Why I'm Quitting The Republican Party

It's the straw that broke this Republican's back.

Much has been written about our skyrocketing oil prices, and how speculators in the oil market are greatly to blame. In 2000, speculators accounted for 37 percent of the oil market; today the number stands at 71 percent. These people are dealing in paper, not barrels of oil. They are not using the oil they trade; they do not affect demand.

I heard that 47 Republican senators have stood up and criticized speculators for driving up the price of gas.

Now, a government task force says the price of oil is up due to increased demand, and speculators are not to blame. (How many Republican political appointees are on this task force, anyway?)

The White House has chimed in and says the same thing. Supply and demand. Yet demand worldwide is up only a little more than one percent and demand in the USA has fallen slightly.

And guess what? The Republicans have suddenly gone silent on shutting down oil speculators, and the Democrat-led effort to put new controls on them is in danger of failing.

Do you think the oil companies and Wall Street have told their Republican buddies to nix this, because it might cost them money? I do.

President Bush gave the rich a huge tax cut with the idea the benefits would trickle down to the underclasses. And once again, the President and his rich cronies are once again thinking of themselves rather than the good of the nation.

I don't want to be associated in any way with these people. I quit.

John McCain is a good man, as far as I can tell. I may vote for him. If I do, I won't be voting for his party or a continuation of the crap the current administration has pulled on us.

I don't exactly trust the Democratic Party either, but I think working class citizens, organized labor, and other truly mainstream American interests hold more sway with them than in the Republican ranks.

So: call me an Independent for now, and get back to me in four more years. If I haven't quit the country all together and become an expat residing in some other nation.

Those Whacky Russians!

Cross CNN with The Onion, and you get the old Russian standby, "Pravda". It was a hoot back during the cold war; now they're apparently hired the writers of the gone but not forgotten Weekly World News. All we're missing is Bat Boy.

You've got to love a news source that leads with a story about Laura Bush leaving the White House before George's term is up, 'cause George and Condi Rice are having an affair. And don't miss the article about how apparently Americans are adopting Russian children just so we can murder them.

Pravda.Ru: Russian news and analysis

Have We Peaked?

We've all heard people lament that things were better back in the "good old days" or characterize our parents or grandparents as being of the "greatest generation".

There's always a sense of nostalgia for what was, and no longer is.

Many of my automotively-inclined friends think the world ended in roughly 1973 when so-called "muscle cars" suddenly died off like the dinosaurs, thanks to a gas crisis and a crackdown by the insurance industry.

I disagree, as cars actually, eventually, got better built, got better gas mileage, and actually learned how to go around corners without the door handles scraping the road.

But what of other things we judge our societal achievement level by?

Technology? OK, we've got the best cell phones we've ever had; not that if you gave me a dollar, I'd take a hammer to the one I have right now. Computers? Absolutely better. Mine only crashes once or twice a week now, not once an hour as it used to. (Thanks, wifey.)

Airplanes? Tough one. I think we haven't come up with a more revolutionary aircraft than Boeing's 747, or 707, for that matter. The 747 was introduced in the late 60's; the 707 in the mid-fifties. Nothing so hot going on that front.

I can only hope our government is wasting billions of secret money on a spy plane to rival our late, belated SR-71 "Blackbird", which could fly from L.A. to New York in the time it takes your grandma to get through airport security these days.

Our space program hasn't advanced since the Shuttle first launched in 1981. The Shuttle goes out of service in mere months, and then we don't have our own manned spacecraft until 2014 or even later. When we do, it will resemble the capsules that we first launched in 1962.

We're supposed to go to the moon, but we did that already. So we're going backward. I guess we'll have to wait for the Chinese to wave at us as they go by the international space station, on their way to Mars, before we do anything advanced again.

Society shouldn't be judged just on its tech advances. How's the quality of life? Is there peace? Food to eat? Clean water to drink?

Go ask Al Gore those questions and get back to me.

Art? Fashion? Music?

We all know what art is, when we see it. Based on that, I haven't seen much new art at all, much less art that pushed both the creative envelope and my imagination, since the 60's.

Fashion? Have you seen anything truly new since around 1969?

Music? Leaving aside a discussion of popular music, as longtime blog readers already know my feelings on that issue, let's look at the serious stuff for a minute. Heard anything powerful, lyrical, transcendent classical music that was written after WWII? I'm hard pressed to pick more than a handful. That war, having destroyed much of Europe, and with it most of its musicians, left us with a creative gulf that has yet to be filled.

