Getting Back in the Saddle

Ok so no opinions/politics/news or otherwise in this post. I have been a bit MIA lately, and I apologize for any readers who may have been disappointed. I could give you the long intense description of where I have been or why I have been gone, but I doubt your attention span (or mine) is long enough to care. In short, I have been under the weather, but expect me to be back in full force from here on out.

Q&A: Presidential Candidate Ron Paul

Can you characterize a typical Ron Paul supporter? No. The characteristic is they're not typical, and we're proud of it. We talk about it all the time—freedom brings diversity. It brings people together. Big government divides us, and we become competitive, and we fight over the spoils. That's why you have lobbyists up here fighting. It was fine when everybody thought there was endless wealth in this country. But today people, down deep in their heart, they know there's something wrong. And they see symbolically one of the best measurements of a country that is losing its wealth is when their currency goes down in value. And I've been talking about currency values since the very first time I ran for office. It's the monetary issue that has motivated me. And it's just all coming together now. The welfare spending at home, the militarism, the empire building is bringing us to bankruptcy. And we have a lot more inflation than they'll admit. Here we have currency going down—that in itself is inflation. The figures they fudge with—the CPI [consumer price index]—that is not inflation. That is a pseudo measure of inflation. The dollar is important. The money supply is important. But not government reports on the CPI.

I am finding it harder and harder to avoid the fact that I agree with almost everything that comes out of Ron Paul's mouth. He has a handle on most of the issues that are important to me and honeslty, he speaks from a very straightforward no complication perspective. The entire Q&A is worth a read, but I found this intiial piece to be very poinient. There is no streamlined demographic of a republican or a democrat these days. America is made of up of very diverse and differing opinions. Honestly, this political election may be one of the most complex ever. With the ability and availability of information there is a huge chance for many who normally avoid politics to be aware of and more involved in the process. I think that Ron Paul has been doing an amazing job of capitalizing on the internet availability and rallying his support, and the increase in the number of supporters at his speeches and events recently stand as proof. It is true, freedom breeds diversity, but the freedom is also what brings us together. I know that on the top of my list is the right to be a free citizen able to pursue my hapiness and to do so without constant interference by the government or anyone else for that matter.

read more digg story

Red Button Radio Wrap Up 11/11/07

We had a great show yesterday, ignoring all the technical difficulties in getting it started (Now Live is great, but they are definitely still working a lot of the kinks out :P). My co-host Corey was able to make it and had A LOT to add to the conversation.

The main topic of the show was "What is your red button issue, what makes you get up and vote." It was interesting to hear so many people so frustrated with the current political arena. It seems that there are more than just a few of us who feel like there is a lack of political heroes out there. It seems like everyone is just looking for someone who they can truly respect to back and unfortunately the well is a little too dry.

My favorite caller was a gentleman from Puerto Rico that offered his opinion on what keeps him interested and involved in politics and what he does to help and directly involve himself politically. I wouldn't say I agree with all of his opinions, but his statements about the need for community level and grass roots organizing in politics is definitely true.

Welcome to the relgious debate... Our second live show and already we had to go there. Well, I will agree with some of the statements Corey made about the good that has come from religion, there is something to be said for the frustrations and bad blood that it has caused as well.

This is a just a peek into what we discussed, feel free to check out the podcast on Red Button Radio and we'll be live again on Sunday, exact time still TBD (sorry guys still working out some of the kinks).

Red Button Radio

The Obama Girls

This topic came up on the last radio broadcast of The Red Button and feel it deserves a more thorough opinion on my part. There is a part of me that really likes the idea of creative and persuasive advertisement and generally anything that gets the youth in America to vote. What I am not so comfortable with is the degradation of political offices to nothing more than a popularity contest.
The videos depict girls in scandalous clothing singing about Obama. They resemble something close to a hip hop music video. The good part is they do have some factual political content. The bad part is, this is probably going to bite Obama in the butt down the road. Though the younger voters may vote in larger numbers this election, the majority of voters are not young. They most likely will not be interested in a presidential candidate backed by this kind of publicity.
I guess I am still not sure which direction to go on this one.

The Red Button