NFL Bigger than the Election

By Matt:

I have always been disgusted that more people vote on American Idol on any given week than in the Presidential Election - or any election for that matter - but I am starting to see how and why this happens. In the last two weeks I have been engrossed in a topic that means nothing to the overall health of this country much like American Idol. The only political things that have perked my ears up and made me listen since the two conventions are that McCain’s numbers are continuing to rise - AWESOME news - and Obama continuing to throw the same tired old line of “do you want four more years of Bush?”

And, to make it worse, I am realizing that I have not really gone looking for news from the campaigns either.

Instead of listening to political talk radio I find myself consistently having ESPN on in the car. Instead of hearing what both candidates are saying on any given day, I’m searching out Tom Brady’s injury or what my Fantasy Football players' statuses are. And, instead of talking politics with my wife our conversations have become more focused on our 2-0 Packers.

Is that bad or are other people this intoxicated with the NFL??? Or is it that nothing is really happening on the campaign trail right now and we are all just waiting for the debates? We’ll see. Let us hope that McCain and Palin continue to rock the polls the way that the Pack has rocked the Vikings and Lions the past two weeks.

As a side note, I would like to thank Pastor Hickey for reading my post this weekend. Please don't call me "left" again. If you continue to read my blog, you'll find that it's a much more appropriate title to bestow on my counterpart.

Back From the Hood

By Matt:

I'm back. Sorry for the lack of posts. I just returned from an awesome trip to Oregon for a wedding with my wife. One of her college roommates got married in the mountains and it was incredible.

But, now I'm back, and I've got a lot to say about what has been happening while I was gone.

First, the RNC. I haven't had a chance to post a single thing on the RNC.

We left for Oregon via Wisconsin on Wednesday night. We made sure to drive my wifes car so that we could listen to her satellite radio and get both the Guiliani and Palin speeches. Much like Muhammad Ali, Guiliani came out with a rope-a-dope technique. But, he quickly turned to "stinging like a bee" using the Obama campaign as his punching bag.

Palin took her fair share of shots at the campaign as well. She was quick to point out Obama's "experience" as a community organizer, versus her job as an executive in both Wasilla and Juneau. I think she started off a bit slow, but I was more than impressed by the end of the evening.

Critics have accused both Guiliani and Palin of being too harsh or nasty. The only reason they're saying that is because the truth hurts.

So, we're in beautiful Mt. Hood, Oregon and instead of seeing some sites on Thursday, my wife and I hunkered down to watch McCain's acceptance speech marking the final night of the convention.

As expected, the McCain Speech didn't live up to the Palin home run the night before. Obviously McCain is not the most charismatic of speakers. But, he had a real opportunity to beat the Democrats with some serious strategies and policy plans... AKA a platform. This used to be one of the major purposes of these conventions. Apparently both parties find these more of a pep rally these days. I thought the McCain speech was solid. But, I do wish he would've given me a little more to sink my teeth into.

As a real short side thought (because that is all they deserve), I would like to mention my absolute disgust for the men and women who thought Senator McCain's speech was the perfect time to make a protest statement about whatever issue they think the Republicans are missing the boat on. I support free speech. But, folks, there is a time and a place.

Response to Palin Speech

By Mark:

So I said I wouldn’t pick on Sarah Palin anymore and I meant it, until her speech last night. I was very impressed by her public speaking talents, but a couple things stuck out to me that need addressing.

She spoke about how people have picked on her for her ‘executive experience’. Well Governor Palin, you’re getting picked on because that ‘executive experience’ is being the mayor of a small town of 5,000 people and then two years as Governor of Alaska.

My second problem with her speech was how she attacked the media for their criticism of her. Way to call out and anger those who will influence more votes than all the candidates will combined. You may not like the media right now Sarah Palin, but you need them on your side and calling them out may not have been the way to go about it.

Also, Palin said Obama has never authored a bill. Way to do your research, he has authored bills, look it up!

Another thing that needs to be addressed is that the criticism of Palin has nothing to do with sexism! It’s a qualifications issue. So one CNN reporter questioned if she could handle the duties with her family responsibilities. Ok, that wasn’t Barack Obama or anyone associated with his campaign that said that, it was one reporter on one station.

People saying that reporters or critics are sexist because they aren’t Sarah Palin fans makes about as much sense as saying Sarah Palin is racist based on her attacks on Barack Obama in her convention speech. Come on…get real!

This is a unique and historic election. We have an African American and a woman on tickets. This is uncharted territory and politics are politics and there are claims and attacks made by politicians and critics. Let’s leave the sexist and race cards out of the election and let politics be politics.

By the way, I like how John McCain copied Obama’s appearance on the stage following the Veep acceptance speech. The guy looked brutally uncomfortable up there and did about a quarter as good of a job getting the arena fired up as Obama did last week. Nice try McCain.

Does Liberalism Really Mean Feminism?

By Matt:

John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and even the chosen one, Barrack Obama, have all run for the nations highest office with one thing in common - they all had or have had children still living at home during the election. But unlike Sarah Palin, none of them ever had to face the questions and accusations on the topic of parenthood that she has had to face over the last 4 days. One CNN reporter even went so far as to say: "it really makes you wonder if Palin can handle the responsibility of having a five month old with the duties that come along with being the Vice President”. Come on!!!! I have never looked at comments from the media - or anyone for that matter - with a suspicious eye that is on the look out for racism, ageism or sexism but you do not have to look to0 deep to clearly see this quote is blatant sexism.

