The other day I called out God of War creator David Jaffe for a vlog in which he referred to Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin as "the perfect definition of a MILF." (see: God of War Designer David Jaffe Reduces Sarah Palin Candidacy to Lowest Common Denominator).

Apparently, Jaffe took notice - and took the heat. He has posted a new video which addresses the MILF issue:

There's this website out there, pretty good website in terms most of the content it covers. Pretty smart and I'm glad it's out there. But it was like... this accusatory tone of me being sexist or crass when I called Sarah Palin a MILF. I'm like, Oh my, god! ...Your Victorian sensibilities are very easily offended... I'm not sexist. I have two little girls. I respect and love women. I think we're all pretty much equal...

 

And I think that's just really f*cking nit picking and ultra-politically correct to the point of just being absurd to assume that because I look at a woman and I say the only thing I can see she's good for is f*cking... It's not sexist because I'm not saying that's what I see in all women when I look at all women. I'm saying when I look at her, that's the only redeeming quality I can find in her...

While I concur with Jaffe's position that there are more questions than answers about Sarah Palin, he and I will have to disagree on this one. Referring to Palin in public statements as a MILF reduces her - reduces any woman - to the level of a sex object.

I certainly don't think he's a bad guy - far from it. But Jaffe needs to realize that the level of candor which may be acceptable in a frat house or local pub doesn't play quite so well when delivered as public, on-the-Net-forever commentary. As the head of a respected game design studio, Jaffe has employees (some of whom may be women) who could be offended. He has key business relationships with corporate types who by nature are not eager to hand a ready-made issue to special-interest groups. Is that politically correct? To an extent, sure. But that's the nature of business today.

Beyond that, however, there's just something wrong about reducing a woman to the sum of her body parts.

Video game columnist Dave Davies of the San Antonio Express has tongue firmly planted in cheek as he ticks off a quartet of video games that he says can increase one's understanding of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin.

In what amounts to a series of micro-reviews, he writes:

Before we jump to conclusions about Palin, we should get to know her a little better — walk a mile in her snowshoes. Video games can help us do that.

By way of powering up your Palin I.Q., Davies suggests the following games:

The Deadlist Catch (360):  According to her official biography, Palin worked with her husband, Todd, on a commercial fishing boat. So playing the game you can see what tough work this is. And playing this game is a lot like work.

 

Kawasaki Snowmobiles (Wii): Todd Palin is the five-time champion of the world's longest snowmobile race... So what's it like to be a snowmobile champ? Play the game  and find out — not! Even with all the distractions, Palin's political career is having an easier time staying on track than the snowmobiles in this simulation.

 

Cabela's Alaskan Adventures (PS2): Sarah Palin loves to shoot her some of that moose and you can, too...Despite Sony's promise of backward compatibility, this game did not run on my PS3 — but I've still got the PS2.

 

Arctic Tale: Palin doesn't want federal protection for the polar bears and she doesn't believe in global warming. But if we could get her to play this game, she might change her mind.

In an article titled, Who Is The Gamer's Candidate?, Edge Online has recapped the positions of both parties' presidential tickets as they relate to video games.

It's good to know that none of the four candidates have ever gotten behind a video game ban, although Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin gave consideration in the past to censoring books. Of the four, Barack Obama has said and done the most in regard to games.

While the EO piece offers no new information, it is a worthwhile summary.

David Jaffe, creative genius behind the God of War and Twisted Metal series, isn't one to keep silent, but sometimes he probably should.

Jaffe posted a stream-of-consciousness video to his blog on Saturday from his office. At 3:40 into the video he segues into a rant about Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin:

The VP pick... I think she's, you know, kind of cute. She's the perfect definition of a MILF. Not to, you know, disparage her or anything. I'm not trying to sort of make it about that, but it's like that's what I see when I look at her. I didn't love Hillary but I looked at her and I saw experience and intelligence... you look at this woman and you see a MILF. That's what you see.

 

Her experience doesn't really seem to indicate that she would be all that great as a vice-president and certainly not a president. What are they thinking...

GP: Palin's lack of experience is certainly subject to discussion. Her attempted book banning, definitely. However the MILF comment is rather far beyond the pale, especially for someone of Jaffe's stature.

While we've yet to hear of any connection between Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin and video games, the New York Times reports that she explored a book banning campaign as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in the late 1990's:

Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through...

