I have been very sick over the last few days, so that is why I have not been able to update my blog.  I did start a new facebook page so feel free to look me up using Paul Nobles or beaniepoker@hotmail.com (that is really my spam email, I do not check it often) for email. 

I have spent a lot of time watching the NBA Playoffs, for some reason this year has not been that great.  I am loving the New Orleans series but it looks like the Lakers are ordained this year.  There really needs to be an investigation into that Memphis trade, for them to get Pau Gasol for a couple of balls and an IOU is criminal.  The Hornets have been a lot of fun but it would surprise me if they beat the Spurs, I think it will come down to game 7 and the Spurs just know how to up the intensity, I doubt the Hornets will.  I do not think the Lakers will struggle with either of these teams though. (having Phil Ivey played up on the TNT telecast, he was courtside at the Lakers game,  was kind of cool, really shows how far poker has come and how big of a star Ivey has become.)

Daniel and Doyle have had a few back and forths about political issues.  One of the reasons why I like reading Daniel’s blog is that he speaks his mind so freely (so does Doyle apparently).  Occasionally though he comes off like a pompous ass, which of course is the danger of speaking your mind.  Apparently Daniel is a monster supporter of Obama, which I am as well but honestly I would vote for Hillary, I know I am not supposed to say that but really, I could never see myself voting for McCain, maybe the McCain of 2000, but not this guy.  Anyway, Doyle brought up some questions about Obama that a lot of people are expressing and Daniel basically dismissed him as being a silly old man.  Right, because that is the best way to show you are right in an argument.  The most interesting thing about what Daniel is doing is that it is supposed to be antethetical to what Obama is supposed to be about.  He clearly is not taking the high ground when it comes to his support.  To be so vehement about your support only gets you the people on your side, it does not sway anyone to see your point.  Do I wish Hillary would drop out? Yes I do.  But she is not going to do that and some people’s concerns about Obama are legit and will need to be addressed if he is going to win the White House. 

By the way, McCain will not have the same problems Hillary is having in terms of race baiting.  You can best believe it is going to get ugly.  Hillary has stopped just short of using the “N” word but she has definitely played on the fears of the unenlightened.  The same type of people that come out in droves against Flag Burning and Gay Marriage.  Not all of Hillary’s support comes from unenlightened people but a lot of it does.  To cater to the least common denominator of our society is reprehensible and that is exactly what McCain is going to do.  He has to, because it is his only way to win.  If Obama can win taking the high ground that says something about us as a country.  The fact that he has come as far as he has with his message is remarkable and already says a lot about who we are.  Soon though he is going to have to steal the attention of the American public again, McCain is doing a decent job of that right now.  I hope when Obama begins to gain on him and this goes negative that it does not divide us too much.  They are trying to put Obama in a box where only elitists and black people vote for him.  By the way, when they say elite, do they mean smart? When did smart become so bad? Personally I would like my leader to be pretty damn smart.  Any coal miner in a union voting against the “black guy” come November deserves to lose their job because as Ronald Reagan proved unions are enemy #1 of the corporate agenda.  Not to mention Social Security, anyone with an income less than 100k as a family and working class whites.  Anyone who thinks they are a “working class white” needs to realize that your experience is not far different than “working class Latinos” and “working class African Americans”, there is another word for all of you in corporate vernacular, expendable.  So in November you are going to have to decide whether you are going to give the smart black guy a chance, the guy that represents your interests. 

You would have to be pretty foolish to vote yourself out of a job but sadly I think many people will.  The good news is, those people are increasingly the minority.

I know this is big on the political talk but I just needed to get some of this out.  Why does Hillary’s camp keep making a point of saying they are out spending us “3/1″, “5/1″ or whatever.  How dumb are these people? In a sense they are saying our supporters do not support our candidate financially.  That is the sweet spot of the high road by the way, people buy into that type of message and want to support that candidate.  Both my wife and I have contributed to Obama and will continue to do so in the next round.  When Hillary says that she can win how much debt will she need to accomplish that goal? Apparently that is one of the cost of courting the unenlightened.  They are broke.