Filed under: President Obama
The caption says it all:
Filed under: Life
P: Whoa, that’s hot. Why didn’t you tell me that before?
A: Well…
P: So wait, does he have an accent?
A: Haha, no.
P: Aww man, that would have been awesome. What does he look like.
A: Medium height…
P: Wait, does he look like Anief?
A: Yes, he does!
P: Wow, so hot!
—
A: So I saw Manny on Christmas Eve.
P: Backroom Manny or cashier Manny?
A: Neither, hardlines Manny.
P: I don’t know him. What does he look like?
A: Medium height, dark, black curly hair, brown eyes… red shirt, khaki pants
Filed under: Democratic Nomination 2008, Election 2008, Republican Nomination 2008
Election 2008 revolutionized the political campaign arena that was started by Howard Dean back in 2004. Obama and Clinton used Web 2.0 technology to their advantage as a way to connect with voters and work with a wider network of Americans.
Blogs took over the news. Breaking stories (John Edwards anyone?) and starting viral political video crazes that were picked up by the MSM and aired on the 24 hour cable news stations.
From web addresses and videos, text messaging, networking (Obama for America), massive small donner online political donations (Obama for America), campaign blogging, and political blogging- this election season and these campaigns have changed the way political campaigns will be run in the future.
Unfortunately for the always campaign-savvy Republicans, they are a ways behind – could it be because the Democrats have moved onto a new generation of politicians while the Republicans are still stuck with the Boomers? Not to drag up the overused Mac vs. PC analogy, but…
From the WaPo:
… the Republican establishment hasn’t fully grasped the ways the Web is revolutionizing politics. “If you look at their site,” she said of the Obama campaign, “their online videos, their online ads, everything they did, it wasn’t about ‘me, myself and I.’ It was about ‘we’ and ‘us.’ “
It was, in essence, about you.
Yes, it was about you, me, him, us – everyone coming together to support a campaign and doing so using the tools of Web 2.0 technology to connect with our peers, interact with the campaign, and do our own little campaign work.
Filed under: Life
Alexis bought me Far from Heaven as a going away / Christmas present.
Watched it today and it is AMAZING.
Truly, amazing.
If you have not seen it you must, I insist.
Maybe some movie quotes will entice you:
Cathy Whitaker: Mrs. Whitaker sounds so formal. Would you…
Raymond Deagan: Would I what?
Cathy Whitaker: Ask me to dance?
—
Raymond Deagan: I’ve learned my lesson about mixing in other worlds. I’ve seen the sparks fly. All kinds.
Or a picture:
Seriously, go watch it!
Filed under: Life
Children make the holidays such a special time. We will start with the funny and head into the magical…
At church today…
Our fire and brimstone priest – yeah he came back – got a bit too into the dramatics of the homily.
Fr. M: Now I’m going to read 2 – 2 *shows two fingers* – stanzas from a poem.
But the best was the crazy choir singers and the lead cantor who all thought they were pretty amazing. To put it simply, people want to hear Christmas carols on Christmas, in words that they can understand – not songs that they do not know, that have nothing to do with the holiday, at octaves no real person should ever sing at.
Also at church, the little bro, ATB, sing “Joy to the World” in soprano. He’s 17, that’s not supposed to happen, but is extremely hilarious!
—
At K&M’s tonight for the second – read second - Christmas dinner…
K: J, if you’re going to act like that, you’re going to have to go up to you room.
J (age 7): Oh, to juvi?
-
K: Yeah, tofu, it’s made out of soybean curd.
P (age 11): Soybean turd? Haha!
—
Now walking home last night, or rather early this morning at 2 am after having babysat for two parents going to midnight mass and their three adorable children who were supposed to be sleeping upstairs…
It’s 2 am in the quiet suburb of West Hartford, in a quiet neighborhood on a quiet street. Again, 2 am. It’s raining softly and while walking back to my house, I noticed Christmas lights still lit on every single house on the street. Candles in the windows, spotlights on beautiful wreaths, lights outline the house frames, and lit up reindeer on front porches and in the snow. 2 am, and every single house with a young child had lights on in the parent’s bedroom, the basement, and in the living room. Parents standing around the trees, arranging gifts for their children. Building bikes and doll houses in the basement. And keeping an eye on the sleeping kids upstairs on the second floor.
If there was anything in this world that could convince me to have children – something that certainly does not ever need to be done – this scene in the early morning hours of December 25th would have been it.
I understand the importance of Christmas as the day of the birth of Christ; however, it is so much more than that. These parents were so excited about waking up early to place presents under the tree for their children. To see their faces in the morning would have been priceless. The holidays are not only about religion, but also about spending time with family and friends, enjoying each other’s company and showing true love.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa!
Filed under: Life
Filed under: Life
Currently at home in snowy West Hartford. We got about a foot between yesterday and today, with more snow on the way tomorrow and then during the week before Christmas.
My break will last from now until January 10th, where I will leave for England for 4 months.
Things to do over break…
- Read those books- Skrowronek, Generations, The Emerging Democratic Majority, and all those Newsweeks!
- Finish Christmas shopping- don’t worry it’s almost done.
- Get everything needed for London- computer stuff, dressy clothes, American politics books, and bath and body stuff (thanks B!)
- EAT… Christmas cookies, Five Guys, Lenny and Joe’s, PF Chengs, Max Amore, Cosi- gotta get all my American food before I leave
- Visit friends and family
- Have fun
Enjoy these next few weeks of break. Updates from lovely, pretentious WeHa may be few and far between, but funny sayings by Baral family and friends will definitely be posted.
Happy Holidays!
Filed under: President G.W. Bush
Via Alex:
Via ThinkProgress, here’s VP Cheney in the Washington Times:
“In my mind, the foremost obligation we had from a moral or an ethical standpoint was to the oath of office we took when we were sworn in, on January 20 of 2001, to protect and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. And that’s what we’ve done,” he said…
“I think it would have been unethical or immoral for us not to do everything we could in order to protect the nation against further attacks like what happened on 9/11,” Mr. Cheney said.
Notice anything weird about what he said? I did.
What did Alex notice?:
That’s the oath of enlistment into the US military. It is not the oath that Cheney took when he became Vice President.
The President and Vice President swear to protect and defend the constitution, and not the people of the United States. That’s not a minor or insignificant difference.
What did I notice?
If Cheney and Bush really believe that they swore an oath to defend and protect the nation on January 20th, 2001, then they failed to uphold that oath. Mind you, the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred later on in 2001, after Bush and Cheney had taken office. According to Cheney’s rational, the Bush administration was pretty much a failure from the start.
