Relax; take it easy...

Watching the Democratic National Convention speeches is making me giddy with excitement. Add that to the heaping ice cream sundae I made for myself, and I'm betting that I'm not getting to sleep early tonight.

So can it be November yet?

So I just read an AP article on Yahoo!'s front page, the link to which is entitled "McCain accuses Obama of playing race card."

I don't know what it is about John McCain and his supporters that makes me want to scream and tear my hair out, but maybe this can go a ways in explaining it.

First of all, I can't help but have a visceral reaction to the phrase "play the race card". It's almost as though people believe that racism no longer exists, especially in the general population to whom McCain is pandering, and, in their view, to mention race as being an issue which decides people's votes is to show oneself as not being a part of reality.

What?

Racism exists in America! It's despicable and deplorable - yes, I agree whole-heartedly - but it exists! It's the same for gender discrimination; just look at the recent headlines about the lack of investigations into cases of rape for female millitary personnel. For McCain to dismiss what should be a legitimate concern for intelligent people in our nation is simply another sign of his complete incompetency and disconnect with the needs of the people of the United States. In simple terms, Senator McCain, it makes you look more like a jackass.

"I'm disappointed that Senator Obama would say the things he's saying," McCain told reporters in Racine, Wis. The Arizona senator said he agreed with campaign manager Rick Davis' statement earlier that "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

Let me add that, if McCain unequivicably agrees with Rick Davis' above statement, he's certainly more of a hypocrite than I originally thought: it is only by the fortune of his birth that his race happens to sit happily at the top of the so-called 'deck'. Race is only a non-issue in politics when you are a member of the majority.

As citizens of America, what kind of inititiatives that promote equality can we expect from someone like McCain if he were to be elected? I'm guessing... none. Instead we'll be forced to concentrate our efforts on prolonging a ridiculous war and drilling for oil off our coastlines - talk about a waste of tax money! Meanwhile, our cities' poor will become poorer, with legions of lower-middle-class citizens joining their ranks. And what has history shown time and again? The poor suffer, with women and minorities suffering the most, and the rich of the nation will continue to dictate our economic, social, foreign, and environmental policies.

I really hope we can stick it to the GOP this time around. I'm sick of the wealthy and intolerant ruining our nation.

Hee, I watched Chris Matthews on Hardball tonight make a great analogy between Obama/Clinton and Lawrence of Arabia. The fall of Aqaba was likened to the knocks Clinton's campaign has taken in recent weeks. Also, any show that features Tom Brokaw doing commentary is for the win.

I'm glad my state isn't caucusing right now (is that a word?); the anxiety caused by watching these political antics is bad enough without having to worry about who I'd vote for in a ... wait a minute. My state doesn't have open primaries, so I'm not allowed to vote in them anyway! Goddamn, sometimes I hate PA.

Truth be told, if it ends up that Obama wins the Democratic nomination, I don't think I'll be that broken up about it; I like Hillary Clinton (and the Clintons in general - Bill Clinton was a freaking awesome president) and would vote for her without a second thought if she hadn't been so hawkish about the war to begin with. Besides, I really, really want to see a woman president in my lifetime (and being only 26, I want more than one, thanks). But with Obama, yeah, I could live with that. But then again, it's not up to me to help decide since our country, as it is today, is not a true democracy where everyone is represented. This two-party thing has really got to stop.

U.S. readying Saudi arms deal, official confirms.

What is this? A neat way to make a cool $20 billion? How do people condone this?

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity as the deal has not yet been officially announced or completed, said the administration hoped to present the package to the U.S. Congress for approval in the fall.

So, let me do a little speculating here. If the administration leaks this plan to the people ahead of time, we won't feel as though they're planning on doing something underhanded, because, hey, we've been told ahead of time. This isn't like the CIA training rebels in foreign lands to oust their legitimately-elected governments behind our backs; the US government, good samaritan organization that it is, simply wants to help level the playing field in the Middle East. It's only fair, right?

Give me a break.

And another quote, with boldface highlights by me:

Washington is striving to assure Gulf allies, worried by the growing strength of Iran and war in Iraq, that the United States is committed to the region and will stand by them, with arms sales part of that process, U.S. officials say.

To what are we committing ourselves? Are we committing to providing humanitarian relief for displaced families? Medical and sanitation supplies and infrastructure for Iraqi and Afghan refugees?

No. Our government wants to sell weapons - $20 billion worth of weapons - to build up the militaries of Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, which sanctions human rights violations on par with those of China. Saudi Arabia, who allows militants to cross into Iraq who then, in turn, try to kill US soldiers (who shouldn't be there, anyway, but that's neither here nor there...).

