Max made a super-helmet, and was showing it off to everyone at his party with some outrageous super-jumps. Max isn’t a baby anymore, and that kind of makes me sad. But, he’s turned into a fun little boy, full of energy, questions and he knows how to bring the funny.
He’s five!! Max is a great kid, and he had a really great birthday. Yes, the cake is homemade… and Max helped. There’s homemade buttercream frosting underneath the chocolate too (it didn’t stay together, so we used it in the middle and on the top).
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Max and I have been cooking together a lot lately. I measure everything out and line it up. He dumps it in, and watches the KitchenAid do its thing. Well, except for the brownies. Those he stirred by himself.
The Bush Administration has failed the country on so many levels, they don’t deserve to win. They just don’t. Unless you’re a one issue voter, how can you support an Administration who lied to you, not about a blowjob, but about going to war? The NY Times (I know, I know, but read it) has the best Rumsfeld declares there was no link between Saddam and al Qaeda, then backpedals. This statement’s not based on new evidence that’s come out since the invasion, but finally stating the truth of what they knew beforehand.
It’s unbelievable to me that these aren’t impeachable offenses. Compounded with Abu Ghraib, why hasn’t Rumsfeld been hauled in front of Congress and charged? Why are Wolfowitz, Bolton and Feith still employed? Why does Condi still have a job that she’s apparently not willing to do?
A vote for President isn’t just for one man, especially an incumbent. It’s a vote for the entire Administration. This one’s a disaster, and it’s time for them to go.
Guess who’s a teacher… yep, it’s me! I’ll be teaching Blogging With Movable Type at The Eclectic Academy in November. If you’ve wanted to learn how to install MT, use it, customize it, all written for the blogging novice, please check it out. The course is six weeks long, all online, and I’m hoping it’ll end up being useful for folks (I’m working hard on getting all six lessons done now, and if you have any suggestions for what I should cover, bring ’em on).
I think the class will be a good test of my writing ability. I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a book for the last couple years, and if I can handle writing six classes (they’re supposed to take between 1.5 and 2 hours to complete), I think I can handle writing a book. I probably wouldn’t write one on MT (because who really wants to compete with Jay?). But, I’ve been using it for a couple years and know it well enough that I should be able to write about it without embarrassing myself.
I have no idea what percentage this is of the American Electorate, but
62.5 million people tuned into the debate, and apparently a lot of them paid attention, if you look at the most recent polls. You say one thing for W, he sure got people interested in politics again.
Melissa asked for facts. Well, I’ve got facts. They’re all the things that Bush has done in office that should disqualify him from being our President. Here goes… (the sources aren’t the only ones, just the first ones I found in my frantic scurrying over the web)
George W. Bush’s (and his Administration’s) Record:
There is, of course, more.
John Kerry is the only other viable option. George W. Bush and his Administration have proven they are unfit to lead this country. They have proven to be incompetant, inflexible and seemingly prejudge every situation, deciding a course of action before reviewing available facts, and then refusing to change course, even when their present course proves unsustainable.
I’ll work on getting facts on why you should vote for John Kerry instead of just voting against George W. Bush, but I wanted to get these out.
This \[Iraq\] is a central part on the war on terror. They’re fighting us because they’re fighting freedom. — George W. Bush
Mr. President, Iraq would not be part of the war on terror if you hadn’t made it so. Your decision to invade was the best present anyone has ever given to Osama bin Laden. You turned Iraq into the center of the war on terror. If you hadn’t invaded, we would have the troops to use as leverage against Iran and North Korea. We would have the troops to find and nullify (ie: kill or capture) Osama bin Laden. We wouldn’t have lost over a thousand troops and turned the world against us. Saddam wasn’t a threat. Rice and Powell said so in 2001. Your own State Department and Intelligence agencies told you so.
You don’t deserve to be President. You don’t deserve to get 10% of the vote, much less have the support you have today. I hope you lose in a spectacular fashion.
I got If You Had Five Minutes With The President in the mail, and have been reading it this week. The premise of the book is that you’ve got five minutes with the President, not neccessarily Bush, but the “next” President, whoever that might be. Good premise, right? It’s too bad that the book is packed with celebrities who talk in vague terms about the same things over and over again. There are some really interesting, and entertaining pieces, especially Stephen Collins’ and Richard Belzer’s (so far, I’m about halfway through). Where the book shines is when it gets off the vague and inept Bush-bashing, the premise shines through and offers some really funny and interesting pieces.
I’m thinking about my five minutes… There’s so much I want to cover and address, yet I know that it means nothing to anyone but me. I realize that to those in power, I am nothing. You are also nothing (unless you give six digit contributions to the right people). Maybe that’s what I write about… but really, the President is the President of 280,000,000 people, and I’m just one of them, an average one at that. My salary is average. I have a wife, two kids, two cars, a mortgage, and am overweight. Yep, I’m pretty average. What politician cares about the average American? It surely isn’t anyone in power today, that’s for sure.
I’m worried about the future of our country. After getting halfway through the book, I took a good long look at how I perceive the political process and the environment today, and I’m sick of all of it. The political landscape is beset by a complete and utter lack of ethics. From Ohio’s plan to refuse registrations not printed on exactly the right paper, to the Pentagon’s blocking access to the foreign voter’s information site, to the steady stream of minority voter intimidation in the South, to the continuing abuse of campaign finance loopholes, to the continued twisting of the truth and outright lies told by the Presidential campaigns. There are no more “gentlemen politicians” in Washington.
It’s no wonder the American people are cynical. You’ve given them plenty to be cynical about. From an energy policy written by the companies it’s supposed to regulate to a presciption drug plan written by insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies, we have no reason to believe that anyone in the Government has our best interest at heart. Nothing the government does anymore seems to be done for the “common good”. It’s all done for money, influence or to maintain power.
Mr. President, whoever you end up being, Bush or Kerry, please restore my faith in the promise of Democracy. Do the ‘right’ thing for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do. Don’t lie to us. Listen to those who oppose your positions. Work with the “other side”. Enforce the law justly, not selectively. Don’t think you’re above the law. Please don’t think that because you’re President, or because we’re the United States of America, that the rules don’t apply to us. They do. More so, because we’re supposedly that shining city on the hill. If we’re going to be that city, and we’re going to shine, we’ve got a lot of amends to make, a lot of tarnish to remove and a lot of explaining to do to those who used to look up to us.
Please, don’t just promise to restore “honor and dignity” to the White House. Do it.
