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...

I don't lose my cool very often, but I have to say, I'm getting a little fed up with the Republican Party's attempt to turn reality over on its head. I'm sorry, but it can't be done. No matter how hard one tries to prove otherwise, 2 + 2 = 4, gravity exists, the Holocaust happened, and the sky is blue (well, unless you're in central Ohio in the spring). The amazing thing about politics today is that our two-party system no longer features a liberal and a conservative party. It features a somewhat and a batsh*t crazy party. The Democrat Party isn't even liberal in some areas, yet they're viewed as such due to how starkly different they are from the Republican Party. They tend to embrace science. That's not "liberal" nor "conservative;" that's simply logical. They tend to embrace studies, fact-checkers, and critical thinking. Once again, that isn't a "liberal" nor a "conservative" philosophy; that's...

Remember when Donald Trump and his followers contended that then President Barack Obama was a tyrant because of all the executive orders he passed? Well, allow me to show everyone, including them, some interesting numbers pertaining to that. I was born in 1981, so let's just compare and contrast the number of executive orders starting with Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan: 381 (average of 47.63 per year) George H.W. Bush: 166 (41.50 p/year) Bill Clinton: 364 (45.50 p/year) George W. Bush: 291 (36.38 p/year) Barack Obama: 275 (34.38 p/year) So let's now rank these five presidents in descending order: 1) Ronald Reagan: 47.63 p/year 2) Bill Clinton: 45.50 p/year 3) George H.W. Bush: 41.50 p/year 4) George W. Bush: 36.38 p/year 5) Barack Obama: 34.38 p/year So, among these five presidents, Barack Obama averaged to issue the fewest executive orders per year. Who averaged to issue the most? Republican God Ronald Reagan. Through six days of Donald Trump's t...

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has received a great deal of heat from the press in recent weeks after he claimed he no longer feels safe while in the pocket and isn't having fun anymore. Well, I'm here to say Newton, like all other dual-threat quarterbacks, has a point. While I agree with many of these same critics that the NFL has gotten too protective of quarterbacks overall, dual-threat quarterbacks like Newton tend to be treated differently than traditional drop-back passers by officiating crews, and that's not right. I think this is largely due to many people, officials included, seeing quarterbacks like Newton as running backs behind center as opposed to actual quarterbacks. This shouldn't be the case, though. When a quarterback's behind the line-of-scrimmage, regardless if he has the speed of Michael Vick or Tom Brady, if he's hit in a manner which violates a league rule, the defense should be penalized. Newton might be bigger and quicker than m...

We're about 24 hours away from election day (12 if you want to get technical), so I thought I'd share the presidential and vice presidential nominees' Politifact scorecards going into the big day. Republican Ticket Donald Trump True: 4% (14 out of 328) Mostly True: 11% (36 out of 328) Half True/Half False: 15% (48 out of 328) Mostly False: 19% (63 out of 328) False: 34% (110 out of 328) Pants on Fire: 17% (57 out of 328) True/Mostly True: 15% False/Mostly False/Pants on Fire: 70% Net: -55% http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/ Mike Pence True: 11% (4 out of 38) Mostly True: 11% (4 out of 38) Half True/Half False: 32% (12 out of 38) Mostly False: 21% (8 out of 38) False: 26% (10 out of 38) Pants on Fire: 0% (0 out of 38) True/Mostly True: 22% False/Mostly False/Pants on Fire: 47% Net: -25% http://www.politifact.com/personalities/mike-pence/ Democratic Ticket Hillary Clinton True: 25% (72 out ...

The most recent episode of The Carmichael Show  Sunday night revolved around the concept of civilized discussion and why it's healthy to consistently hear differing viewpoints. It also subtlely poked fun at the notion that liberals are open-minded yet often times have trouble accepting viewpoints different from their own. In the end, though, it provided hope that, regardless of a family's differing viewpoints, we can all come together to celebrate that which bands us. In light of seeing this show, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the matter. Through research, observation, and conversation, I've come to the conclusion that, often times, liberals and conservatives have differing viewpoints on the concept of open-mindedness . To most self-described liberals, being open-minded means to accept people for who they are, regardless of age, gender, race, creed, orientation, etc. It also means to accept new ideas until one idea becomes fact. To most self-described conserva...

My fellow liberals, progressives, Democrats, let's all take a deep breath and try to relax a little bit. Actually, let's make that several deep breaths. Play some nature music, smoke from a bong in Colorado, do whatever it takes to ease the tension which has been building over the past several weeks. I'll give you a few moments to do that... :: takes a nap :: Okay, now that I've given you all a couple hours to relax (yes, it was a lovely nap), I hope you won't be angered by what I'm about to say... Of the handful of Democratic candidates who ran for president this year, from the very start, I favored Bernie Sanders. My dream ticket has been Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren (or vice versa) for quite some time. Even though the Vermont senator was an underdog in the state, I voted for Sanders in the Ohio Primary. He fell short, unfortunately, but even though I was disappointed with the result, I accepted it. The same goes for the likely outcome of the primarie...

