Scout's first thunderstorm...

For those that didn't know, I finally named my puppy. Her name is Scout. She is one cute little one if I do say so myself. One big ball of energy. She has been a great companion over the past few months and loves all the new friends she has met at the dog park and when traveling to New York in March.

Summer time in Florida is always the same. Super hot, humid and uncomfortable. Not to mention the daily thunderstorms around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Well, today we had a doozey. I'm talking major power outage, fallen limbs everywhere, flooding, etc. To make things worse, the storms have been ongoing into the evening. In fact, right now we are getting some crazy lightning.

I busted out of my office and ran the short distance to my car to head home only to get completely soaked. When I got home this afternoon I immediately went to let Scout out of her cage. As soon as I hit the doorway to the laundry room where I kee her crate I was bombarded with an unpleasant smell. She peed in her crate. Scout layed there curled up shaking in the back corner of her crate. It was pitiful. I knew instantly that the thunder and lightning had scared her. Poor thing.

I gave her a quick bath and now she is sitting on my chest as I lay on the couch typing this. I dried her off as much as possible but she still is shivering like it is 20 below. Five minutes ago she was running circles around my apartment as fast as she could, which is her normal post bath routine. As of now the thunder and lightning isn't bothering her but I am positive it is because I am home with her. Damn she is cute!

What are we supposed to do now?

Well, it has been settled. Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary a few weeks ago. I will admit that I changed my party affiliation in the fall of last year from an Independent to a Democrat so that I could vote in the primary. Obviously that was in vain if you remember the controversy (What? Florida in an election controversy? No...) in which votes in Florida did not count towards the primary because the date of the Florida primary was earlier than was "allowed." Pretty lame in my opinion and yet just another way for our corrupt government to screw with the livelihood of our people.

Well, when it comes down to it, my political beliefs are liberal but in the range of Libetarian and Moderate. Raised in a ridiculously Republican family I grew up around guns, hunting, money and egos where I was told what to do and what to think. Those that know me today are not surprised when I say that that didn't last long once I turned 18 and went off to college. Thank god for personal freedom and the ability for me to form my own beliefs no matter how much is pisses of my family.

Now when it comes to this election I am speechless. On one side with have an ancient war veteran who is a bigger flip-flopper than John Kerry. On the other an intelligent and appealing African American man surrounded by a mysticism due to his great possibility of becoming the first African American President.

Let me say that McCain makes me absolutely SICK. To be honest, in 2004+ McCain began to make appearances on the late night talk shows, including my favorites the Daily Show and Colbert Report. McCain became famous for being a "left-wing" Republican frequently making jabs at GWB. Thoughts and view points were presented to the viewers repeatedly that questioned the validity of GWB's decisions, military (or lack there of) history, etc. In 2006/2007 McCain began stirring and a drastic difference in his interaction with the media began to be more and more obvious. For someone who had the following of so many young people and a great number of "right-wing" Liberals it amazes me to think of how far gone the view points that made him appealing are.

Obama. What can I say. Yes I am a registered Democrat but something about this guy doesn't seem right. Could it be his complete lack of experience to run a country? Could it be the fact that he tends to promise things that are highly unlikely to be followed through with? Hmm. Not to mention his speaking style completely freaks me out. I'm sorry but someone who has hardly any experience working in the Senate has no grounds to be the President of the United States of America, the strongest nation in the world. I do think it is amazing for an African American to be in this situation and am proud that it has finally come to that point in our history, but someone shouldn't be voted President just because of that. Same reasoning behind why I do not believe Hillary should be voted President just because she is a woman. That should have NO grounds what-so-ever to be voted President.

I have quite a few friends who are completely gung ho for Obama, but why? He is appealing to the masses, especially the young ones. It is these young ones (who I am one of) who rarely have any concept what-so-ever about politics and what is needed for our country. This bothers me greatly. Young people will tend to vote for the person they feel the most appealing regardless of how good of an option they are. I really think this issue has to do with the lack of coverage of politics and government in secondary and post secondary schools. I am sick and tired of hearing young people answer why they are going to vote for Obama with, "Oh, I think he is cool." Come on. That's like saying Dwight Schrute from The Office should be President because he is funny.

At this point I really don't know what we are supposed to do. It worries me now to think about what is going to happen. Not only because I believe we are screwed regardless who is voted but more recently the concept that Obama could win the popular vote but not the electorates to become President. Sound familiar? Hello 2004 sham of an election!