Tonight I was watching the Bear’s game and went to make a tweet about the game and I occasionally like to scan through the trending topics. Well on Twitter (and on Facebook) there were a lot of posts about Kanye West. So, I followed the link on Twitter to search for the story and it said that Kanye dissed Taylor Swift. I was outraged because, as anyone who knows me knows, I adore Taylor Swift. (Yes I’m a 29 year old man and I’m okay with that.)
So, I read a story about it on Rolling Stone and I couldn’t believe it.
Before I passed judgment, I wanted to see it for myself. So, after several Google and YouTube searches involving people’s personal responses, I finally found the clip, posted below.
So, I watched the clip and it was surreal that anyone, I don’t care how famous you are, would go on stage and do that. It was almost as bad and as when Faith Hill had a tantrum when she lost to Carrie Underwood at the CMAs in 2006.
That maybe wasn’t quite as bad because she was at least off stage, but she had to know the camera was on.
In any event, I am starting to see a disturbing trend of public figures acting out in ways that are clearly inappropriate. Kanye couldn’t have thought that what he did was appropriate. Especially, and maybe this shouldn’t matter, considering that this is a 19 year old girl who has done nothing but be a shining role model in the media. Kanye apparently proceeded to flip the bird to the crowd while Taylor was crying backstage.
Then we have Chris Brown who decided that he could beat his girlfriend Rihana to within an inch of her life.
What these people all have in common is that the apologized about what they did after the fact and that was supposed to make it all better. And it seems like we in a America are all to willing to forgive. Now, this may seem contradictory on my part because I have posted that I think Michael Vick should be allowed to play football again, but that is different. The biggest difference is that Vick not only apologized, but he also spent 18 months in custody. Additionally, I don’t have to forgive Vick for him to keep playing football, no one does.
Here is a picture of Kanye leaving the show. Look at his right hand, maybe we will see what the really cause of the outburst was:
I would almost guarantee that tomorrow Kanye West will apologize to Taylor Swift. I would encourage her not to accept it. It can not be sincere. How can a person walk all the way on to the stage, take the microphone from someone, make that statement, and then walk away and flip off the crowd and actually be sorry. President Obama accepted Congressman Wilson’s, I know that, but that is the problem. We live in a society now where public people can do or say what they want and then apologize and it’s okay.
I am not saying we should never forgive people and I am not saying that we shouldn’t move on when conflict occurs, but we also need to hold people accountable when they act irresponsibly when they should know better. The governor of a state should be allowed to just disappear for a week and then just be embraced back into the fold by his state or by his wife.
So, I say, do not just forgive Mr. West. I say boycott his music and his antics until he can behave like an adult. I was thinking about Jay Leno’s return to TV tomorrow, but I will not watch if Kanye is still going to perform. I have occasionally thought of listening to his music because my good friend Jenny likes his music, but that will never happen now. This act stupid and apologize culture needs to end!
Tonight was the season premiere of Glee I have been looking forward to ever since the show premiered last May after Idol. I thought the show was at 7, so I was going to skip President Obama’s speech to watch Glee. Well, since Glee actually started at 8, I decided to watch Obama’s speech to Congress. In the end I am very pleased that I did. Obama seems to be a very good speaker. He uses timing and rhythm very effectively to make his points. He is also able to make jokes and laugh about the current and past situations. He is able to admit that he is infallible and he can give credit when credit is due such as when he would point out which Republicans had helped shape the bill.
I also like how Obama directly attacks his detractors and clears up issues. Perhaps there is just as much dishonesty in government with him in charge, I don’t know. I tend not to think so, but in any event, I love how open he is about what he is feeling and what he wants to happen. I also enjoyed how he threatened anyone else who messes with his bill, “We will call you out!” Very forceful and you can tell he isn’t going to take any more crap.
So independent of Mr. Obama’s very good speaking skills, I am not sure what exactly the answer for health care is. I do know this, I have always had health insurance. I went straight from the insurance of my parents as a child to a job where I had good insurance. I have always been able to go to the doctor when I needed to without the worry of spending too much money, I have had a child and not lost my house, I have been taking prescription ADD drugs for 5 years and have not lost my pants paying for them.
I have often sat around and wondered how people in this world can get by without health insurance and am just grateful that I don’t have to find out. So, I have to say that I feel that is a moral duty of this country to make sure that all of its citizens have health insurance. How we go about that, I am not a smart enough man to know. This exchange/public option idea seems to be a good one. It has worked other places so it could work here. I get that by increasing competition, prices could go down.
I definately don’t like the idea of the healthcare being left in our hands. I don’t always think about the fact that healthcare makes up 1/6th of our economy and we can’t just ignore it. It pervades every other thing we do and has a massive effect on government spending. When Obama talks about all of the money (ie government spending) we can save with a new plan, that makes me encouraged that maybe some of the money could get spent on schools and education.
Anyway, I was very happy that I delayed my Glee watching 30 minutes to watch the Obama speech to Congress. It is hard to believe there have only been 15 times when the President has addressed Congress like this. I guess 2 or 3 of them have been in the past decade, so it seems more common. I think he has a good vision of where health care needs to go and I feel like he will actually get it done without too much compromise. I get a sense when he speaks I didn’t get from Bill Clinton (granted I’m older) that the country is at a tipping point and on the verge of serious change. People are ready for the status quo to change (to a new, better status quo.)
