Assorted Politics – Page 6

English Privilege

July 30, 2009

Now for a monolingual, patriotic edition of…

SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!

What in the hell is with these people who always scream and cry that, oh noes, somebody who is currently in the United States is speaking in a language (gasp!) that is not English? How dare they! This is an English speaking country and must stay that way. And the very good reason for this is… we say so. Yee haw!

Sigh. Here we go again. A bunch of so-called proud Americans have sewn an infallible fabric based entirely on how they were raised by their ignorant families and have decided that and only that is the proper way for all Americans to live and think. The basis for this belief, of course, is just simply that’s how they specifically were raised, and it must have been important because their parents beat the shit out of them if they so much as uttered a word contrary to these beliefs, so all others must obey these rules as well because, shit, their parents couldn’t possibly be wrong, could they? (Another example of how youth rights is always somehow present in just about any situation.)

Of course, I’m speculating, but that’s all I have to go by since I just really don’t understand how anyone can feel so threatened by the presence of non-English speaking people. Perhaps just general fear of anything different from oneself or at least what one is used to, just like the people who fight tooth and nail to maintain Christianity’s dominance, in that it makes no sense in the grand scheme of things but they do it because it is what is familiar and comfortable to them and thus must be enforced. Or perhaps it’s also the irrational fear that if English is not the only acceptable language, then it will be phased out completely and they’ll be forced to speak something else. Which, of course, is pure paranoid bullshit.
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Representing the Demographic

July 16, 2009

Prejudice is alive and well. It survives nicely through plenty of usually well-meaning people whose prejudicial biases fly under their own radar. Perhaps the most prevalent way that racism, sexism, homophobia, and other bigotries still exist is the extra scrutiny the marginalized group often gets, scrutiny that is forgotten for the same issue if someone of a privileged or majority demographic is involved.

We’ve all seen it. If a teen commits a horrible crime, then the question is not about that individual teen but a question and often assumption that this horrible behavior is common in teens. If the perpetrator were 45, that would not be an issue. The 45-year-old would rightly be treated as an individual, and other 45-year-olds would be spared having to carry that person’s guilt just because they were born the same year. Why? Because middle-aged adults are the standard and thus privileged age demographic while youth (and senior citizens for that matter) are marginalized and considered the “non-standard” group, the “other” group.
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More Pure Stupidity

July 9, 2009

Okay, so I was driving home from work today, and I’m behind some pickup truck, and even by pickup truck standards it looked rather rednecky, with pipes and shit in the back. After a bit I notice a printed sign is taped to the back window and when stopped at a stoplight I finally noticed what it said.

Don’t blame me. I voted for the AMERICAN.

:dubious:

Go ahead. Let that sink in for a moment.

I mean, for a minute I wasn’t even sure which candidate it was referring to, until the obvious factors of Obama having been the one who won and that this was, after all, a pickup truck, which I think is only sold to people who would fellate Ronald Reagan if given the opportunity. And it is probably asking too much of any conservative to recognize that Hawaii is part of the United States while Panama is not.

This has been Day 47 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 9. Summertime!

Long Expected Party

January 20, 2009

Now for a presidential, executive edition of…

Here’s to You!!!!

So I raise my glass and say, “Here’s to you, President Barack Obama!”

I have two songs floating around in my head. One of them is “Wind of Change” by the Scorpions. The other one is “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who. I’m somewhere in between.

So today at work most of us were on CNN.com streaming the inauguration, not getting much work done but no one really cared.
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Red-iculousness

October 23, 2008

So I was reading the Economist today when I came across an article about how Obama’s campaign is kicking the living ass out of, well, everything, setting us up for anything from a landslide to another Dewey Defeats Truman. But that’s not what I mean to talk about here today. In the article, it begins describing the lopsided attention being given to the Republican and Democratic booths at some North Carolina fair. And then I saw this little gem.

[Some redneck]’s backing John McCain because the Arizona senator “thinks murdering little babies is not a good idea”.