 

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

 

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support...

Politico offers this on Palin's book banning attempt:

According to the Frontiersman newspaper, Wasilla’s library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, said that Palin asked her outright if she "could live with censorship of library books.” Palin later dismissed the conversation as a “rhetorical” exercise.

Time has more:

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

GP: If Sarah Palin would ban books, would she also ban video games? It's certainly a valid question.

The saga of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin continues...

In the latest revelation, British newspaper The Telegraph reports that the father of pregnant 17-year-old Bristol Palin's baby is Levi Johnston, a self-described "redneck" hockey player.

The couple have been dating for a year, according to officials in their home town, and Bristol regularly cheers on her man at games...

 

On his MySpace page, since removed from the Internet, Johnston describes himself as a "f****n' redneck" and reveals: "I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing," before warning that of anyone annoys him, he will “kick ass".

 

Poignantly, in the one part of the site where it asks about children, he wrote, "I don't want kids."

Meanwhile Hollywood Celebs Gossip picks up The Telegraph's report and adds in the the gamer bit (source not immediately clear):

Since Bristol Palin’s pregnancy news was broken out, those profanity-laden words have been withdrawn from the social network site, replacing with “I enjoy hanging with my buds and playing a good video game. Thanks for looking at my site!”

GP: A look at MySpace seems to indicate that at least three pages have created in Levi's name. Some or all are obviously fakes. For now, we're taking all of this info with a large grain of salt.

UPDATE: A GP reader wrote in to object to the story as not appropriate for the site. Here are my thoughts on that:

I agree with [the reader] to a point. I don’t love the story, either. However, I can guarantee you that *every* mainstream news organization is going to cover the “father of the baby” story by tomorrow morning, and on that basis alone I do not have a problem being early with it. And, I always seek to bring any connection between politics and gaming to the forefront. He’s reportedly a gamer, this is a high profile story.

 

Nor do I have a political dog in this fight. Personally, I don’t think the pregnancy is politically relevant. But, absent my beliefs, it has become an international story. So, it gets covered.
 

Recently, GamePolitics reported that Xbox and Rock the Vote would be teaming up on voter registration at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

Here's some brand-new video footage of Guitar Hero being played on a big screen at a Rock the Vote DNC booth. We presume the game is running on an Xbox 360.

CNN is now reporting that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be John McCain's running mate.

Palin, 44, who has been governor for only two years, appears to have little track record with video games - or much of anything else.

She was a city council person in Wasilla, Alaska from 1992-1996 and was later mayor of that town. She failed in an attempt to become Alaska's Lt. Gov. in 2002, and won the top seat in 2006.

Palin has two sons and three daughters. Her oldest son, age 18, is scheduled to be deployed to Iraq later this yer.

Tim Pawlenty? Mitt Romney? Tom Ridge?

With Republican presidential candidate John McCain's VP choice due later today, these three names have been bandied about in recent days. While Ridge has historically been quiet on video game issues, Pawlenty and Romney (seen with McCain at left)come with major baggage as far as gamers are concerned.

That said, Ridge seems an unlikely choice, since he adds little to the McCain ticket. For one thing, he's older than the other two and McCain would seem to need some youthful balance in a running mate. For another, as former Homeland Security Director, he's too closely associated with the Bush Administration in a time when the electorate craves change. And although he is from a key state, he doesn't seem likely to swing Pennsylvania red in November.

That leaves Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts as potential VP choices. As we said, both have a negative history with video game issues.

Pawlenty signed Minnesota's notorious, 2006 "fine the buyer" legislation into law. The bill, which would have fined underage buyers of M-rated games $25, was quickly overturned by a federal judge. Minnesota also lost a subsequent appeal on that decision. Pawlenty, who has owned up to playing NHL2K5 with his kids, brings youth to the McCain ticket.

For his part, Romney (who apparently thinks torturing real people is okay) made the cartoon violence of video games a theme of his failed 2008 presidential bid. Romney is a favorite of the religious right, a group which is not particularly fond of McCain.

UPDATE: CNN is reporting that Pawlenty is out of the running and is also speculating that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is in the VP mix...

Okay, so we've got a soft spot for board games as well as the video variety.

Maybe you do, too. 

If so, jump over to Campaign.com. The self-described nonpartisan voter education site is giving away a Stratego: Democrats vs. Republicans game every day between now and the presidential election on November 4th.

