Halfapenguin.com
presidential08

I'm thinking about donating some of my hard earned cash to Obama's political campaign. I should say that while he is not perfect, i think he's going to be amazing for the USA and i look forward to a kinder, wiser and more noble administration than has been seen in a generation or 2. However the english in me feels rather sad and let down by the idea that despite this amazing and inspired leader, he might loose because of political slandering by a trumped up excuse of a human being who fails at standing up for anything he believes in just to get elected. The budget of a state senatorial campaign would probably dwarf the election costs of an entire british political party.... In the UK i know Obama would win, it might take the length of one of his speeches, but his intelligence, principles, charisma and wisdom would bring him straight to number ten with a landslide. Should i be pragmatic (The system is flawed, but i can help Obama winning with donations), or should i be principled (Obama should win on his own merits, not on how much advertising capital he can raise)? I have to say i'm leaning towards the pragmatic... but i'm curious as to what people think? P.S. If McCain wins, i'm planning to retreat back to the UK, provided you pay for a large bag in the hold you are welcome to come back with me (My parents have been requested to clear out the spare room for political refugees...)

After a huge amount of chatter, most of it uninformed guesswork, Barack Obama has finally announced his running mate :) Senator Joe Biden, will hopefully be moving into the vice presidential quarters on January 2009, which is one thing that is confusing me, by taking up the presidency and vice-presidency cause the american equivalent of a by-election...? Either way I'm looking forward to McCain and McCheney Junior getting run out of town when people finally realise they are peddling finely prepared BS...

For my American readers, you may not know about Mock the Week, its a BBC satirical show about the week's news, and nobody is safe (except Obama, who they described in terms of the second coming), and their favorite punching bag this week... John McCain. The topics of attack included

• Apparently the best person the republicans could come up with was someone who was considered less competant than Bush
• Getting shot down 5 times and sent to a prisoner of war camp doesn't make you a war hero, it just makes you a really rubbish pilot
• Apparently due to his torture he can't raise his hands above his head... i hadn't heard this one before, but it was made heavy use of
• His age and general likelyhood of dying of natural causes were also up for ridicule
Personally i do normally enjoy Mock the Week, and some of their points were valid, but the general level of jokes were pretty pathetic, and some in bad taste. That said, McCain deserves a thorough satirical roasting, this was a pale attempt at it. Still if McCain gets elected, i can just see the BBC being declared a terrorist organization...
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I know i'm a bit late on this, mainly because i only watched the countdown podcast this evening. I've tried to maintain an interest in US politics, but its difficult to do when you are on the other side of the ocean. After coming here i've tried to make up for lost time, but even then my first real exposure to John McCain was in the Iowa debate. I saw someone who made my skin crawl, he honestly struck me as someone "scary beyond all reason", and when he finally rose to the republican leadership i found my inital gut reaction confirmed time and again. But i didn't have the historical depth to know enough about his history, beyond his status as a Viet-Cong prisoner of war and his rather slimy entry into US politics. Comments like a hundred years in iraq, and lack of any knowledge about the world outside his bedroom, his attitudes to people who disagree with him, all helped confirmed my feeling that this is the president we were warned about. The one that would be so insane as to press the button. Then came the "its not important" comment, and after all the attempts to defend the indefensible, Keith Olbermann delivered this commentary. Part 2 Honestly, countdown can at best be called infotainment, it would not be considered news anywhere in Europe, but Keith Olbermann does sometimes channel the person he attempts to emulate. He may not be Edward R. Munrrow, and the republican party is far more calculating and intelligent than Joe McCarthy, but if enough people listen to him, they might start thinking again.

