1984 Immigration

Why does this all sound so familiar? It's kind of crazy to think that exactly what they are talking about in terms of Immigration are very similar to what we've heard so far in the primaries. When will something get done? The issues if yesterday and those of today.

Perry Ummmmmm

This last week at the Republican Debate, Rick Perry stunned the crowd when he forgot some very vital information on his own government plan. He was speaking on what government agencies he would eliminate if he was elected President: Commerce, Education, and Ummm.

Maybe he’s fooling us. For all I know, “Ummm” is an actual agency. I think it has something to do with the agency that oversees the investigation into bigfoot in the mountains of America. “Ummm…?”

Anyway, Perry had an epic brain fart. He clearly passed all the qualifications for his blunder to be recognized as a fart- 1) Surprised that it happened 2) Laugh because you farted 3) React to people based on how they react to the fart. It’s fact.

Perry didn’t try to cover up the fact that he forgot what the third agency is. He actually asked himself out loud what the third one was. Other candidates began to shout in different names, the loudest being the EPA. When EPA was heard, Perry simply agreed that the EPA was what he intended so he could feel less awkward. It was a quick bail out and reaction to the brain fart based on someone’s reaction.

The seriousness of the moment came when the moderator continued to hound Perry on what the third agency actually was, to which Perry replied “I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”

We often look at our presidential candidates are super powered people, who need to be perfect in order to run a country. We look for a seamless version of an all knowing and wise person to take the oval office. And through these expectations, we forget that they are human beings too.

This whole Perry slip moment at the debate has made me think about what our standards are for “mistakes”. When people discuss Hermain Cain, some are disgusted at his sexual accusations, or the possibility that he had done something like that. Some people don’t excuse his comments on building an electric fence. However, though embarrassing, I feel as though Perry took his slip gracefully, and we are in the process of excusing his mistake and branding it as simply a mistake. It’s not the greatest thing to see a front runner completely lose their train of thought, but that’s why presidents read off a teleprompter in real life. Perry’s slip was disheartening and disappointing, but I have to admit, I think it’s understandable. If anything it showed such a human side to him- off script, off agenda.

I said before that Perry handled the situation with grace. The next night, Perry appeared on Late Night with David Letterman and did the famous Top 10 Countdown. Perry presented the “Top 10 Rick Perry Excuses”. And all with good humor and recognition that it was a genuine mistake. How do you think the public sees Perry since then, now that he’s been out from behind the podium, and embracing his faults and humor?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pz7JDSW0u8

Pulling the Country Forward

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57320162/bogle-tough-sentences-would-keep-execs-in-line/?tag=contentBody;cbsCarousel

I was watching the CBS Evening News today, and there was a very interesting segment that was featured. I encourage everyone to watch this 5 minute segment. Think about it. Thank you, CBS, for actually featuring something with substance.

Cartoons!

Political cartoons have always been a big part of American politics. However, now they have become "ambient", sometimes over looked at the power they have at portraying our political figures online, in news papers, and reflecting on current events surrounding these candidates. Here's a quick example of this form of (entertaining and creative) media

Google in Washington

A few words on GOOGLE. We are all familiar with the power of google. But in terms of media, this discussion is on how google because a distributor of news, but separates the buyer from the provider. Also discusses the easily accessable data that cannot be found with newspapers anymore.

Flashback

This is Matt Drudge, who is an independant journalist and online writer. This is from the late 90s when the media was shifting from majority paper press, to an internet outlet. He discusses the benefits of (early) internet journaling and how it operates with newspapers.

Fun Facts

I’ve realized that I’m falling into a little trap. More often than not, when people talk about the American Political System, people feel the need to become cynical. And frankly, I’m sick of hearing this dumb “self pity” American perspective. Listen people- cut your whining and your moping. Crying over the things you disagree with will not change the system, if you feel it needs change, nor will it elect a president.

And it’s this mentality that I feel I, and other bloggers, are tempted to go toward- and not necessarily because we are criticizing anything, but because it’s easier to write from that perspective. So, in honor of breaking that trend, this little blog is on some fun facts I came across in an article by Colleen Kane of CNBC.com. Here are some information on our Republican candidates’ homes and estates.

According to the article, Mitt Romney owns the most estate out of all the candidates. Specifically, his lodge in Utah is quite impressive. Romney bought the house for over 5 million dollars. The lodge itself is equipped with 9.5 bathrooms, 7 bedrooms, and 9,500 square feet.  Yes…9,500 square feet. This is not the only property that Romney owns- in 2009 Romney owned 4 other estates.

Another interesting house to take a look at is Michele Bachmann’s! She bought her 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom home in 2008 in Minnesota. At that time, the home was worth $760,000. Her home now overlooks the 18^th hole of a StoneRidge Golf Course. The house itself looks like an “extreme makeover” home. Unfortunately, Romney still beats her out in the square footage, where she only stands with 5,200 square feet.

Now here is my all time favorite candidate house. Though only a 3 bathroom house, with just over 5,000 square feet, Rick Santorum’s home in Virginia actually made me laugh. Though his home is gorgeous, you can tell he doesn’t spend much time outside… In 2007, his house cost $850,000.

So there are three homes that, otherwise, are just a little bit of fun facts about some of our candidates. But what I’m actually interested in is what the houses say about the candidates. For example, look above at Santorum’s house. It’s exactly who he is, right? Kind of bland- dry cereal in the morning- plenty of room but not much going on around it. Honestly, it’s a house that would be passed and unrecognized too. Unfortunately in my opinion, that is Santorum in a nutshell: a candidate that is kind of on the back burner. Romney’s house is the other interesting item on our list of personality homes. We know Romney to be the business man, a corporate man. His houses certainly reflect the image of a wealthy business man with the luxury of being and working in an upper-class system.

I’m not taking credibility away from any of the candidates here. I’m offering that these little fun facts can maybe hold water in a case for the way a candidate is. “The way you do one thing is the way you do everything” is a phrase that automatically comes to mind when I see these fun facts. If anything, they are consistent with the people we are seeing in the Primary debates right now.

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/homes-of-the-gop-candidates.html