Count Me Blue

I'm BACK!

2011-01-27T13:24:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, it has taken awhile. But, an outright drubbing of progressives in the '10 election (if one more person in the media says "shellacking," I'm going to spontaneously combust), along with some fresh new outrages, have spurred me back to action. I can assure you, I won't be going away this time. (That reminds me - one of my New Year's Resolutions - Manage my time wisely! If I manage to do that, I'll have even more time to blog than planned. Well, that's the plan, anyway.)

So, I will definitely be back later tonight (probably MUCH later) to unleash a slew of stuff on you, including some announcements, which I'm pretty excited about. For those of you new to the blog, I'm a 30-something progressive, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Sorry about Pat Toomey, everybody!)

In the meantime, take a look at what President Obama is doing - it's starting about an hour from now, at 2:30 EST - he's answering people's questions on YouTube. Below is a preview video, and if you click Here you can watch it live. Should be pretty interesting.

McCain's no maverick, but a bitter partisan

2010-03-24T11:06:00.002-04:00

I really wish someone could find the 2000 version of John McCain, because that man is long gone. He became a far right-wing conservative after getting cheated, lied about and bullied by the Bush campaign following the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary. It really is a shame.

Anyway, as McCain's appearance on Good Morning America Monday morning clearly shows, he's pretty out of touch with what's going on in the country, specifically with regard to health care. I have a major bone of contention with McCain's assertion that the Democrats "went against the will of the American people" (an assertion that just about every GOPer is parroting over and over and over again, putting a fresh topping on the old, unfortunate adage "keep on telling a lie over and over 'til they start to believe it"). More on the polls in a minute.

Yesterday, McCain ratcheted up the rhetoric, saying There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year. They [Democrats] have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it." (From The Washington Post) Wow, that's pretty astounding from a so-called "Maverick" who in the past has made some pretty historic and honorable legislation from working with Democrats to get stuff done. If the people of Arizona are stupid enough to send this guy back to the Senate for six more years, then they deserve whatever they get. What a disgrace. Why not just retire then, "Mav"? Clearly the people of Arizona deserve something better than this crybaby.

Happily, David Axelrod, President Obama's Senior White House Advisor, wasted no time in issuing a tart response: "You know, that's okay on the sandlot, but it's not okay when you're trying to govern a country and move a country forward. It's a disappointing attitude." That about sums it all up.

If McCain was my Senator, even if this tirade was about a bill I disapproved of, I'd like to think I could rise above partisan politics and tell him that this sort of language is totally unacceptable coming from someone who is sent to Washington to do the people's work, and to quit pissing and moaning when he doesn't get his way, or win a presidential election. (Most except the most ardent McCain supporters would probably agree that he's become a bitter, cranky old codger since he lost to Obama last year. Give up the dream John, give up the dream. Spare yourself some dignity in defeat - if you need some instructions, see Kerry, John and Gore, Al - two people who behaved with truckloads more dignity than you are and who had a whole lot more to be angry about. In short, grow up - it's not all about you.)

Following Axelrod's comments, Brooke Buchanan, McCain's spokeswoman, shot back, "Senator John McCain will always stand on the side of the American people. Get used to it, Mr. Axelrod, that's what strong, independent members do - you'd know what if you had ever worked for one."

It just kept getting better and better. I guess when we need to hear from McCain now, we can rely on his pit bull spokeswoman for comment, or we can go to his Website to look for a press release, since he won't be cooperating with the Democratically controlled Congress.

Following all that, Jim Manley, spokesman for Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader and a man who I don't have much admiration or respect for, scored some points with me yesterday with this acidic rebuke: "For someone who campaigned on 'country first' and claims to take great pride in bipartisanship, it's absolutely bizarre for Senator McCain to tell the American people he is going to take his ball and go home until the next election. He must be living in a parallel universe because the fact is, with very few exceptions, we've gotten very little cooperation from Senate Republicans in recent years."

~~

I firmly believe that once all of the right-wing propaganda clears from the GOP smokescreen machine, the American people aren't going to want this law repealed. Amended and tweaked? Without question, but that's already happening; the $750 fine for not having insurance has already been reduced to... ZERO. That was a good start.

Back to polling on the health care bill...

As I've already written, I take serious umbrage with Republicans saying, over and over, words to the effect that the Democrats "defied the will of the American people." Polls do not bear this out (at least the legitimate ones.) From Gallup, via The New York Times yesterday and MSNBC, on Monday, both obviously following Sunday night's passage of the health care bill:

Whoops! This is "defying the will of the American people"? In two words, that's unadulterated bullshit. These poll numbers should tilt further and further toward favoring this bill as the facts become clear to the American people. But, in order for that to happen, Obama and Democratic leaders have to do a much better job of articulating their messages - Repubes have always been better at getting phrases and terms that "stick" with the public; time for Democrats to do the same. I don't like it that America is largely a soundbite electorate, but that's the culture now, and Democrats need to get with it.

Great Ed Show exchange- GOPer gets p'wned

2010-03-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

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This is some great video from The Ed Show yesterday, when Salon editor Joan Walsh squared off against Republican strategist John Feehery. During the segment, Ed mentioned what a significant number of Republicans believe - that Obama's a Muslim, that he's comparable to Hitler, etc. (you get the idea). Feehery contended that there were polls taken during the Dubya Bush administration that found large numbers of Democrats who believed Bush worse than Hitler. I agree with Walsh - I'd love to see them. Because, like her, I firmly believe that they don't exist; if they do, I'd love to know how those polls were conducted, how the questions were asked, and who sponsored the polls. Anyone who can find a poll like that, send it to me. Let me save you some work- you won't. (And as a quick aside, can we pu-leeze, finally put to rest the Nazi Germany and Hitler references?!? I'm sick to death of them. Thanks.)

On this very blog, while Bush was president, I compared Bush to Hitler when discussing our invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, but I didn't even encroach where Republicans are right now regarding Obama.

In her Salon column yesterday, Walsh also took issue with Palin's use of language on her Twitter account (urging supporters to "reload"), and the image of crosshairs on her Facebook account, "targeting" Democrats in the fall elections who supported the health care bill (at right, click for larger image). I probably don't think it's as big of a deal as Walsh does, but it doesn't help combat the extremists (and even acceptance by some on the right) of those who have shown up at Obama rallies with loaded guns. I do fear for Obama, with all of the hateful, nutcase hysteria and vengeful hatred that's floating around out there about the president, I hope and pray nothing tragic ever happens.

At best, it was a very poor choice of words, and at worst, it could incite violence. I'd say that commonsense should tell Palin not to use this language and images, but her and commonsense haven't been on speaking terms since she emerged from her mother's birth canal.

Also in her column yesterday, Walsh touches on Mitt Romney's history with individual mandates (and how he eventually supported them) for purchasing health care, and her point is brilliant. This issue promises to be a significant problem for Romney if he throws his hat in the ring in '12, but then again, we'll be able to just add it to the list of his flip flops, joining gun control, abortion (multiple times!), the morning after pill, gay rights, campaign finance reform and immigration. Romney would make a better candidate than Palin (who wouldn't?), but not by much.

will.i.am's great Boehner remix

2010-03-24T08:03:00.003-04:00

I have so much to get to- I've, ahem, EARMARKED some blogging time this morning before getting back to condo repairs, but I had to share this first. I found this on Salon this morning, and my laughter jolted me out of my pre-caffeinated slumber. This could very well be some sort of Mastercard "Priceless" commercial, but that's about as far as I can take it.

Will.i.am is awesome; maybe he should change his name to will.i.am.a.genius or something- just a thought. I've seen him on Real Time with Bill Maher numerous times, and he's not just another annoying celeb with an opinion, he's informed about the issues, and he knows how to resonate with his message.

Anyway, there's obviously a deeper message here. When I first watched this, I laughed, but after I watched it again, it got me to thinking- I'm sick to death of the right giving me 15 reasons why I CAN'T have something, especially when in the end our enormously massive federal budget piles up to one big nothing / one big nothing at all (cue Dave Matthews Band music) if we can't provide basic health care to everyone. If you've been following the health care debate, and you even have a scintilla of an open mind, it all boils down to this - Democrats are fed up with a health care system that favors the well off and largely screws the middle and lower classes, while Republicans and conservatives (I'm lumping a few Democrats in the latter group) have whined about "cost."

Of all the reasons to oppose a much-needed health care overhaul, cost is among the stupidest. At the risk of sounding like a broken record because I keep carping about it, in our government's next fiscal year, we are spending around $708bn on our defense budget (not counting the Iraq and Afghanistan missions). Hey, if the military industrial complex, which along with the pharmaceutical companies, banks, and Wall St. pretty much own this country and our politicians, can get theirs, then there's no justifiable reason that any American citizen should be denied health care, period.

I'd like to think that's the underlying theme of will.i.am's nicely produced video.

BTW, extra kudos to will.i.am for putting this together so quickly- it's not like this happened weeks ago.

A better pic than the one I posted yesterday

2010-03-23T13:14:00.000-04:00

Click on Image for Larger View

My first thought when I saw this picture was, "Ohmygod, there's Gary Coleman with Obama!" but in fact, the diminutive Coleman doppelganger is actually Marcelas Owens of Seattle, who became a proponent of national health care after his mother died due to a lack of coverage.

Seriously though, this is a historic day, and I'm proud to see it happen - FINALLY the day is here where all Americans have hope for affordable, reasonable health care. I've been saying for weeks that this bill, pass or fail, marks just the beginning in the health care battle. Or new system will be far from perfect, and we have to keep demanding even more changes that we need to get the system we want. The politico in me can't wait to see Republicans campaign against the bill. My first thought - they don't have the balls, and I'd like to see them try. Their biggest gripe is cost, and a fifth grade student could write rebuttals to that charge.

Anyway, today was a darn good start on the long road to reform. Hey Sarah Palin - that "hopey changey thing" is working out for me pretty nicely today, you two-bit cocktail waitress.

I'm not even remotely done talking about the health care bill or the bill's passage, but I have to get back to work. I'll be back later this evening.

Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times

Obviously, not everyone loves the HC bill

2010-03-23T12:33:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted any Tom Tomorrow cartoons in a long time (esp. considering that I'm just getting back to blogging after a long layoff), but I almost always consider his biting, sardonic spot on, and his latest 2 comics are no exception. Click on both images for larger views...

I sort of agree with TT here, and it's disturbing to read in the New York Times that Obama cut a deal so early with some health care industry leaders, but it's pretty difficult to play armchair quarterback about some of these deals. Some might not like it (and often I don't), but deal making is how things get done in our nation's capitol, like it or not. I love how the right-wing media has been a broken record lately about some of the deals that have been made, complete with titles for them, i.e. - the "Cornhusker Kickback" and the "Louisiana Purchase," etc. AS IF no Republicans ever made deals to get bills passed in Congress.

What's real poisoning the pool in Washington is money. Until the day comes when a president and his/her party decides to effectively disinfect the system from money, lobbyists and hopefully even public financing of our elections, the song(s) will largely remain the same.

This is yet another reason why Evangelical Christians and conservatives drive me nuts. Texas, a state that's about as "Red" as it gets, recently adopted textbooks that make no mention of Thomas Jefferson, (Jefferson!) as well as stating that the Earth is 6,000 years old. The latter fact flies in the face of just about all scientific evidence available.

I like the fact that TT touches on global warming in the cartoon above, too- because of some leaked e-mails that were an embarrassment to the environmental movement, now all of a sudden global warming is this cooked up hoax by liberals and tree huggers the world over. I've written it many times before and I'll write it again- even if the threat of GW turns out to be overblown (and we most likely won't know until it's too late, unless we act now), what's the risk? Air that's too clean? Water that's too drinkable? Rivers that are too full? Some proposed solutions to combating global warming are so maddeningly simple that it defies logic why we aren't adopting them. But, you don't have to look very far for an answer - MONEY! Mountains and mountains of cash, both for fossil fuel companies and the politicians they own, from BOTH parties. I'll have much more on GW in the coming days and weeks.

A great photo from a historic night

2010-03-22T23:28:00.002-04:00

Click for Larger Image

I found this photo on the White House Website this evening, and I thought I'd share it. It's a great photo that I really think captures the jubilation and culmination of over a year's work and negotiations - President Obama and Vice President Biden celebrating the health care bill's passage after the House vote. Despite what many on the right are now saying in light of the bill's passage, it's the result of over a year's negotiations and compromises - more on that in a bit.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Health care reform is finally here, but there's plenty of work left to do

2010-03-22T09:15:00.000-04:00

I'm very happy that meaningful health care reform is upon us. I'm not thrilled with everything, but I think that this is a significant step in the right direction. More on that in a minute, but first, I can't stop myself from commenting on some of yesterday's theatrics.

First, right-wing media's reactions to the bill's passing is cracking me up. One of my favorite idiotic responses is from the contemptible Matt Drudge (above). "A Day Which Will Live in Infirmary"? Really? Evidently, there are plenty of clever morons over at Drudge - I'm underwhelmed by the pithiness and wit.

Even more entertaining was House Minority Leader John Boehner's speech before the vote - in case you missed it, here it is...

Seriously? Is this guy for real? This was straight-up D-Level acting fit for a straight-to-video Steven Segal movie.

First, this guy must think that all Americans are stupid. Well, I've got news for you, Mr. Boehner, not all of us are. I not-so-fondly remember when Republicans ruled Congress during the Dubya Bush administration, and Democrats were frozen out of any substantive negotiations on the GOP agenda - quite frankly, because they didn't need their votes to get anything passed. Full disclosure - I didn't like it then and howled about it, but you know what? Elections have consequences, and that's the pendulum that is American politics. The day will certainly come when Republicans rule Congress once again, and when that happens, don't hold your breath for Democrats to be consulted if and only if the GOP can pass their agenda without Democratic votes.

Secondly, I can make two pretty educated guesses as to why Boehner's so angry: 1. This is a major legislative victory for Obama, and 2. A new tanning salon tax is part of the new health care bill. Good God, I haven't seen a fake bake this bad since, well, ever, actually.

What's more, I think Mr. Boner (I will never believe the real pronunciation of his last name is BAY-ner - what a joke) needs a cigarette to calm his nerves. A notorious, habitual smoker, he probably ought to think of cutting back, as his voice isn't exactly pleasant to listen to, especially when he starts screaming. Maybe I should give him a break - if my last name was Boehner, I'd be angry, too. Seek therapy, John.

Another lowlight of the evening last night was someone calling Rep. Bart Stupak a "baby killer" as he was getting ready to speak before the vote last night. Here's the video, courtesy of Talking Points Memo:

I'd say "unbelieveable," but nothing surprises me out of Washington anymore. Two of the most disgraceful instances of political discourtesy in recent memory have come thanks to Republicans - Rep. Joe Wilson screaming "You lie!" during Obama's speech on health care reform to a joint session of Congress last September, and yesterday an unidentified Congressman calling Bart Stupak a "baby killer" in the House chamber. (I don't think anyone thinks it came from a Democrat, but if it did, I'll post an apology, guaranteed.)

What's more, it's curious that someone would single out Stupak as a "baby killer," since he's a pro-life Democrat and his opposition to federally funded abortions nearly derailed the health care bill entirely.

Anyway, I won't pretend to be an expert on this bill, but I think it's a very good start to giving ALL Americans the health care system and coverage we deserve. I'm not happy that private insurance companies are going to be raking in billions more, but this bill did bring much needed reform. The parts that I like...

1. No more denials of people based on pre-existing conditions (this one's a BIGGIE)
2. No more lifetime "caps" on insurance company payouts
3. Policyholders can no longer have their policies canceled in the middle of a major illness
4. College graduates can stay on their parents' policies until the age of 26, ensuring that they will have coverage in college and during the start of their careers
5. Medicaid expanded to 16mn people
6. Larger employers must cover workers or pay a penalty

There are some things I dislike, too, without question:

1. No single payer system, or universal health care, or whatever you want to call it
2. For small businesses, there's something called a "health insurance exchange," and I don't exactly know what that means, but considering I'll have a small business moving forward, this is something I need to look into
3. I don't know that I like the $750 fine for not having insurance, either, but I understand why it's in the bill

Nothing's perfect, and this system will no doubt need some tweaks in the coming years, but like I said, it's a good start. (Suggested tweak #1 - a mandatory grace period for paying premiums. I guarantee that people with private plans with major illnesses will get their policies canceled at midnight the day after their premium's due if it isn't paid on time.)

Of course, the right is whining that there was no tort reform, a battle cry we've been hearing for years. I won't pretend to have all the answers, but I don't agree with what the right proposes - capping monetary awards in medical malpractice suits. Sorry, but I'm siding with the public on this one - I'm not giving up my right to sue and get damages in the event that a doctor or pharmaceutical company makes a tragic mistake. And I don't like the idea of capping punitive damages at $500,000, an idea that was bandied about during the Bush administration. Can one really put a dollar amount on a life? Sure, there are plenty of examples of ridiculous awards handed out by juries, but there are also examples of wanton malpractice by hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies, and their getting away with it, too. So, I side with the plaintiffs.

I get a kick out of the right trying to make political hay out of the "trial lawyers" by reminding us every five minutes that they give so much to the Democratic Party. Hmm, and what party does the insurance industry give most of it's cash to? Let's face it, neither political party in Washington has cornered the morality market when it comes to campaign cash, which is another issue I hope Obama tackles before his presidency is over. (Although that will probably have to wait 'til his second term.)

