I have only one and I want you all to say it aloud with me:

PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!

 Commenter ThatLeftTurnInABQ at Obsidian Wings has a post which should shake everyone to their very core:

<i>I just did a little bit of googling, and it turns out that with $700 billion to work with and unlimited Section 8 authority <b></i>[this is the part of the bill making this program free of oversight and not accountable, or reviewable by any other government agency]<i></b> to use it, Hank Paulson would effectively be the fiscal equivalent of the 7th largest sovereign nation on Earth, all by himself:

Budget expenditures 2008 Country Ranks

1 United States $2,731,000,000,000

2 Japan $1,575,000,000,000

3 Germany $1,477,000,000,000

4 France $1,372,000,000,000

5 United Kingdom $1,237,000,000,000

6 Italy $1,029,000,000,000

7 China $634,600,000,000

In the larger context of this chapter of our fiscal soap opera, one of the problems with this bailout is that it probably isn't big enough…</i>

http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/09/bailout-1.html#comments

Putting this much unaccountable power in the hands of one man is nothing short of insanity – particularly if it’s passed in a state of unthinking panic.  We very well may need to swallow the incredibly bitter bailout pill, but Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this is not the way to do it!  Passed under these circumstances, the cure could very well be worse than the disease. 

Until just a few months ago I was not a very radical guy, but even I’m starting to think these types actions are the reason people fight revolutions. 

Perhaps someone with more legal knowledge than I can help answer this question.

I was just out on my lunch break (in Arlington, VA) when I noticed a couple of Obama/DNC people out on the sidewalk attempting to register new voters.

The sidewalk in question also happens to be next to a branch of Wachovia Securities. No sooner did the Obama supporters show up, then Wachovia sent out their security goons to tell them they weren't allowed out on the sidewalk and that they'd be arrested if they didn't leave.

Given that they were physically standing on the sidewalk (next to a Metro bus stop and a good 30 feet away from Wachovia); doesn't that mean they're on public property and cannot be told to leave? 

I'm not a lawyer, so I'd appreciate it if someone with a knowledge of the law can tell me if this is illegal (and possibly cite the statutues so I can go back out there and tell Wachovia to go to hell)?

They now have their goons...I mean guards stationed out there to make sure they don't return. 

I've called the Obama office in Arlington to bring this to their attention, but I want to personally make sure this kind of intimidation stops.  Knowing the law would sure help me out.

If someone out there does know this, please contact me at ingvy.mcwawa@gmail.com, or leave a reply in the comments below.

Thanks!

Excuse the profanity-laced, semi-incoherent diatribe; I'm just too pissed off right now to make much sense... When asked about the Fed’s proposed trillion dollar bail - and who needs to pay for it - he replied: It’s probably $500 [billion] to a trillion dollars, and that’s going to visit the taxpayers sooner or later,” he said. “It’s either going to be a debt charged to all of us or to all our children. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/putting-a-price-on-a-government-bailout/ NO ASSHOLE, “either” is NOT an option here. This gets paid for NOW. End the farm subsidies, reform the Pentagon (we’re spending more now - not including the Iraq and Afghanistan supplemental spending bills - in inflation adjusted dollars than we did at the height of the Cold War) to save hundreds of billions, raise taxes (on everyone); do whatever it takes to not add more debt. In the past 8 years this nation has added over $30 trillion in unfunded liabilities to our budget. $30 GOD DAMNED TRILLION. We’ve already fucked the next generation to sustain a greedy, consumer-driven lifestyle (everyone is at fault here. America fucked itself); we’re not going to get them involved in a three-way so you can kick the can down the road another 10 years. As it currently stands, the next generation is going to be the first in American history to be worse off (and possibly in a significant way) than their parents. As we keep amassing debt, there WILL come a day when the world loses confidence in our currency and our solvency. When that day comes (and it will) and the world moves away from the dollar; our house of cards will come crashing down. Our currency will nosedive big-time. Hyper-inflation will reign supreme. We’ll turn ourselves in Argentina - or worse. The middle class will be WIPED OUT and America will slip into irrelevance. We’ve got to get our shit in order ASAP. It starts now. This clusterfuck we’ve created gets paid for TODAY. If Americans are too god damned-greedy and shortsighted to refuse to own-up for our largess, then we deserve what’s coming. Of course, those most responsible won’t pay; their children and grandchildren will. Damn it, I’m pissed.

