DALLAS COYLE ON THE GRIND OF THE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 1:32pm by Dallas Coyle
Please, Enough Already!
I don’t know about you guys but I’m getting sick of this presidential campaign. The moment Paris Hilton is giving advice on energy policy is the moment things need to take a ‘Slow Down’. I have an idea. Instead of people forcing Congress to have a vote on offshore drilling let’s have ‘W’ call congress together for a vote to force both candidates to take a month off. Not for them. But for us. The American people need some time off of this fucking campaign.
Now the two candidates are searching for shit to say and do. I’m an Obama supporter but I can’t even watch his speeches anymore. Speeches that once inspired me seem like reruns of a TV show I used to enjoy but now they just kind of annoy me. Why? He HAS to do them. He must stay out there and give these speeches because people aren’t ’sold’ on him. Running for president is like a long, grueling, shitty job interview. But the people who hire you are mostly uninformed, scared and just plain following what their parents have done in the past. People say they are Republican so they vote Republican. Hey, I’m guilty of that shit too. I voted Democrat.
I would hope that this long process would open up our eyes a little bit. The first thing is: this is politics. Barack Obama and John McCain are politicians. They have to do shit because of their jobs. Speeches, moving to the center, kissing black babies, kissing white babies, etc. I mean, come on, politics is a dirty word but it’s a necessary word. Without politics our country would be fucked. Some of you may think it’s fucked already, some of you may think there is no point to even speaking up because you can’t change anything. I get that. But that’s what politics is for. Anyone can run for public office. In our society, you can be a tattooed, drug addict metal head and you could get elected to any kind of office.
Look at the mayor of Detroit. He looks like a gangbanger in a suit. But he’s the mayor. We live in the best fucking country in the world. He was put in jail today and he’ll probably be elected again. Just like my favorite crack’ smokin’ Marion Barry. Only in America. You have to love this country.
I want the two candidates to give it a rest. I would hope most Americans know that half the shit these two guys say right now won’t be followed through. Case in point, when ‘W’ ran for office he said, “I’ll have a humble foreign policy.” Then those two planes came crashing into the towers and he was like,”Fuck humble, let’s kill us some AYRABS! Terr cain’t exist in the free world!”
The best thing about this long campaign is seeing John McCain have his ‘OLD’ moments. He’s fucking up so much that the news can’t cover it all! He’ll have a gaffe on national TV, the media covers it for a day and he makes another one as they’re still covering his previous blunder. He’s making so many gaffes that people in America can’t tell he’s making gaffes. They don’t mind McCain because they are so used to a president being bad with his words.
Obama may be a little arrogant but shouldn’t we want someone who’s smarter than us leading the country? Why is it such a problem for Americans to admit they may have a weakness. A perfect example is Hillary Clinton’s response to a question in a debate a couple months ago. “Senator Clinton, what would you say your greatest weakness is?” Hillary Clinton: “Well, I’d say my greatest weakness is I love my country too much…” She sat there with that stupid glimmering half-smile. I wanted to bash her fucking face in.
People are literally offended by a presidential candidate who may be smarter than them. What type of backwards thinking is that? If anyone out there is scared of knowledge just stay home and watch reality TV. They literally made it for YOU!
Let’s not get our panties in a bunch about what McCain and Obama are telling us at this moment. If we get attacked again, they will both react differently but I can assure you, what they say now won’t mean shit in January. That goes for both of them. This country still is the best place on earth. I can shit on my politicians and president and not even blink an eye. I’m still voting Obama…
I’m going to steal McDonald’s catch phrase,”AMERICA, I’M LOVIN’ IT!”
Rock!
Amen.
The candidates should jut let Kwame Kilpatrick give their speeches. It’d be way more entertaining, and Kwame’s gonna need a job here pretty damn quick.
babyies? I like this column, but you guys have to start running a spell checker over this shit.
Agreed.
I don’t vote, by choice. Its an unreliable system. 2 examples: back when California was trying to legalize Medicinal Pot, it passed in record numbers but was then yanked by our government. 2) The whole Bush-sh*t in Florda! For Khrist’s sake i don’t understand why someone hasn’t put a bullet in his head!!!
For all those pu$$Ies who say “if you don’t vote, then you don’t have an opinion” – F*CK YOU, I PAY MY TAXES LIKE EVERY CHUMP, THAT GIVES ME PLENTY OF VOICE.
(Most) Americans are bred to Consume, and OUR dependency on other cuntries (spelled that way for a reason, because we keep screwing them!) & their resources has put us 6ft deep.
Unfortunately & sorry to say, many (uneducated) people will vote for Obama because of the ‘black’ thing… instead of the RIGHT reasons.
