Finally...

I finally finished the book I was reading ('Against All Enemies' by Richard Clarke). It had been 2 and a half weeks which is quite a long time to not finish a book I think (especially when the book isn't really that long)

Random thing I did today: Rev Run (of Run DMC and MTV's "Run's House") was at Brookline Booksmith signing his new book on parenting with his wife and his two youngest sons so I got to meet (actually it was more like see) them and get my book signed by all four of them.

And finally Barack Obama chose a running mate. Congrats to Joe Biden. I love him as a guy and his policies are ok. He was better than Kaine or Bayh and his smarminess will be fun to watch on the campaign trail. Although it seems that (if Obama is elected and re-elected to a second term) we may have another VP who won't run for president after his VP term is up. That would be two in a row. Very strange if it happens.

Just tell me the your VP is already so I can relax

I'm sure this is all part of his master plan of suspense but I'm mentally and physically exhausted because I've been expected a text message with the name of Obama's VP since Wednesday morning. I am about to have a heart attack and I feel run down. The Capitol is reserved allegedly starting at noon on Saturday and I may not get any rest until then.

If he wanted to build suspense he has done it but this also means his pick better not disappoint (that means no Bayh or Chet Edwards). I guess it's like Christmas, I just have to wait and hope I don't get crappy presents.

Rest in Peace Stephanie Tubbs Jones

Congresswoman from Ohio Stephanie Tubbs Jones died today after having a brain aneurysm. I didn't know much of her but from everything she was a popular and pioneering congresswomen and I suppose her politics don't matter much at this point and it's sad to hear of her death.

Patriotism

Ok, so I'm not a huge fan of the word patriotism (hell, I'm not even sure if I'm a fan of patriotism in general) but it is quite obvious to me that Republicans have hijacked the term so I want to see if I can even figure out what it means.

First some dictionary definitions to build off:
Most generic definition I could find: Love of and devotion to one's country (American Heritage Dictionary)
So that doesn't really mean anything because you can easily redefine that

Ok now let's look at a few excerpts from more pointed definitions:
1) Love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it (WordNet)

2) Devotion to the welfare of one's country (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary)

3) The passion which inspires one to serve one's country (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary)

Ok, so in 1) it is still we get the idea of willingness to sacrifice for it. Well what does this mean? Are we talking sacrificing money, time, your life, or what?

There is a quoted quip that says soldiers fight for their buddies beside them and not necessarily for their country so is being a soldier proof positive that you are sacrificing for your country? Is this the only type of sacrifice and therefore the only true patriots are soldiers? If you're talking about sacrificing money then wouldn't someone who favors higher taxes (or at least those who desire to pay them) be more patriotic?

Maybe 1) is kind of hinting at what 3) says. That 'sacrifice' really means 'service to one's country.' This may seem to favor those who served in the military. Well I guess that calls into question why Bush was viewed as more patriotic than Kerry even though Kerry served in Vietnam.

For that matter, served could mean served the government in any capacity. If the draft were instituted working in the State department (or being a senator) would count as 'serving' your country (ie you would not be drafted into the military) so I guess any government employee is patriotic.

If 2) is your definition then the Republicans fair very poorly in the sense that they are notoriously against 'welfare' and think that everyone should fend for themselves. The economy is notoriously bad during Republican administrations and fewer social programs are supported. I guess if you want to define welfare as moral welfare and you subscribe to the far right's view that abortion should be illegal in all cases and that homosexuals and minorities should be allowed no rights then I guess Republicans are better for the welfare of the country

So I guess that's it. Patriotism is keeping women, minorities, homosexuals, and anyone who isn't in a position of power marginalized and unequal citizens while giving everyone the opportunity to die for their country by picking fights around the world. Oh yeah, and wearing flag pins, displaying flags everywhere, screaming "USA" loudly and frequently.

Wait, why am I proud to be an American again? What do we have over Canada again?

I AM SO EFFING HAPPY!

As of September 8th Rachel Maddow has her own show on MSNBC at 9 PM! For those of you who watch, know and love MSNBC like I do this has been a long time coming and one of the biggest oversights and 'duh' choices on cable news.

I don't know what this is going to mean for Verdict with Dan Abrams (whose time slot she is going into) but I hope it sticks around cause it's a pretty good show and Abrams does a good job.

If I had to make a suggestion I would get rid of Hardball's re-air and do something like this:
5PM Race for the White House with David Gregory
6PM Hardball with Chris Matthews
7PM Verdict with Dan Abrams
8PM Countdown with Keith Olbermann
9PM Rachel Maddow's new show (untitled as of now)
10PM Countdown reair

I'm not married to the order of the 5-7 PM programs. I also think they could slide Abrams back to 11PM but I would also like to see a reair of Maddow's show (maybe at midnight or 1)

Update: Apparently Abrams is just losing his show but staying on as head legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC. If Tucker Carlson is any hint Dan is going to see a severe cut in his time. It's too bad because I thought he did a good job.

Underage Olympians

Ok, does anyone really care that several of the Chinese gymnasts aren't 16? The argument is that it's against the rules because younger kids have an advantage...ok...so what? It's not an unfair and unnatural advantage.

Would we care if underage kids played in other Olympic sports? I wouldn't because they'd get their asses beat. Do you think a 13 year old stands a chance of outrunning Usain Bolt, dunking on Kobe, blocking a Misty May spike, or out swimming Michael Phelps? Of course not. A 13 year old would stand no chance in any of those events because 13 is no where near the peak age of performance in any of those events. If 13 year olds can beat 16 year olds in gymnastics I say either let them compete or take those events out of the Olympics.

Call me overly competitive or an athletic capitalist but I think the Olympics are worth nothing if they aren't showing us who the best in the world are. If they are showing us who the best in the world are under certain stipulations that's bs.

It's also a double standard in that I'm sure that a 50 year old gold medalist would be celebrated as stretching the bounds of what we thought was possible. Why shouldn't we also celebrate the youngest gold medal winners? We marvel at Michelle Wie and Freddie Adu yet these gymnasts are criminalized. Doesn't make much sense to me. Congrats to them.

Although you are free to claim that Nastia Liukin was robbed and that her routine was gold medal worthy on merit alone.

I almost forgot

That I never intended this to be purely a political blog. I figured it might evolve into one because of political season but I've been forcing that over the past few months and I think I would like to retain some of the personal in it as well.

That being said, this post was to talk about a political book I'm reading.

Over the past month or two I've gotten into an author by the name of Charles Derber. He is a sociology professor and activist from Boston College. I have been absolutely delighted by everything of his I've read so far.

Derber is honest and intellectual and comes from an informed far left position. He compares our current government the Roman and British Empires and in our "morality" to Nazi Germany and the Slave South. He's hard hitting and intellectual and makes you want to arrest republican politicians on sight. Before reading him I disagreed with and disliked republicans now I'm fairly thoroughly convinced that to be republican you must be either naive, ignorant, evil, or some combination of the three. He is an absolute must read.