Dynomite
The mountains belched a little bit of snow on us yesterday. We maxed out at 25-ish°. Hans Mike and I went to the British Bulldog at one o'clock for a full ten hours of World Cup qualifiers. No one really gave a damn about Greece and Latvia, but the Portugal v. Hungary game was great soccer, and the Denmark v. Sweden match was a full 90 minutes of panicked Scandinavians flailing about for a goal. (It came for Denmark on a Death Star laser beam from about 30 yards out.)
FIFA grants hosting countries the right to broadcast the game however they chose, and Honduras decided they didn't want the game broadcast in America, so the Bulldog was forced to team up with the Colorado Rapids to pay for the closed circuit broadcast en espanol. We were probably the only folks in CO who were able to watch the game in real time, but we also might have been among the only folks in CO who actually cared to be able to do that.
Conar Casey's dad was there, standing in the back of the crowd at the Bulldog, watching his son lead us to South Africa 2010. That was neat.
Afterward, Kathleen and Mike went to the Bad Veins show at the Hi-Dive. They said there were about five other people there, which made sense, because that was about how many people were at the Most Serene Republic show last month. She had them autograph her vinyl.
Ms. Brill
I asked my grandma what she thought about the president winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
"I really do not want to comment on what I think about the Nobel," she said. "You know what I think."
I don't get it. I don't get any of it. I don't really get why President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, except I kind of get it. What I don't understand most of all is why conservatives are so pissed that their president won the Nobel Peace Prize, except I kind of understand that, too. But none of it makes sense.
But actually I guess I'm most confused as to why my grandmother hates Barack Obama so much. I mean, she's a Republican and everything, but I don't know why she hates the guy. He hasn't done anything yet that was so egregious as to inspire my grandmother's hatred, has he? He hasn't raised taxes. He hasn't surrendered our national security to Iran. He hasn't euthanized any elderly women on life support. He hasn't even let gay people serve openly in the military.
As a matter of fact, dude's gone out of his way to protect the Bush administration from being investigated for torture, which is the hallmark of the Republican ethos. He's protecting the Republican party's ability to utilize their #1 national security tool. One might think that would buy him a lot of good will among Fox News viewers. (I know. I know.)
Did Barack Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? I don't know; maybe not. Or, at the very least, were there others more deserving of it? Probably. But here are the facts: Barack Obama isn't George W. Bush. In winning election to the office of the presidency, Barack Obama was able to convince the majority of the population of the most powerful county on the planet to completely change course on foreign policy, bringing us firmly within the global mainstream after eight years of establishing residency in Bat Shit Crazy Ville. He's already beaten back the worst ideas of that dark era, and that ain't insubstantial.
If for nothing else, I think this whole thing is most striking as a comparison between the two presidents. George W. was one antagonistic motherfucker, and the rest of the world had just cause to hate him (and us, for putting him in the position to wreak his havoc). That an American president could be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ten months into his administration for simply not being the other guy underscores more than anything else how reviled we were as a country under the other guy's leadership.
I get upset when I'm slapped in the face, too, but normally it makes me pause, right? You calm down a second, feel how hot your cheek is, and then get through the surprise and sometimes you even consider reasons why you might have been slapped in the first place. If conservatives are so offended that their president won the Nobel Peace Prize, maybe they ought to take a second to consider why they're so offended.
Yeah right. Check out Liz Cheney trumpet that America's chief export is war.
"As Americans, we're proud when our president receives an award of that prestigious category."
Sen. John McCain, just sayin'.
FIFA grants hosting countries the right to broadcast the game however they chose, and Honduras decided they didn't want the game broadcast in America, so the Bulldog was forced to team up with the Colorado Rapids to pay for the closed circuit broadcast en espanol. We were probably the only folks in CO who were able to watch the game in real time, but we also might have been among the only folks in CO who actually cared to be able to do that.
Conar Casey's dad was there, standing in the back of the crowd at the Bulldog, watching his son lead us to South Africa 2010. That was neat.
Afterward, Kathleen and Mike went to the Bad Veins show at the Hi-Dive. They said there were about five other people there, which made sense, because that was about how many people were at the Most Serene Republic show last month. She had them autograph her vinyl.
Ms. Brill
I asked my grandma what she thought about the president winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
"I really do not want to comment on what I think about the Nobel," she said. "You know what I think."
I don't get it. I don't get any of it. I don't really get why President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, except I kind of get it. What I don't understand most of all is why conservatives are so pissed that their president won the Nobel Peace Prize, except I kind of understand that, too. But none of it makes sense.
But actually I guess I'm most confused as to why my grandmother hates Barack Obama so much. I mean, she's a Republican and everything, but I don't know why she hates the guy. He hasn't done anything yet that was so egregious as to inspire my grandmother's hatred, has he? He hasn't raised taxes. He hasn't surrendered our national security to Iran. He hasn't euthanized any elderly women on life support. He hasn't even let gay people serve openly in the military.
As a matter of fact, dude's gone out of his way to protect the Bush administration from being investigated for torture, which is the hallmark of the Republican ethos. He's protecting the Republican party's ability to utilize their #1 national security tool. One might think that would buy him a lot of good will among Fox News viewers. (I know. I know.)
Did Barack Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? I don't know; maybe not. Or, at the very least, were there others more deserving of it? Probably. But here are the facts: Barack Obama isn't George W. Bush. In winning election to the office of the presidency, Barack Obama was able to convince the majority of the population of the most powerful county on the planet to completely change course on foreign policy, bringing us firmly within the global mainstream after eight years of establishing residency in Bat Shit Crazy Ville. He's already beaten back the worst ideas of that dark era, and that ain't insubstantial.
If for nothing else, I think this whole thing is most striking as a comparison between the two presidents. George W. was one antagonistic motherfucker, and the rest of the world had just cause to hate him (and us, for putting him in the position to wreak his havoc). That an American president could be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ten months into his administration for simply not being the other guy underscores more than anything else how reviled we were as a country under the other guy's leadership.
I get upset when I'm slapped in the face, too, but normally it makes me pause, right? You calm down a second, feel how hot your cheek is, and then get through the surprise and sometimes you even consider reasons why you might have been slapped in the first place. If conservatives are so offended that their president won the Nobel Peace Prize, maybe they ought to take a second to consider why they're so offended.
Yeah right. Check out Liz Cheney trumpet that America's chief export is war.
"As Americans, we're proud when our president receives an award of that prestigious category."
Sen. John McCain, just sayin'.