So, it is show time tonight!
The pre-election season has been running since November 2006. And tonight we finally start to get this over with.
Iowa has been the first state to nominate a candidate since 1972. Which means there will be no sensible farm bills passed as long as it remains first, but that is a rant for another post.
A candidate has lost Iowa but gone on to the presidency 25% of the time. A candidate has lost Iowa but got their party's nomination 25% of the time(GOP) and 33%(Dem). So, it is a state that is not to be missed.
So, at worst you have a 66% chance of picking the next president of the USA. And who picks that candidate? Only about 150,000 people.
In 2000 31,000 people chose George Bush to be president. In 2000 31,000 people chose to fuck everyone up the ass an administration with horrendous policies that have been known to inflame rhetoric.
yikes.
Media pundits are saying that there will be record turn out! Just like they did in the 2004 general election. Oops, the kidos who didn't know who John Kerry was but knew they hated Bush because John Stewart does and that dude is fuckin' funny bro, didn't show up to vote... again. Some are saying it will double, or triple. Well, if there is a huge turnout at all it will be the Dems and asshat independents, not the GOP. I certainly wouldn't miss CSI: Juno to decide which empty suit is more viable.
So, America, this is what you do if you don't live in the anointed state of Iowa. You throw rocks at them. You throw rocks at them and pull their hair.
That is all, my little Davids.
James's Journal
My Podcast Link
01/03/2008 14:14 #42737
150,000Category: politics
12/31/2007 21:18 #42698
New Year's ResolutionsIf you don't read Rehabilitating Mr.Wiggles you are either not aware of this fantastic comic strip or are a descent human being. Knowing many of you, I am going to bank of the former.
This, however, is not an intro to Mr.Wiggles for the uninitiated, for that requires several paragraphs explaining that AIDS, child molestation, genital mutilation, and homicide are no laughing matter, even if spoken by a teddy bear.
So, in that spirit is the New Year's strip, without apologies.
wise words indeed.
My resolutions are
1) to pirate music a little less and pirate ships of bounty a little more.
2) help propel cybernetic crime fighting by injuring a police officer
3) not laugh so hard when people tell me The Bionic Woman is a good TV show.
4) don't necessarily drink less, but drink better.
5) write more and be less picky. I haven't updated my poetry blog since april (the site has been down for a month *cough*) because I am still wrestling with spacing and punctuation on three dozen pieces.
see you cats and kittens in a bit.
This, however, is not an intro to Mr.Wiggles for the uninitiated, for that requires several paragraphs explaining that AIDS, child molestation, genital mutilation, and homicide are no laughing matter, even if spoken by a teddy bear.
So, in that spirit is the New Year's strip, without apologies.
- Edit*
wise words indeed.
My resolutions are
1) to pirate music a little less and pirate ships of bounty a little more.
2) help propel cybernetic crime fighting by injuring a police officer
3) not laugh so hard when people tell me The Bionic Woman is a good TV show.
4) don't necessarily drink less, but drink better.
5) write more and be less picky. I haven't updated my poetry blog since april (the site has been down for a month *cough*) because I am still wrestling with spacing and punctuation on three dozen pieces.
see you cats and kittens in a bit.
fellyconnelly - 01/04/08 09:47
my new years resolution is to get a puppy.
my new years resolution is to get a puppy.
12/30/2007 13:45 #42683
Buffalo Celebrity EncounterZOMG!
Stop the press! I have a great addition to the Society page of the newspaper.
My first celebrity encounter was with Leslie Feinberg, author of [i]Stone Butch Blues[/i. I was working at Feel-Rite and she had a special order. Oh ya, I handled Leslie Feinberg's package. tee hee hee
Well, last night (e:Jim) and I went to Saigon Cafe for din-din. We had to wait a few minutes for a table and a party was getting up and took forever getting out. Among them was an old man singing unintelligible tunes softly. We heard he was celebrating his 98th birthday.
Hm, who else is celebrating their 98th birthday? According to a billboard in front of the historical society it is Milton Rogovin's 98th. So, ah ha! We stumbled upon the birthday party of the Buffalo's most influential, living artist.
His mustache moved me to tears.
Stop the press! I have a great addition to the Society page of the newspaper.
My first celebrity encounter was with Leslie Feinberg, author of [i]Stone Butch Blues[/i. I was working at Feel-Rite and she had a special order. Oh ya, I handled Leslie Feinberg's package. tee hee hee
Well, last night (e:Jim) and I went to Saigon Cafe for din-din. We had to wait a few minutes for a table and a party was getting up and took forever getting out. Among them was an old man singing unintelligible tunes softly. We heard he was celebrating his 98th birthday.
Hm, who else is celebrating their 98th birthday? According to a billboard in front of the historical society it is Milton Rogovin's 98th. So, ah ha! We stumbled upon the birthday party of the Buffalo's most influential, living artist.
