The Centrist OC Celebrates Grand Re-Opening! Please update your browsers!

I’ve given The Centrist OC a face lift. Hey, I couldn’t keep ripping off the LibOC’s stylesheet forever! It was pretty funny for a little while, but then I got bored with it. Keep an eye on OJ, too. A major upgrade for the site is being discussed as the next step in the OJ/Centrist OC plan to take take over the world (what are we going to do tomorrow night Brain?)!

Not only have I redesigned the site, but I have changed it’s approach. We will have political stories of course, but we will also focus on individual issues and even have experts in certain fields such as energy, wildfire control, and health care weigh in to help us find solutions to the problems facing America by way of OC. We’ve even added RSS Feeds to both the OJ and the LibOC, Red County, as well as the OC Register, LA Times, and CNN, and are taking suggestions for other feeds that you, our readers may enjoy. (And yes, we’re hosting the blogger flame forum as long as it remains at least SEMI civilized!)

We’re looking for writers both of the political and issues-based variety to join our team and I can be reached at editor@thecentristoc.com. Also, we will be adding all new features never seen on a blog in OC! Stay by your computers because it’s going to be a fun summer!

SMS

Blog ‘wars’ open thread for Orange Juice and Liberal OC Readers

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Luis, on our sister site, the Orange Juice, asked about the blog war.

I originally responded and said that there really wasn’t one.

But there have been many, many skirmishes.

It’s more like a cold-war.

But people have some really good points, even when they come from a place of anger.

‘The only way to win is to deny it battle’ in CD-42. DON’T vote for Gary Miller!

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(Cross posted on OJ)

I came up with this headline back on the 6th after seeing an episode of one my favorite shows, Stargate SG-1, called ‘Absolute Power.’ Yes, I too worship at the altars of Gene Roddenberry and Richard Dean Anderson, but I disavow any positive comments I may have made as a child about the latter’s hair in ‘MacGuyver.’

Anyway, in the episode, Daniel Jackson, the Stargate decoder and SG-1’s archaeologist, played by a young, geeky, post ‘Sex, Lies & Videotape’ James Spader in the movie then re-cast with a very similar looking, but more muscular Michael Shanks in the TV show, is approached by a magical Buddha-like child who possesses all of the knowledge of the galaxy’s baddest bad-guys.

Earth’s closest ally in our secret, special-ops style battle against the Goa’uld, the Tok’ra, have a method to extract the information from the young child but not without ‘flooding his mind with the thoughts of a thousand Hitlers.’ You see, the memories were suppressed with the help of a sort of spirit guide known as an ‘ascended being.’ The boy wisely tells Daniel that, in reference to his constant war with his personal demon and the possibility of bringing it to the surface, that ‘the only way to win is to deny it battle.’

Daniel passes out when the boy puts his glowing finger to his forehead. Cut to commercial. When Dr. Jackson wakes up he possesses the knowledge of how to build a weapon capable of defending the planet against the Goa’uld. Over time he becomes more arrogant, pushy and demanding of those providing the funding and logistics for his project, namely the Air Force, including those on his own team. In the end, Dr. Jackson’s true intention surfaces as he destroys Moscow in order to prove American superiority. Fast forward again. It was all a dream. Daniel wakes up and realizes that nobody can possess a weapon with that kind of destructive power without being corrupted, and that the only way humankind can defend itself against a much more powerful adversary is to continue to work in secret.

And yes, this was a plot line stolen from the scene in the movie WarGames in which the computer that controls America’s nuclear arsenal realizes after thousands of simulations that all nuclear response scenarios end in total worldwide annihilation and pithily concludes, ‘the only way to win is to not play the game.’

You may be asking why a political blogger would bring up this philosophy of war. The answer is on the lefty blog I love to hate most.

Huntington Beach Council Stifles Voice Of Reason In Debbie Cook

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(Cross-posted on OJ)

Republicans of the HB Council tonight added more fuel to the fire of speculation that they are timing their token polarizing measure to display the words ‘In God We Trust’ in their chambers to coincide with the upcoming Congressional election between Mayor Debbie Cook and incumbent ‘Dastardly Dana’ Rohrabacher.

I’m not sure what good for HB the partisan Reeps think will come out of adding the specter of an exclusionary god (‘thou shalt not worship false idols before me’) to the HB Council Chambers, but I do know this: I for one will never live there until the constant reminder of the 2000-year nanny-influence of christianity is deemed inappropriate by this so-called house of Democracy. Apparently, Pagans, Hindus, and other polytheists, as well as agnostics and atheists are no longer going to be represented in the People’s Republic of Huntington.

‘Commie Girl’ re-imagined… as Rebecca Schoenkopf – same shit, different payday!

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‘Commie Girl’ – a literary Lazarus, literally. Like an alliterated phoenix rising from the ashes… blah, blah, blah.

