fuck it.

I'm listening to metallic ko for the first time in like 8 years drinking a freshly cracked bottle of blaton's single malt i got for my wedding. how did i run out of wedding whiskey so fast?? i saw loli and the phonies tonight and james williamson is playing tomorrow in san jose. did you see this?? can't go...life is unpredictable. i want to read the phantom surfers book . budget rock is insane. people suck but it is worth it later. i am almost finished with the mark e smith book i borrowed, hopefully this paragraph doesn't indicate it has affected my ability to effectively communicate.






i took out all my anger on a stranger on the internet today.


A cool girl i went to high school with posted this on her facebook

If the mere act of speaking to schoolchildren leads to political indoctrination, then I should be a flaming right-wing Republican after hearing Nancy Reagan tell me to "just say no" for eight years of my life. She was even on "Differen...t Strokes" for crying out loud, and I certainly don't remember anyone burning their television sets after that.

somebody i don't know wrote

I concur!

I WROTE

the time presidents spend with schoolchildren can be very valuable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro3o-ld0CWw

somebody else i dont know wrote

Tiffany, this couldn't have come at a better time. THANK YOU! (and welcome home! look forward to seeing you next Friday.)

this other cool girl i went to high school with said

Tiffany, I knew I could count on your insight into yet another ridiculous inflamatory claim by the extreme right. Thanks! Chris, GREAT video too.

this guy i don't know, who i will call Mr. Conservative, wrote

Nancy Reagan wasn't the president, was she? She was the astrologer-in-chief. ;) Regardless, I guess it depends on what he's proposing to say. Or maybe not. Bottom line is his popularity is plummeting if so many people are against him doing this. And yes, the opposition party will exploit it if they can. Bottom line is he's a one-term president who will be lame-ducked by next year's mid-term elections.

my friend who started this wrote

I haven't seen any valid numbers that show how many people are truly 'outraged' by Obama's address to schoolchildren, but I'm guessing it's the same people who don't want "Huckleberry Finn" read in schools. Sigh.

some other guy i dont know wrote

...I am still waiting for Obama to 'do something'...

a third smart woman i went to high school with said

Wow. I thought I couldn't dislike conservatives any more than I already did. I hope that the schools stand strong against this kind of fear mongering.

the first friend, who i will call Tiffany because it is her name wrote

I sometimes wish he would simply approach the podium, gaze deeply into the cameras, say "Talk to the hand," and then just walk away.

Smart high school friend who is a woman #3 from before wrote

according to the CNN article I read- "Ninety percent of Americans who identify with the president's party approve of him, but 85 percent of those who belong to the opposition party disapprove." http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/04/obama.schools/index.html

I said

i guess when you're just making shit up you get to have as many bottom lines as you want.

Mr Conservative said

Karen i think u hit the nail on the head. He's a VERY polarizing figure now. He has already failed as a consensus builder. He's very popular within his party and very unpopular outside of it. So now something as simple as addressing the nation's schoolchildren becomes high drama.

Chris, wanna bet a dollar he's a one-term president? :)

Friend #3 from above said

Greg- I think that the American political landscape was polarized long before Obama got elected. To me, one of the differences is that no one expected Bush to be a consensus builder as a conservative (and he fulfilled that expectation). If Obama can get things done without a consensus, I'm all for it- it would certainly be a reversal of the ... Read Moreconservative claim to "cowboy" tactics that liberals had to put up with for most of the past 8 years.
I sincerely hope he is not a one-term president. If another Republican is elected in 2012 I will be severely disappointed, and if it's someone as bad as one most conservatives are behind (a la Sarah Palin), I will move to another country. I was in Europe for the 2004 election, and I have never had so much flack from people who knew I was American, nor was I so ashamed to *be* an American.

Mr Conservative, whose name is Greg, said

Ah yes, but he was going to bring "hope" and "change", remember? then he gave the reins to pelosi' congress, whose approval ratings were as low a bush's. Bad move.

I think Obama could still pull a "Clinton" - ie if/when the big mid-term party shift in congress happens, he veers toward the center in order to function, forwards a left-center agenda... Read More and gains popularity. This is not an arch-conservative country, nor is it a very left-leaning one. I think most people, liberal or conservative, are fairly centrist. Obama is far too left leaning (or at least appears to be) to be successful with his current "agenda".

I said

I will bet you a dollar, but after I win I also get to tell you that you are full of shit and you have no business making prognostications about anything. I had this bet with a lot of people who said Obama could never get elected and it has worked out pretty good.

Greg, Mr. Conservative, said

Wow, abuse from the Angry Left! :) Okay, if I win I get to put an "I heart newt gingrich' sticker on your car or something. :)

Someone i dont know said

If McCain was in the white house and was doing the exact same things as Obama, the right would think everything was wonderful.