A San Francisco-based game designer is among a subset of Hillary Clinton supporters who can't seem to get their minds around the notion that Barack Obama is the presidential choice of the Democratic Party.

As reported by Newsday, Toni Alves was among several hundred Hillary backers who marched through the streets of Denver on Monday shouting, "Honest Roll Call!" and "Yes We Can!"

Alves, whose design credits include Heroes of Might & Magic V , told Newsday that she has voted as a Democrat for 40 years and traveled to Denver on behalf of her local chapter of Party Unity My Ass (PUMA). She claims that she will vote for Republican John McCain should Obama secure the nomination.

Kotaku reports that Microsoft and the Xbox 360 are waving the video game flag at this week's Democratic National Convention.

Denver-based Kotaku EIC Brian Crecente popped over to the DNC and discovered that Microsoft lobbyists had set up a booth featuring 360s running MLB2K8 during Tuesday's events at Coors Field. Exec Fred Humphries told Crecente:

Where better to talk about families and games then in the living room. We're here to highlight the family settings for the Xbox 360 and talk about ratings. Education is so important when it comes to the Xbox. We are here to tell people about Play Smart, Play Safe... We fully support parents talking to kids.

MS will be making a similar appearance at the upcoming Republican National Convention. As GamePolitics reported last week, Microsoft is partnering with Rock the Vote to help drive voter registration through Xbox Live.

CNet's Declan McCullough reports that Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) has an anti-consumer track record when it comes to technology.

In the past the Democratic VP nominee-apparent has stood with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on copyright issues.

From the Cnet report:

[Biden] has spent most of his Senate career allied with the FBI and copyright holders... ranks toward the bottom of CNET's Technology Voters' Guide, [his] anti-privacy legislation was actually responsible for the creation of PGP [encryption]...

 

Biden became a staunch ally of Hollywood and the recording industry in their efforts to expand copyright law. He sponsored a bill in 2002 that would have make it a federal felony to trick certain types of devices into playing unauthorized music or executing unapproved computer programs...

 

A few months later, Biden signed a letter that urged the Justice Department "to prosecute individuals who intentionally allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks." Critics of this approach said that the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America, and not taxpayers, should pay for their own lawsuits...

 

All of which meant that nobody in Washington was surprised when Biden was one of only four U.S. senators invited to a champagne reception in celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA's Jack Valenti, the RIAA, and the Business Software Alliance. (Photos are here.)

McCullough reports that Biden has "steadfastly refused" to answer Cnet's questions on his tech voting record.

GP: It's ironic that Biden has chosen to portray himself as an intellectual property rights champion. He has twice been outed for plagiarizing.

A new YouTube video spoofs Republican presidential contender John McCain with a Mario Bros. flair.

In John McCain - POW Bros. video game journalist Jared Rea depicts McCain as exploiting his five years spent as a prisoner of war to counter just about every issue.

Jared, clearly not a McCain fan, writes:

John McCain uses his prisoner of war status as both sword and shield. It’s the entirety of his foreign policy experience and ultimate defense against legitimate questions and concerns rolled into a single onomatopoeia.

Stop playing Too Human for a few minutes and make yourself a player in November's presidential election instead.

Beginning next Monday, Xbox Live subscribers can register to vote while using the popular online gaming service.

The innovative feature comes as the result a partnership between Microsoft and Rock the Vote. XBL voter registration will go live just as the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Denver. In a press release, Microsoft describes the surprising move:

A leading gaming and entertainment platform just became a leading platform for change. Microsoft Corp. and Rock the Vote today announced a groundbreaking partnership that will allow Xbox 360 owners to register to vote, participate in presidential polls and voice their opinions to the presidential candidates.

Of the unprecedented partnership with XBL, Rock the Vote's Heather Smith commented:

Xbox is a natural partner to help us reach out to youth voters. To realize our goal of registering 2 million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are, and there's no doubt in our minds that many are on Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE.

Xbox will be on hand at both conventions to promote the Rock the Vote partnership.

Via: Marketwatch

UPDATE: Voter registration will apparently not be finalized through XBL. Rock the Vote will apparently need to mail potential registrants a packet to complete.

By the way, you can link to Rock the Vote from GamePolitics via the link in our right sidebar. We're about three years ahead of XBL in implementing this...

