Oh. My. God.

Ok, all of you...I want ALL of you OFF MY TV BOX NOW!!!

Good sweet grief!! How can one man use so many words and yet say so little?? Is that even possible?! How can anyone seriously consider such bloviation to be an actual platform?

I think I need to keep my television tuned to Discovery or Cartoon Network until after the election...

I Have A Few Things To Say...

Ok, remember when I said I wasn't a political person? Well, I'm not. But, I am going to put that aside for a few minutes as I type this up, because I'm beginning to get really pissed off, and I have a few points to make. So, sit back, put your partisanship in the little cup of water on your bedside table and listen up:

Lisa's Talking Points

~ WHY do politicians take statements made by the opposition out of context and then spend days spinning and trying to not have the actual context the statement was made in known? I saw this occur this morning by one candidate, and, because I knew the context the quote was actually made in, it really iced my cookies. The candidates surrogate then went to extreme measures to attempt to say that the actual context wasn't important. Ahem...DO WE LOOK STUPID?! OF COURSE THE CONTEXT MATTERS! THIS WAS NOT A FREE STANDING QUOTE AND YOU KNOW IT!! IF WE CAN'T TRUST YOU TO TAKE A QUOTE IN THE PROPER CONTEXT, WHY SHOULD WE TRUST YOU TO RUN OUR COUNTRY?!!

...and no, I don't expect an answer to this...because the candidate obviously HAS no answer to this, aside from the same tired old rhetoric that's been spewing forth from the gullet for months now.

~ WHY is the main stream media so afraid of Sarah Palin? It's gotten so that you cannot watch a newscast or read a paper without hearing something derogatory about her. It doesn't even have to be anything about her record (and, for the record, as a mayor and governor, she does, indeed, have a record of executive experience) Half the attacks are personal. From Oprah refusing to have her on her show (be careful there, Oprah, your partisanship is showing) to a supposed "joke" on SNL being little more than "today it was reported that Sarah Palin took travel expense reimbursement money to travel from her house to the executive offices". Yes, THAT was the "joke". Of course, what they didn't tell you is that the executive offices in Alaska are in a city some 800 miles from her home, and that reimbursement of travel expenses is allowed.

See, it's crap like this that makes me angry. No one knows much about Sarah Palin, yet people dive right in, making accusations that are easily proven false (that Palin's baby is really the offspring of her teenage daughter) and making statements with no basis in truth (how do the writers at SNL know whether or not Palin knows what the Bush Doctrine is?) Personally, I think the media see a woman who is as energizing and exciting...and it messes with their not so hidden agenda.

~ STOP WITH THE SHOUTING! EVERYONE AND THEIR FRICKIN' UNCLE IS YELLING ON MY TV BOX AND I'VE ABOUT HAD IT, DAMN IT! Is it any wonder I turn the pundits off and watch Cartoon Network instead? ROBOT CHICKEN DOES NOT YELL AT ME!!

And for God's sakes, stop assuming that everyone watching you is ignorant. Pundits, please see my first point about politicians thinking we the people are stupid.

~ Stop already with the damn polls. Every day, there's not just a new poll...there are MULTIPLE new polls, with hairs split so finely there's no way to decipher what the hell any of it even means. Next thing you know, they will be telling us who gained a point with potentially undecided voters who wear green underwear and have hairy warts on their chins.

~ Again...STOP YELLING AT ME!!

~ The arrogance...drop it. ALL OF YOU....

~ One candidate continues to attack another, saying he has no plan on how he's going to fix the economy...yet the candidate attacking can't say what his plan is either. All he does is give rhetoric about how he's going to fix it...but never is there a how involved. So, in essence, he has no plan either. Doesn't his attack on the other for having no plan make him a hypocrite?

~ All of these vague commercials about getting the truth, and the alternative energy and the listen to what we have to say dot coms...who the hell are you and why should I visit your website when I have abso-freakin-lutely NO idea who you are, what you stand for or why you even care?!

and, lastly...

~ T. Boone Pickins...GET. OFF. MY. TV. BOX. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

What Is Sexy?

