Some of them I understand, some of them I don't. I will keep my mouth shut so as not to piss anyone off. LOL. But just to let you know, the results of the USA Today/Gallup Poll for the Most Admired Man and Woman of they year have come in.
For the 10th year in a row, Hillary Clinton has achieved the Most Admired Woman of the year.
For the 4th year in a row, President Barack Obama has been the Most Admired Man of the year.
But here's the kicker, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Billy Graham, and Warren Buffett round out the top five men, and Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, Condoleezza Rice round out the top five women. Interesting stuff.
Gallup said of the top 10 Most Admired men, four are government leaders (Obama, Clinton, Bush, and Newt Gingrich), three are business leaders (Buffett, Donald Trump, and Bill Gates), and three are religious leaders (Graham, Pope Benedict, and Thomas Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).
Of the top 10 Most Admired women, eight are from government roles and two are from television (Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres).
I worry about people sometimes; Really, I do. Sometimes I worry about them so much, I think they lack the intellect to hold a smart conversation. Keep in mind, this is only certain people. As most of my readers know, I have loved politics for as long as I can remember. Hell, I even held a mock election when I was in college, and everyone in the dormitory had fun participating in it. Well, almost everyone. haha, It was fun nonetheless.
On the way home from work on Tuesday, I had the pleasure of listening to Randi Rhodes. If you've never heard of her, you should. She is one of the smartest women I know. She tells it like it is, and doesn't hold back. I've learned a lot from her, and you could too. In either case, she had a caller on Tuesday who, I swear, was the dumbest person I had ever heard. Not only was he a bigot, but he had this fascination that Bush was the greatest President this country had ever had. Really. No, Really.
After 7 minutes and 42 seconds of going back and forth on why we can't trust Muslims (when almost everyone I know has a Muslim friend. It's a religion people! Every religion has people you can't trust! Geez!), he begins to tell Randi this...
It's better to hear the call from the beginning, where the caller believes Muslims can't be trusted, but you can skip to 7:42 minutes if you like.
I posted the conversation from the 7:42 mark after the jump if you wish to follow along.
"Our nation's permanent mission is to form a ‘more perfect union’ - deepening the meaning of freedom, broadening the reach of opportunity, strengthening the bonds of community. That mission has inspired and empowered us to extend rights to people previously denied them. Every time we have done that, it has strengthened our nation. Now we should do it again, in New York, with marriage equality. For more than a century, our Statue of Liberty has welcomed all kinds of people from all over the world yearning to be free. In the 21st century, I believe New York's welcome must include marriage equality."
- President Bill Clinton via a press release from the
We all know that President Clinton was instrumental in the passing of DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act) and DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell,) but he did what he could at the time. He had Republicans who were in control of the House and the Senate - there's really not much one can do with those nuts - he had to compromise.
The former president has made up for it since he's left office, calling this his biggest regret and apologizing for it. He has become a vocal supporter of the LBTQ community ever since. Hillary, and daughter, Chelsea have also joined him in this fight.
I cannot, for the life of me, imagine being in a situation where I had to make a decision, and hope things turned out as I planned. For Jimmy Carter it was the failed hostage mission in Iran, for Ronald Reagan it was the fall of the Soviet Empire and Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion, for George H. Bush, it was the First Gulf War, for Bill Clinton it was Bosnia, Kosovo and Somalia, for George W. Bush it was 9/11, the hanging of Saddam Hussein, and Katrina, and for Barack Obama it was the BP Oil spill, and Osama bin Laden's death in Pakistan just after midnight yesterday. There are plenty more situations, but these are just a few off the top of my head.
Yesterday, the White House released photos of the situation in Pakistan taking place before them. While the National Security team sat in the Situation Room they listened to audio and video, much like the video (right) of a soldier in Afghanistan with a camera on his helmet.
I can only imagine what was going through their minds as they saw Osama bin Laden looking straight at them and being shot in the chest and the left eye. It had to be one of the most dramatic visuals ever captured on camera. Just looking at Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (top picture), with a hand over her mouth, makes me think they either saw a possible failed attempt when a helicopter crashed yesterday during the attack, or they saw the actual assassination taking place. In either case, it had to be truly emotional for all of them.
I commend everyone who took part in this mission, from our brave soldiers on the ground - to our National Security Team - to our Commander in Chief. They all worked together over the last six months, and managed to come out victorious in the end.
I have always loved my country, but I love it even more today!
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