Philosophy is the talk on the coffee cups...

I paraphrase Edie Brickell in this post's heading because I was very much impressed with something I saw at Starbuck's. Sitting across from one Mr. Ganz I noticed the "The Way I See It #239" peeking out from under the brown, corrugated safety band on his cup of decaf. I asked him to remove the band so I could read and then criticize the banal ramblings printed on the recycled paper. I was pleasantly surprised. Here is what was written:

The way I see it
Isn't necessarily
The way you see it
Or the way it is
Or ought to be
What's more important
Is that we're all
Looking for it
And a way to see it

-Desi DiNardo
author and poet, she lives in Toronto, Canada

I know that a lot of my posts seem totalitarian, and undiplomatic but it all comes down to what is said in the above poem. I am looking for answers just like the rest of you. I won't tell you that you are wrong if you don't tell me I'm wrong.

CJE

God bless Charles Barkley

In a recent CNN interview Charles Barkley stated that if white people don't vote for Senator Obama he can't win.

Talk about profound. He then said that when we get into that voting booth the white man will not be able to trust the black man to vote for him. Whoa. I guess it doesn't come down to issues, qualifications, experience, flip-flopping or anything else.

Well, geez, I guess when you put it that way I have to vote for the black man!

Now that is the way to win an election!

Shame on you, Hillary.

I did not listen to your speech last night. My mind is already made up. Unfortunately I heard clips this morning on OPR. How dare you put it on my shoulders! "Did you do this just for me or did you do it for that soldier that (blah,blah,blah) or that mother that (blah, blah, blah)?"

To answer your question I did not vote for you to help that soldier. Nor did I vote for you to help that mother. I voted for you because you were the best candidate. The work you did as first lady had been unseen since Eleanor Roosevelt left the White House. I voted for you because you have years of experience in the senate. I voted for you because after 8 years of selfishness and greed in the White House it is a fond memory to think back on the Clinton years where there was a concern for the American citizen. I voted for you because there WAS a vast right-wing conspiracy that was played out in a failed impeachment. I voted for you because I feel it was wrong for the democrats to turn on you and all but admit that the right wing was right to persecute you and the president.

You may rally your troops and throw your votes to Obama. You have a political future to work on and can't jeopardize that. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that. I would rather concede a few issues to the republicans than swallow the swill that you and the other liberals are throwing around. "John McCain said this and John McCain said that," all that is fine but, make no mistake. I DON"T HAVE TO VOTE FOR OBAMA! I think it is frightening how everyone is clamoring to this new messiah who has never been put to the test and has proven nothing. Your party failed me in 2000. Your party failed me in 2004. George Bush is now taken off the table. I don't believe ANYBODY would make the decisions that this asshole has made. So, you can lump McCain together with Bush and tell us we can't vote for him but all you are doing is making me sad. Maybe I was wrong to put faith in you in the first place.

McCAIN 08!

Loss?

Having been away from the homebase this summer I did not get to post as frequently as I would have liked, nor could I comment on some of the events that have occurred over the last couple months. Today I was listening to George Carlin's "Occupation Foole" on vinyl. I came to realize that even though the material is thirty-five years old it is not dated. Sure, there are references to the then current Nixon administration, but what has always made his comedy work is the way he relates it to us. "Little things we all share", "People I could do without" and other lists could be filled out individually by any of us, but Mr. Carlin took them to the extreme and pulled us all in. He had a different way of viewing the world. He wouldn't take anything at face value and always looked at the other possibilities. He pointed out the absurdity in common, everyday phrases and events and asked us why we accepted them as such. I have always been a cynic so his "comedy" seemed to find me without my ever looking for it. It is as much a part of my personality as the music I listen to, the movies I watch and the politics I support (and abhor).

I was at my mom's when the Chief called and said, "we lost Mr. Carlin." I heard him correctly but wanted him to repeat it just to help it sink in. My first thought was quite strange. It wasn't a feeling of sorrow or loss, and to be honest I don't really know how to express it. Maybe the Chief could fill us in on that, after all he was talking to me at the time. The best way I could put it was that Mr. Carlin had done his work and it was time for him to move on. He gave us all the instructions we needed and now we're on our own.

I have included three drawings of people who have influenced me and have moved on. The first that you see is Hunter S. Thompson, the second is Roger Keith "Syd" Barret of Pink Floyd, and finally we have Mr. Carlin. I admit that the last one is a little rough, but I wanted to do something quick and there it is. I am especially proud of the first two. All three individuals represent various aspects of the counter-culture of the 60s and 70s and, while they are no longer with us in body, they live on through their material and will continue to inspire the masses, giving them alternate points of view. So, I guess its not so much of a loss after all.

Thanks, guys.

Barack Obama IS Arrogant and Uppity

It has been awhile since I have ranted and I think this time I have good cause. There is a lot of talk recently about whether or not we can call Senator Obama "Uppity" or "Arrogant". I heard an African-American commentator on CNN say that these are coded words white people use to say that a black man does not know his place.

Let that sink in for a minute.

George Bush is an arrogant, uppity, ignorant Texas hick. He thinks he can do anything he wants because he is president.

Al Gore is an arrogant, uppity, holier-than-thou Tennessee hick who thinks he knows more than us because he wrote a book on the environment.

John Kerry, Rush Limbaugh, John Edwards, Sean Hannity: all these assholes are uppity and arrogant. They think they know more than us, they talk down to us, they don't know their places. In fact, I would say that yours truly, Lord Elgarf himself can be arrogant and uppity. What the hell does this son-of-a-bitch know about anything? Yet he sits at his keyboard from somewhere in the midwest and spouts this bullshit like he knows something. Arrogant Uppity Prick!

Back to my original point. Barack Obama IS arrogant and uppity. He has no track record. He did not win his senate seat. He told us all that he was much more qualified than Hillary because she was the old politics and we need change. His whole campaign has been old politics since Hillary dropped out. His followers, including the press have made him out to be the second coming of Christ and he accepts this and believes it himself.

Barack Obama IS arrogant and uppity. If you truly think that makes me a racist then you are clearly showing your own ignorance. YOU are harboring resentment for a race other than your own. You cannot even make an argument to defend your messiah. Writing me off as "racist" is far easier than actually defending the very thin resume, lofty rhetoric, and constant flip-flopping of the inexperienced Senator from Illinois. Fuck you very much.