Unfortunately & also sorry to say McCain (McKKKlown) will probably win because he’s backed by Bush(’s money).
All in all, i do believe with Hillary’s sorry attempt to run (as a woman) & Obama’s background, it is a possitive step forward…
but as history has punishingly taught us, for every step forward we take 2 steps back.
GOD D@MN AMERICA! \m/
You guys are missing the best gaffes…
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270852,00.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThEAO0lt4Dw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzZNP4tTfV0&eurl=http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/04/why-the-tire-pressure-gauge-stings/
http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/07/23/the-obamamessiah-has-another-uhoh-moment.php
And Dallas, babyies? How can you comment on a person f*cking up when you can’t spell? Just messing with you man, everybody makes mistakes, just seems some people’s mistakes get more national coverage than others…
Hey bud, I just want to say that you have some good insights and your thoughtful and all that shit. I love your blog, blah blah blah. ;)
Just one gripe; I love political and religious matters IN music, but I don’t really like to hear musicians go on and on about politics. (Even if they have legitimate opinions!)
You’re an interesting dude, and I’d love to hear your opinions on other shit, especially music and the experiences therein. I have a particularly intense interest in your view about the industry and all of that shit, since I would very much love to get a full-time project going and make my fucking MARK on metal.
KILL YOURSELF FOR METAAAAL!
I like to mix it up here and there. Thanks for reading.
Metal Music should always be about resisting the norm (i think). Its these social/semi-political stuff that angers us and give us musicians, material. Growing up this music is what opened my eyes. I disagree with those people who don’t want musicians to talk about politix. I strongly encourage it. I enjoy hearing the your rants Dallas. Much like the stuff that DaveMustaine puts out there. It shows that we’re not just puppets playing music. we think therefore we are! I like the music to have a definitive message. THings to make the listener think a bit. KIDS now-a-daze need this, a break from the brainwashing on the TV & trendy airwaves.
LIFE IS NOT AT PEACHES & CREAM
Good shit Dallas. Again you say the shit a lot of people can’t put into words. It’s a shame that we are forced, time and time again, to vote for the candidate that lies the least.
The biggest reason I’m voting for Obama is sheer disappointment and lack of faith in the GOP. I’ve seen his speeches and interviews and I have found a lot of good and bad points, but none of the bad points could ever rectify the kind of bullshit this country is in for if we end up with another Republican dominated government.
Wouldn’t it just be fucking great if this country was actually UNITED instead of DIVIDED. Not everyone’s going to have the same opinions, which is great, but the fact that you have to think a certain way because of a label you probably didn’t even choose(like you said.. a lot of it has to do with what our families say to do and not so much what our actual values are) is ridiculous.
Dude, shut up and make music. Yeah, so you have a little bit of fame and you think you can start preaching about politics, but you’re an ass if you think Obama is ’smarter’ than us. He’s a tool like the rest of the bunch and I rather vote for you.
He’s a bumbling idiot when his teleprompter isn’t spewing his words to him, and further more he’s a chameleon licking the ass of the crowd he’s speaking to. I’m not even going into the socialist aspect of this chode sucker.
“I mean, come on, politics is a dirty word but it’s a necessary word. Without politics our country would be fucked.” Thank you, for writing what people need to hear I’m sick of our own people shitting on our country. Anybody who just disregards our system of government and uses our countries current state as an excuse to not care about voting or learning about issues is a fool. I am a proud United States Marine, and will be voting for Obama this upcoming election. I’ve been to Iraq and seen horrible things. I recognize that there is a black cloud over America right now and a change in leadership is needed. Politics is a necessary evil, everyone in this country have opportunities that people in other countries can only dream of, and America may be in a controversial time right now, but because its America, it can change for the better.
I have to second what was stated by sir Real. Obama is absolutely NOT smarter than us. He is a decent public speaker(so was Hitler). But his policy is abysmal. You want to talk about gaffes? McCain may be old but at least he isn’t caught in policy lies time and time again before he’s even elected. How many times has Obama’s camp had to use the line, “that’s not what he meant. His quote was misconstrued. What he actually meant was…” Never mind the fact that he’s a socialist. Let’s talk about his 20 years attending an anti-america, anti-caucasian church.(after he converted from Islam so he could succeed in politics by the way) My parent’s left a church because they didn’t like the priest talking about how much people should donate. I cannot imagine someone staying with a church for 20 years if they did not agree with the minister playing the “white people are the devil and America has ruined the world” card.
