orange notebook blog

The more I listen to Merriweather Post Pavilion, the more I feel safer in saying that’s it’s not as good as Strawberry Jam, but I’m still loving it.

a thought.

So you can obviously tell in this picture that SNL actor, Fred Armisen, is wearing some sort of make-up to make his skin appear darker, more akin to the character he plays: Barack Obama. But obvioulsy the make-up artists could make his skin darker, and the resemblance to Obama even more striking. The question is, are they holding back on the darker face-paint to prevent against accusations of using blackface?

It would be pretty stupid of them if they were.

Sarah Palin vs. Caroline Kennedy

So I am still getting used to Tumblr, but already I am encountering situations where I wish I had more proficiency at it. For example, today I wish I could make a nice little Venn diagram. I do not know how to do this so I will make a bastardized version of one that looks like this:

Caroline Kennedy:

probably actually pretty smart

never democratically elected minimal press conferences

never held public office

Park Avenue

Sarah Palin:

probably not smart

democratically elected

no press conferences (during the election)

barely held public office

Wasilla, AK

Things they have in common (the overlapping area):

horrible lack of experience

very little real interviews

non-detailed answers

messy family lives (that prove to be fascinating)

belief that they could actually execute position while being so ill-prepared

But the biggest similarity is that they are both women whose political ambition has blinded them to the fact that at the base root, they are being used by their male party elders for their celebrity, fundraising prowress and pretty obvious fact they will vote the party line. There were better candidates in both fields, but that didn’t matter to John McCain and Harry Reid/David Patterson. The media (and regular commentators) should have made a much a bigger deal of the inherent sexism propelling the careers of Sarah Palin and Caroline Kennedy.

The Sarah Palin thing was just a horrible joke given to us by a cranky 71-year-old. But Caroline Kennedy proves to be bigger deal for liberals. Just when they win power, the Democrats are trying to throw it away. Disillusion with Caroline Kennedy and a huge fundraising campaing would have been the best bet for a Republican to win a Senate seat. Maybe more troubling is Harry Reid’s attempt to put Illinois Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth in Obama’s vacated Senate seat. Obviously, there were more qualified better candidates, but Harry was more concerned about electability and his condescending view of the American electorate (or at least the Ilinois electorate in this case) said that identity politics would carry the day.

This is the shit that happens that causes your party to collapse.

It’s a sad day when Caroline Kennedy and Sarah Palin are the representatives of women in American politics. There is Hilary Clinton who has definitely turned it around since the end of her campaign, but her whole “the actual voters in the democratic primaries don’t really matter, only the delegates do” bit was pretty unforgettable unforgivable.

The media pretty much prevents me from really knowing about the great female politicians out there (I’m not a big Pelosi or Boxer fan either, but I hear good things about Carolyn Maloney), but they are out there. If party leaders want to move their party forward, it is these women who careers they should support.

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Obama Starts Off Tenure with DECEPTION!!

Looks like I'm not the only one

with a new blog. I think it would be great if Obama himself got a blog. Maybe not a completley open one (“I met with these people and this is who said what”) but reflections and insights on where he’s doing and where the country needs to go. If you’ve read the Audacity of Hope, then you know that Obama can present his opinions in a very professional manner that is not overly revealing or personal, easy-to-digest and not polarizing or offensive. The weekly youtube addresses are a great start, but everyone knows that texts are a lot more acessible, and updates day-to-day would be a great way to get people (young people, definitely) informed and involved with politics and their government.

Farewell King George, Long Live President Obama

It’s funny that this cartoon was drawn in December of 2000, even before Bush took the oath of office. Either it was an odd forewarning or a very wise ppremonition.