This daily post is a clearinghouse for links to posts that either flew by too fast, didn't get the attention they deserved, or are so good they need to be up even longer...

ANYONE can link a post here. If you do, please describe it briefly and tell us why it deserves another look.

The quality of posting around here seems to be getting very good, and some of the better ones are coming from new faces! This is a good place to highlight them, but they are moving fast again and the archives are still messed up, so get them linked here!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to rec this post, even if you don't read any of the links or add anything. It only works if it makes it to READER REC everyday. If it barely makes it, it gets bounced off and good links are lost.

The Des Moines Register, whose pollster was the only one to accurately predict the caucus results, has just issued its final poll.  Obama 54, McCain 37.  Hope Palin enjoyed her day here today.

 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081101/NEWS09/81101014/-1/iowapoll08

The Des Moines Register, whose pollster was the only one to accurately predict the caucus results, has just issued its final poll.  Obama 54, McCain 37.  Hope Palin enjoyed her day here today.

 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081101/NEWS09/81101014/-1/iowapoll08

Josh has just reported this incident of GOP microtrageting gone awry: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/241870.php

 

Whether the call was made by the McCain campaign or not, it is a sad reminder bigotry is still alive and well in America.  Yes, progress... great progress, has been made over the last 45 years.  It is an indication of how much more work must be done.  It is, also, an indication of the challenges that a President Obama will face when he first walks into the White House.  It will be up to all of us to do our part in assuring that those challenges are met headon and transformed into opportunities for creating a less hateful society with the full knowledge that we can change this country and even the world by doing so.

 

 

Josh has just reported this incident of GOP microtrageting gone awry: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/241870.php

 

Whether the call was made by the McCain campaign or not, it is a sad reminder bigotry is still alive and well in America.  Yes, progress... great progress, has been made over the last 45 years.  It is an indication of how much more work must be done.  It is, also, an indication of the challenges that a President Obama will face when he first walks into the White House.  It will be up to all of us to do our part in assuring that those challenges are met headon and transformed into opportunities for creating a less hateful society with the full knowledge that we can change this country and even the world by doing so.

 

 

Long View: Deer Hunting With Jesus

American News Project: Goes to rural Virginia to visit Joe Bageant, author of “Deer Hunting With Jesus”

Much has been said about white working-class voters. But those who’ve been doing all the talking are pollsters and political operatives. As part of the Long View series, ANP traveled to rural Virginia to talk to someone who’s lived the life and knows from personal experience what those voters are thinking — author Joe Bageant. His highly-acclaimed recent book, Deer Hunting With Jesus, was lauded by one reviewer as a “raging, hilarious, and profane love song to the great American redneck.” In addition to being that, it’s also one of the most prescient pieces of analysis about American politics and culture in this election year.

Video interview

I was going through the list of closing times for the polls in the different states, and I'm confronted by a couple of questions:

First, what time do you think that the election will be called - Obama break 270 electoral votes?

Second, do you think it will be BEFORE CA closes?

Real change in America won't arrive on November 4 in a compact package, complete with a shiny, new president and congressional Democratic majority. Real change will begin November 5, and positive change will only occur if Progressives demand representation from their leadership, and begin to shape politics first locally, and then spread outward to create national reform.

Read more »

Following an Obama rally in Sunrise, FL, a reporter asked a woman named Peggy Joseph about her experience.  Twenty six seconds of the interview are shown here, and I've been unable to locate any more.  The final ten seconds or so are what the right is making hay over.  [I was going to link to a blog or two with the video instead of YouTube, but I won't play party to giving the scum involved a few cents worth of advertising revenue for the hits they might get as a result.  If you really want to know what their specific 'arguments' are, just google Peggy Joseph and you'll find plenty in a hurry...]

 

Reporter: Peggy Joseph took her daughter out of school early Wednesday for this; her emotions ran high following Obama's speech.

 

Peggy Joseph: It was the most ... memorable time of my life.  I, I was ... It was a touching moment.

 

Reporter: Why?

 

Peggy Joseph: Because, I never thought this day would ever happen.  I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car; I won't have to worry about paying my mortgage.  You know, if I, if I help him, he's gonna help me.

Across the Internet, conservative bloggers are labeling her Obama's 'Joe the Plumber.'  The argument generally goes as you would expect: She is an ignorant Black woman with no job who genuinely believes that Obama is going to hike taxes and write checks to poor people, or with the added twist that she is currently employed and intends to quit her job to go on Obama's upcoming super-welfare (she does have a mortgage after all, so she must have had a job at some point, right?)  It's the standard welfare queen argument that has become a cornerstone of the 2008 Republican campaign in the guise of 'socialism.'  The argument is absurd and loathsome to put it simply.  It is no more valid than the idea that the Republican party is peopled entirely by religious extremists and decrepit old White guys who roll around on piles of money earned through the sweat of their underlings. 

Are there completely moronic people who honestly believe that Obama is going to just write everyone a check?  Of course.  Are there loonies on the other side who want to actually kill Obama because he's a Muslim, terrorist, socialist, etc?  Of course.  Consider instead the possibility that Peggy Joseph is not an idiot, that she is not a welfare queen transported to the year 2008, and might just be a responsible citizen who was quoted out of context, or at least without any followup whatsoever.  I've got to say, I agree with everything she said in the last few seconds.  Here is my argument for her statement making sense.

I am glad that Barack Obama is going to win because I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car or paying my bills.  My lack of worry is NOT because I think he's going to pay me directly.  It is because I won't have to worry about losing my job (or perhaps in Peggy's case she doesn't currently have one and thinks it would be easier for her to find employment.)  If John McCain wins, I do not think that he will handle the current economic situation well.  He will continue the destructive economic policies that have driven the worlds' economies to their knees.  He will dramatically increase the likelihood that Peggy and I will lose our jobs, and once lost, they will be much harder to replace and will pay less.  If I help Barack Obama with my vote, he will help me with improved economic security.

In case you're curious about my employment status, I'm a gainfully employed professional and, with a short break to take care of my daughter when she was an infant, have been since I was old enough to have a job.

My original post was as follows:

"Politico is reporting that a Quebec comedy duo notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state has reached Sarah Palin, convincing the Republican vice-presidential nominee she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the interview, which lasts about six minutes, Palin and the pranksters discuss politics, pundits, and the dangers of hunting with current vice-president Dick Cheney.

The Masked Avengers, who have a regular show on Montreal radio station CKOI, intend to air the full interview on the eve of the U.S. elections."

Here is the audio link:

http://www.tindeck.com/audio/filestore/w/wwdo-SarahPalin.mp3

Just got off the phone with my dad, who's in his late fifties. He and my mom went out canvassing in Missouri today -- they have *never* volunteered for a campaign before and my mother is painfully shy. But she knocked on strangers' doors and talked to them! I have never seen her on fire like this!

When does the time come when the job description for the media once again includes correcting falsehood or misinterpretation (intentional or otherwise). Yesterday in Iowa Barack Obama, repeating a sentiment he has offered many times before, stated that the results of the Iowa caucus had vindicated his faith in the American people. Since that time, John McCain has mangled the meaning of Obama's words, to in some way indicate that Obama lacked faith in the American people before that occurence. So, let's parse this out a little bit. From the Mirriam-Webster definition of vindicated:

(1): confirm , substantiate (2): to provide justification or defense for : justify c: to protect from attack or encroachment : defend

Obama states that he had faith in the American people and implies that others did not- now, I'm adding this part myself, but I feel comfortable inferring the implication that Obama had faith while others (myself included) did not have faith that a majority white populace would vote for a black presidential candidate. So when, in Iowa, they did just that they vindicated or provided "justification or defense for" Obama's faith.

Now, I have certainly thought a number of negative things about John McCain, but I have never thought him stupid. So, I can only assume that he is knowingly and intentionally mangling the meaning of Obama's words in order to attack Obama's patriotism. This is not a surprise- John McCain is apparently in the last days on the bad end of a change election. He's going to say anything that might change the game in a hurry. I understand that. What I do not understand is why it would be that in reports on these attacks running all day on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, the Washington Post and the New York Times, not a single reporter has bothered to point it out.  I do not understand how journalists can stand by while a candidate looks at something that is blue, and screams "look- it's red," and rather than saying "no, it's blue" just comment on how hard the candidate is giving it to the other guy... "Wow. Did you hear that Bob... he says it's red. That hurts..."

There are many things I hope to look forward to in the coming administration. I think my fondest hope is that, perhaps, it might be an administration that won't villify the press for their very existence... and that perhaps that may mean that the press will do something they've been afraid to do for a long time... call it like it is rather than like one side would like it to be. Perhaps then, whatever faith we may have in the fourth estate will be... wait for it... vindicated.

Has anyone read this?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/01/elections-obama-press-bias-mccain

Harold Evans's op ed in today's Guardian. I was genuinely shocked by it: not just the nastiness and the insane distortions, but the idea that a once great editor could have come to this. Catch these precious thoughts on the US media:

Forget the old notions of objectivity, fairness, thoroughness, and so on. The nastiest rumours on both sides haven't been published, but the coverage has been slavishly on the side of "the one".

Fox News has the vehement Sean Hannity paired with the mildly liberal Alan Colmes, not a fair match, but it has been more willing to investigate than CNN.

Let's hope the consequences of electing "the one" will be as wondrous as the press has led the voters to believe.

This man was editor of The Times and the Sunday Times for chrissake. He knows more about journalism than anyone alive.

I need your help here. What has happened to Harold Evans? 

Alaskans are asking whether Ted Stevens is convicted or not?  Here is the Alaska Daily News article covering the issue:

http://www.adn.com/politics/story/574952.html

Anne Pressly

Fox 11 News in LA, and several white supremacy groups, are carrying racially-incendiary stories attributing Anne Pressly’s unsolved murder to, “two black males,” charging that stabbing, rape and mutilation have been concealed by the police and media.

Web Extra! Walsh Says Murdered Anchor Was Raped

“America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh sat down with Lisa Breckenridge after “Good Day LA” to talk more about his upcoming show. He revealed that according to his sources, 26-year-old news anchor, Anne Pressly, was beaten and raped in her home. So far authorities have refused to say whether she was sexually assaulted. “America’s Most Wanted” will highlight the case this Saturday’s episode.

Update: America’s Most Wanted aired at 9:00 PM EST this evening, with only a brief mention of the Pressly case, and a request that anyone with information step forward.

Police and Media Coverup in Anne Pressly Murder?

White Revolution has just been informed, from a source indirectly connected to the medical examiner who completed the autopsy, that Anne Pressly was sexually assaulted by two black males, based on DNA found at the scene and on her body. Furthermore, rather than having been simply beaten as the controlled media reports, WR has been told that she was cut on her face and private areas with a knife in a gruesome mutilation.

The autopsy report is most likely not going to be made available to the public, even through the Freedom Of Information Act, until the investigation is officially closed. Or, like Martin Luther King, Jr.’s F.B.I. file, never, if they so choose.

Implausible deniability.

Update: CNN reports that police have arrested one man, Curtis Lavell Vance, based on DNA evidence. DNA also tied Vance to a rape last April, in Marianna AK. Her parents claim she was raped, but the police refuse to comment.

Below is a GOP email a Republican friend of mind forwarded to me.  How wrong can it be?  Let me count the ways?

The State of the Campaign

If your television is tuned to cable news as frequently as ours are here at campaign headquarters, you have seen the pundits say John McCain and his campaign are done. And, if you've followed this race since the beginning, this is clearly a song you've heard before. I wanted to take some time today to give you some insight on the state of the race as we see it.

An AP poll released this morning revealed a very telling fact: ONE out of every SEVEN voters is undecided. That means, if 130 million voters turn out on Tuesday, 18.5 million of them have yet to make up their mind. With that many votes on the table and the tremendous movement we've seen in this race, I believe we are in a very competitive campaign.

Here's why:

All the major polls have shown a tightening in the race and a significant narrowing of the numbers. In John McCain's typical pattern, he is closing strong and surprising the pundits. We believe this race is winnable, and if the trajectory continues, we will surpass the 270 Electoral votes needed on Election Night.

