Bradezone

In high school my three best friends and I formed a conglomerate called “The Bench,” so named after our morning meet-up location. Our specialties were absurdist humor and social commentary, and our enemy was “fakeness.” I have had a longstanding hatred of many cultural norms that are steeped in fakeness, particularly one that I designated “the party scene.” Among the hallmarks of this way of life are those strange institutions we know as nightclubs. Now, years after my seething disdain for them had become dormant, one man has absolutely flayed the entire lifestyle better than I ever could. Read, learn, and strive to better yourselves.

I have never been the biggest fan of John McCain’s, though I still planned on voting for him this November. While I was briefly swept up by the admittedly masterful orations of Barack Obama, particularly his Iowa victory speech, I knew that I couldn’t eventually allow myself to vote in the general election for someone this exceedingly liberal. Since then I’ve learned a little more about the candidates, and now I have no problem declaring my full-fledged support for John McCain as our next President.

First, take a look at Obama’s opposition to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Bill. You will likely be hearing about this more and more during the campaign, and for good reason. While a member of the Illinois State Senate, Obama voted against a bill that would protect the life of a baby born during a botched abortion. No matter how you slice this, he explicitly supported infanticide. So Barack believes that a newborn baby, out of the womb, can justifiably be left to die simply because an abortion was not performed correctly? That is nowhere close to the type of “change” I could ever “believe in” for our country.

Meanwhile Senator McCain has just been featured in an incredible Washington Times article about his role in turning the tide in Iraq. I plead with every one of you to read this article. McCain has worked tirelessly to incorporate the proper strategy in Iraq to secure our victory there. The successful military surge that you’ve heard about during the past year was largely due to his efforts with support from fellow senators Joe Lieberman and South Carolina’s own Lindsey Graham.

I think these articles confirm what most of us suspect. While John McCain is not a great public speaker, probably not much better than the hapless George W. Bush, none of us should vote for the highest office in the land based solely on speaking ability. Nor should we place undue importance on fringe issues such as technology in deciding our vote. This election should be about the confidence we have in our next leader. John McCain has been through the fire. We all know the story of his experience in Vietnam as a POW, repeatedly tortured yet refusing to submit to his captors. I believe that prepared him well for his role in public service, where any opposition or difficulties he has faced must pale in comparison. Now that I realize the amazing effort he put forth in ensuring Iraq did not turn into another Vietnam, and knowing he is not afraid of dissenting with his own party when he trusts his own convictions, John McCain merits my vote in a big way. I hope he will merit yours.

Garnett. Allen. Pierce.

Three of my favorite players during the modern era achieved their dream this week when the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship. Before the season began I declared that I was rooting for this team to go all the way, and that my anticipation for the coming season was higher than it had been since the Jordan Era. Tuesday night, it all came together. Lifelong Celtic fan Bill Simmons said everything as well as it could be said.

Congratulations to the Big Three. You guys were a ton of fun to root for, and you might just be good enough to do this again next season.