What to do Without an Election to Cover....and 007 at His Finest

Tonight's "breaking news" on Larry King Live is that President-elect Obama met with President Bush at the White House today. It's humorous to see the media struggle to find headlines during that limbo before the inauguration. Barring any crisis, all breaking news refers to such mundane activities as the type of limo Obama will ride around to the code names the soon-to-be First Family will have. The real insanity begins when Obama's cabinet begins to take shape. These stories prove how desperate the news networks become after the election. Their ratings take a hit as they no longer have exciting campaign coverage to focus on. The stories bring a new definition to boring. Contrived and silly news stories begin filling the time from positive (the Obama's getting a dog) to the plain silly (McCain losing was all Palin's fault, just as it would have been all her if he had won). We, the viewers begin rolling our eyes at the ridiculousness of this. We can see CNN and Fox struggling to fill an hour of news programming. 

What became even bigger news was rumors that Obama may issue executive orders on day one. Shocking. He'll be the President. They tend to issue executive orders, it's part of the job. It's not breaking news to find out a Democrat would issue orders changing those that a Republican predecessor had issued. Hardly a page turner. Yet the same pundits that kept many of us on the edges of our seats for the past months and even years now must make these events seem as crucial and as breaking as the major events of the primary and general election seasons. Some find it necessary to discuss 2012, despite the American people feeling slightly fatigued from 2008. It is one thing for candidates to begin secretly forming committees and raising funds for a 2012 run, that's their business, just leave the news out. This was perfectly evident at those harassing everyone's favorite Alaskan, Sarah Palin, on her potential plans for 2012. Considering she had just arrived back to the Governor's office in Anchorage, I hardly think she's given it any serious thought. Although, based on her actions the final days of the campaign, she may have considered it prior to the media....anyways. Time to stay on topic. 

Personally, I use this time to unwind. I read the news daily, yes, but I stay away from the pundit driven shows. They become redundant snooze-fests, littered with overly critical analyses on why exactly Barney the dog bit a Reuters reporter. Sorry, I'd much rather read a book, continue plowing through my James Bond marathon before the new Bond film hits this week (I'm currently on the rather crappy A View to a Kill). I'm not trying to discount the importance of good political journalism for that would discount the meaning of not only this course, but a great deal of the modern study of politics. We just at times need to find other escape routes. Those commentators that support Obama will do so in such an overly pleasant manner I may vomit and the Obama haters will continue to spew off the same displeasure that Bush-haters have expressed these past years. 

It's a strange cycle we find ourselves in and for much of the new media, this is brand new. The last time we had a "new" President-elect was 2000, before "Internet 2.0" (blogs, vlogs, millions of news sites, etc.) had found its way onto our computer screens, Fox News was just gaining ground, and CNN didn't have it's magic board or hologram technology and the media are eating this up. Larry King, who began this post has turned from top celebrity interviewer to political journalist, questioning with earnest and sincerity and it's just silly. Well maybe it's not as silly as seeing a 59 year old Roger Moore duke it out with Christopher Walken in a blimp over San Francisco..... sorry, losing my train of thought to a less-than-stellar 007 adventure. However, maybe the Bond comparison is a great one for the election and post-election news coverage. The election coverage at many times is as exciting as Sean Connery's outings as 007 or even as high-octane as Daniel Craig's take on Britain's favorite spy, and now it seems as corny as Roger Moore's films. Old, outdated, silly, campy, cringe-inducing.... the list of adjectives could go on forever, but Christopher Walken just took a plunge into the Frisco Bay and it's about time to begin 007's next chapter, featuring the always stoic Timothy Dalton..... The Living Daylights. Until we meet again. Stay warm and stay happy.  

While the aforementioned Bond films have been ragged on they do feature AWESOME 80s theme songs sung by Duran Duran and A-Ha respectively. These are perhaps the best parts of each of those films. Turn off CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, click off the Drudge Report and go see Quantum of Solace this week. If anything, it'll take your mind off this election, whether you were pleased with the outcome or not. Nothing is better than a Bond movie and you know it. 

You know this is more enticing.....

What To Do?

With election day bearing down on us (the polls open in 38 1/2 hrs), what are we going to do when this is all over? Will we continue our harsh criticisms of each other's candidates in class? It sure will be strange. Everyone seems to be suffering from campaign fatigue except for Bill Maher who on Friday declared this the best election season of his lifetime. That very well may be the case, but it's time for this to be over. Time Magazine published a wonderful article today about how much has changed over the course of this election season. Just by judging the before and after pictures of Barack Obama, you can see that this campaign season is running on fumes. Both candidates are physically and mentally exhausted. Endless events on a daily basis running from sunrise until way past sunset, with a few hours of sleep thrown in between.

