The Washington game: A cynic's take on politics

Among my friends, I'm known as a bit of a contrarian with respect to politics. I guess I stop just short of being a cynic, if only in my mind.

Last night, I was at BW3 with some friends to watch the Alabama-Clemson game (it wasn't on Comcast around here) and at halftime the talk turned to the presidential race.

As is my custom, I have a somewhat negative view of both major party tickets this year.

And while I realize that one seemingly has to be preferable to the other, I've never been convinced that this country changes in any earth-shattering way as a result of a change in leadership at the top.

With Obama as president, would my life change in any significant way? Probably not. And the same goes for McCain.

Putting aside the empty suits currently being vetted by the American people, I'm not going to be all too inclined to get excited about any candidate in either party. Any politician (and we always elect politicians) that can rise to a presidential level of acclaim is CERTAIN to have long sold off principles, in favor of the feeble attempt to be all things to all people.

Politicians like Obama and McCain are rewarded for deceit and pandering with votes every four years. And this election cycle we can add to that hero worship.

This is not to say that both men are unworthy of being president, of course; what I am saying is that we should demand more of our public servants. "Well, that's just politics" or "that's how the game is played" are shameful justifications for behavior that would not have been tolerated in grade school.

There is a reason why the Democratic National Convention (and the upcoming Republican one, too) better reflect ComicCon than a legitimate exercise in democracy.

Most politicians think the American people are stupid, and why shouldn't they?

You've heard Obama say the following words ad nauseum during this election, but have you really thought about what he is saying?:

"The stakes are too high and the challenges are too great to play the same old Washington game with the same old Washington players and expect a different result."

I'm not stupid; I know that if someone is pitching a ball with a glove on the opposite hand and someone else is swinging a bat with helmet and cleats, they're probably playing baseball.

Obama wants you to believe it's not baseball, but something new and totally different.

How can a politician use the bats, balls and gloves of the "Washington game" and claim to be engaged in something else?

It's simple really: we WANT to be believe in change, even though we lack even the smallest shred of evidence that one person is capable of making good on such an unlikely proposition.

Both McCain and Obama are members of an impotent legislature that moonlights as a millionaire's club.

They are members of an oligarchy taking pains to convince us that they're our equals by diminshing their inflated sense of self every four years.

Just ask Senator Biden who, in his speech in which he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for VP, said this:

“My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you.”

Do you believe him?

Or, perhaps a better question: Do you believe that he believes it?

At least Britain has a common house alongside a House of Lords.

My standard

To be completely honest, however, I have what could rightly be considered an unreachably high standard for public servants.

It goes something like this, from Romans 12:

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited...do not repay anyone evil for evil...if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath.

How do you find your elected officials these days?

In harmony with one another?
Humble?
Willing to associate with commoners in any substantial way?
Full of grace?
Affecting peace in the world?

What happened to our expectations? These days, politicians stop at nothing to feign equality with all people. But why? In a perfect world, our elected representatives would reflect the best of us, morally, socially and intellectually.

Robert Novak, the recently retired political columnist from the Chicago Sun-Times, said it best:

"It is hard to write about politicians, see them at such close range, and still think of any of them as heroes."

The tale of the tape: Election 2008 style

Now that things appear to be dead even in the race for the White House, the time has come to breakdown the matchup between Barack Obama and John McCain.

(Keep in mind that this is just one man's opinion.)

The Tale of the Tape: Obama v. McCain

Experience: Advantage McCain -- McCain, by any measure, has more of what we look for in a prospective president when it comes to experience.

Abortion: Advantage: McCain -- I don't see this as a political issue, though I know most do. McCain is ardently pro-life.

Cuba: Advantage Obama -- Begin to ease restrictions.

Death penalty: Advantage Obama -- Capital punishment should not be expanded nor should appeals be increasingly limited.

Education: Advantage McCain -- Favors competition in education and, specifically, vouchers.

