Sunday, September 28, 2008

Politics: Palin

Is this for real? Is America seriously going to let this woman possibly be in charge of our country? Oh my word! Here's a clip of her interview with Katie Couric.



This is insulting to me as a woman. Could McCain really not find a more intelligent woman to put on the ticket with him? This HAS to be some kind of joke... Not only is she frighteningly unprepared and uneducated but she scares me with her religious references - "the US is the force of good in the world," "the evil that he (Iranian president) speaks," "good guys," and the "bad guys."

The SNL skit was hysterical. But, it was so close to reality it was also a bit scary!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Kisses

Today the boys and I did quite a bit of shopping. I always try to sit them in the two-seater carts and today we lucked out with one at both Wal-Mart and Publix. While in Wal-Mart, I saw Connor reach over and grab Cameron's hair. I've never seen him do this before and Cameron didn't really seem to care (he's a tough kid) but I told Connor that we don't pull hair and to tell Cameron he was sorry which he did. I told him to give Cameron a hug to make it better which he did. Shortly thereafter, I saw Connor lean into Cameron (they were sitting across from each other) to try and give him a kiss. Cameron leaned in and they kissed. Then Connor did it again... and again... and again. If Cameron wasn't looking at Connor, Connor would make kissing sounds to get Cameron's attention and then Cameron would lean in to kiss Connor. One time Cameron was busy looking at something and didn't hear Connor making the kissy noises so Connor said "besito" (kiss in Spanish) to get his attention. It was the sweetest, cutest thing I think I have ever seen. It was so spontaneous. My boys love each other and it makes me so happy to see.

Monday, September 8, 2008

POOP!

I can't believe it! Both boys pooped on the potty for the first time tonight (that I know of since they may have already done this at school and I just don't know about it)! Connor wanted to use the big toilet *I assumed* so he could pee so I had him stand on the seat and reminded him to aim carefully. I then got Cameron set up on the little toilet so he could sit down and go potty. Connor had been standing there for a few minutes and did not appear to need to pee but then I saw the big poop about to fall - right into the toilet. I was so excited I called Mike so he could see too. As Mike came in Connor had another little poop fall into the toilet. I was so excited and happy for Connor. He was really happy for himself too. We were high fiving and saying bye to the poop as Connor flushed. Very exciting stuff!

Cameron totally did not want to be outdone so he managed to get a little poop out and into the little potty which we then excitedly dumped into the big toilet to flush and say good bye. He was pretty proud of himself too. So am I!!!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Politics: RNC - what about policies?

I didn't watch the entire coverage for either party’s conventions but I did watch the key speakers at the Republican National Convention this week - Sarah Palin, Cindy McCain, and John McCain. Sarah was just nasty (such pretty girls shouldn't frown and sneer so much), Cindy was a drip (and flaunting the corrupt way she chose to adopt her daughter was just disgusting for me personally and seemed to make Bridget really uncomfortable too), and John was a bore (although I was quite touched when he explained how he came to love this country so). The utter lack of mention of how they will actually bring the change they keep claiming was most impressive. I heard blanket statements but no substance. After hearing Obama's acceptance speech, I was really expecting more. This was their chance to rise to the occasion. I was shocked that they didn't even try. Obama really said it pretty well on 9/3/08 in his address at a town hall in New Philadelphia, Ohio:

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Politics: Bush

There are so many reasons that I have the utmost disdain for George W. Bush, it would be almost impossible to list them all. Here are my top 13 reasons I find the Bush administration appalling for their utter failure to serve the people who elected them and who represent them to the rest of the world:

1) Failing to capture Osama Bin Laden.
2) Misleading the US and the rest of the world about the unreliable information they had obtained which was supposed to show that Iraq was amassing WMD and that Saddam Hussein was tied to 9/11.
3) Being on vacation while Katrina was sitting as a category 5 hurricane in the middle of the Gulf and then not responding swiftly and appropriately once it reached and destroyed America's shores. (Didn't Jeb call him????)
4) Continuing huge tax breaks for large oil companies in times of record profits for them and massive deficits for the US. (I'm thinking W's not very good with math)
5) Refusing to end our occupation of Iraq while letting our honorable soldiers continue to be attacked - 4,150 Americans have been killed and more than 30,000 wounded in addition to countless Iraqi civilians.
6) Failing to provide proper medical and mental care for our veterans (remember Walter Reed Medical Center?).
7) Giving tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% during a time of war which is costing us $341 million per day (more evidence of W's lack of basic math skills).
8) Endorsing torture as a method to be employed by the military but then publically denying that torture is used at all (remember Abu Ghraib?). This is also a direct break with the Geneva Conventions which is just shameful.
9) Promising the Iraq war would lower gas prices.
10) Concealing the pre-9/11 Presidential Daily Briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."
11) Rejecting the Kyoto Treaty to stop climate change in addition to outright rejecting the notion that climate change was even occurring for the vast majority of his presidency.
12) Allowing Afghanistan to fall into chaos thereby allowing the Taliban and al Qaeda to regain control.
13) Telling the 45 million uninsured Americans "people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room." (7/10/07 in Cleveland) And, no, I did not pull that out of context. He really said it just like that as if that is really an acceptable means of obtaining health care.

These are just a few of the things Bush has done that really get me upset that, not only was he elected, he was RE-elected.

I remember during past election cycles, there was a lot of talk about how Americans thought W would be fun to have a beer with. I'm sure he would be! If you're into cocaine, I'm sure he was a blast on that too back in the day. And there are very good reasons people feel that way. W is a crack up, he's funny. He is not who should have ever been in charge of the greatest nation on earth! As evidence of his fun-loving, laid back nature, here are my favorites:

* Setting the record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history - this illustrates a very laid back nature.
* Turning a budget surplus into massive budget deficit - anyone that can spend that kind of money in 8 short years knows how to throw a party!
* Swiftboating John Kerry - this was a great example of making fun of someone. It was so outrageous though because, while Kerry actually served his country in VN, Bush was on vacation (again) in TX!
* Outing CIA agent Valerie Plame to retaliate for her husband, Joe Wilson, telling the truth about Iraq's WMDs. That's not really something fun but it is certainly something people can relate too - getting back at someone who really pissed you off.
* Trying to slash funding for PBS and NPR - those programs are just no fun always having educational, informative programs - SNORE!

Another thing that makes W someone you could have a beer with is his lack of intelligence. I've already pointed out his apparent lack of math skills - simple math skills. There is also a lack of leadership skills in his failure to hire the most qualified and instead choosing to fill appointed positions with his supportive, like-minded friends. Good leaders know that in order to make the best decisions they need a diverse team who will not only tell them what they want to hear but will present the facts even if they are unpleasant (um, sir, you really need to call off your vacation, it looks like a storm is going to destroy a few hundred thousand American's lives and it doesn't look like the NOLA government is handling it appropriately) or are not in agreement with you (no, actually, Saddam can't get his hands on anything dangerous anymore even if he still is one of the nastiest MFers on the planet, he can't harm any Americans or even his neighbors at this point).

What really blows my mind now is that the Republican nominee, John McCain, who agrees with Bush 90% of the time, is enjoying a remarkably CLOSE race with Obama. I just don't get it.