A sense of pride watching team USA.

The Winter Olympics are upon us. The Olympics in general are a time of competition and a time that countries usually put aside their differences and come together. There has already been a tragic event at this year’s Olympic games; a Georgian Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, only 21 years of age had a horrific accident during a practice run and passed away on Friday. This blog post will reflect on and question in the Winter Olympic “sports” are really sports and some other notable stories of this year’s games.

Apparently, Vancouver’s luge track is noted to be one of the fastest and most dangerous tracks in the world. The average speed of this luge track is around 15 miles per hour faster than other tracks (average speed ranges from 80-85 but Vancouver’s averages around 90-95mph). Now, if you are not familiar with luge I will explain a little bit about it. It is a “sport” that involves a sled going down a hill in a carved out path for the riders, which happens to be a sheet of ice. The riders have to be the fastest down the track (there are numerous competitors and they all go at different times). Some of the turns on the course are pretty sharp and are sloped so riders can use that to their advantage. Sometimes that advantage turns into a wipe out/crash. At Vancouver there were several accidents before Nodar took his final ride. Apparently the IOC and the officials did not think this track was too dangerous because they took no prior precautions. The day Nodar passed, the IOC and other officials decided to change the spot of the men’s starting point to where the original women’s starting point was supposed to be. This is so that the average speed will be reduced. They also “improved” the turn where the accident happened.

My main question is why were there precautions not taken care of beforehand? Granted, these precautions are a good thing. Unfortunately, this time the precautions had to come at the cost of someone’s life. My other question is this: is luge really a sport? Personally, I do not believe that it takes any athletic skill to compete in luge. Does it look fun? Of course, I would love to be on a sled that is going 80mph, but I do recognize there are serious risks. When someone explains to me that luge is really a sport, and no, stupidity does not count, I will continue to believe that luge is not a sport. However, my thoughts go out to the luge community.

There are a lot of “sports” in the Winter Olympics that people try to convince me are sports. For instance, the biathlon, skeleton, Nordic skiing, snowboarding half pipe, curling, and figure skating. I will give all of these “sports” some credit that it does take stamina to compete in them. However, I do not see any athletic ability in any of that. Last time I checked the only sports in the Winter Olympics would be speed skating, hockey, and cross country skiing. Blood, sweat, and tears should be a requirement of any Olympic games. Another thing that makes me real mad about the Olympics is they put on stupid figure skating more than hockey. Figure skating is a lot like watching golf on television: boring.

While I am on the subject with things that annoy me about the Winter Olympics I want to put all of you bandwagon fans of Apollo Ohno in your place. First off, I will give him kudos for tying the record for most American winter Olympic medals. However, Apollo Ohno is not a dominate speed skater! If he was so dominate, why does he not win a gold medal every single time? I will tell you why, because he gets lucky at best with coming anywhere near a medal! Yesterday, the Koreans had him beat but made a stupid mistake at the very end which gave him 2nd place. If you go back and look at all of his medal races, something crazy has happened in all but 1 race where he got a gold medal. He is not that dominate of an athlete. Get off the bandwagon.

I do think that the opening ceremony was pretty good but still not as good as Beijing’s opening ceremony in 2008. However, Beijing did not have the Great One lighting their caldron. Anyways, these Olympic games seem to be a very promising one for team USA. Currently, we are in the lead of the medal count with 6 (1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze). Personally, I am looking forward to hockey. I think we have a very good chance at winning gold. But, if I was putting money on this I would pick Canada, Sweden, or Finland. Any medal for the USA in hockey would be great.

Time to get back into this.

It is already February 2010. Obviously, you already know this unless you have somehow time-traveled. January absolutely flew by. I still have not started classes yet, but they start soon so don't be too jealous! Anyways, in this posting I figured that I would reflect on the past month and talk about what I have done in 2010 so far. Are you ready? Good.

As most of you know, I was lucky enough to intern at Congressman Christopher Lee’s (NY-26) office in Greece. It was a great opportunity for me and a real eye opener too. Though I did not get to meet the Congressman I will hopefully get a chance next fall when I try to intern in his D.C office. Congressman Lee and I have a lot in common (due to the fact that I interned in his office I will not put him in a bad position by saying too much). One thing that we have in common is that he is fiscally conservative. Though I have never owned my own business I have the same beliefs as the supply-siders which really gained ground during President Reagan’s administrations. Before taking office, Congressman Lee ran his own business which most Representatives cannot say. Because Mr. Lee has done this, he is on the House Committee of Finance. Another thing that I have in common with the Congressman is that we both love running. Congressman Lee has run in numerous 5k’s and 10k’s and he has completed one marathon. He is ok in my book and he definitely has my vote this coming year.

