Sunday, September 30, 2007

A Modern Revolution

I was riding around town with a friend last night, now keep in mind he has his BA in Political Studies, Im working on mine in the same field, we are both former republicans who are totally disgusted with the party, and if you ask us both to name our favorite President you will probably get an Answer of Theodore Roosevelt. Well last night while riding around town we got into a political discussion about the future of the Republican Party, and of the country as a whole. Based on polling numbers right now, with the top three Republican candidates for president not being high on the favorite list of the evangelicals, I made the prediction that another schism could be coming in the GOP. Historically this is nothing new. Theodore Roosevelt split with the Republican party in 1912 and ran on a progressive bull-moose ticket against his handpicked successor. Roosevelt ran again for the presidency because he was fed up with the ultra conservative shift the party had taken. I will spare a lot of the boring (to most) details of the conversation but we came to a point where we were talking about the ultra conservatives today who are pushing all of the moderates and progressive members of the party right out the door. And the question came up, if their where to be the rise of a new third party between the ultra liberal wing of the democrats, and the ultra conservative republicans, if it was put to you to lead the movements, could/would you do it. Now historically this has happened before, the old Whig party ceased to exist after splits in the democrats and wigs formed the Republican Party. Could this be the beginning of the end of the GOP, is this all just a repetitively vicious cycle. The other, far more horrific outcome we came up with was that things are going to continue to get worse; the government will become the Hobbs model of a leviathan that ensures obedience by just scarring the hell out of the people. Now ideally the model would be that of Locke where the people are the leviathan and the government should fear the people and be obedient to the people. The horrific part of that is in order for that kind of “revolution” to happen it would require the vast majority of the population to unite in one voice behind one person/entity to lead the population in this revolution, and in order for that to happen would take a massive and catastrophic catalyst that would pale 9/11 in comparison. So again the question posed, could you be that person, could you be the one to lead the country to a middle road, and not even the country could you do it on a state level, could you be the one to lead? And honestly neither one of us could say yes to that question.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Beyond words

I had written a blog post earlier today based on something that happened earlier today in one of my classes. However, given some conversations I have had with friends lately, and something that was overheard at work today, I felt I had to post this. Now keep in mind I do not normally engage in small town gossip so I will not profess to know any of the following as fact, the point is the situation and the response of the person that led to the writing of this entry.

First the set up

Last week in one of the small towns around where I live four seniors on the local HS football team committed some type of hazing against two freshmen members of the team. While no official details have been released, it has been said that the act was of a sexual nature. Piecing together what I have been told by various sources familiar with the situation, what happened was that the two younger boys where held down and forced to perform some type of sexual act on one or more of the older students. This has rightfully so, caused an entire town to go into an uproar and talks of criminal charges have begun. Regardless of what happened in that locker room, it was wrong and those responsible deserve to be punished, because based on some of the accounts of what happened that I have heard what these boys did is beyond words.
Now that you have an idea of what went on, at least as much as I am going to tell you (I will not indulge more rumors than I already have here). Well today at work ( I work in a small town bank that is about 5-10 miles from the town in question) and a customer came in who is from that town and has children in the school there, I would guess she was in her mid 40’s to early 50’s. Well one of our employees asked her what she had heard and was discussing the whole situation and the customers response was this:

“Well if you ask me it’s all this homosexual (she said it as if it’s a disease)tolerance, you know all these queers on TV and in movies, doing their perverted acts, these kids are just getting the wrong idea about sex from those disgusting influences. And besides we all know its gay men who molest little boys”

Well this conversation continued after I removed myself from the area, no one at this job knows I am gay, and I will say that none of them in various discussions has made any remarks in any way close to what that woman said and the employee she said it too was highly offended when she left. But that is exactly the mentality of people that I hate. For the statistical record, the majority of child molesters are Heterosexual White Males, with Heterosexual White Females in second place. Moreover, clinically, pedophiles often choose victims regardless of their gender; the attraction to them is the prepubescent phase where sex organs are not yet fully developed. It just pisses me off there are people out there who honestly think this shit and go around spouting it in public like it’s the fucking gospel. I have heard this argument before; I had a friend that a local church wanted removed from the school because he would spread his homosexual infestation to the rest of the student body. Days like today, and small minded fucks like the bitch today make me wish I were away from these small town racist, homophobic, assholes.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The Race for 2016

Hey Hey two post in one day, this is new for me. As a political studies major one thing I find absolutely fascinating is the bid process for the Olympic Games, it’s a political study unto itself. So now behind the two-year race for the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. With seven applicant cities from around the world, this is going to shake up to be an interesting bid process, especially given the recent charges of corruption in the bid process. Anyway, here are the seven cities with bids underway and a few speculations on each. At the end, I will give my short list predications, and a preliminary on how I think an IOC vote would shake down if held today.

The Cities
Baku Azerbaijan
One of two asian cities in the mix this year with a population of around 1.1 million, Bake has never bid for the olympic games.


