Pandering to Blacks at a recent Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Senator Hillary Clinton made the following remarks: The House "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I’m talking about," said Clinton, D-New York. (See the full article here via CNN.) Update: Video at PolitcalTeen. I could go many directions from here (inspiration via Larry Elder).

I could talk about how most Black voters are taken for granted by the Democratic Party, and sadly a remark like this will do little to affect support among Blacks. The oddest thing of all is that Clinton was using this to rally the Blacks she was addressing. To even suggest that the House of Representatives is comparable to a plantation is ludicrous. Blacks should be outraged that Clinton would suggest such a thing, and even more upset that she is using it to promote her political adgenda.

I could talk about how Clinton is confused about where to position herself leading into 2008. She doesn’t know if she should position herself as a centrist or a far-left liberal. If she positions herself in the center like John Kerry, someone far-left like Dean might give her problems. However, if she goes too far-left she won’t appeal to those in the middle.

I could talk about how the mainstream media is going to give her a pass like they always do. Trent Lott was crucified over his comment to Strom Thurmond, which in and of itself was not racist (it was interpreted as an endorsement of Thurmond’s political stance at the time, though it’s likely Lott was simply saying he was a good man for the job.) Why isn’t the NAACP making an uproar and denouncing Clinton’s comments?

I will leave you with another quote from Senator Clinton from the same speech (this is for those of you that didn’t actually read the article). In two years when Clinton is running for office and promising to bring the country together, don’t forget this mean-spirited foaming at the mouth remark:

"I predict to you that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever governed our country."

My neck is broken. No, not really broken, because then I probably couldn’t even type. But I messed it up really bad. The other night I slept on it wrong, and then yesterday I made it worse. This morning it was feeling much better, but then I did some physical activity and totally tweaked it again. So today and tomorrow I am going to sit, watch tv, and rest. Stacie is going to go buy me a heating pad, and I’m going to get better. It’s so bad I can’t even look straight ahead, I look like quasimodo! Except my eyes are still proportional. Ok, talk to you all laters.

And I apologize to all the people with broken necks. You are worse off than I am.

We’re making a webpage in Microsoft Word. Boo Yah! We haven’t done anything notable today, so I’ll just go on. Four more class sessions left after this one.

Since I have nothing amusing to say about my class I will instead talk about my favorite radio talk shows.

Larry Elder (790 KABC ~ 3-6 pm PST)
This guy is awesome. Much of his discussions revolve around race relations and various current events. As a black conservative he is a very rare breed (somewhere around 1-2% of US population). Recently he has been discussing the Alito hearings, and before that Tookie Wookie was a big one. One of my biggest draws to the show comes from his Libertarian background. He is a firm believer in personal responsibility and not crying victim.

Michael Savage (870 KRLA ~ 6-9 pm PST)
Broadcasting out of the heart of Liberalism in San Francisco, Savage tends to border on insane. This guy is an ultra-conservative, and that’s what I like about him. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks, or if anyone likes him, he just speaks his mind. I recently read his book "Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder," a good read. He will either drive you nuts or inspire you.

John Ziegler (640 KFI ~ 7-10 pm PST)
This is a newer friend of mine I’ve started listening to on the way home from school. Ziegler usually covers local events similar to John and Ken, but with a little more variety in his topics (and John and Ken start to grate on my ears after a while). Lately he’s been bashing Arnold for going soft and becoming a Democrat.

Laura Ingraham (870 KRLA ~ 6-9 am PST)
My drive to work is usually less than 10 minutes, but if I turn the radio on I dial in to Laura. She’s a fairly mainstream conservative, but not afraid to speak her mind when she disagrees with the Republican party. If she disagrees with the President or his policies, she will come right out and say it. Pretty much 100% politically driven.

Other Notables…

Sean Hannity – I listend to Sean non-stop during the 2004 Presedential campaign. Overall I enjoy his show, but he’s a little too mainstream for my liking. He tends to not be quite as objective as some of the other guys I listen to, but he’s still very good

Michael Medved – He would be at the top of my list, except I’m working while he’s on. He is very intellectual and value driven. He is a firm believer that Judeo-Christian values have made this country great, and he discusses how many liberal ideas/values go against those Judeo-Christian values (like family).

Dennis Prager – Very philosophically driven (and like Medved he is Jewish), this is probably the most intellectual show on the airwaves. He loves to discuss morality and is great brain stimulation. Unfortunately he is on from 9 am-Noon, so I never get to hear him.

Those are pretty much all the people I usually listen to. Sometimes I have to take a break and listen to some music, but talk radio is excellent brain food. Flip over to AM the next time you’re bored with FM.

Today is Windows Movie Maker and PowerPoint day! Luckily he gave us headphones so we could edit movies, but I’m using them to listen to www.christianrock.net.

My teacher says lots of silly things everyday, but something he said today was by far his greatest quote to date. We were practicing recording using the "sound recorder" with mics, but not everyone had mics. When someone asked about this my teacher responded as follows:

"You can use your headphone as a microphone, you just have to talk louder."

I am not lying, he really said that. As soon as I heard it I started laughing and wrote it down. He probably misspoke, but it is a heck of a lot funnier to think that is what he really meant.

I haven’t had anything of a political nature on here in a few days, but I have something good for you. A big lie pushed by some crazy liberals is that government run healthcare would be super! This is something the Green Party believes in, and I pointed that out to Mike a couple months back. Our nutty neighbors to the north, Canada, have a government run healthcare system in place. It is ILLEGAL for a citizen to pay for medical procedures or health care, and the system is a disaster. Out of all things crazy and liberal, this is one thing I fear the most.

A site called On the Fence Films has a video about how crazy this would be called Dead Meat. It discusses how people wait months, even YEARS for medical procedures we can have done in the states within days. People from Canada are coming here for medical needs, what does that tell you?

We’re learning how to use NET MEETING! HAHAHA. This stupid program hasn’t been upgraded since 2000. There are tons of better programs out there like google talk. But most important of all, what the heck does this have to do with education technology? You are correct, nothing! Then we did mail merge, boring. He just said "Your gas bill, they do it with mail merge." HAHA.

I brought some math catalogs from work. I’ve got $200 to spend on stuff for my classroom, so I’m looking for stuff I could use. There are some cool things that can really help kids grasp different concepts. There are integer chips to visually show kids adding positives and negatives, overhead calculators, fun games, and a cool poster of Einstein sticking his tongue out. I’m going to buy a ton of small things so I can get lots! Yaaaay!

I have decided to break my hot dog eating streak. Today I only had a pretzel and will eat real food at home. The hot dog in the warming oven called out to me, but I could not bring myself to eat another. Maybe tomorrow.

Today we learned how to go on the InTErnet! We are going to lame websites and doing all sorts of retarded games. It’s totally a waste of time. I’m tired and want to go home. This dumb schedule is sapping me of all creativity and sharp wit. Less than 2 weeks to go and it will be over. Then I will be "student teaching," but I will only have class one night a week. I can’t wait for a schedule that does not include school. For one year when I was fiddling with a Masters I didn’t have a regular school schedule, but I want the real thing: for school to be OVER!

Going up north with the family to see my mom’s family in Turlock. Back Sunday.