    * National Polls: Major polls last week showed John McCain trailing by double-digit margins - but by the middle of this week, we were within the margin of error on four national tracking surveys. In fact, the Gallup national tracking survey showed the race in a virtual tie 2 days this week.
    * State Polls:
    *
    * Iowa - Our numbers in Iowa have seen a tremendous surge in the past 10 days. We took Obama's lead from the double digits to a very close race. That is why you see Barack Obama visiting the state in the final days, trying to stem his losses. It is too little, too late. Like many other Midwestern states, Iowa is moving swiftly into McCain's column.
    *
    * The Southwest - It is no secret that Republican candidates in the Southwest have to focus on winning over enough Latino and Hispanic voters in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado to carry them to victory. John McCain has overcome challenges Republicans face, and has made up tremendous ground in these states with these voters. For these voters, the choice has become clear, and you have seen a big change in the numbers. John McCain is now winning enough voters to perform within the margin of error - putting these states within reach.
    *
    * Colorado - Barack Obama tried to outspend our campaign in Colorado during the early weeks of October and finish off our candidate in Colorado. However, after our visit early this week, we saw a tremendous rebound in our poll position, and Colorado is back on the map.
    *
    * Ohio and Pennsylvania - Everyone knows that vote rich Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key battlegrounds for this election. Between the two: 41 electoral votes and no candidate has gotten to the White House without Ohio. Senator McCain and Governor Palin have been campaigning non-stop in these key battleground states and tonight Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has pumped up our campaign at a rally in Columbus. Our position in these states is strong and undecided voters continue to have a very favorable impression of our candidate.

Obama campaign faces tremendous structural challenges in the final days of this campaign

    * Obama has a challenge hitting 50%: Barack Obama has not reached the 50% threshold in almost any the battleground state. He consistently is performing in the 45-48% range. When we look closely at the primary votes, we see a history of a candidate whose Election Day performance is often at or behind his final polling numbers.If this is true, our surge will leave Obama with even or under 50% of the vote on Election Day.
    * Early Vote: The Obama campaign has promised that their early vote and absentee efforts will change the composition of the electorate. They have sold the press on a story that first time voters will turn out in droves this election cycle. Again, the facts undermine their argument. In our analysis of early voting and absentee votes to date: The composition of the electorate has not changed significantly and most folks who have voted early are high propensity voters who would have voted regardless of the high interest in this campaign.
    * Expanding the Field: Obama is running out of states if you follow out a traditional model. Today, he expanded his buy into North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona in an attempt to widen the playing field and find his 270 Electoral Votes. This is a very tall order and trying to expand into new states in the final hours shows he doesn't have the votes to win.

The Final Barnstorm

    * On Monday, we will have a 14 state rally with our candidates crisscrossing the country trying to turn out our voters and sway the final undecided voters. Governor Palin will hit Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and Alaska in the final day of campaigning, while Senator McCain will travel from Tampa, Florida, to Virginia, then Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada and finish the night in Prescott, Arizona. The enthusiasm and excitement we generate on Monday will be the electricity that powers our 'Get Out the Vote' efforts on Tuesday.

On the Ground

    * Our field organization has tremendous energy and is out-performing the Bush campaign at the same time in 2004. This week our field organization crossed a huge threshold and began reaching more than one million voters per day, and by week's end will have contacted more than 5 million voters. Our phone centers are full and our rate of voter contact is significantly out-pacing the Bush campaign in 2004. We have the resources to do the voter contact necessary to support the surge we are seeing in our polling with old fashioned grassroots outreach.

On the Airwaves

    * In the final days of the campaign, our television presence will be bigger and broader than the Obama campaign's presence. The full Republican effort - the RNC's Independent Expenditure and the McCain campaign will out-buy Barack Obama and the Democrats by just about 10 million dollars.

In short: the McCain campaign is surging in the final 72 hours. Our grassroots campaign is vibrant and communicating to voters in a very powerful way. Our television presence is strong. And, we have a secret ingredient - A candidate who will never quit and who will never stop fighting for you and for your families.

In these final hours, Senator McCain and Governor Palin are counting on you - they are counting on you to knock on doors <http://link.johnmccain.com/?95-6736-801084-65895> , to make turnout calls <http://link.johnmccain.com/?95-6736-801084-65896> , to contact your friends and neighbors <http://link.johnmccain.com/?95-6736-801084-65894> . Get our voters to the polls and help John McCain fight for your and for our country. This is our last mission on behalf of John McCain and I have no doubt I can count on your effort and energy to carry us across the line to victory. 

The Anchorage Daly News reports on a statement released by "Former House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican, and former Senate President Chancy Croft, a Democrat," taking McCain to task for interfering in the investigation of Gov. Palin's firing of Walt Monegan and "attacks that damaged the reputation of Walt Monegan, Gov. Sarah Palin's fired public safety commissioner."

"It's unconscionable that an outside campaign organization which had no knowledge of the history, background or understanding of an Alaskan issue would come to our State to destroy the reputation and life of a dedicated Alaskan public servant," Phillips and Croft said in a joint statement.

Joe Biden was right.  John McCain really doesn't get it.  At a time when the American people have loudly spoken and asked for real change, McCain is still running around the country foolishly touting his maverick characteristics.  Well let me tell you what a maverick does.  A maverick defines the United States in terms of Red States and Blue States.  A maverick preserves a doctrine of Conservatives against Liberals, Republicans versus Democrats.  A maverick doesn't seek change, but more of the same.  A maverick guarantees the continuation of political gridlock.

Just like the lead characters Bret and Bart who were drifting gamblers in the old TV western Maverick, McCain has no real plan but runs from place to place in search of a good poker hand or campaign slogan that will stick.  And like Bret and Bart who regularly threw their chips up to see where they would land, the maverick McCain abruptly threw his hands up in the midst of a crisis as in "I am suspending my campaign and returning to Washington" because he felt overwhelmed.

So I don't think the country needs a maverick or a reformer who is someone who wants to put a bandaid on a gaping wound, but it needs a change agent like Barack Obama who knows that if we keep doing things the same old way we're going to get the same old results.  Well Joe, while John McCain doesn't get it, the early voting results tells me that the American people do get it.  That's especially true here in the great state of North Carolina, where this time around, North Carolina refuses to stay a maverick Red State, but proudly rejoins the United States.

Sounds awfully familiar to Kucinich's "wake up america" speech during the convention

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv0smG7ptcM

 

Fight = Wake Up

Hi everybody. My name is Jade and I'm a Democrat. Er, I need to be completely honest here, so let me amend that. I'm a liberal Democrat. A lifelong liberal Democrat. And my confession today is that I am nervous.

I've been following this election obsessively and complusively since 2004. Yeah, 2004. Just after the last Democratic "near victory." My obsessive compulsion went from being a chronic disorder to an acute, chronic disorder in January of 2007. That is when the rumors of a possible Obama bid started really swirling. I started watching for the telltale signs of domain names going AWOL, from hints by clued-in insiders who would be in the know.

Then came February. You know what happened then. I was ecstatic. I was hope-filled and hopeful. I was able to make it through the "coronation phase" of the then putative front-runner of the long Iowa summer. As the leaves began to turn that autumn, I'll admit, I was worried. We Democrats were blessed with not one or two great candidates, but eight.

Then came a debate in Philadelphia, and my concerns were assuaged. Mind you, I never lost faith. I never switched candidates. I never changed horses in mid-stream. Always a voracious reader, I found ways to read more: essays, and policy monographs, histories and legislative drafts. If I was sitting, I was reading -- even while pretending to watch TV. I tried reading on the treadmill, but fear of losing my front teeth in an unfortunate treadmill face plant ended that experiment. But a stationary bike was a safer choice.

I did not look forward to the holidays in 2007, but worried that New Hampshire would move their primary to December. And New Year's celebrations were curtailed by worrying about whether the caucuses in Iowa would be successful. On caucus night, I watched C-Span which had cameras stationed at my old high school, which hadn't changed as much in thirty-some years as I had.

There was a victory speech that brought me to tears.

Read more »

Looked at Palin's speech "Pitch #3" just up on TPM main page. Is it just me or did she sound more like she was arguing for a split government, acknowledging that Obama was likely to be president, and asking for some support in the House & Senate?

PS - as long as the Supreme Court is still 5 republicans, it's "divided government"...

My old dog Jessie, a yellow lab mix who showed up on our doorstep as a half-starved pup and stayed her life, used to nose into my bedroom every morning shortly after 5 a.m. and stick her nose into mine.  She'd patiently give me a few moments for a bathroom break and to get my boots on before we'd head out into the early dawn for our daily walk.  We'd walk a loop through the fields along the fence lines and cut through the woods.  We had two or three routes and we'd walk them forward and reverse for a little diversity.

On our trail, Jessie would always follow in front.  She was compelled to be ahead of me, but when we reached a fork in the trail, she would always turn her head slightly and peer back at me for an indication of the direction I was heading.  At times, I would get her started up one fork and quickly move to the other trail.  Once she realized I had moved a different direction, she would dash quickly across the trails to once again get in front of me.  To an outside observer, she seemed to be leading our walks, but she was simply following out front.

Sarah Palin is the type of politician who follows out front.  From what I've read, Alaska underwent an evangelical rise in the 1990s.  Palin followed this lead and brought an anti-abortion campaign to the mayoral race in a small town, an unheard of means of campaigning.  She also declared that she'd be the town's first christian mayor, although previous mayors had been christians.

Palin never turned down an earmark as governor.  Once nominated as McCain's running mate, earmarks were no longer positive and Palin lied repeatedly about her support for the bridge to nowhere.  On the campaign trail, Palin has the ability to sense the direction of the crowd and follow it out front.  She reflects the crowd she's addressing.  She doesn't lead, she doesn't offer a new direction, she doesn't possess any unique knowledge or show the ability to persuade someone who disagrees with her to meet in some middle ground.  She can talk about Real America, she can shout Socialism to an angry crowd.  She can't change the direction or attitude of that crowd; she can only leap to follow in front.

While she is eyeing 2012 for her presidential run, she poses no threat to be seriously considered.  She can't follow out front of two or more separate groups at once.  She is limited to one crowd, one direction.  A true leader can bring those disparate groups together by laying out a new message and direction to unite the groups.  Palin, as a follower, can only reflect one message.   

 

... Because he'd rather let his supporters continue thinking Obama's a Muslim. Check the poll cited on Huff Post, and the twits interviewed by John Oliver on the Daily Show aired 10/30.

Don't give the man any credit for self-restraint here. He just doesn't want to lose the xenophobic racists. If he thought Wright would win more votes he'd be pulling out the old clips.

Besides, if some of those rednecks (aside: Can you be a redneck if you live in Alaska? Anybody? Todd?) were corrected about their thoughts there, what else might they begin to doubt?

Second reason: If we start talking about wacko pastors, the Wasilla Assembly of God is gonna have some 'splainin' to do. But mostly it's about the Muslim thing. 

Read more »

Yesterday Josh published a post which suggested that the changes in the TPM Tracker were mostly noise. I suspected that there was more to it than that, and decided to plot the numbers against events on a graph. The graph represents the TPM Tracker over the past 6 weeks. Please note the black line running through the data points are trend lines. Using those lines, Obama's support increased from 48.4% to about 51.4%. During the same time, McCain's support dropped from 43.8% to about 43.2%.

A larger version of the image can be seen here. The first major events (reflected in the first blue panel) in this time frame that moved the numbers are the trio of 1) McCain's 'campaign suspension, the 2) first debate and 3) the slow release of the Couric-Palin interview. Obama's numbers jump from 47.5% to 49.9% a 1.4% increase. At the same time, McCain dropped from 45.5% to 43.5%.

The second major event is the VP debate. Obama's numbers rose from 49.5% to 50.5%. McCain suffered a fall of about 1% point.

The third event is the second debate. Obama's numbers improved about 0.5% point. McCain's remained unchanged.

There doesn't seem to be any effect for Obama from the third debate. McCain seems to have gained briefly after the debate.

The event that has created greatest single effect, so far, came after the Powell endorsement. Obama gained about 1.5% points. The effect lasted about 6 days.

Obama's infomercial has increased Obama's numbers by 1.5%. Obama suffered a 1.5% point drop after the glow of the Powell endorsement faded. The acute effects of all these events lasted approximately 5-6 days. IMO, the infomercial was well timed as it lifted Obama just before he fell too much and allows a possible peaking to fall on election day.

Let me know what you think.

Error

This post is cross-posted to The Ward Report.

With the election just days away it's time to take a realistic look at the senate.

The Democratic caucus enters this election with 51 members including Joe Lieberman (I - CT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VM). No Democrats are retiring and no incumbents are in danger. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana (+11) was believed to be in serious danger but the NRSC pulled out of her race a couple weeks ago essentially conceding her reelection.

But there is a complication. Joe Lieberman is a closet Republican whose chairmanship needs to be stripped which would likely cause him to leave the caucus, and he's not a reliable vote anyway.

So, while it would seem the Democrats need 9 pickups, they actually need 10 for 61 seats.

Five Republicans are retiring this year and the Democrats are poised to pick up three:

52. Mark Udall (CO) +11
53. Tom Udall (NM) +17
54. Mark Warner (VA) +29

In addition, 18 Republican senate seats are up for reelection. Of those the following appear in reach:

55. Jeanne Shaheen (NH) +8 over Sununu
56. Jeff Merkley (OR) +6 over Smith
57. Kay Hagan (NC) +4 over Dole
58. Al Franken (MN) +2 over Coleman
59. Mark Begich (Ak) +4 over Stevens

60. Bruce Lunsford (KY) -3 under McConnell (Minority Leader)
60. Jim Martin (GA) -3 under Chambliss
60. Ronnie Musgrove (MS) -3 under Wicker (Lott's seat)

The conventional wisdom is that Martin knocking off Chambliss is the most likely of the 3 long shots, but as I explained earlier, a runoff in GA makes this an unlikely pick-up. But, really big Democratic turnout (which appears to be materializing) could give Martin the 50% plus 1 he needs to win the seat outright.

