Political Bitches

Yet again, the Clinton camp is finding more reasons to make its front woman come across as an incredible disappointment to her base. I’ll admit - I’ve heavily rolled my eyes at the constant bickering over plagiarism both Clinton and Obama have maintained recently, but really, are a couple of fliers any reason to get so damn defensive?

For those who aren’t aware, the fliers in question criticize her health care plan and her involvement (or, lack thereof) with NAFTA since the start of her campaign. She attacked Obama for circulating fliers that stated her intent to mandate health care whether people can afford it or not. Of course, maybe she’s forgetting that she only opened herself to that attack by suggesting “going after wages” as one option to make her plan a possibility.

Now, I’m under no illusions here - politicians are not Gods, capable of righting all wrongs and rooting out every injustice - if Obama is our next president, he will make mistakes - as has and will every other president in the history of this nation. However, if Obama is fabricating, rather than pointing out, serious flaws in Clinton’s health care plan, why can’t she just be up front and give a simple, honest answer? Instead, she just throws her arms in the air and shouts to a crowd of onlookers about the cruel injustice that is *gasp* politics. You know, the arena she’s constantly reminded us of having worked in for the past 35 years. One would think that by now she could take this kind of happening with a grain of salt - unless of course, she’s feeling seriously threatened by Obama picking away at her numbers.

Sadly, though, part of her motivation behind lashing out like this could be simply because people are prone to believe what they read - because if it’s published in a magazine or online, or a politician puts it out, it must be true! For instance, when we post blogs here, do you think we just pull up CNN or FOX and summarize verbatim what their people are writing? We look at as many sources as we can so that we can take our own stance on these issues, rather than just lining up behind one agenda or the other. The world would benefit greatly if people were a little more curious and didn’t take what is mass produced as the gospel. Don’t agree with what we say here? That’s fine - go research it, find where you think we’re wrong - hell, tell us. Maybe if politicians didn’t have to spend half their time spinning information to make it sound appealing, we’d actually have some fucking progress. But then, the same might occur if they’d just stop appealing to the rumor machine by bickering about the useless “he said/she said” game. Not to sound overly dramatic, but sometimes I feel like I’m watching a really bad sitcom about a bunch of pre-pubescent whiny little sixth graders - and that goes for all of them.

Laura

We take a break from our normal programming to wish Elysa a happy 21st birthday. Though this blog is about politics, it should be recognized that the idea and its inception would not have happened if it weren’t for this courageous and highly opinionated young lady, so for all the hours of bitching about politics and other matters, Elysa, I thank you. Even though this project is young, I know it’s going to live up to be something great, and that wouldn’t happen without you. Have a great birthday!

Tune in soon for more bitching.

I think this is going to be the first post that doesn’t detail some new and/or frustrating aspect of the election. Brace yourselves.

Kosovo.

First of all: fuck you, CNN. Kosovo declared independence and you took 24 hours to cover it? What in the shit?! Let me tell you something. I find it pretty god damned ironic that you would continue to “cover” the presidential candidates with your anti-intellectual pundit press over reporting on a seriously important global issue. It just shows where your priorities are, and they’re misplaced. The president is the chief ambassador for foreign affairs. That’s their niche. They’re international-politics driven. So a hugely substantial part of the reason that electing our president even matters is because of situations like Kosovo. So given that the importance of the presidency rests largely on the importance of the international community, don’t you think it was a teeny bit of a FUCK UP to blow off the Kosovo story?

Secondly: for those who are confused (and I wouldn’t blame you, considering the media’s shitty coverage), Kosovo was/is a small region belonging to Serbia in Eastern Europe. (Here’s a picture for you– it’s the southern tip of Serbia.)

Long story short, there’s been tremendous amounts of ethnic and political tensions between Kosovo and Serbia for fucking decades. So a few short days ago, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and established its own government, etc etc.

You know, more or less what we did back in 1776, albeit for slightly different reasons.

We, the U.S., are fine with this. In fact, we’re recognizing Kosovo as its own state. As are Italy, France, Belgium, the U.K., and a small host of other Western European nations. We/They support Kosovo’s efforts toward independence, namely because Kosovo’s new government has been democratically elected and has vowed to endorse both human and minority rights. But there’s always one major country with a stick up its ass, and guess who it is this time?

