Okay, I'm still open to requests, but I did come up with something to write about, which I will do...now.
Lately, people on both the left and right side of the political spectrum have been carping about "legislating morality." It's not a new complaint by any means, but ever since the "Jesusland" meme became trendy, it's gained a new life and new supporters, including a few right-leaning individuals who really should know better. I won't name anyone, but they're out there.
According to these people, government should never, ever legislate morality. Moral issues should be private business, not public policy. It sounds good at first, especially to "separation of church and state" proponents, but it's horribly, horribly wrong. I've mentioned before that I basically learned how to think critically from Greg Koukl, so the following rant will undoubtedly show that influence (he's even talked about this issue more than once), but I want to apply it to current events. Join me in the extended entry, and I'll tell you more...
First of all, we have to figure out exactly what "morality" is supposed to mean. Then, we can determine what should and should not be legislated. Let's look at a definition from Dictionary.com:
mo·ral·i·ty
1. The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.
2. A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct: religious morality; Christian morality.
3. Virtuous conduct.
4. A rule or lesson in moral conduct.
Basically, "morality" refers to what people consider right and/or wrong. However, the people who think government shouldn't legislate "morality" seem to be a bit confused about that. They view morality in the same way that many view faith: Belief in something that cannot be proved, disproved, or truly argued for. I disagree with defining both terms that way, but I'll focus on morality here to avoid going off on a religious tangent. That's for another day.
You see, if morality refers to a system of right and wrong, and government shouldn't legislate morality, then government is pretty much incapable of doing anything. Think about it. Are things like rape, theft, murder, fraud, terrorism, etc. not moral issues? That's ludicrous. We have laws against those things because common morality says that they're wrong. They weren't just arbitrarily chosen as Bad Things; they were identified as bad because they are.
You see, any time you decide that something is wrong or right, you're making a moral choice. I'm not talking about picking a shirt for the day or deciding what to have for dinner; I'm talking about decisions that involve values. Right, wrong, good, and bad are moral terms. People often differ on what's moral and immoral, but most of the time, legislation is based on morality. Rape is illegal because it's bad. Murder is illegal because it's bad. And this is based on moral reasoning, not some legal roulette wheel that the Founding Fathers brought with them.
Now that I've established that, let's see where people go wrong in telling politicians not to legislate morality. I'll use examples from the left here, although the right (or whatever libertarians and their ilk like to be called) often uses the meme as well.
Issue #1: Abortion
Those of us who are pro-life think abortion should be illegal in most or all cases because it causes the intentional death of an innocent human being, making it immoral and wrong. Pro-choicers, in response, sometimes claim that we shouldn't "legislate morality" by trying to outlaw abortion. As someone who supports the "most, but not all" side of the anti-abortion camp, I realize that there's some ambiguity in how much morality should be involved, but you can't deny that it is, in fact, a moral choice whether or not abortion is allowed.
If you think it's wrong to outlaw abortions, and you make legal abortion public policy, then guess what? YOU JUST LEGISLATED YOUR OWN MORALITY. And I'm sure if you could ask the millions of children who die every year from abortion, they'd agree that your morality was forced on them.
People seem to forget that morality consists of beliefs about what people shouldn't do, and beliefs about what they should do or should be allowed to do.
Issue #2: Same-sex marriage
I can already hear the moonbats frothing about this one. So, you think that there should be "equal marriage rights," and only homophobic religious fanatics could be against it? Well, if you legalize same-sex marriage, you have once again LEGISLATED MORALITY. Some people think it's wrong, and some people don't. No matter who wins, you've got yourself a moral decision there, partner (pun intended).
Issue #3: War
Specifically, the war in Iraq. Every good liberal knows that the Iraq war was wrong, and they want us to leave. That's interesting, because if we leave on the basis of it being the wrong decision, then we will yet again be LEGISLATING MORALITY. Any response to terror, other threats, etc. is a moral choice. If you think diplomacy and sanctions should've continued, then that's what you think is moral in the situation, and if we go that route, we're legislating it. Isn't this fascinating?
Issue #4: The environment
Now we'll really have some fun. Many lefties like to whine about how the evil Bushchimperor is destroying the environment by allowing big corporations to pollute it...or some tree-huggin' hippy crap like that. Anyway, they think there should be more environmental regulations to stop this. But wait! Wouldn't that be FORCING YOUR MORALITY on those who pollute the environment? What right do you have to tell them that what they're doing is wrong, you envirofascists?!
See what I'm getting at? No matter where you look, government is legislating someone's morality. Even on issues like tax cuts, people choose their side based on what they think is better for society. You can't have good, bad, right, and wrong without morality, because without morals, those words would have no meaning. Since they're based on some sort of reasoning, and not a random designation, they have substance and should be treated as arguments, not articles of faith that must be relegated to private life and never mentioned. Heck, even elections are moral choices; people vote for the candidate they think would be better for the country.
