President of Cool

Congratulations to President Obama on reaching the 100-day milestone! It's been a wonderful ride, and I can't tell you how much I've relaxed since Bush and the Republicans left office. Don't you feel better, too?

Speaking of which, what the heck has happened to the GOP? As Obama's star has risen, they have almost completely collapsed. Now the Republican Party is at a level or ridicule you'd expect of, oh, I dunno...The Beverly Hillbillies.

I can't say it's been a perfect 100 days, and we all knows that it only gets harder from here on out. Don't let the Democrats' impending 60 Senate votes fool you. We are still in the midst of the worst challenges facing America in decades. But Barack Obama is the best person for the job.

President Obama Delivers Weekly Address on YouTube

This is a terrific move, and it's something that I've been hoping for.  The internet age calls for an update of FDR's old Fireside Chats.  Why do we still have these radio addresses?  It seems like a relic of a bygone era.  The internet allows us to bring this tradition back to our time, and Obama is just the President to do it.

January 20 can't come fast enough.

Word of Advice

A friendly word of advice, for all the left-of-center people in particular: Please don't start piling on President Obama before he's even sworn in.

Don't assume that Puritanical tyranny is the sole domain of the Republican right. The left has its own strain as well, and they eagerly piled on Bill Clinton all through the 1990's for being a pro-business moderate. And the rumblings are already there for Obama, barely days after winning his election, here and there on the blogosphere. Whether it's Joe Lieberman or possible cabinet picks or the swirling gossip surrounding Washington (the city where high school never ends).

In Minnesota, at least, the Comic Book Guy types tend to migrate to the third parties, leaving the DFL pretty much alone. That essentially left them powerless innefectual, but failure offers its own sense of freedom. It's easy to criticize everybody else when you aren't burdened by responsibility. Everyone else is a turncoat or a sellout; you alone remain pure.

Whatever. It's infantile and it's stupid. It needs to stop. Thankfully, most Americans are more than willing to give Obama a fair chance. He's smart and disciplined enough to handle things properly. And he won't become the President until January 20. So calm down and relax.

My apologies for not blogging enough these past few days, btw. I've been swamped at work, and much of my spare time has been devoted to my latest stereo/turntable tweaks. Free advice, kids: Vibrapods are your friends.

Change We Can Believe In

Thank God for President Obama!

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.

"The kind of regulations they are looking at" are those imposed by Bush for "overtly political" reasons, in pursuit of what Democrats say was a partisan Republican agenda, said Dan Mendelson, a former associate administrator for health in the Clinton administration's Office of Management and Budget. The list of executive orders targeted by Obama's team could well get longer in the coming days, as Bush's appointees rush to enact a number of last-minute policies in an effort to extend his legacy.

Words That Bring Tears to My Eyes

President Obama.

I still can't believe it.

Fun Thing to do Today

Look at the newspapers from around the world. The enthusiasm and love for America is wonderful and deeply humbling. Barack Obama's Presidency is a victory for all the people of the world.

President Barack Obama

Words fail.

Obama's Grandmother Has Died

A very sad moment. We were all hoping that she could live just long enough to see her grandson become the next President. This will draw a somber shadow over tomorrow's election.

Now we really have to work extra hard. Let's give Obama the landslide victory he deserves.

We Have a Lot of Work to Do

We're very near the end of the campaign. Don't lower your guard. Don't coast to victory. Don't expect the entrenched power to concede without a fight. Our real work begins on November 5, and January 20. We have a generation of conservative rule to overcome and a nation to repair. Every person must do their part.

Get to the polls tomorrow! Text five of your friends, and tell each of them to text five more. Pass it on!

The Barack Obama Holiday Special

Oh, I love this one! This is the one where President Obama sits in the pumpkin patch and waits for the Great Pumpkin. And then everyone goes to McDonald's and has Dolly Madison cupcakes.

Okay, a bit jokey. I'm surprised this 30-minute campaign shindig wasn't comedy fodder. It reminded me so much of those old variety shows and specials hosted by Bob Hope. The Obama Christmas Special! C'mon, you know you'd watch that. As long as they have The Muppets on that show, and maybe someone who can sing like Johnny Cash.

But, seriously, here's the full-length program that was broadcast this evening. Enjoy.

