The Opinionated Blogger

Barak Obama is catching Hillary Clinton with fierce determination and steadfast speed. Everyone knows Oprah is backing Obama and that might be a major question if he makes the ballot. Many might wonder if Obama would have made the ballot without the help of Oprah. It is a good and valid question. However, this country is pulling for him either way.

CNN reported recently that Obama has virtually tied Clinton in New Hampshire, just one month before the first primary. While Clinton dropped five points in New Hampshire, Obama rose eight points! 31 percent of the state is pulling for Clinton compared to the 30 percent pulling for Obama. CNN’s stipulation is Clinton lost five points due to the loss of votes in women. This could directly resemble Oprah’s influence.

Many think that Clinton is the more suitable Democratic candidate, but many people seem to like Obama. In my opinion Clinton seems a bit harsh and cold compared to Obama who seems really likable. I haven’t seen anything about Obama which turns me away from voting for him. I already don’t like Clinton because of Bill. Some could claim it wasn’t her fault, but she was still married to the guy.

With one month left on the election it is going to be a really interesting end to the ballots. My once skeptical look on Obama is starting to be overturned.

Oprah continues to help Barack Obama gain media attention in the 2008 election. Oprah announced Obama to a crowd in South Carolina and it turned out to be the biggest crowd in the 2008 race to date. Along with introducing Obama, Oprah gave a speech to the crowd about why she likes Obama. The estimated attendance of this speech is at 30,000 people.

Oprah is definitely making things interesting for the elections this year. I originally thought not many people would vote for a black man, but with Oprah’s support anything is truly possible. This, however, shows how people think things are good because people they idolize think they are good. There are many followers of Oprah who won’t even consider researching another candidate. There will probably be a majority of people who didn’t plan on voting who will now cast their vote in Obama’s favor to be like Oprah.

Honestly, what is this world coming to. Does anyone care about researching candidates and choosing the one that best fits them?

Happy Hanukkah! With the start of the Jewish holiday the news has announced President Bush plans on going over to the Mideast in January to pursue peace talks between Israel and Palestinians. This will be the President’s first time visiting Israel since he was the governor of Texas. Who does Bush think he is? In his last year of presidency he is trying to create good ratings from the public. Israel and Palestinians have been at war for hundreds of thousands of years. Hell, Bush can’t even withdraw our troops from war. How does he plan on creating peace between Israel and Palestinians.

This is yet another example of why the United States is hated by many of the countries throughout the world. Obviously Bush is smart enough to realize their war is over a matter that can be resolved, yet he doesn’t see the same mistake in our own war? At this point if Bush wants to make the country happy he should declare peace in the Middle East and start withdrawing our troops. The public knows the next President will have that on his or her agenda.

When is Bush going to stop being an idiot?

World of Warcraft is taking over the youth of the nation. The United States has already seen truck advertisements with World of Warcraft as the main focus. I just heard news that Dell will be putting out a laptop for $4,500 that has a WOW theme. For the $4,500 you get a top of the line gaming laptop, a backpack full of WOW goodies including the game and a pet in game that nobody else has besides the people who bought the game. I don’t know about you, but it seems like WOW is taking over.

What’s more is the fact that French based video game manufacturer Vivendi, parent company of Blizzard Entertainment who manufactures WOW, merged with Activision. This means Blizzard Entertainment will have a lot more money in their back pocket to develop games with. What makes WOW such a big game throughout the world? I believe it is parents not truly parenting. You could have your little son run around the house and cause a lot of trouble or you could let him play online and be exposed to fighting and violence for ten hours a day. To the late working parents they might not even know their kids are spending this much time on their favorite game.

The main reason I feel that parents are neglecting to parent their children is because you need a credit card to play WOW. When going online you see a vast range of ages. In high school there was even a professor who played WOW. However, you see a lot of teenagers and younger kids on the game as well. I would hope they don’t have credit cards at this age. I know the game is fun and enjoyable, but at what point does it become destructive to a person’s life? Last year in my dorm there was a kid that never left his room except when he had to go to class. All day he was playing WOW with his door open, as if someone would come in to visit.

Parents have to keep a better eye on their children and realize that video games such as WOW could directly affect their behavior as well as their moods. WOW is a semi-violent game and could make your child anti-social or even drop his or her grades. Part of being a parent is parenting!