Yes. Let's arm more people in the Middle East. It certainly won't affect the innocent children who live there, as there's no way that they could possibly be in the line of fire, ever. It won't break up any families or affect the living conditions of civilians. It won't drive doctors out of hospitals or teachers out of schools in order to seek safety in other lands. What a brilliant, visionary plan! </ sarcasm>

And let me reiterate my extreme loathing and hatred for our elected government officials. I've never felt so helpless and useless as a citizen and fairly decent human being in all my life. It's gone beyond frustration. What can we, as citizens, do to get them to change their policies? When the leaders don't listen to the people (whether the people in question voted for them or not), is the democratic state over?

"This isn't an arming of the Middle East," the official said. "This is part of a continual, deliberate program."

You know what? You can go take your "continual, deliberate program" (definitely nothing clandestine going on here! Uh-uh!) and shove it right up your collective %#*@-!

Court Rules Against Bush In Global Warming Case.

Dems look at tax cuts for middle class - dear lord, I hope that comes to pass...

People tend to forget that under the Clinton administration, we no longer had the budget deficit accumulated by the previous Republican administrations...

I'm anti-death penalty, so all of the talk leading up to Saddam Hussein's execution was rather disturbing. "We think he's going to be executed within the next few days few hours few minutes." Yeah, the guy was a horrible person who did horrible things. State-sanctioned, pre-meditated death by hanging is also a horrible thing.

::shrugs:: I'm not here to persuade people to my way of thinking; to each his own, and all that.

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I don't get colorbars/"...is love". I just... I don't know. If you list things as an interest, I get it. The color bars seem redundant to me.

I do have a ticker, though, that is counting down the days to spring. It perks me up when I see it. Maybe that's what color bars do for other people.

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In my family, it's popular to bemoan one's birthday. What?! Are you kidding me? Maybe if we just renamed it "Thank God I Didn't Kick Off For Another Year Day" it'd be more widely received. But, c'mon. ::checks calendar:: My birthday is on a Saturday this year, too! In your face! --- sorry. :D

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I don't like country music, as a rule, but this summer I went to a blue grass festival, and, well....

I found out I liked some of it.

One band in particular that I liked was this all-female band called Uncle Earl. One of the singers sang a blue grass song in Mandarin Chinese. How cool is that? I'm thinking I'm going to use my Barnes and Noble gift card to pick up one of their CDs...

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( Two quiz things under the cut )

Bush Signs Bill On Terror Prosecution

OMG, you amoral son-of-a-b*tch, I hate you! How dare you compromise basic American ideals and then have the gall to say that it's for our protection! We're now no better than those terrorists who would use the same methods against us. Good one, jackass!

And Democratic Congress-people, what were you smoking when you allowed this law to be made? You're useless! #@$%!!! Argh!!

And I love how there were about 15 protestors arrested over this issue, because, basically, they wouldn't get off the old man's lawn:

"A coalition of religious groups staged a protest against the bill outside the White House, shouting "Bush is the terrorist" and "Torture is a crime." About 15 of the protesters, standing in a light rain, refused orders to move. Police arrested them one by one."

I applaud the protestors for making a stand - for not going down without a fight, as it were. It was just another day at work for me, but these guys were trying to make a difference. Pity for all of us that it wasn't enough. How long will it take for the majority of our citizens to realize the enormity of the loss of our rights and then do something about it?

::seethes::

Keith Olbermann.

::applauds::

So the U.S. government has decided to send missiles over to Israel to help them with their war against Lebanon.

What. the. hell.

Once again our government is sticking its nose in other countries' affairs instead of minding its own business. I could see sending humanitarian aid to both countries: food, water, medicines, civilian transport away from danger zones (hah! - like we could handle that in a timely manner for our own citizens over there), etc. That would be the humane way to get involved. But, no. We're sending weapons - ones that will, though inadvertently, result in the deaths of more innocent civilians who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time through no fault of their own.

And besides, why are we punishing those people of Lebanon who have no say in their government, who are unhappy with Hezbollah residing there, and who have no means of leaving the country safely? It's like trying to save a person's life when they're bleeding from the leg by cutting off their arm. Yeah, let's just help Israel bomb the bejeezus out of Beirut to solve all the world's problems. Bastards.

I am sick and tired of our government's actions. It's not as though this decision came under vote by the American people. Our elected officials are not acting in our country's best interests, nor do they represent the interests of the majority of the citizens of the United States. If asked, how many people, I wonder, would feel that the government's giving Israel offensive weapons was a justifiable expense (and why are they not being used in our own war in order to protect our troops in Iraq? Were we just saving those arms for a rainy day?)?

One-twenty-oh-nine, man. I can't effing wait. And in the meantime, I'm going to be thinking about the innocent people over there whose lives are going to be irrevocably changed with the help of the official seal-of-approval of the United States government.