Video - Obama Speech in Richmond, VA

Barack Obama spoke today in Richmond, VA, to a crowd of 12,900. I know I haven't been posting enough Obama speeches, and that's something I've told myself to do. He's saying a lot of things the American people will need to hear in the coming weeks and months. The economy is going to be in serious trouble for a very long time (at least two years, according to Roubini), so we need to prepare for the hard work ahead.

I'm so tired of this slash-n-burn style of American politics. It's a soccer brawl in search of a soccer match. We need a functioning government again, not a pack of criminal ideologues.

Is McCain TRYING to Lose the Women's Vote?

Definitely seems that way. This short exhange from last night's debate is fairly revealing when it comes to the GOP's attitude towards woman and abortion. Obama, by contrast, appears thoughtful and intelligent. The other side seems obsessed with punishing women. And, yet, after 30 years of promises, the Republicans have made no meaningful progress on ending legal abortion or overturning Roe v. Wade. Good lord, they've got seven justices on the Supreme Court, they've had the White House, and they've had both houses of Congress.

When will the "pro-life" crowd face up to the unpleasant reality that they're being used?

This, of course, refers to those who oppose abortion for moral grounds. Those who just seem in it to punish women - by restricting or banning contraception, or Palin's forcing rape victims to pay for thier own forensic tests - are in a whole different realm. I suspect this will be one front of the coming GOP civil war.

Anyway, here's the exchange from the debate:

OBAMA: We can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation. We should try to reduce these circumstances.

SCHIEFFER: Let's give Sen. McCain a short response...

McCAIN: Just again...

SCHIEFFER: ... and then...

McCAIN: Just again, the example of the eloquence of Sen. Obama. He's "health for the mother." You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything. That's the extreme pro-abortion position, quote, "health."

Obama and the Birth Certificate

This is another tired line of attack from the Republican right, that Barack Obama is not really a US citizen. It should be very, very obvious that it isn't true, but this sort of thing worms its way through the echo chamber, bouncing through the corridors of movement conservatism's media machine. I have heard this from my family during last weekend's visit, so I think a couple links should set things right.

Only goes to show you how desperate and morally bankrupt the Republican Party has become. It's a sad tragedy that this level of Nixonian dirty tricks have ever been successful in America. We must teach our citizens to be smarter and more mindful.

Here, the Washington Times (the newspaper owned by cult leader Sung Yung Moon - I wonder how Christian Evangelicals feel about him?) continues to spread the Obama birth certificate smear. Media Matters debunks it pretty easily.

Here, conservative radio hosts, including Michael Savage, Rick Roberts, and Chris Baker each parrot the talking points on Obama's birth certificate, claiming that somehow Obama would be some sort of Muslim Manchurian Candidate. Or something. I'm thinking too much. This sort of thing doesn't appeal to thinking; it appeals to paranoia and fear. Media Matters, again, provides the facts.

Finally, just to put the matter to rest, here is an official copy of Barack Obama's birth certificate, provided by the campaign. I think if you magnify the Hawaii state logo, you'll find a spaceship. Or that pyramid with the eye. Or something.

Have I mentioned lately that I hate these people? How were these lizard brains ever in charge? It's a miracle they haven't blown up the world.

Thoughts on the Final 2008 Presidential Debate

Yaay!! It's over!! The final debate is over!!

Whew. This campaign feels like it's been going on for decades. I think I was in Kindergarten when this thing started. Thank goodness we're finished with the debates. Now all we have to weather are the unbearable tv campaign ads. Is it just me or does every political commercial, regardless of party, look like it's made by the same person? I'll be so glad when this is over.

Now, a few thoughts on tonight's debate. Let's see, who won? Which one.....hmm.....?

Okay, no surprise for me. Obama came out on top once again. He has been super cool and super smart all through this campaign. Since he has a clear and comfortable lead in the race, all he really needs to do is play consistent, and he certainly did that.

What I'm taking away from this debate, and I'll bet many others will agree with me, is John McCain and his temper. Temper, temper, temper. Was it just me, or did it seem like he was holding himself back the whole time? McCain looked like a man on the verge of an explosion. Bitter, cranky, a tantrum-throwing crybaby to the core. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of his schtick. McCain's legendary temper tantrums have become glaringly obvious to me these past couple months. We've already had eight years of a spoiled brat. Enough.

Obama also showed how deft a fighter he is, too. It's classic Rope-a-Dope, straight from the Ali playbook. Obama has been needling and poking McCain since the last debate, almost daring him to bring up the sludgy attacks from the campaign rallies and ads. And McCain took the bait. No doubt his crumbling Republican support made the red meat almost necessary. It's the dilemma of being behind in the race. You need to do something spectacular in the final debate to change things. Politically, it's a hail-mary pass; the McCain campaign has been running on nothing but hail-marys since picking Sarah Palin.