Excuse the profanity-laced, semi-incoherent diatribe; I'm just too pissed off right now to make much sense...

When asked about the Fed’s proposed trillion dollar bail - and who needs to pay for it - he replied: It’s probably $500 [billion] to a trillion dollars, and that’s going to visit the taxpayers sooner or later,” he said. “It’s either going to be a debt charged to all of us or to all our children. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/putting-a-price-on-a-government-bailout/ NO ASSHOLE, “either” is NOT an option here. This gets paid for NOW. End the farm subsidies, reform the Pentagon (we’re spending more now - not including the Iraq and Afghanistan supplemental spending bills - in inflation adjusted dollars than we did at the height of the Cold War) to save hundreds of billions, raise taxes (on everyone); do whatever it takes to not add more debt. In the past 8 years this nation has added over $30 trillion in unfunded liabilities to our budget. $30 GOD DAMNED TRILLION. We’ve already fucked the next generation to sustain a greedy, consumer-driven lifestyle (everyone is at fault here. America fucked itself); we’re not going to get them involved in a three-way so you can kick the can down the road another 10 years. As it currently stands, the next generation is going to be the first in American history to be worse off (and possibly in a significant way) than their parents. As we keep amassing debt, there WILL come a day when the world loses confidence in our currency and our solvency. When that day comes (and it will) and the world moves away from the dollar; our house of cards will come crashing down. Our currency will nosedive big-time. Hyper-inflation will reign supreme. We’ll turn ourselves in Argentina - or worse. The middle class will be WIPED OUT and America will slip into irrelevance. We’ve got to get our shit in order ASAP. It starts now. This clusterfuck we’ve created gets paid for TODAY. If Americans are too god damned-greedy and shortsighted to refuse to own-up for our largess, then we deserve what’s coming. Of course, those most responsible won’t pay; their children and grandchildren will. Damn it, I’m pissed.

What's that noise?  Oh yeah, it's the sound of universal health care being flushed down the toilet. 

What's that ugly surprise on your W-4?  Oh yeah, it's your taxes going way up to pay for this bailout.

America; your consumer driven egos (from the average home owner who needed to keep up with Jones, to the investment banker not satisfied with a mere $1 bonus) created this mess.  You lived beyond your means for way too long and now the price tag is coming due. 

Get mad, get really mad, but remember you're largely to blame too. 

I’ve been trying to put my finger on exactly what it is that gets me so worked up over Biden’s recent speech and I think I’ve finally got it. 

 

He sounds like one of the generals of old riding out in front of his troops in the field and inspiring his men to march into battle with him.  He’s reminding us that we have the better plan, we have the stronger army and the enemy lashes out so fiercely because it is weak; it fears us. 

 

Palin is a ruse designed to lead us into terrain favorable to them where an ambush awaits.  

 

If we stick to our plans, stick to our strengths, we will be victorious. 

 

Biden reminds me of all this and makes me feel more confident than ever that we can win this fucking thing and win it big.  Thanks for helping show us the way. 

 

Now take this on the road to rally the rest of the troops! 

 

The man really seems to have found his stride, which means Obama’s got one hell of a field general out there for him.

I'm not all too worried about the hoopla surrounding Palin; she's a poor man's Icarus and her wings will melt soon enough.  Still though, it still really gets under my skin; that is at least until I watch clips like this.  Now I remember why I love Joe Biden so much.  He's gonna eat her for breakfast!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE

It's nice ending Friday on a good note!

I'm not all too worried about the hoopla surrounding Palin; she's a poor man's Icarus and her wings will melt soon enough.  Still though, it still really gets under my skin; that is at least until I watch clips like this.  Now I remember why I love Joe Biden so much.  He's gonna eat her for breakfast!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE

It's nice ending Friday on a good note!

