The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

You can tell a guy to shut-up, f*ck off, that he's an idiot, but there's one thing should never, under any circumstance, say to him: To man up. I was told this for the first time in my 37 years the other day, and while it's difficult to rile me, that got my blood boiling (figuratively, of course). The phrase man up  is incredibly sexist to both genders. What's the opposite of that? Woman down? What in hell does that mean? A woman should be entirely submissive and obey her man's every wish? What year is this again? The phrase also paints an incredibly stereotypical, old-school mindset, where men are seen as the providers, the stronger of the two sexes, assertive, powerful, and rich. If a male cries, even after his mother passes away, that's not acceptable and he needs to "man up." On the opposite end, if a woman doesn't cry during such an occasion, she's seen as unladylike, meaning there has to be something seriously wrong with her. I'm so...

It seems that some (many) whom identify themselves as Tea Partiers are happy with the government shutdown and think it's a good thing. I can't say this completely surprises me, yet it astonishes me nonetheless. A growing number of self-described Tea Partiers believe in minimal government, if any government at all, so a government shutdown to them is like a wet-dream. They can then temporarily skip and gallop naked about the earth, yelling out, "You see? I don't need government! I'm free! Free as a bird! I was right all along! The government is useless and only there to limit my freedom! Make this shutdown permanent so I can always be so free!" Perhaps if I become addicted to drugs - a hallucinogen especially - and wander away to neverneverland, I too will feel that way. However, as much as I'd love to believe that we're all 100% independent and free, I'd be more delusional than a legally blind person who claims to see voices to think this way. ...

Mark it. It's over. I can firmly announce that Barack Obama will win the November election and continue his presidency through 2016. The past 2-3 weeks have been very good ones for the Obama team and not so good for the Romney camp. The Democratic National Convention resulted in a bigger bounce for Obama than the Republican National Convention did for Romney. In his speech at the DNC, former president Bill Clinton dismantled many of the Romney team's talking points, including many lies which were spewed forth from Romney running mate Paul Ryan's lips. Ending a three-month streak of being outraised by Romney, Obama came away with more donation money in the month of August than his opponent. Recent polls have increased Obama's lead over Romney nationally to between 4 and 10 points (6 seems to be about average), the largest such leads Obama has had over the Republican candidate in some time. In recent days, Romney has had to flip back and forth with regard to his thought...