BREAKING NEWS: I just threw up in my mouth a little…

If for some odd reason you took the time to view my blog on its premier yesterday, you’ll notice I changed the layout a bit. Aside from all of the obvious “theme” changes, I also added a “blogroll” which contains (so far) links to my friends Kevin, Zach, and Clutch blogs/websites, respectively.

I’ve determined that one of the hardest things about creating a blog entry is deciding what attitude it contains. I believe it’s possible for a blog entry to contain a wide range of “feeling”, so to speak, but at the same time I don’t want to always come off as preachy, ultra-cheery, super-sad, or indifferent. With that being said, today’s entry will just be a synopsis of various news headlines combined with a possibly overpowering amount of venting.

So I go to cnn.com and see “BREAKING NEWS” that John McCain decided he’s going to actually attend the debate tonight. What a slime-ball. Listen, I’m not going to sit here and say I’m an ultra-Obama supporter, but John McCain is really beginning to make me ill all while making Barack Obama appear more presidential. All the “hero” POW talk, picking Sarah Palin as a running mate, and now this? Let me put it simply: John McCain was NOT putting his country first when he decided to halt his campaign and “focus” on economic issues. On the contrary, he was attempting to further his campaign by appearing more concerned than his Democratic rival. McCain clearly said that it was his intention to concentrate on the economic crisis, and he also said that he would suspend the campaign (as well as the debate) until after a bailout deal was COMPLETE. Well, it’s not complete, folks! What does this tell you about John McCain’s character? I’ll answer for you: It goes to show that he doesn’t even fulfill the commitments that he creates for himself. It means that all the blubbery sludge that he’s been spewing all over his supporters (as well as independents he’s courting) is all nonsensical drivel.

Of course all of this can easily be filed under politicking, but isn’t now a good time to cut the BS? Yes, I am saying that politicking is equal to BS. Unfortunately, BS is sort of the name of the game at this point. I’m looking forward to watching the debate, although I’ll probably miss most of it as I’ll be working the part-time job after the full-time one today. There’s also something I heard the other day that has me looking forward to the aftermath of the debate. While driving home from work, a gentleman called in to the local conservative radio talk show and said that he didn’t like Obama because he always calculates his responses to peoples questions. He went on to say how much he approves McCain’s style of being blunt and to the point. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s nothing bad about thinking things through. Look what irrational behavior has done for our country over the past eight years for a comparison. I’m begining to think I’m the only person who realizes that the President of the United States is supposed to consider everyone’s position on any subject in order to create his own vision. Maybe I’m wrong about that one, too.

First and foremost…

This is the first of what I hope will be several blog postings in the days/weeks/months/years to come. I’ll be sincere and say that I don’t expect much feedback from what I write here. However, I do look forward to releasing thoughts and ideas from the prison that is my (over-sized) head and losing them in this crazy place they call the blogosphere. I’m sure those thoughts and ideas may come back to visit me every now and again, but I look forward to the possibility of them being chewed up, spit out, and ridiculed over and over by the masses.

For this first post, I’ll keep it fairly simple. There have been a few things on my mind lately that I’d like to discuss. Hopefully, if you’re reading this, you will give a little bit of feedback and leave a comment. Here we go…

1) Several weeks ago, a man from Iowa was visiting his family in the Kansas City, MO metropolitan area. While he was visiting, he and a member of his family decided to go to a well known country and western bar in Grain Valley, MO called Whiskey Tango’s.  To make a long and tragic story short, the man ended up being shot and killed by a man that he had an altercation with. If one were to do a bit of searching on the marvelous interweb, one would find some very basic news reporting of the incident as well as some debate as to whether or not this mans death was somehow justified. I encourage you to search for information regarding the circumstances behind the death of Jesse Saldivar of Cedar Rapids, IA and read some of the comments posted by friends/family of the deceased and the man who shot him.

Here are my thoughts:

I’ll be the first to admit that I do not know the gun laws in Missouri in their entirety. I do “own” guns that have been handed down to me by dearly departed family members, but I’ve never even held them, let alone firedthem. They are all stored away at my parents house and will be kept that way as far as I’m concerned. I mention guns and gun laws here simply because they seem to be overshadowing the true meat of this story. There are essentially two facts in this case: 1) Mr. Saldivar was shot three times and died, and 2) No one has been charged with the shooting. Of course the friends and family of Jesse Saldivar are outraged at this point. It’s being said that the shooter was justified in using deadly force against their kin. It’s being said that it was self defense. It’s being said that Mr. Saldivar “had it coming”, not only because of an altercation he had with the shooter, but because of the supposed numerous misdeeds he had in his past. I call infinite bullshit on all of these.

I grew up in Grain Valley, MO. I lived there for twenty-something years. My parents, grandma, and eleven year old nephew still live there. It’s ridiculous to me how much “bad press” Grain Valley has received throughout the years. All sorts of deplorable things seem to happen there: I can recall a few different kidnapping and murder cases involving young girls, multiple drug trafficking rings busted, prostitutes at the highway truck stops, a teenager killing his friends mother, and now this…a shooting at a nightclub. It’s astonishing that more people aren’t talking about this, especially in Grain Valley. SOMEONE WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN YOUR TOWN. HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL? Sure, here in the ‘burbs we sit in our homes and hear about people being robbed, raped, and murdered a mere twenty-five minutes away in Kansas City and are thankful that these things don’t happen outside our door. Well, guess what? It’s happening now. Do I know what the answer is? Probably not, but I would start by saying that maybe, just maybe, people should be asking questions. Why haven’t there been any charges brought against the shooter? If it was self-defense, why isn’t anyone saying that? Why aren’t people holding Whiskey Tango’s accountable for allowing something like this to happen on their premises? It seems as though there’s been a meltdown of morals in a community that has been punctuated by the DEATH OF A TOURIST. Does anyone out there have an opinion on this situation?

2) This whole “economic crisis” is sort of cracking me up a bit. Yes, it sucks to see that my measley little 401(k) is dropping in value, but I’m still buying into it (at lower prices) and waiting for the market to turn around. I find the entire economic circumstance very odd to say the least. I am not an economist, nor is every citizen in the USA, but we’re suddenly supposed to understand the shady credit business and agree to save the corporations that take part in said business? President Bush had a sweet little hoe-down of a televised speech last night in which he tried (and failed) to explain the economic situation. Members of Congress are busy explaining the situation to each other as well as to their constituents as they see fit. NOTE TO PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS: MAYBE YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CORPORATIONS THAT DID IT AND THEN EXPLAIN THAT THEY NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.

So I ask you, dear reader…how do you feel about all of this?

3) Finally, I’d like to step away from the ultra-serious thoughts for a moment and say how relieved I am that the Kansas City Royals will NOT lose 90 games this season. I know this may not seem special for any fans of winning ball clubs, but progress is progress for this team and I’ll take whatever I can get.