Saturday is a Special Day- OBAMA MAMA!

A Run Down of the World according to SS-Mangum (do I sound like a battleship? I’m approaching the size of one!) Just kidding, I mean… overall I think I’ve done pretty well with my ‘eggo being prego,’ but my belly is growing rapidly. As soon as I can find a way to get the pics off Danny’s camera (of said naval development), I’ll get you the progress. (I know I’m like always promising pictures and then I hardly ever deliver… but isn’t that what Facebook is for? No one really comes to my blog for pictures do they? It’s like trying to buy bread at a hardware store… you know what you’re getting, don’t try to fool yourself with false expectations. ;)

OK, onto Business--

The Great Debate



Well, the first debate actually happened last night. I’m not going to say I was fearful it wasn’t going happen. I think if Obama was the only one that showed it would have been one more opportunity to see the difference between the two candidate’s character and approach to problem solving. On one side, you’ve got a leader that in essence says "the prez needs to be able to multi-task and the american people need to hear from us." The other side? “Jump ship, abort, abort, TIME OUT!!!” mentality… McCain has long prided himself on going with his gut and making quick decisions. He’s needed a game-changer (with some polls putting Obama in the lead by as many as 10 points)… The Palin stunt worked (at first), but now the republicans recognize it was such a big mistake, she’s not even allowed to do a follow-up interview after the debate showing support of her candidate. Yeah, I’m glad she’s hot – but can she run the country?

The Palin Problem

MSNBC was killing me last night… Tom Brokaw interviews Biden (après debate), and then says they invited the republican VP candidate to share her insights, and the republicans “offered” Guliani instead. Hmmm, really? Come on, let Sar-Bear out to play with the big dogs. While I don’t think her feelings are going to get hurt (even I can see she’s as much a political animal as any Clinton) … and although FOX News and her campaign want to play it out that the media are all her case (like they weren’t equally tenacious about uncovering “dirt” on Obama with “pastorgate,” or his middle name being Hussien, etc?). But let’s give a mooseburger-lover the benefit of the doubt. SaraBaracuda has had a tough week. I’ll give her a break, but I don’t want to give the hockey mom who can see Russia from her town any more play than necessary…I have yet to find an issue she and I share an opinion on, so I’m going to leave it at that for now.

So Who Won?

Surprised? But even with my biases I actually don’t think there was a clear winner. I think both candidates got a few jabs, both showed there real differences between the answers they have for America, and I think depending on which side of the fence you’re on is how you’ll really see the debate winner as the one you can most identify with (although I think most polls shows that Obama was the winner…) I tried to find results on FOXNews… after all, they report, and I can decide… but the closest thing to an article about the winner was an blog that showcased how many times Obama agreed with McCain, and the comments of Fox News readers saying McCain was the clear winner…. If anyone finds more results than the round-up from the Kansas City Star, please let me know.

But there’s a couple of things I did notice, that continued to solidify why Obama’s my guy (even outside of his opinion on the war, Afghanistan, the economy -- giving tax-breaks to EVERY AMERICAN but those that make more than $250,000 -- the environment, health-care NOT being a luxury, and education.)

- Yes, Obama would point out where he an McCain agreed. Why not start with by-partisanship and talk about where the middle road is?

But for me, the most defining piece of this debate came in the STARK contrast of the two candidate’s demeanor. To me (and a few others, I’m noticing), McCain came across as a crotchety, old, bitter man. (He wouldn’t even look at Obama?!?!?) Stuck in his old-thinking about the war. I agree with Obama-- even if the surge did work-- the war didn’t start with the surge. It was a tactic we had to employ to EVENTUALLY get our troops back home. I stand-by where I was before the war began – we never should’ve been there in the first place.

And we’re wasting billions of dollars there a month – lives lost, families and dreams shattered… correct me if I’m wrong, but with the Economy in shambles (many have documented we’re approaching a Depression!!!) and the US-government on the verge of a $700 billion bail-out to save Walstreet (and hopefully main street); it seems that money could’ve been put to use elsewhere.

Obama is my guy. New ideas, change from what Washington’s become, and a dose of altruism this country DESPERATELY needs – regardless of which side of the fence you're on… McCain keeps trying to play himself off as a Maverick who will turn things around in DC. But he’s part of the good-ole boys club… hasn’t he been in Washington since ‘83/’85 or something? And how can you call yourself a Maverick when you’ve voted with Dub-ya more than 90% of the time?!?!? Someone help me. I don’t get it.

As far as Washington’s concerned, it reminds me of Jack Nicholson’s famed comment in Batman -- although he was talking about Gotham, I think the same can be applied: “This town needs an enema.”



Yeah, to put it bluntly – it’s time to clear out the old and get a face-lift.