Surprise surprise! Russia. Me and Russia are about to duel it out. They’ve been pulling this kind of shit for years. But yeah, back to the story– so Russia is supporting Serbia and claiming that Kosovo had no legal grounds on which to base this move. There are two ulterior motives for Russia’s actions: first and foremost, Chechnya. Chechnya is a Russian satellite state, under Russian rule, blah blah, whose circumstances strongly resemble that of Kosovo’s. In SAT format: Chechnya is to Russia what Kosovo is to Serbia.

Therefore, Russia’s in a shitfit over the precedent this will set. If Chechnya sees that Kosovo can successfully declare freedom and be viewed as a valid entity among the world powers (U.S., U.K., France, etc), they would get ideas of their own. Chechnya is none too happy with the status quo in their country, nor with Russia. Independence and political freedom to assert their own policies would be a welcomed change. So Russia needs to squash any inkling Chechnya might have to do this by supporting Serbia’s efforts in reclaiming Kosovo.

Secondly, Russia and Serbia are allies, so aside from their personal stake in the matter, Russia sort of “has to” support Serbia. So what does this mean? It means the United Nations is fucked, that’s what it means. See, the U.N. needs to agree on how to handle the situation and on whose side they’re on. No such agreement will be met because Russia is on the god damned Security Council (along with the U.S., U.K., France, and China). For those who don’t know this, a permanent Security Council member has the power to veto anything that the U.N. as a whole might decide. So even though 99% of the U.N. backs Kosovo, Russia’s veto will prevent the U.N. from passing any resolutions or being able to assist in the crisis at all.

Here’s my take. No one can really blame Serbia for wanting their territory back. If Hawaii or California or Maine wanted to break away from the union, we wouldn’t stand for it either. We saw evidence of this during the Civil War. So Serbia is only doing what any country would predictably do, even if it is, granted, an extremely self-centered and illegitimate stance. (I ultimately support Kosovo.) However, Russia’s interference is a huge fucking bag of douche. They’re single-handedly preventing any amount of progress, which will only result in hurting the Kosovans. If Russia is having issues with Chechnya, they need to sort that out themselves without projecting their fears on to another nation and that nation’s legitimate struggle for political independence.

It’s the same old Story of Empire, I suppose. Complete with tales of world dominance, despots, revolutions, calls for freedom, greed… only there’s much less glory and much more suffering and confusion when it’s not being filtered through the safety net of a history book.

-Elysa

…or at least that’s what most news outlets are making it out to be. For those of you who haven’t heard about this, Michelle Obama (wife of Barack) was recently quoted as saying, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country…”. Apparently, this is cause for people (namely, conservative blogs) to leap all over her just because she *gasp* may not be proud of everything her country has done. Unfortunately, as it always has been with these types of people, if you’re not with us, you’re clearly against us. You know what? Our country has done great things - did Michelle Obama refute that? No. But how hard is it for people to see that she’s saying this in reference to, you know, that big campaign thing her husband is running right now?

News outlets are also trying (seemingly desperately) to start some kind of exchange between Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain in response to her statement that, “I have and always will be proud of my country.” So, here’s my suggestion to the news outlets…

Who the hell cares? Seriously. Let’s just say Cindy McCain was trying to elicit some sort of cat-fight response from Michelle Obama - this is nothing new. Politicians’ spouses are going to come out and speak for their husbands/wives in relation to the values their respective campaigns are holding. So maybe this will make it a LITTLE more simple for you:

Obama campaign’s main message: Change.

McCain campaign’s main message: Experience.

See how both wive’s comments relate to the respective campaign messages? Yes? Good. Now the lovely people at CNN and FOX news can wipe the drool off their chins and get back to covering actual news… Like, you know, that primary thing that’s going on tonight… Just so you can see an example of where news priorities seem to lie these days…

Fin.

Laura

…all I have to say is this:

Strategically, this was the stupidest fucking move since Huckafuck’s parents decided to reproduce. I don’t know who the shit advised her to make this blow, because it only reflects badly on her and how dire her desperate situation has become. She’s falling from grace at a speed that could rival the rate by which stupid shit comes out of Bush’s mouth, and that is seriously saying something. What pathetic tactics. “Plagiarizing.” If I were a Clinton supporter, I’d be royally fucking pissed at how quickly she is sabotaging both her political legitimacy and chances at the White House. This has all the makings of a Lifetime movie in which “successful woman’s career crashes and burns as she comes to some terribly overdue epiphanies regarding dignity and human character,” inspiring a multitude of dissatisfied American women to believe that they can come out of their ruts, they can they can! …Well. At least there’s a moral, I suppose.