Knocking off Mitch McConnell would be a dream come true but his lead appears rock solid and the polls are trending his way.

Wicker's lead is also rock solid with the polls trending his way as well. Again, large Democratic turnout in Mississippi could potentially swamp him, but I wouldn't bet on it.

And of course, Norm Coleman could win reelection making 61 even further out of reach.

Bottom line: I'm having a heard time envisioning more than 59 seats with Lieberman.

But, if the Dems pick up 60, should they suck up Lieberman's betrayals and let him keep the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee?

Watched the video of Cheney today.  He has thinned up quite a bit.  He does not look well.  Maybe it is the lighting.

SECOND UPDATE: Obama Campaign responds:

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Asked by ABC News if he'd heard the prank call played on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told reporters that he'd heard parts of it.

His response?

"I'm glad we check out our calls before we hand the phone to Barack Obama," Gibbs said.

UPDATE: Palin's campaign responds:

Gov. Palin received a phone call on Saturday from a French Canadian talk show host claiming to be French President Nicholas Sarkozy," emailed spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. "Gov. Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie."

 This is so embarrassing, I can't even listen to it. Palin Gets Pranked.

"Notorious Quebec comedy duo talks politics in prank call to Sarah Palin."

MONTREAL -- A Quebec comedy duo notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state has reached Sarah Palin, convincing the Republican vice-presidential nominee she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the interview, which lasts about six minutes, Palin and the pranksters discuss politics, pundits, and the dangers of hunting with current vice-president Dick Cheney.

The Masked Avengers, who have a regular show on Montreal radio station CKOI, intend to air the full interview on the eve of the U.S. elections.

The well-known duo of Sebastien Trudel and Marc-Antoine Audette have also tricked Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and French president Jacques Chirac.

The call to Chirac was rated by the BBC as one of the top 30 best moments in radio history of all time.

Are we seeing the most incompetent presidential campaign ever? I mean seriously, how does something like this happen? It must be a complete embarassment to be a Republican right now. This certainly says a lot about national security credentials. 

Following is the transcript of the phone call posted by Jake Tapper at http://abcnews.blogs.com/

transcript:

Read more »

Skirting the edge of District 12 is Polk City, Florida, home of the Fantasy of Flight attraction, where Sarah Palin stumped with Governor Charlie Christ and Congressman Adam Putnam this afternoon. Although, I think "Fantasy of Fight" would be a more appropriate title for the event, as in it's a fantasy that they can win this fight.

POLK CITY, Florida (CNN) -- At a boisterous Sarah Palin rally in Polk City, Florida on Saturday afternoon, one name was surprisingly absent from the campaign décor -- John McCain's.

McCain's name nowhere to be seen at Palin rally

Read more »

I have received my "Ticket To Election Day" from the McCain campaign, complete with driving instructions to my polling place. Wow, what organization.

The only problem is that I haven't lived at the McLean Virginia address since 1970 and haven't even lived in Virginia since 1974.  I also have never provided an email address to the McCain campaign.  Damned spammers. Gotta hand it to the McCain get out the vote effort. 

Seriously, I have read that the McCain campaign has had to radically cut back on its get out the vote efforts in favor of TV advertising, even in his own state. It seems the campaign doesn't have the money for both. I assume contribution have dried up as folks believe he can't win.

I've posted a partial image of the email message at my blog if you're interested.

I wonder how long it will be (certainly in November) before Obama says that the economy is worsening more than he expected, and he needs everyone to pitch in by keeping tax rates where they are today?

I know both candidates lie when it comes to their economic plans and budgets, but does anybody really think Obama can achieve all of his plans (healthcare, social security, energy independence, etc) by giving tax cuts or keeping taxes flat for 95% of Americans?

Since they added their 'Expanded Likely Voters Poll' a few weeks ago, it has show Obama's lead over McCain to be around twice as much as the 'Traditional Likely Voters Poll'.

But today, they surprisingly agree that the lead is now 10 points! Just seems kind of odd.

Not that anyone should relax and think it's a done deal.  EVERYONE MUST VOTE.

That's all we have to do, and we'll be fine.

Sorry if This happens to be a duplicate.

 

Politico is reporting that a Quebec comedy duo notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state has reached Sarah Palin, convincing the Republican vice-presidential nominee she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the interview, which lasts about six minutes, Palin and the pranksters discuss politics, pundits, and the dangers of hunting with current vice-president Dick Cheney.

The Masked Avengers, who have a regular show on Montreal radio station CKOI, intend to air the full interview on the eve of the U.S. elections.

I am sure in the many books soon to to written on this campaign somewhere someone will nail down Plouffe or Axelrod and get them to admit how fortunate they felt that John McCain would be their opponent in the general election; and not someone like Mittens who seems so much better at selling the Big Lie.

I want to think that no matter who the opponent was they would have followed the Rovian playbook and punted this election from the getgo. Who knows?  But I think the real gift that kept on giving was the nomination of an aging, befuddled, reckless, addictive craps player who oozes mysogyny and entitlement from every pore of his body.  The selection of Sarah Palin was just icing on the entire mishmashed cake. 

What could have been a tight nailbiter of an election now turns into a overwhelming mandate for a New Deal---the worst possible nightmare for the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Dobsons, and Cheneys of this world.  The end of Reaganomics ["let unrestrained markets dictate the answer to all our problems"], "know-nothingism", racism as a virtue, and Presidents and Vice Presidents whose first language is gibberish sprinkled liberally with doubletalk.

None of this is possible without the help of good folks like John McCain.  God Bless You John McCain.

Like the weasel reporter Richard (Dick) Thornburg, from Die Hard 1. His meddling with McClane's family to get a scoop almost gets John and Holly killed so there's a great emotional pay-off at the end of the film when Holly punches him. His acceptance of his sleazy hack status is confirmed with the line "Did you get that?" to his cameraman.

 

"Did you get that"

 

Obama and immigration?

 

John Mccain, accepting he's a sleazy hack

 

http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/articles/die-hard-top-20-moments.html

 

I am reminded too, by the part when both FBI agents  (Johnson's) are in the helicopter talking about the casualties of the upcoming assault. Agreeing that the collateral damage is acceptable.

 

The right to privacy is cast aside, as acceptable. Given that the results intended will be achieved, getting the scoop in order to SMEAR OBAMA 

Yesterday Brian Williams of NBC called Palin on the promise she made regarding her medical records.

Yes, there are nasty, probably untrue rumors out there in lefty-blogosphere.  But there's also something called accountability.

Politicians are supposed to wait until AFTER the election to break their promises.


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So Obama's aunt is in the country illegally? That's it? That's the 11th-hour smear that is supposed to swing the election to John McCain? I expected the party of Willie Horton, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and Bill Ayers to do better. Marc Ambinder puts this one in perspective:

Barack Obama's long-lost aunt, who is living in poverty, might be deported for being in the country illegally...and this is supposed to make people not want to vote for Barack Obama?

Republicans think anti-immigrant forces are going to be rallied by attacking a middle aged woman in her fifties?  This is what's going to swing independents back to McCain?  Reminding people (a) of an actual human face on the receiving end of anti-immigration policies and (b) that the Democratic candidate is personally affected by a complicated issue facing many American families?

And assuming voters _are_ motivated by the connection, they're going to turn to McCain as their anti-immigrant savior?

Don't you just hate to have to choose left or right

McCain's too aggressive, Barack's too polite

Obama is black but McCain is too white

Don't this decision keep you up late at night

 

They say it's almost time to fish or cut bait

You're getting those phone calls, they're spewing that hate

That Reverend Wright's crazy but Oprah's so great

Don't you just wish that they'd hold one more debate

 

At first you really dig that new girl she shoots moose and bunny

(And looks real hot, 'cause she's spendin' their money)

If only she knew what a treaty is for

Now you're missing, for shore, that mousy New York senator

 

And now you just can't seem to make up your mind

 

Say yes we can or let's all roll our eyes

They both promise change they say our taxes won't rise

If you just had another year to decide

 

And then perhaps you'd finally make up your mind

 

The old guy looked like a leader, his campaign suspended

He held up his plane 'til the interviews ended

Then in walked Pelosi and made them all cry

She said, "Go home and debate, John, so folks can decide"

 

And now you betcha that it's time to decide

 

And say yes we can or let's all roll our eyes

They both promise change they say our taxes won't rise

If you just had another year to decide

 

At least you've got a few more days to decide

 

Where is the liberal blogsphere on this?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/the_anatomy_of_a_smear.php

It seems only TPM has the guts to take it head-on. Even the Obama camp's reaction is tepid and light-weight. This should be an outrage by the left on so many levels: Leaked imigration information on this lady, the Saturday before the election, sent out to the AP from the administration, carried by Murdoch's Times of London.

How about let us also mention that she would be deported to Kenya where she was seeking asylum from the fighting there, is not wealthy and not bothering anyone, and is being intruded upon by the right-wing media.

Yet we allowed Fox & Drudge shout out that it was innapropriate to criticize Joe the Plumber even though he is campaigning for McCain.

Has everyone already checked-out? Are we going to let them get away with this kind of slander against someone Obama met maybe a handful of times in life? Just like we allowed the right to associate Obama with anyone he ever came into contact with?

Here's an idea I had recently that I found intriguing, in an offensive sort of way:

The election is three days away, and I'm watching KU - K-State on TV here at 10:30 on a Saturday morning. A cold front has come in, with temps hovering in the upper thirties. Just setting the tone there.

Anyway, the game approached kickoff, and they introduced "Kivisto Field" in Lawrence, and my thoughts turned to recent reports of Kivisto having some legal issues, being removed from his position amid scandal, etc.  And my reaction was "so what?" I'm still rooting for KU, and the haters can piss off because our playing field, donated by Mr. Kivisto, is legit. If you complain about that, you're not a die-hard Jayhawk fan.

So here's where the offensive part comes in:  for parts of what Gov. Palin would call "Pro America," blind devotion and rabid allegiance to your university has been supplanted by blind devotion and rabid allegiance to the idea of "Amurrica." Now, those college-education elites sneer at true fans for loving their country too much, but the fact is, if you're complaining about our country, you're not a die-hard American.

Alright, it's game time - hopefully we have our shit together this week, because this one could make or break us.

Crossposted at the usual elsewheres:

I was eight years old when President Kennedy was elected. Up to that time, the president was a grandfatherly looking man who the older folk told me was a great general who helped to beat the Nazis in World War II. This was as much geopolitical history as I could swallow then (still trying to figure out more important things such as how a place called "Brooklyn" could move to another place called "Los Angeles.)


On the Big Brother Bob Emery show I watched while having lunch we drank a toast every day (with milk, of course) to President Eisenhower, but my parents moved our family away from Massachusetts before I could see whether we now drink toasts to President Kennedy. (When we went "home" to visit, I saw that the torch had, indeed, been fully passed). My understanding of the presidency was that while we did not always succeed, the idea was to have the smartest, best, or wisest person around to "lead our country" not they way a king would, but, well, the way parents might guide their family through the slightly less momentous problems it faced.

When I was ten, I learned why the president had to be wise. When he came on television one night, before my parents realized they did not want me to see this, President Kennedy looked straight at the camera and told us that the government had just learned about something that was very serious and very threatening. He told us that it was important for us to know about it, but that the government would do everything it could to protect us. My parents pretended to look re-assured. It worked for me, and through the days that followed, with anxious teachers telling us what to do in case the air raid sirens blew, the image of the calm but determined President telling us of the horrible problem, but that the government was working on it, made me feel as if this would not end badly, and, thankfully it did not.

But on November 22, 1963, a little more than a year after that scary speech and the difficult week that followed, President Kennedy was murdered. The new president, a man from Texas, told us things would be okay, but I was not quite as sure. I considered whether the fact that President Kennedy had been from Massachusetts, where I, too, was born, had something to do with the fact that his way of speaking had more of an effect on me that the man from Texas, but it seemed then, and more so now, that part of it was that though he seemed to be smart, and worthy of the presidency, he was not on the same level as President Kennedy.

The rest of childhood and all of my adulthood has been a prayer for a resumption of the hope and confidence of those days. Maturity and education has put those prayers in a slightly different perspective, but at its core their purpose has been constant. Unlike the Reaganites, yearning for a return to days that never existed except on film, my dream is for a country which admires its president, who has confidence in him as a leader, and is proud to see how the rest of the world views him (or her). And, with such a president, educated in schools, by reading history and by life experiences, comes a country confident as it was before its young president was murdered, feeling that there is nothing the world throws at us which we cannot overcome.

