Iowa means nothing in the grand scheme

Sick of hearing about the Iowa caucus yet? Well, don't feel bad, the Iowans are too. In fact, polls have shown that the majority of crowd fillers we are seeing on CNN's endless coverage of the developing story are actually from other states. But that's okay, because the network has succeeded in at least one thing: disenfranchising the rest of the country.

With the overwhelming media coverage of Iowa this week, many people in the nation have begun to feel as if their vote is unnecessary. I mean, if Iowa is going to decide it all, why vote in your home states primary. Right? Here's the irony though: The majority of the country doesn't even understand what a caucus is, let alone why it is so important to our nation, and let's face it, they don't have to. 

Caucuses are an antiquated process that have become a bad joke to our society. They are a meeting of party members from a given state (Iowa in this case) at the precinct level at which citizens express their candidate interests - in other words, it's like your typical primary but with a drawn out discussion and a verbal tally. Sounds rather dull and uninteresting to me. And regardless of the image portrayed via HD satellite CNN coverage, the reality is that Iowans aren't really interested either. Columnist Dana Milbank wrote the most insightful piece of political coverage I have read this season and ran it in Tuesday's Washington Post called "Iowa's show goes on - Without Iowans." He nails it. In 2004, only six percent of eligible voters actually turned out in Iowa. How sad is that?

BBC did a piece today too - got to love the outside perspective - on the significant primaries in the states.  It named 12 of 50 states as being important in the nomination process. (Pennsylvania was not one of them.) In reality, the figures in the states mentioned will reflect a majority of the nation, but the problem with relying on these numbers only and disregarding the other 38 states is the geographical differences. Come Convention, believe me, your vote will matter because the delegates will be arguing over which candidate is  THE MOST ELECTABLE, not the most popular. They will be using the numbers from the primaries to compile the most electable ticket as well. 

So even though Obama might win the blue states, he won't get the nomination. Iowa is a good pace-setter, but it is not a tell-all.

Vote people. Vote.

The American Soldier: Oli North's Person of the Year

Props to Oliver North for seeing through the "progress" made by Time magazines Person of the Year Vladmir Putin. North basically congratulated the past-Russian president of the oil and natural gas rich country on bringing financial success to the nation, especially considering how difficult it must be in the present market. Oil is so cheap right now, it's amazing anyone can be turning a profit. Really.

[Oli's] “Persons of the Year” are men and women who voluntarily took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies.” Though less than three percent of their countrymen know a single one of their names, they continue to make extraordinary sacrifices while wittingly and willingly going into harms’ way on our behalf. They are, on average, just 20 years old — yet they are brighter and better educated than their peers in the same age bracket. All of them have been entrusted with the awesome responsibility for the lives and safety of others, and all of them are held accountable for what they do or fail to do in carrying out those responsibilities.

And bear in mind that less than half of the men and women in ou armed services agree with this war on ideological grounds. They are in the sandbox fighting because it is their job and to ensure that the image of American military strength is preserved. In this way, they are also indirectly protecting the rights of people like me to spout off at the mouth. Way to go Oli. Tell it.