Just remember: Next time someone tells you that government shouldn't legislate morality, ask them if they thought the war was wrong. You get bonus points if they say "there is no truth" and then pass out from an overload of cognitive dissonance when you respond with "is that true?"
Heh heh.
Okay, here's the deal: I have a fairly easy day ahead, but I'm going to be working on a TRF project later in the week, so I probably won't be blogging much after today. I really want to write something, but I can't find any topics that interest me, so I'm doing something I've never done before: I'm going to let you, my loyal readers, provide ideas.
This may be the only time I do this, but I really, really feel like writing, and I'm not coming up with anything to write about, so feel free to suggest something in the comments, and I'll see what I can do. It doesn't have to be political, and it can just be a question you want me to answer or something. All I know is that I need to write today.
You know, I've noticed that a lot of neolibs immediately call Bush a liar for saying that we went to Iraq in order to keep weapons out of the hands of dictators/terrorists and promote democracy. However, when someone like Osama bin Laden claims that he attacked us because of U.S. foreign policy, many of those same neolibs start whining about how we need to cease all involvement in the Middle East before we can be safe.
So, my question is this: Why do you constantly second-guess the president of the United States while taking a fanatical murderer at his word?
I'd really like an answer, but I don't think any moonbats actually read my blog. I have a guess, which I will include in a "Grand Theory of Leftism" that I've been formulating lately. Expect it to be posted sometime over Christmas.
UPDATE
And while you're at it, libs, would you please tell me why you oppose the War on Terror because it would create a "cycle of violence," but you support programs that try to end racism by discriminating on the basis of race?
The amount of ignorance contained in the first few posts of this thread alone should be enough to create some sort of singularity of stupidity and destroy the entire universe. I don't understand how humans haven't wiped themselves out yet.
(Cynicism: It's what's for lunch)
When you extend a word for dramatic effect, make sure it's phonetically similar to the original word. For example, if you wanted to say "nice" with enthusiasm, you would type:
"Niiiiiiiiiiiice."
You would not type:
"Niiiiiiicccccceeeeeeeee."
In the first instance, it would still be pronounced "nice." In the second instance, it would be pronounced "nicy" (rhymes with "icy"), thereby creating a new word that would make no sense if you said it out loud.
I hope you all appreciate this advice and apply it to your everyday lives.
1. The amount of projection on the left is beginning to make me physically ill.
...Insert leftist here:
"Stop projecting, you fascist!"
2. For some reason, I keep thinking about a fictional conversation with a neolib. I don't know where it came from, but maybe it would make a good political cartoon or something:
CD: You know, for people who claim to be tolerant and open-minded, you ultra-leftists sure have trouble with opinions that are different from your own.
NEOLIB: That's a neocon lie. We're more tolerant than all you born-again bigots down in Jesusland.
CD: Uh, I'm from Pennsylvania, so I don't think that-
NEOLIB: Shut up, rightard! Anyway, as I was saying, we're a lot more tolerant than you homophobic Jesus freaks. For example, I think Bush is Satan, but my best friend thinks Bush is Hitler. If I was as intolerant as you say I am, would he still be my best friend? I don't think so. Racist.
CD: When did I say anything that would make me a racist?
NEOLIB: You voted for Chimpya. That's all I need to know.
...Stream of consciousness writing can be dangerous. Anyway, this has been "random political thoughts." Thank you.
Well, I'm back at Syracuse. With The Chimps. And they were chimpin' it up the second I walked in. Yay...
I learned a couple things today. First, it's incredibly hard to carry an eMac and a 19" television up four flights of stairs. If I hadn't lifted weights over the summer, my arms would be completely immobilized right now. Ouch.
The second thing I learned is that the aforementioned eMac does some really weird things. I turned it on, opened Firefox, and went to check my e-mail, and I started getting a bunch of warnings about how the sites use certificates that won't be valid until 2003. This seemed a little odd until I realized that the date on my computer had been reset to 1969 for some reason. That's...unsettling. It's reset itself before, but never to another freaking decade. I'm scared.
Hey, remember when I used to fisk the letters in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette? I think I'll do that today. One of the letters is too hilariously ignorant to ignore. Check it out:
Render unto CaesarThe Republicans did a good job keeping the radical, flat-Earth, born-again people under wraps until after the election, meanwhile accepting their votes and money. But it is sad that now these extreme, zealous, narrow-minded "born agains" have come out of the woodwork after the November election was safely won.
Well, douchebag, now that you've killed an innocent straw man and demonstrated your hypocrisy and intolerance, would you care to make an actual argument?
The Religious Right is now bitterly attacking Sen. Rick Santorum for his support of Sen. Arlen Specter over Rep. Patrick Toomey in the Republican primary last spring. Mr. Toomey is a fervent supporter of laws which deny a woman's right to evacuate the inside of her own uterus!
I've mentioned that I have no faith in humanity, right? "Evacuate the inside of her own uterus?" What a roundabout way to describe infanticide. Let's extend your logic to other times in life. For example, if a mother kills her children after they're born, she shouldn't be prosecuted, because she's just evacuating the contents of her own house! Andrea Yates and Susan Smith are victims of the anti-choice religious right! Those woman hating bigots!!!11!!oneone!!!!