I don't have time to comment on this, but I hope somebody reads this and does. 

Seriously; is McCain running for President of the United States, or Senior Class President?  This is one of the most pathetic things I've read in a while and it comes directly from his web site: http://www.johnmccain.com/McCainReport/Read.aspx?guid=181471d0-5456-4434-9f78-2f30ffc39459

<blockquote>
In the least credible and most vicious corner of the internet, liberal bloggers at the Daily Kos are accusing John McCain of plagiarizing from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The story Solzhenitsyn told was of a prisoner who drew a cross in the dirt in a Soviet Gulag. McCain's story is of a guard who drew a cross in the dirt in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.

The only similarity between the two stories is a cross in the dirt, but it is hardly an unlikely coincidence that there were practicing Christians in both Russia and Vietnam, or that in the prisons of those two Communist countries the only crosses to be found were etched in the dirt, as easily disappeared as the Christians who drew them.

But those desperate to discredit Senator McCain's record will have to impugn his fellow prisoners as well. Orson Swindle, who was held as a prisoner of war along with McCain, tells the McCain Report that he heard this particular story from McCain "when we first moved in together." That was in the summer of 1971, Swindle said, though "time blurred" and he couldn't be sure. He said it was some time around then that the Vietnamese moved all "36 troublemakers" into the same quarters, where they "talked about everything under the sun."

<i>It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others. John McCain has often said he witnessed a thousand acts of bravery while he was imprisoned, and though not every one has been submitted into the public record, they are remembered by the men who were there (one such only recently reported by Karl Rove though it escaped mention in any of Senator McCain's books). But as Swindle said, this is a "desperate group of people trying to make something out of nothing." </i></blockquote>

Let me start off by saying that I’m not here to excoriate die hard Clinton supporters. It was a tough and brutal campaign, chalked full of enormous symbolism for so many Clinton and Obama supporters and I understand why some people feel as passionately as they do. 

That said, I was really troubled by a quote I read in Slate.com today where a few (and I stress the word ‘few’) Hillary supporters attending her concession rally today.  When asked about Obama and their professed support of John McCain:

<blockquote>“He’s [Obama] a do-nothing.” But would she really prefer a McCain administration? “It bothers me a lot, but at least we can unelect him in four years.”</blockquote>

For those Clinton supporters who share this sentiment; I beg of you to think through the consequences of a McCain presidency.  

First, don’t be confident you can easily ‘un-elect’ McCain in 2012.  Defeating an incumbent president is extremely difficult.  In 2004, a large portion of the country clearly understood Bush was a moron; yet he got reelected.  Whether we Democrats like to admit it or not; Bill Clinton would have never been elected in 1992 without a major assist from Ross Perot.  When he won, he did it with only 43% of the popular vote.  If ever there were a president in a weak position coming into office, it was Clinton.  Once in office, he lost control of Congress, saw his major initiative (healthcare) fail spectacularly and was beset by scandal.  Despite all this; he was overwhelmingly reelected in 1996.

But let’s set this all aside and assume McCain is defeated in 2012; the four years between now and then could see him cause considerable damage to the values we hold dear.  Here are just a few examples:

1) IRAQ, IRAN & GAS PRICES

Let’s be realistic; withdrawal from Iraq is going to be difficult regardless of who is our next president, but McCain has repeatedly stated that he is committed to STAY in Iraq come hell or high water.  He may be unelected in 4 years, but how many more of our soldiers will have to die during this time?  How many families will be shattered?  How many children will grow up without a mother or father?  How many more innocent Iraqis will meet the same fate?  How many of our young people will return with horrible physical and mental scars which will never heal? 

Worse yet; McCain has given every indication he has no qualms starting another war with Iran.  Do I even need to explain why this isn’t a good idea?  Even if it were limited to air strikes and somehow avoided any type of ground war; has it occurred to anybody how this would like result in a full-blown Shia uprising next door in Iraq?  The place would explode and we’d be force to either flee with our tails between our legs, or reinstitute a draft and send 500,000 troops over there to brutally crush any type of uprising.  I think it’s safe to say that this option is – rightfully – unthinkable. 