And who do we call when women are not being treated fairly? The ACLU? But, the ACLU will not touch this with a 10 foot pool because of its legitimacy. Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton? Whoops, Palin is white - they’re not going to help. We need to go grassroots-we need to go to the feminists. Well we’ve called - no one is answering!

I am no expert on feminism but at its core I'm fairly confident that it strives for equality in all spectrums from politics to economics between the sexes. Equality is at the doorstep. There is a woman on the presidential ticket. I would think that feminists would be thrilled that a woman (and I hate to quote Obama) “is a heartbeat away from being president”.

I know the feminists were thrilled when Hillary was up there last week speaking about how proud she was of being a mother and a daughter. Hell, she was so sincere that she made the ultimate womanizer himself tear up and mouth the words I love you. Scary how not even two days after Hillary’s speech Palin said how proud she was to be a woman and a mother, but it was not received nearly as well from the feminist groups or Hillary Clinton for that matter!

My God, attack her all you want for her experience - McCain basically threw you all a meat ball on that one. But, how dare you attack her for being a mother, a wife and a WOMAN. Where’s the sudden absence of the movement for equality? It makes me wonder which it really is... feminism or liberalism?

Are We Really Protecting Kids?

By Matt:

In school today kids are taught about the dangers of drugs, of alcohol, of not driving without their seat belts, of not prepping for their ACTs. They're even taught the dangers of not stretching properly after the calisthenics they go through in gym. It makes me wonder why we are not teaching them how to practice safe sex!!!???

This questioning of course is in light of yesterday’s announcement from Gov. Palin that her 17 year old daughter is now 5 months pregnant. Palin has been a strong supporter of the "abstinence-only" sex education. And, although we cannot assume that she has never spoken to her children about safe sex, we do know that not every parent does. We also know that these are the same parents who bury their head in the sand and think: my kid is not sexually active.

WAKE UP people-TEENAGERS ARE HAVING SEX-and you can take that all the way to your Purity Balls. They always have-they always will. Maybe not while their in high school but almost definitely when they hit college and even more definitely before they get married. Teach them to do it safely. Not only to prevent STD’s (which are rising at a spectacular rate among high school kids here in SD) but to prevent a 17 year old of facing the decision of raising a child while being a child and - in Palin’s daughters case - marriage!!! Which is absolutely insane!

The Struggle in our Home

By Matt:

My wife is really struggling this political season. Like me, she is very passionate about politics. She pays attention. She educates herself. She listens well to other points of view. Like me, she is a registered Republican, but she doesn’t vote a straight ticket and I’d say she is quite a bit more moderate than I am.

But, this year, she is still very torn on how to vote for President. Here is why. My wife is incredibly passionate about reproductive rights for women and families here in South Dakota and across the country. At the same time, she doesn’t like to vote strictly on one issue.

Obviously she is voting NO on Initiated Measure 11 – the South Dakota abortion ban. She knows this is a personal matter that needs to be left up to women and their families. Government can’t know all the unique circumstances that would bring a woman to consider terminiating a pregnancy, and that’s why my wife (and I) believe that this procedure cannot be banned.

Bless my wife’s heart, she had such high hopes for who McCain would select as a VP. In her mind, it would even things out if McCain selected someone like Tom Ridge or Joe Liberman. Not that a VP really has that much pull in things such as these, but she saw it as a safe way to vote Republican. Needless to say, she’s incredibly disappointed in the choice of Palin. As a woman, my wife is excited to have another woman on the ticket, but to have such an anti-abortion rights candidate is not making it any easier on her.

I, on the other hand, am having no problems choosing how I will vote. While I am a supporter of reproductive justice, there are other issues much more important to me.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all unfolds for both my wife and the nation.

Who for VP?

By Mark:

Well it’s always nice to pull further ahead in an election without doing anything and that’s exactly the situation Barack Obama is in today after John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. I hope I spelled her name right, I’ve never heard of her before.

Okay now if I’m not mistaken, McCain is on record many times picking on Obama’s experience or, in McCain’s opinion, his lack there of. Well Senator, you just picked a running mate whose resume highlight is being the governor of ALASKA!

So Senator McCain, in response to your repeated question on the campaign trail, I believe it goes something like ‘Who do you want answering the phone in the White House at 3 a.m.?’ Well to be honest sir, I would prefer Obama or Joe Biden, not you or Sarah Palin.

Oops, I think the McCain campaign can’t dwell on experience anymore.

Oh and to set the record straight, Joe Biden is one of the least wealthy senators in office.

Et tu McCain?

By Matt:

Throughout the DNC this week, commentators have been speculating on whom McCain’s V.P. will be and when will he announce it. Kudos to McCain for not disrupting Obama’s acceptance spectacle last night-instead he let the pyrotechnics, and the sobbing fans at the Parthenon show a key contrast to a demographic that Obama has struggled to get to bow down to him. And with today’s V.P. announcement by McCain, I’m fairly certain this demographic never will.

This demographic of which I speak is not women, although McCain’s choice certainly can’t hurt in that department. This demographic is the blue collar outdoorsmen. You know, the same demographic that Obama so effectively isolated and insulted last spring in San Francisco when he was secretly recorded saying: “these people just cling to their guns.” Governor Palin could not be more perfect to appeal to this group. She and her husband are not millionaires like Obama, Biden or even McCain. They are an upper-middle class family that enjoys hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling. Now, these hobbies alone certainly do not qualify her to be the Vice President but they sure put Obama and his continued elitist demeanor in the crosshairs of this demographic.