Sooner Blue

"GOP Looks to Louisiana's Governor"

 

The great non-white hope of the GOP?

 

Here's a Washington Post article suggesting that Bobby Jindal is the Republican's answer to Obama. Wrong. If Jindal's strength is his appeal to the evangelical right - no abortion ever never ever, no stem cell research ever never ever, a willful rejection of reality to embrace creationism, etc. -  then the GOP still hasn't learned its lesson. If they want to win in the future, they need a candidate who will show these religious nuts the door.

 

But hey, we should encourage the GOP to pander all it wants...let them dig in and bury themselves with their so-called "values" politics. Let them piss off the economic conservatives and the intellectual conservatives.

 

2012 will be a very good year for Democrats if they do.

 

"CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Last weekend, 18 days after Barack Obama decisively defeated their candidate for president, a mostly Republican crowd of self-described conservatives received their first introduction to someone many prominent members of the GOP think could be the party's own version of Obama.

 

Like the president-elect, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is young (37), accomplished (a Rhodes scholar) and, as the son of Indian immigrants, someone familiar with breaking racial and cultural barriers. He came to Iowa to deliver a pair of speeches, and his mere presence ignited talk that the 2012 presidential campaign has begun here, if coyly. [..]"

 

 

Yes folks, Jindal is already in Iowa testing the political waters. He *says* he's there to explain Louisiana's methods for coping with floods....<wink wink>

 

Ah well...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

I find it both amusing and ironic that less than one month ago, Obama was a demon. Today he's a fine example that the Republicans want to emulate. Did Republicans need this election's ass-whuppin' to wake up?

 

Wouldn't a Jindal vs Obama battle be awesome?

 

Would the two party system survive racism?

 

Would the people who couldn't stomach the choice start up the Brand New White People Party?

 

Would having to pick between two brown people cause our first national spontaneous combustion?

 

The R's still don't get it...that it wasn't about Obama's race, it was about his spirit and his vision. What vision does Jindal have?

 

Perhaps Republicans think Jindal will capture Liberal and Independent votes. Yeah, just like they thought they'd capture Hillary Clinton's women voters with Sarah Palin.

 

Jindal/Palin '12!

 

Please, please, please...

Christmas Spirit? What the hell?

 

From the New York Times: "The throng of Wal-Mart shoppers had been building all night, filling sidewalks and stretching across a vast parking lot at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County police had to be called in for crowd control, and an officer with a bullhorn pleaded for order.[..]"

 

 

A temporary Wal-Mart worker was opening the doors at a Wal-Mart and was trampled to death by a horde of "out-of-control" shoppers when they broke down the doors at a 5 am sale...so desperate for bargains that getting first dibs on that new $400 big screen TV was more important than safety or civility.

 

People have lost their minds. A person died, and died horribly, because so many people needed some new toy at a discount more than they needed to stop and think about the well-being of a fellow human.

 

Even when other shoppers were on the ground, including a pregnant woman, even when police were trying to help this injured, bleeding man who was lying on the ground and not moving, the shoppers kept on coming.

 

When the store announced it would be closing because of the death, some people complained they'd been in line for hours and kept shopping.

 

Surely Wal-Mart knew that their first-come, first-served early morning discounts create crowd-control problems. Why didn't they have enough security in place? Where were the barricades to hold back the crowd?

 

Now someone is dead because of it. I'll bet this guy's family is looking for a good lawyer.

 

I have never been one to venture out on Black Friday, I'm not that crazy about shopping...but what are you supposed to say to something like this?

 

"Enjoy your George Foreman grill, Uncle Steve! Mr. Damour died for it."

 

Hey, it's not safe at Toys "R" Us either:

 

"PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) -- The shooting occurred in a crowded toy store on the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but authorities say it wasn't related to the bargain-hunting frenzy. Instead, two men pulled guns and killed each other after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said.

 

Authorities released few details about the mayhem that broke out at the Toys "R" Us store around 11:30 a.m. Friday, sending scared shoppers fleeing. Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said the fight was not over a toy..... [..]"

 

 

No wonder other countries think we're crazy -- you gotcher terrorist gunmen in India and your terrorist shoppers in America.

 

I noticed that Barack Obama has been giving more press conferences (three in three days) emphasizing a new economic message/development every day...which seems to give the stock market a little hope.

 

So it figures that he would try to keep hope alive in the rest of us with a Thanksgiving message.

 

"Nearly 150 years ago, in one of the darkest years of our nation's history, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving. America was split by Civil War. But Lincoln said in his first Thanksgiving decree that difficult times made it even more appropriate for our blessings to be -- and I quote -- 'gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.'

 

"This week, the American people came together with families and friends to carry on this distinctly American tradition. We gave thanks for loved ones and for our lasting pride in our communities and our country. We took comfort in good memories while looking forward to the promise of change.[..]"

 

 

I appreciate Obama's modern day fireside chats. He does this so well...gives us hope but with the warning that it's going to require some sacrifice (what, no shopping?).

 

He knows the right thing to say to not only capture the moment, but provide hope and inspiration for what's to come.

 

The great American Experiment is set to move on with new leadership...a significant change is about to occur in our politics and culture. It's rare that exactly the right person ends up in the right place at the right time.

 

Has anyone in our history ever been in Obama's position? Think about it -- he finds himself having to calm and reassure the nation before he even takes office. He is actually fulfilling at least some of the duties of the presidency...and there must be several areas in which he'd rather not be tipping his hand right now. It's one hell of a tightrope to walk. And so far, it's pretty impressive.

 

I haven't felt this much hope in years...and we're in the middle of one of the dangdest messes this country has ever seen.

 

I'm not the only American who gave thanks for President-elect Barack Obama yesterday.

 

One Half of ‘Hannity & Colmes’ Is Leaving

 

“Hannity & Colmes” will soon be without “Colmes.”

 

What will Hannity and Colmes be like without Colmes?

 

I'd say the same way it is right now.

 

"Alan Colmes, the longtime liberal half of the Fox News Channel prime time program, will leave the show at the end of the year, the network announced Monday.[..]"

 

 

If there's ever been anyone more muzzled, trampled on, shouted over and side-lined than Colmes, I'd like to know who. Maybe he finally got tired of hearing Hannity lie about Obama day after day.

 

Hannity just got a new $100 million dollar contract from Fox…

 

Makes you wonder what Alan, the fall guy, was being paid.

 

Who will be a new Hannity “liberal” playmate? No self-respecting liberal would go anywhere near that show.

 

And why bother? Colmes was never much of an opponent for Hannity anyway. Since when did Fox News really care about balance?

 

Hey, how about Palin as a sidekick, Hannity? She’s more charismatic than you, better liked, better looking...but just as dumb.

 

 

George Bush has actually been stingy with his pardons -- Bill Clinton did more in his eight years -- but maybe George is just getting warmed up...saving the best for last. Like commuting the sentence of one his cronies who took the blame for outing a CIA agent. No biggie though, right?

 

"WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others, including a rapper, convicted of misdeeds ranging from drug offenses to tax evasion, from wildlife violations to bank embezzlement, The Associated Press learned Monday. [..]"

 

 

Washington Post writes about the latest Beltway guessing game -- who will George Bush pardon next? You can keep track of your score.

 

 

Consider names like: Michael Milkin, Duke Cunningham, Conrad Black, and, surprise surprise, Scooter Libby. Except for several of these folks, there's this little catch:

 

In order for people to be eligible for pardons, Justice Department regulations say that they have to be convicted, served their sentence and waited five years since their prison release.

