The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I was between 8 and 12 years old when George H.W. Bush was president. At that time, I followed politics about as closely as a meteorologist follows flurries in Buffalo. Pretty much all I remember about him during that time are: 1) His rather distinct voice; 2) "Read my lips - no new taxes;" 3) Desert Storm; and 4) That he was a Republican; and 5) Dana Carvey doing a spot-on impression of him on Saturday Night Live . So, safe to say, 99% of what I've learned about the man have come in the years after his presidency. It's pretty amazing, in this day and age, to stand back and look at how the Republican Party has changed over the past several decades. Look at where they are today. Whether they like to admit it or not, Donald Trump has become the face of the party. His ideology now coincides with that of the GOP. While the party was shifting rightward during the late Bush's years as president, it was still in that transition stage between moderate, civil, respectabl...

For the second time in the past week, I read a Muse concert review which lauded the band's musical performance and light show, yet showed disappointment in the band's stage set-up. In both these reviews, the critics claimed that this tour's stage set-up lacked in comparison to the band's 2009-2011 Resistance Tour, in honor of their 2009 album The Resistance . While I'd agree that the stage set-up for that tour was visually impressive at times, it was limiting, and the overall spectacle of the shows on that tour, while still great, were inferior to those on this - the 2nd Law Tour. During the Resistance Tour, the three band members were situated in the middle of giant skyscrapers for the first couple songs or so, before being lowered to the stage. This was visually striking, especially at first, however, it limited the mobility of the band members, and while drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme don't move around a great deal, singer and guita...

I love hearing all the rants by hard-core conservatives that the mainstream ("lamstream") media is liberal and/or that whenever a presidential election rolls around, they're "in the tank" for the Democratic candidate. This was very much the case in this past election, where conservatives all over claimed that the media was in favor of President Obama winning a second-term, over the Republican challenger Mitt Romney. As I've been saying for quite some time, I see the mainstream media in favor of one thing and one thing only - good ratings. Whether that comes at the expense of a Republican or Democratic politician is really of no matter. These networks want the best story and the best ratings. Whenever I hear these claims by uber-conservatives that the mainstream media is liberally-biased, I ask them to watch opinion shows on Fox News and MSNBC, and then to watch the nightly news on ABC, NBC, or CBS, and report to me any differences they observed. If they...

I've learned that it is often times difficult to understand the human mind. Within each of our series of thoughts and feelings, there will likely exist at least one contradiction. However, while most outsiders may visibly see that contradiction, the actual person likely won't and in the end, that's all that really matters. So long as things make sense to that individual person, all other vantage points tend to be meaningless to them. However, we also can't look at these seemingly contradictory thoughts and feelings in pure black and white terms. Sometimes, while they may seem contradictory on some level or another, they may make a great deal of sense. One prime example of this is with regard to the taking of life. Most people believe that when one's life is being threatened, it is morally reasonable to take another's life in defense of one's own. We then get into trickier territory when talking about abortion, capital punishment, and eating meat. Man...

Unless something crazy happens in the next couple days, this will be the first Valentine's Day in quite some time where I will be involved with someone. There's really only been one other woman I was involved with during this holiday and that occurred over a decade ago. Oddly enough, my feelings about Valentine's Day have been extremely consistent through the years, with my dating status being completely irrelevant. I'm just going to come right out and say it - I cannot stand Valentine's Day. I couldn't stand it a decade or so ago when I was seeing a woman for a couple years. I couldn't stand it when I was single. I can't stand it now that I've been seeing someone for going on six months. I have a feeling I won't be able to stand it for my remaining years. I know, I know. Feel free to hurl the Grinch-esque labels at me, call me cheap, describe me as a whiner, or as being anti-romance. People can say whatever they want about guys whom don'...

The latest defense I've heard from die-hard gun enthusiasts in response to the Newtown shooting is, "Some people are crazy. Whether they have a gun, a knife, or scissors, they would have found a way to have killed those people." This is in response to the Newtown, Connecticut shooting, where the shooter killed 26 people, mostly with a Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic. So, do these individuals have a point? Whether the perpetrator of Friday's killings had a Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic, a knife, or a pair of scissors, would we still be mourning the loss of 26 individuals in Newtown, Connecticut - including twenty 6- and 7-year old kids? I'm sorry, but as the other defenses have been, this is incredibly weak also. While it's true that if the perpetrator of Friday's shootings had a knife or a pair of scissors instead of a gun, he could very well have harmed or even killed a few of those 26 individuals. However, the chances are slim to none he would have b...

Before I delve into this any, I want to make it very clear that I'm not trying to make light of either tragedy. Lives were lost and families were shattered during both horrific events. However, based on living through both and being a keen observer to the political world throughout these past 11 years, I can't help but be struck by some amazing similarities and differences I've noticed between the two. The question always seems to be - "Do you remember where you were on 9/11?" Most people seem to remember where they were when word came that the Twin Towers had been struck in an apparent act of terrorism. A decade from now, will that same question be asked regarding Benghazi? "Where were you when the Benghazi attacks occurred?" While it'd be impossible for me to see into the future and provide an accurate report on the matter, I'm pretty confident that it's not going to happen. I only ask this because of the drastically different demeanor am...

Shortly after Hurricane Sandy struck the northeastern part of the country, Republican nominee Mitt Romney canceled a campaign rally in the critical battleground state of Ohio - the city of Kettering to be exact - and held a disaster-relief event in one Kettering, Ohio instead. At this rally - I mean, disaster-relief event - Romney shared a story with Ohioans which showcased that he is just as capable of leading in the wake of a natural disaster as President Obama when he illustrated this in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. According to Romney, his own Hurricane Sandy went as follows: "I remember once we had a football field at my high school. The field was covered with rubbish and paper goods from people who'd had a big celebration there at the game. And there was a group of us there assigned to clean it up. And I thought, 'how are we going to clean up all the mess on this football field?' There were just a few of us. And the person responsible for organizing the ...

I didn't see the dog memo that has obviously been passed around in Republican circles. Missouri Senatorial candidate Todd Akin recently compared his opponent - Claire McCaskill - to a dog. Now, word has broke that Iowa Congressman Steve King said the following at a town hall in May and just recently stood by those statements, in comparing immigrants to dogs: "You get the pick of the litter and you got yourself a pretty good bird dog. Well, we've got the pick of every donor civilization on the planet. We've got the vigor from the planet to come to America." I haven't personally seen this Republican dog memo, but in addition to comparing women and immigrants to them, I have a feeling the following dog comparisons were made in the memo: Muslims - "Don't Muslims eat dogs? Isn't that what is taught in that book of theirs? The Corn or whatever it's called? Well, you are what you eat, right? So, if that's true, they must be dogs!" Bl...

Not too long ago, Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, tried explaining the differences between his and President Obama's plans for Medicare. How'd he do this? Via writing them down on a white board. Yes, Mitt Romney has now proven to the American middle-working class that he is just like them, because he can write on a white board! Perhaps his next step should be trying to appeal to minority voters by explaining the differences between his and Obama's plans for welfare via his notes on a blackboard. That will definitely do the trick! To view some rather humorous fictional Romney-white-board writings and drawings, check out the following link -  http://romneyswhiteboard.tumblr.com/