Something else that's getting some press this morning - the student loan industry got a major overhaul as part of the health care bill. Three words - IT'S ABOUT TIME. More on that later.

An amusing pic from D.C.

2010-03-21T15:13:00.010-04:00

Click pic for a larger view

Does anyone honestly think these kids know the facts about what they're protesting about? I don't.

I get the sincere feeling that once these kids get out of college (if they can afford it), if another "Great Recession" hits and they lose their health insurance, they'd be in favor of universal health care. Just sayin'.

h/t to Huffpo for the pic

A new day is almost here, but now quite yet

2010-03-21T12:33:00.000-04:00

CNN is reporting this morning that House Democrats have enough votes to pass the Senate bill on health care, so the big vote's probably coming this evening. It's truly an historic day for America, but there will still be a lot of work to do after this bill becomes law. This will be a major victory for Obama, but the president and his team had better go on the offensive, because the GOP noise machine will go into overdrive after this becomes law.

It just kills me that the term "socialized medicine" is "sticking" with most of the American public. Most who keep repeating this don't even know anything about what's being proposed, because if they did, they would know that this is anything but socialized medicine. In fact, it's giving the private, profiteering insurance companies 32 million new customers to gouge and overcharge.

This bill is far, FAR from perfect, but it's an important first step, and I'm happy that it looks like it's going to become law.

President Obama seems pretty confident:

(This video is pretty long, but if you catch the first few minutes, you'll get the idea - Obama thinks this one is gonna go the distance.)

Just a few more thoughts, and I'll be back tomorrow with a lot more on the health care issue.

I find it stupefying that Republicans are objecting about cost. Suddenly, deficits are an issue with Obama in the Oval Office, but let's forget the profligate spending under eight years of Bush. We are spending over $708bn on next year's Pentagon budget, and people are complaining about needed health care reforms that are projected to cost about $975bn over 10 years, along with prolonging life, giving more and more people access to affordable health care, and, according to the CBO, actually reduce the deficit. Nonsense.

Honestly, I think this all boils down to a "We" society vs. a "Me" society. Many (but certainly not all) Republicans view this as another handout, another government give away. However, they are too myopic to realize that they are paying for people without health insurance anyway, right now.

I take you back to the '08 election presidential debates when the candidates were asked, "Do you believe health care is a right of every American?" McCain's response was "I think it's a responsibility," a very clever dodge. Obama said it's a "right," and it is. You need look no further than this phrase from our Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
It doesn't get any plainer than that. With thousands dying every year in America because of a lack of health care, the conditions described above in the Declaration of Independence hardly exist right now in America.

To wit, take a look at this Parkinson's sufferer in the video above from a recent Tea Party rally, and how he was treated by these frothing-at-the-mouth morons who don't even really seem to know what they're protesting (for starters, the fact that the health care bill passed by the Senate and being considered by the House, while being FAR from perfect, will actually benefit probably 99 percent of the people there). Anyway, take a look - I'll wait.

...

Pretty sickening, huh? It's a good thing I wasn't there, because I'd probably be blogging from jail now. Do they let you blog from jail?

I think it's pretty safe to say that a vast majority of people who are opposed to the health care bill ("Hey! I already have insurance! I don't want to pay for someone else's care!") would do a lightning-quick 180 if they lost their jobs (along with their health care), or if they had a family member get critically ill, only to be dropped by an insurance company. Millions in this country are under-insured, and they don't/won't even know it until it's too late.

Bankruptcies from medical bills are right now the single biggest cause of mortgage foreclosures in the United States. I strongly feel that there are economic links and benefits to this health care debate that the Democrats aren't discussing nearly enough. I'll have more on that later, but in the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers for the vote.

Daddy Dick must be proud of his Liz

2010-03-21T09:53:00.013-04:00

Okay, I know it's been a long, LONG time, but I'm back for real this time. If you wouldn't mind indulging me, I'm going to skip past the part where I prostrate myself before the world, berating myself and begging for your forgiveness for taking so long to post. Ahem. Thanks.

Anyway, after a year of much-needed political change in America in 2009, it hasn't taken me long to get thoroughly angered at "the system," and that's WITH President Obama in power. My biggest peeve right now is the healthcare "debate" that's happening on Capitol Hill, but before I get to that, I must comment on a thoroughly detestable ad put out by Liz Cheney and her cohorts over at Keep America Safe (I'm not linking to it) a few weeks ago. In case you haven't seen it, here's the ad:

What a sickening display of faux patriotism. An indication of just how sickening could be heard on just about any news channel these past few weeks (except Faux News, but I don't consider propaganda for the RNC "news"). If you're a conservative, you know you've done something when the vile, contemptible and insipid Kenneth W. Starr (of Monica Lewinsky fame) is speaking out against you. (Starr was on NPR last week, of all places, speaking out against the ad, which I didn't understand, since NPR is nothing but a "lib-rul network.")

This is nothing more than fear mongering on the part of Repubes regarding how President Obama is fighting the War on Terrorism (I hate that term, but I'll use it here to illustrate a point). It's not a stretch to say that Obama has been much more effective at fighting terrorism than Dubya Bush ever was. Of course, you wouldn't know that from watching, listening or reading right-wing media (and you don't have to go very far to find it these days). It seems to me that we're killing or capturing more and more leaders of Al Qaeda on a daily basis than during the Bush years, and the right doesn't like it; and since they don't, we get a red herring like this bullshit ad.

A political commentator said this a month or so ago, and I can't remember who, so I apologize in advance, but it went something like this: Cheney and Co. keep harping about how Obama is making us less safe for a reason. They are staking out this position at rock bottom prices, and in the off chance that there is another attack on America, Cheney and the sheeple who believe anything he says (in addition to the RNC Network) will all claim, "See?!? We told you he was making us less safe! Obama is putting America in danger!!!" Hell, they probably already have the ads made up- all that's needed is another terrorist attack, and violà! - it will take minutes for these people to begin attacking Obama. If you think I'm accusing these people of rooting for another attack against America for political gain, you would be right.

It's amazing how GOPers, led by Rudy 9iu1ian1, re-write history on a moment's notice, too. Remember the underwear bomber from last Christmas? Toothy Rudy was on TV saying, with a straight face, that America wasn't attacked when George Bush was president. Really?

Getting back to the above ad, I find it laughable that this even got any traction. Our judicial system has a long and storied history of everyone having the right to the best defense possible, period. And it's also laughable to accuse lawyers of believing in the crimes their clients are alleged to have committed just because they are defending them.

As a post-script, here's Liz on the "O'Lielly Factor" defending her organization's ad (and I love how they both give each other a tongue bath at the beginning about "The Factor" - Puleeze).

Draw your own conclusions.

Christ, even blowhard Bill took issue with Cheney's view that the Obama Justice Department views terrorists in the same light as tax cheats, etc.

Another BIG problem I have with Cheney's view is this, and I'll write this one loud for the cheap seats: NOT ALL PEOPLE BEING HELD AT GITMO ARE GUILTY OF A CRIME! In fact, when you look at the stats on who has been released and how many, it's rather appalling that the right is continuing to stake out this position with regard to the GWOT. I don't have the figures right in front of me, but even a cursory research effort reveals that dozens and dozens of Gitmo detainees have been released (some during the Bush administration), many after years of incarceration, without ever being formally charged or tried. Sickening.

What's more, this is just another demonstration of how the right has contempt for history. John Adams, a true patriot and a Founding Father of our country (not to mention our first vice president and second president), defended British soldiers who were charged with murder in the Boston Massacre. He remarked later in life that it was one of the proudest moments of his career. But, let's not let history get in the way, right conservatives? After all, just last week Texas agreed to adopt history textbooks that contain no reference to Thomas Jefferson, another former president and Founding Father. Twenty years from now, I can't wait to see what Texas textbooks will say about President George W. Bush- he'll have probably "saved our Democracy" by invading Iraq, and "avenged 9-11, an attack that happened under President Clinton, by invading Afghanistan." Too funny.

Rest in peace, Senator Kennedy

2009-08-26T06:31:00.004-04:00

It's with sadness that I awoke this morning to hear about the loss of Sen. Ted Kennedy (above, left, with brothers President John F. Kennedy (center) and Robert F. Kennedy). There was no greater champion in the U.S. Senate over the last five decades for civil rights, healthcare reform, world peace and even stem cell research than Ted Kennedy.

Of course, in these highly partisan times that we live in, I've no doubt that many on the right will quietly cheer the silence of this proud liberal voice (and no doubt a few will even publicly do so), but that's to be expected. As far as the right's strong hatred for Kennedy, I'll say this - if there was any way to quantify it, you'd have to multiply that by a factor of a million to even begin to describe the way I feel about Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and the rest of the conniving, profiteering, scum of the Earth who pillaged this country during the eight years of the Bush administration. However, President Obama has been in office for a little over 200 days, so now we can blame everything on him now! At least, that seems to be the battle cry among many conservatives these days. But, I digress.

It would be wrong to completely whitewash Kennedy's entire career in the wake of his passing, for the man was deeply flawed, for sure. But, I try to see the other side when it comes to Kennedy, too. I can't begin to fathom the emotional strain he must have endured after seeing two of his brothers assassinated and also losing two other siblings to tragedy very early on in their lives. I'm not making excuses for Kennedy's often boorish and even tragic behavior, but it's easy for people to judge his behavior, but more difficult to comprehend the many tragedies in Kennedy's life. Many critics point to the Chappaquiddick incident as proof of Kennedy's criminality, and his actions are impossible to defend, and I'm certainly not going to try here. However, many conspiracy theorists have argued that Mary Jo Kopechne was intentionally drowned by Kennedy, and I'll never believe that. But, I'm also not naïve enough to believe that Kennedy didn't receive special treatment from the justice system because of his last name, either.

One of the stupidest bumper stickers I ever saw on a car read: "Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns." I've always wanted to print bumper stickers that say "George Bush has killed many more people than Ted Kennedy's car," but I never got around to it. I still say it could have been a seller, though.

Despite Kennedy's many flaws, in the end, I admire the man for the way he handled the many tragedies he had to endure, and largely how he handled them. One of his finest moments was courageously eulogizing his brother, Robert, following his assassination in June 1968:

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'

I think the same can be said of Ted Kennedy himself, too. What a career on Capitol Hill - during 46+ years in the U.S. Senate, he authored 2,500 bills, 300 of which became law; and he co-sponsored another 550 bills, too. Because of personal flaws and mistakes, he was not destined to be president, but he certainly made a difference on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

From civil rights, to Title IX, to healthcare and 18-year olds gaining the ability to vote, Kennedy was in the middle of all those legislative debates and more during the last five decades. I've often written that I believe in term limits for all members of Congress, and in the end, I probably still do, but Kennedy is an example of what career politicians can accomplish during a long and mostly distinguished career on Capitol Hill.

To the man who was never ashamed to be called a liberal (I share that same trait), I say this - well done, Senator, well done. Liberals and like-minded moderates alike will continue the healthcare fight in your absence, but the fight just became a little harder without you.

Below is the tribute to Senator Kennedy during the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention - it's pretty good and worth a look (thanks, Sadath) ...

The lion's roar may be silenced, but the fight will live on. Rest in peace, Senator Kennedy.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

2009-05-25T11:10:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the inactivity on here as of late - it's been a very busy and tough 2009 thus far, but I will be back at it soon. I have been keeping up with the issues lately, though, so I have plenty to write about in the coming days.

Just wanted to post a tribute and thanks to all of our vets and troops, for all they do and have done. I sure am one lucky guy - this American has plenty to be thankful for, without question, and today, I'd like to thank those past and present in our armed forces. While I don't always agree with their use and deployment, specifically in Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, that doesn't mean I'm not thankful for their service.

Unfortunately, I strongly feel that the country isn't doing all it can and should do for our returning troops, especially those who are wounded mentally and physically. I'll have more on that soon - I saw a story on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday that had me hopeful, saddened and angered - it was about our troops who have been wounded and severely burned by IEDs in Iraq. But, more on that a bit later.

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T08:35:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the recent inactivity - it's been hard to find time to breathe lately - I've never taught six college courses in a semester, but it's been quite the bear.

Anyway, Happy Earth Day to all of you - more than any other Earth Day in my lifetime, I'm thinking of ways today that I can lessen my carbon footprint - to use less, recycle more, and to conserve, which is truly the spirit of Earth Day.

I'll be back late this evening with more, and I've got PLENTY of thoughts to share with you all in the coming days about recent developments in the world of politics - just because I haven't posted doesn't mean I haven't had my ear to the ground; I'm a big ball of excitement and outrage, all rolled into one - there have been some truly despicable things going on in Washington, D.C., yet some inspiring things, too. Yes, in the cynical world we live in, I can still be inspired. And hopefully I can inspire some of you, too.

As I go about my business today, I'll try to come up with the answer as to who the stupidest man in America is - Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. Try picking a winner there! Talk about a Murder's Row of idiocy.

More later.

Limbaugh now merely a parody of himself

2009-02-28T09:45:00.004-05:00

I stopped getting angry at anything at comes out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth long ago. But that doesn't mean that I'll stop pointing it out.

During one of his latest tirades, well documented as always by Media Matters, the drug addicted, bloated one dropped the curtain to give us a deep look into the commode that passes for his soul to reveal his MO for the length of the Obama administration (let's hope it's 8): that he hopes Obama "fails."

All I can say is this: Typical.

I find it pretty stupefying how quickly Repubes have changes course in just over 30 days since Obama took office. For eight years, they whined, sniveled and complained about liberals and progressives "rooting for Bush to fail in Iraq" (among other places), yet now they openly despise Obama while shamelessly rooting for his policies to fail. Talk about Party Before Country.

As much as I despised Bush's policies in Iraq (and will go to my grave with the unflinching belief that our misguided war was and is a wast of taxpayer money, not to mention all of the bloodshed), I never, EVER hoped that our military would fail. I think Bush led us down many disastrous roads, but I do believe that he believed he was doing the right thing for the country and the American people. Well, that's not entirely true, though - I think the last six months of his presidency (and especially during the last three), when he knew Obama was going to be president, Bush quietly did all he could to make sure that Obama got handed a big steaming turd on January 20, 2009.

I do support Limbaugh's right to say what he says, and quite frankly I hope he keeps on saying it. Hey, God bless him - it just reaffirms my belief that Obama is doing something right if he's driving Limbaugh nuts.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Limbaugh's ratings go up, not down; so many conservatives now feel under siege because Obama is president - you know, that they've losing their country, and blah blah blah.

However, I do think that the government should step in and do something to promote a diversity of voices over our radio airwaves. NO, I'm not advocating that anyone should have his or her "microphone taken away" (already a trite right-wing talking point), but the government should do all it can to strongly encourage companies to provide a diversity of voices on their airwaves. Actually, no, the government should REQUIRE a diversity of voices. I'm sick and tired of right wingers whining about the phantom "liberal media."

I wrote about his last fall before the presidential campaign got into high gear, but perhaps it's best to remember one of Sun Tzu's maxims from The Art of War: It is wise to present your greatest strength as your greatest weakness, and that's precisely what Republicans have been doing for the last 40 years with regard to our mainstream media. (Thanks once again, President Nixon.)

If you think I'm exaggerating, go back and find some Sarah Palin interviews from last fall's campaign - whenever bad news came out, she just went on the offensive, bashing the "liberal media," which is always red meet for the drooling drones on the right.

Anyway, Limbaugh is simply a modern-day Joseph Goebbels, although thankfully many more Americans dismiss Limbaugh than Germans dismissed Goebbels.

By the way, if you're one of the few liberals left who doesn't support and visit Media Matters, I strongly encourage you to do just that. The folks over there are doing tremendously effective and important work.

I'll be back later this evening with lots more, so please check back. (And, as usual, there I'll have lots to share on Sunday.)

Obama's speech: HOPE vs. NOPE

2009-02-26T10:16:00.006-05:00

Just in case you didn't get a chance to view it the other night, here's President Obama's complete speech. I'll be back a bit later today with much more to say about it, but in short, below is the part of the speech that I found particularly poignant (and I'm echoing C&L from a few days ago, because I agree whole-heartedly):

President Obama: I've come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others. And rightly so. If you haven't been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has – a friend; a neighbor; a member of your family. You don't need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.

It's the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It's the job you thought you'd retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that's now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this:

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

Yes! That's exactly the note of optimism that America needs right now. Of course, the Doubting Thomases (Read: Republicans) are taking aim at Obama's speech, saying it was "well short on specifics." In some ways, yes, but what was he supposed to do, talk for four hours? Then these people would have complained that his speech was too long. Obama needs to mostly ignore these ~~critics~~ bitter nitpickers, who are angry that McSame and Palin didn't win the election. No matter what Obama does, these people will have something to say. So be it - at least Obama is trying, which is much more that can be said for Bush during the last year of his presidency.

Put another way, just think for a second what kind of confidence McCain and PALIN would be instilling in the American people right now had they won; McCain would be babbling about a $300 million award for a car battery, and Palin would be responding to questions about the economy with a *Wink* and a "You betchya!" Puleeze.

Perhaps no one summarized Obama's speech better than CNN's David Gergen on Tuesday night, who had this to say:

...this was the most ambitious president we've ever heard in this chamber in decades. The first half of the speech was FDR, fighting for the New Deal. The second half was Lyndon Johnson, fighting for the Great Society, and we've never seen those two presence [sic] rolled together in quite this way.

That about nails it, and I rarely find myself agreeing with Gergen.

