Smoke and Ashes

Scoring one for Kerry

The debates just wrapped. I sat and listened for two hours and have walked away wondering how anyone in their right mind could side with Bush's foreign policy.

The assertion that Senator Kerry has sent mixed messages re: his position vis-a-vis Iraq may in fact be a fair one; but the assertion that Bush hasn't is absolutely absurd. What greater mixed message is there than telling an 18 year old kid that he's going to Iraq under one pretense, only for him to be told a year later that those reasons are entirely bogus.

I thought Kerry had a great point when he said that certainty was good, but only when you're right. It reminds me of a favorite saying when describing a bullshit artist - "Seldom right, but never in doubt." I think in many cases, that's great and valuable asset - I use it all the time myself. It's not a quality, however, I admire in a President. I want more than a bullshit artist. I want someone who's seldom wrong, and when he is, is willing to take the right steps to remedy the situation.

Excellent - the commentator post-debate just said the same thing re: the "you can be certain, but you can be wrong." That has to be the take-away from the debate. It was by far his strongest point, not only undermining the President's actions, but also putting into context Kerry's positions towards American policy in Iraq.

As far as the character issue - man, I wish Kerry would have taken the bait and called Bush a smarmy, misleading, liar-liar-pants-on-fire, egotistical leader that effectively dismantled the largest base of global support the United States has ever seen (post 9-11) and fueled a world where terrorist claims that America has imperialist designs in the Middle East seem to have more merit. Ok, I suppose I'm glad he didn't say "liar-liar-pants-on-fire", but still...

I thought it was amazing how different President Bush presents himself with prepared statements (ie. closing remarks) than with on-the-fly retorts (not that they can really be considered "on the fly" as he's probably been preparing for months). His closing remarks were quite articulate; the rest of the time, he looked like a bumbling idiot relying on a few catch phrases - mixed messages, uncertainty, waffle, war on terror, etc.

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the debate, particularly after reading this article from NPR that I saw on kevin's site. Still, I thought there was a lot of real content. Random sidenote, a friend sent me Kerry Haters for Kerry site, which I thought was hilarious.

I have succumbed

I like The Killers. I hated them at first, especially "Somebody Told Me," but now I love them.

Happy Birthday, Moo

Miss you, buddy!

They have move fun?

My hairstylist went a little nuts with the highlights. I know now what it's like to be blonde.

Counter Productive:

Sending your laundry out to Wash & Fold, getting it back all nice and folded, unpacking it onto your bed in neatly categorized piles (shirts, jeans, etc) - which of course is a necessary prerequisite before actually putting it away. Then, instead of actually putting it away, leave to meet someone at a bar, come home slightly drunk and far too tired to put away laundry, and carelessly sling it into piles in the corner, where it will undoubtedly remain until the next time I do laundry.

Texans Against Bush

According to an article on Yahoo!, Bush's hometown newspaper endorses Kerry. Why?

"Four items trouble us the most about the Bush administration: his initiatives to disable the Social Security system, the deteriorating state of the American economy, a dangerous shift away from the basic freedoms established by our founding fathers, and his continuous mistakes regarding Iraq."

According to the article, the paper's publisher had previously supported Bush and the invasion of Iraq, but now feels that the country was misled.

Two songs

Read Paul Krugman's column on Thursday's Presidentail debate here. Courtesy of Serious Songs.

Watch Chris W. in his very own music video here (click Launch Project).

Bonus - Here's one of my favorite pictures of Chris, sitting in my old kitchen, drinking out of his very special glass that I reserved for him everytime we had people over.

Not alone

Apparently, Jason has had a few run ins with BofA as well. Take heart, Jason, things aren't better here on the east coast, hurricanes or not, and many agree.

Signs we're not spending enough on education

This afternoon, I went to deposit a check into the new Bank of America (formerly Fleet). They're still migrating systems, so you have to make deposits through the teller versus ATM, something I thought would take 2 minutes, but took closer to 15 and included the following conversation:

Teller: What state did you originally open the account in?
Me: California
Teller: That's in the west, right?

It worries me that these are the people responsible for taking care of my money.

Shabat Shalom

I just had my first Knish. My conversion to a real M.O.T. is one step closer.