 

Of course, you have to actually give a crap about the law in order for that to be important. Don't forget, we're talking Bush/Cheney here...

 

And, what do you bet, not one of them gets one-one-hundredth of the attention of the Mark Rich pardon?

 

Ah well, all presidents do this when leaving office. Only question in my mind is if the righty tighty evangelicals will holler as loud from the rooftops about Bush doing it as they did when Clinton did it...

 

The Justice Department has issued a press release with the names and particulars. Here's the list from December 2002 until March 2008:

 

 

You gotcher drug offenders, embezzlers, income tax evaders, and violators of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

 

No, I'm not going to be snarky about how Bush came to know all those drug dealers...

 

But I can't resist this one -- "Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla., convicted of bank embezzlement."

 

Her daughters Ima and Ura are grateful.

 

Sorry...

 

 

First of all, I have never forgiven Joe Lieberman for standing up in the US Senate to make a speech telling the world that he thought what President Bill Clinton had done was naughty...very very naughty. And icky.

 

No one in the Democratic Party was happy he did this.

 

But the Republicans sure were happy. All by himself Joe Lieberman had painted a coat of bipartisan respectability on their impeachment coup.

 

And dang, did he ever make the press happy. It encouraged them to treat a silly affair between a middle-aged man and a star-struck young woman as a matter of national importance.

 

The media had a ball writing about oral sex, masturbation, thongs, and dances with cigars as if they were missiles in Cuba or burglars in Democratic Party Headquarters. They could sniff and sneer and fret and fume as if a President's adultery was the most appalling and nation-threatening act ever committed.

 

It's funny, after eight years of Bush and Cheney, the media still get more worked up over Bill and Monica than they do over the War in Iraq.

 

No, nothing good for the country came from Lieberman's speech that day. Nothing good could have come of it. But that wasn't the point.

 

The point was to let all the world know what a moral and principled and decent man Joe Lieberman was.

 

Okay, now we skip a multitude of Lieberman betrayals and come to Election 2008. Joe Lieberman should be booted from the Democratic Caucus, not just stripped of his chairmanship, for his support of John McCain.

 

The right thing to do would have been to quit the Democratic caucus, change his registration to Republican, and then go out and campaign for McCain. But no, he gave a speech at the Republican Convention and denounced his supposed Party...then he went out on the stump and vigorously campaigned against Obama, implying that he is a Marxist.

 

And now it seems that President-elect Obama would let bygones be bygones.

 

Okay, I'm sure a requirement of political survival is the ability to get past offensive things said during a campaign...and maybe Obama's rescue was more about building a bridge to McCain. Maybe Obama wants to make nice so he can call in chits when he needs them.

 

As much as I'd enjoy watching Lieberman beg for crumbs off the Republican table, I'd rather win on health care.

 

Before Senate Democrats decided not to punish Lieberman for his betrayals, a couple of senators thought that he should have to "apologize" for his behavior during the campaign.

 

But words like "sorry" and "apology" have not been heard from Joe Lieberman. He was on "Meet the Press" yesterday and Tom Brokaw brought up the word "regret"...Lieberman continued to be evasive. He said he felt regret about remarks made in the "heat of the campaign." Brokaw said, "I hear the word regret, but not the word apologize." Then Joe said that he's "going forward. You can take from the word "regret" what you will. I wish I had not said some of the things I've said. But again, we all do it."

 

Brokaw also asked him which campaign remarks he regretted most...Lieberman said, "I don't want to go into the details."

 

Here is some of that interview in case you missed it:

 

 

I found his "regrets, I've had a few" routine irritating...especially when he skated by Brokaw's questions with, "That's in the past. We have to look forward. God gave us eyes in the front of our heads to look forward"...blah, blah, blah. It makes him look even more idiotic...nobody believes that a few months ago constitutes "the past."

 

Go forward where? People who do the things Joe Lieberman has done do not have the right to go forward with the Democratic Party. They belong out on their ass.

 

But Obama is cutting Lieberman a break...or maybe we're seeing a sign of Michael Corleone in Obama. Keeping his friends close and his enemies closer. Throwing Joe a bone now he can put the squeeze on him later.

 

One can only hope.

 

"Obama economic plan aims for 2.5M new jobs by 2011"

 

Take a gander wingnuts -- witness true leadership in action.

 

Barack Obama's weekly radio/YouTube address was focused on the economy and for those who are anxious to hear about his plans to help stimulate the economy, the message sounded pretty good.

 

How nice to finally have a president with a vision. In these hard times people need to know that their president is in charge and that he's going to do everything he can to turn this train-wreck around.

 

Gah, I'm just happy that we have a president who wants to reach out to the public...but then I do understand why keeping Bush away from microphones was a good thing.

 

"WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama promoted an economic plan Saturday he said would create 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding roads and bridges and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

 

"These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address.[..]"

 

 

He talked about the 1.2 million jobs that have already been lost this year, and insisted that we now have to act "swiftly and boldly." He said the "American Dream" has endured because, in "our darkest hours," we have "acted boldly, bravely, and above all, together."

 

It'd be awfully nice if the nation didn't have to wait until late January for Obama's stimulus package, but I suppose we don't have a choice.

 

Here is Obama's 4 minute address if you missed it:

 

 

How refreshing to have a President who will speak truthfully to us and not sugar coat...who spells out how bad it is (with facts and statistics) and how it will likely get worse before getting better. Quite a contrast to the last few months of Bush lying that "the economy is sound"...and Bernanke and Paulson saying "the mortgage crisis is contained."

 

What gets me is that Bush was allowed to piss away $600 billion in Iraq (and we are not done yet), but there will be a great howl from the wingnuts about fiscal responsibility if Obama proposes to spend even a fraction of that on stimulating the economy.

 

This is much better than those stupid moose jokes.

 

Gov. Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a turkey for Thanksgiving. But what came next was absolutely surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while turkeys were being slaughtered in the background.

 

What a horrifying cacophony of noise and screeching...and I don't mean the turkey massacre.

 

 

I swear, she’s a parody of herself. But no, she’s gone beyond parody...here she is at this event to pardon a turkey while the guy in the background keeps shoving turkeys head-first into these decapitation devices...just cramming 'em in, while watching Palin's interview.

 

The best unintentional irony in the video is when the reporter asks about budget items “on the chopping block”...that’s where I lost it.

 

Can you say clueless? Her political instincts are so terrible. Didn't she have a staffer with her to say, "Uh, Governor, you might want to take a few steps to your left"? I'll bet the media crew had a hard time keeping a straight face while filming this.

 

She may be able to see Russia from Alaska but, I can see the end of her political career from Oklahoma.

 

Heck of a job W.

 

Looks like Bush will stick it to America until his last minute in office. As the media focuses on President-elect Obama and the transition of power, the Bushies are quietly trying to push through a wide array of last-minute policy changes...a “midnight regulation” express, if you will.

 

Someone called them regulations, but it's more like deregulations.

 

Biggest loser -- us, via the environment and our health.

 

Take a gander, and these are just a few:
EPA Won’t Regulate a Contaminant in Drinking Water

 

EPA Lowers Air Quality Standards for Lead

 

EPA Lets Factory Farms Decide If They Need A Permit to Discharge Animal Waste into Waterways

 

Labor Rule Limits Employee Access to Medical and Family Leave Time

 

DOT Finalizes Rule Extending Hours on the Road for Truck Drivers

 

Rules on Dumping of Mine Debris Eased

 

EPA Narrows the Definition of Solid Waste

 

 

Hands up, all of you who believe Bush is doing more work in these last two months than in the previous eight years!

