Quit the Election Hyperbole!

You know, I have been hearing a lot lately that this is the most important presidential election in U.S. history.

Now, when have I heard that hyperbole before? Hmmmmm...... Oh yeah, it was in 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992, etc...

Why does everyone say that the current election they are voting in is the most important election ever? It's just not the case.

Can anyone seriously say that the Obama-McCain race is the most important election in U.S. history? Give me a break.

For those of you who follow U.S. history, you may remember a few more races that were more important. Like 1976, when Jimmy Carter ran against Gerald Ford (succeeding Nixon); 1940, Wendell Wilkie against Franklin Roosevelt (WWII); 1932, Herbert Hoover against Roosevelt (Great Depression) -- to name a few.

But, to me, there was never a more important presidential election than the race in 1864, when Abraham Lincoln ran on the Republican ticket against the Democrat's George B. McClellan.

For those of you who know nothing about history , this election was held during the Civil War. If McClellan won, he promised to end the war and seek peace with the Confederate states. The election of Lincoln showed that the country still supported Lincoln's plan to finish the war in order to preserve the Union.

Yeah, that seems a little more important than this year's election. So, when you are talking about today's vote and want to call it the most important election ever -- just remember that the U.S. became a country in 1776, not 1976, dumbass!

RoadRage

Doing My Job -- Voting for Forest Preserve Funding!

Since I am a resident of Illinois, and voters in the state have apparently turned out in record numbers, my vote today was basically rendered useless.

Barack Obama won the state, as expected, and one of my political heroes, Dick Durbin, easily won back his Senate seat.

Both of these races were landslides, so if I didn't vote, it wouldn't have mattered. So, basically, the only thing it was important for me to vote on today was to provide funding to preserve more forest space in Lake County.

Boy, am I glad I did my duty today and voted. Because of me, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons and deer might have more space to call home. Phew ... that was a close one. If I didn't vote today all hell would have broken loose.

Why can't I be in an important state, like Ohio or Florida, so my vote actually makes a difference? Oh well...nothing really sucks here, I'm just complaining because I have the right to, since I voted today.

Now, I'm going to go watch the results to see who dethrones President Bush.

RoadRage

Bird in the Hand is Better Than Two with the Bush

Remember RoadRage's post last week about the Republican party asking the media and the Democrats to stick to the issues? Hmmm? Hmmm? (As Smails would say.)

Well, they've already changed their tune. You've probably already heard about it since RoadRage is late to the game, but earlier this week the Republicans attacked Barack Obama because in an interview he made the reference "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig." A pretty familiar cliche.

The GOP said that Obama was insulting Sarah Palin, mocking her comment during her nomination speech -- when she asked, "Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick..."

That's even a stretch to RoadRage, who expects the worst out of all people. Going after Obama for something like that is ridiculous -- and guess what, Republicans -- it's not sticking to the issues! So, you have already shown your hypocrisy. Now, I'm no Judge Smails -- I don't hate Republicans. But they deserve to be derided for making a mountain out of a mole hill. And, in case there's any McCain advisers reading this -- making a mountain out of a mole hill is an old saying, too -- I'm not making fun of McCain's height.

Here are some other old sayings that might come up during the campaign that you should realize aren't insults against your candidates:

- Whole ball of wax
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
- Don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- Possession is 9/10ths of the law
- Dick Cheney is Satan

McCain's advisers need to take their cue from Mike Huckabee who said that Obama's comment was no big deal, and should not be insinuated as an insult. As you plead with everyone last week, just stick to the issues, morons!

RoadRage

OK, I Get it -- You Like Your Candidate, Not the Other One

So, I was watching the Republican National Convention last night (Cubs weren't playing), and thankfully, the GOP was kind enough to install a live laugh track to let me know when to clap, boo and yell U-S-A.

This isn't exclusive to the Republicans. Every political gathering seems to have people who are over-exuberant applauders and hissers -- depending on what the candidate says.

I watched last week, as Barack Obama had to say, "Thank you. Thank you very much," about 300 times after he was introduced at the Democratic National Convention before the crowd stopped clapping. Then when Senator McCain was introduced last night, it seemed as though all the Republicans in the room were looking at their watches to make sure they clapped longer for their guy.

And, the whole time I'm watching this, I'm thinking that these are the stupidest people I have ever seen in my life. You have 90-year-old war veterans who are forced to keep standing up and sitting down every time McCain utters a word, just so they can show they like him.

Here's a piece of advice for all of these morons...since you are at the REPUBLICAN National Convention, the audience at home watching is under the assumption that you are pretty big fans of the REPUBLICAN party and that you probably agree with everything the presenting candidates have to say, so do them, the old guys in attendance and me a favor, and sit on your hands for awhile. It would be so much easier to listen to a 20-minute speech in less than 25 minutes, instead of the hour and 15 minutes it takes now.

