Blog #35

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSE_saVX_2A

In this "youtube" video, Stephen Colbert was on C-SPAN and was basically bashing on President Bush right in front of President Bush himself. Stephen Colbert is already an influential person but to make fun of Bush right in front of the president himself is quite courageous. I feel like this video makes him more influential. Not only did he make fun of President Bush, Stephen Colbert was also making fun of controversial issues that are continuously debated in America. For example, he mentions religion in America, the Iraq War, the government in the Iraq War, and etc... After these little mentions about these issues, Stephen Colbert goes back to making fun of President Bush. He was saying that he sarcastically praising Bush for being adamant in where he stands no matter what situation is thrown at him like Hurricane Katrina. By Stephen Colbert doing this speech for C-SPAN, his not labeled unpatriotic but funny and smart. Stephen Colbert is obviously a huge influential person in America.

Blog #34

If you ignore the part "A hands-on guide to Internet tactics field-tested in the flight against building El Toro airport," and just concentrate on "Internet for Activists," I think it says a lot. Internet for Activists is pretty much true because so many activists are bloggers and such. For example terrorists are activists but just unpatriotic people. Terrorists have their own websites trying to promote themselves and gain public support. However, the government finds these websites to shut it down. During this presidential campaign, McCain, Clinton, and Obama all have websites to promote themselves and to try to get more contributions or donations. Now since the internet is widely used world-wide, more activists can try to get out his or her message to the world. The internet is powerful.

Blog #33

I find this comic picture really funny because it shows that the media is very influential. The media does not go off of what exactly happens in a situation or basically the absolute truth. The media goes off of what is favorable to them. For example, Fox News is going to make the republicans favorable in no matter what the situation is. CNN is more democratic and they will share their democratic views to the public. So when looking at this picture, it's really funny because after the media apologizes for not being a true journalist, the media says "Never Again" with a "Go Obama" pin. This shows that the media is so influential in politics and that the media is always biased. The media is not going to tell the public the absolute truth but they will tell you their point of view.

Blog #32

I find this picture kind of comical. I know this picture is a serious picture of Oprah showing her support for Obama and trying to convince people to vote for Obama for president. When I first saw this picture, I was thinking, is Oprah practicing her speech skills for the next presidential election? Is she going to run for president for the next presidential term after this year? Also another thing is that why does Oprah look a bit weird. That picture kind of scares me a bit. Anyways, Oprah seriously needs to stop polarizing votes. She needs to stop talking about Obama and encourage people to research about the presidential nominees and vote according to their policies.

Blog #31

I find this picture very inspiring. Inspiring in a way where, I know that Obama is going to get a lot more votes just because Oprah is publicly supporting Obama's campaign. Oprah has a lot of admirers and fans. She is even looked as an American icon. Obviously a lot more American citizens, may I mention that American citizens do not care about politics, are going to vote for Obama. A few may research Barack Obama to see why Oprah really likes him and what his policies are. But the rest of the Oprah population are just going to vote for Obama because obviously Oprah is going to vote for Obama. The media really polarizes the public and can influence people easily.

Blog #30

This comic strip is making fun of President George Bush. I believe that it is addressing the idea that President Bush is not informing the public about what he is really doing in Iraq or in his term at all. The critics and the media are trying to tell the public what is actually going on and President Bush is trying to tell the public what is going on in America that makes President Bush more favorable. The artist drew President Bush's head extremely big so it can either be that his an air head or he is just really into himself . I really like his clipboard because it is just satirizing what he got down during his presidency. The last thing listed on his clipboard writes "greeted with flowers" and is really funny because it shows that President Bush can not be taken seriously.

Blog #29

I find this comic strip really interesting because of the fact that it is making fun of how people are so unaware of what is going on in politics. People are oblivious to what is going on in politics because of the fact that to most American citizens, politics is extremely boring and dry. It is actually shows like "Saturday Night Live," "Jay Leno," "David Letterman," and such, is where most American citizens get their source of political news. People just want to laugh and have fun but when they are being informed of what is going on in the politics like how C-SPAN presents it, people just being straight out uninterested. The bad thing about soft news is the fact that it is very biased and polarizes the way people think.

Blog #28

This comic strip is making fun of how the media truly effects politics. Obviously for anything, the president or anyone who is important in the White House has to have approval from the House of Congress. However, these people should have the support of these popular shows like Oprah, Larry King, Letterman, and Leno because of the fact that these shows can mold the public thinking. These soft news shows can polarize the voting process and really influence the public to vote or think a certain way. For example, Oprah is strongly and publicly supporting Barack Obama's campaign. There are probably so many other people who started to support Obama's campaign just because these people admire Oprah. So, this comic shows that the media can really influence politics.

