Welcome everyone to the world of The Opinionator. I will be your sarcastic guide for all the political ruckus, unforeseen revelations and mind-numbing chaos in between.
While we were enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation, there were several interesting headlines making way. Even if you were on a remote island in the South Pacific, one way or another you heard about our goody-two-shoe former Sen. John Edwards breaking his perfect little bubble and revealing what we already knew: while his wife was battling cancer he was having some x-rated fun on the side?for two years!
After 17 very long days, the 2008 Beijing Olympics finally came to a close Sunday night. In between the opening ceremony, Michael Phelps winning the gold, the U.S. women’s volleyball team losing, Michael Phelps winning the gold, China making gold medal records, and Michael Phelps winning the gold, there was a fair share of controversy at the Olympics.
The “ARE YOU SERIOUS?” moment from the Olympics went to the Spanish men’s and women’s basketball teams. To say they weren’t thinking would be an understatement. The Spanish basketball teams posed for photographs for advertisements for the Spanish courier company, Seur, in which they pulled the skin by their eyes to look as though they were Asian.
At a certain point during the photo shoot didn’t someone’s common sense kick in and say maybe this would offend an entire race of people? It’s quite obvious both parties needed to be embarrassed in front of the world to realize they can’t get away with slanting their eyes and not expect backlash.
During all the Olympic mayhem, chaos was brewing in our state capitol. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took drastic measures in getting state Controller John Chiang to cooperate with what he wants. On Aug. 11 Schwarzenegger slapped Chiang with a lawsuit, forcing him to do what the former Terminator wants and lower most state workers’ wages to the federal minimum wage until his new budget plan is passed.
On the election side of the spectrum, Sen. Barack Obama announced Saturday via text message the lucky vice-presidential candidate joining the Democratic ticket for the White House. Newly returning from the islands of Aloha, Obama chose Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. from Delaware, an apparent expert on foreign policy and just what the Democrats needed to strengthen their ticket to the White House. From the pictures surfacing on the Internet, it looks like this twosome is very happy together.
Now that you’ve been caught up on a some of the pressing stories of the past weeks, you can ease into the semester knowing The Opinionator will be here to guide you through them all.
