Colbert's Conservatism Revealed (NOT)

This item falls under the category: Incredible but true.

An Ohio State University study finds that conservatives were more likely to report that Stephen Colbert "only pretends to be joking" on his Comedy Central television show "and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements."

A short item to give us all a much needed smile today.

If I had just one wish...

… it would be to ban forever those e-mails that get forwarded to you from family and friends (wonderful people, all) that seek to impose the highest degree of personal guilt on all who do not share their point of view, or do not have time to appreciate their point of view. You know the ones I’m talking about, the ones that almost always end with…

“…if you are a true American, you will forward this message to everyone on your address list today.”

Or

“…if you have an ounce of patriotism in your bones, please forward.”

Or

“…if you call yourself a true Christian, you will forward this to…”

Or

“…if you appreciate all that your mother did for you, you will forward this…”

Or

“…you do not have to forward, you will not receive bad luck, but if you do decide to forward, you will be a friend forever to (fill in the blank).

Stop for a moment and think of the person who created the e-mail you are being asked to forward. Is that person so insecure, so in need in public validation of his life, that he must spend his days huddled over a computer crafting messages designed to make recipients feel guilty enough to flatter the creator by passing along to others the product of his imagination?

I have spent a good deal of time debunking these messages (because they are often full of inaccuracies, exaggerations and twisted interpretations of the truth), but now there are so many I just hit the “delete” button as fast as I can and move on to more productive pursuits. Make your own judgement as to your own personal course of action.

Can you feel it?

Something is sweeping across the country that is absolutely palpable. It could be a paradigm shift as significant as the one that occurred in the late 18^th century when a new nation was born in the wilderness of North America and modern science was born through discovery of the essential elements that make up all of life. It feels to me as if we are entering a new phase in the American Experiment when the problems that vex us are again demanding we look outside conventional boundaries.

And that brings me to “far right wing” thought. Many who call themselves conservatives today want to go back to the days of our founders, a time when things were known, certain, and immutable. The only problem with that: all those descriptions are the opposite of our founders’ goals. They wanted change! They wanted nothing of the past. They wanted nothing of religious constriction, governmental tyranny, or suffocating conventional wisdom in the exploration of science, theology, art and politics. They were focused like today’s laser beam on the future. They were enthralled with the potential that existed in the human mind.

The world was ripe for the embracing of radical change in the era of Jefferson, Adams and Franklin. And radical it was. For the leaders so frequently cited by today’s right wing conservatives, tomorrow was always likely to be a better day for the radical change it would bring in previously “proper and accepted” thought.

The Internet has already changed our political process by making it possible for a veritable unknown community organizer from Illinois to demonstrate to a majority of the electorate that he can be trusted with their government. Indeed, the Internet has changed our entire world through a diffusion of knowledge that has touched and stimulated people on every square foot of this planet.

Who knows what secrets will be revealed through continued DNA research, or stem cell research? What products and technologies will be made possible by the exploitation of nanotechnology, products and technologies that surely will change our lives and our institutions? Who knows if we will be able to “feed” excess CO2 in our environment to algae and turn the rapidly growing algae into a petroleum product that will drive vehicles and grease wheels of machinery?

And we haven’t even had a chance to see the atom smashing capabilities of the super collider soon to be tested in Europe. What a marvelous world awaits our children!

There have always been people uncomfortable with change. King George was uncomfortable when the colonists decided they didn’t want to be told anymore where to send their tax money. There were many in colonial America who were uncomfortable with the prospect of a war with England and would have been more comfortable with seeking an accommodation with the Crown, but it was not to be. Not at all.

The founding fathers would most likely dismiss the babbling unenlightened on the far right today as incapable of rational inquiry of their own. [These people actually believe President Obama wants to take up their guns and ammunition!] Thankfully, the voters have seen fit to ignore them thus far. The voters, God bless ‘em, bought their Obama tickets, jumped on his train, and filled with hope and trust they set out for a destination unknown, confident they will arrive at a far better world when the whistle blows at the next stop.

The founders believed the world could change, and be improved if we who have inherited their ingenious creation could find the mettle to be worthy stewards of the radical government they bequeathed to us.

The new paradigm shift will require more than a single term of one President, or for that matter, a full eight years. It is likely to require the better part of a full generation. But isn’t it reassuring to know we have a President who understands and indeed, embraces the changes in the offing.

Can YOU feel the change?

Rescuing the Economy, Reinventing the Automobile

If you wonder why President Obama is focused on saving the American automobile industry, if you wonder why he is trying to upgrade and expand the electric grid, if you wonder why he wants government to invest in cutting edge technology in every field, look no further than the test facilities of dozens of auto manufacturers – here and abroad.

I count no less than 9 strictly electric cars heading to market right now, e.g., Aptera 2e, with 8 Plug-In Hybrids, e.g., Chevy Volt, right behind, and another 8 “normal” Hybrids, e.g., Toyota Prius, being improved and prepared for market today.

Big companies like BMW, Mitsubishi and Toyota are getting ready to roll out a slew of electrics. There’s a Mini Cooper available this month, all electric. Other electrics are lining up for introduction over the next four years.

Plug-In Hybrids will be led by the Volt that will do the bulk of its moving on electric power. It’s scheduled for November 2010. Ford, Chrysler and Toyota as well as new companies in China, Europe and here at home all have next generation hybrids in development. There’s a hybrid sports car known as Fisker Karma, and that airplane look alike, the Aptera 2h, set for 2010. Made in California, the only state where it is available right now, the Aptera gets about 300 mpg!! It’s a three-wheeler so technically not classified as a car, but who cares. Bring on that 300 mpg!

Look, it is not only the “green jeans” who will be buying these cars. It is ordinary people like you and me who want to help clean up the environment even as they drive a spiffy car their children won’t make fun of.

I love cars, always have, and that’s why I see an exciting future for America and a strong economy to support that future.

But, boy, have we lost a lot of time! I will not digress into a discussion of what the misadventure in Iraq cost us except to say it cost us something none can retrieve: time. Those who criticize President Obama’s haste on so many fronts should understand he is a man seeking to make up lost time. He is getting a lot of help from inventors in the auto industry who obviously have not been sleeping these past 8 years. President Obama and those in pursuit of scientific discovery are demonstrating a laser-like focus on the great potential remaining to be tapped in a nation of 315 million citizens. His focus is on health care, energy, and transportation.

Obama knows we have a unique opportunity to chart a new path in the way we get around. The answer, when it comes, is likely to have a positive impact on global warming by reducing our contribution to greenhouse gases. But most importantly, increased productivity, resulting from anticipated innovations, will feed real growth that, in turn, will diminish the role of inflation. And that is, unquestionably, our most worthy goal.

If you like the status quo, if you like cars that roar along antiquated roadways, burning a depleting carbon based resource, belching an ever increasing amount of noxious fumes, then you probably can’t see a future that has anything but higher taxes and bigger government in store for you. There are some, however, who see an America whose best days are ahead….and those days are unlike anything we have seen in our entire history.

Don’t you have a feeling the 21^st century began on January 20, 2009?