01.20.09

HALLELUJAH!
The day has arrived!

Finally.

Here I sit blogging and watching history being made.
I never expected to see this day.
I have chills.
This is one moment I will always remember.

it's political Christmas...

The day has arrived. I am excited and anxious (somebody get me a drink or a Xanax!) and can hardly wait for the long journey to reach its hard-fought conclusion.

Despite being a red state blue voter, I had zero problems at the polls. That's only because I voted two weeks ago and waited maybe 4 minutes, tops. This means I have free time today (because I took the day off, per Ferris Bueller's instruction yesterday on Huffington Post) to assist others on this historic day.

Today, history will be made - thanks to you and me for standing together and doing our part.

Making history has quite an electrifying feel...

the beer ad dudes are thirsty for change...

The best ads are always shown during the Super Bowl - so why hasn't somebody tapped the agencies who come up with the beer ads to do political spots? It's about damn time:

undecided voters?

In this week's issue of the New Yorker, the ever-brilliant David Sedaris contemplates the absurdity that is Undecided Voters. (Read the full article here.) My issue of said magazine is now waterlogged because this excerpt - this perfect summation of how I feel about the questionable mental health and cerebral fitness of anyone who at this late stage can still self-identify with the term "undecided voter" - caused such an hysterical laughing fit that I dropped said magazine into my bubble bath:

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?” To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked. I mean, really, what’s to be confused about?

Seriously!

Thank you, Mr. Sedaris.

of politics and...physics???

NPR always blows me away with its content. Today was no exception. Yet again, an NPR piece reaffirms - in a unique way - why I am an Obama supporter...

Actor/musician Terrence Howard gave a brilliant interview on Weekend Edition Saturday. He discussed with host Scott Simon his personal views on acting, performing music, his passion for physics, the joys of parenting, and grieving the loss of a parent. Only on NPR will you find an actor wax poetic about particle physics and piano playing. The interview is top-notch. One of Howard's more profound statements was about acting, but it really summed up my view on politics:

"When I first started acting, I thought it was about the best liar," Howard says. "I thought the best liar was the best actor. But it's the best truth-teller. To find the truth on those pages of black and white and to believe in it so much. It has to be honest; it has to be truthful."
- Terrance Howard on NPR, 10.18.08

What a simple fact: people want TRUTH. We all want someone who answers us honestly. Our collective bullshit meter red-lined years ago. Let's face it: the people you trust most are the ones who shoot straight with you. That applies to interpersonal relationships as well as politics. The best politician is the best truth-teller, not the best smear-tactic campaigner. The best leader is the best truth-teller, period. From my perspective, choosing a political candidate is akin to choosing a romantic partner. It's black and white: if I can trust you, I can give you my heart and my vote. Finding a political candidate was easy. Now if only I could find a decent guy worthy of my trust and commitment...

Check out the rest of the interview on Scott Simon's video blog, Sunday Soapbox.

"a man is known by the company he keeps"

Chris Britt, Springfield State Journal-Register

It's a simple maxim, really. The company you keep speaks volumes about your character. Or, in John McCain's case, it speaks volumes about his lack of character.

John McCain's campaign is fueled by character attacks, unsubstantiated smears, and blatant lies projected in commercials - all of which serve but one purpose: political fearmongering.

Instead of fostering a stance of civility befitting the gentleman he claims to be, McCain continues to stoke the fires of radical intolerance among the virulent, bigoted supporters at his campaign rallies. His blatant refusal to diffuse hot tempers and chants suggesting the murder of his opponent leaves him complicit in their cries. That Americans can tolerate this unforgivable behavior is troubling; that any American can contemplate casting their vote for such an arrogant, hot-tempered rabble-rouser is a perversion of civil discourse and a threat to our collective civil liberties. When angry crowds at McCain-Palin rallies are neither tempered nor chastised for their verbalized rage, our footing on the blood-stained soil of civil liberties falters. When bigoted hecklers are allowed to spew their hateful bile, we take another step back toward our shameful history of lynchings and racial discrimation. The refusals of John McCain and Sarah Palin to assuage the angst amongst their supporters is tantamount to inciting a riot. For this, they should be ashamed. For this, we should be alarmed.

Uncivil discourse sabotages American politics. It diminishes bipartisan cooperation and undermines our chances to foster a climate of change so desperately needed today. Disagreement among parties - both the candidates and their supporters - is to be expected. But respect and tolerance should always be preeminent. The American people should demand nothing less, for unity requires both.

shameless...