 

ProPublica will keep updating this disgraceful list. Below, Politico outlines the serious hurdles to rolling back Bush’s new rules.

 

"Whether it’s relaxing pollution control standards for power plants or allowing loaded weapons into national parks, the Bush Administration is scrambling to approve or change as many federal rules as it can before it hands off power to President-elect Barack Obama.

 

This surge of “midnight regulations” presents a thorny question for the next administration: What can it do to void rules it thinks should be undone?

 

An Obama spokesman told ProPublica that the transition team can’t comment on the new administration’s strategy yet. However, John Podesta, a leading member of the transition team, has said Obama will use his “executive authority without waiting for congressional action” to reverse many of Bush’s policies.

 

But that authority has its limits.[..]"

 

 

If anyone thought Bill Clinton’s eleventh-hour shenanigans were bad, well, I beg to differ, those were little league.

 

Why are we not surprised at this little "gift" as Bush skips out the White House door? He and his pirate buddies have looted the Treasury, bankrupted the nation, pissed on the Constitution and broken the back of the military -- Mission Accomplished.

 

Such a long, long time till Inauguration Day.

 

 

From politico.com: "Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions.

 

Napolitano brings law-and-order experience from her stint as the Grand Canyon State’s first female attorney general.[..]"

 

 

Hmm...I've heard her described as competent, tough but fair...and she certainly has experience with the illegal immigration issue. I could be wrong, but I think she joked about 13 foot ladders for 12 foot walls...or maybe that was Richardson. Whatever, she has to be an improvement over Michael Chertoff.

 

Okay so far we have (maybe):
State: Hillary Clinton
Treasury:
Defense: Robert Gates (likely to stay on)
Attorney General: Eric Holder
Interior:
Agriculture:
Commerce: Penny Pritzker
Labor:
Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle
Housing and Urban Development:
Transportation:
Energy:
Education:
Veterans Affairs:
Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano

 

Just musing about the rest:

Defense (when Gates departs): Chuck Hagel
Treasury:  Jon Corzine

Interior: Bill Richardson

Agriculture: Tom Vilsack

Labor: ?

HUD: Manuel Diaz

Transportation: ?

Energy: Al Gore (very unlikely)

Education: Linda Darling-Hammond

Veterans Affairs: Max Cleland

 

Righties have their knickers in a twist about Obama picking insiders and Clinton-ites and what not, but did people really expect him to NOT pick qualified individuals? I'd rather he pick people who know how to get things done, then actually do that. That's the change that matters, and that's what his picks so far all have in common -- they know how to get things done.

 

 

Goodbye crotchety ol' Ted Stevens! What a crook! But you were good for laughs sometimes -- like the time on the senate floor when you told us how the Internet works, that it's "not a truck, it's a series of tubes." We started calling it the Intertubes after that.

 

And Stevens was a member of the Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation!

 

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn't survive a conviction on federal corruption charges. His defeat by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority.[..]"

 

 

So, it looks like the Senate will remain free of convicted felons...for the time being. Now all we have to do is get Freezer-Cash-Jefferson out of the House.

 

Even in a city of corrupt politicians, Stevens was a disgrace. Its shameful to think that Alaska almost reelected a senator who was found guilty of corruption by a jury of his peers.

 

Hmm...God is trying to tell Sarah Palin something...

 

At least we don't have to worry anymore that Gov. Palin will appoint herself to Stevens' senate seat. Looks like God just closed that cracked-open door.

 

Remember Gov. Palin? She recently flew into town to a swirling publicity blitz, pissed off all the governors by hogging the spotlight at their convention...then, what, flew back to the frozen reality of ethics complaints in Alaska?

 

Anyway, ol' Ted is gone and Alaska has partially redeemed itself...extra rides on the “snow machine” for everybody!!

 

 

Michelle and Barack Obama were great on "60 Minutes" the other night...the ratings went through the roof.

From The Associated Press: "NEW YORK — The campaign is over, but Barack Obama is still a TV hit.

CBS' "60 Minutes" had its highest overnight ratings in nearly a decade with Sunday's episode featuring Steve Kroft interviewing the president-elect and future first lady. Nielsen Media Research's preliminary estimate the show was seen by 24.5 million people on Sunday.

That's more than any other episode of a prime-time show seen this season, and the biggest audience for "60 Minutes" since January 1999.[..]"

http://tinyurl.com/6lchro

If you didn't catch 60-Minutes, here's a segment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ZPR3Ognd0

I had to keep pinching myself as I watched Michelle and Barack Obama, it's like a dream come true that these two extraordinary individuals will be living in the White House in just a few weeks.

Gone will be the greedy, jingoistic, arrogant bungling of the past eight years, replaced by obvious intelligence, grace and, above all, normality.

It will take some getting used to though...having a president who answers direct questions with substance, depth and nuance. It's a sign that this president is not only a mature adult, but that he assumes we are as well. Gone are the sound-bytes strung together masquerading as answers. This guy knows what he's talking about and wants us to understand as well.

Then there's Michelle, our future First Lady. No Stepford wife there. She's smart and accomplished in her own right. She's also the kind of mom that every kid deserves. Just let the superficial rightie "family values" crowd mess with her or her family -- please -- because I want to watch that show.

Yes, a new face for the White House, for the world. I kept thinking back to the campaign, remembering how supporters of Sarah Palin crowed loudly that "she's just like us." Well, she may have been just like them, but the majority of voters showed that she's not like the rest of us. It turned out on election day that the "us" she is just like are a minority of Americans...proof that the rest of us are NOT like Sarah Palin. Not even close.

I'm so, so tired of America's lowest-common denominators running our government, having control over things that affect our quality of life. You know, like the economy, the military and the environment...all of which they trashed in 8 short years. Because they, too, were just like Sarah Palin -- the political version of idiot-savants -- savants when it comes to theocratic rabble-rousing, idiots when it comes to running the government.

Yes, I'm very happy and optimistic about America's future -- but not naive. Barack Obama isn't the second coming. He'll have his troubles, as every president does...and we all won't like every decision he makes.

But how wonderful to finally have a leader who doesn't scare us or embarrass us every time he opens his mouth.

 

This is pretty cool. In many ways nearly as big as the first black President.

 

"Dunwoody becomes first female four-star general"

 

She used to be stationed here at Fort Sill...we couldn't be prouder.

 

"WASHINGTON – Call it breaking the brass ceiling. Ann E. Dunwoody, after 33 years in the Army, ascended Friday to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general. At an emotional promotion ceremony, Dunwoody looked back on her years in uniform and said it was a credit to the Army — and a great surprise to her — that she would make history in a male-dominated military.[..]"

 

 

They say that behind every woman who becomes successful in a man’s world is an astonished man.

 

Now, on to the Joint Chiefs!

 

Women are still not allowed in combat. I don't know why we can't shake the delicate flower image...that we'll fall over in a faint if we see blood. But think of what female nurses and doctors see on the battlefield.

 

I think there is something in the female psyche, the sense of protecting your own -- think mama lion and her cubs -- that more than answers any question one could ever have about the ability of a woman to defend this nation. Men just don't want women to be able to kill.

 

But, get this -- there are women serving in Iraq right now who have been put into ground combat teams as "support personnel" so that the teams have a member who can search Iraqi women. They're drawn from other units such as mechanics, logistics, and so on...and they're really not trained for this kind of work.

 

Yet, these women are still in ground combat, no matter if you label them "support." Nobody wants to talk about them because the law still says women are barred from ground combat units.

