Some of the protests at town hall meetings across the country have been a riot. Literally. Thankfully we have avoided serious injuries thus far, despite a NH protester who was packing heat during President Obama’s recent town hall (left).

Seeing stuff like this makes me wonder why there can’t be civil disagreements, and sane discussions about health care, without name calling, demonization, or worse – violence.

But looking back on our history, American politics has never really been civil. Although close friends late in life, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had fierce policy disagreements, and attacked each other ferociously behind the scenes, as well as in the press. It took many years for them to put aside their differences and reconcile.

Abraham Lincoln’s decisions were questioned and attacked mercilessly in the press, often by members of his own cabinet, who either wanted the presidency for themselves, or strongly disagreed about his Civil War policy at the time.

And ignorant protesters? They too are nothing new.

Jefferson’s quote referenced in the sign above is “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.” The rest of that quote basically says rising up, even if you don’t have all the facts, is better than sitting back and doing nothing. Jefferson’s point was that it’s good and proper to take an interest and a stake in one’s government.

But he also understood that the blood watering that tree of liberty was just as much that of the uninformed masses, who perhaps didn’t have all the facts at their disposal, but took up arms anyway, versus the occasional tyrant:

“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them…What signify a few lives lost in a century or two?”

In other words, don’t condemn the uninformed; get the information out there, but deal with the recalcitrant if violence continues in the face of the truth. Fresh from the Revolution, Jefferson expected a few deaths here and there to make a point, lest anarchy rule.

But we are not in the 18th century anymore. Given the ease with which we can find all the information necessary to make sound decisions, bringing guns into presidential town halls and carrying signs talking about “watering the tree of liberty” to me, at least, seems hopelessly and ridiculously outdated.

–Brian

Rob Lucas gave a very reasoned and interesting account on his blog of how he came about choosing who to vote for this year. Reasoned, that is, until he wrote who he’s actually voting for! But that’s just my opinion…

I believe most of us made up our minds many weeks ago, and there are no real “undecideds” on election day. Still, I think it’s helpful to compare the management styles of both candidates, because let’s face it: this man’s administration will be a reflection of how his campaign was run. This year:

• Whose campaign stayed on message the entire time?
• Who had the same campaign staff and advisors, without upheaval or controversy?
• Who employed the most volunteers nationwide?
• Who had the best get-out-the-vote program?
• Whose advertising did you see the most?
• Whose executive decisions seemed the most calm, reasonable, and coherent?
• And, perhaps most importantly, who are more people excited about, both here and abroad?

If you base your vote solely on who ran the better campaign, then there is absolutely no dispute about who is the better choice to run this country. Obviously we bring lots of extra reasons into the voting booth with us, I’ll leave that part to you.

But whoever you vote for today, you are making history; either the first African-American president, or the first female vice president. We’ll look back on this election as a turning-point in American history, and tell our grandchildren “I voted in the great election of 2008!”

Grab your piece of history today. VOTE!

–Brian

Honestly, there have been a lot of (quite stupid) celebrity endorsements of both candidates this election season. This one, however, took me by surprise. Did you ever expect to see Ron Howard, (aging) Oscar winning director and producer, reprise his role as Opie on the Andy Griffith Show?

Me either. Enjoy.

–Brian

My brothers and I started watching SNL back in the early 80s, and to this day we quote a line from one of their Presidential Debate spoofs, in which Bob Dole gets testy with George Bush Sr.

“George, how’d you like me to stick this pen in your neck?!”

It was just so silly, but it “stuck” with us, pun intended. This year, obviously, the thing that is sticking with everyone is Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression. SNL ratings are up nearly 50% this season, thanks to Tina, who isn’t even a regular cast member anymore – her appearances have been done as a favor to Lorne Michaels!

It was a breezy, damp weekend otherwise. We did a lot of cleaning, picked up some groceries, played Scrabble (a game my wife always wins, by the way. She’s brutal), and watched the Bills over-the-air on a snowy regular TV, using an antenna, due to the Time Warner Cable/Channel 4 dispute. Thank goodness it’s bye week for Buffalo, we obviously need Trent Edwards back ASAP. The Bills were thrashed by Arizona, my Lions are gunning for the #1 pick in the draft again this year after getting hammered by Chicago, and all my fantasy teams appear to be tanking simultaneously.