But watch the way Obama fights. It's almost a zen thing, like judo. He manages to stay cool, that soon-to-be-legendary Obama Cool. And it just makes McCain madder and madder. ACORN? McCain gets heated, Obama stays cool and parries. Ayers? McCain gets heated, Obama stays cool and parries. Pretty soon, it seemed like all McCain could do is throw barbs at his opponent.

Then the knockout punch.

Three words: Joe. The. Plumber.

You had to see the match on CNN, because of their split-screen view. McCain keeps hitting again and again with Joe The Plumber, Joe The Plumber. They come to health care, McCain throws his jabs, Obama parries and plays cool. Then McCain responds with his third or fourth reference to his new friend, Joe The Plumber. Joe! You're wealthy!

Obama hits back with a punch worthy of Mohammed Ali.

"I just described what my plan is. And, I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, if you're out there. Here's your fine: zero."

McCain's blurted out in shock, "Zero?!" His jaw dropped to the floor, and his face just froze there. Completely frozen. It felt like an eternity for McCain, his eyes flaring, his jaw dropped, his mouth quivering. He appeared in shock, trembling, as though he was fighting every fiber in his being not to explode and suffer a fatal heart attack right then and there.

Knockout.

It was such an amazing thrill to watch, precisely because those of us watching (half a dozen of us in the gym room) were laughing at McCain's constant refrains of Joe The Plumber. Just who is this Joe guy? Is he making this up? He's totally making this guy up. That's why Obama's knockout punch was so amazing. I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, if you're out there. It's almost like a happy toss-off. Barack Obama has been waiting for weeks for this moment, setting up McCain like a bowling pin. That's how he wins fights. He's done it against the Clintons, and he did it as a State Legislator.

Never misunderestimate Barack Obama. Write him off as a lightweight and you'll find yourself kissing canvas. This is a fighter. And he gave us a spectacular bout.

Back to McCain. I'd like to say something good about the man, I really would. But the only thing that stays in my mind is the anger. The tantrums. You damn kids, get off my lawn! It was just about all he had to go on. It's all the Republican Party has left. After a generation in power - Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II - the conservative ideology is finally bankrupt and broken. And the whole nation finally sees that.

McCain is playing pure defense at this point. Somehow, his campaign is still spending time and money in states that are long lost, states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania. They've quit Michigan and they're quitting Wisconsin. Now the GOP is left struggling to hold onto the 2004 Bush states, and they're losing that, too. Obama is on track to win as much as 400 electoral votes on election night.

I think we'll see the numbers stay where they are for the most part. Most Americans have made up their minds about Barack Obama, George Bush and the Republicans. They're ready to kick the crooks out. The only change left is McCain's own base. And that base is already cracking and bending. Conservatives, Christian fundamentalists especially, don't like McCain. Never have. Sometime between now and November, we're going to see them breaking away in larger numbers. This is the great fear for the GOP, and this is why they're throwing so much red meat, stoking so much fear and loathing to the lizard brains. That's the only thing seperating a clear victory from a total blowout.

The Republican Party, I suspect, will begin to shift their own focus on the Congressional races. McCain has lost. That ship is sinking and beyond repair. Their only remaining goal is to defend those Senate seats. Don't lose the 60th seat. If the Democrats come away with the triple play - President Obama, 100-seat House majority, and 60-seat Senate majority - that will be the final, crushing blow to Republican Conservatism. There's no way they can weasel their way out of that crushing defeat. Even the racist lizard brains won't buy it.

So the Presidential race is over, and the final fight takes place among the Congressional districts. That's where all of us will be focusing our greatest attention. Naturally, we cannot let up our guard for Obama. I want those 400 electoral votes. I want to rack up the score. We need to shut the door and slam the locks on the Bush-Cheney years. We need America to be America again, not the cruel, broken, dying gulag it has become.

Funniest Debate Moment Evah!

Obama Told You This Would Happen

This is what leadership looks like. This also demonstrates why Barack Obama is truly the best candidate for President today. He's always cool, and very, very smart. He thinks like a chess player, always looking at the long game, always thinking four moves ahead. And while everybody else - and this time I'm thinking of our side - was panicking and worrying about McCain sweeping in another another stupid election, Obama kept his cool. He stuck to the game plan. He knew better than to get rattled or distracted.

