The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I've long said the Republican Party often gets itself into trouble due to its self-branding of the party of God, family values, and morality. This sets them up for ridicule and mockery if and when a member of their party speaks or behaves in a manner which runs contrary to said branding. Sure, any and every politician should face criticism after being caught paying off a hooker, especially if a spouse and/or kids are in the picture. However, this behavior receives even more scrutiny (and deservedly so) when the politician in question has repeatedly labeled himself as a man of God, family values, and morality; has bashed and voted against the LGBT community; and then gets caught paying a man to have sex with him while his wife and kids are at home waiting. Democrats are running into a similar problem when it comes to political correctness. One major reason why I favor the Democratic Party over the Republican Party is their inclusivity. Democrats have essentially branded themselves...

Word has it that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is about to announce his run for the 2020 presidential election. Former Vice President Joe Biden has yet to decide on whether or not he's going to run. Last I heard, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hadn't even completely ruled out a potential 2020 run. I voted for Sanders in the 2016 Ohio Democratic primary. I voted for the Obama/Biden ticket in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. I voted for Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. These are all politicians I respect, admire, and proudly voted for when I had the opportunity. For as much as I respect and admire them, however, I think it's time for the Democratic Party to flip the page, start a new chapter, and bring something new, fresh, unexpected, diverse, and progressive heading into 2020 and beyond. Donald Trump, at 70, became the oldest person to start his presidency in U.S. history. He's 72 now and emblematic of the aging Republican Party. Bernie ...

While (illegal) immigration has been a hot-button issue for quite some time, the temperature was raised exponentially after President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning travel for citizens from seven Muslim-dominated countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan). Due to the short notice provided by Trump regarding the matter and the vague language used in the order, chaos at airports was widespread, as natives from those seven nations who possessed visas or green cards were left waiting and wondering, uncertain what their ultimate fate was going to be. This prompted protests from both inside and outside the country, not to mention over 50 lawsuits (to this point), and plummeting poll numbers to boot. Unsurprisingly, this has led to heated immigration debates, so heated, in fact, many Trump supporters are now threatening to boycott Budweiser due to their pro-immigrant-themed Super Bowl ad. Yes, as Martin Lawrence's character said in the film...

During the tenth Republican presidential debate on Thursday night, Florida Senator Marco Rubio made me laugh. Yes, this was unintentional on his part, but at the time, I sarcastically thought to myself, "If this whole presidential thing doesn't work out, I think Rubio's found a back-up plan - stand-up comedy." Here's the quote which garnered a chuckle out of me: "The media has a definition of Hispanics that you can only be Hispanic if you're a liberal. The Obama economy has done enormous damage to the Spanish community. On this stage tonight are two sons of Cuban immigrants and an African American. We are the party of diversity, not the Democrats." Yes, because the final two Democratic presidential hopefuls are both white and three of the five remaining Republican candidates aren't, this obviously means Republicans are the party of diversity, not Democrats. That is if we don't look at the bigger picture, of course. Let's look a bi...

Remember when then President George W. Bush visited a mosque not long after the 9/11 attacks? If you answered no, you're not alone, for it seems many Republican politicians don't recall this event either. Even before Barack Obama visited a mosque yesterday, which was the first time he had done so during his presidency, Fox News, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and others felt the need to criticize him for it. Speaking to Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Trump said, "I think that we can go to lots of places. I don't know, maybe he feels comfortable there. We have a lot of problems in this country, Greta. There are a lot of places he can go and he chose a mosque. I saw that just a little while ago. So that's his decision, it's fine." Rubio went one step further, as he made the following comments: "I'm tired of being divided against each other for political reasons like this president's done. Always pitting people against each other. Always! ...

I'll be the first to admit there are times when even I'll mumble to myself, "Wait, that's causing an uproar on Twitter? Why? What's offensive about that?" However, for the most part, I see political correctness as a good thing. The definition of the term is: "the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against." So why do so many, on both sides of the political spectrum, particularly on the right, often complain about political correctness? One thing that likely frustrates many about political correctness is the fact it constantly changes. What was considered unoffensive 5 years ago may be seen as offensive today. The PC-world can often times feel like venturing to a family get-together over the holidays, featuring many relatives whom you haven't seen in a while. You're kind of...

Following the first Democratic debate on Tuesday night, I can't tell you how many times I've heard conservative commentators utter this line: "I thought Democrats were the party of diversity! Republicans are the ones with diversity! If anyone is lacking in diversity, it's the Democrats!" Of course, this is with regard to just the presidential candidates, which supposedly reflect the parties at large. Suffice it to say, this couldn't be further from the truth. Granted, the Democratic candidates are comprised of four white men and one white woman, while the Republican candidates include: two Latino-American men, one white woman, one African-American man, one Indian-American man, and seemingly countless white men. So, if we simply want to grade the two parties' diversity on the presidential candidates, surely the Republican Party would be the more diverse of the two. However, that's missing the forest for the trees. In the House of Representatives, De...

While, I, myself, don't really hold a strong opinion on my physical appearance one way or another, I'm comfortable with myself and do regularly get complimented on it. Segueing from that, while I hold no jealousy for the guy from a commercial I'm about to mention, what this commercials insinuates kind of bugs me. In a new Toyota Camry commercial, a lady compares her deal on a Camry to the guy she's dating or married to, and says, "Looks like I hit the jackpot again." The lady at the front desk then asks, "Again?" At this point, what appears to be a bodybuilder comes forward, and tells the woman that he got her a Cappuccino or something of the sort, before saying, "...and I rescued this puppy I found on the street." The lady at the front desk then gives this look, which clearly says, "I want him to penetrate me right now. I'll be taking a break in 15 minutes. Can you wait that long? Please? Rescue me from this boredom with y...

It seems that conservatives - especially those in the Tea Party  - love to brand Americans as "real" or not. I personally think it's silly to label anybody in such a manner. We're a diverse nation in terms of belief, ethnicity, and otherwise. I personally think that's something to be proud about. What humors me about this is when looking at the modern-day Republican Party's core belief system, here's how I envision their "perfect" American (beyond real and into the land of make-believe): A fetus named Exxon holding a Bushmaster AR-15 while praying to Jesus.

A week ago, the British rock band Muse released their sixth studio album - this by the title of "The 2nd Law," as in the second law of thermodynamics. As is quoted from a song on the album - "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable": " All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way that the availability of the remaining energy decreases. In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system increases. Energy continuously flows from being concentrated, to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted, and useless. New energy cannot be created and high-grade energy is being destroyed." Like all other Muse albums, this one takes a different turn in terms of sound. As a matter of fact, it takes several different turns, as I will describe below with a track-by-track breakdown: 1) "Supremacy": What's Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" + a dark James Bond theme song + Matthew Bellamy's false...

I love the rock band Muse. They cause me what I call eargasms quite regularly. In light of their releasing an upcoming album in less than a week - The 2nd Law  - I've been on a Muse kick of late and have even tuned into their homepage and read some members' comments in the forum. Thanks to the band and iTunes, I was able to listen to a free stream of the new album in its entirety as of yesterday morning and have heard it twice all the way through now. I will refrain from providing a review until after I purchase the CD next Tuesday and turn it up full blast on my stereo. For the time being, though, I'll provide it a four-word description: Diverse, crazy and awesome. Excited about the new album, I was curious to read fellow fans' thoughts, feelings and reviews of it, so I went to the band's homepage and forum to read such commentary. I became a semi-regular on the site between one and two years ago (reading, not as much when it came to posting), when I saw the ba...