About to get canned for being a complete and utter lightning rod for reader complaints, ‘Commie Girl’ quit marginalizing the OC Weekly in February 2007 with a final column that told everyone to kiss her ass. Umm, there’s a reason they don’t fire radio personalities while they’re on the air. Oh, nevermind.

Review of Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq Part Two

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…continued from Orange Juice

Humanitarian crisis in Iraq

The Iraqi people are in a humanitarian crisis which prevents the stabilization of Iraq. As many as a million Iraqis are dead. Nearly four million Iraqi refugees have been displaced or have fled. Reports show that one out of every two households in Baghdad has lost a family member. There is no reliable power, no reliable schooling for children, no system of reliable hospitals, and no functioning civil infrastructure. While the temporary increase of U.S. troops in Baghdad and certain other areas of Iraq has reduced the number of attacks, violence remains high, and Iraqi forces are still not ready to assume the duties of the U.S. military.

Economic crisis in Iraq

The state of the Iraqi economy gives Iraqis little incentive to work to preserve it. Unemployment is estimated at 60 percent, and most educated Iraqis, or those with money, have already fled. Foreign direct investment is under 1 percent. Most Iraqis have electricity for less than 3 hours per day. This economic paralysis is a direct impetus for the ongoing violence. Young, unemployed men end up joining militias that vie for control of neighborhood turf, rather than putting their energies toward rebuilding a shattered nation.

Note to Bush: Saddam did a better job than you do providing vital services and you’re the leader of the free world. Ouch.

‘Truth’ about global warming irrelevant

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I saw an article today on Orange Punch about how the media doesn’t seem to ‘get’ global warming. A few years ago I accepted mankind’s role in it as indisputable fact. Now I’m not so sure.

The truth is that the truth is irrelevant. Warming is only one environmental issue our planet faces, and while I personally do believe that we have a hand in it, it really doesn’t matter because it’s also true that other planets in our solar system are heating up too, according to astronomers. Therefore, the sun is probably mainly to blame.

But what’s also true is that even if I’m wrong about global warming caused by greenhouse gases, our air quality is poor anyway and until we run out of oil, hostile countries control will continue to control it. So no matter what anyone believes about global warming, it’s probably in our best interest to move away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, dontcha think?

SMS

Today on OJ: Ed Chau finally unveils his website and more CD-42 inside info!

Why do the Democrats keep staking their own people?

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Implosions, explosions. There’s a awful lotta ’splodin’ goin’ on! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with my formerly beloved Democratic Party and what will become of its fleeing masses? Former Alaska Senator and Democratic presidential hopelessful Mike Gravel has commenced the exodus, leaving the party for the Libs, where he will continue his mediocre run at the Oval Office.

The war of the surrogates is in full swing and the candidates got a whole lotta ’splainin’ to do! The recent tactics employed by both camps are but a mere distraction from issues because there is a lack of answers. They seemed to be a little less common and a lot less damaging when the candidates still had to stand next to each other during the debates. Perhaps we need a longer debate schedule as part of campaign reform.

I think it all started with Samantha Powers. She made an allegedly off-the-record rant about Hill being a ‘monster.’ I thought she used some pretty strong language for a so-called casual comment but I wasn’t offended. In fact, my very next thought was that this was staged.

Think about it. Hillary starts the chess game by calling out Powers. The next thing you know Obama trumps her by calling out Madeline Albright. Samantha who? Then Obama tries to go after James Carville who, not on the Clinton payroll, ends up putting the pieces together and stands by his comments, stalling the train for good. The score? I figure a point for Powers, 2 points for Albright, 2 for Carville, and Hill minus 1 for putting her people at risk by starting this chapter of the campaign. Final? It’s a tie. 2-2. Hillary, even having started the fight, could have come out unscathed.

Then something magical happened. Bill Clinton’s rhetorical Obama ‘fairy tale’ was revived by none other than Mrs. Clinton herself. ‘Bosniagate,’ I believe they’re calling it. Clinton claims she had to run across an airport runway under sniper fire on a trip to Bosnia as First Lady. Apparently, she made it up. It sucks when you get called out by someone as goofy as Sinbad.

Indeed Mrs. Clinton, your sin was bad. A lot of good, strong allies put their names on the line for you, and you disrespected their trust by picking a fight in which you had so much more to lose. Then you lost what was left of your credibility to Sinbad?

I wasn’t aware he was running for President, but at this point, I’m so sick of the alternatives and so accustomed to having a goofy bastard in the White House that I think I’m ready to vote for him. There’s your first black president. President Sinbad. At least we know he tells the truth. Word.

SMS

Today on OJ: Separation of church and state? Fact or fiction?

ONLY ON THE CENTRIST OC: Ed Chau(D) CD-42, receives labor endorsements, becomes establishment candidate.