Chicago USA
Chicago is no first timer in bidding for the Olympics with bids for the 1904, 1952, and 1956 summer games. Chicago was selected as the host city of the 1904 games before they got moved to St. Louis to go along with the worlds fair, a move that proved to eclipse the games by the worlds fair. Does Chicago have what it takes to carry the US to hosting the games after the NYC 2012 bid fell apart at the eleventh hour?

Doha Qatar
The only city from the Persian Gulf to bid, with a population under 400,000.

Madrid Spain

Madrid is another contender who has experiance in the bid process after unsuccessful bids in 1972, as well as other spannish bids for 2004, 2008, 1998, and 2010 spain has its share of losses, but can they pull it off this year. Spain last hosted the 1992 Barcelona Games.



Prague bid for the 1924, but the Czech Republic so far has never hosted an olympic games.



Rio has bid for the 1936, 2004,and 2012 games (Rio failed to make the 2012 short list). So far no South American city has hosted the Olympics. However with the recent success of the Pan American Games this could be Rio's year to suprise us yet.

Tokyo Japan
Tokyo has hosted the games before in 1964, and Japan with Nagano 1998. The nations last bid was for the 2008 games wonby Beijing. Will the IOC go for another repeat right after london? either way Tokyo is a serious contender.

Short List Predictions
At this point, my early(Very early) short list prediction is as follows

Short list:
Chicago, USA
Madrid, Spain
Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Tokyo, Japan

Cut List:
Baku
Doha
Prague
IOC Vote Predictions
I look for Rio to bow out early, They are good, but I think the sentiment is there to put the games in South Africa Before South America, Cape Town 2020 has paid their dues and they should be next. I also look for Tokyo to go out in round 2, with an Asian city hosting in 8and a three time host in 2012 I don’t look for the IOC to go with another previous host city. I look for the final round to be between Chicago and Madrid, and this is hard to call, I think the 2012 host (London) hurts Madrid since they are both European cities and traditionally the games are not held back to back on the same continent. But it’s early and a lot can change in two years. So stay posted.

A Blog About Nothing

Well so much for my attempts to post something everyday huh? Oh well, I do what I can, its not like I have a mass readership who misses me anyway. The main reason I do this isn’t to provide entertaining readings, or insightfulness to others, but to provide an outlet for myself, no matter what the topic may be, I just want to be able to throw a rant if I want, or to put into written form some type on introspection on myself and my motives at times. So whatever. And for those paying attention, if I seem a bit out of it or in a mood, I kind of am. I sat up all night thinking about stuff. Recently I have had several people tell me they like talking to me because I seem to have it all together and figured out, and that’s what got me thinking, do I really have things figured out. For almost 3 years I spent it being cold, a distanced from a lot of things, as a result I don’t really feel comfortable at times when it comes to relationships. Don’t get me wrong I have several friends that I like being around and hanging out with, but when it comes to looking for a boyfriend, I kinda suck at it, if I manage to meet someone I can usually fuck it up because I get nervous or don’t know what to say or how to act and the person gets away. Let me explain here also that I am able to relax around my friends, people I know and who know me and I feel I can let my guard down around. Honestly I don’t what to do sometimes, its like there are two sides to me, the one that can go out with his friends be relaxed and comfortable, and the one who still looks at what cars are in the parking lot and who’s inside of a bar or restaurant before I will go in. And for those who think I am exaggerating, during the campaigns that’s how it was, anytime it was a group of us from the campaign we would have to look at who was around and determine if we would stay if we did, how would we act, what would we say, what topics would be off limits, who might overhear something, that the thought process we had to use a lot and I half wonder am I still in that frame of mind. Add on top of that at the time trying to keep up enough defenses to not let anyone in on my hidden secrets. I know I have been out for almost a year, and I know I can’t expect changes overnight, but I thought I might be able to shed some more of these thing by now. At least by most accounts I’m not the complete cold heartless prick I was 18 months ago.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

That just ain’t right

Ok, let me start this with a little history of myself, I have now owned 5 cars

1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cieria Delux (Engine Blew up)
1994 Mazda 929 S (wrecked)
2000 Pontiac Sunfire SE (hated)
2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo LS (engine problems $$$$$$ to fix)
2005 Pontiac Grand Prix limited (my princess)

Now for the that just aint right, out of those five cars, 4 are domestic brands, 1 foreign brand, and none manufactured in the United States, The Olds, and the Sunfire were built in Mexico, the Mazda in Japan, and the Monte and Prix in Canada. Now what really kills me, especially now, is that I can go buy a Hyundai or a Toyota and get a car that was built within the continental USA, but if I go to buy a GM or some fords, I get a car built either in Mexico or Canada. I mean really now, what the hell, We cant afford to build GM cars here because of labor costs, but Hyundai’s and Toyotas which are cheaper cars than GM’s are built here and selling like hot cakes. Oh well, just a little momentary rant, we can chalk this one up to the bottle of wine I drank before posting this.

