Wow. Long time.
Well... it's been like... forever... since I've blogged. I just felt like blogging tonight tho. After thinking about it for a bit, I've decided that it's because of 2 things:
1.) It snowed yesterday. Let me just say that I'm well-aware that it's not the first time it's snowed this season. I know for a fact that it snowed last month... December... 8th? or sometime thereabouts. I'm not going to count that day because a.) it consisted of very light flurries that only lasted... a couple of hours... and I didn't even get to enjoy those flurries because b.) that was the day we had our fire!! Any other days since then that snowed have been missed by me who was in San Jose for a month. So... yesterday was my first truly fun experience in the snow. It was pretty and white and kinda crunchy when you walked on it. I've always felt that there was something romantic and pure about snowfall. It's peaceful: like a clean slate, erasing past mistakes. Perhaps it was simply because I grew up in the Bay Area where there is no snow. There just always seemed to be a simplicity in snow. A sense of fun, and adventure, and romance; evoking a sense of comfort and exploration all in the same fell swoop. It conjures images of being wrapped in long coats and checkered scarves, playing with snowballs and snowmen juxtaposed with images of hot chocolates and crackling fireplaces, dressed in knit sweaters and sitting for hours staring at flames. And, of course, Christmas: my favorite holiday. I'm just a sucker for snow.
the other reason for posting is:
2.) Tonight was Bush's State of the Union Address. Because of work, I didn't get to see the actual address. I did watch an hour's worth of analysis afterward though and I must say that based on the reactions of both Democrats and Republicans, I'm impressed with what must have been a fervor of aggression from our President. First off, about Bush's decision to send more troops into Iraq (this was made awhile ago... but that was before I started blogging again =P): I don't think that's necessarily the solution. More troops equals more death equals (probably) more frustration. 20,000 troops isn't going to make the difference ultimately.
THAT being said, however, it's good to see Bush make steps toward trying to (finally) reach a resolution in Iraq. I think I remember some pundits stating that this is the first time during Bush's 2 terms that he's conceded that he may be wrong about something. Politically, I thought at the time that it was the smartest thing he could've done. If it works, they can claim a short-term victory. If it doesn't work, the next Republican candidate can come out in opposition of the policy. By taking a strong stance so far from the next election, they're poised to control the effect of the results. Because of the frequency of the word "Iraq" during the speech and the comments made by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Iraq's going to be a major platform during the next election. If Republicans can curb the debate in this area, they're going to be undercutting the Democratic party line, so to speak.
Speaking of, I think the next election's going to be interesting but ultimately not ground-breaking. I don't think America's ready to vote for either a woman or a Black man as President yet. That being said, I personally think that Barack Obama's too young to be President and Hillary's still too inexperienced in politics to be President. Those aren't the only two people in the race (John Edwards, for instance, has entered the race) but they are the current front-runners. However, it's still exceptionally early and anybody is poised to be a dark horse candidate. The Republican I'm really looking at is John McCain. I'm a big fan of his but I think he's got too many Republicans who disagree with him to get the actual nomination. That being said, he's going to be make a strong effort and may end up as the Howard Dean to the Republican party. Having McCain as the head of the RNC is something I would be very much in favor of.
Having candidates this early in the process may ultimately be self-detrimental but there's a phrase in Washington: you're always running for election. It's a sad truth and 2008's election may prove to be one of dire importance. Any number of things could happen between now and November 2008 and, in this era of news at the speed of the Internet, we're going to know about it. We're already changing the face of the election process.
In those terms, I'm glad that the Democrats are making bold, aggressive statements. I saw the Democratic response to the State of Union and I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that the Democrats have learned the lessons of 2000 and 2004: be aggressive. b-e aggressive. This is an opportunity. With a Democratically-controlled Congress, having a Democrat in the Oval Office would be an unbelievable turn-around from where we were 2 years ago. We could do some real good in the next 2 years. I just hope nobody f---s it up.
I had other post ideas during my hiatus from this blog. Hopefully I'll find the intestinal fortitude, so to speak, to put nose to grindstone and churn out some more posts. As for this one... I think this post's long enough. Whee~!