"Government is like a baby: an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." - Ronald Reagan

The words of an American president. A Republican president. Yep, the Gipper was one helluva communicator. He could nail a line like nobody's business. That's still the problem with government these days: few politicians have a sense of responsibility. The sad truth is that the great majority of the attention-grabbing media whores (namely those on the Republican ticket) lack even a modicum of human decency.

Republicans heap scorn on the heads of liberal feminists who either exercise their right (or support another woman's legal right) to abort her unwanted fetus. Yet where is the public outcry over a woman who uses her children like pawns to advance her political agenda? Where is the collective uproar over Sarah Palin parading her children before the nation in a shamefully misguided attempt to bolster support for her party's platform: pro-life, pro-war, and abstinence-only sex ed? Mothers should be livid that the media continues to condone Palin's willingness to use - no, exploit - her children this way. An article in Salon.com yesterday wonders why more women aren't pissed about Palin. Speaking on behalf of my own gender: we are. Trust me, we are pissed. But there isn't much we can do about it. McSame's Bullshit Express has become a locomotive of lies barreling full-steam towards election day, leaving in its wake a country divided by derision, delusion, and deceit.

Palin has been carefully coached by the McSame campaign handlers (whose ranks include none other than Karl Rove) so it comes as no surprise that her teen daughter's unplanned pregnancy and eventually planned shotgun wedding was announced just prior to the Republican convention. That the governor's first televised media interview coincides with her oldest son's deployment to Iraq is also no surprise. Finally, her increased funding for special education programs in her home state seems most opportune considering her youngest child has Down Syndrome.

The shame is not that a mother has children whose circumstances test her sanity. There is no shame in having an unwed teenage daughter. There is certainly no shame in having a child with any form of mental or physical handicap. The unmitigated gall lies in parading said children as proof of your qualifications for the job you seek. Never mind requisite experience for the position if you have domestic proof of your ability to toe the party line. Seriously: where is the sense of decency in the Republican party?

Oh wait. Palin belongs to the party which has a lock on exploitation. Why the hell am I even surprised? The Republicans have turned September 11th into nothing more than political propaganda. They are experts in exploiting the pain of the nation and turning what should be a solemn remembrance (like Pearl Harbor Day) into an instrument of fearmongering.

They have no decency. They have no shame. And I have no respect, either for that party or for the mainstream media who turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the bullshit spewed from the lying lips of those who wish to lead.

boys in body bags...

Bush will announce Tuesday that he plans (that's the operative term - "plans") to bring home approximately 8,000 troops from Iraq this year. That's 8,000 too few and more than 4,000 too late. It's sad that our sorry president's unjustified war has claimed the lives of so many priceless American soldiers. It's a travesty that he sent many British soldiers to their early graves as well. From their latest release by the same name, here's James - one of my favorite U.K. bands - with their song "Hey Ma":



(I wanted to post an alternate video, but it won't embed.
It's sobering and worth seeing; view it here.)

James - "Hey Ma"

words & lyrics: Tim Booth & James © 2008

Now the towers have fallen
So much dust in the air
It affected your vision
Couldn't see yourself clear
From the fall came such choices
Even worse than the fall
There's this chain of consequences
Within
Without

Action cause and reaction
Never follows to plan
Black swans on your picnic table
Knocking over the jam

Please don't preach me forgiveness
You're hardwired for revenge
War is just about business
Within
Without

Hey ma the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Hey ma the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Hey ma the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Coming home in pieces

War

The dead live on within us
(In the atoms we trust)
Keep your fingers crossed
We were choking on the smoke and the dust
And the lives that were lost
Scratch the surface of liberals
There's a beast underneath
Others hiding their Jekylls
Within
Without

Hey ma the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces
Hey ma the boys in body bags
Coming home in pieces

War

I can feel the daylight
I can feel the daylight
Raining on me
Raining on me

cartoons: more GOP BS

Matt Davies, 09.04.08

Chris Britt, 09.03.08


Pat Oliphant 9.04.08

BS? Check, please!

This bumper sticker always gets me: "I want YOU...to wake up. To wake others up. Think for yourself." OK, then. Here goes...

Since the GOP can't seem to keep their facts straight, allow me to repost a rather helpful article - from the mainstream media, of all places (shhh...you can almost hear the collective gasp of the Republican party faithful!) Kudos to AP writer Jim Kuhnhenn for saving us all the trouble of having to fact-check the newly-crowned Daring Duo of Right Wing Propaganda.

First, here's the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 3, 11:48 PM ET

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

___

Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.

hi, we met once; let's get hitched!