BW

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Chicago 2016

The new logo for the Chicago 2016 US Olympic bid city. Say what you will, if Chicago can pull it off, the Olympic Games would provide a huge boost to the economies of every town from Chicago to St. Louis. So here is the the new logo:
(PS. I still like the old torch logo better, but still not bad)



BW

What do you want?

That seems like a simple question doesn’t it. From childhood most of spend our time doing what other want us to do, clean your room, do your chores, do your homework, go to bed, we do what we are told at work, in some cases we do what our partners tell us to do. My point here is at what point is it ok to be selfish, at what point can you step back from everyone else telling you what to do, what they expect and say this is what I want, this is what I want to do, to be, to think.

In some cases, in my case, I spent so much time trying to be what everyone else expected of me that I kept burying more and more the parts of me that did not live up to those expectations. And where did it get me in the end, a breakdown, damn near pushing away the few people left that actually gave a damn?

So again, what do I want?
I want to be able to be who I am and not give a damn what other think or expect of me. I want to finish my degree and start doing what I enjoyed again, politics, except this time on my own terms, in my own way. I want to live in a world that doesn’t care or discriminate based on who I love or what I do in my personal time.

Unfortunately this is the real world, and on some level there will always be someone to tell you what to do, and ultimately if you like it or not you have to do it. But every now and then its ok to be selfish, tell someone no once in a while if you don’t want to do something that person wants you to do. Oh well this isn’t as deep as the last one of these posts I put on ( see who are you) but it says what I want it to. Part 3 will becoming when I get motivated to write it.

BW

Monday, September 17, 2007

Morality

I am again going to channel my Political Philosophy class here, the last couple of day we have been discussing estrangement, power, and touched on morality. In response to the argument by Thomas Hobbs that the only way to keep people in line is a gigantic leviathan like government that would make everyone get along, in response I have asked the question who tells the leviathan what is right and wrong. My point in this is who dictates morality, who is to say what is morally right or wrong. Certain things can go without question, murder, torture and things like that but other things are vaguer. Morality is a big word and has implications further reaching and more deeply rooted than anything else in our culture root. Again who makes the rules, who makes the morals, who says homosexuality is immoral, what makes that person right, or what makes them wrong. Take the case in Utah, Polygamy, while I do not question it being immoral to force a 14 year old into an arranged marriage, who is it to say that multiple (of age to consent) wives is immoral. The problem as I see it is so many of our “moral” standards are based on a Christian viewpoint of what is morally acceptable, but does that infringe on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion is it truly freedom of your religious belief when the laws you must live and abide by are based on a moral code that may not be the same as your own faiths code of moral conduct. For example, what gives a Christian the right to prevent me from taking another man as my husband, does the fact I have sex with a man effect their life, does my love for a man effect their life, so what makes their “moral” beliefs superior to my own or my won superior to theirs, can both exist? Is there a compromise somewhere? So here is the real kicker question, is morality the root of human estrangement, or is morality a power to be sought and wielded to keep others in line with your way of thinking? Moreover, as the introduction to my Political Philosophy book says, I will spend my time asking questions; it is up to you to find the answers.

Deep Thoughts

BW

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Allllllllllllllllrighty then.

Sorry I have not been keeping my word on trying to post everyday, but this weekend has been hectic at best. Friday I had an event I had to be at 30 minutes after I got off work, Saturday I went out with friends drank with them, went home and drank some more just for good measure, then today I had to move furniture around and get my office fixed back up. Kind of makes for a busy weekend
So there is really no point to this post really. I tried to think of some issue to bring up, or something to go off on a rant about but I am just not working with a full load this weekend. I will say I am kind of pissed about my TV of only 5 years going out on me, the damned thing. So I guess get to come up with the money to buy a new TV. Right now I am looking at either a 47 or 50 inch Vizio HD LCD. Well anway, no point in me rambling on about nothingness, but I promise, Monday I will have a post of some substance ready to rock and roll.

BW

Thursday, September 13, 2007

An American Education

I saw it when I was in High School, and I see it again now that my nephew is in High School. Teacher who only teach the politically correct, tell what we did right and leave out the rest. I have flipped through my old HS textbook on history and my nephews, nowhere in either book is the American internment of Japanese Americans during World War 2 mentioned, but there is plenty of time spent damning the Nazis for imprisoning the Jews. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to justify the actions of Nazi Germany, but how can we condemn others when we did some of the same things we damn them for. You also won’t find mention that during the slave trade, African tribal leader sold their own people into slavery, again the slave trade was wrong, but let be honest about, white Europeans where not the only ones with blood on their hands. Another thing that just burns my ass is teachers who ask open-ended opinion questions, then mark you down because your opinion doesn’t jive with theirs. What’s said is this is getting worse, I am seeing it more and more in my classes in college, its almost as if there is a war to eradicate independent thought, and to just accept whatever the instructor spoon feeds the class.
Ok educational rant over, now I’m going to share a thought from my Political Philosophy Class.