However, the night was only getting started. It really got entertaining when Gov. Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (R-LA) gave the Republican response to Obama's speech, which was beyond laughable. See for yourself:

I don't have enough time to offer thoughts on Jindal's "response," but I'll be back later today. It was pretty priceless.

I'll also have lots more today on Obama's $4 tn budget that he unveiled yesterday; it's not a perfect budget (no budget is), but there is a great deal to like.

Alan Keyes McCarthy: welcome to 1950

2009-02-23T18:14:00.007-05:00

I always knew that Alan Keyes was a far-right wing extremist crackpot (and so did an overwhelming majority of Americans, hence his lack of traction in running for president on three separate occasions), but today he reached a new low, even for him. Take a listen to his comments about President Obama. If he changed his last name to McCarthy and we turned our clocks back about 60 years, to listen to him, you wouldn't know the difference between Alan Keyes and Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

The most alarming lowlight:

Obama is a radical communist, and I think it is becoming clear. That is what I told people in Illinois and now everybody realizes it's true," said Keyes, who ran unsuccessfully against Obama for the state's open Senate seat in 2004. "He is going to destroy this country, and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist.

Other than being political pornography for the likes of sewer rats like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, this sort of rhetoric does absolutely zilch for our political discourse, and I find his comments deeply disturbing but not at all surprising.

This guy has a lot of anger. Maybe it's because he simply cannot win elective office on a national scale. Or maybe it's because this Reagan right wingnut is frustrated that his daughter came out as a lesbian. (You might want to call Dick Cheney for some advice about how to reconcile this contradiction in your sick, twisted mind, Alan.)

At any rate, could this guy be any more cliché? The only mildly surprising thing is that Keyes didn't call him a "pinko liberal." If we give him long enough, I'm sure he won't disappoint.

Looks like Keyes is using the well-worn, dog-eared playbook of Karl Rove, where it's considered sport to depict political adversaries as evil, intent on destroying America, and blah, blah, blah.

Philly's Inky & Daily News bankrupt

2009-02-23T07:18:00.007-05:00

Well, I can't say I'm surprised.

Philadelphia Media Holdings, L.L.C., the company created by Brian Tierney (left) a few years ago that purchased both The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It's another sad chapter in a long list of them for the nation's daily newspapers, and it's pretty sad to see. It's also sad to see that the once great Inky, as it is sometimes known, continues its downward slide.

Even though I personally dislike him greatly for being the partisan GOP hack that he is, I was pulling for Tierney and Co. to turn around Philly's newspapers. I feel his failure to do so is mostly a sign of the times - the newspaper itself is turning into a relic of yesteryear - something that Baby Boomers and grandfathers read. Personally, I no longer buy them, but I do visit my favorite paper's Websites on a daily basis: the Inquirer's, as well as the LA Times, the Washington Post and of course The New York Times. I don't think that any but the most successful papers have figured out how to make money off of their Websites, yet, but I think it will happen.

But, I do fault Tierney for a few decisions he's made. When the announcement was made that he would be operating the city's newspapers, Tierney pledged that he would not meddle with the editorial content of the papers. I don't think that even his biggest cheerleaders, if they were being completely honest, believed that one. And it didn't take the skeptics long to be proven right.

I couldn't help but laugh when Tierney hired former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who lost his reelection bid in 2006 to Sen. Bob Casey, to be a columnist for the Inquirer's editorial page. Hmm, that was a smart move - it didn't take a genius to figure out that one of the country's most Democratic cities wasn't exactly crying out to hear from one of the most polarizing Republicans in recent memory. Maybe Tierney can, ahem, inquire if Sarah Palin is available to write about her pathetic qualifications for being vice president or president? Yea, I'm sure Philly would love that.

A more damning incident about Tierney's stewardship occurred prior to the '08 election, when the editorial board voted to endorse Barack Obama for president. An editorial meeting about the endorsement reportedly became quite heated when Tierney forcefully pushed for the endorsement of Sen. John McCain. So much for not interfering with editorial content.

And so much for a comeback for Philly's daily newspapers.

Here's hoping that Philly's newspapers survive this latest sad chapter in their respective histories. My prediction is that the Inquirer will survive, but the Daily News will not. It's been rumored for years that the Daily News will be shuttered, and I think within the next year or two, we'll sadly see that happen.

Must-sees: Taking Chance & Burning Coal

2009-02-22T17:33:00.002-05:00

I saw two movies this weekend while convalescing from some sort of nasty virus, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

The best and by far the most powerful movie I've seen in a long time is Taking Chance, a movie by HBO Films. The film plots the journey of the body of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps - from the battlefield all the way home to his final resting place in Dubois, Wyoming, following his death in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

I found the movie to be an incredible inspiration, and educational, too. I had no idea that there was any such thing as uniformed military escorts, and that soldiers' bodies were never without an escort, from their death on the battlefield to the grave.

This film should be required viewing for every American; I know that won't happen, but it's that powerful. These days, now that deaths aren't piling up in Iraq and Afghanistan as they were a few years ago, and with the economy in the tank, both of the conflicts that our country is now fighting, all in our names, doesn't get the media coverage it deserves. What's more, Americans aren't exposed to the powerful images that this film offers - our soldiers being carried home - the real cost of war.

In the film, Kevin Bacon portrays Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl, a Desert Storm veteran, who came across Chance's name on a casualty list; they both came from the same hometown, and Strobl volunteered to escort him home. While Strobl accompanies Chance's body across the country from Dover Air Force Base to Wyoming, he is visibly touched and moved by the outpouring of support he receives from the many people he runs across during the journey. I found it impossible to not be moved by this story - the film is impeccably directed and produced, sans the Hollywood razzle-dazzle, which this story doesn't need.

Bacon's performance is masterful, which I've come to expect from such a fine actor - one of the best of his generation. He cuts a pretty impressive, believable figure in a Marine uniform, too, just as he did in A Few Good Men nearly 20 years ago.

You must see this movie, regardless if you have any interest in the military. Every American should see it to better understand the impact that the death of ONE soldier can have on a community, much less the impact that 4,247* can have - the current American death toll in Iraq - or 657*, the number of American dead from the War in Afghanistan.

* - as of this afternoon

The second movie, Burning the Future: Coal in America, rips the scab off of coal production in West Virginia, and, needless to say, it uncovers a lot of pus.

I find it startling and amazing that the coal companies in America continue to have the power they do - both over our supply of electricity and our political system and politicians. We can and we must end our reliance on coal if we are to clean up the air we breathe. It doesn't take a scientist to deduce that burning coal has had horrible consequences for the planet, but I never knew the extent of the environmental ramifications that strip mining has on the communities surrounding these mines.

Burning the Future takes a pretty startling look at what those consequences are, including polluted ground water, increased flooding, polluted rivers and streams and tens of thousands of dead fish and wildlife.

I don't know if it's outrageous or hilarious when these coal companies trot out their PR flaks to try and defend the coal industry during this film - it almost sounds like stand-up comedy. It reminded me of the GM executives who lamely tried to explain away the company's inexplicable decision to kill the GM EV-1 electric car during the movie Who Killed the Electric Car. Hey, someone has to lie for the cameras, right? When I hear people simply lie for a company or an industry, it makes me both relieved and delighted that I'm no longer teaching public relations.

So far, and it's obviously very young in his presidency, but President Obama is no exception to Big Coal's death grip on both our politics and our energy supply. I heard Obama on numerous occasions during the '08 campaign extol the virtues of "clean coal technologies," which is a misnomer if there ever was one. There currently isn't any such viable thing as a way to burn coal "cleanly" that's cost effective, and even if there was, there doesn't seem to be a willingness on the part of coal companies to extract it from the ground in an environmentally friendly way.

The only viable answer, and it's not exactly viable yet, is to come up with other means of electricity production.

I understand why Obama said what he said about coal during the campaign- after all, he needed votes in Ohio and Pennsylvania to win the presidency. Being anti-coal would have cost him the presidency, period. I prefer to view the glass as half full - that Obama said what he said knowing that once he won the presidency, he could affect some change in our energy policy. Sof far, his intentions regarding energy make me very hopeful that his presidency will be the beginning of the end of coal; I realize it's going to be a long time until we are kicked of this filthy habit, but we've got to start sometime, and that time is now.

Burning the Future: Coal in America is now airing on the Sundance Channel - it's a very enlightening look at one of America's best-kept dirty secrets - our powerful coal industry. Take a look and educate yourself about coal, and then write your elected representatives and senators - our health depends on it.

For a much more in-depth look at the power of Big Coal, I strongly recommend the book Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future, by Jeff Goodell. I read this book last year, and I'll never forget it.

Today I'm thinking about The White Rose

2009-02-22T15:41:00.006-05:00

Today I'm thinking about The White Rose, the German Resistance Movement to the Nazis during World War II.

Above, members of the White Rose, Munich 1942, (from left): Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, confer to plot strategy against one of the most brutal regimes humanity has ever known. Okay, I have to confess, I didn't think of The White Rose just out of the blue - Wikipedia gave me an assist with its "On This Day..." section, which I read every day. Sixty six years ago today, following their capture by the Gestapo, members of The White Rose were found guilty of treason and guillotined.

I'm looking forward to reading some books about The White Rose, most notably Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, by Jud Newborn. I find their heroism and courage inspiring, especially considering the odds they faced and the consequences they surely knew they were facing if they were captured, which they were. Hitler and the Nazis had a zero-tolerance policy, to say the least, against any political opposition whatsoever. I cannot even begin to comprehend that sort of cost for opposition to one's government; despite what some would have us believe, especially during the George W. Bush administration, we had a duty to keep our mouths shut and "get behind our president while troops were in the field." What a crock.

And my feelings haven't changed now that Obama is president - questioning what our government is doing, including Obama, isn't only a right, it's a responsibility, and that hasn't changed with the new administration.

The people of The White Rose didn't just question, they put our lives on the line and paid the ultimate price. They should be remembered around the world for their courage in the face of horrifying consequences.

At right is the monument to the "Weiße Rose" in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where their memory is alive and well.

I shudder when I read what some of the leaders of The White Rose wrote in their leaflets - here are two short experts...

From The White Rose's first of six leaflets that the group distributed, guerrilla-style, to university students and other covert places:

Isn't it true that every honest German is ashamed of his government these days? Who among us can imagine the degree of shame that will come upon us and our children when the veil falls from our faces and the awful crimes that infinitely exceed any human measure are exposed to the light of day?

Pretty chilling words when read almost 70 years later.

Even more damning, from the group's second leaflet:

Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way - the German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals... Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!

If only the German people and the rest of the world had listened.

Stewart takes Sununu to task over spending

2009-02-21T21:38:00.002-05:00

I have to admit that when Obama won the presidency, I was wondering how the few prominent left-wing voices would react and adjust. Well, so far, so good.

Jon Stewart hasn't lost his sardonic wit or the ability to tell a politician "eff you" with a smile on his face. The latest example was when former Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) appeared on the show to rail against the Democratically controlled Congress' spending. Well, it didn't take Stewart long to point out the rank hypocrisy involved in such whining, and I loved every minute of it.

My favorite part in the clip above is when Stewart points out Republicans' way of thinking regarding spending: "It's as if history starts RIGHT NOW." Very well said - how much money have we spent in Iraq and Afghanistan to date? With interest, into the trillions, when these wars are all said and done, and we don't seem to be close in either case. (The worst part about it is that we don't seem to have anything to show for either war, but that's another topic.) Kudos to Stewart for also pointing out the Bush tax cuts which were rammed through Congress with Republican majorities in both houses - these will also cost taxpayers into the trillions, with interest.

Yet, overnight, Republicans are trying to re-don their traditional "fiscal conservative" robes after eight years under Bush of virtual blank-check spending (and this includes ill-advises tax cuts). Clearly Stewart isn't buyin' it. Neither am I, and you shouldn't, either. If there's ever been a case where deficit spending is necessary, it's right now.

Personally, I don't think Obama's plan went far enough. I think we're going to see a whole lot more spending in an attempt to dig us out of this hole. I don't know if it's going to work, and President Obama probably doesn't, either. But, at least he's taking action, which is a whole lot better than inaction.

It's fun watching Sean Hannity melt down

2009-02-21T20:33:00.002-05:00

Sean Hannity is a great American success story - success because he has no college education, yet because he knew someone in the right-wing media, and because he's willing to say anything to propagate a right-wing extreme agenda, he gets paid millions. (By the way, if this sounds like envy, think again - I'd much prefer the life I have now than be a multi-million dollar liar.)

Anyway, it's going to be equal parts amusing and frightening to listen to Hannity over the next four years (and hopefully the next eight) while he no doubt does anything he can to undermine President Obama and his attempts to better America, which has suffered mightily under Hannity's object of worship, Dubya.

As C&L so wisely noted a few days ago, since Obama's inauguration, Fox has run what little dignity and air of objectivity it had through the shredder. The "network" is now a veritable 24-hour propaganda network devoted to destroying Obama and his plans for America, consequences be damned. And most of its viewers go forth and mimic the musings of Hannity and Co. as if it's political gospel. (I know a few people like this, and when they say something particularly ridiculous and I ask, "Oh, did you hear that on Hannity's show?" they play dumb and say "Hannity?!? I don't listen to Hannity!")

By the way, I love how Fox now never misses an opportunity to use the word socialist like they've being so clever. Count that as another word (right behind liberal) that progressives need to reclaim. And I LOVE the creepy music in Hannity's little montage above about the stimulus package - it really does sound like one of those old recruiting commercials for the U.S. Marines.

As I said, it's all pretty entertaining. And frightening.

h/t to C&L for the video

A sage This Modern World

2009-02-21T16:56:00.003-05:00

[Click for larger image]

I haven't published a This Modern World cartoon in a little while, and this one isn't the latest, but it is his latest greatest cartoon - how the Republicans keep shooting themselves, even worse than the Democrats for once. (And how many times have I been able to say THAT since I began this blog? Actually, how many times have I been able to say that in the last 30 years? Not many.)

Tom Tomorrow said in a much more sage and humorous way what I've been saying since Obama took the Oath of Office: Republicans whined for years that Democrats wanted to see Bush fail in Iraq (which I found to be mostly a lie - I know I didn't want him to fail, I just wanted to war to END, and I still do), and now Republicans, led by the bloated drug addict, are openly rooting for Obama's economic stimulus plan to fail, which could very well spiral our economy into another Great Depression. Yea, let's root for THAT for the sake of partisan politics.

Well, anyway, what does Limbaugh care? He's got his $100 million+ broadcasting contract, so if the economy tanks, he'll still have money for his Krispy Kremes and OxyContin, right? These people are unbelievable, and by "people" I also mean the Republican "leaders" in Congress. (I'll have more on those laughable clowns in a bit.)

Maher is back: New Rules

2009-02-21T14:02:00.003-05:00

Last night marked the return of Bill Maher's Real Time after a two-month hiatus. As usual, his show was marked with humor, lots of wit, and yes, some serious political discussion. His all-woman panel focused almost exclusively on the economy, and how much trouble we really are in. Not a great way to end an already downtrodden Friday, but we need plenty of frank political discussion like this - we sure aren't getting enough of it in our mainstream media.

I'm glad to see that Maher is continuing his tradition of finishing his show with the New Rules segment - I never miss it. Last night's was more funny than serious, & not his best, but still worth a listen. I'll cut him some slack, since he's just coming back from such a long layoff.

Maher's skewering of Republican Minority Leader John Boehner was particularly funny - seriously, why is this guy so tan? Of course, I can't add much to what Maher said, but I do find it pretty funny. And by the way, I'd like to know just how one comes up with the pronunciation BAY-ner with that spelling? God, the poor guy - he must have been mercilessly teased as a child - that's a lot of anger to be carrying around. His anger took a pretty funny turn last week, which I'll discuss in just a bit.

Set your DVRs for Friday nights at 10 - it's must-view TV for Progressives.

Happy Birthday to the Peace Sign

2009-02-21T09:41:00.005-05:00

Okay, I'm back for real this time. Sorry for the recent inactivity on here - teaching six classes is proving to be much more difficult than I could have possibly imagined, and being very sick during the past week hasn't done much for my schedule, either. Anyway, I've got lots to blog about, and I've been keeping up with political developments, and as you might guess, I have lots of opinions...

But first, today marks the birthday of the Peace Sign, a sign created by Gerald Holtom. It's hard to overestimate the impact that this symbol has had on the world, and by that I mean a positive impact. It's hard to imagine a peace movement or even a war, for that matter, without the peace symbol being a part of it.

I doubt Holtom could have possibly imagined the impact this symbol would have had when he first drew it 51 years ago, but the symbol sure has endured.

CMB is back!

2009-01-20T14:07:00.008-05:00

Obviously, today is a pretty big day - one that I will long remember. I'll have much more to say in the coming days and weeks, obviously.

On a personal note, I apologize that I've been away for so long. It obviously wasn't planned that way, it just sort of... happened. We were in California for the holidays for 16 days, and I was busy wrapping up a very busy semester right before we left, which left preciously little time for blogging. Plus, honestly, I needed to step back from the world of politics for a bit, too, and the transitional period following the election was a pretty good time to do just that.

What's more, this past election was as contentious for me personally as I can ever remember - with spirited debates flying back and forth among acquaintances and friends via text messages and e-mail. In fact, I've now come to the conclusion that discussing politics among close friends with differing political views is an inherently bad idea, and for the most part, I no longer do it. Some of my friends (who I will not name here) have become so indoctrinated by our right-wing media that it's just simply impossible to have any sort of meaningful debate with them, so I'm not going to try. (Hmm - now that I think about it, I have a few relatives like that, too, and they are worth the same amount of time as a few of my far right friends are.)