The religious fanatics...
The tolerance is so beautiful!
...have forgotten that Mr. Bush himself campaigned for and supported Sen. Specter in that primary.
And your point would be...what? Bush does a lot of dumb things. Is that news to you? I guess it just doesn't fit your image of the brainwashed fundies blindly following Bush to the ends of the flat Earth.
Politicians should not legislate morality.
In that case, let's legalize theft. After all, "Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments.
They should "render unto Caesar" those things which are Caesar's.
You are aware that Christ was talking about taxation when He said that, right?
Only issues in the political sphere are properly addressed by the political structure.
Roe v. Wade, anyone?
Personal morality belongs in the province of religious faith. It is not the appropriate concern of the U.S. president, the Congress or the Supreme Court.
Abortion is not an issue of "personal morality." It's an issue of whether a woman should be allowed to have her own child killed. Until you can prove that murder is a moral issue, but not a legal one, just keep your ignorant pseudo-opinions to yourself.
It says a lot about the kind of society we live in when people who are against abortion are considered extremists.
Happy Thanksgiving, etc., etc. Now, back to the kind of meaningless self-promotion this blog enables.
You may remember that I wrote an anti-abortion song called "Choice" a few months ago. You can track down the lyrics here if you need to refresh your memory. I said it was going to be a heavy song, but I would need a double bass pedal to get the sound I wanted, so I couldn't record a drum sample.
Until now.
I realized a couple days ago that my computer came with a demo of a program called Sibelius that lets you write music and then hear what it sounds like using Quicktime instruments. I spent the last few hours making "Choice" into a Sibelius song, guitars and all. It obviously sounds pretty weak with these MIDIfied instruments, but at least you can hear what I heard while I was writing the words. Check it out:
Click for MP3 (opens in a new window)
Who needs politics when there's music?
(And in case you were wondering, there's no way I'd be able to play that drum part in real life. I tried it last night and almost had a heart attack halfway through.)
Wow. A lot can happen in 3 months. For example, my parents bought a new car, and the gas company finally put grass in the giant hole in the backyard.
In other home news, the refrigerator is broken, my mom has been using my bedroom as an office, and there's cat hair all over my bed. Hooray for Thanksgiving vacation.
And in political news: Maybe there is still hope for the whole country. As I was traveling from one "blue state" to another this afternoon/evening, I noticed that a large number of cars had "support our troops" stickers on them, and a lot also had American flags, etc. Remember, this was in New York and Pennsylvania, not "Jesusland." Signs of progress...
I'm getting ready to head back to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving break. Yay.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to leave until around 4 PM, and I'll be in class before that, so if I post at all, it'll probably be after 10 tonight. Going to school 6 hours from home is hard.
Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know.
UPDATE
While I'm gone, you can check out Phil's new music video.
Alien kitchens, dude. Alien kitchens.
Guess what starts today? That's right: A NEW TRF PROJECT!!!!!1!!1!11!!
This one's a five minute fiction film. My group is doing a story about a holdup at a convenience store, with a surprise ending that changes the meaning of the whole thing. It should be good.
Shooting begins at 3 PM. I'm the DP (director of photography) for this one, which means I get to run the camera and make sure all the shots look good. Yay.
Oh, and I'm not working with the guy who takes his shirt off this time. I'm kinda happy about that.
beyonce's vagina looks like this
Everybody close your eyes and repeat after me:
"I don't want to know...I don't want to know...I don't want to know..."
Apparently, the world's oldest man just died. But the interesting thing about it is this:
Fred Hale Sr., documented as the world's oldest man, died Friday. He was 113 years old. Hale died in his sleep Friday at The Nottingham in suburban Syracuse...
I had no idea that the oldest man in the world lived within miles of me until yesterday. Weird.
GUY #1: F**k you!
GIRL #1: F**k you harder!
GUY #1: I f**king hate you!
GIRL #1: I hate you more!
GUY #2: I like both of you.
I have to listen to this every. single. day.
Make it stop.
In case you haven't noticed, I don't particularly feel like blogging about politics right now. I started this blog so I would have a place to write and/or rant, and it just happened to turn political, but most of you probably know that I usually just post whatever's on my mind. Now that the election's been over for a couple weeks, I really think I need to step back and focus on other areas of life.
This doesn't mean I'm going apolitical like some bloggers, but I probably will be posting less frequently, and I'll write about a wider array of subjects. If you don't like it, well...there's nothing keeping you here. I just do this to entertain myself anyway.
Have I mentioned that I live with a bunch of chimps? Here's a paraphrased sample of the kind of crap I have to put up with:
RANDOM GUY #1: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
RANDOM GUY #2: YEEEEEEEAAAAHHH!!! AWWWWW YEAAAAAAHHHH!
RANDOM GIRL#1: (from several doors down) YEEEEEAH! I'M SO HYPER!!!!!