Why is that we live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet have over half our citizens liven below the poverty line? Why is it that our country has one of the finest educational systems in world, yet we have one of the highest illiterate rates and lowest test scores in the world? Why is that we have the finest doctors, and medical advances, in the world, yet thousand die each year from diseases and medical conditions that we know how to treat and prevent? What is the answer to all of these, money, money is what divides us, money separates the rich and the poor, without money to get into the schools you don’t get the quality education, without money for the doctors you don’t get the treatment reserved for the rich.

Party Lines

FaI have never really discussed or opened up about my so called from grace with the party, so I figure what the hell I am not obligated to them anymore, my debt has been paid so to speak so it’s time for me to return the favor. Besides why should I feel obligated to keep their secrets in the closet when they exploited mine? Basically, my background is that I was once one of the republican parties rising stars, I was young, connected, and willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. Our county parties new chairman brought me in even more, put me on the central committee as a club president, handed me an open ended order to rebuild the local Young Republicans, he promised me money, support, anything I wanted to or needed would be taken care of. Well in our last election for governor, he had me work for a campaign during the primary (as a side note, this was the primary to the general election that changed my life) that was none too popular, in part to funnel information, and in part to make some money for myself, as I was a paid consultant. Well in doing that most everyone else labeled me a traitor to the party, in my mind though I was just following the orders of my chairman, and in my naive mind I believed that in the end my loyalty would be rewarded. Unfortunately, I was left out on a limb and help never came, the support I was promised never came. Nevertheless, I took it all and kept giving more and more of myself into the campaigns, I have always wanted to be involved in politics and I thought I was getting there. Flash forward from the Primaries, during the general election I worked for three of the state wide campaigns Governor, SOS, and Treasurer, the amount of time was overwhelming and the mental, physical, and emotional toll it took on me was overwhelming. I came out in early November of 2006, I told the county chairman because I felt he deserved to hear it from me, why I thought I owed him that courtesy I don’t know. In December he decided to remove me as the head of the young Republicans, because I hadn’t achieved what he wanted us too, despite never being given a goal or told what he expected, we got chastised every time we raised a penny because that was money that should of went to the central committee, the chairman didn’t want a group of Young Republicans, he wanted his own private group of little bitches that would jump when he said jump and be little lackeys to the county party. At the time, I let it go, and moved on, I was told by a lot of people, that his decision had more to do with my personal life than anything else, and I still ignored it. Well during our local municipal elections, during the “primary” I went up against the county party, and told them in December how one of their candidates for alderman was going to lose, right down to the percentage point he was going to lose by in a three way race, my recommendation was to back a fourth candidate who would win the emerging younger republican voters in the ward. I was told I was wrong, had my job threatened if I dint drop the subject and get behind the parties endorsed candidate. As it turned out, when the election night total where in, my prediction came true, I was only off by 1 percentage point, the parties guy (also the incumbent) got 21% (I said he would get 20%) Democrat A got 39% and Democrat B got 40%. In addition to the race for alderman I also got sideways with the party for other reasons, a friend of mine, a democrat, was running for the Springfield School Board. Once the party found out about my friendship, we made an agreement, I wouldn’t help my friend, but I wouldn’t help them either. Well when the republican realized he was losing he wanted me to provide information that could be used against my friend, I said no. After election night, I got called into the chairman’s office and asked how I liked my job in his office (I worked for the county, in the chairman’s elected office). Then he accused me of working with the enemy, and that I should evaluate whom my friends were and were my loyalties were. So I’m done with it, I will never work for the local party again. I should say that there are certain people, certain candidates, I would gladly work for again, but the chairman isn’t one of them. For everything he thinks he gave me, it cost me so much of myself that I can honestly say now it wasn’t worth it. No one gets to tell me who my friends will be; no one gets to expect me to betray one for someone else’s gain (especially someone I can’t stand). I should make it clear, I believe, and know several good people still in the Republican Party; the problem is that the Republican Party isn’t the Republican Party anymore. We used to the radical idealists, now the religious nutcases have taken over and are pushing everyone who isn’t a bible thumping, praise Jesus, religious fanatic, thanks much to the failed Bush/Cheney/Rove regime. A friend and I always made joking comments about starting a third party in the vein the Teddy Roosevelt’s Progressives, I’m starting to think that time is coming, the extreme wings of each party are growing more and more, and there are a lot of people left out in the cold, in the middle. The time is coming for fight or flight, the time for the people in the middle to stand up and claim their voice is coming, the question is will we let that moment pass us by.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Question

