McCain cancels interview with David Letterman

Did you hear that John McCain canceled his interview with David Letterman? Check out the video of David Letterman's disappointment and reaction. Something smells a little fishy with the cancellation. I can't wait to see what McCain's reaction and response will be.

2008 Presidential Debate - 09/26/08 - Thoughts

In reviewing the debate, some things just didn't sit right with me. I don't think either candidate answered the question fully about the current economic issue. I think they both discussed future plans, though at this point, I feel that Obama has the better of the plans and actually describes them. I can say that I somewhat understand why they wouldn't give more details, though they would have been better off.

McCain definitely voiced his "past" involvement and experience and was quick to point out that he's "been" to this country or that country. I'm going to throw this out, but does that mean he's spending tax payers dollars to travel the world, basically for free? Of these various travels, what did he actually accomplish? Obama may not be a world traveler, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what is going on.

During the debate, McCain consistently focused on the military. I'm definitely with him in regards to supporting the troops and taking care of the veterans if they are injured and after their service is complete, though I don't think he necessarily described it in that exact fashion. Why doesn't McCain want to have a foreseeable deadline for the war in Iraq? What is wrong with having a goal for completion? I was definitely with Obama in regards to finishing up what we should have done in the first place, hunt down Bin Laden and direct some of our focus on Pakistan and bringing down Al Qaeda. For some reason, Bush and McCain do NOT want to focus on Bin Laden. They may talk about him from time to time, but they certainly don't want to focus any efforts on catching him. Why is that? Also, what was McCain's holdup on the "surge" in Iraq? He kept commenting on Obama's "surprise" that it succeeded. We've basically been in Iraq for five plus long years, and only during the last two plus years we have made significant progress. I can see why Obama would have been surprised and its outcome was "beyond his wildest expectations". If we're doing so good in Iraq, why can't we NOW focus and redirecting our troops on capturing Bin Laden and putting a stop to Al Qaeda? Also, why can't Iraq be self-sustaining with their billions of dollars in oil surplus? Why are we still funding them? They have an army with plenty of trained troops, it's time that they start taking over the defense of their country.

Another thing that completely turned me off toward McCain is that he DIDN'T, not even once, look directly at Obama during the debate. He would only look at Jim Lehrer and kept turning his back on Obama. You would think as a military man that he would know that you NEVER turn your back on your opponent, not even once! I was very happy to see that Obama was trying to make this into a group debate and directly spoke to both McCain and Lehrer. I thought part of debating was to actually look and interact directly with your opponent. In body language, this shows fear and an unwillingness to acknowledge. Is this someone that should be running the country? I think that McCain does have experience, but as an advisor, Yes, as a leader, maybe not. I think McCain was trying to "relate" to the public, though I don't think it came across the way he was hoping that it would, in my opinion.

Another point that was brought up was Nuclear Energy. I don't think this would be good at all. First off, Nuclear Energy produces biohazardous waste materials. What would we do with them? It takes hundreds of years to dispose of, which isn't really a good time table at all. I think off-shore drilling should be considered, but not nearly as much as the alternative/renewable resources, which I feel that Obama seemed to focus on more. I noticed that neither one of them specifically mentioned T. Boone Picken's plan by name, though they did discuss some of his ideas. I think T. Boone needs to have a few more discussions with both of them!

All in all, I think we need to see more debates, but I feel that Obama definitely came out ahead in this one.

What is your opinion?

Palin's Interview with Katie Couric

Everyone needs to have a look at this interview. This is definitely not a good likeness for Sarah Palin. I'm very much concerned with someone of her caliber being so close to the helm of our country's leadership. Please review this video and give it some thought.

"Sarah Palin's Witch Doctor"

I couldn't resist writing about the news and video that I was recently told about in regards to Sarah Palin's "Witch Doctor". Obama got reamed because of his ties to the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago with Jeremiah Wright at its forefront, but it's OK for Palin to be associated with a "Witch Doctor" or "Witch Hunter", as I believe the video suggests.

I'm not trying to spread propaganda with this link, but I feel that everyone should be informed of Palin's affiliations and associates.

My suggestion to T. Boone Pickens

After watching tonight's presidential debates, I decided to head over to The Picken's Plan to see what everyone was discussing in his post-debate discussion. After reading through the various discussion points, I decided to email T. Boone with a suggestion.

Hi T. Boone,

I think your ideas are great and are definitely the direction that our country needs to go. In regards to wind energy, I see that your plans seem to suggest wind farms, which require vast amount of land. With that in mind, I have seen information about plans where small wind turbines can be installed on the undersides of overpasses within the urban populations. Think about it, as many vehicles that pass under overpasses, at usually a high rate of speed, this would collect huge amounts of kinetic wind energy. If all major cities installed these forms of renewable energy devices, they could be almost self sustaining, or at least largely self-supported, in regards to an energy surplus. I discuss some of these ideas on my blog at "http://altenergypolitics.blogspot.com".