RANDOM GUY #1: YEEEEEEAHHHH!!!! *clapping*
RANDOM GUY #3: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! HAW!!! HAW!!! HEH HEH HAW HEH HAW HEH HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
RANDOM GIRL #1: WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I don't even know what the friggin' morons are reacting to.
(And yes, she really did scream "I'm so hyper" down the hallway. I'd rather not know why.)
My site has gotten 4 visits from people at Syracuse University this morning. All of them have been from unknown referrals, which generally means they either had the site bookmarked or typed the URL into their browser. And the IP addresses tell me that they were all on different computers.
This could be good or bad. Last time I got a lot of syr.edu visits, it was because I angered part of the SU transgender community.
You know, maybe the Democrats keep losing elections because they're associated with f**king douchebags who churn out hateful crapaganda like this on a daily basis.
You've gotta love the "tolerant" left.
(Hat tip: IMAO)
So, I just completed class registration for next semester, using the craptastic online scheduling program known as MySlice. I know you're all fascinated by every tiny detail of my life (hey, stop laughing!), so here's a list of the classes I'm taking (this could change, but I doubt it):
-ANT 145: Introduction to Historical Archaeology
-GEO 155: The Natural Environment
-HST 102: American History Since 1865
-TRF 235: Television, Radio, and Film in Society
...Yeah, I'm definitely going to be spending a lot of time at HillTV next semester. Otherwise, I may go insane from the almost total lack of anything relevant to TV/film production (TRF 235 is just a theory class, which doesn't help at all).
The good news is that if I survive the academic limbo that is Spring semester, I'll get to take a ton of TRF and Political Science classes for the rest of my college career. I hope it'll be worth it.
The other good news is that I ended up with only one class on Tuesdays, which will give me lots of time for blogging. Yay!
...What? You say I should use Tuesdays to study? Where's the fun in that?
Those of you who watched my documentary (and if you haven't watched it...why not?) may be curious about where the name of the "production company" came from. Read on and be enlightened (I'll put it in the extended entry)...
I mentioned in the post that there's a story behind the name, and it involves a member of our three person production team. I'll just refer to him here as "SJ" (of course, you could easily find out what that stands for by watching the credits of the video, but for the sake of consistency, I'm sticking with the abbreviation).
Anyway, the documentary was the third project of the semester. I also worked with SJ on the first one, which was a two-minute fiction piece. The basic story: Two college students are supposed to meet before class, but one of them forgets and goes straight to the classroom, then the other student walks in and is shocked to see his friend already there. Pretty simple, right?
Well, for this particular project, SJ decided to play the part of the student who remembered to wait, so at one point, we had to shoot him walking into a classroom and looking surprised. However, in the middle of shooting it, he came up with an...interesting idea. The conversation went something like this (no, it's not verbatim. As if you didn't know.):
SJ: Hey, wouldn't it be funny if I took my clothes off before I walked in?
CD: What?
SJ: Yeah, then when we screen the dailies, there'll just be a random shot of me walking in naked!
CD: You're not serious, are you?
SJ: Wait...how about if I just take off my shirt? Yeah! Get the camera ready!
CD: You're seriously going to do it?
SJ: (takes off his shirt) Okay, I'm gonna come in. Are you recording?
So we ended up shooting him walking into the room without a shirt. And then screening it in front of 20 people. That became kind of an inside joke, but it's not the end of the story.
You see, the second project was a persuasive piece, and SJ's group did a parody of the Budweiser "real men of genius" commercials. Their subject was "Mr. Overactive Perspirator," the guy who always sweats. SJ played said perspirator in the commercial, and one of the shots showed him playing basketball without a shirt. So he was now 2 for 2 in the "shirtless TRF project appearances" department.
Do you see where this is going?
SJ wanted to find a way to appear with his shirt off in the documentary. I actually had to talk him out of it by finding a way to at least refer to the joke. The answer? "No Shirt, No Problem Productions." I designed the logo and everything just so he would keep his friggin' shirt on for one project. It was either that, or go with his idea of appearing in the background of Gary's concert without a shirt.
Aren't you glad you know the backstory now?
(On a side note, SJ and I both have very brief on-camera appearances in the documentary, but I'm not going to tell you where they are. Yet.)
Interesting day today. I was in the TV studio for most of the afternoon as we taped the new episode of Syracuse Live. I was the floor director for this one, which basically meant that I got to order a room full of people around for half an hour. Heh heh.
Anyway, the show included an in-studio demonstration from the SU Fencing Club (yes, the swordfighting kind of fencing), which was rather interesting, and it opened with a live performance from MC Goldie Wilson. You won't understand why that's funny until you go to that link. He wore the pink snowsuit and everything. To hear the song he did, go to his site and listen to "Devefaux Pas" on the music page. Apparently, you can't get booty shakes on a CD.
So, in conclusion, when you spend a large amount of your college career making TV shows and short films, you have really weird experiences. Thank you.
