Ready for election season to be over

I am so ready for election season to be over. The other night I was watching TV and there were several commerical (actually almost all of them) were I did not see a single non-political ad. I do find it highly amusing that you get an ad dissing on Ken Buck followed by an ad for Ken Buck.

My problems with the political ads?

1---too many, they are all blur together

2---they are all paranoid built on emotional hot buttons

3---most of the information is lies and/or taken out of context

4---we are screwed no matter who wins

For instance, the economy is still going to be in bad shape, no matter who wins. No matter what political solution is thrown at the economy, the effects are going to take forever to reach people like myself. And some things are next to impossible to do---for instance, Ken Buck talking about getting the federal government out of the student loan business. Good luck with that Ken (by the way, that is the biggest reason I dislike Ken Buck---I am a college student that is only able to go to college because I am taking out fereral student loans).

The good news is that the current election cycle ends in four days. The bad news is that the next electional cycle starts in five days.

Raising campaign funds with a cardboard sign

Earlier this year, I stated that the weirdest thing I saw this year was Ken Buck's statement about not wearing high heels. Then Ms. "I hang out with questionable people as a teen, including Wiccans" showed up. But that is not the most interesting thing I have seen in this election cycle.

The prize for most interesting thing seen this election cycle goes to Barbara (last name unknown), who was standing on a street corner with a cardboard sign that said:

Running for Governor. Trying to raise campaign funds.

Is there any way that we can force all politicans to raise their campaign funds this way? Seriously, can people begging on the street do a worse job, and screw me more than the professional politicans have? And given the loons that are running for office this election cycle, the guy pushing the cart up Colfax and talking to an archangel looks positively sane in comparsion.

(And yes, I gave Barbara a dollar. After all, one needs to support the better politicans. Don't tell my wife.)

QoD Douglas Adams on the role of loony politicans

Given the loonies that are running for office this electional season, one is reminded of Douglas Adams' theory about the role of certain politicians. C'mon you know that you think that Adams might be right.

The President [of the Imperial Galactic Government] is very much a figurehead---he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display  are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.

In another version of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the President is elected, though some voters may have thought that they were voting for the worst dressed sentinent being in the galaxy when they elected Zaphod Beeblebrox; the slogan of the other person running: Don't vote for stupid.

And if you are not registered to vote

If you are not registered to vote and are reading this, it is probably too late now.

Today was the last day to register for the upcoming November election. I know this because I was asked to register three times today while on campus.

My standard answer is that I have been registered to vote since 1984 (been voting since I was ninteen---gee, I am old).

Nevertheless, I did think about stopping and filling out a form...I am not exactly happy with the political party that I am affliated with.

Then again, I am not exactly happy with the other party either, so switching parties does seem pretty pointless to me.

Qod Not really a true Christian

[T]he tighty-righties don't actually believe in the Jesus who died on the Cross for our sins; they believe in the Jesus born in Bethleham, PA, who wore the American flag as a cape, used superpowers to conquer the world for democracy, built Jerusalem in Texas, made northern Europeans the Chosen People, preached old fashioned American values and warned that the gays, blacks and women would take over unless the values were followed to the letter and, before ascending to Heaven, promised to send his prophet Ronald Reagan to restore us to the way of righteousness.

---Matt Robare (a friend of a friend over on Facebook)

Strangest thing I have seen this political season

I would like to say that the strangest thing that I have seen this political season is the political ad of Ken Buck (talking about why he is better than Jane Norton) saying that he does not wear high heels, and instead wears cowboy boots with bull-droppings on them. (I think that Buck was trying to make a joke---not a very good joke---and if that is the worst that they can find, well...)

But I can't.

The strangest thing actually occurred in May (yes, I am a little behind in updating my blog). I was reading the Denver Daily News, a little local freebie newspaper that I occasionally read while waiting for the lightrail. And there was this ad.

The ad was from Kathleen Rosewater Cunningham (a candidate for the Governor of Colorado), and she was advertising for a Lieutenant Governor running mate and campaign manager (I am not sure if the person was supposed to function as both or not).

I just found it strange placing an ad in the classified section for a running mate. I am sure that it will not be the strangest thing we see this season, but it is currently my first runner for that prize.

(I do wonder if she actually was sucessful with her ad. Does anyone know? I have attempted to find information about her on the web without any success.)

Please goddess let Alvin Greene be real

I so want Alvin Greene of South Carolina to be a real candidate, and not just the pod person that some are claiming him to be. Here is a person who is unemployed, who spent all his savings (unless he is a plant), and is running his campaign out of his kitchen. And managed to get 60% of the vote against a professional politican (unless there was really a problem with the voting machines).

If he is real, he is proof that the professional politicans still have to fear amateurs. And even if he was a plant, he is still proof (provided that the machines were working right).

Of course, the professional politicans are protesting and doing everything in their power to eliminate Greene. One wonders how sky-high the filing fee and other qualifications are going to get as soon as no one is looking at South Carolina; remember the changes in who qualified to be in the Presidential Debates after Ross Perot made a good showing against professional politicans---you will never see a third party (or non-party) candidate in the Presidential Debates ever again.

As Dan Carlin once noted, professional politicians know that they can only continue to remain in power provided that they run against other professional politicans. Alvin Greene is the current eidolon of their fear that amateur politicans might be able to enter politics and actually get elected. Goddess forbid that amateurs do so; they might actually change the system.