I do vote. I’m going to vote this year. I’m going to vote for McCain. Not because I think he’ll be a great president. He’s going to be a “meh” president at most. Obama, however, will absolutely be detrimental to this country if he is in office. People can play the “we need to get the republicans out of control” crap as much as they want. But there is absolutely nothing that I have seen from Obama so far that would suggest he’d do anything but speed up this handbasket we’re stuck in even more.
@lern2swim: Never mind the fact that he’s a socialist. Let’s talk about his 20 years attending an anti-america, anti-caucasian church.(after he converted from Islam so he could succeed in politics by the way) My parent’s left a church because they didn’t like the priest talking about how much people should donate. I cannot imagine someone staying with a church for 20 years if they did not agree with the minister playing the “white people are the devil and America has ruined the world” card.”
You are grossly misinformed. Also, leave your Fox News talking points at home. anti-caucasian? Anti-American? Give me a break with that crap. How is a guy who is white anti-caucasian? How is a person with 125 IQ stupid? How are you going to vote for McCain when he doesn’t know the difference between a Shia and Sunni? Also he graduated 594 of 599 of his class. McCain is not a very smart person. The smartest thing he did was marry a woman who had 100 million dollars. You don’t know what’s going to happen when someone gets into office. Just look at how Obama runs his campaign. It’s a well oiled machine. McCains campaign is a trainwreck. Vote for a person who shows a handle on organizing his team. Let’s remember that Obama is a politician but he also beat the “inevitable” candidate. I think he’s smart enough to get what we need from our Allies and Enemies when it comes down to it. Let’s not even get into those videos that are out there of McCain in a POW camp. Or his PTSD from being tortured for five years. Do you want your president being seen in any anti-american propaganda videos from the 70s? I don’t think so. Also, Oprah went to that church too. Is she anti-american or anti-caucasian?
First of all, I don’t watch fox news, shit, I don’t watch tv, period. But hey. If you want to believe the “talking points” that you believe but totally disregard all the crap that the media seems more than happy to sweep beneath the rug because they love this guy, more power to you. As I said, McCain is very very far from my ideal candidate. However, that has nothing to do with the POW propaganda videos. Seriously? Can you get any more “talking point” than that??? So, McCain being forced to do something that nearly every POW was forced to do is worse than voluntarily attending a church, where anti-american propaganda is spewed, for 20 years? I don’t think so. You’re right though, I can’t know what a candidate is going to do after they’re elected. All I have to go on is their actions pre-election. And what I see from Obama is someone who has jackshit experience and will say and do anything to get elected. Not only that, but he doesn’t even have to do a good job at his bullshitting because the press is more than happy to turn a blind eye to all his backtracking and policy blunders. I don’t care what his IQ is. Just because someone isn’t stupid does not necessarily mean that they’re not an idiot. Fact of the matter is, I look at his policies, I look at his speeches, I look at his inability to keep his POV straight, I look at the choices he’s made in his personal life and the relationships he’s kept and I see exactly what I do not want from a president.
Oh and I wouldn’t be surprised, if deep down inside, Oprah is anti-American and anti-caucasian. She’s, however, above all else, attention junkie who loves being worshipped for giving away what probably equates to 1% of her worth. “Oooh, Oprah, you’re soooo generous.” On the bright side, she’s not attempting to become leader of the country… yet.
Seriously though, I understand where you’re coming from. McCain sucks as an alternative. I mean, I would hope that you don’t view Obama as some great savior of the country. That at most he’s merely the “lesser of two evils” from your point of view.
If you read the blog it says clearly he’s a politician. No one is a savior. That’s not the point. I’m not referencing talking points with the POW footage. No one dares even touch that subject. Of course POWS are made to do things but my question is do you want our president seen that way?
I haven’t seen Obama in church during the Jeremiah Wright stuff or Father Phleger. His lack of inexperience doesn’t say much to me. Look at a band that puts out a great 1st record. I don’t think experience has much to do with ability. Maybe honing ability is what experience is for. Downloa obamas policy PDF on his website. It’s laid out what he wants to do.
IDK, let’s vote already.
You really think that PDF means shit to him. He is going to do what every politician in the world has done. He’s going to blow smoke up your ass to make you think he’s the best choice. Then he’s going to get elected and he’s going to thank you right and left while he’s stepping on everything that’s typed on that pdf.
How the hell can you point to a pdf on his site, when he can’t even tell the truth in his radio ads. He states he doesn’t take money from special interest groups or big oil. nah, wrong…
http://www.stop-obama.org/?p=151
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-15-obamainside_N.htm
http://archives.gophercentral.com/Barack_Obama_Still_Takes_in_Oil_Money.html
When the Jeremiah Wright thing happen, he first came out and said he never heard the good Reverend say those awful things. Then he said he did hear those things, but doesn’t agree with them. Then, out of nowhere the Reverend’s pages start disappearing from his campaign site. lol
Come on people, get a grip. Your candidate is just as crooked and screwed up as all political candidates. If you’re going to vote for him, at least say why, you don’t want McCain. That’s all, because everything he tells you now WILL change if/when he becomes president.