As I said yesterday, I can now upload larger files to the blog via FTP, so I can share the documentary I worked on for the better part of a month for my production class. If you somehow missed the posts about this thing, just go through the October archives. I mentioned it practically every other day.
Anyway, this file is a Quicktime movie. I'm assuming everyone can view .mov files (UPDATE: It's now available as an MPEG as well!), but let me know if it doesn't work. Also, it's a lot lower in audio/video quality than the original, but I think I managed to salvage the essence of it.
A few notes before you watch: First of all, as I've mentioned before, the video is called "Against the Wind," and it's a seven minute documentary about local musician Gary Frenay. I was the editor for this, so all the transitions, titles, etc. were physically made by me, and I put the clips in their final order, although some of the ideas came from the other two group members. It took seven hours to make a rough cut, and another nine hours for the final cut. This stuff is not easy.
Also, the tape deck decided not to cooperate when I was dubbing this to Mini-DV, so the sound got cut off in a couple spots, mainly the part where Gary says, "...but then the first band that really went anywhere was..." The name of the band was "The Flashcubes," as the title indicates. That sound gap wasn't in the original.
Finally, I'm not going to explain the name of the "production company" (it's a long story, so let me know if you're truly interested, and I'll elaborate), but I did design the logo. That's all that really matters.
Now that I've bored you, check out the greatest documentary ever (give it time to load; it's a big file):
If the .mov doesn't work for you, try this.
Critique/constructive criticism is welcome. At least one of you has to watch this. You won't regret it.
Really, you won't.
After a few hours of trial and error (and a lot of help from Pixy), I'm finally able to upload files larger than 1 MB to the blog. I obviously won't be doing this a lot, but it will allow me to post my drum recordings in full, rather than the 1 minute samples I've been using. Hooray for showing off.
However, the main reason I wanted to do this is so I can share TRF projects, including the documentary I've been ranting/raving about for the last month. So, tomorrow afternoon, I will post "Against the Wind" on SIT for all to see. It's only 7 minutes long, so you really should watch it. I'll have more details when the time comes.
I know you're all as excited as I am.
Remember a couple days ago when I said I would criticize Bush if he did something stupid?
President Bush yesterday moved aggressively to resurrect his plan to relax rules against illegal immigration, a move bound to anger conservatives just days after they helped re-elect him. The president met privately in the Oval Office with Sen. John McCain to discuss jump-starting a stalled White House initiative that would grant legal status to millions of immigrants who broke the law to enter the United States.
Dubya, you just...don't get it, do you? How can you expect to stay strong on national security by letting people enter the country illegally?
If Congress passes this crap, it will confirm my belief that there is no Republican Party, only Democrats and Socialists.
I just received the following comment from somethingone calling itherself "Smart Liberal":
HAHAHAHA.. u guys are such dumb losers... look you're so excited that you can change a number on the Daily Mirror headline that you failed to get the point... THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS YOU'RE DUMB FUCKS!!! Oh my god, you're the most stupidest people on the face of this planet... A. You voted for George Bush, a mysoginistic, racist, paranoid stupid dumb fuck and B. you don't even get it when the world is flipping you off... You're such a bunch of losers!
Now, I could just change this to a Ralph Wiggum quote, but I think it's much funnier to point out why this person is hilariously ignorant. Let's break the comment down:
HAHAHAHA.. u guys are such dumb losers...
Mistake #1: If you're going to use 12 year-old AOLspeak instead of English, you have to stay consistent. Therefore, either change "u" to "you," or change "HAHAHAHA" to "LOL." And ellipses are made of three periods, not two.
I know grammar doesn't necessarily determine intelligence, but it sure doesn't hurt to have some skills in the area.
look you're so excited that you can change a number on the Daily Mirror headline that you failed to get the point...
Look you forgot a comma your sentences are kind of confusing when you don't punctuate them properly they end up like this one isn't that weird?
THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS YOU'RE DUMB FUCKS!!!
Good thing we don't care what the rest of the world thinks. What is it with you liberals and the need to be popular, anyway? It's just like John Kerry and his "People agree with me, so I don't need to explain why I'm right" strategy.
Oh my god, you're the most stupidest people on the face of this planet...
And you've got the most worstest grammar on this blog.
A. You voted for George Bush...
Brilliant deduction. I tremble in awe at your mighty intellect. Please don't kill me with knowledge.
...a mysoginistic...
That word doesn't exist, but if you meant to say misogynistic, please explain.
...racist...
So Bush is a racist, even though he opposes racial discrimination and appointed two of the most powerful African-Americans in the history of the country? He must be in denial about his bigotry.
...paranoid...
Pot, kettle, etc., etc. I'd include the "black" part of that cliche, but you might call me a racist.
...stupid...
I've got two words for you: "Harvard" and "Yale."
...dumb...
Unless you're saying that he's physically incapable of speaking, you basically just called him stupid again. That must make him twice as stupid!!1!!1!!
...fuck...
Such creative insults. How do you do it?
...and B. you don't even get it when the world is flipping you off...
