First Pitch

With all the hype about the upcoming election, sometimes the news about the man that is going to be replaced goes under the radar for me. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything about Bush, or even seen anything about him on television. Maybe I’m not paying close enough attention, but I think people are getting to the point where they are more interested in who is next than what Bush has to say anymore.

While I was settling in to watch opening day of the Major League Baseball season, I was lucky enough to catch the ceremonial first pitch being thrown out but none other than the president.

Although it was a pretty decent pitch, I found it amazing how loudly George W. Bush was booed while tossing it. Compared to the clip below, which was from the World Series in 2001, just a month and a half after the September 11 attacks, you can see the how the nation’s thoughts on the president have changed.

And even with all the boos, Bush still had that damn smirk on his face, the “Yeah, I run this country, what are you gonna do about it” smirk. I hate it.

Only nine more months…

Kansas in the Final Four?

It’s finally that time of the election season when politics seem extra ridiculous to me. There really isn’t too much progress being made in the nomination process – the next primary isn’t for another 33 days – so the news outlets are struggling to make stories and create controversy with every topic, going as low as to saying Obama is not patriotic because he doesn’t wear an American Flag lapel pin.

I agree with Dave Gergen, a Republican political analyst, who said, “I don’t think an election should be determined by if a man wears a pin or not,” while speaking on CNN last night. An election shouldn’t be decided on petty little things that in the big picture have no relevance to the actual issues that should be focused on.

It’s nice to see that the candidates themselves feel the same way, and that even they need, and take, breaks from politics every once in a while, even in the middle of a heated nomination process.

On the same show as Gergen, Anderson Cooper 360, a clip aired of Cooper spending a full day with Obama, from a rally in the morning in North Carolina, on a flight to West Virginia and a rally later that night. Cooper stated he was surprised to see Obama working so hard on the plane, as he sometimes takes the time on the flight to rest. When Cooper approached Obama to see what he was working on, he found out all of the hard work was going toward Obama picking his bracket for the NCAA tournament.

As I mentioned, it’s nice to see that the candidates need a break too, and also helps you realize that these aren’t just political machines who are running for president, they are actual people who do the same stuff as you or I would do.

It’s a pretty decent bracket overall. I think Obama is a little crazy for putting Kansas, a team that has been upset in the first or second round in the last two years, in the final four. I have the same title game as he does, except I have UCLA beating UNC in the final.

“One of the Greatest Speeches of Our Generation”

I picked a bad time to stop following the election race. For a week, over our spring break, I decided to take a break from what seemed to be a never-ending cycle of the same political stories from every media outlet. Of course, this happens to be the week when Obama’s pastor and his preachings come into controversy, and Obama responds with what I’ve heard described by many of my peers as “One of the Greatest Speeches of Our Generation.”

Many in the press are praising the speech as well. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune said, “If political campaigns were political movies, Barack Obama’s big speech deserves a big Oscar…. He bravely fought to save his presidential campaign by affirming principles over expediency as an argument for improving politics.”

Deborah Griffith, an Arizona Republic reader, wrote in to the paper to say, “I want to thank the senator for giving me hope yet again for this country.”

After watching the speech, and seeing the words and emotion Obama and his staff can put together in just a day’s time, my respect for Obama and his staff has just gotten greater.

Obama handled the situation with class and dignity, and addressed the subject of racism without any disdain, even toward his pastor. Although his pastor a prominent part of Obama’s religious background, should not be seen as a mirror of the views of Obama himself.