Desultory Thoughts

Let’s be honest, this presidential election is nothing but an image war.  The new, sleek and beautiful vs. the old, gruff and ugly.  Of all the people out there who tell polsters they’re votiing for Obama, how many actually know anything about his past?  Sure, there’ve been the laughable, easily snopes-debunked anti-Obama emails started by Hillary staffers and forwarded like a virus by baby boomers.

But there’s also the whitewashed, “nothing to see here” image portrayed by the Obama campaign and his foot soldiers, the mainstream media.

One thing that’s bugged me ever since I read about it during the ‘04 Democratic Convention is Obama’s “friendly” (that word comes from the Obama campaign, not me) relationship with unapologetic homegrown terrorist William Ayers.

The following is an ad produced by the American Issues Project, which Obama’s lawyers are hastily attempting to silence.  Check it out.  Do some googling.  Be careful, though.  Stories at left-wing blogs, the Washington Post, and New York Times conveniently leave out the little part about Obama’s pilgrimage to Ayers’ house.  Make sure you include that in your google search.

What I don’t like about this ad:  It’s a classic negative political ad, complete with spooky music and the familiar political ad voice.  Still, the ad’s claims are valid and the ad itself is effective.

What I like about this ad:  References to each claim made are listed below the claims, so you can check them out yourself.  Nice.

Do you know enough?

I may get into analysis of this conflict in a future post, but for now, watch this tough as nails Georgian reporter continue her live broadcast after taking a bullet from a sniper. Her name is Tamara Urushadze and she’s reporting from the war-torn town of Gori in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Talk about grace under fire!

My wife and I enjoy watching “So You Think You Can Dance” and were excited to see that they were coming to Salt Lake City to search for talent this year.  The Salt Lake City episode aired tonight and it wasn’t long before I saw a familiar sight.  Anyone involved in the Special Olympics Utah program would recognize it in a heartbeat, it was none other then Brett Banford rippin’ it up out in the snow on the street in his ski jacket as he often does.  In fact, if you ever decide to volunteer for a Special Olympics event be sure to stick around for the dance that takes place after the first day of events.  You’ll have so much fun!

Brett is a very outspoken and charismatic athlete and he loves everyone he meets.  He told Kat he loved her on the show, but he told me that before, too.  He represented Special Olympics and people with disabilities so well tonight; we can all be proud.  I’ll upload his highlights and post it soon so you can all enjoy his performance and words of inspiration if you missed tonight’s episode.  His personality is addictive!

Way to go, Brett!

UPDATE: You can also see him in an interview on Fox 13 News.

During the May 20, 2008 Tooele County School District Board of Education Workshop Meeting a motion was made to accept the resignation of 40-year education superstar Superintendent Mike Johnsen.  He thanked the Board for the appointment that was made three years ago and showed emotion as he talked about the last 40 years as an educator and administrator in Tooele District.  He regretted leaving after so long but said, “Forty years is enough for anybody.”  He offered his help to the Board in any way that he could in the future and despite the timing, which was a surprise to everyone, left on a good note.

I’ve always been very impressed with Superintendent Johnsen as he’s lead a rapidly growing district.  I’m sure the Board will miss his leadership and great ability.  The very next item of business was to appoint the next Superintendent that will fill the very big shoes of its predecessor.

Board President Gary Gowans discussed the options that are available to a Board when faced with the decision of appointing a new Superintendent, including looking for someone out-of-state.  He cut to the chase and noted that with very capable people already in the district the Board had decided to appoint current Assistant Superintendent Terry Linares.  The decision was greeted with applause and a bit of emotion from Mrs. Linares.  She talked about her past experience and, much like Superintendent Johnsen, comes from a long history as an educator in Tooele School District.  She started her career in Wendover and continued at Grantsville Jr. High and Grantsville High School.  She’s been Assistant Superintendent since July 2007.  I’m sure with the support of the Board, her capable staff (including the likes of Ken Luke) and parents she’ll do an excellent job.  She was a driving force behind the recent “What Counts” meeting where community members from around Tooele were brought together to help shape the 2008-2009 Board goals.

In April I spoke to the Utah State Board of Education during public comment and let my opinion of Tooele County School District be known.  It was favorable and today it continues.  While the loss of great ones like Superintendent Johnsen will not go unnoticed, life continues on with the likes of experienced and caring professionals like Terry Linares.

I’ve been planning a big Obama post now for a while, but haven’t yet found time to organize my thoughts into a thorough, coherent post. When I do it, I want to do it right. It’s no news to anybody at this point (well, except maybe Hillary) that Obama’s coronation as the Democrat nominee for president is inevitable, so sometime in the next few weeks I’ll have a lot to say about His Highness.

In the meantime, I thought I’d make one observation about the conservative vs. liberal personality- at least when it comes to Internet media.

I’ll be perfectly honest- when it comes to the blogosphere, the Left all but has the market cornered. For every decent conservative blog in cyberspace, there are several hard-hitting liberal blogs. Lately I’ve filled my spare time commenting on a host of them (because let’s face it, it’s much more convenient to react to somebody’s content than create your own- plus stirring up pots in the Left wing of the blogosphere fills my soul with delight).

Liberals pride themselves on their influence and organization when it comes to the Web. I’ll hand it to them, they’ve utilized the Web very wisely in recent years. But outside the arena of ideas (where we eat their lunch every day), the huge difference between liberals and conservatives on the Web is the former’s utter inability to laugh at themselves and the latter’s irreverent sense of humor (this is also true in the world of stand-up comedy. Other than Mark Marin, I can’t think of a single liberal comedian that’s ever truly made me laugh). The fact that we can laugh at both ourselves and them is a long-term advantage.

What sparked this post was a comment Obama made the other day at a speech in Beaverton, Oregon:

“Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.”

57 states, huh? Impressive indeed!

Now of course I give the guy a break. He’s got to be exhausted, and when all you do is talk all day you’re bound to say something dumb.

But don’t throw conservatives a softball and expect them not to hit it out of the park.

Suitably Flip has produced and is now selling the official Barack Obama 57 state lapel pin!

This pin is even funnier now that Barack has apparently started wearing a U.S. Flag lapel pin, after dismissing the practice earlier in the campaign as “a substitute for true patriotism.”

The more I learn about Barack Obama, the more I’m convinced that Hillary would make a much better president. But one thing’s for sure, conservatives in cyberspace will have just as much fun flaming him as we’ve had flaming her.