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Loic · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject:

Polls, for the moment at least, show McCain capable of beating Mrs Clinton on a head to head fight, but losing to Obama. I am thus chuffed that the ex First Lady has won Texas and Ohio.

There is a lot to like about McCain although he seems to be rather obstinate at times. But what I see as pig-headedness might be perceived as principed by others. I especially like his conduct in Vietnam when he pointedly refused to be released by the Vietcongs if that meant being shipped home first over others who had been languishing in the 'Hotel Hilton' longer than him. I am sure a lesser man would have plumbed for an early ticket home in light of the hellish conditions which Vietnamese war camps were notorious for.

As for Obama's 'lovely voice', I must admit that I have not heard him speak much before. I have to see if his oratory would be able to sustain him till the end then.
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Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.

Liz · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:37 pm Post subject:

Like Tiffany and Greg, I myself am (or rather: would be) a supporter of Obama, not only because his first name (Barack) means 'peach' in Hungarian, which by the way happens to be my favourite fruit. However, it's not a neglectable fact, either.

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Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.

Loic · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:49 pm Post subject:

Ahh. And if one wants to eat a peach in Hungarian, would it be enni (sic) obama?

Incidentally, I read on Justin Webb's BBC blog that Hillary Clinton's mild triumph in Texas could have been attributed in part to Republicans who had no business poking their noses into an internal Democratic affair, but nonetheless did so. If that is the case, these Republican voters who cast a vote for Mrs Clinton probably also shared conventional wisdom that she is the more fallible of the two in the offing.

I have been re-examining my aversion towards Hillary Clinton and I wonder how much of it is due to latent misogyny that could be residing within me. I like to think that I don't place any stock on a politician's gender: I am a great fan of Baroness Thatcher after all. However, it is true that Baroness Thatcher has many admirable qualities in her that inspires both affection and respect. Moreover, she has 'great ankles' - or so the then Speaker of the Commons said.

On the other hand, having Mrs Clinton in the White House seems like such a ghastly and awful prospect to me. At least Mrs Thatcher behaved like a woman, albeit a very formidable one. Mrs Clinton strikes me as one who seemed unhappy to be born a woman. She hardly ever wears skirts, does she?
_________________
Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.

Elaine · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject:

Joanne · Moderator Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 485

greg in noord-frankrijk · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:13 pm Post subject:

Joanne · Moderator Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 485

Tiffany · Expert Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 141

Someone may chew me out for this, but I really think people too much stock in so-called "experience".

Here is a bad analogy: It is not long ago that I graduated and went in search of a job. I knew my stuff and had been designing and coding since I was 14 years old. I knew I was prepared to jump in. Unfortunately, while I saw several jobs I knew I would be perfect for, they all wanted two or three years of work experience. I was forced instead to intern to gain "experience" - which in reality just doing what I knew how to do for years as a "full-time" graphic designer and developer with shit pay.

I would much rather look at the person, the way they handle problems and themselves. That is big to me and my company has turned away people that looked great on paper - years of experience, but in the end, the way they handled themselves, clients, even problems disqualified them. I am not saying experience counts for nothing - not by a long shot. But it seems to me that people are putting too much stock in it - experience alone does not a better candidate make..

Liz · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:52 pm Post subject:

Lazar · Expert Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 174

I find that Barack Obama's name lends itself to song adaptations, among them the Mexican Hat Dance (Barack, Barack, Barack, Obama, Obama, Obama...), Hava Nagila (Barack, Obama, Barack, Obama...) and the William Tell Overture (Obama, Obama, Obama -ma -ma...). Honestly, I've got these things stuck in my head.

Joanne · Moderator Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 485

Uriel · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:11 am Post subject:

Loic · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject:

Here's a humorous take on the 23rd Psalm in the light of the current american administration's perceived ineptitude:

Bush is my shepherd, I shall be in want.
He maketh me to lie down on park benches,
He leadeth me beside the still factories
He restoreth my doubts about the Republican party.
He leadeth me onto the paths of unemployment for the party's sake.
Yea though no weapons of mass destruction have been found, thou continueth to fear evil.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy deficit spending, they do discomfort me.
Thou anointeth me with never-ending debt,
And my days of savings and assets are all over.
Surely poverty and hard living shall follow me all the days of thy administration
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever

What cracks me up is the last two lines. I know it is dreadfully irreverent, but for those who are more or less familiar with the 23rd Psalm, the original two lines for the benefits of the atheists are:

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

PS: Even for non Christians, a habit of scanning the orbituary pages would get you acquainted with this verse in no time.
_________________
Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.

Benjamin [inactive] · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:41 pm Post subject:

Haha — reminds me of Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher, from Billy Elliot The Musical :

Can you hear it in the distance?
Can you sense it far away?
Is it old Rudolf the Reindeer?
Is it Santa on his Sleigh?
It's heading up to Easington,
It's coming down the Tyne.
Oh! It's bloody Maggie Thatcher and Michael Heseltine!
So Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher,
May God's love be with you;
We all sing together in one breath:
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher,
We all celebrate today
Cos it's one day closer to your death.

They've come to raid your stockings
And to steal your Christmas pud,
But don't be too downhearted,
It's all for your own good.
The economic infrastructure must be swept away
To make way for business parks and lower rates of pay.
So Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher,
May God's love be with you;
We all sing together in one breath:
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher,
We all celebrate today
Cos it's one day closer to your death.

And they've brought their fascist bootboys,
And they've brought the boys in blue,
And the whole Trade Union Congress
Will be at the party too;
And they'll all hold hands together
All standing in a line,
Cos they're privatising Santa
This merry Christmas time.
So Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
May God's love be with you
We all sing together in one breath
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
We all celebrate today
Coo it's one day closer to your death.

Loic · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:47 am Post subject:

Speaking of Mrs Thatcher, how is she now? Has she been discharged from hospital?

I suppose the most recent development at the Democratic camp is the resignation of one of Mr Obama's key advisor in Samanta Powers. She called Mrs Clinton a "monster" in an off-the-cuff remark to the Scotsman, I believe. Does provide us with a meaningful insight into how the Obama camp probably see Mrs Clinton.

Uriel: It's not the fact that she doesn't wear skirts although I am partial to women who wear them (read: Baroness Thatcher). It is the fact that she is so mannish in behaviour and outlook that it makes a mockery out of her claims that she is also seeking to be the first woman President when she is in reality fighting for the rights of all men in drag.
_________________
Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.

greg in noord-frankrijk · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:12 am Post subject:

Uriel · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:23 am Post subject:

I guess I don't have any problems with her being ambitious, strong, or married to a former president. And I don't find her particularly unfeminine. After all, women run the gamut in a wide spectrum of outlook and behavior, just like any other group -- there is no one "standard" that I would hold her or any other woman to. Just as we've had discussions about gay men being anything from low-key and very "straight-acting" to outrageously flamboyant -- people are individuals.
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An apple a day....

Elaine · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:52 am Post subject:

fab · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:02 am Post subject:

I'm sad that Clinton re-gain her retard to Obama. let's hope the last st will be to his favour.

Concerning the recent Spanish elections, was there any coverage of it in your respective countries? I'm personnally glad that Zapatero was re-elected.

And what about the municipal elections in France (even if it only the first round) ?

Benjamin [inactive] · Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:10 am Post subject:

I'm not exactly a supporter of Zapatero or the PSOE in general, but I'd definitely prefer them over the Partido Popular. However, if I lived in Spain, I'd probably vote Izquierda Unida.