 

If the Army were to follow the law, they'd have to withdraw almost all of the women...which would cripple the military's ability to perform its mission there.

 

Can't get it out of my head -- I love the beat of "Mercy" by  60’s-sounding Welsh blues singer, Aimee Anne Duffy, known professionally as Duffy. The hit single - # 1 in the UK - is on her album "Rockferry."

 

 

 

Deborah Solomon from the New York Times talked to Karl Rove about Barack Obama's victory, and it sure sounds like "Turd Blossom" (the president's affectionate nickname for him) is a little jealous.

 

"DS: Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics?

 

KR: Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.

 

DS: But what about your great dream of creating a permanent Republican governing majority in Washington?

 

KR: I never said permanent. Durable."

 

 

Hey Karl, you got your math wrong, but I guess it's a little tough to downplay this -- Obama managed to get 365 electoral votes, 79 more than Bush got in 2004. Obama also got 52.6 percent of the popular vote -- the highest of any candidate of either party in 20 years, and the highest for a non-incumbent in 56 years.

 

I'm waiting to hear what Rove has to say about the GOP's loss of educated suburban voters, whose rejection of Palin's "real America" hard-righties gave Obama his winning edge in formerly red states -- Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Ohio and Indiana.

 

A lot has been said about minority and youth voters...but what really turned this election was the revolt of the smarts against the stupids.

 

As for Rove's vision for the Republican governing majority...thank goodness it was neither "permanent" nor "durable." Republicans controlled everything, carried out their policy agenda, failed miserably, and got crushed in subsequent elections -- one of which Rove promised GOP gains.

 

Conventional wisdom has Rove's politics of fear, his robo calls that stirred racial and xenophobic hate for political gain, as permanently damaging the GOP. The party may not survive.

 

Yet, we can't poo-poo his genius, after all he delivered the presidency to the least capable man in modern American history.

 

America was hijacked by Rove and the Bushies, but hopefully may soon be returned to the people. So many are counting on the Obama team to salvage the wreck they've inherited from those looting outlaws. Poor Barry, he's only human...but if it can be done, he's the guy who can do it.

 

How I wish that we could hold Rove, Cheney, and Bush accountable for war crimes, the manipulation of this country to falsely go to war in Iraq, contempt of Congress, warantless wire-tapping, illegal firing of US Attorneys to achieve a one-party rule, outing a CIA agent who was monitoring rogue states and nuclear proliferation...and on and on...

 

But right now I want Obama's government to concentrate on saving our country instead of wasting energy on a lot of investigations.

 

Oh, and notice how Karl sent out his resume:

 

""But if [Palin] wants to run for president she's gonna have to get somebody to move to Anchorage, Alaska and help her take her game to another level," he said smiling."

 

 

The word is floating around that President-elect Obama has offered the job of Secretary of State to Hillary Clinton. Well, when Hillary's Secret Service motorcade goes sailing through the streets of Chicago it's sort of hard to keep the word quiet.

 

Which makes me think the story is true. I just can't believe that Obama would invite Hillary to Chicago for a meeting -- that is sure to be public -- unless he was serious about the offer.

 

It's also hard for me to believe that Hillary would go to Chicago to have such a discussion unless she were seriously interested.

 

That's not to say that she's made her mind up...just that it must intrigue her.

 

It would be a hard choice for her -- whether to stay in the Senate to possibly help pass a good health care plan, a long time dream of hers...or whether to, in a sense, mold the world.

 

The Senate thing is a little iffy. She's not a senior Senator. She doesn't run a committee. She's not part of the leadership...a leadership that can sometimes take years. To have a chance to be Secretary of State and go change the world...now that's pretty exciting.

 

She has proven to be a team player...there shouldn't be any doubt that as Secretary of State she would advance Barack Obama's policies around the world, not her own.

 

I think she'd make a great Secretary of State. With the economy still tanking, Obama will be preoccupied next year with domestic affairs. He needs somebody who could hit the ground running as Secretary of State...who knows all the players around the world, players who are familiar with her. She could concentrate on rebuilding our image abroad...she and Bill are beloved around the world.

 

Yes, we would get two for the price of one. But surely Bill will return to being engaged in international affairs through his Clinton Global Initiative...fighting AIDS and helping tsunami victims, etc.

 

You really have to hand it to that Barack Obama. It is a strength of his that he wants to go for the best...that he's not worried about former rivals, or who is associated with prior administrations. He wants the best.

 

Obama is a student of history, and it's been widely reported that he studies Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, "Team of Rivals." A book about the political genius of Abraham Lincoln and how he selected his Presidential Cabinet...how he asked heavyweights, who were much more prominent than he was at the time, to come join his Cabinet. As it turned out, his secretary of State, who was a rival, became his closest ally.

 

People are saying that Obama, like Lincoln, is "keeping his friends close and his enemies closer." But you could also say that with Hillary as part of his Cabinet, he is establishing the Democratic Party as Barack Obama's party...eliminating any claim the Clintons may have to a "Clinton wing of the Democratic Party."

 

One smart cookie, that Barack Obama.

 

One less GOP criminal in Congress? Yeah, yeah, I remember Jefferson the-bribe-in-the-freezer Democrat...I don't want either of those crooks on the Hill.

 

As of last night in Alaska, Democrat Mark Begich had increased his lead over Ted Stevens by 814 votes. When the day started, before the counting of absentees and early votes began, Stevens was up by over 3,000 votes.

 

Begich has 132,196 votes (47.41%) to 131,382 votes (47.12%) for Stevens. And, the counting isn't over.

 

 

From the Anchorage Daily News:
"The state Division of Elections tallied about 60,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots on Wednesday. The ballots broke heavily in Begich's favor, erasing the 3,000-vote lead that Stevens had after election night last Tuesday.

 

The state still needs to count at least 15,000 questioned ballots and an estimated 20,000 mailed absentee ballots that made it to the Division of Elections after election day last Tuesday. [..]"

 

 

Aw...poor Sarah...her "door" is closing. Though, I have to admit it would almost be worth it, for the laugh factor...having Sarah give speeches in the Senate, ask questions at hearings...

 

So, as it stands there are 57 Democratic Senators (55 Dems + Sanders & Lieberman) in the next Senate right?

 

If Begich wins, it's 58.
If Franken wins, it's 59.
If Martin wins the run-off against Chambliss, that's 60?

 

The future keeps looking brighter and brighter.

 

Here's New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd on the latest Palin nonsense. The entire column is good but I have to share this little bit:

 

"Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, told The Associated Press over the weekend that his daughter was “frantically” trying to sort out the clothes she got as Eliza Knowlittle so she could send them back.

 

“You know,” Heath said, “the kids lose underwear, and everything has to be accounted for.”

 

As Michael Shear reported in The Washington Post, on top of the $150,000 first cited in F.E.C. filings, Palin spent “tens of thousands of dollars” on more clothes, makeup and jewelry for herself and her family, including $40,000 in luxury goods for the First Dude. The campaign was charged for silk boxers, spray tanners and 13 suitcases to carry the designer duds, Shear reported, adding that one source said, “She was still receiving shipments of custom-designed underpinnings up to her ‘Saturday Night Live’ performance” in October. Silk boxers and custom-designed underpinnings? Sounds like Sarah and Todd were treating the vice presidential run as a second honeymoon.

 

Palin should follow her own reformer precedent and put the borrowed underpinnings on eBay. The windfall would undergird her new presidential bid."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/opinion/12dowd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
 

I can hardly wait for more Mavericky-ness.