Seriously. That must be the logic John McCain used when choosing his running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

They met just once. Then he vetted her. (Damn, that sounds nine kinds of wrong!) They met again, then he offered her the position. (Again, that sounds most distasteful.) Will somebody please tell me WTF he's thinking? He truly is just a dirty old man who likes empty-headed female arm candy. I mean, c'mon, this chick he picked has maybe 3 hours of experience and no documented views on the Iraq war? Oh yeah, she's what this country needs. Talk about a nightmare ticket: the oldest contender to seek the office chooses one of the nation's youngest, least experienced female elected officials? Only in America...

Republicans. Nearly four decades on this planet, and I still can neither predict nor understand their logic - or, in this case, their lack thereof - or damn near anything else about them.

Alas, a third item that can be added to the "Certainties in Life" column, right after Death and Taxes: political pandering by candidates. No, wait, let me clarify: Republican stupidity exemplified through blatant acts of political pandering. Yeah, that's more like it...

land of the free, eh?

"Laptop-gate" segment begins at 0:58

Keith Olbermann's remarks on the new border security policy coincide nicely with yesterday's White House press release regarding the revision of Executive Order 12333, originally enacted in Reagan-era 1981. In the updated document, the Dark Forces of the Executive Branch commit yet another egregious act of political duplicity. Consider the revised security policy - which permits the search, investigation, copying, or seizing of any laptop belonging to any person entering or leaving the United States at any border, without warrant or probable cause - in light of this choicely-worded paragraph from said Executive Order:

The Executive Order maintains and strengthens existing protections for Americans' civil liberties and privacy rights.
The Executive Order retains and reinforces the provisions in place in the original Executive Order 12333 to ensure that all intelligence activities are conducted in a manner that protects the civil liberties and privacy rights of Americans. All collection, retention, and dissemination of information regarding United States persons must be conducted in accordance with procedures approved by the Attorney General.

There 'ya go: another case of the warm-fuzzies, courtesy of your government and the leader who swore on a Bible to uphold and defend the Constitution of this great land. Will somebody please pass Dubya a thesaurus? I suspect he thinks "defend" and "trample" are synonymous. Also, I have to question one part of that excerpt: since when does our government care about protecting the civil liberties and privacy rights of Americans? I thought habeas corpus went out of fashion along with double-knit polyester and go-go boots. It obviously hasn't been de rigueur in recent years, so what's up with this Executive Order touting the government's renewed commitment to embrace it like a prodigal child?

Oh, I get it. It's public relations! The American people are supposed to believe that their government supports their individual privacy rights and their civil liberties. (Wink, wink; nudge, nudge!) Just like we are told as kids to believe there is a Santa Claus. And an Easter Bunny. And a Tooth Fairy. And a Fourth Amendment...

compassionate conservatism?

I've heard the term "compassionate conversatism" or variations thereof so many times I could puke. Not once have I encountered a single example of a conservative showing anything remotely demonstrative of compassion. No, the majority of conservatives are shameless, insolent hypocrites (whose so-called "pro-life" views apply only to fetuses in utero) who would rather inflict grievous bodily harm on suspected enemies of the state and legally sanction the deaths of their own citizens than to uphold the sanctity of life as they claim. Conservatives who profess to be "pro-life" speak one way but act another. They contradict their own views with such appalling audacity: they say life is precious when the life in question is an unborn fetus, yet they ferociously defend their right to legitimately annihilate perceived enemies on foreign soil and routinely execute American citizens who have been found guilty of committing crimes.

Let me get this straight: if you're a "pro-life compassionate conservative", the only thing deserving of your compassion is a woman's unborn child? What about that same woman's child when it turns 18 and it is forced to fight an unjust war while wearing the uniform of the country you command? What about that same woman's child when it is an adult who has committed a crime and now wears the uniform of the prisons your country runs? That woman's child is only deserving of your "compassionate conservatism" when its umbilical cord is still attached? Apparently, once the child matures and reaches adulthood, the value of their life plummets to zero in your eyes.

And where exactly does our Commander in Chief stand on this issue? Our esteemed "Hypocrite in Chief" is the worst offender of all: He has now authorized the execution of a United States Army private who has been on death row at Ft. Leavenworth since 1988. What is compassionate about this executive order? Where is this so-called Christian's adherence to the biblical commandment, "Thou shalt not kill?" Will someone please explain to me how these right-wing nutjobs can justify killing when the Bible they claim to follow and vow to uphold clearly commands otherwise? And don't quote me the Old Testament retribution philosophy of "an eye for an eye." That's bullshit, and anyone who spews such unorthodox pabulum needs to have their head examined - assuming, of course, that they are willing to remove it from the sand wherein it is so firmly lodged. Once removed, they should reference their beloved Bible and look up the verse (Romans 12:19, to be precise) where God says, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." Seriously, a blindfolded Stevie Wonder can see the meaning there: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Period. End of discussion. This isn't rocket science, people.

