Presidential Race 2012, part 1

Preface

I'll be diverging from talking about "Sports" for both this and (most likely) my next blog, so I should possibly change the name, but I can't really think of any good names...  So it stays as "Sports" for now.  This blog is pretty much only about political things, until near the end when I talk about Christians.

(Editing change) One quick sports note: Last week I thought there would be around 9 straight-up upsets in the NFL and it didn't work out too badly, but this week I have a grand-total of zero straight-up upsets..  And not only just zero straight-up upsets, but also zero against the spread.  Considering the odds of just beating the spread  in every game happen to be worse than 1 in 8192, I don't exactly consider it likely to happen. And random stat: Approximately once every 600 years there should be a week where every single NFL team beats the spread.  
Another new thing that I've done in this blog is linking some youtube videos to various topics.  The videos aren't exactly must-watch videos, but if you have the time to watch them, then they add some variety.

In writing this, I was trying to have a somewhat light tone (hence some of the videos).  I was definitely not trying to be disrespectful to either person, so please feel free to add 'President' before Obama, and 'Governor' before Romney.  I mostly avoided doing that, because it's a little tedious to say President Obama and Governor Romney every time, plus it's a little longer, and I'm only (basically) talking about America's destruction anyways, so hey, no biggie.

The size of my post on the Presidential Race all in one piece, I'm guessing, would have been a tough read, so I split my blog on the Presidential Race into two pieces so hopefully the parts can be read a little more leisurely.  Part two should most likely be out before November.

Differences between Romney and Obama.

Abortion

Romney  Romney's old opinion on Abortion  Romney currently, kind of sort of, claims that there should only be abortions in cases of 'rape and incest'; But in those cases abortion should still remain 'legal'.

Obama    Obama on Abortion  While he may not be able to say a definition on what a 'life' really is..  He knows that a women should still have the 'right' to 'dispose' of 'it'. So Obama can't bring himself to force a woman not to choose an abortion, since it is her 'right' to choose.  So abortion should still stay 'legal'.

'ObamneyCare'

Obama      The editor and distributor of ObamneyCare.

Romney    The architect/author of ObamneyCare.

'Gay marriage'

Obama   While I don't think he hasn't made too much of an effort to support redefinition legislatively, he has spoken publicly in favor of 'gay marriage'.

Romney   He was the first governor to approve of the man-made redefinition of marriage, but now claims to be in favor of marriage.  (Though he might still support civil unions.)

Taxes

Romney  Speaks of supporting lesser government, but still grows it legislatively.

Obama  In favor of a further growth of government to support the 'needy', and thinks of taxes as a form of tithing to the government.

Religion

Obama    President Obama is a good modern American.  He basically says he is spiritually a Christian, (though not religiously), and he worships at the altar of the government.

Romney  He is basically as good a modern American as President Obama in that he supports a re-distinction of Christianity.  Romney's religion at least does have some guidelines, which I'm guessing he generally tries to follow.

Two fail videos, and one of the fails I wish was true.

Obama    Obama's Fails

Romney  Romney's slip of the tounge

VP Choices

Paul Ryan  He's not a bad politician, but he is a politician, and as the top of the ticket goes so goes the bottom.

Joe Biden Various reasons why Biden is the Vice Presidential nominee again, these however, are, technically speaking, not some of those reasons.  Run, Joe. Run  Excuse me for repeating myself, but Biden gaffe.    The 15 second mark is pracitally priceless.

One true statement and one false statement

I don't know if Romney has said this or not, but it's just a saying I don't like.  "This is the most important election of our lifetime.." And when everyone's super, no one will be.  And if every election is the most important.. then none of them are very important. And while my refutation isn't entirely true, it has quite a bit of truth to it.  When the American populace keeps electing liberal A and liberal B in the primaries, there really isn't a big point to the election.

Obama   America is no longer a Christian nation 

Conviction

Romney     Romney can't even stick with a position on taking a position  He can't take a stand on taking a stand..  You can't trust a perpetual liar; and over the years Romney has proven to be  just that: a perpetual liar.  I think Romney mostly goes with the crowd, so one of the very few things that you can probably trust Romney on is that he will not vote for something that is extremely unpopular.