While Fox News hosted the first Republican debate this primary season, CNN has hosted the past two debates, one for both the Republican and Democratic parties. Their Republican debate was mostly moderated by Jake Tapper and the Democratic debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper. Jake Tapper seemed to treat the former of the two debates like a hybrid of a reality television show and a TMZ special. The vaguer and more intense the responses from Republican candidates Tapper got, the more likely he was to get excited and return the favor by asking another series of general yet insensitive questions, hoping to spark a fist-fight. Anderson Cooper, meanwhile, treated the latter of the two debates like a hybrid of an actual debate and a conspiracy forum. At times he'd ask ridiculous questions which seemed to derive from a right-wing conspiracy-oriented website, yet he'd consistently ask each candidate for specifics, and when he wasn't satisfied with a response, he wasn't coy to...

As I've been saying for a long time, cable news is about as reliable as a few older drunk guys at a bar discussing politics. It's based much more on opinion than fact, and even when facts are shared, they are often times overshadowed by controversial, headline-grabbing opinions. A new Pew Research study confirms my long-held suspicions. Of the three major cable news networks, CNN is the best when it comes to factual reporting, as 54% of the network's coverage is factual, whereas 46% of it is simply opinion. Fox News flips those numbers around, as just 45% of it is based on factual reporting (thanks Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace) and 55% of it is opinionated commentary. MSNBC's programming is showcased to only be 15% factual, while 85% of it is opinion. This means that on the three major cable news networks, it's coverage on average is comprised of 62% opinion and 38% fact. This is a growing problem in this country, I feel, for over 3 out of every 5 stories (bi...

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'...

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...

Following the Vice Presidential debate last night, many members of the Republican Party lambasted Joe Biden for being "rude," "disrespectful" and "a bully." Many Democrats have since scoffed at the notion. Some  people have responded to all this by saying, "Wasn't it the Democrats whom were saying Romney was being rude, disrespectful and a bully after last week's debate? Weren't they saying the same things then?" If we want to look at this from a black and white perspective, then yes, the Democratic Party largely reacted to the presidential debate in a very similar manner - in referring to Romney as rude, disrespectful, etc. However, if we want to look beyond that, I don't think the matter is quite so clear cut.  In the presidential debate, moderator Jim Lehrer had absolutely no control of the situation and while President Obama did run over on his allotted two minutes a few times, what stood out most to me was Romney's in...

In light of watching both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions and with the first Presidential debate being just a couple days away, I thought I'd attempt to combine the three events in a writing of mine, where the stark contrasts of the two conventions are presented by way of a debate. Here we go... Bill O'Reilly: "Good evening and welcome to the first debate here at Fox News - the most fair and balanced news network in man's history. We're the only news network in the history of the world to not showcase a liberal bias and provide you the objective truth - Republican-style, without bias. I'm Bill O'Reilly of the Oh Really Factor  and will be moderating tonight's debate. Tonight, representing the Democratic Party will be Kermit the Frog and representing the Republican Party will be Pinocchio. Kermit, I'll start with you. What does your candidate plan on doing about taxes?" Kermit the Frog: "We believe in extending tax ...

I'm just going to say it - Democrats throw better parties than Republicans. While Republicans may have different country artists from which to choose, all of five semi-well known steroid-consumed actors and a host of speakers with slightly more enthusiasm and charisma than a comatose Ben Stein, Democrats have much more to work with as far as musicians, Hollywood and great orators are concerned. Granted, there were some very dull speeches last night that made me long for the day I could watch a full miniature golf tournament in slow-motion. However, both conventions have had their fair share of such speeches. But whereas, I can only recall three semi-standout speeches at the Republican National Convention (John Kasich, Ann Romney and especially Condoleeza Rice), I'm already having trouble remembering the names of all the great speeches at the Democratic National Convention and there's still another night left of it! While I thought that the president of Planned Parenthood ...

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/

So, I had an interesting discussion with a female friend of mine yesterday - with the topic being drama and jealousy. She and I had a disagreement on, generally-speaking, who was the more dramatic gender. While I stated that I felt on average, women were more dramatic than men, she disagreed and felt the opposite. Of course, I was just speaking in general terms and then she specified her position, by saying on the "jealousy-drama" front, guys were far worse than girls. I then told her that on that particular front, she may be right, but I think it's pretty close and I think it's difficult to scale that specific kind of drama, because the two genders often times exhibit jealousy in different ways - with the males being more blunt and obvious about it. However, a friend of mine in Omaha almost refuses to be friends with girls, that or she winds up losing those friendships when it all comes down to it, because there's too much drama. She's told me she really pref...