Actually, I do get it, and I think it's freaking hilarious. If everyone loves you, you're not being honest.
You're such a bunch of losers!
Tell that to Senators John Kerry and John Edwards.
Anyway, thanks for the comment, but you're seriously out of your league here. Why don't you go play with these guys?
Actual quote from my TRF professor:
"Not all Republicans are evil."
That doesn't necessarily sound so bad until you realize that she could've said "Most Republicans are evil," and it would've meant the same thing.
I won't even go into the rest of her 45 minute long election rant. The Kool-Aid was flowing like a waterfall.
Remember that post about the photographs of insurgents?
Go to this article, watch the "With the insurgents of Fallujah" slideshow, then join me in wondering when it became okay to follow the enemy around.
Oh, but wait, the photographer is French, so it's okay.
*bashes head against wall*
You know, it's really hard to write a script when you don't like your idea.
Just thought I'd mention that.
I just heard the following in the hallway:
"I'm so glad that I did good on my test!"
I guess it wasn't a grammar test.
(That's right, I went there. You didn't think I'd go there, but I did.)
You know what would be really cool? A film with a main character named "Jukebox." Except everyone calls him "Juicebox," resulting in hilarity and other fun things.
(This has been your random thought for the day. Before you ask a screenwriter what he's thinking, keep this in mind.)
Oh, yes, I will be making fun of this site in the very near future. I have notebook paper and a digital camera. Draw your own conclusions.
Heh heh...
Syracuse vs. Pitt, 12 PM in the Carrier Dome. It's the last home game of the year. And it'll be televised on regional ESPN. Wow.
So, once again, I have to get up at 6:45 in the morning and drum for most of the day after eating nothing but Pop-Tarts and bagels. Marching band is both fun and horrible at the same time.
Now, I'm a bit conflicted here. I go to Syracuse, but I'm from Pittsburgh, so it'll be kind of weird joining the inevitable chorus of "Pitt sucks" and other fun phrases, but since I never really liked anything in Pennsylvania (I've mentioned before that PA will eat your soul if you stay there too long), it shouldn't be too much of a problem. My parents are coming to this game, and they still live in Pittsburgh, so it should be an interesting experience for them.
Anyway, you know where this is going. Think Swiss Cake Rolls. Or, better yet, comment on some of the election posts I wrote over the last couple days, if you haven't yet. This blog needs more discussion.
UPDATE
'Cuse wins in overtime. Yay.
I figured I'd expand on something I just said in a comment on Democrat for a Free America.
Mr. President,
Well, this is it. You're still in charge, and you won the majority of the popular vote. Nice job. However, keep in mind who was responsible for that 3.5 million difference: People like me. I voted for you, and you won, so I expect you to at least try and steer the country in the right direction for 4 more years.
You know that "mandate" everyone's talking about? Use it wisely. I may have voted for you, and I support your presidency, but you don't exactly have the most conservative record, and if you do something stupid, I will not hesitate to point it out. I defended you from the moonbats for 13 months. You'd better not let me down.
It's true that some of your supporters have been chugging Dubya Kool-Aid for the last few weeks, but I'm an individualist and a political free-thinker. If you step out of line, I'll rant about it just like I would if a Democrat did something that made me angry. You have been warned.
-CD
PS: STOP SAYING "NUCULAR!!!"
Fun quote from DU:
its a sad day today...people will reep what they sew
This brings me to a point I've wanted to make for a while:
DON'T USE EXPRESSIONS IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN.
I won't shed any tears if morons like this start leaving the country.
UPDATE
Continuing the theme, here's a Google search that just brought someone here:
I don't know what's scarier; The fact that they don't know, or the fact that they entered it in the form of a question.
OPEN LETTER TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
Your anti-Bush frothing only makes his victory that much sweeter, and the more you complain, the more pathetic you sound. As soon as you start voting in our elections, your opinions will gain an iota of relevance. Until then, kindly f**k off and leave us to control our destiny. Thank you.
-Your (self-righteous, gun-totin', military lovin', sister marryin', abortion-hatin', gay-loathin', foreigner-despisin', non-passport ownin' red-neck) pal,
CD
(explanation/inspiration here)
Hey, thanks for making Syracuse the laughingstock of the Internet, you douchebag.
My school spirit just dropped a bit.
You know, it's kind of a cool thought that if I hadn't voted, the Daily Mirror would be saying "How can 59,054,086 people be so DUMB?"
I'm starting to think everyone around me is in on some big inside joke, and they're all going to jump out from behind a door one of these days and yell "surprise." I can't possibly be living in the same reality as them.
You see, the topic of discussion among students before the TRF midterm was "how to avoid being drafted." Which is kind of weird, since THERE IS NO MOTHERF**KING DRAFT. Here are some more of the paraphrased quotes you've all come to expect from SIT:
-"They can draft girls now, you know. The best thing to do is get pregnant. They won't send a pregnant woman to the front lines."
-"They can't draft you if you're allergic to bees, right?"