Personally, I do not want the presidency to be where a politician is going to hone his ability. I know his policies and I can’t stand the majority of them. I can’t stand the fact that, when it gets right down to it, he’s nothing but a way for the democrats to dupe a large majority of people into voting for a “figurehead” who has horrible policy.
Again, as far as the POW footage. I am fine with it. I would be glad to finally have a president that had first hand experience with the horror of war. I could never join the military myself and have no qualms admitting that. But I have the utmost respect for men and women who serve. So, no, I don’t have a problem with it. He served his country, spent 5 years in a POW camp, survived, and went on to become a presidential candidate. Shit. If anything that makes me proud. If another country views that negatively, let them. It would be the equivalent of Obama being viewed negatively because he used to be Islamic.(again, my issue is that he converted for no apparent reason but to further his career) It would be asinine and there should be no citizen of this country unwilling to stand up and support either man, at least when it comes to those individual factors. What amazes me is that people still manage to accuse McCain of being a war monger. I doubt anyone who spent 5 years in a pow camp would have a positive view of war.
So, again, if it comes down to McCain being forced to do something in his past and being honest about it(he’s always admitted that he went along with the pow propaganda, as did almost all of the pow’s) or Obama doing something of his own free will and then disowning it once it becomes a political burden… well, that’s an easy decision.
But I agree, let’s just vote, because there are very few people who are going to change their mind at this point anyway. Whether or not that’s a good thing, well, we’ll see.
Obama is and never was a follower of Islam… get that fact straight before talking about policy. jesus christ. People believe what they want to believe. You’re believing he used to be a muslim. understanding something and being it is different. I understand Scientology and read about it. Because I understand it and read the literature doesn’t make me a scientologist or give you proof I ever was. Extremist muslims want to kill everyone. You. Me. And Obama. And McCain. Like Ghandi said, leave them the fuck alone.
I don’t agree we should be in any muslim country for 5/10/20/50 years. That’s madness. Wesely Clark said it right. Just because he was a POW doesn’t qualify him to be president. Both of my uncles are in the military so I know about the strain it causes the family. But I wouldn’t say it makes them qualified to be president.
And a JFK quote. Journalist “Mr. President, what makes you a war hero?” JFK “well, they sunk my boat.”
Okay, first of all, I never said that Obama was an extremist muslim. Don’t try to turn me into some neo-con who is going to make a big deal out of something stupid like the fact that his middle name is Hussein. I’m not worried about him being a terrorist or anything like that. I don’t think all Muslims are terrorists. Obama, despite what you may want to believe, was born a Muslim, his father was a Muslim, he was never incredibly involved with the religion, he did however follow it and practice on occasion, but he felt no need to convert to Christianity until he became involved in politics. THAT is what scares me. The fact that he seems to have no personal traits whatsoever but those that will serve to get him elected.
Also, I never said that being a POW qualifies McCain to be President. Hell, the only qualifications for president are to be the age of 35, resident of the US for 14 years and a natural born citizen. I merely stated that I don’t view his time as a POW as a negative as you seem to. His time in public office (more than Obama’s 3 years as a senator) strikes me as a decent qualification though.
Quite frankly, it seems that all you want to do is file me under “insane, right wing, neo-con” because it’s easier for you that way. Instead of addressing what I’m saying you simply attempt to turn my statements into something they are not. If you can’t accept the fact that someone who doesn’t agree with you can be well informed, well, I pity you. For the record, I’m a registered “undecided,” consider myself a libertarian, and have voted both democrat and republican in the past based on which candidate I have felt would best serve his/her office. Unlike you, who readily admitted that you vote democrat simply because you are one. Hell, I bought your last cd and was fine with the fact that there were many apparent political themes that I disagreed with. I have no problem with people who I don’t see eye to eye with. I just have a problem when people don’t even open their eyes in the first place.
I didn’t call you a conservative neo-con. I just think it’s funny you say Obama is born a muslim because his dad is. So since my family is baptist does that make me a Baptist? I’ve never practiced so the point is moot. To paint him as muslim turned Christian because of politics is not right especially since you factually don’t know if that’s the case. Also, what religion was Obama’s mom? Is it only fitting to name his fathers religion when it supports your argument? Or is it more fitting to name his moms religion or lack-thereof considering she was the one who raised him? Who has more impact on your life, the person who raised you or the person who drops in once in awhile. he was raised mostly by his grandparents in Kansas. What were their religions? Mine were catholic. My mom was Baptist but I don’t claim their beliefs or religion.
