Oh no they di'nt - here's a quote from John McCain's campaign web site:
"It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others."
Response from Wizards of the Coast website here. Apparently the McCain staff isn't aware that Dungeons and Dragons is a very popular pass time for GIs in the field. Hasbro even sent me a free D&D handbook and dice when I asked for one to use in teaching English skills when I was in Kazakstan for Peace Corps. Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast are good people who provide distraction for a lot of people in Iraq and Afghanistan. D&D players both overseas and domestic don't deserve that kind of comment.
The Republicans are serious about alienating anyone who isn't a white religious Evangelical maniac, I guess.
Time for me to pull out my +3 vorpal sword, take names and kick ass.
While I'm at it, how sad is it when I look at a party or even a candidate and think "I could do a better job than that." They're no longer recognizeable as Republicans as we formerly understood them. Now they're just a bunch of righteous, overspending, government-growing douche bags. I don't understand how people can vote that way when it's not in the best interests of 95% of the populace. Good persuasion and rhetoric goes a long way I guess.
Part of my new job has me serving in an emergency support function in times of national disaster and crisis. This past weekend I was sort of on call and narrowly ducked out of going to Louisiana or Texas - normally I'd jump at the chance to travel but I was on vacation at that time. It was also fortunate that Gustav didn't turn out to be that bad. However, more hurricanes are sure to come so who knows where I may end up. I wish I could have just stayed in South Carolina to wait for Hanna's arrival.
Anyway, I was watching CNN and The Weather Channel a lot to see how Hurricane Gustavo played out. While I was watching, I got fed up with the crappy CNN reporters, all of whom seemed to be desperately searching for tragedy and disaster when most of the time there was none. I can tell you that FEMA and many cooperating government agencies were planning and preparing for Gustavo's arrival at least a week in advance, and no one really wanted to repeat a Katrina. I think the level of preparedness is one reason Gustavo wasn't so bad. But you wouldn't know that from watching television as their breaking coverage of trees quaking and water flowing were bloated with hype and sensationalism - all but guaranteeing that we are all going to die in the most horrific ways imaginable in just a few minutes.
CNN could have shown coverage of pet rescue and care shelters set up in advance of the hurricane, people evacuating in a calm manner, or smooth mass transit evacuations for those who didn't have their own means of transportation - but good news doesn't sell ad space I guess. CNN gets a C- on fair, balanced and rational coverage of Hurricane Gustavo. Y'all suck. View non-hysterical hurricane development here.
Besides, snakeheads are still coming for you and they will undoubtedly kill you faster than a hurricane ever could.
And then there's this media feeding frenzy over Sarah Palin. Granted, she's got a sketchy past and it looks like she has more than enough shark food in her unofficial CV to feed Dr. Evil's pets. The media has a right to dig for that shit, despite the protests of the RNC, who played that game successfully with Rove as the pitcher for 8 years. It's good to see the tables turn on the Republicans, now on the defense for the first time in over a decade. I like how Andrew Sullivan put it:
"In Minneapolis, in some kind of freak political weather system, all the centrifugal forces that have been tearing at the GOP for two decades now have merged. The veneer of a serious governing party is colliding with the reality of a theocratic, fanatic base. The pull of foreign policy realism is busting up against an unrepentant neoconservatism made even more extreme by the McCain candidacy. The whole collision makes one want to look away."Oh, but I can't look away. The trainwreck that is the GOP is too delicious to watch. The hyenas are salivating and moving in for the kill and it's far too delicious to look away.
I'd rather vote for the Tigh/Roslin ticket instead of McCain/Palin, even though they look awfully similar. Here is a photo of Sarah Palin with a hot Alaska state trooper.
This Saturday, Sept. 6, my rugby team hosts Quantico (A-side) and American University (B-side) in our fall season opener. A-side kickoff is at 1 p.m at Colmar Manor Park. B-side match immediately follows after the 80-minute A-side match is done. I'll most likely be playing with the B-side.
I had a lovely time in South Carolina, and stocked up on peaches on the way back home today. There was an alligator just outside our condo:
I didn't spot any new bird species, but got to see more Louisiana herons and plenty of wood storks:
Giant golden orb spiders had meter-wide webs spread across every stretch of tree.
I narrowly avoided getting deployed to Louisiana to support recovery efforts due to Hurricane Gustav. More hurricanes are on their way, so more travel may be in my future.