-"If there's a draft, Canada is my new home."
- "If we go to North Korea, there has to be a draft." (after I told him there wasn't a draft)
What world are you people living in? There. isn't. going. to. be. a. draft. I even explained that to one of 'em:
"You know the draft was proposed by Charles Rangel, a Democrat, right? And that it was just voted down a couple weeks ago? And that everyone in the administration is against the draft? And it would be political suicide to have one?"
I really don't understand it. Why are so many people worried about the draft when there isn't one and there probably won't be one? Are they really that impressionable?
When liberals say "I weep for our nation," it's because they think Bush will destroy the world. When I say "I weep for our nation," it's because so many liberals think Bush will destroy the world. Kind of an interesting parallel.
UPDATE
Oh, and to all the people who are talking about leaving the country to escape the evil Bushchimperialist...
I WILL BUY YOU A PLANE TICKET IF YOU PROMISE TO SHUT UP.
I still have to study, but first, it's my obligation as a blogger to parrot the observations of all other right-wing bloggers. So, let's get started.
It's hilarious watching the left react to Bush's win. Seriously. I waited months for this. It's like Christmas! Do you realize how badly they've been defeated? They had Michael Moore, most of Hollywood, CBS, ABC, CNN, NPR, the New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post, a large portion of the music industry, George Soros, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and tons of others on their side...AND THEY STILL LOST!
The best part is watching them try to explain it. The most common sentiment is something along the lines of, "I can't believe a majority of Americans could be that stupid!"
Yeah, okay. Bush is the Most Divisive President Ever, but anyone who doesn't agree with you is an idiot and/or hick, redneck, etc. That's some nice projection there, guys.
I'm not exaggerating either. Even here at school, I hear people blaming Bush's victory on "hicks" or "the South." Because apparently, not being a sufistakatid New England librul automatically makes you retarded. But in any case, it's hilarious to watch.
News flash: America didn't elect Bush because they're a bunch of dumb hicks. We wouldn't be the greatest country in the world if that were true. America also didn't elect Bush because you "couldn't get your message out." You control the mainstream media. Your message gets out every single day. America didn't elect Bush because Rove somehow controlled their minds or scared them into keeping the same president. If you want scare tactics, look no further than "Bush will draft your children" and other fun slogans.
America elected Bush because they agree with him more than they agree with Kerry. Period. I don't understand why liberals can't view the opposing argument as valid. I don't think I've seen anyone on the left suggesting that Kerry lost because his views are wrong. That would be heresy! No, the real reason Kerry lost is that he says the right thing, but he says it in such a complicated way that the peons can't understand that they need to be controlled by the Liberal Elite. If only there was a way to put it in terms they could comprehend!
I've written before about the left's tendency to view their opinions as facts and opposing opinions as lies, so I'll stop there. But I want to cover one more topic before I get back to studying camera techniques and such.
Bush's win has really brought out the latent anti-Christian bigotry. All over the place, people are claiming that in 4 years, we'll have a "fascist theocracy" equivalent to the Taliban, or that Bush will appoint judges who won't let women control their bodies and won't allow non-Christians to run for office. They're also blaming the same-sex marriage vote for Bush's popular vote numbers, claiming that he won the election by getting the homophobes to the polls.
First of all, you can oppose same-sex marriage and not be "homophobic." This is yet another example of the left's inability to comprehend the opposing view. Second: Where is this "religious right" that you all feel so threatened by? Even on right-leaning blogs, I'm seeing anti-Christian sentiments as people go on about the "religious right" and their supposed control over the Bush administration. I believe Oliver Willis even played the Fred Phelps card. Because we all know that he represents the majority of Christians. Them fags has gotta burn, got-dangit.
As a Christian, I can tell you that we don't have a secret network of underground churches just waiting to take control of women's bodies and send gays to the gas chambers. Maybe I'm just not in the know, but if I'm supposed to be getting checks from Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, I haven't heard about it.
And now, some final thoughts:
LIGHTEN UP. You morons are being more melodramatic than I ever thought possible. A Kerry fan on my floor literally broke down in tears when Bush took the lead, I saw a message on somebody's door that said "I weep for our nation," people are talking about moving to Canada...CALM THE F**K DOWN.
Lastly, before you come down on Bush for being a divider and not a uniter, maybe you should try to find common ground with the stupid homophobic fascist redneck theocrats who want to legalize rape and send innocent kids to die in an illegal imperialist war on false pretenses so rich people have enough oil to destroy the environment.
That is all.
(Inspired by this, among other things)
From DU:
A POX ON ALL YOUR FUCKING NEOCON HOUSES I will pray to the Universe every night that your children are all drafted and sent to Iraq where they get kidnapped, gangraped, tortured then finally beheaded. I truly in my heart of hopes really really really hope this wish comes true. Then I will laugh my fucking ass off at your misery. Stupid sick evil fucking narrow-minded retards.
I've been waiting months to see them totally break down like this. It's so much fun to finally watch. Too bad I don't have more time to enjoy it.