That brings us to Glee. This show is right up my alley. As I was just texting with a former student, when I was in high school there was very little drama in my life and I must have felt left out, because I have entrenched myself in high school drama as an adult. I think to some extent I like to live my life as I am watching a TV show where the students are making the same mistakes you see in TV and movies all the time. The only difference is that occasionally they let me in to their world and they let me help them out and it is nice.
I think you have to be a certain kind of person to like Glee. The show takes all of the high school stereotypes and really blows them up. Then you have a lot of ensemble characters who fit these stereotypes and then these 12 main cast members who are complex and deviate for the standard cliques. Like the Quarteback who also likes to sing and the dedicated Glee leader who seems to have the perfect life but has a crazy wife I want to kick in the face. The dichotomy of worlds, in the same world, is what I love about the show and about a lot of the teen movies I love that are just like this.
Having said Glee. The 3 month anticipation for the new episode of Glee was well worth it and I hope this show has a long and happy future on my TV. We got to find out tonight that Lea Michele who plays Rachel Berry (The girl who wants the quarterback but can’t have him) is a tremendous singer!
So, there you have it, three unrelated topics all tied together.
So, here we go again with another group making a mountain out of a mole hill with President Obama. Thus begins part three of my stop picking on the Obama’s series.
During an interview with CNBC, as many people know, Obama swatted and subsequently killed a fly that had been buzzing around him during an interview in the White House. The President displayed lightning quick reflexes in his strike at the fly and was congratulated by those around him. He did something that most Americans would do and wasn’t concerned about it. Here is the interview:
Well, someone was bound to be upset by the behind the scenes footage posted on the CNBC web-site. When question about the incident, as you might of guess the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were indeed dissapointed. They felt that Obama should have humanely trapped this fly and then released it somewhere. Here is the statement from their blog: Continue Reading…
A while ago I posted about the somewhat unnecessary criticism of everything the President does while in office in regards to the president’s swingset. Now, people are criticizing the Obamas for planting an organic garden at the White House. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart brought this “controvery” to my attention. (Apparently Stephen Colbert did a story on it too.) The Mid America CropLife Association apparently thinks that Michelle Obama planting a garden that won’t use chemicals is going to make people stop buying food that is grown with chemicals. Here is a copy of a letter they sent to “Mrs. Barak Obama” that was leaked out the a blog called La Vida Locavore.
So, this seems reasonable. They are just pointing out that in America we have a good food system. But what is wrong with people growing their own food?
Apparently, not everyone can grow their own food, so no one should. {Shakes head.} In an e-mail the MACA sent out to its constituents sent out to their supporters their true feeling are revealed.
I am not an advocate of organic gardening. I don’t care either way. I believe that food can be grown well with or without chemicals. What just really gets my goat is that the Obamas are not going around saying you have to live organically. They just wanted to plant a garden to promote healthy eating and this group, the MACA, that seems to be supported by plant chemical producing companies goes and makes a big issue out of it and misses the point of the garden, healthy eating.
In case you were wondering who is a member of the MACA, here is a list from their website.
As pointed out on the Food and Water Watch blog, it is especially interesting that they call it “conventional gardening” when people were gardening chemical free for centuries! Now, the organic side is just as biased towards being chemical free as the MACA is towards using chemicals, but the fact that this is an even an issue just makes me feel sorry for the Obamas who are trying to just live a normal life and promote healthy eating.
And, the notion that the White House garden is what is going to lead to people rejecting chemically grown food is ridiculous. I like that the White House grow organically, but the cost of organic food is going to keep me out of that market.
Also, the notion that the White House garden is what will out organic food on the map is also mis-guided. More and more stores, such as Jewel, are constantly increasing their organic sections and this is what putting organic on the map more than the White House is.
Both sides just need to celebrate the idea of growing food and eating healthy rather than focusing on the methodology all of the time.
The two best news shows in the country have covered this issue. Here are the clips.
He starts discussing the garden about half way through.
I have recently become very interested in the phenomenon that is Twitter. I don’t know exactly how yet, but I believe that Twitter will, and is, changing the world. I started using Twitter in my classroom and in the letter I sent to my parents I expound on Twitter’s virtues, so I don’t want to rehash all of them here, but here is a link to that post which lists several of Twitter’s uses.
What I find most compelling about Twitter is its real time nature. As news or events happen you can find out instantly. This might be as mundane as your friend going to the grocery store or as big as a plane crashing into the Hudson river.
Since I was a kid I have always wanted to be president. I don’t see that happening now since I have made no real effort in that direction, but you never know. However, if that ever happened, what I would not like is the amount of scrutiny every little decision incurs. For example, the Obama’s bought a swing set (actually I think it was a gift according to his 60 Minutes interview) for the kids. It is located outside of the oval office window so the president can see them playing. I love that the Obama’s are maintaining a family atmosphere. In the 60 Minutes interview he talks about spending time with the kids and the family while still running the USA. What a guy.
Anyway, out of all of this, one blog post has decided to analyze if the swing set was green enough. I am all for the environment, but I think analyzing the president’s swing set might be a little too much. There are bigger issues to tackle than this. I guess everyone has their own angle and their own lobby, but if I were president, the last thing on my mind would be, is this the most green swing set. I would be thinking, which of these swing sets look the most fun. I guess that is why I am not the president.