Ah, we saw this four years ago. And eight years ago. And so on. Many Republicans’ persistent belief that if an anti-abortion president takes office, abortion will become illegal and never be done again. You know, I wonder what life is like to live in such a strong delusion, for these people seem to completely ignore that even though we’ve had anti-abortion president George W. Bush in office for the past eight years, abortion is still legal. I’ve got news for you. John McCain is not going to make abortion illegal. He and Sarah Palin may talk all the time about how bad it is, but the fact is, it won’t be made illegal even if they are elected. So you Republicans thinking the McCain-Palin team is going to be the saving grace of embryos and fetuses from women making an excruciatingly difficult decision, and you Democrats thinking the McCain-Palin team will take away a woman’s inalienable right to kill her unborn child, you’re living in a serious fantasy world.
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Obama Is Keyst-owned

April 23, 2008

Ugh, here I am talking about current political stuff. What is this, a blog?

Anyway, so we all know Hillary Clinton just won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. Kind of expected. In any case, Barack Obama, as some suggest, pretty much screwed himself in a comment he made about small town Pennsylvanians. Here’s a quote from the Lexington column in the Economist:

He told a group of fat cats in San Francisco that the reason why he is finding it hard to appeal to blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania is because they are “bitter”. They have suffered from so many broken promises that they prefer to “cling” to God, guns and xenophobia rather than reaching out for a helping hand from the government.

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Candidate for the Camps

January 27, 2008

I hereby decree…

Don’t vote for Mitt Romney!

So what’s my problem with him? He’s a Republican? Don’t care about that. He’s a Mormon? REALLY don’t care about that. He’s against medical marijuana? Pfft, not a priority for me. So what’s so wrong with him?

The man who has been his biggest fundraiser until recently? Robert Lichfield. Do you know who that is? Go to a search engine and look up the name, and see what you find. If you don’t feel like doing that, then he’s the man in charge of an organization called WWASPS, which is a collection of many “schools” and “camps” around the country where “troubled” teens are sent to be straightened out.
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Anyone Said No?

December 29, 2007

So I was looking at one of the little political polls they have on Facebook these days, asking various questions about what people’s stances are on issues. One of them I saw was “Can a woman President be as effective as a man?”

While significantly lower than those who said Yes, there were quite a lot who said no! Perhaps one out of every seven respondents said no.

You mean people like that actually still exist? I mean, I can understand people saying no specifically because they don’t like Clinton, but that wasn’t the question. It was just in general, if there were anything inherent about all women that made them unfit for presidency, some way that isn’t an issue for men.

President must have a penis? Something about that determines how the commander in chief handles foreign policy and other important matters? Something about having a vagina hinders this?

I don’t get the logic. Feminism has come a long ass way, but there is so much more that must be changed still. Can’t people just learn already? It is exhausting giving the human race any credit and being so continually disappointed.

Hillary Clinton et al

October 8, 2007

Just one question for her. Who the hell does she think she is?

I’m talking to her. I’m talking to Tipper Gore. I’m talking to Elizabeth Dole. I’m talking to the rest of their ilk.

Women in power, awesome. But these women in power? Fail. Women like them make all women look bad.

What the hell is your big problem with youth culture? Or youth in general? It seems every time you open your mouth, it’s to decry the “horrors” of video games or music or the inevitable irresponsibility of young people. Even your daughter called you out on that crap!
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Votes for Sanjaya

April 19, 2007

No, I’m not making a hypocrite out of myself after the Don’t Watch It entry. I only even remotely know what was happening on American Idol because Grandma had it on the kitchen TV and Galen has been participating in phony voting because he does everything Howard Stern tells him.

Anyway, this isn’t really about American Idol. It’s more about voting in general, and I think the issue with this Sanjaya guy is an interesting example of a situation where one wonders just what counts as a “right vote” and a “wrong vote”. Or perhaps a “real vote” or a “fake vote”. Even if it’s a voting system for a silly reality show, it’s still a voting system.
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