But, bringing a smile to my face every time I walk into the house is our new flooring in the kitchen and dining room. WOW! Pictures forthcoming.

–Brian

Whatever your political persuasion, this was really pretty funny. No one does political humor better than Saturday Night Live. Just for grins, here’s part of the Katie Couric interview the spoof was based on:

By the way, I predict the VP Debate on Thursday night will attract more viewers than the Obama/McCain debate did, and that’s saying something, since they managed to grab 57 million people last week.

I also predict that Ms. Palin will do better than anyone expects, since Republicans are setting the bar extremely low. We’ll just have to watch and see.

–Brian

When I was a kid, there were gas shortages. People would line up to fill-up, and many stations would have “no gas today” signs posted. It was the first time OPEC flexed its collective muscle, and as a result we started to see small, economical Japanese cars on the market, which got up to 40 MPG.

In the news today the headlines read “Bush/McCain want to drill offshore.” There was an editorial in the Buffalo News last week that implied all our oil problems would be solved if only we could drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or “ANWaR.” But if high gas prices are simply the result of not enough supply to meet demand, why aren’t we seeing lines outside gas stations, like when I was a kid?

One of George W. Bush’s attacks on Bill Clinton when he ran in 2000 was that “not one refinery was built during the Clinton administration.” W didn’t preside over any being built either, and that’s the real problem with gas prices right now.

I don’t know if either of the current presidential candidates will press the oil industry sufficiently to construct more refineries, since ultimately we need to become less dependent on fossil fuels, but in my opinion something needs to be done in the interim to get us to that point. To me, building a few more refineries is a heck of a lot easier than hit and miss exploration in protected environmental areas.

–Brian

I don’t know how anyone can run for President and stay sane. Would Thomas Jefferson or George Washington even survive in today’s 24-hour news cycle? How can you even make it to the convention, when someone you half know, speaking off the record to someone overseas, says something that could show up on CNN and cast doubt on your entire candidacy?

This month alone we’ve seen: Hillary Clinton having to separate herself from feminist icon Geraldine Ferraro, for what is now perceived as racist speech; Barack Obama denouncing his pastor for things that were said (while he wasn’t even in church); and John McCain trying to explain away the fact that his spiritual advisor, televangelist John Hagee, thinks the Catholic Church is the anti-Christ.

What?

Is this guilt by association even pertinent to the issues that affect you and me? What about the economy, Iraq, health care, education, the environment?

Poof…

But what’s even more disturbing about politics in this country is how everything boils down to the lowest common denominator. Whatever negative sound bite prevails today, shapes our view of that candidate forever. The average voter relies on hearsay and innuendo instead of an honest search to discover the truth.

It’s no wonder government leaves us with such a sour taste in our mouths. The people who survive are the ones who know how to play the game, who have the money to pay for smears and character assassination, and who know how to lie, cheat, and steal their way to….victory?

Forgive my pessimism. I freely admit to reading way too much news. That’s the former radio news director in me, I guess. On this first day of Spring, I definitely need to get outside and ponder nature, instead of our desperate political climate. I’ll leave you with this:

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)

–Brian

Pretty funny, though!

–Brian

In the first Star Wars movie (yes, I’m a geek), Ben Kenobi uses a “Jedi Mind Trick” to get past a storm trooper check point.

“You don’t need to see any identification,” Ben says.

It’s certainly easier to think about blueberries and a full tank of gas than what’s really going on at the highest seats of our government today, but I’ll instead leave you with this:

To quote a memorable Seinfeld episode, I’m not gay….not that there’s anything wrong with that. But when I saw a recent clip of Keith Olberman on MSNBC recently, I developed a bit of a man-crush.

Keith pulled no punches with his Special Comment (editorial) about FOX News and the recent sand-bag interview of former President Clinton on Sunday.

Check it out:
Here – WMV

It’s worth watching, unless you’re some kind of right winger, in which case you’ll absolutely hate it. Mwahahahahahaha!

Let me know what you think. You people never comment anymore….

–Brian