 

Wow, you'd be hard pressed to find a more oblivious and self-centered politician than Gov. Sarah Palin right now. She still thinks the election was all about her. You can't turn on TV without seeing her cooking fish for Matt Lauer, or moose chili for Greta Van Susteren...and CNN has her scheduled for The Larry King Show and  Wolf Blitzer's “The Situation Room.”

 

No telling where else she'll turn up before grabbing the spotlight at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami on Thursday. Maybe Rachel Ray...but I'd bet not Oprah.

 

She's telling everyone that those leaks about whether she thought Africa was a country or a continent were all lies told by "jerks." But we learn that one of the leaks about her turned out to be true...she told Matt Lauer on the “Today” show that she arrived in Phoenix on election night ready to deliver her own concession speech. She said it was a really great speech.

 

She told Greta that most of her media criticism came from liberal bloggers who were in their parents’ basement "just talkin’ garbage."

 

Just for the record, I live in Oklahoma, don't have a basement and my parents are dead. Instead of just talkin' garbage, I actually think that most of us liberal bloggers were focused on Palin's breathtaking lack of qualifications to be the VP, and how that reflected on the judgment of John McCain.

 

Besides, all of the post-election trash talking about Palin came from the people within the McCain campaign. We bloggers only repeated it.

 

But she's certainly entitled to whatever rationalization she can come up with for why they lost...as she continues to make a right spectacle of herself with her shameless self-promotion.

 

So many important Republicans have publicly said that Palin was toxic for McCain's campaign. Is she so blinded by her own inflated ego that she can't see that? Does she really think she can turn them around now with her peppy folksy-ness?

 

The Republicans were mauled in this election mostly because this country didn't buy whatever it was she was selling...especially the hate politics.

 

BTW -- how long will we have to wait for Ms. Palin to acknowledge that the president-elect is not a terrorist, nor a socialist, nor treasonous, nor a Muslim? Too bad that what she views as "just politics" is seen by a staggering number of her followers as gospel truth.

 

I was concerned that the frenzied atmosphere at the Palin rallies would encourage some nut to do something violent toward Obama. There's a report in Newsweek about how the Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and very disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October.

 

Ah well...let's hope the Republicans try for an extreme make-over on Sarah Palin and DO try to run her. Her backward views will hand Democrats a victory in 2012...probably turning much of the lower 48 blue.

 

See, "real" America is not only small towns as far away from the coasts as possible, just as "real" Americans are not just those who did not finish high school, hunt elk, and talk in tongues in church every Sunday.

 

If Republicans are serious about becoming a large (and serious) party again, they will have to build a bigger tent...and this is not possible with Palin at the helm.

 

Want more? Here's a good article called: "Palin hopes God will 'show her the door' to the White House"

 

UPDATE: It seems that the guy who identified himself as an "adviser" to McCain, and the source of the story about Gov. Palin thinking Africa was a country instead of a continet, is a hoax.

 

Please don't be confused -- the guy is a hoax, not the story. Fox's story still stands, just the guy who said he was the one who started it is a fake.

 

From Yahoo news:

 

"NEW YORK – MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday.

 

[T]he hoax was limited to the identity of the source in the story about Palin — not the Fox News story itself. While Palin has denied that she mistook Africa for a country, the veracity of that report was not put in question by the revelation that Eisenstadt is a phony.[..]"

 

From Bill Maher's HBO show, "Real Time"...

 

[..] And finally, New Rule: Now that you've lost, Republicans have to agree not to waste everyone's time spending the next four years screaming for investigations of Barack Obama over made-up bullshit. Let's not kid ourselves. The hardcore Republican base is like a stalker; rejection just makes them crazier. You think Matt Drudge was a vindictive prick before? His headline Wednesday morning was, "Senior Citizen and Woman Beaten by Black Man." You see, because McCain is old and then there was the woman, and Obama is a black man. And wait till you see Ann Coulter's new book, How to Field Dress a Liberal.

 

You know, there's loyal opposition and then there's just opposition. Let's not do the '90s again, except for the part where we have peace and prosperity. You know, there was an entire industry back then dedicated to making Bill Clinton's life miserable over expensive haircuts and old land deals and the Lincoln Bedroom and getting blown. But this ain't the '90s. We've got two wars, a melting planet, and the only thing keeping the economy from total collapse is Sarah Palin shopping sprees.

 

I don't want to hear Sean Hannity say that, "Barack Obama announced that his daughters would be getting a puppy. A puppy from where? Probably a Chihuahua that came in from Mexico illegally. And how do we know this isn't a dog that pals around with terriers?"

 

You know, when Obama starts a pre-emptive war, and then f*cks it up, and makes torture our official policy and outs a CIA agent, and purges U.S, Attorneys, and tries to put his cleaning lady on the Supreme Court--and doesn't act on global warming, and appoints as the head of FEMA an ex-dildo salesman who was his college roommate--you know, that kind of stuff, believe me, I'll be with you. But, until then, I don't want to see Republicans freaking out if Obama isn't singing the National Anthem loud enough, or they find out he gets his suits made in France.

 

And, mostly, I don't want to hear about ACORN. Your guy lost by eight million votes. Just because you don't know any black people doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

So, that's it. No special prosecutors, no trumped up investigations. If Republicans really want to look into something for the next four years, my suggestion: try a mirror.

 

Today we honor all veterans who fought to protect the freedoms we often take for granted.

 

It's sad that Veterans Day doesn’t seem to rank very high on America's list of favorite holidays. People seem to pay more attention to other patriotic holidays like the 4th of July, our nation’s birthday party...well, it does have fireworks.

 

But we have to remember that without the brave fighting men and women of our armed forces there might not be a home of the brave.

 

Remember what this day is all about, a day to honor all American veterans of all wars, from the Revolutionary War to the present day Iraq and Afghanistan wars. So many have given the ultimate in sacrifice. I thought of them as I stood in line to vote last week.

 

Some of our wars haven't been as popular with our citizens as others, but the American soldier’s willingness to sacrifice his or her life for our country should never be questioned. Any man or woman who honorably wore a soldier’s uniform is a hero in my book.

 

We should also recognize and honor military families for the great sacrifices they have always made throughout the course of our history.

 

I am grateful to all the World War II veterans, the Vietnam veterans, the Korean War veterans, the Desert Storm veterans, and those today fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan...they have all served our country with such valor. I salute them every one.

 

Thank You for your service to our country! Semper Fi!

 

“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
~Douglas MacArthur

 

Visit these great American heroes at this new website set up to honor them all:

 

 

That's what some lefty wags are saying...made me smile.

 

Barack Obama and George W. Bush met at the White House without taking any questions from reporters, which was wise I think...but it left cable news with repeatedly showing the video of the Bushes greeting the Obamas as they got out of the car and stood for photo-ops; or they filled the time with body-language analysis about the way everyone greeted each other.

 

So, the Oval office visit was indeed historic and went well. An important sign that we are moving on. Amazing, when you think of the sheer power that is passing from one party to another in this country. The world's largest military, the world's largest economy (well, let me get back to you on that). The fact that it is allowed at all, that there are no military tanks in the streets, is a marvel.

 

What we're seeing is true democracy in action, with all its flaws, but we send a clear message to the rest of the world that what our Founding Fathers planned, what our US Constitution allows us to do, goes smoothly and well. Russia and China are probably shuddering and not allowing it to be seen on TV...

 

George and Laura (love her) Bush were gracious to the Obamas, even though this political campaign was rough. Hopefully, some of those feelings fell away when they met...the event should bestow some humility on all of them.

 

Interesting tidbit -- here's the skinny on the real first meeting of Barry and George:

 

"President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama are probably hoping their meeting Monday goes better than their first get-together, which left a bad taste in the mouths of both men.

