Constitution 2.0

This was done as a 4/1 joke, but it’s still funny.

The Constitution of the United States as an End User License Agreement (EULA).

I didn’t read it.  Who does actually read the whole EULA before clicking the Accept button?

Edwards’ Union

Heavy on rhetoric indeed.

The next President will have to do more than tell us what Bush is doing wrong.  So far you can only see that in the extended text.  The short text is just the Bush-bashing rhetoric.  I don’t approve of most of the actions taken by President Bush, but I also don’t approve of a lead-in that shows so little respect for someone who tried harder to do anything than a lot of people would.

Martin’s Press

You know things are bad when Ricky Martin gets press for disagreeing with the Bush Administration.

Shake your bon-bon indeed.

Anti-Racial Questions

I read at Daily Kos about comments regarding Senator Obama’s church and “their” theology. The article itself is an interesting read, but it raised a long-standing question for me.

Is Christianity anti-racial? “Anti-racial” changes its feel sometimes depending on who says it (race not withstanding). But it sounds a lot like saying that I’m not Caucasian and this person isn’t African-American and this person isn’t of Asian origin in the eyes of the church. Granted, there is a greater commonality in being children of God, but “anti-racial” suggests to me that diversity can’t exist within unity.

The problem with that is that I’m still Caucasian even as I’m a child of God. It’s part of who I am. If something is anti-racial, does that exclude those parts of me that resulted from me being Caucasian?

Regardless, it seems like we still don’t have a way of talking about race and racial tension/issues even in 2007. Last week’s episode of Friday Night Lights hit the nail on the head with this one, if you ever get a chance to watch it (it may still be on my DVR if folks want to gather).

Union of the States

The big speech is tonight.  That snuck up on me.  Maybe that tells us how much I care what President Bush says anymore since so much of what he’s said lately has sounded way out of touch with the people he’s leading (though sometimes leading means going where no one seems to be headed).

In the spirit of learning and history, I link again to the State of the Union Visualizer from Brad Borevitz.  See the important words, length, and grade leve of every State of the Union.   Looks like tonight’s will be up shortly after it’s over.

Death and Democracy

Saddam is dead, no news there. But President Bush’s comments are telling, both in his own views of what is going on and what he may think democracy really is:

It is an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.

[As reported by BBC News]

What does killing someone who, admittedly, did horrible things have to do with becoming a democracy?  Sure, being able to try criminals fairly (which President Bush mentioned just before this quote) is very, very important.  But I fail to see how an execution makes Iraq more of a democracy.

Edwards Town Hall

John Edwards had a town hall meeting in Iowa and posted video of his introduction speech on YouTube. I’m bummed that the Q&A isn’t there (that’s the point of the meeting, right?), but this is the first town hall meeting I’ve ever seen, so I thought it post worthy.

I left a comment on the third video that I’ve pasted here:

He’s got my attention, but it’s still missing something. He’s saying good things, but doesn’t yet sound like he can pull it off or has the drive to pull it off. He talks like a man with ideas. Good ideas and good plans. But he doesn’t yet sound like a man who believes he can make his ideas or plans reality. There’s no gravitas. Not to me, at least.

But I’m watching now. And that’s a lot.

Here’s hopin some of the bloggers that are with him now can report on whether I’m just missing it so far or not.

Enjoy!

Ford v W

DailyKos has some good thoughts on some of the reaction to President Ford’s posthumous comments on the way President Bush has handeled Iraq.

Edward’s Announcement

Here’s the video of John Edwards announcing his candidacy.  It’s cool that this was put up on YouTube.  How many more people will see this than many other announcements?

It’s also nice that he’s not 100% about being elected, but getting people to take action.  I like that, but will want to see how that plays out in reality over time.

I also wonder how long it will be before someone complains about a white man talking while African-American boys work with shovels in the background…

The Beginning of the End

2008 is a long ways off, but not so long that the election of a new president isn’t already on many people’s minds.

For one, John Edwards is running and he looks be, so far, the Howard Dean of this race.  He’s posting videos to YouTube that look interesting and has a blog (nothing new there) and a podcast.  I’ve subscribed to the podcast and blog to keep an eye on this, but look forward to reading from the other candidates.

Regardless, this will be an interesting election.  Since the last one in 2004, social-driven media like blogs, podcasting, and video sharing has really taken off.  Enough that we all made Time Magazine’s Person of the Year (it was You, which means it was also Me, but there’s no MeTube, so maybe Me doesn’t fly with You).  Robert Scoble, who is going to be covering John Edwards campaign as the announcement of the new candidacy breaks, has some very interesting thoughts on just how this socially-driven era can change how elections work.

This also marks the first use of my nifty graphic I made at ImageChef for elections in general.