Hillary, if by some chance you stumble upon this, fire your advisers. In fact, you ought to sue them on the grounds of being completely and totally fucking retarded. You were doing so much better when you weren’t resorting to this bullshit.

-Elysa

I got a really thought-provoking comment on my last entry, so I thought I’d reply to it publicly.

“You know, I think at this point, the country is just SO fed up with Republicans and conservative ideals that a democrat is kind of a shoo-in..then again, maybe the fact that McCain is so damn middle of the road, there might be a problem. With the way most people in this oh so lovely country of ours are, they’ll probably be more inclined to vote for a republican with sort of liberalish ideas than someone who is a democrat and a liberal. Then again, maybe I’m just speaking for my own neck of the woods. I don’t know, just something I’ve been observing.

What do you guys think?”

-Amanda

I think you make really important, logical observations, and I’d like to be able to unequivocally agree. Unfortunately, not everyone is as rational as you, and the average American voter seems to come down with a case of Illogicalaria during election season. John Kerry, though perhaps not the most inspiring candidate to ever grace American politics, should have been a shoe-in in 2004 too. We were pretty disenchanted with the Bush administration by then.

But you touched on a really key issue: McCain is a dying breed. He’s a moderate Republican. I disagree with him on a whole host of issues, including the economy, but he is anti-torture, anti-marriage amendment to the Constitution, etc. He can draw in the Independents. For all the fuss the GOP base is causing over his presumptive nomination, the Republican voters made a smart fucking move in choosing him. Huckafuck or Romney wouldn’t stand a chance against either of the Democratic candidates. Not to mention that McCain has done a better job than most of the GOP from separating himself from the Bush administration. He was one of the first Republicans to recognize how shittily Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld were handling the war. He hasn’t been afraid to make criticisms of his own party. Sane Republicans will see him as someone who hearkens back to the credibility lost under the current administration.

Truthfully, though, if you want to know the real reason why I don’t think a Democrat is a shoe-in, it’s because of the Democrats themselves. In the midst of war, we took an 80% incumbency rate in Congress and turned it on its head to make the Democrats the majority. They’ve had control of both Houses for 2 years now, and have done little to enact the “change” that provided the basis for their entire platform leading up to the 2006 midterm elections. No one talked about policy or bills. No one even raised an eyebrow over domestic affairs. The only hot-button topic was the war in Iraq and how, if we the people kicked out the Republicans, they would stand up to the Bush administration and pick up the pieces of our dignity. Two years later, they’re devoting countless hours and resources to and holding full legislative committees for a “steroid scandal.” …Steroids. In professional sports. *GASP* OH NOEZ IS U SERIOUS?! WHO CULD HAVE KNOWN?!?!!!!!!1

No, you know what the real fucking scandal is? That there is a god damned war going on, that school shootings are popping up faster than fucking daisies, that there’s a genocide occurring in Sudan, that millions of Americans don’t have access to health care, that our own government is engaging in illegal wiretapping and overstepping Constitutional boundaries, that Social Security will soon be lost to the mesozoic era, that Guantanamo Bay flies the American flag, that we even have to debate whether torture is “okay”, that gays and lesbians are treated like second-rate citizens, that our borders are about as secure as a prostitute’s chastity belt…. and that all the fucking while, Congress would sooner waste a week of our precious time and money on god damned Mark Clemens than any one of these crucial issues.

A Democratic Congress, no less.

Don’t get me wrong. I’d take the blue over the red almost any day of the week, and I completely agree with your implicit suggestion that we need to stomp out the GOP. But I don’t think Democrats are going to escape this election season unscathed, and I think there’s good reason for that.

-Elysa

Today, Former President George H.W. Bush endorsed John McCain in what many news and political outlets are calling McCain’s presumptive nomination.
Now, it’s really no great shock that this should happen - McCain has been, for the most part, a complete tool for the Republican party. Yeah, sure, he went through his rebellious stage - but now that it’s all over, McCain should be a shoo-in for the Republicans. Unfortunately for him, (as we’ve already touched on in this blog) hardcore, get-down conservatives (see: most southern super Tuesday states) don’t want anything to do with him. You know it’s bad when everyone’s favorite conservative rumor mongers say they’d vote for Hillary Clinton over John McCain.