"These aren't the oysters you're looking for...they're MINE, bitches!"
We are having a blast down here in South Carolina. The surf is like bathwater and the food and scenery are great. There are giant spiders and alligators here too, but my connectivity sucks at the moment and one photo is all the line can handle at the moment.
OMG Gustavo: there is a hurricane that is supposed to hit SC soon, I wish they would let me stay here and set up an incident command center and have it ready when Hannah hits. The peaches are ripe and the seafood is fresh - I could hold the fort until then.
I am all over the 'net today, in a MetroWeekly feature article about bloggers in DC. They even linked to an article about the Blogjam open mike prose reading event we had in 2004. Good times, we should do it again.
Anyhow, go grab a copy of MW from the stands today (I'm glad they didn't use my photo on the cover). Other bloggers featured in the article include:
Lara Varlas and Ben Carver of The New Gay
Terrance Heath of The Republic of T
John Aravosis of Americablog
Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish
Mike Rogers of Blogactive
TJ also writes about the new fruity rating system for exotic produce, based on a rating of 1 to 4 jimbos. Is it because I'm so sweet, or so bitter?
Yesterday I discovered another holocaust out in the pond. The other day the water spontaneously emptied itself, but I suspect foul play. Then we filled it up, then somebody got into it again, as the plants and pump were all discombobulated when I got home from work. I suspect it's kids again, now that school has started they stop by Lake Shaw to try to catch fish with dixie cups and chopsticks. Two goldfish and all the guppies died in the upset. I even found dead baby goldfish, as the adults must have spawned in the spring - life springs anew only to be struck down by ghetto-ass punks. I think I'm gonna give up on the thing, as we are clearly not allowed to have nice things in Shaw due to frequent barbarian incursion.
To add to my sour mood, I discovered my cowboy boots which I rarely wear were completely covered in a layer of mold. They were back in the closet which is basically the crawlspace in my moldy basement unit.
I'm not completely convinced my tiny basement that is infested with mold and vermin, with a cheap Home Depot EZ-Bake Oven, and an air conditioning unit that sucks greasy oven exhaust from the upstairs kitchen into my unit is worth $1,000/month. Sadly, I signed a 1 year lease so I'm here for a while, but will seriously consider buying my own place once June comes around again. I realized a while ago that I was caring for the place with an effort that would equal work I would spend on my own place, so I might as well dive in and buy my own place once and for all.
Anyway, I'm off to the beach today, so the barbarians, mold spores an other vermin can piss off.
I suppose it is your right to vote like a douche bag. But here is the 411 from me, who has lived in DC for ten years with friends who are lobbyists or otherwise are some kind of vermin doing their vile work up on Capitol Hill (I still love you even though you are a despicable rodent, fyi).
I've heard a lot in my time here, sometimes more than I care to. I have some insight on politics and how things work here. Maybe people tell me things because they know I don't give a shit, but here's what I know:
Politics are a lot like rugby. You can beat the crap out of someone, punch them in the 'nads, stomp on their face with your cleats or otherwise abuse somebody for 80 minutes. But when it's over, you go and have a beer together and hope to do the same to them next year. Politics are brutal like that too. When you're pushing an agenda or running for an office, you will shit down someone's throat, stab them in the back, or cut their Achilles' tendon. But when the lobbying or campaign is over, you have to be friends because you might need your opponent's support some other day.
Both Clinton and Obama know this. They've both been at this game for some time. I would have been fine with either candidate, but one lost and one continues on. And last night the one who lost urges you support the other. Her pleas were sincere. Your option is four more years of gross overspending, more government (despite the fact that Republicans claim they are against more government) and more profiteering on fraudulent levels.
If you are pouting and stomping your feet that your candidate lost, and vow to vote for the other party or not vote at all, you are a dumb shit and you don't really understand how things work. Politicians understand that there are losers and winners and you have to cooperate after the fact even though somebody lost - do you understand this? Yeah, both sides were nasty in the campaign, but like I said, you kiss and make nice afterwards. Be a good sport, not a sore loser. If you hold a grudge you won't get to play again.
Hillary is a respectable tough-ass survivor who now has different ways to get things done now that she's relegated back to the Senate. But she didn't get the candidacy, and she's moving on because that's the way things go. She all but ordered her supporters to get over it and support Obama, but do y'all need counseling or something before you can listen to what she said? If you are choosing to be contrary or obstinate, you are truly the hysterical minion everyone says you are.