 

Four years ago, Obama and other newly elected members of the Senate were invited to the White House for a breakfast meeting with Bush, who pulled the young Chicagoan aside.

 

"Obama!" Bush exclaimed, according to Obama's account of the meeting in his second memoir, "The Audacity of Hope." "Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours -- that's one impressive lady."

 

The two men shook hands and then, according to Obama, Bush turned to an aide, "who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand."

 

Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled: "Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt." [..]"

 

 

Spritzed his hands with a sanitizer after shaking hands with Obama? What's the deal with this? Did he think Obama had "cooties?"

 

I've never heard of Bush being a germophobe...this is so bizarre to me.

 

...all that frenzied demonizing of Hispanics, all that hate-mongering led by conservatives such as Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh -- which led to a rise in hate crimes against Hispanics -- was one of the biggest political mistakes made by a political party in the last 50 years of American politics.

 

Because the way the Republicans handled the immigration issue flat-out backfired on McCain. He got 47 percent of the vote, just think what he could've gotten if his failure with Hispanics didn't cost him 4 prominent states in this election.

 

Hate crimes targeting Hispanics have increased 40 percent in four years, according to FBI statistics:

 

 

And that's not counting all the many victims who don't report these crimes to police.

 

Around ten million Hispanics voted in this presidential election, a majority of them for Democrat Barack Obama.

 

Obama and the Democrats condemned all that divisive immigration rhetoric that choked cable news day and night for eons.

 

You know, McCain was once a voice of reason on immigration...so that's another belief he sold out on. Pundits say McCain's sizable defeat is because of the tanking economy...but I think his downfall started months ago, right before the convention, when the maverick in McCain sold out to the dark forces of win-at-all-costs.

 

Hispanics fought back with the power of their vote. They are more conservative than liberal and should have a "natural home" in the GOP. But look how they voted against gay marriage...and they are mostly Catholic and against abortion but still voted Democratic more than 66 percent in a CNN national poll.

 

From San Antonio News: "[F]our years after Colorado delivered for Republican President George W. Bush, a CNN exit poll showed 73 percent of Hispanics in the state supported Obama over Republican Sen. John McCain. The margin was even higher in Nevada, where 76 percent of Hispanics said they voted for the Democrat.

 

In New Mexico, the influence of the Hispanic electorate was crucial, Richardson said. Hispanics delivered 41 percent of all the ballots cast in New Mexico and, according to the exit polling, nearly 70 percent of them backed Obama.

 

....Florida, another state that supported Bush in 2004, also swung to Obama as a majority of Hispanics (57 percent) supported a Democratic presidential ticket for the first time.[..]"

 

 

Maybe some of those Hispanic-Americans had seen their brown children chased down the street by skinheads hollering "Go back to Mexico!" This happened to a 12 y/o Comanche Indian boy while he walked his dog. You can't get more American than a Comanche Indian.

 

Many Hispanics in this country have ancestors who lived here before there even was a USA.

 

So, with all that hate-mongering it's no surprise that Hispanic voters, that were once counted in the GOP camp, have fled the party.

 

Now we Democrats have to figure out a way to keep them with us.

 

...have you been taking Gaffe lessons from Biden?

 

President-elect Barack Obama committed a faux pas at his first press conference.

 

A reporter asked him if he'd spoken to all the "living" presidents.

 

"I have spoken to all of them who are living," he responded. "I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances."

 

Ouchie...I cringed when he said that and have the feeling he knew instantly it was a mistake. I have to think that his response was based on the odd way the question was phrased -- "living ex-presidents."

 

But...it was a clumsy remark...just perfect for those who are looking to leap at any opportunity to express outrage. And believe me, they are leaping...and gloating. Ah well...if this is all they've got...

 

Besides, the Reagans are not so sacred that they can't be included in a sense of humor. Folks need to lighten up...get a life.

 

Barack obviously was confusing stories about Nancy's consulting with an astrologer with Mary Todd Lincoln's trying to make contact with figures from the past.

 

I lived in CA when Ronald Regan was sworn in as governor at a few minutes past midnight because Nancy's astrologer had deemed that the most fortuitous time.

 

Anyway, Obama called Nancy Reagan and apologized...they were said to have had a warm conversation. Nancy will like our new president because he is open to stem cell research, a pet cause of hers.

 

Other than that Nancy gaffe, it was a good press conference. He'll learn from this silly attempt at being glib.

 

I especially liked his remark about the kind of dog he would get for his two daughters in the White House -- “Obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me.”

 

That comment probably gave his enemies fresh ammunition -- "President Mutt." On the other hand it could help other people ease up on their racial hypersensitivity. And I ask -- who among us is not a mutt? We are truly a melting pot mutt nation.

 

Yet, hopefully, in the future Prez-O will just stick to poking fun at himself.

 

People of both political parties are already up in the air about President-elect Obama's staff choices.

 

Congressman Rahm Emanuel accepted the position of White House Chief of Staff.

 

Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod accepted the position of Senior Adviser in the White House.

 

Judging by the Republican whinefest about Emanuel makes me think they fear the guy.

 

So what if President-elect Obama picked a chief of staff with a reputation for knowing the ins and outs of passing legislation and for being hard-nosed about it?

 

So what if Obama picked Axelrod to come with him to the White House? Axelrod ran Obama’s phenomenal campaign, and he’s known as a sort of anti-Rove Rove...a guy who can get things done, but doesn’t get dirty doing it.

 

There's probably even more controversial choices coming...Republican Chuck Hagel for example. Colin Powell? People should just chill and accept the fact that Barack's vision transcends the archaic liberal-conservative divide.

 

Obama has shown himself to be an astute student of political history. I read that he studies the mistakes of other presidents and will carefully avoid remaking them.

 

We political junkies remember what happened to President Bill Clinton during his first two years in office, the major problems he had were with the more liberal Democrats in Congress as he tried to move more to the center.

 

Bill Clinton had the fatal flaw of needing everyone to like and approve of him. A brilliant man, but a very needy man.

 

So, it's a good thing that Barack Obama is one cool customer and probably isn't concerned about everyone else’s opinion of how he’s supposed to run his White House.

 

Though it's a bad thing for the Republicans praying for him to make gaff after gaff.

 

Hopefully, he will run his White House like he did his campaign -- unrelentingly focused on his long term goals and not paying attention to the small stuff. Like people squabbling over his West Wing staffing choices.

 

If you look at Obama’s history, this is exactly what allowed him to rise so quickly to the top of the national scene.

 

Another thing that might be unique about his administration -- the involvement of we the people. He can contact the millions of supporters who worked so hard to get him elected and tell them to contact their representatives in Congress to help get his agenda passed. I'm sure all our names are still in his computers.

 

It would only take a few quick steps to get the netroots fired up and making calls.

 

A new day dawns.

 

C'mon, you know you want to hear it.

 

About her being clueless enough to believe that Africa was a country and not a continent?

 

About how she threw temper tantrums...and showed up wearing only a towel for a campaign meeting?

 

About how Wasilla's first family of grifters struck the lower-forty-eights finest fashion stores?

 

Gee, all the votes weren't even counted before all the pent up resentment and rage from McCain staffers toward Sarah Palin started to explode.

 

For starters, here is John McCain's private opinion of Palin, as reported by the Guardian:

 

"An exasperated McCain has been telling friends in recent weeks that Palin is even more trouble than a pitbull. In one joke doing the rounds, the Republican presidential candidate has been asking friends: what is the difference between Sarah Palin and a pitbull? The friendly canine eventually lets go, is the McCain punchline."