Obama    I do agree with Obama's above statement, that we are (most definitely) no longer a Christian nation.  (Although a nation obviously isn't actually a living person.) President Obama likes to follow that saying and not govern as a Christian.

The 'differences' between Romney and Obama are largely semantics.

The 'choice' between the candidates is simply the way you wish to have a probable death.  Person A walks up to you and stabs you in the heart, Person B walks up behind you and stabs you in the back.  (Disclaimer: In no way am I insinuating that either candidate would actually do this..  It's called an analogy.)  So which would you prefer?  A death in which you can see the person coming at you and so you have a slight chance to defend against it (though if you are stabbed it is certain death)?  Or a vaguely subtle stab in the back that you cannot defend against (though instead of a quick death, you will live for a while and likely bleed to death)?

Campaign Slogans

Both campaigns put a lot of time and money into their campaign slogans, I'm sure...  And what did they come up with?  "Forward" and "Keep America American."

Wow.  Those are stunning, absolutely amazingggg....               ly dumb.

What do the candidates probably think about the slogans?

Obama's slogan, Forward.  I want to keep us moving forward and redistribute some more wealth.

Romney's slogan, Keep America American. I'll slow down the rate at which America changes so it won't be as noticeable to everyone.

Thoughts about the slogans

Obama's slogan, Forward.  Yeah, I agree with his slogan.  I would agree he wants to help us move forward.  Currently we're on a train steaming ahead towards a cliff that leads to Gomorrah and he's like, "I added a bit of speed in my first term and I changed the tracks a little more towards due south.  Guess what, dudes..  I think I can even get more MPH out of this train!  Give me another four years!"

I've got to admit that I kind of like Obama's slogan.  It's blatant, sweet, and to the point.  He pretty much got his money's worth out of his consultants.

Romney's slogan, Keep America American.  Not to go all President Obama on you, but....  Uhhhhh. Uhhh. Uhhh.  What the heck does that mean??  Keep America American?  I can understand someone saying, keep the Muslim things Muslim, keep the Christian things Christian.  Because those are (relatively speaking) fixed terms.  But, 'Keep America American'?  America isn't a fixed entity or standard.  America is American.  To 'Keep America American' doesn't mean we have a good America, or a bad America, but yeah, it is America alright.

And to go with the train analogy with Romney...  Romney puts his hands on the brakes and asks the passengers on the train if they want him to hit the brakes on the train.  He thinks he hears slightly more "No's" then he hears "Yes's", so he takes his hands away from the brake and walks over to near the engine.  He picks up a tongs, and with them he takes one piece of coal off the burner, then walks back and tells everyone to move back two seats.  (So at least they'll have an extra two seconds to live, before going off the cliff.)  He does technically slow down the train's speed, but he does so ever so slightly.

Changes to slogans

Obama doesn't really need a change to his slogan.

Romney needs some help.  My first two suggestions for his slogan are to either change it to,"At Least I'm Not A Communist" or "I Am Not Obama"  Joking, joking.  Seriously though, I would have Romney change his slogan to either "$1.84 in 2009, $3.78 three years later" or a lot shorter and sweeter, "$1.84" which was the national price of gas in 2009.  And while those numbers are a bit out of context, either version of the slogan would still have been insanely powerful.  Besides, it's not like the American populace is a very imformed population, so they  would probably just accept $1.84 gas in 2009 as truth.  And even if they would research it, it's still a heck of a lot better than, "Keep American American."

Reasons to vote for Obama

There are not very many good reasons
 to vote for four more years of President 
Obama...  But, here are a couple of my attempts.

At least he's not Romney..  No wait, wrong person.  That phrase is supposed to be said for the other guy.  Sorry.  

Here are some 'real' reasons to vote for Obama.  It's possible he could step up America's run towards Gomorrah to another level and jolt awake some people. Having a 'D' in the Presidency, instead of an 'R' would likely make the Republicans less likely to vote for the policies that were supported by the oval office.  (Though that didn't stop ObamneyCare..)

