Captain Digital

Random musings on politics, society, and pop culture from the Internet's marketing curmudgeon.

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Archives for 2008

October Surprise(s).

shirt courtesy of www.vectorright.com
shirt courtesy of www.vectorright.com

In most election years, candidates worry about the “October Surprise” phenomenon – late-breaking bad news for a candidate, that makes a big enough impression to reduce their vote count, with not enough time left to counter the bad news before the November election.

Barack Obama is not “most candidates.”

The Chosen One instead has a (dirty) laundry list of things to worry about, and I’m not talking about his “Great Pumpkin” infomercial from last night. Some are relatively new. Some, like Christopher Lee in a Hammer Films Dracula flick, just keep rising again from the grave: [Read more…] about October Surprise(s).

Cheaters never win. (I hope.)

poker cheating device I’m not a big believer in the efficacy of our campaign finance laws. I am of the opinion that the McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance act (yep. THAT Mccain), was a huge mistake. Be that as it may, we do have laws and our candidates – ALL our candidates – are expected to abide by them. Even The Chosen One. 

Now comes the news that Obama and Co. have found a way to game the system. Federal law limits the amount of contributions from an individual, and sets forth regulations as to who can contribute. The laws are designed to prevent any group of people from effectively purchasing a candidate. There is a maximum dollar figure that any one person can give to a candidate. [Read more…] about Cheaters never win. (I hope.)

Conservative News…and Views.

Amarillo is a pretty conservative place. Conservative politically. Conservative socially. Conservative fiscally. So it came as something of a surprise to me that there was no local, conservative newspaper or magazine to provide conservative viewpoints on local and national issues.

Now, there is.

The Amarillo American Standard has released it’s first issue, as of today. I designed it, and contributed both artwork and one feature story. It’s available all over Amarillo, at various merchants. If you’d like to look at a copy online (and don’t mind a 3MB PDF) you can download it here.

This is the “preview issue” – the plan is to begin publishing on a weekly basis, starting in January.

Let me know what you think.

Karma is a Hillary.

shirt courtesy of VectorRight.com

There are so many ironies in the last days of the campaign, that I hardly know where to begin. But I’ll try. Here’s a baker’s half-dozen things that I think the Left is doing to hand McCain the victory he wants, and the country needs:

ITEM ONE:
The latest flaw in the Master Plan of The Chosen One revolves around a video tape detailing the close, personal relationship Obama had with a Palestinian terrorist. At least that’s what it smells like, but the L.A. Times (“All the news we slant and print”) won’t release it. They’ll be more than happy to tell us what (they say) is on the tape, but are standing on “journalistic ethics” (an oxymoron, with an emphasis on the last two syllables) if ever I heard one), and refuse to release it. [Read more…] about Karma is a Hillary.

Now, even the media admits it.

This won’t be a long post, because I’ve got a lot of work to do this morning. But I couldn’t resist posting a link to an ABC News online article that I found…amazing. 

A nationally-recognized journalist for one of the Big Three networks has written an in-depth article not just on the maintstream media’s bias – but of how it’s gone so far that even Dan Rather has protested. 

This is heady stuff. 

I’m not sure if I agree with his conclusions (I think the reporters themselves bear a huge amount of the blame) but it’s a worthwhile read as it is almost guaranteed to spark debate, given that it appeared on ABC News. 

Enjoy.

No, I’M Spartacus!

You gotta love the whole Joe the Plumber thing. For all the efforts John McCain has made to make a dent in Obama’s Teflon armor, it took a blue collar guy like Joe to make a connection to We the People…(Hey! This guy Obama is gonna take my money and redistribute it to people who don’t work, or don’t have as much money as I do!)

Of course, the Obama campaign, those on the Left, and the mainstream media could not let this go unchallenged. [Read more…] about No, I’M Spartacus!

Getting churched.

From the time I was in 4-year-old kindergarten, I’ve been an Episcopalian Anglican. Today, I had the rare privilege to serve as a lay reader to conduct a Morning Prayer service at my church. Our rector, Father Doug, was out of town, and it was my turn in the bullpen to help out. 

For those of you who have never experienced the beauty and majesty of the Anglican liturgy, I suggest that you hie thyself to thy nearest Anglican church and check it out. Of course, even if you’ve never set foot in an Episcopal church, you’ve almost certainly sat through at least part of a service. If you’ve watched a movie or TV show with a wedding ceremony in it and heard the words, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here…” then you’ve heard the Anglican rite we know as the Sacrament of Marriage. [Read more…] about Getting churched.

Voting Early.

Vote as if your life depends on it.
Vote as if your life depends on it.

Yep. I did it. I cast my vote, as early voting runs through October 31 here in Amarillo. Mrs. Digital and I headed over to the mall and cast our votes for President, Senator, Representative, and a slew of local offices.

You might expect, given that I am a proud conservative, that I voted the straight Republican ticket.

And you’d be wrong. [Read more…] about Voting Early.

Groupthink.

groupthink (grūp’thĭngk’) n. The act or practice of reasoning or decision-making by a group, especially when characterized by uncritical acceptance or conformity to prevailing points of view.

It is a part of human nature to want to belong. Belonging takes many forms – families, clubs, schools, sports teams and their fans, and even politics. In society, many of us classify themselves by labels that indicate to which group we belong. Conservative. Liberal. Republican. Democrat. But where things get weird is when one group takes hold of the idea that their ideas and beliefs are not only superior to the other groups, but that the other groups are stupid, wrong, and even dangerous.

Welcome to politics in 2008. [Read more…] about Groupthink.

What’s going on here?

This election has me baffled. I see the polls – one has the race tied, and the others give Obama a ten or eleven-point lead. Yet, everybody I talk to – Liberal and Conservative alike – are talking about Joe the Plumber and are debating the question of if Obama’s plans are Socialism by another name. (They are.) I think the election is gonna be way closer than everybody seems to think – and I still believe, in my heart of hearts – that McCain’s gonna win. [Read more…] about What’s going on here?