Gay marriage: Advantage Push -- Both oppose constitutional ban on gay marriage. Both support legal rights for homosexuals in civil unions.

Global warming: Advantage McCain -- Both are caught up in the hysteria, but McCain takes a more reasonable stance with respect to public policy.

Gun control: Advantage Obama -- Doesn't believe the spirit of the second amendment allows for common citizens the right to bear machine guns.

Healthcare: Advantage McCain -- Favors tax credits to mitigate healthcare costs and opposes a universal healthcare system.

Immigration: Advantage Push -- Both want to achieve legal status for illegal immigrants.

Iran: Advantage Obama -- Supports direct diplomacy with Iran.

Iraq: Advantage Obama -- Supports expeditious withdrawl.

Social Security: Advantage Push -- Neither has anything of substance to speak on the issue.

Stem Cell Research: Advantage Push -- Both support relaxing federal restrictions on financing of embryonic stem cell research.

Taxes: Advantage McCain -- Supports lower taxes across the board.

Trade: Advantage Obama -- Prefers to enforce trade agreements rather than amending them. Wants to strengthen enforcement of labor standards.

The final tally

Obama: 6
McCain: 6
Push: 5

The final analysis

Write in Ron Paul.

'How fast can the human being go?'

I read this in this International Herald Tribune tonight after Usain Bolt bested Michael Johnson's 200-meter world record that many thought would never be broken.

These are the words of a fellow competitor:

"It's ridiculous," said Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis, who finished seventh in the race. "How fast can you go before the world record can't be broke? How fast can the human being go before there's no more going fast?"

As I've watched Bolt in the Beijing games, I have often wondered the same thing. Had Bolt ran through the finish line in the 100-meter final, as he did in the 200, he could have run somewhere in the neighborhood of 9.5 seconds and at over 30 MPH.

That is just unthinkable.

Bolt is not just the fastest man in the world, he is the fastest man EVER in the world.

Just think for a moment that Bolt ran nearly half of a second faster in Beijing than Carl Lewis's best 200-meter performance, and Bolt had the wind at his face!

100 years ago a Canadian named Bobby Kerr won gold in the 200 meters with a time of 22.6 seconds.

Today, that time wouldn't have gotten Kerr a lane in the women's 200 meter final.

Slow ride: Thousands hit the bricks in Flint

The fourth annual "Back to the Bricks" car cruise was, at least as far as I could tell, a huge hit on opening night. There were more cars and more people than last year and it wasn't even close.

I love seeing so many people in downtown Flint. There is so much going on down there these days, and these sorts of events should go along way toward changing Flint's reputation with the suburbanites.

BTB is on its way to becoming the biggest and best cruise in Michigan, save for the Woodward Dream Cruise, of course.

I hit the bricks with Jim Pope, Jon Swartz and Erick Skaff this year.

Here are a few pictures...

I have always been in love the 1960s-era Ford Mustang, but this new one is even sweeter.


I don't know if the new Viper is as cool as the old one, but it's still a Viper.


I could not get enough of this 1979 Chevette. You just do not see these cars anymore, and this one was in near mint condition.


My favorite car at the cruise was this 1950s-era Corvette.


If you look really close, you can see a couple props on this amphibious vehicle.


Where is that infernal Partridge Family music coming from?


This was my first experience with an Elvis impersonator.

TOKM's Top 10 Theatrical Performances

1.) John Goodman as Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski: Goodman should have won an Oscar for this performance, but, not surprisingly, he was not even nominated. Memorable line: "The chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT... Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please."

2.) Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York: While not as critically acclaimed as some of his earlier performances, I believe this to be DDL's best. Memorable line: "He was the only man I ever killed worth remembering."

3.) Robert Duval as Sonny in The Apostle: This is one of the best films ever made, in my humble opinion. Duval is a genius and paints a realistic, if not disturbing, picture of evangelical Christianity. Memorable line: "I may be on the devil's hit-list, but I'm on God's mailing list."