What does this mean for people across the political spectrum? Well, unfortunately for Democrats, it means the Republicans are getting mobilized. CNN actually featured two political analysts (whose names I sadly didn’t note), and something towards the end of their discussion left me feeling unsettled. The Republican analyst rightly noted that going to the convention floor with a party as split between two candidates as the Democrats are is campaign death. Even though the Democratic analyst tried her best to refute this, it was pretty easy to see that she knew her opponent was right. Sigh. For such a long time, I’ve been rejoicing because it appeared that for once, the Dems were going to get organized first.

So here is my plea to the Democratic party: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT let us lose this election just because we can’t back up behind a candidate. If, for any reason, Clinton and Obama are still duking it out come convention time, there are things we can do to ensure that we don’t have a continuation of the Bush administration’s legacy failure:

1) Register to vote. This may sound trivial - if you’re actually reading this blog, you probably already are, however, I’ve been shocked by the amount of people I know at my college who are politically savvy but couldn’t vote in their primaries because they hadn’t yet registered. If your state has not held its primary yet and won’t within 30 days, Google search for your states voter registration form, print it out, and mail it to your secretary of state. If for whatever reason you’ve missed the deadline, register anyway. Generally, you must be registered 30 days prior to the general election in November, so do it now so you don’t forget. Also, encourage friends to do the same.

2) Mobilize your age group. The 18-24 age group historically has the worst voter turnout. We’re starting to see a change this year with young people coming out in swarms to vote in their state primaries and caucuses. This is great, but we need to make sure college students stay interested in the direction of their country. Turn on the news when you have five or so minutes of free time, talk to your friends about what you’re seeing there - join your political societies on campus and learn more about the candidates. Hell, start your own political blog - we don’t care, just keep yourself and your friends interested!!

3) Educate yourself and others about the issues.

If you disagree with the war in Iraq or the Bush tax cuts, it’s probably not a good idea to be a McCain supporter. If you think we should make permanent bases in Iraq, then… you and I probably shouldn’t talk, and I hope you come to your senses. In all seriousness - question your convictions. If there is a war going on and 70% of the country disapproves of it, it’s probably legitimate of you to at least consider what the other side is saying - don’t be fooled into viewing politics only in the present. For instance, the recent troop surge in Iraq is working - no one denies that. But how much longer are we going to keep sending people over there? Do you really want to spend the next God-knows-how-many-years in a region of the world where we’ve already caused so much damage? Not to mention, we haven’t exactly done a lot to put a permanent end to the sectarian violence of the region, and you know what? A five year, ten year, or one-hundred year war is NOT going to put an end to thousands of years of religious rivalry and hatred, and furthermore, trying to push off our beliefs and systems of governing on them is certainly not going to help either.

So whether you’re reading this because you agree or disagree, please, I implore you - educate yourselves. Learn about the mess our generation is going to be left to clean up. We are seriously looking at a horrifying possibility of not doing as well or better than our parents did socially and economically.

Jon Stewart had it right when he labeled election 2008 as “Clusterfuck to the White House” - so let’s give ‘em a good fight and take the country back.

Laura

A new Associated Press survey was released yesterday. And after months of trying to drill this through peoples’ (namely stubborn Democracts’) heads, I am officially vindicated.

“The AP is now reporting that in a head-to-head match, Sen. Obama would beat Sen. McCain by a small but decisive margin if the general elections were held today. Results of a Clinton v. McCain election, however, would be too close to call. AP reports that those two presidential candidates are exactly equal in the national polls.”

I win.

<3: Elysa

I posted this in my personal blog a couple nights ago, so it may seem a tad dated. Nevertheless…

Romney’s dropped out!

Well, on one hand, thank fucking God for that. But on the other… shit.

He was right when he said it was a smart move for his party. The Republicans are going to benefit from it immensely. If there was ever a question as to who would be the GOP nominee before, there certainly isn’t one now. And a McCain ticket– while respectable, moderate, and far less frightening than, say, a Huckafuck one– is bad news for the Democrats. He draws in Independents and centrists like moths to a flame. And for good reason, I suppose. Again, he isn’t batshit crazy like many of the other right-wingers.

But either way you slice it, it’ll be a campaign’s worst nightmare come November. Sooner than that. If Obama is the nominee, McCain’s campaign will hit him hard with foreign policy experience. There will be a lot of, “In these uncertain times we cannot afford to place uncertainty in the White House; we need leadership based on a resume of experience and know-how, not merely rhetoric.” Then again, if Clinton is the nominee, McCain’s campaign will hit her hard with issues of credibility and the ever-prevailing “flip-flop”iness that more or less won them the 2004 election. (Clinton voted for the war in Iraq, is where I’m going with this. Obama, FYI, gave a renowned speech against it. “I bring this up because I think Senator Clinton raises a valid point in that she may well indeed have experience on day one. But it’s also important to be right on day one.” -CNN California Debates.)