Yes, these people remain my friends because they mean a great deal to me - I've just learned to divorce them from their politics (as I'm quite sure they have done with me). So be it. Anyway, enough with the Dr. Phil stuff.

As you can see - the sidebars on this site are in dire need of an update, and that will happen in the coming days and weeks, so please check back often for updates, new features, and of course, lots of posts, too; after all, that's why I'm here, and it's no doubt why you're here, too. Just because Obama won the election doesn't mean our work is done. In fact - it's just beginning. (And by "our" I mean progressives/liberals/whatever is acceptable to call ourselves these days - I refer to myself as both of those labels, and unapologetically so.)

In case you didn't see it - here are clips from the Obama Inauguration - enjoy.

Obama taking the Oath of Office:

Obama's Inaugural Address:

Here are two parts of his inaugural address that I found particularly poignant:

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

I wonder if Congressional Republicans were listening when he talked about "set[ting] aside childish things"? Somehow, I doubt it. I sincerely hope that we don't return to the politics of personal destruction of the 1990s, but I'm not very hopeful. The right wingnuts aren't simply lay down and get stampeded be Democrats, and they certainly aren't going to take Obama's victory in stride. I hope for that, but I know better.

I was also pleased that Obama took on the naysayers, for there are many who will be too busy griping about why things can't be done, as opposed to finding reasons why they can be done:

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

Very well said.

And so we begin anew - I have high hopes, but realistic expectations. I know things aren't going to get better overnight; in fact, I know things will likely get worse before they get better. But, at least we have a capable, articulate leader at the tiller now.

Much more later. ...

The war is over!

2008-12-30T12:38:00.003-05:00

Okay, not the wars that count, but it never hurts to wish. (Take that, Bill O'Lielly!)

Sorry for the month+ of inactivity - it was the result of being very busy at the end of my teaching semester, lots of holiday travel (I'm still in California for another week) and the need to just step back from politics for a bit. Leading up to the election, I was incessantly blogging and reading about politics in all of my spare time.

Anyway, I'm BACK, and over the next few days, I'll have plenty "End-of-the-Year" stuff, and I've got much to say about what's been going on in the world of politics over the past few weeks. And, of course, we have a pretty big date coming up in 21 days - the inauguration.

So, please stay tuned for a whole lot of content in the coming days and weeks, and if you don't get back before the new year, please have a happy and safe one.

I'm off to the Ronald Reagan Library today in Simi Valley for some 80s ~~propaganda~~ history about his presidency. I'll share some photos later.

Welcome to my boycott list, Home Depot

2008-11-20T13:45:00.010-05:00

I've shopped in Home Depot for the last time. Why, you might ask? This is what one of the chain's co-founders, Bernie Marcus, had to say during a radio interview the other day:

"If a retailer has not gotten involved with this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to Norm Coleman and these other guys," Mr. Marcus said, apparently referring to Republican senators facing tough re-election fights, then those retailers "should be shot; should be thrown out of their goddamn jobs."

No, Bernie, (at right) what I'm not doing it shopping in your goddamn store.

It will never ceases to amaze me how stupid people running businesses can be when it comes to partisan politics. I hear conservatives whining and complaining all the time about "lib-rul actors" in Hollywood for voicing their political views, but one seldom hears criticism levied against people like Marcus, who rely on millions of Americans for their patronage in order to run a successful business. It's just flat-out dumb, at best. I always get a kick out of businesses that willfully put up signs during presidential campaigns. You know what? I will drive further and even pay a little more to give my money to a business that, at best supports my candidate, but at least has the smarts to keep political opinions private.

To put it into context, Marcus was asked a question about the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, which will make it much easier for employees to join unions. Home Depot has a strong anti-union reputation, and the fear mongering has started now that we'll have a Democratically controlled Congress in January. The new Congress will almost certainly pass the EFCA, and Obama will certainly sign it into law. And that has Marcus in a twist.

Tough. Unions have been getting the shaft for too long in this country, and it's high time we brought them back. We should be making it easier for employees to join a union if they want, not more difficult, which is what millionaires like Marcus want.

Yes, I know that Marcus is retired, but he no doubt still owns a significant amount of the company's stock, and I'm not in the mood to line his pockets after reading these comments.

By the way, I'm loving it that a Lowe's is right across the street from Home Depot in South Philly, so I don't even have to drive any further to get stuff for our condo. Thanks, Lowe's!

This is how far we have fallen under Bush

2008-11-20T13:09:00.002-05:00

It's pretty bad when world leaders won't even shake the hand of the President of our country, but that's exactly what happened at the G20 summit. In the video above, our lame-duck president walks in front of a parade of world leaders without shaking or being asked to shake any of their hands. Whether he was rejected by the world leaders or he was doing the rejecting (insert Dana Perino press conference here), CNN's Rick Sanchez probably put it best: Bush looks like "the most unpopular kid in high school that nobody liked."

At least in 60 days, we will have a breath of fresh air. Things are going to remain bad for a long, long time, but at least we'll have a competent leader at the controls, one who can perhaps reach out to allies and get some cooperation in the global fight to pull us out of the world-wide economic slowdown. God only knows that countries aren't lining up to help us now with Bush at the helm.

Video via HuffPo

William Ayers on Good Morning America

2008-11-14T20:24:00.005-05:00

It amazes me that the media just doesn't get it - America doesn't care about William Ayers, and certainly the election a week-and-a-half ago is all the evidence one should need.

Yet, this morning, Good Morning America hosted William Ayers to ask about his past and present association with President-Elect Barack Obama. No matter how many different ways Ayers gave a full accounting of his alleged "friendship" with Obama, Chris Cuomo kept asking the question in five or six subtly different ways. This is such a non-story.

On another note, I plan on reading Ayers' book, Fugitive Days, which is now being reintroduced with a new forward and afterward.

I also think it's highly hypocritical for people to criticize someone for trying to make a difference during an unjust, illegal war where over 58,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese died. Yes, violence shouldn't be the answer, but the media painted Ayers as someone who killed innocent people (he didn't), while our government was responsible for and trying to justify the deaths of thousands of people. (Much like today, actually.) Revolution was in the air, and Ayers was hardly the only one with those feelings.

The man has renounced his violent ways, yet the media persists.

What's more, I decided to go back and do a little checking for his comments in the New York Times when he said "we didn't do enough" in regard to the Weatherman Underground's bombings and terrorist activities, and I found it - it was published on Sept. 11, 2001, which means the interview was conducted days or weeks prior to the 9-11 attacks.

However, this truth doesn't fit into the media's meme of painting Ayers as a man who, after the Sept. 11 attacks, said "we didn't do enough." Oops! I guess their characterization was off by a day. Again, a fact ignored by those on the right who were trying to smear Obama.

I admire Ayers' past and previous activism (sans the bombings), and I'm not going to try and judge a man who tried to make a difference to end a war that was killing countless innocent people. I look forward to reading his book.

Pinch me, because I must be dreamin'...

2008-11-14T17:22:00.001-05:00

(And I'll probably type the above an infinite number of times between now and the middle of 2009, at the earliest)

Sorry for all of the recent inactivity on here - I've had one of the busiest and exhausting weeks in recent memory. Anyway, back to politics...

It seems that there's at least one journalist over at Fersatz News who has a shred of credibility, and his name is Sheppard Smith. Check out the exchange in the video above between Smith and Nick DiPaolo:

DiPaolo:...the MSM being so in the tank for Obama...

Smith: Oh, please. That's preposterous. The MSM reflected what was happening in this nation. It did not drive it. The blogs didn't drive this movement, the media didn't drive this movement. Barack Obama did not lose this election. It was his to lose. It was not John McCain's to win. The Republicans had no shot unless the Democrats gave it to them and they didn't and to blame the media is a cop out and ridiculous....

DiPaolo The MSM has been liberal since its inception. It's years and years of pounding...

Smith: How did George Bush win twice?

DiPaolo: I don't know. Karl Rove is a genius.

DiPaolo misses two key points: 1. Both elections were stolen, and 2. If Karl Rove is such a genius, then why didn't McCain's Swiftboating of Obama prove feckless? The answer is simple - America wasn't falling for it this time.

Maybe, just maybe, the GOP meme of blaming the media for all bad news and events that are unfavorable to Repubes will die with Obama's victory. Okay, now I am dreaming, but this strategy has been in play since the days of President Nixon, who so hated and despised the media.

And I guess that DiPaolo must have been asleep while the media raked Obama over the coals about these topics:

1. The bogus madrassa story (endlessly pimped by Fersatz News until debunked by CNN and some other networks)
2. William Ayers
3. ACORN (porn for Republicans)
4. His alleged ties to anti-Israel radicals
5. Insinuations that he isn't a US-born citizen
6. "Lipstick on a Pig" and the associated accoutrements shouted about by McCain and his enablers
7. Jeremiah Wright (for eight straight days on Fox, MSNBC, CNN and just about every other major news network when the story first went "national" after weeks and weeks of pimping by Fox, Limbaugh and Hannity)
8. The smear about Obama's aunt the weekend before the election
9. Then there's Rashid Khalidi - another phony guilt by association story that failed to stick just days before the election
10. One of my favorites (these are in no particular order) - McCain huffed that Obama hadn't been to Iraq and that he hadn't been to Afghanistan in years; once Obama went, then McCain and conservatives whined about Obama's press coverage, saying lamely that Obama was taking a "victory lap"
11. And who in the hell can forget Joe the Plumber, the Kato Kaelin of the 2008 campaign. I'll have much more on Joe a bit later.

###

What's more, up until a few years ago, McCain used to joke that the media was "his base." I guess I'd feel that way, too if the press ran up the flagpole whatever I decided to call myself without questioning it, i.e. - Maverick, Straight Talker, etc.

I have to agree with Sheppard here - the media wasn't necessarily rooting for Obama - it was merely reporting just how inept the McCain campaign was. When Sarah Palin wasn't even able to answer basic foreign policy questions, while asserting that being able "to see Russia from Alaska" gave her foreign policy expertise, then McCain and Palin merely got the coverage they deserved.

What's more, there was plenty that the media failed to explore - Sarah Palin's known links to the independent Alaska movement, McCain's many flip flops on a variety of issues, etc.

But, hey, whatever - who's whining? Not me - McCain got whupped. But, that's not going to stop the right from whimpering like babies for weeks (months? years?) on end. I'm getting a particular kick out of listening to Hannity, O'Lielly, Rush, Drudge and the rest all scrambling to discredit Obama, because for the next four years (and hopefully eight), they will have nothing better to do. They don't have ideas of their own - they merely want to tear Obama down. I hope the president-elect and his team will be prepared for it.

I know I am and will be.

As I've told countless friends and acquaintances since election night - our work is not over - it's just beginning.

A lil' Real Time for your Sunday morning

2008-11-09T13:02:00.004-05:00

Bill Maher's final New Rule on his show Friday night is one of the best I've ever heard him deliver:

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 bulls#*t. Let's not kid ourselves. The hard core Republican base is like a stalker. Rejection just makes them crazier. You think Matt Drudge was a vindictive p#%ck before. His headline Wednesday morning was Senior Citizen and Woman Beaten By 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 90's 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 hair cuts and old land deals and the Lincoln Bedroom and getting blown. But this ain't the 90's.

We've got two wars, a melting planet and the only thing keeping the economy from total collapse is Sarah Palin's shopping sprees. But you know what phrase I don't want to hear used frivolously for the next four years whenever Barack Obama forgets to put the kids in the car seat? Disrespect for the rule of law. Dick Cheney ordered prisoners tortured by name. That ship has sailed.

I don't want to hear Sean Hannity say that "Barack Obama announced that his daughters will 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 preemptive war and then f%#ks it up and makes torture our official policy and outs a CIA agent and purges US Attorneys and tries to put his cleaning lady on the Supreme Court and doesn't act on global warming and appoints at the head of FEMA an ex-d*#do 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. If he puts a moon roof in the Presidential limo, he's not making himself Fuehrer. He's just trying to get the smell of stupidity out of the seats. 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 who really want to look into something for the next four years, my suggestion, try a mirror.

Don't hold your breath on Hannity, Bill - the neocons have already kicked the hate machine into overdrive, which is saying something, considering the number of blatant lies put forth by McCain and his enablers during the campaign.

My not-so-bold prediction is that Obama's victory will do plenty for hate radio - narrow minded people who don't want to give Obama a chance and who so despise him will jump into the metaphorical arms of Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Bill O'Lielly, Matt Drudge, etc. We'll see.

Bonus:

How can you not laugh at the above footage of Fox News announcing that Barack Obama has won the presidency? It doesn't get much better than this, & it's pretty telling that the network called the presidential race in this way. Heaven forbid that a Fox personality be associated with declaring Obama president. And the network (and the right) wonder why Obama has shunned the network.

Some funny revelations about McCain & Palin

2008-11-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

I'm continuing to do post-mortem stuff about the election, and I have a few more pieces to bring you, just in case you haven't seen them. (Or even if you have - they are that good.)

Of all the losing tickets in recent memory, the ~~Palin-McCain~~ McCain Palin ticket has got to be the most hilarious. As it turns out, they both were as inept as many of us thought they were.

First, McCain: I've been writing it for some time now, and it bears repeating once more - McCain's choice of Palin disqualified him for being fit to serve as president. It now can be safely said that McCain either a. didn't vet Palin at all, or b. the campaign's vetting process was so hopelessly inept that staffers didn't even bother to adequately interview her. What else can we conclude? The video above offers up some great stuff. According to Fox News Channel (yes, you read that right), some of the Palin lowlights included:

-Not knowing which countries were in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

-Not knowing that Africa is a continent, not a country

-Temper tantrums and abuse of staff

-Refusing to prep for the Katie Couric interview, which by anyone's definition was an unmitigated disaster

-Oh, and then there's the clothes. I particularly love this point, because the right had a lot of fun for days on end following the revelation that former Sen. John Edwards was getting $400 haircuts.

Of course, Palin has a reputation to protect, since she obviously is eying a run for national office in '12, or maybe even sooner if a special election is held in Alaska for soon-to-be-former Sen. Ted Stevens. So, to protect that reputation, she has lashed out at her detractors.

From HuffPo:

"I consider it cowardly" that they did not allow their names to be used, she said.

Palin said those allegations aren't true. She recalled discussing Africa and NAFTA with aides who prepared her for the vice presidential debate with Democrat Joe Biden.

"If there are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep about NAFTA, and about the continent vs. the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context," she said. "That's cruel, It's mean-spirited. It's immature. It's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away with it, taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news. It's not fair, and it's not right."

That's a typical escape hatch that embarrassed people always use to deflect attention away from the embarrassment - that they were taken "out of context."

Quite frankly, had Palin's very few interviews not been so disastrous, maybe this stuff would be harder to believe. But, she couldn't even have a basic discussion about what she liked or didn't like about the Bush Doctrine. "What part, Charlie" will forever live on in election lore.

And if Palin is truly going to be the face of the Republican Party moving forward, the only danger to Democrats is overconfidence, because she's a complete disaster. Talk about judging a book by its cover. One of the right's hate messages about Obama was that with his experience, the only reason he was having electoral success is because he's black. (Which, by the way, is total b.s. - his education, knowledge and know-how have put him where he is - for instance, compare his educational background with those of McCain and Palin, and in about 10 seconds it'll pretty obvious to you who took his education seriously, and who didn't.)

Anyway, it's soo obvious that Palin was picked for her looks, and little else. I'm still laughing that one of my friends, a few weeks after Palin was selected for the ticket, said he was more excited about Palin "than any Republican since Reagan." Maybe I should ask him if he cares to revise that statement, since he did about as much research on Palin as the McCain campaign did.

Obama's first presser as President-Elect

2008-11-08T15:17:00.006-05:00

Here's footage of President-elect Barack Obama's first press conference. (I never get tired of typing and saying President-elect Barack Obama - in a little over two months, saying President Obama will be second nature [easier for some of us than others], but for now, it's new, and I'm still reveling in Obama's victory.)

I think Obama sounded just the right tone in his first press conference. Most importantly, he emphasized that we have "one president, and that is President Bush until Jan. 20."

I'm also thankful for the 20th Amendment, the "Lame-Duck Amendment"; otherwise, we would have had to wait until March 4 for Obama to take office. And we really can't wait that long until Bush is gone. In fact, I hate it that we have to wait until Jan. 20.

There were not big surprises during the question-and-answer session following Obama's remarks, but I found this answer particularly encouraging:

QUESTION: Senator, for the first time since the Iranian revolution, the president of Iran sent a congratulations note to a new U.S. president.

I'm wondering if, first of all, if you responded to President Ahmadinejad's note of congratulations and, second of all, and more importantly, how soon do you plan on sending low-level envoys to countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, to see if a presidential-level talk would be productive?

OBAMA: I am aware that the letter was sent. Let me state -- repeat what I stated during the course of the campaign.

Iran's development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. And we have to mount a international effort to prevent that from happening.

Iran's support of terrorist organizations I think is something that has to cease.

I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad, and we will respond appropriately. It's only been three days since the election. Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee-jerk fashion.

I think we've got to think it through.

But I have to reiterate once again that we only have one president at a time. And I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president and I won't be until January 20th.