Overall, the internship was fantastic. At times there was not much to do (though I did read a few books which I will talk about shortly) but I did learn a lot. I have a few laughs and I met two great guys who work for the Congressman who really know the ins and outs of the House of Representatives. I strongly urge everyone to get more involved in politics and or call their representatives and ask a few questions.

Like I said before, I got a chance to read a few books while was interning (of course it was on the down time). Two books that I read were Glenn Beck’s Common Sense. I know a lot of you disagree with his politics, and my politics for that matter. However, what I will say about Beck’s book is that it is a really easy read and easy to understand. Personally, I do not think the book was “radical” in any way rather, it questioned the way our country is going and where the values have gone. It does remind me a lot of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense which is included in Beck’s book at the back. On a scale of 1 to 10 and 1 being do not read and 10 a recommended read I give this book a 7. The second book I read was Ann Coulter’s If Democrats had any Brains, they’d be Republicans. Now this book was more a fun read for me personally and something where I could laugh and agree with. I do not recommend this book for anyone that sees themselves as a left-leaning Democrat. However, I have read several of her other books and those ones I would recommend to anyone. And currently, I am reading another conservative book: In Defense of the Religious Right by Patrick Hynes. So far I am enjoying it and I think Hynes makes a pretty strong argument. The real reason I am reading this book is because I slightly disagree with one of his main arguing points: I do not believe that the religious right helps the Republican Party (but to a degree it sort of does). This is a debate that I will write about at a later time.

January was another big month for Republicans and another set-back for Obama and Pelosi. It was also a slap in the face to the Kennedy legacy. Senator-elect Scott Brown, a Republican, won in one of the most liberal states in the country: Massachusetts. One might wonder why this is such a big deal and why Obama has failed pretty hardcore. Well, Obama went to Massachusetts in a final push to campaign for Maratha Coakley who was supposed to win by a landslide. When the President went there, it was a complete and utter disaster for him because he lost his super majority in the Senate. The Democrats no longer hold the 60 vote-filibuster proof majority to pass anything they want. My advice to any Democrat, November is right around the corner, be careful of what you wish for. And my note to President Obama and Speaker Pelosi: you had a full year with a super majority and you couldn’t get anything passed except a $1.4 trillion deficit. Good job. The people have spoken, mainly the people that call themselves Independents.

Just a few days ago I received some more good news. I get to attend this year’s CPAC, also known as the Conservative Political Action Conference. This is biggest conference of all year for the nation’s biggest conservatives. This is a once in a life time opportunity to get to go to and I am. Crazy story of how this opportunity presented itself too! I was actually looking online for something to help my Republicans club at school and I stumbled upon the CPAC’s website. While there I saw a section where it said I could volunteer there. So I emailed the guy and asked for an application and he sent me one and I filled it out. He called me a few days later to interview me and I got the spot. Apparently only 55(ish) people get this spot because they provide room and board. Not a bad deal. So I get to rub elbows with some pretty important people in the conservative movement. Oh yeah, did I mention I might get to meet Glenn Beck since he will be there!? Totally pumped.

Before this is finished I would like to write a little eulogy for my grandfather who passed away exactly four years ago today. To spend the day today, I went out to eat with my grandma who really misses him and she was a mess. I just want to say that I miss you to grandpa and I wish you could be here. But, I know you are in a better place and I will get to see you someday. Love and miss you.

Oh you know, 13 days into the New Year and what do you get....

Thirteen days into the New Year and it has already been pretty interesting locally and nationally. Essentially, I would like to cover some stories I deem appropriate for some discussion and mainly to laugh at stupidity.

I believe we should start with some local news. Real important news that happened yesterday: Congresswomen Louis Slaughter took a little tumble. Apparently she was not feeling well and took some Motrin (probably children’s Motrin) with an empty stomach. Next time you take Motrin, watch out! you might fall. Seriously though, Congresswomen Slaughter is alright.

In other local news, a day care provider (who was licensed) decided to change a baby on an electric stove. Are you kidding me!? Last time I checked, and I am no professional here, changing a baby on an electric stove even if it is not on is not the best place to change a baby’s diaper. Let’s just say this day care provider will no longer be providing services to babies; more like providing services for inmates.

