Not Welcome eh

Watching American History X. Great movie, so underrated at times. I think it's interesting how movies like "Crash" get so much public appeal when they demonstrate happy endings and massive epiphanies of racial injustice without really getting to the issue at times. That's not to say Crash isn't a good movie, but I feel that movies that tend to show the more violent, more realistic, less pollyanna side emote much much about racism and anti-Semitism in the public eye.

As Danny says in his final scene, his departure toward heaven or hell (depending on how you view his spiritual catharsis), "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory... ...will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." (Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address).

On a more somber note, why does Brendan Frasier still try to act?

lol.

I was watching Christopher Titus stand up last night and he started to make jokes about Bush (actually not too harsh) and of all politics and of everything geopolitical and I realize as much as I enjoy it, I think I enjoy it less considering I know many people feed into that bullshit. Many people listen to FOXNews and CNN and gulp down doses of depression and gloominess, feeding into the cycles of stock market failures, bank foreclosures, and end of the world theories. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot more to it, but the media is really starting to tick me off. And they feed crap to hard working Americans who'll believe it.

Especially with the economy. I saw a poll on MSNBC the other day that said 17% of all Americans believe President Bush is the cause of today's economic stresses. Seriously? Is this a friggin joke? Forget the mortgage bonds of the 1980s, the creation of a bond market for mortgage securities. Forget the fiscal policies of the Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton Administrations of the past. Forget the fiscal irresponsibilities of banks giving away sub-prime mortgages to anyone with a nickel in their pocket. Forget the free meals of desperation served by every media outlet telling them to go to the banks and pull out their money before Venus hurtles into Earth. Forget two wars that were initiated by dozens of nations, international organizations, NGOs, President(s), poor information, the unfortunate miscoordination of intelligence agencies all over. Forget 9/11, the destruction of a world trade center with hundreds of America's most important firms. Forget the continual buying on credit of the American people, with absolute ZERO intention of paying it back. Forget the slowing of an economy that barely has any room to grow with the upsurge of India, China, and the labor-intensive EU. Forget the connected markets and the realization that every tick in the system sends a ripple through. No. Ladies and Gentlemen, the man you lampoon each and every day as being the so-called dumbest President of our United States has outwitted us all, and caused an outdated financial system of the 80s and 90s to fail, along with thousands of other businesses. You've been a great audience. Goodnight.

Oh, and don't get me wrong, Bush's expansion of the federal government hasn't exactly made our lives easier, but to say that he is the single cause of years of distress is just as laughable to say that Obama is a Muslim. Economically, the thing that pissed me off the most of President Bush is after 9/11, when he told everybody to go out, vacation, have a good time, return to normal routine, and to, of course, buy,. That wasn't my favorite thing considering now America, on top of the world for 70-80 years, feels entitled to everything! We're a strong nation with a strong backbone, but we can't even weather through a recession anymore. We've dealt with dictatorships and empires, injustice and inequality, secession and depression, but now we're told we can't buy our cake AND eat it too, and we flip a shit. Gas goes up to 4 dollars a gallon (still tremendously better than the rest of the planet), and Americans sound more willing to withhold wheat and food to the rest of the world just so we can get out oil. Get used to it. It isn't Bush. If we're gonna stick to oil, then we have to get used to it. It's the system. You can't break it. You can try to circumvent it (energy independence) or overcome it (new renewable energy). I prefer the latter over the former, because pulling out of the middle east entirely leaves an entire region to now sell oil to China, and Russia, and what good that'll do. We'll be back in Square one within a few years.

I understand I'm not a homeowner. I get it that I don't have kids. I realize people have lost ALOT of money. And I feel for them. But this...is the system. We've ridden to the top of the world on the back of a pony named capitalism, and now capitalism,a risk oriented activity, is biting us in the behind. We've taken our lumps in the stock market, a market built on risk-taking. We've watched hundreds of other nations follow our example, only to succeed, and then we get angry that they've copied us, even though we told them to for years. And we expect the good ole Federal Government to save us. Should the fed intervene? Well if it continues down this path with banking and mortgages, yes. It has to stabilize our confidence. But it is not the job of the USG to intervene in every little squeak of the system, or else we've lost our uniqueness and turned to socialism. I don't need the government to tell me where to put my money or where half of my paycheck goes. I think the government can do a lot of good, and a lot of bad. This issue is obviously a touchy one, but we must have faith. Perception is reality, and the perception permeating in the world today is that America is falling. America is falling hard, right? Or maybe is it that all other countries, following our example, have begun to level the playing fields economically. Maybe it's that our own fiscal irresponsibilities have smacked us back, and we must stand up, admit to our mistakes, and look to a better, brighter future. Maybe being Pro-hope, as Mr. Obama argues, isn't that bad of thing. Because looking at the media these days, I see gloom, doom, and more gloom. And frankly, I'm sick of it.

In the 1940s we went 4 years without an automobile being made for public consumption. Everything was directed toward the war effort. Today we have a public out of touch (either ignorantly or by choice) with our own two wars being fought across the ocean. Regardless of how it was started, we're there. Even more so, we have no backbone for survival. Do you think we would have fought in WWI or II if the people of America had the media of today? Do you think we would have won and prospered into the greatest nation, the most free and liberating nation on planet earth? Americans today are lucky we don't have to sacrifice. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the fights of the past we meant to free us from our burdens of the past. Maybe we can have our cake and eat it to. But that makes us vulnerable to anguish whenever a challenge presents itself. Today, we are faced with a challenge. And we will overcome. Jesse Ventura said it best: "Americans are bootstrappers, the word 'can't' isn't part of our vocabulary". I think however the tree of liberty and prosperity must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants from time to time, and that can be just as metaphorical as it is literal. We'll never know what the state of mind of "cant" is until we find something difficult to tackle. And if we never tackle something head on with American resolve, we'll never win. We must have resolve today and not become a nation of "whiners" as McCain's advisor recently said, because then we lose. I'm gonna go with losing not being an option, how about you?

Just wanna give a shout out to Billy Wagner, reminding him of his lovely performance in the All-Star Game again. G-d Bless, and get well soon.