 This is getting old. What else can Obama and McCain say to sway voters? They have thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this campaign, and the sink may get thrown in sometime before polls close Tuesday evening.  Now I love politics as much as the next political junkie, but there gets a point when you have to give your drug a rest. Peace and tranquility is what this junkie needs now. An endless supply of partisan bull is exactly the kind of medicine a madman would want at this point. For those of us that have been riding this train since the beginning, it's time to pull it into the station. Let's not throw anymore coal into the engine. This seems unlikely. There will be long lines, accusations of voter fraud, purging of voters, illegal activities on all sides. No one wants this to go past the wee hours on November 5th. If you do, please feel free to invest in Georgia's new private mental health facilities, you could use them. 

Personally, I'm looking forward to a relaxing month of December. Close out this semester of school, plow through my ever-growing reading list and sit back and enjoy. No more late night conference calls, fewer emails, and hopefully just wonderful stories about American democracy holding up another bizarre election process. Face it, you're tired too and just won't admit it. How many fruitless debates can you get into with a friend/colleague over this election? Unless you thrive on anger, I suggest you join me in calling for a peaceful return to class on Wednesday (and in this class's case, Thursday) and begin to discuss something other than the ridiculous crap thrown around in the past two years. I for one, enjoy my hair not either falling out or turning grey by the time I'm 25. Until then folks, enjoy tomorrow and Tuesday and may we all come back together as Americans when this concludes. Perhaps then we can all look at the monumental challenges ahead of us, put our hands together and get to work. That's what we do, it's democratic, it's American, and that's something that makes us all so proud. 

Until then...

2008: A Strange Odyssey....and it continues

With still over two months to go, 2008 has proven to be one of the strangest years in recent memory. All one has to do is see that the Tampa Bay Rays are in the World Series and one scratches their head in amazement. What has gone on here?

The year started with a bang. Our New Year's hangover hadn't faded quite yet when Barack Obama stormed out of nowhere to win the Iowa Caucus and those all over took a second look at his campaign and wondered, can stop the Clinton Machine? We trudged through the winter and then spring as Obama and Hillary duked it out in a strange, bizarre, and almost insane primary contest. It was beginning to look like one of those college football games that heads into overtime. Neither team can close out the deal as both fire in touchdowns left and right. The game continues. No ties in this match-up, someone eventually had to win. I'd become Pavlov's dog watching CNN on the night of a primary contest, and just by hearing the CNN's jingle they played whenever results came in caused my focus to shift directly to my TV preparing for the results to be read by bearded wonder Wolf Blitzer. It dragged on. Finally on a warm night in late June, Barack Obama sealed the deal. The young, freshman Senator from Illinois who captivated the attention of so many just four years prior as a state senator speaking at the 2004 Democratic Convention would be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Who would've thought? Barack Obama beat the Clintons... Strange indeed.

This odd behavior was not as noticeable with the Republicans, yet a strange campaign certainly took place. Rudy Giuliani, an early favorite to capture the nomination decided to take the dumbest road in modern campaign history, putting all of your resources in one state. On top of that, it was a state that couldn't even figure out how to vote properly. We saw a TV personality capture the attention of Conservatives for a while, but once people heard Fred Thompson fumbling his words, and not making much sense, he retreated and headed back to Law & Order, where he belongs. Mitt Romney scared the hell out of everyone with a smile that never seemed to fade, his campaign decided to do what he couldn't. Mike Huckabee, the likable former governor of Arkansas, who looked down and out kept going and really connected with Republicans all over the country and showed some how you can win without huge sums of money, or receiving the national spotlight. However, he too had to concede to a man that just months earlier looked like a man stranded in the water at the beginning of a Jaws sequel. That man was John McCain. 

Who would've thought McCain could pull back into this race and get to the finish line for the Republicans? He was royally crapped on by Bush's campaign in 2000 (odd that he employs the same operatives who did the crapping) yet eight years later he captivated the attention of Republicans and pissed off others. 

No one at the start of 2008 ever believed this election would come down to Barack Obama and John McCain. Yet it has. With less than two weeks left until this election is over and done with, there is still work that both candidates must do to secure victory. Strange happenings could still happen and most certainly will, in just a week, Barack Obama will run a 30 minute ad on the major networks, even delaying the start of game 6 of the World Series. If that isn't strange and unusual, I'm sure what else is. Until then.... stay weird. 

Debating Take Two

The second of three Presidential debates will commence in just a few short hours. The networks are preparing, the pundits are getting ready for some punditry. It shall be glorious...or will it? In the past week we have seen the McCain and Obama campaigns get predictably nasty with each bringing up mundane, irrelevant information from the candidates' pasts. Really folks? With all this going on, neither one can say one word about the issues? 

Just scrolling through the pages of today's New York Times it doesn't take a rocket scientist or even a political scientist to find the issues. They're on the front freaking page. More so than many elections in recent memory, these candidates finally have real issues to discuss and yet they aren't. We saw a pathetic display last week at the Vice Presidential debate in which Joe Biden and Sarah Palin barely touched on the issues. Most pundits claimed that Palin did a good job simply because her expectations were really that low and Biden won because I guess he brought something of relevance up and didn't bite Palin's head off and eat it for dessert. 