The campaign of Republican presidential contender John McCain has taken an oddly-worded, RPG-themed shot at supporters of Barack Obama who questioned a story the former P.O.W. told during a weekend forum at high-profile pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church.

From the CNN account:

During a presidential forum at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church on Saturday, McCain told a story of a guard who wordlessly drew a cross in the dirt one Christmas, describing it as a moment that gave him strength.

 

Critics in the blogosphere said that McCain, who was released in 1973, had not mentioned the incident until shortly before his 2000 presidential bid... They also pointed to similarities between McCain’s account and a similar story in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago, his account of life in the Soviet labor camp system.

 

McCain aide Michael Goldfarb, in a message posted on the campaign’s Web site Monday [wrote] “It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others...”

At one time, Second Life was viewed as having great potential for promoting political campaigns.

However, the Houston Chronicle points out that in the current presidential election, Barack Obama and John McCain have largely ignored the SL metaverse:

Campaigns haven't figured out how to reconcile the all-important image and fundraising with a world in which a Gothic nymph can sit in on a congressional hearing - or a Teddy bear might try to donate to a political campaign.

 

So for now, the Second Life campaign headquarters of Barack Obama and John McCain are pristine, glistening and completely vacant most of the time...

 

Fundraising is still not an option in Second Life, as there is no way to monitor where the donations are coming from, and the majority of players are from outside the U.S.

Julie Germany of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet told the Chronicle:

It's been written about in fiction and cyberpunk, this idea that these online worlds could actually be used for political purposes, whether it is to recruit supporters, or train people to take action or to fund raise. It just hasn't exploded the way other online tools have exploded.

Former congressional aide Nancy Scola, who was involved in former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's much-discussed 2006 visit to SL (screenshot at left), added that options like Facebook, YouTube and MySpace are dominating the online side of politics:

All the air's been sucked out of the room... If you're working inside a campaign, your single goal is to get your guy in the White House.  It doesn't leave a lot of room and motivation to play with new technology. Why mess with what's working?
 

If Barack Obama doesn't seem especially conversant with GTA IV, Madden or Fallout 3, there's a reason for that:

The last video game he played was... Pong.

The Democratic contender said as much in an Entertainment Weekly interview which probed his pop culture habits:

EW: What's the last videogame you played?

 

Obama: Pong. That gives you a sense of my age. I loved that game.

 

The 2008 presidential campaign is getting ugly, what with a John McCain TV spot that paints Barack Obama as a celebrity lightweight in the grand tradition of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and the Obama campaign fighting back with sharp words about McCain.

Given the nasty political climate, Darren Gladstone of PC World (who clearly has too much time on his hands) decided to use Soul Calibur 4's custom character creator to let martial arts versions of the prez candidates go mano-a-mano:

Barack always struck me as a Jeet Kun Do master: nimble, deadly with his words--and with a pair of nunchucks. McCain? This guy's tough as nails. I don't know if I could've made it through half the stuff he did, so, of course, I have to equip him with the biggest mallet available.

 

Barack has youth on his side, so of course he's dancing rings around McCain... But stand still too long, and the cagey Vietnam vet is gonna deliver a haymaker: his mile-long service record.

Although they were bitter enemies during the primaries, recent reports - like this one from Reuters - have Republican presidential candidate John McCain and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney getting rather chummy.

And that could be bad news for gamers.

Among possible Republican VP choices, Romney has been far and away the most outspoken on video game content issues. GamePolitics readers may recall Romney making comments like this on the campaign trail:

It's time to clean up the water in which our kids are swimming. I've proposed that we enforce our obscenity laws again and that we get serious against those retailers that sell adult video games that are filled with violence, that we go after those retailers.

Romney also released a campaign video which played to this theme.

A few weeks back GamePolitics covered the so-called PlayStation War raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The issue revolves around Congo's supply of the mineral coltan, used in PlayStation 2's and many other consumer electronic devices.

In the latest development, a press release issued by the Panafrican Press Association charges that U.S. presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama just doesn't get it when it comes to the relationship between coltan and the ongoing conflict in Congo. Claiming that Obama has mistakenly portrayed the strife as ethnic, the PPA writes:

Statements... attributed to Obama, explains in part why there is such silence around the tragic situation in the Congo. The conflict is unfortunately and wrongly presented as ethnic bloodletting. The ethnic rationale... plays into long-held stereotypes that Africans are interminably trapped in "tribal bloodletting," hence, nothing can be done...

