PBS Presidential Forum

Tonight I watched the All American Presidential Forum on PBS at the historically black Howard University in Washington D.C. It was hosted by Tavis Smiley, T.V. and radio host.

In attendance were, in order of their podium positioning, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Joe Biden, Gov. Bill Richardson, Fmr. Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Fmr. Sen. Mike Gravel and Sen. Christoper Dodd.

I would like to share my thoughts about each candidate in order of best to worst...in my opinion.

Gov. Bill Richardson
I think he was the best candidate on stage. He was calm, collective, and appeared to be speaking candidly, unlike the other candidates. The only problem I saw was that he liked to disregard the moderator when his time was up; but doesn't that show leadership???

Sen. Hillary Clinton
She was very impressive. Her knowledge is very broad for, well, a broad, pun intended. I would guess that comes from actually living with a president of the United States; as well as being a State Senator. I didn't hear anything earth shattering, but she spoke elequently, and appeared to be calm and composed. She acted, well, presidential.

Sen. Barack Obama
What can I say. He looked, acted and sounded exactly like we see him all the time. There's nothing wrong with that, other than at times he didn't appear to be relaxed and talking off the cuff as some of the other candidates did. He's very articulate, and sharp. I don't know what it is about him that I put him in 3rd place. I would be ok with him being president, but I'm not 100% comfortable with something about him. It might be his lack of experience, or maybe my lack of knowledge about his beliefs on issues. I still like Sen. Obama, and he did a great job tonight.

Fmr. Sen. John Edwards
John Edwards says the right things, but I'm not convinced he believes everything he is saying; though, I could be saying that for about any candidate. Like Obama, he looks pretty young to be the president of the United States. He does have a leg up, so to speak, with his "Breck Girl" hair style. Most presidents have had a decent head of hair! I think he would try very hard to be a great president, but I'm just not sure yet about his convictions. He too needs to get away from all those facts, figures and tag lines in order to get to the peoples level if he wants any chance of winning.

Sen. Joe Biden
What a likable man. I have always had a lot of respect for Sen. Biden. I see nothing wrong with him winning the Democratic nomination, other than I can't see him winning the nomination. He's too soft spoken to get the nod. He needs to be more vocal in order to show he's a take charge kind of guy. I did notice that he, unlike the other candidates, paid close attention to the questions, and answered the questions that were actually asked. Sometimes the candidates went around the questions, or answered a part of the question, but he made sure he answered the entire question as it was asked. I would like to see him do better.

Rep. Dennis Kicinich
Ok - I know. Why didn't I put him last, or next to last, you ask? I actually like this guy! He'll never be president, but if you actually listen to him, he has some very interesting suggestions and comments! For example, when the topic was about Sudan, he said something to the effect of "If Sudan had a large supply of oil we'd be in there already". Not only is his statement funny, it's true!!! He appeared a bit nervous, but very gutsy with his remarks. When talking about jobs being shipped over seas, he said he would cancel NAFTA and the WTO. Well? Is he nuts or actually pretty damn smart in a non-presidential looking body?

Sen. Christopher Dodd
Boring. I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to get interested in him. His statements were average, and his appearance fine, but nothing he said made me want to vote for him over the other candidates.

Fmr. Sen. Mike Gravel
Oh my god. Why in the world is this guy sharing the same stage as the others!!!??? I wish I had some quotes from him. His answers were off topic, didn't make any sense, and he appeared to be a bit senile. I don't know much about him, so if I am missing something, please tell me!! The audience was trying to hold back their snickers as he was speaking. To put him in 8th place, out of 8 candidates is just not fair. He should be in 1,000th place.

See full story at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/29/democrats.debate.ap/index.html

Uncle Frank

Officer Frank Denzinger of the Floyd County Sheriff's Department was killed Monday night when he was shot by a teenager during a domestic dispute.

http://www.supportingheroes.org/memorial/hero.php?hero_id=268

I never met Frank, but he is my sister's sister-in-law's brother, which means that he was "Uncle Frank" to three of my nephews and their cousins. A big treat whenever my nephews would visit their cousins would be when Uncle Frank would stop by in his patrol car to say "hi." Frank loved his profession of law enforcement, but at just 31 he was just getting started in his career. Frank leaves a wife, a very young daughter, and a grieving family of parents, grandparents, siblings, and all of the people connected to them, in addition to his police family.

