May 25, 2014

Did Sarah Palin Open The Door For Michelle Obama?

Posted by ozmud under 2014 May, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , |
[5] Comments 

Interesting read this morning on The Hill:

Like she’s done so often during the past six years, Michelle Obama has stepped out of her pre-defined role as Lady of The White House  and into the more rough and tumble world of hands-on politicking.

Her focus on getting America to eat better and exercise more is already a large part of the Obama Administration’s legacy. But. There’s a subtle shift – a ramping up if you will – in her scheduled activities that I believe signals a lot more than just an administration trying to accomplish all they can before it’s time to leave the white porticos of Washington D.C.

In the article linked at the top, The Hill refers to Mrs. Obama’s broadening agenda as flexing her muscles. They describe her as being sought after by 2014 Democratic candidates for public endorsement. That despite Barack’s current poll numbers, everyone running for office wants a thumbs up from Michelle.

When Hillary Clinton made it known she wanted more than her role as First Lady, her advisors encouraged her to make a political name for herself by securing a term as Senator. This, they said, would give her political credibility,  authenticating her bid for presidency when the time came.

She played by all the rules, proved herself to be an effective senator and politician, ticked all the boxes that create a sound presidential candidate but in the end-game the delay cost her:  None of her advisors saw Barack Obama coming.  So while those of us who worked actively to seat a woman in the oval office, Mrs. Clinton lost her place on the 2008 ticket.

Sarah Palin marched toward the office of president on a very different path. Whether you believe her political career was contrived or not, built entirely on deception or not, she managed to go from total obscurity to national spotlight literally overnight. Her charismatic camera presence won over the hearts of a conservative party lacking in female leadership. Her brazen positioning herself as mother of a special needs child was pure gold, proffering a bottomless well of political currency that still pays her extravagant hotel bills today.

But Sarah Palin, with all her religious pandering and feigning of sacrifices made as the mother of a special needs child, failed to convince the vast majority of Americans that she was a capable leader and the election slipped through her fingers to land forever out of reach.

But before Sarah Palin slid back into obscurity she accomplished one immeasurable feat: She opened the door for other female aspirants to bypass the old rules of parliamentary procedure, showing by example that one needn’t spend years in elected positions to qualify for a run at the White House. Indeed, her own made-up record as mayor and governor demonstrated what a sham that requirement can be.

MichelleObamaMichelle Obama’s schedule for the remainder of 2014 reads like a page from the play-book of aspiring young candidates. No longer obligated to support her husband’s political agenda it could well be her turn to set an agenda of her own. She has name-recognition, a strong educational and legal background, diverse popularity, a stable family life with beautiful, intelligent, scandal-free daughters and a country filled with people who already adore her personally and share her values.

No one is going to tell her to take time out and run for a lesser office first. She’s got momentum now and it would serve her well to keep going.

The Obama-created election machine is already in place. If Michelle Obama continues on a path to build her political portfolio, I’m betting 2016 will find more than one woman vying for the office of President of the United States.  That said, an Obama or Clinton or a Clinton-Obama ticket in 2016 would suit me just fine 🙂

Thanks Sarah – for your unwitting contribution to Hillary and Michelle’s campaign. Go ahead. Pat yourself on the back! Your efforts  may yet have helped put a woman in the oval office!

 

August 15, 2011

Ozzies Who Share Palin’s Values End Up in Hospital

Posted by ozmud under 2011 August | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
[2] Comments 

Image

A WA restaurant is dishing up a “Fatboy” burger loaded with *1.3kg of mince meat patties, while its “world’s hottest” chilli burger has hospitalised two diners.

They are among a raft of killer food challenges being promoted at WA restaurants, sparking a warning from health professionals.

One man nearly choked while eating a giant steak at Outback Jack’s in Fremantle. And at least two men were taken to hospital with internal burns after eating a hamburger garnished with the world’s hottest chilli pepper, the bhut jolokia an Indian chilli more than 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce.

The Red Face and Runny Nose burger is on the menu at Novembar’s Burgers in Dianella, where the $30 bill is waived if the diner eats the lot in less than 10 minutes and is able to pass an egg from one bowl to another using chopsticks.

Owner Minh Vinh, who said only 15 of 135 challengers since 2009 had finished it, said he added the popular Man vs Fatboy burger challenge three months ago, using 1.3kg of minced beef in seven meat patties, making it seven times the size of a normal burger. He advertises this whopper with the slogan “the faster you eat, the less you pay”.

The record holder, Scott Rumbolt, finished his in six minutes and 37 seconds. The longest diner took just over an hour.

Perth dietitian Denise Griffiths said she found the gorging hard to digest, warning monster munchers were risking heart disease, choking and weight gain.

