3 months to go...
...and 2008 has already claimed a place in the history books.
And we haven't even had the election yet.
All the way back in January, I was bitching about the writer's strike (remember that?), excited about the Bejing Olympics (oh yeah, that was only 2 months ago), and as always, I had an update on Miss Britney (although I was so vague about it that I don't even remember what the major freakout was about).
I also mentioned that The Election would be happening this year and that I hadn't planned on disclosing who I would be voting for in November.
Times certainly do change, don't they?
When I defined 2008 as the "year that's gonna be nuts," I truly didn't realize that not only would I be right, but I would make a serious understatement. Not only has this year been nucking futs, but it's thrown us all into some really scary times and the year isn't even over yet.
We are a little more than 3 weeks away from The Election. I'm sure that you're registered to vote. If you're not, you had better hope that the state you live in hasn't reached its deadline yet - and then get registered immediately. Seriously. I've gone on and on about this shit for way too long for you not to get registered. Now, if you are registered, thank you! Please make sure to get to the polls early. I digress. The Election is a little more than three weeks away...
...and I'm tired.
I have never cared about an election so much before, and I'm exhausted from following it. I mean, there were the primaries, the primary debates, the conventions, Sarah Palin, the presidential debates, the VP debates, YouTube, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, SNL, The New York Times, CNN...it just goes on and on and on with all the stuff that's been going on. And on top of all of that, there's been hurricanes, the Georgia-Russia conflict, Somali pirates, non-existent school and city budgets, home foreclosures, my own $1300 in out of pocket medical expenses on top of $875 paid in health insurance (insurance against what? seriously, what did I pay all that money for? the paltry bit that the "insurance" covered would have only put me an additional $100 or so in the hole. bastards.), and the Dow taking the ultimate plunge to god-only-knows-how-low.
Meanwhile, the McCain/Palin camp is taking no efforts to quell a late-rising tide of xenophobic behavior coming from their supporters and only fueling the fire by resurrecting old BS about William Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Seriously.
You've probably seen or heard by now about one of the rallies that Palin was at where upon trying to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist sympathiser, a member of the audience yelled, "Kill him!" Now, we don't know for certain if the guy was talking about Obama or Ayers. What we do know is that Sarah Palin did nothing to shut that nonsense down immediately. It was an unacceptable statement, and she did nothing. What she should have done was to address the outburst and say that there was no need for it and it was a fucked up thing to say. All she had to say was, "Sir, we're not going to go there. That's not what we're about." When Barack Obama was at a rally during the primaries, he mentioned Hillary Clinton and the crowd booed. Immediately, he shut them down and told them not to do it. It took all of 3 seconds, and it immediately said that while he may not agree with Hillary, there was no reason for the crowd to be disrespectful.
I'll take "Election 2008" for $400, Alex.
Answer: Respect, class, and tact.
Question: What are things that the McCain/Palin campaign have lost or thrown out the window in the past month?
And let's go back to this whole stock market nonsense.
I understand why Congress had to pass the $700b bailout. But I'd like to see if they can undo it before they get any more of my tax money, considering that the markets around the world are tanking big time. And the goverment is giving AIG more money even though they spent half a million on a freaking retreat just last week?!? My parents' retirement money, if there's any left at this point, is in jeopardy, and those asshats at AIG are going on a super-luxe corporate effing retreat?
I haven't gotten to a point where I've been eligible for a 401K yet, but now I'm glad I don't have one: there wouldn't be anything left by now.
I'm pissed off because my parents, who had finally started talking about where they'd like to retire to, don't know if they'll have any money left to retire with. I'm pissed off because there are so many people that made millions and millions of dollars off of some part of the process that got us into this mess, and they won't be punished for it. No punishment for the mortgage brokers who convinced people to take on mortgages that they couldn't afford. No punishment for the banks that funded no-documentation loans and created loans that would double and triple payments after a short length of time. No punishment for the other banks that repackaged these risk-laden mortgages and gave them high ratings and essentially wrapped turds in platinum gift wrapping. No punishment for the banks that doled out millions in bonuses for those who sold the platinum turds.
Now I'm paying my share of $700b for platinum turds when I had nothing to ever do with it.
And don't give me any bullshit about placing the blame on people who took these loans in the first place. If the proper safeguards had been in place to require income verification, we wouldn't be in some of this mess. If no-doc loans didn't exist, then there would be no way for broke people to take out a no-doc loan.
I might have two credit cards, but I pay those bills every month when they arrive in the mail. I go to work, I pay my bills, I pay my taxes. 20% of my bi-weekly paycheck goes to the government for what? A crumbling infrastructure, failed education policies, a Social Security program that won't exist by the time I retire (if I actually get to retire), and a war that we never should have started in the first place.
You know what? I'm pissed. I'm angry and frustrated, and broke, just like most of us are. And I'll tell you something: if McCain wins, we're going to have four more years of this BS. And it will be worse.
If Obama wins, things won't change overnight, but they will change, and for the better.
I must admit, however, that my last-ditch-all-else-has-gone-to-hell bailout game plan is still Canada. My sister and I have already discussed going halfsies on Rosetta Stone so we can learn French (you get extra eligibility points that way) just in case we have to bail and defect to Canada. We just hope that we'll beat the rush if we decide to go through with it...we're not the first ones to have this brilliant idea.
Time for lunch. Apologies for the stream-of-consciousness track this post took...there's too much crap going on to keep it structured.