Also, in a second term of President Obama I would expect America to have more economic difficulty, which would quite possibly lead more people to religion.  Because when a nation or person enjoys prosperity, complacency usually follows.  But, if you take that prosperity away, then life suddenly becomes difficult and possibly pointless.  Which would likely lead to, either more fulfillment in self, or a turn towards religion.  

So you're saying that if I vote for Obama, then it is likely that there will be more Christians in America, then with a President Romney?  So that means we should just vote for Obama, right?  How could you not want to advance God's kingdom??

First of all, just because something is more probable doesn't actually cause causation.  So just because it's more likely that there will be more Christians under a Obama presidency doesn't mean a reaction of voting for him.  Secondly, while a human environment can impact a person, it doesn't actually give that person true faith.  Only the Holy Spirit gives true faith.  And thirdly, a vaguely connected point...

       I find it a little bit dangerous to say things like, "If it is 'God's will' that so and so happens, then so be it." While it is not always wrong to say that, in most situations I find it a bit trite and occasionally even a bit heretical.  God doesn't ask us to just stand by while evil happens.  He doesn't ask us to stop evil in any possible way (doing evil to stop evil).  And He doesn't ask us to stop the evil, because we are in some sort of slavery to Him.  He tells us to stop evil (without compromising to evil), out of love for Him.  

There are times when we will suffer for the sake of Christ, but, even in those times, we should not fall into the temptation of doing evil to stop the evil.  "For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."  1 Peter 3:17.  I will also say that I do not think we are called to be passive Christians (a Christian who prays for 'so and so' to happen, but does nothing about it.).  We are called to be active Christians (a Christian who prays for 'so and so' [and also hopefully prays for God's will to be done] and then actually puts actions behind the words).  Also we are not supposed to be 'active Christians' in the sense of being active for the sake of being showy.  And again, I'll quickly point out that we aren't doing this out of some sort of slavery servitude towards Him so that we might earn heaven, we're doing it as a natural response of faith and love.

I'm a little bit of a liberal-Christian in this point.  I think that Christians should be more liberal and active in the worldly-realm in spreading their beliefs, in spreading The Faith.  Instead of a Christian conserving The Truth to themselves (no absolute Truth) and being a conservative-Christian.  And yes, all of these words are a lot easier to say than to put into action.  I also think a Christian should have a ready defense for the faith and a Christian should be putting 'good works' into action.  Though to us silly little humans a 'good work' can be a bit malleable. Sometimes we may be thinking we are doing nothing worthwhile, while we are actually doing a good work.  And at other times we may think we are doing a 'good work' while we are actually promoting evil.  One of the downsides of being a human is that God gets to define the terms and not us.  

What this small piece of elucidation on 'God's Will' and 'good works' had to do with reasons to vote for Obama, I'm not completely sure, but anyways, on to Romney.

Reasons to vote for Romney

It looks like he has helped to raise a good family, and at least he's not a Communist.  Yeah, that's about all I have.  A sub-plot I want to quickly touch on...  While this isn't really a reason to vote for Romney;  A Romney presidency would provide the biggest platform a Mormon has ever had and the resulting news and insight about Mormonism could cause Mormonism to explode in growth even further than recent years, or it could cause Mormonism's debasement.
Thanks for reading, God bless.

Quarterback Rankings

This post is basically just my rankings of some QBs and if they had a better season than I thought they would have.  These were originally made in the offseason....  And then I did some quick editing in the preseason, and was going to post it, but didn't get around to it..  So here is my messed-up list of QB rankings in the NFL.  Idk, if I will update next year or not..  But, I would really like a more accurate listing, so I might get around to it..

I first give some brief comments about the QB, then I say how much (in my view) they went up or down that year, and if they will go up or down this year.   And a / simply means no real change.

I dislike people tossing around 'elite', and not actually defining what they mean by it..  Experts like to give so many QB's the 'elite' status, so there are probably at least 10 QB's who are 'elite'.  So I decided to do some QB rankings, and also define my definition of elite..  Though even my definition of 'elite' isn't a set-in-stone standard, because I could be convinced to add a QB or two into 'elite'.

Elite

1 Aaron Rodgers At times last season, Aaron Rodgers, like Drew Brees, put up video-game like numbers.  And, in some ways, Rodgers might have had the best regular season a QB has ever had + 5.  More struggles than last year, but holds on to #1.

