Final Presidential Debate

I watched the debate this past week. This debate focused on domestic policy. America is in the middle of an economic crisis and the plans that these men put forward to address this issue is likely to be the deciding factor for a significant number of voters. It was this specific issue that prompted me to stay at work and watch the debate in the break room rather than make the 45min drive home.

I was more than a little disappointed in both candidates. Obama is a slick talking, charismatic politicians politician. McCain, not so much. When the topic turned to economics I was ready to hear some courageous talk about how to fix the situation. McCain struggled to articulate any word with more than 2 syllables. Obama deftly ignored the topic completely while using words that are typically associated with economics. In the end, I came to a conclusion about each candidate.

John McCain. He has a plan. I don't know what it is or how it would work. He struggled to put forth examples of what the plan entails but, he couldn't put together a complete sentence that made sense. Let alone that paragraph that would be necessary to convey a concept.

Barak Obama. He has no plan. He knows what he wants but, it has nothing to do with helping the American people. It has everything to do with helping Barak. He is polished and articulate. To bad he has nothing to say.

I should have just gone home. I have no idea which candidate to vote for. I want to vote against them both. After this debate, I weep for Americas future.

This is Our Moment - Barak Obama

"This is our moment." Try it out. How does it make you feel? Does it get your patriotic juices flowing? If so, are they your American citizen patriotic juices or your citizen of the world patriotic juices?

This was the theme of the speech Barak delivered in Berlin on July 24, 2008. The democratic presidential nominee. A little over 3 months until the election and he is out trying to drum up votes in Germany. It certainly is a unique strategy. I cannot remember a presidential candidate choosing to invest campaign time with people who cannot vote him into office.

Barak has gotten a bit ahead of himself. He is calling for a global unification to attack terror and genocide. A global effort to spread peace and build economic growth. A world wide focus to "save this planet." JFK and the Gipper didn't demand the attention of the German people until they were actually president. They had a mandate from the people of America that let the world know they spoke for a nation.

What legitimacy does Barak have? Not much. He barely became the democratic nominee. No previous nominee has had to wait so long into the campaign season to be declared the parties candidate for president. Surely, he can't expect the world to rally around his call to action before the presidency has even been decided.

"People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time." Our moment to do ... what exactly? Unite behind a lot of empty rhetoric and a desire to make the world a better place? Obama doesn't actually ask us to do anything. Reagan had a pretty specific call to action. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Berlin is certainly a place with a lot of historical impact. Some of the greatest speeches are delivered to Berliners. This was not one of them. I readily admit that Obama is a charismatic speaker but, the message here was not worth the trip.

Henry Rollins Speech for Net Neutrality

Henry embraces the theme that our freedoms are under attack in America. He contends that politicians, media and corporations are leading the assault.

The Internet is the last true bastion of freedom. But not for long. The legislation is just around the corner prevent us from being able to express ourselves as we wish. Sites like this, free today will not be tomorrow. We will be paying AOL and the other providers to have our sites on the Internet. FCC type regulation of content will be right there with it.

I cannot do justice to Henry's speech. The passion he brings to the subject is completely engaging and his language choice is, well, quite pointed.

It is a short rant, only 2.5 minutes. Go watch it on You Tube. See if it inspires you as it has me.