The RPR with Political Commentary?

First off, it should be noted that I would have began to write earlier this evening except Jared gave me a call and started yapping for a while. He apologizes for keeping me from the blog...but we'll let him slide since, let's face it, I don't know how to go to bed early anyway.

- I promised myself I'd stay away from politics. And since our President, Mr. Red State himself gave the State of the Union Address, I'm sure the thought was planted in the back of your mind that I might have a few comments. Again, I don't like politics. Never did. I don't care to argue about politics either, and I feel very strongly about this. I will offer a few comments on the State of the Union and that's it. Please do not write comments with a rebuttle because I won't put up a fight.

In my mind, the highlight of the State of the Union is when the President enters the room and that guy (of course I can't remember his title) announces, "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!" It's pretty exciting in my mind, and then of course everyone claps and cheers for 10 minutes while W stands there with that dumbfounded look on his face. By the way, one of the ABC anchors mentioned thatBush currently has an approval rating of around 40%, which the last time I checked means that a majority of the people polled around the country disapprove of the job he's doing.

I can't say that I gave my total attention to the speech. I was doing laundry during it and got bored after about 10 minutes. However, it was on in the background, and here's the four things I took from it:

1. We're not leaving Iraq. If we leave, it looks like we're giving in to evil, no matter how many more innocent people are killed. And it doesn't matter what the politicians say, the decisions are being left to the military leaders. In other words, since the politicians are supposed to be the voice of their constituents, then we really don't care what the citizens think either.

2. We have a problem with oil. Americans are addicted to oil. Most of the oil in the world comes from nations that we have severe issues with. Let's look into alternative methods of fuel and energy. In fact, maybe we can just put Red Bull in our gas tanks and that will be sufficient.

3. Foreign nations that do not have democracies depend on the United States for help and it's our duty to help them. In other words, let's stick our nose in every other countries' business while we should really be focusing our time and effort on domestic problems. As if we don't have enough problems of our own, we'll deal with yours too.

4. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are a problem. The Baby Boomers are entering their 60's and we're crossing our fingers that we have enough money to let your Mom and Dad retire. Eh, on second thought we'll just raise taxes to cover it, so don't worry about a thing...

Things are looking just great, folks! 2008 election is quite some time away, so let the good times roll...

(To be honest, I was rather peeved that I have to wait another 7 days for new episodes of "House" and "Love Monkey". Can't they schedule the State of the Union on a Wednesday?)

- Since Bill Simmons took a pass this year on attending the Super Bowl and keeping a running diary for ESPN.com, the Super Bowl blog is being written this year by pop culture writer, Chuck Klosterman. (click on the link, and within that page, you'll see links for prior day's entries.) I have to say it's a pretty decent blog that gives you a good idea of the circus that's going on in Detroit this week. I also enjoy his pop culture/music references which add a nice twist to the usual sports journalism.

- I had a few people tell me that they agreed with my comments on the train seat etiquette and people don't understand the rules of personal space. Co-worker Adam also mentioned a similarity to the restroom etiquette, which is always a touchy, yet very important, topic. I even found a website devoted to restroom etiquette, and since I provide a public service here at the RPR, I would like to pass on some recommended reading: International Center for Bathroom Etiquette. You wouldn't want to be "caught with your pants down" when it comes to this topic, now would you? (pun intended).

- I read that Howard Stern and his girlfriend, Beth Ostrosky, were running in Central Park on Saturday afternoon. I was in Central Park on Saturday afternoon as well. I'd be more upset that I didn't see them, and then I remembered that the park is absolutely huge and there were thousands of people walking/running around that day. Would have been cool though...

Let's call it a night. Enjoy your Wednesday and try not to get too fired up over my political commentary, especially all of you Republicans out there. Take it easy on me now.