Years ago, Jovan Musk perfume used to run an ad asking "What is sexy?". They'd then show images of things considered to be "sexy".

Today, while watching tv, I happened upon someone and thought "Hmm...THAT'S sexy". And I thought...why not list what all I find sexy in my blog? Because, you know, I don't really have anything else to talk about tonight ;)


What Is Sexy?

~ Mike Rowe's bare hairy chest and arms

~ Confidence

~ Bruce Willis

~ Power

~ A well dressed man

~ FNC Meterologist Rick Reichmuth's hands and arms

~ Pierce Brosnan

~ The ability to make me laugh

~ Deep blue eyes

~ FNC's Rick Leventhal in a tshirt


(and what was it I saw on TV and thought was sexy? Rick Reichmuth's hands and forearms...luscious!)

Let's Get Political...

Ok, I never do this, and I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm not a very political person. I don't follow party talking points and I don't vote party lines. While I'm registered Republican, I don't consider myself a Republican. I consider myself a Reaganite. For the record, I have been a supporter of John McCain for the last 8 years and am thrilled that I will finally have the opportunity to thank him for his lifetime of service to our country by casting a ballot for him for president.
That said, I have a few 'talking points' of my own to make about this coming election.

When I look at the state of our great nation, I know we need a change. There are many things wrong with our economy, our policies and yes, our politicians.

First and foremost, my one pet peeve about politics are the political parties. Why do we need these? Why do we have to have something that fosters an "us vs. them" mentality on every blessed topic? Why can't people run for office on personal merit rather than party talking points? Why?? George Washington himself was suspect of parties, realizing early on that they were more divisive than anything else. It serves absolutely no one to have this constant tug of war over everything from major policy changes to the smallest minutia of every day governing. Bipartisanship is a good thing, and I know that John McCain thinks this way as well...just witness his relationship with Joe Lieberman.

That brings me to my next point. How many of our elected officials are willing to stand up for what they believe in? Not a whole hell of a lot, to be sure. Regardless of their party affiliations, so many of the men and women we hire by voting into office are too worried about offending the base that they blindly follow party talking points, regardless of whether or not they are good for the constituency and the country. Joe Lieberman is an exception to the rule. He formed his own opinion on Iraq and followed thru on it, even at the expense of his party support and nomination for reelection. I can't have anything but respect for someone willing to lose everything in order to stay true to their own principles.

Now, changes in our policies and the economy are harder topics to discuss. Everyone has his or her own ideas on things. Some people are for gay marriage. Others dead set against it. Personally? I don't see what the big deal is. There are some gay couples who've been monogamous far longer than some straight couples. And who am I to judge? As the good book says, judge not, lest ye be judged. Abortion is a volatile topic as well. As a woman, I find myself to be pro choice. I don't know that I would ever have an abortion, but I want the ability to make that decision for myself, should I ever be in the position to have to make an agonizing choice like that. Economic policies, trade restrictions, taxes...major, major topics in this election year. I don't know much, but I do know one thing: making changes to most everything I've mentioned here would take an act of congress. Very little power has the president on his own (wow...how Yoda~like of me!)

Now, that brings me to John McCain. Yes, I like him. I have liked him for 8 years now. I like that he talks TO me, not AT me. I like that he can make a joke and take one too. I like that he's soft spoken and compassionate. I like that he doesn't care what party you subscribe to as long as you are willing to have an open mind and work together. I like that this is a man who has spent his entire life in service to his country, and has both the physical and emotional scars to prove it. I like that, despite what has happened to this man because of his service, he still believes, like Ronald Reagan did before him, that America is inherently good. That our country is the "shining city on the hill". I like that John McCain puts country first. I like that John McCain is proud to be an American.

TV's Mike Rowe Sings A Capella

The back story here is that Mike Rowe's former high school music teacher and choirmaster, Fred King, passed away recently. Mike, along with 3 other men he used to sing with in high school, sang a little tribute to their teacher.

I think it must be quite a wonderful testament to the kind of man Fred King was that so many of his former students thought so highly of him to turn out for this service. This must have been of great comfort to the King family, and I'm sure that somewhere, Fred King was smiling.