2 Tom Brady He’s been to 5 SBs and won 3 of them in the last ten years, and he’s still near the top of his game.  Maybe up one, and I'll say down 1 or two this year.

3 Drew Brees  If being an elite QB was only based on Super Bowls, then like Peyton Manning, Brees doesn’t have the rings to ‘prove’ he’s an elite qb.  However, year-in and year-out he has put up outstanding numbers, and for the last few years has kept NO at or near the top /.  Hold.

4  Peyton Manning He admittedly has not led Indy to multiple SB rings unlike Brady, however, I believe the talent around him is quite a bit worse then in NE.  As partially evidenced by this -- Brady gets injured his team goes 11-5, Manning gets injured his team (albeit, possibly a tanking team) goes 2-14 – and I think that if Manning had started in NE and Brady in Indy, then Manning would have more SB’s then Brady.  Not applicable +- for last year (based on my expectations), and I'll say -3 for his standards this year.

On the Verge of Being Elite

5 Matt Schaub If he had been healthy, I believe that the Texans would have been in the SB playing the Giants, and it would have been a toss-up game.  He doesn’t have the playoff appearances (much less wins) to validate this spot, but I think his consistency and numbers over the the last couple years has validated it, up 2.  Hold.

6 Eli Manning He now has one more SB win then his brother, and while I still don’t think he’s quite on the level of his brother, if gets another SB, then we might have a new ‘best Manning’.  While he was awesome in the playoffs, if you were to ask most people one year ago, (when he threw 23 ints) how good Eli was, they would probably say somewhere in the 16-32.  And if you’d ask the same people now, they’d probably put him in the top 5.  I try not to get influenced too much by the ebs and flows of popularity, so that’s why he’s at six + 3.  -2.

7 Tony Romo

Underrated by most people, though I don’t know if I should have him this high, especially considering Dallas only has one playoff victory in the last 6 years.  That aside however, I think he puts up some great numbers.  He makes the (relatively speaking) impossible seem easy, and the easy seem impossible +1.  /.

Excellent

8 Ben Roethlisberger

And once again if this were based on SB rings, then he would be among the Elite.  But imho, I think that the defense has carried him to his Super Bowl victories.  However, that shouldn’t take away too much from him, and I think he is one of the few qbs who can extend plays /.  /.

9 Phillip Rivers  And in case opposite of Eli, if this were based only on this year, then Rivers would be in the bottom half of the league.  But I base it on a little more then one season.  One of his drawbacks has been, other then being the kryptonite to Indy, the Chargers haven’t really done much in the playoffs during his tenure -2, +1.  

10 Michael Vick

Two years in a row he’s started out hot, and then faded after playing the Bears.  Some games he tries to be a pass heavy QB and other games he's too much of a run first QB.  And while some unpredictability is good, I think if he could find more of a groove, and decide what he is, then he will be a better QB -3, -3.

(R) Kurt Warner He would be a couple spots higher if this were a year or two ago, but even now I think he could still play extremely well as a starting QB for a given NFL team.

Top Half

11 Matthew Stafford  He has been a tad injury prone over the years, however he put up some great stats last year and helped get the Lions to the playoffs +5.  +1.

12 Jay Cutler I defended him when he was injured and I think I’ve kind of been proven right on that account.  Since I put a lot into how a team plays without you, and when Cutler was injured the Bears kind of stunk..  I should maybe have him higher..  But at the same time,  I don’t want to overreact, so he gets the 12 spot +1.  +3.

13  Matt Ryan  Admittedly he and the Falcons have failed in the playoffs so far in his tenure, but I think eventually they’ll break through and get a win.  He is often compared to Flacco, and the reason I have Matty Ice 11 spots above Flacco is because Mr. Ryan has a cool nickname..  No, not really, it’s actually because I consider the Ravens defense to be in the top 5 while the Falcons defense has been like a 20, -1, +3.

