Tag: obama

  • The battle of Guantanamo

    guantanamoI suppose I’m just naive. With nearly every state clamoring about a loss of jobs why aren’t more states raising their hands and saying, “Yes, we’d like those detainees in my state. Give us the money to build the prison and we’ll house them forever.” Actually, Colorado is asking for them.

    If I’m Jennifer Granholm, I’d lobby to build a new Supermax prison in Saginaw or Flint. A billion for my state as well as $200 million per year to look after them? Sign me up!

    It’s silly to make the inference that somehow these detainees will be allowed into general population. Just like its silly to assume that the country is somehow more safe because they are in Cuba vs. them being in the United States. It’s a prison. It’s not like they are going to walk out and get jobs! There aren’t any jobs to be had!

    Of course, there are real reasons to keep them off of U.S. soil. If they are brought to the United States it implies that they are legally detained. I think there is an open debate as to whether the United States can legally detain people indefinitely.

    Should Guantanamo be closed? It’s become a symbol of how the Bush administration handled the war on terror. For that reason Obama wants it gone.  He wants to fight terrorism in a different way. ItClosing it doesn’t really solve the problem… but Obama is now caught in a catch-22. He now has the information he didn’t have when he made the campaign promise to close it. But now if he doesn’t close it he has to admit that Bush was right to have it there in the first place.

  • Quick check-in

    I’m always amazed at my inability to blog from NYWC. I think it’s a combination of my insane schedule and a lack of good internet connectivity. More importantly, I feel like I don’t have much to share while in the midst of NYWC since I’m soaking it in so deeply.

    So here are some random thoughts in no particular order.

    – I’m looking forward to getting season one of “NYWC as a YS staffer” out of the way. 2008 has been a major learning curve for me. I feel like I admit ignorance way too much. I look forward to 2009 because I’ll be more useful beyond what I was able to handle here. I know that is gray and fuzzy, I don’t want to bore anyone with details.

    – I’ve said this before but I want to say it again, people are people no matter what they do. I’ve had some stirring conversations with speakers and authors… but I’ve also had very similar conversations with people who don’t write or speak for a living.

    – Nashville is a great convention location. I love the arena environment!

    – A ton of people asked me if the convention gets boring having gone to all 3. No, not boring. Not really repetitive. If it were boring I would need to find a new job.

    – I have huge respect for convention volunteers. My only frame of reference is a PGA Tour event. I think it’s a lot like that. Simply put, if we didn’t have the volunteer we couldn’t do it. Thanks to our volunteers!

    – I’ve gotten more sleep than in Pittsburgh. The reality is that my body is just waking up at 5:30 AM Pacific time. My roommate, Andy Thompson, thought I was kidding. With no alarm I woke up at exactly 5:30 on Friday morning. Today I woke up at 5:27.

    – Security at the Sommet Center is a little crazy. They are diligent, to say the least.

    – Is it really Christmas shopping season?

    – It’s true. I’m staying over on Monday night so I can get a good nights sleep before going home. I felt like my recovery process after Pittsburgh was elongated by my lack of chillaxing.

    – I’m looking forward to checking out the details of Obama’s transition team when I get home.

    – Mark Yaconelli, pictured above, brought the funk today.

    – I am thankful for Ian [Dude] Robertson. Every time I do an interview I am praying I don’t ruin it. It’s happened, it’s embarassing and every shoot makes me wish I knew more about the camera.

    – Just heard this on the Nashville news, “NASA astronaughts are working on their hardest project ever, they are installing a device that will make drinking water out of urine.“

  • Saturday Morning Quarterbacks

    Obviously, this is election day. A day we’ve talked about in our nation for more than 2 years. Right now, both candidates have in their back pocket two speeches, one to celebrate that they have become the most powerful person on earth and the second to somehow admit a multi-million dollar defeat.

    But today is really not just about them. It’s about those of us with the ability to vote exercising our voice.

    In the morning there will voters distraught about the winner. Some will claim their desire to move to Canada. Here’s a little hint, our neighbors to the north don’t want you! Why is it that no one ever says that they are moving to Mexico? Just curious.

    Today is also a day when our eyes and ears will be glued to the television screen, internet news, and the radio. My prediction is that today the same quality work day as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We’re all “working” right?

    Rock the Dork Vote
    Rock the Dork Vote

    Last night I had a brief layover in Phoenix and with my Captain Obvious eyes I noted that everyone closely watched the news. For months the news anchors have tried to convince us that this election was a dead heat race for the finish. On CNN, Anderson Cooper did something that you see on ESPN a lot. “OK, we’ve talked about this for 24 months… now tell the nation what you think will happen tomorrow.” And one by one they took turns sharing their Saturday Morning Quarterback position. Several predicted Obama would recieve 370 electoral votes at minimum. One suggested as many as 500! While one man acknowledged that Obama holds a big lead he stepped out boldly to predict McCain will win by a [gray] hair and planted a seed that the polls have been rigged all along.

    Isn’t it awesome that we live in a nation where Saturday Morning Quarterbacks have a voice and journalism is as much about predictions as it is reporting the news of the day? I think it is facinating.

  • Pennsylvania is Split

    Watch how the anchor manages to ignore what just happens. This is great.

  • My Two Dads

    I love deadpan mistakes. For some reason the commentator just had a brain fart. Chances are, Barack Obama really doesn’t have two dads.