White House spokesmodel Dana Perino, commenting on Bush's decision, said:

"While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander in chief, the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted."
- quoted by Deb Riechmann, Associated Press Writer

Just? Warranted? Gandhi once said something along the lines of, "I like your Christ, but I do not like your christians; they are so unlike your Christ." Truer words were never spoken. Yes, I imagine the families of the victims who were brutally raped, beaten, robbed, and murdered by the Army private have grieved daily for 20 years. They stand united in their heartbroken desire to see justice meted out to the perpetrator of such heinous acts. I cannot and will not condone the violent, unjustifiably horrible acts committed by such a calloused soul. But for a president to use his sword of power (tainted though it may be with the innocent blood of more than 4,000 uniformed souls and counting) to end the life of such a felon is nothing less than criminal. But hey, when you have already broken the hearts of a few thousand families, what's one more? May God have mercy on your hardened, hypocritical soul.

Memorial Day...

artist: Nick Anderson (The Houston Chronicle); source: AmericanProgress.org

Memorial Day 2008: a statistical analysis
(from the Center for American Progress, 5.23.08)

• 23.8 million: Approximate number of living veterans in the United States.
• 1.1 million or 7 percent: Number and percent of female veterans.
• 37 million: Approximate number of dependents (spouses and dependent children) of living veterans and survivors of deceased veterans. This represents about 20 percent of the U.S. population.
• 1.64 million: Approximate number of U.S. troops who have been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq since October 2001.
• 15: The current number of months for combat tours, extended from 12 by the Pentagon last year, with dwell time shortened to 12 months. While the Pentagon announced that Army tours would return to 12 months this fall, tens of thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are still affected by this extension.
• 825,000: Number of disability claims processed by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2007.
• 223,564: Number of veterans from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan who filed disability claims as of September 2007.
• 1,500: Number of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans already located by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• 194,000, or 1 in 4: Total number of homeless people who are estimated to be veterans.
• 13 percent: The increase in the Army's suicide rate since 2005. Suicides among active-duty soldiers in 2007 reached their highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980.

Bill O'Reilly claims there are no homeless veterans. Bush wants still more funding for his wars but argues against pay raises for military personnel, saying it is unnecessary? The White House issued a statement of opposition to the military pay raise portion of the new H.R. 5658 bill which claims the "overall military benefit package provides a good quality of life for servicemembers and their families."

Wow. This is the same military that cannot afford adequate protection for the troops? This is the same military that strongly advises its new dependents of enlisted personnel to sign up for welfare because the pay simply won't cover all their bills? This is the same military which provides insufficient tuition credits for its veterans? I guess a "good quality of life" is acceptable in the president's eyes. Sure, active duty soldiers can survive (that's code for: "scrape by") on a "good quality of life" just as easily as an injured veteran can survive with missing limbs or impaired mental faculties.

This is the reality of our country: where mediocrity suffices because excellence is just too much of a pain in the ass to be considered an attainable goal. Our elected officials sit in luxury's lap, cushioned by creature comforts, served by attentive staff who are paid to meet their every need - while their uniformed constituents endure all manner of hell in inhospitable conditions all around the globe. And somehow those elected officials sleep soundly each night, never plagued by guilt or nightmares over their callous disregard for the men and women whose sacrifices warrant nothing more than a "good quality of life" - somehow, they sleep. One can only wonder if said elected officials remove their rose-colored glasses before their heads hit their pillows.

all's fair in love & war...

My favorite actor has released his new film, War, Inc. The synopsis?

Turaqistan is a country occupied by an American private corporation run by the former US Vice President. In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires Hauser to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister. Now, struggling with his own growing demons, the assassin must pose as the corporation's Trade Show Producer in order to pull off this latest hit, while maintaining his cover by organizing the high-profile wedding of Yonica Babyyeah, an outrageous Central Asian pop star and keeping a sexy left-wing reporter in check.

Here's a trailer:


Naturally, the PR blitz continues leading up to this film's Memorial Day weekend release. (It's releasing wide, but not in my city, so I must wait...damnit!) This likely will be one of my favorite flicks this year. C'mon, it has Dan Ackroyd playing the VP and Sir Ben Kingsley sporting a lovely southern lilt, plus it lampoons our current administration for their legendary Iraqi debacle? Oh, yeah.