And we haven't even had the election yet.
All the way back in January, I was bitching about the writer's strike (remember that?), excited about the Bejing Olympics (oh yeah, that was only 2 months ago), and as always, I had an update on Miss Britney (although I was so vague about it that I don't even remember what the major freakout was about).
I also mentioned that The Election would be happening this year and that I hadn't planned on disclosing who I would be voting for in November.
Times certainly do change, don't they?
When I defined 2008 as the "year that's gonna be nuts," I truly didn't realize that not only would I be right, but I would make a serious understatement. Not only has this year been nucking futs, but it's thrown us all into some really scary times and the year isn't even over yet.
We are a little more than 3 weeks away from The Election. I'm sure that you're registered to vote. If you're not, you had better hope that the state you live in hasn't reached its deadline yet - and then get registered immediately. Seriously. I've gone on and on about this shit for way too long for you not to get registered. Now, if you are registered, thank you! Please make sure to get to the polls early. I digress. The Election is a little more than three weeks away...
...and I'm tired.
I have never cared about an election so much before, and I'm exhausted from following it. I mean, there were the primaries, the primary debates, the conventions, Sarah Palin, the presidential debates, the VP debates, YouTube, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, SNL, The New York Times, CNN...it just goes on and on and on with all the stuff that's been going on. And on top of all of that, there's been hurricanes, the Georgia-Russia conflict, Somali pirates, non-existent school and city budgets, home foreclosures, my own $1300 in out of pocket medical expenses on top of $875 paid in health insurance (insurance against what? seriously, what did I pay all that money for? the paltry bit that the "insurance" covered would have only put me an additional $100 or so in the hole. bastards.), and the Dow taking the ultimate plunge to god-only-knows-how-low.
Meanwhile, the McCain/Palin camp is taking no efforts to quell a late-rising tide of xenophobic behavior coming from their supporters and only fueling the fire by resurrecting old BS about William Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Seriously.
You've probably seen or heard by now about one of the rallies that Palin was at where upon trying to paint Barack Obama as a terrorist sympathiser, a member of the audience yelled, "Kill him!" Now, we don't know for certain if the guy was talking about Obama or Ayers. What we do know is that Sarah Palin did nothing to shut that nonsense down immediately. It was an unacceptable statement, and she did nothing. What she should have done was to address the outburst and say that there was no need for it and it was a fucked up thing to say. All she had to say was, "Sir, we're not going to go there. That's not what we're about." When Barack Obama was at a rally during the primaries, he mentioned Hillary Clinton and the crowd booed. Immediately, he shut them down and told them not to do it. It took all of 3 seconds, and it immediately said that while he may not agree with Hillary, there was no reason for the crowd to be disrespectful.
I'll take "Election 2008" for $400, Alex.
Answer: Respect, class, and tact.
Question: What are things that the McCain/Palin campaign have lost or thrown out the window in the past month?
And let's go back to this whole stock market nonsense.
I understand why Congress had to pass the $700b bailout. But I'd like to see if they can undo it before they get any more of my tax money, considering that the markets around the world are tanking big time. And the goverment is giving AIG more money even though they spent half a million on a freaking retreat just last week?!? My parents' retirement money, if there's any left at this point, is in jeopardy, and those asshats at AIG are going on a super-luxe corporate effing retreat?
I haven't gotten to a point where I've been eligible for a 401K yet, but now I'm glad I don't have one: there wouldn't be anything left by now.
I'm pissed off because my parents, who had finally started talking about where they'd like to retire to, don't know if they'll have any money left to retire with. I'm pissed off because there are so many people that made millions and millions of dollars off of some part of the process that got us into this mess, and they won't be punished for it. No punishment for the mortgage brokers who convinced people to take on mortgages that they couldn't afford. No punishment for the banks that funded no-documentation loans and created loans that would double and triple payments after a short length of time. No punishment for the other banks that repackaged these risk-laden mortgages and gave them high ratings and essentially wrapped turds in platinum gift wrapping. No punishment for the banks that doled out millions in bonuses for those who sold the platinum turds.
Now I'm paying my share of $700b for platinum turds when I had nothing to ever do with it.
And don't give me any bullshit about placing the blame on people who took these loans in the first place. If the proper safeguards had been in place to require income verification, we wouldn't be in some of this mess. If no-doc loans didn't exist, then there would be no way for broke people to take out a no-doc loan.
I might have two credit cards, but I pay those bills every month when they arrive in the mail. I go to work, I pay my bills, I pay my taxes. 20% of my bi-weekly paycheck goes to the government for what? A crumbling infrastructure, failed education policies, a Social Security program that won't exist by the time I retire (if I actually get to retire), and a war that we never should have started in the first place.
You know what? I'm pissed. I'm angry and frustrated, and broke, just like most of us are. And I'll tell you something: if McCain wins, we're going to have four more years of this BS. And it will be worse.
If Obama wins, things won't change overnight, but they will change, and for the better.
I must admit, however, that my last-ditch-all-else-has-gone-to-hell bailout game plan is still Canada. My sister and I have already discussed going halfsies on Rosetta Stone so we can learn French (you get extra eligibility points that way) just in case we have to bail and defect to Canada. We just hope that we'll beat the rush if we decide to go through with it...we're not the first ones to have this brilliant idea.
Time for lunch. Apologies for the stream-of-consciousness track this post took...there's too much crap going on to keep it structured.
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