Aside from the President who took office on that sad day in November, 1963, only two Democrats have been elected since then and both were huge disappointments to me. I admired that, having grown up in the south, they had not succumbed to the illness of that region, the aftermath of the slavery it demanded the right to continue when our nation was formed and that all but tore the country apart until a war was fought which resulted in a grduging acceptance of its end. But the compromises both men made to remain Democrats when everyone around them abandoned their party after the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Acts were enacted in the memory of President Kennedy, made both Presidents Clinton and Carter too flawed a vessel to sustain all of my dreams.

They were both intelligent men, who meant well, but both their presidencies failed to live up to the promise inherent in their elections. When, for instance, President Clinton made "welfare reform" a centerpiece of his administration, my heart sank. Likewise, President Carter's most dramatic response to rising old prices, suggesting that we just turn down our thermostats and wear sweaters was not quite on a par with a presidential call for a program to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth within a decade.

This is not to say that neither had good points and did well. They did. President Carter was way ahead of his time in warning of the dangers from our dependence on foreign oil, for instance, and President Clinton appears to belong on Mount Rushmore today in comparison with his sorry successor and his not much better two predecessors. But neither represented to me the triumph of wisdom and intelligence that was what the presidency meant before a crook, an amiable fool, a movie star and hos well meaning but befuddled vice president took over the White House.

Today, we are, perhaps, on the verge of that restoration. The thought that the president himself could be the answer to our critics around the world, and an inspiration to many of them, and to us, fills me with extraordinary hope and great excitement. I cannot say that I have not felt that since November, 1963, but never as strongly. (My mind keeps etching a dateline, of some era, I guess, the one of Hope and Confidence, or of a New Frontier, I suppose, that runs from January 20, 1961-November 22, 1963, January 20, 2009-???)

It is both ironic but absolutely so that we have George W. Bush to thank for this moment, perhaps the only thing for which he deserves our gratitude. He has shown the country why competence, wisdom, patience, and education matter. He has steered our country into such a deep hole that it must again find a man, as it did with Franklin Roosevelt, with Abraham Lincoln, with George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and, yes, John F Kennedy, who can inspire us to find a new way.

I cannot say it any better than this:

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

It begins, again, Tuesday.

President-elect Obama is inheriting the worse financial crisis perhaps in the history of the United States. There is no way we'll be "better off four years from now than we are today." Nouriel Roubini is predicting certain deflation-led chaos that will plague the world for years on end. Better somewhat like Obama be at the helm during such a period than brutes like Bush/McCain

Now is the time to embrace pessimism as a way of life. Hard for Americans to do, but if we don't, the right-wing fascists will eventually swoop back in to power and be our guides to hell.

Thomas Hardy once wrote about the virtues of being pessimistic. In such a state, you can never be disappointed, and, sometimes events might actually exceed your expectations.

In our current state of despair, we all must assume pessimism as the new way.

This morning both McCain (in Virginia) and Palin (Polk City, Florida right now) quoted Biden as lowering the income tax threshhold (for an increase) to $ 150,000 and Bill Richardson as saying $125,000.

 

The Obama website still cites $250,000 as the threshhold.  Is this another last minute lying gambit or did Biden and Richardson really say these things??

 

If Obama changed the threshhold, people could smell it and react at the polls.

The Indianapolis Star decided to withhold endorsing either Obama or McCain for President this year. This was the first time since 1964 (Lyndon Johnson) that the Star had not endorsed the Republican candidate for President. Dennis Ryerson, the editor of the newspaper, wrote that the editorial board was not able to reach consensus, so they simply "decided to agree to disagree" and to withhold an endorsement.

Indiana is one of "swing states" in the electoral campaign, with polls in the state showing the Obama-McCain contest to be a tossup. The latest statewide poll conducted by the Star shows Obama with 45.9% and McCain with 45.3% support among Hoosiers. If Indiana votes for Obama, it will be the first time the state's electoral votes have gone for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson's landside victory of 1964.

AP reported yestereday that Peter Frampton, irritated that his Obama signs were being lifted from the lawn, called The Cincinnati Enquirer and requested to be interviewed so he could voice his oh-so-special complaint.

Not that he hasn't a legitimate beef, but why must we endure their constant demands for privilege?  Isn't it enough that we have to suffer their endorsements?

Here's a sign that should surely make him the darling of his GOP neighborhood 

There was a wonderful article in the Times yesterday about those of us who worry to extreme:

Todays Muhlenberg College tracking poll for Pennsylvania shows Obama ahead overall 52% to 44% for McCain - but I thought the following cross tabulations taken directly from the report are interesting and informative - notice that Obama leads in every catogory except for one (who registered Repulicans plan to vote for - and in some strange twist of fate, the Repulicans plan to vote for McCain - Go figure!) and is tied in one (those who identify themselves as "white"). Obama even leads among men (albeit only 49 to 48%).  Obama leads, on the other hand, among independent voters with 52% supporting Barack and 45% supporting McCain.

I find it interesting that 100% of the democrats are accounted for with 84% supporting Obama and 16% supporting McCain.  But only 96% of Republicans are accounted for with 80% supporting McCain and 16% supporting Obama - the poll also finds that 4% of voters are still undecided  - so are these 4% of undecided the missing 4% of Repulicans who were not listed as supporting either candidate?  Probably not - the poll says that 1% plan to vote for a 3rd candidate or are not voting for either McCain or Obama. But there are many little interesting things to think about in these polls. 


MUHLENBERG COLLEGE /MORNING CALL

2008 Presidential Tracking Poll

RELEASE #36 - November 1, 2008
FIELDING PERIOD - October 27-31, 2008
SAMPLE -604 Likely Voters in Pennsylvania

SELECTED CROSSTABULATIONS

For October 27-31



                                        Obama                       McCain

OVERALL                          52%                            44%
DEMOCRAT                      84%                            16%
REPUBLICAN                   16%                             80%
INDEPENDENT                 52%                            45%
MALE                                 49%                            48%
FEMALE                            55%                            42%
CATHOLIC                         49%                            47%
PROTESTANT                   51%                            46%
WHITE                               48%                            48%
NON-WHITE                      90%                              8%
NO COLLEGE DEGREE   48%                            46%
COLLEGE DEGREE         55%                            42%
UNDER 60K                      52%                            45%
OVER 60K                         55%                            43%
SENIOR CITIZENS           50%                            47%

You can find a link to the PDF for this poll inside the following:

http://www.pollster.com/blogs/pa_obama_53_mccain_40_muhlenbe_1.php

I nominate Bob Ney, former chairman of the House Administration Committee, to the GOP Election Day Hall of Shame, for his outstanding performance as a drunken bum on the take who knowingly and willfully subverted the authority granted to him under the Constitution to undermine voter confidence in the electoral system for political gain. 

Chairman Ney's hearing on voter fraud held at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus in March 2005 is prima facie evidence of absolute corruption in the Republican Party. In the preceding months, Republican operatives had spent millions of dollars to manufacture and fund bogus voter fraud claims with the express intent of creating public support for  restrictive voter registration laws.       

The American Center For Voting Rights, formed by Republican operatives in February 2005, was the only "voters rights group" to testify at the hearing. The ACVR's 28-page report on voter fraud submitted to the Department of Justice provides a framework of how the GOP orchestrated its efforts to suppress the Democratic votes.

One of the exhibits attached to the ACVR is an unintentionally hilarious recounting of what happened when a University of Virginia law student and a Republican operative set out on Election Day to document "voter fraud" they were certain was being committed by the Teamsters in Philadelphia. After they annoyed the shit out of the Teamsters all day, the dynamic duo got the thrill of their lives when Teamsters in big SUVs chased them out of town. Even the cop who filled out the police report thought the whole thing was silly.     

I bet more than one shyster at the RNC busted a gut laughing when disgraced congressman from Louisiana, Robert L. Livingston, was named chairman of the Free Enterprise Coalition, i.e. the F.E.C. Get the joke?

Based on a single incident, the Free Enterprise Coalition sponsored a RICO civil lawsuit filed by two Ohio citizens in December 2004 against ACORN, the NAACP and the AFL-CIO, claiming that ACORN was bribing people with crack cocaine to register to vote. The ACVR, of course, cited the lawsuit as irrefutable evidence of voter fraud in its report. 

Three months later, the RICO suit was dropped and the GOP never mentioned it again.

So on Election Day, remember Bob Ney, the Republican from Ohio who used public funds to  corrupt the electoral process. The guy's a shoo-in for the Hall of Shame.

 

Many years ago, when I marched over to the Registrar's Office, to turn in that last "something" in the long march for a Ph.D., and came away with a transcript that said, yes, I'd completed "everything," the first four notes of Beethovan's Fifth Symphony popped into my head.  With those notes came these words:  Everything's Done!  And as I walked across the lawn and down the hill, past buildings and across streets, those words and those notes echoed in my mind.  Just after I passed the psychology building and was crossing the street, a man with a with an arm full of red roses was walking by.  For some reason I felt moved to share my joy of that afternoon.  And he pulled one rose from his bouquet and handed it to me.  Better than a diploma was that rose from a stranger.

Today we begin 4 days of GOTV.  Four days, like four notes - like the beginning of Beethovan's Fifth.  Today is the first note.  And Tuesday is the final note - of the beginning of the Obama Symphony.  On Tuesday night we'll be able to say, about the campaign,  along with those four notes:  Everything's Done! 

Today many of us, myself included, will be going out to greet strangers.  Not with roses.  But with our simple message:  Your vote counts.  We'll be greeting supporters.  We'll share the energy and the enthusiasm with strangers.  We'll feel the unity and hope.  I for one will probably be on the verge of tears all day.  Feeling the coming of the winds of change.  Feeling the connection and solidarity with fellow supporters.  Feeling the amazement that all of us, one by one, can make a huge difference.  Each of us, note by note, contributing to the coming symphony.  Playing different roles like different instruments.  But willing to put our faith in one conductor for the next four years. 

Take time to listen to Beethovan's Fifth sometime late on Tuesday.  And feel the weight of those four notes:  Everything's Done.  But before then, work your heart out.  Because till all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed, we can't begin the rest of the our symphony. 

We're waiting, Barack.  Holding our breath, working our hearts out, we're waiting for the conductor to arrive at the podium.  We're waiting for the first those first, glorious four notes.  And all that follows.

I don't think the timing of this is coincidental:

"Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned."

Plattsburgh Press-Republican/AP News story.

The BBC News website has been running in-depth coverage of the US 08 election since late last year. Certainly the attention BBC is devoting to this election far surpasses any US coverage of a foreign election, but this is not in the least surprising.

This is the BBC News site sub-section covering the 08 election.

The BBC coverage is somewhat different from what may be found in the US news media. The BBC is more neutral, more distant. There is no partisan slant. The reporters are fairly good at hiding their personal preferences and hence are regularly accused of being in the tank for either candidate.

During the primaries, there was perhaps a very slight pro-Hillary bias - I suspect that the reporters genuinely didn't believe Obama could win. Even now, the reporting is far more neutral than one might expect from a supposedly leftist organization like the BBC. There is no real criticism of McCain, even though the reporting makes it clear that McCain's chances of winning at this point are virtually nil.

Since the conventions, the BBC has several new reporters on the ground. Some of them, in addition to regular reporting, also have their own blogs. These blogs are great for adding color to the normal reporting, especially because they're written from a non-American perspective.

The BBC also has regular "Voters' Views" mini-features like this one, where random voters are giving their opinion on certain events. These are always interesting to read for the sheer range of diametrically opposing views.

When it comes to primary news reporting, BBC's election coverage frankly has very little new or different to offer, simply because the election is so well covered by all news organizations. The background and analysis features are rarely boring, however. The BBC often tries to explain the intricacies of the US political process; this is aimed at non-Americans, but some Americans may find it enlightening as well (not necessarily the political junkies comprising the TPM readership though).

A final note about form - the BBC News website features relatively short, easy to read articles. The site is light on advertising (no ads if you read in the UK I believe) and the layout is very clean and well organized. Worth reading.

I live in France and am a beneficiary of socialized healthcare. This is a system that certainly has its own set of problems but the difficulties are not, in my opinion, nearly as severe or widespread as the problems in the US.

I recently sat down with a public health expert in Europe who now works for an international pharmaceutical company. He wishes not to be named but was willing to speak about American healthcare. He has read both Obama's and McCains health care plans. I asked him what he thinks of the American healthcare system and what he thinks of private healthcare. Here is one of three conversations we had on the subject.

Blevins: What shocks you most about the American healthcare system?