14 Tim Tebow Well I’ve already kind of dissected him in the Broncos recap.  I figured I shouldn’t put him much higher than this, and if this was only about last season, then I would have put him higher, but considering other QB’s have more credentials/experience, I’ll leave him at a decent 14.  +2. +3

15 Cam Newton  At the beginning of the season he was above almost everyone’s expectations, but as the season progressed he fell more along the lines I expected him to play +2.  -2

16 David Garrard (I)  This is probably one of my most ‘messed up’ picks, but I’m a fan of Garrard since he’s a Christian so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’ll come back from his injury completely healthy.  Not applicable +-.  -1.

Starting Quarterbacks

17 Andy Dalton I was pleasantly surprised by his play, and if I had done a QB ranking before the season started, he probably would have been closer to about 26.  So for my rankings estimation probably the second (or third if you count Skelton) biggest improvement of any QB (though admittedly Dalton hadn’t played an NFL game yet) +7.  -3

18 John Skelton  Since he would have been off my rankings (if I had made them) Skelton technically didn’t make a jump in them.  And IF this was purely about numbers, then yeah, you can laugh at me.  But, since it includes more than that, you can stop now.  While his numbers were even worse then Tebow’s statistics, like Tebow, all Skelton did was win (relatively speaking in both cases) leading the Cards to a better record than I thought they could obtain +15.  I'm guessing he's going to move back to backup QB this season, so he gets a large move back -15.

19 Matt Hasselbeck – Probably within 4 years of his retirement sadly (or at least him being a starting QB, if he were to wish to mentor younger players and be a backup, then that would be quite alright). He had a decent season and kept the Titans relevant +3.  -4

20 Alex Smith – And this would probably have been my worst prediction.  I think he was finally given a QB coach for two years in a row, and the results were impressive.  While, I think that last year is going to be about the best of his career, I do think he is now going to be a manageable starter. +16.  -4

21 Vince Young (NS)

While I don’t think he’s as good as Tebow, he does also have the winning quality.  -2.  -4

22 Kyle Orton    (NNS)

While he sort of got the ‘last laugh’ against Tebow, (though oddly enough, Tebow and the Broncs made the playoffs, while he did not) imho, Orton should not have been the starting quarterback in the preseason or the regular season.  But, I still think he’s good enough to be a fair veteran starter somewhere in the league -1.  -9

23 Kevin Kolb   (NNS)

He had a bit of a disappointing season, and couldn’t lead AZ to the playoffs.  He had some injuries and inconsistency.  Overall, I thought he would be a bit better and I was disappointed with his play -3.  -1

Manageable Starting QB, But Looking for Something Better

24 Joe Flacco

(Another Eli case) I probably have Mr. Flacco way too low, but I think the D has helped carry him to success.  And through most of the season I thought talk-shows were ripping him too much.  But now that he’s made a good pressure throw against NE, which his receiver dropped, he’s suddenly supposed to be a top ten QB.  Huh?  I like him and he deserves to start, but I don’t think he’s going to be a great QB, nor does he deserve to be benched.  /.  +3

25 Matt Moore

Kind of a coming out party for Moore.  Decent season, led the Dolphins to being a top ten team for  a couple games +5.  -2

26 Joe Webb

While he is older than some other QBs, I like Joe Webb slightly more than Christian Ponder.  I kind of think of Webb as another Tebowesque QB +5, /. 

27 Carson Palmer

He didn't do a bad job coming off from his couch. And he helped lead the Raiders to relevance, for the first time in a while.  +1.  +1

28 Matt Leinart (NS)

He played a total of one half of one game, before he was injured last year.  Imho, he deserves to have  a chance to be a starting QB somewhere.  +1.  +4

29 Matt Cassel

Disappointing year for Cassel, but he was coming off a decent season and playoff spot last year so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he deserves a starting gig somewhere. -1.  -2

30 Mark Sanchez

(Another Eli case) He had a fairly typical year for him, but this year he couldn’t lead the Jets to a playoff spot.  -3.  -1

31 Christian Ponder

A learning experience for Ponder.  I thought he had flashes of brilliance, but he did help lead the Vikings to a record amount of franchise losses. -1, +4.

32 Sam Bradford

Bradford had the sophomore blues and the Rams struggled mightily because of it.  -7.  I expect him to have a very decent season.  +9

Quality Backups

33 Josh Freeman

Freeman struggled a bit in his third year, and TB was a laughing stock at the end of the year.   -6,  I originally forgot to add him... So I think he'll gain a lot of ground this year.   +13.