Blog #27

This comic strip is satirizing America and immigrants. So many immigrants want to live in America because it is "the land of opportunity prosperity freedom." However, so many immigrants are denied visas and such. Looking at this image, it seems that this comic strip is directly aimed towards the Mexican border because how this immigrant in the picture is dressed. Also there has been constant concern about the Mexican border. Since there are wires on top of the wall, it looks like the American border is preventing immigrants from escaping to America. If America is the land of opportunity,why do America constantly deny people of trying to become American citizens or at least visas. There are constant debates about this issue which I am not going to get into. Many immigrants want to live in America because of opportunities to live a better life than many other countries.

Blog #26

This picture is another satire of politicians. Politicians are usually extremely passionate when he or she is trying to get a message across. I find this picture funny because of the fact that average American citizens do not care about politics. People do not care about what politicians have to say unless it directly can benefit an individual. So when a political broadcast is on the television, the first thing people do is turn the channel. When politicians talk on broadcast, people are bored and confused of what the politician is trying to talk about. On top of that, politicians has a very wide vocabulary; a vocabulary that people find certain words foreign.

Blog #25

This comic strip is funny because it shows what influential political figures have achieved what. It seems like Barack Obama is really dominating the media in terms of celebrities and such. There were even rumors that the media was going to make a movie out of Obama's life. Then we have Al Gore. Al Gore is now most famous for winning an Oscar for a documentary about global warming. Then there is Hillary Clinton. When people think of Hillary Clinton, people automatically think of Bill Clinton. I feel like this comic strip represents how the people view political figures.

Blog #24

I find this comic quite funny. Basically America likes a president who people can have a beer with. In the picture, Barack Obama is being taught by Hillary Clinton how to drink a beer and not give off a feeling of being an elitist. This picture is probably in favor for Obama because Obama looks extremely tame and respected while on the other hand, Clinton looks like an average American. Clinton understands the notion of how American citizens like a president whom he or she can drink with. I remember her mentioning a lot about that during a couple of her interviews. This comic strip is showing how each of the Democratic candidates are trying to reach out to the public and to get votes.

Blog #23

This is Barack Obama's family. I really like how this picture is in black and white because this is like the perfect picture family. This photo is really good for Barack's election because the general public wants a president with the perfect family. For example, when Bill Clinton was president, everyone seemed to have a great respect for his family because his daughter fits into the stereotypical idea of how a president's daughter should be. When observing President Bush's family, Bush's popularity gradually increased partly due to the fact because his daughters are party animals according to the media. This picture of Barack Obama's family gives Obama a positive vibe which he can use in his presidential campaign.

Blog #22

This picture is Bill Clinton in Hillary Clinton's body. I find this picture comical because of the fact that during this election year, people do question whether or not Bill Clinton is going to take a huge role if Hillary Clinton does win the presidential election. Another thing to mention is that Bill Clinton is helping his wife a lot for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
I find it funny that Hillary Clinton is trying to break away from her husband but at the same time is using him to promote Hillary Clinton's campaigning. Bill Clinton's presidential terms were extremely popular with the public. Besides that, this picture basically says it all when the public sees Hillary Clinton.

Blog #21

This photo represents how powerful the media is in politics. If you look at all three of the well-known political news station. Each one of them have different political views and therefore tries to inform their audience news that are beneficial to its political opinion. For example, Fox News is obviously a conservative news station. If an unbiased person watches Fox News for the first time, that person is probably going to realize that this news station favors the republicans. This just shows that the media is extremely skewed.

Blog #20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruRygoc4Whs&feature=related

In this youtube video, John Stewart is on the Letterman show. John Stewart is making fun of Bush of course and impersonating him. I find this video funny because of the fact that everything John Stewart was saying is true. When he impersonated President Bush like I, as in President Bush, is a decision maker and therefore I must make decisions. Comments like those are perfect targets for political comics to make fun of politicians. These kind of shows are basically soft news. This is where many Americans get their political news from. People do not look at newspapers, hard news, and etc... they look for shows that are funny. Sadly enough to say, soft news is where I get my main source of political news. I feel like people like John Stewart and David Letterman break complex situations down and are able to make fun of it. I think it goes back to the idea where people just want someone who is simple. For example, the idea that people want a president that they can have a beer with. These shows are just more interesting but can obviously sway votes or opinions to think a certain way.

