I’m glad Hillary Clinton’s not my mom.

I love politics. In fact, if it weren’t for politicians, I’d probably be in politics. Politicians are so focused on getting and keep their job that they rarely ever do their job. I don’t have anything specifically against Hillary Clinton. If by some chance she does come out ahead of Obama, I will probably vote for her over John McCain (sadly for McCain, for the shear fact that I disagree with him about the Iraq War). However, there are a few reasons why I voted for Baroccoli Obama:

1. I think Bill Clinton was a pretty good president. And even though I would have no problem with another Clinton-like president, I don’t want another Clinton. Keep in mind that I was born just a couple of weeks before Reagan was sworn in. Since I was barely 8 when he left office, all I’ve really ever known is Bush-Clinton-Bush. I’m ready for a change.
2. It seems like George W. Bush has been in a constant competition to prove that he is a better president than his father was (as if the bar was set very high). This has resulted in a number of ego-boosting actions that were/are not in for the good of the country. Imagine how much more Hillary Clinton, the first female president and the wife of a former president, would feel an internal drive to prove that she is a better president than, not only her husband, but ever other president in history. I’m not presuming that she is that kind of person, because I’ve never met her. I do think it is a legitimate concern.
3. Clinton uses an absolutely ridiculous argument that she won some key battleground states that are expected to decide the general election. Can you imagine how ridiculous a quarterback would sound if he told everyone how his team would go undefeated because they beat their own defense during a couple of scrimmages? Maybe somebody should tell Hillary that she was playing against the same team. It seems pretty presumptuous to think that just because she beat the other Democrat she was running against that all of those Democrats that voted for her are going to jump to McCain’s ship if her name isn’t on the ballot. She specifically points to Latinos. Even with McCain’s history on immigration, the Republicans are probably still going to try to use it as a talking point this election to try and win back congress. When that happens, every Latino that goes to vote is definitely going to vote Democrat no matter who’s name is on the ballot.
4. Ugly pant suits.
5. Vader-like hair.

But honestly, until Diebold releases their code it doesn’t really matter who runs against the Republican’ts.

Al Gore pisses me off.

I just finished reading The Assault on Reason, by Al Gore. It was a really good book that made a number of good points about the state of our country. Over the last few years, I have looked forward to Gore’s run for office and how it would probably be a walk-off homerun. As candidates announced their bid, Gore insisted that he was not planning on running. I was hoped that Gore was just waiting for the outcome of the Nobel Peace Prize before he announced he would run for president. The announcement never came.

 
I wish I hadn’t read the book. I hate George Bush. I think that congress is full of a bunch of worthless politicians that care more about having a job than making a difference. The book gave me plenty of reinforcement for the opinion I already had. One thing that Gore probably didn’t anticipate was how reading his book has made me lose most of the respect that I have for him.

 
In 320 pages, Gore (I like Al better, so I’m gonna switch to that) precisely points out a number of the Bush Administration’s actions that have gone contrary to the Constitution and the Magna Carta. Any of these individual actions stand as grounds for impeachment but collectively merit exile. You can feel Al’s honesty and that he indeed is the best man to restore America’s brand. However, Al says he won’t run for president because he is involved in “a different kind of campaign” (referring to climate change).

 
I certainly think that climate change should be a top issue for Al and I am very satisfied with the success he has had in getting the message out. But as he points out in the book, the U.S. needs to lead the world in alternative energy and other nature-fixing movements.

 
But does Al really think that he can’t give adequate focus to climate change if he has to worry about Iraq, Social Security, and all the other messes that need cleaning-up? I can’t imagine that a former VP is going to surround himself with such incompetent people that he won’t be able to delegate responsibilities.

      

Maybe he is truly confident that a President McCain, Obama, or Clinton will get us back on track as a nation. If so, why write the book? Was it just to make money? Just for self-indulgence? Just to wipe out more trees?

 
Hopefully it’s not something superficial like his loyalty to Bill Clinton. Although I understand that Billy would feel betrayed, we’re talking about a much more important relationship: America’s relationship to its citizens and the rest of the world.

 
Or, it could be as simple as a pure lack of interest in politics. In which case, I’d consider Al as selfish as every other politician that says what sounds good and then sits around pointing fingers instead of trying to fix it. As James Allen wrote in As a Man Thinketh:

         “He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much         

         must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”

  
So far, I have neither heard nor thought of a legitimate reason for Al not to run for the presidency. And it pisses me off that he won’t.