Also, a plan to gather the recyclable materials from our country's ever growing landfills could hypothetically produce, from all 50 states, a commodities surplus of $14 trillion. Please see the study that I posted on my blog from Missouri landfills alone, which could reap $280 million in just one year. Multiply that figure by all 50 states and we could easily support the alternative/renewable energy development plans.

Thanks in advance for your time in considering my suggestions.

--Ken

Psychology - What makes people vote Republican or Democrat?

In my pursuit to figure out what makes people vote Republican, I came across this article by JONATHAN HAIDT, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. It's kind of long winded, but it does give somewhat of a reason as to people's thinking. I've asked many people why they vote the way they do, but haven't gotten a lot of good reasons. So, my pursuit to the answer has taken me to researching it on the Internet.

On the same site as this essay, I also found a responsive article by various other sources with their opinions on the essay, which I found very interesting.

Here's another opinion of the essay from the blog labeled "Confessions of a Cooperator".

I also found an article titled "The Conservative Case for Voting Democratic" by Doug Bandow from the CATO Institute.

The biggest problem that I have found within the media is it is hard to find a completely neutral source. The idea of Republican or Democrat, based on past definitions, though, has completely changed. Both sides of the spectrum have changed, at least maybe somewhat, from their past ideologies.

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From Answers.com, the definition of a Democrat is:

1. 1. An advocate of democracy.
   2. One who believes in social equality or discounts distinctions in rank.
      

Philosophy Dictionary: democracy (Greek, rule by the people) In Greek thought, rule by the citizens in general (nevertheless excluding women and of course slaves) in contrast to government by the rich and aristocratic. In modern society the sovereignty of the people in general, expressed not directly by a vote on individual questions, but through representatives. Questions arise whether various mechanisms ensure that decision-making authentically answers to the people, or serves their interest (see also general will). The problem of delimiting a democratic constitution encounters these and other difficulties; critics suggest that political democracy is hollow unless accompanied by power in other spheres, and especially the area of economics.

From Answers.com, the definition of a Republican is:

1. a. One who favors a republic as the best form of government.
   

Philosophy Dictionary: republicanism An ideal of government that emphasizes the role of the active, participating citizen in government, often looking back to the role of the citizen in ancient Rome or Athens. Institutionally it aims at checks and balances to prevent the emergence of faction and majority tyranny, but also to the town-hall politics whereby decision-making has a bottom-up rather than a top-down structure.

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With the definitions in mind, the current U.S. government has a lot of corruption and greed and the people's representatives (most politicians) have completely forgotten about the people. The best chance we have is to find the lesser of two evils. Even back in the ancient Roman times, corruption was a very big problem. It is easy to understand how the corruption happens, but why is it allowed? Our government was built upon checks and balances, but most of the checks and balances don't necessarily seem to be worked. I won't say all of them aren't working, otherwise we would have complete anarchy.

I pray, regardless of how I personally vote, that whomever takes office will pleasantly surprise me and do the right thing by remembering about the people they're serving, restoring the checks and balances, pursuing equality and justice for all, fixing our economy and helping to provide jobs for everyone, fighting for health care for all of the citizens, performing peaceful diplomatic relations with other countries, promoting and pursuing alternative and renewable forms of energy and breaking our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels in general, and pushing for the people to work as a United States of America!

My email to Jay Nixon

I decided to take a moment and spread the word to the Democratic nominee for Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon. Please do the same and email your government officials. If you have an idea, spread the word. This is the only way we can make a difference. Use your voice and your mind. Make educated decisions through research. Look for "neutral" and unbiased sources of information.

Please follow my lead.
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Hi Jay,

I'm really glad to hear that you're running for Governor. I think that you did a fantastic job as Attorney General and really hope that you take the win for the Governor's seat. With that said, I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you and offer some suggestions, which I have posted on my blog at "http://altenergypolitics.blogspot.com/".

The biggest idea that I REALLY think would clean up Missouri, would be to clean up our landfills and create commodities revenues through recycling materials during the cleanup process. According to a study, as quoted on my blog, there is the potential, in Missouri alone, to gather 1.9 million tons of recyclable materials over a year and have a possible value of $208 million. 45% of waste in our landfills is recyclable materials.

Various resources could be utilized to begin the cleanup process, such as Community Service programs (including welfare-to-work), Prison work programs, Volunteers, etc. I also feel that we need to have more recycling centers throughout the state and offer tax breaks to trash services who offer recycling pickup as part of their route, including providing recycle bins to their customers.

I feel that the money earned from this development could provide many benefits, including alternative/renewable energy research and development/deployment, K-12 & college education grants, and other needed programs.

Also, please consider the Pickens Plan.

Thanks for your time and good luck with the campaign. You will be getting my vote!

--Ken