Ok, let me start by saying a big F YOU to my cable company. It took them almost 20 hours to fix the cable service, Insight Communications = INCOMPOTENCY RUN AMUCK.
Now on to the slightly delayed post from yesterday
Ok, so I said yesterday that I started a new Job. Well on day number two, I got asked the following:
Coworker: So do you have a girlfriend?Me: no,Coworker: Well why not, you’re smart, funny, and cute?Me: I just don’tcoworker: Well I know someone who would just be perfect for you, ill have to introduce you two next time she’s in.
So here is my issue, first I have only worked at this place for two days, so first I was kind of uncomfortable by the grilling on my personal life. I mean I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, those are kind of standard getting to know you questions. And I admit I don’t believe they were trying to make me uncomfortable, the people I work with are really great. My problem is what to tell them. In a perfect world being gay doesn’t matter, and wouldn’t be an issue in the workplace. Unfortunately this isn’t a perfect world, and I have already seen it at one job were being gay was made an issue because it “made people uncomfortable”. I don’t want to lie to anyone, or give anyone the wrong ideas, but at the same time I just met these people, so I have no idea how they would react to a gay guy working with them. Maybe I am over thinking this, worrying about nothing. This is just the first time since I came out that I have had to deal with a situation in which people don’t know I am gay. Oh well, I would put some more on here, but I have to study for a biology and geography exam, so I m going to end this here, if anyone has thoughts or suggestions on this please, send them my way.

BW

09/12/07 PS, I didn’t get to study much since my internet was down and all my study notes where online. GOD DAMN INSIGHT.

Monday, September 10, 2007

A Change in Approach

Ok,
I am starting my new job today, so I am going to have more time on my hand now, mostly for studying. But with more time im going to make a new dedication to this little project. I am going to do my best to make a post everyday on here. I have to admit the person who convinced me to do this was right (mark that one up I semi-admitted to being wrong) and it has helped to clear my head of some thoughts. I also must admit, i am a bit suprised to have had over 150 page loads since august 31 with visitiors from 13 countriesm 53 different cities across 4 around the world.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

annoying things

Ok, so i am trying to do a paper for my lit class that is due tuesday, its supposed to be 2-4 page journal entry on Of Mice and Men but the instructor has been so damned unhelpfull in the assignemnt. She has contradicted herself like 5 times already, and what she gave us to begin with wasnt much. I mean really if you want a research paper fucking tell me, ill write you damned research paper, you want a journal entry. Right now i want to full my hair out then kick myslef in the ass for taking this class. Oh well off to try and figure out what she wants and hope my definition and hers of the assignment match up.

P.S.
We have asked in class about some of our questions, she talked in enough circles to make a presidential canidate proud.

The Modern World

I have been reading A Boys Life in Utah blog for a while and I encourage my readers to check it out, but a lot of what he’s been saying has got me thinking both about what he’s currently going through, what I’ve gone through, and what some other friends of mine have gone through in the process of coming out. It is said that we live in a modern society that we have advanced beyond primitive societies. In today’s society, racism is scorned with disapproval, burning someone at the stake is considered cruel and inhumane; the practices of the Nazi’s are considered detestable. But how far have we really come? It is ridiculous that in a so called modern and advanced society such an issue as who someone loves, sleeps with, is attracted to, can be such a big fucking deal to some people. It’s a shame when our society makes people so uncomfortable with themselves that they sacrifice everything they are to fit in, your too fat, your too thin, your gay, your too tall, your too stupid. People wonder why the youth of today are so fucked up at times, to me the answer is simple, the pressures being put on these poor kids by their own peer groups is getting to be overwhelming. You take a person who is coming to terms with being gay, and he has to worry about how will this person react, how will that person react, will I still have friends, will I still have a family, I know these questions I can’t blame anyone for asking them, I’ve asked them myself many times. Add on top of that religious nut cases who think homosexuals should be treated for mental disorders, or segregated from the population. It’s no wonder to me why so many teens, and even adults who are struggling to come to terms with being gay, both with themselves and their friends and families, turn to substance abuse as an escape from dealing with their lives. Even beyond that I’ve held a friend in my arms the night he tried to kill himself because he felt he had nothing left in this world after coming out to his friends and family, two churches petitioned the school to have him expelled, students threw staplers, erasers, and other objects at him, called him faggot and queer, all of this in front of teachers, teachers who are supposed to give a fuck about their students, and through it all no one said a thing. I’ve seen firsthand the power that bigots can have over someone, and I find it more amazing still that in a so called modern society this is allowable and considered to be a freedom of speech to call someone a faggot. I am a trained substance abuse prevention specialist, I work a lot with teens, and I see it get worse and worse each year. At the end of a lot cases I have dealt with, straight, gay, questioning, the root cause of most substance anuses cases has been the pressure from friend s or family to just be “normal”. For anyone currently going through these struggles I encourage you to find someone, no matter if it’s someone online, a close friend you unload on, find someone, Friendship is a powerful force and it can pull you through this. I know it’s hard, I know it aint easy, but hang in there, you can get through it, and it will be better later. If you people can’t handle you being gay, then to be perfectly honest, they were not friends to begin with.

BW

Friday, September 7, 2007

Campaign 2008 pre-show

It always amazes me the number of people who complain about elected officials when compared to the number of people who actually vote. But anyway, a friend asked me the other day what I thought of the candidates running for POTUS my answer kind of surprised them but it also got me thinking. So I figured I would post some brief comments on each of the top 4 candidates (according to polling) from each party. I will not provide you with which candidate I support, at least not yet. But I will provide at the end what I look for in a candidate. Also added with this are 3 polls to the right, I intend to try and reset them monthly and keep track of what people surfing the blogs think of the candidates.

