Obama: He’s an image of hope to many. Hope that our country that can get back on the track and continue to excel as the best nation in the world. Yet, being the technologist I am, I see something extremely odd concerning his stances on the whole DTV.

The United States transition from analog/digital TV broadcasts to strictly digital TV broadcasts was originally set in 2006, and then was delayed three years to February 17, 2009, only 13 days away from this writing. Now the House has passed a bill to delay the shut-off date to June 12 and it’s only a matter of time until it goes into effect because Obama has said that he will sign it.

Seriously? Why the hell is he signing a bill that keeps the US in the stone age?

Obama started off, and still is, a highly tech-enthused president. He used Twitter, uStream, came up with an extremely well designed website, and still has a BlackBerry even during his presidency. So if he is so caught up with tech and the direction it’s going in, why is he signing a bill that is keeping the US lower in the technology rankings?

I suppose he doesn’t realize that the spectrum that would be freed up by shutting off analog signals would be put towards new technology innovations since Verizon Wireless was the highest bidder for the main spectrum block. Verizon has said they’ll use the spectrum for their new “4G” network using LTE (Long Term Evolution) to bring mobile network speeds that surpass any common landline internet connection in the US (which is another story in itself). Not to mention that the 700MHz spectrum will be used for first-responders during emergencies.

So my question is, Mr. President, what is your thinking behind this madness? Do you really think 6.5 million citizens are going to be suddenly prepared by June 12th? If not, then will you delay it again until everybody is prepared? Sir, that day won’t come. I even doubt that number will reach less than 6 million people who aren’t ready.

I hope that many stations go ahead and flip the switch on February 17th and show you that they don’t care if everybody isn’t ready. This has been promoted for over two years. Now is the time.

The future is calling and we need to answer it.

As I’m laying around the house today, I’m in and out of comprehension because being sick is making me tired. But of course, I fight it so I can stay up to date with the world around me. I flip it on MSNBC (it’s habit, folks) and after all the commentary about how the world is going to end because of the economy, we get into politics. Namely, the McCain’s latest strategy. I think it’s all about one word: “ATTACK!!!”

Now, I know that in the last 30 days, it’s all about the dirty tactics and getting those undecided folks to decide on their candidates, but it’s getting disturbing out there. See said videos:

Another one would be where somebody shouted “treason!” at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida. See the Huffington Post’s page (thanks for not making it able to embed. Jerks.)

Not to say that the Obama camp won’t be nasty, but they haven’t started yet. They’re still concerned with the economy\ as we should be because that topic is right here, right now. Not some connections with a terrorist forty years ago. Yes, it’s concerning, but for the love of God, people, we need to fix the present before we can start looking to the future!

Now then, to the real concern that I have. All this constant bashing back and forth on the news, in rallies, and even on Twitter is getting old and to be honest, scary as hell. I swear it’s like Dave Winer thinks the world will end up either nuked or on a collision course with the sun if McCain wins the election. And then GeekBrief.TV’s own Neal Campbell scares the hell out of me. Thankfully, he actually talks tech between politics unlike Dave which has been one tech tweet to 30,000 political tweets.

The constant bitterness and arguments can easily translate from the online world to the physical world, which would equate to riots and fights. Am I saying we’ll see a civil war? I think we have a good chance of discovering a real Cylon before that happens. Am I saying there will be the occasional fight on November 4th? My money is on it.

Combine the political terror that’s going on along with the roller coaster that is the economy and it’s truly a time to pray that this will be over with soon. The nation’s stress levels are as high as they’ve ever been and I don’t think they can take much more.

Now then, if you’ve read this whole thing, congrats. I’m going to take some more meds.