Let me ask you a question: if you were an employee of mine and I trusted you to take care of bank transactions (withdrawing/depositing money), wouldn’t you expect me to make sure that the transactions were safe? Well one company in the Rochester area was robbed by an employee. Not only was this company robbed, but it was $2.5 million over a few years. The employee, Ms. Oathout, claims she “suffers from memory loss.” Yeah right! I am pretty sure that boss who trusted Ms. Oathout will never trust anyone but himself to take care of banking issues.

The final piece of local news I have to provide you is about the shooting that took place in Brockport. One avid reader of my blog was actually in the Brockport area and was locked-down in SUNY Brockport’s library for a period of time during the incident. This gun man was in a domestic dispute (there should be a poll of how many domestic disputes there are in the U.S every year) and shot the lady and a cop. Seriously, who the hell brings a gun to an argument and not only shoots the person they are mad at but shoots a cop who is there trying to keep the peace!? Well, this man who made the entire village of Brockport be on lock-down claims he has a mental disorder. Do people know how many times people claim they have a “mental disorder” when they do something stupid. I know what your mental disorder is, it’s called being STUPID! A claim of “mental disorder” should be completely dismissed in the court room for any case because too many guilty people get away with stupid shit because they have a said “mental disorder.”

Anyways, I believe it is time to move onto some national news. If you live under a rock, you probably do not know about Conan O’ Brien giving NBC the proverbial middle-finger. Yes, I am going to throw my two cents into this because I like Conan and I have a blog where I am allowed to complain or write about whatever I want. Conan is getting screwed. Just because Jay Leno cannot get good ratings does not mean Conan should get thrown under the bus. He wasn’t even given a full year to prove his stuff. NBC should be telling Jay Leno he’s done even though he has been with the company for years and people love him. However, throwing Conan under the bus does not fix the problem of ratings for the 10 pm Eastern Time slot. So NBC, good luck getting someone as talented as Conan and a youthful audience when you throw him under the bus some more.

Who doesn’t remember the Christmas day would-be suicide bomber, more appropriately called a terrorist. Thanks to lack of communications among numerous high-level governmental agencies airports have decided to put full-body scanners in to protect people. Some people claim this is a violation of privacy. To those naysayers I ask this: do you want your flight to be safe or do you want your flight to be hijacked or blown-up? The likely answer would be you want your flight to be safe. Obviously if you have done nothing wrong and you are not the threat to the flight or international security then you should have no problem with being checked out quick. The other solution is stereotype people, but obviously we can’t do that because that is mean. But go ahead and search 85 year-old grandma and her walker because we all know they hijack planes.

How about this! Did you hear the Federal Reserve has made more money than it should have! That’s right, the Federal Reserve made around $46 billion more than they should have. Now, the details are still a little unclear but remember when the same people got made at upper-end banks and “important businesses” (Exxon Mobile) because they made too much money. Obviously the Fed’s should give back the money because they are a shady business. Obviously the government should take over the Fed’s. Oh wait, they are the government. However, they did say they are going to help start to pay off our $1.3 trillion deficit, which is a start.

Again, if you live under a rock you probably missed what some are called a double-standard that involves Senate Majority lead Harry Reid. Personally, I feel that if Senator Mitch McConnell said the same thing Reid said, McConnell would be crucified politically. But, because the President accepted Reid’s apology that makes everything ok. Now do you remember 2002 when Senate Majority leader Lott used “in-artful language” and apologized he still got crucified and was forced to give up his position. That to me seems like a double-standard. So Mr. Reid, go ahead and use your in-artful language but the rest of us know if you were a Republican you would not be the Senate Majority leader anymore.

Well, that wraps up some interesting news from the past thirteen days (and more). I can already tell that 2010 is going to be a great year.

Bring on the New Decade!

2009 was a year to remember. Also, the first decade of the 2000s was a decade to remember. Since 2000, the internet has been used more than ever and has become a major source of information, the greatest country in the world (the U.S) was attacked, the world has seen numerous natural disasters, several wars (religious and war on terrorism), three summer Olympic games, two winter Olympic games, numerous sports stars admitting to using performance enhancing drugs, one of the biggest ponzi schemes ever (Bernie Maddoff), one of the worst recessions ever, and two different U.S Presidents. Don’t forget that this has also been ten years of our lives that have been very interesting.