Blog #19

I remember hearing that when you want to make conversation with someone that is not very close to you like a date, do not talk about politics. People who have strong opinions are willing to argue with other people with different views. These kind of conversations can last for so longs. Not only would political conversations last up to couple of hours, it also gets people heated up and frustrated. Especially if someone is going to talk about politics over dinner, don't think a person will have a delicious meal. There are so many different views, so many arguments, and so many problems with politics so might as well avoid these kind of conversations during dinner. Talking about politics and his or her opinions is just asking for problems.

Blog #18

This dinosaur comic is extremely funny. It is just making fun of the whole idea of politics. Politics is difficult, complex, and never ending. The dinosaurs in this comic can represent American citizens. Obviously, the dinosaurs do not know much about politics. The reason why the green dinosaur says that his political and has "very strong views on politics" is because he has one idea in mind; the green dinosaur hates politics. It hating politics is its strong political view. Americans are not interested in politics. There so many policies and so many things going on in the government that it is just hard to keep up and care. That why this comic is a good representation of America. Because average Americans do not understand politics, then the easier choice is just to hate it.

Blog #17

This image I got from the internet depicts President's Bush confusion during a public speech. This picture is actually really funny because while I was looking for pictures of President Bush, a lot of monkey pictures appeared. So right when I saw this picture, I thought of a monkey; a monkey that is extremely confused. For some reason, Bush usually has confused pictures. As the President of the United States, President Bush and all Presidents need to be confident because of the fact that they do represent the United States. Pictures like these questions Bush's authority as president. This picture is hilarious.

Blog #16

Obviously this image is against the Clinton's campaign for president. Perhaps the artist of this image was unhappy about Bill Clinton's administration. I believe that if this is the case, then if Hillary Clinton is elected president then the artist wants her to do a better job then her husband. Also, in the comic, the response to the question, it seems that this artist probably thought that the Clinton's administration was questionable in his ethics. So if Hillary Clinton gets elected, the artist wants her to do a better job than her husband.

Blog #15

This image depicts what American citizens usually want in a President; which is a person who people can have a beer with. This idea that "Hillary Clinton is my Homegirl" shows that Clinton isn't an extraordinary or out of this world person who cannot relate to average American citizens. This advertisement can be extremely helpful to Clinton's campaign just because this is what people are looking for. Hillary Clinton looks so friendly in this picture that I would want her to my president.

Blog #14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSZ0BQMrFn0

This youtube video called "Barack Obama: Yes We Can" is an endorsement for people to vote for Barack Obama for President. In this video, a handful of A-list celebrities and other celebrities that aren't well known are promoting people to vote for Obama. Celebrities are key people to encourage average American citizens to vote. People ususally idolize people on the screen or radio and celebrities telling the general public to vote is a way to promote the importance of voting. This youtube video shows singers and actors coming together singing a speech that Obama had shared to the public in the past. Also because it is on youtube, it is extremely easy to access it from home. This shows the importance of internet to politics. Politicians can promote themselves and their policies easily in present day society because almost everyone in the United States can access the internet. Endorsements like these are extremely vital to presidential elections because it gets young voters to go out there and vote. However, the bad thing about this is that the purpose of voting for a president is whether or not people like the presidential nominee's policies. Voting according to a person's favorite actress or singer's favorite presidential nominee is not a smart way to vote and could end up detrimental.

Blog #13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8px_KyIFyo

The youtube video, "Letterman Top Ten George W. Bush Moments' Correspondents," makes fun of our current president. It demeans the president. Back in the day, people would put presidents on a pedestal and just be in awe of them. Now a days, especially Bush Jr.'s adminstration, American citizens see him as a joke. His unusal moments or Letterman's favorite moments, are what people are going to remember from Bush's adminstration; besides the Iraq War. President Bush Jr. does not get the same respect as other presidents in the past. Especially with the internet filled with Bush's embarrassing moments, it is hard for people to look at President Bush with the same respect as other presidents.

Blog #12

I found this comic on "Google." I find this comic really funny because a lot of the times, politicians do buy votes. It may not be exactly like this but usually the president's loyalists would bribe people to vote for a certain presidential candidate. Also the general public vote according to what a president can do for the people. This comic is seriously to the point and just making fun of presidential campaigns.

Blog #11

This is a website from the internet. This clearly shows that the internet/media are able to influence or sway poll votes. If you closely look at the 4 presidential nominee, obviously, this website is making fun of Hillary Clinton. Every one else's' picture is serious and respectable besides Hillary Clinton. (I don't really know what to think of Obama's picture but it's a nice one.) This website just justifies how the media is trying to sway votes and influence people to vote a certain way.

Blog #10

This comic is really true. Blogs are suppose to be "personal" and by those weird looking finger things saying that "it's great that blogs make politicians more authentic" shows that many politicians utilize blogs for campaigning. But since there so many blogs out there on the internet, it starts to get really repetitive and annoying. There so many blogs out there on the internet, I feel like most people don't realize that the general public sometimes just doesn't care about how people feel and think.