Obama is the finest political candidate I've ever seen. It's like the brilliance of the Clintons, but without the political cynicism. We need the smartest kid in the room to dig this nation out of its grave.

Shaking Hands and the Morning Quarterback - Some More Thoughts After the Debate

Since I mentioned this last night, I thought it my responsibility to follow up. There was some confusion whether McCain shook hands with Obama at the conclusion of last night's debate. I was a bit surprised - did that really happen? Usually one of those things you have to go back and check again. It just seemed weird, even for the tempermental McCain.

The truth is even weirder, turns out. They did shake hands quickly, but they were in front of Tom Brokaw's teleprompter. Brokaw then told them to get out of the way. Wait, did that really happen? This is such a strange game.

I'm still a bit surprised that McCain left so quickly, leaving Obama alone to mingle with the audience. The cameras were still running while the pundits were chiming in and awaiting the snap polls. The more I think about it, the more it feels like McCain conceeded the race. By the end, he must have realized that he has no fair chance of catching up. He did a fair job, but nothing that could change the narrative of the campaign, and his frustration was very obvious to anyone who watched or listened.

There's a sense of resignation in the air. I was scouring through the blog at National Review, the longstanding conservative magazine, and the mood is sour. I'm struck by how many readers were openly critical of McCain's debate performance last night; then again, his relationship with the GOP conservatives was tenuous at best. Now that Obama's victory appears imminent, those fractures reappear, and McCain goes back to being hated by the right.

Now that we are entering the end-game of campaign 2008, the ground game becomes key, and morale means everything. The enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans is wide and likely to widen even more. Disguntled and disappointed conservatives may simply decide to sit this one out and let McCain lose. The finality of this loss, of America's firm rejection of the Republican Party in 2006, 2008, and possibly 2010, is bitter medicine to swallow. They ruled the nation for eight long years, and their ideology held sway for a generation. Now, at long last, the ground has shifted, and Obama will have the opportunity to forge a Democratic majority for the next generation.

This race is over. I've felt it for the past two weeks, and now I feel it more firmly than ever. There are no guarantees, of course, in life or in politics. But the GOP is completely disgraced, their conservative free-market ideology thoroughly broken. The rise of the netroots and a new generation of progressives, the multiracial diversity of America, the arrival of Barack Obama. We're waking up to a new America. It will take us a long time to repair the damage wrought by the Republicans, by Bush, by Cheney. But this nation had its back up against the wall many times in the past. The Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, WWII. Past generations found their inner strength and shocked the world. Now it will be our turn.

It's a great time to be alive.

Debate #2 - Some Rambling Thoughts From One Who'd Rather Be Dancing to Good Music

Sigh. Booooring! How's that for a commentary? Does anybody read this blog, or am I just shouting to my stereo speakers?

I only watched bits and parts from the latter half of tonight's debate. I didn't expect anything shocking or game-changing, just a joint press conference passing itself off as a "debate." Sigh. The first debate with Jim Lehrer was far better, and arugably the best debate of the election season. The candidate had enough time to explain themselves and respond with follow-up remarks and questions. Tom Brokaw? Sigh. Boooring!

McCain struck me as angry and frustrated, but that's a given by this point. He knows his chance at becoming President has slipped away. This election is over, and his only goal by now should be to lose honorably. Don't get blown out by four touchdowns. Why does he continue to harp on the Iraq Surge? What is his obsession with being proven "right" on the surge? Why does he think Iraq will be a winning issue for him?

Obama struck me as, well, Presidential. He was smart, thoughtful, and demonstrated a willingness to think. And, as always, he was cooool. Obama Cool.

The first snap polls are coming in, and it's showing a clear Obama win. I think the voters are very close to declaring this one over. There may still be some undecideds, but I think the door is closing on McCain. Much like the 1980 election, which I keep harping back on, the focus on this race is on the challenger, and whether he can make a convincing case. The American people have had enough of the Republicans. Now they are swinging convincingly to Obama and the Democrats.

I'm listening to CNN's pundits right now, and it appears to me that the consensus is solidifying that Obama will be our next President. David Gergen is very impressed with Obama's growth as a candidate. That means a lot as a representative of the oldschool, respectable Republicans. Remember when the Republicans were the sober realists, the adults?

