Why can't politics be about policy?

This past week I was visiting my sister and her husband. Her husband is a conservative republican, and I am a democrat. Over our time there we talked about politic quite often. We disagree on many things, but neither of us believe the other side is evil. We were able to rationally discuss issues, and then agree to disagree. I don't agree with Republicans on hardly anything, but I don't think they are out to get us (at least not most of them). I just simply believe they have a different idea on how the country should be run. The problem is that most elections are not about issues. Wouldn't it be great if news organizations simply put it out there: On this issue Obama believes this and McCain believes that. The problem with that is trusting Americans to make an intelligent based on those discussion. I don't believe political strategists and pundits want to give Americans that much credit. The want to discuss the latest internet rumor, misstep made by a canidate, or the latest crazy preacher (and they both have crazy preachers). Whether it's Fox News' racist coverage or MSNBC calling McCain a warmonger, it's not helpful. It simply muddies the waters. Whose fault is it though that things have gotten this way? It's America's. Look if you consider Obama and McCain's policies and vote for McCain than I respect that (I don't understand it, but I respect it). However if you make your decision
based on a pundit or some internet rumor, than you are everything that is wrong with this country. Please turn these pundits off, don't listen to the hype, and make an informed decision.

Fight night predictions

I plan to write predictions for all the big fights (mma/boxing). If you don't care READ IT ANYWAY. Just kidding.

Here's my predictions for the June 21 Ultimate Fighter Finale

Preliminaries:

Rob Yundt vs Rob Kimmons: Don't know much about either of these guys, but Kimmons is a good jujitsu guy. Yundt lost his last fight by Guillotine. KIMMONS SUB RD 2

Tim Credur vs Cale Yarburough: I think it's safe to say that Credur has the advantage, by simply looking at how they both performed against Dollaway. Cale is inexperienced on the ground. Credur proved that he could take some good shots. CREDUR SUB RD 1

Dean Lister vs Jeremy Horn: This is obviously going to be a ground battle. I think Horn is very much on the downside of his career, but Lister tends to gas in the latter rounds. I think Horn wins the rematch. HORN DEC

Matt Brown vs Matt Arroyo Another rematch. This time I think Arroyo's ground skills will dominate this fight. Brown is a slow starter anyway. I think Arroyo will inside trip him, take him down, and submit him. ARROYO SUB RD 2

Marvin Eastman vs Andrew Mcfedries: To be honest who cares about this one. I think Eastman overwhelms him early. EASTMAN KO RD 1

Josh Burkman vs Dustin Hazelett: This one is going to be close I think Burkman has to win, but I don't think he will. HAZELETT SPLIT DEC

MAIN CARD:

Matt Riddle vs Dante Rivera: I think Rivera is a guy who will benefit more from training with his own camp than with the trainers on the show. I don't think he will gas out. Also I can't stand Riddle, so that may cloud my judgement. RIVERA TKO RD 2

Spencer Fisher vs Jeremy Stephens I think Fisher will be too powerful for Stephens, and his submissions are better. FISHER TKO RD 3

Diego Sanchez vs Luigi Fioravanti: Remember when Sanchez was the next big thing, then he ran into my boy Jon Fitch (who is taking GSP's title believe that). I think he's gonna get back on track if he goes back to his jujitsu. SANCHEZ SUB RD 3.

CB Dollaway vs Amir Sadollah: Let's start off with I hate CB Dollaway and really like Amir. So once again my judgement may be a little flawed. CB however has been gassing at the end of his fights. Amir on the other hand only gets stronger. I think CB will have the fight in complete control most of the way and get caught this time with a punch SADOLLAH KO RD 3

Kendall Grove vs Evan Tanner: Grove has been the biggest disappointment of all the Ultimate Fighter winners. Tanner hasn't proven that he can comeback. So this fight could be a big ?. I just think Tanner is more powerful and has better wrestling. TANNER TKO RD 3

Three things that I'm ranting about right now

3. Elite XC
Alright it's been almost two weeks since Elite XC put on their Primetime show. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about it's MMA (mixed martial arts, know also as ultimate fighting even though that is a brand name). Elite XC has decided that instead of going for quality fights that they are going for the hype that is pushing boxing. This is not surprising since Gary shaw the president of Elite XC is also a boxing promoter. Imagine the first ever prime time baseball broadcast being double AA. The only top ten fighter (and it's debatable whether he belongs there) was Robbie Lawler. The main event between internet sensation Kimbo Slice and James (I've lost 7 out of my last 9 fights) Thompson was a joke. Kimbo is not one of the top 25 heavyweights. He proved it by losing the first two rounds to a tomato can like Thompson. The official appeared to be slanting his decision towards the company's golden boy "Kimbo". Seriously who's ever heard of standing a guy up who's in side control. It was a disgrace to top fighters like Anderson Silva, Rampage Jackson, and BJ Penn who train hard and work to become masters at their sport.

2. Floyd Mayweather
Floyd Mayweather is retiring. He retires with a perfect inflated record. Floyd wants to be considered one of the top fighters of all time. I don't see how dodging fights by retiring helps his legacy. Floyd has not had a meaningful win in four years. He won a controversial decision over De la Hoya, who is on the downside of his career. He beat undersized fighters like Hatton and Judah. The rest of his fights over the past four years have been journeymen. Floyd had a promising early career. However he ducked the tough fights and took the easy ones. He retired so he wouldn't have to face De la Hoya, and definitely he didn't want to fight Miguel Cotto. If he wanted to be the best he should have fought the best competition. Sure he may have had some losses, but he would have been considered better for it. Sugar Ray Robinson had 19 losses and is considered the best boxer of all time, but he fought everybody. Sugar Ray Leonard, Ali, Haggler, and Hearns all had losses. However they are considered great because of who they fought. Mayweather will be forgotten because he chose to pad his record instead of fighting the best fighters out there.



1. People who believe the Obama rumors

After about the tenth email about Obama being a Muslim, terrorist, a criminal, hasn't sponsored one bill of legislation, or the whatever dumb crap the Republicans can start spreading I've had enough. I've talked to people who actually believe them to be true. I don't understand how people can be this stupid. The facts point directly against all of these things. However people I guess believe whatever they want. If you don't want to vote for Obama that's fine, but don't do it for an uniformed reason. There is no evidence to support any of these claims, but people believe what they want. Obviously most people won't come right out and say I won't vote for a black guy (except some of the people I saw interviewed in Kentucky and West Virgina). Look if you're going to vote try to make an informed decision. Come on people don't believe everything you read.