbing, I-want-it-now, American Idol generation. I can see why the average individual of my generation would find him appealing back in 2008: Tax cuts for anyone making less than $250K a year, school debt forgiveness, free secondary education, end of wars, free healthcare, etc (all of those things were promised during his campaign, and have not been realized. If you want to argue free healthcare with me, I want you to study the operative word “free” first). Luckily, I know that some people are awakening to the destructive results of his poorly run presidency, and will not vote for him in 2012. The people I know of who are still planning to re-elect him probably haven't changed the channel away from MTV since 2008 (insert more hyperbole here, if you’d like). It’s the Hollywood Liberals that are recruiting for the fight against Fox News at the behest of progressive “leaders” in office, because they want to shut up anyone with different opinions that threaten their agenda. And it is my generation that is joining the attacks, even though you’d be hard pressed to find anyone from that group that actually has watched a second of Fox or any "news" channel aside from Colbert for that matter. Liberal groups are led by bullies who will turn to insulting and degrading others when their opinions are challenged. It’s amazing to me how Liberal groups can make their members feel like it’s the Republicans who are intolerant and full of hate, then they use words like “discrimination,” and “blacklisting” proudly. More amazing are the generation of idiots who believe the obvious double standard. If you believe that Liberals truly are the most tolerant of political differences, then I dare you to walk through downtown Berkeley with a sign around your neck that reads, “I’m a Conservative Republican,” and see how you’re treated. I would actually like to do that as an experiment. Not me though. We should get a Democrat to do it, it would be very enlightening . . . hmm, I'm on to something!

This is not a blanket statement for all Liberals, but the Liberals I know who are able to think for themselves, do. Those who are shallow, concerned about popularity, try to keep up with what some whacked out Hollywood community deems as cool, and don’t care to study out current political issues that actually affect them default to the most popularized political party, Liberalism. Are you happy that Hollywood has rendered you unable to think critically for yourself? Your thinking has been retarded so much that you’re actually de-evolving. I don’t mean to rip into this generation so much. After all, I am one of them. I don’t think I’m better than the rest, and I certainly indulge in too much mind-numbing television, but it’s never been in my nature to let someone else do my thinking for me.

Just as a side note, I don't understand why people aspire to Hollywood standards anyway. Have you ever been to Hollywood? I've walked down Hollywood Blvd, Santa Monica Blvd, and visited the sites. I didn't see a lot of stars, but I did see a lot of trash, homeless people sharing needles, soliciting prostitutes, drug deals, and people who's minds were fried to the point of hallucination. Hollywood is a dirty, disgusting place. Their ideas of reality are so unrealistic, I could probably spend the rest of my life trying to lick my own elbow and live a more rewarding life.

Please, fellow Generation Y, prove to everyone that we’re not mindless drones. Start thinking for yourself! Lead or be led! Lead, follow, or get out of the way! [Another cliche]!

Does this post make me look like a conspiracy theorist?

Another interesting video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDcF2BwGNkY