First up the Democrats

Hillary Clinton – Yahoo Candidate page – Former first lady of President Bill Clinton, Hillary is a skilled politician, she knows what she wants and she’s been after since her husband was in the oval office. Elected to the senate after carpet bagging to New York in 2000, Senator Clinton has been a long standing critic of the Bush administration, yet voted to authorize the Iraq War. Senator Clinton was easily reelected to the senate in 2006. As far as party support, Clinton is a polarizing figure among democrats who while loved by some is absolutely hated by others, and out of all of the candidates has the highest negative name connotation in polling despite being the current Democratic frontrunner. Senator Clinton is only rated at 60% on civil right issues by the ACLU, indicating a mixed voting record. Hillary also comes off as a candidate who, like her husband, will promise anything to anyone to get elected, will the strategy pay off for her life it did Bill.

John Edwards – Yahoo Candidate page – One term Senator from South Carolina, Senator Edwards was elected to the senate in 1998. Rather than run for re-election in 2004, a race many expected him to loose, Edwards launched a bid for the presidency. After losing the 2004 Presidential Primary to Senator John Kerry Of Massachusetts Edwards was signed on as the VP running mate to Senator Kerry. Edwards has a reputation as a smooth talker, full of charisma and an easy speaking style reminiscent of Bill Clinton. Edwards so far has played the news cycles rather well and is sitting in third place, a position he know all too well can propel a person into the nomination. Question is, can Edwards convince the voter’s he’s more than just a smooth talker with a pretty smile and southern drawl.

Barrack Obama – Yahoo Candidates Page – Following 7 years in the Illinois State legislature, Barrack Obama now serves as the junior senator from Illinois. I’m going to out of character here, and Say I have met Senator Obama, and he truly is a very talented speaker, very down to earth, and very intelligent. Senator Obama carries with him a message of hope and unity, a message that has carried him from the streets of Chicago to a candidate for the presidency. Senator Obama is well spoken, with a popular message. However, the political newcomer to this level has made several gaffes that have drew the criticism of his rivals, question for me is are those gaffes the mark of someone who lacks the experience to be President, or of someone who is going to speak his mind, and not go with something just because that’s how it’s been done in the past. If the answer to that is the latter, then Senator Obama might just be the thing needed to lead this country in a new direction. He had just best hope he can live up to the expectations the media has built up around him since his speech at the 2004 DNC, by some reports you would swear he could walk on water.

Bill Richardson – Yahoo Candidates Page – A former U.N. Ambassador, and Governor of New Mexico. Governor Richardson is the only Hispanic Governor in the US right now. I can’t go into much detail because I honestly didn’t expect Governor Richards to be at this point. Although it should be pointed out, of the 4 democratic frontrunners, you have a woman, an African American, and a Hispanic. Anyone of them could mean a first in the history of the Presidency. Keep your eye on Governor Richardson, if the democrats loose in 08, he could be a standard bearer for 2012.

And now for Republican starting line up

Rudy Giuliani – Yahoo Candidates Page – The former tough on crime, many will argue excessively, Republican Mayor of New York City. In addition to winning in a city that was heavily democratic, Mayor Giuliani also led the city through the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and despite request to delay the elections to allow him to serve longer, Mayor Giuliani stepped aside allowing the elections to proceed as normal. However, the Mayor has some positions that make the conservative base rather nervous, and many in the party accuse him of being a liberal in disguise. The former Mayor also has a sorted background with extramarital affairs, and shady business dealings. Will Giuliani hold onto his lead and be able to win the GOP primary, and ultimately the presidency?

Fred Thompson – Yahoo Candidates Page – Fred D. Thompson, a former prosecutor serving during the Watergate scandal, won a special election in 1994 to fill the Tennessee senate seat vacated in 1994 by Al Gore when he became Vice President. Serving in the senate until 2003, Thompson was considered to be a reliable conservative vote. After leaving the senate in 2003 Thompson returned to acting, most notable as DA Arthur Branch in the popular Law and Order Series, and as President U.S. Grant in the historical accounts Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Thompson’s late entry into the race has raised the ire of many, and following lower than expected fundraising and staff shakeups, many have criticized his wife for being too involved and his ability to win. Thompson is also a proponent of federalism, and states’ rights meaning that the certain issues are not the responsibility of the federal government, and there should be less involvement of the federal government. Skipping the New Hampshire debate, Thompson announced his candidacy on the Tonight Show, and as a result has dominated the news cycles following the debate. This is either going to be one of the most effective strategies ever, or prove to be a disaster in real time.