We can only guess as to why Ahmadinejad sent Obama a note of congratulations, but if he thinks that Obama is going to be rolled over and an easy mark, he had best think again.

William Bennett: another neocon with a warped sense of race relations

2008-11-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

I forgot to get to this one following the election, but it's no less relevant.

Want to know why I no longer watch CNN? The network's employing conservative stooges like Glenn Beck (who will predictably move to Fox News in January) and GOP stooge William Bennett is one of the bigger reasons.

On election night, listen to this exchange between Bennett and CNN's Anderson Cooper (the latter being one of CNN's few bright spots):

Anderson Cooper: I mean, if he does become president, and it still is an if, does anyone know what this means in terms of change of race relations in the United States, or perception of?

Bennett: Well, I'll tell you one thing it means, as a former Secretary of Education: You don't take any excuses anymore from anybody who says, "The deck is stacked, I can't do anything, there's so much in-built this and that." There are always problems in a big society. But we have just - if this turns out to be the case, President Obama - we have just achieved an incredible milestone. For which the rest of the world needs to have more respect for the United States than it sometimes does.

Hmm, let's see, Obama will be our 44th president, and since we've had one in 44, now centuries of bigotry, racism and discrimination will all just magically melt away, right?

Here's another thought - maybe in regard to race relations, specifically Republicans, the rest of the world has a noted lack of respect because people like Karl Rove and Bennett himself have been proponents and architects of political tactics that have made it more difficult for African-Americans to vote or to have their vote count once it's cast. Or maybe it's the noted lack of African-American Republicans in Congress; the last time I checked, there were no black GOP Senators, and I with the retirement of J.C. Watts in 2003, there aren't any black Republicans in the House, either.

But, now that Obama has won the presidency, people like Bennett are quick to try and take the credit, but people of his political ilk so strenuously opposed his candidacy in the first place.

Pretty amazing, even by Bennett's often asinine standards and justifications.

Nader asks if Obama will be an Uncle Tom

2008-11-07T06:10:00.003-05:00

There are many things I like about Ralph Nader during his long career in consumer activism - he's done a great deal of good and raised a number of important issues by exposing numerous cases of malfeasance in corporate America.

However, politically? Forget it. I'll always consider him a traitor for what he did in 2000 - it's not an understatement to say that President Bush is where he is today as a direct result of Nader. But, political fortunes have ways of reversing, and Nader hasn't gotten any traction since then, thankfully. He ran for president again this year, and I think I received more votes for president than he did.

Anyway, he was on Fox News the day before yesterday to talk about his comments on Fox Radio that were as follows:

To put it very simply, he is our first African-American president in this country, or he will be. And we wish him very well. But his choice, basically, is whether he's going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations.

I understand Nader's point, but did he really need to use racially charged language like that. Really classy, Nader, really classy.

As Nicole Belle said so succinctly on Wednesday, it's pretty bad when Shepard Smith of Fox News looks classier than you do, Nader.

And by the way, I don't disagree with all of Nader's points, specifically when he mentions how manufacturing in this country has been parceled out to dictators in third-world countries, but there's a right way and a wrong way to go about making a point. When you use racist phrases, your message, however sage it might be, gets lost in lots and lots of noise (as it should be).

Shame on you, Ralph Nader.

Joe Scarbourough: another partisan hack

2008-11-07T05:54:00.004-05:00

Of all the Republican talking heads in our mainstream media, specifically TV, I've largely felt that Joe Scarborough is one of the more reasonable ones - not a ridiculous, babbling buffoon like Bill O'Lielly.

But, the Republican infighting has begun, as well as conservative pundits' criticizing and castigating Obama's every move as he sets up his administration. After all, the GOP just got pwned a few days ago, and the party and its supporters are fightin' mad. This is to be expected - I remember not-so-fondly in 1992 when then President-elect Clinton's transition team weathered similar criticism, but right-wing hate radio wasn't anywhere near the size it is today, and there were fewer Sean Hannitys back then.

A few mornings ago, Joe Scarborough wasted no time criticizing Obama's choice for White House Chief of Staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL-5). On his show, Morning Joe, Scarborough laughably compared Emanuel to former disgraced House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Seriously, Scarborough said it -- with a straight face.

So, Scarborough is comparing DeLay, a former member of Congress who is under federal indictment (and who is also tied to the Jack Abramoff scandal), to Rahm Emanuel, who has a reputation of being a tough political fighter and effective fundraiser? The last time I checked, Emanuel has not been involved in, accused of, or indicted of any crimes.

It would be a compliment to accuse Scarborough of using political hyperbole to disagree with an appointment, but calling it mindless, stupid partisanship would be more accurate.

Here's hoping that Obama has learned the lessons of the Clinton presidency, and that's to aggressively fight back against partisan smears, slanders and innuendo. As president, I realize Obama can't get distracted every little criticism, but Clinton allowed some blatant lies and distortions put forth by the right-wing media to fester, which in some cases proved an old maxim true: If you repeat a lie long enough, often enough and forcefully enough, people eventually start to believe it.

And by the way, what's with every Republican pundit having a fetish about President Jimmy Carter? (Sort of like their fetish with Ronald Reagan.) Carter's the president they point to when they are trying to make a political point. I'll go to my grave believing that Carter wasn't nearly as bad of a president as people make him out to be. Sure, he made plenty of mistakes (the Iranian hostages), but he also did a great deal of good, too. That's okay though - because Democrats will now have a president (George W. Bush) it can point to for decades when they want to make political points on the other side.

Let's bid these a not-so-fond farewell

2008-11-06T12:08:00.001-05:00

Now that the election is over, here are a few phrases, words and people I could go, oh, the rest of my life without hearing about or from, ever again. ...

• My friends!

• Straight Talk (These two are probably toast, as the sun is setting on McCain's political career. He may run for reelection in '10, but that'll be about it).

• You betchya!

• Joe the Plumber, or Joe Six-Paayack, or Joe _______. Why oh why does the media have to dwell on these inane sayings in every election? I still remember Al Gore's "lock box" and George W. Bush's "fuzzy math" from 2000 - they were every bit as annoying. Happily, most of these fade from memory.

• Hockey Mom (Is Palin really a hockey mom, by the way? Which one of her kids plays hockey? I don't think any of them do, but I might be wrong. And I don't care enough to go find out.)

• Change

• Hope (See? These aren't all from the Republican ticket, either)

• I'm ___________, and I approve this message.

• Bill Ayers (No one cared during the election, and most certainly no one cares now)

• Jeremiah Wright (See Bill Ayers). Bill Maher put it best last week - only stupid Republicans could accuse Obama of being a Muslim while simultaneously accusing him of being indoctrinated by Wright for 20 years, in a Christian church.

• Swing State

• Undecideds

• Lipstick, Pit Bulls & all of that associated crap

• First Dude (Beyond stupid)

• Flag Pins

• Madrassa

• Socialist (Okay, so some of these are wishful thinking, and will no doubt return like an ugly cold sore in '10 and '12, but it doesn't hurt to wish, does it?)

• Maverick - McDrilly stopped being one of these about a decade ago, if he ever was one.

• Pork - This sounded great for the voters, but McCain has voted for his share ($700 billion bailout bill, anyone?), and Palin's middle name is Pork, something the corporate media willfully ignored.

• Drill, Baby, Drill - What a perverse joke played on the American people by Palin. We couldn't drill our way to energy independence if we had five times the amount of oil we have in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf, but Sarah Stupid never let facts get in the way, and the press sure as hell didn't force her to. She wants to drill because it boosts her popularity ten-fold in her home state; residents get a share of the profits in the form of a fat check every year from all of the oil pumped out of the ground. Speaking of which, Alaska is a shining example of socialism - spreading the money around to Alaskan citizens. I guess if I lived up there, I'd want to drill in ANWR, too - it would merely fatten my check every year.

• Bristol, Trig, Track, Frig, Twig and Tweedle, or whatever the hell the Palins decided to name their kids. Poor bastards.

• Elizabeth Dole - Go help your husband use his Viagra, you hate mongering, mean-spirited wench. I haven't hooted and hollered this much over a politician's career going in the toilet since Newt Gingrich. Or Tom DeLay.

• Ted Stevens - He won't serve any time in jail, but his Senate career is over. Boo Hoo - he was and is a big proponent of a "tiered Internet," and he was also a poster boy for pork. But, thanks to his (maybe) narrow victory in the Alaska U.S. Senate race, we may have to endure Sarah Palin in the Senate. That will be high comedy.

• And lastly, Palin herself. I can't remember anyone in my lifetime who has been less qualified to be on a presidential ticket. Even Dan Quayle gave interviews and could at least spout off his party talking points. Okay, he couldn't spell, but still, you get the point.

Speaking of Palin, I've got some great video I'll post in a bit.

A few election day pictures...

2008-11-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share a few pictures from yesterday, since it was such a memorable day. Of all the presidential votes I've ever cast, and yesterday was my fifth, the one I cast yesterday is the one I'll remember 50 years from now if I'm still living then, God willing.

God, I take a horrible picture, but I just had to take a few pics in the voting booth. (My nose really isn't that big.)

Here's a picture of me casting my vote - I took it just for fun - for posterity.

I made up some custom Obama glasses, that I plan on wearing to Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009. We are definitely going - we don't live that far from D.C. and this is a historical event not to be missed.

My friend JJ, one of the smartest and best Democrats I know, got in on the act, too - I sent her a pair, and she helped nail down York toward the central part of Pennsylvania.

Our cat Butter got in on the action, too, but unwillingly. As I always say, he's an unwilling Fanimal, but that doesn't prevent me from trying. My favorite time with him was when Michael Nutter was running for mayor of Philadelphia - Butter for Nutter. Our crazy cat has a 2-0 record with candidates he's endorsed, so politicians will undoubtedly be actively seeking his endorsement in '10 and beyond.

The celebration continues...

2008-11-05T21:45:00.002-05:00

I'm still decompressing from yesterday, and the euphoria from today - I can't think of a day in my life where I've felt happier; there are others that run a distant second - Clinton's win in November '92 when I cast my first vote for president was pretty sweet, as was the day that Clinton was acquitted in the Senate. But, other than those two, nothing else even registers on the radar.

I live in Philadelphia, and last night was like the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series all over again - I could hear car horns honking and shouts well into the night. It definitely was a night I will remember until my dying day. I told a few people today that "now I have a hint of how my parents felt when President Kennedy was elected." Again, I have no other parallel; nothing to compare it to. There's been no one else in my lifetime with the charisma and promise of Barack Obama. I would put President Clinton as approaching that category, but his potential was unfulfilled in a lot of ways because of his personal foibles. Let's hope and pray that Obama doesn't share a similar political fate.

I have some pictures from yesterday that I'll post in a minute, then back to some more serious stuff.

VICTORY! YES -- WE -- DID.

2008-11-04T23:59:00.000-05:00

I couldn't be prouder to be an American than I am right now. I haven't typed for a little while, because I just wanted to soak it all in. It's been quite a day in so many respects. I'm pretty happy to say that maybe some of us (including me) were very wrong about the vote being hacked, and that's a good thing, but I certainly hope that in the wake of a non-contested presidential election that wasn't all that close vote wise, we don't lose sight of the fact that we are in desperate need of election reform. But, more on that in the coming days and months.

Here is the full footage of Obama's acceptance speech - truly inspiring words from a man who will soon be known as President Obama.

This was one of the best speeches I've heard him give; the right mix of toughness toward those who wish us harm, and even some words of bipartisanship to his opponents and to those who didn't vote for him.

Tonight's Obama victory was a clear sign that America is disgusted and tired of the politics of old - the slash and burn, conquer, divide and marginalize mentality that's been used too often in the past 30 years to win elections. I really do hope that Obama means what he says - especially when he said, in so many words, that he wants to move beyond these 20th century political clichés.

I heard someone say this tonight on MSNBC, I think it was Doris Kearns Goodwin, who stated that she hopes the Obama administration doesn't make the same mistakes that Clinton did in his first 100 days. Amen to that - I certainly hope and pray that he surrounds himself with good, decent, competent people. What's more, I hope Obama doesn't let his guard down against those who wish to destroy him, because these people will not take a break from trying to tear him down. (Getting some advice from President Clinton about how to effectively combat the right-wing noise machine wouldn't be a bad idea.)

Sen. John McCain's speech was pretty magnanimous, and good on him for that. I watched his words with more than a touch of sadness though; I really would have considered voting for that version of McCain had he run this year. Unfortunately, I never got to vote for that McCain. Many of McCain's mistakes, gaffes and missteps were self-inflicted, from his selection of Palin to the political gutter through which he crawled in trying to win the presidency.

McCain is a true American patriot who I have no doubt loves his country. Too bad that he accused Obama of otherwise during a hard-fought campaign.

As for Sarah Palin - I have no use for her, and I have very little respect for her, because quite simply, she hasn't earned any, period. She was McCain's attack dog, an ill-advised role for her, and one that will take a long time to wear off in the eyes of wary independents and Democrats, too. If she's the face of the future of the Republican Party, then that party is going to have a lot of trouble over the next decade or so. And speaking of her face, I will go to my grave convinced that if she were an average looking woman, she would still wallowing in obscurity as the Governor of Alaska.

How many days until the '12 election again? Just kidding.

Now, the real work begins.

PA delivers! I LOVE my blue state right now!

2008-11-04T20:21:00.003-05:00

As a life-long resident of Pennsylvania, I've done my fair share of bitching, whining and complaining about many things about my state. Our roads suck. Our Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has got to be the dumbest government idea since anti-sodomy laws.

But, you know what? Pennsylvania has gone for every Democratic Nominee since 1988, when George H.W. Bush carried the Keystone State.

Of course, we're being subjected to lots of babbling, talking and analysis by the talking heads, but I agree with them on their point (on MSNBC) that Sarah Palin did not sell well in the Philadelphia suburbs. I know many, many people in the 'burbs who were appalled at McCain's choice of Sarah Stupid. Just wondering how Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider is feeling after pulling the asinine move of having her drop the puck on opening night. Nice try.

I also wish I could get into the head of failed GOP hack Brian Tierney, who heads the corporation that owns and operates the Philadelphia Inquirer, who reportedly had a heated battle with editors over who the paper would endorse. The result? A dual endorsement. Yes, you read that right. So much for Tierney's pledge to "not interfere with the editorial content" of the paper.

One other quick note about the preliminary poll results: in Pennsylvania, Hillary supporters are going for Obama in overwhelming numbers in the state, 81%-19%. That has to exceed even the most optimistic expectations of the Obama camp.

Just wondering - Hillary Supporters for McCain - where are you now?

Olbermann's final campaign Special Comment

2008-11-04T19:52:00.004-05:00

Geeze, I'm going to miss Keith Olbermann's Special Comments on the election - above is video of his last one. Of course, not to worry, though, because there's plenty of other things to get his dander up, including 77 more days of Bush rule before he rides off into the sunset and back to Texas to his faux ranch.

Anyway, earlier today, Olbermann pondered an interesting question - if Obama had made the same gaffes that McCain has made during the last three months, what would have happened?

Take it away, Keith:

We all know exactly what would be happening tonight if Senator Obama had made all those mistakes, contradictions, gaffes, Freudian slips, and hypocritical pronouncements. He would have long since ceased to be taken seriously by any measurable part of the voting public, as a viable, responsible, self-aware, mentally vigorous, non-dangerous, non-risk. We'd all be going home to our beds well before midnight tomorrow night.

But while all that is hypothetical, this is not: This cascade of incompetence and irresponsibility I have enumerated tonight -- all the sound bites, all the foot-in-mouth moments, all the no-brainers-gone-wrong - all these, John McCain has said. No hyperbole and no hypotheses are required.

This is who John McCain has showed us he is.

I can't say it much better than that. Obama would have been toast had he even come close to McCain's ineptness on the campaign trail, which illustrates the white privilege that's been so evident in this election.

How so?

Just imagine if Barack Obama (or even Joe Biden) had a family in the same situation as Sarah Palin - an unwed teenaged, pregnant daughter? If you're really being honest with yourself, it's not hard to envision that the media would have roasted the Obamas and raked them over the coals.

Tonight, pay particular attention to the exit polls

2008-11-04T19:26:00.002-05:00

I have to confess, I'm already more nervous watching the returns, even at this early hour, than I ever have been while watching any returns in my lifetime, and I've watched them all since 1980. Of course, since '80, there haven't been too many for Democrats to get too excited about.

Anyway, it just kills me that this point gets so little play in the media: why the exit polling sometimes varies widely from the actual results. Actually, there are many reasons for this - principally because the data isn't always interpreted correctly, but how about this one - votes not being counted correctly, and in some cases, the vote being hacked. I'm not a conspiracy nut, but there is plenty, and I do mean plenty of evidence that this will happen again tonight, much like it did in '00 and '04. Think about it - it's not complicated:

If 550 people out of 1000 vote for Obama, and answer that way in exit polls, one would suggest (with a margin of error for a variety of reasons, of course) that Obama would win, 55% - 45%, or something close to that. And exit polling is primarily how the networks project the winners of states. But, in '00, and to a lesser extent, '04, the exit polling proved to be inaccurate, and in some cases very inaccurate.

Here's hoping that this trend doesn't continue tonight.

Black Panthers in Philly do... nothing

2008-11-04T18:25:00.000-05:00

One of the latest non-story right-wing stories: voter intimidation in Philadelphia. Of course, whenever I hear stuff like this, I always try to read about it and find out how true it is. (It's amazing how many on the right just repeat and comment on it without actually taking five minutes to find out if it's valid or not.)