Abe lincoln was in the senate for less time than Obama when he became president. He was elected to the senate in 1858 and became president in 1861. He is considered the greatest president of all time.
We can debate all day. I wasn’t calling you anything I was trying to name reasons why I think Obama is better fit to be president than McCain.
Thanks for picking up the album though. We don’t think it’s too political though. We go for more of a humanitarian vibe. :)
That’s IT, Dallas, you closet self-hating Baptist! I’m not pickin’ up your album now! ;)
Obama’s father and step-father were both muslim. His mother was not part of any religious group, as far as I can find. According to Muslim religion, his father being Muslim made him one from birth. Now, I understand that does not mean he was practicing. He has however gone on record saying he converted to Christianity about 16 years ago. What bothers me is that there is so much information and disinformation on both sides regarding this. So, in all honesty, all I can do is look at the way he acts regarding other personal things that affect his campaign and decide who I trust. Quite frankly, I don’t feel that he is trustworthy enough to say that he’s truthful about it. But, if you notice, I do fall in the middle on the subject. I do not believe that he’s some secret extremist Muslim sleeper terrorist attempting to gain control of the country. I do however think he has clouded his past to make himself more electable. His actions regarding Reverend Wright highlight this excellently. He used that church until he saw that it was going to affect his returns, then he turned his back on it. Again, my problem is his willingness to shift with whatever the electoral winds dictate.
Lincoln was elected to the House of representatives in 1834, almost 30 years before his presidency. Obama held no national position until he was elected to senate. Still, this is not my biggest issue with him. I am well aware that a long political career is not necessary to be president. I think it may lead to him being ill-equipped to deal with all the double dealing and back room politics that goes on but that is a different topic. I also think that it is indicative of the feeling I get that the dems are using him as a figurehead to win the presidency because they know that he has a built in base that will vote for him with no knowledge whatsoever of his policies. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used class warfare (I know it happens on both sides but I find theirs much more insidious) at the expense of their own constituents.
My biggest issue is still the fact that he is a socialist. We’ve gotten kind of sidetracked in this conversation talking about his religious background and such. But that is my big issue and why I absolutely do not want him as president. He may call himself a democrat but his policies are, by far, socialist. McCain is closer to a traditional liberal democrat in his ideals than Obama actually is. My issue with this is that I do not believe that socialism works in a real world setting. Neither does communism. They just go against every human instinct and they do not work. They’re both great systems in theory but they fail when put into practice. This country is already headed in a very socialist direction and, quite frankly, I think that is where a lot of our issues arise from. FDR started us down that path and since then we’ve been attempting to shoehorn socialism and capitalism in together and it just does not work that way. Now, to be clear, I am not rich. I deliver pizzas. I do not however feel that the rich should be punished for their success. I do not feel that the government should be used as a crutch to hold up people so they don’t have to hold up themselves. I do not feel that I am owed a handout from the Bill Gates tax fund because I don’t make a lot of money. I like to think that one day I will and I don’t want to be punished for that. I think unions are doing more bad than good at this point in history. I think we should have an equal world market that doesn’t favor a product just because it’s American. If we want to keep our jobs, we should be encouraged to stay competitive. Like I said, Libertarian. I do not want more socialism leaking into our society. I’m not going to go into detail with Obama’s policy. I think it’s rather obvious that the vast majority of them have a socialist slant. I’m not okay with that. that, in a nutshell is why I will vote against him. Everything else is just frosting on what I see as the giant bullshit flavored socialist cake that is Barack Obama.
As far as the album, I do love it. Like I said, “apparent” political themes. Thank you very much for not turning into one of those bands that randomly decided to start spewing overt political lyrics all of a sudden. I’d much rather you start randomly spewing your overt political agenda on a website message board.
It’s all in good fun.
holy shit that was a long post.
“I don’t agree we should be in any muslim country for 5/10/20/50 years. That’s madness.”
Hey Dallas, you realise you sound like a Ron Paul supporter with this comment? and having read the other shit you wrote, you KNOW the two parties are exactly the same, it warms my heart to hear you say that shit, but Obama, have you READ the shit he said at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, he wants to EXPAND the US military overseas, do some research into what’s actually going on, watch some of Ron Paul’s early debates from last year, especially the one he did in May if you haven’t already, watch the rally for the republic that just happened last week, and one last thing, JESSE VENTURA 2012!