Mitt Romney – Yahoo Candidates Page – Another potential president first, a Mormon by faith Romney, the son of George Romney himself a onetime presidential candidate, one term governor of Massachusetts, and head of the Salt Lake Olympic Games has been building up his run for some time now. My problem with Romney is I see him becoming the GOP version of John Kerrey, already stung by shifts in position from his time as Governor to now have been pointed out. One example of this is a letter he sent to gay and lesbian groups promising to work with them, then taking anti gay positions as a presidential candidate. He can talk a good talk, unfortunately his credibility for what he says is lacking.

John McCain –Yahoo Candidates page – Senator from Arizona, and Vietnam POW, John McCain has been a commanding political figure for the last several years. 2000 presidential front-runner and heir apparent until President George Bush surged winning the nomination. McCain has long championed and broke party lines to fight for campaign finance reform, McCain-Feingold. As far as his new Presidential campaign, by most accounts, the ship is sinking, understaffed, underfunded, and searching for a message that clicks. The other issue working against Senator McCain is his age, if elected he would be older than Ronald Regan was when he took office, raising many health questions, and at the first sign of a cold will turn message into one of the Senators Health, a presidential campaign can be trying on the fittest of people, let alone some one McCain’s age. Can he pull it together before the primary, time will tell.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Caution and Warning

I suppose I could be flattered but I'm not. at 9:03 AM this morning I got my first piece of hate mail posted on the blog. It amazes me, this isn't a big blog, its not the NY times, you have to be looking for this to find it. Do some people have nothing better to do that dig up some homos blogs and post shit on them? Whats the point? and for reference yes I did remove the post, and it was left by a mostly anonymous user. But anyway I am working on putting together a new political post, my personal look at the 2008 presidential candidates. I wont give me personal choice quite yet, I think it will be more fun if I have the readers guess who I like, and I will also be posting a poll for you to vote on who you like the most, poll will be reset monthly leading up the primary and the results posted as my own little unscientific version of zogby. And to those who either posted or e-mailed me comments on my last 2 posts, especially Who are You, thank you.

BW

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

A Call to Arms

A Call to Arms
Even though I have been closely associated with the Republican Party, same sex unions has always been something I have been in favor of. Before I get much further, I want to thank troystopher for providing me with the links to the right and some of the information on IL HB-01826. As I think has been shown, at least to an extent, is that I am more of a moderate, and believe that in order to get things done a certain level of compromise is not only important but required for our government to function, give and take if you will. It is this same approach that I have taken when looking at gay marriage as well. Let me begin by giving a brief overview of how I see the debate over gay marriage, first up are the three options marriage, civil unions, or nothing at all. Second is the players, you have the gay rights activist at the far left, the Christian/moral/family values activist on the far right, and in the middle are the moderates who can come to some sort of middle ground consensus. Now I know that is a gross oversimplification of the issue at hand but for the purposes of this it will provide just enough background on how I am looking at this so that my ramblings might make a shred of sense so don’t judge me yet wait till your done reading this then tell me I’m full of shit after you’ve read the whole thing.
The first question of this debate is should homosexual unions be allowed, and if so, what should they be, marriages, civil unions, or something entirely new but still guaranteeing the same rights. The response of the activists on the pro-gay marriage side want the whole ball of wax in many cases and want fully recognized marriage for homosexual couples. Now the opposite side, the anti-gay marriage activist want the whole ball of wax also, they don’t want any type of legalized, legitimized unions for same sex couples. Now again I am using oversimplifications and generalities but this is leading into my take on the issue so hang on.
Now my thoughts on this are somewhere in the middle, both sides have valid arguments when you cut out the bullshit, the rhetoric, and the just plain stupidity of some of these peoples arguments on both sides. First I am going to take on the opposition groups arguments. The primary argument of the Christian/moral/family values people is that somehow gay marriage or civil unions would damage the institution of the family, and make it less meaningful. Those opposed to gay marriage also frequently state that gay marriage would destroy the sanctity of marriage. Well my response to that is that when little pop princess can get drunk, get married in Las Vegas drive thru wedding chapel and then get an annulment less than 72 hours later, the sanctity of marriage has already been destroyed. And as far as the institution of the family is concerned, when a large percentage of people in the world live in family units without being married, I don’t think allowed homosexuals would cause any further destabilization of the family unit. Now for the part of their argument I can at least understand. For many religions Marriage is an institution of the church and is something that is deeply rooted in some religions as an institution of the church under holy doctrine. Now I am going to come back to this notion in just a minute so hang on.
Now for my summary of arguments from those in favor of gay marriage. For the most part it’s a straight forward argument that same sex couples should be afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples, including marriage and partner benefits, including spousal privilege and the right to make medical decisions for your partner. Now as I said before, many of the people in this group are just as unwilling to compromise and that is exactly what I am trying to get at.
This country was founded on a principle of freedom from persecution for one beliefs, and the freedom of religion. In the end there is going to have to be a compromise made somewhere. Many religions believe acts of homosexuality to be a sin, and that is their right to believe. My biggest issue with so many people who argue for gay marriage is that they are so willing to call the beliefs of those opposed to gay marriage wrong. I do support same sex civil unions, I do support IL HB 01826, however I don’t think churches or religious organizations should be forced to recognize such unions if it is against their faith, we may not agree with their beliefs, but in the end their beliefs right or wrong are just as important as our own. If there is ever to be “peace” between these two groups, it is going to take both sides sitting down and coming to an agreement, neither side can have 100% of what they want, its doesn’t work that way. I want to see a day where same sex couples can be married or have civil unions, And I think we are slowly getting there. The more we can work state by state, changing minds one at a time the close we will get to our goal. I know some of what I said might be considered way off base, but I think if you look at the argument objectively, you will see there is only one way to win. I like HB 01826 and encourage anyone in the state of Illinois to contact your legislator and encourage them to support it also. I also encourage you to check out the links I added for more ways to get involved. Together we can make a difference if we are all willing to work together and be as understanding as we want everyone else to be towards us.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Who are you?