For the record, I think brutal tactics on either side is inexcusable and should never, ever be tolerated. And I'm not nearly naïve enough to believe that all Democrats are totally noble and innocent when it comes to shady, underhanded campaign tactics. Trust me, this will be a running theme this week, because a post-mortem analysis will reveal lots and lots of nefarious voter role purges and voter suppression techniques. We can and we must get this fixed.

Anyway, the story in the video above turned out to be... nothing, despite it being pimped by the likes of Drudge and Faux News. I know this is a complete and total pipe dream, but I would really love to see the day that the networks would fact check first, speculate ~~later~~ never and report responsibly.

My saying the story was "nothing" isn't just speculation on my part. To wit:

Lovida Coleman from the McCain campaign was on Fox 29 News during the Fox Five O'Clock News and said, "I haven't seen any intimidation." The district attorney's office said that this incident was a "non-story."

Whoops - another non-story stirred up intentionally by the hysterical and increasingly irrational right-wing media in the face of certain and decisive defeat tonight, at least in Congress, and very likely for the presidency. Great reporting though, FNC - people just speculating and talking about a whole bunch of What-Ifs on the air for a few minutes. Why not just play Michael Jackon's Thriller or the theme music from the Twilight Zone?

A few voting reminders...

2008-11-04T12:12:00.003-05:00

I know that this may be late for some of you who have already headed to the polls (you were smart to go early, & good on you for doing your civic duty), but I know that many of you will be going after work tonight. Here is my list of voting do's and don'ts for you to keep in mind before you head to the polls this afternoon and evening. And no, I'm not going to keep shouting the proverbial Get Out & Vote chat - if you need to be motivated to go out and vote at this point, I've got nothing for ya.

Anyway, here goes...

1. Be prepared to show ID! Depending on where you live and what state you live in, you may be asked to show a valid, photo ID in order to be permitted to vote. This is based on a Supreme Court decision from earlier this year. I won't get into the politics of it right now, but be prepared. Better yet, and I strongly advise this, bring a back-up photo ID just to be sure, as well as your voter registration card, and even a utility bill that proves you live at the address that your poll has on record.

Why this paranoia, you ask? Try this one - if your driver's license reads John Q. Doe, and your voter's registration reads John Quincy Doe, you may have been stricken off the voter rolls, and today might be the first day you're hearing about it. Yes, it's true - this is happening by the thousands around the country, and I hope, for once, no matter who wins this election, that our corporate media picks up on these absurd occurrences and this outrageous practice. Anyway, my point is, be prepared to defend your right to vote, and to even fight for your vote.

2. No one has the right to deny you your right to vote, if you are properly registered. If that happens, immediately call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report a voter problem. Please, for the love of God, walk out of your polling place disenfranchised (And I don't care who you are voting for). Depending on where you are located, there are many state resources at your disposal, too. It's a good idea to have these numbers with you before you head to the poll. Pick a major newspaper near you, and visit its Website before you leave to vote, and with a little poking around, you should be able to easily locate some numbers to take with you in order to safeguard yourself.

3. If all else fails, you can cast a provisional ballot, but only do this as a very last resort. As I type these words right now, there are still 100,000 provisional ballots that were never counted in Ohio during the 2004 election. In most cases, they are never counted.

4. Be prepared for very, very long lines. I know that in Pa., the lines have been crushing, and it's only 12:30 p.m. as I type this. If you can go during off-peak hours, do it - take a long lunch, whatever. Anytime after 4-5 tonight, and you're going to be waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Do what I'll do, just in case - bring a magazine, and your cellphone. It's amazing how many games of brickbreaker I can get in while waiting on line. (And catching up on e-mail with my Blackberry is always a welcomed opportunity.)

5. Once you get inside the voting booth, be very, very careful about what happens when you begin voting. There have been dozens and dozens of votes of machines flipping votes; in other words, you hit Obama, and the McCain light glows (I haven't heard any cases of the opposite happening, but it certainly is possible). Insist that your vote be counted correctly, period. Don't be pooh-poohed by a poll worker, let alone be intimidated.

Here's some video of it happening in West Virginia:

6. MOST IMPORTANTLY, DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON THAT SAYS "STRAIGHT TICKET" - for either All Republican or All Democrat. Please, if you listen to one thing I've written, please don't do it. There have been numerous reports of this happening in West Virginia and other places. PLEASE PUNCH IN YOUR DESIRED CANDIDATES INDIVIDUALLY, ONE AT A TIME. (Yes, don't you just love our electronic voting machines?) I know I do.

7. Don't forget an umbrella. I know, this isn't a huge thing, but inclement weather is expected in certain regions of the Mid-Atlantic this evening, especially in Philadelphia, where I'm located. Don't let the weather spoil your efforts.

8. Avoid wearing campaign paraphernalia to your polling place. I think this is beyond outrageous, but in some states, including Pennsylvania, you could be turned away and not allowed to vote if you're wearing anything political. It's an blatant violation of our free speech rights, but hey, we'll fight that battle after the election. Why get denied your vote because of a campaign button or t-shirt? It's just not worth it.

9. If you live in the Western U.S., even if the media begins calling states before your polls close (which aggravates me to no end, and I live in Philly, so I can't imagine how you feel), please, go and vote anyway. Your vote is still vital and critical for so many reasons, not the least of which are the many Propositions on many state ballots, as well as the Congressional races.

10. If you are on line when the polls close, you will still be allowed to vote, so if it's 7:15, and you know the line is going to be tremendous, please, go vote! Hey, it's just one evening, and tonight's not a good TV night anyway (at least for other shows!) - it's gonna be all election, all night, so you might as well do your part. The polls close at 8 p.m. in most states, and if you are on line at 8 p.m., you will be allowed to vote. (If you're not, again, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to let 'em know and to get the situation resolved).

Happy voting! It's a great feeling to get out there and to scream your voice from the mountaintops with the most potent weapon you have in a democracy - your vote.

As usual, I'll have much, much more tonight at my blog: www.CountMeBlue.org - stop on by - I would love to hear your comments.

GOP propaganda machine in high gear

2008-11-04T11:12:00.004-05:00

This morning, I thought I'd drop by Drudge's Website Republican Homepage to see what sewage he's spewing in the face of a pretty dreadful day for this party. It didn't take me long to find stories & rumors that are a best wild distortions, and at worst made-up crap that plays into the GOP's PR fantasy machine. Right at the top of the page, I read the headline, "REPUBLICAN ELECTION BOARD WORKERS THROWN OUT IN PHILLY..." so I clicked on the link.

After clicking, I was taken to a site that I hadn't heard about in a long time and that I care about even less, Townhall.com, a right-wing site that is even more blatant than Drudge about everything from climate change to voter fraud to Obama's associations and Ronald Reagan's papacy.

Anyway, the story, entitled, "A Repeat of 2004 Philly Voter Chaos, Fraud," has so many holes in it, I won't try to debunk them all. But, one thing did catch my eye.

In 2004, Drudge breathlessly reported, without doing any reporting, mind you, that machines in Philadelphia had started the day with thousands of votes already rigged for John Kerry. The media in Philly was hot on this story for about 15 minutes, and it died a quick death - not a shred of truth to it, period. In the meantime, before the veracity of the story was revealed, I got a phone call that day from a very good friend of mine, indignant that Philly was rigging the vote for Kerry. It's amazing and stupefying to me that a total frickin' liar and partisan like Drudge drives the news cycle in this country. Maybe someday legit media will wake up to his partisanship, but I sincerely doubt it.

Fast forward to today, and here's how Townhall's story reads at the bottom:

The City of Brotherly Love was roiled in controversy during the 2004 election because of rigged voting machines that showed nearly 2,000 votes for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry before the polls had opened. A man also used a gun to intimidate poll workers at Ward 30, division 11 in 2004.

I know for a fact that no machines were rigged with extra votes for Kerry, so that gun accusation rings more than a bit hollow, too.

On to today's story... According to Townhall:

GOP Election Board members have been tossed out of polling stations in at least half a dozen polling stations in Philadelphia because of their party status.

A Pennsylvania judge previously ruled that court-appointed poll watchers could be NOT removed from their boards by an on-site election judge, but that is exactly what is happening, according to sources on the ground.

It is the duty of election board workers to monitor and guard the integrity of the voting process.

[...]

"Election board officials guard the legitimacy of the election process and the idea that Republicans are being intimidated and banned for partisan purposes does not allow for an honest and open election process," said McCain-Palin spokesman Ben Porritt in a statement to Townhall.

Before we rush to judgment about what's going on in Philadelphia, perhaps a legit media outlet ought to do some actual reporting vs. partisan sites like Drudge & Townhall making wild, unsubstantiated accusations about voting conditions on the ground there. As for the '04 recap, both sites are no doubt counting on low-information voters, many of whom will witlessly read and/or hear what Townhall and Drudge "reported" and assume that all of it happened in '04.

To be clear, I abhor voter intimidation and suppression of any kind of any party, and I would more than publicly condemn it if this is indeed what's happening in Philly. But, I'm just more than skeptical because many GOP hack sites lack so much as a morsel of credibility considering all of the lies and innuendos that were spread in '04.

What's more, this is a classic play from Karl Rove's playbook. As wholesale election fraud is taking place around the country (plenty of reports are already coming in about it, and I will write about this at length later today and tonight), the right cooks up a story about poll workers being ousted in Philly, and that gets all the press. Well, it's not going work this time, at least if the Obama campaign has anything to say about it, and here's betting that it has plenty to say.

Great video captures the voting spirit

2008-11-04T10:05:00.004-05:00

This is a tremendously cool video that really captures the spirit and essence of what today is all about - undoubtedly our most important day as American citizens. And yes, I mean even more important than April 15. The above video is incredibly well produced, and perhaps it even shoots a few holes in one of the more annoying clichés we have in our politics - that celebrities ought to just keep their mouths shut and not be political.

In two words - bull crap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of musicians getting up and spouting off on their political beliefs at a concert where I've overpaid for a ticket (Hello there, Barbara Streisand), but just because someone gains fame, that doesn't mean they lose their right to have a political voice, and a damn loud one if they so choose.

Some day, when I'm famous (!), I'm sure I'll be much more political than I am right now, if that's even possible. But, I digress.

This is a pretty neat, uplifting video, for sure. And without doing a great deal of checking, I have to say that there appears to be mostly libs in this video, because the GOP has been doing all it can to suppress voter turnout and eligibility, so I doubt Republicans were even asked to be in this video. I'll have much more on voter suppression in the coming days, weeks and months. (Especially if there are shenanigans today, which is all but a certainty with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of voters all across the U.S.)

After the election, we really do need to do something about how votes are counted (and not counted) in our electoral process. We can't lose sight of this issue, or lessen our resolve once we have a new president. The way we elect our politicians is laughable and almost criminal, and we really need to do something about it.

Today's the day... so Just Do It!

2008-11-04T07:34:00.003-05:00

Today is the day we've waited 2,882 days for, since the Supreme Court effectively declared George W. Bush president on Dec. 12, 2000 in its appallingly bad decision, Bush v. Gore (Sorry for bringing it up, but I have plenty of reasons to; more on that later today). All of those frustrations we can now take out on one of Bush's biggest allies in the Senate, John S. McCain III.

In short, no more speeches, and I won't take off on a long-winded, Joe Biden-like rant (I mean that affectionately) as to why you should vote today; if you found your way to my little island on the Internet, chances are you already realize the value of not only voting, but voting for the only candidate, by far, who can take us in a truly new direction, and that's Barack Obama.

I'll be back in a bit to post my "Do's and Don'ts" about going to the polls today - there's plenty of things you need to be aware of that you may or may not know. I'll be back in a little bit, so please check back throughout the day and well into the night tonight - I will have loads and loads of information, video, pictures, etc. to share.

From a blogging standpoint, I'm pretty excited, because this is the first election that I've had a blog.

More to come...

File this one away about Sarah Palin

2008-11-03T23:20:00.000-05:00

Seriously, I don't know whether to be extremely happy or frightened that Sarah Palin is widely considered the "new face of the Republican Party" by many. She's proven over the last few months that there really isn't much that is out of bounds and that she won't say. Check out her comments at a campaign even earlier today - in it, she asserts that Democrats think that terrorists "are the good guys."

I've written it before, and I'll no doubt rewrite it over the next few days - McCain and Palin will do and say (and have done and said) just about anything to get elected over the last few months - reality and truth be damned. Yet, this is the woman that John McCain picked to be his running mate, while at the same time proclaiming of having the ability to "reach across party lines" and be bipartisan to get things done. Yes, I realize that this is the heat of a presidential campaign, but some bells simply cannot be un-rung.

We all need to remember comments like these in '12 (and beyond), when Palin undoubtedly makes a run for the U.S. Senate, or possibly even president. Because, most people won't remember 2008, when she made mindlessly partisan and hateful attacks against Obama, and when both her and McCain tried all they could do to divide America in order to win an election.

Sure, Obama has thrown some mud, too, but only to respond in kind to the attacks that he's endured. He had two choices - he could either take the "high road" completely, a la John Kerry in '04, or he could respond selectively as he did. I think, no matter what happens tomorrow, Obama took the wise course - responding to the more serious charges, and ignoring the more scurrilous ones. I think his strategy is about to pay off, big time.

Leading into tomorrow, I'm cautiously optimistic.

One of McCain's last, pathetic ads

2008-11-03T22:49:00.000-05:00

This one was predictable times 10. The only thing surprising is that the GOP (Read: McCain) decided to run this ad so late. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. I've been seeing this ad multiple times during the last few days all over Philadelphia media outlets.

My guess? It will resonate about as well as Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, the Madrassa Story, countless stories about the Obamas' patriotism, etc. In the end, I don't think it will mean anything, because none of it has anything to do with Barack Obama's PATRIOTISM or his ability to lead this country. We'll know very, very soon.

Download Slacker Uprising, for free

2008-11-03T22:12:00.001-05:00

Michael Moore's new film, Slacker Uprising, is now available for free download all over the Internet, including Here. I started watching it yesterday, but I got pretty busy and only had time for a few minutes.

The movie is about Moore's tour of colleges in battleground states during the 2004 election, with a goal to encourage 18-29-year old youths to vote, and the tour's response. It looks like a pretty cool film - I'm looking forward to having time to watching the whole thing.

Like Moore or dislike him, the man affects change, and not many people can say that. Plus, the man's got balls - who can forget his Emmy acceptance speech, when he called out President Bush. He took a lot of heat for that, but anyone want to call him out on it now? Yea, I didn't think so.

The right, led by Drudge, is losing it

2008-11-03T21:38:00.002-05:00

[Click for larger view]

As if we needed any more proof that the right, led by its assignment editor, Matt Drudge, is completely melting down and losing it in the face of a likely Obama victory tomorrow, take a look at Drudge's totally asinine headline on his site as of 9:30 tonight - one that accuses Obama of giving the finger to McCain by "congratulating" him.

In a word - pathetic.

Ready to misspell on day one

2008-11-03T11:55:00.004-05:00

What dopes - I can't believe that the McCain campaign can't get its own ads right. Okay, we all make mistakes, but considering how expensive political ads are, you would think that staffers would want to make sure that they get the spelling right in their ads. Take a look at the above ad (which is otherwise pretty dumb, by the way - full of Repube distortions that should surprise no one by now) - at the very end of the ad, we see this image below:

It's pretty funny, I have to admit. It's a one-minute ad - it's not like there's a lot to review and proofread.

Hagan blisters Dole over "Godless" ad; it's over

2008-11-03T11:39:00.002-05:00

We are just hours away from the political death of Elizabeth Dole, and I couldn't be happier. Last week, the Dole campaign ran an ad accusing Kay Hagan of being an atheist, and Hagan is striking back. The above ad hits it right on the money.

However, the best news is that Dole is sinking almost as quickly as Sen. Ted Stevens in the polls, so in about 24 hours, two of the country's most moronic, mean-spirited Republican senators will be wondering how it all fell apart.

Anyway, support Hagan in the final hours if you have the means - even a few dollars will help. I'm rooting for Hagan's victory, along with Al Franken's, almost as much as I am rooting for an Obama victory tomorrow.

Fred Barnes: early voters "poor, old"

2008-11-03T09:25:00.004-05:00

Fred Barnes on FNC was a riot yesterday - he actually despises "early voting." Like that's such a bad thing - giving people more than 12 hours to vote - what a concept. It's little wonder that Republicans have openly and in most cases vehemently protested early voting in the 30+ states that have it. Why?

According to Barnes, "because voters might miss something." Oh really? Reading between the lines there, what they might miss are the last-minute, desperate attempts by the GOP and McCain to slime Obama with just about anything they can dig up, no matter how untimely or irrelevant it might be.

In the past week, we've seen or heard just about everything the right and McCain have been storing up for last-minute use - Bill Ayers, the "socialist" label, Jeremiah Wright (more on that in a minute), scaring people about his tax proposals, labeling him an anti-Semite, and on and on.

That, my friends (I hope we never, EVER have to hear that annoying phrase after McCain hopefully gets his butt whipped tomorrow) is why the GOP opposes early voting.

We absolutely, positively need to change how we elect our politicians after this election. It's tragic and appalling that immediately after a presidential election, we seem to forget just how broken the system is, until 3½ years later, when we all whine (myself included): "How can our election system be so screwed up?!?"

Oh, and Barnes' categorizing early voters as "poor, old people" is nothing more than breathtakingly ignorant, period.