The most shocking aspect is the ratio between cost and efficiency. If you look at it from a purely statistical viewpoint, this is quite striking. In 2006 for example, 16 % of your GDP was spent on healthcare, an enormous investment, yet in a recent study that assesses the quality and performance of health systems over time in 19 OECD countries, the US was last. If your automobile industry were this inefficient, the US  would probably not even qualify as a G8 country.

Blevins:  Does this mean that the quality of healthcare in the US is really that poor? Because Americans are mostly concerned about the cost of their healthcare, but there is a widely held belief that we have the best medical facilities and doctors in the world.

Well Americans are both right and wrong about this. Because it's true, most of the top ten medical centers in the world are in the US. This seems like absolute proof of American healthcare quality. But your ability to perform has not kept up with your technological and medical improvements. For instance, when you compare the first analysis of this report, taken in 1997 with results from 2003, you see a definite trend: other countries have made big improvements in the performance of their healthcare systems, compared with the US, whose system has made only marginal gains. So the US has fallen behind the other OECD countries because it has been unable to move forward and adapt to the changing conditions within your country.

Blevins: Does this mean these facilities are only available to the rich?

 Not exactly. The problem is more complex than this. Let me explain this using the previous example: if you take the above report I mentioned and you leave out the US, the curve tracking healthcare system improvement is quite steep. And if you take this curve and you apply it to the US in order to determine how many deaths could have been avoided, you find that no fewer than 75,000 people died needlessly in the US in 2002 and 2003 for instance. That's a staggering number of avoidable deaths.

Blevins: So what are the real differences between healthcare in the US and healthcare in the top ranked countries in this report?

The top countries were France and Japan. They were the first when the tracking started in 1997-98 and they still are the top ones five years later, in 2002-03. What is interesting is that these two countries' healthcare systems are completely different, but they have one thing in common: in both countries, the state intervenes in two key areas, in the cost of medicine and in the funding of treatment for serious and prolonged medical conditions (cancer, diabetes and MS for instance)

Blevins: How does the state intervene in these two areas and why is that better than the American system?

Well in the US, the market determines the price of medicine and the price of major medical treatments. In concrete terms this means that new drugs are much more expensive in the US than in Japan and in France. And often a high co-payment is demanded of the patient. It's the same when it comes to treatment for prolonged medical treatment: since the market determines cost, it tends to be quite high and this heavy cost delays access to care, which results in higher mortality. In other words, the market creates impossible conditions for effective and rapid treatment.

This is nothing new of course but the American system is particularly problematic because American capitalistic regulation is based on the idea the individual has a choice and that he or she can at all times exercise this right. But when you're in need of medical attention, your bargaining capacity is radically altered. You have no choice but to seek treatment and this means the individual has very little room for bargaining. In France and in Japan, the state assumes the role of negotiator and acts on behalf of the collectivity to regulate costs. 

In the next conversation, I ask our expert why the market is unable to regulate prices effectively.

I love Patti Smith and have followed her since I was a teenager in NYC in the late 70s. I was lucky to see her and her original band at CBGB's a number of times. A film about her, called Dream Of Life is making the rounds of the film festivals and will be out on DVD in January. It was made in conjunction with PBS and will be shown by them during fund raising next year as well. The film covers almost 15 years of her life and has no narration-only the voices of Patti and the people surrounding her. I'm on the mailing list from her website and this morning and email with the subject line:

Patti Smith's Indictment of George W Bush  

was in my inbox. The email contained a link to a youtube clip. The clip is a 4 minute long section of the movie in which Patti reads an indictment of Bush for "befouling the name of our country"

I promise you it's worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4UX6UNdLUM

It has become apparent to me that Joe the Plumber, Sarah Palin and John McCain are doing their best to divide this country into their own little "realdom" and "unrealdom" and are practicing  TRUE "unAmerican" tactics in a desperate attempt yo "Divide an Conquer".

 

Here is what I see as the REAL AMERICA

Real America is that now 13 year old kid that has shown up every spring for the last 3 years to see if I wanted him to mow my grass and after the first snow to see if I wanted my porch cleared and walk shoveled.

Real America is the people I saw last night going door to door NOT asking for votes but trick or treating.

Real America is those that work for nothing in food pantries "spreading the wealth" so that those less fortunate can eat.

Real America is Friday night high school football where we all gather to cheer on our home team and truly appreciate the efforts of both teams even when our team loses.

Real America is the annual Apple Festival in my hometown, where the entire town agrees to close downtown and set up rides and concessions and booths and hold parades and contests and talk to friends and laugh together as a community.

Real America is helping out your neighbor when they need it and checking to see if that elderly neighbor is OK when the electric goes out and it's cold.

Real America is raking leaves into a BIG pile so the neighborhood kids can make running dives into them and just have fun.

Real America stopping to talk to a friend you haven't seen when you see them in the grocery store or on the sidewalk.

Real America is 5th and 6th graders on the "Safety Patrol" raising the American Flag every morning at their school and bringing it down and folding it at the end of each school day.

Real America is sharing your umbrella with a stranger when it starts to pour the rain.

Real America is taking a ride to look at Christmas Lights just to hear the kids squeal with delight.

Real America is staying up late on Christmas Eve trying to figure out how to put a toy together that your kid has been wishing for since the day after last Christmas.

Real America is just helping out when you see help is needed.

AND

REAL AMERICA IS EVERYWHERE NOT JUST HERE AND THERE AS DEFINED BY THE MCCAIN PALIN CAMPAIGN

 

REAL AMERICA IS VOTING......for OBAMA

These are just the things off the top of my head that make me proud and make me happy to be an American.

PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN EXAMPLE OF REAL AMERICA. 

I think Bush/Cheney, and an undetermined  contingent of the Republican Party, have not necessarily lost anything by their time in the WH, despite that fact that Republican operatives outside this group have correctly noted that the Republican brand is "dog food" thanks to them.

In 2001, at the start of this nightmare, the Bush Administration earned the gratitude of Bill Clinton by putting  the stopper on a Republican investigation of Janet Reno:

 

 

 

The first time Bush asserted executive privilege, in 2001, he inherited claims from the Clinton administration. Representative Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana, was demanding information from the Justice Department pertaining to the tenure of the former attorney general, Janet Reno, but the Bush administration refused, saying it would set a bad precedent. Burton backed down.

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Ladies special sale going on at Act Blue - donate to their Better Democrat female candidates and someone with big pockets matches the funds. (Okay, you can give to the dudes as well but there you're paying full tab). So belly up to the bar, name your flavor.

Only 3 shopping/drinking days left till payout.

Early indicators are out from Politico of who's in or likely.

I took a quick look based on my post on heavy women voting, and based on the early Politico list I'd say the women need to jockey better for position. Supreme Court likely a woman, Commerce Secretary yes, UN Ambassador yes (but Kathleen Kennedy on the short list? Uggg.). Chief of Staff looks unlikely, Treasury looks unlikely, and there are a few more, but overall doesn't look like any big paybacks. And then Lugar?

So discuss below anything to do with his Administration picks, whether from a female angle or just simply wish-lists and evaluation (also a minorities angle would be interesting. Aside from Richardson, Rice and Jarrett didn't do a close look.

Anyway, have a look, and if you don't like what you see, now's the time to start complaining. By mid-November it'll be too late.

PS, I just posted on a Ladies Special on donations at Act Blue, but if you want your bucks to go twice as far, head over and take advantage. Blue Dog democrats simply aren't good enough anymore.

Olberman wonders what Mc Cain's "or" problem was from this mornings interview.  The "Or" that Mc Cain can't bring himself to say is that Palin is ready to be President.  He can say she is ready to be Vice-President, but when the sentence flows to "or President", he has some reaction and never says it.  I don't think he has ever thought about the possibility that he may not live out the term of his Presidency and leave the country to Palin.  Scary. 

Olberman wonders what Mc Cain's "or" problem was from this mornings interview.  The "Or" that Mc Cain can't bring himself to say is that Palin is ready to be President.  He can say she is ready to be Vice-President, but when the sentence flows to "or President", he has some reaction and never says it.  I don't think he has ever thought about the possibility that he may not live out the term of his Presidency and leave the country to Palin.  Scary. 

I really hesitate to say this but I think it is going to be a ROUT for Obama, Why do I think this?

1. There is record turnout among ALL groups but most of these groups are Obama's.

2. The language of the McCain Campaign in these final 4 days is basically language to rally the supporters of the McCain Campaign and not meant to actually change voters minds.

3. The Obama campaign is expanding the playing field, even to the point of putting ads into McCain's Home field. While McCain has narrowed his focus.

4. The voting lines are staying lines and not thinning out ANYWHERE, I believe this bodes well for Obama,

5. Finally I have actually seen an ad fro the "Republican Trust" saying Obama "Wants to give Drivers License to Mohammad Otta a 9/11 hijacker". This proves MASSIVE DESPERATION from Republicans nationwide.

6. Republicans have gone to their default position with that dusty old redoubt of "The Tax and Spend Liberal." Used by SO MANY Republicans of the past but this is a new kind of electorate.

There are many more reason I feel this way but these are the things that force me to be really, really confident about the out come of this election.

 

There is one thing that truly worries me, and that is just how much impact will those DAMNABLE voting machines that have been programmed by TRULY REPUBLICAN PARTISANS, and I put NOTHING past them and the likes of Diebold, ESS and those GOP Secretaries of States. Of course I do live in Ohio where in 2004 Then Ohio Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell (The Bush Ohio Campaign Chair)  maneuvered voting machines to slow and prevent voting in large Democratic precincts thus denying MANY their right to vote.

THANKFULLY Ohio now has a Sec of State (Jennifer Brunner) that has gone way beyond the call of duty to make certain that those that want to vote will be able to vote.

So there you have it, my reasons OBAMA is going to win. It might be close but I'm betting on a rout. If not in the Electoral College then in the popular vote numbers.

 

 

 

I really hesitate to say this but I think it is going to be a ROUT for Obama, Why do I think this?

1. There is record turnout among ALL groups but most of these groups are Obama's.

2. The language of the McCain Campaign in these final 4 days is basically language to rally the supporters of the McCain Campaign and not meant to actually change voters minds.

3. The Obama campaign is expanding the playing field, even to the point of putting ads into McCain's Home field. While McCain has narrowed his focus.

4. The voting lines are staying lines and not thinning out ANYWHERE, I believe this bodes well for Obama,

5. Finally I have actually seen an ad fro the "Republican Trust" saying Obama "Wants to give Drivers License to Mohammad Otta a 9/11 hijacker". This proves MASSIVE DESPERATION from Republicans nationwide.

6. Republicans have gone to their default position with that dusty old redoubt of "The Tax and Spend Liberal." Used by SO MANY Republicans of the past but this is a new kind of electorate.

There are many more reason I feel this way but these are the things that force me to be really, really confident about the out come of this election.

 

There is one thing that truly worries me, and that is just how much impact will those DAMNABLE voting machines that have been programmed by TRULY REPUBLICAN PARTISANS, and I put NOTHING past them and the likes of Diebold, ESS and those GOP Secretaries of States. Of course I do live in Ohio where in 2004 Then Ohio Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell (The Bush Ohio Campaign Chair)  maneuvered voting machines to slow and prevent voting in large Democratic precincts thus denying MANY their right to vote.

THANKFULLY Ohio now has a Sec of State (Jennifer Brunner) that has gone way beyond the call of duty to make certain that those that want to vote will be able to vote.

So there you have it, my reasons OBAMA is going to win. It might be close but I'm betting on a rout. If not in the Electoral College then in the popular vote numbers.

 

 

 

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Fired up and READY TO FINISH!
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Boy oh boy. How many hours have I blogged and commented to other blogs in the past 12 to 18 months.

Never had been much of one for politics. Somehow that changed around the 2006 election. Got initially involved primarily out of anger over what I saw in the three national branches of government. Then I saw a Charlie Rose one hour interview with a Senator named Barack Obama and that got me even more involved.

Now after all of the blogging, two and three hours a day most days, what really matters is only days away. I say to the other bloggers across the nation, we must ALL get out to vote on Tuesday if you haven't early voted already.

Am I relieved we're now this close to election day? Very relieved. I'm strongly supporting Senator Obama but whatever the outcome I have to get back to focusing on making a living. I've had a photography business for about 6 years and about a year ago started the process of opening a real estate office. I've grossly neglected both over the past few months. I suppose it won't do me a lot of good even if I've done my small part to help elect competent leadership in Washington if I allow my own business to fail :-)

I've enjoyed the campaign discourse along the way. Wow, how long ago does the Democratic primary seem now?

After hearing that first one hour interview of Senator Obama in my mind there was no doubt that he was the most capable politician in America to be the next president. Did I think he would make it? I'll have to admit I knew it would be tough.

