Slice of Life

It's Worth a Shot

Can Marijuana Rescue California's Economy

Farewell, George

Lost in the yadda yadda "Era of Responsibility" and yadda yadda "replace fear with hope" is the sad fact that our former President sure did give comedians a lot of material to work with.  In the words of Bill Maher, "I will say this about President Bush - he's not a pussy."

The Inaugural Luncheon

When you're unemployed, you can sit at home in front of a fire, watch the entirety of the presidential inauguration, and take a close look at the recipes for the inaugural luncheon.  Mmmmmmm!

I start a real job on February 2nd, and it appears that my new boss is refreshingly cool and emphasizes having a positive work atmosphere.  Unemployment does have it perks, however.

The Protestor

Who was that young male protestor during McCain's speech at the RNC tonight? I can't believe he just sat up on that railing for so long without getting hog-tied. He stole the show!

Booyeah Obama

From Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention on August 28, 2008:

"Change doesn't come from Washington, it comes to Washington."

The Less than One Ounce of Greens Mountain State

Good news from my former home state today as the Vermont Senate passed a bill that comes pretty close to decriminalizing marijuana possession, as burners who get caught with less than one ounce of the sticky will go through a court diversion program and not have a blemish on their criminal records.  I've been an ardent advocate of legalizing the greens for quite some time now based on the $40 billion with a 'B' we pump into the War on Drugs every year and the millions if not billions of dollars more we waste on law enforcement efforts to arrest and prosecute our 'kinder' citizens.

And with a Lieutenant Governor who presides over the Vermont Senate named Dubie, what else should we expect?

Will Ferrell Would Have Been My Choice

I bet this is going to be pretty good:  Oliver Stone's next film is going to be about President George W. Bush.

Until then, take 5 minutes to enjoy some highlights from the past 7 years of executive futility:

I Don't Like Mike

Fellow blogger and history/political buff DCAT offers his initial assessments on each of the political candidates who, for one reason or another, are giving it their all to get the job as the nation's top executive and inherit the insurmountable pile of yack that history will commonly refer to as the George W. Bush presidency.  I'm actually watching some coverage on tonight's Iowa caucuses, where Mike Huckabee has been declared the GOP winner.  Apparently a good number of evangelical voters hit the caucuses and apparently that turned out to be good news for Mike.  This worries me if not freaks me out, and DCAT perhaps said it best when he wrote:

I’m frankly turned off by the religious right aspect of his candidacy. We’ve had enough of Christian warriors in the executive branch, and on that front Huckabee makes Bush look like a piker.

I don't talk a lot about politics on this blog and I rarely, if ever, talk about religion.  I'm not uncomfortable about writing or speaking about either topic, and am perfectly comfortable articulating my views on both, it's just one of those things where I try to practice what I preach, no pun intended:  I'm not interested in other people bringing these particular brands of noodles into my living room so I should only reciprocate by doing the same for them.  If politics is your go-to thing, as it was with a former rooommate of mine in grad school, great.  But keep your flyers off my windshield and your petitions out of my face and we'll be all set.  I'm really all for it and sincerely believe that there are some really endearing aspects to our political system here, but I also think the two-party system is a load of crap and the fact of the matter is, money equals votes.  Which is why I'm 100% for Ron Paul.  The Libertarian views are enough, but he's all about a grass roots movement to get the word out about his candidacy.  I donated $25 to his campaign last week and for about 10 minutes, my name and hometown were flashing on the front page of his website.  Cool stuff.

And so the GOPer's are all about Huckabee these days, as evidenced by his victory in Iowa and strong polling figures.  Great.  It looks like there is no need for a Karl Rove to get as many anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage referendums on state ballots in '08 to maximize the voter turnout from the evangelical nutjobs, who traditionally support the Republican candidates.  No offense to Republicans or Democrats here, let me be very clear about this:  I think the levels of douche for each group are just about equal.  It would just be nice if we could somehow get back on track, this being a new millenium and all, and maybe get back to the days where our Bill of Rights means expanding our personal freedoms and civil liberties and not reducing them (i.e., the talk of a potential constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, like that's going to make people sleep better at night).  Bill Maher said it best in his "New Rules" segment on his show several months ago that I posted here:

And finally, New Rule: Liberals must stop saying President Bush hasn't asked Americans to sacrifice for the war on terror. On the contrary, he's asked us to sacrifice something enormous. Our civil rights.

Now, when I heard George Bush was reading my emails, I probably had the same reaction you did: George Bush can read?! Yes, he can. And this administration has read your phone records, credit card statements, mail, Internet logs. I can't tell if they're fighting a war on terror or producing the next season of "Cheaters." I mail myself a copy of the Constitution every morning just on the hope they'll open it and see what it says.