December 31, 1999: do you remember your parents and relatives going to the local grocery store and buying bulk food and water because of the Y2K scare? What a great way to not only start the new millennium but start off the decade. People were seriously afraid everything was going to stop working! Countless people believed that the computers would not be able to handle the change to the year 2000 and technology as we know it was no longer going to work. Mass panic. Obviously, we were all very ignorant because nothing happened and we have now made it to the year 2010. I mean, we do have another big fear coming in the year 2012. However, I will write about that on December 31, 2011.

In November 2000, there was a general election for the Presidency of the United States. The big contenders: George W. Bush and Al Gore. This was an election to remember. The state of Florida had some problems keeping track of the votes and after several times being re-counted, George W. Bush had won the election. To this day, there is still debate over the Florida votes; however, I believe they got it right. Shortly after Bush was sworn in, one of the worst days in American history happened. September 11, 2001 the U.S was attacked by Islamic terrorists and we retaliated by going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is also another debatable subject but I will not be getting into that subject (however, where are you anti-war people now that Obama has sent 30,000 more troops!?!). Regardless what your opinions of President Bush, we should respect the office of the President and he did all he could during this time.

Some natural disasters that have struck that we will never forget will be Hurricane Katrina (August 28, 2005) and one of the worst tsunamis to ever hit Indonesia (December 26, 2004). Hurricane Katrina affected the U.S, more specifically the southern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (however, we only heard about the effects in Louisiana). After Katrina hit Louisiana was devastated (and many people believe this is what really hurt President Bush’s ratings) and FEMA virtually collapsed. This was a virtual collapse between local, state, and Federal levels of government which made the situation in Louisiana worse than it should have been. Most people blame Bush but the real blame should be put on the Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans for their refusal to communicate with the Federal government and make sure what was needed to be done. Once again, I will not be getting into the politics of this.

The last couple of Olympic Games have also been ones to remember. Numerous athletes have been caught cheating (Marion Jones, Maurice Green and countless others). However, the best summer Olympic Games of this decade were in 2008. We learned in 2008 that it is possible for one person to win eight gold medals (Michael Phelps). We also met the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt who smashed the 100 meter and 200 meter world records. It is also debated that Bolt has saved the sport of track and field. A few months after the Olympics, in the World Championships, Bolt continued to dominate as he ran an incredible 9.69 second 100 meter (a new world record). Obviously, 2008-2009 for track was a very impressive year! Even for American distance running this past decade has been special. We lost an incredible runner, Ryan Shay as he collapsed with a heart attack in the Chicago marathon in 2007. However, we had two runners break 13 minutes for a 5k (which has not been accomplished for an American runner in a really long time): Dathan Ritzenhine and Matt Tekenkamp. Ritz had an incredible year and so did Tek. Better yet, in the NYC marathon this year (2009) an American won it and that was the first time since 1985 when Alberto Salazar won: the winner this year was Meb Keflezighi. Many people thought Ryan Hall, another American was going to win, however Meb ran an incredible race. All in all, American distance running is back on the global scene and I am really looking forward to the next decade!

In these past ten years I have grown up. I have gone from middle school all the way up to now, my junior year of undergrad. This past year, 2009, was a really good year. A lot of sweet things have happened to me and I have grown up in one of the best possible times in history. Granted, a lot of things politically and economically are going bad, but it is still a great time to live. 2009, my 20th year of living, I would rate as one of the best years ever.

Here is what I am looking forward to in the next decade:

-The Republicans doing well in the 2010 elections and the 2012 elections
-Either go to grad school to attempt a PhD in political science/history or get a job
- The Kansas City Royals making the playoffs (hopefully, but highly unlikely)
-The Oakland Raiders making the playoffs again
-The Carolina Hurricanes winning another Stanley Cup
-American Distance running hopes of winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games
- The world ending in 2012! (Oh wait, that won’t happen)

Anyways, I hope that everyone reading this had a fantastic Christmas and they have a great New Year. Thanks to everyone who read this all year and a thank you to all who will continue to read this next year!

Happy Chrismanukkahwanzaadan

Do the words “Merry Christmas” offend you? Go ahead and think about that for a minute. Ok. The answer is most likely, “No, those words do not offend me.” Fantastic! So why do you go and tell me that I cannot say that to people? Do we not live in America? Does the First Amendment in the Constitution (thanks to those who catch my careless errors) not guarantee me the freedom of speech? If someone tells me one more time, “Oh you can’t say ‘Merry Christmas because you will offend someone’” I am going to give them some Christmas wrath. Seriously, I will say “Merry Christmas” to whoever I want. Obviously I won’t say that to someone who has a Yakama on so stop getting all hot and bothered about it.