His mustache moved me to tears.
12/28/2007 16:47 #42668
Caligula remakeHi,
Any queer worth his salt should not only know but love and adore Gore Vidal. He was throwing down with Bill Buckley while toe tapping senators were still in diapers (not a joke about David Vitter).
Well, imagine if you would that his epic film Caligula were remade for todays theater goer at the edge of collapsing Imperial culture. And just when its star studded cast including Helen Mirren and Benicio Del Toro in sumptuous togas by Versac hooked you in you realize it was all a beautiful dream.
"Somewhere between pornography and ironic post-modern art lies Francesco Vezzoli's trailer for an imaginary remake of the notorious Caligula."
It is so, so not safe for work. But it would be worth getting fired for I think.
enjoy
Any queer worth his salt should not only know but love and adore Gore Vidal. He was throwing down with Bill Buckley while toe tapping senators were still in diapers (not a joke about David Vitter).
Well, imagine if you would that his epic film Caligula were remade for todays theater goer at the edge of collapsing Imperial culture. And just when its star studded cast including Helen Mirren and Benicio Del Toro in sumptuous togas by Versac hooked you in you realize it was all a beautiful dream.
"Somewhere between pornography and ironic post-modern art lies Francesco Vezzoli's trailer for an imaginary remake of the notorious Caligula."
It is so, so not safe for work. But it would be worth getting fired for I think.
enjoy
james - 12/28/07 23:55
Jenks: sure is!
Vincent: whether you are single or dating a badger, it is a step up from a Courtney Love clone.
Jenks: sure is!
Vincent: whether you are single or dating a badger, it is a step up from a Courtney Love clone.
vincent - 12/28/07 23:00
I have to say Gore Vidal coming out and giving an intro is 100X better than Bob Guccione. I know a guy that has the '79 film VHS & saw it when it was released in '99.
The only thing that freaked me out was Courtney Love, my ex-girlfriend was a freaking clone of her :-/
I have to say Gore Vidal coming out and giving an intro is 100X better than Bob Guccione. I know a guy that has the '79 film VHS & saw it when it was released in '99.
The only thing that freaked me out was Courtney Love, my ex-girlfriend was a freaking clone of her :-/
jenks - 12/28/07 17:40
that is awesome.
that is awesome.
12/27/2007 11:19 #42662
Want a cat? Want four? Come on PMT?Hi,
There is a hilarious story behind all of this, but only (e:Jim) knows all the players and so I will spare you it.
Well, there are four, count them four cats living in my bosses attic until the 1st. They need a new home before they are fed to the dogs. They are spayed/neutered and have all their shots. I can't say what their temperament is like.
Hm, you know. I think I will tell a little tale.
So, my boss and her husband were getting ready for a quiet life as their two children moved out. Just the two of them in the house they could take weekends in Canada, go together on conferences for his job, a blissful life together.
But then, she came into their life.
She was a butt ugly German Sheppard mutt who would gnaw on anything with razor puppy teeth. Their son had found her and took her in to his cramped studio apartment in Cleveland. The dog was nice (she wasn't) but she didn't get along with the cat. So, she ended up living not in Cleveland in a cramped studio apartment, but in Buffalo in a large home with his two parents.
But that was it. No, more, pets.
Then the son had to move to Baltimore, and kitty couldn't come.
So, a cat with a meow like a dying squeak toy came to move in with the dog she didn't get along with in a home with two people who wanted neither.
But that was it. No, more, pets.
Last year on Christmas morning the son noticed a dog outside the window. He was an emaciated yellow dog not quite lab. The concerned young man he is saw that the dog had no tag. With his heart full of Christmas generosity he brought the smelly gutter dog in and fed him the fat Sheppard dog's food.
Christmas ended and the son went back to Baltimore, with the dog still living in the house. The husband put his foot down. No, not another dog. No, no way, not how. I like him, so I helped them get rid of the dog. I took him to get scanned for an information chip. I then took him to the SPCA and turned in a found dog as a man with tears in his face brought in a beloved old pet to be put to sleep.
But that wasn't the end of the scraggly yellow dog. For the daughter, in the few hours she spent with him, fell in love with the dog. She went and adopted the scraggly yellow dog.
Of course, she had cats. The yellow dog came over to play with the fat dog. Then the yellow dog spent an evening or two over the house. Now, the yellow dog and the fat dog live together full time.
But that was it. No, more, pets.
Through another long, long story the daughter can no longer keep her FOUR cats. They are in the attic and headed to the SPCA soon. That is, unless one of you wants them.
But you can already see the plan erode. Sure, the deadline has been set to new year's day. But we all know they will still be here by July 4th. So please, wont you save a marriage and adopt one?