So -so when it comes to sacrifice, don't kid yourself. You have given up a lot. You've given up faith in your government's honesty, the goodwill of people overseas, and six-tenths of the Bill of Rights. Here's what you've sacrificed: search and seizure, warrants, self-incrimination, trial by jury, cruel and unusual punishment. Here's what you have left: hand guns, religion, and they can't make you quarter a British soldier. If Prince Harry invades the Inland Empire, he has to bring a tent.

You know, in previous wars on the home front made a very different kind of sacrifice. During World War II, we endured rationing, paid higher taxes, bought war bonds, and in the interest of national unity, people even pretended Bob Hope was funny. Right, like you laughed at him.

Okay, women, donated their silk undergarments so they could be sewn into parachutes. Can you imagine nowadays a Britney Spears or a Lindsay Lohan going without underwear? Bad example.

But, look, George Bush has never been too bright about understanding "fereigners." But he does know Americans. He asked this generation to sacrifice the things he knew we would not miss: our privacy and our morality. He let us keep the money. But he made a cynical bet that we wouldn't much care if we became a "Big Brother" country that has now tortured a lot of random people.

And yet no one asks the tough questions like, "Is torture necessary?" "Who will watch the watchers?" "And when does Jack Bauer go to the bathroom?" I mean, it's been five years. Is he wearing one of those astronaut diapers?

In conclusion, after 9/11, President Bush told us Osama bin Laden could run but he couldn't hide. But, then he ran and hid. So, Bush went to Plan B: pissing on the Constitution and torturing random people.

Can the Democrats really blow this election?  I mean, really, truly blow it?  I like Obama and his whole positive vision of hope and would consider voting for him if my vote here in Red State, U.S.A. wouldn't be diluted by those writing-in Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell.  So I'll either go with Ron Paul or whoever the Libertarian nutjob is on the ballot this year.  But if the Dems let this one get away, again, they need to be voted off the island for good.  I mean, good heavens, they have some really solid, intelligent, experienced candidates.  We shall see.  As Mitt Romney declared shortly after the official announcement of his butt-kicking tonight:  "We've just finished the first inning of a 50-inning game."  Mmmmkay.

So let the comment barrage begin.  But if a simple post on a simple blog stirs you up to a point where you are sincerely offended then you've pretty much proved my point.  Because the truth of the matter is I've had the Kansas/Virginia Tech Orange Bowl on in the background for the past half an hour and have been having a conversation with my dog about the most foul smelling odors that are clearing coming from some part of his body.

Your First Time, Politically Speaking

Friend of Slice and closet Yanks fan DCAT has an interesting post describing his first political memory as a youngster.  The fact that we shared the same stomping grounds for our formative years got me to thinking about my very first political memory, as it surely took place somewhere within the confines of the Sunshine Town.

I suppose my first memory of anything political, albeit one that I did not form a particular opinion about, was the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987.  Specifically the summer of 1987 when the hearings took place.  I remember them because my family was spending a couple weeks at some beach house along the New Jersey shore, and every time I turned on the friggin' TV these boring white men were speaking into microphones talking to other boring white men.  It really pissed me off.  Not because I had a clue at what was going on, but because I had sand in my crotch, it was 90+ degrees outside, and I just wanted to watch something on TV, anything other than these hearings.  I remember asking my dad what was going on and him explaining what had happened and my first response being something to the effect of "So?"  In other words, I was all about taking down communist regimes throughout the world, even if you had to employ shady means to do so.  I was 11.

In 1988 I was in 6th grade.  I was 12.  We had a discussion one day in Mr. C's class about who should be the next president.  Kind of a who-would-you-vote-for-and-why type discussion.  I, of course, head fully crammed up my ass at this age, got the discussion rolling by saying that I supported George Bush.  I remember it like yesterday, as a certain female classmate sitting in the front row turned around and said, "My mom says George Bush is whimpy!!!"  It pissed me off, but I had no response, substantive or otherwise.  But one guy in my class raises his hand and says, "I think Jesse Jackson should be the next president because the country is ready for a black president."  It struck me as a very interesting comment and one I remember feeling hopeful about.  And that's completely weird, given that we did not have single person of color in our class, our grade, our school, or our entire town, for that matter.  But it was just kind of like, "Yeah, a black president, that would be neat."  And I'm not sure the timing of the '88 Democratic National Convention, but how can you not forget Jesse Jackson's whole "Keep Hope Alive" speech, really good stuff.  Yet here we are, 20 years later, race relations no where near they should be for the most advanced industrial county in the world, on and on.

Jeezus, George

Guy makes it damn near possible to even defend him. Good news though, he got an 'A' in lowerin' taxes.