Monthly Archives: May 2008

Count Every Vote, Except those for Obama

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And the silliness goes on and on. According to the Clinton’s, only certain state primaries’ votes should be counted and definitely not the ones from caucus states. Those aren’t democratic. And Bill, who told Barack that he should get out of the kitchen if he couldn’t handle the media heat (politics is a contact sport, I believe he pontificated), is once again crying about Hillary receiving unfair treatment.

As a matter of fact, Bill and Hillary (who has repeatedly said she would not play the gender card) have rallied many of their voters around the idea of a great sexist injustice towards Hillary. To be completely honest, I am not in the position to disagree — I am sure there is some truth there. My problem with the Clinton’s has to do with their wasted potential, arrogance, and complete lack of scruples. But from a strategic and political standpoint, I can’t see how Hillary can argue on the one hand that her gender has kept her from getting more votes, while on the other she is arguing that she is more electable because she gets more white men and more of the popular vote. Something doesn’t fit.

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Florida, Michigan, and Silly Standards

I think that it is nothing more than silly to think that there is some ethical obligation to count votes in a primary election where (i) the voters were put on notice and had knowledge that their votes would not be tallied, (ii) the candidates made public statements assuring that the votes would not be counted, (iii) the candidates did not compete in the elections, and in the case of Michigan (iv) only one candidate was on the ballot.

It is like a rained out game where after the referee officially cancels the match, the home team wants to call it a forfeiture. Or trying to use a victory in a pre-season game or friendly match towards points in the regular season. There simply is no logical justification either in fairness or justice to uphold the results of a contest that was never contested. It is just plain silly.

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I Can’t Begin to Feel Your Pain

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Regardless of what Bill Clinton may have said years ago, I don’t think we can ever really feel another’s pain. No matter how compassionate or empathetic we may think we are, we never really vicariously walk in another’s pain. We may indeed simultaneously suffer, but the pain is always different. Continue reading

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Two Men, One War, 33 Years

I came across this video on my friend Julie’s blog. It is very powerful and timely.

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Is McCain Ready for Primetime?

My guess is that when this becomes a full fledged two person race between John McCain and Barack Obama, we’ll see a Barack Obama blow out. In theory, McCain is a “straight shooting” independent and fairly moderate, but as we are witnessing — whether on Iraq, social issues, or the economy — McCain is consistently flip-flopping to appease the conservative wing of the Republican party. And the more he tries to advocate a Republican agenda the less believable he comes up. Rather he sounds silly and intellectually incoherent.

Just look at the numbers from fund raising and recent Republican primaries that no one is covering anymore. McCain doesn’t have strong support from his own party, and runs the great risk of boring the American electorate to death. The elections in November may be close, but they also may end up as a total Barack Obama blow out. Why?

McCain is simply not ready for primetime. He might be a good senator; one who can negotiate behind closed doors and across the aisle. That makes him a Bob Dole or a Joseph Liberman. Those guys were great for the Senate, but too excruciatingly boring for primetime television. Some think McCain may be too old for the presidency. I think he’s too dull.

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The Heart Does Not Bend and Embers

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I have just recently finished reading The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera and Embers by Sándor Márai. Continue reading

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Out of Her Mind?

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Is Hillary out of her mind? In justifying staying in the election, she referenced RFK’s assassination and Zimbabwe’s presidential elections. What is she trying to say? Are the Democratic primaries similar to Zimbabwe’s democracy? I won’t even comment on the RFK reference.

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My Last Day at FON

After over two and a half years, Wednesday was my last day at FON. These have been the “best of times, the worst of times, the tale of two companies”, but overall they have been amazing! I have never had so much fun or enjoyed myself like this before working with a better group of people than I have at FON. It was all worth it!

I have had the great honor of working with such a wide variety of different people from different professions and different fields. I learned about everything from technological geekiness to designing webpages to building a company from the ground up. I also had the great fortune of working closely with our teams across Europe and Asia. But most of all, I had fun — fun with a young and dynamic group of people — and never had to wear a suit, tie, or shave. And we laughed and laughed and laughed the whole way through. When I look back at this time, I am sure that I will think of it as one of the best experiences of my life.

I would love to go into detail about all of the people that I worked with and explain how much I value and appreciate each of them. But then this would simply be too cheesie. Instead, I will leave you with these two videos: one that was made two months ago by our super photographer, Iban (I was suspiciously absent that day) and Berga’s goodbye video from a year ago. Now back to wires.

Hasta el Movimiento Siempre!

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Timely Metaphors

Spin it all you want, but when something is dead, it is dead. Humpty Dumpty has fallen. The Emperor is stark, raving naked. And Monty Python’s parrot is bereft of life. It’s not only Hillary who is in denial. It’s time to move on!

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The Great Fall in Spring

Schiele Autumn Tree in Movement

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

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