Who are you?

09/03/07
This has ended up getting rather long, so fair warning, this one’s one my longest ever, over 1,073 words and was written over the course of two days, I thought about posting part one and two, but decided I would hold off and post the whole thing at one time, each part is marked as to when it was written. Hope you enjoy and I look forward to any feedback or thoughts on the first of a few looks into myself.

09/01/07
Sounds like a simple enough question, straightforward and simple, right. The answer can be as simple as a name, or can be much more in depth, who am I, what defines me as me? 12 months ago, I would have never hesitated with that question, I am the head of the Young Republicans, Central Committee member, and I am having the time of my life. Then about this time 12 months ago, I started slipping, and as I looked at myself in the mirror, the cracks in who I thought I was started showing. As time progressed the cracks got worse and worse, and to compensate I took on more and more, thinking keep running in overdrive and life will not be able to catch up. I started working more, full time job, part time job, campaigns, little sleep, lots of alcohol, painkillers, for two months I ran and for two months life chased after me. I should say I knew I was gay for a long time, even before I was in HS I can remember having those thoughts that just didn’t jive with what my classmates were thinking. But in my mind I thought the more I could deny it, the more I could run from it, then I wouldn’t have to face it or deal with it and everyone could just go on about their lives and live happily ever after. To this day I still don’t know what the catalyst was that finally shattered the mirror was it the stress, was it nonstop constant struggle to say the right things, to look the right way, to act the right way, always being the expected norm of a party person. Like I said I still don’t know what did it, and the odds are I might never fully understand it, I have pages upon pages of written notes asking why now and even looking back at those has provided me no insight into this. All I do know is that something changed in November 2006, and it wasn’t just the last 2 months, but the last 10 years of shit, catching up to me, 10 years of living up to expectations that were not my own, 10 years of hiding myself behind walls, defense mechanisms, never letting anyone get close enough to know who the real me was. But one cold November night in 2006 I gave myself the mother of all wake up calls, I don’t remember what happened or what my intentions where, but I know I took several pain killers and downed an entire bottle of Smirnoff Vodka. Waking up on the floor of my computer room with two rather pissed looking cats looking at me I decided I could not do it anymore, I had to stop trying to hold up an image that was slowly killing me day at a time. Perhaps it was the right person at the right time, but I was finally able to tell someone, I thought he was a friend, he was at the time, today I am not sure but that is a discussion for another time.

09/02/07

It took several weeks of us dancing around the issue, he could tell something was bothering me, I think he knew though I had not worked out in my head what to say or even how to begin. Finally one night he sat me down and told me there was nothing I could say to drive him away what was bothering me. And just as simple of that 10 years of lies came to an end, it took me a couple more weeks but my family and close friends all got the talk. So why is not now almost a year later I am still struggling with this question. Is this a question that could ever be truly answered? Part of it could be is because even though I was out, I was not really out. For the last 8 months I worked in a position that required me to maintain a certain persona if you will, to quote someone at the place, it is ok to be gay just do not be waving any flags, so in a way I was still hiding myself. I guess in retrospect, to answer the question of who are you, you must first be honest with yourself about who you are before you can tell others. Am I the same person I was 12 months ago, no I am not. I have been happier with my life for the most part, not everything is perfect yet, but with time to fix, the mistakes I have made it will be. I am also sure of a direction right now, but that is another question for another day. I am no longer involved heavily in part politics, and like to think of myself as more of a freelancer working for who I want when I want. So who am I? Well I am a 24-year-old political studies student; my two passions are youth drug and alcohol awareness and prevention, and politics. I am openly gay, I run a blog that until this little side trip is geared at an intellectually debate on current affairs in our world, our country, my state. So again, who are you? I guess my best answer for that at this point is I don’t know yet because I’m still working for it, I’m still on the road to becoming the person I want to be, living the life I want to live. However, I will leave that train of thought alone since the next question is what do you want followed by where are you going. So enough of this for now, back to the political topics and other assorted things starting next week, hopefully you have enjoyed out little introspective side trip inside the man, the mind, behind the outfrontier.