Joshua the Teacher's Blog

Town Hall Meeting- CA 40th

2009-08-08T00:00:24Z

If you are in the 40th District, Congressman Royce is having a Town Hall
meeting tomorrow (Sat. 8/8/09) at 1pm. It will be at:

Placentia City Hall
401 E Chapman Ave
Placentia, CA 92870

Come out if you can, and be ready to ask the Congressman if he rejects the
violence and hate spewed against President Obama and Health Care Reform.

Yes We Can!

Deep Iran Thought

2009-06-21T21:21:07Z

When will John McCain declare: "We are all Iranians now!"
Will this still apply? Or this?

Deep Sotomayor Thought

2009-05-31T00:25:56Z

You know who was the real victim this week? That poor, white, passed-over male jurist who:

Graduated from an Ivy League school
Edited a law review at another Ivy League school
Has tons of experience prosecuting criminals
Has tons of private law experience
Has worked as an appellate judge for more than 10 years
Has authored over more than 400 opinions as an appellate judge
Saved an all-American pastime
Was nominated by both Republican and Democratic presidents

I gotta tell you though, Republicans haven't paraded him around enough this week. Where is he?

McCain's awful health policy

2008-08-16T20:02:01Z

While visiting relatives, I read about McCain's health insurance proposals in the Dallas Morning News. It's worth a look given that it would tax employer-based health insurance to provide an extremely small tax credit to shop for your own insurance, which would then provide pretty crappy coverage.

For all his talk about cutting taxes, McCain sure doesn't mind hiking them up for those of us who get it through our employers. This plan looks like a complete disaster. Tell your family and friends.

The article is here.

McCain pimps his wife...

2008-08-05T18:06:27Z

This man really is a misogynist pig. Not only does he offer up his wife to a crowd of drunken bikers, but he does it in front of his daughter. Think about that next time he talks about keeping America safe from terrorists. Can he keep the women who get harassed/raped at Sturgis safe when things get out of hand?
What's worse, I think, was that he was reading from prepared remarks! This wasn't some off the cuff joke he offered. He trying to tell a joke someone else wrote, and not even doing it well. Someone in his campaign actually thought misogyny is a good angle for a Presidential candidate to play up. Stay classy, McShame.

AC360 Takes on McCain's lying

2008-07-23T04:05:11Z

On Anderson Cooper tonight, John McCain is caught lying about the Surge timeline. Olberman caught it first, I think, but let's hope it gets more traction tomorrow.
For all his huffing and puffing about the success of the Surge, McCain can't help but make stuff up. And CBS is willing to carry the water for him by selectively editing the interview.
Is it any surprise that the NYT rejects this guys rantings?

Urgent: translators needed!

2008-07-21T19:28:13Z

The Washington Post and other members of the MSM will be requiring the services of translators for the remainder of Sen. Obama's CODEL/World Tour. Applicants:* must be able to speak and understand Arabic, Hebrew, German, Farsi (just in case), French, Russian, Mandarin, and obviously, English.*must be especially familiar with translating phrases relating to time (e.g., 16 months, 2010, leave now, Jan. 20, 2009, timeline).*must have intellectual flexibility in retranslating phrases to mean the exact opposite of the speakers intent (White House will provide training in this area).*must show complete neutrality in 2008 Presidential Race, even if that means completely ignoring reality and all common sense while translating statements.
Please send applications directly to MSM in Washington, D.C. Be prepared to supply complete financial history, votes cast in previous elections, and medical history. College transcripts and copies of language degrees not necessary. US State Dept. will contact you to confirm language abilities (we trust them).

McCain's YouTube Problem...

2008-07-11T00:30:50Z

...is that ALL previous statements are there to come back and nail you!
McCain is trying to say that Phil Gramm doesn't speak for him... except that McCain has been dropping the "recession as psychological problem" line since the primaries.
h/t to Jed Report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P6bkbdAkFg

The Delegate game

2008-04-23T04:52:39Z

For those of you with the time and inclination, the L.A. Times has a delegate counter where you can shift the delegates allocated for the next few contests. You can even allocate the left over supers!
Now you are all free to game out the multiple ways Clinton can win big in the following contests while, as the best post of the night has mentioned, "Obama [goes] into the remaining primaries with an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates, a strong lead in the popular vote, and a huge advantage in fundraising ability."