Have you ever met someone that celebrates Kwanza? I doubt it. Kwanza kind of seems like a knock-off of Hanukkah. Really, Kwanza is something that the United States just made up to say “Oh hey, you’re black and you should have your own holiday so try this.” Kwanza was created by Ron Karenga in 1966 and it means “first fruit” (check out Wikipedia). So I think maybe I should make my own holiday and call it K-C Holiday and it has to be during the same time as Christmas just so people that have the initials “K C” can be recognized. This seems ridiculous, kind of like Kwanza.

Everyone wants to be recognized for something and with something. Well guess what! The world isn’t perfect. A lot of people do great things in their lifetime and don’t get recognized. Why can’t we just accept that there are some things like Christmas that is meant for everyone to celebrate despite the religious aspects. Obviously a Jewish family or Muslim family will not celebrate Christmas due to their own religion but they have their own special holiday.

I am really surprised that in the malls they haven’t put a menorah or a Kwanza candle thing in there yet. Better yet, I’m surprised they haven’t taken away Santa Claus because that is only showing one holiday and the malls are not being diverse enough.

My main point here is if I want to say “Merry Christmas” when I go shop during the holiday time don’t give me attitude and tell me I might offend someone. I think if people that are working want to say “Merry Christmas” to customers they should be allowed to if that is what they celebrate. If the employee celebrates Hanukkah, Boxing Day, or K-C holiday, they should be able to say “have a happy/merry/nice…” without anyone getting offended. Life would be so much simpler if people wouldn’t get offended about stupid little things or trying to be politically correct. We should start teaching this in schools: don’t get offended, people celebrate other holidays but it is okay for you to say what you want to. Of course that won’t happen because everyone wants to appease everyone. Well I am sick of it!
Have a freaking Merry Christmas!

I didn't realize that Golfers got the ladies. I need to change my sport!

I have decided to throw my two cents into the wide world of the web about Tiger Woods. This is an absolutely hilarious story because nobody would have thought that Tiger Woods of all famous sports stars would have been in on a sex scandal. Kudos to you Tiger.

Let me first point this out, I strongly believe that America is really the only country in the world that is obsessed with celebrities or the next crazy fad or story. Just a few months ago we were all talking about Balloon Boy and his parents that have an IQ of an eighth-grader. I feel to make this blog post exciting we should go over some pretty huge scandals or stories that we all know about.

So I know I am too young to remember JFK’s affair but oh man, the President of the United States having an affair should be a HUGE story. JFK of course was real classy. Come on, Marilyn Monroe was good looking in her day. Of course there are rumors of JFK having more affairs. Well we can move up to a more recent time that I was around for. Do you remember classy President Bill Clinton? Though I was younger I do remember most of what happened however, I am not sure how much coverage this got but I am guessing it got a lot of coverage. Well we all know Bill had some “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. Monica was just an intern at the time, but does anyone know what happened to her? I haven’t seen or heard of her for several years. All that I am going to say is that I think Bill could have done much better.

Do you remember Kobe Bryant’s alleged affair when he was in Colorado? That crazy girl took him all the way to court and he had to pay her to shut up. Obviously Tiger didn’t remember what happened to Kobe. Obviously Kobe even forgot what happened a few years ago because there are rumors once again that he is at it with someone new! Hey Kobe, stay classy. How about just last year in 2008 in New York? Do you remember what I am talking about? Remember Governor Elliot Spitzer and his hot affair? Good old Elliot paid $4,300 for a night of fun, he’s a bigger spender. I think Elliot should have tried to get something for free instead; it probably would have made him look a little better. However, he did pick a really good looking girl.

Of course all of those people that had affairs were eventually forgiven. Something new probably came up and their stories were old news. America wasted so much time on all of those stories hoping that something new would come up but nothing did. Eventually, there was a new story or fad that happened and everyone changed their attention to that. So Tiger, don’t worry about your alleged 9 mistresses (possibly more), everyone will forget soon! Even if people don’t forget I do not think that this will bother Tiger when he is out there trying to win some major golf tournament. Obviously, Kobe had no problem ignoring his affair while he was out there playing and trust me, basketball gets more coverage than golf!

It is only a matter of time that we will no longer be talking about Tiger Woods. Maybe some other dumbass will try to get publicity and send their kid up in a balloon just to get Tiger off the hook. I will leave on this question: Does it really matter what someone does on their free time? I know that he is kind of a scumbag because he had a wife and a kid but let’s be honest, this does not affect anyone reading this blog post. We do not know Tiger personally and the majority of America doesn’t either. I think we should leave the man alone and let him figure it out. If this ever happened to you are me we would not get this much coverage but our significant other would sure as hell be pissed and probably less forgiving because we don’t make as much money as the super stars.