I like the John Cusack Q&A piece in the June issue of Vanity Fair, but his celebrity endorsement on 3Trillion.org - the site where you can virtually spend the equivalent of the Iraq war costs - is even better. Kudos to the team at Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films for this:



John's shopping spree includes a time machine that would stop Bush. Bravo! He would also raise American teachers' salaries ($2 billion), prosecute Bush and Cheney for war crimes ($50 million), buy the FauxNews parent organization ($56.5 billion) and provide universal health care to all, etc etc etc. Sometimes you can't just be an altruistic philanthropist dedicated to curing all of society's ills. No, sometimes you need to buy a lil' somethin' for yourself:


garden gnome ($14.95)


What would you buy?

deep-fried southern stupidity...

File this under: 101 Things I Hate About the South

Oh, how proud am I to live in this backwards state full of petty, narrow-minded, bigoted morons? Tennessee is the state of my birth and the state of my residence. But it is not the state I call "home" because I never want to associate myself with the types of individuals who attack a political candidate's wife the way the Tennessee Republican Party has unjustifiably questioned the patriotism of Michelle Obama.

How proud am I? These antics make me ashamed to be a native Tennesseean. However, I applaud Barack Obama's stern rebuttal towards the idiotic TN GOP.

Here is his campaign's dignified response:

"This is a shameful attempt to attack a woman who has repeatedly said she wouldn't be here without the opportunities and blessings of this nation. The Republican Party's pathetic attempts to use the same smear tactics to win elections have failed in Mississippi, failed in Louisiana, and will fail in November because the American people are looking for a positive vision of real change. And if the Tennessee Republican Party has a problem with Senator Obama, maybe next time they'll have the courage to address him directly instead of attacking his family." - excerpted from The Huffington Post (5.16.08)

Indeed, I relish the day I pack up & leave this state for the last time...

Super Tuesday

Because:
CHANGE REQUIRES AUDACITY.
CHANGE REQUIRES HOPE.
CHANGE REQUIRES BALLS.

(and because John Edwards withdrew.) :(

President Edwards...

DAMN! You broke my heart today, John...















I STILL BELIEVE IN THE DREAM.
(America can and will learn to take care of its marginalized, overlooked, downtrodden citizens.)

I STILL BELIEVE IN THE DREAMER.
(John Edwards stirred the hopes of a nation with his passionate cry: "Tomorrow Begins Today")

I STILL SUPPORT JOHN EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT.
(And I will continue to support him even if he has to reach the Oval Office riding shotgun to Hillary.)

01.20.09

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!!
This will be a joyous day. I didn't party when the clock struck midnight on Y2K, but I will celebrate like there's no tomorrow when this President leaves office. It might even be a national holiday. God knows the rest of the world will celebrate with us.

Political Predictions...

It's Caucus Day. All political eyes are on Iowa tonight. While blogging, I am watching live coverage on multiple channels and multiple sites such as Iowa Caucus Results.com and more. Coverage multi-tasking occupies my mind while the hourglass sands trickle down...

I used to have a knack for political predictions. Well, at least once I accurately predicted - rather early on in the campaign cycle - which candidate would become the nominee and who he would pick as his running mate. Other times I've been able to predict who would win an election (Bush Sr, Clinton, then W - only because I knew Gore didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell after he picked Liebermann - OMG, "Joe-mentum" was my Senator when I lived in CT, and I didn't like him then.) Anyway, I digress. I have a yet-to-be-disproven theory about presidential politics: no candidate with an unusual name will ever reach the White House. Americans want a president who has an "American-sounding" name. Example? Bush, Clinton, Carter, Nixon, Johnson... all plain 'ol vanilla names. Only a handful (Eisenhower, Kennedy) had a hint of European ancestry. So if you subject the current candidates to my non-scientific litmus test, you'll find that Kucinich and Obama might as give their concession speeches now. It's that simple.

Clinton. Gore. I called it back in '92 before Clinton actually announced. I was working in a clothing store in Louisiana at the time, and I told the boss that Clinto would pick a fellow Southerner. He laughed. At the time I was a proud Southerner (how quickly that would change!) and was pleased at the choice.

Maybe I was just pleased to be right. My desire to be right knows no party lines. :)

But here and now, in 2008, I'm predicting that Hillary will grab the Democratic nomination and pick John Edwards as her running mate. She knows he balances her appeal: he's handsome and charming, he's seasoned (Obama isn't), he's well-versed in the political machine (Obama is still green), and he's dedicated to improving health care and foreign policy.

Clinton-Edwards. I could support that ticket. (Edit 5/08: well that obviously won't happen now!)

That's my two cents' worth on political predictions...