There is a hilarious story behind all of this, but only (e:Jim) knows all the players and so I will spare you it.
Well, there are four, count them four cats living in my bosses attic until the 1st. They need a new home before they are fed to the dogs. They are spayed/neutered and have all their shots. I can't say what their temperament is like.
Hm, you know. I think I will tell a little tale.
So, my boss and her husband were getting ready for a quiet life as their two children moved out. Just the two of them in the house they could take weekends in Canada, go together on conferences for his job, a blissful life together.
But then, she came into their life.
She was a butt ugly German Sheppard mutt who would gnaw on anything with razor puppy teeth. Their son had found her and took her in to his cramped studio apartment in Cleveland. The dog was nice (she wasn't) but she didn't get along with the cat. So, she ended up living not in Cleveland in a cramped studio apartment, but in Buffalo in a large home with his two parents.
But that was it. No, more, pets.
Then the son had to move to Baltimore, and kitty couldn't come.
So, a cat with a meow like a dying squeak toy came to move in with the dog she didn't get along with in a home with two people who wanted neither.
But that was it. No, more, pets.
Last year on Christmas morning the son noticed a dog outside the window. He was an emaciated yellow dog not quite lab. The concerned young man he is saw that the dog had no tag. With his heart full of Christmas generosity he brought the smelly gutter dog in and fed him the fat Sheppard dog's food.
Christmas ended and the son went back to Baltimore, with the dog still living in the house. The husband put his foot down. No, not another dog. No, no way, not how. I like him, so I helped them get rid of the dog. I took him to get scanned for an information chip. I then took him to the SPCA and turned in a found dog as a man with tears in his face brought in a beloved old pet to be put to sleep.
But that wasn't the end of the scraggly yellow dog. For the daughter, in the few hours she spent with him, fell in love with the dog. She went and adopted the scraggly yellow dog.
Of course, she had cats. The yellow dog came over to play with the fat dog. Then the yellow dog spent an evening or two over the house. Now, the yellow dog and the fat dog live together full time.
But that was it. No, more, pets.
Through another long, long story the daughter can no longer keep her FOUR cats. They are in the attic and headed to the SPCA soon. That is, unless one of you wants them.
But you can already see the plan erode. Sure, the deadline has been set to new year's day. But we all know they will still be here by July 4th. So please, wont you save a marriage and adopt one?
He is only half black, so you could go back if you had a really good lawyer. But Barack is the most handsome presidential candidate since Martin Van Buren. Meow!
haha yes (e:libertad)!
Once we go black will we never go back?
looks like we are about to have a black president huh?
It is just wrong for IA and NH to always go first. I like the rotating regional model best, that way Californians and New Yorkers can continue to influence politics with their money and not necessarily their vote. A dem first primary in Wyoming would be good television. I bet Fred Phelps would be available to picket. ^_^
I love the Daily Show. I think it is great that people get their news from parody news than not at all. I am a news junky, but I can't watch Wolf Blitzer for more than a minute without throwing up in my mouth. Parody news makes it accessible. Not ideal, but works for me.
My point with the mentioning GWB's win in Iowa was that a very, very small number of people decided who would be president next. Week field of candidates or not, it is still a tiny corner of America that becomes king makers, and that is undemocratic. Again, I mention the rotating regional primary system as a more democratic alternative.
Iowa Dems have picked the candidate 6/9 times. Undecided may have had more votes in '72 and '76 but undecided didn't win, just came in first. So, my numbers turned that into a victory.
I'm ok with Iowa having the first caucus. Otherwise these flyovercountryphobic politicians would be tempted to simply ignore 2/3s of the population and anything between San Fran and New York. In a weird way Iowa and NH preserve balance that is absolutely essential, ESPECIALLY for Democrats.
Not knowing who John F-ing Kerry was is no crime for Iowans - the ABB (anybody but Bush) crowd was pervasive throughout Democratic circles that year. The Daily Show crowd are now the vast majority of young Democrat voters. Getting news from a comedy show is sort of like giving your kids heavily sweetened yogurt in tubes (ever seen Gogurt?) and pretending that you've fed your kids nutritional food.
GOP Iowans correctly picked GWB in 2000, but you've neglected to mention who he was running against. He was the weakest of a group of weak candidates and ran against the likes of Steve Forbes, Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer. At the time he was the obvious front runner so I don't think it was any surprise. For Democrats, the only candidate that was correctly picked via majority and became the eventual President in the past 35 years was Bill Clinton - the Dems in the state have rarely correctly picked the eventual winner in the general election. Even Jimmah Carter was beat out by 11 points by the collective "undecided" vote in 1976. Also take into consideration in all of this hypothetical chat that in general over the past 35 years Democrats have rarely won the general election and to suggest that had Iowa chosen differently that some of the elections may have been different is wildly speculative.