The Cranky Voter

Is it Snowing in Hell?

July 28, 2008 – 3:22 pm by Cranky Voter
Yeah this is another article on Tony Snow. Everyone says he was such a great guy and that he was smart and likable and he died too soon .. but no one is perfect and he must have done something that could have made him a candidate for hell. Besides, it is a great title! Would you be reading this if it was called Is it Snowing in Heaven? So what made Tony Snow such a great person .. well I don't know, I never met the man nor did I work with him, but he was a good interviewer and I enjoyed watching him on the Sunday Morning talk show on Fox. He had a unique way of actually engaging the person that he was interviewing in such a way as to not let them get away with any fabrications or contradictions. In many ways he seemed to be tougher ...

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An Inconvenient Mayor

July 13, 2008 – 12:37 am by Political King of New York
When Rudolph Giuliani took the reigns of New York City, my town was not a fun place to live. Well over 2,000 murders per year, an economy in the toilet and rabble rousers all over the place that caused the perception (if not the reality) of a lawless society to grab hold of the city. Anyone who was in New York at the time of his inauguration remembers his slogan of "It should be so and it will be so" as his kid was climbing all over the podium, waving to family and friends in the audience. Oddly, some at the time questioned if he couldn't control his kid, how would he control the city? Clearly, he did! Move ahead eight years. Giuliani is best remembered and revered for his leadership after the country was attacked on 9/11/01. I remember, distinctly, watching him on TV as he replied to question about whether ...

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A Rebelious Tribute to July 4th and September 11th

July 10, 2008 – 2:15 pm by Cranky Voter
Well happy fourth of July! So I am a little cranky. It is a little noisy out there and I am thinking, why? The forth of July is Independence Day in the United States. So what does Independence day have to do with Fireworks, loud noise and people blowing off their right hand? It is a day that we celebrate with bombs bursting in air and under the rockets red glare. Is it ironic that we celebrate the birth of a nation by simulating war? Not at all, since we celebrate with fireworks to remind us of the bombs that we used in winning our freedom from the British. A holiday celebrating a violent separation of an occupied territory with no representation in the occupying government to clearly declare it right to independence and freedom. There were many smart men had contemplated for a long time the noble proclamation and high minded ...

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Racism, Obama and the Presidency

July 2, 2008 – 2:58 pm by Cranky Voter
So I have been thinking about the subject of Racism. Why have I been thinking about Racism? Maybe that is because Barrack Obama has reminded me so many times that it exists. Or maybe it is because the News Media has reminded me so many times that Obama is the first Democratic nominee to be of African American decent? There were other candidates before, but this is the first one that has made it to become the Nominee of the party. I don't hear McCain talking about race. Maybe McCain has other things to talk about beside the color of Barack's skin. Now I am not saying that Racism doesn't exist, however I would say that there is discrimination and prejudice of all kinds and Racism is just one such manifestation of hatred and judgment. So I listened to Obama's speech the other day. He said that McCain was this and ...

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Goodbye Tim Russert - but was There no Other News Today?

June 14, 2008 – 1:10 am by Cranky Voter
Ok .. the passing of Tim Russert is a shocking and unexpected event. He was only 58 years old and seemed to be in great health. No one would look at Tim Russert and think about a heart attack. Anyone who was a fan of the Sunday News shows can't deny his dominance in presenting an informative and addictive news show. I was a fan - I tried to watch him every week. He would ask the questions that I wanted to ask and wouldn't let the guests on his show get away with a non answer or a half answer. Tim would come back again and ask the question until he got the answer he was looking for or until he realized that he had made the guest concede. He was a tough interviewer and was always so well prepared. He would come up with a quote from ...

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What about the “American” vote?

June 8, 2008 – 4:18 pm by Political King of New York
Presidential elections have long been about voting blocks. In the late '90s it was the "Soccer Moms." In the 2004 election it was the "Nascar Dads." Of course, we've heard about the "young vote" for decades. In fact, the "young vote" was supposed to clinch the election for Kerry in 2004. Worked out well, didn't it? This year we haven't, as of yet, heard about one of those blocks. We did hear about a few of them during the democratic primary season. First it was the middle Americans who "put their faith in religion and guns," and then the people who would vote for Obama because he was a black male. The problem with noting those groups? The candidates are supposed to ingratiate them, not anger them. Oops! Since 1960 when politics in the media joined the ranks of what we now know as "infotainment", there has been a greater emphasis on ...

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Democratic Vice President Choice

June 4, 2008 – 11:42 pm by Cranky Voter
Who should Obama pick as a Vice Presidential Candidate? Everyone is obsessed with the topic. They say that Hillary is demanding to be Vice President. We have all heard about the conference call were she said that she would consider it. We all saw her acceptance speech where she talked about winning the popular vote and didn't admit defeat. Now there are rumors that she is going to suspend her campaign this weekend. But does she really want to become Vice President of the United States, or does she just want to be asked to run on the ticket? Don't you think she would have more power and influence in the Senate? Does she really want to be second fiddle when the whole historic impact of a women being the Vice President would be greatly overshadowed by the fact that the President is an African-American. Perhaps Hillary could be the ...

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Hillary’s Victory Speech

June 4, 2008 – 1:15 am by Cranky Voter
Did I miss something? Did Hillary just win the nomination of the Democratic party for President of the United States? I listened to the speech and it certainly sounds as if she won the nomination. She reminded us that she won the popular vote. She congratulated Obama for running such a great race. She then talked about her next steps. What does Hillary want, she asked. It didn't sound like a concession speech to me. She told us that she wasn't going to make a decision tonight, but that she was going to meet with her advisers and figure out the next steps. So here is one thing that I don't understand. Yeah I get that the numbers don't seem to add up and that everyone in the Press is stating that she is through and that her campaign is over. That she should concede, of course they have been saying ...

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Get the Old Man a Pair of Glasses

June 4, 2008 – 12:21 am by Cranky Voter
So I was digging the content but I couldn't help think that not only was John McCain was reading his speech but he was just having trouble reading. It was choppy and monotone and had no feeling whatsoever. McCain was definitely struggling with his speech to the point where it was difficult to actually pay attention to what he was saying. I think it was a good speech, but I think someone else should have been giving it. Perhaps like in baseball John McCain needed a designated reader or at least a pinch speaker. The way the speech was written, you would have expected the key line that was repeated over and over again - that is not change that you can believe in - to be emphasized or at least said with some emotion. I wasn't sure if it was past John McCain's bedtime or maybe he already took his ...

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Time for Hillary to create a New Party

June 2, 2008 – 9:17 pm by Cranky Voter
Hillary has received the most votes for President in the history of Democratic Primaries ... or so she keeps telling us. She says that she has the momentum and that the big states all voted for her. But let's be honest she is not going to win the nomination of the Democratic party. Maybe the only person that hasn't figured that out yet is Hillary herself, but the numbers don't add up and the cowardly Super delegates are about to hand the election to Obama or maybe the Republicans since many have said that Obama can not win in the General Election. Now I hear that Obama has the most pledged delegates and he has won the most states. But what about the states that he has won? Do they count any less then the states that Hillary has won? Well I don't quite understand how a Caucus has about 1/10th ...

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