 

The central reason for the nearly six million dead in the Congo since 1996 is not "ethnic strife" but rather the scramble for Congo's enormous treasure trove of diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, tin, timber and more...

 

Beneficiaries of Congo's resource war include foreign corporations and consumers... Coltan is a key mineral that drives the conflict in the Congo and is found in our cell phones, laptop computers, digital cameras, video game consoles and many other devices. Congo has anywhere from 64% - 80% of the world's reserve of coltan.
 

GP: We were surprised to learn that conservative Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) is taking an active interest in the Congo coltan situation. Indeed, however, Brownback and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Conflict Coltan and Casserite Act in the Senate on May 23rd. Of the legislative proposal, Brownback said:

We are witnessing a grave humanitarian crisis in Congo, and we must act now to put an end to the death and suffering. Everyday, Americans use products that have been manufactured using inhumanely mined minerals. The legislation introduced by Senator Durbin and I will bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices.

Sen. Durbin added:

Without knowing it, tens of millions of people in the United States may be putting money in the pockets of some of the worst human rights violators in the world, simply by using a cell phone or laptop computer. We ought to do all we can to make sure that the products we use and the minerals we import, in no way support those who violate human rights abroad.

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, African American-themed website BlackVoices suggests that video game martial arts action might be just the tonic for the ugly situation between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The uproar started with Jackson's inadvertent comments that Obama has been "talking down to black people" and that Jackson wanted to "cuts his nuts off." (video here)

From the BlackVoices commentary:

Maybe this is how Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson can duke out their problems, man-to-man. None of this whispering under the breath. I think this video game is more dignified.

The game play footage is from DC Smackdown, which GamePolitics covered in December, 2007. If you find DC Smackdown objectionable, you're not alone.

We note also that the game's website, dcsmackdown.com, appears to no longer function.

A fist bump?

A pound?

A terrorist fist jab?

With those words, Fox News talking head E.D. Hill ignited a bit of a controversy last month. Hill was referring to a small, celebratory bumping of fists between Barack and Michelle Obama. The "terrorist fist jab" comment would eventually lead to an on-air apology from Hill.

A parody video has placed Obama in a Mortal Kombat setting with the terrorist fist jab as his special attack.

GP: Pretty funny stuff and we thank reader Scott Snell for the heads-up...

It was widely reported this week that Minnesota would reimburse the video game industry $65,000 for legal fees incurred fighting the state's 2006 "fine the buyer" video game law in federal court.

Oddly enough, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who signed the bill into law after it was approved by the Minnesota legislature, is apparently a bit of a gamer himself. That news comes from a passing mention buried within a lengthy 2007 profile of Pawlenty in the Weekly Standard. We just happened upon it this morning. Here's the gaming bit:

Growing up, Pawlenty played hockey. He is still a rabid NHL fan. The first website he visits each morning is hockeyfights.com, which shows combat highlights from the previous night's games. He plays the ESPN hockey video game in his spare time, often taking on one of his two daughters.

Okay, so Pawlenty doesn't necessarily keep up with the latest releases. The last ESPN-branded hockey game was ESPN NHL 2K5, released in August, 2004, nearly three years before the Weekly Standard article appeared. Still, it's always nice to see a politician who games, even a little. And always troubling to see one who legislates games. With Pawlenty, you apparently get both.

The Minnesota Guv, by the way, is rumored to be on John McCain's short list of VP candidates.

Host Jon Stewart has some fun with Pork Invaders, the Facebook game app released by the McCain campaign last week.

Stewart's comments on the McCain game come at about 4:25 into the video segment.

Steve Napierski of DuelingAnalogs has created a fun graphic which mashes up the presidential election and Mortal Kombat.

Catch the full strip along with the artist's comments at the DuelingAnalogs site.

GP: Big thanks to GamePolitics correspondent Andrew Eisen for the tip...

CNN's Political Ticker is reporting that the McCain campaign has launched a new game app on Facebook.

The game is called Pork Invaders. In order to succeed, players must avoid being hit by projectiles (pork-jectiles?) launched by flying pigs. From the CNN piece:

How do you kill the flying pigs? By shooting off vetoes. With each pig killed by a veto, users rack up millions of tax dollars as their score, and progress to the next level — but only after the game lays out campaign talking points like comparing the respective records of Sen. McCain and his rival, Sen. Barack Obama, on earmarks...