What the bloody hell happened to that party? Was it the Southern Strategy? Was it Limbaugh, Gingrich, Fallwell or Dobson? When did the GOP become a pack of emotionally unhinged losers? I can't believe the hell Bush, Cheney and Rove put this country through. They've left the United States in utter ruins. I'm getting the sense that most Americans feel the same way.

I better change the station or go outside. I'm getting tired of listening to the "undecided" voters on CNN. How can you be an undecided voter after eight years of George W. Bush? Do you have rocks in your head? There are far too many stupid people in the world. Let's hope they do the right thing on November 4. America is fast sinking and there aren't enough lifeboats. And I'm tired of walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

The Policeman is Your Friend

Look, folks, if you've been paying close attenion, you would be well aware of the violent, racist, almost apocalyptic underbelly of American culture. This extremism has been nurtured and expoloited by the Republican right for some time, usually in the service of whipping up fear and loathing in time for the latest election. We expect the McCain campaign to employ more and more overtly racist tones, spitting out more of those precious "dog whistle" phrases. "Barack Hussein Obama" is one such tag line, and it's standard issue with far right propaganda radio stars like Limbaugh, et al.

Still, it's somewhat disturbing to see this rhetoric - Obama is a Mooozlim Terr'st - spoken by your local sherrif; worse still, the sherrif in uniform. That uniform implies the power of the state and it's meant to intimidate. If you doubt me, then simply revisit the history of the civil rights era in the deep south. Heck, you can go all the way back to Griffith's abominable Birth of a Nation, in which KKK squads suppress the black vote (all to the cheers of the whites, who literally welcome in Christ and paradise).

The Republicans are getting very ugly, and it's only going to get worse from now on. And America's problems with racism, paranoia and violence will only get worse after Obama is elected President. I think we're also seeing a window into where America would head in a McCain/Palin administration. The right's lust for authoritarian power will continue to grow and grow, and you will see more open intimidation by the State against those who don't toe the line.

The police state witnessed in St. Paul last month was only a demonstration. Left unchecked, Americans of all stripes will face the brutality of the armed gestapo for themselves, and far sooner than they realize. It is absolutely imperative that this authoritarianism is stopped and stopped now. The Republican Party must be banished; not merely rejected or voted out of office, but banished from Washington. The Party of Lincoln and Eisenhower is dead.

The End of the Superpower?

Very interesting article from the BBC, which always remains my go-to source for world news and that all-important ouside perspective on America. The financial crisis, in a way, points to the end of an era of American dominance, the end of the superpower age. This isn't to say that we are finished or that we face endless decline. The world has been moving into a multi-polar, multi-connected direction; at least it was during the Clinton years. With Bush/Cheney, the Republican Neocons tried to push in the other direction, the Pax Americana.

I think in a sense we are now reaping the consequences of that ideology. This concept of the US as the modern Rome, as the uncontested Empire that can stomp around the globe and push its weight around - this has always been a doomed fantasy. In its wake, we are left with staggering debt (nearly all the result of 30 years of GOP fiscal policy), endless wars, broken reputations, broken treaties, broken promises.

The Republican version of America is unworkable, and now it is collapsing. This was always inevitable, and many voices have been shouting against this recklessness for a generation. The financial crisis we are now caught in is the final result of the Bush/Cheney years, and almost 30 years of conservative ideology. The Reagan era is finally coming to a close, and the world of the 21st Century is moving in new, more progressive, directions.

That's the real story we're now facing. Of course, much still hangs on the 2008 Presidential election. But even if McCain were to somehow win in November, it would be a phyrric victory. The Republican coalition - its party, its ideology, its brand - hangs in tatters and shreds. Who will believe the fantasy of "free market solutions" now? Who will buy the notion of tax cuts for the wealthy, of deregulation, of letting Wall Street have its way? Who will sign on to more and more wars? What segments of our population are left to demonize and fear?

The United States is now a much poorer nation than it was when Bill Clinton left office. That much is certain to just about everyone. That's the one good thing about one-party rule. It's easy to figure out who's to blame when it all goes sour. Now with the ascendency of Barack Obama, the pendalum is swinging again, and the New Democratic Era will begin in earnest. If he is even slightly successful during his tenure, Obama will have banished the Republicans from power for a generation.

And the Empire, I pray, will disappear. The Old Republic shall be restored. The America of Jimmy Stewart, of the Marx Brothers, of Miles Davis and John Coltrane - that America must return to the global stage, not as a superpower to be feared, but as the world's best friend.