Apparently Obama speaking some hard truths seems to be a bad thing to the people of Pennsylvania. I have to say i do like Hilary Clinton, i just prefer Obama. However the spin machine of fox and friends seems to have convinced the majority of democrats in the state that he'd be a bad choice for president. I'm just rolling my eyes really. 55% Clinton, 45% Obama, With 99% of the votes counted, Source AP

Apparently despite Obama coming out ahead of Hilary Clinton, the LGBT community seems to favor to a certain degree Hilary Clinton. I've been trying to think why this is. Barack Obama, the great uniter, who makes friends with those who given the chance would lynch or burn at the stake every lesbian, gay, bi and trans person from New York to San Francisco. I suppose it depends on how you feel about those who have been suckered into the conservative christian movement. I have friends who think those, particularly the ones who have been raised in conservative environments will never become enlightened. I don't feel this, i know its a huge effort, but i believe that anyone, no matter how damaging their upbringing can be enlightened. If Obama chooses to make friends with the moderate forces in the republican party, it will be a way to start bringing those individuals out of the closed box they are in. I would love to see Bush and company dragged off to prison and convicted for treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and a few other crimes to boot, but i'd far rather see a reformed and enlightened America. Therefore i'm still gonna be an Obama supporter :) Also as an aside, Romney has stepped aside, which leaves McCain on the route towards the republican ticket. I'll be interested to see whether the republican party prefers a foaming at the mouth preacher, or a pragmatic amoralist as their candidate...

While Iowa is only the first of many states in the decision making process, its interesting to see that while it was fairly likely that Barack and Mike would be the front runners in Iowa, i was surprised to see how far down Rudy was. Huckabee is who right wing christians have always wanted in the Whitehouse, take Bush's ignorance, remove the advisors and corporate ties and then quadruple the fanaticism and intolerance. As a result despite him not being quite as gun-toting and maniacal as Fred Thompson, he's most likely to be the Republican candidate despite both Rudy and Mitt being better candidates in my (albiet pinko intelligentsia liberal) opinion as presidential candidates. I'm happy to see Barack Obama ahead, and i hope this lasts, although i could be won over by Hilary being a very capable President. Suprisingly Hilary was behind John Edwards, although Iowa is a fairly conservative province and may be opposed to a female president (men and self hating women..grrr).

I think its time for a paranoid, racist, sexist, homophobic nutjob with all the intellectual capacity of a small concussed bee to be replaced by a man who might actually shake up the dead political landscape of this country. Stephen Colbert, even in his Colbért state would make a better president that the one at the moment. But either way if Barack Obama doesn't get the Democratic Nomination, i think its time to say goodnight to the Democratic party. Admittedly as an undesirable alien, i don't get to vote (yet), however i can see how the intelligent educated masses of America (all you out there stop hiding) are fed up with the Democrats, and would rather declare affiliation with Ron Paul (someone less qualified to be President than Bush...) than vote for a Republican. So i think a joke candidate with some integrity would actually have a chance of taking a significant portion of the vote, even if he almost certainly wouldn't win, maybe it'll be enough to put a decent stake in the heart of the democratic party.

To my understanding former presidents retain their title, and since Gore won the 2000 Election, he retains that title. Today he has been given the Nobel Peace Prize (Shared with the UN climate change panel), for his actions in attempting to fight climate change and bring awareness of Man Made climate change. While many (including myself) would like to see a Gore '08 ticket, i'm somewhat opposed to him trying to run, because this race is going to be messy on a scale not seen in a generation, and i'd rather not see him get damaged by the fray. I still like Barack Obama both as a Candidate and as a Person who would help restore American legitimacy at home and abroad. I hope he's half as decent as he claims to be.. If Ron Paul gets in i may have to leave because i wont feel safe in this country, to much of who and what i am, he despises. Back to the original, Go Gore :) and unless we get Barack (or even a long game playing Hilary), looking forward to a Gore '12 ticket.

...and go straight to the heart, and the balls. This is a video i came across today, which while several months old, is a very well thought out and very nasty towards republican and corporate claims. She's talking to a group called the Apollo Alliance (named for the said program), but she's going after the claims of economy being damaged, and jobs lost by showing ways that the ecomy and jobs can be worked on at the same time as helping climate change. Definatlty in favour of removing tax breaks for oil companies, and "encouraging" them to contribute to alternatives. Not so in favour of clean coal technology, but its better than coal tech that pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, however there are better solutions that should be focused on. I have to say at the moment, Hilary is a stronger candidate, although i'm going to keep my eyes, ears, and thinking cap on the candidacy and occasionaly give my opinion.