TPM's Nov. 2 in 100 seconds

2008-11-03T08:13:00.002-05:00

I love the work that the folks over at TPM do each and every day, but I got a particular kick out of this video - it's yesterday's campaign appearances, as well as the talking heads on Sunday morning, summed up in 100 seconds. (Hey, why watch all of those Sunday morning talk shows when you can get the highlights here?) Okay, I'll still watch them, but this is pretty good.

Shocker! McCain attacks Obama's patriotism

2008-11-02T21:47:00.000-05:00

If you possibly had any doubt that the McCain campaign and its GOP enablers would throw every piece of garbage they can possibly dig up against Obama, let me disabuse you of that notion right now (and I've got some Enron stock to sell you, too).

At a campaign appearance this weekend, this is what the formerly honorable Sen. John McCain had to say about Barack Obama at a campaign appearance regarding Obama's patriotism:

"This has been a long campaign but recently we've learned more and more about Senator Obama. He said the other day that his primary victory 'vindicated' his faith in America. My country has never had to prove anything to me, my friends. I've always had faith in it and I've been humbled and honored to serve it."

What a disgusting, despicable liar McCain is - I can't think of no other way to describe it. It's a blatantly deceptive and dishonest twisting of Obama's words. I can't speak for Obama, but I'm guessing that what he meant was that he felt a vindication about winning the nomination after having his name (literally) and his reputation being dragged through the mud for over six months (and since winning the nomination, it has continued unabated).

To its credit, the Obama campaign's response was swift and decisive:

"It's pathetic that John McCain would take a statement Barack Obama has been making for a year about his faith in the American people and distort it to attack his patriotism," spokesman Bill Burton said in response to McCain's attack Saturday. "Sadly, this is what we've come to expect from a desperate, dishonorable campaign that will say anything in a failed attempt to win this election."

Spot on, Burton, spot on. What was that statement that McCain said - something about how he would "rather lose an election than run a dishonorable campaign"? That statement, just like his campaign, is circling the bowl, faster and faster...

In my mind, the only way that McCain can possibly pull this out is if there is wholesale election theft, and it's not a given that the GOP won't successfully pull that off. I'll have plenty about that tomorrow, including a voting day To-Do list of things to keep in mind before you head to the polls, as well as resources for you to use if you run into any problems while there.

h/t C&L for the video

Affleck nails Olbermann, perfectly

2008-11-02T12:20:00.005-05:00

Okay, a few more lighter pieces before returning to the serious political stuff. As any CMB reader knows, I'm a huge Keith Olbermann fan. But, even Olbermann can sometimes take things too far. He's offered up so much spot-on criticism of the Bush administration that we would not have otherwise heard in our mainstream media, he deserves a pass when his venom is a bit too much on a few selected nights.

Having said all that, his passion and bombastic outrage have made him ripe for a parody, and last night, Ben Affleck delivered. This was very, very funny.

I seriously doubt that Olbermann took this seriously. At least I hope he didn't; If anything, feeling the sting of an SNL parody gives one legitimacy and nothing more. Think about it - is anyone doing a parody of Glenn Beck these days? That's because he blows and few except the radicals on the hard right even pay attention to him.

Palin gets pranked by Montreal radio station

2008-11-02T11:44:00.005-05:00

One more comedy piece before I get back to the serious stuff. This audio has been flying around the Internet for the past few days, so I thought I'd share it. A Montreal radio station called Sarah Palin a few days ago posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and... *Surprise!* Palin takes the bait... hook, line and sinker.

Honestly, if this is how she were to talk to any foreign leader, I shudder to think of her occupying the Oval Office for even 15 minutes. How she didn't pick up on the fact that this was a joke is beyond me. Not to put too fine of a point on it, but these guys made an ass out of her. The Palin campaign released a statement after the prank that basically said, "C'est La Vie." That's right, governor, that is life - it's not hard to get you out of your element of winking and talking about your family and what you allegedly "have done" to for Alaska. This woman has the depth of a mud puddle.

Maher's brilliant recap on the '08 campaign

2008-11-02T10:55:00.000-05:00

On Friday night, Bill Maher's final show before the '08 election was a very good one. For me, the highlight of the entire show (as is often the case) was his New Rules, which, as usual, was a good mix of political opinion and humor. However, his last Rule was a spot-on assessment of the entire '08 election.

From the stupid, deranged girl carving a "B" in her face to flag pins to all of the lies spread about Obama, it's been one, long, remarkable soap opera. We don't have much longer to wait until the end of this episode, and as much as I love the political season, I'm happy the next episode will be four years from now. And I'm even happier that Bush will be out of office in under 80 days. It can't get here soon enough.

McCain on SNL: sorta funny

2008-11-02T10:39:00.005-05:00

I have to give credit where credit is due - McCain's appearance on SNL last night was pretty funny, but hey, I'll take the credit away by saying it was just good comedy writing.

A few things I noticed - when McCain was talking about his celebrity connections, I noticed that he didn't mention Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Aww - poor baby.

I thought it was also entertaining that McCain described himself as "a real maverick - a Republican without money." He's right on that count. I find it hilarious listening to Republicans who are so quick to bitch and moan about the amount of money that Obama has raised; this is the first time in many, many presidential elections where the Democratic Nominee has outraised and outspent the GOP candidate.

Talk about money - anyone remember Bush's stupid labels that he gave his fundraisers in 2000 and 2004 - Pioneers, Rangers, Mavericks and Super Rangers? Only guys with the balls the size of Karl Rove and President Bush would give such prominent, public labels to their political donors. (Some of whom have pleaded guilty to politics-related crimes - Jack Abramoff and Thomas Noe among them.)

This is a typical GOP tactic - when the rules benefit them, there's no need for change (or complaining), but when the opposite is true, criticize your opponents for beating you at your own game.

All in all, it was a funny appearance for McCain. Will it win him any votes? I seriously doubt it, but stranger things have happened. At this point, people out there who still describe themselves as "Undecided" are simply letting themselves be convinced by the blatantly misleading ads being run by both sides of the campaign, but mostly by the McCain camp.

Below is McCain's appearance on Weekend Update, which was decidedly more lame.

Gallup: All signs point toward Obama

2008-11-02T08:35:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday morning, everyone. Here's hoping you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep; I just woke up an hour earlier. No complaints, though - it's more time to blog about one of the most important elections in recent American history - two days to go.

Anyway, despite what some GOP hacks are promoting - the idea that McCain is gaining on Obama - the polls are not bearing this out. Yesterday, Drudge pimped a one-day Zogby poll that had McCain ahead 48%-47%. One day? A pimple on the face of the electorate. Even this morning, Drudge has up a Zogby poll that puts Obama up by 6. In the national polls, Obama is up by an average of 7.8%, which is just a bit over yesterday. WaPo has a pretty revealing story about polls - in the last 159 national polls, Obama has led them all.

McCain seems to be narrowing Obama's lead slightly, including right here in Pennsylvania, but I believe it will be too little, too late. I'm not at all surprised that the race is narrowing, however - the last two presidential elections, nefarious vote counting tactics aside, have been very, very close, and I don't think this one will be any different. Of course, I would love to be wrong - I'd love to see Obama run away with it in a landslide, but I have my doubts about that.

We all have to keep fighting - e-mailing, talking to friends, donating some time on Tuesday or even donating a few dollars through Obama's Website. Remember, Obama will still need resources after Tuesday, especially if, heaven forbid, we have a replay of 2000, when the lawyers and ground efforts have to be dispatched if the election is disputed. So, even if you can spare $5, please donate.

There's some good news and bad news in the Senate races. On the bright side, Ted Stevens is going to get bounced out on his ass in his up north after being convicted on seven felony counts this past week; and Kay Hagan is leading the insipid, vapid Elizabeth Dole by five points after her despicable ads portraying Hagan as an atheist. A bit of bad news, though: Norm Coleman now has a small lead on Al Franken in Minnesota, and Saxby Chambliss is up by 5 in the latest polls over Jim Martin, BUT both races are still winnable by the Democrats, especially if Obama carries both states (he will in Minnesota, and he has an outside shot at carrying Georgia).

To that end, please support these Senate Democratic candidates (and of course, others, too) by clicking the links below giving a little bit of money. Even $5 can help to make a difference in the final days.

Jim Martin in Georgia
Al Franken in Minnesota
Kay Hagen in North Carolina

Getting 60 votes in the Senate would be a major plus to Obama if he gets in, and would obviously be useful in blocking some of McCain's more ridiculous proposals should he prevail on Tuesday.

Drudge propaganda in overdrive

2008-11-01T10:22:00.004-04:00

[Click for a larger, more pathetic view]

You have to give GOP hack Matt Drudge credit - he is consistent. Consistently wrong, but consistent.

The latest example of his desperation and exasperation is how he mindlessly pimps polls numbers that are manipulated at best, and in most cases are flat-out wrong. According to every poll I've seen, Obama has a pretty good, but not insurmountable lead, on McCain.

According to Electoral-Vote, here are the latest polls (and the Votemaster updates polls every day):

- AP (Obama +8)
- Battleground (Obama +4)
- Diageo (Obama +7)
- Gallup expanded (Obama +9)
- IBD (Obama +4)
- Marist (Obama +7)
- Rasmussen (Obama +4)
- Research 2000 (Obama +6)
- Washington Post/ABC (Obama +9)
- Zogby (Obama +5)

So much for McCain "being in the lead." Just because Drudge puts it on his GOP talking-points site doesn't make it so. Unfortunately, many in our corporate media take their talking points right from his site, as if Drudge is some sort of journalist or something. By the way, what's with the McCain & Palin winking at every opportunity, as well as the right-wing media's obsession with portraying it? ~~Someone needs to tell them that when you *Wink* in most cases it means that you're kidding, being devious, joking, etc.~~ Wait - hopefully they keep doing it.

To look at the headlines, it's not too hard to conclude that like many McCain supporters, he's simply making shit up now to make Obama and the Democrats look bad.

We'll know in three days.

Latest Obama slander: he's Anti-Semitic

2008-11-01T08:41:00.000-04:00

So, it's come down to this -- what can the McCain camp and its backers possibly call Obama that he hasn't been called already?

Muslim? Check.
Terrorist Sympathizer? Check.
Anti-American? Check.
Most liberal member of the Senate? Check.
Enemy of Israel? Check.
Halfrican-American? Check.

Unfortunately and most sickeningly, there are a few more items on the hate checklist. The latest? That Obama is an Anti-Semite. But, not shockingly, the rhetoric and lies are high in supply, while the proof is... zero.

On Thursday, McCain flak Michael Goldfarb was interviewed on CNN by Rick Sanchez. It didn't take long for Goldfarb to begin smearing Obama for allegedly "hanging out" with Anti-Semites. Sanchez tried to get some specifics out of Goldfarb, but (surprise) to no avail.

Transcript via Crooks & Liars:

Goldfarb: Look, you're missing the point again, Rick. The point is that Barack Obama has a long track record of being around anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American rhetoric.

Sanchez: Can you name one other person besides Khalidi who he hangs around with who is Anti-Semitic?

Goldfarb: He pals around with William Ayers who is a domestic terrorist.

Sanchez: No, no. The question I asked you is, Can you name one other person that he hangs around with who is Anti-Semitic? Because that's what you said.

Goldfarb: Look, we all know that there are people who Barack Obama has been in hot water ...

Sanchez: Michael, I asked you to name one person. One.

Goldfarb: [Smiles smugly]

Sanchez: You said he hangs around with people who are Anti-Semitic. OK, we got Khalidi on the table. Give me number two. Who's the other anti-Semitic person that he hangs around with that we, quote, all know about.

Goldfarb: Rick, we both know who number two is. [Silence]

Sanchez: Who?

Goldfarb: [Smiles, says nothing]

Sanchez: Would you tell us?

Goldfarb: No, Rick, I think we all know who we're talking about here.

Sanchez: Somebody who's anti-Semitic who he hangs around with?

Goldfarb: Absolutely.

Sanchez: Well, say it!

Goldfarb: I think we know who we're talking about, Rick.

No, you lying scumbag, we don't know who you're talking about, so why don't you tell us? The only number two we get in this hit piece is the crap Goldfarb is shoveling. All you have to do is look at Goldfarb and it's pretty plain to see that he's lying, just from his non-verbal language.

The hilarity and tragedy from the above video is indicative of how slanderous, dishonorable and pathetic the McCain campaign has conducted itself since the first day Obama locked up the Democratic Nomination. It's no overstatement that McCain is directly responsible for this rhetoric. While he cannot control what every campaign representative says during every interview, he certainly can react and apologize for such smears, which he's been unwilling to do. Since vowing to run a "clean campaign," he's done nothing but throw mud and hurl unsubstantiated, untrue accusations toward Obama at every available opportunity, usually through subordinates. When Obama replies, as he appropriately should, McCain simply shrugs, smirks, and does that creepy smile while uttering, "There has been plenty of mud thrown by both sides."

Coming soon to a network news channel near you - Obama is a filthy [N-Word]. It's about the only thing the McCain campaign hasn't called him, but they've stopped just short of that.

I firmly believe that more voters than not will be repulsed by this repugnant, transparent attempt to smear an honorable, well-intentioned politician who wants to serve his country and try to improve it. We'll hopefully know in three days how much traction these slanders and smears have worked, barring another disastrous replay of 2000, which is not out of the question. Barring another stolen election, all signs point to a significant victory for Obama.

h/t C&L for the transcript & video

Cool: My favorite musician backs Barack

2008-11-01T00:25:00.001-04:00

As if I need another reason to admire Dave Matthews, my favorite musician ever, here's another one. Matthews has been openly backing and campaigning for Obama for months and months now, which makes me proud to be such a huge fan.

Many people, specifically those on the right, criticize celebrities who back political candidates. I understand a large part of their resentment, because when people pay good money, they are paying to be entertained, not preached to. But that's now what Matthews does at his shows. How do I know? Because I've been to close to 20 of his concerts. And just because someone is famous doesn't mean that he loses his right to have a political opinion.

Obama's cabinet will be "bi-partisan"

2008-11-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

During an interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson the other night, Obama openly talked about having a "bi-partisan cabinet," which would be a very refreshing departure from the Bush administration.

It doesn't sound like Obama is "measuring the drapes" to me, although you'd never know it by listening to McCain or the right-wing noise machine that passes for our corporate media.

Obama backers confront lying GOP protester

2008-10-31T16:16:00.005-04:00

I know this might sound a little corny, but I'm proud of the Obama supporters who confronted Charles David Ficken, the jackass in the video above who carried a sign at an Obama campaign event imploring people to "wake up" and blubbering about how Obama's a "Muslim." As one of the confronting Obama supporters so sagely put it, "What difference does it make if he is a Muslim?" to which Ficken replied, "If that was true, I would campaign twice as hard." I really got a kick out of his contradicting himself.

Happy Halloween, everyone

2008-10-31T06:01:00.002-04:00

I found this on Politico, and I think it's neat. It's from Ben Smith's column:

Reader Steve Rawson of Raleigh, N.C., sends in this photo; he says his wife, Casey, a teacher, carved the pumpkin on the left, and though he tried to explain, I still don't quite get how. Something involving pumpkin websites and shaving bits of pumpkin halfway.

Good stuff. Let's hope Obama is carving up someone else, in an electoral vote sense, in four days.

Please check back today, I have much, much more to bring you. And this weekend will be my bloggiest ever - I have about 15 pieces in various stages of completion that I've been trying to find the time to finish. Oh yea, and that doesn't include anything else that might happen this weekend, and we all know that there will be plenty of new developments on the campaign trail.

Joe the no show Plumber embarrasses Mac

2008-10-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

This is some pretty funny footage - evidently, McCain's advance team didn't do a very good job of making sure Joe the Plumber was actually in attendance before McDrilly called on him to be recognized at a campaign rally yesterday.

What's more, it's an indication of just how far McCain's political fortunes have fallen and how clueless his campaign is that McCain is even still referring to him in the first place; after all, it's been widely reported that Joe isn't actually a licensed plumber, he doesn't even earn enough money to buy the business (he was looking for a loan), and that he was all over the right-wing blogosphere spewing right-wing talking points before McCain mentioned him during the third debate.

But, you keep pimping Joe, Senator - I'm sure it's resonating with undecided voters. I love it that McCain tried to recover by saying, "You're all Joe the Plumber!" I don't think you want to be telling your political audiences that they are dumb demagogues, Senator.

It gets even better - reportedly, the McCain campaign had to bus in thousands of school children just to fill the audience:

A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.

Wow, the wheels continue to fall off the McCain campaign. It just keeps getting better and better. But, I still think this will be a close election, but for reasons that should scare all of us. More on that in a bit - I'm just finishing up a very long piece about election fraud, and what you can do about it, that I will post a bit later in the day today.

As post-script, take a listen and read to a Joe the Plumber interview on Fox News from a few days ago with Sheppard Smith, when "the Plumber" gets so thoroughly embarrassed, you would think he was on Keith Olbermann's show. Note to the McCain camp: this happened on Fox News!

The audience doesn't get much friendlier than this. Joe sounds so bad in this interview, it's entirely appropriate to call him Sarah Palin... With a Stem.

A rough transcript:

Sheppard: Why specifically is a vote for Obama a vote for the death of Israel?

Joe: Well specifically, look at his record. Obama's agreed to meet with Israel's enemies with no uncertain terms.. In fact he's letting them dictate terms to him and then look at his past associations, people he talks to...