TV's Mike Rowe Works...

And summer is over. Labor Day weekend, as is it's custom, escorts summer out as our children go back to school and we go back to work.

After a refreshing weekend at the shore where I took too much sun and bought too many new pairs of flip flops (oh come on...if you could get ElizaB's half price, you'd buy them too!) I returned home and to work and to the internet.

I was surprised to see what greeted me over on the dirty jobs board...it was a link...a link to a site Mike Rowe had set up...something called "mikeroweWORKS".

Of course I clicked on it.

Not quite sure what it is, though.

Oh, there was a 7 minute long video of Mike, standing in his dining room, beer on the table in the background, talking to the camera about the role of the modern day proletariat, vis a vis something or other, invoking images of Rosie the Riveter, talking about our crumbling infrastructure yadda yadda yadda....it's all stuff I've heard him say over and over again, from the Fast Company article to posts right there on the DJMB.

Now, I understand, in theory, what the man is attempting to do.

He wants to get the word out that there ARE indeed other opportunities out there besides college. There are careers that are good, albeit dirty. He wants to be, in effect, a public relations firm for the blue collar worker.

A noble cause, to be sure.

But...what, exactly IS mikeroweWORKS? HOW is he going to get opinions and ideals to change? What is his mission statement? What are the goals? What are the steps being taken to achieve these goals? Every successful campaign has a firm mission statement, with a clear and concise idea of the steps being taken to reach intermittent goals en route to the ultimate goal.

Now, everyone who knows me knows that I do, indeed, love Mike Rowe. He entertains me, and makes me smile. He's a thinking woman's sexy. So, with that said, I have a few things to say about Mike Rowe and his works:

Rosie the Riveter: UR DOIN' IT WRONG.

Mike chooses to use the image of Rosie as an icon of the working man, a champion calling men and women to careers in industry. Nice idea, but not exactly right. Rosie was WW2 propaganda designed to get women out of the home and into the factories during the war to keep the country going. They were there to replace the men who left the factories empty while they were off fighting in Europe and the Pacific theaters. Without the women taking up the gauntlet and keeping industry going so the country could survive and so supplies could continue to the military, our war effort could all have been for naught. THAT is who Rosie the Riveter is.

The Proletariat: Where are the Marx Brothers when you need them?

Mike chooses to use the term "modern day proletariat" to describe the blue collar worker. But...why? Why use such a negative word, Mike? A word that conjures up images of a dingy gray Cold War Soviet Union, where masses of people stand in line, hoping for a loaf of bread while Red Army guards stand watching? Why use a word so closely associated with Communism and the Iron Curtain? Is it because it's a big twenty-five cent word that makes you sound smart? Or do you not think that those you are speaking to and of will 'get' the negative connotation? I'll lend a hand. Here is the dictionary.com definition of proletariat: "The lower classes; beggars." Case, rested.

Our Crumbling Infrastructure: What Infrastructure?

Ok, this is where Mike really loses me. Is he saying that the infrastructure of our nation, which we all know IS crumbling, is crumbling because we lack the labor to maintain it? Because, if he is saying that, well, it's just not true. There is no shortage of manpower to restore and maintain things. What there IS a lack of are appropriations of funds by local, state and federal authorities in order TO maintain them. If a local government does not appropriate adequate funding for road maintenance, eventually those roads are going to fall apart. That bridge in Minnesota did not fall because there were no workers to repair and maintain it. The bridge in Minnesota fell because the authority charged with maintaining it did not appropriate adequate funding for it. This is the problem. Unemployment is high. People are out of work. People are skilled and willing to learn in order to earn a fair wage. Monies are not being earmarked to fix our roadways and bridges and our power grids. Monies are being funneled to special interests and pet projects instead. The only way Mike Rowe can change any of this is for him to change government by running for public office...in every town, county and state in this great nation of ours. Even TV's Mike Rowe can't do that.

I wish Mike and his works well. I hope he is able to reach whatever the goals of the endeavor are. Actually, I hope that eventually he is able to articulate clearly what those goals actually are. Only then will he be able to reach them!