Adam and Jeremy: Rock Politics Like No One Else

Adam: Hey so what do we think about Barak Obama... I mean we have had several posts about him, but are you ready for him as your president?

Jeremy: At first I really didn’t have a problem with him, and was even proud of myself for being open minded and kinda liking a black/"muslim named" dude being president.
BUT...
My feelings for him have strongly declined since the campaign began. I don’t see any substance to any of his rhetoric. I mean, it might work well at a motivational conference, but I’m afraid it will take more than that to be president of America, and of course I’ve heard some people give me some tidbits of his past voting record that did not sound good. Granted those came from people who don’t like him, and I have not done my own research on his record.
I can’t help but hear the negative things about him possibly being Muslim. I mean even you, I think, would rather have a Mormon than a Muslim?
Then of course, there is the whole abortion/same sex marriage which is very important to me.
Between him and McCain it's not even close who I would vote for. Now, since I am a registered democrat, I’ll have to make a decision between him and Hilary, and if I go to the primary polls and there is another option, I might just take it, or I might just leave it blank. I was hoping for more than just a socialistic/immoral approach to politics from the democrats, but apparently they are incapable.

Adam: Hmmm... I agree he seems to be all rhetoric all the time, and his voting record does not jive with my own personal principals... examples being abortion and pro socialist policy. I think the Muslim deal is stupid gossip started by rednecks that send forwards on without having a clue what they are talking about. Even at that a Muslim scares me less then Mormons because at least Islam is a world religion with over a thousand years of history. Mormons are fake Christians from America with less than 100 years of phonies and lies to trick people. I think McCain is a qualified leader and so I think he is a better choice than Obama, but when it comes to qualifications I think Hillary and Obama have about the same about of experience.

Jeremy: Who does McCain have a better chance of beating?

Adam: Hillary in my mind... I mean some people may not vote for Obama because he is black, but I think for the most part Obama is a more uniting force than McCain... though McCain will be able to unite as well

Jeremy: North Carolina primary is a ways off, but I don’t think it will really matter by the time it comes around.

Adam: May it not?

Jeremy: They make it sound like it’s basically over. Obama vs. McCain.

Adam: Negative. Hillary may have no momentum, but she does have a real chance. Because democrats split their votes proportionally she could have a chance all the way to democratic national convention when the super delegates make their choices.

Jeremy: I guess we will see. Most of the media seems to disagree with you.

Adam: Check CNN.com and tell me what the difference in delegates between the two is today.

Jeremy: In that case the race might be really tight by the time it gets to NC, but it’s not like NC has a ton of sway either way.

Adam: Yeah but in the last two elections it came down Florida in one and Ohio in another to determine the winner...

Jeremy: I don’t think that. It’s just hard to vote for non worthy candidates.

Adam: Like Ron Paul?

Jeremy: Like everyone.

Adam: You get the feeling that no matter which candidates get the nod you really don't have a choice?

Jeremy: Hmm....that might be part of it, but I was just thinking that it seems all the people running for president right now won’t really do a great job. I mean, being the president is a super hard job, so it definitely will take someone special to handle the responsibility. I don’t really think any of these guys/gals are that special, but who the heck knows. I could be very wrong.

Adam: I was just thinking about that Rage Against the Machine video for Testify…

Adam and Jeremy Say: Forget Richmond vs. Asheville; Bring On Richmond vs. Mexico!

So many of you have been blogging about this RTD article that talks about Richmond patterning itself after Asheville NC... which is interesting because Jeremy lives in Asheville and I live in Richmond, so we have a very unique perspective on it, but even more interesting is the route our conversation about the article takes... from Asheville vs Richmond to a more unique solution for Richmond that does not involve just copying some other city (how has that San Antonio River Walk thing worked out?)

Adam: Check out this article where the author talks about how Richmond should be like Asheville... I thought you may enjoy.

Jeremy: I'm guessing you don't like this article. Particularly the end where the write says: “Richmond could start by encouraging local entrepreneurship and abandoning its constant search for a Downtown Savior -- a single project that will turn things around"
A completely pro capitalist statement.

Adam: It's all good... I would like to see Richmond live up its rather obvious potential... I was just thinking the other day that I think it would a great idea if Richmond started offering bigger tax breaks and incentives for businesses to bring more jobs into the city... I also think it would be great to see Richmond plan a Spanish speaking neighborhood on the south side... right now many Spanish speakers live on the south side, but Richmond seems reticent to acknowledge that... I say screw that... over people with Hispanic backgrounds incentives to move to the South side and call it little Mexico... open up community centers were people can learn English and Spanish offer all services in bi-lingual form... open up a legal services office to help low income people with legal matters including immigration... Any large city you go to has sections of town where English is the second language and the culture is decidedly un-American I think Richmond should accept and embrace that.

Jeremy: I like that idea. I'm curious about the Hispanic culture in our area. It appears to be growing, but I have no clue where they live/hang out. I see them working construction or of course we have all the Mexican restaurants, but I couldn't tell you where to find these people in the off hours. But, I think if you had a large majority of them in a certain location like "the bottom" or that’s probably different from real "south Richmond". Then I would say it would be good for the city to support something like what you are talking about.

Adam: Yeah the bottom is a whole other thing, but yeah not only would it be beneficial for the city, but think of the great PR... or bad... but Richmond would be the city that has opened it's doors to the one group people still feel like it is okay to hate... while others a trying to kick them out we are asking them to come and be part of our great city...

Jeremy: Yeah, good call. What do you think it would take to get that done?

Adam: A Mayor and City Council that get it and are not afraid to think outside of the box... It is a pretty low overhead deal... maybe a few new signs and banners like they have in DC's Chinatown, maybe you rename a few streets with Spanish names and maybe you post all the public signs in both English and Spanish... but really the idea is just to entice people into the area... but like we have already said this is not a normal idea and I don't think normal politicians would be willing to make it happen.

Jeremy: Do you have a normal mayor and city council?

Adam: Wilder might be crazy enough as a mayor but the Council are all corrupt old school politicians who would never think this far outside the box.

Jeremy: hmm....it doesn’t really seem like a hard idea to grasp? Are Hispanics really that despised up there?

Adam: I would say that people around here don't outwardly treat Hispanics poorly, but they are more than willing to continue to stereotype them and push them into some sort of servant class economically.

Jeremy: So I think you should talk to the mayor and see what they think?

Adam: A proposal of sorts...