Blog #9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWzOO9RE40o

In this youtube video, Hillary Clinton is talking about internet, politics, and blogs. She elaborates on how blogs and the internet is very influential in society. She also talks about "net neutrality." I don't really know what net neutrality is but it seems like Hillary Clinton favors the internet. Apparently democrats and progressives constantly battle each other by using blogs and the republicans just sit there and enjoy watching the democrats and the progressive battle it out. Bottom line is that blogs are extremely influential in America.

Blog #8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZJo8Ic3PYo

This youtube link is talking about how the internet is such a crucial way to communicate with the world. John Hood discusses how when politicians campaign, the internet is used. Blogs, youtube videos, and etc... are used to promote politicians and such. This youtube video just shows how much the internet is utilized in the media.

Blog #7

This picture shows how the internet is accessible to anyone. Also, it seems that many people replaced journals or diaries with blogs. People write anything in blogs; from politics to just talking about themselves. If it's so easy to write a blog, then it's just as easy to share anything a person wants with the world. This is related to politics because it just shows how people can look up political issues so easily. Also not only is it easy to look up but there are so many different opinions about certain issues that it can really sway the audience.

Blog #6

Reflecting on my past classes that I took, I remember that every time I had to do research, the first thing I'll do is look information up the internet. I would never go to books because, to be honest, I don't know how the library works. UCI instructors and professors are always encouraging students to utilize the library but, when a student can do everything at home, why should they? I find it really interesting that a person kind find excerpts of books, articles, and etc... on the internet. The internet is now part of every normal American citizen's life. The internet is crucial to life.

Blog #5

This mural depicts the significance of the media when it comes to politics. This just shows that average American citizens heavily rely on television in terms of getting news. Looking closely at the mural, there are famous paintings (like the girl with the pearl earrings), presidents, and significant historical events. What makes this picture comical is that all of the little pictures on the mural is only known by television. American citizens have a tendency to believe everything they see on the T.V. and are basically brainwashed to believe and to think a certain why; how the media views the world.

Blog #4

Californians Address the Role of Media in Politics

Basically this youtube clip is about what Californians think of the media in their role in government. In the clip, generally, people believe that the media as crossed the boundary and that they have been way too influential in politics. I believe that this is true because the media is everywhere. The main source of news and politics for the average American is through either television, newspapers, blogs, internet, and etc... Every single of these are extremely bias. The media reports how the writer views certain policies or politics and they write it in a way that as if it was fact. The media has crossed the line. In a way, they are trying to brainwash American citizens to think or favor a certain way.

Blog #3

I feel like this image truly represents current day America. Blogging is so influential. For example Perez Hilton's, a creepy looking blogger, opinions are so important. So many celebrities' images are determined by Hilton's blog. Also blogs can be thought of as a journal. Many bloggers write his or her opinions in this world-wide seen journal. Bottom line is that many Americans today either blog or read blogs. Blogs are sometimes used to obtain news. The difference between television news and blogs is that television news have to be very subtle about their opinions but blogs can be out there and can be straight out opinions, criticism, sarcasm, and etc... Blogs are most of the time, entertaining than television news. So America, I think, therefore I Blog.

Blog #2

This comic is really funny. Nowadays, so what I heard, public schools are trying to prevent or decrease obesity. So schools are pulling out vending machines, soda, chips, and anything that is unhealthy. I looked at this comic in two ways. The first is the message about eating healthy in school. If you read one of the guys' t-shirt, it basically making fun of people who are trying to make kids eat healthier. I'm guessing that ever since public schools took out the junk food, the lunch food they serve now is worse. So when the smaller kid says "I thought we did have a choice, we can choose not to eat," I thought it was funny. I'm thinking, the food is that bad?! The second, which I think is the better message, is that there making fun of the microwavable food company, "Healthy Choice." It's questioning whether or not if it is really healthy and or delicious? Probably "Healthy Choice" doesn't taste that good. Well, other people may look at this comic differently so let's not criticize my thoughts too much.

Blog #1

McCain Girls: Raining McCain

This youtube video was actually quite hilarious and at the same time really embarrassing. Basically these three old ladies, obviously McCain fans, were trying to promote McCain for president. They remade "It's Raining Men," originally sung by the Weather Girls, to get people to vote or at least take interest in the Republican nominee, John McCain. This video is so ridiculous. The three ladies are unattractive and tone deaf. This youtube video was ridiculously amusing but after watching that video, that kind of made me go towards the democratic side.