 

 

Then Newsweek reports the McCain campaign's take on Palin's clothing extravaganza:

 

"Newsweek has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy.....An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books."

 

 

Here is a video of Fox's Carl Cameron telling Shep Smith how "McCain staffers" complained that Palin is not just a moron, but a bad-tempered moron:

 

"There was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lacked the degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, and a heartbeat away from the presidency.

 

We're told by folks that she didn't know what countries were in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that being Canada, the US, and Mexico.

 

We're told that she didn't understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself. A whole host of questions that caused serious problems about her knowledgeability.

 

She got very angry at staff, thought that she was mishandled, was particularly angry about the way the Katie Couric interview went. She didn't accept preparation for that interview when the aides say that that was part of the problem. And that there were times where she was hard to control emotionally. There's talk of temper tantrums at bad news clippings."

 

 

Shep Smith asked: "How could they end up with a running mate who doesn't know that Africa is a continent?" Cameron explains that the vetting process "was truncated."

 

Just think -- this GOP comedy act got nearly half the votes. How is that possible?

 

It says way more about the ruthlessness of McCain and his campaign advisors than it says about Palin. She will descend back into obscurity, to become a trivia question -- What politician claimed she had foreign policy expertise because she could see Russia from her house?

 

Lest we forget -- the chief cheerleaders urging McCain to pick Palin were neo-con columnist William Kristol and gasbag talk show host Rush Limbaugh, the GOP’s more radical wingnuts...who have the attitude that GOP moderates (the few that remain), can go hang.

 

Well, guess who's now twisting slowly, slowly in the wind ...

 

 

In Philadelphia in 1787 when our brave, visionary founding fathers formed the Constitution, they could not bring themselves to count black slaves as more than three-fifth human...and they certainly didn't give them the right to vote. Even the descendants of those slaves wouldn't vote freely until 1965, when we passed the Voting Rights Act.

 

But baby, look at us now!

 

Last night, we elected an African-American President. I can’t help but feel deep pride and renewed love for my country. We finally have the wisdom to do what our founding fathers could not do.

 

My beautiful America is surely on a positive and hopeful path...and I'm proud of every American who decided that their deeply ingrained biases were not as important as the problems we face.

 

Intelligent, hard-working, calm and compassionate Barack Obama is the best man for this job, it's only an added bonus that he's from a minority race.

 

I keep thinking of all the little minority children -- Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian, Amer-Indian, etc. -- and how seeing a minority as the most powerful leader in the world will make them stand a little taller, walk a little prouder...dream a little bigger.

 

I can't stop thinking about this lady:

 

"Amanda Jones, 109, the daughter of a man born into slavery, has lived a life long enough to touch three centuries. And after voting consistently as a Democrat for 70 years, she has voted early for the country's first black presidential nominee."

 

 

I sure wish I could've been at that party.

 

Now sleep and rest my friends...now the hard part starts.

 

Oops, sorry...that was 8 years ago.

 

"Rove Predicts Obama Landslide"

 

"Karl Rove's final electoral map predicts a Barack Obama electoral rout of 338 votes to John McCain's 200, "the largest electoral vote margin of any candidate since Bill Clinton in 1996." Rove has Obama winning swing states Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Virginia.[..]"

 

 

Okay, Turd Blossom is a lying sack of poo and cannot be trusted...there must be a reason why he's putting his credibility on the line with this.

 

Just remember what a master manipulator he is..he could be making such a statement this close to the election to incite more Republicans to vote, while making Democrats think they won't need to.

 

We'll know by tonight.

 

Or Wednesday.

 

Surely by Christmas.

 

I hope.

 

What sad news. The day before this historic election, Barack Obama's grandmother has passed away. The woman who raised him for most of his youth. He adored her and, along with his mother, she was an important female role model. She was a pioneering woman who went from the secretarial pool to an executive in Hawaii's banking industry.

 

She sacrificed for her grandson, and expected great things of him. She lived just long enough to see him on the threshold of the greatest achievement an American can have in public life.

 

How sad that she could not make it to Election Day. But, having watched loved ones die of cancer makes me think that she was probably "in and out of it"...and maybe in her more lucid moments she probably already knew the outcome. She was said to watch CNN constantly...she could see the polls.

 

A week or so ago he had taken time off the campaign trail to say his last goodbyes. Here's a YouTube of Barack Obama talking about his grandmother:

 

 

And of course. when the Democratic presidential nominee’s gravely ill grandmother dies, America’s conservatives will surely show those family values that they're always crowing about...right? Right?

 

Here are some examples of their basic human decency from the Free Republic website:

 

* They should do an ice test to see how long she’s been in the freezer.

 

* Better pull her absentee ‘cuz she was dead on Election Day.

 

* I think that “event” took place 2 weeks ago. Otherwise it would have made great political news for these last 48 hours to talk about Obama’s grandma and take the focus off of his exposed coal comments.

 

* Seriously, has anyone actually seen this woman in recent years? If Obama has some of his thugs guarding her (and if there is, indeed, a body) I hope they do an autopsy to make sure Granny’s passing was a natural event.

 

* So Barry goes and see’s granny. Granny dies day before election. She is probably one know who really knows where he was born. Well as the church lady used to say.”isn’t that special”

 

* This is what I think happened. He told them to pull the plug on her. Now if you bring up the bankrupting the coal industry, it will seem insensitive and cruel. I am sorry but this man is just plain evil. I know his grandmother raised him, but her success as a parent is questionable. BO’s mother was a moonbat and ol Granny was a leftist hack. That being said, I pray for her soul.

 

* My thoughts exactly pinkbell. There are probably a million people in the world that died at the same time. All these threads about it here seem a bit much. Call me what you will, but this is about as important as a dump I took a week ago.

 

* Murdered? It’s not murder when it’s for the chosen one. The dems will blame it on lack of universal health care and get a double bang for the buck. Obama will forgive her racism and find another family member to use and throw under the bus.

 

 

 

BTW--his grandmother voted by absentee ballot weeks ago, and the laws of the state of Hawaii allow her ballot to be counted.

 

I never thought I would see an African-American even come close to being elected President of the United States in my lifetime.

 

I know, and I'm proud, that my country has come such a long way from slavery and the bloody civil rights wars...but I've seen enough racism just in my local area to make me think that we just weren't there yet.

 

Just look at the campaign that John McCain and the GOP ran against Barack Obama, it’s obvious that racism, suspicion, hatred and bigotry in many forms are still widespread in America. There is a big difference between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism.

 

As a child of the 50's, in my small Oklahoma town, I saw separate water fountains and restrooms for whites and "coloreds"...I remember the signs. I remember going to movie theaters where non-whites could only sit in the balcony...this went for Indians too.

 

Years later I watched Martin Luther King lead the civil rights struggles on TV. I remember Bloody Sunday on that Selma bridge...when Alabama troopers attacked peaceful marchers with batons and tear gas. I remember that the marchers had dressed in their Sunday best to march for the right to register to vote.

 

I remember when TV news was full of the search for civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney...then it was announced that the authorities had found their bodies. College kids, two white, one black, who had given up their summer to go to Mississippi to help black people register to vote. Murdered in a conspiracy between law enforcement and the Ku Klux Klan.

 

I really do think that television helped bring the civil rights struggle to an end. White people across this country were outraged at what they saw and spoke up -- maybe seeing the bloodshed on TV in your living room was a lot different than reading about it. The outrage spurred LBJ to sign the Civil Rights Act into law.