To get past the very intelligent and capable Hillary Clinton who of course is married to probably one of the top 5 popular politicians of the 20 century. What a challenge that was. I initially expected Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican candidate and I think that might have been a tough challenge for Barack but Rudy self-destructed. I think Obama was the better candidate but let's keep it real. Obama has had to campaign with the handicap of a percentage of Americans who automatically won't vote for him because of the level of pigment in his skin and another percentage of Americans who automatically won't vote for him because of his name.

Obama vs McCain? I believe that this race is has perhaps the widest intelligence gap in modern presidential history. Obama appears to me to be one of the most intelligent people I've ever heard. Will the majority of Americans agree with that on election day? I'll know in a few days.


As my blogging for this campaign is coming to an end please allow me to leave you with a quote I wrote a few months back that really sums up kind of how important I feel this election is.

--
"Without Washington, Jefferson and Franklin perhaps America would have never been born, without Lincoln perhaps America would have disintegrated, without Roosevelt perhaps America would have been conquered, without Obama perhaps the greatness of America would have been lost forever." -- by Steve Everett on April 20th, 2008, SteveEverettDailyQuotes.com.
--

My fellow bloggers, lets change America (for the better) on November 4th.

And a few links for the road.
http://www.fightthesmears.com/
http://www.johnmccainrecord.com/
http://www.barackobama.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom
and one more. I registered and published this site myself
http://www.DailyDoseOfObamaVids.com/

and a couple of videos. Let's finish on November 4th, 2008 what kind of began in Iowa on January 3rd, 2008. That's it, I'm out of here.

IOWA VICTORY SPEECH. (13min)


AMERICAN STORIES, AMERICAN SOLUTIONS. (30min)


-----
Fired up and READY TO FINISH!

Cross posted at SteveEverettBlog.com and Daily Kos.
Subscribe to the Steve Everett Blog Rss feed.

The kids decided to do their own Halloween poll of the neighborhood. The 6 year old dressed up as a donkey and the 8 year old was an elephant (he had to be talked into that one). At each house they asked people to put the treats into one of three bags labeled Obama, McCain and Undecided/Other. The results are shown graphically below

Obama 60
McCain 21
Undecided/Other 12
MOE: +/- 4 Snickers

They also scored two campaign stickers from a neighbor running for state rep.

Sure there was some stuffing of the ballot bags (on both sides) and I'm not sure if Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com would approve of the methodology, but the results were tasty.

Since it appears that the insert image and or file buttons cannot find the "asset?" which to upload an image to a blog post, I thought I would try this out - and if it worked - share with you how I did it.

It seems to be working so if you would like to add an image to your blog, here is how I managed it. Locate the Format field on the top right of your create entry screen. Click on the drop down menu button (to the right of this field) and choose "none".

Now you can do some html! I know...you all are groaning (I know I was) but it is not as bad as it sounds, trust me. :) So here is the easy way, copy the following line into a word document or notepad or whatever and save it. That way, whenever you need to insert a picture, all you have to do is paste the line and change the address of the image. So here you go:

<img src="http://yeswecarve.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/j_meyer.jpg">

Notice the web address for the image is in between the quotation marks? When you want to insert an image, paste the above html line of code into your post, then delete the address of the image above (be careful - you need those quotation marks) and insert your own.

So to recap:1) Change format to none. 2) Open your saved document and copy the html code you previously saved from above and paste it into your blog. 3) Change the address in between quotations marks in the code to your image address.

A fun website to play around with html code is here: HTML Basics

That is pretty much it. Once you get used to seeing the html image code often, you will be able to remember it and type it in without the need to copy and paste. I just found it easier the first couple of times until I got the hang of it. But hey, I might just be a slow learner. And I am sure there are many more computer gurus here on TPM that probably have an easier way. If there are easier ways, please come forward with your knowledge! :)

Unfortunately these instructions are for images already uploaded to the web. If you have images on your machine that you want to post, you will need to upload them to a photo site like photobucket or flickr. You can then use the address the site assigns the image to post in your blog using the above info.

Note: for those who feel especially adventurous, you can also change the size of your image. For example, the above image I resized a little. To do so you need to add a little more to the html code I posted above:

<img src="http://yeswecarve.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/j_meyer.jpg" width="450" height="338">

Notice the code is exactly as it was above, only with a width and height added before the closing end tag >:. Thanks to the lovely new preview feature, you can play around with these parameters to get the right fit for you.

Obviously if TPM gets the "insert image" and/or "insert file" fixed, the world would be a happy place. :) But until then, I hope this helps as a work around.

Stumping for McCain in Oxford, Ohio, House Minority Leader John Boehner called Obama out for his "present" votes:

"Now, listen, I've voted 'present' two or three times in my entire 25-year political career, where there might have been a conflict of interest and I didn't feel like I should vote," Boehner said. "In Congress, we have a red button, a green button and a yellow button, alright. Green means 'yes,' red means 'no,' and yellow means you're a chickenshit. And the last thing we need in the White House, in the oval office, behind that big desk, is some chicken who wants to push this yellow button."

Only one problem for Boehner: In the House, the equivalent to a present vote is to abstain.  And in contrast to Obama's present votes, which accounted for 3 percent of his total votes cast, Boeher has abstained 5 percent of the time.  Apparently the "chickenshit" button gets plenty of use in Boehnerland.

http://liberal4lifeblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/like-rats-off-sinking-ship.html

What a coup! McCain seems to have enlisted the great and all-knowing Baghdad Bob to help with his press releases and to provide talking points for Rick Davis.

"We're giving them a real lesson today. Heavy doesn't accurately describe the level of casualties we have inflicted."

Obama's supporters will soon be overwhelmed and driven away by the glorious forces of John McCain!

The American press is all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!

Sarah Palin will smite them and hit them all with shoes -- with three inch heels! 

The Obamanites are the ones who will find themselves under siege if they enter the garden that is Arizona.

Be assured that the faltering forces of infidels cannot win.

We have them right where we want them!

Republicans cannot attack Senator Obama without running the risk of racializing the debate, whether that helps them or not: such is their conundrum. In this they are partly the victims of circumstance. But they are also the victims of their own success.

There's an interesting discussion taking place between Ross Douthat and Matt Yglesias (and Douthat again) about the role of race in this election. Is it true that normally acceptable political attacks (to the degree political attacks are acceptable) have been rendered anathema by Obama's race? If so, is that justified? In other words, is it too much to read race into so many of McCain's ads?

I think Matt is essentially right when he says:

Well, obviously you could read just about anything as a coded racist appeal. And I think a case could be made that you'd be right to.

It's no great revelation to say that political attacks can have more than one meaning; nor is it a great revelation to suggest that many Republican attacks, past and present, have had coded racist appeals. On the other hand, it is reasonable for Republicans to complain if attacks which weren't intended to be racist are being painted as such by the other side. It's entirely possible that Republicans, realizing the sensitivity of the issue of race in this election (and seeing what it did to Senator Clinton's campaign in the run-up to South Carolina), have been approaching the subject gingerly. It's possible that they are creating their ads in good faith -- well, at least as far as race is concerned -- and feel genuinely frustrated to see everything they do twisted back to the question of skin color.

I'm not saying that's probable, but it's possible. I honestly don't know. But Michael Goldfarb's refusal yesterday to utter Jeremiah Wright's name shows at least a recognition of the racial minefield the McCain campaign is now navigating.

What it comes down to is this: Regardless of who it advantages and what their intentions, Republicans cannot attack Senator Obama without running the risk of racializing the debate. This is their conundrum. And they are partly the victims of circumstance -- but also victims of their own success.


Humans haven't emerged as far from the jungles as we'd like to believe. Buried within each of us are our most ancient ancestors' animalistic fears. From the age of Pericles to the age of McCain political attacks, at least the good ones, have exploited those fears to compel people to action. But it's not just politicians who exploit people thus: it can be anybody, really, who wants to exert power over others. In this way racists across the history of America have manipulated otherwise rational people to believe (and sometimes do) terrible things.

To that extent today's Republicans are victims of coincidence. Their ads are 'racist' because they are of a kind with racist appeals. That is not, however, particularly remarkable. The above suggests that at root politicians and white supremacists share very similar goals -- influencing others to believe and do what they is perceived as right or necessary -- so it is not surprising that they sometimes draw from the same toolbox. That doesn't make the tools, and by extension the politicians that use them, racist or immoral. (Either might be racist or immoral for other reasons, of course.)

But the racist appeal of Republican attacks goes further than just coincidence.

Now, I'm no linguist, but I think it's fair to say that words aren't conjured out of thin air and imparted upon humanity in a pure and unchanging form. Words mean what we want them to mean, and that meaning, both denotation and connotation, will change over time. If meaning is, in one sense, a bundle of associations, then clever people can -- with much hard work over many years -- change the meanings of words by changing their associations.

Since at least the 1960s Republicans have done precisely that. They have understood that for many Americans racialist fears are a direct pathway to that dark unconscious which all effective political attacks strive to touch. And so Republicans have spent decades tying liberal candidates and liberal ideas to 'blackness'. They did it with welfare, they did it with crime. They tied 'Muslim' with 'terrorist'. Now they're blackening taxes. Says Eric Rauchway (by way of Crooked Timber):

Republican voters - richer voters - are less willing to see the federal government [use its authority to help African-Americans]; Democratic voters - poorer voters - are more willing to see the federal government acting that way among blacks. So you look exclusively at income inequality in the South and you say aha! - it's rational politics. If richer whites are more likely to vote Republican, it's because they don't want their taxes raised. They don't want their money taken away; they're strictly protecting their economic interest. That's an incomplete story. You have to say they don't want their money taken away because they are afraid that it will be given to black people.

As I've said, it is entirely possible -- again, I don't know -- that Schmidt et al. are trying to avoid racism in their attacks. Certainly almost everything they've said about Obama they would have said about a white candidate, and maybe more. But then Republicans have been 'blackening' white candidates for years. That's what I meant when I said above that Republicans are victims of their own success: They've managed to turn political attacks, even mundane policy attacks, into coded racial appeals. There are good reasons to believe that in this electoral cycle they don't always want that to be the case, but it's too late now. When Republicans say 'welfare', many people think 'black' -- and many others see that for what it is.

So I think it's hasty to rush to judgment, to blithely brand the McCain campaign racist. They may or may not be racist in intent. And the tactics they employ are not only racist. But racism is an indelible element of their attacks. To some degree this is due to the unhappy, but not necessarily immoral, congruence of boilerplate political attacks and racist fear-mongering. But to a great extent today's crop of Republicans are reaping the rotten fruits of their own party's harvest.


Thanks for reading. If you found this post valuable I'd hugely appreciate it if you'd click 'recommend'! I'd also love to hear your thoughts in the comments below -- see you there.

Obama says he didn't know aunt's illegal status

CHICAGO - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday he didn't know that one of his relatives was living in the United States illegally and believes the appropriate laws should be followed.

The Associated Press found that Obama's aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. The woman, Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh), is living in public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father.

A statement given to the AP by Obama's campaign said, "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed."

Onyango is part of Obama's large paternal family, with many related to him by blood whom he barely knows. Obama first met Onyango when he traveled to Africa as an adult -- he referred to her as "Auntie Zeituni" in his memoir.

The campaign said he has seen her a few times since that meeting, beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his wife, Michelle, four years after the first trip. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Obama's invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends on the East coast before returning to Kenya.

She attended Obama's swearing-in to the U.S. Senate in 2004, but campaign officials said Obama provided no assistance in getting her a tourist visa and doesn't know the details of her stay. The campaign said he last heard from her about two years ago when she called saying she was in Boston, but he did not see her there.

 

What a strange story. Yesterday, the Times of London reported that Obama's long-lost aunt had been found in Boston:

Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama's best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

A second relative believed to be the long-lost "Uncle Omar" described in the book was beaten by armed robbers with a "sawed-off rifle" while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.

*****

In his book Mr Obama writes that "Uncle Omar" had gone missing after moving to Boston in the 1960s - a quarter-century before Mr Obama first visited his family in Kenya. Aunt Zeituni is now also living in Boston, and recently made a $260 campaign contribution to her nephew's presidential bid from a work address in the city.

Speaking outside her home in Flaherty Way, South Boston, on Tuesday, Ms Onyango, 56, confirmed she was the "Auntie Zeituni" in Mr Obama's memoir. She declined to answer most other questions about her relationship with the presidential contender until after the November 4 election. "I can't talk about it, I just pray for him, that's all," she said, adding: "After the 4th, I can talk to anyone."

A photograph of Ms Onyango was later shown to George Hussein Onyango, Barack Obama's half-brother in Nairobi, who confirmed that it was their aunt. George Onyango, 26, the youngest child of Barack Obama Sr, said that he had spent weekends with his Aunt Zeituni when he was growing up, and instantly recognised her.

George Onyango said that his aunt had left for the US about eight years ago but sent him e-mails. "She left to find work and I suppose she thought her life would be better there," he said. "She was kind and caring."

And now the story takes an even stranger turn. Just tonight the Associated Press reports, such as this from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: 

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.

Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.

******

Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.

The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.

So what happens now? Illegal immigratin is a hot-button issue, and the wingnuts have been looking for anything they can find to throw at Obama. Since he wasn't even aware that she and his uncle were in Boston, how do they connect this to him, and how can it be made to look bad for him?

The story is up on Drudge Report now, so you know what that means: Drudge -> Fox -> McCain -> repeat ->.

The Boston Herald has an article up now, "Boston Housing Authority 'flabbergastered' Barack Obama's aunt living in Southie":

A Boston Housing Authority director says Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has lived in public housing for five years, is an "exemplary resident" and only recently did anyone know of her connection to the presidential contender.

Obama's campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin confirmed to the Herald yesterday that Zeituni Onyango, 56, who lives on Flaherty Way in South Boston, is Obama's aunt on his father's side.

*****

It wasn't until recently, when a London newspaper started making inquiries about Onyango, that Deputy Director Bill McGonagle learned of the link.

McGonagle said BHA employees were caught off guard.

"We were as surprised as anyone," he said. "We were a little bit flabbergasted."

Onyango has lived in Boston public housing for five years, McGonagle said.

"She has been an exemplary resident," he said.

She received a small stipend over the past year for working six hours a week as a volunteer resident health advocate in her complex, he said.

Little else is known about her.

Onyango had conversations with several BHA employees in recent days about her blood ties to the senator, McGonagle said. She proudly displays photos of Obama, including some that appear as old as 25 years, inside her first-floor apartment, McGonagle said.

A message left at Onyango's apartment was not returned.

McGonagle asked that the media respect Onyango's privacy.

"She is feeling very put upon," he said.

So from this we know that the Obama campaign has been made aware of the story. The legal ramifications of this appear to be somewhat tricky. From the Associated Press:

A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, said the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case.

Onyango's case - coming to light just days before the presidential election - led to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday's election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.

The unusual directive suggests that the Bush administration is sensitive to the political implications of Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.

It seems that the most important element in this story is that as the AP reports, "This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case." If no one will go on the record, no legitimate news source will (or should) touch this. There was obviously some leak of the information to the AP through the Bush administration or McCain campaign, but since it was illegal to release, no one can legally make any kinds of accusations. At least that's how I read it.

A poster atDaily Kos added the following observation:

Technically she is not here illegally. Once a deportation order is issued by the immigration judge then it is THE FEDERAL AGENCY who is responsible for deporting the person.  The person is not compelled to get on a freakin plane.  Whoever fed this story to Fournier (and it looks like some immigration custom agent) does NOT know how deportation works.  Long story short, the only reason the half-sister of Obama's dad is still in this country is because the federal government has let her stay here. 

 

 

As 236.com warned us in "Eight Ways to Survive the Next Eight Days, ":

Block your computer's access to Drudgereport.com -- You know you can't handle it.  You think you can handle it, you tell yourself you know how Drudge works, but then you see the "ZOGBY:  MCCAIN MOVES INTO LEAD 48-47 IN ONE DAY POLLING " headline and you're swallowing a bottle of pills.  If you can't wait for fivethirtyeight.com to tell you why the poll Drudge is citing is bullshit, you can't visit the Drudge Report.  Got it?

Can you imagine how much fivethirtyeight.com drives the wingnuts completely out of their minds?

I know, early voting does not an election make, but these numbers out of West Virginia ("Real" America) are astounding.

Real Clear Politics "poll of polls" in West Virginia have McCain up by eight points.

These are the early voting numbers out today from WV:

133,000 people cast an early voting ballot or an absentee ballot

31% of the early voters have been Republicans
59% of the early voters have been Democrats
9% of the early voters have been "no party" or independent

Can Obama win WV? Not likely, but its fun to think about.




http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=46299

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/...._obama-632.html

This daily post is a clearinghouse for links to posts that either flew by too fast, didn't get the attention they deserved, or are so good they need to be up even longer...

ANYONE can link a post here. If you do, please describe it briefly and tell us why it deserves another look.

The quality of posting around here seems to be getting very good, and some of the better ones are coming from new faces! This is a good place to highlight them, but they are moving fast again and the archives are still messed up, so get them linked here!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to rec this post, even if you don't read any of the links or add anything. It only works if it makes it to READER REC everyday. If it barely makes it, it gets bounced off and good links are lost.

Hi there, come on in.  I know, another long and exhausting day.  Find yourself a seat and I'll get you something to drink.  I've got some munchies around here somewhere, I'll find something to fill that hole in your stomach.  What?  That won't work?  I wonder why not ...

I'm so sick of John McCain.

I'm so sick of Sarah Palin.

I'm so sick of Joe the Plumber.

I'm so sick of Talking Heads.

I'm so sick of Polls.

I'm so sick of the color Red.

I'm so sick of the color Blue.

I still like the color Purple.  Cool movie.

The Economist has endorsed Obama!!!

Qualified with classic British understatement, but a strong endorsement nonetheless!!

WOO-HOO!!!

Robert

This is America. We have a constitution. By our long tradition, the rule of law is paramount. No one is above the law.  We don't have a king or a dictator, we have an elected President. No one can steal an election here; the courts would not stand for it. The idea of indefinite prison confinement without trial is alien to us. It can't happen here. Using lies to justify a war - No way! We have checks and balances that would prevent that from ever happening here; we have strict controls on the power of the President. Illegal searches, domestic spying or wiretaps without a warrant are just not possible here - this is America not Nazi Germany. We have a constitutional separation of church and state - preachers preach but they don't try to control the government. Kidnapping people and transporting them to unknown locations for torture and interrogation is just not possible here. This isn't the middle ages. Depriving qualified voters of the right to vote is some kind of third-world craziness. No real American would try to deprive people from voting. We believe in democracy. No one here would try to disenfranchise people or reduce their voice in government by artificially and arbitrarily redrawing voting district lines. That is so 19^th century -- we have safeguards against that. We can all rest assured that our freedoms and liberties are firmly rooted and protected by our government.

So, let's all vote for John McCain and see what else can't happen here.

There have been numerous reports that have debunked the so called "Bradley Effect" amongst polling geeks (and I do not use the term in the pejorative) and amongst folks involved in the Bradley campaign and in the NC Harvey Gantt campaign against Jesse Helms.

So what has been the response amongst the talking hairdos on CNN (the only USA news channel I receive here in Mexico)?  They now exclaim that the bigots are "hiding out", by telling pollsters they're undecided.  Now, of course, I don't know, but it sounds like a load of crap to me.  David Gergen, to his credit, when asked about "hiding out", by the ever vacuous Anderson Cooper, responded by noting the "hiding out" line is another name for the "Bradley Effect."

Isn't it just as likely that folks who have no intention of voting are "hiding out"?

For those of you wondering where you've heard Eagleburger's apology before, I think he may have borrowed it from the Archie character in A Fish Called Wanda:

[Otto dangles Archie out a window]
Archie: All right, all right, I apologise.
Otto: You're really sorry.
Archie: I'm really really sorry, I apologise unreservedly.
Otto: You take it back.
Archie: I do, I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, and was in no way fair comment, and was motivated purely by malice, and I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you, or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.
Otto: OK.

Is there a way to add images to a post? I noticed the insert image in the 'Create Entry' page. But when I click it, it tells me "no assets can be found."

Thanks.

I have never been so deeply involved in an election in my life. I spent my afternoon at the San Francisco field office making cell phone calls. My job, along with forty or fifty other people, was to call in troop reinforcements for this weekend. I really wish I had bought a ticket to Ohio so I could be on the ground where the action is taking place.

How does this Jibe?

Seems Obama is still smoking! And, to borrow from 'ol Joe B., literally, not figuratively. OK, I get this just from hitting the 60 Minutes site, which says he has acknowledged having the occasional cigarette on the campaign trail. I am sure that the stress of campaigning is great--I sure as hell couldn't handle it*--but bloody hell; I can't help but imagine a scenario where we successfully elect him, and then he dies of emphysema or lung cancer in his first term. Pock, Pock, someone talk chicken little down here...

Robert

* See Airplane: "Boy, I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

Sarah Palin's breathtaking lack of understanding of this country's Constitution continued today with the following statement:

"If (the media) convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media." UPI

Maybe you've seen this. But it's good. If you haven't done so already, send it to everyone in your address book. It will possibly lay a big freaking guilt trip on them. I've already voted early, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Click Here

Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, was quoted today as saying "We are witnessing perhaps, I believe, one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary." John McCain won the primary in March 2008. So, this would be the greatest comeback in... 8 months. What a record.

Cross posted at Blogical Investigations

All night long, a bunch of whiny, lazy, unemployed little thugs have been coming to my door, insisting that I give up my property. They're threatening dirty tricks if I don't comply.

This must be what life is going to be like under an Obama administration. Now I understand! OMG! Can I take my vote back?

Kinda like the way you folks spread out words and such. I got to reading Orlando's go to hell joe the plumber piece and figured ya'll might be right interesting to meet. Short of a letter to my local editor, I don't write much, but I read up on you all the time.

Wanting first off to comment to Orlando, after reading the derivations in them, much like putting hounds up a mess of trees, I figured it would be wiser to just go on an post my first one and get it the heck done for. Me and TMP go way back, 3, 4 years, maybe. This time of life, TOL for you text messengers, time spans differently, so it's around this much. Anyway, being urged to say that Orlando speaks my mind, I joined up, and think it fit and proper to say so in style.

"I am a real American..." Orlando says. Faulkner begins a novel "I am a writer" and a Dicken's one begins, "I was born."

Ever since I've come out of the rainforest of SE Asia alive, I am an America has increasingly  become a harder thing to say and be believed sans downing the appropriate flavored koolaide, flagpin being recently taste tested. Thank god the audience booed those bozo announcers. Not for any amount can I describe them any nicer. Otherwise, a few chose worser ones have no problem getting snagged when I go fishing for expletives. A shout out to Phillies Fans, me included, the infamous boo-birds pummelling a couple of flat nose teevee palookas standing up for Mickey and his corporate comb.

Orlando's declaration of ownership is a seminal proclamation, are you with me. She reclaims her possession of the United States of America and we should too, out loud. We the People are not insignificant words on top of a piece of paper; they're seminal words granting ownership of the USA to its humanity

I am a real American, too. Probably ain't a snot-nose bobble-head Republican I wouldn't like to sock in the eye, the dang ijits. Just a mess of pure foolery. I don't call a single one of their lily-licked gluteal quadrants an American. I call 'em traitors and cowards, and worm dicks.

I'm a country boy from eastern North Carolina, the land of square mile tobacco fields. I volunteered into the Marine Corps in 1967, came home alive and have been listening to traitors on the airwaves almost ever since. When I first heard G. Liddy, my heart wavered I was so apalled by his vitriol. Now knowing Ronald Regan's welfare reform saved enough money to buy a single fighter jet, I'm smelling a nest of rats. By golly, that Reagan's a real hero problem solver for ya!

But, there's this whole Iran thing he had going for himself. And lest we forget, G, sr., ran the CIA, and I'm pretty sure he was once ambassordor to Iran. I'm shooting from the memory hip, so maybe I'm mixing conspiracies saying all that.

People put way too much emphasis on Carter than they do on the Gipper. Why? Aw, shucks, gee, by golly, he's a man of his banker's breath word. Man can he wear a kerchief . Am I the only one who finds lunacy in the Gip's hosting "Death Valley Days" his hankerchief smarly knotted across his neck poking from a cowboy shirt, hat tilted back, booted foot hiked up on a fence rail, smiling like he was having a cheap sexual experience. 

Hard to find a tar paper shack now, around where I grew up. Once they were plentiful, full of colored folk, some trash, every now and again you understand. Nor, are there any more black women with bad feet saddled with what they had to walk down the road to get, most always on a miserable, dry, gnat infested day, the threat of a taunt absolute and a beer can possible. I willing posit a political end to their lives. The need for sharecroppers died out in my youth. The last horse drawn wagon I saw on the road was in fifth grade, the year before JFK took office. A tinker.

And, I wonder why aren't people from New York City real Americans? I don't understand the nerve that accepts this disgraceful accusation.

OMGG. More later. I got a point to get to.

I dare not spoil an Orlando word, so, in it's entirity, all of what struck me as sweetest on.

 "I believe that people like Joe, who are certain that only their experience encapsulates the vast and beautiful diversity that drives our amazing country and defines what is real, should shut the hell up and pay their taxes."

Impossible to controvert, Orlando provides clear vision only a wheedler can see differently.

The press is describing it as "anger" and "testy", but really, just let the guy have a few minutes with his kids, okay?

CHICAGO (Reuters) - It wasn't quite a Halloween nightmare on Obama street, but journalists on Friday drew a rare flash of anger from the normally unflappable Democratic presidential nominee.

