Suspension Scum
Daily Kos collects the scummy “suspension” tactics of the McCain campaign:
Andrew Sullivan has reports from two different readers in two different media markets that McCain ads are up and running as relentlessly as ever.
David Kurtz at Talking Points Memo reports on McCain surrogate Nancy Pfotenhauer appearing on Fox to attack Obama, and then scooting on over to the Washington Times for a friendly little chat about the campaign.
Campaign suspended?
Filed under Politics | Comment (1)The Palin Ripple Effect
Not only is Sarah Palin still a relative stranger to most of us from the mainland, thanks to her game of hide and seek with the press, not to mention the quasi convention-rerun speech she gives at every rally (how many times can we really hear the bullshit story of “Thanks, but no thanks, for the Bridge to Nowhere” line?). Palin’s mere presence has caused some issues for a certain business owner as well.
The sales of the Chilean red wine, deemed with the unfortunate name of “Palin Syrah,” has seen its sales plummet since Sarah’s rise to the national level. The brew once sold well at the Yield Wine Bar of California. Now? Not so much.
Filed under Politics | Comment (1)Zen And The Art Of Real Estate
There are some events that transpire, where you come across inspiration and discovery from the oddest places. For me, putting my house on the market has been one of those experiences. I’ve noticed something pretty interesting about how things work in the real estate business, and it’s something that I would never have guessed if I hadn’t experienced it first hand.
I’m not a civil rights leader. My skin is pasty and my genitals are average. I’ve never been one to stand up against the racial divide, and I’m not even remotely interested in becoming a racial activist. But it doesn’t take an activist to see that there is still a voluntary segregation that lives deep in the catacombs of the American spirit.
With every real estate agent that comes to my home for a showing, the divide is made even clearer. If I see an Indian real estate agent strolling to the door, I can now safely predict that she’ll be showing the house to an Indian family. This was not something I was prepared to admit at first.
But the proof was in the pudding. More and more agents of varying nationalities came to showcase my home, and showing after showing, the racial divide was made more and more evident. One day we had an Asian entourage, and another day it was Caucasian city.
The question for me no longer dwells on whether there is still a racial divide or not, but what is the reason? What is it that draws us into these self-imposed cliques? Do we, as humans, just feel more comfortable being around people who look like us? Or is there a deeper, darker root that has built up enough social stigma to leave us left to our own racial fears?
Personally, I think the answer is closer to the first statement. History has shown that racial and cultural wounds can heal themselves given enough time to forgive (or at least forgot) the ills of the past. And maybe having a racial divide isn’t such a bad thing. I’d much rather be living in a world where separate groups can coexist peacfully, then a world where everyone lives in the same house, yet attempts to burn the mother down.
Real estate isn’t the real issue here. How far does the divide run? Into our government and into our own social lives, the tales of racial cliques are evident in every high school and every court house in the country. So let’s not pretend that it doesn’t exist, but instead yearn towards finding a way to either closing the divide, or making sure that the divide stays at a safe distance.
Filed under Politics, Life | Comment (0)