“That style of eating should not be encouraged and we’re talking about a lot of kilojoules and a lot of salt,” she said.

At Outback Jacks in Fremantle and Rockingham, owner Mick Egan is used to cleaning the tables when diners aiming to finish lkg of rump in half an hour can’t hold their meat down.

The meal comes with 500g of potato wedges and 500g of steamed vegetables.

Full story at Perth Now

For those unfamiliar with metrics, 1.3 kilograms is equal to 2 lbs, 14 oz. That’s a lot of greasy beef. Especially when one is expected to eat ALMOST THREE POUNDS OF GROUND MEAT PLUS CHEESE, BREAD, ONE POUND OF GREASY POTATOES AND MORE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

The riduculous stance taken by Sarah Palin in national and international news sound-bytes to mock Michelle Obama’s attempts to teach young Americans to adopt healthier eating habits is worse than ridiculous – it’s downright dangerous. It encourages harmful marketing ploys like the one in the above article and sends a message to everyone – young, old, middle-aged alike – people in top physical condition, people who are not and those who just want to make a dollar off a goofy idea – that there’s nothing wrong with eating whatever you want, whenever you want. It’s all just good fun.

I am reminded of two incidents that took place more than 15 years ago (but less than 30), the first in Texas: A young man was taken by family and friends to a local pub to celebrate his 21st birthday.

The young man had never had a drop of alcohol. Seriously. His uncle proudly ordered a shot of tequila with a beer chaser for himself and his nephew. He showed the lad how to down the shot and chug the beer and the lad followed suit.

An hour later the young man was dead. Turned out he had a severe allergy to whatever process it is that creates alcohol. The newspaper article I read ended with a saddened realization which I took to be pointed directly at the ‘down home boys’ attitude of Texas men. I remember it as something like:  In hindsight,  perhaps giving someone who had never had alcohol before a nice glass of wine would have been the smarter and less fatal introduction to booze.

The second incident occured in California. A toddler tried to imitate his older brothers busily engaged in a mock eating contest. No one noticed, in all the commotion that the 5 year old tried to swallow a hot dog whole until it was too late.

I realize that we can’t possibly be responsible for all the stupid things people do in life and of course there are unpreventable accidents. But I do feel that something as visible as political fame should come with a responsibility clause – just like star athletes who sign morality clauses on contracts before they get to spend their $10 million salary.

Words matter. Behaviour matters. Our politicians should be held to a much higher standard than the adolescent I can do whatever I want sound-bytes spewing forth from the Twinkie Queen herself.

 

June 20, 2011

Michelle Obama on Father’s Day

Posted by ozmud under 2011 June | Tags: , , , , , |
1 Comment 

This from my email bag:

Friend —

As families around the country get together to celebrate fathers today, I’m thinking about dads like Alex.

Alex is the father of two boys and two girls, ages six to 13. During the week, he works the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift as a front-desk supervisor at a Seattle hotel. After work and on the weekends, he devotes his time to a summer organizing program that’s giving more than 1,500 first-time organizers the training they need to help build this movement in their communities.

He says he hopes this organizing work will help teach his kids the power one person can have — that if “they see something that needs to be changed, they know they can make a difference.”

I wanted to share a video of Alex explaining what prompted him to join this program and devote his summer to this work.

I was really moved by what he had to say. Take a look, and share it with a dad you’re thinking about today:


Today, I’m also proud of my husband, the man who drove our first daughter and me home from the hospital 13 years ago next month, determined to be the kind of father he hadn’t had for himself.

Barack often says he decided that day that if he could be anything in life, he’d be a good dad, and he dedicated himself then and there to making sure our daughter had every opportunity he could provide.

When it comes down to it, that’s why we’re all here — Barack, Alex, myself, and everyone who’s part of this campaign. We’re all working to make sure we leave our kids with a country that’s fairer and more full of opportunity — just as our parents did for us.

Thank you for being part of that work, and part of this campaign.

Wishing you a happy Father’s Day,

Michelle

—
We aren’t funded by Washington lobbyists or corporate interests. We rely on donations from people like you. Barack Obama 2012

 

August 1, 2010

Sign The President’s Birthday Card… *Update*Update2*

Posted by ozmud under 2010 August | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
[9] Comments 

Sarah Palin wants to be President of the United States and has a bit over two million Facebook fans to prove it.

On the other hand, President Barack Obama already IS President of the United States, has over 11.6 million fans on Facebook and doesn’t have to prove a thing. Unlike Sarah’s Facebook page which is  a steady stream of whining rants proffering lots of criticism and few solutions, President Obama’s page is filled with optimism for the country’s future and gives a positive take on life inside the White House.