Architecture? What's new there? Anything to rival the greatest of previous generations? Maybe you think Frank Gehry's stuff is cutting edge, but it sure looks like the work of someone who's toys were smashed by his brother, and who is still dealing with latent anger issues.

So, you be the judge. Are we headed forward; stuck in neutral, or sliding down the slippery slope to a new dark ages?

With six billion people to feed on this little ball in the middle of the universe, does it matter?

My Pick As Obama's Veep

More foreign policy experience than any President or Veep in my lifetime -- unless you consider Eisenhower defeating Hitler "foreign policy experience". How many guys can say they worked for both the Nixon and Clinton administrations? Hispanic roots will keep the Latinos from voting Republican (like they would, anyway.) Supports the right to carry a handgun (and does, from time to time.) And, best yet, he was born in Pasadena in the same hospital I was.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the next vice-president of the United States:

Bill Richardson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Something Else To Worry About

Remember that meteor that tore a huge hole in Russia a hundred years ago? Guess what: statistically, we're due for another one... I guess I'll quit worrying about earthquakes and start being paranoid about rocks with the power of a 10-megaton nuke blast. Read more here; it's the fifth article on the page.


Secrecy News from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy » Secrecy News


And while you're there, cruise around the website. Very dry and scholarly, but full of nuggets of information our government would rather you not know about.

My Pick As McCain's Veep

Credentials up the ying-yang.

Popular back home? You betcha.

Capable of carrying on if McCain goes room-temperature? Easy.

Pain in the ass for hardline Bushie lovers? - yep.

My kind of Republican!

Read her bio:

Olympia Snowe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dear Queen Elizabeth II:

July 7, 2007 A.D.

Queen Elizabeth II
Windsor Castle (Or Buckingham Palace, or where ever you are)
England
United Kingdom
(note to proofreader, find out her zipcode, OK?)

Your Royal Highness:

As a citizen of your nation's former colony, popularly known as The United States of America, I ask forgiveness of our founder's unruly treatment of your predecessor (and army) that resulted in our independence some 232 years ago.

Let me come straight to the point, your highness. It has become apparent to many of us that we haven't a clue as to how to govern ourselves. As example, at the present time it takes us over a year to determine nominees for our highest office, that of President, and months more to hold elections and finally determine a winner.

I understand that in your United Kingdom, the same process is accomplished in about five weeks.

Perhaps it would be understandable if the lengthy time in determining a new President resulted in the election of men (and someday women) of the best caliber; people of great intellect, high moral character, and sound judgement. Alas, I cannot say that this is the case.

The last two Presidents of our country reveal this failure in vivid detail. You, having met both men, surely you do not need me to point this out to you.

Many in your country have shown disdain at the election of your two most recent Prime Ministers, Messrs Blair and Brown. Mr. Blair, in supporting our own President Bush, became in the eyes of the media "Bush's lap dog," and Mr. Brown... appears to be just a dog.

Viewed from "across the pond" though, we have witnessed that both men can, and frequently do, string entire words together to form complete and cogent sentences, and neither has had a mistress come forth with a stained wardrobe.

Furthermore, it is greatly apparent that in our arrogance as "the world's last superpower" (for now) we have alienated much of the Free World, while increasingly antagonizing the people who didn't like us in the first place.

Your kingdom, on the other hand, has graciously granted most of its holdings back to the people you once subverted and pillaged for commercial exploit and their land's natural resources. (Sorry, that sounds so insensitive.)

England now is thought of around the world as a lovely place to visit museums, admire your palaces, and film period costume dramas. Huzzah! (Is that how you say that? My Shakespeare is rusty.)

So, on behalf of the American people, might I suggest we let bygones be bygones and, as the financial wunderkind might say, form a merger?

A merger, you say? Why, yes, dear Queen. Think of it: England, and America, back together again! You can even bring the Canadians along, if you must. (Except Quebec. Nobody wants to deal with anything even half French.)

We'll adopt the Pound Sterling as coinage, since it's worth so much more than our measly dollar; we'll gleefully join your health care system, crush our guns, and learn proper English, with the accent, of course. We'll even pay back taxes on the tea we dumped in Boston harbor. Perhaps, as a country united across a great ocean, both countries can solve the great issues that jointly plague our lands, like what to do about rap music, and how to get rid of that annoying Simon Cowell on TV.

There is one little, teensy-itsy-bitsy issue that we can't budge on, if the merger is to go through. I'm sure you'll give us one small concession, but it is crucially important for the former colonies to sign off on the deal.

You'll have to learn to drive on the right side of the street. Sorry.


Sincerely,

Joe Lunchbox
LA, CA, US of A

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