34 Ryan Fitzpatrick

He got Buffalo to give him a somewhat absurd contract and proceeded to stink up Buffalo with the rest of his remaining games, except against the Broncos.  However, it was said that he was playing with bruised/cracked ribs the last 7 games, so if true, then props to him for his toughness.  -3.  +4

35 Colt McCoy

I have not really seen any of the Browns games the last two years, so I do not know if McCoy has been really bad or if he has nothing to work with.  But, so far he has been a bit worse than I thought he would be. -7.  +3

36 Jake Locker

Very limited experience, but I think he will probably be a top 15 QB within 3 years.   -3.  +6

37 Matt Flynn

Limited XP, but in his limited playing time, Flynn has been quite impressive, breaking all time GB Packers marks.   +'5' since he's coming from off the board.  +3

38 Troy Smith

He did not find a home this season. -6.  -5 or so and taken off the board.

39 Rex Grossman

Played with the Redskins… Yeah, that’s all I got for you.  -2  +3

Serviceable Quarterbacks

40 John Beck      

I don't know why I ended up putting him here.  -3, -5 off board.

41Caleb Hanie

Disappointing appearance by Hanie in the last couple games for the Bears. -9.  +2

42 Tavaris Jackson

Kind of weird that he had a starting gig, but hey, Seattle has low requirements I guess.  /.  -2.

43 Senneca Wallace

Good backup QB.  -4 off board.

44 T. J. Yates

Due to injuries suffered by his teammates, he got to lead the Texans for the last couple of games, and did an alright job, I guess.  Not applicable +-.

45 Blaine Gabbert

Maybe I and a lot of other people are wrong about him… But, Jacksonville wanted him over Tebow?  Really?  -10.  I do expect Gabbert to improve quite a bit this year, all the way to around 34…+11 But even with that improvement, 34 still means he shouldn’t be starting.  

46 Keith Null

He didn't get any playing time this year. -4.  +1

47 Curtis Painter

He should consider a different profession, like painting..  Lame joke, I know.  Short appearances with the Colts. -10.  +4.

48 Kerry Collins

Very short stint with the Colts and did not play very well.   -7.  +1 Off the QB board next year. 

My rough placement of the following QB's.

Tony Tebow 1  (A fictional QB who is the combination of Tony Romo in the first 3 quarters and Tim Tebow in the fourth.)
Chase Daniels 13

Robert Griffith 16

Andrew Luck   16

Ryan Tannehill 22
Aaron Murray   30

A faster version of my QB rankings:

Elite 

1Peyton Manning 

2Tom Brady

3Drew Brees

4Aaron Rodgers 

On the verge of being Elite

5Matt Schaub

6Eli Manning

7Tony Romo

Excellent

8Michael Vick

9Phillip Rivers

10 Ben Roethlisberger

(Retired) Kurt Warner

Top half

11 Matthew Stafford

12 Jay Cutler

13  Matty Ice  

14 Tim Tebow

15 Cam Newton

16 David Garrard (I.  Injured)

Starting quarterbacks

17 Andy Dalton

18 Sam Bradford

19 Matt Hasselbeck

20 Alex Smith

21 Vince Young (NS.  Not a starter)

22 Kyle Orton    (NNS.  Not necessarily a starter)

23 Kevin Kolb   (NNS)

Manageable starting QB, but looking for something better.

24 Joe Flacco

25 Matt Moore

26 Joe Webb

27 Oakland QB

28 Matt Leinart (NS)

29 Matt Cassel

30 Mark Sanchez

31 Christian Ponder

32 John Skelton

Quality Backups

33 Josh Freeman

34 Ryan Fitzpatrick

35 Colt McCoy

36 Jake Locker

37 Matt Flynn

38 Troy Smith

39 Rex Grossman

Serviceable quarterbacks

40 John Beck      

41 Caleb Hanie

42 Tavaris Jackson

43 Senneca Wallace

44 T. J. Yates

45 Blaine Gabbert

46 Keith Null

47 Curtis Painter

48 Kerry Collins