President Obama’s Facebook page is well structured, gives lots of daily and weekly updates on his schedule, positions, goals, obstacles, etc.  There are heaps of short videos to view, helpful government links to services and this week, there’s the special bonus of an announcement from Michelle Obama, encouraging everyone to sign a birthday card for the President. He will turn 49 on 4 August 2010 and she provides this link to a very thoughtful birthday message.

You do need a USA zip code to sign. (Shh dont tell anyone but I used my daughters!)

Another feature I especially like  is a series of weekly video clips called West Wing Week. They are a change of pace from the heavy, critical reports we get on the President from the maintream media. It’s a pleasure to watch him in action and reinforces why we voted for him.  

This week’s chapter is titled Men in Blue Jumpsuits:

With all the bad press he gets, it’s nice to see our President’s  accomplishments emphasized and watch a running record of how many campaign promises he actually keeps. Compared to Sarah’s page of gloom and doom messages, President Obama’s Facebook page is a breath of fresh air.

And in a world filled with pollution, we need all the fresh air we can get 🙂

========== UPDATE ==========

Organizing For America (OFA) have sent follow up letters to those who signed President Obama’s birthday card. Volunteers across the nation are organizing events from now until November to encourage voters to get out and vote. These birthday parties are one such type of event.

An interactive map [click here] shows where the parties will be held. Enter a zip code, city or state and the user is directed to the nearest planned party(s).

Image
From the site: 
Volunteers nationwide will hold birthday parties and use the occasion to recruit new OFA volunteers. Each new volunteer will help get more first-time 2008 voters back to the polls in November. And with so much more on our agenda, and tight races from Florida to Alaska, we don’t have a moment to lose.

What a neat gizmo! I plugged in cities for all my rellies and friends. Yes, even the Republican ones! Ok they probably won’t attend but it was still quite fun to see all the places that popped up. (There’s one just a mile from my oldest daughter on Saturday the 7th put on by a chapter of YES WE CANvass… They look very organized.)

Speaking for myself, I get bogged down in all the whining put out by Sarah, the Tea Partiers and new Republicans. So much discontent and fear in their speeches and messages. Finding my way to sites filled with workable solutions instead of finger-pointing has been encouraging. There are – in fact – more people out there who see through Sarah and her cohorts than follow her blindly.

The trick is, to get them all to the polls because the only way to guarantee Sarah Palin never wins another election is to put some old-fashioned elbow grease into it and work to see that everybody votes. So even from my perch in Australia, I will be doing my part. Please use the OFA link above to find out how you can do yours 🙂

Image

There’s just too much to lose to do nothing…

========== UPDATE 2 ==========

Writers at the Washington Post are critical of the Obama birthday card, making the claim that it’s just a ruse for fundraising. The reasoning comes from noting that a person’s 49th birthday is insignificant (the writer backs this arguement at length by presenting former presidents who have turned 50 while in office and the huge bashes that marked the occasion while none publicized their 49th birthdays) and that the site sports a donation button for 2010 campaign contributions along with a call for volunteers to help get people to the polls.

To be honest, while visiting the Organizing For Obama website I hadn’t really paid attention to the donation button. Why would I? Donation buttons are everywhere. And it’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black for a Republican to cry foul when SarahPAC, Sarah Palin’s Facebook page, RNC websites, other Republican PACs all and each have the same donation button on every one of their sites as well.

As far as the complaint that using President Obama’s 49th birthday as a cover for gathering supporters is (1) inappropriate and (2) has more to do with gathering votes for the president’s re-election in 2012 than campaigning for Democrats in 2010 is just well, sour grapes.

There’s no rule of etiquette preventing any birthday year from being a huge bash. That number is irrelevant. The number of people wanting in on the celebration is more to the point. And when you read the article you’ll begin to get a sense of how many hundreds of backyard bbq’s, potluck suppers, picnics and block parties have been carefully planned and advertised via this one, simple bithday tradition of signing a card. It’s brilliant in its simplicity.

And if these nationwide birthday parties prove successful and help the Democrats create a venue for future vote-gathering on top of garnering votes for Democrats in 2010 so what? Republicans have their political strategies and we Democrats have ours. And while I hesitate to gloat… our strategies have put Barack Obama in The white House. Republicans have – who, again?

We The People have endured the media’s reporting of Republican opinion as if it were fact and the overly-televised nationalization of phoney, mismanaged, disorganized Tea Parties for more than a year now. It’s all a bit stale. We can do with a little cake and coffee 🙂

Please read the full WaPo article here.

To comment on this post, please scroll up to the title “Sign The President’s Birthday Card…” and click on the word comments just beneath.  Thanks, OzMud