RoadRage
Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap,Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap.

Thank you.

USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA,USA, USA, USA, USA, USA, USA.

Aw Duuudddeee ... $600? I Paid $16 Last Time

With the headline above and the photo on the left, you would think that this post addresses cocaine-dealing scumbags. But, that's not the case. I'm attacking a different group of criminals -- the pharmaceutical industry.

There was an interesting story in Friday's USA Today, in which reporter Julie Appleby takes the pharmaceutical industry to task for unbelievably high increases in the cost of medicinal drugs.

In her article, Julie points out that Questcor Pharmaceuticals raised the wholesale price of a medicine that treats spasms in babies from $1,650/vial to more than $23,000, and that another company, Ovation, jacked up the price of a tumor treating drug called Cosmegen from $16.79 to $593.75.

Meanwhile, Abbot Laboratories continues fighting litigation for jacking up the price of its patented AIDS drug Norvir by 400 percent in 2003. Norvir is part of a cocktail treatment, i.e. it is used with other drugs in order to be effective. The health of AIDS victims came as an afterthought to Abbott, which wanted to dominate the AIDS drug market with another alternative treatment they had -- by raising the price of Norvir, the price of the cocktail skyrocketed, leaving the door open for patients to ask for the cheaper alternative.

While Barack Obama talks about hitting the oil industry with a windfall profit tax (good idea, by the way), the candidates have to go after the pharmaceutical industry as well. They have been put to the back burner as oil has taken center stage, but the impact high costs of medicinal drugs is having on the economy is even more dramatic. Much of the price increases are covered by insurance, which has led to higher insurance rates for all Americans, and now many of them are opting out of buying insurance because it's too expensive. It' a downward spiral that will continue until someone has the balls to stick up to these criminals.

I hope you execs at Abbott, Ovation and Questcor enjoy your riches now, because your money will be worthless in hell.

RoadRage

Ben's World! Ben's World! Party Time! Excellent!

Just when you thought Republican celebrity pundits couldn't get any stupider, Ben Stein has stepped to the plate and hit a home run.

No, I'm not talking about his recent New York Times editorial, where he insists the economy isn't all that bad. I'm talking about his suggestion that John McCain gussy up his campaign with a little help from... Karl Rove.

Dude, go for it. Go for the guy who led the whisper campaigns against you in the 2000 primaries, where voters were asked if they would vote for you if they knew you fathered a black child, or if they would feel confident with someone's mentality after being held in a tiger cage for years. Go for the guy who outed a U.S. spy, which is tantamount to treason and punishable buy death. Go for the guy who orchestrated the lies that got us into the shit-storm in Iraq. Go for the guy who was Bush's brain--he burned the other one on coke.

Ben, are you drunk, or just stupid?Did you really think this one out before speaking? I know that most Americans are morons, but I would think that with the way the economy has gone and all the hell this administration has put our country in, proposing its poster child for a third term is probably about as sensible as dipping your nuts in tuna oil and dangling them over the seal tank at the zoo.

Then again, Ben, I can understand why you would say such iodiotic things. You were, after all, one of Nixon's speech writers.

Watch Your Balls ... Here Comes Jesse!

This post is more than a week overdue, but Jesse Jackson's idiocy can't go unnoticed by RoadRage.

Caught talking about presidential candidate Barack Obama, when he thought he was off mic, the good Reverend, Jesse Jackson, said that he would like to cut Obama's nuts off. I haven't heard anything so disgusting come out of a Reverend's mouth since one called New York Hymietown in 1984...oh wait, that was Jackson again.

Apparently, Jackson was upset about Barack's position on faith-based initiatives, and syndicated talk show host Larry Elder has brought up some excellent points on why Jesse might be thinking about making it impossible for Barack to reproduce.

But, in actuality, there is no reason for a man in Rev. Jackson's position to say something like that. Barack has a good chance at becoming the first African-American president in U.S. history, meaning that he will be able to do more for black people than anyone before him, so Jesse should be throwing his full support behind him and going on the road to campaign for Barack.

But, as Elder eludes to in his commentary, Jesse, much like Rev. Sharpton, has worked his whole career using the race card to further his own personal agenda and that of his friends.

Elder talks about how Jesse and his colleagues attacked beer industry for a lack of African-American owned beer distributorships, which led to Jackson's sons receiving an Anheuser-Busch distributorship in Chicago.

Added to that, again like Sharpton, Jesse only takes on causes that are news makers, or ones that will further his career individually -- the others, he just ignores. You have heard very little from him about the victims of Katrina since the TV cameras have moved away from New Orleans. And, where has he been to speak out for the displaced African-Americans following the Midwest floods?

Jesse, put the scissors away, go out on the road and start campaigning for Barack. After this year's election, hang it up, so that the world doesn't have to deal with you.

RoadRage