1.) It snowed yesterday. Let me just say that I'm well-aware that it's not the first time it's snowed this season. I know for a fact that it snowed last month... December... 8th? or sometime thereabouts. I'm not going to count that day because a.) it consisted of very light flurries that only lasted... a couple of hours... and I didn't even get to enjoy those flurries because b.) that was the day we had our fire!! Any other days since then that snowed have been missed by me who was in San Jose for a month. So... yesterday was my first truly fun experience in the snow. It was pretty and white and kinda crunchy when you walked on it. I've always felt that there was something romantic and pure about snowfall. It's peaceful: like a clean slate, erasing past mistakes. Perhaps it was simply because I grew up in the Bay Area where there is no snow. There just always seemed to be a simplicity in snow. A sense of fun, and adventure, and romance; evoking a sense of comfort and exploration all in the same fell swoop. It conjures images of being wrapped in long coats and checkered scarves, playing with snowballs and snowmen juxtaposed with images of hot chocolates and crackling fireplaces, dressed in knit sweaters and sitting for hours staring at flames. And, of course, Christmas: my favorite holiday. I'm just a sucker for snow.
the other reason for posting is:
2.) Tonight was Bush's State of the Union Address. Because of work, I didn't get to see the actual address. I did watch an hour's worth of analysis afterward though and I must say that based on the reactions of both Democrats and Republicans, I'm impressed with what must have been a fervor of aggression from our President. First off, about Bush's decision to send more troops into Iraq (this was made awhile ago... but that was before I started blogging again =P): I don't think that's necessarily the solution. More troops equals more death equals (probably) more frustration. 20,000 troops isn't going to make the difference ultimately.
THAT being said, however, it's good to see Bush make steps toward trying to (finally) reach a resolution in Iraq. I think I remember some pundits stating that this is the first time during Bush's 2 terms that he's conceded that he may be wrong about something. Politically, I thought at the time that it was the smartest thing he could've done. If it works, they can claim a short-term victory. If it doesn't work, the next Republican candidate can come out in opposition of the policy. By taking a strong stance so far from the next election, they're poised to control the effect of the results. Because of the frequency of the word "Iraq" during the speech and the comments made by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Iraq's going to be a major platform during the next election. If Republicans can curb the debate in this area, they're going to be undercutting the Democratic party line, so to speak.
Speaking of, I think the next election's going to be interesting but ultimately not ground-breaking. I don't think America's ready to vote for either a woman or a Black man as President yet. That being said, I personally think that Barack Obama's too young to be President and Hillary's still too inexperienced in politics to be President. Those aren't the only two people in the race (John Edwards, for instance, has entered the race) but they are the current front-runners. However, it's still exceptionally early and anybody is poised to be a dark horse candidate. The Republican I'm really looking at is John McCain. I'm a big fan of his but I think he's got too many Republicans who disagree with him to get the actual nomination. That being said, he's going to be make a strong effort and may end up as the Howard Dean to the Republican party. Having McCain as the head of the RNC is something I would be very much in favor of.
Having candidates this early in the process may ultimately be self-detrimental but there's a phrase in Washington: you're always running for election. It's a sad truth and 2008's election may prove to be one of dire importance. Any number of things could happen between now and November 2008 and, in this era of news at the speed of the Internet, we're going to know about it. We're already changing the face of the election process.
In those terms, I'm glad that the Democrats are making bold, aggressive statements. I saw the Democratic response to the State of Union and I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that the Democrats have learned the lessons of 2000 and 2004: be aggressive. b-e aggressive. This is an opportunity. With a Democratically-controlled Congress, having a Democrat in the Oval Office would be an unbelievable turn-around from where we were 2 years ago. We could do some real good in the next 2 years. I just hope nobody f---s it up.
I had other post ideas during my hiatus from this blog. Hopefully I'll find the intestinal fortitude, so to speak, to put nose to grindstone and churn out some more posts. As for this one... I think this post's long enough. Whee~!
posted by Chris "Krang" Yang | 12:34 AM
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