Barack Obama had taken a break from the campaign trail for a few hours of Halloween fun at home with his family four days before the election, but ended up visibly annoyed when news crews dogged their footsteps in their Chicago neighborhood.

"That's enough. You've got a shot. Leave us alone," Obama told reporters as he walked down the block with his 7-year-old daughter Sasha in her costume on the way to a party at a neighbor's home.

Obama, usually cool in public during a campaign that has turned him into the frontrunner for the White House, did not disguise his irritation when his surprise walk caused news photographers and camera crews to scramble for position on the sidewalk.

He grew especially testy when a Polish television cameraman tried to approach them.

"Come on guys, get back on the bus," he pleaded with journalists, many of whom had accompanied him from the airport to Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.

Read the entire article here:

Rare flash of anger from Obama on Halloween night

Since B Obama says he is willing to share the wealth,  is he willing to share his campaign funds with Sen McCain and 3rd party Bob Barr?  After all, he has made the most in campaign funds, so, Barak, are you willing to share?

I've had a number of things on my mind over the last couple of weeks, but I've been quite busy.  There are several topics that I've wanted to write about.  However, I really won't have the time before Tuesday.  I also doubt that anyone will care as much after that, so I've decided to plow through a few them of them as haphazardly as possible.  Here we go!

***

First, a burning question in my mind: Given that John McCain came into the general election with a built in advantage, what happened?  He already had a long-standing and oft-sold narrative about being a very centrist type of politician.  This is the sort of story you want in the general, but all he's done since the conventions is tack harder and harder to the right.  Was that really the way to distance himself from the more right-wing policy blunders of the last eight years?  I'm forced to wonder how much better the McCain of yesteryear might have fared.. unless we're really seeing McCain as he is now.

Also, note to John: The pundits didn't decide you were behind.  The pollsters did.  This might seem like a minor quibble, but I believe that a careful examination of this difference earlier on might also have yielded dividends.  Oh well.. live and learn!

Moving along...

***

This one has been bugging me for weeks.  I had intended to write about this much more extensively, but I'm just going to go with the condensed version.

"Hi, I'm a journalist.  Candidate A has issued statement X.  Candidate B has issued statement Y.  Well, having given equal times to both sides of the issue, my work here is done.  See you tomorrow!"

False equivalence has been mighty abundant as of late.  This piece in the WaPo does a fair job of describing some of what it calls "the symmetry of sin."  We've all seen it.  (Personally, Candy Crowley is my favorite player of this game.  She acts as if every election is the same on both sides for as far back as history can recall.)

Much has been said about this topic, but there's another culprit in this game that's been on my mind: The AARP.  They run a national ad campaign called "Divided We Fail", which you've probably seen if you watch any cable news.  The ads all have a similar theme, that being lack of action on the part of the Federal government, and they all place the blame on the same scapegoat: Partisanship.

There's always talk about bipartisanship (or lack thereof) during an election.  Everyone promises to be less partisan, which is amusing at a time when politics are arguably at their most partisan.  Even so, there's a similar sort of false equivalence at play here.

One of the "Divided We Fail" ads deals with the lack of action on health-care, which, par for the course, they blame on partisanship and gridlock.  Of course, there's a problem here.  The ad campaign makes it look as if there's a lack of agreement on how to improve the health-care situation.  The problem is that this isn't the case.  One party doesn't even seem to think there's a problem.

Hopefully you know that I'm referring to the Republican party.  If you think I'm being unfair here, then I would challenge you to show me statements from prominent Republican leadership that indicate that there is a problem with the American system of health-care, what they think the problem or problems are and what, if anything, they are willing to do about it in terms of policy.  I've looked myself, so I'm confident that you won't really be able to find many convincing examples.  By and large, you'll find opposition to programs like SCHIP and even Medicare.  You won't find Republicans who think that a private, for-profit system is fundamentally problematic.  You'll find many who think that the current system of HMOs and private insurance are fine as they are and even some who think that the problem is that privatization isn't extensive enough.

There couldn't be a clearer contrast on this issue when you go to the other side of the aisle.  Nearly every major contender for the nomincation of the Democratic Party proposed some brand of extensive reform to health-care.  You can quibble about the details of implementation, but the consensus was clear.

So, what's with the AARP on this one?  I think it's fair to point out that the AARP is the most well-moneyed lobby in America.  It's also 501(c) tax exempt and therefore cannot engage directly in political activities, such as openly endorsing a candidate.  Even so, why the false equivalency?  The AARP has been criticized in the past for advocating Medicare Part D.  It also engages in the marketing of private health insurance to its members.

Perhaps there's a conflict of interest at play here.  Regardless, if one party says that 2+2=4 and the other that 2+2=5, the solution is not to demand that they compromise on 4.5.

Side note on health care: Back during the primary-that-would-not-end, Barack Obama was criticized on the blogosphere as well as by some prominent supporters of Hillary Clinton, not the least of whom being Paul Krugman, for his supposedly less aggressive proposals on health care reform.  However, there's a very good reason for his proposal: It's what most Americans want.  While nearly two-thirds of Americans support government guarantee of health coverage, they are split on whether it should require it.  The numbers in the article I linked are a year and a half old, but recent data from Pew is consistent.  This shows that Obama has his finger on the pulse of what Americans want in terms of health-care reform: Guarantee, but don't require.  Whether or not you, as an individual, believe that this is the best system, it's what can be achieved.  That's important.

***

This has been an historic year in electoral politics by any measure.  I know that I've seen and heard many things that I simply did not expect.  Apparently, the ivory tower of the rich white male is under a bit of siege this year.  That's just fine by me.  There are a lot of things that you couldn't be in Presidential politics before 2008 that just don't seem so radical anymore.

And it looks like we may just elect the first non-white President in United States history next week.  It's an exciting time.  There will be a lot of kids out there that will take the old line about being able to do anything you put your mind to very seriously.  You can be a dark-skinned kid from a single-parent home and still have a realistic aspiration to the highest office in the land.

But there's one thing you still can't be in American electoral politics: An atheist.

If you've been following the Hagan/Dole race at all, then you're seeing a bit of this reality play out right now.  Did Kay Hagan consort with atheists?  Hell no!  She's a good Christian.

And maybe she is and that's fine.  But doesn't the Powell response apply here?  I don't expect to hear it, but shouldn't someone be saying, "So what if she did?"  Atheists are Americans, too.  Despite the protestations of certain cretinous bloviators, America is not a "Christian nation".

I'll repeat that: America is not a Christan nation.

The United States of America is a democratic federal republic.  Christianity, or any other religious affiliation for that matter, is optional.

As an atheist, I'm fine with Obama.  While I'd like to have the option of being represented by someone who sees things as I do, it's not a requirement for me.  What I do require is reciprocity of tolerance.  I've mentioned it before, but Obama hit all the right notes for me in his Call to Renewal speech.  I'm not concerned about him using political power to enforce his personal religious beliefs.  After all, his mother was a non-believer and, as such, he doesn't entertain foolish notions about secular persons lacking morality.

Even so, ask yourself this: Thinking back to when Obama supposedly had a "pastor problem", how much worse would it have been for him if he had a "no pastor problem"?

***

It's been a pretty crazy year.  I probably won't have time to write again before then, so I'll just say good luck to all and here's hoping for a big Obama win on Tuesday.

***

Cross-posted @ dagblog.com, home of the DagBurger.

I keep hearing Repubs talking about how the polls were wrong in 2000 and they were wrong in 2004.  But they weren't.  IIRC, the polls showed both races about even, if not a slight lead for Bush.  Certainly the 2004 Florida exit polls were "wrong".  Yeah, right.

It seems the only recent election in which you could argue that the polls were polls were significantly off is Reagan-Carter, 1980.  Can someone fill me in on that one?  From what I understand Carter went from a slight lead to a huge loss in the last 48 hours before the election.  I would guess (if it's true) that was almost 100% because of the Iran hostage situation.

Since there's nothing even remotely like that going on, I can't think of any reason to enjoy the ride until Tuesday, confident that Obama's win will be decisive.

OK, so we have just spent over two months watching video after video of John McCain, Sarah Palin, Baghdad Bounds, InsHannity, O'Really? and a slew of other allegedly God-fearing Christians look straight into the camera and tell one lie after another. Sometimes twice in one bloody sentence.

Am I hallucinating, or aren't these the same people who fought to have the Ten Commandments installed in public buildings just a few years back? It makes me yearn for those heady times of my youth, when Christian Conservatives actually strove to "poison our minds with the truth".

I'm sorry, but here is no asterisk next to the Ninth Commandment* that says
*unless you're a Republican.

This election is not quite over yet---but the Reeps are already preparing for the next one which is not shaping up to be a second term for Team McCain.

Sara Palin apparently already knows that and has started to dip her toes in the presidential waters for 2012. That may strike some of McCain's supporters who plucked her out of obscurity just months ago as a discourtesy. But she is only doing what any smart-thinking, ambitious politician would do---look after oneself.

Her role model for this enterprise is no less a Republican light than Ronald Reagan himself whose friends began urging him to consider running for California governor even before the dust had fully settled on the Goldwater debacle in 1964. That turned out to be good call.

Palin has all but telegraphed her intentions telling ABC News the other day that she plans on become a national fixture regardless of what happens Tuesday.

Never mind that she has become a gigantic drag on the Republican ticket after a splashy debut that had the pundits agog at John McCain's brilliant strategem in picking her. Since then her antics and semantics have become a late night comedy routine on all the networks and the Democrats have begun drooling for her every reappearance.

But the Democrats have no say in this. And If her throngs of admiring fans across the nation is any sign of things to come, they will not have to demand an encore. The syllable-killing governor from the forgotten state of Alaska is ready and willing to assume her rightful place in the conservative spotlight.

The question is how many of her fellow Republicans, soon to be in mourning over their party's sudden change in fortune, will want to give her a second chance after a Vice Presidential tryout that makes Dan Quayle look like he may have been unfairly maligned.

One good Republican friend actually asked the question, "Do you think she is the best that we can put forward?"

That question should have been posed earlier--not that it might have made much difference given the national quagmire that was handed Mr. McCain who apparently thought the lightly raced soccer mom had the stuff to carry them across the finish line first. 

But, to change metaphors, this is what happens when you buy a snazzy car without first checking to see what's under the hood.

Now the GOP may have a bigger problem with exactly what to do with her as many within the party who were banking on her to excite their base and bring over the Independents and undecideds are fuming over the selection.

That will matter little to Palin who has been steadily carving out her own identity as a no-holds-barred advocate for the conservative credo who may not know what her favorite book is or what may be causing the polar ice cap to melt, but can light up an audience of thousands with a string of non-sequitors, and just a wink and a smile.

If the Republican faithful have been skeptical from the beginning about John McCain's willingness to flout party orthodoxy, Palin will require them to re-write the rule book if she becomes a force in the next election.

If she did not already feel liberated, she is now after McCain's advisors,seeing her polls nosediving, labelled her a "whack job" presumably to begin distancing their candidate. In fact it has become difficult in recent days knowing whether she or Joe the Plumber is McCain's true running mate.

The Repubicans will have start thinking about reconstruction much as the Democrats have needed to do in the Post-Clinton era. But almost any rebulding scenario will have to factor in Sara Palin who may just turn out to be a bigger maverick than McCain and his team ever realized.

 

 

 

 

 

I just saw his new ad, and I heard for the umpteenth time that he has been serving the country since he was 17.  He was born in 1936, which would put make him 17 years old in 1953.  He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958.  

I had only a confused familiarity with the name 'Studs Terkel' when I moved to Chicago 25 years ago, but through his radio program, writings, and other events (chili competitions!), I was soon to learn what a pleasure and treasure to American life and letters.  He was one of the great listeners, oberservers, and had a gritty, honest knack for putting his experience into words. Literature in corderoy, he seemed.  And what a Mensch!  He was out and about a lot, and it wasn't hard, especially if you wanted to, to meet him. He seemed to have all the time in the world, to listen, banter, laugh.  An American gem.

Thanks, Studs, for being so great!

See, I have to blame it on Mike Royko, because for some reason I believed he always fictionalized everything. And with a name like Studs Terkel, why would I believe this guy existed except for some journalist's avid imagination. My loss.

A few times last century someone simply wrote down or in some other fashion recorded what we do, and simply created a work of indelible importance. Simple yet groundbreaking. The Kinsey Reports. The Man with the Camera. Working. Sure, everyone works. And we all think we understand what we do. And then we start talking about it and it becomes Terra Incognita, something we never really understood at all.

If you have some time, check out the NPR report much later:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3892055
Or Hard Times:
http://www.studsterkel.org/htimes.php
I don't know if the era's officially passed, but between Royko & Terkel, it's two I'd rather have hang around for a while. But life doesn't work like that. We all have to go sometime. So let's just say I'll be keeping a seat warm for you at the local tavern. Just in case you decide to drop in.