Tiffany said

Now, now boys... Greg, I remember you betting me a dollar that Obama wouldn't even get the nomination. Come to think of it, you never paid up. Did I mention I charge 29.99 percent interest?

I said

by that time it will have been reported Newt once took a hit out on his ex wife or used to be in the klan or once raped a black child or some other in a long list of quirky hypocritical foibles of his and he'll be in hiding for another 10 years. so it will have some comedic value.

Greg Said

I don't remember that, but if I did ... I owe u. I seriously never in a million years thought this guy would outrun the clinton money machine. And with Joe "what's our web number?" Biden in tow even!

I said

Maybe you should reflect on that. If you, like every other squawking conservative i hear spout this BS, have been so wrong about so much for so long, maybe consider sitting this one out and letting the grownups handle the heavy thinking for a while.

Someone else i dont know said

Tiffany, you always have such interesting threads. It takes a lot for me to get involved in political discussions online (it's a very quick way to lose friends), but this one really has me crazy. Here's my question: Whether or not Obama is a one or two term president, no matter what his poll standings, etc., WHY are sane people NOT outraged by this blatant spewing of unadulterated hate, guns at town hall meetings, inciting of violence, and, really, the president urging kids to work hard and stay in school is Marxist? Really? I just don't understand why non-crazy people are not more upset about this. Do you remember when you couldn't wear a t-shirt with an anti-Bush logo? Didn't people get arrested for doing that?


Greg said

Tiffany, I think someone is breaking your "keep it cute or put it on mute" rule. :)


Tiffany said

Greg is right: I do ask that everyone keep it civil in my wall. That said, I am also angered to find that political discourse in this country has been hijacked by the fear-mongerers on the right. Like Debra, I also wonder why non-crazy people are not more outraged. I think a lot of people have been caught off-guard by all the insanity that has cropped up in the past few months over health care, Obama's birth certificate, and now the president's address to schoolchildren. If it keeps up like this, I predict that more and more people who stepped up to get Obama elected will wake up and become politically involved once again.


I said

I think there's an undiscovered goldmine here- Tiff'sWall has a similar ring to Craigslist...i apologize for breaking her rule, which i know is upsetting to her, and my apology is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WX1euPoZa8



Greg Said

Chris Owens, ladies and gentlemen!

Post 1: Bush Bash, 2001 style (yawn)
Post 2: personal attack
Post 3: After given an offer at conciliation and an attempt at keeping it light, another personal attack
Post 4: Personal attack on a retired politician you disagree with
Post 5: "sqwawking conservative" personal attack
Post 6a: Personal attack, implying that the populace of craigslist (and everyone else I guess) are far too stupid for you
Post 6b "dickless" personal attack

Chris has contributed exactly NOTHING useful or positive to the discussion. He no doubt finds it far more interesting to agree with himself and like-minded individuals, and bash anyone / everyone else. This is what is generally known as being anti-intellectual, or close-minded. And it also defeats the purpose of having a discussion.

Congratulations, Chris! You're the best! Take an extra day off this weekend, on me. Muah! xoxox

A 4th smart lady i went to high school with said

Chris- for the record, those of us with a sense of humor think you're hilarious.

Tiffany... you're right, the non-crazies are going to wake up and get involved once again. It's starting to happen already.

The rational people that need to speak out are the same ones that spent the past 8 years silently coping with an administration that trumpeted stupidity. I imagine there's some turn-around time involved in that. But I've got hope...hmm wonder who gave me THAT?

Tiffany said

Sorry, Greg, you're kind of outnumbered. And Chris, you are hilarious.

a 5th smart lady i went to high school with said

The dialogue, the passion, the ranting, fuming, threatening... the polarization... I am thrilled to see them, as one who voted for Obama and liberalism. They are symptoms of change. What were emotions and arguments like in the Civil Rights Movement? Women's Suffrage? The New Deal? I don't know if we're in the middle of something great, yet, but if it were calm out there, we could be sure we were in the middle of a big fat and highly unjust status quo.


Tiffany said

Amy, I love you for writing that. What an excellent way of looking at things.

I said

thanks folks...i could go on all night, but i think most of us who can read know what went on here today. btw "a polarizing figure" = "a black man." discuss....

the end


i think Ken will not be impressed with the way i comported myself. not very nice and clearly not recognizing the humanity of the person holding the opposing position. i was just trying to be funny...every ex i ever had said they knew i was purposefully being a dick when I said "I was just trying to be funny."...



i sent a letter to Tuna's buddy Bob Fitzgerald in the mail with a copy of this book
Asking him what kind of life insurance planning he has done.
Fitz and I both were on WVFI "The Voice of the Fighting Irish" http://www.nd.edu/~wvfi/
So i hope he gives me a courtesy call back.

Notre Dame football season starts tomorrow. Home game vs. Nevada. You guys don't care.

Giants baseball is gripping right now.