Time for some REAL "change"... GOP win critical races!

As most of you know, or at least should have known, last Tuesday, the 4th was Election Day. It was an off-election year, meaning it was mostly just local elections. However, there were two gubernational elections and one semi-national (semi-important election). Of course I am talking about the Virginia and New Jersey’s Governors race and New York’s 23rd Congressional district race. Also, in Maine, there was a vote to approve of gay marriage; however, the voters turned it down and gay marriage is still illegal in Maine (I will not get into the details in this blog post). There were also elections in all of the other states too but I feel like these were the most important issues that came about.

Contrary to popular belief, the two Governors’ races actually mean a lot for the upcoming elections in 2010 and 2012. Both of these races were won by Republicans (I will get into the details momentarily) which could potentially be a good sign come 2010 and 2012 for the GOP in national races.

Starting with New York’s 23rd Congressional district, which stretches from Oswego County all the way up north to Clinton County. This election was a special election because the former Congressman, John M. McHugh (Republican) resigned to become the United States Secretary of the Army on September 21, 2009. Our Governor David Patterson declared that there must be a special election to fill the vacancy. There were no primary elections for the candidates. The candidates are as followed: Bill Owens (Democrat), Doug Hoffman (Conservative) and Driedre Scozzafava (Republican). Three days before the election, Scozzafava dropped out of the race and supported Owens. However, even with her dropping out of the race, she still got 5.5% of the vote which if the voters of that district did not vote for her, Mr. Hoffman would have won because he got 45.2% of the vote. So, Bill Owens is now the Congressman for the 23rd Congressional district of New York. I have yet to look into any of his ideas or plans but his win was a real shock to the district because Republicans have controlled that district since 1873.

One of the most highly anticipated elections of 2009 was the race for Virginia Governor. Current Governor, Tim Kane (Democrat) was not able to run for re-election due to term limits established by the Virginia Constitution. The two candidates for this contested race were: Creigh Deeds (Democrat) and Bob McDonnell (Republican). Mr. McDonnell won the race with 58.65% of the vote. As a note, Bob McDonnell was the former United States Attorney General. Mr. McDonnell’s campaign was focused on economic, transportation, and public safety. One big proposal that Mr. McDonnell hopes to see come about is the job incentives, which is in hopes to boost tourism in Virginia. He is also pro-life and is supportive of drilling off-shore for oil. Also, one really interesting thing about Mr. McDonnell his thesis in 1989 at Regents University was titled The Republican Party’s Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade. If you wish to learn more about Bob McDonnell check out his website (where I got the information): http://www.bobmcdonnell.com/

In New Jersey, there was a much more highly contested election than in Virginia. There were three main candidates: Chris Christie (Republican), Jon Corzine (Democrat and Incumbent), and Chris Daggett (Independent). Much to the surprise of most people, Chris Christie won the election with 49.1% of the vote. Christie is the first Republican elected statewide in twelve year and he is the former United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He has received high praise for his convictions while being a lawyer of public corruption. The most notable conviction of he was a part of was the 2006 charges against former New Jersey Senate President John A. Lynch, Jr. which was about mail fraud and tax evasion. Christie is pro-life, opposes New Jersey’s proposal of medical marijuana bill, pro-gun, strong supporter of state granting tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools, anti-illegal immigration, and is in favor of low taxes. To learn more about Governor-elect Chris Christie and to see where I got my information, check out: http://www.christiefornj.com/home.html

With the two gubernational elections this past Tuesday, the Republican Party is hoping for some of that “change” in their favor in 2010 and 2012. It is clear that Virginia and New Jersey were quick to change their stances from the previous elections where they elected Democrats. It might also be clear that the majority of Americans are finally realizing that “hope” and “change” sound nice but there has actually been little to none shown. The GOP can and will hope that President Obama and the rest of his cronies continue to go back on promises. Unfortunately, this also means that this country will continue to pile on the debt until 2010 or 2012 when the GOP starts to regain what was lost. 2009 is a good indicator to what will happen in the upcoming elections, and President Obama should be nervous if he would like another term.

As for the two new Governors, I hope they stick to the Republican cause and I wish them the best of luck. Personally, I feel that Bob McDonnell is one of the best Republicans and one of the only true Republicans we have left.