  

McCain currently has approximately 150,000 supporters on Facebook while Obama now has roughly 1,020,000 supporters on the site.

If the background music for a recent McCain campaign commercial (see video) seems familiar, there may be a good reason. 

The piece featured is, in fact, from EA's Medal of Honor: European Assault – undoubtedly the first time music from a videogame has been used in such a manner.

As it happens, though, this has caused the game's composer no little chagrin.  Christopher Lennertz, an ardent supporter of Barack Obama received many calls and letters regarding the campaign ad.

So how did Lennertz's music find its way into McCain's commercial? The composer told GamePolitics:

It turns out that there was a mix-up as to which company controlled the rights to the music. The McCain campaign did nothing illegal. I do think however, that they should have checked to see if the creators of content that they are using to promote their views are in fact in sync with them…

Lennertz also released a statement on the McCain ad:

I have been receiving many emails and calls for the past week regarding the use of my music in a national television ad for John McCain's presidential campaign. The ad is called "Safe" and prominently features a track entitled "Casualties of War" that I wrote for Medal of Honor: European Assault. While I do not control the ownership of this piece, I am extremely disappointed its placement in this commercial. I did not authorize the use and was not made aware of the situation. Regardless of party affiliation of support, I would like to think that someone who believes in the American ideals of business and creativity like Sen. McCain supposedly does, would not want to disgrace or inflict any hardship or ill-will on the artists who create in this country by using their works to promote products and agendas which with they disagree.

 

As an American, I have the utmost respect and admiration for our troops and all of their sacrifices. In fact, much of the inspiration for my music in this piece came from having a grandfather who served this country honorably as an officer in World War II. I respect John McCain for his service to this country, both in the military and in Washington, but I do not and have never supported his candidacy nor his agenda for this country. I am dismayed that my music has been used to promote his platform and even more disappointed that a candidate who claims to be the best voice for American entrepreneurs and business owners in this troubled economy so flagrantly ignored the most basic values and tenents of copyright and intellectual property. What, I ask, does such an action or oversight say about Mr. McCain's regard for the intrinsic value of American products, services, or creations? Where does the line get drawn? Is it reasonable to use my music to sell tobacco, alcohol, or pornographic materials? Is it reasonable to use it to promote a religion in which I do not believe? Is it legal?...yes, perhaps, is it ethical?...I don’t believe so. Is it American?...definitely not by my standards.

 

 

As an artist, business owner, and patriot, I proudly support Senator Barack Obama for the Presidency of the United States of America...

GP: This special report provided to GamePolitics by: Alex Van Zelfden

Repeating a recurring campaign theme, Barack Obama urged dads to exercise parental responsibility, in part by monitoring their children's video game and television time.

As reported by Politico, Obama made the remarks during a Father's Day speech at the Apostolic Church of God, a black congregation in Chicago:

The first [thing] is setting an example of excellence for our children – because if we want to set high expectations for them, we’ve got to set high expectations for ourselves. It’s great if you have a job; it’s even better if you have a college degree. It’s a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children, but don’t just sit in the house and watch “SportsCenter” all weekend long.

 

That’s why so many children are growing up in front of the television. As fathers and parents, we’ve got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework, and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in awhile. That’s how we build that foundation.

Congrats to Lori Ingham and her ConChrist blog for scoring Republican presidential candidate John McCain's reaction to the video game violence issue.

Ingham caught up to McCain during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire yesterday. From her blog:

I did get to ask him two questions from the audience. Once I FINALLY got the microphone, I introduced myself, where I lived, and as a segue way into the questions mentioned that I used to be a reporter but now ran this blog. These are somewhat paraphrased from the actual questions I asked him.

Question #1: With the current controversy over video game and media violence, what is your stance on allowing parents to make the decisions for their children on what they can see and watch? (This question was rolling around in my head primarily because of the recent posts that I had on Jack Thompson)

McCain's Answer: He felt that parents should be the ones to decide for their kids on a case by case basis (which I was satisfied with). He then did a weird segueway into the evils of child pornography from there, which kind of had me shaking my head.
 

GP: We're proud to say that Lori Ingham is also a GamePolitics reader. It's great to see a blogger going the extra mile for original content.