Freedom's Watch and the West Wing

2008-03-24T22:46:42Z

My wife and I are re-watching season 1 of The West Wing during Spring Break. In episode 11, "Lord John Marbury," Josh Lyman is subpoenaed by a wing-nut group called Freedom Watch. I swear this is true, it's in the first 5 minutes of the episode after the opening title music if you want to check it out.
My question is- did Ari Fleischer (or whoever the "brains" behind the outfits is) straight up plagiarize from Aaron Sorkin? Or is there some big difference between Freedom's Watch (Fleischer) and Freedom Watch (Sorkin). Because it seems to me there's been some artistic poaching here: a real certifiable wing-nut group taking the name of a fake certifiable wing-nut group.
Gosh, they don't even try that hard, do they?

BTW- Their ad banners suck!

Obama, the phone at 3am, and Kenya

2008-03-08T04:02:54Z

I'm wondering why this story never picked up steam and wasn't reported on more thoroughly.

And as I thought about it, this event (if Joe Klein reported it accurately) would prove Obama's best argument against Clinton's 3am phone ad and Commander in Chief claim.

Obama could say that he doesn't have to wait for the phone to ring at 3am. In fact, as president, he would be able to anticipate problems around the world and actually make the call to solve them, not wait for those 6 rings before picking it up.

He could describe that his actions with regard to the Kenya elections can underscore his foreign policy approach: deal with potential problems before they get too serious. Be proactive, not reactive. Reach out to respected and responsible world leaders and engage them in the process. This is more responsible than Clinton's passive position of waiting for a phone call. And it's far more responsible than McCain's solution to world crises.

Obama can run against both of them on this issue at the same time. This is assuming the Kenya story is true, and if he played enough of a role to warrant C in C "experience," whatever that means.

Obama, Clinton, and the 2005 Bankruptcy Law

2008-02-25T02:22:19Z

I heard someone on the radio recently claim that Sen. Obama supported the 2005 Bankruptcy Law that was written for credit card companies and by credit card companies. I remembered differently, so I thought I'd check the roll call vote.
Why is this important? Given that we're in an economic downturn, many middle class families are going to be hit hard by this law. Furthermore, Republicans blocked any exemptions for military families and those going into bankruptcy because of health care costs. They also blocked limits on predatory lending. You would think that a contender for the Democratic nomination who was looking out for the economic justice would have voted down this abomination of a bill.
The roll call vote is here.
Obama- NayClinton- Not Present (The only NP vote in the Senate)
Please pass this information along to voters in Texas and Ohio.

Kosovo and the Spy Satellite

2008-02-23T17:00:24Z

I just saw the Navy video of the missile that took out the US spy satellite this week. While it should make us all feel safer that we won't be harmed by errant satellites, I couldn't help but put the strike in a larger global context.
It has been a week now since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, and through the week we have seen glimpses of how this isn't going over well with Russia and especially Serbia. Not that they are surprised or anything, because Kosovar independence has been coming for a while now.
My concern, though, is that shooting down the satellite (and some out there are skeptical that it was even necessary) could have been more of a warning shot for Putin to chill out and let the Kosovo issue alone. Bush is way out of his league here: South Korea and Iran are challenges, but Putin sits at the adult table, and I'm not sure Bush can cowboy his way out of it. Nor Cheney for that matter. Putin won't screw around with these clowns.
Why should this seemingly inconsequential piece of real estate get everyone in a huff, anyways? Aside from being a land of Slavic ethnic/cultural pride, it's also a buffer between Russia and Europe. Let's not forget, this is where Francis Ferdinand was shot, starting the chain reaction hat got us World War I.
I know this isn't coming off at all coherent or well-developed, but I haven't seen these dots connected this week, and I think they should be. Maybe Senator Clinton or Obama can address it within the context of nonproliferation or improving America's standing in the world. Anything to avoid the mistakes of 1914.

Did any NonPartisan CA voters have trouble?

2008-02-06T05:34:20Z

This story is picking up steam in local L.A. TV stations. It turns out that many Nonpartisan voters participating in the Democratic primary were confused by the very top dot on the ink voter cards. The directions weren't very clear: my wife and I had to pause for a minute or two to figure it out.
However, it turns out that many Nonpartisans had issues with this, and their votes might not count. This probably hurts Obama the most, since he generally has drawn more independents.
My question is, Are there any Nonpartisans who had the same trouble? Are you concerned your vote didn't count? Or do these numbers not amount to enough to have tipped the tide for Obama?