When the primaries finally came to a close and we knew who our nominees were, part of me felt confident that Senator Obama and Senator McCain were gentlemen who knew the importance of this election and would attempt to stick to the issues. Although being a person who studies politics this seemed a bit too good to be true and oh was it. With an economy on the verge of collapse (at the time of this writing the Dow has gone from way up this morning to now down approximately 350+ points), two wars that need fixing, a crumbling infrastructure, smaller presence in the world, struggling education system, science that is paling in comparison to the rest of the developed world... The list can go on. Much has happened in this decade, easily the most turbulent since the 1960s, and yet the two men that we much decide on to carry us out of this decade can't find the time to actually discuss these issues. 

The first Presidential debate was boring with McCain too focused on his record from yesteryear, not acknowledging Obama's presence at the debate while Obama looked more like Mr. Spock in his personality and delivery than he has in previous debates and speeches. Is it too much for American citizens to ask these candidates to address the issues? Smear campaigns have worked very well in previous campaigns, as have meaningless debates but too much is at stake here. The next President is going to be handed a mountain of problems, perhaps the largest since World War II or even the Civil War and the mess isn't shrinking. President Bush has packed his bags and all but left the White House. Just by looking into his eyes, you can see the man has been done for a while. Even with a lame duck in the White House, McCain and Obama has resorted to the exact tactics they claimed they wouldn't stoop to, and I feel duped.

Yes, McCain has been struggling as of late on the issues, the economy right now just doesn't help the Republicans, so it makes McCain's tactics look a little more acceptable, but not by much. 

Well similarly to the election, time is running out... I have to go to work. Good luck to the candidates tonight at the debate and here's hoping to a fun and exciting time.

The News vs. Us: How do they win?

Ahoy folks. 

This here blog will focus on the news, mass media, and its effect on the world around us. First thing's first, there is news abound. 

Recently the Barack Obama campaign did something interested, new, fascinating, incredible, unheard of!.... If you submitted your cell phone number or email address the Obama campaign would text or email you Senator Obama's running mate BEFORE the news announced it! 

*GASP*

Upon hearing this Wolf Blitzer promptly turned into the Hulk and destroyed half of the Situation Room set.*

"How can they do this!?" Blitzer screamed as he tore down the desk in front of him.

John King using his fancy touch screen TV gave Blitzer a seemingly intelligent answer. "We can beat them," King promised. 

The Hulk calmed down. 

In all seriousness folks, the Obama campaign wanted to transcend that need for the mass media to report information. With much of Obama's organization started using the internet, this seemed a no brainer. How could we be so naive? To think the news would not get a hold of the information before the general public did was ridiculous, but many of us bought into it anyway. 

Friday August 22nd seemed to drone on, especially for those on television hoping Blitzer wouldn't explode with rage. Obama had made his decision, that much was clear, but no one knew when the text/email would go out or who exactly the choice was. All indications pointed to Governor Tim Kaine of Virigina, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware being the final three in this race. Day turned into night, information started coming in. 

The news networks were getting confirmation from Democratic Party sources that Governor Kaine and Senator Bayh were out of the mix. The rumors about Biden increased. The media was staked outside of Biden's home like it was the Britney Spears scandal. All I could think of was where in the hell my text message was? Obama is something new, refreshing, he'll get the information to loyal supporters before the media gets a hold...right.

CNN began getting unofficial reports that it was in fact Joe Biden. Again, no email, no text message, nothing. CNN reported that Biden had gathered with his family. No message. ABC confirms that the Secret Service had been dispatched to the Biden residence. Still...no message. CNN now confirms that Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate.

Dear Senator Obama,

Where the hell was my text message? 

Love,

Joel

In all seriousness, the mass media couldn't lose. They had to report information first. The Obama campaign tried to prove that we didn't need mass media to provide the American people with crucial information. They were wrong. We were wrong. I believed in the campaign's promise. I received my confirmation from the Obama campaign.... at 4:48AM Saturday. Nearly five hours after CNN reported that Joe Biden was in fact Obama's running mate. 

This event proves one thing. While we might not NEED mass media to provide us information, they are too entrenched in our political system to allow us direct access to information from campaigns and government. It was the ultimate goal for the mass media to prove they still had the leg up on us and they did. Maybe this won't be the case in the future, but for now we'll be stuck with them, up to and including Wolf Blitzer's beard. 

Hope everyone enjoys the insanity that will undoubtedly occur throughout these posts, especially with the election on our doorstep....I would keep posting but Barack Obama is on TV getting ready to introduce Joe Biden as his running mate....this might be important.

*There is no evidence that Wolf Blitzer turned into the Hulk. This was a story floating around the offices of Fox News. Upon hearing this, Chris Wallace laughed so hard he choked on a pretzel and Bill O'Reilly blamed Blitzer's transformation on liberals loving science.