So going against McCain will be an uphill battle for either of them, but I firmly maintain that Clinton will have a much harder time. Mark my words. Clinton can be beat. Not easily– she’s got a lot of solid support– but it’s very possible. She’s polarizing so she won’t win the Independents. She’s even managed to disenchant parts of her base. Furthermore, she won’t be able to enlist many of the arguments that have brought Obama so much unanticipated success. I.e., change. What change? I certainly don’t intend to demonize Hillary Clinton, but the Washington political game that Americans say they despise so much has got her wrapped around its little finger. She’s institutionalized. She’ll have no upper hand against McCain in any way other than her stance on the war in Iraq, and as was aforementioned, that stance’s credibility will be attacked and torn to shreds by mid-August. If Obama was the nominee, I would seriously bet my life and my college degree that McCain would ultimately lose. Even the conservative base is saying it. Truly, I’m not making this up. Visit anncoulter.com sometime and– if you manage not to either laugh hysterically or vomit all over your keyboard– you’ll see I’m right. They want Hillary to be their battle because it’s one that they stand a better chance at winning.

Anyway, back to the real reason I had the urge to post tonight: I am sick and God damned tired of the social conservative base whining like children over Romney dropping out. It’s making me ill. NO ONE CARES THAT ROMNEY IS MORMON– EXCEPT, ODDLY ENOUGH, THE BIBLE BELTERS. I don’t give two flying fucks what religion he or anyone else is. That’s partially because it just shouldn’t fucking matter, especially not in politics. And it’s also partially because– and this is just, you know, a random thought– THE CONSTITUTION SPECIFICALLY SAYS THERE SHALL BE NO RELIGIOUS TEST FOR OFFICE. God damn. It’s an interesting document, that Constitution. Too bad these Republican pundits clearly haven’t read it.

So, Dear Social Conservative Base,

Has it occurred to you that liberals don’t like Romney because he’s pro-torture, pro-Guantanamo, anti-gay rights, anti-campaign finance reform, and ALSO HAS CLEARLY NOT READ THE CONSTITUTION? I mean, he ardently supports an indisputably prejudiced anti-gay rights clause, the inflammation of Executive branch power, and thinks the Constitution can and ought to be amended to suit his personal moral code. It doesn’t take a fucking rocket scientist to figure out why all the Democrats and many Independents (<— me) would end their lives if he ever became viable. Stop making it about something it’s not. Some of us pay attention to the issues– all of them, not just the shit that serves our own individual interests. I don’t deny that there are royal assholes out there who hate Romney for his religion, Clinton for her gender, or Obama for the color of his skin. But for we, the sane? And I’ll remind you that it’s the liberals (*GASP* dirty word!) who’re backing a black man and a woman. And you think we’re the bigots? Fuck you. Don’t fucking insult my intelligence. I don’t call you sexist for not supporting Hillary, do I? No. Because it’s called class. Look it up.

And if you can manage to do two things at once, stop grasping at straws for ways to paint the picture a different color. Otherwise you’re just as much of an asshole as those you accuse.

<3: Elysa

Hello world,

For an introductory post to this blog, I’d like to take the time to introduce its founders and explain our motivations behind buying a domain name called “Political Bitches” at 4:30 in the morning on a Sunday when we could have been sleeping to recoup for a homework filled afternoon. That aside, the creators of this blog (Elysa and Laura) will be updating this as often as is deemed necessary to rant, laugh, cry, or rejoice at various and assorted different domestic and international happenings. To be honest, we’ve talked and joked about doing something like this for a while, seeing as one of the first times we really talked was on election night ‘04, when I (Laura) was 15 and Elysa was 17 - from that night, our bond was sealed as a special one… One in which we could instant message one another at odd hours of the night saying things such as:

Elysa: LMFAO
Elysa: ROMNEY
Elysa: LOL
Elysa: Romney thinks John Adams wrote the U.S. Constitution
Elysa: LOL

So the past couple of years of making anti-war t-shirts, attending rallies, and “OMGWTF-ing” to one-another, we’ve decided to pass on the craziness that is the “political bitches” on to you.

Keep bitching,

Laura