They blew it! I honestly had not considered the fact that a republican candidate would be elected into office in the upcoming year. I thought with the mistrust of Bush in our country the majority of people would lean towards the Democratic Party, if not just to get our country out of the war.

My first thought about the democratic candidates this year was appalling. When I first heard that Hillary Clinton was running I realized many votes would be skewed in her direction. A lot of people would like to see a woman president. I myself admit that a woman president would be a better male president in many ways. At least the White House laundry wouldn’t be airing on the news.

Then when I heard another party member on the ballot was a man with the last name of Obama, let alone the fact he is black, I was even more shocked. I am not racist or sexist, but our country as a whole is. Having both a black man, or who appears black, and a woman on the ballot is really going to hurt the Democratic Party. If either or both of these candidates get their way on to the final ballot there could be mass splitting of votes.

Oprah has openly came out and said she is supporting Barak Obama. Oprah has a mass following of middle aged women and dedicated readers as well as viewers. Whenever she even hints at the fact she read a good book it quickly hits the top ten list in all the papers. With Oprah pushing Obama this will cast more of the female voting power to be split between the two candidates.

There is a possibility that our nation will be ruled by a non-traditional president in the near future. However, I think the Democratic Party ruined their chances of an ally oop to the White House. However, weird things have happened for the Democratic Party in the past. Look at the fact that Bill Clinton was nominated because they didn’t think they could compete with the Republican Party. He got elected to their surprise.

This election year will be a very interesting year to follow. Who knows, we might live history.

Once again the price of cigarettes are on the incline. According to recent publishings cigarette prices only cost the company an average price of $2.28 a pack. Why then are cigarette smokers paying double that price for a pack of cigarettes? It’s simple, the government is greedy. I am not a smoker and never have been a smoker, but I think it is completely ridiculous with the amount that cigarettes are taxed. I honestly do not like cigarettes. I hate the fact of someone smoking a cigarette around me. However, smokers have rights too.

The government would have you believe the prices on tobacco as well as alcohol are going up to help support the economy. This, in turn, is letting you pay less in taxes. The irony I see is the fact that although the prices are going up on cigarettes and alcohol the amount we pay in taxes is also steadily climbing. People claim this is due to the increased cost of living and providing, but in reality it is all crap.

Uncle Sam is nothing more than the governments way of controlling a nation with a personified image. The government continually takes money from us as a society and dumps it into things us as Americans don’t want. Let’s take the War in Iraq for one. I can honestly say I voted for George W. Bush, and I definitely regret doing that at this point. How many of our tax dollars are going to support this war which the country as a whole does not support?

The increased price of cigarettes are just another way for the government to get money they are not rightfully entitled to. If they can’t raise their taxes through your hard work they will tax you elsewhere. Next they will be telling you that every day items like soda are taxed because you don’t need them to survive. We will be paying $2.40 a two liter just because we like the taste of soda. I am sick of Uncle Sam reaching in and grabbing my one tit followed by a hazing of the other. The United States is a modern day example of fascism.

Lexus has come out with some of the most obnoxious holiday commercials which prove to the dumbfounded society that the media is ruling their lives. Lexus’s new commercials, which feature the “big red bow event” which was featured last year, are challenging our thought process as a human.

The first commercial I saw on television last night consisted of a man getting various Christmas gifts. He received gifts at work, at home, and other various locations. The whole time he is getting gifts that anyone in their right mind would return, or at least consider returning. Instead of returning these gifts like a normal person, he decides to go to his local Lexus dealer and buy an $80,000 SUV.

The second commercial which I saw, of course which was in the next bank of commercials, consisted of a husband calling his wife letting her know he wouldn’t be able to pick up their child. The wife seems a bit disappointed, as if he did this all the time, and gets her coat ready. As she walks out the door her son and husband are standing next to a new car with a red bow on top of it. She stood there with her mouth wide open. It makes me wonder if Lexus will actually give you the big red bow when you buy the vehicle.

The main problem I see with this is the fact that society wants what the media tells them to want. People don’t realize how much an $80,000 car is anymore. My thought on the second commercial was that her mouth was wide open due to the fact that $80,000 of their joint account just went out the door. As a person you should challenge this type of bombarding advertising and stay true to who you are.

Don’t be one of the holiday shoppers this year that spends his or her entire credit limit because a commercial convinced you it was a good deal. Think on your own and be an individual within society. Why do you need the media to tell you what is fashionable?