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THIS JUST IN: Ed Chau has earned the endorsements of AFL-CIO member unions the San Bernardino & Riverside Counties Central Labor Council, the San Bernardino & Riverside Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, and San Bernardino & Riverside Counties COPE.

Quick, easy, establishment tactics from this campaign while it’s still so much in its infancy only serve to highlight that Ed Chau is just another blue-blooded Democrat making his first withdrawal from the union ATM.

Where I come from, and in many other places in California, a union endorsement is campaign gold. In a conservative district like the 42nd though, it can actually prove to be an achilles heel. And don’t forget, I was exiled by this very camp for stressing a strategy of moderation in the search for votes in this ‘likely republican’ district. It really makes no sense to me, and I hope Chau realizes that ‘breaking up is hard to do,’ especially with a union.

Let’s see if Ron Shepston, although a less experienced candidate for the Democratic nomination, can take advantage of the position in which he’s been left. It’s so early in the race that there is no signage out (as opposed to the first Supes race), fund-raising has been slow for both camps, and Ed’s new website still isn’t even complete. It’s just a hunch, but I bet it’s harder to get the site up without a Communications Director. Nobody’s even touched his MySpace page.

Of course the real enemy for both parties is Gary Miller, so both candidates are going to have to find a way to prove that a clean Democrat is better for the district than a dirty Republican. Strange as it seems, that just became a tougher sell. We’ll see where each candidate ends up staking claims on the issues… and hopefully sooner than later. It’s already beginning.

Update: Gila Jones, President of the South Orange County Democratic club, despite claiming to not be opposed Ed Chau’s entry into this race, has endorsed Ron Shepston. I guess both candidates have been drinking too much of the blue Kool-Aid again. We may as well congratulate Gary Miller now on his re-election.

SMS

Yes, ‘Liberal OC.’ I’m all alone in my opinion. Cross posted on OJ.

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They haven’t said they disagree with my position on the direction of the Democratic Party. They haven’t debated my view on the 42nd Congressional race in which Ed Chau needs to make a statement about the necessity of moderation in order to beat corrupt Republicans in CD-41, 42, & 44, and hopefully reshuffle his staff. They haven’t even said that they disagree with any of my other views overall, just my suggestions for action. They tried to make me out to seem like Nicholson in ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.’ Or was it ‘The Shining?’ With all of that fire, it’s hard to distinguish just one flame.

It seemed to come from so many different directions, and eventually it had me surrounded. There seemed to be no escape, and many thought I was dead, but more like the title character in ‘Carrie,’ I had discovered a way to rise above the self-important, the hypocrites, the liars, the bigots, and everyone else who stands for more control and corruption in an already much-divided world. That, coupled with the help of a brave fireman who contained the blaze while I escaped, was seemingly enough to make people wake up and realize that only they can prevent blog fires. ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ is an overused excuse.

It’s not that my ideas are ‘crazy.’ Quite the opposite. It’s the fact that they’re not which makes them so controversial to a collection of far left hacks like those at ‘The Liberal OC.’ Anything that’s ‘crazy’ to the crazies is fine by me! These people treat government control as if they were playing SimCity. “Would cable cars and an artists village help Santa Ana,” one asks. The other responds, “I don’t know, click on it and find out.” It’s time for a reset. They need to press cntrl-alt-delete.

I suspect that the far right will have problems with my ideology as well, and if indeed that is the case, then I have truly made the right enemies. They are largely an intolerant bunch, and I don’t really need them either.

Remember, a majority of people in this country consider themselves moderate whether or not the hacks of either party want to admit it. Independents have only survived this war between the parties by their instinctual and incorrect assumption that choosing the lesser of evils is the same thing as really having a voice in their government.

Oh, but some voices are louder than others, some are more eloquent, and some are drowned out by the hum of a well-organized machine, or even two. In the case of politics, the desire to ‘fit in’ is almost cult-like.

My thoughts on the need for more ideas about government from outside of the ever-skewing party lines were vindicated as legitimate again today by Robert Wright of the L.A. Times, and for many more independent voters than I can reach blogging.

When catering to their party’s base, each candidate stretches themselves as far left or right as they’re able to get, and then inevitably comes back to the center ands ask us to forget their prior transgressions because they ‘had’ to commit them for the primary. I’ve been asking my whole life why the media perpetually deciphers this behavior as ‘necessary,’ and then gives each candidate a free pass onto the ’spin round’ known as the general election.

That being said, I was hoping that some people not usually involved with the blogosphere would weigh in on my posts about putting progress over politics. I’d like to see if the general public agrees with my majority ideology or your partisan gridlock Chris, Aaruni, Rebecca, and Gila. Unfortunately, with anonymous posting I guess there’s no real way of knowing short of a poll… and I’m actually giving that option some thought.

SMS