 

Now, all these long years later, we have the opportunity to vote for a mixed race black man for President of the United States. The same type of person that King, Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney lost their lives for...to give him the right to participate and have a voice within his own country.

 

Instead of saying 'what took us so long?'...I'll just say that I am glad to be here to see this day come.

 

Palin was pranked...

 

"Quebec comedy duo talks porn and politics with oblivious Sarah Palin"

 

MONTREAL -- In an over-the-top accent, one half of a notorious Quebec comedy duo claims to be the president of France as he describes sex with his famous wife, the joy of killing animals and Hustler magazine's latest Sarah Palin porno spoof.

 

At the other end of the line? An oblivious Sarah Palin.[..]"

 

 

Whatever will the wingnut France-hatin' freedom-fries gang think? She sure does kiss some serious French butt.

 

Here's the video:

 

 

Yep, she thought she was talking to President Nicolas Sarkozy. Doesn't she know that heads of state don't make such phone calls in the middle of election campaigns?

 

How are you going to spin this Karl?

 

What the hell kind of staff does she have? Shouldn't they at some point have gotten a French phone number to call to verify this?

 

Gah, I don't even like the woman and I'm embarrassed for her...until I remember all the lies she's been telling about Obama...

 

This shows just how scary Sarah Palin would be as vice president...and very possibly president. This woman is a danger to national security. Can you imagine a head of state taking a phone call over unsecured lines without going through the proper channels?

 

I can't believe they brought up that disgusting Hustler video -- "Nailin' Paylin" --describing it as "the documentary they made on your life"...and she says, "Oh, good, thank you, yes."

 

Dang, why couldn't this happen a month ago so Tina Fey could pull a skit together!

 

Two new polls show Barack Obama holding a commanding lead over John McCain...and one poll shows that Obama is strongly favored by early voters.

 

A new CBS News poll puts Obama 13 points among likely voters, 54 percent to 41 percent.

 

"About one in five voters say they have already cast their vote, either in person or through the mail, and these early voters prefer the Democratic ticket by an even greater margin. Obama leads among early voters 57 percent to 38 percent, a nineteen point advantage."

 

 

The new Washington Post-ABC News daily tracking poll gives Obama a 53 to 44 percent lead over McCain.

 

"McCain’s campaigning over the past week has not convinced more voters that Obama is a risky choice, nor has he gained ground as the candidate better able to handle taxes or the economy. (Obama holds a 13-point advantage on taxes, his largest of the campaign, and a 14-point lead on the economy.)"

 

 

So, looks like McCain’s new lines of attack, his several last-minute negative stories, have had little impact. The righties are flogging the Obama’s elderly aunt story like it features fellatio or something.

 

I'm hard pressed to imagine why McCain's non-base voters might care. I know people sometimes vote for silly reasons, but I wonder how many Americans will go into the voting booth thinking, "I was going to vote for a healthier economy and a sensible foreign policy, but Obama has a half-aunt that was denied asylum and didn't leave...so now I want more of the same for four more years."

 

Early voting means the final week of an election could actually be the week with LESS impact on voting...many voters have already cast ballots and can’t respond to last minute strategies or smears.

 

So McCain has just been preaching to the choir, his big push on the taxes issue has kept his base fired up...but hasn't touched enough voters who aren’t part of the Republican party faithful.

 

Either Obama and the Democrats are headed for a landslide of historic proportions, or everyone - everyone - has lied to the polls.

 

It's not likely that any of this could be significantly reversed in two days of campaigning...not likely, but still possible....

 

One thing that keeps worrying me as election day creeps closer -- that this information about Obama doing so well might lull Democrats into a false sense of complacency..I would prefer Democrats to think it was a lot closer.

 

OR...to use another psychology -- it might deflate/discourage Republicans from even bothering to stand in line for hours to vote if they feel that Obama has it wrapped up.

 

Aaarrrggghh...someone just hit me in the head with a hammer until it's over...

 

The McCain campaign can't run on the issues, so now all they have left is a desperate attempt to assassinate Obama's character.

 

McCain's camp is so disorganized, and they're fighting among themselves...you had to know that sooner or later they were going to get careless and get tangled up in their own slimy threads.

 

This has to do with that big uproar over an Obama-Khalidi connection that had righties frothing at the mouth about a video that the L.A.Times had...blah blah blah, yada yada and yabba dabba do.

 

And Sarah Palin was out on the stump Wednesday, saying Barack Obama has ties to yet another radical professor, Rashid Khalidi, a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

 

At the same time we have John McCain on the Larry King Show griping about how the L.A. Times refuses to make that videotape public. He said, “I’m not in the business of talking about media bias, but what if there was a tape with John McCain with a neo-Nazi outfit being held by some media outlet? I think the treatment of the issue would be slightly different.”

 

A neo-Nazi outfit?

 

Well, turns out that both Palin and McCain neglected to mention that while John McCain was chairing the International Republican Institute, he gave over $400,000 to Rashid Khalidi's Center for Palestine Research and Studies for work in the West Bank.

 

From the Chicago Tribune: "WASHINGTON — The Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin challenged the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday for withholding a video of a 2003 dinner in Chicago where Democrat Barack Obama praised a Palestinian scholar who has spoken out for Palestinian rights.

 

...During the 1990's, while McCain served as chairman of the International Republican Institute, the group distributed several grants to the Palestinian research center co-founded by Khalidi, including a $448,873 grant in 1998 to his Center for Palestine Research and Studies for work in the West Bank.

 

"And, since 1993, when McCain joined IRI as chairman, the group funded several studies run by Khalidi's group in the Palestinian territories, including more than 30 public opinion polls. Khalidi helped found the center, "an independent academic research and policy analysis institution." [..]"

 

 

Here is Lou Dobbs pointing out this bit of hypocrisy.

 

CNN Voter Hotline has gotten a number of calls about whether or not this option works.

 

In Oklahoma if your paper ballot isn't marked right the machine spits it back out until you fix it. If it's botched the worker gives you another one. Pretty straightforward.

 

What about your state? Study the ballot in advance, read the directions carefully, and always ask a poll worker for assistance if you have any questions or think you’ve spoiled your ballot.

 

From CNN:

Many states allow voters to select all candidates of one party with a single vote

 

In most states, a straight-party ballot includes presidential race

 

In North Carolina, the presidential vote must be cast separately

 

Oklahoma has straight-ticket voting, but ballot is divided into four parts

 

...Other states that allow for straight-party voting include Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. All these states include the presidential race as part of the straight-party choice.

 

The straight-party option can help speed up voting. But in Missouri, where the secretary of state's office is expecting a high turnout, voters will no longer have the straight-party option. The state legislature decided to get rid of it.[..] "

 

 

I voted early yesterday. Left for the courthouse at 7am knowing the voting precinct wouldn't open until 8:00. I was number 52 in line...waited 35 min. for voting to begin, then another 30 min. before I put pen to ballot.

 

When I left, the lines were going out the door and snaking around the block. Thank goodness the weather was beautiful. Precinct workers told TV reporters that it was going to be 75 percent turnout.

 

There was a certain electricity in the air, a joyousness. Everyone chatted happily, neighbor visiting with neighbor, old friends catching up. Not a word of politics of course.

 

On one side of me was a waitress who had just gotten off work, said her feet were killing her, so she sat on the floor reading her book untill the line starting moving.

 

On my other side was an elderly black woman who shuffled along using a cane, her eyes were fairly dancing. She had dressed up like she was going to church.

 

A great day! Whatever your party, go cast your vote...remember those who died so that we can have this privilege.