Sheppard: Like who?

Joe: Quite honestly, you know, the gentleman that approached me with that question I agreed to with what I know...

Sheppard: What I can't figure our is why, let's listen to this clip from earlier.
Q: A vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel. I'll guarantee you that.

Joe: Well, you know what? I'll actually agree with you on that one. I agree with you. I really think that would be a problem.
Sheppard: Joe, do you know Barack Obama's positions on Israel?

Joe: Ahhh, listen, I know you want to really get some answers on this one, I'm just not going to help you out here Sheppard. Let people go out and find out why I would say something like that. Let people go out and find out the issues....

Sheppard: Do you think John McCain agrees with you?

Joe: No, it's just my personal opinion that I've come up with looking at different facts. Listen, you don't want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough to probably be dangerous.

Sheppard: Well that's what I was kind of wondering. I wonder if you think it's dangerous at all for people to say a vote for Barack Obama is the same as a vote for Israel. If you think that's something dangerous for people to start believing because what happens if the polls are right and he becomes the President of the US and people start thinking this means the death of Israel. Are you worried what people might do if they actually believed something like that?

Joe: Well again, that goes back again to what I've been saying.

Sheppard: I just want to make this 100% perfectly clear. Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend to the United States no matter what happens once he becomes President, his words.

It can now be safely said - Joe the Plumber has become Joe the Dumber for the McCain campaign, and he'll go down as one of the biggest missteps in an otherwise badly run campaign by McCain's people. That's saying something.

Major hat tip to Crooks & Liars for the video and transcript

Neocon artist DeLay slanders Obama on Hardball

2008-10-31T05:20:00.002-04:00

For the life of me, I will never, ever understand why right wingnuts like Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich and the rest of former GOP "leaders" in Congress are continually invited on political talk shows to subject America to their brand of bullshit. It's beyond annoying.

On Hardball the other night, Tom DeLay took the opportunity to remind America what a vile, contemptuous piece of filth he is. During the broadcast, DeLay actually insinuated that the McCain campaign hasn't been sleazy enough in its portrayal of Barack Obama. As if his contention needed further explanation, he proceeded to tick off a shopping list of Obama's, ahem, attributes in his sick, twisted mind - that Obama's a Marxist, a radical, a black-liberation theologist, terrorist sympathizer and Constitution-hater, etc.

People like DeLay that make me weep for America. Thank God this guy is out of Congress. Too bad the Bush-appointed federal prosecutor in Texas didn't have the balls to take him to trial following his multiple indictments.

I wish Matthews would have taken it to him, as he's wont to do with gas-bag politicians, but he was notably meek and mild during this interview, which is inexcusable.

Actually, what's really inexcusable is that these talk shows keep giving DeLay air time. Funny how I don't see former Democratic Congressional leaders giving any interviews, save a few by Sen. Tom Daschle.

Also, notice the not-so-cleverly-disguised code phrases that DeLay uses, too, i.e. - "I think that when people go into the voting booth, they won't be able to bring themselves to vote for a radical." Why not just say "black man," you dirt bag?

I also find it amazing how Obama's 2001 interview has had the right-wingnuts hysterical this week. I also wonder how many people have actually taken the time to listen to what Obama actually said.

DeLay's meme that Obama called the Constitution "a charter of negative rights," as some sort of anti-American rant doesn't hold up either. It is, and if you actually look it up, it's a legal term. To wit:

In the Bill of Rights...

In the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech...

In the Second Amendment: ...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

In the Third Amendment: No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner...

In the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...

Those are examples of what is meant by "negative rights," yet despicable people like DeLay oversimplify and twist Obama's words, hoping that people won't do any homework to discover the meaning behind them. Sadly, there are a number of willfully uninformed voters who will take DeLay at face value, but happily, that number is shrinking. Perhaps some day people like Chris Matthews will realize that we really don't want to hear from people like DeLay anymore. (And most of us never did in the first place.)

Below is what Obama actually said about the Constitution in an interview seven years ago:

Differs pretty wildly from how the right has been portraying it during the last few weeks, doesn't it?

TMW asks: Are you a Real American?

2008-10-30T13:20:00.002-04:00

[Click image to view entire cartoon]

This one absolutely speaks for itself - it's beyond imagination what the McCain campaign has done and said about Barack Obama. McCain has dishonored himself, his party, and his country.

Prop 8 flak compares defeating gays to Hitler

2008-10-30T12:10:00.004-04:00

I seriously wish I could live in California right now so I could vote against Prop 8, conceived by the scum of the Earth, all in the name of ~~hate~~ religion.

Yesterday at a rally in Sacramento, Brad Dacus, an official Prop 8 spokesperson (in the video above) went there, reasoning that defeating gays is like defeating Hitler. He is the President of the Pacific Justice Institute, a religious-right lawyers 501c3 organization.

Here is the transcript, courtesy of Crooks & Liars:

There was another time in history when people, when the bell tolled. And the question was whether or not they were going to hear it. The time was during Nazi Germany with Adolf Hitler. You see he brought crowds of clergy together to assure them that he was going to look after the church.

And one of the members, bold and courageous, Reverend Martin Niemöller, made his way to the front and (inaudible) said, "Hitler, we are not concerned about the church. Jesus Christ will take care of the church. We are concerned about the soul of Germany."

Embarrassed and chagrined, his peers quickly shuffled him to the back.

And as they did Adolf Hitler said, "The soul of Germany, you can leave that to me." And they did, and because they did bombs did not only fall upon the nation of Germany, but also upon the church and their testimony to this very day.

Let us not make that mistake folks. Let us hear the bell! Vote on Proposition 8!

What a despicable human being. Care to tell Brad just that yourself? Drop him an e-mail at: pji@pacificjustice.org, or call the organization at (916) 857-6900. Please, be courteous, but that aside, let the wonderful, warm-hearted folks at the Pacific Justice Institute just how you feel about their brand of hate.

Incidentally, there ought to be some sort of law that you cannot invoke Hitler and the Nazis during any political discussion. I'm sure there are instances where doing so is perfectly valid, but seriously, Hitler and the Nazis are quickly joining the
Titanic and We can send a man to the moon, but we can't _______ clichés.

By the way, Niemöller was the author of the famous First They Came... poem.

Congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies

2008-10-29T22:15:00.004-04:00

It's finally here for Philadelphia - the Phillies have captured their second World Series title. I'm not a huge fan of baseball, and the Phils aren't my favorite team, but I have to admit that it's pretty cool to be living in the city right now - there are fireworks going off all over the city, and I can hear people honking their horns & hooting and hollering outside of our condo. It is a pretty cool experience - Philly's fans have waited a long, long time, and they certainly deserve it.

And it will be interesting to see how Philly's other sports teams respond. History is on their side, that's for sure. In 1980, the last time the Phillies won the World Series, the Eagles went to the Super Bowl, the Flyers went to the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Sixers went to the NBA Finals. (What a year it must have been to be a Philly sports fan.) Those other three teams lost in '80, but it is a good omen, especially considering how competitive the Eagles and Flyers are (and look to be) in their respective postseasons.

Congrats, Philly!

Obama's half-hour campaign event video

2008-10-29T21:20:00.004-04:00

Well, that didn't take long - in one of literally dozens of examples of the Obama campaign being on-point with the Web - the full video of Obama's prime-time speech was online within an hour of its conclusion. (It may have been on sooner, but I didn't check - I didn't think they would get it online this quickly.)

I don't have too much to add to this one, other than to say that I was impressed. It's too bad about the timing, though - the potential deciding game of the World Series began just as his speech did. Of course, there's not much he could have done to control that, but it's a safe bet that the ratings for his half hour were next to nothing here in Philly, and most definitely in Tampa, too.

I can only guess how many millions it cost Obama to do this prime-time appearance for an entire half hour. Surely it was into the tens of millions, considering it was aired on multiple networks. CNN reportedly declined to air the ad, which sort of surprised me. I'm wondering how CNN will proceed with its programming moving forward - its half-baked attempts to capture State TV's viewers with the insipid Glenn Beck have proved fruitless. Actually, I don't really care, since I so rarely watch the once-great network anymore.

Of course, McCain is doing his best to try and paint Obama's half hour as a "premature victory lap," but he's been trying to say that about Obama all summer and fall, and it hasn't stuck. Just because McCain, like a cheap, skipping record player, continues to repeat over and over that "Obama is measuring the drapes," doesn't make it so.

Ad jabs @ Palin's winks, Mac's economic IQ

2008-10-29T20:58:00.008-04:00

A new Obama political ad takes a subtle jab at Sarah Palin, for her stupid winking during the vice presidential debate. I love it.

Even more importantly, though, it features some pretty telling quotes from John McCain about his lack of knowledge on the economy.

From HuffPo:

Titled "His Choice," the spot begins with quotes from McCain admitting his lack of economic know-how. The last one has McCain declaring, "I might have to rely on a vice president that I select" for expertise on economic issues.

"His choice?" the script (no narration) asks -- before cutting to footage of Palin winking at the vice presidential debate. "On November 4th, You Get to Make Yours."

It is considered politically taboo for a presidential candidate to go after a vice presidential candidate. To be sure, much of the ad focuses on McCain's record on the economy. But the inclusion of Palin is indicative of just how large a liability the Obama folks -- indeed, the political community at large -- thinks she has become for the GOP ticket.

It might be considered taboo, but I think the underlying theme here is McCain's age. (And this is likely as close as the Obama campaign will ever get to discussing it.) I've been saying and writing this for months now - McCain's choice of Palin disqualifies both, and what's more, it offers us a glimpse of how he would select the people who surround him - his cabinet, advisers, etc.

McCain & Palin starting to self destruct

2008-10-29T19:57:00.002-04:00

I love this - John McCain is surely ruing the day that he ever selected Sara-cuda - she's been a disaster in just about every way. In recent days, there have been numerous reports that the Palin and McCain camps are increasingly acrimonious toward each other about how she's being used on the campaign trail. I've also read some reports that she's been striking out on her own in her stump speeches and straying off message vis-à-vis what the campaign wants her to say..

Hmm - self-destruct much? I'm certainly not, in Obama's own words, "counting chickens before they're hatched," but as of right now, it's looking pretty good for Obama. And I love being a spectator to the finger pointing that has already started. Unfortunately for the supporters of McCain and Palin, all of the finger pointing in the world won't change one thing - that McCain has sold his soul in hopes of capturing the presidency. Think I'm being unfair? Do a YouTube search and see for yourself - when I look back at footage of McCain during the 2000 Republican Primaries, I see and hear a guy I hardly recognize, and I don't mean physically. I laughed out loud when McCain defiantly challenged people to name one issue that he has switched positions on. And yes, he was serious.

Anyway, here's a transcript of the video above, and it's pretty damning about Palin's striking out on her own, and talking about her future before the election.

From CNN:

BLITZER: And this just coming into the "Situation Room," the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin now speaking out openly about her intentions in 2012 if, if she and John McCain were to lose this contest next Tuesday. In an interview with ABC News, Sarah Palin is now saying, she would be interested in remaining a serious national political figure, going ahead to 2012. She was asked what happens in 2012 if you lose on Tuesday, would you simply go back to Alaska? Elizabeth Vargas of ABC News asked her and Palin said this, and I will read it to you verbatim according to an ABC News transcript: "Absolutely not," Sarah Palin says. "I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that ... that would ... bring this whole ... I'm not doin' this for naught," and that is a direct quote from Sarah Palin. Clearly, leaving open the possibility that she would be interested in leading the Republican Party in 2012 if she and John McCain were to lose this presidential contest right now. Let's go to Dana Bash. She has been covering the McCain campaign reaction from the rather blunt statement from Sarah Palin that she would in fact be interested in leading the Republican Party going forward after Tuesday if they lose?

BASH: I just got off of the phone, Wolf, with a senior McCain adviser and I read this person the quote and I think it is fair to say that this person was speechless. There was a long pause and I just heard a "huh" on the other end of the phone. This is certainly not a surprise to anybody who has watched Sarah Palin that she is interested in potentially future national runs, and she is being urged to by a lot of people inside of the Republican Party if they do lose, but it is an "if" and people inside of the McCain campaign do not want any discussion that has an "if" in front of it six days before the election, they don't want any discussion at all, any kind of hypothetical talk about running for the next time around. So certainly, this is not at least initially being received well inside of the McCain campaign.

BLITZER: I am not surprised, not surprised at all. It is one of those "wow, she is talking about 2012 if we lose," that is not supposed to be something that you say. You are supposed to say, "well, I'm not looking ahead, I'm not looking ahead only to Tuesday," and those are the talking points she's supposed to be saying, but she is obviously blunt and she is looking ahead if something were to happen on Tuesday that she wouldn't be happy with.

That last point about how Palin should have responded is spot-on by Blitzer, and it's another illustration of how much of a political neophyte Palin is (lucky for Obama & his supporters). She's very naïve when it comes to how she should handle herself in a national campaign. Her manner, annoying accent and gaffes may play well in Alaska (and in many cases might be viewed as quaint), but her appeal has worn off with undecided and independent voters. And her lack of depth and knowledge on the most basic of issues, in my estimation, has been the most damning and damaging of all.

h/t to Crooks & Liars for the video & transcript

Senator Elizabeth Dole: beyond contempt

2008-10-29T19:11:00.003-04:00

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) is becoming increasingly desperate in her bid for reelection in North Carolina. So desperate, in fact, that she recently released an ad accusing her opponent, State Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), of accepting "Godless money" and consorting with "Godless" groups. Talk about desperate, pathetic and beyond the pale - Dole knows she's up against it in a year that will likely wash a wave of Democrats into Congress. Right now, polls show her trailing Hagan by anywhere from 2-4 points.

Dole's nickname is Liddy, but perhaps it should be Dip-Shiddy after approving an attack ad like this. (You'll notice that her voice appears at the very beginning of the ad, which is no coincidence, because she wouldn't want it at the end of the ad, when the pathetic "There is no God!" voice is heard, which intentionally is made to sound like Hagan's voice. Amid a sea of offensive political ads year after year, this one stands out amongst the worst of the worst.)

In fact, the ad is so offensive that even GOP operatives and pundits are speaking out against it. Alex Castellanos, a noted GOP operative and pundit, spoke out against the ad earlier today on CNN's Situation Room.

It's about time Dole gets bounced from the Senate. On a personal note, she's gotten on my nerves for years. In 2006, the Sunday before the mid-term elections, she appeared on Meet the Press and accused Democrats of being "content with losing" in Iraq. That year, Dole did a magnificently bad job as chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee; the GOP was routed and Democrats took control of the Senate.

Here's hoping that the polls bear out what will happen in six days - that Hagan will beat Dole and become one of the new Democratic senators in 2009. Click Here to donate to Hagan's campaign - even if you only have $5 to give - every bit will help in the final days of the campaign.

If you have a minute, visit Hagan's site to read her official response to Dole's "Godless" ad - it's a very well-put, appropriate response.

This ad is yet another reason why I will never run for political office - I would have an extremely hard time controlling myself in the face of such a despicable attack ad.

Helping Obama finish up strong

2008-10-29T11:43:00.003-04:00

I love this video - I found it on Crooks & Liars this morning, and it really is very illustrative of the mindset that I hope every Obama supporter has today.

McCain smears now coming fast & furious

2008-10-29T10:32:00.000-04:00

The Obama campaign has articulated pretty clearly lately how it feels about Fersatz News, our State TV Network. On Monday, Matt Drudge, who functions as the assignment editor for our right-wing corporate media, ran with another phony news story - this time it's about what Barack Obama allegedly said about the Supreme Court during a 2001 interview. First, what he actually said:

You know if you look at the victories and the failures of the Civil Rights movement and its litigation strategy in the Court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples so that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I would be okay.

But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical, it didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf and that hasn't shifted.

And one of the I think the tragedies of the Civil Rights movement was because the Civil Rights movement became so court focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change and in some ways we still suffer from that.

This is a far cry from how the right, led by Drudge and the McCain campaign, has been spinning what Obama said. Fortunately, the Obama campaign isn't letting the lies and smears go unanswered; they are responding swiftly and firmly, just as they should. Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, appeared on Fox on Monday to talk about the allegations:

This is a fake news controversy drummed up by the all-too-common alliance of Fox News, the Drudge Report and John McCain, who apparently decided to close out his campaign with the same false, desperate attacks that have failed for months. In this seven-year old interview, Senator Obama did not say that the courts should get into the business of redistributing wealth at all. Americans know that the real choice in this election is between four more years of Bush-McCain policies that redistribute billions to billionaires and big corporations and Barack Obama's plan to help the middle class by giving tax relief to 95 percent of workers and companies that create new jobs here in America. That's the change we need, and no amount of eleventh-hour distractions from the McCain campaign will change that.

Very well said - this is one of the many last- gasp, pathetic attempts to distract voters from the real issues by McDrilly's dying campaign, but it certainly won't be the last; McCain's handlers no doubt have plenty more tricks, misinformation and lies up their sleeves.

Honestly, every time I hear McCain or Palin talk about "spreading the wealth around" or "wealth redistribution" or "class warfare," I can't help but hope that Obama throws this right back in his face. What he really needs to do is force McCain to defend wealth concentration, which has risen to new heights under the Bush administration. Obama should go on the attack and force both of these economical morons to defend how the top one percent of wealthy Americans control 90 percent of the wealth in this country. Good God, would I love to hear their answers.

Actually, I'm guessing we'd just hear crickets.