The Politics of Pigskin

Hello again. Today we are one week and five days from the NFL’s  Super Bowl. The Super Bowl brings images quickly to mind of tough football teams, finger foods, and exciting commercials. What it doesn’t bring to mind very quickly is politics, but let me tell you, there are certainly politics involved as well.

I’m not talking about your typical American partisan politics, but when you flip on ESPN and see New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on the station, you know it’s a strange event.

What was Nagin doing there? Well, Mayor Nagin’s city’s football team, the New Orleans Saints, are one of the competitors in the upcoming super bowl. Everyone knows the story of Nagin, New Orleans, and Katrina, so I will not go into it here, but the fact is that more this season than any other, there are very strong politics involved in this Super Bowl.

The politics, in this case, is the politics of money.

The fact is that the team that wins the super bowl, and the city in turn, receive large amounts of money from merchandise, tickets, and concession sales. Over the next week and a half, you’ll hear a lot about how badly New Orleans as a city needs this victory. The team that was once the ‘Aints, they’ll say, has now become a beacon of hope for this destitute city.

Well I’ve been to New Orleans, and it’s not as bad as they’ll make it out to be, but quite frankly, New Orleans does need this win. And it’s not because they need a beacon of hope. It’s not because the Saints have never won it before. It’s because New Orleans could truly use the revenue they would receive from this win.

That said, let’s hope it’s a good game.

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A Word on a Word

I’ve been wanting to write a little something for a while which was intended to explain my political stance to an extent.

As is made clear by my name, and the tittle of the blog, I consider myself a republican. Today, for the first time in a long time, I can truly say that I am proud to be one.

For several years, especially since I entered college, I would identify myself politically with the sentence, “I am a conservative, but I’m not a big fan of the republican party.” In fact, I only really chose the name Republicanrambler because I had been using the word rambler in my pseudonyms for quite some time and decided that the alliteration would be catchy.

There is certainly a difference between what it is to be a conservative and what it is to be a republican. Conservatives hold a certain set of beliefs that define them. These beliefs do, in fact, tend to line up most closely with the Republican party in America. Still, not all Conservatives are Republican (and many argue that not all Republicans are truly conservative. This is certainly an arguable point, but one I will not get into here).  For a long time I have been somewhat of a closet conservative. This will be true no more.

With the election of Senator Brown from Massachusetts, I see a sea change in the Republican party. It is not unfair to say that the public opinion of both the Obama administration and the Health Care Bill strongly influenced this man’s election, but to rule out party politics completely as a factor is truly slanderous. The fact is that the Republicans elected a Republican to replace TED KENNEDY. Brown had to run a strong campaign to even get serious consideration, much less to win by five percent. The party that won Senator Brown the election is not the same party that ran the Presidential campaign  of  Senator John McCain. It is a fresher, newer party which is eager to overcome the reputation it has built of late. Truly, this ain’t your Grand Old Grand Old Party. It is not long now until the next elections. All I can say is that the Democrats better be ready, because WE republicans are coming.

With that said, good night, and have a fantastic rest of the week.

And Your Winner IS…

Many of you know about a little special election for the U.S. Senate which occurred today. Those of you who do most likely know that what was up for grabs was a Massachusetts senate seat held for most of forty seven years by Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy.

As most of you will know, Kennedy’s don’t lose in Massachusetts (well, mostly. Third party Kennedy’s can, apparently).

I will not speak much of the death of Ted Kennedy, the cause of the vacated seat. What I will say is that, while there were some shady bits of his history, Senator Kennedy served his country for most of his life. I will say nothing bad of him, and may he Rest in Peace.

Now for the good news. Today, with a margin of victory of 52% to 47% (as reported at this point) State Senator Scott Brown (R) has won the special election for the senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy’s death. This election is being called a major upset, and certainly, as it involves a Republican winning statewide in Massachusetts, this is certainly not unfair.

But where does this lead us (and by us, I of course mean the GOP).

This leads the GOP with one more senator, making the Democrat lead seven. This also gives the GOP a new man to fight against the health care bill.

But more importantly, this win gives the GOP a new fire. To see a senator win a seat in Massachusetts of all places gives a strong indication of how the American people feel about their president. This is the Democratic parties warning shot.

Democrats, if it has not become clear yet, let me sum up. We’re coming, we’re ready, and we can win.

Thank you for reading. Good Evening, and have a fantastic week.

That Little Birdie

Hey all. I just wanted to let anyone who cares about the blog (those who do, I truly salute and thank you) know that I do have a twitter account. That’s right, I’m taking full advantage of this wonderful tool invented by Al Gore. There are other jokes to be made about Tools and Al Gore, but, well, I’ll leave those for another day…

Anyway, you are more than welcome to follow me at Elephantrambler on twitter. That’s right. ELEPHANTRAMBLER (No caps, just emphasis) on twitter. I will send updates when new blog posts are out, and so forth.

Good Night and have a Fantastic week!

The True Message

Today, as all of you most certainly know, is Martin Luther King Day in the United States of America. This day is designed to remember the contributions of the premier Civil Rights Movement leaders in the U.S. Most people in this country remember this fairly easily because most people in this country get the day off. But today is much more than just a day off.

The true message of Martin Luther King day is not, in fact, to give Americans a day off from their hard work. True, this is a convenient side bonus, but this is not something we should be lost in. We should all use today to truly remember the sacrifice of Dr. King.

A pastor’s child born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929, Dr. King was raised through the Great Depression. His childhood was one of segregation, racism, and degradation. Dr. King was undoubtedly used to the treatment of African Americans in this country, as, being raised in the south, he was most certainly on the receiving end of harsh treatment.

Instead of using this as a fuel for his hatred of whites (which, even as one, I could not begin to imply was anything less than justified) Dr. King used his upbringing as a pastor’s child to fuel something very different. It was certainly a revolution of sorts, but a peaceful one, which would lead to a much safer and more equal country.

I won’t go over the details here, you all undoubtedly know the story. Dr. King leads protests, and, though he loses his life to the struggle, his battle is successful. More than he could ever believe, in fact. Not fifty years after the culmination of his work, an African American was elected president of this country which Dr. King loved so very much.

Dr. King dreamed of a day where his children, and all of his countrymen, would “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Today he has that dream. Almost.

If we are truly to honor Dr. King’s message, we must stop this attitude that President Obama must be given free pass as the first African American president. I am in no way saying we should be prejudiced towards the president. I revere the message of Dr. King, and in no way hope to defame it. Still, I must stress that for this country to be truly equal, we must judge all men, presidents or not, black or white, as really, truly equal.

That said, let us together remember the good message, the dreams of Dr. King. I wish you all a good Martin Luther King Day. Good Evening, and have a fantastic week.