Schadenfreude: It's what's for dinner.
I have to study for a massive TRF midterm, so I'm leaving this post for discussion. However, rather than Swiss Cake Rolls, I'm sticking with the whole "how Kerry fans are taking Bush's victory" theme.
What interesting comments have you heard from friends, colleagues, etc. about the election? The "It's Finally Over" post from earlier today contains some of mine, but I'm interested in hearing yours.
Ace links to this editorial from Slate. I started reading it, and I noticed that a few parts sounded rather familiar. For example:
What Kerry lacked was simplicity. Bush had one message; Kerry had dozens. Bush had one issue; Kerry had scores. Bush ended his sentences when you expected him to say more; Kerry went on and on, adding one prepositional phrase after another, until nobody could remember what he was talking about.
I thought I was having deja vu or something, but then I realized that my political science professor said this almost word for word in this morning's lecture. Except he claimed it was his theory as to why Bush won. Right down to the "simplicity" thing.
So, basically, he either stole his theory from William Saletan, or he is William Saletan.
Any ideas as to how I can use this?
Na na na na...
Na na na na...
Hey hey hey...
That's it. Bush wins.
You know what's great? I was in my political science lecture when Kerry conceded, and we found out about it when some girl got a text message and told the professor. After this, one guy in the class, who had said a few minutes earlier that he couldn't understand how anyone could vote for Bush, provided the following quote:
"The apocalypse is coming."
Yep. Such rational people. It's hard to believe they lost.
UPDATE
Things that came up in my CPS class (not verbatim):
-"Four more years of depression...no jobs..."
-"My friend sent me some information on becoming a Canadian citizen."
- "The Supreme Court is going to set everything back 50 years. You'll have to go to Europe for stem cells and abortions."
- "[Republicans are] complaining about extra votes in some machines? Hey, how did you [Republicans] win Florida last time?"
I mentioned that this was a computational science class, right? And this was just among students waiting for the (extremely incompetent) TA to show up with the exams.
I love the sound of moonbattery in the afternoon. Sounds like...victory.
This is so friggin' intense. I still haven't started studying. Me and NS have just been sitting at our computers for the last couple hours clicking "Refresh" on this page. I don't even care about my CPS grade at this point; I just want to see Bush win this thing once and for all.
One state. One. State.
Of course, my home state of Pennsylvania went for Kerry. As did my current state of residence, New York. Dang it.
Come on, Ohio. Give this election to Bush. Do it for The Children™.
UPDATE (2:12 AM)
It's over. Bush wins. Can we all get back to our lives now? I'm already going to fail a test thanks to this election.
(This post will remain at the top of the blog through Tuesday night. Scroll down for newer posts.)
VOTE!!!
If you haven't already voted, do it now. Or as soon as possible. I voted. I even put a graphic under my blog banner to prove it. It'll only take a few minutes. Go. Right now. I'll still be here when you get back.
Hurry up and count the votes, dang it! I have a computational science exam tomorrow, and I can't study until I at least know who's most likely to win! Do you want me to go in there not knowing about arrays and debugging, or are you going to friggin' tell me who's winning?
...Sorry. This election day stuff is intense. I have no idea why my CPS instructor decided to schedule an exam for November 3, but I do know it's not making things any easier.
I'm proudly displaying my political affiliation today. Click the extended entry to see how.
I've been wearing this all day. I just got back from my TRF 255 class, where I was expecting a negative reaction (as I've mentioned before, my professor is a kool-aid liberal), but nobody said anything. I'm actually kinda disappointed; I've had the dang sticker on since 8 AM, and nobody has given me so much as a dirty look. I guess that's a good thing.
Speaking of TRF, the documentary premiere went fairly well. There was a disagreement between the professor and myself involving the pros and cons of cross dissolves, but in the end, it's my choice, and I still think it's the best video I've ever made. If there's a way to upload it to the blog, I'll let you all see it. Gary signed a release form that said we could use his image any way we need to. Heh heh.
I just read the most thoughtful, logical, and rational post I've ever seen on Democratic Underground! This was written in response to a College Republican on CNN. Check it out:
man...what a fucking bitch ass motherfucker. Why dont you go back to your bitch ass job at abercrombie you spikey haired sissy boy.
Wow! The left sure is full of intelligent people! How could anyone not vote for Kerry when this guy supports him?
UPDATE
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! There's an even better response later in the thread:
What is with these people? If they aren't sneering at Democrats, they've got nothing to say. How can somebody so young be so venomous? What kind of responsible adult would encourage that behavior in a kid? It's unbelievable. We're going to be dealing with these people for a long, long time.
Can you say "ironic," boys and girls?
There's a good opinion piece in the Daily Orange about political alienation at Syracuse. They even interviewed my roommate. Check it out:
"All I have to say is that I oppose affirmative action...And people call me a racist; they say I hate black people and everything. Why should they come down on me like that?"
He also talked about the signs on our door being vandalized, but I guess that didn't make it into the article.