There's a lot to say but not really any words that matter. I just wanted to say "good-bye" to "Uncle Frank" and say that he will be deeply missed.

RFK takes on big oil. . .sort of

Robert Kennedy Jr. interviews Stan, err, I mean Nathan Thurm! Martin Short revisits his classic character Nathan Thurm, the nervous, sweating, chain smoking big business lawyer which he portrayed on Saturday Night Live. Stan does an UNCANNY impersonation of this character - ask him to perform it the next time you see him:

AAAH….NOW I UNDERSTAND

As I get older, quickly closing in on 50, I’m beginning to understand those 2 little words that I have so often heard, but never felt…road rage.

I drive from Aboite to North Coliseum Blvd every Monday-Friday to my 8-5 job and back again. Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t cut me off in traffic, ride their brakes all the way down Coliseum Blvd, quickly slam on their brakes just as the traffic light begins to turn yellow, or drive 30 mph in a 45 mph zone and I’m getting ticked off! And no, it’s not just the older drivers I’m talking about. I’m also talking about these nimrods:

The Cell Phoner:

You’ve seen them. They’re the ones with one hand clutching a cell phone and every brain cell concentrating on some conversation that absolutely could not wait until they’ve reached their destination. In the meantime, I’m the lucky driver behind them that has to anticipate their every move, since they’re too busy to notice that yes, there ARE other cars on the road.

The Make-Up Madam:

I kid you not…today I was in the lane next to a woman who was putting on mascara WHILE she was driving in morning rush hour traffic. Ma’am, if your mascara makes such a difference in your appearance that you can’t wait for a red light to apply it, then maybe you shouldn’t be leaving the house without it already on. I’ve also seen women applying, blush, lipstick or powder, spraying perfume, combing their hair and putting on earrings, but somehow, after seeing this morning’s glamour girl applying the mascara (no easy task even in the best of conditions) all of these other things seem pretty minor!

The Road-Rocker:

This is the (usually) young person blasting their stereo for all to enjoy and infringing on my peaceful morning commute. If you’re lucky, you might also be treated to a sneak preview of their “So You Think You Can Dance” audition, at least the hand motions. I once drove from New Haven to Antwerp, Ohio behind a driver who was bouncing up & down to whatever music she was listening to, with her hands waving in the air about half the way, while visions of an accident distracted me all the way to my destination.

You’ve all seen these characters and many more. I can’t figure out what these people are thinking when they multi-task behind the wheel, but you know what I REALLY wonder about?

Where did they take driver’s education and how many times did it take them to pass their driving tests?

The ride of his life . . .

I heard on the radio today about an incident in Michigan with a man, a wheelchair an a semi-truck. I didn't believe it until I checked it out on WOOD-TV's website. You can see the entire story here.

The man was driving his motorized wheelchair in front of a semi that had pulled in for gas. The truck didn't see the man and continued to pull out of the station. The man's wheelchair handles got lodged in the truck's grill and the truck drove 4 miles on the highway at about 50 mph before the man was discovered. The 911 system was so overloaded with calls it had to go to a secondary system. Can you imagine driving down the highway and seeing that? A state trooper arrived just as the truck was pulling into it's employer and informed the unbelieving driver than he had a passenger.

The disabled man seemed unfazed by the incident and was completely unharmed. The wheel chair however will need to be replaced, apparently they weren't meant to travel 50 mph. Amazing!

Consider yourself forewarned!!!

Take a peek at the left side of Dan's brain

but don't say I didn't warn you first!!!

http://leftsideofdansbrain.blogspot.com/

How the gene pool gets cleaned

Shhhh It's a secret!!!

http://leftofcentrist.blogspot.com/2007/06/shhhh-its-secret.html#links