In which I fail to keep a deadline...

Well, no one is actually reading this blog... but I'm going to keep writing in it anyway. The workload for this Fall Semester is greater than I expected. I thought I'd be able to squeeze a chapter of Obama into each week's class reading schedule. Boy, was I wrong to hope for that.

So the actual main reason I created this blog will have to wait, probably until well past this November's Election Day. I'm not sure why I had settled on that day as personal "deadline," I mean, I have no readers and even if I did, I doubt I'd sway anyone’s opinions. Heck, I never even expected to be done by then, just started...

Oh well, c'est la vive... Hopefully I'll be able to get started by Inauguration Day. If Sen. Obama wins, my little project will have a small air of subversiveness to it. If Sen. McCain wins, well, I'll be able to type that much faster with the aid of the magical leprechaun and rainbow unicorns.

But, how about some actual content for today, eh? Marko Kloos, the Munchkin Wrangler extraordinare, has another essay on his blog where he nails it right on the head:

Every election ... turns into a sort of nose-holding game, where we are faced with the choice of sacrificing one of our guiding principles for another, purely on the speculation of which candidate is just a little less dangerous to those principles at that moment. If I want the candidate who recognizes my right to self-defense and a larger portion of my own paycheck, I have to tolerate his flag-waving authoritarianism and his religious favoritism. If I want the candidate who will keep his hands out of my sock drawer and his holy book out of my public school, I have to contend with his opinion that someone else has a claim to my paycheck as well, and that I can’t be trusted with the means to defend myself.

RTWT.

I voted Libertarian in 2000 and 2004; In 2000, then Gov. Bush was a corrupt oligarch, in what I though was the worst way possible for a politician... (Little did I know what Putin & Assoc. had planned). Vice President Al Gore, well, I saw in him a continuation of all the failures of the Clinton presidency, but with no promise to continue any of its successes, which I saw as being largely attributable to Bill's charisma.

In 2004, well, I still disliked Bush for all of the reasons I had in 1999/2000, and he had piled up a whole slew of new reasons for me to dislike him. But Sen. Kerry... well, heck, he was 'Anti-' everything that I was 'Pro-' and vice-versa. Except on days when he wasn't. Or he was Anti-X before he was Pro-Y. 'Flip-flop' and 'waffle' are phrases that I feel get bounced around to casually in politics these days, but Sen. Kerry worked overtime to earn those labels.

So I voted Libertarian, and I got nothing to show for it. Heck, I didn't even get my views represented by the Libertarian Party in the next presidential rat race... The LP candidate this year is Bob Barr! For the love of Thomas Paine, people, what are you thinking!

So, I backed Fred Thompson in the 2008 Primary. To say that he failed miserably would be an understatement, and I'm stuck voting for Sen. McCain. I am once again forced to vote for a giant douche or a turd sandwich. Hurrah for democracy!

The Pursuit Of…

Once again one of my favorite blogs makes me question my ability to do this. LabRat, one of the two phenomenally gifted writers at Atomic Nerds wrote a piece that has summed up something I've being feeling for a long time, but could never figure out how to say:

It’s no coincidence that this ideal of ultimate happiness is not found within any traditional religion. In the major Western religions, the goal of life is to live according to the will of God. This may lead you to great success, or this may lead you to a Job-like existence of suffering, but that’s the plan, and your goal is to try and comprehend it and find peace within it.

RTWT. Maybe oneda, my blogg will be half as good.

I can haz a blog?

My freinds have blogs. My wife has a blog. My favorite authors all have blogs. In fact, some of my favorite authors don't author anything but blogs. I was starting to feel a little left out.

I've tried the blog thing before, and failed, so, uh, what the hell, here's attempt number three. Because I have read (on other blogs, where else) that the easiest way to stay consistent with your blog is to have a theme I've settled on one: The Audacity of Hope by Senator Barrack Obama.

I plan to read this 288 page book, which in addition to being an autobiography has been described as a blueprint for Sen. Obama's presidency, and I'm going to blog my way through it. One chapter at a time. So this blog will serve as a sort of extended book report, and maybe if it attracts any kind of readership this blog can act as a kind of extended internet book club.

A quick bit of background, I'm a self-described conservative. I align myself pretty strongly with conservitive ideals (life, liberty, property) and organizations (NRA, Pink Pistols, NRLC). So I'm going to be approaching the book with that point of view in mind...

Does this mean that I am biased? Yes. Of course it does. Does that matter? Yes. Of course it does... if you want to read a review of the man's book by his sychophants there are plenty of other websites and blogs for that. So go read them.

I'll interupt my book report with posts about other thigns that catch my interest. I'll also probably try to pad my post-count with funny pictures and assorted snark.If this blog lasts past December, or attracts one reader, I'll consider it a huge success.