We can’t ‘unelect’ this.

Wanna know part of the reason oil prices are so high?  Oil is traded based on ‘futures’, i.e. contracts to purchase and sell oil based on what analysts think oil will be going for at a set time in the future.  When the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, recently stated he felt an attack on Iran was unavoidable in the near future; energy analysts speculated that this would result in a massive disruption of future oil supplies in the near future, so the price of oil continues to rise.  If Iran’s oil goes offline for whatever reason; HELLO $300 a barrel oil!  Hello $11 gas!  Hello working families who cannot afford to drive their cars to get to work!  Hello families in the Northeastern United States who cannot afford to heat their homes because heating oil has become prohibitively expensive!  Hello higher food prices (which hit struggling families the hardest) because distributors pass increased transportation costs onto consumers! 

You can’t ‘unelect’ this.

2) HEALTH CARE

 McCain has no plan to provide universal healthcare to Americans.  Can we really wait another 4 years (when the political climate may not be nearly as favorable as it is now) to do this?  How many families between now and 2012 will lose everything because they are uninsured but find themselves dealing with a major illness/injury?  How many single mothers will continue to work dead-end jobs and be unable to improve their family’s lot because they cannot risk losing insurance?  How many of these same single mothers will be forced to choose between paying the rent and taking a sick child to the doctor’s office? 

You can’t ‘unelect’ this.

3) THE SUPREME COURT

The Court is already 5-4 in favor of conservative justices.  Add another 2 or 3 and you can kiss positive rulings for progressive causes (including a woman’s right to choose) away for the next 30 years.  Our gay and lesbian friends may want to consider this when they ponder the future of any rulings vis-à-vis gay marriage. 

You can’t ‘unelect’ this either. 

I could continue this list all night and still barely scratch the surface (one of which is legislation supporting equal pay for women, which McCain has regularly come out against), but I think you see where I’m coming from.

You don’t have to like Obama – or many of his supporters for that matter – but I hope you will consider the true impacts of a McCain presidency.  I hope you will consider its affects on ordinary Americans and you will not support him – even if this means holding your nose and voting for Obama.  You may loathe him now, but he will fight to make sure we never have answer all the rhetorical questions listed above.   

Had just a few things during this primary turned out differently and Obama were the one giving the concession speech today; you would have found me pulling that lever for Hillary this November.  The stakes are just too high to give the Republicans another 4 years in the White House. 

I was about to get all up in arms and scream “nooooooooooo” at the prospect of Bill Clinton campaigning for him.

Bill is a huge liability and I personally think he acted like a complete and utter douche during this campaign, but there is one thing you cannot deny: He is still hugely popular among many of the people who supported Hillary.  I'll also bet Bill does do some campaigning for Obama. It allows him to remain relevant and indulges his penchant to be an attention whore.  Allowing him to do so, will make sure the Clintons remain friendly.

We may not like it, but having the Clintons for allies makes Obama’s path to the Whitehouse much easier.  Just sayin…

What do you all think?

I fear we (read: The Democratic Party) could face a nightmare scenario tonight.  It appears that there are few reliable polls from both Montana and South Dakota, and the polling conducted so far is all over the place.  Some have Obama up handily in both states, while the recent ARG has Clinton blowing him out in S. Dakota and barely ahead in Montana.  With so few polls available, it’s hard to tell if it’s an outlier or not.

Should Clinton blow out Obama in S. Dakota (the demographics of the state heavily favor her) and wins in Montana, my gut tells me that this thing is going all the way to the convention and we’re in a for an all out party civil war between now and August.  

 

This is my theory as to why Hillary is backing off her campaign’s earlier statements that she will concede tonight.  If she pulls off wins in both states, then she’ll make the case (whether or not it really has merit is a different story) that she’s on a roll, the country has buyer’s remorse and is therefore more electable.  If she does lose both states, she can 'suspend' her campaign and she won't technically have conceded. 

 

I hope I’m incredibly wrong about all this…