Well, the debates are heating up for the Democrats - you know things are getting rolling when one of the candidates makes a stupid remark and the other candidates begin jumping up and down unable to control their excitement for their turn to bash the guy. In this case, Howard Dean (Governor of Vermont) made a statement that he wanted to be the candidate for "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks." So, of course, he is being bashed over the Confederate flag. Well, people have different views of the Confederate flag, and I can see both sides of the argument. I don't believe that the Confederate flag is necessarily a symbol of racism. The Civil War was about a lot more than race and slavery. The division between the North and the South had begun at the founding of our country over issues of representation, taxation, and how the debt that was accumulated to fight the war with Great Britain would be apportioned between the states. On the other hand, everyone knows that a large portion of this country's population views the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism. To have this knowledge and to still fly the Confederate flag is walking the line of being racist. Should flying the Confederate flag be protected by the Constitution under the freedom of speech? Sure, I think so - in the same way that having a sticker of Calvin pissing on the word FAGS featured prominently on your Ford F-150 is protected. [Full disclosure: I didn't used to think this way about the Confederate flag - I have even worn clothes with the Confederate flag on them before]. The counter-argument is that the flag doesn't represent racism, it represents states' rights. I'm all for states' rights over big government because I think that local governments are more easily able to determine the needs and desires of its people. But if that is your reason for flying the Confederate flag, why not fly your state flag? I don't think I have ever seen anyone with a Missouri state flag on their pickup truck. That would provide the same message of being pro-state rights without the inherent racist overtones that many people in this country see in the Confederate flag.
Anyway, Howard Dean is a moron for making his statement. Not because he shouldn't want to be a candidate for "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks," but because he should have known better. First, he should have known that he'd get hammered by the PC police over the statement. Second, he should have known that, if you are the candidate for those guys, you absolutely will not be the candidate for another, much larger, group of voters.
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Isn't it about time for a significant medical breakthough that will change the lives of many people on the planet? I mean, when was the last time that happened? How about a cure for cancer? Yup, that'll do.
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Al Sharpton is hosting Saturday Night Live. I don't even have anything for that, it just makes me laugh thinking about it. Does he realize that he is going to be the butt of every joke?
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I saw that someone made the world's smallest motorcycle. It is like two pounds and it is fully operational. They were bragging about how it is going to be in the next Guinness Book of World Records. Do you get any money for that? Otherwise, who gives a flying crap? Wait, even if you do get money for it, who gives a flying crap? What a worthless record that is - the smallest motorcycle in the world. I'll take the world's biggest bubblegum bubble over that anyday.