4.) Heath Ledger as the Joker in Dark Knight: I held out on seeing this movie for weeks, but it was worth the wait. Ledger made Jack Nicholson look like a clown. Memorable line: "I took Gotham's white knight, and brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. Y'see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push."

5.) Paul Giamatti as Miles Raymond in Sideways: Before he was John Adams, Giamatti was wine fanatic Miles Raymond. Memorable line: "Quaffable, but uh... far from transcendent."

6.) Bill Murray as Herman Blume in Rushmore: Murray has come a long way since Caddyshack. Memorable line: "Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you."

7.) Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood: This was not a very popular film; it's long and, at times, tedious. That being said, Plainview, the old-time California oilman, is one of the most dynamic characters I've ever seen on screen. Memorable line: "We offer you the bond of family that very few oilmen can understand...and this is why I can guarantee to start drilling and put up the cash to back my word. I assure you, whatever the others promise to do, when it comes to the showdown, they won't be there."

8.) Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed: Since clowning Nicholson earlier, it seems appropriate to give him a spot in the top 10. In truth, though, any one of five characters from this movie could have made it. Memorable line: "One of us had to die. With me, it tends to be the other guy."

9.) Matt Damon as Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting: This movie never gets old. Memorable line: "Do you like apples? Well, I got her number, how do you like them apples?"

10.) Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday in Tombstone: There was a time in my life when I could quote more than half of this movie, including all of Kilmer's lines. Memorable line: "Why Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave."

Honorable mention: Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson in Fargo; Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums; Michael Rispoli as Spinner Dunn in Death to Smoochy; Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessop in A Few Good Men; Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets; Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking; Tommy Lee Jones as Marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive; Kevin Spacey as John Doe in Seven; Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men; Billy Bob Thornton as Karl Childers in Sling Blade; John Malkovich as Teddy KGB in Rounders; Ben Affleck as Jim Young in Boiler Room; R. Lee Ermey as Gny. Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket; Kevin Kline as George Monroe in Life as a House; Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote; Robin Williams as John Keating in Dead Poets Society; Morgan Freeman as Red in Shawshank Redemption; Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man; Chevy Chase as Clark W. Griswold in Christmas Vacation; Robert De Niro as Leonard Lowe in Awakenings; Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump; Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott in Shine; Ed Norton as Derek Vinyard in American History X; Sean Penn as Emmett Ray in Sweet and Lowdown; Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist; Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby; Owen Wilson as Dignan in Bottle Rocket; Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line; Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream.

Obama's emergency economic plan: anti-American or just utterly absurd?

First, read Obama's emergency economic plan that was just released today.

Now that you've read it, I ask this: is this plan anti-American or just utterly absurd?

Many on the Right would argue that it's both, and maybe they're right.

Obama's plan is a political ploy aimed at uneducated voters who, much like those on the Right who believed Bush's stimulus package would stimulate something, are prepared to believe most anything about the economy.

It is laughable, to say the least, to penalize oil companies for bringing in record profits. Obama's ploy would tax what he calls "windfall" profits and redistribute those funds back to consumers. It's a redistribution of wealth and, when packaged with those words, many Americans will recoil at the notion.

Now, as many of you know, I'm a harsh critic of big business by nature; but, something is wrong with this picture.

Oil companies provide for us a product that we want and at a price that we will pay. And for that right, they pay taxes to the government like any other business. Now Obama wants to redistribute their profit because, at least in his mind, they are makin too much money.

And sure, they are turning an historic profit; but, we're making great demands on their commodity.

This plan is laughable.

How about this: give taxpayers back a percentage of the money that is taken from them to subsidize an increasingly bloated federal government.

After all, the federal government has been at "windfall" status since the 1940s.

Bush's stimulus package hasn't had its intended affect, but at least the principle of giving back money that was taken in the first place is sound.